Hey Guys! Here is the next installment of HOTS. Many people voiced their thoughts on the possible person behind the attack but only one person said a character for definite. And unfortunately that person was a guest. So if you are reading this, Guest. Please PM me for the promised fluff scene between our two girls. Anything I'm doing wrong or well in the story please comment on and ask questions :)
Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, if I did I would be one very happy boy.
We circled the structure made out of boulders for a few hours. Stella was adamant we needed to scout this mysterious end to the trail before going in. Even after surveying the area for another hour Stella wasn't happy. Soon Hazel got impatient and stormed up to the closest boulder and whacked it with a hairy hand. When nothing happened for a few minutes she gave a snort and chuckled at the fuming Stella. When our party caught up to her Stella grabbed the smirking satyr by the ear and stormed off behind one of the boulders. Various snorts and bays came from the arguing two.
"I swear those two are mated. Did you see the fear in Stella's eyes when Hazel went trotting off?" My pixie stated next to me. A slap echoed throughout the clearing followed shortly by Hazel strutting from behind the boulder in a rage.
"Alice why don't you and I leave James to investigate this one while we check out the others." I asked my girlfriend, anxious to not get in the way of the raging satyr. With a nod from the girl I loved, I made my way past the buzzing fairy as he frustratingly kicked the boulder mumbling something about it not opening.
"Bella, do we have a plan when we enter this place? It's evidently an entrance to some lair and Edward is in it. Please promise to get him out first Hun." Alice whispered against my ear. The urgency in her voice didn't go unnoticed. As an answer I just brought her close and enveloped her into a tight embrace. Her delicious scent washed over me and by Zeus I almost swooned. It was silent throughout the clearing as each group tried to find an entrance. Alice looked over at me and kissed the back of my hand. "You okay baby?" The vampire asked and I gave a stiff nod. Truth be told I was nervous as hell. The trail was too easy to follow. And there was no resistance on the way here. Even Ogres check if they are being followed every now and again.
The soft hands of my mate brought me out of my thoughts to find Alice looking intently into my eyes. "Listen to me Alice, I promise nothing bad will happen to us down there. If anyone tries to hurt you they will have to get through me first. We will find your brother soon and sort this whole mess out. But now and always, you are my main priority." I told the beauty infront of me. Tears came to the vampires eyes that would never fall.
"Bella I don't want you to put yourself in danger for me, I can protect myself if I need to. I don't want you hurt because you tried to protect me, I couldn't live with it." I gripped her by the shoulders and brought her even closer to me.
"You are a strange one my love." Alice's eyes just showed confusion at this.
"How am I the strange one? You're the one talking about sacrificing yourself for me when we haven't been together more than a week! I'm the one that's been in love with you for a century!" I chuckled and replied.
"I am the most powerful Nereid in history. I'm a little hard to hurt baby. You wanna know something? Out of all the creatures I've faced in my life, you are the one that can hurt me the most. I understand we've only been together for a week but you are my mate. Unexpected, but still my mate. My eternity is your eternity." Alice giggled and showed a real smile.
Then worry marred her face again and her hold tightened considerably. "Bella, honey, when I thought you rejected me. It felt as if part of my soul was ripped out and tossed away. I don't want to ever feel that again baby. You hear me?! If it seems like we will need to fight then I want you to focus on yourself, I can take care of myself. We vampires may be considered weak to you godly species, but we can still pack a punch." I don't know how I feel about that. Alice may have certain skills with fighting that she hasn't shown me yet but she is still a vampire. And vampires were arrogant with their own abilities.
"Hey guys! I found it!" The high pitched voice of James floated through the clearing. I gave a wink to my pixie, not giving an answer, and started walking back to the fluttering figure of James. Alice walked beside me with a firm grasp on my hand. Stella seemed to have calmed down a bit and was no longer snorting whenever she breathed. Although Hazel stood on the other side of the group. Infront of us was the first boulder looming over us all although this time with a pitch black door leading inside the rock. The darkness was all consuming and reminded me of Alice's eyes when Edward insulted her mate. Which was me! That thought still made me smile.
"James, go scout a few meters ahead of us. If there is any sign of trouble then alert us instantly." I told the fairy and watched as he slowly flew into the hole. Almost instantly he was taken by the darkness and out of sight.
"The noise his wings make when he hovers reminds me of bee. Like from that animated movie where bees sue humans for stealing their honey. It gives a sort of...camp...quality to him, don't you think?" Alice whispered into my ear.
Laughing I stepped into the doorway. "The glitter doesn't help either does it?" I whispered back. Stella and Hazel both let out whines as they laughed to our banter.
