AN: Yay! Fanfiction fixed the uploading issue. This was quite the doozy of a chapter.
**WARNING** There is mention of rape and abuse, in this chapter occurring in the human life of Chelsea, Jane, and Alec. If this is a trigger for you, PM me, and I'll send you an edited chapter to read.
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Chapter 47 - Witch Twins
Chelsea POV
On the long plane ride from Italy to Alaska, I thought about my life, both human and vampire. It was very rare for Aro to send me out with both my children, sans any other Guard members babysitting us, making sure we aren't foolish enough to get any ideas of never coming back. I suppose he has finally accepted that he has us over a barrel and doesn't need to worry about us disappearing on him.
As much as I longed to escape Volterra and get us all away from Aro and his sick, twisted mind, that wasn't an option. Aro had Alec's soul mate and never let her leave the castle. In fact, he rarely let her leave his side. Poor Renata was forced to witness his sadistic torture of other vampires without ever speaking a word. I was alerted to Aro's true nature, his evil, black heart, the day he removed Renata's voice box to keep her from talking, rendering her incapable of sharing the dark secrets she was forced to witness while shielding him.
When Aro first saved me, my children, and our young friend, I was prepared to offer him my full love, devotion, obedience, and loyalty. All four of us were changed under false pretenses, with promises of freedom and family, security and safety. Only later did I learn that he'd been told by another vampire on his guard that all four of us would manifest powerful gifts. He had never cared about us at all, only about what we had to offer him. I thought he was a safe harbor, a rock I could cling to that would shield my children and me from the harshness of life. I soon realized he was really no different from the abusive, manipulative user of a husband I wanted to escape, while the family and friends he promised us were no different than the judgmental, rumor mongering, intolerant townspeople who had tormented my children most of their lives.
The rest of the Guard called Jane and Alec the 'Witch Twins', shunning them for their gifts. They were feared and hated by the same vampires who enjoyed the protection their gifts offered. The rejection hit Jane and Alec hard, after expecting to be surrounded by the family and friends Aro promised them. Both were bitter about the whispered insults they could still hear and the way their company was actively avoided. It reminded me of our human lives.
At least Alec had Renata to calm him and love him, just as he did in his human life, but Jane had no soul mate to comfort her. I did the best I could, but she gradually began to enjoy inflicting pain on others, wanting them to hurt the way she was hurting. After all she had been through in her young life, I could hardly blame her.
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My marriage was an arranged marriage, as was normal for that time. I never even met my husband before my wedding day. He was an older man, whose first wife died in childbirth. He had raised his son with the help of a nanny, but at age ten, his son had been thrown by his horse and then trampled. He then had land and a house, but no heir, so he began looking for a new bride. As soon as my father discovered his intentions, he offered me to the man, eager to get me off his hands.
My husband, Finster Jameson, was cold and indifferent to me from the beginning. He used my body for his pleasure, with no regard for my own. There was no foreplay to prepare me, so intercourse was always painful and uncomfortable. Luckily for me, it rarely lasted longer than two or three minutes. It didn't take long for my fertile young body to bloom with new life.
At the time of my birthing, Alec came out first. My husband's hoots of joy when the announcement was made that he had a son filled the house, giving me the strength to keep pushing. By the time Jane made it into the world, Finster was already off to the pub to celebrate with his mates. When he learned of her existence the next day, he shrugged and ignored her. It was glaringly obvious he preferred his son to his daughter. I vowed to myself to give her twice as much love to make up for his lack.
Everything was fine for a few years. I was thrilled to be a mother, finding contentment and fulfillment in my life caring for my babies and taking care of our home. Finster visited my bed infrequently after that, pleased to have an heir, and not terribly worried about providing a spare. He was more concerned about the possibility of creating another daughter, which he only saw as a liability. He was fond of muttering, "What good are girls?" I resented his attitude and kept myself and our children out of his path as much as possible.
Unfortunately, the year the twins turned five, there was a terrible fire, which destroyed nearly all the crops. The plants which survived weren't enough to even feed our family. Finster was forced to take out a loan to cover the loss of income the crop would've provided. He began grumbling about the cost of feeding Jane and me, and how we were taking away valuable resources from him and his son. He reduced our rations, giving us only a small portion of what he dished out for himself and Alec. It wasn't enough for Jane to survive and grow, so I usually gave her my food to keep her from starving.
