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SKIN & BONES
xi. WOOF

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"THIS IS JASPER Hale. Leave a message at the—"

"This is Jasper—"

"This is—"

"This is Jasper—"

A loud, irritated groan left Rory Swan as she chucked her phone at the wall, breaking it into several pieces. She was beyond furious. According to a handwritten letter from Alice Cullen, she and Jasper had abruptly fled Forks. They left. They ran away. Jasper left without even telling Rory. And Rory was pissed.

The Cullens had until the snow stuck to the ground before the Volturi arrived. Rory didn't understand why Alice couldn't have just given them an actual period of time, but it wasn't like the clairvoyant was around to explain herself. All they knew was that they didn't have long to gather their witnesses.

"Well, this certainly was not the greeting I was expecting!"

Rory's eyes widened. She spun around in a hurry, not having expected to hear the voice she heard. A smile instantly replaced her grimace as Rory approached Stella Capulet, embracing her in a tight hug.

"Thank God you're here, Stella," Rory mumbled as they hugged. "Have you heard from Alice?"

Pulling away, Stella sighed and shook her head. "No," she admitted. Rory's smile faltered, causing Stella to rub her back supportively. "It's okay. I'm sure they have a good excuse."

Rory hummed. "They better." Rory shook her head. "Let's just forget about them for a sec, okay? I want you to meet someone."

Stella tilted her head to the side slightly, curious. She had been called to stand with the Cullens, but she didn't know all of the details quite yet. She followed her friend closely as they exited the Cullen household. They were greeted by Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Renesmee, who had just returned home from meeting with the Denalis.

Renesmee had grown a lot since her birth not too long ago. Now, she was a happy-go-lucky 12-year-old (who oddly continued to resemble her aunt every day). It had been a long drive from the Denalis, which showed in the young girl's fatigued face. However, her eyes lit up the instant she spotted Rory.

"Aunt Rory!" Renesmee shouted, a big smile plastered across her face. She pulled away from her parents and made a beeline for the woman, speeding past the people around her. "Aunt Rory!"

Renesmee jumped upward to tackle her aunt in a hug. Rory beamed as she grabbed her niece, propping her up on her hip. "Hey, pumpkin," greeted Rory. "Miss me?"

"Duh!"

Rory lightly laughed. "That's my girl." She turned to Stella, who looked rather baffled. Perhaps it was because she could hear Renesmee's healthy heartbeat. "Ren, this is my very good friend, Stella Capulet." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "She's that Shakespeare guy I was telling you about."

Renesmee gasped, her head whipping around to face Stella. "Your sister's Juliet Capulet? I love that story!"

"You read it, I lived it and wrote it. Capitalism, am I right? You'll get that joke when you're older," Stella joked with a tender smile. "So, Rory, this is your cantante, yes?"

"Mhm," hummed Rory. Glancing back at Renesmee, Rory encouraged, "Show her, kiddo." Rory peered back at Stella. "This is how she likes to tell her story. Don't be scared."

"Pfft, me, scared?" Stella teased. "Never!" Renesmee smiled at the kind energy radiating off of the woman who liked to call herself Shakespeare. She reached forward and placed her hand on Stella's cheek. A moment passed and Renesmee removed her hand. "How peculiar!"

Renesmee pressed her lips into a line. Ever since the encounter with Irina, she had grown insecure. She hated knowing that people didn't agree with her existence.

"But I'll tell you a secret, small one," Stella continued. "The more peculiar you are, the better. Now, how about we catch up with the rest of your family, yes?"

Renesmee smiled happily at Stella as Rory placed her niece back on the ground. Renesmee took Rory's hand, pulling her toward the others.

A smile immediately broke out on Carlisle's face once he noticed his old friend. "Stella," he greeted, offering her a hug, "thank you for helping us during these times."

"Anything for an old friend, Carlisle," Stella responded. Meanwhile, Rory's attention turned to the group of people Carlisle and Esme had returned home with. Renesmee placed her hand on the cheek of one of the men, a small smile on her face.

The brown-skinned man smiled warmly at the child. His crimson eyes sparkled as he took her hand, creating a small whirlwind of dirt within her palm before ejecting it into the atmosphere.

Rory's eyes widened with curiosity. "You're a Manipulator," she noted aloud. "You manipulate the elements?"

"Indeed," Edward confirmed.

Bella watched her big sister as she copied the unnamed Manipulator's actions. "And here I am with super self-control," she joked.

