Protector of the Land (A Lottie Swan Story)

Chapter 5

Lottie's POV

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that something was different. I looked out my window and saw that there was a fine layer of snow that covered the yard, dusted the top of mine and Bella's cars, and whitened the road.

I heard a groan and realized that Bella had just woken up. I giggled to myself.

Bella, you can be quite dramatic sometimes.

Dad's cruiser was gone, meaning he had already left for work. After making myself presentable, I went downstairs and had some cereal and apple juice.

Bella came down not too long after, looking excited for some reason.

"Hey, can I have some of that?" She asks, gesturing to the cereal.

"Sure," I get her a bowl and pour some of the cereal in there while she gets the milk and drinks some orange juice out of the carton.

When we were ready, we put our dishes away and locked the front door, taking care not to slip on the icy road on the way to our cars. I noticed that there were snow chains on our tires and figured that Dad must've gotten up at who knows what time to put these on.

Aww, Dad...

Bella hadn't noticed yet as she was more focused on not killing herself. I drove off first once making sure she was good and I headed off to school.

Even with the snow chains, I try to drive carefully because I don't want to end up in an accident or anyone else for that matter.

Soon enough, I was in the school parking lot and was just getting out of my car when Bella pulled in. I saw her lean down and knew that she finally noticed the snow chains that Dad put on.

I heard a loud screech and many things were happening at once. I saw Edward staring at Bella, looking afraid as a dark blue van was skidding over the ice and was about to make an impact on the back corner of Bella's truck, right where Bella was standing.

She was rooted in fear, not moving.

"BELLA!!" I screamed, not taking the time to think about what I was doing and I ran over to her. I was going to try and shove her out of the way but knew that I didn't have enough time, so instead, I shielded her and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to come.

Only it didn't come.

I was suddenly shoved to the ground and I hit my head really hard on the pavement, letting out a shock of pain at the impact.

A low growl informed me that Bella and I were not alone, though it was not impossible to recognize who it belonged to. Edward hit the van with his bare hand, creating a dent on the side and causing it to stop.

While I was surprised by what I just witnessed, nothing was more important than checking to see if Bella was alright. I turned to look at her and she was white in the face, but looking okay.

"Bella? Lottie? Are you two alright?" Edward asked frantically looking down at us.

"We're fine," Bella said strangely. She tried to get up but he pushed her down.

"Be careful. I think you hit your head," He warned her while she struggled. He then turned to me and his face turned to one of horror.

"Lottie, your head...." He started and I brought my hand up to my head and felt something warm. I looked down to see blood covering my fingertips and I was feeling a little dizzy.

"Oh my god, Lottie!" Bella exclaimed trying to get up.

"Whatever you do, don't close your eyes, Lottie," Edward said though he seemed to look like he was struggling.