I Came To Say Thank You 3
Summary: When Charlie sets up a pedophile to end up in the hands of the Volturi, he had no idea just how much it would change, not just his life but that of his daughter's.
Bella/Heidi
"An anomaly," Gabriel muttered thoughtfully. "I like that… rather apt."
"You were in the cafe in the corner reading the paper," Heidi said, suddenly having worked out where Bella could have met him.
"Indeed, I knew you were looking for me, and although I suspected why, I wanted to see Bella for myself. I would have let you find me, except I could not work out what you were." He said, looking at Charlie.
"I make the journey of death a peaceful one." He answered, shocking Gabriel.
"Despite all my years, I never saw that coming." He chuckled.
"So, what exactly is Bella," Heidi asked impatiently, much to Bella and Charlie's amusement, although they were also eager to know the answer.
"Have you seen the movie Blade?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes." Bella drawled.
Gabriel nodded. "How was he described?"
Bella looked dumbfounded but answered all the same, "Half vampire, half human with all the strengths of a vampire, but none of their weaknesses." Understanding dawned on Bella. "We have all the strengths of being human, with none of the weaknesses."
"It's the best way I can describe it," Gabriel said with a shrug. "When was the last time you felt unwell?" He asked.
"I've never even had a cold," Bella answered. In truth, she'd never thought about it.
"You are immortal." Heidi surmised.
"We are." He nodded. "True immortality, I mean, vampires can be killed. I'm not sure we can." Bella's eyes widened at the news.
"Speaking from experience?" Charlie asked.
"How old were you when you realized you were different?" Gabriel looked at Bella with such intensity she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Charlie, the one that died." Why she felt the need to clarify, she did not know. "He always suspected, especially when we debated football, baseball, and ice hockey at eight months old. I knew for certain the night he died." Bella answered.
"She threatened to turn the world on its head if her father died. Something about her scared me enough to see my bosses, who agreed with me. All they knew was that three humans did not fit… anomalies in the system." Charlie answered.
"Have you met the other?" Bella sat forward.
"I have. Unlike you, I had no idea I was different until I lost my wife and children in a fire. I attempted to take my life after, to no avail. I traveled the world looking for answers, then she found me at a circus attempting to kill myself every night for the entertainment of others. She was my kin, as are you. Anomalies are from the same bloodline." Bella's jaw dropped.
"Holy shit," Heidi murmured.
"Could my dad have known that, considering how proud he was of me?" Bella's voice was barely above a whisper.
"No, it's your mother's bloodline," Gabriel responded, shocking all three.
"Get the fuck out of here," Bella exclaimed.
"Not possible," Heidi whispered.
"No way," Charlie shouted. All uttered at the same time.
Gabriel laughed. "I'm afraid it's true. Our bloodline either produces anomalies or complete and utter failures in every aspect of life. Anomalies are the epitome of humanity, and then the likes of your mother, who are the complete opposite. Unfortunately, most of our bloodlines are very much like your mother, entirely useless." Gabriel grumbled with a mirthless chuckle.
Charlie had not seen the link, nor could he, even as he stared at the two. The threads that tied one human to another was missing between the two, and yet he knew Gabriel was telling the truth.
Gabriel stayed for a couple more hours; despite the lengthy conversation and numerous questions, Heidi felt they were no closer to genuinely understanding Bella. Despite all his time on this earth, Gabriel admitted he still had no real grasp of his capabilities.
"Do you think Caius will give me some of his werewolf claws?" Bella asked out of the blue. Bella felt the need for air, so she and Heidi took a leisurely walk through the forest surrounding Charlie's house.
"Why?" Heidi asked, perplexed at the question.
I have an idea to make a couple of knives out of them. I saw something on the discovery channel, and I want to attempt it." Anytime Bella said she had an idea, what she meant was she was sure of whatever she was planning.
"I'm sure, even more likely if Charlie asks him for it." Heidi teased.
"Don't be mean," Bella said despite her laughter. It was common knowledge Caius was terrified of Charlie. It turns out, Caius' biggest fear was dying. The very epitome of death walking the halls of his home was his worst nightmare come true.
"I doubt he will say no," Heidi murmured. "In truth, I think he is envious of your fight training with Felix; he wishes he was training you," Heidi added.
"The fact that he's not is entirely his fault," Bella grumbled.
"Mind telling me why you need knives." Heidi knew Bella was unlikely to tell her, but she asked all the same.
"We both know I'm not going to tell you." Bella laughed at the look of indignation on her mate's face.
"Bells, you are old enough for me to use any means necessary to get the information out of you." She purred, her eyes boring into Bella, who found herself swallowing the ball suddenly lodged in her throat.
She took a step back, earning a laugh from Heidi. "You can run, but we both know it would be a pointless endeavor because I will catch you. You might be fast by human standards, but by mine…" she left the sentence hanging, having made her point.
She closed the space between them, pushing Bella against a tree, effectively trapping her. "Why do you need weapons, Isabella?" Her teeth scraped against the skin on Bella's neck.
