NOTE: This is now officially my longest story with (currently) 322 pages! The closest I have is 310 pages but I haven't touched that in a while.
And, for those who have asked … of course I'm going to continue this all the way through to Breaking Dawn. I might even go past it. Not sure about past but I'm definitely going to at least try and get through all of the books, the furthest I've gotten is where Bella meets so that's my goal to pass.
"I think we should go earlier" Sophie said "That way we get there before everyone else, and no one can object"
"Good point" Cat sighed in agreement "I just know the pack will freak"
"Especially Jacob and Embry" Sophie muttered
"Well it's two o'clock now, shall we?" Cat asked, looking at her watch
"Yeah" Sophie nodded. They left the house and walked through the trees towards the meeting spot.
"Come on" Sophie said softly and flew up into the trees, Cat followed and they leaped through the tree branches. They came to the meeting place and looked at it surprised, it was the meadow Cat found, where the twins had practiced their abilities, and shown the pack what they could do.
"I didn't know they knew about this place" Cat muttered, Sophie shook her head in agreement. The girls walked into the middle of the meadow and laid down on the ground, listening to all that was going on around them; the water fall, the distant sounds of an animal, the crickets around them.
"Hey, do you think the Cullens know how many wolves there are?" Cat asked softly
"Not sure" Sophie muttered. "Have you met Collin and Brady?" Cat shook her head
"Jacob's just mentioned them" Cat sighed
"Embry too"
"We haven't been down to Emily's in a while, have you realised?"
"Yeah" Sophie nodded, looking up at the cloudy night sky "It's kind of depressing actually"
"We did see her today though" Cat reminded her
"Not the same" Sophie muttered. Cat sighed.
"What are you two doing here?" the twins turned their heads along the grass, not surprised at all by the interruption
"What kind of question is that?" Cat questioned looking away from Emmett. He, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper approached the twins.
"Didn't Alice tell you we were coming?" Sophie asked sitting up
"I can't see you" Alice reminded her
"Alice, we told you we were coming." Cat reminded her
"Right, blame me" Alice muttered
"We could blame Jasper, he was there too" Sophie shrugged
"Don't you two need some sleep?" Emmett grinned
"We're fine" Sophie rolled her eyes
"Surprisingly" Cat nodded
"Yeah, I'm surprised you're not out of it" Sophie said to her, Cat shrugged
"Maybe it's because I'm looking forward to doing something"
"What do you mean?" Carlisle wondered
"Well the sun kind of represents my abilities, fire, sun" Cat began "Cause of that I get tired when the sun begins to go down. Sophie on the other hand can stay up almost all night if she needs to cause the moon is connected to water" she explained.
"Interesting" he muttered. Carlisle had become very interested in the two girls and always took the chance to ask them questions like this. The twins stood up and stretched.
"How long have you been here?" Esme wondered
"Um," Cat looked at her watch "Just under an hour"
"Your scents all over the place" Alice realised
"We've been here before that's why" Sophie explained
"When?"
"A few times" Sophie shrugged, Alice rolled her eyes
"Do those dogs know you're here?" Rosalie asked
"Not yet" Cat shrugged before smirking
"Is that wise?" Emmett laughed
"They're not exactly in charge of us" Sophie reminded him
"We aren't as controllable as Bella is" Cat said. Emmett's booming laugh filled the silent night
"Sorry, guess being around her for so long has taken it's toll on me" he laughed
"Well that wont last long" Cat grumbled. She was determined to show off, to everyone, what she could do. Sophie turned and grinned at her, completely agreeing with her sister's thoughts. Edward ran into the field a few minutes later, Bella on his back. They walked casually towards them and Bella looked around the field, her eyes still adjusting to the dark.
"You know what I think?" she asked Edward after a while of silence. He laughed.
"No. What do you think?"
"I think it's all connected. Not just the two, but all three."
"You've lost me."
"Three bad things have happened since you came back." Bella ticked them off on her fingers. "The newborns in Seattle. The stranger in my room. And — first of all — Victoria came to look for me." Edward's eyes narrowed as he thought about it.
"Why do you think so?"
"Because I agree with Jasper — the Volturi love their rules. They would probably do a better job anyway. Remember when you were tracking Victoria last year?" Bella explained
"Yes." Edward frowned. "I wasn't very good at it."
"Alice said you were in Texas. Did you follow her there?" His eyebrows pulled together.
"Yes. Hmm..."
"See — she could have gotten the idea there. But she doesn't know what she's doing, so the newborns are all out of control." Edward started shaking his head.
"Only Aro knows exactly how Alice's visions work."
"Aro would know best, but wouldn't Tanya and Irina and the rest of your friends in Denali know enough? Laurent lived with them for so long. And if he was still friendly enough with Victoria to be doing favours for her, why wouldn't he also tell her everything he knew?" Bella admitted. Edward frowned.
"It wasn't Victoria in your room."
"She can't make new friends? Think about it, Edward. If it is Victoria doing this in Seattle, she's made a lot of new friends. She's created them." He considered it, his forehead creased in concentration.
