Chapter 13 – Having Fun
The four of us were sitting in Esme's bedroom; nobody wanted to be alone. The feelings of betrayal, anger and sadness permeated the air. Alice rubbed one hand over her flinched fist, resting them over her mouth. "Bella, why didn't you tell us about your suspicions of them? You had a feeling all this time and you saw how close all of us were getting to the Cullens?" Rosalie was scolding me, but how could I blame her? She was hurt that Emmett was a vampire, after he asked her to be his girlfriend.
My eyes closed as this crushing blow ate away at me, "I didn't want to say anything and I knew they wouldn't have harmed us." I didn't care about taking the blame for my family's pain. Rosalie snorted, "How do you know that?" "Our charms; no one can harm us. And each of them passed through the protection circle around the house. Edward even got through it tonight. He wasn't going to hurt me." My voice was on the brink of breaking. Rosalie glared at me, "Sean got damn close to hurting you and you were wearing your charm."
"But, he didn't, because…" I hesitated, "Edward helped me." Her eyes widened, "The vampire helped you, so that he can kill you later. Bella, how can you be so stupid? So irrespons….." "Rosalie, enough!" Esme interjected. Her voice was stern as she reprimanded my sister. Rosalie sighed, "Esme, she knew this and didn't tell us. We don't keep secrets from each other."
I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to fight back tears. "Rosalie, I had my suspicions just as Bella did." Esme sat with me on her bed, "But she was right, they couldn't have hurt anyone of you." Esme was as pained by this as my sisters and I were. Carlisle was the first man she's shown interest in since her husband died. Esme held up my amulet, "Bella, please merge your sisters amulets and protection charms. They will need the extra protection." I nodded slowly, hoping to redeem myself for this night.
Alice handed me her charm and Esme gave me Alice's amulet. She kept our amulets in a silver box on her dresser. Clasping the amulet and protection charm together, they merged into one; a crescent moon with a red hue. I did the same for Rosalie; hers became a star with a yellow stone center.
Esme cleared her throat and held out her hands. Forming our circle and closing our eyes, our senses opened and drifted out of the house. Hearing pass the sporadic speeding cars and creatures moving in the forest, the voices of the Cullens reached us. "Edward, you are serious about this?" Jasper asked. Edward huffed, "Yes, the girls are witches. Bella made thunder crash right on her balcony, then her family appeared in the same spot the next moment." There was the sound of something moving across the floor, "Wow, I guess some rumors are right," Emmett said.
There was a deep exhaling of breath, "Well, witches are the one to keep balance in nature." "What are you talking about?" Jasper asked. "In my time, witches were deemed evil, but as society and people advanced, so did supernatural creatures. Witches can control werewolves, as they are more animalistic, but a very powerful witch can control a vampire." "Then, I'd watch out for Esme," Edward warned, "she's clearly the head witch." "Maybe," Carlisle stated, "but Esme is their mother and, to her, a vampire was threatening her daughter. You cannot fault her for threatening you."
I pulled my hands away, breaking the circle. Why did I believe he was the one I called for? Why was this happening? Esme brushed my hair as I rested my head in her lap. Alice came over to rest her head on Esme's shoulder. Rosalie shook her head slowly and laid against my side. My baby girls, Esme thought to herself. Esme would move heaven and earth to keep us safe, even from broken hearts. "Alright," Esme whispered, "the three of you are forbidden from speaking to the Cullens. We know their secret and they know ours." None of us argued. "Carlisle was right about us being the ones to keep nature in balance. So, for now, it will be difficult but I want you to stay out of the woods as well."
Esme leaned her head against Alice's, "Bella, I want to know what you saw today." My breath shuddered as I recalled the encounter, "I was in a meadow, getting violets when I heard an animal's cry. I went to see if I could help the poor thing, when I saw Edward leaning over it. T Then he turned back to face me, snarled and bared his teeth, with the animal's blood dripping down his mouth." Alice shuddered, trying to imagine that. "I turned to run away but he was in front of me, as if he was ready to attack me. When he saw it was me, Edward drew back. I ran past him and drove home, looking for all of you. There in my room, he said he wouldn't hurt me, but it was too dangerous for me to know what he really was."
Rosalie bit her lip, "He was drinking the blood of the animal?" I nodded, "He said him and his family were different from his kind." Alice sniffled quietly. "Alice?" Rosalie raised her head, taking the weight of it off me and took Alice's hand, "What's the matter?" Alice shook her head slowly, "This isn't fair. I was really starting to…" she shrugged, "Well, I mean, all of us…. Jasper is my boyfriend."
