if you got a better title for the chap then im all ears :)
sorry for taking so long to upload.
i will probably take a long time for the next one. I am not exactly feeling very well and have to upload something for my onther story to.
remember to R & R
* sorry for my cliffhanger of some sort for the chapter :P
BELLA
I wasn't really sure if I could make any human food, so I stuck to something simple for lunch…hamburgers. They seemed to be okay because Cori ate them without wincing. And to top it all off Renesmee behaved herself. She even drank some milk. But of course I couldn't expect it to last. When she actually got her hamburger (which I cut up into small pieces because that's what a fully human child would need), she had had enough.
"No! I don't want it! It tastes bad..." Renesmee said as she crossed her arms and slumped into her chair. I sighed softly, knowing exactly what Cori was probably thinking; since when do children think hamburgers taste bad? Of course I'll have to get Renesmee to practice eating food. I remembered through my foggy human memories that Edward had once eaten a piece of pizza, so it was possible for us to eat human food, it just doesn't satisfy our thirst.
Just then I heard Cori's phone go off. Her ringtone surprised me. It was a beautiful melody; played on a piano. When she checked her phone, her face was wary and a bit worried.
"Um sorry…I have to take this," she said as she got up from the table. Carlisle smiled at her and pointed to a place where she could have privacy…even though with Edward here no one's thoughts are private, except mine.
"Renesmee, darling, you have to try and blend in." Edward said as soon as Cori was out of sight. He looked across the table at Renesmee. "Cori isn't like us."
"She's not like Charlie either." Renesmee looked at the three of us with an expression much too serious for her young face. "She knows about things that aren't like us…that might be more dangerous."
"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked, intrigued at her words. What did she mean by that? What on earth could be more dangerous than a vampire?
"They aren't from earth," Renesmee startled me. I had no idea that I said it out loud. I was about to ask her what she meant when Edward stiffened beside me. I turned to look at him. His face was grim and his eyes were faraway. Before I could do or say anything else Edward ran from the room. Carlisle and I, carrying Renesmee, followed Edward automatically. Whatever was wrong, it was probably good to follow Edward's lead.
When we got to the hall where Carlisle told Cori to go to, I saw Edward kneeling over something and Jacob, in his wolf form, was looking at him. Jacob! I knew I smelled him. But what was wrong? As I got closer I saw it was Cori.
"What happened?" I said as I looked down at her body. Her head was tilted to the side, so I couldn't see her face, which was covered by her hair. Her body seemed to look okay, there weren't any unnatural angles to it, so her bones must not be broken. By how her body looked, she must've fainted…
Then there was the blood, I could smell it but not see it. I noticed again that there was something off about it. My throat wasn't on fire like it usually is when I smell human blood.
Carlisle kneeled down beside Edward and brushed Cori's hair out of her face. She didn't move. Her body was so still that if I couldn't hear her heartbeat—which had uneven beats at the moment, getting faster as the minutes passed—I would've thought she was dead.
Jacob gave a low whimper and I looked up at him as he ran into the darkness. A few moments later he came back as his human self, wearing nothing but pants.
"Was that really necessary, Jacob? She's not a monster, she's human. There was no need to waste your effort trying to keep Bella safe." Edward said; his voice cold but slightly amused. "Aren't you supposed to protect humans?"
"She doesn't smell human! Unlike you, I don't have some freakish power to see people's thoughts; if I did then I wouldn't have bombarded in here. But I wasn't trying to protect Bella, she's a vampire. That's supposed to mean she isn't so klutzy anymore, right? Even though she is probably still a danger magnet." He flashed a smile at me before turning back to Edward. "I was protecting Nessie."
Renesmee smiled at that. "That is enough you two," Carlisle said. "I am going to bring Coraline to the living room. Edward, go get a glass of water for her." Carlisle got up, Cori in his arms. I never saw him pick up a person before, so that was a surprise for me. He didn't look like someone that was really strong, unlike Emmett who looks like he just popped out of a body building DVD. But since Carlisle is a vampire, it is natural for him to be strong. Even Esme or Alice could pick anyone of us up easily. And since I am fairly new, I'm even stronger than Emmett.
Carlisle took Cori to the living room and Edward left to get water for her, so it was just me, Jacob and Renesmee. Renesmee held out her arms to Jacob, who came up to us and took her. I was only half aware of what was happening. The only thing I could think of was that Jacob also smelt the difference in her blood. Why was that?
"Hey Bella…everything alright? You seem tense," Jacob said, stepping back a bit as if to get a better look at me. I was about to just smile and say "I'm fine," like I used to do, but then I thought it wouldn't do any good hiding it from him.
"How come you smell the difference? I thought that it was just because I was starting to get a hang of the full bloodthirsty thing but you smelled it, too…so now I am confused." I sighed at the last part. The fact that my advanced vampire mind can't figure the problem out worried me. And what Renesmee said at the table worried me even more. What did she mean by not from this earth?
"She doesn't exactly smell like anything. It's kind of like…" Jacob stopped for a second to think
"Water?" I asked
"Yeah! That's it! She smells…neutral. It's almost as if there's no smell at all." Jacob looked at the place where Cori had been just laying, so I did too. There was a bit of blood there, and I wondered what happened.
"Jacob, what did you do? I mean Edward was very tense at the table and now I come here and there's blood on the floor…."
"I swear I didn't do nothing to her!" Jacob interrupted me to say.
"Anything," I corrected for him.
