Chapter Twenty-Seven

Another crossroad I have come upon today

I choose my own path I choose my own path

You call me ignorant I slam your disdain

I was your lab rat, but I won't take that

Hold your breath and close your eyes as you walk down the line

Innocence will pull us through

And I will be just fine

Seasons After: Through Tomorrow

Re-cap (Alice POV):

"You can't die, you weren't lying." He said and turned to Luke. "But you can."

He thrust a blade into Luke's abdomen and we watched in horror as it sunk into his skin.

Robert grabbed his shoulder as he thrust the knife in deeper. "I have been lacing your deer blood with the toxin my old friend." he turned the knife then pushed Luke off of his blade.

Annie threw Felix off her with such force he smacked the back wall and ran to Luke.

"Oh god Luke, don't die." She cried and the room just watched the incredibly intimate moment with horror.

All except Robert, who looked delighted.

Alice…

"Always loved you." Luke choked out.

"You can't leave me. Luke stay with me." she cried harder. "I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for you to leave."

She tried to stop the bleeding. I wasn't sure exactly where all the blood was coming from. After all he didn't have blood, but it was possible that the toxin Robert mentioned made him more than weak.

"You were there for me through so much and I love you for that. I will miss you." Annie whispered.

Luke went limp, causing Annie to collapse on his chest and cry. Paul looked like he was on the verge of tears himself.

"Robert you will throw away a friendship that is 558 years old, and for what?" Marcus asked.

"Power Marcus." He replied.

"Luke never did harm to you." Marcus said.

"You don't understand. Neither of you ever will. Power is everything. We have a carefully bred solider here. Able to do anything, mind control. And she is unstoppable, nothing will kill her."

"You just killed Luke, what in your fucking twisted brain makes you think I will ever follow you or help you again?" Annie asked from the floor.

"I can kill them all; with that power you will do whatever I want."

"I will do one thing for you, I will kill you."

"Enough of this. Robert I didn't know you were going to go to such extremes for this. It has to end." Marcus told him.

"Now Marcus, I think that we are over reacting about this. Robert has his point." Aro said walking over to where Luke was lying.

"He has no point and if you are considering this I think that you need to step down."

"I think you are weak. Compassion does not get you anything, power does." Robert said.

I watched as Aro walked over to Luke's body and bent down.

"Don't touch him." Annie growled.

He glared at her and reached for him. "Touch him and I will kill you."

"Robert told me of you weakness. You couldn't kill anything." he told her.

Aro reached for a knife and drew the blade across Luke's cheek. The skin sliced open as if he were human. Though no blood spilled from it.

Suddenly Aro let out a strangled cry and landed no his back. He thrashed for a moment before going still and not moving. Annie stood and turned to her father.

She just killed him, like that. Without even touching him. That scared me.

"You killed him?" Robert asked in wonder.

"I was a carefully bred, and you never took the time to figure out exactly what I can do." She growled at him and his smirk faded.

"Robert, enough. You need to leave." Marcus said as he had a few vampires take Aro's body out of the room. "Too many have died and their deaths are on your hands."

"Enough." A voice said from behind Marcus and Annie spun around.

Caius walked into the room. I had not seen him much and was surprised at how young he looked compared to his brothers.

"Ah dear brother, you surely will be able to talk some sense into Robert." Marcus said relieved.

"Robert works for me." Caius laughed then he looked to Annie.

"Anberliegh my dear, I haven't seen you since you were a baby." He smiled and that smile made me feel uneasy.

"You killed my mother." Annie whispered.

The room went still.

Paul…

They brought me here to kill me. I wanted to phase into wolf form but I knew that wasn't the best idea right now. Do I just follow the three leeches around while they all looked devastated.

What were they so sad about anyway? I didn't even know they still had feelings. I wanted to see if I could hear the pack, to figure out where I was.

The second any of them tried anything I would change and rip them to shreds. Thinking of it made me smile.

We had been walking for a while when I put my hands in my pockets and felt something in one of the pockets. A bright set of blues eyes flashed before me and I stopped. I pulled out the mysterious object and gasped as I looked at it.

