Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer not me.
Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel of Our Dawn 5. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and Our Dawn Series Specials but if you don't want to bother I have a resume on my profile page. As it would be expected this is a next generation story and as such, it's focused on Jake and Leah's children.
A/Note 2: A huge thank you for everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series so far.
A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.
Alpha
Book I – The Third
Harrison Black
25. Thunderstorm and Rainbow
We managed to sneak inside the house around midnight. Most of the work in both cars was done. Jerry's car still needed to be painted but the rest was finished thanks to Isaac's help. Unlike what William and I initially thought our younger brother knew more about fixing cars than us, proving to be truly his father's son.
Mum and dad were waiting for us in the living room, scowling. They had showered and put on clean clothes, and dad's injury was already gone. A lighter and joyful mood between them was perceptible but their faces were serious because they wanted to impose some respect.
"Which part of 'you can't leave the house' you did not understand young lady?" Mum asked Sarah who was too drowsy to reply.
"She was with us in the auto shop. She didn't do anything wrong." Will put in for our sister.
"I took her there." Isaac confessed. "I figured it would be better to take her with me than to leave her here on her own."
"Go to bed Sarah. We'll talk in the morning." Dad said. Sarah squeezed Isaac's hand and after wishing us a good night she went up the stairs, stopping at the top to childishly put her tongue out to our parents who weren't watching since they were facing us instead. Then she left.
As soon as Sarah entered her bedroom they turned to Isaac.
"Why did you take your sister?" Mum asked. "We grounded her for a purpose. You can't just decide and change the rules we made. We said she couldn't leave the house…"
"I have super hearing powers mum!" Isaac raised his voice. "And you two should learn not to engage in certain… less proper activities when there's another wolf in the house! A warning wouldn't hurt either and it would greatly help your children mental stability, alright?"
To their credit, mum and dad seemed quite embarrassed when they realized what Isaac was talking about. It was kind of weird to watch my parents being lectured by my seventeen-year old brother, but it was undeniably fun. William must've been thinking the same because he grinned watching our parents reddish faces.
"I would give everything to have my camera right here." He muttered making mum and dad glare at him. "What? It's funny. You've spent the whole day lecturing us about being responsible and you actually have se…"
"Don't finish that sentence, Will." Dad warned.
"Or what daddy?" Will challenged.
It was becoming harder and harder for dad to keep William on the line. Our alpha genes impelled us to challenge our father constantly, even though we knew we were no match for him yet.
"Or you're going to have to help me in the auto shop for two whole weeks and you'll have Brady's night shifts with Sam."
Ever since Sam had called William an arrogant brat, things between them were tense.
Will turned his back on us and went to the kitchen to raid the fridge.
"When I'm alpha, I'll make you do the night shifts with Sam." He said from the kitchen. Despite the serious tone of his voice, this wasn't a direct threat because Will knew better than to provoke dad about his leadership.
"You'll have to fight me first, boy." Dad laughed amused.
"Anytime, old man. I can face you whenever you like."
"I know you can face me. The question is: can you actually win?"
William returned to the living room carrying a pack of chips and a soda.
"In a few years… old man." He said playfully facing our father. "In a few years you'll be dead meat." Both of them laughed in the end.
"Are they always like this?" Isaac asked me.
"Yep." I confirmed. "And sometimes is really annoying."
"Are you all ready?" Mum questioned. "It's time."
"Time for what?" Isaac asked.
We followed our parents to the backyard.
"Do you hear that?" She turned to us.
Far away we could hear the sound of thunders and moments later, a strong light came into the sky. A thunderstorm was coming.
"Awesome!" Will exclaimed realizing what that meant. "I love these meetings."
After checking on Sarah, who was now sound asleep, we left to the woods and reached the baseball field within a few minutes. Uncle Paul, Sam, Quil and Uncle Embry were already there too.
"I thought we were having a meeting." Isaac said watching the others play with the baseball bats.
"We are." I explained. "There's something you need to understand. There are the boring meetings and the cool meetings. Most of the Council meetings are the boring type. However as you will soon learn, the meetings with the Cullens completely the opposite."
"But they're vampires."
"They're not so bad. Trust me." I told him.
Carlisle and his family appeared then, and greeted us enthusiastically. Esme had stayed at home. The Doctor's wife had never been a fan of baseball matches and someone had to put an eye on Season so she had volunteered to stay.
The serious business they had to discuss with the pack would have to wait because first we were going to relax and play some baseball.
