Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight, I just enjoy borrowing her characters for a while.

AN: Thank you to everyone who is still reading. Love you all.

Sorry I didn't update during the week this week, I know I said in some review replies that I would. I haven't been well since last weekend and was struggling to even function enough to work and parent this week; everything else slipped.

I also changed a significant plot point in the last chapters so had to go back and rewrite/heavily edit big sections of the previous chapters starting with this one. This, in turn, led to a battle with grammar that I lost. I still have no beta and some of the sentences really got away from me and the more I tried to fix them, the worse they read. So for this chapter, more than ever, sorry for any mistakes. Hope you can enjoy it despite them.

Turn the Page

It was only a few weeks later that the newborn army attacked. There were twenty-three of them and the fight was brutal. It was nothing like the fighting I was used to. I'd never faced newborns, let alone on this scale and my inexperience was frustrating. I concentrated on what the wolves had taught us, knowing that they'd destroyed newborns before and I'd only ever fought older vampires, although they'd never been faced with such a large number of newborns either.

I hated that Bella was thrust into this torment and it was a little distracting. She was inherently kind and compassionate and I knew destroying any sentient creature would be hard for her, even if they were feral vampires intent on destroying us. They'd recently been human, been turned because of Victoria's unrelenting determination to get to Bella and Bella understood and hated that. She was magnificent though, she rose to this challenge as she had to all the previous trials that had been thrown at her; with grim grace and steely determination. I loved her fiercely and the danger to her was difficult to stand.

There were several wolves absent from this fight. Despite this, because of their huge size, they took up so much space on the battlefield that it was hard to fight without getting in each other's way. The missing wolves were some of their best fighters; they were protecting key people and patrolling the boundary.

The wolves had learned a hard lesson when Brady died and they'd never commit every skilled wolf to a battle, no matter how many vampires attacked. They were painfully aware it could be the distraction to enable a worse threat to penetrate their defences. All of them had family on the reservation. Some of them had imprints. Their mantra was 'We'll make it enough' and I clung to that too as the battle raged.

When the wolves tore apart the last remaining vampire with a metallic shrieking that somehow seemed louder than when many were being dismembered at one, I surveyed the carnage. Body parts of various shapes and sizes littered the ground. It was macabre.

Bella and I had both sustained multiple bites trying to protect each other and fight around the wolves. The venom stung like acid, not travelling round our bodies due to our lack of circulation but concentrated and lingering at the site of each bite. I gritted my teeth against the pain, made worse by the knowledge that Bella was suffering in the same way I was.

The wolves were relatively uninjured though and were pretty happy to wordlessly gloat about it. They were unmoved by the destruction of so many and their levity was a relief. I knew the rigorous training we'd done was the only reason none of us suffered more significant injuries but decided not to dwell on it. We'd survived fairly unscathed. Surely it would take time for Victoria to build up to such numbers again. We'd kill her before that despite her talent for evasion I promised myself.

As we were gathering the body parts and throwing them into the fire that was now raging, fuelled by the highly flammable venom that coated each wounded section, I noticed Bella was distracted. That would be understandable but what specifically drew my attention was that she kept glancing at an empty spot on the edge of the battlefield then looking back at me and the wolves surreptitiously.

She turned her back on the spot cautiously and indicated to the wolves to form a wide circle around it. It said a lot for how far we had come that they did it without hesitation, abandoning the quest to rid the field of vampire parts. Once the wolves were in position, she turned suddenly back to the empty space she'd been watching and said "We won't hurt you if you mean us no harm."

I was baffled by her unexpected statement, as were the wolves. What was happening?

"We only killed them because they were attacking us," Bella said, pausing to listen to the silence.

"That is absolutely not true," she insisted.

"We can help you," she cajoled.

"You've been lied to," she said more firmly.

This went on for a while. A one sided negotiation with an invisible threat. The wolves were restless and I was still, trusting Bella's judgement but insatiably curious as to what was going on.

