i know, i know, I'm so sorry I haven't updated. Special sorry to just.another.temptation, i know you check on my story all the time, I'm so sorry! I'm not even going to tell you an excuse, mostly because you've all heard it before. But here it is, I really hope its not too much of a disappointment! Please review!

disclaimer is on the first chapter

This was beta'ed by Miniluna...thank you!!

The inconvenient truth

Part 12

Still March 11

Sean drove at break neck speed. I felt dizzy, and I could feel nausea rising up.James was back…How the hell did he even manage to weasel his way out of reform school?

My hands tightened around my phone as I stared at the graphic photograph that came with the message. It was a rotting rose that had maggots crawling around it, as though it was a decaying body.

Chills ran up and down my back as horrifying thoughts flew inside the window of my mind. I looked at Sean and Sam, not quite grasping everything just yet. Edward was looking at me intently; he knew that there was something I wasn't telling him. I looked away from him, fearing he might read my mind. I turned back towards the twins and took a deep breath.

"You guys had been away for so long, what the hell have you been up to all this time?" I said weakly. If I had said the word any louder, my voice would have quavered. Sam looked at me for a second, assessing my pale face.

"Marie called us up and told us to come back to Forks immediately. She told us not to tell you" Sam started. I was about to interrupt but he cut me off.

"I know, I know, sorry alright? Do you want to hear the rest, or are you going to grumble?" Sam asked sharply. I shrunk a little in my seat and nodded for him to proceed.

But he didn't continue, he looked out the window and turned back towards me. "Actually on second thought, I'll tell you inside" Sam said.

I looked out the window and realized we had stopped right in front of a black iron gate. The gate swung open, and we drove through it. I looked around, the area was pretty secluded. There were no signs of any other houses, and the area was surrounded by a forest.

I don't even know how the hell we ended up there, but my first guess of the owner had been right. It was the Strikers' residence in Denali.

The house was smaller in comparison to the house they had in Forks, but it was probably much more beautiful. It was styled as a cottage, with the traditional chimney made out of rocks. My mouth was hanging open by the sheer beauty of it.

It was designed like the old English cottages, but its size was way bigger than an actually cottage…It looks more like a mansion.

As we stepped out of the car Sam grinned. "It's pretty isn't it?" he said casually, smirking at my expression. I just nodded. I could feel Edward's hands on the small of my back; he gently pushed me to start walking.

I stumbled towards the front door, tripping over at one point only to be caught by Edward. I looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. He just shook his head and sighed.

Blushing, I followed the twins towards the front door.

The inside of the house was beautifully furnished, but I didn't get to see much of it as Sean grabbed me and led me towards a small door inside the kitchen. We went down a flight of stairs, where the place was shrouded in darkness.

I nervously looked around, feeling awfully claustrophobic. I felt somebody behind me and I spun around abruptly. Edward was standing there, holding on to my waist. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

Sam was the one leading us down the stairs. I heard him flicker the light switch on, the whole room lit up and I was finally able to see my surroundings. I realized that we were in a very spacious basement.

There were old bikes stacked up against the wall, as well as a folded up trampoline. Up and down the walls were all kinds of tools. There was a waft of warm breeze circulating the room.

I looked up and found a vent where the heat was coming from. Sam and Sean sat down on the brown couches that held the folded trampoline back. I sat down on the larger couch with Edward and waited for Sam and Sean to speak.

The two of them were unusually quiet. I turned to Edward to find him staring at me with those clairvoyant green eyes again, I felt like he was looking right through my soul. It was all I could do not to squeal at the tension. I quickly looked away and focused back on the twins.

"Marie called us when she found out Victoria was still in town" Sean started.

"Seems like your little friend never left town at all" Sam added, looking at me.

"We went back there and started snooping around" Sean continued, smiling a little bit for some unknown reason. Sam snorted at that then looked at me. "She's a bit stupid, you know we were able to follow her without trouble," Sam said in a low voice.

