13. Test

The evening progressed slowly as the vampires holding me captive contemplated on a test that would prove my words about feeding on animals true. The deep seeded truth was that the leader was tired of dealing with the newborns and was looking for something more interesting to bid his time with.

"We could make him eat an animal in front of us?" a girl, roughly fifteen when changed, mumbled.

"Idiot girl," Gabriel let out a mirthless laugh. "Don't you think any one of us could do it if we felt our lives were threatened?" He paced back and forth in the depths of the forest. No…it has to be something with a challenge…something he can't fool us with. Yes…

Wild ideas continued to jump rampant through all their minds as a brooding mist crept through the forest around the craggy recesses. The fiery wind lashed at my exposed face, though it was completely painless.

"Maybe…" began a blonde boy, "if one of us drinks animal blood it will make our eyes turn gold and then –"

"Shut up, Larry." Gabriel cut him off. "That's the most disgusting idea yet." Distaste curled his lips. He continued to stare at the smiling blonde boy whose face sunk until he looked like he was someone tending to a person on their sick bed.

The masses began muttering and fidgeting as the seconds passed.

"Maybe if…" Casey, the vampire who had attacked me earlier, began but he gave her a 'stop talking now' sort of look and she cowered away in fear of his gaze.

The army did not move for several spiraling seconds as they stood defiant of the wilderness around them. One girl tossed her hair in impatience, at Gabriel, which tumbled down her back like a string of molten copper. They continued to glower venomously at each other and at me. One vampires face was completely paled with anger as he tried to burn holes through me with his stares; at least that is what he was wishing for in his mind.

Gabriel turned to me. "Tell me, why do you feed upon animals? Does the taste of humans disgust you?" His beady eyes narrowed.

"There are many reasons," I suffused pointedly. "Explanations that someone like you would never understand."

He swooped like a bird of prey on my reply. "Oh. Is that so? I won't understand?" he smirked unpleasantly at his words. "Let's hear this response of yours that is just so complicated that I, of all vampires, won't understand?"

A windstorm of laughter broke out over the small horde around me.

"That's enough!" he shouted towards the throng. They quieted at once.

"Don't any of you have a conscious?" I shouted back. They all stared at me like I just told them I wanted to go to ballet class.

"Of course we do…but I wouldn't go as far as not feeding upon humans," he rubbed his chin, contemplating. "Still, I don't believe you. I've never heard of such blasphemy." What kind of test would prove him to be a liar … Animal blood? Why? … It just doesn't make any sense. No humans…not one single bite? A grimly amused smile played on his lips. "Never? Really?"

"Never what?" I asked evasively. I raised an eyebrow, not giving him any hints that I could literally see the wheels turning in his mind.

"You never drink from humans?" His smirk widened.

"Not in seventy years," I repeated from earlier.

Several thoughts thundered through him at once. I tried to probe his mind but all I did was reach a wall of roiling thoughts. A hungry look gripped his features. My stomach convulsed. The worst idea of all had entered into the depths of Gabriel's mind as he watched his army stare at him in anticipation. The images were repugnant…revolting. He grabbed the vampire who was older and drug him into the forest far enough away that I couldn't hear him. The pompous vampire grunted noncommittally. It didn't matter. I already knew his plan.

Several members of his army turned towards the forest with a sense of jittery expectation. The silence spread out from the group in cold ripples as the darkness continued to press upon us.

I felt sickened and angry. I was losing time to this ridiculous charade and Victoria was probably several states away by now. Fury pounded through my body, violent and shocking like I was being electrocuted.

After fifteen minutes the silence broke and murmurs broke out between the vampires.

"What do you think he's doing?" A small voice asked from behind me.

"Who knows? He's a crazy old brute," the blonde boy shrugged.

The faction relapsed into a prickly silence as their eyes darted around the forest for some sign on Gabriel's plan.

It was only five minutes before the calm was broke with the wind of two vampires and their consciousness'. The first to be seen was Gabriel, his face full of elation at his grand scheme as he crashed through the trees. His second in command came thundering in his wake, a girl of roughly sixteen in his arms. Her head lulled from side to side, her hair like liquid silver, spilling over his arm. Her features were angled and perfectly lined her face. She would have been beautiful, but she wasn't Bella, and all things since her have lost their splendor.

