Chapter 20: Vampires and Baseball.
When the sun rose the next morning Bella awoke alone in her bed. At first she was afraid and confused as to where Alice was but when she heard the pixie climb up the tree and into her room she all but tackled the girl. "I missed you Alice." Bella spoke into the crook of her girlfriend's neck. Alice put her fingers through her human's hair and spoke softly to her. "I know baby. I missed you too. I'm sorry I left you, but I had to hunt." Bella pulled back and smiled. "What?" Alice asked in confusion. The human ducked her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You called me 'baby'." The pixie smiled. "Is that ok. I mean I don't want to call you Bells all the time because I know that's your dad's nickname for you." Bella smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah that's fine. I have to ask though; did I say anything last night before I went to sleep?" Alice thought back to the night before and tried to look neutral so that her human wouldn't know. She couldn't help the smile that broke through. "Well you were pretty tired Bella so I won't hold it against you if you didn't really mean it." Bella ducked her head low and Alice thought the worst. The pixie picked the humans head up with the tips of her fingers. "Are you ok Bella?" Bella nodded and spoke softly. "I did mean it. I was just afraid because it's so soon. I mean we haven't even been at school as a couple yet and I'm saying I love you. That's insane right?" Bella asked a scared and confused look on her face. Her eyes were filled with fear and her eyebrows were scrunched together like she was thinking about something.
Alice smiled gently at the frightened girl and held her face in both hands. "Oh Bella. It's alright. I understand how scared you are. I felt the same way when I saw you in my vision, and then when I saw you at school that first time. My fear tripled." Bella's warms hands covered Alice's own cold ones. "The more I saw you and the more time I spent with you, it made me see that you are my mate. My soul mate." Bella looked straight into the vampire's eyes as she said this. "When I had the vision of those men attacking you, it drove me into a rage. It took all of my willpower to not give into my demon and let her kill them. That's why I was aggravated with you when I saw you." The human looked at her girlfriend with some concern in her eyes. "What are you talking about Alice? You're demon? I don't understand." Alice turned away from her human and went over to the open window. Relishing the light heat on her skin as it began to glow. "All the stories that are told about vampires are true. Except for the whole sunlight burning us, the stake to the heart and cross thing. That's all just a myth." The pixie turned and faced her love. "But the whole part about being a demon of night...that sort of thing is somewhat true." Alice crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. "When vampires are first born, they have no thought other than to feed. Newborns as they call them have unquenchable thirst for blood. Human blood is the sweetest and the best for us." Tears came to the vampires eyes. "If you want to be with me, you'll have to know a couple of things about me first, alright?" Bella only nodded her head and waited patiently for the girl to speak. "When I was turned, my sire took me from the asylum that my parents had placed me in because I had visions. During that time it was different. They weren't very tolerant of anything out of the ordinary." Alice giggled slightly at that last statement.
"When my sire took me away from that place, he led me to the forest to teach me how to be a vampire like him. He was just like Carlisle back then. Kind and gentle. Only his eyes were a faded amber color and he had salt and pepper hair." Alice laughed whole heartily as she remembered her true father. She looked out the window and towards the sky hoping that he was looking down on her. "He also fed off of animal blood. But before he could teach me anything, I was overcome with the most exquisite scent I had ever experienced. I ran to the edge of the forest trying to see what it was that I had smelled I came across the village I grew up in. Everyone there was going inside their houses for the night. I snuck up to the front side of the house when everyone was inside." Alice gulped and scratched lightly at her throat. There was a slight burning sensation there recalling the memory. "I came across a man there. When I smelled the blood pumping in his chest, I had a vision of the past of my life as a human. Newborns aren't supposed to remember their human lives so this was very strange. The man inside the house was my father, Michael Brandon. All he ever was to me was a sperm donor. He was a cruel man. He was the one who chased me out of my home and into the fields surrounding my village. He convinced every man, woman, and child there that I was evil and a servant of the devil." Alice gripped the frame of the window and almost broke the wood there. She felt the breeze on her skin and was grateful for it. "When I was shown what he had done to me, I went up to him and took his hand in mine. He was shocked to see me because Eli had already sent the letter that told my parents that I was dead. When he came out of his shock he asked me how I was still alive. I broke his wrist. He screamed in pain and I smiled. I told him I wasn't the same scared little girl he pushed around. He apologized and begged for his life, but my demon wouldn't allow him to live. It was too hungry for that." She took a deep breath as she heard Bella gasp behind her. "My father screamed as I bit into him. His scream brought my mother down the stairs." She turned towards her love at this point.
