Chapter 20 – Enough
BPOV
Emmett was hugging me tightly, "I am so sorry, Mom. I would never say anything like that to you. You're my only mother and I don't want anyone else. I couldn't help it. It was like she was in my head, telling me what to say to hurt you." My hands ran through his hair as we cuddled up in the arm chair, "I know, honey. You're my baby boy and no one can change that." Emmett lifted his head from my chest, "Mom, she's speaking to me now. She wants me to get away from you and go to her." I blinked slowly, "Can you tell me where she is? When we find her, she won't be able to get into your head." His eyes scanned my face and I waited. He looked down for a moment, then he turned his head to the doors, "She's outside. She can't get past the safeguard, but she's here."
My heart sunk as I looked to the doors. The glass panes were still and nothing was moving on the other side of them. Rosalie was there first, opening the doors and closing them behind her. I caught a scent of the air before she closed them. There was the stench of decay. There was something out there. Mikhail, Jacques, Gregori and Aidan were outside, searching for the vampire who created the vampiress, but she was here. I began to rise to my feet, keeping Emmett in the arm chair. "Don't even think about it, Bell," Raven caught my shoulder. She knew what I wanted to do. I glowered at her, "Why does it always end up with you trying to stop me?" She glowered right back, "Because I know you and you are not stepping one foot outside. That's not going to happen again." She went to lock the doors and I scoffed, "If I remember correctly, I didn't go outside of my own accord last time, I was caught in a trap and taken outside."
She turned around, wafting her hair and scowled, "I remember. I remember being petrified and worried about you. I remember running like a bat out of hell to find you. Bella, we are to stay here. I am the Princes of our people and you will listen to me." My mouth fell open. Never, not with me, has Raven ever pulled the 'Princess' card. I bowed my head, "Yes, Your Highness." She dramatically rolled her eyes, "That may work on Mikhail, but it won't work on me." I bit my lip and looked at Emmett, whose eyes were darting back and forth. There was a sheen of sweat on his brown, "She's calling me. She's singing to me. Mom, she won't leave me alone. She thinks I'm her son." His hands covered his ears and he dropped his head to his knees.
Raven and I kneeled in front of him. Raven rubbed the back of his neck, "It's ok, honey. We'll block her out." As the words left her lips, the wind howled like a banshee. The windows and glass doors shook. She was trying to get into the room. Alice walked determinedly into the room, leaving Alice and Savannah with us. Esme was behind her, closing the study doors and walking straight out into the courtyard, "Stay here and do not open these doors!" She closed them and we were left inside with the children. Typical; Carpathian women and children left behind while everyone else faces danger.
"I know," Raven interrupted my thoughts, "It gets on my nerves too. I know why they do it, but we're not porcelain dolls." My head shook as I focused on Emmett. He was scared and torn. I hugged him, "Just focus on my voice, Emmett. Remember what you said to me. You know she's lying to you." His body began to tremble, sweating pouring down the back of his neck. He was fighting her call, but it was becoming too much. I bit my lip and knew what I could do to help him. My mind laid over his, Sleep. Sleep and you'll be safe.
Emmett fell limply in his seat, his head on the arm rest and his legs dangling over the other arm rest. Alice looked up at me, worried and I brushed her hair down to the tip of her chin, "I put him to sleep to protect him from the monster." Savannah patted Emmett's head, "Emmy?" She turned her eyes on myself and Raven. Raven opened her arms and Savannah walked towards her, "He has to sleep for a little while. He'll be up soon."
We all jumped as the wind howled again, rattling the glass and doors. The flames in the fireplace roared, reaching out of the hearth. Alice stood behind me, clutching at my leg and Savannah hugged herself tighter to Raven. Raven and I looked at each other, sharing a singular thought; I have had enough.
Raven, Isabella, if you take one step out of that room, you will suffer the consequences, Mikhail and Jacques barked at us. She and I made a face; did they not know us? The Cullens were outside, along with our lifemates and two healers. But Raven and I couldn't be out there; there would be no one to guards the children, especially Emmett. I took Alice's hand and we sat on the lounge chaise. Raven walked back and forth with Savannah, trying to help her calm down. There was a storm brewing outside and it was affecting all of us. Emmett remained sleeping in the arm chair, Alice was biting her fingernails and Savannah was clinging to Raven. This tension and silence wasn't good for any of us.
Alice shrieked, Raven jumped and clutched Savannah to me and I pulled Alice into my embrace when we heard something hit the ground outside the glass doors. Raven nodded and I went to see what was happening. Alice jumped up, "Wait!" I turned and caught her in my arms, "It's ok. Stay inside. I'll be right back. Do not let anyone in here." Raven took Alice's hand and they sat on the couch.
