Chapter 22
As the Hamilton's made their exit the Cullen's turned their attention to Alice and Emmett who said at the same time, "No way in hell am I telling that story!" After staring at each other for a few minutes and realizing no story would be forth coming Carlisle sat down and started the discussion they needed to have.
"Some things I think we just need to not worry about at this time, like the tracking devices and the memory altering. There is nothing we can do about them at this time and it seems as if the Hamilton's are close to figuring out who is doing this. I think we should leave this to them for now." All the Cullen's nodded their agreement to this statement. Rose was the one who spoke, "I agree completely. They have done nothing but try to put us at ease and keep us safe since we have met them. I believe they have done everything they can at this point to take care of the tracking and memory problems. Now, do we return to England or stay here for the week before we have to go the meeting with them?"
Edward could tell from their thoughts that although they would love to go home and just relax for a week, they also knew they should stay here where they are safe and prepare for the fight to come. Jasper was the one to speak what everyone was thinking, "Judging from everyone's feelings I think we are on the same page. I would love nothing more than to go home and just be for the next week, but that is unrealistic and you all know it too. I think we need to stay here for several reasons: first although it is stressful we are safe here, second we do not know enough about what we will be fighting to leave without protection and we can make any calls we need to from here, third we need to be trained to fight the different things we will be up against and last I think we need to be close to know what is going on at all times. They may not tell us everything up front but we would be able to pick up on enough that if there is a big problem we are already here to deal with it."
Emmett nodded his head saying, "I agree with Jasper. Even if the Guardians or Executioners can't train us, those 'kids' were seriously kicking our ass and I think we could learn a lot from them. At the very least they can show us the basics." Jasper agreed, "I would only call them kids based on how old they look. They know quite a bit about strategy and execution. I have no problem believing some of them are older than us and they were sent to protect us so that tells me their parents trust in their skill enough to fight something until reinforcements can arrive. At this point I do not think we would last that long."
Carlisle spoke up, "It is agreed we will stay and ask the Hamilton's to give us training on the weapons to be used. Now, who do we call to help us at the meeting? They said we shouldn't trust the Egyptian coven, who do we trust?" Several names were thrown out and in the end they decided to ask the Hamilton's for advice before actually making any calls. If everything was ok they would be calling the Denali's, Siobhan's coven in Ireland, a few nomads they knew and the Volturi. Most of the guard may not have any loyalty to the Cullen's but they would be loyal to the brothers and the brothers were loyal to Carlisle, they were placing their trust in that loyalty.
"We also need to look at whom not to trust." Jasper said. "Several times mention has been made of vampire scents, so some vampires have been helping the werewolves. I am betting it is the Romanians. They were not happy with the way they were deposed and would be looking for revenge against the Volturi. On a more personal front, if they are looking for revenge against us personally then I would look at Victoria and even Maria to an extent to be helping them. We can't afford to overlook anyone we have offended, no matter how small we think it is."
Esme reached out for Carlisle and taking his hand spoke, "This is all surreal. I feel as if I can't process everything because I don't have all the information. I feel as if I am missing something big. Like with the scans, why could only certain people do it and why were the women assigned to Alice, Jasper and Edward? I don't recall being told exactly what they are or what the children are either. And what are they doing in the dungeons to cause that screaming?" Looking at Carlisle sadly she continued, "I am having a very hard time seeing any of the old Bella in Isabelle."
Carlisle put his arm around her and looked to Jasper, "I think you could best answer some of her questions." Jasper answered, "I do not expect them to tell us what the women or the children are. It is not information we need to know and if we are captured and talked or were probed it would give an enemy too much information about them. I am guessing the women are purebloods of whatever they are. Alice had Kate and I had Mary as a scanner what about you Edward?"
"Well, I had Mary as the scanner and Kate was the blocker with Leif as a watcher", he said. Jasper continued, "The women are the most experienced in doing this, which is why they were assigned to us and why both were assigned to Edward. It has been made clear they were very worried about Edward's mind not being able to handle this and treated him with kid gloves. As far as the dungeons, I am sure they are torturing the druids before they start the mind scans. If they can break them physically and in spirit it will make it much easier to scan their minds. Kate and Mary were not in here for the meeting, I am positive they were in the dungeons taking the information from the druid's minds and probably by force. Also, when they talked about scanning us it was always in the medical suites or the medical wing. They have not said that about anyone else, for them it is the dungeons. Given the age of this castle I think they mean the actual dungeons."
With that thought the Cullen's shuddered, none of them wanted a tour of the dungeons. Carlisle spoke again, "We are missing large pieces of the puzzle to put this together but I think they are doing that out of self preservation. If any of them are captured they have the power to protect and deflect an assault on their mind and they have had centuries to prefect it. We are not able to do that so we are not being told the critical information. We will have to be told eventually but I think we should wait until they offer it and learn as much as we physically can about fighting and how to win this fight. We need to pick up as much as we can in the next week."
Carlisle stood and started pacing, "Esme, Bella is gone. That is something we all need to realize and come to grips with. Given the prophecy, the Bella we knew probably would not exist today even if we hadn't left. The difference is we would have been around to see the changes. To an extent what is happening today would be occurring even if she and Edward had stayed together. Her Guardians would have still come and explained everything. Edward would have had to live through history with her and us too if we wanted to be a part of their lives."
