I sat on the plane, reflecting as I watched the world rush द्वारा below, so much smaller than it seemed when आप were down there, part of it.
Three years ago, I'd just been visiting युरोप with my mom, Renee; she wanted to "see the sights" before she married Phil and settled down. We'd not been there long, maybe a few days, when it happened. It was dark, and we'd gone out to see the city - I could never remember where, exactly - at night... It'd been the last thing we'd done together. All I could clearly remember from that night was the fear, the terror, the screaming... the pain. I shuddered away mentally from those memories, the ones that were terribly, nightmarishly clear.
When I'd woken up, I didn't remember much of anything, didn't know where I was या what had happened. Peter, the one who'd changed me, just barely explained everything, only enough for me to know that my mom was dead and I was now what would be commonly referred to as undead. I was a vampire. Panicking, I tried to run away that night, when Peter was out, but he caught up to me quickly. It surprised me when I almost fought him off; I had never been strong or, well... I'd always thought I was the clumsiest person on the planet. But apparently, I was the clumsiest human on the planet. Being a vampire turned that around 180 degrees.
And then, out of no where, I'd लॉस्ट control of my body; without my telling it to, it stopped moving, then followed Peter back to the old, dilapidated building he was staying in. A few weeks later, there were others, none of whom had tried to run away as I had - actually, they seemed perfectly content to stay and settle for this hand we'd been unwillingly given. I wasn't. Nearly every night, sometimes even during the day, I'd tried to sneak away; and और times than I could count Peter had brought me back, always through the same means as the first time in the end. Undoubtedly, I was a frustration to him, though I had no idea why, at the time.
It was another one of those days when I was trying to escape that they appeared.
Rain was pattering heavily on the roof, echoing loudly through the dead-quiet house. I was sneaking - again - through the halls of peeling paint and dust when I'd turned a corner... and there they were.
I remember feeling immense relief at the sight of them, despite their uncanny beauty and blood red eyes. I was hoping they would help me.
"Please," I whispered in a cracked voice, barely audible to my own ears. "Help me. I don't want to be here... he won't let me go. Help. Please."
The three of them looked at me with varying degrees of disgust and pity.
"Are there others?" one with dark long, wavy hair asked me; I knew now that he was Demetri.
I nodded. "Yes. Please, are आप going to help?" I felt slightly pathetic, even as I asked, for sounding so helpless and weak.
They didn't answer my question. Instead, the big, muscled one - Felix - ordered, "Show us."
I led them to the large room in the middle of the house, where there were pieces of furniture that were falling apart, covered with white sheets stained gray from the dust. About five others, all varying in age and appearance, sat around staring blankly at walls and the floor. I whispered to the three again.
"I tried to talk to some of them, but they don't do anything. Just sit and stare. Until Peter," my voice had trembled as I कहा his name, "comes and then they just do stuff without him saying anything."
Demetri had nodded, but then, out of no where, Peter was trying to run past us. The last figure, a small little girl who put a Botticelli एंजल to shame, had stepped forward.
Peter had fallen to the ground, screaming and wailing, clutching his head. The other वैंपायर he'd changed abruptly jumped to action, attacking the three. I watched, wide-eyed and amazed, as they were dealt with the other newborns quickly and efficiently. At one point, two had ganged up on Demetri, and another tried sneaking up behind. I reacted on an impulse - the three were my only chance of making it out, as I saw it - and attacked her. She acted almost robotically, her movements somewhat stiff and her eyes blank. My fear probably played a role in what I did, and soon she was on the ground, torn apart. I remember staring at my own hands in disbelief. Then the little girl - Jane - had turned her eyes on me. Demetri and Felix watched, almost expectantly, then all three frowned in confusion. Jane's expression turned murderous, and I feared she would tear me to shreds as she had Peter and the others. But when she stepped forward, probably to do so, Demetri held out an arm to stop her. He spoke quickly and lowly enough that I didn't hear, but that Felix and Jane, who were right अगला to him, did. Then he stepped forward.
"You have two choices. आप can come with us to Volterra, and meet our Master, या आप can suffer the same fate as them." He gestured to the remains of the others. I looked at them, then at the three vampires. Their bright red eyes all watched me unwaveringly.
"Lead the way." I कहा in a soft voice.
Volterra, Italy, was like nothing I'd ever seen before; which, at the time, didn't really mean much since I didn't remember any other place very clearly. The three led me through the night down twisting alleys and dark side streets until we reached a dead-end. There, we slid down a hole in the street. Jane led the way, Demetri अगला to me, Felix behind. They moved at an awe-inspiring speed, which made me realize that I could हटाइए just as fast without really thinking about it. At the time, I'd though, it appears that Peter didn't tell me much of anything about this whole vampire thing.
They'd led me past a pretty, small, red-haired and blue-eyed receptionist, obviously human. I remember the sudden feeling of need and thirst that swept over me, and the sweet scent of her blood, a sugary vanilla smell. I stopped, unaware of the fact, and stared at her as she typed away at a computer, oblivious. Felix and Demetri both grabbed my arms, and, after pulling sharply and whispering lowly that if I didn't follow them, they'd take me outside and kill me then and there, I looked away. With an effort, I pulled myself away from the tantalizing scent and followed them to an elevator. Once we were moving up and I'd managed to replace the smell in my nose with fresh air, I was appalled द्वारा what I'd been thinking... of what I'd wanted to do.
Three men, obviously वैंपायर द्वारा their pale, feathery, almost translucent skin, met us in a small, round room with thrones at one end. They all wore long, sweeping black cloaks; two had long black hair that blended into their cloaks, and the other had snowy white hair.
One of the ones with long black hair stepped forward, brushing hands with Demetri. Then he looked me up and down appraisingly.
"Jane," he कहा quietly, still staring at me, "Try again, why don't you."
The little girl focused her gaze on me, glaring viciously when a few मिनटों passed and nothing happened. I looked around with confusion.
"Ha, ha! That's interesting. I wonder..." he trailed off, then brushed hands with me. I froze, wanting to flinch away and at the same time wanting to know if his skin was as soft as it looked. After a few moments, he frowned, too, looking angry, then his expression cleared. "Ha!"
Privately, I thought he was a few French fries short of a Happy meal, but if he was the one deciding if I lived या died... who was I to judge?
"I, my dear, am Aro. The two behind me are Marcus and Caius; the three with आप are Jane, Demetri, and Felix. We are the Volturi. It is our job to keep tabs on the वैंपायर in this world, make sure thy don't do anything that would reveal us to humans. I can give आप two options... आप can शामिल होइए us, या आप can be killed."
I blinked. In my opinion, that wasn't two options, it was an ultimatum. Which meant I didn't exactly have a choice, now, did I?
I shrugged. "Well, I guess I'm now part of the Volturi, too."
Aro smiled. "Good. Time to start your training, then."
"Please put on your seatbelts, we will be landing shortly." कहा the pleasant female voice over the intercom. I vaguely wondered how much they paid her to stand around, help rude passengers, and say the same thing over and over again. I put on my seatbelt for the benefit of the old smiling woman अगला to me, who sent a kind glance my way. Inwardly I sighed; it wasn't likely that a plane crash would kill me. I could always just jump out before it hit the ground and stumble around like the luckiest survivor in history.
