I was nervous. No, that didn't describe it properly. Petrified, yes, that's it. I wasn't sure I could do this, but Edward assured me it was going to be fine.
We were standing outside the cafeteria door of our new school. We were supposed to start classes this morning, but I was too scared, so we stayed at home until I calmed down.
I glanced at Edward, he was staring at me. I gave him a look of desperation, and he smiled his crooked smile. It was only me and Edward, if he could do this then I could too.
Just think of Edward. I told myself. Don't think about anything else.
Edward.
I sighed and straightened my back, a little too quickly, but there weren't any humans around to witness it.
The others were there too: Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie. They were standing against the wall waiting for me and Edward to return, to know if I decided to do this or not.
"Edward." I whispered.
"It's alright, Bella. You'll do fine, love." He smiled down at me.
"But what if I snap, what if I loose it and kill everyone in sight."
"I won't let that happen." He kissed my forehead.
I still wasn't sure. I mean, I've done great over the two years. I've never killed a single human or tasted human blood. I've been in public a lot, but no where there were a lot of people. I've never even considered killing anyone. But I've never been around a large numbers before, until now.
I could tell there were lots of humans; I could hear all of them clearly as if they were right beside me. Hundreds of different voices— hundreds!
I began to hyperventilate. Edward put his arm around me and kissed my hair.
Edward, think of nothing but Edward.
"Okay, let's do this." I whispered, but I knew he could hear.
Alice and the others moved away from the wall and come over. They all put a hand on me and whispered an assortment of "Good-luck's" and "You-can-do-its."
We began walking towards the cafeteria doors. I felt like running away into the surrounding forest and never turning back. But the second I considered it, Alice put a hand my shoulder and whispered in my ear:
"Don't even think about it."
Great, she knew what my plan was. Of course I should've known she'd see it, the second I decided anything she knew. All thanks to her special little gift.
We reached the doors, and I hesitated. Edward pulled open the door, and Rosalie shoved me forward.
The second I stumbled into the cafeteria, all eyes were on me. I stood up straight and stared at everyone, my eyes wide. I began to play with a strand of my hair, trying hard to keep at a slow, human pace. By this time, Edward has his arm around my waist, and Rosalie and the others stood beside me.
I almost laughed; every human eye was on us. The boy's eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they saw me, Alice, and Rosalie. And the girl's mouths dropped as they took in Edward, Jasper, and Emmett.
The others walked towards the lunch line as if nothing was happening. I needed Edward to pull me along, otherwise I wouldn't have moved.
I hadn't taken a breath since I entered the room, but no one seemed to notice. We kept walking until we caught up with the others. I grabbed a lunch tray and reached for random items.
[i]Edward. Keep thinking of Edward, nothing but Edward.[i] I chanted to myself.
Edward. Edward. Edward.
I sat down next to Alice at the table she was sitting at. I sighed. Crap, I just lost most of my air. I was going to have to breathe soon, I knew it.
Edward sat down on the other side of the table, next to Rosalie and Emmett, who were laughing and whispering to each other. I didn't bother to pay attention to what they were whispering about; I extended my ears out to the crowds of people.
"Wow, look at the brunette, such a babe." Someone was saying.
"I'm so much prettier than that blonde." Another was snapping.
"The short one with the spiked hair, I'd tap that."
"I heard they moved from Alaska!"
"See the tall one with the sort of golden hair,"
That caught my attention, discretely glanced towards where the voice came from. A small, red-haired girl was looking directly at Edward.
"He'll be my boyfriend by the end of the week." She continued.
"I thought he was with the brunette on the other end of the table." The person next to her asked.
I averted my eyes down to the food in front of me.
"She's not even that pretty; she's not a threat."
A low growl escaped my lips, I couldn't control myself. That was it for my air. I took a deep breath; the others were staring at me. My throat ripped and burned, aching for the blood, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I shoved the burning to the back of my mind and looked up at the others.
Alice looked confused, as did Rosalie and Emmett. Jasper looked concerned, as did
Edward.
"It's nothing, sorry." I whispered.
"What's wrong?" Alice asked.
"It's nothing."
"Bella . . ." I looked at Edward, he was staring me.
"I'm fine." I smiled lightly.
