Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Claws

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 12:

Bella pulled up to the Cullen Mansion, not sure what to expect and already on edge. She did not think the Cullen so called children were a threat but knew that the head or in this case heads of a coven could be fiercely protective and would no doubt be on edge themselves. Bella had no idea what Connolly told them. Actually she had no doubt he told them everything about her and her makers. Inviting a living weapon designed to kill their kind into their home could not be easy and she expected a semi aggressive stance no matter how on board Connolly swore they were.

Connolly’s men could not kill them, so of course they would be threatened than someone of her nature. Rosalie was already hostile towards her, in Bella’s opinion the only one of them with any sense. Carlisle would play it cool. He had to have mastered calm facades over the centuries considering how much he interacted with humans. Bella expected this Esme to be no different than Rosalie however.

Before she could step off her bike her phone buzzed. She checked the number.

Leah.

Was this what having friends you didn’t live with meant? They called you once a day? Surely the girl could go a few nights with the ache Bella felt as well. She had business to attend to and this was no time for social calls.

“Hello Leah.”

“Bella. What are you doing?”

Bella thought for a moment.

“If you are taking this long to figure it out you are coming up with a lie. I said no lies, right?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Bella told her.

“I’m about to walk into a huge mansion filled with vampires and a black ops team.”

Silence.

For a moment.

“You could have just said you were playing video games. I don’t judge, remember? So are you gaming all night?”

Bella laughed, despite the situation she was going into. Leah’s voice triggered something in her, lifted her mood it seemed.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that. Are you okay?”

Bella heard Leah sigh.

“Besides dealing with the ache in my chest again, I am great. I had a lot of fun last night. Want to hang out tonight? I was thinking you could come here to my house. My mom and brother want to meet you.”

Bella nearly snorted. That wasn’t going to happen. That would have all kinds of potential to go wrong. Bella had strangely missed Leah’s scent the moment she left. Being near Leah and her things would be a bad idea. She had a difficult time keeping her instincts at bay with just Leah around. Being drowned in her scent all around would be too much.

“Sorry, can’t do it. School night and all.”

“So was last night.” Leah reminded her.

Bella gave it to her; the woman was stubborn as hell and didn’t like taking no for an answer.

“I’m tired. I worked hard on a home improvement project my friend insisted on last night then I had to listen to her snore. Hardly got any sleep. You know how that goes, right? No you don’t, because I don’t snore.”

“No, you purr.”

Bella stiffened slightly, wondering what the hell Leah had heard.

“What… what do you mean?” she asked.

“I woke up a couple times last night. Your face was inches from mine and you were purring. It was cute. I’ve never heard a person do that.”

“Must have been the paint fumes. I was right next to you?” That was definitely not good. Bella was fairly certain she had kept to her side of the not so large bed.

“No big deal.” Leah told her quickly. “Besides I was worried about you being sick. You felt really hot. I didn’t touch you or anything, I could just feel… I thought maybe you were running a fever. I didn’t want to wake you though. I was worried the purring thing may be some chest infection you were getting.”

“Exactly. That’s a good reason.” Bella told her then closed her eyes. She really had to become better at deception.

“Uh huh.” Leah told her doubtfully. “You are feeling okay though?”

Bella nearly laughed. On edge, prepared for a fight but trying to stay calm despite being outnumbered if things went bad.

“I’ll be fine. I should go…”

“Come over tonight. Dinner at 7. My Dad thinks you are bad news, big city girl and all that. It will drive him crazy. Come on.”

Bella shook her head, not surprised.

“Your Dad is a good judge of character. I am bad news. I really do have to get some rest tonight. Maybe this weekend we can get together.”

Alone. Away from Sam, away from her parents, just two friends hanging out… alone.

That was probably a bad idea as well. It didn’t matter. Bella was full of bad ideas when it came to Leah Clearwater. She opened her mouth way too much, let her sleep in her room of all things, moved closer to the girl in her sleep, purred around her, and practically dared Leah to guess her secrets. Last night had probably been a mistake.

“Whatever. Text me when you get finished playing your game, okay?”

Bella shook her head, starting to get annoyed at Leah’s persistence. Bella said they could be friends. She never said anything about calling or texting or meeting often.

That probably fit the general description of a friend though now that she thought about it.

