Italics – thoughts
Italics – dreams or visions
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its fantastic characters. I've never owned it in the past and I will never own it in the future - Stephanie Meyer has this honour. I do own my mistakes though, and I'm sure there will be many
AN: Glad people are still with me. Your reviews make my day. We are nearly at the end now but a sequel is in my head – just need to get it out!
Big thank you to Ebony-Rosez for all your help – you rock :-)
Usual warning - this is a femslash story. Don't like? Don't read – Simples!
Chapter Ten
The Cullen family were walking into Heaven, the nightclub that is. They were walking side by side, almost in slow motion. The people around them could not tear their eyes away; it was like watching a pop video in action. They were devastatingly beautiful. Despite her makeover and the approving glances she was receiving, Bella felt completely inadequate walking alongside the family. She tugged nervously at her very expensive outfit. Alice must have realised what Bella was thinking as she turned around to scold her.
"Bella stop it. You look absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. All the boys, and quite a few girls I might add, are drooling over you already." It was then Bella noticed the glances that had been heading in her direction. Alice scowled. "I'd better let them know you're taken." She took Bella's face into her hands, rubbing her thumb across Bella's cheeks lovingly. She drew her in for a deep, passionate, lustful, and drawn out kiss. Bella could vaguely hear whistling and various "whoops" around her but she didn't care. She could lose herself in Alice's kisses forever. As Alice pulled away she smiled and led Bella on to the dance floor. The rest of the family was already dancing or sitting in a booth, pretending to drink.
The music was pounding, the bass turned up to full. Alice and Bella were in the centre of the dance floor, swaying slightly. Bella felt incredibly self-conscious at first, but as the music took over, she let everyone in the club drift away. It was just Bella and her soul mate, no one else existed. They danced slowly at first. Alice was true to her word, she never let Bella go. As the music got faster, they started moving in time to it. They were grinding against each other, losing themselves in the rhythm. Their dancing was getting more and more risqué, but they didn't care. Unfortunately neither did the other clubbers and Edward was getting angry at the thoughts he was hearing about his sister and her mate. Finally he could no longer take it. He fought his way through the clubbers and made his way over to the two girls and whispered to Alice, there was no way Bella would hear.
"Al, please tone it down a little. I'm about to punch some of these guys out. Their thoughts are disgusting."
Alice understood: she knew they had got carried away and were attracting some unwanted attention from some rough looking guys. She pulled Bella close so she could shout in her ear. "Bella, we need to lighten up a little. We're getting some unwelcome attention. I don't want to give them a free show with my girlfriend."
Bella looked around and saw that they had indeed attracted a lot of attention. She glanced at the Cullen's. Edward and Jasper looked angry and Emmett had his fists clenched. "You're right. But your brothers need to calm down."
"They won't do anything, don't worry. We'll just keep it fun." And keep it fun they did. Their dancing became lighter, less seductive. Rosalie also got up and joined them; shooting death glares at the few guys who continued to watch them. As people lost interest in the girls, the guys relaxed and started to have fun again.
Four hours later, Bella was worn out. They were all seated in the large private booth, slightly hidden from the dance floor, and having a good time. Bella couldn't believe she was having so much fun with the vampires and not causing any discomfort to any of them. The dancing had worn her out and the movie marathon from the night before was starting to catch up with her. She was sat next to Alice, resting her head on the girl's shoulder and her hand rubbing gently up and down Alice's thigh.
Suddenly Alice stiffened. She had been hit with a vision and at the same time Edward had shot out of his seat, looking around the club. Alice came out of her vision and stared at Edward. She said just one word. "Yes."
That was all Edward needed to hear and before Bella knew what was happening she was outside being bundled into one of the Cullen cars. No one in the club would have even noticed them leave; it all happened so fast. After a minute of stony silence in the car, Bella spoke up.
"Alice what the hell is going on?" Bella was very confused. One minute they were all having a great time, the next Alice had a vision, Edward was acting like the world was coming to an end, and she had been bundled into the car without a word being spoken.
"Bella, I'm sorry. We had to leave straight away; it wasn't safe anymore. Edward picked up a scent at the club at the same time I got a vision. My vision confirmed his suspicions and we had to leave."
"Edward? Who was it?" Bella asked. Rosalie and Emmett had sped off in their car with Jasper and were bound to be home by now. Edward was currently driving at 150mph; his hands gripping the wheel as though he were strangling it. The tension was coming off him in waves and his eyes were black with fury. For the first time Bella could see why she was supposed to be scared of vampires.
Edward stared straight ahead and spoke a single word "Victoria."
Bella remained silent. She wasn't sure she could ask who Victoria was without causing a car accident and she had already had one this year. Luckily Alice spoke up quietly. "We'll explain when we get home, I promise."
An hour's drive from Port Angeles was done in less than 10 minutes. Alice, Bella and Edward ran into the Cullen house where Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, Carlisle and Esme were waiting. The others had obviously already told Carlisle and Esme what was going on.
