"Bella..." Edward's tone was disapproving. He gazed down at me with gorgeous topaz eyes, brow furrowed. I couldn't help but look away to regain my thoughts and composure.
We were sat in my father's living room, snuggling on the single love seat facing the TV, which was on, but placed on mute as not to distract from his smoldering voice. My school photos, that Edward insisted were 'cute', staring at us. The awkward, fake smile plastered on my face made them all the more embarrassing.
I took all this in as a distraction. I didn't want to dwell on the fact that in three days Edward and I were to be married. It's all I'd been able to think about for the past week, my mind awash in second thoughts and alternatives to this getting married business. While I put on a good show for my fiancé I couldn't fool my soon to be brother-in-law, Jasper.
Yesterday, I'd made the mistake of spending quality time with Jasper and Alice, going over flowers and table arrangements. Out of my element I'd let my thoughts drift. With his irritating ability he'd clearly been able to sense my wavering feelings. The only conclusion that I could come to was that Jasper must have mentioned it to Edward last night, before he came to spend it with me.
"I've waited a long time to marry you, Bella. Please, don't make me wait any longer." He half joked, half begged, smiling crookedly at me. He already knew he'd won any argument on the topic of our marriage. He always won, because he always cheated. The effect he had on my heart and head was clearly visible to him, because his smile grew, touching his eyes.
Blinking rapidly I quickly put my thoughts in order. "I never said I wasn't going through with it. In fact, I never said anything." I looked up into his eyes that were way too amused by this. "I'm just a little nervous."
Edward chuckled, and softly kissed my forehead. His breath smelt sweeter today, more like honey than usual. "I guess Alice was just thinking it's worse than it is." He sighed against my skin.
So it had been Alice that had given me away, Jasper must have mentioned it to her when I left. No doubt she'd been thinking about my feelings on purpose to give Edward a heads up. I pouted; she wouldn't get away with this.
Any thoughts of my vendetta faded as he slowly kissed down my face, starting with my forehead and moving down the left side until his lips were moving against mine. The kiss ended when it was time for me to breathe again.
"You shouldn't be nervous, Love. Everyone you know will be there." I almost wanted to hit him. The fact that all my friends and family were coming was of no comfort to me and he knew it. More then once I'd toyed with the idea of eloping, but Edward wouldn't hear of it.
"You're going to look incredible in the dress Alice has picked for you. Though I haven't seen it myself, Alice's thoughts assure me it's worthy of your beauty." I felt the blush begin at the base of my neck and flush up my face. I still wasn't used to receiving compliments from Edward."And from what Alice has seen no one is going to try and kill you." His chuckled dryly, recalling all the times someone HAD tried to kill me.
He pulled me closer, bring my head to his chest. Gently he rested him chin on top of my head.
"The only thing we have to worry about is the potential for a runaway bride." His laugh this time was much more cheerful, and, as always, contagious.
I laughed with him for a moment before trying to pull away to look him in the eyes again. It didn't matter what I tried, he always managed to pull me back to him. Resigned I rested my head against his chest, breathing in his luscious scent.
His chest rose as if he were about to say something, but was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his phone. Still holding me tightly with his left arm he pulled out his phone with his right hand. Without checking the caller ID he placed the phone to his ear. He patiently let whoever it was talk first. I pulled back, his hold growing slack and looked at him. Slowly his beautiful features got darker as whoever was on the other end relayed their message.
"Are you sure?" He asked his voice rough and low, almost a hiss. "No every thing's fine here, but..." His eyes quickly dashed towards me, then he pulled away, sitting up. He began to talk so fast that I couldn't keep up, I heard certain phases but couldn't put it together fast enough. I was so busy trying to understand that it took me a moment to realize that he had gone still, the person on the other end of the line, I could tell it was Alice now, was shouting his name into the receiver.
"Edward, what's wrong?" My voice was strained. He didn't answer, his gaze was intent, looking straight ahead. In a movement that must have been quick for my human eyes he broke his phone with his bare hand.
Dropping the phone, he was up in half a second and pulled me along with him. I didn't understand why he was being so urgent until I heard the growl, loud enough that is shook the house. It groaned as it settled. Edward swore softly under his breath. He grabbed my arm roughly, clearly going to leave a bruise, but I didn't have time to comment as he tossed me on his back and ran out into the pouring rain.
