Hello, lovely people!

I tried something new with this chapter.

Enjoy!

LookAliveSunshine03

Chapter 7:

One mistake, two futures

"Hazel will wonder where I am," Michael fretted. His sister drifted near the reception, wearing a straggly blonde wig and a purple dress. She watched Iona tending to the guests, and her expression was…tender. The kind of look that should have been an intimate moment no one was supposed to witness.

Beth whispered, "If it helps, your thoughts will be harder to read under here."

"But not impossible?" Michael chuckled dryly. "I can still hear hers, loud and proud."

Demetri's tone demanded secrets be revealed. "What's she thinking?"

"Please, don't ask me that."

Demetri persisted. "Michael."

"She's thinking inexplicitly explicit things about Iona!" he whined. "That's all you need to know. And Christabel is about to make a speech."

The little woman was climbing onto a table. Tucking an imaginary lock of hair behind her ear, she threw her chest out.

Beth sounded like she was trying not to laugh. "Er, let's stay here for now." She cleared her throat, fighting for urgency. "It's far too crowded."

"Oh yes. Nothing like a bit of eavesdropping to spice up the day," said Michael mulishly. "Look, here we go. Watch Dana. She doesn't care about any of this."

Unlike Iona, Dana stayed on the sidelines. "Again, Christabel?" Brushing some lint off her suit, she whispered something under her breath that sounded distinctly like, "Narcissist."

"What's happening?" Beth asked Michael.

"A lot of hot air."

Beth sounded like she was smiling. "Ah, right."

"Our special guests are coming!" Christabel's voice rang loud and clear. She positively glowed with the raucous cheers that answered. There was a few who did not cheer, however.

A dark-stubbled man bellowed, "When are they coming, though?!" He had a distinctive Northern British accent and carried his auburn-haired wife on broad shoulders. "Why are we still hiding, eh? We should be out there, showing humans who are top of the food chain!"

There was laughter before his tiny wife roared. "The Italian scum murdered our boy! Kieran! We tried to save him! Like any parents would! He was thirteen, he loved football, and – but he couldn't walk anymore…"

As Christabel gasped dramatically, Iona and Dana calmly translated for those who looked confused. Though she rolled her eyes, Dana's voice was loudest.

Then people began to shout. "Child-killers!"

"Fascists!"

Beth made a noise in her throat, like a stifled sob.

An emaciated woman clambered onto a table. She was skittering-quick, like a spider, and Christabel pointed to her. "Miss Oksana, yes!" She spoke in brisk Russian. "What did those Volturi fools do to you?"

Oksana's voice cracked like broken glass. "I needed – help. The Volturi would give me what was needed, but I was mistaken. That smiling demon held my hand and refused me." A high-pitched noise, like an anguished shriek, grated through the space. She had to shout over the other guests' protests. "They cast me out like a dog!"

"Take care, Oksana," Christabel warned, though she was smirking. The crowd seemed to shudder in unison.

Humbled, the spider woman bobbed her head. "I am very sorry," she said to them, and the screeching died suddenly. "That – it happens when I am not happy. It protects me."

Still hovering on the stairs, Benjamin was a picture of anguish. He held tightly to his mate's hand. "Tia, we must go. It is not safe here."

Tia nodded quickly, mutely. They descended, making their way through the crowd as fluid as water, but they didn't get far. Christabel's voice was tingling sweet. "Where do you go to, Mr. Benjamin?"

Pushing Tia behind him, Benjamin turned in a circle to address those surrounding them. "We came here to see Prague," he said. "Not to declare war. You must not do this; the Volturi are too powerful. Please –"

"So modest, swee'eart." Hazel stalked slowly forward, smiling. "What's the saying? Don't hide your light under a bushel. Not when one is as bright as yours."

Benjamin shook his head. He matched Hazel's smile, ice with ice. "You try and disguise yourself, but I know who you are, soldier of Aro. " There was a click, a spark flared into life in his hand and –

Fire hit Hazel square in the face. She howled, stumbling back, into Iona whose beautiful hair was immensely effective kindling. A crueller man would have left them screaming, but as a force of Benjamin's will, and with so much available fuel, the once lavish HOTEL BOHEMIA burned up quickly.

