Chapter Fifteen

1 "How is the nausea?" Demetri said, as he drove his rental as quickly as was allowed, back toward Forks. It was about the tenth time he was asking this in as many minutes.

Leah, curled up in her seat, shivering and sweating profusely, almost whacked him upside the head. Christ. "Says hello. Is ready to party."

Violent cramps shook her stomach again, and she closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. This was the worst one yet. Who'd have thought that being infected with vampire venom would give her the world's most ridiculously acute case of motion sickness? She'd suggested phasing and running after they'd had to make two barf-stops, but he'd advised her to conserve what little energy she had; she'd need it. Comforting, that was – really comforting.

To be fair, he also mentioned that even if he were to carry her, they'd never make it past the wolves by trying human-free routes that would get them to their destination more quickly. Well, that was a point that she really needed to concede. Damn it. Damn it all to hell. This was such an epic cluster-fuck.

"You want me to pull over?"

"No." She breathed – once, twice, three times. Her stomach quieted down a bit. "No. Thanks. I'm good."

"It will be okay. Just ride it out."

"Just ride it out, he says," she mumbled, trying and failing to ignore the cold shivers that made her teeth chatter. "Easy as pie. Fucking a-plus."

"The pain's mostly gone, which is a great sign. By the time we get back to Forks, you will be able to stand again."

What a comfort and a half. She shut her eyes tightly, hugged her arms to herself, pulled her legs even closer to her body, and prayed to whatever deity might be out there that Yuppie Vamp was right. Her life wasn't the only one that depended on it.

That was when the merry yet generic pre-programmed chime of a cell phone rang out of Demetri's jacket pocket. Leah didn't want to open her eyes, but forced herself to do so when he said, "It's Chief Swan."

"Great. Just what we needed."

"I'll handle it," he said, took the call, and put the phone on speaker. "Good morning, Chief. I'm sorry about the kitchen tiles. I'll replace them as soon as-"

"Never mind that, kid," Charlie cut in brusquely. "Your note said something about meeting with a friend about your fiancée's disappearance?"

Demetri exchanged a little look with Leah. "Yes. I'm actually on my way back to Forks right now. It seems like Irina spent some time with the Cullens in their home before travelling to Rio. I-"

"That makes the whole deal even more suspicious." On the other end of the line, Charlie cleared his throat. "Listen, Matt, I've been checking their tax records and found some really dodgy stuff going on. You wouldn't even believe any of the other shit these people have been pulling, such as appropriating an old cabin on land that isn't theirs. To be frank, I'm surprised they haven't caught the eye of the law until now. Doesn't matter. I've returned to active duty and was just about to round up whoever's at the station. Got myself a search warrant, too. They can't send me away anymore."

Time seemed to have come to a screeching halt. Leah felt as if her body had been flash-frozen. Eyes wide and stomach lurching, she pushed herself to an upright position and stared at Demetri, wide-eyed. Oh, God. Oh, shit. This was not happening!

"A search warrant?" Demetri said, raising his free hand briefly to stop Leah from blurting out something rash. "This quickly? How did-"

"Never mind how, son. I just did. I just wanted to tell you we're finally getting somewhere. With enough pressure – especially if it's financial, with these types – it's a heck of a lot easier to get the results we want. We're closer than ever to bringing them to justice. Just don't try to get to the Cullen house, okay?"

Again, Demetri and Leah exchanged a little look. She shook her head, dismayed. Her skull was pounding, her stomach roiling, and she was sweating buckets.

"Actually, Chief Swan, I was planning on confronting the Cullens, myself, " Demetri said, smooth and professional and betraying no panic at all. "I promise I won't-"

"That's not a good idea," Charlie interrupted sharply, only to add in a more comradely tone, "Look, I know it sucks and I know you're entitled to some answers, but let the professionals handle this one. Trust me: a civilian like you would only stand in our way. I'll promise that I'll keep you posted. This'll be over sooner than you know."

