Hai guise! I thought it was about time I updated this story; it has been neglected for a while –sad face-
Thanks to all my reviewers who have exceeded the amount I'm willing to mention all here, but again bloodnoir remains the holder of the Most Frequent Reviewer award. 8P
Anyways I hope you like this chapter; it was written without inspiration till I had started; I got a good idea partway through. Yay!
Oh and so y'all know, last chapter at the end I said Carlos would strike you with lightning if you didn't review? I meant Ben. Ben controls weather; Carlos is the one with plants, heh!
Bella POV
I nervously led Esme and Alice into the house to meet Carlos, Ben, Rick and Kath. They were all staring back at us warily except for Carlos, who was staring back at us furiously. Alice noticed and seemed afraid to go forwards. I felt a brief thrill that for once, I was the one protecting them.
"Carlos; relax," I ordered. "Kath, Rick and Ben, this is Alice and this is Esme," I indicated the two behind me and stood aside so we were in a loose circle formation. Esme smiled carefully but Alice was already recovering her personality so, naturally, she bounced and waved slightly.
Carlos looked even tenser and Alice withdrew her bubbly self quickly. I glared at him angrily and Kath poked him in irritation.
"So, what brings you back here?" snarled Carlos through his teeth.
They froze. "Um... well, we didn't want to come back-"
Carlos roared and made to leap forwards but I pivoted in front of them, knowing that Carlos would never attack me. He took a few deep breaths and I distinctly heard thunder in the background fading away as he calmed himself. Still, his eyes remained the bottomless, blackest black colour.
"What I mean is," continued Alice hurriedly in a squeak. "We didn't want to come back, because we didn't want to help Edward. None of us have spoken to him in almost the whole year since we left, before the other day, because we were so angry at him for leaving you. He... well, what I almost said the other day..." she looked up. "He bit you to make you one of us, then he met... he met Kayla."
My chest rumbled angrily before I could stop it, and I clenched my fists. Carlos, ever protective, noticed my reaction to the name Kayla and I didn't need a mind reader to tell he already hated her.
I felt petty about being glad he hated her.
Alice continued. "Kayla is a vampire. Edward can read her mind but he's... almost brainwashed. He isn't himself; he hasn't been since he met her. She has the power to win men over and they become almost mind slaves. Edward hasn't left her side or spoken to anyone else since he left. She's an absolute bitch who has overpowered him, and it's not his fault! You know he never would have left you otherwise; that's not him, his heart and his mind effectively were left with you."
Alice had been whispering but by the end of her speech she was quivering... with anger.
"And I can prove it," said Esme quietly. I looked to her; this was the first time she had spoken. "I had Jasper scan his being. He has no emotions. He has not felt anything, especially love, since over a year ago."
I stared, taking in this information, and I didn't even feel Ben rubbing circles on my arm to soothe me. After all this time, this whole year, hating Edward and his whole family, I was shocked at how fast hope came back. But, my insecurities with trusting him flared strong.
"Is she that powerful?" I hissed quietly. "So powerful he had not even an ounce of rebellion?"
"Did you hear?" replied Esme just as quietly. "He has had no emotion. None! No love, no hate, no happiness..."
"No regret!" spat Carlos unexpectedly. "No remorse? No sadness? Bella deserves better than him!"
"If your story is true," interfered Rick quickly, "why isn't Edward himself again, if Ka- this girl is gone?"
Alice averted her eyes. "She has to lift her energy. He is still under her 'spell,' if you will, until she chooses to undo it." Alice's eyes faded out to blackness, darker even than Carlos'. "You can't imagine how much we all have wanted to kill her. The only thing stopping us was that the spell still would not lift if we did. We have to get her to lift it and then kill her. It's the only way. I saw it." She tapped her temple grimly.
"We're going to do that then," said Ben promptly, and I looked at him in surprise. "If it's what will make you happy," he explained, "then it is what will happen regardless. We love you, Bella, and we're going to make your death worth living." He smiled at his pun and I was quite surprised to see that the smiled also echoed in his eyes. I could not help but smile back.
"I am going to rescue Edward's girlfriend," I announced. "She is going to lift the power. Then, she is going to die for all the pain she caused me... caused all of us." I looked to Esme and Alice and I was not surprised to see Alice looking terrifying, but I was startled to see Esme looking positively deadly.
"Let's go announce the good news," snarled Rick menacingly. "I can't wait to sink my teeth into this scum."
Ay! Short chapter, I know, forgive me... but I am easing myself back into this story slowly. I hope you liked it!