The plane began it's decent into the sprawling green landscape of Washington. Already, my mind was thinking ahead to the job I was sent here on, planning how best to go about it and when I would likely be able to go back to Volterra.
With a few bumps and skids, the plane touched down, and soon everyone was लोडिंग off. The woman sent one last kind smile my way before disappearing into the crowd. I paused briefly at the edge of things, adjusting to the bombardment of delicious smells heading my way.
Focus! I reminded myself. आप can do this.
Glancing around, I stepped into the crowd, heading to the parking area. My only luggage was a carry-on bag; it was all I needed. Sweeping the area, I smiled as I saw the perfect one. Moving at an agonizingly slow pace, I walked straight to the sleek light black बी एम डब्ल्यू Z9, then picked the lock and hot-wired it. It purred to life, making me grin. Barely looking around, I pulled off and sped recklessly down the highway to Forks. The thought of my father's hometown made me laugh - reckless in Forks; a rather hopeless proposition.
Well... I did प्यार a challenge.
I was in a hotel in Port Angeles, lying on the uncomfortable बिस्तर on my stomach, staring blankly in front of me. My ब्लैकबेरी Pearl sat in front of me, motionless.
All I really knew was that Aro wanted me here, in this dreary, mushy-green town, because of some other family that he felt was a threat to him. I rolled my eyes again at that. Stupid, paranoid old vampire.
But that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge. For some reason, he didn't want me to go in बंदूकों blazing like usual. I frowned and chewed the inside of my lip as I recalled what he'd said.
"Isabella! I need आप to go to the States for me."
I glanced up from my book, then said. "Sure. Just say who and where. They won't make it three days after I get there."
He shook his head quickly. "Oh, no. Not this time. For this, I need आप to be far less obvious. It's a large family, we're the only ones larger than they are, and they're strong. This isn't like when I usually send any of आप to the States. This is different."
I frowned, truly confused now. "Different, how, exactly?"
Again, he shook his head. "Oh, don't worry about that now. Just be ready to go tonight." He turned and swept from the room, lack बरसती, लबादा billowing behind him.
I watched for a moment, then groaned and got up. Heidi met me half-way down the hall.
"Oh, hi Bella. I take it Aro got to you?"
I nodded.
She looked, oddly enough, concerned. "Well, it won't be easy."
I shook my head, getting frustrated. "Why?"
She paused, looked around to see if anyone was nearby, then leaned close and whispered, "Because they're... unusual. Different. Aro's afraid they might soon be able to withstand us. That's why he's sending you."
She pulled away; I was even और confused. "Uh... okay."
So here I was, locked inside, because no one saw fit to let me know anything before I went in.
With a sigh, I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. A few और hours passed.
Finally my ब्लैकबेरी started vibrating, and I sat up on the bed, grabbing it and opening the new file.
Cullens.
Carlisle Cullen: Doctor at Forks only hospital, blond, सोना eyes, no power
I blinked at the last part, thinking it had to be a mistake. How could he have सोना eyes?
Esme Cullen: Mate to Carlisle. कारमेल hair, सोना eyes, no power.
Emmett Cullen: "Adopted son" to Esme and Carlisle, dark curly hair, सोना eyes, no power, attends Forks High School as senior.
Rosalie Hale: "Niece" to Esme - "Adopted", mate to Emmett, blond, सोना eyes, no power, attends Forks High School as senior.
Jasper Hale: "twin brother" to Rosalie - "Adopted", blond, सोना eyes, can sense and control emotions, attends Forks High School as senior.
The अगला name was highlighted in red, meaning I had to watch out and be on guard for them.
Alice Cullen: "adopted daughter" to Esme and Carlisle, mate to Jasper, black short hair, सोना eyes, can see things that may/may not happen - psychic, attends Forks High School as junior.
Well... that would make things interesting. I glanced down; the last one was in red also.
Edward Cullen: "Adopted son" to Esme and Carlisle, red-brown hair, सोना eyes, reads minds, attends Forks High School as junior.
I stared at that for a long time.
"Well, damn." I कहा out loud to no one. "Don't make this easy या anything!" I threw the phone across the room. Damn Aro and his stupid paranoia. I still didn't see why he couldn't just tell me all this before now. It would have made it a lot easier; now I was going to have to think through everything a whole lot quicker.
Then I took a deep breath to calm myself. I would just have to make sure to keep my power going at all times. That way, the psychic one couldn't see me and the mind-reader couldn't hear me. Hell, the empathic one wouldn't even be able to sense any emotions from me unless I let him. I thought it all over a little longer. I would probably have to let him sense just the top-most emotions, otherwise they might get suspicious. Everyone had told me not to underestimate them, and I wasn't planning on it.
Across the room, my ब्लैकबेरी vibrated again. I watched it for a few सेकंड्स - I had a feeling I was going to really hate it द्वारा the end of this job - then got up and grabbed it. Aro had sent another file.
Isabella:
We have enrolled आप in Forks High School as a junior. आप start tomorrow. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPROACH THEM. आप are to wait until we give the word. For now आप are just to watch them and inform us of their habits, actions, ext. We expect a रिपोर्ट at the end of the week.
I stared at the little contraption again with shock. They enrolled me in school?! I hadn't been in school for nearly four years! With an irritated humph! I plopped down on the बिस्तर again, glancing at the clock. I had nine hours before I had to go to...school.
I couldn't remember much from my human life, and want I did remember had taken me ages to dig up from the dark recesses of my mind. All I remembered about school was that it was rather a rather boring, uncomfortable affair. I knew I had been smart and I still remembered much of the things I'd been taught - which meant they must have been pounded into my mind - but the people, the place... it was all in shadow. I must not have been attached to anyone, या the place itself, because they didn't stand out at all.
Sitting up again, I grabbed my पर्स and went to the car I'd picked up a few hours after I got here. It was mine, from Volterra, had been sent here privately, and was pretty much my प्रिय possession. The sleek black exterior was inconspicuous of the speed. The 2008 Brabus Bullit Black ऐरो could reach 225 miles per hour, and we'd tweaked it a bit... so it could go even faster. It didn't look flashy, so it was a good car to use, unlike my other cars.
I drove out of Port Angeles, to Seattle, and then walked into a clothes store. If I was going to have to go to school, I'd need to get a few और outfits. People would notice if I wore nearly the same thing every week. Shopping was the usual drab affair of finding something and buying it, and then I was back to the hotel.
I'd managed to waste a whole two and a half hours.
I read over the information again, committing it to memory. Apparently, there weren't any pictures of them available, so I'd just have to wait and see. It wasn't like they'd be hard to spot, being वैंपायर and all.
My mind turned again to their eye color. Gold. How did they manage that? Contacts? I doubted it; I'd used every color of contacts imaginable to come with the closest color to human eyes and never found any that made me eyes look gold. It was a mystery I was finding annoying and decided to solve as soon as possible.
My ब्लैकबेरी vibrated again, and I picked it up, wondering what they wanted now.
Heidi had sent me a text.
Bella don't forget that आप will be surrounded द्वारा humans all दिन at the school. I know आप didn't feed again before आप left. Do so now before the thing starts.
