Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Wow! Thanks to all of you who took the time to review. I will tell you now, you will not totally understand the beginning of this chapter if you did not get the EPOV from last chapter. I will eventually be putting it up in 'Bidding on Destiny' but for right now the only way to see what happened in the basement is to review last chapter. Sorry!
Dalloway5906 rocks my world, as always and writes a fuckhawt Emmett, who I can't wait for you all to meet when she finally posts her story! I totally spaced out and never sent her the last half of this chapter to beta, so if there are errors, they are totes mine.
EPOV
Did Alice really think I was that much of an idiot that I did not realize the true reason she and Jasper were taking Bella into town? I had caught bits and pieces of Alice's newest vision, and I knew they were going to try to figure out a different plan to alter the future. Little did they know that I was taking this time to work on a plan of my own.
Stefan and Vladimir had responded to Carlisle's message and were going to head up this way after their stop at Burning Man in August. When you are immortal, the passage of time means very little and the fact that August was three months away was inconsequential to them. Apparently when a human is high as a kite from smoking marijuana, the THC in their bloodstream can alter the consciousness of a vampire when ingested. This means that there were going to be some 'unexplained disappearances' at the concert and Vlad and Stefan would show up here in September fully sated from some pothead's blood. I wonder if their blood red eyes will be bloodshot?
Since September was still a while away, Carlisle and I discussed what we would do with Corin until they could get here. She seemed very content to just lounge around in the basement, which Esme had spruced up with a couch, TV and a fridge filled with bags of donor blood from the hospital. Oh yes, and a microwave because Corin detested cold blood. Snob.
With our unwanted houseguest taken care of, I cornered Carlisle in his office to discuss my plan for Bella.
"Do you think it will work?" I asked, trying not to get my hopes up. I really should have spoken to Alice about this first, but I knew she would have disregarded my scientific way of dealing with a problem. I will never understand her aversion to the scientific method.
"Well Edward, the only way to see if it will work is to try it. Do you think your brother and sister would be willing to be guinea pigs? If not, I am sure your mother and I could be of assistance." He said as he flipped through a large leather-bound book. I could see the imprint of the Cullen crest of the cover, and the yellowing of the pages betrayed its age.
"What is that Carlisle?" I asked, not sure I had ever seen it before.
"This is my history Edward, a journal of sorts. I have written down every encounter I have ever had with a vampire. This holds the list of every powerful vampire I have ever met." He replied, continuing to search through the pages.
"What are you looking for?"
"I was sure that I had run into a vampire with powers similar to Bella's in the early 1900's, right before I changed you. He was making his way through the country before heading to Europe. I was almost positive I had documented it here." He said, exasperated that his infallible vampire memory was … failing him.
"Ah, here it is. His name was Garrett and he followed the same lifestyle as we did for the most part. When he consumed animal blood his ability to block physical attacks was magnified. When he had partaken of a human's blood, he was not able to control it as well. I remember him testing it out on me. It was amazing to bounce off of the invisible bubble surrounding him. He wanted me to wait while he attacked a human so I could witness the shield's venerability, but I declined." He said. I could understand him not wanting to wait around while Garrett killed some innocent human just to show off his powers.
"What do you think this has to do with Bella?" I asked, wondering if he would want Bella to experiment with the different types of blood supply to see if it affected her shield as well.
"I am starting to wonder if Bella's shield works opposite to how Garrett's did. She seems to be having a harder time accessing her powers when attacked. I think if she was willing to just try some human blood…"
I did not let him finish.
"No Carlisle, she is doing amazingly well with her bloodlust, I will not do anything that might put her control in jeopardy. You might not have first hand experience, but I do. There is nothing better in the world than the taste of human blood. That baseline burning in your throat, it is completely soothed by the warm viscous liquid. I have never experienced anything as difficult as giving up feeding on humans. But the guilt and disgust I felt was more than I could take anymore. I will not have Bella getting addicted to feeding from humans." I demanded.
"Fine Edward. When your siblings get home with her lets discuss your experiment. I think that if she is better able to access her shield, we would really have a chance at stopping Maria." He said, as he closed the book and returned it to the bottom drawer of his desk.
I left his office and returned to our bedroom, overwhelmed by the heady scent of my Bella. I was going to have to find something to occupy my time until they returned or I would go crazy waiting.
BPOV
The hand Jasper had wrapped around my wrist was more of a restraint than a brotherly caress. Alice had her tiny hand wrapped around my other arm, pulling me towards another store. I really thought this shopping thing was overrated, but was willing to tough it out because I did feel like my control was getting better the longer I was around humans. The children were the hardest. Their untainted blood was the sweetest scent ever. I imagined it was what cinnamon rolls or coffee or fresh brownies smelled like when I was human. I wanted nothing more than to snuggle my face down into their stroller and nip open an artery. But then their sweet innocent faces would look up at me and I would be lost.
Alice was toting along no less than 6 bags from the different stores. Jasper was also loaded up with packages, but he kept his hands free so he could whip me over his shoulder in case I tried to attack someone. As if.
Finally deeming me a master of my control, Alice relented and we headed out to the car. The skin on my neck tingled as we left the mall and walked across the parking lot to where the car was parked. I nervously looked back over my shoulder to see what was activating my spidey senses. Jasper must have felt my unease, because he did the same thing, his years of military training kicking in as he maneuvered Alice and I behind him. Southern gentlemen have the best manners.
