Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. That is all.
Lost Soul
He pulled his jacket around him tightly to try to ward off the weather. It was cold, rainy, and windy.
Welcome to Seattle.
He hadn't shaved in weeks; his boss had told him to shave off the beard if he wanted to keep his job. He didn't actually care, but he wasn't going to survive if he couldn't afford to buy food. He had promised his mother that he would, at least, make the effort to survive. He hadn't made the promise to live a life again though. That would have been broken instantaneously and everything hurt when he tried to think about living without…her.
He hunched over and closed himself off to all others by putting his earbuds in and blasting his music.
He wasn't paying any attention to where he was going. He just let his feet do the walking. He had nothing but time at the moment. He wished it weren't true. He wished he could join her in the afterlife. This whole 'living without her' crap was harder than anyone could imagine.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply while walking blindly. He felt a soft caress of the breeze and could almost imagine that it was her. A slow, lighthearted smile crossed his face before something that had been moving quickly threw him off balance.
The jolt disconnected his earbuds from his iPod and he, suddenly, heard the screeching of tires and honking. A lot of screaming and people crying out surrounded him.
His eyes opened to look around. That was when he realized that he had been crossing a busy intersection…with his eyes closed.
He frowned, realizing now that he had almost been run over for his stupidity. He really wouldn't have minded dying. It wasn't like he wasn't dead in life already.
His frown deepened when he realized why he hadn't been run over in the end. There was a girl on top of him, face down in his shirt, heaving breaths. She had tackled him like a linebacker. He was surprised she had been able to do it with her short stature and petite frame.
They were both lying on the ground with her on top of him. It was the first direct human contact he had felt in months. At the bakery, he was allowed to wear gloves when touching stuff. Human contact made him feel as if he were unable to breathe. Somehow though, the hazel eyes that stared at him in relief had an effect on him that caused him to remain calm.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
The girl's nose scrunched up as she finally rolled off of him and onto the pavement beside him.
"Sure thing. You?" she asked, seeming genuinely interested in his response.
He shrugged. "I'm alive."
The girl nodded pensively. "So you are. I didn't hurt you when I…"
He dusted off the back of his jacket as he stood up. He offered her his hand and she looked at it, blinking slowly. She hesitantly accepted it before looking around in a slightly paranoid manner.
"Um…I guess I have to go. Keep your eyes on the road, mister…" the girl chastised before hurrying along.
His brow furrowed at the odd exchange. He saw a man with blonde hair eyeing the girl as she ran along. The blonde man kept his head down as he caught up and followed the girl. The blonde man's behavior would have alerted anyone to something suspicious going on.
His frown deepened as he saw the blonde man follow Hazel Eyes. He sighed, knowing he couldn't just ignore what was going to happen after Hazel Eyes had just saved his life…even if he had kind of wanted it to end.
"Hey!" he called out.
Hazel Eyes startled and swung around to look at him with wide eyes. He noticed the blonde man disappear in an alleyway and made sure to keep his distance from it.
"Hey!" he called out again, only stopping when he had caught up to her.
"Yes?" she questioned, looking at him as if he were insane, while scanning the area at the same time.
"You dropped something," he told her, putting air into her hand covertly.
Leaning in, she asked, "Is someone following me?"
He nodded, faux smiling. "That's a good idea. I know just the place. Come with me."
He laid a hand on her back, guiding her to a busier street. He realized that he was heading toward the bakery and frowned. He didn't know why he thought bringing her back here would help her.
He internally shrugged. He could always call the cops on her stalker once they were inside. He could feel the small hairs on the back of his neck prickle, alerting him to the fact that Hazel Eyes' stalker was still behind them. He quickened their pace.
He rushed ahead and opened the door for her, gesturing that she walk inside first. Hazel Eyes looked at him questioningly but did as she was told.
He strode up to her and told her to sit tight. There were enough people inside that he wasn't terribly worried about her stalker getting to her. Before he could walk off though, she grabbed a hold of his hand and looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Please…don't call the cops. Please," she begged him in a quiet voice.
She dropped his hand as if she had touched fire and casted her gaze down. He frowned. Something about her demeanor had changed in between rescuing him and arriving at the bakery. He took her hand and led her toward the restrooms.
A little door off to the side of the restroom doors was closed. He tried it, but it was locked. He banged on the door to get someone's attention. A burly man with a hair net and a slightly stained apron saw him and opened the door for him, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"Hey, um…" he trailed off, not remembering the man's name.
"Emmett," the man offered, a small crease appearing between his eyes.
