magic, jasper hale [1] ✔︎

15. The Nomads

Magnolia turned her attention to where the rest of the Cullen's were looking. Out from the forest came three vampires, nomads from the looks of them. The middle was a darker toned man with dreads, and next to him was a woman with wild red hair and almost cat-like features, and a man with pale blonde hair and a deep-set face, but they all had one thing in common; their glowing red eyes. Magnolia shivered.

The Cullen's stood as casually as possible. Reluctantly, Jasper let go of Magnolia. He stood next to Emmett. "Stay behind me, you'll be fine." He told her softly. Again, Magnolia looked at Bella. She shuddered as she Edward stand in front of her protectively, and she realized how truly human Bella looked at that moment.

The middle vampire held up a ball. "I believe this belongs to you." He spoke with a very obvious French accent. He tossed the ball back to Carlisle, who forced a kind smile.

"Thank you." Carlisle caught the ball and nodded.

"I am Laurent, and this is Victoria," The red-head nodded cockily. "And James." The blonde one didn't acknowledge Carlisle, he was staring intensely at Bella. The hairs on the back of Magnolia's neck stood up. James unsettled her.

"I'm Carlisle, this is my family," Carlisle gestured to the rest of the group standing around him. Laurent nodded respectfully to each of them. "I'm afraid your hunting activists have caused something of a mess for us." Carlisle was trying to defuse the situation. Magnolia could tell Jasper was using his powers to help as well.

"Our apologies," Laurent said. "We didn't realize the territory had been claimed." He chuckled lightly.

"Yes, well we maintain a permanent residence nearby." The whole Cullen family was tense, as all their eyes darted in between the three nomads.

Laurent chuckled. "Really? Well...we won't be a problem anymore," His red eyes darted to Magnolia. He tilted his head at the sight of her large frightened blue eyes. "We were just passing through." Magnolia tried her best to calm herself, taking large and long breaths.

"The humans were tracking us but we lead them east," The red-head, Victoria, smirked. "You should be safe."

"Excellent." Carlisle nodded stiffly.

Laurent smiled and laughed. "So...could you use three more players?"
The atmosphere seemed to tense even more, at least to Magnolia, but the vampires seemed calm; Jasper must've been using his abilities to defuse the situation. The Cullen's looked between each other. "Oh come on, just one game." Laurent smiled, showing his dazzling white teeth.

Carlisle sighed. "Sure, why not. A few of us were leaving, you can take their place," He looked at Magnolia, then Bella and Edward. "We'll bat first." He threw the ball towards Laurent, but Victoria caught it.

"I'm the one with the wicked curveball." She smirked.

Jasper chuckled. "Oh, well I think we can handle that." Magnolia reached for his hand, trying to calm her nerves. He squeezed her hand tightly, never taking his eyes off the three vampires in front of them.

Laurent and Victoria laughed. "Ohh, we shall see."

The two teams turned to their respective places. Jasper turned to Magnolia. "You go with Edward and Bella, you'll be safer at home." He kissed her forehead lightly.