Bella
It became clear to me as soon as we entered the airport that Jennifer and her clan were clearly the powerful people. The way they walked in, with the wind slightly blowing their hair…You would have thought they were on some sort of television show. Jesse had reappeared once we entered the airport and his arm had a long cut running down it that he tried to hide from me. But I had heard and seen what had happened.
When I had tried to brush away the blackmail that Jennifer had pushed back on to me, I had heard a whoosh of air and suddenly the car in the next row had a large dent in it. The truck next to it smashed to, the windshield wiper flinging off in the process. I had heard ripping noises and then that single word and voice.
Edward had heard the entire conversation.
I now understood the purpose behind Jennifer's urge to suddenly remind me of the blackmail deal. Edward would now be suffering because he thought that I had signed the deal to give up the Cullens. And with the werewolves nearby, I might have well as given them a two-for-one deal of his soul.
Jennifer practically floated to the ticket office. The attendant behind the desk instantly forced a fake smile. Under that smile was fear. "Good morning, Mrs. Pritel! Going on another trip with the family?!" Every sentence the poor human said had a built in exclamation point.
Family? I turned my head to a slight four-degree angle. True, Claudiena and Tomas looked somewhat in their teen years…But what about Edward and me? Jennifer might have been thinking this too, for she smiled at the attendant. "My nephew and niece-in-law are coming with us," she explained.
The attendant nodded in a jerky motion. "Of course. Would you like me to get the jet ready for you?"
Jet? I turned to Claudiena. She blew a large bubble from her mouth full of gum. "When you're a hired assassin, you get the private stuff," Claudiena mumbled smugly.
The jet was like a house in the air. Once we entered, I saw a large leather couch, a fifty-six inch flat screen, an array of electronics, a mini library, and a large curtain hiding a king-sized bed occupying most of the jet's space. Claudiena pulled back the curtain and moved her hands so Edward's body flopped down onto it and laid still. We all were seated and the jet lifted off. For the first five minutes of the flight, I drifted slightly, playing with Edward's hair, which had been the same shade of brown for two hours.
Suddenly, a loud sound noised from Edward's pocket. Tomas reached into his pocket and pulled out Edward's cellphone. The cellphone continued to sound, the caller ID showing that Carlisle was calling. "Answer it," Jennifer ordered, handing the phone to me.
"Hello?" I said, struggling to keep my voice calm and perfectly normal.
"Bella? Where is Edward?"
"He's busy talking with Liberty right now," I fibbed.
I heard Carlisle sigh. "Good. When Edward didn't respond this morning, I thought the worst had happened. And with no future telling from Alice, we were getting pretty nervous over here."
"Don't worry," I replied, almost robotically, "My shield protected us. Liberty will leave us alone."
"You followed through with the plans, Bella?"
"Yes. In fact, to prove that they're our allies, Liberty is sending us home in their jet."
"Okay. Can you ask Edward to text me once he's done talking?"
"Of course. See you later."
As soon as Carlisle hung up, Jennifer took the phone from me. She clicked on the texting option and handed the phone to me. "Go on. Claudiena is making your future-predictor's vision see you as perfectly normal. Now back it up with some evidence." With those words, Jennifer turned with the others and they walked back to the living room area of the plane.
I picked the phone up from the bed and started typing.
Edward's phone…
Carlisle-
Hello.
Everything is fine here.
L is sending us home as we speak.
Please hug & kiss Nessie from B & me.
I hit the send button, hoping the HELP hidden in the text would help, and turned the phone on vibrate mode. Satisfied at the secrecy, I peeked out of the curtain.
Jesse was lying down on the couch, Jennifer resting on his chest. A ping of jealousy hit me as I stared at Edward's body. Jennifer could never kill Jesse because their powers canceled each other out. Tomas was teasing Claudiena as they played a video game on the flat-screen. Tomas grabbed Claudiena in a bear hug, causing her to drop her controller on the floor. Claudiena playfully pushed Tomas so his controller dropped as well. It was almost as if they were frozen as teenagers in love.
As I watched them play, I remembered how Claudiena's illusions could waver. I got up from the bed and walked over to Tomas and Claudiena. They both looked up, surprised. "Can I um...play?" I knew what a fool I was going to make of myself, but if I could distract Claudiena for more than a minute, Alice might get a proper vision of what was yet to come.
Claudiena blinked and opened her mouth to say something but Tomas hushed her quietly. "Of course, Bella," he replied kindly, in his therapist voice. He handed me a video game controller. I took it gingerly and held it in my hands for a moment. "Um…Bella? You're holding it upside-down," Tomas mumbled. Claudiena was hiding her laughter with her hand.
"Oh." I turned the controller over.