There was no one coming out of the doors behind us, and the parking lot was fairly empty at this time of night. I could hear several conversations going on in the cars in the lot, but nothing that would have gotten my back up. Jasper was tugging Alice and I back to the car, anxious to get us back to the safety of the house. As he was tugging me along, I noticed movement on the roof of the building. It was quick, but I saw it and knew exactly who it was. There was no way I would lead him back to the house where my family was.
I used the excuse of an untied shoe to drop to my knee, only realizing that I had heels on when I put my hands on my feet. Alice stopped to look at me before her eyes flew open wide and she dropped the bags she was holding. He hands extended to me, no doubt trying to stop me from doing what I was planning. She was too late though and I launched myself full speed at the building and sprang up against the side like I had super bouncy balls in my shoes. Landing quietly on the expansive roof, I came face to face with Demetri.
"Long time no see." I said, leaning against the side of an air conditioning unit. His eyes flew wide at my sudden appearance, but quickly turned menacing as he saw Jasper holding Alice back on the ground. She was so pissed one look would kill you. I was going to hear about this when I got home.
"Are they going to help you?" He asked, punching his fist into his open palm.
"Nope, it is just you and me." I said as I stood up and walked casually around the roof. "I know what you were planning. I know who you are working with."
"Yeah, Maria told me you have that little psychic in your coven. You all must clean up when you play poker." He said as he watched my every move. He had no idea that my shield was backfiring, so I could understand why he was being cautious.
"She wanted me to lead you back to the others so you could take us out while we were unprotected. I'm right aren't I?" I said as I slowly moved closer to him. A plan was forming in my head, but I needed to have it perfected before Alice would see it and be ready.
"You are good. Come on, you will like working with Maria. She has these people who actually volunteer to be drained. Sure, it is not as exciting as when you are chasing some poor girl down the street, but it still tastes as good. She sent something along for you." He said as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a vial. I could see the bright red blood through the glass tube. I could count the plasma cells and see the way the layers had separated. The flimsy glass did nothing to block the scent from reaching me.
Taking my moment of distraction as his cue, he launched himself at me and used his strong hand to tip my face to the sky. Using his other hand, he flipped open the top of the vile and poured the blood all over my face. The warm liquid oozed across my skin, making venom leak from the side of my mouth. I struggled in his arms as I tried to keep my mouth glued shut. Edward had told me how hard it was to resist human blood after having even a drop. He never wanted me to have to deal with it. I understood then what he meant, and I had not even tasted it. The constant burning in my throat surged into uncontrollable flames as the scent surged down my nostrils. Demetri used his thick fingers to force my mouth open, directing the flow of blood onto my tongue.
The second the blood hit my mouth, bright light flashed in front of my eyes. My body jerked backwards, sending Demetri flying off of the roof. I could barely hear the struggle between Jasper and Demetri as I floated through a haze of colors and light. My fingers greedily smeared and collected every drop of blood that was still clinging to my face, blindly fumbling since my eyes were still fused shut.
I could hear Alice drop onto the roof as she came over and gathered me into her arms. She must have jumped down off of the roof, because the wind blew my hair off of my face, and with it sent the smell of blood further into my brain. I was sucking on my fingers, trying to get every ounce of blood into my system. They must have maneuvered me into the car, because the next thing I heard was the engine start and sensed the movement forward. The light flowing behind my eyelids was slowly dimming, and the intensity of the blood thrall was finally relaxing, with some help from Jasper. My eyes finally cooperated and I was able to open them. I screamed and backed away as I came face to face with Demetri's severed head. Alice was quickly next to me, stopping me from opening the door.
"It is fine. We had to separate his head from his body so it could not reattach. Once we get out of the city we will stop and burn the remains." She said as she slowly wiped my face with a baby wipe. Always be prepared for the messy lifestyle of being a vampire.
"What happened?" I said, not even recognizing my own voice.
"It was blood. I did not see it until right before it happened. You used your shield on him, blew his ass right off the building." She said as she brushed the hair back off of my face.
"I don't remember doing it. I don't remember much of anything after he poured the blood on me."
"Yeah, human blood is like that. The thrall, they call it. It is really the best feeling ever." Jasper said from the front seat. Alice smacked him across the back of the head and he quickly started talking again. "Except the feeling of being inside you my sweets. You are so warm and tight and when I cum…"
"Ugh, enough already. I have heard enough about my family member's sex life to last a lifetime!" I yelled. I finally had relaxed enough to really recognize the feelings flowing through my body. My shield was floating right along the surface of my skin. It felt like I could just reach out and touch it.
"Alice, try and touch me." I said quietly as Jasper pulled over along the wooded roadside to deal with Demetri. He turned in his seat to watch what was going on.
Alice smirked, no doubt already knowing the outcome of my little test, and reach a finger out to touch my arm. Her finger bounced right off of my shield. I laughed and she giggled. Jasper gasped as he finally realized what my little test proved.
"You can only really use your shield when you are feeding on human blood." He said quietly.
We must have been closer to the house than I thought, because Edward's scream of agony easily flowed through the trees.
A/N: Oh no! Another thing for poor Bella to worry about. No bribe today for reviews, just me sitting here watching my inbox!
You all totally need to go and read:
Little Fish, Big Fish by Michelle M. Marie.
It is a collab with Paige Parkker and it ROCKS! It only has 151 reviews and 13 of them are mine! I LOVE her Bella, I wish I could go back to high school and be just like her. Plus Jasper had dreads, come on who would not love that. Go read it and tell her I sent ya!