"Have you lost your mind?" I yelled at Gabriel. "This has gotten just a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

"If you don't feed upon humans then this should be easy!" he exclaimed. "Ian, put her in the middle." He gestured to the older vampire.

Ian rolled her dismally across the ground, a frown on his face. This isn't a good idea. All these neophytes are going to go crazy. We can't afford to lose another one. Leon's army is growing rapidly. He shook his head to an infinitesimal degree at the thought.

Everyone's eyes swiveled back and forth between me and the girl lying between us. Eight of the ten vampires had gritted jaws, their fists clenched so tight their knuckles looked like they could easily break the pale skin that was glowing ominously in the moonlight. Their eyes gleamed maliciously crimson as they listened to the heart beat tattoo against her chest.

The rhythm of her heart rapidly sped up as sobs came in great rasps from her parted lips. Her eyes flew open to find a group of thirsty vampires hovering over her, slowly stepping towards her fragile form. Her eyes swam with tears as she placed her hands up, palms forward, a gesture of surrender.

Suddenly she wasn't just some human in danger, it was the girl…it was Bella. There was an explosion of sound as the vampires swarmed around the tiny human girl.

"Back away," Gabriel stepped between the human and the masses. A few growls escaped the throats of the vicious vampires around him. One small girl sounded like an angry cat. "Step back," he yelled into the night, exchanging dark significant looks. "This is part of the test. She isn't here to be your feast. Back down." A few of the vampires stepped closer, threatening to overtake the old one. Bloodlust emanated from them in great sickening waves. "Do you want Leon to win your territory?" Several of them moved their eyes away from the girl and back to Gabriel. "If you don't back away, there will not be any more humans to feast upon! This girl is for him," he whipped around, pointing his finger at my forehead. "This is all part of his test," he said with finality boarding on indifference. "Now, hold your breath. Don't any of you dare to breathe until I say so."

The girl backed away, scooting across the ground towards me and away from the glowing red eyes that were scorching holes into her body. She turned to stare at me, exchanging the most fleeting of looks. Rage propelled me to my feet as I snatched her up and yanked her behind me, probably not being as gentle as I should be.

"Have you gone mental?" I cried out. He jerked around to face me. "You brought this human among all these newborn vampires! What were you thinking?" The thing was I knew exactly what he was thinking.

Everyone was alert of the situation in front of them, the atmosphere grew in intensity. He stepped around me and seized a handful of her hair and dragged her back to the center of the semi circle. He pointed his finger up in the air while looking at me with a sense of disbelief. If he can restrain himself, I just might believe him. He pulled in a rasping breath and held his lungs at bay. His finger came down and sliced the girl from behind her ear down to her shoulder. Blood rushed out of her wound and spilled over her shirt and wasted on the forest floor.

The scent hit my nose and was brought deep into my lungs. It was all wrong though. It was completely absent of the freesia and strawberries that I craved so much. The sweetness of her blood was not tempting in the least. I could see the doubt in Gabriel's eyes as he looked between the two of us. Ian had to tell several of the newborns to leave the small clearing. I stepped closer to the girl, bending down on one knee to be on her same eye level. She was so full of fear she was shaking as the blood continued to pulse through her sliced skin. Slowly, I brought my face to her neck and took in a long drawl of the aroma emitting from her.

Gabriel met my eyes when I lifted my head up, his face showing all the shock and condemnation of his 'full proof' test. There was a strained silence for several seconds. His teeth met with an audible snap as his lungs took in the air before him. His eyes closed slowly before he reached out and pulled her to his lips. The throng jostled around him, shooting covetous looks at their leader. It was too late, I couldn't save her. She was already bitten. A scream tore from her lips, but there was no one around to hear her. The pink flesh was ebbing away from her face.

Watching something like this was revolting and my stomach clenched with a new sickness. The young girl's heart began to flutter like a dying bird before it slowed and became silent. He drank her dry and threw her body to the wayside like she was a rag doll. Several of the vampires moved forward. There was a hum in the air with the shock of the recent scene. I collapsed on the ground, anger filling my body at the disgrace of the whole sight. Her life was just snuffed away, like a candle before the wind. So easy. So simple.

Words failed Gabriel as he stepped back from the dead girl. Things he once thought permanent and unquestionable were thrown into doubt. He was resigned from the unsolvable mystery that was me.