"So, about two weeks ago, she finally realized that you've left Forks. We followed her all the way to Port Angeles, then inside La Bella Italia and watched her have a massive freak out. I have no idea who she was talking to. We could tell that it was a girl from the sound of her voice. But this girl obviously knew where you had gone, she told Victoria that you're attending Volterra Prep right now" Sam said in a dark voice, his face contorted in to a nasty scowl, and he started to grip the sofa tightly.

I felt chills creeping up and down my back. I looked down at my phone, all kinds of horrible thoughts entering my head. Edward must have felt me tense up, because the next thing I knew I was being gathered to his side with his warm arms around me.

I felt myself relax and leaned on to him for a bit.

"To make matters worst, we heard that James was released from reform school ten days ago…" Sam said, but my mind turned off for about ten seconds. A buzzing sound filled my ears and I looked down at my phone once again. Sam was still talking, but whatever he was saying was lost in my mind.

Sam looked at me worriedly. "Now I wouldn't be too surprised if he just randomly jumped you right now, I'm pretty sure he's already in Alaska" he said in a light tone. I felt like collapsing, and I probably would have if Edward had not been holding me.

Sam was still saying something, but his words were lost. I looked to Edward, and he was frowning down at me. I held out my phone, and spoke up. "I've been getting these messages" I said, my voice coming through hoarse and weak.

Sam stopped talking abruptly; everyone's eyes were on me. I shifted uncomfortably, but Edward didn't let go of me.

"What do you mean?" Edward said in a strangled voice. Both the twins were looking at me intently. I took a deep breath and told them about the messages, the graphics that came with it, and how I got one everyday from the past ten days.

The whole room was quietly staring at me; I felt Edward's arms tighten themselves around me. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to burst out.

"Why…Why didn't you say anything to me?" Edward whispered angrily. I knew the reaction I was going to get, and I couldn't help but feel a little defensive.

"Well in case you haven't noticed you've been pretty pre-occupied with Tanya and with punching out innocent bystanders" I reminded him unwillingly. His face clouded over with anger and he looked away. I broke away from him, moving away to create space between us.

Sean and Sam looked at the two of us in confusion.

"Exactly how much have we missed out on?" the twins said in unison, looking at each other with a smirk on their faces.

Edward looked at them darkly. "Oh, Bella is all about making friends with jerks now." he said sarcastically, still not looking at me.

I looked at him for a while, then rolled my eyes, "Yeah, you should know, your one" I scowled. The twins coughed loudly, I looked at the two of them, my face still set in a scowl.

"What do we do now?" I said in a frustrated tone. Everybody was quiet for a while, all I could hear was Edward's angry breathing.

"Act like nothing is wrong…" Sam said, as though getting an epiphany. Sean looked at him, as though he was catching on to Sam's little bubble of thought.

"Yeah…Just let the chips fall wherever they may" Sean said, motioning to drop a few chips on the imaginary table.

I looked at the two of them, "This is crazy, I have to tell Charlie" I said in a small voice. I knew it was something I had to do. I feel like I'm always keeping secrets from him, it's not fair.

"Yeah, we know that Bella, but how the hell do we explain that a psychotic old classmate is back again and wants to chew on your head?" Sam said rationally. I didn't know how to answer that.

After so many months, I had never told Charlie about James. Only my closest friends knew about him.But what can I do right? It has to be done.

I felt Edward come a little closer. He held my hand and squeezed it gently. "I'll come with you" he said in a soft voice. Despite of all this insanity, I couldn't help but feel happy when he said that to me.

I looked at my watch and gasped when I saw just how late it was. "I need to go home, Charlie will go ballistic if he comes home and finds out I'm not there" I said slightly panicked. I started to get up but there was a sudden sound upstairs. Someone was trying to pry the door open.

I looked at the twins, who were both on their feet.

"Are we supposed to be alone?" Edward said nervously at the twins. I watched as the twins nodded.

"All the servants are gone, we're alone" the twins said in unison. The door rattled again, and my heart skipped a beat. I looked up at the door, whoever was up there had managed

Edward stood in front of me, waiting. My heart skipped a beat when he wrapped his arms around me.

