

Nightshade - Waking Nightmare

Chapter Thirteen/ Forty-One is out.





37. Chapter Nine - The Best Course?

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Chapter Nine - The Best Course…

So there they were. One week later. She had not been able to attend any of the funerals. Edward had apparently be severely injured by the electrical fire that occurred when champagne had spilt on the many many plugs. Bella, the lovesick bride that she was, was apparently by his side in Salem, Oregon, at the Greg Matthew's Hospital. Carlisle was rumored to have a friend from medical school who worked for the best burn unit in the area who was now Edward’s doctor. Yeah. It was a bunch of baloney.

In reality, Bella sat with Edward in their meadow, smiling with her heart. She looked adoringly into his face, her reason for living. “I love you,” she whispered.

“Not as much as I love you,” Edward gently whispered.

Bella grinned as she leaned in and pressed her lips against his, “I highly doubt that,”

“You would,” he whispered back.

“Last night was incredible…” she moaned sometime later.

Edward propped himself up on one of his arms, “It’s morning?”

Bella laughed with her melodic voice.

Bella sat next to Edward as he played a new song for her that he had written. While silent on what was the inspiration for the piece, it was beautiful and touched her still beating heart.

Emma came skipping down the stairs, humming to herself. Bella paid her no mind until Alice screamed, “STOP HER!”

In a flash, Edward was up off of the piano bench and grasped Emma tightly about the waist. Emma struggled so Bella dashed over and helped her beloved hold her best friend.

“What is going on?” Bella asked Edward who shrugged before closing his eyes and concentrating. It was so fast that Bella had always missed it when she was human.

“You wouldn’t!” he snarled at Emma.

“They have a right to know!” Emma fought valiantly. Emmett and Jasper took Bella’s place as they held Emma, grimacing as she landed a couple of good blows.

“They would kill her!” Edward yelled.

“How do you know that? They probably have figured it out already!” Emma screamed back.

“What is going on?” Carlisle thundered as he came down the stairs, Emse clutching his arm, looking on in fright.

“She,” Alice hissed at Emma, “Is planning on going to the werewolves,”

All of the vampires looked at a much more calm Emma who shrugged, “Embry asked me to come and I said that I would,”

Bella had rolled her eyes. Emma had developed a deep bond with the werewolves, particularly Embry, Jared and Quil. Really, it was Embry. Yep, just Embry.

“Just let her go,” her best friend defended her. All eyes turned to stare at Bella dubiously. She shrugged. Now that she was a vampire, her leanings to the werewolves were not strong as they were when she was a human. In fact, she could not remember even what they looked like. She had questioned Edward about it. He said that she would most likely remember them when she saw them again. Logically, that was not going to happen, so the Quieluete wolves existed to her no more.

Emma flashed her a grateful smile and shrugged her way out of Edward’s strong grasp. Bella grinned back. With a triumph smirk and a jaunty walk, she went out the front door. A second later, they all heard her close her car door and get in, before speeding down the drive out to the Quieleute reservation. Bella shrugged. What was she going to do with Emma?

Emma laughed to herself as she pulled into Embry Call’s driveway. He was waiting for her on his front porch. She shook her head, making her long brown curls bounce and climbed out of he car at human speed. People were driving by and that would be just plain irresponsible. Or so she had been told. Mostly by Bella. Human Bella, that is.

“Hey!” Embry bound down the stairs to stand beside her. She grinned and cocked her head to the side.

“Hey,” she replied.

Embry hugged her. Even if she smelled funny and he smelled funny, friendship could overcome stinkiness. With a large grin, she hugged him tightly, making him groan.

“Only a werewolf,” he reminded and she gave him a vampire flush.

“Sorry, Mr. Werewolf,” she teased.

“You are excused, Miss Vampire,” he teased back.

A passer by thought simply that it was sad that such a lovely young girl was getting mixed up in the ignominious Ulley gang. She probably could have done so much better. With a shake of their heads, the mothers continued on, reaffirming their goal to keep their daughters away from those rascal boys. Too bad, one was Kim’s mother and had no idea of the love between her daughter and Jared.

Embry took her hand and lead her inside. Paul sat on the couch beside Jared and Kim, who else?. They al smiled at her when she walked in. Paul bristled for a moment when her scent hit his nose, but he was working on controlling his hate, knowing that it would be a while before she went away.

