Chapter 4: The Visitor
Unnaturally still and white, with large brown eyes darting all over Bella's body, the woman stood almost perfectly motionless in the doorway, beautiful beyond imagining. Bella was momentarily stunned. Could she really be here? When she finally decided Davina was real, Bella hurled herself at the vampire.
"Davina!" she cried, as she slammed into her. Davina wasn't quite as hard as the others in her family, but it was still like running headlong into a wall of cement.
Davina was surprised by Bella's excitement. She had played out several dozen scenarios in her head on the way here to prepare her for what to expect from Bella upon seeing her...this wasn't one of them. Still she wrapped her arms gently around her.
Bella, on the other hand, locked her arms around Davina, gasping to inhale as much of the scent of her skin as possible. It wasn't like anything else―not floral or spice, citrus or musk. No perfume in the world could compare. Bella's memory hadn't done it justice.
"Bella, what the hell happened to your head?" Davina questioned.
Bella stiffened as she realized her mistake. It had been so long since she had to worry about being too close or carefree about how she chose to show affection to someone, that it had escaped her mind entirely that Davina was still a vampire. She might be hungry, and for Bella to throw herself right under her nose like this, while bleeding this badly, was very dangerous.
She pulled away from Davina enough to see her face. "I'm sorry, I'm just... so happy... to see you!"
Davina wanted to tell her, "It's okay, Bella. I don't have the same impulses as the rest of my family." But with Jacob Black standing right there, she couldn't. She looked Bella over as best she could. "What did you do to yourself?"
"She tripped in my garage," said Jacob, speaking up. "Hit her head on a hammer."
Davina looked over at Jacob curiously, taking in the fact that he was shirtless and also had a fair amount of sand all over his jeans. "I see. And you thought giving her your shirt to press against her head was better than fetching a towel?"
"There wasn't time to run inside and get one," he growled.
"Well, which is it? Was she bleeding so much that you had to give her your shirt to press against the wound, or did it not look serious enough for you to take her to a hospital?" she shot back.
"Stop it. Both of you," Bella commanded. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine, Bella, you need stitches," Davina argued. "You should be at the hospital, not home."
"Jake was about to take me to the hospital. I just needed to come home and change first."
"So Charlie will believe you when you tell him you tripped in a garage?" Davina's tone implied she knew they were lying, but it wasn't as angry as Edward's usually was when she was clumsy.
Bella avoided her gaze.
"I can stitch you up, so Charlie doesn't have to hear about you going to the hospital and freak out," Davina offered with a sigh. "I'll have to run home and get the supplies, though." She looked to Jacob. "Can you stay here with her, while I'm gone?"
Jacob didn't even get the chance to respond before Bella began to panic. What if Davina didn't come back? "Don't go, Davina." Her fingers locked around the collar of Davina's shirt and she began to hyperventilate. "Please don't leave."
"Bella, breathe," she instructed slowly. She looked Bella right in the eye. "I just have to go get the supplies and then I-"
"No!" Bella cut her off. "If you leave…y-you won't come back."
Davina had every intention of coming back. Never mind seeing how she was doing emotionally, she needed to stitch up her head. Still, she relented with a sigh. "Alright. You and Jacob can come with me. I'll stitch you up there."
That seemed to make Bella feel better. Her breathing became somewhat regulated again.
Jacob didn't know what to make of her odd behavior. He thought she had a thing for Edward, not his aunt.
"Can you help her back into the car?" Davina asked him.
Jacob nodded and reached out to grab Bella.
Bella looked at Davina nervously.
"Do you at least trust me to run upstairs and grab you a change of clothes?" she smiled.
Bella released her grip on Davina, and let Jacob lead her back towards her truck.
Davina grabbed a clean pair of jeans, a button up shirt – something she didn't have to pull over her head and risk bleeding on – a clean towel, and some rubbing alcohol. She grabbed everything and ran back downstairs as quick as she could without arousing suspicion from Jacob. But soon enough, she was sitting next to Bella in the truck.
Jacob drove, occasionally receiving directions from Davina on where to turn. Bella sat between the two, though she was scooted closer to Davina. She cleaned Bella's wound as best she could, tossing Jacob's bloodied t-shirt onto the floor.
There was a sea of questions floating around Bella's mind. But one seemed to stand out among all the others. "Why did you come back?"
"Viktor," Davina answered simply. "He, uh...encouraged me rather forcefully to come back and check on you. And so I have." Davina flashed her a smile.
