All right, as I think I said, I will not be making anymore A/N's except if they're necessary, so...read on, I suppose.
(^^^^^^)
The years hadn't changed much, the twenty-first century being the pinnacle of high school and teen drama, high crime and drug rates, and scientific wonderments; if only Charlie were still alive, this would be the ex-police chief's playground. He'd love it: The testosterone from sweating teenagers, the hormones filling the air, the fights, the murders, the 'animal attacks'; He'd love it all...and she ended that, she took that chance away from him, away from his family as well.
Dwelling was getting nowhere for Bella, so she placed down her Jane Austin book, sighing as she remembered the time that she met the iconic author herself; that time was one ripe with feminine sexism and slavery of the different ethnicities that were unfortunate, at the time, to live there.
Her eyes snapped to the book sitting neatly on the cave floor, remembering the day she last saw her friend hold that same book.
"Jane, I must ask you something."
Jane placed her book down, sighing in content as her blue eyes met with Bella's unique cat-like slanted luminescent green ones. Bella had been her friend for a while, and hadn't aged a single bit; through much harassment and threats of public acknowledgement- Bella hated the sexist public back then- Jane learned the truth, of why exactly Bella was freezing cold, yet still emanated warmth, and why exactly she had pointed feline ears atop her head. Why she purred when said ears were stroked, why she hissed when Jane was in danger; she learned the reason, and quite frankly couldn't care less.
"How may I help you, 'old' friend?"Emphasising the word 'old' caused Bella's eye to twitch.
Bella huffed. "Clearly age has done you no wonders, either; still as mentally challenged as a four year old child, it seems." She smiled when Jane made a face, but continued no more until the question was asked.
Silence reigned, and Jane was just about to pick up her book again, before Bella flashed over to her, kneeling down and gently placing it within her weathered, ancient hands. Paper thin skin held her dusty bones and worn muscles on the inside of her body, while greyed blue eyes that had seen more than their fair share thanked her silently. It made this all the more worsening to be done, but needs and wants are completely irrelevant, completely disconnected from each other; she needed to do this, but she did not want to.
But she had to, and with that, she looked Jane in the eye.
She shook her head, ridding herself of the current memories; memories were something she often lost herself in, seeing as those were times when emotions actually meant something, that family was not just a word; she found a sister in Jane, and would not let her go easily...though she did. The sting is long gone, a simple mark left on her scarred mind where the memory was- is.
Bella stood, staring unemotionally at the piece of paper in her hands- entry forms for Forks High School. While the name was rather...uncreative, the location was perfect; Forks, Washington, was almost always cloudy, raining, snowing, or rarely a weird combination of the three; on the off chance that it did show the sun through the misty clouds and fog that lurked within the surrounding forests, Bella could simply stay indoors- the sun never did stay out for long.
Hefting her leather backpack around her shoulders with ease, she turned, looked at the temporary home she had made for herself- a previously occupied wolves' den- and bid it a silent farewell, before taking her first steps out of the den she had once called home.
A scent caught her nose; wet, the smells of rain, fresh snow, lavender with a hint of honey, strawberry, stale milk and vanilla pervaded her nostrils, too sweet to the point of her gagging and dry heaving, ridding the scent from her nose- but she kept such inane actions in.
Vampires were around.
But these smelled...different, almost no trace of human blood surrounded their long gone auras of death and decay that they had left behind- well, all save for her best friend, and only friend, Jasper; he held an air of experience that was only matched by her, and so when they met as enemies, they left the battlefield as long time friends. This smell though felt somewhat familiar, so she couldn't exactly place it. Vampires were her natural enemy, so the ability to smell them was completely natural, as was her dead heart that yearned to be removed from the corpse of a walking body it was placed in; but Bella had no fight left to stop such actions coming true. She had given up at least twenty years ago, the world deemed to cruel to have such a soul as her in it.
That wasn't to say she'd go down without a fight.
Shaking her head once more, black locks swaying as they did so, she placed over her feline eyes a pair of sunglasses, pitch black. People trying to see through the often seen transparent ones that normal pharmacies and convenience stores sold kept her on edge- giving up on life doesn't mean giving up on her identity, and the world she was made apart of. She knew the consequences of the supernatural being discovered- mobs, pyres, stakes made of 'holy' wood and silver weapons.
She had suffered eighteen days straight due to someone mistaking her for a vampire, and slamming a stake through her chest- her heart may be dead, but she can tell you this; nerves are most certainly not dead.
