Chapter 5
We were in Forks for three years, I had just graduated high school while Rosalie and Emmett were in there first year at the community college there, when we had a bit of a confrontation with the La Push tribe's shape shifters. We were out hunting, all of us, when we were confronted by them.
The pack was getting ready to pounce on us, there were four of them, but since I opened myself up to read all of the thoughts around me I knew that they were going to kill us to protect their tribe. "Wait." I shouted with my hands up. They paused briefly but then continued towards us. "No, please stop. We are not like the others of our kind. We do not hunt humans, we drink the blood of animals, look at our eyes, they are gold, not red like those who drink from human. Please listen to me we are not murders." I begged. I had walked to stand in front of my family and reading their thoughts told me how much they were all fearing for my life, although Emmett was looking forward to a fight.
The leader thought towards me, 'You are a mind reading leech?'
I nodded my head at him but then said, "I am but no one else in my family is and I am not the leader of our family so if you could please return to your human form so you and Carlisle could talk that would be greatly appreciated."
None of the wolves were happy about this and after arguing about it the alpha went into a heavily covered area and then returned in his human form.
"So tell me, why should we not kill you all?" He asked.
"Because as my daughter said, we are not murderers, we are different from others of our kind. I am sure that we can come to some sort of agreement. We only hunt animals and have been able to live amongst humans for many decades without harm, some of us centuries." Carlisle said stepping up next to me. Emmett came to flank his other side in case a fight did break out.
"That is all very nice but even though you resist your nature does not mean that you won't slip one day and we will not risk that happening to our people, we are their protectors and do not wish to fail them." The alpha said and the other wolves nodded their heads in agreement.
"Well what if we came up with a treaty. We can make a line that we will not cross and you do not hunt vampires on our side. We respect the lives of humans so if that means not coming on your land then so be it." Carlisle said.
"That sounds like it could work. But if you bite a human while you are here then the treaty is over and the hunt will be on." He said.
"I understand. You know that you must keep our existence a secret and cannot tell humans about us. If you do and our rulers found out it means an instant death sentence for you and the people you tell and if we find out before them then we are to take care of the problem and all of my family would like to avoid having to kill anyone." Carlisle said.
"Well I think that we understand each other. This is far enough away from our reservation that should be safe. We can make the line here, keeping it the same distance from our reservation in a circle. We can take you through to show you the line." He said.
We followed them, we made sure to stay on our own side of the treaty line. All of us in our family, except Emmett, were glad that we were able to get away without a fight, though a lot of the wolves wished for the fight as well. When we returned home, since it was night time, we split up and went separate ways. The couples went to their respected rooms and I went to mine and grabbed a book and then went to read in this amazing meadow that I had found during one of my hunting trips. No one in my family knew about it, it was where I went to be alone and think. I read until the sun rose. When I arrived back at our house, the one that I really felt like was home, I found that Carlisle had already left for work, Rosalie and Emmett were talking about another honeymoon since Rosalie wanted to do another wedding, and Esme was cleaning the house even though it was already spotless. I did see Esme smile when I entered the house and she gave me a small nod of welcome even though she did not turn to face me. I went up to my room and changed into fresh clothing.
When I went back down stairs Emmett and Rosalie were gone. "Where did they go?" I asked Esme as she turned to me and smiled.
"They went on another hunt since they didn't get to satisfy their thirst after our little encounter last night. It is giving us some bonding time if you would like." Esme said.
"Sure, I would love some more bonding time with you, we hardly get time alone anymore." I said bounding up to her.
"So what would you like to do?" She asked with a huge smile on her face.
"Hmm, how about we play a game of war." I said. We long ago decided to make the game a little more exciting by playing with four decks put together.
"Sounds good to me, we haven't played that in a long time. I would like that." Esme said walking into the family room and grabbing the decks of cards.
We played all through the day, four games total. We both won two games each. We were sorting the cards into the four separate decks when Rosalie and Emmett came rushing in the door and right up to their room with barely even a hello in our direction.
"Well, I guess we know that it is the evening." Esme chuckled as she got up and took the decks of cards to put them away.
"Yeah, I guess it is." I said looking to the stairs that they flashed up just seconds ago. "Carlisle should be home any minute." I then said as I stood up.
"Yes he should be but you know we can just hang out with you tonight, we don't have to do the same as what Emmett and Rosalie are doing." She said looking to me.
"You guys already hang out with me during the nights a lot. I am a big girl, technically a grown up and not to mention a lot older than the two of you." I said to her.
"We don't mind Bella, you know that." She said coming to give me a little hug.
"I will be fine, I can read, or write in my journal. I could go for a run. I can take care and entertain myself." I reassured her.
I went up to my room and was just pulling out my latest journal as I heard Carlisle enter the house and then I heard him and Esme walk to their room, they paused at my door for a few seconds on their way. I wrote all the stuff that happened to me and our family since I last wrote in it. Don't ask me why but I really enjoyed having everything written down even though I can remember it all perfectly. After I had gotten caught up I went for a run. I really didn't pay attention to where exactly I ran, I just let go and went full out, taking in the scenery. When I arrived home Emmett was the only one in the house.