Without taking her eyes from the empty space, she addressed the rest of us, "There are two vampires here that you can't see and for some reason I can. I believe that one of them is gifted and is shielding them both from all your senses. They are very much in control of themselves and were planning to just stay invisible until we all left and then run but I think that Garrett and I could really help them and in return they could help us. They might know where Victoria is." She didn't say it out loud but I knew she would be thinking the same as me. A gift of invisibility that could be projected onto others…that could be a very powerful offensive gift. It could give us the edge we needed against Victoria. We might finally be able to sneak up on her. I hoped the wolves would realise it too because we had to tread very carefully if we were going to get this elusive pair of vampires onside.

"If they show themselves to you, do you promise not to attack them?" Bella asked us.

The wolves let out grumbling growls but backed away slightly, bowing their heads in assent.

Gradually two vampires shimmered into existence. Despite the fact that wasn't instantaneous, it was still shocking. It was difficult to focus on them though and I had to concentrate hard to take in what they looked like. A small, slight, brown haired girl in her mid-teens and a taller, larger, older male hovering protectively over her, their bright red eyes darting over the multitude of threats we presented.

"Thank you for trusting us," Bella said sincerely. "I'm Bella, this is my mate Garrett and the wolves are our friends." Bella gave them the moment they clearly needed to process that. "Victoria, the one who changed you…"Bella trailed off at the vehement shake of the girl's head.

"We don't know any Victoria," The girl denied. I sensed it was part truth and part deception.

"You might not have seen her but we're sure she's ultimately responsible," Bella told them. "Victoria has been trying to kill the people I love but Garrett and the wolves are protecting us so she never attacks directly. We believe you were told lies and sent at us. She would have known that you would likely all be killed. You are not the first she's sent and she knows that those she sends here don't survive."

They didn't seem surprised to hear this. It seemed likely that they hadn't trusted their maker and I wondered what had compelled them to come to the battle at all. Why hadn't they used the gift to disappear before they got here? Something had tied them and it would be easier if I could understand what it was. Hopefully not loyalty. Maybe it was feeling they had no other choice? I thought back to my own horrific newborn days. If I'd been in their situation, would I have stayed in it? Out of ignorance and because of a desperate desire to understand what I was and where I fitted in a world I didn't understand? I hoped I was somewhere close to the truth so that I might have a chance of switching their allegiance.

"If you help us, I will teach you how to navigate this world. What could kill you and what you need to do to stay alive," I offered them softly, attempting to be as least threatening as possible. "In return, all you have to do is tell us everything you remember about the person who sent you here. Even the littlest detail could be helpful to us."

They weren't sold on the idea, I could tell. At any minute they could disappear again. Bella would be able to see and chase after them but I hated the idea of her facing a threat that I couldn't see.

"If you want to leave now, we won't try to stop you," some of the wolves growled at my proclamation but the truth was we probably couldn't stop them even if we wanted to. "But you would need to go far, far from here. We will not tolerate you hunting humans anywhere in this area." The girl had been mesmerised by the wolves but her attention was drawn back to me. I could tell she was intrigued that we were telling her not to hunt humans.

"You need to avoid Europe as well, especially Italy," I continued. "The covens of vampires there are old, dangerous, intolerant and unforgiving. Also Central America because some of the vampires there continue to create newborn armies despite the threat from the Volturi. I think Canada is probably the safest but you have to hunt very carefully there. The authorities protect their people. They would notice a spike in missing or dead people in an area, even if you only hunt the people you think won't be missed."

I could tell it was enough, as I hoped it would be. The realisation in their eyes that they were very ignorant of the world they had been dragged into and perhaps there was some value in sharing information with us.

"Riley warned us against betraying him," the girl said quietly.

Jake suddenly morphed back into his human form, startling both vampires so much that they rapidly disappeared. It wasn't quite instant but as soon as they were no longer visible, I found it hard to recall what they looked like and what we'd been discussing. They hadn't run though, as Bella was still watching the seemingly empty spot where they had stood and must still be standing. I had the sense that if Bella weren't looking at them, I would've struggled to remember where I last seen them.

