Twilight Fanfiction
Transitionals
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Twilight.
It's finally the moment to see what the meeting with the Denalis looks like through the Cullen's POV. For maximum view of this scene, I'll write it out in Edward's POV.
As I said in the Author notes from the last chapter, Internet access right now for me isn't easy to come by. I'm not home right now and won't be until the end of November. I will try to get as much chapters out to you as possible. As of right now I have a little more access to the internet but not a lot. I would like to thank you all for you patients during this time.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which I would like to dedicate to all of my reviews.
Chapter 14
Edward's POV
I couldn't determine from the thoughts I was hearing, how everything at the house was going. Currently no one was thinking about Bella or the girls. The Denalis were telling Carlisle and Esme about the recent events in their lives.
As I pulled the Volvo into the garage, my thoughts were solely on Bella. Taking care of her and her cousins; making sure they'd be safe. My thoughts were coming up with multiple problems that could happen.
I opened Bella's door, helping her from the car; barely registering Rose and Emmett getting Anna and Cissy.
Pulling Bella close I whispered in her ear. "Put your ring on."
She backed up, studying my face, but made no move to grab her ring. I needed to know her scent wouldn't bother anyone so I grabbed her bag and grabbed her ring box.
All of my worries vanished when I slid her ring on her right ring finger. They were replaced by a sudden idea that I was surprised I hadn't really thought about until that moment. The symbolism of putting her ring on her was not lost on me. I was now imagining my human mother's engagement ring on Bella's other hand.
A squeal of excitement broke me from my thoughts. It hadn't even been a second since I had decided but I knew Alice knew what I wanted to do. Her mind was already swirling with ideas for an elaborate wedding.
I shook those thoughts out of my head figuratively, remembering I needed to give Bella an explanation.
When I glanced at her face I noticed the deep blush. I had to fight back my curiosity, even though I wanted so badly to ask her what she was thinking. I wanted to know why she had blushed. Could she have been thinking along the same lines as I was? I would have to ask later, if I could find a way to mention it in a normal conversation.
Getting back on topic like I needed to I explained my reasoning for having her wear her ring. "We don't know how they'll react to your blood. We don't want your blood to sing to anyone else."
With how close we were to each other I couldn't help pressing my lips to her forehead. Enjoying her scent more now that it didn't cause my throat to burn.
"We ready?" Anna's groggy voice startled me. I hadn't noticed she had woken up.
Bella and I turned to her. She was resting in Emmett's arms looking like she could have slept more, and probably needed to.
You ready for this? Alice asked; she was smiling but I couldn't figure out what she was hiding from me. To my surprise she told me. Bella and Kate are going to get along. It'll be a little bumpy start but it will all work out.
Alice and Jasper led the way into the house. Alice greeting our cousins with a smile and a wave. Jasper nodded in their direction but he was cautious paying attention to Anna carefully. He wanted to make sure this introduction went down smoothly without any problems, just as much as the others did.
I listened intently to my cousins' thoughts when they saw the little girls come in with Emmett and Rosalie. Anna glanced around Emmett's legs to see our extended family.
'Oh, they are so sweet. Annabelle looks exhausted though.' Carmen.
'Remarkable, Carlisle was right about Anna's powers. How someone so young can control that much power, I can't even comprehend.' Eleazar.
'They are so adorable.' Irina.
'I just want to hold her forever.' Kate.
'How can someone want to hurt someone so small?' Tanya.
I stepped into the room, keeping Bella slightly behind me.
'Amazing, I can't get a read from her. She's completely silent, just like they said.' Eleazar.
'She is perfect for Edward.' I wasn't sure how Carmen knew, but just by looking at Bella she was sure that the two of us were always meant to be. Her thoughts continued and I realized Esme and Carlisle had been able to tell them quite a bit about Bella. They knew a lot about my Bella's character.
'So this is the girl I'm supposed to help. This is going to be so much fun.' I did my best to ignore Kate's thoughts. She was looking forward to Bella's training way too much.
'It should be fun to see Edward and his protective side.' Irina laughed in her thoughts. 'I wonder when he started regretting asking for Kate's help.' She knew me well.
Tanya's thoughts were analyzing Bella's looks, taking in all the details. 'You better not hurt her otherwise I'll be the one getting pay back for her.'
To say I was little bit surprised wasn't enough. Tanya was happy for me, for Bella too. And she was definitely not kidding about supporting Bella's side if I did something stupid and hurt her. She didn't have to worry about that. Hurting Bella was something I didn't want to do nor had any plans to.
"So this is the young lady you've been telling us about." Tanya took a cautious step towards us. She was testing me, seeing if it was alright for her and others to come near my mate. I resisted rolling my eyes at her.
