A/N: One, thank you lovely people for reading and reviewing. Two, yes, the plot thickens and a big showdown is soon to come - you're all right about that. Three, it's funny to me that the most vampiric of the characters, Jasper, seems to be one of the most popular. I like me some evil, unapologetic vamp, too. There is more where that came from. Four, in this chapter, there are blink-and-you'll-miss-them references to the following fandoms: Star Wars (the most obvious one), Red Dwarf, and Doctor Who. Just so you know that no theft was intended.
Chapter Seven
1 It was getting dark earlier and earlier as autumn started turning into winter. The days got greyer and colder, too. Leah didn't mind. She'd never been one to complain about the weather, anyway, not even before it became meaningless. There was no cold in this part of the world that could hurt her. There was no scorching summer heat that could make her feel uncomfortable. Yes, she preferred the chill to the warmth, but neither bothered her – not really. The weather was the weather. Complaining never changed anything for the better, anyway.
That evening, after Bella met her precious daughter and ended up having a mild case of the vapours, the vampires went out hunting in small groups, whilst those who remained at the house, as well as the wolves, kept on their toes and just waited for the volatile new-born to lose it again. She didn't, though. Drinking the blood of four human adults apparently did the trick; it made a vampire able to coordinate itself, to keep itself in check, to think clearly. Yay for them.
Bella really hadn't thought this through when she'd decided to throw away her humanity, had she? Nope. That moron hadn't ever thought anything through in her entire goddamn life. Now, here they were, more worried about an undead, murderous thing's feelings than the fact that they were all doomed to die.
That night, once the vamps were all back from killing off the local fauna, they and the little pack convened in the living room. Everyone was there except for the death baby and Rosalie, who was no doubt wearing a creepy-ass smile on her face whilst watching the little freak sleep. Thank God for small favours, though; at least the demon-spawn had to sleep, and she slept for twelve hours straight each night.
Once the last pair of leeches – Carlisle and Esme – came back from refuelling, they all sort of found themselves standing around in that ugly, tacky, nouveau-riche living room, staring at each other in uncomfortable silence.
Leah, who just spent the entire day marvelling at how warped these people's priorities were, could hardly refrain from groaning in frustration, tapping her foot on the floor incessantly, and yelling at them to just get on with it. Hell, she could almost sympathise with Bella and her earlier exasperated confusion. For people who always advocated talking oneself out of every pickle, they were astonishingly bad at just calling a spade a frigging spade.
"We'll meet up with Sam tomorrow at dawn," Jacob finally broke the silence. He was standing close to the big staircase, as close to the demon-spawn as he could without dashing upstairs, Leah supposed. He looked tired and worn-out and haggard. Small wonder, too: between playing the fool for the demon-spawn and nursing Bella, he hadn't gotten around to sleeping or eating much. "Can't put it off longer than that. The risk of one of them finding out is too big."
"Well, no kidding," Leah said, scoffed, and irritably brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Yeah, she could do with some sleep, herself. "The whole thing wasn't exactly subtle, and even if you buried the remains well, and nobody notices that those people are missing, your…smell, vampires, is all over the place."
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." That was Bella, who was standing by the big couch, flanked by Alice and Jasper.
What was up with Jasper, anyway? Leah could understand that he'd be drugging Bella non-stop after this morning's snafu, but he was all but glued to Bella, now, much to Wardo's obvious annoyance. Was it because they bonded over being murderous, hungry psychos? No, Bella seemed genuinely regretful. Maybe he was just glad that she sucked as much as a new-born as he had, back in his day. Could be he was simply looking for an ally to join him, Obi-Wan. The Dark Side has fresh blood from the vein!
"It's okay, Bella," Esme said sweetly, screwing on what she obviously believed to be a motherly smile.
Leah, who was unfortunately standing right next to her, scowled at her. "It's okay? Are you serious, lady? I mean, what the hell? How is any of this okay? It freaking isn't, so stop making excuses for murder!"
