Chapter 11
I drove back home, my hands trembling. Hunted. Nothing would justify Edward Cullen being in my bedroom but his sudden paranoia made sense. A vampire who was one of the world’s greatest tracker, somebody whose existence was driven by tracking victims, was following me. Out of fun and revenge for the prey who was taken away from him, oh, eighty-something years ago.
The fact that Alice, little Alice Cullen, was one hundred four years old was crazy enough. Never mind that Edward was the same age. I would ignore that until later.
I let myself in the house, dropping my bag on the floor and breathing in the scents of home, trying to calm down. James wouldn’t get in here. He couldn’t.
You didn’t even notice Edward coming in. Every night. For at least two weeks.
I didn’t even notice I was sobbing.
“Bella?” Charlie called. He came into the hallway; I raised my sleeve automatically, not daring to look at him. “Bells!” His hands were on my shoulders. “What happened?” I shook my head.
“Nothing.”
He didn’t speak; he just pulled me in a close hug. I gulped and started to sob again, Charlie stroking my hair and letting me cry for the first time since I was a child.
Sunday. I sat on the couch, reading Wuthering Heights, trying not to think beyond the story of Heathcliff and Catherine and the scary obsession they had with each other. It managed to terrify me every time, but at least their passion for each other couldn’t reach through the pages and slit my throat.
The doorbell rang; Charlie, who had the day off, went to the door and peeked through the peephole. “Rosalie Hale?” he said incredulously.
I looked up. “What?”
But Charlie had already opened the door. “Hello, Rosalie...” They were talking in low voices. I stood up and went to the main hallway; Rosalie Hale stood in the middle, pale, blonde, and surreal in the middle of the hallway covered in human things: pictures, light green wallpaper speckled with red flowers...
She glanced at me, a neutral expression on her face. “Perfect,” she said. “It’s good to see you, Bella. Outside of school, that is.” She smiled and I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to see any of the Cullens now. Why...but of course, they could show more blatant protectiveness.
Why did I have to depend on them? Why? What twist of fate led me to be on that flight that would land at the precise time James saw me? Why did I even have to meet Edward Cullen, or any of them, really?
“I was just asking your father if you were available to come to our house,” she continued, pleasant as always.
“I said yes,” Charlie added helpfully.
I sighed. Poor Charlie. I couldn’t tell him anything.
“All right,” I said. Really, what else could I do? It was just a casual visit. Probably trying to regain my trust.
And now, I had no choice.
“You have your driver’s license?” she asked. I blinked.
“Why?”
“You’ll need it,” she said. I nodded, ran into my room, and grabbed my purse. I came back down with it. “Come on,” she said, and we left.
She had a red convertible; it suited her. Flashy, expensive. It was ridiculous. I climbed into the seat beside her, wondering if I should hide myself, especially when she got in. It struck me that the white sundress and white high heels, along with her blond hair, created a very stereotypical image when combined with the red convertible.
“You can sit up,” she said, sounding amused, as she gunned the engine. She drove fast. I ducked anyways.
The only impression I had of the ride was passing green color and winding roads, all at too fast a speed. And then, Rosalie parked. “Sorry, Bella,” she said, laughing quietly. “I tried to slow down a bit, but it was too much.”
I peeked at our surroundings. It was a lot darker than before; cedar trees rose over a perfect house: white, three stories high, with a feeling of a home that had aged gracefully. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed.
“Thank you,” Rosalie said, getting out of the car. “It’s been a while.”
“What?”
“I normally drive out to my home, with Emmett.” Before I could even register this, she was walking towards the house. I ran after her, feeling even clumsier than usual beside her graceful stride.
Up the porch; my heart quickened. Seven vampires? Lord, what had I gotten myself into-
The door opened at the first sound of Rosalie’s knock, no doubt because of a vampire's amazing speed. Dr. Cullen. He smiled at me.
“Come in, Bella. We need to talk to you.”
I stepped into...an airy house. I had expected an almost medieval atmosphere, but everything was a different shade of white: muted white, to blinding white. Walls had evidently been knocked down and windows created so that the entire room was airy and elegant. A curved staircase (white, in case it wasn’t obvious enough) went to the second floor. The only thing that wasn’t completely white was a beautiful black grand piano.
