Author's Note : Sorry it took me so long! This chapter was a bitch to right, you know that? And I'm having trouble holding Bella and Eddie from each other.
Anyone think I could bring in a new character? Or would that be too much?
And another question, because I'm just full of them : Should Reid and Tyler be a couple in this, or what? 'Cause the idea kinda struck me in the middle of the seventh chapter, and I want feedback first.
Chapter Five;
"Sit." Reid's voice was melodic and velvety, and even I felt the compulsion to sit down. Since I was a shielder, and the effect was dulled and at a third of the usual strength, I couldn't imagine what everyone else in the room felt. "Be silent."
"Thank you," Caleb muttered to Reid and the vampires, who were sitting where, a second ago, they had been standing.
Rosalie had a sullen look on her face, Jasper was emotionless (get the pun?), Emmett looked confused as hell, and Esme looked depressed. Charlise was as emotionless as Jasper, and Edward was schooling his features to that of his father, while Alice simply looked shocked. In fact, the only one who seemed to be normal was Rose - she always looked ready to tear my heart out.
Tyler stood from his perch on the second couch, ignoring the two vampires by his side as his eyes filled with Power. The air around him was displaced as he shifted reality, then he popped up behind me. His feet were braced on the couch cushions beside me, and I leaded back into his body the moment I was able to.
Caleb, on the other hand, went for a more human approach. Well, mostly human. He placed his hands on the couch arm and moved like a cat, ending up with his legs thrown over Pogue's thighs and my own, and the other foot braced on the floor. The position was one of grace and agility, another show that while we may look human, like the vampires, we were far from fragile.
I felt Reid's Power from my other side as he leaned closer to me, and the sound of glass hitting glass alerted me to his work. I knocked my now-full beer against Tyler and Pogue's glasses without thought, giving a flash of my own magic, and the line continued on as we replenished the drink that none of us were legally allowed to have.
We all sat there, a coven of witches facing a frozen coven of vampires, for about a minute. Then Caleb coughed on his beer, before speaking. "Shit, I forgot," He shifted to look at Reid. "I was waiting for them to speak and do the outrage thing, but..."
A single raised eyebrow from my biological brother. He looked totally unapologetic, "Oops." Then he added power to his voice and turned to the vampires, "Free to speak."
"Let me go, you dirty, filthy, human cow, or I swear..." Rosalie started off.
I cut into her rant this time. "Silence," Rose seemed to shriek, and we all winced. Dang, that girl had some lungs on her. "Dammit, Reid, I told you I was bad at that spell," I growled at him, to keep from breaking down. Wasn't everyday a girl had to choose between families.
"Well, I suppose you did pretty well for someone who's new to the full Powers," Pogue suggested reasonably, getting a glare from me in return.
"Hey, Isy, which is the least likely to scream at us if we lift the silence?" Caleb asked after a second of watching the marbled-skinned vampires.
"I"m guessing Jasper or Charlise. Esme wouldn't scream either, at least I don't think so, but..." I can't face her right now, I added without my voice. "Charlise, you are free to speak."
With that, our meeting truly began.
Rose
That bitch. Rose glared and sent the thought out with all her might, mostly in hope that the things were reading her mind and heard her. Another part, a very little part, was hoping Edward heard her to, and that he hurt, because, dammit, he brought this on them.
All. His. Fault.
The blonde vampire tried to struggle once more, and found her body still shut down. She wasn't tied in place, or even bound by physical magic. It was as if her brain and her body were cut off, and only the barest hint that she actually had a body let her know her torso was still under her.
She growled to herself in her head for a few seconds, then stopped, tunning into the conversation. She obviously wasn't going to get anywhere, and besides, did she just hear the words, 'we don't want you hurt,'?
"If you don't want to hurt us, then why not let us go," Charlise asked; yep, she had heard those words. What kind of moron said that to vampires he'd just frozen in place? Come to think of it, what kind of moron pissed off a vampire?
"Okay, so we wish to hurt you," The human leader allowed, reluctant to say so, Rose bet. "But we won't, because then Isy would be sad, and we don't like to see our Princess depressed. Which, by the way, is why we want to hurt you, not to mention that you're all vampires in our territory."
Charlise seemed to mull over that for a second, then spoke in that stupid, democratic, I'll-be-perfectly-reasonable-and-not-kill-you voice, "I understand, really, I do. I wouldn't want any member of my family to be harmed, emotionally or physically." Then he paused, as if chewing on words, or maybe for effect, "Which is why I ask, what can we do so that both families can go along unharmed?"
The dark haired one blew out a breath, slowly, and spoke again. Rose wished she could tear out his throat and stop both his words and his breath. "That's why you're here" He glanced at the largest of the group – Pogue, if she remembered right, and she did.
"Isabella likes you, and your family, for some reason," His voice was dark and deep and molasses, and Rose wondered if that was a spell, too, to calm them down. "Normally, we kill any vampire or other in our territory; goes with our job description, ya know? But Isy, well, she really likes you, even fancies herself in a relationship with the boy," He jerked his head at Edward.
The white haired one took over then, "And, as much as we hate you," More looks at Edward, though the blonde was speaking to the group, "We love Isy more. That means, of course, that you have to live, and live here, where she can talk and chat with you, and where we can keep an eye on you."
The one sitting behind Bella took over, and Rose wanted to snarl at them to stop playing ping-pong. "What'd ya say? Wanna live here and have some fun with us?" His smile was charming, and if Rose hadn't seen his eyes go black, or the way he'd...moved, she wouldn't have guessed him any more than human.
