The Bet
Forks Washington, November 1st, 2009, 1:17 PM - "Believers say it is eight feet tall, six feet wide. Gold with twelve silver cords, a gift from the God. The others, non-believers, think of it as a myth, a legend, an old story passed down generation to generation." Our 11th grade history teacher Mrs. Pinceatti conveys, trying to have us grasp the message. I can tell by the way her intense sky blue eyes peers among my classmates and I.
A note falls on my desk with my name on it not even five seconds after. I look back at my boyfriend Edward Cullen. His thick brown hair falls, blocking the hazel eyes that I so easily get lost in, as he stares, watching me read the message he wrote closely.
"Who cares about this? It's just a harp, no big deal. So what if it's magic? It's lost and no one will ever find it!"
I laugh to myself. It is so like Edward to disagree like that with Mrs. Pinceatti. Every word out of her mouth instantly became the complete opposite out of his.
I raise my hand.
"Yes, Miss Swan?"
"What do you think. Do you believe in it?"
"Of course I do, Bella, although everyone seems to be against me in this matter." She says looking around the room while some people snicker. "Homework tonight!" She announces and everyone groans. This just makes her smile. " Oh come on guys! Lighten up! It's the weekend! All you need to do is research the harp and bring in some articles.
Okay I'll admit, I love this class, but at these moments, the twenty eight year old brunette drives me crazy!
Finally the bell sounds, releasing me from this prision called high school.
"So, Bella, you believe it?" Edward asks me as we walked down a street leading to my house.
" Um...Yeah...I guess I do." I reply looking back at him as I say it.
"Well, I don't believe it." Edward says.
"Oh really? You wanna bet it's true?" I ask, instantly regreting it.
His eyes lightened up. He always loved a good bet, even if it was one as crazy as this one.
"Oh yeah! Winner gets twenty dollars and loser cleans winners room for a week." It sounded easy enough.
"Your on. There's no way I will be cleaning that inhumanly disqusting room of yours!" I vow.
He smirks. " Okay we will search tonight, midnight to midnight tomarrow. They say that IF it's real, it's somewhere in our hometown of Forks, Washington. We will meet up at our secret hideout." He declares by the time we reach the metal gate to my blue and white house. He kisses me and we went our separate ways.
November 2nd 2009, woods midnight - They say the woods have a curse, but Edward and I don't believe it. We've been hanging out here together since we were three!
Huge maple trees cover the entrance to what no one knows is a beautiful riverbank and meadow. I push the branches back to reveal the bright green grass with multi colored flowers planted in it. Near the rear of the scene was a river that flows into a tunnel, but we never go back there since the tunnel isn't trusted by Edward. He says it looks to old.
Edward is sitting on a rock, looking out into the river until he sees me walking my bike and he stands up.
"Ready?" We ask at the same time. We laugh briefly and then turn serious again nodding. He takes my hand and we walk out of the hideout.
We searched for hours, but it seemed like days. Everywhere in town, but never found it. It was about 6:00 when we gave up, ending up where we began, our meadow.
"Looks like I win." Edward smiles triumphantly.
I look down, ashamed to have believed that we could find something that had a 50 50 chance to be real, my mahongany waves falling against my face. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, pulling me close.
"Hey, don't be upset Bella. You fought for what you believed in, that's what counts." Jesse's voice like velvet sounds soft in my ear.
I nod and look up, when something catches my eye.
"It's okay, really, and...." Edward starts, but I interject his statement.
"Hold that thought." I start to walk towards an odd glow.
"Bella! Hey! Come back! We don't go through that tunnel! Remember?" Edward yells as he runs to catch up with my speed walk, and I walk through the tunnel anyways.
It was beautiful. The river continues. There were rocks along the side piled high into the trees, and on one low rock sat a golden harp.
I smile. "Looks like I win." I whisper and look back at Edward who just walked through, but still heard my whisper. His mouth was in a small oval shape and shock was clear in his eyes. "So it's true," He whispers, "it's really true."
"Will....Will you play for me?" I ask with a mix of curiousness and sweetness.
He recovers his expression and nods his head, then walks slowly towards the strange object, eyeing it carefully, as if it would disappear any second.
He sits down next to the harp on the rock, slowly stroking the golden outline, then runs his fingers over the silver cords, playing my lullaby that he hums to me every day. It's like a dream come true.
