Edward clicks the phone off and looks at his girlfriend.
God, I'm so happy to have her back. Who the fuck is this guy?
She notes his pause and quirks a brow at him.
"What? Are we leaving?"
Edward smiles uncertainly and nods.
"Yeah. He wants us out at the auditorium on La Push. I dunno what the fuck for though."
Bella furrows a brow.
"What did he say?"
Edward matches her expression.
"He said he had something to show you that's better seen in person."
Bella just nods. Edward looks at her for a moment then stands up, walking over to his dresser and opening the top drawer. Keys rattle as he scoops up his key-ring and shoves it in the pocket of his jeans. Bella looks at him wide-eyed.
"Are you going to drive?"
Edward shrugs with a look on his face that says I hope so as he walks over to her and offers her a hand. His eyes cast about the room, looking for her crutches. She grabs his hand and hops to her feet. Edward blinks as she is suddenly standing and in his face. Leaning back, he glances down at her so recently shattered leg.
"Hm. Gonna take me a fucking minute to get used to that."
Bella laughs and tugs his hand, making for the door. He smiles at the sound of her laughter and lets himself be led.
Five minutes later, they were sitting in the front seats of his car. Edward was white-knuckled on the steering wheel and staring into the floorboard of the car, taking deep breaths. Bella was looking at him with a pained expression. Her hand was resting on his shoulder.
Breaking the silence inside the car, Bella sighs softly.
"It's ok, Edward. My leg is fine. I'm right here with you. And best of all…I love you."
Edward glances up at her, looking right into her warm smile and beautiful eyes. He pauses for just a moment and looks at her hand on his shoul- der. Then at her leg, amazed still that she was walking around and fine. He finally smiles back at her and nods.
"Ok. Thank you, Sparrow. I love you too."
With that, the key slides smoothly into the ignition and turns, the long-disused engine kicking over on the first try. The warm, rich sound of the Volvo's finely crafted and meticulously tuned motor vibrates the inside of the car softly.
Edward closes his eyes, taken briefly back to a time when he'd loved his car.
He'd begun to hate it as the instrument of his Sparrow's crippling.
Now that she was up and walking around, that seemed a little silly the more he thought about it.
His eyes open and he smiles warmly, looking down at the dash and the numbers arrayed on it. A thumb taps the play button on his CD player and the 6 disc changer works quietly, the quiet intro to Psycroptic's "Initiate" starting as he clutches in and shifts into reverse. Brake lights flare as he waits for the garage door to open. He glances over at Bella, a grin creeping onto his face.
"You ready to go for a ride, Sparrow?"
She gets a wide-eyed happy face and nods, buckling her seatbelt.
Edward just grins and nods.
The song blasts into full-speed and tires chirp as Edward rockets out of the garage. Blue-tinted headlights flash in the forest surrounding the Cullen residence as the front end swings around and points outward. Gears click briefly and tires scream again.
The Volvo tears down the road leading into town, the music echoing through the forest from open windows.
15 short and broken speed limit-filled minutes later and Edward was slowing down, cautiously approaching the police roadblock heading into La Push. The lights were going but there was no one in sight. No cops waving cars through with their flashlights, no crazy redheads handcuffed against the back of a cruiser.
Nothing. Just flashing lights and empty road.
Edward glances at Bella with a furrowed brow.
Who just shrugs.
"What did he say about the cops when you asked?"
Edward just shrugs back.
"He didn't say shit! Just said I shouldn't worry about them."
Bella looks thoughtful a moment and nods.
"Then I wouldn't worry about them. Just go."
Edward tilts his head at her and then looks out the windows as they creep up to the roadblock. No one came running out the stop them or shoot them or anything dreadful like that.
Narrowing his eyes as they creep through the roadblock, Edward makes out one of the cops inside his cruiser.
He was fast asleep!
Bella had noticed too and looked at him about the same time he turned to face her.
"How did….?"
Bella laughs and shrugs, "Who knows? If Z says not to worry about something, I'll take it at face value. Just go."
