AN: Well quite a lot has changed since last time I updated. I hope everyone is staying healthy. I've been absolutely crazy at work (I drive a truck), not to mention having a ton of new projects on my hands, plus moving all means that I've been pulling my hair out. But in the story, we're almost to the fight; it'll be coming soon… I hope. Meanwhile I hope everyone enjoys this one and please leave a comment to let me know what you think. Thanks.

Chapter 19

Welcome to the Main Event

"You ready Gigantor?" A totally stupid thing for me to say to Eleanor. If nothing else, it would only get her more riled up. But that was kind of the point. I wanted her to be ruled more by her emotions and instincts than logic. I needed it. That was the whole purpose of my even challenging her; to prove that I could handle a newborn if it came to that.

"This oughtta be good," Quinn whispered to Emma. "I got twenty bucks on the giant."

"You're on!" A confident Jules answered. "You want any action Em?" Emma looked stunned at Jules. Almost even terrified. "Didn't think so."

In her best boxing announcer impersonation, Quinn said, "Ladies and Leeches, welcome to the main event. Let's get ready to rumble!" Surprisingly, no one took any offense to her comment, not even Royal. But wouldn't the "main event" be the actual fight with the newborns and not just our screwing around.

"Sweet!" Eleanor shouted. "Time to cream ya good." She looked right at Edythe after that with a coy grin and I didn't know exactly what she was thinking but Edythe was so far beyond pissed it wasn't funny.

"Keep your snide comments to yourself!" Edythe growled silently back.

"When I kick his butt, you have no idea all the jokes I've been holding back on even thinking about."

"Fine," Edythe added. "Ya know what, it'll just make it all the better when Beau has you pinned." She was looking right at Archie, a knowing smile on her face.

Before this, I never thought I'd actually be able to take Eleanor down. But if Archie was seeing this, then it was beyond just possible. Since Archie saw the most likely possibility, then it was better than 50/50 that Eleanor would end up on her back. That was unless Edythe was lying and Archie hadn't seen anything. But then after I looked at Archie, his quick smile was telling. He had seen it. I was going to be able to take her down.

"Argh!" Eleanor sighed. "Let's get it over with."

As she charged, I could tell she was already defeated. I wasn't sure if Archie had seen me beating Eleanor now or if Edythe was just trying to psyche out El. But still, as she ran, I was surprised at the sheer speed and ferocity of her attack. I couldn't be sure if it was her trying to not let Edythe's comment get to her or something else.

As she was within a foot of me, I saw her right arm pull back and prepare to swing. It seemed like it all happened in slow motion, but I saw everything action that was a part of this no matter how minute. The coiling of her biceps and her arm start forward as she was close enough to hit me. I could of easily dodged it but that wasn't the point; I had to prove that I could handle, at the very least, someone who fought like El. This technique I planned for now wouldn't work on the newborns but it could work now. I wouldn't be able to overpower them, but I was still stronger than Eleanor, if only barely.

I placed my hand out where her fist could surely connect with it and it was only too easy to stop it, then grab and twist. Her curses were stunning; not ladylike at all. She was using words that could make a sailor even blush. The most "PG" thing she said was "Goddamn it!"

I didn't want to end this in one strike, especially when the defense I used wouldn't work on one of the newborns that were younger than me. I needed Eleanor to be stronger. I needed to prove that I could do this, so yet again, I razzed the bear. "That all you got, weakling?"

"Why you sum bitch!" She cursed again. It seemed to work. She was even faster, more berserk in her charge. This time though she didn't try to punch me. She tried to tackle me. And I was able to use her momentum to take her to the ground. She cursed again, completely prone. I put my foot square on her right shoulder blade and began to twist and pull on her right arm. I wanted to give her a chance to give up before I pulled off her arm, but she didn't. She tried to goad me. "Do it ya wuss!"

This stopped me short. I had expected her to hate the fact she lost, but was she begging me to rip her arms off? Why would she do that? Then I caught the reason as Royal charged at me. He was able to take me down, mainly because I wasn't expecting it.

