Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I am only putting my spin on Stephenie Meyer's already created world of the supernatural.
Warnings: Violence/Gore, mentions/attempt of suicide and character deaths
I just needed to bite the bullet and do it. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't and I was running out of time. I'd counted a total of five minutes of alone time in the forty-eight hours that I'd been in the suite Esme had performed a miracle on. I doubted I'd get even thirty seconds more before the next Cullen showed. I had to act, now.
I picked up the landline, dialing the number I'd decided on a few minutes after waking up earlier today. It just seemed more pragmatic to call—
"Hello? Who's this?" Sam's voice channeled through, low and lazy. "If it's another telemarketer, I'll hunt you down."
"Sam," I said, my throat immediately constricting tightly closed.
"Leah." There was a stir on his end. "How could you—why did you—... I can't believe it. Any of it."
I hunched over, sitting on the very edge of the foot of the bed. I wanted to respond, not to defend myself but just to keep the conversation going. When this phone call ended, my life did, too.
"I had to tell everyone. The elders know, your mom knows. Seth does, too." He let out a long sigh. "Jake emailed me. He's in England."
Tight, emotional throat be damned. I yelled, "Ugh, that idiot!"
"I thought it was smart to do recon."
"It would be if wasn't so injured! He got bitten by a vampire and then impaled."
Sam gave another sigh. "Of course, he did. Should I send someone after him?"
"If he's fine enough to email you then I guess he's fine now—but he could've died." Sam grunted, the familiar sound of disapproval Anyway, how's Peter?"
"Gone."
My stomach sank and it got a little harder to swallow. "Don't be all cryptic like Billy now."
Sam's voice lowered a tone. "I'd tell you more, but..."
"Aro doesn't need a play-by-play," I finished. I'd been in his head way too long to not understand the meaning of his silences.
"Yeah."
I'd talked about Aro enough with Carlisle the past two days. And that wasn't what I'd called Sam for anyway. "Hey, tell my family something for me."
"Don't make me do this."
"Don't you think it's the least you owe me?" When he didn't reply, I said, "Tell my mom I love her so much and that I'm so proud of her, promotion or not. I couldn't have asked for a better mother. Also, I want her to move to San Bernardino, so, make sure Seth has good control of himself, Sam."
"I will."
"Good." I hung my head, sniffing as I ran a hand over my face. "As for my baby brother." My chest squeezed so hard that it was hard to inhale. "Tell him I'm sorry for not being a better example. And give him our Dad's stuff that I got, ok? Give it all to him after you tell him I died." I took a deep breath. "'Cause I plan to in a few hours," I lied.
"Leah," Sam muttered, his voice thick and quiet. "I have so many regrets—"
"I don't wanna hear it."
"—about the way I've treated you and I'm so grateful—"
"Sam, it's whatever. Just treat Emily well, ok?"
He gave an instant, "For the rest of our lives."
"And don't let Seth phase for the rest of today, just to be safe." The last thing I wanted was for Seth to find out I'd be alive. He'd never stop trying to free me. "Got it?"
Sam sniffed. "Yeah."
A soft knock came from the Mannerheim's door. "Alright, I gotta go. Have a good wedding—weddings. Anyway, take care." I hung up before he could say goodbye. I wasn't sure I could've handled one in my state.
It was time. The sun had set around an hour ago, so Bella had definitely woken up. This Cullen, whoever it was this time, wouldn't be a protector, but my escort to the Volturi.
Well, I guessed there was no reason to keep them waiting.
I got up and went to the door. Jasper turned out to be on the other side of it. He rested a hand on my arm, already sporting a sympathetic smile. No one knew my grief as he did.
"You'll be ok," he said. A calm quelled the worst of my anxiety, too pleasant to be organic. "I'm betting on it." Always trying to help me, to keep me from falling into true depression.
Jasper brought Emmett with him to try and cheer me up at one point in these past couple of days. We'd made bets on reality shows and engaged in a dozen three-way handshakes that made me laugh every time. After they left, all I could think about was how losing or winning didn't matter. I wouldn't be around to face the penalties if someone I didn't count on became head of household.
It was still a semi-nice memory, though. I smiled back, appreciating the reminder. "Thanks. Is Alice? Betting on me, I mean." She hadn't come to watch over me once, so I knew she knew something. I just needed Jasper to budge one time.
"If I told you anything, Leah, then you might actually not be ok. So, please, please stop asking."
"C'mon. Even one piece of advice would be helpful, something harmless."
He narrowed his eyes. "Hasn't Carlisle been giving you tons of advice?"
"Well, that's different. He told me how to survive the worst possible outcome, he didn't give me anything on how to avoid it." Jasper grunted at my reasoning, unwavering. "One tip. I promise Alice will never know."
"Alice always knows. Let's go." He took his hand off me, leading the way down the hall.
I couldn't believe we were leaving the Mannerheim Suite in pristine condition. All the blood and sweat was gone, all the sheets and covers had perfect replacements. Even Jacob's scent had gotten scrubbed out of the bedroom's carpet.