After a few weeks of starving myself to protect my daughter, I realized I couldn't rely on my husband to provide for us anymore. I began developing relationships with other women on the property and around town, helping them clean house, wash clothes, perform other chores, or take care of their children so they could have some uninterrupted time for visiting, resting, or running errands. In return, they would give me food and old clothes.
As the months passed, Finster began going to the pub after working in the field, not coming home until late, usually drunk. Every now and then, he would come home smiling, but most of the time, he came home angry. He would look for excuses to wake me up and belittle me with his harsh words. I should have seen the signs then, but I was too naïve.
I only found out later that he was gambling down at the pub, losing money he didn't have, convinced he'd hit the jackpot sooner or later. Not even the venom could erase the worst night of my life, the night I found out about my husband's addiction, the night I learned about evil, the night I learned to hate.
That night, Finster came home early, with another man in tow. The twins were already down for the night, and I was preparing myself for bed as well, when Finster came charging into my bedchamber.
"No need to bother with that," he declared, pointing to my nightgown. "Take it off and get in the bed."
I nodded, figuring it was one of the nights he wanted to exercise his husbandly rights. I put down my brush, removed my nightgown, and laid down naked on top of the covers, closing my eyes. I lay there silently, waiting for Finster to mount me in his usual cursory fashion, eager to have it over and done, so I could clean myself up and get to bed. A few seconds passed without anything happening, and I began to wonder what he was doing.
"So, what do you think, Grimley?" I heard Finster ask.
Grimley? I thought. My eyes flew open to see a disgusting old man with rotten teeth and breath looking down at my body. With a shriek, I tried to cover myself with my hands. That was the first time Finster ever hit me, but certainly not the last.
He slapped me across the face and pulled my hands up above my head, holding them there. "Shut up, wench," he sneered, then turned to look at Grimley. "Well?"
Grimley was grinning now and rubbing a hand on the front of his trousers. "Fine. You let me do what I want with her, and I'll erase your debt to me."
"Deal," Finster agreed without hesitation.
"What? No!" I protested.
Finster snarled at me with malicious eyes. "Do whatever he wants, Chelsea, or I'll give him Jane instead," he threatened. "It's time for both of you to start earning your keep." I could see the seriousness in his eyes. He'd never cared for or about Jane before, so he had no qualms about using her for his benefit.
I did the only thing I could do, I caved. I had to protect my daughter, would sacrifice anything to keep her safe. "No, please! I'll do it, I promise."
He nodded, triumph gleaming in his eye. "She's all yours 'til morning, Grimley," he announced, before turning and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.
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I chose not to dwell on the details of the night, but it only got worse from there. Finster no longer viewed me as the lady I had been raised to be, but as a common whore, peddling her wares on the street corners, even though he was the cause of my downfall. He became violent toward me, constantly belittled me, and used me in creatively unpleasant ways, like the men he brought home did. Grimley was only the first in a long line of men who used my body as payment for my husband's debts.
I knew I needed to escape. I knew how he felt about Jane and knew it was only a matter of time before he would eventually make good on his threat. He was treating me poorly in front of the children, and whenever I went into town for supplies, the people began to cut us, to cross the street to avoid us, to look through us as if we weren't there. Shopkeepers eventually demanded we not enter their store at all or else use the back entrance with the other societal outcasts and unmentionables. I sheltered the children as best I could, but they were old enough to notice, to worry, to feel hurt and offended.
The bonds I had made with women of the upper and middle class were severed as they chose to ignore me like their friends and neighbors did. Desperate to find a way out of our situation and to provide for Jane everything she needed, I began forging relationships with the lower class women. Most of them understood I wasn't servicing multiple men by choice. They recognized the types of bruises on my body, the haunted look in my eyes, the defeated hunch of my shoulders. They knew what my husband did at night in the pub and rightfully placed the blame on him, instead of me.
These women had less to share, so I had to work much harder than before to get the food and clothes I needed for my children and me, but I gladly did so, for their sake. The parson's assistant and his wife were helpful and kind, while the parson and his wife looked down on me and refused to associate with a 'fallen woman'. The parson's assistant had a daughter, Renata, who was two years older than the twins and voluntarily tutored them once school became unbearable for them, due to bullying and teasing.
In my defense, I did try to run, twice in fact. The first time was a month after Finster first hit me and sold my body for another's amusement. I took the twins and ran to my parents' house, certain they would accept me back, and protect their child and grandchildren from further harm. Yet, when I arrived on their doorstep, they refused to let me or the children inside.
