The Feature Story is posted with permission of the Author!!!
Atonement by BetterinTexas
Chapter 4
Don't own it
BPOV
"Fuck! That hurt, you dick!"
I had thought vampires couldn't feel pain. Physical pain at least. Ty was proving that vampires could indeed feel pain. The pain that comes when you find yourself thrown on your ass over and over and over and ov…
"Get off your ass, Swan! Let's try that again."
Ty. That motherfucker. A glance at the clock showed me we had been at this for 48 hours and 16 minutes. So far, I had hit him once. It was hard though. It counted. Not for much, but I made him say ow.
I stood up, prepared to take another ass whipping. I came here for death. Not humiliation.
"What are ya doin, Shorty?" Ty smiled.
"Bout to kick your ass, big guy."
"No. You about to get served again. Every time with that dumbass stance. How many times I gotta show you?"
He walked over, then proceeded to bend me forcefully into the position he wanted me in.
"This doesn't feel right." I whined.
"Make it feel right. Your way gets your ass kicked. You want to beat Garrett when he gets back? Learn my way."
"Can you beat Garrett?" I asked surprised.
"I hold my own." Ty shrugged.
"Can you beat Garrett?" I asked again slowly.
"No. Alright? Freaky fucker is fast. Vicious. Don't let the Mr. Nice Guy act fool ya. Guy is a stone cold bastard when it comes to fighting. Fucker took out three newborn vampires by himself in the time it took me to take out one."
Interesting. I figured he would be a great fighter based on what he did. But still. He seemed so nice. Looks can be deceiving, I suppose.
"Now, let's get back to fighting. You need to keep your guard up and stop telegraphing blocking with your legs. I'm gonna break those things if you don't watch it.”
Whoa.
"What did you say?" I whispered.
"I said that if you use your legs to block strikes and your opponent -vampire opponent, anyway- sees it coming, he or she can change the angle of the strike to break your legs. I mean they heal and all, but it is a bitch to be in a fight where you can't stand."
Breaking legs. Memories flashed towards me like they sometimes do, out of the blue.
A memory that was running in my head right now. A red-headed whore throwing me on the ground. I felt the blood in my mouth. Dirt. I was rolled over on my back. She placed her hands on my shins and pushed. I screamed when I heard the cracks before the pain ever reached me. I thought she would have killed me. Instead she tortured me. Got the last bit of human pain she could take before she took my life. My legs were bent. I remember looking down and seeing them in odd angles. Then she took my hand gently, caressing it before breaking my fingers. She snapped my ribs. One by one. The final image was of Victoria placing her lips on James bite mark, biting down herself.
"So like I said, if you don't want me to break your legs wait until the last second to…"
I am not sure why I took it out on him. He wasn't her. He was trying to help me. Something about the mention of broken bones set me off, my monster would not stay contained.
I remember hitting him in the jaw. The wide eyed look of surprise on his face when I struck. I remember kneeing him in the crotch. He yelped. I hit him in his nose, feeling a crack. I'm not sure if it was my fist or his face.
I was growling. I kept seeing her sneering face snapping my fingers. My legs. I was scared. That bitch fucking scared me! I hate being scared!
"Bella! Bella, calm the fuck down girl!"
I came out of the red haze and realized I was face first in the floor. Ty was on top of me, my arms pinned behind me. He was whispering calmly in my ear.
"Calm down little crazy white girl. Ty got ya. Calm down. Shhh."
"Ty?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you get off of me? Please?" I asked a little shakily I admit.
"You gonna be cool little Bella or psycho girl? Cuz I can't let psycho girl have another shot at big Ty. You get my drift?"
"I'm good. I promise. No more nut shots."
Ty slowly moved off of me. When he let me go he shot to the other side of the room. Great. My only friend is frightened of me.
"I'm sorry, Ty. Are you okay?"
"Am I okay? Shit girl, you can't hurt me. But, uh... you did catch me by surprise and all. That's it. I thought we was funnin, then we were kinda goin Carlito's Way on each other. It's all good, though. Long as you are…you know what? Why don't we grab a drink? A little O Neg always chills me right the fuck out."
"Yeah. A break probably would be good."
I walked into my room and was hit instantly with the smell of blood. Damn Garrett. Still, I give him credit. It didn't bother me as much as before. I walked to the fridge, then realized I had only drank one bag since I came here with Garrett the first night. Since then, I have pretty much stayed busy. Ty followed me in a few seconds later. He had a thermos I assumed was filled with blood.
“I got a message on my laptop from the surface. Three boxes of books upstairs. I'll get them in a bit."
"No hurry." I whispered, a bit embarrassed.
"Nah. You need a break. I should have listened to Gar. You can't be fighting constantly. Especially since you are only a bit over a year turned. Liable to snap. Happens to all of us."
"Yeah…" I didn't want to think about it any longer.
Ty turned the TV on, then sat on what I guess was my couch now. I heated up the bag of blood. It was nice to be able to feed without hearing screams, no matter how short they were.
I didn't realize I was standing until Ty looked at me, then the couch.
"I'm good." It's not like I got tired.
"Bella. Act human. Humans sit. Sit." He patted the cushion next to him. I rolled my eyes as I sat down. Quickly.
"Get up, do it again."
I got up slowly, only to very slowly move back down.
"Good. Now every few seconds, cross your legs or something. Pretend you're in a skirt and flash some thigh or something."
"I will later."
"Blink."
"I will later."
"Run your tongue over your lips very slowly." Ty further instructed.
"Why? What the hell does that have to do with seeming human?"
"Nothing. You got nice lips. Just wanted to see you do it. Want to see me do it?"
"No!"
"Just askin, shorty. No need to get butt hurt over it."
I continued to sip the blood, using all my willpower not to just suck it down and attack another one.
"So was it something I said?" Ty asked, breaking the momentary silence.
"Was what?"
"Whatever had you go from fighting one second like Hannah Montana and the next like Lindsey Lohan on bad crack?"
May as well be truthful. Looks like we were going to be together a while.
"Yeah. The broken legs thing."
"What about it? I wasn't threatening you. Just trying to help you out so it doesn't happen. Gotta look out for you kid. You're my crew now. Gotta take care of my little soldiers."
"I know. It just brought back a memory. The vampire that turned me, she tortured me first. She broke my fingers, my ribs and…my legs. It was the second time I had a broken leg from a vampire."
"I see. Well you gonna get to go Betty White on meth when we find her. I'll hold her ass down so you can break everything on that bitch's body. We will go medieval on her ass."
"I can't." I told him quietly.
"Why not?"
"My ex boyfriend killed her."
That shut Ty up. For a moment.
"Maybe we should start at the beginning, Bella. I'll tell you my story. I was a very successful high school athlete. I matriculated in College on an athletic scholarship. A Spring Break in Vegas and a very bad choice to have sex with a very beautiful woman left me waking up in the desert three days later, glistening in the sun with a powerful taste for blood."
"Glistening? You mean sparkling?"
"I do not sparkle. White boys like Garrett sparkle. I glisten in the sun. On with my story. I wake up, go on a killing spree. I run into the night, finally finding some woods to hide in. I get sick of life. I must have killed damn near 80 people. I didn't even know what the fuck I was, but I decided to turn myself over to the man. I couldn't help myself. I tried damn it, but I was sucking motherfucker…" I guess he saw the look on my face… "I mean draining, feeding, you know what the fuck I'm talkin bout. Anyway, I make my way across country and realize I am near DC. I walk up to the Pentagon at night, expectin if anybody could kill me, it would be those fuckers. The Government always got something goin on. Anyway, I jump the fence, an alarm goes off, and Garrett has his hands around my head. I'm expectin to die, but the fucker is laughing. He invites me in, shows me around, then talks to me. Really talks to me. Anyway, five years later I'm a superhero, with him as my sidekick."
"Side kick?"
"Yep." Ty seemed satisfied with his answer. I didn't push.
"So that's me, Bella. Tell me about you and your ex boyfriend who can kill vampires."
I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of blood. I think it had gotten stronger.
"When I was 17, I moved to Forks Washington to live with my father…"
Garrett POV
I could smell them. I knew they were around. I wasn't in their territory. They must be ranging out farther. Or…of course. Charlie would be special to them. Best friends with young Jacob's father. Bella taken by a vampire. I would imagine that they would be protective over him. Unfortunately, Charlie's dangers were more of the self-inflicted variety than the undead type. I had parked a few blocks over to give them a chance, should they be watching, to approach me. I really didn't want Charlie Swan to see a giant wolf crash through his wall.
Yes. Three more of the big furballs were on the side of the road pacing me. I smiled at the tree line as I began whistling. More noise. The closer I got to Charlie's door, the more agitated they became.
"Fine. Let's talk."
I took off across the street. Within three steps, I was in the dense forest and moving at a high rate of speed to my designated rendezvous point. The pitter patter of little paws following me. I came to a stop, and as expected, I was surrounded. Good. I like being in the center when I am addressing a group. I find it allows me to make everyone feel they are a part of the conversation.
They were growling.
"I would like to speak to one of you. If you all attack me, I will have to hurt you. I would like to avoid that. I could have simply driven up to his front step. I could have gotten him at First Beach. You shifters aren't great chasing a vampire into water are you?"
That caused the circling to stop.
A few seconds later, a young man in cut off shorts walked out from behind a tree. Following him were his furry brothers, and according to Bella, a sister in there somewhere.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? How do you know about us?"
I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. Damn did they stink.
"Garrett, visiting Charlie, and Bella told me."
"What?" he asked. I thought I was pretty clear.
"What? I answered your questions." I informed him shrugging my shoulders.
"You are not allowed here, Leech." The angry young man growled.
"Actually, I'm not in La Push. According to the treaty, you aren't supposed to be here. Do I need to declare war on you? Because I can."
"You seem to be short an army, Leech." The man I surmised was Jacob smiled.
"You may want to rethink that. You really should be aware of your surroundings. Not only on the ground but…above."
My eyes looked at the laser dot on his bare chest, then followed the trajectory to the tree top. Laser sites rained down from the trees. Within seconds, my team had rappelled down. I give them credit. Being surrounded by horse-sized wolves, they didn't flinch. Of course Connolly was smiling.
"Jason." I nodded as he walked up, rifle still trained on Jacob. I looked at Jacob to see his eyes had gotten very large.
"Garrett. So you weren't shittin me. Big fucking wolves." He grinned.
I turned my attention back to the young man in front of me.
"You must be Jacob. Jacob, I am hoping all your friends... especially, I believe her name is Leah?... have clothing like you do. It would be in everyone's best interest for your pack to phase, as you have done, so an open dialogue can be established."
"If they don't?" Jacob growled.
"Then I see how many bullets you can take before you stop healing and just give up. Maybe there isn't a limit. It's gonna hurt like hell to find out, though." Connolly answered.
Jacob nodded at his friends. A minute later, all were present and fully dressed. As dressed as they do anyway.
"Excellent. As I said, my name is Garrett. These gentleman with the large rifles dressed in camouflage are members of Navy Seal Team D. This is their commanding officer, Jason Connolly. No rank. No one could find it in themselves to give him one." I laughed. Until I realized no one else was laughing.
"You done?" Connolly asked.
"Yeah. Done." I mumbled. Nobody gets my sense of humor. Bella gets it. I can tell this about her already. I turned back to the class.
"Anyway, they are here as a favor to me. Namely to help me stop you from attacking me. Normally I would just fight you, but I don't think Bella would be very happy with me if I hurt any of you. So forgive the guns being pointed at you. A necessary precaution."
"You know Bella?"
"Yes, Jacob. I do. I am here to tell Charlie about her. To tell Charlie everything. I am working with Bella to help her be around humans. He can talk to her over the phone. This needs to happen."
"So she can say goodbye?" He whispered.
"No. So she can say hello. Would you be willing to listen? I can tell you what she has gone through. What she did to end it. What she will be doing now. Then I must speak to Charlie. He needs to know she isn't gone, Jacob."
"How do you know my name?"
"Bella told me."
"Does she know you are here?"
"No." he nodded. Poor kid. Heartbreak. Devastating heartbreak.
He said nothing, but stepped back. The rest were looking to him for leadership. With a look and a nod, the tension released. An unspoken command to stand down.
"Now unless anyone has any immediate questions for me, I can begin telling you about myself and why I am here."
"I have a question." One of the young men raised his hand.
"Quil, shut up!" The female yelled.
"No! It's quite alright. What is your question young man?"
"Why are they called Seal Team D?"
"Because Seal Teams A through C were all killed doing favors for me in regards to werewolves. This is the fourth one I have been given."
That at least broke the tension. Some of the wolves actually laughed.
"You know, one of these days, I am going to figure out how to kill you… then I'm going to remind you of all the shit you talked about me." Connolly whispered.
"Yes. Maybe you could get an extraterrestrial suit of armor and a laser rifle to shoot me to pieces, cowboy. I know. You could shove a grenade in my mouth." I smirked.
"Don't be stupid. Where do you come up with this shit? Hurry up, talk to your new girlfriends ex and daddy so we can get home. I got tickets to the game tomorrow night."
"You are a romantic, Jason. Now. Okay group, listen up. My name is Garrett. I was turned into a vampire during the Revolutionary War…”
Three hours later, I felt like I made new friends. Jacob spent a lot of time asking about Bella, what she had gone through, what she would be doing, as well as asking if I could try to talk her into calling him. I told him I would do my best, but he needed to understand she was very ashamed of herself right now. Once she begins to get past this, she would need friends. In short, don't expect much right away, but it would get better. Whether they ever would have truly been happy cannot be determined. They could still be each other's friends.
I knocked on the door to Charlie's house, Jacob at my side. I hadn't planned to tell Charlie about the pack. I figured that was their business. Jacob decided that since he was going to know about vampires, it may help to know about wolves. I asked why he never told him after Bella was taken.
"I wasn't sure if it was better to tell him his daughter had been killed by a sadistic vampire. With everything going on, it seemed like an unnecessary problem to put on him."
When the door opened, I damn near lost the breath I had been holding. The pictures did him no justice. He looked horrible.
"What the hell do you want? Jake? Who the hell is this, Jake?"
"My name is Garrett. I work for the US Government. I would like to speak to you."
"Government huh? I got nothing to say. It's my day off. Call the station for an appointment."
He began to close the door in my face.
"I have information on your daughter, Isabella Swan. Your very alive daughter. I know where she is. I can arrange it so you can speak to her by phone, even see her eventually. If this is a bad time, though, I can certainly call your station and…"
"Stop. What did you say about my daughter?" I expected to see hope in his eyes. All I saw was ten shades of pissed off, as Connolly would say. He was reaching for something…oh for God's sake. A gun?
"You heard exactly what I said, Charlie. Do you want to continue reaching for that gun to shoot a federal officer, or do you want to find out about your baby girl?"
His hand stopped at least.
"Come inside."
"Actually Charlie, I think it would be better if you came outside. To the back. I have some things to show you. Garrett does as well. It will all be easier to believe if you see."
Ten minutes later we were back inside. Charlie walked to the kitchen to grab a beer. I beat him there.
"I think we have had enough of those to last us for the next century, don't you?"
