AN: Here ya go, for your reading pleasure, a little drama to go with your fluff. It's massive too - three times the length of a normal chapter. It's not the confrontation you all wanted, but it's not filler either. So enjoy!
Chapter 35 - All Over The Place
JasperPOV
I felt buckets of mischievousness pouring downstairs from Bella's room, which immediately aroused my curiosity, especially knowing she was in there with Rose. Mischievousness was not a common emotion for Rose, who was frequently irritated, annoyed, and exasperated whenever Emmett was feeling that emotion particularly strongly.
I opened up my senses, trying to eavesdrop on the girls' conversation to see what they were planning and who the unlucky victim was. With Rose in on it, it could easily get vicious. Her methods of revenge for any pranks played on her over the years had quickly made all the guys, especially Emmett, decide to tease her rather sparingly. She tended to return tenfold any mischief sent her way.
"Okay, I don't usually participate in Emmett's shenanigans, so you'll have to help me out a bit here. What do you recommend?" Rose asked.
"Is he here?" Bella questioned carefully and quietly.
A few seconds passed while Rose sensed for her mate. "Nah, he's still out hunting," she replied, amused and hopeful.
"Awesome!" Bella cheered. "Okay, the best way to plan a prank is to think about what is important to the victim. So, what does Emmett love best? I mean, what inanimate objects are most important to him?"
"His TV, his video games, and his jeep," Rose instantly provided. I smiled to myself, relieved I wasn't the one chosen to be on the receiving end of their bonding experience. Emmett was a perpetual prankster, we'd all been the victim of his idea of 'fun', including Esme and Charlotte. He deserved whatever he got, and the whole family would enjoy seeing him on the receiving end, vicarious payback for the things he'd done to all of us.
I could feel Bella's joy, amusement, and agreement as Rose played along. "Exactly!," Bella praised. "That's how we get him, doing something to mess up one of those three things. Like, if we painted his jeep bright pink, or disconnected the cable, or something like that."
Rose nodded, but sighed. "I understand, but we'll have to get more creative than that. Painting his jeep has been done before, more than once, so it wouldn't pack much of a punch. He's the one who sets up the TV and other technology each time we move, so a disconnected cable wouldn't stop him for long. And messing up his video games will just make him mad, which would defeat the purpose. He'd just storm out and buy new ones."
"Hmmm," Bella thought, slightly disappointed and discouraged, but still excited and determined. They eagerly traded ideas back and forth for half an hour, giggling at the more outlandish and unrealistic ones. I sensed it the moment Bella had an idea she thought was perfect. Her relief, anticipation, mischievousness, and excitement told the story. I listened carefully, wondering what she had come up with, but she decided to whisper whatever it was into Rose's ear, keeping it private between them.
Rose's emotions grew to match Bella's, and I knew they'd hit upon the idea they would put into practice.
"C'mon let's order some things online!" Rose exclaimed, snickering.
Bella giggled playfully, happy and amused. They continued whispering for a while longer, the mouse periodically clicking, accompanied by muffled laughter.
I silently crept upstairs and went into my room. My room shared a wall with hers, so I sat on the floor right next to it, trying to listen to their whispering to figure out what they were doing. After a few quiet moments, I was thrilled to be able to hear Bella's whispered words.
"Rose, do you think I'm pretty?"
"Of course, Bella!" Rose replied, forgetting to whisper in her surprise at the question. "You're more than pretty. You're absolutely stunningly beautiful." I could feel her sincerity and earnestness as she answered.
"Shh!" Bella hissed.
"Sorry," Rose whispered, feeling chagrinned.
A few more minutes passed with only one or two mouse clicks. I could feel Rose's hope Bella would continue if she didn't push her.
"Rose?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Jasper thinks I'm beautiful?"
I could feel Rose's conflicting emotions, but couldn't hear it in her reassuring response. "I know he does, sweetheart. He's said it more than once when talking about you."
"Really?" she asked, full of hope.
"Really," Rose assured her.
"Awesome," Bella whispered, a smile in her voice. I reveled in her happiness and relief.
It was quiet between the two of them for a few more minutes.
Finally, Bella blurted, "I think he's beautiful too. I mean, handsome. I mean, all the guys in our family are good looking, but Jasper's the best."
Rose chuckled. "We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, sweetie. Obviously, I think Emmet is the best looking."
Bella snickered. "You have to think that. He's your mate."
"Hmmm, I suppose you're right," Rose agreed. "It's natural for vampires to think their own mates are the best looking."
"I can't imagine anyone looking better than Jasper," Bella admitted. "I don't really know how it would be possible. I hope my mate looks just like him."
My lips twitched in amusement, but I couldn't help being pleased that Bella liked the way I looked, despite all my scars. They obviously didn't bother her at all.
"Really? Just like him?" Rose gently teased.
"Mmhmm," Bella agreed. "I really like the way he smells too. He has the best smell out of the whole family."
Rose chuckled again. "I think Emmett smells the best. I love to be close enough to take in deep lungfuls of his scent."
"Oh! So that's why I always hear you gasping when you two are in your room!"
