Chapter 10
We spent the next few hours with Carlisle going over the details of what I had in mind. He agreed that Edward would have to be kept in the dark, since he would be the first likely candidate for Aro to read. I wasn't too thrilled that he agreed that Sarah may need to be changed into a vampire, but the more I saw my plan unfold, the more it seemed likely that she would have to go through the change. I hated the idea of having to do this to someone related to the one decent friend I ever had as a human. Carlisle thought it best that we should bring Jasper in on the plan soon, he was the better strategist.
"Alice," something just popped into my head while we were talking, "I want to tell Sarah about us tonight, do you foresee any problems?"
Alice's eyes zoned out the way they always do while having a vision. "Rosalie will be pissed, but once Carlisle and Esme explain to her what's happening, she actually takes it well. She handles it a lot better than how she did when Edward told you."
That actually stung, more than I think it should have. Edward had told me that Rosalie hated the very idea of me knowing about their true existence. She had actually wanted to kill me. It didn't help matters when I was being threatened over and over again, just because I knew about vampires, she felt it brought too much attention to the Cullens. I know now, just as I knew then, that I could never hate Rosalie for that, she wanted to protect her family. How could I not understand that? We soon came to an understanding though, when she finally confessed her logic and actions. Then months after that, Rose became more than a friend or a sister, she was my protector when I was pregnant with Renesmee.
Alice must have seen the hurt look on my face because she grimaced a bit. "I'm sorry Bella."
"No really it's okay." I didn't want her to feel guilty about something she can't control. "I was actually wondering about the Volturi though, is their timetable still in the summer?"
"Yes," she blanked out really quick.
"Okay, I'm headed over there now. I want to explain some of this to her before school in the morning."
"Wait Bella, what about your training? Kate and Garrett are here." Carlisle didn't need to remind me.
"I know I spoke with them earlier. I'll be back soon enough. Sarah is human and needs her sleep for tomorrow. And we'll have all night. I'll keep my shield around you while I'm gone. Besides, we have all night." Before he could protest, I jumped out of the window, I also wanted to avoid the questions I knew Edward would have. As I was falling to the ground, I contemplated whether I should run or take the bike, but I quickly chose to run. The wind rushed past me fiercely since the temperature dropped, whipping my hair as I ran. It was a new moon tonight, and the stars glistened in the sky where the moon should have been. The lack of moon did nothing for my sight, I was still able to see everything. I ran towards Sarah's house and jumped into the tree that was beside her bedroom window. I was shocked the light was still on since it was kind of late, but Sarah was up reading a book called The Host. I wondered if it was any good. I tapped on the window softly since I didn't want to startle her, but I still did. Once she got over the initial shock, she let me in.
"Sorry, Bella." What a strange creature she was.
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
"I don't know, for closing my window?"
"You say sorry a lot, too much actually. Anyways, I take it you noticed that Angela's pictures were gone? I'm sorry for that, but we needed to be sure."
"No, no, no, you're right, I completely understand," she said nodding. "I guess you're here to tell me how things went with your family?" There was so much hope in her eyes and voice, that even if I was here to break her heart, I would have changed my mind at the last second.
"Yes, I did as a matter of fact. But it's rather late so I can't give you the complete story tonight. But tomorrow during lunch, we will tell you as many of our stories as we can. We want to be honest with you, and in order to tell you our different stories, you will need to know what we are." I paused. There was no telling how she was going to take it, but if she was going to become one of us eventually, Carlisle felt that it would help her to be prepared for it, the same way I was. "But, Sarah, I'm telling you right now, if you say one word to anyone, if you write it down anywhere, forces greater than my family will come to kill you and everyone you tell. My family will be killed as well, so you need to understand the implications." I waited for her approval, and she simply nodded. Her eyes were big again in fear, but her heart didn't pump any faster.
I couldn't help but sigh at her impossibility, "Everyone in my family are vampires. We only feed on animals, so we are generally not a danger to humans. "I stopped there because I wanted to gauge how she was doing with this.
"Oh. My. Gosh. Seriously? One of Angela's diaries mentioned something about a Mike Newton having theories about you guys. A couple of them were stupid comic book stuff like, radioactive spiders, and the likes. But vampires were mentioned and—"
"Whoa, what!? Newton said we were vampires?" I was glad I was able to contain my outrage. How did he possibly guess the answer?
"Well, if I remember correctly, Angela said that about five years after your funeral, Mike and Jessica got married, but on their honeymoon to South America, they saw you and Edward on a plane to the same destination. Jessica didn't think anything of it, but he even tried to follow you, but you guys caught a boat to the middle of nowhere. Because of his obsession, he had to spend a few months in the psych ward at Forks Hospital. But he never spoke another word about the 'Cullen Mystery' after that. Angela was really worried about him."
I cracked a smile when Sarah revealed Angela was worried about her friend. Sarah was too similar to Angela in many ways, though they didn't look alike, they had the same personality. This made me even more determined to keep her safe.
"So you don't drink the blood of humans?"
"Nope, we're what you call the vegetarians of the vampire world."
"And you come out in the sunlight?"
"We come out in the daytime."
"But not sunlight?" She's really perceptive.
"No we can't come out in direct sun. People would know we're different."
