"We have to leave" Jasper stated. "Darlin' you stay here to help Bella pack, me and Alice will go check out and bring the car around. Whatever you do, don't let her leave this room until we come back. Okay?"
"Okay" both Alice and Maya agreed. Jasper gave Maya a quick kiss on the forehead before rushing out with Alice.
Maya and Bella were packing up their things, Maya doing more of it than Bella as she seemed to be moving slower than a snail. They worked in silence, until it was broken by the sound of Bella's phone ringing. When Maya heard Bella mention Renee, she headed into the bathroom to throw some stuff in a bag while the two talked. Renee had never wanted to talk to her before so she figured this time would be no different.
When she came out of the bathroom however, Bella looked panicked and Maya rushed over to her, "What's wrong?" she scanned the room to see if James had somehow gotten in or something, but they were still alone.
"It's my mom! He has my mom!" Bella practically yelled, panicking.
Maya groaned, of course because this situation was not complicated enough already. "Kay, lets just calm down. We can go get Jasper and Alice and then we can begin planning and find out if he really has her. Because honestly, I doubt he does. He has only just gotten here, there is no way he has had time to grab her."
"No! He said he has her and if I brought any vampires with us, he would kill her! We can't let them know! We have to go now to save her!"
"Sei Pazzo?! No scratch that. Are you honestly stupid enough to do exactly as this guy says? He's a uccisore! He will lure you there and then kill you and Renee! Worst case she's already dead. Best case, she's a liability that now knows about vampires. Either way; she's dead and you rushing off to meet him will not save her."
Maya just wanted to shake some sense into the girl for falling into this Tracker's trap so easily. She had promised their dad and herself that she would look out for Bella and protect her, but how was she supposed to do that when the girl was acting suicidal?
"Not me, us! He says we both have to come or he will kill her! Are you really willing to let my mother, the woman who raised you die?!" Bella honestly didn't care if Maya got hurt or killed, her only goal was to save her mom. Besides apparently Maya was some sort of supernatural freak, that meant that she would be able to handle James and protect her and her mom, right?
Maya stood there for a second grinding her teeth in frustration. She did not believe that James really had Renee, but could see there was no way to talk Bella out of rushing off to play the hero. Which meant short of knocking her out, there was no way of stopping her. An idea that was slowly growing more appealing as Bella continued to demand that Maya come with her on her suicidal mission to rescue Renee.
Counting to ten in her head, Maya clenched and unclenched her hands, letting out a sigh of defeat as she finished. "Fine, we'll go. But we are leaving them a note. That way they at least have some chance of making it to us before we die a horrible and pointless death.
Bella gave a small nod, which Maya did not see as she had already grabbed the pad of paper and pen to begin scribbling a note. She left it on the center of the coffee table and hoped that Jasper or Alice would see it and tell the family before it was too late for them. She had confidence in her abilities to protect herself thanks to her family, but she couldn't be sure she would be able to fight and protect Bella at the same time.
As they left the room, Maya grabbed Bella's arm and pulled her to the main stairs when Bella tried to head towards the emergency stairs.
"What the hell? We are supposed to be sneaking out! How can we do that if we take these stairs?!" Bella demanded.
"Because my dear sister, you forget who we are travelling with. These stairs are surrounded by windows and thus are sunny, which means that they definitely won't be taking them. Added to that, James also wouldn't use these stairs so the chances of them paying attention to people on them is small. Which is the opposite of the back stairs that are completely hidden from the sun." Maya explained, making sure to keep her voice low so others wouldn't here.
The two managed to sneak out without being caught, sticking to sunny areas and were lucky enough to hail a cab right away. The whole ride there, Maya was questioning why she was even there. According to Edward, James had locked onto only Bella and if that was the case, why did he want her?
When they finally got to the studio, Maya tried to get Bella to stay back so they could come up with an actual plan, but she simply pushed Maya aside and charged ahead.
Mentally cursing Bella for being this stupid and not taking the time to think, Maya followed after her. She went slower, moving as quietly as possible, keeping her senses trained for any sign of danger. As Bella threw open a set of doors they heard Renee call out for Bella and she took off again.
Maya trailed behind, trying to figure out what was so strange about the voice. Just before Bella threw open the doors the voice was coming from, Maya realized what it was and opened her mouth to shout a warning. However, before she could James was standing in front of her. He raised a finger to his lips, a smile plastered on his face.
Maya stayed silent, but did not take her eyes off of him, slowly moving around him so she could place herself between him and Bella. As the video continued to play, James broke eye contact with her to turn on Bella.
"That's my favourite part. You were a stubborn child weren't you?" he said, slowly stalking up to Bella, forcing Maya to back up to her as well in order to stay between them.
