Chapter 11 – The Meadow

Bella:

I've been sneaking out to the meadow every chance I get. I enjoy the peaceful, quiet solitude it provides for me. It's hard being around everyone all the time and having everyone keep an eye on me like I am going to go on a killing spree at the sound of a human voice. It gets old having to let Edward, Dad, or anyone know where I am at all times. If vampires had to use the bathroom, I'm sure I'd have to inform them of that too! I was getting too aggravated with this today and almost backtalked dad when he asked what I was doing today. I was glad when he left for the hospital and finally made an excuse that I wanted to go to our room and read, alone! Everyone else was downstairs or out somewhere doing whatever. Jake, Seth and Leah were at school. I didn't care. I had to get out of here for a while, so I opened our forest door and leapt to my favorite escape.

Arriving at the meadow I quickly laid down on my back looking up at the beautiful sky. The sun was out for a change and I quickly moved into the sun rays and immediately began to sparkle. How I love to see my skin shimmering in the sunlight. It was amazing! How could Edward ever think this was something to want to hide. I enjoyed seeing my arms glittering. It felt wonderful to lay there and soak it all in. It is usually raining all the time and this was a welcome treat and I got to enjoy it all on my own. As I was laying there, I heard voices. I quickly got up and ran into the cover of the forest to see who it was. I was hoping it was not my family as I would be in trouble. Suddenly a wonderful odor came to my nose. It smelled delicious and I then heard the voices of several people. As I peeked out, I saw a group of 4 hikers, 2 men and 2 women. That's what humans smell like? It was temptingly delicious. My throat began to burn and I had an incredible desire to quench it. It wouldn't take much for me to take them all out, just a quick attack and I could render them all helpless. I could start with the women, or no, maybe the men, and then go for the women, yes, that would be best. I got into an attack stance and for some reason, I stopped realizing what I was about to do. What is wrong with me? I can't attack a human. But they smell so good and my throat burns so much, I got back into the attack stance again, and was ready to pounce when I heard a growl and was knocked to the ground. I looked up into the face of Seth in wolf form.

"Seth! What's the matter with you? You knocked me down. What are you doing here?" I asked.

Forgetting Seth was in wolf form and couldn't answer, I got up and looked over to where I had seen the hikers. They were walking off and as I took a step, Seth stood in front of me growling and baring his teeth. I realized why he knocked me down. I was going to attack them. The sudden realization that I was about to attack and kill 4 people sent me falling back down to the ground. Seth was looking at me and then came up to me wincing.

"Seth, you stopped me from attacking them. Oh, thanks Seth, I'm so glad you were here. Why are you here?" I asked wondering. "Don't tell anybody what almost happened, please! If Dad finds out, I'll really be in for it. Please Seth, let's keep this between us. You help me and I won't tell what you are doing out here instead of being in school."

Seth nodded his head and the two of us walked off back toward the house. He ducked in the woods and went to where he stashes his clothes and phased and came out dressed. I waited for him.

"What have you been up to?" I asked him.

"Nothing, just don't say anything, okay? I'll keep your secret if you keep mine?" Seth asked.

"You're not doing anything you aren't supposed to are you?" I asked.

"No, just skipped class a few times, please don't tell mom and dad, or I'll be in for it just like you," Seth asked.

"Well, don't let it become a habit. I won't say anything this time, but if you do it again, I will tell them. You know how they feel about school and if they knew you were skipping, you would be in deep trouble," I warned him.

"Okay, okay, just don't say anything. I won't do it again. What about you? I thought you weren't supposed to be out of the house alone?" Seth asked.

"I had to get out for once. The walls were closing in on me. Thanks for stopping me from attacking those hikers. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I had hurt anyone. Now I know what Dad meant when he talked about not knowing how I would react if I smelled humans for the first time. I am still shook up," I admitted.

"Don't blow our cover now! Get a hold of yourself. We have to act like nothing happened. I'm going in the front. See you later," Seth said.

I quickly ran to our room and jumped up into the room through the open door. Luckily no one missed me as Edward had honored my wish to be left alone to read. I was shaking as I closed the door and lay down on the bed. I decided to take a shower to try to calm myself down before I had to face anyone.

3 Days Later:

I hadn't been out to the meadow by myself since my close call with the hikers. I truly could not get up enough nerve to try sneaking out again, but I was beginning to get that closed in feeling that needed to be relieved by giving myself a much needed break by paying another visit to the beautiful, peaceful meadow. It seemed the ideal place for me to gain some much needed alone time. I was still getting used to being a vampire, and the constant feeling of being watched and having to stay in unless someone was with me gets to me after a while. I decided I needed this break for my own self preservation.

Everyone was occupied, Dad was at the hospital, Mom was at the garden center, Edward was playing his music since I asked for my regular alone time in our room and the others were all out doing this and that. Leah, Seth and Jake were at school. I decided to tempt fate and make a mad dash for my sanctuary. I opened the door that led out to the forest and slipped out and made my way in seconds to the meadow. It was nice, all to myself. I lay down in the spot I always do and looked up at the sky and just soaked in the outdoors. I was lost in my thoughts when I smelled wolves. I sat up and tried to zero in on them. Was it Seth again or some of the others. I ducked in the woods and hid while I tried to make out who it was. I heard them in the distance and they didn't come any closer. I stayed out of sight for a while. I was wondering if Seth was playing some sort of trick on me or just taunting me for being out here alone. After a while, I decided the coast was clear and went back to my spot but closer to the woods in case I had to hide once more. I could hear movement, but nothing close and the smell was waning, so I told myself I was safe. I went back to my mindless daydreaming.

