CHAPTER SIXTEEN
(BPOV)
I sat up sharply as the pounding on the front door urgently continued.
All the color drained from my face when Jacobs head turned, his gaze briefly searching mine with his simple words of warning to me.
"Stay here, honey."
Billy reached for his arm as he rose from the couch and hurriedly headed to see what the intrusion at this hour was about. The two of them shared a loaded look that made my skin go cold, and I struggled to fight against the urge to go after him and see for myself who was at the door, but I stayed put.
"Nearly eleven. Who needs to see you at this time of night, Billy?" Charlie asked, his casual tone from before now switching to his official off duty cop voice. The same one that told me he himself didn't like the urgency of the unsuspected visitor at this hour.
"I'm not sure, Charlie. Could be a simple wrong address or something. Jacob will handle it. Nothing to worry about."
I waited there for as long as I could, my heart hammering like wildfire in my chest when I heard the door slam closed, followed by an eery silence.
Charlie stood and peered out the window, squinting so he could try and make out anything in the yard, but shrugging when he saw nothing there.
"Sounds almost like that Uley boy. I'd recognize his voice anywhere."
I was on my feet in seconds then, my steps hurried as I half ran through Billy's house until I reached the front door, my hand lingering there on the door knob, as I pressed my ear to the solid wood and listened there.
"We're being completely blindsided by this." Sam angrily stated. "We don't have the numbers for a fight of this magnitude. The trail Jared caught wind of was fresh just now and there's far more than one. Both Quil and Embry ran the border with me and we discovered four more trails with the same potent scent. Its unfamiliar. Not Cullen. It runs in several different directions. Almost like whoever it is may be toying with our senses on purpose."
"To throw us off?" Jacob questioned in return.
"Most definitely. There's something off with this, Jake. I'm telling you. I can feel it. This isn't a few of them wondering over on the wrong side of the boundary by chance. It's deliberate and the stench is potent enough to burn my own lungs. It's sickeningly fresh."
"How many are out there on patrol right now?"
"Everyone. Except you." Sam clarified.
There was a deafening silence then as I pressed my ear in even closer and held my breath.
"But no one has encountered one of them yet?" Jacob continued. "Just a fresh scent?"
"No, not yet. The trails led us to Forks."
The pause in Sams tone then made me shiver.
"What part of Forks?" Jacob snapped back.
"Close to Bella's."
"How damn close, Sam!? What aren't you telling me?"
"The yard...- and parts of the house...-Bella's room. Some of her belongings were rifled through." Sam admitted, and I felt my head whirl from his words, my eyes welling with fearful tears while I waited to hear the rest of their conversation.
The brief silence then from Jacob was profoundly loud and heavy. It was as if I could hear his racing thoughts through the door before they ever left his mouth.
"How long have you been tracking them!? Half the nite!? And you're just telling me now?" He seethed back. "For shits sake, Sam!"
"It wasn't like that. There was only one trail at first. One Paul caught a whiff of just after lunch today. There wasn't a need for panic and alarm then. Not until we ran the border again after dinner. I came straight here. Straight to you after we all followed the scent to Charlie's. We checked the house...-thoroughly. Found nothing. Then I sprinted for you. If Charlie and Bella had been back home a few hours ago...-" Sam trailed off, unable to finish.
"We need the elders, Sam!"
"I'm going to them next." He informed. "Whatever is coming feels large."
"Larger than the Newborn army?"
"Much." Sam replied. "The way these trails intertwine tells me there's more than a few dozen already lurking on our lands. Every scent we chased tonight led one of two ways. Back to Forks, to Bella's house, or straight into the water."
"Like Victoria's tactic when she toyed with us before." Jacob noted in disgust.
"Yeah, much the same. Look, I have to go. The elders are expecting me soon. Be on your guard, Jake. Stay alert and awake until I get back. I'll come here first. Leah and Paul know to come get you immediately should they come across another scent or something else. Seth and Embry are lingering around Charlie's back in Forks. The others are scattered deep in the woods on the lookout and on guard of the border."
"You've got them spread too thin...-"
"It's all the coverage we can manage at the moment until I reach the elders."
"Sam-... you and I both know that if these leeches are already on our lands you won't have time to get back before they close in."
"I know, but I gotta try. It's the only fighting chance we have."
I placed a trembling hand over my mouth as the feel of my phone vibrating in my back pocket made me pull away from the door and reach for it.
The number flashing up at me was unknown and I soon answered it with hesitation and confusion clear in my greeting.
"Hello?"
"Bella, long time since we've spoken."
The eerie ring to this voice made me nearly drop the cell in my shaking hand.
"Aro...-"
"Glad you remember me. After all, I thought maybe with your recent change of heart, you would have no recollection of our prior encounter at all?"
"What do you want?" I shakily asked, pressing my back firmly against the door for support while my legs threatened to give out.
"I think you know this isn't a courtesy call and I think you know what I want. Don't be coy." He replied.
"Things have changed since we last spoke."
"Ah, indeed they have. Tell me how is the Reservation tonight?"
I swallowed hard, seeing Edwards face flash before my minds eye as I pieced together his probable involvement here.