A lump form in my throat as I went outside. My eyes searched and scanned for anything out of the ordinary. The clouds were a deep grey with a hue of red. The dull roar of distant thunder rumbled as I walked across the stone floor. A groan caught my attention and I saw Aidan standing slowly. I ran over to him, helping him stand, "Are you alright?" His hand gripped my shoulder, "You shouldn't be out here. Get back inside." Ignoring him, I pulled Aidan's arm over my shoulder, "You're hurt."
There was a long gash on his arm and it looked bad. Aidan shook his head, "It's nothing. Bella, get inside. The vampiress is mad and she is difficult to control." I looked up at him, "I know, Aidan, but I can't leave you here injured." A shrieking cry ripped through the air. Someone jumped from the other side of the wall and landed in mid-air. It was a woman and she was standing a top of the safeguard; as if it were an invisible doom of the house. She stared down, her eyes moving wildly in her head. Her eyes finally settled on me and she hissed. She began to beat her fists on the guard, making no register.
Aidan pushed me to stand behind him, staring at the woman above us, Get inside. She's looking for Emmett. Go Bella!
I didn't move one inch. This was the woman whispering in my son's head. She clawed at the guard, making a loud shrieking nose, not unlike nails on a chalkboard. My eye twitched from the noise. Aidan pushed against my mind, but I pushed back, Knock it off.
He shook his head, Just like Raven.
I nudged him with my shoulder, while we watched the vampiress. A white blurred moved across the sky and she was knocked off the safeguard. Aidan and I jumped to stand atop the wall. The vampiress rolled across the ground, curled her legs and jumped into a crouch. I could see her face. Her eyes were dead and hollow and her skin was grey. She was once a beautiful woman, but now she was an abomination. Alice and Rosalie cornered her as they walked towards her. The vampiress hissed at them. Her head jerked and she craned her neck. She was searching. Rosalie and Alice walked toward her, pushing her further away from the house. The vampiress jumped, but was pulled down by Alice, who foresaw her move. The two of them fell to the earth. Alice kept a tight hold on her. So tight, I could make out the sound of bones break. The monster shrieked in pain.
"Isabella, get inside. You are not safe out here," Aidan ordered. He jumped off the wall and out of the safeguard. I remained standing. I knew he was right; I was more of a target and distraction here, but I had to see this monster destroyed. Once she was gone, I would feel better. I wanted to see her die.
Aidan approached Alice, holding the thing. He was preparing to end it and I wanted to see. Alice tightened her hold, knowing that she was going to try to get away. Her eyes moved erratically, looking for a way out of this. What happened next; no one expected this.
I was pushed forward from the wall, landing on my side on the ground below. The air was knocked out of me as I hit the earth. I rolled onto my back to see Emmett standing on top of the wall, looking down at me. My eyes widened in horror. He looked down at me, his face serious. His eyes were different, they were a pale grey as if he was hypnotized. He blinked once and jumped down. He landed like a cat; on the balls of his feet. I moved and my arm stung. Looking, I saw that I had dislocated my shoulder from the fall. My arm hung like it was dead and detached from my body. "Emmett, stop this. You know the truth," I plead. He looked at me. The vampiress was laughing, "He is my son and he will defend me." I cut my eyes to the creature in Alice's arms. She was doing this.
Anger heated my body as I stood up. I held my dead arm by the top of the dislocated bone and sharply pulled it back into place. It hurt, but I didn't have time to think about that. I've suffered injuries before, but this was too much. She thought she was going to take my son from me. Raven jumped down from the wall and caught Emmett in her arms. He fought against her hold. Raven struggled and looked at me, Forgive me for this.
She leaned down and bit his neck. She drank his blood to the point that he was weak and limp in his arms. She did this to weaken him and get him back into our home. He shifted to mist and was out of the room. It was Alice who alerted me.
"No!" the woman screamed, "He's mine! You can't take him from me." The vampiress struggled in Alice's hold. Rosalie was by Raven's side and took Emmett into her arms, "I'll stay with the kids. Bell, don't do that again." Rosalie visibly cringed as she thought about my popping back in my own shoulder. She jumped and was back inside the wall. Raven and I stood our ground as we watched the vampiress.
In a way, it was a sad sight. She was a beautiful woman who was tricked by a vampire. In her mind, there wasn't one coherent thought. Going through the layers of madness, there were her human memories. She was a happily married woman who suffered a great loss. Her only son died from an illness. She cradled his dead body to her, trying to revive him. Her husband, stricken with grief, hung himself, leaving her on her own. It was the vampire who found her, before she took her own life. He said he knew where her son was. He toyed with her mind and show her an image of Emmett. He whispered in her mind, promising that they would be a family; him, her and Emmett. "We must take down the Dubrinksys. They keep our son from us. We destroy them and he will be ours." The vampire was spouting lie after lie.