She ignored the creeping images of pain and anguish that began to fade into her mind, and placed atop her head a small, holed hair band; the piece of plastic with the two slits on the top allowed for her ears to be hidden- in plain sight that is- but at the same time be unrestricted, her hearing having suffered more times than she would even bother to count due to the hoods and hats that she had to place over them in the last area she was in.
'Oh well', she shrugged, 'time to earn my keep'.
She turned to the woods to see a familiar set of orange eyes staring back at her, and she nodded.
"Off to school Jasper, we've got some learning to do."
They both nodded to each other, and flashed out of existence.
(^^^^^^)
"Another day, another high school." Alice Cullen turned to her brother, Edward, the question on her mind never leaving the confines of her lips. She hated when he read her mind, it was too much of an invasion of privacy, and Alice, being the drop dead gorgeous pixie that she is, prefers her private thoughts and feeling to remain just that; but with a Telepath and an Empath in her family, that made her wishes to be completely null and void.
"We're not leaving. School is all we have, Alice; Carlisle told you this." Edward liked to think himself the head of the family when Carlisle wasn't there. He also liked to probe people's minds and make them squirm like insects, while he held that cool, calm facade.
And he pouted, a lot. "I do not pout; I simply acknowledge that I am bad at facial expressions."
Emmett joined in this time, throwing an arm around his faster but weaker younger sibling. "Cheer up Eddie! This is where Alice meets her..." he looked down at Alice, his eyes holding mischief and his lips twitching upwards slightly. "...Mate."
Alice turned several shades red- well, she would if she had that ability anymore; probably the only time she'll thank being undead- and looked shyly down to the ground, her eyes distant yet clear; when they were clouded, that was when she had visions.
Rosalie, seeing her sister's distress, decided to help her out a bit. "Guys, we're missing the important fact here." As she said this, they all stopped and turned their heads to Rosalie, who simply smirked devilishly as she noticed that they had stopped walking and were in the middle of the hall- empty, thankfully, but still near where people could hear her.
"Which is...?" Emmett; always cheery, yet so inquisitive. One day it would be her mate's downfall; bah, as if! He was too strong to fall to some lousy stupidity, and anything to get in his way was crushed like an ant beneath a massive boot. He was the boot.
"Edward still pouts a lot."
And somehow, through those words, the conversation was shifted from one subject, one topic clearly sore for some- uncomfortable for others- to something they could all make light of; that something being Edward, and to say he was unhappy with this change of events would be a major understatement. He was...pissed; yes, pissed seemed like the better word to use, describing his current attitude.
As they laughed, the bell overhead rang, drowning out the chuckles and giggles coming from the strange family of Cullens, to the hustle and bustle of everyday school life; thankfully graduation was only a year away, then they'd move or lay low and attend a different school in another couple of years.
Well, not until they met Alice's prophesised mate, that is. You see, a mate to a vampire is something completely different than a mate to a human. A human's mate is someone they trust unconditionally, mentally becoming pained to leave them, but able to get over them after some time. Vampires, however, are physically unable to leave their mates, a dull aching within their heart that gradually grows to become painful sets in otherwise; then the ache turns into full blown maddening pain, burning beneath their skin, burrowed within their chest that spreads throughout the entire body like wildfire until you either end your own life to end the pain itself, or restlessly search for that one person called your mate. They complete the other, are the only true love a vampire could hope to find, and no matter how grizzled, how veteran the vampire be, they will always want that instinctual love a mate would provide.
Alice had felt neither the pain nor the need, but she had been searching for a mate for far too long. They showed up in a vision, the school, the date, the exact time they'd see each other, but not who they were; it was maddening in and of itself, but the one thing that drove her to find this person was their scent- even through visions she sometimes caught scents and smells, and this person's was unmistakeable. The smell of fresh cream, blackberry and something resembling an oceanic breeze were hard to forget. It was intoxicating, almost...inviting.
She snapped out of it when she, as well as the other Cullens, caught snippets of conversation from the many students around.
"Did you hear about the new girl?"
"...dude, she's hot...if only she didn't have that lapdog following her around."
"You do know how bad that sounded, right?"
"Whatever, man; I'm not into her anyway, she talks like she's from the freakin' stone ages or something: Got confused when Jessica asked for her number."
This intrigued all Cullens, for now they were solely playing their attention to the small conversation going on between Angela Weber, Mike Newton and Eric Yorkie; the three of them were used to the Cullen's odd behaviours, so they simply looked in unison to the family who were currently staring, before looking back at each other and continuing their conversation, albeit slightly hushed than before.