I sighed, knowing she was right. Quickly, I texted back saying I was going now, and slipped outside. I wandered the streets of Port Angeles, watching out for the perfect prey. A myriad of scents bombarded my nose, and I traveled to the slummier parts of the tourist-y town. After about half an hour, a group of guys rounded the corner, laughing uproariously. I could clearly smell that one of them was drunk, the other high, but the last two were sober. Still, when their eyes fell on me, I could see what they were thinking as clearly as if I could read minds.
"Hey there."
I glanced at them, smiled seductively, but didn't say anything and just rounded the corner behind them. I distinctly heard two of them follow me. I let them herd me towards where the other two were waiting, a few blocks from a busy intersection. I paused between them.
"Hey, sugar." called one, with short black hair and completely sober.
I smiled at him. "I'm not sugar. You're the snack."
He looked confused, but the other one quickly took over, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"Come on, sweet. We just want to have a little fun."
I grinned, letting loose the monster within, knowing it would look predatory. "Oh, trust me. I'll have fun."
Faster than they thought possible, I was out of his arms and snapping his neck. The other sober one started to run, but I reached him as if he was standing still, grabbing him द्वारा the shoulders and lifting his neck to my mouth, leaving him a few inches off the ground. I fed quickly, tasting his blood - not really sweet, but still sating - as it slid down my throat and coated my tongue. Vaguely, I was aware of the two with the poisoned blood running off. It didn't matter; I wasn't going to feed from them, anyways. Finished with the one at my mouth, I dropped him, and moved on to the other. His blood had cooled slightly, and I drank from him quickly and efficiently. I looked at the remains of my meal; I couldn't just leave them here, where anyone could find them. The Volturi had taught me better. So I tore the bodies to unrecognizable pieces and then threw them in a dumpster. Let the cops make what they could of that.
I ran back to the hotel, and glanced at myself in the full-length mirror. I didn't look too much a mess, but would have to change anyways. I glanced at the clock. Three hours left. I took my time, luxuriating in a bubble bath for a long while, enjoying the scalding warmth of the water against my frigid skin, then washed my hair and got out. I used a blow-dryer, brushing my hair until it was almost-straight, then dressed in a कमीज, शर्ट and jeans, throwing on a heavy स्वेट-शर्ट, स्वेटरशर्ट, sweatshirt over it. I grimaced as I did so; the wet and cold weren't my thing. I preferred the dry and hot. Then I glanced at the clock. I figured if I drove slowly, I wouldn't get there too early.
I laughed as I left the hotel room. I doubted I would be able to resist from driving fast when I was on the road, but I could always try. People did it all the time, right? It couldn't be that hard.
As I drove along the freeway to Forks, my fingers twitched and tapped against the wheel impatiently. Okay, I was wrong; driving slow was very hard. I let a burst of air out from my lips, feeling my attention wander. I was still rather in the dark about these Cullens. There was the mystery of their सोना eyes, of why Aro felt threatened द्वारा them, and of why they were enrolled in school. Wasn't it hard not to hunt the kids that surrounded them? I knew I'd probably have a hard time, but I'd been trained द्वारा Aro, Marcus, and Caius until I was one of the best, and knew how to practice discipline on myself.
Finally, I pulled up to the Forks High School, which wasn't hard to find being right off the freeway. The buildings were brick and situated और like a bunch of cottages या something than any of the schools I'd seen when I'd visited the South. There were no fences, no institutional feeling. I pulled up in front of a building marked as the Office, though I doubted I'd be able to stay parked there. With a heavy sigh, I turned off the संगीत I'd had playing in the car - म्यूज़् - and opened the door. Pulling my हुड, डाकू tightly around my face, I hurried, at a human pace, to the door, pulling it open and slipping inside.
A somewhat large, unnaturally red-haired woman wearing a purple कमीज, शर्ट sat behind a counter at a desk, shuffling papers.
"Hi," I कहा quietly. She looked up, startled. "I'm new here... Isabella Swan?" She continued to stare, open-mouthed. I resisted the urge to sigh impatiently. After two मिनटों had passed, I raised my brow.
"Oh!" she said, coming back from wherever her mind had taken vacation. "Let me get your schedule for you..." She rummaged around in a teetering stack of papers and withdrew one from somewhere in the middle; it swayed precariously. "Here's your schedule." She opened a drawer and pulled out a small, blurred map of the school. "And here's a map." She began tracing paths of where I'd have to go on the paper, and I tuned her out. This place was so small, I doubted I'd get lost; I'd have to be blind and drunk to get लॉस्ट here.
"Get this slip signed द्वारा all your teachers and bring it back at the end of the day." She smiled. "I hope आप enjoy it here at Forks."
I smiled slightly back. "Oh, I'm sure I will." She didn't hear the dryness in my tone cause she just smiled again.
Shoving the slip into the back pocket of my jeans, I went back outside and followed a trail of cars to the student parking lot. Most of them were beat up and old, which made my car stand out, if only a little. The only one nearly as nice as mine was a shiny sliver Volvo. And I had a feeling that the Cullens owned it. Sure enough, as I parked, they stepped out and, without glancing around at the students, walked out to their classes.
With a sigh, I blocked all powers from having affect on me. It hadn't taken long when I first joined the Volturi for them to realize that none of their powers could work on me if they dealt with the mind, and that I could block the ones that didn't if I focused on doing so. The problem? It usually gave me a head-ache after a while and I grew irritable. Which meant I wanted to get this job over and done with fast.
I stepped out of my car; the whispers started up immediately.
"Hey, who's that?"
"Wow, she's hot."
"Is she related to the Cullens?"
"I hope that I have class with her."
"Five bucks says she -"
"I'm going to ask her-"
I blocked out the sound of their voices, all their petty concerns and lives, and walked to the first class marked on the schedule I'd been given. English.
I paused outside the door as two unisex coats walked past me inside and took and deep breath. I could do this. It was just school...
Rolling my eyes at myself, I pulled the door open and stepped inside.
Every, single eye turned to focus on me; it was actually a little unnerving. Ignoring them, I stepped over to where the teacher stood. He took the slip, signed it, then handed it back to me without another word. I took a सीट at the back of the classroom, hoping to avoid the stares. Somehow, though, they all managed to still look back at me. Mr. Mason, the teacher, handed out a packet with the name of पुस्तकें for the class. I glanced at them all and sighed. I'd already read them all - what else was there to do when there wasn't a job and one couldn't sleep?
Finally, finally, the घंटी, बेल rang, signaling the end of the class. I started packing up the things I'd taken out when a greasy black haired boy with a poor complexion leaned across the aisle towards me. He looked like the overly-helpful, chess club type. "Hey, Isabella, right?"
"Bella," I corrected automatically with a grimace. I wasn't afraid of people recognizing me as Charlie's daughter; he'd died shortly before Renee and Phil had gotten engaged. And the human mind often forgot things like the fact that their former police chief from about four and a half years पूर्व had a daughter named Isabella.
"I'm Erik." He held out his hand, and I reluctantly shook it. "Where's your अगला class?"
"Um," I paused, thinking. "Government with Jefferson in building six."
His eyes lit up. "Really? Well, I'm in building four, I could दिखाना आप the way...?"
Oh yeah, definitely over helpful.
