Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Venom

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 24:

BPOV

The noise was soft but it caught my attention enough to wake me. It was dark. Very dark. Usually a light was on in the hallway. Nothing.

I lay still while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. There. A noise. The noise that woke me up. It sounded as if something was being dragged. What the hell was Charlie doing?

“Dad?” I called quietly.

Nothing. No. My door just cracked open.

The light switched on. What the hell?

“Hello Bella Swan.”

I sat up in bed and saw her immediately. As lovely as ever. Irkalla.

And she had Dad’s body in her arms.

I looked at my wrist and saw it was… where was my bracelet?

She threw Charlie’s body across my bed. His head landed in my lap. His eyes… his dead vacant eyes were looking at me.

“I killed you.” I managed to say without a breath in my body.

“I am eternal you stupid bitch. Witches come and go and I remain. Of course you are the last. Once I am done with you, this world is mine.”

She moved closer. She grabbed Charlie by his neck and tossed him to the floor. I couldn’t move.

“You were very lucky. I should have killed you. It’s time to rectify that mistake.”

Her cold fingers caressed my cheek. Her other hand pulled my hair back. I caught my reflection in the mirror across from my bed. My hair was brown. Thick, long and brown.

No.

Her lips were on my neck.

“I’m going to drain you slowly. Witches blood tastes so sweet. Try to relax. It will hurt a bit. Just don’t fight it.”

I found my voice when her teeth pierced my skin.

I closed my eyes and screamed.

“Bella! Bella, wake up!”

I stopped screaming and opened my eyes. Charlie had me by both shoulders. He was shaking me.

“Bella?”

“Daddy?”

“Yeah baby. It’s me. You had a nightmare.”

My eyes were wet. I had been crying.

“Where is Jake, Bella?”

Jake?

“He has patrol tonight. He and Billy are running… why?”

“I just thought he may have been hiding in the closet or something. I was calling for him to come out when I couldn’t get you to wake up.”

“How long were you trying to get me up?” I asked.

“A few minutes. You were moaning and then crying and then you sat up and screamed. Scared the hell out of me kid,” Dad laughed.

“Sorry.” I told him embarrassed.

“Don’t apologize. You have been through a lot. You want to talk about it?”

It had been two nights since the fight with Irkalla. The Cullen’s were officially missing people. The cause of the explosion that leveled the mansion was unknown. Mallory had started rumors of insurance claims and faking deaths.

Jake and I had returned to the spot I fought Irkalla. The evidence of the fight was all around. But no body parts that I could see. She burned.

Yet she stayed on my mind.

I had been edgy. She left a lot of vampires behind. We expected them to make a move. They may. But it was probably too soon. So we sat and waited.

I was frustrated.

“I’m frustrated,” I told Dad.

“That wasn’t a scream of frustration Bella,” Dad pointed out.

Normally I would not talk about this. But I had been making an effort to be more open with Dad. I didn’t want to have any secrets from him. That meant big as well as small.

“I had a dream about Irkalla.”

“Okay.”

“It seemed real. Very real.”

“Okay. I would be a bit worried if you didn’t have a nightmare or two considering everything that has happened. I have.”

That was a surprise.

“You have?”

“Yep. I had a nightmare tonight. I had a nightmare two nights ago before the big fight. I have nightmares about you being hurt all the time Bella. It will pass.”

I nodded my head.

“You are used to sleeping with Jake right? Think that may have had something to do with this?” Dad asked.

“I guess. Pretty bad huh? I should be brave enough to sleep by myself.” I laughed, self-consciously.

“How ’bout you work on that later and get some sleep now? I’ll sit up and hold you.”

“Dad… you don’t have to hold me.”

“When you had nightmares as a little girl I would come into your room and sit up against your headboard. You would crawl into my lap and sleep the rest of the night away,” he grinned.

“I think I’m a little old for that now Dad,” I replied, rolling my eyes a bit.

“Okay. Night kid. I love…”

“You’re leaving?” Wait a second.

“Yeah. I mean you are definitely right. You are too old for that. It would probably be a bit awkward and I know you aren’t big on affection…”

“Maybe you could sit with me for a little bit? Just until I go back to sleep?” It was a pretty bad nightmare. I was worried about him now. If he was in here I could keep an eye on him.