For a couple of seconds, Demetri closed his eyes and pressed his lips together. "Sir, please, if we could just meet up first and-"

"No can do, kid. We'll be on our way to that place as soon as the sun's out. Got to go, now. I'll tell you all about it when I get back home. See ya then." With that, he cut the connection.

"Ah, fuck," Leah spat, and groaned, as Demetri swerved onto the fast lane and sped past a big, cumbersome minivan.

"Indeed." He dropped his phone back in his pocket. "This is unfortunate."

She swallowed back bile, grimaced, and shuddered. "No kidding. If Charlie and his people get in the middle of that mess, they're toast."

Keeping his eyes on the road and speeding up as much as was legal, he said, "Yes," curtly. The eastern sky was slowly turning purplish-pink as the sun started to creep over the horizon. "Dawn is about to break."

Her heart all but plummeted to her abdominal cavity. She hugged her arms to herself and stuck her ice-cold hands under her armpits. "We better hurry."

2 The Cullens had prepared themselves as best as possible, given the circumstances. All but Carlisle had gorged themselves on whatever was left of their human blood bags. The supply was depleted, now, but that didn't matter much. Should they win the upcoming fight, they could always get more. Should they lose…well, the point was, this concern was not even a tertiary one at this moment in time. It was still dark, but they'd all decided to defer to Jasper's war expertise and keep all lights off. It wasn't as though they really needed artificial illumination – even out here, it never got completely dark – and the sun was about to rise, anyway. The murk gave the vampires a bit of an edge, but Bella doubted that Sam was stupid enough to order an attack before the sun was out completely.

They were all inside the house, now, and all doors and blinds were shut far enough to hide them from prying eyes, but not enough to make them blind to their surroundings. This, too, had been a suggestion (order?) from Jasper, who'd told Carlisle that it would be suicide to meet the wolves on an open field of battle.

We don't have many advantages, which means we have to make use of the ones we do have, he'd said.

I still think we should go out and talk to them, try to find a peaceful solution, Carlisle had objected. There is no need for violence.

You do that, you die, Jasper had returned laconically. Sam won't listen – none of them will. You need to face reality. You all need to face reality. Either we fight and live, or we go out there and die. This is how it's going down, and all your combined efforts won't keep the rainbow-tinged fantasy of a happy ever after alive. Now, are you smart enough to get that into your heads, or do you want to risk everyone's lives by stepping out there like a suicidal idiot?

The others hadn't liked his tone, but they'd decided to defer to him, anyway.

Bella herself didn't have anything to object to his suggestions. He was the only one of them who actually had war experience, not to mention the fact that he had military training. Now, with Leah gone, they were one good fighter short. Barricading themselves inside the house might not be brave, but it was less stupid than meeting the wolves head-on.

She was in the kitchen, by the huge kitchen island she remembered from her first visit to this place. Idly, she traced the cool marble with her own stony fingertips, trying to recapture the whirlwind of emotions that had been whirring inside her head that evening. It didn't work. When she heard steps approaching, she breathed in deeply; it was Jasper. "When Edward brought me here the first time, you all made dinner for me, but I'd already eaten."

"Rosalie crushed the salad bowl."

Turning around, she saw that he was leaning sideways against the wooden doorframe. "I was nervous, but felt so, so special at the same time."

A few seconds ticked by, during which he just observed her impassively. Then, the corners of his mouth curved up ever so slightly. "You can't feel it, can you? The memory? It's like watching a documentary."

"Is that how you feel about your own human life?"

He crossed his arms and shrugged. "I can hardly remember my human life. The things I do remember most clearly are my training and my time as an officer in the Confederate States Army."

Well, that figured. "You know, I never asked you why you were so eager to join the army, young as you were. Did you believe in the Confederacy's ideology that strongly?"

"I didn't care one bit for ideology. I just wanted to fight."