Edward furrows a brow again and shakes his head, speaking as he presses the gas down and takes off. "So when are you going to tell me what the fuck happened this afternoon?"
Annoyance flashes across Bella's features.
"I already told you everything I can. I physically can't be any more specific about him."
Edward makes a hmph face and keeps driving.
Bella furrows her brow at him again.
"What? He'll explain it, I'm sure. I got the impression he was planning to explain everything to me at some point anyway."
Edward just nods.
"Alright, ok. I'll stop."
The rest of the drive passes to the sound of Psycroptic's album (Ob)Servant and car noise. About 10 minutes later, they pull into the packed parking lot of the auditorium at La Push. Edward cruises around to the front of the lot and up to the doors.
Seated next to the doors Indian-style was who had to be Z.
Long white hair hung past his shoulders, stained red with blood. The impossibly pale skin of his chest looked like it had been sprayed with gore. His hands were a bloody mess as well but he smoked a cigarette like he didn't care. His eyes were what drew the most attention from Edward's mind.
They glowed this blindingly bright white-blue. They lit up the entryway and the light glinted off the silver finish on Edward's car.
Edward glances over at Bella.
"Is that him?"
Bella, wide-eyed at the blood, nods silently.
Edward parks the car where they sit and kills the engine. He looks at Bella again, drawing his eyes away from the enigmatic creature at the doors.
"Well, he definitely didn't fucking look like that the last time I saw him.
Bella nods again, absently.
"I've seen him look that way…but not with all the blood. I wonder what he did…"
Edward nods and opens the door, stepping out of the car. Bella follows suit and scampers around to grab his hand. They both approach Z warily.
The astral being rises smoothly from his ankles, standing and flicking the cigarette with fingertips glowing a faint purple-blue in the relative darkness under the entryway. His baritone rumbles out of the shadows at them as they approach.
"I'd ask what took so long but you had to drive here so I understand."
Edward furrows a brow and Bella giggles quietly at his side. He glances down at her and then back at Z. "Fuck's that supposed to mean? I drive too fucking slow for your taste?"
Z grins at him and shakes his head.
"Not at all. It's that I move about so much faster than a car ever could."
Edward nods, "Hm. So…what the fuck are you anyway? I gather that you aren't fucking human."
Z grins again and motions for them to follow him.
"Not in the slightest. I'll explain inside."
With that, he turns and heads through the double-doors. The couple follows him quietly, pushing through the doors and getting out of the chill night air.
They both stop as soon as they cross the threshold into the waiting area.
Death was in the air. Violent death.
They glance at each other and push forward, heading to the just-closing door and following Z into the main auditorium. Both stop in stunned silence, mouths agape and eyes wide as they take in the insane scene before them.
Bodies, nearly a hundred of them, floated in the air about 12 feet above the seats. Seats that were shattered and broken in many places. Lots of random objects flying from purses and stalled in mid-flight catch the light from the stage. Down the center aisle, near the young couple, the carpet was scorched and burned. A headless body lay on the stage, a veritable river of blood streaking from it across the floorboards to drip off the side.
Bella gasps as she recognizes Jacob Black and Phil Dywer frozen in time above the stage. Her voice finally breaks the vast silence of the room.
"What did you do, Z?"
The astral being turns from looking at something in the ruined seats near the front. He just points at whatever it was he was looking at. His whispering voice bounces off the walls of the room, his mouth never moving.
"No need to yell; I can hear you fine. You should come and see."
Bella snaps her mouth closed and bites her lip. Edward furrows a brow and starts down the aisle, his girlfriend a weary step behind. Reaching the astral being's side, they both look. Bella lets out a quiet cry and buries her face in Edward's arm.
All Edward can do is say "Fuck."
Before them was the ruined wreckage of Bella's mother, Renee. Her face was a mask of blood, arms and legs cast out at funky angles. The impact had flattened a few chairs beneath the body but not all. A ruined stump of wrist stuck out, blood dried and crusted on the skin, and her head was cocked at a strange angle against one of the remaining intact seats.
