QUICKIE: Wow, threats seem to really motivate people. Haha! I don't think I could go on a writing hiatus for too long anyway. This story is my baby :) Though I have been taking longer to post because I've been trying to have at least 2,200 words per chapter now. Since you all seem to like when I write a little bit longer chapters. Okay I'm done chattering, enjoy this chapter, and review!
-Alice's POV-
"I'll see you later, babe." I said as I kissed her goodbye and quietly hopped out the window.
I ran back to my house and changed my clothes, getting ready for another lonely day at school without Bella. It has been a twp months since Bella finally had her casts removed, and after rehabilitation, she is finally able to walk around by herself for the most part. Though Charlie has kept her out of school, because she still is a bit wobbly and needs help sometimes.
Renee still calls twice a day, and now she is even more excited that me made plans to visit her in two weeks. I was excited as well, her mother seemed really cool and supportive, which made me happy.
As we drove to school, I had a quick vision. Jacob was coming to our school this morning and he wanted to talk to us about something that was going on. I was curious, and alerted my siblings. As we pulled into the Forks High School parking lot, I parked in a far away spot, away from all the other students, and we waited.
Not long after that, Jacob rode up on his motorcycle, getting the attention of pretty much everyone that was outside. He parked and walked over to us, looking like something was really bothering him. His hair was wet and in disarray, and his tight black shirt had dirt sprayed over the front of it.
"Hey Jake, what's wrong?" I spoke up.
"There have been outsiders coming near our land recently. None of the scents I recognize from previous passerbys. We finally got fed up and followed their scents into Seattle the other night."
"What did you find?" Asked Jasper.
"We didn't get too close, but there are at least four vampires roaming the city." He said pulling out a news paper and showing us the front page. "There have been a lot of mysterious killings and disappearances in the last few months there. How much you wanna bet it's them?"
"If they keep going like this, the Volturi will step in." I said.
"I say we go kick their asses." Emmett interjected.
"Maybe not kick their...asses...but tell them they need to move on. I wonder if they even know about the Volturi at all." Said Edward.
"Well, we better do it soon. We'll tell Esme and Carlisle and make a plan."
"Want the pack's help?" Jake asked.
"We probably won't need it. Even if they are reluctant and want to fight, we can beat them easily." Rose said.
"Alright, but keep me in the loop."
"We will." I said.
With that, he rode off, leaving us to ponder what we were going to do. We decided to skip school today and go back home to tell Esme and Carlisle the news. When Carlisle came back home on his lunch break, we made a plan. All of us would go to Seattle and confront the Nomads, telling them if they didn't stop, the Volturi would be forced to step in. If they listened to us, then all was well. If they decided to fight us, we had one more on them and we knew how to fight anyway.
I took a peek into the future, seeing where we would meet them, but I didn't see how it would go. We would meet in a small field, not too far outside of Seattle, in two days. I texted Jake the news while heading back over to Bella's house, keeping him in the loop like he asked.
WE'LL BE LEAVING THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. -A
JUST LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU'RE HEADING OUT. I'LL TAKE YOU TO WHERE THEIR SCENT TRAILS START TOWARD SEATTLE. -J
WILL DO. BTW ARE YOU ABLE TO COME SEE BELLA? -A
IS SOMETHING WRONG? DID SHE GET HURT AGAIN? -J
NO. SHE JUST MISSES YOU, AND SHE HASN'T SEEN YOU SINCE BEFORE HER ACCIDENT -A
I'LL SEE IF SAM WILL LET ME COME OVER FOR A FEW. -J
HE WILL. THEN YOU CAN TELL BELLA WHY YOU HAVE BEEN AWAY. I NEED TO TELL HER ABOUT SEATTLE ANYWAY. -A
BE THERE SOON. -J
-Bella's POV-
I was about to throw my Math book across the room when I heard the front door open downstairs. Knowing it wasn't Charlie, I started to freak out a little. I looked around me, looking for a blunt object in case I had to defend myself. Footsteps started on the stairs, and I remembered there was a baseball bat under my bed. Why? I have no clue since I never even played before. The footsteps grew louder as they got closer. I grabbed the bat and positioned myself as best as I could for maximum swing. Then a knock at my door, but I stayed silent. It opened after a second and there was Alice. Relieved, I let out a breath and flopped back on the bed.
"Um...should I ask?" She said, taking the bat from me and setting it against the wall.
"I thought you were a burglar or something. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Skipped today."
"Special occasion?"
"I wouldn't say special. But I have something to tell you."
"That doesn't sound good..."
"It's fine. But I'm going to wait until Jacob gets here to tell you."
"Jake's coming? Like...now?"
"Yeah. Is that okay?"
"It's more than okay! I miss that little shit."
This made her giggle, which made me smile. I'm glad that she skipped, for whatever reason that may be.
"Need me to get you anything?" She asked.
"Um...actually...there is one thing." I smiled and pointed to my lips.
Hers met mine without hesitation, and I took the opportunity to pull her closer. My hands on her cheeks, not wanting to let her go. Eventually we had to stop because Ali heard Jacob approaching in the forest. Next thing I knew he was jumping through my window.
