BPOV
The next few days dragged on during school as we all made our plans for the weekend. Alice had already arranged with Charlie for me to spend the whole weekend including Friday night with her and Rosalie, and Charlie was going fishing with Billy in La Push, which relieved me, as at least there would be some werewolves to protect him if any of the vampires got away. Jasper and Felix trained the others on how to fight newborns, not that we had too many worries about being harmed, since I would be shielding them all.
Demetri and Felix were my constant shadows, and Edward seemed quite pleased with my extra protection. I was a little annoyed, since it meant that Edward and I had no privacy. They stayed in the forest, close enough that they could hear me at all times. It was very annoying at night as it put a stop to mine and Edward's practise for the wedding night. Lying beside Edward every night- pressed up against the body that I had now fully mapped out using sight, smell and taste- without being able to do anything was exceptionally frustrating.
Edward had it worse though. On the first night I woke up in the middle of the night to find a pained Edward beside me. I had been rubbing up against him and moaning in my sleep, and there was nothing he could do about it. The next few nights weren't any better for Edward, and I knew it was pointless to ask Demetri and Felix to give us some alone time with a group of newborns heading for us. So we sucked it up, and I was left impatiently waiting for the weekend so that I could destroy the newborns and Edward and I could get back to practising for the honeymoon.
One of the things that intruded on our anticipation for the weekend was a visit from Jacob during the week. The mangy mutt had the audacity to visit us after school one afternoon. Edward and I were in the kitchen making dinner, and Felix was out in the woods, within hearing distance. Edward had his arms around me as I leaned into him while stirring the spaghetti sauce on the stove. I knew something was wrong when he tensed suddenly. "What's wrong?" I turned in his arms to get a look at him.
His face was hard. "One of the dogs is on his way here." Sure enough, there was soon a quick know on the door. Before I could go and open it the presumptuous dog let himself in.
I glared at him, from the living room, still in Edward's arms. "Were you never taught any manners? You're meant to wait until you're invited in before you come inside Jacob," I said in a harsh voice. My week of frustration and tenseness while waiting for the fight meant that Jacob acting like he owned the joint riled me up much more than usual.
He shrugged, but his calm posture was betrayed by his eyes, which were bright and eager as he sized up Edward behind me. I rolled my eyes. Somehow, he still couldn't quite fathom that out of Edward and I, I was the one most likely to hurt him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward smirk at something Jacob though before he leant down and gently kissed the side of my throat. I couldn't stop the shiver of desire that ran through me, and as he moved back I could feel the smugness in him at drawing such a reaction from me.
Jacob glared at us. "Careful leech. One tiny nick with your teeth and it will be war, and we'd love to rip you and your family apart."
I glared right back at Jacob, annoyed beyond measure at his interfering. "Why are you here Jacob?" I demanded.
"I'm here to remind you of the terms of the treaty- if any of your bloodsuckers bites-not kills- a human, then the treaty is void. So as soon as they change you, we can kill them." His eyes lit up in anticipation.
I was angry. I pushed out a shield and held Jacob up against the wall, advancing on him and levitating myself up until my eyes were level with his. I felt a perverse sense of pleasure when I saw the fear now glimmering in his previously confident eyes. "Listen up you arrogant dog," I hissed at him. "I am well aware of the treaty, and you have no right to waltz into my house and order me around. You are alive because I have allowed you to live. I could easily have killed you for lunging at me during our first encounter in the woods. Do not try my patience because I may not be so lenient in the future." He seemed to be finally getting the message. "As for changing me, that can be done without biting me." That stopped both Jacob and Edward in their tracks and they looks at me in surprise. "I suppose it never occurred to you Jacob that the venom can be directly injected by syringe did it?" He glared venomously at us, but was still held up against the wall and slightly fearful, so he stayed silent.
I let him go."Now run along back to your pack like a good dog and let them know." He turned and made his way outside, keeping a distrustful eye on us.
Once Edward relaxed I knew Jacob was out of range. I leant back into his reassuring embrace and sighed. "His pack is a bunch of immature puppies. If they came after us I could take them all out in the blink of an eye- not that I would, since Billy Black is Charlie's best friend- but I could."
Edward chuckled. "Indeed love. Now why don't you tell me more about changing you with injections?"