“Okay. Scoot over.”

I moved over and Charlie sat down and stretched out his legs, sitting back against the headboard.

“You want a pillow? For your back?”

“No. I’m good Bella.”

I put a pillow into his side and leaned into him. This wasn’t so bad. He started rubbing my hair. That was so relaxing. I do remember him doing this when I was little….

I woke up when sun broke through my window. My head was leaned into Dad’s ribs. I looked up and saw he was asleep. He fell asleep sitting up with his arms around me. Oh my God his back.

“Dad?”

He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at me.

“Hey angel.”

“Are you okay? Your back?”

“No more bad dreams right?” He grinned.

“No.”

“Totally worth it. I better get ready for work. The search for the missing Cullen’s continues.”

That surprised me enough to get a laugh.

“Putting a lot of effort into it, Dad?”

“As much as OJ is, looking for the real killer,” he said seriously.

Before he walked out, I jumped out of bed and grabbed him in a hug.

“I love you Dad.”

“I know Bella. I love you. You have a good day. Get some rest. Go shopping or something.”

Dad walked out leaving me alone.

What to do? Jake would be sleeping today. I could go curl up next to him but if that happened it would lead to other things. He really needed some rest.

I was edgy. Two days ago I destroyed a blood thirsty ancient vampire. Today I was bored.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out my favorite leather pants. It was time for a ride. Maybe I could find some sort of trouble to get mixed up in.

Jake POV

Bella wasn’t answering her phone.

“She is probably asleep. Why don’t you get some sleep?” Dad asked.

“I will. I sleep better if she is near.” I told him honestly.

“Jake you can’t expect her to hang out here all day. She needs to get out. Let her have some time to herself. It will make it much more special when the two of you are together.”

I said nothing. I didn’t want to disagree with him. He was in too good of a mood. The two of us patrolled all night. The Pack usually splits the night shift so we can all get some sleep at a regular time, but Dad would not be stopped. I could see in his head how much fun he was having, running beside me. But now Dad Jake bonding time was over and I wanted my woman.

I knew she didn’t sleep well without me either. I hoped maybe we could both rest today.

I may as well lay down. She will show up later.

I wasn’t sure what time I woke up. It was raining. It was still daytime. Bella was not next to me.

Rachel was.

“Rach?”

“Hey Jake. Uh… Paul just called.”

“Okay…”

“He’s at a bar. A bar near Port Angeles. Frequented by bikers.”

Hell no.

“Rachel you are not going to a damn biker bar! What the hell is he doing inviting you there?!” I’m going to break his fucking legs. Again.

“He didn’t call to invite me Jake. He stopped by because he recognized a bike. A black Harley.”

“Rachel do you know how many black Harleys there are?”

“Only one with Wyoming personalized plates that say Witch.”

---

Yeah, there aren’t many of those.

“Is there a vampire there?” Shit. She must have tracked a vampire…

“Paul has been there a couple hours. He walked in to check on her. There aren’t any vampires there Jake.”

“Then what is she doing there?”

“Getting hammered according to Paul. She has been hitting it hard since he has been there. He hasn’t approached her and he doesn’t think she even noticed that he is there.”

Okay…

“I guess… getting hammered? She is sitting at the bar drinking?” I asked for clarification.

“Paul said she may also be… playing pool. For money. She has won quite a lot. It’s starting to make some people mad.”

“Text Paul that I am on my way and not to let her out of his sight. For God’s sake don’t let her drive.”

I got into Chris’s car and stretched the thing as fast as it could go. I knew the bar in question. More of a slaughter house. Hard core bikers hung out there. I knew she could take care of herself but…

Dad’s thoughts last night. The ones he didn’t want to slip. A conversation. Watch Bella’s behavior for signs of change.

No. She must be looking for leads on vampires. That has to be it.

I pulled up and saw her bike. It was 5. Everything was quiet. A decent crowd for five o clock judging by the parking lot. I could hear music blaring from the inside. But nothing…

Yelling?

Cursing?

Did something just break?

I was steps from the door when a body crashed through it. A bald headed biker in his forties rolled on the ground, unconscious. He was a big guy. He cracked the door in two when he went through it.

Shit!

Another body flew out the window.

Running inside, I saw chaos.

