Chapter 22
Count Me In
"You can paint the pretty picture but it serves as no disguise… Count me in and I'll be the one to take the knife out of your spine. Cause I know you'd be the first to bury the blade deeper into mine. Living on this charm life you can write the perfect setting. But the story I'm not buying… Count me in…" –Count Me In by Framing Hanley
I lay back in the seat with my eyes close, keeping the appearance of a tired human. Edward sat next to me, a hand cradling mine. Tanya sat across from us. She was peering out the window at the passing scenery. We were passing through Syria, on our way to Israel, where there would be a small coven. I had become friends with two members of the five person coven, Adiva and Adah. Adiva, 16 and Adah, 19. They were sisters. Alice and I had happened across them during a vacation in Israel. I really liked Adah; in Hebrew her name meant beauty which fit her well. Adiva's name meant pleasant and grateful which was very true for her. She was so grateful to have her sister to spend eternity with. Their story was a sad one.
Their village had been attacked by a wild coven that was crazed. Adah, the eldest, had yelled at Adiva to hide under the bed. Both had just watched their parents killed and were slightly shell-shocked. Adah had recovered first and took on the roll of mother and father. She hid her little sister just as the vampire that had murdered her parents came into the room. "נערה פותה (Silly girl)," it had hissed. Adah closed her eyes tight, preparing for the hit that never came. Instead, she heard a loud thud. She looked up to see two vampires rolling around on the floor.
"Adiva," Adah yelled for her sister, "להישאר מתחת למיטה (stay under the bed)." Adiva just whimpered in response. The two vampires stopped. The one that had attacked stood and neared Adah.
"אין פחד (Do not fear)," the vampire whispered to Adah, appearing to be unaware of her sister under the bed. "להצטרף אליי (Join me)," it hissed before taking Adiva from under the bed. The vampire sunk its teeth into Adiva's neck as both sisters cried out. The other vampire grabbed Adah and bit into her. Both vampires threw the girls down and walked away with a call from the door.
Both girls had suffered the three days together, clutching each other's hands as they made the transformation from human to vampire. I grimaced at the thought of not having Laurent there to murmur in my ear that it would be alright. He had helped me through the change. The only comfort Adah and Adiva was that they were together.
"Bella," Tanya's voice pulled me from my reverie. "Why didn't we go to Israel after Egypt?"
"Just in case there are any Volturi following us; it will throw them off if we are traveling around Europe with no pattern," I answered with my eyes still closed.
"Makes since," Tanya shrugged and went back to gazing out the window.
"Are you okay, love?" Edward whispered in my ear. His breath calming me. I hadn't realized I had been so tense.
"Yes, I am now," I smiled before kissing him softly.
"Uh," Tanya complained.
"If you don't like it, don't watch," I snapped. But the smile playing on my lips told her I was only kidding.
"So Adah and Adiva have had it tough?" Edward asked. But when Tanya didn't turn her head towards us I realized he had thought it.
Oops, didn't realize I had you in my shield. I thought shyly.
It's perfectly fine. I'm just worried about you. You have been really tense lately. I know the stress is a lot. There is a lot weighing on us; especially you. I hope it's not too much. His murky brown orbs penetrated mine with concern.
I'm alright. I think. You may be right with the stress. If it was possible for a vampire to have a migraine, I would probably be leaning over my seat moaning in agony from it. I managed to get Edward to smile. But it didn't reach his eyes…
I love you.
As I you, I answered simply. He kissed my nose. We stared lovingly into each other's eyes for the rest of the train ride. It would be quicker to run, but we opted for other means of transportation. That way we wouldn't use all of our energy. It would also delay any vampires trying to tail us.
"עכשיו לעצור בנצרת, Now stopping in Nazareth," a voice over the intercom translated in different languages. We stood and retrieved our bags. I had discarded several of my bags at the Denali's home. I now only carried a duffel with necessities. A few changes of clothes, hairbrush, pair of tennis shoes, a cell and charger, and a laptop remained in the bag.
"Where is the coven located?" Edward asked, dissecting a map of Israel that was in the station. The heat seemed to be getting to some of the tourists. I know we didn't fit in with jeans and jackets. I made a mental note we were going to have to stop and change.
