I'm still working on this story! Don't worry this story will be finished hopefully in the near future. I promise I wont wait another year for the next chapter. For some reason I just hit a funk where I just didn't feel like writing anything. I'm pulling myself out of that.
I hope my readers are still here and are kind enough to write a review. I'm actually nervous to hear what you guys think.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Soul Chase
Edward swept me up into his arms and rushed to the Jeep. He threw me in the back, climbing in next to me, and slamming the door shut. He turned to the front of the Jeep and firmly said, "Drive." I belatedly realized that Emmett followed us and got in the driver's side. In a slight daze I buckled my seat belt as Emmett floored it. The Jeep bounced around a lot more on the hidden dirt path of the forest than when Edward was driving. I gripped the seat, taking deep breathes so I can focus on the situation. So far I knew that James was after me because he saw me as a new and interesting challenge. From the bits and pieces his thoughts gave me, he has done this before. I forced down the screaming people in my mind that appeared when I thought of James; his memories assaulted my brain.
I tuned into the souls of Edward and Emmett to take note of our situation.
"That son of a bitch! If he lays one hand on my little sister I'll tear him a new one! NO ONE harms my family. Can't believe he has the nerve. THE NERVE, to even think about killing Bella! When I get my hands on him he'll know the new meaning of pain. I'll tear off one limb slowly so he can feel every ounce of"- I quickly blocked Emmett's raging thoughts to protect my own sanity. I was a bit mortified at what I found in his soul, but deep down I was insanely pleased that he cared so much and thought of me as a sister.
Glancing at Edward's stony expression I took a peek into his soul.
"How could I have let this happen? I was so stupid to believe I could bring her into this world! Now I've put the love of my life in danger all because I selfishly brought her into my family. I won't let that psycho vampire have her. I'll protect her with my life. I'm so sorry love. She must hate me now because of this. Got to protect her at all cost. If he even gets near her I'll"- I stopped listening to Edward's soul and slipped my hand in his to give it a reassuring squeeze.
My thoughts were as jumbled up as the Jeep, bouncing to and fro at a high speed with no care. I sucked in a calming breath to ease the rise of panic. I have to remain calm and think. First there is a psychotic vampire after me simply because I smell good and interest him. Second he is tracking me, but his tracking powers don't work on me very well so I pose as a new challenge. Third Edward is having a conniption fit beside me and he wants to take me far away. Okay now to figure out the important one.
The Jeep hits something causing me to fly up a foot in my seat before being slammed back down. Thank goodness I'm wearing a harness. A sharp turn almost sent me flying into the door. The trail soon smoothed out and that's when I figured we were on the road.
I close my eyes to focus more on my thoughts. Since the tracker is after me now he would at first rely on his tracking power. However his power can't track me like he normally does. Apparently I don't have a 'feel' like all the others, I just feel like empty space to him. My scent would be the next thing to track for him, but he knows I'll have seven vampires protecting and covering up my scent. The next thing he would go for is to draw me out and the only way to draw me out would be to-.
My eyes snap open as dread filled my being. "Emmett turn around. I need you to take me home," I lunged forward to grip the side of his seat as I pleaded. A plan started to form in my head. I would fight with Charlie; make a false trail of some kind to lead the tracker away so he knows that he can't use my father as leverage. I didn't know if I could say my plan out loud incase the tracker was following.
"Emmett ignore her, keep going," Edward spoke up. I stare at him in surprise. Edward's jaw was clenched shut, his eyes almost black and the hand that was not in mine was fisted so tightly it looked like it would fuse to form a lump of flesh. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"If you don't take me home, I'll throw myself out of this car on the count of three." I stated, pulling my hand out of Edward's hand and crossing them over my chest. Edward rolled his eyes, his soul's thoughts telling me I was just being dramatic given the situation.
"One," I growled, unbuckling my seatbelt. The car hit something and bounced violently sending me to crash against the door. I hid a wince as I gripped the seat and door to keep me from flying further. Emmett's soul was starting to worry and he was wondering if he should slow down and actually listen to me.
"Emmett keep going, she is bluffing," Edward growled keeping his eyes a head so he doesn't react to me. I could tell by his soul that he didn't like this game I was trying to play with him, He didn't like the fact I was bluffing this when I was already in danger and I was saying I would intentionally put myself in danger. He didn't like the fact that James was after me and he blamed himself for it simply because they live in the same world. He didn't like the fact that he didn't have control over this situation and he certainly didn't like the fact that I was in danger period. But I couldn't let that deter me no matter how much I didn't like any of this.
"TWO," I stated loudly to get their attention that I was serious. I gripped the door hand and pulled forward slightly to hear a 'pop' as the door opened ajar. I could hear the angry whistling of the wind as it rushed passed the speeding car and the force it presented on my arm threatened to tear the door away from me.
