chapter 8 Clonflictions

It took Bella over two hours to actually find the silver cross that was lying with a dusty selection of her mother's old things. But she was glad that she was right about having it. If she didn't, she would either have to buy one or make one, and she highly doubted a home made cross would ward off vampires. So, she put the necklace around her throat and locked both her door and window, watching the outside until she fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with eyeless, soulless creatures who hissed and slithered to her side. They bound her and gripped her body, laughing as she squirmed in attempts to get away. Even in the times she did get away, they always found her, demanding that she give them what they want. Bella awoke that morning at three am, and found it impossible to go back to sleep. So, she spent the most of her morning in a hot bath, fiddling with her cross necklace. She almost felt relief when the weekend was over and Monday arrived. It gave her something to do other then fret and pace the house for hours; there was no way she was leaving her home alone after Saturday.

That Monday seemed like any other, even though Jessica shot Bella a glare or two. However, the girl was far too busy in her own thoughts to notice. What were those nomads doing there? How did they know about Edythe's family? Why did she hate them so much? Would things become dangerous now? These questions and others flooded her mind as she made her way to first period, gripping her teddy bear bag tighter then needed. She sat next to Edythe, as usual, who didn't seem frazzled in the slightest. She passed Bella a glance.

"Are you wearing it?" she asked. She nodded and showed her the trinket. She averted her eyes with a curt nod. "Good. Keep it on at all times." She paused and looked at her reaction.

"Are you… bothered by it?" Her eyes turned back to hers.

"Not really," she said with a shrug. "If you were wearing garlic, it'd be a different matter. No, what a cross does is sort of complicated. See, it makes it so that no skin of a vampire can come in contact with your neck. Watch." She moved her gloved finger over and touched her throat. "Now if my gloves were off, on the other hand, it would singe my fingertips." She took her hand away and Bella rubbed the part she touched.

"Oh…" She looked up to the clock, watching as the second hand ticked on.

"Bella?" The girl turned her eyes to the vampire, having been drawn away from her blank stare. Edythe was looking at the table, her fingers mindlessly scraping off the flimsy paint. "I… think it'd be best if you stop being nice to me for a while." She blinked, confused. She glanced at her quickly before looking towards the wall. "I appreciate it… I just don't want you to associate yourself with me too much. At least until the nomads are gone…"

Bella felt a strange disappointment in this. It was noble of her to try and look out for her, yes. And it might keep her out of the sticky situation that had presented itself the minute Edythe began to insult the newcomers. Still… she was sad to hear Edythe's conclusion. It was a strange thing, hearing someone say "don't be nice to me." It almost felt like Edythe was rejecting her. A stupid thought, but her feeling on the matter none the less. She looked down to the silver cross, playing with it still. She nodded wordlessly, but kept her eyes on the silver between her fingers. And so, the two of them worked in silence until the bell rang and they split off into different classes. Waiting for her in math was a very pissed off looking Jessica.

"Well?" she inquired. Bella blinked.

"Well what?" she asked, having forgotten about the snowball fight.

"Why did you invite her?" The two girls scurried into class, sitting beside one another. Jessica's interrogation was just getting started. "You've been hanging with her a lot lately. I'm worried."

"She's not going to do anything to me," said Bella with a slight pout. Of course, there was always a chance that she could be wrong about that.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well maybe not you, but what about the rest of us? You know she hates pretty much everyone. It's only a matter of time before she snaps and shoots someone."

"You don't give her enough credit," Bella persisted. "She's actually really disciplined." Jessica snorted at that, making Bella's frown deepen.

"Right. Tell that to Thomas Dean. That's the boy she murdered."

"What?" Bella's heart did a back flip. "What do you mean…?" Her frown returned, blocking her shock. "Wait, are you talking about the boy who disappeared? You never said anything about murdered – he just went missing!"

"And where do you think he went?" Jessica snapped. "We all know Cullen did it. They just haven't been able to pin any evidence on her yet."

"You don't even know her," Bella retorted.

"Oh, and you do?" Jessica folded her arms, jerking her head so that her sandy hair flipped passed her shoulder. "Just how long have you two been hanging out together, hm?" Bella kept silent, huffing, while Jessica smirked victoriously. "See? You don't know her that well."

"Better then you do," Bella continued. At least that part she could be completely confident in. "Besides, just because you don't know someone doesn't mean you have the right to talk about them."

"Can you say for sure it's not true?"