After she was sure she wouldn't be stopped by me she reached her hand out to Bella.
'Danger.' I turned to Anna as she stopped Bella from getting any closer to Tanya.
We all watched in shock as Anna glared fiercely at Tanya.
'What did I do wrong?' Tanya wasn't sure whether or not to move back so she stayed put.
'This doesn't appear to be such a great idea after all.' Emmett.
'Should I take Anna upstairs? We've known the Denalis for years they wouldn't hurt Bella.' I didn't know if Rose's idea to take Anna upstairs was a good idea. With Anna sensing danger she wouldn't go willingly, wanting to stay by her aunt's side until she knew it was safe.
'Maybe we should have let Eleazar and Kate come alone. But we all wanted to meet your mate. I'm sorry for causing problems for the little one.' Carmen.
'I don't see anything bad happening, what could be wrong?' Alice.
'Oh Sweetie. Maybe we shouldn't have had everyone here at once. The Denalis are our family but that doesn't mean Anna's powers won't see them as dangerous.' Esme.
Carlisle gently pulled Tanya back to stand with him and the others. 'This was careless, we should have been thinking about Anna's powers. I just don't understand why she'd have to worry about the Denalis. We know they wouldn't do anything to hurt our family. That includes Bella and the little girls now.'
'Her gift is something I've never seen. It works constantly but seems to surge when she focuses it. With more training she could be far more powerful.' Eleazar.
'How am I supposed to help if the little one won't let us near her or Bella? What can we do to get her to trust us?' Kate.
'This was a bad idea. We should have waited until Annabelle was told we were coming. Maybe she would trust us if she had been told about us.' Irina continued to wonder if they should leave, at least some of them.
Jasper hurriedly pulled Anna up into his arms confused about what Anna was feeling. Her little hand pressed against his cheek before she had settled in his arms. 'The sense of danger is clouded by so many other things I can't pin point what is wrong.'
Irina asked what everyone was thinking. "What's wrong?"
'I can't figure this out, and neither can Anna. Maybe I should try to get Anna upstairs so we can try to piece together all these feelings.' Jasper didn't think he'd be able to get Anna away from Bella though. He was sure if he tried Anna would get upset.
Eleazar turned to Carlisle, his eyes filled with excitement. He was practically bursting with the desire to study Anna's powers. "Anna's power is remarkable. To put it simply she has a sixth sense."
Carlisle nodded, acknowledging Eleazar's words, but he turned to Irina. "Jasper will be able to tell us what's wrong in a moment, Irina."
We all turned and waited for Jasper; we could all see that he was struggling with this.
Alice couldn't stand not knowing why Anna was worried about our cousins. "What's wrong?" She rested her hand on Anna's cheek.
"Anna's confused, she's feeling many different things. Her powers have been giving her some trouble since Saturday though, so it could just be that." Jasper was trying to come up with some sort of explanation, but he just couldn't find one.
'I can't think of a reason why Anna would be worried about the Denalis.' Carlisle moved away from our cousins and reached for Anna.
Anna settled into his arms and showed him the strange sense of danger she was getting. Carlisle didn't have a clue what it meant.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Bella take a step towards the others. With how upset Anna's thoughts were I knew she didn't want her aunt to get any closer. Frankly I didn't want Bella any closer until we knew what was upsetting Anna.
I wrapped my arms around Bella keeping her with me.
Anna turned to Carlisle, a silent question in her eyes. She pointed to Tanya, Kate, and Irina. She then shook her head towards Carmen and Eleazar. 'The three of them are dangerous, why aren't the other two?' She was too nervous to ask her questions allowed.
'I don't understand, what is she trying to say Edward?' Carlisle asked silently.
"She's getting a danger sensation from Tanya and her sisters but not Carmen and Eleazar," I explained.
"Why would Anna be getting a danger sense from Tanya, Kate and Irina? We don't give off a danger sense, and they're vegetarians just like us." Emmett asked Bella.
Bella didn't answer. Her face was thoughtful and after a little while I started wondering what she could be thinking about. She snapped out of it but still didn't answer Emmett. I had a feeling she didn't know the reason.
Anna turned in Carlisle's arms and stretched towards Bella, who happily waited for her to be passed to her.
We all watched Bella and Anna carefully. Everyone wondering the same thing. Could Bella figure out what Anna was feeling? Why she was getting a danger sensation from Tanya, Kate, and Irina?
"Can you break the sensation down, Anna?"
The idea that Anna could manipulate her gift like that was shocking. It seemed advanced especially for a three year old.
'That's possible?' Emmett.
'That will make things easier to identify the different sensations.' Jasper.
