Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Venom

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 34:

Eric Uley had to run. His life had been a whirlwind of emotion the past month. He was a normal teenage boy, trying to figure out what college he wanted to attend.

Then one day he found out vampires were real. He watched his parents drained of blood in seconds while he lay on the living room floor with broken legs, unable to stop them. He remembered the anger he felt in the hospital. The fever the nurses were so concerned about. His temper reaching the breaking point of pain and frustration.

Jumping out the window on legs that shouldn’t have worked. Seeing those who would become his brothers in the parking lot, both of them breaking out of the hospital at the same time.

Running into the forest and finding himself on four legs, frightened out of his mind. The calm voices of his cousin Sam and the voice he found himself drawn to the most, Jacob Black.

The next days were a whirlwind, finding out about the legends, moving to another state to this ranch. Watching his Alpha’s mate barely covered in her magical armor fighting his fellow wolves and realizing he would have to keep very inappropriate thoughts about his Alpha’s mate out of his head while phased. He was sixteen. She made an impression on him. Leah Clearwater, three years older than he was, also made an impression. He let a thought about her slip and she literally bit his ass.

He definitely did not want Jacob taking the same action.

Idaho made it all worth it. Finally getting a measure of revenge on the creatures who murdered his parents.

All Eric could think about now was the next target. He wanted to unleash the animal inside him. So he ran. It was a large ranch, completely hidden according to Jake.

Eric however lost track of where the ranch ended. He stopped long enough to notice a strange fog and immediately sniffed the air, wondering if Bella was around.

He caught a scent of leech before he lost his smell. He also lost his sight and hearing. He could no longer feel the ground beneath him. He was in darkness.

Eric felt fear once again.

Then the world rushed in and he felt pain. Severe pain.

A leech was on top of him, arms around his neck, pressing him to the ground. The extreme pain in his head let up.

“Hello there doggy. My name is Peter Whitlock. You are going to call your friends. I’ve smelt you guys all around but I can’t seem to find you. I know you are around here somewhere. Since I can’t find your fellow mutts you are going to bring them to me.”

Eric looked around as best he could. He saw a blond male leech standing next to two young vampires. They couldn’t have been older than he was when they were turned. A blonde female stood in front of him with what looked like concerned eyes. To her right was a man with long dark, slightly reddish hair and a goatee. He was wearing a worn overcoat.

“Go ahead boy. Yelp or howl or do whatever the hell it is. I need to have a conversation with your leader.”

Eric would not betray his brothers. They were setting a trap. He had heard Old Quil and Bella talking about the Spirit World. He knew there was more to life than this world. He was not afraid to die.

“Okay then.”

The blonde girl looked away. Eric did not understand why until he felt the leech take an arm from around his neck and grab a rib. The rib crushed.

Eric Uley howled into the air.

“You gonna voluntarily do this now or I need to break some more ribs, boy?”

Eric phased human. He hit the ground, the leech still grabbing his neck.

“What the hell are you doin son?” Peter asked, surprised to find a human under him this quickly.

“They cannot find me in this form. My screams won’t be loud enough for my brothers and sisters to hear. Do what you will. I will scream freely now until I see my parents again. Whatever you do to me will be done to you. Do your worst you piece of shit.”

“You got guts boy.” Peter said appreciatively.

“Shall I…”

“Back off Jane. He’s right. Hurtin him won’t do any good now. Give it a minute. If we don’t get nothing you can torture him for information. I got a feelin this one won’t break though.” Peter told her.

Ten seconds later a series of howls rose from land Peter could swear he searched thoroughly, despite feeling lost a few times.

“Looks like you got lucky kid. One scream was enough.”

Within five minutes five wolves walked out of the forest, slowly. Smart, Peter thought. Not rushing in. He also knew there were much more than this.

“Keep your eyes open Garrett. There are more around.” Peter lifted Eric by his neck still behind him.

“You boys attack my friends here and I snap this kid’s neck completely off his body. It’s gonna make a hell of a mess. We are here to talk, not to fight. Bring your other friends in the open. You got five seconds.”

The russet wolf up front stepped forward. Like Eric he turned human very quickly. He grabbed a pair of denim shorts that were strapped to his ankle and slid them on, eyes never leaving the vampires.

“I am the Alpha of this Pack. Let him go and I will send my pack away. We can talk then.”

