Chapter 21 Reminder:
Bella, Aro, and his children are attacked by Dora, the daughter of Caius. She can control people physically with the power of her mind. Her attack is thwarted, when Bella uses her shield to smash her. They take the girl and plan to execute her. Bella uses an ancient law to claim her, essentially as a slave. They don't kill her, and Bella takes custody of her. Through many hours of talking and helping Dora begin to heal from the loss of her mother, she begins to trust Bella.
Dora believes that a failure on her part, lead to the war. She blames herself for all the death, and she attempts suicide. Bella and the medical team rush her to a room at the clinic, and fight to save her life.
Chapter 22
Forgiveness
I step into the hall, and run into Alice. "Bella, you look terrible!" I glance at my clothes, and realize I've got blood caked onto my red satin blouse. It's seeped into my black skirt, and my legs are brown with it. "Is she going to be okay?" Her worried look lets me know how just the right help arrived so soon.
"I don't know. It's bad, Alice."
"As soon as I 'saw,' I called the doctor." She takes my hand and we sit down in the chairs lined up in the hallway. "I hope I wasn't too late." She turns away, trying to hide the expression on her face.
"What did you 'see' Alice?" I grab her arm and she turns to face me.
"I saw her death." At my horrified gasp she rushes to reassure me. "But my visions are based on everyone's conscious decisions, and it might just be because it was her intention."
"That poor girl is another casualty of Joham's twisted agenda, and I was too late to recognize it. Good lord Alice, she's a year younger than Ness. He used her sexually, and he abused her physically, and he tore apart her self-worth and confidence to the point she believes there's something wrong with her." I feel horrified at the implications. "He would have done that to Ness. He would have forced her to have his children."
"I know." Her words are barely whispered. "I saw that future too... where it was Ness who tried to end her life." I don't even want to think about it.
"Can you find that girl, Sabrina? I really don't want to leave her."
"I'll find her. Oh, I got this for you." She hands me a cell phone. "Some of the rooms below ground get terrible reception, but It's got your main numbers already programmed in. I'm number two, and Carlisle's number one. I'll bring you a change of clothes when I come back." I mess with the cell long enough to put it on vibrate, then slip it into my pocket.
"Thanks Alice." I kiss her cheek, trying to avoid getting blood on her. I find a bathroom to clean up some of the mess before I go back to sit with Dora. The doctor has finished repairing the wound, and he's waiting for her normal healing to take over.
He turns to fill me in. "She presented with grade four hemorrhaging. I've done my best to close the wound, but she did a lot of damage. I thought it was just one cut, but it was three separate cuts that made it very difficult to close. Her natural healing should take care of it, and we've given her blood to replace what she's lost. Now we just have to wait, unless there's another treatment you want to follow."
"I'm not related to her... I really can't make those decisions..."
"According to our law, you are her authority and those decisions are in your hands. Besides, anyone else who could speak for her, is already dead." I pull out the cell, and push the number one. I feel so nervous I can't even remember the time difference between Italy and Canada.
"Hello?" His voice is soft and has no inflection. My hands shake.
"Carlisle? It's me... Bella. I need your advice." I hear his breath in my ear, even though he's hundreds of miles away.
"Bella, I'm glad you called. How can I help you?" He's so polite, I can't tell what he's really thinking. I just charge into the story, beginning with Dora's attack on me and Aro's children. He groans when I tell him about the old law I used to get her released to me. And finally when I get to the part about her attempted suicide, I hear him gasp and softly murmur, 'dear god.'
"Let me talk to her doctor." He asks. I hand the phone to him and they go back and forth in medical jargon that loses me in seconds. When he hands the phone back I hear his voice again.
"Bella, he's going to try to give her some blood orally. I've found that the hybrids are enough like us, it's better to feed them than to transfuse them. If she wakes up, you need to encourage her to drink. If she's tried to kill herself, she may not want to cooperate. You have to get her to comply. Sometimes suicidal patients are belligerent, depressed, or unresponsive. Keep her calm, and get her to drink as much as you can." He pauses for a long moment. "Are you alright? I'm sorry I'm not there to help you now."
"I'll be okay... I'm just so worried about her. In Alice's vision she saw her death. I don't want to lose this girl, Carlisle."
"I know. But it's not in your hands..."
