The next morning, I woke up with Edythe in my arms. I hugged her tighter for a moment before my bladder made me get up and get my morning routine out of the way. Ignoring the impulse to check up on Charlie, I returned to my room and then Edythe and I went downstairs to talk.
"So, what happened last night after I fell asleep?" I asked quietly.
"Just outside of Seattle, James and Jessy stopped following Edwards group. They passed through some rain coming out of the Olympic National Park and it must have cleared Bellas scent from the clothing Esme was wearing. The group turned and tried to hunt the brothers, but that proved a waste of time. No one in the family is any good at tracking."
I decided I wanted egg sandwiches this morning, so I broke the yolk in my eggs before flipping them.
"So, what's the plan now?"
"First, we need to be seen at school, but I bet Edward is going to gather a group to go hunting tonight. Knowing him, he thinks that if he can keep the hunters focused on him, then that will make Bella safer."
"Not a bad plan, but what is he going to do if they get bored and disappear?"
Edythe sighed, "All we can do at that point is rely on Alice and hope we can stop them."
I grabbed the bread out, "You said that the one brother Jessy was fixated on me, is there any way we could use that to split them up?"
Edythe thought for a few moments, "That's a good probability. The little I could see in their minds, they each feel their target should have priority. Like I said last night, James love's the chase and the challenge he finds there. But Jessy loves the battle at the end of a chase."
Some faint noises came from upstairs, alerting us that Charlie was starting to move around.
Edythe stood and gave me a kiss, "I will be back to pick you up for school."
I walked her to the door and watched her meet up with Esme and Rosalie, then run off as I grabbed the paper and returned to my waiting breakfast.
I knew Emmett and either Edward or Carlisle were still in the woods watching over the house in case the brother's came for me.
Just after I finished my sandwiches, Charlie came stumbling downstairs with heavy bags under his eyes and a slightly green tinge to his face. He went straight to the coffee machine I had started for him and poured himself a cup and plopped into his usual chair.
He took a sip and looked at me with his bloodshot eyes, "What the hell happened last night Thomas? Have you heard from Bella?"
I took a deep breath, "We were all enjoying a friendly baseball game and Bella was even getting into it. I don't know when the last time a saw her so happy Charlie. When we were packing up, we made plans to go to the Cullen house and watch a movie before coming home. I didn't know anything had gone wrong until hours later when Edward came home in tears."
"When we finally got him to talk, he said that Bella broke up with him and never wanted to see him again. He said that they were having a good night until he said something along the lines of how nice it would be to do this for the rest of their lives. Then she demanded he take her home right away and went all quiet on him. Once he brought her here, he was trying to get her to tell him what he did wrong, but Bella blew up at him saying she wasn't going to let her life get ruined for a kiddy crush."
Charlie sagged in his seat when he heard that, but still staired at me as I finished the story.
"He said he drove around trying to clear his head before returning home, that's why I didn't know until it was to late. I called Bella and tried to talk her into at least coming back and picking me up, but she went all stubborn on me telling me not to ruin the good thing I had going with Edythe. When I pointed out the stupidity of her being afraid of ruining her life with someone while still being young but encouraging me to, she hung up on me and shut her phone off. Then I came home and got you to bed."
I didn't want to bring up how drunk he was and apparently, he didn't want to go over that either. He just nodded and went for another cup of coffee.
"Well, Renee should be returning home in the next few days also. She doesn't know yet if it will be to sell the house or move back in. Phill has been getting mixed signals from several teams. I guess all we can do is wait for Isabella to calm down and contact us. But if that don't happen in the next couple of days, we are going to Phoenix to talk to the girl. I won't give up on her this time, not without one hell of a fight."
That day at school, I let the teachers know that Bella was back in Phoenix helping pack up the old house and I wasn't sure when she would be back. Most likely early next week. That would give us time to figure out the next step, if Bella wasn't able to return.
The high point of the day was the two new additions to the wall before the cafeteria. Ms. Ross had hung up my painting and Alice's as well. They both drew a lot of attention form everyone. Alice had painted a young man seated at a grand piano playing to an audience of one. The figure curled up in a chair in a dark corner of the painting was unidentifiable, but I was pretty sure it was Bella. The main thing that drew attention was a yellow bottlecap resting on the piano.
My painting was getting a lot of attention for the different outfits people were wearing. Everyone I could remember was represented and they all liked the choices I had made. Well, anyone who spoke to me liked it anyway.
After school was over, Edythe and I were walking towards her car when we noticed a figure leaning against it. Still wearing the same clothes as the last time we saw him, Jessy was waiting for us.
When the other Cullen's started to gather, Edythe waved them off and spoke loud enough for them to hear, "He is just here to talk, he won't break the rules in such a way as to get the Volturi hunting them."
"Jessy smiled as we approached, "Well thank you for clearing that up. I assume you can read my mind. I have heard the rumors some of our kind could do that." His voice was friendly, and he spoke in a joking manor.
I took the lead, "So, if you aren't here to get your ass kicked again, why are you here?"
Jessy frowned, "That's another hour of torture for whoever you care about that we catch, little boy. After all, we know from experience that you can't protect everyone all the time."
Edythe didn't speak, just staired at Jessy intently.
As the silence grew, Jessy spoke. "It's an interesting life you have built here. Knowing you want to keep it will make our hunt just that much easier. Though I do find it…Thrilling to stand in front of you all right now. Just think, you could kill me right now and stop me from killing your dear uncle Charlie. But to do so you would have to reveal yourselves and be hunted by the Volturi. I also wonder if they would be interested in whatever you are Tommy. Perhaps a new enemy to rally behind now that the Werewolves are all but gone. So many ways to play with you all."
My anger started to burn, "Tell you what Jessy, if you want a fight. Just between us. Then let's set up a proper ring. A 2-mile radius around the clearing where we first met. Just you and I, the little boy who made you look so very weak in front of your brother and mate."
His face lost his smile, "Now where is the fun in that. It's too structured, no fear of what could happen to your loved ones. I like to be spontaneous, it's my brother who is the clever one. Be seeing you around."
As I watched him walk away, I decided right there, I was hunting tonight.