He drove this woman to madness and her she was, but where was he? He unleashed her on our family as his form of revenge. Aidan saw into my mind, along with Raven and saw everything.
Do not feel too much for her, Bella. She chose this.
Aidan, she was a grieving mother and widow. She wasn't in her right mind.
The pain of my dislocated shoulder shot through my arm, Angel! Get inside now.
Ignoring Jacques's order and his push against my mind, I got to my feet, staring down the woman who was trying to steal my son. Her hold was stronger than we thought, if Emmett was able to help her. Rosalie leaped over high wall, swooping Emmett into her arms. "Mother! They are taking me away!" My heart squeezed as I heard my son yelling for the vampiress. The vampiress hissed through her teeth, "What creatures are these? They move as fast as you do, but they are not of flesh." Alice stepped closer, "That is not your concern." Aidan watched the vampiress, ready to end this.
My mind flowed out and I saw everything. "My son is not Khole. Your son was taken from you and you have been lied to. Khole was a sweet boy and he didn't deserve to die." The vampiress's eyes widened. "Melissa, the vampire lied to you. Raulf is the one who killed your family and is lying to you. If he loved you, he would be here defending you." She snarled, "Get out of my head!" She leaped into the air, followed by Alice and Aidan. She disappeared for a moment, then reappeared behind me, driving her nails into my injured shoulder. I caught her wrists as she tried to claw through my body. The pain of the injury was almost paralyzing. My anger resurfaced from the sea of pain. The vampiress believed she had won. Old habits die hard as a dagger materialized in my hand. It was all that came to my mind as memories of Bryan resurfaced. A vampire attacking my home and threatening to break up my family. The blade plunged into her stomach. It cut into the skin, muscles deep into vital organs. Melissa doubled over and stepped backwards.
Alice and Aidan were coming and she was going to lunge on me. Alice moved faster, wanting to reach me, but they were still far. Nothing else moved as the vampiress removed the knife and flung it at me. I dodged the blade and it lodged itself between the stones of the wall. The blade rang in the air. Murderous rage choked the air as she realized that she was not successful in her impromptu throw. She screeched a harping noise that was like nails on a chalkboard. "Give me back my son!" Her mind was a mess. Voices were whispering to her, feeding her insanity. Spittle fell from her clinched teeth as she looked me. Her eyes were dead and she was snarling.
The vampiress moved, speeding toward me and prepared to claw through my body. Nothing moved; not time, the air or the leaves on the ground. Melissa wanted me dead. I bend backwards from the waist, avoiding Raven leaping over me. She swung her sword, taking the woman's head off her shoulders. I spun and caught myself, my fingertips touching the ground.
Tainted black blood spilled from the dismembered body. It was a horrible thing to see the body fall midair to the ground. The earth screamed from the acid-like blood spilling. Raven landed next to me, breathing heavily as I stood up. She and I looked at each. She was dead; the creature that was haunting us. The heavy sword fell from Raven's hand as she saw what she had done. Raven shrugged, It was my turn to kill a vampire.
I couldn't help but laugh. She joined my laughter with tears springing from her eyes. I took her hand in mine, That was awesome!
The fact that I was a woman and killed a vampire spread to all our people like wildfire and now, the news that Raven had done the same would have the same effect. Raven and I hugged and I winced in pain. "Oh no, look at your arm," Raven examined the wounds. I sighed as I looked down, "This is nothing. Nothing compared to hearing my son call that monster 'Mother.' With her dead, her hold on him is gone?" My sister's eyes lit up and she nodded, He's fine. Alice and Rosalie are with him. A little confused, but he remembers everything.
My eyes closed in relief, Thank heavens.
The wind whipped up as Aidan and Alice stopped right in front of us. Their gold eyes went down to the ground seeing the headless corpse. Aidan looked between myself and Raven, Mikhail is going to have my head for this. Which one of you….?
Raven raised her hand, I'll take care of Mikhail.
Alice took my hand, seeing the blood fall down my arm. "It's nothing, Alice. I have to see Emmett." Aidan gestured for myself and Raven to stand back. Clouds gathered on his command and lightning struck the body. The bolt drove straight through the chest, incinerating the heart and everything with it. There was a silent tremor as the lightning hit the ground. I was never this close to witness the final end of a vampire. It was unbelievable; as though no creature on earth should have this ability.
Aidan took my arm into his hands, "I should see to this." I took one step, wanting to see my children. I wanted to see them safe in our home. Another step and a sharp pain shot through my chest. My head fell backwards and I gasped for air. The pain wasn't my own, but it cut through me worse than the vampiress cutting my arm. Aidan caught me before I fell, "Bella, what is it?" I could feel my eyes widening, seeing a harsh cruel smile. I was falling, though I was in Aidan's arms. My mind was connected in the strongest way possible, JACQUES!
