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Chapter 30
A Tooth for a Tooth
The mansion. The next evening.
Bella was used to this new style of waking, now. Instantly alert, instantly aware.
She stretched, ran a hand through her hair, and sat up, looking around the empty room.
Edward had not returned before sleep had taken her the night before, and he was not here now. The house had been devoid of life when she had entered it the previous evenings.
Rose's room was dark and empty. No noise came from the cell in the basement. Bella had made her way to the room she shared with Edward, exhausted and shaken from her encounter with Carlisle, and promptly collapsed into unconsciousness.
A shower seemed like a good way of prolonging the time before she would have to leave the room and face the dark things growing outside.
Bella sighed, padded her way to the bathroom on bare feet, and lost herself for a time in torrents of warm water.
One of the televisions downstairs was on. She could hear it as she left the bathroom.
Bella pulled on clothes, ran a brush through her hair, and departed. She descended the arching staircase and turned into the room she had come to think of as the media centre.
Large televisions, three of them, each at least four feet tall, lined one wall. Discreet wooden units housed their audio components. Couches were arranged in front of the screens.
Most of the clutter that seemed to choke the rest of the mansion was missing from this room, perhaps because it was one of the few areas of the building that received frequent use.
Edward reclined on one of the couches, and his presence confirmed that it was Rose who sat on another. Bella found it unlikely he would tolerate Rosalie, particularly given recent events. As if to confirm this, Rose turned to her and spoke.
"We were wondering if you were ever going to wake up." She tried for a smile, managed something like one, and then looked away.
Bella sat down next to Edward, who adjusted his position to allow her to recline against his chest. He said nothing.
"It was a long night," Bella said.
"Tell me about it." Rose sighed, shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Rose. For whatever that's worth." Rose offered her another smile, sad, but more sincere than the last.
"I know. We need to talk about it, don't we?" she asked. Edward nodded. Bella felt the movement. Rose bit her lip, glanced at the TV, and muted it.
"Where do we start?" Bella questioned. Rose shrugged. Edward sighed.
"Let's begin with a lesson on vampire biology," he said.
"How do you feel right now, Rose?"
"Exhausted," Rose admitted, after a moment. Edward nodded.
"Indeed. Certainly not in any shape to undergo the rigors of finishing the process that was started last night. In fact, your blood is so weakened at the moment that the process would not even advance. Rosalie is, of course, unaware of this, but at best Tanya will remain a half-vampire for decades or centuries." Bella turned her head up to glance at Edward.
"Why?"
"Rose's blood needs time to rejuvenate. But to remain a half-vampire, Tanya needs periodic infusions of that blood.
Before Rose could strengthen enough to complete Tanya's transformation, she will either have to give the girl blood in order to keep her a half-vampire, or allow her to revert.
"If she allows the latter, then when she again tries to make Tanya into a vampire, it will be to the same result. Rose will not be prepared to create a fledgling for hundreds of years yet." Rose rolled her eyes.
"Great."
"Such is the nature of our particular strain. This, of course, is the least of our current problems. It is just the most easily discussed. There are other things of which we need to speak, Rose."
The blonde-haired vampire on the couch across from them was quiet for a long time. Finally she said,
"I've known Rosalie for a long time. There, I said it. I've never said her name before. Rosalie. I hate that name. I hated it before she even existed. But I knew her before she existed. She … Carlisle didn't create her, exactly. He just woke her up. She was just a dream before that; something that only came occasionally, and brought nightmares where I did awful things.
"I hated those dreams. Not because they were frightening, or awful, but because in the moments right after I woke up, I could feel her. I could understand the appeal. Christ, I'd wake up totally fucking aroused, like a part of me I couldn't feel when I was awake not only enjoyed the things in those dreams, but got off on them.
"The pain of the blood, Carlisle's blood … it brought her out. It spoke to her like nothing I had ever allowed into my life. Once she woke up, she didn't want to go back. She can't take over … not yet. She has to wait until I'm asleep. But she can keep me out for longer and longer each time, and she can let me back in whenever she wants. She's stronger than I am. She spends more and more time with my body. Eventually, what happens? I wake up next to a half-vampire I don't even know, and find out that it's my blood that did it.
