Sheilds of power

Chapter 14- Weekend with the Vampires

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Twilight or its characters, they are all owned by Stephanie Meyer.

Chapter 14- Weekend with the Vampires

When I arrived at school, as I suspected, the Cullens acted differently. Edward ignored me, treating me as though there was a glass wall between us, and after his vague nod in reply to my, "Good morning Edward," I let him be. I was slightly hurt that he felt the need to ignore me, but I understood to an extent. He was trying to separate me from the vampire world, and I wished I could tell him that his efforts were pointless- I was already far more prominent in his world then he realised.

The others also acted different, but they didn't ignore me. Alice was even friendlier than normal- if that's even possible. I remembered that she saw visions of the future and probably knew we were still going to be friends, and that I wouldn't tell anyone their secret. Jasper was wary, but I knew he was just being protective of Alice, so I didn't let it bother me. Rose was still friendly, although she was a bit more reserved and cautious. Emmett of course, was, well... Emmett. He didn't seem to be bothered at all, and was the same as always, his boisterous attitude lifting the others slightly.

At lunch Rose finally asked cautiously, "So are you sure you're alright Bella?"

I smiled at her, "I'm fine Rose, not even a scratch on me. I'm lucky Edward was there to pull me out of the way."

The others looked at me, slightly surprised that I was lying to them as well, before Alice answered, "Yes, we'd all hate to think of what would have happened if he wasn't there." She assured me.

I grinned slightly and subtly changed the subject, "I have to admit though that I'm a little annoyed that my truck wasn't badly damaged," I groaned, "It would have been the perfect opportunity to get a new car."

They chuckled at me, "Don't worry Bella, you can always keep praying that a tree will fall on it," Emmett reminded me. I looked up to see his speculative expression and wondered whether he might anonymously push a tree onto my truck if I parked under one. I hoped so.

It bothered me more than I'd like to admit that Edward was ignoring me, and I could only hope that it wouldn't last long.

When I got home I decided it was time for a call to Volterra, no doubt they would be interested in this development. I sighed, wondering why I couldn't have found a normal school with no vampires in attendance for my final years of high school. But then I realised that I wouldn't have wanted that anyway, things were much more interesting with the Cullens around, especially Edward.

Knowing Charlie wouldn't be home for a couple of hours, I speed dialled Volterra. When they picked up I had Uncle Aro call all of them together to explain the car crash incident, and my confusion as to why Edward had instinctively saved me.

Caius was worried about exposure, but he soon calmed down when I assured him that I was the only one to see anything. They all talked quickly, their voices too quiet for me to hear over the phone, before Uncle Aro came back to me. "Bella, we think it would be best if you told them soon that you know about vampires." I drew a quick breath in surprise, "But of course, don't tell them about your gift, or that the vampires you know are us," he continued quickly. "Obviously they are going to be confused if you keep acting like you don't know anything when it's obvious you do, especially with how comfortable you are with them, so it's best if you just say you ran into a few vampires in Europe when you were four. Just omit our names, and the fact that you were in Italy." He reminded me.

"Okay," I agreed.

"If you do end up having to reveal your gift, or your connection to us, we'd rather you bring them to Volterra, where we can explain things to them properly." Uncle Caius added.