Author note - Thanks for all the reads and reviews, I am just blown the hell away by everyone's support and kind words.
Thanks to Content1 for her continued help and support. Ma'am, I love ya, but get yer arse working on FMR please. I NEED IT! =P
Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own a packet of Marlboro Menthol, a lighter and Lemons with Jasper in them... FUCK YES!
Ok, here we go, the battle and a little bit of the fall out.
In the far away fires
Where the hills forever burn
At the feet of our heroes
We try hard to learn
But the lesson is lost there
In the smoke and the mud
That we are one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
I stood by the river
That ran red with shame
I stood in the killing fields
Where death had no name
I stood with my brothers
And away it flood
And we were one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
Then I felt to the ground
Tasted ashes on my tongue
Thinking that only the dead
Are forever young
There was peace in the twilight
And for a moment among
It was a world without danger
A world without war
And I will take all your suffering
It will do any good
Cause we are one flesh, one breath, one life, one blood
~Terence Jay - One Blood
Chapter 27.
The Killing Fields.
The morning of the battled came in a blaze of brilliant sunshine. The light shattered on contact with vampire skin, sending colour prisms dancing around the clearing. It was just before noon and my family, minus Edward and Bella, were gathered with the wolves, making final preparations for what was coming.
"Sam, are you guys ready?" I made a point of including the pack as much as possible. I wouldn't have called it a friendly relationship, but there was a tense civility that made the whole damn thing bearable. There was that and the fact that the pack was in wolf form and I was the only one present who could speak for them. Thankfully, with a lot of practice, I could use Edward's ability with little effort. Honestly, it took more focus to shove it away that it did to maintain it.
"We are ready. Jacob will be here soon," Sam thought, his voice ringing out over the babble that was the combined wolf-mind. Images of Jacob rolled through Sam's mind, echoing around the minds of the other pack members.
"Will you kiss me Jacob?" Bella asked, terror etched on her face as Jacob walked away from her. The mutt's heart stopped at her request. He turned on the spot, his eyes blazing.
"You're bluffing,"
"Kiss me, Jacob. Kiss me and them come back,"
My growl erupted from my chest and rang through the clearing, bouncing off of the trees that surrounded us and amplifying the sound ten-fold.
"I'm going to fucking KILL HER!" I snarled, bolting to the nearest thing that couldn't speak and throwing my fist into it with as much force as I could muster. My victim doubled over, cracks and creaks crackled in the air as the massive tree that I had assaulted fell rather theatrically with a crash and a poof of dirt. It wasn't enough; not even close. I needed to punch and break more things.
"Kali, stop," Alice pleaded. "They're coming!" Alice had her foggy and distant eyes trained on the far side of the clearing. My skin started to tingle and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I couldn't see them, of smell them yet, but my whole body was screaming at me that they were coming.
"How long?" I growled, stepping into position beside Jasper, my hand curled into a fist as I fought every single animal instinct I had. It wasn't time. They weren't here yet.
"Less than a minute. Please calm down," Alice pleaded as she stroked my arm, trying to soothe me. it was NOT helping. I needed more... instant... assistance.
"Jazz, help me out here, will ya?" I spat through gritted teeth. My whole body started to tremble with the effort it was taking to lock everything in place and to prevent a really embarrassing lash out. The quivering stopped as a fierce swell of peace, focus ad calm hit me like a speeding truck. "Thanks, man."
"What happened?" Carlisle asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Later," I demanded, training my gaze onto the far side of the clearing. "They are coming. I can hear them." I could too. They were less than four miles away and they were frantic. The scent trail that Bella had laid the previous day was driving them insane and their only goal was to get to her. When they were about a mile and a half out, they split, just as Alice had suggested they might. One group kept running for us while the other cut back a little and circled around to where they should have come behind us.
Jacob broke the tree line in that second and I had to fight every single urge I had not to ram my fist down his throat and turn him inside out. His mind was a fucking swamp of thoughts and emotions. He fantasized about Bella's lips and body pressed against him and I growled. Loudly.
