Disclaimer: Once again I don't own any of the characters from the series. Also I haven't been using a beta so all errors are mine. You've got questions, I've got answers. Feel free to ask questions and I may or may not answer them.

Chapter 8 – The Red String

Bella mentioned to Rosalie and Alice that she was helping Angela cook food for the poker tournament happening at Angela's place. Rosalie was a big fan of poker and wondered if she could join in on the action. Alice wasn't a particular good cook, but she said she was a decent sous chef and was happy to play waitress for the evening. Angela sounded like the kind of woman they'd all get along with.

Rosalie was gradually bringing more and more of her items to the house along with Alice. Both were planning to hiring moving trucks to shipping all their belongings to the manor in Queens. Rosalie would officially move in next weekend, while Alice still had another three weeks to go. The lease would be up and Lauren would take over her room. The three cousins decided to have a sleepover this weekend since Alice and Rosalie agreed to attend the poker night at Angela's. Not to mention it was a short drive from the house to Angela's place in Rego Park.

Angela answered the door when Bella rang the buzzer at the door. They were already let in when they rang downstairs. "Hi! Glad to see you here!" Angela said happily and embracing Bella.

"I'm glad to be here! Oh and I brought my two new found cousins! This is Rosalie and Alice!" she said gesturing to the two aforementioned women.

Alice had a broad grin. "I'm so pleased to meet you!"

Rosalie offered Angela a friendly smile. "Thanks for letting us come over. I hope the guys don't mind me playing."

"Oh don't worry, the guys would be more than happy to play against a beautiful woman," Ben said with a chuckle. He was currently at one of the tables setting up the cards and chips they were going to use. There were two other tables ready for people to use.

Rosalie couldn't help but grin at that. Considering how many of Ben's friends were expected to come, she might get at least one or even two dates out of the whole thing. God only knows, she couldn't possibly do worse than Royce. Rosalie was adjusting to a different life from the upper class lifestyle her parents travelled in. Being with Bella and Alice allowed her to discover more about herself, even if it meant exploring something like witchcraft.

Angela gave then a quick tour of the apartment along with showing them were the bathroom was located. The guys coming over had played poker at their place before, so they are fairly familiar with where everything was located. Rosalie soon worked with Ben to get everything in the apartment ready for the poker game while Bella and Alice started working in the kitchen.

Bella and Angela began working on the main dishes and dessert while Alice helped cut up fruits, vegetables, and preparing snacks for the players before the proper meal would be ready. Gradually more people appeared and the poker tables were quickly filled up with games happening. Ben was busy playing and Angela was occupied in the kitchen with Bella so Alice was happy to answer the door.

Jasper was happy to be with Emmett and the Cullens. He found himself relaxing more when he was around Emmett and Edward than with anyone else. That is until he met a certain pixie-like woman. The brief phone calls and the two lunch dates he had with her always cheered him up. It was a shame that he was never really able to ask her on a date lasting longer than forty-five minutes. He had been tied in a messy business deal that another attorney couldn't get sorted out. Jasper lost his social life, but he was the top candidate for a promotion because of it.

"Can't wait to play some poker!" Emmett exclaimed with an excited grin.

Edward smirked. "You just want a rematch with Tyler."

Emmett narrowed his eyes at that. It was a bit of a running joke that Emmett lost almost $200 at the last poker night to Tyler Crowley, who was one of the waiters at New Moon along with Mike Newton. "I'll get that money back from that punk!" he said with a bitter grumble at the memory.

Esme sighed at that while Carlisle smiled at that amused at their antics. "You behave yourself, Emmett. It's your fault that you bet that much on a poker game."

Edward chuckled. "Emmett just has bad luck. He can't be good at everything."

"Ha! Ha! Edward," Emmett retorted. "You just watch me tonight! I get the feeling I'll be lucky tonight. I can just feel it!"

They exited the elevator and arrived at the apartment. They could hear the laughter coming from behind the door. Jasper pressed the bell at the door and waited with everyone else. He heard the knob turn.

"Welcome for poker night!" a cheery voice said as the door opened. "Oh! Jasper?!" Alice said with happy confusion in her voice.

"Alice?! What…?" Jasper was equally confused as he saw her standing just inches away from him. She had rosy, red lips and perfectly, black eyelashes that were batting fast as she was clearly trying to process the situation as he was.

"Alice!" Emmett said cheerfully. "How's it going? You know Angela and Ben?" Trust Emmett to fill in awkward silences.

Alice smiled at that. "Actually Angela is the new manager at Marie's Café. Bella was the one who brought us here. We agreed Angela should get some help though Rosalie prefers playing poker," she said with a bell-like giggle.

