Chapter Sixty Six
Carlisle
When we landed I helped Charlie disembark and we were met by Luis and Raoul, two members of the Fraternidad. They eyed Charlie suspiciously but nodded at me and guided us over to a large SUV parked close by. Once inside, a tight squeeze as the two guys were almost as big as Emmett, they drove out of the airport headed for the mountains.
"Darius said you needed a safe place to hide from the Volturi. He never mentioned the human, what happened to him?"
"The Major."
The two Fraternidad exchanged a glance,
"He didn't mention The Major either."
"Would it have changed anything?"
Raoul smiled and shook his head,
"No, but we would like to meet The Major sometime. See if he is really as savage as his press makes him out to be."
"He is, actually he's worse and we are really hoping we won't be running into him again."
"Except for me."
They turned to study Charlie who looked terrible, so pale and red eyed he was more like one of us now,
"You want to meet him again human? Are you crazy? You survived one encounter...barely, so why would you want a rematch?"
"I owe him for my daughter's death."
The Fraternidad understood that and nodded,
"But not as a human I take it?"
"No Luis, I have agreed to change Charlie that's why we need somewhere remote."
"The cave system is remote enough, no one lives nearby, they say the caves are haunted."
The SUV climbed the mountain, the track getting narrower until it was only wide enough for a man to walk so Emmett took Charlie's weight without carrying him and we continued on, it was as well Charlie was going to become one of us because getting supplies up here on a regular basis would be a nightmare. When we finally reached the mouth of the cave system I could see Charlie was in a lot of pain even with Emmett's help and decided the only way to ease his suffering would be to start the transformation as soon as possible. As a result I went to speak to Raoul,
"How far in until we are beyond the hearing of anyone?"
"No one comes here, its too dangerous for both humans and vampires. Only our own people ever venture onto this mountain."
"Then I'm going to start Charlie's transformation now. Emmett will carry him, his suffering won't be any more than if I waited and he had to endure the rest of the journey first."
Raoul nodded and gestured for his friend,
"We'll meet you inside, the scent of human blood is not something we take lightly, remember the Fraternidad live on human blood although we understand you are different Carlisle Cullen. Just follow the tunnels, you'll find us. We'll take the girls on with us."
Esme and Rose wanted to stay with Charlie but I persuaded them to go on ahead and find somewhere in the Fraternidad's headquarters where we could lay Charlie once we arrived. They both said goodbye to human Charlie who was again only semi conscious but I managed to explain my plan and he agreed,
"Just get it over with Carlisle, I can't go on any longer like this."
He was right, there was blood on his lips, frothy blood and I knew it was a sign that a rib had punctured a lung, if I didn't go ahead he would probably drown in his own blood. Emmett braced him at a nod from me and I bit quickly into his neck, ignoring the taste of his blood and pumping in enough of my own venom to ensure a speedy transformation. It was a strange sensation biting a healthy, well relatively so, human and of course being trapped in a cave system with a newborn wasn't the ideal scenario but we had no choice. I just hoped he would be one of the more controlled newborns and not another Emmett!
Emmett picked Charlie up as he started to shake and we followed down the passage Raoul and the others had taken. They seemed to form a labyrinth which we were only able to avoid becoming lost in by following their scent and then finally we reached the center which opened onto a surprisingly large and well equipped headquarters.
"Put the human in the cage over there, we don't want him running loose in here."
I hated the idea of caging Charlie but under the circumstances I could hardly object. As Emmett placed the now writhing figure of Bella's father in the cage and secured the door I continued to look around astounded as Esme came to join me. Raoul smiled,
"Not quite what you expected Carlisle?"
"No not exactly, where do you get all the power from?"
The room was well lit and on several desks sat computers and satellite receivers all manned by members of the Fraternidad.
"We have a solar array on the mountain, out of view from below and it reacts if any aircraft are within observation distance by folding in on its self. There are generators too if necessary. What did you expect? A dark cave with savage newborns dressed in animal skins hunched over a fire pit? If we are to survive the Volturi we have to be as cunning and clever as they are. Darius helped set this communication center up, its why we agreed to help you. Who is after you? The guard?"
"The Major was but I think he is satisfied for now. I cannot lie to you, Aro is a personal friend although I cannot say the same of the other brothers."
He had stopped as I mentioned The Major and Luis joined him,
"The Major? We've heard of him but so far the Volturi seem reluctant to send him after us. Is he as good as they say?"
"Good? No. Evil, sick and sadistic, yes. He's probably worse than you have heard, after all no one who meets him survives to tell the tale."
"You did, all of you. Should we be worried about that? I warn you now if your presence leads The Major or the Volturi here we will kill you. If not for Darius you wouldn't have got this close."
"We appreciate that. Darius knows I am no mole, and my friendship with Aro is, or was, a personal one, I like the man not what he stands for."
"Its a subtle difference, one I'm not sure I completely understand Carlisle but you are welcome to stay, just keep an eye on your newborn, if he causes too much trouble you will have to leave, we cannot afford to take chances."
They made an area for us just off the main cave close to Charlie although all we could do was watch as his human body as it fought my venom in vain. Rose and Emmett had been talking very quietly while I tried to explain to Esme why we had to leave Charlotte behind.
"It doesn't seem right somehow Carlisle, what to do you think will happen to her?"
"We should be trying to rescue her not just abandon her to those savages."
I had suspected they were discussing the same topic and I knew that for Rose at least it was an emotive subject.
"I'm sorry Rose, what could we do? If we hadn't left he would have killed us all."
"So we just abandon a friend when it becomes inconvenient?"
"Rose that's enough. Don't speak to Carlisle like that. You know very well if he'd had some way of saving Charlotte he would have done so."
I smiled at Esme and pulled her tighter to my side, she was always loyal my dearest mate,
"It's all right Esme. I understand Rose's concerns and Rose trust me when I tell you that I'm hoping The Captain's motive for choosing Charlotte was the one I thought it might be."
All three looked at me as if I were mad,
"You think that animal and Charlotte might be mates? Are you mad Carlisle?"
"Possibly Rose but I thought about it as we traveled and I can see no other motive, if he just wanted her sexually he would have dragged her into the forest, sorry Esme but its true, yet he didn't, he wanted her with him."
"Why didn't you say something before?"
"Would it have made any difference? Besides the situation was too volatile to interfere."
They didn't look convinced but it was something to think about, a faint hope, while we waited for Charlie to wake up.