Hope
"Again…Why…How…I thought…" was all I could manage. I could not comprehend why the Volturi would want to attack us after that winter not even six years ago. I knew they would come for us eventually, but not so soon.
"They think we are a threat. They want to keep their thrones."
"We have no interest in power Edward, the Volturi should know that." Rose argued back.
"But they know that we know their dirty little secret." Jasper spoke up. " They fear in time we will use that knowledge against them; reveal to the world what their true mission is in hopes that the Vampire world will see them for what they really are, rise up, and rebel against them."
"Exactly." Edward nodded. "This isn't a trial. There will be no witnesses, and therefore no charades to give us extra time. They come to fight, and get rid of us before we get rid of them."
"Well, we scared them away once, we can do it again." I did not even have to guess that Emmett was the one who had spoken up.
"Emmett." I breathed. "Shut up!"
"It won't be that simple this time." Edward continued. "They have added to the guard since then, and convinced other covens to join them as well. There will be at least twice as many as last time, and who knows the talents that their additions will have. Even if we got Renesmee's army back together there would still not be enough vampires to even intimidate them."
After our last encounter with the Volturi when we had gotten all of Carlisle's friends together to witness for Nessie, we had since then referred to the group as "Renesmee's army". There were six covens including us and a couple nomads. We had also had the wolves on our side. The two packs had both found it necessary to be there to protect my daughter so they could prevent the Volturi from hurting anyone in the tribe in their search for leftover werewolves.
At the time we had outnumbered them. We may have even had a chance of making it out alive. But now that the Volturi had doubled in size….
"We don't have a chance, do we?" I barely got the words out of my mouth.
Edward and Alice shared a defeated glance. I wrapped my arms around Edward and Renesmee who had moved to my side. Was this it then? Had everything I had put this family through come to this. I couldn't help but think this was all my fault. If I had never existed, or stayed away from Edward. The thought was unbearable, but not as heartbreaking as the thought of losing him.
"We can still try." said an all too eager Emmett.
"EMMETT!" Alice, Esme, and I all glared at him, and Rosalie hissed. How could he want to fight when there was no hope?
"We can't do this alone." Carlisle said to Emmett. "We will need to gather all our allies. If the Volturi are coming for us then they will come for them too. Anyway, they should come just in case my idea does not work."
"Then there is hope?" Edward asked as he loosened his hold on me. "You have a plan." It was not a question, but a statement as Edward took in what Carlisle was thinking.
Carlisle took a quick glance at the confused and anxious faces around the room before speaking.
"There is one person who can help us. The Volturi fear her as much as they fear Bella, and in some ways, maybe more. She will be hard to find, but if we can convince her to join us then we will have no trouble with the Volturi at all. Since they are trying to kill me now, I don't think I have to keep her a secret anymore."
Everyone looked at Carlisle in wonder, confusion, and Pure desperation. Who could the Volturi fear more than me? More than "Renesmee's army?" More than any Vampire and probably any other creature in existence?
"Amazing." Edward stood there frozen because of what he saw in Carlisle's mind. It was times like this that Edwards gift really annoyed me.
I was the first to ask the obvious question.
"Who?"
"Her name is Scarlet." Carlisle began. "She has the unique ability to….manipulate the skills of the vampires around her. She can bend them to a form she likes and use them. She is the most carefully covered up vampire of all time. She is even considered to be a myth by many of our kind."
"The Skill Bender." Jasper almost whispered. "She can't be real. She is a creature of myth. There is no proof she ever existed."
Jacob rolled his eyes at Jasper. If there was one thing we had learned by now, it was that just about every myth had some form of truth to it, if not the whole truth.
"The myth," Carlisle began again, "was created by the Volturi to keep others from finding her and using her against them. I did meet her when I was living with them in Italy. She demonstrated her skills for them. It was the only time Jane ever felt her own flame. She only did so after Jane tried to burn her of course. Scarlet immediately turned off Jane's power when she felt it coming. When Felix tried to stop her she used Jane's Power to burn him too."
By this time everyone was staring at Carlisle. Even Renesmee and Jake were drawn into the story.
