I am the unknown fighter
A dark horse coming for you
MIRABELLE'S SWAN
Rose smiled at her handiwork. She'd given me some baseball gear to wear for today's game. Of course, I wasn't about to play with a bunch of supernaturals but she enjoyed playing dress-up on me. It was the only way to lighten her sour mood when Edward said he was bringing my sister. As much as I wish they did, it was starting to look like Rosalie might never accept my sister into the coven. She had her own reasons for it. None of which I could convince her otherwise.
Her not trying to kill my sister was good enough for me.
"You actually look cute." She complimented. "You're lucky to have a friend like me."
"I was born this way," I said, flipping my hair over my shoulder sassily. "Okay, that felt wrong."
"It was disturbing to watch." A small smile broke onto her face.
Jasper walked over, giving his sister a subtle look of wanting her to leave us. She rolled her eyes and went over to Carlisle to hear what the teams were. Jasper wrapped his arms around my waist, making me instinctively circle his neck with my own. He pressed a loving kiss to my forehead. "You look amazing. I hope you'll be cheering for me."
"Of course. I have a bet with Rose that you'll make more home runs than Emmett."
"Hope she's ready to lose her money then."
Jasper always made me smile. It's ridiculous that my cheeks never drooped. Lines were beginning to form around my mouth. Last night we managed to work things out. There was no guarantee that Jasper wouldn't revert back to his insecure self. His heart might've stopped but in the end, he never lost his human emotions. Love, jealousy, fear, hate - those were all real parts of him that I needed to learn to accept.
Being in a relationship wasn't easy. It meant caring for another person; being considerate of them and vice versa. A lot of give and take was required to make it work. I was so used to being free that having him in my life seemed like a drag. And yet, we always found each other coming back to one another. That was all the proof I needed that I was really hooked on this guy. No one else could make me feel the way he did. My fear of losing him outweighed my irritation. Jasper was no different from me. To him, losing me was the same as dying.
"Jazz, you know I love you, right?"
He seemed genuinely surprised by the statement. "I love you too, darling."
"What did I tell you about the accent? You're going to make me jump you, Major."
His topaz eyes sparkled. "Careful now. There're children around."
"Hey, can you two stop getting it on," Emmett shouted from his place on the outfield. "Hurry up and get ready so I can kick your ass man!"
I shook my head with a laugh. "Speaking of children...Go on, before he starts throwing a tantrum." We separated so Jasper could start warming up and I could greet my sister. She still wasn't very comfortable around the entire family. It wasn't because they were vampires or anything. Well, that was a small part of the reason but it was mostly just those new-girlfriend jitters. She so badly wanted their approval that she didn't realize she already had it (except from Rosalie).
When she saw me coming over to play umpire with her, she almost tore my arm off from pulling me close. "I'm so glad you're here. I feel like Rosalie is going to crack my skull open with the bat. Do you know why she hates me so much?"
"We literally haven't seen each other for three days, and all you have to say to your twin is that? I feel used."
I yelped when she pinched me. "I'm being serious. I don't know what I did."
"Have you tried asking her," I grumbled, rubbing my side.
"Have you seen how she looks at me? I think I'd be killed if I came even two inches near her."
"Well, asking is generally the only way to getting an answer to a question."
"Don't be a smart ass."
"It's time," Alice announced excitedly. The first batter was Rosalie. Bella and I stood behind Esme.
The teams were Edward, Alice, Emmett, against Carlisle, Jasper, Rosalie. Esme played as a neutral catcher until someone else switched out with her.
Jasper stood over to the side, waiting his turn. He kept doing a bunch of cool tricks with the bat. Flipping it whichever way he wanted, all the while giving me a handsome smirk. "Watch you hit yourself in the face," I mouthed, smirking. I knew it would be impossible for him to make such a blunder. My boyfriend was the most perfect guy to ever exist.
Rosalie's powerful hit made a cracking sound that echoed across the forest. It was like the sound of thunder.
"I see now why you need the thunder," Bella said, growing just as excited as me. We both watched Rosalie race across the plates. Edward ran for the ball. "That's gotta be a home run, right?"
Esme shook her head unsurely. "Edward is very fast."
Indeed he was. Eddie Boy had managed to throw that small ball at the speed of a bullet. Even more impressive was how Esme caught it effortlessly and tagged a sliding Rosalie. Everyone looked to my hesitant twin for confirmation.
"You're out."
Emmett's obnoxious cheering did not help. Rosalie stood up, glaring angrily at my sister. "Don't be a sore loser." I laughed, trying to switch her attention to something else. "Next time tiger."
