I shook my head at the textbook lay open in front of me, and my mind got clouded with numbers. While I was keeping up with my homework and my classes, this particular theory had me puzzled, and I wanted to get my head around it before my next class. I skipped a song on my iPod, and turned up the volume even further – letting the music distract me from any other noises surrounding me.
A sudden groan of spring alerted me to someone climbing on to my bed and I jumped, before turning around to an amused looking Edward.
"You should really lock your door," he stood up and walked over to me, looking at the math problems. "Huh, algebra," he looked over a few of the pages before looking back up at me. I noticed that even though he should have looked dishelved after spending sometime in the outside, getting into my house, he still looked like someone out of a Hollister magazine.
"It's never really been a problem before," I answered, while tying my hair back, realizing what a state I must have looked like to him. He climbed back onto my bed and looked around my room, before lying down completely and staring at the ceiling.
"Do you want something?" I asked timidly. While I was flattered, and slightly embarrassed, that he had come to visit me, the only reason I could think of that he would do it was to ask me of something, or take me somewhere.
"No," he propped himself up on his elbows, with his torso still resting on the bed, "I just wanted to check up on you," he looked into my eyes intensely, and I looked away meekly. He intimidated me, but not in a way that made me scared of him, but rather in a way that made me question what he thought when he looked at me.
I rolled my eyes and turned my chair around so I was facing my desk again and picked up my pen, "That's really unnecessary," I reassured him for what seemed like the 100th time. "I know how to look after myself," and while I tried to convince myself that I should, and was, be focused on my math problems, I could feel his eyes burning holes into the back of my head.
"You could ask me for help," I could hear the smugness in his voice but I refused to respond to it, instead just shaking my head.
"I need to be able to figure this one out on my own," I didn't take my eyes of my work and I knew that he was starting to bore of the little game we were playing. I wasn't going to add fuel to the fire, and knowing that he would probably ask me to come with him somewhere soon didn't make me want to rush anything either. I looked back at him to see his expression and reaction and he raised his eyebrows at me, tempting me.
He sat up on my bed then, and his face contorted, but not like he was in pain, but rather like he was thinking really hard. His eyes were closed tightly, and his forehead was creased with wrinkles, as he frowned hard. I tried to decipher his emotions, but he seemed to have just gone to another place.
"Edward?" he held up one finger in response, and it scared me. He had told me to wait before, but I knew the reason. This time, however, he seemed to be on his own, and there was nothing I could do to help him. The feeling of helplessness dwelled in my stomach before he opened his eyes wide and stood up.
"Edward?" I tried again, and it seemed like an hour had passed before he opened his eyes.
"Jasper," was all he said before he bolted from my room and was gone with a blur. I picked up my phone, realizing that it had no signal in my room – stupid piece of plastic, was the only thought in my head as I chucked it in my jeans pocket, ran down the stairs and into my truck.
The thunderous roar of the engine started up as I started up the engine, and with a few goes I was headed out of my dad's property and to the Cullen mansion. Edward had never reacted like that before to anything, and he never used his speed or abilities in front of me unless they were to help me in any way.
It was raining, as usual, and while reckless driving was usually prohibited in my car especially, I couldn't help swerving a little as I tried to get to the Cullen's without my skull being fractured, as quickly as possible. As I drove up their driveway, thoughts and pictures of what could've happened with Jasper came into my mind and I took a minute to steady breathing before I got out my car and slammed the door close.
I ran up the stairs and rung the doorbell impatiently. The door was answered after a few minutes to an unimpressed Rosalie.
"Oh," she almost sneered, as she took in my appearance, "The humans here," she called a little louder into the rest of the house and looked back at me, with an expression that clearly showed distaste. "I guess you should come in," she said, almost regretfully as she let me in, and almost shoved the door closed on the heel of my foot. "You should know," she lowered her voice, "That none of this concerns you, and the thought that you have gotten so involved in my family already disgusts me. You have no place he-"
"Oh Bella," Esme flew in, with grace that I thought impossible, "I expect Edward told you everything then," she looked at me then and I realized just how distressed she looked. Her usually flawless and elegant face showed signs of obvious worry and she stood shaking a little and she welcomed Bella with a generous hug.
"Actually," I started, "He left my room as soon as he got there. He didn't say anything before he left," I noticed that Esme gave me a surprised look before she welcomed me further into the house, with one arm on my back, and the other leading the way.
"I should let Alice explain," she murmured lowly as she took me into the huge sitting area. The immediate wall of anxiety and stress that hit me when I walked in almost blew me away. While the Cullen's were usually calm and placid, the room looked chaotic.
