Debriefing
"Time to relax and debrief," Carlisle replies. "Please, join me inside, my friends and let's talk about the events that have transpired here today."
The crowd agrees and slowly begin making their way inside the Cullen's home. Peter goes over to Max and offers, "Hey, buddy, you look like you could use a hand."
Char gasps and smacks him on the back of the head and immediately apologizes to Max.
Peter scowls at her and says, "I was just offering to help him inside!"
"And the fact he's missing a hand never occurred to you?" she accuses, hands on her hips.
Peter raises an eyebrow and smirks, drawling, "Geez, Char, it's not like I was gonna ask him to be my right-hand man. I was just offering to carry him to the house."
Char gasps and hits him upside the head again, cursing him for being an insensitive bastard. Max rolls his eyes, gets up on his leg stumps and begins stiffly walking toward the house by himself. You stroll beside him, matching his slow pace.
"Does that hurt?" you ask curiously.
He shakes his head. "No, not anymore. It did initially, but once the areas healed completely, they were strong enough to bear weight."
"Do you prefer to walk on your own like this, or would you rather be carried?" you inquire politely.
"For everyday things, I generally get around on my own. I like having my independence and doing as much for myself as I can. Most vampires can't stand to move at such a slow pace though, so when I'm with others, I usually allow someone to carry me," he admits. Then he smiles and winks up at you. "I never mind being in a charming, beautiful woman's arms though."
You laugh and pick him up, carrying him the rest of the way inside. "I'm mated with Jasper Whitlock," you warn.
He smiles and nods, declaring, "He's a good man. That's a good union."
You set him down in a chair then join Jasper, sitting in your mate's lap. As soon as everyone is in the room and settled, the questions start flying. Most people want answers from Edward and Jasper, including insights from their gifts, to gain a better understanding of just what the hell has happened. Edward agrees to describe the day's events from his point of view.
EPOV
I was carefully monitoring James and Alice, as I knew from Jasper that the vampires the duo had been counting on to fuel their army were due to arrive any minute. Sure enough I soon caught the buzz of new voices on the edges of my consciousness.
I can't wait to see the look on that bastard's face when he sees what we've done to his precious troops.
I hope we don't really have to fight the Volturi. I mean Peter promised we wouldn't, but what if he was wrong? What if we killed off all these guys and still have to fight?
I'm so glad this shit is finally almost over. I'll finally be able to travel a little and start looking for my mate. Hm, there's going to be a lot of vampires here. What if she's here? Wouldn't that be awesome?!
Suddenly the rest of the thoughts were drowned out by a cacophony of mental yelling consisting almost entirely of PAIN HATE KILL DIE over and over again, crossing over each other, overlapping, drowning each other out, as well as everything else in the vicinity
I made a conscious effort to block everything from that direction, focusing only on those closest to me.
Ah, the first of my troops are arriving! James thought smugly. I'll finally be able to show these pussies some real discipline.
Why can't I see anything? The far future is still looking good, so everything must work out okay, but I hate not knowing what's going to happen next. I can't wait until those stupid dogs are eliminated, Alice mentally whined.
Ah, right on time. Excellent work, the Major thought proudly.
Heads are gonna roll, Peter thought gleefully. He pictured severed heads tumbling out of a large bag. "Time for the fireworks to begin," he murmured to Bella.
I caught a glimpse of the newcomers through the eyes of the wolf pack as they approached the Cullen house through the woods. Seeing them carrying large black bags over their shoulders like the one in Peter's head, I realized in horror that the bags were actually full of severed heads - the reason for the tumult of chaotic mental screams that had nearly overwhelmed me. I carefully kept my gift pointed away from that direction, not wanting to be subjected to it again.
In learning to develop and control my gift better, I'd learned to think about it like a satellite dish, which I could focus on a particular area or target to better receive their mental signals. I could broaden or narrow the focus, as well as increase or decrease the reception range and distance. Thus, I was able to keep my focus on those I wanted and needed to hear while blocking those I didn't. If I had encountered this situation six weeks previously, I would've been useless, unable to drown out the mental screams of who knows how many dismembered vampires. I couldn't help but be thankful to Jasper for helping me learn to expand and control my gift over the past month or so.
Most of those waiting outside were confused by the entrance of the newcomers, wondering who they were and what they were carrying, but my mate trembled against my side upon seeing the first of the newcomers break through the trees. Jonah! He's with a fierce bunch of troops, Edward. James had them trained in the cruelest of ways, she whimpered in her thoughts. Are you sure we shouldn't run now while everyone's distracted?
