Hi again. Chapter 7, wow! Here you go... Enjoy. Just a quick thanks to anyone who has reviewed – thanx for the compliments, they have really helped boost my confidence that what I'm writing is not too awful, and I'll bear in mind any constructive criticism and advice. Thanx again.
Disclaimer: Standard – I do not own any of these characters at all. They are all Stephenie Meyers – maybe I need to start making my own characters up. Hmm.
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Chapter 7
Money
"Jake, you must NOT tell Charlie ANY of your legends. Please". Nearly a whole week had gone by, and during that time I had gone once with Edward to see Charlie. This was meant to put aside my fears, but it had just increased them. We had found Charlie on the internet, looking up about werewolves, as all he really knew was that Jacob could phase and I was rock hard. Oh, and I was as cold as ice. That would seem a good starting point, and it was unlikely that he would find anything close to the truth, but I was still concerned. What if someone told him about the cold ones, as the Quileute legends refer to us? So, as soon as we had escaped I ran straight to Jacob.
"Calm Bell." He said, shocked at the panic in my voice. "I've already told Billy not to tell Charlie anything; he would never put Charlie at risk like that. You of all people should know that." Jacob tried to calm me down with his words, but it hadn't worked a bit.
"What about Sam, Embry, Quil? What if they tell him?" I slumped down against the wall in despair. I could feel my shield changing, as if I was breathing into a paper bag. For the moment I didn't really care, but I stored it in my mind for later; why was my shield doing this? It was as if I couldn't control it anymore!
"Bella, you're stressing out. Please relax!" Jacob said, now starting to sound slightly worried. I took a deep breath, of course, it didn't help me at all, but it felt good. Then I could feel a calm, almost numbing sensation creep over me. I looked over at the front door and saw Jasper coming in with Edward. I relaxed a little bit; It was unavoidable with Jasper around.
"Hey." I said quietly, looking at the floor. Of course, I knew Edward would be anxious if he knew how stressed out I was, but there wasn't much I could do about that now, too late to sort my shield out.
Edward reached down and pulled me into his arms, so that he was actually carrying me up the stairs. He kissed me as he reached his room, if I hadn't been so stressed out I would have laughed; I had a sudden memory of the night I had become engaged. I wondered if Charlie was a bigger problem than Victoria's army of vampires. I have to admit; from my point of view it was very close.
Edward kissed me again, pushing me onto the bed. I sighed, and pushed him off. I could tell when there was something he wasn't telling me. "What's happened now?" I asked, worry back in my voice. He sighed, and pulled me so I was lying on his chest. He looked slightly reluctant to tell me, so I assumed it would not be good news. Finally deciding it was not something he could hold back he sighed.
"Charlie is using his resources at the police station to do a little investigating. He's began to wonder where our money is coming from, thinking it may be part of the secret." He laughed. "After all, how can one doctor's salary keep a family of nine of us going, with enough left to buy anything else we desire?" He laughed, referring to my car locked in the garage. I didn't find this new revelation amusing in the slightest. Edward was just pretending he didn't care surely? Just to keep me calm I guess, typical Edward. I felt like I could scream at him. How could he even attempt to take this so light heartedly? Of course, my vampire brain was telling me he was just doing it because he loved me, but shouldn't he be a little more serious.
There was silence, whilst I just lay there, deep in thought. I really needed a way out of this nightmare, preferably one that didn't result in Charlie's death. What wasI going to do?
"Where does the money come from?" I asked, now fully calm and just a little bit curious. Edward laughed. "I don't really know myself; Carlisle takes care of the finances. Some of it comes from Carlisle's job, a little bit comes from the Volturi..." He stopped when I sat up and stared at him bewildered. He laughed. "Yea, they give large covens like ours some money in exchange for keeping the secret. Of course, I don't know how we couldn't keep it. Anyway, you get the idea. The rest I believe comes from Alice. It's always handy in the stock market when you know exactly which ones will be worth the most money within a year's time." I laughed for the first time today.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Alice came in. She stuck her tongue out at Edward, who was already in on whatever Alice wanted to say. The look of excitement on Edwards face was not a good sign. "There's going to be a storm later. I think Bella needs a taste of Baseball, vampire style."
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Thanx for reading. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Don't forget to review.
