12. The Army Coven
I could imagine her hands gripping the seat in total terror, her eyes darting from the dash board to the road and back again as my speed topped out at one-sixty. Bella. It was so hard to lock her name up when everything I did made me think of her. It was a bad idea to do anything that would remind me of that precious soul, but I had no choice right now.
The image in my head was of her eyes wide with horror as I was being chased by the police. There was no hope for those behind me. I was too fast and luckily, I was smart enough to remove my temporary tags and register this car in a fake name before speeding off the lot. It was easy to lose the police in this car, and soon they were so far behind their lights were nothing but an annoying flash in my rear view mirror.
This car chase only made me think about how it relates so completely with my life; a mundane beginning, a dramatic middle and an anti-climatic end. Now my life was as uninteresting to me as if I were stuck forever looking at the wall of a white room. No, the wall would probably be more interesting with its paint patterns and microscopic imperfections. I would possibly be able to form shapes and pictures that would also only remind me of the one I left behind.
Trains, Las Vegas casino's and car chases may seem riveting to some, but to me they were just minor annoyances getting in my way of killing the one who placed my love in the hospital. Stupid red-haired vampire. I gripped the steering wheel and turned it sharply onto an unnamed road. Speed use to be exhilarating, now it was just as monotonous as my existence.
Without my consent my foot inched toward the break and in a matter of seconds I came to a complete stop. The plans in my head flopped around from one idea to the next. There were so many promising things I could do, but the top two were to find Victoria and kill her or go to Volterra City and just end my internal suffering.
Did I chase Victoria far enough south that she would never dream to go back north? Is it time to just end my existence? Or should I just finally give in and go back to the place that continually called my name, Forks?
No, no, no, I chanted in my head. I couldn't go back, she deserved a life and a future and I couldn't provide her with those things. It was me who was continually taking things away from her. It was a bad idea. Forks wasn't an option. I nixed the option before the thought of her warm body against mine made me change my mind. Closing my eyes, I saw the color of scarlet creeping up the porcelain cheeks of a blushing and fully embarrassed Bella. 'Why are you embarrassed?' I wanted to ask.
When I finally opened my eyes the clear sky full of stars was lighting the inside of the car as the breezy air whipped around me. It was difficult to realize she wasn't actually there; it was more difficult to imagine myself going there and bringing the danger back. Forks…no, definitely not an option. But Victoria was only putting me in further danger of exposing us of what we are. The look in Carlisle's face as the Volturi came to claim my family, made me want to just get on a plane to Italy now. If I were exposed, my family would be executed; guilty by association.
Was this the only option? Thinking about losing the only distraction I had from the torment made me cringe in anticipation for the oncoming slaughter of my mental being. Was it worth my family? The answer was obvious. My decision was made.
My console began vibrating, sending small pulses of tiny palpitations through the plastic. Was it Bella this time? Was she seeking me out? All hope was lost when I finally seized my phone and saw Alice's name on the screen. If I didn't answer it now she would probably keep calling me. Might as well get this over with…
"Yes, Alice?" I answered tersely.
"Edward, please don't go," Alice pleaded through the phone. "It would be suicide. That must be the reason you are going but please, please don't do this. What do you think it would do to Esme…Carlisle?" Alice's voice became weak with sadness. "What would I do without you?"
"I can't go on like this. You don't understand. You couldn't ever understand."
"Maybe not, but maybe I could help you," her words were rushed.
"How?" I asked through my teeth.
"I know where Victoria is headed." Alice hesitated for a few seconds. "I'll tell you, but you must promise me you are not going to the Volturi."
I closed my eyes in frustration. "Okay. I'll bite. Where is she?"
"Promise," she insisted.
"I…can't."
