Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Protecting Maddie

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 06:

BPOV

Damn. Fucking Alice. She claims she didn’t know this was coming. It was just a coincidence that she pulled me away to talk about telling Maddie while Maddie used her keen investigative powers to grill Peter.

God Maddie is going to be hell when she is a teenager.

I hope I am around to see it happen.

No one said a word after I explained to Maddie that there was a time and place to discuss everything. But she wouldn’t let this go. When we got home she was going to hound me or Peter or both of us until we told her.

Tell her what? Peter and Alice drink blood to survive?

Yep, that won’t freak her out. I know she is very smart. But she is also a little girl who can be scared easily. I know this. I wake up to her screaming at night.

Alice followed us home in her Porsche. No way was she weaseling out of this one. She started this crap. She was right though. Maddie was too damn smart not to notice things. She may have looked the other way because she loved Alice but when Peter showed up, it was too much for her curiosity.

How much to tell her?

On the bright side this has totally taken my mind off of what to do about Peter.

I glanced at him driving. Okay, I glanced at his legs in those jeans. I mean can I help it I like the feel of cool bodies? I mean it’s not like I’m into… I mean he isn’t that cold. He feels pretty damn nice actually. Very cool. Not that I have felt him much. I mean his skin feels so damn smooth. Not a trace of body hair. All muscles and a beautiful smile. Pretty sandy blonde hair. That damn hat.

Back to Maddie. This was going to be a tricky conversation. The last thing I needed her to have was nightmares about vampires now. But she would want to know. She would figure out that a vampire is after me. Why else would Peter be there?

What’s worse? Telling her Peter is with us because he is supposed to protect us from evil vampires or saying he is there because he wants to be her new vampire step daddy?

Should probably go with the evil vampires.

Yeah. Evil vampires is the way to go.

We walked into my apartment without a word. Peter walked in first. Maddie looked at me. She knew what Peter was doing.

Peter turned to me and nodded. We gathered in the living room. Maddie went to the couch.

“Maddie, why don’t you let me help you out of your uniform and get your makeup off?”

“What are they Mom? I’m not leaving this room until you tell me the truth. Are they aliens?”

Peter and Alice both laughed. Maddie glared at them.

“You two think this is funny?” She asked.

That shut them up.

“Of course not Sweetie.” Alice told her.

“Then stop laughing. Something is after my Mommy. Since Peter is here I am betting it is something just like you and Peter, isn’t that right Aunt Alice?”

“Yes Maddie.” Alice replied.

“So talk.”

‘Maddie this can be scary. Are you sure you really want to know?” I asked, hoping to hold this off.

“Yes, I really want to know.”

Damn.

I looked at Alice and Peter. “May as well have a seat guys.”

I sat down on the couch next to Maddie.

“Okay sweetie. You have to hold off on questions until I am done telling you the whole story.”

“No problem Mom.”

“I never wanted you to find out about this. But I guess it was going to come out someday. I thought you would be a little older. You remember when I told you I moved to Forks to live with Grandpa a year before I met your Dad?”

Maddie nodded her head.

“When I got to Forks High School, I met your Aunt Alice and a boy named Edward Cullen…”

I told her everything. I tried to sugarcoat it some. I didn’t go into detail about James. I just said that he was after Mommy and Uncle Jasper, took care of him. I told her about Uncle Jasper having a slip and almost hurting Mommy and that is why he has refused to come near me much. I explained why it is so important to be careful not to cut herself but that Aunt Alice and Peter would never hurt her and Jasper wouldn’t either. I told her about Alice’s power to see the future at times.

She seemed to take it all in stride, not interrupting me, listening with a blank face. I got to the part about Edward leaving me and Alice coming back and then meeting her Daddy. That seemed like all she needed to know.

“Okay baby. Go ahead with your questions.” I sighed.

“A vampire is after you now. Aunt Alice can see the future. She saw you getting hurt by a vampire didn’t she?”

Way to cut to the chase Maddie.

“Yes Maddie. That is why Peter is here to protect us.”

“This Cullen family, Aunt Alice used to belong to, you’ve never seen or heard from them again?”

“No Maddie.”

“Peter sparkles?”

“Yes Maddie. All vampires do in direct sunlight, but not on cloudy days.”

