Chapter 53: Call
.
Call
For the most part, the next few days ended up passing by at a slow, steady pace. I spent most of that time resting and snuggling with Alice, though I would get up to eat and deal with my usual "human moments". I also spent a bit of time talking with Carlisle and Esme and playing games with the others, sometimes winning, sometimes losing.
Alice remained fervent that I not do anything too strenuous and was always nearby whenever I did anything, which I didn't mind too much. It took about two days for my body to fully heal, namely due to the venom inside of me. From what Carlisle had told me, I would be healing at an accelerated rate for a period of time, which I thought was cool.
It was Friday by the time my body had fully healed and Alice had let up on her super-protective mode-okay, she never stopped being super protective, but she wasn't as nervous or cautious around me as she had been, which was nice.
We had not heard from the wolves since they had come to our house, which worried me. I wondered what their council had said and whether or not they would return any time soon, though whenever I asked Alice she always told me not to worry about it. Eventually I gave up on asking her about it, though I still worried.
I sighed quietly and raised my arms to stretch both them and my neck. Currently I was in mine and Alice's room, pacing around as my mind wandered about. I was trying to think of something other than the threat of the wolves, but as usual, I couldn't.
"What's wrong, Bella?" Alice asked, lightly poking my stomach.
I giggled and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into me.
"Nothing's wrong, Alice," I replied, kissing her on the lips. "I'm just thinking."
"About what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Stuff," I replied.
She pouted. "That's not telling me much. C'mon, what are you thinking? Tell me, please?"
I bit my lip and pressed my forehead to hers. "Honestly? I'm worried about this whole wolf situation," I admitted. "We haven't heard anything from them and that scares me, Alice. What if they attack again, only this time the Alpha doesn't stop them?"
Alice pursed her lips. "Bella, how many times must I repeat myself? Will you please stop worrying about them already? They aren't your problem to worry about, they're for the rest of us to deal with, not you, Bella."
"But what if they decide that it's not "safe" enough here for me and they try to take me away or some shit like that?" I asked.
In truth, what I hadn't told Alice was that I'd had nightmares about that very thing happening. In my nightmares, the wolves would break into the house and begin fighting with my family members in an attempt to kill them. I would scream and beg them to stop, but no one would pay attention to my incessant shouting. They all continued to growl and snarl and fight.
Then a large figure would appear in my peripherals and grab me. I screamed and writhed around in the iron arms that held me, struggling with all my might to free myself. When I turned, I saw that my captor was Jacob, a blank look on his face as he started walking away from the others as they fought against each other. I tried to fight out of his grip and shouted Alice's name.
I watched as Alice sped after Jacob, eyes blazing and her arms outstretched to reach me, yet no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't catch up to him. That was usually the point that I would wake up with tear-stained eyes. Alice, who was always next to me, would snuggle into me and coo in my ear as she rubbed my back tenderly. She never once asked what I had dreamt of because she didn't want me to relive them.
Alice's eyes darkened intensely at my question. Her lips curled back and she let out a low, rumbling growl that caused her entire body to vibrate.
"They. Will. NOT," she snarled venomously. "I will killthem before they can even think of trying to do that, mark my words. Do not even start to believe that I would ever let those damned mongrels get their stinking paws on you."
I grimaced at the underlying threat in her voice and realized that I'd upset her. Smooth.
"I'm sorry Alice, I didn't mean to make you angry," I murmured, giving her an apologetic look.
Alice's face softened and she shook her head. "Oh no, Bella, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just don't like that you're thinking that way." She zoned out for a moment, her eyes glazing over as a vision hit her. When she came out of her, her brows knit together. "Bella...you were having nightmares about this? Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"I didn't want to scare you?" I offered.
Alice closed her eyes and pushed me down onto the bed, crawling on top of me a moment later, curling her arms around me and making certain that our foreheads were pressed together. Her honey orbs gazed into mine with nothing but love and warmth, showing that I meant the world to her and that she knew I felt the same way.
"Bella..." Alice paused and sighed. "I don't understand why I have to keep saying this. I mean, I get that this isn't something you're used to, I can understand that much. But I've told you time and time again, and yet you don't seem to hear me. So I will tell you one more time and I never, ever want you to forget it, do you understand?"