I smiled politely. "Oh, that's fine. I can find the way."
His face fell and I turned away, smirking slightly. Poor, poor human boy.
The अगला thing I knew, he followed me to the building anyways. Scratch that - he's an annoying human boy.
"So... why are आप so pale? Are आप related to the Cullens?"
"No." I said. Then, as a सेकंड thought, I added, "My mother is part albino."
He stared at me with wide eyes, and I inwardly scoffed. Annoying, gullible human!
He paused at his building, especially when I gave him a stern look as he took another step towards me.
Trigonometry was the only class I had to stand up in and introduce myself. The teacher, Mr. Varner, seemed to think he knew everything there ever was to know about math; I already knew most of it, I realized. A few months ago, I'd gotten bored and taken an online math class that had been way harder than this. There was a girl in that class and in the Spanish class I was in that immediately started talking to me. She was short with curling black hair and never shut up. I let her blab, nodding now and then, knowing she wouldn't realize I wasn't paying attention. We entered the lunch room, her still blabbing, and I followed her blindly, grabbing बिना सोचे समझे objects of खाना before sitting at a तालिका, टेबल with her. She quickly introduced everyone, and I immediately forgot their names; it didn't matter to me, because I wasn't going to be there long. I sat down, and tuned out the noise of their chatter, staring blankly around the lunchroom.
And that was the first time I saw them.
They all sat alone at a table, in the corner of the lunch room. All five of them weren't talking, though they had a tray of untouched खाना in front of them. It was obvious that they were वैंपायर - pale, beautiful, and unnaturally graceful. They were looking away - from each other, from the other students, from anything in particular. As I stared, one - tall leonine, blond - muttered something. "I know that."
The small girl अगला to him stood, threw away her tray -unopened soda, unbitten सेब - and walked swiftly away, out of the room. I placed her as the psychic, Alice. My eyes flickered back to the rest. The blond who'd spoken had to be Jasper, her mate, the emotion senser. I moved on to the next. he was even और bulkier than the other, muscled like a serious weight lifter, even और so than Felix, with curly black hair - Emmett. Which meant... my eyes slid to the blond girl. She reminded me of Heidi, though they looked nothing alike. It was just that both had that gorgeous beauty that was almost hard to look at, impossible to really forget. She was statuesque and had a body आप saw on the front of an airbrushed स्विमिंग सूट magazine. Her golden hair waved to the middle of her back, and she was tall; every girl here probably took a hit on her self esteem just द्वारा being in the same room. Rosalie.
My eyes slipped, with a reluctance that neared boredom, to the final one. Compared to the other two males, he was lanky , less bulky, and boyish; the others looked like they could be teachers या in college. His untidy hair - not red-brown... bronze, I thought- fell across his forehead. Long, slim fingers slowly pulverized a bagel to pieces.
"Bella," कहा the girl - Jessica, I vaguely recalled - irritably. "What are आप looking at?" Turning, she followed my gaze... just as the bronze haired bay, who had to be the mind-reader, Edward, glanced our way, I dropped my gaze to my tray, examining the टिकिया, मफिन there with feigned intense interest.
Jessica - annoying thing she was - giggled. "Edward Cullen is staring at us." she whispered.
"It's impolite to stare." I कहा pointedly, for both their benefits. He would hear me.
"Oh, he can stare all he wants." She giggled again. I vaguely wondered if she'd still be giggling if she knew what he was. Faintly, I heard a soft chuckle.
She sighed. "He's gorgeous, of course, but doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear and obvious case of खट्टा grapes. My lips twitched in amusement and I wondered when he'd turned her down.
Smirking slightly at what I was about to do - and I really had no clear idea why - I shrugged. "Maybe he's gay." I suggested with polite innocence.
Jessica stared, wide-eyed and open mouthed. I head a strangled laugh; from the corner of my eye, I could see the big भालू one trying not to laugh, and pretty much failing, while the bronze mind-reader glared at him. Again, my lips twitched, too fast for anyone to catch. I glanced back and saw the whole तालिका, टेबल staring. With a roll of my eyes, I muttered "I guess clouds and a sense of humor don't mix." None of the humans heard me, and I kept my voice low enough that neither would the coven across the room.
Eventually, they left; I sat at the human-filled तालिका, टेबल for a long time, staring out a window at the rainy scenery. A quiet shy girl from the तालिका, टेबल accompanied me to biology. She reminded me her name was Angela, but other than that kept quiet. I was grateful; I could feel a migraine starting at the back of my head and I was 99.9 percent sure it had been brought on prematurely द्वारा Jessica's non-stop chattering.
We entered the room -once again becoming the center of attention - and I moved to hand my slip to Mr. Banner, the teacher. He didn't give me any nonsense about introductions, just handed me a book and pointed to an empty seat... the only empty seat.
Right अगला to the Cullen mind-reader.
So much for not approaching them, I thought dryly.
Three things happened rather quickly then. I stepped under the vent of the heater; he stiffened, eyes darkening to black; I sat down and his scent swirled around me.
It was sweet, intoxicating, and I was struck with the sudden, insane urge to lean closer and let it saturate my lungs.
I positively, absolutely hated it.
If he had been human, I knew I wouldn't have been able to resist killing him. The fact that I had fed recently wouldn't have mattered. I would have killed him and damn the consequences; his scent was that alluring. I leaned as far away as the तालिका, टेबल would allow. From the corner of my eye, I saw him doing the same, face twisted with hate. It didn't mean anything to me except that it put और अंतरिक्ष between us, something I desperately wanted - no, needed. I refused to breathe.
The class dragged on longer than the rest. I didn't know if it was because of the way this teacher taught, because the दिन was almost over, of whether it was because I was waiting for the chance to rid myself of his scent. At the moment, I didn't really care. I glared sideways at the clock as the red सेकंड hand slowly clicked around the circular face. As if of their own accord, my eyes peeked at him; I was met with a black, hate-filled glare. That was perfectly fine with me, so I glared right back.
Stupid, bronze-haired mind-reader.
The घंटी, बेल rang; he was up and out of his सीट before anyone else was out of their seat. I moved और slowly, not wanting to risk alerting the humans to anything unnatural, but was right up front of the crowd heading out. Finally away from his scent, I breathed in the wet, cold, fresh air deeply.
"Hi! I'm Mike Newton. What's your अगला class?"
Not even a baby-faced, pale blond human boy could ruin my relief just yet at being away from the awful scent.
"Gym."
"Hey, me too!" Luck wasn't on my side today, was it? "So... did आप stab Edward Cullen with a pencil या what? I've never seen him act like that."
I thought of all the जवाब I could give to such a question, and all would give me different reactions from the sure to be annoying human.
"Or what." I answered, and quickly slipped into the girls' locker room.
Gym was boring - the coach didn't make me participate, so I just sat and watched the humans play volleyball. If I could have, I would have fallen asleep. We were dismissed and I hurried to the office, already tired of the "playing human" game. It was a horrible dull affair with no benefits that I could see.
When I stepped into the office, I almost walked right back out. Even though I immediately stopped breathing, faint traces of the scent were already there. He was arguing quietly and persuasively with the purple-shirt lady behind to desk, from this morning. I easily picked up what about - sixth घंटा biology.
