Guess we both know we're in over our heads

We've got no where to go and no home that's left

The water is rising on a river turning red

It all might be okay, or we might be dead

"All I need"

-Mat Kearney

Chapter 52:

What the hell is a shield anyway?

I was surprised when Jacob phased to talk to me. I took that as a good sign. Instead of him telling me to get the hell out of here, he was going to take the time to actually say something to me.

He surprised me with what he thought first.

I'm glad that you came.

Uh, you haven't by chance been hanging around Zafrina to get high have you? She was a hallucinogen. Maybe she had other pseudo effects too.

Why do you keep hanging up on me when I call? Jacob questioned.

Because you pissed me off.

I apologized for that.

No, you had Sam apologize FOR you...which is completely uncool by the way.

I'm sorry.

There. Was that so hard? I joked.

So, you accept?

Of course I don't. I'm still mad at you. But I understand that you were upset when you said what you did.

It's true. We both have a habit of saying things we don't mean when we're angry.

"We?" I questioned. No, don't you lump us together with that stupid flapping jaw of yours.

I've missed this. Jacob referred to our bickering. It's not the same with Emmett. He's just a dick. Plus, his stupid wife yells at him all the time and it ruins our fun. At least with you, I know we're going to have a blast fighting.

Gee, I'm so touched that you enjoy demeaning me. I rolled my eyes. Then I let out a laugh. I'm sorry I've been acting like such a baby. I just got upset.

I've learned never to underestimate your reactions, Jacob admitted. Though, I was kind of surprised that you managed to turn Seth against me.

I glanced at the ground.

Yeah, that wasn't all me. He's really upset about the Alpha command thing. And he's pissed that you won't let us stay here with you, especially with all these vamps around. You two need to get together and work out whatever issues there are between you, because we don't have a lot of time left.

I dunno. Bella's working pretty hard on projecting her shield.

So the fate of the entire group rested on the shoulders of a vampire who couldn't think of anyone other than herself for more than ten seconds? I'd said it once, and I had no problem saying it again. We. Are. Screwed.

Hey, how are the new trainees coming along? Jake questioned.

They're idiots that don't know how to fight. I nodded. So, about what I expected them to be.

Sam told me what happened yesterday. And Emmett told me, too. Though both of their stories are completely different.

Of course.

I'd like to hear your side.

I flashed the memory in my mind. First, we saw a fight. Then, we stopped said fight. The end.

I think I much prefer your straightforward story than the two dramatic ones that I got.

Yep, that's what I love about us. Zero bullshit. I shrugged.

I heard Nessie call out curiously, looking for where Jacob had gone.

Gotta run, Jacob said. But I'm really glad that we're talking again.

He was right about that. No matter how angry I got with him, I would never be able to forgive myself from walking away from his friendship. He phased back and waved to me.

"Feel free to stick around. Watching Bella trying to use her shield is actually kind of cool." Jacob jogged towards where Zafrina was occupying Nessie with God only knows what kind of thoughts.

"Interesting." Zafrina looked to where I was peeking out of the trees. "How many of there are you exactly?" she asked Jacob.

Jacob took Nessie and started to bounce her playfully in his arms.

"Enough to make the Volturi stop when they come here," Jacob said with confidence.

"Let's go to the river," Nessie suggested to Jacob. She looked over at Zafrina and someone who I assumed had to be Zafrina's sister. "Will you and Senna come?"

"Of course, child." Zafrina took her hand and started to lead her towards the creek. It was probably a good thing to get Nessie away from all the violence going on at home. She was messed up enough already without having to understand why people are punching and jumping on mommy all of a sudden. Though, I sure as hell got a kick out of it.

Jacob followed the two Amazonian women very closely. Though I could see that though he knew Nessie was safe, he still didn't trust her with them.

I moved a little closer. Emmett and Rosalie noticed my presence.

"Ugh. Why are there always dogs around?" Rosalie grumbled.

"Aw, honey, they're not so bad." He smirked at me. "Look, she's even kind of cute…in a monster sort of way. You know, if you rub her belly just right she kicks her foot in the air…" Emmett teased me.

I'm about to put my foot somewhere… I frowned back. Namely, his ass.

Kate silenced us as she went forward with Bella's lesson to learn to project her power. I watched as Bella tried to make it work. She squished her face up in concentration and grunted a little. It looked like she was getting ready to take a dump, not throw an invisible forcefield around her surrounding area.

I mocked Bella, Fear me, for I am a mighty vampire who will shit on you to death. If the Volturi saw her making that face they might just hand her some laxatives.