"It feels like it's my fault. I told her too much, and now she wants to die. My god, she's younger than Nessie... in fact the whole reason they even had her, was because we proved it was possible for humans to give birth to hybrid babies. I just never expected I'd have to deal with anything like this. They let her own mother die... she should be here taking care of her – not me!"
"Bella, calm down." His voice perfectly demonstrates the calm he's asking of me. "You can do this. You're stronger than you think, and she's lucky to have you on her side. It's not your fault. You'll get her through this." His words help me to focus, and I watch the doctor preparing to try to feed her. It's quiet on the phone, and I worry he's about to hang up.
"I'm sorry for what I said when you were here..." I murmur into the phone.
"I'm sorry it was true." He sighs. "I want to talk about all this later, after your crisis is resolved. I'll call you back later, okay?"
"Okay." He says goodbye, and I'm left holding the silent phone, and missing him.
I can see them trying to rouse Dora to get her to drink. Finally her eyelids open halfway. The doctor props her up to drink, then I watch in surprise as he turns and dumps the blood into the sink. He looks at me with panicked eyes, and picks up a scalpel and heads for his patient. I've forgotten who we're dealing with, and I belatedly shield the minds of those in the room.
I move into her field of vision and get up in her face. "Neither one of your mothers gave you life and raised you, just so you could throw it all away! Living is the harder choice. Fixing your problems takes real strength. From what I've heard, Athenodora didn't raise a coward! If you die, all your memories of her will die with you. You'll be leaving her legacy in the hands of those like Aro. You need to get better, Dora. Joham doesn't get to claim one more victim. You can't die now, I forbid it!"
The doctor hands me the cup of blood, and I hold her head in the crook of my arm and coax her to drink it. One small cup at a time, I feed her like a feeble child. All the while, I whisper soothing words to her and pull her blood soaked hair from her face. When she finally clamps her lips together and refuses more, I can see she's already mending.
I sit beside her and hold her hand. She's awake and quiet, looking everywhere but at me. "It's not your fault, Dora. Don't you see, you were only a variable, Joham was the constant. If you had been able to have his children, maybe he wouldn't have come for Renesmee. But he would have come eventually. He wanted a war between vampires and humans, and we would have stood in his way. He could have had a a whole army with powers like yours. He would have forced Armageddon, and we would likely have all died."
She looks at me then; ice blue eyes pooling with tears. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you. How can you be so kind to me?"
I smile at her. "I have a daughter your age. And everyone keeps telling me you don't have anyone. If she had been through what you've been through, I would hope someone would be kind to her. You were still a child when he did those things to you If the one and only person who was ever good to you died in the war, I can certainly understand why you would want revenge."
"You're right. He's the one I should hate. But I miss her so much!" She breaks down in tears again, and I hold her as best I can in her hospital bed.
"Shh, you're not alone now, Sweetheart. It's going to get better, I promise." It seems strange that it wasn't that long ago Carlisle was making the same promises to me. She wraps her arms around me, with the I.V. tubes entangling us.
"Don't leave me... please." Her small, timid voice is proof of just how broken she is.
"I won't." I'm sitting beside her, still holding her hand when Alice returns with Sabrina. The young woman is in tears as she hugs Dora. Their passionate kiss makes me feel a little uncomfortable, as they get reacquainted, I take the opportunity to go clean up and change clothes. Afterward I peek into the room and Sabrina is lying next to her in the tiny bed, and they're holding each other.
The doctor steps into the hall to talk to me. "She's recovering nicely. I've also used Dr. Cullen's advice to treat Aro's children, and they're also doing much better. I think I'll keep her overnight, then you should be able to take her home. The hybrid healing is a wonderful thing. If she were human she wouldn't have lived." I smile and thank him. I'm surprised he has so little experience treating hybrids, as there are so many of them here. But then again it's really hard to injure them, and for two years Carlisle has tirelessly treated them himself.
"I take it she no longer hates your guts?" Alice grins at me.
"No." I stare at my friend, realizing what she's been dealing with for two years. I slowly shake my head. "I don't know how you deal with all this mess. They're all so broken, and I've only met a handful of them. I mean they're doing drugs, they're drinking each other's blood, the vampires and hybrids don't associate with each other, they're having sex all over the place, and sometimes they act like children even when they're adults or nearly so."
