The Secret Beneath the Roses: The rose is blooming 2
It had been a week after the Cullen's had come up with a plan to protect Bella. During the day the Cullen's would take time to watch over her at school, never more than two steps behind her. In the evening Alice would help the girl do her homework, the two giggling uncontrollably at Alice's continued antics. At night Edward would stay by her bedside to comfort her while one other Cullen, usually Emmett or Alice, would stay outside, hidden in the bushes with rounds made around the territory to ensure no one had crossed over. The Quileutes upheld their part of the bargain. They scourged their territory, the Cullen's and even the border of Forks. Yet, besides a couple of stale scent trails, the vampires were no where to be found. Alice's visions also proved useless as the vampires mind's changed so often that Alice couldn't keep track, the constant switching giving her a headache.
She was sitting outside Bella's house one night when she finally received a concrete vision. She had plopped herself down in the bushes, letting the sensations of the world at night relax her when it had come and frozen her blood solid. Immediately she was on her feet, Edward's head poking out of Bella's window as he picked up on Alice's urgent thoughts.
"What did you see?" he asked as Alice scrambled up the side of the house. He stepped into the room to make space for her, Bella clutched in his arms protectively, the poor girl smelling overwhelmingly of confusion and fear.
"The vampires, they've sent someone in this direction!" Alice gasped, her instincts on edge for the fight to come.
"Who?" Edward demanded angrily as Bella let out a frightened whimper.
"They've sent Victoria directly here."
"Which way is she coming from?"
"The back of the house, from the woods."
Edward nodded his head grimly. "Then I'll go stop them, you take care of Bella." He made to move but Alice clamped a hand on his shoulder. "Edward, I don't think you should go." You died last time in my vision, she reminded him. Don't go.
"I'll be fine," he responded, smiling crookedly at Bella whose hands were at her mouth in concern.
Let me go, I can handle Victoria. Please, do it for Bella's sake. I don't want you to take any risks.
Edward frowned at this, but when he tried to continue moving Alice's hold held him there. "Fine," he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, the choice stressing him out. "But I want you to be careful."
"Always," Alice smiled and then with the grace of a circus performer she vaulted out through the window and onto the ground below her. Edward watched her as she went, his eyes burning into her back, until she finally disappeared behind the house. The night was quiet, even the night bugs and animals having quieted down as if they could sense the impending doom. Alice scanned the woods, her hands clawing in preparation. She couldn't see or hear the redhead anywhere yet. How much longer would it before the vampire came? Had Alice overestimated the time in her vision?
There was a rustling sound in front of her and she crouched down, all her senses putting her on edge. And then she could see her, the red hair color standing out against the black of the night. Victoria was running at vampire speed, powering through undergrowth like a steam engine.
"Stop there," Alice hissed. "You won't get any closer to Bella!" But the redhead kept running, her eyes trained with mania on Alice. She burst out from the woods, leaves stuck on her clothes and making her look more wild than she already was. Alice debated dodging her but if she did then Victoria would have a straight path right through the Swan house. So, gritting her teeth and digging her feet into the ground, she meet the other girl, the impact of their bodies making a loud noise that flattened the grass around them. Alice grunted at the brute force her body was forced to absorb. Victoria was stronger than her but Alice was faster and she was going to use that to make sure she chased away Victoria. Or killed her, her inner vampire snarled and she tried to keep it down. She had to stay rational in order to make a plan on keeping the girl away. She wished she had told Edward to take Bella away. Maybe she could reach him with her thoughts? Chanting over and over for Edward to take Bella to the Cullen's household, Alice engaged in battle. Victoria was pushing her back, Alice's feet leaving furrows in the ground. Scrunching her face in concentration, Alice pushed back, applying as much power as she could. Victoria let out a laugh at the smaller girl's efforts.
"Keep trying all you want, you won't overpower me little girl," Victoria's voice was horrible, sending knife points of irritation down Alice's back.