"Sam, get him the fuck under control or I will!" I snarled, still scanning the tree-line. They were two miles out now and we got into position. The wolves had their back to us and us to them. Jasper placed a tense hand in mines. "Jazz, I need you to help me focus. There are too many voices and I can't-"
"Breathe, Darlin'. I got you covered. Just focus," He murmured, filtering as much of his focus as he could. The skin to skin contact increased the effect and my mind sharpened. A snarl built in the back of my throat. A mile and a half out. The newborns were moving at a terrifying velocity now and closing faster than was comfortable. I heard Sam mentally reprimand Jacob and forcing him to get his head in the game. Jacob huffed once in indignation but one short, sharp bark from Sam silenced the pack completely. They were just under a mile out now and I could smell them.
Every single cell in my body, everything that made me who I was was screaming at me in protest as I ignored the urge to run like hell and fucking hide. No. Not today. No more fucking hiding. A low grumbled vibrated in my chest as a feral snarl ripped through me, forcing my head back. The sound was echoed among the other vampires and wolves around me.
"Sam, go west now!" I yelled, slipping down into a crouch, bunching my calf and thigh muscles, feeling them coil as I prepared to spring. "Five seconds."
"*-***-*"
Five, Jasper crouched beside me, positioning himself in front of Alice. Both offensive and defensive.
Four, Carlisle, Rosalie and Esme snarled and crouched beside us.
Three. Emmett pounded his fist into his hand, laughing maniacally.
Two. The werewolves launch themselves into the trees to take out the smaller of the two groups of newborns.
One. we could hear their snarls and growls. Their minds a blitz of bloodlust and murder.
Zero. They broke into the clearing, running at full tilt towards us and we pounced.
"*-***-*"
Myself and Jasper took the lead, running almost in tandem, taking out the two front runners. I must have repressed memories of fighting newborns in my past, because I seemed to have forgotten how easy it was to shove my fist right through their heads. As my hand connected with the male newborn's head, I felt my hand crack in the most deliciously painful way. The stone skin cracked and split over my knuckles, venom leaked out of the cuts, sealing them instantly. I relished the burn. It fueled the monster who i had let loose and would have serious trouble putting the fucker back into his cage. I balled my fist again, yanking my arm upwards with one rapid jerk and the newborns head split in to, coming off of it's body. Nice. The high-pitched scream that issued from it's mouth before I took it's head off of it's body was enough to distract two newborns who were to my right, allowing Alice and Emmett to dispose of them.
"Jazz," I screeched, "With me!" I bolted into the center of the newborn huddle with Jasper, Carlisle and Rosalie. The first newborn was pulled apart like it was on a factory assembly line. Jasper got to her first, ripping an arm off her before pitching it half way across the field. Carlisle was next, removing the other arm with the precision of a highly skilled surgeon... well... I threw myself at the armless girl, spearing her into the ground violently, her ribs cracking under the force. Rosalie literally somersaulted over me, wrapping her hands in the newborns hair before wrenching it's head clean of it's body. She stood up and with the aim of professional football player, threw the decapitated head at a newborn who was heading for Esme, knocking it into a tree. I was impressed.
The wolves re-entered the clearing, driving another six newborns into the open space between us and them. Easy pickings, jigsaw and fucking joke were just a couple of the choice phrases rattling around their heads. Some of them actually relishing the way that vampire flesh felt between their teeth and under their claws. I was glad that they were actually enjoying this for some reason. their minds buzzed with excitement and pride.
"She followed me here. Seth, GO!" Edward's voice rang through the thoughts of the wolves minds.
"FUCK!" I screeched, punching the head off another newborn,. "Victoria is heading for the campsite!"
"Seth will help him," Sam thought as he careered towards another newborn. "He is young, but he knows what to do. He will be-" His thought was cut short as he engaged a newborn with the wolf called Paul. They made quick work of it and moved on. I charged at full speed towards a newborn in the middle of the clearing until the most God-awful snarl of agony altered my direction. I spun on the spot to see a female newborn clamp her teeth into Jasper's arm. I switched directions and battled my way to him. Just before I got to him, Alice had jumped onto the newborn's back, pulling both of it's arms back and ripping them off before tossing them behind her.
"Jazz! You alright?" I yelled as I grabbed his arm, yanking back the sleeve. The teethmarks were pretty deep. His body battled with the alien venom, heating the temperature of the surrounding skin considerably.
