It's in Our Blood

Nyx decided to drive the Spider slowly. Shockingly, the Spider wasn’t scratched, dented or injured in anyway from Paul’s impact against it. We got there in ten minutes… Which was more than enough time for everyone to gather.

The dim light of the moon shone brightly across the horizon of the water. The beach front was getting closer and closer. Nyx slowed down the Spider. She steered it towards the closest parking space to the beach. I looked out the window and saw a massive group, standing right under the moonlight giving off an eerie abnormal glow to every one of them.

The Quileutes did not disappoint. All of them stood together, strongly, clearly and firm in a group. All of them were curious but some were more steamed than others. Mostly from the male half of the group and Leah, otherwise all the other females were perfectly fine with us. That’s not saying much considering most of them were males.

Nyx parked the Spider. Her hands lingered on the steering wheel for a minute. She gripped the wheel hard, gritting her teeth. Anyone could see she wished for everything to be done at a better circumstance. One where no one was going to be harmed and we had no choice but to speak of our pasts, no matter how hard we try to forget it.

Silently, she got out. I followed her actions. Impassively, Nyx stood strong before the group. I wondered who was willing to break the silence first. The tension was so thick you could barely breathe through it. Every single sound around you would have seemed to have been amplified.

And then Sam stepped up, an accusatory tone apparent in his voice.

“Well? You’re here. Talk.”

I looked at Nyx, wondering if I should speak. Nyx stared vacantly to the ocean waves.

“Vampires are hunting down werewolves and every dog shape shifter in the world.” I said, “They’re going to start killing all of you and any mates or imprints when New Year arrives. It is a total genocide.”

“What does that have anything to do with you?” asked Sam.

“We want to help.” I replied, “I’d rather risk my life to help you than sit on the sidelines watching a bloodbath happen in front of me.”

Billy scoffed, fiercely glaring at Nyx and me “We don’t need you. We’ll be fine by ourselves.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, patronizing him, “Because they’re creating armies of newborns. Newborn vampires that will come to kill you and with the population of humans around in North America alone… I wouldn’t be surprised if over 50% of the world’s population became vampires in the next three months.”

There was a brief pause.

“Besides, there’s Bella.” I said, rubbing my arm, “Our redemption.”

Growls erupted at my words. Jacob’s cold eyes stared into mine.

“Keep her out of this!” said Jacob.

“No listen alright?” I said convincingly, “Bella will have part of this whether we want her or not. Victoria will no doubtingly sign up to be in the war to go after Bella. Revenge is her drive. Anyways, how many actually know of Bella’s affliction to us immortals? She was in danger the moment she decided to associate herself with us.”

Their stances all changed, unsure of how to react. Part of them wants to cast us away, lock us out, attack us… The other is eager to know more, to fully grasp the situation and know what I’m going to say next.

Adjacent to me, Nyx stood with her head facing in an aimless direction. She looked everywhere but the people in front of her.

“I want to protect Bella. The both of us do.” I said.

“That’s bullshit.” Billy spat, “You attacked her. Don’t think you don’t know what you did to her, stupid vampire.”

“Not by choice,” I whispered, “If I had my way, I honestly rather have died with my father. Live a normal upbringing, be part of a family. Nyx is my only family.”

Nyx’s gaze shifted towards my form.

“I didn’t want to attack Bella. The only reason that happened and I lost control was because of Victoria. Her venom counteracted with the venom inside my body already.” I explained, “I don’t even understand why I still function like a human.”

Narrowed eyes pierced my soul.

“Look,” I sighed, “I really don’t want you guys to die. Any of you.”

“Why did you lie?” asked Billy scathingly, “You knew you weren’t allowed to cross the border. You did so anyways.”

“I’m only half.” I said, “I’m a half breed in a sense. I’m not a vampire, I just have vampiric characteristics.”

“Why lie?” repeated Billy, unwilling to turn his cold gaze away from us. He wanted us gone, dead, away from them as far as possible.

“I did not.”

“Bullshit!”

“Listen!” I stressed, “I did not lie. I can’t lie about something that was never brought up to conversation.”

“That is a horrible excuse.” seethed Billy, “Don’t try to turn this on us.”

“I’m not!” I sighed, exasperated, “Besides, you never said a word about you guys being shape shifters! This is not reciprocal.”

“We’re not.” Jacob’s voice rang out.

I turned towards him, “Yes you are. Shape shifters can change at any moment. Werewolves are half wolf, half human. Men only in the day, wolf only at a full moon. The only reason you’re stronger during a full moon is because the full moon empowers every immortal.”

