The Perfect Scene
Bella sighed as she entered the mall. The whole Cullen family were there, with Jacob tagging along at the back. They were all going Christmas shopping, and everyone was abuzz with excitement as they looked at the shops and started getting out their credit cards. Christmas was everyone's favourite time, except for Bella. Even as a vampire, she still didn't like the idea of people giving her presents. She felt someone tugging on her hand and looked down to see Nessie pointing at a store, Jacob just trying to stop her simply running in to it. Bella gave Jacob an appreciative smile, she was glad he was here, even if he was going to spoil Renesmee rotten. Well, they all were, she could see each member of her family looking at her with the same adoration that she was currently appraising her with now. Everyone loved to see Renesmee happy. It was like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time, dazzling, astonishing, and glorious. They ventured further into the mall until they stopped at an information point. Carlisle shushed them until he had their full attention. It took a few minutes.
"Okay, everyone. Instead of going around in one huge group why don't we split up? Me and Esme can go together, Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, Bella and Edward and Jacob and Renesmee. We meet back here in two hours." The rest of the group nodded and started getting into their pairs. By the time Carlisle had finished speaking they were all ready to go. They said their goodbyes and went off in different directions.
Exactly two hours later, nearly all of them were waiting at the information point. Only Jacob and Renesmee were missing. They waited for five minutes, their arms clad in bags, before they got impatient.
"Where's Nessie?" Edward said to no-one in particular. They all shrugged or shook their heads.
"And Jacob?" Bella added tensely. Rosalie snorted.
"Like we care" Bella glared at her, and Edward warned her carefully.
"Rose..." Bella heard the reluctance in his voice and sighed. What had Jacob done now?
"Wait. Do you hear that?" Alice interrupted, her eyes squinting in concentration. The others were silent as they listened to. It sounded like...shouting. And it was coming from an all too familiar voice.
"What has Jacob done now?" Bella said, verbalising her previous thought. She looked at her family for a few seconds before they all started running towards the noise, their bags banging against their bodies. They banged into a few humans on the way, on purpose, just to keep up the facade. They had enough time to spare that they didn't have to completely drop the act. They all ran at a human pace, in no hurry to face and solve the trouble Jacob had managed to get himself into. They rounded the corner and saw Jacob's irritated face, his voice loud as he shouted at the face in front of him. Judging by the uniform, he was a mall security guard. There was a small crowd watching the debate, and standing a few steps away from the crowd and nearer to Jacob was Nessie, her face contorted into worry and guilt. They were close enough that they could hear what Jacob was shouting.
"I'm going to tell you this for the last time. I did not steal anything. The tag must have accidently fallen into my bag. Check my receipt!" Jacob pulled a piece of paper from the bag and waved it in front of the security guard's face. He did not look amused. The Cullen's pieced the information together quickly. Renesmee must have slipped the tag in Jacob's bag for a joke, which was why she looked so guilty. But she couldn't tell anyone this, she shouldn't be able to speak perfect sentences for her age. Jacob knowing this had fabricated the excuse, but it seemed the security guard didn't believe him. None of them were surprised. Bella remembered a foggy human memory of Jacob coming to her school, and the students' reactions to him. He screamed dangerous. Anyone could see that. And his outraged screeching just made his excuse seem less true. Bella sighed, something like this could only happen to Jacob. They all looked at each other before they approached the argument. Together they went to get Jacob and Renesmee out of this mess.
"Excuse me" Carlisle interrupted Jacob mid screech and his face visibly relaxed when he saw Carlisle's calm approach. The security guard looked momentarily dazed, then composed himself, less hostile now he was staring at Carlisle's face.
"There seems to have been some misunderstanding" Carlisle's voice dripped with authority, but surprisingly the security guard didn't sway.
"No, there isn't. This...man attempted to steal something from the store." The security guard didn't think someone as garish as Jacob should be classified as a man. He wasn't far off. When Jacob started screeching again Carlisle cut him off with a look. The rest of the Cullens waited behind Carlisle, ready intervene at any moment.
"Why don't we go to a private room where we can discuss this properly-" the security guard hastily cut Carlisle off, a feat that seemed quite brave for the human.
"I'd rather discuss it here" where there are witnesses Bella silently added in her mind. From the look on her family's faces, she could tell they were thinking the same. Emmett, impatient with the situation stepped forward.
"Look he said he didn't do anything, so why don't you just check his receipt so we can go" Emmett's expression tipped the security guard off.
"Excuse me?" He retorted disgustedly. Even the human audience could see his patience was wearing thin.
"Renesmee, come over here" Alice chimed in, seeing Nessie's discomfort. She stepped forward, the gratitude clear on her face.
"Just wait one minute-" Rosalie hissed low enough that only the Cullen's and Jacob could possibly hear, and stepped forward.
"No, we will not wait one minute. What is your problem?" She stepped to Emmett's side, and the pair looked aggressive next to Carlisle's calm expression. The security guard got defensive.
"My problem is that I am trying to stop someone committing a crime, and you two are getting in my-" Jasper came forward now, and Alice danced around to whisper in Bella's ear.
"Get ready to run" she went back to Jasper's side, and she looked at her confused. Run?
"Look, just calm down" Bella felt a calming atmosphere sweeping the space, but it was too late. The security guard had gotten out his walkie talkie and was asking for back up. Emmett took a step forward – it was the wrong thing to do. The security guard let out a huff of anger and stepped next to him. The audience took in a breath as they saw the comparison between Emmett and him. Suddenly there was shouting behind them. The other security guards were running full speed toward them.
