Chapter Four

GIFTED

The next day was uneventful. There was nothing more in the news about the burglary at the club owner's house and Jasper hadn't heard anything new at the club. I could tell Alice was concerned about her vision, but she was putting on a brave face. School and 'Fun Town' were over, it was 11pm and Nessie was snug in bed as Edward and I prepared to hunt together for the last time until the Thanksgiving holiday. Edward was putting on his shoes in the living room while Jasper was also expressing concern that maybe he, Edward, and Renesmee shouldn't be leaving, but Alice put him off.

"Bella and I can handle it my love. I saw no death or trauma. Maybe I was just feeling a bout of upcoming home sickness since Bella will have to be away from her uber-love Edward." Alice rolled her eyes and looked over to me laughing in her beautiful high pitched kilter. "Besides, it will be more fun to be at work without you glaring at me all night. It is my job to talk to cute men, you know." She laughed again as she jumped onto his lap on the couch.

"Keep an ear out for Nessie, she's been having crazy dreams since she saw you trance out Alice" Edward said as we headed for the door. "We'll go tomorrow, if we don't I'm sure I will never hear the end of it from either of you. If something happens you'll call me right away and I'll come right back. Is that acceptable ladies?"

Edward stopped in the open door and looked over to Alice, then to me by his side while he let out an all too perceptible sigh.

"Quite, brother. You have made the right choice." Alice glared back at him as Edward and I glided into the dark hallway.

We hunted in a dense forest about 15 miles north of our loft. The deer were slow, feeding heavily for the upcoming winter. I nabbed three fawns and took a fourth to grab a to-go bottle as a treat for Renesmee. Edward went for a large buck as usual, and finally got him late into the night. As we got back home I started to feel drained and tired, which was odd, especially because I just fed. I decided it was just stress and I was not going to tell Edward. I didn't need any more trepidation about their trip, I wanted Renesmee away from me and Alice if something bad was about to go down.

The next day was Thursday and after classes ended for the night Edward, Renesmee, and Jasper took the Lexus to the airport. Renesmee had given me a huge bear hug and held on for a very long time, all the while touching the back of my neck and giving me clear visions of all kinds of things she was looking forward to. Airplanes and the impending flight were prominent and I remembered what it was like for me the first time I flew on a plane. When I pulled back to look at her, she had tears in her little eyes.

"Awww, sweet darling, Momma will miss you so very much. But, you will be with Poppa and you will see Jake, and your whole family! You will have so much fun the time will fly by and then we will be together again. And airplanes are so fun, you shouldn't be worried one little bit." I had pulled her to me again and she sniffled as I felt her relax a little.

"Okay, Momma, I will call you all the time and I will count the hours until we are together again." With that she kissed me on the nose and pushed me away dramatically. I wondered where she got that stuff from and then I remembered a Bette Davis marathon on AMC she was watching that afternoon, I would have to curb the tv time for her a wee bit in the future.

Now it was Edward's turn. He pulled me to him by my waist and kissed me deeply while Jasper brought Renesmee down to the SUV and strapped her in her car seat.

"How will I live without you for so long my Bella? I may not survive." He whispered softly into my ear, making me melt.

"When did this family become so dramatic?" I cooed in return. He responded by holding me tighter and kissing me harder, making me dizzy and unable to concentrate on anything else but his cool lips and raw passion. "I will miss you so much my love." I said after I regained my composure. We heard a car horn from the parking garage below.

"I have to go or we'll miss our plane and your daughter will be quite mad at you." He turned toward the stairwell in the hall, " I know she is excited about riding in the window seat on the plane. Thank goodness for first class red-eye flights." Edward was holding my hand as we bounded down the steps to the garage. The SUV was double parked by the stairwell door. Jasper was in the driver's seat and Nessie was in her car seat in the back holding her favorite teddy bear and twirling her hair. Alice was standing at the driver's door kissing Jasper goodbye and giggling at something he was saying. Their luggage could be seen through the tinted back windows.

