Our Sweet Bella
Chapter 38
Edward's POV
It was around three O'clock in the morning, I was holding Bella and for once I was at complete peace. There was no feeling in the world like it when I held Bella when she slept. I wouldn't trade these moments for anything in the world.
There was a sudden vibrating in my pocket, I groaned and gently rolled Bella off, so I wouldn't wake her up. I stood up and walked to the other side of her room. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and saw Alice's name flash on the screen.
"This better be good," I answered angrily; Alice knew how I hated to be disrupted when I was spending time with Bella.
"Nice to speak to you to," Alice said but there was an edge to her voice though.
"Alice?" I warned.
"Come home," she simply answered.
"Why what's going on?" I asked frantic now.
"I'll tell you when you get here," Alice said, she was worried. "Edward hurry, this is an emergency." With that Alice hung up. Alice had obviously had a vision and it wasn't good. I looked over at Bella, I contemplated waking her up, and she deserved to know what was going on. One look at the sleeping angel and I decided to let her sleep, I didn't have the heart to wake her up. With a quick note on the pillow next to her, I jumped out of her window. I ran back to then house.
When I entered the Cullen residence, everyone was waiting for me in the dining room. Everyone had grave looks on their faces.
"Sit down please Edward," Carlisle asked me calmly, I did what he asked and sat down next to him. No one spoke for a moment, everyone seemed deep in thought.
"What's going on?" I asked when it came obvious no one was willing to speak first. Suddenly people were more interested at their hands than at me. Carlisle was the one to look at me.
"Alice had a vision," Carlisle answered simply. Everyone turned their attention to Alice who finally looked at me.
How do I tell him this? Alice thought.
"How about starting with the truth?" I offered her.
"I had a vision tonight," Alice mumbled but stopped suddenly. This vision certainly wasn't going to be good. "I saw Bella…" Another pause, but that was enough to panic me and the family's silence wasn't helping.
"What…what did you see about Bella?" I shouted, I didn't mean to get so frantic and angry, but if Bella was in trouble, there was no chance I was going to be calm. Alice looked at the rest of the family for help.
Edward, calm down everything will be Ok, none of this is Alice's fault, Carlisle thought kindly. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. It worked a little bit but not much. I didn't even know what was going to happen and I was already constructing ideas in my head to protect Bella.
"Edward, before I tell you what I saw, you have to keep calm," Alice tried to calm me down. Not that it made much difference. They must know that I'd overreact the moment Bella's name was mentioned. I merely nodded my agreement.
"Edward, I saw the Volturi, they are coming here," Alice finally explained. My promises of keeping calm went out of the window the moment the Volturi was mentioned. Their name was feared and respected in our world and when they decide to visit it was never just a social it was business and not the kind of business that you wanted to be a part of. This was beyond bad, but I knew that there must be a reason why Volturi have decided to come here now.
"What do they want?" I asked even though my mind was already making the connection before Alice answered me.
"Bella," Alice said once again not looking in my eyes. I knew it was coming but the shock of Alice's words, was enough to anger me. Why would they want Bella? What had Bella ever done to the Volturi? I knew the answer to that, we had broken the Volturi's golden rule of Vampire's, keep our existence a secret. That was why we never told Bella when she was little about us and why we left, the thing we had tried to do for Bella since we had met her, keep her safe. And with one word our attempts had failed and we had put Bella in great danger, danger we may not be able to save her from. This wasn't just any Vampire coven, this was 'the' vampire coven and they had set their sights on my Bella and it was unlikely that she and my family would survive this visit.
"Is there any hope?" I asked, everyone at that point, someone had to have a plan. Any plan at that moment would have been welcome. But everyone kept unnervingly quiet, there thoughts were the same thing, there was nothing that could have been done. Well that wasn't good enough, if they expected me to lie down and let the Volturi kill Bella, they were mistaken.
