I never thought I would be crying in the back of a car, looking out the window at my best friend's and pretty much my non-blood related family. The Cullen's were like my second family to me; they loved me and cared for me, as I did for them.
Edward wrapped his arms around me and we looked forward, the chauffeur was driving and he looked sadly at me through the mirror, his face was soft and he looked as if he was sorry that I was sad. I nodded at him and he smiled half heartedly.
Edward held me tightly and I snuggled into his embrace, he kissed my forehead and I kissed the side of his shoulder. Edward and I sat in the backseat for an hour until we got to the airport.
We checked in and went through security; we bought snacks, magazines, water, earphones and a headrest for the 11 hour flight to Kenya, where we would set foot on our journey to save the lions.
As we boarded the flight, I saw Edward take out a stack of papers and say hello to several people. He sat beside me and I rested my head against him shoulder, he smiled and turned his phone off, the seat next to Edward was free, and he put his Ipad and papers on it.
He turned to me and looked down at me, "I love you." He said, looking into my eyes.
I smiled, "I know, I love you too."
The plane took off and soon they were handing out drinks, I took out some snacks and listened to my Ipod. I must have drifted off to sleep, because when I opened my eyes, I had a blanket over me and Edward's arms were tightly around me.
"But if we do that, then it effects there habitat." I Heard Edward say.
"Yes but it also lets us get studies." A deep voice argued.
"Marcus it's the wrong way to go about it." Edward disagreed.
"Mmhmm, I think if we do it, we will get more studies, understand them better and then be able to help the next pride we come across." This 'Marcus' said.
"Well, my team, will defiantly not be following your idea." Edward said in a annoyed tone.
"Whatever, we will just see who gets the better review." Marcus said in a sly tone.
I looked at him, his dark hair and pale face and his eyes boring down at me, I felt Edward tighten his hold on me and Marcus went away, back to his seat.
I looked at Edward and he smiled at me. I kissed his lips lightly, smiling. I looked at his Ipad and he had routes set in place and different areas.
"Um . . . Edward, can I sit here?" A man asked, he smiled at me and I shook his hand.
"Yeah sure . . . Bella this is Riley, Riley this is Bella." Edward introduced us.
"Hey, nice to meet you." I shook his hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you too." He said.
He let go of my hand and I sat up straight, "Edward, we got word about a pride of south of the planes, know if we can get there by tomorrow afternoon tops, we can catch them and study them. Alec said he has the studies in place, you and I just need to show up and test them out." Edward nodded.
"Okay, no problem. Riley I was looking at page 34 in the guide and it tells me that I have to go to a rehabilitation centre; how far is that outside of Kenya?" He asked.
"About 45minutes over the border line." Edward nodded and continued looking through the stack of papers.
"Um what do you mean the studies are in place, what are you actually doing?" I asked him.
"Well, Bella, Edward and I get into a box that is sealed and locked, we wait in that box until a pride of lions come, we see if they go for there natural food source or us and we do this in the afternoon and night, studying there aggression levels and how they differ." I nodded but I could tell my face was in shock.
"Its okay babe, I am completely safe when doing it and I have Riley with me." He said, kissing me lightly.
I nodded and smiled. "So where are we staying?" I asked him.
"In a safari camp, about three hours outside of where the population is." He told me.
"And what is your work schedule?" I asked him.
"Um . . . I get the nights off; I leave in the morning at 6am and get back at 5pm apart from two nights where I will be in that plastic cage with Riley." He said, "But you will be coming with me, of course." He added, smiling widely.
"Cool." I said excitedly, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him passionately and long.
I blushed as I pulled away because of Riley sitting on the other side of him, but he didn't seem to care. He was looking at maps, Edward turned with him and they looked through there research.
About three hours later, we landed and I smiled when I saw the sun. Edward and I got our luggage and went to the front door, there were six other people with us, I got introduced to them all, they were all very nice.
Three very large intimidating men came up to us, armed with guns and knifes, "Are you the research group, going to the safari camp?" One of them asked his rough tone soft and questioning.
"Yes we are." Edward smiled.
The guards took our bags and they loaded us into a bus, we travelled to the hotel, it was about an hour away. But the thing that hurt me most was seeing the poverty.
We had to pass through a nearby town and I looked at all the people, I looked at the children, begging, crying, there little bodies skinny with no food.
I rubbed my eyes, tears threatening to fall, Edward pulled me against his chest and I sighed, snuggling my head into it.
"I know how you feel; you wish you could give them everything you have." He said, answering my thoughts, knowing how I felt.
I nodded and he kissed my forehead. We soon got to the hotel and it was mostly people coming on vacation, staying here. Edward and I got out room; there were two double beds and I put my stuff down on one bed.
I took the bed closest to the window. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt while Edward put his stuff into the closet.
I lay on the bed, falling asleep again. I was woken up by Edward, it was five o'clock in Africa and we were going to dinner.
Edward just wanted to show me something first. He led me downstairs and through a few corridors, we went to a display, and many people were crowding around it.
"This is what were trying to stop." He gestured to a lion, he looked to be young because his main was only growing, but he was in a little room, behind the glass we were looking through.
He was walking around as a man wiped him, making him roar for the audience, Edward sighed shaking his head.
I looked at him and he led me to another display, "These cubs, have no mother, she was shot by poachers. Our team couldn't get out here fast enough before they were taken and put into market, ending up here." He gestured to them.
They were adorable little creatures, they were lying on concrete, which was sad, they were keeping together so they kept themselves warm. They looked very sad and unloved, I felt like feeding them, kissing them, hugging them and just showing them what love is, but I couldn't.
I looked at Edward. "How can we help them?" I asked.
He looked at me with a pained expression, "We cant, the poachers sold them to a man that owns this hotel, he is not selling them, not giving them to a rehabilitation centre, he wont let us and we don't want to get in trouble in this country." He said, taking my hand and leading me towards the dinning room, we got a table for two.
Edward and I ate, having a glass of wine each, after dinner, we went back to our room, we both had a shower and got into out pyjamas, we ordered dessert and watched a movie before going asleep.