Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 46 Execution
BPOV
With a glance at me, Rosalie an' Em turn and retreat into the house, rushing upstairs to be with Esme. Good move.
Carlisle is silent other than the occasional grunt as he tries to free himself from Pete an' Demetri's grip. Simon moves forward an' relieves Pete an' it's immediately obvious that he an' Demetri have done this many times because Carlisle is twisted an' dangled into a position in which it's almost impossible to struggle without rending his own limbs.
"Sorry about the lack of clothes sweet thing." Pete drawls, removing his hat an' fanning his face. "They got totalled in the struggle an' who knew the Doc went commando."
I say nothing, Carlisle has obviously been injured. His skin is coated in venom an' there are still open wounds struggling to knit.
Beside me The Major draws himself up to his full height.
"Get him out of my sight." He growls. "We must wait for the wolves."
Demetri an' Simon lug him off into the trees motioning for some of the Guard to follow them.
Char darts over an' wraps me in a tight hug.
"You okay hun?"
I nod slightly burying my face in her hair.
"Was it bad?" She asks quietly.
"A huh."
"You're okay now an' J's safe." She soothes me. "I don't know how this shit with the Cullens is gonna go down but you'll just have to grin an' bear it."
I manage another nod an' she releases me with one last squeeze, grabbing my arms an' staring hard into my eyes.
"Whatever happens sug we're a family an' we'll deal with it together, okay?"
"Okay."
"Excellent." She says smiling. "Petey pie I'm a dirty woman, wanna help me shower?"
"Of course Mrs Whitlock." Pete answers smartly tipping me a lascivious wink. "All Mrs Whitlocks are welcome of course."
The Major growls in warning an' Pete scampers after his laughing wife.
As alone as we'll ever be I sidle up to him an' wrap my arms around his waist, resting my cheek on his heart scar. He briefly kisses the top of my head an' then resumes staring intently into the trees where the others disappeared with Carlisle.
An' that's how the wolves find us an' hour later.
Sam is in human form. Jake, Jared an' Quil who are in their wolf forms absolutely dwarf him.
They approach cautiously as vampires descend on the meadow from all directions.
"You have him?" Sam asks.
The Major nods an' gestures to the trees where Demetri an' Simon come into view, a subdued Carlisle still suspended between them.
After flicking his eyes over Carlisle he returns his gaze to The Major, his expression curious.
"Jasper is The Major." I attempt to explain. "In a situation like this The Major kind of takes over. It's, um, better for everybody."
"We have seen the change in his persona when we hunted him." Sam responds. "Is he safe?"
"Until he starts smilin'." Pete chips in strolling up to join us, hair still wet from the shower. "Then it's best to start runnin' in the other direction."
Sam runs his eyes over The Major doubtfully an' then returns his attention to Pete. "What happens now?" He asks.
Before Pete can answer an agonised shriek rends the air.
"We found the human." Pete explains. "Carlisle bit her. She's changin'."
Sam closes his eyes an' appears to count to ten, limbs trembling an' heat pouring off him while the wolves fidget an' growl.
I sense the backwash as The Major shoots calm at everyone. Even Lisa's suddenly vocal suffering becomes more subdued.
"Carlisle's mate an' family are carin' for her." Pete says easily. "They want her to live."
Sam opens his eyes an' snorts.
"We have different ideas what alive is, wolf." Pete says darkly. "One of us could go up there now an' snap her neck, then she'd be dead an' we'd have killed her. Or, we can let her wake to a new kind of life, give her a chance to fulfil her potential in a different way. Which would you prefer?
"She will kill humans!" Sam objects.
"How do you know?" Pete demands roughly. "Half the vampires here don't kill humans an' some of 'em never have. Do you feel justified in ending her life just in case? Because if you do I feel justified in wantin' to know who made you judge, jury an' executioner?"
Sam opens his mouth an' then closes it again. The wolves hunker down on their haunches, watching.
"Let's deal with Cullen, who is a despicable fuckin' monster by any creature's standards an' worry about the rest of it later." Pete suggests.
With a small smile Sam nods.
"Bring." The Major commands an' Carlisle is dragged closer an' thrown to the ground, Demetri an' Simon pressing their feet into his back.
Up close a collection of scars are visible on his torso, some of them very new an' some of them clearly quite old. Just how much do any of us really know about him?
"What the fuck?" The Major demands.
It's not particularly articulate but it accurately conveys what we all want to know, not all modern speech patterns are bad.
"You killed my son." He spits out, not deigning to raise his head.
"He was insane." The Major counters. "Beyond help. We had a family to save, we couldn't have done anythin' for him."
"You didn't even try!" Carlisle howls.
"No." The Major admits quietly. "We didn't. I couldn't. My children, my mate, they were all in danger. It was not a risk I was prepared to take. I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Carlisle laughs, raising his head to look at The Major. "You're a soulless monster, an inveterate murderer, what do you know about sorry?"
Enraged at the injustice of his words I dart forwards an' kick him in the head. The snap of his neck is a sickening sound an' I regret it even as Char an' Pete drag me back. Way to fulfil someone's low expectations.
The Major's hand brushes mine in a gesture of comfort as I'm pulled behind him. Ashamed I cast my eyes down an' cling to Pete's hand.
"You don't know anythin' about me." The Major growls. "You never bothered to find out. An' you know even less about Bella so don't you dare judge anyone here.
On a personal level you tried to destroy my relationship with my mate. On a family level you gave information to my enemy an' placed them all in danger. An' on a global level you attacked the power that restrains all vampires.
On a moral level you kidnapped an innocent girl an' manipulated two factions into trying to annihilate each other. An' in doin' so you sentenced your own family to death.