Rose didn't reply, but I could feel her embarrassment. It was all I could do not to project my own amusement through the wall, which would alert them to my presence.
"Um, what else do you like about Jasper?" she asked, no doubt trying to change the subject.
"I love the sound of his voice. Whenever I hear his voice, it just makes me happier. I love to listen to him when he tells me stories or teaches me things," Bella admitted. She paused then added, "I like it when he holds me too. I always feel so safe when he wraps his arms around me. He gives the best hugs."
"And kisses?" Rose probed.
"What?" Bella asked, slightly confused.
"Does he give the best kisses too?"
I could practically hear Bella biting on her lip. Okay, so I couldn't hear it, but I sure could picture it.
"Well, I do like his kisses, but . . ."
"Yes? But . . ."
"But sometimes I wish he would kiss me more. I think . . . maybe . . . I'd like it . . . if he kissed me on the lips. Is that wrong?" she confessed, feeling uncertain and vulnerable. I held my breath, knowing this was a critical moment, and Rose's response could make her or break her right now.
Thankfully, Rose 'rose' to the occasion, calming her fears admirably. "No, it's not wrong. It's normal to start thinking about kissing when you start growing up and thinking about finding your mate."
Bella's relief was palpable. "I also love being close to him. Just being near him makes me feel better. I frequently find myself searching for him, just wanting to be in the same room as him. It's like I have a little compass inside me that knows which way to go to find him."
I felt Rose's resignation and acceptance at this little tidbit of news. She was definitely feeling the mating pull, and there was no going back from here. It was just a matter of time now.
"I have the same thing, except for Emmett," Rose told her. "My inner compass is telling me he's almost home now."
"Oh, okay. I guess I'll just go join Jasper in his room."
"He's in his room?" Rose asked, her suspicion darting my way, stabbing at me. She clearly suspected I'd been eavesdropping on their conversation. I darted silently over to the other side of the room and grabbed a book, flipping it open and settling into my chair just in the nick of time. My bedroom door flung open, and I looked up to see Rose standing in the doorway, frowning at me suspiciously.
"Yes, Rose?" I asked innocently.
She huffed, but left without a word, and my darling girl came into my room with a shy smile. I smiled back and asked her what she wanted to do. She asked me to read to her, and I spent many pleasant hours with her curled up in my lap, reading to her.
xxxxxxx
A mysterious package arrived in the mail this morning, and I knew it was related to the prank by the girls' emotions when they received it. Rose waited until everyone was otherwise occupied to sneak into the family room and make some highly suspicious shuffling noises. Bella did her part by being the distraction that kept everyone otherwise occupied by throwing a true teenage temper tantrum. Thankfully, I could tell by her emotions that she was faking it and knew the reason why, thanks to yesterday's espionage, so I didn't get worried or upset like I would have otherwise. Like a good mate, I also didn't give her game away, simply watching the proceedings with my best poker face, while dying of laughter on the inside. It took all my control not to project my feelings to the rest of the crew, but I was glad my internal amusement was strong enough to push back all their negative emotions, so I didn't get swept under by them, like I usually would.
It all started in the kitchen. Bella stomped into the room where Char and Esme were talking amicably together. Esme had been reassuring Char that Bella wouldn't love her any less now that she was her aunt, rather than one of her mothers. She had explained some of the advantages to the aunt role vs. the mother role, such as the ability to take the child, spoil them rotten, and then give them back to mom and dad, never having to be the 'heavy'. Char had been coming around to the idea, beginning to focus on the positives, when Bella loudly and rudely interrupted their private conversation.
"I want to go shopping! Now!" Bella demanded.
"Bella, watch your tone. That is not a respectful way to treat us," Esme gently reprimanded. In the past, one gentle reprimand was usually all it took. Unfortunately for Esme, Bella was dead set on causing a commotion.
"You keep me locked up here like a prisoner!" Bella accused, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.
Esme and Char both stared wide eyed and slack jawed at her, shocked by her uncharacteristic behavior. Char recovered first and held her hands up to her chest, palm facing outwards, in a gesture of surrender. She looked straight at Esme and smirked. "Hey, don't look at me. You're the mom, I'm just the aunt."
Esme gave her a dark look, shooting daggers with her eyes, before turning back to Bella and trying to soothe her. "Why do you feel like a prisoner, honey?"
"We never go anywhere. You never take me anywhere. Everybody goes places except me! Everyone else has a car. Where's my car? I want to go places too!" Bella whined and pouted. By then Carlisle, Peter, and I had joined them in the kitchen.
"Where do ya wanna go, princess?" Peter asked, smiling winningly at her. I snorted at him, and he glared at me.
"To the mall. And the movie theater. Yeah, I want to go shopping at the mall and then see a movie in the theater!" Bella decided, looking at him pointedly. "Are you gonna take me, Uncle Pete?"
"Sure, baby girl, whatever you want," he declared, smiling at her.
"NO!" Carlisle, Esme, and Char all shouted.
"You know she's not ready to be around humans yet!" Carlisle sternly reminded him. "What were you thinking her promising to take her out in public?"