"So does that mean you're...you're going to leave, again?" Bella could feel the blood draining from her face just asking the question. Her stomach dropped as she awaited the answer, which she was sure was going to be a 'yes'.
Davina looked into Bella's eyes. "Bella, calm down," she said, enunciating each word with slow precision. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."
Bella did her best to obey. Davina watched her face while Bella concentrated on her breathing. Then her own face contorted into shock. "Oh, god, Viktor. H-He's at the house."
It took Bella a moment to catch on, but eventually she understood the problem. Jacob, on the other hand, was completely lost.
"So?" he asked.
"Uh, the site of blood makes him sick," Davina lied, taking out her mobile phone to call him. Viktor took his time answering it. "Hey, it's me."
"I gathered that from the little screen thingy that said your name," said Viktor.
"I need you to leave for a little while. You know, just get out of the house for a bit."
"Why?"
"Bella fell and hit her head." Davina shot a look at Jacob, letting him know once again that she didn't buy their story of Bella just tripping in his garage. "I'm bringing her home with me to stitch her up."
"Why don't you just bring her to a hospital?" he questioned.
"Because she doesn't want her dad to find out."
"Why?"
"Viktor!"
"Okay, okay. Gees. I'll go out for a bit," he agreed. "I was getting a little peckish anyways."
"Thank you."
Davina relaxed a little knowing there wouldn't be a human-eating vampire waiting at home when they got there. Viktor was old enough to have some level of self control that rivaled Carlisle's, but Davina still preferred not to push the boundaries, especially with such a bad head injury.
It took seven stitches to close the cut on Bella's forehead. After the sting of the anesthetic, there was no pain to the procedure. Lucky Carlisle still had some in the house. Jacob held Bella's hand while Davina was sewing her head closed, but it seemed to be more for show and less for Bella's comfort.
When they were finished, Bella changed clothes and the three of them left to bring Jacob home. Davina was tense the entire trip there, and left as quick as she could. She knew it was breaking the treaty to go on the Reservation, but Bella couldn't drive herself back from dropping Jacob off. And to tell Jacob he had to call someone to come pick him up, or wait for Charlie to come home and ask him for a ride would have aroused suspicion.
"You don't have to keep staring at me, you know. I'm not going to disappear."
"I'm sorry. I just…I can't believe you're actually here," said Bella.
"I wanted to come sooner, but Viktor and I have this tradition. Every December, we travel to some of our favorite places in the days leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we search the North Pole for Santa's secret entrance to his workshop. Christmas Day, we do whatever we feel like. And then the rest of the month, we go home and spend time together." She glanced over at Bella. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner – or rather, didn't."
"…You search for Santa's workshop?"
"All of that, and that's what you take away?" Davina laughed.
Bella laughed nervously. "Sorry. It's just…a little weird."
"It is," she admitted. "But I think he started it when I was a little girl. I honestly don't remember how it got started; I just know it's something we've been doing every year for almost 300 years, now."
Bella started to nod in acceptance of this answer, then realized what she'd said. "Little girl? I thought Viktor didn't find you until you were older. When you were attacked by another vampire?"
Davina pulled into Bella's driveway and shut off the truck. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
That was the second time Davina had avoided answering a question about her age and her story of how she was turned. Bella was beginning to see why Edward found it so frustrating to get to know her past. She seemed to refuse to let anyone in. What could be so bad that she wouldn't even tell her own family?
They spent the next several hours talking about Davina's travels with Viktor, and their latest attempt to find Santa's workshop. She learned that Davina still kept in touch with her brother and his children, and that when she was away from Viktor they did the same so that they never fell out of touch or missed out on important details of each other's lives.
Eventually, Davina began cooking dinner, while she talked. Bella sat in the kitchen with her, watching and listening eagerly. She'd just finished when she heard Charlie's cruiser pull into the driveway.
"Are you sure Charlie won't mind my being here?" Davina asked, sounding worried. She could already accurately assume that Charlie would hate her nephew, but where did he stand on the rest of the family?
"Charlie thinks you're great," Bella assured her. She seemed puzzled by the random questioning.
"Well, we're about to find out." Davina nodded towards the door.
Charlie opened the door, as if on cue. "Smells great, Bells. Whatcha cookin'?" He stopped suddenly, as he turned to look into the kitchen. He'd expected to see his daughter cooking away, not Bella sitting on the counter while Davina Cullen cooked.
