Blood Moon [a Twilight Saga FanFiction]

Saving Cynthia Brandon

THE HEALING PROCESS OF PLAGUE SUFFERERS WAS MOVING FORWARD RATHER WELL. Patients and staff with the bubonic plague were already healed, pneumonic and septicemic were healing.
     By the time it came for us to need to get to Biloxi for Cynthia's survival, only three other patients had died from the plague, and one staff member. It felt wrong to be grateful, but we were, that the staff didn't have a family, she was known as a loner, she kept to herself after her mother died of a horrible illness.
     I hadn't even learnt her name, not even Igor knew it and he had been working in the same facility as her.
     But once we were confident the plague wasn't spreading and was in fact disappearing in the Sanitarium, we took some steps back and returned to our jobs. Then we had to go to Biloxi.
     Ever since I had made the decision to help Mary save her sister, the whole event had been in our entire families future, and so Verity was determined to not miss it.
     We reached Biloxi at sunset, it was snowing and the setting sun was covered by the clouds. So we waited out in the open, we sat across the street from where Cynthia was waiting for whomever she was waiting for.
     She was so young and looked almost identical to her big sister. Her dark hair was long and hung in loose curls around her head. She wore a hat that was a fabric that was almost attracting the snow. Any bit of snow falling near Cynthia was finding a way to stick to her.
     She held her coat close around her stomach and looked around, nervous. She was nervous...
    "Should we approach her?" Verity asked, her back was to Cynthia, but I knew she was paying as much attention to her as Igor and I were.
     "Give it time," Igor stated as he stirred the coffee he ordered but wasn't going to drink. "We don't want to scare the child."
     "I want to know what she's waiting for," I said and rested my hand on Igor's. "What could propel a child to walk into the night alone?"
     "Bet you wish the wind would change so you could find out," Verity smirked.
     "Of course."
     Igor and Verity chuckled and Igor kissed my head.
     It was loud enough for Cynthia to look up towards us. I noticed almost immediately that the sight of us calmed her. Calmed? It was the first time I had ever witnessed any of our kind have that effect on mortals. I couldn't make sense of it, not really. She even smiled as she turned to look away.
     "She's happy to see us?" Igor asked.
     "Oh!" Verity gasped and took a sip of her own hot chocolate.
     "What changed?" I asked.
     "She's gifted," Verity chuckled into her drink. "It's not as strong as Mary, she doesn't get visions. The way she explains it to her father is that she just knows things. After everything, she'll explain to the trees that she knew coming out to meet her Father was dangerous, but seeing us, she just knew she'd be okay."
     "She's gifted," Igor muttered. "It is surprising that her gift is similar to her sisters. Most powerful siblings I have met and know have very different gifts. Jane and Alec, Aro and Didyme..."
     "Carlisle and me," I listed also.
     Igor nodded.
     "The fact that both sisters have similar gifts is, interesting."
     "Are you suddenly wanting to collect the Brandon sisters?" I asked with a chuckle, thinking of Alfred and his obsession with my family.
     Igor chuckled a little and looked up to Cynthia.
     "No," he answered. "She deserves to live her life the way she is supposed to."
     "That's right," I ran my fingers through his head. "She'll learn what to do with what she knows on her own."
     "Not much longer now," Verity muttered.
     I looked up in time to see Cynthia watching us again, she was curious now. But she was embarrassed that she had been caught staring. She blushed and quickly looked away.
     It was only a few minutes later where the large car pulled up on the side of the road, it was filled with men. Two of them had guns.
     "Oh no," I gasped and quickly stood.
     "You didn't say they'd have guns," Igor grumbled.
     "I didn't know," Verity muttered and the three of us rushed up.
     "Hey!" Igor yelled and the group of men turned to face us.
     "This is none of your concern. Get out of here," one of them without a gun said.
     "Just tell us what's going on here and we'll be out of your hair," Igor said confidently.
     "Just picking up this little girl for her Father. He's been worried sick for her," another man said.
     "And I guess those are necessary for a routine pick up?" Igor nodded towards the guns.
     "You must be new in town," one of the younger men said, he smiled and approached us. "This is Mr Brandon's daughter, he's a powerful man here in Biloxi. Our firearms are merely a precaution. See, Mr Brandon recently lost his wife and his other daughter to a group of people wanting to bring Mr Brandon down. Little Cynthia is all he has left, we're just protecting her."
     "Protecting... her..." Igor turned to look at me and I smiled.
     Time for their past to be revealed. I stepped forward and all of them stumbled, their heartbeats quickened. They were afraid of Igor, but I was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen.
