Bella McLeod
Healer
This is my first Twilight fic, and it is a femlash, featuring Bella and Rosalie as a couple. So, if you don't like, please head somewhere else.
As an introduction, you may want to read "Snape McLeod" since the Bella that trained Tobias there is the same one here, only a decade later. It's not a requirement for you to read it, especially since I try to untangle things as the story progresses. I altered the timeline to fit my needs, so… she met Snape in 1997, they parted ways in 2000 and it is now 2011, when she moves to Forks with Charlie.
Bare in mind that I do not own Twilight, nor its characters, so if you recognize any of them, THEY'RE NOT MINE. I only own the idea of making Bella Swan part of Clan McLeod.
I also not own the Highlander series, characters and concepts.
Remember to leave your reviews…
Bella McLeod
Chapter 33
Healer
"No. We kill him if we must." Said Esme, her face a mask of determination
"So, what do we do now" asked Emmet right before Alice eyes went blank
"I guess we are going to Nevada in the end" said Alice when she came out of her vision.
"All of us?" asked Esme
"If you don´t mind Esme, I´d rather you stay here and looked over Charlie, in case James rounds back" I told her softly.
"Bella…" started Rosalie, but I interrupted her.
"It´s ok Rose. You, me and Emmet and Alice can head to Nevada. Would Edward hear your thoughts through the phone like when you can feel someone is lying?" I asked Rosalie, who shook her head.
"Only my gift works through what I hear, as long as it is not a recording." She said softly
"Esme can you call Carslile then?" I asked looking at her while gathering my things and climbing into the Mercedes "tell him that you both lost the Red Head and Rose chose to meet up with us in Phoenix when you realized that. That will throw off the Tracker if he is in within hearing distance. And they should be able to tell if he is still trailing them or not"
"Wickedly brilliant" repeated Alice grinning climbing into the passenger seat, while Emmet climbed behind the steering wheel "Esme can tell Carlisle she is back here to protect Chief Swan from the red head if she rounds back, that she could use his back up but to keep Jasper and Edward luring the Tracker if they can."
"What about if they realize that they lose the Tracker?" asked Emmet turning on the ignition.
"They´ll call you, right?" I told them doubting it myself.
"Just tell Carlisle that we lost the red head" said Rosalie climbing in next to me "See if the Tracker is still with them. If he is not, then you can call them back here and keep us posted"
Esme nodded her agreement and a moment later, we sped off.
All through the highway, the engine was almost silent, even when we raced across it at more than twice the legal speed. Alice's gift being probably the only reason we were not stopped at any point by the Federal Police while on the road.
Sleep had evaded me for a while, my eyes strained open even though the night finally ended and dawn broke over a low peak somewhere probably near California. The gray light, streaking across the cloudless sky, stung my eyes, but still I refused to close them. Too much going through my mind. I had to find a solution about the Tracker, and the Price on my head, and who had placed it in the first place… and yet there I was, going on an endless loop. So I fought against my sleep as the sun rose higher completely aware of the way Rose kept looking at me
"We'll be fine" I assured her nuzzling into her "we just have to strategize again, once we are settled"
"I just worry you will try to do something reckless" She said softly while combing her fingers through my hair. "and you need to sleep"
"I will" I told her closing my eyes as I laid against her.
I was still awake though when we came through a shallow mountain pass and the sun, behind us now, reflected off the tiled rooftops of the Valley. I didn't have enough in me to be surprised that we'd made a normally three day journey in just one. I stared blankly at the wide expanse laid out in front of me.
I noticed that nothing could hide in the shadows here during day time, and it made more sense then the dark tinted windows on the car we took. The bright open freeway seemed benign enough; still I felt no relief, seeing as we were still on the run. This was not the regular 'oh you died again, let's relocate you' operation. I was being hunted by the Brotherhood, the Immortals head hunters and also by a crazy Vampire.