"Oh! Is Bella and Rosalie here too?" Emmett asked with excited interest.

"You bet. Rosalie's won $50 already and Bella is working in the kitchen with Angela. Oh! Who are your friends?" she asked as she looked at the Cullens.

Jasper cleared his throat. "Alice Brandon, I would like to introduce you to my other best friend, Edward Cullen, and his parents, Esme and Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

Alice's eyes widened as she looked at the Cullens. Edward was smirking at Jasper's formal manner. There was yet another running joke about who was more old-fashioned, Jasper or Edward. Esme and Carlisle were a mixture of happy and highly amused at the young woman's reaction.

Alice barely contained herself. "I'm a huge fan of your work, Mrs. Cullen! I'd never imagine I'd ever meet you!"

Esme smiled broadly and more warmly at that. "That's very sweet of you, Alice dear. Please, just call me Esme."

Carlisle seemed to spending time observing Alice carefully as though he was sensing something different about her. He cleared his throat and offered her a pleasant smile. "I'm sure we could continue this conversation inside. I wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors with all this talking in the hallway."

Alice blushed slightly. "Sorry! Come in!" She moved aside to let the final guests enter the fairly crowded apartment.

Jasper glanced and saw that two of the tables were playing while a couple other guys were hanging out near the kitchen waiting for more players to show up. There were delicious scents wafting from the kitchen and he actually felt his stomach rumbling a bit though fortunately it didn't actually make noises.

Ben waved from his table. "Hi! Angie's in the kitchen with Bella!" He then turned back to the game after everyone shouted their hellos from their seats.

Alice led them into the kitchen where Angela and Bella were wearing aprons cutting and mixing ingredients in bowls. "Look who's here!" Angela said happily as she glanced up from her work.

Edward was quite amused at the interaction between Jasper and Alice. Alice seemed star-struck at seeing Jasper right in front of her, while Jasper was totally flabbergasted as well. It was a long time since he ever saw Jasper that surprised by anything. Then he heard the names of the other two girls that Emmett and Jasper chatted up the other night mentioned. It was a small world that they'd be friends with Angela. What puzzled him most though was why his father was looking at Alice so thoughtfully.

They were soon entering the kitchen when he smiled pleasantly at Angela and then looked over at her cooking partner. It felt as those there was silence and the other people in the kitchen vanished as he stared at this stranger. He admired the dark, flowing, wavy tresses that flowed down her back in a ponytail. Her large dark eyes were a shade of brown as dark as her hair. Her eyes were slightly wide in wonder as she seemed to be looking at him. Soon he was aware of the others in the room when he heard Emmett's booming voice.

"Should have known you'd be here, Bella!" Emmett said with a hearty chuckle.

The dark beauty turned to Emmett with a pleasant smile. "Well Angela only told me the other day about the poker party and well I felt bad about her cooking almost by herself. Alice and Rosalie were planning to sleep over at the house for the weekend so they wanted to tag along. Rosalie's wanted to play some poker for a while."

Edward tried his best to pay attention to what was happening around him. So this is the mysterious Bella Swan that his friends referred to. He couldn't help wondering why he never met her sooner until he remembered that he had been travelling the world for his academic career. In spite of the teasing and jokes from Emmett, he was wondering if maybe his friends were right. Perhaps she was the one?

Angela cleared her throat. "Well since Bella is the only one who doesn't know the Cullens... Bella? Bella, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Mrs. Esme Cullen, and Edward Cullen."

Bella smiled as she shook Carlisle's and Esme's hands. "It's lovely to meet you."

Carlisle seemed to looking at Bella with some slightly scrutiny not unlike what he did with Alice, but was still friendly. Esme had a slightly knowing smile that Edward was quite familiar with as he seen it once too often. "It's wonderful to meet you too. Jasper and Emmett are good boys and they've mentioned you before. I'm sorry for your loss."

Bella's eyes dimmed a bit at that reminder. "Thanks a lot. My Gran told me never dwell on sorrow, but always remember joy."

Everyone smiled at that. "A very wise woman your grandmother," Carlisle nodded approvingly.

As he kept watching Bella, Edward felt his interest in poker evaporating and more interest in learning to cook. Granted he wasn't a bad cook, especially with Esme Cullen for a mother. He had the urge to help out in the kitchen since only Angela, Bella, and now his mother were the ones preparing food for the gathering.

"Why don't you start playing? I know Paul and Sam have been waiting for you to get here so they can get the third table running," Angela said.