Paul was in the corner, staring with his jaw open. He was staring at a gathering of people attempting to assault a little dark haired girl who was in front of the pool table.

Bella.

She had a pool cue in her hand and was twirling it like a baton. Bodies were dropping. She just kicked a guy in the head.

Head butted woman in leather. Dressed a lot like Bella was.

Bella was smiling.

A guy grabbed her from behind. Before I could move she tossed him over her head into another guy.

A woman hit her in the face. She hit the woman in the gut and the jaw.

She wasn’t armored up. She apparently didn’t need to be.

She jumped on the pool table and kicked two guys.

“You want me to grab her boss?” Paul asked.

I… had no clue.

Paul took my silence as agreement apparently. He jumped behind Bella and wrapped his arms around her.

“Calm down little gir…”

Bella grabbed Paul’s dick and twisted. She head butted him with the back of her head. She twisted and backhanded him.

Paul hit the ground.

A guy swung a chain towards Bella from above. I caught it and tapped the top of his head. He dropped.

Bella turned at that and seemed to snap out of whatever battle lust she had been in.

“Jakey?”

Yep. She was drunk. She stumbled a bit.

“Hey Bells.” We looked around and I saw everyone in the bar was on the floor. A few pools of blood but nothing major. No one looked seriously close to death.

“What are you doing here? You should be sleeping. You were up patrolling.” She slurred a bit. Paul got up, groaning.

“Paul! What are you doing down there?” she asked.

“It’s where you put me.” Paul grumbled.

“Bella why don’t we go home? Paul can put your bike in the back of his truck.” I suggested.

“You wouldn’t mind Paul? That would be so sweet” Bella grinned and patted Paul’s cheek. He flinched when she did it.

“Let’s go, baby…”

“Hold on. I have to pay my tab.”

Bella walked up to a corner of the pool table and grabbed a stack of what looked like hundred dollar bills. She pulled two and walked up to the old biker behind the bar who was looking at her with awe.

“Here you go Freddy. Keep the change. And you should really talk to these guys about being such poor losers.”

Freddy simply nodded and Bella grabbed my arm. I walked her to the car and belted her in.

“So how was patrol last night, dear?” she asked.

“Uh… uneventful.”

“I bet your Dad had a blast, didn’t he?”

“Yeah… Bella what the fuck was that?”

“What was what? What were you doing there anyway? I never thought that would be the kind of place you would hang out in.”

How much had she had to drink?

“Bella, Paul saw your bike there. He called me. What were you doing there?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Hanging out. Wasn’t much else to do. I knew you would be asleep and didn’t want to wake you so I thought I would take a ride. I ran up on this place and thought I could talk bikes with some of the other riders. Then a guy asked me to play pool. I had never played before but I figured it would be good practice for this trick Chris taught me, moving things a little bit with my mind? Anyway it worked well. A guy asked me to play him for money and I figured why the fuck not. Then some others wanted to play. I kept winning. It was all good until Dirty Suzy called me a whore. You know how I feel about that word. So I pushed her. Her old man grabbed me by the arm and I broke his arm, then she tried… anyway it just got out of hand but damn was it a blast.”

“You started a bar brawl because you were cheating at pool?”

“No, I started a brawl because she called me a whore. And I wasn’t cheating at pool.”

“You used magic to make the balls go in.”

“Show me a rule book that says you can’t use magic. It’s not my fault they don’t know magic.”

She had a point.

“Look Bella you can’t walk around beating up people.” I told her firmly.

“That’s good to know, Jake. The last guy who tried to tell me what I could and could not do had his head cut off.”

Ouch.

I looked and saw her grinning. I hope she was kidding.

“Bella…”

“Shut up.” She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to my… oh hell…

Bella POV

We pulled into Jakes. He thought I may want to shower and eat before we went to Charlie’s to discuss our next move. I could see his point. Charlie probably would not approve of me hustling pool, power drinking and getting into fights at biker bars. But Charlie did tell me to relax. And it was relaxing.

Chris and Old Quil were waiting in the drive. I glared at Jake.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“I’m not listening to a lecture.” I had been in a good mood. I really wasn’t in the mood to be spoken down to. May as well set things straight now.

I hopped out of the car and tried to march towards them. Unfortunately I may have been a bit under the influence still as my first step nearly sent me to the ground.