The look Bella had in her eyes broke her un-beating heart. Fear and sadness filled those beautiful dark eyes. Alice hung her head in shame. "If you don't want to hear any more of this Bella I can leave." She said as she stepped on the windowsill about to jump to the ground. As she was about to jump to the tree, Alice felt a hand around her arm. Bella's voice rang through her ears. "I may not want to hear it, but I need to. I need to know how you became the way you are now." Alice turned around to face her mate with tears in her own eyes and came down from the sill. "Okay." The pixie spoke. She took a deep breath before continuing. "My father's screams brought my mother downstairs to where I was still feeding. I heard her scream and I ran to her and pinned her on the wall by her neck. At first she looked scared. That made me happy. I didn't know who she was, the only thing I knew was the fact that she was a human and she had blood running through her veins. Then something happened that confused the hell out of me." Bella spoke next. "What happened?" She asked. "She looked as if she was coming to grips with what was about to happen. She looked almost at peace with what I was about to do." Bella gripped Alice's hand and lead her to the bed. "She spoke to me but it didn't come out so I loosened the grip I had on her neck and she spoke to me again.'It's alright little Mary. Go on, drink honey. You need to keep your strength up for the journey.' It was as if she wanted me to drink from her. I didn't hesitate and I fed off of my mother and drained her dry." Bella gasped and Alice continued.
"After the last drop of blood touched my lips, I was overcome with an immense amount of pain and pressure in my head. I screamed and passed out from so much pain. The next time I woke up, I was in the forest surrounding my home." Alice waited for Bella to say something but when she got nothing from the girl, she went on. "I woke up and my sire was carrying a huge buck carcass over his shoulders. When he dropped it in front of me I cowered from it. He looked at me with so much anger in his eyes. I asked him why we were here in the forest and he screamed at me. He had never done that before so it scared me out of my mind. He yelled at me and shook me so hard that I thought he was going to tear me apart. He looked at me like I failed him somehow." Tears came to the pixies eyes as she continued. "Eli was silent for a long time, and he took me to the edge of the forest where I saw the charred remains of my childhood home. Then it kind of hit me. My family had been harmed. I tried to run, but he held me back and the only thing I could do was scream and cry. The bad part was...my tears wouldn't fall." Bella began to cry silently as Alice told her tale. She wanted to wrap her arms around her girlfriend and hold her till the pain went away but she knew that the pixie had to finish the story. "The pain I felt that day was more than any being should feel in a lifetime, or rather two in my case. I fainted then but I saw something behind my eyes. A mirror stood before me. It was huge, but I soon realized it was no ordinary mirror. When I saw my reflection inside, it looked just like me only it spoke differently and our eyes were different. My eyes were amber gold, but my reflections eyes were red. That's when I knew that that was my demon staring back at me. It loved the carnage from the night before but the only victim it missed was my sister Katie. It told me that it was only a matter of time before it got to her too. I became enraged and jumped through the mirror. I wrapped my hands around the demons throat and told it that it wouldn't go anywhere near my sister. It just laughed at me but that only made me madder. I ripped the demons head off with a great amount of strength and then it was dead. I awoke and it seemed like hours since I had fallen asleep when it was only moments. I had won the battle with my demon and now she and I are on speaking terms at least." Alice giggled.
