Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Protecting Maddie

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 23:

BPOV

“Dammit! I thought I was supposed to be able to find anybody!”

“Bella babe, you need to calm down. Maybe you just aren’t relaxed enough.”

“Let me guess how you want to relax me Peter.” I told him, rolling my eyes.

It has been two weeks since Bryan’s funeral. Maddie has been depressed. She is blaming herself. I have been looking nonstop for Laurent and Victoria. Alistair was supposed to be able to find anything or anyone in the world. Why couldn’t I? It worked for everyone else. I knew the Volturi were working their way into Northern California. They would wind up in Denali soon. Alice and I both saw the DenaIi coven being approached. Eleazar to be specific. They would need his skill and wouldn’t take no for an answer. I knew the Romanians were on the East Coast turning newborns at a reckless rate. Anyone they thought may be gifted. I had never had to use Alistair’s power before because I was never looking for anyone. But if I can see the Volturi and the Romanians, why can’t I find Bob Marley and the redheaded whore?

“A shield.” Jasper said walking up and scaring the hell out of me.

“What?”

“That would make sense. And it would be very bad news.” Peter agreed.

“Back up. What are we talking about?”

“A shield. Laurent and Victoria must have another vampire with them if you can’t find them or track them.”

“What the hell is a shield?”

“A vampire who can protect themselves and others from mental powers of other vampires. They are rare. A physical shield is even rarer. If we are dealing with a shield it is likely the vampire is just a mental shield.”

“Three vampires?”

“Yep. At least.”

“Okay… so my powers won’t work on them?”

“The mental ones won’t. The ones that affect their minds. Demetri and Alistair found other vampires by sensing their essence so to speak. You won’t be able to find them.”

“What about my power? If I get close enough to the shield can I copy it? Or would it negate my power?”

“I don’t know Bella. We are kind of in unfamiliar territory here.” Peter responded.

“So I guess there is no point in looking mentally. Maybe physically.”

“They aren’t here Bella. Garrett and Char have been all over this area for a hundred miles.”

“They wouldn’t kill Maddie’s date and then bolt Jasper.”

My poor girl was still so messed up about that. She hardly ate. She didn’t talk much to her friends any longer according to Char. She hardly ever smiled. Her emotions ranged from sad to angry back to sad or scared. Her nightmares had returned full force. Peter and I had begun staying in our room with her every night. I held her while she slept and Peter stayed sitting in the corner watching the window. At least until she fell asleep. She would only sleep if Peter was staring out the window and I was holding her. She had resorted back to being a scare kid and it bothered me greatly. I heard her begiing Char to turn her the other day.

A big part of me was considering turning her when she turned 18 and not making her attend her senior year of school. It went against everything I had always wanted for her. But I needed her safe. Plus I wasn’t sure how long we would be able to stay here. I really wanted her to finish the school year. Barrel racing was about to start for the Rodeo Team. Her first event was this coming weekend. She and Princess were the reigning divisional champs. She was the favorite again this year. The favorite was currently mumbling in her sleep. Shit. I got off her floor and laid down, wrapping my arms around her. Peter was concerned. He knew what was coming. Jasper was sending calm her way. I doubt it would work…

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

Nope, didn’t work. I rubbed my baby’s hair running my fingers through her brown strands, while she stared wide eyed in front of her. Maddie has an eerie way of sitting straight up when she wakes up from a nightmare. If she kept this up she was going to pull back muscles.

“Mommy is here sweetie.”

Instead of talking to me like she usually does she lay back down and pulled herself further in my arms. Peter walked over and sat on the other side of her. She reached out with her eyes still closed and pulled Peter’s arm around her as well. It must have been a helluva dream.

We stayed like this without moving, staring into each other’s eyes across our baby girl. Because she belonged to Peter as well. She was still AJ’s little girl and always would be. She still wore her Army Ranger tee shirts and had two pictures of AJ in her room and the locket she carried around her neck. But a big part of her she gave to Peter. You have to have a pretty big heart to do that. Maddie was lucky to have two great men love her in this life. She told me once that Peter was given to us by her Daddy to make sure we were safe and loved. She must have been twelve at the time. Peter overhead and was speechless for hours. That’s saying something for Peter.

Her alarm went off at 5. She slowly rose and asked if she had to go to school today. She had been doing this more and more lately. Char said she was barely paying attention in school. Her grades were still there. She just wasn’t herself. It kind of reminded me about the month I spent after Edward left. I felt like a hollow shell until Alice arrived to save me from myself.

“yeah baby. We have to go to school today. You need to see your friends.”

“Why? So I can set them up to be targets? We don’t belong around humans Mom.”

“You are a human, Maddie.”

“No I’m not! Maybe I am but you know what I mean. You weren’t a human when you started lying to Grandpa about the Cullens. You became part of their world and it almost got you killed. I stopped being human the day you turned. I don’t care and I’m not mad about it. I get to have you forever and that makes me very happy. But let’s not pretend we are something we aren’t. We don’t belong in the human world Mom! You know this.”

