Okay so this is chapter 3. It's very informational and may get people confused :S Sorry. After this chapter I promise I proper good Edward and Bella getting it all out chapter which didn't fit into this one. I felt it needed a chapter of its own. Anyway thanks for the reviews and keep reading!
"I guess I should start with what happened to me in Fork's after you left." My voice was strong but there was an underlining nervousness about it. I looked around at the Cullen's faces. I could tell that they had been waiting to hear this for a while, even Rosalie looked interested. I felt Edward move around me until he stood to the right of me but slightly in front. Everyone had gathered around me in a near semi-circle. I have to tell them, I have to tell them. I couldn't lie to them I knew Jasper would sense it. I didn't want to lie to them. I could edit though. I didn't want Edward to see how pathetic I had really been after he left. He seemed to of coped just fine. I'd brush over that part slightly then I agreed, though I knew deep down that there were much more important things to talk about than me and Edward. For starters I was here to help them stop Carlson and to save my father.
"The first few months nothing much happened, everything normal, but then there were these sightings in the woods. Bears people would say but they were too close to the town to be bears. Ben and Angela had said that they had seen them while out on a hike, and I guess out of curiosity and probably stupidity I went to see for myself." I could see Edward's glance from the corner of my eye but decided that it was best to continue; I may never find this kind of courage again. "I hiked until I came to a clearing, our..the meadow you had once taken me to. That was where I found Laurent. He was back and told me that Victoria was after me. He tried to kill me but then Jacob turned up and saved me but Laurent got away."
"Wait, Laurent and Victoria have been trying to kill you? And what about Jacob, how could he scare Laurent away?" Jasper didn't like not knowing the whole story. I guess I slipped up when I mentioned Jacob's name. I hadn't wanted to bring him into this. Edward stayed silent, staring directly into my eyes as if trying to read my mind again. In was quite unnerving.
"Oh right yeah Jacob is a werewolf, or shape shifter is the correct term because he only changes form. He has a pack down at La Push, you know the quilette boys. He was alone when he found me in the clearing, he didn't want to risk chasing after Laurent and leaving me alone to get killed by Victoria."
"Shape shifters? In Forks? Unbelievable I thought that gene had died out decades ago." Carlisle mused with wonder. I could see he hadn't quite grasped the seriousness of the situation yet. He caught my expression. "Oh, I'm sorry please continue."
"After he saved me, we headed back to La Push and I was told basically their whole tribal tales and that they had been scouting the perimeter to keep out some red-headed vampire. They didn't know what she wanted, but I soon filled them in that I was her target. With two very capable vampires after me they decided that it would be best if I remained in La Push. This meant convincing Charlie to move down with me to Billy's. This wasn't done without filling him in on some of the blanks." I looked down sheepishly.
"How much did you tell him?" Jasper questioned sternly. I looked away then back again.
"Most of it. He had a right to know. If he was going to be fighting for my life then he had the right to know what he was fighting. I could tell he didn't trust me anymore, and it hurt. He didn't really believe at first and thought they were gang names or whatever. But that changed when Victoria and Laurent attacked unprepared. See Charlie had refused to stay off work with these killers on the loose so Victoria used this to set a trap. She killed someone and left their remains to be found on the outskirts of the village. Charlie and his partner went to investigate and were ambushed. We arrived in time to save Charlie and kill Laurent. But Victoria got away and Officer Staples was killed. That is when Mr Carlson came along."
"What did he offer you Bella?" Jasper really did know this man too well. He would be a great ally in saving Charlie.
"We couldn't tell the authorities that a 300 year old dead vampire killed Staples. And every single lead pointed to Charlie as he was the only one officially with him at the time. His neck had been broken, so it couldn't be blamed on an animal attack. Everyone in Fork's pointed the finger at Charlie and he got arrested. Carlson offered me help. Said he could legally get Charlie off the hook for what had happened. Like you said Jasper, he was cleaning up after a vampire attack. I thought it was noble of him at first, saving Charlie. After he won the case he got Charlie re-instated with a Police department in Los Angeles. It was Charlie's choice to leave; he didn't feel happy in Forks after everyone had turned on him for a crime he didn't commit. Just the thought of them thinking he was capable of that hurt him." The room was quite. Jasper was the only one who was speaking, the rest were looking away.
"What happened next Bella?"
"I couldn't pay him for his legal help. Even if I had sold the house and given him every penny I had it wouldn't have been enough. So he offered me a job instead, as his personal assistant seeing as his had just quit. I accepted without question as the job was in LA, came with a house and car and was immediate work. So we sold up and moved. I started off doing basic paper work and only slightly butting my noise into his legal affairs. Charlie remarried and moved in with his new bride, I never really saw him that much anymore. That was basically my life for the first two years of it. But then things changed. One day when I was bringing him his documents he noticed the scar on my arm." I unconsciously covered the scar with my hand as I said these things. This got Edward's attention, it was obviously bringing back memories he would rather forget.
"Why was he interested in the scar?" Edward spoke this time. I was slightly shocked but then continued.
"Like Jasper and I said in the car, I am probably one of the only people with a scar like this. Not everyone who got bitten by a vampire had a vampire boyfriend to suck out the venom and save them." I tried to lighten the mood but it failed, miserably. "Anyway, guess he knew it was a vampire bite and wanted to know how I got it. He was very interested. I told him James bit me a while back but the venom was sucked out. He didn't give up though; he wanted to know who had done the sucking. I didn't want to mention you I swear I didn't but I trusted him at that time. I was stupid. I never said your names, just that I used to know a family of vegetarian vampires. He went crazy, lashing out his hatred for vampires and that they could never be a family, only a coven. I had never seen that side of him, I didn't understand it." I felt terribly guilty now, I was the reason he had started tracking the Cullen's.
