Chapter 19: Discussion
The grey clouds floated on the sky. Their heavy edges not leaving any gaps for the sun to break through, no matter how much daylight tried to push itself past them.
Bree ran in the forest, her stomach full of butterflies. Cold air enveloped around her. Its chilly strokes sneaked into her frozen body eagerly, waiting for her to start shivering without success.
She ignored its attempts. She had better things to do than play with the cool air. It should have known vampires didn't feel the cold the same way humans did. It was impossible for her to get chills from it.
The young teen stepped on a stick. It snapped beneath her, creating a loud warning noise for anyone nearby.
She was getting closer to Cullen territory. It wouldn't be long until she'd reach it. Perhaps another ten minutes, and she'd arrive at the territory line. The thought made her nervous, sending a spur of new butterflies into the dark pits of her stomach. What exactly was she supposed to do then? She couldn't, without a doubt, just walk back into their house. Or could she? Would it be as easy as that? No. It certainly wouldn't go well. Maybe she would try waiting for one of the yellow-eyes to spot her on the edge of their territory. All she knew, Alice could have seen her coming back, and they were currently waiting impatiently for her to return.
But what if they were going to kill her themselves instead of giving her to the Volturi? She let out a short snarl as fear shot into her. The sixteen-year-old shaked her head. She was being silly. It wouldn't matter who killed her. It wouldn't be the end of the world if she instead died at the hands of the Cullens. She'd get murdered regardless of who did it, and wasn't that what she had signed herself into—to get killed?
Her heart swelled with terror. Even if she had decided to accept her impending faith, dread slipped into her core. Was this the right thing to do? She could still turn back. No one had found her yet. She had more than enough time to leave before anyone would catch her scent and go after her.
As she was pondering what to do, she reached yellow-eyes territory. It loomed in front of her, greeting her once again.
Just before stepping inside, she came to a halt. She needed to make the choice.
The girl studied the area, too doubtful to go forward. Her timid muscles were ready to bounce even from the smallest of sounds. She needed to be on full alert.
Time crept by. Her scent drifted around the area, investigating it curiously while she busied her mind by struggling to figure out what to do. Her rumination was interrupted as nature on her right turned silent. The silence was peculiar. Usually, not possible, except if something scary enough to scare the animals was close.
Fear and uneasiness crept inside her unbeating heart. Something was very badly wrong. She sensed it within her body.
Unnoticeable shivers went down her back, her instincts erupting in a scream. She had to leave. She didn't care where, but she just needed to run—run far away from the creeping uneasiness.
The newborn bolted, too frightened to decide her next move. The most important thing now was to escape from the terrifying atmosphere. Not a single fibre in her body wished to stay standing on her old spot. It was too dangerous. She still wasn't sure why, but she just knew deep down inside she had to move.
Her steps followed her earlier footprints away from the frightening area. But no matter how far she ran, the feeling persisted. She wasn't able to shake it off. It was stuck to her like glue.
Forest flashed on both sides of her as she sped up.
Her horror grew as she realised the uneasiness became stronger. She tried to find out why, but her brain wasn't able to come up with anything logical. All of her thoughts were too scattered for her to attempt to come up with a reasonable conclusion to the sinking feeling.
Bree felt a gust of wind on top of her before she stumbled down to the ground. Her head was forced against the grass as she let out a furious growl. It poured from her lungs halfheartedly, interrupted by the rising terror.
Strong arms locked her to the ground. She trashed and panicked, her pupils dilating in dread as the grip strengthened.
"Please," she begged.
An overfamiliar scent washed over her. The scent she had smelled on countless occasions during her time with the Cullens. Jasper. Of course, that must have explained why she felt such uneasiness. The scarred man must have controlled her emotions and made her feel terrified. He had wanted to make her unable to think straight to make it easier to catch her.
Her concentration went back to the unfolding scene. She was stuck in the southern vampire's grip, not able to move herself. Panic rose inside of her.
"I promise not to run away," she pleaded once more. Her voice cracked from fear "Please?"
The yellow-eye eased his hold hesitantly. "If you move even slightly, I'm going to kill you."
The sixteen-year-old nodded, not daring to turn to look at the man. She wasn't going to risk doing anything that could trigger him to continue his attack.
Regardless of her promise, Jasper did not loosen his grip. His stoic unmoving gaze directed at the back of her head, he waited. She felt its burning stare as she held her desire to squirm.
It felt like ages that she was held tightly against the grass. She had started to become familiar with its smell and feel when new footsteps came into her hearing range. All as brisk as they approached her. She concentrated on their sounds, estimating that two other Cullen's were approaching. What she was also fairly sure of was that the steps belonged to Esme and Alice.
The guess was proven right as the wind brought their scents to her.
