Chapter 21: The Plan and a New Edition.
A couple of days went by and the children went back to school Monday morning. Alice decided to stay by Bella's side every possible moment to make sure she was safe. The pixie had a feeling that James would try something soon she just didn't know when. Apparently the nomad was being indecisive at the present time. During the ride to school, both girls were a little on edge. It was silent throughout the ride and it made them both nervous about what was going on. Alice looked over at her mate and grabbed her hand. Bella in turn smiled and kissed the back of it. "You ok baby?" The vampire asked. Bella only nodded and gave a weak smile. Alice pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car to go to the passenger side. She got down on her knees, not caring if the dirt or grass stained her pants. "Bella, please look at me baby." Alice put her fingertips under Bella's chin and lifted her head up so she could look into her beautiful eyes. "I promise you, I will not let him touch a hair on your head. He'll have to go through me and my family first." Tears came to the humans eyes. "Alice I don't want you and your family throwing your lives for me just in case James does get the advantage. I don't want any of you hurt because of me. I couldn't live with myself baby." Alice gripped her girlfriend by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "Oh Bella, you are a strange one my love." Bella, with big tears running down her cheeks, looked at Alice like she had two heads. "How the hell am I the strange one? You're the vampire here Alice." The vampire chuckled and replied. "My Bella, you are one of the most unique humans I've ever met. You hang with vampires without fear of being eaten. To us that's a little strange." Bella giggled and showed a real smile for the first time in days.
Then worry again marred her face as she could recall the first time she woke up without Alice next to her. While spending the night at the Cullen house after the baseball game, she never woke up without Alice with her so she got out of the four poster bed, and went to see where her pixie was. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard hushed voices. The first voice she heard was Tanya's. "What are we gonna do? With what that guy Laurent said yesterday, it seems that James just wants to play with her before he kills her." She gasped and heard Carlisle's voice next. "Yes, from what he told Alice and me last night, it seems that James holds a certain grudge against Alice and anyone who comes in contact with her." Bella heard Emmett stomp around the house and growled. "Well I for one, am not gonna let that leech anywhere near my new baby sister, no way. C'mon Alice, let's go out there and find this guy." Rosalie punched the bear vampire in the arm and he yelped. "Hey! What'd I do now?" Rosalie shook her head and commented, "Don't you think she wants to go out and find this guy Em, he's caused her more pain than anything." Esme spoke up. "What do you mean Rose?" The blond looked at her mother and said, "As I can recall, James was the man that killed her sire back when she was a newborn." She turned her sight to her little sister and when Alice raised her head she stared at her sister for a moment before speaking out. "I know you're there Bella. I can hear your heartbeat."
Bella moved from her spot behind the wall and over to where Alice sat in the oversized armchair. She nervously sat down on the arm of the chair while Alice held her hand firmly. "So I guess we're trying to figure out what to do with me when that James guy comes back right?" The human asked, with a slight twinge of frustration coating her voice. The pixie heard it and wrapped her arm around the girl. Alice never spoke a word but Edward didn't give anyone the luxury of silence. "Yes. We're trying to figure out how to get you out of town before that bastard shows up again. Do you know of anywhere we could take you till this cools down?" The pixie growled low inner throat at her brother but she kind of envied him for having the ability to be blunt. Bella shrugged her shoulders and gave it some thought. "I don't really know. I mean, my mom's out traveling with her husband Phil and I don't really have any other family to speak of anywhere else." Everyone heard a cough from the other side of the room and saw Jasper standing there raising his hand. "I have a suggestion." The empath spoke for the first time that day.
"We're here Bella." Alice stated before kissing her girlfriend lightly on the cheek. Bella shook her head to clear away the memory of the conversation. She looked at where they were and saw the high school looming over them. "Ugh, I don't wanna go. Can't we just skip today Alice?" Bella said with a childlike innocence. Alice smiled and said, "No my love. I'm sorry. You know your father will be terribly mad at me if he knew I let you skip school." Bella grunted before gathering her bag and getting out of the car. "Hey Bella!" The two girls heard a voice coming from the edge of the parking lot. They turned around and groaned at the same time when they saw who it was. Jacob Black was standing by his motorcycle waving over at Bella. The human looked at her pixie and the latter of the two said, "Go talk to him Bella. I'll see you inside." Bella, being slightly taller than her girlfriend, dipped her head slightly and kissed her on the lips before going to join her childhood friend.
