6.
Back in the Cullens' living room, I had my head laid back against a pillow as Alice unconsciously massaged my hand. We were simply waiting now. Every lamp in the house was on. Though the light wasn't necessary to us, we had turned them all on to tell Fred we were here.
Edward sat at his piano, playing a part of a song, stopping, and then starting another song. I watched Bella and Renesme sitting together; Nessie had her head in Bella's lap and while her mother absentmindedly combed her blond hair with her fingers. I wondered what I would have done if I found out my baby girl was in love with a werewolf. How would I have reacted? I probably would have attacked Jacob, too. I smiled to myself, remembering the picture Nessie had showed me of Bella punching Jacob. The music stopped and I glanced over at Edward; a small smile had crept up on his face and I realized he must have been listening to my thoughts. John would have probably also thought the man deserved it.
I glanced back at Bella and Nessie. Her breathing had grown slower and deeper and I knew she was asleep. I wondered if living with vampires and having a werewolf boyfriend was tiring.
I looked around the room, all the couples sitting together. Rose was curled up in Emmett's arms, Carlisle and Esme were holding hands, once in a while exchanging a glance that I could not read. Alice sat on the sofa next to Jasper, who was softly rubbing her back, while Alice had her eyes closed, trying to concentrate and see something new.
No one said a word; except for the piano and Renesme's breathing, it was deadly silent.
We sat like that for nearly three hours, not moving, no sound except the piano. At fourteen minutes past ten, the door slowly opened and Jacob's smell filled the room. He stalked in softly, examining the occupants of the room and measuring the silence. He must have realized we were not in the mood for jokes. His eyes moved the where Renesme lay, her head still on Bella's lap, sleeping peacefully. A soft smile spread across his lips before he turned to Alice and his face became serious. He didn't need to say a word; everyone knew why he was here.
"Nothing new," responded Jasper. Alice shook her head to confirm this.
Jacob huffed softly, sounding very much like a dog, and moved over to Bella. He whispered something in her ear. I caught a few words, like Nessie's name and "bed". Bella nodded and Jacob moved back towards the door, turning back before opening it. He was looking at me, an expression on his face that I could easily read: he wanted to tell me something but wasn't sure if he should. I hurried over to him.
"Tell me," I muttered. He looked me over, thinking.
"John won't sleep. I think he can sense…" he paused and glanced around the room. Everyone was avoiding eye contact with us, though I knew they were all listening. "I think he knows something's going to go down."
I wrung my hands together anxiously and nodded.
"Maybe you could come and set his mind at ease a little?" he suggested.
I glanced back at Carlisle, who nodded at me. Turning back to Jacob, I let out an "okay". I followed him out the house and to the cabin. The air outside felt heavy.
"John?" I said into the dark cabin. I saw him shuffle along the room and then a light came on.
He said nothing as I approached him. I could see that his expression was guarded, as if he was trying to hide his fear from me. "Hey, babe," I whispered softly. I pulled him into a hug and could feel his body shaking. "John, you should try to get some rest." He was sweating, though I wasn't sure if it was from feeling sick or scared; maybe both.
"I can't, Lisa. I know." He looked at my face, trying to find something to tell him his suspicions were right. "I know something is going to happen. That's why Jacob and his friends are here." The last phrase was almost a question.
I didn't say anything.
"Are we going to be attacked by wolves or something?"
The irony of that almost made me smile, but I held it in, keeping a straight face. "No, why?"
"I hear them, outside. They're not howling, just walking and growling and stuff."
I rubbed John's arm. "Don't worry about it. They come around a lot."
John sank down on the bed and pulled me down with him. "Please, tell me what's going to happen."
I bit my lip and looked around the room as I thought about whether I should tell him or not. He was already freaked out as it was, and he would know if I was lying.
"Someone is coming in tonight. A friend," I lied, though it was only a half-lie. He was a friend of someone the Cullens had known.
"Like you?" John's breathing was shallow and I could smell the sweat on him.
"Yes. But not exactly like us."
"I don't understand?"
"He doesn't follow our… eating rules."
"You mean, he's a killer, a real vampire."
I nodded. "We're afraid he might hurt you, so you need to stay here and be safe. Jacob and his friends are just outside and they'll protect you, okay?" I rubbed my hand across his forehead and then through his hair. "Go to bed, babe."
