We Three Witches (Twilight)

Chapter 3 - Lifesavers

Bella's POV

January 21st, 2003

I yawned, waking slowly as dawn peeked through my curtains. Last night had been hectic, even after the Cullen boys had left. We had stayed up for another hour or so, talking over all the problems the treaty brought up.

Rose had been adamant that we test it out and see just how far this treaty would go, but I wasn't about to watch my sisters kill themselves for a fruitless experiment. Even if they had been lying, it was a big enough threat that I wasn't going to risk their lives. I couldn't do that again.

Eventually I had sent them to bed saying we'd go about this like we'd planned: ignoring them—even if the petty side of me wanted to make their lives hell. The plan had been to drop the note and see the Cullens run around like ants in a burning ant hill. We'd even prepared for an all out attack, but their peaceful drop by last night had sent everything into disarray. And as much fun as threatening them had been, it changed things.

I sighed, rolling out the kinks in my neck and pulling myself out of bed. As much as I wanted to beat down the Cullen door, I had to look out for my sisters, and that meant a new plan. A safer plan. I shuddered to think what would have happened if we'd gone with our original plan, without knowing about the treaty.

I shook my head. There was no point ruminating on the what ifs. I needed to keep moving forward. It was the only way to keep us safe. With a quick look out the window, I could see a thin layer of ice already covering the ground, so rather than dress in one of my cuter outfits, I threw on a pair of jeans and a long form-fitting sweater. I paired them with my favourite fur-lined boots and wool gloves.

With a final glance over everything, I headed downstairs to prepare some extra protection charms and check the wards before everyone else woke up. Eventually Rose and Alice trumped downstairs, barely awake and I smiled at their pouts.

"Good afternoon!" I grinned at their groans—my sisters were not early risers. "I thought I'd need a marching band to wake you two up!

"Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee," Rose muttered, eyes not even open as she headed for the kitchen. She sighed happily when she found the fresh mug I'd already made for her.

I wrapped my arm around Alice as she grabbed the keys and she leaned gratefully into my side. She might have been faring better than our sister, but that was from the years of practice. Alice slept less than I did most days.

After draining her cup, Rose looked at me with hope in her eyes, like she'd expected me to change my mind.

"Nope. We're still ignoring them," I said as we headed for the door.

She pouted. "But we can still make them miserable, right?"

Alice rolled her eyes at our antics, as we headed to the truck. "I am not awake enough for you two."

Locking the door behind me, I glanced at my sisters, making sure they were dressed warmly enough. Should I get another jacket for Rose?

Rose frowned at the truck bed and then glanced anxiously at the snow around us. "Maybe you should let me ride in the back today, Bella. You did it yesterday—I can do it today."

I smiled softly at her worrying. "I'll be fine, Rose." Glancing around to ensure there weren't any nosy neighbours nearby, I quickly cast a spell to rid the truck bed of snow. "Get in the cab—it's not that long of a ride anyway." There was no way I was going to let Rosalie sit in the bed of the truck while it was so freezing out—Rosalie hated the cold.