“Vampire girl!” Jared laughed. Kim giggled and squeezed his hand. Emma had just about decided that she had never seen a more beautiful human, except for the ravishing Emily, who was beyond beautiful before she fell in love with Sam. Her scars only added to her unique beauty, Emma thought.

“Hi, guys! S’up?” she asked.

“Nothin’ good on tv except Kim’s soaps.” Paul shrugged.

“Oh the pitfalls of summer,” Emma giggled while Paul chuckled and Kim glared.

“They are very entertaining,” she defended.

“Of course they are,” Jared reassured her by giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Emma smiled at them before whispered very softly to Embry, “I must speak with Sam and your elders,”

Embry raised a quizzical brow. He did have the sense to take her by the hand out to the front porch. Paul nudged Jared who bit his lip with contained laughter. Kim rolled her eyes and settled back down to watch her show.

“What is it?” Embry asked. Emma’s heart grinned when she heard the worry in his voice.

“We’re leaving,” she whispered. Embry opened his mouth but she quickly cut him off, “Wait. There’s more.” Embry closed his mouth to a firm line and nodded. She continued, “We were attacked by rogue vampires. We do not know where they came from or what they wanted. But, they tried to kill one boy already and they …they…” she stopped shaking.

“Emma, what is it?” Embry asked, terrified.

“They attacked the wedding. Charlie’s dead,” she said in a horrified whisper.

“SHIT!” Embry screamed.

Paul and Jared ran out. They looked at Embry’s pale pallor and Emma’s wide eyes. THey knew that something had happened, but no idea what.

“What happened?” Paul asked.

“Rogue vampires… killed … Charlie,” Embry repeated.

Paul immediately started shaking before darting into the woods.

“NO!” Emma screamed. She flew into her car and drove it as quickly as she could back to the Cullen house. THough it went at top speed, she felt it was too slow. She abandoned it at the edge of the woods and flew on foot to the door. The Cullens, her family sat waiting.

“Well,” Alice quirked her head to the side,

“Just Paul,” Emma breathed,

“Still, let’s go,” Carlisle said, “One angry wolf is not a threat, but his pack can be persuaded,”

“I’m sorry,” Emma said.

“No one is mad. Besides, they needed to know to be watchful. Especially since we are leaving,” Esme comforted her. Emma nodded before grabbing her own bags, which she had packed in case of emergency (at Carlisle’s urging) and returned to her car.

Bella took Edward’s hand and pressed it to her lips. Edward gave her a soft smile and together, they calmly walked out to their cars. Esme had agreed to drive Bella’s little blue Audi so she could ride with Edward. They were inseparable an it was cute.

----NOTE: no matter how unprofessional it is, I am putting this story from Bella’s POV from now on. It will just make things easier and more interesting.

“I love you,” I whispered, holding my angel close to me. I had thought that my feelings for Edward could never change, that they were as deep as could be. But, when I looked at him every day, I now felt them stir deeper within my soul. So this was love.

My angel grinned back at me, “You are so beautiful,” he whispered in my ear. I flushed with the little human blood that I still had in me. Edward laughed, still amused by my embarrassment. “You are,”

“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes and opened the car door. Edward gave me a pout; he had not been expecting me to use my new, superhuman awesome vampire speed. I grinned before swinging into the Volvo. My Edward shook his head before following suit.

He started up the engine before freezing. I could smell it too. It was an acrid stench that burned the hairs in my nose and made me want to gag. A lone wolf stepped out of the woods.

“Go away, Paul,” I lazily snapped. Edward gave me a surprised look but quickly floored his precious Volvo away.

“That was surprising,” he said after being on the highway for a few moments,

“I won’t nothing to do with them,” I replied, lazily watching the countryside. Edward’s driving did not seem so fast, now. He took my hand and rubbed his thumb up and down it. I grinned with pleasure. I am still unable to express in words how much I was in love with the man beside me.

Some how, I knew that it was happening. I did not know how I knew it, but I did. “Edward,” I whispered, content to know that our paths would not immediately cross, “They are coming.”

Edward turned to face me so sharply that he made his car swerve. If his reflexes had not been superb, we would have crashed and “died”. “Who, Bella?” he demanded.