"Goodbye my darlings, be safe, and call me when you arrive! I love you!" I blew kisses to Renesmee as they pulled out of the garage and she grabbed them from the air then blew some back to me. Alice was heading for the Mercedes.

"Bella, why don't you come to the club for a while? It will keep your mind off everything." Alice said as she blinked off the alarm on the car. I considered this for a moment.

"You know what, you're right Alice, why not? Give me two secs to get ready." I turned and in a flash I was in our loft and changed into black jeans and an off the shoulder blue cashmere sweater. I pulled on my knee high black boots and was back to the car in less then three minutes. Alice looked impressed at my speed and smiled as she pulled out and headed toward the club.

The night was uneventful and I was already feeling the pain of being separated from Edward and Renesmee. Many men tried to talk to me but I was uninterested and they gave up. I did enjoy watching Alice flirt her way into free drinks. I especially liked watching her shoot down some of the nasty propositions she got. It was easy for me to eavesdrop across the crowded dance floor. Most guys and girls she talked to though were nice and happy to have someone to dance with and help them meet people. The music was pulsing and the lights were a mixture of many blues, reds, greens and lots of white strobes. At one point I felt queasy, that same odd feeling of unease I had felt over the last few days. The first time was at the strange blue bird ladies' house, the second time was after Edward and I got back to the house after hunting, and then now. It was odd, like I was getting the flu. I just wanted to sleep, but I knew that was impossible for me now. I flagged down Alice and told her I wanted to go home to relax a little bit before sunrise. It was quite late and the club would close soon anyway, besides, they would be landing soon and I didn't want to miss Renesmee's call to hear about her flight. We left and I immediately felt better once we were out of the club.

Edward called and even though Nessie was asleep he woke her up to say 'I love you Momma, I like plane rides'. They had made it to the Cullen house by dawn and everyone sent their love.

It was weird having the loft so empty during the day, but I took the opportunity to clean Renesmee's room from top to bottom and give some of her older clothes that she'd grown out of to the Goodwill before going to class that night. Alice was also cleaning and redecorating the bathrooms from their previous pure white décor to a darker hue for the fall season. I left her humming to herself as I headed out to class.

The weather was brisk and if I felt cold I would have needed a heavy coat, but my long sweater was fine and much less bulky. As I walked home I watched other students breeze by me shivering and I was quite glad I didn't have to deal with that anymore, even if I did miss the sunshine. I got to our building and felt the oddest chill as I climbed the stairwell. I looked on my arm and sure enough I had goosebumps, something I had not had in a year and a half. I stopped dead in my tracks and pulled out my cell phone, dialing Edward's number. He answered on the first ring.

"What's wrong Bella?" He said quickly, as if he expected trouble.

"Geez," I was trying to make my voice sound normal, I didn't want to worry him, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I had to figure out why I felt this way, I was wondering if it was 'mother's instinct', "I just wanted to say goodnight to Renesmee and make sure everything was good out there." I think it worked, because he put Nessie on the phone.

"Hi Momma, we are all at Grandpa's house. It's me and Jake and daddy and Grandpa Charlie and Pop pop Carlisle and Uncle Billy, it's like a party! I miss you though! Everyone says hi to you!" She sounded blissful.

"Ok, sweetie, I miss you too. Tell everyone I send my love and you get to sleep soon! I love you." I replied, trying to relax a little.

"Oh Momma, it's three hours earlier here, it's only 8 o'clock. I'm not tired." I could hear her stifle a yawn in spite of herself. "Ok, night night, here's Poppa." I heard the phone scrape and Edward's voice was reserved but cautious.

"Bella, is everything alright there? Tell me the truth."

"Yes, Edward, I'm fine, I just wanted to say goodnight. I miss you guys, that's all." I lied.

