I was lying on the soft ground of the beautiful meadow with my personal angel--Edward Cullen. I looked at him and marveled over his perfection. His smile, his eyes, his granite-hard body, his tousled bronze hair, his everything. It seemed ridiculous to me that he would actually be mine. He actually loved me.
"How would you like to come over to my house this evening? Esme and Carlisle have been dying to see you," Edward said, breaking my focus on his perfection. It took me a while to find the right words to speak.
"If you don't want to, that's okay. I understand…I know the last time you were over…was a disaster…"
"No, I want to go. I'd love to see everyone again." I said, snapping back into reality.
He smiled ruefully, "Would you like to run…or drive to my place?"
I definitely didn't want to run. It wouldn't be a good idea if I fainted while walking in the door to see the Cullens. Not a good idea.
"Drive, please."
He shook his head and smiled. Before I knew it, he swooped me up off the ground and was heading toward the car, with me in his arms. He opened the car door with one hand, still cradling me in the other. He set me down gently onto the leather interior seat of his Volvo. He shut the car door—a heartbeat later, he was starting the car.
"I want to warn you, Bella. The rest of my family is a little bit…concerned. They don't think that you will ever want to come back after…what happened," Edward said, staring out the windshield.
"How many times do I have to say that it's okay? It could have happened to anyone—you don't believe that I wouldn't want to come back, do you?"
He shrugged.
"You do believe that, don't you? You're waiting for me to run and scream, still. I swear on Charlie's grave, that that won't happen. Nothing in this world will stop me from seeing you."
"If you were normal you would have ran already."
"Then I'm not normal," I said with a sour tone.
"Bella, let's just drop this. I apologize for upsetting you. Will you forgive me?"
How could I be mad at that? Perfection! Ugh.
"Of course, Edward," I sighed.
"Thank you."
Edward was already speeding down the driveway to get to his house. When we came into view of the house, I suddenly remembered its beauty and its openness. Then the perfect memory faded into a shady one.
The twinkle lights guiding your way down tree-covered driveway, the pink flowers everywhere, the glass bowls, the cake, the piano, the fierce snarling, the yelling of the word "NO!"…
I shuddered. I immediately started thinking of happier thoughts. Edward was here and that's all that mattered. We were together again. Happy. Whole.
Edward got out of the car and flitted to my door. I didn't have time to blink before I was already out of the car, walking hand in hand with Edward. He opened the door to the Cullen house and warily looked around. Emmett jumped out from behind the couch. My heart almost burst through my chest. Emmett bellowed a laugh that kind of reminded me of a choking bear.
Edward glared at Emmett.
"What? I'm just trying to have a little fun with my little sister!" He said through laughter, mock punching Edward in the arm. Edward just glared at him, rolling his eyes, while I kind of giggled along with Emmett. I saw tiny Alice dance down the stairs. She ran up beside me and pecked me on the cheek. "I missed you, Bella! It's like Edward has been keeping you away from us."
Edward tried to elbow Alice in the ribs, but she caught it reflexively in her left hand. "Not so fast, mister." She laughed; it was all silver and wind chimes. I missed that. I missed everything about the Cullen family. I missed their beauty, their kindness—although Rosalie was never a favorite of mine, and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't on her top ten list of her favorite people, either—their hospitality, their grace…
I looked up from my little daydream and saw Alice motioning her hands for someone to come over. "Come on, Jazz," she chimed. Jasper came out and smiled apologetically, though keeping his distance.
It didn't seem like everyone is concerned about me. Only Edward. Everyone else was normal. He was the one trying to keep me away from his family? He didn't want me to see them?
It's like Edward has been keeping you away from us.
Edward was trying to keep me away from them. Why? My face fumed red.
"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked me, looking at the anger flash across my face.
"I'm fine. Can I talk to you outside for a minute, please?"
"Sure, I guess. Is something wrong?"
"Outside."
I started walking out the door to get some privacy. I was seriously mad. He wanted me to stay away from the people I loved? Even though I was walking very fast for my human speed, he was right beside me. I stopped walking when we were out of hearing range from the house.
