CHAPTER SIX:
WHEN THE SOLDIER SPEAKS

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

OFELIA WAS THE FIRST to reach the unknown vampires. She watched from the edge of a clearing as they sat above a stack of rocks, smirking down at four clumsily snarling wolves. They were new to the pack, it seemed, for Ofelia knew that none of the original wolves would’ve allowed them to get so close, and they knew it too. They weren’t afraid, not even when Ofelia came forward with bared teeth.

“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want?”

One of the vampires, a blonde man, gave an intrigued hum as he stared her down. There was recognition in his eyes, in the way his dark-haired friend laughed, but Ofelia certainly didn’t know them. Carlisle, on the other hand, could greet them by their names.

“Vladimir, Stefan,” he acknowledged as he and five of the others came rushing in behind Ofelia. She didn’t turn to face them. The first thing she’d learnt in Maria’s army was to never turn your back on the enemy. Until she knew for certain that Vladimir and Stefan would not harm her or anybody else residing with the Cullens, she wouldn’t let them out of her sight. “You’re a long way from home.”

“What are they doing here?” Ofelia repeated, side-eyeing Jasper as he and Carlisle stepped up on either side of her.

“We heard the Volturi were moving against you, Soldier,” the blonde -- Vladimir, she thought -- replied in a thick Romanian accent. He didn’t give her a chance to react to the little nickname as he added, “But you would not stand alone.”

Carlisle frowned, “We didn’t do what we were accused of.”

“We do not care what you did, Carlisle.”

“We have been waiting a millennium for the Italian scum to be challenged,” his friend, Stefan, sneered.

“It is not our plan to fight the Volturi.”

“That’s a shame,” Vladimir sighed, exchanging a look of mocking disappointment with Stefan. “Aro’s witnesses will be so disappointed.”

“They enjoy a good fight.”

Despite not needing to, Ofelia felt like she couldn’t breathe. She stepped closer to Jasper as the two laughed, meeting his eyes as he frowned. When Alice had first come to her, Ofelia had told her that Edward and Bella didn’t mean anything to her, that none of the Cullens meant anything. The guilt of an innocent family dying wasn’t something she wanted on her shoulders, yes, but she could live with it like she lived with every other mistake she’d made. 

But it was different now. She knew them. 

She knew that Edward liked to play the piano, that Bella was a romantical girl who read books and loved her daughter whole-heartedly despite not ever wanting to have children before. She knew that Esme liked to cook despite not being able to eat, that Carlisle cared for each and every patient he’d ever had because he wanted to help people. Ofelia knew about Emmett’s love for sports, Rosalie’s passion for cars as more than just a pretty face. She knew Renesmee as a girl with a whole future ahead of her, and it would hurt so much more to lose them now that she could put names to faces, passions to people. 

“Aro’s witnesses?” she breathed out, finally tearing her gaze away from the Romanians to look at Carlisle.

“Aw,” Vladimir cooed. “Still hoping they’ll listen?”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

IT WAS DARK OUT. News travelled fast after the arrival of the Romanian duo. The witnesses gathered inside the Cullen living room, crammed up on the couch and in corners to discuss the revelation that the Volturi had witnesses accompanying them on their journey to Forks. Ofelia wasn’t surprised; if anything, the most shocking bit was that people hadn’t expected it. Aro was fully intending to leave Forks with the knowledge that the Cullens had been killed. They were his greatest enemy for a while now, so much so that people were starting to talk. If anyone doubted him even the slightest bit, then he needed to make a statement, and what better statement than the death of a powerful coven?

“When Aro wants someone from a coven, it’s never long before evidence turns up proving that coven committed some crime,” Elezar told them. He stood in the centre of the room with his own coven around him, the whispers finally quiet now that everyone’s attention was on him.

“So he’s done this before?” Bella frowned like she couldn’t quite believe it. Once again, it amazed Ofelia just how oblivious some people could be.

“It happens so rarely, I never realised it was a pattern.”

“Apparently, he always pardons one person whose thoughts, he claims, are repentant,” Carlisle added with a heavy sigh.

“This person always has an ability, and they’re always given a place with the Guard.”

A moment of silence. It gave Ofelia a chance to really think over what Eleazar and Carlisle were saying. Aro saw what the Cullens had to offer. More specifically, he saw what the Cullens with gifts could do for him, what Alice could offer him. Not only would he take out the threat, he’d strengthen the Volturi to an extent that no one would doubt them again. He had no one who could see and shape the future quite like she could. He had people who could manipulate feelings, he had himself as the mind-reader, but he didn’t have an Alice.

“Ofelia’s right,” Edward gasped suddenly. Upon receiving looks of confusion, he added, “Her thoughts. This is all about Alice. He has no one like her.”

“Which is why she left.”

“I don’t get it,” Emmett said. “Why does he need witnesses?”

“To spread the word that justice has been served,” Alistair chuckled from the corner behind Ofelia and Jasper. He’d otherwise stayed silent as everyone convened, but like Ofelia, he could see what was staring right back at them. “After he slaughters an entire coven.”

Another beat of silence, this one far more tense than the last. The insensitive nature of Alistair’s words, while daunting, was truthful and some people just didn’t like the truth. They preferred to live in their oblivious bubble until they had no choice but to face their problems, but by then the killing blow had already been served. Amun from the Egyptian coven was one of these people. From the corner of her eye, Ofelia noticed him grab hold of his partner’s wrist, forcing her towards the door with a scowl.

