Chapter 4 – New Blood~
It was Saturday, exactly two weeks after my zip lining trip with the Cullen's. I hadn't seen any of them since that day, but Edward did tell me that they go out every other week, and he implied that I'd be welcome to go with them….but they never showed. Not knowing what happened to them, or where they went, strangely made me very anxious, so I spent my Saturday reading alone in my apartment. I should have gone into the lab, but I just couldn't think clearly at that moment and I knew I wouldn't get anything done.
Sunday was just as uneventful as Saturday had been, and by Monday I was going completely stir crazy, so going to work was actually a welcomed relief.
"Hi, Doctor Amun," I said a little too enthusiastically when he walked through the door. He mumbled some kind of response, and then he sat next to me quietly. Everyone else filed in and took their seats with some low chatter, but then Dr. Cullen walked in and everyone was silent. He was a vision of exquisite beauty, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him; of course it wasn't Dr. Carlisle Cullen like we were expecting - it was Edward.
"Doctor Cullen will be out for the next week, so I'll be filling in for him," Edward announced. "For those who are new this month, my name is also Doctor Cullen, and those who know me know I don't like to mess around the way my father does. Any questions, concerns, comments?" He waited and looked around the room to see if anyone had anything to say. His eyes grazed over me, but they didn't linger; he acted as if he didn't know me any better than anyone else in the room. "Great, let's get started," he said when no one spoke up.
I had come to know Dr. Carlisle Cullen as being very lighthearted and liked to joke with everyone in lab, but Edward was the opposite, which I found extremely strange considering how carefree he seemed to be around the other Cullens. My colleagues started asking him questions, and he'd answer them as if they were elementary. It was clear that he was extremely intelligent, probably one of the most gifted minds on the whole compound, but it was also obvious that he had no desire to socialize with anyone, which I could definitely relate to.
But having Edward there was definitely a bittersweet distraction as I would repeatedly get lost during the day while watching him work. Even when he was doing paperwork at his desk, I still found myself gawking at him. He kept scrunching his brows together creating creases between them, and I would have given anything to know what he was thinking. He seemed so stressed about something; though, I was sure it had nothing to do with his work because it was plain to see just how easy it came to him.
When it was time for lunch, I was going to ask Edward if he wanted to grab something to eat with me, but he practically ran out of the room before I had a chance. After we all reconvened an hour later, he returned with the same hard expression.
As the hours slowly ticked on, I tried to get whatever work done I could so I wouldn't look unprofessional in front of Edward; not that he noticed me or anyone else in the lab. We could have been blasting music and tossing a pizza around contaminating all our work, and he probably wouldn't have reacted with how distracted he was. When we were done for the day, I was determined to talk to him, but like at lunch, he darted out of the room as if he had somewhere important to be. Unfortunately for me, the rest of the week went pretty much the same way, and we didn't have a single personal conversation the entire time.
Still disappointed from my eventless week of lab with Edward, Saturday had rolled back around and I decided to not let that weekend go by the same way the weekend before had. I needed to do some digging and try to figure out what exactly was going on with the Cullens. I got dressed and opened the door to leave, but to my surprise, Alice was standing there about to knock.
"Oh good, you're ready," she said with a grin. I noted that her hair streaks were then bright orange, and I vaguely wondered what color they would be the next time I saw her.
"Hey…how are you?" I asked confused but happy she was there. "Ready for what?"
She shrugged. "We never know where we're going. Remember?"
I smiled. "Whose turn is it today?"
"Emmett's. And we all worry when it's his turn, so just prepare yourself."
"Right," I said and then grabbed my purse. We started to walk to the gate silently, but I had to ask what had happened before to make them no-shows. "So…I thought we were supposed to go out last weekend?"
"I'm sorry to leave you hanging, something came up. Edward was wrong to promise trips every other week, because we can't always make it."
"Oh… Well, what happened?" I prodded, hoping she would open up or at least give me some kind of clue.
"Just work stuff…. You know how that is," she said vaguely and I knew she wasn't going to say anymore. I was so frustrated with all the secrets, but I tried to push it away and enjoy the trip.