"So that's when I really knew. This body is Rosalie's. I'm just along for the ride until she beats me back completely. Then I'll be the dream, I guess. Maybe I can give her nightmares."
Bella opened her mouth to say something, and could think of nothing to say. Rose wasn't telling them anything they didn't already know. She was simply admitting the truth to herself. Rose was crying now, unable to look at them.
"When you first told me about Bella, Edward, you said you thought you would stay here maybe twenty years. Twenty years? I'm not sure you'll last another twenty days. I could never read people like you could, and I could never read you … but I've been able to all the time for the last few weeks. Escape. Escape. It's like a flashing neon sign in your head.
"And I can't even b—bring myself to hate you for it. Either of you. It's not your fault, and I know it, and that makes it so hard." Edward stirred.
Bella shifted her weight, allowing him to sit up. He looked at Rose and when he spoke, his voice retained its nearly ever-present calm, but there was deep sympathy in it, and an almost heart-breaking sadness.
"A hundred and twenty years, Rose. It comes and goes like the wind, and I hate myself for all of this, even if you cannot."
"Don't." Edward shrugged. It can't be helped.
"I don't want her to win, Edward, but she's going to." Bella spoke up.
"Does she have to? Is there any other way?" Edward answered her.
"I don't know, Bella. We have little time to find out."
"Why?"
"There are two things eating away from our time here, my own desire to leave not included. The first is Tanya. She will wake, soon, and that will force a decision on her fate. A minor matter, perhaps. Perhaps not. The second is Carlisle, who has instructed me of his desires. He wants us gone, Bella, the sooner the better. As Rose said, we will not be here another twenty days, but not because of any desire on my part. He says he has grown tired of me. As for Rosalie, Tanya, Alice—he has told me that when we leave, we must not take them with us."
Rose made a quiet sobbing noise. She was not looking at them, was instead watching the silent images on the television.
"What if you killed Carlisle?" Bella stood up, paced back and forth a few times, then looked at Edward.
He raised his eyebrows, tilted his head slightly, and said nothing.
"I'm serious. What would happen to you? To Rose? To Alice and Tanya and me?"
"This is an unwise avenue of discussion."
"Is he really that powerful? Is it impossible?"
"That and more. Carlisle has studied long in vampire lore. He is very aware of his capabilities, and has pushed those boundaries further than perhaps any other living vampire. He revealed a rather startling talent to me last night, unwittingly I think, when he caught your breath. I knew that in close proximity, his power over others' minds was significant, but I did not know that he could allow you full reign of your thoughts while controlling otherwise involuntary functions. I do not know how to do that, do not know how he did it, and do not know how to fight it."
"Okay, but suppose somehow he died. We can't kill him. Fine. But say tomorrow Carlisle … I don't know … gets hit with a nuclear bomb and is turned to ashes. What would happen to us?"
"Us. Very well, Bella. On a purely speculative basis – as what you speak of is simply not a possibility for a wide variety of reasons – I think I can answer that. What happens when the head of a line dies? It depends on the age of his children, and the type of vampire.
"If you kill an Eresh vampire, his children may be significantly weakened. Certainly any half-vampire he has created will revert to human form. Full vampires may or may not revert, depending on the amount of time that has passed since the change. If someone killed me, Bella, you would revert to human form in a matter of weeks. You've not been changed nearly long enough for it to 'stick,' so to speak.
"If someone, somehow, killed Carlisle, the effects would be less drastic. Rose and I have made the change completely and will not revert. Alice might revert, but I have no way of knowing if her mind would return with her humanity, and at this point the physical changes may not completely fade. It is possible that she would be very strong and very fast, for a human being … comparable perhaps to one of the other vampire strains. There would be no effect on Tanya, or on you, if Carlisle were killed.
"So, continuing this interesting but, unfortunately, rather useless line of thought, if Carlisle was killed, it would have little effect on the present situation, beyond possibly allowing Tanya the opportunity to return to her normal life, since he would no longer consider her his property."