"It's been a challenge. Wait til you see the pseudo families. There're little gangs where they've bonded to form families like we had in Forks. But it's not healthy, as they assign roles and no one is allowed to rise above them unless they challenge the parent figures. The so-called children are subjugated by the parents."
"How can I help get this council up and running right? I mean there are so many things that need to change here, and first on the list is making sure someone like Joham never comes to power again. I can't believe Aro thinks he favored the hybrid's, since they're the most broken of all."
"He didn't really favor them – he wanted an army. Soldiers don't need real education, and they don't need kindness, and they don't need morals and values, and they don't need families or mothers."
"He was wrong about so many things. I mean he wiped out most of the women who weren't hybrids, and those he treated as second class citizens or sex slaves." I hate the feeling of being helpless in the face of so much that's wrong. "I'm sorry I didn't help these past two years. You, Jasper and Carlisle have had so much to deal with for so long."
She squeezes my hand. "It's okay, you're here now, and you're already making a difference."
"Fine job I did, almost getting her killed." I glance toward the room
"You saved her life. But more important, you changed her attitude. Helping Aro's children is another good thing. You've only been here a couple days, and you're already making progress."
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I hurry to answer it. It identifies who's calling, and I smile.
"Hi." So much for smooth talking. I feel like a lovesick teenager.
"Can you talk now, Bella?" I glance at Alice, and she smiles and nods, then gets up to leave.
"Yes, mischief managed." Oh great, now he really will think I'm a teenager.
His voice is soft. "I miss you." I gasp at those three little words.
"I miss you too." I can hear the longing in my own voice.
"I'm sorry!" We both say it together, then we laugh.
"Seriously Bella, I was wrong to treat you like I did after the council meeting. I don't have any right to criticize the way you handle your grief. I was just so worried about how Alice would handle seeing you, and I forgot you both had grievances." He laughs softly. "I just had this crazy notion that being with me would magically fix your problems. Can you forgive me?"
"Already forgiven. You have magically fixed many of my problems. I'm sorry I said all those things to Alice. I didn't plan on opening my mouth, I just..."
"It's okay. It seems it was a good thing after all. We've all been treating her like she would break in a crisis. You did really well in mending fences with her. I didn't expect that. You're amazing." His words put a crazy smile on my face and leave me speechless.
"How is Dora doing?" His question makes me shift gears to talk about the reason I called the first time. I stand up and peek into the room again.
"She's going to live, thanks to you. The doctor didn't really know how to treat hybrids, aside from waiting on their own healing."
"I'm glad you called. I'm glad you could still trust me."
"Of course I trust you, you're the best..." He laughs at my words. "...doctor I know." I grin into the phone. "It sounds like someone needs a little ego stroking."
"Among other things." His mellifluous voice teases my ear.
"I wish you were here. I'd be happy to stroke your... ego" I try to sound sultry around my smile.
"Oh Bella, you tempt me so much. You're lucky I'm not there... I want to do wicked things to you."
"I wish I was with you. I want you to do those wicked things to me."
"Vixen!"
"You need to come back soon, you're already calling me by reindeer names." I giggle softly as he laughs. "I want to kiss you so thoroughly you'll definitely know the difference. I want to hold you so tight, you'll never leave me again."
"I didn't leave you, Bella. I had an emergency." I hate that our playful mood has disappeared.
"I know that now." I sigh deeply. "I thought you were still angry with me. I thought you took Colette and..." I can't even finish the sentence.
"I want to say you should know me better than that. But I have let you down and abandoned you before. I can't tell you how sorry I am, that when I answer a call to help an old friend, you automatically believe I've deserted you. I won't do that to you, I promise. I don't typically run from my problems, and I would certainly tell you if I decided to run off with another woman. Not like that's going to happen. I still want this to work between us. Will you let me make it up to you?"
"I still need to talk to you face to face. But I want it to work out too. I don't like being without you."
I hear him groan over the phone. "I miss you every moment we're apart. We're working hard to finish here so we can come back."
"How is he doing?" I don't say his name considering there are so many here who can hear even private conversations.
"He's still pretty bad off. Only one of our kind could survive third degree burns over their entire body. Poor Colette is doing all she can to heal him, but it takes it's toll on her. She's already healed his face, so at least we can talk to him, and he can see us. We've been feeding him too, since he can't hunt. Rosalie and Garrett are here too."