Several of the newborns began muttering horrible curses.

"You're truly are a monster," I stated malevolently. "Let me go. You had your test. Your humans are safe from my teeth." I could slowly feel the need to kill Victoria burning in my veins like liquid fire. She could easily do this to Bella. This man in front of me won't ever leave his life in the south with his armies…but Victoria…she could always decide to go back.

"Right…" he turned around to the army behind him, their muted conversations buzzing like a fly in your ear. "You're free to go. Of course." The muttering became more and more offensive this time.

John, the other vampire that attacked me earlier, stepped forward. "You've got to be joking! You can't let him go. Just because he didn't feed on the human doesn't mean he doesn't drink their blood." He was looking crestfallen.

Gabriel whipped around. "John, for once in your existence, will you just shut the hell up?" John's face hardened like an ancient sentinel. "Let him go. He's harmless," Gabriel ordered.

John backed away with deliberate slowness, lightning flashing in his eyes. The other vampires stared forward, astonishment racing across their faces.

I stood up, my chest swelling with a furious hate. Another outbreak of muttering rippled through the crowd.

"Go," he pointed behind me. "Now. Don't ever come back."

He didn't need to tell me twice. I turned and ran through the forest. The trees grew tall like solemn pillars of a great city. It was finally the break of dawn, when everything waits for the warm touch of the sun. I had to make it back to my motel room quick. My legs stretched wider in stride as I pushed myself to get back. Night animals peered through their dens as I raced through the brambles. My movements were so fast and fluid that I felt like a ghost, insubstantial in nature.

The light from the rising sun peeked through the trees as I pushed myself harder. The forest ended and then there was nothing but the baked cracked desert ahead of me. The motel finally loomed into view. Seizing the handle of the door I yanked it open to be greeted by my bag and the dusty bed.

I tore into the room, with ease, I crumpled onto the bed which exhaled a puff of dust. It felt incredibly good to hide from the world outside. The weight of the vast number of memories exploded in my head. Most of them of Bella, some of my journey to this hell hole. It was surprising that the Volturi hadn't already come to take me away with all the idiotic things I had been doing.

Then the memory of Bella's belief of my final words to her finally crashed down upon me. Grief threatened to overwhelm me. Instantly I was filling with quiet despair. I met my own gaze in the mirror. My face seemed to be in a permanent grimace, like a pained gargoyle. I adverted my gaze by closing my eyes. Suddenly it felt like I was sinking through the floor. Down…down to hell. The sickening thoughts wound their way through my mind like vines trying to reach the sun.

Bella filled every tiny particle of my brain. I don't know how long I lay there, though the sun seemed to rise and fall quicker than usual. The nights becoming longer and the days shortened. My eyes stayed closed, Bella constantly beaming down upon me, though my arms were cold with her absence.

Through the haze of pain I heard a light buzzing noise in my bag that was lying on the dresser. This was the third time I heard this noise today. Grumbling, I pulled myself from the fragments of dust to rummage through my bag. Shifting everything in my bag I came across something that made me come to an immediate halt.

In my hand I held a round piece of plastic, the scent of lemons lightly fragranced the small piece. It was my first token from our doomed relationship - the lemonade bottle top that I kept from our first lunch together. The buzzing of my phone finally stopped and I sank back to the bed, perching on the edge. The plastic top was on my palm and I brought it close to my eyes to exam it. The emptiness inside me seemed to grow in size.

Though my chest felt like it was burning away with acid, this small token brought me back to my mission. Hunt and kill Victoria. Through the curtains I could see the bright moon setting the desert ablaze. It was time to leave. Signing out of the hotel room, I jumped into the corvette and headed toward New Mexico.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I had forgotten that the only reason I found the small bottle cap was because of the insistent buzzing of my phone. My eyes stared in shock at the caller on the other end. With the surprise jolt of the name on the caller ID, I automatically flipped my phone open to answer.

"Hello?" I asked questioningly.

"Edward. I hope things are going well for you," his deep voice was clam.

The next city was looming into view, the lights like glittering spider webs of life.

"I'm sorry," Jasper said when I didn't reply. "I should know better."

"What's wrong?" I couldn't think of any other reason why he would be calling me.

"Nothing is wrong. Our whole family misses you," he paused to take a deep breath. "It's Thanksgiving today."

