Chapter 24
I must start with this. I just saw the new trailer for the Twilight movie and it is taking every ounce of my being not to jump up and start screaming. Ok anyway happy reading.
I drove at much higher speeds than the law allowed. Getting Bella to Phoenix safe and as quick as possible was my only goal. Somewhere along the way Alice had realized Bella was crying and moved to the back to sit with her. I decided to let her be, sometimes crying was good for the soul.
We made the three day trip to Phoenix in one. Edward and I had discussed earlier that we should stay in a hotel close to the airport, just in case. We hit Valley of the Sun. Bella had been silent the whole trip, except for the occasional whimper. I looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"Which way to the airport Bella?" I asked
"Stay on I-ten. We'll pass right by it"
"Are we flying somewhere?" I heard her ask Alice.
"No, but it's better to be close, just in case."
Bella fell asleep somewhere along our first loop of Sky Harbor International. We checked into the nearest hotel to the airport. Alice picked Bella up and carried her up to our room. She set her on the bed and then came to join me in the foyer of the room. I turned the T.V on even though I knew neither one of us would watch it. Alice turned to me.
"Did you mean what you said back there?"
"Back where? I really did need to know how to get to." But she cut me off
"No silly, at the house, when you were talking to Bella."
"Oh you heard that? Yes I meant it. I realized Edward loves her the same way I love you. You saw how he reacted when Laurent asked if she was worth it, he nearly ripped his head off. I have come to terms with the fact that Bella is part of our lives and that she probably will be for a long time." I said
"Jasper, I am very proud of you, you know that right?"
I was surprised. "Why? What have I done?"
"You are getting so much better at being around humans. I know it is hard, but you handle it so well. I love you for changing your ways."
"Anything for you love." I leaned in and kissed her. When she pulled away she looked towards Bella's room.
"I think she is up. I'm going to check on her." She made her way to the door, walking as if she was floating.
I made my way to the little desk in the corner of the room. I took out a pad of paper and starting mindlessly drawing. I gave up after a while and started staring at the TV with out really watching it. There was a light knock on the door. I got up and got the room service Alice had ordered for Bella. I set it down on the coffee table. Alice and Bella emerged from the Bedroom. Alice sat down on the arm of the sofa, and Bella sat in front of the tray of food. Bella at very slowly keeping a close eye on Alice, I highly doubt she missed one glance Alice sent my way. Bella pushed her food away and Alice looked at her.
What's wrong, Alice?" She asked, with worry in her voice.
"Nothing's wrong" Alice answered, but her eyes deceived her. She was usually a good liar. Carlisle should have called by now and we were both hoping that nothing had happened. I had hoped to keep it from Bella and I knew by Alice's surprise so did she.
"What do we do now?"
"We wait for Carlisle to call."
"And should eh have called by now?" If only Alice hadn't glanced at her phone, Bella may have been fooled instead she panicked. All her emotions quickly changed, she went from being content to being scared, hurt and afraid, the only thing that didn't change is she still felt somewhat safe.
"What does that mean" her voice went up an octave and she fought to control it. "That he hasn't called yet?"
"It just means that they don't have anything to tell us." Alice was too hard when she said this. Bella didn't believe her. I got up and sat between them on the couch, closer to Bella than I have ever been. I struggled to gain my composer as I spoke to her.
"Bella, you have nothing to worry about. You are completely safe here." I told her in a soothing voice.
I know that."
I was extremely confused, if she knew she was safe why was she so scared. Her emotions changed with every passing minute, but fear never failed to be there.
"Then why are you frightened?"
It took her a moment to answer, her answer however didn't surprise me.
"You heard what Laurent said" Her voice was just a whisper.
"He said James was lethal. What if something goes wrong and they get separated? If something happens to any of them, Carlisle, Emmett, Edward." She gulped. "If that wild female hurts Esme"
Her voice went up about two octaves and she was beginning to feel hysterical. I tried to calm her down, but it didn't work much. I let her continue.
"How could I live with myself, when it's my fault? None of you should be risking yourselves for me"
"Bella, Bella stop." I interrupted her, I talked fast trying to get the point across.
"You're worrying about all the wrong things, Bella. Trust me on this- none of us are in jeopardy. You are under too much strain as it is; don't add to it with wholly unnecessary worries." She looked away from me. "Listen to me!" she looked at me again. " Our family is strong. Our only fear is losing
you."
"But why should you-"
Alice cut her off this time, putting her hand on her cheek.
"It's been almost a century that Edward's been alone. Now he's found you. You can't see the changes that we see, we who have with him for so long. Do you think any of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he looses you?
Her guilt subsided, with no help from me. She seemed to be content with the speeches we gave her and she sat in the room with us. It turned out to be a very long day. The hours dragged by, as usual there was nothing good on TV. After she called down to the front desk to ask them to ignore our maid service, Alice seemed just as bored as I did. We couldn't say much to each other because we didn't want to upset Bella. I kept a close eye on Bella's emotions. She was still afraid and she wanted to feel panicked, but I didn't let either of them break through the surface. After a while Bella decided to go back to bed. Alice got up and followed her. For something to do, I moved to the door to listen to their conversation. I had missed the beginning, but I still heard enough.