"Watch and learn baby brother." Will said and taking a bat from Uncle Paul's hand he entered the field. "I'm the batter for the Wolves."
"In that case, I'll be the pitcher for the Vamps." Alice announced. "Watch out for airplanes, let's not repeat what happened the last time you were batting."
Isaac was suddenly alert. "You caused a crash?" He asked William who simply laughed.
"Almost." Carlisle answered coming to stand beside us. Isaac wrinkled his nose due to the intense odour coming from the Cullens. "The airplane landed safely but the commander swore he saw a baseball ball flying at almost four thousand feet high."
"Wait for the thunder." Mum warned Will who was now in his position and waiting for Alice to throw the ball.
"Is this normal? I mean playing baseball with… vampires?" Isaac asked.
"Yes." I replied. "You'll get used to it."
He simply shrugged.
"So… My dad said you've been studying us." Isaac turned to Carlisle. "He also said we inherited this gene… have you been able to find out the origin of it?"
"Not yet."
"Can you show me your research?"
"Sure. Whenever you have the time you're welcome."
"What a nerd." I mumbled. It was so typical of Isaac to start a scientific debate while assisting a baseball match.
As more thunders erupted, the game turned more competitive. Uncle Embry failed to hit the ball three times so Rosalie scored for the Cullens. I heard dad asking Uncle Embry if he was alright since he had never failed that much before but due to the thunderstorm that was getting more intense I didn't hear the answer.
On my turn to play, I scored for our team and tied the game. Then, on our last move dad decided to give his turn to Isaac, who hadn't played yet. Edward was the Cullen's batting player. This was a strategy that had ensured the Cullens to win all of the matches that didn't end with a tie, because Edward could read minds (all except for Bella's but she was in his team) so he would know what our pitcher would do.
"That's really smart Jacob. But we still have an advantage." Rosalie said. She was referring to Edward's inability to read my brother's mind. "Edward's one of our best players and Isaac never played before."
"With us." My dad retorted. "But he played at college. And he sure knows how to throw a ball."
"How does it feel not having the upper hand for once?" My mother teased Edward.
"Quite entertaining actually."
"You can do it, Isaac." We all cheered when my brother took his place and a couple of minutes later we were celebrating our first victory in twenty-five years.
An hour later we were all gathered at the Cullen's mansion. The thunderstorm was passing right above Forks and La Push but since it wasn't raining we were able to make a barbeque in their backyard. There could be no celebration without food and drinks.
William and Emmett were having a contest to see who could eat more hamburgers in five minutes. Vampires could eat human's food but after a while they would have to throw up, so it wasn't pretty to see Emmett throwing up when the five minutes were finally over. Will on the other hand laughed his ass off.
During the next hour we ate, drank and ate some more until it was finally time to get serious. My mother called Uncle Seth to see why he was so late and he told her he wouldn't make it to the meeting because he had been called for an emergency at the local hospital.
Jared, Denis, Brady and Collin were patrolling so Carlisle stood up and called our attention. He gave us a full report about Season's situation mentioning that she didn't recall the attack and that we should keep it that way since telling her the truth was out of question.
Then Alice explained what she had seen in her vision a few hours ago which caused the pack to question her about the reasons for the Volturi's return.
"They want something from the girl." Alice said.
"But she's just a human girl." My mother said.
"We know that… but Aro doesn't. He knows Gustaf bit her so he probably thinks she's a newborn."
"So call Aro and tell him you prevented that to happen. Tell them she's still human." Uncle Embry suggested.
"If I do that they'll send someone to kill her." Edward said. "Even if we tell them that she has lost her memory of the attack, they won't take any risks. She's a liability."
Let them try. I thought. Those motherfuckers won't pass through me.
"We've been analysing the situation and we think we know what Aro wants from her." Carlisle announced. "But we still need to be sure."
"All we have are guesses." Edward added.
"Fine. Let's hear them." Dad stated.
"In my vision Aro was really angry that's why he called his best guards to come here. And Aro is only angry when he loses something he really wants."
"Like what?" Will asked.
"Like Gustaf." Alice replied.
"You think Gustaf is going to die and he blames the girl for that?" My dad asked.
"No. Gustaf's not going to die. I saw him in my vision too. He'll arrive safely to Volterra but I believe he doesn't have his power anymore. I think that when he bit Season he became powerless."
"You think Season took his tracking power away?" I questioned.
