A/N: Thank you for your patience... I've been down and out with bronchitis. This chapter is slightly shorter, but I promise the next one is longer!
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They avoided civilization for the most part, but there were times when Bella, Irina, and Laurent couldn't avoid cities. If they wanted to blend in, they had to act human, and humans weren't seen running through the countryside at breakneck speed.
It made the journey take longer, but Bella couldn't help but marvel at the sights and sounds her new senses picked up. Things she would have never seen or noticed as a human- a buzz of electricity, the sound of running water in residential buildings, babies crying, arguments in languages she didn't know, and thousands of heartbeats thrumming at different intervals. They could almost be a low hum of noise.
"How are you doing that?" Irina hissed under her breath.
They were walking through an open-air market, casually looking at vendors stalls. Bella was overdue to hunt but wanted to wait until she got to the edge of town first. There was no sense in starting a panic if someone found a body before she wanted them to.
"Doing what?" she asked, puzzled.
"How can you be this calm?" she demanded in a low voice. "It took me years to walk through a crowd, and you're what- less than a month old?!"
Bella actually didn't know- time seemed different now. It sped up and slowed down at random intervals. She shrugged, stopping to look at a cheap display of rings.
"I am curious about her gift as well," Laurent said, leaning against the stall with one hip. "If only Eleazar was here to take a look at her."
This was a name Bella was sure she hadn't heard yet. She raised one brow, wondering who this vampire was, and what he might see if he had a "look at her."
"And who might Eleazar be?" she asked archly.
"He's family," Irina said, now looking at the rings as well. The stall vendor was ignoring them, talking on a flip phone in rapid Hungarian. "He used to be in the Volturi, actually. He discerns gifts. Information he used to pass onto to Aro before he met his mate, Carmen."
"Well, I'd hate to disappoint him," Bella scoffed, "because I'm fairly sure I'm not gifted."
"I'd bet money that you are," she disagreed. "Carlisle said that Edward couldn't read your mind, and Alice had a hard time seeing your future, too."
"Does every vampire I was involved with read minds?!" Bella hissed, pushing away from the ring display.
Irina smirked.
"Caius doesn't," she said slyly. "He's not gifted at all, in fact."
"You said they all had gifts," Bella said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Laurent.
"Most do," he amended. "Aro is something of a collector if you'll forgive me for saying so. He surrounds himself with talented vampires. It is why the Volturi are undefeated."
Bella tried to imagine Aro. Although there were three leaders, it certainly sounded as though he was the first among equals. Her mind drifted to the other two, Marcus and Caius. She conjured the concerned faces that met her when she fled Volterra. Which one was which, she wondered.
Was Caius the austere blond? He must be, she thought, remembering the set of his jaw. They were all attractive in different ways. The other two were so similar looking they could be true siblings. Their hair was dark, and their handsome faces were pinched with concern. Was that concern for her?
Irina's hiss captured her attention, pulling her from these thoughts. Bella blinked before she saw what had the other vampires stopping short.
There was a newsstand fifty feet in front of them. Laurent flitted over to snag one once the vendor's back was turned, plucking it from the stand and opening it gingerly when he returned.
"Keep walking," Irina advised, steering Bella around a corner, and ducking behind a dumpster.
"What is it?" Bella asked, peering at the paper.
Although she couldn't read Hungarian, she didn't need to to see what had the others troubled. Images of bloodless bodies with missing limbs covered the front page.
"Holy shit," Bella breathed, taking the paper from Laurent's hands.
"The victim's throats were torn out and their bodies drained of blood," Laurent read over her shoulder. "They suspect the occult or possibly a serial killer."
"This was a vampire," Bella said, examining a photograph of a man's neck, which had been torn open.
Irina nodded, crowding in to see the images.
"They put these pictures in the paper?" Bella asked, appalled. "What if a child saw this?"
"We have bigger problems than that," Irina said. "This happened yesterday. Whoever did this might still be in the area. We need to leave."
Bella agreed. Even as Irina spoke, her senses went on high alert. Someone was in the area; she could feel it. A strange prickling feeling ran the length of her spine, making her look around for the source. It felt as though she were being watched.
"Do you think it's those newborns?" Bella asked, wondering how a single vampire could wreak so much havoc.
"Possibly," Laurent said, not taking his eyes off the gruesome picture.
"One or two might have left the others," Irina said. "Newborns don't tend to stay in groups very well together. They often succumb to internal violence. In any case, I don't want to stick around and find out, do you?"
Bella shook her head. She didn't. They needed to get out of Hungary, and soon. Hunting would have to wait, she thought, pushing down the burn in her throat. She couldn't risk it.
