Finally it's done! I can tell you that some of the future chapters are somewhat done, but the next chapter I have just started on it. Sorry that I'm such a slow writer, but I want this story to be the best for all my readers so I nit-pick at it. Please enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 10: You are a Bad Soul, Mister
My feet thudded against the stairs as I quickly ran down them to reach the door when I heard the doorbell ring. Me being me, I tripped over nothing on the last step, but I caught myself on the railing. I breathed a silent sigh of relief that I didn't injure myself this time. The TV was blaring with a game as I walked by the living room, glancing over to see Charlie in his lazy-boy with a Bud Light in one hand.
Thankfully, Charlie didn't drink a whole lot. He only drank on Fridays when he didn't have to get up in the morning the next day. Plus he only drank two beers.
I opened the door with a wide smile on my face, seeing Edward standing there in a dark blue jacket with a baseball jersey underneath and a pair of blue jeans and sneakers. He flashed me a crooked grin as I stepped out of the way so he could meet Charlie for the first time as my boyfriend.
We made our way into the living room so Edward can greet Charlie.
Charlie looked up from the game, hitting the mute button on the TV. He stood up at his full height, eyeing Edward up and down to get a reading on him. His job as a cop told him looks can be deceiving and a wealthy man can be just as guilty as a drug junkie. I shook my head at him, looking at his soul to see that Charlie didn't fully like Edward since he is dating his 'little girl'. I held back my snort of amusement and glanced at Edward to see his secretly amused face.
"It's nice to meet you Sir," Edward offered his hand to Charlie, flashing a smile at him. Charlie looked down then back up to Edward and slowly took his hand in a firm handshake. I watched the exchanged with baited breath, hoping that this will go well.
Charlie grunted in agreement.
"Don't stay out too late. I want her home before midnight," Charlie grumbled, going back to sit in his chair. "I'll try sir, but my sister Alice likes Bella a lot and might keep her from us. If that happens I'll make sure to call you to inform that Alice has Bella captured in sleepover," Edward stated, being completely honest. I rolled my eyes, knowing Alice would do such a thing, keeping me up for hours just to do Bella Barbie.
"Well, have fun kids and Bella don't get too hurt while playing." Charlie unmuted the TV and the blare of a horn went off as a point was made at the last second. Loud cheering accompanied it as small people on the screen rushed off to congratulate the winning team. I blushed brightly at the thought of falling flat on my face in front of seven vampires.
"Don't worry dad, I don't think I will be playing," I said, heading for the door before anymore could be said. Edward said goodbye to Charlie, trailing behind me and closing the door on his way out. I stood frozen on my doorstep, staring at the monster Jeep parked in my driveway where the Volvo normally parks.
Edward came up behind me chuckling. He wrapped an arm around my waist and nudged me forward. I moved towards the massive jeep, Edward opening the door for me on the passenger's side. I took a deep breath as I put one foot on the bar. I was thankful that my leg could stretch that high. I stretched my body up as far as it could to grasp the bar on top to help lift my 125 pound body into the passenger's seat without falling.
Edward placed his hands on my hips and effortlessly lifted me up into the passenger seat, surprising me. The driver's side door opened and closed as Edward got in with ease as he started the Jeep. We backed out of the driveway and I buckled up the harness seatbelt, feeling a little ridiculous about wearing a harness while Edward wore the normal seatbelt.
"So this must be Emmett's Jeep right?" I questioned, looking around the roomy car that had a back seat along with a mini truck bed. Edward grinned, nodding his head. I snorted clearly seeing this as an Emmett car.
"How come Emmett is allowing you to drive his Jeep?" I asked. I gripped the seat as the car started to bounce around as we entered into the forest. "Emmett doesn't really care about who drives his cars," Edward answered.
"Then why are you so anal about yours?" I questioned. Edward gave me a blank look at my use of words, but replied anyway. "Everyone in my family has a mate except for me and mates are protective over each other. I had no one to really love and protect so I directed that to my cars. Obviously we can't have pets, so all my belongings became my mate to protect and love. But now that I have you, I don't have that strong of an urge to protect my things." I was touched that I was now first priority in his eyes and I understood now on why he loved his car so much. It was a little sad that his car became his pseudo mate, but the guy had no one else and he was over 100 years old. Most teenagers now a day thinks going a year or two single is like the end of the world. But Edward had gone a hundred and seven years without a person to love. I reached over the console to grab his hand on the steering wheel, silently letting him know I understood. He glanced over and gently smiled at me. Turning his hand over he gave my hand a little squeeze and rested our combined hands together on the console.
The rest of the ride was in comfortable silence. Edward smoothly parked the car at the edge of a wide clearing, got out, and pulled me out along with him in less than a minute. I lightly hit him in the chest, giving him a playful glare at him using unfair means to get me out of the car. He smirked in return before he pulled me to the rest of his family.
