Chapter 19 - Hurdles
EPOV
I fidgeted in my seat as we waited for the plane to land. Alice was in the seat in front of me desperately sorting through the future to see how it would turn out, but there were too many variables it seemed. It was all shifting and blurry. Nothing seemed set. Everything seemed to blur together and one moment it seemed everything would be fine and the next it would turn out bad again.
I kicked her chair gently. 'Please, Alice. Stop.' I muttered quietly. I had endured enough.
I'm sorry but I just want to know what's going to happen. I want to prepare you both She directed in her thoughts.
'It's not helping Alice.' I told her with a strained voice.
I'm sorry I'll try to stop she assured me.
Bella looked over at me. 'She's trying to see what will happen. But something is making everything change. It seems there is a decion that still has to be made. She's not sure where or what.'
'So we don't know what's going to happen?' she asked, panic slightly creeping into her voice.
I hung my head and nodded. This was not how I'd wanted this to go. I had hoped that my talk with Bella would have altered the future. She was prepared, we'd talked everything through. She knew where I stood so the future should be set. But it wasn't and that worried me. Was it Tanya who would mess it up, or was it Irina? I hadn't counted on the fact that Carlisle had told them about Laurent. I knew if they started blaming Bella I would definitely not be civil. I was pretty sure some of the more violent blurry futures Alice had seen had been because of me.
Bella nudged me and I looked at her. 'We're here. Stop fretting. It's not going to change anything anymore. We just have to see what's going to happen and let it happen.'
I heaved a sigh and nodded.
She was right, of course. I knew this was pointless. So I squared my shoulders and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up and getting our bags from the overhead bins. The rest of my family was already doing the same. The plane was docking now and in a few minutes the doors would open. As soon as the doors opened my family was on the move. I put my hand on the small of Bella's back supportively. She was slightly apprehensive about being around all these people. The flight had been fine and Alice had assured her she wouldn't hurt anyone. But still she kept her breathing to a minimum. I squeezed her side gently and she turned to give me a small smile.
she's doing fine Jasper directed towards me. not at all affected by bloodlust... his thoughts turned envious then it's like she doesn't even notice the scents, like it doesn't bother her at all. I can't understand it... I can't believe it... i've never seen anything like it. it's like she's not even a vampire at all.
I couldn't stop the proud grin that stretched across my face at his thoughts. Bella really was something. She was amazing. And I couldn't believe how lucky I was that she was back in my arms again. I quickly stepped beside her as we walked down the steps of the plane and headed towards the terminal. We headed out of the airport at great speed, avoiding the crowds and congestion. Alice had arranged three cars for us and we quickly made our way to them. Emmett and I quickly stuffed our luggage in the trunks of the cars while the women already settled in. Rosalie and Bella got into the same car so Emmett and I shrugged and quickly joined them. Alice and Jasper took the next car and Esme and Carslisle took the last one. Emmett beat me to the driver's side and grinned at me over the top of the car.
'You lose, Eddie.' He taunted. I rolled my eyes at him.
'Only because my mind was elsewhere. And don't call me that.' I shot back at him. I rolled my shoulders and made my way to the passenger side. Emmett just loved getting on my nerves. Especially with his favourite nickname for me.
Bella looked up as I entered the passenger seat and Rosalie smirked at me.
Got taken by surprise again, huh? She taunted me in her thoughts.
I rolled my eyes at her. She smiled back.
'Are you still worrying?' Bella asked. She'd heard my comment to Emmett about being distracted.
I shrugged noncommitically. Bella kicked my seat gently to let me know she saw through my bullshit.
'Fine.' I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 'Yes. I'm still worrying. I'm sorry.' I said, my tone a tad curt.
Rosalie glared at me. 'Don't you take that tone.' She warned me. 'This is not her fault.'
I sighed. 'I know. I'm sorry. I'm just on edge.' I said, working to make my voice sound more civil.
'It's okay.' Bella assured me.
'Carlisle said Tanya took it well.' Emmett reminded me.
I nodded. 'I know. But Alice is still seeing blurs. Nothing is definite and it's unnerving. I don't know what's going to happen.'