"Netanya," I answered turning back to the map.
"I think we could make the run," Tanya added. "We could also stop and get something to eat on the way," she said as an afterthought.
"That sounds good right now," I agreed. My throat was burning. The humans weren't helping. The burn increased as we entered the city. We had planned it carefully so that we arrived at night. Israel was a very sunny place. Not the best place for vampires. "Let's get out of here," I hissed as we got sucked into a large crowd.
"Much agreed," Tanya whimpered. She was probably having more trouble resisting than Edward and I; especially Edward who had never drank human blood. "I see an alley," Tanya pointed to a dark space between two buildings. We made our way over to them. Looking around us to make sure no eyes had followed us, I gave the go ahead. We hurried into the alley and rushed to the dead end wall.
"I got this," I threw over my back to them. Edward grabbed my bag. I jumped the wall, standing on the top, and took in the surroundings of the city. There was nothing on the other side, just the desert. "Way out of the city," I gestured over the top for the two to understand.
"Coming," Edward slung the bags on his shoulder and leaped up next to me. Tanya jumped on a dumpster, smashing a dent in the top, and then was standing next to me. We jumped to the ground quickly and ran into the night. Sure that we were far from any human eyes, we stopped. I pulled out a change of clothes and shoes. The other two gave me an odd look.
"The heat," I replied in a 'duh' tone. "We stick out like a sore thumb. We should dress according to the weather. Black jackets and dark jeans, not exactly weather appropriate when locals are wearing tanks and shorts, dying of the heat."
"Right," Tanya nodded and grabbed some clothes from her bag. Edward pulled out some of his. In swift movements, we were all changed in a matter of seconds. "Ready," Tanya brushed off the dirt on her bare leg.
"Let's get going," I said and with that, we were off.
XXX
"I think that's it," I said very low, so low only a vampire could here. We had only been running for about an hour when we reached Netanya. During the run over, we came across a couple of mountain goats.
"Are you sure?" Tanya asked skeptically.
"Yes," we were standing on a drive that led to the beach. A large beach house was sitting on a cliff, a trail leading off the drive led up to it. It was large and beautiful. The cabin looked like it had been renovated since the last I had been here. "Come on," I started up the trail. Edward came to my side and took my hand in his. Tanya walked a little more behind us, still weary. The gothic windows of the cabin were dark except for one light coming from a large bay window facing the ocean. We reaching the door, knowing they would know we were there. Vampire's extra senses probably warned them we were coming when we reached the drive several miles out. Edward glanced at me and nodded. I pulled my hand up and knocked lightly. The door opened to reveal a young girl. Her red hair in curls framing her pail almost translucent oval face. Her frame was small, but she was almost my height.
"Izzy?" Adiva's voice shook with surprise. Her red eyes danced.
"Oh, Adiva," I quickly pulled her into an embrace.
"You know when we said to visit, we didn't mean wait half a century," she scolded, but the smile told me she wasn't angry. "Adah, come see," Adiva called over her shoulder. Adah came into view.
"Izzy," Adah exclaimed and ran into my open arms. We hugged each other for a moment before pulling away. "Wow, you are looking great," she eyed me up and down. "What's with the running clothes?"
"Our attire didn't exactly match the locals…" I trailed off. "You're looking good too," and was she. Adah had long red waves that fell down her back. She was taller than her sister, and me. Her facial structure was stronger than her sister's. Adah's cheekbone was high and she carried a wave of knowledge with her.
"Who's this?" Adah gestured to Edward and Tanya who had backed away so they wouldn't interrupt the reunion.
"This is my mate Edward," I said while gesturing to Edward, a huge smile on my face.
"Hello," Edward greeted with a kind smile. Adah gave me a look that said she approved and Adiva nudged my side.
"And this is my friend Tanya," I motioned towards Tanya who was still a little weary.
"Why don't you come in?" Adiva waved her arm into the foyer.
"Gladly," I grabbed Edward's hand and we all walked inside. "So, where are the guys?" I looked around for them.
"Oh, Gabriel and Boaz are upstairs playing the Wii, and I think Ethan is in his room. As always with that one. Ever since you left…" Adiva trailed off, looking at Edward then down. Edward gave me a curious look and I just shrugged it off.
