Title: Remember Me, My Love
Category:
Books » Twilight
Author: TamTam43
Language: English, Rating: Rated:
T
Genre: General
Published: 06-06-09, Updated: 06-23-09
Chapters: 32,
Words: 80,240
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
A/N This story takes place after Edward leaves Bella in New Moon, but he doesn't leave her in the woods instead it took place at the Cullen's house. I hope you like it. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Twilight. That belongs solely to Stephanie Meyers.
The Accident
I had to leave this place. How could I have not seen this coming? I knew he could never love me the way I loved him. He was perfect and I was just too plain and boring for him. So why did he even pretend to love me? He was the cruelest person I have ever met, yet I loved him with my whole heart, no matter if he never loved me, I would continue to love him. All of these thoughts were going through my head over and over as I pulled myself up from the ground, and got into my truck. I needed to get away from this place; I needed to find my way home.
I was sobbing and tears were flowing freely down my cheeks, as I pulled onto the highway. I knew I shouldn't be driving in this condition, but I just needed to get away from that house. Away from anything that reminded me of him right now, I just needed to think. I drove down the highway for about three miles and saw a large enough spot for me to pull over and park. I pulled over and put the truck into park, just then tears started flowing heavier than before. I was all alone. He wasn't coming back for me. How was I supposed to live without him? I couldn't go on another minute without him.
I realized it was getting dark outside, so I thought I should get going. These roads are very dangerous around here at night, which is why, Ed... (Oh my I just can't bring myself to even think his name) always insisted on driving. I put the truck into drive and started to pull back out into the road when I noticed headlights coming straight towards me at a very high rate of speed. The first thing I thought was; it was him, he had come back to me. However I was wrong, dead wrong. The headlights were swerving back and forth across the lanes of the road, and he would never drive that erratic. I knew then it wasn't him. I tried to avoid them but it was too late. Everything happened in slow motion, only I couldn't react fast enough. We were going to collide. I was going to die.
Then there was a large crashing sound, there was a high squeal and the sound of metal being ripped to shreds, then everything went black…
Was I dead? No, I could hear the sirens and hear voices; only none of them were that of my Edward, wow I said his name and it didn't hurt, I must be dead. Just then I heard Charlie's voice. He was screaming and crying, oh no I couldn't stand to have him hurting. What was happening? I could sense I was being lifted and then laid down, I can hear Charlie.
"Please Bella, wake up. Can you hear me, if you can hear me squeeze my hand?" Charlie was sobbing, I never saw him cry before. He was not one to express emotions.
I could feel him squeezing my hand. I tried with all my might to squeeze his hand, but nothing happened. What was wrong with me? Why can't I get through to my body? I tried to speak… nothing happened.
It felt like a long time had passed, I didn't know what was happening to me, then I was being pushed down a long hallway, I could see long fluorescent lights on the ceiling. I was at the Hospital. I tried to yell at the people pushing me "Go Get Carlisle, he can help me." But no one heard me, because they weren't going to get him. Just then I heard one of them say something.
"I really wish Dr. Cullen was still here. We could really use his help on this one. Why did he have to accept that job in L.A.?"
"Yeah I know what you mean, we could use his knowledge and expertise to help this girl." One of the doctors said, he didn't look to confident that I was going to make it. I scared now.
What was going to happen to me? Am I ever going to get better? Without
Carlisle here… oh I wish he would come back, if he was here he could change me,
and then I would be able to heal.
I would be one of them. I could be with
Edward.
I heard Charlie again; he was talking to one of the doctors.
"Is she going to be okay?" Oh how I wish I could hug Charlie right now, I needed to get better, so he wouldn't hurt.
"I am sorry Chief Swan, but the prognosis doesn't look good, if only Dr. Cullen was here he could help."
"Well call him, get him here!" Charlie was screaming. If only he knew they were gone… gone forever.
"We would love to call him, only we have no number to reach him. He left a couple of days ago, he was offered a new job in L.A., and he decided to take it."
"What, the Cullens left? All of them?" he seemed to be surprised and shocked, he was getting used to the idea of Edward never leaving my side. To him we were inseparable.
"Yes I think he took his whole family with him. We need to run some tests right now; you are more than welcome to stay with her." The doctor said as he left the room.
"Bella, Bella I am here. Please I can't lose you, I need you; please wake up." Charlie was sitting next to me on the bed, I could feel that he was holding my hand again. I really wanted to tell him I was here and I could hear him, but every time I tried to move or speak nothing happened. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, I didn't want to leave him I had to stay here, and I was too young to die. I needed Edward.
'I love you Edward, I will always and forever love you. You are my life, without you I have no life.' That was what I was thinking when everything started to dim. My mind was shutting down. Quick, I said to myself; remember. Remember all of them; Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Esme, Carlisle, and yes even him, mainly him; I needed to hold on to my memories of Edward, my truest of true loves… I would never forget Edward. Then there was nothing but blackness.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Time Goes on
50 years later:
Edward POV
Today we are going back to Forks, and I wasn't so sure I wanted too. I had been miserable these last 50 years without my Bella. Alice had lost all visions of her since we left. I had asked her over the years to try and see if she had moved on, but she would tell me she hadn't seen anything. I missed her. I was nearly finished packing when Alice came dancing in my room.
"Edward, aren't you going to be a little more excited about the fact we are moving back to Forks?" she may be excited, but I just wanted to curl up in an attic somewhere and try to not think of Bella.
"Now why would I be excited? Everything there is going to remind me of her. I don't know if I am ready to deal with that." I had thought about going back several times over the years, but I always seemed to talk myself out of it. She was safer without me in her life.
"I know Edward, I miss her too, and she was my best friend remember; we all loved her. Maybe if you would have thought more about that before you left…" she suddenly quit talking, I think it was the nasty glare I was sending her way. I knew I had made the worst mistake in my whole existence by leaving her, but she didn't need to rub it in.
'I'm sorry Edward' she thought as she left my room.
My family was very supportive over the years; I have been a bear to live around. Soon we will be back in Forks. I must find a way of trying to exist at least for their sakes.
Carlisle POV
I pulled into the doctors parking area, I noticed a parking spot with my name, and it is the same spot from the last time I was here. This place hasn't really changed that much over the years. I parked and went inside to start work.
There wasn't anyone left who had worked here when I was last here. I had made sure of that before coming back; I had gone through all of the staff records just to make sure. It was good to be back in Forks; this place was my favorite place to live, I only wish we could stay longer, but people would get suspicious of why we don't age.
I walked down to the doctor's lounge to get a feel of the staff that worked here now. As soon as I walked in, everyone glanced my way. Everyone stared at me for a second, and then I introduced myself.
"Hello, I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I am new here could any of you please point me in the direction of Dr. Davis's office?" I knew where his office would be, but I had to pretend this was my first day here.
"Sure, I would be happy to show you. Please follow me. By the way I am Corrina Weber. I will be working with you, seeing as I am the head nurse. "she let out a little laugh. She was an older woman, I would guess in her forties. She had a nice tone in her voice.
She led me down the hallway, as we were passing the nurses' station I overheard the nurses talking about a patient.
"Yeah, she has been a patient here for 50 years. I hear that she was in a car accident, and slipped into a coma shortly after being brought here. Her dad came to see her every day, but he passed away about a year or so later."
"Oh wow how sad, she has been alone all of these years. Stuck in this hospital; with no one to visit her."
"That isn't the half of it; she hasn't age a bit. I mean she still looks like she did when they first brought her in,"
I will have to check into this. This doesn't sound right, but if it were a vampire I would be able to sense it, plus there wouldn't be a heartbeat. I thought maybe this was just a prank they pulled on new people.
"What? How can someone not age? That is ridiculous." She didn't look like she believed her.
"If you don't believe me check it out for yourself, she is in room 315, look at her chart, I am not kidding."
Ok as soon as I am done checking in with Dr. Davis I will go look at this coma patient in room 315.
This meeting seemed to take longer then I had remembered them to take, but he was finally finished. I couldn't get that coma patient out of my mind. I had to see for myself. I walked to the room, opened the door and walked in. I listened inside the room, definitely not a vampire; I could hear a heartbeat. I had to see this girl. I went up to the bed and looked at her… wait she is… Bella. I quickly grabbed her chart from the end of the bed. I glanced through it using my vampire speed. There was her name, Bella Swan.
I looked at her again and I did notice she had not aged a single day since that last time I saw her. How could this be? She was still human though. This was a mystery to me. I checked her over and listened to her heart closely, it was barely beating, I observed the doctors notes they had noticed it too.
Edward POV
Since school doesn't start for another couple of weeks I decided to go visit Carlisle at the hospital. I got to the hospital and asked a couple of nurses where I might find Dr. Cullen. They told me he was in room 315.
"Would you like me to show you the way?" she was all too eager to show me.
'Oh my god, he is the hottest thing I have ever seen, oh the things I could teach him. If only… He… oh but he is so young. Oh who cares?' women never have anything new to think about? Always the same thoughts; just different women.
"No I think I can find my way, thank you though and have a wonderful day." I didn't want to sound rude, I was brought up to be polite no matter what kind of mood I was in.
I headed over to the elevators; I wasn't in too big of a hurry. I got to the third floor, and was walking down the hallway when I heard Carlisle's thoughts.
'Well her heartbeat is so slow, I wonder if that could have anything to do with it.' Carlisle must be busy with a patient I will wait out in the hallway till he gets through with her.
'oh my how am I going to tell Edward?' wait, what? Tell Edward. Me? Was he referring about telling me something, but just then I heard it.
'Oh Bella, I will try everything I know to help you.' He said 'BELLA' I couldn't wait any longer I ran through the door to see what he was doing to be thinking such a thing.
I flew in and Carlisle quickly turned towards me.
"Edward, wait…" Carlisle was trying to stop me. Why? He was thinking about Bella, is she in here? Is she dying? I had to know. I ran past Carlisle to see the patient lying in the bed.
