No Mercy

We'd been sitting around the dining table all night, Nessie had fallen asleep leaning against Jake and he had nodded off about an hour later. We still hadn't decided what to do about the wolves and it was becoming clear that none of us had any idea what they were capable of.

Nessie moved uneasily in her sleep and Jake's low snores spluttered slightly, causing me to snap out of my stone – like stature. Edward suddenly bolted from his seat and ran out of the front door; I followed mechanically as did the rest of the vampires. We stood on the dewy grass in front of the large white house and my hand slapped to my mouth as we stared in horror at the unbelievable sight ahead of us.

Jasper inhaled noisily through his nose and I heard him hiss slightly as Alice stood in front if him, Esme gave a small whimper and Emmett grasped Rosalie's hand tightly in his own. On the damp, green grass lay seven bodies, each one covered in blood from head to toe. They lay in disjointed positions; some with only their torso's intact, others with mangled arms and legs. One lay in a pile with the remains of a head hanging by a few lose strands like a limp balloon hanging from a string. Their blood seemed to seep out onto the grass like tendrils, lapping at nature like cancer. The burning in my throat was nothing compared to the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach; how could anyone do such and thing? And, perhaps even more disturbing, why?

Edward wrapped his arm around me and then shouted, "No!" Renesmee was at the door, her eyes wide with terror and her hands clasping at her shirt like someone possessed. Jake was by her side in a second and he seemed to turn a shade of green as he witnessed the carnage for himself. Esme rushed to their side and ushered them into the house, closing the door behind her, I hoped that she was able to comfort Nessie because I knew that, now I had seen it with my own eyes, I was not going to forget the scene in front of me. Carlisle knelt down beside one of the bodies, it's scent drifted towards me as he turned the torso over, revealing the mauled features of its face. It was a young woman, no older than twenty; her summer dress was torn from thigh to breast and the skin underneath looked like it had suffered the same fate. Her chestnut hair splayed out behind her head in a mattered mane and her face held a look of sinister pleasure, her mouth grimacing with the way it had been slashed. Carlisle brushed some loose strands of hair from her face, revealing the extent of the damage; where her mouth was pulled into a lopsided grimace her cheek was sunken, as though it had been gauged from her face. Her eyes stared blankly up towards the rising sun as it moved away from the shadow of the forest behind us.

The sun's rays danced off my skin and the white orb continued to rise as we stood, motionless, staring at the mangled corpses on the front lawn. When the sun reached the smiling girl I gasped and almost fell to my knees, my mind raced with the thoughts ricocheting within. The sun's light sparkled on her skin like a thousand tiny crystals; it shed patterns onto our clothes and reflected in the drops of dew that lay in the blades of grass like tiny glass beads. Carlisle stood up and moved quickly away from the girl, watching and waiting as the sun's rays hit the other bodies in the same way.

"Carlisle", Emmett's voice came out as a broken whisper, "What- what does this mean?" We all waited anxiously for Carlisle's response, knowing that only he would have the peace of mind to propel us into action. He ran a bloody hand through his blonde hair and spoke quietly, "Their venom, the werewolves, it is poisonous to our kind. Once they bite we become paralyzed, there's no escaping it", he looked out across the lawn at the seven dead vampires as the sun's rays shimmered off them majestically.

"This is a warning", Edward spoke quietly beside me, tightening his grip around my waist, "They want us to know they won't give up". He looked down into my eyes, if it were possible I would have said he looked tired, physically drained.

I whispered, knowing the others would hear but in the hope that Jacob and Renesmee wouldn't, "What do we do?"

"We have to destroy them", Edward's eyes were blank, flat, desolate.

"I'm up for that", Emmett's voice was almost back to its usual power, there was only the slight hint of fear to it.

I looked towards Emmett as I spoke, "But how? They're so powerful, what with their abilities and-"

Jasper cut me off mid sentence, "We'll find a way, we're gifted too".

I stepped inside the house as Edward, Emmett and Carlisle began to destroy what remained of the seven vampires on the lawn. I'd asked if we could simply put them back together, I'd heard that vampires could do that, even when ripped apart, but Carlisle said that the wolf venom prevented this, that the vampires were dead. I could smell the putrid-sweet fumes emitting from the burning bodies as I walked into the dining room. Renesmee was sitting in Jake's lap at the dining table and I could hear Esme moving around upstairs, obviously trying to occupy her mind with something monotonous to scratch out the memory of the bodies on her front lawn. I sat in the chair opposite Nessie and Jake and clasped Nessie's hand in mine across the polished wood; she played the scene in the garden over and over, lingering on each and every face of the dead vampires whom we never knew.

"Shh, we're going to stop them", I rubbed the top of her hand as I spoke.

"How?" Jake's voice seemed cracked, weak, as though he was holding back tears, "If their venom is poisonous and they can kill you without even touching you how are we supposed to stop them?"

"We'll find a way. Maybe they have a weakness, something we can use to our advantage, I don't know. But we will stop them". Jake simply nodded slightly and rested his chin against the top of Nessie's bronze hair, closing his eyes as he did so. At that exact moment an ear-splitting shriek erupted from outside; it sounded like someone was being torn apart from the inside. I darted out of the front door to see Edward, Alice, Emmett and Rose standing in what seemed to be an outward-facing circle in the centre of the garden; surrounding them were perhaps thirty young girls, all wearing a light pink top and a long, silk skirt. I stepped onto the grass and saw that each girl looked exactly the same as the next; it was Claire. She wasn't a twin, she was somehow all of these girls. But how?

"Edward?" I glanced towards him and saw that his eyes were wide with terror, as were all of the faces of my family. "Edward?" I repeated, "What's going on?!"

My gaze moved to Rosalie, who seemed to be struggling for breath, not that she needed it, and Emmett who looked bewildered, his eyes sweeping the circle of Claires. Carlisle was crouching in front of the small circle that was my family as though he was inspecting the ground; I couldn't see what he was looking at as my view was blocked by Emmett and Edward. Edward looked as though he was restraining Alice, it seemed as though she wanted to attack the Claires but Edward wouldn't let her.

"Let me go!" Alice's voice was more of a scream; it broke on the last word as she struggled fiercely against Edward's iron grasp.

"No Alice, let Carlisle deal with it", Edward's voice was flat, completely free of emotion and he glanced towards me once before redirecting his attention to Alice. Alice continued reaching in the direction of Carlisle, screaming and thrashing against Edward.

I moved towards both of them, Edward looked as though he could use my help restraining Alice. I didn't understand why she would be so angry, so upset. Was it because Carlisle was so close to Claire? Or because there were so many of her? Either way I couldn't understand why Alice would erupt like that.

Alice struggled fiercely against Edward and I as we tried to calm her down; she was kicking and squealing like a feral cat and her eyes seemed to glow with anger, "Let me see him!"

I was confused, "Who?"

"Let me see Jasper! I need to see him!"

That's when my eyes finally drifted to whatever Carlisle was kneeling over. I peered around his frame to see what looked like a dead body lying on the grass. My eyes widened as I saw Jasper laying there, his face a mask of pure terror. Behind him the large circle of Claires began to grin, their mouths widening and their eyes shining and finally they began to laugh.

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