Three kinds of Devious
Chapter 13
From what I had heard from Alice, Bella was less than impressed with Edward for stopping her. I couldn't have cared less about whether she was happy. I just wanted her to be safe long enough for me to kill her myself. Her seeming lack of gratitude for all of us risking ourselves for her benefit had pissed me off no end. What was the point of us hunting for psychotic vampires if she was going to run off to volatile wolf pups? I had to try and control my temper though. I was trying to do my homework and had already ripped two notepads and split nine pens in half - I was getting fed up of washing ink off of my hands. Thankfully Emmett provided some distraction for me.
"Kals, Can I come in a second?" He asked after lightly tapping my bedroom door. I had recently accosted him for just barging in while I was getting changed. I had punted him right across the river the second time he did it. There had not been a third.
"Sure Em, Come on in." I said, moving from the desk I was at to sit on my bed. Emmett paused for a second, as per our 'entering a room etiquette' talk. When he finally entered, I was sitting, waiting on him to come and join me. He noted the pile of broken stationary and notepads and chose, rather wisely, to leave the topic alone.
"Well, Emmett, what can I do for you?" I asked, signaling him for him to sit next to me.
"I wanted to ask if I could borrow your car." Emmett's face was the picture of innocence and there was no way in hell I was trusting that.
"What car and what for?" I asked, my eyes narrowed as I tried to focus on his mind but came up with nothing but instant replays from a recent wrestling pay-per-view.
"I was just going to pick up my new Xbox game from the mall in Olympia."
"Oh, awesome. I'll come with you. I need some new books." I suggested, suppressing a grin when he appeared completely crestfallen.
"That's alright, I'll get Rosie to go tomorrow." He said, sounding very down.
"Just tell me why you want my damn car, Emmett."
"I wanted to drag race with Jasper." He admitted. The words came out in a rush as he dodged the slap I was aiming at his head. "He bet he could beat me and my jeep just isn't up to the task."
"What will he be driving?" I didn't really need the answer. Jasper hadn't been out of the Audi since it arrived. I was seriously considering giving it to him as a gift, but Alice told me not to do it yet. I would have to have a little word with her. She didn't mention anything to me about a bloody drag race. "It's the Audi, right?"
"Yeah. Can I use the Lamborghini?"
"Emmett, I don't know if it's a good idea. If you get caught, you will be in my car and I can't be bothered recieving a lecture from Cheif Swan about speed limits."
"We won't get caught." He reassured me.
"I don't know. We will wait till Jazz and Alice get home and I will take to you both about it."
"If you must." He huffed.
"Yes, I must." I stated, effectively ending that conversation. I got up from the bed, patting him on the back on the way passed. "Emmett, I will have to take you up to my house and show the garage. I rendered Edward speechless with it and Rosalie was quiet for a whole two minutes."
"Bullshit."
"I kid you, not." I confirmed. " I will take you after school, tomorrow."
"Sweet!"
"Can I finish my homework now?"
"Sure," He said, standing up and giving me a hug. "We wouldn't want you to get detention. It would sully the good Cullen name."
"Bugger off, Emmett, I have to finish an English paper." He let me go and left me to my own devices. Hopefully I would be able to get through the essay without breaking this pen- It was my last one.
"If I asked you to do something, would you trust me?" Edward asked Bella. We were sitting outside the school in my Volkswagen Golf, after arriving just in time for class. My interest was instantly peaked so I focused on his gift and tried to find out what was going on.
"Jacob is here. He wants to tell her about the fight between Emmett and Paul. He wants to tell her about Victoria, too." Edward thought. I fought back a hiss and forced my hands to uncurl. I was seriously going to tear that fucking mutt apart. Alice was sat next to me, tensed as her vision disappeared.
"That depends." Bella said curiously.
"If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?" Edward pressed. The boy had no chance and he knew it.
"But why?" Edward's eyes roamed the car park of the school until they rested on a black motorbike that belonged to Jacob. He was leaning against it with his arms crossed, watching us with intent eyes as the students around him gave him a wide berth. They thought he was dangerous. They had no idea just how bad he was.
"Oh." Bella responded, unbuckling her seat belt. I knew Edward's Alice's and my own eyes rolled as she climbed out of my car. This girl was going to be the death of all of us.
"You jumped to the wrong conclusion last night" Edward said. "He asked about school because he knew that I would be where you were. He was looking for a safe place to talk to me. A place with witnesses.