“I’ll text you as soon as I am done. Have a good time at dinner and stuff.”

Have a good time at dinner? That was dumb.

Bella hung up since wasn’t sure how to end a call with a friend. She usually finished calls with Connolly with I hate you and calls with Ty with later gangsta.

Game time. Once again Leah had distracted her when she should have been focusing on a possible deadly situation.

It was time to face the heads of this animal feeding coven.

Before she could knock on the door it flew open and Bella was met with the sight of Esme Cullen. She took a half step back, prepared to battle if need be. She was not prepared for what happened next.

Bella was in the woman’s arms, being hugged.

What the fuck was her first thought.

“It is so good to meet you, Bella. I’m Esme but you know that.” the woman told her pulling from her embrace but keeping her hands on Bella’s shoulders.

“I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven and made a batch of homemade ice cream. I’m sure you are hungry. Ty said you had never tasted ice cream or apple pie. I think I am a pretty good cook even if I can’t eat any of it or never have a chance or reason to. I take food to the nurses at the Hospital sometimes and have never had any complaints. I’m sorry, this is probably too much, but I am so glad you are here. I want you to know if you ever need someone to talk to, I am here for you.”

Esme continued to stare at Bella, seeming to wait for a response.

“What the fuck?” Bella asked quietly then shook her head. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting… uh… yeah, what the fuck?”

Esme smiled softly at the girl. She had wanted to meet Bella since she first heard about the girl and then to read about her life, Esme had decided it would become her mission to show Bella what a real mother should act like.

Esme admitted to herself the greeting may have been a bit overboard and she was probably rambling.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been excited to meet you. Your father and friends are inside. Follow me. We can all talk in the living room and then eat. I’ll give you a tour of the house and a key. You are more than welcome to come by anytime.”

Bella followed her in a slight daze. If they wanted to throw her off her game, the tactic had worked.

The smell of apple pie was amazing. The tour of the house was impressive. The mansion was even larger inside than it looked on the out. Televisions were in every room. There were also multiple bathrooms though Bella couldn’t imagine why. It wasn’t like the Cullens ever invited people over who didn’t know what they were. If course if they ever wanted to sell this place it would need indoor plumbing but who could afford a house like this in Forks?

The girl only half listened to Esme’s talk about the design of the house. She didn’t really give a damn, instead watching the vampire and opening her senses to other sounds in the huge mansion.

Quite a few voices were coming from a large room above her. She heard Ty’s voice the loudest.

Having patience with the tour of the first and third floors they finally made their way to the second and entered a very large living space crowded with her team and vampires.

Bella was immediately assaulted with the smell of numerous vampires and apple pie.

The apple pie smelled even better up close. It did not contain any meat but there was a large container of ice cream on the small snack table where the pie sat.

“Damn that looks good.” the girl whispered.

“Bella!” Ty called, taking her eyes off the pie and focusing on the numerous people in the room, the vampires, her support team and Charlie Swan who did not appear nervous. “Get over here girl.”

Bella walked cautiously to the couch where Ty sat next to Edward Cullen.

“Did you know Eddie can read minds?” he asked. Bella suspected he had a mental power as did Jasper and most likely Alice but never asked what they were exactly, probably would not have trusted their answers regardless.

“Impressive.” she told him, not really impressed. Bella knew he couldn’t read hers or they would have known about her much sooner. She hoped her idiot support team had a scrambler on them. Of course Charlie didn’t have one. Bella looked in his direction quickly and he caught her gaze. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out one of our communication and scrambler devices. She was glad someone thought to bring him one.

The last thing she needed were these vampires to have his memory of her crying.

“Okay, so you can’t turn the whole mind reading thing off, right?” Ty asked Edward. “How the hell does that work? You around a lot of people, how can you figure out which thoughts are yours and theirs? That’s gotta be a bitch.”

Bella figured Edward would be annoyed. Most people were when Ty spoke. Instead he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not really that bad. In a more crowded area thoughts are so numerous I am able to hear them as more of a white noise. I have learned over the last hundred years to push them into the back of my mind. The louder I suppose you could say a person is, the more difficult it is to ignore their thoughts. Bella, I wondering if my family could get some of those scramblers your men carry? It would be so nice not to hear those thoughts constantly at home.”

