CHAPTER 28
-:- Laugh and the World Laughs With You; Weep and You Weep Alone -:-
2008 -:- Bella's Journal
Rats.
I've been forced to live off rats. Luckily, there are plenty down here. Maria demands that I feed, thinking it's the link to my training, so I've been trying to keep my strength up with the rats. This way, at least, I don't have to feed on humans as often as she wants me to. I've demanded that she gives me only the sick or the dying, and as long as I continue to perform, she's okay with that demand.
She's at least delivered on one promise. She wouldn't give me Garrett, but asked me what else I wanted, instead. I almost told her to stuff it, but realized that was pointless and wasn't going to help me or Garrett. I wanted to see the sky, I told her. I was hoping she'd let me go to the surface, at least then I'd get a chance to scope out an exit plan. This place is a maze, one tunnel leading to another. I had no idea which of them we'd come through, I hadn't been paying attention when we were brought down here. We are so far down it's impossible to smell fresh air.
She's given me my own 'chamber' of sorts. It wasn't by choice, but the other vampires had started to taunt me relentlessly, hoping to get a rise out of me. She's afraid one of them will go too far when she isn't around and kill me. Apparently, she has plans for me. So for now I have some privacy, and some natural light. Alice, I don't think you'd believe it if you saw it. Maybe you have already. Or maybe you never cared enough about me to look into my future. I think I can accept that much easier. It's a small cavern with only one way in. I'm surrounded by rock and darkness, but there's a small opening to the sky which sits high above my head. It shines a small amount of light, but I'm grateful for it. She gave me the sky, and I'm as happy as I can be in this place. Now I can count the days passing. Who knows if that's a good thing, though. Maybe it's worse.
I've made progress with this ability I have. Carlisle would be intrigued, I'm sure. I haven't been able to do what I did on the surface, but I can create a shield around me if I concentrate hard enough. It takes a lot out of me to manifest it, but everyday it gets a little bit easier. If Garrett was here, I'm sure I'd be much further along. As of today, I can hold the shield for four and a half minutes, but that's only if I'm standing there doing nothing but concentrating on it. So far, in terms of fighting, it's pretty useless.
.
It's been thirty-eight sunrises since I last wrote in this. Lots has happened, too. I can hold this shield thing for about eighteen minutes. While trying to do something else…about three minutes. It's just too hard to focus the energy and concentrate on other things. And still no Garrett. And I haven't seen the child either. I've heard a few whispers, but hardly anyone talks to me. I'm the social outcast down here, just like I was in high school. Go figure.
.
Another thirty-seven sunrises. Shield count thirty-three minutes, fighting…it depends on how many I'm fighting. Everyone is desperate to get their hands on me. I'd like to think it's because Maria favors me, but somehow I don't think that's the only reason. I saw Garrett very briefly the other day. He walked through the training chamber with a group of other 'workers.' He couldn't stop, but we shared a passing touch of the hand. I miss him. Just knowing he's here with me is comfort enough for the time being. I'm getting stronger and learning all of this for him.
.
Forty-four sunrises. Shield count…I don't even know anymore. It's pretty simple to throw it up now. I don't even have to think about it. Even while I'm fighting, surrounded by a number of vamps, they can't touch me. It's odd, though, it doesn't work for inanimate objects. They can throw rocks and anything else they want at me, and it doesn't stop them. It only seems to repel vampires. I wonder what Carlisle would say to that? I suppose it doesn't matter, it's not like a rock can hurt me, but mud and refuse getting thrown at you gets a little old after awhile. After the first time, it's not funny anymore. Believe me.
Maria will never let me go, that much is evident now. I'll have to kill her if I want to get us out of here. She deserves to die. She's a plague and needs to be wiped out.
.
Garrett was allowed to visit me yesterday. I would have cried if I could have. He liked my digs. We caught up on a few things, he's privy to a lot more gossip than I am. No one trusts me, but everyone seems to talk to Garrett. He found out what the 'pits' are all about. She's breeding vampires. She's pitting human against human, weeding out the strong from the weak. The winners get the honor of becoming like us. I get shivers just thinking about it, let's hope I never have to go down there.
Here's my confession: I think I love Garrett. I mean, I'm not sure. I'm not saying it's a love to end all loves, but down here…I think it's enough. We need each other if we're going to survive this, something good and pure needs to keep us sane. You have to understand that, Alice.
Who am I kidding! This journal isn't for Alice. I've been writing in this with every intention you, Edward, might read it. I can't bear to think you might be disappointed in me, that you were right to leave me, because look at me. I was pathetic then and I'm pathetic now. I can't even fight back. If this journal ever makes it into your hands, I hope you'll read this and a part of you will be proud by what I'm going to do. You're why I write. Why I fight. I'm going to stop her, and then you and your family will never have to know this world exists.
You're in my every thought. It's like I breathe you, I see you everywhere. I feel you everywhere. But it's too hard to keep you so close. I need to let you go, or I won't survive. I hope you'll understand what Garrett and I have is from necessity. He knows where my heart lies, but he still needs me. You never needed me, Edward. I can live with that, I understand why you never needed me. I wish it was easy to let you go, like how you let me go. I often wonder if you think of me? Not the way I think of you, but maybe once in awhile…you remember me. I want to stop writing to you, and every time it gets a little bit easier. It's like I'm saying goodbye, piece by piece.
