Third chapter! This is a really important one. I tried to make it as moving as possible. Also, there's a plot twist.
Seth's POV
Well, that was certainly different from other abilities I've seen.
Blaine seemed embarrassed that he'd shown me his power. He lowered his gaze and looked sheepish. Than he backed away and leaned up against the wall, staring at the ceiling.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"I don't like it," he answered quietly.
"What? Your power?"
He hesitated. "That, and this new body." He gestured to himself, but I couldn't see him clearly in the near darkness. "It's different from my old one. I feel…detached, like I'm seeing more clearly, but through someone else's eyes. I've lost myself inside myself. I don't like it. And my siblings don't agree with me."
"They like it?" I asked, incredulous that someone could like being forced into the transformation.
"They absolutely love it. And they all have their own gifts. Veronica can create small sparks of flame. Cyrus can freeze the air around him into ice. Kelly can shoot sparks of lightning off her fingertips. And Logan can make things pop just by looking at them. Maria promised us that our abilities would grow over time. But I don't want them too. And I'm already stronger than them. I showed you only a fraction of what I can really do. Maria loves us."
"What does she want with you?" I asked him interestedly.
"What does she want with you?" He shot back angrily, a growl building in his chest again. I backed against the far wall of the cage to give him some space. A full minute passed before Blaine relaxed.
"What do you know about us?"
"Not much," I told him.
"Can you tell me please? She keeps us in the dark, and we're all curious."
I hesitated. If I told him, what would happen? Would he snap? He was a newborn after all. "It looks like she's building a newborn army."
"Excuse me?"
"Young vampires, like you, are extremely dangerous. You're stronger than any normal vampire, and you have a ravishing thirst. You have, er, anger issues. Your emotions are extremely complex. This tends to make them lash out in a fit of anger and destroy anything in their path.
"It's for this reason that older vampires created swarms of them, and would set them loose on other covens. I have a friend who was created for this purpose, though he never talked about it much. But I've seen what newborns can do. They're deadly, though unorganized. In a normal army, about half of the newborns in an army get destroyed each time they are sent into battle. Vampires have to keep making them in order to keep their army in check. One newborn can be controlled. But more than two together are a nightmare. They'll rip each other to pieces and destroy everything else in a tantrum."
I realized I was frightening him, and stopped. Blaine looked shocked, horrified.
"I-I was created for war?" He asked, incredulous. He growled, but this time backing away wouldn't stop him. He shook violently.
"NO!" he roared, and the cage I was in flew back and slammed into the wall. The dirt and grime along the walls and floor suddenly began to fly away from him too. The swinging light bulb on the ceiling suddenly shattered, and I was plunged in total darkness. I could hear him scream "No! I'm not a fighter! I'm not a monster! I don't want to be conceived to fight! NO!"
He went into a tantrum, and I braced myself for any pain. I couldn't phase to bite through the bars and escape; the cage was too small.
"Is this my purpose?" he asked after a moment, despair dripping from his tongue, "Am I nothing more than an instrument for death? Is that everyone's fate?"
"No!" I answered quickly, "There are ways to life this life. I know ones who are not like Maria. They don't hunt humans."
"How?" he asked desperately, "My throat burns constantly, I need to quench it."
"They hunt animals," I told him, "This controls the thirst equally, and they can live amongst humans in peace. Some of them even go to schools."
He sounded hopeful. "Is it possible for me to do this?"
"Anyone can," I told him, glad that he seemed less angry.
There was silence, and then he approached me, his tone hopeless again. "My siblings will never accept me for it. They believe that humans are our natural food source."
"But what about you? Are you going to remain as something you don't want to be just because your siblings won't like it?"
"But they're family," he protested.
"Blaine, you have to do what you want, and what you think is right," I told him.
We didn't speak after that.
Maria came back after three days, relieving Blaine of guard duty.
"I'm worried about that one," she mused, "He doesn't like us…"
"Why are you doing this?" I blurted out, "And furthermore, how do you know the Cullens? Why are you creating an army to destroy them?"
