Chapter 12

Trough Cassie's eyes

Telling Bella about my abilities wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Since I had never told anyone about them, I didn't know what to expect. I half expected her to faint.

"So, does your mom know?" Bella asked.

"Who do you think taught me everything?" I laughed. When we pulled up, Bella started to panic.

"They're home. What do we say?" She asked.

"Just let me do all the talking and go along with it. The cover story is only for Charlie's sake, since my mother can tell when I lie." I told her. It's true, my mother is the only one who can tell when I lie.

"Wait." I stopped her from getting out. "Do the Cullen's have any special abilities?" Bella smiled at me.

"It's not my secret to tell." She used my own words against me. I rolled my eyes and took it as a yes.

"Where have you two been?" Charlie asked when we walked in.

"We went to the movies." I told them.

"Yeah, this girl wouldn't shut up." Bella fake laughed. I wanted to smack myself in the forehead.

"Well, you wouldn't answer my question." I argued. Charlie seemed to have accepted our story and went back to sipping his beer. Wait, isn't he the sheriff in this town or something? Was he that quick to believe a story? Note to self: commit some crimes, Charlie will never know. Also, learn how to knit.

"I'm beat!" I exclaimed, smiling at the double meaning only my mother knew about. "Night to all." I said and Bella and I bolted up the stairs.

"Cassie?" My mother asked. I nearly fell over, even though I knew it was coming.

"Yes, ma'am?" I responded robotically. It came naturally to me, because I normally felt like a soldier in an army, waiting for the first shot to be fired, waiting to retaliate.

"Come." She said simply. I nodded and followed her outside.

"What happened? I want a full explanation." I could feel my stomach knot, my mouth protested moving. I was dreading this part.

"I went to Seattle." I confessed bluntly. After all these years, I had learned not to sugar coat it.

"With Bella." She accused. Here we go. I knew it was wrong to bring Bella. What was a supposed to do, leave her? Yes. I knew it would make me even more suspicious if I hadn't gone with her. She was so determined to go, and I wasn't about to let her march into an army of newborns without help. After explaining this to her, she didn't look very happy.

"Cassie, you shouldn't have been going there anyway! By playing your little game of hero, you put everyone in danger, including yourself! I thought I told you we were done with this. We're human now; we don't go off and kill vampires." I was freaking livid. My little game of hero, as she put it, saved human lives. I knew not to scream back and tell her this. My mother was much more powerful than I would ever be, and she could make that known, even if she was out of practice. But I did scream back, much to her surprise.

"Mother, hunting them runs in my blood! It's who I am and it's who you are! You can't just deny it, sit back, and watch people get slaughtered everyday! I can't deal with your mundane choice of life! I need to help." I emphasized. I had to take a breather before I did something stupid, like set her hair on fire. My mother stood still for a moment, breathing evenly, calmly, contemplating on what she was going to say next.

"Cassandra," Now I knew she meant business. "Do you have any idea what they would do to us if they found out?" It was a rhetorical question, but I answered anyway.

"I know, Mother. I have the scars to prove it." I laughed humorlessly. She glanced at one of my exposed scars, and her eyes leveled with mine again.

"That's why we leave it to the vampires to fix, Cassie. If vampires start disappearing, they'll know it was us. You risked everything we have going on here to go slaughter a vampire." She told me. I decided not to tell her that I had actually killed seven.

"I'm sorry." I told her, even though I truly wasn't. So I wanted to save a few lives, big whoop. Most parents would be proud. What does mine do? She tells me to stop acting like a hero, lay low, and ignore what's going on in the world. How lucky am I?

"I will not go back to Seattle." I hung my head. I had the ability, the power to help, and here I am letting innocent people die because I can't disobey my mother.

I turned and walked inside, picking up my mood for Charlie. I took a deep breath and put a look so cheerful on, it could cure freaking cancer.

Bella was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. She had obviously been nervous about what my mother had to say to me.

"Cassie, what happened?" Bella asked. My "curing" smile dropped from my face. I'm not sure why I was so mad at Bella. Was it because she was dating a vampire? Was it because she always brought him here? Was it because she followed me to Seattle to spy on me? Was it because she got me caught, now she knew my secret and she was most likely going to reveal it to her boyfriend? Of course not, silly, it's because she made me pay for dinner, duh.

"You don't want to know." I muttered. Bella raised her eyebrows.

"If you don't tell me, I'll tell the Cullen's." She teased. Hearing this rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know what possessed me to grab her collar and yank her towards me. Anger, probably.

"You can't joke about this kind of thing, Bella." Then I knew what I had to do. I had to scare her out of her wits. She would never tell the Cullen's if she thought they were being put into danger.

"People die this way. Do you have any idea what changed when you followed me to Seattle? Any human who knows about us will be put to death!" I hissed. "Don't you get it? You were never supposed to find out. Any vampire told will be immediately sentenced to death, just like the bender who showed them, even by accident. If they lost a fight, they would be put to death, and the vampire would be hunted down." It was true; I wasn't just making this stuff up. Then, I let her go and laughed.

"Why do you think we train so hard?"

Again, we see Cassie's dark side. Is it sad that she has one? I think it makes her edgy ;)

What do you think?