Chloe Cullen - A Harry Potter and Twilight Crossover

Chapter 19: Back to School

We get a hotel close to the hospital Bella is staying at. When we do, dad insists that I lay down on the bed, although I make him lie down beside me so I can cuddle up to him and take advantage of his ice cold skin. It's about the only thing that is working on my fever. My dad doesn't like to sit still, but combined with my high fever and puppy dog eyes, he doesn't complain. There's a silence in the room. James made a video and according to Bella, he had mentioned Alice's human life. She is deciding whether to watch it or not. None of us have given our input, but I want to help. So, I do. "I think you should watch it" I say, my voice impaired due to my stuffed nose. Everyone looks at me. "If it were me, I would want to. You might want to do some fact checking, but it could give you a glimpse into your human life. That's what you've wanted, isn't it?" I ask.

She looks from me to the tape. She seems to make up her mind. She gets up and sticks the tape in the VCR. For a long while, nothing. Then, Bella comes into the room. She seems to be looking at something out of frame. "Bella? Bella?" I hear a woman call. It cuts out, and then she turns. James comes into frame. Dad tenses at my side and tightens his grip on me. "Sorry about that, Bella, but isn't it better that your mother didn't really have to be involved in all this?" James says is a fake kind voice. "Yes," Bella answers, sounding strangely relived. I raise my eyebrows. "You don't sound angry that I tricked you." "I'm not." she says in a brave voice. "How odd. You really mean it. I will give your strange coven this much, you humans can be quite interesting. I guess I can see the draw of observing you. It's amazing - some of you seem to have no sense of your own self-interest at all."

James seems to be observing her, looking curious. I observe him to. He looks ugly. That is a word I've never applied to a vampire before. If it were between me and him in a beauty contest, I'd win hands down. "I suppose you're going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you?" he asks. "No, I don't think so. At least, I asked him not to." "And what was his reply to that?" "I don't know. I left him a letter." "How romantic, a last letter. And do you think he will honor it?" "I hope so." "Hmmm. Well, our hopes differ then. You see, this was all just a little too easy, too quick. To be quite honest, I'm disappointed. I expected a much greater challenge. And, after all, I only needed a little luck." Bella waits in silence.

"When Victoria couldn't get to your father, I had her find out more about you. There was no sense in running all over the planet chasing you down when I could comfortably wait for you in a place of my choosing. So, after I talked to Victoria, I decided to come to Phoenix to pay your mother a visit. I'd heard you say you were going home. At first, I never dreamed you meant it. But then I wondered. Humans can be very predictable; they like to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. And wouldn't it be the perfect ploy, to go to the last place you should be when you're hiding - the place that you said you'd be. But of course I wasn't sure, it was just a hunch. I usually get a feeling about the prey that I'm hunting, a sixth sense, if you will. I listened to your message when I got to your mother's house, but of course I couldn't be sure where you'd called from. It was very useful to have your number, but you could have been in Antarctica for all I knew, and the game wouldn't work unless you were close by.

Then your boyfriend got on a plane to Phoenix. Victoria was monitoring them for me, naturally; in a game with this many players, I couldn't be working alone. And so they told me what I'd hoped, that you were here after all. I was prepared; I'd already been through your charming home movies. And then it was simply a matter of the bluff. Very easy, you know, not really up to my standards. So, you see, I'm hoping you're wrong about your boyfriend. Edward, isn't it?" James says. Bella doesn't say anything. "Would you mind, very much, if I left a little letter of my own for your Edward?" He goes to the camera. At first I think he's going to turn it off, but he doesn't. He focuses it more on Bella. I scoot closer to my dad. "I'm sorry, but I just don't think he'll be able to resist hunting me after he watches this. And I wouldn't want him to miss anything. It was all for him, of course. You're simply a human, who unfortunately was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and indisputably running with the wrong crowd, I might add."