Merry Christmas! It's Christmas Eve, and here's your Christmas present! Enjoy!

Migrane - Megan McCauley

Chapter Sixteen

Francesca's POV

The Cullens could be so interesting. Always stirring trouble among the immortals. The worst trouble they had ever gotten into was when Edward went to the pathetic Volturi, begging them to kill him. And all because he thought his human lover had died. After he had left her alone in the mercy of any vampires that happened to come by. Including Francesca. As an eternal being, Francesca had seen many things. But never before had she found a case where an immortal – she hated the modern term of 'vampire' – and a human shared the same appearance. And a human in such a situation! Falling in love with all the Cullen sons.

Ah, well. Francesca thought. After my little game they'll see how pointless it is to love a vermin.

She stood for a moment, letting the captives take in her appearance.

"Well, hello everyone." Francesca's mouth pulled into a grin as she saw the looks of surprise on the Cullens' faces. Walking slowly, she passed the three vampires held captive. She stopped at each one.

"Alice Cullen. Never knew of your human life, but you found Jasper Hale as an immortal and joined the Olympic Coven. You have a gift of seeing the future." Francesca nodded and moved on.

"Emmett Cullen. Changed in 1935 by Carlisle Cullen. Your mate used to be Rosalie Cullen – or does she now go by Rosalie Hale? I see you've left her for Isabella Swan." She kept smiling at their horror. Francesca knew everything about this bunch. Taking a few more steps forward, she frowned at the third vampire.

"And who might this be?" she placed a finger on the girl's chin and lifted it. She looked like she had been blessed – Francesca's term for bitten – at a young age. About fifteen? As she concentrated more, a memory rushed back of this girl.

"Ah," she sighed. "Now I remember. Alicia McCarthy. Younger sister of Emmett – formerly – McCarthy. I didn't know you'd been blessed. Well, congratulations on you're reuniting with your brother." Alicia leaned her head down and spat at Francesca, who managed to dance out of the way.

"No, no, young one. That won't get you anywhere." She purred, twirling back to the centre of their circle.

"Laurent," she whispered, almost inaudibly. He flashed to her side.

"Why is Alicia here?" it was more of a quiet snap at him, and Laurent's face fell for a second.

"Recent...research, has shown me that before they were Changed -" he started.

"Blessed." Francesca corrected him.

"Right. Before they were blessed," he paused to look at her. "They had a very close relationship. In fact, on what I observed earlier today, they still do." Francesca nodded. Love for others was the key connection to all the players in this game. She smiled again and walked back to Alice. She stood staring at her for a minute, before turning to face the vampires on her side.

"Okay, boys. Round them up. All in different cars, to the Cave." The Cave wasn't a real cave – but it was the name of the underground facility they were going to.

Bella's POV

"HEY!" Bella screamed. "I know you're there! Let me out of here!" She had been sitting in this darkness for what could've been hours or years. All she knew was that she was starving and needed to get out of there. She had walked around the whole room three times, tracing her hands along the wall blindly. She found no doors. After that she had crawled along the floor, still not finding a door. That meant the door had to be above her. The only things that were in the room were her and a tiny speaker that let out the voice of a stranger that was probably watching her through some little camera on the ceiling. She was so hungry and tired from slamming her fists against the walls. Now she was slumped in a corner, breathing slowly and resting. She couldn't see, but knew that her fist was bruised.

A creaking noise filled the room, making Bella freeze. Her head whipped around the room, looking for the source of the noise. The noise repeated itself after a small thud. It sounded as if someone had fallen from the ceiling and landed on their feet. Bella held her breath and pressed herself harder against the wall. She didn't dare make a noise.

"Tired of yelling, huh?" her own – modified – voice spoke again. Bella still couldn't get over the shock of it. By 'modified' she meant that this copy of her voice sounded...better in ways. It was smooth and beautiful, and it reminded Bella of wind chimes. But it was still Bella's.

"Aw, our little screamer is too scared to talk." Something touched Bella's cheek, and she jumped, shoving herself backwards. She couldn't retreat any further, and finally let out her breath.

"Surprised? Can you tell so quickly that we are...the same?" her voice asked.

"The same?" Bella built up the nerve to talk. Her replying voice was somehow closer.

"Yes. I'm shocked you haven't caught on that our voices are the same, if not appearances." She paused. "But of course, you can't see in here, can you? How about we bring some light to the matter?" Bella could almost hear the grin in her words. Not understanding what she was saying, she didn't have time to shield her eyes from the burst of light that infiltrated them. Someone had flicked a switch, and a white light engulfed the room, blinding Bella. Her hands flew up to her eyes, covering them. She tucked her head in her knees and squeezed her eyes shut before slowly opening them. Her eyes adjusted faster than she expected, and she looked around the bright room. The first thing she noticed was: White. The walls were all perfectly white, with no marks or scratches. It turned out Bella's wall-beating hadn't had any effect on the paint. She was right about no doors. The little machine was small and white, with black buttons. As she looked up, she noticed a lot of hanging white lights illuminated the room. They cleared in a small space where a little trap-door was fitted into the ceiling. But she looked over these small details quickly – what she really noticed was the girl standing in the middle of the room.