Alice nodded. "And Aro wants her because he thinks she has Gustaf's power now. He thinks Season is like Scarlett, so he won't stop until he gets her."
"But she's not like Scarlett. She's not a vampire and she doesn't have Gustaf's power, right?"
Alice opened her mouth to answer me but in that precise moment several howls echoed in the forest.
"He's here." Edward announced. "Jasper come with me."
Dad stood up too but Carlisle prevented him to go after his sons.
"They won't be long, Jacob. They're going to get someone who can help us to determine if Season really has an ability or not." The doctor said.
"How can she have a power if she's just a human girl?" Will asked.
"I had visions when I was just a human child." Alice confessed. "And Bella was a shield when she was still human. When we turned our abilities were enhanced, but the truth is we possessed our powers all along. So it's possible that Season has some kind of power too."
"If she does have one, what will happen to her?" I enquired suddenly worried about the girl who had just escaped death and was about to become a victim of Aro's greed.
"I don't know." Alice said in a whisper. "Look… they're back."
Indeed Edward and Jasper were back accompanied by another vampire, who was questioning them about the huge wolves they had just encountered in the woods. He was not quite convinced when Edward told him they were just protecting their lands and kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure they weren't followed.
Isaac growled lightly and my parents surrounded him immediately to prevent my younger brother to attack the vampire, who was obviously friends with the Cullens.
"What the hell is that?" My twin brother asked as we took a better look at the Cullens' guest.
"That's Bruno." Alice said and then she walked towards them to hug Bruno.
"Alice!" Bruno screeched like a Banshee. "Chéri! You cut your hair! Oh my God, you're so beautiful I could die!"
"A gay vampire?" Will whispered in shock.
Bruno was indeed a strange character. He was tall and thin like any other regular guy only he was wearing makeup: a pink gloss, black eyeshadow and some shiny blush powder than was covering his cheeks, which made him look like a woman. His clothes were extravagant to say the least: black leggings and gloves, a golden and blue Chinese dress and a white scarf about his neck. Black All Star tennis shoes completed his weird outfit. But what really called our attention was his long hair dyed in seven colours, exactly like a rainbow.
"Edward you need to dye your hair blonde! You won't get lucky with the ladies if you remain the same for centuries."
"Actually… Bruno, I'd like you to meet my wife, Bella." Edward put his arms around Bella's waist when she joined them and there was a second screech that almost caused us to become deaf.
"She's lovely! I love her already! She's perfect for you!" Bruno kept squealing while circling Bella, who just like us, was at a loss. "Rosie, dear… you have competition." He turned to Rosalie and Emmett. "Oh Emmett, Emmett, Emmett… have you thought about that photoshoot session I told you about?"
"That was sixty years ago Bruno and my answer is still no."
"Rosie… please, can you convince him for me?"
Rosalie shrugged.
"I'm not getting naked in front of anyone." Emmett announced firmly.
"You don't have to be completely naked Em, but if that's what's bothering you, I can be naked too so you won't feel lonely. It's just that women and men, of course, deserve to see your beautiful body whenever they want and I can immortalize that with my photos."
Emmett laughed.
"God, you're crazy." He said.
"Crazy about my art, chéri!"
"Are you going to explain why this leech is here, or do we have to guess?" Dad was the first of us to react.
"Pack meet Bruno. He's going with us to see Season so we can find out what kind of power the girl possesses, assuming she has one of course." Alice explained.
"Oh my dear Lord. Who is this God of the wild Olympus?" The leeched came closer to us and we all took three steps back at the same time.
"Well… Jake I think it's time for us to take over our shifts. The others must be really tired." Sam announced slowly backing away. "Whatever you decide to do about the girl, I'm okay with it. Obviously she'll need protection but I'm sure you have everything under control. Let's go."
Uncle Embry, Quil and Uncle Paul followed him immediately, leaving us behind.
"Cowards!" Will called and we heard the four of them laughing and mumbling something about us taking one for the team.
In the meantime Bruno had a measuring tape in his hands and was trying to take my father's measures.
"You must be almost seven feet tall. And weight…" He tried to put his arms around dad to measure his waist but mum put herself between them.
"Yes, he's really tall, really handsome, and he's taken. So back off, freak."
"I'm not a freak. I'm Bruno Butterfly Rainbow. BB Ray to friends."
Will, Isaac and I couldn't help ourselves and burst out laughing.
"What kind of a name is that?" Will asked, clutching his stomach.