Her father seemed hesitant, so very hesitant. He never hesitated, not really. "You want us to stay here?" He spoke slowly, as if fitting the words in his head. "Would it not be safer for us to leave?"
"For you? Yes. For us? Yes. For Isy? Yes." Caleb was the one to speak, "But would safety lead to happiness?" He shook his head, "Isy would be happy if you stayed, and we take happiness where we can find it," He had a small smile on his perfect lips, and Rose wondered what he wasn't saying. "Besides, I don't believe Edward wishes to leave, and we won't make him. If he doesn't leave, will you?"
"You are correct," Charlise conceded, giving his head a small dip, "At least in the fact that I will not leave without my family fully behind me. I do question, though, what makes you believe that Edward wishes to stay here, where his past love will haunt him and Bella both?"
Bella spoke, for the first time; she'd been sitting there like a stupid log, saying nothing, and Rose had almost forgotten she was there. Almost. "Why do you both presume what Edward thinks? Why not ask him?" Her eyes flashed black, she muttered something so slight even Rose couldn't hear, and Edward seemed to take a breath.
"Nice to know that I have a say in something to do with our lives," His voice was a whip in the room, burning and striking at Bella, who flinched.
The blonde one's eyes snapped black, though he didn't move. "Watch your tone, vampire." He smiled, his grin as cold as his eyes. "I might just lose my temper and fry you, and I really hate breaking promises to my kid sister."
Edward clenched his jaw, and Rose hoped he broke it. "I apologize," His voice was stiff and formal, as it was when he was offended, "Though I believe I have reason to be angry. I have been lied to, manipulated, frozen, and I find out the love of my life betrayed me."
"I'm sorry," Bella's soft voice drew Edward's gaze back to her, and the black eyes of the vampires seemed to soften, to Rose's disgust. "I was just afraid..." She trailed off.
"That I would find you disgusting?" Edward was certainly pissed now, "I trusted you with my secret, told you I was a vampire, yet you couldn't place that trust in me? You couldn't believe in me that much, that my love would overcome such small things?"
"Its not a small thing, Edward!" Bella cried from her seat, and Caleb moved swiftly as she surged to her feet. "It's not a bit extra, it's not some little magic that a human possesses! It's not even like being a vampire; I'm not human, I've never been human! It's not a small thing!"
Her voice had risen to a shout, filling the room, and everyone who was able to lowered their eyes, as if ashamed at her confession and the emotion in her words. Only Edward remained untouched.
"I don't care, I would never have cared. I still love you now, even though you tell me you aren't human. Even though you've lied and betrayed me, frozen me in place." Edward told her softly, eyes drilling into hers'. "The only reason I'm angry is because you believed that my love was so small that I couldn't accept you. That is what hurts the most."
Rose felt like she was intruding, and for once, there was no mocking thought. She watched Bella lift a hand to her mouth, eyes closing. Then the 'human' girl spoke, her voice thin and reedy. "I'm going to retire to my room. Inform me how the treaty goes."
No sound came from the room as Bella walked slowly up the stairs, and a door clicked shut. Then Tyler spoke from his perch on the couch, "You know, vampire, I think I like you." His voice was oddly cheerful, "You'll be good for her, when you two get over this spat."
Edward swung his head at the boy and snarled, fangs showing. "Quite, human." His voice was far from human, and he looked like the monster he thought they all were.
"Tut-tut. Did you listen to nothing my sis said?" Blondie teased from his corner of the couch. "We ain't human, so stop referring to us as such." He seemed to be having a good time of watching everyone squirm. Stupid male.
"If you aren't human, then what are you?" Charlise interrupted whatever his son was about to say, thankfully. Edward was already six feet under; no need to add to the hole.
"The Covenant, of course," Reid answered, almost lazy in tone, and Rose wanted to kill him. Again. "Sons of hell, witches with the Power of Hellfire and the task of ridding demons from this world."
Charlise raised his eyebrows, intrigued, as Rose herself was. "I wasn't aware that demons existed." He commented in a questioning tone, speaking what was on every vampire's mind.
Caleb smiled and look up at Tyler, who smiled back and spoke. "I'm gonna tell you the short version, 'kay?" Then he began, "When the world was first created, it was overrun by demon and demon spawn, creatures from the deepest reach of hell. Human being lived in terror and fear, and slowly, the human race was being picked off."
He paused, drawing in a breath and seeming to think about his words. "Four men were chosen, the best and the brightest, warrior beyond reproach or question. These human warriors approached the mouth of hell and ventured in. Ten years later, when a mere hundred humans remained, the descendants of those mortal warrior emerged from the mouth of hell."
"The four sons were powerful and deadly, and they robbed the world of the evil that plagued. The four new warriors settled down and had children of their own, and the line was carried on." Tyler wrapped up the censored version of their history, making the five families four to avoid question.
"When the four families came to America, they became part of the Salem Witch Trials, and formed the Covenant of Silence to protect themselves," Caleb took the story from Tyler. "We say nothing, and we make sure that the secret stays a secret."
A chilling smile crept over the blonde's face, but it was the large, dark-haired one – Pogue – who spoke. "Which means that if you spill our secret..."
"We will personally escort you into the fiery abyss that is hell," Reid seemed to find satisfaction in threatening them, "With great relish, at that."