CBWR? Chapter 38

O...k...hopefully I don't have to post this three times to make it show up! :)

"One down," she said.

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Chapter 38

One of The Pack parked the van on the street, and Bella and I walked up to the guardhouse together. She walked behind me with her head bowed and her hands behind her back. Her hands also covered the Beretta hooked into the back of her shorts, but that was just a bonus. Aro's gates were secured, and the first thing we would have to do was get past the guard at the front. Fortunately, he was an idiot.

I ought to know, right?

"All clear." Rosalie's voice came through the earpiece I wore, letting me know the security system had been disabled. Indeed, I could already see the guard in his little hut next to the gate as he poked at a couple of monitors. I walked straight up to the gatehouse and nodded at Felix, the big ugly guard who always stood at the entrance to Aro's place. He took a step forward, glancing only briefly Bella behind me. I knew the drill, and he knew I knew it. He'd frisk me, and then send me in – just like always. Only this time, things were going to go a little different.

"Hey Felix, I'd like ya to meet my wife," I said. I watched his eyes widen, then narrow, then roll over Bella's body. It fucking pissed me off, too. If I hadn't already planned to kill him, I probably would have anyway.

Then I saw Bella's face.

She knew him.

And let's face it, there was really only one way should could know him.

"Hey, aren't you…?"

His body dropped to the ground before he could finish his sentence. I put an extra bullet in his head for good measure, and because I wanted to. Bella gasped and put her hand over her mouth. I looked over to her pale face. She looked like she was about to vomit, and for a moment I wanted to hold on to her and tell her to be brave, but another part of me knew that wasn't going to work.

"Don't you fucking mourn for him!" I snapped at her. Bella looked up at me with wide eyes. "Don't you dare feel sorry for any of them! They're all going to get this, you hear me? Every one of them fucking deserves to have one of my guns shoved right up their ass before the trigger is pulled. If you can't handle it then you need to get back in the van."

I could see Bella swallow hard, and for a moment I thought she just might go off and hide, but she didn't. She stood up a little straighter, took the Beretta out of the back of her shorts and looked me straight in the eye.

"One down," she said.

"One down," I agreed as I holstered one of the FNs. I stepped into the guardhouse and released the gate's locking mechanism. As the gates opened, two vans full of heavily armed muscle-maniacs rolled through, stopping only briefly to sniff at the fire hydrant and pick us up before driving to the front door.

As The Pack filed out of both vehicles, their bright orange striping – looking a lot like taped on suspenders – reflected in the afternoon sun. Alice made them all wear it, because apparently they had difficulty identifying who the enemy was on occasion. I kept Bella a ways away from them.

I always preferred a straight on assault. Everyone always expects you to be sneaking around, but anyone who has played enough video games knows the straight forward grunt attack is always a sure fire. Overwhelm with numbers when they are least expecting it. Zergling blitz, people!

With Bella at my heel and Alice to my right, followed by nine of the ten members of The Pack, we walked right through the front door of Aro's house. To the left and right were a total of six men, none of whom I recognized. Not that it mattered – they fell too quickly to bother with their names. As the shots rang out, I could hear commotion down the hallway on the left, and we quickly split up – with Alice and half The Pack going one way, Bella, me and the other half going towards the noise.

It was also the direction to Aro's office.

I heard the muted thunk of a pistol with a silencer, and one of The Pack guys dropped down in front of me. I reached back and touched Bella's arm – just to make sure I still knew where she was – and then opened fire down the hallway.

Three on the left, just as the hall turned the corner. The FN-57 took them down. There were more on the right, but two of Alice's guys ran straight forward, screaming their heads off and firing AK-47s. Suddenly, there was nothing but gunfire, and I shoved Bella back behind me – wedging her into a doorway as I fired over and over again. When the FN was empty, I dropped it and grabbed the H&K.;

I don't know how long it lasted. I know at one point I felt heat across my shoulder, and I was pretty sure I was grazed, but not badly. I know one more of the remaining four of The Pack who had come down this way with us went down, and that Alice had circled around the backside of the house, and was going to cut them off from the other direction.

"I can see him," Alice's voice buzzed in my ear. "He's still in his office. They are definitely on alert, but blind without the monitoring equipment. He doesn't appear to have a backup system."

"Too confident," I said.

"Take about twenty steps forward, then turn to the right. That's the door you want."

"On my way."

"FYI – I've eliminated two of the seven."

"I've got two as well. That leaves Aro, Demetri and James."

"Demetri isn't in Aro's office with him – there are two guys behind the door, though."

"Distraction?"

"You got it."

The explosion rocked the entire upper part of the house, and Bella stifled a scream with her hand over her mouth. Taking a few steps forward, I could see the door Alice had directed me to was now completely blown off the hinges.

"One of them is down. Aro's panicking."

"Good. Positions in the room?"

"As you walk in, at the doorway – seven-o-clock, nine-o-clock, Aro at noon, one-o-clock, two-o-clock, and two of them at four-o-clock."

"Got it."

"Edward," I felt her soft hand on my arm, and I turned just for a moment to see her eyes.

"Almost over," I told her. "Stay right outside here."

I placed her right next to one of the Pack guys and motioned for Sam to come with me, leaning over to him briefly to tell him the positions of the people in the room.

"You make sure you get the two on the right," I told him, and he nodded.

I walked into the broken doorway.

This was going to be spectacular, right?

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Chapter End Notes:

Time to play, Neoward!

Lots of peeps knew why the Beretta is significant. Nice job! :)

Sorry for the awful cliffie, but it was either stop there or not post tonight. The good news is, chapters 39-41 are also all nearly ready.