Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Blood And Steel

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 22:

“So this isn’t good.” Bella astutely observed.

“No it isn’t.” Chris confirmed. Chris, Emmett, Francis, Bella and Winter sat around a flashlight on the floor of the archives digesting the rough translation of what Chris had just read.

Chris was afraid.

Approximately one thousand years ago a strong demon of the type called Oni, named Yoso, found a portal in the land of the dead that led to the land of the living. He looked through the portal and saw it was weakened. He was able to see the Earth and knew it could be his. While the areas of Heaven and Hell were claimed the world of the living was in constant conflict, good versus evil man’s baser instincts versus man’s capacity for good.

Yoso would need help. He needed an army to control the vastness of the land. He recruited the lost souls, those between heaven and hell and the demons that wondered the wasteland between offering them reign over Earth as his soldiers. He would need physical bodies however, as these lesser demons and souls had no physical form. Only a demon as powerful as Yoso would be able to walk the land of the lviing.

While watching through the portal, that was weakening everyday, he saw an anomaly on the Earth. A superhuman creature that fed off the blood of humans. He drew the creature to him and convinced him to serve the demon in exchange for ruling at his side. The creature simply had to break the seven gates of Hell on Earth so his army could come through to his side. The creature was to break the gates and drain humans of blood so his soldiers would have bodies to possess.

The creature failed at each gate.

Unknown to Yoso, the gates of hell were protected by seven guardians, some like the creature under Yoso’s thrall and others by immortal guardians who had protected these gates since the dawn of man. The guardians were strong and gifted, some able to bring a person’s fears seemingly to life, able to make even creatures that fed on blood feel sick or confused. Some were even able to blind those that attempted to destroy their gates.

Time and time again the creature failed his master and was unable to open a gate.

“Thats why Aro wanted you Bella. He wanted your protection against the gifts of the guardians.” Winter whispered.

Without an army, Yoso felt he could still establish rule on earth. The portal weakened and Yoso entered the world of the living.

A samurai named Kaneko was waiting for him. Kaneko had been warned by the spirits of the dead which he communed with that Yoso was attempting to enter where he did not belong. Kaneko and his twin daughters had undertaken a journey across the sea and across land to meet the demon as he walked through the portal into the darkness of the world.

Kaneko while strong in spirit was old in body. He realized quicky that he could not defeat this demon and his minion.

Kaneko had mastered the power of what Chris believed must be quartz, based on the description and what he had learned from the President at Area 51. Kaneko steped into the past, before the time of men as the earth was still forming.

It was there he was drawn to a metal he had never seen before. After a year he was able to master forging the metal into two katanas. He entered the moment he left, armed with two swords, attempting to battle the beast back into the portal that was closing rapidly behind Yoso.

Kaneko was able to slice the demon’s minion in half.

However Yoso proved too much.

Fatally wounded, Kaneko split his soul in two and entered the swords forever. The twins, picking up the sword were instantly infused with the power of their father’s soul and continued to battle Yoso.

Yoso could not defeat the twins, nor could they defeat the demon. Instead the girls forced him back into the portal as it closed behind him trapping him until a time the veil between the living and the dead was weakened and he could be set loose on the world once again.

The twins were mortally wounded. Before succumbing to their wounds, the swords containing their father’s spirit disappeared, and the girls died, unable to heal with the loss of their father’s blades.

The story ended but Chris knew the rest. He knew where Kaneko’s, the twin’s swords had gone. They had been sent to the future where they would be needed again. Where two girls would weild the swords and Kaneko’s soul to battle Yoso once again.

“This unnatural creature that fed on the blood of humans. He was cut in half but not burned.” Bella said.

“Aro.” Winter agreed.

“He built a room around the portal. He has probably been in contact with Yoso for the past thousand years. Yoso probably ordered him, gifted him with the ability to gather others to him. The Volturi Guard. He hoped to use them to beat the guardians and knock down the seven gates.” Francis realized.

“But the guard are dead.”

“I know Winter but Aro is alive. If he doesn’t have a guard anymore he would have to make more vampires.” Chris reasoned.

“How could he make more vampires? To have enough numbers to overrun these guardians he would need… oh shit. Dante, check with Mina and find out if Chelsea was one of the vampires at the airport.”

“Stand bye Bella.”