"How are they doing?" I feel strangely left out.
"Bella, they went and got married, can you believe it?" I hear the wonder in his voice.
"I believe it." I feel happiness bubble out of me and have to laugh. "Tell them I said congratulations, and I'm happy for them."
"She said she'd had enough weddings with Emmett, and they just went to the courthouse and did it. Oh, you'll never guess what her last name is now – it's Henry. It turns out Garrett is Patrick Henry's son, Neddy, you know, 'Give me liberty or give me death!" He'd just passed the bar exam when he was changed by a woman he met during his celebrations. He was only twenty-three; the same age I was, and he faked his death and changed his name. Of course Neddy is a nickname for..."
"... for Edward, I know. Edward could never have been a Ned or Neddy." I laugh softly. "Obviously neither could Garret. So, he really is a patriot – and a lawyer. That explains a lot. Is Rosalie really happy with him?"
"From what I can tell, she's deliriously happy. They look really good together. Colette healed her face. But what was funny, was that Rosalie didn't ask, and she tried to talk her out of taking on the painful process. She really has changed, and Garrett adores her."
"I miss them too." I sigh. "I hope these council duties will be finished soon."
"So do I. I've spoken to Alice, and we've got some decent nominees for the council seats. As soon as we get everyone situated, we should be able to implement our plan to convene remotely. Alice has also been working on a plan to get Volterra financially solvent again. Believe it or not, that involves not only educating the hybrids, but finding them jobs and getting them into careers. She's also using her gift to make investments. I'd really love to talk to you about the future of Volterra and it's people, but not as much as I just want to talk about you."
"What about me?"
"What have you been doing while I've been gone?" Against my will, my mind goes to the times I kissed Aro, and I feel terrible.
"I had a sleepover with Aro's children. I used my shield so they couldn't hear each other. I've also started working with them to learn how to control their mind reading. I'm trying to teach them how to play music..." Like Edward, my mind fills in.
"It sounds like you've been keeping busy. I still can't believe you're bonded to Dora. She's a very troubled young woman."
"I'm not bonded to her, she's bonded to me." I correct.
"Bella, you might want to read that section of law again. You have all the rights in the matter, but you are bonded to her as well. She is your responsibility, until her natural death, or until you decide to kill her. I assume you're not going to kill her, so she is in essence your new daughter."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Well, maybe daughter is too strong a term. But no, you're totally responsible for her. Anything she wants to do has to go through you first. Her doctor came to you for her medical decisions, and that's just the beginning. She has no rights, unless you give them to her. If you want to interpret the law in it's strictest form, she can't eat or go to the bathroom without your permission."
"That's crazy! My god Carlisle, I don't want a slave or a pet, I just wanted to save her life."
"Well, you're the rare exception. I've heard of that law being invoked a time or two, and it wasn't pretty. One time it was used to torture a man for fifteen years before he was finally executed. One other time it was used to wipe out the man's entire family. He was a vampire and he was forbidden to eat. Each time he slipped, one of his family members was executed, until he was the last one left. This isn't a benevolent law, Bella."
"I just couldn't let them kill her..." I feel terrible at the implications of what I've gotten myself into.
"I'm glad you did it." His words surprise me.
"You are? But you sounded like you were upset with me."
"I'm upset with the law, not you. You were very brave, and I'm proud of you. Now we just have to figure a way to keep her from being a second class citizen for the rest of her life."
"I love... that you're such a good man." I almost slip and tell him I love him over the phone. I really want to be face to face with him when I tell him the first time.
"I'm really glad you think I am." He doesn't seem to notice my slip.
"Everyone thinks you're a good man. How's Colette?" He laughs at my segue.
"She's pushing herself too hard. She healed Rosalie, and she's been working with Eleazar since we arrived. It's really hard to watch her taking those burns on herself. He's not helping either; he just keeps begging us to kill him or let him die. It's painful to see such a strong man brought low. I never would have thought to see so many suicide attempts among the immortal."
"I'm sorry..." I feel guilty at my own attempt.