"We don't harbor harlots here," My mother coldly informed me, before shutting the door in my face. My father had been standing behind her, arms folded across his chest, his face a mask of disgust and disappointment. With nowhere else to go, I had no choice but to return to my husband's inhospitable home.
I was devastated by their defection, their betrayal in believing the rumors about me, instead of trusting me. How could they think I wanted that life? How could they believe I want to be used by multiple men? Did they think I had no integrity or moral standards?
This setback knocked me into a depression, and it was months before I was ready to try again. I planned to run to another country, to call myself a widow with a new name, and to start over again. I knew it would be dangerous and difficult, but I reasoned it couldn't be much worse than the life I was already living.
I worked to squirrel away money and supplies a little bit at a time, walking around on eggshells to minimize injury done by my husband. Keeping silent and obedient encouraged him to only rape me and not beat me first, whereas any resistance or defiance resulted in punches and kicks before the rape occurred anyway. To my dismay, it took me a couple of years to gather enough resources to allow us a new life, but at least I had been able to keep my children protected all that time, distracting my husband whenever he started to go after one of them. I was willing to take his mistreatment on myself if they didn't have to endure it.
Unfortunately, I couldn't protect them from the cruelty of other children. The town youngsters took their cues from their parents and rejected the twins, calling them bastards and other hateful names. They insulted me to my children and taunted Jane that she would grow up to be a whore like me. Alec tried to defend our honor, but he was one lone boy against many. After the first time he was beat up by a group of boys, I begged the two of them to hide from the bullies, rather than engage them. After several beatings, Alec finally agreed to listen to my wisdom. Renata was invaluable to our family then. She would run interference, distracting the bullies any way she could, long enough for Alec and Jane to get away. Renata was a shy, sweet, innocent girl, and everybody liked her. They never even caught on to her plan, never realized she was protecting Alec and his sister. She and Alec had a strange connection, one I had never understood as a human, since it had manifested even from a young age. Only as a vampire did I comprehend they were true soul mates, drawn to one another even as humans. For her safety, her friendship with my children was kept secret.
Finally, when the twins were ten, I was able to escape with them, in the company of a real widow I had befriended. Finster was greatly angered by the loss of his son and chased after us, leaving us unable to stay in any one place for very long. Unable to stand the pace of constantly picking up and running away, my widow friend gave us her carriage and finally settled in a new town without us, choosing to put down roots there. After a while, we would move from town to town every few days. Alec would manage the horse, while Jane and I worked on sewing en route. We would then sell our work and offer up Alec's services as a hardworking young man to help with harvesting, construction, or repair work, in order to pay our way.
Moving around this way gave the children and me some respite from the abuse we suffered at the hands of Finster and the townspeople. Traveling as a widow with children offered me a degree of respectability that had long since been stripped from me in my hometown. I was still very young, having married at fifteen and birthed my children at sixteen, so I received a few offers to become a rich man's mistress, given a house for myself and my children in exchange for bedroom services. I declined every time, never wanting to be violated again, no matter how good the offer sounded. I knew from experience how quickly men could change and become evil, violent monsters, and didn't intend to put myself in that position ever again, if I could help it.
The children were hailed by the curious children of each new town, having no reason to act hatefully. Alec and Jane got the idea of how things could have been and should have been had their father been a better man. They loved the positive attention they got and enjoyed telling stories of the things they'd seen and done on their travels from town to town. The further we got from our hometown, the longer we spent away from their father, the more my children blossomed. They smiled frequently and laughed often. They became confident in themselves, emotionally strong, courageous, and content with our nomadic lifestyles. They both worked hard to help me all they could, and soon we were thriving, happier than we had ever been before.
Nearly three years passed away from my tormentor, and we began to relax, believing he had given up the chase. We became less watchful, less diligent about hiding our tracks, which was our biggest mistake. A week before the twins' thirteenth birthday, Finster finally caught up to us. He knocked us all unconscious and dragged us back to our hometown, back to hell on earth.
When I returned to consciousness, I awoke to pain. I wanted to curl up into a little ball, but soon realized my arms and legs were tied to the corner posts of my old bed, leaving me exposed, naked and spreadeagle. Finster was angrier and more evil than he had been when we left. He had managed to gamble away his house and most of his land, leaving only a two bedroom cottage in need of repair. He blamed me for this, both for distracting him by taking his heir and by not being available to settle his debts in a nonmonetary way.
After beating me severely and brutally raping me, he pulled out his hunting knife and sliced my Achilles tendons, sneering, "You'll never run away from me again!"