"Edward paid you a visit." I sickeningly stated.
"Of course, would you have expected any less?" Aro questioned with thrill in his tone. "We mate for life, Bella. Didn't you know that?"
"I made the wrong choice." I breathed into the phone. "I don't belong in his world."
"Irrelevant." He hissed.
"Fact." I breathlessly countered.
"Humans like yourself are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to the art of defensive negotiation."
"That's your opinion." I defended, trying to take another deep breath to calm my nerves.
"You're not as weak and intimidated as I remember you to be." Aro noted then.
"Like I said, things have changed."
"I suppose that's owed to the new company you've been keeping? The wolves?"
I felt the wind get knocked out of me again from his comment then, my vision blurring from the threat of unshed tears at the realization of what Edward had done during his recent visit to Italy.
"You-... you're here aren't you? All of you?"
"That's for me to know and for you to guess."
Like a predator playing with his weak and feeble prey, I caught the satisfaction lingering there in his undead voice when he replied then, and it made my stomach churn.
"Tell me what you're going to do! Why are you here? The wolves have nothing to do with my choice to stay human." I lied, desperately trying to throw him off course any way I could.
"But don't they?" He darkly countered. "A reliable source tells me otherwise."
"He's wrong." I hedged in return. "Edward doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Tell me, Bella. Do you think Jacob Black will make a good guard for me once I drag him back to Italy after we slaughter the others in his pack of pups?"
My stomach lurched from his words and I staggered forward, as the fear crept over every inch of me, suffocating me from the inside out one miserable second at a time.
"No-..."
Dark laughter came from Aro's end at the sound of my torment.
He knew he'd found my weak point and he was going to exploit it as much as he could to further torture me.
"I assure you, he is no match for me, Isabella. When we're finished with these lands, it will run red with our victory. But don't worry, I have given Edward my word to spare you. He convinced me to keep my word of being sure you're not harmed in the crossfires. I have to say, it's fascinating how fickle you humans are. The last time we saw you, you were ready to lay your own life out for Edward. A creature without a soul. You believed otherwise, despite my telling you the harsh reality that day. A century of practice as he's had tends to make you a monster like myself."
"You were right." I told him. "He is a monster. He deserves to be with you in Italy."
"As he will be. So will you. I get what I want, Isabella. There's nothing you can do to stop that."
"You wouldn't waste your time with this call just to scare me further. You don't have time for games like that, so I'll ask you again Aro, what do you want from me?"
"You're smarter than Edward gives you credit for."
"That's his mistake then." I confirmed.
"As you suspect, I am calling with an intent."
"Which is?"
"This vengence that Edward seeks out, I find it childish and a waste of my time. So, I think you and I can come up with something far more effective and maybe a little less messy in the end?"
"Like what?" I snapped, my body shaking from head to toe now.
"It's rather simple, Isabella. You see, I have a proposition I'd like to place on the table."
"I'm listening."
"Good, you should be. I'm sure you have many on the Reservation you care for, not too mention your father."
"Leave them alone!" I harshly demanded.
"Their fate will be in your hands."
"Tell me-"
"You owe your mortality to me. You would be wise to take me up on this limited offer. If you wish to spare all those you care for, before the dawn hour arrives, leave the Reservation and come to the borders edge by the river. Meet us there. Surrender yourself over, just as you promised, and I'll escort you back to Italy myself. Edward awaits you there. He's being held under my guard until I arrive with you in tact. He desires to change you himself. You do this for me, and in return, I'll give you my word that none of your precious beloved pups will be harmed. That goes for your father, too. We'll leave this land without a fight of any kind. Never to hear from us again. You see Isabella, you are far more valuable than you realize. You have something within you that will serve me well on the guard in Italy. When you're changed, you'll discover what it is yourself."
I tried to drag air into my deprived lungs as I stood there looking at the front door with tears welling up and spilling over.
"And Jacob?" I forced out.
"Your wish is for me to spare him."
"There will be no deal if you don't." I pointedly added.
"He could be of great use to me and Edward is demanding his service in Italy as punishment for taking you away from him."
"He didn't take me away. I left of my own choosing." I gasped.
"Nonetheless, his demands still stand."
"If you touch him, or any of the others in the pack, I won't agree to this proposition and I'll spend every minute that I'm changed in Italy trying to destroy you. I know enough about newborns to know that I'll be strong enough to take you on, and I'll be sure not to stop until there's nothing left of your guard."
Aro hissed at this, the sound loud and full of warning.
"I don't take threats very well."
"It's not a threat. It's a promise. One I'll come good on once I'm changed. You know it can be done and you know Edward won't allow you to kill me first."
"These are your only demands in order to meet my request?"
"Yes." I tearfully confirmed.
"Consider it done. I make no other promises though. If Jacob follows you to Italy, he won't be leaving. I will personally see that he is killed or enslaved as an addition to the guard. Understood?" Aro hissed again in clarification.
"Understood." I breathed.
The line went dead then and I dropped the cell to the floor as Jacob swung the house door open and met my horrified gaze.
A/N: Another chapter coming tonite.
Please leave a review with your thoughts.