"Hi," said Davina with a warm smile. "I'm sorry to drop in like this."
"Davina Cullen?" he peered at the figure in his kitchen as if he doubted what his eyes were telling him.
"It's me," Davina confirmed.
"Is Carlisle...?"
"No, I'm alone."
Both Davina and Bella knew he wasn't really asking about Carlisle.
"She can stay here tonight, can't she?" Bella pleaded. "I already asked her."
"Of course," Charlie said mechanically. "We'd love to have you, Davina."
"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."
"No, it's fine, really." Charlie finished walking into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "It'll be nice for Bella to have some company."
Davina smiled. "Thank you, Sheriff."
"Charlie will do," he told her.
"Charlie it is, then."
Davina was better at idle conversation than Bella ever expected. But after 300 years, she was bound to learn some people skills. She kept up with all of Charlie's questions – he never once seemed suspicious of her answers. And she had them both laughing quite a bit. Something Charlie was very happy about. He'd seen Jacob make her smile on occasion, but her laughter was a sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Too long.
After dinner, Bella and Charlie cleaned up, while Davina called Viktor. She wanted him to know she'd be staying at Bella's that night, so not to expect her. He teased her about it, implying some kind of romance between the two, which she firmly denied.
Meanwhile, Charlie remarked on Bella's improved mood. She'd already been seemingly better with the time she'd been spending with Jacob, but Davina seemed to also make her happy. Unlike Viktor, he wasn't implying anything more than friendship.
When Davina was finished with her call, Charlie wished the two 'goodnight', and headed to bed. Bella and Davina weren't far behind him. The two girls got situated for bed, then got comfy in the bed; but they were nowhere near ready to sleep. Bella had too many questions still. Before they knew it, it was a little after one in the morning.
Bella yawned, thinking of her next question.
"You're tired," Davina noted. "You should sleep."
Bella shook her head. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to keep talking to Davina. She wanted to make sure Davina didn't disappear while she was sleeping. That's what they had done before. Edward had only waited for her to go to school so he could leave the note.
"Well, I'm tired," Davina declared. She sank down into the bed from her original propped up position. "I'm going to sleep."
Bella stared at her bewildered. "You sleep?"
Davina laughed. "Always more questions with you. Yes, I sleep. Not as much as you and other humans, but I do sleep."
Bella's head was spinning. Edward had told her about Davina being able to eat – it was why her eyes were always brown and never gold like the rest of the family – but now sleeping as well…?
"I can hear those gears a-turning," Davina remarked, her eyes closed. "I'll make you a deal. If you let me get some sleep, I promise to answer more questions tomorrow – or technically, later today. Deal?"
Bella was hesitant. She really didn't want to sleep. Never mind her fears of Davina leaving while she did, she didn't want Davina to witness firsthand her nightmares. But she felt pretty wired with all these questions running through her mind. Maybe she could pretend to sleep?
Bella lowered herself down onto her pillow, facing Davina. "Deal."
Davina smiled. "Excellent. Goodnight, Bella."
"Night."
Bella watched Davina sleep in fascination for a while. But eventually she drifted into a more peaceful oblivion than she had any hope of.
She woke early the next morning, from a deep and dreamless sleep, feeling surprisingly well-rested. The first thing she noticed when she woke was that her personal heat source was missing. She sat up and looked around for Davina. Had she left? Had it all been a dream? She saw Davina's shoes still on the floor of her room, and sighed with relief. So it wasn't a dream. But was she still here?
Bella climbed out of bed and opened the door. She immediately heard voices downstairs. It sounded like Davina and Charlie were talking, and judging from the smell, she guessed they were in the kitchen. Bella krept out of her room and sat at the top of the stairs to hear what they were talking about.
"How bad was it, Charlie?" Davina asked softly.
Charlie sighed. "Real bad."
"Tell me about it," Davina pressed. "I want to know exactly what happened when we left."
There was a pause while a cupboard door was closed and a dial on the stove was clicked off. Bella waited, cringing.
"I've never felt so helpless," Charlie began slowly. "I didn't know what to do. That first week―I thought I was going to have to hospitalize her. She wouldn't eat or drink, she wouldn't move. Dr. Gerandy was throwing around words like 'catatonic,' but I didn't let him up to see her. I was afraid it would scare her."
"She snapped out of it though?"