More images flashed before me. The same set of eyes in the face of a stunning women. The same face laughing, smiling, glaring, and the same face looking at me with an enormous amount of love.

Anberliegh.

This ring was on her finger.

Emmett, Rose, and Alice were still walking. I had been horrible to them, but it was my fault. Annie made me forget.

Annie made me forget. Why?

"Alice?" I whispered. "Alice!"

They ran back to me.

"Paul?" Rose asked and I can tell that I hurt them.

"We have to go back." I pleaded with them.

"How is this possible?" Rose asked turning to Alice.

"Because he imprinted with his heart not his head." Emmett explained. That explanation sounded as good as any, and then it hit me again.

"She made me forget."

"So you wouldn't get hurt." Rose told me.

I guess I understood, but for now I had to get her. We went back and ran into the same room; I almost didn't notice how empty it was. Then we heard voices.

"Drink it!" We could hear Robert yell. "Or we will kill her."

"No! Don't, you know they can't." Annie screamed.

What I saw made me see red, and my blood boil. A vampire had Annie held back in the corner of the room. Luke was holding a small bottle and more vampires were sitting at the front of the room. Robert grinned at me so I glared at him. My muscles started to tremor.

"Felix." Aro said and Felix leaned down and licked Annie's neck then bared his teeth.

Luke took the stopper off of the vial.

"Luke Stop!" Annie screamed. "Please don't."

Aro nodded and Felix went to bite down on Annie's neck.

I started to him and saw Emmett do the same. But we stopped when his teeth crashed against her skin. Oh, thank god. I knew my girl was unbreakable.

"You can't die, you weren't lying. But you can." Then Robert stabbed Luke. I heard Annie gasp and I much as I didn't like him, I felt the pain too.

"I have been lacing your deer blood with the toxin me old friend." Robert said as Annie threw off Felix and ran to Luke.

The rest of her words rang through my head.

"Oh god, Luke, don't die."

And Luke's. "Always loved you."

"You can't leave me. Luke stay with me. I'm not ready for this." She was crying and I wanted nothing more than to hold her, but I couldn't move.

"You were there for me through so much and I love you for that. I will miss you." Annie whispered. Then, Luke died.

All my wishing he would be gone forever filled me with guilt at the look on Annie's face.

"Robert you will throw away a friendship that is 558 years old, and for what?" Marcus asked.

"Power Marcus." He replied.

"Luke never did harm to you." Marcus said.

"You don't understand. Neither of you ever will. Power is everything. We have a carefully bred solider here. Able to do anything, mind control. And she is unstoppable, nothing will kill her."

No, my girl wasn't like that. She wasn't just an experiment, she was my everything.

"You just killed Luke, what in your fucking twisted brain makes you think I will ever follow you or help you again?" Annie asked from the floor.

"I can kill them all, with that power you will do whatever I want."

"I will do one thing for you, I will kill you."

"Enough of this. Robert I didn't know you were going to go to such extremes for this. It has to end." Marcus told him.

"Now Marcus, I think that we are over reacting about this. Robert has his point." Aro said walking over to where Luke was laying.

"He has no point and if you are considering this I think that." Marcus started but Robert cut him off.

"I think you are weak. Compassion does not get you anything, power does." Robert said.

"Don't touch him." Annie growled.

He glared at her and reached for him. "Touch him and I will kill you."

"Robert told me of you weakness'. You couldn't kill anything." he told her.

Aro cut Luke's cheek then he let out a strangled cry and landed no his back. He thrashed for a moment before going still and not moving. Don't fuck with my girl.

"You killed him?" Robert asked.

"I was a carefully bred, and you never took the time to figure out exactly what I can do." Like I said.

"Robert, enough. You need to leave." Marcus said as he had a few vampires take Aro's body out of the room. "Too many have died and their deaths are on your hands."

"Enough." A voice said from behind Marcus and Annie spun around.

"Ah dear brother, you surely will be able to talk some sense into Robert." Marcus said relieved.