We could hear footsteps coming down. Whoever was up there missed a step and came tumbling down the last couple of steps. The figure rolled down and fell straight on the black net on the floor. It tried to get up and I let out a loud squeak.

The nets fell out and I was able to see the person's face.

"Urgh, a little help would have sufficed!" Marie said in a frustrated voice. She was half way fixing her hair when she noticed me standing there gaping at her.

"Oh, hey Bella…Edward…how are you?" she said awkwardly at us. I clutched my heart and allowed myself to let out a breath.

"My Goodness Marie, announce yourself next time!" Sam said irritated. Marie looked at all of us sheepishly. "Oh. Sorry" she said, embarrassed. Marie's face was pink when she came up and hugged me.

"I missed you kid, Forks just ain't the same without you, even annoying Jacob is getting old" she shrugged. I gave her a small smile, my heart was finally going back to its normal phase.

"Yeah, well looks like trouble followed me all the way here, how funny is that?" I said in a high tone, my voice coming out all pitchy.

"Ah so my brothers told you already. Well were not going to leave you, you're always safe with us, you know that" she said solemnly. To be honest, the only one thing was running through my mind at that very moment was…

I am so screwed.

I don't think simple words can ever make me feel better about this whole thing.

Edward and I left the Striker household. The twins had let Edward use one of their cars. On the way home, my heart felt heavy, as though somebody had gone and weighed it down with rocks.

I felt sick about not knowing where my future was going to go. I bit my lips and looked out the window. The silence in the car was deafening. I knew that Edward was looking at me; his focus was completely away from the road. Great, I thought to myself, a car crash would be the cherry on top of my sundae.

I looked at Edward and sure enough, he was looking at me, with a slight frown forming on his beautiful lips. "Marie is right you know? I'm not going to let anything happen to you" he said softly, removing his right hand away from the steering wheel and placing them on mine.

I didn't even notice when it came, but sure enough tears had started falling down my face, my lips started to quiver, and I let out a sob. Edward pulled over on the ditch then gathered me to his chest.

"Shh Bella…Don't cry, I won't let anything happen to you…" he whispered over and over again over my childish sobs.

"I'm just getting so sick and tired of this…I have the worst luck in the world. You should stay away from me!" I said my voice shook so much that it was almost unintelligible.

"Shhh. Don't say that, if anything, I consider you the luckiest girl in the world. With what's happened to you, I'm surprise you're still standing strong" he whispered soothingly. But it didn't help despite the fact that the way he was rubbing my back was starting to calm me down.

"But what if I run out of luck?" I said in a small voice. Edward held on to me tighter and kissed my forehead. "That's never going to happen, I'll always have your back" he said strongly. But I couldn't help the inkling of doubt that surfaced.

Despite how sincere he probably felt at that very moment, I just knew he wouldn't be able to hold on to his words. Tanya will always be there between us, it's just not the same. I thought sadly.

His touch had an effect on me. I felt my breathing slow, and I began to calm down. It made me feel sick that my heart depended on him so much, yet he was like a drug that I just couldn't get out of my system. I wanted him to keep on holding me, and to never let go.

All too soon, we broke apart, Edward dried my tears, and I gave him a fake smile in return to let him know that I would be fine, when really, I was cringing inside.

As Edward pulled over to my house another thought entered my head. "How are we going to tell Charlie?" I said in a tiny voice. Edward was quiet for a moment, contemplating.

He took my hand once again and looked at me, his emerald eyes unreadable. "We should tell him now…" he started slowly. I knew I looked slightly panicked for his hands gripped mine even tighter. "Everything will be alright" he said encouragingly.

I nodded then stepped out of the car. Edward was walking right behind me, not touching, but his presence made me feel safe somehow.

The automatic light flickered on, and the path became illuminated with light. The door swung open before I could even press the door bell, Charlie stood there looking angry as a bull…And he was looking straight at Edward.

I bit my lip uncontrollably and tried to stand between the two of them. But before either Charlie or I said anything, Edward had stepped up, and held out his hand. "Good evening Chief Swan. Sorry to be taking Bella home so late like this. But we really need to talk to you" he said politely.