"Jesus, that fucking stings," he snarled, rubbing the damaged skin on his forearm.
"Add it to the collection, Major," I teased, "Now fucking move it!" I scanned the clearing quickly, the newborns were falling fast, maybe seven left in total, three of which were dancing around Emmett, just out of his reach. I was by his side in a second, grabbing one of the newborns around the wrist, pulling him towards me and throwing him to the ground with my free arm as it hit him across the neck. I reached for the next newborn when something went wrong.
Time slowed down to an almost comical level. My hand was clenched into a fist and heading for one of the newborns heads when it stopped travelling forward. An iron grip caught me wrist, pulling it back. Too far back. I turned my head in time to see my right arm over-extending behind me. I felt the first crack and it was like someone had poured molten iron into the joint at my shoulder. I barely had time to growl and screech in pain before their was a loud pop and the whole right hand side of my body was on fire. Venom trickled down the inside of my shirt and onto the waist band of my jeans. There was the most sickening, bone-chilling cry of pain around me. It took me a moment to realise that my mouth was open and my chest rumbled violently. My lungs ached and my breath was gone. When I inhaled, the screaming stopped. Oh, the screaming was me... Venom scorched the fabric of my shirt, disintegrating the material against my skin. My shoulder was on fire and I fell forward. Half a second later, the newborn who was pulling at my arm was gone and I was being picked up off of the ground.
"Kali?" Rose cried, helping me to sit up.
"Is Emmett alright?" I asked. The last, pain-free memory I had was of Emmett being surrounded.
"I'm fine, you fucking idiot!" Emmett bellowed. I looked up and saw him holding an arm. What the fuck? I looked at the arm again... It looked like it was covered in the same material that my shirt was made out of... I felt sick. That was my arm... "What the fuck were you trying to do?"
'Oh right, Emmett is yelling at you, Kali, and you need to focus' I scolded myself. "I was saving you?" I was confused as all fucking hell, I was in ridiculous pain and and it was too quiet around here. "Did we win? Is everyone alright?"
"I'm holding your arm in my hand and you want to know if everyone is alright?" Emmett scoffed. "Did you lose your damn mind as well as this?" He started waving my arm at me in a morbidly amusing manner. Carlisle appeared out of nowhere and scowled at him like Emmett had ripped my arm off himself.
"Fuck off and give me my arm, Emmett. I need to try and reattach it before this heals over." I tried to growl at him, I really did but it just came out as a sort of whimper.
"Emmett, go and find Kali something to feed from," Carlisle instructed as he inspected the ragged, seeping hole where my arm used to live. I growled viciously as his finger traced the edge of the wound. "She will need the blood to heal faster."
"What should I get her?" He asked.
"Anything with a heartbeat that isn't human or werewolf," I sneered and watched as he loped off into the trees with Rosalie behind him. "FUUUUCK!" I bellowed, my eyes rolled into the back of my head as a new wave of agony ripped its way through my shoulder, shooting right down my body as Carlisle shoved my arm back into place and pressed down onto it with considerable force.
"Kali," Esme began in an all-too-familiar and oh-so-unnecessary tone of voice.
"Esme, I love you, I really do. But if you scold me for swearing right now, I will throw something at you." My teeth ground together in an attempt to stifle the agony I was feeling. he venom from my body was already working it's arse off. Lots of tiny little connections had already started knitting together in what I could only describe as the second worse pain I had ever been in.
"Here, will this do?" Emmett asked, walking back to us with one small deer and a rabbit.
"A rabbit? Really?" Rosalie sneered at the struggling animal in Emmett's grasp. "They taste disgusting."
Emmett pouted dramatically. "She said anything..."
"It's fine, Emmett, thanks." He lay the deer on the ground and handed me the little brown rabbit which I promptly put on the ground and watched at it hopped away as fast as it could.
Emmett began to protest in earnest. "Kali, what th-" I raised a hand to silence him.
"I'm not eating Bugs Bunny." Carlisle and Rosalie giggled tightly as the rabbit disappeared. I got distracted by the fact that the obviously limp deer on the ground still had a heartbeat. "Em, did you break it's neck already?"
