Chapter Eleven – Disconnected

(Inspired by: Arctic Outcry Wind – Josiah Lemming)

When I finally enter my own thoughts again, it's as if I'm an outsider. Memories, people and places I don't remember, that aren't mine plague my every thought. I don't know how I know that they aren't mine, but something about the perception of the visions is unusual, like a distorted picture. The colors are dull, lifeless, and the world is seen through a fog of gloom. I take my first breath, the air smelling of stale bleach. As I blink my eyes in to focus, I find myself in a dark room with very little light bleeding through the blinds. The sinking sun casts an orange hue around the room, but the day is dimming to night.

With a groan, I sit up from the stiff mattress, feeling my body moan in protest as the aches in my muscles burn in to my bones. I take in the room; from the ratty wallpaper, peeling and torn from years of wear, to the tacky carpeting, the white color masked by stains and dirt. As I swallow my nerves, I come to find just how dry my throat is; like my vocal cords have become sandpaper, rubbing together as I croak out my first words, but they never take full form as they get lost on my tongue when a shadow emerges from the darkest of corners.

"Finally," they sigh, exasperated. "You may be awfully nice on the eyes, but that mind of yours is more complex than I'd expect. What can you do anyway? With everything blocking me out, even now, I can assure Aro was right to say you'd develop more than that simple gift you'd come in to this world with."

His gruff, deep voice is laced with an accent I've never encountered before, but I hate how it affects my already racing heart. As the man steps into the little light pouring through the blinds, I'm not surprised his voice matches such an attractive form. Surpassing six feet tall, his shaggy, chestnut waves are disheveled upon his head in a bed-head look that works all too well with his glowing, liquid-platinum eyes. As I take in his face and it's mismatched, yet exotic proportions, I wonder how such contrasting features make him look like a model from his sharp nose, high cheek-bones, and strong jaw-line to his full-pouty lips. Add to the fact that he is lean and toned, I don't know how I'm supposed to get away from him without him taking me down in less than five seconds. I glance between him and the door, wondering if I move fast enough if I could make it.

"Doll face, you wouldn't make it off that damn bed." He grins, approaching me slowly. I shuffle back on the bed, eyes narrowed on him. The nameless being stops, a playful smirk on his face, and tosses his palms up in surrender. He tilts his head to the side, eyes dancing as they soak me in, "I get it; you don't trust me. Well, let's start with introductions, yeah? I'm Quinn. You have nothing to worry about; I'm not a part of the Volturi, in case you're wondering. The rest of the crew should be here in about half an hour so we have some time to kill."

I size him, licking my lips as I choose my next question and decide I want to know how the hell he got me here. I can hardly sense his energy, leading me to believe that he could be a half-breed like myself.

"What can you do?" I ask, my tone even. Quinn grins, shaking out his hair as he slips over to the window and peers out the blinds, "I can do a lot of things, but if you're asking how I got you here, let's just say I'm the best damn telepath alive." As if he's aiming to piss me off, he adds a wink at the end of his statement before approaching me again with a dark gleam in his eye.

"If you take one more step, I'll rip your leg off and shove it down your throat." I snap, shifting my coldest glare in his direction. He cocks an eyebrow, a low laugh rumbling through the silent room. Quinn crosses his arms over his chest, forearms bulging with muscle. A half-grin rests on his face and I'm sickened by how freaking attractive he is, "I can see why Alec is so fascinated with you. Beautiful, calculating, and feisty; I think I might want a taste of you myself."

The hiss tumbles past my lips on its own accord, my legs shooting me up in to a crouch before I can think. My energy vibrates through the room, running on pure fear and my ever-flowing anger. The laughter dissipates from Quinn's aura as he takes a step back, eyeing me cautiously before it shifts to wonder. The smile slithers across his face again, but this time with a different kind of hunger. "How powerful are you, Cullen? God, you're essence is intoxicating; I can practically taste it pulsating in the air."