Charlie shrugged. "In a sense. She went back to school, she ate and slept, and did her homework. She answered when someone asked her a direct question. But she was... empty. Her eyes were blank. There were lots of little things―she wouldn't listen to music anymore; I found a bunch of CDs broken in the trash. She didn't read; she wouldn't be in the same room when the TV was on, not that she watched it so much before. I finally figured it out―she was avoiding everything that might remind her of... him."
Davina mulled this information over in her mind, as he spoke. She mentally cursed her nephew and herself for putting Bella through all of this, though her face gave nothing away.
"We could hardly talk; I was so worried about saying something that would upset her―the littlest things would make her flinch―and she never volunteered anything. She would just answer if I asked her something. She was alone all the time. She didn't call her friends back, and after a while, they stopped calling. It was night of the living dead around here. Last night was the first time she hasn't woken herself up screaming."
"I'm so sorry, Charlie," Davina said, voice glum.
"It's not your fault." The way he said it made it perfectly clear that he was holding someone responsible. "You were always a good friend to her."
"I'm not so sure about that," she mumbled. "I argued with my brother and my nephew against leaving. I even left the family to travel with my father for a while, because I didn't agree with this decision – and because I missed him. But I never bothered to check in on her, before now."
Bella could tell from her tone that she was beating herself up about it on the inside. She wished she wouldn't. Davina might have known how bad things would get for Bella, or at least had some idea after the things she'd seen over the years, but she came back. Davina had come back to check on her, when no one else had. When he had not.
"You couldn't have known things would get this bad," Charlie told her. "Anyway, you weren't the one that broke her...well, broke her."
"If you ask my father, he'd tell you that it doesn't matter who did the breaking. Bella was still important to me, and I left her the same as he did."
"But you came back. He didn't," Charlie pointed out, as though reading his daughter's mind.
Davina smiled. "My father said something similar."
Charlie grunted. On a normal day he might have asked about her father or made some kind of idle remark. But these weren't normal days anymore. Normal had left town with the Cullens. All he had now was the exact opposite.
"She seems better now," Davina observed, turning the subject matter back to Bella.
"Yeah. Ever since she started hanging out with Jacob Black, I've noticed a real improvement. She has some color in her cheeks when she comes home, some light in her eyes. She's happier." He paused. "He's a year or so younger than her, and she says she only thinks of him as a friend, but I think maybe it's something more, or headed that direction, anyway."
Bella cringed. That wasn't true in the slightest. Jacob was just a friend. In fact, she had been trying to get that very message through to Jacob himself for a while now. But it seemed everyone was intent on seeing what they wanted.
"I've met him, once or twice," said Davina. "Seems like a nice kid. A bit young, but nice."
"Jake's old for his years," Charlie defended. "He's taken care of his father physically the way Bella took care of her mother emotionally. It matured him. He's a good-looking kid, too – takes after his mother's side. He's good for Bella, you know."
"Then it's good she has him." Davina's tone seemed to contradict her words. If Bella and Charlie didn't know better, they'd have said she sounded jealous. But they both just chalked it up to her being tired of Charlie's sales pitch of Jacob.
Charlie sighed heavily. "Okay, so I guess that's overstating things. I don't know…even with Jacob, now and then I see something in her eyes, and I wonder if I've ever grasped how much pain she's really in. It's not normal, Davina, and it... it frightens me. Not normal at all. Not like someone left her, but like someone...died." His voice cracked.
"It was like someone had died," Bella thought to herself. "Like I had died. Because it had been more than just losing the truest of true loves, as if that were not enough to kill anyone. It was also losing a whole future, a whole family―the whole life that I'd chosen..."
Charlie went on in a hopeless tone. "I don't know if she's going to get over it―I'm not sure if it's in her nature to heal from something like this. She's always been such a constant little thing."
"She's one of a kind," Davina agreed with a small smile.
"And Davina..." Charlie hesitated. "Now, you know I'm fond of you, and I can tell that she's happy to see you, but... I'm a little worried about what your visit will do to her."
Bella didn't like this. What if he convinced her that her visit would do more harm than good, and she left?
Davina's face fell. "So am I, Charlie, so am I. I'm sorry."
Bella started to feel sick. She didn't want Davina to leave.
"Don't apologize, honey. Who knows? Maybe it'll be good for her."
"Well, you did say she slept nightmare-free for the first time last night," Davina reminded him, her tone hopeful.
Charlie said nothing, but his face looked as hopeful as she had sounded. There was a long break while forks scraped plates and Davina savored her coffee. Bella was about to stand up and make her way down there, when the conversation picked up once again.
