~*~EMMETT~*~

Appeal of the Forbidden

By: Lucas McDrake

Chapter 13-Forgiveness

I snapped another of the newborns' necks, throwing their appendage into the growing pile in the middle of the meadow. My breathing was ragged despite my lack of need for oxygen as I glanced toward another of the horde. Her blood red hair fell down her face, almost perfectly concealing the luminous rubies set in her eyes. As all of our kind, beautiful.

She has nothing on Rose, I thought, a smirk coming to my face.

However, the plaguing thoughts of the past few months pounced instantly upon my vulnerable mind. A few months had passed since that night, in which that demonic desire had dissolved into non-existence while jogging through the woods as to clear my head. Still, however, I regretted it.

I've never regretted any of my decisions before.

Always, I had chose the right path, never resulting in anything remotely related to remorse. Now, however, was different. Beyond the immorality of a real vampire, as Bella would put it.

For a moment of time, I was decidedly a pedophile.

Shuddering for the umpteenth time, I shut my mind down, distracting myself by throwing myself at the blood-red haired female vampire. However, Carlisle was in my way.

"...can surrender if you want," Carlisle was stating to her, a hand jerking upward in the air to signify that he didn't want me to interfere with their apparently docile conversation.

Surrender? After what she had done? I grunted, my kinship with Carlisle not allowing me to disobey, instead flipping around to meet another frenzied newborn, admitting a numb calm to come over my mind as, once more, instinct took over.

Finally, all the newborns had been vanquished. Falling to the tedious work of gathering the left over pieces, I noticed that Carlisle had left Jasper to watch over the newborn that he had negotiated with. It seemed that, among many other emotions, fear was radiating from every seam of her being.

A werewolf's howl permeated the gloomy silence, accompanied by a reverberating snap and everyone locked eyes with the unexpected scene across the clearing. A silvery gray wolf was still recovering from being pushed aside as a russet brown wolf, obviously slumped to one side, tore a lagging newborn to shreds.

The rest of the werewolves assisted the russet one, some taking appendages to the pile while others gave their shoulders for support.

Alice shuddered as a vision overcame her, the vampires close by glancing back at her. "The...the Volturi are coming."

Carlisle's eyes widened, then turned downward in speculation. "Sam... Your pack will have to go."

A werewolf, larger than the rest, turned their gaze toward Carlisle questioningly. Carlisle marginally smirked, explaining, "The Volturi are the leaders of the vampires, so to speak. They wouldn't look admirably at the connection we have made, to say the least."

The werewolf-Sam, I presumed-nodded his large head, and ran in the direction the russet brown werewolf had headed, the rest of the pack following.

As the werewolves left, and a pillar of dense violet smoke formed as I started the fire, Alice, closing her eyes, announced, "Edward...took care of Victoria. He's on his way now."

"What?" everyone nearly said in unison.

"I didn't tell any of you because interference wouldn't have done much." Alice shrugged, concentrating again. "They'll arrive in about a minute."

As Alice had promised, Edward shortly entered the clearing, with Bella unconscious in his arms and a small, tan werewolf in tow.

"She fainted," Edward stated, glancing up from Bella as he neared us. Noiselessly, the werewolf followed in the others' trail, quickly disappearing in the trees.

"From what?" I laughed.

"Told her about Jacob getting hurt. Maybe, on top of all the stress of trying to 'save me' from Victoria, seeing her body ripped to shreds..."

Carlisle nodded, gesturing towards the prisoner. "We have a guest."

It only took a moment for Edward to register what he meant-reading minds, and all. "What? Why?"

"She promised she wouldn't cause any trouble-"

"Let me have her!"

Everyone turned at the sound of her shriek to see the newborn, now blood-crazed, reaching around Jasper for Bella. "It burns!"

Edward narrowed his eyes at her, turning slightly away and bending his body over Bella's.

Jasper feinted a pounce, and she curled in on herself. "How can you stand it?" she cried, stiffly holding herself in place.

"You were saying?" Edward stated flatly, irritation coloring his tone.

"She's a newborn. You have to give her some credit; for the most part, she's staying in place. Besides, we could kill her if she changes her mind."

The newborn was now rocking back and forth, the occasional moan of pain excreting from her.

After a moment's hesitation, Edward grunted, reluctantly agreeing to Carlisle's reasoning.

Wordlessly, everyone followed Carlisle as he approached Jasper. "We should act as a united group; they should have no reason to suspect us when they come."

The newborn was visibly shivering violently, fighting against the thirst.

Everyone turned as Bella's eyes flickered open. She took in her surroundings, and was about to ask a question.

"Let me drink her blood!" the newborn shrieked, reaching again for Bella. Bella was startled by the newborn that she had not noticed before. "Her blood is pumping faster! Stop my burning!"

"Is she...one of the newborns?" Bella asked.

"Yes," Edward stated, setting her into a standing position. "She was spared because she surrendered."

Bella was absolutely terrified of the sight, so she turned her head into Edward's chest.

"They'll be here any moment, now," Alice announced.