"Esme did a really good job cleaning up the place, huh?"
"She's dealt with worse."
"Emmett?" I guessed.
"Sometimes. Sometimes, it was him and Rosalie. Then there was the fire of '98, of course. What a disaster."
I shook my head, frowning. "I'll never know what that was about, will I?"
"Edward hasn't told you already?" Jasper took on a secretive smile. "He's probably embarrassed."
"Did he start the fire?"
"In an indirect way, we all started the fire."
"Like, your whole family?"
"It's a long story, 'tell you later." Yep, I'd never know.
We walked to a more remote part of Helsinki, stopping on an old and weathered pier. Jasper leaned against its railing, tapping his fingers on rusted metal. It sounded hard, like someone was hitting a rock against some steel.
"They'll be coming here?" I asked, joining him at the railing.
"Yes."
I guessed the Volturi didn't trust me to come of my own will. It could've been because Santiago attacked me that they thought I'd try and flake. Or it could've been because Aro's seen into Edward's mind and knows me as well as he does.
Jasper tilted his head back, staring up at the night sky. "You really don't need to worry so much."
"Sure, I don't. Because this totally isn't a worrying situation," I snarked, violently swiping my bangs back from my eyes.
"Just try to be..." he trailed off, reaching up to tuck his hair behind his ears. He finally settled on the word, "Agreeable."
Was that...? "Thanks for the advice, Jasper."
He gave a nod, lips pouted as he squinted into the distance past his hair. The wind had really picked up since we got to the pier. "Don't make me regret saying that."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Jasper pushed off from the railing then, giving my back a pat. "They're here."
In a few seconds, I saw two figures approaching across the water. It wasn't much longer before they'd looped onto land and then onto the pier. It was so unnatural how they came to a dead stop in the middle of an all-out sprint. I'd never get used to it.
Neither of them looked familiar when I saw their faces but they resembled each other. They wore ordinary, bland clothes like Santiago had and no expressions. Jasper stood at full alert, his hand ghosting at my wrist. More than a minute passed by that way. And just when I thought someone would speak, the two bolted without warning.
I was keeping up alright until Jasper picked me up. "Why?" I asked, wriggling in his arms to get him to drop me.
"Your shoes are already in ill-repair. They wouldn't make it to Italy and we don't have time to stop and buy you a new pair." I hated that it was a reasonable explanation he gave me. I wanted to run, needed to so I could burn off some steam.
Jasper was quick to quiet my more intense emotions. Suddenly, I didn't care so much if I ran there or got carried to Italy. All that mattered was that I got there. It was the only desire he'd let me keep.
The journey lasted forever. I kept expecting the sun to start rising but it only got darker the farther we ran. Sometimes, we were sprinting across the water, my hair growing damp. A cold spray would soak my pants and my shirt and the wind would freeze them stiff. Other times, we were dashing through sleepy towns, avoiding potholes, people, and plants. Bugs in mid-flight looked frozen as we whizzed past, not leaving behind a footprint. Hours passed. The whole time, Jasper kept me calm and collected.
"We're close now," Jasper told me as he slowed down. We were approaching a populated area instead of circumventing it. He put me back down on my feet but stayed glued to my side. "Stay close."
It was surreal to walk among humans after the isolation of the last hours. Their feeble breaths brushed past me like a glamour. Could life as simple as theirs even be real? A father who smelled ripe with alcohol, laughing with his equally drunk sons as they walked out of a bar. An old, married couple bickering over something on the sidewalk. The girl sitting on a bench outside of a nice restaurant, her skin color even close to as dark as mine. Could I have been her in another life? Even the fantasies of normalcy were elusive now, fading the harder I envisioned them.
"This way." One of the brothers grabbed me by my arm to steer me down a stone backroad.
I yanked away from him. "Touch me again and you'll regret it," I growled before my aggression dulled to a mumble in my head.
Jasper pulled me even closer to him by my wrist, holding it tight. "She didn't mean that," he lied for me.
The backroad led us to rows of abandoned and diminished houses. It was a whole neighborhood completely empty, devoid of any life that once lived in it. Not even insects made any sort of chirr or chittering around us. I couldn't picture what it might've looked like once.
A path behind a culdesac of bigger houses led to a large, iron grille in the ground. It was in better condition than anything else I'd seen in the ghost town. One of the brothers hooked their fingers in the grille, hoisting it up over his head. All kinds of sickly, awful smells wafted out of the hole, smells that could've curdled milk.
I inched closer to the opening, eyeing the long way down. I wouldn't be able to jump back out. I could've gotten the distance I needed in my wolf form but then I wouldn't have been small enough to fit back through. This was a one-way ticket.
"You can do this," Jasper encouraged me, ease lancing through my speck of doubt.
I jumped down first. Wind churned past me for a few seconds before I met the ground. I didn't land gracefully, rough stone giving beneath my weight. The skin of my knuckles broke on impact, leaking red into the dark cracks I made in the ground. The scent of my blood was my only reprieve against the aroma coating every stone that made up the oval walls.