I hugged her close and kissed her forehead gently. "Don't worry, Vicki. Jasper has everything under control, I promise. Besides, I think what's left of his troops is in the bag he's carrying on his back," I whispered into her ear, careful to make sure only she could hear me.
Vicki's jaw dropped as she looked at the bag in question. It was twitching and bulging in places. She named off each of the twelve new vampires in her mind as they came to a stop in the yard, relaxing more and more as she saw the bags they carried and realized they were otherwise unaccompanied. A gleam entered her eye and she turned expectantly toward the front door, waiting for James and Alice to exit, thinking, I can't wait to see his face when he realizes the sadistic, fearless army he's worked so hard on developing for the past eighty years is entirely nonexistent! All his favorite little toys and pets are gone too!
She didn't have to wait long.
James and Alice come out of the house, first triumphantly, then staring around with anger and confusion.
"What are you all doing together? Where are the others? Where's the troops?" James demands, stalking toward them. Where are my commanders? Why are these guys all together? Where's the rest of my army? What's going on here? Memories of fierce commanders and vicious troops, along with multiple gifted vampires, go flashing through his mind, matching the ones I'd seen in Vicki's thoughts.
Alice follows him, hands on her hips, teeth bared. This isn't right! These guys shouldn't even know each other! Why are they traveling together? Why didn't I see this?
In unison the twelve newcomers dumped the contents of their bags onto the grass. 132 vampire heads came pouring out of the bags, their names registering in James's and Alice's thoughts, as well as Vicki's, Laurent's, Peter's and Char's as their faces were displayed. Most of the faces weren't recognized by any of the other vampires in attendance, though there were a few known to Jasper, one in particular.
"Maria," Jasper growled, spitting on his sire and kicking her back into the pile.
I listened carefully to the crowd, searching for anyone who seemed to have more knowledge than they should, anyone who was in league with James and Alice, but none of Carlisle's friends appeared to have a clue about what was happening or why.
"What the fuck have you done?!" James screamed. My troops! My gifted! How the fuck are we supposed to take down the Volturi now? I worked for decades picking out the right men for the job, creating the perfect loyal monsters to obey me without question no matter how bloodthirsty or sadistic the task! Now I have to start all over again! Stupid, useless mate! Why didn't she see this? Or did she? Did she betray me? I'll kill her! She'll wish she was dead!
"I'm blind!" Alice shrieked in terror. Why can't I see anything? It's all black! Nothingness! It's all gone! Our entire futures! Everyone's future! I can't see anything at all for anyone! Is it the end of the world? Is it Armageddon?
"You've been betrayed by your superiors, left dangling unsupported to pay for their crimes," one of the twelve sneered. "They lost faith in your ability to bring them success and decided to start over again with someone else. Now the Volturi will slaughter you both for organizing a rebellion against them, and they will get away scot-free to try another better plan later."
"Fucking Romanians!" James roared ferociously. "I will tear them into a million pieces and burn them one tiny piece at a time, letting their ashes smolder for weeks . . ." How dare they betray me? Sure, I was planning to kill them as soon as we ended the Volturi, but how dare they double cross me first? Fucking assholes! Why didn't Alice see this? I'm going to tear her into tiny little pieces and fuse her back together like a jigsaw puzzle, just to tear her apart again! Fucking bitch!
Alice was still wailing about being blind. Everybody in the whole world is going to die, here, now, today! Nobody at all has a future! Not vampires, not humans, nobody! It's all over for everyone! The entire Earth is about to become extinct!
Good grief, she's so melodramatic. She can't see because the wolves are nearby, so her gift doesn't work. But, of course, that doesn't even occur to her, I think to myself, rolling my eyes. Thank goodness I grew up when I did. I'd hate to think of myself as having that kind of a meltdown if I suddenly stopped being able to hear everybody's thoughts.
Jasper nodded to Peter and the two of them quickly tore off James's arms and legs before he even knew what happened.
Alice saw her mate being dismembered and instinctively attempted to spring to his defense. No, not him!
Oh, hell no, you little bitch! Rose thought disparagingly, leaping to intercept.
This is for my family, Emmett thought grimly, aiding his mate in detaching Alice's limbs.