Edward's head whipped to me as his angry black eyes glared into mine.
"Three," I whispered, my fingers slipping away from the door handle. As soon as my fingers left the door, a roar replaced the angry whistling as the door flew open. I felt the cold fingers of the wind take hold of my hair as I mentally prepared myself to fall out the door, hoping I wouldn't be too injured. Before I could do anything besides letting go of the door which was slammed shut just as soon as I let it go, I was situated tightly in a cold lap being hugged for dear life in a pseudo seatbelt. Emmett, I could tell, was a bit scared and questioned my sanity as his foot slowly inched off the gas to make sure I wasn't going to do anything stupid.
I felt a shiver go down my spine as an evil soul approached us.
'Now where are they going at such high speeds,' a sickly sweet voice chimed in my head. The evil soul's memories tried to force their way into mine, but my mind was strong enough to stop it from entering, but not from causing me a massive headache. Edward stiffened underneath me and I knew then that the female soul was one of the three nomads.
"Emmett, when we leave the woods head to Bella's house. Let's listen to her for the moment," Edward softly spoke loud enough for Emmett to hear, but his soul told me the exact same words for my ears only.
'I have to trust her enough to know what she is planning.' Edward's soul said.
'Got it. Rosie is going to be mad when we turn up late.' Emmett's soul replied to Edward's words.
After a few minutes we reached the smooth pavement of the road and bolt down to my house. I leaned my full weight against Edward, making sure their souls voices went to the back of my head so I could focus on what I was going to say to Charlie. I knew I was going to have to hurt him a bit even though I didn't want to. It was inevitable of what I had to do to make Charlie safe in this crisis. I breathed in Edward's honey and apple wood scent, drawing strength from his presence alone.
In no time at all, Emmett was pulling into the drive of Charlie's house. I didn't move right away, having something to say before I left.
"Edward, no matter what I say in that house, I want you to know that I love you and to not question me on what I am doing," I made sure my voice was low enough so only the occupants of the car could hear me. I gently pressed a kiss to his chest before I climbed between the front seats so I could sit in the passenger seat.
"Keep the car running brother bear, I'll be right back. Oh, and I'll be taking my truck back to your house so you might want to pull out and hide somewhere." I winked at him with a smirk as I hopped out of the huge Jeep. I schooled my features into a grimace as if I was trying to hold back tears. It wasn't too hard to pull off, all I had to do was imagine what I was going to do to Charlie and my eyes started to sting.
I marched up the porch steps, 'fumbled' with the doorknob, and slammed the door open before roughly shutting it, creating a large bam noise to reverberate in the house. I knew that was enough to get Charlie's attention that something was wrong. Soon I heard the squeak of Charlie's chair, the TV go silent, and his booted footsteps approaching me. I stood still for a moment before I started to head to the stairs in a hurry.
"Bella, is that you? Hey, what's wrong? Bella, hold on, talk to me," Charlie demanded as I jogged up the stairs in a fast pace, Charlie right behind me.
I stayed silent, in a way stubborn simply because I didn't want to talk to him just yet. I got to my door and yanked it partially open before turning to him. "I'm leaving."
I slammed the door closed in his face and made sure to lock it so he wouldn't come in. I saw Edward already packing my things into a bag. I gave him a quick peck in thanks as I helped him grab things to shove in my suitcase.
Charlie was banging on my door, pleading to let him in and talk to him about what was going on. I took a deep breathe; knowing what I was going to say next would hurt him. I turned to Edward again and framed his face in my hands. "I love you and I'm sorry," I softly said before slamming my lips on his. I let all my emotions go in that one kiss, silently letting him feel everything that I couldn't say in that moment. A tiny, barely there moan escaped him as he kissed me back as much as he would allow himself to. The kiss ended as soon as it started as I headed for the door with a duffle bag across my shoulder. Edward silently let me know that he was going to hop in my truck with my suitcase.
I unlocked my door and opened it to see a worried Charlie with his fist raised to hit the door once more. I stared at him blankly for a moment, before I slipped by him to head to the stairs. .
"Bella, wait. You have to talk to me. How can I help you if you don't talk to me and what do you mean you are leaving?!" Charlie questioned as he followed after me. His soul was completely baffled and was cloaked in fear and dread as past memories of my mom leaving him appeared. I hid a wince at what I was planning on doing.
"Dad, I don't want to talk about it." I muttered as my feet thudded loudly in the house.
"Bella," Charlie's soft, sad voice reached my ears just as his hand grasped my elbow in a firm grip to stop my movement. Charlie was never one to talk a whole lot. He liked to stay hidden in the background, observe, and speak up when needed. He would take charge of any situation if need be and he was never afraid to speak out. My dad is a strong man and my mom says I'm a lot like him. At this moment I could see exactly our similarities and I could also see beneath the surface and see how much this was hurting him and for once I could see my dad afraid of a situation.