Bella touched her loves shoulder and asked softly. "What happened to your sister Alice?" The pixie took Bella's hand in her own and kissed it. "Oh you would've loved her Bella. You remind me of her. So kind and gentle, incapable of harming any living thing." All the human could do was sit there and listen to what Alice was saying. "She grew old, had a couple of kids. I go check up on them from time to time. I keep my distance though." Bella shot forward and hugged the pixie and held her there. Alice was stunned by this gesture but after the shock set in, she began to dry sob into Bella's shoulder. All the memories she had all the visions she had of her parents and witnessing her sire's death, it was all catching up to her. Of course Alice knew she had so much more to tell the girl that held her in her arms, but for now she hoped this would be enough. After a moment, real tears began to fall down the vampires face. Alice backed away from the girl and turned away from her. Bella whined and hugged her pixie around the waist. "What's wrong baby?" She asked as the pixie wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's weird." Alice said quietly. "Vampires aren't supposed to cry but here I am with tears coming from my eyes. This is the third time this has happened." Bella kissed the girl behind her ear. "When did you experience this before?" The human asked. "Once when I drew a picture of my sister, another time when I got into a fight with Edward, and now this time." Bella got up and put herself in front of the vampire and rested on her knees. She looked up at the confused vampire and took her face in her hands. "I know your past hasn't been the best for you Alice but I will make damned good and sure that your future will be better. And, if you feel like you need to cry, just let it out baby. I'm not going to run from you just because you cry a few tears." Alice giggled with the tears welling up in her eyes and hugged the human fiercely. "Thank you Bella." She whispered into her loves ear after a few moments.
Bella separated herself far enough from Alice to look her in the eye. "I love you Alice." She said as she looked into her loves eye. "I love you too Bella. Always." Both girls inched forward towards each other's lips, and just as they were about to touch, they heard thunder in the distance. Alice snuck a peek outside the window and saw that the clouds had begun to gather. "I guess we have a game to go play." She whispered against Bella's lips. "Yeah. Your family's waiting for us." Bella whispered back, wanting desperately to kiss her girlfriend. "We can make them wait a few moments though can't we?" The human moaned and said, "I thought you'd never ask." Bella smiled and gripped the back of the pixies head and brought her lips down to her own in a fierce kiss. As the kiss intensified, Bella was the one that found herself on top of Alice. The human gripped the side of the pixies face and kept her there so that her tongue could venture out to meet its mate. Alice gave her a tough time at first, by not opening her mouth at the first swipe of Bella's tongue but when she felt her loves fingertips at the hairline of her neck, Alice couldn't help but moan and open her mouth and let the intruding member inside. Both girls moaned when the kiss became more heated. It was only when another clap of thunder rang in the sky that the two broke apart, with Bella breathing heavily. "Bella..." The human in question, rested her heated forehead against the cool one beneath her. "Yeah?" The pixie could smell her girlfriend's arousal very well at this point, and Alice could feel herself getting very wet from the interaction they both shared. "Um...I think you better change, before I decide not to take you to the baseball game." Bella snuck her hand down her pants and found wetness coating her panties. "Shit!" She whispered before running to the walk-in closet at the other end of the room.
"I'm sorry Alice. I couldn't help it." Bella said from behind the closet door. Alice giggled and got up from the bed to walk over to the wall next to the closet her girlfriend was hiding in. "its ok Bella. I promise. I just didn't want to put you through anything you weren't ready for that's all." Bella, in the middle of changing, poked her head out of the closet door and looked at her girlfriend. "Honey if I can handle being in love with a girl and then finding out she's a vampire who can see the future, I can handle having sex with said vampire." Then she went back to changing. Alice giggled and waited for her love to finish and in no time, Bella came out in her red plaid shirt and some old tattered jeans. The pixie looked her up and down and seemed to be assessing her choice of outfit." Hmm...That will do me suppose. I want to take you shopping sometime soon though my love." Bella looked as if Alice had just killed her puppy. "Shopping?! Ugh...I hate shopping. Even my mother couldn't get me to go with her." "Well I am about to change that Bella." The human grumbled as she walked from the closet to the bathroom to brush the snarls out of her bed head hair. With all the brushing done and out of the way Bella went to rejoin her girlfriend in her bedroom. She put her hands on her hips and asked, "So, how are we getting there?"