"Their claws cut through vampires with ease; why not make a couple of knives out of them," Bella murmured as Heidi's lips trailed a path down her sternum.
"Hmm... I will admit it is a good idea." She mumbled against Bella's breast. Her hand slowly trailed under Bella's shirt, gently gripping the other breast. "Can't ignore that one." She quipped as her teeth lightly grazed over Bella's nipple.
Bella found herself getting lost in the sensation Heidi's actions produced when it all suddenly stopped.
"Don't stop," Bella whined.
"Believe me, I would love to do nothing more, but we have guests… unwanted guests at that." Heidi's tone left Bella under no illusion; it wasn't Billy Black. When Charlie decided to come back to Forks a few years after her father died, he had worried about the Quileutes. Her father's friendship with Billy and Harry had suffered significantly when he joined Interpol after his parents died in the space of a few months. He effectively ran from the bad memories, Renee leaving with her and then losing his parents.
Charlie had not expected Billy to forceable try and repair their friendship and had refused to give up despite Charlie's reluctance to renew their friendship. Charlie did not need to open himself up to discovery. Quil, their medicine man, saw too much and knew much, and Charlie felt it was safer for all involved if he kept his distance. There was also the Quileute's history with vampires, which was an added headache none of them needed.
"Who is it?" Bella asked as they walked back to the house quickly.
"Andrew Joseph Taylor, David Miller, or rather, Sebastian David Taylor's brother," Heidi murmured.
"Oh, the pedophile, you guys helped Charlie arrest," Bella said in recognition.
"I'm surprised it took him so long to track Charlie down," Heidi said with a chuckle.
"Why are you surprised by that?" Bella inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I considered getting the family to Volterra, but there were too many of them, and they were too well known for their disappearance to go unnoticed. In the process, I discovered his mother had plans to come after you in retaliation." As she spoke, Heidi's words were barely more than a series of growls.
"You dissuaded her from that course of action. I take it." Bella laughed.
"Indeed, I took Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix, and Chelsea with me. We were already on the Upper West Side dealing with a coven who felt the need to leave their kills on the streets of Manhattan. This was 1990, and in those days, Manhattan was one of the most violent cities in the world. Their action did not draw much attention, but we had to put a stop to it before it did. Afterward, we visited Catherine Taylor and showed her precisely why her son had chosen to stay in prison." Heidi smiled, all teeth and black eyes. Bella found herself salivating over the look and gave herself a mental slap. Now was not the time.
I guess your warning wore off." They'd made it to the back porch, and Bella could hear the cars coming down the long driveway.
"Oh, it did not; she died six months ago. I should have had a talk with the son then, but I honestly didn't think he had it in him." They heard the SUVs come to a stop just as Bella grabbed the house phone off the wall. "Hey, Charlie, Andrew Joseph Taylor is here with…"
"Eleven men." Heidi interrupted.
"Eleven men to avenge his brother... I'm guessing." Bella finished.
"Bells, I've got more important things to deal with than that idiot and his misguided notions about his big brother," Charlie grumbled.
"Really, what could be more important than this?" She asked, clearly amused. Of course, Charlie knew she and Heidi could handle it.
"Mrs. Meyers' cat Daisy is stuck in a tree again," Charlie answered, trying and failing to keep from laughing. "Let them squeal; it's not as though anyone can hear them." He said, still laughing before ending the call.
"You better answer the door." Heidi purred as Bella put the handset back on the wall.
"I better." She smiled. Despite the constant knocking, Bella took her sweet time getting to the door.
"Yes," Bella grumbled as she opened the door.
A badge was thrust in her face without a word. "Chief Swan in?"
"No, he's at the station." Bella bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the fake Interpol ID. It was an excellent one, but a fake nonetheless.
"We will wait for him." Andrew Taylor mumbled as he stepped back.
"You can come in and wait inside if you wish." With a smile, Andrew and one other man walked in. He clearly thought things were going his way.
"Lovely home, a little off the beaten path for my liking." Andrew walked into the living room and sat down as though he owned the place.
"In this case, it really works in our favor as no one can hear you scream." Heidi purred as she sauntered into the living room. Before Andrew could question her, she grabbed his other man and sunk her teeth into his neck, sucking greedily on his blood. Andrew Joseph Taylor was glued to his seat in shock. By the time he thought to react, his number one's body had dropped to the ground, and Heidi was looming over him. "Do you now understand why your brother and mother chose to leave Chief Swan and his daughter alone?" Andrew just stared, still in a state of shock and disbelief. "Answer the question," Heidi growled.
"Ye… yes." He cried.
"Good, now you can leave, and tell anyone about this, and my entire coven and I will show up on your doorstep. Don't give me a reason." She stepped back, allowing him to get up on shaky legs.
"What about him?" he asked, barely able to look at the man who had been his best friend for as long as he could remember.
"He is no concern of yours," Heidi answered.
