Pre Edit Count – 2,549 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Human by Civil Twilight

Previous:

Staring down at the giant, Eric asks him, “Where is Fuckward?” He growls out the name, feeling all the hatred he has for the fucktard.

Emmett again defies him, and Eric looks at Jasper.  “Why can’t they ever just answer the question?  Why must I prove that I am right?” But inside, he admits he is glad that the idiot isn’t giving in. The more pain he can exorcise, the better.  He knows there are many others who want a piece of him, too.

Jasper shakes his head. “I have no idea, but we need to get to work.  I figure Edward will be expecting him soon, and we don’t want to risk him escaping.”  He can’t help the growl coming from his chest, but feeling Eric’s spike of rage at the idea tells him he is not the only one.

Nodding, Eric leans in to start. A scream rings out from the abandoned warehouse and startles the birds who will not return due to the noise that continues for a long, long time. Grief is one thing a being over a thousand years of age is only too familiar with, a being who has felt his family dying around him one too many times.

Now:

Evening falls in Dallas, and a tall blond is hanging in the air above yet another warehouse.  He looks down at the place as he speaks into his mic, “Why can’t they pick some place other than a warehouse?  It’s all so cliché.” He feels much lighter, happily anticipating the upcoming altercation.

A low laugh comes to him over the ear-piece. “Because it’s somewhat expected?  We never said they were smart, but you know what they say about a stupid enemy.” Jasper’s voice is gleeful as they all wait outside the perimeter of Edward’s mind reading ability.

Another laugh is heard as a Scottish voice answers, “A blessing?  When are we getting this started, brother?  I have a new sister rising soon and I want to be prepared for her.” Andrew’s voice is light and teasing, and the popping of his knuckles is heard over the earpieces.  As with the rest, he had taken some of his anger out on the Cold One they had captured, but he is looking forward to his sister rising.

Eric snorts, “And what do you think you need to be prepared for?” He too is looking forward to Bella’s rising, but he cannot fathom what Andrew has planned.

The voice slyly answers, “Well, she be my Queen, I think she needs some gifts.  Like a car, a new dress or some jewelry to commemorate the occasion, or perhaps even one of the people she hates most in the world?”

Laughter comes over the mic from the different individuals currently positioned around the warehouse.

Eric shakes his head, a small smile playing around his face.  “Are they there?” As he asks for confirmation, he looks down at the place where he hopes to end one of the beings who caused his lillasyster much pain.

Peter’s voice comes over. “They are, but I have a bad feelin’ about this, boss.” His voice is low, the hatred in it obvious as he cannot seem to rely on his so-called gift.

Eric pauses, “Enough of one to call it off?” He listens to Peter, knowing that whatever he knows or has a feel for will give them the edge no matter what.

There was a pause on the mic, and then Peter finally sighs. “I don’t know.  I don’t know if one of us may get hurt, or if they get away.  I’ve told ya before, this ain’t no fuckin’ gift.  It may let me know some stuff, but it seems the times we need it most, it fails us.”

Everyone can hear the frustration in his voice.  Eric thinks it over and he finally tells them, “Go ahead.  On the count of three, attack.  Abort if anything goes wrong – we will have plenty of chances to get them.  They aren’t going to leave us alone.”

With agreement across the lines, Eric stares down at the place that may hold those responsible for the death of his little sister.  He clenches his jaw, then counts down.

On three, the warehouse looks like it explodes.  Andrew comes in the front door as Peter and Charlotte come in through one of the entrances high on the building.  Armando comes in through the back door, and Eric crashes through the roof.

Edward was already moving when they burst in, and he is through a wall in seconds with Peter and Charlotte on his trail. The rest take the opportunity to surround the last Cullen in the room.

The other three corner Alice with Eric hovering above.  She laughs at them. “Do you really think you will capture us?”

Andrew just smirks. “Yes.” Where else can she go?  If she goes through the wall, they will follow her.  There is nothing he can think of that will allow the pixie in front of him escape.

She laughs gaily at them, then without warning, steps back into the shadow behind her.  They all go to grab her, and come up with nothing.  It is as though she became a ghost.

“Did you really think it would be this easy?” Her voice chimes through, and then the shadow blows away as mist.

Eric curses then flies back out through the hole he made to help Peter and Charlotte.  One of them, any of them, will do.  He wants his revenge.

The others also explode from the building, leaving Andrew in place in case it was a ruse and she is still there.

Eric rushes after the three, and roars as he nears Peter and Char only to find that they lost Edward.  He hits a building in his rage, leaving a huge mark in it.

Peter is also pissed. “I knew the fucker was fast, but how the hell is he that fast?” His gift was supposed to be his mind reading, so how the hell is he that fast?

Eric shakes his fist.  “Knulla!”

Peter just shakes his head.  “I think we need to go to Bella and Godric’s grave,” he says as a cold shiver runs down his spine.

