Chapter 14 - Weekend With The Vampires

When I arrived at school, as I suspected, the Cullens acted differently. Edward ignored me, treating me as though there was a glass wall between us, and after his vague nod in reply to my, "Good morning Edward," I let him be. I was slightly hurt that he felt the need to ignore me, but I understood to an extent. He was trying to separate me from the vampire world, and I wished I could tell him that his efforts were pointless- I was already far more prominent in his world then he realised.

The others also acted different, but they didn't ignore me. Alice was even friendlier than normal- if that's even possible. I remembered that she saw visions of the future and probably knew we were still going to be friends, and that I wouldn't tell anyone their secret. Jasper was wary, but I knew he was just being protective of Alice, so I didn't let it bother me. Rose was still friendly, although she was a bit more reserved and cautious. Emmett of course, was, well... Emmett. He didn't seem to be bothered at all, and was the same as always, his boisterous attitude lifting the others slightly.

At lunch Rose finally asked cautiously, "So are you sure you're alright Bella?"

I smiled at her, "I'm fine Rose, not even a scratch on me. I'm lucky Edward was there to pull me out of the way."

The others looked at me, slightly surprised that I was lying to them as well, before Alice answered, "Yes, we'd all hate to think of what would have happened if he wasn't there." She assured me.

I grinned slightly and subtly changed the subject, "I have to admit though that I'm a little annoyed that my truck wasn't badly damaged," I groaned, "It would have been the perfect opportunity to get a new car."

They chuckled at me, "Don't worry Bella, you can always keep praying that a tree will fall on it," Emmett reminded me. I looked up to see his speculative expression and wondered whether he might anonymously push a tree onto my truck if I parked under one. I hoped so.

It bothered me more than I'd like to admit that Edward was ignoring me, and I could only hope that it wouldn't last long.

When I got home I decided it was time for a call to Volterra, no doubt they would be interested in this development. I sighed, wondering why I couldn't have found a normal school with no vampires in attendance for my final years of high school. But then I realised that I wouldn't have wanted that anyway, things were much more interesting with the Cullens around, especially Edward.

Knowing Charlie wouldn't be home for a couple of hours, I speed dialled Volterra. When they picked up I had Uncle Aro call all of them together to explain the car crash incident, and my confusion as to why Edward had instinctively saved me.

Caius was worried about exposure, but he soon calmed down when I assured him that I was the only one to see anything. They all talked quickly, their voices too quiet for me to hear over the phone, before Uncle Aro came back to me. "Bella, we think it would be best if you told them soon that you know about vampires." I drew a quick breath in surprise, "But of course, don't tell them about your gift, or that the vampires you know are us," he continued quickly. "Obviously they are going to be confused if you keep acting like you don't know anything when it's obvious you do, especially with how comfortable you are with them, so it's best if you just say you ran into a few vampires in Europe when you were four. Just omit our names, and the fact that you were in Italy." He reminded me.

"Okay," I agreed.

"If you do end up having to reveal your gift, or your connection to us, we'd rather you bring them to Volterra, where we can explain things to them properly." Uncle Caius added.

I agreed, and was surprised when Uncle Marcus spoke up next, "Bella, I know you're confused about Edward's reasons behind his instinct to save you, and I doubt he fully understands the reasons behind his actions yet either. But you know my gift is seeing relationships, so I have quite a lot of experience in this area, and from what you described, it sounds as though Edward reacted that way to keep his mate safe."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "Mate?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, you," He informed me.

"You think I'm Edward's mate, and that's why he saved me?" I clarified.

"Exactly, none of the other vampires there reacted like that, and they probably wouldn't have been fast enough to save you even if they had because they would have had to make a conscious decision. Edward acted on instinct, and the most likely reason for that is because you are his mate." He explained.

"Wonderful!" I heard a delighted Aro exclaim in the background.

I groaned, "But I'm human," I protested.

