"Hello?" I called into the forest. I felt silly talking to what seemed like thin air, but someone was nearby.
No one responded and then I realized it was too quiet. There were even fewer animals around me than usual. There was definitely someone nearby.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the leaves above me causing me to look up just as I saw a flash of what appeared to be fire. It was somehow familiar to me, but not in a good way.
I took off at full speed towards home. I wasn't surprised to find Edward waiting for me at the edge of the property, "What's going on, Edward? Who is it?" I panicked as he wrapped me in his arms making sure I was alright.
"The red-head who was with James the day of the baseball game. Her name is Victoria. She's here," he explained.
"Here? As in here here?"
Edward held me tightly in his arms. Words failed him, so he just nodded, "Let's get inside," he said after a lifetime of silence. He was apparently surveying the area to see if he could hear her thoughts.
I followed Edward inside and straight into the dining room.
"Alice," Edward began, taking a seat, I was too tense to sit down, "what's going on?" All eyes were on Alice. Apparently she had told everyone else about Victoria's brief appearance before I had gotten back.
"I…I don't know…she hasn't decided anything concrete yet, so I can't be sure."
"Well, what is she doing now?" I didn't like the tone in Edward's voice. I squeezed his hand to calm him down, but I only felt him relax slightly.
"She's running somewhere, but I can't be sure where until she decides where she's going. I think she knows I can see her decisions somehow."
Edward growled loudly, "Edward. Getting mad at Alice isn't going to help anything," I said sternly, forcing to look at me.
His eyes were full of anger, anxiety, and concern.
"Bella," he said, looking back at me, "clearly she's trying to get to you. She might even be trying to kill you. I have to do something…to protect you."
Now I was the one growling, "No. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you are not going to go after her, do you hear me? I can't have you chasing after her in order to protect me. I can take care of myself now," my voice was beginning to soften as I spoke, "I need you here," I was whispering now, "with me…" I closed my eyes and rested my head against his shoulder. We sat like that for a while, motionless. I was acutely aware of my entire family watching our moment, but, right now, given the circumstances, I was sure everyone in this room could understand my sentiments, so I didn't give it much thought.
Edward's voice brought me back to reality, "Bella, it's ok. I'm here," in response, I nodded against his shoulder to let him know I heard him.
Finally, Alice's voice broke the tension in the air, "I think we should just act normally…until she appears again," For some reason I liked this idea. It might have been avoidance, but I didn't care; I didn't want to face this right now. I was days away from saying goodbye to everyone in my human life for good. As far as I was concerned, I needed to focus all my energy on that and how I was going to cope.
"Good idea, Alice," I said, my voice weak. I didn't look up at her or the rest of my family, though. Edward seemed to sense my need for his comfort and began rubbing soothing circles on my back.
Apparently, the family meeting was over. I actually didn't realize this until Edward whispered in my ear that we should head upstairs for a while.
"What about hunting with Alice and Emmett?"
"It's not a problem, Bella, they realize that this is yet another adjustment for you…for all of us…they understand," I looked at him skeptically, "besides, they've already left. We can go later today if you need to hunt…?"
"No, I'm fine for a few more days at least. We can go together before we leave," I suggested. Edward nodded and took my hand.
We walked silently up to his room and he closed the door behind him as I headed over to the bed.
Edward sighed heavily and situated himself next to me. I cuddled up to him immediately.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"I don't like this," he said. He was being cryptic again…typical.
"You don't like what?" I was suddenly irrationally terrified of what he could mean by that statement.
"I don't like that this Victoria creature appears to be after you."
I sighed, "Edward, don't worry about that, please? Alice will see when she decides to come back and we'll get her then," I felt him tense again as I mentioned that we would get her as opposed as he would or someone else in the family would…basically anyone else who wasn't me.
"How can I not worry? I love you, Bella and it would kill me if anything ever happened to you, especially now. I know it's almost impossible for you to get hurt, but vampires can die and I don't want to take that chance with you. In case you don't remember, you were a bit of a danger magnet when you were a human," I rolled my eyes at him.
"Haven't we had this conversation before, Edward? I'm not going anywhere and you're going to have to accept that. I love you, too…much more than you can even hope to imagine and it would kill me to lose you. We're equals now and I'm just as much involved in this hunt for Victoria as you are. Please, promise me you won't worry so much and stop treating me like I'm still human…?"
Edward laughed softly and pulled me back against the pillows so I was on top of him, "When did you become so diplomatic?" he asked, staring at my lips.
"Since I've had to deal with so much of it from you," I winked at him.
"Not as much as I love you," he laughed and proceeded to kiss me.
We continued kissing and talking and cuddling for much of the day and I was surprised to find that when we finally decided to reemerge downstairs, the sun was just setting. It had been a long day. Much of it had been wonderful, but there was the fact that some nomad vampire, Victoria was after me and somehow she was connected to James…Great…
Later that night, I had decided it would be more productive to walk around the house and the property rather than sit in Edward's room curled up in a ball waiting for something to happen. It sounded better in theory though, because now I had resorted to nervous pacing around the kitchen instead.
"Bella," Alice's ever-cheerful voice interrupted my reflections on the day's events, "we should go shopping tomorrow. It'll be the first time you experience it as a vampire!"
I needed to sit down for this one, so I took a seat at the kitchen island, "Alice," I groaned, rubbing my temples as though I had a headache, which would have definitely been the case were I still human, "I'm sure it's the exact same kind of torture as it was when I was human."
"Don't be silly Bella! We need to get you dressed like a Cullen," I didn't miss the tone of smugness in her voice. Damn her.
"You're forgetting that I'm not technically a Cullen," I scoffed. I instantly regretted my words when I saw Edward enter the kitchen with Jasper and Emmett. He didn't allow his hurt to cross his face, but I noticed that he faltered ever-so-slightly and it broke my heart. I didn't have long to dwell on that because a certain annoying pixie grabbed my arm and whisked me off to her room muttering something about not yet you're not. I didn't even want to ask about what that meant.
The next morning, Alice was dragging me out of the house and towards Carlisle's car by 8:30am, "Alice, we're going to get to Port Angeles in about five minutes. Why do we have to leave so early?" I was grumpy because my time with Edward had been cut short.
"Silly, Bella. Who said we were going to Port Angeles?"
I looked at her, confused, "Then where are we going?"
She gave me a smug smile, "LA."
"We're going to Los Angeles!" I shrieked as we turned out of the Cullen's driveway and onto the main highway, "Alice that will take the whole day!"
She was still laughing at me when I felt my new cell phone vibrate in my pocket. I had a text from Edward; Sorry, love. I tried to stop her. I love you.
I replied immediately: You knew about this? You could have tried harder.
I was still fuming when my phone vibrated again: Afterwards, you can run home and I'll meet you somewhere…it should be dark by then. I sighed; I couldn't stay mad at him forever. It wasn't his fault, obviously, and I knew he had tried. I texted him back again quickly telling him I'd meet him somewhere after we were done shopping…hopefully it wouldn't be too long.
"Bella," I heard Alice's voice calling to me. We were zipping along the highway at breakneck speeds, I was no longer bothered by the Cullens' insane driving, in fact, I even drove like that now…with the little driving I'd done since I've been a vampire.
"What?"
"I was asking you where you wanted to start our shopping spree."
I rolled my eyes and smiled at her, "Does it really matter?"
She giggled, "No, I guess not."