Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Holiday Road

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 06:

A few hours later, Charlie Swan arrived in Lake Tahoe along with his wife-to-be, her children, and their imprints. He checked into his hotel room, took his shoes off, closed his eyes, and dozed off for a bit of a nap. Just as his breathing had fallen into a comfortable pattern, he was shaken awake. He bolted upright to see his fiancée clutching her cell phone and looking as white as a sheet.

“What is it, Susie?”

“Check your voicemail, Charlie! Now.”

He quickly turned his phone on to find that Bella had left several distressed messages for him beginning roughly four hours ago. She was babbling incoherently about Lauren Mallory being willingly abducted and her friend Emily Young was screaming in the background about Stockholm Syndrome, one-night stands, and spermal ejaculations in ice machines.

“Do you have messages on your phone too, Susie?”

“Yes, they’re from my niece. She was trying to get in touch with you. I turned my phone off when I got on the plane and didn’t turn it back on until now. Oh, Charlie, what’s going on? I’m worried.”

“Let me hear the messages on your phone.”

“Of course.”

As Charlie was about to listen to the messages, a loud, desperate pounding sounded from the door. “Daddy!” Bella screamed. “Open the door!”

Daddy? Bella only called him that when she was in deep trouble.

“ Chief Swan!” Emily followed. Now, that one always kept a cool head. Something was definitely out of order.

He stood up and opened the door quickly. His daughter and her friend needed him-it brought his protective fatherly instincts to the forefront. Bella and Emily burst inside clad in their pajamas and flip-flops. Both of them were babbling incoherently.

“Alright girls, take a deep breath before you say another word. Have a seat.” He eyed them curiously; they looked haggard and worried.

“Have you two eaten?” Sue questioned. They both shook their heads in response. “Oh Lord, it’s past one in the afternoon. Did you drive all the way here from Klamath Falls without stopping?”

“We stopped for gas once.”

“Full serve,” Emily added. “And the attendant only pumped our gas and took our money. He didn’t even bother with cleaning the windows or checking our oil. We were ripped off!”

“I know, and we were so worried about Lauren that we didn’t bother complaining.”

“What happened to Lauren that has the two of you so worried?” Charlie questioned.

“She disappeared with a guy she met at our motel last night. They had sex by the ice machine and he came inside of it because he didn’t have a condom.”

Charlie felt physically ill. What kind of sick bastard cums in a public ice machine? “Do you have a name for the bounder?”

“Jake. She said his name was Jake. No last name. She just took off with him, and told us they’d meet us in Lake Tahoe.”

“Did you try calling her?”

The girls turned to each other and considered what Charlie had just said. Finally, Emily replied with, “We forgot in our distress.”

“Uh-huh, right. I’m just going to give Lauren a call to find out what’s going on.”

“You have Lauren’s number?” Bella questioned.

“Of course I do. I have Emily’s, too. It’s precautionary, so I know the three of you are okay.”

Charlie dialed Lauren’s number from his own cell phone. She picked up immediately. “Hello?”

“Lauren, this is Chief Swan. Where are you?”

“ Chief Swan? As in Chief Swan from Forks?” a familiar voice in the background blurted. “You know Chief Swan?”

“Lauren, put Jake on the phone.”

“ You know Jake, sir?”

“Give the phone to Jake, Lauren.”

“ Um, sure.”

Charlie would bet a million dollars that the boy had imprinted on Lauren Mallory.

“Jacob? Where are you and why have you kidnapped Lauren Mallory?”

“ Kidnap? I haven’t kidnapped anyone. I was just on the way to Lake Tahoe for your wedding when I met her.”

“Wait a minute? How come you’re on the way to Lake Tahoe for my wedding?” Charlie asked suspiciously.

“ We all are. We couldn’t let Sue and you get married alone.”

“Oh, really?” Charlie gritted his teeth. This was supposed to be a quiet family retreat and he had a funny feeling that somehow, Billy and Allison were involved in this mess. “Jacob, where are you now?”

“ We’re in Lake Tahoe at the hotel, why?”

“Would you come to my hotel room?”

“ Sure, no problem. What room are you in?”

“We’re in the honeymoon suite.”

“ Be right there, Chief.”

Charlie ended the call and turned to Bella and Emily. “Lauren will be coming here with Jake.”

“You sound like you know Jake. Would it be Jacob Black, per chance?” Bella inquired.

“Yes,” Charlie replied uncomfortably.

“Well, that’s nice. Em and I will be leaving now.”

“Bella, it was a long time ago, and Jake had his reasons for doing what he did.”

“Be that as it may, Em and I don’t feel comfortable around La Push people.” She turned to Sue. “No offense.”

“None taken, it’s perfectly reasonable why the two of you feel the way you do.”