"I wasn't really talking about you. What I mean is, it's just so uncharacteristic. We're supposed to be soulless killers, but this proves we're not. Even among the Volturi there are those who are just so sad and depressed they don't want to live. Joham obviously didn't understand the concept or the power of love. He may have destroyed the mothers, the women, and the mated pairs, but what he really did was declare war on love. Sacrificial love is what destroyed him. I think what we're all trying to deal with, is the loss of that love. The ones who are recovering are those who have found it again, or who never had it to lose."
"Poor Eleazar... he's lost so much already."
"I'm hopeful that he'll get better." His voice just makes me feel so warm. I wonder how he can be so optimistic in the face of Eleazar's sadness.
"I wish everyone could have your kind of hope." I smile into the phone as I remember how he gave me hope when I had none.
"You've given me hope." His words make me want to hold him tight and kiss him. "Before you... I was ready to just walk away. I was trying to put all the pieces of my old life together, but it wasn't working. I would never take my own life, but I wanted to just take myself out of everything. I spent two years treating patients nonstop, and I was even beginning to lose my love for medicine." I'm surprised to hear his revelations.
"I needed you, Bella, and I didn't even realize it. Just since coming back from the island, I've felt more alive and happy than I have in the past two years. It's all because of you." He's quiet for a moment. "I need to see you. I have some important things I need to talk to you about, and they're not going to wait until we're finished here. As soon as I can get away, I'm coming back. Don't give up on me, okay?"
"I won't." We both say our goodbyes, and I'm still smiling as I close the phone and slip it into my pocket.
"They say those who eavesdrop never hear anything good." I'm startled when Aro steps around the corner. "I don't have to read his mind to know he's in love with you. If that smile is any indication, you feel the same way about him." He sits beside me and takes my hand. "Am I just too late?" He smiles sadly. "If you could see where my mind has taken me these past two days... down romantic paths that lead to you, and a life together." He touches my face with his gloved hand.
"Aro... I tried to tell you. I haven't lied ."
"You didn't tell him we kissed." He leans toward me like he would do it again, and I turn away.
"I will when I can see him face to face."
"Such honesty is rare." He takes off his gloves. He softly lays his hand on my cheek to turn my face to his, then his other hand joins it as he cradles my face in his palms. His eyes meet mine. "I could love you... you know that, right?"
"I know." I whisper.
"I would make passionate love with you." His Italian words spark a flame deep inside me, until I remember Carlisle's voice, and it goes out.. "You would be so good for me, and we could be happy together..." He leans in and kisses me, soft and tender. He breaks away and leans his forehead against mine. His fingers sift through my hair. "I've lost any chance with you, have I not?"
"I'm sorry... I really love Carlisle." I not only say the words, but I feel them resonate within me. I'm in love with him, one hundred percent, with no reservations. Edward isn't standing in my way, and neither is Aro.
"He's a lucky man." He kisses my forehead and smiles resignedly. "Be happy... you deserve it." He stands, then leaves just as quietly as he came.
I sit and think about everything that has happened since I arrived in Volterra. There's been so much drama, and yet I'm glad I came. I feel like two years of my life has slipped away, and I'm finally living again. My family has changed. I could worry that we're not the same as the four couples who called ourselves Cullen's; or I could just accept them and get over it.
Alice and Jasper have changed. I'm sure they'll get past their obstacles, and once again be the couple I know and love. But even if they don't, they're still my family, and I love them.
I'll never be able to look at Carlisle the same way again. I love him. I know him more than I ever would have if Esme and Edward had lived. I know I would have lost it all if he hadn't saved me. I've seen him make mistakes, and I've seen his indecision, and I've seen him during moments of weakness and even anger. But I've also seen his wisdom and his caring, and his humor and sweetness. I've seen and felt his love, and I never want to be without it. I know what it feels like to be in his arms, and after all that's happened, I know I belong there.
I hope that Colette will be able to accept us as a couple. In spite of her strange attachment to him, I actually like her. She calls herself Cullen, and I want to include her in our family. I also think of Nahuel, Gemma, Karina, and Huelen as part of the family.
I can't wait to see Rosalie and Garrett again. I can finally be happy for them, now that I don't feel like I'm so broken myself. And I'm hopeful that after his healing, Eleazar will join us.
I stare at the door. Dora is a surprise. I only wanted to save her from being executed, and now it seems she somehow belongs to me. Carlisle called her my new daughter; which is much better than slave. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to handle her, though it seems we're strangely connected.