Kate and Edward assured her she was doing fine. I didn't agree. From where I was standing, she hadn't learned a damn thing.

I listened as Bella moaned and complained about how she was never going to get the hang of how to use her shield. Gee, what a surprise. She was giving up. I rolled my eyes. Though, I had to admit that it was entertaining for me to see Kate shock the hell out of Edward time and time again. As much grief as I had given the mindreader about being a wimp, he had been the only person to volunteer to let Kate shock him while Bella tried to project her shield.

Kate zapped him and Edward cringed. He faced Bella, who let out a huff, "I'm never going to get this…"

"Hey, come on. That one barely stung…" Edward lied. His lying was worse than mine. Which was bad.

Bella grunted at Kate, "Again…"

I watched as Kate touched Edward, but to my surprise he didn't react. He stared blankly. He hadn't felt that. For once, Bella had succeeded.

"Nice, Bella," Kate said through a fake smile. I heard her grumble though, "That wasn't low either…"

Kate went to shock Edward again and he doubled over from the jolt this time.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" Bella cried at Edward.

Jeeze, stop whining and just get on with the training. I frowned.

Edward embraced Bella and assured her that she was doing just fine.

"You've only been working at this for a few days, and you're already projecting sporadically. Kate, tell her how well she's doing."

Yeah, lie to make the little wimp feel better.

"I don't know." Kate pursed her lips.

I couldn't contain my laughter. Kate was great. At least she wouldn't lie to put Bella's ego at ease. I was glad that there was someone here besides me who wasn't going to let Bella get away with being such a crybaby. Kate would call her on her crap.

"I think she can do better. She's just lacking incentive." Kate frowned.

I had to agree with Kate. If Bella had this power, with all this practice she should be miles better at trying to perfect it by now. I was betting that if it were Nessie getting the jolts, Bella would find some way to protect her.

Edward heard my thoughts and growled.

"She stays out of this…" he snarled at me.

Kate glanced at Edward as he peered at Nessie. I guess the same thought registered in her head.

I saw Edward snap his focus back to Kate and respond to something she had said in her thoughts, "You can't be serious?"

Wait, what had I missed? I looked curiously at Edward. He glanced at me with his lip curled up. Apparently this was somehow my fault.

"She agrees with you…" he snapped at me.

Well, I guess that was a good thing considering I had about half a dozen vampires here who would probably rip me limb from limb just for suggesting it.

"Kate…" Edward growled a warning.

But Kate was already running to catch Zafrina and Senna who were playing with Nessie along the bank of the river.

I watched as Jacob eyed all of the vampires surrounding Nessie suspiciously.

"Nessie…" Kate smiled at her. "...would you like to come and help your mother?"

Holy shit, she was going to go through with this? I was just being facetious. I wouldn't have dreamed of actually putting Nessie in harm's way. Jake would kill me.

Nessie ignored her mother's pleas that she not do this. She jumped into Bella's arms and smiled.

"I want to help."

Bella took an automatic step backwards as Kate slowly walked towards her.

Wow, Bella was going to freak out. I just knew it. I watched as a grin escaped Kate's lips. She was confident. But that confidence might just get her killed. If Bella could have turned red from anger, she would have. She hugged Nessie tightly as Kate took another step forward.

A growl escaped Bella's lips. One that clearly said, "back off, bitch." Edward warned Kate to be careful…which I found a bit odd considering that his daughter was in danger of being shocked.

After taking another step forward, Kate took her eyes off of Bella and Nessie and turned to Edward. Well, that was stupid of her. Bella crouched forward, ready to attack.

Kate then said something that caused Bella to pause in her attack.

"Can you hear anything from Nessie?" She looked at Edward curiously.

Edward shook his head as he lunged in between Kate and Bella.

Oh! I got it. They had just scared Bella into using her shield. Pretty crafty. And a bold move from the usually pussified Edward.

"No. Now ease up. You really shouldn't toy with her like that. I know she doesn't seem her age, but Bella's still a newborn. You could have been attacked and none of us could have helped you…"

Kate just shrugged it off. She wasn't afraid.

"We don't have time to do this gently, Edward." She frowned. Kate had a point. As much as I hated to admit it, Bella was our only hope of survival. If she didn't get a hang of this "shield" thing, we were all going to get ripped to shreds. And if we continued to let Bella get away with, "Wah, I can't do this, it's too hard…" instead of pushing her forward with motivation, this was all going to be in vain.

"Back off, Kate." Edward warned her again.

I watched as Bella panted angrily. She looked at Kate and then at Edward. She placed her hand gently on Edward's back. Was she going to break his spine for tricking her? I laughed.