The choice to stay with Charlie until after the wedding was my own. In hopes of preserving any sort of normalcy for my father. Edward had made it very clear that once I was a vampire I wouldn't be able to see him or my mother again. I'd never had second thoughts about staying at my fathers, However, at this moment, I somewhat regretted it.
We plunged into the dark, lurking forest right behind the house. The forest, that I'd been in a million times with Edward, seemed darker and more frightening with something pursuing us. The rain pelted me roughly and I felt my hands going numb in the cold. I had to hold on, or risk falling off and breaking my neck.
Slower than it should have, it in clicked in my brain that our pursuer was a werewolf. That's why Alice had called, probebly to warn us that she could no longer see our futures.
Instantly my thoughts went to Jacob. A wave of pain rocked through me at the thought of him. The last time I saw him always fresh in my mind. He'd left after everything that happened with Victoria, he didn't tell me he was leaving, it was Billy who'd told Charlie and I that he was missing. Charlie wanted to get the police working on a case, but Billy said there was no need.
The likely hood of it being Jacob was slim, and honestly, I hoped it wasn't him. Maybe the werewolf was Paul. Suppose Emmett crossed the line just to find out what would happen. Or maybe Jasper hadn't been able to contain himself and bit human.
I went through all the ways one of the Cullens' could brake the treaty that stopped the werewolves from raging war against them. I became more disturbed with each thought.
The rain and the wind that flew past my face, breaking me from my thoughts. It felt cold and bitter, biting at my cheeks and sending shivers down my spine. Edward's back stiffened as I felt him pick up speed.I was afraid to speak, afraid to ask him what was wrong. Why we were being hunted. But I couldn't, leaning forward I caught a glimpse of his expression. It was cold, almost harsh.
Another growl from the giant beast rocked us. This time it was at my ear. I didn't even have a second to scream before I was sent flying as the werewolf rammed into Edward from the side. I hit a fairly large spruce and rolled onto my back at it's base.
My body ached all over, I was fairly certain something had to be broken. I lay there for a second, assessing the damage, letting the rain caress my face. I winced as I pushed myself into an upright position. Edward was a foot or two in front of me, crouched down low and growling menacingly. It wasn't anything like the wolfs' growling, but it was just as chilling.
Reluctantly I took my eyes off Edward and glanced over at the russet colored wolf, his dark eyes never leaving Edward.
"Attack me now and you break the treaty, hound." Edward said though his teeth, his manner of speaking made it clear that it didn't bother him if the wolf broke the treaty or not. He cocked his head to the side and listened for a moment.
Edward chuckled once without humor. "While you were gone we didn't do anything to break the treaty, go ask Sam." A short pause as Edward read the werewolves thoughts again. "As you can see she is still human." he spat, growing tired of the conversation.
I may be human, but not for long and both Edward and I knew it. Edward crouched lower, getting in a more defensive position, seeming to hear something he didn't like. The werewolf, in response, took on a more offensive position.
I stood, not without effort, and shakily brushed off the dirt that clung to my jeans and black hoodie. I winced as I stepped forward. Moving on wobbly legs I walked right past Edward. I felt his eyes on me but he didn't move. I could sense his uncertainly on how to handle the situation.
"Jacob..." I whispered, moving further away from Edward. I reached out with my right hand, smiling sadly. I recognized him now, having spent a good portion of time studying him, remembering those dark eyes and beautifully colored fur. Jacob flinched away from my touch. His dark eyes looked at me with resentment. Almost hate. I let my arm drop, but still continued my trek toward him.
I hadn't noticed Edward following me, nor had I noticed Jacob's stance growing more offensive, getting ready to strike. "You really don't have to do this." I ignored his glowering and kept moving towards him. "I'm fine, Jacob. Everything is-" Edward growled and wrapped a his hand around my wrist. With one jerk he threw me back towards the tree. It wasn't too rough, but it was enough to cause me to slam my back against the trunk.
The second I hit the tree they both jumped forward to attack. There was no way I could stop this. I closed my eyes tightly and covered my ears, but I wasn't enough. I heard a loud crunch and something slam against the ground. Reluctantly I opened my eyes.