"Great," I muttered under my breath as I sprung back onto my feet. "Two on one. This should be fun."

They both began circling me and I wondered why Edythe hadn't jumped in. There had to be something that at least one of them told her through their minds that made her hold back. But I didn't understand it. My head kept whipping back and forth between them wondering who would charge first.

I must have missed whatever their signal was, because without warning they both charged at exactly the same moment. I was screwed. There was no way that I'd be able to avoid both of them. My only hope was…

I jumped at the split second before they would have gotten me and the sound was stunning. It sounded like a car crash, if two cars could be made from solid stone. Both of them were down, looking almost unconscious but I knew that either wasn't the case or would be for only a moment or two. I had to act now. I remembered to way Jessamine had us simulate the removal of one of our heads in sparring. I did Royal first, since he was to top. I grabbed his chin, raising it to expose his throat with my right hand and then made a small slit like motion with my left. This was the signal that he was done, that I could have removed his head had I wanted to and Jessamine pulled him out of the heap. But by this time, Eleanor had come back to and was again standing in front of me.

Her snarls were something to behold, seeming more animalistic than human. I didn't have time to see that Jessamine had collected and removed Royal from where I had simulated his death. My attention was solely on El who looked the most like a pissed off vampire I had ever seen in my life, either of them. Even Royal's infuriated but inaudible (at least to my human ears at that time) snarls on the first day that I sat with Edythe at lunch couldn't compare to this, probably because on that day, those snarls weren't intended for me. These were. Eleanor was going to try and kill me, maybe not actually kill me, but I had embarrassed the hell out of her and she was going to want revenge for her ego.

We grappled and I felt the strength she was putting into this; so much more than I ever felt from her before. Had she been holding back in everything we had done before or were we completely ruled by emotions? If we were so far beyond pissed could we tap into an extra reserve of strength? Was this akin to a flight or fight response maybe? I didn't feel all that much adrenaline in me at this moment, but Eleanor certainly could be right now. I didn't know how things like that affected vampires; heck, Carine might not even know it.

It seemed to go on for a long while. Eleanor was trying to use raw power to rip my arms off as we continued to circle and grapple. Her strength had now surpassed what I had in me. I had to do something to get out of her hold or I'd be in deep trouble. I could try kicking her but that probably wouldn't work. Since we didn't need to breathe, kicking her stomach would only piss her off even more. How could I possible reverse what was going on? Come on Beau, you've gotta think of something. I could try to sweep the leg, like The Karate Kid but I'd have to take out both of them. She'd surely be just as stable on one leg as both. The answer was right in front of me the whole time.

I began to slowly fight back. I needed her to turn her strength up to eleven for my plan to have any chance. As I rose up, her effort increased. Great, I thought, just what I need. As I felt the force from her arms increase, I quickly used her strength and momentum to go with her to the ground and then reverse her position. Now she was face down and I "killed" her.

"Goddamn it!" She swore again. "How the hell did you do that?"

"I guess I gotta thank my dad for watching all that pro wrestling," I answered back with a small smile remembering how my dad would, hell the fact that he even could, watch that fake stuff. But it had given me the idea of how to get out of the sticky situation I was in. That and a couple of old TV shows that featured karate.

Eleanor groaned again. She wasn't all that pissed anymore; just more frustrated than anything else. Even two on one, I was able to take care of myself. That was my whole goal. Now maybe Edythe wouldn't worry about me. Probably not, but they'd at least let me be there with them.

Archie's grin was huge as he gave a small 'told ya so' look to Jessamine. Ernest was beyond awed with me and I still didn't really understand why. Everything had been fairly easy since I was changed. Sure, there had been huge challenges like meeting Bonnie that first night and then watching my dad sleep from outside the house on the two nights after that but the physical had been easy. With a little more help, maybe Archie was right. I could be a good fighter.