I bit my lip again, lightly chewing it. "Yes Alice," I replied, knowing that saying "no" would never work because she would keep at it until I gave in and said yes.
"Good. Bella, I love you," she stated firmly.
I rolled my eyes. "Alice, I know-" She cut me off with a fingertip to my lips.
"No. Let me finish first, okay?" she asked, kissing my forehead. "I. Love. You. You are my world; I want you to remember that. So when something bothers you, no matter what it is, I want you to tell me. And then I want you to forget about it. I want you to stop worrying about things that aren't worth your time. In fact, I never want you to worry ever again, because I will always be there to take care of your problems, I promise you."
She held my gaze, making sure that she meant every word that she said. I pulled her closer to me and rested my chin on her shoulder.
"I understand," I murmured.
Alice smirked and kissed my cheek, letting her lips linger. "Good. Now let's head downstairs and get you something to eat, hm?"
I frowned. "I'm not hun-" I stopped when my stomach let out a rumbling growl that sounded something like a demented lion, much to my embarrassment.
I blushed as Alice let out an airy laugh, kissing me tenderly on the lips upon finishing.
"Oh Bella, you amuse me sometimes," she giggled.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, give me a break. What's for lunch, by the way?"
Alice giggled again as she stood up, me in her arms as always. I was used to being carried around most of the time, despite my initial reluctance in allowing it. I used to feel bad because I felt as though I was forcing Alice to do it, but she idly waved off my protest and told me time and time again that she loved carrying me. Even after that, I felt odd having her carry me. But I didn't put up a fuss about it anymore and just let her, especially since I'd grown to enjoy it.
We were downstairs a few seconds later, Alice humming to herself as she gently set me down on the couch, sitting on my lap not even a second after. I grinned and pulled Alice closer to me, wrapping my arms around her waist as she snuggled into me.
Emmett and Jasper were currently sitting on the couch making a bet on whether or not Rosalie would be able to beat Edward in the video game they were playing. Carlisle was currently working while Esme was in the kitchen, apparently already on the ball with making me something to eat, which she always did. And Amara was...
"Where's Amara?" I asked.
Alice giggled. She certainly was full of giggles today. Well, every day, but that was far from being a bad thing.
"She's outside training again," she replied.
"Again? She's really persistent on training, isn't she?"
"Thanks to you," Alice replied, pressing her lips to mine once more.
Amara had apparently taken what I'd said, along with what Jasper, Esme and Carlisle had said, to heart and had buckled down on learning to better control her gift. She would spend hours on end in the woods behind our house manipulating fire, shaping it, manipulating its size and even trying to train herself so that she could both control fire and focus on other things at the same time, since she never wanted another accident to happen. Or almost happen, like in the forest on the day that James, Sarah and Victoria had attacked.
Speaking of them, Alice had seen that what Arthur and Sophie had told us was true. The three had broken apart as a whole, with Victoria going in one direction and James and Sarah going in another. She couldn't see where they were going since they all made snap decisions, but she could tell that they wouldn't be returning to Forks anytime soon, which I was glad for.
Esme sauntered into the living room with a plate of chips and...a steak?
"Holy crap, Esme. You made me a steak?" I asked, my mouth watering already.
Esme chuckled delightedly. "Yes indeed, I did. I figured you were tired of sandwiches and simple meals, so I made you something else."
I mumbled a "thanks" and started to dig into my meal. I hadn't had something like this for a good while, it seemed. And since when was I so hungry? Ah well, probably just another side effect to me slowly changing. As I ate, Esme chuckled again and walked back into the kitchen while Alice watched, her nose crinkled adorably as her golden eyes smoldered with both love for me and wonder at my eating human food.
It didn't take me long to finish my meal and by that time Amara walked into the house, her nose crinkling shortly upon entering the door.
"Yuck! What stinks?" Amara asked, grinning at me. "Oh, it's just you Bella. Never mind."
I stuck my tongue out at her as Esme retrieved my fully cleaned plate. "Shut up!"
Amara snickered and plopped down on the couch between myself and Emmett, stretching both of her arms out, one wrapping around my shoulder, the other around her sibling's.
