Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 25
"Okay, I definitely just felt a raindrop!" I shouted, glaring up at the sky. Bella giggled at me. I was lying on my back on a thick blanket we had spread out on the sandy beach. Bella was lying across my chest.
The sky was an even murkier charcoal grey than it had been this morning. We had been watching lightning flash across the sky and listening to the rumbling thunder for the last twenty minutes. We had also been arguing about whether or not it was going to rain. Bella insisted that it would not; that the storm would pass us over, and the rain would fall to the east of us. Looking at the sky, I felt sure there was no way we would be lucky enough to avoid getting drenched.
"It's just one little raindrop. Do we really have to go?" she asked, her voice a slight whine. When I looked down, her lips were jutted out in the most adorable little pout. I laughed at her and then pressed my own lips against hers, trying to kiss away her pout. Her lips were cold and firm, but the familiar electricity made them feel warm and I sighed in contentment.
"If we can do that some more, then I don't care if we stay out here through a torrential downpour," I murmured, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer.
As if the sky heard me, suddenly there was an earsplitting clap of thunder. Reflexively, I uttered an expletive and practically jumped out of my skin, holding Bella closer against my chest. I looked up at the sky and ducked, expecting to be drenched in a sudden deluge.
"Are you okay…?" Bella asked. I looked down at her and narrowed my eyes when I realized she was futilely attempting to suppress her laughter. She motioned to the still dry sky. "It's not going to rain. I keep telling you."
I sighed and dropped my head back down on the blanket again. "Why do I ever doubt you? You're always right…" I paused. Bella placed her hands on my chest and pushed herself up, rising to her knees, and raised one eyebrow at me. "Well, with one exception." I smirked up at her.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I am right about that too; you're just too stubborn to admit it."
I raised my eyebrows incredulously at her, and my mouth fell open for a minute before I recovered slightly and cried, "Me, stubborn! You are calling me stubborn? Ha!"
She slapped my chest and I lost my breath momentarily. I struggled to get it back without her noticing, but of course her sharp eyes missed nothing. "Sorry! Are you okay?" she asked, her petite hands fluttering over my chest softly.
"I'm fine. I have to tell you, though; I am looking forward to being able to hold up a little better under your constant battering." I grinned at her.
Bella rolled her eyes at me exasperatedly before settling back down against my shoulder. We watched the angry black storm clouds move across the sky to the east and Bella pointed out where the lightning was going to strike a split second before it did.
"How do you do that?" I asked incredulously.
I felt her shrug against my side. "I guess I can just hear the electricity building up…"
I shook my head at her. "That's so cool…"
We stayed on the blanket for another hour or so until the wind began blowing and it turned so cold my teeth began chattering. At which time, Bella rolled me off the blanket, picked it up, and walked resolutely back to my truck, even though I insisted I was fine.
I trudged after her, grumbling under my breath. I looked up at the still dry sky and rolled my eyes. Not surprisingly, she had been right. I could see the vertical streaks of rain coming down through the misty clouds to our east, but the beach had stayed bone dry, other than the lone drop that I still insisted I had felt earlier.
When I reached the truck, Bella had already tossed the blanket into the bed and started the engine, cranking the heater on full blast for me. As much as I hated to admit it, the toasty heat that blasted from the ancient vents did feel nice. I tried to covertly rub my palms together in front of the vent as I climbed in the driver's side. Of course, she noticed and just rolled her eyes at me.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked quickly, before she could comment on my human weakness.
She shrugged. "We could go back to my place, if you want. I'm sure Jess and Mike would love to see you."
I agreed, and pointed my truck in that direction. Bella was silent as we drove through the sleepy little towns between the beach and her house. I reached out and took her cool hand, even though my own hand was still chilled from the blustery weather outside the truck. She looked over and smiled at me squeezing my hand lightly with her tiny one.
I felt a surge of happiness as it occurred to me that I would get to do this forever. I would get to be by her side and hold her hand for an eternity. And, because I would be strong and immortal too, I would never have to let her go. I wouldn't have to watch myself slowly deteriorate and grow old while she continued on in eternal perfection. I would never have to say goodbye to her. I would never have to let go of her hand. The thought made me grin.
