Heart in Your Hands

Chapter 18

In a very dramatic way, three vampires walked towards. A redhead, a white guy, and a black man. Their eyes were not like the Cullen's, they were a deep red, so dark they were practically black.

The woman was beautiful, dare I say like Rosalie.

"I believe this belongs to you." The man in the middle said raising the baseball up. He tossed it to Carlisle, who thanked him. "I am Laurent. And this is Victoria, and James." I was shaken to my core when I realized James was staring at Bella.

I didn't want the attention on me, but I also didn't want my sister to be in danger, so I stayed put. Even if he did attack, there wasn't much I could do. I was a defenseless frail human girl. All I could do is scratch kick and pull hair.

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family." Laurent greeted us with a nod while the woman and other guy remained silent, narrowing their gaze at us. "I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us."

Genuine gilt flashed through Laurent, "I apologize. We didn't realize the territory had been claimed."

"Yes, well, we maintain a permanent residence nearby." Carlisle said with a smile, though it seemed like he was trying his best to remain calm. Just like everyone else.

"Really?" Edward curled his hand around my waist and slid his fingers just a few inches under my shirt. I kept still, so that it wouldn't be obvious that the cold of his skin had an effect on me. "Well, we won't me a problem anymore. We were just passing through."

Speaking finally, Victoria smirked, "The humans were tracking us, but we led them east. You should be safe."

"So, could you use three more players? Come on. Just one game." Laurent was persistent, and since we didn't want them to get aggressive, Carlisle said they could. Because what could possibly go wrong.

"Sure, why not. A few of us were leaving anyway. You could take their place. We'll bat first." Carlisle threw the ball at Laurent and Victoria caught it instead.

She had a tight grip on the ball, "I'm the one with the wicked curveball."

Emmett and Jasper shared a look. "Well, I think we can handle that," Jasper joked. Laurent clapped his hands, and I was quick to take my sister's hand and squeeze it.

Edward still had his hands on my waist, so he led us to the Jeep. Zeke was holding on to Bella's waist like Eddie was doing with me. And just like I feared, the wind blew, and I could feel James quite literally inhale our scent. Mine and my sisters.

James laughed to himself, "You brought snacks."

I pulled Bells behind me, and Zeke and Edward stood in front of me blocking any view they had of us. Carlisle pushed his two sons behind him and tried to resolve it, but James was already hooked. Esme and Rosalie moved us to the back, so the entire Cullen family was protecting us.

"I can see the game is over." Laurent stood back and called to James so they can leave. Once James stood up, Victoria followed, and they left.

"Take the girls away. Go." Edward and Zeke rushed us to the Jeep.

Bella got in the passenger seat, Zeke fumbled with her seatbelt until she just snapped and told him she can do it. "Hey, be careful!" I pointed at him as I got in the back seat with Edward. "I'll break your damn hands."

"It's fine, he's just making sure she's secured." I fell back into the seat with a deep breath. "Listen to me. James is a tracker. The hunt is his obsession. I read his mind." He pulled away from me and gripped the back of Zeke's chair furious. "Our reaction on the field set him off. We just made this his most exciting game ever." He turned to me with his brows furrowed glaring at me. "He's never gonna stop."

I was stressing out and wasn't liking the way he was raising his voice, "First of all, this isn't my fault! Quit raising your voice at me." I smacked his thigh hard, and he groaned. I was surprised by his reaction; it was always fake pain but that was genuine. "What's wrong?"

Edward's eyes darted to me with his eyes wide. "It hurt. You hurt me."

Crossing my arms, I frowned. "Well, don't make it sound like I abuse you." He was flabbergasted, then shook his head as if to get any thoughts out of his head.

"Take us home!" Bella said to Zeke.

Nearly jumping over the console, I gaped at her, "Are you crazy!? He'll be looking for us, we can't lead him straight to dad!" Edward quickly gripped my waist to keep me from flying out the car. I turn to him desperate. "What do we do?"

"We need to get you two out of here." He pulls me down into his lap and I close my eyes frustrated.

Then I take out my phone and dial moms number. After the second ring she answers, Bella mouths to me 'what are you doing?' and I tell her to wait with my hand. "Mom, hey." I put it on speaker.

"Hi sweetie, why are you calling me so late?"

"Sorry, mom. It's just, Bella and I went on a spontaneous trip to phoenix. Edward and Zeke are coming too but we don't want dad to know." My voice was rushed and urgent. I probably should have come up with something better, but I'm to stressed to think. I just don't want dad to be killed because of us. "We're just being teenagers, you know."

Her laugh rings through the car. "Oh, I do know. Sure, I'll call your father and tell him a little white lie. Make sure you use protection!"

"Thanks mom, love you." Bella had a worried look in her face, Zeke was holding on to her knee rubbing circles over her jeans. Edward slipped his hand under my shirt to hold onto my warm belly rolls. As if I wasn't insecure, but it wasn't the time to lash out at him for it, now.