Disclosure:  Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. 

Pre Edit Count –   2,383 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: I See You by MIKA.

Previous:

Biting her lower lip, Bella thinks then tries a few searches.  She looks up at Damon, his hands already on her shoulders, as she asks him, “I feel that is as important as the other questions.  There is just a feeling of an apocalypse hanging over everything.  And you’re right, none of the issues facing us are that important.  I think we need to get your brother here in some sort of manner that we can control.  We also need to find out if Nature is wanting his curse lifted.  If it didn’t, then why would it keep having the doppelgangers?  And what is the importance of each time they have appeared since they are so rare?  Something is triggering all of this.”

Damon smirks as he looks up from her. “And welcome to the new age of Bella – the one with the questions that we needed to have been asking all this time.”

Elijah sighs as he says, “And let us hope that is all she is needed for.”  He looks at them both as he adds, “Because I really would hate to find out what you two are actually capable of since that would mean we would need it.”

Now:

The sun is going down slowly, on a new day that has brought joy to some, and change for so many that have no idea how their lives are to be impacted by the events it is watching over.

The sun slowly sets on a new day that has brought joy to some and change for so many others who have no idea how their lives will be impacted by the events that sun is observing.  But as this sun has seen and will continue to see many more critical times in its long life, it does its job and bestows light upon the world below it.

On the plantation, after an annoying couple of hours spent researching the questions Bella had asked, there is a knock on their door.  Damon is sitting in the chair with Bella on his lap actively working on the desktop as she is now, for the first time, getting to research openly for the Cold Ones in hopes that maybe some of the information she has will help trigger more information, or even a notice if the Cold Ones have been looking for her.

Elijah chuckles when Bella asks him to open the door, not seeing the hesitation she had shown in previous times.  She completely accepts him as her family now.  He shakes his head about how much they seem to understand the family link now that she is one of them, and now that she is Mated, no male will ever mean anything to her besides the two of them.  And Elijah is fine with it.

He walks to the door and opens it to reveal a figure in a black cloak.  He manages not to snarl as he questions, “And what are you here for?”  He almost laughs as he thought about how old-fashioned the cloak was…

The figure is hidden by the cloak, but the voice is deep as he tells him, “I am here for Bella.”

At his words, Bella and Damon rush to Elijah’s side.  Damon steps in front of Bella and holds her close behind himself.  Elijah steps past them, making it so that the creature would have to get through both them before he can get close to her.

The hooded figure laughs.  “Do you really think you can stop me if I want her?” He is cocky, sure of himself, and his voice shows it.

Elijah looks at the man, but his eyes flicker as he notices that the clouds above them are growing darker.  He draws up and raises an eyebrow much like his daughter does.  “Yes.”

The creature laughs, then steps forward. Before he can do anything else, Elijah is holding him in the air by his throat with the sound of marble cracking under his one hand. He looks at the being in front of him as he tells him, “Yes, I in fact do think I can stop you.  What do you want with my daughter?”

The figure struggles, and Damon smirks.  He cannot help it.  He is fully prepared to let go on the stranger, and it is gratifying to find that they are stronger than the Cold Ones.  But the growl he has been giving off has been incessant, and will be while his Mate, his precious, beloved Mate, is in danger.

Bella stares at the creature, and then asks her Father, “Can you remove his hood?  I’d like to see who they sent.” She is curious about who this being is.

The creature jerks as if he were trying to stop the request, then Elijah suddenly has the hood lowered.

Damon frowns as he mentions, “I thought you said they had red or gold eyes.” He is staring at the man before them, blue eyes startling in a face Damon had not expected to have any eye color but red.

Demetri snarls at them. “Normally the Cold Ones do and I wear fucking contacts because of that reason.” He is still struggling as he tries to get out of Elijah’s choke-hold.  Puzzled, he looks up as he hears thunder above him in a sky that was clear only minutes ago.

Elijah stares at the creature in his hand.  He bluntly asks him, “What do you want with my daughter?” This is the important information to him.

Demetri turns his head to meet Bella’s brown eyes. “To help her.  She is one of a few, and I felt the change.”  He smiles at her, trying to reassure what should be a nervous newborn, confused and wild.  He wonders if they had a spell on her…

Damon growls, as does Elijah. “What few?” His Mate is one of a kind, no question about that, but to imply they know more about her than any of them want the Volturi to know is an uneasy feeling.

Looking at the men in front of him, he tells them, “Hybrids. She has venom in her from the bite, and it will slowly change her to be like me…”

There is nothing but shock in front of him.

They move back to the Library, with Elijah standing behind Demetri and ready to do whatever it takes to kill him if he says or does anything that he or Damon doesn’t like.  Not one of them is happy about the information he just gave them, but both vampires are watching Bella as she wrestles with the information.