"Well, we came here for a reason," I admitted as they showed us into the living room where the TV was on. Adah turned it off and sat on a white lounge chair that matched the rest of the interior. Alice would love their renovations, I thought.
"I figured as much," Adah sighed. "Adiva, call the boys down." Adiva disappeared from sight. She was back a minute later with two bright faced men.
"Izzy!" Boaz, who reminded me a lot of Emmett, yelled and picked me up into his arms. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," I laughed as he sat me down and rubbed the top of my head, a very Emmett gesture. Boaz, in Hebrew meant strong, was almost the size of Emmett. Only his hair was short and golden. Their characteristics were very similar though. Boaz was a softy underneath all that bulk.
"My turn, Boaz," Gabriel shoved him aside and swept me up into another hug. Gab was very different from Boaz. Whereas Boaz was all brawn, Gab was all brain. He was tall and lean, not as fit as Edward. But that didn't affect him because the vampire thing. Gab had long, brown hair that came to his shoulders in waves. "Hey Iz," he rubbed my back and sat me down. I returned his smile.
"Where's my hug?" an all too familiar voice spoke from the entryway. I turned to see Ethan looking at me with a wide smile. Only Alice knew about what happened between the two of us, and I was willing to leave it at that. Ethan opened his arms and I hesitantly embraced him. "Missed you," he whispered in my ear. His black hair hung loose over his eyes. Ethan was taller than Edward and more muscular. He was smart and witty. My first love… but things had changed. I had found a mate, and from the looks of it, he hadn't. The same old Ethan.
"You too," I replied shortly. Ethan released me and I went back to Edward's side who placed a protective arm around me.
"Please, sit," Adah gestured to the couch. Edward sat us down, Tanya sitting on the other side of me. Ethan studied Edward for a moment before taking a seat in a chair. The others seated and looked at me expectantly.
I ran through everything, every detail, knowing they would be a little more hesitant about going into battle. Boaz would jump right in, but Adah wouldn't. Gabriel would want every detail, and his mate Adiva would dissect every one of those details before even considering it. Ethan, well, I don't know what Ethan would do.
"So, we ask for your help and to witness for us. The more numbers we have, maybe it would throw the Volturi off and make them stop and listen. That is all we need," I finished. All eyes were shocked, but calculating. They were really considering it, I thought, amazed.
"What about the baby?" Adah spoke first. "How do we know that it is a part human and part vampire? It could be an immortal child and we could be going into a suicidal war," Adah reasoned.
"Immortal children are highly looked downed upon, Bella," Gabriel agreed. "We couldn't possibly agree to take part in protecting that if it became an issue."
"But listen, don't you trust me? Lillian was born from a human. Her father is a vampire. Emmett, my brother, is the father. Rosalie is a vampire now, only because she wouldn't have survived the birth. She had lost a lot of blood. I was there when she gave birth to Lillian. It was too late for her though. Even the vampire venom couldn't stop her death. Lillian, somehow, brought her back. She has a very interesting gift. Lillian can communicate through touch and is very intelligent. Her brain and body is growing every day, every minute even. Edward and I have witnessed this. He was also there from the time of birth until we left to gather witnesses. But our main issue with the Volturi is that they think we have left humans alive with the knowledge of our existence. Only, that's not the case anymore. I'm sure Jasper and Carlisle have been turned by now. Edward and Rosalie are vampires now. But the Volturi," I was cut off by a buzzing coming from my bag from the foyer. "Excuse me," I ran to my bag. "Hello?" I said as I flipped my phone open.
"BELLA!" Alice's voice was frantic.
"What is it? Did something happen?!" I asked concern etched my voice.
"Bella, this is bad. The Volturi know about Lillian. They made their decision. They are coming down here at the end of the month. The WHOLE Volturi. Even the wives. This is bad," Alice repeated.
"The wives? They never leave the castle. Not since Didyme was killed by the moon children," I muttered. "Wait, how did they find out about Lillian?"
"Irina," Alice whispered.
"WHAT?! I told her about Lillian before she even left for Forks. How could she be so stupid?" I realized there were several eyes on my back. They must have come into the foyer when I started freaking out.