"Sorry, munchkin," Pete told her sadly. "I would have taken ya, but I've been outvoted. I can't fight all of them." His emotions were triumphant, letting me know he'd known he'd be outvoted and had never actually planned on taking her, but had successfully made himself look like the good guy and the others look like the bad guys. Clever little maneuver on his part, the rotten bastard.
"Don't worry, darlin'," I assured her. "Uncle Pete can take ya, just as soon as Carlisle and Esme give the okay. I know he wouldn't want to miss out on such a fun little bondin' trip with ya."
I smirked as Pete glared at me again. "Yay! We'll go purse and earring shopping, then watch a romantic comedy! Thanks, Uncle Pete," Bella declared, catching onto my ploy and sending me her amusement.
"Good ole Uncle Pete," I murmured, slapping him on the back.
"I hate you," he murmured back. I just chuckled and leaned back against the wall to take in the rest of the show.
"Daddy, I want a car. Please, please, pretty please?" she begged, giving Carlisle her best puppy dog eyes. I could feel his inner conflict, with her looks and begging turning him into a gooey mess inside, but his brain shouting that he couldn't possibly give in for the good of everyone.
"I'm sorry, sweet girl, but you're not old enough to have a car of your own," Carlisle calmly informed her. Externally, he didn't seem the least bit fazed, but internally he was sweating it. "Besides, honey, what would you do with a car? You don't even know how to drive."
"Well how am I supposed to learn how to drive, if nobody every teaches me?" Bella wailed loudly.
Emmett couldn't resist getting involved any longer. "I'll teach you, sis!"
"You will?" she asked excitedly, bouncing in place.
"Yeah, sure! That's what big brothers are for after all," he proudly boasted.
"Yay! C'mon, let's go!" she encouraged, pulling on his arm. I felt his shock and confusion, then detected the tiny shuffling noises in the room behind the wall I was leaning against. Rose was the only one unaccounted for, and I could feel her amusement and mischievousness all the way through the wall. If I'd had any doubts before that this was all part of their little prank, those doubts were gone now.
"Wait, where are we going?" Emmett asked, full of confusion. Bella pulled forcefully on his arm and dragged him out into the backyard with her newborn strength.
Once they were outside, she squealed, "To teach me how to drive, silly! I've always wanted to drive your jeep. It's a good thing your jeep can handle the terrain around here, since Mom and Dad won't let me near people, which means no going on the roads."
She marched off toward the detached garage where his massive jeep was kept, leaving him staring after her in shocked disbelief. The rest of us piled out the door into the yard to catch the fireworks.
"Oh, no, no, no," Emmett began protesting, shaking his head and chasing after her. "Not my jeep. Oh, no, I don't think so. Nobody drives my baby but me!"
Bella stopped and began sobbing loudly. "You don't love me!"
Undone by her tears, though none could fall, he quickly tried to embrace her. "Of course I do!"
She pulled away and continued sobbing. She shook her head and accused, "You love your jeep more than me!"
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't"
"Fine, prove it!"
"What?"
"Prove it. Let me drive your jeep," she insisted, calming down to speak rationally.
Emmett froze, a hunted look in his eyes as he looked all around, trying to find a way out of it. "Uh, okay, but, um, you know, the Mercedes is much more comfortable. Wouldn't you prefer to drive that one?"
She turned and looked at Carlisle, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Daddy?"
It was Carlisle's turn to panic. I could practically see the wheels spinning in his brain as he frantically came up with his excuses as to why she couldn't drive his car. "Um, roads, humans, bloodlust, not safe. Sorry." He let out a relieved breath and gave her his most charming smile.
Bella simply raised an eyebrow and turned back to Emmett expectantly.
"Peter's truck has four wheel drive," Emmett blurted out desperately.
"Uncle Pete?"
"Sorry, princess. All my tires are flat. That truck isn't going anywhere today."
Ah, so that's what he was doing out in the garage earlier this morning, I thought, catching the smugness he was keeping out of his facial expression.
"Enough stalling, Emmett!" Bella growled. "I wanna drive your jeep, and I wanna do it now!"
"Young lady!" Esme instantly protested. "You will not growl at your brother like that!"
"Why are you always picking on me? All of you! Always telling me what to do! Bella do this, Bella do that, don't do this, don't do that! What am I, your slave? You don't love me, you just push me around, make me do everything your way! What about my feelings, my thoughts, my ideas, my hopes and dreams for the future?" she shrieked, kicking the snow and shaking her fists. "I'm not a little girl anymore! Nobody listens to me! Nobody understands me! Nobody cares about me, the real me. You all just have this image of the perfect little Bella you want to force me to be, instead of honoring who I really am! How come I'm not good enough for you just the way I am? Why are you always trying to change me? When is it finally going to be enough?"
Everyone was staring at her, absolutely blown away, while I just wanted to give her a standing ovation for her brilliant acting skills.
Rose chose that minute to dash outside and over to Bella, holding a small toolbox in one hand. She offered Bella her free hand, suggesting, "How about we go over the basics and the rules of driving before you actually try to get behind the wheel, hmm?"
Bella's whole face lit up with her responding smile. She happily took Rose's hand and skipped off to the garage with her. "Sure, Rose, that sounds great."
