Quick note: Okay, so it's a bit Mary Sue to have Mitchell immune to virtually all of the Cullen abilities, but it's pretty important.
The Cullens stood around in the kitchen, the windows overlooking the woods outside. It was a pleasant house, a good house. If they moved from Forks, as they inevitably would after graduation, they would miss this place.
I sat in the corner by the doors to the veranda. I was silent; I had nothing to contribute to coven business. Edward sat next to me and held my hand.
"So there's no indication of what John Mitchell is coming here for?" asked Carlisle, concernedly.
Alice shook her head. "He was always difficult to read, even at his most emotional moments. It's got something to do with the death of William Herrick, but I couldn't read his decision."
"Why don't we kill him?" asked Rosalie. "Or lead him to the territory of the wolves."
"Then we're no better than him," said Edward. "Mitchell is scum. Murder is something he would do. If we resort to it as well…"
"I know," said Carlisle. "But we chose not to kill him the last time. We could have then and we can now. Even without Emmett and Jasper."
"Why don't we see what he wants?" said Esme. "There's not a lot he can do if we're all together. If he's here to threaten us again, let him try."
An hour later, Alice drove me back home. There had been a dark cloud over the night; everyone had been worried about their impending visit. I had barely spoken a word all night; usually I could talk freely with the Cullens, but this seemed to be almost as drastic as the situation with James.
"What did this guy do, anyway?" I finally asked, to break the silence.
"Do you remember I said someone we knew died?" said Alice.
"Yeah."
"That was William Herrick. He's a vampire…well, a different type to us. He died a few days ago. He was the leader of a coven in Britain. A city called Bristol. John Mitchell was one of his disciples. His right hand man. The two of them were vicious. They were killers. They even killed vampires. They were evil."
I nodded. I hadn't seen any evil vampires yet.
"Years and years ago, this Herrick had a dream. He wanted vampires to rise up and take the world from the humans. Half turned, half kept on as cattle. He was going to take his plan to the Volturi, and-"
"The who?"
"The Volturi…Edward will explain about them later. So, he wanted to bring this plan to the leaders of the vampires. Once the plan got green flagged, the fighting would start. He only had one problem."
"What was that?"
"Carlisle," said Alice with admiration. "He was close to the Volturi and still had their ear. Herrick knew the Olympia coven would oppose any plans to conquer the humans. So he sent his goons to us in Wisconsin to try to…convince us that his plans were the right way to go."
"And Mitchell?"
Alice nodded. "Yeah. There was two of them. Mitchell, and another lackey…Steve?" She snapped her fingers. "Seth! Yeah, Seth. They came out to 'speak to' us. Seth? He was nothing. He tried to intimidate us, failed, and gave up. Mitchell was different."
She arrived at Charlie's house and parked up. "Mitchell wouldn't take no for an answer. He got violent. He tried to shove us around, and we had to act. In the end, he tried to kidnap Rosalie. Use her as blackmail. We only barely managed to stop him."
"And that's why they hate me," said Mitchell. He had told the story in hushed tones on the Continental Airlines flight from Bristol to Seattle. They'd needed to reroute in Amsterdam, and were currently on the second leg of the flight.
"You were a bit of a prick back in those days, then?" said Annie, eyebrows raised.
"You had the blackest heart of us all," mimicked Mitchell. "That was what Mitchell used to say to me. I guess he was right."
"That was a long time ago, mate," said George. "Once they talk to you, they'll realise you've changed."
"I hope so, George," said Mitchell, softly. "Because I don't know what we'll do if not."
"What are these vampires like?" asked Annie, who was sitting in the aisle seat. Luckily, the person who had bought the aisle seat had been a no show or she would have had to sit in the aisle.
"They're different than the ones you know," said Mitchell. "They're faster than us. Much faster. They can jump higher, as well. They drink animal blood, and in the sun they-"
"Dissolve?" George questioned as Mitchell hesitated.
"No, they…well, you'll see when you get there."
"And they drink animal blood? Why don't you do that?"
"Different types of vampires," explained Mitchell. "They have to drink something. Us, blood is more like an addiction. If we drank animal blood, we'd have to go back to humans."
"Like having a glass of wine after rehab? Soon you've drunk a whole bottle of scotch?" said Annie.
"Pretty much, yeah." Mitchell reached under his seat and grabbed a pillow. "You can ask them any questions you want, when you see them. Right now, I'm going to get some sleep."
"Leave the movie on," said Annie, knowing it would look suspicious if her seat TV was switched on. Every time an air stewardess walked past, she dropped her headphones in Mitchell's lap.
Edward and I barely exchanged a word as he drove me back from school.
Something was troubling him. I could tell that without too much guesswork. He'd brooded for most of the day; of course, he did this anyway, but I could sense the tension. Alice was worse. She continually looked around, as if expecting to be ambushed from every corridor.
"What's up?" I finally asked, if only to break the tension.
"I'm not sure," came the impassive response. "I'm sure it's nothing."
