Amnesia

Chapter Eighteen

Second confrontation

"I love you." Alec whispered in her ear. Maeryn and Alec had been cuddled up on their bed, legs and arms tangled around eachother. Maeryn smiled. "I love you too." She replied. Alec smiled and kissed her lips, stroking her cheek lovingly. Maeryn pulled away. "I have been thinking lately." "About what, amore mio?" Alec asked. "You are my creator, yet you haven't told me the laws yet." She said, poking his nose teasingly. Alec chuckled and sat up straight, his back against the headboard. He lifted Maeryn up and placed her onto his lap, arm tightly around her waist.
"Throughout the centuries, the Volturi have established and enforced a number of laws that all vampires are expected to obey on pain of death. There aren't many of these laws, and they mainly concern the secrecy surrounding the existence of vampires. The laws are not written down; to write them would in itself be an infraction. Instead, the laws are passed by word of mouth from vampire to vampire.
The first one is: Hunts must be inconspicuous, with victims unlikely to be missed; their remains must be disposed of and territory must be changed often.
The second one is: Incapable of self-control, and therefore a threat of exposure, immortal children are not to be created. Such creation is the ultimate taboo and punishable by death to both child, the creator, those who defend the child and those who know of its existence.
The third law is: Dealing with Children of the Moon, except for the purpose of extermination, is prohibited.
The fourth law is: False witness, regardless of intent, is punishable by death.
The fifth law is: Hunting is forbidden in Volterra, the town of residence of the Volturi; their food is brought from outside, sometimes from quite far away.
The sixth law is: Attention should not be drawn and vampires should not be noticed in open sunlight.
The seventh law is: The creator is responsible for his newborn's behavior and teaching of the laws before they can be released on their own. By letting a newborn hunt conspicuously, the penalty will be death both to the newborn and its creator. Even if the newborn is ignorant of the law, his rash acts are still punishable by death.
And the final law is: Vampires' interaction with humans must not draw wide attention. If a human becomes aware of them, the vampire at fault would be responsible for silencing that human. This mostly leads to two options: either make the human join the immortals or silence that human permanently. As long as attention isn't drawn widely that prompts the Volturi's involvement, they may never find out."
Alec finished. He played with her necklace while Maeryn absorbed all the information she had just received. "So for another eight month's I am your responsibility?" Maeryn asked, a playful grin on her face. Alec chuckled. "You always will be, amore mio." Alec said before kissing her lovingly once more. Maeryn smiled and returned his kiss, for it only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. Alec pulled away and let out a soft sigh. "We can never have a moment alone, can we?" he murmured. Maeryn giggled. "Come on." She said. Felix walked in. "We are going to the Cullens. Be prepared."

The Cullens stood in a loose semicircle around the bonfire. Maeryn recognized them from the night the Volturi saved her. She remembered their names and how the blonde one, Carlisle had helped her that night. For that she was grateful, but that didn't mean she had to like them. To her they were strange because of their choice to prefer animal blood over the sweet taste of human blood, not to mention how disrespectful Edward behaved towards her masters the last time he came to visit. At the thought of blood, Maeryn's throat started to blaze up again, and she could faintly smell the flowery smell that came from none other than Bella Swan. Thankfully the wind was turned away from the five, cloaked vampires, so the smell wasn't too strong for Maeryn to lose her control.
There were hardly any flames visible, just the thick, purple-black smoke, hovering like a disease against the bright grass. Jasper stood closest to the solid- seeming haze, in its shadow so that his skin did not glitter brilliantly in the sun the way the others did. He had his back to the five vampires that entered the clearing , his shoulders tense, his arms slightly extended. There was something there, in his shadow. Something he crouched over with wary intensity. There were eight vampires in the clearing.
The girl was curled into a small ball beside the flames, her arms wrapped around her legs. She was very young. Younger than Maeryn - she looked maybe fifteen, dark-haired and slight. Her eyes were focused on the five vampires, and the irises were a shocking, brilliant red. Much brighter than the vampire boy's eyes had been, but less bright than Maeryn's eyes, almost glowing. They wheeled wildly, out of control.
"Hmm," Jane answered in a dead voice, murmuring from the mist. "Welcome, Jane." Edward's tone was coolly courteous. Maeryn felt her hands itching already, but she knew better. She needed to control herself.
