Author's Note: I was wrong-- THIS is the biggest cliffhanger in the world! Although, it's kind of the same one...
Instead of me posting a song for you guys, I think it would be great if some of my reviewers suggested a (clean) song! One full of action and pathos! That would be sweet, if someone thought of a good one. ;)
On to the story! Enjoy! Please review!
33. Battle Plan
"All right, Bella," said Jasper, his voice a hint above a breath, "now, just do as I instruct, and it will be flawless."
We were lying army style, on our stomachs with our elbows supporting us, our heads barely clearing the rock we'd hidden behind. Below us was the warehouse around which the group of vampires holding Carlisle and Rosalie were patrolling, seven of them in all. Every one of them looked fierce and purposeful, not easily intimidated by one girl and a single vampire. I had trouble pulling air through my lungs, imagining Jasper and me rushing them. A tingling bout of confidence struck me from my right; I frowned at Jasper. "I don't want to be confident right now," I complained in a whisper. "I only want to be confident when there's something to be confident about."
With a muffled laugh, Jasper slid back down to the base of the boulder. "There's definitely seven hostile vampires there: we're confident about that."
"Oh, thanks." I rolled my eyes at him.
"You can't let yourself get panicked," he told me solemnly, a commander addressing his army. "We have to do this well the first time, Bella. We have no second chance. If we allow our nervousness to get the better of us, it could be the end for us both. Just remember what we've gone over, attend to my signals, and the plan will go off without a hitch."
"Okay," I ingrained bravado into my head, "we've got this, just stay calm. Stay calm, we've got this."
"Think of Carlisle and Rosalie," Jasper said, inching slowly away from me, crawling through the dirt.
"I don't have to; they're right below us."
With my weak human eyes I could catch the glint of Rosalie's perfection, visible even through a window. I directed all my mental properties into thinking of my two family members being held prisoner, awaiting a bloody fate. Jasper had let it slip that Alice had seen Carlisle die in a graphic way. Now I was fairly sure he'd made the 'mistake' of telling me of that vision so I would be more than willing to help him with a rescue. He'd said Carlisle was going to be ripped to pieces and burned, most likely. Right in front of us.
Were we going to be able to stop it, or would we be horrified witnesses to our family leader's death?
"Do you have the lighter?" asked Jasper at my ear, making me jump.
"Yes, I've got it." I fumbled in my pocket and fished it out. "But I wait till the signal to use it?"
"Correct. You sit back and watch me in action." Grinning, the blond vampire drew the six flares he'd smuggled out of a police station from his coat and laid them on the ground beside me. "You know what to do with these. Don't hurt yourself, though--Edward would kill me."
"Please. I can work a lighter." There was a moment's pause as we surveyed our potential targets. "Hey, Jasper," I said awkwardly, "um, be careful. Don't do anything too reckless." Alice wants you home, I thought silently, more than she wants Carlisle or Rosalie.
"Don't you fret about me, little girl," Jasper replied wryly, picking up two flares and pocketing them as subtle tendrils of calm stole into me. "This isn't my first two-man attack plan, although it's the first one I've executed with a human." When he saw that his roots of happy feelings weren't doing much good, he gently touched my shoulder. "Ease up, Bella. This will be over in a matter of minutes."
"Please watch out for yourself," I reiterated. "I'll be here, waiting for the signs."
"I'll give them soon," he said, then vanished.
The second he was gone I began to worry twice as powerfully. So many things could go wrong with our scheme, there were too many dividends, too many eventualities. What if there were more than seven vampires? What if it was more like fifteen? Jasper's plan wouldn't work. I already thought it was risky, and adding unexpected contingencies into the mix was driving me crazy. What if half the Cullens were wiped out in one move? Should Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper be destroyed, the Cullens as a whole would cease to be. And, a voice in the back of my head contributed, if I died, too, well, then there would be nothing left of our family but three bitter vampires. Esme, Emmett, and Edward, the three loneliest people on earth.
"Jasper, where are you?" I muttered, turning my mind away from morbid ideas. Any minute, and he would push the wheels into motion.
The sign I had been anticipating came out of nowhere, grating and nerve-wracking. It was the crack of a starter pistol, impossible for even a human to miss. The vampires guarding the warehouse jumped. I jumped, too, then sprang into action, praying that I didn't bumble the plan. First, I grabbed a flare and clicked the lighter on, grimacing as the tips of my fingers warmed from the heat. Holding the end of the flare to the flame, I shut the lighter off the instant sparks began to shoot out of the copper tube's tip. Raising myself fractionally, I got enough muscle behind my arms so that I could grind the other end of the flare into the sandy bank in front of me, leaving it sticking up in the dirt. One of the seven vampires noticed the light and pointed, nudging the man next to him.
The plan was in action.
Crack! The starter pistol's retort sounded again. My second signal.
Crawling low to the ground, I counted out feet as best I could, stopping when I reached ten. On went the lighter; I pulled another flare from the stack and lit it, shoving its end into the ground. I didn't wait for the signal this time. Jasper had told me not to wait. Instead I counted out ten feet, lit the flare, and moved on, feeling my adrenaline levels soar.
Two more flares, then I'd have to proceed to Step Two.