"Edward Cullen!" she shouted. "You listen to me, and you listen to me right now! I know Bella wouldn't want you to 'off' yourself." Alice reminded me of her useful, yet very annoying gift of foresight. "Rubbish," I heard her mutter. The reminder of mine and Bella's conversation the afternoon before her disastrous birthday party only made me angrier… because she was right, and I didn't need another reminder. "I know what your plans are," she continued, "as soon as you make them. We'll stop you," she warned me. "Victoria is headed towards Arizona. Her plans are not definitive yet, but she is going that direction," she paused for a minute to think. I was gritting my teeth shut like a steel bear trap. "I'll give you more details if you promise not to go there."
"Alice, you know if I lie…" I began
"Exactly," she interjected, "…here, let me give you some incentive." I could imagine her pursing her lips "What would happen to Bella if she found out you were dead?"
It was a weird reaction, considering I didn't receive any relief from doing it, but I blinked in surprise at her question. It was one I had never thought of before, nor one I would have ever wanted to think about. What would Bella do if I no longer existed? Would she care? The empty space where my heart used to be began aching.
"The outcome wouldn't be good." Alice pulled me from my reverie. "I already saw it once you made your plans," her voice was twisted between pain and belligerence. This was one of those times I was glad I couldn't read minds through the phone. What was the picture in her head? Many unspeakable images washed through my mind like a disease, infecting and destroying everything in its path.
"She wouldn't hurt herself," I told her, my voice more confident than I felt.
"You don't know that. What I do know is that she wouldn't go on existing without you, either…" Alice continued to talk but I was suddenly shoved into my own memories of our conversation during Romeo and Juliet.
"…you don't irritate the Volturi, not unless you want to die – or whatever it is we do." I explained.
I watched her face show many emotions ranging from anger to horror. She grabbed my face and her palms started warming my cheeks. She looked me directly in the eyes. "You must never, never, never think of anything like that again! No matter what might ever happen to me, you are not allowed to hurt yourself!" she almost cried.
…"What would you do, if the situation were reversed?" I asked.
"That's not the same thing," she mumbled.
…"What if something did happen to you?" she cringed. "Would you want me to go off myself?"
Thinking of Bella no longer living sent the worst pain plummeting through my stomach and almost shattering my heart. It very nearly compared to the way I felt during the night in Phoenix.
"I guess I see your point…a little," I admitted, "but what would I do without you?"
I would wither and die…more like I'd beg for death to take the pain away.
"Whatever you were doing before I came along and complicated your existence," she explained like this was obvious.
I sighed. "You make that sound so easy."
"It should be," she argued, "I'm not really that interesting"
A lump rose in my throat at the memory.
"…and what about Esme and Carlisle? Edward? Hello? And what about me?" Alice was quiet for a few seconds, waiting for my response.
"Bella promised," was all I could spit out.
The sound of her teeth snapping together echoed through the phone in perfect clarity. "Is that so?"
Swallowing loudly, ready to argue with her, I heard a small sob on the other end of the phone and my resolve broke that instant. "Alice?" I whispered.
"She's going to southern Arizona," she sighed.
For a brief fraction of a second I thought she was talking about Bella. To think of her that close… no, I had to banish these ideas, thoughts and plans from my mind. Even though talking about the love of my existence pained me, I wasn't ready for Alice to stop talking about her, though, I knew it was wrong. It was a bad idea to even ask her what she saw in her future. The question was forming in my head, but the better part of me changed and twisted my words on the way out of my mouth.
"And don't go looking for her future either. We've done enough damage."
What she didn't know was that the last sentence had multiple meanings.
"Okay." Was all she said to my interruption. "All I see is a flash of a sign," she continued with her previous subject. "Willcox Dry Lake. Good luck Edward." There was a long silence. "I love you."
Then there was no one on the receiver. The phone never made a noise, but after a minute the lights dimmed and I was left sitting in my car, staring out at the night sky again. The range of emotions in our conversation was odd for Alice. Normally she was overly enthusiastic about everything. The only emotions in her phone call were anger, sadness, and disappointment.
