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SKIN & BONES
ix. FINAL COUNTDOWN
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LORELAI SWAN WAS SURE of one thing, and one thing only: she was going to have the Final Countdown stuck in her head for the entire battle. Part of her was hoping that somehow, somewhere, Edward Cullen was reading into her thoughts and happened to hear her mind screaming the beats. She knew she'd get a good laugh out of that one.
The Olympic coven stood in a line, stoic. Lorelai glanced back at Stella, who had a concentrated look on her face. It looked almost as though she was hyping herself up, which Lorelai wouldn't be too shocked if that was the case.
Earlier, Bella Swan had scattered droplets of her blood around the forest to lure the newborns into the field. The coven was sure that this would work, but Lorelai had a horrible habit of jumping to the worst-case scenario. However, that thought diminished rather quickly, for Lorelai could hear the newborns heading their direction.
Vicious grunts and shouts showered the atmosphere as the newborns dashed onto the field. The Olympic coven was quick to sprint toward them with the same intensity, except for Lorelai. The Manipulator narrowed her golden eyes at them, keeping her feet planted on the ground as Jasper made the first hit by smashing his fist into a newborn's skull.
Lorelai focused her attention on the newborns, using her gift to her advantage. She knew she didn't have enough practice with her gift, but as she continued to use it more and more, she was becoming more comfortable with it.
She observed as a small group of newborns turned on each other. She had manipulated their vision into believing that their companions were their enemies by shifting the appearance of the newborns in their heads. Rather proud at the large dent she created in the army, Lorelai decided it was time she properly joined the fight.
Seeing Stella fight for the first time was mesmerizing. She had a strategy of stopping and resuming time every few seconds, allowing her to confuse her enemy by running around them so that they never know which direction she's going in. She would simply reappear in a different spot every time.
Lorelai burst forward, drawing her fist back and smashing one of the newborns' skulls. She hissed in pain. How the fuck did Jasper make that look so effortless and badass?
Originally, Lorelai had wanted to stay with Bella, but she figured she'd be much more helpful in the arena, much to her own dismay. Lorelai hadn't really thought she would be much help at first, considering she'd never been in a fight her whole life. Perhaps with dying, her other senses were awakened, which allowed Lorelai to possess the reflexes required to fight.
As she dodged and hit each newborn, ripping their limbs apart through manipulation of the body, Lorelai could hear Stella and Jasper's words in the back of her mind. Never lose focus.
One more thing, never turn your back on your enemy.
Lorelai spun around upon hearing this in her mind, which was just barely louder than the Final Countdown that was still stuck in her head. She went to hit the newborn that had been attempting to sneak up on her, but she was delightfully surprised to see a black wolf jump on him before he could do anything.
Lorelai nodded at the wolf, recognizing him to be Sam. Then, she turned and grabbed the nearest newborn. She pulled him up by his torso and whistling to Sam. She smirked at him before throwing the newborn as though it was a treat.
She had to admit—fighting the newborns ignited the adrenaline rush Lorelai hadn't felt in a long time.
Concentrating on the newborn that had been running at Jasper, she nodded her head to the side, causing the newborn's appendages to go flying off. Then, Lorelai turned to the next newborn and roundhouse kicked her head straight off of her body.
One by one, the Cullens, Lorelai, and Stella fought off the newborns alongside the werewolves until their numbers grew smaller and smaller.
Lorelai had been doing just fine fighting them off until something caught her eye. She glanced over at Stella, who seemed to be frozen with surprise as she stared into the trees at something. Lorelai sprinted over to her side before gasping.
"Bree?"
○ ○ ○
Lorelai Swan stared at the large fire. The flames crackled as more bodies of the newborns were thrown into the pit. Lorelai frowned at the bodies. So many families would be burdened with never seeing their children again all because of Victoria and Riley's mind games. Upon feeling this sadness, Jasper squeezed his girlfriend's hand and sent her a wave of peace.
"How long?" Edward's voice came from behind his family. They turned around to see Edward walking forward with Bella by his side.
Lorelai sighed in relief, going straight toward her little sister. As the sisters hugged, Alice stated, "A few minutes, maybe ten."
"The pack needs to leave," Carlisle declared. "The Volturi won't honor our truce with the werewolves." As he finished speaking, Jacob went trotting out of the woods in his wolf form.
