Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground- The White Stripes
Come Along- Cosmo Sheldrake
It was unprecedented. Neither Em nor Rose made a concerted effort to integrate into human society. Emmett enjoyed humans- he found them to be incredibly funny little creatures- but I knew that it hurt Rose to be around humans, with the potential of everything she couldn't have but always wanted. Not to mention the natural aversion humans had to most of our kind- Carlisle and myself being the rare exclusions.
Emmett bounded over to us with a wide smile, Rose in tow.
"Scoot over, shorty," Emmett asked Alice. She laughed, and she and Angela squeezed together in the corner of the booth to make room for Emmett. He was very careful not to touch Alice, though I wasn't sure it would matter. Like her brother, Alice seemed to know more than she was letting on.
"Bella, come to the bathroom with me?" Rose asked. I felt a chill spread down my spine. Something was wrong. She was smiling softly, but I could see a tightness in her gold eyes and tension in her brow.
Edward got up to let me out, his eyes following us as Rose led me to the bathroom, obviously knowing something was wrong. I threw a smile in his direction, but I couldn't be reassuring when I didn't know what was happening.
No one was in the bathroom, and Rose whipped a newspaper out of her back pocket. I skimmed it quickly.
Murder Spree in Seattle Worsens, Cops Ask: Gang or Serial Killer?
"Oh fuck," I cursed. Thirteen murders and four missing persons in one week. Whoever was in Seattle was being rash, and this was the last straw. The Volturi were sure to notice soon, and I couldn't have them so close to me, so near Edward. The risk… it was too great.
"We're going to need to go very soon."
"Too soon," I sighed and handed the paper back to her, the faces of the murdered imprinted on my memory, "Does Carlisle know?"
"He's waiting for you at home."
I knew everyone else would be waiting for our direction, and Carlisle and I needed to talk strategy. He had earned his role as patriarch of our family with his calm rationality, but I had the experience of over a hundred years with the Volturi, and I was often sent out with Felix and Demetri, or Alec and Jane, to administer their justice.
Footsteps approached, and Jessica and Lauren swung open the bathroom door, giggling about some mindless joke at the expense of Mike and Tyler. They paused and flinched when they noticed Rose and me standing tensely in the middle of the small bathroom, and the smell of catecholamine hormones saturated the room. They weren't used to be in such close quarters with us, and it was just a natural reaction
"Hi guys!" I said, trying to pitch my voice with a cheery tone. "How's it going?"
They were still silent, eyes wide and trained on Rose, who still looked tense and angry.
"Rose, do you have any mascara?" I asked, trying to snap her out of her stillness. I could see the subtle lightening of her irises as she calmed down, and she moved to the sinks with me to allow Jessica and Lauren through to the stalls. The girls were both still quiet, their childish laughing gone in response to the tenseness of the room.
We ran our hands under the faucet and returned to the table.
Emmett was sitting next to Edward and across from Alice, smiling slyly at Angela as her face turned a bright red. Alice was rolling her eyes but laughing along, and Edward sat quietly, stirring his straw in his melted strawberry shake.
"Sorry to cut the evening short, but we need to be getting home," Rose said, pulling Emmett up. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but I knew he would be itching for a fight.
"Angela, would you mind taking Edward home for me?" I asked pleadingly. There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to sidle back up to him and laugh about Angela's love life, then run back and lay together on his little bed until he fell asleep.
But it would not be an ideal evening.
"Yeah, of course, I mean, I'm going there anyway," Angela stuttered through a laugh, clearly flustered from Emmett's teasing, though I hoped she wasn't too hurt or offended. Emmett often didn't know the limit of a joke when dealing with vampires, and we were far less fragile than someone as especially kind and shy as Angela Weber.
Edward looked incredibly concerned, his brows furrowed and his green eyes intense as he looked up at me from his corner in the booth. I leaned forward to cup his face in my hand, and the rest of the world seemed to vanish the moment my skin touched his.
"I'll be back tonight," I murmured softly, loud enough only for him to hear. Mike craned his head, not being subtle about trying to eavesdrop.
Edward leaned forward to brush his lips against mine- a soft, parting kiss, but momentous as the first act of intimacy since his piano bench confession the night before. Everything since had been chaste, more about reassurance and comfort than anything else. My lips felt like they were on fire, but it ended far too quickly.