Esme caressed Alice's cheek with tender fingers, "Alice, my honey, it'll be fine." "Esme, don't do that. I know you're disappointed too. I mean you and Carlisle…." Esme huffed out loud, "What do you mean by that?" The three of us leaned away from her. She looked around to all of our faces. Alice smirked, "Mom, we're young, not blind." Rosalie laughed, "Esme, we saw it from when you met him at the hospital to the masquerade. Don't deny it."
Esme's expression changed to defeat, "Fine. I did….." she groaned loudly, "Ok, but I still stand by what I said. They're vampires." She looked at me, "He may say they're different, but still. I don't want any of you in danger. Yes, they have helped you before, but now things are different." No one could deny it, each of us cared about each of the Cullens.
That night, I couldn't sleep. My mind buzzed, recalling the entire evening over and over; blood falling down Edward's chin, then him appearing in my room and Esme banishing him from our home and our lives. I sat at my balcony doors, watching the trees move in the wind. This was unbearable. I actually thought they were the ones coming to our family. They fit perfectly; coming from the East, they were the animals Rosalie saw. And Edward fit the description in my dreams: wings of silver, he said he was different from his kind and he was not alone. I actually began to wonder if I loved him.
Thinking about what I saw this afternoon, that was unbelievable. I read that vampire give themselves over to their senses, making them more of a predator than human. Remembering the blood on his lips, I cringed. He was completely different from the Edward I knew. My eyes widened. What about school? How was I going to face him at school? How were my sisters going to face his brothers? A thought occurred to me. We knew their secret, maybe they would leave. Having their secret expose may cause them to leave the area.
People knew of our secret, but mostly only as a superstition. Also, my family and I have the abilities to make people forget; vampires didn't. Edward said his family was different from their kind, but would they harm us now that we knew what we were? My eyes narrowed; what if they were planning to attack us? They wouldn't be able to come near our home, because of the circle. No, Edward wouldn't do that. But how can I be sure?
The way his family was with mine; they could've been luring us into a trap. This was so confusing. Picking myself off the floor, I slumped into bed and pulled the quiet over myself. The warmth pushed away the discomfort of the day. I wanted to see Edward and talk to him, but that was too dangerous. I wasn't strong enough to repel a vampire on my own. Closing my eyes, I pushed away the images of Edward drinking blood and thought of him laughing with me at the day's events.
When sleep was beginning to take over, another memory came; pure as snow. Edward's skin was as white as snow. This was becoming weird and I know weird. My spell was fitting him even more and my dreams were telling me more about him. I got up and went to my journal, reading the second line of my true love spell. He will be strong. Thinking about it more, Edward was strong enough to kill me, but his strength. His mental strength stopped him from harming me in the forest.
Another line; his love will be unmatched. And I will make a great change, creating a powerful bond for all eternity. I exhaled; I will make a great change. A tear fell from my eye; would I become a vampire? No, no, no. That can't happen. I went back to bed. This was a truth I couldn't face.
When I cast this spell, I bound to it, which I would have to change to be equal with the one I would love. Turning over in bed, I looked out the window. My eyelids were getting heavier as sleep came back. As unconsciousness took over, something white flew through the trees.
My eyes open from a dreamless sleep. Turning over, I gasped seeing Alice asleep next to me. "Are you ok?" she asked, with her eyes closed, "You were up pretty late." I groaned and pulled the sheet over our heads. She laid under the sheets with me, "Bella, I'm just as disappointed as you are." Alice and I were looking at each other, when the sheet lifted on my other side, as Rosalie climbed underneath with us. "Esme went to work. Either of you want to go to school?"
Alice and I looked at each other, "Nope." Rosalie put her arm over me and I hugged Alice. The three of us laid quietly in bed, each of us hurt by my discovery and Esme's edict. "Alice, do you think….?" I couldn't help asking. "No," Rosalie sat up, pulling the sheet back. The dull light of the cloudy day streamed into the room. Rosalie scowled deeply at us, "You heard Esme." I looked at her, "She said we couldn't talk to them, she didn't say anything about checking on them."
Alice sat up, smiling sheepishly, "Bell has a point. We need to know if they said anything." Rosalie looked between us, not able to come up with an argument, "Fine. But I won't be apart of this." She shifted out of my bed and left the room. Rosalie was always the strongest amongst us, but even she couldn't hide her pain. She missed Emmett. I watched after her, then looked at Alice. Her eyes were closed. I sat waiting and watching. She held out her hand to me and I took it, closing my eyes.