"What's wrong, Bella? You seem extremely mad,"
"Because I am mad, Edward. You were keeping me away from them! How could you do that? I asked you to see Alice and Emmett and Carlisle and Esme a million times and you said they were hunting! You lied to me!" The tears started forming on my eyes. I could feel the waterworks coming.
"I didn't want you to get hurt again. It couldn't happen. What if you were over and then you cut yourself with a price tag or something! Anything could happen and I didn't want to risk it. You're too valuable. I didn't want to have to leave you again. Therefore, I lied. I'm sorry."
"I can't believe you would do that. I told you that I didn't care about anything happening! I had to see them, and you lied. And, Edward, you can't just leave every time something bad happens. The next time I get a paper cut, are you just going to pack up and leave again?" I stared at him with agonized eyes, with tear drops streaming down my cheeks.
"Bella, please, please, don't cry. I'm so sorry." He took his index finger and wiped the tears off of my cheeks. "I just wanted to protect you."
"You can't protect me from everything. I can't believe you lied to me…why couldn't you just tell me the truth?" I didn't realize what I was doing, but I was walking away from him. I was walking into the forest, by myself. Edward, of course, was following me.
"Bella, please! I'm sorry." He gently grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him. His liquid topaz eyes were dripping with sincerity.
This is when the tears really started. I wrapped my arms around his waist and cried into his shirt. Why was I even crying? I didn't remember. Oh! I was crying because the love of my life lied to me about something that I really cared about. I cried harder.
"Shh, Bella. It's okay. I'm sorry. So sorry. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Ever. I promise. Shh," he pleaded. I pulled away from him and wiped my eyes.
"I forgive you," I sniffed.
"Thank you,"
Edward's head shot up, all of a sudden. His eyes searched around in the woods.
"Bella, we better go back to the house. It'll be quicker if I run," He picked me up and put me on his back, and was running before I even had time to think. What was going on? Edward set me down when we got inside the house. I stood there, out of breath. Everyone was surrounding Alice. I stood in the background, letting the family talk.
"Alice! Tell me what's wrong!" Jasper said, holding on to Alice's hand.
"Red eyes…red eyes…dark room…cold body…on ground…red….everywhere…red…," Alice mumbled to herself.
Red eyes? What did she mean?
"Alice, don't worry. It's okay," Jasper said, stroking her hand.
Alice's eyes got suddenly wide with fear and shock. "It's Bella. It's her, Edward! It's her! You can't let this happen!" she whispered, a little too loud. I didn't think I was supposed to hear that, but I did. My pulse started racing and my heart was beating a hundred miles per minute.
Emmett ran down the stairs. "What is going on? I heard something." Once he saw Alice's eyes, his face suddenly fell from very happy to worried.
"I'm taking Bella home. Alice, keep talking to Jasper and Emmett about this," Edward said, walking over to me. "Come on, Bella. We need to go,"
"What's going on?" He didn't answer; he just kept pushing me along to his car. He opened the door and almost shoved me in the car. I got in unwillingly. "What is going on, Edward?"
He continued to ignore me.
"Edward Cullen! Tell me what is going on right now!" I yelled.
"Bella, it's just something that Alice saw, that we're going to try and stop before it can happen."
"What did she see? It involved me, I heard it! Red eyes?" I finally started to put the puzzle pieces together. A Vampire got to me…and they're trying to stop it from happening. I gasped. "Edward! Who is it? Who's coming? Victoria? The Volturi? Who is it?"
"We don't know. It wasn't clear," He didn't dare look at me. He just stared out the windshield and drove to my house. "Bella, I've got to get home and talk with Alice and see if I can find anymore out. Please, please, please promise me that you won't go into the woods alone."
I nodded. He opened my car door and walked me up to my front door. "Bella, be safe. Please. Don't try anything." He leaned down and kissed my hair for a moment, and smiled ruefully at me. He turned around and started walking to his car. He got in and sped down the road.
Red eyes…red eyes…
Don't go into the woods alone…
It's her, Edward! It's her!
Cold body…on ground…red...everywhere…
I tried to erase these images in my head.
I kept imagining Victoria and her catlike body crouching beside me; orange hair flowing in the wind, eyes red and glowing, smiling and snarling as she ripped me apart limb by limb…
No. I needed to stop imagining these things. They were going to stop it. They were.