We exchanged I love you's and I miss you's and I hung up and looked up the dark stairwell to the final flight by our loft door. My stomach churned. Something definitely was not right. I glided up the steps and stopped on the landing and tried the door, it was locked. I got out my key from my pocket and hesitantly put it in the door and turned the knob. I opened it slowly to see the lights on and I heard the radio playing softly, I could see Alice's feet laying on the end of the couch and I opened the door wider to walk in as I called her name. A sickening smell caught my nostrils, a familiar scent, a dangerous scent, one that I had only smelled once before. As the door shut behind me I felt instantly ill and I tried to call to Alice. As the wind left my lungs I gasped to keep from choking. I could see Alice laying fully on the couch now, seemingly serenely asleep, with her hands crossed across her chest. She could be asleep or dead, but with a vampire, could you really tell the difference? Except we didn't sleep, we never slept. What was going on? Why did I feel so sick? Where was this smell coming from?

My last question was answered when I saw a dark brown tuft of hair peek out from behind the kitchen counter. It was a vampire, that same vampire emanating the odor filling my throat. I felt myself growl, though I don't know where I got the strength from. The hair gave way to a pale face with big golden amber eyes and when he was fully erect I saw he was about 6 foot tall, wearing jeans and a ripped t-shirt. He spoke coolly, somewhat high pitched, even though he looked to be about thirty when he was turned.

"Looky what we have here. How are you still awake my dear? You should have hit the floor the minute you opened that door." He was still standing in the kitchen, not moving, he barely even moved his lips when spoke. "Why don't you lay down on the floor next to your friend. Wouldn't you like a nice nap? It will make you feel so much better, young one." He was moving toward me now and I tried to cringe back but every part of my stealth new vampire body ached and fought against me.

The slender stranger went over to a brown chair and grabbed a throw pillow from it, tossing it onto the floor next to the couch. He moved the coffee table aside watching me warily and made a patting motion with his hand on the pillow.

I wanted to run. I wanted to pull up, grab Alice, and get the heck out of there, but I could hardly move. I was stunned. My shield wouldn't or couldn't protect me from this, although I was sure that the shield was the only reason I was still conscious. The stranger let out a visible sigh and made a tsk-tsk sound in his throat. Then he flung his head back and closed his eyes hard, like he was trying to remember something he had forgotten long ago. My pulse raced and my head swam, it felt like I was drowning in a sea of dreams. So appealing, calling to me, pulling me toward the soft pillow and toward the stranger. My brain was shouting 'NO!', but my body could fight it no longer and I crawled over to the pillow by the stranger's feet.

"That's it, strong child, close your eyes now and let the sleep take you in. Close your eyes and rest, you are so weary." I was lying on my back on the pillow on the floor next to my sister-in-law on the couch. The stranger was leaning over top of me with his palms over my eyes, but not touching me. His words and voice became soft and sultry in my ears. "Sleeeeep nowwww…"

His voice trailed off in my head as I gave in and my eyes closed. It felt so good to release, so good to give in to the blackness and forget about everything. It was like I was drifting on a black cloud, feeling perfectly calm. Then everything started spinning and I heard an annoying noise.

"EARRRRGGHH EARRRGGHH" I opened my eyes and sprang up. Looking around and trying to grasp where I was I started flailing my arms around, I had to stop that noise. My right hand connected with something cold and hard and the noise stopped. My eyes adjusted to the light in the room I was in and it all came in clear. I was in a bed. I knew this place. I looked down to see my old alarm clock from my room in Charlie's house in Forks on the floor where I had just shoved it. I blinked again. I was in my old room in Charlie's house. I was in Forks? I suddenly felt chilled, cold, and I realized I had thrown the covers off me when I sat up. How could I feel cold? Then I felt something else strange, a rumbling in my stomach and a pressure on my abdomen. Did I have to eat and go to the bathroom?

Then I heard it, the clincher, the noise that would startle me and make me realize this was really happening. I heard Charlie's voice at my door.

"Hey, Bells, you okay in there? Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to school? It is your first day in a new school and all." He knocked on the bedroom door, "Bells, are you okay?" He asked again.

No, I was definitely not OK.

Chapter Five

Human?

Coming soon!!