Chapter 3
"Edward!" Alice murmured her golden eyes distant. Her face returned and our heads shifted to the thicket.
Edward came out with a limp Bella in his arms. I did not pay attention to what they were doing with her. I was too busy guarding the little monster in front of me. Her fingers clawed at the ground, digging mini ditches in the sturdy soil like play-do.
Edward was mumbling anxiously at the small group that formed around him and his fiancé. Carlisle was informing them of Jacob's condition. Bella was feeling horrid, but I did not calm her; that's Edward's job.
"Three minutes." Alice's voice was nearly inaudible. I tensed in front of the tortured child. I ignored the heady scent of the plume of revolting smoke. Hiding in the shadows of the cover, my skin did not sparkle as well as the others. I felt Bella's confused gaze sweep the clearing and pausing on me.
I had the girl cornered. Her back was to the small licking flames. She had to be careful, or I would have to kill her. Carlisle warned me to keep her alive for now, an offer only he could possibly make. She wound her arms around her legs, glaring at Bella. The crimson pupils gleaming brighter as she smelled the aroma of blood.
I massaged my arm. Ow. They had bitten me with no mercy. Edward was now explaining on how I got hurt and what was happening between the girl and me.
"Overprotective fool." Alice grumbled passionately. I allowed myself a quick grin. The girl wretched her head back, her eyes barely escaping the thirsty desire in her throat. She cried out, yearning. My smirk dissolved.
I silenced her with a snarl. She flinched and started once more to tear at the ground. Her small dark-haired head shook, trying to clear her head. Her emotions were reckless. If I did not have the self-control I had now, I would have left the thing and slayed Bella right there.
I kept the thought of gratefulness there for a second, so Edward could process it before I concentrated on the prison guard mood. I sank deeper into my defending position.
Carlisle rushed to my side to place a hand on my arm, and I tried to contain myself.
"Have you changed your mind, young one?" Carlisle questioned, his voice velvet soft. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."
Hah! Carlisle does not want to, but I would love to. I quickly erased the image that would have represented me in my earlier days with Maria.
"How can you stand it? I want her!" Such an obvious statement. Her voice was clear and piercing. I noticed her eyes avert through Edward to Bella's small, terrified figure. She continued to violently knead the dirt.
"You must stand it. You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now." The girl clamped her soil-tainted hands to her head, moaning in a low tone.
All three of us heard Bella's urgent voice, "Shouldn't we move away from her?" The newborn bared her perfect teeth. I could taste her need and distress. It was like a bratty child wanting the newest toy. Despicable.
Bella's heart bolted as Edward told her the Volturi were coming from the north end of our field, and I heard more tiny whimpers escape the girl's clutched teeth. My own venom washed my mouth at the sound. I swallowed.
Bella's head turned to gaze at the vampire that stood before me. The girl returned her look with a scowl. Quivering and restless her movements were. Bella was brave. To stare at such a creature, a normal human would have been frightened stiff.
I moved slightly with Carlisle, forming a protective case with Bella in the center of it. Edward was staring straight into the pile of burning corpse where the young vampire was. I saw small silhouettes appear in the thick cloud of smoke, their cloaks making them look as if they were drifting like spirits than walking.
"Hmm," a bleak voice erupted from the front. From the blackest hood.
Jane.
"Hello, Jane." Edward as gentlemanly as ever. Jane and four large figures tore themselves from the hazy fog. Her petite figure standing out by somewhat two thirds of a yard.
The most voluminous one was without a doubt Felix. His head rose and as the covering slipped. He winked at Bella. Edward was emotionless, the same in all of us.
"I don't understand." Her voice a smidge more interested than her last comment. Her hand reached out to the newborn.
"She has surrendered," Edward said. Her perplexity was changed.
"Surrendered?" Her burgundy eyes whipped to meet his. Felix looked swiftly at another member.
Edward's shoulders shrugged. "Carlisle gave her the option."
"There are no options for those who break the rules." Jane's tone was curt.
"That's in your hands. As long as she is willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught." Carlisle picked out his choice of words with care.
"That's irrelevant," Jane snapped back.
"As you wish," Carlisle said his laconic response.
Jane rearranged her expression. "Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle. He sends his regards."
Carlisle gave her a curt nod. "I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him."
"Of course," Jane sneered. ""It appears that you've done our work for us today…for the most part." Her eyes flashed to the captive. "Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."
"Eighteen, including this one," Carlisle said, toneless.
Jane's eyes seemed to boggle for a second then flitted to the tower of scorching mess, probably counting the amount of pieces, making bodies in her mind. I could tell her faint amazement; surprising me that she even had an emotion like that.
"Eighteen?" She echoed her voice was skeptical.
"All brand new. They were unskilled."
"All? Then who was their creator?" Jane's voice was disbelieving.
"Her name was Victoria," Edward spoke.