I think I've found the strength inside to fight back. I could walk out of this place if I wanted to. Isaac keeps telling me I should go, that I wasn't made for down here, but I can't leave Garrett. I still have a long ways to go in terms of fighting and trying to get a handle on this, but for the first time in a long time I feel useful. I actually feel immortal, invincible almost.
.
Seventy-six sunrises give or take a few. I lost count. Maria found my weakness…
Some time ago we were taken to the usual training area. We were less a few vampires, some didn't survive. I've never gotten to know the names of the vampires I've been fighting, not seeing the point of it. I don't want to associate with them, and they sure as hell don't want to associate with me. My arguments with Maria are a testament to that. I am trouble. I'm not afraid of them, they can't touch me, but the problem is I won't fight back. I refuse to kill and I defy Maria's rules. "To the death" doesn't apply to me. But now things have taken a turn and I'm no longer in a position of advantage.
We had been told to wait for Maria, she was coming to watch us again. I knew this had everything to do with me, and so did everyone else. They stood against the wall opposite of me, trying to distance themselves as much as possible. Maria finally made her appearance with her entourage trailing behind her. In her hand, she held the child's hand. I hadn't seen her since the day she was turned. She was still dirty, covered in mud and other things, she looked feral with her blood red eyes glaring back at me.
"This is Emilia. Emilia, this is the one who killed your mommy," Maria said, stroking the child's hair.
"She wasn't her mother," I said.
"No, but she was the closest thing to a mother. She doesn't know the difference."
"Where have you been keeping her?"
Garrett had mentioned the other vampires were afraid of the little girl. No one wanted to be around an "immortal child," they were taboo. He didn't know where she had been kept, no one knew apart from those closest to Maria. It didn't look like it was anywhere that was fit for a child, immortal or not. I did feel responsible for this child even though she was looking at me with hatred in her eyes. Maria's tactic had worked.
"It doesn't concern you. She's fed enough, if that's what you're worried about. She serves one purpose and one purpose only. To keep you in line."
"I won't kill for you."
"You will," she said simply, and grabbed the child's hair in a firm grip hoping I'd see the incentive of listening to her. "I feel you've been slacking off. This whole business grows tiresome. What good is it to me if you won't kill? Where's the motivation? Your little gift means nothing to me and my army. You'll either fight, or you'll learn to channel that power so it's beneficial to me. It's all about me, in case you've forgotten, little bird, and right now it seems to be all about you. This upsets me. You've seen what happens when I'm upset." She leaned down so she was eye-level with the little girl. She pinched her cheek and said, "I thought we'd watch today. Emilia, would you like to watch?"
The child hadn't taken her eyes off of me, it was kind of creeping me out. Garrett was right about the immortal children…they were all kinds of wrong. Inwardly I shuddered, but I retained the façade that I wasn't bothered by it.
Maria eyed up the other prospects on the opposite wall. "You and you," she pointed to a man and a woman, "and you, and you, too. Oh hell, why not the lot of you. Since you seem so untouchable, why not fight them all?" she mused. "Let's see how good you are."
I knew better than to question her motives, but something was off. It was the way she was smiling at me as she sat down on a chair that was brought in for her. Or maybe it was the way the child hadn't taken her eyes off of me. She was frightening if ever a child of seven could be.
I stood in the middle of the room waiting for the other vampires to come at me. None of us really saw the point, they'd all but given up trying to fight me these past few weeks. I wouldn't touch them and they couldn't touch me. It made for a really boring battle. The first one took a running stab at it, trying to gain favors with Maria for his efforts. Of course, he bounced, it's the only way to describe it. The second leapt, and did much the same. No one was laughing, no one was smiling, and all I could see was the child still eyeballing me. The third one threw a rock, which I dodged easily enough. My fourth opponent…made it through. She blindsided me and came crashing into me, knocking me to the ground. We both were too shocked to move.
"How did you…" I tried to ask, but before I could finish my sentence, the next thing I knew I was thrown to the other side of the cavern, slamming into the wall. Rock and shale came crashing down around me. The other vampires didn't waste any time. Weeks of frustrated energy had finally come to a head. I tried to concentrate, I tried to get my shield up again, but it was like a black void of nothingness. It was all gone. The fire in the pit of my stomach was no longer there, like it had been ripped from inside of me.
It didn't take them long to tear into me. I tried to fight back, but I hadn't needed to learn to fight up until this point, and there were too many. I was screaming, that much I was aware of, when I felt the flesh tear from my calf.
"Enough!" I heard Maria's yell through my own and the vampires stopped. Her expression was blank, while her hand rested on the child's head. "Remarkable," she said with reverence in her tone. "The yin to your yang."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"This…" she said, and pushed the child forward.
"She did this?" I asked confused. "How?"
"I don't know."
"You knew this would happen?"
"No. I hoped." She was smiling now with wonderment in her eyes. "I suspected, but I never knew the extent. There were little things, but I never dreamed a child could wield so much power. Tell me, what did it feel like?"
I looked down at my body riddled with bites. The venom was stinging, burning its way through the layers of my skin and there was a healthy chunk of flesh missing from my leg that I knew I'd never get back.