Like before, a black Escalade was waiting for us with the door open. Alice got in and climbed in the way back with Rosalie, I slid in the middle seat next to Edward, and Jasper came and sat on the other side of me. Emmett was in the front seat again.
"Hey," I said as they all stared at me.
"Ok Bella, it's my pick today and you're going to do whatever I say. Right?" Emmett asked me with a sadistic grin.
"Uh…sure," I said hesitantly. "What did you pick to do last time?" I asked him.
"We went to a wildlife preserve, and got to wrestle with tigers," he said happily.
"Are you kidding?" I asked horrified.
"They were movie animals, and the tiger was trained to wrestle with people without hurting them," Rosalie clarified.
"Hey, it still could have killed us," he said defensively.
"Not likely," she rebutted. "It didn't have any teeth or claws."
"So, you always do something extreme?" I questioned as the car started to drive.
"Yes, very extreme. Last month we went into France by copter, and had to shop all day," Jasper said in a mocking tone. "Guess who's pick that was?"
"Hey, I didn't complain when you wanted to visit the army base for a day of boot camp training," Rosalie argued.
"Yeah, but that was fun," Emmett chimed in. "Shopping was torture."
Everyone started talking amongst themselves, so I turned to Edward. "So, I thought your work in lab this week was amazing," I told him, unsure what else to say.
"Yeah, we've been busy," he said absently while looking out the window.
"It feels like we're close to something, doesn't it?" I asked, trying to engage him in conversation.
"Uh huh," he said nonchalantly.
"So, are you going to be in lab on Monday, or is your dad coming back?"
"We're not sure yet….Hey Em, are we headed to an air strip?" he asked, dodging my question.
"You have to wait and see," Emmett said playfully.
We drove a little ways further, and sure enough we pulled up to an air field of some sort, and then I noticed the helicopter stationed inside the gate.
"I love copter rides, don't you?" Alice asked me excitedly.
"Uh, I can't say that I've ever been in one," I admitted nervously.
"Oh, you're in for a treat."
We all climbed inside and buckled up, and unfortunately Edward wasn't seated next me to cling to. But I refused to be afraid of heights, not anymore. When we took off my stomach dropped, and it reminded me of the one and only time I had ever been on a rollercoaster. I gripped tightly to my safety harness, and slowly looked out the window as the world got smaller beneath me. It was completely surreal that I was in a helicopter with a bunch of people I never imagined I'd ever associate with, and yet they all felt like old friends in a way.
Our flight didn't seem to last very long, a couple hours at most, but after we touched ground with a jolt, I quickly realized we had landed in a different country.
"So, do you often fly to different countries?" I asked Jasper since he was currently in closest proximity to me.
"We've been all over Europe and Asia," he replied casually.
"Oh, well next time I'll be sure to bring my passport," I said, mostly to myself.
"Don't worry about it, we would have you covered regardless of where we go," he told me.
"What do you mean?" I asked confused, but then I looked past him and saw Edward handing a man a paper of some sort. The man with the official looking jacket nodded, and then handed the paper back to him and motioned to let us pass. "What was that all about?" I asked baffled.
"We have amnesty," Jasper answered.
"What? Why?" I asked even more puzzled.
He shrugged. "KRO pays a lot of money for us to move freely in Europe, Asia, hell, even Australia."
"Wha…how?" I asked, but it seemed as though Jasper wasn't going to explain any further..
I concluded that it was just one more thing to add to the list of KRO mysteries which I would have to put on the back burner, and compared to everything else that happened the border amnesty thing was the least important to me.
We got into a waiting van, and then drove about ten minutes before pulling up to a harbor. We all got out of the car, and followed Emmett down a pier to a small boat hut. I caught a glimpse of a map hanging on the side, and realized we were currently on the coast of Spain, which was wildly amazing on its own.
"Welcome," a man greeted us.
"Welcome to what?" Rosalie asked suspiciously.
"Today, we're diving with sharks!" Emmett said enthusiastically.
Rosalie and Alice both whined at the same time. "Em, I spent all morning on my hair and makeup," Rosalie complained.
