CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE:
Bella's POV:
I looked at Fleur awkwardly, not sure what to say. Harry had left about a minute ago, right after Hermione.
Stress, anxiety, fear... they were all I could feel, all I could really process. I was about to break down, and I didn't want to be in front of one of Hermione's best friends when I did. Didn't want to be in front of anyone, really.
"Can... can I go someplace private, please?" I asked, in a hoarse voice, "I... I need to be alone."
"Of course, mon cher," Fleur said, her face soft. I followed after her as she led the way through her small, yet comfortable home. Shell Cottage. It was a lonely but beautiful place, and wherever I stood, I could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea.
"Will zis do?" Fleur asked, opening a door to what looks like a spare room. It's pretty barren, the only furniture a wide wooden table and an old couch. "Eet used to be a war room," Fleur said, answering my unspoken question. Her voice was soft, sad. "Nobody wants to go in zere anymore. Too many memoriez. Even Bill and I rarely step foot inside zere." She sighed, turning away to face me. "Eet eez soundproof, mon cher, so zere eez no need to worry about me overhearing anysing... private."
She's telling me I can cry or kick, scream or shout, and she won't hear, I realize. She's giving me privacy to give my emotions an outlet.
I can see why Hermione likes her so much.
"Thanks Fleur." I said, stepping into the room. She smiled, faintly, and stepped back, closing the door gently behind me.
No longer worried about her seeing me, I started pacing around. My fingers twitched, searching for something to fiddle with, moving from the buttons of my jacket, to the collar, the strands of my hair, my necklace.
I twisted it around my finger, chewing on my lip so hard it began bleeding, as I worry, and fret and try not to think about what might be happening right now.
My entire life is wrapped around being Edward's soul mate. It's embedded in everything I am, and everything that happens to me.
If his life is in danger, I have to suffer through it without getting to fight. When he's attacked, the Cullen's are attacked or Hermione is attacked, I suffer through that too, helpless as a lamb.
They all try to understand, to empathize, but they just can't imagine how hard it is. Wanting to help, wanting to be there, but knowing I'm nothing but a hindrance; that there's nothing I can do but hide away and wait.
Wait and fiddle my hands. Suppressing a groan, my hand moves faster, spinning the necklace, and suddenly freezing as my fingers touch the delicate charm hanging on the end of the silver, interlocking chain.
An idea had struck me, a wicked, wicked idea, a selfish, selfish idea, one that I knew was stupid, stupid, stupid and wrong, wrong, wrong.
But it refused to let go of me.
My necklace... it was a portkey. Hermione gave it to me weeks and weeks ago, when I told her Victoria was back, that she was after me.
Hermione had clearly stated that it would take me wherever I wanted to go. True, she'd made it so I could get away from Victoria, not go straight to her, but... semantics.
I needed to be there. I couldn't not be there. Not while the man I loved, the family I loved, the sister I loved, was in danger.
I made up my mind, pictured the clump of trees, just a little way from the clearing, and whispered the activation word, "Portus!"
The now unfortunately familiar feeling of a hook behind my belly button kicked in, and the world spun around me, nauseatingly. As my feet hit the uneven ground of the forest floor I stumbled forwards, falling and landing on my hands and knees. My stomach rolled violently, but I managed to push the sickness away, and pulled myself back up to my feet.
I could hear fierce snarls from the clearing, but a horrifying absence of the crashing sounds of vampires fighting. And that terrified me- right now the forest should be alive with the sound of screeching metallic, pained screams, loud explosions, and the thick, heavy scent of incense. Something was wrong.
I tripped twice as I staggered to the edge of the clearing, staying out of sight, but in a position where I could clearly see everything. Horror filled me as I soaked in the scene.
Alice and Edward were both pinned down by two newborns, a large male and a tall female. The female was covered in blood.
A third newborn was standing just behind Victoria, a look of concentration on his face. As Alice momentarily got free, twisting out of the brunette newborn's grip, she only managed three steps forwards before she fell to her knees, gagging, an expression of revulsion on her face, and the brunette newborn pounced on her again, locking her arms back behind her in a crushing grip Alice couldn't escape.
The third newborn was a shield of some sort, I finally realized, my eyes widening. He was stopping the others from getting close to Victoria, making them vulnerable, defenseless. "Don't break them yet, Kevin, Kristie." Victoria laughed, as the two newborns tightened their grips on Alice and Edward to the point where their marble skin started to crack.
I watched in terror as a perfect imitation of me looked at the bitch with narrow eyes, and Victoria grinned back at her, baring white shiny teeth. The sadistic vampire's hair streamed down her back like a tumbling river of blood, the color almost indistinguishable from her crimson irises. The Gifted newborn stood slightly behind her, his face blank even as he used his shield render my family defenseless, helpless.