'I thought we knew everything about Anna's powers.' Alice
'To think that someone so young has this gift, and then can focus it enough to study what she's feeling. Aro would be intrigued if he knew. He might even want her amongst his guard.' Eleazar didn't glance away from Bella and Anna but his thought was sent directly to me. 'We all know that Aro will want Bella, and we need to protect her, but we should also keep Anna away from him.'
I nodded subtly, understanding his thoughts immediately. I had never met Aro, but from Carlisle's and Eleazar's thoughts alone, I knew him well enough. I would do whatever I could to keep Bella and her nieces away from him.
'I see what Esme meant about how responsible Anna is.' Carmen.
'I wonder if this is what she has to do to figure out who betrayed her family.' Rose.
'That is some special kid.' Irina.
'Could you imagine how powerful she'd be once she's grown?' Kate.
'What did I do?' Tanya was the only one still wondering about what had set off Anna's powers.
'Anna powers were greater than we had first believed.' Esme.
'I don't understand why her powers are already so controlled. I didn't think the legacy line would make that much of a difference, especially with control.' Carlisle.
We all watched as Anna nodded her head and closed her eyes. I listened into Jasper's thoughts, hoping to have an insight to what it was that was worrying Anna.
'I can sense the differences but I still can't tell what they mean.'
Bella glanced over at my brother. "Jasper, could you strengthen what Anna's feeling?"
Jasper nodded, and he used his gift to help Anna's.
Bella thanked him silently before giving her full attention again to Anna. "Alright, can you break it down farther please?"
Anna's face tightened with concentration, and she rested her head against Bella's.
'I'm still working on getting a handle on all of these different sensations. I don't recognize any of them besides danger.'
That didn't help us at all.
'This feels similar though.' Jasper moved to Bella's side and rested a hand on Anna's shoulder. "This feeling reminds me of how my power registers lust."
He boosted the feeling of that one sensation to show Anna and Bella.
We all watched as a deep blush spread up Bella's face. Her embarrassment was great, causing Jasper to need to step away from her.
"I take it you figured out what Anna was feeling?" He asked.
Bella didn't answer and her face was still darkening.
Rose picked up Anna and asked the question we were all thinking. "What was she feeling? We've known the Denali's for years."
Bella's face surprisingly became even redder.
'Oh!' Jasper's thoughts caught me by surprise he had figured it out. "This doesn't have anything to do with the term Succubus, does it?"
Now I knew why Bella was blushing so badly. Her blush deepened until she looked as red as a cooked lobster.
Emmett snorted loudly. "That's what the danger sensation was about?"
Tanya, Kate, and Irina started laughing. They only saw the humor in the situation and had no complaint about being considered dangerous by Anna's powers.
Soon we were all laughing, even Anna who still had no idea why three of the new vampires were dangerous.
'I guess that's one way to break the ice.' Emmett.
'Poor Anna, she's confused, but I'm sure Bella doesn't want us to explain what's wrong.' One glance at Bella and I knew Jasper was right.
'Despite her control, it looks like she still has plenty to learn.' Eleazar.
'If only I had seen this, we could let Anna know that Tanya and her sisters were safe. She wouldn't have to be embarrassed.' Alice
'Poor Anna, she doesn't understand why we are all laughing. At least it seems like she knows we aren't laughing at her.' Rose.
'No wonder the sweet thing was so confused.' Carmen
'Hopefully this won't keep Anna from getting to know Tanya, Kate and Irina.' Esme.
'We may need to figure out how to explain to Anna that Tanya and her sisters are safe to be around.' I nodded acknowledging Carlisle's thought.
Irina was the first of the three to get control of herself, and calm down. She stepped forward and reached her hand out for Bella to take. "I guess I can see were being what we are can be dangerous."
"For men anyway," Tanya added.
Bella took Irina's hand. "Anna's powers felt the danger, but she knew it wasn't directed at any of us. She was confused, since the three of you had something dangerous about you but they didn't." She glanced towards Eleazar and Carmen, who smiled back at her.
'She's lovely Edward.' Carmen.
'I can't wait to see what she can do. With how powerful the young one is she must be so much more.' Eleazar.
'This isn't how I thought this would go, but so far so good.' Carlisle turned to Bella. "I believe it's time for introductions." He nodded to each person when he said their name. "Bella, these are our cousins from Alaska. This is Tanya, and her sisters, Kate, and Irina. And this is Eleazar and his wife Carmen."
I watched as my cousins carefully offered their hands to Bella to shake. Their thoughts were cautious. They were holding themselves carefully so that they didn't worry Bella or Anna. All of them were surprised when Bella took their hands firmly in hers.
'She really isn't afraid of us.' Carmen.
