Sorry for the delayed update, been a really really stressful week! Hope this chapter makes up for it though and I hope you're still enjoying the story Do leave any feedback if you have time!Chapter 8: Alice POV
"Edward, Esme, we need to confuse the scent." I said this slowly, cautiously looking at Edward. He wasn't aware of this part of the plan.
"Bella?" He asked his voice tight.
"She will drive there." I replied simply. Bella looked surprised and Edward looked at me coldly.
"Not alone."
"Edward, this is not the time to argue." I snapped. He of all people should know that the things I said were necessary and that I would never endanger Bella. "Bella will be safer if her scent isn't mixed with ours on the way to the house. We need to run around the town mixing our scent more thoroughly with the humans and across the forest." Bella stepped in between us.
"Enough arguing already. It's fine Edward. I'm sure I can manage the drive. You guys do whatever you need to do and I'll meet you at the house." She didn't hesitate as she hauled her heavy bag over her shoulder, making her stumble slightly, and then walk to collect the car keys. Edward was at her side and took the bag away from her gently. He kissed her forehead before what would appear to her as him vanishing momentarily and returning without the bag. She leant up and kissed him swiftly on the lips but even so I had to turn away. It was only a brief sign of affection but that was already more than I was willing to bear. Leaving Jasper was still raw and I knew I wouldn't see him for a while. Bella gave Esme a hug before coming to me and giving me one too. She then walked out the front door and a few seconds later I heard the engine start. I smirked. This is one of the many reasons I love Bella. She knows what needs to be done and does it. There was no denying she was nervous, her heartbeat was louder and faster, but nevertheless, she didn't look back.
Edward frowned at my thoughts. Yes, this quality could also be a flaw, I acknowledge that.
"Right, let's go." Esme whispered, anxious to be reunited with Bella. I nodded and left the house followed by Edward. Esme was the only one who looked back longingly at the house which held so many memories. I didn't need to look back, we'd be returning to this house.
"Do we need to split up?" Esme asked. I regretted not addressing Esme more. I'm too accustomed to Edward being able to hear my thoughts.
"Yes, I'll go through the town, Edward the forest and could you go around the houses?" She nodded before running over and I didn't need to turn in Edward's direction to know he was already gone. Over protective fool… But I knew where he was coming from. I too was in a hurry to see Bella. I quickly ran through my section, and met back with the others. Edward was anxious to start again.
"I'll take the town now, Esme forest, Alice houses." We swiftly ran through our allocated areas and the switched once more. Our scent would be heavy which would hopefully distract the Volturi when they came to check… in a few minutes. Edward looked at me.
"I thought you said we had an hour."
"They're ahead of schedule, nothing to worry about." He nodded and gave me a small smile. It was a sign of apology. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, yeah, just try to control your mood swings, will you? I'm seriously starting to think you have PMS. He nudged me slightly but smiled.
"May I be let in on the joke?" Esme smiled at us.
"Oh nothing, Edward was just feeling bad for doubting my insane skills." I chirped happily before we all headed back to Bella. Everything would be fine, the future remained unchanged and Bella remained safe.
"Right, time to go back home." I sung happily and again Edward was already a step ahead. I ran in just in time to see Bella sitting stiffly on the sofa in the living room of the house before Edward had her in his arms. I frowned as I looked at Bella's face. She was holding it together but what we were asking of her was maybe more than she could handle. This house held too many bad memories. I could still smell the stale smell of Bella's blood covering several surfaces, most of it concentrated in the kitchen. Where we had found her… I pursed my lips but walked forward and kissed Bella on the head.
"You made it here alive." I said, plastering a smile to my face. She rolled her eyes.
"I can drive a car."
"Barely." Edward murmured into her hair and she nudged him, knowing full well she was probably hurting herself more than him.
"So what now?" She asked pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Her tone was calm and controlled.
"Movie?" Esme asked lightly and Bella raised an eyebrow.
"What?" She laughed.
"A movie? Seriously? With a bunch of blood thirsty vampires after me?"
"Nothing to do for a week now." I laughed.
"Well that's anticlimactic." This time it was Edward's turn to laugh.
"You're so odd." He sighed, shaking his head.
"How are the others?" Bella asked, a hint of concern coloring her voice and I couldn't help but frown. This was a question I didn't really want to answer because I didn't know much.