Carlisle moved to shield Esme from having to watch the dismemberment of the girl she'd considered her daughter for over half a century at the hands of her other children. His thoughts were deep and full of pain. Such a waste of life. How many vampires and humans are now dead because of these two and their thirst for power? How many people did they turn to become soldiers in their war and torture under the guise of training them for battle, only to turn around and kill them upon deciding they were unworthy to serve in their army? How many innocent humans were murdered to sustain the lives of vampires who were then destroyed anyway? Why did Aro have to wait so long to intervene? Why didn't he stop the plan early? Surely Alice knew who was in charge of the operations? James could have led Aro to the Romanians and they could've led him to whomever the double agent was within the Volturi. Why did so many have to suffer and die before he took action?
I checked on Esme. I can't believe that little slut was pretending to be Jasper's mate all this time while she knew her own mate was using and mistreating Edward's mate. Edward and Vicki could've been happy together all these years if it wasn't for her! Why would she have James claim Vicki instead of allowing Edward to have her? I can't believe she used us and set us up to die after everything we've done for her! I loved her, treated her like my own daughter! Carlisle did too! And this is how she repays us! She doesn't deserve to be part of our family, doesn't deserve our protection, our money, our affection. She's not one of us, never really has been. It was all a lie. She silently grieves, tucking her head into Carlisle's chest, caught between feelings of hate and betrayal at knowing the truth and memories of various happy times over the years. For every happy memory she has though, she relives a dozen more in which Alice's manipulations of the family are now obvious.
Many in the crowd are both impressed and frightened, confused by what is happening, particularly to Alice. They wonder why Carlisle is allowing the destruction of his daughter without a hint of protest or even concern. Some are starting to question if they've misjudged Carlisle, if he's not as compassionate as they once believed.
"Start circulating and tell the others the truth about Alice and what is happening now," I tell my mate, naming the vampires she needs to start with to keep them from either running away or turning against us before this is over. She nods and quickly moves to the Egyptian coven to tell them her story.
Char catches on quickly to what's happening and hurries over to me, asking who else needs to know the truth as soon as possible. I send her off to talk to the Amazonian coven. She signals to the newcomers, who quickly disperse amongst the crowd, telling them of James's and Alice's history of misdeeds and their betrayal of not only the Cullen family, but of the entire vampire world in orchestrating a massive war in hopes of wiping out all the opposition and taking over themselves. Word spreads rapidly, and everyone is reassured of Carlisle's integrity. Any and all fears of him or his moral position are allayed.
Meanwhile, Jasper smirks down at a confused Alice and laughs. "It's been a long time coming. I always knew you were lying, bitch. I knew your plan before I even met you. I've been working against you as an undercover agent of the Volturi, protecting the Cullens from your malice, since shortly after you awoke to this existence. Aro has known what you were doing all along, watching you every step of the way."
Alice stares up at him in shock, her mouth opening and closing, but unable to come up with any words as she processes what he has to say. Her thoughts, however, are running a mile a minute. What? How is this possible? I mean, I knew it was possible, but those futures never seemed likely. He had to decide to act against me, didn't he? How did I miss it? Why didn't I see it? Why was that blurry and the future I wanted so clear?
"That's right," he sneers. "Your gift is worthless. We all know how to work around it and how to block it completely. You've been nothing more than a puppet, a pawn, thinking you were calling the shots, but really being controlled and led to your destruction by none other than the one man you thought you could deceive and tame into your personal servant." He laughs and spits in her face.
Noooo! This isn't fair! It's not right! How dare they? How dare they block me? How did they get the upper hand? How did they defeat me? Now that I have my mate, I am unstoppable! I am all seeing, all powerful! These fools are my servants, my slaves, my playthings! They are here to amuse and entertain me, to jump to my bidding and blindly follow my every command! Alice knows best! Alice knows best! They'll be sorry! I'll make them sorry! When I rule the world ….
As the venom continued to leak out of James and Alice, their thoughts became less and less coherent.
I saw Bella looking at me, wondering if anyone else in attendance was in league with James. I shook my head. Approaching her and Jasper, I let them know, "His only thoughts were of the Romanians, when his superiors were mentioned. His only other allies were those whose heads are now piled on the lawn."
"And Alice?' Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow. I noticed I could no longer hear his thoughts and wondered if it had something to do with Bella.
I huffed and rolled my eyes. "Alice's only thoughts were of herself."
"So what else is new?" he muttered with a shrug.