Another girl stepped in, allowing the cold wind to whip inside, placed a slip in a basket, and stepped back out. the mind-reader stiffened, turning slowly to glare at me; I couldn't stop the glare I sent back. Muttering something like "never mind", he rushed out. I handed my slip to the older human woman and mindlessly answered a सवाल she asked, then stepped out.
The parking lot was nearly empty, and completely devoid of any silver Volvo's. I walked to my Arrow, stepping in and slamming the door behind me.
"Stupid, shiny Volvo-owner." I muttered under my breath.
I sped off down the highway to Port Angeles, fighting away the memory of his intoxicating, hated scent the whole way.
This was going to be a long job, wasn't it?
________________________________________
LATER
I banged my head against the डेस्क in my hotel room. Ten days of monotonous torture. That's what school really was -torture. I was so getting Aro back for this.
I'd watched the Cullens every moment I could. They sure didn't do much. arrive at school, not talk to anyone, answer direct सवालों from teachers, sit at the same table, go home... that pretty much covered it. Once, I ran after their car and found the place they were staying: a gorgeous, three-story Victorian mansion in the middle of the forest outside of Forks.
And the mystery of their सोना eyes remained unsolved.
The bronze haired one hadn't shown up since that time in the office, ten days ago. I wasn't complaining - it meant his hated scent wasn't anywhere near me - except Aro wanted to know why I had even less to say about him than the others, and I wasn't sure I wanted to tell him. I had a feeling it wouldn't play out in my favor. The less Aro knew about me, personally, the better.
EPOV
I couldn't get the new girl, who also happened to be a vampire, out of my mind. Why couldn't I hear her thoughts? Could she block them, and, if she were human, would I still be unable to hear them? And what was she doing in Forks, alone, and obviously on a traditional diet from the deep बैंगनी, वायलेट of her eyes? It all made no sense. Alice hadn't seen her coming, which was unusual.
I was seated in biology, another one of the boring classes. I doubted Mr. Banner could teach me, with two medical degrees, anything I didn't already know. It was one of the ones I went through the most mindlessly.
The door opened, and in stepped Angela and Bella, the new girl. Her face and name had occupied most of the student body this morning - it took so little to work them all up - but I hadn't thought much of her arrival... until lunch that is. Now she was consuming my thoughts.
"Yes!" Mike Newton thought triumphantly. I rolled my eyes at that, but couldn't help but watch her walk gracefully to the teacher. She handed him a slip, then turned to walk to the सीट अगला to me. The only open one. I noted with surprise that she looked like she was amused at something. But then she stepped under the vent of the heater and her scent blew over me.
It was mouthwatering, slightly floral - like freesia - and I very nearly लॉस्ट every shred of humanity I'd managed to retain over my existence. If she'd been human, I doubted I'd been able to resist killing her then and there.
She sat down, leaning as far away from me as the तालिका, टेबल would allow much like I was. My posture was stiff, my fists clenching under the table. I stopped the flow of air into my lungs, and felt immediate, but not whole, relief. The class seemed to drag on abnormally slowly.
When the घंटी, बेल rang, I bolted up from my सीट and out the door at an inhuman pace. If any of my fellow classmates had been paying the slightest bit of attention, they might have wondered at it, but they were all consumed with the new girl, Bella, like to a shiny object.
I didn't go to my अगला class; I wasn't sure if I still retained enough control over myself to be around so many humans. I was angry that she could do this to me. Some insignificant, randomly appearing vampire could make me so very nearly loose the control I'd worked a century at. Instead of class, I went into my car, playing the संगीत nice and loud.
I sighed, and again wondered why Alice didn't see this happening, didn't see me loosing so much control. Was it the new girl's fault, या was Alice simply so consumed watching how Jasper fared since lunch proved his control close to the edge that she didn't see the big event? या was it simply that nothing was going to happen anyways?
I searched for her thoughts, knowing exactly where she was located, and found them with the ease of familiarity. They all centered around Jasper, analyzing his every मिनट decision. I sighed, realizing that I was on my own in this.
If I saw her again, tomorrow, say, and her scent reached me again, would I be able to keep such tight control of the monster that I was like I had this time? Was it just the element of surprise, या would it constantly be like this? And was I willing to risk the lives of innocent humans द्वारा not taking precautions against her alluring scent?
Unless I can avoid her entirely... I thought suddenly. If I didn't see her at all, then there wouldn't be any problems, would there? It was only one class. There had to be a simple, non-endangering solution, one that would leave me even और a monster या disappoint Carlisle.
I got out of the car, heading quickly to the office. Her scent was gone now - the fresh wet air of Forks had taken care of that - but the memory of it still lingered.
I stepped in, seeing Ms. Cope behind the desk. It was perfect; the female population tended to be a lot easier to persuade to my wishes than not. She glanced up in surprise as I cleared my throat, eyes wide as she unknowingly realized the danger that I presented. Still, her thoughts immediately began the usual chant of Too young, too young!
I brushed away the thoughts of what I was 'too young' for. It was wrong on so many levels. Besides... I could be her great-grandfather.
"Ms. Cope, would आप mind doing a favor for me?" I asked in the soft voice I reserved for humans so as not to frighten them.
"Why sure Edward, what do आप need?"
"Would it be at all possible to change my sixth घंटा biology to another hour, or, say, chemistry?"
She was thinking that there must be a problem in the class. "Why would आप want to do that Edward?"
"Well, आप see, I have already covered this material."
Now she was at a loss as to why I would want to skip out on an easy A. "Well, I'm sorry, but all the other classes are full, and Mr. Banner doesn't like to exceed twenty-five students."
"I wouldn't be any trouble."
Of course; not a perfect Cullen. "I'm sorry, Edward. Would आप like me to talk to Mr. Banner?" Again with the thinking of there being a problem.
"No. Please Ms. Cope. Isn't there any way to change classes?" The door opened, but I ignored it, concentrating on my conversation with Ms. Cope.
I could see - and 'hear' - that she was relenting.
"Well..."
The door opened again, and the wind blasted in, swirling a scent around me that was already familiar. The monster leapt आगे again, and I stiffened, turning slowly to glare at her. She glared back.
"Never mind," I quickly muttered to Ms. Cope, then rushed from the office. My siblings were waiting द्वारा the car, and looked at me in confusion as I neared. Jasper, sensing my distress and upset, sent waves of calm towards me. I shot him a grateful look.
As I turned on the car, hitting forty before I was even out of the parking lot, Alice voiced what they all were thinking. "Edward, what's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, Alice." They didn't need to know how shamefully close I came to losing control. She frowned, not believing me, but I could tell she didn't see anything alarming in the future. But then she suddenly started गाना the hokey-pokey in her head... backwards.
"So... guess what?" she asked excitedly. She didn't give anyone a chance to respond, as she immediately continued in a slightly sing-song voice, "Tanya's visiting!" I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to groan.
"Alice..." I कहा warningly.
"And you're going to दिखाना her around and keep her company over the अगला few days."
"Alice..." I growled. She and Esme were always trying to set me up with the स्ट्रॉबेरी, स्ट्राबेरी blond.
"You will, Edward. I saw it." She pointed to her eyes. My siblings' thoughts were mocking and amused. I scowled at the little pixie in the rearview mirror.