Upwind from where I was laying, little did I know I was being watched by 3 wolves as they kept their distance and tried to stay far enough away so I could not hear them. They kept me in their sights as I lazed on the ground enjoying my solitude. They angrily kept an eye on me for fear of what could happen.

The Wolves:

Sam, Paul and Jared smelled a vampire in the area and from the scent they knew it was Bella. They kept smelling for another scent along with hers, but when none came, they decided to check it out. Surely she was not out here alone! She could not be trusted since she is still a newborn. No way would Carlisle allow such a thing to happen. To their surprise, it was just Bella. She could not be left out here alone.

Sam:

I mentally told Paul and Jared to keep her in their sights. I needed to phase back to human form and find out why Bella was here alone without any of the others with her. This was too dangerous for her to be out here alone. What if someone happened by and Bella could not stop herself. I had a feeling no one knew Bella was out here alone. Having known Bella for some time now, she is quite the rebellious girl and once she gets something in her head, there is no talking to her. Yes, Carlisle must be informed. I quietly made my way back to where I stash my clothes to phase back and contact Carlisle.

"Dr. Cullen," Carlisle said answering the phone.

"Carlisle, this is Sam Uley," I informed him.

"Yes Sam, is everything alright? Are any of the boys hurt?" He asked me.

"No Carlisle, we are all fine. I just need to inform you of something," I said.

"Of course, Sam, what is it?" He asked.

"We were making one of our perimeter runs and came across Bella laying in the meadow all by herself. Is she allowed out alone?" I asked.

"What? No, she knows better than to go out alone. Are you sure the others are not with her?" Carlisle asked.

"No, there are no others, just Bella. We even walked around trying to find another scent but it is just her, and she is just laying there like she is daydreaming." I told him.

"She has no right to be out there. I will leave now and go home and deal with this situation," Carlisle said.

"We will keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens," I assured him.

"Sam, can you do that for me? I will take care of this when I get home," Carlisle said.

"Sure, doc, we will handle this on our end, you take your time. We will make sure nothing happens and will stay with her until she heads home," I assured him again.

"Oh and Sam, can you keep your presence discreet?" Carlisle asked.

"We have so far. No problem, doc. She's all yours! I thought you would like to handle this," I said to him.

"I certainly will. Thank you, Sam," Carlisle said.

Bella:

I was daydreaming about Edward and all that has happened when I realized I had been here longer than I should have. I got myself up and ran as fast as I could back to the house. On my way back, I listened to see if I could hear any wolves in the area. I was wondering if I would run into Seth again and wondered what he is up to. Luckily, I didn't see or hear any more wolves and I continued on toward home. Upon arriving at the house, I didn't see anyone outside anymore. Hopefully, no one came to our room and Edward was still downstairs with his music giving me my alone time. I looked up to our room and I didn't see any movement and I could tell our door was still closed. I stood there for a little and went around to the side to see if Mom was outside or anyone else. No one was there which meant either the others were inside or still away.

I decided I was in the clear and leapt up into the door to our room. I quickly got in and turned back to the door to close it. I turned around and froze in place uttering a sharp gasp. There standing to greet me up against the door of our room with his arms folded across his chest, was my very angry vampire father who was piercing me with a sharp glare that could melt the continent of Antartica! I wish I was in Antartica right now!

"Have a nice visit to your meadow, Bella?" Dad asked still piercing me with that glare.

I felt my stomach do flip flops as I realized he knew where I had been and wondered how he knew that. Right now, I didn't care how he found out, all I wanted to do was get out of this room. I let my fear take over and I quickly turned to open the door to the forest again when I heard dad issue me a warning.

"You are going to have to face me now or later. You can either turn around and deal with me now or make the biggest mistake of your life and step out that door and have to come and face me after you ran from me. The choice is yours, I suggest you choose wisely," Dad warned.

I stopped and stared at my hand on the door handle. It was my last chance to escape and I wanted desperately to turn the handle and jump to freedom. I looked out at the beautiful, peaceful forest, wishing the next hour or so would be as peaceful in here as it looked out there. I knew I could not go out that door or I wouldn't be able to sit for my entire newborn year. I removed my hand from the handle and let it fall to my side. I gave one more glance at the freedom beckoning me outside the door as I resigned myself to turn and face one angry father who was boring a hole through me with is gaze. I turned and slowly faced him.

"I think I better face you now, dad," I offered pitfitully.

"You made a wise choice," dad said.

Dad put his hands down at his sides and began walking toward me. I wanted to back up but knew that wasn't a good idea, so I stayed put watching him walk closer and closer to me. I felt like I was in the shadow of a huge mountain. He loomed above me. Was he always this tall? Because right now he looks to be about 7 feet tall! Stopping right in front of me, dad reached out and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Let's go," he said propelling me forward.

Yeah, I know where this is going…

To Be Continued…

Please Review!