Chapter 8: Encounter

At first, when I told Bella about the planned shopping trip of Keira and Alice for her, she looked gob smacked.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. C'mon Bells… that would be a great opportunity for you to spend some time with my sister and to get to know Keira much better." I answered.

She shrugged. "I guess so… And I'm not surprised that Rosalie isn't coming."

"Bells, we're past that issue already. Rosalie will come around sooner or later."

"It's okay Edward. Whatever."

--

Bella finally agreed to come with Alice and Keira, and they spent almost half of the day in the mall. When they came back, Keira was carrying a variety of paper bags with printed designer brands and logos on each side: Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, Chanel, Prada, and Versace.

"Whew. That was fun!" I heard Bella whisper under her breath.

Alice turned to look at her. "Bella, we did have fun! Watching you try all those dresses we picked out made my day!" Alice said in excitement.

"True. You looked gorgeous in all of them!" Keira said.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. I just wish I could've afforded any one of them." Bella sighed.

I entered their conversation, "What do you mean? Doesn't Bella own any one of those paper bags?" I looked at Keira.

"Well, Alice and I tried convincing her that we'll pay for it but she just won't bulge. There was this one Gucci dress that she loved the most but she took it off immediately after two seconds of trying it on." Keira explained. "So, in the end, she wasn't able to buy anything and all of these are mine." She continued.

"Edward, you know how much I hate owing others, even you, for anything. Besides, I can survive without wearing designer clothes." Bella said.

"Obviously, Keira can't!" Emmett snorted out of the blue.

I laughed. "Yeah. You see Bells, most of us Cullens are addicted to luxury cars, while Keira on the other hand, devotes her entire existence to designer items."

"Shut up Emmett and Edward! At least I encountered two of my favourite designers in person." Keira exclaimed referring to the dominant brand of paper bags she is carrying. "I met the real Guccio Gucci and Coco Chanel."

I saw Bella's mouth hang open. "But… aren't they dead already?" She said.

"Of course I met them when they were still alive! I think you've forgotten that I'm more than a century old already Bella Swan." Keira replied back.

"Right. I totally spaced out."

"Anyway, this is for you. You didn't think Alice and I will let you go home without anything in hand. You only objected the Gucci dress… you didn't say anything about LVs!" Keira said as she handed Bella a paper bag.

When Bella opened it, there was this medium-sized tote bag with silver monogram prints that spell Louis Vuitton on top of its jet black base leather surrounding it.

"Keira, I really can't --" Bella's sentence was cut off when we suddenly heard a loud bang outside.

"I'll go check it out." Emmett offered.

"No. I already know who it is." I warned as I closed my fists.

"It's a who?" Alice asked in confusion. "Who?"

"Why don't you ask Keira?" I said as I turned to look at her. It was as if she was frozen as we both can hear the thoughts of the unexpected visitor.

"It's John." Keira said.

"You mean that John Christophers you told me about?" Bella asked in shock.

"Yes. And his brother's with him too." I answered, and then we all heard a piercing sound from Keira.

She was screaming in pain.