"Impressive," Jessamine whispered, loud enough that all of us could of heard it and I even heard some of the Quileutes whistle and gasp in amazement. "For a newborn," I hated that Jess still referred to me as one but I was probably never going to change her mind on it until I got a little older to the vampire lifestyle, "to be able to act so rationally in a fight, I've never seen that before. Not even with Patricia and Charles who were the most disciplined I had come across in my previous existence."

"And you still doubt me?" Archie sang, his knowing smile as wide as ever.

"Not anymore," Jessamine replied. "Edythe, I do believe that Beau will be just fine in the clearing. And I really don't think it wise for any of us to be separated."

Edythe looked right at me, almost ignoring everyone else. "I still don't want you in the clearing Beau."

"But Edythe," I started to protest.

"We'll discuss this later," she answered. I knew this wouldn't be an easy argument to win but it was one I had to win. Well, not really. I didn't have to be in the clearing; I had to be wherever she was tomorrow night. I wouldn't be able to stand being apart from her; not knowing if something happened.

"All for one and one for all!" Eleanor shouted, no doubt super pumped to be able to let loose, no holds barred. I thought it weird though for her to be quoting The Three Musketeers. But then again, the Cul- I stopped myself. It was beyond time for me to include myself in the family. We- that felt weird to do but I needed to get to it at some point- we didn't exactly follow traditional vampire folklore. We helped humans; saw them as just plain old people. Had I not gone off to meet the tracker, then who knows exactly what course Edythe and my relationship would have taken, but we would have ended up here eventually.

"Well, we better get out of here," Julie said seeing that everything was pretty much done for tonight. "When are you gonna need us?"

Archie closed his eyes and focused. It seemed like a long time but in reality, it was only a few seconds before he answered, "They'll be here right about ten tomorrow night."

"So then like nine then?" Quinn answered.

"Probably a good idea," Jessamine responded. "Just make sure you come in from the northwest to mask your scents. We need them to split up for this plan to work. While we could handle all twenty something of them, you probably couldn't."

The irritated growl came from Emma.

"It's not that we doubt your abilities," Jessamine said as I felt an insane wave of calm spread from her, "rather that newborns are difficult to fight unless you know their techniques. Brute strength is all they'll have but that strength will be immense. They'll be stronger and more powerful than any vampire you have ever come across."

"We can take 'em all," Emma shouted.

"No. No, you couldn't," Jess said still sounding completely calm and confident. "Add to the fact that there is a good chance that whoever is behind this," I was still pretty sure it was Victor, "has been changing murderers and sociopaths, they will have no problem killing anything or anyone."

"Aren't you all murderers?" Emma asked.

"Technically, yes," Jessamine answered, her tone completely calm and without emotion, "everyone except for Carine and Beau have killed someone. But we all try very hard not to let our instincts take over. But many of these new ones that are a part of this force will be different. They were murderers BEFORE they were changed. The added," her pause was only for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity, "abilities of our kind will make them much more difficult to deal with than you can possibly imagine."

Jules gave Emma a kind of 'drop it' look to which it looked like she was ready to. "See ya tomorrow, Beau."

"See ya Jules," I answered back.

Carine retuned just before dawn. It looked like she had stolen all the blood she could get her hands on. I saw six bags plus smelled even more in her car. I knew that I should be going crazy with thirst from this but for some reason I wasn't. I was able to resist it. I still wasn't sure of why I was so different from every other newborn that Jessamine had ever seen before, and that was more than a thousand.

"Ten units," Carine said confirming how much she was able to obtain. "I'm hoping these six will be enough but I do have four more inside my car. We'll need to dispose of it before the others get back."

Everyone else had gone hunting. We wanted to get them all as far away from the temptation as possible while still having everyone close enough that if Archie saw something majorly change that we could be ready for the attack that was coming, even if the Quileutes wouldn't be able to make it.

"Why do you want to save the extra four?" I asked realizing there had to be a reason for it.

"Part of it is for the wolves, if they'll need it. But the bigger reason is the other four are O neg. We really try to conserve as much of that as possible at the hospital. I could only get six pints that weren't that."

"Oh," I gasped in understand.

"I take it the others are all out at the moment?" Carine asked.