“Hello, Bella.” Another perfect voice. This time, it was Esme Cullen: slender, light brown-haired, a heart-shaped face, and large, appealing golden eyes. She descended from the slight platform the piano was on and walked towards me, embracing me. She was in long sleeves, so it wasn’t cold, but I still froze. Her skin was harder than normal skin, not like rocks but it didn't give like skin should. But somehow, she still made the gesture accepting... She looked at me at an arm’s length. She smiled like she had some secret.
“Bella!” short, pixie-like Alice was beside me and she kissed me on the cheek. I started, but she grinned and walked, no, danced away from me, a foot away.
“Hey, Bella,” Jasper said, smiling faintly. He moved to stand beside Alice.
“You do smell pretty nice,” Alice said, no sign of apology in her voice. “Sorry, Edward’s been complaining.”
“No kidding,” Rosalie muttered beside me. I grinned.
“She’s here?” Emmett was at the bottom of the stairs; Rosalie went to him and they kissed, briefly.
“That was short,” Alice said, staring at them. Rosalie glared. “You two thinking about breaking up?” Emmett rolled his eyes.
“Bella?” Edward stared at me in disbelief from the bottom of the stairs. My eyes couldn’t register him moving right before me; he was still gazing at me as if he couldn’t believe that I was standing in his house. “Why are you here?”
“We just thought it was wise, now that Jasper has told her about James, that we discuss her safety,” Carlisle said pleasantly. Edward’s lips were pinched.
“I still can’t believe you told her,” Edward hissed.
“What’s wrong with telling me?” I asked loudly.
“She isn’t that dumb,” Jasper muttered. Edward’s body relaxed visibly, his face still mutinous; no doubt, Jasper’s control was settling Edward down.
“Your home is beautiful,” I said to Carlisle and Esme. They both smiled.
“We’re glad you like it,” Esme said.
“Come, let’s sit on the couch. This might take some time.” White again. Esme and Carlisle sat down on a couch, and Edward sat in a loveseat, alone. I seated myself in another loveseat, feeling awkward.
“Jasper’s already told you how James found you,” Carlisle said. He tapped the side of the chair, his head bent. “Your bad luck, more than anything, that he saw you. The fact that he saw Alice as well...well-“
“I’m really sorry about that!” Alice said, her face dramatically frowning as she stood beside me. I flinched; she was way too close, and I hadn’t expected her to be right next to me.
“Aren’t you scared?” I whispered. Alice shook her head.
“I don’t remember him. I’ll tell you later.”
I blinked, but Carlisle was moving on already. “Edward’s going to resume watching your house now that you know why.”
“He wasn’t watching my house?” I said.
“Not after you told me to leave,” Edward said. He leaned forward in his chair and his eyes, despite being golden, scared me like that first day. He was still a feral animal. I shrunk in my chair. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice soft, too soft. Dangerous.
My heart accelerated, and all seven vampires in the room tensed. They could sense my fear.
“I...I thought it was you opening the window still.”
Edward swore loudly and stormed out of the room. Jasper grinned. “I told him it’d be better to let Bella know what’s going on,” he said. As if in reply-probably in reply-there was the sound of metal snapping in two. Emmett sniggered.
“You would think he’d want to be here the most,” Rosalie said, examining her fingernails and settling herself on the armrest of the couch that Carlisle and Esme were on. “But no. He’s the first to storm out.”
“Rose,” Esme scolded.
“So he’s already been in your room,” Carlisle mused.
“Edward’s been in my room,” I said. “Doesn’t seem like a big deal-“
“Why would...why would James put it off?” Carlisle said, addressing his hands folded in his lap.
“Put off what? Killing her?” Emmett said, as if I wasn’t even there.
Alice’s eyes were closed. Carlisle looked at Alice. “Has it changed?”
“It’s still a room of glass...but it keeps shifting from a room filled with mirrors to a place that looks like this room.”
