Sight Unseen 37

“I know we are only out here to save Victoria but I think we should plan on playing a real game of baseball in the future.”Kate said from her spot standing next to Bella. Irina was on the other side of her daughter. It was decided that Tanya and Kate being the best fighters would stand on opposite sides of the field while everyone else actually played the game. Irina knew that Rosalie was not pleased to have to be one of the players but the young vampire had no fighting abilities. Rosalie, Alice and Emmet did all ask if the Denali would train them and Tanya agreed to them doing it. Irina was more than fine with that because the three were obviously going to be around Bella a lot and Irina wanted her daughter to always be protected. Her daughter who was talking to the ghost Anne who got them into their current mess. Irina felt that it was only right to save Victoria but wasn’t completely sold on Victoria being Bella’s mate. Bella was positive she was and Irina didn’t want Bella to get hurt emotionally if they found out Victoria wasn’t.

“It would be fun to play baseball with a larger number of players.”Irina wouldn’t mind playing baseball when things settled down. She focused her attention on Bella when the human started laughing. It was sound Irina didn’t hear very much.

“How did you not get caught?”Bella asked Anne.

Kate lowered her voice so that only Irina could hear.”Bella is getting really attached to Anne. Should we be concerned?”

“I’m not sure. It will all depend on what happens with Victoria.”Anne was someone else that Irina worried would hurt Bella. The ghost had shown up on their trek to the field and Bella had been speaking to her ever since.

“Bella has mentioned more than once she has a gift. Do you know what it is?”Kate hoped that the bond was real because she like Irina didn’t want Bella to get hurt emotionally.

Irina shook her head.”Eleazar will be able to tell us if Victoria won’t.”

“Eleazar won’t be able to detect Victoria’s gift and if you want to know what it is you’ll have to ask her. It wouldn’t be right for me to tell you.”Bella said.

“Can you hear us speaking?”Kate didn’t think Bella could.

“No Anne could. She told me to tell you she understands why you don’t trust her and that she wouldn’t trust her either if she were you.”Bella knew Anne wasn’t lying and that the others would get their proof when Victoria showed up.

“I didn’t know that ghosts could hear us when we spoke that softly.”Irina just realized that they weren’t going to get away with speaking so Bella couldn’t hear them anymore.

“Ghosts hear everything.”Bella told her.

“Does Anne have anymore information to give us?”Kate was getting sick of just standing there when everyone else was playing.

“They should be within hearing distance of the game in five minutes. Then it’s about a ten minute run to get here if they are being cautious.”Bella was excited to finally meet Victoria.

“Did everyone hear that?”Irina asked the group.

“No.”Tanya called out.

“They should be here in around fifteen minutes.”Irina felt relieved that they had an exact time.

“Finally. I am getting sick of just standing at second base.”Rosalie wanted to be protecting Bella. The fact that she couldn’t made her hate Carlisle even more. The man said that fighting made you lose your humanity.

“I like being the batter.”Emmet enjoyed hitting the ball as far as he could. He did wish the vampires would show up soon because he wanted to fight the two men.

“I don’t mind pitching.”Alice was having fun throwing the ball for Emmet to hit.

“I’m utterly useless as a catcher because Emmet has hit every ball.”Eleazar said.

“I want to see you guys go all out and play baseball with your vampire skills.”Bella thought it would be interesting to see vampires play baseball.

“When we play with our coven Carlisle doesn’t let us use our enhancements. He makes us play like if we were human.”Rosalie regretted bringing up her sire when she saw the angry scowl cross Bella’s face.

“Fucking selfish, degenerate asshole.”Bella grumbled.

“You really don’t like Carlisle do you?”Kate figured Bella would cool off towards him if they were separated for while. In reality it seemed Bella was even angrier.

“Gerold a priest asked me to kill Carlisle for him. His own son. He even promised he would keep Carlisle’s ghost away from me if I do it.”Bella was planning on doing to do it the first chance she got. She was also planning on fulfilling Gerold’s other requests that she wasn’t going to mention to anyone.

