Chapter 6 Bewitched, bothered and bewildered

Bella POV

I thought the main room was impressive, but it was nothing compared to the luxurious interior of the bathroom. It rivaled even the ones I'd seen at the Cullen mansion back in Forks, and that was saying something.

Sure I had expected to find a shower, but not a shower big enough for me and five other people and a tub, the size of a small swimming pool.

'I want to move in here …' was the first thought that came to my mind.

I was tempted to take a long, relaxing bath, but I decided to take an extended hot shower instead. There was no time to delay the inevitable any longer than necessary. For one, I longed to get some needed answers, but more importantly it was probably my last chance.

But right now I didn't want think about what would happen afterwards, just enjoy a long, hot shower. I shred my clothes, pulled my hair into a bun and stepped into the huge shower stall.

I didn't know how long I was actually in there, but apparently long enough to make my skin shrivel. I had too much fun, experimenting with the various showerheads. When I finally left the shower, I felt oddly relaxed … physically at least.

I quickly dried myself with a big, fluffy white towel I had found in the place under the sink, just as Alec had said. After that I wrapped the towel around my body, fastening it tightly. It was big enough to cover most of my skin. I let my hair back down, and picked up the brush. It took me a few minutes to disentangle the knots in my hair, but I succeeded in the end. Then I picked up my clothes and went back into the bedroom.

I barely stepped over the threshold, when I froze on spot. There was a small, blond girl sitting on the edge of the enormous bed, twitteling her thumps. She wore the same kind of cloak as Alec. She looked like a child, reminding me of Alice. But she looked even more childlike than my former best friend, younger, physically at least, not older than seventeen. But something about her told me that she wasn't someone you'd want as your enemy.

She looked at me, greeting me with a small smile. "Hi there."

I was too shocked by her presence to respond in kind. I hadn't expected to find anyone in here since Alec had said that he would wait outside, giving me some privacy … like a true gentleman.

Did Alec know she was here? Of course, he knew. I doubted very much that anyone … human or vampire … could sneak by him unnoticed. But what was she doing here?

The girl tilted her head, appraising me from top to bottom, making me feel like a piece of flesh. "Hmmm … So you are what all the fuss is about." She mumbled, but I could hear her loud and clear, and I was sure she wanted me to hear it. I didn't like the implication in her voice or her attitude.

What the hell was her damage? She should know that I didn't want to be here in the first place. My anger rose to new heights, but I did my best not letting her see that she was getting to me. I took in a deep breath.

"I'm Bella. Who are you?" I asked coolly, walking over to the bed, dropping my clothes on it.

She smiled, showing me her perfect white teeth. Was that supposed to scare me? "I'm Jane. I'm looking after you while my brother is getting some lunch." She replied, answering some of my questions I hadn't voiced out loud.

It took me a few seconds to process the meaning behind her words, but the bright color of red in her eyes indicated that she must have fed very recently. I wasn't really freaked out by the fact that humans had to die in order to quench her thirst, but some of my shock must have shown on my face anyway, because Jane sniggered. I choose to ignore her reaction, but not the other part of her answer.

"Your brother? You mean Alec is your brother?"

"Yes."

"You mean your real brother?"

"Actually he is my twin. Don't tell me you don't see the resemblance." Jane said, acting all offended, earning her a small smile from me. There was no true resemblance between them, aside that they were both not very tall and seemed to be of the same age when they had been changed.

Jane obviously didn't expect an answer from me. Instead she stood up and sauntered, well more like glided over to the walk-in closet, beginning to rummage through the various items. She finally found what she was looking for, pulling out a pair of dark jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, along with some underwear. "Here, go back into the bathroom and get dressed. I'm sure your dinner will be here at any moment …"

Right on cue, there was a knock on the door. "See?" She pushed the clothes into my waiting hands. The cold skin of her hands slightly brushed against mine in the process. I didn't show any reaction to the contact, being quite used to the difference in body temperature, but she on the other hand seemed to be a little startled. Or maybe annoyed? A small frown appeared on her face, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. "Hurry up. You don't want your food getting cold." She made shooing gestures with her hand.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. And thanks." I added, before disappearing into the bathroom once more. I was pretty hungry and very curious what kind of dish they were serving me. I hoped it would be something Italian, like pasta or pizza. The odds were definitely in my favor … I was in Italy after all.

The clothes fit perfectly. I wasn't really surprised by that fact, not with what I knew about Aro's gift by now. It obviously gave him much more insight into the mind of others than Edward's, providing him with all kinds of information, even insignificant ones like my dress size. But I was very glad that they had gotten me clothes I really liked instead of those ugly frilly dresses Alice used to talk me into wearing.