Charlie stared at Edward as though he grew another pair of head. Then he looked at me suspiciously. "You're pregnant aren't you?" he said instantly. I flushed an angry red and scowled at him.

"No! I'm not!" I snapped. Now it was Charlie's turn to blush. He sighed loudly and nodded. He stepped aside and let us in.

I turned to Edward and he gave me a small smile as though to encourage me.

We headed straight to the kitchen table where the three of us sat down.

Edward spoke first. "Sir, there's been bad news. I'm aware that Bella never told you this but last year she was stalked by a boy whose family you might have heard of, James Malone?" Edward started. I waited, Charlie nodded in agreement, his lips were set in a grim line, but I could still see the confusion in his eyes.

"Well, this boy was doing illegal things at school, and Bella had seen him-" Edward said, but he was cut off by Charlie.

"Did you gas on him?" Charlie said to me. My annoyance grew even more.

"Hell no! He thought I gassed on him, but I never did. He started to threaten me and stuff, and I was starting to get scared for my own safety, that's why I did stupid things to get myself expelled!" I said indignantly.

Charlie was staring at me with a surprised expression, while Edward held my hand.

"Bella, I was hoping to get through this like adults…" Edward said, still trying to calm me down.

Charlie started shaking his head at me. "Why didn't you say anything before?" Charlie said in a sad voice. Guilt was finally starting to catch up with me.

"I'm sorry, but I just didn't want you to worry…a couple of months ago, I thought you hated me dad. I mean what could I have said? Some psychotic ego maniac is after my blood? I don't think that would have gone down very well" I tried to say rationally.

But disappointment was written all over Charlie's face. "So why are you telling me this now?" Charlie said in a tensed voice. I noticed the worry in his face, it was so clearly written on his face. I felt like running up to him and giving him a hug, but I refrained.

"Last year Edward's dad was able to convince Mr. Malone to send James to reform school, but he somehow found a way out again. He's back, and he's here in Alaska…At least I think he is" I added the last bit as a last thought.

I heard my phone buzz once again, I looked at the new message, this time the picture attached to the message was mine, after a few moments an arrow hit my face, boring a hole right through the picture. I shivered, my heart faltering slightly.

I snapped the phone shut.

"You know, let me rephrase that. He's definitely here in Alaska" I said in an upset voice. Edward noticed the change and moved closer towards me.

"Bella, you have more people looking out for you than ever. You'll be fine" he said soothingly.

Charlie wasn't saying anything; he was staring at Edward shrewdly. I knew exactly what he was thinking. It just goes to show exactly how much Charlie doesn't know.

I looked at Edward, not really knowing what to say. All I knew was that I needed him to leave, to leave me alone with Charlie. "Look Edward, I think you should go now…Tanya's probably freaked right now…You haven't talked to her in about three hours now" I said in a low voice, very much aware of Charlie listening.

Edward was looking at me with confused eyes, but I softly shifted my position towards Charlie. Edward caught on instantly; he nodded and started to get up. "It's nice seeing you again Chief Swan" he said politely, holding out his hand. Charlie took it unwillingly and shook it.

"Yes, yes goodbye" Charlie said abruptly. I scowled at Charlie's rudeness, got up and left Charlie in the dining table.

I caught up with Edward near the front door, already half way out.

"Wait Edward!" I called out breathlessly. He spun around when he heard my voice.

"I'm so sorry about that! He didn't have to be so rude!" I said apologetically. Edward just smiled and shook his head.

"I can understand why he would act that way Bella. I did break your heart" he said softly; regret adding a little ring to his voice.

Before I knew it, he came up and hugged me tightly. He affected my body in ways he shouldn't be. In my own weakness, I gave in to my urge and hugged him back.

"…Why the hell do you always get yourself in to these kinds of things?" he sighed heavily, finally letting me go. I had no answer for him.

He stepped outside in the night and started walking towards the car. But before he could reach it, he stopped abruptly and slowly spun around. He just stood there quietly, contemplating.

