Chapter Four

Master Manipulator

Bella Swan

February 2005

It went on for weeks.

Train, fight, feed. There were times when Archer wasn't pleased with our progress and withheld blood from us all for extended periods of time. Those were really terrible times filled with intolerable pain, pitiful howling, and fighting amongst the clear factions that divided our grouping. It sent my anxiety to new levels I didn't think were possible. Without Sequoia, I'd have been a nervous wreck.

The thirst affected my entire body. I often found myself clawing at my skin subconsciously or wrapping my arms around my ribcage tightly in hope of some kind release. Even Sequoia, the calmest of us all, would grow agitated. She would snap her teeth at anyone who came near her or our grouping in hopes of picking a fight.

Archer couldn't keep me in the basement with only his words like he could the others, but he kept me closely guarded. One of the early nights of my new existence, when we were denied yet another a meal, I flung myself up the stairs trying to get out of the door. I had an incessant need to find some sort of relief from the burning I had been suffering from for a week.

Archers minions had followed me in hot pursuit and nearly managed to grab me by the time Archer appeared at the door to the basement. He grabbed me by my neck and threw me back down the stairs, toppling me and my would-be attackers onto the cement floor. He beat me relentlessly before tearing my arm off dramatically as a warning to the others. He kept my arm upstairs with him and left me writhing in pain until the next training session later in the morning.

But every day, no matter what happened, no matter how overwhelming the thirst became, I thought about my parents and how I would get back to them. I lost myself in elaborate daydreams.

Sometimes, I dreamed of what my life would've been like if I hadn't gotten attacked that dark December night.

I imagined what my move to live with my father would've looked like. Quiet rainy days in Forks, maybe a few choice friends, and plenty of time with my dad. I thought of how I would give anything to get to sit with him in that easy silence we always seemed to share between us, him watching some baseball game and I with my nose in a book. I'd kill to be able to sit in a canoe with him and read while he fished and told me old stories.

The move that once seemed so boring and tedious now seemed like an idyllic peaceful life. It had been cruelly ripped away from me. If I thought too much about that fact, my eyes would burn with rage and I'd be left seething for hours until I could get the anger out through training. I vaguely remembered hating Forks, but there was no hatred in my daydreams. Instead, I imagined the cool air, the canopy of mature trees, and peaceful rainy days. An atmosphere so different to my current life. My daydreams felt nothing but serene and comforting.

I thought a lot of the idea of having potentially made friends there, friends I would never know now, and even thought I might've found someone there that I'd like enough to date through the rest of high school. There was so much I'd miss now about being a teenager. Homecoming, parties, prom, graduation, they were all vague ideas for me now. I had never dated anyone, let alone had a boyfriend, and had never been kissed in my life. Would I ever? Not if I was forced to stay here for the rest of however long my existence lasted.

The biggest appeal was that there was never anything violent in my daydreams of my stolen life. I saw myself doing normal things; going to school, doing laundry, and reading as many books as humanly possible. Simple pleasures that were denied to me now. Now, my life was solely revolving around pain and blood. I didn't want to be this inherently violent creature. I was struggling to fit into my own skin.

At other dark times, I fantasized my escape in great detail. Although I didn't like to think about overpowering Sequoia and Dakota, as they were my closest thing to having friends, I knew that they were part of my obstacle in getting away from this hellish place. In my times of rage, I would use the hatred to remind myself of my ultimate goal. I would focus on scrutinizing the group as a whole during training sessions. I'd spend my time identifying individual strengths and weaknesses and analyze how to use the information to my benefit. I had plenty of time to watch since I was unlucky number thirteen. The uneven number meant that I oftentimes didn't have a willing sparing partner, especially since I somehow had managed to learn to be ruthless while fighting.

I realized very early into my watching that Roland always favored attacks from his right while Farrah seemed to enjoy using her fingernails like talons. Dean, a member of Roland's crowd, had a very low center of gravity and was easy to throw off balance if attacked in his torso. Drew seemed to always be hovering around Farrah, but he was not nearly as skilled a fighter as she was. He was always an easy target when separated from his group. Archer, I discovered, never seemed to use his full strength when sparring with others and relied totally on his gift most of the time. I wondered if he even had as much experience fighting as he convinced people he did. He didn't seem like he'd ever survive a fight to the death battle without his gift to rely on.

I indulged myself and envisioned many different ways in which I would defeat Archer savagely. Sequoia would often ask me what was so funny when she caught my emotions shifting or if I snickered to myself. I would just shake my head and return to my thoughts of ripping Archer apart limb by limb.

