Chp. 13

Expected Betrayal

BPOV

I trudged to my sixth period class with a terrible sense of foreboding, my head fixed at downward angle to avoid the many appraising stares I was receiving from the adolescents surrounding me.

Sure enough, when I approached Mr. Lewis' classroom, my vision locked upon the sight of my husband and Alison, appearing very cozy as they spoke mutedly at their lab table. I glared at the abomination in the form of a teenage girl; her breakable human hand was clasped snugly in my Edward's, their heads close together as they conversed about something in which I probably didn't want to know.

Even though I knew he couldn't control himself, and that she was an evil, thieving bitch, the image they presented was like a harsh blow to the stomach. It hurt excruciatingly bad.

"Ms. Masen, do you have a problem finding your seat?" Mr. Lewis asked scornfully when I stood in the front of the room for longer than necessary.

Mortified, I hastily scrambled to my seat in the very back of the room. Cory glanced up at me with a pleasant smirk, and my ears picked up on his heart's speed increase. "Hey, Bella," he greeted joyously.

I plastered on a fake smile in return, my voice mustering up a false tone of cheerfulness. "Hello, Cory."

Mr. Lewis then chose that moment to start class, and everyone instantly silenced themselves.

Throughout the lesson, I kept my watchful eyes trained on Alison. Every so often, she'd lean over to whisper something in Edward's ear to which he'd respond with a grin. I desperately wished to eavesdrop on what she was saying, but she kept her voice low…too low; almost like she knew to modify her tone of voice.

When the bell rang, I snatched Cory's hand, not even bothering to slip my gloves on. "Gah!" he exclaimed. "You're hands are like ice!"

"Sorry," I muttered insincerely.

I then yanked him up the aisle of desks, our hands still linked, right past Edward and the whore. Normally, Edward's eyes would be murderous as they watched the scene before him….but not today.

He didn't even notice as we walked by.

He didn't notice!

My well-formed plan to make him jealous was crumbling right before me. He was so far gone that he no longer cared what I did. Crap! Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, I need to talk to Carlisle!

Now that Cory was useless to me, I abruptly let go of his hand, sauntering out of the school building without him. He stood, bewildered, in the center of the hallway for a few moments before composing himself. But even then, I could see the look of hurt cross his features.

But right now it didn't matter. Nothing did. I had to get to Carlisle.

Stalking straight into the forest I began an inhumanly fast pace towards the direction of the hospital, my thoughts determined. When I hit the edge of trees that enclosed the town's medical center, I slowed myself down to a walk.

When I entered the hospital building, I went straight for the receptionist's desk, questioning where I'd find Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and that it was critical that I speak to him immediately.

Gina, as her nametag read, pointed me in the direction of his office and I jogged down the wide, open hallways until I reached it.

I flung the door open with abandon, and Carlisle's head snapped up to mine urgently. "Bella?" he asked, puzzled. "You're supposed to be in school."

Shutting the door behind me, I crossed the room, seating myself in one of the cheap cushy chairs opposite of his. "This is important," I informed him.

"Is everyone okay? Sarah? Renesmee?" His eyes were frantic.

I shook my head exasperatedly. "No, they're fine."

There was a long gap of silence as he inhaled a breath of relief.

"She's back, Carlisle," I continued seriously.

"Elaborate, dear," he ordered with a drilling curiosity.

"Carlisle," I addressed him. "Kendall's back."

"What? How…?"

"I don't know how! It's not even the same girl, but it is! She's…different. She looks different. She looks like me now...kind of. Her name is Alison Gray. She has the same effect on Edward that Kendall did, and I'm just about positive that they're the same person!"

He eyed me, calculating, for several moments. "And this girl is human?" he wondered, still trapped in his thoughts.

"I…think?" The words unintentionally came out of my mouth in the form of a question.

When he didn't comment, I decided to share my theories. "I believe that she's more than human, Or a human with special abilities like I had when I was a human. It was like when I could keep other vampires from manipulating my mind, or how Alice 'saw things' when we were only mortals".

"You're sure this is the same girl?"

"Positive," I answered surely. "But I came to you because I don't know what to do anymore. And I want to keep Renesmee as far out of this as possible. Last time," my head uncontrollably shook at the memory, "It hurt her so much. I can't put her through it again."

"What about you?" he asked, his eyebrows raised on his forehead.

"It doesn't matter how I feel," was my reply. "My only concern is getting him away from her and keeping Renesmee and Sarah out of it."

"Bella," he said disapprovingly, going into a therapist-like-mode. "You can't ignore your emotions. It will only cause more problems. If you ever need to talk, or vent, or need advice, you can always come to me. And not just I, anyone in the family would be there for you in a heartbeat."

I nodded, my voice lost. I could feel a sharp stinging in my eyes, tears that desired to be shed, but would never spill over. "Uh…I-I need to go," I stumbled through my words, hurriedly getting up and dashing out of the room.

When I was safely in the confines of the soggy forest, I let the sobbing out as I ran. I hushed myself when I drew near the school, finally quieted when my foot stepped into the slick, wet pavement of the parking lot.

I spotted Renesmee and Jacob in a tight embrace, my daughter's face buried in his chest. I smiled as I saw them together, but as I advanced, I could hear muffled cries. "What's the matter?"

Jacob's eyes darted to mine, held within them an unimaginable fury. "Why don't you ask your asshole of a husband?" he barked heatedly.

Renesmee, without removing her face, punched his shoulder. "Stop it."

"No," he exclaimed insubordinately. "Edward," he spit out his name as if it were a dirty word. "Freaking broke Ness' heart!"