She bumped shoulders with Bella, dropping everything with that. Carlisle consoled her before taking his spot. Just like his daughter, he released a deafening sound of thunder then took off like lightening. He knew how to play his sons. His hit had the ball fly calculatingly in the middle of Edward and Emmett. The two leaped for the ball then crashed back down.
"One point for Team Jazz!" I grinned.
Rosalie poked me. "Why is it your boyfriend's team?"
"Because it's my boyfriend?"
"Jesus, you've really turned into one of those girlfriends."
I poked her back. "Like you have the right to say anything."
We all knew how soft Rosalie got for her mate. It was embarrassing to watch sometimes. Speaking of mates, mine was up. He gave me a wink. "Keep your eye on the ball, lover boy," I said, acting as if that little stunt didn't make my heart beat ten times harder. Rosalie gave me a knowing nudge. Jasper hit the ball pretty far out. Unfortunately, his brutish brother got in the way. That made two outs.
"My monkey man," Rosalie growled hungrily.
I pretended to vomit. "God, if I ever sound like you, just rip my head off."
Rosalie glared half-heartedly as she went off to take her turn again. One more out and then the teams would switch. But this time, something was different. Even before Alice said anything I could feel it like a shift in the wind. Jasper must've felt my uncertainty since he raced over to my side. "What's wrong?"
"Something isn't right," I whispered, shivering from a chill that ran up my spine.
The Cullens gathered around my sister and I. "They're coming. It's too late to leave."
Alice had seen the hunters coming towards us. They heard us playing. Edward fretted over what to do with my sister. Jasper was no better. His brows furrowed in anguish as he tried to make a quick decision about what to do.
"Stay close." That was all any of us could do. I nodded wordlessly as three new faces entered the field. "I'll stand by you too," Emmett whispered, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
Jasper kept me behind him in case any one of them decided to do something. There were two men and a woman. They were all beautiful in their own rights, especially the woman. I came out from behind Jasper and Emmett. They both gave me cautious looks, but I ignored them both, smiling at the trio. Even when I wished I was anywhere but here, my mind went into override. My scent was covered up well by Rosalie's scent, or at least I hoped it did. The man to the left with golden hair was sizing each of us up.
If Bella or I gave him any reason to be suspicious of us, we'd be in big trouble. The correct answer right now was to act like we were part of the coven.
"I believe this belongs to you." The darker male threw the ball back at Carlise who caught it effortlessly.
"Thank you."
"I am Laurent. And this is Victoria and James."
Victoria's beady red eyes lingered on me. It made my stomach turn queasy. However, she wasn't looking at me like she wanted to tear into me. It was more like she was genuinely interested in who I was. It was both unnerving and relieving. As long as I wasn't on the menu we were good.
"I'm Carlisle. This is my family."
"Hello."
Jasper narrowed his eyes at the woman. Emmett stepped closer to me. Victoria looked away to stare down the others.
"I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us."
Laurent looked like he was surprised. "Our apologies. We didn't realize that the territory had been claimed."
"Yes, well, we maintain a permanent residence nearby."
This time Laurent turned to James. It was obvious something had been left unsaid between the two. "Really? Well, we won't be a problem anymore. We were just passing through." These guys were responsible for Harold's death. If the Cullens didn't live here there was no telling how many people would've been killed.
"The humans were tracking us but we led them east. You should be safe." Victoria smirked. Carlisle smiled stiffly. "Excellent."
"So? Could you use three players?" Laurent smiled, ignoring the tension built between the two covens. "Oh come on. Just one game."
This could be the only chance of Bella and I escaping. "Sure. A few of us were just leaving. You can take their place. We'll bat first."
Victoria caught the baseball. "I'm the one with a wicked curveball." Emmett went along with the farce. "Oh, I think we can handle that."
Jasper started leading me as calmly and as quickly as he could to the car. 'Edward, if you can hear me, get my sister out of here right now. Don't let James get close to her. We'll meet you at the house separately.'
He seemed to pick up on my mental plead. Things were moving along smoothly. It really seemed like we were going to escape without fail.
But then the wind began to pick up. All at once, we froze. On that gentle breeze carried my sister's scent.
"You brought a little snack." That's all James needed for the Cullens to spring into action. Everyone took a defensive stance around us while I kept my sister safely behind my back. She was clinging onto me. I sneered at James who looked over the rest of the coven to lock eyes on my sister and I. "Raising your own humans, I see. Why don't you share?"