The family stared after the retreating figures, completely shell shocked by Bella's rant.
"Man, I love that woman," Emmett whimpered under his breath, nearly shaking with the depth of his relief at his close save by his wife's hand.
I wondered if he'd still be feeling so loving after he discovered whatever it was Rose had done, then figured that was probably all part of her plan. After all, he couldn't get quite as mad with her once she reminded him how much worse his day could have been.
"What the hell was that?" Carlisle muttered, still staring in the direction his youngest daughter had gone. As shocking as it was to hear Carlisle actually let a curse word slip, Esme couldn't muster up more than a mere whimper, leaning into Carlisle for support.
"Boy, I sure am glad I'm just her uncle," Peter announced cheerfully. "Have fun figuring that one out, Pops!" He patted Carlisle on the shoulder, grabbed Char and skedaddled for the woods. "We're outta here. See ya later!"
Poor Esme whimpered again, feeling overwhelmed. None of her other 'teenagers' had ever behaved like that before. Of course, we were all really adults in the first place, so she never had to deal with the rebellious phase or the bid for independence most teenagers go through at some point. I surreptitiously sent both her and Carlisle some courage to help them over the hump. They both sighed, but straightened their shoulders as their hearts filled once again with love and determination.
Two hours later, I sensed Rose and Bella were about to return. For their own enjoyment, I had alerted everyone, other than Peter and Emmett, to be prepared for Rose's and Bella's prank. In his own fashion, Peter knew something was going on, though he didn't know what. So, everyone had stuck around the house, waiting to see what would happen.
As soon as the girls were back in the house, Peter got the ball rolling. "Hey, Emmett, I challenge you to a duel to the death in your favorite video game! What do ya say?"
"Yeah, dude, you're on! You're going down!" Emmett declared, racing over to fire up his PS3 and the TV. "Prepare to die, Whitlock!"
His last threat was followed shortly after by the theme song to a popular preschool show. "D-d-d-d-dora, D-d-d-d-dora, D-d-d-d-dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer! Boots and super cool explorer Dora!"
Everyone began laughing and filed into the family room to see Emmett staring at the console in confusion. He hit the eject button and pulled out the disk, staring at it as if it was from another planet. "Dora Saves the Snow Princess?"
I couldn't resist the temptation, teasing, "I didn't know you could d-d-d-d-duel to the d-d-d-d-death with D-d-d-d-dora!"
"WTF?" Emmett asked, still staring down at the disk, as if it might change if he stared at it long enough.
"Emmett! Language!" Esme scolded, trying to hold in her giggles.
"Sorry, Ma," he muttered, tossing the disk aside and reaching for the Red Dead Redemption case. Opening it he yelled, "Bob the Builder Festival of Fun?" He tore it out of the case, checking the empty case thoroughly for the game that was supposed to be in there.
Dropping it, he opened the Call for Duty: Black Ops case, only to find, "Strawberry Shortcake: Sweet Dreams Game?"
"No, no, no," he moaned, opening case after case. The Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit case held Thomas the Tank Engine's Thomas and Friends: A Day at the Races. God of War III contained Barbie Horse Adventures. Dora's Journey to the Purple Planet had replaced Street Fighter IV. MLB 11: The Show now carried Disney Princesses: Enchanted Journey.
"Where are all my games?" he cried, pulling at his hair, wailing in agony.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Rose cooed. "Don't you like your new games? You've never played any of them before. Besides, it wasn't good for Bella to be exposed to all that violence?"
"Rose?" he whimpered, looking at her with heartbroken eyes.
"Yes, Emmett?" she asked innocently.
"Did you do something to my video games?" he asked, staring at her in abject disbelief.
She smirked. "Maybe. Bella and I might have ordered you these lovely new games as a present. Don't you like our present?"
He just stared at her blankly for a few minutes. "Rose?"
"Yes, Emmett?"
"Did you do something to my video games?"
"Maybe."
"Rose?"
"Yes, Emmett?"
"Where are my video games?"
"The old ones or the new ones?"
He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "The old ones. The ones that belong in those cases. The ones that came in those cases when I got them from the store. Those games. Where are they?"
"Are you sure you want them?"
Emmett suddenly looked scary, more feral than I'd seen him since we kicked Eddie boy out of the house. "Where. Are. My. Video. Games?" he growled through his teeth, his jaw tightly clenched.
"Well, if you're really sure . . ."
"Aaargh!" Emmett roared, fists clenched as he held himself back from attacking his own mate.
Rose giggled, knowing he'd never harm her. "It's your lucky day! You get to go on a treasure hunt all throughout the forest! Just follow my scent, and I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for if you look hard enough."
He tried to say something in response, but none of us could understand it under the snarls and the excess venom that spilled out his mouth and dripped down his chin.
"Can vampires foam at the mouth?" Bella asked Carlisle.
"Well, I suppose you could always give Bella that driving lesson instead," Rose murmured, batting her lashes up at her husband. He rolled his eyes, huffed, quieted down slightly, and took off into the woods to track down his missing discs.
Rose snickered and settled comfortably down on the couch. "That should keep him busy for a while."
