Monday, July 13, 2009
Chapter 11. Visitors
BCC news channel broke the news first. I sat cross-legged on the couch, hugging a pillow as I watched the news.
“Jackson Hills, 35, suspected mastermind behind several armed robberies and wanted in the state of California, was apprehended late last night in Portland, Oregon. A fire had broken out in the middle of the night at a stretch of deserted shop houses, leading the fire fighters to find two unconscious men in the back of the building. After contacting the police, it was confirmed of their identities; they were involved in the recent armed robbery in Port Angeles. He had managed to escape whilst the confusion of shooting, bringing with him the bag of loot and his accomplice, Ernie James Carter, 33.”
“A police officer was shot in the line of duty; but sources had confirmed a full recovery for the injured officer. Authorities confirmed that the criminals will be extradited to California to stand trial, along with the rest of the accomplices. But they are unable to tell us at this time, the exact date of the trial.”
A mug shot of the mastermind flashed on screen. I could hardly recognise the face in the unclear picture. He had a moustache at the time of the photograph, not to mention the different hair colour. But I caught sight of the tiny scar at the end of right eye, erasing all my doubts.
Switching off the TV when the news moved on to a report on a landslide happening somewhere in North America, I heaved out a relieved sigh. I leaned back and stared blankly at the ceiling. I had been doing this a lot lately I realised; as I let last night’s memories flooded my mind.
***
I had lunged forward at the leader, Jackson, wanting to give him hell for shooting Charlie. Picking him up singlehandedly, I threw him across the room, while the other one watched in horror. I would deal with him when I was done with the leader. He had fainted from the impact. I was about to snap off his head when Edward stopped me. Not worth it, he had told me, dirtying my hand with killing this lowlife.
I hesitated; knowing that he was right. I couldn’t risk any bloodshed in here, not that I would want his filthy blood flooding in me. It was disgusting. Besides, death was too easy for him. He must pay for his crime. Releasing him, I dropped his lifeless body on ground and went outside to wait for Edward as he dealt with the other one; crushing the glass shards into dust as I walked out.
Edward was fast with the other one. He came out seconds later, holding a bottle of alcohol that he had took from the food supply bag. He poured the contents on the pavement outside the shop house and in seconds, the whole place was on fire. I watched as the flames licked the shop front, turning them into dark charred wood. Edward picked up his phone and made a call to the local fire department. Then we were off, once again to the dark highway. Behind us, we could hear the sirens of the fire engine breaking the silence of the night as we drove away.
***
Snapping back to reality, I frowned at the memories. It was not exactly what I had in mind, but it was better this way.
The main house was empty except for me, Edward and Esme. She was upstairs working on her blueprints; her latest project being Alice’s wardrobe revamp. I rolled my eyes at that thought. Edward was working on his Volvo in the garage; and Jacob and Nessie had brought the wolf pack to visit Charlie.
The front door flung open suddenly; Alice skipped happily into the room, followed by the rest, who were all obviously upset at Alice.
“Alice, why did you pull us back here?” Emmett grumbled. “I was about to get hold of a grizzly!” He hated it when people interrupted his hunt. When it comes to hunting, grizzly was all that he could think of. War World III would have broken out and he would remain oblivious to the fact.
“Oh quit whining Emmett. Alice must have her reason for dragging us back. Right?” Rosalie threw Alice her famous death stare.
“Oh, of course! You’ll find out in a minute.” She was clearly excited; bouncing up and down as she tried to hold in her excitement.
“What’s going on?” Esme came down the stairs. Even Edward appeared at my side when he heard the racket. I shrugged in response.
We heard Carlisle’s Mercedes pulled up in the driveway moments later. Two distinct scents floated in our direction as the car doors opened. Clearly they were of our kind. What caught me off guard was one of their scent was unexpectedly familiar. I looked at Edward in surprise.
My eyes opened even wider when the visitors stepped into the room. They looked so out of this world, something you would imagine while reading Greek myths. I took in a sharp breath as I surveyed these two visitors.
He was pale like the rest of us; his chestnut coloured hair was cropped short but fitted his face perfectly. His golden eyes were full of amusement and excitement, and his lips looked as though they were crafted. His features alone were breath-taking. But together with his outfit, he looked like he just flew in from Milan’s fashion show.
Despite his inhuman beauty and perfection, it was his companion that caught my eye. She was petite like Alice, sporting jet black hair in a short bob cut. Her eyes were covered with sunglasses, and she had designers all over her. By Alice’s approving looks, I knew she had found her new shopping buddy.
But it was not her apparel that had my attention. Seeing her in such close proximity, something in my mind clicked. Oh! I gasped as realisation hit me. But this stranger was faster.
“Hello. We meet again.” The newcomer chimed in her lovely singsong voice, showing her golden eyes as she removed her sunglasses.
“I see you had met Lizabeth.” Carlisle smiled as Edward and I walked over to greet our guests.
“This is Xavier, her husband. I met him when I was I met him when I was travelling in Europe He was still alone then.” Carlisle smiled at his old friend.
“It was great back then; we have the same ideals and share the same beliefs. But I never thought that you could start such a big family.” Xavier said in a slight British accent as he glanced around the room to look at all of us. “I’m so envious.”
“Not so bad yourself. You’ve got Lizabeth.” Carlisle reminded him. Xavier just smiled proudly.
“Why don’t you guys stay for a few days?” Esme suggested.
“Great idea, Esme! We’ve got lots of shopping to do then! Shall we go now? Please?” I wanted to laugh out loud when I saw Alice’s expression. She looked just like a child begging her mum to bring her to a candy store. Alice jumped at every opportunity to go on shopping trip. She was looking at Lizabeth expectedly, who just smiled and nodded.
“Yes! Let’s go!” She shrieked happily as she pulled Lizabeth and Rosalie out of the door.
“We’ve got lots of catching up to do. Let’s go up to my study.” Carlisle suggested. He turned and led his guest upstairs; as Esme hurried off to prepare the guest room for them.
“Alice will always be Alice.” I remarked as I watched as the yellow Porsche drove off. I was glad that Alice had not insisted on me following.
“And Emmett will always be Emmett.” Edward smiled and glanced in his direction. Emmett was standing there, scratching his head; no idea what to do next. That was until he spotted Jasper going up the stairs.
“Hey Bro! How about a rematch?” He called after Jasper. Emmett had just lost to him yesterday. He had learnt the hard way to stop challenging me to arm wrestling match, at least not until after a year or two. So now he’s bugging Jasper instead.
“Buzz off Emmett.”
“Oh, come on...” Emmett’s voice trailed off as he followed Jasper up the stairs. Poor Jasper’s going to have a bad afternoon, I thought as Edward joined in the laughter.
***
10:18 PM