Emmett and Jasper were standing in the middle of the clearing throwing a baseball back and forth, Rosalie was standing with Alice, looking at something on their phones, and Carlisle and Esme were standing together watching their kids. I smiled wickedly as I thought of something. Edward glanced over with a bemused smile. "What are you thinking of love?" he asked. I winked at him before I opened my mouth to shout, "Hey Emmett, nice Jeep! Are you trying to compensate for something else with it's size?"
Shocked silence hung in the clearing as I beat down the rising heat in my cheeks. I still had a wide smile on my face as I stared at a slack jawed Emmett. Edward suddenly busted out in loud laughter with Jasper following him only moments after. Alice's tinkling laugh joined in and Esme and Carlisle even let a chuckle pass. I saw the corners of Rosalie's lips twitch upwards too.
Emmett snapped out of his daze and gave me a predator smile. "Ohhh you are so going to get it Bella," he purred as he started to charge at me in a slightly faster human pace. I squealed as I darted away from the charging hulk, my wide smile still on my have and I held in my laughter. Cold arms suddenly wrapped around my waist as I felt my body lean forwards as Emmett tackled me to the ground, moving his body in time so he landed on the ground and me on top of him. He quickly stood up, throwing me over his shoulder as he walked back to the middle of the clearing.
"Hey Jasper, we got a new ball to throw," Emmett boomed out. He swiftly placed one hand on my lower back and the other under my knees as he lifted me over his head like a prize. I squealed out, gripping his wrist that was under my back and praying he wasn't going to throw me.
"Emmett, put her down!" Edward growled out as he stalked closer to us. Emmett pouted, but he didn't let me down yet. I held out my arms to Edward like a small child would do to their parent. Edward stopped in front of us and held out his arms for Emmett to put me in. Emmett narrowed his eyes playfully before bending his arms down slightly. Edward's eyes widened in horror as he screamed "No, Emmett!" and Emmett yelled, "Catch Jasper!"
I screamed as I suddenly went airborne for a few seconds before I was caught gently in a pair of strong arms and held against a cold chest. I looked up to see honey blonde locks framing golden eyes: Jasper. I let out a relived sigh, sending him waves of gratitude and relief that he had caught me. He chuckled silently as he set me on the ground, keeping a steading arm around my shoulders. "I got you darling. Don't worry, Emmett wouldn't have thrown you if he wasn't completely sure I would catch you. He cares about you way too much to actually hurt you in anyway." Jasper whispered to me. I looked over to where Emmett is only to see Edward holding Emmett in a headlock with his teeth bared and Emmett laughing his head off. I shook my head at them before heading over to Esme.
She wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders when I reached her side. "Boys, let's play ball already! The storm won't last all night!" Alice yelled out as she grabbed a steel bat off the ground and walked with Rosalie to the center of the field. Carlisle was already patiently waiting for the rest of his kids at the center. Esme and I stood back, watching as the teams were divided and who would go first by a faster hand contest on the bat.
Edward and Emmett ended up being the team captains. Alice, Rosalie, and Edward are one team while Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett are the other team. I sat cross-legged in the damp grass behind Esme who crouched down to be their umpire to keep the game clean. Carlisle went up first to bat.
He swung the bat around a few times before he settled his body into position as Alice winded up the pitch. I could only see a streak of white as the ball flew towards Carlisle. A resounding boom echoed off the trees as Carlisle sprinted to first base and the ball flew somewhere. Edward took off into the trees as Carlisle was making his way to second base. I watch amazed as the ball came whipping out of the trees as soon as Carlisle rounded third base. Esme held her hand up just as Carlisle slid into home.
"Safe," Esme called out as Edward came out of the tress and Carlisle stood up from the ground to dust his pants off. The game continued on with Emmett's team behind by one point and the teams now switching again. Edward was now up to bat as Jasper tossed the ball up into the air before it landed in his gloved hand. I stood up, wanting to try being in the game for once. Alice smiled from her position next to me before calling out for the players to stop for a moment.
I walked up to Edward, blushing slightly as I asked to join in for just one hit. Edward smiled as he handed me the steel bat. My arms fell with the weight of the pure steel and I wondered how I would swing it properly. I struggled to hold it up on shoulder level as I bent down in the proper position that I saw Carlisle start with. Edward chuckled as he encased my smaller hands with his larger hands, taking the weight of the bat in his own hands. His chest leaned on my back as he prepared us for Jasper's pitch. Jasper threw the ball with less strength than he normally did as the ball whizzed towards us.
Edward swung us as he hit the ball and picked me up to race to first base, then to second where he stopped. I looked up at him with a wide smile as I realized that baseball wasn't so bad after all. I laughed in pure joy as Rosalie stood up to bat and Edward situated me on his back. I nuzzled my face in his shoulder and he leaned his head slightly on mine as he crouched down slightly so he could run. Rosalie hit and Emmett ran after the ball so he could catch it. Edward and I were off the base and nearing third base when Alice stood up with a blank stare, screaming out a stop. We all held our breath as we waited for Alice to come out of the vision. Edward tightened his grip around my knees and was quickly by Alice's side along with Jasper. Emmett, thankfully, didn't run very far. The Cullen's all huddled around Alice as she snapped out of her vision.