"Where'd you hide them?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, here, there, and everywhere," she replied nonchalantly. "Buried in the ground."
"Tucked into a hollow tree. Hidden under a large stone," Bella added.
"Inside an old abandoned eagle's nest, tucked into a crevice in the rock face," Rose continued.
"At the bottom of the waterfall, taped to the steering wheel of his jeep, tied around a bear's neck," Bella mentioned, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"Hooked on a fishing pole down in the river beneath the ice, inside the bucket lowered down into the old well, underneath the pillow on our bed," Rose murmured. "Oh, and buried in a tub of butter in the fridge."
"Don't forget the one tucked inside the guts of that moose carcass!" Bella exclaimed.
"Ah, yes, right. I think that's most of them," Rose finished, smirking at Bella, who giggled and winked in return.
The rest of us stared at them in awe.
"Well, damn, the Volturi don't stand a chance!" Peter muttered, shaking his head as he eyed them in amazement. I had to admit, I was mighty impressed myself.
Carlisle was staring at the two girls, sitting calmly on the couch and looking pleased with themselves. He had Esme wrapped in his tight embrace. "Um, could you remind me again why you wanted so badly to be a parent?" he whispered into her ear. If I had been even one step further, I never would have heard it.
"Uh . . . I . . . give me a little while - I'm sure it'll come to me . . . eventually," she responded at a loss, her voice just as quiet as his.
"Right," he agreed with a small nod, looking at his crazy family. "I'm sure we had our reasons. I just can't seem to recall any of them at the moment."
xxxxxxx
Volterra
"So, how is our friend Victoria doing this morning, Alice? Is her army coming along nicely? Do we know when she plans to attack your former family?" Aro crooned, smiling smugly when she grimaced.
Alice began searching for Victoria's future, but was unable to catch more than a few flashes here and there of Victoria running through nondescript places, torturing humans before feeding from them, and having sex with Riley in various places and positions. None of it was helpful or interesting to Aro. None of it answered his questions.
Aro hissed, displeased with her failure. "Why can't you see her army? How is she blocking you?"
Alice mentally shrugged, vaguely missing her shoulders. Maybe she just hasn't made any decisions yet, other than to feed and fuck, she thought grimly, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Maybe she prefers to work spur of the moment. Maybe she knows about my gift, but not that I'm not with the Cullens anymore. Maybe she's blocking me on purpose, trying to keep me from preparing the others for her attack. I'm sure she researched her enemies before deciding to make an army. There are many of our kind who know of my gift, since I've never made a secret of it.
"Perhaps, though that is unfortunate," Aro huffed. "Had you come to us when you first awakened to this life, as you should have, since you had been abandoned by your maker, no one else would have knowledge of your gift, which would give us a major advantage. Instead, you wasted it all those years and exposed yourself to others. However, in order to block you deliberately, Victoria would have to know that your ability is limited to seeing the decisions of others. How many of our kind know how your gift works and how to work around it?"
Alice frowned, thinking about it. Only those I trusted. Any friends of ours who asked me how it worked, I told. I had nothing to hide.
Aro chuckled evilly. "On the contrary, my dear Alice. If you'd truly had nothing to hide, you wouldn't be here now, would you? You kept the wrong things secret. You should have kept silent about your gift. Now I can't get the answers I seek, because YOU couldn't keep your mouth shut!"
Edward signaled with his eyes that he had something to say. Catching the recognition in Alice's mind, Aro switched his hand over to Edward's head. He spent a few minutes catching up on the castle 'gossip' - the random thoughts Edward had caught drifting through the minds of the castle's visitors and inhabitants - since the last time he touched Edward.
Ironically enough, Aro took great pleasure in listening to all the hook-ups, false promises, pranks, lies, fake platitudes, betrayals, and secret liaisons Edward heard on a daily basis. It contained all the usual politics and exploits of any royal court and was better than any daytime soap opera. Personally, Edward thought Aro was pretty hard up for entertainment if he found all that shit fascinating, but after 3000 years on earth, he supposed he'd be searching for any little thing to drive away the boredom too.
Perhaps she's not deliberately blocking Alice's visions. Maybe she has a talent of her own that helps her evade Alice's detection. When everything happened with James, Alice hardly saw Victoria at all. She missed several key decisions that would have changed the way we handled it. She didn't see Victoria reading Bella's school records, informing James of Bella's prior address, spying on us for James, or reporting our flight to Phoenix to him. She never saw Victoria's reaction to finding James' ashes, her blaming us for his death, despite the fact he deliberately provoked us by trying to kill my mate, nor her decision to avenge him by building an army to destroy us when she first made that choice and began pursuing it. Edward thought. Alice always keeps an open channel looking for any threat to our family, so how was Victoria able to fly under her radar like that?
Aro frowned, as he considered Edward's idea. "It's possible she is gifted. I wonder what her gift is and why she didn't use it to protect her mate."
It's possible she isn't gifted, but looks to someone else to make her decisions for her. Someone else who is gifted to block Alice the way Bella blocked me, Edward admitted. Or perhaps she is naturally indecisive and doesn't make a final choice until the last minute. That would inadvertently block Alice, as she suggested earlier.
