"Bella," someone said. "Wake up."
Why? She was having an amazing dream. Her grandparents were there and nothing hurt anymore. Why couldn't she stay for a little longer?
"Bella, you have to get up," the voice cried."You need to run!"
Run? Who was he kidding? Bella hadn't even managed to walk across the stage at 6th-grade graduation without tripping. Asking her to run was like expecting a hippo to do ballet.
"Please, Bella." the voice begged. "You need to get out of here."
Where exactly was here? Bella's head hurt too much to remember. She rolled over onto her side. She just needed a little more sleep. Then she could wake up and remember.
Someone touched her shoulder. His hand was wet and shaking. "No, don't go back to sleep. Wake up."
Bella opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. She was laying in the dirt surrounded by trees. Why on earth had she decided the woods were a good place for a nap? Hazy memories came drifting back. Hiking with her father. The meadow. So many flowers. Something comes out of the trees. Running. Tripping over something. Pain. Blood. So much blood, not all of it hers.
"Thank goodness," her father said. "I thought I'd lost you too."
Lost her? She was laying less than a foot away from him. How could he have lost her?
"Bella, honey, listen to me.," her father rasped. "You need to run."
Again with the running. What about two left feet was so hard for him to understand?
"But Dad," Bella protested.
"But nothing. You need to get out of here, now. It will be back any minute."
"What will be back?"
Bella never got a close look at the thing in the trees. It moved too fast.
"Please just listen to me," her father said. "You need to get out of here."
Bella grabbed her father's bloody hand. " Come on then. Let's go"
"No, it's too late for me," he said, pulling away. "I'll only slow you down."
Bella kept her eyes on his face. She couldn't look at his stomach. There were things there she shouldn't have been able to see.
"I'm not leaving you behind," Bella said firmly.
Maybe those agonizing years in Phoenix had been good for something after all. she'd be able to make the drive across town to the hospital without much trouble. All she had to do was find a way to bandage her father's wounds and get him back to the truck.
A branch snapped and a wolf howled in the distance. The hair on the back of Bella's neck raised. Could they have been attacked by a wolf? Mr. Black said wolves were the protectors of the tribe. They wouldn't hurt her, right?
"Run," her father hissed. "Run and don't look back. You can't let it bite you."
Something growled in the trees behind her. Bella didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't a wolf. It was something else. Something evil. Something she shouldn't let bite her.
"Run to La Push," her father said. "You'll be safe there."
Bella didn't even make it three steps before something slammed into her back with the force of a dozen semi-trucks. Then came screaming, pain, and so much blood.
A crash somewhere in the house startled Bella awake. She looked over at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It was a little past two am meaning the crash was either a burglar or Emmett making one of his infamous vegan grilled cheese sandwiches. Bella hopped out of bed to find out if she needed to call the police or the fire department.
Bella met up with Rose on the stairs.
"This better be a burglar," Rose growled. "I'm going to kill Emmett if he's trying to cook again!"
For Emmett's sake, Bella hoped for a burglar. Rose wasn't one for empty threats.
The pair continued to the kitchen where they found something unexpected. Emmett was sitting at the kitchen table staring at an assortment of forks, spoons, and spatulas.
"I told you no more cooking!" Rose snapped.
"I'm not cooking," Emmett replied.
"Then why do you have half the kitchen out on display?"
The only things missing were knives.
There was another crash in the garage.
Edward came into the house with a pair of baseball bats. "Emmett, I've found us some weapons." He tossed one of the bats to Emmett coming mere inches from hitting Rose. "We leave at dawn."
At least he hadn't found the knives locked up in Carlisle's study. Rose would have scalped him for throwing a knife at her.
"It's the middle of the night," Rose snarled, zeroing in on Edward. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up!"
"Emmett and I are going on a quest," Edward said. "Is that a good enough reason?
"Bella's lip twitched when she noticed the saucepan on his head.
Rose looked at Emmett who shrugged. "What do you mean, a quest?"
"We're going to save my family and fix the Forks river."
So much for playing along and keeping a low profile. Rose would probably tell Carlisle and make things even more of a mess than they already were.
"Interesting." Rose stroked her chin."And what do you intend to do with my baseball bat?"
"Fight off any werewolves or vampires we may encounter."
Anxiety swelled in Bella's chest at the word werewolves. It was just a hallucination. She told herself. The police looked for weeks and never found any evidence of killer wolves. Whatever killed her father was a one-off event. Emmett and Edward would be fine in the woods.
Rose glared at Emmett. "And you're going along with this?"
Emmett nodded. "I can't let him go by himself."
Rose was silent for five tense seconds before exploding. "Have you idiots gone insane?"
Emmett flinched at the word insane. "No,"
"Then why are you getting ready to fight imaginary monsters in the middle of the night?"
"We're not leaving in the middle of the night," Edward said. "As I said earlier, we're leaving at dawn. We'll have the advantage when the sun comes up. A vampire's-"
"No," Rose said, cutting Edward off mid-sentence.
"What do you mean, no?"
"You're not going."
"Yes, we are," Edward said, thumbing the baseball bat on the ground," We have to for the good of the kingdom."
Rose turned to Bella. "Care to weigh in here?"
Bella eyed the baseball bat in Edward's hand. She had to figure out a way to deescalate the situation before things turned ugly.
"Maybe we should talk," Bella said to Edward.
It wasn't too late. Maybe she could convince Edward to tell Rose it was all a joke. Emmett was always pulling pranks. It wouldn't be such a far-fetched idea that he'd recruited an assistant.
"No, Bella. I think we've talked enough," Edward said. "It's clear that you don't intend to help me save the kingdom. Emmett has kindly agreed to accompany me in your place."
While Bella had zero desire to spend the day running around in the woods, she was a bit offended by how quickly Edward had replaced her. So much for true love.
Save the kingdom from what?" Rose asked. "Vampires?"
"Vampires, werewolves, witches, and whatever other creatures may have crossed the boundary."
Rose flared her nostrils. "The only creature to show up in Forks recently is you."
"Creature?" Edward scoffed. "That's rich coming from you."
"Bella," Emmett said, wrapping his arm around Rose's waist. "Why don't you and Edward check the shed. We'll need camping gear for our journey."
Bella raised an eyebrow. Emmett knew just as well as she did that Alice had sold the camping gear and taken over the shed for her shoe collection months ago.
"I really think you should go check outside," Emmett said. "Edward would really like the backyard."
Bella got the message loud and clear. Separate Edward and Rose or watch World War III being fought with cutlery and sports equipment.
"Come on," Bella said, taking Edward by the wrist. "Let's go find that tent."