“Why do you live in Texas if it’s so bright here all the time Aunt Alice?”

“Because I love you and your mother Maddie.”

“Oh. Okay. How is Peter supposed to scare anything away if he sparkles?”

“All vampires sparkle Maddie.” I told her looking at Peter’s annoyed face.

“So if yellow eyes means Aunt Alice eats animals, I’m guessing Peter doesn’t like animals?”

“I only,… I mean, I eat… bad people.” Peter stuttered out.

“Who decided they are bad?”

“Uh…”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I guess so. But I am going to begin eating animals. Starting tonight.”

“Cause you like my Mom?”

Peter sighed. I was kind of curious to his answer as well.

“Yeah, cause I like your mom a lot kid.”

“Why do you sparkle?”

“We are designed to draw people in. Anything that makes us fascinating or pretty to look at, helps.” Alice responded.

“I get that. I see a sparkly doll in a store or a sparkly shirt I am drawn right to it. Do you look like a doll when you glitter Peter?”

“No. I don’t”

“So Aunt Alice saw a vision of a vampire coming to get you Mom?”

“Yes.”

“Has your vision changed Aunt Alice?”

“It will sweetie.”

“Meaning it hasn’t?”

“Not at this moment. But my visions can often change.”

“Is that why you get that far off spacy look sometime?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why every time I think of doing something sneaky that could probably get me in trouble with Mom, you always seem to be there, stopping me?”

“Yes.”

She was? She did? What the hell?

“That’s not fair Aunt Alice.”

“Life’s not fair kid.” Alice told her, winking.

“So how do you kill a vampire?”

“Uh…” Peter, Alice and I were all taken back by this question.

“What? I need to know.”

“No you don’t baby. You won’t be killing any vampires. You won’t need to.” I told her firmly.

“Why are we still here?”

“What?”

“If Aunt Alice knows you are going to be attacked here and her vision doesn’t change, doesn’t it seem smart that we should be somewhere else?” Maddie asked, as if we were the dumbest people on earth.

“Maddie if I leave, we may never find out who is behind this and be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives.”

“So Aunt Alice is using you like bait?”

“No…”

“Then what do you call it?”

“Uh…” I looked at Alice who looked at Peter who was suddenly finding something interesting on the wall.

“Do you want to leave Baby? I can take you to Grandma’s.”

“I’m not leaving you Mom. I can’t believe you asked me that.”

“I don’t want you scared Maddie.”

“You think I would be better in Florida worried about you. I will go if you go. If not I’m staying. Don’t make me leave Mommy.”

Damn that was a heartbreaking look.

“I won’t sweetie. Peter is going to be with you 24/7”

“With me?”

“With both of us.”

“Oh joy. If a bad guy comes he can use his rainbow powers and glittery skin to blind him and turn him into a candy cane. Maybe he can use my dolls as backup.”

“Maddie don’t be like that! Peter has been nothing but nice to you!”

“He stares at your butt when you walk anywhere.”

“He does? You do?” I asked looking at him and smiling. He smiled back. I guess those jeans paid off… No! Bad Bella!

“Yes Mom he does! Don’t you find it a little creepy that a vampire is hitting on you all the time and another vampire dated you in high school? Oh my God! Am I gonna have to fight off vampires when I’m in high school?”

“Not with your personality kid.” I heard Peter say.

Maddie and I both shot him dirty looks. Nothing is wrong with Maddie’s personality. Sure she can be a bit sarcastic at times. Okay, I’m not blind, okay? I get that my little Angel isn’t perfect. But she is perfect to me. Nobody talks about my baby. She has a great personality. She just doesn’t take anybody’s crap. She gets that from AJ.

I took a deep breath. “Look, can we talk about something else Maddie? Please? You need to get changed and we need to get that makeup off…”

“I can do it! You and Peter can talk Bella!” Alice said. “I mean, if you are okay with that, Maddie…”

“Aunt Alice, I love you. Nothing will ever change that. I’m not scared of you. Besides it’s kind of cool that a girl can glitter. Course if you had RED eyes that may be a little different.” Maddie finished sending Peter a not so nice look.

I heard her say under her breath that it would suck to be a guy that sparkles. If I heard her I’m sure Peter did. Yep he looked very annoyed.