He said nothing. I think he was a little freaked out by the whole Jacob turning into a wolf thing, along with me moving at the speed of light and knocking over trees.
"Yeah."
"Good. Have a Coke and come to the living room. We have much to discuss."
"Your kind killed my daughter? Or did Jacob's friends…"
"Your daughter is like me now, but she is very much alive. I have a lot to explain, plus I really want to get back to her. So if you would?"
He nodded, walking to the living room. Jacob glanced at me in thanks. The alcohol had to stop.
Four hours later, we were done. I was done anyway. I had explained this shit three times.
"So I can maybe see her one day?"
"Yes. Quite often I hope."
"And I can talk to her?"
"Yes. I am hoping to arrange conversations with you and Renee in a few days."
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"I have been alive well over two hundred years. I have found two vampires worthy of joining me in protecting this country, along with the human race. Two. She is the second. She is an extremely good person. She needs direction. To know that her life isn't over. I plan to give her that direction."
"If she wants to leave?"
"I will help her move. She owes me nothing. She is under no obligation, but understand something Charlie. Jacob told her what happened to Renee. He told her about you. She feels enough guilt for things she had no control over. When she sees or talks to you, I expect you to be a strong pillar of support for her. No feeling sorry for yourself. She needs to know that you are okay. Understand?"
"Yeah. I understand. I will…" he took a deep ragged breath… "No more drinking. I'm going to get cleaned up. I promise. I will be there for her."
"Good. Jake will be keeping an eye on you."
"For what?" Charlie asked angrily. I can play that game.
"To make sure you haven't fallen off the damn wagon. I don't give a damn if you go to AA or Church, but you are her Dad. Your daughter needs you strong. If you can't be strong, then you will do her more harm than good. Get it together, Swan. I'm calling Jake in five days. Five days. You want to talk to your daughter, you better get back to being the man you are supposed to be... one she deserves. Understand?"
"Yes. I understand." Damn it. Now he was crying. I wanted to be tough, because I figured he would respond to this. Now he was crying.
"Come here big guy." I pulled him into a hug as he started sobbing. Shit. Glad I had my overcoat on. Awkward.
"There ya go. Let it out."
"You just don't know what its like to think your baby was…"
"I know. I know. But she's not. It's going to be okay." I kept patting him on the back. Maybe if I stepped away…nope, he just clutched me more tightly. I stood there awkwardly while Charlie Swan released his demons. Jake stood in the kitchen doorway smiling. It wasn't a sarcastic smile. He wasn't growling because I was near a human. Maybe we had made some headway. It was good. Bella would need all the friends she could get.
I really wanted to leave. I had not known her for very long at all, yet already I missed her. I worried about her. I wondered what she was doing. She hadn't called, so I guess Ty was keeping her busy, but still... I had kind of hoped she would call.
An hour later, I was in the air with Seal Team D. Actually they didn't have a designated letter. When they were first assembled, they asked me so many dumb ass questions, I named them Seal Team D. I figured the D could stand for Duh or dumbass. Whichever worked for me.
Eight hours later, we were on the ground in DC. An hour after that, I walked into my home. Sublevel 7. I heard the sounds of battle coming from the training room. I stopped by to see Bella's door was opened. The TV was on, the boxes of books were on her floor. At least they hadn't been spending the whole time fighting.
I walked in the training room in time to see Bella tossing Ty into a reinforced wall. She turned to give me a smile. I tried to ignore the feelings of joy that look did for me. She looked glad to see me. Very glad. I was very glad to see her. I was afraid when I was away from her, that she was a dream I would wake from, when I returned to find her gone.
"Have you two been having fun?"
She smiled.
"I know Kung Fu." She grinned.
"Show me."
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Don't own it.
BPOV
"I don't get it."
"What don't you get Bella?" Garrett asked, sounding a bit irritated. I guess he doesn't like questions during movies.
The two of us had been watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. Garrett insisted after I told him I had never read the books or seen the movies. I admit Aragon was hot. So was Legolas. The movies had their moments, but it all seemed pointless.
"Why didn't they just fly the big eagles into Mordor, then drop the damn ring in the lava?"
"Because. The big dark guys on the dragons would have killed the eagles." Garrett explained.
"Not if the armies had just attacked Mordor to begin with. The dragons would have been busy. All it took was one giant eagle getting in. I mean they flew right to Frodo and Sam. They could have been there in an hour. Instead these little people had to walk forever to get there, going through all this crap, when they could have just caught a ride with a giant eagle. For that matter, why did Gandalf ride his horse from one castle to the other? You know, the one with the steward, who has got to be the worst dad I have ever heard of? Why didn't he just catch a ride with his birds? He seemed to be able to get them anytime he wanted."
"They were busy," Was Garrett's short response.
"Doing what? What could giant Eagles be doing that kept them that busy?"
"Did you like the movies Bella?" I guess he didn't know either.
"Yeah, Garrett. I did."
"Good. Now what would you like to do?"
"Train."
"No."
"Please?"
"No. You trained for 24 hours straight on the light beam test. You can overdo it. Relax. We can read. I can show you how to work the main database. The satellites. Anything besides training."
“My touch isn't great, Garrett." I reminded him.
"It is getting better. Why don't you work on that? I could help."
"What would you like me to touch?" I asked, wondering what he trusted me not to break…
Oh shit.
He was quiet. Maybe he didn't notice.
"Go ahead, Garrett! Tell her what you want her to touch!" Ty yelled from his room. Really got to start closing the door.
An awkward silence descended.
"Well, I am going to beat the fuck out of Tyrone. I would suggest you work on your touch, human tendencies, things besides fighting." Garrett casually said.
"Why? I want to fight." I argued.
"Maybe, but in a few days you are going to be talking to your parents on the phone. I am hoping in two weeks you will have enough control that, with my help and Ty's, you can actually see both of them. So get to work."
Garrett walked out.
Wait.
I ran after him in the hallway.
"What did you say?" I grabbed him by the arm.
"I said you are going to be speaking to your parents on the phone tomorrow. If everything works out right, seeing them in a couple weeks."
"How?" Why was he fucking with me like this?
"I read up on your parents. I saw they weren't doing well. They needed to know you were okay, Bella."
"That's where you were? The past two days?" I whispered.
"Yes. Lives needed to be saved. Yours, as well as your parents. You need them in your life."
"I thought they couldn't know."
"Says who?" he asked.
"Isn't it a law or something?"
Garrett shrugged. "I'm the government. I do what the hell I want. In case you haven't noticed, I have been breaking the supposed law for a very long damn time."
A part of me really wanted to hug him until I realized…
"What's wrong, Bella? Are you angry that I did this without your knowledge? I…I'm sorry. I thought you would…"
"No. It's fine. But they know, don't they?"
"Know what exactly?"
"They know what I have done."
"Yes. Jake explained…"
"Jake! You spoke to Jake!"
"Yes. He changed into a wolf in front of Charlie to help me explain."
"Jake didn't attack you?"
"He wanted to at first, but once I threw your name out there, he calmed down."
Oh my God.
"Why?"
"I covered that."
"But now they know! They know I killed people!" Oh God no.
"Bella, they don't care! It wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was!" I screamed.
"They fucking love you anyway! Deal with it! They need you to be strong because they fell apart when they thought you were dead. So don't be carrying your guilt to them. Get over it or put it aside. You don't have time to wallow." Garrett screamed back.
"You had no right to approach them." I told him.
"Of course I didn't have a right. I did it anyway. You think I only do what I have a right to do?"
"Yes. I mean you should."
"Well I don't."
I really had nothing to say to that. He said nothing, so I guess the argument was closed.
"I can't talk to them. I'm too ashamed."
"They need to hear from you. Either you call them or I am bringing them here."
"You can't, Garrett. I don't want them to see me lusting for their blood. Seeing the monster I have become."
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. You are not a monster. Stop describing yourself as one. Self-pity is not attractive."
"I…"
Wait a minute.
"Did you just say I…"
"Yes. Nothing is wrong with your hearing. I said it. I meant it."
I wanted to ask follow up questions, but didn't. One, because I wasn't sure what to ask. Two, because a speaker just said his name.
He walked towards the control room.
"Yes, General?"
"We have an emergency. The type only you can handle. Can I come down?"
Garrett looked at me.
"Better that I come up. I'm on my way."
Twenty minutes later Garrett walked in, went to my closet, pulling out a black suit I wasn't aware I had. It looked like a wet suit.
"Ty. Water gear. Time is of the essence. Bella, put the wet suit on."
Wet suit?
"Wet…"
"Now, Bella. I will brief you both in the air."
"I'm not ready…"
"Get in the fucking suit already." Garrett was in his. I changed hurriedly, following Garrett and Ty to the elevator I came down here on. I realized a part of me was hoping I would never have to come out of my self-imposed exile.
I saw three humans on the first floor. I recognized them from my first night here. Their smell caught my attention, but I didn't growl. The smell didn't hit me as hard. I admit, I had gotten used to the smell permeating my room. I guess Garrett had a point with the whole scent thing.
A few minutes later, we were in a chopper. A big black chopper.
"We rendezvous with the USS Washington aircraft carrier in thirty minutes. At that time we will each get into a F22 raptors. We will be riding shotgun. Bella, in that compartment is a blood pouch. Drain it. We can experiment later. Right now…"
"What's an F 22 Raptor?" I asked.
Wait a minute.
Aircraft carrier?
"A fighter jet, shorty. A very fast fighter jet. Meaning we got to get our asses somewhere quick, so shut up and listen to G Man." Ty helpfully added. Asshole. Still he was probably right. I should pay attention.
"Thank you, Ty. No need to be rude to Bella, though. She isn't up to date on the lingo. Right now the SSBN Ohio class submarine, Oklahoma, is sitting on the bottom of the ocean. 1200 feet deep. An explosion of unknown origin has crippled the sub. The explosion occurred near the reactor. The waterproof doors held. There were 15 officers and 140 enlisted men on that ship. We don't know how many are alive, but since the explosion occurred near the reactor in an area with a limited number of crew working, I am hopeful that a large number of sailors are still alive."
"So we go down to lift the sub, right Gar?"
"No, Ty. The reactor is in meltdown. That sub can never reach the surface. The sailors and the missiles have to reach the surface. The reactor has to be flooded and the rods pulled, so the bottom of the Atlantic doesn't turn into a nuclear wasteland, then we are going to leave that damn thing at the bottom."
"How do we get them out?" I asked quietly. This was beyond me. My touch. I would fuck this up.
"There are pods being dropped to the ocean bottom as we speak. Jason Connolly and his team have taken over rescue operations. That is how we are able to help. Each Pod can hold 60 sailors. We get to the bottom, hook up the pods to the wreckage, walk the sailors in, then swim them slowly to the surface so they don't die from the bends. Then we come down, use chains to recover the missiles. Mission complete. Bella, while you and Ty are organizing the sailors inside I will take care of hooking up the pods."
"I can't rescue sailors." I said quickly.
"Yes, you can. Now drink your blood. You will both be in scuba. The sailors will be told it is a top secret deep sea suit."
"Garrett, she has a point. Explosion man. There is gonna be blood." Ty said helping my argument.
Garrett looked me in the eye.
"You're a fucking hero, Bella. Be heroic."
I'm not a fucking hero.
"Yes. You are."
"Did I say that out loud?"
"No. You didn't have to. Defining moments, Bella. You define them or they define you. Get your head straight. We are on the carrier in 5 minutes. Raptors will get us to the USS Kennedy in two hours. When we reach the site, we dive. The containers are on the bottom. Those men will have about three hours of life support left. They are scared, probably breathing very fast due to panic. Figure we have an hour and a half to get them out."
Ten minutes later, we were blasting off a deck in a jet. I screamed. I wasn't tempted by the pilot. I couldn't even smell him. I had a helmet on. I was taking in oxygen I didn't need.
"Ma'am?”
Oh shit. A voice in my head. I'm hearing voices in my head.
"Ma'am?”
Or the pilot.
"Yes. Copy? Roger?"
"Ma'am, do you think it would be possible for you not to scream anymore?"
"Would it be possible for you not to turn this plane upside down anymore?"
"Yes ma'am. That can definitely be arranged. First time in a fighter?"
"Yeah. Usually when I am flying there are peanuts and drinks offered."
"I see. Hold on. We are hitting supersonic. Your stomach may feel flattened."
Yeah. That's not going to happen. I sat back, concentrating on not touching anything. Garrett would not be happy if I broke the fighter. Deciding to look to see if I can see Garrett or Ty, I checked my right, I panicked.
"The plane is on fire! I swear I didn't touch anything!"
"It's all right, ma'am. That's just vapor trails. Happens every time. Nothing is on fire."
He was chuckling. Great. I wonder, if he knew that the girl behind him was a blood sucking demon who had murdered 38 people, would he would still be chuckling. Probably not.
"Bella! You having fun, shorty?"
What the hell?
"Ty? How are you talking to me?"
"Called a radio. New technology. Been around since before World War 2."
"No need to be a smart ass."
"Ty, we really need to keep the radio open for the pilots." I heard Garrett's voice instruct sternly. Killjoy.
One hour later, we began to descend. Good. I was bored. I kind of saw the Carrier in the distance. Damn, it looked small.
"Are we really going to land on that?"
"Yes ma'am."
"It's moving." I pointed out. Maybe he didn't know.
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Shouldn't it stop?" I heard Ty laughing over the radio.
"Blackjack 127, 128 and 129 we have you in range. Angel three zero descend for approach."
"Copy."
This wasn't good. We were coming up on that thing fast. This poor guy was going to kill himself. Oh damn. I remembered what Ty said. Fire. My clothes are going to burn off. Oh damn. This is not good. Is this suit flammable? Probably not. They have to think of these things. Right? Damn…
"Hey! Hey top gun! You're going to fast!"
"Quiet please, ma'am."
Quiet? He's about to kill himself, then I'll be naked.
Oh shit. Here it comes.
"Shit, shit, shit, shitshit…"
The plane bumped hard. Then it caught on something. Then it stopped. We stopped. I opened my eyes to see we had made it onto the deck.
"Thank you for flying with me today, ma'am. I hope you enjoyed your time, and will consider the US Navy the next time you need to travel."
"Uh…yeah. Can I get out now? Please?"
"Let me taxi to the elevator. Your friends are landing right now."
Five minutes later, my feet hit the ground. Then I realized people were watching me. Remember to act human Bella. Remember to move slow.
I began walking towards the tall center building on the deck. Damn, it was loud up here.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" My pilot asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"You're walking in slow motion."
Oh. Maybe I should speed up.
"Let me escort you, Bella." Garrett walked up and offered his arm. I hooked mine in his.
"Just keep pace with me, Bella. I'll get you there. How are you doing?"
"Good." I was. I wasn't hungry. I hadn't even thought about blood since I had that bag on the helicopter.
"Great. Stay focused, you will be fine. You are about to save a lot of lives. Lots of people are counting on you. Are you ready?"
