EDWARD
She's gone…again. It's like she disintegrated into blue dust and blew away. I seem to have that affect on her. I didn't know about Victoria. If I had known that she would go after Bella, I never would have left Forks. I underestimated Victoria's attachment to James. But Bella seems much more pissed about something else though.
"First meetings usually involve some kind of introduction. So, I'm Jen. I trained and now work with Bella. I know who you are. Therefore the introduction section is over. There are a few ground rules that we need to discuss before we head to the safe house."
"We don't feed on humans. We are also very careful with our hunting, you don't have to worry about that," Carlisle assures Jen.
"I'm not concerned about that. But you should know that Jacob Black is staying with us as well," Jen seems very calm.
"Of course we will be polite," Esme says.
"That's good, because his wife can be a little testy. She's one you don't want to piss off," Jen continues.
"Why?" Emmett can't help but ask.
"Well, because Nestalia is a wood nymph. One should never underestimate any kind of nymph, of course. But wood nymphs can make life hell for those who need to hunt to survive," Jen explains.
"Exactly how many different kinds of immortals are there?" Jasper wonders out loud.
"Quite a lot actually. Vampires seem to be at a disadvantage. You see, there haven't been any vampire representatives on the Council since the Volturi took power. That brings us to our next topic of discussion. Of course anything you see or hear while with us should not be passed on, especially to them," Jen sounds serious about this…deadly serious.
"Don't worry, we don't hold any particular loyalty to the Volturi," Carlisle informs Jen.
"I'm glad to hear that. I should warn you though, if someone betrays us, they do not get a second chance to do so again." Yep, she's definitely deadly serious.
"Not to push our luck, but what exactly do you consider what happened with Edward?" Emmett's curiosity might just kill me.
"Psh, a lovers' spat with unfortunate casualties among the observers," Jen dismisses it.
"I'm glad to hear that…" I start to say.
"Don't get me wrong, Edward. I think you are an ass for what you did to Bella. But I also think that you two are meant to be. There's an air of destiny about the whole thing. You are both going to have to work through your issues. Okay, all of you, not just Edward. That's going to time, you understand," Jen cuts me off.
"We appreciate that you are helping us," Esme smiles at Jen.
"I hope we will all get to know each other better. Fortunately Bella has been convinced that both she and Edward need to decide together about a second chance," Jen returns the smile.
"I take it that is what was going on while you two were looking at each other?" Alice has been dying to ask that.
"As witches, we can communicate telepathically with each other. I should also tell you that I enchanted the clearing, so no one could leave it for a bit. Oh, and I might have suspended her magic for the duration of the story about Victoria. Yeah, she might be a little testy about that, but she would have regretted it if something had happened," Jen is almost talking to herself by this point.
"You were concerned she would vanish again," Carlisle concludes.
"She didn't vanish last time. Bethany had an accidental discharge of her magic. She's just starting to learn though. Such a thing is to be expected. Bethany seems to show an affinity for Healing, not Hunting like Bella and I do. She will probably go with the next Healer we run across and specialize her training to suit her. Anyway, she sensed that Bella might not want to deal with you all. Her magic reacted before any of us could respond. It put you guys into a time warp. Bethany had to be a ways away from the time warp in order for time to resume. The reason it looked like we disappeared is simply because we weren't in the same place when time resumed for you. I took care of the arm from a tree and took care of any trail to give Bella time to think," Jen explains.
"That's why we couldn't smell you," Emmett sounds so proud of himself.
"Witches don't have scents, sorry Emmett. As far as I know, and I have been around longer than all of you together, talents only really affect that type of immortal. For example, vampire talents only work on other vampires. Werewolf powers only work on other werewolves, and so on. But that's for more active powers. Seeing is more passive, so it works differently…"
"Then how can you hunt other immortals?" Jasper asks quietly.
"Man, I need to start carrying cards with the definition of 'magic' on them. There will be more discussion about this later, I'm sure. Since you are considering staying with us, you should know who all is staying with us at the safe house. Jacob and his wife, Nestalia, have already been covered. Our Seer, Dakota, is with us, of course. I think that she is dying to talk to Alice. Bella will probably be staying in her room all through tonight and tomorrow. My husband, Eliot, is also with us. If any of you like video games, Jacob and Eliot would love some fresh competition," Jen tells us all.
"Woohoo! Bring it on!"Emmett booms out. Jen chuckles a little at his enthusiasm.
"They will be very glad to hear that. I like your child-like wonder," Jen responds.
"Child-like wonder? That's not what I was going to call it," Rosalie glares at her mate.
"While we're on the subject of games, you should avoid the game Monopoly while Jacob is around," Jen smiles to herself.
"Why?" Jasper is intrigue.
"Let's just say that is makes you glad you are immortal. Those are hours you can never get back," Jen chuckles at that.
"We would like to stay with you as long as we are welcome to. Thanks you for the invitation," Carlisle decides.
We follow Jen to what is apparently the safe house. House is an understatement. This place certainly has space to spare. I can smell the wolf, but he's nowhere to be seen. There is also a really woodsy scent that has to belong to his wife, the wood nymph. Jen shows us to a wing that lies really close to the tree line. That's really considerate. She's making it easy for us for when we need to hunt. She shows Carlisle and Esme to the master suite of this wing. Across the hall from them lies the suite that Emmett and Rosalie apparently want. They rush through the door and slam it behind them. I hope they don't break anything on our first night. While Jen seems laid back enough to take it in stride, Carlisle and Esme would be terribly embarrassed.
"This place is amazing, Jen. Thanks so much for opening your doors to us," Alice says as we reach the suite she will share with Jasper.
"Yes, thank you so much," Jasper agrees.
"I love that you guys are polite. You are most welcome. See you in the morning," Jen responds.
I am across the hall from Alice and Jasper. I go enter the room. I happen to glance up to see Jen giving me a puzzling look. It's like she is really considering telling me something. I want to ask her about it, but I don't want to push her. So I stand there, just inside my doorway, waiting. I watch as she purses her lips and furrows her brow. She sighs as she seems to come to a decision. Thankfully, Jen decides things faster than Bella does.
"Would you mind if I offer you a bit of advice Edward? Consider carefully before you answer," Jen is completely sincere. Do I really want to know her advice? She has known Bella for over 50 years. They have been close for over 50 years. Her insight would be invaluable in my quest to get Bella to take me back.
"I would love any advice you can give me," I reply.
"A real, lasting relationship is built on trust between two equals," and with that, Jen turns and walks down the hall.