Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Atonement

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 02:

BPOV

This was crazy. I was in a shower. A real shower. Not a lake or the bottom of the ocean. Clean clothes were brought in ten minutes ago by a human female who was in what looked like a suit people wear when a biological emergency happens. It worked. I didn’t smell her at all.

Garrett had brought me to his underground lair. I was to take a shower, get dressed and he would be waiting for me. The problem was I didn’t want to get out of the shower.

“Bella? Have you drowned?”

I wish. No. I told him I wouldn’t be suicidal. Maybe he could give me a purpose. If nothing else it would be great to spend time with him. He was hot. He had a great smile. He also practically radiated power. He seemed at peace with himself. He was everything I wasn’t.

I toweled myself off and stepped outside. He was waiting for me with a smile and reached out his hand.

I hesitated. I hadn’t voluntarily touched someone, other than a victim in a long time. I think Jake was the last person I purposely touched. I took his hand slowly. It was warm, almost soft but still strong. Garrett gave me a grin and pulled me along. We went down a hallway. Halfway down he stopped in front of a door and entered a series of numbers into a keypad.

“563740 if you ever need me, come right in. I use it to discourage soldiers from snooping.”

I followed into what I thought would be a cell type room. Instead I saw a very spacious area. A large flat screen TV hung on the wall in front of a very large couch and a recliner. I looked around the room and saw a refrigerator and a microwave. Also bookshelves. Six very tall bookshelves rose to the ceiling and were covered in books. Art hung on the walls. An old US Flag, 13 stars in a circle was framed on the wall. The edges were torn. Parts looked burned. Even from here I could still smell the scent of… gunpowder.

“Noticed my Betsy did you? My troop carried her with us. I found her on the field after I awoke as a vampire. I rolled her up, placed her in my coat and have had her ever since.”

“What happened to you?” I whispered.

“I was a soldier. Revolutionary Army. My troop was on a scouting mission. There were only ten of us. We were attacked by a vampire. My friends were drained. All nine of them. He bit me but didn’t drain me. I suppose he had enough. He hit me on the head. He must have thought I was dead. I woke three days later, as a vampire. I killed countless British soldiers. I also began killing our side. I was angry and depressed. I wanted to fight the British, not kill my brothers in arms. Finally having enough, I found General Washington. I told him what happened in private. I explained what I could do and demonstrated. Truthfully it was foolish on my part. Only because I had such great respect for the man was I able to withhold draining him dry. I told him I had tried to shoot myself but could not die.

George being ever the strategist had a heart to heart with me. He told me that if I exist others of my kind must. Not just the monster who turned me. We talked into the night and wondered what else might be out there.

By morning the two of us decided to keep my existence a secret. I could help the government. We both knew a new nation would face many challenges. Apparently there would be other challenges in addition to the obvious human ones. I stayed by George’s side throughout the war. I helped from the shadows, killing as many British as I could. The simple concept of having a mission, a purpose, the possibility that this may not be a bad thing, that it was possibly meant to be, allowed me to have much better control around humans. I didn’t constantly feel like looking for ways to kill myself. That would be selfish. Using what I was given to help my fellow patriots, however… I didn’t see what other choice I had. I stayed with George during his presidency. I was at every major American battle. I became involved when I could. George introduced me to John and so on, until I became the official government secret weapon. I have worked with every single US President. Even Nixon unfortunately. The US Government does not tell me what to do. I have proven my interest in this country’s wellbeing a thousand fold. I do however work with the President when there are sticky situations that US soldiers cannot become involved in. Dangers of biological or nuclear terrorism. I may take one of those missions if I feel that the military cannot be successful without losses or failure means getting humans hurt or killed.”

“Does the entire government know about you?”

“No. Only those with top secret clearance in this building. The guards you met in the hallway. Some generals and the President. The FBI and CIA do not know about me. I work with the Military exclusively. Around 100 years ago I began meeting other vampires and tracking them. Carlisle Cullen told me of Edward’s mind reading or he would have seen me right off. I was able to avoid him for the most part and hide my thoughts when he was around. The fortune teller was never able to see me because she had no reason to. My life did not affect her.”