"How do you think it felt, you crazy bitch!"
"Not that," she waved her hand, "this," she said pushing the child forward again.
I had nothing else to say to her. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing what the girl's powers felt like. Whatever she had done, she had sucked everything out of me. There was nothing left. I was panicking, wondering if it would ever return, because right now, everything was still a void of nothingness. The girl was shooting daggers from her eyes. I actually feared her head might spin all the way around. She looked possessed, like a demon child. This place was the closest thing to hell on earth, and she was born from the depths of it.
"You'd do better to watch that tone with me. This changes the game, doesn't it, little bird?"
2016 -:- Present Day
Carlisle and I spent the better part of the afternoon, going over Bella's journal. It still weighed heavily on my heart, but I was grateful to be able to share it with him. It wasn't that I wanted to share the burden of what was written inside of it, Carlisle had seen many things in his life, I only hoped he would shed some light on the nature of Maria. There was nothing he could say about Bella and me that I didn't already know. Time was what we needed, and a lot of patience on my part. I was prepared to do whatever it would take to gain her trust in me again—to love me. The business of Garrett was for the most part out of my control. Could she love two people at once? Everything in her journal told me yes. I would have to trust that and push aside my insecurities if we were going to move forward.
Carlisle assured me we had some time to figure things out, and in the meantime he was adamant we make the most of things. He thought the family deserved a reprieve from the heartache, at least for a few days. He also wanted to talk with Bella about her decision not to see Charlie. She wanted to wait until Maria was destroyed before crashing Charlie's life, and we understood her decision, but not all of us agreed with her. We had to think about the possibility of the wolves finding out about her, which was inevitable given the nature of them and Jacob's trust issues with us. They deserved to know what could possibly be heading their way if we failed.
I was standing outside Carlisle's office listening to see who was home. Everyone was outside it seemed, chopping wood for the compound, or finding other things that could be useful to the humans. Emmett was still trying to rig up a hot water shower, with the help of Garrett and Jasper. Rosalie was tinkering with the trucks, even though she didn't think it mattered much, before long our precious fuel supply was going to run out. We were going to have to think of some alternatives, or someone was going to have to make a trip back to Alaska, and now that we were no longer mobile we could do that.
Bella and Alice, not surprisingly, were off on their own. I had been careful to give them their privacy, I tried to keep out of Alice's head, but in the last twenty-four hours my curiosity finally got the better of me, and I tapped into her thoughts instantly regretting my decision. Walking to the kitchen, I stood in front of the sink, staring out the window at the trees and listened to the rest of their conversation.
"He won't go in there," Alice said. They were sitting on a rock staring up at the window to my room. Bella's arms were wrapped around her knees, with her head resting against them. "Rosalie and I tried to set it up just like he had it before, but it didn't go down so well. Lots of yelling, then the usual silent treatment. As far as I know, he's not stepped in there once."
"But why?"
"It's like I told you last night, he was fine when we were moving. He was always searching. Every settlement we went to, he looked at every face. I think he listened to every heartbeat, searching for yours. He never admitted it, but we all knew. Even when we went back to Phoenix, he said he accepted it, but he was never at rest. When we made the decision to come back here, I think that part of him had finally come to terms with everything. Like this was a last test of sorts. He didn't want a part of any of this, not without you."
Bella unfolded her arms and stood, looking up at the bedroom window. She hadn't seen me, but Alice had. She gave me a sad smile, and apologized silently. I wasn't angry with her, not at all. I was just hoping Bella didn't have to hear any more sad stories. It wasn't a competition about who had the worst of it, both of us knew the answer to that, my pain couldn't even come close to hers. I was tired of dwelling on the past, we needed to move forward.
I lost sight of her, engrossed in my own thoughts, but I heard the front door to the house open, followed by her footsteps up the stairs. I let her be alone for a few minutes, before gathering the courage to join her in my bedroom. I wasn't sure what she was going to say, or how I was going to explain why I had never been in my room. It seemed pointless, really.
As I rounded the corner, I saw her standing at the window looking out at the barren landscape, so different than what I remembered of the view. She was holding a frame in her hand. Her shoulders stiffened briefly, and then she raised the picture up to take a better look.
"This is mine," she said, without turning around.
She was holding one of the photos of the two of us I'd taken from her album when we left Forks. Alice must have put it in a frame when she unpacked my things. The same box the CD had been in, I mentally noted. Bella turned around to face me, tapping the picture in her palm. Her expression was blank and for a moment she looked angry, but then her mouth split into a wicked grin.
"This is mine, too." She leaned down, rummaging through a box at her feet and pulled out something yellow. The object took me by surprise. I hadn't known Emmett had taken it from Bella's house the day we had our talk.
"That's just creepy," she said, holding up the yellow-polka dot bikini top. "Please don't tell me you wear it." She held it up to her chest, shaking it back and forth and started singing that infernal song. It took only a few bars, before I leapt at her with a feral snarl, pinning her up against the window. I had her arms raised over her head, and the yellow fabric rested just in front of our eyes. We both glanced at it swinging slowly back and forth, and neither one of us could hold in our laughter.