“Screw that.” Ty told him. “Answer some more questions and we will consider it. Okay so you like just hear thoughts, or do you see what people are thinking in their heads, like memories and pictures, shit like that?”

Edward nodded. “Unfortunately yes. Those were very difficult to ignore when I first became a vampire. I could barely understand my own thoughts without being bombarded with so many images. I have improved my control over the years, thankfully not losing my mind in the process.”

“So if I think really hard, you can see this?”

Ty closed his eyes and scrunched his face, making him look ridiculous.

Edward gasped and Ty opened his eyes once again, seemingly happy.

“You showed him the Wendigo?” Bella guessed.

“Hell no. By the way, that wasn’t some fantasy or porn Eddie. Happened last year in Turkey. Hot as fuck ain’t she? Don’t answer that, I know she was hot as fuck. It was a clear representation of her body. I memorized that girl. Sixteen hours. Yeah you think that’s bullshit but I went sixteen hours. Can you tell if I’m lying?”

Edward looked a bit shaken and Bella couldn’t blame him. She was shaken at listening to that.

“Ty, why is your scrambler off?” Bella asked.

“Wanted to see what Eddie could do, figure out how he handles all this shit. I can’t stand sharing a house with Hawk’s big dumb ass. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in a house full of vampires fuckin 24/7 and havin to listen and see all that shit.”

“And you opened your mind to him.” Bella pointed out. “I doubt you have any secrets left. Turn your scrambler back on.”

Edward stood up and she could swear if he wasn’t a vampire his legs would be shaking.

“It’s fine Bella. All he thinks about is killing people and sex. Not anything I didn’t already guess. Thank you for coming. I realize it probably isn’t easy being surrounded by vampires. We are all glad you came.”

“Yes we are.” another vampire said from behind her. She turned quickly and tensed, waiting for an aggressive move or tell. She suspected that though Esme and Carlisle were married, or mated or whatever the hell vampires called it, this was the true head of the coven.

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Carlisle told her, reaching out his hand.

Bella hesitantly took it. “You are the head of the coven?”

The man smiled gently and shook his head. “I consider all here my children, except Esme of course, but we do not follow traditional vampire traditions in regard to covens. Everyone has an equal say in our family.”

Bella motioned towards Connolly who had walked up with a grin on his face that Bella wanted to disfigure.

“You realize getting involved in this will likely lead to your funeral… your second funeral I mean.” she reminded Carlisle.

“We made our decision together. Some things are worth risking death for. Do not worry about us. We are doing this of our own free will. Please try some pie before the ice cream melts. Esme would be devastated if you didn’t have the full experience of apple pie.”

Bella looked at the pie on the counter. It did smell delicious. Walking over carefully, ignoring the stares she was receiving, took the knife and sliced a piece, followed by a scoop of this ice cream she had heard so much about.

The tastes of the two foods shocked her.

“Oh my God, it’s like an orgasm in my mouth.” Bella thought then stilled, realizing from the sudden silence she had spoken aloud. When she turned, as suspected and everyone was staring at her.

“Sorry? Probably inappropriate? My bad.”

Bella carried her plate and stood by Charlie Swan who was leaned against a wall away from the others.

“You have the toys I gave you?” she whispered. ” The man nodded.

“If things go bad, hit the ground and crawl out.”

“Things are fine.” he assured her. “Everyone is getting along.”

Bella shook her head. “Things can go bad quickly. Do what I do, never relax.”

“You’re eating apple pie.” he unnecessarily pointed out.

“Part of the cover.” Bella responded. “It makes them think my guard is down.”

Connolly stepped into the middle of the room and called for attention. Bella wasn’t surprised. He seemed to require a lot of attention.

“Okay everyone. First thanks for letting us come to your house and thanks for actually showing up Bella.”

Bella shot the finger at him.

Connolly winked at her and began addressing the room.

“I have a former member of my team, a lady I completely trust, living in Forks. She prefers to remain away from the spotlight.”

“Someone else?!” Bella cut in, through the apple pie half chewed in her mouth.

