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6. Denali
Arriving at the living room five pairs of curious eyes looked at my face. Rose was standing right behind me. "Don't do something stupid," she whispered in my ear, touching gently my left shoulder. Alice got up from the sofa and walked gracefully towards me. She glanced into my eyes. "Clam down, Bella. Edward will be back in a few days. He decided to invite Tanya and her coven to your wedding; but before that he had to check with Tanya's sister Irina the annoying issue concerning Laurent. She was more involved with him than we knew. His death was a shock for her. So Irina had wanted revenge and fought the wolves; but Carlisle hadn't allowed this to her because of the treaty. You remember; they had even denied their help at the time Victoria had attacked," Alice informed me. I nodded. That sounded logically; but the feeling dispreading in my stomach put me at unease. Suddenly I shook my head. "Alice, do you know about my dream?" I asked. The others looked confused at us; but Alice nodded. "It was just a dream. Not nice; but still only a dream," she smiled at me. "No," I countered confidently. "That won't be the first time parts of my dream become true. He's too important for me. I can't only wait and see. I love him. He's my life," I breathed. Now Carlisle tried to calm me, confirming what Alice had already said. While he talked at me Alice gave Rose an angry glance, something mumbling about, "That's the second time. How could you do this again?" I eyed the living room, struggling to clear my mind. "So, what are you afraid of, Bella?" Carlisle suddenly questioned. I looked at him terrified and a slight feeling of embarrassment came to me. Then Alice's lips moved so quickly I couldn't understand what she was reporting to Carlisle; but I guessed she was telling him about my recent nightmare.
Carlisle gave me a fatherly glance and pulled out of his pocket a tiny cell phone. "Bella," he said in a quiet voice. "Call Edward; he'll explain everything himself to you." I reached out my hand for the tiny, silver phone; but suddenly I was afraid of Edward could tell me something I didn't want to hear or even worse – he could hang up. I hesitated for a short moment. Then I swallowed hard and gripped the phone. It looked exactly like Edward's one and was already dialing the number – his number. I held the phone to my ear in expectation of his voice; but nobody answered it. Suddenly there was an unfamiliar woman's voice, clam, melodically, almost singing, "Hello?" the voice said. "Oh, this is Bella," I answered, surprised it wasn't him. "May I talk to Edward, please," I demanded. "I'm sorry. He isn't here right now. He's hunting with Tanya." "Only with Tanya?" I couldn't stop myself. "Of course," the voice answered, "since he has arrived." "Oh, thanks," I muttered. "I'll call him later again, bye." "Bye." The line was dead.
Hadn't Edward already been hunting for the last few days? I wondered. And why this woman had answered his phone? Usually he switched it off while he was hunting; but he kept it with him. Something was moving the wrong way and it was my job to find out what exactly it was. My pulse was quickened and a strange kind of ache spread out in my chest. I could hardly breathe, gripping Rosalie's arm. I was near to faint. She looked at me with anxious eyes, wrapping her arm around my waist and leading me to the sofa. I sat down and tried to take a deep breath. Suddenly my mind was clear. I knew exactly what was to do, glancing at Alice. She shook her head. "You won't do that. I'm not going to support you, Bella," she warned me. I ignored her and I asked my question nevertheless. "Are you willing to lend me your Porsche?" But she still shook her head and gave me a quick, unfriendly, "No". The others glared at me alarmed. Then I turned to Rose. Her glance met Alice's though she still didn't know precisely what I was going to want from her.
"Could you imagine making a motorcycle trip with me again? And this trip will lead us to, let me think about it, Denali, of course incidentally," I asked Rose. But for my astonishment, she also shook her head. "If you want to have fun, you can ask me every time. But if you need a babysitter, you better choose Alice," she said in a snappish voice. "Oh come on, Rose, that's going to be fun," I tried to convince her. However, she shook her head again. "That's going to be trouble," she advised me seriously. "Wimp," I teased. She rolled her eyes and grinned at me. I wasn't angry with her because of that comment. It was her way to say she wasn't the right one who could support me in this situation. Edward wouldn't be pleased to see her with me in an affair like this and she knew that well. "Honestly, it doesn't matter, if someone of you is willing to come with me or not. I'll also go on my own," I informed the perplexed group of vampires around me. Then I hurried making it upstairs for dressing. Alice was right behind me.
"What did you see will happen, if I show up in Denali?" I asked her furious.
"Nothing," Alice said; but her face was emotionless. And that was a clear sign she was lying.
"Don't do that to me. I thought you're my friend or even more than my friend," I cried, putting on my jeans and my shirt.
"He is indifferent about this. So that means nothing, Bella!"
"He's indifferent!" My voice dropped an octave. Edward is thinking about sleeping with Tanya and you said it's nothing," I blamed her. "Should I be happy now he isn't positive about that or what do you expect from me?"
"Bella, Edward is also just a man and you've hurt his feelings again and again. So his thoughts are comprehensible; but that doesn't mean he would ever do that. He's still a gentleman."
"And he's your brother. So, on which side you are, Alice?" I challenged, searching for my purse.
