A/N:I'd like to officially proclaim my love for Wildrose Vampire. She is the like best reviewer ever, and all of you should strive to be just as amazing. She started from the beginning and reviewed every single chapter in detail!! ILY Wildrose Vampire!
Chapter 11: Pre-Game
I woke up in the backseat of a dark car. I blinked, trying to make my eyes adjust. I could barely see the moon out of the darkly tinted windows, but it was enough to tell me that it was nighttime. Alice turned around in her seat (taking her eyes off the road) and looked at me.
"About time," she said. "I was starting to think you weren't gonna wake up."
I tried to recall anything that had happened since we left Forks. I vaguely remember the airport. And I know Alice didn't carry me into the car, so I had to have walked…
"Where are we?" I asked hazily.
"Almost to Baton Rouge" she replied.
"Who's car is this?" I asked, realizing the opulence of the car we were in.
"William Green's"
"Who's that?" I asked. She laughed.
"The guy who's car I stole." She replied nonchalantly. "It was the only one with a dark enough tint. It's pretty fast too."
"Oh…" I replied, to apathetic to care that Alice was a criminal.
She turned around again and looked at me critically. I looked back at her questioningly.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"For the most part," I replied. "Why?"
"You were crying a lot—the car, the plane, the car again—then you fell asleep…but you seem pretty stable now." She said. Wow. I didn't even remember the crying. I guess the gravity of the situation had caught up with me.
"Everything's going to be fine, Devin. They're probably going to track him down and get rid of him," she said reassuringly.
"Get rid of him? How?"
"Rip him to shreds then set the pieces on fire," she said with a strange glint in her eyes. Then she turned her attention back to the road.
"Oh…"
The car came to a stop and we were at a hotel. "Why are we here?" I asked.
"Your dad called while we were on the plane—I don't think you noticed—He left a voicemail saying that your mom and her boyfriend went on a vacation.
"Oh," I replied. Of course my mother would have to be the only person in the world to go on vacation at this time of year. "Where did they go?"
"Florida," she replied. "They're coming back soon, I checked, but we should be gone by then." Despite the fact that I really didn't like my mom all that much, it still would've been nice to see her while I was here.
We got out of the car and Alice went in and got our room keys while I got my bag from the trunk of the stolen car.
We went upstairs to a very nice room on the third floor. It had a king sized bed, and a flat screen TV. I was convinced that I had never seen a hotel like this in my life…ever. I sat my bag down on the bed and walked back to the main room to see Alice staring at blankly at the black of the blank television. Then she abruptly turned back to me.
"See anything interesting?" I asked. She shook her head, but didn't speak. "So, what do we do now?"
"We wait for someone to call," she replied, turning back to the TV. Her eyes not meeting mine. She knew I was on to her.
"What aren't you telling me?" I asked her.
"There's a lot I'm not telling you," she replied teasingly. This reminded me of all the times Jasper had stopped Alice from talking to me.
"What doesn't he want me to know? What have you seen?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" she replied innocently, though I was pretty sure she knew what I meant.
"There's something that Jasper doesn't want me to know. You know what it is."
"He's going to kill me for telling you this…"
"I won't let him. Tell him I made you. Now tell me." I said, plopping onto the couch next to her.
"Okay…Well, the night Jasper decided to come back from Alaska I got a sudden vision of you waking up with red eyes…" she said so fast it was kind of hard for me to keep up. "And the only time I get flashes like that is when it's some thing really certain or important.
"And Jasper doesn't want you to know because he doesn't want it to influence your decision. He wants you to be able to decide for yourself…He still doesn't think he deserves you—"
"What?!" I yelled. "He doesn't think he deserves me?"
"Well no. Look at it from his perspective. He feels like who is he to come into your life and take everything away from you?"
"Take everything away from me?" I asked, confused.
"When you first become a vampire, it's impossible to be around humans. That means you wouldn't be able to go to school, or see your friends or family again."
"How did you deal with it?"
She smiled a little. "None of us had a choice. Most of us were dying when we got changed—"She stopped mid-sentence, and in a flash of white, had a silver cell phone to her ear before it could ring.