Bella sits in her chair rubbing her temples as Damon stands behind her with his hands on her shoulders.  It has been quiet, even Jonas is making no noise as they all wait for Bella to get her mind around what Demetri said. Damon’s chest is rumbling with a purr as he tries to soothe his Mate.

Finally she lifts her head and asks Demetri, “How… What… Fuck…”  She closes her eyes and starts over again.  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?  Since I know you are their tracker, I have tried to keep a watch out for you. And who else knows about me?”

Demetri leans forward, ignoring the change of the purr to an increased growl from Damon.  He openly eyes the petite beauty in front of him, and grins.  “No one else knows where you are, matia mou (my dear).  I know of you because my ability to track is really just a side effect of my real ability.  I know where every single hybrid in the world is.  And there really aren’t many of us.  And no, I’m not talking about the human-vampire half breed monstrosities.  Nor what your Klaus is wanting to do with Werewolves and himself.  I am talking about those who had vampire blood in them and were turned by a Cold One, or in your case, you have venom in you and were turned by a vampire.  Actually, you are the first one of that case.  Venom normally kills.” He sounds puzzled as he has been trying to figure out how the hell she is the first one and how she became what she is.

Watching the hybrid in front of him, Damon asks, “And how did you come about?  What is so special about you?” His hands tighten as he feels Bella’s emotions, and he rubs her shoulders trying to soothe her.

His eyes still on Bella, Demetri answers the question, “Because we are extremely rare.  There are only a few, and I’m the one who found each of them.  We normally function as Cold Ones.  When we are first turned, we have the red eyes and everything.  Nothing seems unusual from the rest of them.  But then, after the first year, instead of losing our strength, we continue to gain.  After a hundred years, our regular eye color takes over, and some of us find more talents and so on.   I will say the oddest thing is when our fangs develop.  It hurts like a motherfucker.  But we are harder to kill than normal.” He smirks when he says it, thinking he had one advantage over the beings in front of them.  Except Bella.

Then he straightens up and tells Bella, “Matia mou, you know one of us quite well.  In fact, he has been searching for you for the last year now that he has kicked off the coat hangers to him.  When I called him with your location, he started on his way here.  He will be your teacher.” He tells her this so that whatever way she’s keeping calm can be slightly alleviated.  He still doesn’t understand why she is calm or why they’re acting as though she is a fully thinking being instead of a newborn thirsting for blood.  They even had a human in the room with her!

Elijah and Damon both snarl.  Bella lays a hand on Damon’s as she tells Demetri, “I’m not sure what you are thinking, and the venom might make changes, but if they do, then Damon will have the same abilities.  You see, unlike Cold Ones, the Mating of Vampires is a different horse of a totally different color.  Damon is my Mate, my other half, my everything.” She tries to explain.  But truthfully, she wants nothing more than this being to be gone from her home, and be allowed her to finish her research so she can spend time with her Mate.  She really wants to be alone with Damon, but these questions are haunting her.

Demetri’s eyes widen, “Please tell me you didn’t share blood!  Bella, you will kill him!  None of us can change another person because of it, they usually die!  In fact, the one on his way here has been the only one who has been able to do it, and then only twice over hundreds of forced tries.”

Laughing behind him, Elijah tells him, “Well then Damon, Bella, that explains why Jonas senses so much more about you two.  Wonder what your changes will be?”  He wonders how much more these two are going to have to change to  make it harder to kill them.  However, he also wonders how this will help them secure the species if they can’t change another being now.

Wrapping an arm around his Mate as she stands, Damon smirks. “Anything would make us more awesome.  Wifey here, well, I have no idea of how she could get any better; she’s perfection already.”  He bestows a kiss on her head.  He is grinning since he slipped in the term, knowing from their earlier conversations that she didn’t like the idea of a piece of paper deciding she is married.  He agreed, but his Mate is his wife to him.  Names are just that – names, not the reality.

Running his hands through his hair, Demetri shakes his head. “Don’t you understand, you will die?  Why are you not taking this more seriously?” He didn’t like the cocky asshole, but no one deserves to die in the manner he has seen in the past.

Jonas speaks up for the first time, “Because you were taught the Cold Ones’ way.  What you don’t know of these two is that they are Mates.”

Not able to understand why they are not taking this more seriously, Demetri starts pacing.

Elijah watches him, and finally asks, “What do you know of our type?” He doesn’t cares to relieve the nervous hybrid, but even he is getting tired of the dramatics.

Demetri only glances at him as he paces.  He rattles off, “You need human blood to complete the turning, your blood can heal, you gain strength instead of losing it, and you have powers that we can only imagine.”  His mind is going through what could happen if this man is really Bella’s Mate, and what if he dies.  He seriously believes the man is mistaken, but the concern she shows may upset this fragile whatever that is keeping her calm.

Elijah snorts.  “And is that it?”

