A/N: The poll was awesome, and now I'm chalk full of ideas and plans!
And btw- I can build the ladder myself, I just needed to know who you want me to build it around.
Everyone ready for a story of conspiracy? And a big guessing game? Good!
Bella's POV
The atmosphere remained tense. This fuss was all for nothing. Really, I was totally fine. Sure, I was royally pissed at the rest of the house, but that was the game! Big Brother was all about lying, backstabbing, and strategy. A human chess game, in effect.
"Well how do you propose you find the culprit?" Leah asked. Her tone was cool, she was the ice queen. Suddenly it was Phoenix high school all over again.
"We could stop the entire game?" Carlisle offered, and Edward shook his head.
"Let's not be drastic. I think..." He met my eyes for a moment, searching for something. He sighed, and a mask came over his features, meaning we were in for shit. "We should let the... culprits go unpunished. As long as they know that Big Brother Cullen is about to get a hell of a lot more heated." He met Leah's eyes. She didn't break. I bit my lip. Edward? Letting it go? What's next, snowmen in hell?
"If you agree Bella, we can leave it at that." Carlisle saw the same determined light in Edward's eyes that I saw.
"I'm fine with that." I smiled, trying to make it threatening.
"Alright..." Carlisle took one last glance around at us before exiting through the Diary room. We stood looking at each other a few more seconds before Edward broke off, tugging me to our room.
"You're sure?" I asked him as he pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Positive. Bella, my love, as much as I would love to crush their bones, grind them into dust, tear them-"
"The point, Edward." I grinned, and he smiled.
"The point is that as much as I want to kill whoever did this, I love you too much to put you in that danger. We'll beat them at this mental game, and worry about tomorrow when it comes." I hugged him again, and he buried his face in my hair.
"Did you know that I love you?" I inquired, and he laughed.
"I had a hunch." There was a knock on the door and it opened as Edward and I broke apart. Jasper entered, a meek Jacob behind him.
"I got the truth out of him. Jasper grinned, and my heart soared. Jake wasn't responsible!
"I knew that it was going to happen, Bella. I caught them. Leah threatened me with..." He blushed, looking at the floor, "Err...blackmail material she's seen in my mind. I didn't stop it, I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry." I smiled at him, giving him a quick hug.
"Of course you're forgiven, Jake!" He smiled half heartedly.
"Yeah. Thanks." He didn't look very happy, but I dismissed it.
"That leaves who...? Leah and Alice, right?" I looked around at the men before me, and there was silence. "What? What did I miss?" Edward's eyes turned dark.
"We don't know who it was, love. The only one we know couldn't have done it would be you and I, and possibly Lauren since she doesn't have the intelligence." He smiled crookedly, trying to coax a laugh from me. But my mind was flickering over every member of the house. Who had been acting strange? Well, everyone.
"What are you thinking, love?" Edward asked, frustrated by my silence.
"I think...this game is about to get interesting."
A/N: -evil laugh- Wow, my mind is amazing. Seriously, there's like fifty million places I could go with this! But I know which one I'm going to follow up on. My advice? Keep a catalogue of all the odd little clues here and there :D It'll make the guessing game much easier.