I came to a screeching halt, when what did I see before my eyes… it was her. It was My Bella. She was as lovely and beautiful as the last time I saw her. But wait it had been 50 years. I looked over a Carlisle, to which he was looking back at me.
"How? Is this Bella? What is wrong? What happened to her?" Oh god so many questions, How is it she hasn't age at all. I listened to see if she had a heart beat. Yes her heart still beats.
"Carlisle?" I needed to know.
"Edward, I only just found out about her. It seems she was in a car accident 50years ago. She slipped into a coma, and has remained in this state for the last 50 years. I have a theory of why she hasn't aged, but I am not positive." Carlisle looked and sounded like he could cry.
"What is your theory?" I said as I walked over to the side of her bed, I needed to feel her; after all these years, here she is.
"Well I think it might have something to do with what happened when James bit her" Carlisle spit the name James out, he didn't like bringing up that memory either.
"And. what about it? I sucked the venom out, she didn't change." I was trying to stay focused on what he was saying, but all I wanted to think about was Bella, here she is. But I wanted her to wake up.
"I think that maybe there was no way to get all of the venom out of her system, I think a little bit stayed in her system, not enough to change her, but with her decreased heart rate over the years I think it was enough to keep her body from changing." The more Carlisle talked on the subject the more it seemed to be confirming his theory.
I sat there next to her holding her hand in mine; oh how long it had been, and now I am touching my Bella again. I should have never left her. She wasn't safe, even without me.
"Carlisle, when did she have the accident?" I needed to know. Carlisle looked on her chart.
'Oh Edward, I am so sorry, it appears she was admitted the same day that you left her. I am so sorry.'
The same day; how could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking? I will never leave her side ever again. I will stay with her until she wakes from this.
I leaned over and kissed her on her lips; there was nothing. I know she is in there; she will come back I know it.
"Bella love, I will never leave you again. I am here. Please wake up. I need you. You are MY life. I cannot exist without you." I truly did need her she was… is my life.
Bella POV
The blackness seemed to be fading away. I have been in total darkness for what seemed like a lifetime. I heard his voice; it was the voice I had been searching for. It is the voice that has finally shown me the light, the way out of this darkness.
A/N Thank you for the reviews, I am happy that you like it so far, I will try to continue to update.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Awakening
Edward POV
I would spend forever waiting for her to wake up. I will sit here by her side, until the day she comes back to me. I only leave when Carlisle insists that I need to hunt. I argue but he always seems to bring me out of the daze. I keep thinking every time I walk into the room; this will be the day she wakes from her slumber and we can have our forever together, but each time she is still sleeping. I find it easier to think of her as sleeping, rather than in a coma. I am just thankful that the powers that be found it in their hearts not to take her away for good. I know as long as she is sleeping; there is a chance for her to awaken.
"Bella love, I have to go for a short while. I will be back soon I promise. I love you." I had to go hunt, staying in this hospital with all of the human blood scents, I couldn't risk exposure. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, as I did every time I had to leave.
Bella POV
The blackness is turning to grey now. Every time I hear that voice and feel a cool touch to my skin; I see the light getting brighter. His voice… it seems to be guiding be from this darkness. I need to escape. I need to see the owner of that voice. It was so dark for so long, how could this voice be my salvation?
The cool touches seem to be awakening my feeling of my body. I still have no power over it. I can't make my body respond. I want to wake up, I need to get home. I thought about where I am; am I in hell? No if I was in hell how could I hear such a voice? His voice; it was a voice of an angel. I am starting to feel my mind again. It is hard to recall how I got here. What was that last thing I remember? Charlie, oh yes my dad. I miss him now. I hope he okay. Renee she must be going crazy. I need to wake up. I want to wake up.
Please angel of my mind; please show me the way out of here. Speak to me I need to hear your voice again, so that I may awake from this darkness.
Edward POV
I hunted all morning, making sure to get completely full. I wanted… no I needed to rush back to Bella. It has been 3 weeks now, since I found her lying in that hospital bed. I wonder if this will be the day she wakes and comes back to me.
I quickly ran back to my car, I sped to the hospital; it never took me that long to get there. On my way back I noticed a cross on the side of the road; I stopped and got out to see it. I walked up to it and looked; it had writing on it. I recognized the writing; it was Chief Swan's handwriting.
'Isabella Marie Swan' he must have put this up as a reminder of the accident. How he must have grieved for her, he lost he that day as well.
All of a sudden I got this urgency to get back to Bella's side; I had been gone for too long. What if she awoke and I was not there. I would never be able to live with myself. I jumped back in the car and sped back to the hospital; back to Bella.
I walked into the room, Carlisle was in there as well as the whole family. They always came to see Bella when I went out to hunt. It was out of courtesy for me, for they knew I would hear their thoughts and I was hurting enough over Bella to have to hear them.
They saw me and were getting ready to leave, but I wanted them to stay. I don't know why, but I wanted them near Bella today.
"Please everyone, stay."
I could hear their thoughts, 'are you sure, we can leave you to be with her alone.'- Alice
'Oh Edward, I don't want you to feel anymore than you already do.'- Esme
'We can come back Bro.'- Emmett
'I am sorry Edward, I wish she would wake up' –Rose now that shocked me, coming from her.
'Edward, would you like me to calm you?' – Jasper
"No really everyone please stay." I walked over to Bella's side.
"Bella love, I am here. I told you I would come back. I don't need to leave again for awhile. I love you" I leaned down and kissed her forehead; I always kissed her forehead, because since the time I kissed her lips and there was no feeling in them I had avoided them. It hurt to not feel her kissing me back, but something was telling me to kiss her on her lips, so I moved down and I cupped her precious face in my hands and kissed her on her lips. I felt a small electric shock, and I thought for a moment there was some movement. Could she be waking up? Or was it my mind was playing tricks on me?
"Bella; Bella love, can you hear me?" everyone looked at me as the tone in my voice held a different sound to it; it was hope, I had hope that she would come back to me. In an instant they were all surrounding the bed. Then I saw it; her eye lids fluttered.
Bella POV
His voice; it came back, I hear him. I can see the end of the tunnel now. Oh and that cool touch. It feels nice, please don't stop, I need to feel that again. Just then the sensation of that ice cold touch was engulfing my face. MY lips; I need you to kiss my lips. I don't know why; all I knew was if he could kiss my lips I could get to the end of the tunnel and break free from this darkness. I was walking then running in my mind to get to the end, there was a barrier there, I couldn't break free, I needed his help; I needed my angel. Please hurry; then I felt it; there was a surge of electrical sparks shooting in every direction within this darkness. The barrier it is almost gone. I can almost step out of it.
I tried to speak. Nothing. I tried to open my eyes… wait I felt it. I moved them. I was breaking free.
The darkness was gone.
Edward POV
"Carlisle, her eye lids moved. Does that mean she is waking up? Is she coming back to me?" I was so excited. My Bella is coming back. Please. Please.
I looked back over at her, and her eyes moved again. This time it was as if they were almost ready to open. Then they did. I saw those gorgeous big brown eyes. She stared up at me, could she forgive me for hurting her all those years before? She looked confused, well duh she has been asleep for 50 years you would be confused too.
"Bella love, can you see me? Can you hear me?" I just needed to hear her voice. I loved her so much.
She just looked at me and then looked around the room, and she looked back at me. It was as if she was trying to figure something out.
"Bella love, I love you" I needed her to know that I loved her.
Bella POV
There I finally broke free. I had control of me again. I opened my eyes; I needed to see the face of my angel voice. I needed to see him. I looked up and saw someone staring back at me. He spoke
"Bella love, can you see me? Can you hear me?" That is the voice, but who is he? I have never seen this face before. He is beautiful and that is the voice; the voice that guided me out of the darkness. I am confused; my mind is still real blurry. I looked around; there are a lot of people here all looking at me with love in their eyes. But who are all of these people. I don't remember any of them. Should I know them? They seem to know who I am.
My angel looked back at me and I looked back at the person who spoke with my angel's voice
"Bella love, I love you" He says he loves me, but who is he? I told my mind to speak. I needed to say something.
Edward POV
I stared at her; I didn't want to miss a single thing. She looked at me, and it looked like she was trying to speak. Then she opened her beautiful lips and spoke.
"Who are you?" I never expected to hear that. I wanted to shake her and tell her to look at me; to make her see it was me; Edward, and that I loved her more than anything, but I heard Carlisle and hesitated.
'Give her time Edward, her mind has been dormant for many years, it may take some time, she has been through a lot.'
"Who are you?" she was staring at me, Oh how I missed those chocolate brown eyes.
"I am Edward." I tried to hide my shock and hurt within my voice. She had to remember me. I will get her to remember. I love her to much to lose her now.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Memories
Bella POV
I felt very strange; I wake up from the complete darkness to be surrounded by complete strangers. Where were my mom and Phil? Where was Charlie? I thought they would at least be here. I tried to figure out what was going on. I know who I am right? All these strangers keep saying my name, they know me somehow, but who are they? I look at them and they are all beautiful. Why would all of these beautiful people be so concerned with me? I looked away from them trying to get my thoughts in order and I glanced out the window, It didn't look like phoenix, Where was I? I needed some answers to my questions.
"Where are my mom and Phil?" If these strangers knew me; than they should probably know my mom. I looked to the guy that spoke with my angel's voice. He stared back at me with the most loving eyes, they were golden and I had a feeling I had seen those eyes before, but I had no memory of it.
"Carlisle; I mean Dr. Cullen will answer any questions you have; hold on I will go get him." He stood up and went out into the hallway, a moment later he came back in with a man, he must be the doctor.
"Bella, how are feeling? I bet you have many questions for me; I will try to answer as many as I can, but you need to stay calm okay, if you start to get upset I will have to stop answering your questions, okay?" his voice was soft and calm, I didn't know who he was, but I had a feeling I trusted him, I trusted him completely; it was as if I knew he would never let any harm come to me.
"Okay I promise, now can you please tell me where my mom is? And where I am?" I stayed calm waiting for his answer.