"Edward only." She nodded for Kate to shock her husband.

Kate closed the gap between them and pressed her palm to Edward's shoulder. He didn't flinch. Bella had just successfully and willingly used her shield.

So all we had to do was keep her completely pissed off the entire time the Volturi was here and we might actually win this thing. I guess that job could fall to me. I pissed everyone off.

Zafrina stepped forward again.

"Can you see this?" She was apparently causing a hallucination. I wondered what she was making them see. I imagined something like pink elephants and purple hippos dancing around in tutus.

"I don't see anything I shouldn't." Edward shrugged.

Nessie confirmed that she wasn't seeing anything out of the ordinary either. Of course, she was a half vampire kid. Everything about her life was unordinary.

"No one panic…" Zafrina turned to the group of vampires watching.

Well, those words were never good to hear. As soon as you tell someone not to panic, the first thing they're going to do is scream about how the world was ending or something. She might have well just said, Oh, God, we're all going to die! There's so much blood!

I watched as anxious expressions formed on the vampires faces. Zafrina must have blinded them. Zafrina encouraged Bella to see if she could extend her shield. After a few seconds, Kate had her sight back. The shield was expanding. Wow, this was actually kind of cool.

Edward mentioned that whether or not someone was behind the shield, he could still hear our thoughts.

Comb your hair, I suggested sarcastically. He liked to invade minds so much, I figured I might as well give him hell for being in mine.

Garrett was the next one to regain his sight. Besides Senna, he was the only vampire there that didn't look afraid of what Zafrina had been doing to him. He looked wildly inquisitive.

"Can I have a minute?" Bella looked like she was getting tired. Wow, it was weird to see a vampire emotionally exhausted.

A few of the vampires wandered away after Zafrina gave them their sight back. What a bunch of wussies. The only two vampires that didn't stray were Kate and Garrett.

I watched curiously as Garrett questioned Kate about her power. He seemed enthralled that she could put someone on their back with just one touch. Weirdo.

"Curious?" Kate smiled playfully at him.

Garrett teased her and said that she had to be exaggerating; that no one could really have that much electricity in their system. I felt like I was watching two five-year-olds on the playground. There was always that little bratty boy who pulled the hair of the girl he had a crush on and then ran away. Garrett was that boy.

So, now not only was this a training ground for vampires, it was a matchmaking service? Fantastic.

Garrett smirked as he raised his index finger. "I'm not afraid of you." He touched her.

He was on the ground less than two seconds later.

"Told you so," Edward murmured. The most used of all childhood phrases.

I was watching a bunch of five-year-olds!

After a few seconds, Garrett looked up at Kate with a smile on his face. Had that oddball actually enjoyed being in pain?

"I'm not crazy…" Garrett shook his head.

I begged to differ.

"But that was sure something!" he added.

The laughter suddenly ceased when there was a commotion from inside the house.

"Did Alice send you?" I heard Carlisle ask.

That's right. Alice and Jasper were still out there sending vampires this way. I had completely forgotten about that.

I watched Edward dart into the house. The others followed with Bella lagging behind slowly, Nessie perched on her back. She looked like a little monkey.

I watched as Bella disappeared into the house. Though I didn't particularly like her, I couldn't deny that she was our only hope against the Volturi. And after seeing what she would do to protect Nessie from Kate, I was confident that with a little work, this battle might not be lost after all. For the first time since I had learned about the battle, I had a glimmer of hope that we might actually win.

I was alone again. I guess Embry hadn't been able to sneak past his mother after all. After a few minutes of deliberation, I decided that it was about time for me to go home. It had been long enough for mom to pretty much gut the entire house and spray it down with every cleaner known to man. And if she was still cleaning when I got back, I'd just slip a sedative of some kind into her drink so she couldn't force me to clean too.

It was on my way home when the new hope I'd felt disappeared. I remembered Carlisle's words to the new guest, "Did Alice send you?" The little fortune teller was gone. She had seen what the future held for us and she bailed.

I started to wonder something. With so many werewolves fighting side by side with the vampires, how could Alice have seen the battle? We clouded her sight. Had she jumped the gun when she couldn't see her family's future any longer? Maybe she had never even seen a battle. She could have very easily misunderstood why her visions disappeared. She assumed that because her family's future disappeared, they were all doomed. But it was possible that the future disappeared because we were in it. We were fighting the battle with them. Did Alice know that? She couldn't have. If my assumption was true...if Alice had misinterpreted her vision...it was possible that she really didn't know the outcome of the battle.

Maybe we weren't doomed after all.