Esme flinched and stared at her feet. Wow, someone didn't like arguing.
Leah knew that her attitude wasn't helping any, but frankly, she didn't have a single fuck to give about these things' sensibilities. Someone owed it to the four dead people to speak up on their behalf. To do something. Anything. For God's sake.
"Leah…" Seth started, and yawned heartily. He was the only one who was sitting, and he was nearly falling asleep on the smaller couch.
"No, Seth! Don't you dare 'Leah' me!" She glared at each of them furiously. "Are you people for real? Bella here murdered, brutally murdered four human beings, and you treat it like she broke a vase or wet the bed or something. These are lives we're talking about!" She threw her hands up. "You assholes just don't give a damn!"
"What do you expect us to do?" Emmett said, eyebrows raised. He was with Edward by the big window next to the front door. "Roll on the floor, bawling? It happened. There's no gluing those folks back together. They're gone. Instead of bitching us out, honey, why don't you suggest something constructive for once?"
Leah stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. Were these people all idiots? "You want me to suggest something constructive? Okay, here goes: run. Seriously, grab your shit and run far, far away, because once Sam finds out what you, what we allowed to happen here, he'll have no choice but to declare war on us."
"You seem to want that to happen pretty badly," Emmett returned, obviously unimpressed.
Exasperated, Leah slapped her hands to her face and groaned. When she dropped them again, her cheeks felt flushed. "Are you incapable of processing this information, numb-nut? There is a treaty which all of us violated. Actions have consequences, and wishing it all away won't work this time. Also, I want that to happen? Excuse me? In case you've forgotten, Chuckles, I'm one of you now, like it or not. If Sam attacks us, I'll be forced to fight him. I don't want any bloodshed, but we brought this on ourselves. You should be a tiny bit more concerned about all of it than, oh, I don't know, not at all!"
"We can't leave," Patriarch Cullen declared gravely, hands on his hips, frowning. Good God, that guy looked as if he'd jumped straight out of the JC Penney fall collection catalogue.
"It wouldn't make a difference, anyway," Jacob said, scratching his forehead. "The treaty's been violated. They'd hunt you – us. Even if we left, they would hunt us down mercilessly. Besides, I don't know about you, but I won't let anyone chase me away from my home."
"We won't, either," Emmett said, flexing his muscles like this was intimidating or something.
Without even thinking about it, Leah exchanged a meaningful look with Jacob, and when both of them realised that they'd done something comradely, as small as it was, they snickered.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Emmett," Edward said, annoyed and world-weary. "They're just glad they found some common ground."
"Well, you see, that's a hopeful start," Esme said, batting her eyelashes and posing like a model for Housewife's Yearly 1955. Good gravy. This was a loony bin, not a household. Everyone had turned into the worst cliché of themselves. "If you can put aside your differences, and all of us can get along, then I'm sure we can come to an agreement with Sam, too."
As Leah only face-palmed, Jacob said, "We'll try, at least. Tomorrow morning, I'll go talk to him."
Leah crossed her arms below her chest. "Well, you're not going alone. I'm going with you, whether you like it or not."
To her surprise, he actually smiled grimly at her. "I wouldn't expect anything less of you."
"I'm going, too." Everyone's eyes were on Jasper, who smirked slightly. "In case things go south."
"It'll at least buy us some time," Jacob said. "Don't rely too much on your super-dope, though."
The little moment of camaraderie was gone as Leah stared at him with utter incredulity. "Are you serious? Sam's gonna flip if you bring one of the vamps into this! One who helped cover up the-"
"It's decided," Jacob cut in sharply. "Don't argue with me, Leah."
She chuckled humourlessly, bit her lower lip, and shook her head. "Fine. Okay. Whatever."
