Chapter nineteen: the Surprise
It was the week before Christmas when it happened. Bella woke up with a jolt even though her dreams had been relatively peaceful over all. She found herself gasping awake with a pounding heart and sweaty forehead as her eyes scanned the still dark room around her. Glancing at her alarm clock on her nightstand, it told her that it was only seven o'clock in the morning. Her body felt hesitant and shaky as she lowered her feet to the ground and slowly walked to her window, peeking between the curtains to scan the darkness outside didn't do much. Her sight was much better than before but she couldn't see anything amiss outside, her heart kept fluttering nervously in her chest. She glanced around her room wondering if Edward's shadowy-self had shown up to confirm her trepidation, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She lowered her tensed shoulders and sighed deeply.
"You seem tense today." Charlie murmured to her in the kitchen a few hours later as Billy laughed about something on the television in the other room.
"Yeah," she sighed, "I don't know why. I'm fine though."
"If it's because of Billy you can tell me, I will-"
"It's not because of Billy, dad."
Charlie smiled sadly, ruffled her hair gently and moved back to the living room.
She leant her hands against the kitchen counter, leaning her head towards the ground, exhaling through clenched teeth as another wave of uneasiness crashed into her. She straightened her back and moved to the small shelf in the kitchen close to the backdoor which held the few cookery books and magazines Charlie and herself had collected over the years. She found baking the perfect way to get her overactive mind to calm down and relax. Checking the cupboards she decided to make an attempt at some sort of Christmas bread with raisins and candied peel, knowing how much Charlie would enjoy it. She rumbled in her bag to find her almost-falling-apart edition of Persuasion and MP3 player.
"Dad?" She said as she peeked around the corner, MP3 player and book in one hand, "I'm going to be baking and reading in the kitchen if that's okay?"
"Of course, Bells!" He exclaimed with a smile from his armchair before frowning, "Baking and reading at the same time?"
She smiled at him, "I'm going to try baking some bread, which will need to proof for a while." He nodded at her even though he didn't have a clue what she meant.
It was about two hours later that everything turned around very quickly. Bella's form had finally relaxed, soft melodies playing as she held her book in one hand and lifted the towel which she had placed over the bowl containing the dough, to check how high the dough was when a sharp sense of awareness pierced through her body, making her feel on high alert in a fraction of a second. Her heart sped up to an even quicker tempo when she noticed Edward's see-through from staring at her with wide panicked eyes from the backdoor. She ripped her headphones out and threw her book on the counter as she moved towards his shape, trying to hear if something had happened to Charlie and Billy when her attention was pulled towards the kitchen window. Her breathing stocked as a deep and painful sense of panic, fear and total horror gripped her.
"No." She whimpered with shaking hands as she saw the collection of red-eyed, pale vampires slowly appearing from the tree line all the way at the back of the backyard, coming to a stop to stare at her with cruel smirks and wide, scary eyes. She cursed at herself when she realised her cell phone was still on her desk upstairs, since nobody really texted her except for Angela when she needed her.
Her head snapped around when a loud bang rang through the kitchen, her book had clattered down from the counter where she had haphazardly thrown it down. Her chest was heaving painfully as she took a step back, her hand moving behind her to touch the wall. Her stomach sick with nerves and panic. Her mind racing as to what to do next when a hand closed around her arm.
"Bells?" Charlie said with confusing in his voice, "Are you alright?"
"Dad-" She started but she couldn't get the words out, her eyes lowered as Billy rolled into the kitchen with furrowed eyebrows. "What's going on?"
"I need you to call Jacob, now." She told Billy with a shaky and tense voice.
"Why do I need to call-"
"What the hell?" Charlie cursed as he released Bella's arm, "Why are there like twenty people just standing in my backyard?" He was about to stalk to the backdoor when Bella's hand wrapped around his wrist with an icy, hard grip and tugged him back like he weighed next to nothing.
He stumbled past her and bumped his shoulder against the wall, clutching his wrist. "Ouch! Bella, what-"
"You need to get back now!" She hissed with panic in her voice, Charlie flinching back when he noticed from up close how her eyes changed from a very dark brown to a very deep black. Her eyes almost unnaturally wide, making his heart beat faster with a sudden flinch of fear.
"What's going on?" He said at the same time as Billy held the phone against his ear with a shaking hand, his face pale and his eyes wide. "Are they-"
"Yes, they are." She said as she squared her shoulders and started to move towards the backdoor, reaching out for the doorhandle when Billy's warm hand encircled her wrist.
"You can't." Billy started, his eyes wide as he eyed her. His hand felt clammy and too warm around her wrist. "You can't go outside."
"I have to-" She started as Charlie interrupted her, "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here."
"I'll tell you later." She said with a shaky voice.