Carlisle and Edward were talking among themselves, and seemed to be closed off to anything else. Emmett paced the room, back and forth, and I watched and wandered how long he could keep it up. And Alice, oh Alice, she sat perched on the very edge of the couch with her head in her hands.
I walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little before looking at me and standing up.
"Bella," she softly cried as she threw her arms around my neck, "He lost control," she whimpered into her shoulder, as though pleading for forgiveness and finally some of the pieces fell into place. Alice clung to me and I couldn't help but feel sympathy and sorrow for the small girl. Something had clearly rattled her, and while people touching me didn't usually appeal to me, I couldn't bear to let the girl go.
Carlisle's head snapped up, and I knew it was clear that he could smell and recognize my blood instantly, but instead of making me scared, it reassured me that Carlisle posed no threat to my safety. He stood up and walked over to me before placing a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder, and another on her lower back as he seemed to guide her back to the couch.
I looked over to see Edward, staring out a window, still snapping out of his daze. The sound of a growl made everyone snap their heads up, as Emmett eyes blazed. Although, I didn't recognize it as anger, more as worry and concern laced with high levels of stress. The usually calm and playful Emmett was almost scared of something.
Esme rushed to his side, but jumped back as his deep voice filled the room.
"We were going well, he was getting under control," he stated in a raised voice before he raised his arm, as if to hit something, before lowering it again. "I don't understand," he lowered his voice gradually, until it was only a little louder than normal, "He was doing well."
Carlisle stood up, after comforting Alice and tried to calm him down, "Sometimes we snap, Emmett. You know as well as I do that he was a risk, and he was still jumpy," he frowned, as it trying to hold a conversation with a twitchy person. "You can't blame yourself," he told him, collecting everyone's emotions and voicing them; "It wasn't anyone's fault."
I stood silently next to Esme as Rosalie walked through the door, "He's going to ruin everything," she said, "He's going to let people know," she sat down next to Alice, but not comforting her, just sipping at her tea – as innocently as she could.
Edward stood up and seemed to head straight for her before stopping short and staring her down. "You're not the most important being on the planet," he snarled. "Your brother is somewhere, and while he may be caught, how long do you think he's going to keep this up. He's going to get hurt, and before we worry about our family's reputation," he let the word hang in the air before continuing, "How about we make sure that we haven't let a piece of our family go out on a personal suicide mission," he finished, slurring the last few words, trying to let the message sink into Rosalie's head.
In response, she simply rolled her eyes, as Emmett came up behind her as if in support and laid a hand on the backrest of the sofa. "That's what this is about though, isn't it? We don't want people to find out about us. Though with the human dropping by every minute, it seems, I wonder how long we'll be able to keep it up."
Edward growled, but made no move to defend himself or carry on the argument – not that Esme would have permitted it either way.
"Enough," her voice demanded authority, "We have enough to think about without any of this," she nodded to me quickly. "Bella is a part of this now, whether you choose to accept it or not, and we have to include her. Now all we know is that in the time that Carlisle was at the hospital, Edward went to Bella's and Emmett, Rosalie and Alice went to do a little bit of hunting," with this she narrowed her eyes at the three of them, making the message clear – that itself had put their family at risk –but continued on, "Jasper left the house without any warning and soon later, Carlisle had numerous patients come in with what was though of as spider bites," she frowned, "Though a lot of blood had been lost."
I shifted uncomfortably, as all the information was finally given to me. Edward was the only one who noticed and he frowned at me, as if noticing me in the room for the first time.
"Alice also had a vision of Jasper draining a human of their life," I shuddered, but continued to listen. "We all thought that this was going to happen," she knew there was no denying it, "And the only thing that we have left to do is to find him."
Emmett made an impatient sound and stood up even further.
"We know, Esme, but how are we even sure that this is Jasper," he looked around, but everyone knew that even as he said it, he knew the truth.
I jumped as the sound of my phone rang shrilly throughout the room, and tempers rose even further.
"Hello?" The word seemed to burn up with the tension in the air.
"Bella," Charlie's calm voice came through the receiver. "Bella," he repeated, "Lock the front door and all the windows of the house. We're not sure but we're tracking some sort of psychopath down into the La Push estate," I took in a small gasp at the news. The treaty would be broken, and could start a potential war, if this was Jasper.
"Bella?" Charlie's voice now held a hint of concern.
"Sorry, yeah dad," I knew I sounded distant, "I'll do that. Be safe," I said, as a sort of good-bye.
"Okay," Charlie seemed convinced, "Bye," and the line went dead.
Six expecting pairs of eyes faced mine as I looked up again, and the news seems to throw the room into even more havoc.
"They think he's headed into La Push."