"Hmm," Edward finally said. "It's possible. I still think the Volturi are most likely... but your theory — there's something there. Victoria's personality. Your theory suits her personality perfectly. She's shown a remarkable gift for self-preservation from the start — maybe it's a talent of hers. In any case, this plot would put her in no danger at all from us, if she sits safely behind and lets the newborns wreak their havoc here. And maybe little danger from the Volturi, either. Perhaps she's counting on us to win, in the end, though certainly not without heavy casualties of our own. But no survivors from her little army to bear witness against her. In fact," he continued, thinking it through, "If there were survivors, I'd bet she'd be planning to destroy them herself... hmm. Still, she'd have to have at least one friend who was a bit more mature. No fresh-made newborn left your father alive..." He frowned into space for a long moment, and then suddenly smiled at Bella, coming back from his reverie.
"Definitely possible. Regardless, we've got to be prepared for anything until we know for sure. You're very perceptive today," he added. "It's impressive." Bella sighed
"Maybe I'm just reacting to this place. It makes me feel like she's close by... like she sees me now." Edward's jaw muscles tensed at the idea.
"She'll never touch you, Bella," he said. In spite of his words, his eyes swept carefully across the dark trees. While he searched their shadows, the strangest expression crossed his face. His lips pulled back over his teeth and his eyes shone with an odd light — a wild, fierce kind of hope.
"Yet, what I wouldn't give to have her that close," he murmured. "Victoria, and anyone else who's ever thought of hurting you. To have the chance to end this myself. To finish it with my own hands this time.". Cat looked at Sophie, they'd been listening to the happy couple
"That would make sense seeing as we haven't heard from Victoria in a while" Sophie admitted
"Guess that solves the puzzle" Cat muttered
"Unless Bella's wrong"
"But it fits in so well. What better way to get to Bella with an army that could wipe out her protectors?" Cat admitted. Sophie shrugged seeing the logic in that.
"Hey, Edward," Emmett greeted him. "Hey, Bella. Is he going to let you practice, too?" Edward groaned at his brother.
"Please, Emmett, don't give her any ideas."
"What? The twins are already joining in" Emmett grinned pointing at them. Edward looked at them, both girls smirked at him before Edward rolled her eyes.
"When will our guests arrive?" Carlisle asked Edward. Edward concentrated for a moment, and then sighed
"A minute and a half. But I'm going to have to translate. They don't trust us enough to use their human forms." Carlisle nodded.
"This is hard for them. I'm grateful they're coming at all." Bella stared at Edward, her eyes stretched wide.
"They're coming as wolves?" He nodded, cautious of her reaction.
"Do they know you're here yet?" Edward asked the twins, they shook their heads
"They're about to" Cat muttered, a little concerned as to their reaction. A strange gleam came into Edward's eyes, as though something had just occurred to him, something that was not altogether unpleasant. He turned away quickly, back to Carlisle and the others.
"Prepare yourselves — they've been holding out on us." he said "Did you know?" he asked the twins
"Course we do" they chorused
"What do you mean?" Alice demanded.
"Shh," he cautioned, and stared past her into the darkness. The Cullens' informal circle suddenly widened out into a loose line with Jasper and Emmett at the spear point. The twins grinned as the wolves came into sight. The Cullens' had only known about six wolves. Four more had joined since then.
"Damn," Emmett muttered under his breath. "Did you ever see anything like it?" Esme and Rosalie exchanged a wide-eyed glance.
"What is it?" Bella whispered as quietly as she could. "I can't see."
"The pack has grown," Edward murmured into her ear. "Fascinating," he breathed almost silently. There was a huge growl that erupted from the wolves, two louder then the others.
"I think they figured it out" Cat said to Sophie, not at all trying to be subtile.
"They blame us for you being here" Edward said
"Well that's stupid, not like you had a choice either" Sophie rolled her eyes
"They want to know what you're doing here" Edward repeated
"That's a stupid question. Why else would we be here?" Cat sighed
"They're objecting" Edward said looking at them
"Course they are" the twins sighed
"Well they can object all they want, we're not changing our minds, and they can't make us" Cat said as she and Sophie crossed their arms across their chests.
"They aren't happy"
"Get over it" the girls said to them. Silence settled for a few seconds before Carlisle took a slow, deliberate step forward. It was a careful movement, designed to reassure.
"Welcome," he greeted the wolves. Jacob and Embry didn't take their eyes off the girls.
"Thank you," Edward responded in a strange, flat tone, he was voicing Sam's thoughts. Edward spoke again in the same detached voice, speaking Sam's words. "We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."
"That is more than enough," Carlisle answered. "My son Jasper" — he gestured to where Jasper stood, tensed and ready — "has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."
"They are different from you?" Edward asked for Sam. Carlisle nodded.
"They are all very new — only months old to this life. Children, in a way. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty. Ten for us, ten for you — it shouldn't be difficult. The numbers may go down. The new ones fight amongst themselves."
"They're easy prey" Cat realised. A rumble passed down the shadowy line of wolves, a low growling mutter that somehow managed to sound enthusiastic.
"We are willing to take more than our share, if necessary," Edward translated, his tone less indifferent now. Cat rolled her eyes and Sophie let out a sigh. Carlisle smiled
"We'll see how it plays out." he said.