“Bullshit. You guys know this land. You are hidden well enough when we tried to find you for the past couple days. Your guys will be on us the second we try to leave.”

“What do you want?” Jake asked.

“Get your Pack out here in the open.”

“Fuck you.”

“You think I’m fucking around here?” Peter tightened his grip. Jake looked at Eric’s eyes. He saw pain and anger but no fear.

“You think I am? Let him go and I will back my Pack away. Hurt him and your burning bodies will be the next headline on CNN. Your choice leech.”

Peter had not expected that reaction. He looked at Garrett who looked very concerned. Had Peter overestimated the closeness of the Pack?

Jake was doing his best to bluff. Bella pointed out often that he sucked at bluffing. His face was too honest.

Speaking of Bella he hoped she stayed out of this. She had been out riding Thunder. She said nothing to him when the Pack phased and ran towards their injured comrade. Jake had Paul, Leah, Quil and Embry with him. Sam was behind this group with Rebecca, Brian and Ricky. His father and Old Quil headed the rest up in a long circle. These leeches would not escape today.

Despite his bravado though he would not let Eric die. Too much death had occurred. He would not lose one of the kids.

Please Bella stay out of this.

“No deal big dog. I want to see your boys.” Peter squeezed his arm and Eric’s breath was cut off. His face turned instantly red.

“Going to kill him so soon?” Jake asked, stepping forward. If he could get close to the man who seemed to be the leader he could jump him. A risk but better than standing and doing nothing.

“Jane.” Demetri whispered.

Jake hit the ground. Had he been phased the entire Pack would have been taken down.

Peter looked at Jane to instruct her to stop. Instead he saw something silver flying through the air. Looked like a silver knife?

It struck Jane in the forehead and burst from the back of her skull, knocking her back and pinning her to the tree behind her.

All vampire and wolves turned to the left side of the clearing where a large white horse covered in some sort of demonic armor stepped out. The rider was wearing what amounted to a silver leotard and silver boots that went to mid-thigh. Her shoulders were covered by shoulder pads with spikes rising from the top. Her left hand was covered in the armor. Peter noticed a gleam. A diamond?

It was her right hand that caught his attention. The glove covering it was huge. A blue stone on top of her hand glowed.

“That’s something you don’t see every day.” Garrett whispered.

The girl was small, beautiful. She looked fierce in the armor she wore. Peter could not understand how she could even move in that outfit. His eyes however would not leave the blue stone on her right hand.

The rider dismounted and walked to the Alpha of the Pack.

Demetri pulled the knife out of Jane’s head. She dropped to the ground, holding her forehead, venom tears pooling in her eyes. Demetri looked at the knife but it dissolved in his hand. The hole in Jane’s head was not closing up quickly.

“You attacked my Mate.” Bella said, glaring at Peter.

“Uh…”

“Is that your mate?” she asked.

“Peter…” Charlotte began nervously. It was cut off by a silver rope wrapping around her neck and jerking her towards the silver rider.

Charlotte found herself being held from behind, in the same manner Eric was. Only she felt a blade at her throat. A blade that seared her skin where it touched.

“Let her go!” Peter roared.

“Fuck you! Let him breath! Now!” Bella roared back. Garrett noted the wind kicked up when she roared.

“Bella…”

“Not now Jake. Phase. Please?”

Jake nodded his head. He couldn’t protect her as well in human form regardless. Slipping off his shorts he phased.

“Let her go.” Peter said, panic coloring his voice.

“I will. I have an offer for you. You let my wolf go, I let her go. But I kill the rest of you.” Bella told him calmly.

“No!” Charlotte screamed.

“Can we all calm down? Please?” Garrett raised his hands up and walked forward. Jake growled and Garrett backed up. “We only came to talk, not to kill anybody.”

“You expect us to believe you come in peace after you kidnapped and tortured a member of my family?”

Garrett sighed.

“I admit we could have been more polite but we weren’t sure of the reception we would get.”

Peter snarled. “Let her go or I will rip you apart you bitch. I will kill every one of your wolves and I will…”

“Peter back off. She’s pregnant.” Charlotte said quietly.

That caused everyone to pause.

“Can’t you hear it? It’s faint but it is there. Don’t you hurt her Peter. We don’t do that. You know this.” Charlotte told Peter firmly.