"Oi fish lady! If you don't stop talking so loud then half of our enemies will know how camp you think I am! Besides it's style, something you will never have!" James shouted back through the tunnel.
Looking to the side at Alice we both smirked. "Yep, definitely camp." We both laughed together. "I can see him snapping his fingers in a massive Z as he said that." Alice chuckled lowly. Only hearing high pitched growls and mumbles from further down the tunnel we decided to stop for now.
The tunnel was low and narrow. The roof hung from the ceiling almost at the top of my head so I had to constantly duck. Within five steps into the tunnel nearly all light was extinguished, even to my advanced eyes. It took all my control not to reach behind me and grab hold of Alice's hand to make sure she was still there.
For what seemed like hours we traversed down this tunnel. No other passages seemed to branch forth from it and neither did it seem the steepness level off. We were constantly moving downhill.
Suddenly a blurred light came into my vision. It didn't seem too far off and if I am not mistaken, there were noises coming from further on. I stopped abruptly, instinctually holding a fist out to signal to my team. Unfortunately I forgot they couldn't see this gesture and three bodies slammed into mine. After many grumbling curses and snorts I very lowly whispered that there was a light infront of us.
"James, get as close as you can and report back what you see." As the fairy fluttered off into the lights direction, I brought Alice to my side. Well I hope it was Alice because I didn't feel any fur or horns. "Alice, I know you want to fight and I don't doubt you can take care of yourself at all. But stay close to me please. For me?" When my angels giggle answered me and not a saytr's snort I visibly sighed with relief.
"Of course Bella. I ain't letting you get into any danger what so ever. I'm ready to kick some behind." I had to clasp a hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud.
"Don't try to talk dirty baby. Well maybe when we aren't a few meters from danger." I kissed what I hoped was her cheek and looked up to find the black silhouette of James coming back to us.
"Twenty vamps, none are on guard duty. Only one exit and that's blocked by a massive metal door. It appears we have stumbled into the prison section of wherever we are. One officer and you're not gonna believe who it is." I crawled up on my stomach to the incredibly bright opening.
Once my eyes had adjusted to the change in light levels, I perceived exactly what James had described. A large room with enough space to fight. Rows of cells lined both sides of the room. And in the middle were a cluttered group of vampires milling about looking incredibly bored. One person stood at the front of the group and was issuing orders and pointing to various cell occupants. My jaw literally hit the floor. It was Persephone!
"What is she doing leading a group of vampires!?" Alice all but shrieked next to me. A furry hand clamped over her mouth as she continued to make astonished sounds of shock. Persephone was clad in full battle black armour which seemed to have a sort of mist surrounding it. Just looking at the ensemble made me shiver at the obviously death riddled armour.
"Stella, Hazel. You two deal with the prisoners in the cells. Something tells me they might fight with us. Alice, James and I will take out the vampires and capture Persephone before she can call for reinforcements. James, make sure to sweep the group with disorientating dust first and-" I was interrupted by the large wooden door opening to reveal a lanky bronze haired figure.
"EDWA-mmph!" Alice nearly shouted out before Stella could get her hands round her mouth again. The arrogant son of a bitch strolled up to Persephone and embraced her into an intimate hug. I almost vomited at the sight. The bastard then actually started ordering some of the vampires to some of the cells to continue whatever work they were doing before.
After all of the worry and pain his coven had gone through with his disappearance, he put them through that willingly! It took all of my self control not to growl. "Change of plans, Stellla will assist us in disposing of the vampires. I will personally remove the silver spoon Edward has placed up his ass and beat him to death with it!" I gritted through my teeth. No one made my mate cry and gets away with it.
"Yurgh cmmph ll mmm!" Alice tried to say from behind Stella's hand. I nodded my head and the hand was brought away from her beautiful face. Before she could speak I put a finger to her lips.
"Quietly." She subconsciously kissed my finger and nodded slowly.
"You can't kill him, Bella. Please he's still my brother." She was close to crying again. Venom pooled behind her eyes and she started to sob. "He might not have betrayed us. It might be his way of helping? like a spy or something." Not even Alice seemed to believe herself.
"You can still sit this out if you want Tink." I told my mate and watched with a little bit of pride as she fought back the tears and slowly shook her head.
"No, I'm still with you Bella. But please don't kill Edward yet. Get his side of the story first."
"If you two are done can we get this show on the road?" James asked rudely. I nodded and raised my fist into the air. When I brought it back down we streamed into the prison.
The vampires were taken completely by surprise. I was able to rip three of their heads off before they realized something was wrong. James soared quickly over the vampires heads spreading magical dust that made his victims stumble and fall over. And then there was Alice.