"Davina, I have to ask you something," Charlie said awkwardly.
Davina nodded a 'go ahead'.
"He's not coming back to visit, too, is he?" Both Davina and Bella could hear the suppressed anger in Charlie's voice.
Davina looked down at the table, gently setting down her cup. "He doesn't even know I'm here. The last time I spoke with him, he was pretty adamant about staying away."
Charlie nodded in response, but said nothing. Whatever hatred he harbored towards Edward, he respected that he was still Davina's nephew; and that however much she disapproved of his decision to leave Bella, she still loved him and didn't want to hear Charlie speaking ill of him.
After a few minutes more, a chair scooted from the table, scraping loudly across the floor. Bella pictured Charlie getting up – there was no way Davina would make that kind of noise. The faucet ran, splashing against a dish. It didn't sound like they were going to say anything more about Edward, so Bella decided it was time to wake up.
She got to her feet and yawned loudly. She stretched and groaned, as she made her way down the stairs. She rounded the corner into the kitchen, smiling genuinely for the first time in four months. She was admittingly stung by some of the topics Davina and Charlie had discussed, but she was happy to see Davina still there.
They all exchanged 'good morning's, and Charlie made his way into the living room. He sank into his recliner, and switched on the TV. Bella took advantage of the noise to ask Davina about the rest of the Cullen family.
Davina replied by sliding her plate over to Bella, and handing her a fork. "From what I hear, you don't seem to be eating very well these days."
"I eat fine," Bella argued. It wasn't very convincing.
"If you did, you wouldn't look as weak and tired as you do." Davina glanced over at Charlie and leaned in. "Would it make you feel better if I said I hadn't been eating all that well, either, since I left?"
Bella eyed her for a moment, before finally accepting the fork. "It's not your fault, you know? You can't force someone to stay when they don't want to."
"Oh, I know. But I was a hypocrite. I told him what it would do to you to leave you. I argued that we should stay and let you get over this in your own time, and not just rip away every piece of evidence that we ever even existed." Davina was getting just as flustered and irritated as she had been when she had followed her nephew to Denali to try talking some sense into him. She took a breath. "And then I just vanish with the rest of them."
"But you came back."
"I know, I know. But that guilt has still been plaguing me since I met up with Viktor. For four months, now, all I've been able to think about is you."
Bella stared into her brown eyes. If she didn't know better, she'd have guessed that there was more going on than just friendly concern, or concern for Edward. But that was impossible. She was Edward's mate, not Davina's. Bella had felt it in every fiber of her being. Everyone, including Davina, had said it. This was just a simple matter of a guilty conscience.
Bella took a bite of food from her plate. Davina watched her take a few more bites, and feeling satisfied that she was in fact eating, she told Bella what the others had been up to.
Carlisle was teaching night classes at some big Ivy League school – she couldn't remember where. Esme was restoring an old house, which was actually a historical monument there. Rosalie and Emmett had gotten married – again – and were currently on their honeymoon. Jasper and Alice were each going for another degree in whatever was fancying them this time around, at the college Carlisle was teaching at.
It seemed odd that Davina wouldn't know more detail than that about her own family, but when Bella asked her why she couldn't recall the details, she simply reminded her, "All I've been able to focus on is you. And Edward to some degree, but he has a support system – people who understand what he's going through. You didn't. You were all alone, surrounded by people who were completely oblivious to our world. No one to talk to, no one to properly help you through it. Completely and utterly alone."
The two girls spent the day talking and catching up on some housework – Bella had fallen behind with all the time she'd been spending with Jacob, lately. Davina noticed that as the day grew closer to its end, the more unhappy Bella seemed to get.
"Are you alright?" Davina finally asked as they folded the laundry in Bella's room.
Bella thought about lying and telling her that she was fine. But what if the truth made her stay? That was what she wanted, after all. "I don't want you to go," she said.
"Ah."
"I know you probably have plans with Viktor to go on more crazy adventures, or something, but…" Bella shook her head and looked at Davina pleadingly. "Please don't go."
Davina continued to fold and didn't look up at Bella. "But I have to. Viktor can't stay here, so I need to at least say goodbye to him. And if I'm going to stay here again, I need to pick up a change of clothes." She glanced up to see Bella's face, and smiled teasingly.
Bella threw her arms around Davina. She was happier than she had been in a long time.
"Can you stay out of trouble for one hour?" Davina teased.
Bella didn't dignify her with an answer. She pulled away from the angel-faced vampire, and watched her head for the door.