"What do I tell Emilia and the kids?" Andrew muttered under his breath, but Heidi heard him all the same.
"Tell them you came here to murder Charles Swan and his daughter because he did his job arresting your child raping brother and met an unimaginable nightmare. Tell them we made an example out of him when it could have easily been you. Goodbye, Mr. Taylor." Heidi's pitch-black eyes had Andrew scrambling for the door.
"Now, we have a body to dispose of," Heidi grumbled after she could no longer hear them.
"We! I wasn't the one that sucked him dry. You are on your own, missy." Bella huffed, stepping over the large body.
"He didn't even taste that good," Heidi complained, earning a loud laugh from Bella as she padded up the stairs.
She'd made it to the landing when Heidi tackled her from behind. Bella found herself pushed up against the wall, fingers creeping up her shirt. "Have you forgotten about the body downstairs?" Bella barely got her words out.
"I don't care. I had other things in mind before we were interrupted, and I would love to get back to that." Her hands had found Bella's breast again, squeezing softly, earning a loud moan from Bella. "What do you say? Isabella?" She asked as she turned Bella around, her lips descending on her mates.
"God, yes." Bella groaned when Heidi's lips trailed down to her nipple.
When Charlie finally made it home after a day of cat rescue and not much else, he found Heidi in the kitchen taking out a lasagne from the oven. "I spent centuries on and off pretending to be human, and I still can't cook." He chuckled as he attempted to break off a bit of baked cheese on the edge of the pan, only to earn a glare from the vampire.
"We both know Bella likes the bits of crispy cheese, so leave it alone," Heidi warned.
"I like it too," Charlie argued.
"Then learn to cook or find a woman to do it for you." Heidi snarked, much to Bella's amusement, who could hear the two as she came down the stairs.
"Leave my food alone." She murmured, happily breaking off the bit of cheese Charlie had tried to go for.
He took a surreptitious sniff of Bella and smiled. He wasn't about to embarrass her by saying anything about the fact that she reeked of sex. Heidi had clearly showered; the thought had clearly not occurred to Bella. Who had grabbed a knife and was busy scraping off bits of cheese on the side of the pan with zero consideration for anyone else. Mainly him.
"You are going to Harvard to study history, the very history in this room?" Marcus looked as perplexed as Bella expected. "Moreover, taught by someone who wasn't alive when said history took place." Marcus looked incensed. Bella nodded. She'd known before she even opened her mouth this was not an argument she was going to win, so why argue.
"Yes." She mumbled.
"Why?" He sounded like a child and looked strangely looked like one.
"I want to experience college life." She answered with a shrug.
"Might just as well because you are not going to get much of an education, that's for certain." He grumbled as he walked further into the massive cavern they called a library.
"Hey, millions of people have gotten an education there. Harvard is an Ivy League college." Bella argued despite telling herself not to.
"Isabella. We both know if I sat down with those so-called professors, I would have them ripping up whatever paper deemed them scholars, into pieces." He scoffed.
"That's true." She admitted begrudgingly.
"Even Santiago would make a better history professor than those humans. Teaching tenth-hand knowledge… worse, knowledge littered with inaccuracies." It was apparent Marcus was very displeased with her decision to attend college.
"It's not as though I'm going neglect our studies; I was still studying with you while I was in high school, and this would be no different," Bella said in an attempt to placate a clearly disgruntled Marcus, who grunted in response.
She quickly texted Heidi to let her know she would be a while. She thought it was best to spend some time with Marcus. At least until he started answering in words instead of grunts and groans. Vampires could be such drama queens. She sighed, knowing Jane was going to be insufferable when she heard the news. Somehow, they had all assumed Bella would move to Volterra after high school to continue her studies. It seemed that the reality of her decision wasn't something these vampires accepted with grace. Well, Heidi was the exception, thrilled with Bella's decision. Bella suspected Heidi wanted her away from the castle, at least until Bella was much older. She might be accepting of vampire life, but it did not mean Heidi was going to subject her to it on a constant basis.
Heid had also purchased a penthouse apartment in Cambridge, a place for Bella to visit, as Heidi had no intention of being couped up in a dorm room with thin walls. At least Bella had a room to herself, so Heidi had admitted she would, on occasion sneak in, as she did not want to be seen until at least Bella's sophomore year. Why Bella did not know and, in truth, did not care. The dorms had rules about visitors as it was, so they could avoid the quagmire of it all; she'd prefer that.
She was barely able to stay awake as she made her way back to Heidi's room. She prayed she didn't run into Jane or the Queens, she truly did not need another lecture about her decision to go college. "Marcus sufficiently placated." Heidi teased as Bella trudged into the room, barely making it to the couch.
"Hmm, now I just have to deal with Jane, the Queens, and anybody else who feels the need to add their two cents." Bella was out cold before Heidi could respond. She smiled down at her mate as she lifted Bella with ease. She got her settled into bed and slid in next to her, she had work to do but could wait until the morning.