--chapter 43--
Brooke Hale
Ah, Dawson's. It's officially my favourite spot. I sat here in the table for two drinking coffee. Not as good as the red stuff, but it helps with the cravings. Like that blonde guy eying me from across the restaurant. An easy target. Time to make my move and--
"Hey," Bella said and sat down on the chair opposite me.
"Uh, hi. What're you doing here?" I asked.
"I needed to talk to you." She said.
"Okay," I sipped my coffee. "Spill."
"We should go, somewhere private."
I did a quick scan. "Nope, no-one's paying attention to us." I said.
"It's serious." Bella frowned.
"Fine, fine." I reluctantly stood up, grabbed my coffee and placed two dollars on the table. Bella stood up as well, and walked out. I followed her, winking at the blonde guy in the process.
She continued walking, until she reached an empty part of town (it wasn't hard seeing that it was quite late in the night) and sat on a nearby bench. I sat on it too.
"So..." I broke the silence.
"What are you?" Bella asked me.
"I told you, I'm a vampire."
"But, you eat. And sleep. And you can go out in the sun normally."
"Y-yeah, I don't know why."
"You're lying."
"I am so not!"
"Brooke, I've known you for years, I can tell when you are."
Crap, I never thought of that.
"Okay, look. I'm about to tell you something I've only told a few people in my entire life of five hundred years..." Bella looked shocked when I told her the number. "And you have to promise not to tell anyone, and I mean anyone. Not even Edward. Or Renesmee. Or any other of the Cullens. I can only trust you because you have a shield."
Bella bit on her lip nervously. I know it was hard for her since she was super close with her vampire family. "Fine," She said after a long while. "I promise."
"Okay. I'm in trouble Bella."
She frowned. "With whom?"
"The Volturi."
Bella took a sudden gasp of air. She looked horrified. "What. Did. You. Do." She was so shocked that she had a dazed look in her eyes and spoke in broken sentences.
"I...uh..."
"C'mon. Brooke, you can tell me."
I told her everything. With exact detail. It was like she was like she was actually there.
*
21st January 1998
I followed Jane and Alec through the huge doors. We entered an enormous room, with beautifully carved designs on the ceiling and the walls. On raised ground, sat Marcus, Aro and Caius respectively. Once I walked in, Aro stood up and greeted me with a huge smile and open arms.
"Brooke! Good to see you!" He said. Marcus never moved an inch, while Caius frowned slightly.
From what I've heard from others, Aro usually did the talking, Caius basically hated everyone who he didn't know, and Marcus just sat there, watching. Also, not to let down you guard when you see Aro's smile, that's just him on the outside.
"Hello." I said. i had my plan figured out. I go in, say little, listen to what they had to say to me, then leave.
"I know you're wondering why we've brought you here." Aro said.
I nodded.
"We want you to join us." He said.
I was shocked. Me? Part of the Volturi? Become some sort of royalty and have so much power? But I didn't want to move to Italy. I mean, it's nice and pretty and all, but I don't want to leave my friends and family behind in US.
"Unirsi a noi. Join us." Aro said.
"No, I can't." I replied.
"Why not? After all, it's either you do, or death." Aro said with a sinister smile.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"We know what you've been trying. With the wolves." Caius said.
"W-what are you talking about?" I asked nervously.
"How about we let the newest member of the Volturi tell you?" Aro asked.
A tall, dark-haired guy walked out of the shadows. His black hood was covering his face, but when he removed it, I could see who it was.
"Michael?!" I was in shock. How could he? I had trusted him with everything! I thought we were in this vampire life together! Turns out he just wanted information for the Volturi!
"Brooke..." He had an apologetic expression.
"How could you?" I asked angrily.
"I had no choice. They would have killed us both." He said calmly.
"Oh, so you'd rather they kill me?" I asked.
"No, of course not. I was hoping that you would join us." He replied.
"Master, what exactly is it that she did?" Jane asked Aro sweetly.
"Michael..." Aro prompted.