As Bella walked over to Jake, carrying her bag over her shoulder, she had a shit eating grin on her face as she saw him standing there slightly slack-jawed at the sight he had just witnessed. Bella was kissing a girl. Not just any girl, but a vampire girl at that. When she was directly in front of the boy, he shook his head to clear the image. "What the hell are you still doing with them Bella?!" Jake growled and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. Bella dropped her bag and gasped as he shook her. "I told you to stay away from them! They're dangerous!" The next thing Bella knows is that shes on the ground and looking up at Alice holding Jake by the throat. Much like she did when James threatened her. All the other kids were either standing close to one another and whispering rumors in each other's ears, or they were wandering towards the school. Most of the kids who were whispering to each other were staring with wide eyes at the tiny Cullen not believing what they were seeing. Jacob was having a difficult time breathing at this point and was trying to pry the pixies cold hand off from around his throat. But try as he might, Alice stood firm. She leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Something Bella could not hear. "I swear you little puppy, if I ever see you put your filthy hands on her again, I'll rip them off and feed them to you through your ass." Jacob glared at her and replied. "You would risk open war with my kind for a simple human?" He choked. Alice gripped him tighter. "No. I would risk open war for her. Now, go run along with your tail between your legs and leave your paws off of my girlfriend." With that she let him go and while she helped Bella off of the ground, the tan skinned boy got on his motorcycle and sped off. "Well," Alice spoke turning to her girlfriend. "That was enough adventure for one day don't you think?"
Bella smiled at the girl and looked toward the crowd of people that were staring at them as if watching one of their stupid football games. Both girls could hear Jessica's and Lauren's voices over the hushed crowd. "I knew that Cullen girl was weird. And now Bella's hanging with her. Good riddance I say." Alice glared at the posh girl, but Jessica and Lauren both turned their heads and walked toward the school. "Do you wanna sit with us at lunch babe? You and Angela can both sit with us if you want." Bella nodded her head and looked for her best friend but Angela was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, Jasper wasn't seen at all this morning either. "Where's Jasper this morning?" Bella asked as they walked hand and hand to the double doors. Alice just shrugged and replied, "I don't know, I haven't seen him all morning. It's not like him to be late for school. He's usually so prompt about things." Alice hears a faint rumble of a motorcycle engine coming up the street. She grumbled thinking it was Jacob coming back to harass them but when he turned around, she smiled when she saw Jasper and Angela pulling into a free parking spot. The empath wound up picking the girl up on his Ducati and brought the both of them to the school. Alice and Bella walked up to the pair just as Jasper was holding out his hand to help the girl from the bike.
"Did you tell her yet?" The pixie asked so low that neither human could hear. Jasper just shook his head. "She knows something's up though. It won't be long before she finds out." Just then Edwards's voice rang through both of their ears. "You're right about that Jasper. From her thoughts, Angela is worried about you. She's worried that you're not being truthful with her." From the stricken look on the empath's face, Bella put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Is it Edward?" Jasper looked at his girlfriend and said, "You go on ahead darlin, I'll be there shortly." Angela nodded and waited for Jasper to kiss her on the forehead before walking away. The boy turned to Bella and spoke. "She's getting suspicious I know that much. I want her to trust me Bella. I want her to find out who I am, like you found out. Do you still have the book you got from the library?" Bella's eyes widened when she realized she never returned the book. "I still have it. Do you want me to give it to her?" Jasper nodded his head and begged her with his eyes. "Ok Jasper. I'll bring it tomorrow and give it to her then ok?" The empath hugged Bella around the shoulder and walked with her to the stairs leading to the school. "Thanks Bella. You know I wouldn't ask you this unless it was absolutely necessary right?" Bella patted the boy on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it Jasper. Just don't break her heart yeah? Then I will be very cross with you." Bella held out her hand for her girlfriend to take and the two girls walked hand in hand through the double doors, with multiple pairs of eyes staring at them as they walked.