Eric looked at Mike confusedly. "You mean she doesn't have a phone?"
Mike snorted. "No, I mean she doesn't know what a phone is, man. She's weird...but hot." He whispered underneath his breath, much to his annoyance that Mike and Angela heard, "Might ask her to sit at our table."
Eric simply shrugged his shoulders dramatically, sighing heavily as he looked at Mike with what could be called pity. "Poor, innocent, naive little Mike..." he placed a hand on Mike's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "Not before I do!" He then bolted down the hallway, Angela and Mike slowly catching up by jogging, lest they get shouted at for running in the halls again.
Before anyone could say a word, the bell rang, indicating the lunch period.
This was it; the time to meet her mate.
Edward snorted. "Would you stay out of my head for like five minutes?" she wasn't angry, Alice was used to Edward's...gift, and openness with other people's minds, but to have him in your head, probing every little thought a feeling? It was unnerving, and that's the nicest way to put it.
He raised his hands in submission as they all walked in, eyes trailing around the packed cafeteria, before they all eventually went and sat down with salads on each and every one of their plates. Of course, they'd never get eaten, but no one dared to care what the Cullens did- they were the weird family, the ones with two siblings dating each other and the other two suspected to be with each other.
As they sat there, small conversation leaving their minds and to each other in small whispers, a scent strong enough to knock her on her backside filled Alice's nose, and her eyes widened as she as well as the other Cullens frantically looked around; the entire canteen stopped breathing for some reason, no noise filtering through.
Well, except for the dull footsteps of one person and the barely audible steps of another- even to a vampire, the steps were feather light, almost as if they were purposefully trying not to draw attention to themselves.
A male walked in, and immediately most of the human women began swooning; a sharp chin and chiselled jaw set upon a rounded face with pale skin and red lips. He wore some sort of military coat, though from what year, no Cullen could tell, but they could see his clearly defined muscles beneath the dark green jacket and khaki cargo pants. With his hair swept to the side of his head, he looked like he belonged from a different time altogether, and that was when the smell hit them. He was a vampire, obviously, but his scent was not of that which Alice described.
But the thing that caught the Cullen's eyes were the set of orange ones staring directly at the entrance to the canteen area, as if the person about to walk through was the most important person in the world. As soon as the scent hit the Cullens, this person instantly became not only the most important, but the most treasured person to not only the world, but their family as well.
Alice gasped; her mate was a woman? Well...she was very attractive and hot and...Oh no, she's fallen for her already.
Well, Edward could see why; pale skin that shone slightly in the artificial lighting, small hands but calloused, as opposed to smooth, and not a single spot, freckle or wart in sight. In fact, there was not a blemish upon her skin. Raven black hair, with an equally as dark hair band, kitten ears seeming to be sewn onto them and a pair of pitch black sunshades covering her eyes; how curious, was she sensitive to light or something?
They overheard Jessica filling in the table of friends she usually sat with all the information they had discovered about her; Edward listened intently to her speech, as did Alice with almost undying interest. Rosalie seemed bored, but once she spotted a scar that ended its trail at her neckline, starting somewhere far below, she became curious about her; perhaps the human would be interesting to befriend after all. Emmett was too busy making paper aeroplanes with his napkins, but you could tell he was listening when he'd stop his crafting momentarily and tilt his head sideways before continuing.
As the female and blonde male walked to an empty seat far away from any windows or natural lighting, Jessica began her speech. "That's Isabella Swan, though she prefers Bella. The boy with her is Jasper Whitlock, ex military guy; he's cute." Edward witnessed a tiny, small smirk grace jasper's face as he followed his companion. Jessica continued. "Bella's got those sunglasses because her eyes are sensitive to light or something."
"Yeah, right, and I'm Superman." Mike stood up, but thankfully before he could attempt anything, Eric pulled him down, using his fingers and placing them over his lips, dramatically signalling that Mike should be 'quiet for the story' Jessica was spinning.
"Anyway, she's originally from London- you know, England- but she's been travelling around so much, she got bored, so she just ended up here." Jessica finished just as Jasper pulled out a chair for Bella to sit in, the girl in question nodding her head in silent thanks before sitting and pushing herself in. Jasper sat down shortly after, the silence between the two was unearthly, as if such silence was common; in reality though, their lips were moving, with the words being too quiet for humans to hear, and them being a far enough distance away for the Cullen's not to be able to hear either.
Eric looked over to the table at the presumably silent friends, before looking back at Jessica. "And what about...what was his name-?"