Her eyebrows went almost up to her hairline. "So you've always had an appetite for destruction."

The tiny little hint of a smile blossomed into a smirk. "You don't seem bothered."

"I've been finding out much about myself, such as the fact that I only ever cared about things that directly affected me," she said, shrugged, and smoothed out her dark-red silk blouse – another one of Alice's outfit suggestions. "Victoria's attack? I made Jacob stay with me instead of fighting. That was so selfish. Everything I ever did was selfish, and this is the result." She briefly pointed at herself and then motioned about. "I'm sorry I brought this all on you."

"Are you really, or is this just your mind telling you that an apology is appropriate?" Before she could reply, he pushed himself off the doorframe and closed in on her. "Never mind that. It doesn't matter."

"What, my apology or whose fault it is that we might all die today?"

"We're not all gonna die today," he said, half-chuckling, reached out, and very gently brushed a strand of her artfully wavy hair behind her ear. "You should pin your hair up in a bun. Makes it harder to grab you."

"Duly noted." Unmoved, she looked up into his bright-red eyes. "What do you think our odds are?"

"Well," he said, sounding weirdly playful, and briefly tugged on the hem of her blouse, "there are eleven of us and there are five of them. I'm pretty sure we can take them."

"There are at least six of them, and before you tell me that Leah can't fight, I'm pretty sure the tactical information she has to share won't do us any favours. Besides, who's to say that more Quileute boys haven't turned into wolves by now?"

"Life's full of mysteries," he said, gave her cheek a little pinch, and winked. "Don't worry so much. If we win, we win. If we lose, we won't care because we'll be dead."

"At least you're all fuelled up."

"Fuelled up and ready to go. Relax, Bella," he said, serene and good-natured. "It'll all be over soon, one way or another."

"Jasper? Bella?"

Jasper stepped aside. Her field of vision no longer blocked, she saw Irina standing in the doorframe.

"Edward can hear the wolves approaching," Irina said, her face expressionless, her voice grave. "It's starting."

Bella couldn't help but glance at Jasper, who was now positively grinning.

"Showtime," he said, and winked down at Bella again. "Finally, some life's about to be injected into this bore-fest."

"Finally," Bella repeated, not sure what to feel, not sure what to think. At least the wait was over. Today, it was make or break. Whoever won deserved to continue existing. Who knew? Maybe the right kind of monster would emerge victorious.

3 They placed themselves in strategic positions around the house, one of the properly fuelled vampires at every vulnerable point. Actually, to be honest, all points were vulnerable, since someone had thought it smart to replace the old, small windows with huge ones. Sure, there were wooden shutters, but those would not keep the wolves out as well as concrete walls. Worst case scenario? The wolves would try to starve them out, force them to burst out of the house in a feeding frenzy.

Irina was standing by one of the windows in the living room, next to a very tense Edward. Despite herself, her thoughts kept wandering to Renesmee, who was upstairs with Jacob, in the room where Bella had spent the first three months of her vampiric existence. When she wasn't forced to think about Renesmee, Irina wondered where the hell Demetri was. She was absolutely sure that Leah had joined him, and that he had called in the cavalry. The question – well, one of the questions, anyway – was: would they get here in time? The second question was: if they did, would they allow anyone to live? Unlikely. It was probably best to make peace with herself and her thousand-year legacy as an undead parasite. It had been a good run. Maybe it really was time to pack it in, fill the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all, etc. etc.

"Sam's thinking directly at me," Edward suddenly said, breaking the heavy silence. "He says we need to surrender. He says we don't stand a chance."

Emmett, who was by the front door with Rosalie, frowned and started to say, "But there are twice as many of us-"

"There aren't. More boys have turned. More…" Edward trailed off and chuckled.

"More what?" Rosalie said, clearly annoyed. She was Miss First World Problems personified, that one, and no mistake.

Edward shot her a look. "More girls."