“Benjamin, Tia,” he called out to his other coven members. “We’re leaving.”

“And where will you go?” Edward huffed before they could move. “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 anyone else with a gift?”

Amun stood frozen, eyes blazing with anger and fear. Ofelia couldn’t help it as she laughed, shaking her head as everyone’s attention turned to her next. “How is it only just hitting you, Amun, that the Volturi will do whatever they want to you whenever they want to? Their goal isn’t punishment, it’s power. That’s how it’s been since the beginning of fucking time. They take what they want and leave you with the scraps, it makes them stronger and it sends a message. The Volturi are used to being the ones who come out on top because nothing has ever stood in their way. So when they kill the Cullens, they’ll come for you next. They’ll come for all of you, an endless cycle. That’s how war works.”

Her words seemed to hit everyone where it hurt. While they frowned and muttered to themselves, only Vladimir and Stefan seemed amused. The former cackled in delight at her tangent, their red eyes meeting as he raised a blonde eyebrow at her. “The soldier speaks the truth.”

“Don’t,” she immediately bristled, only to be cut off by Edward pressing a hand to her shoulder in warning. She nodded at the insinuation, jaw clenched. He took that as a sign to continue.

“Carlisle won’t 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.”

“The packs will fight.” Jacob had risen to his feet first. Despite being the only wolf in a room full of his mortal enemies, he seemed confident, comfortable almost. “We’ve never been afraid of vampires.” And that would be why.

“We will fight.” Next, the Denalis, all nodding in agreement with each other.

“This won’t be the first time I’ve fought a king’s rule.” Garret.

“We’ll join you,” Benjamin agreed. Amun immediately began to protest, but he refused to listen. “I will do the right thing, Amun. You may do as you please.”

“We still stand with you.” Zafrina and Senna.

“So will we.” The Irish.

Peter and Charlotte nodded as Jasper turned to look at them, and then it came down to Ofelia. He could feel the determination she emitted, but that didn’t stop the doubt from creeping in. It was quick to fade, though, as she followed him into standing. “Is that even a question?”

And so it was decided.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

THE FIRST HUMAN OFELIA killed was a fifteen-year-old girl named Minerva ‘Minnie’ Brown. Ofelia had never forgotten her name and yet two hundred years had passed since Ofelia took her life. That was hard enough in itself, knowing you were the reason that somebody lost their daughter, sister, friend. But it was made so much harder with the knowledge that Minnie was once a friend to her. 

They were neighbours since Ofelia was eight and Minnie was five. The Brown family had moved from Illinois when Minnie’s father got a job in the Sheriff’s office. Ofelia’s mother had forced her into welcoming the Browns to the neighbourhood, sending her across the street to the modest two-story home with a platter of cookies and a bunch of daisies from Adelina Torres’ garden. Ofelia remembered Minnie having an older sister, Greta, who was a year older than she was, and yet she’d gotten along with the younger of the two better. Minnie was all smiles, a pretty girl with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. Ofelia remembered her eyes with perfect clarity. More importantly, she remembered the way they turned red as she bit down into her neck, the way they faded into emptiness as Maria forced her to snap the newborn’s head from her shoulders just days later.

What other way to prove your worth other than killing the only friend you’d ever had?

That was the first time Ofelia truly realised what she’d become. She wasn’t Ofelia Torres, the eighteen-year-old girl with her whole future ahead of her. She was just Ofelia, Maria’s personal soldier.

A sudden knock broke Ofelia from her thoughts. After the meeting with the other covens, she’d disappeared upstairs without so much as a word to anybody. She hid in the first room to be found. It smelled like Edward, so she assumed it was his, but she didn’t think to check as she sunk down onto the couch and stared out the window.

The soldier speaks the truth. Vladimir’s knowledge of her past, the way he taunted her with it like it was some sort of game, it bothered Ofelia more than she cared to admit. She wasn’t the soldier anymore, she hadn’t been for a while, and yet that name seemed to follow her everywhere she went, even the places where it was least likely to be used. 

There was another knock. She sighed. “You can come in, Edward.”

She didn’t look at him as he opened the door and slipped inside. Not even when he sat beside her did she turn away from the window. “Are you alright?”

She scoffed. “What do you think?”

There she was. Minnie invaded her thoughts like a bug she just couldn’t shake, her petrified cries as she begged Ofelia to save her. She hadn’t, though. She’d looked into an innocent girl’s eyes and killed her because that was what Maria wanted her to do.

“You’re not her anymore, Ofelia,” Edward sighed. He didn’t know the story behind Minnie, but he saw enough to know Ofelia had never and probably never would forget about it. “You do know that, don’t you?”

She stayed quiet. One of the biggest things that Edward had noticed about Ofelia Torres was her guilt. It followed her like a shadow, a painful reminder that she would never be who she was before Maria ruined her life. Unlike Jasper, she hadn't forgiven herself. He had time, a new environment, people to support him as he came to terms with what he used to be. But Ofelia liked to run, to move again and again when things got that bit too scary. The same amount of time as Jasper, though alone with no one but herself to understand her mistakes.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do after this?” He couldn’t resist asking. “When this is all said and done, if we make it out alive, are you going to stay?”

Finally, she turned to look him in the eye. “I’m never going to settle, Edward.”

His heart dropped. “No one’s ever asked you to.” She dropped eye contact then, facing the window again. “You’d never be held against your will with us. Remember that.”

When she didn’t say anything else or even acknowledge that he’d spoken, he sighed and stood up, squeezing her shoulder hopefully before leaving.