“She worked with us for six years as our sole tech support.” Connolly told her and pointed to his nose, hoping Bella would get the hint that ice cream was on the tip of hers. “She is a computer rock star. I’m not sure if anyone is better in the world. I trust her, we all do, with our lives. Giving her the laptop the Organization gave us is the same as opening up all their closets and drawers. She has learned quite a bit about everything. The Organization is not what we thought originally. I assumed the group was sponsored by the UN, but the Secretary General has no idea nor do any heads of government currently in place. There are elements in each nation placed highly that have diverted funds and support claiming they are helping other nations against what is considered unnatural enemies. The President of the United States does not know what it is we do. I am under the impression he thinks we are acting alone and knows nothing about Bella. We had to sign secrecy agreements to even meet with the Organization and be offered a position, and this included disclosing information to our own Commander in Chief. He doesn’t know what is going on and I can’t tell him yet.”

Emmett shook his head. “Why not? If he is some good guy like you claim, he should put a stop to this.”

Connolly had thought of this several times, but Jack had talked him out of it. Involving the President could make life easier or make life a whole lot worse.

“If I tell him now, the President will order our military to strike bases on foreign soil. There is so much confusion about the Organization and the leaders placed in high positions around the world, that other countries could turn on us. Worse, the countries could fight over the children who have already changed. Taking them out head on would not work right now. We have no idea yet how much influence the leaders of the Organization have and what positions they have in what Government. If the Vice President is a leader for instance it would be a simple task to take out the President and turn the US against us. I’m only using him as an example. Until we can identify them and take them out, we can’t trust the Governments to help.”

Bella sat her now empty plate on the counter and shook her head. “You couldn’t attack the bases regardless. I have no doubt the Siberia base where the Devil Dogs… the male Lycan hybrids are grown, would fight back. I know the Jaguar compound will fight back, to the death. All of us could win against an entire military but all of them would fight to the death regardless. Those too young to fight would try anyway or be destroyed by the heads of the labs before they tried to escape. An outright attack kills all of them. It won’t stop the Organization. They will just pick a new place and start over. As much as I hate to admit this, Connolly is right. We have to know who the players are, then take them out one by one. Kill the power source and it will break the labs. Then we can use the switches on the older girls, paralyze them and keep them sedated and contained until they understand… that they don’t have to fight or die.”

Connolly was impressed. He hadn’t thought that Bella would have given this much thought to it. Perhaps it had been on her mind longer than she would even admit to herself.

“To track down the inner circle of leaders is going to take time.” the man told the group. Vivian suspects this Organization has placed itself into positions of power in every nation in known history. We know they have been around a thousand years since they knew about the Italian-Romanian war one thousand years ago. The reports read like eyewitness accounts. It is possible that this group started out as observers, watchers of the supernatural and only in recent times has science allowed them to begin harnessing the power themselves. I have a theory they don’t just want to destroy the enemies of humanity but to use this knowledge in making strong humans, a private army that could very well fight any military someday.”

“That was my theory.” Jack reminded him. “You wanted to go in shooting, remember? Didn’t need much more than a target list? Give me the fucking names, Jack and we end them. That ring any bells?”

Bella suppressed a shudder. If this theory was true then the Organization was more powerful and terrifying than she had given them credit for. Breeding programs, making each generation stronger, making new types of shifters, gifted with vampire-level strength through venom, indestructible and like her, hardwired into killers.

“This is bad.” she said, the only thing she could think to say that would voice her thoughts.

“Yeah, it is.” Jack agreed. “Vivian will identify the names. Edward is going to be a huge help. We may not know the names of the top dogs from the network but we do know middle men. Of course we can’t begin torturing and killing middle men without alerting the high leaders. We are going to have to get close and know their thoughts. One name leads to another and another and eventually we work our way to the top. Then we cut off the head, and while the body is dying, we take what we have to the President and can organize a plan to take down the bases. I doubt the one you mentioned in Siberia and the Peruvian Jungle are the only ones. If this group is as old as we suspect then they most likely have cells around the world, hidden labs. They may be turning kids into Yetis in Antarctica for all we know. Lions in an African Jungle maybe. Just because you have only seen the Devil Dogs, doesn’t mean they are the only ones out there, right Bella?”

Bella nearly walked out, wishing she could find a place where no one would hear her vomit. She thought she had been a pawn of a Government, all Governments. To find this out and the idea that there could be worse things than the Devil Dogs… it was too much. Her decision to take part in this rather than fight it felt even more foolish. They would all die. This was too much.