I squinted in the dusk, and could just make out the silent, ghostly figure creeping past the line of guards, a square can held tight in one hand. Jasper was carrying out his end of the deal, liberally pouring gasoline all around the warehouse. This was a precaution taken to insure utter mayhem, not one we were planning to use unless in dire need. He had also sprinkled some fuel in a wide line in front of my hiding place: a firewall, a hedge of protection, if the guards discovered me. I had a lighter, Jasper had a lighter, so either one of us could begin the chaos, at any time. But I wasn't going to do anything that deviated from the plan.
As I lit the next flare, the knife belted at my side dug into my hip. I wormed around till it lay flat under me, its sheath resting against my thigh. The knife had become a real pain-- twice already I'd nearly stabbed myself, sending Jasper into a twitching paroxysm. It was vital to our plot, but it was bugging me.
Focus, I told myself. You can do this. One more flare, then get ready.
Down into the sand went the last flare, red sparks fountaining from its head. I had placed the distractions ten feet apart in a semi-circle, outlining the high bank. Jasper's pistol shots had diverted the guard's attention, affording me a couple seconds to move between flares. I checked my cell phone's watch; the whole first step had only taken two minutes. Now I could see three vampires from below venturing up to my embankment. It was time for the next level of confusion.
Crack!
The guards whipped their heads around, tensing up. The third pistol shot had rattled them. I smiled at Jasper's ingenius plan, and removed the packet of firecrackers from my pocket. Unwrapping the insulative cotton gauze, I broke off a string of five and laid it on the sand, touching my lighter to each one. Then I sprinted to the cover of a thick bush, thirty feet lower down on the bank. The five firecrackers went off with loud bangs, just as the ones Jasper had lit at the same time went off from behind the guards. I took three more, set the wicks on fire, and lobbed them at the guards as far as I could throw. One landed squarely on a vampire's nose, making him swear and swat it away while spinning around to see the culprit. Our plan was working devilishly well, and with minimal risk to us.
"Where are these things coming from?" yelped another guard, as a firecracker grazed his hand.
"Spread out, look for the human doing this," ordered another.
They would spread out, like Jasper had predicted. I was never going to question his tactics again.
I moved to my next location, a piece of metal buried in the sand, and tossed two more missiles at the guards. They had now pinpointed my spot, and were stalking toward me. I was grateful for the days of dirt and mud that veiled my scent somewhat. Although they knew my general direction, I didn't think the guards knew my exact whereabouts, otherwise they would have come at me much quicker. They were lookng for me as they came, sniffing the air and growling. "Adelaide won't be pleased," hissed one.
A volley of firecrackers assaulted them from Jasper's battery, disorienting them. I took that opportunity to slip the knife out of its sheath and scurry to my last hide-away. Step Four of Jasper's plan would be inplemented soon, all I had to do was wait for the outcome to complete the mission.
Think of your family, I reminded myself. The reason you have to go this alone. You don't want them involved, do you?
I didn't want them involved. If Jasper could pull this rescue off himself, that was the best way. Even if it meant I had to sacrifice for the mission to be successful. Carlisle and Rosalie were more crucial to the Cullens than I was, I knew. They would all get over my death much easier than if their father died.
Edward wouldn't, of course. But he was only one man among seven.
"There's a scent," said one of the vampires, back on my trail.
"Mmmm, get a whiff of that," commented the one next to him.
"Wonder what a human's doing around here?" mused the third.
They all arrowed toward the fallen tree under which I was hiding. I tried to smooth out my breathing, to control the tremor in my hands. It was all part of the plan, and Jasper's plan had been brilliant so far. This part would be a cinch, it wouldn't be a problem. Jasper wouldn't fail me, he was my brother. He would tell me if anything was wrong. If something went wrong, I would abort the next step.
But would I? Would I really give up the single chance we had?
The vamires all rushed to my tree, following the faint but appealing scent of my blood.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
That was the signal! With trembling legs I shot up out of hiding, the knife in my hand. All three vampires froze, staring at me with bemused expressions. This was when I had to be strong, to follow through with my end of the deal. Jasper trusted me to fulfill this plan. "Don't come any closer," I said, and my voice was steady, even though I was shaking violently.
Laughing derisively, the guards advanced on me. "Stay back," I warned bogusly. I brandished the knife more firmly, posing for a couple seconds before taking off, leaping from behind the tree and hurtling toward the warehouse. All Jasper had said was to make it as far as I could to where he was waiting, not a specific distance. I only hoped I got far enough for him to help me.
Clearly, fate held a grudge against me for all the times I had escaped its clutches.
Because, at the exact same second I realized I had misread the signal, my foot snagged on a rock, and I tumbled down the rest of the bank, the knife swinging wildly in my grasp.
"Oh," I gasped, as blood poured from the slash the blade had made in my forearm. Pain came seconds after, stinging and stabbing at once. I glanced up the incline that I'd fallen from, and was met by a dreadful sight.
The vampire guards' eyes were fixed hungrily on me, their eyes slitted and their nostrils wide to inhale my delicious scent. Soon they were joined by four more vampires, drawn to my blood, and these were joined by two more. Nine vampires, I counted in acute fright. Jasper had been wrong-- there were more than seven of them.
I pulled myself along the ground, my arm cradled to my chest, but my progress was halted by a fist planted squarely in the small of my back. I was flipped around onto my back, and I cried out in pain as my arm was jerked cruelly outward.
I had realized my mistake too late.
Too late, I'd remembered four shots meant to abort step four.
Now, as I opened my mouth to scream one final scream of survival, I knew my mistake had been a fatal one.