Human Jacob was lying naked on the floor. "Jacob?" My voice was quite, almost as if I hadn't spoke. When I called again Jacob didn't move. I squinted my eyes trying to see if he was breathing. I thought I saw movement but I couldn't be sure. Slowly, I pulled my eyes off Jacob and towards Edward. He was facing me, expression dark, his stance was standoffish, making him look very much the bad guy.
He looked down at me, a slow monstrous smile spread across his face. He wasn't Edward anymore, not my Edward at least. The situation had caused him to give into his darker vampire instincts. I remembered what he had told me, how vampires don't have very much control over what they're doing when they hunt. Now, especially now, he couldn't control himself around me, not when my blood called to him. Even without his astonishing power to read minds I knew what he was thinking. A growl started to from deep inside and his smile got wider, until it was no longer a smile at all, but a menacing grimace.
His face reminded me of James', it all happened the same way. Only this time there was no one to save me. Not like they could, not like I would let them. I would rather die a thousand deaths then let Edward get hurt. Even if Edward was the one I needed saving from this time.
I felt tears well up in my eyes. Knowing I was only days away from my happily ever after. Having it end so suddenly felt like I was being torn apart inside.
I focused on Edward intently, watching every move he made, the slight rise of his chest as he breathed in. He wasn't even close to human, but he was still so impossibly beautiful more beautiful than he ever could have been with me. With one last loud snarl he jumped and I closed my eyes.
I waited, nothing. No pain, no sound, no bright light beckoning me forward. I was pretty sure I was still alive. My eyes snapped open, everything in the mossy clearing was still. Edward and Jacob were gone.
I stood easily and looked around frantically. I tried to call out but I couldn't. It was almost like when Edward left me in these woods. Searching for nothing and finding nothing. I felt panic, maybe my prince never came back, maybe it was all just a dream. I looked down and noticed that I was no longer covered in dirt and all the pain was gone.
"Bella!" I heard Charlie call from the house. Apparently, Edward hadn't made it far before Jacob had caught up to us, even though it had felt like miles. Eager to get back to a familiar face I briskly walked back to the house. I slowed when I got to the truck. Charlie was standing out front, smiling tightly. "You shouldn't wonder off like that. I was worried that you had been dragged away by kidnappers." He joked, uncharacteristically for him, turning and walking back through the door. I followed him into the house. It looked different, but I couldn't figure out what caused the change.
"It's okay Dad, I was taking a walk with Edward." Charlie's expression was not what I expected. Every time I mentioned Edward lately Charlie's face would go purple and his veins would bulge. Very much like it had the day I told him that Edward and I were getting married. Now, however, Charlie looked confused, as if he had never heard the name before. Looking around I suddenly noticed the difference, the house looked like it did when I first moved in two years ago.
"Edward? Wow, you sure make friends fast, Bells. Have you met Mike Newton? He's a good kid, you two would get along great." I was confused, but Charlie just smiled and turned away. He leaned against the doorway to the kitchen and began to remove his boots. "How was your first day anyway? Find the school okay?" First day? What the hell happened? I couldn't have dreamt the entire thing.
"It was...it was great." I saw he had more questions for me but I ran past him into the kitchen and dialed Edward's number. I wasn't sure what to think, part of me wanted to believe that this was just some cruel, badly timed joke. After I sorted this out, Edward would come over and explain that he was messing with me and that Jacob was fine! I smiled to myself when Alice's wind chime voice answered the phone.
"Alice, tell Edward I'm going to kick his ass next time I see him and that this is not funny." The other end of the line was silent. I thought she had hung up. "Alice?"
"Who is this?" She snapped, sounding aggravated. "How'd you get this number?"
"Alice, it's me, Bella." What was she doing? Playing dumb? It wasn't funny, not one bit, and I was going to make sure she knew it.
"I don't know anyone named Bella, and I'm sure Edward doesn't either." I heard the dial tone and couldn't believe it. That was going too far. I would drive up there if I had to. I called the number again, but this time it just rang on, no voice mail had been set up for the number.
Fine, I would show up at Forks high school tomorrow, since as this prank would apparently require me to. I would play along and find out what Edward was playing at. I put the phone back on the hook and turned to meet Charlie's concerned gaze. I shrugged and walked past him towards the living room . When it was all over and I was a vampire they are all going to get it.