"Which way to the airport Bella?" asked Emmet out of the blue at some point through the night
"Stay on this freeway." I told him after a moment "I think we'll pass right by it" then my brain caught up to the request and I was confused by that "We planning to fly already? Going directly to the other side of the world? I'm pretty sure Tobias would be able to help us deal with James now that I think about it. It may be because I am tired but it seems like a good idea."
"Not for now, but it's better to be close, just in case" answered Alice smoothly, completely dismissing my comment regarding Tobias ability to deal with James. Then I guess that is when I started to finally fall asleep because I barely remember my arms around Rose as I got down from the car.
When I woke I was confused. My thoughts were a little bit hazy, as if I had died again and was not recovered yet. It took me longer than it should have to realize where I was. The room was too bland to be anything other than a hotel room. The bedside lamps, bolted to the tables, were a dead giveaway, as were the long drapes made probably from the same fabric as the bed covers.
I tried to remember how I got there, I did remember the sleek black car I had ridden on with Alice, Emmet and Rosalie, the glass in the windows darker than any limousine I had ridden on, and the odd request to be close to the airport.
I looked at the digital clock on the nightstand; the red numbers claimed it was three o'clock, though it gave no indication if it was day or night. No edge of light escaped through the curtains, and the room was bright with the light from the lamps.
I rose stiffly and staggered to the window, pulling at the drapes. My room looked out on a crossroad I actually recognized. I realized nowhere near the airport. I wondered what happened for them to change plans and be for real in Las Vegas instead of the actual plan, still in Nevada, but not what I had in mind then. Daylight was gone and all the brightness and colorfulness of the Strip made it into my room. Three in the morning then.
I looked down at myself, I was still wearing Esme's clothes and they didn't fit very well. I looked around the room then, glad to discover a duffel bag on top of the low dresser. I was on my way to find new clothes, hopefully that fit, when a tap on the door startled me.
"Can I come in?" Alice asked
"Sure" I said exhaling relieved
She walked in and looked over me cautiously "You look like you could sleep longer"
"I probably could. But I don't need it yet" I said shaking my head. She drifted silently to the curtains and closed them securely before turning back to me.
"We'll need to stay inside, and out of sight" she told me
"Okay" I accepted. She was right "Where´s Rose?"
"Thirsty?" she asked then offering me a cup of water
I shrugged "Not particularly. Was she thirsty? How about you?"
"Nothing unmanageable, but yes, Emmet had to force her away." she smiled "She'll bring you some food on her way back. Emmet actually reminded us that you have to eat a lot more frequently than we do"
"He did?" I asked surprised at the thoughtful action "Where is he? Is he with Rosalie?"
She took my hand and carefully led me through the door into the living room of the hotel suite. I could hear low voices coming from the TV. Emmet sat motionlessly at the desk in the corner, his eyes watching the news with no glimmer of interest.
I sat on the floor next to the coffee table, waiting for Rosalie to arrive.
"Any news?" I asked breaking the silence "What's wrong? Why did we end up in the Luxor?" I asked Alice when she looked down sadly at me
"Nothing's wrong" her eyes were wide, honest… yet, I didn't trust them. Somehow I knew she was lying to me. "Figured if James somehow found us before the others dealt with him, even he wouldn't cause a scene or a massacre in a place with so many people. The Volturi wouldn't let it go"
"So, what do we do now?" I tried
"We wait for Carlisle to call" answered Emmet stiffly
"And shouldn't he have called by now?" I asked. I could see that I was near the mark when Alice's eyes lifted from mine to the phone on top of the leather bag and then back at me. "What does that mean?" I asked fighting to control the quiver in my voice "That he hasn't called yet?"
"It just means that they don't have anything to tell us" she answered smoothly. But her voice was too even. Emmet was suddenly beside her, closer to me.
"Bella" he said in a suspiciously soothing voice. "You have nothing to worry about. You are completely safe here"
"I know that" I told him knowing it to be truth. Point was that not everyone else was as safe as me at the moment.
"Then why are you worried?" he asked looking me in the eye
"Shouldn't Carlisle be already with Esme back in Forks?" I asked then as the door the room open.