"Yes." I answered without hesitation. Then I really looked at Garrett. He had a flight suit on but he had peeled it off to his waist. I could see his spandex wetsuit on underneath it. Damn, he looked good. I mean he really looked good. He made us put in brown contacts in the helicopter, but his eyes were still gorgeous. He also had this look on his face. He was focused. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment was getting those boys off the bottom of the ocean. He wasn't worried about bloodlust, killing anyone by accident, or breaking anything by touch. He had a mission. Nothing would stop him. I glanced at Ty to see the same look on his face. Would I be like that in five years? Would I ever get past my guilt? He killed a lot more people than I did.
Garrett led me to the tower, then the three of us took an elevator to the top. I was guessing this was the flight control or the bridge or something. There were a lot of computers, screens showing charts. I probably shouldn't touch anything. I looked for the big wooden wheel but it must be somewhere else. I saw a small one, but it didn't seem big enough to steer this thing.
"They don't have a big wheel. I asked the first time I came onto one of these. A main wheel is more for show. Computers pretty much run this bitch."
I nodded, thankful to Ty for saving me from a stupid question.
A man in black fatigues walked up. Short blonde hair, about 6'3. Really hot for a human.
"Damn, Garrett. When you pick a stray to train, you don't fuck around. She is hot." He winked at me.
"Bella, Jason Connolly, leader of Seal Team D assigned to our division... or as I like to call him, Renfield."
"Renfield?" Strange nickname.
"Yes. When we need human servants to do chores, we call him." Garrett grinned.
"Fuck you, sparkles. Bella, it is truly a pleasure to meet you." He was looking at me with a weird look.
"Have we met before?" Jason asked.
"Maybe in another life. Not this one." Garrett answered. "Can we get down to business?"
I stood still, listening to Garrett and Jason discuss strategy, until Ty bumped my arm and whispered to fidget. I crossed one leg over another. I looked at him as he slowly blinked. I rolled my eyes, but blinked slowly. Then I took a whiff. Damn. The scents were starting to get to me. The smell of adrenalin. These guys were worried, obviously, but their heartbeats were increasing. Ty must have noticed me sniff.
"Ow!" Fucker slapped me in the back of the head.
"Stop thinking with your stomach, shorty."
Oh yeah.
"Okay. Time for a swim." Garrett stated, grabbing my hand to walk us out of the room. We walked to the edge of the flight deck. I noticed everyone else was on the other side. The lights were out on this side. It had gotten dark since we landed.
Garrett grabbed three bags, tossing one at me. I opened it to see a strange looking mask, as well as a strange looking air tank.
"These were experimental scuba outfits for deep sea diving. They don't work for shit. We won't need them of course. Once we reach the sub put the mask and tank on. We can't have the sailors wondering too much about how we got down there. We reach the bottom, we find the sub. It will be hard to miss. According to Connolly, the escape pods are down there. We simply pick them up, place them onto the top port, then go in through the back torpedo bays. Once we get them in, we swim them up. Slowly. Follow my lead. I have the decompression ascension rate worked out."
Garrett jumped. Holy shit. This was real. Guess I better go…
"Fuck!"
Ty threw me in. I didn't bother surfacing. I had tried to bury myself underwater once. I killed a young couple when I came out. I knew how to handle water. I shot down, catching up with Garrett. Ty passed me. His legs were longer, I suppose. More power to his kicks.
It was dark. Even my eyes couldn't see much. I think I saw fish. Maybe. Then I saw nothing. I could get lost down here.
A hand reached out to grab mine. Even without seeing him, I knew it was Garrett. I let him lead me towards the bottom. After a few minutes, I saw a light. It must have been the lights on the rescue pod. We finally reached the bottom of the sea. The pressure was tremendous. Not enough to bother me. Nothing could bother me. Enough that I knew it was there.
The funny thing about being a vampire, is that I still felt human. My skin did anyway. My hair. My…other parts. So did Garrett and Ty. Feel human, I mean. So it was a bit surreal to be in a situation where your mind understands you should be dead, but you clearly aren't. The three days I spent on the bottom of the ocean working up the courage to open my mouth prepared me for this. Not for the darkness, but for the water.
Garrett pointed to the right. I barely saw it. An outline of a shadow against a shadow. He pulled open his bag to place the mask and tank on. Ty did the same. Not wanting to be left out, I pulled mine on. Annoying.
A light lit up. Ty had grabbed a flashlight hanging from one of the massive escape pods. The wasteland before us lit up. No fish. No nothing except a giant submarine with one end blown out. It was on its side. Not good. It would complicate…
Garrett rolled it over.
Ty swam quickly to the end that had blown. I followed. It was a huge explosion. I saw a body on the ocean floor. It was missing an arm. The face had an expression of horror. He wasn't much older than I.
Poor kid.
Ty slapped me on the back of the head. That was getting old. I looked at him, biting back a growl that would have come out as bubbles anyway.
He pointed to my head and tapped it.
Get focused. Got it.
I followed him to the wall towards the back of the sub. Garrett had his ear to the sub wall. I copied him and heard the voices. The moans of pain. No crying. Brave men. I would be so scared. We swam to the rescue pods. Ty grabbed one end while I grabbed another. Garrett ripped open a porthole around 7 foot in diameter. We placed the pod on it. Garrett did something to the controls, then I heard a hiss and pressure. Then a pumping noise. He must be draining the water. I was so lost here. Damn, his hair looked good floating in the water.
Ty grabbed me, we swam around to these tubes on top. He pointed down. Guess we were going down. He went first, then I followed.
He hit a circular cover. When I followed, he closed it behind me. Then we were in a pretty dry room. Just like that.
"Torpedo tubes. The ones on top used for the really bad missiles."
"Bad?"
"Nukes."
"Oh."
I heard the noises. Ty walked to a door, ripping it open. I looked behind me to see a door behind us.
"Waterproof doors. Shut down in an explosion. Keep water out of the decks. Hopefully enough to limit the damage, but not this time. Not that blast. Damn thing got slammed."
"Can you hear them?"
"Of course I can, woman. You ain't the only damn vampire here. Now listen up. Don't be using your real name."
"What name do you want me to use?"
"Don't talk. I'll handle shit. You just concentrate on looking like you are breathing while not breathing."
I nodded my head. One more door to lift.
The smell hit me like an avalanche. So much blood. So many racing hearts. Garrett sent me here. He knew what I would be facing. He trusted me.
Ty glanced warily at me, then continued in. The shock on the sailors' faces was evident.
"How did you get here? How did you get the doors open?" A man who looked like an officer asked.
"You wanna ask twenty questions or get the fuck out of here?" Ty asked.
"My men and I would definitely like to get out of here."
Hold your breath, Bella. Just hold your breath, Bella.
"Who the hell are you, ma'am?" One of the sailors asked. I admit my vampire body was looking good in this wetsuit. I wish I had this body when I was human.
"That's Amber…Devereaux. She don't talk. Everybody follow us. Amber, lead the way."
I turned around, walking very slowly. I wanted to run. I wanted to attack. Damn it, Garrett.
"Keep going, shorty. Focus on the mission." Ty whispered from behind. I stepped aside, then watched 60 sailors climb into the escape pods before strapping in. Ty knocked on the side of the sub to signal Garrett. The Pod closed with a hiss, sealing off the pod from the sub. I looked at 40 more sailors. I should probably say something.
"Anybody else besides those in this room?"
The officer who spoke up earlier spoke up again.
"I know the Captain is dead, plus most of the officers on duty at the time of the explosion. Anybody left probably died, or are dying, of fatal overdose of radiation.
"The reactor room walls should have locked down." Ty said.
"Yes. But they don't always work."
"That reactor needs to get wet." I whispered so only Ty could hear.
"Yeah. Plutonium rods need to be pulled. You think you could do it, or you want to hang with the boys?"
Rods? I could find rods. They glow right? They do on TV.
"I think I will…"
"Good. I got the rods. You stay here. Let Garrett know when they are loaded by gently bumping the side of the sub."
"No! You can't leave me here! Some are bleeding."
"Yep. Be good. Be a hero." Ty ran off.
"Where the hell is he going?" a sailor asked.
"Checking for more survivors." I whispered, using the last of my air. Shit. My throat was burning. I could feel venom pooling in my mouth.
No! I would not do this, damn it! No!
"You okay Amber?" The officer asked.
I took a shallow breath.
"Yep. Why do you ask?"
"Your eyes are red. They were brown. Now they are red. Red and black.
Fuck. My contacts dissolved.
"Experimental diving suit. Must have broken some blood vessels in my eyes." I said softly trying to drown out the sound of blood rushing through their veins.
An escape pod sat down. I gently banged on the wall. The seal closed and the sailors were gone. We wouldn't need the third escape pod, unfortunately. Ty wasn't back yet. May as well head out. I went back to the area we entered, then swam outside. Where was…
Oh fuck!
Garrett turned the flashlight on his face inches from my own. He scared the shit out of me. Still, he was smiling. I looked around to notice that he had been using a third escape pod to gather bodies that had been on the ocean floor. I looked back at him. I noticed his smile was sad. I hugged him. I hadn't hugged anyone voluntarily in a long time. It felt like the right thing to do.
We swam over to the pods. I lifted one while Garrett lifted the other. I followed his lead. An hour and a half later, we were at the surface. Connolly's Seals were in the water hooking chains to the pods, raising them to the deck.
"You did good." Garrett whispered in ear.
"I nearly killed them all. Ty left me alone with them!"
"You didn't. You did good. Now let's go get some nukes before China finds them."
Ty was waiting for us at the bottom. He had dragged the reactor out, and had rods in his hands. I had a strong opinion on where he could stick them. Fourteen missiles were lying on the bottom of the ocean. Chains dropped down, so Garrett and I began hooking them up to the missiles. We followed them to the surface, in case the chains broke. Sixteen hours later, we were finally done. We scaled the carrier on the dark side, that was still dark and unoccupied. Jason was there waiting for us.
"Good job. I don't know why they wouldn't let us do it, but really, not bad."
"Thanks." I answered.
"Hey Bella, maybe when we get back, we could go…"
"She's busy, Connolly." Garrett practically growled.
"No offense Gar. Just asking her out for a drink." He grinned.
"I might drink your blood." I told him honestly.
"I might not mind, darlin." He winked.
"Enough. Bella, lets go. Ty, you too."
"You can ask me out for a drink Connolly. What are you? O neg?"
"Fuck you, Gavin. Have a nice trip back. See you guys in Washington."
I flew in an F 22 on the way home. This time we went straight to Washington, doing an inflight refueling thing. I was very careful to not touch anything once again. We arrived home and took the elevator down. I wanted to go to my room to take a shower. Get the smell of salt water out of my hair. Drink a few bags of hot blood. Bathe in it. It would be very bad when the smell of my room hit me.
"Bella a word before you go to your room?"
"Yeah, Garrett. Of course."
"Tomorrow, 100 sailors will be going home after debriefing. Their loved ones will be waiting for them. Their wives and children. Their parents. They are going home because of what we did today. You are a part of that. Those men are alive because of you."
I said nothing.
"Now. Do you want to save two more lives?"
"Yes." I answered without hesitation. I was ready for whatever mission…
"So are you ready to speak to your parents?"
Oh.
I met his eyes. He was smiling. It was a warm smile.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Good. In eight hours you can call your Mom. With East Coast time she should be up. I arranged for her to be discharged, so she is home. A couple hours later, your father will be up. Save their lives Bella."
Garrett walked out.
He was right. It was time to talk to my parents.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Don't own it.
BPOV
"Mom?"
"Be….Bella?"
Her voice when she said hello. I forgot the sound of her voice.
"Yeah Mom. It's me." I said quietly… almost as if I raised my voice, she may run away.
"Bella…your voice, it sounds like you, but…is it really you? You're alive? He wasn't lying. You're alive, baby?"
I'm really not, was the first thing that popped in my head before I could stop it. I wouldn't dump my problems onto her.
"I'm alive, Mom. I'm okay."
"Bella, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you go to him to make me feel better. I should have stayed with you. I should have been a better mother. I was horrible, Bella. Look what it has cost you."
She was crying heavily now. I began sobbing. The sound of her in tears tore at my heart. My mother. My best friend. We took care of each other. I taught her to be responsible. I tried, anyway. She taught me to lighten up. She tried, anyway.
"Please don't cry, Mommy." I whispered. I don't know why I said that. I hadn't called her mommy since I was five years old.
"Bella, I'm so sorry. I was selfish. I…"
"Enough Mom. I'm alive. I…I would have called you but, Mom…" I took a deep breath.
"I've done things, Mom. I've done terrible things." My voice felt so small. I wanted to crawl into her arms to confess everything.
"Bella, Garrett told me everything. It wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for this, baby."
"I should have ran, Mom. I should have ran from him. I should have gone back to you. I never should have gotten involved in this world. Now people are dead."
"You were on your own, Bella! I know. Garrett told me what it's like. You never had a chance."
"Neither did the people I killed, Mom."
"Bella that is not your fault!"
"I killed them, Mom. I held their dead bodies."
"Yes, and it is a tragedy. Each one of those deaths. But that bitch left you alone, knowing it would happen. That was her, baby. Not you. You know you never would have done that if you could help it. Bella, if you could have done that, you wouldn't hurt so badly now. Killers do not feel guilt, Bella."
I sat down.
"Mom? What did you do?"
"I don't…it doesn't…"
"Mom?"
"I took pills. A lot of pills and a lot of alcohol, Bella." She said quietly.
"Why?" I nearly killed her too.
"Because I gave you up. You offered to move, but I didn't try to talk you out of it. I began thinking of the damn places I could see with Phil. You know what I saw, Bella? Fucking baseball fields in towns nobody has ever heard of. I let you go. Then you were gone. I thought forever. I wanted to be where you were. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to hold you, to listen to you tell me to stay out of the kitchen. Watch you brush your hair. I wanted to be where you were, Bella."
"Mom, you have to swear to me to never try that again. Please. Please, Mom? I'm begging you."
She said nothing.
"Bella, if something…"
"No, Mom. This is my life. It won't be a safe one. I don't know what Garrett told you, but I could very well die. I can't do what I need to do, if I don't know if you are going to be okay. Do you understand? Swear to me, Mom."
"I swear, Bella. Can we talk whenever we want?"
"Yeah, Mom. We can."
"Can I see you? Garrett said you are so beautiful. Even more than you were."
"Yeah. Mom. I am hoping in a few weeks. I'm working hard. Do you want to know what I did yesterday?"
"I want to know everything. Bella. Please tell me. I'll sit here and shut up. I just want to listen to your voice."
I told her about our mission. I told her about screaming when we took off and landed on the carrier. My fears about being naked on a flight deck. She actually laughed. It felt so good to hear her laugh.
"So let me get this straight. You were alone in a submarine with 40 men, yet you didn't kill them. Instead, you stayed to help them get into a rescue pod? You think you are evil, Bella? Can't you see you aren't? How could an evil person do that?"
I didn't at the time, but…
"Mom, I didn't kill those men… so does that mean those other people didn't have to die? Did I just not try hard enough?"
"You have help now, Bella. You were on your own before. Are those deaths my fault, Bella?"
"No!"
"I let you go. If I hadn't, then you wouldn't have been in that situation. They are as much on me as they are on you."