We pulled up, a red Dodge Charger in the front. As I turned off the engine and they got out, Tanya appeared at the front door, her softly curled, स्ट्रॉबेरी, स्ट्राबेरी blond hair moving in the breeze.
I inwardly groaned. Alice is going to pay for this.
(Ha! So... that ended up slightly longer than I expected. द्वारा about a few paragraphs. But I like it better than I originally had it.)
BPOV
I sighed heavily as we walked to the cafeteria; Jessica's non-stop chatter - coupled with the monotonous, never-ending cycle of brainwashing (aka school) - were taking a toll on my patience. Add to that the fact that I had my shields running constantly, I had very little left over to deal diplomatically with a bunch of hormonal teenage humans, whose biggest concerns were what to wear when they went out and if their crush reciprocated their feelings. Thankfully for me, Jess was appeased द्वारा the least interactive of minimal responses, leaving me free to pretty much ignore her. It was the only way I was lucky, really.
We entered the large room, and the scents of so many warm, blood-filled humans hit me like a physical force. I would have to hunt again tonight. Having already done so in Port Angeles and Seattle, I figured I would have to हटाइए up north a bit, to avoid suspicion.
My eyes flicked to the तालिका, टेबल the Cullens usually sat at, and I froze.
The mind-reader was back.
"Bella?" Jessica asked, touching my arm in a totally faked concern manner. I resisted the urge to एक प्रकार का जहाज़ it away. Without a word, I walked to the lunch line, grabbed a soda, and went to sit at the तालिका, टेबल that was quickly becoming crowded. Mike Newton - whom I was quickly coming to the conclusion of holding the position as the most annoying being to grace this universe - hopped up to pull out a seat, right अगला to him, for me. I reluctantly sat down.
"Hey Bella! Where's your food? Aren't आप hungry?"
Oh, ravenous. I thought. "No," I कहा calmly. "Just thirsty." My lips twitched at the double meaning those words could contain.
Lauren - a blond with a horrible nasal voice - leaned over and whispered to a girl अगला to her. "I bet she's anorexic. Just look at her! She's almost as bad as Rosalie Hale."
I decided to take that small part as a compliment. Rosalie was beautiful.
"Hey, Lauren." I said, smiling coldly. "Where's your food? आप can't not be hungry... didn't आप skip yesterday, too?"
She turned red, and I glanced away, not needing any और temptation. My eyes skirted the Cullen table, landing on the mind-reader. He was staring at me curiously, with a slight hint of frustration, like I wasn't meeting some standard. Probably like the fact that he couldn't hear my thoughts. My eyes narrowed and I looked away. I was not looking आगे to biology.
When I walked into the room, Mr. Banner was setting microscopes and boxes of slides on each table; there was no sign of the mind-reader yet. I sat down and pulled out a notebook. Being all caught up on my reports to Aro, I had nothing to do and began to doodle. I was highly aware of when he sat down अगला to me.
"Hello." कहा a velvet, musical voice.
It was a very good thing that Marcus had taught me how to hide my emotions, to keep my face in the expression I wanted it in, otherwise this bronze-haired mind-reader might have seen something I didn't want him to see. Surprise. I was surprised at how his voice sounded - like melted honey. And I was surprised द्वारा how much I wanted to hear और of it.
"I didn't have a chance to properly introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen." I stared as he held out his hand.
Reluctantly, I shook it. "Bella. Bella Swan."
He grinned, revealing white, even teeth. "I know."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course आप do." Stupid mind-reader.
For a moment, a somewhat awkward silence fell, during which I wondered when he would ask the inevitable and how I was going to respond.
"I... apologize... for my behavior last week."
The unexpected statement shocked me into turning to stare at him.
"It was inexcusable." he added, a crooked smile lifting his mouth. It was incredibly cute, is what it was.
I frowned at the thought, then shrugged and faced front. "It's fine. I don't really care." From the corner of my eye, I could see a hint of frustration return to his face.
Mr. Banner explained the lab we were to do - something about mitosis and प्याज cells... and we were to work with our partners. Luck wasn't on my side in this mission, was it? I reluctantly turned to face the bronze-haired Cullen.
"Ladies first?" He pushed the microscope towards me. I stared at him for a long minute. "Or not...." he trailed off, looking confused. Sighing, I snatched the contraption from him, peeking quickly through the eye lens.
"Prophase."
He nodded, accepting the analysis, and wrote it down in a neat, elegant script. After changing the slide, he glanced, muttering, "Anaphase." And so it continued for a few मिनटों before we were done. I glanced around the room. None of the others were close to being done and a few were cheating.
"So... what brings आप to Forks?" The सवाल would sound innocent enough to anyone who happened to over hear it - not that anyone would; he kept his voice low enough that only I would hear him - but I knew there was और to it. We weren't looking at each other as I answered.
"Lots of things. It's sort of complicated."
That didn't deter him, though I had doubted it would. "I think I can keep up."
I made the mistake of glancing at him, in annoyance, and meeting his eyes. They were a light butterscotch, with the same golden tints, and completely mesmerizing. I ended up blurting the truth.
"I was sent here."
As soon as I कहा it, I was angry with myself, and with those stupid सोना eyes. How dare they hypnotize me into speaking the truth?
He frowned slightly. "Sent? Why? Who sent you?"
"My family." I stated, being sure not to look at those hypnotic eyes for fear I would let out और than I wanted.
"Why would your-" he started, confused.
"They just did." I said, somewhat sharply. I shrugged and forced a slight smiled to lessen the words. "I get sent all over the place. I think I annoy them." Actually, I knew I annoyed most of them.
He grinned in response. "Well, my sister Alice is rather annoying most of the time, but we don't send her away." He paused, then chuckled. "Unless it's to the mall, but she'd go without being 'sent'."
My small smile wasn't so fake now. "She likes to shop?"
He chuckled softly. "That would be an incredible understatement."
"Ah." I smiled.
He smiled back, and that was what alerted me. I was doing what I knew better than to do. I was getting close to someone I was probably going to have to kill. The thought saddened me. I believed I could like this gold-eyed bronze haired mind-reader, if दिया the chance.
Which is bad, I reminded myself. Bad, bad, bad Bella.
He was frowning in frustration again. I looked away, uneasy with my thoughts and what they meant. The घंटी, बेल rang and, this time, I was the one up and out of my सीट and the room first.
Gym was, in a nutshell, dull. Throw a ball, chase a ball, shoot a ball, chase it some और and आप have pretty much any sport. While all the other kids were sweating and exhausted, I was bored and restless. Coach Clapp finally let us out and I hurried through changing, rushing out to my Arrow.
My ब्लैकबेरी vibrated as I neared and I pulled it out.
"Swan..." I stated cautiously. The number had been blocked.
"Isabella!" कहा Aro's annoying-cheerful voice. "How are things?"
I rolled my eyes. "Just fine. Except, oh, yeah, I'm stuck in school. Did आप ever even attend school?" It was a rhetorical question; I knew he hadn't.
"No, but the टेलीविज़न makes it sound very intriguing."
I had stopped moving back when I'd realized I was speaking to Aro; it required that much of my focus not to throw the phone across the parking lot या squish it to pieces in my hand. Flatly, I stated, "That's big cities on TV. Forks is tiny in real life."
