It was a couple days later, the Cullen's had invited us to a baseball game, but first we had to ask our dad, who was currently at the dining room table, doing something to his rifle, it looked like he was cleaning it.
Bella and I walked into the dining room and Bella put another beer on the table, "got you another one" she said. He looked up for a second before going back to his gun, "thanks" he said.
"I have a date with Edward Cullen" she said suddenly. "And I've got a date with Jasper Hale" I said. He looked at us, "aren't they a little old for you two?" He asked.
"No, we're all juniors, I thought you liked the Cullen's" she said.
"I thought you didn't like any of the boys in town" he said, looking at us, "they don't live in town, technically" she said. He raised an eyebrow, "dad, they're right outside, they wanted to meet you officially" I said.
"Alright, bring them in" he said, putting his gun down, "dad, could you be nice?" Bella asked him quietly as I ran over to the door. I opened it and saw Edward and Jasper outside, they both looked kind of nervous.
"You can come in now" I said, stepping aside, they came in and we walked over to Charlie, "Chief Swan" Edward greeted him "we wanted to formally introduce ourselves, Im Edward Cullen and this is Jasper Hale" he said.
"Hi, Edward, Jasper" Charlie shook their hands, "Bella and Maya won't be out late tonight, they're just gonna play baseball with us and our family" Edward said.
"Baseball?" Charlie asked, clearly surprised, "yes, sir, that's the plan" Jasper said, Charlie chuckled a bit. "My girls are gonna play baseball? Well, good luck with that" he said.
"I'll take good care of her, I promise" Jasper said, taking hold of my hand, Charlie noticed this and didn't look impressed. "Come on, let's go" I whispered, Jasper and I went outside and Bella and Edward followed.
"Since when are vampires into baseball?" Bella asked Edward as he put a striped hat on her head, "well, it's an American pastime, and there's a thunder storm coming, it's the only time we can play, you'll see why" he said.
We all got into the car and started driving, Bella and I sat in the back while Edward and Jasper sat in the front. We reached a massive clearing and got out, walking over to the group of Cullen's, "glad you're here, we need an umpire" Esme said to Bella.
"She thinks we cheat" Emmett said, Esme looked at him, "I know you cheat" she said, I smirked. Everyone got in position, I stood next to Carlisle as the thunder started picking up, "it's time" Alice said, pitching the ball to Rosalie. There was a loud clap of thunder as soon as Rosalie hit the ball.
"Wow..." I breathed, Carlisle chuckled at me as Rosalie started running the bases, and Edward sped off after the ball. The ball was thrown back through the trees and Esme caught it as Rosalie ran for home. Right before she reached home, Esme got her out.
"You're out" Bella said, Rosalie glared at her and stood up, "babe, come on, it's just a game" Emmett called. Carlisle stepped up to the plate and Alice pitched the ball, he hit it flawlessly and started running as the ball hurried through the sky.
I watched as Emmett and Edward both leaped for it, only to collide in the middle, I winced as the fell to the ground. Carlisle reached home and stepped aside for Jasper's turn, Jasper gave me a small kiss before Alice pitches the ball, he hit it perfectly and started running.
Emmett got him out and then it was Rosalie's turn again, so Alice pitches the ball again and Rosalie hit it, starting to run. "Stop!" Alice suddenly yelled, everyone ran over to home base, "they were leaving, but then they heard us" Alice said.
"Let's go" Jasper said, putting his arm around me, "it's too late" Carlisle said, Edward and Jasper both looked worried. "Put your hair down" Edward said to Bella.
"Like that'll help, I could smell her all the way across the field" Rosalie said, everyone formed sort of a wall facing the trees across the field. Jasper met my gaze "I shouldn't have brought you here, I'm so sorry" he whispered.
"What's going on?" I asked, he took hold of my hand, "just stay quiet and stay behind me" he said, I did as he told me as three people walked over to the group. "I believe this belongs to you" one of them said, holding up the baseball. He tossed it to Carlisle, "thank you" he said.
"I am Laurent, and this is Victoria, and James" the newcomer said, introducing his companions. "I'm Carlisle, this is my family" Carlisle said, Laurent dipped his head a bit before straightening up "Hello" he said.
"I'm afraid your hunting activities have created something of a mess for us" Carlisle said, I could see he was trying his best to be polite. "Our apologies, we didn't realize the land had been claimed" Laurent said.
"Yes, well, we maintain a permanent residence nearby" Carlisle said, Laurent glanced at James. "Really? Well, we won't be a problem anymore, we were just passing through" he said.
"The humans were tracking us, but we led them East, you should be safe" Victoria said, I clenched my jaw. "Excellent" Carlisle said.
"So, could you use three more players?" Laurent asked, when nobody replied he chuckled a bit. "Oh, come on, just one match" he said, Carlisle forced a smile onto his face, "sure, why not? A few of us were leaving anyway, you can take their place, we'll bat first" he said, tossing the ball.
Victoria caught it "I'm the one with the wicked curveball" she said, Emmett smiled "I think we can handle that" he said. Laurent grinned and everyone started to move to their positions, except for Edward, Jasper, Bella, and I, who were being stared at by James.
As he began to turn away, a breeze blew past, he inhaled deeply before turning to us again "you brought snacks" he said, moving towards us. All the Cullen's blocked him and snarled as Bella and I were pushed behind Esme. "The girls are with us, I think it best if you leave" Carlisle said warningly.
"I can see the game is over, we'll go now" Laurent said, they started walking away, "get the girls out of here" Carlisle said quietly. Jasper grabbed me, and Edward grabbed Bella, they pulled us to the car and we got in.