     "That's a very good story," I said and walked through the men towards Cynthia. "Well rehearsed. Let me try one... You all work, for this Mr Brandon. Not directly, indirectly though he helps you pay your bills on time to survive. All of you are married, four have children, number five is trying so hard with his wife but it doesn't seem to be happening. That's sad, ask your Doctor for a sperm count. None of you can keep a job so you became hired killers for the well paying. You started with Mrs Brandon's first wife, running her off the road, killing her. Then you were hired to kill his eldest daughter, but her talents made that impossible, she always evaded you. Mr Brandon got very angry, didn't he? How you all failed him, how you failed to kill one daughter. This is your redemption. This is how you redeem your worth to Mr Brandon by proving that you can kill his youngest. You don't ask questions, you don't ask why you just do. Because that's all you know. You couldn't hold a stable job, so you just kill for money." I turned to one of the men holding a gun. "Your mothers dying, she's sick and you don't understand why. You cannot afford a doctor, so you kill to earn the money for her. I am sorry, I am a Doctor. She won't survive until next week." I turned to the next man. "Your wife is threatening to walk out on you, you don't want it to happen, after all, she's the best thing to ever happen to you. Start treating her that way and she might stay." I returned to Cynthia. "So, this is how our story plays out. You drop those weapons because none of you want to shoot me. The lot of you get back in that car, leaving your weapons on the road, and drive home. Back to your wives, back to your families. Because believe me, you do not want this to go the other way."
     "Look, lady, I gotta pay the bills and Mr Brandon is an honourable-"
     Before Johnathon Bower could even pull the pistol from his trousers, Igor had the pistol in one hand, and Mr Bower a foot of the ground, against the wall, in the other.
     "Never, raise a gun to a woman," Igor snarled.
     The three unarmed men panicked, one tripped over his feet as he backed away from the scene. The other armed man, aimed at Igor's back, so I stepped in the way, and held the rifle barrel to my chest. The youngest and weakest of the men, and the one that was thinking me an Angel.
     "Drop the gun," I whispered, and he did. "Good boy. Now..." I turned the rifle on the other men. "What did I say about getting back in the car?"
     The four men scurried, wreaking of fear. None of them got into the driver's seat.
     "Dad," Verity said and approached Igor slowly. "Dad, let him go."
     I looked at Igor, his eyes had gone dark, his hand was tightening around Mr Bowers throat. Mr Bowers racing heart echoed in my ears.
     I looked into Igor's black eyes and rested a hand on his arm holding Mr Bowers up.
     "Igor," I whispered. "Enough."
     Behind my vision, there was a flash. A memory perhaps of another time... A university at night... men I had to kill because Igor snapped protecting me.
     He wouldn't snap again, he had been in control, he had been doing so well, for so long.
     But that look in his eyes, that murderous, dangerous, thirst.
     "Igor," I whispered again. "You've worked too hard." I ran my hand down his arm until my hand wrapped around his wrist. "Let him go."
     I didn't pull his hand back, I didn't have too. But Mr Bowers fell and began coughing, desperate for air. But very quickly, while struggling to breathe, he scurried into the car and drove off.
     Igor continued to stand there, his dark eyes staring now straight at me. All I could see in them was an apology, he so nearly lost everything he had worked so hard to keep.
     "Let's go home," I whispered. Took his hand and ran off back towards Georgia. Though, we hunted on our way back.
     Once home, Verity fell straight onto her bed and was immediately snoring. I was going to start painting again, but Igor stood on the patio, he didn't walk in, he just stood, his freshly golden eyes still filled with apologies.
     "You know I love you," I stated as I joined him again.
     "I was going to kill him. I was so close," he muttered.
     "But you didn't, and I'm proud of you for that."
     I hugged him and it was the first time getting his scent since we left Biloxi. Even the echo of Johnathon Bowers scent in Igor's past, got my throat burning all over again. I had to step back and remind myself that Mr Bowers didn't smell that good to me, he had just smelt like a regular human who used too many substances, but to Igor, he had been a fresh banquet waiting to be served.
     "You walked away with your Singer right under your hand," I said with a smile. "I am so proud of you."
     "Verity saw-"
     "And you didn't. You walked away from the most... You don't need the reminder."
     "I really don't," he snarled.
     "Well... Verity may be home but I can think of a pretty good distraction."
     "Miss Elizabeth, I love you, but-"
     Before he could finish his sentence, I pulled his face to mine. His lips on mine. I guided his hand around my body to my back and locked my hand into his, my other hand was tangled in his hair. I held him there, kissing him until I felt him relax. His hands held me rather than me holding his hands, and he started to properly kiss me back.
     That's better, I thought as he lifted me off the ground so our faces were at an equal level.