"But all we have seen since learning she is alive is her as Isabelle, the Keeper and leader of the Guardians. We have only seen her doing her job and the consequences her orders have. We have not seen Lady Hamilton, matriarch of the Hamilton Clan, or just Isabelle mother, grandmother and wife. I am sure that person is much softer. Which leads us to the next thing we need to discuss, she has sensed that we would like to spend time with her reconnecting with who she is now. She is willing to do this and actually looks forward to it but there are stipulations."
Carlisle looked at each member of his family, "I can not stress this enough, she will not allow anything that hurts Gabriel or her family and I don't mean just physically. As a berserker Gabriel's bond with her is very strong and if you think vampires are territorial about their mates, Gabriel and Isabelle's berserker bond increases this feeling 10 times stronger than we feel when our mate is threatened. Add to this her past with Edward and he is already on edge about her being around us because he is unsure of Edward's intentions. Hopefully with time and nothing happening Gabriel will begin to relax. Signs to look for that he is being pushed too close to the edge are if he puts war braids in the front of his hair and definitely if his eyes flash ice blue. The flash of his eyes is an indication that he is getting ready to act. We, the males, can not initiate physical contact with her and like earlier when she took my hand; I squeezed her hand and then let it drop. The girls I am not sure about but again let her touch you first just to be sure. Gabriel is not the only one to worry about also be aware of her sons, they are extremely protective especially if their father is not around. "
Carlisle looked intently at Edward, "You must refrain from touching her. She told me about you taking her hand and you have no idea how close you came to having it removed from your body. Even if she touches you first, which I doubt will ever happen, do not touch her. Gabriel has picked up on the fact that your scent and demeanor change around her. He has asked for and been granted permission to beat your ass should you touch her. I hear he is looking forward to it actually and she will not try to stop him. Also, she knows you touching her makes Gabriel uncomfortable which in turn makes her uncomfortable because he is hurting. Through their bond he picks up on the fact that she is uncomfortable and your touch is unwanted and that only fuels his anger. It is a vicious cycle Edward, avoid it at all costs."
Carlisle looked to Alice and said, "She knows about your visions and that you were always rooting for her and Edward. That subject is off limits. If we want to be a part of her life now than we need to deal with her life now, not the life that could have been or the life that was. She is willing to discuss the past to a point but that does not include how things may have been had we not left. We also need to understand that there are some things about her past and her family that she will not share with us at all. As long as we can abide by the rules she is willing to give us more access to her and her family."
"Can you all do that?" Carlisle asked. Each of them shook their heads yes. "Ok then, Edward go you want to tell us about your conversation with her?" Edward looked at his family, "Not really. I will tell you that she gave me quite a bit to think about and that I realize I have no one but myself to blame for the position I am in now. Had I talked to her or listened to you guys at some point things might be different now. She made it clear that she would never her husband and I told her I hoped at some point we could be friends, but I don't know if that will be possible. I told her ultimately I just want her to be happy and I can see Gabriel makes her very happy, in the end that may have to be enough for me."
Carlisle picked up the phone, called the keep and asked to have Isabelle come to the secure room at her convenience. After 10 minutes Isabelle knocked softly then opened the door escorted by Soren to see what she could do for the Cullen's. "What can I do for you Carlisle?"
"We have been talking and have come to some decisions we would like to let you know about and ask your opinion on." Carlisle said. "Ok, let's hear it then", she responded. "First" Carlisle began, "we would like to stay the week before the meeting here at the castle instead of returning to England and we would like to be trained on the weapons and physical combat." She turned to the Cullen's, "There is no problem with you staying here for the week. I am sure everyone would like to get to know you better and as I said it would be nice to catch up to an extent. As for the weapons training," Isabelle turned to Soren who nodded his head to her, "we can work something out. Even if the adults are unable to do it I am sure you have noticed that the children are quite skilled. That would probably be the best place to start anyway. Soren will talk to Anthony and set something up. The interrogations should be done by morning and we can discuss specifics then. Was that all?"
"No" Carlisle stated taking a piece of paper off the table, "here is a list of vampires we would like to call for aid. I was hoping you could look over it and let us know if we can trust them?" Isabelle looked over the names, "At first glance I would say these are fine but I will look into them and let you know tomorrow morning. The interrogations are still going on but the only one who has to stay in this room until they are finished is Edward. I can't have you reading their minds and getting too much information, but the rest of you are free to explore the castle and land. Carlisle feel free to return to the lab if you want I am sure they could use your help."
She looked at them all sadly, "I am sure you are questioning our methods by now and all I can say is trust that we know what we are doing. I am sorry we can not explain everything but you will know all of it before we leave for the meeting. I will see you all in the morning."
Carlisle decided to go back to the lab; he found the work fascinating and would do what we could to help his family. The other Cullen's decided to stay in the secure room, they had no desire to hear the screams and knew even if they went outside they would still be able to. As they were sitting there discussing how to spend the night Edward spoke up laughing, "I could tell you Emmett's anaconda story or Alice's voodoo doll one, I picked it out of their minds earlier when it was mentioned?" Alice and Emmet both shouted "NO!" Esme patted Edward's arm saying, "Why don't you start with Emmett."
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.
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