"I'm not staying in the car, Edward." Bella said adamantly.
"Of course not. Well, let s get this over with. Edward groaned lowly. the four of us walked over to the mutt who's face was a hardened mask. I got the distinct impression that he would be devastatingly handsome, if he smiled. Perhaps that's why he reserved smiling exclusively for Bella.
"Fucking leeches are always with her. Even better. She will know what they are like after this." His thoughts spat venom at us while they cradled Bella. He loved her. His whole being thrummed when he was in her presence. It was disgusting. When we finally stood in front of him, Edward pulled Bella to the side slightly, shielding her right side from the wolf. I very slowly stepped forward, protecting her left side so that the only visible part of her was her head and shoulders. You could have called us, Edward said in a cold, hard voice. I don t have any leeches on my speed dial. Jacob sneered.
"You could have reached me at Bella s house, of course." Edward pointed out.
'Yeah, I know leech.' the wolf thought. His jaw tensed and his eyes narrowed at Edward's suggestion.
I already know what you came to say, Edward reminded Jacob in voice so low that Bella had very little chance of hearing it. "Message delivered. Consider us warned."
"Warned?" Bella asked blankly. "What are you talking about?"
'Just give me an excuse, mutt, and I will kill you.' I thought to myself. 'One step forward, one dirty look and I will throw you back to the hovel you came from'
"You didn't tell her?" Jacob asked, his eyes widening with disbelief. "What, were you afraid she d take our side?
"There are no sides, Jacob." I stated. "Just a bad misunderstanding, now drop it."
"What don't I know, Edward?" Bella asked. Her heart rate increased and so did the hormones in her system responsible for fear and anger. Edward said nothing. Alice and myself decided to plead the fifth, hoping that she would be placated until we get her inside and away from the mongrel.
"Jake?" She asked. We were done for. This mutt would tell her anything that he thought would get her away from us or see us in a bad light.
"He didn't tell you that his big . . .brother crossed the line Saturday night?" he asked, his tone thickly layered with sarcasm. Then his eyes flickered back to Edward. "Paul was totally justified in..."
"It was no man's land, Mutt. I should know, I dragged him back." I sneered.
"Was not!" He yelled immaturely. I stopped myself from replying when I saw that his anger and rage were getting the better of him.
'Must not phase. Must not phase' he repeated to himself over and over again in his head. His hands and shoulders visibly shook as the heat emanating from his body increased.
"You don't want to do that here, wolf." Alice said.
"You want to expose yourself, wolf, go right ahead." I teased. I was so far beyond finished with this piece of crap and his attitude and disrespect were pissing me off more than ever.
"Emmett and Paul?" Bella asked, trying to regain Jacob's attention and calm him down. Probably for the best seeing as he was vibrating like a tuning fork. "What happened? Were they fighting?" Her voice rose as her panic increased "Why? Did Paul get hurt?"
"No one got hurt, Bella." I reassured her.
"You didn't tell her anything at all, did you? Is that why you took her away? So she wouldn't know that?" Jacob began
"Shut your mouth, NOW." I said, my voice had dropped to its lowest, deadliest level.
"Leave. Now." Edward said, his eyes narrowing as he became just as deadly as me. Jacob raised his eyebrows, but made no other move. Why haven t you told her? Bella had been inordinately quiet during our little three-way exchange and I realised that she had figured it out. The only reason why we, the Cullens and the wolves, would all be hunting at the same time, so close together was.
"Victoria came back for me." She said in a tone that barely disguised her panic. She began to hyperventilate and Alice began trying to calm her down.
"What the fuck was the point in that, Jacob? Is that better than her not knowing?" I demanded, taking a step forward and ignoring Edward's restraining hand on my arm.
"Better scared than lied to." He retorted, finally taking the step forward I was internally begging him to make. "You don t think Bella has a right to know?" Jacob challenged. "It's her life."
"Do you really think hurting her is better than protecting her?" Edward murmured.
"She's tougher than you think," Jacob said. "And she's been through worse." Then the whole situation changed.