Alice laughed loudly and replied. "Hello Miss Swan, my name is Alice Cullen and I'll be your coach this beautiful cloudy morning." She bowed and turned to show Bella her back. The human put her long chestnut locks in a sloppy ponytail and put an old baseball cap on her head before approaching the girl. Using her superior height, she kissed the back of the pixies neck before wrapping her hands around her neck. The tiny vampire shivered from the light contact and grabbed Bella's thighs when she wrapped her legs around her waist. "Ready baby?" She whispered stepping on to the windowsill. Bella nodded and said. "I'm ready to fly." Alice giggled. "Do me a favor will ya?" "Anything." "Just think some happy thoughts and I'll make us fly to Neverland." Bella laughed loudly and bit her lip. "Sorry. That was a little corny." Alice kissed her girlfriends hand. "It's ok Bella. I like it when you're corny." She said as she jumped from the sill to the tree. From the tree she hit the ground with her precious cargo still intact. When Alice sped off into the forest, Bella got butterflies in her stomach and she was thankful she put her hair up.
They got to the field in record time. The rest of the Cullen family wasn't far behind. "My family will be here in five minutes." She spoke in a soft yet, sultry voice as she backed her girlfriend up against a tree not far from where they had arrived. With heavy lidded eyes, Bella said nothing as Alice kissed her softly on the lips. The human kissed her back and wanted to deepen the kiss, but the little pixie would have nothing of it. "Just stay still Bella." She whispered in the girl's ear resulting in a shiver. Alice kissed the girl behind her ear and moved her lips down her jaw line. Bella threaded her fingers in Alice's spiky hair. Her breathing became very shallow. "It's probably a good thing you hunted this morning." She moaned loudly when Alice lightly kissed the sensitive spot on her neck. Directly beneath her jaw line. "Oh my god." Bella whispered as she gripped Alice's hair. Alice growled when she heard her girlfriends moan in her ear. As she kissed her lovers neck, she moved her hands from her waist and up her body. One to her neck, and the other to her breast under the shirt she wore. Just then, the pixie heard a voice in her head. 'Whoa there sailor. We're going to be there in like two minutes. You wouldn't want mom and dad to see you in such a compromising position now would you?' The demon in her growled at the intrusion. 'Damn you Edward.' She thought back to her brother and all she heard was his brotherly evil laugh not too far away. Alice stopped her torture on Bella's body and looked up into her dilated sea green eyes. "I'm sorry Bella, but the others are almost here." Bella took a moment to collect herself and then nodded her head.
The rest of the Cullen family came out at the other side of the field with all of the baseball equipment in hand. Emmett carried the bases, Jasper carried all of the bats as well as his favorite one over his shoulder, and Edward carried the gloves. Emmett ran to separate sides of the field to drop the bases where they needed to be placed. Bella and Alice walked up to the family and each got hugs from Esme and Carlisle as well as the others. Last but not least, the bear of a man came back from his chore and hugged Bella much like he did the day before. "Hey Bella! I didn't know that pixie was inviting you today. I would've brought you an extra glove." Bella waved and said, "It's alright Emmett. I think I'm just going to stand on the sidelines today." 'There's no way in hell I would survive a baseball game with vampires.' The human appeared to be right in that aspect as the game began to come together. Alice threw the baseball in the air and moved to the center of the diamond. Edward was playing first base, Emmett played second base as well as outfield, and Jasper played third base. Alice was pitcher for both teams so it was kind of hard for Bella which team to really root for. Just as Bella was about to head over to the side line, Carlisle took her to the side and said, "Bella why don't you play my position as umpire." "Are you sure that's alright sir?" Carlisle laughed and said. "Of course it's alright my dear. And please don't call me sir. It just makes me feel old." Bella lightly blushed and tucked a strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail behind her ear. "Sorry Carlisle. It's just reflex I guess." Carlisle patted her on the shoulder. "Don't apologize for being respectful Bella." The girl nodded and took her position behind Esme who was the catcher.