I looked at Chris expecting to see disapproval. Instead he looked… confused?

“You okay Bella?”

“Uh… yeah. Why?” I saw Quil sniffing. Fuck. If they didn’t know, they would know now.

“I tried calling you.” He told me. I looked at my phone and saw the missed calls.

“Sorry Chris. I had it on silent. What’s up?”

Chris looked at Jake and then at Quil. Shaking his head he finally addressed me.

“An FBI agent is at your Dad’s office. Says the FBI was called in to look into the disappearance of the Cullen’s.”

“This soon?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. The FBI agent has muddy brown eyes and very pale, very cold skin.” Quil told me.

Oh no.

“Where is he?”

“At the Fork’s police station. Your Dad had the presence of mind to mention to the agent that his daughter dated Edward Cullen. He is very interested in meeting you. Immediately. Charlie called me and I told him I would bring you there. We need to go. Uh… are you in any kind of shape….”

I was cold. Fear had me nearly frozen. An unknown vampire had Charlie.

“What the fuck are we doing here?!” I nearly screamed.

“Calm down. Sam and Jared are at the Station outside. The vampire has no clue what is going on. He has no reason to suspect any of us. He is most likely looking for Irkalla. He will want to talk to you to see if you have knowledge of vampires and of what may have happened. He doesn’t suspect a thing. Charlie is doing well. But Bella we may need to keep this guy alive for a bit. He could tell us a lot of intel on the vampires out there. What the plans were. Back up plans. Locations. But you need to be at the top of your game. Are you… drunk?”

I felt my armor cover me. The power flowed through my body. It healed me. My head instantly cleared.

“Not anymore. Let’s go. We can talk about the plan on the way up there.”

I walked back towards the car, Jake by my side. Take him alive? Maybe. But he wouldn’t be around my father.

Narrator POV

Martin Burk sat patiently drinking coffee with Chief Swan. A typical small town police chief, the man was obviously clueless about the world around him. Martin would be gone already, except for one little nugget of information that the good Chief dropped. His daughter dated Edward Cullen.

Swan said they had been together for a year. No way she didn’t know what he was. That meant she was in the know about vampires. Irkalla was missing. If any human might have a clue about what happened at the Cullen house it would be a girl who dated a vampire.

“My daughter texted me. She is on her way. Can I get you more coffee?”

“Uh… no.” I will probably drink your blood later but no coffee right now.

Martin had been in the FBI for the past six years. He met Irkalla twenty-one years ago. After centuries of hiding his true nature, hiding his kills, carefully feeding to avoid those damn Volturi, she found him in London. He had never seen a more beautiful woman.

After a day of talking to her he had pledged his existence to serving her.

She would be the one who would lead his race to the proper place in the food chain. The Volturi, traitors to their kind, would bow before her. Aro lacked bravery, cowering in the shadows. So afraid of the weak humans.

He expected her call. She told him she had one more stop to make and then the call would be made. He would destroy his coworkers, cause chaos in the law enforcement community.

The call never came. Instead he traveled to Forks to find the Cullen mansion was a burnt heap. Irkalla was nowhere around. No sign of any vampires. The signs of battle were evident. This was no accidental explosion. The surrounding woods showed evidence of war. The ground all around the home was scorched, not just in the vicinity of the fire.

No eyewitnesses. The house was too isolated. The only person who had a chance of knowing what happened would be the teenage girl who dated a vampire. According to Chief Swan they were very in love. Swan spoke highly of the Cullen Boy. He spoke several times about what a good head the Cullen boy had on his shoulders.

After twenty more minutes Martin heard the roar of a motorcycle outside. He peered out the window and was a bit taken back. Stepping off the bike was a black leather clad young lady, she did not look like the eighteen year old bubbly girl he expected to be dealing with. She was beautiful, but she had a definite edge to her.

The girl practically ran in and wrapped her father in a hug.

Martin froze. Something was wrong with her. He wasn’t not sure what but every sense he had told him she was dangerous. That was ridiculous though. She was just a tiny girl. Nothing dangerous about her. He caught a strange scent on her. Smelt like a wet dog. It was feint but there. She must have a pet.

“Bella this is Agent Burk. Agent Burk, my daughter Bella.” Chief Swan introduced them. “I’ll let you two talk.”