She kept her body still, focusing only on the spikey grass. If she looked harmless, they might not hurt her. The frightening encounter with Jasper had left her shaking and doubting her wish to die. The newborn wanted to prolong it as much as possible. She wanted to calm down and, at least, get killed on her own terms.
"You found her!" Alice's cheery voice broke the silence. Bree heard how the pixie moved next to the scarred man.
Jasper tightened his hold, making the young teen feel a joint of pain hit her neck. "We should bring it back to our house before it decides to escape."
The sixteen-year-old hissed, not being able to stay silent. It was not the greatest idea, but she simply couldn't stop herself from making the furious noise. She didn't want to be referred to as an animal. Not anymore, when she had gotten used to being treated better by Fred.
"Jasper, please. Remember what we talked about?" Esme's scolding tone said firmly. Her legs appeared next to the brown-haired girl.
"Fine. But she needs to be brought back to our house as fast as possible. It's risky to keep her here." With a hint of annoyance in his voice, the southern vampire spoke.
"Jazz!" Alice begged. "It would really make everything easier if you would stop being so overprotective and silly. There is no need for that."
"I can be cautious if I want," he argued. The newborn felt a flash of relief as his grip eased.
She moved her head as much as she dared until she had a better view of the Cullens. They all stood still like statues, preoccupied by silent conversation communicated through eyes. The grass she had stared at for a good ten minutes lured her gaze back to it, making her wonder briefly what the yellow-eyes were thinking. She wasn't a master at knowing what was happening in their minds, but she was sure, based on the time she had spent with them, that they were arguing about something. She wished she'd be able to read minds to figure out what it was.
Esme turned her head down towards the girl, giving her a cautious smile. "Let's head back to our house. We need to discuss together how to meet the Volturi. They are bound to arrive in a day."
The three vampires led Bree to their contemporary house. Cautious in case she tried escaping, their amber eyes did not leave her unwatched for a second. They arrived on the Cullens porch just as an unknown object shattered inside. The loud racket caused by it alarmed the newborn, making her take multiple stiff steps backwards. What had happened? Something had broken that was fairly clear, but what the object was and the reason why it had occurred plagued her nerve cracked mind.
Her pupils widened in fear as Rosalie's deep growl became apparent. Was the blond goddess responsible for throwing the unknown object to the floor? She took another step back, pumping into a hissing Jasper. "You're not going anywhere."
The man's words made her jump back up the small concrete steps, closer to the door where Esme was standing dumbfounded. The woman's expression was wretched with worry as she reached out to grab the door handle.
The sixteen-year-old walked up to her, turning to look at the scowling scarred vampire once more. Shudders travelled across her marble-like body as she forced herself to turn her head to see what Esme was doing.
Remembering the ear-piercing shatter of an object, she tensed her muscles, preparing herself for a potential danger inside. She needed to be brave—just like she had been when her father had been angry and broken furniture to pieces.
She was capable of doing this as long as she stayed close to Esme. Risking her soon-ending life wasn't worth it until she arranged to get killed by the Volturi. She had decided not to want the yellow-eyes to cut it short. The dark cloaks were used to killing vampires; their kill count reaching thousands, so she wanted them to do it. It would be quicker and, hopefully, painless.
The blond sadistic girl flashed to her mind, creating a grimace onto her face.
Her thoughts fixed themselves. She was fine with anyone of the Volturi guard killing her except her. She'd even be ready to be tortured as long as the ancient but scary thirteen-year-old stayed far away from her. The pain Jane had caused on the clearing two weeks ago fresh inside her mind, she was ready to do anything to not have to feel it ever again. She twitched as a stab of the sadistic girl's pain reappeared on her body for a blink of an eye.
The door clicked open in front of her. She leapt backwards, ending up closer to Jasper. Her wide, crimson eyes caught a hint of annoyance from the man's eyes as he stood motionless, trapping her path to go further away from everyone else.
"Bree, come here," Esme called. The girl took her chance to get away from the southern vampire and hurried inside the house where the matriarch had disappeared while she was occupied by her thoughts.
Uneasiness crept over her. Her mind stunned by anxiety, she pushed her legs onward to not let them freeze in their place.
The caramel-haired woman's voice guided Bree into the living room. The newborn studied the messy area, surprised to find Rosalie sitting on one of the seats. Her expression was calm, but unexplained frustration shone through her body language. The golden-haired immortal did not raise her eyes to look at her as she entered.
Esme wore a tight smile on her face as she sat on the grey sofa. The matriarch patted the free space next to her, inviting the younger vampire to take a seat.
The young teenager gulped, walking up to the sofa. She sat on it, holding her desire to leave. It was better for her to stay here instead of being close to Jasper. The scarred yellow-eye had not followed her for her luck. She was enough on the edge as it was and did not need to feel him staring at her with his vicious eyes.