"I was hoping you would've forgotten that memory. I'm surprised you remember."
"I remember everything when it comes to you," she whispered.
"That was a good weekend," I said, leaning forward so our lips were almost touching. I wanted to kiss her, but more than anything I wanted her to kiss me.
"One of the best."
A sharp whistle came from outside, just below us. "You go, Eddie!" Emmett yelled up at us.
"I also remember Emmett was a pain in your ass. I see that hasn't changed," she said laughing.
"I don't think that'll ever change." I growled, making a crude hand gesture to him through the window.
"Come on!" he yelled. "We're getting a baseball game going! You two coming, or you finally going to go for a home run?"
"Never subtle, is he?"
"He has a way with words."
"You can get your freak on after the game. All the running and chasing is bound to get you two in the mood." Emmett was still talking, despite Esme's protests to leave us be.
"He'll never stop if we don't go."
"Relentless."
"I've always thought about what it'd be like. I often day-dreamed about it," she said, raising her eyebrow a little while she bit her lip. "Baseball that is."
I tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and placed a soft kiss on her temple. "You still think you can outrun me."
"I know I can," she said, and kissed my lips and it was soft and sweet and exactly what I'd been hoping for. I lifter her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist.
"Aw, you guys! We've never had fourteen of us, you can do that later," Emmett whined, while Rosalie swatted him upside the head.
I was grinning at Bella, knowing this wasn't the right time for us, but that it would come soon enough. Once again, she amazed me. I had come up the stairs, expecting a long drawn out, sad talk about why I chose never to step foot in here. But she understood, she didn't need to hear it, and just like before, she continued to amaze me more and more with every passing second of the day.
I spun us around and yelled, "Bella and I are on separate teams!" which promptly caused Emmett to do a fist pump in the air.
"Now we're talking," he said. "This is going to be good!"
.
"THERE'S TOO MANY OF us to play baseball," Jasper said. "Seven on each team? We'll be running into each other all over the field. You remember what it was like when it was just three to a team, and that was when the trees were all filled in. Emmett, think about it. Look at this, there's no challenge in it."
The fourteen of us had congregated at the edge of the field where we used to play. The surrounding forest was just starting to come back. The trees were small and you could see for miles. The forest that had once covered the hillside was gone, only standing deadwood was left, and it seemed to want to topple over with the gust of a strong wind. Jasper did have a point. It would be a pretty easy game if we were to play. Whoever was at bat would never stand a chance. We'd have to alter the rules to make it more interesting. I was a little disappointed. I was looking forward to a game. Carlisle was right, we should relax and finally have some fun, something Bella and Garrett needed, something we all needed.
"Who cares, let's just play," Emmett said. "At least it's something to do. I'm sick of working all the time. I've been digging ditches, mending walls, rigging pipe … I'm tired of it. I'm tired of everything we've been doing this past decade."
Alice had a devilish grin, and I groaned knowing exactly what she was going to say.
"Let's play something else then," she suggested. Her tone was casual, but inside she was bursting at the seams.
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "What's in that head of yours, Alice?"
"Football."
There were mixed reactions from everyone. A few groans and a few cheers, most of the thoughts were based around clothing, and how little of it there was to go around in the first place without us purposely trying to ruin it.
"No way," Rosalie and Irina said at the same time.
"But it's the great American past time," Alice said.
"No, dear, that's baseball," Jasper corrected her.
"Whatever. It'll be more exciting than boring old baseball."
"We don't even have a football," Emmett said.
"We don't need one. We can use a rock. We'd likely destroy a real football anyway," Alice said.
"Why would you want to play football?" Emmett was eyeing her suspiciously. "Not exactly your thing, Alice. What do you know?"
"Nothing," she said simply, and refused to say anything more. Everyone's attentions turned to me, wondering what she had planned.
I shook my head, laughing at her. I had to admit, even without her visions, she was one scary, tiny vampire.
"You want to know, Emmett?" I said, still smiling. I had my arm around Bella and kissed the top of her head. "Alice wants to see you go up against Bella. She thinks it'll be hilarious to see you try and tackle her." If I hadn't been on the receiving end of Bella's ability a few days ago, the idea of Emmett tackling her would have terrified me. But I knew how it worked, and I had to admit, it would be amusing to see. Emmett didn't know the full the extent of what she could do, none of the family did.
Garrett, being the only other one to know exactly how Bella's shield worked, started laughing with me. He clapped his hands and said, "This is going to be good."
Bella hadn't moved from my arms and she hadn't said anything, but she was smiling and glaring at Emmett.
"Piece of cake," Emmett scoffed, pretending to crack his knuckles.
"Payback," Bella said.
"For what!"
"All those times you made fun of me when I was human."
"You were a walking disaster! What did you expect?"
"We'll see." She smiled. "So, how do we want to make the teams? Or do you have it all figured out, Alice?"
"Partners against partners!" Alice piped up. "Since Emmett and Edward have to be on the opposite team as Bella, it's only fair she gets Garrett and Carlisle. I would say it should be Jasper, but I want to be on Bella's team, so Jasper you're with them, and Eleazar you're with us. That means Esme and Carmen you're over there and Kate, too!" She grinned at Kate and then back to Garrett. I was going to have to encourage that match. I wondered how Bella would react to the news of Kate's interest in Garrett.