"Bella I think maybe before I can answer those questions I need to tell you some other things first. Okay?" he shot a glance over at the tall blonde guy standing with the short pixie like girl. She seems so familiar, I do not know where I know her from, just that I know her. Weird.
"Okay" I muttered out, as long as I get some answers, I started to tense up, but then an overwhelming sense of calmness swept through my body.
"Well to start with, you are in the hospital in Forks, Washington…" wait what did he say? Forks. What am I doing in Forks?
"Wait… Did you say Forks? How did I end up in forks? I mean I was thinking about going and living with my dad, but I hadn't left yet." I was confused.
"You don't remember moving to Forks?" My angel spoke. Oh how I love the sound of his voice, if only I could remember him, Edward, I think that is what he said his name was.
"No, wait yes, now I remember I did move to Forks to live with my dad. Charlie where is Charlie?"
"Okay, now that we have that clear, I want you to try and think of the last thing you remember. Can you do that for me?"
"The last thing I can remember…" I had to stop and think for a moment, they were all staring at me. I thought hard and something came to me. "The last thing I remember was getting ready to start my first day at Forks high School. It was my junior year. I can't think of anything after that everything is just blank after that."
"Okay now when I tell you this next thing you have to stay calm, this may freak you out a bit, okay. And I want you to know that I am telling you the truth, I will not lie to you okay." Dr. Cullen looked so concerned; it was almost like he thought I would go back into the darkness if he finished telling me things. I will never go back to that darkness.
"Your last memory happened 51 years ago. You have been in a coma for 50 years." He stopped I guess it could have been because of the look on my face, I had no idea what I looked like, they were all staring at me waiting for me to say something.
I mustered out the only thing I could think of "I am OLD?" they were all looking at me I couldn't tell what any of them were thinking by the looks on their faces.
"Oh and you call me vain!" I don't know her name but she has got to be the most beautiful blonde woman I have ever seen. I could never be beautiful like her.
"Rose shut it." My angel voice snapped at her, I could swear it was almost like a growl.
"Can I see a mirror, please" I wanted to see what I looked like, but then again maybe I shouldn't.
Edward, the one who spoke my angel's voice brought over a mirror and put it in front of me. I looked at me, but I looked the same as I had remembered me to look. 50 years? No way.
"50 years? Are you sure? I look the same." I know I should be fighting hysteria right now, but for some odd reason I remained calm.
"Yes Bella, I can't explain it as to why you haven't aged. But yes it has been 50 years." Dr. Cullen spoke I a calm and constant manner; you can't help but to trust what he says id the truth.
"So now that you know that you are in Forks, and it has been 50 years; I will finish okay my dear." He waited for me to nod before starting in again.
"It appears that you were in a car accident, from what I have gathered you were struck by a Drunk Driver. You were brought here and soon after you slipped into a coma, awakening now 50 years later." He carefully looked me over to make sure I wasn't slipping back into the darkness, but I had a question that seemed to pop into my head.
"So now I am confused." I looked around at everyone in the room."You all are look like you are my age, and you all seem to know who I am, but how? If I have been here for 50 years; how do you all know me?" I looked around at each of them waiting for someone to give me an answer, I finally looked back to Dr. Carlisle, but even he looked like he was at a loss for words.
"Bella, I think that is a question that will have to wait to be answered at a later time; is that okay with you, I know you want to know, but we can't answer that one right now. I am sorry. And we will answer it in due time okay." Dr. Carlisle came and put his hand on my shoulder, just then I felt his cool touch; was it his touch that I felt? But wait it was not his voice that I heard. I reached over to Edward, the one that spoke my angel's voice and he grabbed my hand to put in his, and I felt the icy cold feel of his touch that is the touch that I remembered. I must have expressed some feeling of remembrance with it, because he smiled a smile that seemed to go all the way to his soul. I feel so close to him, even though I have no memory of him, other than his voice and touch guiding me out of the darkness.
"Where are my mom and dad?" I thought about that question right after I asked it; it has been 50 years do I want to know the answer?
"I am sorry to have to be the one to inform you that both of your parents are deceased. But know that they loved you very much." I could tell there was more to that answer, but he wasn't going to tell me right now I will ask more of it later.
"So I have no family left? I am all alone?" I hesitantly spoke.
"We are your family Bella." They all spoke at once, and then I saw a flash of something in my mind.
'We were all together, I mean every person in this room and me; we were sitting in this large room, and it seemed like we were at a party, I think it was a birthday party by all of the decorations and everyone was happy.' Then the vision I was seeing was gone. Were they my family? Why can't I remember who they are? But I felt that they did care for me.
"I don't know your names; well I know Dr. Cullen and Edward, but who are you guys?" I looked around trying my hardest to remember, but nothing came to me. So they introduced themselves to me.
"Bella, I am Alice Cullen. It is so good to have you back." It was the little pixie girl, she came up and gave me a hug.
"Bella, I am jasper Hale." He was the blonde that the Doctor kept sneaking glances towards while he was talking to me.
"Hey there little sis, I am Emmett Cullen." He was the big huge one. When he came over and gave me hug all I good think of was a big grizzly bear. That was strange.
"I am Rosalie Hale." She stood across the room, I don't think she likes me; I got a strange weird vibe that we were not close. But she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
"Oh Bella, I am Esme Cullen, I have missed you so much dear." She ran over to me and engulfed me in a hug, to which I thought only a mother would give her child. I felt as close to her as I did to my mom, maybe even a little bit more. That was strange how I could feel that close towards another woman other than my own mom.
"It is so nice to meet you." I didn't mean to sound blank about it, but after all to me I was just meeting them. They all smiled; somehow by me excepting them they were happy again. Earlier when I first saw them they all seemed so sad.
"Welcome back into our family. We are beyond thrilled to have you back." Edward whispered in my ear. Then he kissed my forehead, and I didn't mean to jump, I just wasn't expecting it, but when I looked at him it looked as though his heart was breaking.
"You will remember Bella; I will help you to remember. I will always be here." He sounded so caring and understanding.
"Okay come now I think Bella needs to get some rest; it has been a long day for her. You guys can come back later; Doctor's orders everyone out." Dr. Cullen pointed toward the door. Edward shook his head, but the doctor just looked at him and eventually he nodded and stood up looked back at me and said "I won't be very far away, I will be back soon." Then he whispered something that I could hardly make out but I think it was 'You are my life Bella.' (And I got this flash of me and him in a beautiful meadow, but it must have been a dream) If only that wasn't a dream I thought, if only that could be real.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
A/N Thank you for allof the reviews so far. I am happy you like this story. please keep reading and review,
Dreams
I laid there staring out the window watching the rain fall; thinking about them, and him. I was trying my hardest to remember something, but always coming up blank. I gave up after awhile and drifted off to sleep. That is when the dreams started.
I was sitting in the cafeteria of a school, I can tell because of all the teenage kids that were there, that was when I saw them. They were all sitting together it appeared to me that they were eating, but I never saw them take a bite; they just played around with the food, and then threw it away. I thought it was strange that none of them ate a single bite. I found myself staring at him; it was Edward, the one who spoke my angel's voice. He was staring back at me; then it went dark.
I struggled to get out of the dark again, that is when something came into view. I saw that meadow again. He was lying next to me and the rays of the sun were bouncing off of him, it was so beautiful; I would say it looked as though millions of diamonds were what made up his skin; casting off rainbows. I look over at him and he looks back at me with nothing but love in his eyes. He loves me, and then it goes dark again.
Everything brightens up again; I see myself sitting on the ground next to my truck, Edward is there again, I don't look like I feel too good, but he walks over to me and cups my face within his hands, (I can feel the icy cool touch) he leans down and slowly puts his lips upon mine; he is kissing me. I can feel the spark of electricity flowing between us. I love him, I can feel that. He stops kissing me and looks at me, and again it goes to darkness.
Why is it every time I dream of him, and he is looking at me it goes to darkness? I start running in my mind to escape the darkness; I keep calling out for him. 'EDWARD, EDWARD help me I am slipping back into the darkness.'
I can feel his icy cool touch on my skin. I can see the light; I run towards it and the next thing I knew I was sitting up my bed, I was awake and I was back in the hospital room. I look around and there he was standing right next to my bed; he was looking at me; I had to look away quickly I didn't want to fall back into the darkness. I was afraid. Why was I afraid to look at him? Those dreams were nice dreams… well until he looked at me. Why was that? Was he not good?
"Bella, are you okay? Why won't you look at me?" Edward sounded like he had so much pain and anguish in his voice. It was different sounding then that of my angel's voice; I wanted my angel's voice back.
"I can't look at you, because in my dreams every time I saw you looking at me… I slipped back into the darkness. I don't want to go back into the darkness ever again. I just can't bear to be there again. All alone in the darkness.
"Bella love, you will never be alone again; I will forever be by your side. Do you want to talk about your dreams?" He sounded so concerned and they were nice dreams, so why did they frighten me so much?
So I decided to tell him about all of the dreams, and how each of them had ended. He sat there and held my hand through it, and I could feel him stiffen up when I got to the end of each dream. Something was bothering him, but I didn't ask. I still don't understand everything that is happening yet; maybe someday I will, but right now I just want to feel safe, and I do feel safe with him near me.
"Bella, those were not dreams, those were memories; memories of us." He spoke with my angel's voice again, and I knew he was telling me the truth. But I still can't figure out how Edward and the darkness I feel are connected.
"Do you want me to go?" The words came out as he spoke them, but I detected that he didn't want to say them.
"No stay; please don't go" I wanted him to stay, I didn't know why, but I feared that he might not come back.
"Can you tell me more of our memories?" I asked him, while still looking down.
"I will only if you look up at me; please." I had to know more so I looked up at him, and we talked throughout the night. It felt so familiar to be lying in bed with him staying up all night talking. He told me of all the times he came into my room after Charlie had gone to sleep. How we would sit up and talk just like this. He sat there all night, and talked with me until I guess I finally went back to sleep, only this time there were no more dreams.
