BELLA
Carlisle chuckled as we went from the living room to the dining room. Apparently, he didn't to Alice about the meeting. She had taken it upon herself to tell the family.
"Alice, you never cease to amaze me." he said with a chuckle.
Alice simply smiled as she sat in one of the chairs at the table. Jasper sat down beside her and rested his arm on the top of her chair. Rosalie and Emmett stood in there usual corner. Emmett wrapped his arms around Rosalie's waist. Carlisle took his place at the head of the table and Esme stood behind him. Edward sat in the chair across from Carlisle. I took the seat on his left next to Alice. Roxanne sat on Edward's right.
"So, as Alice has probably already said, I spent most of last night researching dream walking. I know it's just a human experiment right now (A/N: Not sure about that but go with it.) but I thought there'd be something that could help. Unfortunately, I came up blank. There isn't even a way for Bella to protect herself from it. And since we can't catch his thoughts, future, feelings, or scent. We are going to have to deal with this the human way. We're gonna have to just look for him." Carlisle explained. "We do know that he has to be within a certain range for it to work for him. Which is why, I want four of you to stand guard in a twenty five mile radius of the house whenever Bella's asleep. I hoping that when he finds out we're watching, he'll back off for awhile. At least until we find a way to fight him. Now, Roxy, I know this is going to be difficult but I need you to tell me everything you can about Kyle's abilities. We need to know at least a little about what we are dealing with here."
Roxanne looked like this was something she didn't really want to do but agreed anyway. Carlisle pulled out a notebook and a pen. I wasn't sure why he wanted to right it all down. After all, they all had photographic memories.
"It helps if you can see everything laid out in front of you, Bella." Carlisle stated noticing my look of confusion. I simply nodded. "So we know that he can shield himself from our powers. And we know about the dream invasions." He had both things written in a matter of seconds. "What else can he do?"
"Well, I'm not sure if it's an ability or just something he's good at, but he's always had a knack for disppearing when he needed to. Like when he would come to visit me in the middle of the night, my parents would come up to check on me and he'd just be gone. Then after my transformation, I spent a few months tracking him but hit dead end after dead end. It was scary knowing he could do that. I was always worried he'd come back for me, without warning, and I'd be just as helpless as I was then." She took a deep shuddering breath. I gave her an encouraging smile as Carlisle hand flew across the paper. "Then there's the electric shock touch but you guys know about that one. Thankfull he has to be making direct skin contact for that one to work. I don't want to even think about the ways he tortured me with that." She closed her eyes as if trying to calm herself. "He can control the elements. You know earth, fire, air, and water. Those were terrible. He was constantly smothering me with too much air or taking it all away. Sometimes he'd even use water to choke me. He would always burn his victims after he fed." She shudder but continued, "And, this is the only other one I can remember, he can create illusions. You know like making you think you're walking on the beach or in hell. One time he made me believe that my biological father had gotten out of jail and he tried to kill me."
She fell silent after this. I don't think she could've said more even if she had more information. Edward put a comforting hand on hers and smiled encouragingly. Carlisle was staring at the list he had just made trying to make some kind of connection. I saw his eyes widen after a second like something had just clicked. Jasper spoke before I had a chance to ask Carlisle what he had just discovered.
"But Carlisle," he said. "Is it even possible for that many powers to manifest themselves in one being?"
"I don't think so." Carlisle answered. "But I think only one power manifested itself in Kyle."
"What do you mean?" Jasper asked.
"At least two of these powers should sound familiar to all of you. Except Bella and Roxanne." Carlisle stated. "Think carefully."
There was silence for minute as the Cullens thought about it. Comprehension dawned on each one of their faces, one after the other.
"The electric shock belongs to Kate, doesn't it?" Alice stated.
"Right, Alice." Carlisle stated. "Has anyone spotted the other?"
"Don't the illusions belong to Zafrina from the Amazon coven?" Rosalie questioned.
"Correct." Carlisle stated. "And I've only just realized why his dream walking power sounds so familiar. I met a vampire not too long before I met Edward who could do it. His name was Christopher. I actually stayed with him for a year or so. I don't know what happened to him after I left."
"So what does it all mean?" Esme questioned.
"It means that we are dealing with a very uncommon power. I've only ever seen one other like it." Carlisle answered. He rubbed his temples as if trying to remember better. "A few years before I decided to leave Volterra, Aro brought in a young vampire. I didn't think he was more than three or four years old. That's in vampire years, of course. His name was Peter. Like most of you know, Aro is obsessed with power. Especially unique ones like Alice's. Well, Peter's was very unique. It's difficult to explain though so please bare with me. He was like a shield only better. He could absorb the power that was being used on him."
I looked around the room and each face looked just as confused as I did. Carlisle chuckled.
"Let me give you an example, if Jane used her power on Peter, it would have no effect on him. However, once she tried to use her power on him, he'd be able to use it on her." He stated. That just confused me even more.
"Let me try." Edward said to Carlisle. "What Carlisle is trying to say is, Peter had the power to duplicate the powers used against him. For instance, if I tried to read Peter's mind, I wouldn't be able to but he could read mine."
"So he steals other peoples powers?" I asked.
"Pretty much." Edward answered. "Although, the intial carrier of the power gets to keep it. He just duplicates it. But do you think this power has manifested itself again. It doesn't seem all that common."
