stay right here, rocketeer
chapter twelve
"You're going to bring her over today."
I had just pulled a fresh shirt over my head when Alice decidedly walked into my room and perched on the couch.
"I am?" I asked.
"Yes. You're going to bring her over and she's going to stay the entire day. It will finally give Esme and me an excuse to actually use that fabulous kitchen of ours. And, there's a storm coming tonight, so Bella will join us for baseball! It's going to be awesome."
I hesitated. I wasn't exactly thrilled about bringing Bella to our house at the moment. Not when it was a house divided, when Carlisle, Rosalie, and Jasper might very well take the opportunity to somehow seize the amulet.
"She won't be hurt," Alice said, reassuringly.
"But how do you know, Alice? Bella will be wearing her necklace when she's here, so how could you possibly see that she will be safe?"
"Well I can't see today, or anytime in the near future involving her. But I had this one vision this morning." I watched the vision play through her mind. It was Bella and me, sitting underneath a tree with falling leaves. We were laughing in the autumn air. The sun was shining and there wasn't a care in the world.
"In the vision, it's fall," Alice said, "which means you'll last."
"Your visions change," I argued back. See, I didn't want to get my hopes up. I couldn't afford to get my hopes up.
"Yeah," she agreed. But only if you try to change them.
I was ecstatic when Bella rejected my invitation to go hang out at La Casa de Cullen, perhaps a bit too ecstatic to the point of offensiveness. She was going to have a chat with the Quileute elders today and I wished her luck. Werewolves were pretty stubborn, let me tell you that.
However, she would be back in time and she said she would love to join us for baseball. She even offered to remove her necklace so the others would have to suffer her stench, and I all but begged her to keep it on. Playing baseball with three vampires who have half the intention of stealing her amulet was already risky as it was, let's not top it off by leaving the coveted gem in plain sight and off its magical charm around her neck.
On the other hand, Alice and Esme were quite disappointed that their five-course Italian cuisine was to go to waste. Hey, I told them not to overdo it.
When I drove back to Bella's house later that night, I immediately knew something was off. Charlie was awake and pacing downstairs. Bella must have put her necklace back on since I couldn't hear her thoughts. But as I got out and walked towards the door, I was hit by a gruesome smell. It was like Bella's yet different, but it stung just the same. It was a familiar smell too, yet I couldn't remember where it was from.
I rang the doorbell and a weary Charlie Swan answered the door. He didn't seem surprised to see me. "Edward, I don't think this is a good time right now…"
Then I heard the voices. Bella was talking quickly, her words practically blurring together, but there was another voice, a deep husky voice that argued back. I sniffed the air and suddenly it occurred to me: dog.
"What is Jacob Black doing here?" I asked, more forcefully than intented. I had noticed the black car parked across the street but thought nothing of it until now.
"The better question is what are you doing here?" The voice came from behind Charlie. I peered through the small opening and saw Billy Black wheeling himself towards the door.
"I'm here to pick Bella up," I stated.
"You're not welcome here, Cullen."
"Bella invited me here."
"What are you, her boyfriend?"
"I am. Actually."
Billy's eyes widened, then narrowed to glare. Charlie still stood at the door, looking between us with uncertainty.
"You are not to lay a finger on Bella, or I swear," Billy started.
"I'm not interested in her amulet," I said. "I'm here to help her, just like you. I'm assuming she finally got through to you guys?"
"Of course. Legend always told of the magical one who would find us again. We were destined to help defend her people against the cold ones. Just like you."
I gently pushed the door and forced Charlie to back up and let me in. "Don't you know us enough to see that we're not like the cold ones in your legends?"
"Guys," Charlie interjected. "Enough."
I listened to Bella and Jacob's conversation upstairs. It didn't take long to find out that they were arguing about me.
"You can't trust them, Bella," Jacob was saying, "the sooner we leave for Ireland, the better. It's been years since the scouts were first sent out and we don't know what shape the Otherworld is in right now."
"You don't know the Cullens!" she argued. "You can't tell me who I can and cannot trust."
I briskly walked up the stairs, too fast for Billy or Charlie to stop me, and burst into Bella's room. The door slamming against the wall caused a poster to fall off. She and Jacob both turned to look at me.
"And you have the guts to show up here," Jacob growled, stepping in front of Bella.
I stepped up to face him eye to eye. "I can do whatever I want to do."
"Jake, stop." Bella pulled Jacob back from me. She used her magic to put the poster back in place.
"It's a ploy, all of it," Jacob said, shaking his head at me. "The Cullens want to take your stone and this is all a trick to get it. Edward's going to get you when you're most vulnerable and then he'll snatch the amulet so his little family can be human again while you and your people are left with nothing."
"That's not true," I said. "Don't listen to him, Bella."