The dark shapes came closer, separating themselves from the haze, solidifying. Jane at the front, the darkest cloak, almost black, and the smallest figure. On her left was Maeryn, her cloak the exact same as Jane's. Her fierce, crimson eyes locked on the vampires in front of her, yet they seemed very calm, knowing if the Cullens would attack that the Volturi would triumph. On the other side of Jane stood Alec, his cloak slightly lighter but still dark enough that it could be black. He had a small, playful smile on his face, seeming to enjoy how tense the Cullens where feeling. And at the end of the arrow where Felix, on the left side close by Maeryn to stop her if she would let her instincts take over, and Demetri on the right side next to Alec, having the same facial expression as he had. The five vampires kept their hoods on, to prevent their skin from glittering.
Jane's gaze moved slowly across the luminous faces of the Cullens and then touched on the newborn girl beside the fire; the newborn had her head in her hands. "I don't understand." Jane's voice was toneless, but not quite as uninterested as before. "She has surrendered," Edward explained, answering the confusion in her mind. Jane's dark eyes flashed to his face. "Surrendered?" Felix and Demetri exchanged a quick glance. Edward shrugged. "Carlisle gave her the option."
"There are no options for those who break the rules," Maeryn said sharply. Felix placed a hand on Maeryn's shoulder, making sure she wouldn't attack. Alec gave her a quick and reassuring glance. Maeryn calmed down quickly as Carlisle spoke, his voice mild. "That's in your hands. As long as she was willing to halt her attack on us, I saw no need to destroy her. She was never taught."
"That is irrelevant," Jane insisted. "As you wish."
Jane stared at Carlisle in consternation. She shook her head infinitesimally, and then composed her features. "Aro hoped that we would get far enough west to see you, Carlisle. He sends his regards." Carlisle nodded. "I would appreciate it if you would convey mine to him." "Of course." Jane smiled. Her face was almost too lovely when it was animated. She looked back toward the smoke. "It appears that you've done our work for us today . . . for the most part." Her eyes flickered to the hostage. "Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there? They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle." "Eighteen, including this one," Carlisle answered. Jane's eyes widened, and she looked at the fire again, seeming to reassess the size of it. Felix and Demetri exchanged a longer glance. "Eighteen?" she repeated, her voice sounding unsure for the first time. "All brand-new," Carlisle said dismissively. "They were unskilled."
"All?" Her voice turned sharp. "Then who was their creator?" "Her name was Victoria," Edward answered, no emotion in his voice. "Was?" Jane asked. Edward inclined his head toward the eastern forest. Jane's eyes snapped up and focused on something far in the distance. Maeryn followed her gaze and saw another pillar of smoke. Jane stared to the east for a long moment, and then examined the closer bonfire again. "This Victoria - she was in addition to the eighteen here?" "Yes. She had only one other with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year." "Twenty," Jane breathed. "Who dealt with the creator?" "I did," Edward told her.
Jane's eyes narrowed, and she turned to the girl beside the fire. "You there," she said, her dead voice harsher than before. "Your name." The newborn shot a baleful glare at Jane, her lips pressed tightly together. Jane smiled back angelically. The newborn girl's answering scream was ear-piercing; her body arched stiffly into a distorted, unnatural position. Maeryn felt a small smirk make its way onto her lips, enjoying the view of the girl in pain. The screaming intensified. Finally, it was quiet. "Your name," Jane said again, her voice inflectionless. "Bree," the girl gasped. Jane smiled, and the girl shrieked again. "She'll tell you anything you want to know," Edward said through his teeth. "You don't have to do that." Jane looked up, sudden humour in her usually dead eyes. "Oh, I know," she said to Edward, grinning at him before she turned back to the young vampire, Bree. The other vampires behind Jane grinned along with her.
"Bree," Jane said, her voice cold again. "Is his story true? Were there twenty of you?" The girl lay panting, the side of her face pressed against the earth. She spoke quickly. "Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" She cringed, terrified that her ignorance might bring on another round of torture. "Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way." "And this Victoria - did she create you?" Jane asked. "I don't know," Bree said, flinching again. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night . . . it was so dark, and it hurt. . . ." Bree shuddered. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe. . . ." Jane's eyes flickered to Edward, and then back to the girl. Victoria had planned this well. If she hadn't followed Edward, there would have been no way to know for certain that she was involved.