Jacob's mind flooded with the most heart-breaking images of Bella. She was lying on the forest floor, covered in dirt and wet from the rain, crying for Edward- calling his name over and over again. Then the image changed to Bella sitting in some kind of plastic shed, looking like death warmed up. Her arms were wrapped around her chest like she was trying to hold herself together. She was broken and heart-broken. Her eyes were sunken and held huge purple, sleepless bruises under them. Then the last images and sounds speared me to the floor and caused me to start breathing in shallow gasps. It was night-time. Jacob was outside Bella's house and the most horrific screaming was coming from her room. It ripped at my insides and made me feel like ice. The scene shifted and I could see Bella now, screaming in her sleep, being tortured by her dreams. The tears rolling down her cheeks couldn't be stopped and she couldn't wake herself from the dream. It was soul-destroying.
Bella gazed towards Edward. his face was contorted with pain. his whole, angelic face looked like he was being burned from the inside out. When I saw his face I realised what we were being shown. This was Jacob reminding him of just how bad Bella was after he left her.
"Stop it, NOW!" I said, my voice trembled as I tried to reign in anger, pain, fear and heartbreak. Jacob simply tilted his head to the side, focusing more on Edward than ever before. Bella turned to look at Jacob who beamed at her.
"That's funny." Jacob sneered, re-focusing his efforts on Edward.
"What are you doing to him?" Bella asked anxiously.
"It's nothing, Bella," Edward told her quietly. "Jacob just has a good memory, that's all." I couldn't help but think that that was an understatement. The mongrel grinned widely, sending another crippling image of a destroyed Bella our way, causing Edward and myself to wince again.
"Stop it! Whatever you re doing." Bella demanded.
"Sure, if you want." Jacob shrugged. "It's his own fault if he doesn't like the things I remember, though."
"You miserable, disrespectful PUP!" I growled. "If I catch you here again, I swear on all the Gods that may be listening I will tear you into little lumps of fur."
"Kali, enough!" Bella scolded. How the hell was she defending this runt after what he just did to Edward? She had lost her goddamn mind.
"We have to go." Edward said suddenly. "Mr. Greene is coming to discourage loitering on school property. Let's get to English, Bella, so you re not involved.
"Overprotective, isn't he?" Jacob said, addressing Bella directly. "A little trouble makes life fun. Let me guess, you're not allowed to have fun, are you?"
"Shut up, Jake." She responded. not the most eloquent but it did the job... or at least should have.
"You know, I still have your motorcycle in the garage..." he said, swinging for a completely different subject now.
"You were supposed to sell that." Bella replied, blushing furiously.
"Yeah, right. Like I would do that. It belongs to you, not me. Anyway, I ll hold on to it until you want it back. I think I might have been wrong before, you know, about not being able to be friends. Maybe we could manage it, on my side of the see me."
"I, er, don t know about that, Jake."
"I miss you every day, Bella. It's not the same without you."
My teeth bared slightly with this comment. 'Just let me shut him up... that's all I ask.' I thought. Edward's head shook imperceptibly. Bella was distracted anyways.
"I know and I'm sorry, Jake, I just . . ."
He shook his head, and sighed. "I know. Doesn't matter, right? I guess I'll survive or something. Who needs friends?" He grimaced.
Edward's shielding arms had become restraints for Bella as she took an involuntary step forward, drawn to the sound of Jacob's pain.
"Okay, get to class," a stern voice sounded behind us. "Move along, Mr. Crowley."
"Get to school, Jake," Bella whispered. Edward released her, taking just her hand. I stepped away from her so that it wouldn't look too much like we were protecting her.
"I mean it," he was threatening. "Detention for anyone who s still standing here when I turn around again." The audience melted away before he was finished with his sentence. "Ah, Mr. Cullen. Do we have a problem here?"
"Not at all, Mr. Greene. We were just on our way to class."
"Excellent. I don't seem to recognize your friend." Mr. Greene turned to glower at Jacob. I couldn't help but follow Mr. Greene's lead and glare at him myself. "Are you a new student here?" Mr. Greene s eyes scrutinized Jacob, and I could see that he'd come to the same conclusion everyone else had: dangerous. A troublemaker.
"Nope," Jacob answered, half a smirk on his broad lips.
"Then I suggest you remove yourself from school property at once, young man, before I call the police."
Jacob said, "Yes, sir," and snapped a military salute before he climbed on his bike and kicked it to a start right there on the sidewalk. The engine snarled and then the tires squealed as he spun it sharply around. In a matter of seconds, Jacob raced out of sight. Mr. Greene ground his teeth together while he watched the spectacle.
"Mr. Cullen, I expect you to ask your friend to refrain from trespassing again."
