Chapter 16

"We're back," I called out when we came through the front door, which had been left unlocked. "Hello?" No one responded. I looked at Stefan and could feel my face turning white as I thought about what could have happened. He too wore a serious expression as we crept quietly through the house.

I whispered, "You don't think…"

"Your arms are like sticks!" yelled Emmett from the backyard.

"I'm still stronger than you," taunted Bella. We ran to see what was going on and saw Emmett sitting across a large rock from Bella with the rest of the family standing around them. They were across the yard under the trees where the sun couldn't reach Bella. Propped up against a tree was an umbrella, presumably for her to cross the yard with.

Alice welcomed us, "You're just in time! Emmett and Bella are going to fight to the death."

"They're going to arm wrestle," Edward corrected her. "What's that?" He pointed at my backpack. "This? It's a fish." I pulled the enormous fish from the bag to show it to him.

"Put it in the fridge, okay?"

"And grab me a blood bag while you're at it," Bella said. "If it's not too much of an inconvenience," she added, apologetically. Everyone glanced at her nervously but looked away when Edward glared at them. She's drinking human blood? I thought, staring at him. He nodded slowly so that Bella wouldn't notice our silent conversation. Don't you avoid drinking human blood? Why are you allowing her to? He shrugged but his face showed that too he was weirded out by Bella's sudden attitude change.

Stefan went to sit with the rest of them and I went to the kitchen to put away Fsh. When I opened the refrigerator, I saw that there were five more blood bags than there had been when we left for Seattle. Carlisle had mentioned that he would try to refill our supply from work so it wasn't all that odd. Of course, it was strange that he would go through the trouble of stealing blood bags only to take five of them. I took one to bring out for Bella.

"Drink up," I said when I got back outside, tossing the bag to Bella.

"Thanks." She downed the bag quickly and then squeezed the remaining blood to the top. She set the empty bag down next to the rock and then wiped the blood off her lips on the sleeve of her shirt. It's a nice shirt, too. "Let's do this." She placed her arm on the rock and Emmett mirrored her.

"I'm cheering for Bella but we all know that they're much stronger than us," Stefan whispered to me.

"Let's just see," I said. Emmett held Bella's arm and they readied themselves.

"No pulling towards yourself, no lifting your elbow off of the rock, and keep your other arm behind your back," Alice listed. "Start when I get to three. One. Two. Three!" Emmett and Bella started pulling and both of their faces were strained. The muscles in Emmett's arms were flexed and for the first time, I noticed how terrifyingly strong he was. But so was Bella; somehow, her thin arms were holding up against Emmett. They were stuck in the middle, their strength completely equal.

"You go, Bella!" Jasper shouted.

"Come on, Emmett," Rosalie said in disbelief. "How haven't you crushed her yet?"

Emmett's face was all scrunched up as he tried to push Bella's arm harder. Slowly, Bella was starting to give way. She made a small noise as she tried to resist but her arm was too far to the side for her to recover. "Push harder, Bella!" I called out. She took a shaky breath and then their arms were moving in the opposite direction. They were back in the middle again and her face was red from concentration. Suddenly, she slammed his arm down and the rock cracked through the middle.

"What?" Emmett cried out in frustration. We all cheered, surprised by Bella's comeback. He sighed and shook her hand. "Good job."

We all congratulated Bella and she crushed the rest of the rock to show off. While we were all laughing at Emmett, I saw Stefan staring curiously at Bella. "That was impressive," he said and she beamed at him. "But you're a new vampire. How're you this strong?"

"Maybe Emmett's just weak," Bella said, smiling arrogantly. "Caroline, you're older than me. Why don't you arm wrestle me?"

"Sure. But you broke the rock."

"We can find another one." She looked around and then pointed to a boulder fifteen feet away. "Like that." Bella ran over to it and sat down on one side of it and I joined her,
"Okay, same rules as last time," Alice said as we grabbed hands. "One. Two. Three." We started and right away I realized how strong she was. Unnaturally strong. I was pushing as hard as I could.

"Come on," I muttered under my breath and within twenty seconds struggling against each other, I shoved her arm down onto the rock.

Bella looked disappointed but shook my hand. "Dang, you're good."

"Thanks, but I've been a vampire longer."

Bella picked up her umbrella and we all went inside. I picked up the blood bag that Bella had left by the smashed rock. Inside, I opened up the cabinet below the sink to toss them out. In the trash can, there were a bunch of empty bags. Puzzled, I counted them up and saw that there were ten of them.

Esme was in the kitchen, preparing Fsh for us to eat when Emmett approached me at the bottom of the stairs. "Do you think that you are stronger than me?"

Caught off guard, I said, "No? But based off of the matches, maybe." But instead of smiling or rolling his eyes at me, he just stared at me.

"But you're not." He frowned. "I tried my absolute hardest to beat Bella and she still beat me. I thought she was just strong because of the transition or whatever but she lost to you."

"I guess that is weird."

"It makes no sense to me. How did I lose to her if she's your type of vampire?"

I shifted to my other foot. "She's been drinking human blood."

"I know. She had a blood bag in front of us."

I shook my head and looked down at my feet. "I don't mean a bag or two. She drank most of the supply."

"Seriously?" Emmett looked shocked. "Why hadn't she mentioned it?"

"She probably is scared that you guys won't approve. But at least it explains why she's so strong."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "No, it doesn't. I mean, it explains why she could beat these," he flexed his arm, "but not why she couldn't beat you."

"Maybe you tired her out?" I suggested.

"Maybe." He still looked disbelieving. We both knew that vampires don't get tired easily and when they do, it wears off quickly. But it was the best explanation we had. Esme called for me to come to the dinner table.

In front of us was my beloved salmon Esme had prepared. Seeing her set down such a fancy dinner and then just leave really did take getting used to. The only ones at the table were Stefan, Bella, Edward, and I. Edward was just here to be polite. The salmon was plenty for the three of us and it was delicious.

After dinner, I pulled Bella aside in Alice's room.

"I saw how many blood bags you finished," I said uncomfortably. Bella and I hadn't had many conversations alone.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. I know we're supposed to share but I'm pretty sure Carlisle can get more."

"That's not what I meant. I don't mind if there's less to go around, I'm just concerned for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone back in Mystic Falls has killed someone because we wanted their blood." I shivered when I thought about the man I had murdered back at the school carnival. "I just don't want the same to happen to you."

"No." She paused. "I've got it under control. I won't hurt anyone."

"I know, but you can't be sure." I sat down on the floor and she did too. "I'm really, really sorry about all this."

"No, I'm actually grateful. Everything is better this way."

"You sure?"

"Yeah! This is so much better. Edward couldn't even stop me from turning. I owe you."

Not that I'd known Bella for a long time, but this seemed really weird. "Um, thanks. Just lay off the human blood, okay? We'll take you bunny hunting tomorrow."

"Okay."

Screw homework. I'll just keep updating this often. Hope you liked it! Thanks to those who reviewed, I really appreciate it!