"Edward, Alice, Bella are you all ok?" Carlisle asked. His voice was laced with concern for his children.
"We're fine. We got out of the club and back here before anything could happen." Edward spoke. "Alice, what is she doing back here? Is she crazy?"
"I don't know. My vision only showed me what would happen if we had stayed in the club. I don't know why she's back. I've tried to focus on her but she is not making any decisions. She knows how to get around my ability."
"Alice, what would have happened?" Bella asked.
"It doesn't matter now; we left before anything could happen so the future has changed."
"Is anyone going to tell me who Victoria is?" Bella wanted to know. This woman was obviously a problem for the family she had grown to love. They were all sat down around the large dining room table where Bella had enjoyed her meal only one night before. It was a very different atmosphere around the table now. Everyone looked at Edward and Alice; it was their story to tell.
"You tell it Edward. She needs to know." Alice held Bella's hand and they all waited for Edward to start.
"Ok. Two years ago some nomads showed up in Forks. It was just after we had moved back here. There were only three of them and they seemed happy to abide with our 'no hunting humans within a hundred miles' rule. One in the coven, a vampire by the name of James, decided to break the rules. One night he killed three people in town and Alice and I were the one's to confront him. We caught him feeding on a girl. We did our best to save her but it was too late for her. We fought with him but he was strong."
Edward looked at Alice, unsure if he should tell the full story. He read her thoughts and Alice nodded her head, encouraging him to continue.
"He was one of the strongest vampires I have ever come across. For some reason he fixated on Alice. He just went for her. He bit her and managed to succeed in almost pulling her arm off. He beat on her pretty badly. I thought we were going to lose her."
Bella gasped at this and her eyes filled with tears. She clung to Alice tightly, unable to bear the thought of someone hurting her.
"Then he made a mistake. He was too focused on Alice and it gave me an opportunity to overpower him and rip his head off. Once I did that, it was easy to tear him apart. You see Bella, to kill a vampire you pull them to pieces and then burn the remains. We can heal quickly but Alice was in no condition to fight. While I was burning the remains, Victoria and Laurent showed up. It turned out that James was her mate and she was completely enraged. Alice is your soul mate; try and imagine how it would feel to lose her and multiply that feeling by a hundred. That's how it feels for vampires. Or so I've been told."
Bella nodded and shuddered; she felt nauseous but managed to fight it.
"We ran the nomads out of town, and told them in no uncertain terms that they were never to return to Forks. They almost exposed us and that is taboo for a vampire. When we were in the club I picked up Victoria's scent and some thoughts. She was definitely there. She would have seen you and Alice dancing and I'm worried that she has come back for revenge. A mate for a mate."
Bella looked worriedly at Alice. "Is she? Back for revenge? To kill you or me?" She was crying freely now. She was terrified but not for her own life, for Alice. She hadn't known vampires could be killed. Losing Alice had now become a harsh reality and Bella didn't think she could handle it.
Alice wiped away Bella's tears. "I don't know sweetie. She won't make a decision. She deliberately acts on instinct to throw me off. But I can assure you; I will not let anything happen to you. One of us will always be with you." Alice glanced at her family who were all nodding their heads.
"Hell yeah little sis. If that bitch wants a smack down, she's got one." Emmett roared, punching his fist into his hand fiercely.
The loud noise that resulted from that action made Bella jump. She stared at the giant vampire; suddenly she started laughing and couldn't stop. The tension was escaping her body the only way it knew how right now, by laughing. "I'm sorry, it's the adrenaline. I don't mean to laugh, this isn't funny at all. But please, don't worry about me. I am best friends with the safest family in America. Even the President's protection has nothing on you guys! How many people can say they have seven vampires as their personal bodyguards? Besides," Bella turned back to Alice, "with your visions I'm sure you will see something just in time or Edward will hear something. You did tonight. I feel completely safe." Bella kissed Alice and hugged her, trying her best to reassure the worried vampire.
Alice kissed back gently then pulled away "This has been the best and worst sleepover of all time. So not how I thought it would end up." She laughed "Well, we still have one more night. Not quite what I had planned but... more movies everyone?"
The Cullen family settled down for another movie marathon and Bella prepared for her second night dozing on Alice's lap. The adrenaline rush from the scare at the nightclub and the story that followed it had woken her up, and for now she was fully alert. Besides, after hearing that a crazed vampire could be out to kill her, going two nights without sleeping certainly wouldn't.
The atmosphere in the house was still fun; they had decided on action movies for the evening. They were all doing their best to keep things light. But there was an underlying tension in the room that everyone was aware of. Bella could see that Edward was not quite as engrossed in the movies as he had been the previous night, and Alice kept going rigid. Bella knew she was trying to see Victoria and get an idea of what she was up to. But Bella also knew, without a doubt, that she felt safe with the Cullen's. If an enraged vampire was determined to get her, or Alice, Bella felt confident they could beat her. It was seven against one after all. Bella just wondered what would happen.
What was Victoria going to do?