Emmett whooped as he hurried off while Carlisle chuckled and followed. Jasper and Edward stayed in the kitchen with the women. "Anything I can help with?" Edward asked politely while carefully glancing at Bella.

Esme turned to Angela and Bella. "What are you girls planning on? Perhaps the boys can help with heavy work? Or the less difficult steps?"

Bella looked at the two young men. "Well we're making my grandmother's meatloaf and roast ham. I'm finishing up the ingredients for the meatloaf. It just needs to be mixed together and then it can go in the oven. Why don't you two do the mixing and keep and eye out on the meat?"

Jasper glanced at Edward before nodding. "Sure that's easy enough," Jasper replied politely.

Edward and Jasper carefully put on plastic gloves to help mix the meatloaf. "How many loaves are going to be made?" Edward asked as he began kneading the meat, bread, and spices in one large metal bowl.

Bella continued slicing the large portobello mushrooms she was working on when Jasper, Emmett, and the Cullens arrived in the kitchen. "We're doing three loaves. Angela and I brought the large bread pans from the Cafe to make these. There's still five more of these at the Café, so the staff have plenty to work with for tonight."

Edward worked as he found himself just a couple feet away from Bella. "Jasper and Emmett told me a lot about your grandmother. I wish I was able to meet her. Unfortunately I wasn't in New York for a few years. She sounded like a really amazing woman."

Bella had five more mushrooms to slice and continued to do so as she spoke. "I think she was, but maybe I'm a little biased. She really was the one to teach me how to cook. God only knows my mom was too experimental with her cooking and my dad can't cook to save his life. I was learning to cook for practical reasons as much as for fun," she said with a wry grin.

Edward chuckled at that. "I suppose I'm the same way. Mom insisted on teaching me how to cook. Ever since I was tall enough to reach the countertop she made me be her special helper in the kitchen. I was very grateful for that during my years in college and graduate studies."

Bella paused to look at Edward for a moment. "I can't imagine that. I would have thought you'd be an eager kitchen helper. At least I was as a kid."

Edward couldn't help but grin at the image of a smaller Bella in a child sized apron. "I have to confess you're right. I didn't mind really helping her out. She enjoyed the company," he said softly as he glanced at his mother from the corner of his eye.

Bella smiled at that. "That's really sweet of you, Edward. You really do a lot for the people you love. I'm a little jealous," she said with a tiny blush as she finished cutting up the mushrooms.

"I keep hearing how really amazing the food is at your grandmother's place," Edward said. "Think I could drop by tomorrow for lunch?"

Bella smiled broadly at that before turning to look at Edward. "I think that can be arranged."

James sneered at the woman bound on the floor in front of him. She was still struggling against the ropes that bound her even though there was no where for her to go. Still the fight she put up was both amusing and invigorating. "So witch, that was a lot of. Been a while since I had to struggle with one of you! Quite possibly you were worth the effort even if you're not the biggest catch," he said with a chuckle.

The witch glared at him while still trying to escape. "So you're the fiend killing witches the rumors speak of. Didn't expect parasites like you to be back on the prowl," she spat.

James narrowed his eyes at that. "You're hardly in the position to talk, witch. Still you're far more useful to me for your powers though they aren't going to last me for long."

Victoria examined the bound up witch. "She's not an Anderson, but she's promising. Shape-shifting is a very useful gift."

James chuckled at that. "I have to say I was impressed when you turned into a tiger and tried to rip my throat out. Almost got me good there," he said as he examined the reddening cloth haphazardly rapped around his left arm.

The witch growled a rumbling tiger's snarl as she glared at him. "Yes, I almost got my fangs into that stupid face of yours to shut you up!"

James smiled pleasantly at that. "Yes, but your bad luck that I already wrangled with a mountain troll a few weeks ago. That bastard was a tough one and I imagine I'll still have his super strength and skin durability for a few more months still. Your power will still be useful to me."

Victoria smirked at the shape-shifting witch. "Don't bother trying to escape. That rope has been soaked in plenty of potions that neutralize every possible animal form you try to take on."

The witch's eyes widened at that as she stared at her two captors. "Just why are you doing all this? You've killed so many of us that possess powers. Why?"

James chuckled again at that. "As I said before, there is bigger fish out there I want. It just so happens your powers will help me catch them!" He stalked closer to her as his hands was glowing a furious red. "There's one thing I can promise you. This will definitely hurt you a lot more than it'll hurt me."

AN: At the current rate, I probably won't get to Chapter 14 before the end of the month. Oh well at least I'm still updating this story! If I'm lucky I'll have the next chapter out next weekend. My new goal is posting Chapter 15 by February 28.