A/N: Thank you to QueenOfWierd1995 for being my only reviewer last chapter :) I might have been really sad today if you hadn't reviewed, so thank you!
Chapter Nineteen
Bella POV
Life goes on as usual. For the first little while, people wondered where Dana had gone, why she had stopped going to school. Then about a week after her "disappearance" she made the front page of the newspaper:
Teen Orphan Goes Missing!
Police are still on the lookout for clues as to the whereabouts of Dana Quincey, 15. She was last seen at Forks High School in Forks and never came home. Her car is also missing; a 2008 Nissan Cube, blue. If anyone has any information leading to the whereabouts of Dana Quincey, contact this number...
Then followed the numbers of the police department in Port Angeles and the one in Forks as well. The article was toped with a large picture of Dana. The article went on to describe the efforts of the search in great detail, interviews with students at forks high, her matron at the group home, and there was even one with Charlie:
"My daughter is good friends with Dana, so this case is close to the heart. You can be sure that the Forks Police Department is doing everything it can to locate her," said Forks Police Chief, Charlie Swan...
They managed to fill the entire first page with "We got nothin'." It was amazing really, that there wasn't enough news to put in the paper, that they needed to fill an entire page with a missing person they had no leads on.
I had to put up a show of worrying about my friend, which wasn't too hard at first, but her daily letters helped ease my anxiousness. I would come home every day after school, cook dinner and wait for Charlie to arrive.
"Any news?" I would ask him as a way of greeting.
"None yet," was always his reply.
Edward wouldn't leave my side for anything, it usually turned into an argument when I noticed he was getting thirsty and insisted he go hunt. Even then he would send Alice over to watch me. I don't think he's even seen Dana yet. Sometimes I wondered if he was being a bit on the overprotective side, but I knew he was just trying to keep me safe. After all, I had heard Jasper's stories about newborns, so his protectiveness wasn't exactly unexpected.
He still hadn't let me go down to La Push yet and I missed my best friend. Finally I had enough and invited Jacob and Billy over for dinner.
"But, Bella—" he started to protest.
"No," I said, cutting him off. "Jacob is my best friend and you can't keep me from seeing him. Billy and Charlie are both going to be here so he won't be trying anything. Edward, I just want to spend time with my friend."
There was no was he could resist my sad-eyes. The only one who could do that was Renee but that was only because I'd used it on her since I was three. It kinda looses its potency after the hundredth time.
"Fine," he said, relenting. "But I'm staying close by in case you need me."
"That's not necessary," I said. "Besides, you should take this time to go hunting, your eyes are getting rather dark."
"I'm fine and I'm not leaving you alone with that dog."
"You're not fine, you're starving yourself, and I won't be alone, Charlie and Billy are both going to be here."
"But what if Dana gets loose?"
"Edward, even I know that's a thin argument. The likelihood of Jasper letting her out of his sight for even a minute is one in a billion, she tells me in her letters all the time that he's hovering around her like a cloud of gnats. Besides, if she did get loose and for some stupid reason came here, there's Jacob, and I highly doubt it'll come to that and I know you doubt it too. So go hunting, I will be fine."
So that's how I found myself alone in the house, cooking dinner for four, three of whom eat a lot.
When Charlie got home, I told him we were expecting the Blacks in just a bit so he went upstairs to wash up. I was just taking the potatoes out of the oven when I heard a knock at the door.
"Hey, Bells!" Jake cried when I opened the door. He pulled me into a suffocating hug until I insisted I needed to breathe.
"Hello, Bella," said Billy. "Thanks for inviting us over."
I smiled brightly. "Well I was missing my best friend and you know Edward doesn't like it when I sneak off to La Push."
"That leech is far too paranoid, Bells," commented Jacob, wheeling Billy indoors and hanging up their jackets.
"Isn't everyone, lately," I mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake complained.
"It means you're just as bad, Jake," he flinched at the accusation. "Nobody seems to think I have a brain in my head to think for myself. You think the Cullens are dangerous to me, Edward thinks the wolves are. When the truth of the matter is, I feel perfectly safe with the lot of you. I just need to remember not to do certain things around either group."
"Like what?" asked Jacob. "What do you have to watch out for around us?"
"Not pissing Paul off for one—"
"I would protect you."
"Yeah and so did Edward on my birthday."
"What happened on your birthday?"
"My bad luck happened, I got a paper cut, and the whole thing resulted in Edward standing guard over me while Emmett dragged Jasper out the door."
"What!"
"Jacob, calm down," Billy soothed. "Charlie's here, remember."
Jacob's hands were shaking just a little, but he took a deep breath and calmed down.
"As I said, Jacob, I'm in equal amounts of danger and safety with both groups," I said calmly watching his tremors subside.
He hung his head in shame. "I would never hurt you," he mumbled.
"Neither would Edward."
Dinner was a quiet affair, mostly comments about sports or the food. After dinner, Jacob and I got up to do the dishes. Charlie and Billy stayed at the table having suddenly found something to chat about.
"So, Charlie," said Billy. "I heard you were on a new case. What's that all about?"
"Oh it's missing person's report," said Charlie. "A fifteen-year-old girl went missing a few weeks back. Just disappeared without a trace, no leads, not a single clue."
"Where was she seen last?"
"Forks High, actually."
Jacob stiffened slightly. He was probably worried about snatchings from my school.
"And nobody's seen her?"
"Nope, poor girl. She just started going there a week before it happened, too. Bella took her under her wing."
