The Man in the Long Black Coat, Chapter Twenty-Two

Quick A/N: This little story is up for Fic of the Week at the Lemonade Stand! Turns out, so is MazzyStarla’s Dress You Up. And so are lots of others. The top five vote-getters win. So go give the list a look and vote, if you see something you like. Thanks.

***

Alice kept extra makeup in the upstairs bathroom, and she always left clothes behind, so she and Bella had climbed up there 20 minutes ago while Edward kept an eye on Charlie.

He was stirring. He'd probably be awake soon.

"You ladies should hurry," Edward called out. "I don't know how much longer he'll be out."

They came bounding down the stairs arm-in-arm. Bella wore black jeans that closely matched Edward's and a white, long-sleeved blouse.

"You'll have to do this alone," Edward said, looking Bella in the eye as they readied for the press conference. "Alice and I will be nearby. We won't let anything happen to you."

"And we'll get you out of there before the cops get their hooks in you, too," Alice said.

"That's not gonna be easy," Bella said.

"It's going to be chaotic," Edward said. "As soon as the reporters realize who's out there, it'll be like a feeding frenzy. It will get worse once you start talking.

"There's no way the FBI will drag you away on live TV. Just like the Volturi, they're afraid of revealing too much to the public. We'll use that to our advantage."

Bella took in a deep breath. "I need a cigarette," she said. She reached into Edward's coat pocket and withdrew his pack, lighting one and blowing smoke through her nose. She chewed her fingernails and smoked some more as Edward went over the plan again.

"It's OK to be nervous, Bella," Alice said, putting an arm around her.

"I know," Bella said. She flicked ash into an empty Coke can and ran a hand through her hair.

"You really think me going on TV will draw Jane out?"

"I know it will," Edward said. "She's desperate, if what she did to this town is any indication. She'll be here before the day is done. I guarantee it. And she won't be expecting me or Alice."

"What do you see, Alice?" Bella asked.

"I can't see anything," she said. "Jane doesn't know yet, so she hasn't decided to come here yet. I'll know more after you go on TV."

Bella laughed and shook her head. She put her cigarette out in the Coke can and clapped her hands together.

"I guess I should go," she said. "Wish me luck."

She kissed Edward on the lips and grabbed the keys to Carlisle's old Jeep, which he left in the garage for emergencies.

Edward and Alice headed into town through the woods.

"She's a brave woman," Alice said. "There aren't many humans like her."

The wind kicked up in the trees, and Edward looked to the sky. "There's a storm coming," he said. "Not that it matters. We won't need the cloud cover today."

A light rain began to fall, and its intensity slowly increased until it had reached a downpour as they got to the edge of town.

"I don't think there have ever been many like her, Alice. Bella is more than a human. More than a mutation. It's almost as if -- and I know this sounds ridiculous -- but I sometimes wonder if she was sent here, in some way."

They stuck to sidestreets as they made their way toward the police station.

"Vampires have spent hundreds of years under the Volturi's rule," Edward said. "And yet, just weeks after I met Bella, its leader is dead, the entire coven is in shambles, and any hope the rest of them have of ever regaining their stature rests on what happens in the next couple hours."

"True," Alice said. "But my entire family is gone, too, Edward. There's no denying that much good has happened, but so has much bad."

He bowed his head. "That seems to be the way of the world," he said. "It's a balancing act."

They took up a spot in the park across the street from the station. They had a good view of the live TV trucks lining the road.

"You sure you can handle him?" Edward asked. "Newborns are powerful, Alice. And he'll need coaching."

"I'll handle it when the time comes," she said. "Being able to see his next move should give me an advantage."

She looked up the street and saw Bella parking the Jeep.

"She's here."

Bella emerged, and to Edward, she didn't seem nervous at all. She shielded her head from the rain with her hands and walked up to the first news van she ran into. She knocked on the window and waited for the driver to roll it down.

"I'm Bella Swan," Edward heard her say. "I'd like to talk to you about my father."

"You're the police chief's daughter?" the driver said. Bella told him she was.

A blond reporter emerged from the back of the van holding an umbrella and ushered Bella to the side of the building, presumably to keep her presence a secret from the FBI and, probably, the other reporters.

But the whispers began.

Soon, another news crew showed up. And another. And another. It didn't stop until eleven cameras crowded around Bella as if she were giving a post-Superbowl news conference.