Only 'Bella' could resist the shield, standing tall as Edward and Alice cringed. Over to the side, I could see Leah slumped on the ground, blood pouring from a gaping open wound on her stomach. Fear raced through me, and terrified breaths escaped me, as I crouched in the shadows, out of sight.
"Bella Swan," Victoria purred, her eyes gleaming in vindictive pleasure. I could hear Edward growling fiercely in Kevin's grip, his teeth gritted as he tried to escape the newborn and force his way past the Gifted vampire's shield, face contorted in a mixture of desperation and disgust, eyes wide with panic.
Panic suffocated me as I fought my every impulse to leap out and stop her, stop Victoria. I had to trust Hermione. I had to.
Victoria's face turned gloating, as she strode towards 'Bella'. "You're proud of yourself, aren't you?" Alice snarled, thrashing fiercely and fruitlessly in Kristie's grip.
"Why shouldn't I be?" She asked, stopping a few feet away and raising an eyebrow. "I won. I outsmarted you all. And I'm about to kill your little human pet."
"I'm not too sure about that." Alice said, a fierce smile on her face, "you made a lot of contingency plans, Victoria. But there's one thing you couldn't plan for."
"Oh yes?" Victoria sneered, "What's that?"
"There's no contingency plan on the planet for Hermione!" Alice snarled, her expression smug.
"What?" Victoria arched her eyebrow, confused. "Who is Hermione?"
"Me." 'Bella' smiled as she stepped forwards. I watched, shuddering slightly, as my features melted and bubbled, and Hermione's emerged.
"What?" Victoria stared, confused, shocked. Victoria didn't even get time to say anything else, as Hermione acted at the speed of light, whipping out her wand and pointing it at the red-haired vampire.
"INCENDIO!" she shouted.
Victoria let out a shrill scream as her body burst into flames. I couldn't help the horror I felt, as I watched Victoria burn. No matter how much I hated her, and believe me- I hated her with every fiber of my body, the sight still horrified me.
The newborns' expressions had twisted to fear, and I watched, still frozen, as my sister turned to face the Gifted newborn. Her back was now to me and I couldn't see her face. "Put down the shield, Fred." She spoke, calmly.
"Or?" the newborn, 'Fred', asked. Hermione narrowed her eyes then raised both her hands up in the air, almost as if she was going to embrace someone. In a second tall, burning flames surrounded the clearing, a terrifying wall of fire that momentarily blocked my view. I started gasping, panicking, when the flames disappeared as abruptly as they had appeared.
My view to the clearing now unobstructed, I could see Edward and Alice had straightened up, no longer rendered defenseless by Fred- he had obviously got the message.
Hope swam through me, even though Edward and Alice were still trapped by Kristie and Kevin. Two vampires down, two to go.
"What are you?" Fred asked Hermione, voice almost emotionless, and his face blank, maybe idly curious. He didn't seem bothered at all, by the display, although he had lowered his shield.
"Gifted." Hermione answered, "Now get lost or get fried." Fred shrugged then turned around, and started to walk off.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Kevin started ranting at the disappearing newborn, "You little shit! Get the fuck back here, you bastard!"
Hermione turned to face Kristie, her face in my line of sight once again. "Let Alice go. Now. And I won't kill you." She ordered her. Please listen to her! I begged the newborn, silently, my hands clenched into anxious fists.
"Like you could kill me." Kristie sneered, shifting slightly, so Alice was shielding her from Hermione, "I'm stronger then that old vampire!"
"Oh yeah?" Hermione snapped, her carefully controlled mask slipping as her anger started to show. She was worried, I realized, with a spike of fear. She couldn't destroy Kristie without destroying Alice, and Kristie couldn't release Alice without destroying her safety line. But either way, the result was the same- Kristie was going to die. The only question was, if she was going to take Alice with her.
The situation was the same with Edward. My Edward.
No, no, no, no, no! I chanted, in my head, the horror inside me so strong I almost blacked out. Acid crawled up my throat for the second time and, once again, it took everything I had in me not to throw up.
Alice's expression was dejected, as she realized the situation they were trapped in. A hold-fire, of sorts, that the newborns held an upper hand over. Both newborns had reached the same conclusion, and Kristie's grip on Alice had tightened to the point cracks were beginning to spread across her skin. "I love you." Alice told Hermione, looking across to meet my sister's eyes, her voice cracking slightly. It was the most heartbreaking scene I'd ever witnessed.
Hermione's face softened as she returned the look of fierce, fierce love. "I love you too." She told Alice, and I noticed her hand twitch, and something gold, something held tight in her fist, caught the light.
I didn't even have time to wonder what the hell it was, as a heartbeat later later Harry materialized behind Alice, out of thin air, his wand held ready in one hand, something clenched tight in his other. The object Hermione handed him, I realized- it was a Portkey! She'd given him a Portkey, keyed to the clearing!