“It has to stop, Bella.” Connolly told her as if reading her thoughts once again. “Their one key to survival and power for so long has been secrecy. They kept themselves hidden from the human and supernatural world. Now their secret is out. We know it and unlike the other support teams from various nations we tend to think for ourselves. They didn’t count on that, and they didn’t count on you thinking for yourself.”

Bella glanced at Charlie who kept his face impassive but caught her eye. She wished she could read what was in his mind right now.

Bella cleared her throat. “So until we get these names, we have to continue with business as usual, right?” Keeping on with business as usual was something she understood. The rest of this plan sounded like a long game and they didn’t need her for a long game. There was nothing really stopping Bella from continuing to follow her instincts. What would happen would happen.

Connolly nodded his head to her relief. “There are still creatures out there that are a danger, creatures that need to be taken down and we will continue doing so. That includes some of the Cullens. You aren’t just going to have us as backup anymore. You don’t go out alone. You stay with us and they will be there to help you fight.”

Bella opened her mouth to argue. There was no point in that. She never needed backup. The team she had could give support through a distraction, gunfire alone helped against the Wendigo. Vampires would just get caught in the crossfire.

Before she could say so, Charlie spoke to her softly.

“It’s not a bad idea, Bella. I’ll back you, whatever you decide but the more help you get, the greater the chance of you staying alive. I know you want to see those girls free and they are going to need one of their own to guide them when it does happen. They are going to need you. We all will. You getting killed in some fight with a couple of vampires or Lycans or whatever else is out there won’t help anyone, especially those girls.”

Bella nearly disagreed but frustratingly realized he was right. The girls would always be what she was. Even if they were free what would they do? Would any Government really let these girls run free? Where would they even start? Who would they trust? Bella wasn’t certain she could be free.

The truth was the idea of being free absolutely terrified her. The girl was on edge enough. Turning on the Organization made her feel… wrong. But not turning on them did as well. Still the Organization was there. As wrong as it was, she took comfort in the one certainty in her hellish life.

The room was quiet and all eyes were on her now.

Bella had no idea what to say. Ever since she came to Forks her emotions, her instincts, her life seemed out of control. The farther away from Peru, the more time she spent around her new team, her father, the absence of Julie that felt like a hole in her chest, this weird bond to Leah that added to the ache, had put her ordered, purpose driven life into chaos.

Carlisle stood up.

“Bella, can I speak to you alone? Perhaps we could go for a quick run some distance away from the ears of others?”

Bella tensed immediately. “Why?”

The man smiled gently at her. “I understand you rely on instincts. Your instincts serve you well, both your predator and human instincts. Those instincts told you not to attack Emmett or Rose. They allowed you to let your guard down enough to be here. What are your instincts telling you now about me? Do you think you can trust me or not? I won’t be offended either way and it has no bearing on my family’s intent to help Mr. Connolly. Would you allow me to speak to you alone?”

Her instincts? How could she trust those?

But he was right. Bella was here in a house of vampires and did feel at ease. At least she no longer felt that she should be constantly on guard.

Bella waved her hand, indicating he led the way then followed the man. They didn’t run far before he stopped, perhaps a mile into dense woods, far enough away that no one in the mansion should hear them.

“Thank you, Bella.”

Bella said nothing, waiting for whatever was coming next.

“I’ve read the information Connolly has given us of course. I’ve gone over it a hundred times at least. I studied the training regimen and I know that what he has is not all you girls went through, is it?”

Bella crossed her arms and looked away. “I don’t want your pity. I’ve gone through too much, fought too many battles to be looked down on as a victim. I am what I am. Yes, there is a lot they don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“And I am not asking you to. I think you will in your own time. You are going to need to because right now you feel out of control. As far as pity, I do feel pity for all of you and you are a victim. You know the definition of pity, right?”

Bella turned her eyes toward him. Of course she knew what the definition was.

“Pity is a term that conveys compassion for the misfortune of others. I feel compassion and I am afraid I can’t change that. I hope I never do, because I wouldn’t be who I am any longer if I lost that. As far as a victim, you are one. I am sure you know that the definition means someone who has been hurt by another against their will. You were taken as a newborn and hurt. You have been hurt all your life by no fault of your own. You are a victim. You seem to think this makes you weak. Victims are not weak, they are survivors. I don’t think less of you for this. I see you as an inspiration.”