"Aro was thrilled of course." Carlisle shook his head in disapproval. "He asked her to demonstrate what else she could do. Seconds later he could hear every thought anyone in the room ever had. She bent his skill so he could hear multiple people. This also enabled him to see everything she was capable of. Of course, once he found out what Scarlet could do, he asked her to join them, but Chelsea could not make her feel any attachment to the Volturi when Scarlet was blocking her skill. In fact, I think she used Chelsea's skill to make us want to let her go. After she left, no one ever heard from her again."
There was silence as we each processed Carlisle's story. I could not help but grin at the image of Jane doubled-over in pain caused by her own power.
"The problem will be finding the leech." Jacob stated. Renesmee swatted him across the arm for using that term.
"Oww! Nessie!"
Renesmee gave him the look she usually gave him when she scolded him.
"OK, fine. The vampire then."
Renesmee rolled her eyes. She always looked like Edward when she did that.
Carlisle thought for a while. He seemed to be searching his memory for any clue to where the girl might be.
"I have heard rumors that she lives in a large field that is surrounded by woods, somewhere in the northern forests of Wyoming." Carlisle replied. "It is said she never leaves the immediate area. Of course, the Volturi pass off the rumors as lies."
"Well, are we going?"Alice said in a cheerful voice. "I am dying to see which way we need to go."
Jasper was the first to chime in.
"We should start with the national parks. They have plenty of wooded areas. We can start with the west side and split up so we can find her faster."
He kept talking as he moved to the globe that sat on the table in the corner of the room. Everyone followed except Jake and Renesmee. When I got to the globe they were still talking.
"We will follow the latitude lines back and forth until we reach the base of Wyoming. By then we will have found her if she is there at all."
"Give me a chance to see if she is there." Alice said.
While Alice looked for Scarlet, I stood next to Edward and held his hand as tight as I could. Every time I thought my life was perfect, something had to come and threaten to take it all away.
"Mom?" I heard Renesmee say.
I twirled around to face her.
"Why do the Volturi keep coming for us? Weren't Grandpa Carlisle and Aro friends back in Italy? Why would someone kill a friend?"
"I don't know honey." I said carefully. How do you explain something like that to your daughter? How do you explain the greed and resentment of the world to someone so good and pure?
I was trying to find a way to explain everything to her when Alice saved me by waking up from her trance with some important news.
"We will find her." She said confidently. "In a clearing in the woods, near the edge of Jackson Lake."
"That is in Grand Teton National Park." Carlisle replied as he pointed at a location on the globe.
"The perimeter won't take long to search." Jasper chimed in. "We won't even have to split up."
"In this case that would be wise." Carlisle replied. "We don't know if there will be any other vampires nearby, and what powers they may possess. If they are dangerous we will want to be able to get out of there quickly, and as a whole."
"When will we go?" Rosalie asked.
"Let's be ready in half an hour." Carlisle said without thinking. "Get into something comfortable. It will be a long run. We will warn the others afterwards."
Though comfort wasn't an issue, we all knew what Carlisle meant, and the others ran upstairs to get ready.
"We are running?" I asked in astonishment. We usually took the cars anywhere. Running was not very common for getting around.
"This is an emergency." Carlisle replied as he got up and headed for his room. "We don't have time for traffic."
"Jake?" I called and Jacob spun around to look at me.
"Yeah?"
"Can you come with us to Wyoming? I don't feel comfortable leaving you two here alone."
"No problem."
"Oh," I said as I turned to leave, "you should probably let Sam know."
Jake smiled at me, and Edward, Renesmee, and I ran out the door and headed to the cottage.
The trip was fast. We did not talk. Jake had stayed behind to phase. When we got to the cottage, I got into the first sweats and shirt I grabbed. I got Renesmee one of her more durable outfits.
When I got outside, Jake was waiting as a wolf. Edward had a duffle bag and was putting it on his back. I could smell the peanut butter and jelly and I knew it was food for Jake and Renesmee.
Nessie walked over to Jake and after giving him a kiss on the bridge of his nose she climbed swiftly onto his back. She could run fast, but she had a hard time keeping up.
"Let's get back to the house." Edward said.
The run back to the house was just as quiet as the run to the cottage. We were all deep in thought. We had all known the Volturi would come for us again, but why now? Did they think that by acting so soon after the first encounter that we would have less time to react? Why not wait to gain strength? We may never find out.