Bella gave an amused snort. 'Most people live like that all the time.' She reminded me once again.
I turned in my seat to grin at her. 'I know. It's horrible.'
She smiled back and shook her head.
'It's going to be fine, Edward. We made plans. Everyone knows what the possibilities are.' Rosalie said soothingly.
'We just need to keep communicating.' Bella said.
What are we? On Dr Phil? Emmett grumbled in his thoughts. He couldn't really understand the weight I was placing on this meeting. Either it went well, or it didn't. In his mind there was no use fretting about it. We just had to get it over with. I wished I could have his attitude about it.
The road flew beneath our tires as we cleared the city limits. Emmett stepped on it and I was glad alice had chosen these cars that went quite a bit faster than was officially allowed. The normal 4 hour long drive only took us an hour at the speed Emmett was going. Rosalie to her credit had been doing everything in her power to keep me and Bella distracted from what was coming. She filled the car with talk. Bella seemed grateful for it and responded to everything she was saying with an eagerness that surprised me. Emmett of course butted in with the occasional joke or wrongly placed remark and I was grateful for it. It pulled bella from her sombre mood and got her laughing. I smiled at it and hoped that everything would be fine with the Denali's.
Too soon we pulled up to their house. Well, mansion to be honest. It was a rustic looking cabin from the outside, albeit slightly larger than your usual cabin. But most of the house was actually underground. They'd cleared out the back garden and lowered it, so that the basement would be able to have large windows to let plenty of light inside.
I heard bella gasp as she stared at the house in front of us.'It's so beautiful.' she said. I smiled at her.
'It's okay.' Emmett shrugged.
Bella turned to him and quirked her eyebrow. 'Okay?' She echoed incredulous. 'Are we looking at the same thing?'
He laughed and I couldn't help but chuckle as well. 'Of all the properties we own over the world, it's definitely in the top 10.' I amended.
Emmett nodded. 'I'm more partial to the private island homes. Nice warm beaches and sun, without anyone seeing us.'
He wrapped Rose in his arms tightly and grinned at me. I rolled my eyes. I usually avoided the private islands for exactly that same reason. It brought out the amerous sides of all the ocuples, being the odd man out, I hadn't had any desire to join them there. They susually went sepeartely for a few months at a time anyway.
'Private islands?' Bella asked, her eyes big as she stared up at me, looking for confirmation.
I nodded. 'Yes.'
'As in multiple?' she pressed, seemingly not believing it.
'Yes. A few in the Caribbean, there's one off the coast of Brazil. And we have one or two in the Indian ocean.' I said. I wasn't exactly sure how many we owned. Mostly the couples made use of them, so I was sure they knew better than me.
'We also have one off of Greece.' Rosalie piped up. I smiled and shook my head.
The other cars pulled up behind us and the rest of the family quickly joined us. Bella turned to them.
'How many islands do you have?' she asked them.
Alice grinned at her. 'Ten in total.' She answered.
Esme frowned as she looked at Bella. What a strange topic for them to have landed on… she thought. Then her eyes turned to me suddenly gleeful. Wait, perhaps she's thinking honeymoon locations! Oh, Edward I give you Isle Esme freely for that use!
I shook my head at my mother but gave her a small smile. I was pretty sure that was not where Bella's mind had gone.
'My god. What do you do with all of them?' she asked.
'Mostly they're just investments, like all the other properties.' Alice said. 'But sometimes they're a nice place to hide away from the world for a little while.'
Bella looked thoughtful for a moment then she opened her mouth to reply, but the door of the cabin opened then and we all steeled ourselves.
I saw Alice flinch from the corner of my eye and I mentally readied myself for what was to come.
'EDWARD!' I heard a screech coming from the house. Tanya appeared in the doorway, waving her arm enthusiastically at me. I smiled at her kindly, hoping it wasn't sending her the wrong message. It seemed she was still undecided whether or not to let me go. She was dressed to kill.
Man, did she run out of clothes? Emmett grumbled.