“Shit.”Emmet missed the ball for the first time after hearing that.

“His own father wants you to kill him?”Irina asked in disbelief.

Bella nodded.”Gerold even gave me a list of ways to do it while I’m still human. Most of them Carlisle would never see coming before it was too late.”

“I don’t know how I feel about you having so much knowledge about killing vampires while you are human.”Tanya didn’t think that was something Bella of all people would be safe knowing.

“Gerold seemed like a decent guy. I doubt the ways he told me will put me in to much danger.”Bella would go through her options later when she was alone.

“After what happened with Edward and Carlisle I am really looking forward to what is going to happen with Esme and Jasper.”Kate hoped it would be just as dramatic as the other two.

“I am not looking forward to having to talk to Esme. That woman creeps me out.”Bella shivered just thinking about Esme.

Irina wrapped her arm around Bella.”You did an excellent job of keeping her out of your life.”

“Even if now I have to do your laundry.”Tanya didn’t actually mind doing Bella’s laundry.

Bella easily picked up on the teasing.”Like you don’t want to do my laundry.”

“She’s got you there Tanya.”Carmen said.

“Is there a reason we have to stay at the Cullen’s.”Garret personally did not want to.

“We didn’t really make a plan before we left because Alice told us it was urgent. That being said we only need to stick around here for Bella to finish school.”Tanya like Garret didn’t want to stay with the Cullens.

“Do I need to finish school? Hear me out before you say I do. School in no way benefits my future. Not only am I going to be a vampire eventually but my grades are horrible and I won’t be able to get into any colleges. Plus I spend most of my school days being pestered by ghosts and doing my damnedest not to get caught talking to them knowing if I do I will likely be locked in a mental institution by my parents who have threatened to do it before. Basically school is an unnecessary stress in my life that will have no impact on my future.”Bella didn’t see the reason to continue.

“The girl has a point.”Kate would prefer Bella didn’t go to school.

“When you put it like that it does seem like more of hassle than it’s worth. That being said Irina and I will talk about it and make a decision later.”Tanya wanted Irina’s opinion on the matter.

“Just please take my reasons into consideration when you discuss it.”Bella didn’t mind that Irina and Tanya would decide. She already considered them more her parents than Charlie and Rene.

“We promise.”Irina liked that Bella was looking to Irina and Tanya as the authority figures in her life.

Bella stiffened.”They are about three minutes away coming from the area behind Tanya. They aren’t being cautious.”

“Remember the plan. I will do the talking.”Tanya told them. She turned her body to the woods listening for any unnatural sounds. It was only moments later that she heard the sound of three sets of feet running towards her followed by two men and a red headed woman exiting the tree line. One of the men was shirtless and the other had dreads. From Bella’s descriptions it was James without a shirt and Laurent with the dreads.”Hello strangers welcome to my territory.”

“It’s a beautiful place but we didn’t know it was claimed.”James said.

“No harm done. Are you just passing through?”Tanya made sure to keep an eye on Laurent who was the one with the gift to see if he was going to try to use it on any of them.

“Yes we were and then we heard you playing. Would you take three more?”James asked.

“We would love to. Everyone come meet.”Tanya looked to James.

“Oh of course. I’m James, this is Victoria and that is Laurent.”James introduced the three of them.

“This is my coven. Irina, Kate, Garrett, Emmet, Rosalie, Carmen, Alice, Eleazar and our human member Bella.”Tanya instantly formed a barrier with the others around Bella when the men growled.

“You keep a human pet?”Laurent asked.

“She is not a pet.”Rosalie growled out.

James grinned.”So she is a snack.”

“A Victoria, cén fáth a bhfuil tú ag iompar chomh dúr sin? Ní cara leat é Séamas agus tá a fhios agat é sin i ndoimhneacht do chroí.”(Victoria why are you acting so stupid. James isn’t your mate and you know it.”Bella called out in Victoria’s native Irish.