“This room?” Edward’s voice was sharp. He was standing in the doorway, his face still murderous, even though Jasper’s eyes were closed in an attempt to calm Edward down.
“Welcome back, psychic,” Emmett said.
“He’s changing his mind too fast,” Alice said, clutching her head as if suffering from a severe migraine.
“In that case, we’ll have to move more quickly. Charlie will have to be protected,” Esme said. “I...We could ask Billy Black to invite him to the reservation. James wouldn’t dare venture into an area where werewolves still linger.”
“Werewolves?” I whimpered. “Werewolves?”
“Later, Bella,” Edward said.
“Black isn’t even going to take a telephone call from us, and we can’t go anywhere near the reservation.”
“I’ll call Jacob,” I said, trying to forget about the werewolves as quickly as possible.
“No, we can’t do that,” Jasper said, his eyes narrowed. “The idea of another coven of vampires passing through will force werewolf transformations. We can’t afford that. Involving the Quilietes is out of the question.”
“Informing them of the threat will make them our allies-“ Esme started.
“Sorry, Esme, but you think too highly of them,” Jasper said through gritted teeth. “They’ll view this as a violation of the pact, and it isn’t even our coven doing the attacking.” Alice gasped and all of us turned.
“They’re moving faster. They’re in the city limits. James’ thoughts are scattered; Laurent is thinking of this house. We’ve got to move.”
“Then for now,” Carlisle said, “I think-“
“Charlie’s first,” Esme said. “I’ll go and protect him.”
I was expecting a typical male Cullen response: no, it’s too dangerous. But Carlisle, without even looking at Esme, squeezed her shoulders with an arm. “If you want to do that, then go.”
She rose, smiling at me, and then said, “Be safe, all of you.” Then she was gone.
“She’s more savage than you would think,” Carlisle said in response to the incredulous look on my face. “And she knows that if she fails to protect him, the werewolves will be after us.”
“Since Charlie’s out of the picture now, what’ll we do about Bella?” Rosalie snapped. “We have to hurry.”
Alice was silent now, rocking back and forth on the floor, her eyes closed. “Into the woods,” Edward said hoarsely. “Get Bella a change of clothing and disguise her scent. Driving is too obvious. All of us will have to carry her clothing.”
Rosalie was already running up the stairs. “What is she doing?” I croaked, standing up.
“Getting clothing for you. Your jeans and shirt should be enough,” Carlisle said. “Emmett and Rosalie will go with you. Edward and Alice together. And I’ll go with Jasper. We’ll try to encounter them first and calm James down,” Carlisle addressed Jasper, who nodded.
A pair of jeans and a silk shirt fell onto my head; Rosalie was standing on the staircase. I pulled them off, staring at them. “I can’t wear this!” I said without thinking.
“Change,” Rosalie’s expression was mutinous as she pointed to the bathroom. “Throw out your clothing once you’re done with it.”
I sighed and ran into the bathroom, putting on the ridiculously long pair of jeans, that must have been too baggy for Rosalie but fit me quite while, except my feet were completely swallowed by them. Evidently Rosalie had the height and looks of a model, and it showed.
The shirt, a red T-shirt, was also too large and I stepped out, feeling ridiculous. Rosalie picked up my pair of jeans and the black blouse I had been wearing and threw the pair of jeans to Alice, the blouse to Jasper.
“You’ll probably need to run,” Rosalie said, and producing a scissor out of nowhere, she kneeled and cut the pair of jeans so that they were at my knee. I pulled the segments of denim off my legs, trying to shut down my brain. This was too strange.
“You can’t go with Bella; it’ll be too obvious,” Jasper said, exasperated. Edward crossed his arms.
“I-“
“They’ll be following you the most precisely because you’re so protective of her,” Jasper said. “Just go with Alice and watch over her for me.”
“I’m not delicate,” Alice said, peeking out from between her fingers.
Jasper grinned. “I just like messing with you,” he said, rubbing her head. Her spiky black hair was messier now. “I know you’ll be fine.”
Edward sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”
AN: Yay, plot change! You can see I tightened up the plot significantly. No baseball.
Chapter 12