She paused, listening. "I thought as much." She said simply. "Okay." Then she closed the phone.
"You hungry?" she asked. "Want room service?"
I glared at her. "Alice. What's going on?"
"Devin, please, It's really nothing to worry about, but…" She paused. "They lost James and Victoria."
My jaw dropped. "How is that nothing to worry about? What if one of them gets hurt?! What about Edward? Esme? Carlisle? I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to them. They shouldn't be risking their lives for me…"
"Devin, we're not worried about us. Our family is strong. We're only worried about losing you." She replied.
"What? Why?"
"Can't you see? Jasper has traveled a long road. And now that he has you, we can't risk losing you." She said, staring off into space. "I've never seen him so alive." She said thoughtfully. "I couldn't imagine living with him if we lost you…"
I couldn't think of anything to say. I just sat down on the couch, stunned. I suddenly felt an intense pressure to be good enough for him. I didn't want to disappoint him, but I still didn't feel like I was worth all the trouble.
I went to sleep shortly after our talk. The next morning we stayed in the room. Alice called and had our maid services suspended, and she ordered me room service to eat. It was silent most of the time, but eventually I started panicking when no one called.
"Alice, do you know what's going on?" I asked her.
"Jasper, Emmet, and Carlisle went after James. Laurent decided not to get involved. Rosalie, Edward and Esme are keeping Victoria away from Forks and your dad. They lost James, but that's nothing to worry about…"
"Yet." I finished.
"Yes." She said. After that, she laid on the couch. To the untrained eye, she would appear to be sleeping. I sat quietly in the recliner next to her, and decided to listen to my iPod. It wasn't too long before I saw Alice's eyes flashed open.
"What's wrong?" I asked, slightly disturbed by her wide-eyed expression.
"Something has changed…" she said, sitting up on the couch.
"What do you see? I asked urgently, moving over to sit next to her on the couch. She looked at me, but her eyes were far-off.
"I see a classroom in a big school. It's nighttime. James is there…and that's all. Something's still missing. A decision." She said distantly.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"It means his plans have changed. Something leads him to that classroom in the next few days."
"So that means they won't catch him…"
Then the phone rang.
She again pulled the phone from her pocket and put it to her ear.
"Carlisle, Hi." She said. I breathed a sigh of relief. She listened for a while.
"Yes." She said, and then she described her vision to Carlisle. "Whatever made him get on that plane… it was leading him to that school."
She nodded again. Then she paused and held the phone out to me. "Jasper."
"Jasper?" I breathed wearily into the phone.
"Devin," he sighed in relief. It was as if he was somehow using his power over the phone because it felt unbelievably good and calming to hear his voice.
"Is everything okay?" I asked cautiously.
"I already told you. You don't have anything to worry about except coming back home to me."
I smiled. "Alice said James got away…"
He hesitated. I could almost hear the mental strain in his voice. "Yeah…we think he's heading back to forks to start over. You don't have to worry, though. He won't find anything to lead him to you. You just have to stay there and wait till we find him again."
"I miss you…" I whispered.
"I miss you too. I'm so tempted to come up there and get you…." His voice hardened. "But not until I'm sure you're safe."
"Don't take too long." I pleaded softly.
"I won't, I promise." He said. I closed the phone and handed it back to Alice and then went to lie on the bed. I fell asleep for a while, but then I was abruptly awakened by Alice gently shaking my shoulder. I looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 9:30 a.m.
"Alice, what's wrong? Did you see something?" I asked.
Her replying voice was unnerving. "Do you know where this is?" she said almost frantically, holding up two sheets of paper in the darkness.
I reached for the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I saw a long shadowy hallway with a lot of doors on either side. The other was a picture of a picture of…….my room.
"Yeah…" I replied.
She waited for me to go on…
"That's…my room at my mother's house. And the other one is my old high school…I think." I muttered uneasily.
"I thought as much…" she muttered.
"Devin."
"Devin?"
"Devin!"
"Huh?" I asked. I had barely even heard her voice. James was coming for me…coming here…was there anywhere I could go to be safe? I should never have left Jasper.
"Jasper is coming to get you. We're going to hide you for a while to keep you safe."