Victoria hissed.”Cén chaoi a leomhann tú mé a ghlaoch amadán agus gurb é Séamas mo chara, a striapach.”(How dare call me stupid and James is my mate you bitch.)

“Is amaideach thú má cheapann tú gurb é do chara é. Tá Laurent ag baint úsáide as a bhronntanas chun tú a chur ag smaoineamh gurb é James é. Ní ionann an saol a chaitheann tú leis agus an duine atá ionat. Tá tú níos fearr ná seo. Ní bheadh Gilda ag iarraidh ort an saol sin a chaitheamh.”(You are stupid if you think he is. Laurent has been using his gift to make you think you are. Gilda wouldn’t want you to live that life.)Bella replied.

Victoria roared as she pulled away from James.”Don’t you dare say that name in my mother tongue.”

“Then stop being stupid. Not all of your coven is dead. One of them is alive and while you have been galavanting around the world with that scumbag they could have used your help. So put on your big girl pants and look me in the eye.”Bella pushed her way in between Irina and Tanya so Victoria could see her.

“What is she talking about?”James asked.

Victoria ignored James as she made eye contact with the human. She knew right then that the girl was right James wasn’t her mate. The human was. That meant that one of her coven members was alive and needed her help.”What do we do now?”

“Victoria what are you talking about?”Laurent asked this time.

“Anois maraíonn tú Séamas mar mura ndéanann tú sin tiomnóidh sé a shaol ag fiach orm.”Bella told her.(Now you kill James because if you don’t he will dedicate his life to hunting me.)

“He would. He really would.”Victoria had no doubt about it.

“Who are you talking about? How does she know you?”James’ voice was laced with frustration.

Victoria turned to him. She held her arms out like she was going to drape them around his neck. When James stepped closer to her Victoria rushed towards him, grabbed his neck, jumped on his shoulders and twisted his head off. Looking at the head she smiled the first genuine smile she had since before her coven died.”Does anyone have a lighter?”

“What the fuck Victoria? Why the hell did you do that?”Laurent screamed.

Victoria looked to Bella.”Him too?”

“It would be best.”Bella thought Laurent dying was the best way to deal with him.

“You’re right it would.”Victoria didn’t even address the man before she had him pinned to the ground and his head was removed as well. She got off him and faced the group again. Her focus completely on Bella. She repeated her question.”What do we do now?”

“Now we burn them, go back to the Cullen’s house where you and I are going to spend some time talking alone in my room. There I will explain everything. Until we are safely in my sound proof room don’t say anything. Also I need to shield you mind from mental gifts. So if Tanya and Irina would be so kind to let me approach you I would appreciate it.”Bella needed to touch Victoria to give her the shield.

“Victoria can come here.”Tanya didn’t trust the vampire yet even though the mate bond had been proven to be real.

“They are just protective because I have a familiar bond with Tanya and Irina.”Bella knew everyone was just on edge.

Victoria instantly understood and walked towards Bella.”That makes sense.”

“Alright I need you to look me in the eye while I put my hands on your cheeks. Then you are going to feel a kind of pressure on your head. Don’t fight it. As soon as you relax it will go away and the permanent shield will be put in place.”Bella explained.

Victoria looked into Bella’s eyes and felt the pressure she was told about. Like Bella said once she relaxed the feeling went away.”Is it done?”

“Yes you are now immune to all mental gifts.”Bella said.

“I’m quite surprised a human could achieve something like that.”Victoria hadn’t ever met a human with a gift.

“Bella comes with a lifetime full of unlimited surprises.”Kate told her.

“Does anyone have a lighter because we really need to burn them?”Bella didn’t want to have to drag them back to the Cullens.

“I do.”Garret always kept a lighter on his person. You never knew when you would get in a fight with a vampire. He went about piling the body parts and setting them on fire.