The pain was severe, worse than I'd ever felt before, but it was a walk in the park compared to what happened next. He carried my broken, bleeding body into the other bedroom where Jane was tied to a bed in the same position I had just been in, naked like me. Alec was tied to a chair, facing the bed. Finster dropped me on the floor and marched over to the bed.
"No! No! Please, God, no!" I screamed, begged, and pleaded over and over again to no avail. My daughter's screams of agony, despair, and violation pierced through my brain, shattered my heart and crumpled my soul. All those years of running and protecting her torn away in a single day. I had failed her. I had failed them both, I realized, listening to Alec's sobs. He'd been forced to watch his precious twin be brutalized in the worst way.
"You want a turn, boy?" Finster asked him, after pulling out and dragging himself off the bed.
Alec shook his head, tears running down his cheeks. Finster frowned at him and huffed. "Fine, I'm sure you'll be ready for it soon enough. Though she'll soon be sloppy, considering the number of customers I've got lined up for her."
Alec blanched, flinched, and promptly puked all over himself.
"Damn sissy boy," Finster growled. He left the room and returned with a bucket of water he dumped on Alec's chest and lap, washing the vomit onto the floor. "Lick it up, whore!" he commanded me, with a kick.
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I shook my head, grimacing, chasing away the horrible memories of the rest of that day. Alec was frequently forced to watch his sister get violated by various villains. He learned to put himself into a trance with his eyes open that seemed to cut off his senses, so he wouldn't have to see or hear what was happening to her that he couldn't prevent. Jane developed a glare that scared grown men, who declared she was giving them the evil eye. When they became impotent under her hateful stare, they began calling her a witch. They would cry out to Alec, expecting some response from him, only to be met with his unseeing gaze and unhearing ears.
Renata would sneak by to visit Alec and Jane, comforting them the best way she knew how, offering her love, acceptance, and understanding. She would bring me messages from the friends I had bonded with years before and would take messages back to them. Due to the injuries I had received, I was unable to walk without crutches, so my days of sneaking out of the house to visit others were long gone. Still, I worked on sewing for others and planted a garden to feed us. Jane fashioned traps, which Alec set out in the forest. We ate rabbits, squirrels, birds, raccoons, and anything else that got caught.
The twins and I had become shells of our former selves, ghosts of the people we had been while we traveled together. So, when Aro came to us, a pale stranger with glowing red eyes, promising us strength, freedom, friends, and family with him in another country, it was a dream come true. I should have been more wary, but I was half dead already. I should have known the deal he offered was too good to be true. Yet I was blinded with gratitude when he came to our rescue, killing Finster and his cronies as they went to rape Jane and me yet again, while forcing Alec to watch and trying to get him to participate.
Knowing we would be blamed for the murder and burnt at the stake as witches, we readily agreed to come live with Aro at his castle in Italy. Unwilling to lose Alec again, Renata chose to come with us.
We didn't know what Aro or the others were, or what was expected of us, but we were changed immediately upon being shown to our rooms. I thought I had died and gone to hell. The pain was excruciating, but I was used to being in pain, so I found I was soon able to think around it. Nobody stayed with us during the change, and we awoke all together in an empty room devoid of furniture, artwork, or any other distinguishing features. I was incredibly thirsty, but I easily recognized my children and their friend and had no urge to attack them. Alec and Renata bonded as soon as they looked into each other's eyes upon rising. I felt the bond between them, and it was staggering. Stronger even than the bonds between my children and me or the bond between the twins.
The first male to startle Jane after her transformation was the unfortunate one to demonstrate her new talent. The hateful glare she had perfected as a human victim now sent disabling pain to whomever she directed it toward. The pain of her past had been etched into her soul and became part of who she was now.
Hearing the screams of pain, Alec had instinctively began closing himself off, trying to turn off his senses and go to his mental happy place. Instead, his senses had remained intact, but everyone else in the room went into full sensory deprivation.
Shortly thereafter, while the twins were comparing notes, one of the guards approached them in a hurry. Renata instinctively stepped forward to protect her mate, and the guard was sent off in another direction, without him realizing it. It took him some time to remember where he was and what he had been doing before. Aro was particularly fascinated by her and quickly commandeered her as his personal guard, despite my insistence she and Alec couldn't be separated, due to their strong mate bond.