"And you look beautiful, honey, but you're still going to get wet," he replied with a huge childlike grin.
"We didn't bring our suits," Alice protested.
"They have a shop right over there. Go buy some," Emmett instructed.
Alice huffed then grabbed what looked like a credit card from Emmett, and then Rosalie began to follow her to the shop.
"Come on, Bella; if we have to go, so do you!" Rosalie called to me.
"Uh…ok," I said and grabbed my purse before running to catch up with them.
Rosalie and Alice each picked out a suit for themselves, as well as a pair of men's trunks.
"So, you're buying the guys suits too?" I assumed.
"Yep. Which should we get for Edward?" Alice asked me.
"Uh…how about those," I joked, pointing to a pair of swim trunks that had an open shark's mouth on the crotch.
"Oooo, we should get them all joke trunks as payback," Rosalie suggested.
"Oh yeah, lets," Alice agreed and they both put back the trunks they had. "And we'll get super sexy bikinis and flirt with the boat guy to make them jealous."
It hadn't occurred to me before then that they were actually couples; Alice was with Jasper, and Rosalie was with Emmett. I knew they were together all the time, but I suppose I thought they were all just close professional working partners. I couldn't help but smile by the thought. It was definitely a bonus that there didn't seem to be any rules against dating coworkers and that Edward appeared to be unattached.
We brought our finds to the store counter, and I laughed at their choices. Alice got Jasper a bright orange suit with a giant happy face, which was funny enough, but then I saw Rosalie's choice… she got Emmett a teeny leopard print Speedo.
"Oh Rose, he's going to kill you," Alice said with a laugh.
"Serves him right," Rosalie replied smugly.
I got out my credit card.
"Oh no, put it away; these are on us," Rosalie said when she saw my intention to self pay.
"No way. You're not buying mine," I told them.
"We won't, KRO will," Alice said with a smile while flashing me the credit card Emmett had given her.
"You do this on the company's money?" I asked surprised.
"Please, they owe us," Rose said peculiarly.
Alice suddenly took in a sharp breath. "What. Is. That?" she asked horrified.
"What?" I asked confused.
"That?" she said pointing at the modest, navy blue, one piece I picked up for myself.
"My bathing suit," I said slowly, not understanding the problem.
"Oh, no it's not," Alice said then grabbed the suit. She looked at the tag, assumedly for the size, and then she grabbed a bikini.
"Uh….I don't have a body like yours," I said horrified by the thought.
"Please," she said insulted by my lack of confidence. Without further discussion, she threw the bikini with the others, and handed the man the KRO credit card.
We walked back to where the guys were, and Alice was almost giddy with anticipation as the guys waited to see what we got them.
"Ok, what's the damage?" Jasper asked knowing something was up.
"No damage, we are just excited about the suits we got you," Alice said before kissing Jasper sweetly on the lips.
"Uh oh," Jasper said after she pulled away from him. "I really don't like the sound of this."
Alice pulled Edward's shark jaws suit out first, since it was the least offensive.
"Ah shit," Emmett said knowing his was going to be worse.
Alice then pulled out Jasper's orange happy face one and he immediately whined as he looked at it, but then she handed Emmett the bag with his suit still concealed inside. "I had nothing to do with yours," she told him so he knew who to be angry with when he saw it.
"Babe?" Emmett practically cried when he looked inside. He pulled it out, touching it as little as possible as if it were the most disgusting thing on earth, and then Edward and Jasper started cracking up hysterically.
"Speedos are the best for scuba diving. I checked," Rosalie told him carelessly.
"Well, why didn't they get them then?" Em asked as Edward and Jasper continued to laugh.
"They just aren't as secure in their masculinity as you are," Rose said while running her hand under his shirt, and rubbing his stomach.
"Damn right," he agreed.
We all separated to get changed, and by the time we came back together, the guys were ready but still wearing shirts with their swim wear; of course that didn't stop Edward and Jasper from laughing at Emmett's bottom half.
"Don't be jealous cause my cock is bigger than yours," Em said to them.
Edward tried to come up with a good comeback, but he couldn't stop laughing long enough to talk.