“So what happened to the Tanya was going to do all the talking plan?”Emmet was sad he didn’t get to kill anyone.

“Yes Bella why didn’t you follow the plan?”Irina thought they were just lucky that Victoria actually listened to Bella.

“Anne said that it wouldn’t work and that James would have fled to regroup taking Victoria with him.”Bella didn’t feel bad that she didn’t follow the plan. It all worked out in the end.”Also Anne would like me to tell all of you she told you so.”

“That’s kind of petty.”Kate grumbled.

“Who is Anne and why did she have information about me, James and Laurent?”Victoria only knew one Anne and she was dead.

“This is going to sound hard to believe but I have the ability to see and talk to dead people.”Bella expected Victoria’s laughter.

Victoria laughed until she realized no one else was laughing with her.”You can’t seriously expect me to believe you can talk to dead people.”

“I can prove it. When you were five you and your sister Anne snuck into the bakery in your village where the pair of you stole a cherry pie. You took the pie to the creek to hide while you ate it. You used the creek to wash your bodies and clothes of all the cherry pie filling that got on you because you each ate it with her hands. You two were never caught.”Bella told her.

Victoria looked at Bella in shock.”Only one person knows about that.”

“That person is your sister Anne. She is the one who told me about you being my mate and helped us set up this whole situation so that I could have the chance to save you from James. The Volturi had gotten wind of his last dozen hunts and were going to send guards for him. Anne didn’t want you to get killed as well. That and she wanted you to be with your real mate.”Bella was just happy she was able to save Victoria.

“My sister sent you?”Victoria wasn’t sure if she truly believed that Bella had been talking to Anne but the proof was there.

Bella nodded.”She has been with me all afternoon and is here right now. She would love to talk to you but she would rather do so in private.”

“Can you just ask her if she is ok?”Victoria wanted to know if her sister was alright.

“She is happy and at peace now that you are away from James and Laurent. You have stressed her out a lot.”Bella had listened to Anne’s rants about Victoria’s behavior many times.

“That’s good.”All Victoria wanted was for her sister to be happy and safe. Hearing that she was settled something inside Victoria and the red head felt like she could breathe a little easier.

“Now that the bodies are burnt let’s make our way out of here.”Tanya wanted to get back to the Cullens so they could speak to Victoria.

Bella held out her hand for Victoria.”When we get to the house try to avoid Carlisle. The man is a truly horrible person. Don’t fall for his false compassion.”

“Who is Carlisle?”Victoria would take Bella’s advice and avoid Carlisle.

“Carlisle is my sire and the leader of our coven. Myself, Alice and Emmet aren’t members of the rest of the group’s coven. It was just part of the plan to make you all believe that we were bigger than we really are.”Rosalie was not pleased that she couldn’t tell Victoria about her mate bond with Bella. It was decided by everyone that Bella should be the one to tell her. Rosalie was also not pleased with the idea of Bella being alone with Victoria in Bella’s bedroom where no one could see or hear what they were doing.

“Do both your covens live together?”Victoria asked.

“No my coven lives in Alaska. Alice is a seer and had a vision of me meeting Bella. We visited so it would happen.”Tanya couldn’t be happier about Alice having that vision because it led to her meeting her daughter.

“Where do you live Bella?”Victoria was going to stay with her mate.

“I live with my human father while I go to high school but I would like to not go to school anymore and live my mothers and their family in Alaska away from people.”Bella thought Alaska sounded like heaven.

“We will discuss it.”Irina was going to push Tanya into agreeing to let Bella drop out knowing Bella wanted to move to Alaska once she was out of school. Irina had wanted Bella to live in Alaska as soon as Irina found out about the bond.“We need to convince your father to relinquish custody first.”

“When is your birthday Bella?”Tanya couldn’t believe they had never asked.

“My birthday is September 13th.”Bella told her.

“So you still have 10 months until you are a legal adult.”Irina didn’t like the idea of someone other than her and Tanya having a legal claim on Bella.

