Chapter Sixty Seven

Peter

I sat Charlotte down at the scrubbed table in the kitchen and took the chair opposite noticing for the first time that it reminded me of my mother's kitchen in many ways. The furniture and range here were almost as old and I wondered if this house had been handed down complete through the generations. Then coming back to the present I fixed my gaze on her again.

"You need to be very careful with The Major Charlotte, he has an extremely short fuse and right now something is bugging him about that girl. It's even making me nervous and I'm the closest thing to a friend he's ever had."

"Bugging him?"

"Yeah, he's uptight, confused and that's when he's at his most dangerous. The wrong word or action and both you and her will be dead."

She shook her head and smiled at me, a knowing look in her eyes like before and I squeezed her hand a little in frustration.

"That look does my head in girl. You know something so why don't you just spit it out, enlighten us all. Well me anyway."

"He won't hurt Bella or me. You won't let him get anywhere near me Peter."

"Oh really? I shouldn't be too sure about that, he and I have been together a long fucking time."

"I know but it doesn't change the fact that you would defend me with your life."

I sat back laughing, she really thought highly of herself this one but a small voice in the back of my head told me she was right and that made me extremely fucking uncomfortable.

The Major

Listening to the conversation in the kitchen I couldn't help a smile, Charlotte really thought Peter would stand in front of her if I attacked? I looked down at the unconscious girl to find I was stroking her cheek and snatched my hand back, what the fuck was going on here? What was this girl doing to me? I had never been drawn to a woman before and Bella Swan only just qualified as a woman, she was more a girl really.

I wanted to know why I had saved her when everything told me to let her die. My job would be done and I could go hunt the Cullens again or the Denali's. The Volturi may think they could mess me around but once I was given a name it couldn't be taken back. I wasn't their puppet anymore and soon I would be breaking free completely.

I stopped, where had that come from? It was the first time I remembered even thinking about leaving the Volturi but the thought seemed fully formed as it appeared. What the fuck would I do if I left them? I could become a killer for hire I guess but something in my gut screamed NO. I closed my eyes, what was happening to me? Since becoming a vampire I had one objective in life, to kill whoever the Volturi told me to kill, I enjoyed the hunt, I enjoyed the fear and pain, the blind panic in my prey and the agony as I executed them. I lived on fear and pain, always had and I didn't know any other way. I ran a hand through my hair, a habit I had when things confused me which admittedly wasn't often. I knew the Volturi thought of me as a mindless killer but they were wrong, a killer yes, mindless no. I just kept my thoughts to myself, it was safer by far. Knowledge was a weapon, the more you knew of someone the easier it was to manipulate them and no one was ever going to manipulate me.

As I opened my eyes I felt the girl move very slightly against me and found I had lifted her head into my lap as I squatted there, this was getting weird! I was beginning to feel I was losing control of my body. Her eyes were still closed but her lips were slightly parted now and her breathing speeding up slightly. Was she about to wake up? I got up easing her head gently back to the pillow and rearranging the blankets to keep the chill of the night from her. The fire had begun to die so I threw another couple of logs on and sat down a few feet away still watching her closely.

The bruise which covered most of the right side of her face was dark blue, almost black but she was still beautiful. I longed for her to open her eyes, to see her move again and know she was OK. The trick with the branch was something I had done before. It amused me to see someone hurt a person they loved, there was twice the pain to soak up but as I ducked I knew it was wrong, that I should be protecting Bella not putting her in harm's way.

Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough in reacting as I thought this. The sound of the branch hitting the side of her face reverberated through my skull and made me feel almost physically sick which was a strange feeling for a vampire! But it was nothing to the feeling when I realized she was no longer breathing, that her heart had stopped. I'd killed her!

The desperation with which I sought to save her was almost more than I could stand but when I heard her heart pick up once more and understood I had saved her I felt a sense of such relief. This girl meant something to me, she was the first thing that had truly touched me since I became a vampire and I was determined to keep her safe whatever the cost. Right, the cost would be freedom from the Volturi, I needed to get away, to find somewhere I could go that would be safe for the girl. There was no question of freeing her, allowing her to leave, I needed her with me, no it was more than a need, something far more visceral. I couldn't be without her. It was almost laughable, the dreaded Major Whitlock brought low by a young girl and a human to boot but I still didn't know exactly what this feeling meant.

The girl moaned low and her hand came up shakily to touch her face then she winced. I moved closer again as she stirred once more then suddenly her eyes flew open and she sat up far too quickly. I grabbed her shoulders as she started to fall back and she vomited in her lap then started to cry. I could feel her pain and confusion but this wasn't for me to feed on, this time I took it away from her as Charlotte came rushing in with a bowl of warm water and a towel. I continued to hold Bella up as Charlotte cleaned her face and wiped most of the vomit from her clothes then backed away as she stopped wobbling and continued to watch from the other side of the room.

"Its all right Bella. You're going to be fine. You need to rest though you took a pretty bad knock to your head."

Peter stood in the doorway watching warily as Charlotte helped Bella up,

"Come on let's get you into some clean clothes. Do you think you can manage the stairs if I help you?"

Why she didn't just pick Bella up and carry her I couldn't imagine but I guess she was confused enough as it was.

"I think so. What happened Charlotte? My head hurts so much."

"I'll explain everything later, once you're with it again now come on."

As they reached the stairs Bella turned her head gingerly and looked at me and I found myself falling into those big brown eyes.