21. PHONE CALL
(James calls Bella.)
"Be very careful not to say anything until I tell you to." The voice I heard now was as unfamiliar as it was unexpected. It was a man's tenor voice, a very pleasant, generic voice — the kind of voice that you heard in the background of luxury car commercials.
It made me suspicious. Too suspicious. "Are you selling something? Because sorry, but I'm not interested. I'm kind of waiting for an... important call."
"I—"
"Really." I never really had the guts to hang up on telemarketers—and even interrupting one was a first for me. But now was different— I didn't have the time to listen.
"Bella, please listen to me," said the man.
Woah, he knew my name? This was getting more than a little creepy. I went from shy, passively-listening-and-slightly-in-a-hurry Bella to angry Bella.
"How did you get my name? Are you stalking me? Trying to scope out potential customers?"
There was silence on the other end of the line. Sensing that I had the advantage, I continued. "Because that goes way beyond market research; that's just not cool. And anyway, I'm not in the market for a hundred-thousand-dollar car or whatever it is, I'll tell you that right now. I'm pretty much broke. Not that that's any of your business."
"Bella!"
"Shut up!" I screamed into the phone. "You keep harassing me and I'll call the police. You know what? I might even report you. Tell me your name." Without waiting for him to give his name, I added: "I know my rights. Legally, you have to tell me."
"My name is James," said the man smoothly.
And that was when I realised my colossal mistake.
*.*.*
"Now I want you to listen very carefully. I'm going to need you to get away from your friends; do you think you can do that? Answer yes or no."
"No."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping you would be a little more creative than that. Do you think you could get away from them if your mother's life depended on it? Answer yes or no."
I took a third option, mainly because by now I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Oh come on," I said scornfully, "if you wanted somebody creative, why the heck did you pick me? You could've chosen anybody."
It was true. He could've chosen anyone. And yet... he'd chosen me. The scorn left my voice as I realised something: I just couldn't be mad at him.
"You know, James, I'm... I'm touched you decided to choose me over everyone else anyway." My voice cracked. His choice was heart-rendingly wrong. "Even though I wasn't as creative, even though I'm the most ordinary girl out there... why? Why am I so special to you? What did I ever do to deserve you choosing me?"
"You smell mouth-wateringly good, Bella Swan," said James. "Somebody else wanted you. And that's all."
"It's enough," I said desperately. "I'll do anything you ask."
James chuckled, a rich, velvety sound. "Are you so willing to desert the love of your life, Isabella? Your love can't be worth that much if you are so inconstant. What would your Edward say if he knew?"
"I don't care about—Edward? Edward!"
Back in a jarring reality, jolted out of my almost-hypnotised state, I slammed the phone down on the cradle. I'd forgotten all about Edward.
I tried to snap out of it. I tried to regain the feeling, that first love I'd had for him...
But all to no avail. Now, try as I might to stop him, James filled my head.
Oh, James...
*.*.*
(James has ended his phone call, telling Bella to get to her house alone, where she'll find a phone number to call him.)
I pushed the terror back as well as I could. My decision was made. It did no good to waste time agonizing over the outcome. I had to think clearly, because Alice and Jasper were waiting for me, and evading them was absolutely essential, and absolutely impossible.
I went to face Alice. The only expression I could manage was a dull, dead look. I saw her alarm and I didn't wait for her to ask. I had just one script and I'd never manage improvisation now.
"My mom was worried, she wanted to come home. But it's okay, I convinced her to stay away." My voice was lifeless. And Alice wasn't fooled.
"I don't believe you, Bella," she said. "You're lying through your teeth." She came closer to me, examined my face carefully, worriedly. "What's going on?"
Uh-oh. Rumbled. "N-nothing. I'm not lying."
For a few seconds, she gazed off into a distance I couldn't see, and I knew that she knew. "Yes you are. Jasper, the plan is off. We are staging an intervention. We're gonna get Bella the hell out of here."
As Jasper began to collect suitcases, I tried to distract Alice. "Since when did you start channelling the whole sistah thing, Alice? You're too white to pull that off!"
Alice looked down at her bloodless, paler-than-pale skin with raised eyebrows. "Was that supposed to be a joke?"
Good, it was working.
"Because in any case, it doesn't matter. We're getting the next flight to Egypt and hiding out there for a couple of weeks."
Or maybe not. I did my best to steer her away from that train of thought. The last thing I wanted to do was go to Egypt.
"Egypt's got a lot of sun, Alice. I don't know that you could hide very well there..."
She nodded thoughtfully. "That's true."
"In fact, I think we should just stick to the original—"
"You're right, Bella," said Alice. "Perhaps Antarctica would be a better place to go."
Antarctica?
"Uh... Alice? Come to think of it, Egypt sounds great."
22. HIDE-AND-SEEK PT1
(We're now at the Phoenix airport. Bella, Alice and Jasper are waiting for Edward to arrive, and Bella, thinking Renee is in James' clutches, is trying to get away from Alice and Jasper so she can get to her mother.)
Jasper walked silently beside me, his hand on the small of my back, as if he were guiding me. I pretended a lack of interest in the first few airport cafes, my head scanning for what I really wanted. And there it was, around the corner, out of Alice's sharp sight: the level-three ladies' room.
"Do you mind?" I asked Jasper. "I'll just be a moment."
"I'll be right here," he said.
As soon as the door shut behind me, I was running. I remembered the time I had gotten lost from this bathroom, because it had two exits.
Just as I left the other door, I realised something. Call it nerves, tension, or just a long time between visits—whatever. The fact was, I really needed to go. I sighed, and doubled back. This wasn't going to make Alice any more suspicious, though it might give me less of a head start in getting away.