"The girls are with us." Carlisle corrected
Laurent understood this was a battle they would not win. "I can see the game is over. We'll go. James."
He stayed even when the other two forfeited. One last long look then he pulled away to join Victoria. Bella was still shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"Mirabelle, what just happened?"
"I think we're in trouble."
Deep, deep trouble.
Jasper and Edward took us in different cars. His hands were fumbling with the car's gears. I was grateful that Alice came with us in case he was incapable of getting us out of the forest with a clear mind.
A thousand thoughts were running through my head. Fear overruling each one with another bad ending. "What the hell was that back there? Where are we going? What's going to happen to Bella?"
"It doesn't matter. James is a hunter. He knows you two are important and he'll come after you both." Jasper's voice was getting louder with each word. I watched his hands clench onto the steering wheel. Alice leaned in between our seats, rubbing his shoulder.
"Jasper, calm down."
"How the hell am I supposed to be calm," he yelled, shocking us both. "He's not going to stop till he has them. I need to get her as far away from here as possible."
"No!" I started to panic. "I know Bella. She'll go straight home. I have to go with her. Our dad is in danger."
"That's too dangerous!"
"Either you take me home or I'll jump out of this car."
Jasper ignored me. I pushed all of my anxiety to the back of my mind, trying to suppress it until I did what needed to be done. My body started to move when I wanted it to. The first thing I did was open my door as we raced down the empty road. Both Jasper and Alice started screaming for me to get back in. Needless to say, Jasper took me back home obediently. Edward was climbing through my sister's window by the time we got there.
"Stay here," I ordered, quickly running into the house. Dad and Bella were upstairs arguing. The slamming of the door made me pause. Memories of how mom left before the divorce came rushing back. They weren't pleasant memories. I willed myself to continue upstairs. Dad looked at me exhausted.
"Mirabelle, please. I...I don't know what to do." He was on the verge of tears.
My heart shattered. It was the first time I ever saw Charlie cry. He wasn't the type to show his emotions. That's how much we were hurting him. I gave him a hug, wishing I could tell him what was really going on. "It's okay dad. I'll talk to her."
He reluctantly went back downstairs. I entered Bella's room without knocking. She and Edward were packing her duffle as quickly as possible.
"We need to get you both out of here," Edward said, zipping up the back. "You both need to say goodbye to your father. It's the only way you'll be safe."
"Are you kidding me? You want us to lie and break his heart?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Yeah. Why don't we go after James?"
"That'd be putting you and your sister at risk."
"Stop." Bella pushed me over to the side so we could talk one-on-one."
"I don't like this," I instantly whispered. "We're all he has."
"This is the only way we can protect him. If we don't go through with this then James will come after him."
"That's why I'm saying we go to James and just kill him already."
"It's not that easy Mira, and you know it."
"I'm not leaving him here."
She looked at me in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Mira, please. I need you with me. We can't stay, and I don't want to be separated from you. I really, really need you by my side." Our hands intertwined. Bella begged me to come.
I didn't like this plan. Hurting our father was the last thing I could ever bring myself to do. He didn't deserve to be punished for our own decisions. But there was nothing else. I nodded grimly, helping her grab the last of her stuff. We ran downstairs, Bella pretending to still be in a hot fit of anger while I tried talking sense into her.
Dad had been waiting by the door for us. He grabbed us quickly. "Please...I just got you both back..."
Bella didn't look at Charlie as she said the worst thing she could ever say. "Yeah, and you know what? If I don't get out of here now, I'm just going to be stuck here like mom." It sounded like the planets had exploded. Even I stood in shock.
I slowly turned back to Charlie, squeezing one of his arms. "I'll look out for her, Dad. I promise. Don't worry."
He didn't give me any indication that he even heard what I said.
I kissed him on the cheek, running off the front porch before any tears could stream down my face. Bella and I jumped into our truck, taking off with heavy hearts. If this plan didn't work I would kill myself willingly. Charlie didn't deserve to hear those words. He didn't deserve to lose his daughters in a single night. None of this should have happened.
Bella jumped in the driver's seat when Edward suddenly appeared. "Your father will forgive you." He took over the wheel.
Bella nestled herself into my side, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "No, he won't. You should have seen his face. I told him the same thing my mom told him when she left."
"It's the only way he'll let you go."
"How about you try not talking for once," I snapped, glaring at Edward. "You don't know how much we just destroyed our father."
Bella knew what our parents' divorce did to me. It removed me from the only place I ever felt like was home. She wrapped her arms around me this time. Out of everything we had to sacrifice for our relationships, Charlie was the hardest.