Chapter 27: Stormy Weather
Mystic Falls VA
[Bella's POV]
Damon is driving while snarling threats under his breath. The weather was cloudy before we left school, the clouds have darkened and there are a few flashes of lightening since we left the Grille. Damon is more than pissed that Emmett tracked me down in Mystic Falls. We are supposed to be relatively safe here. Freya, Henrik and Bonnie are powerful witches and most of the other supernaturals know to stay away from Nik.
I sigh. I am glad to see Emmett again but I still feel the pain of the Cullen's leaving without a goodbye. I am working on toning down my anger. I can forgive Jaz. He sent me Damon. I knew there was a chance of Emmett seeking me out once Rose spotted me. Emmett doesn't deserve the full force of my anger at the other Cullen's specifically Edward and Alice. They probably lied to Emmett also.
Knowing the rest of my 'new' family a move is probably being planned. I want to finish high school. I'm sure Angela does too. We just need six weeks to graduation. I need to ask Charlie how someone knew we are in Mystic Falls. On second thought Angela's and my school transcripts had to be sent here. Mrs. Cope would gossip about anything. We need to be more discreet with our next move.
Salvatore Boarding House
Damon pulls around the side to the garage entrance. He slams the door of the car; he walks over and opens my door for me. He looks in my eyes, "I'm not mad at you. We just don't need the complications of 'Cold Ones'. If Emmett found us then it's possible for Alice and/or Edward to show up on our doorstep. I will kill him if he comes after you."
I walk over and hug him. "I just might let you. Let's go into the house and see what we can work out."
[Freya's POV]
We arrive at the boarding house before Damon and Bella. I am in the attic pulling out a Lieutenant's Dress Uniform from the 'Civil War' era for the Founders Day celebration. All this uniform needs is a little mending and the laundry. It will be a little short but it will still fit Stefan and he will be on one of the two floats. I'm not sure why the spring celebration needs a parade but this is Mystic Falls. Stefan, Kol, and Henrik will contribute one piece of the outfit for their assignment. I will tell them and Stefan to push for extra credit: it's an authentic family heirloom. I take the outfit downstairs and put it in the laundry. The saber needs polishing, so does the metal on the scabbard. The leather sheath needs oil too. Once the uniform is laundered I will polish the buttons. Stefan can take care of his own boots and linens. There might be a ball gown or two up in the attack. I'll check after I take this uniform down to the laundry room.
I need to pull Henrik aside. I'll ask him to call Bonnie; we need to reinforce the magic barriers protecting the town. Emmett managed to find a way around them. Emmett must have some kind of inherent magic to bypass our protective barriers. I want to reinforce them to prevent other 'cold ones' from finding us directly through magic.
We have another magical option if Emmett and his mate Rose agree. We can change both of them into non-Cold One vampires like we did for Jasper and his coven. If they have magic in their blood like I suspect they do; they can produce offspring sometime in the future. I need to run this idea by Bella, before I say anything to anyone else.
[Jasper's POV]
I can't be mad at Emmett for following a lead, especially if it would lead him to Bella. He was devastated when we had to leave his baby sister behind, the only reason he left her behind is he believed it was what she wanted. We believed the lies and we both know better now. We are not going to be able to keep him away from Bella. This means that Rose will be in the loop sometime soon.
Jason Jenks is loyal to the Cullen family and will give any information he finds to us, unless told directly not to do so. We need to find a way to deflect inquiries about Charlie and Bella from the rest of the Cullens, namely Edward and Alice.
"Hey Kol I need you for something." I'm still getting used to how fast Original vampires can move. He is at my side within seconds.
"What's up?"
"I need you to compel a human for me. His name is Jason Jenks. I can get him to meet me in Richmond. The Cullen's pay him a fortune to be at our beck and call. He is the families go to for forged papers and information services. I need for him to believe Bella is enrolled in College in a city large enough that it will give Alice a major headache if she looks for Bella; for instance San Francisco. That will deflect Alice when Edward decides to check up on Bella in the foreseeable future."
