This story will be a collection of cut and/or altered scenes from Lovegame. For example, this first one was an alternate scene for chapter 11. Originally, Alice was supposed to meet Bella before Carlisle did. Some of the dialogue and behaviors might seem familiar from chapters 10 and 11.
She was perplexed at the sight that awaited her at the end of the hall. A girl with cropped dark hair was leaning against the lockers, a warn book with a familiar crease in her small hands. Bella blinked in the hope that her eyes were deceiving her- that perhaps the physical strain of the last couple of days had finally caught up with her.
She blinked again when the image before her didn't change. And again. The stranger was reading the words, eyes intently focused on the pages. Bella couldn't be exactly sure if it was in fact hers, but as she neared it became more and more evident that this was the same book he had stolen from her bedroom.
Yet all she could ask was: Why?
After he had returned it to her the last time, she had locked the book in the top drawer of her desk – much too horrified to consider it any longer. She remembered the tiny phrase etched in delicate ink, the thinly veiled threat enough to shake her to her core. The click of the tiny lock should have been enough to banish the reminders of his stalking.
Unfortunately it was not.
How should she approach this new situation? It appeared that every time she managed to gain a tiny bit of control it was spontaneously ripped from her.
Bella had no idea what the appropriate protocol was for demanding a book back that was supposed to be locked up in a desk drawer miles away. As she puzzled over this problem, the girl turned and blatantly stared at her.
Ochre eyes burned into her brown ones. Their color was striking, unusual…different than anything human. She was like the one who had attempted to take her from the woods last night. Emmett. He had the same golden eyes due to his unique diet of animal blood. Would this girl also make the try to take her away from Edward?
Bella walked to this stranger slowly, feeling lured in by her gaze. The girl blinked finally, once she was only a foot or two away. Awkwardly, Bella held her hand out. "I think you picked up my book by accident."
"Oh, it's no accident," the dark haired girl answered as she closed the beat up paperback. She held it up for a moment, seemingly to admire it. "I'm guessing you've read it a couple of times?"
Bella nodded. "More than once, that's for sure. Can I have it back?" There was no point in attempting to be tactful – she was far past playing the manners game.
"I especially love the little note sprinkled across the title page," the stranger said. "But, love, hate on, for now I know thy mind - how sweet." Her eyes narrowed. "One might even say it could be a threat."
Bella tried to squelch the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the comment. Anger bubbled up deep, surprising her with its intensity. "I know what you are," she said matter-of-factly. "I know you're the same as him, that you might be a nomad or someone he knew before. You have different eyes but that doesn't make you any safer than he is."
She paused in her rambling, taking a moment to search the stranger's features for any sort of tell. Predictably, there was none. The girl's face remained emotionless, even when Bella took a brave step closer to her.
"I'm not sure why you're here. You and the rest of them – those men I met in the woods, the ones who tried to pick a fight with Edward," continued Bella.
At the last comment, the girl's face darkened remarkably. She leaned in toward Bella, reaching her free arm out to grab the brunette's forearm and jerk it up to bring the still infected bite into sight. "Jasper and Emmett were there to provide a warning to him, not pick a fight. I don't care about what happens to you, Bella Swan. I only care about keeping my family safe."
Her grip tightened, causing Bella to give a yelp of pain. All around them, students were milling through the halls, oblivious to the conversation. "Let go of me!" hissed Bella. "If you don't care about me, what are you doing here?"
"He is ruining everything!" the girl said in an almost petulant tone. "He's going to kill you and end us all!"
It was Bella's turn to scowl at the non-answer. "Kill me?"
"You can't really continue on like this any longer," she said, eyes scrutinizing Bella's body closely. "Your body only has so much blood – a limit Edward doesn't care much about. He will continue to take and consume until you lie under him as nothing more than a useless husk." She paused to point at the spot on Bella's collar with one long finger. "I can smell the infection settling in that wound. It still hurts, doesn't it?"
Bella shook her head. "It's none of your business if it hurts or not. I'm not afraid of you. You may be like him but you obviously don't have as much of a bite."
Her fingers tightened on her forearm, increasing the pain to the point where it made Bella's eyes water. The dark haired girl opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by another hand reaching out to push her back. There was a slight crunch of the metal lockers behind her back and Bella half expected the buzzing students to notice. Mercifully they did not.
Cattle like indeed.
Suddenly he was there, snatching her arm away from the other girl. His warning was simple: "Stay away from what is mine, Alice."
The tiny woman with her back pressed against the lockers had her lips peel back into a snarl and emitted a feral hiss. He countered with his own low growl, causing Bella to take a step back. Her movement was blocked by his hard body, which acted as a barricade.
Though she recognized his voice instantly, Bella craned her neck to look at the figure behind her. Edward snaked an arm around her waist, one large hand pulling her into contact with his torso. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or horrified that he had arrived.
Not only did she have to deal with Edward's obsessive behavior but now she also had to outsmart three other vampires to make her escape from this hell.
"Stay away from her," he hissed. "Keep out of my affairs, all of you! I don't care about the past; I don't care about family ties. I was here first and will defend my claim over this girl!"
The girl, Alice, stared past Bella at Edward. Silence passed between the two, leaving Bella slightly confused. After a few moments of this, Alice closed her eyes.
Looking for an explanation, Bella turned her head and was barely able to make out that Edward also had his eyes closed, his face perfectly still. He was concentrating. She studied his features for any sign of emotion or anger. While she was watching him, the hand at her waist tightened immeasurably, causing Bella to try to squirm away.
Then a simple "No!"
The command stilled her movements immediately.
"Do you understand it now?" asked the dark haired girl after she opened her eyes again.
"You're wrong!" he said, his cold palms burning through her clothing. "She belongs to me!"
"You're going to kill her, Edward," said Alice. She appeared to want to say more, but did not continue onward. One of her dark eyebrows arched in a silent challenge for him to argue. "At least take her to – "
"How the hell do you know that he's going to kill me?" Bella interrupted loudly. She looked around carefully to make sure none of her fellow students noticed the outburst. Again, none of them even paused in their routines. "I want to know the truth. What are you two talking about?"
At this, Edward rounded on her. He gave her waist a rough squeeze in warning and leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder. She felt the words as they echoed in her ear: "Quiet now, little kitten. I am already angry."
They were simple words, but it was enough to make her clench her jaw to avoid expressing her annoyance with the fact that they were discussing her like she wasn't even there.
The dark haired girl, Alice, made direct and deliberate eye contact with Bella as she said, "Edward isn't the only one with a gift, little girl. He will kill you, and in turn he will also get the rest of us destroyed."
Bella wanted to ask more questions but was afraid of irritating Edward further.
Instead, he asked her something she had been desperate to figure out. "How many of you are moving back to Forks?"
Alice removed her stare from Bella and looked over at him, giving a vibrant smile that seemed to have too many teeth. "All of us, Edward. We will be watching you and your little-" her golden eyes ran over Bella's form in judgment, "prize. Don't have too much fun, brother."
The comment made her stomach turn, and Bella turned her head away from Alice. Were they not here to help her then?
The small girl reached out and grabbed Bella's chin. She turned her face back to meet her bright eyes. With her free hand Alice put a finger to her temple. "I can see your every decision, Bella. We aren't going to offer you any help in your little plan. In fact, the family doesn't care what Edward does with you so long as he eventually finds a way to make you keep the secret." Her mouth twisted into a scowl, distorting her delicate features. "Until he makes his decision, you will keep our existence quiet. Otherwise, our story will be the last one you ever share."
Thanks for reading!