Sunrise

Decisions

 Chapter 23- Decisions

"No seriously, how come does the Volturi not know about you? If I were them, I would do everything in my power to have you on my side, dude." Emmett exclaimed for the fifth time that day.

"Give the poor bloke some rest, Em." Ethan said as he chuckled. Jian was sitting on the sofa and beside Emmett and from the look on his face, he looked quite uncomfortable.

"They would have known about us for sure had we not maintained a low profile all these years." Lin, Jian's mate, answered on his behalf. "Moreover, one of their main drawbacks is that they hardly ever leave Volterra so there is no way for them to keep track of all the...what is the word? Ah yes, talented vampires in this world."

"I agree." Carlisle put in. "When I used to stay with them, they hardly ever ventured out of Volterra. Even their ...food was brought to them in the underground castle." 

"So there is absolutely no way for them to know about the people we have gathered here?" Jasper asked Carlisle, a grim expression on his face. He looked paler than ever and the battle scars on his skin stood out more clearly.

"I don't think so." Carlisle replied, deep in thought. "But we will have to be very careful. This is the Volturi that we are dealing with."

"Bella?" Jian suddenly called out. I turned around to face him, surprise evident on my face. Jian never spoke much and he had remained mostly quite since the day he joined us.

"Yes, Jian?" I asked him gently.

"Will you help me with expanding the range of my shield? He asked me. I was kind of taken aback by the determination in his dark eyes. 

"I..um..." I let out a nervous laugh, "I don't know. Kate helped me in controlling my gift last year maybe-" I stuttered a bit as I felt uncomfortable with everyone's eyes trained upon me.

"Bella, I only guided you. You already owned the gift and I just showed you the right path. No one would be able to help Jian better than you." Kate said as she smiled at me from across the room. She did make sense in a way.

I took a deep breath and nodded at Jian after a few moments, "Yeah. Yeah, I will help you."

"Great!" Emmett began, "Let's all go outside-"

"I would prefer to be alone with him, Emmett." I cut him off, rolling my eyes. With Emmett present, there is no way that any of us would be able to concentrate. Even Jian breathed a sigh of relief at my words.

Emmett glared at me, "You are such a buzz kill."

Before i could form a reply, my phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. I waited for Alice to predict who it was but with a pang I realized that Alice wasn't here with us and momentarily, I was left breathless from the sudden reminder of her loss. My eyes met Jasper's briefly and from his expression, I knew he was thinking the same.

I excused myself and went outside. Seth was sitting down on the dirt path beside the porch in his wolf form and he barked once and wagged his tail happily when he saw me. I patted him on the head as I passed by him and flipped my phone open.

"Hello? Bella?" Charlie's voice came from the other end. My stomach flipped as I heard his voice. It had been months since we last talked.

"Ch-Dad! Hey!" I answered, trying to sound cheerful. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah." He replied, clearing his throat. "How are you, Bells?"

"I am fine, Dad. I am sorry I didn't call you earlier...I have been busy doing this and that." I answered, trying to sound as vague as possible.