I thought about pressing the issue, but decided against it. Silence reined in the car for a few moments. The road was wet; it had been raining that morning, but had ceased now. The sun was threatening to break through the impenetrable layer of clouds. Was that why Edward was on edge? I doubted it; none of the Cullens had been affected by the chance of sunlight before.
Without warning, Edward stopped. He broke with such a force that I was immediately glad I had worn a seatbelt. For roughly a minute, Edward did not move or get out of the car.
"What's going on?" I asked. I was suddenly nervous.
"It's okay," said Edward. Signalling for me to stay in the car, he got out himself, and took a few steps forward. I squinted to try to see the source of his concern, but all I saw on either side of the road were tall trees and bushes.
Then I saw him. The dark figure merely stood on the side of the road, contemplating the traffic that drove past. He wore black all over, including a large leather jacket. His hair was long and he had a focused, ominous face. He noticed Edward as he walked towards him and turned around slowly, his hands slowly raised in a gesture of peace.
Instinctively, I got out of the car. Whoever this man was, he had agitated Edward, who was coming towards him at some speed. I jogged forward, my curious side wanting to know exactly who he was.
"You were told not to come here!"
Edward's voice was raised. I had not seen him this stressed since…since James.
"Edward, hi!"
"You were told not to come here, Mitchell!"
Mitchell. John Mitchell. That was the name I had heard last week, when the Cullens were talking about their visitor! The one that had tried to kidnap Rosalie. He didn't look like a vampire; his skin wasn't pale. But there was something tormented about him, and it matched Edward to a T.
"What's going on?" I repeated, moving quickly in front of Edward as if to stop him springing at the man.
"Bella, get back in the car," said Edward, forcefully. "I'll be right with you."
"Look, Edward, I'm not here to fight," said the man. He had a strange accent about him; hadn't Alice said he was from England? Bristol? But the accent was more recognisable than that. It was Irish. Mitchell was definitely Irish. He looked at me briefly, then back at Edward questioningly.
"I'm not here to fight," Mitchell repeated. He stepped forward and Edward moved to do also, but I held him back.
"Why did you come here?" Edward demanded. His eyes were blazing.
"To talk. I wanted to ask you a favour. I don't mean you any harm."
Edward tightened up. "You can explain that to my family. Myself, I'd destroy you."
"I know," said Mitchell. "Thanks, Edward."
"Get in," said Edward, gesturing to his car. "If this is some sort of ploy, you'll regret it. If I could read your mind…"
"I know. Can we talk?"
The three of us walked awkwardly towards the car. Mitchell, finally noticing me, smiled and waved a hand as a greeting. Edward only introduced us grudgingly. Mitchell sat in the back. He was quiet during the drive back, only speaking when he saw a sign into town.
"Mind if we take a detour? I've got some friends checking into a motel downtown."
Edward's voice was contemptuous. "Reinforcements?"
"I told you, I'm not here to fight," said Mitchell. "Some friends came out with me. I told them to go straight to the motel in case things got…"
"-Violent?"
"Yeah." Mitchell nodded. "They're got a rent-a-car but they don't know where I'll be."
Edward nodded, and then made a turn. He drove towards the main Forks town centre, but stopped at a roadside motel when Mitchell indicated. He nodded his thanks.
"I'll just be a minute. Thanks, Edward." He headed out of the car, checked a small slip of paper, and headed up the motel stairs into one of the rooms.
"It's okay," I tried to say, comfortingly. "I don't think he's going to pull anything."
"I know him better than you do, Bella," said Edward, coolly. "Don't trust him."
When Mitchell came out of the room, there was a man following him. He had short hair, glasses, and looked nerdy. He was a direct contrast to the dark, broody Mitchell; a neurotic, quiet guy with something hidden about him.
Edward got out of the car. He gave a curious sniff, one I hadn't heard before. It gave me chills. After a second one, I realised he was sniffing Mitchell's friend.
"So the rumours are true," he said softly. "You are working with a wolf."
"We don't work together. We're friends." The words came out of Mitchell's mouth with anger. His friend, however, did not seem angry. He held out a hand to Edward.
"Hi," he said sheepishly. "George."
Edward, with a moment's worth of caution, shook it. Deciding things were safe, I got out of the car and smiled at Mitchell's friend George. He smiled at me.
"Bella," I said quickly, shaking his hand as well. Then Edward said something strange. He extended his own hand, but to thin air. Then he shook it up and down, as if acquainting himself with an invisible person. At first, I thought he was mocking my gesture, but the handshake was too perfect an imitation.
"I'm Edward," he said, less stiffly than with Mitchell. "Pleased to meet you both."
That struck me as strange also. He'd met Mitchell before, and he definitely wasn't pleased to meet him again. And Edward had looked in the direction of the hand he'd shaken when he'd said it.
I looked in the same direction as he had, and stared hard. Was there something there? It was like there was a shape, as if one you'd see in the corner of your eye.