When I awoke; it was daytime. I looked around, and he was still here; sitting in the same spot. It looked as though he hadn't even moved an inch. I had a warm feeling come over me at that moment, and we stared into each other's eyes; the darkness did not come.
"Hey, you are still here." I said not wanting to break the connection we had staring into his eyes.
"As I said earlier, I am not ever going to leave you again…" His voice broke at the last word.
Just then Dr. Cullen came into the room.
"Good morning Bella, did you have a good night?" he was in a chipper mood today.
"Yes, I had some dreams, but Edward told me that they were memories." As I spoke he looked over at Edward and then nodded. It was strange, because it was like they were holding secret conversations within their heads.
"Oh do you mind telling me about them?" He seemed to be very interested in what I was remembering.
So I told him all of the dreams, but when I got to the one about the meadow, by the way I think that is a mixture of a memory and a dream, but I told him the whole thing anyway. He looked over at Edward and it was as if they were having another of those hidden conversations. Did they know something that I didn't?
"Dr. Cullen, how much longer do I have to stay in the hospital? I mean… when can I go home? I think I might remember more if I was to be around more familiar surroundings." There was a pleading tone in my voice. I had been in this bed long enough I wanted out.
"I can look into seeing about getting you out of here, would you like to come live at our house with us?" As soon as he said that Edward had this worried look on his face, as if he didn't want me to go live with them.
"Can I go back to my house, I mean after all I am what 68 years old." I let out a little giggle as did they.
"Well I really don't think it would be a good idea to allow you to be alone, you have been through a great ordeal." Now he was speaking like a doctor.
"Edward can stay with me; I mean he told me of all the time we spent together." I pleaded my case. I looked over at Edward and he smiled a crooked smile, my mind responded to that smile, I felt like I had totally melted inside; it was as if with that smile he could get whatever he wanted.
"You know you dazzle me when you smile like that." Oh my god why did I say that out loud. My cheeks were burning hot, and I could imagine they were beet red. I looked over at him and he was in a daze just staring at me.
"And every time you do that (pointing towards my cheeks) it dazzles me. So I think we are even in that department." He smiled again and again I blushed.
"I am going to look into releasing you and I am having Esme go fix up your house." Dr. Cullen walked out of the room.
"So I am going home. I forgot to even ask you if you wanted to stay with me. I am sorry."
"My answer is yes; don't ever doubt that I would never be by your side. I will forever be here for you."
"You keep saying forever like you mean it." I can't believe I say some of the things that I say when I am with him.
"Trust me when I say forever I mean forever; I love you and I always will, just trust and believe in that." He smiled that crooked smile again, and again I blushed. How does he do that? But I had this deep I mean deep feeling that something about what he said was true, I mean the forever part. It was weird but I let it go.
For now that is.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
A/N Thank you all for the reviews. I am trying to take things slow, I know many are wondering why I haven't included the rest of the Cullen family in the story as much, I figured they would give Edward and Bella some space, so that bella can concentrate on Edward, but soon I promice they will be making thier way back into Bella's life. Alice would have no other way about it. remember if you have any questions about anything please feel free to review, and I will answer them. now on to the story. ENJOY
Going Home Again
Today is the day I get to go home I kept telling myself. I am hoping that once I see my house, and my past surroundings; all of my memories of how my life was before would come back to me. Memories of how I knew this family. This family I could see loves me. I just couldn't stop thinking about how they all look young, and yet they knew me 50 years ago. Dr. Cullen had said that he would explain all of that to me at a later time, but I keep thinking that they are all hiding a secret from me. I would have to find out what they are hiding from me, if I could allow myself to fully trust them, but I do trust them, and that is why I am so conflicted. They haven't lied to me about anything; it's just they are not telling me everything.
I was in deep thought when Dr. Cullen and Edward came back into the room. Edward immediately came over and stood by my bed. He grabbed my hand and held it in his. I liked it when he held my hand, or more like it I loved it when he would just touch me. I still wondered about the cool iciness of his (wait all of them felt that way, now that I think about it) touch. They all felt cold.
"Edward, can I ask you about something?" I whispered not knowing how I would be able to ask such a question.
"Yes Bella, what do you want to know?" He answered still holding my hand, which now he started to move his thumb back and forth across the top of my hand.
"Why… how… I mean… Oh never mind." I couldn't spit it out. Why was it so hard to ask him about that? Would he even tell me? Would I want to know? Yes I wanted to know
"What is it Bella, you know you can ask me anything." He seemed very curious to want to know what I wanted.
I just then noticed that he only ever looked at me with that look of curiosity. I hadn't noticed it before but when he looked at everyone else; it was as if he knew what they were thinking. I shook my head; ridiculous nobody can read minds.
"Well… I was just wondering why it is that all of you feel so cold to the touch?" as I said that he quickly removed his hand from mine. I was saddened by that.
"No don't get me wrong please, I like it when you touch me, I was just wondering why, that's all." I looked back up to him so that our eyes met, and put my hand up to his face, it was icy cold but I wanted to show him I didn't mind it. That I just wanted to know the reason for it.
"Bella that is one of the things that will just have to wait at least until you get some more of your memories back. It will make more sense to you then, but until then just trust that we love you and we want what is best for you." Dr. Cullen spoke up even though I was looking at Edward to answer me; Edward quickly nodded in agreement with Dr. Cullen. Although by the look on his face I assumed he wished he could tell me everything right then and there. What was it that they were keeping from me?
"Dr. Cullen…" I was trying to ask him something else but he cut me off.
"Bella, please you can call me Carlisle, I feel strange having you of all people call me Dr. Cullen." He said with a bright smile. And I think he chuckled a little bit.
My cheeks flashed with a bright shade of red, and Edward quickly brushed his hand down across my cheek, to which only made the shade grow into a darker red, and Edward's smile grow bigger and deeper until I swear it hit his eyes.
"Carlisle, can I go home now?" I was so eager to get out of here.
"Why yes, that is why I came in here, Edward will be driving you to your house, and later I will be over to give you a check up and make sure everything is okay." He was still smiling and gave a quick nod towards Edward and walked out. I wanted to ask Edward about the nods and what seemed to be secret conversations, but I wanted to go home.
We got outside and he told me to wait for a moment so he could get the car. I was sitting there in the wheelchair when I saw him pull up in front of me. I saw him get out of his car, and he stood there for a moment and looked at me. Just then a flash of a memory came back to me. I was standing by my truck and he was standing by that car, when out of nowhere he was holding me, and we were almost hit by a van, but he stopped it with his hand. Then it was gone. I gasped out loud, and he was suddenly right next to me just like in the memory.
"How did you do that?" I could barely muster out I was so shocked.
"Do what? Are you okay, what happened?" He looked even more surprised then I felt.
"You stopped the van. I mean you got to me so fast and you stopped the van with your hand." I was gasping for air trying to figure out what I had just seen. He looked shocked and seemed like he was at a loss for words.
"In due time sweetheart, I promise you will know everything soon." He wrapped me in his arms and carried me to the car. I think my mind is playing tricks on me; the things I see cannot be real. It just doesn't make any sense.
We drove for what seemed to be a lifetime, I glanced at the speedometer and he was going like 10mph under the speed limit, this felt strange for some odd reason.
"Do you always drive this slowly?" I smiled hoping he would get the hint to speed up. I was anxious to get home.
"No" He smiled back and hit the accelerator, we sped up. I think he was going a little too fast now, but I kept quiet. His driving skills were good, and he seemed to be enjoying himself now.
We pulled up to my house. It was slightly run down on the outside; I was hoping it would look better once we got inside.
"Esme has been working on getting this place back in order for you. She says to tell you welcome home." As he said that he opened the door, I glanced around and found that everything was left the exact same as I had remembered it. The pictures of me were still on the mantle. I looked around some more and then headed upstairs. I walked into what was then my bedroom, everything was as if I had just walked out this morning, there was no dust on anything, and my clothes were still strewn about. Charlie must have never come in here after the accident. At that thought; I missed him.
"Are you sure it has been 50 years? I can't help it; it is just that everything is the same, except that Charlie is not here. I miss him." Just then I started sobbing, and Edward was right there allowing me to cry on his shoulder. He picked me up and carried me over to the rocking chair. He sat down holding me in his lap; stroking my hair and rubbing my back. He knew I would mourn the loss of Charlie. We sat there like that for about an hour or so; I didn't really know what time it was, but it was starting to get dark outside.
I sat up and looked around my room; I was looking for something, but I didn't really know what until it dawned on me. I looked over at Edward and our eyes met. He responded to my expression with one of his own, he looked scared or more like afraid of what I was thinking.
"I am trying to understand all of what is happening, but I just noticed something. If we were together like you say, then why is it that I have nothing in this room… my room of us or even of you?" I must have sounded more like I was accusing instead of questioning him, because he dropped his head and looked at the floor.
He walked over to the closet and in a blink of an eye he held some items in his hand. He walked back over towards me and set all of them but one on the bed, he then walked over to the CD player and placed a CD in it and pushed play. He then came back over and sat on the bed with me, handing me the rest of the items.
Just then the most beautiful sounding lullaby filled the air. A flash of him sitting down at a piano playing it came into view in my mind. I turned my head in a hurry to look at him.
"You… this is you playing isn't it?" tears started to cover my eyes. This lullaby has so much meaning and love flowing from every note that is played.
"Yes I wrote this for you. It is only one way to express to you how I feel whenever I think about you." His voice was so quiet and soft, almost as if he were ready to cry. His eyes looked as though he would tear up and cry, but he didn't actually shed any tears.
He pulled his arms around me and engulfed me into his body; it felt like I belonged there. Our bodies seemed to have been made to fit one another, almost like completing a puzzle. He then moved down and placed his lips against mine. I took a deep breath in and I felt so dizzy, but I couldn't pull away. I pressed myself closer to him, and he responded our lips were moving back and forth until I finally had to pull away so that I may be able to breathe. I think that was the most intense feeling I have ever experienced in my life.