"Yes," Edythe answered. "Knowing El, she's probably just about to either Oregon or Canada. The others might be closer."

"So, we've got about three hours then?" Carine asked.

Edythe answered, "Just about. But if Archie is with twenty miles of them, he'll spread the word that it's safe to come back."

The mild burn in my throat flared as we began to splash bits of the blood bag on the ground focusing on tracing the same path that Archie saw the newborns taking, beginning all the way at about the center of Olympic National Park. With only six liters to use, we had to drop the trail sparingly. So, we would let a few drops fall every three miles or so, even though a small amount would drip as we ran. We had to make sure that they stayed far enough south of Port Angeles to not be tempted to kill anyone there. And the trail needed to end far enough away from Forks so they wouldn't hunt there either.

As we crossed the boundary of the forest is when we separated into two trails. Carine went on to the north of us, ending where the wolves would be, while Edythe and I moved towards where everyone else was going to be.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Edythe asked as we entered our goal, the meadow that Edythe and I experienced on our first (well at least our first planned) date when she showed me exactly how beautiful she really was.

"I'm good," I replied which was an obvious lie.

"Then why do you look like your mind's racing a mile a minute?"

"Because it is," I replied. No doubt she'd want to know why so I only made her wait a second. "There's no reason for any of this."

She looked stunned. "There is a very good reason," Edythe answered looking deep into my eyes. "You."

"No, that's not what I mean. Jess said that the southern armies all fought for control of the most people, the most densely populated territories where they could feed to their heart's content and no one would think anything of it. We don't claim here like that. Nomads come and go as they please. They even hunted around Seattle in the past." I remembered Lauren saying that the night of the game that the three of them had ate outside of Seattle. I knew now what that meant. And I wondered how and also how many they killed that night. "We never tried to stop them."

"If indeed whoever was behind this just wanted to control the territory around Seattle, then that would be correct Beau. But for one to create an army like this and send them to terrorize Seattle the way they have with absolutely no teaching into the rules of our existence is unforgivable. It'll only be a matter of time before they expose the existence of our kind to a camera where the Volturi will have to act quickly to quell the dissemination. And that's something we can't allow."

"How would they-"

Edythe cut me off. She knew what I was asking. "They'd massacre everyone in the city if need be and then trigger some was to explain it. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened either."

"Wait, they've destroyed entire cities before?" I knew that in her telling me the stories of the Volturi during my transformation, there was no way she had told me everything. I knew there was so much more to this world I was joining than I could even have imagined, not even counting the legends of Jules and her tribe being true.

"I'm aware of three instances from Carine since the Volturi began consolidating their power but it very well could be many, many more. The first was in Pompeii, not long after they took control of Italy. During that period, there were many smaller groups of ruling vampires. The Volturi took Italy first, while another group ruled Eastern Europe, centered on Romania."

"So, the old stories of Dracula…"

"Are at least party based on a true story. The real Vladislav Dracula did agree to be changed on his deathbed to be a soldier of the Romanian dynasty. This was after his human life where he was a bloody conqueror who already was doing a lot to cover the feeding of the Romanian vampires, even if he didn't know it at the time."

"Is he still alive?" I asked, referring to Dracula.

"No. He was one of the first that the Volturi had to eliminate as they consolidated power. After Jason completely disabled him, it was only too easy for Felicita to rip him to shreds. After he fell, the rest of the Romanians were resigned to their fates."

"So that's one, how 'bout the others?"

"Let me tell you the story about Pompeii first. They had another one in the guard, another vampire with the ability to control natural disasters in a way that I have never seen nor heard of ever since. He was so powerful they called him Hades after the Greek god of death and the afterlife. He could create volcanos, tornados, and many more. So that after the Volturi had they fill of feeding from the humans in the area, they sent him in to destroy any evidence of vampiric activity."

"So, I should think of entire civilizations that were lost then, huh?"

"Exactly, including one of the most famous of all."

"So… Atlantis?"

