Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Winner Takes All

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 17:

BPOV

Okay. You got this Bella. Run through the dark forest. Dodge and shoot werewolves who are howling at the full moon. Run around the castle trying to find a secret entrance that has eluded employees of the museum for all these years that lead to an underground cavern. Find Dracula. Kill Dracula.

Piece of cake. Or garlic as the case may be.

I wish I knew where the entrance of the cave was.

Something was wrong with my plan.

I knew it. When I found him my plan was to attack and hope to God I could figure out a way to kill him.

I was going to die.

I couldn’t take him. But I would be damned if I was going back to Peter and Garrett and standing aside. I needed a new plan. I needed to think this out.

Do I have to run around the castle or look for a cave entrance?

No. I don’t think I did. He would find me. He would want revenge. Didn’t he live for revenge? Did he? Use your brain Bella. What does Vlad want? He became angry over the death of his friends. He was friends with werewolves. Why werewolves? They were older than he was. We are natural enemies. But they fought with him. Or did they fight for Daria and Andrie? They are still around. I can smell them. The forest below stinks with them. The howls. There are a lot of those dogs. I should have brought more guns.

I didn’t have to kill them all though. I just had to clear the path. Once I got inside he would find me. Daria called out to me in blood. She wanted me. He was there though. Did he want me too?

Huge ego. Like most men I am learning. Loves his legend. But stays in the background. Why?

He is scared of other vampires? He didn’t put up much of a fight against Peter and Garrett. He was fast but he used that speed to escape and run. Not to fight.

Was Peter wrong? Would he really come after us?

Peter was probably wrong. This guy wouldn’t bother us. But I can’t take that chance. The Cullens and my men were coming after him regardless.

My plan to take him head on was ridiculous. Whether he ran from Peter and Garrett or not, he could certainly take me. I needed to play to his weakness…

I took off into the forest. I was only seconds in when I heard the wolves tracking me. They were coming from the front, back and sides. I could only worry about the ones in front. Two jumped in front of me. I fired twice. Both head shots. I didn’t stop to see if they were dead. The point was to run the gauntlet not count dead bodies.

Ten more seconds and I would be there. One nearly hit me from the side but I stopped and he flew past. The one behind me was gaining. I turned and fired the shotgun. I heard a yelp and turned back to the one who flew past me. He was jumping at me. I shot him in the chest with the .45. Time to move. Five seconds away. Another one flew in front. I jumped him. 3 seconds. I reached the end of the forest leading up to the castle ruins. I turned around and opened up. There must have been twenty at least. As a human I never would have been able to shoot them all.

As a vampire… well that was a different situation. I moved in a zigzag pattern into them.

Ten seconds later, two empty clips and twenty dead werewolves and I was ready to explore a castle.

Oh shit. There were more of them coming. I was out of bullets.

All or nothing Bella. Poenari Castle. On top of a cliff. A stronghold during the Middle Ages. Enough of it was still standing that you can tell how imposing it was.

I climbed the cliff and reached the castle ruins. My heart would have stopped if it was still beating. Humans were impaled surrounding the castle. Spikes rose from the ground with humans on top of them.

I approached slowly and felt very stupid.

Fucking tourist trap. The humans were mannequins. Okay. Let’s go.

I jumped on of the ruined walls and landed on the first level. Somewhere here was an entrance to the underground.

Then I smelt him. Guess I wouldn’t need to find the passage after all.

“Welcome. If I knew you wanted to see me that badly I would have sent a car for you. You did not have to kill so many of my children.”

I turned around and looked into the eyes of Dracula.

“I tried to reason with them but they wanted to bite. You should keep your dogs on a leash. I like your place. It has a real retro feel.”

He looked at me as if I was a problem to figure out. “Are you incredibly brave or incredibly stupid?”

Ouch.

“That’s a valid question Vlad. To be honest I am probably somewhere in the middle.”

“I can appreciate that. The brave need to be reckless at times. I certainly was. I have one hundred children in the forest. I hope you came alone. Anyone following you will have a difficult time reaching us.”

“I came alone. I didn’t want anyone to disturb us.”

“Why is that Bella Swan?” He was grinning. Huge ego. He thought he was in complete control.

“You want me.” I told him looking directly into his freaky eyes and trying not to let my eyes wonder to his stupid mustache.

“You killed two of my oldest friends. I have known Daria and Andrie since I was turned. I want you dead.”

I was inches from his face. He expected me to make a move.

“Bullshit.”

“What exactly do you mean by bullshit? My English is good but I don’t recognize that term.”

“Believe me. If you lived my life every day you would become intimately acquainted with it. What I mean is you are a warrior. I am a warrior. Your friend Andrie wanted to kill me. Daria left my name in blood at scenes of gruesome murders to get my attention. She got it. She died. You expected me to lay down and die because your friends decided I should? You and I both know that is not the way warriors live.”

“Now you plan to kill me, correct?” he asked.

“No. If I wanted to kill you, I would have come with the multitude of vampires I know. I am a warrior but I am not an idiot. Only an idiot would try to kill you alone.”

