Parallax

Chapter 8

"And besides, Alice would already have protested if she saw that I was going to get hurt, right Alice?" She turned towards the pixie who gave her an answering smile.

"She'll be fine" Alice assured everyone. Her assurance seemed to at least ease the worried look on the others especially Esme and Carlisle who went back to their seats but was still observing them.

Even with Alice's words, Kate was still hesitating while Bella held her hand out to her.

"All right but I'll start low and build it up" she warned then finally grabbed Bella's hand in a firm hold.

Bella didn't know what anyone was expecting to happen but in the next few seconds, nothing happened except for Kate's changing expression from one of worry, to concentration, to annoyance, to wonder and finally, she looked impressed as she let go of her hand.

"Well, that was anti-climactic" Emmett observed with a hint of disappointment.

Bella raised her eyebrow at him "Were you expecting me to go writhing on the ground?"

"Of course not! " Emmett had the decency to look appalled at the suggestion that she wanted to see Bella hurt. "I just wanted to see if sparks would show when you're blocking Kate's gift" he shrugged.

"You know that's not how my powers work right? " Kate told him and Emmett just shrugged.

"Looks like I lost then" he finally admitted.

"Told you Bella's shield was strong. Pay up" Jasper smiled triumphantly and held his palm up while Emmett dropped a crisp one hundred dollar bill from his pocket.

Jasper turned to Bella and winked which caused Bella's cheeks to turn red. She may have been able to keep her emotions about him in check whenever he was around but she wasn't quite prepared when Jasper was interacting with her directly.

"That's enough testing of Bella's gift. Why don't you all get cleaned up first so we can talk later? "Carlisle announced and he was looking at his children regarding the last part.

Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper left right away while the Denali sisters lingered a little to talk to Eleazar and Carmen before they went to their rooms to also clean up. Bella went back to her spot in front of the fireplace but instead of continuing her reading, she let her mind wander until the others were back and gathered in the living room.

"Now that we're all here. I believe it's time that we discuss the situation in Forks" Carlisle started.

"I thought we were going to wait for Edward to return?" Rosalie reminded and her tone suggested that she wasn't really interested with the discussion but because it was a family matter, she had no choice but to join.

"This matter is something that needs to be discussed with or without Edward." Carlisle told his daughter then turned towards Bella "Bella, Alice told us that Victoria was back, is that true?"

At the mention of Victoria, Bella noticed that Irina suddenly was alert and was paying attention to Carlisle and the conversation. She thought she could see a hint of worry in her eyes but Bella couldn't understand why and she didn't feel that it was the right time to ask. Instead, she looked at her adoptive father and nodded.

"She's been spotted trying to get into Forks and the Quileute's have been on the lookout for her"

She had suddenly regretted not having been able to have the time to talk to Jacob about Victoria. She could have at least gathered information that she can share to the Cullens like how long had she been trying to get in, were there any casualties, had they clashed with her already?