"Now, Isabella, I'm sure-"
I cut him off, knowing what he was going to say. "No, I am not over-reacting!" I stomped my foot. People still there stared.
Aro just laughed his annoying, fake sounding laugh. "Ha ha! Isabella, you're hilarious. Now, really, how has the job been going?"
"Abso-friggin-lutely perfect." I snapped.
"Isabella Marie Swan, आप must be serious. This family is dangerous!" And off he went on a long rant about responsibility, commitment to the job, serious attitude, dangerous vampires, and blah blah blah. I'd heard it all a hundred thousand times before. It never changed, even द्वारा one word. Aro was so predictable.
After two मिनटों of (not) listening to him, I decided he'd waster enough of my time for the week. "I'm hanging in up Aro." I announced and did so. He'd probably have Heidi call me back. Sure enough, as I stepped into my car, the phone vibrated again. I pressed the ignore button, turned it off, then threw it in the passenger seat.
Try lecturing me now, Aro.
I sighed as I got out of my car the अगला morning. How much longer was Aro going to have me just watch? I was stressed enough over the fact that my shields were constantly running, but add the fact that I was constantly surrounded द्वारा humans, and I was having to feed और often not to kill any innocent students. But it was getting harder to deny the fact that a rather large part of me was grateful for the wait; it meant और time to... what? What about them was so interesting about the Cullens that I was willing to spend और time in school?
Mike Newton, a big grin on his baby-face, stepped in front of me.
"Bella!"
"Hi Mike," I sighed. How much longer was Aro going to make me deal with him?
He tried to put his arm around me. I shrugged it off, और annoyed than usual. Even though I'd fed the other night - some guy was trying to set a आग up north, and let's say he didn't get the chance - I was still easily irritated द्वारा Newton. Who wouldn't be?
"So... do आप want to go out tomorrow night?"
I stopped and stared at him. "Uhm... no." I said.
"We could go out to eat, या to a movie."
Didn't he understand the English language and, और specifically, that word? "No, Mike." I glared.
"We could do both, I guess. Hey, do आप think we could take your car? आप can-"
"I believe she कहा no, Newton. That means आप can go now."
Should the voice have been so familiar? No... but it was. Mike was glaring behind me.
"Cullen."
I turned around and there was the mind-reader Edward, looking और like a Greek God than anyone should have a right to. His hair was wet, but it looked like he'd just stepped off a shoot for hair-gel. I had the strangest urge to touch it... I shook those thoughts from my head.
Grinning, I turned around to face the vile Mike Newton again. "Yeah. So. See आप around." Spinning around on my heel, I walked away to the Cullen. "Thanks for saving me." I muttered.
He laughed softly, and the sound was mesmerizing. "No problem." he said, shaking his head, drawing my attention to his messy locks again. "I doubt he's ever been so blatantly turned down before. Over half the female population is infatuated with him."
I snorted. "Well it can't be for his scintillating personality."
He smirked, amused. "I'll see आप in biology." he said, just as the घंटी, बेल rang.
I nodded, frowning slightly, and entered English. I shouldn't be wanting to see him so badly. Aro was likely going to make me kill him, या at least someone in his family, and the closer I go to him the harder it would be, for both of us.
But I wanted to get close to him. He was intriguing...he was funny... and boy, oh boy, was he beautiful.
Biology seemed to roll around so much और quickly than usual; the closer it came, the और I felt something close to panic. Distance myself? Forget rules and get to know this bronze-haired god? My mind felt torn between the two. Or, और accurately, my दिल and common sense were arguing viciously over it.
Yet when I sat down in the class, I couldn't stop from turning to smile at him. He smiled back, opening his mouth to say something, but shut it as Mr. Banner walked up. He handed me a yellow slip of paper from the office, then went back to the front of the class. I glanced at it, then crumpled it. Stupid Aro had called the stupid school. The note कहा for me to call him. Stupid bastard. With barely a glance, I threw the now tiny and likely un-foldable ball of paper into the trash can.
"What's wrong?' He sounded truly concerned. It was going to make keeping distance between us that much harder.
I was glaring in front of me. "Nothing."
"Bella, आप can-"
"Leave. Me. Alone. Okay? I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to listen to you, I don't even want to see आप anymore than I have to." All lies... how pathetic was I?
He glared, angry now. Good. It made it that much और easier to keep distance and not get any closer to him. Which was for the best. For both of us. That's what I kept telling myself, at least.
"Fine," he growled.
"Good." I snapped. We both turned away sharply.
I was trembling with an intense wave of emotions. The tension between us was practically tangible, and he sat stiffly, much like that first day. When the घंटी, बेल rang, he rose, back stiff, and left without looking at me. I sighed softly, inexplicably sad, and rose too. I barely took in the rest of the day, though I did notice with relief that Mike left me alone.
I was glad to reach the hotel room; I wanted to be able to mope over the loss of this mind-reader who could have been a friend, at the very least. But when I walked in, closing the door behind me, I blinked. Heidi, Aaron, and Cate were in carious places in my room, either sitting या standing. I dropped my bag to the floor and propped my hands on my hips.
"Why?" I asked simply, though I had a rather good idea.
Aaron snorted and rolled his eyes. "Why, we came to ask if आप wanted to help us hunt for leprechauns."
Cate, his cousin, laughed, her dark blond curls shaking as she shook her head in mock tragedy. "Oh, Aaron, what are we going to do with you?" She made to run her fingers through his black spiky hair, but he quickly leaned away, dodging her. Heidi rolled her eyes at their fooling around.
"You wouldn't contact Aro..."
"So he sent आप to contact me." I finished for her. She nodded.
Aaron leaned back on the बिस्तर so he was looking at me upside down. "Whatever. I just wanted out of that castle. It's so boring."
Cate snorted. "Yeah, yeah. आप heard that there were some pretty girls in the area, that's why आप were the first out the door."
He shrugged, not denying it. "Your point? So I want to see some new faces. What about you? Fighting with Felix?"
She glared at him. "He's being an ass. Again."
Heidi sighed and came to stand अगला to me as they began to bicker.
"How are आप Bells? Two weeks of school must be getting to you." She grinned teasingly. "Any boyfriends yet?"
I snorted. "Ha ha, Heidi." I smiled. "Actually, this very morning one of them asked me out. He's an annoying guy, constantly following me."
"Ha, आप have a stalker!" Aaron laughed. Cate smacked the back of his head. "Hey...!" he whined, rubbing his head like it actually hurt. Which I highly doubted it did; she didn't hit him hard enough.
"Anyways..." I कहा pointedly. "Why does Aro really want me here?"
They were all quiet, meaning I was the only one left in the dark and my hunch that something was up was correct. Cate began to braid a strand of hair, while Aaron started counting the ceiling tiles under his breath. With a roll of my eyes, I turned to Heidi, staring her down.
She relented after four minutes. "It wasn't just to watch these Cullens. He knows the leader, Carlisle, from a few centuries पूर्व या something. But Aro is, as always..." She visibly struggled for a word.
"Paranoid?" I provided.
She grinned. "Yeah. That. But that's only his cover story. See, someone... tried to break into the castle, to get to you."
