Chapter Three
- The Hunted-
A/N: I do not own any of these characters, or the books The Host, Thorn in my Heart, Atonement Child, or Beauty. Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift are freaking amazing. No lie. I'm sorry if you don't like country music, I do, and I wanted to use some in the plot.
"Alright Bells, you can drop us off here." Charlie and Sue slid out of the confines of the truck cab onto the sidewalk in front of the cinema, and waved me a goodbye as I pulled away from the curb.
That trip had been interesting. Charlie hadn't looked at me once during the trip down, probably because he was mortified that his own daughter had caught him making out with his girlfriend in her truck. Instead he had just looked out the window, or commented on the weather, saying it looked like rain. Sue on the other hand was very talkative, asking me how the wedding plans were coming along, what I was planning on picking up today, how Renee' and Phil were doing, and where Edward and I were going for our honeymoon. She also told me that she had gotten my wedding invitation in the mail, and that she, Seth, and Leah were all looking forward to coming. Somehow, I didn't believe the last bit about Leah.
I was glad my dad had found her, she was everything he needed: outgoing, accommodating, friendly, and easy going. She would make it a lot easier for him to deal with my impending demise, sooner or later.
I turned into the parking lot of Pier One and parked in the front row of the emptying parking lot, grabbed my purse and walked inside. I was greeted by a pretty blond woman, Lula, I read on her name tag who was fixing the window display.
"Hello, ma'am, may I help you?" She walked over, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Hi, I'm here for a pick up," I pointed at one of the small glass bowls that she had been rearranging, "I'm supposed to be picking up some of those."
"Ahh... you're the one we've been waiting for." She glided over to the front desk and pulled out a clipboard, flipping through some pages. "You must be Miss Cullen." Her eyes slid over to my left hand, taking in the delicate ring on my third finger. "I'm apologize, Mrs. Cullen."
"Almost." I smiled. "Only two weeks to go. Please, call me Bella."
She returned the smile. "Alright, if you could follow me, I'll help you load the boxes. She led me to the back of the store. I gasped.
"Oh my God." There were at least three shopping carts full of the little glass bowls. Alice had completely outdone herself.
It took about 45 minutes to load the boxes, making sure that they couldn't wiggle around while I drove and break. I waved goodbye to Lula and headed off in the direction of my second destination, Barnes and Noble.
The bookstore was slowing down, people were leaving left and right as the sky began to turn an ominous shade of grayish-black. First I grabbed a copy of 'The Host' at the front of the store before wandering around for a bit. I ambled my way down the aisles, pausing every now and then to pick up a book and read the synopsis on the cover jacket. I picked a few novels, one from Liz Curtis Higgs entitled 'Thorn in my Heart', one from Robing McKinley titled 'Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast', 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' by Jules Verne, and 'Atonement Child' by Francine Rivers. I put the books into my basket and headed over to the media center to look for the Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks Cd's. This section of the store was the only area I had seen other people besides the employees. There was a tall, blond, and balding man looking through the bluegrass section, a short brunette lady in a red dress suit looking through the movie soundtracks, and a stocky muscular man, who was almost as big as Emmett, in a green sock cap looking through 80's music. I found the needed Cd's in the new release section, and grabbed a copy of each, and dropped them in the basket. The man in the green hat looked over at the clatter they made, looked me over and winked.
I blushed furiously, and nearly tripped on my way to the checkout. I went over to the first cashier I saw, a little old lady in a light blue crocheted shawl and handed her my basket.
"Hello dear, did you find everything alright?" She smiled at my brightly as she started scanning my items.
"Yes, thank you." I silently wished she would scan the items faster; the stocky man had followed me and was right behind me in line. I could feel his eyes on my body, and it was making extremely uncomfortable.
"Do you have a Barnes and Noble membership card?" I fished through my wallet, pulling out the card, and glanced over my shoulder. The man was still there. He smiled at me again. I looked away.
She scanned my card, ever so slowly, told me my final amount, and took the cash I gave her. Finally, she put my items in a bag with the receipt, and handed me my things.
"Here you go dear. Have a good day." I went to grab my bag with my left hand, which was a complete mistake. The lady, Camilla by her name tag, had gasped as soon as she saw my ring.