"Yes. I will always tell you the truth." There was silence for a few moments.
"Tell me then……How do you become a vampire?"
"Edward doesn't want me to tell you that."
"That's not fair, I think I have a right to know."
"I know"
There was a pause. I could tell Alice was going to tell her, but she wanted to think about it.
"He'll be extremely angry"
"It's none of his business. This is between you and me. Alice, as a friend I'm begging you."
I was surprised by this. Bella usually took Edward's opinion in to extreme consideration. She often agreed with his opinion with out even thinking about it. I suddenly realized how strong she was. She was very self defiant, a good quality for a human.
"I'll tell you the mechanics of it." Alice broke the silence in the room.
"but I don't remember it myself, and I've never done it or seen it done, so keep in mind I can only tell you the theory."
Another silence. Bella was waiting for her to continue. Edward was going to be pissed.
"As predators, we have a glut of weapons in our physical arsenal—much, much more than really necessary. The strength, speed, the acute senses, not to mention those of us like Edward, Jasper and I, who have extra senses as well. And then like a carnivorous flower we a physically attractive to our prey. She paused for a moment. "We have another fairly superfluous weapon. We're also venomous. The venom doesn't kill—it's merely incapacitating. It works slowly, spreading through the bloodstream, so that, once bitten, our prey is in too much physical pain to escape us. Mostly superfluous, as I said. If we're that close the prey doesn't escape. Of course, there are exceptions. Carlisle for example."
"So if the venom is left to spread" Bella murmured.
"It takes a few days for the transformation to be complete, depending on how much venom is in the bloodstream, how close the venom enters to the heart. As long as the heart keeps beating, the poison spreads, healing, changing the body as it moves through it. Eventually the heart stops and the conversion is finished. But all that time, every minute of it a victim would be wishing for death. It's not pleasant you see"
"Edward said that is was very hard to do……I don't quite understand." Bella said
"We're also like sharks in a way. Once we taste the blood, or even smell it for that matter, it becomes very hard to keep from feeding. Sometimes, impossible. So you see, to actually bite someone, to taste the blood, it would begin the frenzy. It's difficult on both sides—the blood lust on the one hand, the awful pain on the other."
"Why do you think you don't remember?"
"I don't know. For everyone else, the pain of transformation is the sharpest memory they have of their human life. I remember nothing of being human."
There was silence on the other side. Alice was right, my transformation was the sharpest memory of my human life. I don't really remember much else of my human life. I remember bits and pieces, such as my family. My parents and my sister, they were torn apart by the war. My father and I were forced to join the confederate army and while my sisters loyalties should have been to her family, she fell in love with a Union solider, married him and moved to New York. My mother was left alone, until my father returned. I never found out if he did. Suddenly Alice broke the silence.
"Something's Changed" Her voice was urgent, I opened the door and she was right there. I put my hand on her shoulders and guided her back the bed.
"What do you see?" I asked curious to find out.
" I see a room. It's long, and there are mirrors everywhere. The floor is wooden. He's in the room, and he's waiting. There's gold…..a gold stripe across the mirrors." I was deeply confused.
"Where's the room"
"I don't know something is missing—another decision hasn't been made yet."
"How much time?"
"It's soon. He'll be in the mirror room today, or maybe tomorrow. It all depends. He's waiting for something and he's in the dark now."
I remained calm. I knew both of them were going to freak out. Bella because she is worried something will happen to one of us and Alice because she can't see what is happening.
"What is he doing?"
"He's watching TV……no, he's running a VCR, in the dark in another place."
"Can you see where he is?"
"No, it's too dark."
"And the mirror room, what else is there?"
"Just the mirrors, and the gold. It's a band, around the room. And there's a black table with a big stereo and a TV. He's touching the VCR there, but he doesn't watch the way he does in the dark room. This is the room where he waits." She moved her eyes to my face, I looked at her.
"There's nothing else?"
She shook her head. We stared at each other for a while, not moving. Before she spoke, I had forgotten Bella was in the room.
"What does it mean" She asked, the fear peaking in her voice.
Neither one of us knew what to say. I calmly looked at her and said
"It means the trackers plans have changed. He's made a decision that will lead him to the mirror room, and the dark room."
"But we don't know where those rooms are?"
"No"
"But we do know that he won't be in the mountains north of Washington, being hunted. He'll elude them." Alice said.
I couldn't believe this, Laurent had been right. James was very smart and lethal. I didn't want to panic, if Bella saw I was panicking she would to. I stayed calm.
"Should we call?" Bella asked. I was thinking the same thing. I looked at Alice. I could tell she was thinking it too. We were undecided
And the phone rang.
Sorry I had to end it there. This is a pretty long chapter. It is getting kind of hard for me to write and I don't know why. Oh well I push them out anyway. Reviews please.