Barely two months after my change, I witnessed my first battle.

Maria showed up, completely unannounced, one afternoon in the middle of another terrible training session. I hadn't seen her since the first night after waking from my change. Judging by the looks on the others faces, I guessed that her appearance was not a common occurrence at all.

"There are trespassers on our territory," she spoke in an even tone. "I have witnessed them feeding in the human neighborhood on our eastern border."

A chorus of angry hisses and disgruntled growls vibrated around the concrete basement. Maria raised her voice as she appraised our grouping.

"Will we let these villains glut themselves on our hard-earned property? Will we allow them to continue stealing what is ours?"

"Never!" Roland snarled angrily.

"Tonight," Maria exclaimed, "we will defend our bloodfields! We will decimate these invaders!"

A roaring cheer sounded from everyone. Even I joined in, well aware by now of the part I had to play. Maria smiled at us, seemingly satisfied with our exuberance. She assumed leadership of our training for the next several long hours. She focused entirely on dismemberment and strategy.

"I will light the first fire," Maria explained. "That will be the sign for you to finish our enemies!"

As the sun set, huge clouds came rolling across the sky. Rainy grey painted with streaks of silver and deep purples. Thunder was rumbling far in the distance and the electricity of the coming storm was nearly tangible.

"Now is our time. We fight and then we feed!" Maria cheered.

We followed Maria and Archer out of the living room where we had gathered and into the wild. I couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. Sequoia had tried to teach me to identify various scents in order to be able to spot any danger, but I thought I wasn't much good at it at first. Now, however, I was able to perceive a little more of what Sequoia had been talking about.

There was a whiff of scents similar to those I knew as my fellow soldiers, but were totally unique at the same time. I was able to distinctly note three separate scents, sweet and cloying, and perhaps a fourth but I wasn't totally sure. The scents seemed older, certainly not as fresh as the scents around me, and the beginning rainfall was working to cleanse what little was left of the foreign smell. Maria signaled for us to stop just as we approached a bare expanse of fields. In the distance, a small grouping of houses glimmered.

"The enemy coven has attempted to claim these mortals. They wish to encroach on our lands and drain our supply. Archer, take your picks and draw them out." Maria ordered.

Archer nodded and motioned for Roland and his crew to follow him. Roland gave Farrah a prideful grin as he trotted off behind Archer and his drones.

"You that are left, spread out. We want a strong showing in the face of our enemies," Maria ordered as she drifted towards the outer edge of our grouping.

We waited and watched in anticipation. The energy was practically buzzing between the eager group of soldiers around me. Farrah was a ball of energy and she seemed to vibrate as she stood tall at the head of our grouping. I was not so thrilled at the idea of seeing my first battle. What if I had to fight and I discovered that I wasn't as skilled as I thought? What if I died here? All of my hopes and plans for escape would be for nothing then. Sequoia glanced over at me and offered me a soft smile.

"You'll be alright." She spoke softly and I smiled weakly in response as I tried to refocus my attention to the task at hand.

Figures came towards us in the darkness and I could distinguish three average sized people and a fourth smaller figure tuning in our direction. Other shapes moved in the background behind them and I assumed that was Archie, Roland, and his crew.

As they came closer, I realized that the three average people were two men and a woman. The fourth smaller figure was a young girl that seemed right around my age, and judging by her wide bright red eyes, I guessed that she was a new vampire as well. Confused expressions crossed their faces and the woman immediately looked very nervous. She kept glancing at the young girl and the man closest to her. I looked down and noticed that the couples hands were intertwined sweetly. My stomach seemed to churn with anxiety.

"We mean no offense!" The man not holding hands with the woman called as their group stopped several yards away from us.

"You lie," Marie dismissed him. "See there? They have a newborn in their midst, who knows how many more they have in efforts to match our strengths? They act docile now but they are deceitful!"

"Untrue!" The woman challenged, sounding desperate. "She's just a girl! A newborn, yes, but the only one amongst us. We are not wishing to challenge you and we were unaware of any claim or conflict in this area!"

"The lies never end!" Maria exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration to exaggerate her point. "War amongst our kind covers the world. Our kind either fights or dies and the battle for blood rages on."

Maria pulled a lighter from her pocket and tossed it at a pile of wood several yards from where she stood. I was surprised when the pike burst into flames in the drizzling rain, but then the wind swirled and I smelled the distinct burn of gasoline. I realized that Maria or Archer must've come here in advance.