"Do you know when and how they'll arrive?"
"They'll come across the mountains in four days, in the late morning. As they approach, Alice will help us intercept their path."
"Thank you for the information. We will watch." With a sighing sound, the wolves sank closer to the ground one at a time as they sat down. Cat and Sophie skipped over to them, each sitting next to their wolf. Jacob nudged Cat
"What are you doing?" he questioned
"Helping" Cat answered not looking at him. Embry whined at Sophie but she only patted the top of his head with a confident smile. Jasper took a step into the empty space between the vampires and the wolves. Jasper threw a wary glance toward Edward, who nodded, and then Jasper turned his back to the werewolves. He sighed, clearly uncomfortable.
"Carlisle's right." Jasper spoke only to the vampires; he seemed to be trying to ignore the audience behind him. "They'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you and, second, don't go for the obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and keep moving, they'll be too confused to respond effectively. Emmett?" Emmett stepped out of the line with a huge smile. Jasper backed toward the north end of the opening between the allied enemies. He waved Emmett forward.
"Okay, Emmett first. He's the best example of a newborn attack." Cat smirked and Sophie let out a chuckle. Emmett's eyes narrowed.
"I'll try not to break anything," he muttered. Jasper grinned.
"What I meant is that Emmett relies on his strength. He's very straightforward about the attack. The newborns won't be trying anything subtle, either. Just go for the easy kill, Emmett." Jasper backed up a few more paces, his body tensing. "Okay, Emmett — try to catch me." the twins watched easily as Jasper moved, unlike Bella, who only saw a blur as Emmett charged him like a bear, grinning while he snarled. Emmett was impossibly quick, too, but not like Jasper. It looked like Jasper had no more substance than a ghost — any time it seemed Emmett's big hands had him for sure, Emmett's fingers clenched around nothing but the air as Jasper moved quickly out of his way. Edward leaned forward intently, his eyes locked on the brawl. Then Emmett froze. Jasper had him from behind, his teeth an inch from his throat. Emmett cussed. There was a muttered rumble of appreciation from the watching wolves.
"Not bad" Cat muttered
"Though Jasper had the advantage with his speed" Sophie said
"Still, Emmett is the strongest out of them all" Cat reminded her
"Again," Emmett insisted, his smile gone.
"It's my turn," Edward protested.
"In a minute." Jasper grinned, stepping back. "I want to show Bella something first." Bella watched with anxious eyes as he waved Alice forward. "I know you worry about her," he explained to Bella as Alice danced blithely into the ring. "I want to show you why that's not necessary." Though Bella knew that Jasper would never allow any harm to come to Alice, it was still hard for Bella to watch as he sank back into a crouch facing her. The twins watched intently, believing the same thing Bella did. It was difficult to think of Alice fighting. Alice stood motionlessly, looking tiny as a doll after Emmett, smiling to herself. Jasper shifted forward, then slinked to her left. Alice closed her eyes. Bella's heart thumped unevenly and Sophie held her breath for a second as Jasper stalked toward where Alice stood. Jasper sprang at Alice. Suddenly he was on the other side of Alice. Jasper wheeled and launched himself at her again, only to land in a crouch behind her as Alice stepped one small step out of his way; all the while Alice stood smiling with her eyes closed. She took a small step forward at the exact second that Jasper's body flew through the spot where she'd just been standing. She took another step, while Jasper's grasping hands whistled past where her waist had been. Jasper closed in, and Alice began to move faster. She was dancing — spiralling and twisting and curling in on herself. Jasper was her partner, lunging, reaching through her graceful patterns, never touching her, like every movement was choreographed. Finally, Alice laughed. Alice moved gracefully and was suddenly perched on Jasper's back, her lips at his neck.
"Gotcha," she said, and kissed his throat. Jasper chuckled, shaking his head.
"You truly are one frightening little monster."
"Alice has a huge advantage" Cat realised
"Her vision's yeah. Kind of like Edward's mind reading may help" Sophie nodded smiling. The wolves muttered again. This time the sound was wary.
"It's good for them to learn some respect," Edward murmured, amused. Then he spoke louder. "My turn." He squeezed Bella's hand before he let it go. Alice went to take his place beside her.
"Cool, huh?" she asked Bella smugly.
"Very," Bella agreed, not looking away from Edward as he glided noiselessly toward Jasper, his movements lithe and watchful as a jungle cat. He was intent on Jasper, both of them feinting as he closed the distance. Edward had closed on Jasper now, and this fight was more even than either of the others. Jasper had the century of experience to guide him, and he tried to go on instinct alone as much as he could, but his thoughts always gave him away a fraction of a second before he acted. Edward was slightly faster, but the moves Jasper used were unfamiliar to him. They came at each other again and again, neither one able to gain the advantage, instinctive snarls erupting constantly. Eventually, Carlisle cleared his throat. Jasper laughed, and took a step back. Edward straightened up and grinned at him.
