Just a Dream
The night was cold, with a strong wind blowing. There was a storm brewing on the horizon, coming closer with each resounding clap of thunder, ringing on until the next clap interrupted the first. Bella Swann was sitting in her room trying to distract herself from Edward's absence by answering the many e-mails from her neurotic mother.
Ever since last September when Edward left her, Bella had never been the same. Now every time the two were separated for more than a few hours a hole violently ripped open in her chest. The hole gnawed at her insides, causing her physical pain as it grew in size, trying to take over her body, and pushing her closer to the edge of reality. This is where the need for a distraction intervened, often this attempt didn't work, but on the rare occasion it did, it allowed Bella to retain her grip on reality for just a little while longer.
All of a sudden a giant clap of thunder echoed through the empty house like foreboding doom. Suddenly the computer screen went black. Bella jumped from her chair and leaped down the stairs two at a time. She sprang off the final step and launched herself into the living room, stumbling over the couch and landing on her head in front of the television in the process. Rubbing the now evident bump on her head, Bella tried to turn on the T.V only to find no change in the screen when she pushed the power button. Next she tried the lights, flipping the switch up and down, up and down but she still stood in darkness.
Out of fright Bella called out to her father, Charlie, but realized mid call that he had left in the early hours of the morning to try out a new fishing spot. A new wave of terror seized Bella as she imagined Charlie sitting alone in some remote location, the wind from the storm rocking the stern of the tiny fishing boat in the midst of the crashing waves of a lake. Knowing she had to do something, Bella grabbed the phone, intending to call for help and immediately dialed the police stations number, only to find too late that there was no dial tone present,....the line was dead.
Bella raced upstairs to grab her keys but stopped short when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She threw a second glance at the window and let out an ear-piercing scream.
There, outside her window, a dark, muscular stranger was lurking. All of a sudden a familiar, husky voice shouted, " Let me in, Bella, I'm getting soaked to the bone out here." Did her screaming cease.
Bella sprinted to the window and yanked it open to see the russet colored outline of her best friend, Jacob Black, poised on the branch of a nearby tree. She moved to one side to make room for Jacob, standing mystified at how his seven-foot form could fit through her four by three foot window. Without speaking a word, he grabbed Bella by the arm, and dragged her down the stairs, and out the front door. Jacob finally spoke as he shoved Bella into his Volkswagen Rabbit, "Where is the bloodsucker?" he asked.
"Edward is out hunting" she replied, putting emphases on Edward's name.
After a long time waiting for Jacob to explain Bella finally asked the question that was on the forefront of her mind "Where are you taking me?"
"La Push" Jacob answered
"Why?" Bella practically yelled. She was starting to get extremely annoyed with the one-word answers Jacob was giving.
When she didn't hear a response Bella looked over to see Jacob staring blankly out the rain-splattered windshield and she knew something had happened, something he didn't want to tell her. Bella was about to ask what was wrong when Jacob suddenly spoke "Did Carlisle go with the bloodsucker?" (When Carlisle fixed Jacob's bones after the big vampire war last spring, Carlisle had gained Jacob's respect, so now Jacob hardly ever called him Dr. Bloodsucker any more.) Bella answered, " Yes, the entire family went."
A silence engulfed them, both afraid to speak about the things that were being left unsaid. " Do you think you could call him Bella?" Jacob asked softly.
Bella thought for a moment before responding "No, Carlisle always turns his phone off when he hunts, he says he would feel ashamed, and maybe a little guilty if a co-worker or a patient called him if he were, you know, in that 'mind set'."
"Oh" Jacob responded
Bella couldn't bear the silence any longer so she asked, afraid of the answer, " Who got hurt?" She looked over at Jacob and saw that in his eyes, tears were starting to brim over. Bella stared out the window, giving him space to cry in peace.
When they reached the small adobe house, and the car was put in park, Bella took her time leaving the car, straitening out her seatbelt with extra care before she opened the door and got out. She slowly walked up the steps to the porch at a crawl worthy of a snail, and creaked open the screen door. Bella stepped into the familiar hallway, a burst of heat meeting her, but not warming her cold, numb body. Bella Creeped onward through the hall at an extremely slow pace, studying each family portrait, and admiring each piece of memorabilia, but the stalling didn't take long enough. She reached the kitchen, and a connecting too soon. Through the space, where a door should be she could see the living room, which held only an old armchair, a television, and a chocolate leather loveseat. All Bella could think was " we're to late" as she saw a lifeless body lying limp across the sofa. Under closer observation, she noticed the features, the way the boots, that were hanging off the end were scuffed, how the belt was buckled below the waist, before she reached the face Bella knew, and the gun holstered at the belt was a clear give away. Bella walked over and fell on her knees at Charlie's head.
Bella jerked awake in Edward's arms, Screaming Charlie's name. The rest of her night was spent in Edward's cold grasp of protection while he rocked her back and forth in the rocking chair by her bed. Comforting her by whispering, "Shh, love, it was just a dream" until the sun rose and then set, and her father returned home from work.