"Why are there so many people just standing in my fucking yard?"
"I'll explain everything I promise, dad. I just-"
"You cannot go outside, Bella. If you go they'll-"
"Think about what they'll do if I don't go outside Billy." She said with a hard voice as she finally heard Jacob pick up the phone. "We both know they're here for me." She murmured to him.
"You need to get here now. There's about twenty of them in Charlie's garden right now." Billy said at the same time as Charlie said, "What do you mean they're here for you? Do you know them?"
"No, dad. I can't-"
"No they're not doing anything at the moment, they're just standing there staring at the house. I don't fucking kn-"
As Billy focused on the loud growls and snaps on the other side of the line, Bella pulled her wrist out of his grip with ease and moved towards the backdoor with a swift and graceful speed Charlie had never seen his daughter use before. The door slammed close just a bit too loud as she rushed towards them with her head held high and panic raging through her body like a hot fire.
"What are you not telling me, Billy!" She hard Charlie say harshly inside, "What is it that you know and that she knows, but you won't tell me?"
"I can't-" Billy started, she hadn't heard his voice filled with fear and frustration like this before. Their voices blended into the background as she honed in on the adrenaline running through her body like an unknown force.
She faced the horde of pale, unfamiliar and still unmoving vampires in front of her with dread and anxiety high in her throat. She took rapid, deep breaths as she took calculated steps towards them. Praying for some sort of miracle to appear as she stared through Edward's form trying to motion her that she should run in the opposite direction as fast as she could, but she knew all too well that she couldn't. Even if Charlie and Billy hadn't been inside and if the pack had been closer than all the way over in La Push, she couldn't run as fast as them anyway. She could just about reach Jacob's speed at this point.
The air rushing through her lungs felt cold and crisp. The grass beneath her feet crunchy due to the frost clinging onto it. She wished and begged whatever deity which may or may not be listening that they would get it over with quickly and leave Charlie and Billy alone, but she knew that was probably not going to happen. She wondered why they hadn't moved from the tree line when they started rushing towards her too from the back of Charlie's massive backyard.
It wasn't until they started rushing towards her that she stopped and stiffened. Like her body was getting ready for whatever was coming, hoping it wasn't going to be too painful. The pounding fright in her head made her feel like someone had dunked her into ice water, she couldn't hear Charlie and Billy arguing inside. Billy kept stopping Charlie from running outside to protect his daughter from whatever was going on that he didn't understand. She didn't hear half of the red-eyed vampires hissing as her scent became more potent as they moved closer to her. She realised not only how much she was shaking but also felt like the sheer amount of adrenaline rushing through her was probably the only thing keeping her upright right now. She brought her arms out in a protective stance as if to keep them at bay and away from her form, but cold fingers and hard nails clawed against her neck and arm when everything went completely quiet and black inside her mind.
When she would think back about this moment days, months and even years later she still couldn't remember how it had all come together in the end. All she remembered was how one moment she felt claw-like fingers go through the skin of her neck and arm, she had felt a deep sense of dread not knowing what to do, feeling like she had pressed a slow-motion button as she was able to take in all of their faces and study how elegantly they moved and the next the painful iciness in her chest made her feel more pain than ever before. Her heart skipped a few painful beats as the icy fire didn't just expand from her chest, but burst open all around her, making the vampire which had reached her just a fraction of second before the others fly back and land on their back just behind the tree line several yards away. She felt like she was being split open with fire and ice, she screamed out in pain as her arms shot out in front of her in an attempt to control the excruciating wave of pain rolling from her. She almost felt like she was able clench her nails into it, forcing her chest and mind to move the pain out and as far as she could. Her head was thrown back with gritted teeth, she didn't see the pink and orange, twilight sky above her, throwing a colourful hue over the scene happening in Charlie's backyard. She didn't even feel the blood slowly dripping from her neck and arm, making the angry vampires in front of her lose control of their thirst.
She waited for their vicious attack for a few seconds but frowned when nothing happened. Tilting her head back down she slowly opened her eyes whilst still trying to focus on the painful blanket-like force which she was somehow managing to barely control around her. The pain ebbing in and around her body was overwhelming, the scars on her arms and chest itching painfully as she stared with big, wide eyes past her shaking, clenched hands in front of her. The vampires almost looked like they had been frozen into place, she didn't realise yet that the pressure she had been able to expand from inside of her chest had now wrapped itself around the intruders in the garden. Forcing them to not move with all her will and might, clenching this thing which she couldn't name yet around them as hard and tight as she could. She could feel some of her fingers crack under the pressure as her hands shook harder and harder. Her breathing was laboured like she had just sprinted a few miles when Charlie rushed through the door behind them and ran towards her.