We pulled into the long, lush driveway. I was getting better and better at recognizing it amongst the dense green growth of the surrounding forest. My truck rolled and bumped along the drive until I eased it slowly to a stop in front of the massive white house. I looked up and saw Mike standing on the porch, his arm slung casually across Jessica's small shoulders.
"Hi Edward! We heard the good news! Welcome to the family!" Jessica chirped, loping lithely down the steps to greet us as Bella and I climbed down from the truck.
I swallowed my surprise as quickly as possible, and attempted to close my gaping jaw. I turned to Bella and grinned at her for a moment before turning to Jessica.
"Why thank you, Jessica. It's nice to know that someone agrees with my decision." I smirked at Bella and she rolled her eyes and sighed. Choosing to ignore both Jessica and me, she breezed past us into the house.
"Don't worry about her. She'll come around. She's secretly thrilled; she just thinks that admitting that makes her a bad person," Jessica whispered conspiratorially as we entered the massive front doors.
After some deliberation, the four of us agreed to play some games. We sat down around the family's enormous, strictly decorative, dining table. Mike produced a deck of cards, and we played several games, all of which I lost. Playing against three vampires was hardly confidence inducing, but I didn't care. It was just fun to watch the competitiveness between the three. When Bella was winning, Jessica would shriek in mock outrage and try to grab her cards from her. Mike would then take the opportunity to try and look at Jessica's and Bella's cards while they were distracted. When the two girls would catch him, all hell would break loose. There were more than a few moments when I feared for the structural integrity of the table.
I laughed so hard at their antics that tears came to my eyes. I stopped laughing, however, when suddenly, without warning, the whole room disappeared and the four of us, table, chairs, and all, were unexpectedly perched precariously at the top of a sheer cliff face. I gasped and gazed down hundreds of feet into the roiling black water, confused and disoriented.
"Jessica…" Bella growled fiercely from my side.
As vertigo began to set in, and I felt the bile rise in my throat, I peeled my eyes away from the water and saw that Mike was leaning back in his chair chuckling heartily. I furrowed my brow, desperately confused. Bella looked annoyed, but no one except for me seemed the slightest bit concerned that we had inexplicably gone from the Swan's dining room to a treacherous cliff face in an instant.
Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes. Instantly, the cliff face dissolved and I found myself back in the familiar dining room, gripping my chair and gasping for breath. Perplexed, I looked around. Instantly Bella was at my side, brushing my hair off my forehead. Her cool hand felt good, and I realized that a light sheen of sweat had broken out all over my face.
"Wha…wher…" I gasped, unable to form actual words.
"It's okay, sweetie. You're safe," Bella cooed soothingly. "Jessica just has a sick sense of humor," she hissed, glaring at her sister. Understanding dawned, and I felt my heart rate begin to return to normal.
For her part, Jessica looked appropriately contrite. "I'm sorry, Edward. I forgot that you weren't used to my…ability." She looked at me, her face turned down, "I just wanted to win. These two cheat," she said sullenly.
"You get used to it, Edward," Mike said, shrugging. "One time when she was losing at poker, Jessica got so upset, she put Bella and I in a lion cage at the zoo and refused to let us out for over an hour."
I couldn't imagine two inhumanly strong vampires being as terrified as I had been on the cliff face. "You were afraid of lions?" I asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at the blonde vampire.
He grinned. "No, but lion is one of my favorites! It made us thirsty, but of course Jessica only creates an illusion in your mind, so we couldn't actually get to them! I craved African Lion for a month afterwards."
I laughed out loud and felt immediately better. But that didn't stop me from pushing my chair out and pulling Bella onto my lap while she continued to stroke my face. I twisted my head and kissed her palms. She smiled down apologetically at me.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard a phone ringing. I didn't pay any attention to it or whoever answered it. Bella was gazing lovingly at me as I planted small kisses up and down her cool arm. She was running her other hand through my still damp hair when she suddenly jerked her eyes away from me.