'You must not have told her about my gift.' Kate laughed silently. 'Otherwise she wouldn't willingly take my hand.'
'She seems relieved that we weren't offended by Anna's powers calling us dangers. We understand though, so you don't need to worry about us being upset with either of them.' Irina.
'I can't even read her when I touch her. Not that I ever needed to touch anyone before. Her shield is strong.' Eleazar.
'She's so friendly, you must not have told her about me.' Tanya glanced my way. 'Didn't want to tell your mate about the vampire who kept trying to get your attention?'
I didn't bother answering her question.
We all moved into the living room so we called talk, were Bella and the little girls would be comfortable.
Esme sat, angling herself towards Bella. "Bella, you can take your ring off. Your scent doesn't affect any of them."
Bella took her ring and slipped it into her pocket.
'That little things can control her shield, it seems impossible.' Irina.
'This is going to be so much fun.' Emmett.
'I can't wait to start practicing.' Kate.
'Using Kate's power against Bella's shield should help us get a better idea of how it works.' Eleazar.
'So far so good.' Alice.
'At least she doesn't look as nervous as when she finally came to talk with us.' Esme.
'Anna is still wary of Tanya and her sisters.' Rose.
'It's good to see that Bella trusts us.' Carmen.
'Bella's amused, but I haven't any idea why.' Jasper.
'It's good to see that Bella is comfortable around the Denalis.' Carlisle.
'Time to get this thing going.' I had to agree with Tanya, it was time to get started, we needed to get working with Bella's shield.
Eleazar was eager to talk with Bella about her shields. "Carlisle, and Esme, have told us a great deal about you. I must say your power is outstanding, I can't get a reading on you."
Bella of course had no idea what he was talking about, so I explained for her. "Eleazar can tell what another person's power is. Your mental shield is keeping him out just as easily as it keeps me out." I wrapped my arms around her waist.
Bella beamed.
"She loves the fact that he can't read her mind," Emmett told our cousins.
The Denalis all laughed at that.
'I think I'm going to like this girl.' Tanya.
'Ha the one mind he wants to read, and it's silent to him.' Kate.
'Serves him right, it wouldn't be fair to the poor girl if he knew everything she was thinking. It would make their relationship harder on them.' Irina.
'That must have been quite upsetting.' Eleazar.
'Bella really is perfect for you.' Carmen.
Kate leaned closer to Bella's and my direction, resting her elbows on her knees. Her thoughts turning to whether or not I told Bella why they were there. "Did Edward explain why he called us down?"
Bella shifted to spear me with her gaze before meeting Kate's. "He said that you all might be able to help me with my mental shield."
'Ha, Edward didn't tell her about my gift.' Kate laughed. "Actually, I think I'll be the only one who will be helping you." 'This is going to be so much fun. I haven't gotten a chance to really use my powers in a while.'
'Oh please, like we are that worthless.' Tanya
'We can still help even though we don't have any powers.' Irina.
Kate's sisters glared at her.
"You know the others might be able to give advice that could help her." I growled. I was not enjoying Kate's thoughts. I knew she couldn't hurt Bella but…
Kate rolled her eyes, ignoring my warning; not even bothered by it. "Sure, but if Eleazar's right, then I could actually use my powers to train her."
"Your powers?" Bella asked before I could yell at my cousin.
'Time for the fun.' Kate grinned wickedly. "I can shock people. I can run a current over my skin, but it used to only be in my palms."
'Bella!' Alice whined in her thoughts as she growled at Bella.
"What's wrong?" Eleazar asked Carlisle, what he and the rest of his family was worried about.
I chuckled, especially when Kate wondered if she had gone too far with her taunting. "It's nothing to worry about Eleazar. Bella just covered herself in her physical shield, and now Alice can't see her future."
Eleazar started laughing before he could stop himself. He didn't want to offend Bella but her initial reaction to protect herself reminded him of so many other memories from his life. He softened his laugh so hopefully Bella wouldn't think he was laughing at her. "Oh Bella, you don't need your physical shield to protect yourself from Kate. Her power works in the mind. She only makes you think you've been shocked."
"Alright, so your powers are sort of like Jane's."
'This is so funny to see. Go Bella you really shocked them.' Emmett laughed silently enjoying witnessing the surprise on the Denali's faces.
Eleazar actually stuttered. "Jane as in a member of the Volturi guard?"
Bella nodded. "I know quite a bit about the Volturi, most of the stuff about them I know though is within the past twenty, thirty years."
The shock that spread through my cousins' thoughts was laughable but I held it in. Maybe I was enjoying this as much as Emmett was.