It hurt to leave Edward after he had had such an incredibly difficult day, and he had been so desperate for my constant touch, but we needed to leave. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if the Volturi came to us.
I paid the waitress for everyone's food on the way out- including Mike, Jessica, Lauren, and Tyler- and we were out the door, tearing through the forest and racing to get home.
Carlisle and Esme were already seated at the dining room table, a map of the greater Seattle area in front of them. Carlisle had marked the location of each murder, mostly clustered in the coastal part of the city, near the port.
"Can we fight them?" Emmett asked eagerly, looking at the map but not really knowing what it meant.
"How many do you think there are?" Carlisle asked calmly, though I could tell he, too, was worried. There had been a tremendous loss of human life right in our backyard, not to mention the perilous threat the Volturi posed if they chose to come deal with it themselves.
"If I had to guess, anywhere from seven to twelve, but it could change at any moment. You know how newborns are," I said, trying to pinpoint a more precise starting point for our search.
"Why are they doing this?" Esme asked mournfully, no doubt fearful of sending her children into battle.
"No one taught them the rules, or how to control themselves. What I don't know is who's going around changing all these people and then abandoning them."
Carlisle and I broke off into a separate conversation as Emmett asked Rose and Esme about their fighting practice- something Emmett was more naturally gifted at.
"Do we spread out, or stick together?" Carlisle asked.
"Together, most definitely. Pairs would be most ideal, but we're not an even number. Someone always needs to be watching another's back. You know that newborn strength-"
"So we swim in and track from there."
"Yes, starting here," I pointed at the map, in an area with shipping containers and warehouses, "It seems to be mostly concentrated in this area, though I'm surprised they haven't ranged further out. All those bloodthirsty newborns, in one place…"
"I just don't understand. Why create them in the first place? It takes a good deal of control to create one vampire, much less a half a dozen."
"Could it be an army?"
"In the Pacific Northwest?"
"Stranger things have happened."
"I think someone is just being irresponsible, honestly. There's no motivation to create an army up here."
"Are you sure this is actually newborns?" Emmett interjected.
"What mature vampire would be so careless, so noticeable?" Carlisle pointed out.
"So do we leave now?" Esme's voice was filled with worry as she looked to Carlisle and me for our guidance.
"We need to prepare." I also needed time to break the news to Edward, and we needed to practice actual strategy.
"Two days?" Carlisle asked, planning for a Sunday confrontation with a weekend to prepare.
"We can't risk it for much longer than that," I agreed.
"Should we ask for help?" Esme asked, concern plain on her face.
"I don't know," Carlisle sighed, torn between the likelihood of violence and the desire to even the odds to better protect us.
"We need to at least ask," Rose implored.
"We're greatly outnumbered and we don't even know what we're walking in to here," Esme was pleading now, desperate to do anything to protect us, even if that meant asking Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya, Kate, and Irina to risk their own lives.
"I'll call them," Carlisle acquiesced, placing his hand on top of Esme's comfortingly, "But I can't ask them to fight with us. Perhaps, with sheer force of numbers, we can convince them to stand down, to disperse." Always with the nonviolence, however futile the effort was.
"I don't think they'd back down from a fight," I commented. I knew them far too well, they thought of us as their family, and they certainly wouldn't watch us fight and not come to our defense.
"I certainly won't," Emmett laughed, enthused by the idea of a real fight.
Carlisle looked uneasy. He hated the idea of taking another life, even when it was so necessary. Unlike my oldest companion, I didn't hold the belief that all life is sacred. The lives of my family, of my mate… I would tear the heads off one thousand vampires if it meant Edward would be safe and protected.
"Everyone should drink their fill tonight," I looked around at my family, "I don't know exactly what we're walking into, but whatever it is, it's not going to be good."
"Perhaps we can reason with them. Find out the motivation of whoever is creating these newborns and see if we can appease them," Carlisle said hopefully, though I didn't think it likely.
"We need to train," Rose said.
"I need to get back to Edward." And I did. With rabid vampires crawling all over the place and the impending threat of the Volturi, I couldn't risk leaving him alone, not to mention the pain I felt when we were separated.
I notice Rose hold back an eye roll, trying hard to be on her best behavior, though being selfless was not exactly in her nature.