I got off my knees, backing out of the way when I heard Jasper jump next. He landed on his feet and, without flinching, he took in the wide, stone chamber. Checking for exits, I assumed. The only way forward was through a huge, dark tunnel. Once he came to the same conclusion as me, he came over, whipping out a handkerchief from the inside of his dark jacket. He wiped gingerly at my bloody knuckles as I stood, docile as a lamb from his influence.
Only one of the brothers came down with us, the other moving the grille back and running off. Jasper offered me his arm with a tight smile on his face after finishing cleaning my hands. I took it.
The spare brother led on, navigating wide and narrow tunnels without hesitation. It was a labyrinth, one I could barely see. Any human that found their way down here would've died in the dark, lost in this huge underground system. It only got colder as we spiraled down. Always down. I was starting to wonder if the Volturi's castle was in the mantle of the earth.
"Are they vampires or mole rats?" I cracked as we came down off of another slant.
Laughter emanated from somewhere close by. A wooden door I hadn't seen before swung open then, revealing a bulky vampire who had to duck down to fit in the doorframe. "*Us, mole rats welcome you to our home," he chirped in a bass tone, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Hello again, Felix," Jasper greeted him cordially.
I couldn't well up any anger when I discovered the cold one's identity. But I could still say, "Your little buddy tried to kill me the other day."
"Little?" Felix questioned, a playfulness to his voice. "Yes, I heard. Edward brought it up—a few times, actually." His grin widened for a moment. "Anyway, Santiago is being disciplined as we speak. He's young, overzealous. Please, accept my deepest apologies, Leah."
I stared into his red eyes and said, "I doubt you seek forgiveness."
Felix feigned shock, so well I almost mistook it for being genuine, at first. "Do I seem insincere?" He went back to his unbothered grin. "Follow me."
The trek continued, finally getting us into some architecture and non-freezing temperatures. We entered a hall that looked like it belonged to a nondescript office building but it couldn't fool my nose. Through the plaster, I caught whiffs of very old stone, dust from forgotten years. I didn't get to smell it for too long before the odor of vampires overpowered it, setting my nose on fire.
"After you," Felix said as he gestured to the elevator he'd led us to.
When Jasper didn't move, I strode in, taking up a back corner to try and get as far from the two Volturi guards as possible. Jasper came to stand at my side, not commenting when I pressed my face into his arm. He knew I was desperate to escape what my senses were going through. The stench had grown so pungent that I was starting to taste it.
Deeper underground, the elevator doors opened us up to a nice reception area. It had the same, expensive air as Hotel Kamp. Weirder than a reception area at the core of the earth was the human receptionist.
"Welcome back, Felix."
"Good to be home," he joked, clearly sharing some rapport with her. With a human.
Her heart pitter-pattered at his response, giving away her enamor for him. "Good to have you home."
She knew. No way did she not know. You didn't get in so deep with vampires to be completely ignorant of their existence. I couldn't even feel horrified by my realization—Jasper made sure of that. Any urge I had to say something to her he squished out of me when I met her green eyes.
What could I have done anyway?
We went through another set of double doors and into another hall only, this time, we didn't reach the end of it. I focused my senses to try and figure out why. Sure enough, I heard the whispers of vampires, but not from either end of the hall. It came from off to our side.
Felix moved to the wall, removing a panel to show a small, unremarkable door. Small in comparison to him, at least. He opened it then, unleashing all hell on me.
My eyes stung and my lungs shriveled, refusing anymore poisoned air. Jasper put his hand on my back, rubbing it as we both worked to rein in my sickness. The next breath I managed came as a shallow gasp, torching my throat and chest.
"Is she ok?" Felix asked but the concern was missing from his voice. He sounded like he was stifling laughter.
"I'm fine," I grunted through the acerbic taste in my mouth. Why was the smell of acid so strong? "Let's go," I said, wiping my eyes.
Felix walked forward, then the other guard member. It took me a few seconds to force my muscles to unlock and walk me through the doorway. Jasper clung to me and I could see his worried glances toward me out of the corner of my eye.
The shallow transitional room on the other side of the door opened up into the turret Carlisle had told me about with high, vaulted ceilings. It was so dark that, to a human, it might've seemed pitch black.
Something small latched hard onto me before I could examine the rest of the room. It was Alice.
"It's going to be ok. I promise." She kept her voice muted, her syllables soft against my shoulder.
I saw her volume and kept an even lower one when I responded, "I'm sorry I couldn't save her."
"It's not your fault."
She let go of me, landing like a feather back on her feet. Jasper was the next victim of her aggressive hugging, reveling in it with closed eyes. His hold on my emotions loosened as he experienced his own.
"Leah! Hello there!" A delighted, breezy voice greeted me, quieter than I'd imagined it would be.