When Alice threw the first pitch to Rosalie, Bella looked at her in awe. The pixie looked as much as the ballerina she appeared to be. So graceful in her body movements and the look of determination in her eyes got her all excited inside. The human shook her head clear of these thoughts for the moment because Rosalie had just struck the ball just as a thunderclap ripped through the sky over town. She watched as Emmett smiled and ran after the ball. He was back in a flash with the baseball in hand and a cheeky smile on his face. "Um...out?" Bella stated as Rosalie turned around and gave her a slightly dirty look. "Sorry Rose." Bella whispered as the blonde walked away. Tanya was next up to bat. The girl gripped the bat and stared down the field to her sister. Alice once again gracefully tossed the ball to the batter and this time Tanya settled for a base hit. It still went into the forest, but it bounced off of a tree before settling on the ground. Jasper found it and ran back to the group but found that the blonde had reached first base and settled next to her husband. "Safe!" Bella called out to the group.
"Alright Alice, your turn." Carlisle called out to her. "Jasper, you take over as pitcher son. I'll take your spot at third base." The empath nodded his head and approached the pitcher's mound. Alice formed a sweet smile on her lips as she twirled the bat in her hand. It was going all around in a blur and Bella was getting dizzy. The pixie winked at her love before heading to the base. A large smile planted itself on her face as she gripped the bat and looked to her brother. Jasper turned his hat around and surveyed what Esme's hand gestures were. He shook his head a couple times and nodded the third time. Alice watched as he gripped the ball with his thumb, pointer and middle finger. The last two fingers were placed firmly on the laces of the sphere. Then in a flash, the boy released the ball and Alice hit it so hard that the ball itself had lost the leather layer and flew out so far into the distance that no one really wanted to go get it. The pixie shrieked as she watched the ball fly overhead and started running at human speed with Tanya ahead of her. Rosalie laughed and clapped as did Esme and Bella.
When the two reached home plate, Rosalie patted each of them on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Looks like its two to zip boys." The girls laughed as the boys came in to bat. Jasper was first and threw the bat in the air before catching it with one hand. Alice stood at the pitcher's mound and was about to throw the ball to her brother when a vision came over her. "Carlisle! Edward!" The pixie yelled for her father after the vision left her sight. The doctor was by her side in a matter of seconds. "What is it Alice?" "We have company." The mind reader growled. Carlisle watched as three figures walked out of the tree line opposite them. Alice's eyes widened as she saw a familiar figure step from the tree line and she immediately hissed at the intruder. Carlisle nodded and gestured over to the human standing with the rest of his family. "Go to Bella, Alice. I'll take care of this." The pixie hesitated for a moment but after a slight nudge from her father, she blurred back over to the group. "Get behind me Bella and keep your head down ok?" The human nodded and did what she was told. A few seconds later, a trio of vampires walked to the leader of the clan. Two very light skin vampires stood on the right and left of a darker skinned one. "James." Alice seethed as she said the man's name. It was the darker skinned one with dreadlocks that walked more forward to converse with her father. "My name is Laurent and these are my companions James and Victoria. We were just passing through before we came across your little game. Do you mind if we join?" Carlisle put his fingers through his blonde hair and replied. "I apologize Laurent but my family and I were just about to head home. Where are you heading off to?" The crimson eyed vampire smiled. "Oh a little here and there, nowhere really specific." Carlisle bowed his head before wishing them luck on their journey and turning back to go to his family. He didn't want Bella out here any longer in fear that the nomads would pick up her sweet human scent. "I never caught your name." the dark skinned vampire spoke. Carlisle but turned his head and replied. "My name is Carlisle."