"Back to work," Jasper consented. "We'll call it a draw." Everyone took turns, Carlisle, then Rosalie, Esme, and Emmett again. The hardest one to watch was Jasper fighting fragile, gentle little Esme. "You see what I'm doing here?" he would ask. "Yes, just like that," Jasper encouraged. "Concentrate on the sides. Don't forget where their target will be. Keep moving." The current battle ended. Cat uncrossed her legs and stood up from her spot, she hadn't moved till just now the entire time so far. Jacob stood up and whined
"Jasper" Cat called, ignoring Jacob, everyone turned to her as she walked towards him.
"Uh, Cat…" Edward began, Cat shot him an annoyed look.
"Show 'em who's boss Blaze!" Jared laughed, earning a threatening growl from Jacob, Cat grinned
"My turn" she decided, her hands on her hips. She'd been watching Jasper, and he had a certain skill set, his manoeuvres were all similar, and like he'd said, he never attacked from the front.
"I'm not sure Cat" Jasper admitted, agreeing with Edward
"I promise not to burn you" Cat smirked. Jasper hesitated "Or would you like to have a go against Sophie first?". No one was sure about this, Jared, Paul and Leah seemed all for Cat having a go, but otherwise no one could see it as anything but dangerous.
"You lot are pathetic. It's not like we're normal" Sophie spoke up
"That doesn't matter." Edward answered. Sophie stood up and crossed her arms
"How do you know? Have you seen what we're capable off? Do you know whether we're over stepping our boundaries to far or not?" Sophie questioned. No one answered
"Unless you do, you have no right to look down on us" Cat said, she raised an eyebrow to Jasper. Jasper looked back at Sophie
"If you want, I don't mind someone else doing it" Cat shrugged. She looked at everyone
"I'll do it" Emmett grinned. A smirk spread over Cat's face and she looked at Jasper, Jasper debated it for a second before taking a few steps back.
"If they're worried about hurting you, don't you think Emmett is the wrong person to put you against?" Sophie wondered
"Who cares" Cat said smugly, Sophie rolled her eyes
"Don't go easy on her Emmett" she smirked. Cat relaxed and watched Emmett, he watched her for a few seconds also before running at her. Cat didn't miss a beat and she easily dodged out of his way. Emmett ran at her again and Cat did a backflip, however, while still on her hands, she spun her legs around and kicked Emmett in the side and sent him flying. Cat slowly but gracefully made an arch with her body before standing up straight again. She grinned as Emmett crashed into the ground, sending dirt flying, quite a few meters away. Emmett got up the second he got his footing and was running at Cat, he punched at her but she leaned to the side and grabbed his arm, flipping him over. Emmett landed on his stomach and Cat pinned his am to his back, her hand on his neck.
"If you were a newborn, your ass would be on fire" Cat explained. She got off him and stood up. Everyone was looking at her surprised, though the wolves were the least surprised, except for Jacob, the pack had already watched the girls' power performance. Emmett looked up at Cat who smiled down at him and held out her hand, he took it and Cat eased him up to his feet easily. She then looked at the Cullens. All their faces were stunned, enough for them to be speechless, Bella was also completely surprised.
"How did you do that?" Edward eventually asked
"Ha. I could do that with my eyes closed" Cat admitted. Sophie rolled her eyes as her sister prepared to show off some more. She wanted to have a go also.
"Oh yeah?" Emmett asked
"Sure, wanna see?" Cat offered. Emmett smirked, no way was he gonna turn down the opportunity to get Cat back for beating him. Cat skipped a few steps backwards and closed her eyes. She waited. The second Emmett to one step a smile formed on Cat's face. Jacob took a step forward but a gust of wind blew in his face. Jacob snarled at Sophie but she only gave him a warning look.
"No interfering" she warned seriously before turning back to the scene in front of her. Emmett was walking around Cat, watching her closely. Cat didn't move an inch, Emmett took that as a sign she wasn't cheating and ran at her. Cat stepped sideways as the last second and Emmett tripped over her foot. He was up the next second and he launched for her, this time Cat grabbed Emmett and threw him over her head, slamming him into the ground. Emmett went to grab Cat's ankles but she cartwheeled out of his way before leaning to the side to dodge him again. Cat's eyes stayed closed the whole time, she was like Alice, a smile on her face as she dodged out of Emmett's way. After a while of this Cat finally made an attacking move; she got behind Emmett and ran at him, her eyes still closed, before she tackled him to the ground. They tumbled around for a while before Emmett was flat on the ground, Cat sitting on him, one hand on his throat the other hovering above his face, her eyes still closed.
"Shit" Emmett muttered. Cat stood up, and finally opened her eyes
"Told you" she grinned
"How did you do that?" Alice questioned
"Not the way you did" Cat assured her
"Then how?" Esme wondered. Cat smiled as Emmett stood up
"How could you counter everything?" he asked
"Easy. You were touching the ground" Cat pointed, everyone looked at her confused. The wolves understood what she meant. "Everything that touches the earth sends vibrations through it, whether it's an animal, a tree, a rock, a person, a car, you guys. As long as you're touching it, you will send vibrations through it. I can pinpoint the exact source of the vibrations and where they are just by feeling them" Cat explained, she turned to Emmett "I knew where you were because you make vibrations just like everything else, everything you did, was kind of imprinted into those vibrations."