“You still lied.” said Billy, unable to let it down.

“About what? I never said a word.” I defended, “Anyways the law only referred to vampires, I’m technically not a vampire so-”

“It’s fine.” Emily spoke. A kind smile went over her features, “It’s okay. Right?”

She gave a stern look to Billy, Jacob and Sam.

“Fine.” sighed Sam, crossing his arms and looking away determinedly.

“Her, fine.” said Billy to me, “But her…” He looked at Nyx and glared.

“What about her?” I asked.

Nyx looked down at her feet. This was one of the few times I’ve ever seen her look like that. Hell, this is probably the first time.

“She’s a vampire.” replied Billy simply, “I don’t want her anywhere near La Push.”

“If you want to win, you need Nyx.” I whispered, “She’s the only reason why Victoria left in the first place. Victoria knew she couldn’t overpower Nyx.”

“I don’t care.” said Billy, “She’s a vampire.”

“Why is that so bad?” asked Nyx quietly, “What is so bad about being a vampire?”

Billy’s eyes narrowed, his face contorted in anger, “Vampires kill for the joy of it. They take lives from innocent beings.”

“No we don’t.” whispered Nyx, “We only take what we need to survive. Everyone is programmed with a survival instinct, I don’t want to kill. I won’t kill.”

“You did though didn’t you?” accused Billy.

“Newborn vampires.” She replied, “I’ve killed the vampires that tried to kill me, Kari and other humans. That’s all.”

“You still killed.” said Billy.

“Living and dying is inevitable. Eventually, one day we’ll be dead too.” She said, “It’s the cycle of life. We don’t have control over that.” Her voice was so timid and fragile. It scared me.

“Just because I can’t do anything about Katrina’s presence here, that doesn’t mean I can’t do something about yours.” said Billy, “You being on our soil right now are defying the treaty made by my father and the cold ones. I suggest you get out now before we’ll use force.”

Emily gasped, wanting to rebuttal but she knew it was not her place to say anything. Billy was the eldest and despite the motherly nature of Emily, she lacked the authority to control this group. That was placed in the hands of the Blacks or Sam.

Or in this case, Nyx.

“I’m technically not a vampire either.” muttered Nyx, almost inaudibly.

The Quileutes were thrown into confusion once more, their curiosity peaking.

“What?” seethed Sam, “What kind of garbage are you going to feed us now?”

“We’re not lying!” cried Nyx, “This is too serious to joke about!”

“Then tell us,” Sam challenged, “What are you then? Some messed up hybrid? You some phoenix human breed or something?”

Nyx bit her lip, hands balled into fists.

“No I’m not a phoenix or human-”

“Then you’re a vampire!” roared Sam, “How can you magically create fire out of thin air?!”

“Because I’m gifted!” shouted Nyx, “Because my father is a vampire!”

“A vampire child?” whispered Old Quil, puzzled.

Billy scoffed, “Get out. Vampires are not welcomed here.”

“No! It doesn’t mean what you are thinking!”

“Humor me.” Sam said defiantly, “Tell us.”

“Tityas Chevalier Šteta.” She said, “More commonly known as Knight Scathe… The king of vampires, my father.”

Emotions whirled.

“Knight Scathe who impregnated Loviise Hunt, the first natural born female werewolf.”

Tension rose uncontrollably.

“My mother.” continued Nyx, her voice was deathly quiet.

Snarls erupted into the air. Sam, Leah and Paul jumped at Nyx. She simply stayed on her spot, having no intention of fighting or resisting. She felt like she deserved this. Typical Nyx, an altruist from the bottom of her soul.

I latched onto her arm, pulling her out of the attack. The three of them were pulled back by the rest of the Quileutes, who were restraining them with difficulty. Billy was no longer cold nor was he glaring daggers at Nyx. He was impassive, void of any emotion.

I kept myself in front of Nyx. Why were they attacking like this? Jacob told me he would be thrilled if he ever met the daughter of Loviise… So why was he angry? Why did he seem like he wanted nothing more than for us to vanish?

Nyx gently pushed me aside, calmly stepping out from behind me and bravely facing them.

“It wasn’t because of my father that the Ancients killed my parents.” Her voice shaked, “It was because of what was growing inside of my mother.”

The three Quileutes stopped in their tracks.

“Me.” Nyx continued, her breathing becoming short, her eyes lingered on the space between the group and her, “And then they tried to kill me while I was still inside my mother. They chained my father, putting him in a cage in front of my mother.”

An unbelievable strike of pain rang through my body. I grasped the fabric over my heart. I could feel her reliving her past, something I knew nothing about. But somewhere, in the back of her mind, I understood it was there. It haunted her mind to the point of never-ending torment.