"And where were you little sister?" Emmett asked me. We had a better relationship than what Rosalie and I did, though that one was improving as well.
"Well if you really must know brother bear, I went for a nice long run. Where is everybody else?" I asked him.
"Oh, well Carlisle is at work and Rosalie and Esme went shopping for a new bed for us, we kind of broke it last night. Is there a reason behind this run?" He asked wagging his eyebrows.
"Ugh, grow up Emmett, you are stuck at twenty, not five." I said as I flopped onto the couch next to him. "I just went for a run, to stretch my legs and let loose, you know we all get annoyed after a while of having to act human all the time."
"Alright Bells, I was just joking. So since it is just the two of us here today, what would you like to do?" He asked turning to face me excitedly, I could tell without even reading his thoughts what he was hoping we would do.
"I don't know Emmett, what would you like to do?" I said preparing.
"How about a wrestling match!" He exclaimed shooting up.
"Fine, but outside, we are not ruining the inside of another house, Esme will be furious if we do." I said, I then dashed out to our back yard with Emmett hot on my heels.
Emmett tried to pounce on me from behind but I had opened myself up to his thoughts and knew what he was going to do so I side stepped just in time and saw him fly past me. "No far, that's cheating!" He exclaimed when he shot back up and turned to face me.
"Hey you never classified that I could not read your mind." I said raising my hands in front of me in peace with a chuckle.
"Ok, no more reading my mind." He said.
"Alright Emmett, whatever you say." I said with a sly smile.
I don't think that he noticed my smile since when he charged at me again I just threw up my physical shield three inches in front of me. "Come on Bella that is so not far. No using any of your gifts." He said while he stomped his foot.
"Whoa, Em, did you just stomp your foot? I thought only little girls did that." I said while trying to control my laughing.
"Well if you played fair I wouldn't of had to do that." He said with a slight pout.
"Ok, ok I will stop using my gifts but you knew that I had them before you even challenged me." I said as I prepared myself by getting in a defensive crouch.
Emmett got in a crouch as well and then attacked me. After three hours I had won both of our wrestling matches. Esme and Rosalie returned home so we ended our fun. Emmett went sulking to Rosalie.
"What's wrong?" She asked him when he got to her.
"Nothing." He mumbled.
"Why don't I believe that?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"I beat him wrestling twice." I said as I walked in the house behind them. Rosalie looked at me and gave me a quick smile, then she turned to comfort her husband.
"She cheated, she had to of somehow, there is no way that she could have won twice in a row." He pouted to Rosalie.
"I did not Emmett, if I was using my gifts I would have beaten you several more times in the three hours, not just twice." I said. "Plus you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near to hitting me as many times as you did." I added.
"But then how were you able to beat me? I am a lot stronger than you." He asked me.
"Yes you are but do you not remember that I am a lot older than you and that I am a Volturi in all technicalities so I have been trained to battle. Plus, you are very predictable, you attack just like a newborn, you just rely on your strength, you don't think logically of the best ways to take your opponent off guard." I said while I sat down on the couch.
Emmett and Rosalie sat on the other one and Emmett laid his head in Rosalie's lap. "She has a point Emmett." Esme said from upstairs.
"Thanks a lot mom, I thought parents were supposed to stick up for the youngest, not the oldest." He said sitting up and looking towards the stairs.
Esme appeared at the top and looked down at all of us. "I am just stating the facts, plus in a way Bella is the youngest."
"No she's not. She is over four hundred years old." He complained.
"In that aspect she is the oldest of everyone in our family but she is the one stuck at the youngest age. You are twenty forever, Rosalie is nineteen, and Bella is stuck at eighteen." Esme said as she walked down and then sat next to me and patted my knee.
"Thank you mom." I said as I leaned my head on her shoulder.
"You are welcome sweetheart." She said as she started playing with my hair a little. I loved when she did that. Rosalie did a little sigh. I didn't have to read her mind to know what was going through it. Rosalie was the one in our family who truly hated what we were, though having Emmett has gotten her to deal with it better she still hates it. Rosalie wished to have a child and now that is all that she longs for. Esme and I really act a lot like mother and daughter and seeing it all the time makes it harder for Rosalie. I always feel bad but there is nothing that I can do about it now.
Emmett sensing his wife's change in emotion sat up and grabbed her hand. "Come on babe, let's mess up the bed more before the new one comes."
She got a sly smile on her face and nodded. Emmett threw her over his shoulder and took off as fast as he could up the stairs, Rosalie giggled the whole way.
"New bed comes tomorrow so control the wreckage." Esme said a little louder to make sure that they heard.
"Okay mom." They both said.
"How about we go for a hunt? Carlisle is going to stay at the hospital and work through the night, seems there was a big accident or something. I called him right when we got in." She said turning to me.