"Oh," I said stupidly. I had no idea what day it was, why would I know it was a holiday?

"Yes. We all went hunting together today. We exchanged thanks like we always do. It was hard to be around our family today with emotions running so high." I hated it when he tried to make me feel guilty. "Everyone of us said we were thankful to have you in our lives," he hesitated, like he was contemplating what he wanted to say. "Alice…she really misses you. She isn't the same. You're her brother and you've left her and refuse to let her see her best friend."

"Jasper," I gritted my teeth. "I don't have time for a guilt trip."

He heaved a great sigh. "That's not what I'm trying to do."

"You could have fooled me," I snapped.

"Stop it, Edward. I don't have time for your anger. Just listen to me," he pleaded. "Christmas is going to be here shortly, and Esme and Carlisle…well, really, we would all like you to come home."

"I already told Alice that I wasn't coming back." Then suddenly I remembered the whole incident with the large coven in the forest. "And tell Alice thanks for the clues," I said sarcastically. "They led me into a trap. I came across a southern army of ten vampires."

I could hear him take in a deep breath. "How did you get away from them?"

"It's a long story. I'm fine." My foot pressed the gas down harder as I thought about the incident with the young girl. "A girl died, because of me going to that forest near Tuscan. Alice led me there," I said angrily.

"Alice never sent you to a forest. She just told you about the town she last saw her in," he defended her.

"No, she had the guy at the motel give me a paper from Las Vegas and a brochure for Coronado National Forest. So that's where I went…" I trailed off, realizing how stupid I was. Dawning comprehension jabbed fiercely in my head. "It was her!" I growled. "It was Victoria who sent those things to me. Not Alice! I'm such an idiot!"

"Victoria? Are you still chasing her?" Jasper asked, interested in the hunt now.

"Yes. I've been chasing her from Alaska to Arizona. I'm on my way to New Mexico now. It only makes sense that she would continue that way…" Another light bulb turned on bright in my head. I scream a loud obscenity. "Leon…Victoria was talking to someone who was thinking about Leon taking over his army!"

"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked.

I ignored him. Realization was hitting me like a million tiny bullets. "Then I went out into the forest and they were calling me a spy for Leon. It was her all along. She sent me towards the army. She thought they would kill me, that I would be seen as an enemy. She must have forgotten about my eyes." I continued to race towards New Mexico.

"Edward?" Jasper asked when I stopped talking for a moment.

"The paper from Las Vegas – she was bragging! She was showing me how easily she played me! How could I be so stupid?" I shouted.

"Edward, I'm afraid I'm not following you."

"I'm sorry Jasper. Thanks for your phone call, but I must kill Victoria. After I do that I'm going away. I don't know where, but far away. When Bella dies –" I winced at the word, "- I'll beg for death from the Volturi. Forgive me for not being the brother you deserve. It's fated this way," I explained.

"No, Edward. You're wrong. I know I made a terrible mistake that night, but I swear to you it will never happen again. You are fated to be with her. The love you share with each other is something I have never felt before. It is something that we all wish to achieve, even for myself," his voice was full of sorrow.

"It's not just you, Jasper. It's me, too. You weren't the only one who wanted to bite her that night. The only reason I wasn't taking the vital principle from her was because I was busy protecting her from you. I hate myself for what I am, for what I've become. This emptiness I feel…I deserve it." I paused to pull in a staggering breath. "All I want to do is protect her from Victoria and from myself. She's human, she'll forget about me."

"No," his temper was clearly rising. "She won't just get over this. You don't understand the bond that is between you too. It is intense. I would bet anything, and I really do mean anything, that she has not forgotten about you. Stop running away from the source of relief. Start chasing after what you love instead of what you hate!" When he finished he was practically yelling at me, pleading for me to see 'sense'.

"Maybe your right," I conceded. "Maybe I will eventually return to her. But not now, not right now when I have my enemy so close. You didn't forget what she did? How she helped James find her?"

"No."

"Neither will I. I have to go now. Victoria is waiting for me to find and kill her," I growled.

"Wait," Jasper shouted. "Alice wanted me to pass along a bit of information if you refused to come home."

"Did she? Well…let's hear it."

"Cibola National Forest. That's all. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope to see you soon, brother."

"You too," and we both hung up the phone.

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