Into the Woods
By Everleigh Allen
Chapter 22
"You come and go, you come and go-"Alice sang in a high pitched voice waving her arms above her head as she bounced. It carried though the house as Edward held Bella's tired body in his arms, walking through the front door.
"Knock it off, Alice!" Edward growled lowly. He was busy breathing in her scent, reluctant to put her down after such a dramatic night.
"Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dream- Red gold and green, red gold and green-"
Edward clenched his jaw and then his fists. "I swear if you don't shut it I will shut it for you."
There was suddenly a calming feeling coursing through the room and Edward twisted to glare at Jasper.
"Feel the vibe, brother… try to relax." Jasper said in thought. "You're not going to help anything by being so stressed."
"Karma, karma, karma, karma," Alice sang louder.
"How can I relax with that one singing so loud?" Edward sneered.
"Karma chameleon!" she belted.
"Shhh, Don't wake Bella!" He whisper yelled. "My hands are right here! She could probably hear your thoughts with my touch!"
Then as if she never was singing, Alice twisted toward Edward saying, "She's not sleeping, I can see that. She's just… vegging out… resting her eyes. You come and go, you come and go-" she started singing again.
"Alice!" Esme and Edward yelled at the same time.
"Ugh! No one gets my humor, innuendo's or clues. Must I always spell everything out?" Alice pouted. She flopped on the couch and crossed her arms.
But Edward didn't like Alice mad at him.
She tended to hold grudges.
"What the heck are you talking about then?"
"I am talking about how smart and intuitive I am and you aren't, brother."
"Yes, but singing the song high pitch out loud and in your brain does nothing but annoy me." He glared. He wanted to put Bella in his bed upstairs but instead he turned around and walked to the couch and laid her body down on the soft cushions.
"So, what am I thinking now?" Alice gave him a focused glare but with Bella's hand now in his- there was nothing.
"You know I can't hear your thoughts when holding Bella's hand."
Alice clapped happily, beaming. "Yes, yes! She steals it. I know! I think I've figured her out."
Edward rubbed his head, feeling the tension building there.
There shouldn't be any tension since he's a vampire. Vampires don't have tension headaches.
What he would give to be able to sleep.
"So, you know how I love to shop and I was looking into all of the stuff... I think I've figured some stuff out."
"Well, why don't you share rather than speaking in code?"
"Hmm… how do I explain?" she pretended to be lost in thought for a moment. "So, what I am thinking is that Bella is a freak of nature."
Bella groaned, rubbing her eyes. Alice and Edward sat shocked at Bella's sudden noise.
Edward frowned and narrowed his eyes on Alice.
"I don't know what to say." Edward sneered, "The idiocy of the comment is beyond me."
"Can't you see, brother, that she was in danger and so her body adapted, trying to hide her? I mean, imagine if it was daytime? I think it's like… part of her shielding capabilities. Like the chameleon."
She started singing Culture Club again, badly.
"Oh, yay, I am a lizard king." Bella groaned in her high pitch sarcastic voice.
Edward face-palmed, thoroughly frustrated.
"Technically a queen… just saying." Alice laughed. "But it certainly seems so!"
Edward was bandaging up Bella's hand when Emmett walked through the door, followed by Rosalie. They sat on one of the couches that were nearby just watching the rest of the group.
Jasper sat on the couch, more comfortable now that Bella's wound was cleaned up and sterilized. Alice sat on his lap flipping through a magazine and giggling randomly, shaking her head.
Edward, from time to time, would look at Alice and smirk, frown or shake his head minutely.
Silent conversations were not amusing when you're left out and Bella was getting a bit put off by it.
Esme was out of the house getting something to eat from the local 24 hour convenience store as well as some of the Vitamin R beer for Charlie; he was going to need it. He was on his way over to the Cullen's after leaving from the bogus accident report. Carlisle had called him and plans were made for him and a co-worker to come to the Cullen house to make a police report.
Charlie was not pleased at the entire situation.
Well, what he knew of the situation, anyway.
At first, Charlie was upset and angry that Bella had left the house without telling him to go over to the Cullen house, where Edward was, but after learning that Jake grabbed her and forced her out of her home- that was different.
He was fuming.
Then, when he heard that Bella had been injured all else was forgotten and he was panicked trying get there.
"So, let's talk about some things before Charlie arrives, shall we?" Carlisle asked and when everyone nodded and was in agreement and so he continued. "When did your arm start to disappear?" He had a notebook before him and was ready to start writing notes.
Bella cinched her eyebrows together in thought. She was trying to recall when everything happened, when it was first noticeable.
She couldn't place the what, when, or where… or the how.
It's a conundrum.
"I can't remember."
"Okay, let's take it step by step from our point of view," She tapped her head, "and you can pop in when you want."
So, that's what they did for the next half hour, until the knock at the door interrupted them.
"Let's keep that bit of info about your arm and such, to ourselves, for now, alright?" Carlisle said with a smile, "I don't want Charlie too overwhelmed."
Bella nodded, knowing that Charlie was not really one to accept crazy overly well.
"But lately it does seem that I add a level of excitement to his boring life." Bella laughed, rolling her eyes.
The Cullen's agreed.
The door was opened and Charlie stood, face lined with worry in full police uniform with another cop Bella recognized as Eric Yorkie right behind him. Charlie's eyes went straight to his daughter and when he saw her he swiftly strode through the room and pulled her up and away from Edward to hug her.
Bella groaned, pulling her injured hand back into the safety around her torso and away from Edward. Charlie hugged her before she fell flat on her face.
It was awkward.
Charlie was not much of a hugger and in full police gear she felt each bit of sharp and pointy piece of his uniform embedding into her form.