Marcus chuckled at me, "That doesn't change anything Bella, vampires can still find their mates even if it's a human, they just normally change them fairly soon after."

"Oh," I said lamely, trying to process all of this information.

'I'm surprised that Aro didn't teach you about vampire mates before," Marcus mused, "Didn't you know that vampires mate for life, and that when they first touch their mate they feel a spark jump between them, which is them bonding for eternity?" he asked me.

"Oh, so that's what that was," I muttered, remembering back to when I first shook Edward's hand.

"So he is your mate." I heard Aro declare happily in the background.

I listened to them quietly for a little while longer as they all congratulated me on finding my mate, before hanging up to go and start dinner for Charlie.

I continued to think about everything Marcus had said as I made dinner, unsure of what to think about Edward being my mate. I knew it explained many things, like the way I felt around him, how content I was when he touched me, and how lost I felt when he wasn't there. I sighed as I realised that he obviously had no idea that I was his mate, he had looked just as shocked as me when we felt the spark, though I suspected Jasper, and probably Alice as well, both knew.

Dinner with Charlie was a quiet affair, as I told him how nice the Cullens were, and that I was really enjoying my stay here. He seemed pleased that I liked Forks so much, and I was glad that I had come.

The rest of the week passed by relatively quietly, Edward still acting as if there was a wall of glass between us. Santiago had told me during our phone call that my Maserati would be arriving on Friday afternoon, and when I told Rose she immediately invited me to stay for the weekend so that we could work on it. Alice got a faraway look before she squealed and bounced with excitement, "Oh Bella, we're going to have so much fun!" she exclaimed. I didn't doubt her.

When Friday afternoon finally came I found myself chafing in my truck as I willed it to go faster, eager to see my new car. I finally reached the Cullen mansion to find the whole family minus Edward, staring at my new car. I hurriedly parked and rushed over. "Hi Esme, Carlisle," I greeted them before turning to fully appreciate my beautiful, shiny new midnight blue Maserati GTS. I sighed with happiness.

Rose held out my keys and I excitedly took them. "Jump in," I told Rose and Alice as I got into the driver's seat. The car purred to life, and I revved the engine and took off out of the driveway. We sped away from Forks, I wasn't going to risk being pulled over by my father and having to explain why I was speeding in a brand new, very expensive car, though I was fairly certain that Alice would warn me before that happened.

After we took a short joyride, I headed back to the Cullen's discussing with Rose on the way what kind of enhancements we should make. When we arrived back I took one look at Emmett's sad, disappointed face and sighed. I chucked Jasper the keys, "Take Emmett and knock yourselves out," I said.

Emmett looked happy for a minute before he frowned, "How come I don't get to drive?" he whined.

I chuckled at him, "Because I want my car to come back in one piece, and Jasper is more likely to keep it that way."

He shrugged, accepting my explanation, and he and Jasper were soon heading out of the driveway.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the lounge with Esme, Alice and Rose. I helped Rose plan the modifications to my Maserati, which we would begin tomorrow, Rose assuring me that they would all be done by next week- I didn't doubt her, with no need for sleep I was sure Rose would be in the garage for most of next week's nights. Emmett and Jasper gave us back the keys when they came back, singing the cars praises.

Once I was finished with Rose, and she went outside to do some work on her own car, I turned to see what Alice was doing. I found her sketching three dresses. "What are you doing Alice?" I asked, trying to get a better look.

"I'm designing the dresses we're going to be wearing for the girl' choice spring dance that's coming up in 3 weeks."

"There's a dance coming up?" I asked, confused that I hadn't heard it mentioned before.

"Yep," Alice chirped happily, "And we're all going. I've already asked Jasper of course, and Rose has asked Emmett. Who are you going to ask?"