We walk out of the hideout, down the street and to my house. We walked through the door just in time to see my mom placing a plate of cookies on the table. We each take one as my mom asks why we were gone so long and we come up with a cover story. I swallow my cookie just in time to hear Edward start choking. He coughs. Again, and again, and again. Tears start to fall rapidly from my eyes as they weld up in his. My dad runs into the room and grabs Edward, pounding his back, trying to get the food up and out. It takes hours, seeming like years. I hold his hand the whole time as my dad works on him. Edward looks at me and I run my free hand through his hair. I smile faintly, but it changes to a huge smile when they say they got it out. My dad says it was swallowed whole, but Edward interrupts. " I didn't swallow it whole okay!" I look at him stunned. It was like fate came in, trying to kill him, death, watching in the walls eating a bowl of popcorn like life is just a movie.
Days pass, even weeks, and freak accidents keep happening to Edward. One day it will be an asthmea attack when he doesn't even have asthmea and the next day, almost hit by a car, but today...today was the absolute worst.
November 24th 2009 3:23 PM - My cell phone went off, playing the Edward's and my theme song. His picture shows on the screen and a picture of a small A in the corner. It was a text. A text with only 5 letters. My throat clogs up as I read the horrifying words. " Help me, I'm gonna die." I read it over and over again praying it wouldn't be true as I run out the door and to Edward's house as fast as my feet could take me.
I get to his house, planning to just barge in, but the door is locked. I look under the mat for the spare key, but it isn't there. I knock. No answer. I ring the bell. No one comes. I walk around the house for an open window, but they are all closed and locked, when finally I found one that shows me him. He was facing me in a chair, his mouth taped up and his body tied to the chair. He looked pretty beat up, scratches all over his face with blood falling out of his skin. Suddenly I see my 25-year-old neighbor Kieth Micheals walk in the room. Finally someone to help. I am about to knock on the window when Kieth pulls out a gun pressing it up against Jesse's head. He whispers something to him and I start to back away from the house when a branch snaps. Kieth looks over at the window, but I am long gone, off to my house sitting at my computer desk.I hurry to log on the computer and get onto google to look up the harps information and history. What I find, nearly kills me. " The harp is not to be played by a human of the human world. Anyone who disobeys this rule shall face the consequenses for weeks until death finally comes knocking at their door. It's the harp. It's cursed and it wants you dead." My eyes focus on the last sentence the most and I realize, Edward touched and played the harp, I didn't.
I scroll down, looking for what I need and smile faintly as I read it. I turn off the internet and grab what I need and run down the street to the hideout. When I get there, I walk through the tunnel, and see the harp, sitting there inoccently. I eye it like it is the devil and not daring to touch it knowing the risk i would be taking, I spill gasoline over and around it, and everywhere else in the meadow, lit a match and throw it and run. I look back once seeing the flames of orange and red melt the cursed object. It was for him. My Edward. It was to save his life. I had to destroy it, and it was the only way.
November 24, 2009 5:49PM - I am now on the front steps of Edward's house, just staring at the door. I take a deep breath and reach for the knob slowly turning it, testing it almost, to see if it would open, and it was sitting at the table doing his homework. It was kind of awkward seeing him do it. Suddenly, he turns and I prepare to see his beat up face.
"Oh! Hey Bella! I didn't think you were coming over! This homework doesn't make sense, but when does Mr. Morgan's homework make sense?" He asks, his perfect face didn't have a scratch on it.
I ignore him and run to him, wrapping my arms around his torso and burying my face in his chest.
He pulls back to say, "Hey look at me." He says. " You alright?"
I take a deep breath and nod. " I am now." We both smile and he draws me in for a kiss. I was fine and I knew it, but I still know the curse.
I pull back to ask him, " What do you remember? About the bet I mean."
He looks at me like I am crazy and maybe I am, but he answers me," You telling me you wanted to make a bet, but I told you no because I know I would win."
"Oh" I blinked guessing destroying the harp not only saved him but made him forget what happened.
"Yeah. Why?" He asks tightening his arms around my waist.
"Um...No reason." I tell him, and pull his head down, making our lips touch, but there was a reason. One that only I knew. I may have gotten rid of the harp once and for all, but one thing about it still lives, and it is in the tunnel right now anyone who crosses it, they will get cursed. The curse, it lives to this very day, I don't have it, but how I know it, that's a secret I'll never tell.