"She's not even here, is she?" Bella asked, annoyed that Maya had been right. This was supposed to be her chance to prove that she was fit to be part of the supernatural world. That she could handle it. Now everyone would just assume that she was a silly human that fell for the vampire's trick.
Breaking out of her thoughts, she flinched backwards as James flashed forward so he now stood directly in front of her.
"No, sorry. But you know that you really made it too easy?" he leaned down to whisper to her as he moved his head up and down along her face, taking in her scent. "And you brought the other girl. I was so glad about that. You see you smell delicious. But you," he turned to Maya, who was next to her, "you fascinate me. Not a vampire obviously, but not human. Is that why you weren't afraid?"
He stalked over to her and she refused to back up. The moment he was close enough, he grabbed her wrist in an almost bone crushing hold. She growled at him, refusing to back down and show weakness even as she fought back a whimper from the pain of his grip. Her Uncle Caius and siblings had always warned her that there was nothing that set off a vampire more than the sight of their prey trembling before them or fleeing.
"Well?" he prompted, giving her wrist a squeeze, making it clear he wanted an answer.
"What makes you think I wasn't scared?" She gritted out.
He chuckled, "I'm pretty good at reading people, and you were nervous but not scared. Why was that? I spent a lot of time thinking about it as we stood on that field chatting but I just couldn't figure it out."
"Because I am not some timid little damsel. And the odds were in our favour" Maya growled, silently promising herself that she would hit Edward for not giving her the heads up on this.
"I suppose that's true, but even if that was the case, any human would still be scared at the thought of being near a fight between vampires. So ... what are you?"
She looked him in the eye and grinned, "Something fun". She used her extra strength then to break free of his grip and push him back so she would have enough time to shift, eyes already glowing like a cat's.
Just as she was about to phase though, Bella pushed her back into his arms again, using Maya as a distraction so she could escape. Maya was shocked and angry that Bella would actually do this to her, but roughly pushed the feelings aside to focus on the threat as she had been taught. Her uncle Caius' voice floating through her head as she did.
"Distraction is a death sentence, Piccolo. Lose your focus for a second and you lose your life."
As James shoved her to the side and turned to go after Bella, she shifted and lunged at him. She reached him just as he threw Bella across the room. He, either having never met a shifter or not realizing she was an actual threat, was caught off guard and she was able to sink her teeth into the arm he threw up to protect his throat. Collecting himself, he quickly flung her off him turning as he did to fully focus on her, smirking at the challenge she presented.
"Well, aren't you the surprising little thing. And here I thought you were just another helpless little snack."
She snarled in response and he laughed before charging at her.
They fought for a few minutes, exchanging quick attacks. It had quickly become apparent to her that Laurent was right; his abilities were amazing and she was outmatched. No matter how fast she came at him, recovered from an attack or used her natural flexibility to move unpredictably, he met her attack for attack. While she was able to create small cracks in his skin, she could not find a single opening to go for the kill or to put him down long enough for her to grab Bella and escape.
Realizing this, she growled in frustration and resigned herself to the fact that the best she would be able to do is hold him off and keep him away from Bella until Jasper and the rest were able to arrive. Redirecting her focus to defence, she continued to attack, attempting to drive him further from Bella, but even as she did he landed hits of his own. She could tell from the stinging pain that they were all forming into heavy bruises and that it would eventually slow her down; something she could not afford in this fight.
Which is why she reluctantly backed off. Readjusting her stance she moved to plant herself between him and Bella and waited for his next strike. She would have a better chance of dodging his attacks if she was not also trying to attack.
Catching onto her new strategy, James grinned. "Is that all you got kitty? What, don't tell me you're tired already?"
She snarled at this, angry at the way he mocked her. She broke off though and turned to face Bella as she heard the girl cry out. Bella was up on her knees staring at Maya in shock. Maya realized a second too late that Bella was not in danger, only surprised to see a giant cat as she had never seen Maya in this form before. Maya whirled around to face James again, just as his foot connected with her side.
She heard bones crack as his foot hit her ribs, followed by the sound of glass shattering where her body hit the wall. She slumped to the ground, stunned from the collision with the wall and her side in agony from his hit. She watched from the side as James made his way to her sister and threw her into another mirror. He was talking to Bella as he picked up the camera again, although with the ringing in her head she could not make out what he was saying.
She watched in horror as he raised a foot and brought it down on Bella's leg. She struggled to her feet letting out a desperate roar as she did and he turned to face her, just as a blur came out of no where to tackle him.