"You will get lost on your way to Denali and even if you don't, you won't find the house. It's hidden in the mountains. If you don't know exactly where it is, you hardly can find it. So your mission is impossible," Alice smiled at me.
"After what we experienced in Volterra, I thought, you would be the last one who tell me what is possible or not," I glared into Alice's eyes. "Imagine it would be Jasper instead of Edward. What would you do?"
Alice closed her eyes. "Come on, we can make until noon," she suddenly said, opening her eyes and heading for the stairs.
Alice was accelerating the Porsche. The engine snarled. I kissed her cheek. "Thanks a lot. You are the best," I grinned at her.
"I only do that because Edward will blame me, if you get lost," she gave me a dark look. "Do you honestly believe he would ever cheat on you? He loves you more than anything else," she said reproachfully.
"You would do the same, if it was Jasper. I saw it in your eyes. You didn't close it fast enough," I reproached her. "Only the fact Edward is thinking about that possibility drives me mad. It hurts," I said and tears started rising in my eyes.
Alice touched my hand. "He's still indifferent; but his jealousy of Jacob becomes stronger and stronger," Alice informed me with a light voice.
It was three o'clock in the morning; but the adrenaline in my body pushed me up and thus I wasn't able to sleep. I glared out of the passenger's window into the darkness, imagining his beautiful face, his sweet scent and his cool fingers, touching my face. I missed him and I was afraid - afraid of losing him again. It started to rain. The drops crackled against the car. Alice was staring out of the windshield, speeding up the car along the empty road. I felt guilty. Hadn't I overreacted in Seattle when I'd seen Jake, Edward would have been at home with me right now. If he did something stupid, it would be my fault. I felt awful. My stomach twisted. I opened the window and inhaled the cold, wet air. "Are you sick?" Alice asked sympathetically. I nodded. "Shall I stop?" I shook my head. I wanted to see him as soon as possible. There was no time to waste; not even time to throw up. I concentrated of breathing in and out. After a long hour my sickness was gone. "Better?" Alice looked at me. "Sure," I said with a weak voice and closed my eyes, hoping for sleep now.
When I woke up the sun was shining onto my face. Outside everything seemed to be green. There was grassland everywhere I could look, huge trees, so high I could hardly see the treetop and different kinds of beautiful flowers. This was Alaska. My window was still open and fresh air surrounded my face. I squeezed my eyes. "Morning, Bella. Did you sleep well?" Alice said in her pixie-like voice. "I think so," I replied still tiered. Alice grinned at me, "You have a lot to tell when you are sleeping." "Oh no," I groaned. "What about?" I asked, clenching my teeth. "About my brother, only about my brother," Alice told me. "Edward seemed to be a good lover," she ginned at me. "No, not about that," I whispered, blushing. "Don't worry; you didn't mention details," she said tickled pink. "How long will it take yet until we'll arrive?" I questioned, trying to distract Alice from that affair. "One hour, I guess," she said. I glanced at the watch. It was 10:30. a.m. "How fast did you drive while I was sleeping?" I looked at her in astonishment. "Fast, I'd to proof my new car," she smiled apologetically.
After a while the Porsche turned off to a small way of pebbles. The little stones crashed against the bottom of the shiny, yellow Porsche. Alice clinched her teeth. "In most cases Edward use to stop here and run the rest of the way because he doesn't want to damage the Volvo," Alice looked at me. I eyed the way and there was it, standing in front of us – Edward's familiar, silver Volvo. I wanted to get out and touched the car to realize Edward wasn't far away anymore; but I resisted. "We can also do," I offered. But Alice shook her head. "It's an emergency, isn't it? Edward and Rose will bother with the damage, if there's one." The little stones crashed still against the car. The way rose and we got higher and higher. Suddenly wood started. Alice killed the engine. "We've to walk now. I'm sorry, but there's no other way," she glanced at me apologetically. I shrugged. We got out and started to walk. Here the nature was still intact. It seemed to be like never a human being walked here before. The air smelled sweet and the wind touched gently my skin. We walked through the wood. Alice glanced attentively around and sniffed. "Safe," she suddenly said. I looked confused at her. Why shouldn't it be safe here? Here at one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Alice seemed to understand my confusion. "If they are hunting, they will smell you so fast there will be no chance for you to escape. While hunting vampires are out of their own control," Alice explained. I nodded scared. As long as I was human I didn't intend to meet Edward while he was hunting. Not that I wasn't curious; but he would blame himself for what he was again and again, if I got hurt or even worse.
Walking for a half eternity my initial enthusiasm was gone. There were only trees and the ground was full of ferns, moos and dangerous nooses. After falling down the third time I was near pleading Alice for cropping me. I looked around irritated, hoping for a sudden end of our nice walk. Then I saw it. "Alice," I shouted happily, "we've reached it." I was almost dancing. Alice laughed. "It's so easy to make you happy, Bella," she teased.