"Hello boys," Rosalie said as she strutted in front of them in her barely there bikini. Alice followed her lead and did the same, but I kept my shirt on over my suit.
The girls bypassed their boyfriends, and went straight to the guys on the boat to begin flirting with him.
"Hey, what the fuck?" Emmett said out loud.
"Move your eyes!" Jasper ordered when he caught one of the boat-hands staring at Alice's backside.
We all boarded the boat, and I immediately noticed the large cage in the middle.
"Are we really going in there?" I asked with a gulp. I may have conquered my fear of heights, but claustrophobia was a whole other issue.
"Oh yeah," the boat hand with the surfer-boy bleached hair said.
We all got comfortable and watched in awe as the boat took us out to the crystal clear ocean, but I couldn't help but feel uneasy about the way the bleached haired guy kept staring and smiling at me. Sure he was attractive - in a beach bum with washboard abs kind of way, but I wasn't there to be hit on and wasn't the least bit interested.
"Would you like to fish?" one of the other guys who also worked on the boat asked.
"Hell yes!" Emmett shouted, and grabbed a pole. We all took turns fishing, but after I tried unsuccessfully, I sat back and watched Edward and Emmett compete to see who could snag the largest catch. Edward had managed to avoid me most of the trip thus far, and I began wondering why, but then the blonde boat guy came and sat way too close to me, forcing all my attention onto his invasion of my personal space.
"Hi, I'm Mike," he said, clearly trying to sound seductive.
"Good for you," I said a little more rudely than I intended.
"So, that red haired guy," he said pointing to Edward. "Is he your brother?"
"No. Why would you say that?" I asked confused as to how he could come to a conclusion like that.
"Well, he watches you like a hawk, but it doesn't seem to be in like…a romantic kind of way."
"Huh?" I said surprised. "He doesn't watch me."
"Oh, yeah he does. When you're not looking, he practically looks like he wants to eat you alive."
I shook my head wondering why the guy was even talking to me in the first place.
The boat finally came to a stop, and they dropped the anchor.
"Would anyone like to toss the chum?" the ship captain asked. Edward and Jasper pushed Emmett forward.
"Perfect. Here you go," he said and handed Em a large cup. "Just scoop, and then pour it into the water."
Em eagerly poured the bloody fish parts in, all the while wearing a huge grin on his face.
"And this will attract the sharks?" Rosalie asked.
"Oh yeah. Maybe we'll even get a great white," the captain replied.
"Can't wait," she said sarcastically.
They lowered the cage into the water and told us to go in pairs, so Em and Rose went first.
"So, is there a way to strap us together in the water too?" I asked Edward jokingly.
"I don't think so," he said dryly.
"Ok," I said suddenly feeling embarrassed, so I went to try to get my mind off of his harsh indifference towards me, and looked into the water to see if I could spot any sharks below. Edward clearly didn't want anything to do with me at the moment, and I wasn't about to force myself on him. That Mike guy was nuts for saying Edward kept staring at me, because that certainly wasn't the case, even if I wished it were.
"We're going to go last, so it's your turn," Jasper said to me after Emmett and Rose came back up.
"Oh, ok," I said surprised. I glanced over at Alice on the other side of the boat, and she almost looked sick. "Is she ok?" I asked Edward, assuming he knew what was going on with her.
"Yeah, she just started not feeling well," he explained absently.
"She seemed fine earlier," I said.
He shrugged. "She'll be ok, it's probably seasickness."
I looked back at Alice and was surprised to see Jasper giving her an injection in her hip.
"What kind of shot helps seasickness?" I asked skeptically.
"I said she was fine. Just forget about it," Edward said sharply.
"Ok," I mumbled, almost feeling guilty for asking. Indifference was one thing, but I didn't understand Edward's sudden hostility, especially since it only seemed to be directed towards me. I really thought we had connected during the two other times that we spent together, but I guess the feeling wasn't mutual.
I tried to give Edward the space that he seemed to be wanting, but then he took off his shirt …
I didn't realize that I had stopped breathing until the weird Mike guy brought an air tank over to me.