Quiet whispering voices reached my ears. I turned my head to look off in the direction of the forest behind us just as Alice's soul started to panic about three nomads. "I'm sorry, I just now had this vision, but there are three nomadic vampires coming here in less than a minute. They must have heard our game."
The whispering voices got louder, becoming more and more intelligible as they neared.
"Don't want to play in a stupid game," a woman's soul said.
"Finally, more company. Maybe we could have fun with the game," this male soul had a French accent.
"Hopefully I can finally have some 'fun'. Mess with them. Hopefully there will be women I can also play with," shivers went down my spine at this male voice. I leaned closer to Edward as he sat me down the on ground. We both knew that he wouldn't be able to get me out of this situation in time. Edward gently pushed me behind him as the rest of the Cullens moved to make a semi wall around me so I would be out of view. I pressed close to Edward, hoping his scent would be strong enough to mask mine.
Three vampires emerged from the forest, walking with silent grace that only a vampire had. There were two males. The first one has dirty blonde hair tied in a low pony-tail at the nape of his neck, a dark brown leather jacket adorned his chest and washed out jeans hugged his hips. His soul was surrounded by black as blood oozed from his lips that were spread wide in a maniacal smile. His soul was jittery with keen bloody brown eyes as it scanned over each of us and lingered on Alice. A memory flashed briefly in his mind. He knew who Alice was.
The next male had thick dreadlocks hanging down his back with an olive skin tone. A burnt orange jacket hung open to expose his chest and dark jeans covered the rest of his body. His soul had grey tints around the edges, showing he wasn't entirely bad, but he did enjoy killing his prey. His soul's eyes had a quiet calm about them, but I could see the underlying need to kill his victims. His soul scanned our family to, but he was more fascinated at the idea of vampires actually being a family rather than just mindless killings and bringing the fear of the myth into a reality.
The female had fiery red hair that hung in semi tight ringlets. A pure white fur coat covered her upper half in a stylish manner as her green top peeked through towards beginnings of her black jeans. Her soul was just as black as the first male. Her soul was practically soaked in blood as it was splattered and running down her soul's skin, a pink tongue darting out between blood red lips to lick at the passing blood on her cheek. A deranged look had infused itself in her honey brown eyes that were now more red than brown. I could see that she considered herself as James' mate and in a way she could have been his too as their red strings entwined themselves together, but never attached.
The three nomads all had red eyes too.
"Within every black soul there is a speck of gold," I silently told myself in my mind. That saying had been my mantra ever since I first saw someone with a very bad soul. I willed myself to believe that their speck of gold would be their red string that would connect them to their one and I had always hoped that one day they would find theirs.
The French vampire spoke up, showing he was leader in their group. "Hello, I'm Laurent, this is Victoria, and this is James." Carlisle smiled at them, his soul trying to be as diplomatic as it could so he wouldn't show that he wanted them far away from his family. I was a bit shocked to see that I was part of his family in his mind, but I hid it. "Hello, I'm Carlisle and this is my family. I would appreciate it if you would not hunt in this town while we are here. It will cause us problems," Carlisle smiled tightly. Laurent looked a little surprised, mainly from their eyes. "Okay, we do not want to cause any unnecessary problems while we pass through. We just stopped by because we heard your game and we wondered if we could join in on the fun," Laurent smiled pleasantly. James was still eyeing Alice before moving his eyes over the rest of us and lingering on me. Edward tensed up as I gripped his shirt, both of us hearing his unpleasant thoughts about me.
"I'm sorry, but we just finished our game. Maybe next time you come around you can join in," Carlisle answered. Laurent nodded solemnly, a little sad not being able to play a game as he and the rest of his clan turned away. Edward and I were just starting to turn away when the wind lightly blew across my face as the storm over head started to pick up. A fat drop of water landed on my cheek as hell split open in front of me. The three nomads whipped around and started to advance on me. Edward and the other Cullens jumped in the way, Carlisle holding Edward back along with Emmett and Jasper. Alice came up beside me so I would have better protection as everyone hissed at each other.
"Looks like you brought a snack for us," James hissed out as he snapped his jaws in my direction. I glared at him in retaliation. Edward growled out as Carlisle stated that I was with them. Laurent grabbed James' shoulder to haul him back, not wanting to fight because we clearly outnumbered them. James' soul started to tell me that I was his new challenge and he wasn't going to rest until my body was crushed in his hands and drained of all my sweet blood. He was going to enjoy the thrill of the chase.
The chase is on! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this one, but I doubt it. Please be patient my faithful readers and keep reviewing, it makes my spirits lift more and encourages me to keep this story alive. Please leave a comment, any idea you have, hopes for the story, or anything else in a review!