“Besides while you are taking off my makeup you can explain to me why you are trying to set my mom up with Peter so badly.”

“Maddie, I’m not!”

“Bad liar Aunt Alice.”

Alice grabbed her hand and walked her away. I turned to look at Peter.

---

“So that went better than I expected.” I observed carefully.

“Yeah, she is tough. Sometimes I think it might be easier for a kid to learn something like this. They haven’t been completely conditioned by the world as to what is and is not real. But the test will come at night. I will have to watch her sleep and see how she reacts. She’s tough like her Dad. She will be okay. I hope.”

“You’re no pushover yourself.”

She smiled at me and looked back at the floor.

“You know we don’t have to hide out. Let’s take Maddie somewhere fun.”

“What did you have in mind?” She asked me.

“Let’s go to Wonderland Caverns in San Marcus. Have you been there?”

“The cave tours? No I don’t think I have.”

“Me either. I have seen that stupid billboard on the Interstate a million times. We should go tomorrow. I can get into the gift shop real quick and we can go inside the caves.”

“Yeah, maybe. That sounds fun. Maddie would get a kick out of it.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Would you have fun?”

“Of course.”

“You kinda base your whole life around what’s best for Maddie. I respect that. But do you ever do anything fun, just for yourself?”

“Sure.”

“That doesn’t require batteries?”

She turned red. I thought for a second she may be mad but I realized quickly that it was a blush. She laughed a little. “I guess you did hear that huh?” she asked me shyly. It was so damn cute on her.

Heard, it fantasized about it, ran it over in my mind. Yeah. I heard it.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” I told her. I really need to keep my foot out of my mouth. Easier said than done.

“I’m not. I’m the one who opened my mouth. Truth is Peter, Maddie has been kind of my whole life. I don’t have a lot and I won’t take handouts from Alice. I know she does things anyway, the sneaky little bitch, but we both pretend she doesn’t. But I don’t have much of a life apart from my child. I don’t even know who I am apart from Maddie. My whole world and everything I do revolves around her. That’s the truth. It isn’t fair to me I suppose but it is all I know. When AJ died, I was in danger of being lost so I grabbed on to her tighter and wouldn’t let go. I don’t regret that. But no, to answer your question I don’t do anything fun for myself.”

“Would you want to?” I had to know. This girl needed to get out.

“Have fun for myself? I mean sometimes I think about it.”

“So let’s go out. Let me take you for a good time. Alice can watch Maddie.”

“Peter, I don’t know. I mean, you know I like you but where can this really go if I don’t turn into a vampire? You know? I don’t want my heart to break. And I don’t want to break yours.”

“So you plan to live your life never taking a chance because you don’t want to get hurt? You are tougher than that Bella. I know I am, and I know you are. What if it did work? Would it be so bad? Maybe it won’t. But why not try? So maybe we both get hurt. Are you hurting now?”

“No, I’m not hurting now.” She whispered.

“Are you sure?” I pressed.

“I guess not. Maybe. I think I’m just lonely. And I don’t want to use you for my escape from that.”

“Trust me Bella. I would not mind being used by you.” I gave her my best smile and was rewarded with one breaking out on her face. Maybe now we are getting somewhere.

“To be real honest Peter, I wouldn’t mind using the hell out of you too.”

Okay, that was sexy. Damn where did she come from? I need to get her some alcohol. I bet she would really let loose. We were finally getting somewhere when I heard her.

“Peter get in here now!”

I ran into Maddie’s bedroom. Alice was standing with a look of panic on her face.

“What is it?”

“Last second decision. Somebody knows what I can do Peter. They are coming. They will be at the door in 30 seconds.”

“How many?”

“Four.”

“Call Jasper. Keep Bella and Maddie behind you no matter what. Are there any outside on the walls?”

“Not that I can see.”

“Defend them. I am going to say hi in the living room.” Bella looked scared as hell but she grabbed Maddie and picked her up running behind Alice. She sat her in a corner of her room and stood in front of her. She was scared but she was going to protect her daughter. So was I. Only I wasn’t scared. I was pissed.

I walked into the living room and stood ten feet in front of the door. Surely they would have to use the door. Why would they do this? There is no way we can keep this quiet. Do they not give a fuck?