Rory shot her sister a glance. "Uh-huh. Self-control," she mocked before smiling at their guests. "I'm Rory, Bella's sister."

The man stood up properly, approaching Rory with a friendly, dopey grin. "You are the Manipulator I've been hearing so much about," the man noticed. "I'm Benjamin. This is Tia and Amun." He gestured to the people behind him.

Rory extended her hand for him to shake, but Benjamin merely pushed it away and pulled her in for a hug. "Any Manipulator is a friend of mine," Benajmin assured, causing Rory to smile and return the hug. It was nice meeting people as kind as Benjamin and his coven.

"Aw," Jacob teased. "Our little weirdo found more weirdos of her own."

Rory rolled her eyes. She was about to make a remark, but she was distracted by a rustling in the trees. Two vampires jumped out of the forest before them, adorned in tribal clothing.

When asked who they were, Edward revealed, "Senna and Zafrina." He seemed mildly surprised by their entrance. "From the Amazon."

The arrival of Senna and Zafrina meant that the news of the born vampire was spreading to even the most remote areas of the world. From the Amazonians to the Denalis, from Carlisle's old friends like Stella and Garett to a distant coven from Ireland, their numbers continued to grow.

Though originally hesitant, every vampire was immediately won over by Renesmee once they properly met her. It relaxed Rory, but things weren't the same without Jasper and Alice. She was dying to know where they were and what they were up to, but they were MIA. Rory hoped they had a good reason for their disappearance.

Jacob Black had decided to stay close to Rory, Bella, and Renesmee. He didn't like vampires for obvious reasons, but he was more concerned about something else. "A lot of red eyes here," Jacob noted to the Swan sisters, his arms crossed.

Rory peered back at Jacob as they stood around the Cullen household, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Scared?" taunted Rory, manipulating her golden eyes to turn red.

Jacob made a face. He nudged her with his elbow. "I'm only scared of your morning breath," he retorted.

"I'm dead," matched Rory. "I don't have morning breath."

"That doesn't make any sense. Just because your dead doesn't mean you—"

"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Rory. "I just wanted to one-up you." Jacob rolled his eyes despite lowly chuckling. "Anyway, everyone promised not to hunt in the area. Nothing a little manipulating couldn't do."

Bella side-eyed her sister. "You promised Carlisle you'd refrain from manipulating for now," she reminded her.

Rory shrugged. "I promised him I wouldn't go overboard," she corrected. "Besides, if it means helping us stay hidden so that we can stay in Forks longer, then I'm gonna do it."

Jacob didn't seem all that opposed. "Just promise me you guys won't leave me alone with these leeches."

Rory pretended to think about it for a moment. "Maybe they can teach you some real dog-tricks." Jacob shot her a look, causing her to cheekily add, "Woof."

Jacob rolled his eyes.

There were a total of 19 witnesses in the Cullen household, many of them with fascinating gifts of their own. For example, Zafrina had power over the mind. She could make anyone see what she wanted them to. Still, Rory had been hoping that their numbers would increase by the return of Jasper and Alice, but there was still no sign of them.

Rory stood outside with the Denalis, Garett, Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Bella. Everyone marveled with fascination at Zafrina's talent of creating what was essentially a hallucination. They were even more intrigued by how Rory could mimic this manipulation perfectly, practicing on Edward. It seemed like the more their witnesses grew, the more ideas Rory got for manipulating.

However, in the midst of their fascination with Rory's gift, all attention went to Bella when everyone realized something.

"Bella's a shield," Eleazar explained. "It's a defensive talent."

Edward nodded. "But she's unlike any shield I've ever met," he continued, his attention falling to his wife. "It's why I couldn't read your mind, even before. It's why Aro couldn't. It's why some of Rory's abilities work on you and others don't."

Rory's eyebrow twitched upward. "So... Bella's superpower is pushing people away?" she reiterated. She snorted. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Without a word, Kate marched forward and took Bella's hand. Electricity buzzed at the tips of her hands, but Bella didn't seem to react. Kate nodded. "Oh, yeah," she said. "She's a shield. That should've put her on her ass."

Rory looked at Kate's hands in awe as the electricity faded away. "Whoa," mumbled Rory. "Can I do that...?" She glanced down at her hands, copying Kate's ability by manipulating her body's frequency to emit an electrical charge. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Kate seemed impressed by the Manipulator. "Not bad," she admitted. "But you've got a long way to go before you reach my level."

Rory felt her ego increase as she challenged, "Wanna bet, Sparky?"