"He found out about it," my hoarse voice whispered out in the silence, my eyes looking straight into his as I staunched the flow of tears that welled in my eyes. There was a harsh lump caught in my throat and my stomach twisted to the point of pain as my legs shook. Nobody in Forks knew about it, not even Edward. The only person who knew is Charlie because he is my father. I bit my lip hard as I saw Charlie's eyes widen in shock before softening in comfort, sympathy, and pain.
"How did he find out about it?" Charlie softly spoke, his hand releasing my arm. I unconsciously hugged myself as I spoke, "I really don't want to talk about it. I just want to get out of here. There is nothing for me here and I don't want to be trapped in a small town like this like Mom was."
Lies, all of it. I have everything I want here. The Cullen family is amazing and the small town helped with my Soul seeing ability.
Before anymore could be said I rushed out of the house and into the truck. I quickly turned it on and sped out of the drive way, heading to the Cullen house. I took deep breathes so I won't cry. This isn't goodbye forever yet. I will be back so I can say my final goodbyes when the time is right. Steeling myself I focused on the main goal: getting the psychopathic vampire away from me.
The passenger door opened up and quickly closed. For a second I panicked, thinking it was James, before Edward's soothing voice reassured me that it was just him. Headlights flashed in my rearview mirror, Emmett's way of letting me know he was behind me. I took a calming breath, drawing myself in and projecting my hearing out.
I didn't always have to look at a person to hear their soul. Souls are always chatting about something and it was just a matter of ignoring them and pushing their voice out of my head. I could hear a barely there voice whisper words that I couldn't make out, but I could tell by the tone it was James and he was moving farther away from Forks. I didn't have a huge range to hear from. About the size of a football field is how far my range went and even then only barely there whispers. I sighed in relief, hoping this meant that James wouldn't go after my father anymore.
Edward scooted closer to me before replacing my hands with his and quickly moving me to sit in the passenger seat while he drove, pushing my car to its limits.
"I'm sorry," he quietly said. I furrowed my eyebrows, not exactly knowing why he said that.
"For what?" I asked.
"For everything," was all he said for the rest of the drive back to his house. I felt my stomach drop suddenly, feeling sick and worried that this would be the end to our relationship. Cold fingers of dread caressed up my spine, creeping around my neck and threatening me with suffocation and an anxiety attack. I slammed my eyes shut and pressed my cheek to the freezing window, willing myself to push this issue to the back of my mind. Now was not the time to be freaking out over our relationship.
Edward opened up the door for me when we got to the Cullen's house. We both froze as an accented voice drifted from the house.
Edward pushed me behind him as a low growl rumbled from his chest. Emmett also crouched low beside us as Carlisle, Esme and Laurent came out from the living room and into the foyer.
"Edward calm down, it's okay. Laurent is here to help," Carlisle said, holding his hands up in a non-threatening way. Edward and Emmett stood up straight, but I could see that they were both still on guard. I grabbed Edward's hand in a feeble attempt to calm him down.
Laurent observed us, silently contemplating about our relationship and our family in general. His ruby gaze was starting to give me chills as he kept his eyes on me a bit longer than the others. Finally he directed his gaze to Carlisle.
"James is hunting your human… friend partly because of her blood, but the main reason is that she feels off to him, like she is not really there," Laurent gave pause. He wanted to call me their pet because he saw no reason why vampires would have me in their home if not for some kind of use, whether it be blood or pleasure.
I felt Edward stiffen and his soul was growling loudly at Laurent. I rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand, for my comfort or his I wasn't really sure.
"I'm here to advise you that once James starts his hunt, he does not relent until he finishes. He is an excellent tracker," Laurent finished, once again eyeing me. Edward did bare his teeth this time.
"Thank you Laurent. We have cousins up in Denali that will be more than happy to welcome you to this life style," Carlisle, ever the diplomat, showed the French vampire the way out. I glance up to Edward's soul to see he was forming a plan to keep me safe. We would go our separate ways until this whole James thing blows over.
I glanced at Laurent's soul one more time before he left, making sure my ears were tuned into his soul in case something changes his mind.
Carlisle and Edward started a discussion too low for my ears while Esme nodded and ran upstairs. I felt awkward just standing here with nothing to do. A soft French accented voice drifted to my ears a minute later.
"I'll have to let James know of their plan before heading up to Denali. It's the least I could do after all the years of companionship. For their sake I hope they put up a good fight," Laurent's soul was soft and wispy meaning he was a good mile away from me. His soul's voice got soft and softer, letting me know he was moving away. Dread filled me at the knowledge that he knew our plan of action. I gripped Edward's hand tightly as I took a few calming breathes. Now was not the time to freak out.
Edward growled loudly beside me as he whipped his head in the direction of the front door. His soul told me he heard Laurent too.