"Yes. That was their first. A small group of vampires landed on the island not long after 100 BC. The Volturi allowed them to do as they wished for a short time, but knew that sooner or later they'd expose themselves. It didn't help that the Atlanteans were a very technologically advanced society for that time period. They had already figured out how to desalinate water by that time. They could not be allowed to find evidence that surely spread quickly through the entire Grecian islands. After the vampires were eliminated and the guard was allowed to feed to their content, Hades struck. It was a one, two punch, first a massive earthquake that destabilized the entire island and then a massive flood that sunk it."

I couldn't believe. A vampire who could literally destroy, "The entire island?" I asked aloud finishing my thought.

"Yes, the entire island."

"Wow," I gasped in understanding.

"Just after Carine found the Volturi, Hades made a slight miscalculation. Since he was by far the most deadly of all of them, he thought that it should have been him ruling all immortals in the world. It might have worked too, if he could have only gotten the twins on his side. They were loyal to Sulpicia completely, since after all, it was she who saved them that night where the townspeople in their English village were about to burn them at the stake for suspected witchcraft."

I thought back in my history classes, and wondered just how much of it was intertwined with vampire history and humans didn't even know it.

She found them and before the villagers knew what had happened, Sulpicia swapped Jason and Audrey for two others roughly the same height before they were completely dead. Then she changed both of them. I'm still not sure exactly why she did that. Sulpicia hated the act of changing any human herself. But she was the only one there that night. She had to do it herself."

"So that's why-"

"That's why Jason and Audrey will never betray Sulpicia. She sent them to deal with Hades and it was too easy. Hades was a great weapon but he could not do to one vampire what he could do to thousands of humans. And then add to it that Jason can mentally burn you where you stand and Audrey can take away all of you senses so you have no idea what is coming for you… well its only too easy to kill someone like that."

I began to wonder why she was telling me all of this. It didn't exactly seem like the proper time for a history lesson after all. Carine would be here in a matter of seconds from running her trail to the clearing where the wolves would be stationed. "So, what's with the history lesson?"

"Archie sees Jason, Audrey and a few others of the guard getting there just as the fight ends. You need to know what they can do Beau. You mustn't cross them; mustn't offend them in any way."

"Huh," I muttered thinking about it again. Edythe had called me a shield, whatever exactly that was. I knew I had the ability to block her from reading a few people's mind for a while until I physically exhausted myself from trying to play with the weird fabric that seemed to want to stay tightly wound around me. Although with great effort, I could stretch it to cover someone else. I wondered if somehow there was a way I could block someone else from another vampire's powers. If there was, then no vampire with a gift could do anything to any of us. But there was a flaw in my thinking. Jessamine could mess with my emotions and Archie didn't have any problem seeing my future… unless I was with Jules or any of her friends. But then again, Edythe's gift worked on the mind. Maybe whatever I could do only worked on those who had powers that worked only on the mind as well.

"What are you thinking?" Edythe asked. It was a comer desire for her to know every silly thought that passed thru my head.

"Uh, nothing really. Just what that means for Jules and those guys."

Edythe looked ashamed. "That means they'll have to leave as soon as they can. The Volturi wont honor a deal that Carine made with them. After all, Athenadora's husband had a vendetta against werewolves. He hunted them almost to the point of extinction before he was executed."

"So, they're racists. Great," I said sarcastically.

"Yes," Edythe answered, again her tone cold. "Most vampires are. After all, many of our kind see humans only as cattle on the side of the road; there for the taking."

"Okay, I promise not to piss off these vampires," I said but could I really be counted on to do so when I actually met them. What if they tried to hurt anyone? Would I really just let it go?

"You'll have to be there at the end of the fight but during it I don't want you anywhere near the clearing."

I knew this argument was coming. Edythe would want to do anything she could to keep me away from this fight. She wasn't nearly as confident in my chances as Jessamine was. "Jess thinks I'll be some help."

"That's not it Beau," she answered. "You're still too new; too human."

Where was she going with this? I was a vampire, granted a four-month-old one. But from what Jess said I was the most rational and controlled newborn she ever saw before. That had to mean something, right?

