Chapter 10: Gifted

Hailey's POV

I could actually feel my heart beating a million times a minute. I had never felt so much fear before in my life.

I had only taken a few steps before Ben put his hand on my shoulder; stopping me in my tracks. "Hailey what's wrong?" he asked, his worried tone of voice told me he knew something else was bothering me.

"It's nothing," I said.

"Hailey you're not a very good liar I can tell that something is wrong. What is it?"

I really didn't want to worry my best friend but I honestly had no idea what to say. I was tempted to just ignore him but I knew him well enough that he would only worry more.

"I'll explain later. Right now we should go inside. Everyone's waiting,"

I felt a sense of vulnerability as went in. I'd never been surrounded by so many supernatural creatures at once. There was a part of me that knew that if they wanted to kill me they could easily overpower me. The way I escaped execution when they thought I kidnapped Nessie was pure luck and perfect timing.

Even though I knew Ben would never hurt me and the Cullens were good people who had only been concerned for Nessie's welfare I still felt a sense a little worried about being around so many vampires at once.

"Who is he?" I was surprised when Jasper spoke. He and Alice had been the most quiet since the incident this morning.

"This is my best friend Ben. Ben this is Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, Emmett, Esme, Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Of course you already know Nessie,"

Once all the introductions were done I felt a little more at ease again. Or maybe all this worry and tension was making me a little crazy.

"So Hailey I see you've been making humans here haven't you?" Ben chuckled. "Turning poor unsuspecting vampires human again,"

"That's a really long story that I kind of don't want to get into,"

"Now I'm really curious,"

"It doesn't matter," I interjected. "We have more important matters going on at the moment,"

"Like what? Is this why you were looking so worried earlier? Hailey what exactly is going on?"

"Have you ever heard of the Volturi?" I asked him.

He shuddered. "I've heard stories on my travels but that's it. I've never met them but they sound like an awful bunch. Why?"

"Because they're coming here that's why," Carlisle added. "They found out about Nessie and Hailey and they're coming here. Which is not good. They're dangerous,"

"Are you saying that Hailey is in danger?" I was surprised by the amount of worry and concern Ben displayed. For a second I almost believed that it was more than friendship. I shoved that thought aside. As much as I hated to admit it Ben would never think of me as more than a friend.

"We all are but her and Nessie more than the rest of us because of what they are. The Volturi strive for power and they'll do anything to get it,"

"Can't you just fight them then? I mean you're a gifted bunch with a mind reader, psychic, mood controller, and shield on your side," he said. "Not to mention Nessie who can show you what she's thinking,"

"Wait a minute how did you know that?" Alice asked.

Ben suddenly looked startled and I was completely taken aback to.

"I, um, lucky guess?"

"No," Edward shook his head. "You're gifted to. Your gift is the ability to steal other gifts. You can sense who is gifted and what they're gift is. Then you can take it and use it for yourself or transfer it to another if you wish. Not only that you leave the other person completely stripped of their power,"

"Ben you never told me that," I was a little hurt. We'd never kept secrets from each other. At least not until now.

"I didn't want anyone to know. I don't know why I don't know why I just slipped. Much like you I felt like that was a talent I should keep hidden,"

"I didn't keep my talent hidden from you though," I said a bit harsher than I intended.

"Sorry to interrupt," Bella said. "But what's a shield?"

Ben looked a little relieved at the interruption. "I'm surprised you're asking since you're the shield,"

Everyone gasped at the exact same time.

"What?" Bella asked.

"That's why I couldn't read your mind even before. I'm surprised I didn't figure it out before. The shields I've met are so different,"

"I still don't understand,"

"It's a defensive talent," Ben began to explain. "Your mind is shielded from mental based attacks. It's very powerful. I bet if you practiced you could even shield other people,"

"It doesn't matter how many gifted people we have on our side. We're still outnumbered and the Volturi will still win," Esme said.

"Maybe I can get the packs to help," Jacob said. "We've never been afraid of vampires,"

"He's a werewolf," I explained to a confused looking Ben. Wait why was I talking to him I was still mad at him for keeping secrets!

"I thought he smelled funny," he said. That earned a few chuckles from everyone.

"I'm not sure that'll be enough. Not if they bring the whole guard with them,"

I felt so drained and worried again. These vampires could come at any second and we had no plan to stop them.

It still scared me when I started wondering what Aro would do when he found out I could turn vampires into humans but now I was even worried about Ben. What would happen if they found out that Ben could steal a vampire's gift and either use it for himself or transfer it to someone else? That the person he was stealing the gift from would be completely powerless.

I wondered, on a scale of one to ten, how completely screwed we all were right now. I was scared to find out.

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