"So you didn't know I used to be a part of the Volturi?" It was Bella's turn to be surprised by Eleazar's words. I had wondered whether or not she had known about when he had been part of the guard. I guess her look answered that question though.
Eleazar's thoughts were relieved to find that Bella didn't know. I couldn't pin point why though. We all knew of Eleazar's work with the Volturi, why would he not want Bella to know. Why would he want to hide that from her?
Eleazar spared me a glance. 'It is nothing, I just didn't want her to have reason to fear me.'
I nodded subtly. Sometimes his powers could almost turn him into a mind reader. With sensing my powers probing his mind, and a glance at my face, he could usually guess right about what I was wondering.
'The poor thing looks worried. I hope she's not afraid of Eleazar, he wouldn't ever hurt her.' Carmen glanced at her husband worriedly but did her best to hide it.
We all watched as Bella's face slowly changed from Surprise to a brief flash of embarrassment to uncertainty. None of us could hold back our laughter, and some of us really tried to.
It took a little bit but I managed to calm myself down enough to talk. "If you don't mind sharing your story later, it's rather important to get to work as soon as possible."
'Yeah, let's get started.' Kate shot a mental smirk at me.
I hugged Bella closer to me, seriously regretting this especially at seeing how excited Kate looked as she shot across the room to Bella's and my side.
"Is her physical shield down?" She asked Alice.
Alice nodded once she was able to see Bella's future again. 'Don't worry Edward she won't be able to shock her.'
That didn't help. I hadn't really wanted to work with Kate. Surely there must have been a better way to train Bella's shield.
Kate placed her hand on Bella's arm while Bella watched her. Thankfully there wasn't anything. No reaction no nothing. Bella wasn't hurt.
'You can quit growling now, I can't hurt her.' Kate growled lowly in annoyance.
Huh, I hadn't even noticed that I had been growling. Something I found Jasper was finding amusing.
'Welcome to the club.' He quipped. 'Irrationally overprotective.'
I quit growling as much as I could.
"Well, there you have it Edward, I can't hurt her." Kate took a step back. Not nearly far enough for my opinion.
'Finally, someone that doesn't have to get hurt for Kate to practice her gift.' Irina was really thankful for that. "Awesome, Kate can work with Bella and they both can train their powers."
Bella shifted nervously. "So what exactly are we going to do?"
Kate grinned, glad to find that she hadn't pushed Bella too far with her teasing or me for that matter. She was very quickly dragging on my patients though. "I'm going to help you learn how to project." 'While getting to work on my own gift.' She smiled wider.
'Bella's suspicious,' Jasper warned
I could hear it in her voice. "And how are you going to do that?"
"Come join me outside and I'll show you." 'I doubt she's going to like it.' Kate thought, and I agreed.
Bella got up and followed Kate warily. I didn't let her get to far away from me, or too close to Kate.
The others followed after us quietly, sensing that I wasn't thrilled with this situations. Bella wasn't either when she found out Kate's plans.
"So, who's going to be the guinea pig?" She asked, enjoying Bella's brief moment of surprise.
I didn't like it, and I couldn't help smiling when Bella glared darkly at my cousin. "Don't you dare. You best come up with a better idea because I'm not doing this."
'Just like I thought after Carlisle explained her other shield.' I turned to Eleazar surprised by his thoughts.
"It looks like you were right Eleazar," Carlisle beamed as he stared at Bella's information box. 'This will make it easier for us to help her with her shield.'
'Did they already figure out how to work her shield?' Irina.
'Come on I haven't even gotten a chance to use my gift yet.' Kate.
'Hopefully based on their excitement it means it won't be so hard to help Bella with her shields.' Jasper.
'Oh I hope they already know how to help Bella, she really needs her percentage to stop accelerating.' Esme.
'Yeah! We can help Auntie.' Anna screamed with excitement.
'This very well might be the shortest trip we've taken. Though I doubt Eleazar or Carmen for that matter will want to leave anytime soon.' Tanya.
'This is wonderful, once Bella's practice some with her shield and her percentage stops increasing, maybe we can go shopping. Alice.
'I suppose now that they figured out how to help Bella, Eleazar is going to want to stay and help her train. That's more than fine with me. I can help Esme with the little ones.' Carmen.
'Great, now we can get to the fun.' Emmett.
What are they talking about? Surely it couldn't be this easy otherwise her cousin and other family members would have been able to help Bella. "What was he right about?" Rose unconsciously shifted Cissy to her other side. Her eyes narrowed she didn't want to believe it could be so easy.
Her thoughts made me wonder, and I started to worry.
"Eleazar thought that since Bella's physical shield is connected to her emotions then her mental one might be too. When Bella started getting mad at Kate, her mental shield was reacting." Carlisle explain excitedly.
