Fated
Chapter 8
A/N: I'm too impatient to wait for this chapter to be proofread for me so there may be some errors. If you want to point them out to me, I appreciate it and will correct them.
I had much more written for Chapter 8 but decided to cut it in half and place part of it up tonight and the rest I will upload as Chapter 9 tomorrow after I make some changes. Again I am too impatient to wait and was so excited I wanted to get something up tonight. lol.
I hope everyone continues to enjoy my story as much as I enjoy writing it!
This has been a long day of vampire training. The hours seemed to fly by. Rosalie is training Jacob on how to fight other vampires. She's wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of light colored jeans, and sneakers. She looks formidable. I have to admit I would be scared if she was training me. As she talks she circles Jacob, as if he's prey, leaving about 12 feet between them.
"Take everything you know about fighting and throw it out the window. Fighting vampires is nothing like fighting humans. Humans fight defensively because they are weak. Vampires are the ultimate predators. We fight offensively. We use our speed and strength to attack in places you leave open or places that are vulnerable. Our speed allows us to successfully attack from any angle."
Rosalie is fast as lightning as she attacks from the side giving Jacob an undercut in his ribs, then dashes back to her original place. I cringe as Jacob lets out a gush of air and bends over, his hand pressing against his injured ribs. He never takes his eyes off Rosalie as she begins circling him again.
"When we focus all our strength into one small area it gives us a deadly attack using only our hands." Rosalie rushes Jacob. Jacob stands firm, arms at his sides and in front of his chest, fists up, blocking his ribs. His feet planted firmly on the ground. She pushes her arms out, palms flat outward and connects with Jacob's solar plexus, sending him flying backward 10 feet. He hits the ground and slides another 10 feet, dirt piling up around his legs.
"That's enough, Rosalie," Alice interjects. He needs time to practice his new abilities and fighting, not just be knocked on his ass." Rosalie shrugs. Alice walks up to Jacob and holds out her hand. Jacob accepts Alice's help to stand and knocks the dirt chunks off the back of his jeans. Large dirt indentations are left in the ground from his legs and butt.
I think it's really sweet the way Alice came to Jacob's defense. Rosalie seems like a tough cookie.
Alice waits for Jacob to clean himself up a bit the begins teaching him. "The fighting between vampires is done to wear your opponent down. Once you've done that sufficiently you can go in for the kill." In less than a second Alice kicks off of Jacob's stomach and leaps into the air, landing with her feet on Jacob's shoulders. "This is a very dangerous position to allow yourself to get into. From here I can simply twist your head off of your body and kill you."
"That doesn't sound like fun," Jacob teases.
"It's not." Alice jumps down to the ground and is facing Jacob.
"That move you just witnessed is Alice's signature move for killing vampires." Rosalie proudly informs Jacob. "You don't want to know how many she killed with that move." Jacob whistles in admiration.
"This time, when I jump onto your stomach, grab my foot with your right hand and hold it on your stomach then swing your other arm down with force, and bring your fist down hard on my knee. This will either knock me to the ground or break my knee cap, so please, don't do it hard." Alice orders.
"I won't, Jacob reassures her."
"I trust you," Alice smiles sweetly at Jacob. She jumps in the air, her foot lands on Jacob's stomach. Jacob quickly grabs her foot and holds it in place. He takes his other arm and swings it down, bringing his hand down on her knee very gently and rests it there, staring into Alice's eyes with a proud smile.
"That's not going to help you much, Jacob, if you just hold someone's leg," Alice and Jacob laugh as Jacob lets go of Alice's leg.
"It's getting late and we have been at this for hours. Why doesn't everyone come inside and we will have a proper sit-down dinner. We have not had one of those in a long time," Esme announces. I hadn't noticed her and Carlisle were gone until they opened the back door of the house and were standing inside.
I turn to face Edward and talk in a low voice. "I didn't think vampires ate food."
Esme turns towards me. "We don't. But you and Edward do." She smiles and then walks inside.
Everyone follows her inside. The house is a gorgeous log cabin consisting of large light colored logs. The inside has cathedral ceilings with beautiful large beams running across the ceiling and cherry wood paneling walls. There are lots of large ceiling to floor windows that give beautiful views of the woods.
Esme leads us to the dining room which has a large oval wooden table at the center. An antler chandelier sits above the table and hand-drawn portraits of each member of the extended family line the walls.