"Cool, maybe give them a decoy as a red herring."
I nod, "we can look into that option."
"Call him for the meeting. I'll compel him for Bella and Angela's safety." Kol promises.
"What about Rosalie?" Emmett asks.
"What do you suggest?"
"I'll think of something close to the truth, I heard about a different kind of vampire and wanted to check out the information." He proposes. "I know about you guys so at some point Rose will have to know also. She is good at keeping secrets. I think her problem with Bella stems from the fact we can't have children. Bella still can."
Kol nods the both of us. "It will work out. Freya is working on it."
From up in the attic we hear, "I heard that! Kol I need you to drop two ball gowns off at the cleaners, for pick up in the morning. They will be the girls extra credit items. They will wear them to the Founders Day celebration tomorrow evening."
Kol laughs, "Laters." I wave back at him.
Life won't be boring around the Salvatores or the Mikaelsons. I pull out my cellphone, "Jenks, I need to set up a personal meeting with you tomorrow evening in Richmond VA, one of the family jets will be waiting for you at the airport." I hang up.
Angela walks up to me. "What is that smirk about?"
"I need to meet with Jenks tomorrow in Richmond. Kol is going with me. I need to set up extra protection for you and Bella." "I don't trust Edward or Alice at this point and Jenks is the Cullen's go to for information and documents. He needs to believe Bella is enrolled in college in a large sunny city like Dallas-Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco or heavily populated New York City."
Angela reminds me, "You both need to be back in time for the Founders Day activities."
"We will be and dressed in Civil War Era attire. I promise."
[Charlie's POV]
I walk into the drawing room. "Jenks needs to be convinced that I quit as Chief of Police in Forks and moved away to be closer to my daughter. The story was I was moving to the East coast to be with my daughter. We kept the story vague. So that part is covered. Let's discuss this at dinner with the rest of the family. It helps to have more people working on the issue. In order for the 'compel' to stick the story has to be believable with factual backup."
Freya enters with a saber that needs polishing, so does the metal on its scabbard. The leather sheath needs oil. She hands them to me. "These need to be done before breakfast. I found two Ball gowns in the attic that have been well preserved one for Angela and one for Bella. So they will have something to wear to the Founders Day activities and for their extra credit assignment. I'm sure Damon has something to wear already. Bekah is fetching ball gowns from storage for the both of us and period suits for Henrik and Kol. Henri you can help him with them. He shyly grins at his older sister and nods." She looks up at me. "I'll scry and see if I can find an Isabella Swan starting with a University in New York, while you guys get to work on these." I tease her a little bit with a "Yes, mam." She laughs as she leaves the room.
[Freya's POV]
I sit in a casting circle and concentrate on New York City, before I look elsewhere. There are several Bella Swans in the city. I narrow it down by age there are three that are Isabella's age. One is enrolled at Columbia and is taking online courses for her core curriculum while working three part time jobs to make ends meet. She has a partial scholarship for her tuition and college fees. She is listed as pre-med. She can use the Pacific Northwest Trust's J. Nichols Scholarship (Meyer, 2006) money and she could pass as Bella's twin. I will check in on her at a later date: I have her contact information. She could be a distant relative of ours. A piece of parchment paper floats down beside me with her information on it.
[Bella's POV]
Freya pulls me aside in private and asks: "Do you think Rosalie and Emmett are good candidates for changing from 'cold ones' to 'regular' vampires? It might be possible for Rose and Emmett to have offspring if both have magic."
I look her in the eye. "I have to think about this for a minute. They would disappear off Alice's mental 'radar'. In all honesty I can't see not offering the option to Emmett and Rose. They have to agree to keep the secret. I won't offer that option to Alice or Edward. I'm not sure about Carlisle and Esme. They are too closely bound to Alice and Edward."