"So the more aware of my emotions the better I can control my mental shield just like with my physical one." Hope spread across Bella's face, she even laughed. She turned to Jasper, full of excitement. "Can you make me mad?"
Emmett roared with laughter. "I could do that without Jasper's powers, and apparently so can Kate."
The rest of us silently laughed only to break into chuckles when Emmett backed away from Bella's glare. Jasper was using his gift to fill her with anger.
Bella closed her eyes and we all waited.
Carlisle was monitoring her with her information box. Eleazar was trying desperately to find Bella's gift but he still couldn't get a reading on her.
'Nothing, absolutely nothing. She will be an amazing shield once she is one of us.' Eleazar
'Is something happening?' Carmen.
'I don't understand, what is supposed to happen?' Irina.
'What are we waiting for? We know I can't hurt Bella, we need to see if she can spread it around another person.' Kate.
'What exactly are we waiting for?' Tanya.
'Bella looks like she is going to fall asleep when she looks like that.' Rose.
'I wonder what would happen if I tried to scare her. Would her physical shield react like Bella said?' Emmett.
'Her shield is trying to react but it isn't as strong as when she had been angered by Kate's suggestion. It doesn't make any sense. Maybe her shield can sense Jasper is helping her and since it isn't her own strength of the emotion it isn't working right.' My dad's thoughts were spinning in my own mind. I supposed it would make some sense why her shield wasn't working.
'She's been trying so hard lately, it would be wonderful if this would work for her.' Esme.
'She's frustrated, whatever she is trying to do must not be working.' Jasper.
'Come on Bella you got this.' Alice.
'This isn't helping. But I will help.' Anna's thought caught me by surprise the little stinker was up to something her aunt wouldn't approve of on any day. She moved and reached towards Kate. "Auntie Bella."
What happened next was amazing. Anna's thoughts vanished exactly like they would have if Bella had been wearing her ring. I heard the gasps from the rest of my family as they saw Bella's mental shield information soar through the data in the information boxes they had out.
Bella didn't pay any attention to us though. She quickly grabbed Anna, pulling her into the safety of her arms and kissing her with relief.
'This is outstanding.' "Can you hear Anna's thoughts?" Eleazar asked me immediately.
I shook my head. This was amazing.
'It should be safe then.' Kate reached her hand cautiously towards Anna.
None of us had expected what would happen next.
The information boxes buzzed and I suddenly lost the mental voices of half the group. It was only for a brief moment but it was still amazing. I wrapped my arms around Bella and Anna, and kissed Bella's cheek. "You're amazing."
'She really is.' Alice.
'I helped Auntie.' Anne beamed excitedly, thrilled at what she had done, even though it had almost given her Auntie and Rose a heart attack.
'That was outstanding.' Carmen.
'I like this girl, she's strong both in power and in heart. I love how protective she is of her niece.' Kate.
'I wonder why her shields only worked when she was mad without Jasper's powers. It didn't really look like he helped much at all.' Irina.
'I wish there was some way I could convince Anna not to do something like that again. She could be seriously hurt by Kate's powers even if it was at the lowest setting.' Rose.
'That was so amazing, I wonder if Bella will ever be able to shield me so Edward would have to fight fairly.' Emmett.
'I don't think I'd believe it if I wasn't reading this now, and seeing it.' Eleazar.
'Now if only she could project both shields at the same time. You will need to keep her away from the Volturi, Edward. Understand me?' To say I was shocked by Tanya's protective thoughts was an understatement. The desperate need to protect that I could see in her thoughts was surprising and I was grateful to see how she already was seeing Bella as family. I hadn't expected her to be this supportive, I was actually touched by it.
'Maybe we should stop for now, we don't want to push Bella too much too soon.' Carlisle.
'I'm so proud of her.' Esme.
'Let's see what else can help her.' Jasper rested his hand on Bella's shoulder startling her. She must have thought it was Kate. He smiled apologetically. "That was excellent Bella. How about we try something else?" Before she could answer he filled her with happiness.
'Happiness doesn't appear to be as helpful as anger. Let's try something else.' Jasper tried the next strongest emotion which was sorrow. It took the two of us only a fraction of a second to realize that we should have skipped it and tried something else.
Jasper's powers were soon overpowered by Bella's own sorrow, so strong Jasper started trying to push it away. From his thoughts I heard as it changed into regret and guilt.
I felt horrible because I knew what Bella was thinking about now.
"What's going on?" Esme asked worriedly. She and the others knew something was wrong.
"Her shield is up I can't see her anymore," Alice groaned rolling her eyes, even as she worried about her best friend.