I tried not to have too much fun playing with them. But, honestly, it was actually quite fun. Claudiena was a bit impatient, but Tomas was a gentle teacher. If I made a slight mistake, Tomas would pause the game to try to help me understand what was going wrong. Claudiena spent that time flipping through a magazine on the table next to her.
Tomas finally suggested we try a real game, with me flying solo. I knew that this would be my only chance to distract Claudiena. If I were to fail this opportunity, my family would die in a couple of hours. So, embarrassed and unsure, I agreed.
The game began and I moved my icon quickly across the screen, jumping and slashing, towards Claudiena's icon. Claudiena had been advancing to Tomas, so she was caught off guard at my attempt. She moved her icon around and started fighting with my character.
Then I felt it.
I felt the illusion waver. As it lowered, I could feel rushes of energy slowly crawl back to Claudiena. Claudiena didn't realize this and was battling my poor icon furiously on the screen. I peeked at Tomas and saw that he too was busy battling. I didn't want it to seem obvious, so I craned my head ever so slightly to the right to see if Jennifer or Jesse had sensed it. Jesse was watching the screen, his eyes dancing with the reflection of the lights. Jennifer was utterly still, as if she wasn't quite sure if the illusion was down.
The final bits of energy entered Claudiena, who hadn't noticed and was busy killing my dying character. I let out a silent sigh of relief. The illusion was fully down. Hopefully, Alice could now get the proper reception for the future. Thirty seconds passed. Alice should have found out that we were going to ambush her. Another twenty seconds passed. Alice should have warned the rest of the Cullens by now.
Suddenly, Jennifer let out a gasp of air. "CLAUDIENA!"
Claudiena jumped in the air, her fingers slipping from her control. Her character stopped on the screen. Tomas paused the battle. "What is it, Jennifer?"
"The…shield…IT'S DOWN! PUT IT UP! PUT IT UP NOW!" Jennifer was screeching now. Jesse was struggling to relax her but she was fuming now. "PUT IT UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEAD…" Jennifer never finished her threat. She jumped in the air to attack Claudiena.
Claudiena held her hands up in defense; brilliant sphere springing from her hands to form a large shield in front of her. Jennifer crashed into the shield, flew back, and somersaulted in the air to land in a crouch on the floor. Her eyes narrowed and she stood up from the crouch. "Do it now," she hissed between her teeth.
"I didn't know," Claudiena whispered softly, pressing her hands together. The large crystal sphere grew from her pressed hands. "I'm sorry, Jennifer," she continued to mumble, "I must have been distracted…I'm so sorry…" She sounded like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Jennifer began to pace restlessly. "What are we going to do now?" she asked aloud. "The future-teller probably saw us arriving…But the illusion was down only for two minutes, correct?" Jennifer whipped around to glare at Claudiena.
Claudiena bobbed her head up and down, as if an invisible string was controlling it. "I believe so, Jennifer. I'm pretty sure of that."
I suddenly felt Edward's phone vibrate in my pocket. The vibration was not visible and soundless, but I could feel it shaking in my jacket pocket.
Jesse cleared his throat. "The future-teller probably saw us parking the car, getting out, and walking to the door. That should mean that she only knows that we're arriving with Bella. It doesn't mean anything…"
I was suddenly forgotten as Liberty began to discuss strategy. I stepped back quietly and almost dived behind the curtains of the bed, yanking the cell phone from my pocket. The chirpy screen saver announced that Alice Cullen had sent me a text message. I tapped the button to open it.
Alice's phone…
B-
Where r u right now?
Where is E?
Please don't lie, B.
I saw what I saw.
Have you turned on us?
I felt the hidden poison in the letter unleash itself to me. I felt accused and alone. But I brushed it aside in my mind. My only priority right now was to warn my family of the coming of their deaths. Even if they felt like I was betraying them. But Alice was one to talk…I thought angrily. She had abandoned us during the Volturi battle and only returned when we finally needed her. If she thought that was what I was doing, she was wrong!
Edward's phone…
Alice & Cullens-
L has attacked E and placed him in coma.
U r going to be attacked.
Be car
Before I could finish the text, the curtain moved back in the swiftest of motions and standing in front of me was Jesse. "Bella, Bella, Bella. You may have fooled us by putting the phone on vibrate but we can hear your fingers on the phone buttons," he purred softly. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Jesse leaned over and reached over to grab the phone from my hands. When I resisted, he narrowed his eyebrows. "Perhaps you want your husband to suffer more…" I released the phone. He peered at the screen, chuckled to himself, and then clicked the End button on the phone. The screensaver reappeared and my text was gone before it had been finished.
My last hope for my family was gone.