"So who's winning Em, bitch number one or bitch number two?" she asked, smiling wider at the glares shot at her from Edward and Rosalie.
Emmett guffawed. "Number two is!" he boomed happily, earning a smack from Rosalie.
"That's Queen Bitch to you, thank you very much," Rosalie snorted, a small smile in place.
Alice and I both giggled together like school girls and watched as Rosalie continued kicking Edward's ass around in the game they were playing. Edward growled and got in a few shots here and there, but in the end Rosalie was able to beat him. She beamed and stretched her arms out victoriously as Edward sighed and set the controller down dramatically.
"Psh, you stink Edward," Alice teased.
Edward rolled his eyes. "As if you could do better, short stuff."
"Ooh, great comeback. I haven't heard that one before," Alice replied sarcastically.
Emmett, Jasper and Amara all laughed as Edward ran a hand through his hair, rolling his eyes at his sister's childish antics. I laughed along with them and hugged Alice tightly, pressing my nose into her hair and breathing the sweet scent in.
"Alright bitch queen, I'll take you on," Amara crooned.
"I will too!" Alice shouted, kissing me before jumping off my lap and grabbing a third controller.
I laughed at the expression on Alice's face as she anxiously awaited the game to start. She looked like a sexy psycho with the demented sneer that formed on her face as the three began to play their game, each of them aiming to defeat the other. That was one of the-ten thousand-things that I loved about my Alice: how competitive she was with others and how damn sexy she looked when she was doing it. Of course, she was always sexy, but still...
I watched them play for a few minutes, then turned my head to see what everyone else was doing. Emmett, who had lost the bet, was wrestling with Jasper outside as Edward watched on, looking he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump in. I noticed that Esme wasn't in the kitchen and figured that she might be outside too. Curious, I got off the couch and headed outside, wondering where Esme had gone.
"She's in back," Edward replied.
"Thanks," I stated, heading towards the back of the house. Strangely enough, I realized that I had never been in the actual back of the house that I lived in. Once I'd gotten to the back, I saw Esme, kneeling down in front of a massive flower garden. I gaped at the sight that I had no idea existed as Esme looked up and smiled at me, beckoning me over.
"Hello Bella," Esme greeted. "I see you've found my garden."
"What the...how...when...?" I shut my mouth and waited until I could form a proper sentence before speaking again. "How long has this been here?"
Esme chuckled. "Oh, I've had this for about two years now. I've always enjoyed gardening, so I often plant a garden at the house we're living at. I'm a little surprised that Alice never mentioned this to you before."
"I guess it never came up," I murmured, kneeling down next to her.
I marveled at the spread of flowers before me, tulips, lilies, roses, daisies. There was a little of everything that formed a beautiful patch. I glanced down and saw a yellow lilac and looked to Esme for permission. She smiled and nodded so I reached down and gently pulled the flower from the soil. I brought it up to my nose and breathed in the flower's aroma, finding that the scent was far stronger to my nose. It was nice.
"They smell wonderful," I said, twirling the flower around in my fingertips.
Esme chuckled again. "Well, that's partially because the one handling this garden happens to be a vampire, but thank you nonetheless. You could give that to Alice, though. She'd love that."
"But..." I hesitated, looking down at the flower.
"Come now, you know she'd love anything you gave her, even if it's a flower growing in her backyard. It's not the gift, but the thought that counts, after all," Esme giggled.
"Yeah, you're right," I replied, smiling at her. "Thanks Esme."
"Any time, dear. And feel free to come out here and enjoy the garden any time you want. It's as much yours as it is mine."
I hugged her, which she happily returned. "Maybe I could help you one of these days?" I offered.
Esme rolled her eyes. "Oh, Bella. You know you don't have to help me out since I'm quite capable of doing things myself. But I appreciate the thought nonetheless, so thank you, honey. If only my otherchildren were as thoughtful as you."
"Hey!" Emmett boomed from the front of the house.
I heard a few grunts from the others, which Esme and I both laughed at. I gave her another smile and walked back towards the front door, the flower in hand. I knew Alice would likely see it coming, which was something that I would have to cut down for the future. I wanted to surprise her a few times, after all, and with her future seeing ability, that was hard to do.