"They weren't your fault! Those were my teeth on them. Their blood in my mouth."
"It was her fault! She did that to you, left, knowing what you would do. What you had to do! She did it, Bella. That damn bitch who bit you! She did it. Let it go. Let it go."
"Mom…"
"If you are going to make me swear to live, you damn sure are, too." She said with conviction.
"What…what do you mean?"
"You get out there, and you save as many people as you can. Don't do it because you feel like you have to balance a scale that doesn't belong to you. Do it because it's who you are. You are a caring, warm woman, Bella. You have been given something that could be very bad or very good. You are going to make it good, because that's who you are.
You can't change those people's deaths. I can't change the fact that I was too much of a coward to live without you. If I am going to move on, then so are you. Swear to me, Bella. Swear to me. It would completely destroy me if my mistake made you think you are a monster. You are the most loving person. I have always been so proud of you. Look what you did yesterday. Anyone else would have given up. Turned into a mindless killer. You did it yourself. You pulled yourself up, fighting it the entire time. How many people could you have killed, Bella? How many more? How many are still alive because you won the fight inside yourself with no help?"
I had never thought about it. Never thought about the people who I didn't kill. I wanted to. I never came across a human I didn't want to drain. Even now, the thought still crossed my mind. I…I didn't want to kill those people. Why couldn't I have been strong every time?
"Bella?"
"I should have been strong every time." I whispered.
"No one is strong all the time. We all need help. I fell apart without you. I need your help. I need to be able to stay in your life, Bella. You went after help. Garrett didn't find you. You found him. You got help."
I did, didn't I?
"Okay, Mom. I get it."
"Good. I'll remind you of this every time we talk, until I feel you really believe it."
"I believe it, Mom."
"Not completely, but you will."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you, Bella. When can I see you?"
I didn't really know. I didn't want to tell her a date then then miss it, but I didn't want to not give her anything.
"Two weeks?" Garrett would be with me. It would be okay.
"Good. Can I call you at this number?"
I had called her off my room line. I probably should give her the cell phone number Garrett gave me. I had played around, and could use the touch screen very slowly without cracking it so far.
"This is my cell phone, if you can't get a hold of me on this line." I told her I loved her. With a promise to talk tomorrow, I ended the call.
"How did it go?" Garrett asked, walking in.
"Good. I think…I think she will be okay." Maybe me too?
Garrett nodded. "Yes. I think she will be okay as well. She is looking better already. Calling your Dad?"
"Yeah…"
"Come out when you are done. We have something to talk about."
I nodded, dialing the next number slowly.
"Hello?"
He sounded groggy. I couldn't remember the details of his face. His voice though, that soothing calm voice was the same.
"Dad?"
"Bella?"
"Yes."
"He wasn't lying." Charlie whispered.
"No."
"I mean... I didn't think he had. I mean that Jake turning into a big dog pretty much…Bella, where are you, baby? Please come home to me. Please. I have your room ready. I can repaint it. I know you probably are tired of purple. Please? Please come home to me."
His voice was starting to crack. If he lost it, so would I.
"Dad, you know what I am doing now right?"
I heard a sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Bella, you don't have to do anything. Those deaths, Bella…"
"I know Dad. I know. I…I'm not doing this because of them. I mean I am, but…I'm doing this because I can, and it needs to be done. Dad, I don't want this. But I have it. I need…what would you do, Dad? Tell me. Please?"
"Bells…"
"What, Dad?"
"I would do exactly what you are doing. I'm sorry I didn't protect you from this."
"I never gave you the chance."
"I wouldn't have believed you."
"You would have thought I could make this up?"
"Good point." He laughed at least.
"So…can I see you? Please baby?"
"Yeah Dad. Give me a couple weeks. I'm getting better. I promise. I don't want to scare you."
"I saw Jake turn into a giant wolf, plus a guy from the Government lift a large tree out of the ground."
"I know, Dad, but I don't want to scare you." Please understand.
"Two weeks?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'm holding you to that kid." Now he was crying. I could hear him trying to hide it. But his breathing…I could almost hear the tears running down his face.
"Dad. Have you…been drinking still?"
"No! Not a drop since Garrett left. I promise, Bells."
"I believe you, Dad. I just... I don't want to destroy you. Now I'm this, and…"
"You are you. Not having you destroyed me. You are you. Don't you ever think I love you any less. Ever."
"Yes sir." I whispered. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Bells. Can I call you? Everyday? Please?"
"Yeah, Dad." I gave him my numbers, then with a final I love you, hung up the phone.
I sat on the floor and sobbed, my body shaking, my heart wishing I could shed tears that would never come.
Someone knocked on my door.
"Come in." I said in a raised voice that would probably be heard by whoever was on the other side of the door.
My door slid open but I didn't turn.
"Shorty? You need to see me naked again?”
Damn it. He could make me laugh. I would give him that. Then he sat behind me, wrapping me in his big arms. Now I was sobbing again.
"Shhh. It's gonna be okay little crazy white girl. It will be all right. Want Big Ty to sing you a song?"
"No." I snuffled out.
"You sure? I got a good voice. Momma used to tell me I sounded like an angel."
"Okay." Why not?
He actually did have a nice voice. So nice I didn't pay attention to the lyrics. At first.
"Honey came in and she caught me red-handed, creepin with the girl next door
Picture this, we were both butt-naked
Banging on the bathroom floor
How could I forget
That I had given her an extra key?
All this time, she was standing there
She never took her eyes off me
To be a true player, you have to know how to play
If she say you're not, convince her, say you're gay
Never admit to a word when she say
Makes a claim, and you tell her baby no way"
"What the hell song is that?" I asked.
"That's the player song by Shaggy. You gotta help me out though. I'm going to sing a lyric, then you have to say 'it wasn't me'
"No! I'm not going to be a party to your cheating ways!"
"Yeah you are. You're my crew now. Crew covers for each other when we do stupid shit. Part of the code."
"What code?"
"I'll email it to you. It's quite long. You able to use a computer, or do you still enter the computer when your finger hits enter?"
"Fuck you." I laughed.
"That's my girl. C'mon. Your man wants to talk to us. Time to earn that government paycheck."
"He is not my man. Why do you keep insinuating that he is? We barely know each other."
"Yeah. You barely know each other, but the sexual tension in our little underground bunker is so thick that even I'm having a hard time getting around. That's cool, though. You stay in denial. It will make the sex that much more intense. As intense as white people can fuck anyway."
He lifted me off the ground before I could argue that white people could, indeed, have very intense sex. Asshole.
We walked into the control room to see Garrett in his normal position, perving on the vamp world with his satellites.
"Hello you two. Bella, did your conversations…everything okay?"
He was smiling, but I could tell he was a little worried too. I was annoyed he put me in this position at first, but it did make me feel better. I think it made Charlie and Renee feel better as well.
"Yeah. Everything is great, Garrett. I just have to work on my blood lust, then hopefully in two weeks?"
He nodded.
"I'm glad, Bella. Now we have work to do."
"Yes!" I whispered before I could stop it.
"A friend of mine, a priest, believes a demon is walking the streets of New York. This demon is a shifter who can assume the guise of anyone he sees."
"Okay…" The problem.
"He has been hanging around key political rallies. My friend is worried that the demon may be trying to imitate a politician. Take over his or her life."
"So we find the demon and kill it. Easy enough." Ty said.
"Yes. But my friend believes the demon has noticed him following. He is concerned the demon may try to take his spot in the church. Many big politicians, including the mayor of New York, attend his service."
"Wait. The Priest knows about you?"
"Yes. I was approached by him after he witnessed me killing a demon, who was responsible for preying on the homeless at a shelter he ran. He saw everything, so I introduced myself. He's a great guy. We play chess together when I am in New York. Anyway, this demon has to be found. I need one of you to go to New York to handle this. Who wants to go?"
Ty said he did. I wanted to but I didn't trust myself to be alone.
"I appreciate you volunteering, Ty. You may accompany Bella to New York, but I want you to scout. See what vampires are in the area. See who is feeding where. I will be going as well."
"You mean…?" Oh shit.
"Yes. We are all going. I will scout for the demon, since I am familiar with their scent. You Bella, will be meeting Father Francis. A good man and my friend. You are to be his personal bodyguard."
"Are you fucking crazy? You want me around a Priest!" I yelled. I may have growled. I'll be damned if I was going anywhere near a priest of all people.
"Yes. I need someone to protect him. I know you will defend him with your life. I want you there. There is no one I would rather have than you protecting him."
"Thanks Gar." Ty mumbled. Garrett shot him a look.
"No offense, Ty. I trust you explicitly. But I need you looking for intelligence. I need to find this demon before he takes residence in City Hall. Luckily as fate would have it, Bella has joined us, so we can accomplish all our tasks at once.
"Garrett, I can't…"
"Bella, I am giving you a mission. A man needs protection. Will you protect him?"
Fuck.
"Yes." Or accidentally kill him.
"Good. We leave tonight. I want to spend a few hours in the training room. All three of us. Ty, I want you to use your power on Bella.
Power?
Ty and I followed Garrett to the training room.
"Gar, I don't like doing this. You know that."
"Important Ty. We all need to know what Bella can do. You won't hurt her."
Ty looked at me.
"Sorry, Shorty."
He continued looking at me.
"What the fuck?" Ty whispered.
"What? What did I do?" I hope I didn't break anything.
"You blocked his power, Bella." Garrett grinned.
"What power?"
"Ty has the ability to place a person in vertigo. Painful vertigo. You become dizzy. You don't know up from down. You basically become sick. It is all in the mind. His power scrambles brainwaves of others. Throws their equilibriums off. Imagine standing around, then the next minute up is down, and you feel like you are on a roller coaster. You, Bella, are his counter. While he can scramble the brainwaves of others with his power, you can scramble powers. The key is whether you can protect someone else. Or multiple persons."
"How do we figure that out?"
"Easy." Garrett walked next to me. "Ty?"
Garrett stood still while Ty stared at him.
"Excellent."
"I'll be damned." Ty whispered.
"Now let's see how far away from Bella we can be before powers affect us."
Garrett walked off slowly. I didn't feel myself doing anything. I just stood there. When Garrett was around twenty feet away, he fell to his knees as he grabbed his head. He doubled over.
"No!"
Garrett shook his head and stood.
"How did you do that?" Garrett asked.
"Do what? Are you okay?"
"His power affected me. Then it didn't. You didn't move, though."
"I don't know. I didn't want you…hurt."
"I'm fine, Bella, but it appears you were able to stretch the coverage area of your protection. We need to figure out how, to see if we can replicate it. Did you feel anything different? Other than emotionally?" I was a bit embarrassed by that question, but it was true. I thought he was in danger and wanted to protect him.
"I did feel a little buzz." I admitted.
"A little? If you only felt a little then your range is indeed very far. Excellent. So now we know what to work on."
Ty walked out. I think he was upset.
"Don't worry. He hates to use his power on anyone who isn't attacking us. It bothers him greatly. For all his grand shit talking, Ty is a gentle soul towards those he considers family. Namely me, and now you."
"Oh."
Garrett grabbed my hand as I tried to walk off.
"Bella?"
"Yes." Don't concentrate on the way his skin feels, Bella. Look him in the eyes.
"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you thought I was in danger and reacted to protect me."
Oh damn.
"Hey. You mean a lot to me. You have pretty much given me something to live for." Yep. Keep it casual.
"You have given me something too, Bella." He replied before walking off.
I stood there trying to digest his words. We hadn't known each other long. But the way I reacted to him…The way I felt whenever my skin brushed his.
"Bella? Time to head to New York."
Garrett POV
"When are you going to tell her?" Ty asked. Again.
"I'm not."
"She needs to know she makes your flag stand at full mast. Your soldier salute. Your..."
"Got it, Ty."
'Your dick get hard."
"Got it, Ty!"
"She got the hots for you. She don't know yet, or ain't realized we can smell that little scent, but you know it same as I do. Ain't me she getting all hot and bothered for."
"I like her. A lot. She has other things on her mind, though. She doesn't need romance. She needs healing. I will give her what she needs. I'm damn sure not going to ask her on a date when she is in a vulnerable place. It would be taking advantage of her."
"How long has it been since you had a woman?" Ty laughed.
"How long has it been for you, Playa?" I responded in kind.
"Hey…I'm picky."
"Uh huh."
I took off running again. Bella was behind us. She had stopped to feed on three deer so far on the run. She wanted to be well fed, she explained. I wasn't worried. If she didn't kill anyone in that sub, she wouldn't now. I had faith in her then, and I would always have faith in her. Even if she slipped. Lord knows I did in the early years.
We reached New York City. Bella ran beside me, tense.
"Don't worry. You got this." I told her.
She smiled, but it wasn't in her eyes. She would learn. She already was. She would figure out how strong she was.
"You have your sword?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Remember. You have to cut off their heads. They can hurt you. Their claws can burn. You will heal but they have the strength to tear you apart. If that happens they can kill you. Do not let them. If you feel you can't handle it, should you see one, run. They are not as fast as we are. Don't be afraid to run."
"Got it."
I gave her directions to Church. We weren't far. She would find it easily from the rooftops. Ty took off to scout the city for scents till morning, unless I called him. I had a demon to find and kill. Then maybe I could talk Bella into watching some more movies. Or something. Anything to spend time with her. Maybe take her out in the sun? Let her feel human? A beach? Somewhere she can be around people but not enclosed.
Demon first. Concentrate, Garrett.
BPOV
I found the church and landed on the roof. I didn't want to walk in. I could watch him from here. It was raining. I didn't care. The rain washed out the scent of humans. I had a black overcoat on anyway. My long silver sword was holstered under it on my back.
Demons. Great. Unbelievable.
I peered through the tall window at the top. The Church really was beautiful. Large gothic cathedral type. I saw a tan man in his forties standing in the front. He was on his knees praying at the altar.
A strange scent caught my attention, even in the rain. I looked down from the ledge I was perched on to see a well dressed man walk into the church.
At this time of night? He wasn't even wearing a rain coat.
The man I assumed was Father Francis never turned around. He stayed on his knees praying.
I could hear the man who entered laughing.
"Give it a moment, Father. You can say it to him face to face."
The demon. It had to be. I grabbed my phone, going to contacts to find Garrett's number. I pressed dial, but my thumb went through the phone.
Fuck.
"I believe if it's all the same to you, I will continue to pray." Father Francis said back, never turning to the man who had just threatened him.
"Do you expect him to answer, Father?"
The demon just pulled something from his coat. I couldn't see from behind what it was. It couldn't be good.
I had to get the priest away.
I jumped through the glass to land in the church aisle.
"I believe my prayers were just answered demon." I heard Father Francis say. My focus was on the nice looking harmless man in front of me.
"And who might you be?"
"Bella Swan." I drew my sword.
"Kid you are out of your league." He smiled. I had a sword. Why was he smiling?
Shit. He just grew a foot.
His skin just turned red.
He just ripped his shirt off.
Were those horns?
Big fangs.
Okay.
I couldn't grab the priest and run. He was on the other side of the demon. I had to go through him.
"I guess we are about to find out what league I belong in. Bring it bitch."