"You'll come back?" Bella called after her.
Davina turned and smiled comfortingly. "I promise―one hour."
Bella glanced at the clock on her nightstand. She heard Davina laugh and felt a brief kiss on the cheek. Then she was gone. Bella took a deep breath. Davina would be back. And she had plenty to do to keep busy while she waited. A shower was definitely first on the agenda – she smelled like Comet from cleaning the bathroom earlier. She put away the laundry, taking the towels and wash clothes with her to the bathroom.
While she showered, she thought of the kiss on her cheek. It had happened so fast, Bella hadn't even seen Davina come back over to her to plant the peck on her cheek. But she had definitely felt it. And the sound of her laugh…The only thing that could compare to it was the sound of her own voice.
By the time Bella finished her shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs; Davina was already back. She was sitting on the couch eating pizza, and watching TV with Charlie.
"You're early," Bella said, elated.
Davina smiled and patted the cushion next to her. She waited for Bella to sit, then handed her a slice of pizza. "Viktor's not one for long goodbyes," she whispered. That was the extent of conversation for the rest of the night.
Jacob called the next afternoon, while Charlie was out. He hadn't heard from Bella since she and Davina dropped him off the day before last, and wanted to know how she was doing.
"I'm fine, Jake, really," she assured him.
"If you say so," he laughed. "So when are we going riding again? I disconnected the foot breaks on your bike, so no repeats of last time."
Bella glanced out of the kitchen at Davina sitting on the couch, hoping she hadn't heard that. But her face gave no indication she'd heard anything. "Uh, I'll let you know," Bella whispered. "Listen, Jake I gotta go. I'll call you later."
Davina waited for her to hang up the phone to ask, "What bikes?"
Bella cringed. So she had heard.
"Well?" Davina pressed. Her tone was surprisingly calm.
Bella took a deep breath and told her everything. How she had been drawn to the stranger at the bar last month. How she had heard Edward's voice in her head, telling her to go back to Jessica. How she had taken a ride with the strange man, just to hear Edward again, and ended up seeing him, too. She told her how she had come across the bikes by sheer chance, and decided to have Jake fix them up, so she could hear Edward again.
"I get that it sounds completely insane," Bella began.
"You're right. It does," Davina agreed. "Hopping onto a complete stranger's motorcycle, and going on a joy ride alone with him? Complete madness."
Bella made a face. "That's it? You're not gonna tell me that I'm crazy? That they were just hallucinations?"
"Bella, when anyone gets into some kind of dangerous situation, they hear a voice in their head. For most people, they hear their own voice telling them what to do. But for some…" She gestured to Bella. "We hear the voice of someone we know. Someone who has done a lot to keep us safe, and is still trying to do so through our subconscious."
Bella considered her words for a moment. This theory sounded a lot better than her being crazy. It made more sense, too.
"Personally, I hear Viktor's voice in my head," she went on. "It's like I'm in training again, and he's calling out various maneuvers and counter moves to me."
"Really?"
Davina nodded. "Mhmm. Honestly, I think it's the only reason I won that fight with James last year."
"Couldn't you have just used your power?" Bella asked.
"I did, a little," she admitted. "But I can't just rely on that alone. If I wanted to confuse him enough to keep him distracted while I kill him, then that wouldn't work. You see, I needed to make him angry. Very angry."
Bella was confused. Surely making a vampire angry would be a bad thing.
Davina saw the confusion on her face, and began to explain. "When someone is angry, they don't think clearly. That's why they always tell you not to make rash decisions when you're upset, or to attack out of anger. Because you aren't thinking clearly."
"And by making him so mad he couldn't think clearly, then using your aversion field, it was enough to keep him confused long enough for you to kill him."
"Exactly." After a few minutes of silence, Davina decided to break it. "You should go see Jacob tomorrow. It's only been a couple of days, and I already feel like I'm monopolizing you."
"You're not," Bella assured her.
"Bella, you should spend time with your other friends. I'll still be here when you get back," she encouraged.
"Why don't you come with me?" Bella suggested. "The three of us can do something together."
Davina sighed and shook her head. Bella was clearly not ready to let Davina out of her sight anytime soon. "Fine. But he'll have to come here. The people on the Reservation aren't fond of me or my family."
Bella would have thought Davina wouldn't care about something like that, but chose not to push it. If she was willing to spend time with Jacob for her, then she was grateful. Now whether Jacob would be willing to do the same was another story.