"Hey, Bells." He said with a smile on his face.
"Where the hell have you been? Get your ass over here!"
I think he thought that he was in trouble with me, so he reluctantly came over. Little did he know, I just wanted to give him a hug. He was relieved and hugged me back...maybe a little too tight.
"Okay, Jake. I can't breathe."
"Sorry." He chuckled, then gave me a hot kiss on my forehead.
"So what's going on, that you two have to tell me?" I asked warily.
"It's the reason I haven't been here to see you. Sam has had us on patrol every day and night for two months now. Some vampires have been coming by the reservation lately. We followed their scents into Seattle, where we detected four of them." He said, then nodded to Alice.
"We're sure that they are the ones causing the deaths and disappearances of many people. They have called a lot of attention to themselves and they need to be stopped before the Volturi step in."
"Okay...so...you two are going to stop them? And should I ask what the Volturi is?" I asked, confused.
"The pack isn't going, but my whole family is, myself included. And the Volturi are a very old and very powerful family. They are the closest thing my world has to royalty, they enforce the law."
"Vampires have laws?"
"Not very many, but there is one that is regularly enforced."
"What is it?" Jake asked before I could.
"That we keep the existence of our kind a secret. That we don't make...spectacles of ourselves. We don't kill conspicuously. But that's just what the ones in Seattle are doing."
"What happens if the Volturi get to them before you do?" I asked.
"They won't. But...if the Volturi did, they would kill them, and they would probably look to us next. Thinking they were with us since this is our territory."
-Alice's POV-
"OH MY GOD...THAT FREAKING TICKLES!" Bella squealed as I put her socks on.
I couldn't help but laugh at her, she was being so adorable.
"Oh, dear God. That was just plain torture." She said, her face pink from laughing.
"Would you rather your feet get cold?" I asked.
"No..."
Done laughed, her face changed into a sad expression.
"How long will you be gone?" She asked.
"We should be back tomorrow morning if everything goes well."
"If...?"
"We don't know anything about them. They could be civilized and move on without problem, or they might be reluctant and want to fight."
"I hope it won't come to that, I can't imagine you fighting, nor do I like the idea of it."
"Bella...the only thing that can hurt me is you. I don't have anything else to be afraid of." I said as I grabbed her hand.
"You're so small though, it worries me."
"Honey, we are the same size." I joked.
"Exactly. I'm small, you're small. I can't but worry about you."
"I may be small, but I am the fastest. Besides, I'll be back before you know it."
"Just...be careful."
"I will." I nodded, then kissed her goodbye.
/-/
"Here you go." Jacob said. "This will lead you right to them."
"Thank you Jake. We should be back in the morning." Carlisle said.
"Good luck!" He yelled as we took off.
We wound through the trees, following the still strong scent the Nomads left behind. They weren't any I had come across before, I would have recognized their scents immediately. It didn't take us long to reach Seattle, it only took a little more than an hour. Thank God for super speed. We followed the scent trails into the woods just outside Seattle, until we started to hear faint talking. We stopped running and walked the rest of the way, coming out into a small open field, four Nomads standing in the middle waiting for us. As we got closer, the four of them lined up, standing shoulder to shoulder. We did the same, stopping about ten feet away from them.
"We come in peace." Carlisle started. "This is my family. I'm Carlisle, this is my wife Esme. These are our children...Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Alice."
"I"m Laurent." Said the man with dreads. "And this is Riley, Victoria...and James. What do we owe this meeting, sir?"
"Your killings are all over the papers and the news. We think it's that you move onto someplace else, before you make bigger spectacles of yourselves."
"If we notice it, the Volturi must too. We have a permanent residence in Forks, so this is our territory. We don't want to be blamed for something we didn't have any part in." Said Esme.
Surprised she actually spoke up, she is usually so quiet.
"I see. Well we didn't mean to cause any harm. We were just passing through and quite liked it here, but we'll go now, as you asked."
"Thank you, Laurent."
I couldn't help but notice the whole time, the man they call James was staring at me with an odd expression. Hungry, confused, determination.
"Don't even think about it." Edward said angrily.
It surprised all of us, and took me a second to realize who he was talking to.
"I beg your pardon?" Laurent asked, just as confused as we were.
"James smells Bella's scent on you."
I saw Laurent take a whiff in my direction, confused.
"Don't tell me your consorting with a human?" He asked.
I growled at both of them, Laurent backing up a few steps, but James staying put.
"I think it's time for you all to leave now." Carlisle said in a stricter voice.
Riley, Victoria and Laurent started to back away further, but James still stayed where he was and snarled at me.
"James!" Laurent yelled. "Let's go."
He growled at me one last time and ran off with the other three out of our sight.
"You have to get back to Bella, now. She's in danger." Edward said as he tugged me in the direction we came.
"Why? What's wrong?" I said as all of us started running.
"James is a tracker. He caught Bella's scent and decided that he wants to hunt her. Your reaction in the field set him off. You just made this his most exciting game ever."