With shaky hands and uneven breath, I don't know whether I'm shivering from terror or trembling with excitement. The blood lust running through me is like a need as images of taking down Ana just the other night flashes through my mind, the empowerment I felt as I battled it out with Jacob. I want the fight, I want the thrill, I want the strength that pulses through my veins like the most enthralling of drugs. I could compare it to the high I feel when I'm racing through the forest, but I don't know which feels better; not now when the only thought on my mind is decimating the sadistic man before me.

"Oh, I like you… I really like you." He murmurs, eyes gleaming with twisted elation as he squares out his body and prepares for impact. My lip twitches, curling back to reveal a nasty snarl. Quinn's grin shifts to animal and I see his plan play before my eyes, watching it act out before me. When I blink, not a second has passed, but I know what he's going to do. His legs bend before he springs at me, his speed impossible to see, but I counter him and roll off the bed, leaping to the other side of the room. Quinn's laughter fills the room, a deep, cruel howl that sends a spear of ice through my stomach. Clenching my teeth, I ignore him and break for the door, fingers moving nimbly as I unlock each barrier. Swinging open the door, it slams shut again and Quinn pushes his flaming body against mine. He smells of lavender and death, a combination that shifts my senses in to murder mode. He laughs, dipping his lips to my ear.

"Let's see what you got, little girl." He murmurs, hand dropping to squeeze my hip.

I tense my weight in my legs before running my arms up around his neck. As I make contact with his scorching skin, his thoughts pour in to my mind with the ease of a stream of water. The combination of sexual and sadistic ideas double over in my stomach, but I push past the nausea. Instead, I yank him forward, ramming his head in to the door with a crunch. He howls before I kick his feet out from beneath him. He crumbles to the carpet, but I grab the back of his shirt to hold him as I slam my knee in to his throat. As he falls to the side gasping for air, grasping his trachea with a cupped palm, I whip out the door and sprint in to the woods without looking back, but just as I reach the edge of the brush, I crumble to the ground with a throbbing headache. As I feel his presence leak in to my mind, I somehow know what to do. I throw my thoughts against him until he ebbs off, but as I get up to run, someone grabs my hand.

Looking back, I meet Kylie's eyes and relief has never been so comforting. I stare at her before my voice passes my lips in a single breath, "Oh, God, am I glad to see you."

"What are you doing out here?" she demands, looking me over with concern. I scoff at her, "I was kidnapped and like most people would do in such a situation, I'm trying to get home to my family."

She levels a conflicted glance at me before crossing her arms over her chest, "You won't find them when you get there." I blink at her, shaking my head as I step over to her. "What-what are you talking about? Are they out looking for me? I was taken from the school; of course, they are. Why are you here? Wait, Kylie, are you with them?"

Kylie sighs and shakes her head, "No… I have some things I need to explain to you, but I can't do that unless we get out of sight. The Volturi still have the guard scanning the area."

My heart lodges itself in my throat, all thought leaving my mind. "The Volturi are here?"

"Yes, and they're looking for you so let's get inside."

Kylie shuffles me back in to the motel room where Quinn has propped himself on the bed with a grimace and ice pack as we enter. I keep my distance from him, still not comfortable with the way he stares after me. Kylie sends him out to go and get food for the two of us while also suggesting he not stray too far. He doesn't complain, slipping out the door without a word. I bring my knees to my chest, watching Kylie expectantly as she twists her hair up in to a tight bun. I realize now she's dressed head-to-toe in black, a few scary-looking items strapped to various areas of her body.

"What is going on?" I ask, my voice as weak as I feel.

She frowns, nimbly tying the bunch of hair in an elastic band, "I should start from the beginning; have you ever heard of B.R.A.V.O?"

I blink, tossing the word around my mind before I remembered Carlisle and Edward discussing an uprising among the Children of the Moon. I didn't really listen, as I didn't see the conversation as anything important and I still considered eavesdropping to be disobedience at the time. I nod slowly, "It was a rebellion, right?"

