Disclaimer: Not mine. Go figure.
Chapter 9
Stalker
I rolled over in my bed, glaring at Demetri. "Will you please turn off that garbage you call music? I have homework to do."
"I thought you appreciated music," he said. "How can you not like Italian opera?"
"I do appreciate music. That is just mindless screeching. Turn. It. Off." I knew why he was doing this. He was taking advantage of the fact that he could listen to music with me around without me freaking out. Now that I had Edward back, I was normal again. I was slowing weaning off the anti-depressants and I listened to music again.
He flipped the stereo off and I heard a quiet noise on my nightstand. Without looking, I reached behind me and grabbed my vibrating phone and brought it to my ear.
"This is Bella," I answered.
"Oh, so you are okay then," that haunting voice replied. I stopped breathing. Why wouldn't he just leave me alone?
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. You're not as scary and strong as you think you are. I'm not afraid of you." Demetri was looking at me strangely.
"Oh Bella, dearest, I don't want to hurt you… Well, at least not permanently. Imagine how pleased I was when I found a new way to hurt you without touching a single hair on your head."
My eyes darkened and by now, Demetri was sitting beside me on the bed. "What are you talking about, Nathan?" Demetri growled.
"Why, you're new family, of course!" he responded jovially. "I realize that it would be completely foolish to bother any of your friends in Volterra, but the Cullens are not nearly as well protected."
"Damn it, Nathan, now you listen to me. If you harm any of them, I will kill you. I've been nice about this, trying to ignore your annoying obsession. But this is not a game anymore and you will leave the Cullens alone."
"Don't be under any assumption that you have any control over me, Isabella. I'll do what I please, and I think I'll start with the largest Cullen. Get the strongest out of the way first. What do you think?" He hung up the phone before I could reply, and it instantly dawned on me who the strongest, and clearly largest Cullen was.
I tossed my cell phone to Demetri before running to my closet to grab my purse, which I very conveniently had a few weapons in. "Call the Cullens and tell them to stay together and at their house until we get there. Make sure Emmett is safe," I instructed.
We ran out the door as he was dialing the number.
…
The Spyder screeched to a stop in front of their house and I ordered Demetri to go inside. He argued only for a moment before complying. As soon as the front door closed, I faced the forest surrounding their house.
"Okay Nathan, where are you?" I yelled into the woods. No response. "Come on, I know you're not stupid. The moment you said that on the phone, you knew I would come running to their house! You obviously want something from me."
The wind blew in my direction and his scent with it. I turned to my left and the trees were rustling. "Okay, seriously, you're hiding in a tree? What are you, a monkey? Get your ass down here."
A blur fell out of the tree, landing on his feet, crouched like a lion. He stood up straight and walked out of the trees, coming to a stop a few yards in front of me. He bowed down.
"Isabella, it's a pleasure, as always," he said smoothly. I rolled my eyes.
"I wish I could say the same. Seeing you is just annoying though."
"No need to be rude," he spoke condescendingly.
"Oh, there is every need to be rude," I snapped.
I heard arguing coming from inside the house. Someone was walking towards the front door. I made the mistake of glancing away as the door opened, and I was immediately on the ground, trapped under Nathan.
My eyes locked with Edward, and I reached out a hand to tell him to stay. Before I could release the words from my mouth, Edward was frozen in place. He couldn't leave the front porch. It was like there was an invisible barrier around the house.
"What are you doing?" I demanded. Nathan laughed from above me.
"That's not me, love. I do believe that's you. You're so concerned with protecting them that you made it so I can't get to them," he explained. "However, at the same time, you made it impossible for them to get to me to save you."
He grabbed both my hands in one of his and pinned my wrists above my head, pulling my arms up as far as they would go. I could hear the Cullens and Demetri screaming to me from inside the barrier.
"I have you right now, and I fully intend to have some fun with you," he whispered huskily in my ear, and his cool breath blew across my face.
My heart raced in fear, and although it was still beating slower than a regular human heart, Nathan grinned.
"Bella! Bella, damn it, what is going on?!?!" It was hard to distinguish between the multiple voices screaming at me, but I'm pretty sure that one was Edward.
I ignored his disgusting lips that were now pressed against my neck, his vile tongue licking its way along my skin. I couldn't do this to Edward. I couldn't force him to stand there and watch Nathan have his way with me. But I also couldn't release the strange force keeping Edward on the porch and risk Nathan hurting him.
So instead, I focused solely on the thought of wanting to keep Nathan away from me – the same way I had focused on keeping Edward and the rest of his family safe – and I turned my palm towards Nathan.
The effect was instantaneous, and it actually had me laughing. Nathan flew off my body as though I had physically thrown him like a rag doll.
"That was so cool!" I exclaimed in between my laughter. In my laughter, I had lowered both my hands. Edward, however, was still on the front porch. There was a cross between annoyance and worry on his features.
"You think you can let me come to you now?" he questioned irritably. I could just imagine him with his hands on his hips and tapping his foot and a new round of laughter erupted from my mouth as I waved my hand at the house and freed him.
Edward's arms wrapped around my waist and pulled my back tight against his chest. He breathed out a sigh of relief and buried his face in my hair.
"Don't you ever, ever do that again," he reprimanded. "You could've been killed."
I, however, could not stay serious. "But did you see the way he flew? That was amazing! I've never done that before. That was so cool!"
I looked around and noticed that Nathan had fled. I turned back to the Cullens and Demetri. They were down one member. My face instantly turned grave.
"Wait… where is Emmett?"
Yes, I'm aware cliffhangers are evil. Insert evil laugh here
I haven't even started on Chapter 10, but I have an idea of what I want to do, so it shouldn't be too long before I get it up. Hope you liked this chapter. Reviews would be appreciated.
Love it, hate it, feel free to flame it!
Whitelight72
