Anxiety. (J. Hale) Ch12.
Taglist: @redfoxwritesstuff @nyx91 (comment or dm to be added)
Warnings/promises: some funny content from Miguel, Keelin's health issues, the Volturi themselves is a warning, some fluff, a cute moment between Bella and Keelin.
Reminder: this fanfic does dive into dark content and situations, therefore it is not meant to be read by anyone under 18! Minors will be blocked on sight.
Walking down the dark stone corridor leading away from the elevator gave Keelin an odd sense of deja vu, feeling like she's seen this somewhere before, but she ignores it in favor of listening to Edward and Bella talk about the human receptionist.
"..she wants to be.." she mutters, the realization dripping from her tone.
"And so she will be." The brunette male vampire behind Keelin says, a twisted sort of smirk shaping his lips and almost reminding the pink haired girl of Matthew.
"Or dessert." The short blonde vampire chuckles as they come up to a set of large double doors.
"Sister, we send you out for one and you bring back two, one half, and one bordering." Once inside, a vampire with long black hair begins speaking to Edward and Keelin takes the chance to let her curiosity get the best of her. She discreetly holds her hand out for Bella with a small grin.
The brunette rolls her eyes playfully before she discreetly puts her hand in Keelin's.
The memories coming from Bella are warm, like sitting close to a fire on an already warm night. They warmed her joints and soothed her erratic heartbeat for a moment. She sees Edward stepping out of the door to the building, unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it to the ground, slowly stepping into the sunlight.
His skin seems to sparkle like diamonds as the sun begins to hit it, and then Bella's there and trying desperately to pull Edward into the building. Keelin pulls herself out of the memory and gawks at Bella with a wide grin, until the vampires turn their attention to the two humans.
"And who might you be, young friend?" The one with long black hair asks, his red eyes gleaming as he took in Keelin's appearance.
"This is Aro, he can read every thought you've ever had with one touch." Edward explains, taking Bella's hand.
"Keelin Swan." She introduced herself, clasping her hands behind her back.
"I'll come back to you, young Keelin." Aro says before moving on to Bella. He holds her hand expecting to see everything, only to get nothing.
He moved back to Keelin just as Miguel reveals himself by Aro's throne, he gave Keelin a cocky grin before mocking Aro's stance and then throwing himself into the seat dramatically. The pink haired girl pursed her lips and looked at the stone floor, trying to ignore Miguel as Aro reached his hand out for her.
The girl placed her hand in his, making eye contact as he pulled her towards him and read through what thoughts he could access. Which, she guessed, were all of them.
She sees flashes of different memories, some of them coming and going so fast she didn't see any. Most were with the other two on the thrones. Once Aro was done his cold grip on her hand tightened by a mere fraction. His red eyes were unreadable for a moment before he turned to Jane.
"I wonder, is Bella immune to all of our gifts?" And then he was stepping back, Keelin still holding his hand limped forward with him as he pulled her away just as Edward lunged for Jane.
"Pain." Jane says with a smirk, tilting her head in triumph as Edward freezes and collapses to his knees in agony.
A few moments later, Jane attempts this on Bella as well while Aro absentmindedly thumbs Keelin's knuckles. Bella had no reaction, almost like she was immune.
Next, the blonde attempts it on Keelin.
The pink haired girl isn't completely unaffected, her bones becoming heavy, heart beating erratically again, and an obvious mental strain as Jane stared at Keelin with an obviously morbid curiosity. Blood begins to drip down from Keelin's nose, and finally Aro makes Jane stop. Keelin wipes the blood away from her face with her freehand, and before she knows it Aro is cupping Bella's cheeks about to bite into her while Jane is at her throat, Edward restrained along with Alice before the pixie girl quickly speaks up.
"They'll both be one of us! I've seen it!" Alice says, quickly offering her hand for Aro. The black haired vampire takes her hand, before clasping his hands together.