Once I'd entered the house I saw Amara in a victory pose, celebrating her victory in the game that she, Alice and Rosalie had been playing. Rosalie had her arms crossed petulantly while Alice scowled, still looking as adorable as ever. Her face immediately lit up upon my entering the room and she grinned happily as I walked towards her.
"For me?" she asked, smiling at the flower in my hand. "How sweet."
Rosalie made a dramatic gagging noise as Alice accepted the flower. I glared at her, but all that did was make her and Amara laugh. Alice whipped her head around and snarled at the two of them, silencing their laughter in an instant. Satisfied, Alice smirked and brought the flower to her nose, sniffing it several times.
"Thank you, love," she purred, pulling me into a loving kiss. "I'll go put it in our room."
With that said, Alice happily skipped up the stairs into our room. I watched after her feeling content with myself. Even though it was small, I liked being able to show her that she was important to me. Of course, I didn't think I could ever show her how important she was to me.
"I hope that isn't the best you can do," Rosalie snorted.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh? And when is the last time Emmett gave you something as a gift?"
Rosalie's face fell and she actually considered that question for a moment. I heard Alice's musical laughter from upstairs as she danced back down and wrapped me into a hug. We stood there holding each other for a few minutes, ignoring the jabbering between Amara and Rosalie about gifts their mates had gotten them in the past. Suddenly both of them stopped and Alice tensed up in my arms, which concerned me.
"What's wrong?" I whispered.
Her nose crinkled and her upper lip curled back in angry disgust. "Mongrels," she spat.
"Shit," I cursed. "What do we do?"
Alice bit her lip. "You stay here, I'll-" I cut her off sharply.
"Don't start that bullshit again, Alice. I am not staying here. I go with you, got that?"
Alice grimaced, but gave in and nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Let's go."
Amara, Rosalie, Alice and I all walked outside to see Esme and the boys standing in a line, glaring down the forest ahead of us. My nose was instantly invaded by the foul stench that seemed to cling to the wolves and I had to keep myself from gagging. Alice covered my nose with her hand, allowing me the chance to breathe her smell in, which I did gratefully.
Out of the forest came two large wolves, one a reddish color, the other a hazel color. I could tell that the hazel colored wolf was a female and, since I knew it wasn't Raina, Leah or Kim, guessed that it was either Serena or Crystal. Judging by the relatively placid look on her face, I guessed that it was Serena, since I remembered being told that she was supposedly the friendliest. The male I swore was Colton from the way the fur on his head was spiked.
"What do they want?" Rosalie hissed.
Edward pursed his lips as the hazel wolf slowly trotted toward us, keeping that placid look on her face, even with all the growls directed at her. A few feet away from us, the hazel wolf slowly lowered herself downwards...bowing?
That was strange.
"She says that they have been assigned to keep an eye on our land," Edward grunted out. "They don't want to, but they have to follow their orders. The council doesn't trust us with a human and they are here to ensure that she remains safe."
Alice snarled. "What? They can't do that!"
"She's right. That's breaking the treaty," Jasper growled. "Which, need I remind everyone, they did the moment they came onto our land unannounced. We have never done that on your land, so why do this now? Why destroy the treaty we established?"
The hazel wolf, who by now I was certain to be Serena, grimaced. Edward ran a hand through his messy bronze hair.
"She says that they didn't say anything regarding the treaty. They realize that we didn't try to kill them for breaking it, however, so that's earned us a few points in their book. It isn't enough for them to trust us, though, and they refuse to leave Bella unprotected until this can be sorted out."
"I am protecting her," Alice hissed. I had to hold her back from attacking Serena, who sighed.
Emmett pounded his fists together. "I say we clean our property up."
From where he was, Colton growled. Serena remained silent, though she got up, alert.
"No, Emmett," Esme sighed. "That won't do us any good. If we wish to gain their trust, then we must hold our tempers in check and deal with them for the time being. So we must do as they say and not cause any trouble. Am I clear?"
A few grunts were her reply. I could tell that she didn't like this either. I knew I didn't.
"What do they expect you to do?" I asked, looking to the hazel wolf questioningly. Her large eyes moved from mine to Edward's.
"They expect us to go about our daily lives, but they'll be watching to make sure that nothing happens to you," Edward replied with a sigh.
