A/N - the last chapter was definitely a turn for this fic. From now on there's one goal for it, and quite the plot twist in the next chapter. Please read the AN at the end for an important update on my part. (If you're also a writer you may know what I'm going to tell you about)
Dislcaimer - Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I'm simply borrowing her lovely characters!
"Get to your rooms!" I shouted at the Cullens before darting off the roof, Edward's hand in mine.
I felt the whole guard trailing behind me so I went to the nearest closet in the hallway and started dishing out cloaks.
Dad starting spewing out orders. "We stay in the throne room. When they arrive that's where they'll be escorted. Always keep a head count- the Cullens are in their rooms and we don't need anyone wandering off.
"Other than that you all know the drill; try to keep people off Bella but defend yourself first, she can still keep her shield up even with a few people on her. No negotiations, I don't care what kind of talents they have. We use Jane first. Alec, don't bother unless they're putting up a difficult fight. We've had people withstanding Jane before so no assumptions, always be aware."
"Dad you've told us this a thousand times, alright? We got it."
We quickly made it to the throne room and took positions. It was possible we could be waiting in this room for days, so it was a good thing vampires didn't get tired.
In a fight like this one I stood in the back, the guard formed around me like a shield. Edward stood in front of me and his hand reached out behind him. I grasped it in mine. His fingers grazed over the ring. I wasn't even nervous for myself, I knew we could all get through it. But I could tell Edward was, and it somehow hitched onto me.
Something so wonderful had happened just minutes ago and I remembered my reasoning for it all. This wasn't for anyone but Edward and I; it was for our happiness.
Right now, it was all about patience and awareness. I shut my eyes and listened for anything misplaced.
After half an hour the rain picked up. I could hear it beating down against the windows throughout the castle, and that's when a door opened… or rather a grate slid open. The grate in the alley by the clock tower. The rebels had come in through the city and with no one out there, I hoped it was still intact somehow.
My shield flew up over everyone in case the invaders had any talents that needed to be stopped.
Quick footsteps found their way through the hallways. Someone who had been here before must've been leading the way. My mind thought back to my birthday party. It was the last time we had guests over. James had been there.
My hand tightened on Edward's at the thought.
After waiting for fifteen minutes it didn't take long for the rebels to arrive in the throne room. I quickly took a head count; Twelve.
"Their leader is not with them. There's more of them somewhere that's not Italy. I can't tell exactly where," Edward whispered so only we could hear.
Dad stood behind me. "I'm sorry that you're not visiting on peaceful terms," he said.
"You don't seem sorry," a man with red hair responded.
"Would you like to announce what those unpeaceful terms are?" Dad asked.
"We've come to start a war," a girl replied.
"Well then," Dad said with a smug look on his face, "Proceed."
Edward's hand left mine as they started towards us. Jane's power paralyzed some while others tried to push through. Edward was already decapitating some that had been paralyzed and fighting off others. That was five down.
Demetri then caught two by the shoulders and tore their arms off before they could reach me and Chelsea helped to finish them. Seven down.
Somewhere during that I heard Alec and Heidi finish off a few. And Edward caught one that was trying to get away. Eleven.
If I hadn't been so concentrated on the others I would've seen the red haired man in the corner of my eye. I spun at the last second to grab his throat and push him into the stone floor. I quickly started squeezing it and brought up my other hand to pull him apart.
But something went wrong, his teeth closed in around my right wrist and my arm was gone just before I tore off his head and threw it to the other side of the room.
The room was quiet but the pain screamed inside of me as I fell down beside the decapitated body until I had to let it out; it was a mere whimper but it had everyone turning to look at me.
Edward's face was in my view in a second and I felt someone pressing my arm back on. The venom seared through my veins as it tried to stitch my arm back onto my shoulder.
"Bella, love? It's okay, you're okay." Edward's voice rang out. His hand brushed my hair off my face.
I smiled up at him. His face practically made the pain disappear. "Did I get him?" I asked, jokingly.
"Of course you did." He smiled back down at me then helped me to my feet.
Dad was beside me, "What happened there?"
I shrugged and winced at the movement in my shoulder. "He was fast."
He turned back to the room. The guard was still, watching me to make sure I was okay. Dozens of limbs surrounded them. "Let's get this cleaned up!" Dad ordered.
I inhaled through my teeth and felt the venom inside me start running down my whole arm and into the gash that was left by the red haired man's teeth and I leaned against Edward for support. The pain of reattaching a limb was too much like the pain of when you're turned, only one word can describe it; excruciating. My breath came out ragged as the venom kept working its way through my arm. Gravity weighing it down made it feel even worse and I squeezed my eyes shut as if it would help.