"He's no friend of mine, Mr. Greene, but I'll pass along the warning." Mr. Greene pursed his lips. I knew that Mr. Greene was sizing Edward up, determining just how likely it was that he be a trouble maker.
"I see. If you're worried about any trouble, I'd be happy to-"
"There's nothing to worry about, Mr. Greene. There won't be any trouble." Edward pulled out a half-hearted attempt and dazzling him which seemed to work.
"I hope that's correct. Well, then. On to class. All of you. Alice, Kali. You, too, Miss Swan." Edward nodded, and pulled Bella quickly toward the English building.
"Edward, we have to go to class. I'll speak to you at lunch, okay?" I thought, as Alice and I made our way to Art. He nodded once before ducking into the building with Bella in tow.
"I swear, Alice. I am going to kill him. I don't care if Bella hates me forever, what he just did was horrible."
"What did he do?" She asked in a low voice as we walking into the class.
"He was showing him what Bella looked like when you were all gone. I know what it was like for her, so do you and Edward, but he doesn't need reminded of it. God, the nightmares were heartbreaking, Alice. She just screamed and screamed and wouldn't stop." My eyes watered and venom stung them as the unshed tears covered the surface. I blinked hard, trying to move the venom back into my system.
"It will be okay. Bella will talk to Edward and everything will be alright." She said, her own eyes fogging over slightly. "Are you alright?"
"I think I might to go to the forest when I go home again. I need to hurt something." I said, grabbing up some supplies before I went to my easel.
"I'll come with you." she offered. Her eyes fogged over. "Emmett will come to if you let him drive the Lambo."
"If it means I get to beat the shit out of something then he can drive whatever he likes... except the Zonda." I said. making sure that Alice factored that one into the vision process.
The next week was spent arguing with Bella about her relationship with the wolves, specifically, Jacob. I had voiced my concerns to her privately, telling her that it was unsafe for her to be around such a young wolf. After seeing their pack mind, only the Alpha could control them. Seeing as this avenue of persuasion had been travelled more often that not, I chose a different one. I had informed her of how Jacob felt about her. I thought that this would be a more prudent way to go about things but it backfired spectacularly. I explained to her how much he cared for her and that they way he felt was different from her- Dangerously different. She may have loved him, but he was in love with her and trying to make her see that was frustrating beyond belief. Things came to a head after myself, Alice and Edward went on a hunting trip out of state and had to rush home on the Saturday when Bella's future abruptly and inexplicably disappeared. "I swear to God, Edward, I am going to cause actual bodily damage to one of them. There is no fucking need for her to sneak off to the wolves and there is no need for him to encourage her. Well, there is a need, but he should realise she is spoken for." I never got a response. I knew he was the fastest at running and it was taking everything I had to keep up with him. It was the first time in my long vampire memory that I had struggled to speak while running. The pace he set was blistering.
"Edward..."
"I'm fine, Kali. I just have to get to her."
"She is at La Push, man. You can't go and get her."
"Watch me."
"Edward, STOP!"
"What?" His frustrated demeanor did nothing but endear him to me. His love for this human seeped out of him constantly and never more so that when she was in danger
"I think you should wait on her coming back on her own. We don't have time for a war with the wolves." I reasoned. I walked to him and pulled him into a hug. "Go to her house and wait for her there. I will call you when she becomes visible again." He released me, looking devastated. He nodded once and took off like a bullet. I would need another trip to the forest with Emmett again when I got home. The devious little human was starting to get to me with this love-triangle shit.
After a little more of the forest was cleared, courtesy of myself and Emmett, I did feel better. Alice watched as we felled a good number of trees and carried on to turn them into wood-chips. I did feel better after pummeling on rather large rock into sand. Emmett laughed his head off at me as I threw punch after vicious punch into the stone. We got home about five in the afternoon, just in time to see a semi-truck roll up to the front of the house.
"What the fuck is that?" I asked Alice. her eyes fogged and a grin spread across her face that would have put the angels in heaven to shame.
"Alice..."
"You'll see" she said as she started bouncing on her toes with nervous excitement. I gave up trying to reason with her, settling on reading her mind instead. She was promptly blocking me by running through the fall Vogue catalogue. I gave up on her and focused on the driver instead.
"Look at them. Spoiled rich kids. Probably crashed there last one and mommy and daddy got them a new one." Crashed the last one? Oh God, what had Alice done now?