"They aren't going to do anything to me!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air. "Why is it so damn hard for you wolves to understand that? The only vampires trying to kill me are long gone now! Which reminds me, where the hell were you clowns at during that whole time, huh?"
Colton's eyes bulged and Serena looked at me quizzically.
Edward frowned. "They didn't know there were other vampires here."
"Typical," Alice snorted.
"They want to know what happened and where they went," Edward stated.
"They're gone now," Rosalie replied with a hiss. "We drove them off, so now you don't have to worry your fuzzy asses off. You're welcome."
"They want to know more about these other...vampires," Edward stated, frowning.
Esme took a step forward. "You have no right to demand answers from us with the way your pack has acted in this past week. If you want answers, then you will have to work for them, not flat out demand them. We will speak of this no further. If you wish to patrol our lands, then you may do so, despite the fact that there is no purpose to it. I ask that you be respectful of our lands, since your being here is breaking the treaty that we established with Ephraim Black years ago."
Serena nodded and trotted off to Colton, who looked uncertain. She nudged him with her snout and together the two of them vanished into the woods, leaving behind a strong air of tension and their horrid stink, which I tried hard not to breathe in again.
"They'd better not shit on our property," Rosalie growled.
Emmett, despite the severity of the situation, cracked a small smile, but dismissed it quickly.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Inside, all of you. I'll call Carlisle," Esme stated, ushering us inside the house.
Most of us sat down on the couch, Jasper sending out waves of calm to ease everyone down a bit since the tension still remained. Esme was on the phone shortly after we were inside, calling Carlisle at the hospital to inform him of what had happened. Alice sat next to me, staring down at the table with black eyes. I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know what to do or say.
"This stinks!" Alice yelled, throwing her hands into the air. "Why the hell do those damned mongrels keep pestering us like this? It's not fair! We haven't done anything to them for years now! In fact, we've never once broken their stupid treaty, yet here they are breaking it and making demands of us like we're their slaves!"
"Damn right, we need to fight them and teach them a lesson," Emmett growled.
Amara nodded tersely. "It might help show them who the dominant species is."
"Or it could get you all killed," I interjected.
"Bella's right," Edward said, grimacing. "Our numbers are far too slim to fight the wolves. And let's not forget Bella herself, who not only happens to be a human, but have we forgotten that she is slowly turning into a vampire? I doubt the council would take kindly to that information."
Esme placed the phone down and walked over to us, sitting down in one of the chairs.
"That is something we need to decide on: whether or not we intend to tell them of Bella's slow change into one of our kind," Esme stated.
"No," Alice growled. "They'll jump to conclusions and attack us. Not only that, but they could hurt my Bella, too. I won't have that."
"We know, Alice," Jasper stated. "Calm down, alright?"
Alice's body vibrated in a tense growl. Sickened that my mate was upset, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me. She remained tense for a minute or so before relaxing into my arms and wrapping her arms around me. Alice eventually resituated herself so that I was the one in her arms, which I was fine with. She let out a quiet sigh as she nuzzled into the crook of my neck, rubbing her nose against my skin and smelling it to ease herself.
"Carlisle will be here shortly," Alice murmured against my neck, kissing it. "Then we can figure out what to do.
"Has the council called, yet?" I inquired.
"No," Esme replied, pinching the bridge of her nose. "They haven't called. This entire situation is a mess and they still haven't called for anything. I don't understand why they hate us so when we have done little to nothing to them. Any past incident was never intentional; we made certain to show them that. Not only that, but we did not harm their wolves despite breaking the treaty they formed. And yet still they hate us and treat us so. It makes no sense to me."
"Not everyone is as understanding as you, Esme," Amara sighed. "I wonder if all wolves are as closed-minded and annoying as these ones are."
"Probably," Emmett snorted.
Our thoughts were broken by the sound of a car pulling up. It didn't take long for Carlisle to make his way inside, a worried look on his face as he appraised each of us. He hugged Esme, then sat down next to her, clasping his hands together in thought.
"So the wolves have decided to keep an eye on us, hm?" he mused, shaking his head. "I thought that the elders would be more trusting of us than that. It would appear that they are not, which I feared when we first had dealings with them."