"Look at it this way," she explained, "let's say someone was in the clearing you know. Allan Webber or Becca… could you kill them if you had to?"

Could I? I wasn't sure. But if they were going after the family, I thought I could.

"What if it was Charlie?" This shocked me. "Could you kill your own father if you had to?"

"Charlie's gone," I said resigned. I knew that Archie had been having flickers of him still for some strange reason but I didn't want to get my hopes up. He was probably gone.

"You don't know that," Edythe answered. "Look at it this way, if somehow Charlie was a part of this, could you kill him if you had to?"

I had to think about it for a minute. I probably couldn't but if he was somehow a part of this, whoever was behind this had changed him then there wouldn't have to be any secrets between us. He could know everything. In a way, it would be the best possible scenario, other than him being with the army for now. "If I had to," I answered. It was probably a lie.

"You're still a horrible liar Beau."

"You don't know that."

"You're saying you could kill your own father if you had to?"

"No," I sighed defeated. "No, I probably couldn't."

"And that's why you shouldn't be in the clearing."

"But what if I promised to stay back. I wouldn't get involved unless you guys needed help. I mean, I'm a vampire now so I'm kind of indestructible, right?"

"Yes," she sighed, making her as perturbed as I was. "But I still don't want you there."

I half groaned, half growled. This was really getting on my nerves. I didn't need a babysitter. After all, hadn't we had this debate already. I was acting like I was a few decades old according to Carine, not a few months. "You guys think that this'll be easy, right?"

"Yes. With the wolves' help plus the fact their numbers keep dwindling, it will be easy."

This might just be the most selfish thing I'd ever ask her, but I had to at least try. "So easy that someone could sit out?"

"Of course," she answered.

Could she not see where I was going with this? "So easy that you could sit out?"

Understanding lit her face. "You'd deprive them of my help?" She asked letting all the guilt she could flow through the words.

"Listen Edythe," I admitted knowing it was a hundred percent true, "if you make me stay away, no matter where it is, I'll be a nervous wreck wondering if something happened to you, or anyone else for that matter, but mostly you. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. It would be all my fault."

"Beau you're being ridiculous," I knew she'd try to laugh it off and change the subject as soon as she could. But I was serious here. "You'll be fine Beau."

"No," I had to have as much solemnity in my voice as I could. "No, I won't."

"So, my options are having you in the clearing or staying away with you?"

This might just be the most selfish thing I would ever ask her for. But in the end, I couldn't live without her. Either we both needed to be there or neither of us. I nodded.

She sighed. "I'll discuss it with Jess later and get back to you."

I had this sneaking suspicion that Jess would agree with me. My being there, even if behind every one would add to their advantage.

"Now, shall we get back to the house?" Edythe asked.

"Don't we still have to dump blood?"

Edythe giggled. "No silly. We're already at the end of the trail."

I looked around. How could I have missed that. We had covered the entire distance from here we split to the meadow and for some reason, I just wanted this moment to never have to end. The two of us together in this place for as long as possible. But my desire was interrupted by the sound of an approaching vampire. No one else could be that quiet.

Edythe must have sensed me freaking out a little as instinctively I spun around to the direction of the approaching vampire. Her hand found my right shoulder and I rose from my defensive crouch. "Relax," she said, her lips barely an inch from my ear, "it's just Carine."

I had completely overreacted. "Sorry," I said.

She laughed again. "There's nothing to apologize for Beau. You're still incredibly new to all of this. I've been shocked by the speed of your adaptation. It took El almost a decade before she'd not attack anyone coming towards you like Carine just was."

We didn't have long left. The newborns would be leaving Seattle within hours. Soon, very soon, all this would be done. We would either deal with the newborns… or we'd fail. But the entirety of the Cullen clan and even many of the wolves would be in the same boat as us. I didn't want to see anyone hurt but we all had committed to this. We'd do whatever necessary to protect everyone. Like El had joked, it really was all for one and one for all. Just hopefully everything would go as we planned.