EPOV
I had just given Bella her gift, and I was thrilled to see that she loved it. She gave me quite a scare when she started to cry, but she assured me that they were tears of happiness. I kissed her and soothed her, holding her until the tears stopped. When they finally did, Carlisle cleared his throat to gain attention and said, "Bella, me and Esme would like to give you our gift right now." He pulled a black velvet jewelry case from behind his back and placed it into her hands. "Bella, this is to make it official that you are a Cullen." Upon opening the box she started crying. "Thank you-sniff-Esme and-sob-Carlisle. I don't know-sniff-how I can ever thank you-" She broke off crying and Esme enveloped her into a hug. It took a while, but she finally calmed down enough so that her tears just silently trickled down her face. She stood up to say, "You guys have made me the happiest person alive. Thank you soooo much for this. I don't know how to express my thanks enough. I just. Sigh. I'm gonna go for a drive, if that's okay with you. I need time to think about something." She kissed me, grabbed her jacket and car keys, and headed out the door.
About an hour later, I was sitting at my piano playing around with a composition I had been playing around with. G G A A B C C D D E! I slammed my hands onto the piano. I can't figure out the last part. I get about halfway through and then…Nothing. I can't figure out what to play next. I sigh, and look up at the clock. Bella's been gone about forty-five minutes. I wonder where she went. I hope she isn't hurt or anything. Maybe I should've gone with her. Edward, she's fine. I don't see her hurting herself in the near future. "The near future Alice? Do you see her getting hurt farther on?" I looked at my sister expectantly. "Edward, it's Bella. She's a known danger magnet. I see her tripping over small things, and running into trees while flying. Don't worry. Nothing to kill her." I sigh. "I guess your right. I just-" "Edward, if you really don't want her to be hurt, wrap her in bubble wrap!" Emmet guffawed loudly, thinking that what he just said was hilarious. The retard. "Thank you Emmet for that, um, insightful idea of keeping Bella safe," Jasper said while Rosalie smacked the back of Emmet's head.
I was about to say something to Emmet, but I heard the distant squeal of tires and heard an engine roar as it raced down the road towards our driveway. "There you go Edward, you can calm down. Bella's almost home," Jasper said while sending his calming waves through the room. I didn't realize how tensed up I was because I felt myself instantly relax. I heard the brakes squeal in protest from being slammed down upon so suddenly. That's odd. Bella's usually so careful with her baby. Before I had time to think more upon this, the door flew open. There, standing in the doorway, was Bella with a letter that wasn't written in her chicken scratch. But what scared me was Bella's frantic and frightened expression on her face…
BPOV
I drove home in a panic, going well over the speed limit. I almost hit a stop sign or two, but my mind wasn't on the road. It was on the letter. What did Victoria and Laurent mean by 'we need you alive'. Why would they need me alive? It had been their ambition in life for years now to catch me and kill me, and now all of a sudden they want me alive? This didn't make any sense. For the rest of my drive home I was consumed in my thoughts. I only stopped my train of thought when I pulled up in front of the Cullen mansion, put the car in park, grabbed my letter, wrenched my door open, and flew into the house.
I burst in the house looking around me wildly. Everybody looked up and I saw a smile on everyone's face, no doubt happy at seeing me, but their smiles soon evaporated at seeing the expression on my face. Edward's eyes flickered to the letter in my hands before he raced over to my side. "Bella, what happened? Who gave you that letter? Come sit down on the couch, love, and tell us what happened." While firing these questions at me while taking my shoulders and gently shaking me. I sorta snapped back into reality. Wow. I guess I was more zoned out than I thought. "I-I-I. Sigh. I went down to the ocean to think about stuff, and when I got back to my car, this letter was on the passenger seat. I-I-It's from V-Victoria an-and Laurent." As I held up the letter, Edward grabbed it out of my hand and immediately started to read it at vampire speed. "Edward, read it aloud so we can all know what it says," Carlisle says while he turns into doctor mode and begins to check me for any injuries. "Edward nods and begins to read, 'Dear Bella…'I
I tune Edward out. I had taken out the letter and read while speeding down the high way to re-read it over and over. I'm still in shock, yet I'm curious at their actions. If their dearest ambition for years now was to catch me and finish me off to become even more powerful, why didn't they just kill me when I was oblivious? What did they mean by 'we need you alive'? What could they possible gain by keeping me alive? Did Victoria want to kill me slowly to put me through the pain that she felt when I killed James? No, that idea's stupid. She could have kidnapped me then and there to drag me away somewhere the Cullen's couldn't find me. I groaned in frustration mentally. Why do they want me alive!