"I'm counting on that," Alice huffed and then span to the side on her heel. This threw Victoria off balance and due to the lack of resistance she found herself going forward face first to the dirt. But she didn't get far as Alice grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her, driving her fist into the redhead's face. The vampire snarled in surprise and she reached to touch her flaking skin but Alice didn't give pause, instead cocking back her arm and delivering blow after blow until Victoria managed to stop her hand.
"Little bitch," she growled, red eyes glowing with anger. She applied pressure to the hand she had captured and Alice gasped as her bone was crushed. Hot pain laced up and down her arm and she jerked to free herself, Victoria only laughing at this pitiful try. This enraged Alice who jumped up and planted both feet right into Victoria's gut. The vampire doubled over, her laughter ending in a choked cry. Still she held onto Alice's hand, so releasing her grip on the redhead's wrist, the black haired girl elbowed Victoria's bent head hard. A jolt went up Alice's arm as bone connected with bone but still the other girl didn't give up, only applying more pressure to Alice's hand, causing the smaller girl to howl in pain.
"Let go!" she demanded, her whole right arm as if on fire. The redhead just looked up, her smile crooked. "Make me bitc-" Alice kicked her right in her face so hard that her head snapped back and she finally let go. Victoria sprawled on her back, hands coming up to her face. Edward, please take Bella and run, Alice said the phrase over and over like a mantra, hoping that by this point Edward was long gone. Victoria was nothing that Alice couldn't handle.
Victoria sat up, removing the hands from her face. She ran a tongue over the massive crack on her face. Alice's kick had blasted a huge chunk of the vampire's skin off leaving a jagged gash that ran around her nose and eyes that revealed the black flesh underneath. "Not bad for a pipsqueak. But you've pissed me off. And here I was just going to distract you for a little bit and then run off." Victoria stood up and shrugged, spreading her arms out to say 'I tried, but it's not up to me.'
Alice narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," Victoria smiled, the black gash oozing terribly. Alice, with an impending sense of dread forced herself into a vision, focusing on Edward. She could see him driving down the road madly, the gray Volvo's tires screeching as he avoided the black blurs that zoomed back and forth around his car. What was attacking him? Alice tried to focus on the figures and only when one of them landed on the roof of the car did she realize what, or better yet, who it was. James clutched onto the roof of the car, pulling his arm back to punch a hole into the material when Edward swerved the wheel sending the male flying off. But Laurent replaced him a second later, digging his nails into the top of the car and peeling it back like a band-aid. Bella's terrified cry was heard over the sound of screaming metal and the acceleration of the car.
Alice came out of her vision with a gasp. So that was the plan! Victoria was sent as a decoy to chase Edward and Bella out of the house, and to occupy Alice from being able to check the future as she fought the redhead. In the meantime James and Laurent could attack Edward and Bella.
"Fuck, right?" Victoria said, crooked smile on her face as she registered with glee the look on Alice's face. "You guys fucked up, badly, and now she's going to die. You won't get away either." Alice didn't have time to play games with Victoria anymore, she needed to help her brother and her best friend. Victoria must have sensed this because as soon as Alice moved her body a millimeter to the right to escape, the girl was on her, fists flying in a mad fury.
Alice was able to block most of them, but those that she didn't hurt her and she was forced backwards. She bellowed in frustration as the distance between her and the road grew. But Victoria wasn't letting up, not holding back this time. A hit to the cheek had Alice spinning into a bush. Before she could get up a hand wrapped around her throat and threw her into the dirt so hard she could feel every bone in her body clack together painfully. The hand didn't leave her throat, instead picking her up again and again to slam her repeatedly into the ground. Alice scrambled at the hands on her throat but one of her hands was still repairing itself so it was pretty useless. She opted to kick at the redhead but the vampire had learned about that trick last time and kept clear of her legs.