I picked at my food, and listened for the red-haired girl again. I could sense Edward still staring at me. But I didn't look up; I knew he would ask me a million questions with his eyes.
"I can just imagine it now." I heard the red-haired girl say, "Me and him, sitting on my bed looking into each others eyes intensely, and lovingly. He'll kiss me passionately and we'll never leave my bed, until morning, that is."
This time, I quietly hissed. I looked up; everyone was staring at me, again. I looked at
Edward, he looked at me, then over towards where the red-haired girl sat, and then he smiled his crooked smile. I glared, which made him quietly laugh.
"Did we miss something?" Emmett asked.
"Bella?" Edward asked.
"He'll be all mine!" I heard the red-haired girl say, and I snapped.
I stood quickly, too quickly, inhumanly quickly. But no one noticed. I wanted to jump at her and rip her throat apart. I was going to do it; I was going to kill her, right here, right now.
"Edward!" Alice said.
I took a quick glance at Edward, he was looking at Alice. His expression was concerned, but it quickly turned to horror. I took a step forward, towards the red-haired girl. The humans were beginning to notice me, but I didn't care. I was going to kill her; anyone who saw would die to. I took another step, but Edward grabbed me and pulled me across the cafeteria and out the door. I didn't resist, there was no point. Even though I wanted to kill that red-haired girl, I knew I couldn't or it'd ruin anything.
Edward pulled into the school parking lot and turned to face me.
"What was that about?" He asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I lied.
"I read Alice's mind, Bella. She saw you ripping apart that girl."
"S-sorry, she said—" I felt like crying.
"Yes, I heard her thoughts." He sighed. "I knew this was a bad idea, to bring you into this kind of environment so soon. You've done excellent, Bella, your self-control is amazing. But we shouldn't have done this so soon, we should've—"
I put my hand to his mouth to make him stop.
"No, no, it wasn't to soon . . ."
"Of course it was. You nearly killed someone, Bella."
"I—I—"
But I didn't finish my sentence. I began to run, with inhuman speed, into the forest at the edge of the parking lot. I ran deeper and deeper into the forest. I ran until I reached the house.
The new house that we lived in was like the one in Forks, Washington. We had left Forks a couple months ago and came to live in a different town in the Olympic Peninsula. The house was the same pale white, and had a black roof. Esme had the entire back wall of the house turned into glass. It was three stories high and had tons of room. Mine and Edward's bedroom was on the third floor, near the back of the house, just like in Forks. I love this house, but I still missed the old one.
And my cottage, I thought, and smiled. I loved the cottage that Esme had built for us.
I was greeted by Jacob, who was playing on the front porch with Renesmee. I was always taken aback by how large she's grown over the past couple years. Her golden ringlets fell down to her waist, and she was as large as a six year old and still growing everyday.
"Hey, Bells. What are you doing here?" Jacob asked as he bounced a ball at Renesmee.
"I came home early. I almost killed a girl for thinking she could get with Edward. " I laughed awkwardly.
"Oh, well . . ." Was all Jacob said.
"Edward managed to get me away in time, but I ran back here just in case . . . maybe I wasn't ready for the whole school thing." I frowned.
"Nonsense, you're perfectly ready." Jacob protested. "You just had a small moment of weakness. It's not a big deal. You should go back."
"Where are Carlisle and Esme?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"They went hunting. Bella, stop trying to change the subject, go to school." He sounded so motherly that I had to laugh.
"Bella . . ." He glared playfully.
I sighed.
"What if I can't handle it?"
"You'll be fine, Bells. Now go."
"Maybe I should stay here with Renesmee" I said and reached out to her.
She bounced into the air and landed in my arms. I hugged her close, but she tapped my face to get my attention.
"What is it?" I asked her.
She held her hand to my face, and I saw a flashback of this morning when the others and I were leaving for school. She took her hand away and I stared at her.
"You think I should go back, to?" I asked her, and she nodded.
I sighed and plopped her on the ground. I smiled as she ran back to Jacob and threw the ball at him.
Jacob. My best friend, he'd been there whenever I needed him. The one who'd said goodbye to me over and over, only to keep coming back. He was my Jacob, and no one could change that.
"Go!" He laughed.