Irina couldn't help but frown. "So?"

"So…that's unexpected."

She grimaced. "Well, good for them, I suppose."

"Good for them and bad for us," Edward said. "They don't even have to attack us. They have all the time in the world."

"And we drained all our supplies," Emmett said, and whistled lowly. "Oops."

"Yes," Edward replied, piqued. "Oops. Whose idea was it again to fuel up on all we had left?"

"Better to chance an attack at full strength than wait until we have to leave the house moderately fed to starving," Jasper shot back from the kitchen, very obviously unimpressed.

A minute or so went by. Irina was just about to say something, anything, when Edward drew in a sharp breath, directing all attention to himself. "Oh, no," he said, and glanced in direction of the kitchen, where Bella was with Jasper and Alice. "Charlie Swan."

4 Edward only whispered this, but Bella's heightened senses did not stop at her hearing. Charlie Swan, he'd said. Charlie Swan. Charlie.

"Charlie," she said tonelessly. Her eyes darted to Jasper, who was by the door that led to the backyard. "My father. My dad."

"Stay calm," Jasper said, raising one hand. "I don't want to dope you, Bella. It'll hamper your ability to fight."

"We won't have to fight," Alice chirped, not sounding or looking particularly worried as she re-adjusted the thin straps of her golden, shimmering cocktail dress. "We're safe in here, and if Charlie comes around, Sam won't attack, anyway."

"They don't have to attack," Jasper told her, still scrutinising Bella without blinking. "They'll starve us out, remember?"

"But Charlie's here," Bella said, balling her hands into fists. "He can't be here. He can't."

"The question is, what the fuck does he want?"

"He wants inside the house, Jasper," Edward said, loud and clear, from the living room. "He has a search warrant from a judge."

"And we got nowhere to go," Rosalie said, exasperated. "Splendid. Just splendid."

"He's almost up to our driveway," Edward said.

"We're going to have to go out and intercept him," Carlisle said from the study.

"Him and his friends," Edward said. "He's bringing some company from the department."

"Humans," Jasper said. "We can take them."

"Jasper!" That was Esme, from upstairs.

"Well, we have to do something," Emmett said.

" 'Something' should not include killing innocent people, let alone innocent people we know and care about," Carlisle said.

"What else do you suggest? They'll force their way inside if we don't stop them. We can't just run and hide because of the pack of rabid dogs. We need to take care of them," Rosalie said, urgency in her voice. Clearly, she was thinking of Renesmee. That was all she was even capable of thinking of, at this point.

"We're not killing Charlie!" Jacob boomed from upstairs. "Are you assholes insane?"

"No, we're weighing our options, of which we admittedly don't have many," Jasper replied calmly. He looked at Bella again. "We need to make a decision, and quick. I suggest we let the cops inside and drain them. It'll give us even more of an edge to fight the wolves, and we have to fight them. Killing a bunch of humans right in front of them will enrage them and cause them to attack. It'll be to our advantage."

"We could hold them hostage and force the wolves to let us pass," Rosalie said.

"It wouldn't work," Edward said, impassive. "We're too big of a threat. They won't let us leave. Maybe Jasper's solution is the best, after-"

"No!" Bella heard herself shouting. How she wished for a heartbeat and the rush of adrenaline! Instead, there was only silence in that strange new body of hers. "You are not killing my dad!"

In a flash, Jasper was directly by her side. "Bella…"

"No!" She slapped his hand away, livid. "That's out of the question! I won't-"

"Ever see him again. Also, in a few decades at the most, he'll be dead. You, however – no, all of us, we have the chance to live forever, to keep the memories of the humans we once cared about alive for millennia. None of that is gonna happen if we lose control of the situation." He grabbed her by the shoulders and forcefully turned her around to face him. "Charlie and Renée will be dead, anyway, no matter what we do. You will be dead, too. Your daughter will be dead. If you want any of us to live, including yourself, you have to be strong. Do you understand?"