"Nah, I just knocked it out so I could chase the rabbit," He shrugged. I laughed and instantly wished I hadn't. White hot bursts of pain shot through my re-connecting arm and up my shoulder. I hissed loudly, wincing like someone poked me in the eyes.
"Kali, you need to feed. This will take a lot longer if you don't," Carlisle informed me, pressing my arm further into the socket while massaging the join between the two body parts. I nodded, internally grumbling at his 'I'm a Doctor. Do as you are told' tone'.
"Could someone pass that to me?" I said weakly, keeping my eyes turned down. I didn't even see who passed me the damn animal and I honestly didn't care. I mumbled my thanks before bringing the animal's neck to my mouth. The blood bathed my tongue and flooded my body. It ran through my dead veins and hit my shoulder. "FUCKING HELL!" I growled with my teeth still buried into the deer's neck. My shoulder burned ferociously at the blood hit the venom that was healing my shoulder. I could feel the reaction, the fibers regenerating and it fucking sucked! The pain was bewildering.
"Is it healing?" Rosalie asked, kneeling by my side. I pulled my teeth away from the drained carcass on my lap and shoved it away with my good ark. I shrugged my shoulders experimentally. I winced again, but not quite as hard as before. It was a little better, but it still ached like a bastard. Great, another scar... Just what I needed. I shook my head and made to get up off the ground. With a little assistance from Emmett, I was back on my feet and able to have a look around the clearing for the first time since the chaos abated.
The rest of the family was gathered next to a massive fire in the center of the clearing. The pillar of purple-black smoke that rose up from the vampire-fueled furnace choked the air. I zeroed my gaze onto a small bundle on the floor directly in front of the fire. There was a newborn curled up on the ground with it's eyes slammed shut and Jasper standing over it like it was radioactive. Alice was stood next to Esme- both of them torn as to where they should be standing. Alice kept throwing glances between Jasper and myself while Esme was watching the newborn, Jasper and Carlisle. It was the newborn itself was what attracted my attention. She was young- sixteen, if she was lucky- Much too young for this life. Her long wavy brown hair was covered in dust and dirt and hung loosely down her back. She rivaled Alice with her diminutive size and looked completely and utterly defenseless. I averted my blatant stare when the wolves howled. They were circling their own bonfire, barking and huffing intermittently. It sounded like a chant but my head was fucking frazzled and I couldn't deal with listening to their head. Shit. Wolves... Seth... Edward and Bella!
"Sam!" I yelled "Is Seth, Edward and Bella alright?" The wolf just nodded for me and continued to chant as I felt myself grow weak with relief. If anything would have happened to them , I would have fucking killed them. "Thank you, Sam."
We made it. Minus my arm and Jasper's new teethmarks, we got through everything unscathed. The wolves had played a substantial part in our survival and as much as I would love to continue despising them, I think a healthy level of respect was in order. I moved further away from them, trying to keep distance because the smell was really getting to me, when a familiar pounding in the back of my head stopped me in my tracks.
"Jesus Christ! Not now... Carlisle, Jasper!" I screeched, hitting the ground shuddering in pain. Four black cloaks swept across the ground before my eyes as my head exploded in pain. I tried to focus, I swear to God, I did, but I couldn't. My brain just submitted to the pain, allowing it to sweep through my entire mind. The Volturi were coming. We were in trouble and a lot of it. The strongest blast of 'painkiller' hit me, knocking me breathless before I could cry out again and then, the pain was gone completely. What they fuck? I pried my eyes open slowly and wanted the world to swallow me up. I had Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Sam standing over me like I was some kind of experiment. Emmett extended a hand, helping me onto my feet. "Thanks Jazz, Sam, Em," I mumbled, trying to brush the the dirt off of the back of my clothes- A completely pointless act considering that the venom from my arm had pretty much wrecked them. "Alice, when are they coming?"
"Seventeen minutes," She said, looking at me almost apologetically.
"Its alright, sis. If I could get a filter fitted, that would be great," I joked. It wasn't her fault that I couldn't stop it- none of us could. Carlisle started checking my arm again. Apparently, I had fallen onto it when my latest brain burning problem occurred.
"Sam, the leaders of our world are coming here," Carlisle explained with a final prod at my arm. "It won't be safe for your pack here." The snickered from the wolf pack indicated that they didn't trust our assessment of the situation. Sam, however, looked stern. His shoulders tightened at the thought of more vampires on the area but he really couldn't be here.