"Can you predict the moves someone might make by using that?" Edward asked, Cat nodded
"When a person goes to move, they lean in that direction first, you don't mean to it's an automatic thing that your body does. When you go to through a punch, your body leans to put force into it. When you go to jump you bend your knees. These all effect the vibrations" Cat informed them.
"It's like seeing with her feet" Sophie smiled
"Can you do something like that?" Carlisle wondered
"I can feel things that make contact with the air, that's as close as it gets" Sophie shrugged before standing up and stretching. She walked over to them
"It's my turn now" she said
"How big of a difference is there between you two?" Jasper wondered
"Cat's faster." Sophie thought
"That's about it isn't it" Cat admitted
"I think so" Sophie nodded
"Though you're more fluid with your motions than I am" Cat remembered
"And more patient" Sophie added, earning a roll of the eyes from her twin. "So…" Sophie turned to Emmett who shrugged. They faced one another, Emmett moved first again, Sophie dodged, in fact that's all she did, for ages Sophie just dodged out of Emmett's way, not even bothering to do any offence. Sophie had Emmett jumped around the meadow as he threw attacks at her, none of them made contact. She spun out of his grip again and threw her leg around in a round-house kick, kicking him in the back. Emmett went flying over the meadow. When he landed, Sophie was on his back her hands on his neck. Emmett was pinned down and defeated.
"Just to let you know, while Cat sets things on fire, I explode them" Sophie informed him. She got up and took a few steps back.
"You took longer to retaliate" Emmett noticed
"Cause unlike Cat, I watch my opponents tactics" Sophie informed him.
"I'm guessing your wind thing is like Cat's… vibration thing?" Jasper asked, Sophie nodded
"More or less, you can't exactly see what I'm doing so"
"I'm impressed. You two are actually rather good" Edward admitted. The girls smiled
"Told you you shouldn't discriminate us" Sophie smiled
"Alright Cat, I'll have a go with you. This time use other means" Jasper decided as he walked over to face her. Cat turned to do the same but otherwise didn't do anything in response. She stood there and waited, completely relaxed. Jasper took one step forward and Cat stomped her foot. Jasper when flying up into the air, Cat raised her hand not even looking at Jasper and a huge root shot out of the ground. It wrapped itself around Jasper's waist and threw him into the ground. Dust rose and a small crater formed. Jasper couldn't even get up before he was completely tied up by plants and lifted off the ground, he began to struggle against them before Cat was in his face, her hand on his throat. The fight was over within the minute. There was silence as the dust settle.
"Woah" Emmett commented. The vines disappeared and Jasper was released.
"What happened?" Bella wondered, her eyes obviously hadn't caught it all
"He told me to use other means" Cat shrugged
"Got anything else?" Jasper wondered. Cat nodded
"Two more things" she held up two fingers. Jasper gestured for her to do it, Cat looked at Sophie who bit her lip. Cat took a few steps away from Jasper. She stopped
"Someone say go?" she asked. Carlisle did
"Ready. One. Two. Three." the second he said three a circle of flames surrounded Jasper. The vampires all jumped away, the fire burned for a minute before disappearing, leaving a circle of ashes around Jasper.
"That's my way of saying you're dead" Cat explained with a shrug. Jasper looked at her "You asked me to" she reminded him defending herself
"What about the other?" Edward wondered
"It's a little more dangerous" Cat admitted
"How?" Emmett wondered
"It can't be stopped" Cat answered.
"What is it?" Carlisle asked. Cat dug into her picket and pulled out a coin, she turned her body and pointed her hand at the waterfall, her body charged up with electricity and the coin shot off as the railgun towards the waterfall. It lit up the entire area like the moon before there was an explosion at the waterfall and the sound of rocks falling. Cat turned back to everyone, they looked at the waterfall completely stunned
"A railgun" Cat answered.
"Sophie?" Jasper offered. Sophie skipped over and faced him. Carlisle counted to three and Sophie created a bow out of ice, followed by an arrow, though it didn't have an arrow head or tail, it was just like a pointed stick. She pointed it at Jasper just as he ran at her
"Stop!" Cat shouted. Jasper did so and a tree appeared between the him and Sophie. Sophie fired the arrow without hesitation. It hit the tree and the second it did the entire tree exploded, not leaving anything behind. It even dug the ground up a little. Every piece of the tree was completely and utterly frozen solid. Jasper stood there surprised
"Like I said; I explode things" Sophie explained
"Better the tree then you" Cat told Jasper.
"Can you do that without an arrow?" Edward asked, Sophie nodded
"It's like Cat's fire"
"Does that mean you have something like her railgun too then?" Jasper wondered
"Unstoppable?" Sophie asked, he nodded. Sophie looked at her twin who clicked her fingers and another diamond boulder appeared. Sophie demonstrated her gravity crushing it like she had for the wolves, though she had gotten better and the boulder smashed into small pieces a lot faster.
"Now are you guys done underestimating us yet?" Cat smirked.
"You two…" Alice began
"Are awesome" Cat shrugged before a grin spread onto her face.