"Rose and Irina, you're with us. Tanya, you're with Edward." It was the wrong choice of words from Alice. I saw Bella's back stiffen as she quickly glanced at Tanya. There had never been any talk about Tanya, but in the past twenty-four hours, Bella had come to realize the two of us were quite good friends.
I was going to have to have a word with Alice after the game.
Relax, Edward. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone, Alice said silently and winked. I was right. One scary, tiny vampire.
"Nice," Emmett said, nodding his head. "I like these odds." He looked at each of us on his team, satisfied that he had the stronger team of the two. "So, no powers then," Emmett said, crossing his arms and staring down at Bella.
"Yeah, right!" she said, straightening up, trying to make herself look a bigger.
"No way! I heard what you can do, and that's cheating."
"You can't tell me Edward's not going to be reading everyone's heads and anticipating their moves."
"It's not like he can turn it off."
"Exactly. And you have Jasper, too. I'm sure he'll try some sort of tactic to mess us up."
"Who me?" Jasper said, smiling and instantly we all felt a little fuzzy, euphoric almost, and giddy.
"And they have Kate!" Rosalie said. "Who's going to want to touch her? Alice! Why'd you stack the teams? They're not fair."
"Trust me, it won't matter," Alice said.
Garrett and I agreed on this point. This was all just an exercise to see Bella in action.
Emmett was grinning, even more confident in his team once he realized we had Kate and that electric-shocking skin of hers. "Should we bet on it?"
"What is it you used to say, Edward?" Carlisle joked, slapping Emmett on the shoulder. He knew the extent of Bella's powers too. "Never bet against Alice."
.
WE WERE LINED UP at opposite ends of the—three times larger than regular size—football field, with Bella's team having the first kickoff. Alice had found a boulder that was about the same size as a football. We actually had a few on hand, thinking we were bound to crush some of them. We'd set the rules. This wasn't some pansy-ass game of touch. We were going all out, full on tackle, and teams had to score a touchdown in four downs or the ball, or rock, was turned over.
Everyone's thoughts were rife with excitement; the idea of facing-off against their partner on the field had been a long time coming. I wondered why we'd never thought about football before—such a great way to relieve some of the tension we'd all been feeling.
We already knew the strategy of their team. Get the ball to Bella. That was all they were thinking. We just had to make sure she never got it. She had agreed she would only stretch her powers to herself, nothing more, and she wouldn't do any of the other stuff she could do. We wanted some competition while we played.
"One, two, three." Emmett was beside me doing lunges.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting warmed up to kick your girlfriend's ass."
"Emmett …" I laughed, shaking my head. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"You can't protect her, Edward. She's on the other team. No favorites."
I was going to warn him that with Bella's powers she didn't need protection from him, but then thought Alice was right. I was going to enjoy watching this.
"Ready?" Carlisle yelled across the field, holding up the boulder. He drop kicked it, and the rock split in two, both pieces splicing off in different directions. We all started laughing. I guess that was why we didn't play football.
"Hold up!" Alice said. "It was a weak rock, let's try this again." She passed Carlisle another rock, which looked the same to me, but it seemed to do the trick as it came hurtling through the air toward us.
Emmett caught it, and took off running, the rest of us following close behind him. Out of nowhere, it seemed, Garrett and Carlisle came barreling toward him, and the impact of their hit echoed across the valley. The three of them crashed hard to the ground, tearing up the dirt as they all came skidding to a halt.
Everyone stood in awe at what had just transpired, and marveled at the damage that had been done in the wake of their tackle. Emmett and Carlisle were still on the ground, but they were giggling like little school girls.
"This really is going to be good," Emmett said in between fits of giggles, and he held up the rock that had managed to stay in his arms unharmed.
"First down," Alice sang.
No one with an ability was allowed to be the quarterback, so it was agreed Tanya would play for our team, and Rosalie for theirs. It was the only way we could keep things relatively fair on both sides. We lined up, with the usual taunts and catcalls as to who was going down. Bella was across from me and raised two fingers to her eyes, then back to me.
"You're going down, Cullen," she said.
"You have to catch me." I winked at her. I bent over, holding the rock on the ground, and saw Tanya between my legs.
"You ready, Edward?" Tanya said, giving me a huge smile. She was staring at my backside, and her thoughts were of no surprise to me as she licked her lips.
I glanced back up to Bella one last time, hoping she hadn't seen that. Her lip was upturned slightly, almost in a scowl, but she quickly dismissed it when she saw me watching her. Tanya called out some numbers, all part of the ruse, and I snapped the rock to her and took off running expecting Bella to follow me. I turned around to wait for the throw, only to see Bella slam into the side of Tanya.
"Ooooh! Bella's got game! Sacked the quarterback," Jasper said, slapping me on the chest.
I guess your girlfriend's a little touchy with her property. Tanya smiled at me, wiping the mud off of her pants. Shall I keep it up?
I gave her a look which clearly said to knock it off, although, secretly, I was enjoying the jealous streak in Bella.
"Second down," Alice yelled out. See? Healthy competition.
"Nix! Hell'uva tackle. Who knew you had it in you?" Garrett picked Bella up and spun her around, kissing her cheek as he set her down.