"-Jasper?" Jessica filled in, to which Eric and Mike both nodded; the others of their table had left as soon as Bella had walked in, needing to go freshen up for next lesson- Angela was always a good liar, and it was easy to see that Bella's very presence made her feel threatened to her obvious crush on Eric. "He's a southerner- Texas, to be specific; joined up with a military academy or something, then left. Bella and jasper don't really talk about themselves much, if at all, so I had to do some digging."
Alice as well as the other Cullens tuned out by then, the conversation no longer holding merit for their needs; they had learned all they needed to know from simple gossip, and while Edward would simply dig through Bella and jasper's thoughts to find more information, Alice insisted that it not be necessary. The two were fated to meet soon anyway.
And there it was, Bella looked her way, and Alice felt her undead heart flutter at the sheer sight of...no smile. No look of anger, sadness, joy, no emotion; nothing. Her face was blank, as if the very word emotions meant little to her; this might be difficult, but she dropped that thought when jasper suddenly stood, Bella following soon after. Before they knew it- Emmett wasn't paying attention, so it was quite literal- the Whitlock and Swan duo had just appeared in front of them, Jasper with a small, curt smile, Bella with nary an expression save for blankness.
Jasper was about to speak, but Emmett beat him to it, standing tall with a large smile on his face. "...Name's Emmett." He shot his large hand out, easily dwarfing Bella's and jasper's combined, and after a second of hesitation, jasper cautiously brought his hand out as well. "Nice to meet ya jazz."
"Yes...ahem, howdy." As he awkwardly shook the hand back, wincing slightly as Emmet let his hand go, Rosalie stood next, swatting Emmett over his head and earning a whine; by then, the entire canteen were engaged in conversation with each other, so no one noticed the spectacle occurring within their very proximity.
"Rosalie," she greeted, dipping her head slightly before looking between Bella and Jasper. "How do you do." The greeting was sent to Bella, who simply nodded.
Edward stood next, his face as impassive as Bella's; he knew this was some sort of trick, no one could be this impassive, emotionless. "Edward Cullen, bitten 1915."
"Jasper Whitlock," he extended his hand, shaking Edward's slightly before releasing. "Bitten during the Civil war of the 1800's." his southern drawl showed through the small facade of a slight Londoner accent he had built up, and he mentally cursed himself.
All of the Cullen's turned their heads to Bella, who was stood with her shades still covering her eyes, her head bowed slightly and her arms crossed over her chest. She looked up, seeing the stares, and sighed. "Isabella Swan." They all noticed that she had not mentioned her bite, which meant that she was not a vampire; interesting.
Edward nudged Alice in the shoulder with his elbow, tilting his head to Bella and jasper. "H-Hi, I'm Alice."
Jasper's eyebrows rose slightly at her stutter, and an emotion hit him solidly; admiration, mixed with slight hints of happiness, longing and friendship. "Excuse me, Alice, but may I ask...why the admiration?"
Seeing her confused state, Bella simply tightened the grip she had around her body with her crossed arms, before she shook her head slightly, locks falling to cover the front of her sunglasses; she made no move, to the Cullen's surprise, to remove them, as if the curtain of black covering the front of her shades meant little to her, as if she could see finely. "Jasper is an Empath."
"I...see." Rosalie coughed, brining Bella and jasper's attention to her. "We should probably not talk about this here; how about at our place?" Alice shot Rosalie a look of thanks, while she shot one of irritancy, but slight pleasure at seeing Edward squirm- she really wished why though.
Jasper replied, Bella simply staring blankly as he did so. "I see no reason why we shouldn't." He looked to Bella, who simply shrugged, as if not caring. "Then it's settled."
As Jasper and Rosalie exchanged pleasantries and addresses- Jasper not having any didn't surprise the vampires, but Bella not having one did- Alice never took her eyes off of Bella, who was looking as if the world had forsaken her somehow, and she had given up with everything; jasper seemed to gravitate towards her, as she did to him, as if they were both the sole reason for the other's existence. It greatly saddened her, but her thoughts turned to that of their supposed future, and she grinned; she'd show this woman some other reason to continue life even if it killed her- metaphorically speaking, of course.
But there was a way she held herself, as if she had tried once before for a reason to continue onwards, and had found none; that, or the reason was too far out of reach, or she had found it and lost it tragically. Bella's eyes weren't visible, but the simple way she walked, stood, even sat, said all Alice needed to know; Bella was used to being alone, as if she had lived a very long life of it, and was used to it so much that she was obviously still put off by the fact Jasper was with her- yet, for some reason, Bella kept him around...she wandered why that was.