Jasper grimaced. "And I can't feel her anymore, I won't be able to help her."
Esme sighed hating to see Bella like this. "She may not want your help Jasper, and she knows how you're affected by her emotions."
I hated to see Bella this upset. I needed to care for and help her. I couldn't allow her to live with the pain she was feeling. All the guilt was eating away at her and I needed her to understand it didn't have to be that way.
My family and I after learning she believed she was the cause of her family's deaths, were all trying to get her to see that it wasn't so. So far we hadn't been able to dissuade her. But the pain I could see her in now and Jasper not being able to help her, I knew I needed to stop it.
Bella's arms went around herself and she started to slump to the ground. I couldn't stand it.
I wrapped my arms around her, the two of us ending up on the ground, her in my lap. "Bella it's alright. Let's stop for now." I held her tightly offering her comfort but she didn't seem to notice it.
Something was wrong, Bella didn't respond. Usually Bella would attempt to push me or my words away, but she wasn't. Something wasn't right at all.
"This is incredibly powerful work." Eleazar's thoughts and words did not sound impressed in fact he was worried. I was immediately pulled into his and Carlisle's thoughts.
'It's obvious both of Bella's shields are reacting together. I somehow got the feeling that she couldn't do that at this point.' Eleazar.
'I don't like the readings we're getting. So many different things are happening and I can't see all of them at once.' Carlisle.
I shook Bella gently. "Bella, come on Bella answer me."
Alice knelt beside me. 'I don't like not being able to see Bella's future. If her shield wasn't up I would possibly know how to help. I feel so useless.' "Bella, low your shields, lets be done for the day."
"Bella let me help you through this." Jasper silently panicked. 'This is all my fault I should have been thinking. I should have known not to try sorrow, I mean how effective would it have been anyway.'
Emmett dropped to kneel beside me on my other side. "Come on lil' sis that's enough." 'What can I do? I don't like seeing her this way.'
'Maybe Cissy and Anna can help her.' Rose knelt in front of us and Anna climbed onto Bella's lap.
"Auntie, talk to us."
Rose reached Cissy out for Bella but she didn't take her. Cissy curiously reached her little hand out and grabbed a handful of Bella's hair.
I would have thought a yank from Cissy would have snapped Bella out of it but it didn't. Rose gently freed Bella's hair from Cissy's grasp. Her thoughts were worried about Bella.
'Oh Sweetheart.' Esme gently moved Alice over a bit so she could hug Bella. "Snap out of it sweetheart."
"I don't think she can hear us." Carlisle glanced up from the information box. 'She's too lost to her thoughts.'
'Should we try to help?' Carmen.
'I feel like I'm intruding but I want to help too.' Irina.
'Would it be best if some of us left for a little bit. Not that I want to leave she's family and we all are going to worry about her.' Tanya.
'If only there was a way to shock her out of it.' Kate.
'This can't be good for her. We need to bring her back to us as soon as possible.' Eleazar's warning was echoing my thoughts.
Minutes were passing by and we still couldn't get Bella to snap out of it. Talking wasn't helping, shaking didn't help; we couldn't get through to her. Anna much to our shock even bit Bella. There wasn't so much as a flinch.
Esme took Anna though and explained how biting her aunt even for a cause like this isn't allowed.
Anna nodded. Her head froze mid nod and her eyes closed.
I focused on Jasper's thoughts as he felt what she was feeling. It was cold, extremely cold everything about it had a negative vibe to it. There was something else we couldn't place, but whatever it was frightened Anna.
She squirmed in Esme's arms until Esme put her down. Anna's mind was screaming worries for Bella but her fear didn't have a name. Her extreme fear didn't leave room for an explanation.
I was pulled into Carlisle's mind hearing his fearful thoughts. 'No! Bella!' "We need to snap Bella out of this, whatever is happen is causing her brain to shut down."
The words hit me hard, like I had just been slammed by my bear of a brother.
"Bella can't use her shields together like this for too long it's affecting her strength." Eleazar added. He handed one of the other information boxes to Esme. "Her energy levels are dropping rapidly. She can't take much more of this."
Esme switched to check on Bella's percentage. "Her percentage is slowly increasing steadily."
"What can we do, nothing has helped yet?" Emmett asked worriedly, his gaze locked on Bella.
"Auntie's ring." Anna said she had gone and sat down in Alice's lap so she could be close to Bella. She reached her little hand into Bella's pocket before anyone could question her. She stuck Bella's ring on Bella's hand and then curled up on Bella's lap.
Her thoughts were focused on pushing her powers out to Bella. She was showing her the feeling Jasper and I had felt from her.
We all waited patiently hoping that Anna could get to Bella.