While they waited underground no one said a word, lost in their own thoughts. Finally Emmett spoke.

“It wouldn’t be hard to make the number of vampires for someone of Aro’s age. He would have absolute control. If Chelsea is with him she could control the vampires for him.”

“Where would these gates be though? They could be anywhere.” Winter asked.

“I know where the gates are.” Chris said, surprising everyone. “I should have made the connections between the spirit world and the legends. There are a lot of theories about the entrances to hell but only seven have been verified by mystics as much as mystics can verify anything.”

“Great, we go to these gates and protect them. Hold off as many of Yoso’s possible army and kill Aro when he shows up. Then we kick Yoso’s demonic ass back through the portal when he steps over the line.” Bella told the group.

“Great idea Bella but we don’t know which gates he will hit first or how many he has already opened. We also don’t know where this portal is or when it is going to open.”

“We do know Chris. Aro would have protected his master. He would have built around the portal and hidden his master until the portal is weakened again.” Winter said, voicing her thoughts for the group.

“I’ve been all over that castle Winter. There is nothing there. No bodies and no portals that have a demon hanging out in it.”

“You’ve looked but I haven’t. Summer hasn’t. It is possible only a spirit could find this portal. The doorway would most likely look like a wall. It won’t have a big neon sign saying demon portal.”

“And the bodies?”

“Could be anywhere. Maybe not in the castle. Aro has had a thousand years to find a hiding place. It could be underground, it could be hundreds of miles away. The Volturi certaily had the resources to send them anywhere. A large cold storage unit shouldn’t be hard to find or at least build.”

“Good point Bells.”

“Shut up Emmett.”

“Shutting up.” Emmett agreed, throwing up his hands.

“Where are the gates Chris?” Winter asked.

“We can’t cover them all. The closest one to us is New Orleans. We will have to outsource the others to the teams. Dante are you listening?”

“Always.”

“This is where we need everyone.”

While Chris gave a rundown to Dante to pass to the teams Winter and Bella walked off into the tunnel.

“I need to call Leah when we reach the surface. I guess you need to make a call too.”

“Yeah.” Bella sighed, trying to focus on what she had to do and not the fate of the twins.

“Just because they died doesn’t mean we will right? I mean… they didn’t have access to the medical care there is today and… Bella what happens to a wolf if an imprint dies?”

“I don’t know.” Bella admitted, trying to focus her thoughts on the stories she had heard of the past wolf packs.

“I know the original shifter… he lost his imprint when she sacrificed herself to save him from a vampire. He didn’t die. He ran off in wolf form and was never seen again. Apparently the grief was too great but she was his third wife… I don’t know Winter.”

“Bella why don’t you let me take both swords. With Summer’s spirit still with me…”

“I was going to kill myself.” Bella whispered.

“What?”

“Before you found me. I was scared all the time and drinking and living in that shithole in the desert having nightmares all the time, afraid to sleep. Everyday I woke up and thought of a reason not to and I was running out of reasons. I had decided to kill myself on my birthday, three weeks from the day you arrived on my doorstep. I planned to walk out into the desert, drink a bottle of bourbon and put a bullet in my head.”

“Bella…”

“Because of you I have been given a new life. Because you found me and someone decided that a suicidal drunk vampire snack was worth carrying a mystical katana, I lived. It hasn’t been an easy life since we have started but I have made friends, learned who I really was, fallen in love, had a family. I have been able to get revenge on everyone who I thought loved me and was really only using me. I got you, my best friend back. I found out what it was like to fall in love and have it make you a better person instead of letting it take you over.

Winter I am scared of losing what I have but I won’t back down. I am going to stop this thing by your side and no matter what, even if the worst happens, I will be proud to die by your side. When we get to the surface call Leah. I’ll call Jason. We will make them understand how much we love them but we will not tell them about what happened to the first twins. We will be strong for them. Besides I’m not ready to die just yet. Just because it happened to them doesn’t mean it will happen to us. We have something they didn’t have.”

“What would that be? A special forces team that specializes in the supernatural?”

“No we have Summer.” Bella told her.

Winter felt warmth enter her body. Bella was right. They weren’t just two, they were three and one was just as powerful in death as she had been in life.

Galveston Texas

Connolly’s bed had been wheeled into the control room where it was placed in a reclining position much to Vivian’s consternation.