“Char, she has…”

“Back off Peter. I will never forgive you.”

Bella POV

What the fuck?

“ Bella what the fuck are you doing here?” Jake asked.

“ Need to focus here Jake. I stayed out of it until you hit the ground. Help me come up with a way to get Eric free. If it comes to a fist fight I will fly, I promise.”

I noticed this Peter guy had let up on Eric’s throat.

“You are the weapon, aren’t you?” Garrett asked quietly.

“Let my wolf go or else.”

I slid the blade in my hand a bit deeper into this Charlotte girl’s throat. I can’t believe she told him not to attack me because I was pregnant. Why the hell did she have to do that? She wasn’t even resisting.

“I’m not kidding lady. Hurt her and I will… wait. You. You killed Jasper didn’t you?”

Oh shit. This was a development. I wonder if I could piss him off enough to charge me and drop Eric.

“ Bella…”

“ Give it a rest Jake. You could take him before he got close to me.”

“You did. Why? He was peaceful. Why did you kill him?”

“He attacked me.” I told him honestly.

“Bullshit.”

“Sorry. It’s the truth. I would have killed him anyway. He was a vampire. It’s what I do.”

“You killed Irkalla?” Garrett asked her.

“She a friend of yours?” I asked.

“No. Myself and these three ran from her. Please listen. We have the same aims I believe…” Garrett tried to reason.

“She fucking killed my brother. She is dead!” Peter growled, grip loosening on Eric’s throat even more. His complete focus was on the woman who had to die.

“Peter you will not touch her.” Charlotte said once again. Her words seemed to calm him down somewhat.

“We can help you.” Garrett said again.

“Check the news. Does it look like we need help? No, what you can do is let the vampire world know the truth. I can’t let that happen.”

“We won’t say a word. Before Irkalla we kept vampires secret from humans. We prevented what Irkalla tried to start.”

I turned to the blonde who spoke. He was still taking care of the little girl.

“You were Volturi?”

“We were. We left the Cullen house before the attack. I assume you killed her?”

“That’s the word.” I mumbled. I hoped so anyway.

“We can prevent the senseless attacks on humans.” He continued.

“I think we are doing that fine.” I retorted.

“Been overseas yet? You have enough wolves to cover the world?” Blondie pointed out.

“ Bella, we should let them go.”

That voice shocked the hell out of me.

“ Quil? How much did you smoke before you phased?”

“ Listen to him Bella.” Billy joined in.

“ Billy if we let them go, every human they kill will be on us!” I argued.

“ Dad that’s a dumb idea. We can’t trust leeches.” Jake said sensibly.

“ Remember Taha Aki’s words. We must seek information. Not just destroy .” Old Quil countered.

Damn it.

“ So what? Let them go?” I asked in my head incredulously.

“ We must strike a bargain of some sort. If they do want to help… Bella we don’t have the manpower to destroy all vampires.. We can barely protect the United States..” Billy argued.

I noticed none of the vampires were moving. Just staring at us while we had a council meeting in our heads.

“So let’s say we let you go? What are your plans and how can I trust you?” I asked.

“Trust me? You have that baby and you are dead bitch.” Jasper’s “brother” countered.

Jake jumped towards Peter. Peter jumped at Jacob. Charlotte and I both screamed stop at the same time.

They stopped within inches of each other.

Eric phased.

“Stop Eric!” He was understandably upset at the vampire who captured him.

“Peter you will never harm this woman. Jasper was a warrior. He lost a fight. It’s over.” Charlotte told Peter. Peter stepped back.

The rest of the Pack closed in.

The vampires realized that they no longer had a hostage. Jake phased human and placed his shorts back on.

Old Quil stepped out of the woods wearing boxer shorts.

Ugh. I’ve seen that enough to last a lifetime.

“Really Quil?”

He had smiley faces on his boxers.

“What? I was in a hurry. Have a seat leeches. We need to have a talk.”

I dropped my blade from Charlotte’s neck. She turned around and I noted a tear pooling in her eye.

“Congratulations. I always thought I would have made a good mother. At least I hope I would have. I will never let him come after you. Please excuse him. He and Jasper were very close.”

I nodded, not knowing exactly what to say.

The vampires moved in the middle as the Pack surrounded them.

“Well?”