Yeah. The fortune teller.

“What is it Bella?”

“I just don’t see why Alice didn’t see this coming and try to stop it.”

“Alice most likely could not see you because you were around shape shifters. Vampires have a hard time with gifts working on other species. Once you were turned… Bella while you were in the room an EEG was ran on you. Your neuro waves indicate you have power. More precisely I would guess you have the power to scramble other powers. I don’t know if this is personal or you can protect others. I would like to find out. I think you have a great many gifts Bella. Gifts that have nothing to do with being a vampire.”

“What would those be? Killing people?”

“No. The ability to feel guilt for killing people. It is rare for a vampire. Don’t lose it. Our kind are predators. It is what it is. We just need to point you at the right prey.

Anyway, about 50 years ago we began studying venom. We determined that venom is a tricky substance. We believe it is extraterrestrial. Sent to earth perhaps millions of years ago. A biological entity that attacks the human body through blood. Venom takes over the body but it does not kill the body. Our hearts may not beat because venom constantly runs through our system. Unlike blood, venom doesn’t need a pump to carry it through. It is a real biological agent in our bodies. It makes us thirsty for blood. It makes us strong, fast, and invincible. Its only weakness is it is highly flammable. Venom can pull a vampire in pieces back together. Fire however is a different story. Once the venom is exposed, fire takes over. The vampire is burned to nothing. Like your friend James was.”

“What else does it do?”

“It becomes our life source. It makes our skin sensitive. It makes our senses greater. It lets us feel desire and runs through our body much like blood. It is why vampires can have sex. Venom doesn’t need oxygen so we don’t need to breath. No blood is needed to pump so we need no heartbeat. We can breath but we don’t need to. Venom takes over everything. And occasionally it makes some of our kind gifted. I myself am not gifted. A vampire who works with me is gifted. I believe you to be as well.”

Wait.

“Another vampire works with you?”

“Yes. He came to me 5 years ago feeling much the same way you did. He joined me. He is currently on a mission in the Middle East. He will be back in a few days. There is a terrorist leader our CIA is having a difficult time tracking. He will sniff the man out and provide the correct intelligence.”

Wow.

“We also fight other creatures who may wish to harm the citizens of our country. I admit if I went after every vampire I’m afraid I wouldn’t last long. I’m a great fighter but no one is that great. Down the hall is a control room of sorts. A situation room. Satellites keep track of known vampires as best as possible. I do intelligence gathering missions every once in a while mostly to see if I can get any information on happenings.

But there are lycans. Werewolves. Not as nice as the ones you hung out with. Witches…”

“Witches?”

“Yes. And demons. Rejects from hell. We don’t know much about them other than they are strong, foul smelling, can masquerade as humans and are inherently evil. We call them demons. Are the really legionnaires of hell? I don’t know. But when one pops up you can bet he or she is up to no good. I fight them. They are not easy to kill. I actually have to use a sword if you can believe that shit. They disintegrate as soon as they die. Hard to do an autopsy on ashes.”

I took a deep breath and sat back. This was a lot to take in.

“Bella I pledged to be always honest with you. You have some options here. I won’t kill you. Pick a fight with another vampire if you want that. I am much to taken with you to do something like that. You can however leave here and go back to your nomadic lifestyle. Another option is I know exactly where the Cullens are. I can take you to them or tell you how to find them. I know they have been scouring the West Coast. My guess is they are looking for you. I am sure they would welcome you. Help you to survive on animals.”

Did I want to go to them? I understand why Edward did what he did but they abandoned me. I wasn’t the same person I was when they left. I wasn’t Edward’s love and I wasn’t Alice’s best friend. I was a killer.

“My other option?”