Oh god, this is going to hit bella's self esteem Rosalie sighed. Great.
Edward whatever you do, avoid hugging her! Alice warned me.
I looked at Tanya and tried to warn her with my eyes. She was indeed dressed scantily. A tight red bustier was all she wore on top, leaving her midriff exposed. She wore a black high waisted miniskirt and nine inch heels. She stepped out of the house and sauntered over to us. Her long her was curled elegantly and hung down her back. It swayed with every step she took. Her eyes were locked on me as she smiled seductively.
He looks good enough to eat. See how he looks at me? Carlisle was wrong. Her thoughts were filled with fantasies about what she was planning exactly to do with me.
I winced and quickly looked away from her. I stepped closer to Bella and wrapped my arm tightly around her waist. 'Tanya.' I said when she was a few feet away. 'I'd like you to meet my Bella.' I said, smiling down at Bella gently. Conveying to her with my eyes that I loved her and only her. I just prayed she would listen to me and not let Tanya make her doubt anything.
Tanya skidded to a stop. Her eyes settled on Bella and she took a moment to take her in. A brunette… figures. So Carlisle had been right after all. Now I feel like a fool. Her thoughts turned chagrined. But mostly she was blaming herself. She wasn't blaming Bella.
Tanya shook herself and stepped forward. 'Hi Bella, it's nice to meet you.' she said kindly. Although her eyes were still a bit wary, she was at least not hostile.
'Hi.' Bella said timidly. She wrapped her arm around me as well and squeezed a bit. She was uncomfortable and unsure what to do.
'Bella was changed just a few months ago. She's still getting used to this life.' I told Tanya, hoping it would ease some of the tension.
She looked at Bella for a moment longer and then nodded. Her eyes turned truly kind now, so did her thoughts. So young. It must be overwhelming for her. I'd better not provoke her. She has enough to deal with, without getting insecure.
I exhaled in relief.
'Come on in, everyone. Grab your stuff and let's get you settled. Then we can get to know each other better.'
'Thank you.' Carlisle said gratefully. He was glad the tension had disappeared for now. He was wondering what was waiting for us inside. We grabbed our bags and headed towards the house together. Bella stuck to my side closely. She was weary still, although she had loosened up a bit once Tanya had stopped staring at her.
We stepped into the cabin and Bella gasped. 'It's so beautiful.' she said, looking around in awe.
The inside was almost a complete 180 from the outside. There were hardly any walls inside the house, everything was open plan and spacious and modern. It was a beautiful home. The entryway led directly into a reception room, with a great view of the mountainside. There was an open plan kitchen dining area that had been done in one small corner of the room, the rest was utilised as a living room. There was a circular couch in the middle of the room, facing the large window. To the side of it was a large fire place which had a fire burning happily in there. A lovely plush rug was underneath the couch. Along the stairs were bookcases and comfortable chairs were spaced alongside to read.
'Thank you, Bella.' Carmen said, clutching her hands in front of her tightly as she regarded bella warmly. Whereas Esme had taken on the mother role in our family, Carmen brought the motherly presence for the Denali's. Bella turned to look at Carmen, slightly surprised. She hadn't noticed the whole Denali clan off to the side yet. She looked down at the floor embarrassedly.
'So you are Bella?' Kate asked her. Bella nodded.
'Amazing. A shield.' Eleazar mumbled. Carmen quickly elbowed him.
'No business talk until they've settled in.' she chastised him. Eleazar looked properly abashed for a moment.
'Welcome to our home.' Tanya said, smiling at everyone. We smiled back and put our bags down.
'Thank you for having us on such short notice.' Carlisle said.
'Of course, you're family.' Kate said, dismissing our thanks.
'What's gotten you in such a hurry?' Carmen asked, gesturing for us to come and sit down.
'A few things, actually.' Esme said, sitting down on the couch.
Carlisle quickly followed her. I looked at Bella for a moment. She took a deep breath and then headed to the couch as well, she kept a firm grip on my hand though. She was still a little on edge it seemed. I threw a glance at Jasper, who confirmed it.
