Ummm….hey. What's shaking? Sorry for being late in my updates. I've been out of the loop lately and busy.

Chapter 16

Sacrifice


"Granddaughter?" Mildred questions in bewilderment. She stares at the side of Paul's face as he refuses to look back at her. The furrow in her eyebrows increase with worry and curiosity. Even though Victoria is on the run, Mildred can't seem to separate from Paul. That kiss has a tenacious hold on Mildred, almost too tantalizing to press her lip against his once more. A tingling feeling develops on her lips, beckoning her to find a cure.

Paul remains emotionless, eyes widening to an unknown fear and guilt. An emotion that Paul rarely exposes. Golden orbs gazes where Ashlyn depart from. The thick mist swells all evidence of her form. His mind is in disbelief. Paul sighs long and hard while dipping his head forward, allowing his short strands to fall the tilt. He runs his hand through his hair with his hair brushing between his fingers. Mildred couldn't do anything but watch helplessly and wait for Paul to come out of his mental thoughts.

Moments later, Paul slowly activates his body and rises to his feet with Mildred following in pursuit. Their bodies are silent, not even their clothes make any friction blares. "Paul?" Mildred inquires, her eyes show emotional depth. Her orbs move in small movement as she indentifies any signs of Paul's return.

Paul slowly meets Mildred's gaze with no signs of emotion in his eyes. His soften face immediately hardens into it usual harsh looks. The flowing emotions are forcefully tack away. "We need to find Victoria." He says in a firm tone, refusing to show anymore weakness. The bitter taste of destroying Victoria is showing through his desperation to lock away his mental thoughts. Slowly, Paul turns in place to begin his run after Victoria.

"Wait….. Don't you wan to talk about it?" Mildred inquires in a soft and sympathic voice along with her curiosity nagging at her. She only knows a little of Paul's human family. Her head slightly tilts to the side as she places her hand on Paul's shoulder to immediately stop him from sauntering away. The touch is almost too unbearable, Mildred uses every ounce in her body to not to fulfill her fracture control on her lust and secret love that she has been holding in for so long. She takes deep breaths to lock away those feelings.

Paul keeps his face away from Mildred, fearing to show his shame. His shame for almost destroying his own granddaughter. "There's nothing to talk about." Those words are barely a whisper but they shot daggers at Mildred. Now, Mildred understands Paul's neglect and sorrow that she has been showing him for nearly thirty years. Mildred mouth open slightly to speak her words but Paul cuts her off quickly, "Don't you want to go after Victoria?"

Mildred quickly closes her mouth with hidden anguish surfacing. Immediately, the thought of destroying Victoria with her bare hands forces her emotions to hid away. Almost tasting the sweet victory, Mildred nods once with a firm expression.

"Good. She headed that direction." Paul concludes with an authority voice, still refusing to look Mildred. His eyes immediately become hard and determine while pointing his eyes in the right direction. Victoria route heads deep into the forest in the same direction where Renesemee is at. "I have a haunch that she after Renesemee, so we head directly to Renesemee and ambush her then."

Mildred eyes also stares in determination in the same direction. They prepare themselves to chase after Victoria.

"Are you sure you're alright, Grandmother Ebony?" Luken questions again with a hint of a skeptical tone lingering in his voice. Luken stands a few fight higher than Ebony with his upper hunching over her protectively. One arm wraps caringly around Ebony's shoulder while Luken eyes search for a sign on her face.

Ebony looks up into Luken's concern orbs with a sensation of pride in her chest. A pride for having a grandson that care so much for a full-blooded vampire. But she immediately composes herself and brings out her credible voice. "There's a problem….."

"What!? What is it?" Luken voice shrills in worry with his tone rising to high pitch. His eyelids widen in fear along with his body lean closer to Ebony, beckoning her to continue.

"I need you to go to you sister and mother. They need your help." Ebony declares realistically, pushing out the tremble in her voice.

Luken looks down at Ebony with a heed of concern and yet a part of him is thrilling with excitement. His emotions harden in a non-aloof manner but rather preparing himself for any conflict. The idea of conflict thrills him as he can nearly taste the sweet fight that he has been edging for. Maybe now its time to prove to himself what he is truly capable of and that's enough to urge himself forward. "Ok." He says carefully, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. But Ebony can see the exhilaration in his golden orbs along with a determination gaze. He untangles his arm from Ebony's shoulder and quickly shifts his body to hold Ebony at arms length. His hands rest on Ebony's shoulders with his eyes staring into Ebony's. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry grandmother, I won't let you down." He declares quickly in an exhilaration voice. Before he can depart from her, Ebony quickly pulls him into a tight hug. Her arms wrap in an iron hold around Luken.

"Be safe, my grandson." She whispers into his ear with an unknown emotion trembling in her voice. Soon, she reluctantly releases Luken.

Luken looks down at Ebony with a concern express while in bewilderment. A slightly furrow edges in his eyebrows while Luken lets go of his concern and departs from Ebony. He turns in a swift movement along with his body dashing into the mist.

