-Chapter 9: Divinium Beats Everything!-

Besides the insistent burning in my throat, I felt good. This was to be expected, of course, after all, I had spent quite a bit of time with a vampire family. I knew the physical perfection and eternal comfort – never getting tired or needing to rest or sit down – were part of the package, but their thoughts rarely compared the human existence versus the vampire one.

It felt like I just lit the wick on a bomb and started walking away in slow motion as it went off and blew up the bad guy. We're talking Chuck Norris level confidence here.

The improved vision was nothing new – I had been reading the high-def thoughts of vampires for a while – but the sounds were a shock. I never before, in my life, realized that so many things in this world made so many different sounds. It was fucking crazy. The wind hitting a tree a mile away was audible to me like someone had placed speakers that stretched miles out into the forest.

But the most improved sense was my sense of smell. The dirt, the tree bark, leaves, rocks – they all had their own scent, and variations within those as well. The wind carried different scents as well. I could identify the direction of the nearest highway from the scent of car exhaust that was carried on the breeze, and if I breathed in deeply I could even smell the far-off odor of the Quileute shape shifters.

I suppose it's cliché of me to say they smelled horrible, but indeed they did. It wasn't gag-inducing, like Rosalie would have me believe, but it definitely bordered on the effectiveness of a skunk's smell as a human. I shuddered at the thought of smelling one of those black and white creatures with a super-nose.

I looked down, getting a glimpse of what I was wearing. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw that Alice hadn't put me in a dress. A black short sleeve, button down shirt – untucked, though that could have happened during my great escape. My tennis shoes were new, but were still my style – black and grey. My classic look was interrupted, however, with the introduction of faded jeans in the place of my cargos. Though they were covered in dirt and were frayed, I could tell they were top-notch, and were probably super expensive.

My examination was interrupted by the sound of a beating heart in the distance. I stilled instantly, listening as the thump-thump rhythm steadily grew closer and closer. It was off to the left, the crunching leaves of whatever it was' foot falls were just as audible, but my senses favored that pumping sound. I took a deep breath and my throat burned brighter, causing me to take an unintended step forward.

Saliva – venom, rather – leaked into my mouth and I rubbed my tongue against the insides of my teeth as I let the thick toxin well up. The sound grew closer and I took another breath.

And then I was sprinting.

One of the many threads of thought in my mind was a little unsettled at acting out so rashly and letting instinct drive my body. Another one agreed, but really wanted to taste the substance attached to the smell. A third thread suggested the smell was blood, and that I was a newborn vampire who was about to viciously murder someone for said blood. I didn't get to analyze the rest of my thought pool, because almost too soon I was upon the hiker that was a little too far from home.

The poor man didn't even get a chance to scream as I full-on tackled him at full speed, crushing nearly every bone in his body and killing him instantly. My mouth found his twisted neck and attached, and suddenly my brain lit up with pleasure. I gripped onto a part of the body – his arm? – to try to settle in closer to the heat and taste. Warmth flowed over my fingers and down my chin as a rumbling reverberated through my body.

The blood ran out very quickly and I came back to myself, teeth biting deeply into the stripped neck of what used to be a human being. I flitted backward, seeming to stand and back away instantly, and took in the scene before me.

Trees were knocked down; at least two. A deep trench of upturned soil and tree branches led to the crime scene, which is what it looked like – all it would need is the yellow tape. The man's chest was caved in and had deep claw marks up and down the torso. The left arm was completely ripped off, laying several feet away, and the right one was hanging at an odd angle.

The worse damage was on the neck. The flesh was torn down to the bone, exposing the spine and collar bone. It was also bent and cracked and appeared elongated. Blood stained everything the man was wearing – as well as the area around him. I probably only drank half of the total amount.

I glanced down at myself and cringed. My shirt was ripped open, exposing my bra and stomach, and had the most blood soaked through. My jeans were intact, as were my shoes, but they were drenched in blood as well. I stopped breathing and had to grit my teeth to keep from licking my hands, which looked like I was wearing red gloves to the elbows.

I backed up another few steps, knocking against the trunk of a tree and making it shudder. I ran my bloodied hands through my sticky hair, which hung in dreads, and closed my eyes. Far off – almost two miles away – I could hear the steady rush of water over stone. Still not breathing, I sprinted off, smirking slightly at the pure rush of running at Bart Allen speeds.

