Chapter 10
Worry and regret plagued Bella as she sat beside an unconscious Angela in a brightly lit cubicle in St. Mary's hospital. Her best friend's heart had already arrested twice but was now stable as she lay sedated with sleep in a pale blue and green hospital gown with all sorts of needles stuck into her arms.
As soon as they'd jumped into her car and sped off towards the hospital, Bella had called Edward to fill him in on what had happened. She remembered the shock in his voice turn into anger and determination. He answered her with, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," in a crisp tone before hanging up. She hoped he did take care of it all because she certainly knew she couldn't.
Bella sighed deeply before looking across the bed at an unusually quiet Jacob, his face etched in deep thought. She was just about to ask him what was up when she saw the horribly decorated lime green curtain drag open. There, with her hands clamped around her mouth was Michelle, Angela's classically beautiful adoptive mother. Bella had always slightly envied her for her upturned almond-shaped dark green eyes and naturally olive-tanned skin; a stark contrast to her own dull brown ones and abnormally pale complexion.
"Oh, good heavens," She cried as she raced over to grab her daughter's frail hands. She checked Angela's temperature and the rest of her body for any signs of injury, as if she was at home with a fever and not in a hospital with capable doctors sporting medical degrees. "Bella darling, what happened?" Michelle asked; her voice a lot less shaky after being satisfied with the examination she gave her child.
Bella's panicked eyes found Jacobs as she tried to come up with a believable lie. "Um, w-we were on our way home from club after school when got robbed," Jacob gave her a flat stare then tried not to laugh at her lame explanation. "We tried to fight them off but one of them got to Angie before I could..." A lump got caught in her throat as the image of Angela's frightened eyes and the sounds of her screaming Bella's name burned into her memory. She looked up at Jake with teary eyes before reluctantly looking into Michelle's. She thought she'd find anger and blame swirling in them but the care and adoration she did find made the lump in her throat grow about 10 times bigger. All she managed was a squeaky apology before she found herself wrapped in the soothing arms of a woman who was like a second mother to her.
"It's okay, love, I know you'd have saved her if you could." She reassured her as she kissed her hair. This was wrong. It was Bella's fault that Angela's hurt; she should be consoling Michelle, not the other way around.
Bella wiped her face then excused herself and Jacob, saying they needed some coffee but really she just wanted to give them some privacy. Bella didn't take a breath until she got to the coffee machine-afraid tears would spill if she gave her body air. "It's because of me isn't it, Jake?" Bella concluded as she rested her head against the cool surface of the machine. "I'm the girl in the prophecy, aren't I? That's why you brought me here so that no one could find me." She looked up to find Jacobs' eyes glued to the floor and his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie as he swayed guiltily. She took that as a yes; a confirmation of all her fears. A look that said everything she knew to be true was a lie.
It was Sunday morning; Bella yawned loudly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She dragged her lacy-underwear-clad body out of her bed; pulled open the gray drapes then squinted as the harshly bright sunlight attacked her pupils. "Ugh, what time is it?" She asked herself as she padded over to the Mickey Mouse alarm clock perched on her bedside table.
A familiar voice sounded behind her, "Time to speak to Angela-woaaaah!" Bella pulled her bed sheet over her body as she screamed crude words at Jacob who had shifted into a goblin and was rolling around on her floor.
"Oh, god, my eyes!" He squealed, sounding a lot like Dobby from Harry Potter.
"Get your ass off my carpet and go poof off!" He lay still on the floor. "I swear, Jake, don't make me come over there and…"
"Alright, alright!" He shifted into himself again and then disappeared with that usual 'POP!'
"Stupid idiot." Bella muttered before grabbing her towel and heading to the bathroom.
An hour later, Bella hopped into the passenger side of Edward's Volvo- with a still-flushed Jacob in the back- just as he was starting it up. She made sure to cover up almost every inch of her body after what had happened that morning. She donned her favourite leather biker jacket over a graphic tee and paired it with some dark skinnys and her worn-in Doc Martens. She buckled her seatbelt up then looked at Edward curiously as he tried to hold in laughter.