"Everything is going according to plan."
"For now." She added.
"For now." I conceded.
"I'm going to go put my things upstairs."
"Do you want me to come?" Edward asked gently and Bella shook her head.
"I'm fine. I've already been back here since."
"I know."
Bella picked up her bag and slowly went up the stairs. I used to wonder why she forced herself to do things alone when we could so easily help her but that was just part of her character. She needed some form of control over her life. Edward was watching Bella as she walked away.
"We should probably make her lunch." I told him.
"Yeah, of course." We both walked to the kitchen and Edward walked to the cupboard. He reached out as if to open it then turned around to face me with a frown.
"Food." He grumbled and I just laughed.
"I'll go get some." I skipped over to grab my purse. "I'll be right back."
"Ok."
"Oh and Edward, relax. Everything will be fine."
Bella POV:I let my hand run against the wall as I walked to my old room. Felt like I was an actress in a movie, but truth be told, it was somehow interesting feeling the rough texture of the peeling wallpaper. I saw my door and walked in without hesitation. There was nothing to be afraid of. I hauled my bag onto my bed and it creaked in protest. I sat next to my bag and took a deep breath. My room hadn't changed. Why would it have? Nobody's been living here. The walls were bare and everything was clean. I lifted my mattress and found a small box. I looked inside and was disappointed. This used to be my 'life box'. There were painkillers and bandages as well as a small piece of crumbling bread. I picked up the pathetic piece of food and took great satisfaction in squeezing it until it crumbled away. I took one last long look at my room and stood up quickly. Things have changed. I smiled.
"Edward?" I called and he appeared at my door. So patient. I walked forwards and hugged him. "Help me?" I asked brightly.
"To do what?"
"We need to brighten this place up."
"Are you ok?"
"Of course. But if I have to live here this week, might as well make it feel like home." He smiled and nodded, kissing me gently.
"I'm proud of you."
"I know." I grinned before taking his hand and dragging him into the hallway.
"Esme?"
"Yes?"
"This house needs more color." She looked at me and smiled.
"Any in mind?" My smile widened as I was getting excited.
"Anything you can find!" I exclaimed before walking straight into Charlie's room. Of course, all in perfect condition, giving nothing away as to whom might have lived here. I ran and jumped on his bed. The mattress was hard but I took pleasure in wrinkling the sheets and pushing the pillows out of alignment. People might judge my reaction, but I would like to see them go through what I did and then we'd see how they'd turn out in the end. I was lucky; I had someone to pick me up when there seemed to be no hope. I hopped off the bed and headed towards the closet I knew was here. Charlie always handed me clean sheets and there was no other closet in the house. I was disappointed to see brown and cream sheets. Nothing colorful. Well, we would just have to manage with what we had. I pulled out some pale blue sheets and unfolded them. Edward was standing at the doorway, looking at me amused.
"Need a hand?"
"Can you rip those curtains down?" The murky green wasn't to my taste.
"You sure."
"Yes, just try not to destroy the house." He rolled his eyes but complied.
"And somehow manage to tie this up?" He took the sheet and ripped it in half before tearing little sections at the top. He tied these little strings at regular intervals around the pole; successfully making them look like curtains. I was impressed.
"Esme, what do you think?"
"I approve." She chuckled. I nodded then skipped back downstairs. I didn't know what I wanted to do with Charlie's room, so I'd start somewhere easier- the living room.
"Ideas?"
"It needs to be more open." Esme said thoughtfully.
"Come on, get to work." I told Edward with a giggle.
"Yes ma'am."
"Awe, you've started without me." Alice sighed holding several bags heavily packets with items so bright that you could see the colors through the plastic bags. Oh, trust Alice to be prepared. I smiled and ran forward to give her a hug.
"I think things are going to be ok." I said contently as I sat down on the sofa. Edward kissed me on the forehead.
"Me too. Now would you please move?"
"Nope." I grinned and he seem to take that as a challenge.
"Okay." And he then proceeded to lift the couch with me still sitting on it. I couldn't help but laugh as it suddenly felt as if my stomach had flipped. I clung onto the edge of the couch- not particularly afraid but not completely comfortable.
"Okay, let me down." I wailed playfully.
"So where would you like this particular piece of furniture madam?" He asked formally.