"Esme chose to not call him yet" said Rosalie as she closed the door behind her, carrying a box of pizza and two burgers "She is fairly certain that the fact that they didn't call means that the Tracker is still following them and she didn't want to jeopardize that" she added placing the food in the coffee table in front of me. "now eat" she said pecking my lips and sitting me on her lap, holding me tight against her.
Alice perched on the arm of the sofa and stared blankly at the TV like Emmet.
I ate slowly, watching her, turning now and then to glance at Emmet. It began to dawn on me that they were too still. Unusually still even for them. They never looked away from the screen.
Even Rosalie was just still, not nuzzling against my neck, or softly nibbling at my earlobe, or tracing her hands in a sweet caress. She just sat there, holding me. Which worried me even more than anything else.
"You all think something's wrong" I said turning my head to look at Rose. "If because of me, something happens to the rest of your family" I gulped, my voice had lowered "How could I live with myself when it's my fault if any of you get hurt? None of you should be risking yourselves for me… especially when I can come back from whatever James can come up to do to me…"
"Bella, Bella, stop" she interrupted me, tightening her arms around me "You're worrying about all the wrong things. Trust us on this. None of us are in jeopardy. Our family is strong. Our only fear is losing you" she said truthfully "MY only fear is losing you" she added then
"You would only lose me if I lose the Game. I think it would be safer for everyone just to let James catch me and then be done with it…"
"Why are you so stubborn?" she asked growling at me "It's been a little more than half a century that I've been alone." She said breathing deeply before touching my check with her cold fingers. Grounding me. Making me realize this is the first time I had at least an idea of how old my Rose really was "Now you're here. I've found you. Or you've found me" she added "You can't see how you have changed me."
"She is right Bella Bear" said Emmet. "the changes that we see, we who have been with her for so long... do you think any of us want to look into her eyes the next hundreds of years if anything happens to you?"
"But don't you see?" I pleaded looking into Rose's eyes "Nothing would really happen to me. At least nothing I can't come back from. It would be safer for all of us to let James drain me as he pleases and then leave me to die. I would definitely come back after dying." My guilt slowly subsided to be replaced by determination. But even as it spread over me, I knew I couldn't let my guard down and had to find a way to keep them safe, from the Brothers finding about Vampires. And ways to help get rid of James. "If we get this over now with him and he leaves, it'll be easier to focus on the Price on my head. What do you think will happen if someone issues a challenge and James is around?" I asked her "If he realizes he can't kill me, it will be worse"
They didn't say anything to that, Rosalie only growled before nuzzling into my neck. I let them get away with it for the time being, I needed her calm and open to options. I knew I couldn't or shouldn't make a firm plan or make any decisions on what to do that may be contrary to the plan already in place because if I did, Alice would immediately know due to her visions. So with that in mind, I chose to concede to their wants and focus again on the known variables of the whole mess I was in.
We stayed in the room. Alice called down to the front desk and asked them to ignore our maid service for now, seeing as we would not leave the room that day. The windows stayed shut, the TV on. At regular intervals food was delivered to me. The silver phone resting untouched as the hours passed without it ringing. Rosalie always next to me, if not holding me against her body, at least holding my hand.
As I fidgeted and paced, at some point I occupied myself practicing some katas and trying to meditate. They simply grew more still, three statues whose eyes followed me as I moved. As the afternoon wore on, I went to take a shower, I hoped that there by myself, I could figure some way out of this whole situation. But Rosalie followed me casually, as if by some coincidence she had grown tired of the front room at the same time.
"Is this your way of asking to see me naked?" I asked teasingly when she just stared at me from the doorframe to the bathroom. She just glared at me making me sigh. "You know we could make the most out of this, right" I asked then slowly stripping myself as her eyes darkened with desire, however she still stood there, unmoving. Once I was bare I turned around to start the shower, sighing sadly by her lack of reaction.
I gave up and showered in silence, a few minutes later I laid across the bed, and she sat next to me, legs folded. I tried to ignore her enough to sleep, but after a few minutes I gave up.