"I'll go, as well," Bella said lowly, not looking at anyone in particular, even though everyone was staring at her. "I have to." With visible reluctance, she raised her head and locked eyes with Leah. "You're right: I killed four people. I have to take responsibility for that. If Sam has to punish anyone, he can punish me."
"That's not gonna happen," Edward said, jaw tense, eyes narrowed. "I won't let you endanger yourself."
"I don't want to cause anyone else any pain!"
Edward stepped up to her and took her hands into his. "Bella, you're too selfless, always putting yourself in danger to protect everyone else. We're a family. We stand together."
Bella bit her lower lip, looked down at her feet, and shook her head. "Edward, that's not even true…what you're saying about me. I was so selfish. I see that now, and because of that, for once, I got to do what's right. I have to. Please understand that."
"If you go there tomorrow," he said, "you will die. Please understand that I cannot let that happen. You might not remember this very well, but I promised to keep you safe no matter what. You're my wife. I won't let you get hurt. I don't care if you think that you need to kill yourself in order to atone for something that wasn't even your fault, but your nature. I won't let you. I won't. It's as simple as that. Don't you know that?"
"I do," Bella said quietly, "and I remember."
"Then you understand," he said, smiled a little, and then turned to look at Jacob. "I'll go in her stead."
Jacob shrugged. "Fine by me."
Leah rolled her eyes. "All aboard the fail train, then, and happy hunting." She ignored Jacob's pointed, yet unsurprised admonishing glare.
"Good," Carlisle said, either oblivious to the tension, or just simply ignoring it. These days, with demon-spawn as their merry puppet-mistress, it was all but impossible to tell. "You and your pack should get some rest, Jacob. Tomorrow is going to require all your concentration."
Would it, ever. As Leah stomped outside, biting back all the expletives she wanted to throw at the heads of these murder-apologist leeches, she couldn't help but wonder whether they all realised that today might not just be the longest day of their lives, it might also be their last.
2 If there was something that Dimitrios Koteas of once – bearing the anglicised name 'Demetri' for the past few centuries – truly hated, it was the cold. His home town, Kalamata in the Peloponnese peninsula, was a prime example of the best of Mediterranean climate: hot, dry summers and mild, slightly rainy winters. Most days were sunny and hot and flawless. If one stood at the harbour and stared out at the sea, it was akin to being at the centre of a giant, dark-blue, glistening sphere. To him, it was the most beautiful place on Earth.
Even after being forcefully turned into a vampire by the Egyptian Amun, Demetri had never really stopped missing the carefree days of his youth. He'd lived with his mother as a mortal, and even though their life had not been easy, it had been happy. Vampirism had changed all that. From one moment to the next, it was all gone, and everyone he had ever known and cherished was dead, lost to him forever.
Not being a total idiot, Demetri knew that when Charma, Charmion, a.k.a. Chelsea of the Volturi came for him, she worked her power (and what an aptly named woman that was!) to break his sire-bond to Amun, so that Demetri would join her coven in Italy. She worked her power and the fact that she was Greek and the fact that she was fucking gorgeous and the fact that sire-bond or no, Demetri hated the murderous idiot that had destroyed his life. He'd told Charma that he would gladly join her coven, that he would help maintain the law of the chaotic vampire world in any way that he could. There was no question that this was the only good that he could do as an undead, blood-drinking monster.
Volterra was a great place governed by great people. Until he got there, Demetri had had no idea that a vampire government even existed. This was another thing Amun had lied to him about. There were rules. There had to be rules. Demetri understood that. From the moment he got there, he devoted his life to upholding the law. It gave his existence meaning. There was nothing, not ever, that could compare to making the best out of a terrible situation by actually doing some good. Vampires were stupid. They were arrogant. They were sloppy. Without rules, they would catch the eye of the humans soon enough, and humans were nothing if not ingenious when it came to finding ways of getting rid of threats.