I nodded once and ran back into the forest.
***
I froze outside the classroom door. I was late, and I knew Edward would be worried about
me. He was just on the other side of the door.
Edward. I thought. Think about nothing but Edward. I mean it, Bella! Don't disappoint your family.
I sighed and opened the door.
Edward's eyes were already on me, I could tell he was waiting for me. I gave an apologetic smile to the teacher, who was staring at me. His eyes nearly popped out of his head, just like the boys in the cafeteria. I continued down the isle and sat next to Edward. I could feel his gaze on me; he wanted me to talk to him. But there were too many humans near; they'd hear if we spoke. We could've whispered quietly, as vampires we could whisper so quiet no one could hear. But I wasn't going to risk it.
I closed my eyes and concentrated hard, I could feel my shield building momentum. I channeled all my energy to it, and then I pushed it. I pushed it around me and Edward until we were in our own little bubble.
Edward. I thought, knowing he could hear me now. I'm so sorry for earlier. I just snapped. But I'm in control now, I promise.
I opened my eyes and saw him nod slightly. He trusted me again, thank god. I don't think I could've handled it if he didn't.
Edward and I walked outside through the parking lot to where Alice was waiting for us. She had had another vision and wanted us to meet her at her car.
"Edward, what did Alice see?" I asked.
"I'm not sure." He replied.
"Didn't you just read her mind?"
"I tried, but she kept thinking of French poetry."
I could see Alice's car just ahead. Rosalie and Emmett were already there, along with
Jasper.
We walked up, and everyone looked at each other, rather confused.
"What's going on, Edward?" Rosalie asked.
"I'm not sure." Edward replied.
"How can you not know?" Emmett frowned.
"Alice was very careful not to let anything slip." Edward grimaced, he hated not knowing, I
could tell.
"Jasper, what was her mood like when you talked to her last?" I asked, and everyone turned to stare at him.
"Frantic." He replied.
I looked at Edward. He was staring back at me, a look of confusion on his face.
"I'm sure it's not a big deal." I lied, but it made him relax slightly.
Suddenly, Alice jumped out of the trees, holding Renesmee in her arms. I instantly ran forward towards Alice, my arms outstretched. She handed me Renesmee without a word and continued to run to the others.
"Their coming." She said.
"Who's coming?" Edward asked.
"The wolves: Leah, and the rest of them." Alice paced back and forth.
"B-but why?" I stuttered, looking down at Renesmee.
Renesmee.
Jacob.
"Alice, where's Jacob?" I asked.
The second I mentioned Jacob Renesmee frowned and put her hand to my cheek. I saw Jacob turning into a wolf and Renesmee jumping onto his back. I saw them running through the forest. Renesmee giggled, but Jake stopped in place. He dropped Renesmee to the ground and ran away!
I flinched in anger. How could he leave my baby alone in the forest!
Renesmee hit my face to get my attention. I quietly let her finish.
I saw her sitting in the grass, then Alice running up to her and carrying through the forest.
Then I saw the last few seconds, Alice handing her to me and her telling me the story. She dropped her hand and I turned to Alice.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The wolf pack is coming. They think you're killing innocent humans, Bella."
"What?" I didn't know what else to say.
"I'm not exactly sure what brought them to that conclusion, but I saw Jacob run off to try and
stop them."
"This can't be happening." I sighed.
"We have to do something." Emmett looked around, but no one moved.
Edward was suddenly at my side, gripping his hand with mine.
"I'm taking Bella away." He stated.
"No." I protested and pulled away.
He looked at me, desperation on his face. But I ignored it.
"If we leave, they'll just hunt me down, anyway. There's no point to it. I say we wait here for
them and try to get them to listen to us." I glanced at Edward, he knew I was right.
"Like we did with the Voultri?" That was the first time Rosalie had spoken since we got here.
"Exactly, only it'll probably be harder with the wolves. They've been itching for a fight for
ages." Jasper didn't look up as spoke.
"Rosalie," Alice said. "Go call Carlisle."
"How long until they arrive?" I asked Alice.
"They've been running here for the past half hour. We're not overly far from Forks . . ." Alice trailed off as her face went blank.
While Alice searched the future, I turned to Edward. He looked at me sadly.
