Chapter Thirty

Bella

Edward had told me they had a visitor at the house, Esme's cousin from California and as a result he spent the next week at my place which didn't please Charlie too much. He liked our time alone together having missed out on most of my childhood but he didn't understand that it was too late to catch up now. Not that it had been his fault of course, they divorced and Renee got custody of me added to which Charlie worked shifts and long hours so he couldn't have brought me up.

I couldn't be the little girl he expected, I was a woman now, almost anyway, give or take a couple of months. As a result he was jealous of the time I spent with my boyfriend. Although I was very fond of Edward there was something about him that unnerved me, something not quite right, not that he was anything but a perfect gentleman and I knew he was in love with me. I guess I wasn't too sure what I wanted that was why I had certain reservations.

The more time we spent together the more I got a feeling that he could almost read my mind, he came up with answers before I framed the question, he seemed to know if I were happy or sad, worried, unsure. I still wondered about the Cullens, they were certainly different from any one I had ever met before, as if there were some kind of mystery about them and I didn't have the key to unlock it.

Still I had enough on my plate with school and my new weekend job which had pleased Charlie because it got me away from Edward but upset Edward because I had less time to spend with him. He'd even offered to buy whatever I needed so I didn't need to go to work but that wasn't going to fly either with me or my dad and I was extremely surprised he had thought it would but then it just added to the mystery that was Edward Cullen.

Finally Edward invited me over to meet Esme's cousin Charlotte on Friday evening, he was taking me to Seattle with Alice the next morning but I refused his offer to stay overnight, I slept much better in familiar surroundings. As we left it started to rain even more heavily and the windscreen wipers were struggling to keep up which made me slightly nervous, especially as there were some drivers on the road who seemed oblivious to the treacherous conditions. We were only about a mile from the house when it happened, a car coming towards us too fast lost control almost sideswiping us.

If Edwards reactions hadn't been so good I think it would have hit us directly on my side. As it was the car carried on, hitting the crash barrier on the bend and flipped over. There was a terrible crunching noise and then I saw flames coming from under the hood. The car was on fire with the driver trapped inside. I screamed and Edward turned to me,

"Stay there."

He rushed to the car but I couldn't see what he could do, the drivers door was buckled and the flames were burning ever closer to the cabin.

I got out unable to see properly now the wipers had stopped working just in time to see Edward tip the car back onto its wheels and rip the drivers door off its hinges with a screech of complaining metal. One hinge withstood the force for a moment before tearing from its mounting and he threw the now useless door across the road and put his head inside to speak to the driver. I was shocked and confused, had he really just done that? How could he? I was sure it would take the jaws of life to free the driver who didn't have time to wait. Then with a heave he freed the driver from their seat belt and carried her back to our car covered in blood but thankfully alive and moaning softly.

He lay her gently in the back seat then instructed me to drive to the house, to Carlisle,

"What about you?"

He gestured at the car which was now well alight.

"Someone will see the fire and call the emergency services, I'd better wait to tell them what happened. Now go."

He seemed anxious for me to leave but I guess it was just because the driver was injured so I started the engine and drove as fast as possible to the Cullen house hearing sirens in the distance.

As I pulled up Carlisle opened the door and I called to him for help,

"There's been an accident. Someone's hurt in the back of the car."

Before I finished speaking he was beside me lifting the girl from the back seat and carried her quickly into the house as if she weighed no more than a feather. I followed to be met by Esme and a stranger who must be her cousin but they didn't speak.

Looking at my blood stained hands and clothes where I had tried to help Carlisle get the girl out they both rushed past me out across the front yard with their hands over their mouth and nose, what was going on? They were followed by Rose and Emmett leaving me alone until Alice joined me at the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened Bella? We need to get you cleaned up, come on."

She almost dragged me upstairs and into her room with its own bathroom and handed me some towels opening drawers until she found clothes which she laid on the bed.

"Shower and change Bella quickly please."

Then she was gone leaving me alone my head spinning with questions.

I did as she said and showered leaving my clothes in the bedroom and when I came out they were gone, just the clean clothes of hers she had left out for me. It was a good job we were around the same size! Once dressed I opened the door a little to see if she was outside but instead I heard her talking to Carlisle,

"I burned her clothes, do you think she saw anything? Edward said he had to rip the door off its hinges to get the girl out. He had to stay behind and clean up the scene."

"I don't know Alice but if he hadn't Lauren Mallory would be dead by now. As it is I've managed to stabilize her and I called for an ambulance."

Lauren Mallory? It was one of our school friends in that car? I hadn't recognized her.

"The others left the house, it's a good job Charlotte had hunted or the blood might have set her off. Maybe Rose is right Carlisle after all, Bella could have been killed and I didn't see a thing."

"She wasn't and the others just made themselves scarce Alice. Now go see if Bella is finished, Edward is back."

I heard the front door open and close and then Edward's voice,

"Bella? Bella are you OK?"

How had Carlisle known Edward was back before he burst into the house? I shut the door again silently and collapsed into the easy chair in Alice's room. It hit me then there was no bed, what did she sleep in? Not this chair surely? It was another mystery and I decided I needed to find out what was really going on. I tried to compile a mental list of all the odd things I had discovered about the Cullens.

They didn't appear to eat or drink, Alice had no bed, they didn't quite fit in, they were cold skinned, very pale, they had strange colored eyes, they skipped school whenever it was sunny, Edward had demonstrated great speed and strength tonight saving Lauren, they didn't like the smell of blood (not that it was odd, neither did I), Charlotte might have attacked if she hadn't hunted. I had no idea what the last meant but strange thoughts started whizzing around in my head, I remembered horror stories of monsters and vampires and the Cullens seemed to fit in there somewhere.

Vampires hated sunlight, they were strong and fast and they lived on blood, human blood. But vampires also had no reflection and didn't come out in pictures and I had seen Esme and Alice both check themselves in the mirror and I had a photograph of Edward in my purse. It was all so crazy but there was something going on and I wanted to know what so with a deep breath I pulled myself together got up and went downstairs to confront my strange boyfriend.