I grimaced. Yeah, right … healthy, I said to myself.
You going to let him get away with that? Emmett asked me, placing his hand on my shoulder. The guy's all over her.
"Whatever, Emmett, let's just play the game," I said and lined up, ready for the next play. "Get the ball to Kate."
The ball was snapped, and Tanya quickly handed it off to Kate who took off down the field. Jasper and I were with her to clear a path for her, but it wasn't needed, no one even tried to take her down.
"Touchdown!" Emmett yelled and let out a big holler.
"How the hell did that happen?" Garrett said, clearly annoyed that his teammates had let Kate score.
"Are you kidding?" Rosalie said. "I'm not touching her."
"Why not?"
"You want to get zapped, you go right on ahead."
"It can't be that bad. No pain, no gain, right?" Garrett was looking Kate up and down, trying to assess the damage she could do.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Kate batted her lashes, acting like a coy woman, and smiled. "I promise to go easy on you."
"Sweetheart, I don't need anyone to go easy on me. I'm up for anything," Garrett said with a calculated grin, and all the women in my family seemed to swoon. Their thoughts were nauseating, like they were star struck by him, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
That dude's going down, Emmett said silently to me. I don't like him.
I definitely sympathized with Emmett, and I understood a little where he was coming from. I felt threatened by Garrett, but Emmett had his own reasons to not like the guy. He'd always thought of himself as Bella's protector, or a big brother type, but seeing Garrett and Bella interact on the field, he was beginning to realize his role had been taken.
"Agreed," I said quietly to Emmett.
It was their turn to receive and Alice caught the rock and was running down the field toward Jasper. He pretended to slip in the mud, making a lame attempt to tackle her. Luckily Esme was behind him and did the job for him.
"Jasper! What was that? You let Alice get right by you on purpose," Emmett said.
"Well, I couldn't take out my own wife, now could I?" He bent down and kissed Alice, congratulating her on the play.
"Yes! I'd have no problem tackling Rosalie."
"That's because Jasper's a gentleman and you're not," Rosalie said, and slapped Emmett's head.
He grabbed his head, rubbing the spot where she hit him. "Stop slapping me!"
"Stop being an idiot."
I glanced over at Bella, who was genuinely laughing. She looked so happy and I could have watched her like that for hours. She caught my eye, and for a second she faltered, then smiled and mouthed, 'Thank you' to me.
Esme came up behind me, putting her arm around my waist. She didn't say anything, she didn't need to. She was happy, we all were and it had been a long time coming.
"Nice tackle," I whispered to Esme and hugged her back.
"This ol' broad still has moves," she joked. "Just wait until I take that husband of mine on." She was watching Bella with Carlisle across the field, the two of them were working up some kind of plan for Emmett, and they burst into laughter. "Laughter really is the best medicine. We all needed this."
"We did."
"First down!" Alice yelled.
The game continued even as the rain began to fall. It made for an interesting game when the field turned into one giant mud bowl. I couldn't remember the last time we'd all shared an afternoon like this. Everyone was covered in mud from head to toe, and we looked a little savage and wild. Even Carmen was enjoying the game, despite never having played or not knowing the rules.
We were all tied up at the moment. Our strategy to get the ball to Kate was not working anymore. Garrett wasn't kidding about not having any issues with touching her, and was getting used to the effects of her skin, even in the rain. I tried to stay out of his head as much as possible, he was beginning to like it a little too much for my comfort.
Emmett and I still hadn't exacted our revenge on him, we knew we couldn't make it too obvious or everyone would see right through it. Garrett wasn't intentionally flirting, it was just who he was, but it didn't stop me from being annoyed with him.
"We going to do some damage?" Emmett asked me, his fist raised waiting for me to hit him back.
I nodded and tapped him, smiling while the two of us watched the team huddle at the other end of the field. Bella had yet to touch the ball. We had made sure she was covered at all times. She was getting a bit riled up by it, but Alice kept re-assuring her that her time would come. They were trying their best to cover their thoughts from me, Alice having given them a few pointers to help out, but I still managed to discern this was the big play they'd hoped would happen since we started the game. They were going to get the ball to Bella. I was torn a little; I kind of wanted to see Emmett go down. I wanted to see Bella in action, having only ever witnessed it firsthand. But then I saw the smug look on Garrett's face when he looked from me to Emmett, and I quickly changed my mind. There was no way I was going to let them get ahead. Up until now, it had been touchdown per touchdown. We'd score one, then they'd score one. This last time, we'd failed miserably to score and suffered a turnover, and now it was their turn to get ahead.
"This is it, they're going for Bella."
"We've managed to keep the ball from her this long, what makes them think they can change it up?"
"The girls are planning some kind of distraction, but they're trying damn hard to block their thoughts."
Emmett looked at Jasper and I, all joking aside and said, "Well, whatever it is don't fall for it."