"You've been holding out on us too" Edward sighed
"No" the twins shook their heads "You just never asked"
"But seeing as you've learned your lesson on underestimating us. Do you all feel better about us joining in now?" both twins turned around to look at wolves
"Most them are impressed…" Edward began
"But Jacob and Embry are still against it" Sophie sighed while Cat shook her head
"Naturally". Carlisle cleared his throat and Jasper nodded before turning toward the wolves for the first time, his expression uncomfortable again.
"We'll be doing this tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again."
"Yes," Edward answered in Sam's cool voice. "We'll be here." Then Edward sighed, patted Bella's arm, and stepped away from her. He turned to his family. "The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with each of our scents — so they don't make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them."
"Certainly," Carlisle said to Sam. "Whatever you need." There was a gloomy, throaty grumble from the wolf pack as they all rose to their feet. Sam approached Carlisle where he stood in the front, the huge pack right on his tail. Jasper stiffened, but Emmett, on the other side of Carlisle, was grinning and relaxed. Sam sniffed at Carlisle, seeming to wince slightly as he did. Then he moved on to Jasper.
"This is weird" Cat thought
"Definitely strange" Sophie agreed as they watched each of the wolves smell each vampire before backing away from them when they were done. They didn't take their eyes off the Cullens as they departed. Soon, they disappeared into the murky forest. Jacob stayed behind along with Embry and Quil. Edward sighed and came to stand by Bella's side, taking her hand.
"Ready to go?" Edward asked her. Before she could answer, Edward was staring over her at Jacob. The twins walked towards Edward after seeing his strange expression, Jacob doing the same.
"I've not quite figured out all the details yet," he said, answering a question in Jacob's thoughts. The Jacob-wolf grumbled sullenly.
"It's more complicated than that," Edward said. "Don't concern yourself; I'll make sure it's safe."
"What are you talking about?" Bella and Cat demanded.
"Just discussing strategy," Edward said.
"What kind of strategy?" Sophie wondered. Jacob's head swivelled back and forth, looking at all their faces. Then, suddenly, he bolted for the forest. As he darted away, Bella noticed for the first time a square of folded black fabric secured to his back leg.
"Wait," Bella called, one hand stretching out automatically to reach after him. But he disappeared into the trees in seconds, Embry and Quil following. "Why did he leave?" Bella asked, hurt.
"He's coming back," Edward said. He sighed. "He wants to be able to talk for himself." Cat had looked a little hurt also but relaxed after Edward said that, crossing her arms and waiting impatiently. They watched the edge of the forest where Jacob had vanished and eventually Jacob loped back into view, on two legs this time. His broad chest was bare, his hair tangled and shaggy. He wore only a pair of black sweat pants, his feet bare to the cold ground. He was alone now, but Embry and Quil lingered in the trees, invisible. Cat bounced her foot up and down and Sophie rolled her eyes, she didn't understand why her twin was so antsy. Jacob didn't looked at her and Cat frowned, she knew he wasn't happy about her going behind his back and coming today.
"Wonder if Embry's as upset" Sophie looked towards the trees, the wolves were pacing behind them. It didn't take Jacob long to cross the field, though he gave a wide berth to the Cullens, who stood talking quietly in a loose circle.
"Okay, bloodsucker," Jacob said when he was a few feet from them, evidently continuing the conversation everyone else had missed. "What's so complicated about it?"
"I have to consider every possibility," Edward said, unruffled. "What if someone gets by you?" Jacob snorted at that idea.
"Okay, so leave her on the reservation. We're making Collin and Brady stay behind anyway. She'll be safe there."
"Poor boys. Discriminated by their age" Cat sighed to Sophie who nodded wisely. Jacob sent her a look, trying to hide the disappointment and worry in his face. Bella scowled.
"Are you talking about me?"
"I just want to know what he plans to do with you during the fight," Jacob explained.
"Do with me?"
"You can't stay in Forks, Bella." Edward's voice was pacifying. "They know where to look for you there. What if someone slipped by us?" Bella's stomach dropped and the blood drained from her face.
"Charlie?" she gasped.
"He'll be with Billy," Jacob assured her quickly. "If my dad has to commit a murder to get him there, he'll do it. Probably it won't take that much. It's this Saturday, right? There's a game."
"I'll get my dad to go too, and mum to spend the day with Sue. Just in case" Cat turned to Sophie who nodded seriously
"The boarders not a good place to live when they can jump between the two" she muttered
"This Saturday?" Bella asked, her head spinning. She was too lightheaded to control her wildly random thoughts. Bella frowned at Edward. "Well, crap! There goes your graduation present."
"That's what you're worried about?" Sophie wondered. Edward laughed.
"It's the thought that counts," he reminded her. "You can give the tickets to someone else."
"Angela and Ben," Bella decided at once. "At least that will get them out of town." He touched her cheek.
"You can't evacuate everyone," he said in a gentle voice. "Hiding you is just a precaution. I told you — we'll have no problem now. There won't be enough of them to keep us entertained."
"I bet we could evacuate everyone if a serious disaster was going to hit" Cat smirked
"That's dangerous, you'll inconvenient everyone who's things are destroyed" Sophie scolded. Cat sighed
"At least they'd be safe"
"You could cause a natural disaster?" Edward asked, the twins nodded
"Hurt us enough or make us angry enough, not sure if we can do it willingly yet" Sophie explained.