"No one's got any ideas, so what shall we do?" I shouted, I didn't mean to get angry, but I knew that there was no calming me down at this point, I could feel Jasper send a wave of calm over me, but it made no difference, I was to angry. "Shall we just sit here and let the Volturi attack."
"Or course not dear, we will figure this out," Esme reasoned with me.
"But Edward, there isn't much we can do, we are talking about the Volturi, here," Jasper finished for Esme. It looked to me like everyone was already giving up, well that wasn't an option.
"Then we'll run me and Bella, I'll take her away from her e and hide," I said but I could see a few holes in the plan already. I knew that wouldn't work, but it was the only thing that I could think to do.
"That won't work Edward, the Volturi are gifted beyond anyone else of our kind in tracking, and they'd be able to find you wherever you are. Remember Demetri, a member of the Volturi guard, he has the gift of finding people, wherever they are in the world, you wouldn't be able to hide if Demetri tracks you down," Carlisle pointed out. I signed in exasperation. "I'm sorry Edward, it just isn't an option.
"And waiting here for them to attack, is also not an option," I replied annoyed.
"I agree, that's why we fight them," Emmett said, which was his answer to every problem but I agreed with him.
"Impossible, the Volturi army are too big and powerful for our family to even stand a chance," Rosalie reminded him. Emmett thought about this for a moment, running through loads of action plans in his head, but each one came back to the same conclusion, we all ended up dead along with Bella.
"Jasper, aren't you a pro at this kind of thing, training an army, you can arrange a battle plan," Emmett said refusing to believe that there was no way we couldn't fight the Volturi.
"Yeah, with about twenty other Vampires and never against the Volturi themselves, its suicide and everyone knows that," Jasper said. Emmett refused to give up hope.
"We can't be the only ones that want to fight the Volturi," Emmett relented anyway.
"We don't want to fight the Volturi," Esme said.
I do, Emmett thought, but he wouldn't dare voicing that thought in front of Esme. The one thing that Esme hated more than anything was violence and she knew that if this ended in a fight, that we would definitely lose a family member.
"What I mean is that maybe we don't have to fight on our own, there must be other Vampires who would be able to back us up. There are Vampires out there, who hate the Volturi's power and would jump at a chance to fight them," Emmett said and I agreed with him. Ok some Vampires wouldn't want to risk their lives for us, but we had friends who'd be willing to stand up with us.
"The Denali sister's will probably be willing to help us," I suggested. The moment the Denali sisters were mentioned everyone went unnaturally quiet.
"We have already called the Denali coven, according to Kate, that apparently Tanya didn't take your last conversation very well," Alice answered for me. A few days ago, Tanya called me and said that she was hoping, I was going to come and see her soon. You didn't have to be a mind reader to understand the real meaning behind her words, 'see you soon.' Tanya was many things but subtle was not one of them. Usually when I speak to Tanya I put my rejection as politely as I can, even though what I really want to say is, that there is no chance in hell that I'd ever be interested in her. This time I said just that to her, my patience had reached its limit and I wasn't exactly a gentleman when I told her that. I made it very clear that I loved Bella and not her and it would never be her. Well apparently she didn't take rejection well.
"What has she done?" I asked, even though it was rather obvious.
"According to Kate, it was Tanya that informed the Volturi about Bella and her knowledge about our kind," Alice said. Everyone was quiet, not knowing what to say. Our family always had a good relationship with the Denali coven. Even though I may not like Tanya very much, but I would never have thought that she'd betray us like this. We thought of them like extended family and I thought that the feeling was mutual.
"But why would she do that?" I asked.
"I guess she wants pay back," Alice guessed.
"Probably one of those, if I can't have Edward, no one can have Edward, she wants Bella out of the way so she can have her dirty little way with you," Emmett added in unhelpfully, smiling. He looked around expecting a laugh but everyone was ignoring his comment. "My humour is lost on you people."
"The question isn't why Tanya turned on us, but how we handle the situation," Carlisle said ignoring Emmett all together.
