Carlisle's compassion has always been a chicken and egg argument. Was he able to retain so much of his humanity because of his diet, or did his nature lead him to feed on animals in the first place? He and I spent many enjoyable afternoons debating vampire nature, and how we differed from others of our kind.
Despite our civility, some aspects of vampire makeup are impossible to repress. One of those is our response to attack. Any vampire, when backed into a corner, will lash out. We are predators, first and foremost, and have no natural enemies. Our submission is won through brute force, in a fight, or through trust between mates. Emmett had earned neither.
"I see you're glad the family scapegoat is back, Emmett," I sneered. "You must be getting tired of being the village idiot." I looked around. "Where's your keeper?"
"Rose is hunting," Carlisle said calmly. "We agreed it was best that she not be here when you returned. She has…strong feelings about your recent behavior."
I snorted. "Of course she does. Nobody inconveniences the princess."
"Your mate is an internationally renowned murderer, Edward," Emmett said dryly. "That ranks a bit higher than inconvenient."
I lunged for him, roaring. Jasper grabbed my arm and swung me back around, hitting me with a dose of lethargy. I dropped to the couch, my arms strangely heavy.
"Who are you to judge, Emmett?" I said softly. "You woke to this life with an indestructible mate ready-made and waiting for you."
"Oh, right," he said, snapping his fingers as if in sudden realization. "I forgot! No one does drama like Eddie. We're all on a cake walk, and you're the only person with problems. It's not like my mate was brutally attacked or anything, suffering decades of post-traumatic stress."
He began walking around the border of the room, gesturing wildly as he made each point. "Jasper, here, he doesn't have a hundred years of brutality to overcome, nor does he have a mate whose own family locked her away to die. And Carlisle, of course, didn't find his own mate broken into a dozen pieces after being beaten and miscarrying her only child."
Emmett flopped down onto the couch, jostling me as he settled in. "Yup, everything's sunshine and roses for all of us. Must suck to be the only person with problems."
I shook my head. As if any of that was remotely similar to my predicament.
"Everything is black and white with you." I was leaving fury behind, but heading full steam towards annoyance. "I point out that you've never dealt with your mate as a human, and you turn it into a contest over who has suffered most. The two concepts are not interchangeable."
"Enough." Carlisle's voice was resigned. "Emmett and Edward, you are having two different conversations. Neither of them is of any use at the moment. A member of our family is wanted for murder and holding people at gunpoint. Might we concentrate on that?"
"If we can get through the conversation without hurting little Eddie's feelings," Emmett muttered. He knew we would all hear him, and Jasper sent out a spike of irritation at the passive-aggressive comment.
"We always take everyone into consideration during family discussions," Jasper said pointedly, crossing his arms.
I snorted. "You do, Jasper. Not everyone." My attempt at an offhand comment came out bitter and resentful.
"Yes, we do," Alice piped up. Her frown seemed to take over her tiny face.
"You see every conversation twice," I pointed out. "Once before and once during. Surely you've seen enough to know that isn't true, Alice."
"Son, it's not easy when you can hear even the thoughts we don't intend to share," Carlisle said. "There is a fine balance between forthright and obnoxiously blunt."
"Damned straight." Emmett nodded. "But if you'd like, I can just stop filtering altogether." He smirked at me.
"You say you're considerate of my feelings, but you're all full of it," I hissed. My charade of indifference was through the window. "You're doing the same thing you've all done for the past fifty years. Anytime you don't want me in your heads, you throw your relationships in my face."
"That isn't true, Edward," Esme said quietly. Carlisle looked disappointed.
"Sure it's not," I said sarcastically. "You all know I can't turn this off. I don't want to be in everyone's heads all the time. Yet the second any of you decides that you need mental privacy, I get treated to the porn stylings of the Cullen family. I suppose it would kill you to just ask me to go for a run and give you some space. It's faster and easier to shove your sex lives down my throat."
Emmett's face had slowly transformed from rage to guilt. He suspected that he was the worst offender, and he was right. If Rose knew the things he'd revealed in his thoughts, she'd cut him off for a decade.
Jasper turned to peer at Emmett, curiosity pouring off of him. He wasn't the least bit surprised that Emmett would mentally over share, but he did wonder why Emmett would feel the need to block me. It was a question I asked myself frequently. Emmett had no gifts to infringe on others' privacy, and no ulterior motives. I suspected he simply enjoyed tormenting me.
"Fine." Carlisle raised his arms in a soothing gesture. "Let's agree for the moment that the family needs to revisit our approach to dealing with Edward's gift. Tabling that, can we get on with the issue at hand?"
Alice's eyes glazed over momentarily, then she nodded. "Jazz and I will go with Edward to Port Angeles. The rest of you should stay here."
"Oh, hell no!" Emmett boomed. "You are not keeping me away from little sis. I need to know what the hell is going on with that girl."
"The place is crawling with police and news cameras," Alice hissed. "The fewer supernatural creatures lurking about, the better. Our gifts will be necessary to stay under the radar."
"I see how it is," Emmett grumbled. "Can't bend a spoon with your mind, so you're out of the group."
"Emmett, for the love of God." Carlisle pinched his nose as if warding off a migraine. I had no doubt that if a vampire could cause head pain, it would be Emmett.