I think she really tried to not believe him. But when she looked up at my eyes, I could tell part of her was affected by Jacob's words. I reached for her hand and even though it hurt now that she was wearing the necklace again, I held on.
"Think about it. Haven't I had plenty of chances to take the necklace before?" I asked.
She nodded.
"And did I?"
She shook her head.
"That's got to count for something."
She remained silent, looking between Jacob and me. Finally, she looked down at our joined hands. "I'm burning you again."
I smiled. "That's got to count for something, too."
"Alright Cullen, why are you here?" Jacob asked, slightly annoyed. The feeling's mutual, bud.
"I'm here to take her to play baseball. Why are you here?"
"We figured out that the fairy stuff Bella told us wasn't a bunch of make-believe and Bella really isn't a loon, but that it's all real. I came to convince her to go to Ireland as soon as possible but for some reason,she's refusing. Something….or someone seems to be keeping her back."
I felt quite guilty then, not gonna lie. If Bella found the werewolves, which she did, then she really should be getting on the next plane to Dublin. Jacob was right. If the Otherworld was endangered enough to send out scouts twenty years ago, then it must be in even worse shape now, since none of the scouts have returned. I was criticizing Carlisle and the others for hurting the fairies and creatures, but here I was the most selfish of all, hindering the fairies' last scout.
"But surely it can wait after one baseball game," Bella pointed out.
"Getting to Ireland is not that simple," Jacob said. "We'd have to buy tickets, pack, and try to find some entrance you don't even know the location of. There really is no room for procrastination, you know."
"I can help with the tickets," I said.
"What?" Jacob asked. "Do you Cullens have a stash of air miles that you're not using or something?"
I shrugged. "Or a stash of money that we're not spending."
Jacob shook his head incredulously, muttering, "Rich kids."
"I don't want you spending money on me," Bella complained.
"Not just you, I'll be going as well," I said.
"You are?"
"Well, yeah. It's kind of sudden and I was thinking we'd at least finish the school year before you had to go back, but I can tell this is urgent. I want to stay positive; maybe the Otherworld will be in perfect health when you go there. Yet, at the same time, I'd hate to think that we're too late, that you're ancestral race could be gone, that you might be the last fairy alive."
She smiled, erring on the side of magnificent. "You'd be willing to come with me?"
Like she even had to ask. Like I wasn't willing to do any and everything for her.
Much to Jacob and Billy's disapproval, I stole Bella away and drove her to the edge of the forest. We parked the car before I broke out into a sprint into the clearing and Bella flew, hot on my heels. When we entered the clearing, everyone else was already warming up and getting ready for the game. Even though they tried to hide it from me, Carlisle, Jasper, and Rosalie's eyes all went straight to Bella's necklace the second they saw her.
Bella, oblivious to the three pairs of eyes looking at her with murderous desire, flew over to Alice. I tried to relax, have fun with the game, and convince myself one baseball game couldn't hurt.
Oh, but yes it could.
Alice suddenly stopped, her eyes glazed over, and she exhaled her breath quickly as if someone had punched her in the gut. In her vision, three vampires walked out of the forest into the clearing, this very clearing. All I could think of was Bella, Bella, Bella. The part of the clearing they should be entering from was the part direction behind the second base, over which Bella was currently flying, trying to catch a ball.
I sprinted towards her, leaped up, and tackled her to the ground, rolling over so that she didn't get hurt. Before I could explain, before any of them could even ask, I was back up and running until Bella and I stood with Esme.
"They're here," Alice whispered.
The rest of the family ran over to us as well. I felt so utterly stupid for bringing Bella here and endangering her very being. She was better off back home with Charlie or with Jacob.
"What's going on?" she asked, confusion and terror in her eyes.
"Nomad vampires. They heard us playing and are venturing over. Take off your necklace."
"…why?"
"If we're lucky, they won't catch your scent. With the necklace on, you're basically screaming to the world that a fairy is right here. And, if the vampires see the necklace, they'll know."
She hesitated. I could hear the footsteps of the three vampires approaching.
"Do you trust me?" I asked Bella urgently.
"Yes," she answered, barely a whisper.
"Then take off the necklace."
She finally unclasped the nonexistent hook and removed the necklace. I saw Carlisle's expression flicker for just a millisecond, but then he regained his composure and faced the approaching strangers. He's trying, I realized. Carlisle is really trying.
No sooner had Bella stuffed the chain into her jacket pocket, the three figures appeared through the fog. All three wore ragged clothing, the expected attire of nomads. There were two males and one female with wild red hair. They seemed civil enough at a first glance, but if ninety years has taught me anything, it's that first glances mean squat in the grand scheme of things.
"We heard you playing," the male in the front said. He was holding up the ball that Bella had been chasing before I knocked her to the ground. "Mind if we join?"
"You're welcome to," Carlisle said. His voice was perfectly complacent, no trace of distress could be detected. "It's a perfect storm."