I step into the room, and they stop kissing. It's embarrassing that I've interrupted, and I'm definitely not missing my blush. I move to the other side of her bed, and they both watch me. Absently I tuck the blankets around her and brush the hair from her face. As I speak, I absently separate the pale strands of hair, glued together by her blood.
"I'm going to go out for a little while. The doctor has my number if he needs to reach me. I"ll be back for sure before you're released, and probably sooner." I can see she looks much better, and I'm sure she'll recover fully.
She takes my hand and smiles. "Thanks for letting Sabrina stay with me. You're not leaving Volterra are you?" She seems a little panicked as she asks.
"No. I just have some things I need to check into. You'll be okay here." She doesn't let go of my hand, and her eyes remind me of a trusting puppy. Impulsively I lean over and kiss her cheek, and she smiles as she lets me go.
I make my way to Alice's suite and tap on the door. She's on the phone, but she welcomes me inside. I listen to her conversation as she tries to reschedule the meeting she's rescheduled twice already. I can see the tension in her posture and hear her frustration as she tries to get the meeting set up as soon as possible.
As I watch her, there's something in her stance that catches my eye, and I stare. I don't know much about designer clothes, but I recognize the red soles of her black high heels, and know she's wearing Christian Louboutin shoes. I take in the rest of her outfit and the change is as subtle as it is significant. She's wearing a designer suit. When I see her hair has been styled, and she's wearing a favorite pair of earrings, I have to smile.
The call ends, and she's still frustrated. "The earliest I can get a meeting set up for is tomorrow, late in the afternoon. At this rate, we're never going to get those positions filled!" I go to her, and just wrap my arms around her.
I know what's driving her impatience. "It's going to be okay... we'll get things fixed and bring him home." She looks me in the eyes, and I see her defenses drop.
"I miss him so much! I can't even go to him – I know I'll be followed."
"When's the last time you hunted?" She looks confused as I seem to change subjects on her, then she smiles. "I need to go tonight, and I thought you could go with me since I'm not familiar with the area. If they want to follow us... even animal blood is difficult to resist." She nods at my unspoken plan, to perhaps hunt in Jasper's neck of the woods.
"Before we go, I need a computer with an internet connection. Without a word, she shows me a small alcove in her suite which has been converted to an office. She's got a lot of books and papers strewn about, but the laptop still holds pride of place.
"It's connected; help yourself. You may want to set up your own account, since mine has a lot of council business on it." I'm grateful for vampire memory, since I learned a lot about computers I never knew as a human. Neither Mom nor Dad was even close to cutting edge when it came to our home computers. Alice's is much more capable, and in no time I'm a new user with a nice secure password a human would have trouble remembering.
I remember Dora's story and I search international news on missing tourists. It's shocking how many have gone missing in the past twelve years, and I realize more than a few fell to Joham and his Volturi. Still not many young Swedish students were likely to venture to this part of Italy, and I easily find Yanna Bjornsson, a twenty-one year old student from Lund Universityx who is still listed as missing, even after all these years. I pull up all the news stories I can find, and I'm confronted with pictures of a smiling, blue-eyed blond who looks so much like Dora, it's heartbreaking to know she's no longer alive.
Among the stories, I find that her parents visited Italy many times, searching for their daughter. There was a major uproar over how lax security was for those who went on the trip. Apparently it took them two days to even take note that she was missing. Then they tried to say she went off with a lover. Her parents maintained their conviction that she wouldn't have gone off with anyone, as she was engaged to be married. I can't help but feel sadness and outrage, that she'd likely been imprisoned, and sexually assaulted for two days, before anyone even knew she was missing.
One by one I save the stories, and print out several. Yanna has two brothers and a little sister, and from what I can tell, her parents are still alive. I'm not the only family Dora has left. I'm not sure if there's any way to reconnect her with her birth mother's family, but I know if it was me, I'd at least want to know about them.
I set everything aside, and go to get ready to hunt. As we leave, I see a couple of the guard following us, and trying to look casual. Alice drives us from the city, and an hour later we're in a wild countryside, and the car following us can't quite stay hidden. When we park, we don't try to hide the car, and we take off into the woods.