"It'll turn it alright." I smiled, and he smiled his crooked smile.
"I know, but I'm still worried about you."
"This has all happened to fast."
He caressed the side of my face with his hand.
"I know." He bent down and kissed me.
Edward kissing me still sent shivers down my spine. I wrapped my leg around his and lifted myself up to his height. I heard the faint sound of Rosalie say there was no answer on Carlisle's cell, but I was to busy for it to register.
Someone coughed behind us, and we broke apart unwillingly.
Emmett laughed and nearly fell to the ground.
"I bet if she could she'd be blushing right now!" He guffawed.
I was about to punch him in the arm, like I always did when he made fun of me, but Alice's eyes fluttered open.
"Five to Ten minutes, max." She said and looked around.
Emmett had stopped laughing and was watching her contently. She blinked a couple of times and then spoke again.
"If we don't move away from the school, I see a bloodbath everywhere."
"Edward" I whispered, "Renesmee."
I held her up, to show that she was with us. Sometime during all this, she fell asleep.
Edward looked at her, then up at me.
"I guess we have to bring her."
Not even a second after he said it we were all running through the forest, away from the school.
***
We picked a small clearing to stop and wait. It was far away from the town and the school. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting under a tree not to far off. Jasper and Alice were talking quietly on the other side of the clearing. Edward and I were kissing quietly behind a tree, not far from the others. Renesmee was sleeping between our laps. We didn't know how this little battle with the wolves would go, but just in case something happened we were making sure we lost no time. The wolves didn't pose as much of as threat as some of the other creatures we've fought, but they still sent shivers down my spine.
"I love you" I whispered.
"As I love you." He smiled and I kissed him again.
"One minute!" Alice called, sending the mood into a more serious one.
We all ran into the center of the clearing. Alice's face was blank, searching. Jasper was next to her, holding her hand tightly. Rosalie and Emmett were right behind them. Edward and I stood beside Alice and Jasper We had left Renesmee behind the tree, hopefully safe, but just in case, during the fighting either I or Edward would run and protect her.
"Get ready." Alice said, snapping back from her vision.
We all crouched into defensive positions. Alice pointed to where they were going to emerge
from, and we all turned to face it. I was a little ways back then the rest, closer to the tree
where Renesmee was sleeping.
We all watched as the bushes rustled quietly, and the sound of approaching paws could be heard. I braced myself for anything, ready to jump and protect Renesmee from anything that came her way.
Leah was the first; she jumped into the clearing and charged straight at me. I dodged her first swipe, and ran towards the others. She chased me around the clearing. Edward and
Alice ran up behind Leah and smashed their fists into her side.
Sam was next, followed by Quil and Embry. They charged at Rosalie and Emmett. But they were quick and jumped on the wolves back.
My attention was diverted as Leah took another pounce at me, her claws outstretched and heading for my neck. She was about to claw at me, when Edward smashed his body against hers and she slammed into a tree.
Suddenly, a shrill cry came from the trees.
Renesmee.
I turned and raced back towards the tree I left her at. But one of the wolves smashed my side. I went skidding and hit a tree. I looked towards Renesmee's tree. I tried to stand, but something was holding me down. I looked down and saw a big, black wolf crushing his paws against me.
Sam.
"Sam, Renesmee." I tried to say, but he crushed his paw harder.
I let out a gasp of pain. Pain, how weird it felt now that I wasn't used to it. Being a vampire
had made me softer than before.
I looked up at Sam; he was looking down at me, hatred in his eyes. How different he looked.
Before he used to look at me like I was a friend, now I was his enemy.
Renesmee cried again.
I didn't even think. I had to get away; I had to save my baby. I did the unthinkable, I bit Sam's leg. His blood poured into my mouth, but it tasted bitter. I felt the venom fill my mouth. I quickly pulled my teeth out before the venom went into his wound. Vampire venom was poisonous to werewolves.
Sam cringed away from me; letting his weight shift just enough for me to push him off me. I stood and ran to the tree where Renesmee was waiting. But when I got there, she was gone. I searched frantically, but there was no sign of her. I ran into the clearing and screamed her name at the top of my lungs.
"RENESMEE!"