Serene, placid blue-green eyes peered sightlessly at them.
Edward looks at Z, who was staring at Bella as if awaiting her reaction past tears.
"Why?"
The astral being turns those strange glowing eyes at Edward, his baritone rumbling softly.
"Hm. Two birds with one stone, so to speak."
With that, he turns and leaps easily up to the stage. Edward's eyes go wide a moment and then he pulls Bella's face up to calm her. She locks eyes with him and then glances at the body for a moment.
Then her eyes narrow, betraying morbid curiosity.
She looks closer. Climbs over the broken woodwork and gets close to the body. She seemed to be studying the corpse's eyes. After a moment of tense silence, she looks up at Z on the stage.
"Was she possessed?"
Z looks up from the headless body onstage and smiles brightly at the young girl.
"You're quick on the upkeep, Bella. Admirable. Yes…she was. Although not by the typical demons the people of your world would imagine."
Bella nods and stands, taking Edward's hand and leading him toward the stage. When they reach it, she steps forward and looks down at the body Z was examining. The back of the corpse was torn open and the remains of the head looked remarkably similar to hamburger meat. Then the girl notices the abnormally thin legs and looks up at Z again.
"Billy Black. Was he possessed too?"
Z nods. "A couple of extra-dimensional beings had taken control of their bodies. From the information I gathered today, they were slowly brainwashing as many as they could to create a situation where they could continue feeding on human blood and purified pain. They drew a large portion of their strength from both that and the will of the believers they 'converted' to their cause. Why that was an issue to me is that the Balance between your town of Forks and this Reservation was being severely upset by these beings' actions. People screwing with my Balance pisses me off."
Bella just nods. Edward goes wide-eyed as he tries to wrap his brain around how crazy that all sounds. Bella was quicker on the next question though.
"So….why my mother? And why couldn't you have just…I dunno…removed the creature or something?"
Z shakes his head and gestures out at the people still time-frozen.
"Why I couldn't just release her is the very same reason I can't let any of these unfortunates go. The creatures have fed on every last one of them; they all bear the beings' taint. Even had I simply stripped the creature from your mother, if it didn't kill her in the process, it likely would have shattered her mind. To say nothing of the effect the creature's taint would have had; she would have never been your mother again, Bella. I'm sorry." He pauses and turns to face the girl, "I don't know why your mother was picked. I haven't been here long enough to have pieced all of their motives together and since they're now dead…while not impossible, it's difficult to interrogate dead things." This last is said with a helpless shrug and an Oops expression.
Bella sighs softly and looks down at Black's ruined corpse and then out into the seats at Renee's body. Her eyes roam across the time-frozen bodies spread across the auditorium.
"So what are you gonna do with them?"
A dark smile crosses the astral being's features, the fangs glistening faintly.
"I had actually decided to let you make that call."
Bella starts to quip back but stops.
The enormity of that hit her like a ton of bricks.
Her mind reeled, plunging her back through the last couple of months of constant terror, the knowledge that her psychopath mother was out to mutilate and brainwash her. And always afraid that Renee was around the next corner. She supposed she should feel bad for Dywer and Jacob but couldn't drum up the urge to give a sweet shit; they'd both been there the night her mother sliced her arms to ribbons, leaving her with scars that would never heal. She also supposed she should feel bad about all the families that were about to be wiped from the face of the planet, looking out at the time-frozen people.
But she didn't.
Each and every one of them had submitted to their path willingly. And if not willingly in the beginning, they were certainly willing enough in the end. Willing enough that they'd committed themselves to the insanity these creatures had been spreading and helped bring more 'converts' into the fold, dooming ever more people to the hell these monsters had in store for them.
Bella stopped wondering about it and looks up at Edward, a question in her eyes.
His eyes narrow faintly and a dark look crosses his face.
"Fuck 'em." was his answer.
She nods and looks at the silent astral being.
"Burn it all down."