"I'm not for sure. It would explain a lot. Especially why he can get into Bella's head when you can't." Carlisle replied.
"Okay, so what happened to Peter?" I asked anxious to keep the conversation going.
"Aro offered him a position on the guard but he turned it down." Carlisle answered. "Peter was allowed to leave. A week later, though, Aro being as obsessed with power as he was, realized that if Peter was able to gather enough powers, he could overthrow the Volturi. Aro wouldn't have that. He was comfortable where he was. So he sent the guard to dispose of him."
"But if they couldn't use their powers on them, how did they get close enough?" Roxy asked.
"That's what I'm going to have to go to Italy to find out." Carlisle responded.
I noticed Edward tense. His grip on my hand tightened painfully but I didn't say anything. His sudden change of attitude worried me.
"You can't go there." Edward said.
"Edward, it's the only way to stop Kyle." Carlisle stated. "Besides, Aro and I are friends."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Edward replied. "The minute Aro sees your explanation for wanting the information, he'll know that Bella knows about us. Which means she'll either have to be killed or become one of us. I won't let either one happen."
"Edward, Aro will be more willing to compromise with Bella's life than Kyle will be." Carlisle argued.
I didn't pay much more attention to their arguement. It looked like I had three options. Get killed by the Volturi. Get killed by Kyle. Or become a vampire. I wouldn't mind the third but I knew it wasn't something Edward wanted. Besides, from the way Edward was acting about the Volturi, they killed exposure risked before they stopped to ask questions and I had a feeling it wouldn't be a pleasant death. I didn't think I wanted Carlisle to go to Italy either.
Then I thought of Kyle. I thought about every inoccent kill her tortured and killed. I thought about the what Roxanne was going through right now. She'd never get over what he did to her. Even if someone did destroy him. Still, she deserved justice. They all did.
"Edward," I said cutting Carlisle off. I placed my free hand on top of his. "Listen to me for a minute. Carlisle has to go to Italy. We have to get rid of Carlisle. I mean, what if Kyle gets bored with me and moves on to another inoccent human girl. It's not right to let her suffer not if we could stop it. And think about what Roxanne's going through and what all the girls before her went through. They deserve justice. If we can give it to them, we should."
He released my hand and put both his on the sides of my face. He pulled me closer to him until our noses almost touch.
"Bella, I just got you back. I can't lose you again." he said.
"I know, Edward." I replied. "But this is bigger than you and me, bigger than my life even. We have to do what's right even if it comes at a price. Please, Edward, we have to do this. We have to do it for Roxanne and the others who couldn't stand up for themselves."
We stared into each other's face for a long time. I could see the war raging on in his eyes. He wanted to do the right thing but he didn't want to put me in anymore danger. Finally, he broke the eye contact and looked at Carlisle.
"Fine." Edward said. "But if they order that she be killed, I don't want them to be the ones to do it. I'd die before I let those sick fucks (A/N: I know they aren't that bad in the books but if I get the repsonse I want, they will be.) touch her."
"Edward, we are feel the same way about that." Carlisle responded. Edward nodded. "Now, I'm going to arrange a flight to Italy. Esme, I want you to call Tanya and arrange a visit. Jasper, Alice I want you two to go find Zafrina and her sisters. Find out if they knew Kyle over six years ago. Get as many details about their encounters as possible. And Esme, I want someone to go with you, just in case."
"I'll go." Rosalie offered. "We'll need Emmett here if Kyle decides to make a move while were gone."
"Okay." Carlisle responded. "Now, Edward, I need you to meet the pack soon. Tell them everything we've just discussed. Ask them to keep an extra close eye out for Kyle. Give them permission to cross our borders if they need to." Edward nodded. "Also, I want two of you three to be with Bella at all times. When she's sleeping, one of you can patrol until we get back with all the information."
Everyone dispersed, preparing to do what Carlisle asked. Emmett went with Rosalie so they could say goodbye. Roxanne just went into another room to give Edward and I a little privacy. Edward was staring at the table. Worry etched all over his face. I slid of the chair and climbed into his lap.
"Please don't worry about the Volturi right now?" I asked.
"How can I not worry about them?" Edward stated. He couldn't quite keep the shake out of his voice. "They could kill you."
"I know but they don't even know about me yet." I stated simply. "So they aren't a threat. Kyle's the major threat. I don't want him to cacth you by surprise because you are worrying about something that's not even a threat yet. I spent nearly a year thinking that you were out of my life forever. It nearly killed me. I don't even want to think about what would happen if you were out of my life forever. So can we please just worry about Kyle now and the Volturi later."
"Of course." He replied and kissed the top of my head. I could tell he was just trying to humor me. "I love you." he whispered.
"I love you too." I replied and buried my head in his chest.
I felt his lips in my hair and wished we could just sit like that forever.
A/N: Okay, I have quite a bit to say here, first of all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I hoping it didn't take a turn for the stupid. Let me know how you feel about where it's headed. Next, cookies to ShadowFury21 who correctly guessed the song was Brad Paisley's I'm still a Guy. Finally, as Hurt Like This is coming to an end, I've gotten an idea for a third part to the story. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it yet or not and I want you guys' opinion. I'm setting up a poll for my profile so you can let me know what you think. One more thing, cookies to anyone who can figure out where Peter came from. Review and vote on my profile. I really want you guys' thoughts on making a third part.