"Owe, old man,"
"I can't help it," he laughed, giving one more squeeze before she was able to pull back enough to push off of him. She glared at his night stick and prickly badge. She was sure there was an imprint of it on her cheek.
"Sorry. I'm so glad you're safe," he breathed, but hitched, of course "You gave me quite a scare."
"Well," she scoffed, "You haven't heard anything yet."
"Maybe we should all have a seat, then?" Carlisle asked, but it was more like a statement. He gestured toward the couches. He gestured to the other officer where he could sit, but the man declined and stood there off to the side, observing.
"So," Bella sighed, playing with her hair and avoiding looking at Charlie's glare when she sat down next to Edward instead of him.
Edward was beaming, but avoiding the screaming inside his head.
Charlie's screaming.
But he showed up and he was willing to hear everything out, at least.
Maybe he would have a softer heart coming away from the Cullen house.
Edward could only hope.
Bella looked over to the other cop, finding it odd that the guy looked so horribly uncomfortable and started the story.
"So, I was in bed," Bella started, completely avoiding the whole, 'Edward just left' part. "And there was a knock on the door. I got dressed and saw that it was Jake. So of course I opened the door-"
Charlie instantly looked livid.
"Yeah, so imagine my surprise when he grabbed me, pulled me away from the house and dragged me into the woods. Fun." She said sarcastically.
"Sounds like it." Charlie said gruffly.
"He carried me like a ragdoll because he didn't think that anyone could find him, that way."
Charlie was frowning under his stasche. Not that you could tell. "Where was he going to take you?"
"Hell if I know! I told him to put me down, that I was pressing charges. It didn't faze him at all, especially when he decided to get naked. That was not something I wanted to see, Daddy!" Bella wailed. "Oh, and of course I forgot the pepper spray! Who knew I would need it answering the front door!"
Bella huffed, folding her arms across her chest and wincing with the sudden rush of pain.
"So why was he taking you into the woods?" The other cop asked, surprising everyone.
"He wanted to, uh-" She was at a loss for words. What to say to the human cop who couldn't know the truth. "Imprint," She whispered. "Basically make me his girlfriend."
All eyes were on the other cop and Charlie, but Charlie spoke up, "Was he successful, with his… uh, will?"
"No, he wasn't, thank goodness! Gross. And he said you would welcome us being together. That's a pipe dream. I am so not going there."
"I never said I wanted the two of you together! It's just as much as I want this to happen." He waved between Bella and Edward. Edward looked at Alice and she was grinning, giving him thoughts of Charlie and him laughing together someday. Just to ease his fears.
"Let's get back on track." Officer Yorkie said.
"Yes." Charlie agreed. "So Black is carrying you but you must have got on your feet at some point because you're all cut up."
"Funny little jab." She said without humor. "Yes, he put me down, but I couldn't get around him in order to get home. So I ran zigzagged like you told me to, just in case he had a gun or whatever."
"Good girl."
"Ultimately, he knew the Cullen's were coming."
"How did the Cullen's know to come or where you were?" The other officer interjected.
"She was on the phone with me," Alice interrupted. She gave Charlie a winning, yet creepy smile.
He shuddered and nodded, looking away with the answer.
Apparently he was affected by the vampires.
Interesting.
"And Jake sent his pack, er… friends to her house to try to intercept us when they got disconnected." Carlisle said calmly. "Luckily, they heard her scream-"
"Because Jake was taking off his pants! That would make anyone want to scream."
Alice and Rosalie nodded in agreement.
All conversations stopped the moment Esme opened the door with a smile on her face. She waltzed into the room with groceries on either side of her body. "What did I miss?" She greeted Charlie and then gave him a six pack of beer, then did the same to Charlie's partner.
…
Edward sat at Bella's side the whole night, only leaving briefly when his family wanted to talk.
They were curious about Bella and the fact that she had all of these odd traits.
Carlisle was practically salivating of the entire possible gift she would possess in vampire form. That was until Esme reminded them of the Volturi and how much Aro would want to possess her.
That put a stop to any and all conversations in that direction.
Edward was beside himself.
He was adamant that she would have to remain human.
Little did he know it really wouldn't be up to him.
"When the sun comes up, I want to check out the site, but I think Charlie is going to want Bella close with him." Edward sighed.
"Yeah, Charlie isn't really thinking like a cop right now after the whole Jake and Bella incident." Jasper said.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, you know that wild hair I got when I went through the NYPD academy?"
"Yeah, that was awesome. Who knew that tracer rounds had a little sting, eh?" Emmett snickered while the others laughed lightly.
"Yeah," Jasper ran his hand through his light blond curls. "I had no idea they had that bit of flame to them when they hit their target. I think I still have a mark.
"Fire is not your friend, Jasper." Alice shook her head. She had tried to warn him.
"Well, like I was saying, I had to go through the academy and the other officer, Yorkie, was saying there were minimal charges here. I disagree. Kidnapping is a felony. When Jake grabbed Bella that was assault, a misdemeanor, unless it is in conjunction with a felony- the kidnapping. So it would be a felony. Jake Black, if she presses charges, will be looking at some time for his little stunt."
"Don't forget the exhibitionism." Emmett piped in.
Jasper nodded his head, "That would be misdemeanor indecent exposure, though it could be elevated."
Edward let out a soft whistle. "Maybe we could use this to our advantage because there is no way Billy Black is going to be able to afford to get him properly represented."
"What do you see if anything, Alice?"
Alice shook her head. "Nothing has been decided, so nothing. I do see us going to the woods though but Bella isn't with us."
Edward frowned but nodded.
"It's ironic that all of this started with Jake's idiocy, thinking that Bella was fated to him and now Jake's fate is in Bella's hands." Rosalie snickered.
The other Cullen's agreed.
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I have to do some Pokemon raiding, apparently. Husband says. LOL