"Seriously, they don't honour treaties with wolves. You guys need to get out of here, Sam," I said, reaching out a hand slowly to touch his shoulder. I wasn't sure what was more surprising- the fact that he didn't move away or the fact that I had reached out in the first place. As my hand made contact with the bare skin on his shoulder, I shuddered violently. It was hot, too hot and uncomfortable and my whole body was screaming at me that I was an idiot for getting this close. I managed to contain the reaction for the most part as his hand touched my shoulder. Too fucking hot! We dropped our hands quickly though. The contact was seriously creeping me out. Sam nodded, leaving first and indicated to the other wolves that it was time to go. They all filed out slowly, leaving only the small grey wolf, Leah, and Jacob. I Nodded a head to them both and turned back to my family. I swear someone was messing with the laws of nature because everything slowed down again. Time just kind of stopped.
I was taking the first step towards my family when a vicious snarl cracked the eerily silent air. By the time I had turned around, Leah had discovered a straggling newborn and had engaged him in a fight on her own. I started to move forward with every intention of helping Leah but Jacob got there first, knocking the newborn clean out of Leah's way and began to take on the newborn himself. As Jacob lunged for the young one's arm, the newborn sidestepped him and managed to get his arms around Jacob's chest. We all heard the bones crack and break. It was one of the most disgusting sounds I had ever heard. I winced as I swung my arms to propel myself forward faster, ignoring the pulling pain in my shoulder, as I ran to help him. I reached his side at the same time as Sam and Paul. I wrapped my good arm around the young one's neck, dragging him away from the shuddering mass of russet fur on the ground. I slid my fingers into the newborns hair and twisted it's head to the side to give me access to it's neck. I bared my teeth and sank them into it's neck. Let me tell you, there is nothing more animalistic for our kind than to taste the flesh of a vampire. The feel, the taste and the smell drove the animal inside me completely ballistic. It not only broke back out of it's cage, but the son of a bitch wrecked the damn thing on the way out. I ripped it's throat out, pulling and twisting it's head until it popped.
I dropped both the head and the newborn and left it for the wolves to take care of. "Carlisle!" I screamed, bolting back to where Jacob lay in a massive mound of fur on the ground. The Quileute boys and girl were surrounding him, shielding him from view. Carlisle was by my side in an instant, trying to get to Jacob who was howling in agony.
"Let me through," He pleaded. "I can help him."
"Look, his bones are crushed. He can't heal this on his own," I said, trying to get it through to one of them. "Sam, please, let him help!" The men turned to Sam, looking for some kind of answer. Whatever they found there worked for us, because they let us through.
"Thank you," Carlisle breathed reverently.
"Jasper, cover her ears," I said, kneeling beside Carlisle next to Jacob. I ran one hand up the length of Jacob's front paws, feeling the shattered bones under my hands and wincing at the pain I knew he would be in. "Carlisle, I got broken bones in both his arms," I said, running my hands over Jacob's shoulder and down onto his ribcage. "Broken shoulder, clavicle and five ribs." As I skimmed the right side of his ribcage, an ear-splitting howl shattered the air around us.
"Four broken ribs on the left side, broken right femur, shattered pelvis," Carlisle was in 'Def-Con one' on the 'Doctor Vampire' scale. His whole concentration was on the broken man-wolf on the ground. I felt sick at the thought of the amount of pain Jacob would be in- it would be monumental and we couldn't do anything for him like this. "We need him to phase, Sam." Carlisle muttered as he continued to feel out fractures along Jacob's limbs. Carlisle stood to talk to Sam as I bowed over next to Jacob's head. I bent lower, closer to his head.
"Jacob, you are pretty banged up," I whispered, getting closer to the mutt than I ever wanted to. "The bones on the right side of your body are crushed. The pain is going to be terrible but we need you to phase so Carlisle can help you." The answering howl I got made me think that he had attempted to shift. His whole body shook with the effort before he fell still and silent. As much as I couldn't stand the fucker, the pain he was in made it hard to remember that fact. No matter how I felt about Jacob, I hated to see another creature in this much pain. The howling trailed off suddenly and I breathed a sigh of relief. "He passed out, Carlisle. Might be best to move him now." I placed a hand onto the side of Jacob's neck, forcing myself not to flinch at the temperature. "He need's to get to the reservation."