Both of my hands ran through my hair, tugging it with a groan. "Oh, god, what did he do?"

"After the bell rang twenty or so minutes ago, she went up to him, as if it were any normal day and simply asked where you were. He glared, ignored her, walked up to some chick and took her hand. He then had the nerve to get in our car with what's her face, and take off…god knows where! That son of a bitch!" he yelled the last part.

"Renesmee," I croaked, reaching out for her. "I'm so sorry."

She spun around and into my arms. "What's wrong with him, Momma?" she whispered through her tears.

"I don't know," I responded, barely able to contain the rage that had sparked within me.

I was downright furious, and not even at Edward. Well, I was angry with him…but most of it was directed towards that Alison girl. She could hurt me, whatever, but this was affecting my whole family now. She was hurting my husband and daughter, and that was unacceptable.

"Let's go home, baby," I breathed into her hair and she nodded.

- -

When we pulled up at the house, Alice flew down the porch steps, enveloping Renesmee in a tight embrace. "I am so sorry," she whispered, her expression a mix between fury and agony. "I didn't see it until right before it happened. I wouldn't have let him hurt you like that if I would have known."

I gazed upon them with sad eyes, but then felt the abrupt arm of my best friend sling itself across my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Bells," Jake apologized unnecessarily.

"Jake, there's nothing to be sorry for," I told him so.

"Bella, we're going to stop this girl. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're happy again. You deserve it….although he doesn't deserve you at all. He just-"

"Stop it, please," I muttered, trying to hold back the sob that wanted to escape my throat. "It's not his fault. And how did you even know about her?"

"Edward may be a lot of things, Bella, but he's good to you; he loves you. I know he wouldn't intentionally hurt you like this. And don't say you aren't hurting, Bella, I can see it. You haven't been yourself since before we left Elkins when that other chick was in the picture. They're the same, aren't they?"

"Since when did you become so observant?" I asked, distracting myself from the pain his words inflicted.

"I always have been. That's what I'm supposed to do, right? As your best friend I'm supposed to help you with your problems."

I knocked my shoulder lightly into his. "You're too good for me, Jake."

"Oh, I know," he teased with a sly wink.

"Okay, you so ruined the moment." I stuck my tongue out, sauntering past him and into the house.

- -

Having isolated myself in my room until Carlisle got home, I was eager for his arrival.

When he finally pulled into the garage, I sprinted down the stairs and out to meet him. "Carlisle," I greeted as he stepped out of his car.

He seemed surprised to see me standing before him. "Bella," he returned.

"How's the…situation?" he asked cryptically.

And then another relentless wave of pain collided into me. "Uh…Edward's kind of not here. He took off with Alison after school. Really hurt Ness in the process."

Carlisle's bright golden eyes darkened, a slight growl sounding out, and I rushed to correct him, as I knew what he assumed. "Not physically, Carlisle. He'd never lay a hand on her," I shook my head. The idea of him ever physically hurting our daughter was ludicrous.

His irises immediately cleared up, and he apologized for presuming the worst.

"Its fine, the way I worded it was unwise." After a very long, awkward pause, I continued. "So…what are we going to do? Jacob knows now and so do Alice and Renesmee, obviously. Probably Jasper. I'm assuming everyone else does too, because neither of us has bothered to control the volume of our voices."

In fact, at that moment, I could hear Alice explaining to Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme what exactly was happening, and a fierce growl ripped through the tense silence shared between Carlisle and I. It was Emmett.

"Bella!" he boomed, and the garage door leading to the house was flung open, revealing the entire family, minus Edward and Sarah. "Why the hell didn't you tell any of us!?"

Before I could speak, Carlisle cut in, placing a protective hand on my shoulder. "Emmett, she came to me earlier when she couldn't handle it anymore, and Alice was aware of what was happening before me, even. I'm sure you can understand that Bella didn't want hers and Edward's business to reach her daughter. She was protecting her child and granddaughter from getting hurt, which was very considerate of her."

Emmett sighed heavily. "She should have told us so we could go kill this bitch."

"Emmett!" Esme and Carlisle chided simultaneously.

"What? I think it's a good idea. She freaking followed us! How creepy is that? And just for Edward? If she had any intelligence at all she'd go for me…OW! Rosalie, you know it's true," he rubbed the back of his head gingerly where Rosalie had smacked him.

"Anyways," Carlisle carried on, ignoring Emmett's comment. "We need to figure something out, preferably before Edward decides to come home."

"What else besides killing the chick can we do? She'll probably just follow us like the stalker she is if we go anywhere else," Rosalie chimed in.

"Thank you, Rose!" Emmett exclaimed. "At least someone agrees that this chick is creepy and needs to be taken care of."

"She's human," I reminded them.

"We can make exceptions." The brutal determination in Rosalie's expression nearly made me cringe.

"What if she's not human?"

Everyone's heads snapped towards the direction of where Renesmee was standing, silent through our entire discussion, finally spoke, arms crossed.

"What do you mean, dear?" Esme questioned.

Renesmee uncrossed her arms, biting her bottom lip for a moment. "I mean…what if her vampire power was to be human? To disguise herself as one of them?"

"That's brilliant, Renesmee," Carlisle complimented. "That would explain it all."

"So what do we do?"

Gah, bad Edward! I really dislike him in this chapter, but oh well, it has to be written! I plan on getting out at least another chapter by this weekend, but if it doesn't happen then I'm really sorry! Reviews are lovely, but my reviewers are lovelier.