Lorelai's head snapped to her left upon hearing the crunching of grass beneath someone's weight. A newborn came into sight from behind the large rock toward the side of the field. Leah ran at the newborn, preparing to attack and finish him off. She was stopped by the vampire wrapping his arms around her neck, leaving her to desperately attempt to shake him off.
"Leah, don't!" Edward called, moving forward to help. Instantly, Jacob knocked the newborn off of Leah. Jacob managed to fight the newborn for a few seconds, but the vampire was able to wrap his arms around Jacob's ribs, easily breaking them.
Lorelai's eyes widened as she heard the cracking of his bones. The Uley pack instantly intervened, tearing the newborn apart as Jacob shifted back to his human form. He curled into fetal position as Lorelai sprinted to her childhood friend's side, arriving at the same time as Carlisle, just seconds before Bella.
"I need to set the bones before his accelerated healing kicks in," Carlisle declared, observing Jacob's ribs. "It's already starting."
"Jake, holy shit," muttered Lorelai.
Sam declared, "We'll take him back to Billy's."
Lorelai shook her head. "Let me go with you," she insisted. The wolves didn't look too convinced. "Please, I can help him!"
Carlisle placed his hand on her shoulder. "The Volturi will be expecting you. It's too risky," he declined. He turned to Sam. "We'll be there as soon as possible." With that, the pack was gone.
"They're coming!" Alice called.
As the trio returned to where the rest of the coven stood, Lorelai took Jasper's hand. She looked over to Stella, who had been staring silently at Alice. Her attention went straight ahead to see the Volturi guard approaching. They stopped on the opposing side of the fire, stripping their hoods from their faces.
"Impressive," Jane commented. Her crimson orbs burned holes into Lorelai's before looking around at the group. "I've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact."
"We were lucky," Carlisle simply stated from the front of the group. Stella stepped forward, joining his side.
"I doubt that," Jane monotonically said, looking between Carlisle and Stella. "It's been a long time."
Stella clenched her jaw. "Indeed," she dryly said.
"It appears we missed an entertaining fight," Alec mentioned from beside his sister.
"Yes," Jane responded, turning her attention back to the vampires. "It's not often we're rendered unnecessary."
"If you'd arrived half an hour earlier, you would've fulfilled your purpose," Edward cut in.
"Pity," the blonde mumbled, her eyes scanning the group until her gaze fell on Bree Tanner, who stood behind Stella and Lorelai. "You missed one."
Lorelai dropped Jasper's hand. She and Stella stood protectively in front of the teenager. "We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender," Stella declared.
"That wasn't yours to offer," Jane said before turning her attention to Bree. Immediately, Bree was kneeling on the ground, crying in agony as she fell onto the ground. "Why did you come? Who created you?"
"You don't need to do that," Lorelai snapped. Esme nodded, adding, "She'll tell you anything you want to know."
"I know," Jane admitted with a devious smile. The newborn stopped screaming, remaining still for a few seconds before speaking.
"I-I don't know! Riley wouldn't tell us," Bree answered. "He said our thoughts weren't safe."
"Her name was Victoria," Edward apprised. "Perhaps you knew her."
"If the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would have stopped her," Carlisle shot down. He turned back to the Guard. "Isn't that right, Jane?"
"Of course," Jane agreed. She looked to the tallest member beside her. "Felix."
"She didn't know what she was doing," Lorelai defended.
Esme added, "We'll take responsibility for her."
"Give her a chance," Stella pleaded.
"The Volturi don't give second chances. Keep that in mind," Jane stated before glancing at Bella. "Caius will be interested to know that she's still human."
"The date is set," Bella returned.
Jane stared at Bella for a long moment. Lorelai tensed, fearful that Jane would attempt something she'd regret. Then, Jane looked back to Bree. "Take care of that, Felix," commanded Jane. "I'd like to go home."
Lorelai immediately took Stella's hand as Felix walked forward, pushing past the Manipulators to get to Bree.
Lorelai shut her eyes, flinching at the loud, horror-filled scream that left Bree's mouth. However, the sound vanished within a second as Felix tore Bree's head clean off. He threw her body into the fire before the Volturi exited Forks, the tension in the air hardly ameliorating itself.
Lorelai looked back at the fire.
'I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Bree.'
Revised: January 6th, 2020