Alice was beautiful. A graceful ballerina performing for us as she danced around leech after leech. Each blow was fatal and not one vampire could touch her. Soon we outnumbered what remained of our adversaries. Seeing this Persephone shouted for reinforcements. Before Edward could run out of the room to call for help, I had my hand round his throat. His reaction to being at my mercy was the same as last time with even more hissing.
I saw red. This sad excuse for a boy had hurt his family. Esme was reduced to tears at the thought he may be in danger. Alice went as far as to make me promise to not kill the bastard. All well, she didn't say anything about dismembering. With each limb torn from Prickward, a new scream of pain surged from his lips. Soon all that was left was a body and head squirming on the floor in agony.
I had taken too long with Edward, Persephone was nearly gone because of that. Stella and Hazel had successfully released the prisoners from their cages but only a few had taken up arms against their captors. He rest bolted for the exit as soon as a large enough gap in the doorframe had been made. Guards would soon come and outnumber us again. "Fall back! Into the passageway!" I yelled to the surrounding creatures. I grabbed Edward's mutilated body and instructed Hazel to take his discarded limbs. Within a few minutes we were running through the blackness again.
Luckily no sounds of pursuit were following our troop as we exited the tunnel. James was already working on destroying the entranceway and would hopefully be done in a few minutes. Alice was at my side in an instant which I was thankful for. She could really fight, I didn't need to worry as much as I did in hindsight. Alice was my rock and deserved so much more than Edward as a brother. I knew my girl wouldn't be fooled by his scheming. I reached behind me to where I sensed her presence only to have my hands painfully slapped back. Looking behind me I saw Alice leaning over the form of Edward cooing into his ear.
Oh hell no.
Edward doesn't deserve this. Alice is blinded by years of his false love. His controlling won't be tolerated anymore.
I stomped up to the couple on the ground. Seeing my shadow fall over her, Alice looked up looking confused. Edward only moaned when he saw me, blotting out the sun from his eyes. I quickly brought my foot up and forced it down with as much power as I could. The boy didn't even have a chance to look surprised as his head was separated from his body.
"What the hell Bella! Why did you do that?!" Alice screamed up at me. Crouching down and scooping up his head I raised my fist into the air.
"We make way for Forks tonight. I'll contact Poseidon there and get further orders. But first I want to have a little chat the traitor." I yelled to the group. "Move out!" I barked to them and watched as my team and the cluster of prisoners started blurring out of the clearing.
"Bella! Give me back his head now!" Alice yelled from behind me.
"It's safer for us to travel with an unconscious prisoner. So no I will not let you heal him just yet. I want to interrogate him first on what the hell he was thinking and why those vampires were normal compared to the ones that attacked Olympus." Alice grabbed the back of my top and stopped any thoughts of walking away I had.
"He's not dangerous now he's out of their clutches. It'll be easier to travel with him running beside us. He's the fastest of my family." Alice tried to sway my mind. I couldn't let her do that though, she would thank me later when my interrogation shows Edward for the traitor he really is.
"He isn't a part of the family anymore. Either pick up the limbs or leave them here. I only really need his head and chest. Now let's go." I turned and grabbed her arm to start walking beside her. When she ripped it away instantly I stopped and looked at my mate. Why was she so adamant Edward was innocent?
"Bella don't you dare do this." She angrily eyed me. The sight made my heart bleed and desperately made me want to change my mind. But I couldn't. Alice was hurt by him enough already.
"I have to Alice. It's my job." I called over my shoulder as I walked away.
Silence followed me and I had to look back to see if she were following me or not. If my heart had been bleeding before, the sight of Alice crying nearly severed it. "You said yourself, your job is your life!" Alice screamed at me, venom leaking from her eyes. A vampire was actually crying.
"You have proven yet again how special and unique you are Alice. My mate is the first vampire to cry. I know it hurts to treat someone you see as family like this but he must answer for his crimes, I promise I won't let anyone make my mate cry again after this." I tried to cheer her up but her face only grew angry instead of sad.
"Keep acting like that and you won't have a mate Isabella." My world stopped. Alice left the clearing in a blur of tears and sobs as she crashed through trees and anything unlucky enough to get in her way. The booming sound of James smashing the entranceway to the tunnel ironically followed Alice away from me. Who had just smashed my heart.
Dun Dun Dun.
Was that mean of me? Because it hurt to do that to Snapjack. Bella just wants to protect Alice but doesn't see it is hurting her. Alice on the other hand is wayyy too lenient on dear Eddy. Please voice any questions or thoughts on this chapter. Till next time :)
P.S. Shout out to Create the Great who helped me passed my writers block!