I ran back to Edward, feeding on two deer on my way, and tried to think of what to tell him. How much. What would scare him.
He was in the shower when I slipped through the window, so I started cleaning up his tiny little room, needing to put my worry to productive use.
I made his bed and turned it down, fluffed his pillow, stacked his books neatly on the little desk in the corner, put the dirty clothes in a pile behind the door, folded his socks… I was terrified, and I needed to calm myself so I wouldn't scare Edward.
"Hey," I said softly when he opened the door and squeezed through, trying to obscure me from Charlie, sound asleep and snoring on the couch.
"What's w-wrong?" He asked, cutting to the point. We were too obvious today. Rose and Emmett, coming in to the diner? I wish they had waited until I came home, but who knew when that would've been. Likely some time in the morning, just before school, leaving a whole night of planning and preparing gone, and who knew how many lives would've been lost with every moment we waited.
"You know the killing spree happening in Seattle right now?" I asked, knowing Charlie had mentioned it on many occasion- he had been working extra shifts trying to cover for the officer he sent to help investigate murders in Jefferson County, where some newborns likely ranged out to.
Edward nodded, not yet connecting the dots.
"It's vampires," I said softly, reaching out to hold his hand in mine. Our skin sparked when we touched, though I didn't know if Edward felt it too. "Vampires are doing this, and we need to go stop them."
"Why?" He asked simply, eyes filled with concern.
"We're not entirely sure," I debated how much to tell him, then decided it was better for a full disclosure than to keep him in the dark, "It could be what we call a 'newborn army', though it's not the kind of army you normally think of. Older vampires will create a bunch of young ones, and have them fight each other for control of a territory.
"In our first year of existence, we're far stronger than our older contemporaries. But newborn vampires are wild, bloodthirsty, and almost impossible to control. Even if it's not an army, someone has created several newborns and likely abandoned them, so they're ripping the city apart and leaving only death and destruction. So we need to go to Seattle and take care of this."
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed both of his eyes as he absorbed what I was telling him. His thick lashes clung together, still damp from the shower and each individual water droplet sparkling in the dim light of his small bedroom.
"Is i-it d-dangerous?" He asked finally, his jaw set tightly and his brows furrowed.
"Yes," I sighed heavily, trying to excise the pressure in my chest that wouldn't let up, "It is going to be dangerous, so I need for you to take care of yourself. I need you and Alice to go to La Push while I'm away and do not leave until I let you know it's safe.
I had given it some thought. We knew at least one wolf had made the change- I had noticed the bonfires that marked the first shift several months before, and Carlisle had stitched up the face of the girlfriend of the first wolf. Wolves aren't solitary creatures, so there was bound to be more than just Sam Uley.
I didn't like the idea of Edward being protected by werewolves. They're volatile, quick to shift in anger, and can be dangerous in and of themselves. But Edward and Alice were human, and it was the main goal of the wolves to protect humans from vampires. I could only hope that everyone remained calm and no harm came to Edward and Alice from the young wolves.
"La Push?" Edward asked.
"There are people there who might be able to protect you. Just… stay on the reservation, and stay around people. I'll let you know when it's safe to come home." And I would be coming home. There was no other alternative. After five hundred years, I finally had everything, I finally had happiness. I adored my wonderful family and I had found a mate who I ardently loved, everything else was just a speed bump on the road to immortal joy.
I was not going to let my existence end after only three months of completion.
Edward opened his arms and pulled me into him, my face nestled in his warm chest. I breathed in deeply, committing to memory his smell of sunshine and saccharine warmth.
"You c-can't l-l-leave m-me," he said forcefully, his face buried in my hair. I knew he meant 'leave' in the permanent sense.
"I told you- I will never, ever leave you." He held me impossibly closer, and I wrapped my arms around his slim waste, resting my hands on his broad back as we held each other close.
Edward breathed deeply for several minutes, evenly, seven seconds in, five seconds out. I could feel his heart beat with my ear pressed to his chest- it felt like each beat was my own.
"You are my life now." His voice was clear and even, his words simple but so impactful.
"I love you," I told him, assuring myself that this was not a goodbye. I would be back to tell him I loved him again, and again, and again, for all eternity.