"Rose"
"Yes?"
"Can you at least hold me?" I asked her and not a second later she was spooning me, holding me close to her. I sighed relieved. "I'm sorry, about the shower. It was unfair of me to try and provoke you."
"It is not that I don't want to Bella" she said placing a kiss in my nape. "I want you so much right now."
I turned around in her arms to be able to look at her "You have me Rose" I told her cupping her face "Anyway you want me" she leaned in and kissed me softly, but she broke the kiss as soon as my hands started to wander
"I know you're trying to distract us. You and me" she said leaning her forehead against mine "I don't want us to do this like this, as a distraction of everything else"
"I understand" I said sighing but truthful. After a moment of looking into her eyes they were back to the amber color I loved. "I love you" I said setting down to cuddle and try to sleep.
"I love you too Bella" she said kissing my head and holding me tighter.
"What do you think they're doing?" I asked as calmly as I could muster
"Jasper wanted to lead the tracker as far north as possible" she explained "wait for him to get close and then turn and ambush him. So I imagine things are going well if they can't call. It means the tracker is close enough that they don't want him to overhear"
"And Esme?"
"Esme is safe in Forks keeping an eye on Charlie and Victoria, she'll call us if anything changes, like she did to let us know that she didn't call Carlisle."
"But you think they're really safe" I said waiting for confirmation
"Bella, how many times do we have to tell you that there's no danger to us?"
"Would you be truthful though?" I rebutted
"Yes" she said serious "I will always tell you the truth" her promise was earnest
I deliberated for a moment, a thousand questions in my mind. "How does your venom actually work?" I settled with
My question apparently caught her off guard. She was quiet for a while, her expression seemed ambivalent… carefully choosing her words. "I'll tell you the mechanics of it" she said finally "What I know at least." I nodded waiting for her to continue "As predators, we have many weapons in our personal arsenal, much, much more than really necessary. The strength, the speed, the acute senses. Not to mention those of us who have extra senses as well. Then, we are also physically attractive to our prey…" She smiled widely, a sad smile though "We have another superfluous weapon. We are also venomous" she said "Which I know is what you want to know… the venom starts off as incapacitating" she said surprising me with that information "It works slowly, spreading through the bloodstream, so that once bitten, our prey is in too much physical pain to escape us. Superfluous as I said. If we're already close enough and bite, our prey never escapes unless we want it to…"
"So, transformation happens if the venom is left to spread before the blood is drained?" I asked thinking that maybe my idea to just let James catch me was not that farfetched
"It takes a few days for the transformation to be complete, depending on how much venom is in the bloodstream, how close the venom enters to the heart. As long as the heart keeps beating, the poison spreads, healing, changing the body as it moves through it. Eventually the heart stops and the conversion is finished. But all that time, every minute of it, a victim would be wishing for a fast death." I shivered pondering this. Would it take longer for me to die if the venom ran free through my veins? Would it take me longer to wake seeing as this would be more violent that one would imagine? Would I end up in a loop of dying and come back only to die again because the venom was still there? No, that wouldn't make sense, I was poisoned once, and the venom did not stay in my system. Same with Tobias and the venom from the snake that got him. So maybe it could take me as long as Tobias did that first time, because the nature of the 'magical creatures' as he called them. Then again I was not eager to find out the outcome, but it seemed like the only logical option in order to deal with James fast enough to then deal with the bounty on me "It's not pleasant, you see" added Rosalie tracing her hand soothingly along my back, probably as a result of watching my mind drift away
"Dying never is" I murmured softly
"It's also very hard to turn someone." Chimed Emmet from the doorframe
"I don't' understand" I told them frowning "Why?"
"In a way, we are like sharks" said Alice coming in and sitting at the foot of the bed
"Once we taste blood, or even smell it, it becomes very hard to keep from feeding" said Alice softly looking at Emmet, before turning back to look at me "So you see, to actually bite someone, taste the blood, it would begin a frenzy. It's difficult on both sides, the blood lust on one hand, the awful pain on the other"
"You said you don't remember being turned or your human life" I said looking at Alice who nodded "Why do you think it is?"
