Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I do not.
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EmPOV
I love my wife, really, truly, I do. But I will never understand why she refuses to buy a subscription of Cosmo. Instead, every time there is a new issue, I am sent out to get it for her and endure the pitying glances of every male who happens to be in the store at the time. Actually, fuck it, I don't really care that I'm whipped.
I just care because I think it has to do with Jasper. She thinks he's going to slip and we'll end up changing addresses again anyway, so no point in a subscription. They got to start giving that boy some credit - poor guy, ever since he took a shot at Bella, he's been beating himself up and we're not helping. Don't even get me started on Alice and Edward's little self-pity parties.
Then there is Bella. Where the hell did that girl go? We know she's not dead; she can't be, no way, no how. Last Alice saw of her she was packing up her clothes, then nothing. She doesn't want to be found, she decided to never be found.
She'd be 24 now. It's an eerie feeling, being connected to humanity. We expect her to grow up, but I don't know…I guess I already saw her as my little sister, to imagine her being physically older than me…it's weird.
Edward spent a long time looking for her, but gave up when he found out some Quileute boy had run off with her and went back to sulking and worrying at different intervals. Ever seen a century old vampire throw a hissy fit or have a break down? I have, a few times now in fact. Alice on the other hand seems to be resigned to it.
To be honest, I think Alice must have been watching Bella during that first year. She seems to understand why Bella ran off. It's so unlike the Bella we knew, she must have changed a lot. She was always so responsible and cautious and-
…
It's her. HOLY FUCK IT'S HER!
BPOV – 9 months later
Losing your chance at forever can really adjust your view of time. If you have forever, what's the rush?
I did not have forever. Worse still, I had the knowledge that it was once a possibility.
I decided I could work with the fact that I'd lost time. What I couldn't get over was the loss of the reason why I wanted to have so much time. To share it, with him–
Edward.
God, just thinking his name still makes my chest constrict and ache painfully.
I had lost my chance at forever, and I'd given up on ever falling in love again. But I had a newfound respect for my lifetime. I don't have much of it. This was my life and it's short. I'd mourned long enough, Christ; I'd been a fucking zombie a year, even my detached father had noticed. I had decided that it was time for me to suck it up and experience everything.
After all, I was in a rush.
I'm 25 now and the things I have experienced in the last 6 or so years are absolutely absurd. No, I mean it. If you simply heard the rundown of it, the summary, it sounds like a whole load of far-fetched nonsense.
But I am Isabella Marie Swan, former vampire pet, and if there is trouble, I'm there – whether I want to be or not…
Twenty five years old and I'm standing in an ancient stadium, hundreds of vampires cheering from the crowds, an influx of the scum and shadows of the earth, all congregated in my new home, Volterra, all here to watch an antiquated tradition - a gladiator tournament.
How did I get here? Fuck if I know…might have something to do with the mutt who tagged along with me when I left after Senior Year. Who am I kidding?
I fucking love this. I live for this. Ironically, one way or another, I'll die for this.
There are twenty of us and so far, I'm the favorite. Eventually there will be 10 of us and we'll all be changed and unleashed on each other as volatile newborns for the entertainment of the masses. It's going to be a motherfucking bloodbath.
EPOV – 1 month prior
It's been eight months since Emmett came home with his surprise. I finally found Jacob. Raw white-hot fury ran through me, he would pay for what he has done.
I was standing on the reserve, apparently Jacob had returned only weeks ago and without her. I knew this meant the treaty was broken but I couldn't bring myself to care. I only cared about one thing. And that one thing had four long gruesome scars slanted across her left breast. Apparently the werewolf gene had made a reappearance.
I could see a light on in the kitchen of the tiny bungalow. Without a plan I ran for the door and crashed into his house. Not a second later a mammoth of a wolf tore around the corner and we collided.
I grabbed the mutt by the scruff of his neck and threw him across the kitchen table. Scrambling he righted himself and barrelled into me, the refrigerator exploded beneath us, I slammed Jacob to the ground and vaguely noticed a can of pop roll away and fizz over the floor, over the…tiny feet…of a little brown eyed girl wearing a bright yellow bandana.
Jesus Christ.
"Daddy?"
I was transfixed by her; I hardly realized the shape beneath me once again became human until I heard his tired voice respond.
"Yes baby, everything is alright. Go back to sleep, okay sweetheart?"
Oh God, oh God! I rolled off Jacob and clutched at my hair, the pressure under my eyes was unbearable. Where is she?
"What are you doing here leech?" I felt him shove against my shoulder, his voice coming out in a hiss. I pulled the folded up piece of paper out of my jean pocket and threw it at him.