We held each other, both independently determined to not let the situation corrupt the momentous memory of declaring ourselves to one another.
I left at first light. Edward forced himself to stay awake, which only worsened the dark circles under his eyes from his restless sleep the night before. When he did fall asleep, he slept deeply in my arms as I hummed and held on to him. How was I to let him go when I had only just got him? How could I leave when he was recovering from a breakdown?
As soon as I pulled away, however, Edward's eyes fluttered open. I had been very gentle, and he had seemed fast asleep, but he woke up the second our bodies separated.
"Where're y-you g-going?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleep but fear seeping into his tone.
"I've got to go train- practice fighting," I whispered, stroking his cheek in an attempt to soothe him back to sleep. He did not, shoving himself out of bed unsteadily.
"C-Can I come?" he seemed determined, and I was tempted to acquiesce. We would be leaving so soon, and every possible minute potentially spent with Edward was important. But I also didn't want him to see me like that, or see my family like that. I didn't want to frighten him.
"I don't know, Edward," I sighed, conflicted, "It's… I don't want you to be scared."
He snorted. Actually snorted, and his lips pulled up in a mirthless smile.
"I'm coming." He was insistent, and moved past me to rifle through his clothes, pulling out jeans and a light sweater. As he walked to the bedroom door, heading up to the bathroom, he turned and looked at me intensely, "D-Don't leave."
"I won't leave you," I promised, putting my hands in the air to signal I was giving up. Arguing with Edward was pointless because every instinct in my body told me to capitulate to him, to give him everything he wanted.
He was back downstairs in his room quickly, stopping only to scribble out a note and leave it on the kitchen counter for Charlie and Alice. Apparently, we were going hiking on this rainy, overcast Saturday morning.
I helped Edward out of the window, and zipped up his rain coat to keep him snuggly dry and warm. If he was going to come, the very least I could do was make sure he didn't get sick or cold.
I slung him across my back, his arms wrapped around my neck and my hands holding his knees up around my waist, and ran off into the damp forest.
It wasn't nearly as exhilarating as it had been the night before, with this cloud now hanging over us, but I relished Edward's chest pressed against my back. Even through a sweater and a rain jacket, the heat from his body emanated and warmed me.
Emmett and Rose were outside the house wrestling, though it was more intimate than actual practice.
"Edward!" Emmett's voice boomed across the yard as I ran up to the porch, trying to get us out of the rain, "You coming to fight, man?" Edward looked to me questioningly, and I rolled my eyes dismissively.
"Come on," I said, pulling Edward inside by the hand so Emmett and Rose could continue their playful tryst in the mud.
"Oh, Edward! Good morning, dear! Can I get you some breakfast?" Esme was immediately upon us, helping Edward out of his jacket and leading him to the kitchen.
"The Denalis will be arriving soon," Carlisle informed me, strolling down the stairs in athletic clothes. I appraised his appearance- I had rarely seen Carlisle in anything other than professional attire or our silly baseball uniforms.
"So they are coming?" My hope immediately grew. That meant five more adult vampires, one of whom had an active power, one who was a member of the Guard, and two who were experienced fighters. Only Carmen wasn't a particularly strong asset, but she certainly wouldn't be useless.
"They left minutes after I called last night," Carlisle confirmed.
"Is it going to be a problem?" I asked, my eyes shifting to the kitchen, where Esme was making one-sided small talk with Edward while cooking. He knew what I meant. Bringing the Denalis here, to our home, at the same time as Edward could be dangerous for them. They would be complicit in our law-breaking.
"It would have been better if he wasn't here, yes," Carlisle sighed, "But he is a part of this family, and by extension, a part of their family." The emotional, irrational side of me leaped for joy at the phrasing. Carlisle, my closest companion, my confidante, the man who shaped me to be who I am today, confirming Edward as a part of our family, as my partner.
"He insisted on coming. And I don't think I can bear leaving him behind twice in one weekend." We walked over to the kitchen, where Esme was wrapping a breakfast sandwich in foil for Edward to take with him.
It was then we all heard them, five vampires jumping across the Sol Duc River behind our home.
"They're here!" Emmett yelled out unnecessarily, helping Rose pick leaves out of her hair in the front yard.
I collected Edward from the kitchen and walked him out to the front porch, leaving him behind Esme to greet our family.