Edward pulls a chair out for me and after I sit, he takes a seat to my right. Jacob sits to my left and Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie sit across from us. Esme and Carlisle are at the ends of the table. Esme and Rosalie go into the kitchen and bring out 2 plates of Spaghetti and meatballs and set one in front of both Edward and myself. After a quick thank you, Edwards begins eating immediately and quickly. He looks up from his meal to see everyone watching him chow down his food and his cheeks flush. "I haven't eaten all day," he offers as an excuse as I snicker.
"Then you must never eat any day by the way you always scoff your food down." Rosalie teases. Edward laughs.
I look to Esme. "That was very nice of you cooking for me and Edward. Thank you."
"It was my pleasure. I never get to cook so this was fun. So, What classes are you taking at college?" Esme asks.
"I'm going for a degree in journalism," I say in between mouthfuls of spaghetti.
"That sounds interesting."
"It is. I'm really enjoying it."
"Bella works at the diner around her class schedule. She's also taking the self-defense class I help Officer Tabers teach at the college," Edward says.
"And that is where you knew James from, Bella? Edward said he was your gym partner?" Carlisle asks.
I shake my head affirmatively. "Yes. I never even noticed him before he came up to me during class."
"Well, He certainly does not represent all vampires. Many of us do not harm humans nor drink their blood. It's a good thing Edward took care of him. Now you don't have to worry about him anymore," Carlisle says matter of factly.
"Yes. That's good." I remember the image I saw while passing out of Edward grabbing James by the neck and the smell of sulfur and burnt flesh. I try to shake it from my mind. Then turn to Edward.
"I would like to learn some of the moves you were teaching Jacob today. Is it possible for me to learn some hardcore self-defense moves?"
"What's wrong. Your self-defense class isn't good enough?" Edward asks as he laughs.
"I would like to learn some moves so if anyone tries knocking me to the ground the way James did, I can defend myself."
"That's not a bad idea, Edward," Alice says. "You could teach Bella some moves so she would stand a chance against an attack. Even if those moves only give her an extra second or two, that may be enough time for her to hold off a vampire until you arrive."
Edward rubs his chin between his fingers, thinking. "That may be a good idea, I can show you some moves after your classes on Monday."
"Sounds good!" I sit up straight in my chair, excited about training with Edward.
"You better watch out, Edward. Bella was killer the way she jumped on that vampires back, trying to hold him off while telling me to run." Jacob tells Edward.
"What?" Edward's loud voice echos through the house as he turns his head and stares at me, his eyes fierce. "What were you thinking? I can't believe..." I can tell the bossy, domineering Officer Cullen that I met coming home from the bar is emerging. I cross my arms over my chest preparing to fight against Edward's lecture. "That is insane!"
I feel my face flush with anger. "Jacob is my friend, whom I've placed in danger. All I cared about was saving my friend, and I didn't do a very good job of that."
"From what Jacob told me, he came in to save you! You were supposed to run!..."
Carlisle cuts off Edward. "Edward, Have you made any progress with the Original that was after Bella?" Edward looks at Carlisle and back at me. I'm so thankful Carlisle stopped him. I don't want to have a full blown fight in front of everyone.
Edward's sight leaves me and his eyes lower. I see his jaw tighten. "Not yet."
"Is it possible he was just passing through and once he got your scent, Edward, he decided to keep moving along?"
"That's what I'm hoping but I don't want to let my guard down just in case. I'm keeping a close eye on Bella. If he is still around, he will make his move soon."
"And I can help protect Bella now also," Jacob says proudly.
"You need to practice turning off your sparkle so you can go out in public during daylight. Once isn't good enough. You have to be able to turn it off and keep it off all day without it draining too much of your energy." Alice lectures.
"Right, boss." Jacob teases as he salutes Alice and Alice lightly punches his arm. It seems a day together training has turned Alice and Jacob into close friends.
Esme jumps up. "I almost forgot dessert." She disappears into the kitchen and comes out carrying two plates with chocolate mousse cake topped with marshmallows. "I really enjoyed baking this." She holds the plates out in front of Edward. "Edward, do you mind?"
He closes his eyes for a second and lets out a long breath. Smoke begins to come from his mouth and then a little puff of fire spits out. He turns toward the plates and the marshmallows catch fire. Esme lets them burn a few seconds until a caramel color is coating them, then she blows them out and sets the plates down in front of Edward and me.
I have not stopped staring at Edward since the fire came out of his mouth, my mouth dropped open. Everyone grows quiet. I let my gaze wander across everyone at the table and find all eyes are staring at me, awaiting my reaction. I take a slow, deep breath. "Holy crap!" Is all I manage to say. Everyone bursts out in laughter.