Bella watched him, frustrated, knowing that he would not lie to her, but unwilling to believe that defeating Carlisle was not within some realm of possibility. No guarantees on Rose, Edward had said, but would it not at least give them more time to work on helping her rid herself of Rosalie?
"It would indeed." Edward had picked up her thoughts.
"But that in itself is not a guarantee, and an attempt on Carlisle's life would assuredly lead only to the cessation of our own. If Karma exists, I've been living on borrowed time since Kate … died. But I could not bring myself to sacrifice your life so needlessly."
"We have to do something, Edward."
"Yes, we do, but the choice is not ours, Bella. We have three options. The first is the easiest, at least for us: we leave. Rose, Alice, and Tanya stay. The second: we stay for as long as possible, against Carlisle's will. Rose is eventually engulfed by Rosalie; Tanya is kept in a state of half-vampirism indefinitely and is likely warped by Rosalie's teachings; Alice continues her mad existence; and eventually Carlisle's evil drives me away. In the interim, there will be little other than despair, and the end result is no different from the first option.
"Then there is the third …" Rose had turned to listen to Edward again, and her eyes said she knew what he was to say. Edward grimaced, looked at his sister with deep, sad eyes, and continued.
"The third is a possibility that Carlisle must know is in consideration. He has known me for too long not to guess that I would offer my sister this choice: if she wishes, she and Alice will die by my hand. That is the third option. Had Carlisle expressly forbid it last night, I would have acceded. He did not. He told me only that he wished that they remain here. He has left me to make my own decision on how to interpret that."
Rose's eyes were hard and glassy, but if more sobbing threatened, she held it at bay. She met Edward's gaze, her mouth a thin, white line. Bella looked between both of them, and at last shook her head.
"No. That's crazy. There's a fourth alternative, whether you want to admit it or not, Edward. The fourth is that we attempt the impossible and try to kill him. We have to!" It was Rose who spoke.
"Don't be ridiculous, Bella. I'm going to die. Pick any scenario, and at the end of it, I still die. I'd rather not go with your life, and Edward's, on my conscience."
"But if he dies, maybe Rosalie will …"
"Disappear? I told you, Bella. I've known Rosalie for a very long time now. Carlisle woke her up, yes, but she doesn't intend to be put back to sleep. If I believed there was the slightest chance of that, I might agree with you, but even then probably not. So put it out of your head, now. You're going to get yourself killed talking like that." Edward waved his hand, dismissing the idea.
"Carlisle knows the difference between threat and idle speculation. If anything, hearing Bella speak in this manner would only amuse him. Were you to attempt to kill him, Bella, I do not think he would be particularly upset with you. He would likely welcome the entertainment. He would destroy you, of course, but he would do it smiling.
"We cannot fight him, and even if we could, even if we pulled off the miraculous, what would be the purpose? The inevitable end for those we would be trying to save does not change. It is too much risk for no reward."
"Well that's fucking great. I hate all of the choices, Edward." Bella was beyond anger. Beyond tears.
Her voice was hollow, exasperated, depleted of hope Rose gave her a look of sympathetic commiseration, as if Bella was the true victim.
"I'm not fond of any of them myself. I'm not entirely certain which I would choose, if the choice were mine. It is not. Rose knows, has known for decades, which it is not. The choice lies with her, and I will abide by her decision, even if she chooses your fourth scenario." Rose sighed, shut her eyes, and leaned back against the couch.
Tears, tinged pink with blood, slipped down her face, but she did not lose her composure.
After a long minute in which Bella felt as if her own heart had ceased to beat, Rose looked up at the ceiling, and then over at Edward.
Her face was hard, and rage danced behind her eyes. Rage at them? Rage at Carlisle? Rage at the situation? Bella could not tell.
"I want a promise."
"Anything Rose."
"Take Tanya with you. Don't leave her behind. Don't leave her here for him. I know it goes against what he asked, but I can't do that. She's just a human. Promise me you'll take her and get her home. You can make her forget. Will you promise?"
"You have my word, Rose."
"Good. Then I want you to kill me. I'd rather you than that bitch who shares this body. Kill me, and kill Alice, and when Carlisle rages, spit in his fucking face and tell him it's from me."