Chapter Fifteen

Bella

When Charlie had gone I sat down in relief, I had imagined all kinds of clothes Alice might have bought me but she'd reined herself in, or Carrie had. Everything here with the exception of the strappy shoes I would happily wear and Charlies gift had been a really nice thought. I climbed into the shower thinking about the words she'd said but I couldn't get the sight of those red eyes out of my mind. Although I waited Alice didn't make it back and I wondered if she were trying to contact her friends. I hoped she found out something that would help me, to make it possible to get him out of that situation and to find his mate.

When I finally fell asleep my dreams were full of eyes, a few golden but mostly a pair of dark red tormented ones that looked at me through a tangle of blond hair. Why had this vampire brought out such a feeling in me? I couldn't forget what I'd seen, I couldn't turn my back on the injustice I'd seen. My sleep was disturbed and I was still tired when I woke up. I wasn't expecting to see Edward in my room either but he was sitting in the rocking chair by the window and he was not looking happy. I wondered if he'd heard something from Alice or if perhaps I'd talked in my sleep. I decided to test the temperature of the waters,

"Morning Edward, I wasn't expecting you to be here. How was your weekend?"

"I got back late last night and wanted to see you. Charlie left early so I hid in the closet while he checked on you before he went. He's left you a note telling you he's going fishing tonight with Harry to try out his new hat. He hopes it brings him luck with the fish."

I laughed nervously, feeling the tension in the room.

"Right, well I need to get a shower or I'll be late for school."

He didn't say anything but his eyes followed me out of the door, something was very wrong, normally I would get at least a kiss and a hug when I woke up and usually their absence would have upset me, but not this morning. I showered and dressed quickly in the bathroom then went down for breakfast. As usual my toast was waiting ready and Edward was in his place opposite me but he didn't speak. It was very obvious he was unhappy but I didn't want to get into a discussion about anything before I'd spoken to Alice and found out just how much trouble I was actually in.

We drove to school in silence and although he picked up my books and draped his arm across my shoulders it didn't feel the same and I was relieved when Alice bounced over and grabbed my arm.

"What did Charlie make of his present? Did he like the clothes you bought? Come on Bella"

She dragged me away from Edward, grabbing my books with her free hand and we almost ran to History, the only class I didn't have with him. When we sat down I turned to her,

"How much trouble am I in?"

She grimaced,

"He caught a stray thought Bella, I'm really sorry. He knows you were with Jake not me"

"Ouch, that much trouble! What's he going to do about it?"

"He hasn't decided yet. He wants to know why and where you went but he decided asking me wasn't a good idea so I think you're in for a grilling after school, especially as he knows Charlie wont be there."

I groaned trying to think what to tell him, not the truth, he'd lock me in a room and keep the key round his neck if he discovered where I'd been. I was brought back to reality by Mr Hackett asking Alice a question, he sounded exasperated and I saw she was miles away so I nudged her. As usual she dazzled him with her smile and came out with the correct answer, oh how I wished I could do the same, usually in Geography! At the end of class I hung back knowing I couldn't talk to her alone again once I walked out of the classroom, Edward would be waiting for me.

"Alice what did you see? Did you manage to speak to your friends?"

She shook her head looking worried,

"I'll tell you later. Meet me in the cloak room at lunch."

Edward was indeed waiting for me but our usual chatty walk to English was done in silence and his face was tight with disapproval. Boy was I in for it later! We didn't speak in class and I could feel the disappointment radiating from him. I was relieved when the bell went and escaped to the cloakroom as quickly as I could. Alice was already there waiting and pulled me into one of the cubicles,

"Alice this is going to look really strange when anyone else comes in"

"They wont, I put an out of order sign up, now listen Bella. Edward heard my thoughts, he knows you were with Jake at the weekend but he doesn't know what you were doing, at least not yet. He's furious with me for giving you an alibi and he's thinking about telling Charlie so we could both be in it. See if you can calm him down"

"Can I Alice?"

"I don't know I keep seeing different outcomes. I'll try talking to him again, you hide out in here for a while, give me ten minutes, I'll tell him you got called by one of the staff."

Great, I was stranded in the girls cloakroom now while she tried to calm my very angry vampire boyfriend, my life was fast becoming a Soap Opera!

Alice

I don't think Edward believed me but what could he do? The others sat there looking at us so he took my arm,

"Lets talk outside Alice."

He almost dragged me out but I kept a smile on my face with some effort, at least until we were away from prying eyes. Then I turned on him,

"Edward, if you don't let go of me I'm going to rip your arm off."

He stood back scowling,

"I heard something very interesting last night"

"Really?"

"Yes Bella talked in her sleep"

I cursed mentally then started to recite all the Shakespeare I knew to keep him out of my head,

"Its OK Alice. I got all I needed from Bella. You let her spend the weekend with the wolves, not only that but you knew they were taking her to an underground fight, what's wrong with you? She could have got hurt, she was scared, she could have been traumatised by some of those fights, she was in fact, I heard her moaning. This is one of the reasons I keep her away from those animals and why I don't turn her. You know what we're capable of and its about time she had a healthy dose of reality. It might just make her see sense."

"Oh no Edward. Bad idea"

I'd seen what he proposed doing,

"You do that you'll lose her"

"Rubbish. It will make her realize that I am good for her, I can keep her safe."

"By watching something like that? Where did you get it anyway? I thought it had been banned by the Volturi."

"It was, which is why the remnants are being hawked around. Em and I got hold of some footage illegally."

"Don't do it Edward. I'm telling you, if you do you'll regret it. Bella will walk out on you."

"Alice don't try frightening me. You don't know that, and if not I'll be forced to tell Charlie, you wont be his little pet after that"

"Bella will be locked up until she's an old woman if you do, and he certainly wont let you near her, he hates you as it is."

"But I can get in to see her and that's what matters Alice."

"Don't Edward, I'm warning you"

"I think you have other things to worry about for now dear sister".

I scanned the immediate future and groaned,

"You told Carlisle and Esme!"

He grinned,

"So now who's in trouble little sister."