"You have clones." The leech said observing dad and then us. "Younger versions of yourself… How awesome. I can make a family photoshoot."
"Carlisle…" Mum hissed. "Tell this leech to stop groping my husband or I'll phase and rip his head off."
Upon hearing this Bruno backed off.
"What does she mean? Are they werewolves?"
"We better go inside and talk properly." Carlisle proposed. "We have a lot to discuss."
On our way to the house Edward explained briefly what we were. Basically he told him we were shapeshifters who protected La Push from nasty vampires. He also assured him we wouldn't harm him if he played by our rules which meant no attacks on humans in our lands. He accepted and took the news quite well. I guess that when you're a vampire you don't have problems believing in the existence of other creatures.
The Cullens and Bruno installed themselves comfortably on the spacious living room while my family decided to stay close to the windows. We were now used to the Cullen's scent but Bruno's was different. He didn't smell like a regular non-vegetarian leech but he wasn't a vegetarian vampire either.
We then learned that he fed on human blood that a friend of his smuggled from a few blood banks located in the city of Los Angeles, Bruno's hometown. He had been turned in 1947 at the age of twenty-six by a vampire woman he never met again, but he remembered she was much older than him. He wanted to be an actor but when he realized that he was immortal he changed his dream and focused on fashion. It happened he was quite talented but he soon realized he couldn't be near humans without feeling the need to feed on them so he searched some solutions.
"I met Carlisle, Esme, Rose, Emmett and Edward around that time. I almost turned vegetarian with their help but for that I would have to move out of L.A. because it wasn't that easy to find animal blood around and I wanted to stay in my hometown. I had just started to work in Hollywood. So I spoke to Carlisle and he suggested a blood bank, after that it was easy." He told us. "Now I work for the most expensive labels in the world of fashion. Armani, Gucci, Versace… I work under another name of course, and I do most of my work in my own studio, alone, but I love it."
"So… what exactly do you do?" Mum asked.
Bruno smiled with the question.
"I design clothes, jewellery, shoes, purses, hats… And from time to time I take photoshoots with models and my photos are published in several fashion magazines." He said proudly. "And for your information, even though you're well… giant dogs, I wouldn't mind to have you modelling for me."
The five of us blinked several times.
"You are so natural… so fresh… you could all be stars."
"I pass." I said trembling slightly when I thought about being naked in front of that leech.
"Me too." William copied me.
"Me three." Isaac announced.
"It's a nice offer, but Leah and Jake are going to turn it down as well." Edward said.
"How can this leech… I mean Bruno, help us with Season?" I asked.
"Well, Bruno has a power… only for him it's more like a curse." Edward explained. "He can absorb people's emotions. He's an empath, like Jasper but while Jasper can control people's emotions, Bruno can only take those emotions in, either they're good or bad."
"Which makes my photo sessions a living hell. I have to deal with all kind of people and I absorb every emotions they feel. There are hyper teenagers, depressive young models who think they're not thin enough, jealous people, impatient jerks… you name it." Bruno elaborated.
"Well… I'm still lost." I confessed.
"If Season took away Gustaf's power, she'll do the same to Bruno's and…" Carlisle said.
"And I'll be forever thankful." Bruno finished.
I nodded. Dad approved the plan and I finally understood why the Cullens had called for this vampire. Assuming that Season could really take away a vampire's special ability, they'd be not only helping out a somewhat decent friend, but also protecting their own powers. I guess that all of them wanted to keep their abilities.
"I'm going to show my new winter collection to Bruno. It'll take a few hours." Alice said. "Go home and have some sleep. Tomorrow morning we leave to see Season and we want you to come with us." She told me.
I nodded once again and followed my family outside into the thunderstorm.
As if I'm going to let a stranger that happens to be a freaking leech, be anywhere near Season without my supervision. I thought.
Thanks for the reviews: Guest(s), CentaurPrincess, brankel1, MelkiSihou, Island Mama, Weave the Magic, Kary G, almondbutter, rocklesson86, TheSlytherinQueenbee, nikkie owens, nene82743, Deadman'sGun, bonzgirl, Jazzmatazz30, sia-gomo01, FangsandDaggers, Sagal Farah.
I'd also like to thank all the followers of this story and all the readers who added it to their favourites list. Thank you.
Sia-gomo01 – Thanks for your amazing support. I'm so glad to know that you like Leah and Jake's children. A huge shout-out to South Africa! Take care.