Then there was the Volturi. Black cloaks, red eyes, papery skin….All of them feasting: Aro, Jane, Felix, Caius, Demetri, Alec, Marcus, the guard…
No. I had to stop.
I needed something to get it off my mind.
Jacob.
I picked up my jacket that I threw across the couch, slipped it on and headed toward my truck outside. I got in, revved the engine, and started down to La Push. It was a long drive—mostly because my truck didn't drive over 60 miles per hour—also because I had a lot on my mind.
When I got to La Push, I drove the short distance to Jake's house. I pulled onto the side of the road, got out and knocked on the small door.
"Come in!" I heard Billy yell.
I opened the door and walked inside. "Hey, Billy. How are you?"
"Pretty good. Jake's in his room."
I smiled, "Thanks."
I down the cramped hallway until I found Jacob's room.
"Jake? It's Bella. Can I come in?"
Jacob swung the door open, and picked me up in a huge bear hug. "Bella! I missed you so much. After this happened, we haven't talked too much,"
I knew he was referring to his new growth, because of him being a Werewolf.
"J-J-Jake…Can't breath!" I said through his grasp.
"Oh, sorry." He let go and smiled wide at me.
I kind of laughed uneasily, the vision still on my mind.
"Are you okay? You sound worried. Did I say or do something? I didn't hurt you did I? Oh, gosh. Bella?"
"No. I'm okay. Just have a lot on my mind."
"How about we go for a walk? You can explain."
"I'd like that," I kind of smiled at the thought. I needed to vent.
"Let's go. Dad, we'll be back later! We're going for a walk," He called to Billy.
Jacob and I started walking down a path in the forest. He moved the lower branches out of the way, so I wouldn't trip on them. We made it to a good resting place, and sat down so I could explain what was going on.
"Well, you know how Alice can see things, right, Jake?"
"You mean the future seeing bloodsucker?"
"Sure, sure. Well, she had a vision that…another Vampire would…kill me. We're not sure who it is…,"
"What!?"
"Jacob, calm down…you're shaking."
"A bloodsucker is going to kill you? NO! That can't happen! Stupid, filthy bloodsuckers! You're staying here with me and the pack. We're not going to let you out of sight."
"Jacob! Calm down! Please! They're trying to figure out a way to stop it!"
He grabbed me on the shoulders and shook me. "Are you crazy!? Figure out a way to stop it? The leeches are the ones that got you into it!"
"Stop! That hurts! Stop!" I yelled at him.
"No! I'm trying to get your brain back in order! You deserve to be with someone in your own species, that doesn't have to fight to protect you every two seconds! The parasites have brainwashed you!" His body was shaking terribly. His arms were trembling and his knees started to buckle.
"Jacob, let go of me!"
The shaking got worse. Jacob growled and hissed loudly at me. I looked at him; he was phasing. The hands that he had on my shoulders were now replaced with humongous paws. Ferocious growls ripped from his chest.
Jacob Black was now a wolf, right in front of my eyes.
I escaped his grasp, and started running. Jacob was quicker, though. His massive rusty colored paws slashed down my back. I screamed in agony. The claws ripped through my shirt, and I was pretty sure the first two layers of my skin.
Jacob was still lurching around me. I heard a howl rip through his chest.
I tripped when I was trying to escape from him, and I hit my head. I was laying on the ground, covered in blood and rips of my shirt. Unconsciousness was waiting at the door. It slowly pulled me into its dark, murky waters.
When I woke, I was in russet skinned arms. I looked up and saw that little Seth Clearwater, wasn't so little anymore. He was bare-chested, and running with me to somewhere. I groaned in excruciating pain and realized that Seth's shirt was wrapped around the wound on my back.
"Bella? You 'kay?"
"Mmm," That was the only response I could do.
"I'm taking you to Dr. Cullen, Bella. He will help you,"
He slowed down to a walk; I suddenly realized where I was at. I was in the Cullen garage. He knocked rapidly on the door on the inside of the garage with one hand, holding me in the other arm. Wow. He really was strong. And he was only fourteen. Wow.
Esme opened the door. "Bella? Is that Bella? Oh my goodness!"
Carlisle, Edward, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper ran toward the door.