Don't own it
BPOV
"Fuck! That hurt, you dick!"
I had thought vampires couldn't feel pain. Physical pain at least. Ty was proving that vampires could indeed feel pain. The pain that comes when you find yourself thrown on your ass over and over and over and ov…
"Get off your ass, Swan! Let's try that again."
Ty. That motherfucker. A glance at the clock showed me we had been at this for 48 hours and 16 minutes. So far, I had hit him once. It was hard though. It counted. Not for much, but I made him say ow.
I stood up, prepared to take another ass whipping. I came here for death. Not humiliation.
"What are ya doin, Shorty?" Ty smiled.
"Bout to kick your ass, big guy."
"No. You about to get served again. Every time with that dumbass stance. How many times I gotta show you?"
He walked over, then proceeded to bend me forcefully into the position he wanted me in.
"This doesn't feel right." I whined.
"Make it feel right. Your way gets your ass kicked. You want to beat Garrett when he gets back? Learn my way."
"Can you beat Garrett?" I asked surprised.
"I hold my own." Ty shrugged.
"Can you beat Garrett?" I asked again slowly.
"No. Alright? Freaky fucker is fast. Vicious. Don't let the Mr. Nice Guy act fool ya. Guy is a stone cold bastard when it comes to fighting. Fucker took out three newborn vampires by himself in the time it took me to take out one."
Interesting. I figured he would be a great fighter based on what he did. But still. He seemed so nice. Looks can be deceiving, I suppose.
"Now, let's get back to fighting. You need to keep your guard up and stop telegraphing blocking with your legs. I'm gonna break those things if you don't watch it.”
Whoa.
"What did you say?" I whispered.
"I said that if you use your legs to block strikes and your opponent -vampire opponent, anyway- sees it coming, he or she can change the angle of the strike to break your legs. I mean they heal and all, but it is a bitch to be in a fight where you can't stand."
Breaking legs. Memories flashed towards me like they sometimes do, out of the blue.
A memory that was running in my head right now. A red-headed whore throwing me on the ground. I felt the blood in my mouth. Dirt. I was rolled over on my back. She placed her hands on my shins and pushed. I screamed when I heard the cracks before the pain ever reached me. I thought she would have killed me. Instead she tortured me. Got the last bit of human pain she could take before she took my life. My legs were bent. I remember looking down and seeing them in odd angles. Then she took my hand gently, caressing it before breaking my fingers. She snapped my ribs. One by one. The final image was of Victoria placing her lips on James bite mark, biting down herself.
"So like I said, if you don't want me to break your legs wait until the last second to…"
I am not sure why I took it out on him. He wasn't her. He was trying to help me. Something about the mention of broken bones set me off, my monster would not stay contained.
I remember hitting him in the jaw. The wide eyed look of surprise on his face when I struck. I remember kneeing him in the crotch. He yelped. I hit him in his nose, feeling a crack. I'm not sure if it was my fist or his face.
I was growling. I kept seeing her sneering face snapping my fingers. My legs. I was scared. That bitch fucking scared me! I hate being scared!
"Bella! Bella, calm the fuck down girl!"
I came out of the red haze and realized I was face first in the floor. Ty was on top of me, my arms pinned behind me. He was whispering calmly in my ear.
"Calm down little crazy white girl. Ty got ya. Calm down. Shhh."
"Ty?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you get off of me? Please?" I asked a little shakily I admit.
"You gonna be cool little Bella or psycho girl? Cuz I can't let psycho girl have another shot at big Ty. You get my drift?"
"I'm good. I promise. No more nut shots."
Ty slowly moved off of me. When he let me go he shot to the other side of the room. Great. My only friend is frightened of me.
"I'm sorry, Ty. Are you okay?"
"Am I okay? Shit girl, you can't hurt me. But, uh... you did catch me by surprise and all. That's it. I thought we was funnin, then we were kinda goin Carlito's Way on each other. It's all good, though. Long as you are…you know what? Why don't we grab a drink? A little O Neg always chills me right the fuck out."
"Yeah. A break probably would be good."
I walked into my room and was hit instantly with the smell of blood. Damn Garrett. Still, I give him credit. It didn't bother me as much as before. I walked to the fridge, then realized I had only drank one bag since I came here with Garrett the first night. Since then, I have pretty much stayed busy. Ty followed me in a few seconds later. He had a thermos I assumed was filled with blood.
“I got a message on my laptop from the surface. Three boxes of books upstairs. I'll get them in a bit."
"No hurry." I whispered, a bit embarrassed.
"Nah. You need a break. I should have listened to Gar. You can't be fighting constantly. Especially since you are only a bit over a year turned. Liable to snap. Happens to all of us."
"Yeah…" I didn't want to think about it any longer.
Ty turned the TV on, then sat on what I guess was my couch now. I heated up the bag of blood. It was nice to be able to feed without hearing screams, no matter how short they were.
I didn't realize I was standing until Ty looked at me, then the couch.
"I'm good." It's not like I got tired.
"Bella. Act human. Humans sit. Sit." He patted the cushion next to him. I rolled my eyes as I sat down. Quickly.
"Get up, do it again."
I got up slowly, only to very slowly move back down.
"Good. Now every few seconds, cross your legs or something. Pretend you're in a skirt and flash some thigh or something."
"I will later."
"Blink."
"I will later."
"Run your tongue over your lips very slowly." Ty further instructed.
"Why? What the hell does that have to do with seeming human?"
"Nothing. You got nice lips. Just wanted to see you do it. Want to see me do it?"
"No!"
"Just askin, shorty. No need to get butt hurt over it."
I continued to sip the blood, using all my willpower not to just suck it down and attack another one.
"So was it something I said?" Ty asked, breaking the momentary silence.
"Was what?"
"Whatever had you go from fighting one second like Hannah Montana and the next like Lindsey Lohan on bad crack?"
May as well be truthful. Looks like we were going to be together a while.
"Yeah. The broken legs thing."
"What about it? I wasn't threatening you. Just trying to help you out so it doesn't happen. Gotta look out for you kid. You're my crew now. Gotta take care of my little soldiers."
"I know. It just brought back a memory. The vampire that turned me, she tortured me first. She broke my fingers, my ribs and…my legs. It was the second time I had a broken leg from a vampire."
"I see. Well you gonna get to go Betty White on meth when we find her. I'll hold her ass down so you can break everything on that bitch's body. We will go medieval on her ass."
"I can't." I told him quietly.
"Why not?"
"My ex boyfriend killed her."
That shut Ty up. For a moment.
"Maybe we should start at the beginning, Bella. I'll tell you my story. I was a very successful high school athlete. I matriculated in College on an athletic scholarship. A Spring Break in Vegas and a very bad choice to have sex with a very beautiful woman left me waking up in the desert three days later, glistening in the sun with a powerful taste for blood."
"Glistening? You mean sparkling?"
"I do not sparkle. White boys like Garrett sparkle. I glisten in the sun. On with my story. I wake up, go on a killing spree. I run into the night, finally finding some woods to hide in. I get sick of life. I must have killed damn near 80 people. I didn't even know what the fuck I was, but I decided to turn myself over to the man. I couldn't help myself. I tried damn it, but I was sucking motherfucker…" I guess he saw the look on my face… "I mean draining, feeding, you know what the fuck I'm talkin bout. Anyway, I make my way across country and realize I am near DC. I walk up to the Pentagon at night, expectin if anybody could kill me, it would be those fuckers. The Government always got something goin on. Anyway, I jump the fence, an alarm goes off, and Garrett has his hands around my head. I'm expectin to die, but the fucker is laughing. He invites me in, shows me around, then talks to me. Really talks to me. Anyway, five years later I'm a superhero, with him as my sidekick."
"Side kick?"
"Yep." Ty seemed satisfied with his answer. I didn't push.
"So that's me, Bella. Tell me about you and your ex boyfriend who can kill vampires."
I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of blood. I think it had gotten stronger.
"When I was 17, I moved to Forks Washington to live with my father…"
Garrett POV
I could smell them. I knew they were around. I wasn't in their territory. They must be ranging out farther. Or…of course. Charlie would be special to them. Best friends with young Jacob's father. Bella taken by a vampire. I would imagine that they would be protective over him. Unfortunately, Charlie's dangers were more of the self-inflicted variety than the undead type. I had parked a few blocks over to give them a chance, should they be watching, to approach me. I really didn't want Charlie Swan to see a giant wolf crash through his wall.
Yes. Three more of the big furballs were on the side of the road pacing me. I smiled at the tree line as I began whistling. More noise. The closer I got to Charlie's door, the more agitated they became.
"Fine. Let's talk."
I took off across the street. Within three steps, I was in the dense forest and moving at a high rate of speed to my designated rendezvous point. The pitter patter of little paws following me. I came to a stop, and as expected, I was surrounded. Good. I like being in the center when I am addressing a group. I find it allows me to make everyone feel they are a part of the conversation.
They were growling.
"I would like to speak to one of you. If you all attack me, I will have to hurt you. I would like to avoid that. I could have simply driven up to his front step. I could have gotten him at First Beach. You shifters aren't great chasing a vampire into water are you?"
That caused the circling to stop.
A few seconds later, a young man in cut off shorts walked out from behind a tree. Following him were his furry brothers, and according to Bella, a sister in there somewhere.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? How do you know about us?"
I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. Damn did they stink.
"Garrett, visiting Charlie, and Bella told me."
"What?" he asked. I thought I was pretty clear.
"What? I answered your questions." I informed him shrugging my shoulders.
"You are not allowed here, Leech." The angry young man growled.
"Actually, I'm not in La Push. According to the treaty, you aren't supposed to be here. Do I need to declare war on you? Because I can."
"You seem to be short an army, Leech." The man I surmised was Jacob smiled.
"You may want to rethink that. You really should be aware of your surroundings. Not only on the ground but…above."
My eyes looked at the laser dot on his bare chest, then followed the trajectory to the tree top. Laser sites rained down from the trees. Within seconds, my team had rappelled down. I give them credit. Being surrounded by horse-sized wolves, they didn't flinch. Of course Connolly was smiling.
"Jason." I nodded as he walked up, rifle still trained on Jacob. I looked at Jacob to see his eyes had gotten very large.
"Garrett. So you weren't shittin me. Big fucking wolves." He grinned.
I turned my attention back to the young man in front of me.
"You must be Jacob. Jacob, I am hoping all your friends... especially, I believe her name is Leah?... have clothing like you do. It would be in everyone's best interest for your pack to phase, as you have done, so an open dialogue can be established."
"If they don't?" Jacob growled.
"Then I see how many bullets you can take before you stop healing and just give up. Maybe there isn't a limit. It's gonna hurt like hell to find out, though." Connolly answered.
Jacob nodded at his friends. A minute later, all were present and fully dressed. As dressed as they do anyway.
"Excellent. As I said, my name is Garrett. These gentleman with the large rifles dressed in camouflage are members of Navy Seal Team D. This is their commanding officer, Jason Connolly. No rank. No one could find it in themselves to give him one." I laughed. Until I realized no one else was laughing.
"You done?" Connolly asked.
"Yeah. Done." I mumbled. Nobody gets my sense of humor. Bella gets it. I can tell this about her already. I turned back to the class.
"Anyway, they are here as a favor to me. Namely to help me stop you from attacking me. Normally I would just fight you, but I don't think Bella would be very happy with me if I hurt any of you. So forgive the guns being pointed at you. A necessary precaution."
"You know Bella?"
"Yes, Jacob. I do. I am here to tell Charlie about her. To tell Charlie everything. I am working with Bella to help her be around humans. He can talk to her over the phone. This needs to happen."
"So she can say goodbye?" He whispered.
"No. So she can say hello. Would you be willing to listen? I can tell you what she has gone through. What she did to end it. What she will be doing now. Then I must speak to Charlie. He needs to know she isn't gone, Jacob."
"How do you know my name?"
"Bella told me."
"Does she know you are here?"
"No." he nodded. Poor kid. Heartbreak. Devastating heartbreak.
He said nothing, but stepped back. The rest were looking to him for leadership. With a look and a nod, the tension released. An unspoken command to stand down.
"Now unless anyone has any immediate questions for me, I can begin telling you about myself and why I am here."
"I have a question." One of the young men raised his hand.
"Quil, shut up!" The female yelled.
"No! It's quite alright. What is your question young man?"
"Why are they called Seal Team D?"
"Because Seal Teams A through C were all killed doing favors for me in regards to werewolves. This is the fourth one I have been given."
That at least broke the tension. Some of the wolves actually laughed.
"You know, one of these days, I am going to figure out how to kill you… then I'm going to remind you of all the shit you talked about me." Connolly whispered.
"Yes. Maybe you could get an extraterrestrial suit of armor and a laser rifle to shoot me to pieces, cowboy. I know. You could shove a grenade in my mouth." I smirked.
"Don't be stupid. Where do you come up with this shit? Hurry up, talk to your new girlfriends ex and daddy so we can get home. I got tickets to the game tomorrow night."
"You are a romantic, Jason. Now. Okay group, listen up. My name is Garrett. I was turned into a vampire during the Revolutionary War…”
Three hours later, I felt like I made new friends. Jacob spent a lot of time asking about Bella, what she had gone through, what she would be doing, as well as asking if I could try to talk her into calling him. I told him I would do my best, but he needed to understand she was very ashamed of herself right now. Once she begins to get past this, she would need friends. In short, don't expect much right away, but it would get better. Whether they ever would have truly been happy cannot be determined. They could still be each other's friends.
I knocked on the door to Charlie's house, Jacob at my side. I hadn't planned to tell Charlie about the pack. I figured that was their business. Jacob decided that since he was going to know about vampires, it may help to know about wolves. I asked why he never told him after Bella was taken.
"I wasn't sure if it was better to tell him his daughter had been killed by a sadistic vampire. With everything going on, it seemed like an unnecessary problem to put on him."
When the door opened, I damn near lost the breath I had been holding. The pictures did him no justice. He looked horrible.
"What the hell do you want? Jake? Who the hell is this, Jake?"
"My name is Garrett. I work for the US Government. I would like to speak to you."
"Government huh? I got nothing to say. It's my day off. Call the station for an appointment."
He began to close the door in my face.
"I have information on your daughter, Isabella Swan. Your very alive daughter. I know where she is. I can arrange it so you can speak to her by phone, even see her eventually. If this is a bad time, though, I can certainly call your station and…"
"Stop. What did you say about my daughter?" I expected to see hope in his eyes. All I saw was ten shades of pissed off, as Connolly would say. He was reaching for something…oh for God's sake. A gun?
"You heard exactly what I said, Charlie. Do you want to continue reaching for that gun to shoot a federal officer, or do you want to find out about your baby girl?"
His hand stopped at least.
"Come inside."
"Actually Charlie, I think it would be better if you came outside. To the back. I have some things to show you. Garrett does as well. It will all be easier to believe if you see."
Ten minutes later we were back inside. Charlie walked to the kitchen to grab a beer. I beat him there.
"I think we have had enough of those to last us for the next century, don't you?"
He said nothing. I think he was a little freaked out by the whole Jacob turning into a wolf thing, along with me moving at the speed of light and knocking over trees.