As soon as I was dressed, I returned back to the bedroom to find the table near the window loaded with several dishes. I inhaled deeply. The smell of the food was mouthwatering and my stomach growled loudly in response. I went over to the table and I sat down in the chair. I picked up the fork and dug right in. Everything was delicious, from the variety of antipasti to the three different dishes of pasta. Of course, it was way too much for one person to finish off, but I made sure to try a bit of everything.

Being completely otherwise occupied I failed to notice that the little female vampire had moved from her spot on the bed to the window right behind me. Only the sound of the curtains being moved announced how close she was. I was a little startled by her rush movement, of course, but I wasn't concerned by her closeness. She could have hurt me by now, if that was what she wanted.

"Do you mind if I open up a window? The stench of your food is really making me nauseous." She complained, wrinkling her nose.

I shook my head, quickly swallowing my latest bite, before answering. "No, go ahead. I don't mind. I know how much you guys hate the smell of human food … even though I don't see eye to eye with you right now. This is really, really good." I moaned in appreciation, taking another bite of the farfalle with pesto.

"I'll make sure to tell the cook." She replied grumpily, opening the window wide and taking in several deep breaths. I chuckled.

"What's so funny, human?" Jane sneered, returning back to her post on the bed.

"Oh, nothing … you just look like you are going to throw up, that's all." My whole body shook with laughter. I just couldn't help myself. The sight of a powerful, immortal being like her looking sick was pretty hilarious … at least to me. But maybe the stress of the situation finally caught up with me and I was losing mind along with what's left of my sense of self-preservation, who knew. Instead of doing something severe, like she probably wanted to, Jane just kept staring at me. 'If looks could kill …'

Before I was able to put another foot into my mouth, the door opened and Alec entered the room. His bright red eyes went straight to mine. He gave me quick once-over, like he was making sure I was okay, and then he smiled tenderly.

"Finally." Jane exclaimed in a mixture of enthusiasm and relief, throwing her hands up and getting on her feet. "Can we go now?"

Alec gave his sister a reproachful look. "Sure. Bella, are you finished eating?" He asked me politely.

"Yes, I'm full. Everything was great."

"Okay, that's good. Let's get this show on road then, shall we?" Alec held out his hand and I took it without reservation. I could clearly detect a retching sound coming from his sister, but chose to ignore it. Alec apparently couldn't. He hissed, loudly and menacingly. Jane wasn't fazed, whatsoever, just flipped him off and left the room. Alec and I followed her without delay.

As far as I could tell we were taking a different route this time, one leading into another section of the castle, two floors down. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. My mind was busy conjuring up scenarios of my impending reunion with my former family, one worse than the next. I wasn't scared, but very nervous. Alec didn't try to console me with words, but kept drawing soothing circles with his thump on the back of my hand, while leading me along the hallway.

Finally we came to a halt before a similar door like the one leading to my room. Jane opened it without knocking first, and went right inside.

I took on final deep breath and followed her lead, with Alec by my side.

When I took in the room, I was surprised, and to be honest a little disappointed. Somehow I'd still expected to find myself in a cold, empty prison cell, not in a room with several pieces of luxurious furniture and beautiful, probably priceless artwork on the wall. This was a fucking five-star hotel room.

And there they were. Carlisle and Esme both sat side by side at the huge table in the center of the room. Edward sat at Carlisle's right side and next to him a strawberry blond female I hadn't seen before. Alice sat on Esme's other side. She was the only one avoiding my gaze. The rest of them had their eyes fixed on me, but they didn't make a move to approach me. They just set there like marble stone figures, staring. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight for me. I had seen how immobile they could be countless times. But somehow I got the impression that they wanted to move but for some unknown reason they couldn't.

I discarded that thought almost right away, because it didn't make any sense. Instead I let my eyes wander to the far corner of the room. On a cozy looking couch sat Emmett, holding Rosalie in his arms. He smiled at me when our eyes met. I offered him a tentative smile in return.

"Yes, gotcha. You've lost this one, buddy." A familiar voice cheered. It was coming from behind me. I turned around. One of the heavily built vampires who had taken Alice into custody earlier sat on the floor in front of a TV. Next to him sat a man with short, brown hair. He was the complete opposite. He was very thin and a few inches shorter, but I estimated they were both not older than twenty … physically speaking.

Quite obviously they had been playing some sort of video game to pass the time, and apparently the big one had won the last round. In this moment he kinda reminded me of Emmett, with this gleeful look of victory on his face. The thin man put his controller down and gave me a curious look. The other one waved at me, like we were old friends.

But for the moment I chose to ignore both of them and took another look around the room. Something was missing … or rather someone.

"Where is Jasper?" I asked nobody in particular.

Thanks for reading!

Revised and reposted on 2013/12/08.