I shot a look at him and I think the feeling was mutual. He had a glow about him that I hadn't seen before.
"You don't know how long I have waited to feel that again. I thought I had lost that forever. I love you." He said as he was pushing a few strands of hair away from my face to behind my ear. I blushed. He smiled that crooked smile, and my cheeks turned deeper shades of red. Which in turn made him smile even longer; I felt the never ending battle so I looked down onto the bed at the rest of the items.
I picked up some photos. They were of him. I looked back over at him to look closely and then shot back to the photo again, it looked like it was just taken recently. I know that they will explain that to me later, but I wanted to really know what the big secret was, and why I couldn't know about it yet. What memory do I have to have in order for them to tell me? I was going to ask him. I needed to know.
"Edward, what do I have to remember before you will tell me what it is you are hiding?" I carefully watched as his expression changed from a smile to something of utter fear.
"You will know what it is, when you have that memory back. Trust me you will know." He seemed to settle down after that.
"Can I ask you for something?" I asked trying to be innocent about it.
"Anything, what would you like?" He smiled again, oh how much I love that smile.
"Could you possibly…" Crap I chickened out. I couldn't finish.
"What is it Bella, What do you want? You know how frustrating it is when I can't hear what you are…" He stopped rather quickly. I wonder what he was going to say. He answered me so I know he can hear what I am saying. Was he going to say thinking? No that is so ridiculous; nobody can read minds. I mentally shook it off in my head.
"Well I was wondering if you would kiss me again." There I said it. I just wanted to feel his lips on mine again.
"You know you don't have to ask me, if you want a kiss all you have to do is come get it; I would never turn you away." He was chuckling like I was absurd for even having to ask such a thing.
Just at that moment; he swooped me up, and gently pressed his lips onto mine. This felt so right to me.
After we ended the kiss; again it was because I had to breathe, we stared into each other's eyes.
"Soon I will have all of my memories back. I will remember everything about you, and everything that has happened between us." I wanted him to know that I truly wanted to remember everything. But what he said next struck a deep aching feeling in my heart.
"I am hoping not all of your memories come back, not all of them are good ones." He put his head down between his hands. He must be thinking of some of the bad memories he spoke of.
"As long as you are in them; they are all good memories to me." I was trying to comfort him.
He whispered something; I wasn't sure I heard it all correctly, but it sounded like he said
'Please don't let her remember the day that I…'
that was all I heard before it got so faint that I couldn't hear it. What could he have done that was that terrible? Something that he wishes I could or would never remember.
This puzzled me. I had to know, but did I really, truly want to know what it was that he did to me?
I have to remember that day; I don't know what day it is, but I have to remember that day.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Nightmares
Edward POV
I finally convinced Bella I wasn't going anywhere, so she could get some much needed rest. We laid together on her bed talking for hours. It reminded me so much of all those times we did this many years ago; in this very room, and on this very bed. I think about all those wasted years, and how if I wouldn't have left her, she wouldn't have been in that accident, but then I think it was a blessing in disguise because she is just as she was before in my arms. I know now more than ever before we are meant to be together.
My mind wandered thinking of how to get her to remember her lost memories, and then I would think about the day I left her. What was I thinking? I had told her I didn't love her and that I didn't want her. If she remembers that before I can get her to remember all of the rest, would she still love me? Would she want me? Then I thought about something else, what is going to happen if she remembers that we are vampires? Will she accept it the same as she had done the first time? Will she be terrified and not want anything to do with me? How can I win? I can't stop her from remembering, she already remembers she just hasn't added it all up yet, I know she will figure it out, after all she figured it out all those years ago.
I was lost in thought when I noticed she was starting to talk in her sleep. That was something I had missed, that was the only thing I had to figure out what was going on inside her head.
"Edward" I loved it when she spoke my name. I have heard so many people speak my name over the years, but I have never felt the emotions I feel whenever I hear her say it. I wonder what she is dreaming about now. Just then she started to toss and turn; her dream has turned into a nightmare.
"Don't touch me. Stay away from me!" What is this nightmare about, oh god please tell me she isn't dreaming about me being a vampire, and I could not handle it if she felt that way about me.
"What do you mean you could hear what they were thinking?" I settled down a little bit; she was dreaming about that night in Port Angeles. Oh wait that was the night she told me the truth about knowing what I was. I needed her to wake up she couldn't finish that dream, it is too soon. I gently caressed her face with my fingers, she reacted almost immediately. She sat straight up in bed covered in sweat. Tears were starting to roll out of her eyes. Did she remember the truth of what I am? She just kept staring at me. At least she wasn't running away screaming. But she didn't say anything at all. That is what had me worried. I couldn't read her thoughts.
"Edward, I dreamed about the strangest things." She looked as puzzled as I must have looked terrified; terrified that she knew about me. I had to settle down and find out what she knew.
"What did you dream about? How bad was it? You were tossing and turning." I didn't want to tell her about the fact that she talks in her sleep. She would want to know what she says and I don't want to have to lie to her.
"Well it is weird, I was dreaming about almost getting attacked by some men, then you showed up and saved me, but the weird part was that you said you could tell what they are thinking." She looked up at me trying to get a sense of if it were true or not. How am I going to do this? Maybe just maybe she will respond the same way as she had the first time. I was hoping. I didn't say anything and then she blurted it out.
"Can you read peoples' minds?" She looked so confused, if I say no and then later she remembers everything she will know that I lied to her, if I say yes, she might freak out and want me to leave. What am I going to do?
"Bella, can this wait till later?" I was trying my hardest to get out of answering this question.
"No, I am tired of being told to wait until later, I don't know what it is that I know, and all I know is that something is being kept from me. I think that if I knew what it was that was being withheld from me, all of my memories would come back faster. I want you to answer this one question for me, please." She looked me dead in the eyes this time, and I knew she was serious. She was confused and all she was looking for were answers; answers that I had but couldn't give her. I was torn into pieces.
"Okay, but I just want you to know that I love you and I would never, I mean never hurt you." I had to get that out just in case she did figure out that I am a vampire. I lowered my head and stared towards the floor.
"Yes I can hear what people are thinking." There I said it, but she wasn't screaming. She just sat there.
"So you know what I am thinking?" She asked looking away from me. Why won't she look at me? I need her to look at me. I need to see into her eyes.
"No, you are the one exception. I have never been able to see your thoughts." This is going good so far. She is taking the news almost as easy as the first time.
"Why, is there something wrong with me?" she still thinks something is wrong with her.
"No nothing is wrong with you, I am glad I cannot read your mind, that is one of the reasons I love you so much." I wonder how much longer I have until she puts all of the pieces together and rediscovers what I am.
"Oh okay. I didn't think anything like that was possible, but I am thinking of a lot of things that seem to be impossible." Does she know? The first time she figured it out she hadn't let on all the way through dinner at the restaurant.
She sat there staring at the window; I couldn't tell what she was thinking about she had no expression on her face. Then it changed like she was remembering something. She got up and walked over to the window, and looked back at me.
"Did you used to come in through the window?" she more stated that question instead of asking it.
"Yes, every night after Charlie went to sleep; I would come through the window and spend the night with you." Okay that wasn't a bad memory. So I thought.
"How did you get in? I mean we are on the second floor. It is long ways up here and there is no trees right next to the window;" She had a confused but calculating look to her. She was figuring out there is something non-human about me. Would she figure it all out?
Just when I was about to open my mouth and answer her; there was a noise coming from her stomach. I tried to remember when the last time she had eaten, and I realized it had been awhile.
"Are you hungry?" I tried to change the subject fast.
"Yeah I guess I am. It has been awhile hasn't it?" She grabbed a hold of her stomach and walked over towards the door.
"I will go and fix you something to eat. You just relax and take your time." I kissed her on her forehead and started to walk out of the room when she said something that stopped me dead in my tracks.
"Ok no problem I need a human moment anyway." She had a shocked look on her face; I would think that my face held the exact same look, so I quickly turned back around and faced the other way.
"Why on earth would I say something like that? That was just too weird." She said shaking her head back and forth and just walked into the bathroom. Phew I dodged that one. This is going to be hard her mind is starting to release more and more information. I don't know how much longer till it all comes back.
How much longer until either I have my Bella back forever, or I lose my Bella forever?
Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Starting Over or Starting Again
Bella POV
I woke up the next day, and looked around; No Edward. I crawled out of bed, and headed down the stairs. I smelled something in the air, it was eggs and bacon; my favorite. I crept towards the kitchen, being as quiet as humanly possible; thinking of sneaking up on Edward, but just as I turned the corner he was there; standing right in front of me; with a big smile on his face.
"Are you sure you can't hear what I am thinking?" I jokingly smarted off to him; giving him a mischievous smile.
"No why? What were you thinking?" he smiled back
"I was thinking of sneaking up on you and surprising you." Still smiling with that mischievous grin.
"Really; I can't hear your thoughts, however I can hear your footsteps." He stated with that crooked smile of his; you know the one that melts my whole inner being.
"Are you hungry? I have made you some breakfast." He said as he turned back towards the kitchen.
My stomach did a small growl, I guess after smelling the food I am a bit hungry. I walked over to the table and sat down. There on the table was only one plate of food.
"Aren't you going to eat too?" I said right before taking a bite of eggs.
"I already ate. I made this for you. So enjoy." He was over at the sink washing the dishes he had used to cook with.
"So is there anything you would like to do today?"
I hadn't really thought about what I wanted to do. I didn't even know what time of year it was. Besides what is there to do in Forks?
"I don't even know what time of year it is. Do you have any plans? What would you like to do?" I seemed to get all of that out before shoving another bite in my mouth, wow Edward is a great cook.
"Well it is almost October. I was supposed to start school a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to stay with you. I can always start school later; it is not that big of a deal." He had finished cleaning the dishes, and had taken the seat across from me at the table.
"School huh. I never did finish my senior year did I. Maybe that would help jog some of my memories. I mean I don't remember going to school after moving here, but I know that I had gone, how else would I have seen you in the cafeteria? Sounds like a plan; I guess we are going to go to school."