"Robert works for me." Caius laughed then he looked to Annie.

"Anberliegh my dear, I haven't seen you since you were a baby." He said smiling at her like he won.

"You killed my mother." Annie whispered.

I stopped breathing.

Annie…

"You killed my mother." I whispered as a man I now knew as Caius. He had been hiding in plain sight the whole time. Right under my nose. I never noticed him because he was always the least worrisome of the three leaders. Now I knew Aro was and Caius were the worst.

He just stood there smiling at me and I felt like I was going to throw up. So much anger welled up inside me that I felt as though I would pass out.

I knew one thing, I wanted this man dead.

"It amazes me what people will do for love. It really does. What is the point of protecting someone when you know they are going to die anyway? Just like with Luke, and now you are protecting your little family. They are going to die Annie. Just wait."

I stood tall. Knowing that if I showed no fear he would get nervous. And he was.

"You miss her don't you? I remember the day your mother died."

"So do I." I told him.

"You were there then. I knew it." he whispered to himself.

I was across the room in seconds and grabbed his throat with my hand.

"Marcus!" he gasped but Marcus shrugged.

"I apologize brother, but I fear she is right." he said.

"Robert." He managed to get our next.

Robert decided to do a hostage thing and go for Paul.

Phase. I sent to Paul and he smiled.

In seconds he was in his wolf form causing Robert to freeze in his spot.

"A shape-shifter Annie? Really?" Robert asked.

He ran for the door, stopping just before he left. "I will see you again my daughter. Next time I will not underestimate you."

I felt sick to my stomach, whether it was the toxin they forced me to drink earlier or the fact that I knew Roberts words were true I didn't know. I turned my attention back to Caius.

"I remember exactly how you killed my mother. For years I dreamt about killing you. All the different ways I could make you suffer. Then I realized this is what you want. For me to kill you and it be quick." She smiled a little. "My mother would hate this, but you have not only ruined my life but many others. I am going to make you hate blood. You will starve until you find a vampire that will be kind enough to kill you."

I knew that the second he figured out that I could make him hate blood he would order the guard to kill him. He would be dead in two days. Now I just had to find my father, but I knew he would find me soon enough. I would kill him with my bare hands.

Marcus assured me that he would rule different than his power hungry brothers. He knew that there ways of doing things were wrong he just never bothered to change them.

"Go home, I will be there soon. I need to do something." I told everyone as I looked at Luke.

I needed to bury him next to my mother. As they left no one protested. Not even Paul, but I guess he knew that I needed time.

I finished filling the hole I had dug for Luke. My powers were weakened by the toxin I was forced to ingest, but as time went on I could feel them returning. It was almost worth drinking it, to feel normal.

I stayed there for days. Unable to move. I knew I needed to get back and see my family, then find my father and end him, but as I sat between my mother and Luke's grave I wished my life was different.

I wanted nothing more than to be human right then. So much hurt filled me. I needed Paul I needed to go see him.

First I needed to go to the house where I was born. To where it all started. I made the short run to the old abandoned place. It was falling apart. Dust covered everything.

I stood in the living room, or what was left of it when I heard someone.

"I figured I would find you here." Robert said from the doorway. "Feeling sentimental?"

I walked over to him and wrapped my hand around his throat.

"So killing one parent wasn't enough you want us both dead?" he asked.

I dropped him.

"Caius killed my mother, you know that. Did you ever even love her?" I asked him.

"I believe I did, but then when she had you that was all she cared about. Even though she promised she wouldn't. She forgot her promise to me. How she could actually see you as more than just an experiment I will never understand."

My hand was around his throat again.

"Before you kill me, do you want to know what has become of your family?" he smirked.

"What?" I asked squeezing harder.

"Kill me and you will never know," he teased.

He was lying. I knew he was. At least that is what I told myself as I ripped him apart and burnt him inside that horrible house. The whole time panic threatening to crush me. My powers were still weak, and I was unable to see anything. Once the fire was out I went home as fast as I could, fearful of what I would find.