Aro growled quietly, thinking about it, hating the way he was being thwarted, whether it was by choice or not. "Well, either way, you should be able to work around it. Simply search for that Riley fellow instead," he ordered, leaving his hand on Edward, so he could listen to both of them at the same time.
Alice searched for Riley and was immediately pulled into a vision.
Alice's vision:
Riley and another newborn male were restraining a struggling Irina. An armless Laurent was hissing, growling, and snapping angrily at them, but he was in no position to help her. He was being held down on his knees by two more newborns, each with one hand on his shoulder and the other hand gripping his head by his hair. One good yank would behead them, keeping him from struggling too hard.
Standing in front of Laurent, but still out of striking distance, was a sadistically cackling Victoria. She was watching their struggles and pain, with a triumphant gleam in her rose red eyes.
"Well, Laurent, it seems you only have two options left at this point," she taunted in her gratingly high pitched voice. "You can join me and help me avenge my mate, the coven leader you abandoned during a confrontation, like a sniveling coward. In that case, I'll forgive your treasonous betrayal and allow you to live. If you do a good job, I'll even let your weak, pathetic, golden eyed mate live too. Or, you can refuse to fight against your mate's coven and allies. If you choose this option, you'll feel for yourself the immense pain of the loss of your mate, as you watch us tear her apart and burn her to ashes right in front of you. Thanks to those golden eyed freaks, I can tell you from personal experience that the ashes are little comfort against the aching emptiness that results from your mate's final death and the knowledge you'll never see them again."
Horror filled Laurent's eyes, followed by defeat, as he hung his head in despair, his shoulders drooping. "What do you want me to do?" he mumbled reluctantly.
"What do I want?" she repeated gleefully. "I want you to lead me straight to your mate's coven, like the snake in the grass you are. I want you to lure them out unsuspectingly into our trap. I want to see their faces when we ambush them, and they realize you betrayed them all unto death." She began cackling again.
She then looked right at Irina before continuing, "After we torture and kill all of the Denalis, you'll lead us to the Cullens, so we can decimate them too."
"No! Why? My family didn't do anything to you! Why are you blaming us?" Irina shouted, agony and fear etched on her face.
"All of you golden eyed monsters value humans over vampires. You protect them, become intimate with them, allow them into your lives and beds, treat them like equals, and then leave them alive! You're sick! Twisted! You don't see humans having sex with cows, do you? They have laws against it, just as we do. You don't see foxes having sex with chickens, do you? Treating humans like anything other than food is not only demeaning to our kind, but against the very laws of nature," Victoria sneered.
"That's bullshit! We were all human once. The fact that you even exist means you weren't treated like food. We all had human families once. The newborns still do. What about your mother, siblings, best friend, former lover, or children? Would you drain them dry, kill them without an ounce of remorse, considering them not people, but animals?" Irina challenged, eyes filled with sorrow. "Especially knowing you had other options, to drink from animals, blood banks, criminals, or the terminally ill."
"Of course we would!" Victoria smugly cried. "My first meal consisted of my asshole husband and the two children he forced on me. As if I could love any children who came from his seed! He was fat, disgusting, and ugly, ten years my senior, with no idea how to please a woman. He deserved what James and I did to him. You should have heard his sniveling pleas for mercy, to let the children go, as we tortured and drained them in front of him. He tried to appeal to my nonexistent maternal instincts, sure I would protect them from my true mate's enjoyment, but I hated the evidence he had touched me, been inside me, soiled me with his foul flesh."
She paused, looking at the shocked and disgusted faces all around her, mistaking them for approval of her actions. She grinned evilly. "Soon after, we hunted down my parents and made them pay for arranging my marriage to that stupid bastard in the first place. We showed them exactly how I felt about their family friend, the idiot they chose for me. If I'd had any siblings, I'd have gone after them too. I wanted no part of my past. James was my future, my mate, and the only one who mattered."
The newborns all around them were sharing horrified glances with each other and darting frightened eyes between Victoria and Riley. Riley had loosened his punishing grip on Irina, though he was still holding her, and was staring at Victoria in confusion.
"I thought you said I was your mate, that's why you changed me," Riley objected.
"Yes, of course you are, Riley," she cooed condescendingly, smirking at him. "You're my new mate, now that James is gone."
"I've been around for over a thousand years, and I've never heard of a vampire having more than one mate. All you care about is revenge! You know the Volturi will eliminate you and your entire army if you kill all of us. Carlisle is good friends with Aro himself," Irina revealed, exposing Victoria's true motives.
"Don't listen to her. She's a traitor to her own kind," Victoria sneered. "She'd say anything to save her own life and her pathetic family."
"You told us the yellow eyes wanted to steal our territory, force us out and leave us to starve, that we had to make more vampires to defend our home and ourselves," Riley growled, glaring at her.
"So?" Victoria snorted, raising an eyebrow and gazing back disdainfully.
"But they don't even drink from humans," Riley protested. "They don't want our territory, they have no need to fight us."
Victoria rolled her eyes and countered, "Yes, but they don't want to allow us to drink from humans either. They protect the humans within their territory, even though they don't drink from them."