Don't you fuckin' dare attempt to judge me, us."
Carlisle laughs dryly. "See. You are a monster."
"How fucking dare you!" Rosalie shrieks arriving suddenly in our midst. "He won't kill us. Any of us. And you would have sacrificed any one of us for your precious Edward. You must think we came up the river on a biscuit. We know you, we lived with you. Even Esme, she knows you."
The sound of broken sobbing drifts out of the house. Esme.
"I made you a family." Carlisle gasps, apparently hurt by her vitriol.
"No you fucking didn't!" Rosalie screeches. "Esme did. You did nothing. She looked after us, cared about us, brought us together and protected us from your disappointment. Alice and Edward made all the money. Em and Jasper did all the hard stuff you didn't want to sully your surgeon's hands with. You were just the puppet master. You never loved anybody but Edward, not even your wife. You fucking disgust me!"
Breaking down she turns away an' buries her head in Em's chest.
Upstairs in the house Esme's sobbing redoubles. Thank god Jasper has The Major otherwise he'd be on his knees by now. I wish I was, I've no idea what's holding me up, stubbornness I guess.
"You ungrateful bitch." Carlisle snarls. "You never were good enough for us, I should never have turned you."
"And didn't you always make sure I knew it." She whispers clutching at her mate.
"Kill him." Em growls, turning an' guiding Rosalie back into the house.
Behind us Esme howls in pain.
Demetri an' Simon jerk Carlisle to his feet, still keeping his arms extended an' twisted back.
A knot forms in my stomach. I've shot one human, drained another, killed a wolf an' countless vampires. But this is different an' suddenly I really appreciate the scale of the favour Alice did me. I could never have made Rutilio suffer the way part of me wanted to. Never. Fighting for survival an' acting in cold blood to ensure it are two very different things.
What Jasper is about to do makes me respect him even more, because even though I know it needs to be done an' Carlisle deserves it, I couldn't. An' Jasper doesn't want to, I can feel it, but he will. Because it has to be done an' people he cares about depend on it, an' he would never ask anyone else to do it for him.
I lower my mental shield an' push my love at him.
The Major turns briefly an' manages a small non-murderous smile.
Nodding at Demetri an' Simon he leans down into Carlisle's face.
"I cannot let you go." He says quietly. "The best defence my family has is me an' I can't let the risk you present pass. I can't lock you up for twenty years an' trust you'll learn the error of your ways."
"So you will just kill me?" Carlisle drawls. "Of course, that is how you deal with all your issues. Murder them."
"You haven't left me any choice." The Major informs him, drawing back. "Sam?"
"Kill him." Sam pronounces folding his arms across his chest.
"Fire." The Major orders.
Immediately the Guard are lopping down trees an' buildin' a pyre. Char steps forward an' ignites it. The woman's always prepared.
While all this is going on I watch Carlisle in morbid fascination. He's strangely calm for someone who is clearly about to be executed, I would have expected screaming, cursing, pleading an' frantic struggling but there is none of that. Instead he is observing us with an expression of his I recognise, superiority an' barely concealed disgust.
Carlisle narrows his eyes at The Major.
"I have faith." He snarls viciously. "Faith that you and your whore will eventually get what you deserve. The pair of you and the scum you call your family."
Curling his lip in the semblance of a smile The Major lifts his booted foot an' kicks Doctor Carlisle Cullen in the chest sending him arcing backwards into the waiting flames.
Esme screams as her mate drops into the fire, the flames immediately igniting the venom on his skin an' surging into his open wounds.
Carlisle's tortured screams fill the air an' drown out all other sound as the trees implacably reflect them back. Despite the fire's voracious hunger for his flammable venom he writhes an' squirms, dragging himself slowly back towards the edge, screaming with inhuman agony an' rage as the conflagration consumes him. Somehow he manages to get the top half of his body out of the fire an' onto the grass but it still consumes him, racing along the venom in his veins like sparks along a trail of gun powder an' burning him from within.
It's horrific to see, hear and smell.
Unable to stand it any longer I summon up my shield an' crush him. I will never know for sure if it was an act of mercy for him or for us.
The Major throws his head back an' vents his feelings on the heavens with a mighty roar.
It starts to rain.
The Cowboy Coven withdraw to a respectful distance leaving the nucleus of the Whitlocks to face the wolves.
"We are satisfied." Sam says quietly, lifting his eyes from the grisly remains, part burning limbs an' part sizzling dust.
The Major nods.
"We will talk later." Sam continues. "In the meantime as long as no further humans are injured you are safe within our lands."
"Thank you." Pete says sincerely finally releasing my hand from the death grip he's held it in.
"I am sorry." Sam says, speaking just for me.
"Me too." I reply in kind.
He dips his head in acknowledgement an' turns, trotting into the woods with the other wolves shadowing him.
My attention reverts to The Major who is still clenched tight.
Flicking my hand I gently shoo the others into the house, we need some privacy an' maybe they can do something to pacify Esme whose sobs are threatening to bring the house down.
Moving forwards I rest my hand lightly on The Major's rigid arm.
He exhales loudly.
After an age the muscles in his arm start to relax an' eventually he sighs
"You have hat hair." He observes, removing my hat from his head an' plopping it gently back onto mine.
Tugging at his hand I pull him down into the long grass of the meadow an' curl up against him.
"I'm sorry you had to do that." I whisper.
His arms tighten around me but he's got nothing to say on the subject which is hardly surprising.
Not knowing what else to do I keep my mental shield down an' lay there with him as the sun travels across the sky above us an' tips us over into the night.
There is more activity around us now an' the rain has finally stopped. It's time to get up an' get on with the business of living.
We still have Esme an' Lisa to deal with.