I kind of thought it was funny though; considering I am going to be a senior in high school who also happens to be 68 years old. I shook my head and gave a little giggle; this seemed to perk Edward's interest up.
"What is so funny?" he said as he looked at me giggling across the table.
"I was just thinking that I will be a senior this year, and the fact that I am technically 68 years old; I am also a senior citizen." I giggled some more, just hearing the words come out made me giggle.
He just sat there and shook his head back and forth; smiling at me.
"Well let me give Carlisle a call and see what he thinks of you attending school, and if he agrees to it I will have Esme set it up with the school." He didn't look like he was that thrilled about the whole idea of going to school, but he reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone and called Carlisle.
Since he was busy on the phone, I had finished eating and headed upstairs to take a shower and change my clothes. While in the shower I was able to relax and think about things. I thought about what it is that they were keeping from me; I felt like it was staring me right in the face, but I couldn't see it. I had always thought I was rather very good at being observant. I mean when nobody ever notices you; you tend to see things differently. I was always aware of people around me, so that I could stay hidden and out of sight. So why can't I see what they are keeping from me? Oh well like they said I will remember it later. Next thing on my mind; I wish I could figure out what it is about Edward, some of the things that he does is weird, like the fact that he can read people's minds, and the fact that he could get in through my window on the second floor, or better yet I have never seen him eat. He is incredibly fast and strong… as that last thought crossed my mind I suddenly felt extremely cold. I snapped out of it and had realized I had run all of the hot water out, and was standing in the shower with ice cold water pouring over me.
"ARGGGGGGGHHHHH" I let out a huge shrieking sound.
Before I had the time to put a towel around me; Edward had came running into the bathroom, causing a very awkward moment now. I was standing there bare naked and he was inches from me with what started out as a worried look, but has now turned into more of a lustful look, and I could have sworn I heard a deep moan coming from him. Both of us standing there frozen; neither of us doing anything besides staring at each other in shock. Finally after what I thought was forever he handed me a towel and apologized for busting in, he had thought something had happened to me.
He left the bathroom and I was able to get dressed, as I was finishing up I thought about something. I wonder if Edward and I had been together. The last thing I remember; I was a virgin. How am I going to bring that subject up; especially after what had just happened in the bathroom?
I slowly crept my way into the bedroom; trying my hardest not to look up at him. I noticed he was sitting on the bed. Oh god the bed, was he expecting something to happen now? I was not even close to being ready for that to happen. How was I going to ask him? I could feel the burning sensation engulfing my cheeks. I glanced over to him, and from the look on his face I think he may be even more shocked and embarrassed than I am.
"I am so sorry Bella; I didn't think before charging in there. I thought you had been hurt or something." He spoke in a very low and apologetic voice.
"Um well yeah about that; it got me to wondering about something, and I wanted to ask you about something." I was stuttering the words out. He just sat there silent.
"I was wondering if… well if before… if me and you ever… how do I say this?" I just couldn't find the right words to get it out. I was standing there staring at my feet; Fidgeting around.
"I think I know what you are getting at, and the answer would be no." he must have been thinking the same thing as I was. Oh I think that was good news, at least I know I am still a virgin.
"I talked to Carlisle and he said it was up to you, if you wanted to go to school or not. Shall I call Esme?" thankfully he changed the subject. I didn't think I could get any more redder than I am right now.
"Yes please," as soon as I said that he hurried downstairs to make the call.
I went back into the bathroom and ran the blow dryer through my hair, brushed it and then brushed my teeth. By the time I was done Edward had finished his call, and he was standing in the doorway of the bathroom watching me. I turned to see him, and he had a different expression on his face; no longer was it the lustful look but more of a worried look, so I turned back around to face the mirror; big mistake I said to myself as I could plainly see my bright red cheeks in my reflection of the mirror.
"Edward, is there any way that we can forget that happened?" I couldn't even bear to look at him.
"Forget what? Did something happen?" I turned around to say excuse me, until I saw the smirk on his face, he was letting me know that he wouldn't bring it up again.
"Thank you." I think my face has finally returned back to its original shade of pale. As I thought about how pale I was, I noticed that Edward was even paler than me. Why hadn't I ever noticed that before now? Even as pale as he was; it seemed to suit him. I mean god look at him; he is just the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.
"Don't think anything of it. Are you ready? Esme said we can start school today." I think he was trying to get me away from the bathroom, so that the memory of seeing me without clothes on didn't come back to him.
"Yeah let's go." I walked passed him heading for the stairs; needing to be anywhere other than the bathroom at the moment.
The drive to the school was a silent one; neither of us speaking a single word. All I thought about was thank goodness I was the one exception for his mind reading capabilities. I would die of horror if he could actually read my thoughts at the moment. I felt dirty and they were my thoughts.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the school he looked over at me.
"Are you sure you're ready for this? You don't have to do this if you don't want to." He sounded concerned for my well being, or was he concerned about something else?
I opened the door and got out; as to let him know I was ready and eager to do this. I would do anything if it meant recapturing my lost memories. He in turn got out of the car. Together we walked to the front office to receive our schedules.
We entered the office and Edward went up to the lady at the counter; I had an instant feeling of déjà vu. I had a feeling that this had happened before. I thought hard and a flash of this office came in view. I saw Edward at the counter talking to a lady and I was standing by the door. Edward turned to look at me and glared at me. Then I was walking into a lab classroom, I looked over at him, and he looked down right disgusted to see me. He was looking right at me, and his eyes were black. He covered his mouth and nose, as if to say that I smelled. Did he hate me? Why would he give such a look to me? I didn't understand what I was seeing. Then the vision of that nasty glare faded away. He turned to look at me, and I couldn't get that feeling of the glare out of my head.
The next thing I know Edward is gently shaking my shoulders. Asking me if I was okay? I guess I was in some sort of a daze.
"Did you hate me?" I had to know if that was a memory or if it was something else.
"What? Whatever made you think I could hate you?" He was shocked.
"I saw us in this office, and you looked at me and I saw the meanest and most evil glare of hatred coming from you, and it was directed right at me, and then we were in a classroom and you looked disgusted to even see the sight of me, and covered your mouth and nose; like I reeked of something horrible, and your eyes were pitch black." Tears started to roll down my cheeks at the thought he hated me.
"Oh Bella, that day it had nothing to do with you, that was my entirely my fault. I was having a bad day. Please don't think that I hated you. Please. Remember I said not all of the memories were good ones. I was hoping you wouldn't remember that day." He pulled me into a loving embrace; kissing my hair. He was so sincere, how could I not believe him.
I don't think this was that day; the day he did something horrible to me. The day he doesn't want me to remember, I still have to figure out what day that was.
But my thoughts went back to that glare and the black eyes; they seemed to be coming from the face of something evil.
Chapter 9: Chapter 9
A/N thank you all for the great reviews, it has given me the confidence to keep writing this story knowing so many people are wanting to read more and find out how everything turns out. i have many twists and turns coming your way.
School with the Cullens
Alice POV
I was sitting in my first period English class when I saw it. I finally got a vision of Bella's future.
Bella had decided to attend school; I wouldn't see her until lunch. She would come and sit with us. It seemed like any other normal day, until Bella notices that we don't eat anything and puts everything together; she remembers that we are vampires. I see her freaking out and yelling and screaming at us. Everyone notices and we are exposed.
I have to tell everyone that we have to force ourselves to eat something at lunch. I know no one will like the idea of that, but we can't let Bella figure it out like that. She is not ready to handle the truth. As soon as I decided another vision appeared.
I saw all of us sitting in the cafeteria, Emmett and jasper were eating some pizza, Rose was eating some fruit, and I was snacking on some chips. When Edward and Bella came over to our table Edward had a piece of pizza and Bella had a salad. They sat down and we all ate our lunch.
No outburst. No exposure.
As soon as the bell rang; I leaped out of my seat and went to find the others. I had to warn them. We had to be very careful around Bella; I can't see any further into her future. I think it might be because of her memory loss, but I am not sure; plus it don't help that Edward can't read her thoughts.
Jasper was waiting for me right outside the door, as he is after every class. I told him of the vision and just like I had assumed he wasn't very happy about having to eat human food, because I all of a sudden a very nervous and uneasy feeling swept across me.
"Jasper calm down, I saw that if we eat something she won't figure it out, thus no outburst. Okay" I said grabbing his hand and pulling him off to our next class.
Lunchtime finally arrived, and Jasper had filled Emmett and Rose in on the vision. Rose looked like she was ready to kill someone; I had to tell Jasper to calm her down before Bella gets in here. We had to make sure she didn't remember us as vampires here.
I saw Edward and Bella walk in and I started thinking about the vision I had earlier. I glanced over at Edward and he showed me a quick nod, I wasn't sure if Bella saw it or not. He took her over to the food line and got their food. When she came over and sat down everyone started to eat their food, and we had to act like we enjoyed it; that would be the hardest part. She didn't seem to care whether we ate or not, her eyes were staring at Edward, but after he took a couple of bites of the pizza she calmed down, and it looked like we were in the clear. At least this time we were safe.
"Bella, I noticed that when I was helping Esme clean your house, that your closet seemed a bit on the bare side. I was wondering if you would like to go shopping with me." I was trying not to be over excited about it, I remember that used to scare her, and she would find excuses not to go shopping with me.
"Um sure I guess I so, are you going to come Edward?" she looked over at him, and he shoved the pizza into his mouth, so he just shook his head back and forth.
"Oh no; I don't allow any boys with me when I go shopping. Sorry Bella that's the rules." I can't just go and change everything; some rules are never meant to be broken.
Bella agreed and we finished our lunch, and we all headed off to class. When Bella and Edward were across the cafeteria she turned to him and whispered in his ear, thinking nobody could hear her.
But I could.
"Is Alice always like that? It seems like she always has to get her way."