She's uncomfortable. She's a bit intimidated by such a large group of vampires she doesn't know. It's natural for a newborn to feel threatened by it. But she's holding her own quite well. He directed at me.
I nodded my thanks and allowed Bella to tow me over to the couch. She sat down next to Esme and pressed herself tightly against my side. I casually leant back and threw my arm over her shoulder, hoping that she would relax if she saw me being relaxed. Tanya noticed of course.
'The nomad we took out a few months ago, James-'
Irina hissed. All eyes turned to her for a moment. But hers were fixated on Bella. Bella shrank against me.
So it was her! I knew Tanya was hiding something from me! I can't believe it, the reason for Laurent's death sitting here as if nothing is wrong!
I couldn't stop the growl from escaping my throat. Her eyes focussed on me and I felt Bella relax slightly against me.
'Irina.' Tanya snapped. She gave her a stern look. But Irina wasn't having it.
'I can't stand here and pretend nothing is wrong.' She hissed. 'She's the reason he's dead.'
'And he's the reason she was violently turned against her will.' I said standing up and hissing at her. Rosalie stepped up beside me immediately, shielding bella as well and for the first time since she'd joined our family I felt truly like she had my back and we were on the same page.
'She did nothing wrong. You cannot blame her for this. He attacked her and left her to go through her transformation alone!' Rosalie hissed.
'He planned on killing her. It's a miracle she turned.' I added.
'I don't believe it.' Irina sneered. Alice started looking ahead into the feature to see where this was going. But things were still too unsure to make any sense of it. There were some good outcomes, and some bad, but the reason for either outcome was still shrouded. I threw a desperate glance at Tanya first, hoping she could calm irina down, but she just looked back at me with regret.
Then I looked at Jasper. She's getting overwhelmed. I'm trying to calm her down, but this needs to stop soon, or she's going to lose it. He directed at me, realizing what I wanted from him. He was sending waves of calm towards bella and Irina as well. But Irina was too irate it seemed.
'Calm down, please, Irina.' Carmen said, stepping up next to her. 'Let's calm down and discuss this together, alright? This isn't good for a newborn.'
'Yes, we should calm down.' Eleazar said, looking pointedly at Irina.
'No.' She remained stubborn. 'I need to hear the truth, from her!' I can't believe Laurent would kill her, he was doing well. He wanted to be with me. he promised me…
Listening to the desperate edge in her thoughts I realized she really would only listen to Bella. I looked at bella. She was cowering behind me, she had her arms wrapped around her midriff and was rocking herself slowly. I crouched down in front of her, putting my hands on either side of her face.
'Bella.' I whispered. 'Bella, can you hear me?' She nodded. 'Can you tell Irina what happened?' I asked her gently.
'She shouldn't have to!' Rosalie spat at Irina, who growled in return.
It remained quiet then. Everyone was waiting for Bella's reply. It seemed we were at a stalemate. Irina wouldn't believe anyone but Bella, and Bella still struggled with how she had been changed so we weren't sure if she could share what Irina wanted so desperately to know.
But then she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, then squared her shoulders and sat up.
'Alright.' She said, her voice trembled slightly. She looked over at Jasper. 'Will you help me please?' she asked him in a small voice. He nodded immediately and stood behind her. He placed on hand on her shoulder and sent her calm waves. Her arms slowly unwrapped themselves from her midriff and she took another deep breath.
'I was alone in a field. Laurent showed up. He played with me… taunted me.' she was gazing down at her hands, her voice barely a whisper, but everyone was listening with baited breath. I held her hands tightly in mine and squeezed them gently. 'He told me Victoria had sent him. That she wanted me dead and he was there as a favour to her. He attacked me...' her breath hitched for a moment and she squeezed my hands tightly, I squeezed her back reassuringly, rubbing my thumbs over the backs of her hands soothingly. 'He bit into my neck. But something stopped him from finishing the job completely. He tore a chunk from my neck and then the venom spread and I turned. Alone in a field. I spent my first week as a vampire alone.' her breath hitched again and she was clearly struggling with her emotions, despite Jasper's help.