"You said we had to kill humans to survive," a young girl tentatively murmured, flinching back when Victoria glared at her.
"You DO," Victoria growled, showing her teeth. "I won't suffer any pansy ass vampires in my coven, who are weak enough to consider humans people. They are nothing more than Happy Meals for our kind."
The girl quickly backed down, shaking with fear, and hid behind another vampire, a bored looking male.
"Anybody else want to whine or complain?" Victoria challenged, her eyes pitch black, her expression feral. Nobody responded at all. She relaxed and smiled smugly. "Okay, then, get back to training. You'll be needing those skills very soon." She turned and marched away.
As soon as she was out of hearing range, the bored looking vampire scoffed and muttered, "That bitch is fucking insane."
Riley narrowed his eyes at him, glaring angrily, then gave an evil smirk, scarily reminiscent of Victoria's. "You and I are going to go for a walk and have a little chat . . ."
End of vision
Aro sat quietly for a few minutes, digesting what he'd just seen. He blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes. Edward wished he knew what Aro was thinking, but Aro had perfected the art of blocking Edward and never slipped anymore.
Aro furrowed his brow and demanded, "Show me what happens when she meets the Denalis."
Alice's vision:
Riley led the army of newborns running up close to the Denalis' house. Victoria was carrying Irina's torso, while the young girl from before carried Irina's legs and arms. The young teen appeared frightened and broken, periodically looking over at Irina's pained expression and the continuous ooze of venom from the where the limbs should have been joined. The bored looking boy was gone.
Riley pushed Laurent forward and he reluctantly ran up to the house, opening the door and calling for the others. He sniffed a few times and turned back around, announcing, "They're not here."
Victoria growled and bit Irina's neck. Irina howled in pain and rage. Laurent roared and raced forward, trying to come to his mate's rescue, but was held back by Riley and another male.
"Please, stop! I'm sure they're just visiting the Cullens!" Laurent pleaded. "We can wait here for them to come back. Or I could call them from the house phone. Or we could hide halfway there and ambush them when they return. Please, Victoria, don't hurt her anymore!"
Victoria removed her teeth and snarled at Laurent. She met his eyes and tightened her grip on Irina, silently daring him to defy or betray her. "Riley," she hissed. "Go with him into the house. Have him call and ask them where they are, but nothing else."
Riley nodded and tugged forcefully on Laurent's arm. Laurent followed him, but kept looking over his shoulder, watching his mate sob in Victoria's punishing grasp.
The two men entered the Denalis' house and Laurent called Eleazar.
"Hello, Laurent. I see you made it back home safely," Eleazar answered pleasantly.
"Thank you, Eleazar. Where is everyone?" Laurent asked, doing his best to make his voice sound normal.
"We're all here with the Cullens. Why don't you two come join us?" he offered.
"Thanks, we will," Laurent muttered before hanging up the phone. Riley shoved him out the door and reported both sides of the conversation to Victoria.
Victoria gave her usual evil smirk at the news. "Looks like we'll be crashing their fun family reunion," she sneered, cackling gleefully. "I don't think they'll be so happy they invited you to join them, will they Laurent, once they see what company you've been keeping?"
Laurent frowned, but didn't react otherwise.
Disappointed in not provoking him further, Victoria snapped, "What are you waiting for? Lead the way!"
Laurent sighed, then sniffed the air and took off into the woods, following the scent trail the Denalis had left behind.
End of vision
"Well, that was rather anticlimactic," Aro complained, with a childish pout. "Keep going. What happens when they get to the Cullens?"
Alice and Edward shared a frightened glance, before Alice was once again pulled into a vision.
Alice's vision:
Laurent was running through the snowy trees and suddenly broke through into a snow covered clearing. Standing in formation in the center of the clearing, all crouched and ready to spring, were the Denalis and the Cullens together. Carlisle and Eleazar stood in the center, with their wives behind them. To Carlisle's side, stood Jasper and Peter, and on Eleazar's side were Kate and Emmett. Char was behind Peter, protecting Esme, and Rosalie was behind Emmett, protecting Carmen. Tanya was behind the wives, watching their backs. There was no sign of Bella.
Laurent stopped, surprised to see them waiting there. He sighed and dropped his shoulders. "I'm sorry, I had no choice," he confessed. They could all hear the pounding footsteps of the advancing army, who hadn't realized the need to be quiet yet, knowing they weren't close enough to their destination to be heard by an unsuspecting group. "It's too late," he shouted. "They already knew we were coming."
Riley broke through the trees, backed by his chosen officers. The other vampires soon flanked them, followed lastly by Victoria herself. Seeing the crouching yellow eyes waiting for her, she smirked and threw Irina off to the side as far as she could. Laurent's eyes followed her path, then flew to the young girl's empty arms. His shocked eyes met the girl's frightened ones. She quickly pointed surreptitiously at Victoria, then mimed tossing the limbs on at a time, making a running motion with her fingers. Laurent looked over the girl's shoulder into the forest behind her, and the girl quickly nodded. He hung his head, resigned, but still hopeful his new family would prevail, and he'd be able to put his mate back together again.