"Bella, did they try to attack you in any way?" I look up in confusion. "Huh?" Guess I zoned out, lost in my thoughts, again. Carlisle rephrased his question. "Oh. No. I didn't even smell them, but that's probably due to the wind blowing away from me since I was by the ocean. I just got out of my car for a while, and when I got back, the letter was on my passenger seat."
I look over at Edward to see him pinching the bridge of his nose. I go over to comfort him. "Edward, they didn't touch me. I'm fine. We can figure out why, just please calm down." "I know your okay Bella, I just- Sigh. I promised you that I wouldn't allow them to come near you ever again, yet I broke that promise! I should have gone with you! I could have killed them then and there! I-" "EDWARD! I don't ever want to hear you say that again! They could have killed you! It's two against two!" "First of all, I wouldn't let you fight them, second of all, you would ignore me and fight anyways, and third of all, two on two is a fair fight." He opened his eyes and gave me a small smile. I pecked his nose. "Sigh. Edward, that may have been a fair fight, but they drank some of my blood, which makes them more powerful than the average vampire." "Touché." He smiled a little bigger, but it quickly turned into a frown. "I still can't stand the fact that those vile creatures where anywhere near you!" He growled under his breath. I silenced it immediately with my lips. "I'm still alive, so please calm down. I hate seeing you upset. Come on. Let's go talk to the rest of the family."
We walked over to where the rest of our family was, and found them in a very heated discussion. Walking up we heard, "I think we should find these son-of-a-batch-of-cookies and just kill them already! I'm sick and tired of waiting around for them to come around again so I can kick there as-butts'," Emmet said. "Emmet, we should wait for them to make the first move. I don't approve of violence and I will not stand to have us make the first move. I will allow us to attack, but only if they do first." Carlisle slammed his fist down, but only human hardness because he didn't want to break Esme's table. Sigh. Carlisle hated violence. "Yes, I do agree with you Carlisle, but how do we kill them? Bella said that since they drank some of her blood, they are even more powerful than we are. We might be able to take them all together, but Victoria's power is to escape from any situation. And you heard what Bella said about Laurent. If he's even remotely close in skill to Demetri, then we are screwed. What if we can kill one of them, and not the other? That lone vampire could probably kill us off one by one. We need a plan for if they attack us first. I don't want to even think about what could happen if they surprised us." Jasper's eyes flicked Alice. Rosalie interjected then. "But Alice would be able to see if they were coming! We couldn't be surprised."
"Ya," Alice said, "but I didn't see them coming the first time, and I didn't see them putting the letter in Bella's car! How could the-" Alice broke off her thought, a far away look on her face. Jasper, moving over next to her, took her hands and said, "Alice, what do you see? Do you see them coming for us soon?" "No," she said in a mystic voice. "But, what if they somehow saw Bella here before-" "Bella! You remember that night we were watching the Super Bowl and you said you saw a figure outside? Do you think it could've been Victoria or Laurent?" Edward asked. "I. Oh my gosh. I think it was! They must have heard I was with vampires and the spied on us to find out what they're up against. They probably figured out to work Alice's visions!" We all stared at each other, consumed in our own thoughts.
"Well," Carlisle finally said, "I guess that's it then. If they attack, we have to rely on Edward reading their thoughts. That should give us some time, even if it's only a few minutes. That may give us time to be prepared. But I do agree with Jasper: we need to have a plan. We may not be able to see them coming as early as we like, but at least we can be prepared." "Hell ya! We're gonna give these vampires a run for their money. They don't know that if they try to get my little sister, they have to deal with me!" Emmet came over and pulled me into a bear hug that would've crushed a human.
I snuggled into Edward and mine's bed with Edward topless right next to me. I stroked his chest lightly with my fingertips. Twenty minutes later, I became bored. I reached over onto my nightstand and grabbed my Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book. Edward, however, grabbed the book from me. "Dude! What the heck? Give me back my book and let me read!" "Bella, you've had a long day. You need to sleep." He laughed into my hair when I began to pout. "I guess your right. But tomorrow, I get to read at least four chapters, deal?" He nodded while stroking my hair. My eyelids started to feel all droopy. Just before I drifted into La-La land, I whispered to Edward, "I love you." He whispered back, "I love you too." Soon after, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep where no one could harm me, and I was free from all threats and all danger…
There you go!!! So, what's your guys' opinion on why Victoria and Laurent want to keep Bella alive? REVIEW peaze and carrots!!! Lol l8r
