CHAPTER 13

"What's wrong?" I asked Alice as we walked out of school. I had slept for the entire day and Alice had bunked all her classes to stay by my side. The nurse had given me a heavy sedative for my injuries because of which I still felt drowsy, but the pain in my arms had reduced to a great extent. They still throbbed but it was bearable. I'd had worse.

"Nothing" Alice replied quietly. She looked pissed off but I didn't push her for more information. I just had a feeling that this was not something she wanted to talk about and since she was giving me my space, I had to give her hers.

"You aren't going to work today" she said.

"What?"

"I informed Ms. McKenzie. She hopes you get well soon"

"But I didn't go to work yesterday as well"

"And you aren't going today either"

"Alice..."

"We aren't arguing anymore Bella"

I looked at her carefully. "You've started becoming bossy"

Alice smirked and I was glad to see her smiling. "I'm starting to learn that this is the only way to get through your thick head"

I huffed. Jeff always said the same thing. But it felt good to be bossed around for a change. Being on my own I had never had the chance to pamper myself. Alice was doing it for me and I was liking it.

We had just stepped out of the school building when a huge body crashed into the gates and collapsed the next moment. Startled, I staggered back. It was a guy who looked just like...

"Jasper!" Alice cried in a painful voice and ran forward. I followed her when I felt myself being lifted off my feet. It was so sudden that I gasped and the next moment, I found myself in the school garden under a tree. I closed my eyes to control the awful dizziness, but this time I knew who it was without having to look at the face. The smell of pine had hit my senses the moment he had picked me.

"What's your problem?" I grumbled when I was sure I wouldn't fall.

"Open your eyes" Edward commanded and I did. Not because he asked me to, but because I wanted to. I hadn't seen him since morning. Practically I hadn't seen anybody since I had slept for the entire day but still, I wanted to see his face. I looked at him and was shocked to see several bruises on his face. They had started turning purple and looked horrible.

I touched his face before I could think of anything. "What happened to you?" I asked in a horrified voice. Seeing him like this hurt me. A thought struck my mind. "Did Jasper do this to you?"

Edward held my hand to his cheek and turned his nose in my palm. Inhaling deeply, he softly pressed his lips to the centre of my palm. The pleasure made me close my eyes. I felt heavenly.

"Bella?" Edward whispered. I looked at him again and saw his hypnotic blue eyes filled with pain. "Are you alright?" he asked as he slowly rubbed his hands all over my arms. His touch was magical. I could swear that the little bit of burning that remained in my arms vanished completely.

I nodded. Why was he concerned about me?

"I'm sorry" he whispered and joined his forehead with mine.

"For what?" I whispered back.

"...Everything" he replied.

I opened my eyes and stepped back. "Everything?" I asked quietly. "Does this mean you aren't going to harass me anymore?"

That made him open his eyes and for a moment, he looked boggled as if he couldn't understand what he was doing. Then whatever he remembered must have been bad because he stepped away from me immediately.

"Fuck!" he swore loudly and I ruthlessly crushed the wave of hurt that rose in my heart. The bad Edward was back. My question had pulled him out of his sensitive Edward mode. I stepped aside to leave but now that the bad guy was back, how could he let go of me so easily?

"Where are you going?" he growled and I yelped since he pulled me back with my hair.

"Ow!" I shouted as he knotted his hand in my hair tightly. "What are you doing? Let go! Ouch!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" he shouted.

"Leave my hair you ass" I shouted. I didn't feel any pain in my arms now. And Edward's presence, it made me feel stronger than I felt moments ago. So I held his wrist by taking my right arm back. It was a bit difficult since my entire arm was bandaged but I did it nonetheless and twisted his wrist.

"Holy shit!" Edward screamed in pain. His hold on my hair loosened. I turned and freed my hair with one jerk. Then without thinking twice, I kicked him where sun didn't shine.

"Bloody moron! Stay away from me" I yelled and pushed him back.

Edward looked at me and the look on his face made me turn and run. I had barely run ten steps when I found a violent push on my back. I fell but the years of training made me bring my hands in front at the right time and I saved my face from experiencing the full impact of the fall. Before I could turn or try to get up I felt myself pinned to the ground heavily under Edward's weight.

I struggled against his proximity with all my might. His warm breath at the back of my neck and the feel of his body all over me was playing havoc with my senses.

"You can't escape from me Isabella Marie Swan" he growled triumphantly as he tied my hands behind my back with his. Before I could think of a retort or try kicking him from the back of my leg I saw Alice running towards me. She had blood stains on her dress and her face was wet with tears, but she looked mad as hell.

"What are you doing?" she shouted at Edward. "Get off her right now!"