Bella snorted and looked at the ground. “An inspiration? I kill things. I’ve killed people before.”

Carlisle had suspected this. “I never thought that they waited until you girls came fully into your powers and were thrown into the ring against newly made vampires. They instilled that mentality in all of you before you ever had your power. They had you kill humans, become used to killing, taught it to be second nature at a young age, right? They taught you everything you knew, tried to control every thought in your head, played with your mind, and yet here you are, with us, listening to a plan to take down your abusers. That is a miracle in itself.”

Bella brushed that off. She didn’t want to think about this plan yet. There really wasn’t a plan in place yet and she had no idea if she would survive to see a real attempt.

“I studied psychiatry around twenty years ago. I thought I would try something other than surgery. Unfortunately emotions fall more into Jasper’s area of expertise. I did learn enough though. This Hildebrand, you love her, don’t you?”

“I hate her.” Bella hissed.

Carlisle nodded his head. “I have no doubt of that, but a part of you loves her. She made you, she made all of you. I could give you a lot of fancy terms but everything that was done to you, to all of you, was brainwashing. Your abuser becomes the one person you rely on, that you cling to because you think you deserve it and they know what is best for you. You know this. I am guessing intellectually you have always known this. I understand girls who go off on solo assignments don’t live long. Probably not long enough to have a chance to emotionally come to terms with what has happened to them. You are going to live long enough. I know that scares you. It would scare me. The emotions you are going to feel the longer you are away from her are going to terrify you.”

“They already are.” Bella admitted reluctantly.

Carlisle nodded and stepped closer, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. You are a survivor. You have fought your whole life. Don’t stop now. You may tell yourself you aren’t suicidal, that it is just destiny or fate that you go out fighting. You are grieving the one woman you loved unconditionally and I suspect you haven’t really had a chance to process this yet. You will though. We want to help you stay alive, work through this, find out what life could be and maybe one day, believe that it can happen. Be there for the day those girls like you and younger are going to need a real leader, someone who can understand them, take care of them.”

A part of Bella felt a bit of horror at the tears in her eyes. She squeezed herself tighter as if that would chase them away.

“I won’t have the chance. If I live to be 19, they will bring me in.” she whispered. “I don’t want to be used to create… monsters.”

“I won’t let that happen. None of us will.”

Bella shook her head. “If I don’t, I will probably turn into a complete animal by the time I am 21, maybe sooner.” Bella told him, hating the hitch in her voice.

“Then work with me. I am a good doctor, Bella. Let’s work together, figure out a way to stop this from happening, if it even will. Let me figure out a way to get this device out of your brain one day. I promise you this. I will never harm you. I will never cause you the slightest bit of pain. We can figure this out together. You know in your heart that you can trust me.”

Bell held herself for a few moments in silence. The vampires grip on her shoulder tightened, not painfully but firmer and her senses were not on edge. As crazy as it seemed, she did trust him and she had no idea why.

“Okay.”

Bella could feel him relax. He took his hand off her shoulder and smiled at her.

“Let’s go back and make sure Edward isn’t being bombarded by your friend Ty’s thoughts of his past conquests. It sounds like we have a lot to do.”

Bella silently agreed and ran towards the mansion, stopping at the door to collect herself then walked confidently in.

The voices died when her and Carlisle reentered the room.

“I suppose we should set a time to meet whoever is going to fight with me. I can give you details about the creatures I have encountered and we can go over tactics that have been reported as being successful against creatures I have not encountered.”

Bella ignored the smiles in the room and walked to the back wall to stand next to her father.

“I can’t believe there is a secret organization that has been watching the supernatural for thousands of years and the Volturi never knew about them.” Jasper said, shaking his head.

Bella looked sharply at him.

“You said the Volturi? Who are they?”

“You don’t know?” he asked, surprised. “You said you knew about the European wars…”

“You mean the Volturi, they… that’s what they called themselves? Large coven in Volterra Italy? Rumored to be the enforcers of the vampire law? Live in a tourist trap castle in St. Marcus Square that is cover for a massive underground Fortress complete with throne room?”

“Called themselves? As in past tense?” Jasper asked, as every vampire in the room’s eyes widened.