Archer moved first, immediately taking a strike at the young girls neck, and she cried out in pain. The woman rushed to her worriedly, but Roland and his team descended on her quickly. Farrah and her group had launched themselves into the fight as soon as the flames ignited, and they grabbed the man that seemed to be the obvious leader. The woman began to scream, but then her voice cut off as Roland bit at her neck and her head rolled to the ground. Her mouth was still open in a silent terror-stricken scream.

Sequoia had my arm as she moved us quickly towards the second man, and my hesitation began to be replaced with determination as my instincts kicked in. I, along with Sequoia and Dakota, leapt at the man racing to rescue the woman. He was sobbing her name as he moved towards her, but he didn't even make it near her. I landed on the man's back, locking my legs around his waist, and Dakota darted forwards in order to rip the man's head from his neck. He twisted until the man's head snapped off with a harsh grating noise. Sequoia took his head and rushed towards the fire, and as various pieces of the enemy clan fed the blaze, the flames turned a red-purplish color. The air began to smell sickly sweet, like an exotic incense, and I fought back nausea as my sanity began to return to me.

I was abruptly horrified as I recognized the carnage I had just been apart of. As Dakota and Sequoia worked to dismantle and burn the rest of the man we had deposed, I began to realize what had happened.

Maria appraised us all with a seemingly satisfied smile. She stood proudly in the exact spot from which she had thrown the lighter. She hadn't moved an inch throughout the entire confrontation...if that's even what it could be called. It was truly a homicide.

I was relieved to have survived, though I wasn't sure I had ever been in any danger from the four vampires. But, darker emotions began to seep and bubble up from under the blanket of relief I felt. I still had a twisted sort of pride in myself. I had fought another vampire and survived. Maybe escape was possible after all if I kept working towards it. Thankfully, I was more than capable of surviving this hell.

Maria practically danced as she joined our regrouping with Archer in tow. Her face was gleaming with pride. I realized that she didn't have a single scar on her face or exposed arms and jealousy ran hot through me. She'd made an army crafted to her own liking solely to do her work for her and had the nerve to remain beautiful and unflawed.

"You have all done so well!" She cooed. "You showed strong defense that these lands are well protected. You have earned a generous reward indeed!"

There were plenty of excited noises as Maria led us towards the distant houses. It was a long road with six or seven houses spaced out down the lane.

"You are free to whomever you find." Maria motioned widely and the group descended upon the small neighborhood.

I hesitated briefly. As thirsty and in pain as I was, I didn't get any excitement from the idea of feeding again.

"Come on, Bella!" Sequoia grabbed my hand tight and pulled me along with her and Dakota.

Exhilaration took over my system then as the anticipation of relief consumed my thoughts. Sequoia kept me with her as we burst into one of the houses at the end of the road. Sequoia moved to go upstairs and I followed my nose into the bedroom on the main floor of the home.

A euphoria took over my mind as I descended upon the couple sleeping peacefully in their bed. However, once I came back to my right state of mind again, I could hardly stomach my actions. Sure, the temporary relief from the thirst and pain I was so used to was so nice, but the gore before me was not worth it. Just as I was beginning to spiral from my actions, I heard Sequoia's footsteps coming back downstairs.

"The daughter seemed about your size, so I went through her closet for some things you might like. Try these on." Sequoia dictated, handing over several items of clothing.

"Thanks." I nodded apprehensively as I sorted through the items.

She'd found a pair of dark wash jeans and a casual brown t-shirt with lace detailing on the sleeves and collar that I liked a lot. I hurried and discarded my old clothing in favor of the new, taking a lot of care to not rip the fabric with my increased strength, and discarded my old clothes in the nearby hamper. Sequoia frowned at me in slight confusion.

"What's wrong?" I questioned her quickly.

"You put your clothes in the hamper." She pointed towards the basket.

Now I was confused. "Yes?" I agreed.

"Bella, the houses will be burned as soon as we all finish up here. The news will report it as a terrible transformer explosion or something like that. Putting your clothes in the hamper is so...human."

Sequoia said "human" as if it were a bad thing. Like the word itself was a dark omen capable of terrible things. Irritation flared up deep inside my chest before it was quickly stomped out with shame.

A realization that had been creeping up on me for quite some time finally hit me.

"You've been influencing my emotions in order to get me to act like you think I should." I accused Sequoia.

"Bella, I-" Her mouth dropped open in surprise, but her bright red eyes didn't show an ounce of denial.