"Ok. Sounds good to me. After wrestling with Emmett I am rather thirsty." I said as I stood up.
I took off out of the house with Esme right on my tail. When we reached the inside of the woods I stopped. Esme came to a stop right next to me and looked at me with a little worried look on her face. Before she could say anything I said, "So where do you want to go to hunt? It was your idea so you can choose."
Esme's face relaxed and I heard a very faint sigh from her before she said, "Oh well, do you want to run up to Canada, I told Carlisle that we might go for a hunt and I left a note just in case we decided to go further away. Or we could go to the east. I think I would rather Canada though."
"I said we could go where you wanted to go. Canada is perfectly fine by me." I said as I took off again without waiting for her response. I did hear her chuckle and then I heard her gentle foot falls following me.
We went at least two hundred miles into Canada. As we ran we talked for a while about what has been going on for each other since our last major alone time and while we hunted I watched her, it was amazing even though I know Esme is indestructible and all and I have seen her hunt before, but it all still shocked me to watch her. She was so graceful and sometimes I feared she would get hurt even though I knew it wasn't possible. As we ran home the next evening we ran in silence, I like that about our relationship, we were comfortable in each other's presence without having to fill the silence with chatter. I did a lot of thinking, continuing on my thoughts that I had the night of my run. Before we reached the house I made up my mind.
Our next move was quickly approaching and I decided that I was going to go my own way, for a couple years, to let the couples not have to guard their actions around me for awhile. I always feel guilty when Carlisle and Esme spend the evenings with me or I see them start to get close and then quickly pull away. I knew from listening into Carlisle's thoughts that he was thinking of going to Chicago again so at least I would know where they would be when I was ready to return home.
I was happy to see that Carlisle was home when we returned to the house. Emmett and Rosalie were throwing around a baseball in the back yard. As Esme and I ran in between them, I grabbed the ball mid air and continued for the house. I quickly threw it at Emmett as I hit the back steps and he started to complain, it hit him in the side of the head and Rosalie and I started laughing while Esme looked at me with a quick look of disapproval and then chuckled.
Esme went and sat next to Carlisle on the couch. I cleared my throat as I stood in front of them to get their attention. I was scared out of my mind to tell them what I was about to do, I knew that it would hurt them and I really didn't want to do that but I felt like I had to go out on my own for a while.
When they turned their attention to me I started, "Carlisle, Esme. Mom, Dad, I have done a lot of thinking and I have decided that it is time for me to go off on my own for a while." I said in a rush looking down to the floor, I didn't want to see the hurt in their eyes.
I heard Esme gasp and then she quickly asked, "Bella, honey, was there something that we did wrong? Why do you want to leave? Please don't leave us." She was holding on to me for dear life.
"Bella, I am sure we can talk about this and figure something out so you will stay with us." Carlisle said coming to join us and hugging me as well.
"I am not leaving you guys forever, it is just for a couple years at most. I just want you four to be able to have couple time whenever you want without having to fear for how I am going to react and handle it. I just want to give you guys time to enjoy each other fully. You two give up so many nights to hang out with me. And don't think I don't see the looks that all four of you guys give me when you think I am not looking. I see the pity looks and then the looks that you wish I would find my mate." I explained while trying to get out of their grip.
"Bella you really don't have to do that. We love hanging out with you and not every couple is like Rosalie and Emmett. We don't have to be active that way every night that the two of us are home." Esme said. Carlisle nodded his agreement though I could tell he was getting closer to letting me go, he understood how I felt and how I was thinking.
"Listen, I love you guys and I know that you love me too but I feel like this is what I need to do for you guys now. I promise I will be back, it isn't that I am running away forever. Think of this as me rebellious stage since I am still technically a teenager. And Carlisle, I really am not rebelling, I will stick to the diet, you know how I feel about killing humans. I am just going to do some travelling. I know you are planning on going to Chicago when you leave here and I promise I will see you there before the next major move takes place." I said as I finally got myself free from their hold.
"Ok, we do understand why you want to go and we are sorry for the looks, we just want you to find your happiness too. For so long you have been not really alone, but solo. You deserve to find your mate." Carlisle said.
"Well who knows, maybe I will find my mate while I am out on my own." I said as I headed for the front door.
"Aren't you going to take anything with you?" Esme asked looking like he was going to cry if she could.
"I have the major things that I need in my pockets. I have a generous amount of money with me and I have all my account information so I can take more out when needed. I will see you all soon. Please tell Emmett and Rosalie that I will miss them and that I will be back." I said.
"We will though I wish you would do that yourself. And just so you know, we will have a room for you and all set up like you like it in our next house for when you decide to come home to us." Esme said.
"You know if I do Emmett won't let me go. He is such an over protective big brother." I said with a chuckle. They both laughed as well.
"Be safe Bella and come back soon." I heard Esme say as I was running throw the woods. I knew that when Emmett found out he would try to follow my trail so I left lots of false trails and then took off towards the south.