Renesmee was hugging Jake's neck as he ran. I could tell that she was worried. She had seen the Volturi only once before, and then they were trying to kill us. I couldn't blame her. We were all worried. It seemed that our only hope was this Scarlet person.
The air that blew on our faces would have calmed us down under normal circumstances. It did nothing as we ran back to the house.
When we got there we could hear the others running around. It sounded like Carlisle was talking to Tanya from the Denali coven on the phone. By the time we got in the house he had hung up.
"Tanya is going to find the others and warn them while we look for Scarlet." Carlisle informed us. "They will get here when they can."
This news seemed to cheer Renesmee up a little bit. She had missed her new friends from that winter long ago. She had formed a special bond with Zafrina of the Amazon coven. She had loved her "pretty pictures" so much that she spent most of the day with her when she was here. She seemed to also like it when Benjamin of the Egyptian coven made the water from the river shoot up in geysers in the air. She had not had a chance to visit them since then.
"Did you tell them about Scarlet?" Edward asked. He looked concerned.
Carlisle shook his head. "I only told them about the situation with the Volturi. We had better save that discussion for later."
Edward relaxed. Their discussion confused me, but this was not the time to ask questions.
Rosalie was the last one downstairs. Everyone was anxious to go.
"We will start with the woods to the west." Carlisle stated. "It is easier to hide there. She would not be in a place where she could be easily found."
"What will we do when we get there?" I asked.
"We will find out when the time comes." Carlisle answered.
We headed out the door and towards the river. One by one we jumped the river and started running southwest towards Wyoming. Edward and I ran together, and Jake was running by my side.
Renesmee looked comfortable on Jake. She was listening to her I-Pod. It was the new one Edward had given her for Christmas last year. She nervously flipped from song to song, and every now and then she would stroke Jake's shoulder.
My breath came steadily and evenly. I was anxious, but if anything, that made me run faster than ever before. The air flowing in and out of my lungs while running was something I usually enjoyed, but now it held no importance for me.
We would stop every now and then for Renesmee to eat and rest. A couple hours after we left, Renesmee fell asleep while riding Jake. She had lost a good amount of sleep last night and the stress probably didn't help. I took her off his back and gave her to Edward so she would not fall off. He kept running with Nessie in his arms, and it barely slowed him down.
We ran through the rest of the night, and by the time we reached Grand Teton the sun was coming up over the trees. The light shone down on us in beams that reflected off our skin as we ran. We woke Renesmee from her nap to eat.
While she was eating, the others were discussing what to do when we found the clearing.
"We can't go in there with our guard down." Jasper argued with himself. "On the other hand, if she feels threatened, she may attack."
"When I met her she did not seem like the kind of person to attack someone without a reason." Carlisle added.
While they discussed our next move, I clung to Edward.
Rose was feeding Renesmee. She was having a difficult time. Renesmee did not like human food very much, but we made her eat some every day. We did not want to keep giving in whenever she asked for donated blood. We let her have a cup now and then instead of hunting, but Edward insisted that we get her to the point where she would eat mostly human food. After almost six years we had not gotten very far. I was comfortable with her drinking animal blood, but Edward wanted her to have a partially normal human life like he had had for me.
"Bella," Rose called "can I have some help?"
"Nessie?" I called using my best parental voice. "Are you being a pain for Rose?"
Renesmee rolled her eyes and groaned, and took a bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich Rose was holding. She swallowed it whole so she would not have to taste it.
"Come on Nessie, you're acting like a child." I scolded. It felt odd to say. She was still a child to me in so many ways.
"You'll give yourself a stomach ache by doing that." Rose scolded. "Chew."
Nessie took a smaller bite, and chewed it with exaggeration before swallowing it. She looked at me for approval, and I could not help but giggle.
Renesmee was done eating by the time the others came to a decision. They decided to approach the area slowly and calmly. Carlisle did not want to threaten the vampire in any way.
Alice looked ahead to make sure it was a safe decision.
"It looks fine to me." She sang.
Renesmee wanted to run the rest of the way. She was tired of riding on Jake. She loved Jake, but it made her feel helpless. She had a very independent spirit and did not like the special attention. She was a little slower than the rest of us, but not by much. Edward, Jake, and I stayed close to her.
After about 10 minutes Edward spoke.