"His father was killed by our kind," Jasper butted in, "when he was just a little boy. It made him even more determined to take on his father's job. But he is different from his father; he not only cleans up our messes but takes care of us when he can. The more gone the better. He had heard of us before though and just thought of us as a legend. The concept of a friendly vampire is unthinkable to him. We had participated in a few deals with his father when we had been spotted near a vampire attack. We were wary and only met through representation but he knew we were out there. Sorry to side track but did he ever try and contact your friends back in La Push after the incident?"
"Yes he did. He paid them good money to take down Victoria and remove her from the game, another bill that he charged to me. He liked to keep me in debt. See when I refused to tell him about you and your family, he threatened to take away the job and money that he had given me. When he realised that that didn't bother me, he threatened to expose the pack in La Push. But I knew he would never go public with any of his work. He would need a pretty good reason to show to the world a pack of shape shifters. Plus he didn't have the force to take them down. I quit after that, and didn't hear from him again. I thought he was only a lawyer after all, he couldn't charge me without having a client to press charges on me in the first place." I wondered whether they hated me right now for what I had done to them. Bringing this on them. Instead of waiting for Jasper to ask another question or insert a new fact, I decided to finish my tale.
"I was safe for a few months. I had plenty of money; my job had been surprisingly well paid for just a secretary. 3 days ago one of his colleges turned up at my house demanding a tissue sample from my arm. I refused and ran but then decided to face him. I'd spent too much of my life hiding from things. I met with Carlson to discuss the legal matter at hand. He said a client had come to him with new information surrounding Charlie's case back in Fork's and that new evidence could point the finger back at Charlie. It got worse though. He had a list of several other killings in that area before, the ones by James and his coven, and said that evidence could point to suggest Charlie was behind these as well. That would mean Charlie would face the death penalty. He said that one tissue sample from my arm could clear Charlie's name, but I knew it could also help him to find you. He wouldn't reveal who his client was so I waited on the street to follow his car, and then Jasper found me. It doesn't explain why he wanted me dead though." With that the weights were lifted from my shoulders. I now waited for the verdict, would they help me or not. Edward left the room and that point, very abruptly; I guess that was one vote that I had lost.
"Bella, I am so sorry you had to face this alone. The decision you have had to make is terrible. I promise you, we will find Carlson and end this. I fear however that it won't be that simple; this client seems to be our problem now and is possibly more manipulative than Carlson himself. I will work on his identity. We will help both you and Charlie Bella." Jasper's words surprised me. He wanted to help me. After I had stupidly put his family's safety in danger.
"You, are willing to help me? It's my fault Carlson has been following you, I gave him a lead. Don't you blame me for this whole mess?" Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Great, what had I said now?
"Bella, Carlson has been following us since before we moved back to Fork's. He was probably observing the activity in Fork's to see if we would slip up and he could get us. This is our fault Bella, not yours." I was shocked, had I been thinking about this the wrong way? I couldn't blame the Cullen's though, after all the help they had given me. My best plan is to except this help to save my father, which was my number one priority. "I need to check with my sources now that we have a better idea of what we're dealing with. I suggest we reconvene in the morning. Bella I suggest you get some sleep, you looked exhausted. Alice could you show her to the spare room?" Alice nodded to Jasper and pulled me along to the staircase. As I glanced back I saw sympathy in everyone's eyes. Why? I was the villain here wasn't I? That was when I finally allowed sleep to take me, for the first time in 3 nights.
I woke to the dead night sky. I was hot, very hot and very thirsty. I was dressed in a strap top with matching shorts. Alice's choice I imagine. As I stretched and glanced out of the window I could see the moon, it was beautiful, round and a pale white. My throat began to ache with thirst so I made my way down the corridor to where I believed the kitchen to be. Alice was already there, perched on the counter. Did she know I was coming?
"Oh, evening Alice. Sorry I didn't see you there. I was just wondering if I could just get a glass of water." She turned slightly then. I was confused but then she handed me a glass of water already filled with ice cubes. I smiled at her. She had seen me coming. Her returning smile was very big.
"Thank you." I sipped the water very quickly at first but then let the cup rest in my hand. Alice had been watching me.
"You're welcome. I missed the fact that you needed water and food; otherwise I might have left some for you by your bed. You know Bella we would never have left, not if we had known what would have happened to you. We were wrong and I'm very sorry that our mistake cost you so dearly." She was sad as she said the words. Maybe Alice had not wanted to leave. Hope brew inside me at the idea of regaining a sister.
"Hey Alice, you left because Edward was unhappy. You did what was best for your family and it's what any sister should have done for her brother. I'm a danger magnet remember, I bring these things on myself." I smiled at her but she didn't return my smile. She still looked troubled. "What's going on Alice? Do you want me to leave is that it?" I prayed she didn't.
"No way Bella, but I think you need to go and talk to Edward. Things will be a lot clearer then. She nodded towards a corridor behind me. That's when I heard the music from a piano. It was Edward playing. My feet moved without my permission towards the door and to the room the music was coming from. I stopped in the doorway and closed my eyes to listen. He was playing my lullaby. It sounded so beautiful. When the music stopped I open my eyes to see that he was staring at me. I got lost just looking at him.
"Bella, love, I need to talk to you."
So tell me what you think. Too confusing? Too much Jasper? Not enough Bella and Edward? I feel I didn't pack in enough relationships in this chapter. Don't worry next chapter will have some good smush. And I also need to reveal to you why Jasper had got so involved in this is the first place. Please review. Update coming soon!