Irina dumped the paper in the metal bin and they swiftly left the city they'd been traversing through. The tingling sensation didn't leave her, however. This activity had to be a coincidence- they shared the world with other vampires! But there was something (perhaps it was Bella's gift, as Irina asserted, or something else) urging her to flee as fast as she could.
Whoever was ripping their victim's limb from limb was not someone Bella wanted to run into.
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Alice Cullen seemed to shrink in on herself whenever Caius looked her way. Good. Let the little witch be afraid of him.
If not for Aro's gift, his surety that her intentions were honorable, the pixie would be a simmering pile of ashes. As it was, he wouldn't put spying on their coven past her. But his brother was confident that was looking out for the rest of the Cullen's, worthless vermin that they were, and that Edward had lost his mind.
He wouldn't be the first vampire to descend into madness after losing his singer. Although he would be the most memorable. Caius couldn't be sure what Aro offered the psychic, but he knew what his own plans for the brat were. His brother had already robbed him of the opportunity to kill Sulpicia, who had very nearly killed their shared mate. Edward Cullen wasn't going unpunished for tipping Caius's ex sister-in-law off.
When Alice had entered the castle, draped in some ridiculous, but stylish, outfit, Caius had been ready to take her head. Aro stopped him (Aro always stopped him from doing as he pleased) and eagerly took her hand.
"Ah, dear Alice," he'd said, after absorbing whatever lies and half-truths she was peddling. "This is a rare situation we find ourselves in."
"You can see that we mean you no harm," she said, smiling sweetly.
"I can see that you mean no harm, that is true," Aro hummed. "I cannot say that the rest of your coven has an accord on this, however."
"Carlisle remains your friend," she said at once. "He is distraught over what has become of Edward. He and Esme are looking for him now."
"Friend," Aro said, testing the word. "Yes, Carlisle has been my friend for many years. As my friend, he must know that I cannot allow a threat to our mate or our coven go unpunished. It would set a dangerous precedent. I'm sure you understand."
"We're-"
"Your coven remains loyal to Edward," he said, cutting her off. "It is troubling that Carlisle has not yet found the boy, after being given many chances. If he could control the boy, I was willing to let bygones be bygones before I discovered the depth of Edward's betrayal. Contacting former enemies of ours was an especially foolish ploy. One that almost cost us the thing we hold most dear. I cannot forgive that."
She swallowed, and Caius couldn't help but grin. The seer seemed like she was beginning to understand that she was playing a zero-sum game here.
"I have no knowledge of that," she said after a moment. "Carlisle's intentions are pure. He wants to avoid making an enemy of you."
"That I can see, yes," Aro said darkly. "But does it follow that he will kill young Edward to save the rest of you?"
At her wide-eyed expression, he continued.
"I didn't think so," Aro said softly. "So, what to do with you and your lot now?"
"I came to help," she tried, shifting nervously. "I didn't have to-"
"You came to save yourself and your mate," Aro told her. "Although you've done a fine job of convincing yourself that you care for Edward and the rest of them. Even Bella has crossed your mind- but your true concern is for yourself and your lover. And your brother is not making decisions, which thwarts your gift, does it not?"
Caius watched eagerly, hoping his brother would, at last, remove the witch's head. But at that very moment, a vision gripped her, making her go still. Her eyes flickered as though they were going in and out of focus.
"I can help you," she breathed after a pregnant pause.
"Help us how?!" Caius demanded, tired of watching this drama play out. "You have already demonstrated that you are utterly useless to us!"
Her look of triumph made his venom boil. Whatever she was about to reveal was going to spoil his plans of dismemberment, he could feel it. Sure enough, when she spoke, it was with a victorious smile. She looked like an idiotic human who had won the lottery. Caius wanted to smack the look off her face.
"I know where Bella is."
Her glimpses into the future kept changing, and as a result, they had changed courses several times. She claimed that like Edward, Bella kept changing her mind and her direction. How could Aro not see that they were being played?! His gift wasn't infallible- their mate's closed mind was proof of that!
Caius hissed in displeasure now. They had stopped again- the entire entourage came to a standstill as Alice was overtaken by a new vision. Her expression went blank, her lips parting as her third eye was blown open, allowing a new, probable scenario to play for her.
"She's not alone," she murmured after a moment.
Her eyes fluttered and then rolled back, her body trembling. Aro dashed to her side, waiting with bated breath, although he did not touch her. Perhaps he was afraid of breaking the spell and pulling her from a vision that might lead to Bella.
Although Caius would have loved to throttle her, he waited as well. No one seemed to breathe.