"Yeah."
"Good. Have a Coke and come to the living room. We have much to discuss."
"Your kind killed my daughter? Or did Jacob's friends…"
"Your daughter is like me now, but she is very much alive. I have a lot to explain, plus I really want to get back to her. So if you would?"
He nodded, walking to the living room. Jacob glanced at me in thanks. The alcohol had to stop.
Four hours later, we were done. I was done anyway. I had explained this shit three times.
"So I can maybe see her one day?"
"Yes. Quite often I hope."
"And I can talk to her?"
"Yes. I am hoping to arrange conversations with you and Renee in a few days."
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"I have been alive well over two hundred years. I have found two vampires worthy of joining me in protecting this country, along with the human race. Two. She is the second. She is an extremely good person. She needs direction. To know that her life isn't over. I plan to give her that direction."
"If she wants to leave?"
"I will help her move. She owes me nothing. She is under no obligation, but understand something Charlie. Jacob told her what happened to Renee. He told her about you. She feels enough guilt for things she had no control over. When she sees or talks to you, I expect you to be a strong pillar of support for her. No feeling sorry for yourself. She needs to know that you are okay. Understand?"
"Yeah. I understand. I will…" he took a deep ragged breath… "No more drinking. I'm going to get cleaned up. I promise. I will be there for her."
"Good. Jake will be keeping an eye on you."
"For what?" Charlie asked angrily. I can play that game.
"To make sure you haven't fallen off the damn wagon. I don't give a damn if you go to AA or Church, but you are her Dad. Your daughter needs you strong. If you can't be strong, then you will do her more harm than good. Get it together, Swan. I'm calling Jake in five days. Five days. You want to talk to your daughter, you better get back to being the man you are supposed to be... one she deserves. Understand?"
"Yes. I understand." Damn it. Now he was crying. I wanted to be tough, because I figured he would respond to this. Now he was crying.
"Come here big guy." I pulled him into a hug as he started sobbing. Shit. Glad I had my overcoat on. Awkward.
"There ya go. Let it out."
"You just don't know what its like to think your baby was…"
"I know. I know. But she's not. It's going to be okay." I kept patting him on the back. Maybe if I stepped away…nope, he just clutched me more tightly. I stood there awkwardly while Charlie Swan released his demons. Jake stood in the kitchen doorway smiling. It wasn't a sarcastic smile. He wasn't growling because I was near a human. Maybe we had made some headway. It was good. Bella would need all the friends she could get.
I really wanted to leave. I had not known her for very long at all, yet already I missed her. I worried about her. I wondered what she was doing. She hadn't called, so I guess Ty was keeping her busy, but still... I had kind of hoped she would call.
An hour later, I was in the air with Seal Team D. Actually they didn't have a designated letter. When they were first assembled, they asked me so many dumb ass questions, I named them Seal Team D. I figured the D could stand for Duh or dumbass. Whichever worked for me.
Eight hours later, we were on the ground in DC. An hour after that, I walked into my home. Sublevel 7. I heard the sounds of battle coming from the training room. I stopped by to see Bella's door was opened. The TV was on, the boxes of books were on her floor. At least they hadn't been spending the whole time fighting.
I walked in the training room in time to see Bella tossing Ty into a reinforced wall. She turned to give me a smile. I tried to ignore the feelings of joy that look did for me. She looked glad to see me. Very glad. I was very glad to see her. I was afraid when I was away from her, that she was a dream I would wake from, when I returned to find her gone.
"Have you two been having fun?"
She smiled.
"I know Kung Fu." She grinned.
"Show me."
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Don't own it.
BPOV
"I don't get it."
"What don't you get Bella?" Garrett asked, sounding a bit irritated. I guess he doesn't like questions during movies.
The two of us had been watching a Lord of the Rings marathon. Garrett insisted after I told him I had never read the books or seen the movies. I admit Aragon was hot. So was Legolas. The movies had their moments, but it all seemed pointless.
"Why didn't they just fly the big eagles into Mordor, then drop the damn ring in the lava?"
"Because. The big dark guys on the dragons would have killed the eagles." Garrett explained.
"Not if the armies had just attacked Mordor to begin with. The dragons would have been busy. All it took was one giant eagle getting in. I mean they flew right to Frodo and Sam. They could have been there in an hour. Instead these little people had to walk forever to get there, going through all this crap, when they could have just caught a ride with a giant eagle. For that matter, why did Gandalf ride his horse from one castle to the other? You know, the one with the steward, who has got to be the worst dad I have ever heard of? Why didn't he just catch a ride with his birds? He seemed to be able to get them anytime he wanted."
"They were busy," Was Garrett's short response.
"Doing what? What could giant Eagles be doing that kept them that busy?"
"Did you like the movies Bella?" I guess he didn't know either.
"Yeah, Garrett. I did."
"Good. Now what would you like to do?"
"Train."
"No."
"Please?"
"No. You trained for 24 hours straight on the light beam test. You can overdo it. Relax. We can read. I can show you how to work the main database. The satellites. Anything besides training."
“My touch isn't great, Garrett." I reminded him.
"It is getting better. Why don't you work on that? I could help."
"What would you like me to touch?" I asked, wondering what he trusted me not to break…
Oh shit.
He was quiet. Maybe he didn't notice.
"Go ahead, Garrett! Tell her what you want her to touch!" Ty yelled from his room. Really got to start closing the door.
An awkward silence descended.
"Well, I am going to beat the fuck out of Tyrone. I would suggest you work on your touch, human tendencies, things besides fighting." Garrett casually said.
"Why? I want to fight." I argued.
"Maybe, but in a few days you are going to be talking to your parents on the phone. I am hoping in two weeks you will have enough control that, with my help and Ty's, you can actually see both of them. So get to work."
Garrett walked out.
Wait.
I ran after him in the hallway.
"What did you say?" I grabbed him by the arm.
"I said you are going to be speaking to your parents on the phone tomorrow. If everything works out right, seeing them in a couple weeks."
"How?" Why was he fucking with me like this?
"I read up on your parents. I saw they weren't doing well. They needed to know you were okay, Bella."
"That's where you were? The past two days?" I whispered.
"Yes. Lives needed to be saved. Yours, as well as your parents. You need them in your life."
"I thought they couldn't know."
"Says who?" he asked.
"Isn't it a law or something?"
Garrett shrugged. "I'm the government. I do what the hell I want. In case you haven't noticed, I have been breaking the supposed law for a very long damn time."
A part of me really wanted to hug him until I realized…
"What's wrong, Bella? Are you angry that I did this without your knowledge? I…I'm sorry. I thought you would…"
"No. It's fine. But they know, don't they?"
"Know what exactly?"
"They know what I have done."
"Yes. Jake explained…"
"Jake! You spoke to Jake!"
"Yes. He changed into a wolf in front of Charlie to help me explain."
"Jake didn't attack you?"
"He wanted to at first, but once I threw your name out there, he calmed down."
Oh my God.
"Why?"
"I covered that."
"But now they know! They know I killed people!" Oh God no.
"Bella, they don't care! It wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was!" I screamed.
"They fucking love you anyway! Deal with it! They need you to be strong because they fell apart when they thought you were dead. So don't be carrying your guilt to them. Get over it or put it aside. You don't have time to wallow." Garrett screamed back.
"You had no right to approach them." I told him.
"Of course I didn't have a right. I did it anyway. You think I only do what I have a right to do?"
"Yes. I mean you should."
"Well I don't."
I really had nothing to say to that. He said nothing, so I guess the argument was closed.
"I can't talk to them. I'm too ashamed."
"They need to hear from you. Either you call them or I am bringing them here."
"You can't, Garrett. I don't want them to see me lusting for their blood. Seeing the monster I have become."
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. You are not a monster. Stop describing yourself as one. Self-pity is not attractive."
"I…"
Wait a minute.
"Did you just say I…"
"Yes. Nothing is wrong with your hearing. I said it. I meant it."
I wanted to ask follow up questions, but didn't. One, because I wasn't sure what to ask. Two, because a speaker just said his name.
He walked towards the control room.
"Yes, General?"
"We have an emergency. The type only you can handle. Can I come down?"
Garrett looked at me.
"Better that I come up. I'm on my way."
Twenty minutes later Garrett walked in, went to my closet, pulling out a black suit I wasn't aware I had. It looked like a wet suit.
"Ty. Water gear. Time is of the essence. Bella, put the wet suit on."
Wet suit?
"Wet…"
"Now, Bella. I will brief you both in the air."
"I'm not ready…"
"Get in the fucking suit already." Garrett was in his. I changed hurriedly, following Garrett and Ty to the elevator I came down here on. I realized a part of me was hoping I would never have to come out of my self-imposed exile.
I saw three humans on the first floor. I recognized them from my first night here. Their smell caught my attention, but I didn't growl. The smell didn't hit me as hard. I admit, I had gotten used to the smell permeating my room. I guess Garrett had a point with the whole scent thing.
A few minutes later, we were in a chopper. A big black chopper.
"We rendezvous with the USS Washington aircraft carrier in thirty minutes. At that time we will each get into a F22 raptors. We will be riding shotgun. Bella, in that compartment is a blood pouch. Drain it. We can experiment later. Right now…"
"What's an F 22 Raptor?" I asked.
Wait a minute.
Aircraft carrier?
"A fighter jet, shorty. A very fast fighter jet. Meaning we got to get our asses somewhere quick, so shut up and listen to G Man." Ty helpfully added. Asshole. Still he was probably right. I should pay attention.
"Thank you, Ty. No need to be rude to Bella, though. She isn't up to date on the lingo. Right now the SSBN Ohio class submarine, Oklahoma, is sitting on the bottom of the ocean. 1200 feet deep. An explosion of unknown origin has crippled the sub. The explosion occurred near the reactor. The waterproof doors held. There were 15 officers and 140 enlisted men on that ship. We don't know how many are alive, but since the explosion occurred near the reactor in an area with a limited number of crew working, I am hopeful that a large number of sailors are still alive."
"So we go down to lift the sub, right Gar?"
"No, Ty. The reactor is in meltdown. That sub can never reach the surface. The sailors and the missiles have to reach the surface. The reactor has to be flooded and the rods pulled, so the bottom of the Atlantic doesn't turn into a nuclear wasteland, then we are going to leave that damn thing at the bottom."
"How do we get them out?" I asked quietly. This was beyond me. My touch. I would fuck this up.
"There are pods being dropped to the ocean bottom as we speak. Jason Connolly and his team have taken over rescue operations. That is how we are able to help. Each Pod can hold 60 sailors. We get to the bottom, hook up the pods to the wreckage, walk the sailors in, then swim them slowly to the surface so they don't die from the bends. Then we come down, use chains to recover the missiles. Mission complete. Bella, while you and Ty are organizing the sailors inside I will take care of hooking up the pods."
"I can't rescue sailors." I said quickly.
"Yes, you can. Now drink your blood. You will both be in scuba. The sailors will be told it is a top secret deep sea suit."
"Garrett, she has a point. Explosion man. There is gonna be blood." Ty said helping my argument.
Garrett looked me in the eye.
"You're a fucking hero, Bella. Be heroic."
I'm not a fucking hero.
"Yes. You are."
"Did I say that out loud?"
"No. You didn't have to. Defining moments, Bella. You define them or they define you. Get your head straight. We are on the carrier in 5 minutes. Raptors will get us to the USS Kennedy in two hours. When we reach the site, we dive. The containers are on the bottom. Those men will have about three hours of life support left. They are scared, probably breathing very fast due to panic. Figure we have an hour and a half to get them out."
Ten minutes later, we were blasting off a deck in a jet. I screamed. I wasn't tempted by the pilot. I couldn't even smell him. I had a helmet on. I was taking in oxygen I didn't need.
"Ma'am?”
Oh shit. A voice in my head. I'm hearing voices in my head.
"Ma'am?”
Or the pilot.
"Yes. Copy? Roger?"
"Ma'am, do you think it would be possible for you not to scream anymore?"
"Would it be possible for you not to turn this plane upside down anymore?"
"Yes ma'am. That can definitely be arranged. First time in a fighter?"
"Yeah. Usually when I am flying there are peanuts and drinks offered."
"I see. Hold on. We are hitting supersonic. Your stomach may feel flattened."
Yeah. That's not going to happen. I sat back, concentrating on not touching anything. Garrett would not be happy if I broke the fighter. Deciding to look to see if I can see Garrett or Ty, I checked my right, I panicked.
"The plane is on fire! I swear I didn't touch anything!"
"It's all right, ma'am. That's just vapor trails. Happens every time. Nothing is on fire."
He was chuckling. Great. I wonder, if he knew that the girl behind him was a blood sucking demon who had murdered 38 people, would he would still be chuckling. Probably not.
"Bella! You having fun, shorty?"
What the hell?
"Ty? How are you talking to me?"
"Called a radio. New technology. Been around since before World War 2."
"No need to be a smart ass."
"Ty, we really need to keep the radio open for the pilots." I heard Garrett's voice instruct sternly. Killjoy.
One hour later, we began to descend. Good. I was bored. I kind of saw the Carrier in the distance. Damn, it looked small.
"Are we really going to land on that?"
"Yes ma'am."
"It's moving." I pointed out. Maybe he didn't know.
"Yes. Yes it is."
"Shouldn't it stop?" I heard Ty laughing over the radio.
"Blackjack 127, 128 and 129 we have you in range. Angel three zero descend for approach."
"Copy."
This wasn't good. We were coming up on that thing fast. This poor guy was going to kill himself. Oh damn. I remembered what Ty said. Fire. My clothes are going to burn off. Oh damn. This is not good. Is this suit flammable? Probably not. They have to think of these things. Right? Damn…
"Hey! Hey top gun! You're going to fast!"
"Quiet please, ma'am."
Quiet? He's about to kill himself, then I'll be naked.
Oh shit. Here it comes.
"Shit, shit, shit, shitshit…"
The plane bumped hard. Then it caught on something. Then it stopped. We stopped. I opened my eyes to see we had made it onto the deck.
"Thank you for flying with me today, ma'am. I hope you enjoyed your time, and will consider the US Navy the next time you need to travel."
"Uh…yeah. Can I get out now? Please?"
"Let me taxi to the elevator. Your friends are landing right now."
Five minutes later, my feet hit the ground. Then I realized people were watching me. Remember to act human Bella. Remember to move slow.
I began walking towards the tall center building on the deck. Damn, it was loud up here.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" My pilot asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"You're walking in slow motion."
Oh. Maybe I should speed up.
"Let me escort you, Bella." Garrett walked up and offered his arm. I hooked mine in his.
"Just keep pace with me, Bella. I'll get you there. How are you doing?"
"Good." I was. I wasn't hungry. I hadn't even thought about blood since I had that bag on the helicopter.
"Great. Stay focused, you will be fine. You are about to save a lot of lives. Lots of people are counting on you. Are you ready?"