Reluctantly I followed her gaze. Bella's siblings had moved out of the dining room but the floor plan of the house was such that I could see Jessica and Mike in the spacious front room. Mike was sitting on the couch. His normally relaxed posture was now stiff and rigid and his eyes were glued to Jessica, who was standing near the window, her eyes on Mike as she spoke into the phone, too quietly for my human ears to pick up.
I glanced back at Bella. Her eyes were also focused on Jessica, her brow furrowed and her jaw tensed. I didn't know to whom Jessica was speaking, but I felt a pang of fear at Bella's and Mike's reactions.
Jessica stopped speaking long enough to look intently back at Bella, one eyebrow raised in a silent question. Bella took a deep breath and then nodded almost imperceptibly. Her eyes became ice and her jaw clenched reflexively. She let out a sharp puff of air.
Bella's eyes momentarily flashed to the stairway before they returned to her sister. My own eyes followed their path at a slower, human pace, and I saw Charlie and Renee descending the stairs, both with grave expressions on their faces as they looked intently at their daughter. After a few more minutes, Jessica ended the phone call and sighed. Mike stood and put his arms around her, clearly in an effort to comfort her.
I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. "Bella, what's going on?" I whispered. Bella closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. Her reaction made my heart thump faster.
Hearing my body's response, she turned to me and placed a hand on either side of my face. "It's okay, Edward. Everything is going to be fine. Don't get upset," she whispered soothingly.
"Who was Jessica talking to on the phone?"
"We're going to have a visitor," Bella said, casting her eyes downward.
"James…" I growled, stiffening immediately.
Bella met my eyes and shook her head. "No, not James."
Puzzled, I asked, "Who then?" I couldn't imagine who else would make the family so obviously nervous.
"An old…friend," Bella said, but the way she practically spit out the last word, in combination with the family's suddenly tense behavior, made it obvious that this person was not a friend at all.
"Okay, I'm assuming this person had to call so that they could find you, since you're probably shielding the house right now, right?" I asked. Bella glanced at me in surprise then nodded. "So if you don't like them, then why didn't you just say no?"
"It's not that simple," Bella sighed, standing up from my lap and pacing in front of me. "In order for you to understand, I would have to give you an explanation that we simply do not have time for," she said, throwing her hands up.
At some cue my senses were too weak to recognize, Bella froze and turned toward the door. The other vampires also heard whatever Bella had, and began moving in her direction.
"Edward, please stay in your seat until I introduce you; then please stay close by one of us at all times," Bella hissed furiously, only half turning to look at me. Her words were so fast I had to work to understand what she was saying. I nodded.
All was silent for about a minute. Then, I heard the crunch of tires in the drive and the soft whir of an expensive engine. I heard a door slam, and only seconds later the doorbell chimed loudly, causing me to jump.
Charlie moved fluidly to the front door, and his face transformed into the mask of a gracious host. He smiled brilliantly, his moustache jerking back and forth slightly as he swung the door open.
On the other side of the door, standing in the shadow of the gathering night, was a tiny girl in a dark grey traveling cloak. From what I could make out in the dim light, she looked to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She remained in the shadows for a few moments before stepping closer to the door. Suddenly, she was fully illuminated by the porch light's golden glow. I felt my breath catch as her crimson eyes seemed to glow in the yellow light.
Bella, obviously hearing my reaction, turned to me with concern in her eyes. She smiled at me in what I'm sure she meant to be a reassuring gesture, but I could see the fear behind her eyes, and I could sense how nervous she was in the small vampire's presence. I furrowed my brow.
"Charlie," the tiny girl's tinkling soprano voice was instantly disarming. "It's so nice to see you again. It's been too long." She reached a gloved hand out and Charlie shook it firmly.
"Hello, Jane, it's nice to see you too," he said, nodding at the girl.
I felt a knot of fear in my stomach as she breezed past Charlie into the room.
Who is this tiny vampire? What is it about her that has them all so upset? Why has she come and what does she want with my future family?