Chapter Twelve

A/N: Heya! I have had a thought. It seems the chapter names are pretty boring, they need livening up. So, I propose you awesome peoples have a competition! The best chapter names that you come up with will be used for this story! Of course, people will need to keep sending them in for the rest of the story, but I just need names for the chapters that are here so far. Please send them in via a review, or a PM. Thanks! P.S: Don't forget to tell me what chapter they're for!

The clouds encased the whole of Forks, the whole of Washington. They blackened the whole sky. Where they caved in was the heart of the forest. And there she stood, dressed in finery beyond that of mere mortals. Necromancer's robes draped over her, only her face on show. That pale, young face that had drawn many a human in, only for them to realise it was their last moment on the planet.

The horizontal rain sliced the air like daggers. Laughing, Nimueh stroked Jasper's face, "You're very awkward, aren't you, boy? But your memories, they amuse me." A growl rose from the male vampire's chest.

"Keep away from me witch, you don't belong here. Go die in that lake of yours." His biting tone took the witch aback. She was not used to being told something of the future by a vampire.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, Nimueh gave him a gentle smile, "Oh, I'm just doing my job. Being High Priestess Of The Old Religion, it's my duty to balance the scales of life and death." With a slight squeeze of her hand, Jasper yelled in excruciating pain. "Now, you lot are supposed to be dead. If not from the incidents that caused the kind doctor to change you, it would be from age. So, none of you should be alive."

In the shadows, Alice was, bound to a tree by the filth she called magic. Watching intently, the pixie girl opened her mind, trying to see past the barriers that had been created around her. It was nion-impossible. It didn't help she was almost drowning in the sea of emotions she was flooded with. She was a burning ball of fire, rage and wrath. However, the female vampire was also flooded by terror and depression. There her husband was tied to a tree, defenceless against the necromancer. A few feet away from her lay the corpse of her best friend, the hero. His pale face, almost as if he was finally at ease, facing away from the group.

So this was how Edward had felt. Knowing the one you cared for was dead. Never able to speak to them again. Not able to make a witty remark and hear their laugh. Not able to see their smile lighten their face.

Back at the house, Edward burst in carrying his adoptive mother. Already, Carlisle had prepared another bed which Esme was carefully placed. The doctor's wife lay calm, eyes gently shut, as if waiting. Kissing his wife on the head, Carlisle braced himself as he bit her tender neck. The warmth of the blood touching his lips. The tingling as it ran down his throat. The urge to carry on, but the restraint to push her away. But only just.

"So that's all you do? Bite them? Seems pretty cheap to me. I thought you'd trade blood or something." Stated the blond prince, arms crossed, leaning against the far wall. Stepping forwards, he looked at the doctor's expression and sighed. "Okay, I may've been defensive before, but you've got to understand, I hate this. You tell me I'm surrounded by vampires and of course I'm going to hold prejudices. I've been bought up by King Uther Pendragon."

Nodding, Carlisle placed his pale hands into his pockets, "I felt the same way you did. I had a father that bought me up hunting these things, the duty passed down to me. I hated the job, I hated vampires and such too, though. When I became what I feared, because that's all hate is; fear, I attempted to commit suicide. It did no good." The two males sat together on the sofa. "But my hate of vampires, of myself, I managed to utilise it and feed on animals, staying away from humans for a time. Now look at me. I have a high enough restraint to bite someone and still pull away."

"I bet, when you pull away, you think that you should carry on, just to stop them from feeling the same pain, the same loneliness you did." They were now speaking on the same page. "I can't help but hate myself. I sent Merlin to his grave. I'll kill Nimueh when I get my hands on her."

Edward then approached the prince, "You can tell me where Jacob is can't you?" It sounded less like a question, more of a statement. The copper-haired vampire knew this must've been Arthur's special ability; to see where people were at the exact moment. It was like an odd version of Alice's ability, except, Arthur was able to see what was happening to people at that moment.

"Running towards a river with a large mossy rock on it's bank, why?" The prince answered in confusion.

Sitting back, Carlisle just watched as Edward kneeled to the blond boy's level, "Can you tell me where Billy Black is?" It was an odd question to ask, but the copper-haired boy knew what he was doing.

"Fishing with another man. Drinking from, uh, cans? Red Rooster. Now, I demand you tell me why you're asking me this!"

"Where's Merlin?"

"I don't kno-, actually. He's in a clearing. But, how did you know?" The prince jumped up, "What sorcery is this?!" He backed away. "You tricked me Cullen!"

Carefully standing up, Edward spoke, "I'm no sorcerer, I just bought my most prized human ability and it became superhuman as I became a vampire. Therefore, you must've had the desire to know where everyone you knew or cared about was at all times, because you've bought it over and you've been granted what you want."

"If you can't trust us, you have no one, the Quileutes want what's best for you, sending you straight back here. It's safer with us, please, just believe me." Carlisle reassured the paranoid prince.

Suddenly, a rope of flame smashed through the window, only just missing Arthur, instead rapping itself around Edward, and within seconds, he was out of eyesight.

The flame binding filled the copper haired vampire with searing pain. The more he struggled, the more it burnt. It felt like he had been thrown on a pyre and held there by werewolves. In a matter of seconds he was released, landing on the floor of a clearing. Right next to him was a motionless Merlin. It was a sudden, human, bout of panic that filled him. He felt immobilised all he could see was the body that was in his peripheral vision, and the canopy above.

It felt like forever until he heard someone's voice, "He's certainly unique. A boy that has endured two childhoods and deaths. Yet, never died." A woman's pale face entered his eye line. "Hello, you must be Edward. It is not my place to say where your future lies, but I must warn you; if you do not act appropriately, there will be no point in keeping the secret, for it wouldn't ever happen."

From the distance, there was a scream. The voice? Unmistakeable.

Bella's.