"Bella, you remember what happened to the Denali's. Their mother? And her immortal child?" Alice asked.
"OH MY GOD! She must have seen Lillian and freaked and left. But why did she go to the Volturi? Why didn't she just talk to one of you?" I inquired.
"Benjamin convinced her," Alice's voice was barely loud enough for me to hear.
"Why…" voice trailed off as I thought of Benjamin's motives. "He would nev…" I couldn't bring myself to say never. "Alice, you don't think this has to do with me turning him down?"
"Vampires can hold a long grudge," she reminded me in a quiet tone. A hand pulled me into a chest and I was glad for the familiar comfort. I breathed Edward's scent in, letting it calm me.
"What are we going to do?" I didn't really ask anyone.
"I don't know. What I do know is that you need to hurry and get as many witnesses as you can. It's going to take a lot to stop them. Bella, the secret guard is coming," Alice's voice shook with fear.
"Oh my," I breathed.
"Bella I got to go, Stefan and Vladimir just arrived and are causing quite the commotion with the wolves," a large crash echoed in the background for emphasis.
"Okay, call me if anything changes," I told her.
"Of course, be careful," and the line went dead. I clicked the phone shut. I was surprised that I wasn't shaking.
"What happened?" Tanya asked.
"Your sister is what happened," I snapped. Tanya flinched but didn't say anything.
"What do you mean?" Edward looked down into my eyes. His eyes were full of concern. But they calmed me more than worried me.
"Irina saw Lillian and got skittish. She ran for it. Benjamin supposedly followed, convinced her to go to the Volturi with the information that we were harboring an immortal child. Oh, immortal children are forbidden, Edward. It is even wrong to speak of them. It was a dark time in vampire history," I informed him. "Tanya, would you care to explain why Irina flipped and left?" This time I was a little nicer about it. It wasn't Tanya's fault.
"Sasha," Tanya began, everything about her features was pained, "was our creator. She was like a mother to us. It was quite known during the time that immortal children were against vampire law. They had no self-control and were unpredictable. Sasha had been hiding something from us, we just weren't aware of what. One day, the Volturi guard appeared at our doorstep. The three ancients; Aro, Caius, and Marcus, were there. There was only a number of the guard there though. I remember Jane and Alec were at the head of the group. Caius accused Sasha of creating an immortal child. He sent the guard to ransack our home. After a few minutes of sitting under harsh stares of the ancients, Jane came back, holding a baby in her hands. Her face was disgusted, but her eyes were triumphant. 'Master,' she had said, 'I found the baby in the leader's bedroom.' Her voice was pure wickedness. She was a viscous creature. Thank you Bella, for ripping her apart," Tanya added thankfully. Several eyes looked to me in shock. I just shrugged it off. I guessed I had left that part out? "Caius ordered all of us to death. Sasha protested, saying that we had no idea of the baby. Aro looked through our memories and confirmed her story. Aro said he was feeling 'nice' so he let us live while we watched Sasha and Vasili, the immortal child, burn," Tanya's voice cracked on the last sentence. It was still hard for her to talk about it.
"So you see," I added, "immortal children are not a joke." Edward was silent, thinking everything through. He nodded in understanding and for me to continue with my information. "The Volturi are furious, to say the least. They are all coming. Even the wives," everyone, besides Edward, gasped in shock.
"Why is that a huge deal?" Edward asked curiously.
"Marcus lost his mate while they were hunting the moon children, or werewolves. And no, I do not mean the kind of wolves we know and love," I added when Edward's eyebrows shot up. "Ever since Didyme died, the wives haven't stepped out of the castle in Volterra." I took a calming breath before revealing the next detail. "The secret guard has now been added to the equation." The room was silent.
"Um, Bells, the secret guard is just an old legend. It's not real," Boaz pointed out.
"No, it's real. Alice saw it," I retorted.
"Oh," Adah exclaimed. Adiva's eyes went wide.
"Well, what's so great about the secret guard," Boaz scoffed.