"Uh, are you going to leave your shirt on?" Mike asked me.
"What?" I asked not paying attention. I was far too distracted by Edward's perfection to listen to the guy talking to me. Emmett was built, but he was far too big for my taste, whereas Edward was flawless. Strong and muscular with a well defined back and shoulders – it was almost too much to take.
I had seen Edward almost shirtless when we played basketball, but seeing him completely bare from the waist up gave me serious heart arrhythmia.
"Are you going to leave your shirt on, or do you want to take it off?" Mike asked me again.
"Oh, sorry," I said, and then tentatively took off my shirt.
I was completely embarrassed to be so exposed - especially when Mike commented on my body. "Damn, you are one sexy woman," he said quietly so no one else heard him. I dismissed the comment, and moved away from him to put on my wetsuit.
As I was pulling the suit up my legs, I just happened to glance up and caught Edward raking his eyes over the length of my body. If he was anyone else, I probably would have tried to cover myself, but I couldn't help the unexpected wave of confidence I suddenly felt from having his eyes on me in that way, and decided to take my time to finish pulling the suit up.
When our eyes accidently met, Edward quickly looked away and pretended to not notice me anymore, so I sighed and finished getting ready.
"Ready for this?" I asked him as we stepped up on the edge of the boat.
"Yeah," he replied coldly. He looked away again, and we both put in our mouth pieces.
Despite Edward's lack of interest in me, other than his apparent onceover, I was still glad he was in there with me. I was much more willing to do crazy things when he was close by, which I wasn't sure was good or not.
Inside the cage, the weightlessness of the water was an amazing feeling, and I didn't even think about my claustrophobia. They threw in more chum from above, and the sharks went crazy; it was actually a really amazing experience. We stayed under water for about twenty minutes, and then we were ready to get out.
Alice seemed to be back to normal by the time we resurfaced, which was a huge relief, for me anyway. No one else seemed worried at all, and I wondered if her getting sick like that was a normal occurrence, or if it really was nothing more than seasickness.
While Alice and Jasper took their turn, the other guys started fishing again, and Rosalie was sun bathing, so I followed her lead and stretched out on the side deck of the boat to dry off in the sun. It was so peaceful letting my skin absorb the vitamin D, and that combined with the gentle rocking of the boat, I actually almost fell asleep… almost.
Suddenly I felt someone's cold hands on my upper thigh, and although I was momentarily hoping it was Edward, I knew it wasn't. My eyes snapped open, and I immediately pushed the hand away. It was Mike.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked angrily.
"What? I was just rubbing sunscreen on you. You're starting to burn," Mike said while licking his lips.
"Like hell you were," I rebutted.
"Come on sweet-lips, let's go below deck and fuck like teenagers on prom night."
"You are disgusting!" I said, shocked by his uncouth forwardness but annoyed more than anything. I got up to get away from him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer.
"Come on baby, no one needs to know," he said quietly in my ear, and his rancid breath washed down my neck making me want to vomit. "We'll be rocking the boat, and they'll just think the boat is…rocking."
"Let go of me now, before I scream," I threatened. We were on the side of the boat so the others didn't see us, but I was sure if I screamed that they would hear.
But he didn't let go, at least not before Edward rounded the corner and saw him holding me against his body.
"What the hell is going on?" Edward asked irately.
"Nothing," I responded. "Mike here, was just about to let me go and never come near me again," I said strongly while glaring at him because he was still holding my arm.
"Don't be coy, babe," he said to me, and then looked at Edward. "You just caught us at a private moment. We were just about to go below deck, but now you've embarrassed her."
Edward narrowed his brow and nodded his head without taking his eyes off of Mike. "Well, I'm sorry," he said strangely.
"That's ok, buddy, no worries."
Edward nodded again. "Well, you might want to be worried," he said, and then punched him hard in the face.
"What the fuck!" Mike yelled as he rolled around the deck holding his face.
"If you as much as breathe on her again, I'll throw you overbroad and let the sharks eat you!" Edward threatened viciously.