I shouldn’t mention here that I am an idiot.

“So why have you come to me?”

“I told you. I saw it in your eyes while I was fighting Daria. You want me.” I hoped so anyway.

“You are willing to give yourself to me?” he was smiling now. I hope he buys this.

“We are vampires. Vampires believe in strength. I can be strong with you.”

“What do you have to offer me?” He placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t like him having access to my neck but…

“As I said… you want me. You can have me.”

“I can have you? What makes you think I cannot just take you?”

“You could certainly kill me. But I am a vampire. You can’t chain me in your dungeon as kinky as being Dracula’s prisoner sounds. You can’t keep me unless I want to be with you. You can only burn me.”

He was quiet for a few moments. Finally he spoke.

“What would I have to do for you?”

Yes. Now we were negotiating. He was starting to loosen up.

“Leave my friends alone. It ends here. We stay low. Get to know one another for a few decades. Travel. We stay away from my friends. No revenge. No vendettas. It ends now.”

“Why would you want me?” he asked.

“Do you know what I did as a human?”

“Yes. Daria told me you were a federal agent.”

“I studied murderers. The worst of the worst. I did it because I knew what a killer was thinking. I could understand them. I was… attracted to them. Killers fascinate me. There is not greater killer alive than you.”

“I see.” He walked away from me to the edge of the castle wall looking out through a hole in the wall. I could hear the wolf howls but they stayed in the forest. His children must not be allowed to come to the Castle.

“I admit you intrigue me. You have spirit. I doubt I can trust you though.” He finally said.

Fuck.

“So kill me.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“You are not afraid of death?” He asked with a confused look.

“I’m a vampire. I should have died a year ago. I am death now.” I told him staring into his eyes.

He was in front of me quickly. Too quickly. Almost too fast for my eyes to track.

“You are intriguing Bella Swan.” He whispered. His hand caressed my cheek. He was pulling me in to kiss me. I let him pull me in. His lips were centimeters from mine.

I grasped the back of his head turned my mouth to his neck and bit. I couldn’t decapitate him but I could hurt him. He let me in. I struck first. The rest was up to me.

He roared and threw me away. My hands lost their grip but my mouth didn’t. Part of his throat came with me. I hit the wall and landed on my ass. Looking up I prepared to defend myself. I tried to growl but realized I had something in my mouth. I spit on the ground and saw it was a big chunk of his throat.

He was holding his throat. Venom was leaking out, pouring around his hands. I smiled.

“You were right Vlad. You shouldn’t have trusted me.”

“You bitch. You lying deceitful bitch.” He didn’t look happy. Welcome to the club.

“You’re the dumbass that left your neck opened. First rule of vampire fighting Vlad. Always protect your neck.” I smiled. He wasn’t dead. But it evened the playing field.

I charged and he flew at me. One hand reached for me and the other stayed on his neck. I flew over him. His hand grasped my foot but I spun around kicking his head. It tilted to the side pretty easy and he roared. We both fell on the ground. He attempted to stand and I jumped on him. I began swinging. He couldn’t block both my hands. He raised his head and bit into my shoulder.

To this point I had never been bitten by a vampire except my mates. That felt good when Garrett and Peter bit me. This did not feel good. I ducked my head into my chest to protect my neck. He rolled on top of me. Venom was still pouring from his neck. I brought my leg up and kicked him in the groin. He flipped over. I went over with him. I had to stay on top. I couldn’t fight him in stand up. He was too quick. I rolled over and continued swinging. My shoulder was killing me. It burned. I clawed his eyes and he screamed. This time he didn’t roar. He screamed. His hand flew to his eyes and I bit the other side of his neck, digging my teeth in. This time I kept biting. I reached his spinal column before he grabbed my hair to pull me off. I wrapped my legs around him in a control position I learned in judo. He threw the both of us over and I continued the flip landing back on top of him. I grabbed his cervical spine and pulled. His head tilted back. He couldn’t scream now. His neck was gone but his damn head was still attached. His mouth was snapping but he couldn’t control his head. I threw everything I had into my shoulders and legs and leaned back, finally feeling his spine snap in two. I had his head in my fucking hand.

Gross.

I tossed it away and crawled off his body.

Pulling my lighter I optimistically brought with me I lit his body.

Once I had a nice fire going I grabbed his head by the hair and walked over to the fire. His eyes were flitting back and forth.

“Seriously Vlad. Have you looked into a mirror? Your mustache is horrible. You should have never trusted a woman who said she wanted you. Have fun in hell. I hope they shove a pole up your ass.”

I tossed his head on top of his body and watched him burn.

Peter POV

“I can smell her.” The scent of my Mate.

“Yep. I can smell a whole bunch of werewolves in that forest.” Jasper added.

“We have to move…” Garrett began when Alice gasped. We all turned, us and the Cullens, to see Alice staring off into the distance. I glanced at Edward who was seeing what she was seeing.

“The vision changed.” Edward whispered.

