Uninvited

Uninvited

Sings "No more midterms! No more midterms!" Wow, sorry. I'm a bit hyper right now... Anyway, here is the next chapter. It's nice to finally be able to give this story the attention it has been demanding. I probably sound a little crazy, but it's been playing in my head for days. And yes, this was originally the title of Chapter 11, but I realized after posting it that it did not fit very well.

Disclaimer: To quote my cousin and myself: Me: "I want an Edward!" Her: "Well, I want a Jake… No, wait. I want an Edward too!" Unfortunately, neither of us is likely to get her wish. Edward belongs solely to Bella, who belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

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They warily exited the shelter of the forest, their thoughts focused on what they hoped to find. They knew we were a large group, and that coming into our territory like this was risky, but it had been far too long since they had run into any of our kind. Like humans, our kind get lonely, and wish to see others who are like them. It is a hunger my family understands all too well, existing as we do; an anomaly in the vampire world. How ironic. We are anomalies among even those whose very nature is an abnormality.

The first to enter our clearing was a very nondescript man, and he fell back immediately as he caught sight of us. He and the woman behind him oriented themselves around the final member of their group. It was odd. Their behavior tried to show that the dark haired man led them, but their thoughts… Their thoughts said something different. I had never seen a non- vegetarian vampire give up even the illusion that he ruled his coven, but that is exactly what this one did. I could not hear why.

The approached us cautiously. Their gait was that of nearly every other coven I had seen—graceful, but catlike in its predatory nature, with their thoughts focused on evaluating our reactions; ready to approach, fight, or flee as the occasion warranted. They had obviously spent a long time in the forest—they looked like a group of hikers that had been lost for days.

Carlisle stepped forward, vigilant. My brothers, the most physically impressive of us, stood to either side of him, letting their body language show who led us, and displaying subtle evidence of their strength and confidence. Among my kind, much like humans, first impressions mean more than they should. Our best chance of avoiding a fight came from showing our strength. Had I not been so focused on protecting Bella, I would have been beside them all, adding my strength to theirs. As it was, the sight clearly impressed the others.

They quickly straightened out of their predatory stances, showing that they did not mean to attack us.

How did they group up so quickly? The first wondered. We were running. They can't have heard us from very far away, and they shouldn't have been able to be so prepared for us. I wasn't hoping for a fight, but with them all together they might decide to take us on. Especially if they think we're hunting their range. Let them think we just want to play.

The woman's eyes shifted rapidly between the loose grouping around Bella and the group that stood in front of her, wondering why I had not joined the other males of my group.

Slowly, the dark haired man stepped forward. "We thought we heard a game," he said, his voice betraying the slightest of French accents. He was more relaxed than the other members of his coven. They outnumber us two to one. There's no reason to provoke anything. "I'm Laurent, these are Victoria and James." A slight gesture followed each name.

Don't call attention to individuals. If they think we are less than unified the situation could spiral out of control very rapidly. We have to keep Bella safe. "I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella." His casual gestures encompassed each group even as he spoke. Behind me, I felt Bella start slightly. Had she been surprised that Carlisle included her name in his family? Or was she frightened that he'd called attention to her? I wished I had a way of knowing.

Laurent caught the subtle difference in the introduction very quickly. Family? They must live relatively close to the humans if he uses terms like that without any hesitation. If only he knew….

"Do you have room for a few more players?"

"Actually," Carlisle said, his voice friendly, "we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning to stay in the area for long?" Please say no…. Carlisle, understandably, never enjoyed being too close to other groups of our kind.

I could feel my brother exerting his talent, working to keep the influence subtle while he forced the tense atmosphere to relax. He wanted this to end in a fight less than any of us. He knew, first hand, what it was like. I refused to let it work on me, keeping my tense vigil in front of Bella.

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the area. We haven't run into any company in a long time."

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves."

"What's your hunting range?" Even without my talent, the assumption behind that statement was obvious.

Carlisle ignored it, and answered the question honestly. "The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another settlement like ours up near Denali."

That shocked Laurent out of his calm façade. He rocked back on his heels. "Permanent? How do you manage that?" We're lucky to stay in any one place for more than a few weeks. I'd love to hear how they manage not to draw attention to themselves and their prey.

I fought down a snarl when I heard that. It would do no good, and possibly quite a bit of harm, to let them know about my talent. Snarling for no reason would only raise the question unnecessarily. I prayed that Carlisle would find a way to get them out of the clearing so that I could get Bella out. I needed to get her out before they caught her scent. I feared that she would be irresistable to them.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?" Carlisle invited pleasantly, giving me my chance. "It's a rather long story." That was certainly an understatement.

Home? They have been too close to humans for too long…

"That sounds very interesting, and welcome." Laurent said, his smile warm, but still somehow predatory. "We've been on the hunt all the way down from Ontario, and we haven't had a chance to clean up in a while." Being clean would do wonders, right now.

"Please don't take offense," my father said calmly, "but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand." Our defined range is, sadly, all I can realistically ask. Hopefully, they won't go anywhere near the Quileute lands. I cannot tell them about the treaty any more than the Quileutes can tell the humans about us. Breaking the treaty now would do little for our reputation with them, and they might actually get some of the others to look too closely at us if they start talking about us.

"Of course," Laurent responded, agreeable. "We certainly won't encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway," he laughed, and I was suddenly bombarded by images of their last hunt, and memories of how sweet the blood had been. It made my control slip for a single instant. And then I heard Bella's shudder from where she stood, still shielded from their sight by my body. It pulled the monster back under control faster than I'd ever dreamed possible.

With my mind reeling from yet another brush with disaster, I hardly noticed that Carlisle was giving Bella and me our chance to escape even as he spoke.