When the clairvoyant spoke next, her voice was deeper, more masculine.
"You're a monster now, Bella," she said, her voice sounding eerily reminiscent of that boy's. "A demon. You should have died. Anything would have been better than what you've become."
Marcus, who hadn't said much since they'd left Volterra, growled lowly at this. Those around him, Demetri, Heidi, and Alec, all stepped back carefully, lest he fly into one of his rages. Seeing Marcus lose control had been both satisfying and shocking. Caius had almost forgotten Marcus the warrior- the vampire he'd been before Didyme had been murdered.
The sprite shuddered, the vision leaving her. Without waiting for permission, Aro grasped her hand in both of his, absorbing her thoughts. Before he had finished collecting her vision, however, the petite vampire seized again, going perfectly still.
Another prediction washed over her, one that had Aro's eyes burning into hers.
"We won't make it," she breathed.
"East!" Aro snarled, dropping her hands.
Caius was off at a sprint, his brothers and the rest of their coven trailing behind. The psychic was wrong. They hadn't waited the better part of three millennia for their mate, only to have her taken from them by that pussy, Edward Cullen.
"We won't make it."
The fuck he wouldn't. He may not be as fast as their newborn mate, but Caius was no slouch either. His natural speed had always given him the edge in a battle. A gift he now put to use.
He didn't need Demetri and the Cullen bitch to tell him where to go. As he ran, the ache in his chest abated, replaced by something else. A pull. It was as though there were a magnet behind his ribcage, wrenching him towards wherever she was.
If the Cullen boy touched one hair on her head, he would pay for it with his life.
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Once he started, Edward couldn't get enough. Human blood had been off-limits to him for so long, that once he had a taste of it, it was all he could think about. That, and finding Bella.
He lost control in Paris, glutting himself on a group of teens that had snuck around the side of a building to smoke a joint. He dropped their bodies in a dumpster, but now he couldn't even be bothered to do that. He left mangled corpses for others to find, uncaring of the bloody trail he was leaving in his wake.
Bella was out there, alone, and vulnerable. Edward needed to find her before the Volturi did. He was beginning to accept that he may need to change her, after all. Making her like himself was the only way to protect her from Aro, Caius, and Marcus long term.
He knew the risks, but Edward was headed to Rome, looking for Alice. He went on foot, not wanting to tip his family off by leaving a paper trail of travel plans. Jasper knew all of his aliases, and Edward didn't want the others heading him off.
He was going to find Bella and then they would see!
Bella was made for him. How his family didn't see this, he would never understand. God, or maybe fate if Edward were a believer, crafted her especially for him. Her silent mind was a respite from the cacophony of other's thoughts that he endured day in and out.
Unfortunately, there was unrest in the region, newborns running wild, forcing Edward to take the long way around. They would draw the attention of the Volturi before long, which he needed to avoid for obvious reasons.
He only hoped Alice would still be in the area when he finally got there. She must see his decisions, and Edward hoped that their long-standing brother-sister relationship would encourage her to help him find his mate. He would help her if their positions were reversed.
He prowled the countryside, only entering cities at night to feed, and then disappearing once he had gorged himself like a tick. Carlisle was going to be disappointed, but Edward was so furious with his father figure that he couldn't bring himself to care. He had practically given Caius his blessing to take Bella and do God knows what to her!
Even Esme was in on it! She'd tried to convince Edward that it was for the best when he'd almost attacked her. If Alice hadn't tipped them off, Jasper and Carlisle would have pulled him back only after he'd removed a limb.
His own family was party to the theft of his mate… It was a sad state of affairs. Edward felt as though the earth was falling out from under his feet. Nothing made sense anymore.
It was midnight on a moonless night when he caught the scent. Edward closed his eyes, almost believing it to be a dream. Bella's unique floral fragrance was carried on the wind, teasing him with notes of amber and lilac.
But it couldn't be- for several reasons. Not the least was that he was, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. Also, her scent was devoid of the very thing that made it so very appealing.
Her blood.
It was a hallucination. It had to be. He felt as though he were being haunted. The ghost of Isabella Swan was nearby, invisible, but leaving a trail of her luscious aroma behind her.
The wind changed, picking up other scents as well. Other vampires.
Edward froze, his senses instantly alert. There were two- no, three. Their scent was no more than a day old, but they had been nearby.
Did they have his Bella? Could she have escaped the monsters in Italy, only to be captured by even more monsters? Aro, Marcus, and Caius had no shortage of enemies. If they were broadcasting, falsely, that she was their long-awaited mate, it was possible that Bella had been abducted.
Edward snarled, changing course, and following the scents that plagued him.
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