She stared up into his scarred face, wide-eyed. "I won't let you hurt my dad. I don't care what you say. He's my father."

"They're coming up the driveway: three cars, six officers," Edward announced tensely.

"Oh, God, what do we do?" Esme cried out. "Carlisle?"

"I'm thinking, dear. Keep calm."

"Think faster," Rosalie said flatly. "Whatever happens, I won't let them get anywhere near Nessie. She doesn't need any more exposure at the moment."

"She could turn them to our side," Alice said. "Think about that."

"And then what?" Jacob snapped from upstairs. "We use them as human shields? Not happening!"

"We're not running. We're ending this today. What are you, cowards? For fuck's sake." Emmett said derisively.

Jasper, who'd been staring down at Bella this entire time, finally stopped frowning, relaxed visibly, and said, "I'll tell you what we're gonna do: we let them inside. We kill all except Charlie. He-"

"What? Fuck you, you psycho!" Jacob shouted from upstairs. There was the sound of a wailing child. "Oh, Nessie, sweetie, I'm sorry! Don't cry. We're all just a little tense. All will be well, you'll see. I won't let anybody ever hurt you!"

Jasper, however, went on, unimpressed: "He gets to meet his granddaughter and will therefore no longer pose a threat to us. The rest will provide Edward and whoever wants a bite with extra strength. That way, our chances of overtaking Sam's pack will be greatly improved."

"Greatly? Marginally." That, again, was Edward. "There are a lot of wolves out there. I had no idea so many of them had the gene."

Before anyone could make a reply, someone rang the bell, and there was a crisp knock on the door.

"Oh, goodie," Rosalie said, and Bella could all but see her rolling her eyes. "They're here."

5 "How long 'til we get there?" Leah knew that she was asking this for at least the tenth time in as many minutes, but she didn't care. Her stomach was still roiling and she was light-headed, but she wasn't nearly as helpless as she'd been half an hour ago. That being said, she was still physically unable to fight – she could hardly phase, back at the storage lockers – and knew this perfectly well.

"Ten minutes."

"Well, drive faster. The sun's up! We're too late."

Demetri shot her a tense little look. "Do you want to get stopped by the police? There's a patrol car right in front of us. We'll never get there at all if we don't keep our cool."

She blew out a heavy breath, leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and started drumming on her thighs with her flat hands. "Sam will probably believe that the Cullens might use the distraction provided by Charlie to buy time, but knowing those bastards the way I do, I'm pretty sure they'll just eat every single human available."

"Do you think Chief Swan's daughter will participate in the murder of her own father?"

Shrugging (and flinching as sharp pain shot down her spine), she said, "I got no clue. The whiny, selfish little brat of yore is very much dead. New Bella's a mystery box full of sociopathic wonder," through gritted teeth.

"If she loved her father as a human, she won't be indifferent to him, now. You should keep that in mind. It's how it works with vampires."

"This is you assuming Bell-Bell was a normal, regular teenager." For a moment, she pressed her knuckles against her lips as her stomach revolted again. Luckily, nothing actually happened. She really could do without vomit down her already grimy sweatshirt. "And don't underestimate the influence of Jasper's mind-dope and his psychopathy. He and Bella bonded, and he'll be advising her to stop caring about anyone human. She-" The rest of the sentence got stuck in her throat as she dry-heaved.

"Want me to pull over?"

She wiped fresh sweat from her forehead and shook her head, grimacing. "I'm good. Just keep driving." It didn't even matter if she threw up all over herself. They were almost there. It would have to be soon enough – it just had to. Even beginning to consider the grisly alternative wasn't an option.

6 Obviously against his own good judgment, Carlisle gravely stepped up to the front door and opened it. Bella was still in the kitchen, but she could hear everything with perfect clarity. Part of her wanted to dash to the living room and scream at her father to run, but the other part – the one that advocated for the defence of her own best interests and ambitions – was stronger; it always had been. She kept standing frozen, paralysed, by the huge kitchen island, Jasper's hands firmly gripping her shoulders, whilst she stared up at him impassively.

