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CHAPTER FIVE ʀᴏsᴀʟɪᴇ
It took days for Bella's anger and relentless perseverance to settle down. Days in which we- the Cullens and I- were all on edge, skirting around her like fish from a bear. For being vampires, it seemed that Bella and her fragile feelings were what we were afraid of. And the more I thought about it, the more I understood her point of view.
Victoria was undoubtedly back, playing at her same old games of hunting the dear one to the man who'd killed her own partner, if James could even be called that. There had been many nights, when Edward and his family were far off, that Bella woke with screams, heart-wrenching wails that broke her tiny body. Both the agony of losing Edward and the fear of death at Victoria's teeth had dwindled her into nothing more than a shell of what she'd once been.
That fear, of which was directed at Charlie and the Cullen's, was returning again, creeping up on us all in short bursts of wavering shivers. But Edward was here this time. Her anchor. The piece that completed her existence, making it whole again. Those dark days would not be repeated again.
But Bella was not afraid to express her disdain. She was certainly not hesitant in sitting us around the Cullens' dining table again, mapping out her plan, which according to her, was the only way, the right way, to get rid of the redhead problem, as Emmett had sensibly named it.
"There are seven of us, Bella. And with Alice on our side, I don't think Victoria's going to catch us off guard. I think it's important, for Charlie's sake, that we stick with the original plan," Carlisle said, rebuking her want to be changed.
Her desire to become one of us had not quietened. If anything, it had become louder until it was presumably all that filled her thoughts and dreams. I imagined Edward had begun to feel blessed by the fact her thoughts were out of reach for him, and certainly not for sale on her behalf. To be able to hear it all, the deep craving of the change, battling against his own self-contempt would surely drive him mad.
Esme wandered over to her, placing an endearing hand on her cheek. Bella frowned, already knowing what the action meant. "We'd never allow anything to happen to you, sweetheart. You know that. Please don't be anxious," said Esme.
There was quiet for a moment. A vivid silence respected by all. But, of course, it was Emmett who broke it with his deep, booming voice.
"I'm really glad Edward didn't kill you. Everything's so much more fun with you around," he said.
It was funny how almost every word that Emmet said could come across as insincere or sarcastic. That was, of course, if they'd come from any mouth but his. It was impossible, despite his intimidating structure and severe bluntness, for him to sound anything but light and affectionate.