Across the expansive stone floors was a set of three thrones, propped up on a platform by broad, gentle steps. Aro was in the middle, wooden throne, his being the most ornate by far. I knew it was him from the likeness in Carlisle's painting but he looked…different. Off. He was grinning, radiant as a vampire should be but sorta—I didn't know how to put words to the sight—see-through? I'd never seen a vampire so old, never seen how it changed them. I didn't think age could change a vampire. And he didn't look aged, per se. His clarity was just different. It was like staring at dusty dolomite instead of a refined, reflective diamond.
"I feel as though I've waited centuries to meet you." Aro spoke fast, not bothering to keep a human's pace.
There I was, staring into the eyes of the pinnacle of malevolence as it tried to engage me in conversation. I risked another step toward it, into the room no ancestor of mine had ever dreamed of reaching. Every battle, every wound, every death of a shapeshifter had led to this one, historic moment. This was the pale hand that guided every single enemy we'd ever fought, directly or otherwise. Sam would've dealt with something like this better, even with the smell. I wasn't the right one, after so many years, to meet with the zenith of vampirism. Yet, there I was.
I should've left Jacob's ass to die in Finland.
"Hello, Aro." My voice was loud and rough compared to his. It was stronger than it would've been, though, if Jasper had stopped helping me altogether.
Aro placed his elbow on the wood armrest on his throne, resting his weird, dust-streaked cheek on his hand. He flashed a smile that could've been warm on anyone else's face. "It's a difficult thing to confound an immortal, Leah Clearwater." He paused, waiting for my reply.
I guessed I had to sacrifice the oxygen since no one else would speak up. "Not so difficult."
Aro's smile grew, an airy chuckle pulsing from him. "Perhaps not for you. Still, I hope you don't mind me saying that it is impressive. So impressive, in fact, that my brother insisted on meeting you." He took his hand from Marcus' to gesture, naturally leading my eyes over to the throne on his left.
Laying eyes on Caius for the first time was a thing of nightmares. I struggled not to cringe when I found his burning gaze already set on my face. Despite the veil of dust over his eyes, they were the truest red I'd ever seen on a vampire. He was severe in all his colors, from his eyes to his onyx-colored cloak, to his pure white skin and hair. A gut feeling told me he wasn't as fragile as Aro, despite having that same aged look. I didn't have the same suspicion with him that he'd chip under my fingernails with enough force.
Even his voice, though close to the level of a whisper, was stronger than Aro's. "Your smell is worse than they claimed."
I shrugged, staring into the twin red wells of soullessness. "I shouldn't stay long then."
"Oh, nonsense!" Aro exclaimed, somehow still remaining quiet. "Nonsense," he repeated in the lowest whisper I'd heard yet. I suppressed a shudder.
"You said you only desired to see her," Carlisle said, his troubled voice a shock to my system.
I looked down from the thrones to see the Cullens. They were tightly clustered around Edward in the middle of the turret. The high windows streamed down faint moonlight like the world's dimmest spotlights, centered on them. It was a wonder how I'd missed them in the first place. Them, or the many guard members—cloaked and uncloaked—scattered around the place.
Carlisle took a step forward, Esme hugging his arm. "May she leave now?"
"She may not!" Caius snarled, the sound an echoing hiss that traveled all the way to the top of the turret. "We've no reason to believe she isn't human."
"She isn't human. What human smells like this? What human has skin like hers?" Alice asked them, pulling Jasper from where we were at the entrance back over to their family. "Aro, if you know this to be true, shouldn't Caius be settled?"
Caius sneered at her with enough venom to poison the whole room. "You ask questions, unbidden. Cease to." Jasper stepped in front of Alice, taking on the brunt of Caius' glare.
"As you can see, Caius will not be convinced. Even Marcus expressed concern to me the other night." Aro made it a point to sound disgruntled. "There must be some way to prove to them…" As he paused, his gaze flicked from Carlisle's face back to me.
Fear flashed like lightning down my back, too fast for Jasper to catch.
"No." Edward interceded, speaking for the first time since I'd come in. His voice was the loudest so far. "No, Aro. We've discussed this already."
Aro put a frown on his sheer face. "I understand your protectiveness but I promise you, Edward, no harm will come to her."
Snickers came from behind Aro's throne and I noticed the cloaked people there for the first time. Their cloaks were dark but still shades lighter than the heads'. Gifted members. If my talks with Carlisle taught me anything, it was that Aro always surrounded himself with guard members who had powers.
"Absolutely not," Edward argued. "It's wholly unnecessary!"
Alice turned her head and I caught the corner of her eye. "I'll phase," I said quickly. She was my guide through this, the will-o'-the-wisp that'd lead me back home.
"Honey, you don't have to," Esme said, turning her head in a graceful motion to see me.
"It's fine," I lied into the biting, syrupy rank of the room.
Aro laughed, the sound of it like wind pushing through a tunnel. "Lovely! See? Even Leah knows there's nothing to fear."
I started to wrest up the heat, Jasper's influence retreating—
"You're so far. Come closer so that we may see you," Aro urged with a pleasant, welcoming smile.
The heat fell off like invisible armor. Sickeningly obedient, I walked over to join the Cullens where they were.