"Whatever. All I did was run in here to look for a bloodsucker and found her here instead. I ran and hid when she looked at my direction, and then came back out but she whirled around so fast that she bumped into me before I could hide again. Next thing you know, she's on the floor, coughin' up blood and Edward comes out of nowhere and kneels down beside her. Stupid bloodsucker started blaming me for this…" He kept on mumbling on so I pretended to listen and thought over what he just said, even though my vampire brain could easily do both.
So I was right about her fainting, that much I was sure about. How coughing up blood came into the equation, I had no idea. She seemed fine at the dinner table. I hope it wasn't my hamburger that did this to her. If it was than I had no idea how. I mean I didn't do anything to it, at least I hope so. Besides, there's no way an undercooked or overcooked hamburger would make someone faint. Or cough up blood.
"Mommy, I'm thirsty!" Renesmee's voice snapped me out of my deep thought. I looked at her and smiled.
"Okay we'll go hunting after we tell your father," I said smiling at her and Jacob. They really were inseparable.
~*~
After we had hunted and Renesmee was gloating about her big 'catch of the day', we came back to the house to find Cori's still body lying on the couch. She wasn't hooked up to anything. That could mean three things; is wrong with her, didn't know what was wrong with her or 3. She was dead. I really hope it was the first one. I wouldn't mind the second one. But the last one? I don't know why, maybe because I am different then most newborn vampires, I just couldn't take it if she was dead. Why I cared about someone I just met hours ago, don't ask me. I just do.
Carlisle came down the stairs, looking grim and deep in thought. He looked up as we walked in. There was a hint of worry in his eyes and before I could say anything Renesmee spoke up from my arms.
"Is she going to die?" She said it so nonchalantly that it scared me.
"No. But there is—" Carlisle started but Edward, rushing down the stairs, interrupted him.
"What!? How can that be?" Obviously he was reading something from Carlisle's mind. And by the way he looked at Cori with worry after his exclamation tells me that it had to do with her.
"I don't know…It's just a guess, suggesting how Bella's ultrasounds had similar results as Cori's x-ray." Carlisle's eyes suddenly went wide. "You don't think…"
"That is a possibility. But—"
"What on earth are you talking about?" Jacob asked the same question I was thinking.
"Well…we were discussing about the possibility that Cori is pregnant…with a child…that is half vampire." Jacob and I glanced at each other then at Renesmee, who was thinking intently about what her father had said.
"No Renesmee, darling, your mother had not fainted while she was pregnant with you," Edward said, replying to her thoughts, no doubt. "We are thinking about Cori's x-rays against your mothers ultrasounds. When Bella was pregnant with you, we couldn't even make out anything even with the strongest machine. Carlisle had the same results with Cori also. But now that I think about it, x-rays aren't the same as ultrasounds…" As Edward pondered that thought I quickly shot a glance at Cori, who stirred so very slightly, that human eyes could never see. As I glanced at Edward and he seemed quite puzzled.
"Is something wrong Edward?" Carlisle asked, keeping is eyes on Cori. "Is she alright? Mentally, I mean."
"Yes, no, I don't know," Edward sighed in frustration. "Her thoughts are jumbled up. And they are very odd thoughts indeed. It's almost as if she's having a fight with herself—"
He was suddenly interrupted by Alice's exited 'We're back!' from behind us. As Renesmee's pixie-like aunt came toward us to hold her, she—along with Emmett, Rosalie, Esme and Jasper—stopped in her tracks at the sight on the couch.
"May ask who the maiden on the couch is, my love?" Esme asked, walking to Carlisle's side.
"She's the darn babysitter that Charlie decided to call," Jacob replied, although the question was obviously for Carlisle. "And no matter what Edward decides to tell you, I didn't hurt her," Jacob pointed his chin up in a stubborn gesture, causing me to let out a little giggle. It looked so odd for Jacob, with his adult-like muscles that got him looking years older, to be acting like a stubborn kid.
"I wouldn't care who she is or what you did. For all I know your smell itself could've knocked her out," Rosalie said, scrunching up her nose. She moved from Emmett's side and picked up Renesmee in her arms. Renesmee smiled her brilliant smile up at her.
"Well whoever she is, she's giving me a massive headache!" Alice said, prancing back toward Jasper, whom was having a much easier time controlling his bloodlust for some reason. Obviously Jacob and I aren't the only ones who smell the difference.
I was about to ponder out loud this thought when something else hit me—Alice was having headaches around Cori…just like she had headaches around me when I was pregnant with Renesmee…
As if he could read my thoughts, Edward spoke the same realization I had. "Alice….did you just say she's giving you headaches, like how Bella had given you headaches…"
"…When she was pregnant? Yes actually…wait…is she?" Alice squinted at the figure on the couch.
"Well, we're not sure but maybe she is." Carlisle replied with a shrug. "Her X-rays exhibited the same results as Bella's ultrasounds, but we don't know for sure. X-rays are much different."
"And what about her smell? I don't feel the usual…pull towards her blood I've had when it comes to humans." Jasper asked. But before Carlisle could answer Edward froze at the same moment Cori got up into a sitting position on the couch, gasping for a few seconds then abruptly stopping. She was suddenly frozen; not moving an inch.
I walked toward the couch. Her eyes were glassy and she was staring into space, but I could see the pain in them. I touched her hand gently, strongly aware of the audience behind me, and, as if I had pushed a button, she slumped back down on the couch and groaned closing then reopening her eyes. The surprise in them was genuine and we all held our breaths, waiting for her to say something, to acknowledge that she was alright.
After what felt like forever she spoke, in the faintest of whispers.
"Kill me. Before he takes her away, kill me"