There were six human hearts beating right outside the house. Bella wasn't breathing – her self-control was tenuous at best, even this sated – and still, the wet, deep sound of those hearts beating caused the vague, unpleasant, burning sensation in the back of her throat to return. Oh, how she longed to draw in a deep, deep breath and feel, taste the wonderful, irony, fleshy, red aroma of human blood.

Crystal-clear memories flooded her mind: Bella, following the sound of beating hearts into that forest and finding those campers who were completely helpless against her; Bella, Irina, and Jasper simply ending those fifteen lives, drinking until there was no room for more; Jasper burning the broken bodies of the dead humans, the shimmer of the flames reflected in his bright-red eyes.

She almost breathed. She could taste them. All it took was one breath of air, one second, and her instincts would take over, her vampire nature would override any and all vestiges of human trepidations. One breath, and she wouldn't care. How glorious it would feel to not give a single sorry damn about anyone, to simply act on impulse, to simply be.

A deep, male, familiar (beloved) voice spoke up from outside the house: "Doctor Cullen? Please let me and my officers inside your house. I've got a search warrant."

Another human coughed. Two of the heartbeats picked up the pace. The sound of that, the richness fullness humanity life oh God the pain in Bella's throat flared stung burned her skin melting like fire lava pure agony. The little smile curving up the corners of Jasper's mouth was of no consequence. This was all too much too much oh so much oh no oh no she couldn't how could she humans prey food thirst pain anguish torture torment suffering pain no no no. No too much too much far too much to bear. She gave into the temptation and breathed.

God. Oh, God.

Before she knew it, her fangs were out. There was only the hearts beating thrumming in her head her whole body thirst fire pain hunger must be silenced must be quenched must be killed drained broken ended forever now now now.

She snarled at Jasper, punched him square in the chest. He let her go easily, stumbled backwards, didn't even try to grab her again. She breathed. The pain unimaginable terrible burning searing boiling painoh God it had to stop had to end had to just had to right now.

Someone shouted, "Bella, no! Stop!"

Bella didn't care. What she wanted, she was going to get, and by God, did she want. The thought formed in her mind. She was moving. There was no stopping her now.

7 The last stretch of road to the Cullen house was empty and silent. They raced almost up to the driveway, knowing that if they got out and ran (which, at least in Demetri's case, would be faster; Leah wasn't so sure about her own speed and agility right now), Sam's pack would intercept them.

"They'll have an easier time catching us in here than out there," Demetri said, as the white monstrosity that was Castle New Money came into view through the trees.

"No. Sam won't attack when there's humans around to see any of it. That'll just endanger them," Leah said, trying hard to ignore her lurching stomach. Damn it, this was worse than that one time she'd been stupid enough to eat discount sushi. Demetri's prediction had been right: she was in absolutely no shape to fight. Would that stop her from trying, though? Nope. Of course not. Her little brother was in that fucking house of horrors. She had to do something, even if it was doomed to failure.

"I can smell them," he said. "There are at least ten wolves, maybe more."

Leah chewed on the inside of her cheek and shook her head, before throwing her hands up, wanting to slap some sense into the whole goddamn world. "Great. A-plus. More kids getting dragged into this crap. Just awesome."

"I see the police cars, as well." He pointed ahead.

She blinked the black spots away as best she could, squinted, and spotted them, too. Three cars, six cops. Good gravy. This was going to be a bloody massacre. She saw someone who just had to be Charlie Swan knocking on the front door. A few seconds later, the door was opened from the inside. The officers went into the house. The door was closed. From all around, there was the howling of wolves; Leah could almost taste their outrage.

"We're too late," she said quietly, as a piercing scream coming from the house cut the air. "Too late."