We soon became Aro's favorites, but were hated and rejected by the rest of the guard. I didn't really blame them, as Aro had no personal integrity, and the things we were forced to do on his behalf were horrible and hurtful. We didn't enjoy being the tools by which he controlled the entire vampire world. Not by a long shot. Aro would never let Renata go though, so we were all stuck, for Alec would never leave Renata, Jane would never leave Alec, and I'd never leave my children behind either. Sure we weren't being raped or beaten anymore, but our existence was far from happy or rewarding. We'd been simply surviving for hundreds of years, with no end in sight.
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"Mom," Jane's voice called, interrupting my painful reverie. She never called me this at the castle, hoping that keeping our true relationship a secret would protect me from the same ostracism the twins endured. She didn't seem to understand that my own gift was just as widely feared and hated as hers, but I couldn't destroy any hope she was still clinging to after all these years, so I didn't bother to object.
I turned to her with a small smile, enjoying hearing my proper title from her lips again. "Yes, dear?"
She smiled back and gave my hand a squeeze. "We're coming within range of the airport. It's time for the briefing."
I never wanted to know what we were facing until it was too late to turn back. That way, I didn't waste time worrying about it the whole way there. Thus, the delay in briefing.
I sighed, but gave her another smile. It wasn't her fault I hated this life. I hated what it was doing to her as well. She'd become so bitter over the years, angry over the way she's been treated. She began enjoying the sense of power and control she got whenever she used her gift, enjoying having otherwise powerful beings helpless and completely at her mercy. She felt miserable and wanted everyone else to feel bad too, so she took pleasure and pride out of causing others pain. Her soul had gradually darkened over the years, and I was beginning to wonder if anything could ever bring her back to the light.
"Okay, we've got a psycho vamp with a newborn army," Jane informed us. "versus a group of perverted freaks, vampires who hate their own existence, yet are building up a coalition to challenge the Volturi. The army side has about twenty vamps, while the weirdos have gathered a group of nine or ten. We're supposed to take out both sides, before they expose us with their battling, and bring any gifted vamps back to Aro to join the guard."
"Sounds pretty straight forward to me. Do we have coordinates?" Alec asked.
Jane nodded. "Approximate ones. Our noses will narrow it down from there."
"We'll go in from the side, and Alec will knock them out with his gift. Then we can deal with them one at a time," I decided.
"Sounds good to me," they both agreed.
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Alec's gift worked like a charm, stopping all the vampires before any damage could be done. We were just debating the best course of action for identifying the gifted, when all of a sudden a humongous white wolf seemed to spring out of thin air and latch onto Alec's neck! I had never seen such a thing before and seeing its teeth sinking into Alec's flesh was truly terrifying. I knew then this must be a werewolf, for that was the only thing other than vampires that was strong enough to pierce vampire skin. Caius's accounts of run-ins with the ferocious beasts raced through my mind, as I desperately tried to grab hold of the wolf and tear it away from my child.
To my shock and terror, my hands and Alec's both passed right through the wolf's body, as if there were nothing there. I tried again, without success. It's a ghost wolf! How can we stop it, if we can't hold onto it? We can't! My heart and mind filled with terror and panic, hearing my son's flesh tearing, smelling his venom leaking out, and being helpless to stop it. No! This can't be happening! Why can't I protect him?
There was a thud and Alec's beautiful features hit the ground, while his body remained standing. I have to get his head back! It's not too late! We can still reattach it! The ghost picked up Alec's head in his mouth, drooling wolf saliva into his eyes, burning them, blinding him. The wolf's tongue pushed his slimy spit up Alec's nose, whether intentionally or unintentionally, I wasn't sure, but I knew he wouldn't be able to smell around it.
The wolf looked somewhere away from us, deeper into the forest, then craned his head back. As I crouched to spring, it suddenly dawned on me he was intending to throw Alec's head with his mouth. I elbowed Jane, who was frozen in shock and horror, likely communing with her brother on some level through their odd twin connection. She instantly directed her gift at the wolf, only a moment too late, for he had already released the head from his mouth. The wolf hit his knees, but just as quickly was up again, circling around behind us. Jane growled, and we both started running in the direction Alec's head had flown, hoping his body would be safe enough until we could reunite it with his head.
Up ahead, through the woods, I saw another gigantic wolf, a reddish brown one, pick up Alec's head off the ground. It bolted further into the forest, carrying my son's head in its massive jaws. The location of its teeth right behind Alec's ears meant his whole face was inside the wolf's mouth, and wolf slobber was getting everywhere, even in his ears.
