Disclaimer: This work is based on the characters created by Stephenie Meyer from the Twilight series.
Author: Cullen-Fan-Writer
Title: A Secret Life
Preface
So this is death, I mused with a slight smile gracing my pale lips as I felt the last few precious moments of my life begin to gently slip away. Laying here so still on the cold, stone hard forest floor I found it sort of odd that instead of the fear and pain that I had expected I was feeling an incredible soft peace begin to settle over me as if a warm soothing blanket had been carefully wrapped around me in a sweet comforting embrace. If I had any regrets it was that I wished I had been able to tell the people I was leaving behind that I loved them. I wished that I had more time to spend with the man that had become the very center of my world in the last few months. It was sad really, that I had come through so much hell to reach such an unparalleled sweet happiness for it only to be ripped so cruelly away after such a short time. But instead of the bitterness I should have felt I couldn't get past the feeling of grateful awe that filled me, as I would not change anything that would have altered the course that had led me to this moment. For if I had not traveled this strange and dangerous path I perhaps would have never met Edward, and that was something that I couldn't have endured. I knew that even though my life had been so unfairly cut short that I would always live on in Edward's heart, for I would always be a part of him, just as he would always be a part of me. No, death would not win completely this time, for I would live on for untold years to come, in my Edward's heart, forever young, forever happy, and forever loved. With my last breath I whispered his name wishing that I had one last chance to look upon his beautiful face… "Edward." As my body surrendered to the long awaited welcoming darkness I smiled serenely as I knew that I must have been crossing over into my own private Heaven as I heard my sweet Edward beckoning me forward by calling my name…
Four months earlier
Chapter One – A New Beginning
Bella POV
"Bella," Agent Monroe's gruff voice broke through the thin hotel bathroom door effectively calling an end to my stalling, for I had been taking refuge in the small room for the last twenty-two minutes in an attempt to delay the meeting that was about to take place. A meeting between a 'daughter and father', though not in the typical sense, for the man I was about to meet was a stranger whom I had never before set eyes upon.
"I'll be out in a minute," I called back, my voice sounding hallow even to my own ears. I glanced briefly into the huge vanity mirror at the young woman who now held only a slight resemblance to the person I had been just three days ago. My waist length hair had been shortened by six inches and dyed a deep chestnut brown, a sharp contrast to my natural auburn color. My eyes had also been enhanced with brown contact lenses, turning my normally green eyes into a deeper chocolate color that still couldn't quite hide the lost quality that lay too deeply within their depths. So much had changed in the last few weeks, I felt as if I were but a puppet in a play without any idea of what was about to happen in the next scene. Well, that's wasn't quite true, what was about to happen was me taking on the new role as Isabella Marie Swan, daughter of Police Chief Charles Swan, or Charlie, I amended as I remembered the intense instructions I received from the trained FBI Agents who ran the witness protection program I was about to enter. I was for the unforeseeable future to play out my role as a normal seventeen year old high school student in a small town call Forks, located in western Washington State. For how long I was to be in this role remained to be determined, at least until the FBI caught the man who was trying to kill me.
Drawing in a deep calming breath I straightened my shoulders and reached for the doorknob while I prepared myself for the changes that were about to transpire without any control on my part.
"Here she is," Agent Campbell announced gently, her familiar voice instantly soothing to my ears as she had been with me since that first night, the night I woke up in a strange hospital room. The very night that started this strange and nightmarish journey.
"Sorry," I softly murmured my soft apology as I glanced around to room to greet everyone.
"Bella," Agent Campbell, who was in her early thirties called to me as she walked to my side to place a comforting arm around my shoulder, something that both she and I had become accustomed too over the last three weeks. "This is Charlie Swan," she added with an encouraging smile. The warm, gentleness reflected within her grey eyes a testament to her kind nature.
I looked up into the warm, wrinkled face of my new 'father' and couldn't help but smile as he appeared to be every bit as nervous as I. He was a tall man who appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties, I couldn't quite remember his exact age from the details that I was suppose to have memorized, something that I was going to have to rectify very soon as the reality of my new life was now literally staring me in the face. "Hello," I greeted with a small smile as I held out my hand, not knowing if this was an appropriate gesture or not when one was introduced to their pretend father.
Charlie took my offered hand in his own callused hand and smiled with a little more confidence. "Hi Bella," he greeted me with my new name, something that I was still not quite used too, even though the team of agents had been referring to me as such for the last ten days. "I've got everything ready for you back in Forks so you don't need to worry about anything," he advised with an assurance in his tone that I was sure designed to put me more at ease.
Not quite knowing how I should respond to his comment, I merely smiled and nodded my head appreciatively. "I want to thank you for…" my voice trailed off as I tried to think of the appropriate words to describe the sacrifice that Charlie was making on my behalf; a sacrifice for a complete stranger who was all but taking the place of his real daughter. Charlie had a real daughter named Bella who lived in Phoenix with her mother. Apparently the real Bella didn't quite get along with her father, or at least that is what Agent Campbell had told me when she explained my new cover, insisting that it would be relatively easy for me to slip into the role of Charlie's daughter without raising any suspicions within the tiny town of Forks.
"No need to thank me," Charlie cut in once he saw that I was struggling for words. "It's going to be nice having someone around to talk too," he added with a warm smile that was serving to settle my nerves into a more manageable level.
"Regardless, I really do appreciate all that you're doing for me," I pressed as I smiled up at his gentle face. In terms of a pretend father I don't think I could imagine a better man than Charlie Swan, he seemed to be doing his best to put me at ease, something that I could really appreciate after all that had occurred.
"Why don't we sit down and go over some details," Agent Monroe instructed as he brought a more businesslike tone to the room. Charlie waited until both Agent Campbell and I were seated before he took a chair to my left; I had to hide my smile at his small-town, gentlemanly manners. "We've already instructed Bella on the importance of staying in her role, but I thought we could go over her day to day schedule as well as what our role will be behind the scenes so to speak," Agent Monroe said more to Charlie than to me or the other two agents within the room. "She will be attending school from 7:50 to 14:30 Monday through Friday," he informed as he flipped through his well worn leather notepad. "Bella will have access to transportation that we have already purchased and registered with Arizona plates so she can arrive on her own into town, this should follow well with the cover story we will follow," he added with a slightly please look on his weathered face. "She will need to meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school with Dr. Reynolds at the County Hospital, he has already been briefed on Bella's case, and we have forwarded her medical records on to him as well," he added with a soften toned as he shot a surreptitious look in my direction.
Great, I thought at the revelation of the twice a week meetings I was to embark upon with a new Shrink. Why couldn't they get it through their thick heads that I really didn't want to remember what happened. The constant questions that I couldn't answer were beginning to tear away at the little veil of sanity that I had managed to hold onto. I honestly didn't remember having a father, mother or little sister whom were now counted as three of the many victims of the country's latest serial killer. Didn't they understand that if I couldn't remember my family then I couldn't feel the pain of their loss? At least that is how one of the many doctors that I had been examined by had described my self-induced amnesia. The memory of his hushed words still served to send an eerie chill down my spine, "Her amnesia is her minds way of protecting itself, what she must have witnessed over the four days she was held can only be imagined as the worst possible hell. The death of each of her family members before her very eyes and then her own attempted murder, there is only so much a human mind can endure. I do feel however that the time will come when her memory will return and the pain she will have to face will be so all encompassing that it will be like she is experiencing it all over again. I only pray that she will be able to survive it with some measure of strength." I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat as I fought the new dampness in my eyes that was both in reaction to the fear of my unknown dark memories returning and the oppressive guilt that I felt each time I remembered that I had lost my family, a family that I truly didn't remember.
I couldn't help but be grateful for my lack of memory even though I knew it was not very convenient for the team of FBI investigators since my closed mind was a vital link to uncovering clues that would help lead to the all too elusive monster that was preying upon the innocent families up and down the eastern seaboard. I was glad that my protective mind had mercifully shut itself down so I couldn't remember what had happened to give me the six new scars that were currently itching so annoyingly as they healed beneath the gauze bandages that covered my chest and stomach. "A miracle" the physicians had decreed once they determined that I would live in spite of the destruction that had been wrought so mercilessly upon my body.
"We have also arranged for Bella to take private piano lessons in Port Angeles once a week on Wednesdays," Agent Monroe's voice broke through my deep thoughts to bring me back to the conversation at hand. I looked around the table to try to gauge how much of the conversation I had missed. "The lessons are a cover since Agent Campbell will be Bella's instructor." This news warmed me slightly as I needed at least one constant from my short memorable past and Agent Campbell was the closest thing I had to a constant.
"Anything else?" Charlie questioned as he leaned back in his chair as though he had been listening intently for some time giving me the impression that I had missed a large chunk of time.
"Just Bella's medications," Agent Campbell said as she rose from her chair to retrieve a white paper bag that held various pain killers and sleeping aids. "Bella is well versed in what she needs to take and when, but…" Agent Campbell's voice trailed off as she shot me a tentative look before she continued.
Charlie looked from the concerned face of Agent Campbell to my own now tense features. "I think what Agent Campbell is trying to say is that I am getting a little to dependant on the sleeping pills," I said with a wry smile towards a now guilty looking Agent Campbell.
"I didn't mean…" Agent Campbell began with an apologetic tone before I held up my hand to interrupt her.
"I know. Don't worry about it, I know that I rely on the pills too much to chase away the nightmares," I advised as I tried to offer a smile to compensate for the pain I was feeling as a small measure of betrayal washed through me.
"Bella," Agent Monroe said as he looked intently at me as thought he was trying to gauge my mood before he continued. "The doctor's feel that your nightmares maybe a way of unlocking your memories."
Easy for you to say I thought as a wave of anger rose up within me which I chose to ignore in favor of keeping the peace. As the uncomfortable silence continued I sat unmoving as I banked down my feelings in much the same way I had been over the last three weeks.
"I guess if that's it Bella and I should get on the road," Charlie announced as he rose from his chair in an effort to end the uncomfortable atmosphere within the room.
"Yes, well…" Agent Monroe said as he too rose from his chair. "Agent Smyth, if you would be so kind as to gather Bella's suitcases."
I watched as the youngest agent began to gather my three suitcases each containing a variety of new clothes that would serve as my new wardrobe as Bella Swan. "I need to get some things from the bathroom," I said as I stood without looking at anyone, wanting to be away from this room as fast as possible. As I closed the door I could hear the low murmurs between Agent Campbell and Charlie Swan as they discussed me and my horrible nightmares that I tried to avoid with the now much talked about over indulgence of sleeping pills. Leaning back against the door I closed my eyes to try to block out their words. I could feel my heart begin to race as I began to wonder what my new life would bring, would I find some way to find my way back to who I really was? Or would I forever be someone I didn't know…someone named Bella.