“Join me as you have already indicated you want to. Help me. I will train you. I will train you to fight. Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons and anything else we discover in this crazy world. You will have a home. I can help you with your thirst. We can see what power you have exactly. I have been where you are Bella. So has my comrade. We all feel the guilt of what we have done and are driven to better the world and keep others safe. First and foremost the United States but the world as a whole when we can. The souls of those we took died in sacrifice to the monster inside us. Now though, we can control the monster. What will you do with your monster Bella? I hope you still want to join men after hearing this. Other supernaturals hide from vampires do to self preservation but they are dangerous. The y can injure and kill us if we aren’t careful. If you do not want in I hope you keep this to yourself.”

“What if I don’t?” Would he kill me?

“Then I will deal with the fallout. The answer is no to your unasked question. I told you. I won’t kill you. You are special, Bella Swan. I hope you realize it soon. Come with me.”

I stood up very quickly. Garrett chuckled.

“I can also help you to act human and blend in. Follow me.”

We went two doors down and he entered another code. 67345. The door opened and I gasped.

The room was large. The walls were wooden. Looked like oak. A sofa and TV identical to his were on the wall. A refrigerator and a microwave. I could almost taste the blood in that box. Bookshelves lined the walls but there were no books in them. I used to love to read.

“This is yours. I will leave you alone for a while. Come to me down the hall when you have had time to digest all this. I will be in the control room checking on the nasty’s of the world. Software scans thousands of media sources to determine possible signs of supernatural involvement. Especially Bigfoots. Those bastards can raise havoc I promise you.”

I looked at him in shock. He was smiling.

“You’re kidding about bigfoot right?”

“You dear, are going to have to stick around to find out. Make yourself at home. Take as much time as you need. Come find me when you make a solid decision.”

“What if I try it and change my mind?”

“You won’t Bella. You were born for this. Once you make a decision you stick it out. I already can tell this about you.”

He walked out without another word. Damn he was gorgeous. For the first time since I had turned I realized what he said was right. Venom did flow in the right places when the proper stimulus is applied. Or seen in this case.

I looked around the empty room. This could be home. Charlie. Charlie would want me to do this.

He said he could take me to the Cullens. They were looking for me. They must still want me. If they didn’t assume I was dead they must know I was turned. I wonder how? Did it matter?

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. I apologized to the 38 people who were no longer on this Earth. What would they want? They would want to have never ran into me obviously. But I could stay on my own and make it worse. I could join the Cullens, maybe forgive Edward, maybe moved past the resentment that I know is still there. A part of me still blamed them for this. I took responsibility but still. If I am being honest with myself I didn’t know if I could get past it. I could never love Edward the way I once did. I didn’t want to. I lost myself in him and lost myself to the monster inside me. Maybe it was time I found myself.

I thought about my human life. Jake. Emily. Charlie and Renee. Billy, Embry, Sam and even Quil. My grandmother. She was watching me from Heaven probably crying over what I have become. Could I change that?

I had wanted to die. To give up. Was I that much of a coward? I didn’t ask for this. Okay maybe once I did with Edward. But I was supposed to have his family around. Keeping me from hurting others. Not having delivery men show up at my door within hours of waking up.

Maybe instead of feeling sorry for myself I should try to become angry. Anger would be a nice change. Not at everyone. Not at myself. There was one that I wanted to be angry at. I wanted her.

My mind was made up. I knew what I had to do. But I would ask him for a favor. I walked out the door and down the hall. I could already recognize his amazing scent. He was seated in front of a large screen. Various camera footage was all over the board. I saw a person in the woods in one of them. The person disappeared in a flash. Vampire. Satellites watching vampires. Another screen showed two vampires fighting.

Garrett had his feet kicked up on a console. He was speaking to someone on the phone. He saw me and smiled and placed his fingers to his lips.

“I am sorry to hear this Carlisle.” Carlisle? He was speaking to Carlisle.

“We haven’t given up hope Garrett. We know she is out there. We know she is a vampire. We will not rest until we find her. Until we bring her back. We never should have left her in the first place. Edward thought he knew best. He has come to see the error in his idea that he knows best. Yet the fault is mine. I am the leader of the family and I let this happen.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself Carlisle. How is Edward?”

“Devastated. Angry. Focused.”

“A dangerous combination Carlisle. Keep an eye on him.”

“I will Garrett. And if you see her in your travels…”

“You will be the first to know.”