"I would say a bit to the left." Esme played along. Eventually I did get Alice to rescue me and I was pleased that it didn't take long to make my living room look more 'friendly'. Esme had great taste, there was no denying it.
"Right, food time for the human." Alice declared happily once we'd finished. I took Edward's hand and walked into the kitchen, shivering slightly as I entered. Many beatings took place here but instead of dwelling on those thoughts, I focused on Edward's soothing presence beside me and I turned to Alice and Esme.
"What am I eating?" It still sounded incredibly rude to not ask what 'we' were eating or to not simply cook my own food, but my family insisted on cooking themselves.
"Pasta with chicken?"
"Sounds perfect." I stood up to help anyway because I wanted to keep busy. Besides, I knew where everything was and even though it wouldn't take Esme long to locate everything, I might as well start. I went to the drawer by the refrigerator and pulled out a knife. I then got a board and had the intention to start slicing the chicken but Edward took my wrist and kissed me on the head before pulling me away laughing.
"No way, not after your last encounter with the kitchen knife." I blushed as I remembered the last time I tried to help. To be fair, I am quite a decent cook and it wasn't exactly my fault that I tripped while holding the knife and both Edward and Jasper saw it coming and tried to catch me at the same time, ending up in a bundle on the ground with me sitting next to them dazed as I somehow still managed to cut myself. He chuckled at my scarlet face but just brought me to the kitchen chair.
"How about we take care of the sauce?" I accepted this compromise but couldn't help putting up some form of weak resistance.
"I'm not a child."
"So you say." I bit back my retort as I turned to look at Edward and sighed. He would always have this power over me. It seemed quite pathetic at times. I turned back to the table and began working on the sauce.
Once we were all comfortably settled in the living room, Alice turned on the tv and flicked through the channels slowly until someone found something of interest. I finally settled on some documentary about Shakespeare. I had seen so many, but this one was surprisingly good and I soon became absorbed. I went to bed and Edward stayed with me. The next day was very similar to the first. Our little home project moved from the living to upstairs as we started attacking the rest of Charlie's room and my own. It was nice having something a bit more physical to do. Of course the Cullens didn't let me strain myself, but they did let me help quite significantly which truly cheered me up. I ate left over chicken and pasta for lunch as we couldn't go out too often to buy more supplies and there was no point in wasting perfectly good food.
We settled once more in front of the tv and were lucky enough to find a decent movie. What happened next is something that none of us were expecting. Alice's phone rang. There was a split second of silence before she lunged for her phone and answered it immediately. Fear starting trickling through my veins as I saw Alice's agitation. She was never taken by surprise and in this situation, the surprise couldn't be good. I put my bowl down and pulled myself close to Edward, burying my face against his chest. No, please not more bad news. Alice didn't try to speak at a speed that I could understand. That worried me even more. Something had happened and for Alice to lose her cool, it must be very bad. Edward wasn't moving but when I lifted my face I could see from his expression that he was listening to the conversation and Alice's thoughts. Esme stood anxiously close to Alice.
Alice swiftly hung up only to be on the phone once more. This conversation was even shorter than the previous one as no sooner had it begun that the phone was already crushed in her palm. She ran quickly to the shopping bags and pulled out a new one which she set up.
"The plan has changed." She breathed, having only seemed to remember my presence.
"Alice?" I asked shakily but she ignored me as she sorted out the phone, deliberately slowly.
"Alice." I demanded with a bit more force as I stood up.
"We're still safe." She told me, looking at me in the eye, showing nothing but honesty.
"What happened? Who was that on the phone?" My voice started going higher as I didn't get the answers I was looking. Edward stood behind me with his arms wrapped around me. She was suddenly at my side, grasping my hands.
"Please don't panic Bella, you're ok."
"I don't care about me. Are the others safe?"
"They'll be fine."
"What happened?" I nearly screeched.
"Demetri caught up with Emmett and Jasper. They managed to keep up the appearance that you were with them. I had to tell Rose and Carlisle to change their course." She said extremely quickly. My heart started racing.
"Are they ok? Did Demetri hurt them?" Edward squeezed me tighter only confirming my fears.
"They've got Emmett."
And there we go, finally some action taking place… Thanks for sticking with my story, won't be such a long wait until the next update!
Iol01 xxx