"We are close. I can hear her."
Everyone tensed a little, but kept running.
It was not long before we spotted light coming through a break in the trees. There was definitely some sort of clearing ahead. Everyone slowed unconsciously. As we stepped into the clearing we all came to a stop.
In the clearing, surrounded by trees, was a small house. It was a log cabin and it looked like it had been built by hand. It was not very big. It was about the size of my human house, only with one floor. It had two windows in the front, and a white door with a stone path leading to it. There were flowers planted all around the house, and almost every tree by the house had at least one birdfeeder or birdhouse on it.
There was a black cat sleeping on the doorstep. I thought it was odd. Animals tended to stay away from Vampires. It's heartbeat never quickened as we approached, but over the sound of the heartbeat was what sounded like an angel humming.
Carlisle went to knock on the door, but before he did a small voice rang out from the heart of the house.
"Ah, Carlisle. I have been expecting you. Please, come in."
The voice sounded like one that belonged to a child. It was soft but rang out as clear and confident as an adult. We went in slowly and cautiously. The one room cabin was filled with books, pictures, CDs, and records. There was a small fireplace at the far end, and near it was a long couch. On the end of the couch sat a young girl.
She was pale and beautiful, with dark brown hair that waved slightly down her shoulders. It had a slight red hint to it that grew more prominent when the light caught it. It was parted to the left, and the shorter hair hung close to her eyes, but was tucked behind her ear to keep it out of the way. The rest hung below her shoulders. It framed her heart-shaped face perfectly. The dark blue of her knit dress brought out the color in her hair. She looked so sad, and even when she smiled at us it did not touch her eyes. Her lips were a lovely red and her long, delicate eyelashes and dark eyebrows, brought out the surprising dark butterscotch color of her almond shaped eyes.
"The leech is a veggie vamp?" Jake whispered to Renesmee. "Didn't see that one coming."
She was young, probably fourteen or fifteen years old. Everything about the girl was small. She was taller than Alice,(Honestly, who wasn't?) but she seemed smaller in some ways. The only thing that told me she was not a child was her face. It had a mature look to it, even with its slight childish roundness. If it was not for that, I would have immediately thought she was eleven or twelve. She was slender, but had a slight curve.
"Carlisle," the girl greeted him "it has been centuries since I have seen you. I am glad you have finally decided to look me up. I see you have brought company." She scanned her eyes quickly over us.
Renesmee started reaching out to ask Jacob something, but before she could touch him the girl spoke.
"Yes Renesmee. I am Scarlet." Said the girl as if she had heard what Renesmee was thinking.
Renesmee froze. We all looked at her and then back at Scarlet.
"Yes, I can hear you all as long as Edward is near." The girl said, as if answering someone's question. By the look on Esme's face, it was probably her.
"But…." Edward began.
"Skill bender, remember." Scarlet interrupted.
Jake laughed at Edward's expression.
"Now you know how the rest of us feel."
"I hope you don't mind Edward." Scarlet said. "It is a habit. When I feel someone walk into my…perimeter, I have to see what their skills are and what I can do with them. It is like a reflex. I only test them when I am really interested. Your skill Alice, was very entertaining, and Jasper, yours is very original. However I found Edwards very helpful in learning about you and your purpose. Actually, it is the only reason you found me. I would usually run from a group of your magnitude, especially since the Volturi have not come for me in a while. I would have assumed it was them."
The Volturi were still after her? What could have given such a small vampire such a big power? What was her story?
"My story is very similar to yours Bella," She said, answering my unspoken question, "but mine does not have a happy ending."
"But…" I started to protest. How could she read my mind with my shield.
"I turned off your power so I could read your mind." She saw the confusion on my face and continued. " I have no trouble turning off shields because they are usually directed at or from the mind. You see, I have found that the source of a vampire's power is located in their heart but is worked through the brain so all I need to do is…. turn it off through the heart. Anyone else would have to tear the heart out of a vampire to turn a power off, and that would not only turn the power off, but kill them too. The heart is also the source of life for a vampire. It may not beat, but it still holds who you are. The Volturi have kept that a secret for ages. Plus your shield blocks powers aimed at the brain and my power is not exactly mental." Scarlet grinned in apology, though her eyes stayed sad.