“You look like shit.” Vivian commented.

“Thanks. You do too.”

“So does your head hurt?”

“I still have less metal in my skull than you do.”

“Mine looks better.”

“You think it does kid.”

“It’s cool. I’m sure Bella will appreciate the new scars. Maybe when you grow your hair out the circular scar tracing your thick head will be hidden. Course if she liked you to begin with she probably has low expectations.” Vivian chuckled.

“Doctor could please bring me my gun so I can remind Vivian that my trigger finger still works?”

“Calm yourself or you are going back to your room. Max said he didn’t want you in here for another week.”

“Yeah Connolly calm down.” Jack said, entering in a wheelchair.

“Hows the liquid diet going Jack?”

“Seriously? You do not want to get into an argument about which one of us is more fucked up. I’ll be up and moving in a few days. You are the one who blew up a plane when you were too close in some misguided attempt to cover your girlfriend when you didn’t even know where she was. I told you this was going to be an issue. I told you!”

“Jack I’m not supposed to be stressed. Doctor could you please tell Jack to leave me alone?”

“I’m not getting in between you two. You are supposed to be working together.”

Neither said anything.

“Jack?”

“What Connolly?”

“You still love me right?”

Jack tried to hold a straight face and then gave in.

“Yeah you motherfucker. I still love you. What is the situation Vivian?”

“Clive has his team briefed and training in Ireland. King has his team at Area 51 training. We have ten fighters with pilots there being trained by Maverick and Ice and a transport has been assigned to each team. The President has ordered construction and manufacturing crews to be ramped up and operating 24/7 but the material processing is the key road block. It can only be forged so quickly. Weapons are no problem. Peter and Charlotte Whitlock are with Mina compiling a list of covens around the world. Whitlock is panicking, saying he has a ‘feeling’ something bad is coming quickly and we are running out of time but has no idea what the hell that means. Ty and Hawk are runnning with Brody, Jasper, Garrett, and the wolf pack. They are in Siberia huting a coven Aro is known to have ties with. King is waiting orders for where you would like his team assigned. Clive too. Both say they have seasoned operators and are ready for action.”

“Why doesn’t Brody have a team?” Webb asked.

“Ty wanted someone besides Hawk who could shoot a gun. I personally don’t think he trusts Jasper.”

“Ty can get over it. We need as many teams as possible.” Connolly complained.

“Ty said you would say that and to remind you that if you don’t want Bella to know how stupid you are, you will give him what he wants to get the job done.”

Connolly grimaced.

“I missing something here Jay?”

“No Jack. Tell Ty thats fine.”

“I don’t have to tell him. He is already doing it. He also said to remind you which mothafucka is in charge in the field and who is on nursing home duty. His words not mine. I do happen to agree with him though.”

“I’m kicking his fucking ass when I can walk again.”

“Shut up Lt Commander invalid. Got a secure call coming in.”

Vivian picked up her headphones and greeted the caller.

“Rest home for crippled vampire hunters. This is Vivian, how may I direct your call?”

With a sigh she looked at Connolly.

“It’s for you. Since it is too much of a pain in the ass to move you’re death bed out of here, we will give you privacy.”

Vivian rolled Jack out of the control room followed by the doctor while Connolly placed his comm in his ear.

“Go for Connolly.”

“Hey cowboy.”

His heartbeat increased.

“Hey there. You sound a lot like the girl I love who I was expecting to see when I woke up from a coma and who hasn’t called since I have been up. I’m beginning to think she doesn’t love me anymore.”

“Sorry baby. I’ve been under the ocean. How are you feeling?”

“Like hell.”

“You mad at me?”

“No. Yes. No… I just want you here. Come home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah. I mean I know this oil platform isn’t a home but I can give you one. Anywhere you want. Just come home. Let Ty handle this. Me and you, we go live the American dream. How does that sound?”

“Jason I will be back to you as soon as I can but you know I can’t right now. You wouldn’t either.”

Connolly knew she was right.

“You gonna make it out of this Swan?”

“I… I love you. We both could have died at the airport. You know there are no guarantees in this life.”

Connolly heard the words he did not want to hear. He heard the doubt in her voice. He also heard something more.

“What did you find out under the ocean?”