As I approached, I noticed Bella for the first time, standing off to the left as she kept a distance from the Cullens. Even the back of her head looked different, her hair shinier and a richer brown than I remembered.
Emmett pulled me into the group once I was close enough, distracting me from Bella. I tried to keep moving but he wouldn't let go. Rosalie placed her thin hand on my shoulder, her grip even stronger than his.
"Let her go," Carlisle whispered.
"No," Rosalie refused.
"Rose!" Alice cried, furious beyond what I'd ever seen from her in a millisecond. "Stop it!"
"Oh dear. I can see that this will be too difficult for you. It will be difficult for many," Aro said, his voice creating an abrupt pain in my stomach. The amount of anxiety bearing down on me without Jasper was already building into a migraine. "We should have some privacy."
Guards along the floor cleared out, Felix the only one to go from the floor to join the cloaked figures behind the thrones. "Aro, please—"
"Carlisle, I must insist. When Edward sees you again, this ongoing conflict will have been resolved." The fact that he'd left me and Bella out didn't strike me as a particularly good sign.
"Carlisle," Edward muttered low, the perfection of his voice tempered with wariness.
Carlisle's lips twitched before he grabbed Rosalie by her upper arm. He ripped her off of me, dragging her out of the room. "Let's go."
The other Cullens followed him out, heads low. I should've been happy to see them go, happy that I didn't bring them down with me. It didn't feel happy, though. None of them seemed happy, either.
None of them would even look at me.
"Alice," I whispered, suppressing the urge to curse when she ignored me and kept walking.
A shuffle came from my left. "Bella, please stay. You wouldn't want to leave Edward behind, would you?" The shuffling stopped at Aro's words. Poor Bella.
I twisted back around to face the thrones as Aro inquired, "Shall we begin, Leah?"
Before I could move, Edward decided there was more to say. "She's not perfect in her control. There's a chance she won't be able to under such pressure."
"Do you require motivation?" Aro's strange red eyes zeroed in on me again. The amount of glee inside of them disturbed me to my core.
"No," I answered fast into the stinging air.
Shut up, Edward. He was making things worse. I had to do this and that was that, no argument or stalling wanted or required.
"Excellent."
"She has no clothes," Edward snapped, losing his composure. He regained it before saying, "I know you don't mean for her to strip before you."
"We'll provide clothes for Leah," Aro assured him, eyeing my frame.
Before Edward could think of something else to say against my wishes, I crouched to untie my boots. Stained, torn, and practically useless, I still didn't want to turn them into tatters. I left them standing in my place as I walked into the more open space between the thrones and where Edward stood. The sound of my feet padding along was deafening this deep underground, muffled only by my heartbeat. But as I drew closer, I could pinpoint where the acidic smell had come from: The drain in the floor. I hadn't seen it before. Now, I could even smell the traces of what'd dissolved in it.
It was all the motivation I could've ever needed for a phase.
Molten blood boiled in my veins, heating my skin. The tremors started, chattering my teeth so hard they threatened to break. The phase turned into a force I couldn't control, sprouting wildly from the center of me, out. I shifted in an instant.
Caius' reaction was also instantaneous. "A child of the moon!" He roared at the top of his lungs.
His voice doubled—tripled through the place, disorienting me. Caius didn't miss a beat, though, jumping onto the seat of his throne in a crouch. He'd kill me, consequences be damned.
Let him. Don't risk yourself, I thought to Edward, bracing.
I was ready for this. Caius moved to spring.
"Sit down, brother." Caius kept his teeth bared but did as Aro calmly commanded. Just like that, the threat to my life was neutralized. "She is a shapeshifter and she holds her intelligence even in this form. Watch."
Watch?
"Leah, speak," Aro demanded. But I couldn't speak and he knew that. "Speak, girl." Understanding traversed bitterly through my mind.
He wanted me to make some noise? Fine!
I tilted my head back, letting out a howl that bounced around and around, only getting louder. In the loud echoes, Aro could be heard giggling. Caius was stiff as a board in his throne, the horror on his face contrasting Aro's obvious delight. The sound even got Marcus to react, his eyes had gone from droopy to wide.
Aro, leaning forward on the seat of his throne, said, "I would adore a closer examination of you in this form."
I didn't move. My nose in this form would've exploded if I went any closer to the thrones. Aro frowned at my decision to stay where I was but didn't remark on it. I was sure he wouldn't die of his disappointment.
Caius asked in an uneven voice, "Are there many of them?"
"No, nor has there been in the whole of her people's history. There are a handful of males as we speak. Leah is the only woman shapeshifter—in history."
Something changed in Caius' attitude then. He leaned back in his throne, inspecting me with a calmer disposition. "I see. She's very special." I couldn't tell if he was being genuine, his natural tone was derisive.
"Yes! More-so than Bella. Though, no offense intended, Bella. You are still extraordinary."
"None taken," Bella replied with her smooth, new voice. It was beautiful but depressing—words I thought fit Bella pretty well now.