I internally sighed, this was the universal reaction to seeing my engagement ring. Everyone from Charlie and Sue to Angela and Ben had all been impressed. Not that I minded.
"Look at that rock!" She pulled my hand closer for a better look. "I take that back. Look at those rocks!" I flushed with embarrassed pleasure. "You can't be more than 19. How long have you been married, honey?"
"I'm 18, actually," I was rather touchy about my ever increasing age. "I'll be married in two weeks." Two excruciatingly long weeks.
"Congratulations dear," She released my hand with a gentle pat and waved a goodbye. I returned the wave and cautioned a last glance at the man behind me. He was gone.
I quickly went to World Market to grab the napkin holders and left, heading to La Bella Italia for lunch. The hostess looked familiar, with black hair to her shoulders and blue eyes. I read her name tag, Amber. It clicked. She had been the server a year and a half ago, the first time Edward and I had been to La Bella Italia.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"I'd like a table for one." She made a mark on her clipboard and led me to a booth in the back of the restaurant, the same exact one I had sat in with Edward after he had rescued me.
"Is this one alright?" She smiled at me warmly.
"Its just fine, thank you." I placed my bags on the bench opposite me, and slid into the booth. I couldn't help myself.
"You don't remember me, do you?" She looked confused. "I came in here about a year and a half ago with another person, and we sat in this exact booth. You were our waitress." She still didn't remember me. I sighed.
"The man I was with had bronze hair, golden eyes, really tall, and really pale." My description wasn't remotely close to giving him justice, and I knew it. Surprisingly, even with my horrible description, she remembered Edward.
"Oh yeah! He didn't order anything, did he." I shook my head. "Will he be joining you?" She looked around the room hopefully.
"No, he's not with me today."
"Oh. Are you two not together anymore?" She was blunt.
"Actually, we're getting married in two weeks." For the first time since I'd agreed to wear my ring, I flaunted it, waving it in front of her face and wiggling my fingers. All hope disappeared from her face.
"Oh. Your server will be here in a moment. Enjoy your meal." She stalked off in a huff, and I couldn't help but laugh. Maybe this engagement thing wasn't so bad after all...
By the time I finished my mushroom ravioli and coke, the sky had turned black with clouds and it was starting to rain. I quickly paid the bill and left, the rain immediately soaking through my black shirt and jeans. I jogged as quickly could to my truck, but it was still several blocks down. I slowed to a walk, since I was already soaking wet, and took in my surroundings. The mall was quiet; way too quiet. I couldn't see anyone outside, let alone in the stores since the rain was so blinding. I didn't like the silence, it was too open, and it was making me too vulnerable. I just kept walking to my truck, too scared to look behind me, always looking ahead. I really wanted to call Edward; just hearing his voice would calm me instantly, but I was afraid that the rain would break my phone.
I heard a crunch of gravel behind me, barely audible beneath the pounding of the rain on the pavement. I started walking faster. I knew someone was behind me. My truck was only a block away. I heard footsteps on the ground. They were getting closer. I broke into a run, pulling my keys out of my pocket. I couldn't think of anything else, other than get to the truck get to the truck get to the truck. Why did stuff like this always happen to me while in Port Angeles??
I skidded to a halt, almost hitting the truck. I fumbled with the keys, dropping them once and stooping to pick them up. I stood up with the right key ready, unlocked my door and was about to hop inside when I was hit in the back of the head, knocking me to the ground.
Laying there on the ground, I tried to fight to keep my eyes open, knowing that might be the last time I would ever open them again, but I was slowly losing.
Before they closed, I saw the color green.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update guys!! i've been super busy with camp and enrollment at a new school, and whenever i sat down to write, i kept getting distracted!! Sorry!! Anyways, so i'm sorry that this chapter was kinda boring, i just needed a transition for the next scene, which will hopefully be WAY MORE exciting!!
now, about reviews, i saw that i have 120+ hits, but no reviews! come on people! i need some input! please? pretty please?? :)
i want to know that someone actually likes what i'm writing, besides me! you know what i'm sayin? anyways, i'm gonna try to update tomorrow or the next day, so keep reading!
RedHeadedBelle