The rules of the vampire world were few and simple, and still, so many people found them impossible to follow. That was why a governing body was needed, and Demetri was glad to be a part of that. He enjoyed serving a cause that was greater than himself, that stood above everyone and everything. However, doing his duty required a lot of travelling. That was exciting for the most part, but sometimes, it was annoying, too – like the times he was sent to the more inhospitable places of the planet, such as Washington State in North America. It always seemed to rain there, and it got really goddamn cold. Maybe this was his own subjective perception paired with obviously psychosomatic symptoms, but this autumn, he was freezing all the time. Vampires were colder than humans, yes, meaning that they perceived lower temperatures as pleasant…most of them, at least.
For some unfathomable reason nobody could explain to him, Demetri was always cold. Well, that wasn't precisely true. It wasn't always. It only happened when he was forced to wait for a prolonged period of time at a place that never got hot. Once he was on the move and following a trail, the cold disappeared. Who knew that a vampire could have a psychosomatic boo-boo? A boo-boo he was perfectly aware he only clung on to because it was a bridge between his old life and his new?
It was a little bit pathetic, which was why he usually kept his discomfort to himself, so he wouldn't expose himself to his friends' ridicule. Not that this stopped anyone from making fun of him whenever they noticed that he was wearing a scarf and gloves and a hat on snowy days even though it made no sense, since he didn't have any blood-flow to heat his body. The mockery wasn't mean-spirited, though. He took it in stride. They all had quirks, and they all laughed at each other and themselves. It was part of being such a closely-knit group.
After spending so many centuries in the company of the same people, they were family to him; he would do anything to keep them from harm. He had lost his mother, which had taught him the most valuable lesson of his existence: family and loyalty were everything. There was no way he was ever going to let anyone threaten those he loved again.
He was over a thousand years old, but even so, spending only a few months by himself in freaking Seattle was lonely and boring as all hell. His tracking abilities made him the best choice for this job, though: he didn't just know the Cullens, he could always sense their whereabouts and would be able to either act or retreat, should the occasion call for it. Also, he knew the Denali sisters, since he'd been there when his people had had to kill the immortal little boy who was wreaking havoc in the villages around Kremnica. He'd killed the boy's progenitor, Aleksandra, himself. That stupid, irresponsible woman's other three creations, the sisters, had had nothing to do with the forbidden child, and were therefore spared, of course.
They'd stood by and watched as their sire and the child were torn to pieces and burned, though.
Demetri had told the three sisters that it would be better if they did not see this, but they'd insisted. He'd respected that. He respected strength of character in a person, no matter who they were or where they hailed from.
He knew them, and he knew that the youngest of them was very bitter about the loss of the man she'd developed feelings for, who'd been murdered by the Cullens' werewolf allies. The Cullens of course believed that the Volturi didn't know about the wolves. They were mistaken. It was just another one of the crimes that they had committed against the vampire community, putting them all in danger. If it had been up to Demetri and to Irina, the Cullens would've met their end a good long while ago, but Aro didn't like wielding the hammer if he didn't absolutely have to. That was why Demetri was here: to observe, to collect information, to decide whether these people should be allowed to live or if they had to die.
Demetri knew them. He knew the terrain. He knew Irina and honestly sympathised with her pain and her wish to be loved and to be happy. He knew how to track better than anyone, and how to stay out of sight. Yes, he'd requested someone be sent with him to help and to keep him company. However, he understood that the more of them strolled about, the higher the chance became that they were discovered. Stealth was key in this operation. He had no doubt that the Cullens would fuck up yet again. He had no doubt that they would give the Volturi an excuse to rain hellfire on their self-righteous heads.
Snapping out of all these grave ruminations, he looked out of his hotel room, realised that the sun had gone down, put on his coat (no, it didn't help), and went outside. He was thirsty, and he needed to take care of that before it got out of hand. The weather was dreary; it was cast over and drizzling, but since it was Friday evening, the city was filled with people wanting to have a good time. It shouldn't be too hard for him to lure someone into a quiet corner with a bit of friendly charm, slip them a sedative, and help himself to a little of their blood.