Caius puffed a breath that sounded like an in-between of a laugh and a scoff. It wasn't much longer before he said, "I would like to test her."
"No," Edward said immediately. His footsteps brought him closer, out of loose alignment with Bella.
Aro laughed it off. "Edward, I've never seen you so tightly wound! Relax. All is well. No human knows of us. Leah is a shapeshifter and that has been proven now, in front of many witnesses. Her pack is of no threat to us, they keep to themselves on their land and only attack intruders."
Caius raised a fine eyebrow. "No threat? Have they never killed one of our kind?"
"Wouldn't we dispose of anyone who dropped in on us unannounced and killed one of our own?" Aro took on an impatient expression then, giving a dismissive wave. "They know well not to wage a war they cannot win and our kind's exposure would mean theirs. This is a wonderful discovery, not a worrying one."
The mood of the room gave way to curiosity. Hoods came down so pale faces could examine me better. A few kept their hoods up, remaining still.
"You know she isn't a human. You know she isn't a threat. What's left?"
Aro ignored Edward's prodding. "Dear one, send for Chelsea." One of the smaller cloaked figures left from behind the thrones.
A few seconds passed before the cloaked figure returned with a woman with dark fabric in her hands. She had light brown hair, a round face, and red eyes. Her cloak was the darkest I'd seen beside the three heads'. Aro came out of his throne to meet her a few inches away from me. I almost threw up at his stink. Aro glanced at me as I swallowed back bile.
He took one of Chelsea's hands then, holding it with care. "I see. I see very well." He released her. I was willing to bet she had some sort of power. "Give her the cloak."
She didn't like that idea, replying, "This is Heidi's."
"Worry not. It shall be returned to her." He stroked her face, her features turning gentle at his touch. It felt like I was an unwilling voyeur peeping in on an intimate moment between them.
Chelsea threw the cloak over my back with clear displeasure on her face before stepping away. Back toward Aro, where he slipped a hand onto her neck in a clear act of ownership.
The cloak stayed on as I went back to my human form, warming up against me even in the frosty air of the turret. I pulled the cloak closed, holding it tight as I stood up. Aro applauded me, the sound a startling volume.
"It's a perfect fit," Aro stated, a pleased curl coming to his lips. There was a gleam now underneath the film over his eyes. "It should keep you warm on your way back to your hotel."
His sentence repeated in my head. Then it repeated again. Again and again, becoming more unreal every time.
"May I, before you go?" Aro held out an open, pure white palm.
No way. He didn't have a shot in hell. If all my ancestors had resurrected themselves just to tell me to say yes, I still wouldn't have. The idea of it was unthinkable. Why in the hell would I give my life story—no, more when I could just walk away? Back to my hotel, back home. Why, when I could say no?
To be agreeable.
In a split-second decision, I placed my hand on Aro's.
"Wow," he breathed, jerking his hand away from me like I was an open flame. "You are even more than you seem."
Edward let out a furious hiss.
"We've a matter left to address." Aro started dragging me deeper toward his side of the room by my covered wrist. I dug my heels into the ground, wincing when he gave a tug that sent me staggering forward. "Come now, I've every intention to help you, not to harm you."
Edward tried to follow us but Felix ran to stop him. "Hold on there, Eddie. That's close enough."
Aro stopped us just before the steps. "Would you like to tell her or shall I?" He asked, gently turning me around by my cloaked arms. I couldn't see Edward from over or around Felix. "Hm?"
"Leah," Edward began, sidestepping Felix. His eyes were frantic, more terrified than I'd ever seen them. I tried to run to him but Aro stopped me by grasping my arms. "I didn't tell you this because—because—damn! Admittedly, Alice had a vision about a longterm future when you came back to life after the battle. It's part of the reason I was gone for so long, even after Bella had left. I was considering things, reassessing. There was a big possibility we could end up together."
I opened my mouth, closing it again as the full brunt of his confession hit me. I asked dryly, "Was?"
"Is," he confirmed, eyes flicking toward the side where Bella was behind him. "This disrupted my plan to tell you about Chelsea—"
"Chelsea?" I looked over at the woman who'd brought me "Heidi's" cloak. She was close by, standing in front of the steps. Was that why Aro pulled me this way?
"She can create bonds and she can mold them or switch them between people. You must know that—you must know that's why I wasn't quick to tell you. I was scared of what could happen and I felt that it wasn't worth the risk. Nothing was worth the risk of losing you. I wasn't even sure it was safe—"
"Chelsea can also break bonds," Aro whispered, his wintry breath stinging my cheek. Edward cut off, covering his face with his hands.
I'd avoided death three times, climbed up the ranks of a pack who'd despised me, and lost my best friend in the whole world. But the absolute hardest thing I'd done yet was to seal off my reaction then and there. I repressed every trace of emotion, gnawing on the inside of my cheek to bite back the scream I'd almost let out.
Aro's hands inched down my sleeves, toward my hands. "Doesn't that shock you? Awe you, perhaps?"
"I don't understand," Bella murmured, saving me from Aro's intense scrutiny.