Bella nodded her head. “It was the last mission my team fought. We posed as a lost group of school girls in a village thirty miles from the city. We found their pied piper and she couldn’t resist. We had surrounded ourselves with humans before to blend our scent in as much as possible. She offered us a tour of a city nearby, said our class had gone ahead and was already there. We let her take us of course. The plan was to be led into the feeding room and then attack. Twenty six of us went in but only four of us came out. There were twenty vampires in the throne room. None of them survived.”

Emmett was the first to break the following silence.

“Holy shit. Aro, Caius… all of them?”

Bella nodded her head. “I killed two of the three who sat on the thrones. They had foggy eyes, so I assumed they were the oldest. I didn’t ask for names. I understand the one on the third throne didn’t fight back. We had a slight advantage in numbers, the element of surprise and their powers were negated. Despite all that, we nearly lost. I didn’t know any names of course. I just know I took out the strongest. The dark haired leader I caught by surprise. The blonde one was more difficult. He was fast, but not as fast I was. That’s the mission that… killed… anyway, yeah, they are dead.”

“How long ago was this?” Carlisle asked.

“Three weeks before I moved to Forks.”

Carlisle looked at Bella with new eyes. All the Cullens did. Jasper, Emmett and Edward had told the others of the ferocity she fought with. But to kill two of the oldest vampires in existence?

“How does no one know?” Edward asked, having a hard time believing what he heard.

Connolly was not surprised that the vampire world didn’t know. He had discussed this with his guys already.

“Why would any vampire know? It’s not like you guys have a vampire Facebook or group texts. Most vampires hunt in small groups or alone, constantly traveling, right? This Italian Coven were the enforcers of the vampire law. I’m guessing vampires avoided them at all costs. Even if anyone did visit them with a complaint about another coven, I suspect the Organization has a presence there now. Any vampire going in won’t be coming out.”

“This is very good.” Edward told the room. “I was concerned that if the Volturi did find out about this Organization they would attack regardless of the body count. They would force the vampire world to join them and kill every girl in the compound, as well as the young men and women at other bases. Without them in existence we have one less concern.”

Everyone seemed lost in thought, even Emmett and Ty so Bella took another slice of pie to distract herself from thinking of that mission. Edward was right, the absence of this Volturi was fortunate, yet it was still the one mission Bella regretted being involved in.

Deciding to change the subject, she brought up another of her concerns.

“How does Billy Black know about vampires, and specifically you guys? It’s obvious he does.” she asked the room.

The Cullens all looked to Carlisle. The man was torn. The Pack and the Cullens had a treaty and it was always understood they would not tell any outsiders what the other was.

But if he wanted Bella to trust him, she would have to know. The Cullens had been in Forks for over a year and there were no indications a wolf pack existed. Still the idea of betraying a promise, no matter how long ago…

“Fuck it. I’ll tell them. I wasn’t there and didn’t agree to anything.” Jasper told the room.

“Language Jasper.” Esme chided.

Jasper pointed to Ty. “Have you heard my history teacher tonight?”

Ty cleared his throat, looking a bit bashful. “That’s my bad. I didn’t realize we had to keep it PG 13. I’m sorry Esme. You got anymore pie? Bella ate the last piece.”

“The pie can wait.” Bella told him, then looked at the blonde vampire. “Tell me.”

And Jasper did, going over the entire history as he knew it from Carlisle, ending with the treaty made between the Cullens and the Pack.

“Son of a bitch.” Charlie whispered. Bella agreed. This place was a beacon for supernatural activity. She wondered if there was something in the area besides the weather that seemed to draw supernatural creatures. There had to be some reason but she would need the Organization to figure it out and bringing them in was now the last thing she wanted to do.

“There aren’t any shifters in La Push or anything else supernatural. I would have smelled it. I have been all over that land, marked it, scouted the area for one hundred square miles from Forks. Nothing is living near here permanently. I can’t account for vampires like the two I killed…”

“Uh wait a minute…” Emmett cut in.

Bella rolled her eyes. “I can’t account for the vampire I killed and the one it took the three of them to kill wandering into the area but a pack, there is no way there is one here.”

“I know.” Jasper told her. “I suspect as long as we stay off their land they won’t shift if any of them even can shift. Carlisle believes their abilities were magical in nature. I don’t know and I don’t care. We honor the treaty Carlisle made and even if a pack does shift someday, they won’t have cause to go after us. Nobody would get hurt.”

