Nessie's Life

Chapter 14

I opened my eyes in time to see the first vampire enter the clearing. I was right, it was a member of my family, but... it was not at all who I expected it to be.

He ran straight to Alice, but she jumped away from him, hissing. He stopped dead in his tracks. At that moment dad burst into the clearing from behind Jacob, followed by Carlisle, mom, Eleazar, and Esme.

Dad said, "It's ok, Jasper. Remember, I told you that she is not herself right now. Just give it a little while and she will be your Alice again."

Jasper turned his head towards them. A wave of deep sadness washed over the entire clearing. We were all getting a taste of Jasper's emotions. He slowly backed up to where my family and Jacob stood. Alice and Aro were directly across from them, and Chase had me trapped in no man's land.

Aro and Carlisle stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak first. I couldn't stand it, so I yelled to my family, "What are you waiting for? Kill Chase! We need to..." I cut off, choking. Chase had tightened his hold on me, using almost full vampire strength. He was threatening to crush my ribcage.

Carlisle spoke quickly to me. "Shh, Renesmee. Don't say a word. Let us handle this." I couldn't have spoken even if I wanted to, but I didn't understand why they needed to talk things out. Aro was outnumbered. This was our chance to get Alice back!

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Aro. Let Renesmee go. There is no need for you to take her. Just give her back to us, and we can discuss Alice."

This made Alice growl. "What if I don't want you to discuss me?" Everyone ignored her.

It was Aro's turn to speak. "Dear Carlisle, it is so nice to see you again." Carlisle didn't respond, and his expression remained hard. Aro sighed. "It is a pity that our relationship has come to this." He started walking slowly towards me. "I wish things could go back to the way they were."

He reached me and slowly traced his hand under my chin. I held my breath, squeezed my eyes, and tried to remain calm. He spoke directly into my face.

"As to the matter at present, I am sorry that I must take the child away from you, but you've given me no choice. All I wished was to observe her peaceably from a distance. However, you decided to meddle with my plans. You obviously don't want me here, so I will take the child to my home for further study."

A snarl ripped from mom's throat and she leaned into a crouch, but Eleazar held her back.

Carlisle said, "You know that we're not going to allow that to happen. Are you willing to compromise?"

Aro's expression turned cold. "Most likely not, but I will hear you out."

Carlisle nodded, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the small bottle that I had forgotten about from earlier. I had no clue what could be inside. Was it poison? Surely not, because I couldn't think of any poison that could harm a vampire.

Carlisle spoke as if he could hear my thoughts. "This is a sample of Renesmee's DNA, taken at the time of her birth. It is completely unique, and you may never get the opportunity to study something like this again. I will give this to you, and you may do whatever you wish with it, but only after you return her to us."

Aro stared at the bottle with greed. I would never understand the thirst for knowledge that all ancient vampires seemed to share. Aro caught himself, and his expression turned indifferent. "And if I don't except?"

Dad growled and spat at Aro, "Then you might want to run."

Carlisle added in a more civil tone, "Have you considered her chromosome number? Her DNA could lead to so many medical breakthroughs, for which you can be credited."

Aro looked torn. Finally, he turned to Chase and said, "Take her to her family, and bring the bottle to me."

"Yes, master."

Chase started pushing me towards them, but stopped when Alice shrieked, "No! Are you just going to give in to them so easily?"

Aro turned to her, his face livid. What happened next shocked everyone. Aro flashed across the field and struck her across the face. This time it was Jasper who reacted, flinging himself towards Alice.

Before he could reach her, dad whispered, "Bella. Shield. Now." A shudder rippled through Alice, and she looked around her, clearly confused. When her eyes finally focused on Jasper, a huge smile crossed her face and they fell into each other's arms. Jasper's relief permeated the clearing. I couldn't help smiling. Mom was using her shield to free Alice from mind control.

Aro slowly backed away from them, and for the first time he looked truly worried. His head turned sharply to Chase. "Did I tell you to stop walking?"

Chase mumbled, "No, master." He let go of me, shoving me roughly towards my family. As soon as I was free, I ran into my mom's arms. Chase approached Carlisle, giving him the death stare. He held out his hand, and Carlisle dropped my DNA into it.

Aro immediately said, "Throw it to me." Chase did what he said, and as soon as Aro had the bottle, he wheeled around and disappeared into the woods. Chase started to follow, but was caught by Carlisle and Eleazar.

Esme spoke for the first time. "Should we go after Aro?"

Dad chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think that would be wise. He won't be bothering us for a long time." He looked at Chase, and a disgusted expression came over his face. "Esme, why don't you take Nessie home? She doesn't need to see this."

Esme put her arm around me, pulling me away from mom. "Come on, baby. We'll let them handle this."

I gratefully took her hand and we started running, but we could still hear the screams and the ripping sounds, and then we could smell burning vampire.