"More or less," Tilting her head to the side, she lets out a breath as she makes her way over to the blinds and peeks out before shutting them entirely. The yellow light of the lamp casts shadows around the room, they dance as she moves to the door and checks the lock. "It's an acronym. It's the Brockchester Rebellion Against the Volturi Organization; the name is pretty lame in my opinion, but I didn't come up with it. Besides, it's catchy. It was started back in the early seventeen-hundred's by a man named Lucas Taryn Brockchester; he was bitten by a werewolf, thus becoming a Child of the Moon, but he was special because in this state, he could control himself. Some say he had shifters in his blood line because he was able to keep his humanity intact whilst being a wolf, which is ironic since he met a shifter in this form and they conceived a child, containing the impossible bloodline of a werewolf. Anyway, around the time his kid was changing, the Volturi passed through the area they lived in and started their genocide against the Children of the Moon. He'd gained the respect of many werewolves throughout his lifetime and began B.R.A.V.O. In the beginning, it was exclusive to wolves and shifters, but as time has gone on, it's expanded to anyone sick of being under rule as the Volturi have continuously waved their egotistical, power-hungry flags in the faces of the supernatural world."

I nod slowly, processing the newfound information, "Alright, what does that have to do with my family and I?"

"I'm getting to that," she sighs, almost reluctant to go on. "So, since then, the Volturi have been trying to decimate B.R.A.V.O as they've been sheltering criminals of Volturi law as well as spreading rumors of overthrowing them which wouldn't be entirely impossible. The numbers for B.R.A.V.O have risen dramatically over the last century and the Volturi were unsettled by this so they decided to up their own numbers…" her voice grows quiet. I watch her, engrossed by her every word. Shaking her head, she glances away, "To do this, they came up with this elaborate plan to draw a certain coven of vampires in to their guard, but Aro knew they wouldn't follow him unless he had some sort of leverage; that leverage coming in the form of a remarkable hybrid."

I piece two and two together, my head shaking on its own accord, "Oh, God."

Ignoring the look on my face or simply dismissing it, she goes on with a grave voice. "We got word of the mission a few months before it was set in to motion so we were late from the get-go, but we had to formulate our own plan of attack. I'm not just Kylie, the shifter that got attacked in the woods. My name is Karlene Taryn Brockchester, codename Chameleon, and I was sent to protect you. Alec tipped us off and we've been in contact with him since, but it's been difficult with his partner's abilities. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, Renesmee, but if I did, the plan would've been compromised and we'd be in a lot hotter water. As it stands now, your family is in custody of the Volturi and they're holding them as ransom for you."

Shaking my head, I try to comprehend what the hell is going on. None of this makes sense, not Kylie's true self or why the Volturi are so interested in me. As if reading my thoughts, she goes on. "You don't understand the incredible talents that are within you. You're so much more than the gifts you've experimented with, Renesmee. What makes you so special is your mind and your blood. Both your parents come from long lines of psychic abilities that combined when you were born. Once your seventh birthday comes, you'll be more powerful than any immortal out there and Aro wants to harness those abilities, which is why we stepped in. We're not about to let that happen."

I take a deep breath, trying to rationalize everything as it comes at me full force. "What about my family? Or Alec? What happens to them?"

Kylie blinks a few times before looking down. She takes her sweet time deciding her answer, "Your family won't be hurt. They're too valuable to Aro; especially Alice, Edward, and Bella. Not just for luring you there, but because they're vital assets if they were to join his guard. He has the ability to make them loyal to his guard if he wants to… but that's too easy, far too easy for someone like Aro. He wants a game, something sadistic and enticing that he can play in his favor, but we just need to be one step ahead of him."

"And Alec? Won't Aro punish him for betraying the Volturi?" I demand, my heart racing in my chest. Kylie shakes her head and scoffs, "Quinn made sure Alec would be safe. Those two go way back, but that's not my story to tell. All you need to know is that Alec has a control over his mind that is nothing short of incredible and Aro wouldn't know if that kid had been planning an assassination. He's the undercover agent at the moment; as luck would have it, he's watching over your family and is their designated guard."