A rap sounded on the door. Sue opened it to find Leah and Taylor standing there. They were surprised to see Emily in the room along with Bella.

“Well, that’s definitely our cue to leave. Come on, Em.” Bella took her friend’s arm and swiftly made to exit the room along with her friend.

“Wait!” Leah yelled. “You don’t have to leave just because we’re here. We’re family. We should get to know each other.”

“Leah, I don’t mind getting to know you. The problem is that I want to kick your husband’s teeth in every time I see his face. That kind of violent urge really makes for an uncomfortable situation. So, why don’t we just see each other at the wedding and be done with it?”

“Whose teeth are you kicking in?” Lauren questioned, walking into the room at that moment with Jacob. She took in her surroundings and caught sight of Taylor Crowley. “Oh, him. I can understand that. Prick!”

“I can’t fucking believe that you left us all worried in that motel room in Klamath Falls?” Emily screeched.

“Well, I’m sorry, you two were being unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable? You took off with some strange guy who thinks it’s okay to contaminate a public ice machine with his sperm!” Emily took a look at the guy with Lauren. “You’re the guy who dropped his wallet at the McDonald’s with the too-white teeth.”

“His name is Jacob Black,” Bella informed him.

“You mean the asshole Jacob Black who told you that you were unwelcome in La Push?” Lauren questioned.

“That would be him.”

“Well, this is just wonderful! My soul mate is an asshole!”

“I didn’t mean to treat Bella the way I did. I feel terrible about it. I really do.”

Bella turned to her father. “I’ll see you at your wedding. Emily and I are going to go and check in to our hotel room. Lauren, just call us and let us know your plans so we don’t worry.”

Bella and Emily rushed out of the hotel room. Charlie’s face turned into one of extreme disappointment. “Well, that went well. Jacob, did what I think happened happen?”

“Yeah, I imprinted on Lauren.”

“Oh my God, you said it was a secret. How come Chief Swan knows about it?”

“He knows because he was there when my brother and I first phased,” Leah explained.

“But Bella doesn’t know, does she?”

“No, Jake had to tell her to stay away because he didn’t want to physically harm her. Young wolves tend to be volatile. She does know about vampires though. She doesn’t know we know.”

“How does she know about vampires?”

“She dated one.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. “You mean Edward Cullen, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“I knew there was something wrong with him. Were all of the Cullens vampires?”

“Yes.”

“And Bella knew?”

“Yes.”

“So, why can’t you tell her about the existence of wolves?”

“Pack law. She doesn’t need to know.”

“So, it’s okay for you guys to drive her away from her father just so you can keep your little secret? What selfish jackasses you all are! She’s proven herself to be trustworthy. She’s never breathed a word about the Cullens being vampires to Emily or to me, and we tell each other everything.”

No one was expecting Lauren’s wise assessment of the situation.

“It’s partially her fault for getting involved with a vampire,” Jake stated.

“Um, have you seen Edward Cullen? The guy was hot! I don’t know any girl who would have been able to resist him. I wanted him when I was in high school. It was only after Bella told me about his arrogant, controlling personality that I realized how lucky I was that I dodged that bullet. On top of that, Edward Cullen was the one who wouldn’t leave Bella alone-not the other way around.”

“You seriously would have dated Edward Cullen if he had asked you?”

“Um, yeah. In high school we were all generally just looking to date Mr. Hottie. Edward Cullen was considered the hottest ticket around.”

“That’s because he was a vampire. He was made to lure humans in.”

“Yet you still blame my best friend for dating him. Ironic, isn’t it? You’re a supernatural creature, you expect to be accepted, but you shun her for making one mistake as a teenager.” Lauren shook her head and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Jake asked.

“To find Bella. I think I might have rushed into things with you.”

Lauren left the room leaving a stunned Jacob behind. “What just happened?”

“I think your imprint just gave all of us an earful of reality,” Sue noted. “We should have told Bella. We made a grave error. No wonder she refuses to get to know the kids and me. She probably senses and feels we’re keeping something from her.” She noticed her fiancé looked devastated. “Charlie, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, I’m not blameless in this. I agreed Bella didn’t need to know about the pack. We all did what we thought was the right thing.”

“She’s never going to like me, is she?” Leah questioned.

“Leah, she’s friends with your cousin. You need to consider what she knows about the situation between Emily, Taylor, and you.”

Leah broke down into tears. “I didn’t want to hurt Em and neither did Taylor. I really want to get to know Bella, too. She seems like she’d be a nice sister to have.”

“They don’t know that though, hon. Stop crying, it’s not good for the baby.” Sue drew her pregnant daughter into her arms and held her. She hoped that one day, she’d be able to comfort Bella in the same manner, but it seemed to be hopeless at this point.