It was hard to think of all the things I was putting my family through, but they would all eventually move on, and soon I'd be nothing but a reminder of what was, like a stain you can't wash from a shirt. When Bella dies, that will be my time, too. I'd give them that, at least. Plus the phobia was too engrained in my system that my actions would ultimately cause Bella to do something radical. It was easy to tell how she'd figure out my demise. Alice would surely go back to Forks when I was no longer holding her from that place.
I didn't know what I wanted to do anymore but all I knew was the idea of doing nothing while Victoria was at liberty to do anything was almost more than I could stand.
Willcox Dry Lake was in the far south eastern corner of Arizona, right on the boarder of New Mexico. It was obvious this wasn't where Victoria would have stayed for long, the area was absent of clouds and shade. This place would be strictly for nightly predators of my kind.
When I finally found a motel it was straight out of the 1960's movie Psycho. The room was old and everything had a fine layer of dust on it. It was obvious no one had stayed in this room in a long period of time. The wallpaper was pealing from the floor. This place was obviously well seasoned and weathered. There was a news paper on the desk. A glimmer of interest flickered through me as I wondered just how long this room has been unoccupied. To my dismay, the paper read the date of November twentieth. Had it really been that long since I left…her? Was I mixing my days and weeks up and they were really months? My stomach tightened painfully.
It was only when I saw where the news paper was from that my interest was piqued. Las Vegas, Nevada. There was an article that was circled. Immediately I began reading the small paragraph that was typed in the small black print at the bottom of the first page.
The mystery of how a man and a woman, roughly twenty, escaped and eluded security at one of the top casino's in Vegas is still in question. "The thieves must have been well trained," the spokesperson for the casino told us. "Shots were fired and every bullet missed the male. He escaped out a window which was broken during the shooting. The female ran for it before security got there, though neither was found. When security went to review their footage, there was nothing there. All information had been erased, even the backup hard drives." The police are not releasing any details on how their search is going for the mysterious duo. If you have any knowledge of the identities or whereabouts of these two, please call the Las Vegas Police Department.
The paper crumpled without effort in my hands. She tricked me, and then tricked me again by making me think that she was actually trying to expose me. I waited for the anger to surge through me, though the emotion wasn't powerful enough to overpower the strong emotion of anguish. My fingers ran lightly over the set of drawers, leaving trails in the dust as I moved towards the bed.
Waiting for the sun to set, I sat on the bed, staring straight at the bland curtains with their flowers and random vines of vegetation. It was in those vines that I began to picture her face peaking through the large flowers, beckoning me forward. I tried to empty my mind but it was giving me what I wanted, even though I knew it was just a trick of my subconscious. There was something filling my hollow insides. It wasn't healing, or comfortable.
My eyes closed, knowing that in this action there would be a relief, just absent of the alleviation that a human would have. It was comforting to see her face behind close lids after the several days of trickery. The opulence only last for a few seconds, but in those few seconds I could almost feel her warmth as it crept into her cheeks, or watch as her eyes rolled when we were joking around, or how her sarcasm only brought out her true opinion and personality. Each quick second that this luxury was here I took it in and let it help cool the burning pains from the fire that seemed to have consumed me. Being away from her was starting to leech all the happiness out of me.
It was only after her tear stained face, wobbly knees and red set lips entered my mind that the true torture actually began. The short solace had been exhausted and it was only getting worse. And then, I imaged her anger showing through her pursed lips as she told me to quit brooding over the events in Phoenix. Each moment the excruciating suffering delighted in its torment. I felt like the ground was falling away.
There was a honeyed light peaking through the curtains, a very yellowish glow like someone had lit a human sized candle outside my window. The stream of golden sunlight shot sideways, the dust heavy in the air, rotating as the air conditioner whipped the dust moots around in wild swirls. A fly was buzzing around wildly in the sunny window. Gradually the light became weaker as my intellect was trying to work through my mental processes that seemed to be stuck in limbo. I was glued to the spot, like my reason and sanity left me. Each minute my intellectual power was trying to distinguish what I really wanted in this moment.
