Mackenzie Cullen

Chapter 14

Mackenzie's POV

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Three days; that's all the time that's left until my fate is decided. Either the Cullens, the wolf pack and the Denalis die to protect me, or I join the Volturi.

"Thanks" I say, passing the empty plate, that use to have five pancakes on it, back to Esme. She smiles and walks out of the room. I look to my left to see Seth and Jacob still stuffing their faces; I'm surprised the Cullens have any food, with them two here.

"You ready? Kate's getting annoyed" Renesmee calls from outside, poking her head around the doorway.

"Coming" I shout, darting over to her.

Kate was standing to the right of the clearing, watching me with narrowed eyes, tapping her foot impatiently.

"You said five minutes" she growls, crossing her arms.

"Well, so-rry! The dogs claimed the pile of pancakes before I'd got there" I reply, walking over to the middle of the clearing.

"Ok" she begins, calming down. "Do you think you could make it possible for someone inside your shield to see out, without making them invisible?"

I sigh; we'd been working on this for twelve hours yesterday, and I still can't get it right. Renesmee stands about five feet away from me, waving her hands in the air.

"What are you doing?" I ask, turning my head to the side. She laughs.

"Trying to see when they can't see me" she answers, waving her hands about more. I ignore her, and try to find the weights around me again. 

Once I find them, I try pushing them outwards, as far as I could. They slug forwards, and reach Renesmee in a few seconds. I pant with the effort. This wasn't getting easier; it was getting harder. I try to make the shield become transparent, but with a failed attempt. It snaps back at such speed I fall to the ground, hitting my head on a tree. I growl, and pull myself to my feet, shaking off the mud that had clung to my long hair.

"See! I told you I should have forced her to cut it!" Alice whispers triumphantly to Jasper. I scowl at her; how could she be thinking of such a thing, when the oncoming danger is so near? She flinches away from my glare, and I crack a smile.

"Ok, come on, Mackenzie" Kate shouts, her voice booming across the yard. "We all know you can fall on your butt, but we don't know if you could beat Jane--" 

Then, suddenly, she remembers Renesmee. Who was staring wide eyed at her, then her eyes moved to me, and over to Bella and Edward.

"What does she mean? Beat Jane?" Renesmee asks, her eyes darting between every guilty face in the gathering.

"You idiot!" I shout, aiming the words at Kate. A low growl rumbles in my throat, and the weights around me become unbearable. Even more than before. These were not a mixture of fear and anger; these were pure fury. I push my shield out, as far as I could, aiming it at Renesmee. It reaches her within less than a second. The bubble speeds past the mirrored image stage, and past the blurring stage, and it stops on such a clear image, it looked strangely defined.

With my rage prominent, I found it no trouble to keep the shield up. I wasn't quite sure how long it was up for, but my fury burnt bright, with no sign of it ebbing.

"Edward" I say through clenched teeth, trying to keep my voice even. "Can you see us?"

"Yes" he answers, looking straight at Renesmee, who still had her mouth wide open.

"Can you read our minds?"

He shakes his head, and then looks at Kate.

"No way!" she shouts, stepping backwards into Garrett's arms.