I dove into the large creek – probably a runoff of the river around here – and sunk to the bottom. I breathed in, scrunching my eyebrows together at the strange sensation of water filling my lungs without the burn. Clouds of red misted and swirled in the murky water, slowly drifting away with the current.

Though I could still hear fairly well under the water, the sense-dampening creek allowed me to have some time to myself and think.

I was a vampire and I had no idea what day it was. It felt like years had passed inside that place, but it could have been shorter – or longer – here in the real world. The first thing I needed to do was go back to the mansion and bask in the glory that is coming back from death like a fucking boss. Then I'd need to work on my bloodlust – I couldn't just kill every human that crossed my path.

I was still missing something, though. Something big. I dug my fingers into the bedrock beneath me and searched my mind for-

Caius!

I bolted up out of the water and into the air, flying straight up into the sky and up above the clouds as I let out a shrill scream. The water rushed out of my nose and mouth and fell back to earth as I flew higher and higher.

"Caius!" I shouted, finally remembering the most important thing: killing the little bitch of a leader and obliterating the Volturi completely.

I breathed in, tasting the thin air at my ridiculous altitude. I needed to come up with a plan on exactly how to do this. Brute force would work but would hardly be satisfying. I wanted a slow burn. I spread my arms out and faced my body out into space, using the spotted canvas to gather my thoughts.

The Cullens cannot know I'm alive.

I wanted to snatch the thought back as soon as I thought it, but it was true. Caius said he wanted to kill everyone off slowly, one by one. He had just very recently killed off one of their coven – me – so he would most likely let them grieve a bit before going after another.

If I involved them, they would fight with me against the Volturi. I couldn't have that. They were vulnerable in their numbers, able to be picked off or used against each other. Each of them would do anything to save their mate, and the Italians knew this.

But if I were to be a ghost – a faceless enemy – well then, it would be no fault of the Cullens, as they would know nothing of me. I was dead, after all, and their thoughts would prove it. If a lone vampire were to cause mischief, it would draw away Caius' attempts – at least until I was dealt with.

I needed to know they were safe, first.

Ryan drove the knife into the tree and withdrew it, fast as a bullet. His gold eyes were steeled and he held a determined expression on his face as he threw the blade again. The tree groaned and tilted as the knife returned again.

He howled as he hurled it with all the force he could muster. The tree snapped and fell to the ground and the knife arced and flew into his hand once more. The large body unsettled the snow that surrounded the forest Ryan was in.

The scene shifted. Ryan was running through the trees. Snow on the ground and mountains and hills in the distance. It was sunny.

"They're not in Forks?" I questioned myself, seeing the arctic terrain in the vision. I looked into the future again and was finally satisfied when I caught a glimpse of the entire family – and a few erratic smudges – together with the Denali clan.

Content with their safety, I let my body fall through the air toward Earth like a rock. Unfortunately, the Earth had turned during my little Superman stunt, so I corrected my path and continued to dive toward the Olympic Peninsula. Once I was a thousand feet from the ground, I slowed my descent and flew down in a curve, allowing myself to fly horizontally over the treetops.

I followed the coastline until La Push, then flew under the tree line as I followed the familiar path back to the Cullen mansion. I smirked to myself, both relieved and ecstatic that my new state made me completely invisible to Alice's visions.

I closed the door to the mesh cage with a click and stepped back to admire my work.

It wasn't a large enclosure. Maybe twice the room of a phone booth and just as tall. The shiny wire that made up the mesh was thin – deceptively then – and looked brittle. It wasn't, though. In fact, a vampire wouldn't be able to smash his way through it.

That's not what it was built for, though. Though a panic room was useful, this protective cage was an experiment.

"You wanted to see me?" A voice called from behind me. I turned around and nodded at my visitor.

"Dr. Stein, come in," I motioned for him to enter.

I wonder what this is about. More experiments, no doubt. I don't see any of the girls Emily usually uses, though, Virgil's thoughts rang out in my head.

"This is just a simple test," I gestured to the cage before me. "All I need you to do is enter the cage and remain there until I remove you."