As he walked down the streets slowly and trying not to tense up against the cold he couldn't even physically feel, he wondered what was going on in Forks. Irina had been there for over a week, now, but ever since she'd set out to see her dear 'cousins', he hadn't heard from her. That was odd. She hated those people. She'd been so determined to help his cause. Now, she couldn't find the time to send him a text? To call? Something was definitely going on, there. Something was wrong.
3 Back at the hotel, after a successful and deathless night out, he called Chelsea from one of his prepaid mobile phones. Leaving some sort of paper trail might not be completely avoidable, but whatever he could pay in cash, he did. He never stayed too long in one place, either, and he preferred to drug and only partially drain his prey instead of killing or accidentally turning it – better safe than sorry. One could never be too careful these days. Keeping a low profile was more important than ever.
Chelsea picked up the phone after two rings, as usual. "Hey, handsome. Anything new?"
He'd dropped himself on the armchair he'd moved to face the big panorama window and was now watching traffic flow by several stories below. "In a sense. I haven't heard from Irina."
"You were expecting to, so soon?"
"I was. I realise that I might be overreacting, and with anyone else that would probably be true, but in this case" – He leaned his head back and closed his eyes – "there's something going on; I am certain of it."
"So, how would you proceed?"
"How would I proceed?" he echoed, and had to smile. Chelsea and her interrogation techniques. She was quite something, that lady – quite something. He should know. "I need to get a hold of her, but I won't call. If she is in trouble, I can't give myself away for no good reason. That means I have to scout out the area and get the lay of the land."
"All without the precog Seeing you?"
That made him crack a broad smile. "I'm not an idiot, love. Leave it to me. I'll find out what's going on before you can even start missing me."
"Oh, I always miss you," she replied, clearly playful. "Keep me posted. The boss wants updates."
"I'll do my best not to disappoint." Without waiting for a reply, he hung up, rose to his feet, gathered what little possessions he had, and checked out.
There was no time to waste. He had a strange feeling that something awful was unfolding. It was his duty to stop it, and he knew exactly how to get so close that none of the Cullens would ever know what had hit them.
4 In Forks, Leah was sitting in the grass in front of the house, all by herself. Seth was inside, sleeping soundly on the couch, and Jacob had nodded off on one of the armchairs; she could hear both of them snoring. They'd been wolves most of the day, but even out here, alone, she decided to stay human. There was so little humanity around her, she felt like holding onto what was left of her own. It wasn't just that, though. No, she needed some time to herself. She needed her thoughts to be her own for a while. There were enough vigilant eyes and ears about, and if it became necessary, she'd wolf out in a heartbeat.
Just to discourage Wardo from nosing around in her brain, she pictured some very nasty hentai porn at the front of her mind. This trick kept him away well enough, and she didn't even notice it anymore. It did its purpose of repelling the prudish little bastard from poking around her superficial thoughts, and that was what mattered. She knew that Alaska Blonde shut him out by thinking in her native language. There were several methods less offensive than Leah's, but why not have a little fun making the uptight little fucker uncomfortable? This was all his fault, after all. He'd brought Bella into the fold. He'd been incapable of keeping his secret or his promise of staying the hell away from her.
To be fair, there was plenty of blame to go around. Bella was guilty of being shallow and materialistic and unable to see beyond the superficial allure of eternal youth and wealth. The Cullens were guilty of flaunting their money and the fact that they were obviously not human in everyone's faces. The wolves were guilty of indulging Jacob's adolescent, hormone-fuelled tantrums. Leah was guilty of not being able to stand being telepathically linked to her ex, which had led her here, to the enemy's side, in the enemy's defence. They were all guilty, one way or another. Piling it all on Edward wasn't okay, because he wasn't he only one who had made huge, cataclysmic mistakes.