The driver got out of the cab of the truck and immediately began to run his eyes up and down Alice and I. I bit my tongue until I tasted venom and fought the hiss that threatened to break through my teeth. To focus my attentions elsewhere, I walked round the truck until I saw the flatbed it dragged and the cargo it carried. I owed Alice an apology. Edward had finally come through with his promise to Alice. The bight, canary yellow Porsche was strapped into place on the truck, gleaming in the cloudy daylight like a beacon. Alice's joy was not to be contained and Jasper came out to lead her inside. Myself and Emmett stayed outside with the driver.
"I'm looking for a Mr. E. Cullen?" The driver asked, still not quite managing to take his eyes off of my body. God, human men were fucking pigs!
"That's me." Emmett piped up, moving forwards and slinging a massive arm round my shoulders.
"Hm, might of guessed she would be with the big guy." The drivers mental tone made the venom in my system pound in my ears. I focused on calming myself until Jasper blasted me with peace.
"Thanks jazz." I said, too quickly for the pervert of a delivery man to hear.
"Right, kiddo, I need some I.D. and a couple of signatures and she is all yours." The driver addressed Emmett with ten times more respect than he had with either me or Alice. I wanted to teach him some manners, but then again, my temper was running rather high this week so it was best to stamp down those urges. Emmett handed over ID and signed the clipboard that the perv had offered him. He slipped a couple of hundred dollar bills under the catch on the board and placed it on the seat of the truck cab before moving to the back and inspecting the Porsche.
"Edward is gonna be in so much trouble when Bella sees this." Emmett muttered at a very low volume.
"I think it best to stick it in the garage where she can't see it." I reasoned... I saw where his mind was going and beat him to the punch.
"DIBS!"
"I want to drive it!"
"He would never fit in it." Alice thought from inside, causing me to laugh out loud. This brought the drivers attention back to me. I didn't need to be inside his head to hear the salacious, vulgar thoughts. Emmett finally clocked onto the driver's lust, probably smelling the hormones from him and dropped a quick kiss onto my cheek before squeezing me against his chest in a sideways hug. The driver immediately turned his attentions back to the car.
"Thanks, Emmett." I muttered under my breath.
"I didn't like him looking at my sister like that." He stated quietly. The whole delivery took about ten minutes and by the time it was finished I literally wanted to bury my head in the sand to avoid the images that the human had concocted. They were vile. He did however leave rather quickly after Emmett flashed his teeth at him menacingly. the driver handed the keys over to Emmett and swiftly drove the truck back down the driveway. I knocked the keys out of Emmett's hand and got into the Porsche.
"Fuck off! I want to drive it!" He yelled and I started the engine.
"Bugger off, you will break it!" I said as I reversed it towards 'The Showroom'
"I need to call Edward and let him know his bribe is here and Alice needs to come out and drool on it."
I quickly called Edward to inform him that the Porsche was here and that it was a foul trick, even by my standards, but I agreed with it completely. He was completely unapologetic as he informed me that it was a thank you for Alice for babysitting Bella everytime he went hunting from now on. It made sense when he explained it and I congratulated him on dealing with two problems at once. We still had the problem of his cancelled hunting trip. He hadn't fed for nearly two weeks now and it was beginning to tell. His eyes were almost completely pitch black now and being in Bella's presence wasn't going to help any. I arranged for the boys to go hunting that weekend and we would watch Bella.
"I'm going to Port Angeles. We need food for Bella. Does anyone want to come with me?" I was surprised, not that most people said no, but that Alice had declined the offer to shop for anything, even disgusting items like pasta and vegetables. I took pity on Esme, agreeing to go in Alice's place. I had been psyching myself up for it the whole journey there, but never really preparing myself for the onslaught of smells coming from the supermarket we stopped at. It was my discovery that the Italian food Esme was now searching for smelled worse than other kinds I had come across.
"It get's easier to put up with, dear." Esme offered as we got out of the car at the market.
"God, I hope so. It smells revolting." I complained, rubbing my nose to try and soothe it. It didn't work. As I thought those last three words, I realised that Edward's plan to have us effectively kidnap Bella for the weekend wasn't going to work. she would rebel and fight and scream about it.
"Are you alright dear?" Esme asked "I just realised. Bella is going to be so ticked off at the idea of being babysat. She won't go down without a fight."
"I don't doubt that for a second. But it is necessary to keep her safe, so that's what we will do." I didn't want to be anywhere near that one when Bella finally figured it out. She would find a way to kill me and Alice.