Fuck, I need to leave now, but this bitch has me in her grip. What can I do? Alice felt she was running out of time and her impatience, her urge to rush to her friend's rescue only grew with each second until it was unbearable, made her want to jump out of her skin. "Pisses you off that you can't help your loved ones, doesn't it? Maybe if you weren't such a bad fighter you'd be at their side now." Victoria sneered, the flesh on face reknitting itself, the pink tendons stretching across her face. They looked incredibly fragile and Alice knew what to do. Summoning as much venom as she could, the next time Victoria lifted her high up in the air she spat into her wound, snapping the wrist of the hand on her throat in the same second. Immediately the flesh sizzled and Victoria's hand fell limp, dropping Alice roughly to the ground. Alice didn't spare a moment on checking how badly Victoria was hurt, just went careening in the direction of Edward's Volvo. She ran, urgency fueling her. "Come back bitch," Victoria's voice called out after her, but Alice had predicted right; Victoria was way slower and Alice had too much of a head start anyways for the other to catch her.
As Alice got further down the road the smell of burnt tires and oil assaulted her senses, fear and anger infused into the scents. Edward and Bella... She could see the wreck of the gray Volvo next to a tree, the roof completely ripped off, the front smashed, glass littering the exposed insides of the car. She could hear the sounds of boulders smashing and snarls and knew that the vampires were fighting. She turned off the road and jumped into the woods to aid her friends.
Edward had gotten along further than she expected, they were but a few meters from the house. Hopefully someone was inside and would come out and hear the noise and help them out. Alice followed the path of trampled flora to find Edward in a small clearing with James and Laurent in front of him. He was positively bristling, standing defensively in front of Bella who was shivering in her thin pj's, her leg cast covered in mud. She looked ready to faint from terror, but bravely stood up. The two aggressors had their backs to Alice and she wondered if she could make it to her house to get help, but then she recalled that Victoria had followed her here as well.
As soon as she thought the name, the redhead appeared, boiling mad. "Fucken bitch," left her mouth as she launched at the pixie. James and Laurent noted that Alice and Victoria had arrived, reverting their eyes to the two girls. Their lapse in attention was all that Edward needed. He rushed at James, punching him square in the face and sending him into a huge oak tree that splintered in half. Laurent was next, and he managed to put out his hands to grasp onto the bronze haired boy, but Edward bypassed them and gripped the blonde's head. With a vicious snarl he snapped the boy's head clean off. His head dropped to the forest floor first, his body falling down heavily. Bella screamed at the sight of this, sinking to her feet.
This attracted the attention of Victoria, who stopped mid swing. "Laurent!" she screeched, her expression disbelieving. Edward grimaced triumphantly at her, before James rushed from the remains of the tree, and tackled the boy down.
"Edward!" Bella screamed, hand reaching out to him, but he was too busy trying to keep the hands of James off of him to respond. "I'll kill you!" James caterwauled.
"You killed Laurent!" Victoria walked slowly towards the corpse of her fallen coven member, dropping harshly to her knees as her hands brushed his arm gently. Alice took her distraction to send a blow into James ribs, propelling him into another tree.
Grab Bella and lets run back! Alice ordered Edward who nodded his head in understanding and gathered the sobbing girl in his arms. Together they ran out of the woods, Alice following closely. James recovered from his kick and tore after them, fires burning in his eyes. The house was just in front of them, Alice could see it, the lights on in one of the rooms. But Edward wasn't going to make it, James being phenomenally faster than Victoria. Alice had to stop him. She turned on her heel, urging in her mind for Edward to continue on just in time to take a hit. James' fist caught her in her temple, her vision fizzing like a broken TV. She gasped out, blindly trying to catch onto him but he snagged the front of her shirt and heaved her over his shoulder. She thudded to the ground, scrambling up quickly to her haunches only to accept a kick to the head. It didn't help her vision and she went back down again, her head spinning but not so badly that she couldn't note that Victoria had now joined them.
"Kill the little fucker for what they did to Laurent." Victoria's cold deadly voice was more terrifying than her incoherent yells of passion.
"I'll more to her than that," James promised and Alice felt her heart in the grips of fear. She had to get away, or as least keep them occupied until she could get help. "We'll kill her first, then her brother and then that little human bitch." During their brief chat she had rearranged her body into a more helpful position. She was still lying on her back, but her legs were facing Victoria and her head next to James ankles.