The whole day at school went off without any incident at all. Alice drove Bella home and promised her that she would visit her tonight since Charlie would be working till the early hours of the morning. Bella kissed Alice and got out of the car. She sighed happily when she watched Alice drive into the distance. She opened the door and walked directly up the stairs and into her room to turn on her computer. When she dropped her school bag on the bed however, Bella heard her doorbell ring. So happy was she then she didn't realize who was at the door until she opened it. "Hey Ange, what's up? How'd you get here?" Bella asked knowing that her friend didn't drive. "Hey Bella I actually rode my bike here. I need to ask you something." Bella opened the door wider so her friend could walk with her into the living room. As Angela made her way to the couch by the window, Bella asked, "Do you want anything to drink?" Angela just shook her head and Bella made her way to her father's recliner. "I need to know what's up with Jasper." At first, Bella was surprised that her friend actually came to her without any encouragement from a third party. "Why ask me Ange?" She asked already knowing the answer. Angela got up off of the couch and started pacing with her arms crossed on her chest. "Because the boy doesn't tell me really anything at all. Like I know he likes me and stuff but I know there's just something there that he's hiding from me. It's like he's scared to tell me anything about him." The poor girl rubbed her shoulders fighting off the chill that ran through her body. She hated to think that her boyfriend was hiding something from her but she knew that there was a secret about him.
Bella got up off of the chair and went to go hug her friend. When the two separated, she said, "Wait here ok?" Angela looked at her in confusion but waited for her friend to return. Bella came down only a few moments later carrying something behind her back. When she revealed a book from behind her back, Angela looked even more confused. "What's that Bella?" The girl sighed and said, "Ange, this book will honestly tell you everything you need to know about Jasper and his family. Don't ask me why ok, just read it." Angela took the book into her hands and opened the front cover. When she located the index, she tilted her head at the words 'Cold Ones', and turned to the immediate page. As she read the words in the chapter, look of shock and realization came onto her face. She looked at Bella with wide eyes and put her hand up to her mouth when Bella made no move to deny anything that she had read. "No way...Jasper's a...vampire?" Bella looked at her with a tiny smile in her eyes that confirmed her suspicions. "Wow." She whispered as she sunk back down on the couch behind her.
Bella got down on her knees in front other friend and said, "I know it's a lot to take in all at once Ange. It's confusing and scary but I want you to know that Jasper cares for you. He didn't want any secrets between the two of you. That's why I gave you the book." Angela looked at her best friend with tears in her eyes. "Is this how you found out?" Bella nodded her head. "He wants to be with you Ange. The reason why his eyes are the color they are is because he gave up human blood and started drinking animal blood when he was just a newborn. Honestly though, this boy would do anything for you. Just like Alice would do anything for me." As Bella finished the sentence, both girls heard a thud coming from upstairs. "What was that Bella?" The girl smiled thinking of her love in her room. A look of confusion plastered on her face when she doesn't see Bella waiting for her. "I'll be right back." She said patting her friend's knee. She ventured up the stairs and when she went into her room she was surprised to find it empty. "Alice?" Bella gasped and almost screamed when she was grabbed and held up against the door by a red eyed monster.
James was staring the girl straight in the eyes and held his cold hand against her mouth to muffle her scream. "Hello Bella. You know, you should really keep your window closed. You never know who might let themselves in." Bella tried to scream but when she did, James hit her across the face with his free hand. The strike left a large red mark on her skin that would no doubt turn into a bruise. "Be a good little human for me and don't make a sound when I'm trying to talk." Bella's panting took over the room when the man stopped talking. He moved to the side of her neck and took a long sniff of her skin. "Oh my. Now I know why my little Mary Alice is so find of you." He laughed. "You know what? We're going to play a little game, and you're going to be my bait little human. You see Isabella; you're not the one I'm after. You're little girl friend is. It's such a good place to lay my trap for her don't you see?" Bella looked at the crazed man in confusion. "No? Well not to worry, you will soon enough." James picked Bella up into his arms and over his shoulders. He carried her over to the window and dropped her down into the waiting arms of his mate. Before dropping down to the ground beneath him, James took a little piece of paper out of his pocket and put it on Bella's pillow. 'Come and find me my little Mary Alice, or your mate will be mine.' He chuckled as he dropped out the window and beside Victoria. He gave her a vicious kiss and Bella cringed at the sight of it. "You should really rest for the journey Isabella." With that, James struck her so hard that Bella was knocked out cold and at the mercy of her captors.