"Yes." I answered without hesitation. Then I really looked at Garrett. He had a flight suit on but he had peeled it off to his waist. I could see his spandex wetsuit on underneath it. Damn, he looked good. I mean he really looked good. He made us put in brown contacts in the helicopter, but his eyes were still gorgeous. He also had this look on his face. He was focused. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment was getting those boys off the bottom of the ocean. He wasn't worried about bloodlust, killing anyone by accident, or breaking anything by touch. He had a mission. Nothing would stop him. I glanced at Ty to see the same look on his face. Would I be like that in five years? Would I ever get past my guilt? He killed a lot more people than I did.
Garrett led me to the tower, then the three of us took an elevator to the top. I was guessing this was the flight control or the bridge or something. There were a lot of computers, screens showing charts. I probably shouldn't touch anything. I looked for the big wooden wheel but it must be somewhere else. I saw a small one, but it didn't seem big enough to steer this thing.
"They don't have a big wheel. I asked the first time I came onto one of these. A main wheel is more for show. Computers pretty much run this bitch."
I nodded, thankful to Ty for saving me from a stupid question.
A man in black fatigues walked up. Short blonde hair, about 6'3. Really hot for a human.
"Damn, Garrett. When you pick a stray to train, you don't fuck around. She is hot." He winked at me.
"Bella, Jason Connolly, leader of Seal Team D assigned to our division... or as I like to call him, Renfield."
"Renfield?" Strange nickname.
"Yes. When we need human servants to do chores, we call him." Garrett grinned.
"Fuck you, sparkles. Bella, it is truly a pleasure to meet you." He was looking at me with a weird look.
"Have we met before?" Jason asked.
"Maybe in another life. Not this one." Garrett answered. "Can we get down to business?"
I stood still, listening to Garrett and Jason discuss strategy, until Ty bumped my arm and whispered to fidget. I crossed one leg over another. I looked at him as he slowly blinked. I rolled my eyes, but blinked slowly. Then I took a whiff. Damn. The scents were starting to get to me. The smell of adrenalin. These guys were worried, obviously, but their heartbeats were increasing. Ty must have noticed me sniff.
"Ow!" Fucker slapped me in the back of the head.
"Stop thinking with your stomach, shorty."
Oh yeah.
"Okay. Time for a swim." Garrett stated, grabbing my hand to walk us out of the room. We walked to the edge of the flight deck. I noticed everyone else was on the other side. The lights were out on this side. It had gotten dark since we landed.
Garrett grabbed three bags, tossing one at me. I opened it to see a strange looking mask, as well as a strange looking air tank.
"These were experimental scuba outfits for deep sea diving. They don't work for shit. We won't need them of course. Once we reach the sub put the mask and tank on. We can't have the sailors wondering too much about how we got down there. We reach the bottom, we find the sub. It will be hard to miss. According to Connolly, the escape pods are down there. We simply pick them up, place them onto the top port, then go in through the back torpedo bays. Once we get them in, we swim them up. Slowly. Follow my lead. I have the decompression ascension rate worked out."
Garrett jumped. Holy shit. This was real. Guess I better go…
"Fuck!"
Ty threw me in. I didn't bother surfacing. I had tried to bury myself underwater once. I killed a young couple when I came out. I knew how to handle water. I shot down, catching up with Garrett. Ty passed me. His legs were longer, I suppose. More power to his kicks.
It was dark. Even my eyes couldn't see much. I think I saw fish. Maybe. Then I saw nothing. I could get lost down here.
A hand reached out to grab mine. Even without seeing him, I knew it was Garrett. I let him lead me towards the bottom. After a few minutes, I saw a light. It must have been the lights on the rescue pod. We finally reached the bottom of the sea. The pressure was tremendous. Not enough to bother me. Nothing could bother me. Enough that I knew it was there.
The funny thing about being a vampire, is that I still felt human. My skin did anyway. My hair. My…other parts. So did Garrett and Ty. Feel human, I mean. So it was a bit surreal to be in a situation where your mind understands you should be dead, but you clearly aren't. The three days I spent on the bottom of the ocean working up the courage to open my mouth prepared me for this. Not for the darkness, but for the water.
Garrett pointed to the right. I barely saw it. An outline of a shadow against a shadow. He pulled open his bag to place the mask and tank on. Ty did the same. Not wanting to be left out, I pulled mine on. Annoying.
A light lit up. Ty had grabbed a flashlight hanging from one of the massive escape pods. The wasteland before us lit up. No fish. No nothing except a giant submarine with one end blown out. It was on its side. Not good. It would complicate…
Garrett rolled it over.
Ty swam quickly to the end that had blown. I followed. It was a huge explosion. I saw a body on the ocean floor. It was missing an arm. The face had an expression of horror. He wasn't much older than I.
Poor kid.
Ty slapped me on the back of the head. That was getting old. I looked at him, biting back a growl that would have come out as bubbles anyway.
He pointed to my head and tapped it.
Get focused. Got it.
I followed him to the wall towards the back of the sub. Garrett had his ear to the sub wall. I copied him and heard the voices. The moans of pain. No crying. Brave men. I would be so scared. We swam to the rescue pods. Ty grabbed one end while I grabbed another. Garrett ripped open a porthole around 7 foot in diameter. We placed the pod on it. Garrett did something to the controls, then I heard a hiss and pressure. Then a pumping noise. He must be draining the water. I was so lost here. Damn, his hair looked good floating in the water.
Ty grabbed me, we swam around to these tubes on top. He pointed down. Guess we were going down. He went first, then I followed.
He hit a circular cover. When I followed, he closed it behind me. Then we were in a pretty dry room. Just like that.
"Torpedo tubes. The ones on top used for the really bad missiles."
"Bad?"
"Nukes."
"Oh."
I heard the noises. Ty walked to a door, ripping it open. I looked behind me to see a door behind us.
"Waterproof doors. Shut down in an explosion. Keep water out of the decks. Hopefully enough to limit the damage, but not this time. Not that blast. Damn thing got slammed."
"Can you hear them?"
"Of course I can, woman. You ain't the only damn vampire here. Now listen up. Don't be using your real name."
"What name do you want me to use?"
"Don't talk. I'll handle shit. You just concentrate on looking like you are breathing while not breathing."
I nodded my head. One more door to lift.
The smell hit me like an avalanche. So much blood. So many racing hearts. Garrett sent me here. He knew what I would be facing. He trusted me.
Ty glanced warily at me, then continued in. The shock on the sailors' faces was evident.
"How did you get here? How did you get the doors open?" A man who looked like an officer asked.
"You wanna ask twenty questions or get the fuck out of here?" Ty asked.
"My men and I would definitely like to get out of here."
Hold your breath, Bella. Just hold your breath, Bella.
"Who the hell are you, ma'am?" One of the sailors asked. I admit my vampire body was looking good in this wetsuit. I wish I had this body when I was human.
"That's Amber…Devereaux. She don't talk. Everybody follow us. Amber, lead the way."
I turned around, walking very slowly. I wanted to run. I wanted to attack. Damn it, Garrett.
"Keep going, shorty. Focus on the mission." Ty whispered from behind. I stepped aside, then watched 60 sailors climb into the escape pods before strapping in. Ty knocked on the side of the sub to signal Garrett. The Pod closed with a hiss, sealing off the pod from the sub. I looked at 40 more sailors. I should probably say something.
"Anybody else besides those in this room?"
The officer who spoke up earlier spoke up again.
"I know the Captain is dead, plus most of the officers on duty at the time of the explosion. Anybody left probably died, or are dying, of fatal overdose of radiation.
"The reactor room walls should have locked down." Ty said.
"Yes. But they don't always work."
"That reactor needs to get wet." I whispered so only Ty could hear.
"Yeah. Plutonium rods need to be pulled. You think you could do it, or you want to hang with the boys?"
Rods? I could find rods. They glow right? They do on TV.
"I think I will…"
"Good. I got the rods. You stay here. Let Garrett know when they are loaded by gently bumping the side of the sub."
"No! You can't leave me here! Some are bleeding."
"Yep. Be good. Be a hero." Ty ran off.
"Where the hell is he going?" a sailor asked.
"Checking for more survivors." I whispered, using the last of my air. Shit. My throat was burning. I could feel venom pooling in my mouth.
No! I would not do this, damn it! No!
"You okay Amber?" The officer asked.
I took a shallow breath.
"Yep. Why do you ask?"
"Your eyes are red. They were brown. Now they are red. Red and black.
Fuck. My contacts dissolved.
"Experimental diving suit. Must have broken some blood vessels in my eyes." I said softly trying to drown out the sound of blood rushing through their veins.
An escape pod sat down. I gently banged on the wall. The seal closed and the sailors were gone. We wouldn't need the third escape pod, unfortunately. Ty wasn't back yet. May as well head out. I went back to the area we entered, then swam outside. Where was…
Oh fuck!
Garrett turned the flashlight on his face inches from my own. He scared the shit out of me. Still, he was smiling. I looked around to notice that he had been using a third escape pod to gather bodies that had been on the ocean floor. I looked back at him. I noticed his smile was sad. I hugged him. I hadn't hugged anyone voluntarily in a long time. It felt like the right thing to do.
We swam over to the pods. I lifted one while Garrett lifted the other. I followed his lead. An hour and a half later, we were at the surface. Connolly's Seals were in the water hooking chains to the pods, raising them to the deck.
"You did good." Garrett whispered in ear.
"I nearly killed them all. Ty left me alone with them!"
"You didn't. You did good. Now let's go get some nukes before China finds them."
Ty was waiting for us at the bottom. He had dragged the reactor out, and had rods in his hands. I had a strong opinion on where he could stick them. Fourteen missiles were lying on the bottom of the ocean. Chains dropped down, so Garrett and I began hooking them up to the missiles. We followed them to the surface, in case the chains broke. Sixteen hours later, we were finally done. We scaled the carrier on the dark side, that was still dark and unoccupied. Jason was there waiting for us.
"Good job. I don't know why they wouldn't let us do it, but really, not bad."
"Thanks." I answered.
"Hey Bella, maybe when we get back, we could go…"
"She's busy, Connolly." Garrett practically growled.
"No offense Gar. Just asking her out for a drink." He grinned.
"I might drink your blood." I told him honestly.
"I might not mind, darlin." He winked.
"Enough. Bella, lets go. Ty, you too."
"You can ask me out for a drink Connolly. What are you? O neg?"
"Fuck you, Gavin. Have a nice trip back. See you guys in Washington."
I flew in an F 22 on the way home. This time we went straight to Washington, doing an inflight refueling thing. I was very careful to not touch anything once again. We arrived home and took the elevator down. I wanted to go to my room to take a shower. Get the smell of salt water out of my hair. Drink a few bags of hot blood. Bathe in it. It would be very bad when the smell of my room hit me.
"Bella a word before you go to your room?"
"Yeah, Garrett. Of course."
"Tomorrow, 100 sailors will be going home after debriefing. Their loved ones will be waiting for them. Their wives and children. Their parents. They are going home because of what we did today. You are a part of that. Those men are alive because of you."
I said nothing.
"Now. Do you want to save two more lives?"
"Yes." I answered without hesitation. I was ready for whatever mission…
"So are you ready to speak to your parents?"
Oh.
I met his eyes. He was smiling. It was a warm smile.
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Good. In eight hours you can call your Mom. With East Coast time she should be up. I arranged for her to be discharged, so she is home. A couple hours later, your father will be up. Save their lives Bella."
Garrett walked out.
He was right. It was time to talk to my parents.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Don't own it.
BPOV
"Mom?"
"Be….Bella?"
Her voice when she said hello. I forgot the sound of her voice.
"Yeah Mom. It's me." I said quietly… almost as if I raised my voice, she may run away.
"Bella…your voice, it sounds like you, but…is it really you? You're alive? He wasn't lying. You're alive, baby?"
I'm really not, was the first thing that popped in my head before I could stop it. I wouldn't dump my problems onto her.
"I'm alive, Mom. I'm okay."
"Bella, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you go to him to make me feel better. I should have stayed with you. I should have been a better mother. I was horrible, Bella. Look what it has cost you."
She was crying heavily now. I began sobbing. The sound of her in tears tore at my heart. My mother. My best friend. We took care of each other. I taught her to be responsible. I tried, anyway. She taught me to lighten up. She tried, anyway.
"Please don't cry, Mommy." I whispered. I don't know why I said that. I hadn't called her mommy since I was five years old.
"Bella, I'm so sorry. I was selfish. I…"
"Enough Mom. I'm alive. I…I would have called you but, Mom…" I took a deep breath.
"I've done things, Mom. I've done terrible things." My voice felt so small. I wanted to crawl into her arms to confess everything.
"Bella, Garrett told me everything. It wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for this, baby."
"I should have ran, Mom. I should have ran from him. I should have gone back to you. I never should have gotten involved in this world. Now people are dead."
"You were on your own, Bella! I know. Garrett told me what it's like. You never had a chance."
"Neither did the people I killed, Mom."
"Bella that is not your fault!"
"I killed them, Mom. I held their dead bodies."
"Yes, and it is a tragedy. Each one of those deaths. But that bitch left you alone, knowing it would happen. That was her, baby. Not you. You know you never would have done that if you could help it. Bella, if you could have done that, you wouldn't hurt so badly now. Killers do not feel guilt, Bella."
I sat down.
"Mom? What did you do?"
"I don't…it doesn't…"
"Mom?"
"I took pills. A lot of pills and a lot of alcohol, Bella." She said quietly.
"Why?" I nearly killed her too.
"Because I gave you up. You offered to move, but I didn't try to talk you out of it. I began thinking of the damn places I could see with Phil. You know what I saw, Bella? Fucking baseball fields in towns nobody has ever heard of. I let you go. Then you were gone. I thought forever. I wanted to be where you were. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to hold you, to listen to you tell me to stay out of the kitchen. Watch you brush your hair. I wanted to be where you were, Bella."
"Mom, you have to swear to me to never try that again. Please. Please, Mom? I'm begging you."
She said nothing.
"Bella, if something…"
"No, Mom. This is my life. It won't be a safe one. I don't know what Garrett told you, but I could very well die. I can't do what I need to do, if I don't know if you are going to be okay. Do you understand? Swear to me, Mom."
"I swear, Bella. Can we talk whenever we want?"
"Yeah, Mom. We can."
"Can I see you? Garrett said you are so beautiful. Even more than you were."
"Yeah. Mom. I am hoping in a few weeks. I'm working hard. Do you want to know what I did yesterday?"
"I want to know everything. Bella. Please tell me. I'll sit here and shut up. I just want to listen to your voice."
I told her about our mission. I told her about screaming when we took off and landed on the carrier. My fears about being naked on a flight deck. She actually laughed. It felt so good to hear her laugh.
"So let me get this straight. You were alone in a submarine with 40 men, yet you didn't kill them. Instead, you stayed to help them get into a rescue pod? You think you are evil, Bella? Can't you see you aren't? How could an evil person do that?"
I didn't at the time, but…
"Mom, I didn't kill those men… so does that mean those other people didn't have to die? Did I just not try hard enough?"
"You have help now, Bella. You were on your own before. Are those deaths my fault, Bella?"
"No!"
"I let you go. If I hadn't, then you wouldn't have been in that situation. They are as much on me as they are on you."
