BELLA
"Why can't I come too?" Bethany whines.
"Look darlin', there are many things that you are good at. But stealth is not one of them," Jen explains as gently as she can.
"I need to learn sometime," Bethany persists.
"Not when we are actually on a mission," I sigh at her.
"But…but…" Bethany actually starts hiccupping while her eyes water.
"Not happening. I'm sorry, but you can't change our minds on this one," Jen tells our apparently five year old student.
Bethany pouts as Jen and I prepare to do our recon run. Dakota tries to comfort her to no avail. Jake and Nestalia try to cheer her up with little in the area of results. If she wants to act like a spoiled child, let her. Jen and I are not moved by antics. She is just not ready for this kind of work. I think Jen's starting to get annoyed. Bethany is behaving ridiculously. She can't say anything if her jaw is wired shut. I'm just sayin'. But Jen won't let me punch her, so we just have to deal with it.
"Meditate," I bark at Bethany.
"I already have today," She protests.
"Apparently not enough," Jen states quietly. She is most dangerous when she uses that voice.
"If you are going to act like this, then we need to hold off on the rest of your training until you have matured some more," I add.
"Is that supposed to be, like, some kind of threat?" Bethany asks in a huff.
"It's a statement of a fact," Jen growls at her. Bethany's eyes get really wide at Jen's tone.
Bethany stomps off. That is unusual behavior for her. Jen and I will have to look into it when we get back. Dakota is way ahead of us though and is already following Bethany. Eliot kisses Jen as we head out the door. Jake tries to pinch my side, but both Nestalia and I smack his hand. Jake sticks out his bottom lip. Nestalia shakes her head at her husband. I roll my eyes at him. Jen and I start silently into the night. We know that we are leaving Bethany in very capable hands.
We make it to the Volturi's residence without incident. We ghost through the halls. Sadly, the Volturi have not joined this century. The only computer on these grounds sits on the secretary's desk. There are members of the Elite Guard all over the place, which is not very surprising. I think that every member to the Elite Guard might be running around here. They might scatter when we take care of what's left of their comrade. However, they might not. Either way, Jen and I memorize the entire layout. We leave a courtesy note for the human secretary that tells her to leave.
A day has passed since our foray through the Volturi's inner sanctum. We are preparing to head back. Jake is moping because we won't let him come too. Demetri is to be the only casualty this night. Bethany is not pouting this time. She is glad that she doesn't have to see him die. Jen and I are going to take a longer way around for our approach. On the way back though, we will take a shorter path to the safe house. We arrive once more at the Volturi's gates. Something stops us from going in the way we did last night. Not a physical barrier, just a feeling that another way would be better.
Jen and I enter the underground tunnels. We happen to see Demetri as he leaves the large room that the Volturi have taken to using since he delivered our message. Of course he has a couple other members of the Elite Guard with him. We project ourselves into his room. Their footsteps precede them down the hall. Jen passes two fingers in front of her eyes. We don't have to worry about them smelling us ad witches don't have scents.
The two vampires that walked Demetri back to his room come in while he waits in the hall. Thanks to Jen, they can't see us. So they look around the room and see only what is supposed to be there while we stand along a wall. The door blocks us from Demetri's view in the hallway. Jen and I want him to see us when the time is right. We hold our enchanted swords. Jen's has purple streaks on the blade while mine has blue streaks on its blade. The two vampires leave the room and bid Demetri a good night. He comes in and closes the door. I seal and soundproof the room He turns around slowly and looks at us. We just grin at him.
Demetri tries for the door. The handle won't even turn. I weave my magic very well. Jen taught me very well. He shouts out and then stays quiet. He knows that no one can hear him. I sneer and take off his other arm at the elbow when he lunges at me. Jen takes off a leg at the knee. Demetri lets out a strangled cry of pain. He's trying to be strong. Too bad he's not strong. I take off the other leg at the hip as Jen castrates him on his way to the ground. We dice up his lower abdomen. Jen grabs his hair and lifts his head up. In one smooth swing she separates it from what's left of his torso. I finish cutting up the rest of his body.
Jen uses magical fire to torch the pieces yet leave the room the way that it was. This time we leave the ashes. The Volturi will see it and know what happened. They will also know that they can't hide anywhere. We leave the city and head to the forest. Something unexpected is waiting for us in a clearing that we want to pass through. The entire Cullen family is there. Edward is standing in the middle of the clearing. They are all looking at me. Jen asses the situation before she too looks at me. I still feel calm about my closure, even being face to face with him. I nod twice. Jen shrugs and goes to sit in a tree at the clearing's edge.
EDWARD
There she is. Now is my chance. She doesn't look mad. In fact, she looks like she is completely calm. My family's thoughts are screaming at me to say something. Time seems to slow down. The best place to start is the beginning. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. I shake myself out of my haze.
"Bella, I am so very sorry," I make myself say.
"For what?" Bella really sounds confused.
I explain everything to her. But Bella thinks that I am just trying to make her feel better. She assures me that she has found closure and is completely fine with me seeing that blonde vampire. I explain about Tanya. Bella doesn't believe that either. It takes awhile before I can get through to her. I can see the change on her face. She was all smiles and friendliness before, but no she is completely expressionless as she accepts the fact that I lied to her.