We lined up across from each other. Each of Bella's teammates was sporting a huge grin while they sang songs in their heads to distract their thoughts. Eleazar snapped the ball to Rosalie. She wheeled to the left, narrowly missing Emmett's reach and shoved the ball into Bella's belly, only she didn't really have the ball. I realized the handoff was a fake a second too late, and we all fell for it and left the others wide open. The distraction was Bella. While we were busy watching her, Garrett swung wide and headed for the end zone. It was too late, but Emmett took off running anyway. He charged forward, with the strength of a speeding train, his yells echoing over the valley. It all happened so fast. Emmett leapt, Bella screamed, and the rest of us watched in horror. He was in mid-air when the force hit him. Watching it and experiencing it were two very different things. Emmett seemed to crash into something that was invisible to our eyes. He was thrown with the same force he slammed into it. He flew through the air, and crashed into the side of the rock ridge about a hundred feet from Garrett. The rock crumbled beneath him and he tumbled over the edge.
"What've I done?" Bella mumbled in horror, her hands raised to her mouth. She ran for the ledge, we all did, not sure what we'd find or how far down he would have fallen.
"Emmett!" Rosalie and Esme yelled, but there was no answer.
"What the hell, Bella!" Rosalie said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I just panicked. I wasn't thinking. It just happened." Bella was looking at me, her eyes filled with terror and worry. "I didn't mean it."
"We know," Carlisle said the words I couldn't say. I was too shocked to respond, so instead I lay down on my stomach, leaning over the edge of the ridge to look for Emmett below.
"Emmett!" I yelled again.
Payback's a bitch, I heard him groan. I scrambled forward telling Carlisle and Jasper to hold my legs. I saw him hanging onto the rock face with one arm, the other dangling below him.
"You all right?" I asked. "What's wrong with your arm?"
Tell Bella she cheated. He swung the other arm up, wincing slightly, and started to climb. That touchdown doesn't count.
"He's all right," I said, reaching for him to help him up. "He's all right."
He was a little shaken, and unsteady on his feet. Carlisle looked him over, and assured us he was okay. The twinge in his shoulder had already started to heal and he was making his usual smartass remarks while Rosalie tended to him. He was about to earn another swat to the head if he wasn't careful.
"Edward," Bella said quietly from behind me. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me, it's Emmett you took it out on."
"I didn't mean it. It was instinct. I've been so used to protecting Garrett, I just panicked."
"From Emmett?" I turned to look at her, my expression filled with doubt.
"You don't understand."
"You're right, I don't. So help me understand what it is with you and him. Will it always be there?"
"That's not fair."
"I know, but I think I deserve an answer all the same." I wasn't angry with her, my tone of voice was anything but. I was simply asking. She looked down the field, trying to think of what she could say.
"This is who I am now," she said between clenched teeth. "I can't turn it off. I'm always going to be on the defensive." She turned back to look at me, expecting me to argue with her.
"I know it's going to take some time for you to trust us again, to trust me, but you're amongst friends here, Bella. We're family. No one here will ever harm you."
"No? You don't think I knew what you and Emmett had planned for Garrett? He's my family, Edward, and you and Emmett wanted t—"
"Yes! As part of the game."
"You mean to tell me it wasn't spiteful?" She was looking at me with an incredulous look.
I laughed. "Yes, okay, maybe a little spiteful, but no different than what you did to Tanya."
The two of us were locked in a heated stare. I felt the corner of my lip turn up slightly, thinking of how she'd plowed into the side of Tanya. I was holding back my laugher, and she was trying to do the same, but instead, she crossed her arms as a distraction. It was a gesture of stubbornness, one I was all too familiar with when it came to her.
"Come on, you two. I'm fine," Emmett said. "Garrett's fine. We're all fine. Except Bella cheats. You're a sore loser, Bella. Who knew?" Emmett wrapped his arms around the two of us. "Please tell me we're even now. I'm sorry I ever laughed at you." He looked at me. It's okay, Edward. I deserved it. Don't let this ruin the day.
"Bella does cheat," I said smirking.
"I do not!"
"No one likes to lose," I said, "but someone has to." She narrowed her eyes in anger, while I softly tapped her chin.
"Sorry, babe, that touchdown didn't count. We're still tied," Emmett said, ruffling up her hair.
"You two, are jerks."
"But at least we aren't cheaters."
"Mi Amiga, that was some trick," Eleazar said, praising Bella. Everyone mumbled in agreement, not sure how to respond in a situation like this.
"Well, that was fun," Alice said to break the tension. "So, now we all know what she can do. I had no idea that was going to happen, but it was funny." She giggled.
"Emmett, man, you bounced!" Jasper said.
"Nix, you thought I couldn't handle this guy? Come on, have some faith in me," Garrett said with his arms raised in disbelief.
"Maybe we should have another go," Emmett said, challenging Garrett.
Everyone started arguing, all in jest and pretty soon they were all talking over one another. I heard trouble coming over the horizon, and discreetly sought out Carlisle.
"We've got company," I said quietly to him. "The wolves are nearby. They heard us playing." I tried to make our conversation as inconspicuous as possible.
What do you wish to do with Bella? What will she want to do?
I hated to interrupt the game, the day had been filled with laughter and pranks and for a few short hours we all forgot about what was looming in our future. Everyone had managed to suspend reality while we played the game, our pasts and our futures were set aside—minus one little blip, of course. With the wolves on their way, reality was here to stay.
"We'll have to get her away. You'll have to distract them."
You have to stay. They'll know you're back. They'll smell you.