I slipped up, looking straight at her in my distracted headspace. She was breathtaking, everything about how vampirism changed someone suiting her well. The crown jewel of her immortality was the ruby-red eyes, fixed on Aro's face next to mine.
She continued, "All this time, he could have broken the bond? Why didn't he?"
"Why?" Aro acted stunned by the fact she'd even asked. "Because he liked the idea of a life with Leah. He wasn't merely reassessing, he was reconsidering which woman he actually wanted."
Edward groaned into his hands as if he'd been stabbed.
"We now know the truth, as you wanted us. What next?" Bella asked, sounding so disinterested I could've laughed in any other situation.
"Next, Edward can make the fair choice he so desired all this time. With all his secrets outed, neither of you hold any false expectations. You know him as he is and so whichever choice he arrives, you will be able to respond appropriately."
Edward's hands started sliding down his face. I looked away. I didn't want to see him.
"I'm so sorry. Both of you have no idea how truly sorry I am," Edward murmured in his typical self-loathing way.
"Just make your choice, Edward." Bella's voice relaying how exhausted she was of the situation. "It's time."
Aro suggested, "If you choose Bella, I could see to it that Leah makes it home."
I said in a flat voice, "I don't want your help."
"You might change your mind about that soon," he commented close to my ear. It seemed benign, at first. Pushy, but nonthreatening.
Then I remembered Chelsea didn't just break bonds.
"Should I show you? I assumed you'd prefer it," Edward said, interrupting my exchange with Aro.
Aro seemed surprised. "You've chosen already?"
"I have." Those were the two worst words I'd ever heard.
"How easy this turned out to be! I'm grateful for your offer and I intend to take you up on it," Aro said, holding out an eager hand.
Edward wasted no time, flitting right over to stand in front of us. Aro's dark hair swayed around his narrow face from Edward's dash to him but his hand kept its unyielding reach. It wasn't long before marble glided against marble, their hands linking together.
Aro made a sad sound in the back of his throat. "How tragic. I only hope this won't break her." His voice was a pitying, cloying arrow that threatened to pierce through my chest. "I'm so sorry, Bella."
Of course.
Edward chose me so I didn't get trapped. Carlisle could still continue research on how to break the bond. He and Bella could still end up back together. Everyone would get to go home. This was the best choice, the easiest one. Too easy.
Aro wasn't letting me go. He still had on a remorseful mask but his hold on me didn't loosen at all. It wasn't over.
"I hadn't thought of this before," Aro started, trailing off a moment as he released Edward's hand. "I hadn't, but wouldn't it be terrible for Bella to go and harm herself again now that you've left her a second time?"
Bella flowed forward on her feet. "I wouldn't." Her voice had risen a pitch.
"I would like to believe you but I cannot take that chance. As a precaution, I'll sever the bond between you two."
"No," Bella protested, the panic hard to miss in her voice. "You can't do that."
"Bella, I must if I'm to ensure your safety. That is, unless Edward would like to change his mind about his decision."
I'd wondered how Aro would manipulate Edward into handing me over. This was pretty creative, though. He knew from my mind that if Edward didn't choose Bella here and now that her insecurities would never allow them to reconnect later on. She'd never be able to trust that he loved her and only her ever again. This was their last chance to leave me behind and get back to the life they were supposed to be living
"Edward," Bella said, prompting him. "Come on." It would be so easy for them. They'd leave here and never return to Forks, but they'd live happily ever after together.
I'd be a blip in their lifetimes.
I'd be— "I'm not changing my mind, do as you will."
A resounding silence punctuated Edward's final choice.
I looked at Bella in a moment of sheer stupidity. She had the exact look my mom did at my dad's funeral, that same devastation. The feeling of loss was so universal, it could connect anyone from any walk of life because it transcended things like language and culture. I could understand her, for once. Of course, I could. She was me, a perfect mirror image of who I was before imprinting: The personification of loss.
"Chelsea?" Aro beckoned, sounding decidedly less pleased then.
I expected something big. An explosion would've felt right or maybe some big shockwave. It was nothing like that. Chelsea stayed still, squinting and taking a deep breath through her mouth. Edward's eyes slipped shut. When he opened them again, there was still unease, but the pain that'd ruled them was gone.
Chelsea smirked, obviously pleased with herself. "Not as tough as it looked but she'll stay connected to him."
"That's dreadful news," Aro said to Chelsea, lacking any actual disappointment in his voice. "The whole point was to alleviate her pain. What to do?"
Bella said, very polite, "It's alright. I'm going to go now, if you don't mind." It was unnerving since she kept that same expression.
"Won't you stay? I'm so very worried for you to be alone right now, especially as a newborn."
"Thank you but I plan to find Garrett since I agreed to travel with him for some years. I'll be ok." She turned then, leaving without a glance back.
Aro watched her, unblinking. I imagined he was trying to think of some way to keep her there. She was lucky to be immune against any telepathic abilities. The only thing he could do was watch her as she went.