The blond reporter asked questions as Bella peered into the cameras, one-by-one.

"He's my dad, of course I'm worried," Bella said. "I'm scared shitless, if you wanna know the truth. He's all I have left."

She took the microphone out of the reporter's hand and gripped it tight. "The vampires scare the everloving fuck out of me," she said. "And they should scare you too."

A few reporters laughed, but most kept their cool. Bella didn't stop.

"I've seen what they can do," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "Talk to the people in town. They'll tell you. That was no pack of wolves that tore through here. It was a pack of vampires. I'll bet there's already video on YouTube."

Alice and Edward made their way closer. They watched the chaos through one of the miniature television monitors that was in the back of a live truck. Edward saw Bella's face, crowded by the microphone, half covered with her own wet hair.

He decided that he and Alice should move closer in case anything unexpected happened. They propped themselves against the side of a building and watched.

Edward remembered back to the night he'd met Bella, the night he'd almost killed her. He thought then that she was unconventionally beautiful, somehow apart from the world she lived in. But he was wrong, he realized now. It was the conventions of the world that were misguided. Bella was the beautiful one, and the world needed to shape itself in her image.

If his hunches were right, it soon would.

He smiled as he watched her perform her part perfectly, the distraught daughter of a missing police chief. And he suddenly realized that it was not a part she was playing at all. Her father was dead, and it was his fault.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Alice put her arm around his shoulders. "She's strong, Edward. She'll make it through this. And so will Charlie. I'll make sure of it. I'll keep him safe."

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

He lit a cigarette and kept watch on Bella, almost missing the FBI agents as they came out the police station's front door. It was just as he'd suspected. They split up, two going around to the right flank while two circled in from the left.

She would be safe, as long as the cameras remained turned on. And as long as she kept ranting about scary vampires, he knew the reporters would keep eating it up.

"Jane will be here soon,” Alice said.

"I think it depends on how far away she got," Edward said. "If she only went as far as Seattle, she'll probably be here in an hour. But if she went all the way back to Italy, it might not be until tomorrow."

“No,” Alice said. “I mean I see it, Edward. She’s almost here.”

Edward kept watch on the agents, who crept closer and closer. The bigger one on the right worried him. He was thinking this was going to be his big score, debunking a vampire rumor and saving the missing police chief's daughter from whatever mess she’d gotten herself into.

But if Alice was right, there wouldn’t be time for any of that. There wouldn’t be time to worry about the FBI.

He crept closer and squeezed in behind the pack of reporters crowding Bella.

“Sir.”

An agent stood behind him, one hand resting on his holstered gun and the other pressing down on Edward’s shoulder.

“We’d like to talk to you for a moment,” the agent said. Edward turned and smiled. “Of course, officer,” he said.

The agent’s thoughts revealed that the people in town had already told the FBI about him, the mysterious man in the long black coat who showed up right before the trouble began. He had to admit, had had blundered badly, calling attention to himself in a way he never had before.

As Edward turned, giving the impression that he was going to follow the agent, he grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted. The agent winced in pain as the bone cracked and he went to his knees. Out of the corner of his eye, Edward saw Alice head off two other agents who were hustling toward him. She grabbed each by the hand and forced them into a nearby alley.

Edward dealt with the man who was now on his knees in front of him. He didn’t want to hurt the man, so he punched him in the chest hard enough that he knew the agent wouldn’t be able to catch his breath for several minutes. The agent slumped over, and Edward moved him away from the crowd. He propped him against a wall and turned, sure the lone remaining FBI agent would be there soon.

Jane stood there instead, smiling. She wore a black and red cloak that continued into a hood shrouding her light brown hair. Edward knew her diminutive size was misleading. Jane was the most dangerous vampire on the planet.

“Hello, Edward,” she said.

She focused on his eyes and a sharp pain seized him. But before he collapsed, Alice was there. She slammed Jane into a wall, shattering the cinder blocks.

The reporters turned to see what was happening.

“Get a camera on that,” the blond one who’d been leading the interview with Bella screamed at her cameraman, ten yards away. Quickly, a dozen cameras focused on Alice, Jane and Edward.

“There’s no turning back now,” Edward said to Alice. “Go get him.”

Alice took off running while Jane climbed out of the debris. She went for Bella, knowing that despite her power, she was no match for both Edward and Alice.

