CH8: SLEEPING BEAUTY

Bella’s POV

Edward and I waited in the car for Renesmee to retrieve her clutch purse. It had been 2 minutes. She was taking an awfully long time when she could’ve gotten her purse and came back in less than 30 seconds.
Before I could officially panic, Edward answered his phone before it rang a second time. Alice was talking in vampire speed, but I could still hear hat she was saying. We got out of the car in a flash and followed out daughter’s scent.
Jacob had already gotten a firm hold on the vampire. Then I saw Renesmee on the ground, looking lifeless.
“Renesmee! Renesmee, can you hear me?! Everything’s fine. Momma’s here. Nessie, honey, WAKE UP!”
She didn’t move or respond in any way. Thankfully I could see her breathing and hear her heart beating. It wasn’t thrumming like it should’ve. It was a lot weaker.
Our family emerged from the trees. I called Rosalie to hold her. She flitted to my side and I placed Renesmee in her arms. Emmett and Jasper restrained the vampire, with their eyes closed. I saw that everyone else was doing the same.
“Bella, can you put your shield around us please?” Carlisle asked and I obeyed. I felt the invisible elastic band stretch out of me and the rest of my family, except Emmett and Jasper, and they opened their eyes.
Edward was the one to ask, “What did you do to her?” The vampire didn’t answer.
“CALEB, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?!” Edward snarled.
Caleb still didn’t reply. Edward was so livid he ran out of my shield and went straight to him and ripped his eyes out. Everyone gasped, including me, and Caleb yelped in pain. I ran over to my husband, with my shield still covering everyone.
He was panting from anger but instantly calmed down at my touch. “Edward, why did you do that?” I asked.
“That’s his power. He hypnotizes with his eyes. Now he has none whatsoever,” he responded fiercely.
Caleb was on his knees, making it easier on Jazz and Em to restrain him.
“Carlisle, can you check on Renesmee, please?” I asked. He went over to her without hesitation and Jake was right beside Rosalie, still in his wolf form and whimpered.
Alice was the one investigating now. “What did you do to her?” This time Caleb answered, “She’s poisoned.”
A red veil covered my line of sight. He poisoned my daughter. This asshole was gonna die. I dropped my shield and covered him. The millisecond it touched him he flew up into the trees. I thought of strangling him and my shield abided.
“Bella, stop that. We need to get some answers from him if we want to save Nessie,” Alice said. I brought my shield back to me and he fell on the ground, face first. He stumbled up to his feet, trying to decide where to escape without his vision, but before he could take another step Emmett and Jasper got a hold of him again.
“It seems to me like she’s in a coma,” Carlisle said walking over to us. Nessie, Jake and Rosalie were gone from their spot. Carlisle saw my glance at that and said, “I sent them home. She should rest in her bed. I’ll leave so that I could properly examine her. Dispatch of him once you get the answers we need.” Before he left, Esme patted my cheek and gave me a reassuring look.
Jasper probably calmed Caleb a little bit. He wasn’t fidgeting anymore. I could care less if he was feeling uncomfortable. Edward was holding me back. I really wanted to dig my nails into him and just rip him apart, piece by piece.
“You’re going to tell us why you came here and how to get the antidote,” I growled at him.
“They sent me! I didn’t have a choice! Cauis told me if I failed my mission he’d keep me in the dungeon forever.” Seeing him this way opened my eyes more. Caleb looked Renesmee’s age. He could’ve passed as Jane and Alec’s brother, now making them triplets. No wonder Aro wanted him to join the guard.
“He also said that you guys were defying the Volturi because you had an immortal child. But I see now that he lied to me. I don’t wish to become one of them anymore.”
Edward narrowed his eyes and shook his head angrily. “Don’t fall for that, Bella. He’s trying to get you to forgive him because he knows you’re the easiest to persuade.”
I went to his side where Jasper was holding him and he let go. I grabbed his right arm and snapped it in half like a twig. Again he yelped in agony. We were deep enough in the forest that any human couldn’t have heard his screams.
“Give me the antidote,” I whispered violently into his ear.
“I don’t have it!” He was being so stubborn. I signaled for Emmett to rip his other arm off when Alice interrupted. “Wait, wait! He’s going to tell us!”
“I don’t have it because I’m not the one that made it. They gave me an address in Portland, Oregon. I’ll give it to you! Her name is Kamielle. She has the antidote. Now let me—“Before he got a chance to finish, Jasper and Emmett had torn him apart all together. Alice had the lighter and dropped it on the pile of Caleb. Chunks of his body burned instantly and a thick, narrow upstream of lavender-gray smoke arose. The fog in the night covered it as soon as it reached the tops of the trees.
Once everything was cleaned up, we all rushed back to the house. Leah and Seth were pacing in the living room. Alice, Emmett, and Jasper stayed downstairs with them while Edward and I dashed straight to Nessie’s room. We entered to find an IV tube attached to her right wrist. Jacob was sitting on the computer chair beside the bed holding her right hand with both of his giant russet hands. Rosalie was on the other side, sitting on her bed stroking her forehead and her hair. I flitted to her side and she gave me a tight hug.
“Carlisle said she’ll be fine for now. We gave her morphine just in case she’s in any pain at all.” Before she left, she looked me straight in the eyes and said, “We’ll get through this, Bella, don’t worry.”
I nodded at my sister and took her place on my daughter’s bed. Jacob had left with Rosalie and now it was just Edward and I with our daughter in a coma. If I could cry, I would. I stared at my husband, completely horrified.
Just then, Carlisle came in with a bag of blood. “Did you get the answers we need?” he asked. Edward gave him a stiff nod. “Caleb said that the antidote can be found in Portland, Oregon. A woman named Kamielle should have it.”