"Let me take her, son," Carlisle said to Seth. Seth handed me over to Carlisle, gently.
Edward's face was horrorstricken. "What happened?" he said, glaring at Seth.
"Mmm—n-n-no…" I was trying to tell Edward that Seth didn't do it, that it was Jacob. But I was too lightheaded to speak. I gave up trying with the words.
"I heard Jake howl, and I got curious so I headed out to the woods 'hind my place and I saw Bella lying there! I didn't know what to do, so I automatically brought her here. I wrapped my shirt around her to stop the bleeding. It was pretty bad."
"So you decided to bring Bella who is bloody to a house of Vampires?" he asked in a sour tone, fiercely glaring at him.
"Mmm—d-d-don't y-y-ye—" I was trying to get Edward to not yell at Seth, but that obviously didn't work.
"Jasper, no! Go outside with Emmett…we can handle this. I don't want anything to happen. Just go outside, Jazz, please," Esme said, looking at him.
Jasper's eyes were gold, but I could see how hard it was for him just to be in the room with me, not covered in blood. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be with me covered in blood. Jasper just nodded and stiffly walked outside with Emmett.
Edward, Alice, and Carlisle were standing over me. Carlisle injected me with some needle, and soon enough everything was numb and the doorbell rang again. It was unconsciousness, waiting for me to answer. I faded into the darkness again.
I woke up, lying on a hospital bed. Edward rested beside me, and he was stroking my hair, trying to comfort me. My throat was sore and scratchy. I tried to speak, but the words wouldn't reach my lips. I felt like I had just been hit by a bus. I groaned softly.
"Bella, are you awake?" a musical murmur asked—I recognized it as Edward's velvety voice. It was so soothing. I couldn't answer, so I just nodded.
Bad idea. Worse than talking.
I flinched in pain.
Another bad idea.
"Bella...I'm so, so, so, very sorry. But Alice couldn't see it because she can't see wolves. She thought the vision was true, about the red eyes…but I guess it wasn't—her visions are subjective, after all. If we wouldn't have told you about what happened, none of this would have ever happened. I'm so sorry."
Even though my throat felt like it was on fire, I still spoke. "It hurts," I whimpered. "I know it does, love. I'm so sorry. Carlisle is getting you some pain medication right now. It'll feel better soon," Edward promised. "What happened, Edward?" I said, a little more strong.
"You were in La Push with Jacob, things got out of control, he phased and he hurt you. I'm sorry that I couldn't have been there…" He kept apologizing. None of this was his fault! It was Jacob's. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I couldn't. It hurt too bad.
Carlisle walked through the door with medicine in his hands. "This will make you feel better, Bella. It should numb up the pain pretty quickly. You need to rest. It will make you feel a whole lot better."
"How bad is it?"
"The wound spreads eight inches down your back. It's going to leave a pretty hefty scar, but you won't be able to feel it. It won't hurt," Carlisle assured me.
Eight inches? No wonder I hurt so badly.
He put the medicine through a tube that lead inside my nose. I noticed that it was very strong, and gave me a headache, but it stopped most of the pain throughout my body.
* * *
It took a little while to get my emotions and nerves back together. I was so torn apart that Jacob would do something like that. I hadn't seen him in three weeks. I was scared to go back to La Push. Scared that it might happen again.
I was lying in my bed, staring at the wall, while Edward hummed my lullaby that he composed to me when we first met. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Just lying there, listening to him hum was the most perfect thing anyone could ask for—besides the fact that I had an eight inch, jagged, furiously pink scar on my back that would never go away.
But at this very moment, I forgot all of my troubles. I forgot all of the risks in life. I forgot everything, except the peace that I felt now. I felt happy for the first time in three weeks. I don't know how, but I felt happy. Maybe it was because the scar finally stopped burning, or just the fact that I was alive, and so was Edward. I was happy.
I forgot all of the worries about Jacob, the pain and hatred that I felt toward him at this moment, and the mark that I would have on my back that helped me remember the night that it happened. It was all forgotten.
"Edward?" I asked; my voice was thick with medication.
He stopped humming and looked at me.
"Thank you. Thank you for being here…with me. I love you."
He smiled crookedly and continued humming my lullaby, until I drifted off to sleep.