“Has you being turned been talked about yet?”Victoria didn’t want to get in trouble for keeping Bella human.

“I’m not supposed to be turned for a couple years because I’m not mature enough yet to handle my gifts if I was a vampire.”Bella told her.

“Who told you that?”Rosalie hadn’t heard anyone talking about when Bella would be turned. It was Rosalie’s hope that Bella would want children before it happened.

“Hank a ghost who helped me create the blocks.”Bella explained to Victoria.”Told me when I’m changed my shield is going to be incredibly powerful. That and my gift to talk to ghosts will be as well. The fact that all three I will be controlling completely with my mind I need to be more mature or my gifts would fracture my brain. Literally like my brain would turn into Swiss cheese from being overwhelmed by the power of my gifts.”

“What the fuck?”Kate had never heard of a vampire’s gift hurting them before.

“Hank seemed trustworthy so I’m going to wait. He did promise to come back and check on the progress I make with the exercises he gave me to strengthen my mind so he will tell me when I’m ready.”Bella didn’t mind waiting if it was the only way to keep her safe.

“We will wait then and help you with your exercises.”Tanya didn’t want anything to happen to Bella so they would keep her human until she was ready. Tanya would also help Bella in any way she could to get her mind strong enough and was planning on having Bella show her what exercises Hank had given the human.

“I think waiting is the right idea.”Victoria would prefer Bella be a vampire but not until she could be safe being one.”Do a lot of ghosts help you?”

Emmet laughed.”More like she helps them.”

“Ghosts don’t usually help me unless it benefits them. Like Hank helped me with my gift because Anne messed up when told me information she wasn’t supposed to and she had to make sure no one else had a way to find it out. Edward a member of Carlisle’s coven is a mind reader so he and Aro are the main reason that Hank helped me. Even Anne helping me save you wasn’t for my benefit it was for yours. Us having a mate bond is just a random coincidence. She would have come to me even if we didn’t have one.”Bella got no personal help from the ghosts at all.

“No matter the reason I’m happy you saved me and that you are my mate. I am also very excited to finally get you alone so I can ask you all the questions I have.”Victoria had hundreds of questions for her mate.

“This is a safe spot to start running the rest of the way so Bella hop on.”Irina wasn’t going to let Victoria run with Bella for fear the red head would be temped to kidnap Bella and not give her back.

“Thanks mom.”Bella climbed on Irina’s back then wrapped her arms and legs around Irina’s body.

“You’re welcome sweetheart.”Irina smiled brightly as she took off running with the others. That was the second time Bella called her mom. The first time could be excused as Bella wanting to mess with Esme but this time it was obviously a natural impulse. That meant that Bella was starting to see Irina as her mother and Irina was ecstatic that the human did. It was exactly what Irina wanted since laying eyes on Bella. She was kicking herself for not listening to Tanya about pursuing a relationship with Bella at Bella’s pace. It seemed as soon as Irina stopped trying to force her way into Bella’s life Bella immediately responded positively and it only took a few days for her to call Irina mom. Irina also liked that Bella had sought her out numerous times for physical affection and comfort. When they saw each other for the first time that morning Bella initiated hugs with both Irina and Tanya. Tanya had been right when she said letting Bella come to them would be more satisfying in end because Irina loved when Bella was the one to come to her. It proved that Bella accepted the bond and wanted to be around her mothers. Irina held back a sigh. She wished they could be done with Forks already and be back in Alaska with Bella. Irina wanted to get started on the remodel she wanted to do to add a wing for Bella to have for herself. Her daughter’s mates would need rooms as well but Irina wanted Bella to have her own space that she could have privacy away from everyone. After observing Bella for the past week Irina had come to understand that Bella got overwhelmed being around people for too long. That being the case Irina wanted to create a sanctuary for her daughter in her new home. One that Bella would love so much the human would never even be tempted to move out.