"Tell me about Riley," Jane said. "Why did he bring you here?" "Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here," Bree babbled quickly and willingly. "He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." Bree lifted one hand and stabbed a finger in Bella's direction. "He said we would know that we had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could have her." I heard Edward's jaw flex beside me. Too bad they didn't reach her on time, Maeryn thought. Edward glared at her while Maeryn flashed him a grin, knowing very well he had heard her thoughts.
"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane noted. Bree nodded, seeming relieved that the conversation had taken this non-painful course. She sat up carefully. "I don't know what happened. We split up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everybody was in pieces." She shuddered again. "I was afraid. I wanted to run away. That one" - she looked at Carlisle - "said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."
"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane murmured, her voice oddly gentle now. "Broken rules demand a consequence." Bree stared at her, not comprehending. Jane looked at Carlisle. "Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?" Carlisle's face was very smooth as he nodded. "We split up, too." Jane half-smiled. "I can't deny that I'm impressed." Felix, Demetri and Alec nodded their heads in agreement. Even Maeryn was impressed, seeing as she herself was a newborn and her strength was amazingly stronger than Felix's strength in the beginning. But she knew her strength was slowly growing normal as she was entering her fourth month soon.
"I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behaviour, considering the way you live here. And why was the girl the key?" Her eyes rested unwilling on Bella for one short second. Bella shivered. "Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward told her, his voice impassive. Jane laughed - the sound was golden, the bubbling laugh of a happy child.
"This one seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind," she observed, smiling directly at Bella, her face beatific. Edward stiffened. Bella looked at him in time to see his face turning away, back to Jane. "Would you please not do that?" he asked in a tight voice. Jane laughed again lightly. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently." Bella shivered again, deeply grateful that the strange glitch in her system - which had protected her from Jane the last time they'd met - was still in effect. Maeryn wondered if she could pierce through Bella's shield just like she could with Renate's shield. Perhaps, one day she could find out. Edward shuddered slightly at Maeryn's thoughts and his arm tightened around Bella, sending Maeryn a worried look. Maeryn grinned at him.
"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do. Odd," Jane said, apathy creeping back into her voice. "We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch." Alec said "Yes," Edward answered him quickly, his voice sharp. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here."
Jane met Edward's glare with unwavering eyes. "Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?" Maeryn replied. Edward nodded once to himself, his suspicions confirmed. Jane turned to look at the newborn Bree again, her face completely bored. "Felix?" she drawled. "Wait," Edward interjected. Jane raised one eyebrow, but Edward was staring at Carlisle while he spoke in an urgent voice. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing." "Of course," Carlisle answered. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree."
Jane's expression was torn between amusement and disbelief. "We don't make exceptions," she said. "And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me . . ." Suddenly, her eyes were on Bella again, and her cherubic face dimpled. "Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit." "The date is set," Alice told Jane, speaking for the first time. "We would like to do this properly, so no one has any suspicion. I see your companion has already been turned recently?" Edward said sharply. "Indeed. I do wonder, why wait? Why bother when you know her fate is written down already?" Maeryn replied. Edward glared at Maeryn once more and Bella seemed to agree with Maeryn.
"Perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months." Jane's smile faded, and she shrugged indifferently, never looking at Alice. She turned to face Carlisle. "It was nice to meet you, Carlisle - I'd thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again." Carlisle nodded, his expression pained. "Take care of that, Felix," Jane said, nodding toward Bree, her voice dripping boredom. "I want to go home." "Don't watch," Edward whispered in Bella's ear.
"Wait. Felix, hold her still. Maeryn?" Jane said. Maeryn nodded her head and took a few steps forward. Maeryn stretched her hand out, concentrating on the fragile and scared vampire infront of her. Maeryn was aware of the frightful yet curious stares from the Cullens, wondering what Maeryn would do. Slowly Maeryn's hand closed and Bree screamed as cracks started to form on her skin. Maeryn made it slow, making sure the Cullens knew what was happening. A last scream filled the sky and soon the young vampire was turned into a pile of dust.
All the Cullens shivered at the pile and looked at Maeryn with frightful looks in their eyes.
"Come," Jane said, and the backs of the tall gray cloaks drifting away toward the curling smoke.
The gray cloaks disappeared into the thick mist. Back to Volterra.