There are many laws concerning hunting in Italy, and we're breaking most of them. Still it's better to break their hunting laws than put their citizens at risk. It feels good just to run, and I enjoy watching Alice gracefully leaping through the woods. She's changed from her suit, and she's wearing a black dance leotard, as am I. It's just in case we're seen, and to help us blend in with the dim light of dusk. She looks like a mythical nymph as she races through the trees.
The prey is different here, and it's wild boar we're hunting. As soon as she catches a scent, I move to flank her, keeping upwind so the scent of the animal doesn't make me lose control. Normally I'd head off for my own kill, but I suspect we're being followed.
The animal she flushes and takes down is almost as big as she is, and certainly outweighs her. But she's fast and the animal is no match for her strength, even with it's tusks. I can smell the blood, but I'm not overcome, unlike the two I see sneaking up on her. For so long, it's been common practice to share the kills at Volterra, I'm not surprised that the two Volturi guard are about to blow their cover to share her meal.
Just as we planned, Alice "loses control" of the animal before it's finished, and it weakly stumbles away. The two men who have followed us can't resist the bloody animal, and as they instinctively give chase, we both take off unnoticed. We run flat out back the way we came, and make it to the car. We're gone in seconds, heading to a new hunting ground, and a rendezvous with Jasper. We weren't followed, but still she's nervous as she pulls down the hidden drive to the old farm house.
"What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he's too angry to forgive me? What if he sends me back to Aro? What if he doesn't love me any more, Bella?" She pulls up outside the dark house, and it doesn't look like there's a soul around. We sit in the silence, listening to the hot engine ticking.
I remember how he'd gone through the same list when he thought he'd lost her. "He loves you Alice. Think about it, you're the only thing holding him in Italy. He's here because he loves you." We stare at the farmhouse a few moments longer. I open the door and get out quick, so the light doesn't alert someone we're here.
She does the same, and we stare at the dark and silent house. I hear a muffled sound, and turn toward the movement on her side of the car. It takes me a second to realize Jasper has sneaked up on us, and he's got her in his arms. There's no mistaking the passionate embrace they're sharing. They're kissing like long lost lovers, and without looking he tosses the house keys to me.
I give them their privacy, and go down the path to the house and let myself in. If I wasn't a vampire, I would have believed the place was abandoned. But I can smell his scent, as well as the hint of the candles he'd burned for light. The place is almost pristine clean, and I can't help but wonder if it's because he's had so much time on his hands. There's a big stack of books, and a tiny TV, and I can't help but feel sorry for such an active man to be stuck with so little to do.
Even after only twenty minutes, I'm bored. Jasper's reading material is all about military tactics and training, and I can barely understand any of it. When they finally come in, they're both smiling and joined at the hip.
"I take it all is forgiven?" My question steals their attention, and they tear their eyes away from each other and look my way.
"We still have a few more details to iron out, but I imagine by morning we'll be good." Jasper speaks with a very crooked smile, and a mischievously raised eyebrow. Alice looks up at him in adoration. The emotions coming from him in waves, like the incoming tide, are filled with love, longing, desire, and pure lust.
"I think I'm going to go hunt. I've never hunted boar, so it might take me a while... don't wait up."
Alice conceals a smile and whispers "thank you," as I head for the door.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" I ask, just to reassure myself. I worry that I'm leaving her alone to face the problems she created when she cheated on him.
"We'll be okay." She smiles, then leans in to whisper; "He forgives me... I love this wonderful man." I close the door behind me, and feel the sting of jealousy. Not over Jasper, but because she gets to be loved tonight. I head off to hunt, alone.
A/N: Because I've become so intrigues with Aro as I wrote this, I have begun a little outtake from his POV. As soon as I'm finished, and know where it fits in, I'll post it separately, and let you know in my comments. He's a lot of fun, as he appears in this story, and I've become much more sympathetic to him as I listened to the story he told me.
For those who love Carlisle, I've been reading a long completed story by BookwormBaby2580, called "Take This Heart." She's got a few thousand reviews already, but I'm on chapter 22 and it's amazing so far. It might be hard to take, as it's got abuse as one of the themes. But she writes it with a gentle hand, and she creates a whole family of Cullen's you can't help but love (though I'd like to take her Rosalie and strangle the chick). If you read, please review, and then come back to mine - I've got a lot still in store!