Jane and I chased after it, trying to get in close enough range for Jane to use her gift. She had to be within thirty feet, which was difficult, since the wolf was, amazingly enough, faster than we were.
"Over here!" A male vampire shouted.
Is he talking to us or the wolf? I wondered.
The wolf ran even faster, until we could just barely see its tail bobbing up ahead. I thought I caught a flash of something pale up in the air out of the corner of my eye.
Was that another vampire? The male who shouted? Alec's head? The ghost wolf? I fretted. Before I could worry any more about it, I felt a strong pull coming from that same direction and veered off to the right.
"Mom?" Jane questioned, confused by my apparent defection.
"Get the wolf!" I commanded. "I'm after the vampire."
"Got it!" she agreed, taking to the trees in hopes of finding a way to cut off the wolf's path, since she'd never be able to catch up to it.
Thinking she had the right idea, I quickly jumped up into the trees myself. To my horror, I saw a fire blazing a little ways away and knew that was the final destination intended for Alec's head. Ignoring the racing vampire who most likely had current possession of my son's head, I headed straight for the fire, hoping I would get there in time to prevent my son's imminent demise.
As I approached the fire where a male vampire with long black hair was feeding the flames, I could see the other male coming up fast in my peripheral vision.
"Toss it here, Charlie!" the one in front of me shouted gleefully. He was suddenly joined by the ghost wolf, which appeared out of thin air and began pacing back and forth in front of the bonfire.
I looked over to the one called Charlie as I continued advancing as quickly as possible. He held Alec's head up in the air, getting ready to toss it like a basketball, aiming for the fire. Thankful for my quick thinking plan, I sprang forward, plucking my Alec out of the air mid-flight, intercepting just like I'd hoped to do. I cradled his head to my chest, protecting him from being grabbed again, as I now tried to avoid the enemy.
What kind of vampire works hand in hand with werewolves, our natural enemy? I wondered worriedly. I had noticed in my cursory examination of them that both vampires were newborns and figured they must be part of the army. Carlisle would never ally himself with creatures who brutally massacre humans at random once a month and kill vampires at any and every opportunity, simply for existing.
Speaking of Carlisle, there's obviously much more going on here than Aro realizes. There was no mention of Carlisle or werewolves in our briefing. I'm sure Carlisle couldn't possibly be one of our intended targets. The man is practically a saint and considers Aro a friend, naively believing Aro is who he pretends to be. I can't imagine Carlisle ever doing anything worthy of the death penalty.
It's much more likely that Carlisle heard about the impending battle and sought to intervene. I know for certain he's a serious pacifist and would never participate in senseless violence. Carlisle represents the absolute best of our kind, a prince of a man, more angel than demon. He's my hero, my hope for the future, the evidence we aren't automatically damned by becoming vampires, for such a gentle, loving soul could never belong in hell. I could never be party to any attempt to bring harm or death to him or his loved ones. For without his shining presence as a beacon of hope, guiding us out of the darkness, what chance do the rest of us have to overcome the shackles of our existence?
My confusion over Carlisle's presence in the midst of this conflict and the unlikelyhood of werewolves and newborn vampires willingly working together to achieve a common goal, cost me. Mere seconds after gaining control of my son's stray skull, I found myself surrounded on three sides, with the fire at my back. They began closing in on me, trying to force me to retreat closer to the flames.
My eyes were darting everywhere, trying desperately to find an escape route. Suddenly, it dawned on me! Turning around, I ran straight toward the fire, jumping up and over it at the last minute and continuing my run as soon as I hit the ground on the other side. I heard growls following on my heels as I did my best to run toward Alec's body, fearing it would be torn to pieces and burned in my absence.
Alas, the ghost wolf was faster than I was. He quickly ate up the distance between us with his powerful strides and began snapping at me, trying to latch onto me. The newborn vampires were also gaining on me, and I knew it was only a matter of time. Just when I was ready to give up hope, the wolf and the black haired male crumpled to the ground, screaming and howling in agony.
Jane must be nearby! I realized. I don't know how she's getting two at the same time, but now is not the time to question it. I'm just thankful she is.
I thought I had a chance now. At least it's down to one on one, I reminded myself, just in time to get tackled by Charlie. I struggled to get away, but he was just too strong. Straddling my body, he flipped me over onto my back. Our eyes finally met for the first time, and I could feel the instantaneous bond that formed between us, the strongest bond of all. My mate! I finally found my mate!
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AN: So, what do you think? As you can see, this battle is going to take a couple more chapters at least.