Sure enough, Jane, Demetri and Felix came walking towards us from the line of trees. When the trio was only a few yards away, Jane halted their movement. "I see that Bella is still human."

"We've set a date," Edward growled, turning into a protective stance in front of Bella.

"Have you?" Jane queried. "And when would that be?"

"After she graduates," Carlisle stated, stepping forward. "We don't want the humans to suspect anything by her sudden disappearance."

"... Very well," Jane reluctantly approved, turning toward the newborn. "Carlisle, it's well known that we don't give second chances. What do you think to achieve by taking her as a prisoner?"

"She surrendered," Carlisle replied. "Perhaps she could be an exception; she never knew of our laws."

"What is your name?" Jane asked. Maybe she wanted to speak with the newborn to see if she deserved a second chance.

The newborn seemed smart enough to realize that her life depended on this conversation, but still stated, "You...don't need to know."

Jane's eyes flickered for just a millisecond, in which the newborn shuddered in pain. "Bree!" she yelled. Taking a quick breath, she repeated, "Bree is my name."

"Good." Jane continued, "Bree, who is it that created you?"

"I don't know," Bree stated. After a threatening glance, Bree threw her arms over herself, yelling, "I'm telling you the truth! I was never even told her name!" She took a breath, and explained, "Riley was the only one that ever really got to see her."

"And where are they now?" Jane asked.

Bree, not knowing this information, cringed at Jane's gaze.

"I killed both Riley and Victoria," Edward supplied. "Their remains are burning over there." He gestured toward the small pillar of smoke in the distance.

"Very well," Jane allowed, softening her gaze. "Felix, y-"

"Jane," Carlisle interrupted her, stepping forward again. "Couldn't you reconsider your stand?"

Jane's glare was enough to answer him.

"Felix," Jane resumed, "you know what to do."

"It would be my pleasure." Quickly, Felix, appearing next to her, forced Bree to the ground. Edward turned Bella away from the sight, blocking the scene from her eyes with his body. Felix poised over her body, and was about to rip her neck.

However, something seemed to stop him. Both of them seemed to have faces filled with surprise, neither moving an inch.

"Jane," Felix inquired after a few seconds, "as Carlisle stated, she never knew of our ways. If she's willing to learn, maybe she should have a second chance."

Everyone seemed in utter shock. Felix, not wanting to kill something? This was new.

After a long pause, Jane asked, "Felix... Are you in control of yourself? Is she...controlling you?"

"She's-"

"I'm-"

"Silence." Immediately, Bree and Felix halted their synchronized explanation. "I don't know what is going on... However, she seems to have value. Some ability, at least, to persuade others to do her will..." Speaking to Carlisle, she stated, "I don't intend to bring her back with me to the Volturi, so since it is you who called for her gift of forgiveness, you may keep her in your custody. However, don't expect us to ever do anything similar to this again." Turning to Felix, she ordered, "Felix, we're leaving."

It took Felix a moment to register his order, and another to stand from his frozen position, draped over Bree's body without physical contact, to follow Jane and Demetri out of the clearing.

After a moment of silence, Rosalie stated what was on all our minds. "How do you suppose we take in a newborn in our current situation?"

"I'm...not sure, as of yet," was all that Carlisle could say, deep in thought. "I wasn't really expecting this turn of events."

"So we're supposed to adjust to a bloodthirsty newborn with not only Bella, who will be visiting frequently, but also a permanent resident that just so happens to be human, as well?"

"Maybe we can send her to the Denali clan," Carlisle suggested, ignoring Rose's irritation. "If they took in Lawrent, I'm pretty sure that they'll take in Bree." Turning to Edward, he ordered, "Edward, take Bella back home; Bree shouldn't suffer for her presence." After a quick nod, Edward was gone. "I'll quickly call Tanya, and see if she can take another resident."

Bree, speaking for the first time directly to us, asked, "I'm...going to another coven?"

"Yes," Carlisle informed her soothingly. "You'll have to change your diet, but I'm pretty sure that you will find a way to cope."

I wrapped my arm around Rose's shoulders, relieved, for once, that the fighting was over. Maybe it was just that, this time, the Volturi became involved, in their own way.

Bree, turning her gaze at us, stared deeply into our eyes. It made me slightly uncomfortable.

"Are you two...mated?"

"Yeah," I stated the obvious as Rose hissed, "Yes!" Giving Rose a glance telling her to be nice, I queried, "Why do you ask?"

"... Just wondering."

After a quick moment of deliberation, Bree looked away, carefully standing as to not elicit any more hostility from us. Smiling slightly for the first time, she muttered, directing her thanks towards Carlisle, "Thanks..."

"Carlisle," he supplied. "Really, it was nothing."

I was majorly preoccupied. Why did Bree question our relationship? I tried making a connection to the moment she seemed to control Felix, to just now, staring into my eyes...

Well, I didn't feel any loss of control over myself, so I shouldn't be overly worried...right? I couldn't help but think of Keiran while pondering this occurrence.

Does this, in some insane, twisted way, have anything to do with her, too?

Or, maybe, Bree's just jealous. Whatever the case, though, I can't help but question everything...

~*~