"No…"

"Then I think that settles our case right there." Jessica leaned against her seat, satisfied that she had the last word. Bella pouted, but decided not to continue the fight. Besides, she wasn't supposed to seem attached to her because of the nomads, anyway. Still, the way Jessica acted like she knew her was irritating to say the least. She went through the rest of the day like that: frustrated and slightly helpless at the reality around her. When school let out, she marched over to her truck, still peeved at the whole thing. She was getting ready to leave, when she saw a very peculiar sight. She looked over to her left to see Edythe Cullen in a slightly heated conversation with Julie Black. So, she put her things in the truck and headed over to the both of them.

"Julie?" The two turned their heads to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Bella?" the girls said in perfect unison. They looked at one another. "You know her?" They shared mirrored frowns. "Of course I do. Quit that!"

Julie broke the copying in order to turn her attention to Bella. "I figured I'd pick you up," she said lightly, though Bella could tell she had something to hide behind that charming smile.

"Don't down play her intelligence," Edythe snapped. "She knows full well what's going on."

Julie's smile turned to a snarl at her. "Really? If she knows full well, what exactly is she doing within a hundred feet of you?"

"Oh get bent, you flea bag."

"Bite me, blood sucker."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bella jumped in between the two, putting both hands up. "Easy, both of you." They glowered at one another, but said nothing. Bella turned to Julie. "Listen… I do know what's going on. I'm taking precautions. Look." She held up her cross, and she seemed satisfied with that, if only slightly.

"Well that's good…" She turned her glare back to Edythe. "I hope she's taken steps to keep the nomads away from civilization this time?"

"This time?" Bella turned to her. "Has this happened before? Nomads popping out of nowhere, I mean." Edythe said nothing, looking off to the side.

"Sure has," Julie spat, Bella turning her attention back to her. "In fact, just four months ago, there was an incident with one of the local boys. Funny, it seems like they show up whenever you first introduce yourself to a group of humans – "

"Are you suggesting I brought them here?!" Edythe said, her voice a low, dangerous hiss.

"The first time a boy went missing, you just started human high school," Julie pointed out. "And then, right as it's rumored that you're getting friendly with a group of humans, they show up again, unannounced. It sounds to me that you're their food delivery girl…"

"Well then get your ears cleaned, mutt," Edythe said defensively. "Or are you forgetting that the reason we're here is to protect you sniveling little – "

"Correction," Julie snapped. "The reason we let you stay here is because we didn't want to fight such low creatures in the first place. And if you want to kill off your own, then that's fine with me. But it's not like you guys are doing such a bang up job lately, are you?"

"You got complaints? Then don't come crying to us when your tribe is made an all you can eat buffet. Or better yet, we'll let you watch as they pick off the lesser, weaker humans. You really want that on your conscious, Cujo?"

"I'm sorry, who was it who gave you shelter when you were hurt and dawn was approaching? Even though it was against our will?"

Edythe huffed and spun on her heal. "Whatever. Just tell your Dad that I have nothing to do with it."

"I'll think about it," said Julie spitefully. Edythe gave her one last glare before storming off. Julie smiled to Bella. "Sorry you had to see that…" She let it fall slightly as she crossed her arms. "Anyway… So I guess you know why I'm really here then?" Bella nodded and Julie rubbed the side of her head. "Yeah… Well just so long as you know what's going on." She let her steal eyes travel to Edythe's back. "Keep an eye on her for me…" Bella looked over to where Edythe was also getting things into her car like the other students. Bella sighed, feeling like she was talking to Jessica all over again.

"Please, Julie. She's really not that bad." She turned her eyes to the native, though she could have sworn Edythe had stopped in her motions, almost perking up to hear, even though she was well over thirty yards away. "She's disciplined herself to stay here without attacking anyone. She even had a chance to hurt me one time… She didn't. You need to give her a little more credit."

Julie's lips parted at her defense. She glanced over to Edythe, and Bella did the same. Her pulse quickened as she realized that Edythe was staring over to the both of them. She quickly looked away and she did also. She turned her eyes back to Julie, who closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She nodded. "Alright, alright… So she's disciplined herself." She gave her a weak smile, taking her hand away. "But for me… just be careful, ok?" Bella nodded and she gave her a friendly hug. After one more glance to Edythe, she got into her car (she passed her test a while ago) and drove off, Bella moving towards her truck. She got in, looking at herself in the mirror. Her eyes trailed down to the crucifix on her neck and she touched it yet again. Maybe… everyone was right. She had only really known Edythe for less then a couple of weeks. Maybe she was as bad as everyone said. She shook her head and started the car. All of this was very confusing.

And something told her things would only get worse.