“My mom was well impregnated. I was supposed to be born around a week or so later.” She whispered, “I could hear my father pleading for them to stop. But my grandfather wouldn’t. The Ancients stood there watching silently. It was against law for our two breeds to intermix because the child would be too powerful.”

Cold chills went through my spine.

“They were scared that I would be too strong for them to control… They tortured my mother until she was dead. She was torn up broken life sized rag doll.” She closed her eyes, “Then they turned on my father. They let him out of the cage and he attacked them. He broke the chains and ripped apart the first person he saw. He was pyrokinetic. He set the entire palace on fire, grabbed my mother and ran.”

She chocked back a sob. This was the first time I’ve seen her let out a tear.

“But it was too late.” Nyx gripped her fists so tightly, they were stark white, “It was fucking to late. And for some messed up reason, I was still alive. I think if it wasn’t for me, she would probably still be alive.”

Her body shook.

“Fuck” She swore loudly, “I was feeding off all her power so she couldn’t regenerate. I sucked up all of her strength. I could feel the walls closing in on my body. It was crushing my limbs. Then my father pulled me out at the last second.”

Nyx paused, calming herself down. Or at least, she tried to…

“From then on, my father and I hid away. But it wasn’t for long. A couple of years later, they came for him.” resumed Nyx, “He hid me away in a distant cave off the coast of Finland. The Ancients killed him. And then they found me.”

Jacob interrupted Nyx, completely entranced by her now.

“Why did they want to kill you?”

Nyx looked at Jacob, “Ancients are dictators. Anything that threatens their power will immediately be subjected to death.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. Her hands had several little trickles of blood from her nails piercing into the flesh of her palms.

“Nyx” I whispered, putting my hand on her shoulder, “You… You don’t have to-”

“I have to Kari.” said Nyx, “Otherwise I’ll never get the strength to say it again.” She looked at the Quileutes.

“I died.”

Emily’s eyes filled with tears, hand pressed against her mouth. The rest of the Quileutes stood unbelieving of the tale Nyx told.

“They staked me through the heart.”

“Impossible.” rebuked Billy, “Loviise Hunt’s daughter died during the world war.”

“You’re right I did.” Nyx said, “But I was reincarnated. Twice. Both times with a different ethnicity, different surname. And both surnames meant Šteta, Scathe. Both times, I was reborn an orphan. I don’t know why.”

“You’re pyrokinetic too…” muttered Jacob.

Nyx nodded, “Inherited that by my father.”

“And your mother?”

Nyx's fingers played with the pendant under her shirt. I've only seen it a couple of times but I knew it belonged to her mother.

“Command over the werewolves. Ability to hear werewolf thoughts.” She whispered, “But not shape shifters. Only members of the dog family will be forced under my command. Any other creature, it does not work.”

“Prove it.” said Billy, “Show me proof that you are Loviise’s daughter.”

Her azure eyes shifted into golden state, her gaze upon Billy.

“Shift Sam.” commanded Nyx.

Sam immediately shifted into his wolf. His clothes torn up as he grew. Everyone jumped out of Sam’s way.

“Stop.”

The fur growing out of his back retreated. Sam’s body shifted back into his human form. He fell to the ground, his knees immersed in sand. Nyx inconsolably looked at Sam. She turned back to Billy, her eyes back to being crystal blue orbs. She took out her black diamond pendant, showing it to Billy. His eyes gaped at the stone.

“Was that enough?” she asked quietly.

Billy remained silent, shock overwhelming him. Nyx put the pendant back under her shirt, away from prying eyes.

“Is there more?” inquired Jacob apprehensively, “How powerful are you exactly?”

Nyx bit her lip, remorse all over her features.

“Too powerful.” She croaked out, “I’m a shield. That’s why Cullen can not read my thoughts or Kari’s. And… I…”

She paused, voice wavering and drained.

“My final gift is necromancy. I can talk and hear the dead.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. Quil attempted to speak but words failed him. I think it was time to make our leave, give the Quileutes space.

“We’ll plan something out for this week.” I said.

Morning had arrived; we needed to get back home. Nyx was more than exhausted with this whole ordeal. She needed rest.

“I’m sure if we don’t see you tomorrow, Bella would contact Jake or something about our plans.” I spoke quickly, “We’ll see you.”

I tugged Nyx out of the area, making a quick escape to the Spider. I took advantage of their astonishment and used it to evade any conflicts. There had been way too many of those today.

Everything was out now. I can only pray now and hope God does not abandon us.