Eric glances at him, then looks in the direction of where the Cold One had gone.  “Shit! After him!”

The three chase the Cold One through the city even though he had managed to evade them earlier.  The direction he heads in is enough to make them work even harder to find him before her finds the grave.

Edward curses Alice in his head as he runs. He cannot believe that, after all this time, she is just now admitting that she is blind to them.  What about Peter and Charlotte?  Or even Jasper?

He prays to the Dark Lady in thanks for granting him speed in addition to his ability to read minds.  It was the only reason he had gotten away in time, and escaped the Viking in the sky along with Peter and Charlotte.  He went where their minds weren’t, and continued doing so until he was free of them.

He soon glides in among a crowd of people on McKinney Street and laughs to himself as he realizes that he is close to the Club that just opened – the one that had enabled them to grab Bella.

He had been instrumental in adding some designs into the plans that had not been there originally.  These additions were easily overlooked, like the window in the closet of the female’s bathroom.  On the outside, it matched the other ones he had added so the contractor thought it was to make everything look right on the outside.

It had been one of his more brilliant moves, and proving yet again why the Dark Lady likes him.  His ability to glamour the idiots has also come in mightily handy many a time.

With Alice only seeing that Bella would be taken by Emmett on that date, they all had to work toward that one specific event, although they all wish there had been another day Alice could have seen.

He had done much to bring Bella to his side instead of the ancient vampire.  She was his singer.  And her shield! He had finally found someone whose every thought he couldn’t hear!  They had all been shocked at it blocking him as a human.  That was when the Dark Lady had met with the Kings and they decided that Bella was to become one of them.

As a reward, he would be the one to drink from her and change her. There would be others there to ensure that she wasn’t drained and killed, of course, but having any of her delightful blood was enough.  Plus, there were all the times he’d bled her when she slept that had helped slack his thirst.

He chuckles as he walks down the busy street with all the drunk humans.  How foolish of Emmett and Bella to even imagine that he controlled his thirst around her.  No, he had sated it each and every night, and worked his glamour on her to make her give in to him.

His eyes darken as he regrets having to leave Bella.  It had taken a lot, Alice’s promises along with an express order, for him to leave her.  He had not wanted to be away from his singer’s blood for any amount of time.  Since it wouldn’t be that long until he had to change her, each night lost was a true waste of her bouquet.

As he moves away from the street, he keeps mindlessly moving, his brain bringing him to back the memory of her fragrant blood.

Then, as the sun is about to rise, he smells her.

With a growl, he starts to hunt her.  He knows that tracking is not one of his strong points, but following the scent of his singer? For that any vampire becomes a tracker of renowned ability.

He soon is standing above a patch of newly turned dirt outside of the city.  He quickly digs down, and finds his Bella in the arms of the other vampire.  He snarls at the other one, but he can smell her scent changing, the bouquet becoming weaker as it mixes with the blood of the other.  Without a pause, he bites her wrist, intending to indulge until he needs to force his venom in her.

This saves his life, or at least for that moment.  Out of nowhere, she is ripped from him and he finds the tall blond vampire snarling at him with his fangs down. He pile drives him into the trees surrounding the grave.

Edward struggles to get away from him, and the blond just smiles evilly.  Edward looks at him. “You think she loves you?  She just wants to use you to become immortal.  It’s all she wanted from me,” he growls at the taller one.

The blond raises Edward’s arm and bites down on it, tearing it almost off. Edward grits his teeth at the pain, thinking that his words hurt the blond.

Eric looks up at him, “I wanted to give you a wound that matches my syrra’s since you didn’t protect her much then.”

Edward just laughs. “That?  That was all planned.  We needed to make sure that she would trust me more, as well as the family.    Alice had seem them entering the area, and saw what would happen if we didn’t interrupt it.  One of my better plans, all in all.”

Eric snarls at him, and lunges for Edward’s neck.  Edward manages to flip out of his hold, but Eric catches one of his ears and slices right through it. It is torn in half, but still attached to his head.

Standing where he lands, Edward reaches up with his good hand and feels his ear. “Fuck! You’ll  pay for that shit.”

Eric just laughs.  “This is only the beginning.”  Edward dodges his grab, and Eric flies at him, not thinking about his moves ahead of time like he normally does.

They continue this dance for a couple of minutes, then a rock-hard body slams into Edward from behind.

Turning his head, Edward grins evilly at him. “Brother!  Fancy meeting you here.”

Jasper growls at him, but before he can do anything else, Edward is gone in a swirl of black smoke.  Jasper hits the dirt in front of him as Eric lands. He had the fucker in his very hands!

Eric snarls, furious that they seemed to lose both of them the same way. “Did he hurt her?”

Jasper picks up her arm and sniffs, and his shoulders sag, “No venom, but he got a swallow in.” He can smell the difference in her blood.  It is now a mix of both Godric and Bella, with Eric still there.