"You should have eliminated them when you had the chance," Alice hissed. "Then we wouldn't have to deal with the damned dogs."
Carlisle pursed his lips. "You know that we aren't like that, Alice. You know you aren't like that either, you're letting your anger do the talking for you. Calm your thoughts and think. Would killing a group of living beings that have been taught that we are their natural born enemies would have benefited us? We who chose to abstain from ending human lives because we did not feel that it was right? Would that have made things better?" he asked in a gentle voice.
Alice's face fell as she absorbed his words. After a moment, she hung her head ashamedly and nodded to her father, realizing that he was right. I kissed her cheek and tenderly ran my fingers through her hair in order to further help her relax, which worked, thankfully.
Carlisle smiled softly, pleased that he had helped quell his daughter's anger, then went back to thinking to himself. The others remained silent, each thinking to themselves. Rosalie twirled around a strand of her golden hair, Amara stared up at the ceiling, and Edward stared down at the table while Emmett silently pressed his knuckles together. Jasper had his eyes shut in concentration as he kept the mood in the room calm.
"I think that we must set up a meeting of some kind with the council," Edward suggested.
"How do you propose we do that when we can't even reach the bastards?" Rosalie asked.
"We can't just ignore them," Jasper sighed. "We have to do something."
Esme ran a hand through her caramel colored hair, stopping to rub her neck. "What can we do, though? They won't listen to us and if we go there unannounced, they might mistake our purpose and choose to attack us. These are young wolves; they are prone to having ill tempers and making rash decisions. We saw that firsthand a few days ago."
"That is true," Carlisle replied, frowning slightly. "What to do..."
I thought about it, then came up with an idea. "Well, what if I-"
"Absolutely not," Alice interrupted, staring me down. "That isn't an option, Bella. No."
I scowled and clamped my mouth shut. There was no point in arguing with Alice when she was in protective mode, so I didn't even bother with it. A few of the others shot me curious looks, but I waved it off, since I knew Alice would just get more agitated if they discussed it.
Edward appraised me thoughtfully. "Actually, Alice, it's not a bad-'
He too was cut off, but this time it wasn't Alice doing it. It was the phone ringing.
All ten of our heads shot up in the direction of the phone as it rang loudly in the kitchen. Carlisle stood up and blurred into the kitchen to pick it up.
"Hello?" he asked into the phone. "Yes, this Carlisle Cullen. Yes..."
Carlisle proceeded to talk at a low volume at a speed that I could barely make out. The others heard his words, frowning as they listened to him speak softly to whomever it was that was on the phone with him. Wait. Who else would it be that would have everyone reacting this way?
The council! They finally decided to call. Took them long enough, the bastards. It amazed me how talking about them long enough finally seemed to get them off their rears in order to call us so that we could talk to them about this whole mess.
Edward furrowed his brow and scowled as he listened to his father's thoughts. His eyes widened, then narrowed into slits.
"Yes, I see. I'm not sure. I have to discuss that with my family first before I make a decision, please understand that," Carlisle murmured into the phone. "No, that's not it. She has a right to decide whether or not she will agree to your terms. I don't want to force her into something that she would be uncomfortable in. Yes, I was aware of that..."
Carlisle continued to converse with whoever it was he was talking to and the tension in the room continued to grow. Jasper had to send out another wave of calm to ease everyone down a bit as Carlisle finished up his conversation. About five minutes later, Carlisle set the phone down and walked back into the living room, pinching the bridge of his nose.
I noticed that Edward's eyes were dark, an irritated grimace on his face. What was wrong?
"What's wrong, Carlisle?" Alice asked, squeezing me tighter to her.
Carlisle sighed and removed his hand, his amber eyes alight with worry. "The council has requested that they have a meeting in order to discuss the events of the past and the vampires that appeared in Forks that they supposedly had no knowledge of."
"Is there a problem, Carlisle?" Jasper asked.
Carlisle nodded. "Yes. They want to have this meeting tomorrow...with Bella alone, over on their territory."
I grimaced. Me, a clumsy human who's soulmate is a vampire, on the reservation filled with every vampire's greatest enemy, knowing who I was and who I lived with. Not to mention the fact that most of them probably hated me.
Wonderful.