"Was?" Jane pounced on the past tense. Edward's head drifted to the eastern forest. Jane's head lashed to the direction he hinted. In the corner of my eye, I saw the small building of black fumes. Realization eventually found her as she gazed at the far off cliff for quite some time. Her ray of vision twisted to our blackened pile. "This Victoria- she was in addition to the eighteen here?"
"Yes. She had only one other with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year," Edward replied in the same voice.
"Twenty," Her voice came in a huff. I could almost smell her shock. "Who dealt with the creator?"
"I did." Of course, it was Edward.
Jane's full eyes morphed into snake-like slits. "You there, your name." her voice was filled with new asperity.
The newborn secured her mouth as she tried to glower fiercely at Jane.
Jane gloated with her teeth as she portrayed an innocent smile.
The girl shrieked her voice trilling and shrill. She tangled into a painful posture. I could almost feel her painful emotions cut into me. I still stood in a statue of stillness, suffering with the wriggling piece of scrap. I was unlucky; I could feel Bella's horror and her queasiness, adding to the sickness. Plus, the pity radiating from Esme and Carlisle. Carlisle had it harder than I did, watching more gore tearing inside her.
I could tell Edward was in pain as he too could read the thought and image of pure mental ferocity roaring in her mind. He was in control; he could not lose it with Bella right there.
I breathed a sigh of relief as Jane stripped her torture gaze off the young vampire.
"Your name," Jane repeated. Her body was reluctant to stop her bitter joy of causing people pain with her added talent.
"Bree," The vampire spat out as if she was choking on air.
Jane gave her a cursed smile as a reward. Bree screamed again until Jane finally halted.
"She'll tell you anything you want to know. You don't have to do that," Edward growled. It was not protectiveness for the Bree, but for Bella. He read my mind as I registered her nauseous.
"Oh, I know," She beamed at him. "Bree, is his story true? Were there twenty of you?" Her voice slapped back into harshness and brutality.
Bree's head was rested on the cool dirt, gasping. Her words came out rushed. "Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" She flinched, frightened for her lack of knowledge. "Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way…"
"And this Victoria- did she create you?" Jane wanted more details.
"I don't know, Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night…it was so dark, and it hurt…" Bree quivered at the memory. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe…"
Jane expected Edward to be the reason.
"Tell me about Riley. Why did he bring you here?" Jane plowed on.
Bree started to rant as I tried to find my way back into my body. All that screaming was making me excessively tense. Bree stabbed a finger at Bella, but I calmed myself as I shunned the outside noises.
Jane stated something that I did not catch.
Bree was happy that she did not get hurt…so far. This made me relax even easier. Bree was talking about how Carlisle spared her when I finally fully focused again.
"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one." Jane's voice crawled into a soft reassuring tone. "Broken rules demand a consequence." Bree's eyes were glassy, not grasping the concept.
Uh oh. More pain for me.
"Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that spilt off?" She eyed Carlisle.
"We split up too," He lied.
Jane placed a crooked smile to her face. "I can't deny I'm impressed." I could hear truthfulness ring in her solid voice. Her posse agreed. "I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behavior, considering the way you live here. And why was this girl the key?"
"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward explained his tone unchanged.
Jane laughed.. "This one seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind." She smiled at Bella. She was testing if Bella's mind was still shielded.
Edward's rage burned as he coaxed Jane into quitting.
She laughed again as I felt her slight agitation as her attack failed. "Just checking. No harm done apparently," She joked. She said something about regretting not being there to watch us battle with the newborns.
"Yes," Edward's voice was seething as he agreed scornfully with Jane.
Jane repeated the same idea. I felt Edward was emitting some kind of emotion toward Jane.
Possibly suspicion and hatred.
"Felix?" She summoned him.
"Wait," Edward intruded as he tried to convince Jane otherwise. Carlisle was hastily doing the same thing. But what they were saying was palaver.
Jane had made up her mind. I could feel it –the emotion of decision- sinking into my bones. "We don't make exceptions, and we don't make exceptions It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me…," Her head cocked to Bella, her smile blinding, "Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."
"The date is set. Perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months," Alice said stiffly.
Jane's grin dissolved, and her shoulders went up and down, not caring. She gestured to Carlisle, "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle – I'd thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again…."
Carlisle's head seemed to be trembling slightly; his face a look of torture.
"Take care of that, Felix. I want to go home." Her voice became bored.
Edward murmured something to Bella, and I felt eagerness from Felix as Bella dug her head into Edward's chest and as Felix pounced.
A feral roar and a piercing scream. Fear came up short as the large shadow snapped. Bree's head came rolling. Luckily, his cloak partly shielded the guttural scene. Her granite arms gave a screeching sound as boulder shredding boulder when Felix drove his claw-like fingers into her flesh and crumpling her moving body. She started to shake instantly and they threw her into the furnace.
Well, at least Jane did not use her talent against Bree again….
With that, Bree was gone to whatever came after this immortal life.
"Come." Jane flicked her finger as the living shadows drifted away, back into the foul scent covered grass.