“Chris is explaining to Webb right now. He can catch you up to date. I just wanted to hear your voice. I wanted to know you were okay.”

“I’m not okay without you. I’ve lost damn near everything that makes me who I am except you and you are the only thing I care about Bella. I can’t lose you.”

“If I don’t do this there won’t be much of a life to have Jason. Something big and bad is coming and if Winter and I don’t stop it, then no place is going to be safe.”

“You think you can stop it?”

“It’s been done before. There were twins who… Webb will explain.”

“What happened to these twins?”

“They won.”

“What else…”

“It doesn’t matter! They won. I love you. I want you to know that. I need you to be a leader. We are going to need your guys, and I need you.”

“So keep your com open instead of shutting me out.”

“I will as much as possible.”

“No you won’t.”

“Yes I will. Do you believe I love you?”

“I want to marry you. I want to have those little people that look like us running around a house. I’ll never pick up a gun again if you will just come back to me. I know you have to do this but I need you to survive. Please Bella.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to get back to you. Don’t go soft on me now Connolly. I need you to be you okay? You want to help me, then get focused. We have a world to save right? We can’t have our little clones playing if there is hell on earth.”

“I know.”

“I need to go. Dante is ready and I got a flight to catch.”

“Where you going?”

“New Orleans.”

“Gonna kill some zombies?” Connolly asked, trying to turn the conversation to a lighter note.

“At this point nothing would surprise me. I love you. Gotta go.”

The call ended.

“Love you too Swan.” Connolly whispered.

Then Webb came in.

“I’m glad you are lying down. I need to fill you in and then we got teams to get in place. Forget about raiding covens looking for Aro. We know where he is going to be. At least the places he plans to travel.”

Webb told him.

Connolly couldn’t hold back the shiver despite the room temperature being a pleasant 74 degrees.

New Orleans

“So this is it? Are you sure Chris?”

“Yes Winter. Legends of this place have gone back even before New Orleans was a city. This path is one of the gates of Guinee. It is under the protection and order of Baron Samedi, a powerful Loa demon who protects the passage to the netherworld. If Aro wants to break out many spirits this would be a target. Warn the baron of Aro’s coming, then we stay back and watch for Aro. Simply warn the Baron, determine if Aro has already passed this way and then come back to the surface.”

Winter nodded, loving the way Chris described walking towards a gate to hell and having a friendly chat with a demon seem like an everyday occurence.

“Remember the days where we just shot and chopped vampires to itty bitty pieces?” Bella asked.

“Yeah it was like three weeks ago. Things change though.”

Winter was not in good spirits. Her phone conversation with Leah had been painful. They talked of their love for each other and future, that Winter doubted very much they would have. Winter casually asked what would happen to her if anything happened to Leah, wanting in reality to find out what would happen to Leah if Winter died. Leah just cried, knowing why Winter was asking. She and her fellow wolves along with Garrett, Jasper, Ty, Matt and Hawk were enroute to Greece where they would investigate for signs of Aro’s presence and guard the gates, waiting for him to arrive if no one else got to him first. Vivian had been seraching police reports all over the world for increased missing persons cases in the last week but with no luck. So many people disappeared everyday looking for fifty or so in the major cities was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Leah, like Connolly, desperately tried to convince Winter to join the team with her. Winter tried to convince Leah to go back to La Push and protect the reservation. Neither gave in and the phone call ended with both in tears.

But now was the time to focus. Emmett and Dante had finished digging a hole in the ground between two graves at St. Louis cemetary number 2. Chris had met with a contact in New Orleans who stressed that the gates must be enteredin a certain order at a certain time of year to ensure safety.

There was no time for safety. This was the first entrance and at the end were the gates of Guinee. If these gates were broken a gate on the other side woudl be destroyed and Yoso would have more soldiers.

At the bottom of the pit Emmett had just dug was a coffin. An unmarked coffin with no headstone above it.

“This is wrong. I do not like digging on sacred ground.” Francis complained… again.

“You would prefer a demon to unleash hell on earth Father?” Bella asked. Francis didn’t respond.

“You two go to the hotel and wait. If Aro arrives while we are here, then you can’t be caught in the crossfire. Dante and Emmett can cover us up here.”

Father Francis and Chris pulled handguns from their jackets.

“We’re good.” the priest informed the girls.