"No, wait," I shook my head, realizing that this all went deeper than Sequoia, "Archer or Maria, maybe both, put you up to this. You caused me to feel determined about the fight, then relief for surviving, and then excitement to feed. You just made my anger with you turn to shame. You're always influencing me aren't you?"

"I'm only looking out for you. Just like I promised I would." Sequoia spoke to me as if I were a misbehaving child. "I'm trying to be your friend."

"I was so stupid to think you were being honest. No one here ever is!" I growled as I ran my hands through my hair. "Maria and Archer are using us all as pawns and we're all just letting them brainwash us! You influence everyone, don't you? Even Dakota?"

"Of course I do, Bella." She nodded, not having the decency to act even a little bit remorseful.

"Why?" I asked her, nearly begging for a genuine answer. I didn't want to believe that people could be so evil without remorse. "Why are you manipulating everyone around you into doing Maria's biding? She's a horrible person responsible for the countless suffering of others. Why are you doing this for her? Especially when she already has Archer to force everyone around her into compliance?"

"I'm only helping!" Sequoia argued. "I am helping everyone adjust to this new existence and to be their best!"

"Their best? You mean that you're making them into Maria's idea of perfect loyal soldiers!" I accused her. "She'd gladly let any one of us die for her own agenda. If Dakota died, could you honestly tell me that your manipulation of him under Maria's demand was the right thing to do? Maria's only got one right hand, Sequoia, and it's always going to be Archer."

"But she's got a left hand that's empty." Sequoia practically challenged me, stepping close into my personal space, her dark eyebrows arching upwards as a smirk crept onto her face. "Dakota, along with the others, are perfectly happy under the control Archer and I have on them. We've saved them from themselves."

"This is useless. I'm going back to the others." I huffed, stomping through the house towards the front door. "I am done being under your thumb."

"Fine with me. Have fun navigating things on your own without my or Dakota's help." She nearly sang as she followed me out of the house and towards our rendezvous point.

"Hey, I was wondering where you both went." Dakota greeted us as we neared the grouping.

"Don't bother with her anymore, Dakota." Sequoia rolled her eyes. "Bella has decided she's too good to hang out with us anymore. She's too tough to need us around apparently."

"What? Bella, is that true?" Dakota turned to me with wide hurtful-looking eyes.

"No, I-" I shook my head.

I was about to point out how Sequoia was manipulating everyone around her into compliance, at the orders of Maria and Archer, and how she didn't have an ounce of regret in her body. But, as soon as the anger hit me, I suddenly lost all of my nerve. I couldn't get a single word to come out of my mouth to convince my friend that Sequoia was not truly on his side.

I felt all of my confidence drain and slowly be replaced with overwhelming anxiety. It felt as though I couldn't even open my mouth. I was practically choking. I felt the sensation of a heavy crushing weight on my chest. In that moment, I didn't know if I'd ever survive the feeling or if it would ever leave me. It felt as if it were branded into my soul permanently.

Dakota looked very hurt while Sequoia smirked at me from behind his back, and I recognized that this new sudden anxiety I was feeling was yet another psychological war tactic of Sequoia's.

"See you later, Bella." Dakota shook his head and followed after Sequoia. She pulled him off towards Archer with her, speaking soothing words to him as if he were a hurt toddler.

As I was released from Sequoia's grip on my emotions, I felt my anger simmer back up to the surface of my skin. I was once more reminded of my mission. Get out of this hell and find a way to my father for help. I needed to get serious about finding my route out of here.

I trailed after the main group as we returned to the safe house and felt very uneasy under Archers watchful eyes. I wanted more than anything to be able to blend in to the crowd. Why did I have to have something wrong with my brain? Why couldn't I be easily brainwashed like everyone else? Maybe Sequoia was right. I might be a lot happier for the blissful manipulation she gave us all by the end of things.

No, I knew that could never be true. I was glad to have my impulses and free will intact, for the most part anyways. Sequoia was apparently a perfect example of someone's talent being manipulated to be used against them. Her pride in being yet another puppet for Maria to play with before it shattered was nauseating. I decided I would not become the newest pawn in her sick and twisted game.

It felt very foreign to trudge down the stairs into the basement and not follow Sequoia and Dakota to our usual corner by the stairs. I did a quick glance of the room before shuffling over to the far corner of the basement where the old hot water tank sat. I put my back against the wall and tried to blend in to my surroundings as I focused on my next plan of attack.