I finished up quickly, and washed my hands hastily at the sink, not bothering to dry them before running straight through the exit door.
Within seconds, I crashed right into somebody. I supposed, considering my clumsiness, it was only to be expected.
"Sorry," I muttered, collecting myself and getting ready to run off again. That was when I realised who I'd run into. Somebody cold and hard. Jasper.
I'd come out of the wrong exit.
Damn.
Damn damn damn damn damn and double damn.
I looked around for the nearest wall that could stand me banging my head against it.
"What are you doing, Bella?" Jasper asked quickly. "Is something in there?"
We both knew what that 'something' meant. I used this to my advantage and nodded my head frantically. Perhaps if I played it the right way, he'd go into the bathroom and I could run off in the opposite direction.
"What's this?"
Oh no. Could this get any worse? A security guard had walked up. Normally that would have been really handy, but considering my predicament, it just made it more damn-laden. "What were you running from, miss?
"Bomb," I said, that being the first thing to come to mind. "There's a bomb in there."
Immediately the guard took action. "This is Rocky, we've got a possible threat in the level three rest-rooms."
"Let's get you out of here," murmured Jasper in a voice so soft only I could hear.
Unfortunately, the security guard had other ideas. "I'm going to ask you to remain here for questioning to assist us. If you're here to catch a plane, I apologise for the inconvenience. The airline will refund your flight."
Great.
Five minutes later, the place was swarming with cops, and Jasper and I were sitting in an office as the guard questioned us.
"Names, please?"
"Isabella Swan," I said, my mouth dry. How was I going to make it to my mother now?
"Jasper Hale."
"Next-of-kin or parents' contact numbers?"
We gave them.
"Can you tell me what you saw, please, Isabella?"
Oh great. I had no idea what to reply with, since I hadn't really thought this through. I was going to have to scrabble for some sort of explanation from what I already knew. "Uh... I saw something black. And... I, um, heard a ticking noise? So I thought I'd better get out of there." It sounded hopelessly lame, and I could tell the security guard didn't really believe me. Still, he had to follow up on this—it was his job.
"Mm-hmm. Just sit tight here while I go check it out, all right?"
I nodded, breathless from my narrow escape. "Sure."
As soon as the guard had left, Jasper said, "Bella, what was really in there?"
I said, "Look, don't worry about it." Which wasn't a great deflection, as deflections go.
"Bella..." he said in a warning tone.
"Bella!" came Alice's joyous shriek from down the hall. People turned to stare as she danced through to us, and pulled me into her arms, spinning me around. She had a look on her face as though the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. Seeing her gave me a kind of rather dizzy hope.
I'm sure it must have showed on my face because she took one look at me and stopped spinning. The dizziness began to fade. Gradually.
"Bella, it's all right!" she said. "I've seen it and everything's going to be all right!"
Well, that was good, but what was going on?
"Bella!" Yet another person was calling me.
What was this, a Brady Bunch family reunion? I was beginning to get sick of hearing my name—so much so that I didn't even turn around. At least, I didn't turn until I recognised the voice. A voice that belonged to a person who should have been in the clutches of James, but obviously wasn't.
"Mom?" I gasped, scarcely able to believe it. The relief was so overwhelming that the room practically swam with it. "What are you—why aren't you—"
"Bella? What are you doing here? I just got off the plane when my phone rang—oh, we're meant to turn them off, aren't we?" she said with a coy look at the open door. "I always forget... But, Bella, they told me you called in a bomb threat! Honey, what's going on?"
"Well, I, uh..."
"This your daughter?" Uh-oh. The security guard was back. And he did not look happy.
I cringed. I might have been extremely confused, but I knew exactly what this guy was here for: my blood. Right now I wished it was a literal case, rather than figurative. At least then I would've had two vampires to defend me.
"Well, er, yes," said Renee, flustered. She looked as though she was going to say something else, but then she turned back to me. "And what do you mean, what am I doing here? Bella, you knew I was coming back today."
"You—you're meant to be with James..." I said faintly, barely sure what I was saying at all.
"Ma'am," the security guard cut in.
"James? Who's James?" asked Renee, confused.
"A vampire," I said without thinking, then immediately regretted it. There was no way I was going to be able to explain this one.
Understanding came to my mother's eyes. "Officer, I'm so sorry about my daughter. She's been under a lot of stress lately, moving to a new town and all. I don't think she knows what she's saying."
"Mom, I'm fine," I tried to say, but she cut me off.
"Bella, try not to speak. You need a lot of rest, sweetie. When was the last time you slept?"
"It has been a while, Mrs. Swan," said Alice helpfully, trying to get this conversation off the vampire trail. Which only made me more determined to get on to it again. She deserved it.
"But the—the—the vampires..." I said faintly, trying to find something, anything, that wouldn't make me seem crazy.
I wasn't doing too good of a job.
"I can see we need to get you home," said my mom.
"I'd agree with that," said the security guard. He looked a little pacified by my mother, though he still shot me a dirty look as we left. It only made me want to try and convince them more.
"The vampires—they were—they—"
Everybody, even Jasper and Alice, was looking at me as though they didn't understand a word I was saying. Alice said, soothingly, "We'll take care of James, Bella. It's going to be all right."
Then, as my mother steered me past them and out of the airport door, she had the nerve to give me a hopeful smile and a little fairy wave.
As soon as I was let out of the house, I was going to kill her.
Disclaimer: I did absolutely no research on airport security measures. It probably shows.