The fighting stopped, all attention was on me. I knew why the wolves had stopped:
Renesmee was Jacob's imprint partner. And no matter what, the pack couldn't allow harm
to come to one of the members imprint. It was law. So they looked at me as I searched high and low for her, examining the trees and the rocks. Edward was helping too, along with
Alice. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were standing by the wolves, keeping them from the three of us.
Alice stopped, her face went blank. She was having another vision. Edward stopped as well.
He was reading her thoughts. I stood, horrified, watching. Finally, Alice came back to reality and Edward glanced at me.
"Jacob." Alice said.
Suddenly, the red wolf I'd seen so many times came walking out from the bushes. Renesmee was resting on his back. I ran over to them and picked up Renesmee. I hugged her close to me, crying loudly.
When I finally looked up, the wolves were walking into the forest slowly. Jacob followed after them, not looking at me once. I ran back to Edward and hugged both him and Renesmee.
"What was that about?" Emmett asked.
"They just . . . left!" Jasper said in disbelief.
"This is way strange." Rosalie frowned.
"Let's get back to school." Alice smiled and walked across the clearing.
We all looked at her, shocked.
"What?" Emmett asked.
"Let's go back to school. The trouble is over." Alice called back.
"But, how?" Emmett wouldn't let this go.
"I'll explain sometime." She continued to walk away.
"I think I'm just going to go home. This is too weird for me." Rosalie said, and walked off in the opposite direction as Alice. Emmett followed, giving a weird look at Alice. Jasper, of course, followed after Alice.
"Jasper, wait!" Edward called and he turned. "Could you please take Renesmee home? We'll catch up in a minute."
I handed Renesmee over to Jasper. He took her calmly and walked off after Rosalie and
Emmett. I turned to Edward, confused.
"We're not going home?" I asked.
"Yes, we are. But I need to do something at school first." He smiled his crooked smile and grabbed my hand. We then ran off after Alice.
***
Alice was waiting for us at the front doors of the school. The bell had not rung yet. Surprisingly, the entire battle thing only took about an hour.
"Why did you come back, Alice?" Edward asked.
"I had a vision after the battle ended. Let's just say I didn't want to miss this." She smiled.
"Edward, what's she talking about?" I asked.
"Come on." He opened the door and let me and Alice enter. I didn't forget that he hadn't
answered my question.
He led us through the halls, and stopped across the hall from a science classroom.
"Edward, what are we do—"
The end of school bell cut me off. The hall began to fill with students.
I turned when I heard a familiar voice talking behind me.
"There he is!" It screeched.
I turned, and saw the red-haired girl standing on the other side of the hall with a couple other girls, looking at Edward with her dark eyes.
I glared.
"He's totally into you!" One girl said.
"He's going to be all mine, just wait and see." the red-haired girl laughed.
"Isn't that his girlfriend next to him, though?"
Wife. I thought to myself.
"Like I said, she's nothing. Next to me, she's just a plain little Bi—"
"Excuse me." The voice cut the red-girl off.
I looked beside her. Edward was now standing beside her. I hadn't even noticed him move.
"Oh, hi!" The red-haired girl screamed.
Her two friends began to whisper.
"Yes, Briana, is it?" Edward asked, smiling down at her.
Briana. Her name sent jealousy through my body.
"Yes, that's me." Briana turned to her friend and whispered: "He knows my name!" The two girls squealed and she turned back to Edward.
Edward stared at her with the eyes that he always looked at me with. Smoldering into hers, she looked like she might faint. It made me sick.
"Well, Briana." Edwards tone became bitter. "I've heard what you've been saying. How you think I want to date you, and how you think your prettier than me Wi— girlfriend" He corrected.
I smiled, he almost said "Wife"
"Uh . . ." Briana stuttered.
"Well I don't like it very much at all. I would appreciate it if you stopped saying those things."
He glared at her, his eyes fierce. Briana looked like she might die of fear.
"Y-yeah o-okay." She flinched.
Edward walked over to my side, Briana still watching in terror. Edward bent down to kiss me. I kissed him back, my body shivered lightly.
I pulled away and smiled. I heard Alice laugh quietly in the background.
"I love you." I said.
"As I love you." He smiled his crooked smile.