"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us—Emmett and Alice, you can go with Edward and Bella to get the Jeep." I'm not happy about separating us like that, but if things go wrong, those three have the best chance of getting her out of here. Alice will see any changes to their plans and Emmett is strong enough to make them pause. Edward won't leave her side. It was a perfect plot, and I silently thanked any diety that might have been listening for it.

And then the breeze betrayed us. It shifted suddenly, ruffling Bella's hair, and spreading her irresistible scent to every corner of the field. I tensed even as Alice did, catching her newest vision. They were going to hunt my Bella. I would not allow that. The second man lurched forward, taking a single involuntary step forward, and sank into an instinctual crouch. All of his thoughts were focused on my Bella—how she would taste, the terror in her eyes as she realized she would not escape him. The satisfaction he would feel when she was gone.

I had no chance to think myself. My impulses took over, and I found my own pose mirroring his, a slight varriation evident in our postures. Mine was protective where his was predatory. A growl ripped itself from my throat as my body prepared to leap at him, prepared to protect the frail human that stood behind me.

"What's this?" Laurent exclaimed, surprise painfully evident in every syllable. He had not yet caught enough of her scent to understand what was happening. Mon Dieu, (1) what does James think he's doing?

Neither James nor I dared relax our tensed poses, for we both knew that the first to show weakness would lose. Instead, he feinted to the side, hoping to draw me into attacking him and exposing Bella. I merely pivoted to keep my body between his and hers.

"She's with us," Carlisle said firmly, his attention focused on James. He was calm, confident; centuries of experience in the hospital enabling him to keep a level head in almost any situation.

It was then that Laurent finally caught Bella's scent fully, finally figured out what it was. She smells like a human…. Je ne comprends pas…. (2)

"You brought a snack?" he asked, beyond incredulous, as he took his own involuntary step closer.

The snarl ripped even more ferociously from my throat. I am not entirely sure what he saw in my eyes, but it frightened him, and he took a cautious step away from us again. Incroyable…. (3)

"I said she's with us." Carlisle restated his voice colder than I'd ever heard it. They're threatening my family. I cannot allow them to threaten my family. Carlisle knew that our chances of getting Bella out of this clearing alive were diminishing the longer we stood here. He would not abandon her, because he knew that I loved her. She was, therefore, family. To him, she was worth the fight. The relief that swept though me in that moment was staggering. I had known, of course, that Carlisle's opinion meant a lot to me, but I had been unprepared to see how good that opinion really was. It was wonderful to be shown, once again, that my family would do anything for me and, by extention, the girl I loved. They all felt that way, even Rosalie. And I knew that, just as they would do anything for me, I would do the same for them.

"But she's human," Laurent protested, interrupting my thoughts. He was completely unable to fathom our desire to be near a human we weren't hunting.

Emmett chose that moment to call attention back to himself, standing at our father's side. "Yes," he stated, calm like only those who are truly dangerous can be. He did not need to make his strength or his willingness to use it obvious, it just was. It did what Jasper's talent and Carlisle's calm could not do. His eyes were focused on James, and the other vampire slowly realized that he would be foolish to press his attack. Between Emmett and me, he knew he had no chance. He was also beginning to suspect that the rest of us would not hesitate to join the fight. His eyes never left my Bella, though, still weighing his chances of getting her and getting away. Eventually, he acknowledged the futility of such an undertaking.

Ce n'est pas possible! (4) I never even noticed their eyes! Ils sont plus different que ce que je pensais! (5) I think I've heard of them. I thought they were just a story.

"It appears we have a lot to learn about one another," he said, his tone soothing, as though he hoped to diffuse some of the tension between our two groups. Like how your eyes are so different. I don't believe all the talk of dinking only animal blood. There must be some other explanation. And I'd love to hear how such a large coven can be so near a human, and why they'd even want to be.

"Indeed," Carlisle replied, his tone still cool.

"But we'd like to accept your invitation," Laurent continued. His eyes flickered between me and the man I consider my father, his thoughts focused on the puzzle we represented. "And, of course, we will not harm the human girl. We will not hunt in your range, as I said."

James glared in disbelief at Laurent, frustration clear in every line of his countenance. He could not challenge the statement now, though, not without ruining the charade that Laurent led their coven.

He is crazy if he thinks I'm going to go along with that for very much longer. I want her. I always get what I want. This is going to be the most amusing hunt yet. The bronze- haired one won't leave her side, and all of the others will protect him. It will be a wonderful challenge to track her and avoid them. The best hunt I've ever had. And the reward! She smells so sweet….

Carlisle, meanwhile, was measuring Laurent's expression, testing his honesty. We have to get Bella out of here. She is going to get hurt, or Edward will, protecting her. "We'll show you the way. Jasper, Rosalie, Esme?"

My family separated then, one group surrounding Carlisle, while Alice appeared at Bella's side, her mind turned to the future, and Emmett fell back slowly, his eyes on James especially.

I was drowning in the agony of what I was, of what I had done, and it was much harder than it should have been to speak. I had put Bella at risk again, because of what I was. Because I was selfish. And because I was selfish, I could not bear to let her go. I knew I'd never forgive myself if she got hurt. "Let's go, Bella."

I had a feeling she'd hate me anyway, once she found out what I was going to do.

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(1) French, "My God…"

(2) French "I do not understand…."

(3) French, "Incredible…."

(4) French, "It is not possible!"

(5) French, "They are more different than I thought!"

Does that make up for the last chapter at all? It is almost twice as long, and I hope I conveyed what Edward was thinking during this scene.

Please let me know what you think. I can't fix anything I don't see.

Also, there is a poll posted on my profile about an upcoming chapter. I would appreciate your input. It will remain up until I reach the chapter in question.

Thank you for reading.