"Jaspers is coming?" I breathed in relief.
"Yes, he's catching a flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport, and you'll leave with him."
"But, my mother… he's coming here, Alice!"
"I'll stay here till she's safe."
"How can we do this Alice? You can't guard everyone I know forever. He'll find a way to get to me…I just know it. If he hurts someone…"
"We'll catch him, Devin," she assured me.
"And what if you get hurt, Alice? What if he hurts you to try to get to me? We should just give up. It's not worth all of this. I can't—" I broke of, my voice strained with tears.
Alice sat down on the bed and pressed my head to her shoulder where I sobbed silently. After a while, I realized how unpleasant that might have been for Alice, so I got up and went to the bathroom.
When I got out of the shower, Alice was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the television again.
"Anything new?" I croaked, my voice sore from crying.
She silently shook her head from left to right. When the phone rang, I looked to her eagerly, waiting for some sort of news. After the call, she informed me that Jasper, Edward and Carlisle were boarding their plane. "They'll be here around nightfall." She had said.
Then the phone started ringing again. I looked to Alice, but she remained still. Then I realized that it must be my phone. I pulled it from my pocket and saw that it was Steven calling me from his cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Devin? You don't sound too good, are you okay?"
"I'm fine dad," I said reassuringly. "You don't have to—"
"Okay, here's the deal." A new voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar… I felt fear trickling down my spine as I realized who the voice was. "Do you want this all to be over?"
"Yes," I replied, my voice shaking slightly.
"Okay, I see you're not one for acting, but you have to try. Walk into the other room. On the way, I want you to say 'Dad, I'm fine. Mom will be home in a few more days.'"
I started walking to the bedroom, "Dad, I'm fine. Mom will be home in a few more days." I closed the door behind me.
"Are you alone now?" The calm voice asked me. "Just say yes or no."
"Yes," I replied, taking a deep breath.
"Now, to avoid your mother coming home to a rather nasty surprise, I suggest we meet somewhere." He said quickly. "Do you think you can ditch the girl? Yes or no?"
"No." I replied through gritted teeth.
"No need for hostility." He replied, sounding amused. "Well, let's put it this way. If you don't, I'll just wait here until your mother gets home. How does that sound?"
I opened my mouth to answer.
"Don't answer that. Just find a way to get away from her and then call me back and I'll tell you where to go from there."
"Okay," I replied quietly.
"Now say 'Bye, Dad' and hang up the phone."
"Bye, Dad" I said. I could hear him laughing as I closed the phone.
I couldn't move. I was literally immobilized with fear and rage. I told myself that fear wasn't what I needed right now. I needed a plan. I knew I couldn't tell Alice, because I couldn't risk any of the Cullens getting hurt over me. And if I couldn't do this…I shuddered at the thought of James killing my mother.
I knew what I had to do…It was the only way I could ensure everyone's safety.
I didn't know how I could face Alice or Jasper again, knowing that I was going to betray them like this. All they had ever done was try to protect me and I was going to go off and meet the guy who is obsessed with my death.
I slowly walked to the door, trying to show no signs of my conversation with James. Alice was waiting on the couch, looking at me with curious eyes.
"Alice, who's watching Steven?" I asked her. I had to make sure he was safe.
"Esme, why?" she asked, concerned.
"Can you call her? Steven didn't sound too well. I wanna make sure he's okay." I asked, trying to keep my voice steady through the panic.
She looked at me questioningly.
"He didn't sound like himself." I added, hoping it would reassure her.
She picked up her phone and held down a speed dial button.
"Esme?" she asked. "Devin's worried about Steven, does he look okay?"
She paused. It felt like time stopped as I waited.
"Okay, just checking." She said before closing the phone.
"Is he okay?" I asked, trying hard not to sound too concerned.
"Yes, Esme's watching him in the supermarket right now. She says he looks fine."
"Okay," I breathed. How was I going to leave all these people without saying goodbye? The thought brought tears to my eyes, but I fought them back. I looked around and my eyes fell upon some hotel stationary.
"I need to write something to my mother," I told her. She looked puzzled for a split-second, but then she nodded.