Eric’s eyebrow lifts as he remembers about Bella’s blood.  He smirks. “Really?” His eyes gleam and he hopes the fucker likes the swallow he had.

Jasper jumps out of the hole, and starts to cover the two back up.  When Eric starts working beside him, he sends the tall blond his curiosity.

Eric chuckles.  “Fuckward will be experiencing some issues soon.  We don’t know how her blood will affect others, but I distinctly remember that it is poison.  I don’t think we have heard the last of him.  But if we have, it is fitting that he die from drinking her blood.” He is pleased.  But somehow, he figures that Edward will be back and bothering them sooner than they wish.

Jasper smirks as the two of them work hard to replace the dirt as fast as possible.  Afterwards, they sit and watch the spot where Bella and Godric rest.  Jasper ponders for a minute, and then asks, “Why didn’t either of them wake?”

Considering everything that has happened, Eric absentmindedly answers him, “During this time Godric is actually in the same state as she is.  This is what will make the Maker/Child bond between them strong.  His blood is being used to build her up, to make sure she is healed and ready for her new future.  All I know is that when I changed Pam, I was in a state of semi-awareness.  But Godric told me that during my turning, he was completely out.  He woke up just in time to make sure I had something to drink when I rose.  He figures that if you feel the pull, your body and blood work to make the most of the change.  I came out more powerful than most vampires.  Pam was normal.  Nora was the same.  And Godric was semi-aware during her change.”

Jasper just shakes his head.  “I wonder what makes it so different for our types.  It takes three days to change a human to a Cold One, and three nights for one of your type to change.  The biggest differences is that you go to ground with them.  We can turn a human without meaning to.” The Bond between the sire and Child is a huge difference, too, and they both know it. But that isn’t the differences occupying their minds right now.

Eric blinks.  “I wonder why that is so.  It seems like our types are similar, like someone tried to copy the other.”

Nodding, Jasper folds his hands behind his head. “I wonder who was first.”

Eric laughs. “I know that answer, but it won’t help because he is different from the rest of us.  But maybe you’ll meet him.  Until then, I think we will find out more and more about our types in the days to come.  I don’t think they will try for Bella again, but if they do, we will all be better prepared.  My little sister is in for a lot of training when she wakes up,” Eric growls out the end.  He will never leave his syrra defenseless again.

Jasper thinks about it, then tells him, “Don’t push too far.  She will understand, but remember, she will be unique.  She will have to deal with all the changes, too.  She might have known she was going to become one of you, but this was not planned out.  She will have to still come to terms with her life ending much faster than she wanted.” And she is stubborn, too, but he doesn’t need to tell her brother that.  Not only does he know her, but he’s as stubborn as she is.

Nodding, Eric stands as Peter and Charlotte appear, each carrying a cooler.

Peter shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Eric.  I wish this whatever it is I have would be more helpful.”

He looks down at his Guardian. “Peter, you give us plenty of information.  You are not a full seer, and I don’t expect you to know everything.  I only wish for you to tell me if you get feelings about something.  There was no way to even guess that Edward would find Bella.” He puts his hand on the shoulder of his Guardian.

Peter and Jasper shake their head. “We should have made sure that Bella was cleaned up with no blood present on her.  Edward probably caught a trace of her blood.  With her bein’ his singer, he could track her.”

Looking away toward the horizon that shows the sun slowly setting again, Eric tells them, “It doesn’t matter.  We have plenty to do for the future.  Blaming each other comes to no good.  We know now.  Now hand me some blood bags, and have some ready for Godric.  It takes quite a bit for the first feeding, and if she can only feed from us, well…” he drifts off, knowing that they are all aware of what will be needed.

Paul came in as a wolf along with the rest of those in the nest who are close to them.  They all move about and are ready to protect the newborn and the two who will be feeding her.

In time, Godric wakes and surges through the dirt to the top of the grave.  He brings Bella with him – he refuses to have his Mate awaken in her grave alone.  Even Eric had only had to thrust a hand free before Godric broke with convention and brought him out.

Eric hands him a blood bag, which he accepts gratefully.  He then reaches inside of his jacket and hands Charlotte the jewelry he had removed from Bella before he buried them.  The dress is lost, but he saved their engagement ring and the pieces he suspects she would still like.

Charlotte takes the package that had been wrapped in Godric’s silk handkerchief, then opens the other container and gets ready to hand blood bags to the vampires when Bella awakens.

Even the night seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for the newest vampire to awaken.  Finally her Bonds stir to life, and as they all watch, her eyes open.

Final count:  3,196 words.

Fairfarren~

A/N:   Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is the last chapter of this portion of the trilogy.  I am working on completing stories before I post, and  will announce when the next part is ready.  Thank you for your time and interest, and as always, reviews are appreciated.

-as of 06/08/15.  My group begged and begged, so I am no longer finishing before I post.  This is why you have two chapters of the next chapter to read.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Part Two: Put Your Feet Up to the Edge Is Posted!!