"No man, you got it all wrong," Mike said while blood poured from his nose as he got up. "She wanted it. We're two consenting adults, and you have no right…." He didn't get to finish his sentence because Edward punched him again. After he stumbled to recover himself for the second time, he stood back up and charged Edward. It only took a second for Edward to get Mike pinned on the deck, but he continued to pound on him in what looked like a blind rage. Thankfully, Emmett and the captain then stepped in and pulled him off before he had a chance to do permanent damage. The entire fight only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed so much longer as I stood there like an idiot watching it, ignorant as to what else to do.
"What the hell is going on here?" the captain yelled at them.
"He attacked me because his girlfriend wanted to fuck me!" Mike struggled to say while gurgling on his own blood.
His comment just pissed off Edward even more, so he started thrashing around to try to break free from Emmett's grasp. "Chill bro," Em said calmingly, but Edward was still fuming. "What happened, Bella?" Em asked me while still holding Edward.
"Mike wasn't taking 'no' for an answer," I managed to choke out.
Em nodded. "You need to take that bastard below deck before me and my brother kill him," he told the captain.
The captain agreed, and took Mike below and presumably locked him in the galley while the rest of us struggled to calm down.
"Are you ok?" Edward asked me, still shaking with anger.
"Yeah, thanks," I murmured, absolutely hating that he was put into that position because of me.
For the rest of the trip, Edward stayed close to me but still didn't talk much. He watched me when I'd move, but it wasn't in a freaky way, it was protective and actually made me feel oddly good. I didn't understand Edward and his drastic mood swings, but I knew without a doubt that I was going to figure him out eventually, one way or another.
We went home and said goodbye, but I didn't ask when or if we'd get back together. Whatever strange thing they were involved in wasn't consistent, so Alice was right in saying planning wasn't practical.
…
I was disappointed when Carlisle showed back up in lab on Monday, but that lunch made everything better when I found all of the Cullens together at a picnic bench in the compound courtyard, except they had a new addition.
"Hi," I said walking over to them. I wasn't sure if they'd want me acknowledging them on the KRO grounds because of their odd secrecy, but Alice smiled at me and gestured for me to sit.
"Bella, this is Bree. Bree, this is our friend Bella," Alice introduced me to the extremely young looking girl, who didn't look a day older than sixteen.
"Hi," Bree said shyly.
I wanted to ask her if she worked there, and I really wanted to know how old she was, but the few times I spent with the Cullens taught me to not ask too many question, and some answers would come out naturally.
"Are you a Cullen too?" Bree asked me unexpectedly.
"Bree!" Edward hushed her, and shook his head warningly.
"Sorry," she whispered, and then went back to her lunch.
"So…where are you from, Bree?" I asked, trying to break the awkwardness and make small talk.
"Uh…" She looked back to Edward strangely, but he didn't respond. "Lockhart," she said timidly.
"Oh California, cool. My dad and I spent a summer touring the best barbecues in the south. Living in Lockhart, I'm sure you've had Black's BBQ. What's your favorite there?" I asked excited to be able to connect with the new mysterious girl.
Bree stared at me absently for a moment. "What's…barbecue?" she asked suddenly.
Everyone was silent for a few moments, and then Edward started laughing, which prompted the rest of them to start laughing too. "Oh Bree, you're so funny," he said before standing and grabbing her arm. "You must have pretty bad jet lag. Let's get you to your room." He then pulled her up, and they walked away without another word.
"What just happened?" I asked the rest of them.
"Oh, I'm sure Edward is right," Jasper said dismissively. "Bree just got here, so I'm sure she's feeling a bit sluggish. Well, we should get back to work," he told the others.
"Yep, good seeing you, Bella," Emmett said casually, and Rosalie and Alice said goodbye as well, before they all left quietly.
I sat there dumbfounded as they disappeared around the bend, but then my curiosity got the better of me. I thought I'd be able to be patient and let the clues of the truth come naturally, but I just couldn't take it anymore. They were all really friendly and seemed happy when I was with them outside the compound, but between their most recent peculiar behavior and the new addition, I just had to know what was going on. So I did the only thing I could think of….I followed them.