Her dark clothing stood out among the whiteness. Black, strappy boots and dark blue jeans. A charcoal blouse was beneath an unzipped black leather jacket. As Bella's eyes continued up, she saw straight, brunette hair hanging down over her shoulders. But her face was the most shocking. At first, Bella had to blink to make sure she was seeing correctly. But there it was.

She was looking at herself.

Not herself exactly – but what looked like her twin. Her features were slightly different, she had deathly pale skin and her face was beautiful, only unlike Bella's in certain places. But anyone that glanced once could see that she was identical to Bella. Above all, her eyes stood out. They blazed a magnificent crimson against her pale face. She was truly terrifying...and yet she smiled darkly at Bella. She made no movement and didn't speak, but waited for Bella to talk first.

"I...h-how do we...how do we l-look the s-same?" she stuttered, standing unsteadily. The other Bella folded her arms across her chest.

"Now that's a mystery." She shrugged lightly. "We're probably distantly related – genetics are always doing weird things."

"I...w-where am I?" Bella stammered, eyes circling back to the trap door on the ceiling.

"Oh, an interesting question. You were out long enough for us to travel to nearly anywhere in the world – with the right means of transportation. Where do you think you are?" the vampire Bella asked.

"I-I don't know. Who are y-you? And w-what do you w-want?" Bella was still too shocked to manage a steady sentence.

"So many questions. Not enough answers. Ah, might as well tell you. It's not like you'll be leaving anytime soon. My name is..." she paused for dramatic effect. "Francesca Antoinette. An immortal since...sometime in the B.C.'s. I don't remember exactly. Time flies when you have infinite of it. I've been gathering information on you and the Cullens for a few years now – I find their lifestyle intriguing, also the fact that they keep you as more than a pet. And of course, I've studied our family trees. Trying to find a relation. Anyway, to more important points...I really don't want much. Just to have some fun. And I find that that comes most easily by taking it from others. Games. Level one is about to start..." with that and a devilish grin, Francesca twirled away and leapt up to the trap door.

In a time shorter than a second, she was gone. Thankfully, the lights stayed on. Bella tried to reach the trap door, but it was too high for her reach. So instead, she staggered backward and slid down the wall, into a relative sitting position.

I'll die here. She thought miserably. She'll kill me. There was no reason that a vampire like Francesca would have any reason for keeping Bella alive. She leaned her head into her knees and began to sob. She would never get to tell Emmett that she loved him. That she only ended their relationship to end her pain. She would never kiss him again...never feel his cold touch again. Tears flooded her eyes.

This was how Bella Swan would die.

Jason's POV

So that was the Blessing.

Jason was told that when he became an immortal, as it was constantly promised to him, it would be amazing. Speed, strength, eternal youth...immortality. But he had been bitten by accident, not at all what he had agreed with Francesca. But that meant that Jason didn't owe her...and he was free.

The whole time – he had been stupid enough to believe that April was human. He had always thought that she never changed – but never pursued his thoughts. He remembered something that Francesca had told him about animal blood...how it diluted a vampire's eyes and made them golden. April's eyes were gold. Did that mean she didn't kill humans? Shame on her. For not accepting what she was. Jason had known about vampires nearly all his life – working for one named Francesca.

She had always promised him immortality – as long as he served her. He did so, always hoping that his 'Blessing', as she called it, would come faster. But it never came. This way, this accident, was much easier. Now he was strong enough to fulfil his purpose for wanting to become a vampire.

To kill Francesca.

Jason's new speed was amazing. He could reach places metres away in a millisecond – and he never got tired. Currently, he was running through the forest on the side of the highway, following nothing in particular. Francesca would contact Jason if she needed – she definitely had the resources to find him. But he thought of this as...a vacation. A little immortality-trial.

Jasper's POV

Jasper could sense something wrong as he slowed to a walk through the trees. The shadows seemed to shift around him.

He barely had a moment's warning when the vampires attacked.

They were nearly too much for Jasper to handle at first – he managed to get the first one off of him. About nine of them had melted out of the shadows and charged him – forming a circle. One had lunged and tried to wrap his arms around Jasper. Obviously an untrained newborn. Jasper had experience with this sort of thing and tossed the vampire aside after a few seconds. But they kept coming. Attacking in bigger groups, the nine of them managed to take Jasper down. They got their arms around his, one holding each arm and another with a hand around his neck. A fatal vampire position. The other six formed a circle around them, escorting the many vampires to the large truck ahead.

"Gotcha." One of the vampires whispered in Jasper's direction. Looking up, Jasper noticed that he was wearing a Santa hat.

Again - Merry Christmas! I snuck a little Christmas reference in Jasper's POV. Hope you guys have a great xmas - don't waste it ALL reading though, spend some time with family! Another chapter should roll in tommorow - I'm trying to keep up this day-to-day thing. :)