"I don't know" she said as Emmet side hugged her "For everyone else, the pain of transformation is the sharpest memory they have of their human life. As I told you, I remember nothing of being human"
I laid with Rosalie silently then. The seconds ticked and I had almost forgotten her siblings presence, so enveloped in my own thoughts. Then, without warning, Alice leaped from the bed.
"Something's changed" her voice was urgent.
"What do you see?" asked Emmet guiding her back to sit down as Rosalie and I stood.
"I see a room. It's a long one and the floor is wooden. He's in the room, and he's waiting. There's gold… a gold stripe across the wall, it's a crest.
"Where is the room?" asked Emmet
"I don't know. Something is missing. Another decision that hasn't been made yet"
"How much time?" asked Rosalie slightly tightening her arms around me.
"It's soon" said Alice almost whimpering "He'll be in that room today, or maybe tomorrow. It all depends. He's waiting for something. And he's in the dark now"
"What is he doing" Emmet's voice was calm, methodical, as he questioned her in a practiced way. It was surprising to hear him being so serious.
"He's watching TV… no, he is actually running a video chat, in another place"
"Can you see with whom?"
"No, it's too dark"
"And the wooden floor room, what else is there?"
"Just the crest. And there is a black rack with trophies. But he does not watch the screen there, that is in the dark room. The wooden floored one is where he waits." Her eyes drifted and then focused on Emmet's face
"There's nothing else?"
She shook her head as they looked at each other
"What does it mean?" I asked. None of them answered for a moment.
"It means the tracker's plans have changed" said Rosalie looking at me "He's made a decision that will lead him to the wooden floored room, and the dark room"
"And we don't know where those rooms are" I said softly
"No" confirmed Alice shaking her head "But we do know that he won't be in the mountains north of Washington, being hunted" she added in a bleak voice "He'll elude them"
"Should we call?" I asked. They traded a serious look, undecided themselves. And then the phone rang. Alice was across the room before I could lift my head to look at it.
"Carlisle" she breathed into it. "Yes" she said then glancing at me as she listened for a long moment "I just saw him" she described the vision she'd just seen "Whatever made him get on that plane… it was leading him to those rooms" she paused "Yes" she continued into the phone. "Esme is in Forks. Rosalie is here" then she hung up.
"They're outside of Vancouver." Said Rose for my benefit, surely having been able to hear what was said on the phone as well as Alice did. "They lost him, he got on a plane, they think he is heading back to Forks to start over"
"You don't have to worry though. He won't find anything to lead him to us" said Alice firmly "We just have to stay there and wait until they find him again"
"They're safe Bella Bear" said Emmet "and we will keep you safe too" I leaned into Rosalie and turned to look at him who was bent over the table, where Alice was sketching on a piece of hotel linens. I leaned on the back of the couch, looking over her shoulder. She drew a room, long , rectangular, with a thinner square section at the back. The wooden planks that make of the floor stretched the lengthwise across the room. And then, wrapping around the walls, waist high, a long band heading to a crest. The crest Alice had seen in her vision.
"It's a dojo" I said, suddenly recognizing the familiar shapes. They looked at me, surprised
"Do you know this room?" Rose's voice sounded calm, but there was an undercurrent of something I couldn't identify. Alice bent her head to her work, her hand flying across the drawing now, the shape of an emergency exit taking shape against the black wall next to the shelf with trophies.
"It looks like the place I used to spar with Clara. It was shaped just the same. And the crest is almost identical. I touched the fabric where said crest was drawn. Alice and Emmet were still staring at me
"Are you sure it's the same room?" Emmet asked, still calm, however Rosalie was beginning to growl softly
"No, not at all. I suppose most dojos look the same. Duncan used to own one too when I was growing up. Where he trained me. Layout tends to be usually the same. It's just the crest that looks familiar" I touched it, set exactly in the place I remember it.
"Would you have any reason to go there now?" Alice asked, breaking my reverie.