"You know what? I'm kind of fond of you too Alice." Harry quipped, before he destroyed Kristie from behind with a flick of his wand. Kristie's scream barely lasted a second, before she was rubble and ash on the ground. In a heartbeat, Alice was by Hermione's side.
"Hello Harry." Hermione greeted her best friend, "glad to see you could make it."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Harry grinned, back at her, his smile different from normal. It was fierce, scary even. It was a perfect copy of the one on my sister's face.
"What the fuck are you?" Kevin screamed at them, as Edward struggled futilely in his grasp. Kevin had the advantage with his massive strength, and Edward was at his mercy. And while he held Edward's life on the balance, so were Hermione, Alice and Harry.
"More dangerous then you." Harry told the vampire, "and smarter too."
"In my case anyway." Hermione teased Harry. Her tone seemed lighthearted, unruffled, but I could see the subtle clenching in her jaw, see the muscle twitching like a heartbeat.
"Get the fuck away from me or I'll kill him!" Kevin threatened. And I narrowed my eyes, my heart beating quicker. I couldn't wait anymore, couldn't just sit here and watch the life of the man I loved more then anything else in the world hanging in balance.
But what could I do to help him? I couldn't do anything. I was just human. A human, with no special abilities, no way of defeating a vampire...
...just like the Third Wife.
Inspiration had struck me, and I searched the ground below me, frantically, before locating something that could accomplish my task. I reached out and closed my fingers around my prize- a shard of glass that looked like it was originally part of a beer bottle. I picked it up with shaking fingers, and got to my feet.
Was I strong enough? Was I brave enough? How hard could I shove the glass into my body? I used my frozen, shaking fingers to yank my sweater back to expose the skin underneath. Pale, creamy skin, marred by a long scar from my last birthday. That night, my flowing blood had been enough to catch every vampire's attention.
I could do this.
"STOP!" I shouted, sprinting forwards, dragging all eyes to me.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I held out my arm and raised the glass into the air, "BELLA, NO!" Edward shouted, realizing what I was about to do, as I brought the sharp edge down as hard as I could.
The Third Wife had stabbed herself in the heart, spilling blood every. My glass shard wouldn't reach my heart, no matter how hard I pushed it into my chest, but it could sever a vein in my wrist.
The shard sunk into my skin almost an inch deep, embedding itself in the muscle beneath my skin. Warm sticky blood immediately began streaming from the wound, and the accompanying sharp bolt of pain was worse then I could have imagined. I screamed and clutched my forearm, releasing the glass, but to my horror it remained wedged in my arm. My breath was tearing from my lungs in shallow, frantic pants, and the world was spinning around me, alarmingly so, as I stared at it.
Part of me noted I was probably going into shock.
But the now blood-soaked glass had done its job. Across the clearing, I could see Alice and Edward's bodies turn to stone, as they fought their instincts to attack me, to drain me of every last drop of my delicious, mouthwatering blood.
Only nearly a hundred years of practicing strict self-control stopped them.
But Kevin didn't have that.
He didn't even have one year.
The second the scent of my blood hit him, I could basically see his mind clear of every thought, every instinct, but one- to feed.
He released Edward and lunged towards me, a vicious snarl on his lips, his eyes glued to the blood spilling down my arm, staining the snow beneath me, but Hermione was quicker.
In the blink of an eye she had apparated in front of me, and Kevin's teeth were ripping into her. Hermione screamed, a high, thin sound, and Harry was shouting something. Kevin was ripped away from Hermione, and then Alice was on him, her teeth in the newborn's neck. Kevin's head rolled across the snow, and then burst into flames.
Edward blurred over, appearing beside me in a second. He grabbed me, supporting me, as I swayed unsteadily. Hermione had managed to pull herself to her feet, and despite the blood streaming down from the gaping bite-wound on her shoulder, grabbing my shoulder for balance. She moved deftly, first pulling the glass out of my arm, causing another wave of mind-numbing pain, then tracing her wand over the deep cut. The tip of the elegantly carved wand released a steady stream of silver sparks and, before my eyes, half blinded by tears, my flesh knitted back together, leaving only a thick pink scar, just over an inch long, and taking the pain with it.
All the blood now seemed horribly out of place.
But another flick of the wand, a brief mutter of "scorgio!" and the blood was gone,
"Are you okay, love?" Edward asked me, frantically, and I nodded, giving him a weak smile.
"Just kinda dizzy." I whispered, and he scooped me up into his arms, cradling me to his chest.
"I-I need to help Leah." Hermione gasped, her face strained and now ash colored. That was the last thing she said before her eyes suddenly unfocused. Her mouth opened in a shrill cry of pain, both her hands clamping onto the bite-mark, and then she went limp, falling. Alice let out a horrified cry, blurring over to Hermione's side, catching her before she hit the ground. Harry closed the few feet between us, pulling a potion from his pocket.