“Okay then. I may start going to church if there are ore priests like you Father.” Bella remarked and jumped into the grave, Winter following. They lifted up the lid of the coffin and saw a hole in the ground where the bottom of the coffin should be.

“Interesting. You want to go first?” Bella asked. Winter rolled her eyes and jumped.

Bella jumped after her and fell 3 seconds later on top of Winter. After rising and brushing each other off Bella took a flashlight out of her long coat. Despite the girls enhanced vision it was pitch black in the tunnel, no light at all.

Winter screamed and Bella pulled her katana, prepared to fight.

“What?!”

“A… a spider. Sorry. I hate those damn things.” Winter said sheepishly.

“So much for sneaking up on the demon.” Bella said, not bothering to whisper.

“I doubt you could sneak up on a demon. Seriously I hate enclosed spaces. This is twice now and this one has spiders. Why the hell can’t a gateway be in a wide open space?”

“Let’s move. I think we should go this way.”

“Why?”

“Because there is a wall behind us.” Bella told her, shining her light behind Winter.

“Good reason.”

The two warriors walked for ten minutes, the air consistently becoming colder.

Neither screamed but both jumped back when a skeletal face appeared in front of them.

“B… Baron Samedi?” Bella asked.

A blue light radiated from somewhere and the girls realized they were in a very spacious cavern. At the back of the cavern was a very large stone door. The cavern had seven entrances including the one the girls entered.

The Baron was wearing a suit but the girls could tell he was little more than a skeleton as evidenced by his bony hands. Physically he was little more than a skeloton but there was much more under the surface.

Winter felt herself becoming terrified looking at the creature. She began to shake.

Then she calmed. A look at Bella’s determined face told her the gift of this demon. Aro was wise to want Bella.

“No games Baron.” Bella told him.

“Games mortal? What do you know of games?”

“We have simply come to warn you. You know of Aro?”

“Yoso’s puppet? Yes he tried once to break my gate. He failed and was lucky to escape with his wretched undead life. What of him?”

“He is coming back. This time he won’t be alone. We will be here to help you defend this gate and kill Aro.”

“I need no help. You should leave if you truly believe he is coming. Next time go through the seven paths in order. You are lucky I am allowing you to go back to the land of the living for violating the order of the paths. I could take the spirit you have following you.”

Winter drew her katana and placed it against the demons neck.

“You will leave her alone.”

“Do you truly believe your bobble can hurt a creature like me? I am eternal.”

“And you will spend your eternal life as bone fragments if you try anything with my sister’s spirit. We are here to help you protect this gate. What passage would Aro enter if he were to come here?”

“The same as last time. He would enter the first gate. Because he is already dead or undead at least he would not have to travel the natural path. Humans would go through the seven passages in order. Once one path is complete the other begins. After the seventh path they may see the gate to the other side.”

“Have a lot of humans visit this place?” Bella asked.

“Only one was successful. Marie Laveau visited once to talk to her ancestors. Other than that no human has every successully confront their fear and followed all seven paths.”

“Aro will most likely have many vampires. They are all dead as well. Can you stop them all?”

“I have my own tricks. Once he comes it is in your best interest to not be here.”

A snarl in the path to the far right caught all their attention. The shuffling of feet.

Three female vampires, slightly crazed wearing torn clothing walked out. Other’s followed. Soon at least thirty vampires stood on the far side of the room, eyes darting between the door and the Baron.

“I am afraid it is too late. I am truly sorry you have been caught in the middle.”

“In between what? Killing vampires is what we do.” Winter told him.

“So do they. Unfortunately they cannot tell the difference between friend and foe. I shall do my best to spread fear and stop Aro. I would recommend running.”

Bella and Winter looked to the opposite side of the room. The dirt wall crumbled and the creatures entered the room.

“You gotta be kidding me. Are those…” Bella began.

“Yep. We are caught in the middle of a zombie vampire fight. This should be fun.”

Winter and Bella, katanas in hand, stepped in front of the gate. The Baron focused on the vampires and the girls noticed the front line seemed to be paralyzed with fear. The multiple ones in the back were still snarling. Somewhere in the tunnel stood Aro and Chelsea, waiting for their opportunity to strike the gate.

The zombies and vampires charged each other, the two girls caught in the middle. Bella and Winter raised their swords and began striking anything that moved.