"I thought we had established that there is nothing we can do," Rosalie said. I couldn't believe that Rosalie was giving up already, there had to be a way around this.
"There may be something we can do," Alice replied cryptically. Everyone turned their attention to Alice. I was excited until I saw what Alice had in mind.
"No," I growled at her the moment I saw what Alice had in mind. When I said I would do anything to save Bella, I didn't mean that. That was not an option.
"Before you dismiss the idea straight away, hear me out," Alice tried to reason with me. What exact reason would make Alice even contemplate this terrible outcome.
"It's not an option," I shouted at her.
"Edward, I know you hate the idea, but listen to me, this might be our only option. The Volturi are after a human that know our secret, but if we change her, there is nothing they can do, she is safe and if you change her you don't have to ever worry about spending eternity without her," Alice said. I wanted to deny it, but the thought of having Bella for eternity, gave me more pleasure than I would ever admit. Then I realised how selfish I was being. Would I honestly steal Bella's life, just so I can keep her around forever?
"It's not an option," I said again harshly. "Someone back me up?" I pleaded but at that moment I knew that no one was going to back me up, they could see all the advantages of having Bella a permanent part of this family. Even Rosalie, the one person in this family who struggled the most with what she was and she was willing to do the same thing to Bella, the girl she loved like a daughter.
"Maybe Alice is right," Rosalie finally spoke her thoughts, which didn't just surprise me but everyone in the room. "I mean, we have already come to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do to stop this. This way we are protecting Bella." What the hell happened to Rosalie I would have thought she would be on my side in this.
"I can't believe you of all people are suggesting this Rose. What happened to detesting this life, wishing that your choices weren't ripped away from you?"
"We have warning, we can tell Bella about the Volturi and then she can make the decision for herself. No I won't force this life on her, but if this is her choice, why shouldn't we grant her what she wants," Rosalie replied.
"Edward, we have to discuss the idea with Bella, it's either this or death," Carlisle said and I realised I was alone. "Do you really want Bella to die, is that preferable to you?" I flinched at the thought, of course that wasn't preferable. There had to be a way around it.
"I will find a way to save her," I said defiantly. With that last statement I stormed upstairs to my room.
Rosalie's POV
Sometimes I couldn't understand Edward, he could be so blind. Did he honestly think that I'd suggest turning Bella into a vampire if there was another choice? I would never let that happen to my baby girl, but if I had to choose Bella dying over becoming a Vampire, I knew there was only one choice and Edward was just being stubborn.
The problem was that we had to tell Bella. How could you tell an eighteen year old that powerful vampires wanted you dead and the only way to save her was to become a Vampire herself? It doesn't exactly slip off the tongue.
I kept quiet while Carlisle explained to her what happened and the difficult choice she had to make. I kept my eyes on Bella the whole time, Bella's face kept impassive as the explanation was made. After Carlisle made his explanation Bella stood up abruptly.
"Thanks for telling me, but I have to think about this," Bella said and Carlisle nodded. Bella walked out the room and we heard the front door close behind her. I went to follow her; I knew Bella would want someone to talk to right now.
"Maybe it will be best to leave her alone," Carlisle suggested, but I ignored him.
"She'll want someone to talk to her," I said and stormed out of the house after Bella. I followed Bella's scent out to the woods. I found Bella sitting on the bark of a tree.
"I want to be alone," Bella said hearing my footsteps.
"I know you do, but maybe it will be best to talk to someone about the decision you have to make," I said taking a seat next to Bella. "It may be hard to believe but seventy years ago, I had the same choice as you did, but unlike you that choice was taken away from me." I never thought I would get into the details of my past with Bella, but I thought Bella had a right to know.
"What happened?" Bella asked suddenly interested now.