"Everybody run!" Alice shouted. Bella was already running, as soon as the words were out of Alice's mouth. She heard Esme whisper 'run!' to Jacob. He was temporarily frozen, before he reacted to Esme's words and ran slightly faster than normal human pace with the Cullens. Out of the corner of her eye Bella could see Renesmee perched on Edward's back, and felt a wave of relief at seeing her safe on her father's back. She heard their pursuer's slowly losing pace behind them, and sped up, the rest of the family following her lead. They rounded the corner and Bella heard Edward whisper to Alice.
"Where now?" Alice smiled and took the lead, turning her head back around to Edward to wink and whisper back.
"I've got an idea" Alice turned around the next corner and set her eyes on something straight in front of her. The hallway was mostly empty, and when Alice went under warning tape she could see why. Spread out in front of them was a huge Christmas scene, complete with life-size human mannequins of everyone at the Christmas scene. Bella smiled as she realised Alice's idea. She ranged her hearing out and could still hear the sounds of an exhausted but ongoing pursuit a way behind them. They had just enough time to make the switch. Alice got to the scene first and threw the mannequin behind the makeshift wooden barn. She took on the exact pose of the mannequin before her and stood still. Bella copied her idea and took the place of Mary, throwing the mannequin where Alice had. Edward and Renesmee where next to her instantly. Nessie replaced the baby in the manger and Edward took on the role of Joseph. They stood frozen while the others copied. Finally the scene was complete. A few seconds after this, the security guards rounded the corner and jogged up to the warning tape. They climbed over it and surveyed the scene. There before them stood the perfect Christmas scene. There were the parents and the child, on the left side of them three males, each one of them beautiful, and struck in different poses. The tall light blond haired male stood watching lovingly, the brown haired male next to him looked inquisitive and the older blonde male looked very wise and knowing. On the right hand side were three females, struck in adoring poses, their heads tilted towards the manager. All of the mannequins looked very beautiful. On the floor near the women was a type of animal, a horse presumably, lying down with its face turned away from the scene and into the barn. The perfect scene. The security guards marvelled at the beautiful pale white mannequin's, a strange serenity clear on all their faces. They were just turning away when the first security guard rounded the corner and caught up to them.
"They got away. You don't need to go down there, it's just the Christmas scene." The security guard huffed in frustration.
"They really have outdone themselves this year. That horse looked almost lifelike. And those poses, that brown haired male especially, were incredible." Bella heard their voices fade away as they rounded the corner. She looked over in Emmett's direction and fought the urge to burst into laughter. Emmett's hand was locked around his jaw, his features looking 'deep in thought'. He looked smart and wise, which was such a contradiction from the Emmett she knew that it was laughable. She wondered how the security guards had managed not to laugh at him, but they wouldn't have gotten the joke. Finally everyone unfroze and looked around, like the figurines were coming to life. Jacob quickly strode behind the barn and phased, putting his clothes on before rejoining the group.
"Great idea, Alice!" Emmett clapped his large hand onto Alice's tiny shoulder, and any human would have wondered how she didn't crumble under the force. But she simply stayed in her position and grinned.
"Of course we wouldn't have needed to have done that if Jacob hadn't-" Rosalie sneered at Jacob. Renesmee jumped out of the manger and guilt washed over her features.
"Don't blame him Rosalie." Her trilling voice echoed slightly off the white marble like walls. "It was my fault, I thought it would be funny to get Jacob in trouble. I didn't know..." Nessie looked down and everyone gathered around her, comforting her.
"No-one blames you Renesmee" Rosalie shot an angry glare at Jacob when she couldn't see, and Jacob rolled his eyes. Some things never change.
"Let's get out of here, before they bring everyone to look at the amazing Christmas scene" Edward said sarcastically, and everyone nodded in agreement. They took the back doors out until they got to the street. They started walking towards the car park.
"Emmett you have to let me take a picture of that expression, its gold!" Jacob laughing, ignoring Rosalie on the other side of him completely.
"Well..." Emmett said faking modesty. They all laughed.
"You would have thought I'd have seen that happening" Alice laughed.
"Well, it was Nessie's decision, so it was a surprise for all of us" Carlisle reasoned. Renesmee blushed, a habit she had inherited from Bella, and looked downwards.
"Do you think they'll let us in there again?" Jasper asked to the group.
"Not if we're with Jacob!" Bella laughed, and Jacob mock punched her on the shoulder. Jacob laughed, but cut off suddenly and sadness sunk in as he had a realisation.
"I forgot my bags!" Jacob sighed as he looked at his empty hands. "I'll be right back!" Jacob ran off into the doors. Alice grinned wickedly and they all stared at the doors, waiting for something to happen. It didn't take long. They heard Jacob's cries as he ran out of the doors, a panicked expression set on his face. He looked behind him as the doors opened once more, and the original security guard ran out chasing him, looking very angry indeed. They all laughed loudly as Jacob ran past him, the security guard following seconds after. They watched the chase as they walked to their cars, none of them getting in, just watching Jacob getting chased around the car park. It was very amusing.
"We might need to visit a new mall" Esme murmured to herself.
"No way! I want to see what happens when we come back!" Emmett cried in enthusiasm. The idea didn't seem too bad. They watched as the security guard stopped for a breath, and Jacob flat out sprinted towards the cars. Edward pushed the alarm so Edward could jump into the Volvo, his seatbelt on in seconds and his chest rising and falling heavily against it.
"Drive!" He shouted through the window. Edward opened the door, but paused before getting in. A grin swept over his features.
"Same next week?" He asked. They all laughed and nodded in agreement. Bella watched Jacob's panicked expression as he saw the security guard start to run again. She grinned widely. Maybe the mall wasn't so bad after all.