CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ

They looked like phantoms floating through a misty graveyard, dark cloaks of black like their spectral tails. In and out of view, they came, the fog growing thicker as if it spurted from beneath their spindly fingers. Coldness radiated from them like ice, tainting the air with their unhuman ghostly-ness. The Volturi did not shuffle. Their walk was slow but purposeful, each step sending a harrowing murmur through the air, holding the elegance that came with the afterlife. Their faces were washed with the colours of death, as beautiful as the first time I'd seen them in Volterra.

Jane led them in front, her elongated gait making her appear feline, like a cat stalking Its prey. As she grew closer, the hood of her swathing cloak fell from her thin face, revealing the crimson stare that pierced through the obscurity of the low, dark skies. It was that interchanging appearance of a child and a woman that I clung to. In one instance, her face was soft and rounded against the thinness, and the next she was sharp, cracked by the shadows that stretched across her pallid complexion. Felix and two others stopped just behind her.

"Welcome, Jane," Edward said, moving to be the first to greet them, using her name collectively.

With a gentle incline of her head, Jane let her eyes move over our group, beginning with Edward, then sticking to Bella before she glazed over Esme, landing lastly on Jasper. Behind him, the newborn, flinched, no doubt rattled by the silence of their nerving appearance, her eyes reflecting the bloodlust that shone in theirs. Jane's head tilted as her vision rested upon the girl, arched eyebrow lifting further.

"I don't understand," she said slowly, meaningfully. Anyone else would have been insecure by such blatant words of confusion, but not Jane.

Again, Edward spoke for us. "She has surrendered."

"Surrendered?"

"Carlisle gave her the option."

For the first time, emotion tinted her words, evidence of their annoyance. "There are no options for those who break the rules."

Bree flinched again, her small shoulders wrenching in massive heaves, as if she missed the sensation of breathing, of smelling without lusting for the scent of blood. As the Volturi looked at her, Bree's gaze never once lifted to Bella, as it once would have done. She tried to keep her dark eyes level to that of Jane's, but as her red eyes stared her down, the newborn was forced to look away.

There was something pitiful about the way she held herself: so folded in within herself that she appeared almost half her own size. Once, I may have thought she was drawing us in with her smallness, her fragility, but Bree looked nothing but terrified.

"This wasn't the child's fault," I said, watching as Felix's eyes moved to glare at me, but Jane remained focused on the young one.

After a moment, Carlisle spoke. "It's in your hands. As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught."

"That is irrelevant," Jane said, waiting for Carlisle to step backwards in a show that he was backing down. He did so, holding his hands out calmly. "Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to greet you, Carlisle. He sends his regards."

"I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him."

"Of course," Jane said, her lips tilting into an innocent smile as she raised her chin to scan the field. "It appears that you've done our work for us today... for the most part. Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."

"Eighteen including this one."

"Eighteen?"

"All brand-new. They were unskilled," Jasper added, arms folding across his chest.

"All? Then who was their creator?"

"Her name was Victoria," Edward said.

"Was?" Jane asked, nose twitching slightly. Without an answer, she nodded, continuing her interrogation. "This Victoria- she was in addition to the eighteen here?"

"Yes."

"And she worked alone to create them all?"

Edward first glanced my way. "No. Not entirely," I said. "She worked with an older vampire of about 120. William Held. He's dead."

To my surprise, recognition flickered in her eyes. "I've heard of that name."

"Victoria had another with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year."

Her eyes had not yet left me as she spoke. "Twenty-one. Who dealt with the creator?"

"I did," Edward said, a growl in his throat.

"And William?"

"That was me."

There was another moment of silence and then she turned to the newborn altogether, the black cloak gathering limply at her feet. The young one fretted, her dark hair wrapping around her neck, dropping sharply in front of her frantic eyes.

"You there. Your name," Jane said, and when the girl did not reply, she repeated herself. "Your name."

The newborn writhed in pain, her wrists jutting out at odd angles as she tried to fight the screech that was building in her throat. Jane didn't so much as twitch as she watched her shout and drop to the floor, her hands scratching at her own starched skin.

"Bree," the newborn pushed out as the pain finally stopped. 

"She'll tell you anything you want to know. You don't have to do that," Edward said.

"Oh I know," Jane said, her voice lowered. "Bree, is his story true? Were there twenty of you?"

Bree seemed too eager to reply. "Nineteen or twenty, I don't know! Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way!"

"And this Victoria- did she create you?"

"I don't know! Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night. It was so dark, and it hurt. He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe."

"Tell me about Riley. Why did he bring you here?"

"Riley said that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here. He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent," Bree said quickly, almost falling over her own words as she threw her finger to point to Bella. "He said that we would know that we had the right coven because she would be with them. He said that whoever got to her first could have her."

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part."

