Chapter 2 - Strangers Who Are Nice

BELLA

"Morning, sleepyhead," a cheerful voice woke me from my heavy sleep.

Had last night really been just a dream? If it had, who was this stranger in my room? I opened my eyes to find I was, in fact, not at home. I was in a huge room. It looked like part of a mansion.

"Hello, Isabella, I'm Alice," said a little sprite of a girl who bounced on my bed, or her bed, or someone's bed. I hadn't figured it out yet.

"Esme, my mother, is making you some breakfast. She'll be up in a little while. Are you feeling okay?" she asked, truly concerned.

"What happened?" I asked, hoping for an answer, but figuring she would give me none.

"Rose saw what was going to happen to you last night. She couldn't stand by and let those men..." I shivered, remembering the five men surrounding me. "Well, you know, I can tell by the look on your face. The problem is that you saw her."

"The blonde, she was fast, too fast, and too strong."

"See, that right there is why you're still here, that and Edward," she rolled her eyes.

"Edward?" I asked, remembering his name. I think he was the one who had growled.

"Yes, my brother. Apparently, you're the most tempting candy he's ever caught a whiff of, so it's probably best if you stay where we can keep an eye on you both," she said, hopping off the bed and walking to the closet. "I hung up an outfit for you to wear today, but we're going to have to do some shopping for you. Is there anything else you'll need besides food and clothes? I mean, like a certain shampoo and body wash you prefer? Oh, is there a certain comfort food you'd enjoy?" she asked excitedly.

"I, um, what?" I was confused.

The woman I assumed to be Esme came walking in. "Good morning, Isabella. I hope you're hungry."

Esme looked like the warm motherly type. She smiled widely, as she set the tray in my lap and uncovered the meal. "How's your head this morning? Carlisle said that you might feel a little groggy and maybe have a headache? I brought you some pain pills if that's the case," she said, pointing to the bottle on the tray.

I nodded my head and then regretted it. I reached up to brace my head against the pain.

"Why don't I have my husband come check you out? He can make sure you were not injured last night," Esme said then turned her head and spoke in a normal voice. "Carlisle, dear, would you come and check on our Isabella?"

The door opened, and then I heard a growling behind it. "She's mine!" someone shouted.

A blond man walked into the room and smiled at me, ignoring the commotion outside my door. "Good morning, Isabella, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. You may call me Carlisle. How are you feeling this morning? Is anything hurting?" he asked kindly and pulled out his doctor's bag. I didn't get these people. Something was off about them, but they were all really nice. He pulled out his penlight and asked me to look at him, shining the light in my eyes. I was clumsy and had been injured enough to know when a doctor was checking for a concussion.

"I'm fine, it's just my head," I said, squinting my eyes against the pain.

"That's to be expected. Go ahead and take the pain medication, and try to get some rest after you eat. Alice, your shopping spree is going to have to wait until tomorrow. She needs her rest, doctor's orders," he added, and the little pixie girl groaned in disappointment.

Alice left, and Carlisle followed. Esme, at least I think that was Esme, sat with me while I ate, watching me to see if I liked it. She must have cooked it, and she'd done great.

"Thank you for breakfast," I said awkwardly. "When can I go home?" I finally asked.

She looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry, Isabella, but you'll need to stay here. It's not safe for you to be home right now."

"What? I don't understand. I thought blondie took care of the bad guys."

She chuckled a little. "Rose did handle them, but we have a little problem of our own. Carlisle is working with him now. We hope to get it taken care of, but there's still one major issue."

"What's that?"

"You know we're different."

I sighed and shrugged. "So, what are you, like, superheroes or something?"

She laughed, and it was beautiful, like bells chiming. "Oh, I suppose on some level, someone may see us that way, but in the end, we're not, and you know too much."

My heart raced, that was the line they told you before they killed you.

Suddenly, something came bursting through the door. A vise grip wrapped me up, holding me against something cold and hard.

"She's mine!" a velvet voice growled. "You're not to touch her!"

Esme stood up slowly, as if approaching a wild animal. "I wasn't going to hurt her, Edward."

"You scared her!" the man holding me snapped. "I heard her heartbeat start to race. She's mine!" he said, squeezing me a little tighter, and I groaned in pain.

"Edward, I'd just told her she couldn't go home. Of course she was upset. She's fine, she's safe."

"She's mine," he said.

"Yes, she's yours, now let her get some rest. She's still not feeling well," Esme coaxed. I felt his grip loosen a little, as she backed toward the door. "Put her in the bed, Son," she said, opening the door to the hall. I saw another blond man and a dark-haired man standing there, as if they were waiting for something.

The man who had me lifted me up and carefully set me on the bed. Once he laid me down, I was able to get a better look at him. He had shocking bronze hair and bright red eyes.

I gasped, and my heart raced.

He put his hand on my chest over my heart. "Isabella, please, you must settle down, you're making this so difficult for me."

I started panting under his touch. I was scared for my life under his icy cold hand, but there was an undercurrent there as well I didn't understand.

"She needs to take her pills," Esme called from across the room.

It must have been enough of a distraction, because he moved to get the pills and handed them to me with my drink. "You need rest."