Demetri stops and gives him a nasty glare.  “Yeah, that is it.  What else is there?” This British git needs to leave him alone so he can figure out what to do with the newborn that they are obviously ill equipped to handle.

Bella relaxes some and Damon smirks.  “What you don’t know can kill you.  We know more about Cold Ones than you do.” He rests his head on his Mate’s, using her to keep him calm.  He really didn’t like the asshole in front of him.

Demetri waves his hand at Bella. “Because of her.” He is not an idiot, and through others he has heard about her.  She is just lucky she has been deemed to be under the protection of another that was as powerful as he is.

Damon lifts her hand up and kisses it and, giving her a look, he waits until she nods.  He is then in front of Demetri, making him jump from the closeness.

Elijah can’t help the bark of laughter from the reaction, and he watches the two as he moves to ensure that Bella is safe.

Looking up and down at the creature in front of him, Damon loftily tells him, “What you need to realize is that we are magic.  We were born from a spell from a cousin of my line that his mother cast to save her children from wolves.”

Waiving his hand at Elijah “In fact, if we had to acknowledge a leader, it is him.  And Bella is his daughter in our world.”  Then he leans close to the man, his face transforming, “Here is the biggest piece of information.  Bella is mine.  She is my Mate.  We are basically one.  What happens to her happens to me and so on.  Ask Elijah for more information.”

And with that, Damon’s instincts are going crazy.  He watches Demetri, but his hand is out, and Bella is by his side in a instant, leaning into him.  Then they both are gone.

Elijah looks up and chuckles as he hears the door slam.  “This will be interesting for a time.” He sighs, knowing that these interruptions are coming, and why he is willing to suffer to be able to give himself and Elena time to themselves before they mate.

Demetri looks at him, and declares, “You’re all mad!  She needs to be trained, and cannot give him anymore of her blood.  The venom in her will kill him.”

Chuckling Elijah waves him to the seat across from him.  “You need an education, young man.” And he is going to provide it, if only to keep his attention from what is going on upstairs.

When Demetri glares at him, Elijah advises him, “I’m over a thousand years old.  Older, actually.  But that is neither here nor there.  What you need is a course in our kind, one that most of us don’t know.  The man upstairs is one of the most powerful of our kind.  He is equal or even better than me, and I am the first one of our type.  Bella is my daughter. She is descended directly from my line, and is the last remaining one.  That, along with the fact they are Mates, make them the couple.  Sharing blood is the only way for Mates to survive.  She can drink from none but him, and he barely can stand the taste of the blood he drinks for her.  He gets nutrition from it, but it’s like drinking battery acid.  He does it because he is driven to provide for her.  He actually receives from her what he doesn’t get from the blood.  He HAS to drink her blood, or they will die.  That is Mates work in our world.  There is one other Mated couple, and I am a half of another possible pair.” He is frank with the man, giving him some credit since he is worried about the fact that Damon could die from this.

Demetri cannot help but sag in his chair. “Then they both will die.”

Shaking his head, Elijah tells him, “No.  The magic that has mated them, will not allow them to die.  Damon will change along with her.  By this time, neither of them know it, but they are the same.  They drank so much of each other’s blood last night when they Mated that their blood is the same.  It is the magic driving them, and it is driving Damon right now.  You are lucky he is holding back, to him you are challenging him for his Mate.” He settles in the chair he had been standing in front of, and crosses his legs as he watches the hybrid before him.

Demetri looks up and asks, “Is that even possible?”  He is curious about what is going to happen when the man he has been waiting for shows up.  He is close.

“No.”

Demetri looks at him.

Growling at the man before him, Elijah tells him, “I am her father.  Because of that same Mating, Damon is my son as well.  I will not accept you, and I will kill you for not only killing him, but for killing my daughter, my line.  I am not forgiving.  In fact, Damon and I plan a trip to your leaders.  It is time for the Cold Ones to be ruled correctly.  This whole ‘kill whomever knows the secret’ rule is going to end.” He understands why the rule was implemented, but the lengths they go to with it are insane.

Demetri just smirks then, feeling the other one getting closer.  “Oh, I am not the one who will fight for her.  Nope.  Not getting into that mess at all.  The one who is coming, he is the one who you will need to worry about.  We have no idea what he really is, besides a mixture of both of our types, but I will tell you, he has been fighting for her, killing many of our kind to protect her.  And no one can stand up to him.  If he wants her, no matter what your magic and legends say, he will have her.” And he deserves her so much more than the asshole who is currently with her.

Elijah looks up at the ceiling at the sounds coming from the bedroom.  He then looks at the hybrid in front of him. “I don’t think I need to worry.  Just wait.”

Demetri smirks back as he settles and waits for the show to begin.  No one has met the man coming as he is now:  in full control of himself and coming for Bella.  Maybe this death will be easier than the one coming for Damon.  God knows it will be painful.

Final count, 3,357 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy