Chapter 17

I'd like to thank Mama4Dukes for being my Beta on this chapter. She's an amazing writer, but an even better friend! Love you, sis!

Song for this Chapter: Who Knew by P!nk

"She's… ready…for…! She's too…" My brain was only catching every other word my dad was yelling.

I could hear Peter and Char yelling as well, but my foggy brain just wanted to go back into the oblivion it had just left.

If they'd quit yelling, I knew I could go back to sleep. So I rolled over and tried to catch the thread of sleep once again.

"Need a blanket," and soon enough, I was warm.

"Do you think she'll get…." a few seconds later I heard dad ask someone about something.

"How much did you give her?" a whispered question floated through my mind. Give me? What the fuck? Give me what? And I'd completely lost my thread of sleep.

When I rolled over. I was facing the front window of my dad's home. It was dark outside, but it was my dad's worried eyes that my own were focused on.

"Give me what?" I asked, sitting up from the couch. I stretched, rolled my neck, and yawned all at the same time. The clock on the VCR read 5:43pm. Shit, did I sleep through lunch and dinner?

When my brain finally caught up to why I'd passed out, my breath started coming out in pants.

Shit! I'd lost my mind…

Now, my dad won't want to keep me around. I mean, who'd want a daughter who couldn't keep her cool when confronted by an ex that my father thought of as his own son? I mean, Jacob practically lived right next door to my dad. I'd only been back in life for less than a few days, and I'd only caused the man grief.

I wouldn't want to keep me around.

"Bella! Breathe through your nose and out your mouth, kiddo. Please, calm down," my dad's pleading voice broke through the depths of my mind.

I heard Dad say a panic attack to my vampires. Then his warm hands cupped my face. It was staring into his eyes that brought me down off the ledge. He was saying words like 'good'… 'I've got you'... 'Breathe'

When I regained some sense of self I felt my own cheeks grow warm with a blush that hadn't been on them in years. He kissed my forehead as he pulled away from me. His hand was still holding onto my own.

"Sor.. Sorry," I stuttered.

"I've seen them before, honey. In my line of work, we were taught how to help the person living through one."

I nodded my head as I got up from the couch. My legs were wobbly, and I grabbed onto the arm as I moved to get around it. I needed to go to the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face.

After coming back downstairs, I saw that someone, probably Char, had a small plate of food and a Sprite sitting on the coffee table. My dad was eating in his recliner, but I didn't know if I'd be able to keep anything down. I also didn't want to offend anyone, so I picked up my plate.

After pushing its contents around for a few seconds, I asked, "What have I missed?"

Before passing out, I'd thought it was around 11am or so.

"Eat. Then we'll talk," Peter commanded. He knew me well. So I tried to do as I was told. I only got a few bites down, but it was going to have to be enough.

At this point in my life, I figured I'd catch up on food and sleep once I was dead.

Char cleared Dad's and my plates away when I looked up at Peter, waiting for the answer to my earlier question.

"I believe I might have jumped the gun a little," he started. "You need some serious rest and a hell of a lot more food in you before anything else comes up. I need you to…" I put my hand up to stop him as he was.

"You're talking about the Cullen's, right?" After his nod, "Peter, don't start using kid gloves on me now. This whole fucked up thing with the pack is over for me. I'm done with them. The only thing left is the crying."

This is where I needed to know some things from my dad. "Can they hear me?" I asked Peter, at the quick no. I turned on my seat to face my dad.

"How mad are you about the pack? After everything you've found out since Friday? I'm at the let the world burn stage. But are you?"

Charlie seemed to really think over his answer. I looked up to Peter to see if he knew, but he just shrugged. So I turned back to dad.

"Yeah, I believe I could stand to see some smoke rising up from the reservation. What do you have in mind?"

I told him of my plans. I knew that I was being dramatic but I believe that they'd earned what I was going to unleash on each and everyone of them.

"What about Sue? You guys are supposed to get married in a few days. You know what my plans will do to her. Are you going to be able to live with those consequences?"

After a moment, he nodded. "Did you ever talk to her today?" I'd missed several hours being drugged and all.

"No, but I plan on handling the situation as soon as possible. It's something that needs to be done face-to-face. But I don't want to meet on the rez or at the church."

"A public place with lots of human witnesses seems warranted, Chief," Peter stated.

Charlie nodded his head, "Give me a couple of hours to think of somewhere."

"So back to the Cullens where are they and when do they want to meet?" I was in need of another shower, and I'd hoped I could take my time.

"Whenever you're ready. I really think it should wait, but I can see you set on getting it over with." Peter didn't look happy, but as I've said over and over, he knows me well.

"Peter, I need to get all of my breaking done at once. Then I might be able to start the healing process."

So we decided to meet up with the coven at the park near the high school. It was surrounded by trees. It was a Monday night, it was already after 6pm. The only outside baseball game had been over for a while. The park should be empty. No one would be there.

So, after another really hot shower. I dressed in a black flowy blouse, white wash jeans, and my black Converse. Dad, too, took another shower and changed his clothes.

Soon enough, Dad and I arrived at the park. He was getting used to driving my little hot rod. Peter and Charlotte were in the parking lot waiting for us. Neither vampire looked happy. My dad looked like he could spit nails, but I was ready to rid my life of all of my demons.