She collapsed on the ground again, relief that at least one of the Cullens had made it in time sapping all the strength from her. However, as she watched the fight, she could clearly see that Edward would also not be able to beat him. He apparently realized this too as he threw James across the room and used that opportunity to grab Bella and attempt to flee. He was too slow though, and James grabbed his foot, tossing him across the room and sending Bella flying. James was on her then, biting down on her wrist before Edward could recover and reach them.
Maya let out another whimper as she once again attempted to stand and shake off her dizziness. She wasn't sure what she could do in her state, but she knew that she could not just sit there. She had made it one step when she heard an enraged roar echo through the building causing her to freeze.
Jasper was here.
Slowly sinking back to the floor, mindful of her injuries, she watched as Jasper, Alice, Emmet, and Carlisle rushed into the room. Alice went straight for Bella, who was thrashing on the ground and bleeding badly. While Jasper and Carlisle came to her side and Emmet went to help Edward with James.
"Doll, are you okay?" Jasper, or more accurately Major, growled, concern shining in his eyes.
She licked the hand he put on her nose in response, attempting to reassure him through her emotions.
"She has multiple cracked and broken ribs and there are areas I can tell will form bruises, as well as multiple small cuts from the glass. She also probably has a concussion. Luckily the ribs have not shifted too much so it will be easy to set them. Once I have, her accelerated healing should kick in meaning that wrappings will not be needed. Although you will have to stay in this form for an hour or two or you will risk the ribs shifting out of alignment again as you phase. The good news is you can change your size, carefully, so we won't have to worry about sneaking a giant cat around the city." Carlisle said, moving her ribs back into place as he did.
She tried her best to hold back any sounds, knowing that the Major was a few seconds away from attacking everyone. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed her snout into his hand seeking comfort.
He rubbed it, not taking his eyes off his mate as he asked, "will she be alright?" in a dangerously calm voice.
"Yes, but all the same she should not try getting up for a bit just to give the healing process a chance to start" Carlisle replied carefully, knowing just how volatile Major was at that moment.
"Carlisle!" Alice cried, drawing his attention to Bella. He stood up and ran over to her, leaving Major to watch over Maya.
She moved her head so she could grab Major's hand and tug it in the direction of the fight. She could see Emmet struggling alone now that Edward had rushed to Bella's side and she tried to draw Major's attention to it.
He looked up to see his brother in trouble and turned back to face her, "I'll be right back Doll."
He sped across the room then, pulling James off Emmet and flinging him across the room in one smooth motion. James twisted in the air to land on his feet and looked up to face the newest threat. But he never got a chance to defend himself as the Major was on him before he even landed.
The Major rained blow after blow down on him, cracking his body more with each hit. He vented his rage and fear as he beat James down. The whole way here he had been terrified that they would arrive too late and when he did finally arrive it was to find his mate injured. Jasper hadn't even tried to retain control. Instead, he willingly handed the reins over to the Major, knowing that he would without a doubt tear the bastard that had hurt their Darlin' apart.
Only when James was laying on the floor, cracks riddling his body and no longer able to defend himself, did Major turn to Emmet and order him to start a fire. He turned back to the Tracker then and tore his head from his body, the rest of his limbs following as Emmet helped him toss them all in the fire.
When he was sure that all of James was burnt, he allowed Jasper to retake control as they both turned their full attention to their mate now that the threat was gone. They were at her side in a second, caressing her face and gently running their hands over her, careful to not hurt her any worse or aggravate her injuries.
"Darlin' can you change into a smaller form? I'll be able to get you out of here then."
She gave a small nod before shifting, a small whimper leaving her mouth as she did. When she finished, she was about the size of a small cat and Jasper carefully cradled her in his arms. He was gentle and made sure to not put any pressure on her injuries as he carried her outside so she did not have to breath in the smoke from the fire. He moved to the side of building standing in the shadow of the building so he did not have to worry about being seen by anyone and was soon joined by Emmet and Alice.
"Carlisle and Edward have taken Bella to the hospital. Edward sucked the venom out of her, but she has lost too much blood. She also has a broken leg that needs to be treated." Alice informed them.
Maya made a sound then, looking up at Jasper in question.
"You can go see her later after your injuries have healed enough to allow you to shift back" he told her sternly, not about to let her push herself.
She let out a huff at that and as dramatically as possible given her current state, dropped her head down onto his arm.
Emmet let out a laugh at that, "even after James you're still raring to go! Not that I expected anything less from my future sister!" This caused Alice to grin and Jasper to crack a small smile.
Yes, he thought, his Darlin' was a true wonder who would never let scum like James come anywhere close to beating her.
Translations:
"Sei Pazzo – are you crazy
Uccisore - killer
Piccolo – little one