"The Volturi has been using it for years to change people- much safer than biting and risking the loss of control don't you think?"
"Yes, I quite favour the idea myself. No doubt Carlisle will be interested."
I went back to making dinner while I explained the logistics of using syringes of venom to change me- the bonus in this method being that, if large amounts of venom were injected directly into my heart the change would only take two days instead of three- a much happier prospect, which Edward was inordinately pleased with.
Unfortunately, our encounter with Jacob was the only interesting event during the week and as the weekend neared I was bursting with anticipation. As far as Charlie knew, while he would be spending the weekend with Billy in La Push, I would be sleeping over with Alice and Rosalie while Edward and his brothers were off camping. It was to be one of our last sleepovers before graduation, which was coming up in a week. None of the vampires were particularly enthusiastic about graduating again. They had begun dropping their grades slightly, so that they did not get awarded valediction, as they felt it should go to a deserving human classmate. I did the same, since I had had the advantages of vampire teachers all my life, and I didn't really have any interest in the award. Luckily, according to Edward, who had kept a watch on the minds of the teachers, Angela and Ben were neck and neck for it.
The only other break in the week was when Rose and I got our Car and Driver magazines. I rushed into the Cullen mansion after school, Edward trailing behind as I waved my magazine. "Rose, have you seen the new Bugatti Veyron SuperSport?" I called enthusiastically.
"Yes, and did you see that BMW is going to make and M6?" she was beside me in an instant, and oblivious to everyone else we made our way to the lounge chatting enthusiastically.
"I can't wait until the supersport Bugatti is released! I have to have one." Growing up with speeding vampires had left me with a need for speed that was only appeased by owning the fastest cars in the world.
"Well then you'll have to let me drive it. Personally, I'm really looking forward to the M6, although we'll have to wait a few years for it to come out." We continued our debate on the pros and cons of some concept cars for hours. After a while even Edward got bored and left in search of his brothers.
When it was time for me to go home to Charlie, Edward had to drag me out as I continued to debate with Rosalie on whether we needed to buy a 2011 Corvette stingray convertible when it came out. I very unwillingly got into the car for Edward to drive us home, still not done talking about cars, however Edward made it up to me by pulling off into a dirt track so we could spend some time properly making out in the backseat of his Volvo before going home. Demetri and Felix were waiting, annoyance clear on their faces as we registered just how late we were when we finally arrived. Charlie bought the excuse that Alice had kept me late with wedding details, and after scarfing a few slices of pizza I was soon snuggled into bed with my personal Greek god.
The weekend arrived after a long and tedious week of school. I waved to Charlie after dinner on Friday night and sped eagerly off to the Cullen house. Edward, Felix, Demetri and Alice left for the evening to hunt, while the others had gone during the day while we were at school. They all wanted to be as strong as possible for the fight, despite the fact that it would be no problem for us to win. Demetri and Felix had decided that animal blood was better than no blood, so they were tagging along.
Carlisle and Esme would be sitting out the fight, for they were too tender-hearted to actually participate if it was not necessary for the survival of their family- and I couldn't blame them. In fact, they weren't even going to be at the clearing. They would be waiting close to the edge of Forks, in case some of the vampires were to veer off and head towards town before making it to the clearing. They would stop any vampires that were after anyone in town, although I felt relieved that Charlie was going to be in La Push.
The rest of us were eager for the fight, and I spent much of Friday night restless with anticipation, while fending off most of Alice's over-the-top wedding ideas, and approving others. When I woke on Saturday morning Edward was back, and I opened my eyes to look directly into his butterscotch ones. I sighed happily. I always felt better with Edward close by. All thoughts of the upcoming fight were lost as I looked into his stunning face and reached up for my morning kiss. He indulged me for longer than usual and, despite the fact that we could hear the rest of the family moving restlessly around downstairs, we spent the better part of the morning making out- unwilling to go further with eight vampires listening.
Eventually though, around noon time, Alice bounded into the room, with no thought given at all to knocking. "Bella! How do you feel about this wedding cake?" she thrust a photo at me of a cake that was five feet tall. It was shaped two swans, with their necks arched towards each other to make the shape of a heart, and wreathes of flowers around their necks.