"But what about keeping her in La Push?" Jacob interjected, impatient.
"She's been back and forth too much," Edward said. "She's left trails all over the place. Alice only sees very young vampires coming on the hunt, but obviously someone created them. There is someone more experienced behind this. Whoever he" — Edward paused to look at Bella — "or she is, this could all be a distraction. Alice will see if he decides to look himself, but we could be very busy at the time that decision is made. Maybe someone is counting on that. I can't leave her somewhere she's been frequently. She has to be hard to find, just in case. It's a very long shot, but I'm not taking chances."
"What about our house? She's only been there once" Sophie suggested
"Not if no one is home" Cat reminded her. Sophie sighed. Bella stared at Edward as he explained, her forehead creasing. He patted her arm.
"Just being overcautious," he promised. Jacob gestured to the deep forest east of us, to the vast expanse of the Olympic Mountains.
"So hide her here," he suggested. "There's a million possibilities — places either one of us could be in just a few minutes if there's a need." Edward shook his head.
"Her scent is too strong and, combined with mine, especially distinct. Even if I carried her, it would leave a trail. Our trace is all over the range, but in conjunction with Bella's scent, it would catch their attention. We're not sure exactly which path they'll take, because they don't know yet. If they crossed her scent before they found us..." Both of them grimaced at the same time, their eyebrows pulling together. "You see the difficulties."
"There has to be a way to make it work," Jacob muttered. He glared toward the forest, pursing his lips. The twins shared a look of annoyance
"This is to much work to protect one person" Cat confessed
"Yeah" Sophie sighed mentally. Bella swayed on her feet. Edward put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer and supporting her weight.
"I need to get you home — you're exhausted. And Charlie will be waking up soon..."
"Wait a sec," Jacob said, wheeling back to them, his eyes bright. "My scent disgusts you, right?"
"Hmm, not bad." Edward was two steps ahead. "It's possible." Edward thought for a minute, his eyes flickered to Cat, she noticed
"What?" she questioned confused. Edward looked back at Jacob who seemed to understand what Edward was thinking. Jacob looked at her also. "What?" she demanded. Edward leaned forward and whispered the plan in her ear. Cat looked at him still confused when he was done "Your point?" she questioned
"Is it ok?" Edward wondered.
"I don't see why not" Cat said slowly, "Gotta keep her alive right?". Edward nodded, he turned toward his family. "Jasper?" he called. Jasper looked up curiously. He walked over with Alice a half step behind. Her face was frustrated again.
"Okay, Jacob." Edward nodded at him. Jacob turned towards Bella, glancing at Cat every few seconds. He held held his arms out toward Bella and a wary look entered her expression. Edward took a deep breath.
"We're going to see if I can confuse the scent enough to hide your trail," Jacob explained. Bella stared at his open arms suspiciously.
"You're going to have to let him carry you, Bella," Edward told her. "Unless you can think of a better idea?"
"A way to hide Bella and not leave a scent or trail behind?" Sophie asked, Edward nodded
"Well Sophie could do that" Cat explained. Everyone looked at her, Sophie shrugged when the eyes lingered on her
"How?" Jasper wondered.
"Well Sophie can control gravity. What a great way to prevent people from finding someone if there isn't even a scent to follow" Cat explained.
"So…" Alice began
"So Sophie could fly Bella through the air" Cat shrugged
"But you can both do that" Jacob reminded her
"But Sophie is a lot safer than I am" Cat explained "There is no way Bella can be in danger when there's no gravity to pull her down to the ground below and to her death." Edward looked very worried by that and he glanced down at Bella.
"Yeah" Cat nodded at his reaction.
"It's not dangerous, it's like walking on air, as long as the gravity is removed from around Bella" Sophie explained "But," Sophie turned to Cat "It's safer if we try Jacob's idea before we start thinking of other things." Cat rolled her eyes. Bella frowned probably hoping for Cat's idea to be better. Jacob rolled his eyes, impatient, and reached down to yank Bella into his arms.
"Don't be such a baby," he muttered. Both Jacob and Bella looked at Cat and Edward, Cat rolled her eyes and grinned. Edward's face was composed and smooth. He spoke to Jasper.
"Bella's scent is so much more potent to me — I thought it would be a fairer test if someone else tried." Jacob turned away from them and paced swiftly into the woods. Cat felt as he did an arc around the field.
"You alright?' Sophie asked, Cat looked at her confused
"Yes?" she questioned
"Well, it's like he's ignoring you"
"He's just pissed at me for coming tonight, and not telling him" Cat shrugged "I wonder how Embry's doing?" Cat sent Sophie a look, Sophie sighed and shrugged. Jacob came back into the clearing from a different direction, still carrying Bella. It was about half a football field away from their original departure point. The rest of the Cullens, other than Alice and Jasper had already taken off to go home. Jacob walked towards Edward, Cat and Sophie, Bella looking unhappy with the arrangement.
"You can put me down now." Bella grumbled
"I don't want to take a chance of messing up the experiment." Jacob's walk slowed
"You are so annoying," Bella muttered.