Edward just shrugged his shoulders and glanced back towards me and whispered back to her…
"You have no idea." He knew I would hear and I swear I saw him smile at that. He is going to pay for that one.
My next class was Spanish, and it went by very quickly. I headed towards my last class of the day gym. When I walked into the changing room I saw Bella; oh goody I said to myself I do get a class with her. I remembered she hated gym, and one look at her and you can see that she hadn't forgotten about that. I ran up to her and gave her a hug. We changed into our gym clothes, when I looked over at her she looked deep in thought.
"Bella are you okay?" I gave her a little shake and she snapped out of it. She had a strange expression on her face. "What wrong Bella?" I really wished Edward was here right now, but seeing as we were in the ladies locker room it wouldn't be a good idea for him to be here.
"Alice, I remember something. It was strange, I heard your voice and you were saying I have seen the change Edward, she was one of us. What does that mean change, one of us?" Bella looked so confused. I don't want to lie to her but I don't know if I can tell her the truth.
I tried to concentrate on which way I should go.
If I tell her a lie; she would be mad at me later for lying to her, but she would understand and forgive me. If I were to tell her the truth; she would freak out even more than how she would have freaked out in the lunchroom.
I hope one day she will be able to accept that we are vampires as she had done the first time. Decision made; I was going to have to lie to her.
"I said that to Edward many years ago after you started dating Edward, I was referring to giving you a makeover and about you becoming one of us; joining our family.
"Oh okay, I guess that makes sense." I think she bought it, great now I have lied to her, I hate lying to her.
We walked out into the gym and Edward was standing there. He grabbed a hold of Bella and gave her a hug while he looked at me over her shoulder; I showed him what I had seen, and he did a quick but unnoticeable nod. He let go of Bella, and told her he couldn't wait to see her. She bought that one too, but I really don't think he was lying.
I will have to be keeping all of my thoughts onto Bella. We have to make sure she finds out the truth in just the right way, or we could lose her. I don't think I could handle losing my best friend after finding her again.
And besides like Bella said I always get my way.
Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Day with Alice
Bella POV
Alice pulled up in the driveway just minutes after Edward and I arrived back at my house after school. I know that I had agreed to go shopping with her; I just didn't think she meant immediately after school. I let out a huge sigh and Edward chuckled.
"Did I ever enjoy shopping with her?" I asked with a bit of a sarcastic tone.
"Don't worry Bella; it will be over before you know it. I promise to tell her to take it easy with you on your first shopping trip." Edward just squeezed my hand and shot me a warm look.
"Okay I guess I can endure whatever she has planned for me; this time." I tried my hardest; to put a smile on my face.
Alice came dancing into the house; I swear I don't think her feet even touch the ground when she moves. It is almost like she is floating on air rather than actually walking on the ground. She is so graceful no matter what it is she is doing.
She came right over to me and engulfed me with a hug. I hugged her back hoping that if I behaved she might just go easy on me.
"Okay let's get going Alice." the sooner we get going the sooner I can get back home; I thought to myself. I tried to sound excited and even mustered up a smile, but I don't think I was that convincing to her, because she kind of frowned.
"Geez I try and help my best friend look her best and try to teach her some common sense in fashion and this is the thanks I get. Why do I even try?" her tone had guilt trip written all over it.
"I am sorry Alice I just have a totally different view on shopping than you do; I will try harder to enjoy it though okay." Feed her ego, and this will go quicker.
"Okay come on lets go." She shot a look over towards Edward and then he shook his head.
"Alright enough with the hidden conversations; what was said?" I hated feeling like they always had to have hidden conversations when I was around.
"What do you mean Bella?" Alice acted so innocently.
"I know Edward can read minds, and I am not dumb that after any of you look at him; he either nods or shakes his head to answer. Why all of the secrecy around me? I thought I was part of your family." Now it was my turn to lay on the guilt trip. I bit my lower lip, and pouted.
"Oh sorry Bella I didn't know that you knew about that; I was thinking well more like I was asking Edward if it was okay to drive my normal speed with you in the car. I want to get to all of the shops before they close."
"Well that depends on what your normal speed is." Did I really want to know if she had to ask Edward first?
"It depends on what car I drive, the speedometer goes higher in the Mercedes than in the Volvo." She said it like it was no big deal to top off the speedometer.
"What is with this family and driving fast?"
"Okay I will slow down while you are in the car; deal Bella, now can we get going I am going to miss out on 4 stores now, because they will be closed by the time we get there." She seemed to drift off in a daze as she was talking.
"Okay bye Edward; if I am not home by bedtime sends a search party out to all of the fashion stores." I laughed a little as did Edward. Alice on the other hand wasn't amused at all.
I looked at the speedometer as we were flying down the road, it read 120mph. I shot a quick glance towards Alice and she didn't even seem affected by how fast we were going.
"Alice I thought you said you would drive slower." I was gasping for air.
"I am the speedometer tops off at 160 mph." she giggled and then looked over at me I must have looked like I was going to have a heart attack, because she instantly slowed down to about 80mph. I calmed down a little bit.
We finally made it to the first store; as soon as she parked the car I jumped out and kissed the ground. She started laughing, but stopped when she realized she had to come over and pick me up off of the ground. I finally regained the use of my legs and we headed in to the store.
She had me trying on every single outfit that came in my size. I kept telling her pink is just not my color, but she always had something pink in her hands. I thought this would never end. We must have done the same thing at least five different stores. She didn't even look tired; me on the other hand I was completely exhausted.
I was in the dressing room trying on what I think must have been my millionth outfit; when I stepped out for her to approve of it she was just standing there her eyes glossed over; it was like she was a zombie. Then out of the blue she snapped out of it looked at me and grabbed her phone, and called someone. She quickly walked in the other direction while talking on the phone, her voice was so low and fast I couldn't make out a word she had said. She looked back over at me and dropped all of the outfits she was holding.
"Okay I have had enough of shopping, and you look exhausted I think it is time to head home." Her tone was more demanding that I get ready to leave than it was that she had just gotten bored of shopping. So I did what I was told and we were on our way home.
It was really late when we pulled up into the driveway; Edward was waiting outside for us. I felt like something was up, but I am always the last to know anything. He came over to my side and helped me out of the car. I was almost the walking dead. He carried me upstairs and put me in bed. I can't remember anything after my head hit the pillow. I fell into a deep sleep.
I started having the weirdest dream; I was dreaming that Edward had fallen ill. He was lying in a hospital bed; the doctors around him were saying he wasn't going to make it. He was going to die along side of his mother. He was dying of the Spanish flu. Then I saw Dr. Cullen, I mean Carlisle; he was helping Edward. He leaned down and whispered into Edwards's ear, and then Edward screamed in agony.
I screamed "NO" and quickly awoke shaking and crying. Was Edward going to die? Was he sick? Just then I felt his cold touch on my arms.
"Bella, Bella what is wrong? Can you hear me? I am here with you." He sounded scared,
That couldn't have been a memory that must have been a nightmare. Edward didn't die, he was right here next to me. I was so sure that it seemed more than just a dream.
"Oh Edward, you died." The water works really started to flow now.
"What Bella, I am right here; tell me all about it." He was rubbing his hands up and down my arms trying to calm me.
"I had a dream; no it was a nightmare; you were dying of the Spanish flu. Carlisle was there and he whispered into your ear and then you screamed in excruciating agony." I told him as the sobbing attack continued.
"Bella, shh just relax, you are safe, I am not going to let anything happen to you." He remained so calm. His voice was that of my angel's voice again. I instantly calmed down.
He held me tight throughout the rest of the night. I didn't have another dream or a nightmare.
What would I ever do if he left me, and was no longer with me? I couldn't bear to live a single day without him.
I would turn to total darkness before I would go on existing without him.
Chapter 11: Chapter 11
I am starting this chapter off with Edward's POV. It is from the previous chapter. Then after Edward is done then I will move it on to the real chapter 11. I will remind anyone who forgets or didn't read this.
Day with Alice (cont.)
Edward POV
I decided to use the time away from Bella to go out on a hunt. I was in desperate need of one. With the way Bella had been waking up in the middle of the night I couldn't risk not being there. So I was asked Alice to take Bella shopping; I really hope she never finds out that it was my idea, but I really needed to hunt. I called and asked Emmett if he would like to join me. We couldn't go too far, but it will be nice to spend some time with my brother again. My family has been so supportive lately, let alone the last 50 years. No one could have a better family than mine.
We made our way up north almost to the border of Canada, when we both hit the scent of some mountain lions. Emmett's favorite is grizzly bears but they are still in hibernation this time of year. I was fortunate that mountain lions were my favorite. He headed a bit to the east, and I got a scent of one towards the northeast. I was just finishing up with it when my phone rang. I looked at the caller idea; it was Alice. Oh god is Bella okay? My mind started to race thinking of everything that could go wrong; because where Bella is concerned what could go wrong usually does go wrong. I flipped open the phone.
"Alice, just tell me she is okay before you say anything," I had a tone of urgency in my voice.
"Edward, trust me when I say this; Bella is fine, but I had a vision and I need to tell you right away. It is very important you listen to me and do exactly what I say. Do you understand?" I think her tone was hugely more urgent than mine.
"Gotcha Alice, what is going to happen?" Alice usually doesn't act like this unless her vision meant someone was going to be harmed.
"Now Edward, you need to promise me you will stay calm as I tell you my vision, and listen to it completely." She waited for a response
"Okay I promise." Now I was starting to get worried. This must have something to do with Bella.
"Okay the first thing I saw was Victoria; she was reading a newspaper article about Bella waking up from a coma after 50 years, and she has decided to come to Forks to kill her, and get her revenge for James. I also saw something else; well I didn't actually see anything that is what has me worried."
"What do you mean you didn't actually see anything else?" I cut her off.
