{If bạn haven't read Mistral Part One, read it first hoặc it probably won't make much sense! Thanks, NN}

I felt absolutely wired as I hurried upstairs. Luckily, Charlie was immersed in a bóng rổ game and didn't take notice of my excitement.

When I got to my bedroom, Edward had not yet arrived. I hadn't expected him to, but I still felt a little sinking feeling in my stomach. To kill some time I went in the bathroom, took a shower, and blow dried my hair until there wasn't one drop of moisture left in it. After brushing my teeth and washing my face I scampered back to my bedroom. He still wasn't there. I huffed in impatience.

I went around my room and straightened anyhting I could, even though it wasn't particularly messy. After refolding every piece of clothing in my dresser, I decided I'd done enough. I plopped down on my giường to read.

"Wuthering Heights again?!" came an incredulous voice from the shadowy corner of the dimly lit room.

I gasped in surprise and dropped the novel. "Edward! bạn scared me!"

"Sorry." He smirked. "But bạn really do need a change in your đọc habits."

I rolled my eyes.

"Aren't bạn tired?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. But I couldn't just go to sleep, not with bạn coming."

He rolled his eyes. My trước đó eye-roll was a bit dwarfed compared to his. "You are absurd."

"I wanted to ask bạn about something..." I said.

"Yes?" He looked wary.

"Charlie told me about some...things happening pretty close to here."

He stared at me uncomprehendingly. I guess he hadn't heard yet.

"Killings."

"You've no reason to be scared of that, Bella."

"Killings...like the ones in Seattle last year."

He finally understood. His eyes widened in shock. Before he could answer, his cell phone rang.

"Hello...? Yes...Bella just told me...Yes." At that point his voice became too low and fast for me to hear. After a few giây he hung up. His face was bleak.

"What's going on?" My voice was high-pitched and I hardly recognized it.

"Nothing bạn need to worry about, love."

"Edward, tell me. I've as much right to know about this as you."

He sighed. I could tell he didn't mind that much, hoặc he would have put up a bigger fight. "It's Alistair...remember him? The anti-social one?"

I laughed in spite of myself. "Yes." I laughed again, this time in relief. Alistair might be a sociopath, but he had no reason to harm me. After all, Carlisle was one of the only acquaintances he had.

"See, bạn had nothing to worry about." Now he was laughing too, but it wasn't one of humor. It was almost scary, I realized then. Alistair wouldn't harm us. But the frightening part was the stark possibility that it could have been someone who would.