Keeping him out of her thoughts by any means necessary, though…that was fair enough in her book. It was both fair and amusing, and screw that prissy dipshit for eavesdropping, in the first place.
Life had become so messed up, so complicated, so ugly. All the time, her mind circled around the same questions: what was Sam going to do once he found out about Bella's little killing spree? Was the leech from Alaska really justified in her initial terror of the death baby (and thank God Leah had refused to let that ungodly freak touch her)? Would the shadowy vampire government come here and kill them all for allowing the death baby to live? Was Jacob's personality wiped away forever?
Had the whole world gone completely mad?
Yeah, of course it had. Obviously. Didn't keep her from pondering the issue, though.
What the hell was she supposed to do about any of this? It was clear that she had to do something. From all sides, threats were emerging, and if they all just drank the Kool-Aid and sat on their asses singing Kumbaya, they would end up dead – all of them. Now, Leah didn't give two shits about the vamps and the demon-spawn, but she cared very much about Jacob and, most of all, about her stupid baby brother.
Yes, he was a pain in the butt. Yes, he was dumb as a brick, and yes, he was blinded by the sparkly vampire glamour. That didn't mean she loved him any less. She was his big sister, goddamn it. It was her duty to look out for him, and even if not, she would do that anyway. His gratefulness didn't factor into it a single bit.
Something had to happen. She needed to take action if these people were all either too dumb, too blind, or too brainwashed to see what was right in front of their faces. It wasn't the only reason she felt compelled to act, either. Oh, no. The demon-spawn? That thing was freaking horrifying. Every person it touched, no matter what species, turned into a drone of its collective – every single one of them, without exception.
Wait, no, that wasn't true. Bella hadn't.
It was enough to make Leah want to laugh out loud. Bella Swan, Spineless Wonder, had actually resisted the death baby's charms and, what was even more impressive, because it wasn't due to some innate vampire power, she had rebelled against everyone's bullshit today. Yeah, okay, that had only lasted for a second, until Jasper had psycho-drugged her, but it was better than nothing. It was more than Bella had ever displayed in terms of a spine. From outside, Leah had listened and watched the spectacle unfold with a grudging amount of respect for the dumb twit.
Actually, it was more incredulity than respect, because she had always frigging despised that conceited, spineless cow, and any and all show of personality was a refreshing change. That didn't make the fact that Bella had murdered four people brutally any better, but hey, at least she had tried to feel bad about it, until once again, Jasper had put the kibosh on that sentimental nonsense. What a guy.
It didn't even matter if Bella had a spine or if she regretted having thrown her life away. Bella was immune to her sweet little daughter's brainwashing powers. Wardo couldn't read her mind, either. Maybe she was intelligent enough to understand the hellish horrors that were unfolding right in front of her nose. Maybe she was the only one capable of actually helping to put a stop to that eldritch abomination she had given birth to.
The thought of recruiting Bella Swan to participate in a conspiracy meant to stop a diabolic horror from spreading over the world was so ludicrous, Leah almost broke out into hysterics again. Jesus. The girl was a murderer, and because of her, Sam would want to kill all of the Cullens and their allies, as would be his right. Still, Bella was impervious to the demon-spawn's unholy charms. Maybe she really was Leah's only hope of averting a catastrophe. Everyone else, even the obviously freaked-out Alaskan Blonde, was totally useless.
It was up to Leah to do something…to Leah and Bella, the odd couple, potential partners in crime, Good Cop and Bad Wolf.
That must be the most ridiculous pitch for a cop-buddy comedy in the history of the planet.
Hell, yeah, the world had gone completely mad. Of course it had. What a preposterous notion, thinking that it might actually still be in any way sane. Oh, well. All aboard the crazy train, then. Whatever. It was either roll with it or get run over.
With a smile on her face, Leah shook her head at her own silliness, lay down on her back, and closed her eyes. She fell asleep immediately. Death by wolfy justice would have to wait until tomorrow.