A purpose came swarming through me as a recollection of previous intentions reminded me that I needed to move. I stared forward with fathomless eyes. My horrified trance was weakening. Slowly, the inclination of my previous purpose had me standing, eyes open. I seized the curtains and yanked them out of my way. The golden ball was now sinking beneath the horizon, a ruby red glow replacing the gold.
A man walked into the light, a shadow cast across the parking lot and onto the building. His face was shadowed, but it was easy to see him in the halo of light. The small glittering of my skin was not enough for a human to notice. My eyes showed it in perfect clarity, but I knew from reading the minds of those around me that the human eye was weak and unable to see it at this angle of the sun.
…first the news paper and now this…
The thought was uninteresting at best. The manager knocked lightly on the door. Yanking it open a sudden gust of blood rushed into the room. It was weak. It was easier now than ever to put the dry ache of my throat on the back burner. His hand shook and I noticed the arthritis in his fingers and the cut that was bandaged on his pointer finger.
The man took in a huge gulp of air at my appearance. When I first arrived I had taken a shower, so this time the sound of shock was of supposed beauty. It never failed to dazzle humans, the look of a vampire. As soon as the aw factor dissipated, the man's eyes focused more on the color of my skin, the golden depths of my eyes and the hardness of my skin. He handed me a travel brochure before stumbling backwards, the glowing red of the setting sun making my eyes glow ominously in his vision.
…seriously something wrong with that guy…
The door swung my direction before the latch clicked. My eyes roamed over the brochure he handed to me. Alice must be tired of talking with the internally tormented to be sending me messages via a human.
Coronado National Forest, roughly twenty miles from where I was now, was displayed with vibrant pictures and the promise of exciting trails and other interesting outdoor activities. Victoria must have fled to the shadows of the trees. I had to admit, it was nice having Alice on my side. Her uncannily accurate visions of the future came in handy sometimes.
I packed my bag in a rush, ready for this chase to be over with. The thought of her head being detached from her body only brought on a sick joy. The inevitable fight played out over and over in my head as I ran towards the forest. The sky was now a purple tinged grey. The moisture free air held the scent of rich pine and evergreen which grew stronger the faster I ran. The forest was close. I stared through the darkness.
The edge of the trees grew out of the night. I was gazing around for a glint of fire red hair. The area was still completely absent of Victoria's scent, but there were still several miles of forest to search for her trail. The pines grew to immense heights with their woody trunks and the constantly developing branches. It wasn't the same as the vast vegetation of the Olympic Peninsula.
It was only too easy to rush through the several miles of forest as I searched for the scent I craved to diminish, staring wildly through the dense branches. Each fury creature scampered in fear like I was a lion, trees whipped around in my wake. Then, it hit me. The scent of a vampire, but it wasn't Victoria. This wasn't something that I expected or something Alice saw.
The fragrance was practically brand new, almost minutes old.
Who's that?
Maybe this is one of Leon's army.
A spy.
A blur of colors and shapes streaked by me like a bullet as my eyes scanned frantically to see who the vampires were. The wild low growing brambles stirred in the makeshift wind. There was the sound of soft footsteps racing towards me in all directions before I was suddenly surrounded by a group of vampires. My body reacted instinctively as I crouched, preparing to fight. I wasn't fighting for my life, I was fighting for Bella's.
The tumult of thoughts was almost overwhelming. I was trying to listen in to each one.
He looks…rich.
I'm not sure that he's a spy after all. Look at his clothes.
…his eyes…
I've never seen him before.
He smells like a vampire…but he doesn't look like a vampire.
We'll just have to ask our spy…
…but he's…clean.
Each thought was on a different wavelength, yet all of them centered on me and my surprising appearance. The obvious leader of this coven…army…swept silently forward. He was tall with vast shoulders; his hair flowed to his shoulders. Another vampire tailed closely behind him like a pompous guard dog.