In front of us appeared a huge white mansion. It was similar to the Cullen's one; but three or even four times bigger. It almost looked like a little manor-house. Everywhere seemed to be windows and the roof was scarped. On one of the edges a little tower showed up. This mansion was majestic. I glared at it fascinated, feeling like in a fairy tale and waiting for my prince. Suddenly Alice wrapped her cool, hard arm around my waist. "Come on, Bella," she said, pulling me straight on. I must have stopped. Now we arrived at the clearing the mansion was standing in the middle of. "How many members counts Tanya's coven?" I asked still stunned of the mansion's dignity. "Five," Alice chuckled. "You like it, don't you?" "Yes," I said in a reverential way.
When we got to the screen door I'd almost forgotten about the reason for I was coming here. But then it hit me. "Edward," I whispered to myself. My heartbeat was accelerating and I hardly could bear my yearning for him. I reached out my hand and touched the door. It was wooden and twice as high as I was. Alice knocked against it. Nobody opened. Alice knocked again. Shouldn't they already know we were standing here, at least they were vampires and their senses should be much more sensitive than human ones, I wondered. Surprisedly a singing voice came to my ears, "Coming," the voice called. Alice pushed the huge, wooden door open. It looked quite heavy. Then we got inside.
A young, beautiful, pale woman welcomed us. Her face was heart-shaped. She threw back her long, reddish brown hair and smiled at us. "Ah, welcome Alice. First Edward and now you. And…," she kept silent. Her curious eyes looked at me. "You must be Isabelle, Edward's fiancée. " At that word I shivered. But she was right. I was Edward's fiancée and soon his wife. But the most important point was he was mine, not Tanya's and not anybody's one. I wanted to correct my name when the beautiful woman said, "Oh sorry, I know, you like Bella more. Edward told us," she smiled. I nodded and smiled back. "I'm Irina. She reached out her pale hand towards mine. I grinned and shook her hand. Thus this woman was the reason for Edward was here. I couldn't imagine Irina was so suborned Edward had to make an expanded hunting trip with the family's head Tanya to convince her to attend our wedding.
"Please follow me. My family is waiting for you. They hardly can expect to meet the legendary Bella Swan. Fell like at home," Irina said. I blushed. "Thanks," Alice replied, following Irina. "Isn't Edward here?" I broke my silence for the first time. "No, he's still on his hunting trip with Tanya as I told you on the phone." "Oh, I spoke to you," I said a bit surprised. "Yes. He left his phone here. Probably he forgot it. They decided to go high into the mountains, searching for lions. Edward likes them most." "I know," I said confidently. She smiled again. Then we arrived at a kind of living room; but I wasn't sure if that hall was really one. The walls were white and in one of the edges a big brown sofa was standing. Three more vampires were sitting on it, glancing at me. Two female and one male. The male vampire was now speaking to me. "Welcome to our home, Bella. I'm pleased to meet you. Edward was talking about you all the time. Oh, how rude, I forgot to introduce myself, but you seem so familiar to me. I'm Marius," the black-haired vampire said friendly. I glanced at Alice with questioning eyes. "His talent is similar to Edward's. He's a mind reader too," Alice explained to me. I smiled and nodded, looking curious in his direction; but already knowing his answer. After all the time I started to amuse myself by my immunity of the most vampire's talent. Suddenly he shook his head. "You're also an exception to me," he finally said with a disappointed glance at me. "You're not the only one. I also was to the Volturi – Aro and Jane," I said casually. "Oh yes. Edward told me this story. Amazing," he said fascinated. I was surprised about my own confidence. I talked to a foreign vampire as if I knew him for a long time. Alice seemed to guess my thoughts again and looked at the female vampire next to Marius. Now she was speaking. "I'm Agnes, Marius' wife and this is my sister Agafa," she gave me a friendly look. I grinned at her. "Agnes is able to give you lots of confidence. It's her talent," Marius informed me. I nodded, now understanding my own behavior.
We sat down on the big, brown sofa. "So, when will Edward and Tanya return?" I asked a bit irritated. "In a few hours," Alice responded in her silvery voice, touching my hand and looking at my face sympathetically. Marius started telling us about his early years as a vampire. He'd stayed with the Volturi like Carlisle and he also had left them because of his conviction of saving human lifes.
I dithered on the sofa. Marius still told us his story; but I couldn't concentrate on it. I needed Edward and the truth he was mine – only mine and not Tanya's. Suddenly Irina was speaking. I looked up at her. "I'm happy to attend your wedding next Saturday," she said with a smile on her beautiful face. "Oh, Edward could convince you?" I asked astonished. "Yes, your husband-to-be can be very convincing," she laughed; but it didn't reached her eyes. We both avoided mentioning Laurent's name. And that was for a very good reason. I still could see the pain in Irina's eyes – pain of miss. "But why is Edward making a hunting trip with Tanya," I asked skeptically and not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. Then a gorgeous woman appeared in front of us. She was the same size as me. Her eyes were expressive to an extent I'd never seen before. I wasn't able to look away. I just glared into her eyes. She came to me and reached her hand for mine. "Hello Bella. I'm Tanya," she said in a lovely voice.
At this time I could break the connection between our eyes and glared around the big hall; but I couldn't see Edward. Now I panicked.