Hurt? Bella wasn’t worried about shifters getting hurt. Her first thought was that Leah was living in an area that could have wild werewolves or shifters, suddenly running through the place. That wouldn’t happen.

Bella would definitely be patrolling La Push more often. The first sign of a large wolf print and she was hunting. She hadn’t made a treaty.

“Look, why don’t we relax now? We can plan our activities in depth more but Bella has school in the morning and does need to sleep. I have more pie, so we can sit and just get to know each other.” Esme suggested. “Bella, I love to design houses. Would you like to look at some of my designs? I have a studio on the first floor I would love to show you.”

Houses? Studio?

“What the fuck?” Bella whispered then shook her head. “Yeah… sounds great.”

The girl followed Esme to the first floor into what was definitely a studio of a sort. Architectural diagrams littered a large table and maps of every area of the Earth covered the walls.

“Impressive.” Bella admitted, taking in the sheer amount of drawings on the table and shelves that lined the walls. She supposed this was what could be accomplished when one had a lot of free time and no need for sleep.

Esme pulled over a large poster in the middle of the table and showed it to her.

“I’m buying a very secluded area in Pennsylvania tomorrow.” Esme told the girl. “I found it today and think it will be perfect. Completely cut off from civilization for a hundred miles in any direction, mountains surrounding it, large forests. I am also searching for an isolated area in Alaska and parts of Northern Canada.”

Bella held back a laugh, wondering just how many billions of dollars her hobby cost her.

“All so you can build houses for your family to move between? Seems kind of excessive.”

Esme looked at Bella and grinned. “It isn’t excessive at all. Look at these plans and tell me what you think.”

Bella decided to humor her and leaned over the architectural diagram.

Hidden missile defense systems? Fall back and escape tunnels. Two hundred rooms? Camouflaged from the air?

“Esme, this doesn’t look like a house, it looks like a Fortress. Why the hell would you want to build this?”

Esme patted the girl on the shoulder.

“Because I am not trusting any government to take care of those girls when we free them. They are going to need a home, a safe place until they can find their way into the world. These are going to be safe houses, compounds without scientists or guards and I want to make sure these girls never have to fight again. So tell me, what would you suggest we do to improve the facilities defenses, exits, kitchen and dining areas, bedrooms, everything. No one knows what those girls will need better than you Bella.”

Bella took a deep breath, looking at the diagram with new eyes. What if they could get the girls out before the base is attacked? What if somehow… could it really be possible?

It was just a dream, one that would never happen.

But as far as things to dream about this wasn’t a bad one.

“Tell me Bella. When you were young, stuck in that situation, what would you have changed? We can’t change what happened to you or your friends, or… Julie. But we can make sure more girls don’t have to grow up in Hell. What would you want to live in? We have the money, the logistics I can manage. Just tell me what would make these girls life better. We can make it happen. We will make it happen.”

Bella took a deep breath.

“The DNA manipulation is started nearly immediately after birth. Every girl that we get out is going to have problems, a process that can’t be stopped as they grow. Even without the vampire venom injections they are going to need medical facilities. We can’t send them to a normal hospital if they get sick. Everything done to treat any problems will have to be done in house. We also eat a lot. There will have to be some way to get fresh food in, preferably not meat only. Drop off points, a system of tunnels… Esme this is a lot. We can’t do this.”

“Not with that attitude. Sit down and make a list. We will start with this blue print and expand as we need it. Everyone will have to be slightly different based on the land we decide on but the essentials will remain the same. Getting all this equipment in secretly will be a chore and we have no idea how much time we have. Maybe we should start in Alaska since its closer. I have some friends in Denali, vampires who feed from animals like us. They can help find a perfect area. No one knows the land better than Tanya.”

“And how are we going to have a construction project this huge in secret?”

To Bella’s surprise Esme actually rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to build it myself, Bella. Actually I will probably make Rose and Emmet help. You don’t want to see Edward, Alice or Jasper around anything mechanical. Not exactly their thing. So do you want to keep talking about how we can’t do this or make it happen?”

Bella smiled, figuring she had nothing to lose.

“I guess we better figure out how to make this happen.”