Once she was gone, Aro snapped out of it to paste his smile back on. "She's yours." He let go of me.
Edward grabbed the front of the cloak, yanking me into his chest hard enough to hurt. He locked his arms around me, backing away from the thrones. He was steering us right for the only way out, the wooden door. I held onto him, very aware that he was my only lifeline.
"Fortune favors the bold," Aro quoted before letting out an abrupt laugh. It was mirthless and dry, the sound a joyless scrape over my ears. "You were very bold today, Edward."
"And I was very fortunate," Edward replied tersely. He veered us to his right, picking up my boots without ever stopping his track out of the room.
"Were you?" Caius asked, his voice startling me into flinching. Edward sped up. "For now."
"My brother is too pessimistic. In the end, I know you two will be fine. Magnificent, even. You're quite the couple."
"Thank you, Aro," Edward spat in probably the least grateful tone I'd ever heard.
"Of course. Come back, visit, whenever you like. Perhaps late December, sometime?" Edward tensed and Aro let out a genuine, windy laugh. "Have a safe trip. And tell Carlisle not to be a stranger."
Edward spun around, speeding us out. I got a glance at the thrones before a guard member who was shadowing us blocked my view. All three of them were watching us.
Right before the vampire shut the plain door behind us, I heard, "This is going to be fun."
Edward didn't hesitate, moving us faster because of it, if anything. We eventually broke the surface from a dusty cellar into an old church. The Cullens were waiting in the aisles and strung out in the pews.
"We have to go. Now!" Edward yelled, still holding me. "Carlisle, give me the tickets!"
"You can't run all the way there, Edward. There's no path remote enough."
"I can't breathe," I wheezed as Edward's grip tightened a bit too much. He was quick to release me.
I dropped down into a weak crouch, a gasp freeing the breaths that'd been lodged in my lungs. My pulse raced on, so loud in my ears that their soft speech droned by like meaningless noise. I cupped my shaking hands over my eyes and face. The emotions were rising back up. Rising, rising, rising, wrecking everything inside of me on their way up.
"Then, get us a car! I don't know what else to tell you!" Edward's voice was the first to come back clear into my head. He bent just enough to scoop me back up from the ground. "Let's go!"
"Get off." I tried to elbow away from him.
"I'd listen to her," Jasper chimed.
"I'll worry about how angry she is once she's safe and—"
"I said get off!" I screamed, shoving him off. I shoved him again. And again. Until he smacked into the stone wall and the church's brittle roof rattled. "I don't want you near me! Got it?"
He whispered with rounded eyes, "Yes."
"Just stay away!"
I stormed out then, not pausing to address the rest of the Cullens who were all as guilty as Edward. Wisely, none of them tried to stop me as I skidded down the hill the church was on. No soul seemed to be around for miles but I didn't completely trust my senses as I fended off an incoming phase. My emotions had spiked too high.
I'd barely calmed enough to stop shaking before Rosalie strutted out of the church, alone. She came to where I was standing on the sidewalk by the abandoned road. Overgrowth and cracks had taken over the asphalt to the point of being unfriendly to any car that wasn't an off-roader.
She linked her arm with mine. I'll get you back home, none of them have to be involved."
"You didn't know, right?" I asked her, needing to hear it.
"No, I didn't know until minutes before we found you with Santiago. I know everything now, though. I'll be more than happy to tell you it all on the way back." She tugged me along the sidewalk, picking up speed.
"When you're ready to talk, I'll be waiting!" Edward called after us. After me.
"When I die of old age, don't bother visiting my grave!" I shouted back, Rosalie stopping me from turning around.
She kept me moving, steering us as we sprinted away. She must've had some idea of where we were going. I didn't ask. Neither of us spoke for a while, waiting to get out of the bounds of their hearing.
Once we'd put a fair amount of distance between us and them, she told me, "I have your passport but we need to get you clothes. It's that, then we're out of here. You never have to return here again. You never have to see him again." I wasn't sure if she was talking about Edward or Aro.
It didn't matter. "Thanks, Rose."
"You don't need to thank me. I'm your friend, Leah. I always will be." Golden eyes flitted to my face, worried. "You look like you'll be sick any second."
It was all I could do to keep moving and not phase. "I'm fine." I just had to get home. I could deal with the rest later. "You know where we're going, right?"
"I do. I even know where to score us a car."
"Dammit!"
Rosalie's eyes swept over me. "What? Are you going to phase, after all?"
"No. I forgot my boots."
A/N: As it was said a long, long time ago, "the truth will out". Leah finally knows it all and Edward ended things with Bella in a very, very permanent way. But is that enough? Will Leah ever be able to forgive him? Stick around and find out!
I LIIIVE! Lol, I'm back. Life's been hectic but I never stopped thinking about you all and this fic. Thank you so much for still leaving reviews and thank you for returning! I'm not done yet, so please don't give up on me haha. I hope to get the next chapter out much faster. See you all soon! For real! I'm really gonna post again soon! Also, here's my obligatory apology for any mistakes I didn't catch! :)