"Boaz, we aren't talking about Jane and Alec here. Now that they are gone, the Volturi needs a more powerful guard. This is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their prize possessions. The secret guard obviously is more of a threat than the whole guard combined, including Alec and Jane. They will be unstoppable. Just think, the secret guard has been training and recruiting the best of abilities for centuries. Aro has been building his collection and has been very wise about it. He kept it a secret, spreading some rumors about it so vampires would be scared into obeying the law. I know most of you have heard those legends. Think those legends and times it by ten of how dangerous they are. The secret guard isn't something to scoff at. We are dealing with some serious abilities here. If Aro picked out the weak ones for the regular guard and those 'weak' ones could take out several covens at a time, think of how bad this secret guard will be," I finished, my voice cracking on the last word. All eyes just stared at me in astonishment.
"I'm in," Boaz said without a moment's hesitation.
"Even if this is probably going to go down in vampire history as us being idiots, count me in," Gabriel stuck a hand out. Boaz placed his hand on top of his.
"Count us in, too," Adiva grabbed Adah's hand and placed them in a pile. I smiled at my friends and put my hand in. Edward placed a familiar hand on mine. Tanya followed the gestures of agreement. Ethan stood there baffled. He was contemplating his choices very hard.
"Since I'm going to Hell," Ethan shrugged and put his hand on top.
"On three!" Boaz exclaimed.
"Oh, please," I muttered.
"One, two, THREE!" Boaz pushed our hands up.
"When?" Gabriel asked.
"The end of the month," I answered.
"Bella, that's in a week in a half," Gabriel pointed out.
"Really," I raised an eyebrow. He nodded. I sighed heavily. "Well, we still have a lot of covens to hit up."
"We can help," Ethan suggested.
"That would be awesome," I leaned into Edward's side; suddenly exhausted, even though I couldn't be.
"Yeah, we know several covens across Europe and Asia that will jump at the chance to bring down Volturi," Adah added.
"Ooh, I know one in Africa," Gabriel mused.
"There is one in Australia that would be more than glad to help," Ethan remembered.
"That would help so much guys," I admitted. "We still have to go to South America. Tanya, isn't Garrett running around America and Canada gathering vampires?"
"Yes, Kate is with him. I'm sure their back by now," Tanya confirmed.
"Bella, why don't you go home, we got this," Adah pulled me into her arms.
"Home sounds good right now," I agreed.
"Don't worry about it," Boaz patted my head.
"Go relax; we will be there in five days with everyone," Gabriel embraced me lightly.
"Thanks guys," I gave Adiva a hug. Ethan wrapped an arm around me.
"No problem Iz," he rubbed my shoulder.
"We should get going," Edward looked at the clock on the wall.
"Yeah," Tanya nodded in agreement.
"Okay," we said our goodbyes. They said they would head out in an hour tops. We made our way back to the train station to take us back to the airport in silence. "I'm so glad to be going home."
A/N there is chapter 22! I hope you like it! See, I told you there would be several more vampires. Actually, we're looking at a good dozen more. Maybe, depends if I can fit them in. This chapter is dedicated to edwardsince1901. I know I dedicated the last chapter in Underworld to her. But I have to give her props for this chapter. I wasn't thinking of Israel for their next stop. More like Australia or somewhere else in Asia. But she gave me the name Adah and said it meant beautiful in Hebrew. So I rolled with it. Some other names in the next chapter will also be props to her.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I was reading chapter one of this story today. It is horrid! Simple awful! I can't believe some of you actually continued on after that mess! But hey, it was my first chapter. So, tonight I am going to work on it and some of tomorrow. I will hopefully have a better version of it up tomorrow. I also noticed what I wrote in the first chapter just doesn't fit with what I've written since. So, I'm changing the background a little more. Sorry guys, just hang in there. Read it if you want, if not, oh well. Just look for it around tomorrow night if I have it up. Thanks.
Lyrics Game: Congrats to- Tokiie, TwilightParamoreObsessor for guessing Curse of Curves by Cute is What We Aim For!! I love that band!
This chapter's lyric excerpt:
This is not my strongest point that she knows
She pardons me for stepping on her toes
I heard she's a pageant queen
So what's she doing dancing with me?
I hope time could stop; it's hard for me to breath
She's really falling in love with me
What should I say? What should I do?