"I'm Laurent, this is James and Victoria," Laurent introduced. He waited for Carlisle to do the same.
"Carlisle," he said, "and this is my family."
Bella leaned closer to me, in an attempt to blend. I searched the three's minds. So far, none of them have found Bella any different from the rest of us.
"Well then, which side should we go on?" Laurent asked with a wide smile.
"You guys can join my team out of the field. That should balance the teams out," Carlisle organized.
The male introduced as James held up his hand. "Could I pitch?"
Carlisle nodded. Why not?
Well, we saw why not a few seconds later. James caught the ball from Laurent and began walking to the pitcher's spot when he stopped, raised the ball, and sniffed it. I started to panic. Had Bella touched that ball yet? I don't think she did. Maybe her hair brushed it?
As if that weren't enough, the wind picked up again, blowing in the opposite direction. A gust came from behind and blew forward. Bella tugged her hat further down but the ends of her hair danced in the wind and her fragrance flew to the three vampires.
James deeply inhaled. It smells so flowery. Like sweet pea.
I took a step in front of Bella. She clenched her necklace in her pocket.
"Edward, weren't you and Bella just leaving?" Esme said, softly to me. Get Bella out of here. Now.
I nodded, played the part and said goodbye to everyone, including Laurent, James, and Victoria, and led Bella out of the clearing. Once we were hidden enough in the dense woods, I picked Bella up and ran until we were at the house.
"We should be a safe distance away now," I said, setting her on her feet again. "Put the necklace back on."
"Did they know?" Bella asked, placing her necklace back around her neck. "Did they know I was a fairy?"
"No, I don't think so." I strained to hear the conversation from the porch. When that proved too difficult, I focused on the thoughts instead. I'd grown familiar to my family's minds so it was relatively easy to follow the conversation.
"That girl that was just left," James was saying to Carlisle. "She smelled…interesting."
"Yes, Bella does have a unique smell," Carlisle said.
"It almost reminds me of…" James trialed off.
"Reminds you of what?"
"It almost reminds me of fairies."
I scratched my head sheepishly and turned to Bella again. "Never mind, maybe they do know after all..."
"Fairies?" Carlisle lied perfectly. "Come on, fairies don't exist."
Now both Laurent and Victoria joined the conversation curiously. "You've never seen a fairy before?" Victoria asked.
"No, never." That was actually the truth, for Carlisle had never seen a full fairy. "Have any of you guys?"
The rest of my family shook their heads no.
"It must be because you live a permanent settlement lifestyle," Victoria said in a slightly condescending tone. "If you wander like we do, you encounter some things."
"Wait, can you tell me more about these fairies?" Esme asked. Good Esme, let them tell us what they know.
"Well, they're actually human sized," Laurent began to describe. "They're really not that exciting except for the fact that they wear these necklaces with a red stone on it. That stone is really powerful. Legend has it that the stone can turn vampires back into humans."
"Really? A stone that can turn you human, such a thing actually exists?" Carlisle asked.
"That's up to what you believe. If it really does work, then anyone who's tried it would be human and wouldn't be around to tell the story."
"Didn't we bump into that group of vampires who were really into that stuff earlier?" Victoria pointed out. "They were talking about some big organized raid in Ireland."
I tensed. That didn't sound exactly like a party. Bella saw my change in stance and looked at me worriedly.
"Ireland?" Carlisle asked.
"Apparently that's where all the fairies live?" James said. "Anyway, this gang of American nomads was going around recruiting members to travel to Ireland together in time for the big raid. They even tried to talk us into it."
"How come you didn't join them?" Carlisle said.
"We don't actually believe in the stone's magical properties," Laurent explained. "Fairies definitely exist, we've encountered some. But I don't see how a little stone could be so powerful. Besides, when we stumbled across that fairy some years ago, we couldn't get the necklace off and touching the fairy caused our skins to burn. The fairy then started shooting fire at us so we left the thing alone."
"And when exactly is this raid in Ireland?"
"Why? Are you planning on joining?"
"We might," Carlisle said. Edward, please listen. If the date is close, get Bella and the wolves on the next plane to Ireland. We'll try to catch you if we can.
"Oh, we met them a while ago," James said. "I think they were planning it…you know what, I think the date was March 17th, St. Patrick's Day."
March 17th. That's in two days.
Shit.
"Fly home," I said, grabbing Bella's hand and dragging her away.
"What?"
"Fly home, I'll run beside you."
"What's going on, Edward? Is it bad?"
"Fly home, tell Charlie you'll be away for a while, and then go get Jacob and the werewolves. We've got two days to save the Otherworld and it's half a world away."
post script: oh hey guys. haven't updated this story in a while...i apologize muchly. this chapter also wasn't that exciting of a welcome-back-to-this-hey-do-you-still-remember-lol chapter. i apologize again. stick with me here. i'll finish this, i promise.