Ebony stares in fear while watching helplessly as her grandson disappears into the mist. It's almost heartbreaking to watch. A sadden feature develops on Ebony's face along with her eyes softening into grieve. "I know you won't disappoint me, Luken." She whispers to herself, her lips barely moving. An eternal turmoil wrenches at her unbeating heart. Ebony thinks hard on her vision and the consequences of her decisions. The revelation is clear as day and painful. The vision leads to a death. Two paths, one death. She sees Victoria catching Luken scent and running to them. Then…. The painful anguish of watching her grandson die in vain to protect her. The hallucination is so vivid, it tortures Ebony's mind as the vision repeats the incident over and over again, mercilessly. Ebony closes her eyes as the agony screams of Luken haunts her mind to wits end. She clenches her hands tightly in a fear that she can't describe. No. Ebony will not allow this vision to come to past. The other path leads to her destruction. The love that she has for her family is far greater than the love she has for herself. Ebony opens her eyes determinedly as she makes up her mind no matter the pain that will afflict upon her. As long as her family is safe, that all the matters.

Ebony takes a deep breath that trembles. Her chin is slightly dipping down as she eyes darken. She stares into the forest that waits for her death. The fear continues to swell in her chest but also the pain of not seeing her family again tortures her. Forcefully, Ebony pushes those thoughts out of her mind. Instead of staring fearfully into the eyes of death, she smiles at it. Ebony dashes into the forest with no dirt trailing behind her. The moves are swift and quick, Ebony hastily follows Victoria's scent when it invades her nostrils. Her body moves faster through the forest in hope to catch Victoria before Luken bumps into her. A small part of her knows she is not strong enough to defeat Victoria but hopes it gives the others time to regroup and destroy this nuisance.

Her body soars through the forest without ever hitting a branch. The scent of Victoria is strong as Ebony draws closer to her. The closer Ebony gets the heavier the weight on her shoulders become. Her mind flashes memories of her family, from the moment of holding Julian as a baby to saying goodbye to Luken. While running through the forest, Ebony leaps into a tree and travel through the branches without any evidence tailing behind her. Only few branches shudder to her weight.

Finally, Ebony's golden eyes catch a glimpse of Victoria in the far distance. Victoria's red hair fans around her head. Her feet move quickly towards Renesemee until she comes to a complete stop.

Ebony notices this action and understands her scent has given her away. She watches Victoria inhaling the air and then whipping her head towards Ebony. A low hiss echoes throughout the forest in a warning. But Ebony ignores her warning. Ebony springs herself from a branch with her arm sprawl either side of her body along with curling her lip back. Her body collides into Victoria with a thunderous bellow that ripples out dirt from their bodies. Ebony clenches her hands around Victoria's neck and hiss deadly at her destroyer.

Laurent hisses in a low tune along with the rumble in his chest quivering as it slowly rises. He crunches down into a defensive stance, arms sprawl on either side of his body. Dark pale fingers are fanning out; Laurent upper lip curls over his teeth as the moonlight gleams over his pearly whites. The redness in his orbs is defining greatly to a thirst, the thirst for Renesemee's blood. Her human scent is not very strong considering she's mostly vampire but none of the less, tantalizing. Laurent's throat burns in undying flames as he can almost taste her blood on his tongue. His eyes move quickly across his foe's faces, almost having second thoughts about his ambush.

Bella mirrors Laurent's stance, squinting her eyelids at him with determination in her eyes. The maternal instinct swells in her chest as she refuses to allow Renesemee to move around her.

Julian stares intensely at Laurent, his mind wondering into Laurent memories. He reads his life and even tries to break through the haze of Laurent's human life. Julian sees the discussion between Laurent and Victoria. The plans to destroy Renesemee then go after Bella. That piece of information prompts a deadly growl to rumble in his froze chest. But, the vengeance is meant for Victoria but Laurent can smell Renesemee which changes his mind. Julian has conquered the thirst for Renesemee years ago but Laurent's memories are taunting him as he can feel Laurent's struggle. The burning flames begin to blaze his throat as Julian immediately stops breathing for Renesemee's sake. With his abilities, Julian wants to destroy him quickly and than head back to the others.

Julian focuses hard on using his mental strength to tamper Laurent's memories. He struggles to diminish Laurent's memories of Victoria and the others. A vampire's mind is a lot more difficult for Julian to mess with a vampire than a human. Soon after, Laurent deadly hisses and glares begin to diminish into bewilderment. He slightly lowers his arms but not all the way. Crimson orbs dash across their faces with a confusion features along with Laurent furrowing his eyebrows.

Bella watches Laurent carefully as she tries to understand Laurent's expression. She remains in guard in case of a trap but she can see the true emotion of confusion in his eyes. While remaining a defender for her daughter, Bella slightly allows her protective side to whither away. But at the corner of her eye, Bella sees Julian lightly tapping his temple without looking away from Laurent. Bella desperately tries to understand Julian sign. Soon after, Bella remember Julian's abilities with memories as her eyes dash to Laurent with taunting gilt.