He replaced an empty bag of clear fluid and attached the bag of blood to the IV. As the blood dripped and went into her system, her heart began to beat in its normal way. I looked at Carlisle, hopeful.
“She may be perfectly healthy in the inside but whatever the poison had in it is making her stay in a coma.”
“Well, what’re we waiting for? Let’s go to Portland,” I said getting up and heading for the door. “Hold on,” Carlisle said walking towards me with a strange look. Edward’s face became auspicious.
“Did you say the woman’s name was Kamielle? If so, I very well may know her,” he said pacing. “Hmmm, well if it is her, I should come along with you,” he continued, “you see, Kamielle and I met when we were in the guard. Aro absolutely adored her gift so he was extremely unhappy to see her go. She visited me once, Edward probably remembers her, not too long after I changed Esme. She has the knowledge of making potions of all sorts, along with their antidotes. I’m sure she’ll help us revive Renesmee.”
With that we bought 3 tickets to Portland. Our flight was in 6 hours. Jacob, Rosalie and Esme would keep watch on Nessie and her condition. We didn’t pack much since we didn’t plan on staying long. Edward and I didn’t leave our daughter’s side for the meantime.
“Nessie? Baby girl, daddy and I are going to leave for a while, okay? Hang in there. When we come back, everything will be back to normal.”
As I said this, a tear fell from her left eye. I looked up to her father for an answer. “She hears you,” Edward said, “I can still hear her mind but only barely. It’s like a faint whisper, I have to strain to listen.” I nodded. Carlisle came in just them.
“Are you ready?” he asked. We all kissed Nessie goodbye as well as the rest of our family and departed for the airport.
It was around 10am when we got out of the Black Mercedes Guardian we rented, just like the pre-wedding car I had. We drove for about 30 minutes before we reached a house that was quaint but homey. It looked out of place, right in the middle of the dirt road, almost playing like a dead end. In the back, however, the path continued. As we neared the door, we heard rustling inside. Carlisle knocked 3 times and the sounds stopped.
The door flew open and Kamielle was in a crouch with her teeth bared. Edward pushed me slightly behind him, protecting me. I let out my shield, covering the 3 of us. Carlisle held his hands up and backed up slowly.
“Kamielle, we come in peace,” he said.
She straightened out simultaneously. “Carlisle? Is that you, old friend?’ she asked, staring incredulously at him. “And Edward. I see you’ve found yourself a beautiful mate.” She was smiling sincerely now. All the tension that was present before was now replaced with serenity.
“Please, come in. I’m sorry for earlier, I’ve just been really jumpy lately. What a silly statement for a vampire to say, huh?” We let out a small laugh and followed her in. Kamielle and I were about the same height, her long dark auburn, wavy hair passing the small of her back. Her skin, compared to us, was one shade darker. He was clearly Asian with her perfect almond-shaped eyes, the color of dull red. She motioned for us to sit at the enormous round wooden table in her kitchen. A wide variety of ingredients, some familiar and some completely unknown to me, were spread out all over her white granite counter. We sat down while she pulled out a steel stool for her.
“I apologize for the mess. I was arranging my ingredients, you know, throwing some out so I can have room for more, she pointed behind her and continued, “so what brings you guys to my neck of the woods?”
“Well,” Carlisle started, “Kamielle, we came here because we need your help.” He looked to Edward to take over and he did.
“You say that you’ve been jumpy, lately. I think it’s safe to say you were expecting Aro to come instead of us right?” Edward asked.
She replied with a smile and a huff. “I forgot you can read minds. I am curious, though, because not only is your mate gorgeous but it’s obvious she has a powerful gift,” she looked at me now, mystified.
“Oh, forgive me, Kamielle. This is my wife, Bella.”
We smiled at each other and he added, “she’s a shield.
“A very talented couple, indeed. So what can my gift aid for you?”
This time I spoke. “Did the Volturi send a young boy to you recently? To retrieve a poison?”
Her expression was perplexed. “Yes, but how do you know that?”
Edward was the one to answer. “We know that because it’s our daughter that got poisoned. And we’re here to obtain the antidote.
Now she was hurt and shocked. “Oh my. What have I done?” she whispered to herself.
“You’re forgiven, Kamielle. We know you didn’t mean any harm to my family. Can you please give us the antidote?” Carlisle asked.
“Of course, of course,” she replied going to work immediately. “I was wondering why they requested such a peculiar poison. They ordered for me to not make it as potent and as you may remember, Carlisle, my potions can be deadly.”
I flinched at that and Edward patted my arm. “This will only take a few minutes but for the meanwhile, I’d like to hear an update on the Cullen family; particularly how you have a hybrid for a daughter.
We told her everything. From our relationship when I was still human to the wedding and the pregnancy. Kamielle was also surprised to hear that the Cullen family had indeed doubled in size since she last visited.
“Okay, here it is. She’s in a coma now, am I correct?” we all nodded in response.
“I suggest you inject this into both of her wrists. She’ll tremble for a good 5 seconds or so and then open her eyes. She may need assistance in walking for a while but I think it’s best if she stays in bed for at least 2 hours,” she instructed while pouring the dark green fluid into a vile. Carlisle took it and kept it in his coat pocket. Kamielle walked us out.
“I’m truly, awfully sorry for what I’ve done. There must be another way I can repay you.”
Edward was the one to reply, “I see that we’ve kept you from feeding and for that WE apologize. But instead of killing an innocent human, why not hunt for deer or a mountain lion. I hear that this forest has been having an overpopulation of bears.”
Her face was thoughtful in return. “Hmmm…maybe if I have amber eyes like you guys, I’ll finally find a mate. You have a deal.” Carlisle gave his old friend a hug and invited her to visit soon. We drove off, heading home.