The dark smile returns to Z's face and he nods once, the fanged grin peeking out again.
"I like the way you think."
At that, Z leans down and scoops up the two fist-sized emeralds that sat on the stage. He gestures for them to move toward the back as he bounces the gemstones up and down in his palms. As the trio pads quietly up the aisle, Bella keeps glancing over her shoulder at the rocks, a question on her face. She never asks it though, knowing Z will answer when he feels like it.
As they reach the double doors to the foyer, he does just that.
"One of these contains the creature that held your mother in thrall. The other turned out to be unnecessary." The astral being pauses and turns to look out at the carnage he'd wrought. He sighs gently before continuing. "And…I suppose I should answer the questions both of you have asked me today."
Bella and Edward both turn and look at him, noting the suddenly tired tone to his voice.
"At the beginning of everything, when the Creator blasted Existence into being, he also created me. I was built for two purposes; to maintain Existence and the Balance required for its continuance. And also for the Creator's personal amusement." This last is said with a faint smirk.
Edward furrows a brow and tilts his head at Z.
"So….you're like a fucking god or someshit?"
Z does this quirky crooked smile.
"Yeah, something like that. I don't particularly care for that term but that's as good a way as any to relate it, I suppose."
Edward smirks, "Oh? Then what term do you prefer?"
Z laughs a bit.
"Well…if Existence had a personality, feelings, and a body…it'd be me. In fact, it is me. So…the Will of Existence seem an apt description."
Edward and Bella both chuckle a bit and nod. Then Bella points the time-frozen bodies.
"Do you have to actively hold them like that?"
Z looks up at them, nodding.
"Time certainly doesn't hold itself still."
"So…this whole time, you've been holding all these people airborne and frozen?"
Z nods again.
Bella goes wide-eyed for a moment.
"No wonder you suddenly sound tired."
The astral being laughs.
"Yep. Now…let's get this party started."
With that, he gestures for them to stand against the doors. A gemstone is placed in each hand and he steps away from them. Turning, he faces the stage and both arms cock back. Snapping forward, the emeralds are launched through the auditorium. Light glitters off their multi-faceted surfaces, sparkling patterns brushing the walls briefly as the gems tumble through the air. The way Z tossed them had their paths crossing near the front of the room.
The emeralds slam into one another and explode into brilliant white-orange flame.
An otherworldly scream echoes hollowly across the vast room, fading almost as quickly as it came. Suddenly, the quickly expanding wall of flame halts its outward rush, halted in time like the people it was set to consume.
Z turns and looks at them both.
"It's probably best that you two head home now. I'll see to this."
Bella skips forward and lifts onto her toes, kissing the astral being's cheek lightly.
"Thank you. So much."
He smiles faintly, minus the fangs, and nods.
"Glad to help."
Edward steps forward, a hand extended. Z glances at his blood-stained palm and shrugs with a faint smirk. They shake hands briefly.
"Thanks for bringing my girl back. Thanks for…ending this."
The smile never left Z's face.
"Don't waste it. And you're both very welcome. I had fun." The last is said with a grin and a wink.
The young couple laughs and turns away, the astral being stepping forward and swinging the double doors shut behind them as they walk out.
Abruptly, the doors open again and Z's head pokes out, an expression Almost forgot on his face.
"Oh. One last detail."
The couple turns to face him, quizzical expressions on them both.
"As soon as I leave here, the compulsion that prevents you from talking about me will slowly wipe your very memories of me from your minds. My face, my name, my many voices…all will fade very quickly. You'll likely never forget the things you've seen today or the feelings left over from them. But…you will not remember me. And so…goodbye." This last is said with a smile that almost appears sad.
His face vanishes as the doors close again.
A blast and a wave of heat slams into other side of the doors almost immediately, causing them both to step back in faint alarm. A few screams start but are cut off abruptly. Sudden, intense heat boils the paint on the near-side of the door.
The couple turns quickly, heading with strong stride outside to the car. They both hop in, the engine purrs to life, and the Volvo tears out of the parking lot.