Jake pulled on his shorts and faced the deceptively empty space, not put off by their invisibly. "If this Riley comes here, we will be ready for him and we'll kill him easily. That's why he and the redhead never come themselves but send new ones like you to be needlessly slaughtered. They have been manipulating you from the very start. Your gift makes you more powerful than they could ever hope to be. They're no threat to you at all. I speak for my pack when I endorse Garrett's offer. Leave and go far away and we won't stop you. Stay and cooperate with Bella and Garrett and we will not harm you as long as you don't come onto our territory and you stay away from humans. But if you stay here and try to kill humans, we will take action to prevent it." I was impressed that he'd remembered Riley's name. I hadn't until he said it.

"It's worth a conversation at least," Bella implored, "Why don't you come back to our house, away from the wolves and just talk with Garrett and me for a little? If you don't like what we have to say, you can leave whenever you wish."

The two vampires reappeared again, seeming more tangible this time.

"This is Bree and I'm Fred," the male introduced them solemnly. "We will come with you. We'll listen."

I was cautious as we led Fred and Bree back to Charlie's house. The wolves would circle round I was sure and come if we called them but Jake wasn't an idiot. He must know as well as I did that this could be the best chance we had of finally stopping Victoria. It was worth the risk and he was trusting us to prevent any loss of human life. It was another big concession for them.

Bree was in awe of Charlie's house. "You live here?" she asked, daunted. "It's so normal! What about the sun?"

"The sun is not a concern. It won't hurt us or you. Have you been told differently?" Bella asked kindly.

"Riley said the sun would burn us. Like in the movies and on TV," Bree said, her eyes wide.

"But you didn't believe him?" I guessed. She was testing us. Seeing if we would lie to her too. Small and smart I surmised.

"Oh we believed him for a long time. He kept us trapped in the dark during the day with nothing to do but fight each other. But Diego and I worked it out." Her voice cracked as she spoke the name.

"Diego?" I prompted.

"He went to talk to Riley a few days ago. He didn't think Riley knew the sunlight wouldn't hurt us. We thought maybe he'd been manipulated too. Diego thought Riley was his friend and he didn't want to leave him behind. When Diego didn't come back, Riley told me that he was fine. That he'd been trusted with an important mission. I wanted to believe him so badly. Riley said Diego was supposed to meet us at the battle. It's the only reason we came." Raw grief suddenly etched its' way across Bree's face. "If he was alive, he would've come. I know he wouldn't have left me." Fred reached out to comfort Bree. It was heart breaking. Bree must have been lucky enough to find her mate in the first few months of this life only to lose him almost instantly. "Did he come here? Did you kill him?" Bree demanded, her innocent melancholy suddenly eclipsed by fury.

Oh fuck. I really fucking hoped not. But I knew as Bree must've known, that if he had come here, we would've killed him. "What did he look like?" I asked cautiously.

As Bree described him in wistful detail, the relief was overwhelming. He hadn't come here. We hadn't killed him. I hoped I could convince Bree that was the truth. I explained to them that unless a vampire directly attacked us, we diverted them away. I asked Bree whether she thought Diego would've listened to reason. I described in detail all the vampires we'd come across and what had happened to each of them. I was trying to win her trust with the truth.

The most likely explanation for Diego's absence was that Victoria and Riley immediately killed any vampire that found out the secret that was allowing them to control the newborns. I guessed they would probably have tortured Diego too, to find out if anyone else knew. That he'd protected Bree and Fred said a lot about his character. Despite me trying to spare Bree from the worst of my thoughts on what might've transpired, it was clear she'd worked it out for herself. She was very intelligent and had most likely been through hell. I would've spared her that knowledge if I could, even if it might help me to convince her to turn on Riley. I let them process everything that'd been said in deepening silence.

"If you're planning to kill the vampires responsible for this," Bree indicated herself and Fred, "responsible for killing Diego, then I will help you however I can."

"Thank you, Bree. You will not regret trusting us," I told her sincerely.

I looked at Fred.

"I'm staying with Bree," he said simply.

AN: I'm always nervous when I introduce the less well known and loved characters into a story. As some of you know, I have a special place in my heart for Fred even though he and Diego are only introduced in the Bree Tanner book which I know not everyone has read. In this story, I've tried to keep Fred as canon as possible and it was a challenge to make the timelines work. He's essential for what's coming though.

I'm anxious to know what you think and it'd make my day if you take the time to review and let me know.