"Um, I hadn't really thought about it." I muttered. Remembering my promise to my Volterra vampires that I would go to all the dances, and send them pictures, I groaned, realising that I would need to ask someone. To be honest, the only person that came to mind that I wouldn't mind going with was Edward. I sighed, that wasn't really an option with him avoiding me. In fact it hadn't escaped my notice that even though I was in his house he had purposely locked himself in his room to keep away from me. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be catching any glimpses of my mate at all this weekend.

I knew he was in his room due to my shield. Once I had met a person, I could identify them when I wrapped shield around them, as long as they were within a five mile radius, because they all felt different in my mind. When I let my shield fan out to shroud everyone in the house, I could feel Jasper in the library, Emmett in his room, Edward in his room, Carlisle in his study, Rosalie in the garage, and Alice, Esme and I in the lounge room. I sent my shield out in a five mile radius and found no other sentient beings in the area, only small woodland creatures, before I withdrew it again.

"Oh well, you have a couple of weeks to ask someone," Alice mused, bringing me back from my thoughts.

I shrugged, I knew the only person I would ask was Edward, I would rather not go and face the wrath of five angry female Volterra vampires, than have to go with the likes of Mike, Eric or Tyler, whose eyes now followed my every more at school like a puppies. But I figured that I might as well ask Edward, it wouldn't hurt to try, in fact I was curious to see whether he would turn me, his mate, down.

As soon as I made my decision I saw Alice's face look blank for a second before she smiled happily at me. I took that as a good sign and I threw myself into helping Alice design the dresses.

All too soon it was dinner time, and I was surprised to find that Esme was an incredibly talented cook, especially for someone who couldn't taste what she made. With the exception of Edward, we were all sitting at the dinner table, which I guessed didn't get used very often, with me eating, and pretending not to notice that they were simply rearranging the food on their plates, or, I suspected, placing bits in napkins on their laps. I took my first bite of the chicken alfredo and moaned. "Esme, this is delicious," I complimented her. She beamed in appreciation, and the others chimed in with their own expressions of appreciation, their faces of mild disgust not matching their words.

Once I had finished dinner, and Esme had banned me from helping her clean up, I sized up the vampires in front of me. "Are any of you good at chess?" I asked hopefully, "I have trouble finding good opponents." I explained.

Jasper's eyes lit up. "As a matter of fact Bella, I happen to be very good at chess. In fact I'm one of the best players in the house, only Edward and Alice can beat me."

"Yeah, but they cheat," Emmett muttered.

"Well in that case Jasper, I would love to play against you. The best of five?" I suggested.

"If you think you can beat me," He said cockily, before leading me out into the lounge room and setting up a chessboard on the coffee table. Everyone followed us out; no doubt curious to see whether I could actually hold my own against a vampire who had probably been playing for hundreds of years.

I let Jasper win the first game while I got a feel for his tactics. Then I proceeded to thoroughly beat him in the second game. "Checkmate," I said smugly. His mouth dropped open in shock, and I could feel the vampires behind me shaking with laughter.

"Unbelievable," he muttered under his breath as he reset the board for our third game. This time I could feel his determination to win, but using a tactic Caius had taught me, I eventually managed to win again. Emmett burst into raucous laughter as Jasper began to look annoyed. The fourth game, Jasper won again, this time using a combination of tactics I had never seen before, and catching me off guard. He looked at me triumphantly as he got me into checkmate.

I gritted my teeth in determination as we started our last game. This one went on for ages, neither of us willing to concede defeat. Finally, with each of us having only a queen, castle, and king left on the board, I managed to surround him. "Checkmate!" I yelled triumphantly, jumping up excitedly.

"Go Bella!" Emmett cheered behind me.

Jasper just smiled, graceful in defeat, "Congratulations Bella, you are an excellent opponent. We will definitely have to do this again."

I nodded enthusiastically, "I'm so glad I managed to find someone who can hold their own at chess here in Forks."

My euphoric mood however, was soon dimmed by Carlisle casually observing, "A friend of mine in Italy has a similar tactic to that."