The young one didn't need another question to continue with her stories. "I don't know what happened. We split up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didn't come to help as he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everyone was in pieces," she screeched, pulling anxiously at her own hair. "I was afraid. I wanted to run away. That one said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one. Broken rules demand a consequence," Jane said before she placed her focus on Carlisle. "Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?"

"We split up too."

"I can't deny that I'm impressed," she said, glancing lastly over the dark field. "I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behaviour, considering the way you live here. And why was the girl the key?"

"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward said.

"This one seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind."

There was a second of silence in which we all knew what Jane was doing- or trying to do, at least. Edward's jaw jutted out furiously.

"Would you please not do that?"

"Just checking. No harm done, apparently," Jane said sweetly. "And William, what was his reasoning?"

"Grudges seem to be everyone's motivation," I said, not wishing to give her more than she needed.

"Well, it appears there's not much left for us to do. Odd. We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch."

"Yes. And you were so close. It's a shame that you didn't arrive just a half an hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here," Edward said, malice laced within his tone. But the Volturi did not baulk.

"Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?" Jane said impatiently as she turned to the man behind her. "Felix?"

He started forwards to the young one, who stumbled backwards into Jasper's chest.

"Wait," Edward said quickly. He was looking straight to Carlisle as he spoke. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course. We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree," Carlisle said.

"We don't make exceptions. And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me... Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

Her words hung in the air. They weren't an exact threat, but the true meaning wavered through them like an electric buzz.

"The date is set. Perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months," Edward said.

Jane blinked at him once and then turned to Carlisle without another word about it. "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle. I thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again," she said, dipping her head only slightly. "Take care of that Felix. I want to go home."

Felix began forward again, his shoulders squared as his eyes set on the frantic newborn. Bree struggled against Jasper's grip, eyes widened in fear. 

"Don't watch," Edward whispered as he placed a hand on Bella's arm, Alice's elbow already interloped with her other. "Come."

Felix advanced on her, teeth bared like an animal, and in one swift movement, planted a hand in her hair, the other on her shoulder, and ripped her head clean from her body. A tear ripped through the air and in a few seconds, Bree Tanner was dead, her body left to burn in the fire of newborns.

☾

The light streamed through the long windows of Alice's room with a calmness that was almost unrecognisable. I savoured the feeling of the warmth on my cool skin, listening to Alice's chatter drift through from her bathroom, where she sat with Bella. This state of tranquillity felt strange, though it was not unwelcome. How long had we been waiting for the end of the struggle?

I moved toward the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe. Bella's face was glowing with highlighter, her eyes rimmed with brown eyeliner. A shopping bag was propped up against the wall by the shining sink. While Alice seemed to be having the time of her life, Bella seemed nothing but aggravated.

It reminded me of the hours before the dance. Bella was in her boot, thanks to the broken leg that'd happened during the fight with James, and Alice spent hours dressing her up, curling her hair and doing her makeup. I, of course, had not been spared from Alice's decoration. Even then, her touch, the swipe of her finger against the tacky red on my lips, had sent ripples of desire crawling up my back.

"That's enough Alice. I want to go to La Push," Bella whined, pushing her hand with the brush away.

"Jacob's still unconscious. Carlisle or Edward will call when he's awake. Anyway, you need to go see Charlie. He was there at Billy's house, he saw that Carlisle and Edward are back from their trip, and he's bound to be suspicious when you get home," Alice said, rolling her eyes as she pushed the remainder of the makeup into a bag.

"I don't care. I want to be there when Jacob wakes up."

"You need to think of Charlie now. You've had a long day- sorry, I know that doesn't begin to cover it- but that doesn't mean you can shrink your responsibilities. It's more important now than ever that Charlie staus safely in the dark. Play your role first, Bella, and then you can do what you want second. Part of being a Cullen is being meticulously responsible."

"Alice is right, Bells. Go home. Talk to Charlie. Flesh out your alibi. Keep him safe," I said as I joined Alice's side, looking at her through the mirror.

"That dress is adorable on you." Alice smiled widely.

Bella cringed as if only just remembering the things she'd been bought. "Thanks for the clothes,"

Alice shrugged. "You need the evidence. It's very flattering if I do say so myself," she said, nodding to Bella. "Go, we'll meet you downstairs in a few."

"Finally a moment to ourselves."

Alice's back hit the wall with a thud, her chin angling toward me, lips brushing lightly against my own. For once, I thanked God or whoever, that Edward was too old fashioned to turn Bella without marrying her first- she wouldn't hear the noise. I leaned further forward, arms placing the slightest of pressure against her shoulders, and her head tilted even further back. She was teasing me, I realised. I smiled, watching the playful smirk form on her lips.

"I think Bella can find her own way to Jacob and Edward," I said, whispering into her ear. "This time is for me and you."

☾

Dw the sweetness carries into the next chap :) for once it isn't all doom and gloom!