Just then a slight breeze drifted over the field and carried Bella's scent right to James' nose. He closed his eyes to enjoy the richness of the scent, but when he opened his eyes, they were pitch black. The redhead next to him smiled widely before blurring with him to get a chance to retrieve the girl. The entire Cullen family moved in front of the human and shielded her from the nomads. Alice being Bella's mate stood directly in front of Bella, with Emmett and Rosalie on each side of her, and looked into James' red eyes. She felt nothing but rage for this man. The memories of the day her sire died washed over her. She growled loudly at the man, but stood her ground to protect her love. The demon was itching to get out of its merciful shell and tear the thing that killed her sire apart but Alice stood firm. Her first priority would always be Bella's safety. After the haze of the sweet human blood lifted from James' eyes, he looked to see a familiar face standing in front of him. "What's this? Little Mary Alice wants to come out and play?" He laughed loudly while never taking his eyes from the pixie. "Are you keeping a human as a pet now Mary, because that's the only excuse you should have for how close you are with her?" Alice never spoke. She wouldn't give him the luxury of her answer.
Bella stood behind Alice wondering what the hell was going on. Who was this man? Who was Mary Alice? Those were a few questions she would have to ask Alice once they returned to the Cullen house. The look in the human's eyes was one of fear and full of unanswered questions. She looked all around her and saw the family of vampires about ready to attack the ones in front of them. "Carlisle!" The girl screamed. The two vampires, who had been talking, blurred to each of their families. Carlisle stood in front of his to protect them. Laurent stood in front of his own to stop the attack. "I don't mean to be rude Laurent but I think it's time for you to move on my friend." The man opposite him nodded his head. "I believe you're right." He turned to his companions and said. "We're moving out." James stood at his natural height to try and argue with the vampire in front of him. "But her blood. Don't you smell that delicious blood? Not even you can resist it. No matter how hard you try my friend." The darker skinned vampire smiled. "Yes, but I do not wish for us to get torn apart by this family of vampires James. We leave this one alone. Now move out!" As the two lighter skinned nomads headed for the forest, Laurent stayed behind. "I apologize for their actions Carlisle. My companions don't really understand the meaning of manners." Alice took this chance to speak. "Yes James, this human is off limits." When the man took a step forward, Alice surged toward the man and gripped his throat. "I said, she's off limits." She roared before tightening her hold on the nomad's neck. The blonde elder put his hand on his youngest daughters shoulder and whispered. "It's alright Alice, Bella's fine. She's safe and with us. Let him go." The demon in her wanted nothing more than to kill this son of a bitch. Alice herself wanted nothing more than to kill the monster that killed her maker, but with Bella right behind the family, she didn't want to show her mate the evil side of her. The pixie hung her head and dropped the nomad on the ground. James just laughed and said, "Little Mary Alice needs to let go of the soul and have a little fun." Then he walked back to Laurent and his own mate Victoria.
Alice went over to Bella and held her in her arms. At seeing this, James laughed and said, "I'll get you my pretty and your little human too." Alice hissed at the man and made a move to advance on him but was held back by Bella's hold. "Stay with me Alice. I'll be fine as long as you stay with me." The pixies demon spoke up in her mind. 'He'll get her over our dead body. Right?' Alice mentally agreed with herself. When the nomads were nowhere in sight she looked to Edward and sent a thought his way. 'I have an idea. But we'll talk about it when I get Bella back to the house. I don't want her out here anymore.' Edward nodded in agreement. "Well, that was fun. Why don't we all go back to the house and Bella can get something to eat." Esme spoke up over her children's silent conversation. Emmett agreed. "Yeah let's go guys before I go after the guy that threatened my baby sis's mate." Alice looked into Bella's eyes and conveyed a message with them. 'I won't let him anywhere near you again.' Bella took her girlfriends face in the palm of her hand and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Let's go home baby." The pixie held out her hand and her human hoisted herself on her back and they all sped off back to the Cullen house with James words ringing loudly in all of their ears. "I'll get you my pretty and your little human too." Alice knew that Bella wouldn't be safe as long as James still existed. She knew that she needed to kill this monster, once and for all.