"We will take him," Sam said, moving forward.
"Try and get him to wake up and phase. I will be able to treat him better then. I will come when I am finished here," Carlisle offered, moving back to allow the Quileutes to move Jacob. They lifted him gently, trying not to jostle him too much as they walked through the tree's. Carlisle offered me his hand, helping me up off of the ground. "Are you alright, Kali? How's your arm?"
"It's alright. Hurts like hell," I said, trying to force a smile and not quite managing it. "Carlisle, why is there a newborn on the ground next to the fire?"
"She surrendered."
"Oh," I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I want to talk to her."
"Why?"
"She lacks a sire. She needs guidance. We need to know what the hell has been happening. We need to know-" Yeah, he got the point pretty quickly. He grabbed my good shoulder and pulled me towards the family and the newborn. "Just let me talk to her for a cou... OH FUCKING HELL!"I yelled, rolling my eyes as I saw Edward break the tree-line and approach the family with Bella lying in his arms, unconscious. That did it. I lost it.
"What the fuck happened to her?"
"She passed out," Edward said stiffly, lowering her onto the ground slowly.
"What the hell do you mean that she just passed out? What happened?" I growled as I crouched next to Bella's head, stroking her hair.
"I told her Jacob got injured and she just passed out," Edward explained, not bothering to hide his pain at her reaction to the news.
"Shit," I grumbled. This girl was doing herself no favours. I released her hair and clenched my fist, instantly regretting it. Pain shot right up my arm and across my shoulder. I hissed as fire shot through the joint, burning through the new connections in my arm.
"What happened to you?" Edward asked, staring at my arm. I looked at it quickly. The shiny new scar was flushed pink with the blood from my kill to help with the healing.
"Oh, I got it taken off," I said nonchalantly. I traced the line of my new scar, watching Edward follow my fingers as the rubbed the healing skin. His eyes went wide and his mouth gaped. "What?" I asked, uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
"Are you alright?" He asked as Carlisle gave Bella the once-over.
"I'm fine, it just hurts."
"I'm sorry you got hurt."
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," I thought, focusing on him enough that I could hear his mind.
"I think you were right before," He thought.
"About what?"
"You and me having a love/hate relationship." I couldn't help but laugh at him.
"And what, dear brother, are you feeling now?"
"Love. Just a lot of fucking love," My eyes went wide and I gasped. Never, not once, had I ever heard Edward swear. It was shocking and oddly cool. It suited him. He should do it more. "I don't think so." He thought, answering my silent musings.
"Then that is shocking language for a gentleman to use in the presence of a lady,"
"Even when the lady swears more than anyone else I know?"
"Even then, brother," I laughed, scanning the clearing. The wolves had gone and we were waiting on the presence of the Volturi to be made known. The thick purple smoke was filtered right through the clearing now and the smell was sticking to the back of my throat. It was nauseating. My gazing only stopped when I saw the newborn curled by the fire. My staring did not go unnoticed.
"Kali, who is the newborn?" Edward asked as he stroked Bella's cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"She surrendered, I think," I shrugged my shoulders and regretted it again. I hissed in discomfort, causing several pairs of eyes to wander in my direction. "I'm fine." I stated, standing up to go to Jasper. He looked up from the young one as I approached and puffed a little cloud of 'painkiller' at me. I winked at him as I clasped a hand to his shoulder. I would have squeezed one of his hands had they not been clamped down on the newborn's ears.
"Your arm alright?" He asked quietly, shifting his eyes from my face to my shoulder and back again. The pink line on my skin was starting to drain in colour, but rise and tighten as a scar. Fuck it.
"I'll be fine, Jazz. Couple of hours until everything is re-connected and a couple of days until it feels right, but I'm okay. This time next week, I will have a shiny new scar," I boasted, waggling my eyebrows at him.
"When you have as many as I do, you can start to worry," He teased.
"Yeah, when we get some down time, we will compare war wounds," I laughed gently, shaking my head. "How is she?" I jerked my chin towards the newborn in his hands. She was so small, it was disconcerting. No-one should be changed that young.