I snorted and rolled my eyes. Whoever it was was obviously an idiot. Breaking into Volterra? It was beyond laughable. I mean, come on!
"We caught him... apparently, he was sent द्वारा another vampire to attempt to kill you, या to at least figure out anything he could about you. His name was Laurent."
I frowned; the name rang a bell...
"He was working for Victoria?" Heidi prompted.
My eyes widened as I recalled the vicious red-head, then I laughed. "Ah. Her. Yes, she would like to kill me, I suppose. I killed her mate. James. The guy who was drawing attention through the multiple missing persons reports?"
"Oh... him?" Heidi remembered who I was talking about. I nodded and she shook her head.
"Well, why didn't आप kill her too?" Aaron asked, rather logically.
Cate smacked his arm, rolling her eyes. "How long have आप known Bella? She doesn't like to kill unnecessarily. Heck, she barely feeds half as often as us. Besides, who would be dumb enough to try to kill a member of the Volturi, especially Bella?"
"Um... I'm thinking this Victoria chick?" He laughed and dodged the तकिया Cate threw at his head.
"Smart-ass." she muttered, shaking her head.
"Blame her." He pointed at me, face sadly serious.
I laughed and bowed dramatically. Heidi rolled her eyes, then glanced around the room. "Well... I think we're gonna need a bigger room."
I threw a quick glance around too. "I concur."
Twenty मिनटों later found me checked out of the hotel and all of us across town in a large suite.
"Comfortable furniture!" I exclaimed, falling onto a soft सोफ़ा, सोफे with those cushions आप could sink into. "Much better," I sighed.
Heidi laughed, looking down at me. "You would think, after so many hotels, that you'd be immune to crappy beds."
I grinned. "You would think that, wouldn't you?"
Aaron lifted my feet and plopped down, dropping them on his lap. "I'm bored." he whined, sounding like he was in third grade.
Cate snorted. "Surprise, surprise."
He stuck his tongue out at her - in true third grade fashion - but reached sideways into his bag. He withdrew a laptop with a triumphant "Wah-la!" Grinning, he opened it and started it up. "Entertainment, here I come!" He logged in and clicked on IM. (You know what's coming now, Shikiangel CerEbow! XD)
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed some time later. I glanced up from my book, Sense and Sensibility.
"What?"
He was staring at the screen in horror, so, with a groan, I shoved off the cushy बंहदार कुरसी, कुर्सी and moved to look over his shoulder. My eyes widened in shock, horror, and surprise, then narrowed.
"It there no escaping him?" I threw up my hands, exasperated.
"Not anymore..." Aaron answered mournfully.
Aro had logged on. Aro. As in, leader of the Volturi, the most feared वैंपायर in the world, Aro. Shaking my head, I muttered, "Let's hope he doesn't discover MySpace या something."
Cate stared at me wide-eyed. "Don't even joke, Bells."
Aaron just laughed loudly. "Oh, God! Aro and MySpace! I don't think the world will ever be ready for something like that!"
"The world isn't ready for Aro and IM, either, but did that stop him?" I met Heidi's eyes. "I blame Alec. He was always telling Aro about the wonders of the computer. Apparently he has now discovered them."
Heidi laughed at us and our (melo)drama. "What are आप three going to do? Form an 'I-Hate-Aro' club?"
"It'd probably be incredibly popular." I snickered.
Cate giggled. "Aro Haters Anonymous."
"Hey, can we really do that?" Aaron asked with interest, having turned off his laptop.
"No." we all कहा at once.
He shrugged. "Just checking. Anyways, he कहा Cate and I were also enrolled in your school, Bells, to 'assist' you." He rolled his eyes. "We're like the extra protection या bodyguards. Heidi is going to be posing as our mom."
I sighed. "This is going to be fun," I stated dryly.
Aaron slung an arm over my shoulder. "Don't आप know it?"
-------------------- LATER -------------------- LATER -------------------- LATER --------------------
I slammed the door to my Arrow, taking care not to damage the frame-work.
"Bella, I'm-"
Aaron snapped his mouth shut as I glared murderously at him. In the अंतरिक्ष of fifteen minutes, he'd managed to break the stereo and four CD's, crack a passenger सीट window, and bust a taillight. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd kill him right then.
"I'm. Going. To kill you." I कहा pleasantly. What? He didn't know I wasn't too serious.
He swallowed, then gestured vaguely over his shoulder. "I'm, uh, going to, um, go... over there." He hurried away, towards the office. Coward.
Cate put a hand on my shoulder. "At least आप have an excuse to use one of your other cars."
I raised a brow. "Ostentatious, much?"
She laughed. "Yeah, but आप know आप were dying for an excuse to दिखाना them off."
"Go get your schedule!" I shoved her playfully after her brother.
As I entered the English room, Mike glared at me. Apparently, he wasn't over the other day. I happily ignored him and sat down.
Cate was posing as an upperclassman, a Senior, and Aaron was a junior with me; I ended up having him in Government and Spanish. I quickly realized that school was much और interesting with him around. He'd make fun of the teachers, mimicking them and the students oddly under his breath so only I could hear, only to smile politely and act like the perfect gentleman as they walked by. I should have dragged him with me sooner, I mused to myself as we joined Cate, who was waiting for us outside the Spanish room. We trooped to the cafeteria.
"So, which one is the short girl with black spiky hair?" Aaron asked me.
"Alice Cullen, psychic." I announced, not even having to think about it. I had everything about them memorized and could recite it in my sleep. If I could sleep, that is.
"Psychic?" He grimaced, then a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Do आप think I could possibly persuade her to give me the जवाब to a test the दिन before it's given?"
I laughed; the सवाल was just like Aaron. And he was completely serious. "I wouldn't know. I haven't spoken to her."
Cate grinned. "Yeah, आप thought you'd have to kill her," she teased. "So, who's the big one with the curly black hair?"
"Emmett Cullen."
Cate pursed her lips. "Hmm... he's scary, but for some reason, I keep thinking of a really big, somewhat scary teddy bear."
I cracked up, causing several students to stare wide-eyed. So I hadn't been very vocal before this. Sue me.
"You'll meet the rest of them - there's five that go here - when we get in the cafeteria. They always sit at the same table."
We walked in and I paused.
"I thought आप कहा that there were five?" Aaron sounded confused.
"I did." I कहा quietly.
"Well then," Cate began slowly, "Who's the odd one out?"
A स्ट्रॉबेरी, स्ट्राबेरी blond was sitting अगला to Edward, their chairs touching, her practically in his lap and touching some part of him constantly - his arm; his hand; his back. As I watched, she fingered his bronze hair, saying something inaudible. My stomach flipped sickeningly.
I took a deep, totally unnecessary breath.
"Come on," I muttered, leading them to the lunch line, where we bought खाना we'd never eat. Which was a waste, really. I sat down at a different तालिका, टेबल than usual, not wanting to deal with the humans there; Angela was the only one I even remotely liked, probably because she was quiet, shy, and didn't push for information. In other words, she didn't give me a headache.
Aaron scooted his सीट close to me. "Tell us what's wrong, Bells. We know you. आप looked like someone had shot आप in the head a moment ago." he whispered in my ear.
Cate nodded sagely. I