"Thanks." Alice and Jasper came back into the field and stood beside Edward. Jacob took one more step, and then set Bella down a half dozen feet from Edward. Without looking back at Jacob, Bella walked to Edward's side and took his hand.
"Well?" she asked.
"As long as you don't touch anything, Bella, I can't imagine someone sticking their nose close enough to that trail to catch your scent," Jasper said, grimacing. "It was almost completely obscured."
"A definite success," Alice agreed, wrinkling her nose.
"And it gave me an idea."
"Which will work," Alice added confidently.
"Clever," Edward agreed. The twins looked at the three vampires confused, they weren't the only ones
"How do you stand that?" Jacob muttered to Bella. Edward ignored Jacob and looked at Bella while he explained.
"We're — well, you're — going to leave a false trail to the clearing, Bella. The newborns are hunting, your scent will excite them, and they'll come exactly the way we want them to without being careful about it. Alice can already see that this will work. When they catch our scent, they'll split up and try to come at us from two sides. Half will go through the forest, where her vision suddenly disappears..."
"Yes!" Jacob hissed. Edward smiled at him, a smile of true comradeship.
"Not a chance," Edward said suddenly, his voice disgusted. It made Bella jump.
"I know, I know," Jasper said quickly. "I didn't even consider it, not really." Alice stepped on his foot.
"If Bella was actually there in the clearing," Jasper explained to her, "it would drive them insane. They wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her. It would make picking them off truly easy..." Edward's glare had Jasper backtracking. "Of course it's too dangerous for her. It was just an errant thought," he said quickly. But he looked at Bella from the corner of his eyes, and the look was wistful.
"No," Edward said. His voice rang with finality.
"You're right," Jasper said. He took Alice's hand and started back to the others. "Best two out of three?" they heard him ask her as they went to practice again. Jacob stared after him in disgust.
"Jasper looks at things from a military perspective," Edward quietly defended his brother. "He looks at all the options — it's thoroughness, not callousness." Jacob snorted.
"Their hunting instincts will take over and drive them crazy…" Sophie muttered, thinking, Cat looked at her sister before she understood what she was thinking
"If you say it out loud Jacob will go mad" Cat warned her twin. Sophie looked at her before she thought of something else. She dropped her shield from protecting her thoughts and began thinking
"What would happen if Cat and I were standing in the middle of the field? Do we smell … I don't know … nice enough?" she asked, "If so, would that help in any way?" she looked at Edward
"Hmm" he hummed, Sophie looked at Cat, then at Jacob before returning her gaze to Edward.
"I see your point but…" Edward began. Both girls groaned and rolled their eyes
"Seriously?!" they both raged
"What?" Jacob and Bella wondered. Edward glanced at them both but didn't say anything.
"What is with the 'but'? Jeez, I'm getting totally sick of this! First you don't think we'd be able to handle ourselves but you know the pack can. Then we show you that nothing has a chance against us, including you guys and the pack, and yet you're still discriminating us?! I don't give a damn what you think, we know what we can handle and if you keep thinking of us as… as fragile and breakable as Bella -no offence- then I'm going to completely and utterly loose it!" Cat raged, her eyes turning orange. She had taken a few steps away from them all and her fists were clenched as she grounded her teeth together in frustration.
"Cat…" Jacob began
"Don't you dare 'Cat' me, you're the exact same" she hissed "You're just as bad as they are. Sure you're worried but you can't even trust us! If we were human, I'd understand but for crying out loud I could exterminate all of you right now if I wanted to! An army of newborns isn't much fricken different!" Sophie stood there, she agreed with Cat, but she wasn't liking were Cat's rage was headed, she was glad that Cat had the temper and not her, she already had to deal with zoning out around her two elements, she didn't need bad tantrums, like Cat had, on top of that.
"They're more dangerous than you think" Edward began
"For you. I could set them all on fire with a click of my fingers, and they'd all be gone within five minutes" Cat reminded him.
"You're boasting" Sophie muttered
"I'm bragging" Cat corrected angrily. At that point a tree around the edge of the field burst into flames. Bella jumped while everyone else took a small step backwards, though they were several meters away from it. Jasper and Alice stopped their mock battle in surprise before looking at the twins. They all looked from Cat to the burning tree which lit up the entire field, she was ignoring it, an angry expression on her face.
"Cat, you're not helping here" Sophie muttered
"Better the tree then them" Cat grumbled
"True, but you don't wanna set the entire forest on fire, do you?" Sophie convinced. Cat crossed her arms and let out a sigh, as she did the fire disappeared, leaving the tree completely unharmed.
"I wish you'd all stop thinking you were the strongest things out there and looking down on everyone else." she said in a harsh tone. Cat glared at them all one more time before she walked off towards the trees, not taking longer than a few seconds to disappear into them. Sophie let out a sigh
"She's right. It aggravates me too that you guys don't think we can't handle it. Emmett and Jasper couldn't even lay a hair on us and Jasper's had a century of practice. I'm sorry, but you don't know what we've been through, you don't have the information to say 'but' to us anymore" she said it kinder than Cat had before she followed her sister. Sophie followed the trail her sister had left, not taking long to find the end of it.