Chapter 8

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. -Kahlil Gibran

After four hair washings, and a serious scrub down in steaming hot water, Fred stepped out of the bathroom in his borrowed clothes. The pants fit okay, if a bit snug, but the flannel shirt was almost obscene in its tightness around his chest and shoulders.

He had to admit, though- it felt good to be in clean clothes again.

He padded barefoot down the stairs in the direction of the voices. Murmurs of low speaking vampires that he listened to cautiously. Not angry buzzing, but filled with the timbre of concern . Sounds stopped when he entered the great room. He looked around uneasily at the large group of vampires present. In a quick glance, he caught sight of everyone. Bella, sitting nervously next to Edward; Tanya standing, her arm braced against the mantle of a large stone fireplace; A tall lanky man with dirty blond hair stood behind a dark-haired woman, his hand on her shoulder and last; olive toned, dark haired couple sitting together on a leather couch. Nearly everyone paired off and gaining comfort for each other.

What was this? The Wedding game? The sight of so many obviously happy couples made him even sadder. The fact that Tanya was alone allowed a brief moment of hope, only to be quashed by his own thoughts. Why would she ever be interested in a mass murderer?

Slowly, he made his way to an open chair near the fire. Part of him felt nervous being so close to the only thing that could kill him—hadn't he seen that enough in the newborn army? The other part enjoyed the warm comfort it brought him. He sat down cautiously, and began speaking softly.

"I don't completely understand why you all are doing this, but please know I'm grateful. I have so many questions to ask, but besides the obvious one, I really don't know which questions are the right ones." He looked steadily at Edward. "What happened to Bree?"

Edward looked down at Bella for a moment before responding, "You know the basics already, but perhaps you could tell us the background? It might make more sense to us that way."

"Well, you already know that Riley was in charge of us newborns but that we were bitten by someone else. A lot of them were losers, gangbangers, big-mouthed idiots. Bree was one of the younger ones turned, and tried to stay out of the jerks' ways. They already left me alone because I made them sick." At this lip quirked. "She figured if she stayed close to me, they ignored her too. One night, she and Diego didn't make it back before dawn."

Bella interrupted. "Why would that be a problem?"

Fred grimaced. "Because, among all the lies we were told, we were made to believe the myth about the sun was true. Bree and I suspected that Riley killed those newborns who figured out he was full of crap." He looked down at his hands and continued. "They came back the next night, but something was different about the way they related. Just for the record, I had always thought Diego was a decent guy. I was more careful to protect Bree now though, because Riley seemed suspicious. Then one day, Riley says he sent Diego on a fact finding trip."

Fred raised his head and met Edward's gaze. "Riley didn't trust anyone that much. I thought maybe he figured something out and killed him. Riley didn't really like anyone he thought was smarter than him. So, I worked on keeping my head down and Bree under my influence, so he wouldn't figure out that she too, had some idea."

He looked around the room, his eyes suspiciously bright. "The only reason she was there at all was because Riley had told her Diego would meet them there. She was looking for him. I tried to talk her into running away with me, but she wouldn't. I couldn't protect her."

"That explains a lot." Edward sighed heavily. "Bree was the only newborn who surrendered."

Fred's head jerked back up. "She surrendered? Then why is she dead?"

"Did Riley ever mention the Volturi?"

"No, but Bella did." Fred ran his hand nervously through his hair.

"The Volturi...Eleazar, perhaps you would be best to describe them," Edward requested.

The swarthy man nodded. "I was with them for a while, Fred. The Volturi reside in Italy, and are among the oldest vampires in the world. Their role in the world is to keep the laws. We vampires really only have one rule; keep the secret. Those who bring our existence into question with the humans are summarily dealt with. Even the rule about immortal children was made because of that rule. Child vampires are too uncontrollable, but I digress.

Your creator, Victoria, made a mess of things. A newborn army takes a lot of human blood to support. Surely you heard of all the human news reporting your behaviors? It gave humans ideas the Volturi would have to stomp out."

"This is where it gets interesting though. The Volturi let it go a bit, because they were hoping they would decimate my family," Edward added.

Fred's face frowned in question, "Why?"

"We're a relatively large family, with many powers that Aro, the leader of the Volturi, want in his guard. We don't follow vampire feeding, and it makes them feel...uncomfortable. Most vampires live in covens of no more than two or three, and don't consider themselves families. The thought of family is a human concept."

Bella snorted, "We're a bit too human for their tastes."

"Be fair, Bella." Eleazar commented, "They do have a place, even if your interactions with them have been a bit...questionable."

"Politicians are the same everywhere, Eleazar," Garrett retorted. "They're happy to tell you want you want to hear, until it directly opposes what they want. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, isn't that the way the saying goes?"

Fred focused, pushing his blond hair back off his forehead. "So." He paused in throught. " The Volturi are basically beneficent, until they feel threatened. Whether that be a coven of talented vampires, or an army of newborns hell-bent on giving the humans a reason to believe in our existence; Bree was to be made an example of."

Edward nodded sadly, "More or less. The guard said she broke the law, and there was no mercy whatsoever. My father, my family, pleaded for her clemency. We would take care of her, but they wouldn't be persuaded. If it is any consolation, it was quick."

"And you say, she spoke to you in her head? What did she say?"

"She told me not to believe the Volturi; that they had met with your creator about us. She was happy because once she knew she was going to die, she was getting a bit of revenge by letting me know. That she was glad I killed Victoria and Reilly. And to be nice to you if we were ever find you. I could tell she looked up to you like a brother. She worried about you."

Fred tensed and whimpered softly. Even through his pain though, he had to ask. "Why? What was it for? I'm not stupid enough to believe it was for territory, like Reilly told us."

"You're right, it wasn't," Edward answered, "It was revenge. The previous year, Victoria's mate, James decided to hunt Bella, who was already my mate, even though she was still human. He was a tracker, who thrilled in the hunt, the more difficult, the better. He never would have stopped. In the end, we had to kill him to save her. Victoria lost her mind. She hated me for killing him when she thought he would always succeed. She decided the best revenge was a mate for a mate, and wanted to kill Bella, but knew she'd be well protected by my family."

Fred turned to Bella. "Quite a life you've had, hadn't you?"

"Perhaps. But at least I got my happy ending." She responded smiling brilliantly, and squeezing Edward's hand.

Tanya broke in, "Now that you know, I'm curious. I understand why you ran out on the army, but what did that have to do with finding you up here, starving to death?"