"When I was eighteen, I fell in love with who I thought was my prince charming, he was very handsome, very rich and extremely powerful, his name was Royce King and I thought he was perfect. It took me a while to realise he wasn't what I was looking for not even close, but it was too late, by the time I found out. Our courtship was very quick and within two months we were engaged. My parents couldn't have been happier for me and in turn, I believed that was happy as well, I had found my happy ending.
"A week before my wedding, I was heading home from my friend's house, I stumbled upon a drunk group of men, it didn't take long to notice Royce among them. Royce started to touch me inappropriately, his friends shouted for me to give them a proper look of me. With that Royce ripped my jacket of my body, let's just say that things only got worse from there," I said. There was no need to go through the illicit details with her.
"They left me for die alone on the streets. It didn't take long for Carlisle to find me, he had smelt the blood, and the next thing I remembered was a sharp stabbing pain in my throat that was the end of my human life." Bella looked horrified, I could see tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry I had no idea," Bella whispered.
"I didn't want you to know," I replied, I never wanted to share that with Bella. "The reason I am telling you now, is because I wanted you to know, that I know the consequences to the choice you have to make. Remember Bella, whatever happens we won't force you into anything, we won't force this life onto you, like it was forced onto me."
"I either die or become a Vampire, that's not a choice," Bella muttered.
"We won't go down without a fight Bella, this isn't the end, choosing not to be a vampire doesn't mean death," I said, but I could hear the lie in my own voice.
"It didn't sound like that when Carlisle explained it to me," Bella said. We stayed quiet for a moment, I knew Bella was thinking through all the information, we had given her.
"I don't want to die," Bella said after a while, "but I don't want to be a Vampire. Not yet anyway, there is so much I want to do." I nodded in understanding. I knew the feeling of wanting to do something with my life and realising I couldn't do it anymore. "I accepted my place in Princeton."
"That's great Bella, Princeton's a great school," I said.
"I know and I was really looking forward to attending. After ten years of dreaming about being a doctor I was one step closer to achieving it. Now I will never get to go."
"Of course you will," I tried to reassure her but it was pointless.
"Everything I know about being a Vampire, tells me that I will be in no position to go school after I change. Not for a while at least and I will never be a doctor." She had me there, I knew Carlisle was able to do it, but he was a very special case.
"Rose, can I tell you something. I have thought about being a Vampire before, you know being with my family forever and the idea didn't frighten me. I always thought that I could do it in my own time; I thought it would happen years in the future not a couple of weeks. I want to graduate from high school, go to college, have a normal life then make the transition to being a Vampire. I know it sounds silly, but I will miss all that."
"It doesn't sound silly," I said. I pulled Bella into my arms, it wasn't the most comfortable thing for Bella but it was the best I can do. I wanted her to know I would be there for her, through this difficult time.
"Rosalie, is there a way for a human to kill a Vampire?" Bella's question took me by surprise, did Bella honestly think she could take on the Volturi.
"No there isn't, humans aren't strong enough or fast enough," I answered, slightly amused my Bella's question. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to bloody kill Tanya, I knew the little slut was trouble," Bella said nonchalantly. I let out a bark of laughter.
"You'll have to get in line; the whole family want the same thing. Besides if you could have killed Tanya Emmett would never forgive you, for not taking him along to help. If I'm not mistaken Emmett is planning the kill out as we speak, he can't decide which way will be more painful." Bella giggled and I was glad I could lighten the mood. But I was serious about Emmett; right now I could hear Emmett asking Jasper if he knew where he could rent a flame thrower.
At that moment, I knew what we had to do. It may be a long shot but we had to find a way to make a deal with the Volturi, to extend Bella's humanity for a bit longer. I didn't care what the price was I was going to pay it.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long update, but this chapter was surprisingly hard to write, I couldn't figure out a way to make the Volturi pay a visit. I hope you don't mind, the fact I ventured out of Canon and made Tanya the bad guy not Irena but without Laurent, there wasn't a reason for Irena to turn on the Cullen's like that.
Well I hoped you liked it. See you on the next Chapter.