"Carlisle and Emmett should arrive back home soon. They went to fetch something from the town. When they come, we can discuss what to do together," Esme explained. With warmth radiating from her voice, she added, "If you want something to pass the time with, I'd be happy to help."
Bree hesitated to answer. Her eyes met those of the matriarchs. "No, but thanks for offering." Her gaze dropped to her hands as she started to play with her dirty sleeves.
The answer satisfied the other vampire, causing her to let out an affirming humming sound.
They sat in silence, Rosalie occasionally rolling her eyes, pissed off by an unknown reason.
The sixteen-year-old girl wanted to know why with a burning need. Her curiosity overpowering her fear, she glanced at the blond immortal.
The goddess sat motionless, her face turned towards the hallway. Growing disapproval and frustration grew behind her golden eyes. Finally, she snapped yet again. "Esme, can you please go get Edward out of my room? He is ruining it with his smell."
The caramel-haired woman looked bewildered at her covenmate. "Edward? Why is he in your room?" Her head turned upwards, like waiting for the boy to answer the question too.
Hands freezing to their place mid-fidget, the newborn's eyebrows rose. She had not noticed the mind reader's presence. A new kind of dread took place in her heart. She didn't want him to read her thoughts. Why couldn't he be away from the house—be with his human mate? He liked being there.
Edward let out a short, frustrated growl. "I'm just trying to find a spare shirt for Bella. She fell to the mud and didn't want to go all the way back to Charlie's to get a new shirt. She was worried it would disturb the investigation her father is trying to ponder."
"And he brought Bella close by. He is an irresponsible hypocr-" Rosalie cut in but did not get a chance to finish her sentence.
Esme stood up, giving a warning glare to the beautiful blond vampire. Her expression turned stricter as she stared up in the direction where Edward was. "I'll come back soon." She promised Bree before walking off to talk to the boy privately.
Bree straightened her back instinctively. Her gaze followed the woman, wanting to sprint off after her. She had no desire to be left alone with Rosalie. Her paranoia told her it was not a wise decision to make. People, both vampires and humans, did scary things when angry. She was certain that she did not want to be the one who could potentially get targeted by the angry amber-eye.
A sudden rush of relief overtook her body as a car's sound filled her ears. She concentrated on it, begging that the vehicle belonged to the patriarch and the blond goddess's mate. As she didn't hear heartbeats, hope arose in her chest.
In two minutes, Carlisle and Emmett appeared at the living room's entrance, their gazes fixating on the young teen sitting on the grey sofa.
"Sup!" Emmett greeted her. The muscular man did not seem fazed to find her inside his home, like he'd expect to find her from here.
Carlisle's head flipped to him, giving him a silencing look. "I'm sorry about Emmett." He paused for a while, gathering his thoughts. The patriarch turned to look at the girl. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Bree, even if on an unfortunate occasion."
The teen dodged his eyes, not wanting to stare into them. She was afraid he'd dig deep into her soul by doing so. The doctor was scary in that way. It felt like he was able to figure out her deepest, darkest secrets by just looking at her. The thought made her uncomfortable, so she continued playing with her sleeves.
She heard a sight but didn't raise her head to see who had created it. Bree wasn't going to speak until Esme came back from the third floor. She had just decided that. It was better to wait until the matriarch came. On a more positive note, she wasn't alone with Rosalie anymore and felt relieved that Carlisle was in the room with her. She didn't really care too much about Emmett. He was fine to be around, but in spite of that, she wasn't the most fond of him. Mostly because of his mate, though. Usually, wherever he was, Rosalie was.
The sixteen-year-old listened to the silent whispers from the floor above. She tried her hardest to understand what Esme and Edward were talking about but their whispers were too silent to be understood. She hated not being able to hear them. Being a vampire had really spoiled her and her occasional curiosity.
Giving up on eavesdropping on them, she continued touching her sleeves. To her surprise, the patriarch decided to sit next to her—to the same spot Esme had sat in. Did the leading couple of the coven have a psychic connection, knowing where the other one had sat? Or did he just by accident end up sitting on his wife's spot?
Esme arrived back down. "Rose, Edward is going to leave your room. I helped him choose a shirt for Bella."
The blond goddess's lips rose to a satisfied smile. "Good."
The matriarch walked up to Bree and sat on her other side. Her and Carlisle shared a quick look with each other.
The newborn between them began fidgeting with her whole body. The movement was unnatural for a vampire. The immortals were supposed to be stoic and unmoving when nervous. But yet, the fidgeting did not surprise her in the slightest. There was nothing normal about her, so it made sense for her to be the only vampire to do movements like that when feeling anxious.