She'd find out sooner or later; no need to complicate things as much as they already were.
(^^^^^^)
If she were human she'd say the Cullen's home was unnecessarily big and somewhat surprising, but being what she is, and considering how long she'd been alive and travelling, she'd seen it all; dungeons, spires atop castles, ancient crypts and pyramidal homes to name but a few. Of course, jasper was enamoured with the place, his head looking upwards towards the very top, his eyes following every nook and cranny of the insides, outsides, even the surrounding forest.
It was when he turned to Bella that he noticed her indifferent behaviour, but chose not to comment; if there was one thing he had learned, it was to never question Bella Swan over anything. It wasn't exactly pretty when he did that last time.
She could see the question in his eyes, and he could see the monotonous expression beneath the sunglasses; it was frustrating to consider yourself friends with someone who only sees you as company. Friends was stretching it for her anyway, and he knew of her terrifying past; the things she used to do, the things she is now, what she used to have, and what she doesn't have now. He doesn't know everything of course, Bella would never divulge her entire life story to a stranger; a stranger that she had been travelling with for at least ten years now. He understood that they both had things to run from, but the way she described her life currently one night, was she has everything to run from and nothing to run to.
Edward, who was silently picking through Jasper's memories, came across a peculiar thought, but after listening to it, he glanced towards the stoic woman; she could feel his staring, and as she glared back, a small frown plastered upon her usually unemotional face, he turned quickly away, leading the entire family of Cullens, including the 'plus-twos', to the front of the massive almost completely glass house.
Bella was watching with barely any interest whilst the tall mind reading Cullen approached the door as the rest of them just stood there, staring at the front door and then the duo of newcomers with interest and, in Alice's case, shyness. One could tell she was a very giddy person, but today it felt as if it was being...held back, contained within herself for the time being, as if something had caught her interest and the entirety of her focus was placed on that one thing- Jasper could see that the thing was Bella, but decided to ignore it.
His attention was brought back to the front door- he assumed- of the house; blonde hair swept to the side, peach lips and rounded cheeks. The usual for a vampire for unnatural beauty, their predatory bodies needing something to acclimate the needs of a human's long enough to draw them in; bit this man's eyes were orange, as were the rest of his family, which meant they were like Jasper himself.
"Vegetarian vampires," that caught the eyes and gazes of the two new vampires. "I thought I was the only one, until I saw your family."
The blond looked at Jasper with a soft, inviting smile, almost fatherly. "Ah, you must be Jasper! I am Carlisle, and this," he pointed to the black haired woman next to him, sporting a small smile and a motherly attitude radiating off of her "Is Esme." He shook Jasper's hand before looking towards Bella with a quirked eyebrow. "And who is this?"
"This would be Bella, the one who showed me that I didn't need to feed off of people to survive." Jasper supplied, knowing Bella would simply stare, as she was now.
"Welcome, Bella." Carlisle extended a hand to shake, but seeing Bella simply glance down at it, then back up at him, before nodding put him off slightly. "Uh, we would be delighted for you to stay over."
Esme joined in, shushing the siblings- who had now began to stare and whisper- in the process. "That is if you don't need to head back home anytime soon."
Bella turned her head to Esme at this point, glaring slightly, causing the vampire to stare confusedly. "We don't have a home: Haven't for a while, miss." Jasper turned his head to the glaring Bella, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Instantly, her sunglasses-covered eyes shifted onto him, and he shook his head. "Especially her; she's been alone for a long, long time."
"Oh...I see. Well..." she turned her head to Bella, who had her arms wrapped around her stomach and her head down- Esme's eyes shifted to behind Bella, where Edward was trying to sneak- and smiled, as if nothing was wrong. "Would you like to stay with us?"
Before Bella could answer, Edward used his vampire speed, blurring to Bella and, in one swift movement of hands, removed her sunglasses- well, he tried, but as his hands came an inch from the glasses, still using his vampire speed, Bella caught it by the wrist. She, a human, was holding a fully matured vampire's hand.
"What the-!?" he was cut off when Bella's fist impacted with his stomach, causing him to keel over as the sound of familiar marble cracking could be heard. He got back up, eyes black, but with the sunshades in his hands nonetheless.
Bella snarled, using her superhuman speed to kick Edward in the stomach, causing him to lift in the air, and then she jumped up, grabbed her sunglasses and placed a hand on his chest before throwing him down to the ground.