Charlie Swan walked away, surprising Martin a bit. He figured he would have a difficult time getting the girl away from her father. Now to determine what the girl knew.

“Agent Burk, I know what you are. I am so glad to see you.” She whispered.

That was easy enough.

“You know what I am?”

“Yes. Could we go somewhere and talk? Where we can’t be heard?” Her eyes cut to her father who was in his office now.

“Of course Ms. Swan.”

Martin watched as she walked to her father’s office and told him she would be taking a ride with Agent Burk to the Cullen Mansion. Her father simply nodded and told her to be careful.

Charlie was using every ounce of self-control to try to appear normal. He was voluntarily letting his daughter go with a vampire. He knew she wouldn’t be alone. He knew she could handle him. But it went against every protective instinct he had as a father.

Still he had to trust her. He had to trust those around her. He smiled and told her to be careful casually and went back to his paperwork. He could hyperventilate as soon as she left.

Bella was excited. Her body was humming. Her only goal was to get the vampire away from Charlie. She could handle everything else later. Getting Charlie safely away from the leech had to come first. The leech opened the door for her and she walked directly to the government sedan. Having a seat in the passenger seat, she tried to relax as the leech sat behind the driver’s seat.

“So Ms. Swan, where to?” The leech smoothly asked.

“The Cullen house. I can show you where I hid the body parts.”

Martin nearly drove off the road.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“First will you change me? Edward was planning on changing me this month.”

Change her? Every instinct in his body told him to rip her to pieces. As soon as she talked she would be dead.

“Of course. You know of vampires. Why have you not been changed before?” Martin asked.

“Edward wanted me older. It was supposed to happen soon. We were going to discuss it the night I was… he told me not to come over. He said some visitors were coming and I couldn’t be there. I went anyway. I stayed in the woods. There were so many vampires…” Bella whispered.

“Yes. The Volturi. Royalty of the vampire world. What happened?” Martin asked, growing impatient.

“I… they were attacked. I saw the whole thing. After it was over, I grabbed all the body parts I could and hid them. I knew that they could be put back together but I wasn’t sure how. So I hid them.”

The girl was shaking now. Martin could not have her panicking.

“Who attacked them Bella?”

“Could I just show you? It would be easier if you saw where it happened. One of them lost a limb too. I saved it.”

One of them?

“Of course. Just relax. You can show me where they are and I can work on getting them together again and we can change you as well.”

The girl smiled in relief. “Thank God. I knew when I saw you my prayers had been answered.”

They drove in silence until they reached the Cullen House. The girl got out of the car and immediately walked towards the backyard without a word. Martin watched her until she stopped.

“Come on! I can show you back here.” Bella continued to walk. Martin followed her. She walked past the backyard continuing into the forest. Finally she came to a stop on scorched ground.

“Here it is,” she whispered. Martin looked around. The ground was burnt in places. Tree trunks were cracked. The ground was torn up. A battle definitely took place here.

“What happened here, Bella?”

“Do you have any gifts? Can you read minds like Edward? Or see the future? Can you protect us?” she asked nervously.

Martin laughed at the ignorant child.

“I have no gifts nor do I need any. I am more than capable of protecting the both of us. Now tell me what happened.”

“They were attacked by…”

“By what?”

“Zombie wolves.” Bella whispered.

Sam, Jake, Embry and Quil walked out behind the cover of a fallen tree. Martin saw himself surrounded by the native men.

“What the hell is this?” The four men phased in an instant. Martin was now surrounded by four snarling wolves. He backed up, prepared to defend himself. Until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning he saw a vision from his past. The woman Irkalla sent him along with others to kill over twenty years ago. But it wasn’t her. It was another.

“You’re a witch.” He whispered.

“We have some questions to ask you, Special Agent Burk.”

Martin screamed when he felt teeth close on both his arms. Hitting the ground he felt teeth on his legs.

He found himself lying on the ground quickly with no arms or legs. The witch stood over him. Then he walked out.

A tall slim cowboy. His face had aged but Martin would never forget it. The witch’s husband. The one she made disappear.

Chris Jennings kneeled down next to Martin’s torso. He smiled but there was no humor in the expression.

“Well there is a face I will never forget. Nice to see you again vampire.”