"What, now he's coming after us?" Bella asked as Edward started the car, he started speeding in the direction of home. "James is a tracker, the hunt is his obsession, I read his mind, our reactions on the field set him off. Jasper and I made this his most exciting game ever, he's never going to stop" Edward explained to us.
I looked at Jasper worriedly, "what should we do?" I asked, Edward answered "we have to kill him, rip him apart and burn the pieces" he said. "Where are we going?" Bella asked.
"Away from Forks, we'll get a ferry to Vancouver" he said, she shook her head "we have to go home, now, you have to take us home" she said.
"You can't go home, he's just gonna trace you're scent there, it's the first place he's gonna look" he said. I looked at Jasper "my dad is there, he-" I started but Edward cut me off. "It doesn't matter!" He yelled.
Bella was really angry now, "yes it does matter! Because he could get killed because of us!" She yelled.
"Just let me get you out of here first! Alright?!" Edward said.
"It's my dad! We have to go back! We'll figure out a way to lead the tracker away somehow! I don't know, but we have to do something!" She yelled. So we made a plan.
We got home and ran inside "Edward, I said leave me alone!" Bella yelled, slamming the door, "Bella, don't do this, please" Edward begged. "It's over, get out" she said, running upstairs, Charlie and I ran after her. "Bella? What's going on?" He asked.
"I just gotta get out of here, I'm leaving, now" she said, going into her room and slamming the door. "Bella?" He knocked on her door, there was no answer, "Bella, what going on?" He asked, she walked out with a bag filled with clothes, "did he hurt you?" He asked.
She walked into the bathroom and grabbed some stuff from the cabinet, "no" she said simply, "did he break up with you, or something?" He asked.
"No, I broke up with him" she said, going back into her room and slamming the door again. "I thought you liked him" he said, she opened the door again, "yeah, that why I have to leave" she said, going into the bathroom again.
"I don't want this, I have to go home" she said, the look on Charlies face killed me, "home? Your... your mom's not even in Phoenix" he said.
"She'll come home, I'll call her from the road" she said, running downstairs, "you're not gonna drive home right now. You can sleep on it, if you still feel like going in the morning, I'll take you to the airport" he said, following her downstairs.
"No, I want to drive, it'll give me more time to think, if I get really tired, I'll pull into a motel, I promise" she said, going into the kitchen.
"Look, Bella, I know I'm not that much fun to be around, but I can change that, we can do more stuff together" he said pleadingly.
I looked at Bella as she froze, "like what? Like, watch baseball on the flat screen? Eat at the diner every night? Steak and cobbler? Dad, that's you, that's not me" she said, walking into the front hall.
"Bella, come on, I just..." his voice cracked "I just got you back..." he said, tears in his eyes, "yeah, and you know, if I don't get out now I'm just gonna be stuck here like mom" she said, leaving the house.
I looked at Charlie and my heart shattered, "I'm sorry dad, I have to go with her, I love you" I said, hugging him before running after her. We got in her truck and started driving away, then Edward appeared on the side of the truck. Bella gasped.
"Your father's gonna forgive you, why don't you let me drive?" He said, she moved over and he took her place at the wheel. "He won't... you should've seen his face... I told him the same thing that my mom told him when she was leaving him..." she said.
Tears slipped silently down my face as I replayed the events in my head, "it's the only way he'd let you go, just don't worry about him now, he's safe, the tracker's following us" Edward said.
I clenched my fists, I wanted to yell at him but I didn't want to upset Bella further, but I knew he could read minds. Edward, you bastard! How can he possibly be safe when there's a vampire trying to kill us?! You expect us not to worry?! He's our father! You don't know anything! I thought angrily.
I glanced at Edward and he looked upset, he had heard my thoughts, there was a loud thud and Bella gasped. "It's just Emmett, Alice is in the car behind us" he said, we drove for a little while longer before we reached the Cullen's house.
Tears were still sliding silently down my cheeks as we went inside, but we stopped when we saw Laurent. "Wait, he came to warn us about James" Carlisle said, stopping Edward from attacking him.
"This isn't my fight, and I've grown tired of his games, but he's got unparalleled senses, absolutely lethal, I've never seen anything like him in my 300 years. The woman, Victoria, don't underestimate her" Laurent said before leaving.
Jasper entered the room and saw me crying, immediately my sadness was taken away, and I felt relief. I immediately hugged him, he was startled at first, but then hugged me back, I could tell it was hard for him to control his thirst so I let him go.
"Come on" Carlisle said, leading us all down to the garage, "I've had to fight our kind before, they're not easy to kill" Jasper said.
"But not impossible, we'll tear them apart and burn the pieces" Emmett said as he and jasper opened a cupboard. "I don't relish the thought of killing another creature, even a sadistic one like James" Carlisle said.
"What if he kills one of us first?" Rosalie asked, sitting on the counter, "I'm gonna run Bella and Maya south, can you lead the tracker away from here?" Edward asked.
"No, Edward, James knows you would never leave Bella, he'll follow you" Carlisle said, Alice stepped forward. "I'll go with Bella and Maya, Jasper and I will drive them south, I'll keep them safe" she said.
"Can you keep your thoughts to yourself?" He asked, glaring at her, "yes" she said, bring Bella and I to her car. Bella and I sat in the backseat while Jasper and Alice sat in the front, I could barely think, I was too terrified. What was going to happen to Bella and I?
Such a long chapter! My fingers hurt from typing so much! 😩
I hope you enjoyed it, I'm probably gonna do some major editing in the morning since it's currently 2:47am and my writing probably looks like gibberish right now 😅👍