My eyes went wide and I groaned. Alice, this is far too big- I'm not planning on inviting the whole town!" She pouted at me and I relented. "But if you can get them to make a smaller version- maybe one foot tall instead, then I think it would be lovely," I admitted. It was a beautiful cake after all, and I thought the swans were perfect, but as usual Alice's enthusiasm had led to some over-the-top ideas.
She beamed at me and zipped back out of the room. I fell back down onto Edward's chest and heaved a sigh. "It's time to get up isn't it?"
"Yes, I'll make you breakfast while you shower," he promised. I nodded and reluctantly extracted myself from his arms. I leant down and kissed him before heading into the bathroom.
After a yummy breakfast, where I marvelled over how good a cook Edward was, we headed out to the garage, where Edward began packing camping gear. Emmett and Rosalie had already left for the clearing, where we were all planning to spend the night in wait for the vampires who were set to arrive early in the morning. I was the only one that actually needed camping gear of course.
Alice came out with a wedding file and joined me watching Edward select from the range of brand new camping equipment stored in the garage. "Pack for cold weather," she advised him. "There's going to be a blizzard tonight." I shivered at the thought, and Edward looked for warmer gear while I made decisions for our wedding with occasional inputs from Edward.
Thankfully packing gear for me to camp for the night did not take very long, and Edward and I were soon headed towards the baseball clearing that would become a battleground tomorrow. Beside us ran Jasper and Alice, along with Felix and Demetri who were carrying the backpacks Edward had packed for me. Carlisle and Esme had bid us goodbye and good luck, and Alice had promised to keep them updated via cell phone tomorrow.
When we arrived we found and enthusiastic Emmett stacking spare branches of wood next to an enormous bonfire in the middle of the clearing. It was already ten feet wide, yellow flames crackling amidst the branches Emmett had piled onto it. He grinned at us as we came to a stop beside him. "What do you think? I thought with the cold weather and all, that this would keep Bella warm." I was touched by his thoughtfulness and I hopped off Edward's back and hugged him.
"Thank you Emmett." He smiled down at me.
"No problem Bells."
While Edward and Jasper set about putting up me tent and various other things they had brought with them for my comfort I took the bags of donor blood that Carlisle had acquired and, following Alice's directions, I laid a trail of blood and my scent to draw the newborns into the clearing tomorrow. Alice assured me that my scent coupled with the smell of blood would send the newborns crazy and lead them straight to us.
When I got back I found a cosy tent set up near the bonfire with an inflatable mattress and a thermal sleeping bag inside, along with a couple of thick parkas. All in all, it looked rather comfortable.
That night, true to Alice's word the weather worsened until it was freezing cold and snowing outside my tent. Inside the tent Edward and I shared the mattress, with him outside my cosy warm sleeping bag. Thankfully though, due to Emmett's thoughtfulness I was toasty warm, as the heat from the bonfire seeped through the tent and warmed me and Edward. In fact, Edward was almost warm to touch- an aspect I would have shamelessly taken advantage of had there not been six vampires outside the tent chatting quietly and making sure that the bonfire was fed regularly.
Between my frustration at having Edward so close and warm without being able to do anything, and my feelings of anticipation for tomorrow I was having trouble calming down enough to sleep. Finally Edward murmured, "A little help Jasper," and my eyes immediately started to droop as a feeling of intense calm and sleepiness washed over me. Instead of fighting it, I allowed myself to succumb and drifted quickly off into a deep slumber.
I awoke the next morning to Edward's excited golden eyes, and when we exited the tent we found that the weather had abated. I ate quickly as Edward packed away everything. Around me all the vampires paced impatiently, except Alice who sat calmly beside me. "Another hour until they get here, and their current number stands at twenty-two," she informed us. I finished up quickly then, and joined in the impatient waiting.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity Alice stiffened. "There here," she breathed.
I cast out a shield and I could feel the quick movements of a whole herd of racing vampires. Knowing they would soon be here I placed shields around all of us. Emmett put more wood on his bonfire.
Finally we saw them as they entered the clearing. All had a single-minded focus on me- the delicious smelling human. They raced for me, and as the last entered the clearing I threw a large dome shield around the entire clearing to keep them in- the last thing we needed was for them to escape.