“Thank you friend.”

Garrett ended the call and looked at me.

“They are looking for me?”

“No. A vampire named Stacy. Do you know her?”

I instantly became pissed before I could realize he was kidding.

“Very funny.”

“Do you want to go to them? Edward still loves you. The entire family loves you. You know he thought he was doing what was best by leaving you and is a stupid man. He made a mistake.”

“Yes. He did. So did I. Many, many mistakes. No. I don’t want to go to them. Mistake or not, when they left… it was over.”

Garrett nodded.

“So have you made any decisions?”

I nodded.

“And?”

“I’m in. 100%.”

“Excellent. I can’t wait to tell…”

“One thing.”

“Okay.”

“I want to find Victoria and kill her.”

“I’m sorry Bella. You can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not!?” I yelled. What the hell?

“Because Edward Cullen killed her two months ago. She found him. Bragged about what she did to you and then tried to get away. He was faster.”

“Oh.” Edward killed her. A little late Edward. Still I guess it’s the thought that counts.

“That’s how they know I am a vampire?”

“Yes.” Garrett seemed tense. I suppose I did just yell at him.

“What else Garrett?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look worried. What else do you have to tell me?”

“Nothing. I just hope you don’t have a fit. I am sitting in front of a hundred million dollars of tax payer slush funds and really don’t want to have to ask the President for more. He’s been taking a lot of crap about the national debt and I don’t want to add to the bill.”

God he could make me laugh. It felt good to laugh.

“So since you can’t kill Victoria do you still want to join me?”

“Yes. I’m ready. I will commit to you. I mean to this.” He caught what I said before I could catch it. His grin told me so.

“I would definitely love for you to commit to me Bella. You are sure you don’t want to go back to the Cullens?”

“I was never there to begin with Garrett. Make me a fighter.”

He smiled. Damn I loved his face. Those eyes were smoldering.

“Good. Let’s got to the training room. I want to show it to you.”

“Training room?”

“Yes. You need to work out regularly if you want to become a deadly fighter.”

“Work out? Vampires can’t get stronger.” I told him. I didn’t think so anyway.

“True. Speed and strength are predetermined but surprisingly similar to each other regardless of sex or size. We are given equal standing. The best fighters are those who work to become better. Better reflexes. Better technique. Vampires have to rely on hand to hand combat when fighting each other. The better fighter always comes out victorious. We need to make sure you are the better fighter. There is also sword training to battle demons and werewolves. Reflex training to battle witches. You may not become faster but you can be quicker. You’re a super strong, super-fast vampire. I will make you better. When I am done with you, you are going to be a very dangerous lady. You will also learn to blend in with the human race.”

“Okay. We start now?”

“No. We start in the morning. Tonight I want to show you around. I want to wait until we get the rest of your clothes here. Two female soldiers are getting you everything you need. I need to tell you who knows what. I need to check out the sunscreen and put you under UV lights to see how it works on you. Shouldn’t be a problem but…”

“Sun screen?”

“Yes. HPF 10000. Just kidding. We have a lotion that completely blocks UV rays. Clear. Won’t even register to the naked eye. No UV, no sparkles. We have to blend in. We go after human monsters occasionally.”

“I can walk in direct sunlight?”

“Hell Bella you can walk to the beach in a bikini if you want. I wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

Oh damn.

“We also will get you into payroll, get you a couple IDs. Get you a clearance card.”

“Payroll?”

“Yes. You will need money. You are on the Governments dime now. Also you need to get a list of books together. You will need something to read. It is important to keep your mind on things other than training. You are a very beautiful person. You are going to live. You will not exist for the next mission alone. Understand. I want good people with me. Not good robots.”

I nodded. That made sense I suppose.

“So after this we can train?” I was so ready to start.

“No. After that we kick back at my place, pop open a couple hot bags of blood and I was hoping you might want to watch a movie with me?”

“A movie?”

“Yes.” He said.

“What do you want to watch?” What would he watch?

“I don’t know? You like action movies? Comedies?”