"Go and tend to your baby girl" Edward laughed sarcastically while tightening his hold on my wrists. "He got some real punches from me this time" So Edward was responsible for Jasper's condition? But why had he hit him? Why had they been fighting?

"You are nothing but a bunch of lunatics" Alice shouted. Then to my surprise, she came and actually kicked Edward hard in his side ribs.

"What the..." Edward swore but Alice was determined to surprise me today. She kicked him once again and I felt the impact right down to my toes. She held his hair and forced him off me. He was too stunned to react. Panting heavily, Alice helped me in getting up. I looked at her gratefully as I also took deep breaths. Edward looked lanky but he was heavy. Alice's face had turned red. She looked weak. It appeared as if dealing with Edward had taken its toll on her strength.

"Stay away from Bella, you coward" she spat at him.

"Did you just..."

"Yes I did" Alice didn't let him finish the sentence. "Because that's what you are, a bloody scared coward who hasn't got the courage to stand up to the truth. You suck! How can you expect to lead others?"

"Shut up Alice!" came Jasper's angry voice from behind.

I turned and gulped as I took in his condition properly. His clothes were torn and were covered in blood at various places. His arms and face were filled with bruises but his anger was making him look more menacing than he usually did.

"Don't you dare utter another word" he threatened.

"Or what?" Alice shouted angrily. "What will you do? Kill me? Do it! I'm already in hell with you guys around"

Jasper moved towards her with an obvious intention of attacking her but I had had enough of these jerks. I stepped in front of her and he stopped. "Take another step" I warned "and I won't be responsible for my actions"

Jasper laughed like I had cracked a very funny joke. "Really?" he nearly spat at me but didn't. I had the weird feeling that he was controlling himself because of Edward. "You really think you can hurt me?"

"I can do a lot more than hurt you" I promised. This wasn't an empty threat. I was capable of causing a lot of damage to Jasper. In the morning I had been weakened by emotions that had given him the advantage of overpowering me. I wasn't going to commit the same mistake twice.

"And the kitten speaks" he snarled. "Go ahead. Show me what you got"

I looked at Alice, because I knew I was going to inflict serious damage now. This wasn't about questions, pride and ego anymore. This was about my and Alice's future at Lillibet high school. If I backed out or lost today, these guys were going to bully us to death no matter what conflicting feelings they had towards Alice and me. If I won or managed to proved that I wasn't a weakling, then I just might have the chance to survive this city.

Alice nodded at me, giving me the permission to do what I wanted. She must have understood this too. She may have very deep feelings for Jasper, but we had had enough of putting up with the crap of these guys. I looked back at Jasper and my battle mode was on.

"Bring it on" I whispered and stepped forward.

I was alert of the movement of every muscle in my body as Jasper and I started circling around. I could feel Edward's intense gaze on me but I didn't let it distract me.

I watched Jasper as he moved stealthily. His movements were soft and smooth. That gave him the advantage of sneaking on his enemies whenever he wanted. But they also had a flow. In order to keep them soft and noiseless, he put too much pressure on his feet. That could reduce his speed. I smirked in my mind. I knew what I had to do.

Suddenly, Jasper jumped but I had been expecting him to do that. As a result, I had jumped just a moment before him and caught him mid air. He was huge, heavy and strong. But I knew where he would be weak. He grabbed my left arm and was about to grab my right but I was quicker. With the speed of lightning, I pressed a pressure point on his shoulder.

He yelped in pain and let go of my left arm immediately. We landed on the ground but he remained unsteady as the pain in his shoulder was immense. I didn't wait and attacked him. He blocked my right punch towards his face with his left hand and I grinned because I had wanted him to that. He tried to move his right arm but the pain in his right shoulder didn't let him. I punched him in the centre of his ribs with my left hand and pressed few more points with my thumb.

Jasper yelled so loudly that for a moment I felt my ears would burst. I planted a hefty kick right where the sun didn't shine and he fell on the ground groaning in pain. I picked up his left leg and twisted it. A heart wrenching scream filled the garden.

It came from two people...Jasper and Alice.

I looked at Alice and saw her holding her stomach in agony. She was screaming as loudly as Jasper and seemed to be in too much pain. I looked back at Jasper who was sweating and screaming. He was useless now. I let go of his leg with a jerk and rushed towards Alice.

"Alice" I went and put my hand on hers that rested on her stomach. "Are you alright?" After sometime, she nodded. I noticed that she nodded after Jasper stopped shouting in pain.

I looked at Edward. He was staring at me slightly open-mouthed. Many emotions were visible on his face. Surprise, anger, pride, hate...everything. I saw Japer trying to get up but failing to do so.

"It's over" I said tonelessly as I looked at Alice.

She nodded and we turned to leave the garden. I could feel Edward's stare on my back all my way to the gate and I knew.

It was not over, far from it. It had just started.