Victoria laughed. "Prepare to die, you miserable bastards! Attack, newborns, kill them all!"
The newborns crouched to spring and suddenly a black wave swept across the scene, until the whole thing was nothing but blackness. The vision wasn't over, there just wasn't anything left to see or hear.
End of vision
Alice brought herself out of it with a silent scream, heard only by Edward and Aro as it echoed in her mind. Dead! They're all dead!
Edward's eyes were wide with horror, his own thoughts mirroring hers.
Aro was silent for a minute or two, then started to laugh. He heard the confusion in Alice's and Edward's thoughts as to what was so funny.
"You two were always so arrogant, convinced your family couldn't live without you. Looks like you were right after all!" he continued laughing. "They kicked you out and find themselves destroyed within a matter of weeks! Oh, the irony!"
Alice and Edward closed their eyes, grieving for their lost family members, both wishing they had done things differently, treated their family better. They wished they could have been there to stand with them in the battle against Victoria, even if it meant they died along with them. They wished they could renounce their gifts and go back to their family, knowing their family would accept them and love them whether they were gifted or not, while Aro wouldn't want them if they lost their cursed talents. Aro didn't care about them at all, only their gifts. They weren't people to him, but means to an end. If only they could get away from him, they'd both gladly sacrifice their gifts, become 'normal' vampires. Rose and Emmett had no gifts, but Carlisle and Esme had always loved them just as much as they loved Alice, Edward, and Jasper. Their family loved them in spite of their gifts, not because of them. Humbled and grieving, Alice and Edward slipped into depression, blocking out everything else around them.
They didn't even hear Aro's decision to send Jane, Alec, and Chelsea to harvest the gifted before the battle and to tidy up any loose ends afterward.
xxxxxxx
Denali
Jake growled, his hackles rising, when he and Chief met back up with Charlie and Billy and the others.
What's wrong? Chief asked, swinging his head to look at Jake in surprise.
Their eyes are still RED, not gold like the others! If they drank from animals and not people, then their eyes should turn yellow! Jake thought back, crouching down instinctively.
Chief sent his thoughts to Billy, who was first shocked to hear his spirit wolf talking in his head, then disturbed at the revelation he gave him. "Jake's right! Why are my and Charlie's eyes still red? We drank from animals, just like you!"
Tanya giggled. "Is that what's bothering him? Your eyes won't change for months, honey."
"Months?" Charlie responded, startled. "Why?"
"Whoa! No need to compel me, Charlie, I'd tell you anyway," Eleazar griped. "You're still full of your own human blood, which is why your eyes are red. Charlie's eyes will change color sooner, because he lost a lot of blood from the wolf's attack. All newborn vampires start out with bright red, scarlet eyes. Over time, after he has used up all of his own blood, a vampire who drinks from humans will develop burgundy eyes."
"Ah, I see. I suppose that makes sense," Charlie mused. "Though I don't really understand why animal blood makes vampire eyes yellow."
"Neither do we," Eleazar reluctantly muttered, looking away. He felt embarrassed to admit he had no idea, but comforted himself with the knowledge that even Carlisle, the doctor, had no idea why that was a side effect of the diet, albeit a welcome one.
Jake had relaxed at the knowledge that Billy and Charlie had indeed fed from animals and not humans, but was now pacing edgily off to the side.
"What's wrong, son?" Billy asked, watching Jake with concern.
If a newborn's eyes are red for months, then how will we know if the Cullens kept their promise with regard to not letting her kill anyone? Jake wondered agitatedly.
Chief relayed the question to Billy, who raised his eyebrows and nodded to his son. "Jake is wondering how we'll know if Bella has ever drank from a human if her eyes are going to be red just like any other newborn," he explained to the others.
Eleazar huffed and grumpily answered, "All we have to do is ask, and Charlie will compel them to tell the truth. I seriously doubt it will be a problem though. Carlisle has never drank from a human, and he's been around for three and a half centuries."
Jake relaxed fully then and sat back on his haunches, giving the others a wolfish grin.
Carmen had been whispering with Tanya and now announced to the group, "Tanya and Billy need a little alone time to get to know each other better and bond together as mates. The rest of us will head back to the house and prepare for our trip to the Cullens. They live in a house that's only about an hour's run from us, but I think we should discuss a few things first and make sure we're all on the same page about how this meeting will be handled."
Everyone quickly disappeared from the area, except Billy and Tanya. Even Chief made himself scarce, though he obviously could only go so far from his master.
"Now, Billy, it's time for you to experience the ecstasy of being truly mated to the original succubus, one of the three all the legends are based upon. I'm going to do things to you and with you that will rock your world and leave you begging for more . . .," Tanya purred, ripping off his clothes and then hers.
xxxxxxx
AN: Sorry about the fade to black here, but I didn't really want to think too closely on this particular pairing in their moment of intimacy, if you know what I mean.
Okay, okay. I promise the Denali vs. Cullen confrontation is coming in the next chapter. I'm just struggling a bit with writing it and want it to be good quality, so thanks for your patience. Plus, I think it deserves a whole chapter to itself, don't you?