Reluctantly, John laid his head against the pillow. "I'm just worried about you," he whispered. I knew it was entirely true, I could see that on his face. Of course he didn't want to die; it was a natural human reaction; but he was more concerned about me than about himself. He knew what living without me did to him. Over the past four years, I had forgotten what it felt like to worry about my own life.
"I'll be fine, John. I'm with all the Cullens."
He nodded and I sat with him, humming softly, until his eyelids slowly slid closed and his breathing deepened. I slowly pulled my fingers from his hand and moved outside. Jacob caught my eye.
"He's asleep," I assured him.
He moved towards me, though he was watching his surroundings, not looking at me. "I'll see if Alice has anything new for us, save you guys the trip out here later." I nodded and he followed me back to the house. The minute we walked in, I noticed that all eyes were not on Jacob and I, but on the small figure sitting on the couch. The silence in the room was still heavy, but different than before. I noticed Renesme was gone; she had probably moved upstairs to bed. It still shocked me sometimes that anyone in this house needed sleep. On the couch, Alice had gone completely still. Edward turned away from the piano, the last note falling into silence. Something was happening.
"Alice?" Esme asked carefully. I scooted over to the couch and took Alice's hand in mine. Darkness again engulfed me, just like before. But this time, the odor was ten times worse. If I had anything in my stomach, it would be out. Instead, I just gagged on dry air.
The figure I had seen before was standing next to a pillar of a tree, absolutely still and silent, like only a vampire could be. The only thing that moved was his eyes, which flashed white and red in the pale moonlight. He was scanning the area, scanning the house.
I didn't understand what was new about this vision. There was still no indication as to what time the man would arrive. And then I heard it, soft and quiet, nearly silent. But it was there: a giant bell was ringing, once, twice. Twelve times it rang, and then all was silent.
I could hear words coming out of Alice's mouth the minute the last chime was heard. I pulled myself out of Alice's head and focused on the people around the room.
"Carlisle?" It was Bella who spoke. Her voice sounded thin with anxiety. I knew she wasn't worried about herself; she could protect herself with her shield. She was worried about me, about John. This fact gave me some comfort. If I had ever doubted that the Cullens would do everything in their power to protect John and I, it was gone now.
Carlisle was shaking his head. "I don't know, Bella. All we can do is wait. From what Alice said, he appears to be alone and not wanting to hurt anyone."
"But we should probably prepare ourselves for a confrontation nonetheless," said Jacob. I had forgotten he was in the room. Everyone glanced at him in surprise; apparently no one had noticed him come in with me. The first to recover from the small surprise, Carlisle nodded in agreement to what Jacob had said.
"For once, the wolf is right," muttered Rose unhappily, though I'm sure she wasn't so concerned about the wolf in the house as the vampire that was soon to be outside the house.
Jasper spoke up. "I'll keep his emotions under check as best as I can, but with this shield of his, I'm not sure if I'll even be able to read him."
"Bree said the only one who could even look at him was her, right?"
Edward nodded in reply to Emmett's question. "And she could only stand to be around him because he took his shield down for her. He let her in."
"He probably won't let us in until he feels he can trust us," Esme whispered.
"Twelve, then," said Jacob before disappearing out the door. Before the door closed behind him, the sound of rain falling hit my ears. I turned my head in surprise. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the rain. As I thought about it, I realized it had been raining in Alice's vision.
Silence again filled the room. Glancing at the kitchen clock, I noted the time. We still had an hour left of time to wait. Emmett seemed to realize the same thing; with a sigh, he broke the silence.
"Well, all this tension is killing me here," and with that he flipped on the TV. The volume was set at the lowest setting possible, like it always was, but the sound coming from the speakers felt like it could have woken up the dead. I jerked my head towards the huge flat screen in surprise, feeling like I was in a completely different universe. Everything happening around me was registering slower than it should. I felt like a human again for a few moments.
I had to move, I realized. I stood up off the couch and walked towards the bookshelf that sat on the westward wall. I picked out a romance novel and sat down with it in the loveseat.
I was pulled out of the world of Lauren and her one true love Nicholas when a smell I recognized found its way to my nose. I looked up and glanced around at the Cullens'. Everyone had picked something to take their mind of the situation and relaxed. But now that the smell was floating through the room, they were alert once more. Bella glanced at the clock.
"Twenty minutes to go."
With every second that passed, the smell got more intense.
"He's moving fast," remarked Carlisle.
I heard a bell begin ringing far away. I put down the novel I was still holding and counted the number of peals. Twelve; it was time.