"Very well then! Go, make your preparations." Aro says giddily, before halting them once more. "One more thing," Aro says, taking Keelin's hand once more. It was almost like he was addicted to her feverish grip, he kept grabbing her hand to hear her thoughts and watch her have visions of his life.
"Firstly, keep her away from the.. shifters. Secondly, Jane and Alec will be joining you on the journey back to Forks. There is a vampire there that has crossed boundaries and must be.. dealt with." He finishes, gesturing to Jane and the brunette boy next to her. He then pulls both of them aside while Alice ushers Keelin towards Bella and Edward.
Finally, Jane and Alec join them once more, servants bringing cloaks for everyone to journey safely through the city, and Aro shares a look with Edward.
The brunette vampire nods once, and they leave the room just as a tour of humans enter, and soon, screaming ensues. Bella shuddered, and Keelin yawned.
♡- -♡
Keelin had slept through the entire flight, as had Bella, both of them leaned against one of Edward's shoulders. Once they landed, Edward shook them both awake gently and carried Bella off of the plane. Keelin limped behind them all silently, her hips beginning to throb just slightly from all of the strain of the day.
Despite that, she was happy to be back in the rainy town. They stopped walking, waiting for the Cullen's and Charlie to find them, and Keelin laid her head on Alice's shoulder, intertwining their pinkies. Keelin closed her eyes, happily allowing one her new favorite sights to fill her mind.
The first memory she saw from Alice, the one of her dancing among the field of flowers.
The pink haired girl is almost asleep while standing when Alice nudges her gently. She opens her eyes but doesn't move yet, blinking away the sleep in her eyes. When her vision clears, she sees Charlie and runs to him, throwing her arms around him. He had no clue how close her and Bella had come to dying that day.
He patted her back before letting go, allowing Esme to approach along with the other Cullen's. Keelin offered her hand shyly, and instead Esme pulls her into a hug. "Welcome to the family." She whispered, ruffling Keelin's hair and then cupping her cheeks to get a good look at the girl's face. Blue eyes, tan skin, freckles, pink lips and a healing cut on her bottom lip.
At the physical contact, Keelin melts into a memory of Esme's, seeing her on a cliff and about to jump. It flashes to Carlisle's kind face, eyes shining with kindness and adoration, and then she slips out of the memory. "Thank you." The pink haired girl whispers, giving a small but genuine smile.
Edward and Bella share a look with small smiles of their own before Bella joins her father, ready for the scolding he'd give her. It was worth it.
Carlisle smirked down at Keelin, holding his hand out. Instead, she does what Esme did and pulls the doctor into a hug. "I missed you, asshat." She mutters and he chuckles.
"I missed you as well, Keelin." He said lowly before releasing her. He holds her shoulder and turns her to face a blonde girl and a rather large brunette boy. "This is Rosalie and Emmett, they've been waiting to meet you for a while now." He introduced.
Emmett smirks at her. "You look tough for a human." He mutters, holding his fist out. Keelin gives a smile and bumps her fist against his. She blocked the memory incoming.
"I'd like to think I am, and who knows." She jokes, and then meets Rosalie's gaze.
The blonde's golden gaze softened up as soon as they made eye contact, and she opened her arms slowly. Keelin limps closer, melting into the cold embrace. "You're not alone." Rosalie whispers into her hair, and that wakes Keelin up very quickly. How did she know? Was there a bruise showing? Was it obvious in how she limped? Why was she limping? She didn't feel any pain aside from a dull throb in her hips.
Nevertheless, she nodded in tearfilled agreement, before turning to the last member of the vampire family.
"Jasper.." she whispered, and as she limped forwards he dove right for her. His cold hands circled her waist with a gentleness she'd never known, his gaze burned into hers with such intense passion she felt like she was drowning in the deepest pools of golden honey, his breath fanned her face as one of his hands lifted to cup her cheek, and the memory that followed was the one when they first met online, all thanks to her getting the number wrong.
"Keelin.." He muttered, before he closed the distance between them.
