Chapter 18- Anxiety Issues
A/N: I know you all hate Author's Notes (I do too), so you can skip this if you want to. Well, anyway, just telling you guys that I've been somewhat busy recently, and I'm trying to catch up on all the work. Thanks for sticking with me. This story is almost finished. And THANKS TO MY BETA, lolafalana.
2:56 AM, the tiny hands on my watch said.
Bella woke up a few seconds earlier than I had expected. I was under so much pressure I couldn't even rely on my visions.
All the same, I wanted to tell her that to go back to sleep; that she had woken up way too early.
I heard the impact as her weight shifted. I felt sorry for her. She had absolutely nothing to do, and Edward wasn't here. I hoped she wasn't too frightened.
"Jasper, can you get me that pencil and pad on the desk?" I requested, purposely making sure Bella could hear.
When he handed it to me, I let myself go, delving into a pool of images flashing like lightning across my mind.
My hand flew across the paper, sketching the outlines of everything I saw. The VCR room was now light, and I could see the details clearly now. Suddenly, the fly of visions screeched to a halt, and I dropped my paper, stunned. "He's back in the VCR room, it's light now. Most of the guesses I made about the last sketch are right." I told Jasper, my alarming speed increasing with each word.
Jasper's expression was anxious, and I returned his gaze with a plain, worried look. I watched the clock on the TV tick. Whatever happened, the clock would still be ticking…
Another image. Bella would come into the living room soon.
Jasper and the clock disappeared from my sight, replaced by a room. It was fairly bright in there, and it looked nothing like the mirror room.
I heard Bella staggering into the room, but I didn't look towards the sound's source.
I sketched out the outlines of the dark carpet, the walls paneled in wood, the fireplace, sofa, coffee table…
"The phone goes there," Bella whispered.
Jasper and I stared at her in horror. I cut off the vision of the room and focused on Bella.
"That's my mother's house." She would say.
Gasping in shock at the sudden turn of events, I scrambled off the couch, the silver phone in my hand and started to dial.
By now, Jasper was probably sending her waves of serenity.
The phone was picked up after three rings. I knew it had to be Edward who picked it up.
"Edward, something's gone terribly wrong. I saw a room with a VCR the other day—it was dark, today it's bright, and he's going to be or is already at her mother's house!" I said this all in three seconds flat.
He didn't even hesitate. "We'll take the next flight out of Seattle. Tell Bella that she'll be okay." He hung up.
"Bella," I said gently. She looked up at me numbly.
"Bella, Edward is coming to get you. He and Emmett and Carlisle are going to take you somewhere, to hide you for a while."
"Edward is coming?" Hope flared in her eyes. I wondered if that was the only part she caught. Had I spoken too fast? There was no time to consider it anyway.
"Yes, he's catching the first flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport, and you'll leave with him." I grew slightly less confident as that vision blurred. What would happen?
"But, my mother… he came here for my mother, Alice!" Did she really that Jasper and I would let her get killed?
"Jasper and I will stay till she's safe." I tried to keep the tinge of annoyance out of my tone. The girl was just hysterical, that was all.
"I can't win, Alice. You can't guard everyone I know forever. Don't you see what he's doing? He's not tracking me at all. He'll find someone, he'll hurt someone I love…Alice, I can't—" I fought the urge to contradict her. If she wasn't getting hysterical, maybe she would have noticed that there was no way that the tracker would get out of this alive.
"We'll catch him, Bella," I reminded her, choosing not to mention the fact that they were outnumbered.
"And what if you get hurt, Alice? Do you think that's okay with me? Do you think it's only my human family he can hurt me with?"
I glanced meaningfully at Jasper. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder and sent waves of drowsiness towards her. Her eyes closed, and then slowly opened. She cringed away from Jasper's hand.
"I don't want to go back to sleep," She snapped.
Hopefully, Jasper didn't feel bad.
She stomped to her room and slammed the door. This time I didn't follow her.
5:30 AM. After seeing that the phone would ring, I placed it in my hand, rocked it gently, and waited for it to ring.
When the phone rang, she returned to the front room, looking ashamed.
"Edward."
"Alice," he said impatiently. I could imagine his dull expression. "We've boarded the plane. It lands at nine forty-five."
I hung up.
"They're just boarding their plane," Alice told me. "They'll land at nine forty-five." I smiled weakly at her relieved expression.
"Where's Jasper?" She asked suddenly.
"He went to check out." Just a few minutes before you came out of your room, I wanted to add.
"You aren't staying here?" She was surprised.
"No, we're relocating closer to your mother's house." I hadn't told Jasper that yet, but he'd understand.
The phone rang again. I didn't expect that. Surprised, I answered the call. Bella was already walking forward, reaching hopefully for the phone.
"Hello?" Alice asked.
"Bella? Bella?" A slightly hysterical voice cried.
"No, she's right here." I held the phone out to her. Your mother, I mouthed.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Bella? Bella?" The panicky voice sounded again.
Bella sighed. "Calm down, Mom," she said soothingly, walking slowly away from me. "Everything is fine, okay? Just give me a minute and I'll explain everything, I promise."
She paused. "Mom?"
I started towards her, before stopping. They should have some privacy.
I heard a low voice. It was very quiet. I sensed that something was wrong. But if something was wrong, Bella would probably have told me.
Bella's face whitened. "No, Mom, stay where you are." Her voice was barely more than a whisper. Maybe nothing was wrong after all. After all, Bella was a terrible actress.
I waited.
"Mom, please listen to me," her voice pleaded. She walked very slowly to the bedroom. She shut the door behind her.
I stared at the door, worried.
"Yes."
"Yes."
Silence.
"Mom, trust me."
I waited.
"No." Why did I have a bad feeling about this?
"Yes."
"Yes…" She trailed off, her voice breaking.
"Yes."
"Where's Phil?" She suddenly asked, tersely. The abrupt question startled me.
I wondered why before now, all Bella's answers to her mother's questions were single worded.
There was a twenty four point sixty six second pause.
"Thank you, Mom." She sounded close to tears.
"I love you, Mom." She said, her voice think. "I'll see you soon," She promised. I imagined her terrified mother and sighed in pity. She would definitely be worried. What alibi would Edward come up with? Or did Edward think I was going to do that for him?
Minutes ticked by. I lost track of them, even though I was watching the clock in boredom, lost in my thoughts. Bella knew I was in here waiting for her curiously. I knew she was debating whether or not to come out and face me. She was probably embarrassed. It didn't matter anyway, because I knew, through my visions, that she would come out soon. I knew what she was going to say, but I wanted to hear her say it again, just to make sure everything would be fine.
The sound of the door opening finally came.
She emerged, her hair tangled, and bags beneath her eyes. How could a person age so suddenly? What had happened? I hadn't seen this in my vision. My sight blurred, and I found that everything was unfocused.
Her expression was bleak. "My mom was worried, she wanted to come home. But it's okay, I convinced her to stay away," she droned in a toneless voice. There was something wrong, that was for sure. And she had chosen not to confide in me. I felt a little hurt.
"We'll make sure she's fine, Bella, don't worry," I reassured her all the same.
"Alice," she suddenly said, without turning. "If I write a letter for my mother, would you give it to her? Leave it at the house, I mean." She sounded like she was about to burst into tears. What on earth was wrong?
"Sure, Bella." I replied carefully.
She went into the bedroom again, and I heard the sound of her heavy footsteps and the sound of the pen scratching the paper as she wrote.
It was probably fear that was doing this to Bella.