"Edward?" I said curiously. I started walking towards him, worrying just a little bit. I stopped right in front of him. I tried to read him, but it was like trying to read ancient Egyptian manuscripts.

But when he finally spoke, it was so typically old Edward that it surprised me.

"Bella? Can you do me a favor?" he started slowly, looking at me with those piercing green eyes.

I nodded instantly, not really thinking much of what he could be asking for, but then regretted it instantly, I mean what if he asked for something ridiculous? Never mind.

"Try to keep out of trouble for a couple of hours" he said seriously, his eyes boring in to mine. He must really think that I'm a walking trouble magnet or something.

"I know you so much now, I know that you attract trouble within a ten mile radius" he said jokingly. I scowled but nodded all the same.

"Same to you, Tanya must be a handful, huh?" I said casually. It's okay to be casual once in a while, especially in times when you know some psychotic ego maniac is out to get you, it livened things up a bit.

Edward just laughed at my casualness. He leaned in and kisses my cheek, something I hadn't expected. I stood there frozen; he turned around and got inside his car, leaving my mind in a mess.

I walked back inside and tried to reason with Charlie. At first he was apprehensive when I told him our plan of acting like nothing is wrong, he was keen on acting out as soon as possible. But I told him that his department could be corrupted, James' family had a lot of power. And when he suggested we went back to Forks, I told him about what happened last year, and how James was able to manipulate the force in his favor.

Charlie wasn't happy, he wasn't happy at all.But he was all for giving the house extra protection, and cancelling his late night shifts so he could look out for me. This was an idea that I wasn't too happy with, but precautions had to be taken.

When all the talking was finally over, I started to get up to go to bed, but it seems Charlie wasn't done asking questions just yet. "So who's Tanya?" he asked nonchalantly. I almost laughed at that, Charlie trying to be nonchalant. I knew the question must've burnt itself inside his head, leading to morbid curiosity.

"Tanya is Edward's girlfriend dad" I said casually. Charlie looked at me in surprise.

"Really? Since when?" he asked curiously, I distastefully noticed he suddenly looked relaxed somehow.

"I don't really know, I try to stay away from that question. Its something I don't really want to know" I lied. Luckily, Charlie was the only one who couldn't see right through me whenever I lied; everybody else could for some weird reason.

"I'm going to bed dad, goodnight" I said in a tired voice. I went up the steps taking two steps at a time. I walked inside my gigantic room and sat on the bed for a few breathless moments. I was exhausted, not to mention emotionally drained.

My phone started ringing. I apprehensively looked at the caller id and let out a breath when I saw that it was just Alec calling.

"Hello?" I said gloomily. There was a slight static sound from the other line.

"I won the bet!" was the first thing Alec said. I let out a frustrated sound.

"No way! You probably already knew they were coming! Cheater!" I said irritated. Alec just laughed on the other line.

"Whatever Bella, you still have to do it. A deal is a deal" he said laughing. I let out another groan; it was doing my head in!

"Get ready Bella, you're competing against me!" he said brightly, then hung up.

"Jerk!" I said, shutting the phone with a snap.


To Jacob Black

Fr Isabella Swan

Dear Jake,

It's insanity in here! James is back and he's the one who's been sending me those crazy messages! It turned out Victoria was still in Forks! They both found out that I'm in Denali, this is so screwed up! And to top it all off, I made a deal the devil and lost the deal! No I have to sing in battle of the bands. This is driving me crazy!!

So anyway, how have you been? How's everything?

Love,

Bella


To Isabella Swan

Fr Jacob Black

Please tell me your not talking about the same psychotic James, because if you are…you know I'll be right there in a flash right? Just say the word and I'll rock up with all of the boys…minus Sam, since he and Emily are somewhere in Seattle. Its insanity here too Bella! I don't know how things got so bad.

I'm scared that Leah is losing her mind too. I saw her in the edge of the rocks yesterday, I don't know what she was doing there, but I went up there just in case she did anything stupid.

Anyway, you know that I'm still here for you right? Just say the word Bella, and I'll be there.

Much Love,

Jake