"What is so damn funny?" She asked before flipping down the small mirror on the passenger side of the roof to fix her bangs.
"Apparently, someone was looking too sexy this morning." Edward said teasingly.
Bella's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my god!" She exclaimed, whipping her head around to face Jacob. "You told this loser?" She yelled, pointing at Edward who actually looked hurt. "What the hell, Jake? Perving on a teenage girl is not something you tell everyone else!" Jacob shifted into a tabby kitten with big, watery and adorable dark blue eyes. "Oh, no you don't Jacobin Black. Don't give me that face. From now on you are barred from coming into my room without my permission." Bella cut her eyes at him before turning around to face the windshield. "Now step on it, before I kick you out to drive it myself." She ordered Edward.
"In all honesty, he didn't exactly tell me. I kind of…" He trailed off at the sight of the evil eyes she was giving him. "Okay, ma'am, I'm stepping on it now."
Bella smirked triumphantly, looking out of the window at the blurred houses as they whizzed past. The entire ride to Angela's was comfortably silent for Bella, but probably not for the other two losers in her vicinity.
When they arrived, Bella got out and slowly walked up the steps to Angela's door; her palms sweaty with anxiety. She had been procrastinating since Angela's release from the hospital a few days ago, knowing that the 'talk' about what had really happened that day was looming but was necessary if she still valued Angie's friendship.
She looked up as Jacob stood beside her, his fist reaching up to knock on the door. He cocked an eyebrow, asking if she was okay. She nodded in reply, then took a deep breath as the door opened to reveal a tired but still fashionable looking Angela. She was wearing a woolly, grey, oversized sweater dress with a brown boyfriend belt tied at her waist. She wore her hair up in a messy bun and her Tommy Hilfiger glasses framed her heart shaped face perfectly. Bella smiled at her appearance. Despite the fact that she'd recently been in a traumatic event, she still managed to look as beautiful as she usually did. Angela looked at them all, her eyes lingering on Jacob longer before stepping backwards to let them into her home.
Bella loved Angela's house; it was a lot more modern and retro-looking than hers but still held that scent that reminded you of home. She led them to the sitting room, 3 of the walls painted in a mossy green and the fourth covered in patterned green and black wallpaper. Whilst Bella, Edward and Jacob sat upon the plush leather sofas, Angela found solace in her favourite worn out velvet armchair. It belonged to her adoptive father who'd passed away when she was 10. It looked so out of place amidst the other sleek black and silver furniture, but Angela held onto it and refused to let her mother throw it away after he died.
After everyone got comfortable, a blanket of silence covered the room. No one knew where to start, or how to start.
"So…" Angela began, always the one to break any silence. "How about those ninja people, eh? You were definitely kicking some ass, Bella." She laughed nervously, making everyone else smile at her attempt.
"One, ninja's are cool, those guys were just weird." Bella said, counting it off on her fingers. "And two, well, yeah, I kicked some ass." She winked at Angela and they started laughing, the tension in the room dying down.
"Alright, Ange, I gotta admit, I was avoiding seeing you because I didn't want to talk about what happened." She sighed as she watched her best friend's eyes convey a sense of understanding. "But, I realized that this is something we really need to talk about. And…" She looked across at Edward's gorgeously green eyes, "Um, I'll just let Edward explain it all."
And with that, the entire explanation about Almorea and The Sytrix and Bella's prophecy commenced. Giving even Bella a little more insight into what happened.
"But, how could it be me? I'm not powerful or anything! I'm just a normal girl from Queens…" Bella exclaimed, speaking so fast her words were tripping over each other.
"You're not normal, Bella. And you've never been just a girl!" Jacob told her, "Would a normal girl have no recollection of the first 10 years of her life?" He asked, knowing he hit a nerve. "Would a normal girl be best friends with a shape shifter/ warlock?" Bella never answered but just turned away to look at the 'normal' family portraits of Angela, her little brother and parents, realizing that Jacob was right.