"She-she drank a wolf's blood. She's hoping she could become more. More than just a vampire. Something more powerful." Michael said.
I looked down to the perfectly polished floor. When he said it like that, it sounded so evil, so sinister, so not like me. I only had one option.
"And for your weak attempt to try to overpower us," Aro made his own conclusion. "You shall either spend the rest of your life as a member of the Volturi, or die right here and now."
I had to do it. I had only tried it once, but I doubted that it would work on all these vampires. Anyway, it's worth a shot.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. One by one, they cringed in pain. Alec seemed the most affected, I think it's because he's the closest to me. Now, if I can run away from here, that would be awesome. I continued concentrating. The minute Alec fell to the ground, I ran. I tried to continue, but it seemed that it only worked within a one meter radius around me.
I ran like never before, through Volterra, I continued running and concentrating, until the airport. I quickly bought a ticket and flew to the UK. They knew I lived in US, so I decided to change homes. I'd start a new home, with new friends, and a new family, maybe even a new name. I'd continue running, hiding. Even if I'd have to run across the whole globe, I'd do it.
*
"What happened to Michael? I didn't see him the last time I saw the Volturi." Bella said after a long while of silence.
"I killed him. He had left to, uh, have a meal late at night. I cornered him and killed him." I replied.
"How didn't the Volturi find you?"
"Whenever they get close enough, by around a two kilometer radius, I can sense them around. They are very different from other people."
"What-what exactly did you hope to have become with the wolves' blood?" Bella asked nervously. She didn't want to know, but she was deadly curious.
"I did some studying way back, and found out everything I needed to know about both vampires and werewolves. Michael helped me a lot with that, seeing as we were friends for over a hundred years. Then, after one night we went hunting, I thought about something. If werewolves had been a problem for vampires, why couldn't we just finish them off how we do to humans? I mean just biting them. Because they won't be able to do anything due to the immense pain. So Michael told me to go for it. I spent ages looking for a werewolf, but I finally found one. I bit it, and swallowing some of its blood by mistake. My throat burned and I coughed it out. But, I started craving it. He was wriggling on the ground in pain and was clutching his head with his hands. Then I went back for more. Bella, it was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. The burning had stopped, so I continued until his body had no more blood left."
Bella looked horrified. "Were there any side effects or anything like that?"
"Yeah, I actually slept that night, for eight straight hours. When I woke up, I was in extreme pain. Everywhere hurt. Especially my throat. It was on fire. I was also extremely hungry. My skin became darker, more than the tone it was when I was human. I also got a shield, and I could read people's thoughts also go out in the sun again. And when I drank a human's blood, it never seemed like enough. And that's when I realised I could eat normal food again."
"Sounds great."
"Actually no. It's not. The more I use my powers, the faster I get tired and hungry. It gives me something to do at night, but, even fighting in battle is hard."
"So, what are you?" Bella asked again.
"I'm a vamp-wolf." I said.
"What?! Is that like a cross-breed between the two?" She asked.
"Sorta. I read about this guy called Tim Jones. He was a vamp-wolf too. Apparently there are three stages. And you have to kill a werewolf to move on to each one. The first one, you regain your ability to eat and sleep and will also gain the power of a shield, and mind reading. On stage two, all the abilities in stage one magnify and finally in stage three, they increase again and that's it."
"H-how many have you k-k-killed?"
"Two."
"So, one more to go huh?"
"Yeah."
Silence.
"Stay AWAY from Jacob." Bella snapped and stood up. She wore the fiercest look I've ever seen. "And stay away from the others too."
I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off.
"And don't think for a SECOND, that you're stronger than me. I know you're half vamp-wolf or whatever, but I'm in a whole coven of vampires.And anyways, you told me everything. That wasn't very smart now was it?"
I started getting pissed off as well. But then I realised, it's Bella. She'll be calm again in a matter of hours. It's not like she'll try to kill me or anything.
I repeated that to myself even after she had stormed off and disappeared. But it still seemed like I was lying to myself.
Bella wouldn't -- couldn't -- try to kill me.
Would she?
*****