"Do we know each other?" Laurent inquires curiously, his voice is tainting in confusion and his French accent coats every word. His orbs bounce between their faces, trying to remember who they are. There are many holes in his memories; Laurent can feel himself becoming disorient.

"Yes Laurent, we were discussing…..the end." Julian says carefully and slow, just enough for Laurent to be curious.

"The end?"

"Yes." Bella joins in, speaking her single word slow and mysteriously while casually walking around Laurent until she is standing at his side. She slightly tilts her head to the side, almost seductively and slowly brushes her fingertips along his arm. Golden orbs peer intensely in Laurent's crimson eyes; Bella allows the corner of her lip to rise. Her pale hand draws up to his shoulder, "The end."

Julian smiles in amusement while he approaches the other side of Laurent. The aroma of victory is strong. Julian smile to the thought of Renesemee's offender is at the brink of death. He watches Laurent gaze at them with a skeptical look before he realizes what they meant.

Laurent hiss loudly growl that is threatening, revealing his teeth. He prepares himself to escape from the kiss of death but the moment he struggles they grip him hard. A low hiss from the pain of their grip escapes Laurent's lip. Soon, Laurent releases a loud pitch scream because Bella grazes her teeth against his neck before sinking her teeth into his flesh. The end is near.

But Julian and Bella's torture is interrupt by a loud piecing sound from the far south. The sound is unbearable and it even aches on Bella's heart. Bella quickly withdraws her teeth from Laurent but holds her tight grip. She snaps her head towards the trees where the sound echoes from. Julian lowly hisses the sound as he recognizes the voice. His face show true concern. "Bella, quickly."

Bella returns her gaze and nods once. Laurent takes this opportunity to struggle against their hold along with his arms hitting them with harsh force. He releases a loud growl that is threatening. Laurent forcefully hit Bella in the stomach which pushes her away. Her back collides into a tree. Julian returns the growl as he uses all his strength to fight against Laurent's force.

Renesemee watches her mother being clout into a tree as her eyes snap to Laurent with a burning fume in her eyes. A low haunting hiss comes from Renesemee as she leap forward and help Julian's quest to destroy him.

Paul and Mildred rush through the forest like wraiths. Their bodies disturb the moldering mist as the vapor trails behind their bodies momentarily. No foot prints indicate their whereabouts. Paul run slightly faster than Mildred, his arms are bending while pumping to his run. He listens to Mildred's feet thumping into the ground, cautiously making sure she's behind him. The wind whips through his hair as the tips poke his face continuously.

Mildred trails closely behind Paul, her eyes scanning through the forest for any conflict. But her mind is focusing on Paul and her granddaughter. He has never spoken of her before. Why would he keep her existence a secret and why is she helping the others? The mystery is nagging at Mildred but she fears to pester him especially now when he is not in a good mood.

Mildred tries to abandon her thoughts but they are gripping her until a familiar scent invades her nostrils. She knows that Paul can smell it too, when he inhales a deep breath. They both slow down their pace to a halt. Paul turns towards Mildred with a curiosity in his eyes. The scent becomes stronger along with sounds of feet thumping into the moist dirt. Soon, they both whip their heads to the side. In the far distances a body form is running quickly through the mist. They can see the mist sway away from the body. The thick mist coats the body giving the form a dim. The smell has a freesia scent along with a sweet aroma of a vampire.

"Luken?" Mildred inquires curiously, barely moving her lips while altering her attention to Paul who returns a gaze. The inquisitiveness of why is Luken running alone through the forest and Ebony's whereabouts aches at Mildred. They quickly dash towards the young boy. "Luken?!"

Luken immediately comes to a halt as he is force to snap out of his thoughts. He's so focus on the battle that he didn't even catch their scent. Suddenly, Luken feels shame. He watching the two vampires approach him in haste. He looks at Paul and Mildred with an inquiring look as his eyes bounce between both beings.

"What are you doing out here? Where's Ebony?" Mildred immediately fires her question.

"Ebony sent me out here to find Renesemee and my mother." Luken replies in bewilderment. His eyes are widening in innocence.

"You left Ebony alone?!" Mildred scolds in disbelief, furrowing her eyebrows deeply. The roughness in her voice echoes her every word. Luken looks back with ignominy growing on his face as his shoulder haunch up in shame. A sensation of worry and fear swells in Mildred's chest. Her eyes widen in shock and in disbelief. Soon after, a loud high pitch screams echoes throughout the edges of the forest. The sound is wallowing in pain and anguish, and pierces their ears with stinging pain. Luken rises his shoulders to his jaw line with his eyes closing tightly to desperately try to ignore the pain.

Mildred snaps her head towards the source of the sound with her eyes widen with a fear. Her heart drops with heaviness weighing on her chest. Her breath is ensnaring by her lungs follow by a deep gasp, "Ebony!"

To be continued….

Uh! Finally! I didn't think I would get this chapter done!

So, there you go. I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing.

I'm sorry for not being more descriptive in the fighting scenes… I am kind of out of fighting tactics. So please don't be mad or disappointed.

Thanks and leave a review!