She tore through the reporters as if they were made of cardboard, tossing them aside with little regard to their well being. The last remaining FBI agent drew down on her and ordered her to stop.

Jane smirked and kept moving. The agent fired, but his bullets did nothing. She reached him and took his gun from his hand, crushing it in hers. He tried to punch her, but she grabbed his fist in mid-air and broke the bones. She pulled him to her and sunk her teeth into his neck.

The crowd screamed as blood poured from the carotid artery and the agent went down.

The remaining cameras focused on Jane. Blood dripped from her mouth and her eyes glowed red.

Edward used the delay to go to Bella. He scooped her into his arms and ran into the police station. He got as far as the lobby before he was blinded by pain and collapsed to the ground.

Jane burst through the front doors, glass flying everywhere.

She spotted Bella leaning over Edward, whose hands were pressed to his temples.

Edward saw Bella standing between him and his tormenter. She balled her hands into fists and took a deep breath. He tried to speak, but another round of pain seized him.

“You’re a brave one,” Jane said. “Stupid but brave.”

Bella smiled and stepped forward. “Why aren’t you using your little tricks on me?” she said. “Afraid it won’t work?”

Jane took another step toward Bella, and another, until their faces were inches apart. Neither flinched, neither moved. Edward saw the television cameras approach from behind. He knew they were broadcasting the scene nationwide, live.

"You have a little something on your face," Bella said. She reached out and wiped a spot of blood from Jane's cheek with her thumb. "There. So much prettier."

Jane pushed Bella's hand away. “I have plans for you,” she said. She looked down at Edward and smirked. “As soon as I take care of your boyfriend, here.”

Bella looked out the window with a look of concern on her face. “Don’t worry,” Edward said through his pain. “They’ll be here.”

Jane smiled. “Are you two cooking up something for me? Oh, I can’t wait to see what it is!"

She took Bella by the hand. “Until then, let me tell you what you're about to endure. I won’t kill you, Miss Swan. Your blood is too valuable. No. You’ll be my ... slave, for lack of a better word. I’ll bleed you just short of death every week. You’ll act as my own personal supply. With the qualities inherent in your blood, I’ll be the most powerful vampire who's ever existed. Caius wouldn't dare challenge me for leadership."

Edward still couldn’t move, the pain was so severe. He couldn’t wait for the world to be rid of Jane. He would go after Caius next.

As if on cue, heads turned toward the street, where news vans were being overturned one by one.

Onlookers screamed and ran away.

A fire hydrant burst.

Windows exploded.

Whatever it was was getting closer.

Jane lost her focus just long enough for Edward to stand up and grab Bella. He picked her up and ran toward the rear of the station, where the prisoners were housed.

He put her in an empty cell and shut the door, handing her the key. "You'll be safer in here," he said. "Whatever you do, do not open this door. OK?" Bella nodded.

He turned his head as screams erupted from the front lobby.

Charlie was there, with Alice right behind him.

Edward ran toward them. He stopped when he reached the lobby, which was in chaos. Charlie had broken through the brick wall, its remains littering the ground.

He'd torn apart one television camera, and now his attention was on Jane as the rest of the cameras kept rolling.

"Charlie!" Edward called sharply.

"Isn't that the police chief?" someone asked.

The newborn vamp slowly turned his head in Edward's direction. He looked like a beast, bright red eyes and ghostly white skin. His hair had gone almost completely black, and his muscles were incredibly well-defined under the plain white T-shirt he wore. He looked twenty years younger than he was. He looked like a soldier.

"Do it," Edward said.

He caught the barest hint of a smile cross Charlie's lips as Jane darted left, trying to escape. But Charlie was too fast. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air one-handed. She tried to focus her power on him, but it was too late.

Charlie put his other hand on her hip, gripped her tightly, and ripped her head off. Black bile burst from her corpse and covered everything in the room. He flung the body away as if it were a piece of trash.

Pandemonium erupted. Edward knew he had to calm Charlie down before he put innocent humans in danger. Alice approached to help.

"Charlie," she said, gripping his face in her hands. "You did good. Do you understand?"

He nodded that he did.

Edward ran to get Bella.

"Is he OK?" she asked.

"He did great," Edward said, making his way out the back door. "She's gone. Now let’s get the hell out of here before the National Guard shows up."

-30-

A/N Lots has changed, no? That was really fun. Thanks for reading, and thanks to MazzyStarla for the beta work and so much more. See you next time. :)