"Okay, so no sun. What about garlic, holy water, and crosses?"
"All myth."
"Interesting. So if I can't tell anyone because people may die, why are you telling me?"
"Sarah, there are things that are pulling you into our lives. Call it fate, destiny, what have you. But whatever it is, there may come a time where you will need to know this, a time where we might need your help. It's getting late. Go to sleep, we'll see you in the morning. Since you're our friend now, we'll pick you up for school."
Sarah started jumping up and down, and I thought she was going to wake somebody up with her squealing. Strange but adorable. She started to calm down, so I started to leave her room, "Umm Bella?" I turned to face her, and she looked genuinely terrified of something. "I don't have to get on the motorcycle with you tomorrow do I? My mom would kill me!"
"Ha, no we'll be taking Edward's car tomorrow." I couldn't help but laugh at her. I scurried down the tree and started running back to my house. Within minutes, I turned up the drive and I could hear everyone stirring about the house. Taylor's car wasn't there anymore, so I knew he left sometime while I was gone. I was sad that I didn't get to be here for Renesmee after her first date.
I ran straight to the kitchen where I knew I would find Carlisle with Kate and Esme. "Sorry Kate, I know you traveled down here to help me out, and I've kept you waiting."
"No worries. It was nice catching up with everyone." Kate looked happy. Her story made me glad that the Volturi came the last time, because she never would have met Garrett. He was a nomad vampire before he stayed as a witness on our behalf, but when he met Kate, he knew he would follow her wherever she went.
"Bella, I'd like you to tell me what happened, but first we train. Kate, we've explained to you that Bella has discovered a new gift it seems, and you know that you are here to test whether or not the limits of her shield now extend to physical. But Kate, what we failed to mention is that the Volturi are coming back. Aro, Caius, and Marcus have acquired a new vampire who can detect when a vampire has a gift and what it is, and it seems they know about Bella's new gift now. They will not be back until the summer, so I'm sure you understand the urgency in getting Bella trained properly?"
"My family will stand and witness for you once again."
I began to notice that Garrett and Edward had trickled in, but Carlisle already noticed their presence. It didn't matter since my shield was around Carlisle anyway. Poor Edward must be frustrated that he wasn't able to read anybody's mind.
"I'm afraid we may need more than your witness, the Volturi are coming with the intent of destroying all of us, except Bella. Knowing about Aro's propensity to collecting vampires, he will probably want Renesmee, Edward and Alice as well. The rest of my family will be deemed dispensable. We may need you to fight." Carlisle hung his head down. He hated violence, and hated asking his friends to fight even more. The fact that the Volturi have forced his hand into fighting yet again, hurt him greatly.
"We will stand and fight for you," Kate said, amending her original statement. Garrett nodded his head but kept looking at Carlisle. He was like Emmett, so no doubt he was looking forward to a fight.
"Okay, then let's begin." We spent the next few hours experimenting with different scenarios to recreate my new gift. Carlisle wanted Kate and Edward to sit in front of me, while Kate used her electrifying power on Edward. I really didn't like seeing his face in pain but Carlisle insisted that it be Edward since he was the closest to me and we'd need to know mentally, if I stopped him as well. My frustration level was rising after several hours of watching my love being tormented, but Carlisle did not want to let up. I understood the reason behind it all, but that didn't mean I had to like it!
"What did you just do?" Edward's words broke into my thoughts. I looked at him confused since I didn't know what he was talking about. "I can't feel the shocks, and I can't hear anyone. Bella I think you did it!"
I shook my head because I honestly didn't know what I did. The last time I was training for my shield, I was able to visualize an elastic covering over the people I needed to protect. What on earth was I suppose to visualize now?
Kate was still shocking Edward and I could see that he was feeling it again. I tried imagining a shield being used in the battlefield, blocking the enemy and separating them from their weapon of choice. I could see a force of blue light emitting from my unseen warrior and flowing towards my intended victim. He gets knocked back and—
"There! You did it again." Edward was excited, and I wasn't sure why. It could have been because I was starting to master my new talent or the fact that he didn't feel Kate any longer. I continued focusing the light on Kate's power, but releasing Edward from using his, so that he could read minds again. Now that I had my focus visual, mastering my talent was now easier. I could tell by his eyes that he was realizing what I was doing because he looked at Kate and noticed that she was still trying to shock him, while he could hear her thoughts. He broke free of her grasp and kissed me so tight. He pressed his body up against mine with such passion all I could do was wrap my legs around him. All we could do was kiss each other since we didn't need to stop for air. But we did need to stop because everyone was still in the kitchen. And Emmett made sure we knew that we were going to be teased about it later.
After another hour of training, Kate and Garrett were on their way. Renesmee stayed asleep in her bed while the rest of us parted ways with our dear friends.
"Carlisle, I know Tanya was able to keep in touch with many of the vampires from the last time we were needed. When we get back to Denali, I will help her contact them all again. Everyone will be needed. Would you be able to contact the South American vampires? I know they are the only ones that my sister has not kept in contact with."
"Of course, we will. And Kate, thank you." Carlisle spoke softly, still regretting being put in the position to using force. But he knew we were lucky 100 years ago but that the Volturi would be after blood this time. "Get home safe."