"If I am the one in the prophecy, then why am I alive?" She asked, as quiet as a mouse, "Because Edward said he found me dead." Bella countered; trying to find any little detail she could to convince herself and them – more herself – that she's not the chosen one.
"Hello?" Jacob said in a feminine high-pitched voice, "High-ranking warlock!" He pointed at himself as he spoke. "Obviously, I faked your death, because you're alive now… But really, Bells, I had to do it." His voice taking on an unusually serious tone, "And you know, deep inside that you, and the 'her' that you keep referring to, are the same person." Jacob finished as he knelt beside her on the floor.
She sighed, deciding that she'd lost her battle and that she should just face reality. "How did you fake my death then?" Bella asked Jacob as she moved away from him and squeezed beside Angela on the scruffy armchair.
Jacob did his signature eyebrow raise then got up and walked around the room, inspecting the pictures on the mantle as he spoke, "I spent weeks setting up the cloning spell and everything to make it as real as I could. Your father asked me to do everything in my power to keep the Sytrix or anyone else from finding and hurting you. And that's what I've been doing all your life." He sighed, before continuing, "As of late, it seems that I've been slacking on the job. I wasn't there when you needed me, Isabella. So, I'm sorry." He looked at his hands as he spoke.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Jake. You can't be around me 24/7." She said, trying to console him.
"I can if I have to." He murmured.
Angela leaned over and whispered in Bella's ear, "If he knew you before you were born, then how old is he?" Bella cocked her brow but stayed silent. "What? Can't I wonder?" Angela scoffed before eyeing him as he hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees and his shaggy hair falling over his face.
Bella watched Angela as she watched Jacob, wondering how she'd listened to every thing Edward had said and understood it without so much as a word to counter it. Hell, she took it a lot better than I did. Bella thought, the relief that she wouldn't be losing Angela as a friend making the worry lines on her forehead ease away.
She stayed silent as she reflected on her life and where it was to go next whilst Edward tried to make small talk with Angela. Bella waited until the conversation took a pause to catch Edward's eye and motion for him to leave the room with her. They both got up and headed for the door when Angela asked, "Where're you going, B?"
"Um, Edward and I just need to clear something up." She answered nonchalantly, "You two have fun." She teased, making a tinge of redness appear in Angela's cheeks.
Bella went to the hallway and found the front door ajar. She opened it, walked out onto the 'welcome-in-a-million-billion-languages' mat then closed the door behind her softly. Edward was sat on the steps leading up to the house, his back to her. She sat beside him, the thought that stony steps were becoming their 'thing' flashing through her mind but shook it out and tried to think about what she wanted to say before she said it.
"So what did you want to talk about, Isabella?" He asked, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
She clicked her heels together in that 'wizard of oz' fashion as she usually did when her nerves got the better of her. "When we were attacked, I totally panicked. I had no clue about what to do and the only reason Ange and I are alive now, I think, is because of that natural 'Almorean' instinct that I probably have." She looked up to find him looking surprised at the seriousness of the conversation. "And I don't ever want to feel like that, Edward." The vulnerability she felt had probably shown on her face because his eyes softened as they found hers. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is…"
"Is what, Bella? Spit it out." He joked, half-smiling.
"What I'm trying to say, is that I want to learn how to fight." His face paled, "I want you to teach me how to fight."
Heyy you guysss ! So that was another chapterr .. not very eventful, kind of a filler so it was necessary xD.
All I wanna say is can I get some more reviewwwss ? I dont wanna be like some authors and say giv me like 20 before i post the next chap cause thats just not mee buhh can you guys just be nice and review pleasee !
Gahhh xD, in other news lool! I got into the college I wanted ! I'm soo happyy, my life is going great right now, hopefully yours is too :D.
So just
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW !
Thank yuhh xx Nae