The sad part was, she was right. We didn’t belong here. We weren’t meant to live among humans. Maddie may not have been a vampire yet but she was part of the supernatural world.

I had no other options though.

I knew where she was coming from. The life I wanted for her, the life the four of us had tried so hard to build, lasted 9 years before it came crashing down around us.

“Maddie, please just go to school.” I whispered.

She said nothing but she did get out of bed. She went to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later, her hair a mess. She was in her boots, jeans and tee shirt. Without another word she walked downstairs. I heard her walk to the stalls and begin feeding the horses. Jasper was out helping her. Twenty minutes later she was brushing Princess.

When she raced it was like she and her horse were one. It was beautiful to watch. To me they were still the tiny girl and Pony they were when Peter gave her that horse. But they were both grown. They were both strong. Maddie would survive. She had too.

Maddie POV

“So how were your horses today?”

“My horse was fine, Char. What did you do last night?”

“I went hunting with Garrett and then we…”

“Searched for evil vampires out to get me?”

“Yeah.”

“Who did you hunt?” I often wondered but I never asked. Maybe it was denial but I didn’t want to think of sweet Charlotte killing anyone.

“Oh I got a Moose.”

“You ate an animal?” I asked, a little surprised.

“Yes. We always do when we come to visit you, Maddie.” Char seemed confused. I guess I was supposed to know this.

“I didn’t know. Why?”

“Because… I don’t know why really. It just doesn’t seem right eating a human when…”

“When I am a human?”

Char at least looked a little sheepish.

“When I’m not around, you eat humans. Why change for me?”

“We love you, Maddie.”

“Then how about not doing it even when I’m not around? Or do you only love me when you are around me?”

“Of course not! I mean… does it mean a lot to you?”

I guess I never really thought about it. Peter stopped feeding from humans when he met Mom and me. I never gave a lot of thought to Char and Garrett’s diet. I guess…

“It’s none of my business Char. Feed how you want to feed.”

“I don’t want to upset you Maddie. If you want me to stop, say it. I will stop. If it matters to you even a little Garrett and I will both stop.”

“If you want to stop, do it because you want to Char, not because of me. Look I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Let’s forget I asked.”

The rest of the day dragged on. It seemed like the only enjoyment I got out of this human charade was riding Princess. Everywhere I turned there were pictures of Bryan. Little memorials set up by students reminding me that he was real and he died because of me.

The worst part was the looks of pity I got from my friends and teachers. They didn’t know it was my fault. They thought I was so upset because I was in love with him or something. I didn’t love him. I liked him a lot. But I didn’t love him. Not like that. I’ve never loved anyone the way Mom and peter or Jasper and Alice love each other. I was holding out until I could find that person. Something told me he wouldn’t be human.

Bryan was dead because of me. He chose to go out with me and it cost him his life.

The only surprise I had that day was at lunch. Char and I sat at our own table as usual. And who should walk over but Eddie Cullen.

“Maddie, how are you doing?”

Char hissed. I waived her down.

“What do you want Cullen?”

“I know your mother doesn’t want you talking to us, but we were wondering if you and Charlotte of course, would like to sit with us. Get to know us. I would…”

“Was my Mom tearing your leg off or beating Rosalie into a cardboard cutout not enough of a clue that you should probably leave me alone?”

“Of course. I… we only wanted to visit. The offer is always open.”

He walked off leaving the entire cafeteria crowd staring at Char and I.

“Your Mom is going to kill him and burn him and bring him back and burn him again.”

“No, she isn’t. Don’t say anything Char. He is harmless. The whole group of them isn’t worth getting worked up over. We have bigger problems.”

“She will find out Maddie.”

“Yeah and she doesn’t need to worry about it. I can handle those assholes.” I knew they could hear me. I didn’t give a damn.

We arrived home after school and to my sort of surprise I saw that Peter had saddled up Ranger next to Princess.

“What are you doing Papa Petey?” I smiled, trying to pretend I was okay. Papa Petey was a name I hoped would stick but he cringed every time he heard it. I guess some things aren’t meant to be.

“Me and you are going for a ride. You don’t mind do you?”

“Of course not. I was planning on taking Princess for a run today.”

“Great. Let’s go. Char can take your backpack in.”

---

We rode to the Green River. It was a peaceful ride. Neither of us said much. We got to the bank and I hopped off of Ranger. Maddie got off of Princess and stood beside me.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

“Yeah it is Peter. You think next year instead of taking a vacation somewhere that Mom can soak up powers we might be able to go to Texas? San Antonio? I miss it.”

“You remember it?”

“Yep. It’s kinda hard to forget. It’s where I lived with my Dad and where me and Mom found you. I remember I was pretty mean to you when I first met you. I was so scared of someone taking my Mommy from me.”

“And now?”

“Now I’m scared of someone taking you both from me.”

“Maybe it’s time you stopped being scared all the time.” I hated to do this but it had to be done.

“I’m not scared all the time.”

“Don’t lie to me. I don’t need your Mom’s bullshit detector to tell when you are lying. You and your Mom aren’t very good liars. That’s a good thing.”