All of this happened within ten seconds, and every single vampire- save for Jasper- had their mouths open in shock, or awe in Emmett's case, at the spectacle they had just witnessed.
As she landed, her back to the Cullens, she lifted the sunglasses to her face, covering her eyes once more; thankfully her hair was covering her eyes when they were torn off, otherwise she would have explaining to do- well, more explaining if you counted the situation she was now in.
Rosalie cleared her throat- an unnecessary thing to do for a vampire- and directed her gaze to Bella once more, who was stood straight, in the same place she was before; Edward was at her feet, groaning while holding his arms around his chest as if to stem the pain, though his eyes held a curious look- there was pain in there too, but curious was what was felt the most.
"Well, it's quite clear you are most certainly not human."
"Obviously." A voice came from behind Bella, causing the woman to sniff the air and hiss as she spun around, her hands poised as if they were claws and her teeth threatening to bare themselves.
Tan, muscular with only a pair of denim shorts covering him; Black hair that covered the top of his head, but looked to be newly shaven. Sweat shone on his arms, legs and chest, indicating he had run here. Why though was the question on every Cullen's mind; Edward was too busy in ain on the floor to care to read his mind for the answer.
"Jacob."
Jacob turned his head to Bella, stopped glaring and shot her a small smile, to which she glowered at. "Bella, it's good to see you again."
"Is it?" she questioned, a look of utter disdain completing her normally stoic face. "Is it really?" her tone was angry, her hands shaped like claws and her feet and knees bent low, almost feral.
Jacob took in her stance, and knew she was ready to fight at a moment's notice. "Y-Yes, look; I know...we've had our fair share of wrongs done to you-"
"Of wrongs? You call attacking me for no reason a simple wrong?"
"It...It wasn't our decision; the Alpha we had back then refused to allow any other person on the Reservation without his express permission."
Her voice suddenly dropped dangerously low, a tone not even Jasper had heard. "Get me Sam."
Jacob's head shot up at the order, and he grew irritated. "You can't just-"
Within an instant Bella had flashed in front of Jacob, her gaze behind the sunglasses boring into his wide, fear filled brown eyes. "Get me Sam, mutt, or so help me..." to prove her point, she took a step closer.
That was all that was needed, for Jacob scurried backwards, running with his tail between his legs- metaphorically, at least.
A couple of seconds later and the familiar figure of Sam Uley- in his human form- stepped within the boundaries of the Cullen's side of the treaty-protected land. All Cullens were too busy watching the spectacle with curiosity, annoyance or simple disdain for the shifter in front of them. Sam was an alright guy, sure, but as an Alpha he was utterly terrible; clearly not suited for the task of Alpha, as he had broken the treaty time and again just to talk to Edward about him and Jacob's...fights, shall we say.
Sam looked at Bella, who was brushing off her black and red leather jacket, and shook his head, a small smile forming on his face. "Bella, good to see you again." she froze mid brush when he said this, and in the blink of an eye he was pinned to a nearby tree, her face only an inch from his; it would look like the embrace of a lover if Bella was not shaking with rage, barely contained.
"It is most certainly not good to see you, Sam..." she sighed, releasing him and placing him down gently. "But you sent that lapdog after me, so what do you want?"
Sam coughed, rubbing his neck free of the sore Bella had undoubtedly gave him, before he looked up to take her in completely; Black and red leather jacket, black, long sleeved undershirt, black cargo pants and dark red laced combat boots. She looked ready for war, but she had good merit to be this paranoid of everything, what with how things had turned out for her. He instantly regretted the reason for him being here- not that it would be a negative thing, but because of the things he would bring up; in front of a family of vampires, no less. This baffled him; she was designed to kill vampires, but perhaps her lack of company and an Alpha over the years had dulled her senses? Or she had simply given up, and since he could still feel her 'senses' around his neck, even with her stood a good foot or two away from him, it was most definitely the latter.
He cleared his head of those thoughts, shaking while he did so, and turned to look at Bella, who was stood with a now expressionless face gazing back into his eyes from beyond her sunglasses.
"Yes, well, I sent Jacob to tell you that the Council wish to speak to you." He could see her open her mouth to object, but he interjected before she could. "They also wish for the Cullens to come, as well.
He turned and left before she had a chance to speak. Instead, she gritted her teeth, the grinding sound filling the area, and before the Cullen's very eyes she slammed her curled fist into the side of a nearby tree, toppling it in an instance.
Her hand looked fine, though, and Alice cleared her throat, directing everyone to look at her.
"Are...we going inside yet?"