“Thank God.” Garrett breathed.

“But she still can’t see Bella. She sees all of us standing around a fire. That’s it.”

“We have to go now.” I growled running into the woods. I heard the rest follow. Garrett was soon by my side. We stopped ten seconds later.

“Well, Bella definitely came this way.” Jasper whispered.

The dead human bodies of werewolves were lying on the ground. I kept running. I had to get to that castle. I had to save her. We reached the end of the forest and stopped once again.

“Holy shit.” Edward whispered.

“Damn.” Rose whispered.

In front of us were at least twenty bodies.

“Bella definitely came this way.” Esme said quietly.

We turned when we heard the growls. In front of us were at least thirty werewolves. I turned and twenty more had snuck around us and stood between us and the castle.

“Oh no.”

I turned to look at Garrett wondering why he was worried about a bunch of fucking dogs. His gaze was not on the dogs though. I followed it and saw what he saw. I fire within the castle. It was glowing from a hole in the wall of the ruined structure. Garrett roared and ran into the crowd of dogs. I followed. The ones behind attacked. The Cullens engaged. I may not be able to save her. But I would damn sure avenge her before I killed myself.

Garrett POV

Bella.

She was the only thought I had. I was in a rage. I couldn’t think. Dogs were flying at me and I ripped and bit as soon as they attacked. Soon I had no others to attack. I was covered in fur and blood. I had a few bite marks I barely noticed. I looked around. Peter looked the same way I was sure I looked. Edward looked murderous. Rose did as well. We all turned around and stared at the fire.

“We jump the wall. No matter what, that fucker dies tonight.” Jasper growled.

Peter and I ran. We all hit the wall at the same time. We didn’t bother to jump the wall. Peter and I went through it.

There it was. My worst nightmare. The thing I should have stopped. If only I had told Peter to shut up. If I had defended her, she would have brought me along at least. We saw the fire. It was a body. That much was obvious. My eyes were watering. I could smell Bella and Vlad all around.

“It’s about time you fuckers showed up.”

I looked at the top of the wall and saw Bella sitting. She jumped down.

“I hope one you guys brought the marshmallows.”

“You’re alive.” I whispered.

“Try not to sound so surprised.” She smiled. I grabbed her in my arms and Peter did as well.

Something was wrong.

She wasn’t hugging us back. I tried to kiss her and she placed a sturdy hand on my cheek.

“Bella please…” Peter started.

“No.”

Peter and I were both speechless.

“Neither of you respect me. I am going to live on my own for a while. When the two of you can grow up maybe we can talk about a relationship. For now I need to leave. You can’t follow.”

“I’ll be damned if you are going anywhere without me.” Peter said loudly.

“That’s what I am talking about! You don’t respect me! I tell you to not follow me and you do whatever the fuck you want! God damn you Peter Whitlock! You can go to hell to Garrett! I have had it. I am going on my own for a while. Not forever. When you two grow up and see me as an equal then you can call me. Until then, if I find out that one of you is following me I swear I will never touch either of you again!”

Bella walked past us. She hugged Esme, Alice and Rose. She hugged Carlisle, Edward, Emmett and Jasper. She then began walking out the front of the castle.

“Bella wait. Where are you going to go?” I reached for her but she raised her hands.

“Geneva.” She answered.

“Why Geneva?” Peter asked, still in shock.

“I’m going to make sure Frankenstein’s monster is really dead. If he isn’t I am going to kill that fucker too. Then I am going to Lithuania.”

“What is in Lithuania?” I asked. I couldn’t be on the other side of the world from her.

“While I was waiting for you guys to show up, I read the world news on my phone. I found out that there is a pattern killer in Lithuania. I am going to try my hand at stopping him. From what I can tell he is human. I may be able to help from the shadows. I’m going to try my hand at learning Russian and tracking him or her down. It’s what I do. I just forgot for a while. Like I said, when you two grow up, give me a call. I will have my cell. Don’t blow it up.”

She walked over and kissed me on my cheek. She walked over to Peter and kissed him on his cheek. Walking out she stopped at the large castle door.

“Edward? I’m making plans. It’s your turn. I would start in Alaska.” She said. She wasn’t smiling.

Edward nodded his head and smiled. “I think that would probably be a good start Bella. I won’t tell you to be careful. You wouldn’t listen would you?”

Bella looked at Peter and me.

“See? He gets it. Why can’t you two?”

Bella walked out the door.

Peter turned to me. None of the Cullens would look at us.

“What do we do Garrett? We have to go after her right?”

I shook my head.

“No Peter. We are going back to Chile and leave her alone. We have to respect her.”

I didn’t know how long this would take. But if we could get it together… if we could… I didn’t know.

“Do you think she will come back?” he asked, quickly panicking.

“Yes. But before she does I have a feeling we should learn how to clean house and maybe think very hard about treating her with respect. If not we will both lose her.”

Peter took a deep breath and nodded his head.

I hoped she wouldn’t be gone long. We needed to get our shit together.