"Emmett!" he said loudly, asking for the ball. We quickly explained the situation and Garrett and Bella left in haste. We couldn't disguise my scent, Carlisle was right, I had to stay. Running from Jacob, and having Bella with me was not an option. The two of them disappeared over the horizon, just as the wolves came into the clearing.
"So, this is the development you were talking about?" I asked Carlisle. There weren't five wolves, like when I had left, they had doubled their numbers. "Where did they come from?"
This is what I wanted to talk with you about. It seems our presence is causing a disturbance amongst the Quileutes. Jacob is not happy about it. He's being more difficult than usual. He had been keeping it from us, but while you were gone Billy let it slip. Jacob still thinks we're a threat and wanted to keep their numbers a secret from us. From what Billy has told me, there are fourteen, but a lot of them are very young, younger than the usual.
Our conversation was cut brief, as seven of the wolves slowly walked toward us. Their minds were uneasy, never having been around this many of us in their wolf form. Jacob, Quil and Embry had turned back to their human selves and the wolves made a path allowing them to come closer. It didn't go unnoticed the wolves surrounded them defensively, making sure they were protected on all sides.
"Edward!" Quil said. "When did you get back? Charlie'll be happy to hear it." He was smiling and his thoughts mirrored his expression, he was genuinely happy to see me.
"The other night. It's good to see you, too."
"Charlie was worried when Jasper came back, and you hadn't returned. He thought something might've happened to you when you went looking for him. Him and Seth were getting a search party together."
"No, just took some time to myself," I said smiling back.
Quil might have been happy to see me, but Jacob sure wasn't. His thoughts were making it difficult to carry on the conversation. I gave him a look of warning to back off, which only caused a string of expletives to follow.
"What are you guys doing?" Embry asked.
"Football," Carlisle said, stepping forward, sensing the tension between me and Jacob. "It's been too long since the family played. Thought we'd spend the day having a little fun."
"Really? Wow, vampire football. Now that would be something to see. We heard you from miles away, sounded like a thunderstorm up here in the hills."
"It got a little out of hand," Carlisle said, laughing, holding out his mud covered arms. "We were just finishing up. We've been at it for a few hours."
"There were fourteen of you. Where are the other two?" Jacob said with a snarl.
"Nope, it's just us," Alice said.
"I smelled fourteen," he said, giving her a menacing look.
"Jake, come on, man. Give it a rest," Embry said.
"Where's the other one? The tall one that was with you the other day? He was here, I smell him."
"Garrett? He went back to the house," Jasper said, wrapping his arm casually around Alice. He sent his standard calming waves, trying to diffuse the situation.
"He said we were too rough. The guy's a wimp," Emmett added. I heard Garrett mentally curse him, and my heart clenched, realizing him and Bella were just over the ridge listening to the entire exchange.
"You let a stranger, one who's not like you, wander on his own," Jacob said. "I don't think I have to remind you that your friend is not part of the treaty."
"Garrett is our guest and our friend, Jacob," Carlisle said in a calm and reserved tone. "We trust him."
"Then we'll treat him like one of you. When he tries to break the treaty, you'll all be held accountable, and this time," Jacob turned to look directly at me, "if you try to run again, we'll hunt you down."
"I wasn't running," I said, moving toward him. Carlisle grabbed my wrist, silently warning me now was not the time to get into it with Jacob.
"You still have to answer for stepping over the boundary, Cullen."
"What do you call this?" Emmett said, stepping forward so he was in line with me and Carlisle. "Looks to me like you're on our territory now."
"Emmett," Carlisle warned.
"We came because you've been lying. The deal you made with my father was to let us know when new vampires moved into the territory."
"And we did. We introduced you to Garrett."
"You know we're not talking about him. There's another one. We caught wind of the scent yesterday. Unless you mean to tell me this one isn't with you. In that case, we'd be glad to hunt the bloodsucker down. We've got the young ones to teach. They need to stretch their legs." He was grinning, knowing he had us. They would track Bella, and her scent would lead back to the house. They would know we were lying and all the progress we had made to live amicably with them would be lost.
I should have been more careful.
"You'll not touch her," I said. "That's all I'm going to say on this matter, other than you'll do well to let it lie."
"She's a bloodsucker you're hiding from us." He was smiling, with a triumphant look. "This negates the deal. All bets are off."
"Jake, don't," Embry said.
"We're not hiding anyone, she just arrived yesterday and she'll be leaving soon. We didn't think it was necessary to let you know," Carlisle explained.
"We'll be the ones to judge that, not you. The treaty is off." His lip turned up in a sneer, and the other wolves began to growl.
"Jacob Black." His name carried on the wind. "When did you become such a horse's ass?" Bella's voice rang out from the top of the ridge. She was standing on her own, with the wind and rain whipping through her hair. I cursed silently, shaking my head while everyone's thoughts echoed mine inside my head. I'd hoped it wouldn't happen like this.
"It's not possible …" Jacob said.
"What's going on, Jake?"
"How is it possible?" He had taken a step forward, and I mirrored his own knowing he was about to bolt up the ridge toward her.
"Don't even think about it," I warned him.
"Jake, who is that?" Quil asked.
"It's Charlie's daughter. It's Bella Swan."