I walked into the other room, and closed the door again. Then I started writing my letter to Jasper.
Jasper,
I'm so sorry. I had no other choice. He was threatening to kill my mom. If you're getting this, then I probably got away from Alice. Don't be mad at her, It's not her fault, I promise. And please, please, don't come after him. I think that's what he wants. I don't want you getting yourself hurt over me. Please, this is the only thing I can ask of you.
I love you. Sorry I never got a chance to say it. Forgive me.
Love,
Devin.
I folded the letter, and placed it in the envelope carefully, fighting tears the whole time, then sealed the envelope containing the last Jasper would probably ever hear from me.
I walked back into the other room with Alice and sat the envelope on the table. I didn't know if I wanted to lock myself in the room because she would think something was wrong. But I also didn't want to be near her because she would probably notice something was wrong then too.
When I saw her, she had a look of intense concentration on her face. She opened her eyes, but they were completely blank.
"Alice?"
She didn't respond.
"Alice? What did you see?"
Nothing. Her eyes widened.
I could guess what she had seen…
"Alice?"
"Nothing," she replied calmly. "Nothing new. We should be getting to the airport though, they'll be here soon."
I shuddered at the thought. This was the moment of truth. I'd have to escape from a girl who can see the future…great. I nodded.
"Okay, I just need to make a call." She said, walking out into the hall. I could only imagine…she was probably calling to tell them that something was going to go wrong. Somehow I would end up somewhere with James…
She came back quickly, and then we left the hotel.
The airport was full of people. Just what I needed to pull this off. I contemplated whether to just run, or devise a more defined plan. I didn't think Alice would run after me in the middle of the airport.
We sat on a bench near the terminal that their plane was landing in. my foot was tapping impatiently. Alice seemed slightly suspicious as she glanced over at me every so often. The minutes ticked by as I waited for my chance. Unfortunately, these minutes also brought me closer to seeing Jasper, which tempted me to stay.
I watched a lady guiding a squeamish little boy and inspiration struck.
"Alice," I said, sounding calm. "I'm going to the restroom."
She nodded and stood up. Shit! I was hoping she'd stay.
She followed me to the door of the men's' room, and then waited by the door, her expression going blank and her eyes glazing over. Great…I better be hasty with the decisions.
I looked around and my eyes fell on the second exit directly across from the first. Before I knew it, I was running. I didn't look behind me as I ran. This was my only chance, and even if she saw me, I still had to keep going. People stared, but I ignored them. I made it to the door and hurried out into the cool air. I would have only seconds if she followed my scent. If she was looking, I'm sure she would find me in 5 second flat. I looked around for a cab. I pulled out my cell phone and ran to the nearest one. I dialed Steven's number and got in the cab as it rang.
"Good job, Devin."
"Where do I go?!" I asked frantically, ignoring the weird look the cab driver was giving me. I knew what he was going to say before he replied. I only called him because he told me to. I never wanted to hear his voice again, even though it was probably going to be the last sound I heard…
'Your old high school." He replied.
I hung up the phone and told the cab driver where to go.
"And hurry." I added.
We got there soon enough—Baton Rouge isn't that big—and I handed the driver the money. He didn't even ask why I was going to a school in the middle of the night, for this I gave him and extra $10. Then I reluctantly and uneasily exited the cab.
The school seemed foreboding as I slowly approached it. I looked up at the three stories of now creepy windows. I pulled the door open, taking a look at the low clouds that hung overhead, and felt shivers run up and down my spine as I plunged into moonlit darkness.
A/N: Okay so guess who sucks at cliff hangers…
I see that soooo many of you have added me to your story alert, yet I have so very few reviews… Eventually you're going to get tired of me asking and review just to tell me to shut up, but I wont mind (cuz at least I get a review)…
Bufster: Sorry, I already had this chapter typed when I posted the last one. Sowwy! Sowwy! So so SOWWy! And besides, Devin isn't Immune to Edward's mind reading abilities, which is why Devin didn't want him to go in the first place. Could you imagine someone in your head all the time?! I don't see how the Cullens do it. But anyways, thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed this Edward-less chapter!!! ;)