"I hope you don't mind. Anyway I assume you want to hear my story. They all do. You don't have to be able to read minds to know that."
She motioned to the couch, inviting us to sit down, even though we did not need to. Still, it was good practice so I sat on the opposite end of the couch and Edward did the same. Alice sat on the floor while Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie stood by the door. Carlisle and Esme stood together next to where Alice was sitting.
"I guess I would have to begin when I was a human in London. My name was Scarlet Linnington. I was born around 1590. I was the eldest of five children. My father was very well known in the town and he was constantly away on business. My mother was always going to parties when he was away. I had to take care of my brothers who all loved to make my life miserable. My mother would come home drunk and hit me and my father never spoke to me. This made me a stronger person mentally. I was able to live through the hard things in life without complaint, but it was a miserable life. Still, now I have the advantage of being stronger than most of our kind."
Emmett narrowed his eyes in concentration. He was probably sizing up the competition. I could not picture the little girl sitting on the couch next to me attacking Emmett. He had to be at least twice her size, if not more. Scarlet ignored Emmett and continued.
"My one saving grace was my gift. It was there even as a human. Whenever I was around someone with a special talent of any kind I was able to do whatever they were able to do just as good as them. If an expert pianist came over I was able to play any song just as well as they could, but if they were not around, I was just as good as any other human who had only had a lesson or two.
"In some ways it was a curse too. My parents used me for bragging rights and to move up in the social circle. When I could not do something because there was no one with that talent nearby they got extremely angry and my mother would beat me.
"Of all my human memories, I will never forget the day I met my first vampire. It was the spring of 1605 I believe. I had just turned fourteen. It was a cloudy day, but warm enough for me to go to the courtyard. There was a secret garden that I had found years ago. It was my favorite place to hide. When I got there I headed straight for the swing hanging from my favorite tree that was in full bloom. A cherry tree I believe it was. There was pink everywhere. It was a very peaceful day and I was all alone, so I started reading my book.
"I had barely started when I saw a boy at the far end of the garden. It did not take me long to notice how beautiful he was. He looked like an angel with dark hair and pale white skin. He had a gentle face with strange mahogany eyes that sparkled when he smiled at me. It took me a while to notice that he was not a boy, but he was not an adult either. He looked like he was about sixteen. I nodded politely to the strange person, and he returned the gesture. He started to walk away when the sun peeked out from behind a thin cloud. I was looking at the boy when this happened, and he sparkled. I was shocked and mystified by his beauty. Seconds later everything went black. The next thing I knew, he was setting me back on the bench.
"He hovered over me and said in a voice like pure music, 'Are you ok miss? The branch hit you in the head.' He gestured to a branch from the cherry tree that was lying on the ground.
"For a second I thought I had imagined it all. Even as he carried me home I decided that it had all been a result of the tree branch. My memory had to have been effected.
"The boy set me at the door of my house. 'Will you be able to make it from here miss?'
"'Call me Scarlet.' I said politely like any young lady should. 'And yes, I'll be fine. Thank you.'
"He looked concerned. 'Do you mind if I check on you tomorrow Scarlet?' He asked politely. 'That branch hit you rather hard.'
"I was not about to pass up an opportunity to see him again so I agreed to meet him back at the courtyard.
" 'Thank you again sir.' I said as I curtsied and headed for the door.
" 'Joel.' He said as I turned to leave. 'My name is Joel Hastings.'
" 'Mr. Hastings' I nodded before going inside.
"The next day when I woke up, I realized that my head did not hurt. If I had really gotten hit in the head with a tree branch the day before my head should have been pounding. I rushed back to the park, and there was Joel waiting for me on the swing. He had realized his mistake, but I could not understand why he was still there. He refused to answer my questions then, but promised to meet me in the park the next day.
"After that we met every day in the park. He eventually told me everything. He told me about the speed and strength. The laws and legends. We would run through the woods together just to get away from the world.
"Anyway, I fell in love. I knew I wanted to be with him forever, but he did not want to risk my life by trying to change me. I could respect that. We decided to wait till he was sure he was able to control himself.
"About two years after we had met, I became ill with the plague. I could not meet Joel in the garden, so he would climb up the wall to my room every night to see me. Everyone thought I was getting better. They thought I would be out of bed in days. They were far from right.