"Hermione!" Alice was shrieking, even as Harry forced open Hermione's mouth. Hermione was convulsing slightly, and Harry pulled a bag that shouldn't fit in his pocket out. From the bag he summoned a small bottle of some kind of shimmering silver liquid. He poured the entire bottle down her throat, forcing Hermione's jaw shut, keeping his palm pressed over her mouth. Alice, quickly catching on, massaged Hermione's throat until she seemed to have swallowed the liquid.
Harry lifted his hand at the same time as her eyes closed, her body now entirely motionless.
"Oh god, is she okay?" Alice demanded, shrilly.
"She will be in a moment," promised Harry as he summoned another small bottle, pouring it over the bite mark. It instantly started scabbing over, until all that was left was a livid pink mark.
"Is- is-?" Alice looked almost like she was about to start hyperventilating. "The venom?"
"The potion washed it from her system," Harry reassured her, "I have to go help Leah. Here, Bella," he pulled another potion from his bag and tossed it in my direction. "Take this, it's a blood replenishing potion." He ordered.
Harry didn't even wait to see if Edward or I caught it, which Edward did of course, he just turned and strode over to where Leah was laying limp on the ground and kneeled beside her, waving his wand and muttering in Latin.
The potion was a copper colored liquid, that looked sort of like blood, except more... orange. Edward uncorked the bottle, then held it to my lips and gently tilted it to let the potion slide down my throat. I grimaced slightly at the flavor- rust- but my dizziness cleared up, much to my relief, and I managed to stand on my own two feet again.
Edward looked down at me, his expression both loving, relieved and upset. "You most likely saved my life." He observed. I manage to give him a strained smile.
"Guess there's a first time for everything." Edward groans, and pulls me to him as tight as he can without breaking me, burying his face in my hair.
"Never ever do that to me again!" He mumbles, and I give a weak laugh.
"I really hope I don't have to."
"Oh crap!" Alice suddenly swears, and I feel Edward stiffen as he reads her mind.
"What is it?" I plead, feeling the panic, stress and fear that had momentarily disappeared creep back up on me.
"The Volturi. They're ten minutes away." Edward hissed loudly, through clenched teeth.
"Quick," Harry moved into action, turning and throwing another two small phials from his bag across to us. Edward catches them with his free hand, as Alice's hands are currently occupied holding an unconscious Hermione. One potion is filled with a blue liquid, the other orange. "It's polyjuice and pepper-up," Harry explained, "give her the orange one and when Hermione wakes up she'll need the blue one so she looks like Bella again." Alice growls at that, not liking the idea of putting Hermione in harm's way.
"Alice... please?" Edward begs, face anguished.
"Edward, I can do it!" I tried to protest, but he shook his head.
"Bella..." He whispered, his face stricken.
"Alice, Hermione won't forgive you if you let Bella go instead." Harry warned.
"Fine." Alice whimpered, knowing she's lost. She tips the pepper-up down Hermione's throat, massaging to help my unconscious sister swallow it, hugging Hermione tightly as my sister splutters and stirs in her arms.
"We're still here?" she croaks, frowning, once she's got her bearings.
"The Volturi are nine minutes away. We need to get down to the others." Edward fills her in. "And we need you to be Bella." Hermione swore under her breath as Alice handed her the polyjuice, silently, helping place her back on her feet.
"I hate this stuff." She muttered before she swallowed it, then grimaced at the flavor.
I can't help my cringe as she goes through the transformation, twisting and arching her back in Alice's arms as her skin bubbles grotesquely, and her body changes to a perfect imitation of my own. "Let's go." Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms around Alice's neck, letting her mate scoop her back up.
Edward kissed my forehead, then lowered me to the ground. "Stay with Harry. No following us this time. Promise me." He begged, and I nodded.
"I promise." And then he's gone, and so is Alice and my sister, all of them reduced to nothing but invisible blurs in the distance.
"Hermione is going to kill Fleur, you know." Harry commented. I turned to the dark haired man. Leah has phased back to her human shape, and is stirring weakly on the ground, as Harry continues working over her.
"I'm sorry," I tell him, ashamed, looking down at my feet. "I... I couldn't stay away. I just couldn't."
"I understand." Harry tells me, quietly, seriously. "If it was Ginny in danger, nothing in the world could keep me away. And Fleur will understand. I promise."
"Thank you." I sighed in relief, before slumping onto the ground. "What do we do now?"
"We wait." Harry said, "and we trust them."
"I trust them. It's the Volturi I'm worried about."
"Hermione's smarter then those Italian ponces." Harry said, firmly, "they're all bark. Well, okay, they're a little bite, but they're mostly bark."
"That's not helping." I mutter, and he laughed, the sound strained.
"I'm not good at the whole trying to get people to stop worrying thing. I usually end up making them worry more."
"I'll say." I agreed.