I heard the steps. Yep. Four of them. The door handle just ripped off from the outside.

The door swung open and I was surprised to see…

That I didn’t know a single one of these motherfuckers.

Before me stood four male vampires. All looked like average twenty year old males. Probably not turned long ago but not newborns.

“Can I help you gents?”

“We have come for the girl. Give her to us and we won’t hurt you or the other vampire.”

“Yeah that’s gonna be a bit of a problem. I don’t let nobody take my woman or my little girl in there.”

“Sounds like your problem, not ours.”

“Son, it’s about to be your problem. What the hell do you want with Bella anyway?”

“Bella? No, she is the mother. We were instructed to kill her and anyone else she with her, including vampires. We want the girl. We have been sent to gather her and bring her back to…”

He looked confused. Oh well.

“You didn’t get sent to take the girl. You got sent so your puppet master could figure out how tough it is gonna be to get to them.”

“We will not fail our mission.” One of the ones in the back said.

“Son, do you know who I am?”

“Are we supposed to?”

“My name is Peter Whitlock. And you fuckers have made a fatal mistake.”

“Yeah, what would that be?” the one in the front asked, with a grin.

I smiled. This may not be quiet but it was going to be easy.

“You should have brought more vampires.”

BPOV

I heard the noise. Things breaking. My things. Alice never moved in front of us. I wish I knew what was going on. Was Peter okay? Alice said there were 4 of them. He couldn’t hold out long could he? Suddenly I heard silence. Oh God he must be dead. I looked at Alice who seemed to have relaxed.

“C’mon. He’s calling us. It’s safe. Jasper is coming into the building now. He is going to make your neighbors very sleepy. Some are coming into the halls already.”

I walked into my living room with Maddie attached at my hip, squeezing me tightly. I saw vampire body parts laying everywhere. And in the middle with his shirt ripped to shreds still as a statue, muscles rippling stood Peter Whitlock. He was smiling. His face turned serious when he saw me. All me living room furniture was destroyed. But we were all alive, that was the important thing.

“Alice you got to get Jasper to calm the folks down out in the hall. And then we are all going to meet at my place. We can’t have any more close combat like this. Bella start packing clothes for you and Maddie. Alice start packing Bella’s valuables. All her jewelry, her pictures, Maddie’s toys, the rocking chair in the corner of her room. We won’t be coming back here for a long time. Rent a truck as a matter of fact. Bring their beds. Pack up this whole fucking place. Bella, I’m sorry but you can’t stay here any longer. Not until we get past this threat.”

I nodded and began walking back toward the room with Maddie at my side. But her head would not stop staring at the body parts in the room or Peter. I finally got her to turn around and we began throwing clothes into a bag. We walked back in a few minutes later to see Jasper fixing the door handle. No neighbors were in the hallway. Peter had pulled on a black long sleeve shirt that hung to his upper body like a goddamn second skin.

“What do you want to do Peter? She’s your Mate. You decide.” Jasper said looking at me and nodding.

I’m his Mate? HE decides? What the fuck?

“Uh do I get a say in this?”

“Of course Bella.” Alice responded.

“What happened? Just now?”

“Well the good news is my vision changed. I no longer see those vampires attacking you in a week.”

“And the bad news?”

“We can talk about in the truck on the way to my place Bella.”

“No, I want to know now!”

“They don’t want you. You were just in the way.”

“Then who do they w… are you joking? Please tell me you are joking.”

“I wish I were Bella. And they were just the foot soldiers. We have to figure out who is behind this. But we need to get you somewhere safe. And brother,” He said looking at Jasper. “You are going to have to get over your fears around Bella here. Because I am going to need the both of you there.”

Jasper nodded at Peter. Peter nodded at Jasper. I felt like I should nod but I wasn’t in the mood. Maybe I could give Alice a steely glance and nod later.

“Jasper can you bring the part to burn at my place. I figure we can piece one of them together enough to get him to talk.”

“Thinking the same thing Peter.” Jasper said.

“Bella, you got ya’lls bags packed?”

“Yes Peter.”

“The let’s get the hell out of here. We got to stop and get food for my cabinets and refrigerator.”