Jake and I finished up the dishes and went back to the table to join the conversation.
"What was her name?" Jacob asked.
"Dana Quincey," said Charlie.
"And how long ago was this?"
"Almost three weeks ago."
Something in Jacob's change of demeanor told me that he knew exactly what happened to Dana. I excused myself and went upstairs. When I got to my room, I snatched up my cell phone from my bedside table. There was one text message waiting for me.
I can't see you! Alice.
I sent a reply back. The Blacks came over for dinner. Jacob knows about Dana, he knows she was at my school and he's getting really suspicious. I think he suspects who bit her.
I didn't wait for a reply, instead I tossed it back onto my table and went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. As I dried my face off, I heard someone approaching the bathroom door. He had to be stepping louder than he normally would, because I usually couldn't hear Jacob's footsteps. I opened the door and came out into the hall.
"Bells," Jacob said softly, not wanting his voice to carry downstairs. "You know that girl that's missing?"
"Yeah. Dana."
"Yeah, well I know you know more than you're letting on. I saw her yesterday in the woods with the tall blond one and the short one who sees the future."
"They have names, Jake. Alice and Jasper."
"Don't change the subject! What do you know?"
I took a deep breath. "She was attacked just after school, my backpack got torn open as we were leaving so Edward and Alice helped me pick everything up. As a result, we were the last ones out. As we were leaving, Alice had a vision about Dana and went running off to help her, Edward read it from her mind and went off to help, too. By the time I got to the parking lot, Edward and Alice had pulled the attacker off of her and she started changing. So we took her back to the Cullen's place, Jasper offered to train her since he has the most experience with newborns, and a few hours before her change was done, Alice took me home and I haven't been back there since."
The whole thing was the truth. The only thing I left out was who actually attacked her. The more truth I told, the more easily the lies would come out. It seemed to have worked as he relaxed a little and looked a little ashamed at having snapped at me.
"I'm sorry for my behavior, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," he said remorsefully. "I guess it's one consolation knowing that she won't be hunting humans and that her attacker is dead."
I tried to keep my face impassive but I don't think it worked, because he then shot out. "He is dead, isn't he?"
"Alice and Edward took care of it," I said nodding slightly. I hoped that would be enough for him, because I didn't want to lie to my best friend. Somehow I don't think that announcing that Jasper broke the treaty would go over well.
He sighed heavily. "You realize I'm going to have to report this to Sam?"
"You don't really have a choice, do you?"
"No I suppose I don't."
"Jacob?"
"Yeah?"
"Dana's a good kid, even now. I know you don't like vampires, but you do realize none of this is her fault, right? She didn't ask for this and yet she's making the best of what fate has handed her."
"How do you know? You said you hadn't seen her since..." he trailed off.
"I haven't. She sends me a letter every day. Emmett drops it off every morning. Here wait right there," I ran quickly into my room and grabbed the shoebox full of Dana's letters. I quickly ruffled through them until I found the one I was looking for.
I brought the letter out and showed it to Jacob. "This was the first letter she sent me. Here read it."
Jacob took the letter sat down on the floor and read it. I sat down next to him and read over his shoulder.
Dear Bella;
You wouldn't believe it Bells! It's a whole new world and the only thing I have to do to explore it, is to be. I can process things faster, I can see better, I can hear better, I can smell better, I'm stronger, I'm faster, and I have perfect recall. All of my senses are supercharged! It's amazing!
But through all these amazing things, there are the...less amazing things. When I first opened my eyes, I wasn't willing to trust Jasper or Alice. It was strange and I was scared. I mean, hell! I just woke up from three days of the worst pain anyone besides a vampire has endured. Oh wait you did, didn't you? (The other's were telling me stories earlier). Alice told me how you survived being bitten and came out of it still human, now that's amazing! I'm rather jealous.
Anyway when Alice explained what that burning in my throat was and what needed to be done about it, I was horrified. My one consolation is that it doesn't need to be humans, so that's a relief.
I awoke two days ago so you're probably wondering why I haven't written to you before now and the answer is simple: I kept breaking all the pencils! It's so hard to control my strength, but Jasper says I'm doing much better than most newborns so that's comforting.
Every day after I go hunting with Jasper and Alice, I come home and look at my eyes in the mirror. I keep waiting for the day when they start changing to gold. I'm determined to be able to see you again, Bells, you're my only friend (Jazz and Ali are more like parents than friends), so I'm working as hard as I can, so that I'll be safe to be around, cause I know you miss me too.
Big hugs,
Dana
I finished reading before Jacob, and waited patiently for him to finish. When he did, he folded the letter back up and handed it back to me.
"I think you have a good friend in her," he said.
I beamed. "So you'll include her in the treaty?"
"I'll talk to Sam about it, but the chances are good."
"Do you need to take the letter so he can see it for himself?"
"Yeah, that would be a good token."
I handed the letter back. "Just don't ruin it, I want to be able to read these letters further down the line and have a smile at the good ol' days."
He smirked. "Sure, sure."
We came downstairs just as Billy was about ready to leave. Jacob helped him into his coat and then slipped his own on, stowing the letter safely in an inside pocket.
"Thanks for dinner, Bella," Billy said.
"No problem, anytime," I replied.
"Yeah thanks, Bells," said Jacob, and gave me another of his bone-crushing hugs before wheeling Billy out the door.
A/N: Please review and if you like this story, it would make me so happy if you recomended it :D (does that make me sound desprate?) Love you all! R&R!