"You won't do anything," she said, her vision had now mostly returned to her. With aerobic moves she grasped James' ankles, bunched her legs underneath her and launched upwards. Her extended legs caught Victoria in the face, before they wrapped around James' neck. She twirled around his body, her arms reaching behind his knees and snapping the bone there. He went off balance as his knee gave out and she hopped off of him, adding a kick to the back of his head that sent him face first into a tree. Victoria had recovered at this point and jumped at Alice, knocking her back to the forest floor. Alice spat out a mouthful of dry leaves as Victoria put pressure on the back of her neck. She pressed down with one hand, pulling up Alice's head with the other. Alice twisted frantically under the heavy weight but she was pinned too strongly. She's going to kill me! Alice panicked, her neck bending painfully. Edward please come back!
"Don't kill her before the fun," James warned picking wood splinters from his cheeks. "We can still play with her, make her family suffer as we keep her prisoner." The pressure on her neck stopped but didn't lessen. Victoria contemplated this idea and before she could respond something knocked into her causing her to collide with James behind her.
"The only ones who are going to suffer are you assholes," Rosalie assured and Alice got to her feet, to stare at surprise at the blonde's arrival. "Rosalie..." she whispered. She had thought she was a goner, but help had arrived and she didn't know how she felt about it being the temperamental blonde.
Victoria and James were on their feet in an instant, fangs bared, trying to look threatening but they paled in comparison to Rosalie and Alice had wondered how she had ever been frightened by the two when the very goddess of terror stood next to her. Rosalie was radiating killing intent, her shoulders squared under her tight v neck shirt.
"You come onto my territory and threaten to kill not one but two of my coven members, and have the audacity to think you have the right to keep Alice as a prisoner?"
Victoria and James seemed to blanch at this, realizing that Rosalie was clearly an alpha vampire and they had pissed her off. Of course they were too proud to back off.
"Not to mention you tried to kill Bella," Edward had reappeared. He looked equally as terrifying as Rosalie, although his ferocity came from his immortal love to Bella. Where's Bella? Alice glanced at Edward who quietly whispered only for her to hear. "With Jasper."
"Your not leaving alive," Rosalie promised, a split second later erupting into motion. The woods came alive as the vampires all engaged into battle. Everything was a blur, animalistic noises emerging from all of their mouths as they turned savage. Victoria tried to desert the battle halfway only to have Rosalie drag her back kicking and screaming by the hair. "Where do you think your going, after trying to hurt my Alice?" Rosalie had pulled the vampire into her arms and was about to snap her neck when James seeing this, knocked Alice who had been fighting him but distracted by the blonde's use of my Alice andpaused, into the blonde. The three vampires tumbled head over heel, Alice landing on Rosalie's lap. "Move, get out the way!"Rosalie had roughly pushed Alice off but Victoria had already ran off, James leaving behind her.
"Don't go after them!" Alice latched onto Rosalie's ankle from the ground, causing the infuriated blonde to glare down at her. "Why not?"
"Edward, he's badly hurt!" Rosalie looked over where the bronze haired boy was lying still. Alice felt her old vision surfacing to the forefront of her mind. What if he had been killed just like she had seen before? She couldn't stand the idea of that! The blonde closed her eyes in an intense inward struggle. "You won't be able to take on two of them, besides what if you get hurt, we won't be able to help you." Alice knew that Rosalie could take on two vampires perfectly fine, she just didn't want the blonde to leave, needing her to be here to support her in case Edward was really dead. Needed her here to ask her about what she had meant when she had said my Alice. Was she still playing games?
The blonde finally relented, trying to relax her body. "Fine, I'll kill them next time." Alice hadn't really believed the blonde would listen to her request, but the shock on her face disappeared into one of concern for her brother. Rosalie knelt over Edward, checking him for vital signs while Alice sat on the floor, fingers digging into the soft dirt as she waited for what seemed an eternity.
"He's alright, just knocked out. He'll recover. Let's get him into the house." Rosalie picked up Edward and threw him over her shoulder, offering her free hand to Alice to take. Alice did, feeling a bolt of electricity shoot through it. She coughed to hide her shrill at the unexpected feeling and led the way into the house, too embarrassed to look back. If she had she would have noticed Rosalie looking at her own hand in wonderment before following Alice into the house as dawn rose.