His thoughts were going a million miles an hour as he saw the stance of his daughter and the unmoving people several yards away from her. She looked powerful and stiff as she groaned through her teeth, a light sheen of sweat appearing on her forehead as dizziness started filling her head.
"Bella, what-"
"Get back inside now Charlie!" Billy yelled as he rushed his wheelchair out the backdoor with a speed which surely must've hurt his arms and rattled his whole body. He barrelled over the terrace stones and through the grass as he came to a standstill behind Charlie, who had now reached Bella's badly shaking form.
"What the fuck." Charlie said as he stared at the unmoving people, his heart racing not just with the exertion of running but with the natural shock and fear of facing a group of unnatural beings. "What the-" He started again as he took in everything in front of him, was something dripping from Bella's arm?
"Their eyes are red?" He said with a whisper. He saw how three of them were suddenly able to move their arms again as Bella gasped and stumbled back with weak knees.
"Why do they look at us like they want to kill us?" He asked Billy, all the blood draining from his face.
"Because they want to." Billy said, praying for the pack to show up but knowing full well it would probably take a few more minutes.
Charlie rushed towards Bella's shaking form, wrapping his arms around her waist, letting her lean back against his chest, trying to support her as well as he could. He could just about see the side of her face as it fell back again, drawn with pain, her mouth open in a painful gasp and her eyes rolled back so he could barely see the darkness of her eyes but only the whites. It took him a few moments before he realised she was bleeding from her neck and arm.
"I don't know what this is Bella, I don't know what the hell is going on." He murmured into her ear, gripping her tighter and tighter with his shaking hands and arms whilst feeling her shake. "But I've got you."
"Charlie, we should-"
"She's bleeding, Billy!" He said.
"Has she been bitten?" Billy said with a sudden urgency in his voice.
"Why the hell would someone bite her, Billy?" Charlie grunted out angrily.
"Just check!"
"No!" He said as he zoned in on her neck and arm. "It's like someone scratched her, with damn claws."
"Good." Bily answered, relief in his voice.
"What the fuck Billy!" He swore angrily. "She's hurt and bleeding, how is that good?"
"I'll explain later."
The silence between them was almost tangible by now as they tried to catch their breaths.
"She's-" Billy started, his hand shaking too now, "she's doing this?" He said whilst looking at the blood-thirsty vampires, mostly frozen in front of them. Every now and then he could see fingers twitching, jaws clenching or knees moving just a fraction of an inch but they seemed to be frozen in time. Like someone was pressing pause on a remote control.
"You are doing so well, Bella." Charlie continued saying gently, trying to carry as much of her weight against his body as he could as he felt her fall back more. Her gasps sounded more painful by the minute.
"I can't-" She grunted out as her eyes rolled back into place, her head leaning back on Charlie's shoulder, a single tear running down her left cheek. "It hurts."
"Just a bit longer, Bella." Billy said, feeling the electricity in the air. "They'll be here soon."
She whimpered in pain and moaned as she clenched her fingers tighter in front of her.
"I think I'm-"
"Yes!" Billy exclaimed as Charlie followed his gaze and froze, still holding a tight grip on his daughter.
"What the fuck!" Charlie said as he paled visible, staring at a massive pack of giant wolves.
"We need to run!" He whispered to Billy, "I don't know if I can carry her, we need to-"
"It's okay Charlie." Billy said with relief in his voice, his eyes dancing with a knowing and relieved glint. "We're all going to be okay."
"Are-" Bella couldn't get the rest of the sentence out as more tears streamed down her face, her vision blurry and the edges getting darker and darker.
"They're here Bella, just a few more seconds and then you can let go." She whimpered gratefully as she sagged against Charlie even more.
The sharp sounds of vampires being ripped apart filled the backyard, Charlie turned even paler which quickly changed into a sickly green as he noticed what was happening in front of them before removing his eyes from the scene in front of him.
"Am I hallucinating? What is this?"
"We'll explain everything later." Billy said, knowing he should be tense about a human being in on the whole secret but only feeling relief as he looked at his son and his friends ripping apart twenty or so cold ones.
"Are they collecting body parts-" Charlie started with a high voice but he decided to just let it be and closed his eyes, pressing his face against the back of Bella's head.
"It's okay. We're all okay." He whispered to her.
"Bella," Billy started, getting closer to them with a gentle voice, "It's over. You can relax now." The second Billy stopped talking Bella gasped again, eyes rolling back as she lost consciousness, becoming a deadweight in Charlie's arms.
"I've got you." He kept murmuring as his knees gave out, his arms shaking as he pulled her closer to him. "We're okay." He kept repeating as he stared at the now almost dark forest when a thick cloud was suddenly seen from deep into the forest.
"We're alright."