“I’m not scared all the time.” She said sticking out her bottom lip slightly. It was kind of cute. Bella chewed on hers. Maddie hadn’t quite picked up that habit.

“You sure are doin a good imitation of it. Your Momma’s worried to death about you. That’s sayin something for a vampire. She blames herself for not protecting you from all this.”

“It’s not her fault!”

“It ain’t yours either but you seem to be doing a helluva job taking the blame. You would think you were the one who sucked that boy’s blood out of his body.”

“I can’t believe you said that.” She whispered.

“I can’t believe you are acting like this. I can understand you being pissed. We all are. We won’t rest until the ones who killed that boy are dust. But you, all you can seem to do is mope around and talk about where you don’t belong. It’s getting old. It’s wearing on your Mom. That’s not the way my little girl acts. She is too much of a tough bitch for that. At least I thought she was.”

“YOU ever had someone die because of you Peter?”

“Hundreds Maddie. Jasper and I both have that on our conscience.”

“What… you mean when you were first turned? That doesn’t count. You didn’t have a choice.”

“Everybody has a choice. Would I have killed that many people if I hadn’t been around Maria? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Either way I got to live with those lives on my soul. They were my fault.”

“No they weren’t! Maria made you!”

“Then why the hell do you think this is your fault? They are more on me as this Bryan boy was on you. Hell I even directly killed them! Why don’t you put the blame for Bryan on the asshole that actually drank his blood?”

“So what? What’s your point?” She was pissed. About time.

“Bad things happen Maddie! We can take responsibility and move on or let it destroy us! I could have wallowed in misery for a long time. But I didn’t. Instead I live my life trying to atone. You got nuthin to be blamed for. Yet you insist on taking the weight of the world on your shoulders just like your Mom. It stops now. You are going to live. You are going to stop blaming things on yourself. You want to talk about blame I can sit around a campfire and tell you stories about the men and women I killed for two weeks straight. We are strong Maddie. We learn and move on. Maybe you don’t go on anymore dates alone. Maybe you stop giving your Mom grief about looking for your future. But you don’t stop living. You never stop! You are too damn special for that and I will be damned if I am going to stand around and watch you hide in fear. You want to be a big bad vampire one day? Why don’t you start now. Death is part of life Maddie. You know that very well.”

She stood there and didn’t say a word. I wondered if I went too far. A tear fell down her cheek.

“You’re right.” She whispered.

“I know.”

“So what do I do? How do I move on? How can I forget?”

“You don’t forget. But you keep going. You talk to friends. You develop relationships. I won’t lie to you. I won’t say they will never be harmed because of us. But they could just as easily be harmed by something else not vampire related. That’s life. But we will do our best to keep them safe. You know our best is pretty damn good.”

“It’s not my fault?”

“Nope.”

“But…”

“You had no way of knowing Maddie. If you knew a vampire was stalking you, I would be the first to tell you that you should be careful. I’m telling you now to be careful. But we don’t stop loving. We don’t stop living. Because if we do they have won and we don’t lose. Losing is not acceptable. We are winners remember? We win.”

That got a smile on her face.

“Never gonna let that little comment go are you?”

“Nope. I will never forget it because you have always shown me it’s the truth. You are a winner. You win. So stop acting like a loser and get back in the game.”

She wiped the tear from her cheek.

“Thanks Peter. I love you. You know that right?”

“The one thing I am absolutely sure of in this world is the love I feel from you and your Momma. Gives me hope that maybe I am on my way to some sort of atonement. Because a damned bastard wouldn’t deserve you two.”

She nodded and got back on her horse. About half way back she smiled and took off. Damn that girl can ride fast. I spurred Ranger and we took off after her. When we were almost home I heard her laughing in the wind. Sounded like music. Wild and full of joy. Just the way I like her.

BPOV

I heard Maddie riding up to the house. It sounded like she was laughing. Thank God. Peter could always reach her on a level I couldn’t. He didn’t treat her like delicate glass. Maybe I shouldn’t either. But I couldn’t help myself. The house phone rang. I saw it was a private number.

“Hello?”

“Hello Bella. Miss me? It has been a while.”

“Yes, it has Victoria. Trust me; I can’t wait till we meet again, face to face. It’s all I’ve been thinking about lately.”

“Bella you shouldn’t be mad at me. We didn’t even touch your precious daughter. She really is pretty. A spitting image of you in that clearing.”

“What do you want Victoria?”

“Easy. I want your coven to attack the Volturi for me.”

“And why would we do that?”

“You want your daughter to have a normal life right? Neither I nor Laurent will leave you in peace until the Volturi are gone. Your coven is the only one with a chance to take them out. The Romanians are hopeless fools.”

“You will never get near my daughter again. You can deal with the Volturi yourself.”

“You know what your weakness is, Bella? You haven’t been a vampire long enough for the people you care about to die. You have connections. You have parents and in laws. You can’t protect them all. Did you know your father snores? I know. I’m listening to him right now.”