Alice waved them off. "We'll need a connecting flight, and there's a several hour delay."
Hell. I can run there faster, I thought.
"No," Alice said, shaking her head. "It's brilliantly sunny throughout the entire Midwest. The time you spend waiting for dark eats up all the time you gain by going on foot. Flying is less risk."
"Fine. Book it." I turned on my heel and made my way to my room, closing the door as quietly as possible. Lying on the couch, I closed my eyes and reminisced over the few months I had spent with my beautiful girl.
Immersed in memories as I was, I was startled when Alice mentally called me. It's time to go, Edward. Grab a small carryon and get moving.
Having my family close must have made me more conscious of my surroundings, because every dull moment of the long drive and the even longer flight was marked onto my memory as if engraved. The layover felt like walking through sand, and by the time our second flight was called I was almost certain time had begun flowing backwards.
As we waited in the Seattle airport for Alice to charm the rental agent into giving us an unscheduled car, I fought the urge to sprint for the doors and run for Port Angeles. The only thing that stopped me was the strange visual it would create. People do not leave the airport on foot. Finally, she returned, keys dangling from her finger.
"For God's sake, Alice," I muttered.
"He was going to give us a minivan, Edward," she said earnestly, as if driving such a vehicle would soil her.
"Darlin', I don't think now is the time to worry about your sense of style," Jasper said gently, his hand rubbing her arm.
Alice turned to him, annoyed. "Really? My sister is surrounded by sniper rifles, and you think I'm shopping?"
She led us out onto the parking deck, sweeping the remote around and searching for the responding beep. "I was thinking more along the lines of turning radius and maximum speed, given that we're probably going to have to outrun at least two different bodies of law enforcement."
I stopped dead. "Are you suggesting we help Bella become a fugitive?"
She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth, but I shook my head furiously, cutting her off.
"No, Alice. No. There is no way that Bella has hurt anyone. It just isn't feasible. We will go there, figure out this colossal misunderstanding, clear her name, and then get out of her life."
Jasper looked at me with sympathy. "Edward, I don't want to think the worst of her, but things the way they are…it seems likely that she's done something she shouldn't have."
My mouth twisted in anger and he quickly waved his hand. "I'm not sayin' she'd ever kill someone. But there's obviously something seriously wrong if she's willing and capable of holding back armed police."
"We'll figure it out," I swore. "She's probably just scared and not thinking clearly. If her dad is truly dead, she's got to be emotionally drained and overwhelmed."
We drove out of the city in silence, each of us pondering the possibilities. How had Bella come to this?
Approaching Port Angeles was certainly more complicated that it used to be. Police blockades and news crews had turned the small coastal village into a human rat trap. We attempted to maneuver through the mess, but after circling several times, Alice conceded defeat and parked the car on a remote side street. There was no point in forcing our way in if we would not be able to find a quick exit.
We darted through the neighborhoods quickly, varying our speed as we approached more populated areas. When we finally got within hearing range of the police, we ducked into an alley so I could scan the minds around us thoroughly.
"She's holed up in the bookstore on Third Street. The Port Angeles police department is out in full force," I said, listening carefully. "The chief refused the help of the Forks department because they are too emotionally involved…but a lot of them are here off duty anyway."
Jasper nodded. "I'm getting rage, despair, and disbelief in equal amounts. They love her and want to believe she could never do this, but there doesn't seem to be any other explanation."
Alice closed her eyes for a moment. "The shift is changing in eight minutes. There is one shooter and one lookout in an apartment across the street, and another set of two on the roof of the grocery store a block to the east. If we can get to the store while they switch off, we can enter through the skylight without being seen."
"All right." I nodded, my non-beating heart in my throat. We were really going to do this. I was really going to see Bella again.
Ducking into a crouch, we left the alley and ran towards the bookstore.
Picking through the jungles of South America had not been particularly exciting. The constant rain made it impossible to track Victoria for hours at a time, and I had little to do but sit and think. I imagined Bella—what she was doing and how she would react if I were to return. Sometimes she would cry, sometimes she would ignore me. Never did she welcome me back with open arms. Even my subconscious seemed to realize what a shit I had been.
Despite my endless visualizing, I was, as usual, completely wrong about Bella's reaction. I don't know why I thought I'd ever understand how her mind worked.
As my family got used to Bella's presence and stopped using human speed around her, her tendency to startle gradually diminished until only her heartbeat gave her away. No matter how comfortable she was around us, her eyes simply could not follow us at full speed, and the sudden appearance of a vampire in her line of vision invariably led to her heart stuttering the slightest bit.
When Alice forced her way through the skylight and we dropped into the bookstore, we landed at the edge of Bella's peripheral vision. We stood motionless for barely a second before her head slowly swiveled towards us, her heart calm and even. As she met our yellow eyes with her brown ones, her face remained expressionless.
"Oh, goodie," she said calmly. "Just what I need in my life. More leeches."
Alice's thoughts were equally shocked and hurt. Jasper reached out and squeezed her shoulder, offering support. It wasn't like Bella to use derogatory terms.
The three of us remained silent. Her demeanor had thrown me.
"Well?" she demanded. "I'm kind of busy here. What the fuck do you want?"