“I…” didn’t have a clue really. This whole night had become so surreal.

“How about the three stooges? Do you like the three stooges?”

Uh… “I don’t think I have ever actually seen them.”

“My God! What is the world coming to? We must rectify this. Let’s get your picture at least so the lab boys can start on your documents. Then we watch the stooges.”

“Okay. Garrett, you were kidding about Bigfoot right?”

“No. They are big, hairy, have horrible dispositions and smell bad. They can also take out small towns if they aren’t controlled. I can’t wait to see your face when you smell one. Now come! The stooges await.”

I guess we were going to see the stooges. Bigfoot? Really?

“One other thing. Is the Loch Ness Monster real?”

“She was. I killed Nessie a long time ago. Now, pictures and stooges. Lets move.”

Garrett POV

I watched her laughing. The sight and sound of it made me smile. She was next to me on the couch but still kept her distance. She had not had contact with anyone in a long time. I’m surprised she opened up as much as she has.

When she told me she was in I wanted to be sure. I gave her time. I contacted Carlisle for more information and to let her know what her options are. After calming down and spending time by herself I knew she would stay. When she walked out and said she was not going back my team was complete.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t fascinated by her. She was beautiful. When I saw her eyes I felt things I had never felt in my existence. She was damaged though. She had scars on her soul that would not be easy to deal with. I would give her purpose. I would give her something to focus on. Maybe we could both have something positive to focus on. My first mission would be to get her used to human blood. She would discover that when she returned to her room if the filtration had been set as I requested.

“I can’t believe I’ve never seen these guys before.” She said smiling at the TV.

“I’m glad you like them. I hope you aren’t to terribly upset about my not killing you?”

She didn’t laugh as I had hoped.

“No. I guess not. But Garrett if I kill another…”

“You might.” May as well make this clear. “You will have a slip up possibly. You may have to kill a target we go after to protect others. We are killers Bella. We do our best to protect them but do not sit there and say if you kill someone else you want to die. It’s not going to happen. You will do your best to be vigilant. But it may happen. We learn from it and move on. I admire Gandhi a great deal. I actually met him once. One of if not the most beautiful souls I have ever come across. But Gandhi isn’t effective in every situation. We are. We do the things others cannot or will not do. There is no time it is okay to want to die. General George Patton once said in an address to his troops that you don’t win a war by dying for your country, you win it by killing the enemy. Actually George used some colorful language but it was just his way of speaking. The point is the same. There is honor in dying for others. But if you are alive you have to fight for honor. There is no honor in taking away yourself from the fight.”

She said nothing but nodded her head.

“Why don’t you go to your room and start surfing Amazon or Barnes and Noble for books you like?”

She nodded again and walked out with me on her heels.

Walking into her room she froze.

“Relax.” I whispered.

“It smells like blood. Is it the refrigerator?”

“No. The scent of human blood will be slowly filtered into this room. Not much now but it will be stronger as it goes on.”

“Why?” She whimpered.

“Because the best way to get used to it is to be around it. To slowly desensitize yourself to it.”

“Okay.” She nodded and a determined look crossed over her face. I followed her to the laptop and she began to type.

She made it two letter before her finger crushed the B key.

“Sorry. Uh… there weren’t a lot of computers where I was.”

“It’s okay. We have forty in the closet. We will work on it. For now why don’t you let me type for you and you tell me what you want.” I gently rubbed her shoulders and she didn’t jump. Progress.

We laughed for hours while she told me her favorite books that she could remember and I pointed out how damn dull they were. Around ten AM, I felt it was time to give her some space. Make sure the books got sent on the double. I turned the television on and told her I would be back later and we could get to work on touching things without crumbling them to dust.

“Garrett?”

“Yes Bella?”

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“No need to thank me. You are helping me out.”

“Yeah… could I ask a favor?”

“Anything Bella.”

“I can’t remember the number, but if you could find it for me and a phone, I think… I think I want to talk to him. At least say goodbye.”

I knew she would when I heard her story.

“Of course Bella. One phone number for a Jacob Black and one telephone with a speaker phone option, coming right up.”