"Edward, calm down. It will be alright," I tried to reassure him. Carlisle gave us a confused look, not really sure what was going on.
"Laurent heard our plan, but I might have an idea on what we can do," I replied. I saw the rest of the Cullen clan appear behind Carlisle. I took a deep breathe, feeling nervous with all the eyes staring at me. I tried to discretely wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans to calm the jumbled mess of nerves. A soothing wave of calm, reassurance, and confidence blanketed me. I sent my appreciation back to Jasper.
"We stick to the plan," I said. Silence fell over the room as they stared at me in disbelief. Jasper fist snapped out of it and stood there with a contemplative look. I glance at this soul, hearing his soul agreeing to my idea as it now looked at the pros and cons.
"Why on earth would we stick to a plan that has been exposed?" Rosalie growled at me. I took another breathe in to calm my building nerves.
"James doesn't know we heard Laurent's thoughts. If we change the plan now, he'll be confused and he'll take it as a new challenge. We can also surprise James and eliminate him. I know you guys are not big fans of killing, neither am I, but you heard Laurent. James wont stop until he succeeds on killing me. So I'll go to Phoenix under the pretense of getting my stuff. Alice, Jasper, and Edward will come with me for protection and the rest of you will wait a day before coming to Phoenix. I cant promise that it'll be a fool proof plan, but at least we still have the advantage," I rationalized.
Jasper, Emmett, Edward, and Alice were on board with my idea. Rosalie was fully against my plan. Carlisle and Esme were worried about the chance of us getting hurt and killing the nomad. Carlisle saw my point on having to 'snip it in the bud' so to speak. The plan wouldn't start until I got Carlisle's okay.
Carlisle let out a deep sigh, finally agreeing to the plan. I gave a tense smile before stepping up to hug him. He enveloped me in his arms, holding me tight for a minute. For the first time in a really long time I felt safe and normal. I had the strong urge to just stay in his arms and let him take care of everything. I wasn't sure what I was feeling in that moment and I was too scared to pay attention to Carlisle's soul chatting above me. After a reassuring squeeze we broke the hug. I stepped back, about to apologize for hugging him, when Esme came up to me and pulled me to her in a strong hug.
I hugged her back, the same confusing feelings erupting from my chest again. I felt embarrassed to be hugged like this. Like I was something to be cherished and reassured everything would work out. I wasn't used to this. I was normally the one to reassure. I was normally the one in charge. I felt off-kilter when Esme let go.
"Is she okay? She looks a bit shaken," Esme's mothering soul chatted above me. I gave a small smile and took Edward's hand. The electric shock was comforting and his presence was soothing my nerves.
"We've wasted enough time so let' go already!" Emmett hyped, breaking the awkward silence in the room. The Cullens all took off in a blur, grabbing at whatever they needed for this… mission? I wasn't sure what this whole event was anymore.
Edward led me through a door that took us to their massive garage. I recognized Carlisle's black Mercedes, Edward's silver Volvo, Emmett's massive Jeep, and Rosalie's cherry red BMW. A navy blue Harley sat next to the Jeep. Next to the bike a canary yellow Porsche sat. A white Ford Fiesta was tucked between the Mercedes and the wall at the end of the garage.
I took a gander that these new cars were Esme's, Alice's, and Jasper's.
The Cullens congregated in the garage a minute later. Edward grabbed his keys off the tack on the wall that held numerous car keys. The Volvo's headlights blinked two times and the trunk popped. He grabbed my duffle bag, along with a large deep purple suitcase, a smaller suitcase of the same purple, and a small black suitcase. I opened the passenger door and got in, buckling up and looking out the window. I wasn't surprised to see Alice and Jasper already in the back seat waiting.
Edward stood talking to Carlisle in tones too low for my ears. I glanced up to Carlisle's and Edward's soul.
"Please be careful. Call if anything goes wrong. Jasper grabbed our fake id's and papers incase anything happens. Take care of Bella and be safe," Carlisle's soul was staring at Edward's soul intently, talking to him and worry about him and us. I felt that strange feeling again. Edward nodded and said something before making his way over to us with Carlisle in tow.
I rolled down the window as Edward got in the driver's seat.
"Everything will be fine," Carlisle leaned in and kissed my cheek. Esme stepped up next, giving me another hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"We'll see you soon dear," She said as she stepped back.
Edward backed out of the garage, spinning his car quickly around to race out of their driveway to make the 2 day trip to Phoenix, Arizona.
"Whooo, let's kick some nomad's ass!" I heard Emmett boom from behind.
I couldn't agree more, I thought.
Please review even if you guys are mad at me for not updating in a long time. I'm always happy to hear what my readers think about this story, any ideas that you have, or critiques you feel you need to give me. Thanks for sticking with me so far.