Benjamin and Tia were the first pair to escape, vowing never again to leave Egypt. As they ran, Benjamin dropped a melted hunk of metal. Though unrecognisable now, it once belonged to a vampire who did not smoke, who had a sister who did.

As he died, a frog-faced man regretted never telling his sire he loved her.

Those that could scattered like cockroaches. The grieving couple tried to flee, but the wife still clung to her husband's shoulders. Caught on the doorframe, she fell into a fiery pit that was once the ground floor. She perished instantly.

Radko, eager for peace, let the flames take him. Dana, ever the leader in times of crisis, guided whoever was fast enough upstairs. This included Christabel, who pranced across tables like stepping-stones, and the woman who screamed even with her mouth closed.

"Michael!" Beth was yelling. "Michael! Michael, come on! Get up! Please!"

"Beth, we must go!" It was Demetri, straining and urgent. "Beth, THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO!"

"NO! We can't leave him!" Yet, despite everything, Beth's glamour remained utterly impervious.

By the time the fire was put out, St. Vladislav's Church was a smouldering wreck. While Dana, Christabel, and Oksana melted into the darkness, Beth and Demetri –

Beth was driving Alice quite mad with her glamour. Where was she?

With a fist, Alice wiped her lips of blood with a fist, and rose before lifting her head to catch the rain on her face. "Come on," she muttered. "Help me out here, Benjamin…"

Benjamin shook his head. He matched Hazel's smile, ice with ice. "You try and disguise yourself, but I know who you are, soldier of Aro. " There was a click, a spark flared into life in his hand and –

"No!" In a flash, Iona caught Benjamin. Her touch seemed to drain him of all fight, and he dropped a gold lighter on the floor with a dull thunk.

Tia shrieked, before Iona snatched up her hand. Then her harried expression softened into a peaceful, if a bit vacant, smile.

"Look, Tia," Benjamin said dreamily. "We are free…"

What did that mean? "We have to do something," Beth exhaled.

"Admirable, I'm sure," Michael murmured. "But, what?"

Iona was sighing. "Yes. We shall be free soon." As she embraced the couple, she shot Hazel a thunderous glare. "No fighting in my hotel!"

Hazel looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Iona, oh - oh, I'm sorry. I am! I honestly had no idea –"

"Christabel?" Iona spun around, gesturing. "Please, continue."

"Thank you," Christabel sniffed.

Like a magnificent conductor with an orchestra, she drew out other stories. Most came from those turned away by Aro, gifted or not; one such man could blend into walls until he spoke.

But little Kieran's fate was a single drop in an ocean of agony. A frog-faced man claimed he had been abused by a late, famous entertainer. "I could have prevented so much suffering! But Magdalena feared the Volturi would find out what had happened. Kill us all. I could not disobey her."

"Ay, who cares about humans, huh?" An old woman sneered. "They are the reason the planet is dying. No! Listen to me, damn you!" She shouted over the crowd's derision. "We are the superior beings, not them! When the Romanians come, they will set things right, as they did so long ago."

"You are correct, Luisa!" Christabel crowed. "We have been silenced, but no more! We have our gifts, our minds, and we will be victorious!"

Michael moaned. "Don't kill her," he whispered. His disjointed plea wavered like the cry of a lost child.

Demetri was ruthless. "Hazel has made her choice."

Michael let out a whimper, and Beth gasped out, "I'm so sorry."

"Jazz!"

There was very little he could do beyond soothing Alice's frustration, but Jasper was at Alice's side at once. He smelled of cougar and ozone, and his question was wry. "Red giving you hell?"

"Completely," Alice sighed, sinking into his arms. "I can't find her with that infernal glamour of hers, but we've got bigger problems."

Jasper tensed instinctively. "Tell me."

"The Romanians are amassing an army. The hotel is the source."

"And the Volturi?"

Alice laughed without a single trace of humour. "Demetri is there with Beth, utterly outnumbered. We will…need to talk to Carlisle about this."

"You're saying…" Jasper turned her to face him directly. "We need to join the fight?"

Alice already had her phone out. "My visions are changing all the time, Jazz, but whatever happens next it's going affect everyone."

To be continued...