"For how long?" Virgil was hesitant to ask the question, but he was smart to ask all the same. My experiments weren't known for being the most humane.

"No more than a couple minutes," I assured him as he moved closer to the cage. "You don't even have to do anything. Simply stand in the enclosure."

Virgil nodded and moved forward, content with my explanation. I unlatched the door for him and shut it after he walked inside. His partially concealed form shuffled about as he acclimated himself to the small space.

As soon as the cage was latched, Virgil's thoughts and emotions were cut off from my mind. It was like being in the room with Bella – bar the emotional aspect. I searched the future for Dr. Stein, but could see nothing – only a shimmer. It wasn't like the black hole that shape shifters or hybrids created – more like an erased or imploded state. I could tell something was there, but anything Virgil's future touched was faded and translucent.

Perfect.

"Thank you, Doctor." I unlatched the cage door and nodded as the once-hidden thoughts and emotions flooded back through my mind.

Just as I'd expected, there was nobody home when I arrived at the mansion. The enormous white house stood silently surrounded by the forest, no sounds or thoughts heard at all. The lawn was overgrown with weeds and the shrubbery had started to creep in around the entrance to the winding driveway. Just how long was I dead?

The front door was locked and I had no key, so I flew up to my bedroom window and opened the glass door that served as a massive window and stepped inside.

My room was, for the most part, untouched. I didn't have a lot of personal items, really; only my computer and knife. The former was on my nightstand.

Knife?

Where was my knife? My hand flew to my hip, but it was not there. I flitted about my room, searching, but came up empty.

Oh. Ryan had the knife, I just remembered. I shook my head at my flightiness, completely forgetting the vision of him mauling a tree with the Divinium blade.

I picked up my computer carefully, mindful of my new strength, and gently nudged the laptop open and turned it on. After it booted up, I connected to the internet – which was still hooked up and running, surprisingly – and synced the clock and calendar to the internet. My mouth dropped open at the date.

July 30, 2007. I had been dead for over two weeks.

I let out a sigh and removed my tattered shirt after I shut my computer down, letting the rag fall to the floor. I silently prayed that Alice had left my wardrobe alone in my death so I would have something fresh to put on. My shoulders sagged in relief when I opened the closet door to find several sets of shirts and cargo pants, as well as an enormous collection of expensive fabrics I would never touch.

I reached out to grab a shirt and some cargo pants when I hesitated. These jeans were actually kind of nice – they certainly held up better than the cargo pants would have. I snatched a pair of jeans instead of my usual choice and mentally patted myself on the back for the change. Alice would be so proud.

I took my selection of clothes – as well as new undergarments – and headed for my bathroom. I set the pile on the counter and stared into the mirror, devouring my new reflection. It would be obvious to say I was more beautiful – I was, but all vampires are. My skin was a ghostly white and my cheekbones seemed different – more balanced with my new face – and the dark circles that had plagued my face since childhood actually looked like they belonged.

The thing that had me reeling in surprise and forcing my mouth open was the color of my eyes.

I had expected ruby red, but I was wrong. My irises were not the bright crimson that looked sinister-yet-powerful. They weren't gold, either. Or black. Or any variation of those, for that matter.

They were a metallic, molten silver.

I blinked a few times and leaned in closer – as if I could see better if I got closer to the mirror – but the color remained. My eyebrows scrunched in confusion at the odd color – I had been kind of stoked for the badass red – but inwardly I was actually OK with it. They were kind of nice. Unique.

"Must have been a side effect of the Divinium integration," I mused to myself, tilting my head and running my eyes over my neck and shoulders.

I took off the rest of my clothes and went to the shower, smirking as the hot water fell on my naked body. I closed my eyes and let myself relax as the scorching droplets hit my new, more durable skin. There would be time for plotting and scheming later, but now was the time to just be.

My shower was interrupted by the distant thoughts, slowly moving closer to the mansion, and the steady thump-thump of a heartbeat as it moved through the woods.

End notes: Hope you didn't count on Emily being a vegetarian or being remorseful at killing a human. It's just not her style. Anyway, as you can tell, Emily isn't your standard vampire. Don't worry, there aren't too many crazy differences, and everything will make sense later. I promise.

For you science geeks, the thing that Emily built was similar in design to a Faraday Cage, which blocks outside electronic waves.