I looked to see who Quil was talking to. He was looking at me.

“What?”

“I believe these leeches are the lesser of two evils. We need to work out some compromise. You are the witch…”

“Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the alpha. Your show.” I passed this cluster to him. Every instint in my body wanted to kill. My bracelet was going nuts.

“Fine. Sam?”

I soon found myself behind Sam. Leah was on one side, Paul the other. Quil and Embry were behind me.

I was surrounded by furry asses. God I hope none of them had Old Quil’s chili today.

Jake POV

“So are you willing…” the leech with long dark hair began.

“You.” I pointed at the man who held Eric. Eric was directly behind me. I knew he wanted him. But he was mine. He threatened my Bella.

“Yeah? You got a problem with what I said? You gonna fight for your woman that’s fine but when I’m done with you, her ass is mine.”

“You and what army?” I asked.

The Peter guy smiled.

“Alec?”

I looked and the kid leech was in the air, arms stretched out.

Old Quil and Bella were staring at him. Quil was chanting.

“You need that kid for something? Cause it looks like he is busy.” I told him, watching the smirk leave his face.

“Kill us already. We won’t go down without a fight.”

“If I was going to kill you, I would have killed you when you threatened my mate. Instead I am going to make a deal with you, as much as it fucking kills me. Just know this deal is contingent on very strict terms and if you break them we can and will destroy you quickly. Starting with your mate.”

“We are definitely listening. My name is Garrett. We came here wanting…”

“Shut up.”

I kept my eyes on Peter.

“I can kill your mate now. You understand this?”

“Yeah.” Peter nodded.

“You feel loyal to this Jasper? He did attack my Mate. She fought him on her own. She nearly died.”

“Why would Jasper attack her? He changed!”

“The two of them fought. Are you a warrior or a mindless killing machine?” I pressed.

“He was my maker. My best friend.”

“Is it worth the death of your mate?”

“You will kill us all.”

“Not if you give me your word.” I told him honestly.

“You would take it?”

That was the question. I looked at Dad. He shrugged his shoulders. I looked at Bella. She seemed…

She just vomited.

“Sorry Jake. The sweat and I really need air. Could you maybe ask my guard to back off a bit?”

The wolves were already moving. Leah looked sick even in wolf form.

“I suppose it’s that or kill you. You give me your word you will never harm my Mate or send anyone else to do it and I will let you go. You break your word and my Mate will most likely kill you anyway before I have a chance. She has gotten a lot better at what she does since she fought Jasper.”

“What do you mean what she does?” Garrett asked.

“Bella? You feeling better?”

“Yeah.” She stepped out and blue energy instantly surrounded her. A blast of energy shot from her right hand and incinerated the tree that the girl vampire had been pinned to. The boy vampire hit the ground.

The vampires were quiet.

“Your word?” I asked again.

“You have it.” Peter agreed, but did not look happy.

“One thing.” Bella spoke up.

“What?” Garrett asked.

“You feed on animals. I will know if you feed on humans. If that happens…”

“Let’s not go crazy now.” Garrett stuttered.

“Animals or dead.” I replied.

“Jasper ate animals. The Cullen’s did. It didn’t appear to stop them from getting killed.” Peter correctly pointed out.

“What is your name?” I asked the blonde one.

“Demetri.”

“You were with Irkalla? You know she was capable of controlling other vampires?” I asked.

“Yes.” He looked at the young ones. They looked at the ground. Wonder what that is about. I could probably imagine.

“Then you understand why all vampires had to die. They were weapons she could use.” Probably didn’t need to mention that half the Cullens’s were dead before Irkalla ever came.

The Peter guy at least nodded.

“You guys really want to help I can’t let you out of here if you are going to kill humans.”

“How will she know?” Garrett asked.

“I speak to the dead. They will tell me.” Bella said smoothly, no doubt in her voice.

“I see.” The Garrett guy whispered.

“We will feed from animals.” Charlotte agreed. “You have my word.”

I remembered her telling Peter not to harm Bella.

“You vampires will fight the rogues going after humans. Why would you want to do this?” I asked.

“It isn’t right what is going on.” Garrett said simply. His red eyes seemed sincere. Dad was right. We couldn’t be everywhere.

“Then have a seat. I suppose we have some things we need to talk about.”

