Turmoil [Emmett Cullen] (3)

[8- Forks]

Pale, quivering, and smelling strongly of wet dog and salt, Bella hurled towards us. I could feel her knees buckle as she hugged us fiercely.

I was reminded how potent her scent was as venom started pooling in my mouth. It had only been two weeks since I last hunted and I've gone longer without, but being this close to Bella was dangerous. I clamped my jaw tight in a desperate attempt to control myself. When that did absolutely nothing, I tried to focus on something else, which seemed to help.

"Alice! Eleanor!" She said between gasps.

"Bella?" Alice said in confusion. I was in disbelief; going from believing someone is dead to holding them in your arms was an indescribable feeling.

I could slowly feel Bella's weight rapidly sinking into my arms as she sobbed harder and harder so we towed her to the couch.

"I'm... sorry," she whimpered. "I'm just... so happy!"

"It's okay, Bella. Everything's okay," I reassured her, gently rubbing her back.

She looked at me and then Alice, her heart rate quickening when she saw our black eyes, "Oh sorry. This must be very difficult for you."

"It's my fault. I forced El to stay inside with me instead of hunting. But we were in a hurry today." She glared. "Speaking of which, would you like to explain how you're alive?"

Bella swallowed loudly, "You saw me fall?"

"No," Alice disagreed, her eyes narrowing. "I saw you jump."

She continued, "I told him this would happen, but he didn't believe me. What happened? And how could you do that to Charlie? Did you stop to think what this would do to him? And our brother? Do you have any idea what Edward—"

"I wasn't committing suicide," Bella interrupted, "I didn't think about the storm affecting the current but luckily Jacob pulled me out. Wait, if you saw me go in, why didn't you see Jacob?"

"Was that who was outside with you? We heard two voices," I asked, the story finally starting to make sense.

Bella nodded.

"Jacob who?"

"Black." Jacob Black; I mentally ran the name through everyone who went to Forks High School and came up with nothing.

"I don't think I've heard of Jacob Black."

"Yeah, I doubt you know him, he lives at the reservation. Jacob's sort of a werewolf," Bella admitted. "The Quileutes turn into wolves when vampires are around."

"Like the people we saw when we first got here," I whispered, remembering our confrontation in the woods.

"You've met them before?" Bella asked in confusion.

I nodded. "We ran into them when we first moved to Forks a couple years ago."

Alice shook her head sharply. "I want to hear everything that happened. Start at the beginning,"

Bella took a deep breath and ran through everything that happened. Turns out Edward was right by calling her a danger magnet. While we were gone, she not only attracted Victoria and Laurent, but young werewolves. With cliff jumping added to the mix, Bella had an usually high number of near death experiences.

It was clear when she was talking that she was different. It was the little things, the way she she smiled slightly and her voice got softer when she talked about Jacob and the wolves.

"Our leaving didn't do you any good at all, did it?" I murmured.

Bella laughed once with no emotion. "That was never the point, though, was it? It's not like you left for my benefit."

Alice scowled at the floor for a moment. "Well... I guess I acted impulsively today and that's my fault," she turned to me apologetically. "We probably shouldn't have intruded."

"So what do we do now?" I asked Alice.

Her eyes narrowed, "I don't know for sure... we definitely need to see Carlisle. Get back home."

"Could you stay here?" Bella desperately pleaded. "Please? For just a little while. I've missed you so much." Her voice broke.

"Well we will need some different clothes. And logistically, it's better if Charlie thinks El is still in South America."

"Yes!" Bella exclaimed, wrapping her arms around us both.

Alice took a step back, "We need to hunt too," she added. Bella nodded and we ran out the front door.

Luckily, there was a small herd of deer not too far. Next, we went back to our house. Alice punched in a ten digit code on the security pad and the security system deactivated.

"Alice, what's going to happen next?" I asked as we started packing some old clothes we left behind.

"In what respect?"

"When we leave, what about Bella? Honestly ... I think coming back was a mistake." It was hard to put my fears into words. I couldn't imagine the emotional damage we did to her by leaving, but then coming back and leaving again; that would hurt.

"I think your right. But I'm trying not to think of it until at least tomorrow." I nodded and we returned to Bella's.

Bella had set up an improvised bed on the couch.

"Does Edward know you're here?" Bella asked hesitantly.

"No. He's not with us. He checks in every few months," I replied.

"Oh. You said you flew here... Where did you come from?"

"We were in Denali. Visiting Tanya's family," Alice replied, then her tone changed.

"And you think Charlie won't mind my being here?" she asked, sounding worried as Charlie's car pulled up the street.

"Charlie thinks you're wonderful."

"Well, just remember Eleanor's not here," Alice reminded as I darted out the back door and Bella jumped up to greet Charlie.

The next morning, when Charlie left to help with a funeral, we talked. Bella told her story yesterday so it was time for ours. She listened eagerly as Alice and I told her what had happened since September. We made sure not to mention Edward, even though I had been tracking him for months.

In the early afternoon, when we were sitting on Bella's bed, Alice's expression suddenly became perplexed.

"What is it?" I asked as someone knocked on the door.

"If this is a repeat of my egregious lapse in foresight yesterday, then it's most likely Jacob Black or one of his... friends," she said in annoyance. The doggish stink that lingered on Bella yesterday drifted faintly upstairs. It was unmistakable, confirming her suspicions.

"We should leave," I said, gritting my teeth. It wasn't a good idea to have vampires and werewolves together. Before Bella answered the door, we ran outside and sat in the back garden.

Alice couldn't contain her anger, her fingernails digging into her marble palm. I could see it in her eyes and demeanour, that without her visions, she felt helpless and trapped.

I took her hand and put it between mine, "They'll leave soon," I reassured her. But I was wrong, he didn't leave. I tried to ignore their conversation, but the shrill sound of a phone was hard to miss. I rolled my eyes as Jacob answered it like he owned the place.

Suddenly, Alice's hand tightened in mine. Her eyes rapidly flickered back and forth.

"NO!" Alice screamed, her voice ringing with panic. "No – Edward, you idiot, NO...!" Before I could respond, she pulled her phone out and dialled Edward's number.

I heard a foreign voice answer it, "Olá?"

"Dammit!" She yelled, her voice breaking in panic.

"Edward is going to kill himself," she whispered. I froze. My body shut down as the brevity of her words swept through me.

My brother.