She looked at me for a moment, then sighed, flipped her hair, and burst into speech.
"I created Jasper. He was in my army, and in charge of disposing of the newborns. But then something happened, and he left. Infuriated, I tracked him. First he went to Philadelphia, and then to Washington. After I found him, I learned by spying that he has found a mate, that possessed pixie. So I want to destroy him, and his blasted coven. He's become soft living with the human-huggers. And he needs to pay for his ignorance."
SHE was Jasper's creator? I had always assumed that Carlisle created all of them. What else did I not know about them?
"Why did you want me?" I asked her.
"Not you, specifically. Any one of you creatures would do. But you were closest. I sent mortals because I assumed that Jasper's mate wouldn't be looking for humans, as she would believe that they posed no threat."
"Now, if you excuse me, I have eighteen newborns to tend to."
And with that, she stalked out the room. But not before kicking my cage furiously.
Leah's POV
"Amazingly, Demetri said yes," Jasper announced, "But he's bringing Jane and Alec. Aro insisted it."
"What for?" I asked.
"Probably for bodyguards," said Edward dryly.
I didn't care. As long as Demetri could track Seth.
"When's he going to get here?"
"Tomorrow. Then he'll start."
"I think I know why he came," Bella said, "Aro probably said yes so that Demetri could get a closer look at Nessie."
Jacob growled, but Jasper said, "That's a risk we're going have to take."
"I don't like it."
"None of us do, Jake!" Bella growled, "She's my daughter, but we're out of options. We need to find Seth; he's been missing for two weeks! For all we know, he could be-"
She broke off abruptly and glanced at me, noticing the tears staining my cheeks. I knew what she had been about to say. For all we know, he could be dead.
"Leah, I…I'm sorry."
I nodded weakly, too drained and worried to retort. Jake gave me a comforting hug.
"He'll be fine, Leah."
He had no idea how much I wanted that to be true.
Seth's POV
The next day, Blaine came in.
"Maria's gone," he said, "She's out hunting for more soldiers." He shivered.
"And?" I asked, annoyed. My stomach had been empty for a full day and a half now, and I was extremely irritable. Being captured and held against your will does that to you.
He bristled. "So I'm wondering what she wants with you thought that this was a good time to ask."
"She just wants me to be there when she sets all the newborns loose," I told him glumly.
"Why?"
"Because one of the vampires in the coven she wants destroy can see the future. She would sense if anything would threaten her family. But I can nullify her ability, because I am a creature she isn't or never was. So she can't see me and things around me. This makes me ideal for aiding in a sneak attack."
He nodded, and still looking disturbed. At least I think he did. I still couldn't see; Maria hadn't replaced the light bulb.
"What was it like?" I asked, "Where you lived. Did you have a family?"
He nodded. "I used to. My mother and father lived with us. We had a large house in New York. They loved us all, though they were very busy and had little time to spend. That was probably why we developed so distinct personalities. Veronica turned malicious to hide her hurt and worry. Cyrus pretended to blow everything off. Kelly hid her troubles behind being popular and excitable. But she could be snotty. Logan tried to bury things deep. But you can't bottle everything up. So he keeps it in until it explodes into a fit of rage. And I just kind of accepted it. I was a loner most of the time, preferring to stay away from people."
It didn't sound like the greatest life to me.
"How about you?" Blaine asked me.
"My dad died a little over a year ago. I live with my mom and sister on the reservation near the town of Forks." The thought of Leah and Mom gave me a lump in my throat. "I bet they miss me like crazy."
Blaine listened to me. My speech was shorter then him, though he kept silent longer. Then he lunged forward, grabbed the bars of the cage, and pulled them apart.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"I'm helping you!"
He tore the cage apart. I fell to the ground in a heap and disentangled myself from the twisted metal.
"Why?" Was all I could ask.
"Because you still have a life worth living."
"Excuse me?" I asked as I stood up and stretched.