Then Edward lifted me up in his arms and carefully placed my right arm on my stomach to let it lay there.
I felt something press against my shield and recognized it as Alec's power. "Stop. Alec," I told him.
"Bella, I-"
"No. It's not that bad." There was no way I was going to let Alec numb my arm; I could take it.
Dad then turned back to face us. "You said that wasn't all of them," he said quietly.
"No," Edward replied. "I couldn't tell where the rest of them are. I kept getting flashes. Only flashes."
Dad thought about that for a minute. "They're playing us. Those twelve were careful, too careful. As if-"
"As if it was planned," Edward finished.
The pain continued in my arm and I buried my face in Edward's shoulder. I inhaled his warm scent to help keep me calm.
Edward's voice was right next to my ear. "It's alright, love."
"It hurts, Edward," I mumbled into his shoulder.
"Take her to Carlisle," I heard my dad tell Edward. "Maybe he knows how long that'll last. I have some things to figure out. Caius will deal with this." I imagined him gesturing to the mess in the room.
On the way upstairs to the guest hall Edward was trying his best not to jostle me too much.
"Edward?" I asked. Suddenly realizing the conversation he and my dad just had.
"We're almost there, love."
I shook my head and then winced as it hurt my shoulder. "No. What did my dad mean about them being too careful?"
He sighed. "That definitely wasn't all the rebels… they only declared war. This isn't the end of the fight."
"Oh," was all I replied with. It seemed I was the last to catch onto this topic. I was the only one who seemed relieved that we got all twelve back in the throne room.
"Aro was thinking he might have to take more safety precautions to keep everyone safe."
That didn't make much sense to me. "It was only an arm. Hey, I guess we found my weakness; I can't keep up if someone's too fast." I said it to possibly lighten Edward's mood, but it didn't seem to help when his reply was just silence.
My left hand found his cheek and I admired my ring for a second before looking in his eyes. "Stop worrying. It just hurts a little." It was an understatement, my shoulder hurt like hell - my whole arm hurt like hell as the venom fixed every piece of damage the red-haired man caused.
"I wish I believed you." He turned his head to kiss my palm before I dropped it back over his shoulder.
As Edward burst through Carlisle and Esme's door they stood up, startled. Once Esme took in our appearance, her hand flew over her mouth.
"What happened, Edward?" Carlisle asked calmly.
"I wasn't being careful enough," I answered. I tried to shrug to indicate how big a deal it wasn't but it didn't work when I winced.
"She lost an arm," Edward finished.
"Alright, put her down." Carlisle nodded to the couch.
Edward put me down but immediately sat next me and played with the ring on my left hand. Esme sat in the chair next to the couch. "I'm just glad everyone is fine."
"Yep," Edward replied. "Everything's fine."
Esme patted Edward's leg and then stood up again. "I'll get everyone. Then you can tell us what happened."
When she left Carlisle went to looking at shoulder. "Everything's not fine, is it?" he asked quietly.
"No," we both answered at the same time.
"There were only twelve," I continued, trying to focus on something other than the searing pain. "They said the rebels were declaring war and got straight to it. Like they were looking for a death wish."
"They were too careful," Edward added.
Carlisle nodded. "You'll be fine in about a half-hour. I know it hurts a lot right now, but it's not as weak as you think."
"We can't put more venom in to speed it up?" Edward asked.
Just the thought of more venom in my system made it sear more and I curled into Edward.
He shook his head. "I'm afraid it would be too much and make her black out."
Wait, what? I thought. "Vampires can't black out. You don't even black out while you're turning." It was a bad idea to bring that up as we all winced at the memory.
"No, they can. Once you're a vampire there's such things as too much venom."
Suddenly there was a commotion in the room over and I shot up off the couch by reflex. My arm shot with pain from the motion and Edward was by my side in an instant. His arm wound around my waist and held up most of my weight.
Then Esme, Emmett and Rosalie came into the room. Esme had a piece of paper in her hand.
Carlisle stood. "What? What's happened?"
Esme looked like she was about to collapse. "Alice and Jasper. They- they're gone."
My mind jumped to the worse. Someone had taken them. Someone got away from the Twelve and took Alice and Jasper. In that moment all I wanted to do was find whoever did this and get Alice and Jasper back. I saw red, and then black.
A/N - If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it's National Novel Writing Month. And I'm doing it! (not sure why... I'm truly terrified) I'm putting my account on my profile so if you're doing it too, you can add me! I'm also wondering if you guys would want to read it as I write it? I'll probably make a wattpad and put it there. Please let me know!
As for the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!
