You're My Rose (Rosalie x Edward)

Chapter 14 - Backstabber Betrayal

Arleos was growing tired of having to stop every few miles to count heads or keep morale up. If his forces were half the size it was, they would've already finished the job. By now the Cullens had to have known they were coming. So Arleos began to make changes in strategy every chance he got. 

The army was an estimated two days from where they were hoping to encounter the Cullens, and Arleos was pushing his troops to keep moving. At one point, however, the army failed to see a nearby cliff and some fell off. A small percentage of the unfortunate were killed on impact, while the ones who lived left to find a way back up. As the army waited for them to return, Arleos sat down against a tree, dirtying his leather jacket, and waited patiently to see the fallen return. He looked down at the river flowing in the valley. From afar it looked still, up close it was a wrinkled mess, but from the right distance, it was an almost perfect mix. It sat almost perfectly between the mountains and the forest. Arleos couldn't help but admire it.

Arleos felt the sensation of a hand caress his neck and shoulders. Madelyn stared at him with intriguing eyes. Arleos smiled for the first time in a while. He watched Madelyn slowly stride further away from the group. Arleos stood up and followed her. His chest tightening with each step. He tried to see what was going to happen in his mind, but it was fogged by her. Only her.

When the group was completely out of sight, Madelyn leaped up into the trees. Arleos looked around for her in a heightened sense of desire. His foot crushed a stick, and suddenly he felt the weight of someone slamming into him from behind him. He laughed thinking Madelyn was doing a bit of foreplay. But once he saw Eryk holding him down, he paused. Evan appeared and held Arleos' free arm down. Madelyn appeared with Autumn beside her. She had no expression. Her smile had long faded, and her eyebrows curved into a soft frown. "What the hell are you doing?!" Arleos shouted. Madelyn mocked a smile. She took long, exaggerated strides towards him. Without warning, Madelyn grabbed Autumn's head and twisted it off. Autumn didn't even get a chance to react.

"We wanted to do this after the battle," Madelyn said to the severed head. "But you couldn't hide the fact that you're a regular."

Arleos stared at Madelyn angrily. He repeated his question in a more panicky tone. Madelyn laid down vertically to Arleos and placed her head directly against his. "You don't remember me, do you?" she asked. Arleos twitched. Madelyn sneered. "Then maybe you remember the Scottish Coven?" she added. That was the name of the Coven Arleos had slaughtered. It was the same Coven that told him he was a rogue. "How do I not remember you?" he asked shocked.

"I wasn't with you a lot. But the others accepted me as their own," Madelyn explained. "I would drop in every now and then. I was madly in love with you. I frequented my visits after I met you. One night I came home to find my family butchered like cows. Fearing for you, I searched everywhere. In the house, out in the woods, but I couldn't find you. That was when the dots connected. My love for you died that day. And I swore on my dead family's bodies that I would find you again. Eryk, Evan and I are regulars, but unlike the mistake I disposed of, we were able to hide it. We wanted to wait to do this after we murder the Cullens, but Autumn caused us too much suspicion."

Madelyn turned into a plank position, her head hovering over Arleos. Arleos tried to squirm, but Eryk and Evan were too strong. "Before I rip you to shreds..." Madelyn bent down and placed an upside-down kiss on Arleos' lips. Before she could speak, Chelsea, Vito, Antanasia and five less important rogues attacked Madelyn and the others. Arleos struggled to his feet. Then he joined Chelsea as she attacked Madelyn with blinding rage. He collided with Madelyn, causing her to fly a hundred feet. "Don't kill her, she's mine." Arleos commanded. He turned to see Antanasia fighting with Eryk alongside two troops. 

Arleos hurried to their aid. He lifted himself into the air and kicked Eryk's head off. The body dropped and was quickly set ablaze by Antanasia. Vito impaled Evan's head on a tree branch, killing him instantly. 

Madelyn squirmed in Chelsea's arms as she tried to drag her away. Chelsea dragged her and tied her up in the same place she had Arleos minutes earlier. Arleos climbed on top of her. He brushed her hair out of her face. She looked at peace in defeat. "I'd never given much thought about how I would die. But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go." she choked. Arleos' thumb circled her forehead. He interrupted his own daze. "Now I will have truly wiped out an entire Coven." he growled. His hands grasped Madelyn's head. He pulled and tugged; he never experienced a head tear this hard to pull off. That was when he realized, he wasn't trying. He relaxed his hands. Madelyn looked into his eyes, her hands holding his wrists. Madelyn blinked, a tear fell from her eye and onto Arleos' hand. It was the first time he had ever seen a vampire cry. Before Arleos pulled again, Madelyn whispered, "We could've been something wonderful."

The sound of glass bricks being split in half told Arleos it was over. Madelyn's head still filled Arleos' hands. His feeling of guilt was overcome by the same feeling he's had for centuries. He tossed the head away and climbed off her body. Chelsea lit a match and threw it on the body. Arleos stared blankly into the bright flame. His eyes burning with each blink hurt just as much as losing the person he was so interested in. He kept telling himself that she was only teasing him to get him alone. However, her last words echoed in his mind in a haunting voice, and the tear running down his hand was conflicting with his negative thoughts. 

The army was now down a very strong man, an incredibly fast man and a cunning woman. Arleos wasn't deterred, he still knew he had a chance to win the fight, and he was going to do anything he could to ensure he would take that chance.