The Banshee -Paul Lahote-

Chapter 4

After Bella and Edward left to visit Bella's mom, purposely keeping her in the dark, was when everything began to spiral. Tonight was the night Victoria was coming. The group had already left to hunt her down leaving Mavis in the care of Esme, who seemed to want to be helping the others instead of babysitting. She wasn't good at hiding her emotions but tried to keep a happy face in front of Mavis.

The entire group was avoiding speaking about the dreams. Carlisle had told everyone, and none were sure what to do about it. So they opted for shelving the issue altogether, at least for right now. That didn't help Mavis, who was still having odd dreams. They were scary and repetitive. Whatever it was, she started to believe it was related to being a Banshee. Any doubt she had about being one before was gone. She needed to know more about what she was and couldn't ask the others to help. They were too worried about protecting Bella from Victoria to deal with her issues.

Mavis didn't want to bother her parents either and became determined to figure this out on her own. "Do you want anything to eat," Esme asked from the kitchen. "I can make anything you want." Mavis had a book in her hand, one from the library. Knowing Esme, she would pester her about doing something. Not wanting her to see the book, she slid it under the blanket.

"No," she whispered. "I'm fine."

Esme walked into the living room, watching the girl closely. "You never say no to food."

"Well, I'm not hungry," she wasn't budging. Esme set down the rag in her hand, deciding to give up on making her eat.

"Well, how about a movie? You love movies." She was right. Esme would pester her about doing something.

Mavis glanced at her, "you didn't have to babysit me, Esme. I would have been fine on my own."

Esme sighed, seeming to figure out what was going on. "I'm not babysitting you, Mavis. I'm protecting you."

"Protecting. Babysitting. It's the same thing."

"I disagree." Mavis crossed her legs, keeping her eyes on the ground. "You live in a house full of vampires. Protecting you is something we have to do to keep you safe." Esme sat beside her. "And we've left you here alone before. So we both know you don't need a babysitter."

"Okay, I get it," Mavis smiled at her. "I'm being dramatic."

"Well, we are a family known for our dramatics." She laughed at that. Esme was right. They were a family full of dramatics, and that was okay. "Now, how about that movie?"

~~~~~~~~~~

By the time the others got back, the movie was coming to an end. The moment Mavis saw her parents walk through the door, she was up. "Mom." Alice was by her side in a flash, wrapping her arms around her. "Did you find Victoria?"

"Yeah," Emmett snapped stomping into the house. His white jacket was torn and covered with dirt. He was also dripping water into the house.

"What happened," Esme asked. As Carlisle walked inside, she rushed to his side. He was unhurt, and the others were as well. Everyone appeared fine other than Emmett.

"She ran into dog territory," Rosalie crossed her arms.

"Emmett followed," Jasper finished.

Mavis glanced at Emmett, realizing his torn jacket had large claw marks in it. The werewolves and Cullens had a treaty that went back a long time. It stated that they couldn't cross onto their land, among other things. Most of it was separated by a creek. Mavis typically didn't venture that far out. The Cullens knew well of the property line, and it wasn't like Emmett to break the agreement. Victoria didn't seem to know about this and jumped into werewolf territory unknowingly. "Why would you do that?"

"We almost had her," Emmett threw his hands in the air. "We needed to catch her."

That was true. They needed to stop Victoria before she killed Bella. Her vendetta against her was boarding on insanity. Mavis thought it was a little much, but vampires were different than people. She couldn't understand and didn't try to. "We will get her."

"We needed to get her now," he yelled.

Mavis flinched at his tone, and Alice put a hand on her shoulder. "We will."

"Those stupid dogs got in my way-"

"You crossed onto their land," Mavis argued. Werewolves were still a newer concept to her. Rosalie filled her in on most of it, or rather, her opinions. She thought the werewolves were disgusting, often referring to them as dogs. But Mavis liked when Bella talked about them. Her close friendship with Jacob gave her a more positive perspective. Mavis had wanted to see what they looked like but never really had a chance. Bella explained they looked like giant wolves, bigger than bears. But without seeing them, it was harder to imagine.

"This doesn't concern you." Emmett glared at her, "you weren't there." Mavis swallowed the lump in her throat. "In fact, this entire situation has nothing to do with you. What are you even doing here?"

"Hey," Jasper yelled at him. "Don't speak to her like that."

"She's right," Carlisle agreed with the girl. 

"There's no use fighting about this. It's over," Rosalie stepped into the middle. She wanted all eyes on her to take the heat off of Emmett and Mavis.

"It's late," Alice stared at Emmett. She was furious with him or taking his anger out on Mavis. "We're going to put Mavis to bed." The way Alice spoke, it sounded as if Mavis was five years old. But she was trying to end the conversation and get them out of the room. "Come on."

Mavis knew better than to fight and allowed Alice to guide her out of the room. Jasper trailed after the two, and the three walked through the large house in painful silence. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Alice smiled at her.

"Do you think Victoria will come back?"

But that seemed obvious. It was Victoria. Of course she was coming back. Bella was still alive, and as long as she was, Victoria would continue looking for her. "Let's not think about that." Alice always tried to see the positives. "It's late, and you need to get some rest."

"Right." Mavis turned to Jasper, waiting to see if he would saying anything. However, it was a pointless thing to hope for. He agreed with whatever Alice said and did. He always had, and he always would. Pulling the covers down, Mavis felt a rush of anxiety at the idea of sleeping. Her dreams were starting to scare her. "Wait."

Alice froze at the door, "what is it, love?"

"Would you," she nervously played with her fingers. "Would you sing to me?" Mavis was embarrassed about asking. "I sleep better when you do."

"Of course," Alice beamed. She was delighted to be asked. "I'll sing to you as much as you want forever."

"Thank you, mom." Mavis laid down on the bed, grateful that Alice was willing to help her sleep. Hopefully, tonight she wouldn't have any bad dreams.