All of the vampires were absent of shoes, their eyes a brilliant red, except two who's eyes had faded to the deep maroon color of an older being. The stances were wild, their hair tangled with the forest debris.
"Spy!" the leader shouted. "You have been caught. Explain yourself."
I turned around in a circle once; counting the number of vampires I was surrounded by. There were thirteen. If a fight were to ensue, I would lose, regardless of mind reading. The horrible truth sunk like a stone. My posture immediately straightened in a non-threatening way. There was a motionless silence as they waited on baited breath for my answer.
"I am no spy. I come from the north, near Canada." I decided not to mention Washington. It was best not to alert them to the easy prey of the north…or to Bella.
"What are you doing in these parts?" his eyebrows rose.
A twisted smile turned up on the vampires face behind him.
…he can't seriously believe him. He probably feeds on all the humans in Tucson. Now I'm thirsty, someone complained.
My eyes flitted around, trying to find the vampire who fit these thoughts. Looking through his eyes I was able to locate the source. Staring this newborn vampire straight in his scarlet eyes I spoke to the leader who was now calm.
"I was chasing another vampire. She tried to kill my mate," I explained, speaking dejectedly. "And I am no spy; I don't even feed on humans." I spoke in the smoothest voice possible while turning towards the coven leader now.
They all looked at me as if the idea were ludicrous. Thoughts of disbelief flooded from the minds around me. I saw my face, my stance, and my very eyes in thirteen different viewpoints. It was obvious from the immaturity and how emotions drove the vampires encircling me that eleven of them were less than a year old. Ninety percent of the time they were all thinking about feeding.
"Don't feed on humans?" this time the leader's eyebrows shot so far up his forehead they were touching his hairline as his head shook in disbelief.
The vampire behind the leader finally spoke. "Impossible. I've never heard of such blasphemy," he cried out in maddening superiority.
Two newborn vampires couldn't hold in their rage and ran out towards me, grabbing both of my arms. A fierce snarl ripped up my throat in warning.
"Back away John, Casey," the leader spoke in deep authority.
Their grips only tightened, vindictive pleasure in their thoughts. The feral snarl that ripped up the leader's throat had the others cowering in fear. Their hands dropped my arms and I was free. The others were rapt with attention.
His eyes aren't red. He seems unusually calm for the situation he is in. He must be an old vampire or wishing for death. The leader was contemplating who I really was in his mind.
"What is your name, odd one?" There was a lurking suspicion in his mind.
"Edward Cullen," I said to the leader who was now sending me curious looks.
"I'm Gabriel. This is my army," his hand waved out towards the surrounding vampires. "Edward, why are your eyes golden in color? It is such an odd trait to have. In my two-hundred years I have never seen anything outside of black and red," he explained.
"I have not feasted on humans in nearly seventy years. My family and I only drink from animals." My face was glazed over, like I was hypnotized.
Gabriel's face was mask like, trying not to show emotions. He was completely unaware of my ability to read the minds around me. None of the vampires in his army had special abilities to hinder me useless. They all continued to leer at me, low rumbling growls escaping the lips of some.
A voice spoke from behind us. "You don't seriously believe this imposter, do you?" The booming voice was deep in nature, when I turned to stare at the culprit I was surprised to see someone smaller than me.
"Yeah!" Several of them murmured in agreement.
The whole situation felt strangely unreal, like I was dreaming. But I couldn't dream, so it had to be corporeal. Misty clouds moved in the sky, making the moon glow red, sending a bloody light over the shadowy ground.
"A test, perhaps?" Gabriel suggested.
The interest sharpened palpably, some shifted their postures unnecessarily while others stared in intensity. The blood red eyes of the thirteen vampires surrounding me continued to gleam fanatically. Excited muttering broke out across the small crowd. A terrified excitement rose in my chest. The undeniable fascination grew exponentially as each second ticked by in anticipation.
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