Esme wrapped her arm around Bella's shoulders and hugged her tightly. 'It's alright, you're here now. You're okay and you are loved.' She whispered to Bella.
'Does that satisfy you?' Rosalie spat at Irina.
'I don't believe it.' Irina said, her voice just a whisper – defeated. I turned around to glare at her.
'Enough irina.' Tanya interceded quickly. 'If you can't handle this then go.'
'I… I don't know.'
'I do.' Rosalie said. 'Get out.'
'Rosalie.' Carlisle quietly admonished her, although in his thoughts he agreed with her, he knew that this was Irina's home, not ours. We had no right to ask her to leave.
'It's alright Rosalie, we'll just go.' I quickly said. We had planned for something like this after all.
Tanya, Kate, Eleazar and Carmen all shouted no. It appeared they had all disliked Laurent and his manipulation of Irina. They were glad to be rid of him and wanted Irina to stop obsessing about him. They definitely did not think him worth enough to drive us away. It seems Bella's attraction and charm had already worked on them as well. They were awed by her story and her strength. They were also awed by her clearly impressive control.
Tanya an Kate stepped next to Irina, each grabbing one of her arms, and they hauled her outside quickly. 'Excuse us for a moment.' Tanya quickly said before closing the door behind them.
Bella glanced up at me, worry plain on her face. She bit her bottom lip. 'I'm sorry.'
'Bella, you have nothing to apologize for.' Carmen said, stepping a bit closer, but making sure Bella wouldn't feel crowded or threatened. I was grateful Carmen stepped in, Rosalie and I had been about to say it as well, but I had a feeling it was the Denali's who Bella needed to hear it from most.
'Between us' carmen started conspirationally, dropping her voice to a whisper. 'I'm glad he's gone. He was nothing but a pest. He 'slipped' so often we lost count. It's a miracle he didn't completely blow our cover here.' She said, frowning as she did.
Eleazar nodded in agreement. 'It's been a blessing having him gone again.' He assured Bella. She glanced between the two of them, a frown still on her face, then nodded once.
'Are you okay on your own?' Jasper asked her. He was still sending her calming waves, but he had a feeling she was calming down on her own as well.
'I think so. Stay close though, please.' She requested softly. He removed his hand after giving her shoulder a small squeeze.
'I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Bella.' Eleazar said softly. 'You're amazingly controlled for such a traumatic first experience as a vampire.'
Bella ducked her head in embarrasement at the praise.
'She was amazing. When I saw her, we immediately headed towards her, but she hadn't been deciding where to go exactly, so it was hard to pinpoint where she was. Jazz and I spent a whole week running through the rocky mountains. She'd been hiding far away from human trails and had found a little cave to hide in and learn to control herself.' Alice boasted, smiling at Bella.
I smiled too, pride brusting from everywhere as everyone was once again amazed by Bella's perseverance and endurance and restraint. She was an amazing newborn, that was true. But she was simply an amazing person, and I knew that already.
I leaned forward before I realized what I was doing and pressed my lips to her forehead. Bella relaxed a bit at my kiss and a small sigh escaped her lips.
The backdoor opened again and I quickly pulled back. Tanya and Kate stepped back inside both smiling at Bella. Irina stepped inside next and Bella tensed up again.
'I'm sorry Bella, for what he did to you.' Irina said in a small voice as she looked at Bella.
'I'm sorry too, Irina.' Bella said softly. Irina nodded once in acknowledgement and then excused herself quietly. She headed down the stairs I assumed to her room to wrap her mind around everything. Her thoughts were a whirlwind of emotions. Tanya and kate had laid into her it seemed.
They had pointed out all the excuses she had been making for Laurant and had finally told her she was blind to his manipulations. They warned her of taking her feelings out on Bella. She was a Cullen now and therefore family. I smiled gratefully at both tanya and Kate.
It seemed everything would be fine now. Alice looked at me and smiled as well. She showed me a crystal clear vision of Bella and Kate in the backyard practicing at dusk. I smiled at her. The future was set. We'd survived the hurdles it seemed, unscathed.