"I haven't been there in over 40 years." I shrugged nonchalantly, hoping that would sooth Rosalie. When she didn't stop growling, I turned to her and kissed her softly.
"So there's no way it could be connected to you?" Alice asked intently
"No, I don't think so. If I wanted to spar with Clara now, we would have to go to Belgium right now"
"Where was the dojo you used to go to?" asked Emmet in a casual voice
"It was around the corner from Clara's place. I used to sneak to her dojo instead of Duncan's to train when I was in my 'rebellious' phase. I had a crush on her and I actually loved her fighting style. Different to Duncan's." I said making Rosalie growl again. I sighed and wiggled in order to sit on her lap and hug her while leaning my head against her shoulder "That was before I knew she, or I for that matter, were Immortals. We used to walk there…" I said, my voice trailing off, when I noticed the look they exchanged, even Rosalie going still, and abruptly stopping her growling.
"Here in Vegas or in Phoenix?" his voice was still casual
"Oh. Here. Well, Henderson. Yes, mostly the same as here, but she loved to make the distinction between Henderson and Las Vegas. Clara has a permanent residence here she refuses to sell. Unlike Duncan whenever we move" I said not understanding their tone. We all sat in silence, staring at the drawing. "Alice, is that phone safe?" I asked after a moment, when it hit me.
"Yes" she reassured me. "The number would just trace back to Washington"
"Then I can use it to call Clara?"
"I thought she was in Belgium" gritted Rosalie
"As far as I know, she still is. But I wouldn't want her to come here soon, not while this Tracker is on our tail" I was thinking about something they said about the tracker having listened to my last conversation with Charlie. About me going to Clara's. I had not thought about the possibility of him figuring out at school about Clara being a friend of mine from Phoenix, as we pretended when she visited? She did go and gave her full name without a care in the world, and her residence here which was the one she refused to sell, was still under her name.
"How will you reach her?" asked me Emmet
"She will pick up any incoming call she receives on her cell phone, which by the way I am glad I talked her into buying, and if she can't pick up in time, she regularly checks her voice mail now"
"Alice?" Rosalie asked
She thought about it. "I don't think there's any way it could hurt. I don't see anything going wrong or helping this situation."
I reached eagerly for the phone and dialed the now familiar number. It rang four times, and then I heard my best friend's voice telling me to leave a message.
"Hey Clara" I said after the beep "It's me. Listen. I need you to do something. It's important. As soon as you get this message, call me at this number" Alice was already at my side, writing the number for me on the bottom of her picture. I read it carefully, twice. "Please don't go anywhere until you talk to me. I'm ok. There is a Price on my head though, so don't come looking for me. I do have to talk to you right away though. No matter how late or early you get this call, all right?" I closed my eyes and prayed with all my might that no unforeseen change of plans would bring her back before I talked to her. Hopefully the price on my head would at least deter her from rushing back, knowing what it entails.
I settled into the sofa with Rosalie, while nibbling on a plate of leftover fruit, anticipating a long evening. I thought about calling Duncan, and Charlie too, but since I wasn't sure if I should yet, I chose not to do so. I concentrated on the news, watching out for anything unusual.
Vampirism must grant endless patience. Neither Emmet nor Alice seemed to feel the need to do anything at all. For a while, Alice sketched the vague outline of the dark room from her vision, as much as she could see in the light from the TV, but when she was done, she simply sat looking at the blank walls with her unblinking eyes. Emmet too, oddly enough, seemed to have no urge to pace, or peek through the curtains, or run screaming out the door. Or even engage in idle conversation with me. Rosalie though, was a weird mix, between doing nothing and sitting still and then suddenly remembering where we were and therefore tracing lazy patterns with her hand on my arms while holding me.
I must have fallen asleep on the couch, waiting for the phone to ring again, because I was briefly woken by Rosalie carrying me into the bed, but I was unconscious again before my head hit the pillow.
A/N (September 2023):
Ok… so, approaching the final lap on this race…
We might finish this by December this year.