"Is Edward going to join us?" Carlisle asked.
Esme shaked her head. "He wants to be with Bella. Especially now when Bree is back."
"Alright. I suppose we should start then, shall we?" The blond man glanced around, wanting to see if anyone would object.
Alice danced into the room, sitting next to Rosalie and Emmett. The sixteen-year-old turned her head, startled, towards the entrance of the living room. Wasn't Jasper going to join them?
Like she would have guessed her thoughts, the caramel-haired woman next to her smiled. "Jasper is not going to join us. We decided it might be better to let him stay away from you for the time being. He is nevertheless able to hear the conversation from his place and know what we have decided."
The girl studied the vampire's face. When had they decided that? She tried to scroll through her memories, attempting to remember had they spoken about it when she had been in the hearing distance. How had they had enough time to decide to let the scarred man into the conversation? Alice was the only one who could have been able to make the decision, but there was no way the others would have been able to know about it. Emmett and Carlisle had just come from the town; Rosalie had been in the living room for god knows how long; and Esme had either chatted with Edward or stayed close to Bree.
Puzzled expression on her face, the young teen shifted her focus back to Cullens.
"Like we all know, the Volturi are going to arrive here in less than a day." Carlisle started. "We need to figure out what exactly we should do and where we wish to meet them. Our house could be a viable option, but we can also meet them somewhere outside with the help of Alice's visions."
Bree stayed silent as the others discussed the specific location the meeting was going to take place at. She felt like it was not her place to interfere and decide where it was going to happen. After all, she did not live in the Cullen house, and it would have been inappropriate for her to give her own opinion on the matter. Her only wish was to announce to the yellow-eyes she was ready to potentially die.
It was the sole reason she came back.
After a short discussion, everyone seemed content with the idea of going to meet the Volturi in the forest. No one was pleased with the idea of them coming to their house.
As the decision had been made, the concentration turned to the newborn.
The awkwardness rolled into the atmosphere, Alice's vision of her dying rushing to everyone's minds.
The pixie spoke first. "Bree now has better chances to survive. I made sure she was able to escape from us on the baseball field since it heightened her chances of staying alive."
Everyone's gazes jumped to her in shock, the revelation leaving the other immortals speechless. The most stunned was, however, the crimson-eyed girl. She stared at the seer, eyes widened. Unable to speak, she opened her mouth, ending up closing it again after no words came out. What did Alice mean by making sure she escaped? The raven-haired vampire had seen her plans the whole time. The girl had thought she had hid them well, but it turned out that was not the case. Her heart wretched. The effort she had made to not think about escaping had been for nothing. She could have just thought about it without worrying when Edward wasn't in the house.
"You let her escape! Were you nuts?" Rosalie gasped. Her hissing filled the room. "We could have never found her again and might have died when the Volturi would have found out we didn't catch her. Our whole family could have-."
Jasper growled from downstairs. From what Bree knew about him, he probably wanted to come defend his short mate.
"Rosalie. I know this is upsetting, but it's not going to help anyone to start blaming each other," Carlisle reminded his covenmate. "It was wrong of Alice to not inform us of this, but what's done is done. We cannot change the past anymore." Next, he gave a disappointed look at the pixie.
"Pops is right. And besides, we found Bree again." Emmett added, trying to calm his mate.
"Maybe, but what if we wouldn't have?" Rosalie continued her angry rant.
"Rose, please. We need to concentrate on talking about Bree's fate," Esme chastised the irritated blond vampire. "We do not have enough time to start going over what Alice did."
Bree looked at the erupting conversation, noticing how the seer stood up. "She was going to return to us. I saw it."
"I don't care what you saw!"
"Well, you should."
"Alice. Rosalie" Esme stopped the two yellow-eyes. Her eyes fierce, she looked at them. "You can bicker when we have sorted out Bree's situation. It's currently a lot more important."
The sixteen-year-old girl suppressed her want to interject. The Cullens were too naive. There was nothing to 'sort out'. She'd die when the Volturi came. It was delusional to think otherwise, no matter what the raven-haired seer 'saw'. Her second life would come to an end, without a doubt.
She returned to play with her dirty sleeves, their fragile fabric bending under her will to where she wanted them to. Spots of blood stuck to the material, adamant to remind her of the two innocent humans she had killed a mere day ago.
Alice's gasp stole her attention. Her gaze flew to the pixie, fear flaring into her body like a rash. What had she seen? A bad entailing lump gathered in her stomach.
Jasper rushed to the room, past Bree, finding his place next to his mate. His eyes went to his wife as his muscles tightened in preparation.
The short immortal stammered in her speech as she revealed her vision "I- I didn't see them earlier. They must have come close to our house but decided not to approach until-. The Volturi are going to be here in ten minutes."