"She's scared, thirsty and oddly relieved," He said, shrugging his own shoulders.
"Let go of her ears. I want to talk to her." Jasper shot me a look that was clearly questioning my sanity. I cocked an eyebrow at him and I have no doubt that he was feeling my growing annoyance. Jasper nodded once and removed his hands slowly from the sides of the young one's head, instructing her to keep her eyes shut. He backed away, allowing me to crouch in front of her. I focused on Edward's gift to help me talk to her. I needed complete control over her but I needed answers as well. I took in a slow breath before I began.
"You will keep your eyes closed or I will remove them from your head. Do you understand me, young one?" I snarled, keeping myself calm but putting enough edge in my voice so that she would know I was NOT fucking around.
"Of course I understand her! I'm not stupid!" She thought as she nodded her response for me. She was sassy... and I kind of liked it. "She acts like Jasper." I smirked a little when I heard her think that. If I could be half of the Cullen that Jasper was, I would be doing well.
"you will not move. You will sit perfectly still unless instructed otherwise and you will not speak unless myself or Jasper addresses you. Do you understand?" She nodded once again. "You are alive right now because you surrendered, yes?" Another nod. "Why did you surrender?"
Her mind raced, spilling secret thoughts into my head. Her abrupt entry into our world and the pain of being in such a hostile environment. How she and another newborn began to talk and be friends. His name was Diego and she was really keen on being his friend. I say friend, but as a vampire who had lived with mated couples for the past two years, friends was the least of their worries. I was shown another male vampire. Older than the young ones but no more than eighteen months old. He was ordering them around and making sure they stayed in line... kind of. I saw Riley ordering them to attack us and hunt for Bella. I saw Riley talk to Bree about her friend Diego; how he was missing and she lost her killer instinct. She thought about how well Carlisle and Esme had treated her and how, in a strange way, they made her feel safe.
"I didn't want to fight anymore," She whispered, fighting to keep her eyes closed like she was instructed. I knew it was uncomfortable for her, but the sensory deprivation would only aid me in getting my answers quicker. "He said he wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting." Another flurry of Carlisle whistled through her head as she relived how considerate he had been with her. She thought of my father with affection... albeit warily. She was just a child and guilty of nothing except having a psychotic bitch for a sire. I felt my six centuries dead mothering instinct kick in with a vengeance.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jasper asked in a tone that suggested that he had assessed my previously questionable sanity and he has decided I was certifiable. I would have had to agree with him. I felt fucking nuts.
"Oh, yeah, like I can help it..." I sneered, focusing my attention on the newborn. I didn't even know her name yet...
"Bella will wake up in thirty seven seconds. I don't doubt that she would be able to hear you right now," Alice announced, finally giving me something else to look at other than the girl on the floor at my feet. Edward, Esme, Carlisle and Alice were attending to Bella, Jasper was by my side and Rosalie stood with Emmett in between the two groups. Those members of my family who were hovering over Bella, trying to rouse her from her unconscious state with words of love and encouragement, all of which she roundly ignored. I was just about to suggest leaving her when Edward leaned forward and whispered words that damn near killed him.
"Bella, love, Jacob Black will be fine," He breathed into her ear. Her eyes fluttered a little and my heart just fucking broke for Edward. Of all the loving comments and supporting whispers that they had given her, those were the words that woke her up. The pain it caused Edward was suffocating. Jasper and I both cringed at the mental and emotional blow that Edward was throwing us. Bella began to talk and ask about Jacob and everyone else and suddenly, it didn't really matter if the newborn saw anything now, we had the Volturi coming anyway. They knew something was going down here and Bella was still human. We had no reason to keep her eyes shut now. Fortunately, Jasper had the same idea as I did and it pleased me again that we were on the same page.
"You had better open your eyes now," Jasper instructed as he watched the newborn for anything that would indicate she was going to lose control. Her eyes snapped open, taking in Jasper's and my own appearance with a quickly critical eye before scanning the whole space. Jasper stood tensed and ready to spring, like a cobra when it prepares to strike if necessary. The newborn looked around her, noting where everyone was on the killing field. She had seen Bella but thankfully the wind was blowing vampire dust into her face so it was polluting the ridiculous scent that Bella was giving off. Then the wind shifted, blowing through Bella's hair and right into the face of the newborn.
