Twilight 月 Incandescent Moon

Chapter 14: Clock on the Wall

(song - Eau de Vie, Shiki Tv Rouge sountrack)

Chapter 14 - Clock on the Wall

Lilia

Thirteen days. That's all we had left before the big fight of the century went off and I still didn't know where it was or who was going to throw the first punch. I collapsed on the couch and stared up at the cieling.

By now, Alice had started to get worry lines on her forehead. Not permanent ones. Vampires couldn't get permanent wrinkles on their foreheads, only temporary ones. Usually, my fellow blood-suckers were good at hiding their feelings. However, they did have moments where they slipped when things got particularly emotional. This was one of those moments.

Pixie hair was worried about me, I was sure, because she rarely thought of the war. We found out it gave her headaches just thinking about it because of the Alps involved in future events. For her it was like trying to see the clear picture beyond all the fuz on a television set. 

The reason I thought she was worried about me---she baked too often, prumed the flowers, and did anything to keep moving on her feet. It was her nervous habit which was a clear giveaway to what she was feeling inside. And because she did most of these things centered around me, she had to be concerned for me. That or I'd recently obtained my own gravitational pull the way she kept circling me like she was in orbit.

"Why does it have to be me who comes up with this plan?" I asked no one, but Edwardo decided to reply.

"Because you're the only Alp that we know that will also be listened to by your own kind." He told me and there was a slight pause before he added, "And that you're the only one crazy enough to come up with a way to succeed."

Thanks buddy that really helped me out, I mumbled the thought within my head.

Carlisle

It was an adverage day, except for the immense worry that flooded our house. Not only were we worried about Alice, Edward, and Lilia who weren't that far South from us, we were also concerned about the rest of our friends. The Volturi had left our Egyption coven friends with a warning that we were not considered to be on the side of the vampires by our association with Lilia.  

However, as easy as it would have been to abandon her and get rid of all our troubles, we couldn't. The Alp girl was apart of our family as much as Esme or Edward was. Inseperable and we would be crushed to see her off on her own to possibly be killed by a vampire clan that were with the Volturi. But that wasn't the only thing that held us to our beliefs. 

The other covens who had stood with us when Aro had tried to kill Renesmee were also being targeted. They'd loped us all together when it had only been my group who has had any interaction with Lilia. The others didn't even know who she was.

I assumed our situation was worse when our nomad friends started showing up on our doorstep.'Yes, you can stay here.' was repeated often on my lips. They were all frightened of being taken out by the Volturi while they were on their own. There was safety in numbers, but if we got too great our Italian dictators might decide to take us out all at once if they felt threatened.

But on this adverage day where things were relatively calm, some of the nomads had gone out to hunt, and I was studying quietly in my office, another problem came to our hands.

"Carlisle?" Emmett called my name up from downstairs, sounding very unsure about himself which was unusual.

I set my papers on my desk imediately and got up to see what was the matter. I found Esme standing on the steps, also looking concerned.

"We're back!" a voice said cheerfully in a rich Romanian accent. One of the brothers moved into the home while Emmett held the door, staring dumbly as he walked in and surveyed the house. "It's just as if we were here yesterday." he smiled fondly, then his eyes met mine. "Carlisle!" he cried.

I nodded calmly in respondse."Vladmir." I vocalized."And Stefan." when his brother walked in.

The dark-haired vampire stood at the door, but his more enthusiastic partner continued to stroll into the house until he was standing beside me at the bottom of the steps. I noted that Esme took a side step, but I had already made sure to stand in the way of the stairs. 

The blonde brother breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of the house. "There is an odd perfume I can't place.." he murmured absent-mindedly.

The answer was imediately brought to my head: Lilia. Neither of them knew her, as far as I knew, so they would never be able to place the smell. Her scent was different person to person, and I didn't think that they would discuss about the 'odd perfume' as Vladmir had put it, but just in case...

"Have you come in hopes of overthrowing the Volturi again?" I stepped in before he could get too deep in thought.

The blonde looked at me with a grin. "You will not play this game with me." He said with a playful tone and a look that told me he knew everything. "There will be no stopping those Volturi fools this time around. They have a ligitimate reason for attacking you and they will not hesitate to do so."

"I know that." I replied calm and collected in my voice.

"So what are you waiting for?" he asked me in his thick accent. "Summon the girl and the others of your coven. There is no time to be messing around." Vladmir ordered.

"What do you mean, 'no time' ?" I asked, although I knew what he meant.

"The black-capes have moved their appointment with the Alps," Stefan stepped into the conversation. " by a week."

That was truely something for me to be shocked at. Instead of the thirteen days we believed we had, there were only six to work with.

"I would hurry if I was you." Vladmir snapped me out of my trance, reminding me of the urgency of our situation.

I went to the nearest phone at his words, snatching it up and dialing the number for the house the rest of my coven was.