I could have simply crushed them all with a shield now, and put their pieces on the bonfire. But where's the fun in that? Besides, Emmett would kill me if I destroyed his fun, and after he provided me with a bonfire last night I was feeling pretty charitable.
Jasper was the first to leap into action as the twenty newborns neared us at a full run. All were concentrated solely on me- the delicious source of blood. Jasper leaped gracefully through the air to grab the heads of two vampires. He kicked out into their chests while twisting the heads. Their bodies flew back from Jasper, their heads remained in his hands and he quickly tossed them into the fire before continuing onto the next newborn in his path. The rest of us were only milliseconds behind him. Emmett was like a bear, tearing the newborns apart, while Alice and Rosalie still managed to look like they were on a runway while dodging snapping jaws and tearing off limbs. Felix and Demetri were very business-like, only their eyes gave away their excitement. Edward dispatched of the newborns with litheness. Even while wielding my shields and crushing vampires into pieces I could not help but sneak peeks at his supple form, and watch the muscles of his back and chest play under his shirt. I momentarily considered taking his shield down for a tiny second- just long enough for a newborn to rip the shirt that was obstructing my view, but I squelched that urge.
Edward, Felix and Demetri still stayed close to me, keeping a protective eye on me just in case, but I was used to it, so I ignored them and continued on happily until I felt something at my personal shield. Turning, I was hit again, and although it didn't hurt, I was confused since I could not see any physical attack. Edward had also turned and was looking at me with worry and panic. It suddenly clicked as I felt a continual pounding and groping of my shield- very close to my skin. An invisible vampire. Never was I more thankful for my shields, for without them I would have been dead (although Edward would not have allowed me to be in this situation without them anyway).
However, invisibility was no match for my shields. I felt out with a new shield and cloaked the vampire in it. As a flexed the shield and crushed the vampire slightly their invisibility dropped off them. I took a momentary glance at the vampire that had gotten so close; he stared back with crazed red eyes. He was a fairly non-decrepit man, and even with vampiric looks he was still ordinary. I had no doubt that he had been a quintessential wallflower before being turned. Nevertheless, he had annoyed me, and I crushed his body into pieces with my shield before throwing them on the fire.
Edward, who had stopped fighting when he heard the thoughts of the invisible vampire, was in the arms of a newborn, but surrounded in my shield he could not be crushed. Instead he ripped both arms off the vampire and then destroyed the rest of her body.
With more than half the newborns already burning I realised that Victoria was not among the group. I cast out a shield into the forest, searching for her. I was sure she would have stayed nearby to watch. Sure enough I found her and a second vampire about two miles away and up in a tall tree. I opened my mind to Edward and he nodded as I showed him where she was.
I hopped up on his back and was exited the large dome shield that was still around the shield, stopping some of the newborns from leaving. He ran us towards Victoria.
I took the opportunity to meld myself into his back and breathe in his delicious scent. Coupled with his display of strength I was feeling more than a little aroused. Edward groaned and I knew he could smell it. "Not now Bella," he scolded me gently, but I could hear the reciprocal longing in his voice. I sighed and refocussed my thoughts. I made certain that all of my shields were still holding and then cast another shield around the trees in Victoria's vicinity. This time she was not going anywhere.
Thanks to Edwards speed it did not take long for us to near Victoria's perch. We were only thirty feet from the tree she shared with Riley when Edward put me down. I looked up into the tree. Victoria's flaming red hair stood out amongst the dark forest as her eyes bored intensely into mine. She seemed solely focussed on me. Edward let loose a snarl, and I assumed that her thoughts had been on hurting me. He advanced a step but I stopped him. "No," he paused and looked at me questioningly. "She's mine. You can have Riley." He looked like he was going to protest until he saw the determination on my face. He gave a small nod and sent a glare to Riley, who stood beside Victoria.
Less than a second later Victoria's incredulous laugh rang as she and Riley jumped from their perch to land with a muted thud on the forest floor. "You think you can hurt me little girl?" she snarled. "I'm going to destroy you- a fitting retribution since your mate killed my James. Then I'm going to leave your mate alive so he can feel what it's like to be in such pain." She advanced on me and seemed shocked when I smirked. Riley was dividing his focus. He alternated between looking at me with dark hungry eyes, and glaring at Edward, who was slowly closing in on him. Victoria's mind was solely on killing me.