FUCK MY LIFE!
The young one jumped to her feet, propelled by the scent blowing through the clearing. Myself and Jasper both lunged for her, grabbing an arm each and putting her firmly back onto her arse. I winced in pain at the strain on my newly healed arm, but brushed it off when the young one made to stand up again. We yanked her down harder while we both yelled "Stop it!" at the same time. The combined volume of our voices, the complimentary qualities that the edge in our voices had and the physical strength exerted over her, left the young one reeling. She fought against the restraints we were putting her under and was dangerously close to getting herself killed.
"You better sit the fuck down of I will dismantle you," I promised with a hiss. I turned to see Bella snuggled into Edward's side, asking quiet questions that I really could not be fucked with at that moment in time. Another gust of wind shoved more of her delectable scent in our directions, causing the young one to scream in pain. She wrapped her fists into her hair and pulled on it fiercely before shoving her hands into the ruined earth, looking for something to hold onto. I could see from her head that her battle with her thirst was excruciating, even more so for one who hasn't learned how to manage their thirst. She was three months, four if she was luck and her restraint is extraordinary. If Bella's scent, after months of being around her, still inspired me to to vaguely consider harming her just for a second, then that newborn would be in utter agony.
"Focus! It's only blood and it doesn't control you," I said, dropping the edge from my voice, hoping to control and convince her at the same time.
"How can I?" She thought. A whimper caught in the back of her throat and my heart clenched. She was in pain and I was being an arse to her. It was necessary, of course, but it didn't make me feel like any less of a dickhead. Another blustering blow of Bella's scent hit us and it just about sent the newborns over the edge. She screeched and clawed her fingers into the dirt around her. Her feral snarl grated on my ears.
"Have you changed your mind, young one?" Carlisle asked, as he stood in between Jasper and myself. He placed a hand onto Jasper's shoulder and squeezed my hand as he went. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."
"How can you stand it? I WANT HER!" She pleaded as she glared at Bella. Oh yeah, like it was her fault...
"But you must stand it. You must exercise control. It is the only thing that can save you now." The youngster howled again, gripping her hair at the roots before shoving her hands into the dirt again. From her mind, I saw that she was trying. She was using every fiber of her being to control herself and not move.
"Hold your breath, young one," I suggested. "It helps."
"Is Jasper alright?" Bella asked Edward as I finally started paying attention to everyone else present.
"The venom sting," Edward explained. Yeah, didn't I know it... I turned my head to see Jasper rubbing the new scars on his arm. He was at the itchy, burning stage. I could recall at least a hundred times where I had done that myself. To have the venom of another vampire in your system was painful. It burned like hell until your own venom overpowered it. It was something akin to how humans fight off infection. Speaking of burning, the fire in my newly attached arm flared as I hit the home-stretch in the healing process. I followed Jasper's lead, pressing down onto the tender, rock hard flesh and tried to massage the venom that honestly felt like it was bubbling under my skin.
"And Kali? Did she get bitten?" Bella asked. Her concern was genuine and I loved her all over again. I swear she dabbled in black magic or something because people fell in love with her way too fucking easily.
"Not exactly," Edward said, swerving the details. "But she will be alright."
"Oh, crap," Alice exclaimed before I could confirm my medical status. "They're coming!" And with that, my medical status was not fucking important anymore. I backed away from the newborn heading towards my family. Jasper muttered a quick warning to the newborn and followed me, helping close the loose circle that we had formed around Bella as we waited for the rulers of our world to make themselves known. I stiffened as the wind finally blew towards us, dragging Bella's scent away from us but carrying four scents that made my venom surge and run cold.
The Volturi were here.
Author Note- Don't hate me for the cliffie, I promise, we are going off canon for the next chapter and it will effect the rest of the story from here on out.
Thanks again to content1 who helped me get some of the planning done on this. You rock. I got a shot of Jagermeister with your name written all over it.
Next chapter is called Voliterras. The Volturi are here and everything changes for our girl, Kali.
If you have any questions, comments or rants, please let me hear them.
Until next time.
Kalika87 (Amanda)