Meanwhile, Garett looked rather bored. "Well, your voltage has been exaggerated," he smugly commented.

Kate held her hand up. "Maybe it only works on the weak," she suggested. Garett shrugged and walked forward. He ignored the warnings of the vampires around him, taking his finger and pressing it lightly to Kate's palm. The electrical current going through Kate sent Garett cowering to the ground.

Laughing, Rory mentioned, "Alright, Pikachu!"

"You... are an amazing woman," was all Garett said with a whisper.

The sound of a werewolf barking not too far away grasped their attention. Everyone immediately made their way toward it only to find two mischievous Romanian vampires sitting on large boulders. They had emerged into Forks unexpectedly and completely uninvited. Their names were Vladimir and Stefan.

"Vladimir, Stefan," greeted Carlisle. "You're a long way from home."

"We heard the Volturi were moving against you," Vladimir said, his Romanian accent thick, similar to Stefan's.

"But that you would not stand alone," Stefan added.

"We didn't do what we were accused of!" called Carlisle, determined to keep them on their side.

"We do not care what you did, Carlisle," Vladimir revealed.

Stefan continued by saying, "We have been waiting a millennium for the Italian scum to be challenged."

"It's not our plan to fight the Volturi," Carlisle said.

"Shame," Vladimir admitted. He turned to his friend. "Aro's witnesses will be so disappointed.

"Yes, they enjoy a good fight."

Rory took a step forward. "Aro's witnesses?"

"Aww," Vladimir taunted. "Still hoping they'll listen?

The vampires quickly regrouped inside the Cullen household, somehow feeling safer and more secure behind those walls.

Eleazar took his position at the front of the room. "When Aro wants someone from a coven, it's never long before evidence turns up proving that coven committed some crime," Eleazar explained.

"So he's done this before?" Bella assumed.

"It happens so rarely, I never realized it was a pattern," Stella admitted.

"Apparently, he always pardons one person whose thoughts he claims are repentant," Carlisle mentioned.

Eleazar nodded with his arms folded. "This person always has an ability. And they're always given a place with the Guard."

"This is all about Alice. He has no one like her," Edward quickly concluded. "That must be why she left."

"But he doesn't have anyone as powerful as Rory or even Benjamin," Carlisle reminded his adopted son. "He doesn't have anyone like Stella, myself, or Eleazar anymore either."

"But why does he need witnesses?" Emmett inquired from beside Rosalie.

"To spread the word that justice has been served after he slaughters an entire coven," Alistair answered. Rory had almost forgotten he was in the room. He was so quiet and standoffish.

Amun took a few steps forward. "Benjamin, Tia, we're leaving," he declared.

"And where will you go?" Rory demanded.

"What makes you think they'll be satisfied with Alice? What's to stop them from going after Benjamin next? Or Zafrina or Kate or Rory, who seems to be the most powerful among all of us," Edward pitched in. Rory found herself smirking, to which Edward refrained from rolling his eyes. "Their goal isn't punishment, it's power. It's acquisition. Carlisle might not ask you to fight, but I will. For the sake of my family, but also for yours. And for the way you want to live."

There was a silence.

Then, Jacob stood up to his feet. "The packs will fight," he declared firmly. "We've never been afraid of vampires."

"We will fight," Tanya spoke for the rest of the Denali Coven.

"You bet your ass I'll fight," Stella chimed in. "I've escaped them with just my hands before. This time, I'll make sure they stay down." Rory smiled at how everyone was beginning to band together.

Garett walked forward. "This won't be the first time I fought a King's rule."

"We'll join you," Benjamin quietly said.

"No," Amun denied.

"I will do the right thing, Amun," Benjamin argued. "You may do as you please."

"We will stand with you," chimed in Senna.

"So will we!"

"Huh," Rory said aloud. "That was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be." Jacob nudged the Manipulator gently, but she just smirked to herself. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to fighting, yeah?"

"We'll see," said Alistair. Then, he exited the living room.

Everyone in that house showed courage. Though Rory and the rest of the vampires and Jacob knew that Aro's army was moving against them and fast. Soon, they would face the dark gifts of Jane and the paralyzing vapor of her brother, Alec, who could rob you of sight, sound, and touch within seconds.

This time, Rory was ready. She had been in fights before (well, technically just two), and she knew this one would be tough. However, with the powerful witnesses by her side, she was sure that the odds were in her and her family's favor.

All that was left was the soul-eating anticipation that would haunt Rory and her loved ones for days until the snow stuck to the ground.

Revised: January 8th, 2020