"My life is over. I go against nature. I'm alive, yet dead. I'm immortal, yet I can die. You still have a life. You didn't ask for any of this. Neither did I, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm damned, but if I'm going to spend the rest of my existence like this, then I can at least try and do something good. I'm going to help you escape from the god-awful place. When those doors open and the newborns see you, they're going to attack out of fear and anger. I can stop them for a moment, but you have to take that time and run. Run as fast of you can and get out of here. Get back to your friends and warn them about Maria. Maybe you all can fight off the army."
"But what about you?" I asked him, concerned.
"I'll probably die," he said, not sounding bothered about it, "But if I can escape, then I'll get back to my family, leave them a letter explaining not to look for me, and go North. I'll start hunting animals, maybe try and build a life somewhere. But it's a long shot, and I'm not counting on existing much longer. My main focus is to get you out of here. Run as soon as you can!"
Blaine ran over to my cage and picked up its remains. I was touched, deeply touched that he was risking his life to set me free.
"Thank you." It was all I could say.
Blaine nodded, and stood in front of the doors. I was right beside him.
"Ready?" he asked. I nodded.
He threw the cage. It slammed into the door, knocking it open. The newborns, who were fighting over the remnants of a human, looked up in surprise.
Blaine crouched, and put his hands out in front of him. I couldn't feel his power, but I saw it.
The newborns closest to the doors were thrown back. The ones behind them did the same, until all of the newborns were pinned against the wall. Blaine looked at me.
"I can feel Veronica trying to break through, she's the strongest out of them all except me. GO!"
I ran and jumped out of the doorway, phasing mid-flight. I ran out the doors and was blinded by the sunlight. It actually staggered me. I ignored it and ran. And I kept running. But then I felt the heat soar past me, and-
An explosion shattered the air. I felt fire lick at me. It burned and me and ravaged my body. I faintly heard, "Keep running Seth!" I caught a glimpse of Veronica standing in the doorway, not moving into the sunlight. Her face was livid. And then I bolted. I had burns all along my body, but I ignored the pain. I just ran and ran and ran away from that damned place as far as I could.
After several hours, I finally stopped, having out considerable distance between me and the warehouse. I was still too far away to contact my pack. Hoping that Blaine was alright, I staggered into and alleyway in some city and immediately fell to the ground asleep.
After several blessed hours of sleep, I awoke with a start as a cold hand touched my shoulder. Expecting Maria, I instinctively backed away and prepared for a fight.
"Easy! It's me."
I rubbed my eyes. "Blaine?"
He actually smiled slightly. "Yeah. I got out of the warehouse before Veronica and Logan blew it up. Maria's not going to be happy about that, it probably destroyed most of the newborns. She'll have to start all over again."
"Good." That would slow her down considerably.
"Well, I came to check and see if you got out okay. I'll be going back now."
He turned to leave, but I grabbed his icy shoulder.
"No. Come with me. My friends can help you."
He shook his head. "I can only travel by night. I'll slow you down."
"I don't care. You saved me. I owe you."
"Are you sure?" he asked, worried.
"Absolutely."
He smiled again, but it had more hope this time.
We waited an hour or two until dark, and set off again. I was running in wolf form, and he ran beside me.
Leah, tell everyone I'm on my way home at last.
This is NOT the end. Blaine and Seth still have to survive the trip back home. They also have to warn the Cullens and fight off Maria's army, which will most definitely return. I really like Blaine, he reminds me of Edward a lot.
Also, here's a sneak preveiw of Chapter Four!
The fire raced around us, billowing into a circle. Blaine tried to push it back, but the flames refused to falter. Ice seeped through, amzingly not water yet, and held our feet to the ground. Lightning sparked, and a BOOM shook the ground. They had found us.
"Hello, Seth."
*ominous music* HAHA! Anyways, please review! And thanks to ReonRewan, Team Seth . Leah and Jake, and RachyIsMe for reviewing the last chapter! R&R!
Review Question(I'm doing these now): Do you like Blaine? Or shoul he stay as a minor character? (I haven't described him yet because Seth has only seen him i darkness. He'll be described in the next chapter.) But what do you think of him?