It was wrinkled and torn but I remember the picture as clear and crisp as the day I first saw it. A magazine cover, Emmett's surprise. I was livid when I saw it, but I'm not sure what part pissed me off the most.
The fact that she was on the cover of Maxim, the four parallel scars that were apparently her trademark, Goddammit, the fact that the interviewer called them sexy, her lack of clothing or the hand reached down to cup her sex? The kicker had to be the fact that that hand didn't belong to her; it belonged to the woman straddling the chair behind her. A woman they referred to as her number one competition - Gina Carano.
My sweet innocent Bella is a mixed martial arts specialist. Emmett found some of her matches. There aren't words to describer her, but I'll try. She's smaller than the other girls, her body is geared more towards speed than strength, and she's quick. She's graceful. I can't describe the sense of horror I felt watching my Bella straddled over another woman, fists raining down and blood everywhere, brutal violence. The ringside physician ended up declaring her opponent unfit to continue.
What happened to her?
Now I hear she's been missing for months, all her future matches cancelled, much to Emmett's dismay. I have to find her; I have to know why –
Why does she have a criminal record, filled with charges like "assault", "battery", "trespass", "vandalism" and "disturbing the peace", all related to incidents of street fighting.
Why does she insists on racing motorcycles in her free time?
She promised. She PROMISED that she would stay safe! Now I find out she's been brawling around like some savage, speeding when her bones can break, exposing herself to a world of strangers and running around with a rabid dog. I cringe to think of all the things I don't know about.
And all this time…all this time did she have a daughter?
I want to be sick.
JPOV
I fucking hate this guy.
I know he is sitting there wrapped up in his own little pity party.
Oh woe is me, the best thing that ever happened to me moved on to a something that might be even worse than I am.
What is that something? Her idea of a "fulfilled life". It's bullshit.
But I owe her my life a thousand times over and I can't pretend to be naïve. I can't pretend it wasn't completely logical that she ended up where she did. A sick part of me is relieved to have the nightmare over with.
Jesus, can vampires go into comas? He's been sitting on my kitchen floor staring at the ground for 47 minutes now. My pack came and left and he didn't even notice.
This is between him and me now. He needs to know what he did to her.
God, what I did to her.
"How old is she?" Finally, Dracula awakens. He snorts. Shit. Forgot he was a mind reader. Well, he's going to have to pull some teeth to hear this tragedy. Wait, who is he talking about?
"Your daughter."
"Anabelle is three and a half years old. What's it to you?" I can't help but growl.
"Where is…where is her mother?"
"Sarah is at my dad's place making sure he gets his dinner."
His head snaps up and his gaze is intense. What the hell is his deal?
"Then where is Bella?"
With
your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick
and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing
in it
And you'll ask yourself
Where is my mind-
In the blink on an eye Edward's fists are curled around my collar, his face a mere inch from my own, "ENOUGH!"
His anger set off my own and I could feel myself shaking. Fuck, I can't wake Anabelle up again. I shove at his chest until he's backing through the door. We're going to do this, once and for all. And if there is one thing I've learned from my time with Bella, it's that words really do hurt more than violence. I was going to make this excruciating.
"YOU KILLED HER! SHE IS NEVER COMING BACK. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE HER IF SHE DID BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DID TO HER."
I can feel a grim smile on my face as he recoils from the force of my words. But I'm not finished. My voice is a quiet, vicious whisper.
"Yeah, you saw the scars, I know what I did Edward, I don't need you to beat me up for it. But at least the damage I did was just on the surface! And she thought I would leave! She thought I'd be a coward like you, that because I hurt her, I would make up for it by leaving! What the fuck is that you sick son of a bitch? I've seen the scar on her arm, those are fucking teeth marks and I don't care if they're yours or not - that was your fault!"
I'm breathing hard now, fighting to keep the tremors isolated to my hands.
"I stayed. I wanted to make up for it with my own natural version of forever, but you ruined her for anyone else. Then I go and fucking imprint, I can't even promise her unrequited love. I can't give my life to her, even if she won't have it. I couldn't fix her. I got to stand by and watch her self-destruct. I lost control for the first time and scarred her after screaming at her to let you go! And that Maxim feature? She did that for Anabelle! I can't save her and still she degrades herself to pay for my daughter's medical bills. She loved Sarah like a sister and she loved Anabelle like her own. Don't you think that is the kind of person that deserves love? That deserved a choice?"
Edward is standing under the dim light of the porch, frozen stiff and starring at me with wide eyes. He doesn't know anything.
As much as I want to walk back into my home and hold my wife until sleep claims me, this all needs to be said. He needs to take responsibility for what has happened. I know I can't help her anymore, this is it. This is the last thing I will do for Bella.
And it will never be enough.
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