"They weren't your fault! Those were my teeth on them. Their blood in my mouth."
"It was her fault! She did that to you, left, knowing what you would do. What you had to do! She did it, Bella. That damn bitch who bit you! She did it. Let it go. Let it go."
"Mom…"
"If you are going to make me swear to live, you damn sure are, too." She said with conviction.
"What…what do you mean?"
"You get out there, and you save as many people as you can. Don't do it because you feel like you have to balance a scale that doesn't belong to you. Do it because it's who you are. You are a caring, warm woman, Bella. You have been given something that could be very bad or very good. You are going to make it good, because that's who you are.
You can't change those people's deaths. I can't change the fact that I was too much of a coward to live without you. If I am going to move on, then so are you. Swear to me, Bella. Swear to me. It would completely destroy me if my mistake made you think you are a monster. You are the most loving person. I have always been so proud of you. Look what you did yesterday. Anyone else would have given up. Turned into a mindless killer. You did it yourself. You pulled yourself up, fighting it the entire time. How many people could you have killed, Bella? How many more? How many are still alive because you won the fight inside yourself with no help?"
I had never thought about it. Never thought about the people who I didn't kill. I wanted to. I never came across a human I didn't want to drain. Even now, the thought still crossed my mind. I…I didn't want to kill those people. Why couldn't I have been strong every time?
"Bella?"
"I should have been strong every time." I whispered.
"No one is strong all the time. We all need help. I fell apart without you. I need your help. I need to be able to stay in your life, Bella. You went after help. Garrett didn't find you. You found him. You got help."
I did, didn't I?
"Okay, Mom. I get it."
"Good. I'll remind you of this every time we talk, until I feel you really believe it."
"I believe it, Mom."
"Not completely, but you will."
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you, Bella. When can I see you?"
I didn't really know. I didn't want to tell her a date then then miss it, but I didn't want to not give her anything.
"Two weeks?" Garrett would be with me. It would be okay.
"Good. Can I call you at this number?"
I had called her off my room line. I probably should give her the cell phone number Garrett gave me. I had played around, and could use the touch screen very slowly without cracking it so far.
"This is my cell phone, if you can't get a hold of me on this line." I told her I loved her. With a promise to talk tomorrow, I ended the call.
"How did it go?" Garrett asked, walking in.
"Good. I think…I think she will be okay." Maybe me too?
Garrett nodded. "Yes. I think she will be okay as well. She is looking better already. Calling your Dad?"
"Yeah…"
"Come out when you are done. We have something to talk about."
I nodded, dialing the next number slowly.
"Hello?"
He sounded groggy. I couldn't remember the details of his face. His voice though, that soothing calm voice was the same.
"Dad?"
"Bella?"
"Yes."
"He wasn't lying." Charlie whispered.
"No."
"I mean... I didn't think he had. I mean that Jake turning into a big dog pretty much…Bella, where are you, baby? Please come home to me. Please. I have your room ready. I can repaint it. I know you probably are tired of purple. Please? Please come home to me."
His voice was starting to crack. If he lost it, so would I.
"Dad, you know what I am doing now right?"
I heard a sigh on the other end of the phone.
"Bella, you don't have to do anything. Those deaths, Bella…"
"I know Dad. I know. I…I'm not doing this because of them. I mean I am, but…I'm doing this because I can, and it needs to be done. Dad, I don't want this. But I have it. I need…what would you do, Dad? Tell me. Please?"
"Bells…"
"What, Dad?"
"I would do exactly what you are doing. I'm sorry I didn't protect you from this."
"I never gave you the chance."
"I wouldn't have believed you."
"You would have thought I could make this up?"
"Good point." He laughed at least.
"So…can I see you? Please baby?"
"Yeah Dad. Give me a couple weeks. I'm getting better. I promise. I don't want to scare you."
"I saw Jake turn into a giant wolf, plus a guy from the Government lift a large tree out of the ground."
"I know, Dad, but I don't want to scare you." Please understand.
"Two weeks?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. I'm holding you to that kid." Now he was crying. I could hear him trying to hide it. But his breathing…I could almost hear the tears running down his face.
"Dad. Have you…been drinking still?"
"No! Not a drop since Garrett left. I promise, Bells."
"I believe you, Dad. I just... I don't want to destroy you. Now I'm this, and…"
"You are you. Not having you destroyed me. You are you. Don't you ever think I love you any less. Ever."
"Yes sir." I whispered. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Bells. Can I call you? Everyday? Please?"
"Yeah, Dad." I gave him my numbers, then with a final I love you, hung up the phone.
I sat on the floor and sobbed, my body shaking, my heart wishing I could shed tears that would never come.
Someone knocked on my door.
"Come in." I said in a raised voice that would probably be heard by whoever was on the other side of the door.
My door slid open but I didn't turn.
"Shorty? You need to see me naked again?”
Damn it. He could make me laugh. I would give him that. Then he sat behind me, wrapping me in his big arms. Now I was sobbing again.
"Shhh. It's gonna be okay little crazy white girl. It will be all right. Want Big Ty to sing you a song?"
"No." I snuffled out.
"You sure? I got a good voice. Momma used to tell me I sounded like an angel."
"Okay." Why not?
He actually did have a nice voice. So nice I didn't pay attention to the lyrics. At first.
"Honey came in and she caught me red-handed, creepin with the girl next door
Picture this, we were both butt-naked
Banging on the bathroom floor
How could I forget
That I had given her an extra key?
All this time, she was standing there
She never took her eyes off me
To be a true player, you have to know how to play
If she say you're not, convince her, say you're gay
Never admit to a word when she say
Makes a claim, and you tell her baby no way"
"What the hell song is that?" I asked.
"That's the player song by Shaggy. You gotta help me out though. I'm going to sing a lyric, then you have to say 'it wasn't me'
"No! I'm not going to be a party to your cheating ways!"
"Yeah you are. You're my crew now. Crew covers for each other when we do stupid shit. Part of the code."
"What code?"
"I'll email it to you. It's quite long. You able to use a computer, or do you still enter the computer when your finger hits enter?"
"Fuck you." I laughed.
"That's my girl. C'mon. Your man wants to talk to us. Time to earn that government paycheck."
"He is not my man. Why do you keep insinuating that he is? We barely know each other."
"Yeah. You barely know each other, but the sexual tension in our little underground bunker is so thick that even I'm having a hard time getting around. That's cool, though. You stay in denial. It will make the sex that much more intense. As intense as white people can fuck anyway."
He lifted me off the ground before I could argue that white people could, indeed, have very intense sex. Asshole.
We walked into the control room to see Garrett in his normal position, perving on the vamp world with his satellites.
"Hello you two. Bella, did your conversations…everything okay?"
He was smiling, but I could tell he was a little worried too. I was annoyed he put me in this position at first, but it did make me feel better. I think it made Charlie and Renee feel better as well.
"Yeah. Everything is great, Garrett. I just have to work on my blood lust, then hopefully in two weeks?"
He nodded.
"I'm glad, Bella. Now we have work to do."
"Yes!" I whispered before I could stop it.
"A friend of mine, a priest, believes a demon is walking the streets of New York. This demon is a shifter who can assume the guise of anyone he sees."
"Okay…" The problem.
"He has been hanging around key political rallies. My friend is worried that the demon may be trying to imitate a politician. Take over his or her life."
"So we find the demon and kill it. Easy enough." Ty said.
"Yes. But my friend believes the demon has noticed him following. He is concerned the demon may try to take his spot in the church. Many big politicians, including the mayor of New York, attend his service."
"Wait. The Priest knows about you?"
"Yes. I was approached by him after he witnessed me killing a demon, who was responsible for preying on the homeless at a shelter he ran. He saw everything, so I introduced myself. He's a great guy. We play chess together when I am in New York. Anyway, this demon has to be found. I need one of you to go to New York to handle this. Who wants to go?"
Ty said he did. I wanted to but I didn't trust myself to be alone.
"I appreciate you volunteering, Ty. You may accompany Bella to New York, but I want you to scout. See what vampires are in the area. See who is feeding where. I will be going as well."
"You mean…?" Oh shit.
"Yes. We are all going. I will scout for the demon, since I am familiar with their scent. You Bella, will be meeting Father Francis. A good man and my friend. You are to be his personal bodyguard."
"Are you fucking crazy? You want me around a Priest!" I yelled. I may have growled. I'll be damned if I was going anywhere near a priest of all people.
"Yes. I need someone to protect him. I know you will defend him with your life. I want you there. There is no one I would rather have than you protecting him."
"Thanks Gar." Ty mumbled. Garrett shot him a look.
"No offense, Ty. I trust you explicitly. But I need you looking for intelligence. I need to find this demon before he takes residence in City Hall. Luckily as fate would have it, Bella has joined us, so we can accomplish all our tasks at once.
"Garrett, I can't…"
"Bella, I am giving you a mission. A man needs protection. Will you protect him?"
Fuck.
"Yes." Or accidentally kill him.
"Good. We leave tonight. I want to spend a few hours in the training room. All three of us. Ty, I want you to use your power on Bella.
Power?
Ty and I followed Garrett to the training room.
"Gar, I don't like doing this. You know that."
"Important Ty. We all need to know what Bella can do. You won't hurt her."
Ty looked at me.
"Sorry, Shorty."
He continued looking at me.
"What the fuck?" Ty whispered.
"What? What did I do?" I hope I didn't break anything.
"You blocked his power, Bella." Garrett grinned.
"What power?"
"Ty has the ability to place a person in vertigo. Painful vertigo. You become dizzy. You don't know up from down. You basically become sick. It is all in the mind. His power scrambles brainwaves of others. Throws their equilibriums off. Imagine standing around, then the next minute up is down, and you feel like you are on a roller coaster. You, Bella, are his counter. While he can scramble the brainwaves of others with his power, you can scramble powers. The key is whether you can protect someone else. Or multiple persons."
"How do we figure that out?"
"Easy." Garrett walked next to me. "Ty?"
Garrett stood still while Ty stared at him.
"Excellent."
"I'll be damned." Ty whispered.
"Now let's see how far away from Bella we can be before powers affect us."
Garrett walked off slowly. I didn't feel myself doing anything. I just stood there. When Garrett was around twenty feet away, he fell to his knees as he grabbed his head. He doubled over.
"No!"
Garrett shook his head and stood.
"How did you do that?" Garrett asked.
"Do what? Are you okay?"
"His power affected me. Then it didn't. You didn't move, though."
"I don't know. I didn't want you…hurt."
"I'm fine, Bella, but it appears you were able to stretch the coverage area of your protection. We need to figure out how, to see if we can replicate it. Did you feel anything different? Other than emotionally?" I was a bit embarrassed by that question, but it was true. I thought he was in danger and wanted to protect him.
"I did feel a little buzz." I admitted.
"A little? If you only felt a little then your range is indeed very far. Excellent. So now we know what to work on."
Ty walked out. I think he was upset.
"Don't worry. He hates to use his power on anyone who isn't attacking us. It bothers him greatly. For all his grand shit talking, Ty is a gentle soul towards those he considers family. Namely me, and now you."
"Oh."
Garrett grabbed my hand as I tried to walk off.
"Bella?"
"Yes." Don't concentrate on the way his skin feels, Bella. Look him in the eyes.
"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you thought I was in danger and reacted to protect me."
Oh damn.
"Hey. You mean a lot to me. You have pretty much given me something to live for." Yep. Keep it casual.
"You have given me something too, Bella." He replied before walking off.
I stood there trying to digest his words. We hadn't known each other long. But the way I reacted to him…The way I felt whenever my skin brushed his.
"Bella? Time to head to New York."
Garrett POV
"When are you going to tell her?" Ty asked. Again.
"I'm not."
"She needs to know she makes your flag stand at full mast. Your soldier salute. Your..."
"Got it, Ty."
'Your dick get hard."
"Got it, Ty!"
"She got the hots for you. She don't know yet, or ain't realized we can smell that little scent, but you know it same as I do. Ain't me she getting all hot and bothered for."
"I like her. A lot. She has other things on her mind, though. She doesn't need romance. She needs healing. I will give her what she needs. I'm damn sure not going to ask her on a date when she is in a vulnerable place. It would be taking advantage of her."
"How long has it been since you had a woman?" Ty laughed.
"How long has it been for you, Playa?" I responded in kind.
"Hey…I'm picky."
"Uh huh."
I took off running again. Bella was behind us. She had stopped to feed on three deer so far on the run. She wanted to be well fed, she explained. I wasn't worried. If she didn't kill anyone in that sub, she wouldn't now. I had faith in her then, and I would always have faith in her. Even if she slipped. Lord knows I did in the early years.
We reached New York City. Bella ran beside me, tense.
"Don't worry. You got this." I told her.
She smiled, but it wasn't in her eyes. She would learn. She already was. She would figure out how strong she was.
"You have your sword?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Remember. You have to cut off their heads. They can hurt you. Their claws can burn. You will heal but they have the strength to tear you apart. If that happens they can kill you. Do not let them. If you feel you can't handle it, should you see one, run. They are not as fast as we are. Don't be afraid to run."
"Got it."
I gave her directions to Church. We weren't far. She would find it easily from the rooftops. Ty took off to scout the city for scents till morning, unless I called him. I had a demon to find and kill. Then maybe I could talk Bella into watching some more movies. Or something. Anything to spend time with her. Maybe take her out in the sun? Let her feel human? A beach? Somewhere she can be around people but not enclosed.
Demon first. Concentrate, Garrett.
BPOV
I found the church and landed on the roof. I didn't want to walk in. I could watch him from here. It was raining. I didn't care. The rain washed out the scent of humans. I had a black overcoat on anyway. My long silver sword was holstered under it on my back.
Demons. Great. Unbelievable.
I peered through the tall window at the top. The Church really was beautiful. Large gothic cathedral type. I saw a tan man in his forties standing in the front. He was on his knees praying at the altar.
A strange scent caught my attention, even in the rain. I looked down from the ledge I was perched on to see a well dressed man walk into the church.
At this time of night? He wasn't even wearing a rain coat.
The man I assumed was Father Francis never turned around. He stayed on his knees praying.
I could hear the man who entered laughing.
"Give it a moment, Father. You can say it to him face to face."
The demon. It had to be. I grabbed my phone, going to contacts to find Garrett's number. I pressed dial, but my thumb went through the phone.
Fuck.
"I believe if it's all the same to you, I will continue to pray." Father Francis said back, never turning to the man who had just threatened him.
"Do you expect him to answer, Father?"
The demon just pulled something from his coat. I couldn't see from behind what it was. It couldn't be good.
I had to get the priest away.
I jumped through the glass to land in the church aisle.
"I believe my prayers were just answered demon." I heard Father Francis say. My focus was on the nice looking harmless man in front of me.
"And who might you be?"
"Bella Swan." I drew my sword.
"Kid you are out of your league." He smiled. I had a sword. Why was he smiling?
Shit. He just grew a foot.
His skin just turned red.
He just ripped his shirt off.
Were those horns?
Big fangs.
Okay.
I couldn't grab the priest and run. He was on the other side of the demon. I had to go through him.
"I guess we are about to find out what league I belong in. Bring it bitch."