Bella POV

I sat on the ground watching the sunset and enjoying the feel of grass underneath me and leaning back against Jake.

“You think we made the right decision? Letting them go?”

“Eric is pissed.” Jake said sadly.

“Yep. Understandable. I’m not crazy about it either.” I admitted. I understand the reasoning but damn I hate vampires. All of them. My goal in life was to wipe them off the face of the Earth, not communicate and plan with them.

“Sam says it was a good strategic decision. He agreed with dad and Old Quil.”

“Yep.”

“Charlie said Old Quil has been smoking too much and is demanding his stash.”

“Yep.” I sighed.

“The Pack is mixed. Some agree, some don’t.”

“If these leeches do what is agreed, they could save a lot of lives in Europe.” I reasoned. “Or they could end a lot. We are taking a chance. Nothing is black and white Jake. There are too many and it is so easy for them to make more.”

“I know.” Jake said quietly. “But they did come looking for us to find out what was going on. They could have attacked right away. Killed Eric.”

“So what’s wrong?” I asked.

“He threatened you Bella.”

“Yeah. It doesn’t matter. He can’t touch me Jake. Plus despite his demeanor I believe he will be good to his word. His mate will make sure.”

What she said about wanting to be a mother hit me hard.

“Your armor never turned black today. You did good Bells. I wish you hadn’t been there at all. I nearly lost it when you pulled that leech to you.”

“You kept it together. I was proud of you.” I told him honestly.

“I need to do some work to the transmission on the Mustang. Want to be my assistant tomorrow?” he asked and kissed the back of my head.

“That would be nice. A little normalcy.” I admitted.

“Let’s head back. Sue is cooking for everyone tonight. I can smell it from here.

“I’ll be right there. I want to enjoy nature a bit more.” I told him.

“You okay?” Jake asked, immediately worried.

“Of course. Just want to meditate a bit.” I lied. I didn’t know why. I just didn’t want to be around others just yet.

I kissed him and he jogged back towards the house.

Soon enough I was alone. I didn’t want to meditate. I just wanted to be. A little time to myself. I was proud that I didn’t lose control today. I kept my head. I probably shouldn’t have gotten involved but I couldn’t stand by and let that bitch hurt Jacob.

The whole afternoon was surreal.

Did I trust them? I didn’t know. No. Yes. I don’t know.

I was confused. But we needed help. We didn’t tell them everything. Jake explained that they were on a need to know basis. Garrett was good with that. Peter continued to glare. I wondered if I would have to kill him one day.

She had to be nice, didn’t she?

I never heard him. Of course why would I? Ghosts don’t make a sound.

“You did a good thing today.”

I turned around and looked at him. He looked good. Death had been good to him.

“That right?” I grinned.

“Yeah. Peter will come around. He’s a good guy. So are Garrett and Charlotte. Best people I knew outside the Cullen’s. The other three, well, they will keep an eye on them.”

“I have to admit, of all the people I killed who would come back to haunt me, I never expected you Jasper.”

He grinned and I couldn’t help but grin back.

“Not here to haunt you Bells. My soul is in between. Can’t seem to decide where to go. So I figured while whatever powers that be are figuring it out I would come say hi.”

He was handsome. No longer beautiful. Just a good looking human guy with a crooked grin and shaggy hair under a cowboy hat.

“Just sayin hi?”

“Yeah. Thought we can talk about some things.”

“Like what? How I killed your family?”

“Nope. What’s done is done. It worked out. We lived long lives. Alice is finally free of the insanity that hassled her in her human life and followed her into her vampire life. I saved a thousand lives keeping that girl as sane as possible. Didn’t know that, did you?”

“I suspected.” I admitted.

“Edward… he moved on. He smiled. I saw him before he walked into the light. Even Rose smiled.”

I nodded. A lump was forming in my throat.

“I’m glad. That they didn’t go to… you know… what about you?”

“Well, like I said I’m at a crossroads. But I’m going to up my chances for a positive outcome a bit. I’m gonna help you plan.”

“Plan what?” this couldn’t be good.

“Bella I hate to break this to ya, but I got a strong feelin Irkalla ain’t dead. We need to figure out what you and Jake are going to do when she comes back. You want to hear my ideas?”

I looked at the house. I looked back to Jasper.

“Why help me Jasper?”

“I told you before. You are worth it.”