"Can they hear me?" I asked Peter as he opened the car door for me.

"Yeah, it's down," he whispered in my ear. I knew no one other than me heard his reply, but I needed to know what I was walking into. With a nod of my head, the four of us walked to the center of the park.

There they stood. Carlisle and Esme are in the front. Jasper and Alice are to their left. Emmett and Rosalie are to their right. Edward stood off to their side.

Being vampires, they hadn't changed a bit in the last five years.

But seeing them after all this time, my mind wandered.

The heartbreak, the depression, the loneliness all came back. Those long months where I'd hoped this moment would happen.

The songs I've made hundreds of thousands of dollars from, written with them in my head as I poured out my soul.

These people were the start of my end.

Everything that happened while with them.

Everything that happened to me since they'd left. Throwing me away like a piece of trash.

Every moment that I'd been alone was caused in major and minor ways by this group of vampires.

And I had a mind-boggling thought.

It wasn't Icky Vickie.

The pack.

Elder's.

It was them.

They were why I was living the life I was living now. They were my enemies all along.

"Isabella, so good to see you once again. Charlie," Carlisle nodded towards my dad, and I realized that I didn't want my dad within five hundred miles of the things.

My dad and I were human.

My best friends, Peter and Charlotte, were vampires.

The beings before me were things.

Neither human nor vampire. Things…

Jasper must have felt something coming off of me, because his whole body went rigid as I stood there having a life changing moment.

Yeah, mother fucker! I see you and your family for who you really are.

I'd thought I'd worked through the issues I'd had where this coven was concerned, but it turned out I hadn't. No, I'd only just scratched the surface of a very deep wound.

I thought I knew where most of the blame lay, but it was the whole group, not just this person or that one. The whole fucking group.

"Bella," Asshole #1 spoke my name.

I looked at each individual thing, and I could suddenly see their flaws. They weren't the beautiful people I'd longed to see. They were ugly. Self-absorbed. They are completely out of their mother fucking minds!

"Dr Cullen," I nodded my head. I completely ignored Asshole's acknowledgment.

Peter took a step closer to me. His gift must have been going off like crazy.

"Bella?" Both Alice and Emmett spoke at once. They were both acting like we'd just seen each other recently and we'd left off as great friends.

I never took my eyes off of their leader. And I could clearly see now that that was what Carlisle Cullen really was, their leader.

"When Peter called to have us come back to Forks. Telling us of the trouble you are in, we came as soon as we could."

I said nothing. I heard the lie as it slithered out of his mouth.

"You've grown into such a beautiful woman, Bella. I can hardly believe it," Esme's sweet voice exclaimed.

Bullshit.

"Jasper," both Peter and Char acknowledged their maker. My friend's tone wasn't scolding but damn close to it. However, I could also tell that something more was being said between the three. That one word was loaded.

And at that moment, I knew what to say: "Dr. Cullen, can you please ask your coven to quit talking to me as if we're old friends? I believe we all know that is not the case."

Each vampire looked rather irritated and hurt by my statement, but I'd already lost every ounce of respect that I ever had for them.

Yes, some may know more than others, but they were all found guilty in my mind.

"Excuse me?"

"You're a… vampire," my mouth almost said thing. "I know you heard what I just said. You heard me very clearly."

I watched as the perfectly perfected facade fell from his face.

"You were called here to help explain some things to my father and me. And explain you will." My voice held more authority than it had in the last few days.

If facing Jacob earlier had taught me one thing, it was to always be direct and to the point when dealing with supernatural beings.

"By whose orders do you believe you can ask anything of myself or my family?" he retorted back. I wanted to whip that smug look and tone off of this face.

"Hold on a second. Let me make a call," and I did.

I dialed a number that I'd been calling once a month for over two years. Hoping for answers that weren't given. Until I'd given them another year of my humanity in exchange.

If the Cullen coven needed someone in authority. I'd sure as shit give them what they wanted.

"Isabella, calling so soon? Did things not go well with your father?" an Italian accent pierced the night.

I had a smile on my face as each of the things in front of me seemed to cower for the disembodied voice.

"Oh no sir. Things are still new but I'm hoping with time my father and I can come to some agreement," we already had but no one needed to know that.

"Things with the pack weren't going as planned. So, a friend called the Cullen Coven to come help fix the situation that they left behind. Long story short, now that they are here. They aren't so willing to dole out answers being asked… You did tell me that it was under my authority as the soon-to-be turned to use any means necessary to help my father see how being a vampire won't be so horrible for me, right?"

I could play the poor, pitiful pearl just as well as the next female.

"Well, my brothers and I haven't had time to talk to the Cullen coven about their ill decisions yet. I believe Caius was going to them shortly, but since you and they are now together. I believe you may save him a trip," Aro sounded jovial, as he spoke. "I can hear one other heartbeat near you, does it belong to your father?"

"Yes. Nine vampires, my father, and I are just starting our meeting," I whined through the phone.

"Carlisle Cullen, you and your family will give my Isabella anything and everything she asks for. I want her to be happy. To make her or her father unhappy will only bring more misery onto you and your…family."

Click…

I couldn't keep the gleeful smile off of my face as I looked up to the vampire standing before me…

Checkmate!

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