The Letter
Bella's POV
I sat on a cushioned window seat in the bedroom Edward and I shared. Well, not so much a bedroom, seeing as it lacks a bed; more of just a space. Our space. It's where Edward and I go to get out of the sight of our family. Right now I'm enjoying the rare private time I get, although I miss Edward. I had our Alaskan house to myself; my new family was off doing some local hunting. I wasn't hungry (or thirsty rather) so I offered to stay behind to unpack. With my new speed, I had accomplished my task within a matter of minutes. Now I had spare time that I was using to think.
It had been a very eventful summer, with copious amounts of reasoning with Charlie and Renee; they finally accepted my marriage to Edward. The wedding proceeded without flaw thanks to Alice, and Edward fulfilled my one 'demand' before he changed me. The pain that accompanied my transformation was a torturous undying fire. For the whole of the three days I begged for Edward to finish me off, to put me out of my misery. I was convinced I wasn't going to live through the next minute. I prayed for my angel to snap my neck, or to drain the rest of my soiled blood. I dreamt of every painful death, knowing it would be better than that pain. I flinched at the recent memory, focusing on a petite spider crawling across the inside of the window pane as a distraction from the previous week. I could see every infinitesimal movement it made; and could hear the gentle taps it made with each step. Soon it was running across the window sill and in to a crack and it lost my interest.
From a distance above our house I could hear a bird flying. I gazed toward the grey sky, hoping to see it.
Tap-Tap-Tap
The sound from the front door startled me. Running downstairs in vampire-speed, I didn't bother to watch my feet; not needing to with my new found balance. I was surprised to see an owl resting on the porch railing. It's such an odd time for the nocturnal bird to be out, seeing as it was mid-afternoon. Opening the door cautiously as not to scare him, I stepped outside. Curiosity got the best of me as I deeply inhaled to catch its scent. His blood smelled minty, reminding me of Edward's breath. I was taken back when the familiar dull burn in the back of my throat indicating thirst suddenly vanished. The owl impatiently shifted his weight to one foot, holding out the other as if reaching out to me. I then I realized for the first time the cream colored envelopes tied to the ankle. A messenger OWL? How odd. Still cautious, I slowly reached out to pull the strings, undoing the knot. As the letters fell toward the floor the mysterious black owl turned and flew away. I caught them before they hit the wooden porch boards. Flipping one over, I glanced at who it was addressed to:
Mr. Edward Cullen
His name was written in an elegant cursive I didn't recognize. Swiftly flipping the second over, I jumped when I saw my name written in the same handwriting as the other.
Before I could get it open, a pair of stony arms were around my waist; a velvety voice in my ear.
"Another letter from Charlie?" I leaned back into Edward's embrace and shook my head.
"No, an OWL delivered this just a moment ago… and this one came for you." The next voice wasn't Edward's, but the excited chime of Alice's.
"An owl? Are you sure?" She grabbed Edward's letter from me, placing it under her nose and deeply inhaling. "These smell nothing like owls!"
We walked into the living room, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper following closely behind. Jasper's curiosity became obviously evident as I felt a sudden urge to rip the envelope open. Edward sat next to me, opening his before I could get to mine. His brow furrowed in confusion as he read.
"It's an acceptance letter from Hogwarts- School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…" He answered a question I didn't hear. I opened mine to find it identical to his.
"Edward, when did you apply there?" Carlisle asked out loud.
"I didn't" He replied, looking up from the letter to me. "Bella...witchcraft?" Edward laughed as if it were a joke.
"I didn't apply either!" I was so confused! Perhaps this was Emmett's idea of a prank. Laughing and rolling my eyes at him, I spoke, "Ha-ha, very funny, Emmett, really. How'd you get the owl to-" Alice interrupted me,
"This isn't a joke." Her eyes stared distantly at the wall. Jasper was by her side within a second, her hands in his.
"What do you see?" Jasper asked, worried about the sudden crease in her brow.
"Volturi." Her lips pursed at their name. I shuddered. Although I no longer fear them coming to killing me, I'm still revolted by our previous encounter in the clearing. The sickening screams replaying in my head as I remembered them disposing of young Bree.
"Which?" Jasper interrogated. Alice blinked a few times as she returned to us.
"New ones, many of them, hundreds even! All of them very young." She reported. Jasper's features became vampiristic as anger rolled off him in waves. He was surly reliving his times in Mexico. Alice continued to speak,
"None of them human though…only two were vampires." Alice glanced between Edward and I. She continued,
"It was odd, everyone wore cloaks like the Volturi, but the gathering seemed to be a celebration. They were eating food." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "It was definitely the school. Maybe it has nothing to do with the Volturi." She shrugged. "You seemed very comfortable sitting at the one of the four long tables, Bella, absolutely no thirst, which leads me to believe they certainly WERN'T human."
"Was it a nice school? Did it seem dangerous?" Esme cut in.
"It was very nice, but there was something off… something I couldn't pick up on."
"Very odd" Edward sighed, then suddenly stiffened next to me. He looked up.
"Someone's close. They're thinking about Bella and I." His eyes narrowed. It was then I could smell it- the minty-ness similar to the owl. Before I could mention it, Edward was at the door.
"What is your business here?" Edward asked the large figure towering over him, his fist raised ready to knock on the door Edward was holding open.
A/N HEHEHE. A minor cliffhanger. Most of you can probably guess who's at the door D. Rate and Review for more. I'd love some criticism, this is my first fanfic story so it would help me a lot. Let me know if you'd like me to continue posting. Thanks.