'Please let Anna be able to help, we need Bella.' Esme prayed.
'This has to work, what would be the point of bringing Bella into our lives only to lose like this.' Rose.
'This is all my fault.' I was going to have to talk with Jasper. This wasn't his fault none of us could have known this would happen.
'She's got to be okay, she has to.' Alice.
'Come on little sis, you got to come back to us.' Emmett.
'We should have waited and asked Charlie to help. He has a mental shield and would have known how to train it.' Carlisle, was also beating himself up.
'I feel terrible, maybe we shouldn't have pushed too hard.' Kate
'Such potential, Anna's powers seem to be making a different but I don't see how? How does her powers work on Bella's now with her physical shield up?' Eleazar.
'This better work, I don't want to see what Edward would do if he lost Bella.' Tanya
'Who would have thought that something like this could have happened?' Carmen.
'We need to figure out what exactly caused this and then make sure it never happens again.' Irina.
I fully agreed with Irina. Once we knew what happened it would be yet another one of my jobs to make sure it never happened again.
'It needs to be stronger.' Anna struggled to push the feeling through to Bella.
"Jasper can you make the sensation stronger for Anna?" I asked him hurriedly.
Jasper rested his hand on Anna's shoulder and pushed his power towards her, strengthening hers.
"I can see her again!" Alice yelled, thrilled with this knowledge, but still worried about Bella.
Bella tried to open her eyes and Anna sat up straighter. "Auntie Bella?"
Bella finally managed to get her eyes open, she tried to focus on Anna. She was working too hard and I could tell she was exhausted. She slumped in my arms and I shot to my feet.
Jasper snatched Anna out of the air and followed after me. My mind swamped with my fearful thoughts and everyone else's.
'I can't believe you did that!' Rose yelled in her mind at me. 'Anna could have been hurt.'
'Please let Bella be alright.' Jasper kept chanting in his mind.
'I'm not seeing any permanent damage from this.' Carlisle.
'We are going to have to evaluate this and figure out what caused it so it won't happen again the next time Bella practices her shield.' Eleazar.
'This doesn't make any sense. Her percentage increased once more then stopped. From what Bella said I thought her percentage would continue to rise. Here energy is also stable. This doesn't make any sense at all.' Esme.
'Bro you better watch out, Rose is ticked that you almost made Anna fall on the ground.' Emmett.
'I'm so relieved they were able to snap her out of that. Now if we can only figure out what caused it.' Carmen
'Hey, I know you are still getting used to having a mate and you have a little more to worry about than normal, but you shouldn't have gotten to your feet like that, you could have hurt Anna.' Tanya.
'I guess that shows how little he thinks when he's protective and worried about Bella. Watch out next time, I don't have to tell you what kind of trouble you would have gotten into if that little one got hurt.' Irina.
'Hopefully I didn't cause this. I like Bella but I never want to see that ever again.' Kate.
'Fair warning Edward, Anna already has Tanya, Kate, and Irina wrapped around her fingers, if something happens to her, they won't hesitate to help Rose tear you to shreds.'
I sighed and promised to make it up to Anna as I set Bella down on the couch. I took Anna from Jasper and hugged her to me.
The two of us and sat and watched Bella, while the rest of the family sat around us and discussed the shocking information Esme had found.
Anna stretched her hand out and rested it on Bella's cheek.
"Careful Anna," Rose told her. "Bella doesn't need too much energy."
Anna took her hand away and rested her head on my shoulder. "I just want Auntie Bella to wake up."
Rose got up from where she was sitting and sat down on the floor beside me. She reached for Anna who willing went to her. Rose hugged her tightly. "She'll wake up when she's ready, she needs to rest now."
We really didn't know what Bella needed but it was clear that Bella did need to rest, she had looked exhausted in the brief moment where her eyes had been open.
I never wanted to see Bella that tired ever again, and I'd do whatever I could to make sure I wouldn't.
Author's note
Well there you have it. I know I've been waiting patiently for this chapter to know what the Cullens had tried to snap Bella out of her own head. Did it hold up to what you thought would happen?
What did you think about the first meeting with the Denalis from Edward's POV? Did that go as well as I thought it did? Did you like Tanya and her sister's thoughts?
I'm really curious, has anyone figured out why the Cullens and Eleazar and Carmen don't give off a danger reading? Don't forget Grandpa Ray still has a danger reading? So why not the Cullens and Eleazar and Carmen?
Next chapter is going to be longer than normal and depending on how long the chapter gets I might split it up like I did with Chapter 8A and Chapter 8B. I won't know until I find out just how long the chapter is. If it does get split up though I will post both parts on the same day.
I hope you all liked this chapter.
Look out for the Undermining,
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