Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for a reason.
Chpt 34 The Wheels Come Off
BPOV
Reluctantly we get dressed an' complete our journey to Ludlow, New Hampshire. Pete has got us a place outside town but within an easy run of theCullens. The last place, we assume, that Aro will want to come bearing in mind his misappropriation of Edward.
Running hand in hand we gradually slow our pace as we near our destination, silently acknowledging the vampire scents criss-crossing our path.
We slow even more when the smoke reaches us. Stealthily we creep through the trees towards the house.
Jasper tugs me to a stop as soon as it comes into view.
It's a smoking ruin, a pile of charred timbers slumped between two blackened brick chimneys, looking for all the world like some bastardised Viking long ship. Parked before it our two most recently acquired cars are burnt out wrecks.
Carefully we back up an' circle round the property. The scent trails are all several hours old, all unknown to us bar one. Satisfied there is no one else currently nearby Jasper leads me forwards to the cars. Here the scents of our vampires an' Davis are strong, in silence I follow Jasper as he sniffs cautiously around the cars an' across the driveway to the steps which I assume once led up to the front door.
Now we are closer we can also smell venom, lots of it.
Slowly we climb the stone steps until our toes are literally on the threshold.
I stand there, surveying the destruction for five minutes an' forty two seconds before I finally get the courage to look up and see if my own fears are reflected on Jasper's face.
I find The Major staring down at me, nostrils flared, chest swelling an' contracting with deep unnecessary breaths, fighting to control his temper.
Locking my eyes with his I turn taking both his hands in mine an' massaging his wrists gently.
Time slows to a crawl. Pete told me about him wigging out back at the New York house. He told me because he understands as well as I do how hard Jasper has always fought to hold onto himself an' not give into the monster he believes is inside him. Emotionless, The Major has always protected him to a degree by allowing him to distance himself from what is going on around him. Both Pete and I know that it scares the crap out of Jasper when emotions leak between him an' The Major, particularly anger.
Almost half an hour later he visibly relaxes. Now he is in the state of icy rage Pete described, terrifying but no longer in imminent danger of exploding.
I follow him as he makes a circuit of the house, confirming that our vampires have only moved between the cars an' the front door. For a moment I think he's going to lose it but with a supreme effort he manages to keep a hold of himself.
I don't know what hurts more, the thought of what might have happened to my family an' friends or what it's doing to Jasper. Either way there is a giant lead weight in my chest threatening to pull me down into a useless heap on the ground. I thank god that The Major's epic, if frightening, control at least means he isn't projecting.
"Cullens." He says quietly.
Nodding I scent the air an' then take him by the hand to lead him to their house as it starts to lash it down with rain.
We move through the woods slowly taking note of the vampire scents which are present all the way to the Cullen's land. Soon we start to pick out their scent trails too but generally much older than the unknown ones.
Again we carefully skirt around the edge of the property ensuring no one else is around before we approach. The rain means we don't see or smell the smoke until we are almost on top of the house.
The scene here is different, being a modern house there is a twisted frame of steel, like the bones of a dinosaur, surrounded by smouldering piles of wood an' collapsed dry wall with rivers of molten glass running between them. There are three burnt out vehicles in the driveway, one of them Em's precious jeep.
"Fuck." I whisper as we edge closer.
There is a strong smell of gasoline an' venom as we circle the house peering in through the smoke.
Growling quietly The Major leads me away. We spiral out from the Cullens, sweeping the area until we trace the unknown vampire trails back to the highway where they have departed together by car. There is only one scent we recognise an' of our vampires an' the Cullens, nothing.
Hidden in the trees by the highway I watch The Major as he tilts his face up to the sky. The rain flows across his immobile face, gathering in drops on his blonde eyelashes an' streaming down his cheeks like tears. I can feel the rain running down my own face and for a moment I close my eyes an' imagine I can cry.
Taking my hand he turns us away from the road an' civilisation, at a dead run we flee back into the mountains.
We run for what feels like an eternity, heading higher an' higher until The Major skids to a stop suddenly on the edge of a small lake.
He squeezes my hand briefly an' then drops it, stepping away from me to stand on a rocky outcrop that reaches out over the water. For a while the only discernable sound is the rain lancing into the rocks an' pattering on his hat.
Suddenly he throws his head back an' lets out a primitive roar. The sound reverberates around the lake, bouncing off the rock walls containing it, shaking the stone we are standing on an' darkening the sky because every bird in a five mile radius has taken flight in fear. It seems to go on forever, every muscle in his body rigid, his fists balled at his sides, knuckles white with the strain an' the cords in his neck standing out, stretched to breaking point.
As suddenly as it started it stops an' he falls to his knees, abruptly boneless an' spent.
My heart breaking I throw myself on him, wrapping my arms tightly around him as he begins to sob.