Chapter 2

Adjustments

Bella had somewhat adjusted to the presence of the others in the house, though she still doesn't trust them. She had been staying in the room she had woken up in. Otherwise known as the keep away zone. If anyone got within 10 feet of the door Bella would start to growl and stare, whoever was unlucky enough to pass, down.

She and Rosalie had somehow come to an unspoken agreement, if Rosalie didn't bother her, Bella wouldn't even look in her direction.

At the moment Bella was lying on the floor watching Harley Quinn swing from the bars of her cage. It brought her comfort to see others who performed her own feats. The smile on Harley's face oozed onto Bella's as she continued to watch.

Bella nearly snarled when the man began smirking at her, her heart pausing when she saw Harley lick the bar. Rosalie sat by, fully amused by Bella's ability to show her emotions so vividly. Bella finally couldn't resist her aggressions when they shocked Harley into a flashback. A fist-sized hole was produced mere moments after she hit the ground.

Rosalie was taken aback at the look of pure rage on Bella's face for a character she saw for only a little over a minute. When she finally snaps out of it she yells at Bella.

"Hey!" She yells, surprised at the speed at which Bella whipped her head in her direction.

"That, " She points to the floor. "is not okay!" Bella's glare drops as she looks at the floor. The gaping hole she created made her frown. She looked at Rosalie with sorrowful eyes before looking back at the floor.

Rosalie had to admit, Bella is good at what she does. Rosalie's irritation ebbed away upon seeing the face.

Bella crawled over to the open window, left just for her after the door incident last time, and hopped out of it. Rosalie raised an eyebrow and waited as she hears Bella shuffling about 50 feet away from the house. When she returned, she had a handful of amber and a log.

She placed the log on the lawn. She raised her leg and swiftly cracked the log in half, and in half again until she was left with a somewhat flat plank. She left the plank and found a flat sharp rock and began dragging it against the wood. Slowly, but surely, the plank became completely flat, all splinters removed and tossed to the wind.

Rosalie's Pov

Bella had been outside whittling that log down to a flat plank for the better part of 4 hours. I could smell the blood leaking from a wound I heard her inflict an hour and a half prior. The fact that I could hear the blood still flowing from her wound worried me somewhat. Shouldn't it have healed by now?

Her grunts of labor were the only sign that she hadn't passed out from exhaustion. I have some sort of heart so I couldn't just leave her there without seeing her condition first.

I got up from my chair and walked out to see her working dutifully on the plank. There were stains of red lightly speckled across the wood. Her blood wasn't unappealing, it just wasn't anything I would want to drink. It was strange.

'Must be some type of failsafe that was filtered out during their evolution.' I thought to myself.

Her skin gleamed and shined from the thin sheen of sweat that coated her body. The look of absolute determination etched across her features.

"Would you like help?" I know she doesn't speak English, but it was the best I could do without just reaching her.

"No." She says simply, looking at her with a passion fueled energy feeding the fire in her eyes. She looks back down, picks up the plank, and walks inside.

She looks at the hole, then at the plank, then at the floor as a whole. She places it next to the other piece of wood and stares at the two. She pries the damaged plank from its position in the floor and places it aside. She then coats the empty cavity and sides of the plank in amber, sliding it into place.

I earned a completely new level of respect for Bella.

Maybe she is worthy of my little sister.

Alice's Pov

I awoke from my nap, feeling deeply refreshed and happy. Taking in a customary big gulp of air as I stretched my body. Instantly, I rushed from my bed and down the stairs to see Rosalie, her uncharacteristically soft gaze on my exhausted mate. Bella was lying on the floor like a starfish, light snores coming from her, comforting me slightly.

'At least she's alive.' I thought.

"What happened?" I growled, cradling her sleeping body in my arms.

"You're standing on it." Rosalie points to the floor. My gaze drops and I look to see an off shade plank of wood with yellowish substance sticking out from the sides.

I stare at the floor, completely lost. Why had she done this?

I guess Rosalie picked up on my confusion because she answered me before I could ask. "She accidentally put a hole in the floor. I told her that wasn't okay. Apparently, she took that as a sign to hand make an entirely new floorboard. I believe that sticky substance that she fell asleep waiting to harden, is amber."

"Made it with what? She doesn't even know what a sander is." Rosalie simply stared for a moment before responding.

"A rock, and some serious tenacity."

I stared at Bella for a moment, examining her for a while. She had open wounds on her hands and a gash on the back of her right foot. Her forehead had a streak of blood and dirt straight across it.

I picked her up carefully, somberly walking up the stairs with my love in my arms. I wish I would have helped her.

Just as I am about to round the corner Rosalie calls for me at the base of the stairs.

"Just so you know, I did try to help. She told me no." Then she was gone.

The frown on my face deepened as I brought her to my room to clean her.

"Why must you be so stubborn?" I ask her, knowing I won't get a response.

I guess I'll just have to be stubborn right back.

Just a little question, if any of you readers wouldn't mind being my beta I would greatly appreciate it. Please PM me if you're interested.

(P.S. I won't tell you the ending or anything like that, you'll just get the chapter earlier to review it)