"I took a turn for the worst. I could not move, speak, or even eat. They expected me to die the next day. They were going to take me to the morgue that morning. Joel sat by my bed all night, debating with himself. He realized if he did not try he would lose me and if he tried he would at least have a chance at keeping me with him. He finally decided to change me.
"I woke up days later in the woods. Joel was sitting by my side, holding my hand. My throat burned and I hunted quickly without thinking, but I felt bad about taking someone else's life. After that, human blood had no appeal for me. Joel had no aversion to it, but tried to help me hunt criminals instead. But the guilt remained and the blood tasted worse and worse. He suffered with me as I tried to go for weeks without hunting. Eventually I lost control on a herd of cattle. I had a love for animals back then, and though it still hurt to take any life I was able to escape the regret I felt about killing a human. The blood without the regret tasted sweeter, and I soon formed an immunity to human blood. Joel did the same to keep me happy.
"We eventually decided to get away from London. We traveled the world together, searching for other Vampires. That's when I discovered my skill.
"Joel had no skill so I was surprised one day to find myself suddenly able to control Joel with my voice. Like hypnotism. We met a small coven not long after that had a vampire with the same skill, although my version was more potent than hers.
"After many years of traveling we decided to settle down and move to America. We built this cabin together. We lived there together for many happy years until he went hunting one day and did not come back. That is when I went to the Volturi. You know the story from there."
Scarlet looked down at her hands. The story she had told us had unearthed many painful memories.
I ignored my instincts to stay away from the sad girl, and put my hand on hers.
"I am sorry about Joel. He sounded like a very kind person. Did you ever find out what happened to him?"
"Yes." She replied as she looked up with a cold expression on her sad face. "Aro had him killed."
Gasps of horror and surprise came out of every person in the room. No questions needed to be asked. Scarlet continued her explanation for us.
"He knew I would come to them when Joel died. He was hoping I would join him. He did not anticipate that I would read his thoughts when he shook my hand. It took all my self control to keep me from killing him right then." The sadness in her eyes melted away, but it was replaced by pure fury. It only took her a fraction of a second to collect herself, and the blank sadness returned.
"Why didn't you? If he killed Joel then why not get revenge?" I shuddered, thinking of Victoria and her need to kill me as Edward had killed her mate James.
"Caius was in on the plan. Alec and Jane as well. Not all of them were present when I got there, and I wanted to finish them all off at once. I also did not want to hurt the ones that were not responsible. Felix, Marcus, and Demetri did not want to do it, not that they really had a say in the first place with Chelsea around. They did what they had to do and I do not hold it against them." She said Marcus's name, not like she pitied him, but more like they shared a burden. I did not understand it.
Scarlet and the others kept discussing her life and her skills and other things that I only listened to with a small part of my mind. I felt so sorry for the small girl. She had a horrid life before she was rescued by her Joel, but even that was taken away from her. She had only a short time of happiness in her long life. But she was a strong girl. If I had had everything taken away from me, I never would have made it this far. But here she was. She had lived with her loss for over four hundred years.
I was hearing what they were saying in the back of my head until something Carlisle said caught my attention.
"The Volturi have decided to get rid of all of us. We need your help. They have doubled the guard and will not bring witnesses. They will move to Denali to kill our other friends and after that move on to kill everyone we have spoken to in the last decade. You are the only one who can even begin to intimidate the Volturi now."
Everyone looked at Scarlet. It amazed me how such a small creature could decide the fate of so many. This was it. She would decide whether we lived or died.
Scarlet looked down at her hands as if trying to figure out how to convey something important.
"I hope you understand that my skill is not as strong as it seems. It has been exaggerated over the past few centuries. Like everything it has its limits. I can't defeat the Volturi, but I can help make you stronger." Her eyes were open, truthful, warning.
"That's all we ask for." Carlisle nodded.
There was a brief scilence as Scarlet took in the eager faces of those around her.
"I have one condition if you want me to help you." Scarlet said.
"Anything." Carlisle spoke quickly.
Scarlet seemed to take a deep breath before speaking.
"I have been on my own for centuries and I feel really comfortable around you all. You share my… ethical beliefs, and Your way of life is something I have missed for a long time." Scarlet looked around the room to see our reactions. "If you allow, I would love to join your family."