I made a conscious effort not to stiffen as I smiled at him, "Your friend must be an excellent player then," I commented, struggling to keep my enthusiasm levels up so that Jasper wouldn't notice anything.

Not long after, it was time for me to go to bed. I walked into the spare room to find it fully furnished with a beautiful king size bed, a bedside table and lamp, and bookshelves. On the wall was a framed canvas print of one of the photos we had had someone take during our shopping trip. It showed Rose, Alice and I sitting together at the top of w huge waterslide, screaming with excitement. I smiled at the happy memories it evoked as I got ready for bed.

My bed was extremely comfortable, and I was soon sleeping peacefully.

As usual, my dreams mainly consisted of Edward.

The rest of the weekend mainly consisted of me helping Rose in the garage with my Maserati as we discussed cars, or beating Emmett at video games, much to his disappointment. Emmett just couldn't believe how I knew all the tips and tricks to winning almost every game he had, as I smugly thought about all my gaming sessions with Felix and Demetri. "Bella," he whined at me, "How'd you get a better gun than me?"

"You just have to know where to look Em," I said haughtily, laughing at his expression.

I soon got tired of videogames though, and I took a break, going to the bathroom. As I came back, I passed by Carlisle's study, and noticed that he was reading the same medical journal Aunt Sulpicia had sent me. I stopped, curious to get his impressions. "Have you read about the new wonder drug Cortalin yet?" I asked, leaning in his doorway.

He looked up at me in surprise, "You've read this?" he asked incredulously, indicating the journal.

I shrugged, and nodded, "I read it earlier this week," I muttered, suddenly aware that I had just shown them yet again how different I was from normal humans, all because I was curious to get his opinion. I decided that I had already jumped in, might as well start swimming. "Personally, I think this drug had some great attributes, and the potential to make the lives of many much better, but the price is going to be a bit of a problem." I observed, making my way into the office and settling in one of the chairs.

Carlisle nodded in agreement, "It's a pity that it costs so much to manufacture; it would have great benefits if it was going to be available worldwide. In fact I have a patient that I would love to trial some on, but I'm afraid it's much too expensive for him to be able to afford it," He sighed.

"Of course the side effects could be a bit of a problem too." I observed.

"Yes," he agreed, "But they don't happen with everyone, and I think if they started off with small doses, and gradually increased the medication, the patients would be less likely to experience the side effects." I agreed, and we continued to debate the pros and cons of the new drug.

That is how we were found four hours later, still discussing the drug, as the curious faces of Esme, Alice, and Jasper looked in through the open doorway. When they heard what we were discussing, their expressions turned to amusement and shock. Esme looked pleased, "Honey, as happy as I am that you have found someone new to discuss your new medical journal with, Bella hasn't eaten for a while, and it's time for dinner." She informed us. I reluctantly got up, stiff from sitting still for so long, and followed them downstairs.

Dinner was similar to the night before, Esme once again producing a delicious meal, and soon after I bid them goodnight and went to bed.

I woke up with a start in the middle of the night, my sixth sense telling me someone was close by. I cast out my shield searching, and found someone standing outside my closed door. I recognised him instantly, "Edward," I breathed. With my shield wrapped around him, I felt him stiffen slightly before relaxing. I knew instinctively that he had been in my room, watching me sleep, I just didn't know why. I hoped I hadn't been sleep talking, my Volterra vampires had told me that it was something I did often, and with my dreams constantly revolving around Edward lately, I could only imagine what I had said.

I sighed before rolling over and going back to sleep. I knew I wasn't going to get any answers tonight.

The next day I went home early, thanking them all for having me. I spent a quiet day at home with Charlie, doing mundane things like cleaning, cooking, and getting ahead on schoolwork. It was relaxing, and it gave me time to sort through my hectic and confusing week. I went to sleep that night peaceful, as I wondered what my next week of high school would bring. One thing was for sure, with five vampires in school, it was bound to be anything but boring.