I took the pills from him nervously. I had a feeling he wasn't all that stable, and I wasn't about to do anything to upset him.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He laughed, and then his face twisted in pain. He stumbled back to a chair on the far side of the room and curled up in a ball, hiding his face.

Esme took a step towards him, coming into the room again. "No," he said firmly. "She's fine, leave her be. I'll just watch over her while she rests."

Esme looked torn, and then Alice nodded yes to her, though I didn't know why Alice would be the one she would ask permission from.

To my surprise, Esme closed the door, leaving me with this man, whom I assumed was Edward.

"You're Edward, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

He looked up at me, surprised that I had spoken to him. "Yes, I'm sorry," was all he said, before he tucked his head back down.

I didn't understand him. He seemed protective of me. He was upset that Esme had scared me, and he seemed to be sitting guard now, but trying to hide from me at the same time. There was also the little thing with the word "mine." He'd said I was his several times now, and it seemed that the others agreed with him. I just didn't know what that meant, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

The pills I had taken started to pull me under, and I slept deeply again, but not as deep as the night before, because I dreamed that cool hands were caressing my face, as a velvet voice whispered he was sorry.

I heard a knocking on the door and stirred in my sleep. "She needs to eat, Edward. She only ate breakfast yesterday." It sounded like Alice.

I had yet to open my eyes, but I think he knew I was awake. He made no move to speak to me, and I didn't know what to say to him. He was the reason I had to stay here, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that yet. They were by no means cruel captors, but this was going to interfere with my schooling.

The smell of food wafted to my nose. He must have brought it close by. I heard something moving next to me. He must have been rearranging the things on the nightstand.

"Do you want me to take her old tray?" Alice asked. "You know I won't hurt her."

"Alice," he growled. I was right. It was Alice.

"Oh, please, let me visit with her, Edward. I just want to talk to her."

"No!" he snapped.

"Fine, I'll just get the tray." I heard her footsteps approach and a low rumbling that I had come to know as Edward's growl. I opened my eyes and smiled at Alice.

"Good morning, Alice," I said, smiling.

She waved to me and giggled, then turned to Edward and stuck out her tongue.

He rolled his eyes in response.

Once she was out, he set the tray on my lap. "You really shouldn't encourage her, you'll regret it later," he said softly, as if he didn't really want me to hear his words.

"I think I'll decide that for myself," I said and picked up my toast, taking a big bite of it to show my attitude.

He looked at me surprised, and then he laughed to himself. He took his place in the chair across the room, watching me eat. He had a little smirk on his lips, and it was hard not to smile to myself when I saw it. I tried to focus on my food to hide it. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make friends with Edward.

When I finally finished my meal, he spoke. "How do you feel today? Better?"

I nodded yes. "Is there somewhere I can shower?"

His eyes widened in shock, and then he swallowed hard, shaking his head. I waited for an answer, sitting up a little more, causing my blanket to slide down. I must have been out of it, because I just now realized I was wearing a nightgown and not my clothes. I almost laughed, as Edward quickly averted his eyes.

I looked down to see how improper I was being, but it was just a flannel nightgown. There was nothing revealing about it at all. "Is there a shower?" I asked again.

He jumped up and moved to leave. His back was to me when he answered. "Through there," he pointed to a door across the room, and then he quickly disappeared through the bedroom door.

The bathroom was amazing. The shower was amazing. My body was sore and ached, but the thirty-six spray nozzles worked out the sore muscles. I must have been in the shower for over an hour, when I finally stepped out. I felt good and stretched, groaning in relief. This bathroom was heaven compared to the black hole that was considered my bathroom at my little apartment. I would swear there were living things on the shower walls that just would not come off with any kind of cleanser. This bathroom was a nice change, and the way Edward reacted to me made me feel safe. I knew he wouldn't hurt me that way. In fact, I suspected he wouldn't let anyone near enough to hurt me that way. Even if I was being detained taken against my will, I still sensed that I was safe. Well, sort of. I still didn't know what the whole deal was with Edward. He was weird.

I wrapped my body in a huge thick bath sheet and used a smaller towel to wrap my hair. I remembered Alice had pointed out a closet to me the day before, as I walked into the room.

I was met with a sudden gasp and a smug Alice singing, "Told you so." Edward suddenly disappeared, and Alice was laughing. "Come on, Isabella, come get dressed. We're shopping today!" she said in a sing-song voice. I had to admit, her excitement was infectious. I was not a huge shopping fan, but I figured I could use a few new things.

"Will Edward be joining us?" I asked.

She looked over toward the door and giggled. "He can if you want him to."

"Huh, I just assumed he would, since I was his," I stated, making an observation.

Alice's eyes widened, and she turned, looking at the door. "It's probably not a good idea to encourage him, Isabella."

"Everyone else does," I stated, because it was true. I didn't want to upset him, either.

"Yes, well, he's settled down a bit. He finds you interesting now, so you're pretty safe."

"Pretty safe?" I asked, as I dressed quickly, curious as to what she meant by that, but she didn't elaborate.

Somehow, I didn't find that as comforting as I figured Alice meant it to be.