"I'm going to kill you." I always liked to be as honest as possible. She looked decidedly unimpressed with my warning, and disbelieving, maybe at my words, or perhaps at my bravado in the face of an angry vampire. She lunged and closed a hand around my shield covered throat. Mentally I assured Edward that I was fine, and I saw him refocus and tear into Riley.
Victoria looked triumphant, but a little confused. "Hmm, you must not mean as much to Edward as I thought. Perhaps you are simply a plaything. He is not defending you at all, this is most disappointing- I was sure I would have to go to far more trouble to get to you than this. Instead he brings you straight to me and allows me to kill you without a fight." She stopped her musing there. "Still, you will make a delicious snack- I can see why my James was so set on you." Her eyes were alight with vengeance.
I had had enough of standing still. I used my shield to slice off the hand holding my throat. It fell to the ground and Victoria stepped back in shock. "I warned you," I snarled, as I stepped towards her. She looked around, but by that time Riley was in pieces and she had nowhere left to run. She looked longingly at her hand, which was at my feet before turning to escape. I let her go, and after a few steps she ran into my invisible wall. Hissing in frustration she punched out, but my wall didn't move. She turned as I closed in on her, desperation in her eyes.
She lunged at me, a vicious snarl loosing itself from her throat. I caught her with shield covered hands and, using my shield again as a blade, I dismembered her as she tried to fight me. With a screech her limbs tore apart and her existence was at an end. I looked over at Edward, who was watching me with the same look I was sure had been on my face when he had been fighting the newborns, a mix of lust and excitement.
Unfortunately, both of us knew that now was not the time to let loose such feelings, so we concentrated on building a small fire and throwing every last piece of Victoria and Riley into it. We stood there and watched as their bodies quickly burned into ashes.
When all that was left were scattered ashes we left and headed back to the others. I made a tiny hole in the shield around the field for us to go through and closed it a millisecond later. While we were away the rest of the newborns had been destroyed. All that was left was a huge bonfire spewing purple smoke. I cast out to make sure, but there were no other vampires around. I sighed and lowered the shields surrounding my family members, snapping back my mental shield from Edward. He sighed- he loved hearing my uncensored thoughts, but I loved that they were a secret from him.
I went to lower the shield around the field and realised that the La Push wolf pack was outside it. Some of them were pressed up against it, trying to get past my blockade. I had no idea how long they'd been there. At the same time Edward turned, having heard their thoughts now that there were no newborn thoughts to distract him. "The wolves want to talk," he informed us. I let down the shield and the loped towards us. My family congregated ion a protective stance near me.
The largest black wolf trotted quickly off into the forest. Soon Sam came back in human form. "We want to thank you for destroying the vampires, since they were so close to Forks and La Push." He explained, "Although we cannot say that we are not disappointed that we did not get the chance to kill them ourselves."
"We could not take the chance that many would escape and make it into town or the reservation," Edward stated coldly, "And twenty-two newborns would have been far too many for your pack to take on by themselves," he pointed out. There were a few grumbles from some of the wolves.
"Nevertheless, because we have seen you kill your own kind in order to keep Forks safe we will not bother you again. Jacob has informed us of Bella's impending change, and as it will not technically break the treaty we will not be declaring war." I breathed a sigh of relief. While I would always protect my family, there would have been no pleasure in having to hurt the children of my father's best friends.
"Thank you," Edward said, giving Sam a slight smile.
Sam nodded once again and then he and his pack left. The russet wolf was the last to turn and he glared at me as he did so.
The ending of the day was rather melodramatic as I we reunited with Esme and Carlisle and related the story of the fight. We then bid goodbye to Felix and Demetri. I hugged both of them goodbye. They patted me on the back. "I guess all our training came in handy after all hey Bella?" Demetri chuckled before they left for the airport. The next time they saw me I would be a vampire.
Charlie grinned when I got home, and proceeded to tell me about his day fishing with Billy at La Push- a perfectly normal day. I listened quietly, glad that he was completely oblivious to how close a coven of hungry newborn vampires had gotten to him today.
The true highlight of my day was that night. With no outside audience, and Charlie sleeping like a log, Edward and I were back enthusiastically practising for the honeymoon and making up for lost time.