"Right. Emmett, I was wondering if…" he trailed off, noticing that Emmett was holding the keys to the delivery truck.
"Are you on your way to make a delivery?" he asked again, suddenly inspired.
Emmett looked at him questioningly and eyed Hazel Eyes. Hazel Eyes cast her eyes downward to avoid eye contact as she rubbed her wrist in a self-conscious manner.
"Would you mind sneaking her out of here on the truck?" he asked finally.
Emmett's eyes widened. "Why? What's going on?"
He looked back toward the petite girl and frowned. "Someone is following her. I noticed and I was hoping that you could drive her away from here, even if it is only a few blocks so her stalker won't be able to find her on the way out."
Emmett's eyes widened as he finally understood the situation. He looked torn as he kept an eye on the manager, who was currently overwhelmed with all of the customers and their demands.
"Hurry up, squirt. Follow me. And you, Edward, owe me big time," Emmett whispered right before ushering the girl through the kitchen and out of the manager's sight.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he backed away. He waited by the entrance until he saw Emmett peel out of the parking lot in the company truck. He waited a few more minutes, scanning the area for Hazel Eyes' stalker. He saw him come out of the shadows with a scowl and approach the entrance of the bakery.
Edward pulled back and slunk into a corner, hiding behind a group of people. He didn't feel like going a round with a creepy stalker at his place of employment. As soon as the stalker turned away, Edward raced out of the doorway and took off in the opposite direction of his apartment. He needed a coffee anyway. A strong one.
He jogged off toward a nearby Brazilian coffee shop that he had stumbled upon by chance one day after first moving to Seattle. He took his coffee to go and blew on it before drinking, taking a completely different and longer route to his apartment.
Now that Hazel Eyes was safe somewhere else, Edward's mind drifted back to the reason why he no longer wished to live. He wore a chain around his neck with a ring on it. The ring was lovely and the bright blue gem was stunning. He had intended to give this ring to the woman he loved once. It was a shame that that would never happen.
He stomped his non-slip shoes on the entrance before entering his apartment. He ignored the clumps of mud that came loose and took the shoes off before going into his humble one bedroom apartment. He kept his jacket on as he went to turn on his heater. It was freezing cold as it was and he had been rained on.
He didn't bother turning on any lights. He was exhausted. As he approached his room, he heard a light rustling sound come from his bedroom. His brow creased and he hurried to open the door.
The window was open and the curtain was billowing in the wind. He frowned at the window, not remembering having opened it. Then again, he did a lot of things without thinking or without reason nowadays. It was a side effect of not caring anymore.
He went over to it and shut it closed with a huff. He looked around the small apartment to investigate whether everything was where it should be or not and frowned when he opened his shirt drawer. It looked like someone had rummaged through it frantically. Obviously, that had not been his doing. He would just take whatever was on top and slide his work shirt over it when he arrived at the bakery.
Now, he was finally worried. Who had been in his apartment? Why dig through his shirt drawer and yet, take nothing else?
His eyes widened in realization and he dug through the shirt drawer again. His heart plummeted to his feet when he couldn't find his green shirt. He hadn't worn it in over a year, but he had kept it because it reminded him of her. It had been her favorite shirt and he had spent many different occasions asking her why she wore it more often than him.
She had always smiled cheekily at him before sniffing it, content to wear a little piece of his life.
That had been before. He had thought he had all the time in the world with her. He had never thought that life would cruelly rip her away from him without as much as a warning. To this day, he did not know what she had been doing in that mansion. All he remembered of that day was trying to reach her on her cell when she hadn't shown up to their date.
Edward reached up and held the ring that hung around his neck absentmindedly.
He walked back to the kitchen to retrieve his coffee when he heard a muffled sound come from his bedroom. He whipped around quickly, dropping his coffee, as he went to see if the intruder was still in his apartment.
He swung his door open.
His eyes were betraying him, of course. That was the only explanation to what he saw.
Before he could verify if it had been her or not, the figure disappeared.
Edward ran to the, once again, open window and looked around. No one was there.
"Bella!" he called out.
His head whipped around like crazy as he tried to see if he could catch sight of her again.
"Bella! Answer me!" he shouted again, desperately.
He started to cry as he looked around.
"Answer me, Bella," he whimpered, sliding onto the floor underneath the window.
He sobbed into his hands as he felt his heart slow down, all hope diminished. Of course, it hadn't been her. She was dead, never to come back again. He was just seeing things, imagining what he was desperate to have again.
He had hoped for a moment. It was so dangerous for him to harbor that unfounded hope. She was dead and gone. That was the truth. He just needed to accept it.