I let out a breath and assess the situation. My problems were once whether or not my family would approve of the guy I like and, now, I'm a pawn in a rebellion against the Volturi. Deciding to take control of the situation, I stand up and swallow the apprehension building in my chest.

"So, what's the plan?"

Turns out, the plan is to head straight back to B.R.A.V.O headquarters when the area is clear and so, by noon the next day, we do. I try to keep a level head about the situation, but all I can think about is how stupid I've been. I knew from day one that something was off about Alec; hell, even his damn name reminded me of the terrors that lurked in my past, but I wanted so much to believe that I could be careless. Look where that got me… my family's lives are the line all because I wanted to screw around with my health partner.

At the H.Q, I'm not introduced to anyone. Kylie and Quinn stick by my side, lead me straight down a maze of hallways to a padded gymnasium. I blink at them confused until I'm handed a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. Kylie smirks at me, "Now, for the fun part; go change."

"How is this going to help us save my family?"

Quinn nods to Kylie and she turns away, jogging off in to the darkness. I hear a loud bang before the lights above my head flicker to life, forcing me to squint as the bright fluorescents shower down on us. As I look back at Quinn, there's no longer a joke in his demeanor. He's serious; tense and strict, like a drill sergeant. I level his gaze, not stepping down. He cracks a smile before he flashes behind me, but I see it happen before he acts and I whip around in time to kick him in the stomach. Quinn catches my ankle before it makes contact, eyeing me carefully. In that moment, I'm reminded of Alec. There's an undeniable resemblance in the way his eyes flicker around his surroundings as he calculates my next move, but I'm at a loss. Suddenly angry, I yank my foot back and pick up the clothes I dropped on the floor.

"You're quick, but you're relying too much on ability to predict the person's move. That'll get you killed in a fight with a psychic. You need to learn how to control your reflexes and bring in your wireless connection." He says, pacing a slow circle around me. I glare at him, "My what?"

Kylie answers for him. "Your wireless connection; it's Quinn's smartass way of talking about what you do with your thoughts to connect with other people's minds. You're talented, but careless which isn't entirely your fault. Inexperience isn't something you can help which is why you'll have to practice and train if we're going to follow through with the rescue mission. You need to learn how to control your abilities and we only have a week before Alec won't be able to convince Aro any more than a stranger that you're coming to Italy."

I blink, looking between them. "What are you talking about?"

"We're going to Italy in a week so for the next seven days, I'm going to train you. Lucky for you, I'm the best instructor here. Unfortunately, I don't believe in breaks; as half-immortal, you're body doesn't require the usual necessities consistently therefore once we start training, don't expect to catch your breath." Quinn says, grinning as if this is all a game to him. Kylie rolls her eyes before meeting my gaze, "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but try to focus on one thing at a time. If there was another-"

I shake my head, "There's not. I get that… I just," I pause and take a deep breath as resignation followed by a mellow determined mist settles in my mind. "All I care about is saving my family."

"Focus!"

With a roar, I slam my fist in to Quinn's cheek… or I would've had he not moved out of the way at the last moment. I see him in my mind as he takes my left ankle and pulls it above my head. Anticipating his move, I use him to my advantage. As he moves to grab me, I leap off the ground, use his chest as a step, and ricochet in to the air. I grip on the rafters of the gym before pulling myself in to the shadows.

"Ren," he sighs, his tone clearly unamused. "You need to learn head-to-head combat. I get that it's difficult for you, but you're not going to improve if you run away like a little girl."

Fury pulses through me and I swing over the side of the rafter, landing directly in front of Quinn on the balls of my feet. Quinn looks me over with his metallic eyes glimmering, even in the harsh lighting of the gym. I square my shoulders and meet his eyes dead on.

"I'm not a little girl." I snap, my tone seething past clenched teeth.

He steps closer, a stoic expression burning over his face. He continues to lean, never breaking eye contact, until our noses are practically touching.

"Prove it."