Through her eyes, I saw Jasper, Edward and Emmett standing in the parking lot, talking. "Do you think they'll tell?" Jasper asked. Edward's eyes were gold again and sad. "No. They may be witches, but they're our girlfriends. Witch or not, I still care about Bella, like you care about Alice and Rosalie." Emmett grimaced, "Maybe we could try to talk to them. Carlisle said…" Edward glared at him, "Esme won't allow that. She wouldn't allow any of us near them or the house." Alice's vision was blurring, as I tried to focus on Edward. His face was remorseful when he spoke about Esme keeping us away from them.
Alice released my hand and we stared at each other. She wanted to go to school and talk to Jasper. I shook my head and got out of bed. She and I trudged down the back stairs. Rosalie was putting scrambled eggs on three plates, with toast and pancakes for our late breakfast. Alice sat down, but I stood next to Rosalie. She was focusing on the kettle as it whistled. Alice picked at her food, quietly. Rosalie sat at the long table with Alice and sipped at her steaming coffee mug.
"Hey, Esme's gone. Let's have some fun." Rosalie glared at me, so I rephrased, "As in, we could….." Alice smiled, "Yea." Rosalie looked between us, "What are you thinking about?" I smiled, "Let's use a lot of magic today. We need a pick-me-up." Rosalie's eyebrows furrowed, but her face lightened into a smile, "Ok. We can call it practice." The mood lightened, but only so much.
After finishing our breakfast, we went to the family book. Alice flipped through the pages, "Ok, let's do this one. See what going to happen in our futures." I shook my head, "I'm tired of looking into the future. Let's do….." I fingered through the book, "This," I pointed out a spell. "Put a pox on Sean and his friends." Rosalie shook her head, "No, Jenna. She was pissing me off yesterday. She had the nerve to say my hair was dyed." Alice giggled, "Let's do it." I smiled, "Ok, but let's make it seem more natural." "What did you have in mind?" Rosalie asked.
I half-ran into the kitchen and came back with a bowl of three pomegranates, "Let's make her sick in school. And Alice, you look out to see how she reacts to it." Alice bit her lip and nodded. Taking a knife, I cut open each pomegranate, scooping out all the seeds. My sisters began to eat the pomegranate seeds slowly. Alice closed her eyes, "She starting to feel nauseous." Each pomegranate had many seeds in each of them, so I used two of them. "She is trying to shrug it off," Alice informed us.
After placing the bowl of seeds on the countertop, I took up the first one and began chewing it. I pressed the seed to the roof of my mouth with my tongue, making it burst. Alice smiled, "She's gagging." Rosalie and Alice began eating the seeds. "Yuck, she just threw up in the middle of the parking lot." Rosalie laughed and took Alice's hand, "Oh man. She's throwing up the seeds." "I think that should be enough. I'll get the table ready," I said after eating several handfuls of seed.
Going into the dining room, I took out what we needed from the china cabinet. In the center of the table, we used a velvet cloth, a vial of blessing seeds, a thick white candle, bundled herbs and matches.
We sat around the table, reading and beginning the spell. I burned the herbs, swirling the smoke around the table, Alice read the spell and Rosalie smashed the seeds, then set them on fire. "We send a pox on the wind. For the one who has harmed us with her tongue. We pox Jenna McCreedy. We pox her until see learns the cruelty of her ways."
Alice looked to the windows, opening them, "I send this pox on the wind, so that it may be placed upon Jenna McCreedy." The three of us stood at the window, blowing hard breaths and a gust of wind blew the smoke away from the house. The spell was carried away on the wind, completing its task.
Alice gasped loudly, "Esme's coming home early." We flew through the dining room, putting away our setting. I replenished the herbs and the seeds in the china cabinet. Alice replaced the book and Rosalie folded up the velvet cloth. The three of us cleaned the kitchen. Rosalie replaced the pomegranates. We ran to the living room and switching on the TV without touching it or the remote. I sat on the floor in front of Rosalie as she brushed my hair. Alice laid her head in my lap and we watched a movie. It was early afternoon; why was Esme coming home?
In twenty minutes, Esme's car pulled into the driveway. Her shoes clacked on the porch steps. The keys in the front locked turned the tumblers and the door opened, "Girls," she called, "we need to talk." I groaned internally; she knew what we did. Esme found us in the living room, "Get dressed. We're having company."
The three of us looked at her and got up. No one spoke as we went up the stairs. From my bedroom, I heard the doorbell ring. Rosalie, Alice and I descended the stairs to see the faces of the Cullens standing in our foyer. "Will you please seat down?" Esme invited the Cullens into the house, to sit in our living room. Rosalie, Alice and I looked at each other, puzzling. What was Esme doing?