"Edward I said let me finish; After seeing Victoria I looked to see if I could see Bella and she disappeared, not that someone took her, my vision just went black. I couldn't see her. That has never happened before. I am bringing Bella home right away, I know you needed the time to hunt, but I don't feel safe having Bella away from you right now. I need to figure out why she disappeared. We will be there in about an hour." She hung up before I could say anything. Whatever is going to happen; it has Alice spooked. I called Emmett right away and quickly gave him the rundown of the situation, and told him I would see him back in forks. I ran faster than I had ever run before back to Forks; back to make sure my Bella was safe.
I was pacing out in front of the house when Alice finally pulled up. I went to the car scooped Bella up and carried her to her bed; she was completely exhausted. She fell asleep instantly. She was home. She was safe for now.
Old friends
A/N this is where chapter 11 actually starts. I wanted to give you Edward's POV for reasons that well if I included in last chapter it would give too much away for this chapter, I am sorry for leaving you all hanging on Alice's vision, but I am new at writing these and I was trying to go for suspense.
Bella POV
When I woke up; I wasn't feeling too good. I looked over and Edward was right next to me. He felt colder than usual. I felt hotter than I usually felt.
"Bella, are you feeling okay? You don't look so good." Edward had that motherly caring look to him.
"Oh and I love you too." Even though I wasn't feeling very well; I couldn't resist getting a wise crack in.
"Actually I don't feel good, I feel like I am on fire, and my whole body aches." I mustered out the words.
"I think we need to go see Carlisle at the hospital today." He looked like he had a lot of different things going through his head at the same time. But he was right I needed to see Carlisle.
Okay, let me get dressed and we can go." I got up out of bed slowly, and took my clothes into the bathroom. I closed the door, and this time I made sure to lock it. I didn't need a repeat of the incident from the other day. I could hear him talking to someone on the phone; I think he was calling Carlisle. I jumped in the shower and quickly cleaned myself. I kept peeking out of the side of the shower curtain; just checking that he wasn't standing there, which he wasn't ever there.
I got out and got dressed; when I opened up the door he was standing right there. I nearly had a heart attack. How can he be so quiet at times?
"You ready? Carlisle said he can see you now. Do you want me to carry you down to the car?" He was holding his hands out.
"I am perfectly capable of walking at the moment, I will let you know if that fact changes," I giggled letting him know that I was kidding around. For some reason I always get snide and sarcastic when I get sick. It used to drive my mom crazy. We walked down to the car, and he drove a little fast, but not nearly as fast as Alice had driven last night.
We pulled up to the hospital and went inside; Carlisle met us right inside the main entrance. He walked with us to an examining room. Once inside he had me sit on the bed. I noticed Edward nod and right away I knew they were doing it again. I cleared my throat and Edward looked at me; I think he knew why I had cleared my throat, because he looked so guilty.
"If you want to talk about me, and you don't want me to hear it will you two please at least step out of the room and away from me." I had that sarcastic, but mean insulting tone in my voice.
I think they got the hint.
"Bella, Carlisle and I are going to go to his office for a few minutes to discuss some things. We will be right back. I want you to stay in here, and lie down and relax okay." He walked over to me and gave me a kiss on my forehead and walked out of the room with Carlisle.
I sat here on this bed for a few, but Mother Nature was calling, so I looked around and there was no bathroom in here. I walked to the door and peeked out. I saw a restroom sign on a door down by the nurse's station; it wasn't that far, so I head towards it.
As I passed the nurse's station I saw someone standing there talking to the nurse, but it sounded like he was almost arguing with her.
"I am sorry sir we are not at liberty to give out such information, unless you are family, and according to our records she has no family." The nurse was trying to be nice to him.
"Please, I just need to know if she is okay, I know the papers said she was released a while ago, I came here as soon as I got the news. I need to see her." He was pleading with her.
I felt bad for this guy, it sounds like he really wanted to find this girl.
"I am sorry sir I wish I could help you, but there are rules."
"Fine, I will just have to find another way to find her." Just after he said that he turned around and we nearly bumped into one another. I looked up at him, and he seemed so familiar; I just couldn't place where I had seen him before.
"Oh I am sorry, excuse me." He said as he looked down and our eyes met one another. His eyes grew very wide and confused looking.
"Bella, is that you?" He knew my name. Do I know him?
"Do I know you? You seem to know me. Who are you?" I knew he seemed familiar, but I couldn't put a name to him.
"It is me Jacob; Jacob Black. Our dads were best friends. Oh my god I can't believe the story was true. You haven't changed a bit. How are you? I have so many quest…" I cut him off before he could go on rambling.
"Jacob, you knew my dad? But he died a long time ago. I mean I have been here for 50 years, and you don't look any older than around 25. Why is it that nobody ages around here?" I mean really all these people that know me all look so young.
Just then I heard a loud growl coming from down the hallway, I look over and I see Edward. He is glaring at this guy Jacob, and he has that evil glare in his eyes; I remember that glare it is the same one from my dream.
My head started to spin and I was getting dizzy. I looked towards Edward then I turned back towards Jacob. I kept turning my head looking back and forth until I my legs just gave out on me. My head was spinning out of control. Then everything went black.
It was dark for just a moment, and then there was a flash; the next thing I knew I was walking on a beach, and I was talking to that guy Jacob. He was telling me about his old legends of his tribe. I seemed to be very interested in hearing about them. Then he mentioned something about 'The Cold Ones'. I listened to what he had to say; as soon as he finished with that story a flurry of other visions came into focus. Cold skin, incredible speed, never eats; don't go out in direct sunlight, oh my god they are… no that is impossible. I recalled some more memories, yes I remember now they are VAMPIRES!
All of a sudden I heard his voice calling for me. Do I want to respond to him? Can I handle the fact that I am in love with a vampire. Vampires who would ever believe me? I don't think I would ever tell anybody. Is this the secret they have been hiding from me? Was that the day Edward wished I wouldn't remember? The day; I discovered what he was. The more I try to rationalize the fact that they are vampires; the more I think of all of the memories of them; there are lots of happy memories with them. I love them; all of them, but I know that I am 100% in love with Edward. I can feel all of these emotions that have been buried deep within my own mind. I need him; without him there is no me. But now I wonder about something else; if I was a part of their family then why am I still human? If they loved me as much as I loved them wouldn't I be one of them. A flash happens, I hear the words 'Edward I have seen the change, she was one of us.' But I didn't change I am still human, and very confused. I needed answers, but how am I going to get them. Will they tell me, or are they hiding something else? What if they don't want me? I couldn't take it if they didn't want me. Do I really truly want to be a vampire? I don't know.
I hear his voice calling for me again, and now I can feel his icy touch. I want to go to him, but I am slightly afraid. I am afraid that if I tell him I know what he is; then I don't know what will happen.
"Bella, Bella wake up love. Please I can't lose you again. Come back to me. I need you." His voice is so full of love and pain. I need to go to him. I feel a strong desire to go to him. I start to open my eyes. Here goes nothing.
I look up at him; his eyes are filled with love and concern. I need to tell him, but I want him to tell me. I think that if I can get him to tell me about what they are; then maybe I can trust in the fact that they still want me.
"Edward… I…" I am telling myself what to say but the words are not coming out right.
"Oh Bella you came back to me. I thought I had lost you again." He bent down and kissed me on my forehead, and I sort of flinched. I didn't mean too. It was some deep down subconscious reaction. He pulled back very quickly and looked at me with a look of pure shock.
"Edward I know… but I really need to hear you tell me. Please." The tears starting pouring down my cheeks.
"Bella what do you mean you know?" He sounded as those he had to choke those words out.
"I know about you, all of you." I had to look away. I felt so ashamed. "I just need to know that you trust me enough to tell me." I whispered while hanging my head down.
"Are you sure Bella? I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to be afraid."
"I am only afraid that you will all won't want me if I say it; so please I need to hear it from you this time."
"We will always want you no matter what. We love you Bella."
"Please…" I finally looked up and stared right into his eyes. Then he responded in a low whisper of a voice.
"We are Vampires."
Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Questions and Answers
Edward POV
I can't believe I told her, but she begged me too. I wish she would say something. She hasn't said a word since I told her. Say something; anything just say something. Does she still love me? Can she love me? Have I lost her for good? I am going insane. Why did that dog have to show up here? We were doing just fine, and he shows up and crashes our world. I knew she was getting close to figuring it out, but I wanted her to react the way she did the first time she figured it out. What else does she know? Does she remember everything? Please Bella say something.
Our eyes were still locked onto one another, neither of us breaking away. I wish I could read her mind right now. To know what to say; to know what she is thinking. Will she leave? Will she be repulsed by us? She flinched when I kissed her forehead. Does it disgust her for me to touch her? I really need to know. I want to grab her and pull her into my arms and feel my lips pressing hers. I want to feel the sparks of electricity that flows between us. The jolt of electricity that jump started my heart all those years ago, and brought me back to life. Please I need to hear that you still love me.
Bella POV
Oh my god I was right they are vampires. Why isn't he saying anything? Is he mad at me for making him tell me? He told me though; that is a good sign right? Will he still want me? Do I feel the same way about him as I did before I knew? Yes. I know I still love him; I can't ever imagine not loving him. Why isn't he saying anything? He hasn't even looked away; he is still staring into my eyes. I am staring into his eyes; I am trying to look and see deep into his soul. Is there a place for me in there? I feel as though he has already captured my soul. I still wonder why I never became one of them though. Did they think all those years ago; that maybe I wasn't good enough to become one of them? I don't want him to think that I don't want him to touch me again, I feel bad for flinching when he kissed me. I want him to kiss me. I want him to wrap me in his arms and hold me tight. Whenever I am in his arms I know I am safe, and nothing can hurt me. Please I need to hear that you still love me.
Carlisle POV
I watched as Edward and Bella just sat there, and stared into each other's eyes. I can only wonder what is going through both of their minds. I have a feeling that as much as those two are connected it is most likely the same thoughts and questions. I can only sit back and let them work it out. I wish there was something in my power that could make this situation easier on both of them. It tears me up inside to see them both in so much pain. They love each other more than either could ever comprehend. I have seen it from the very beginning. When Bella came into Edwards life she awoke him out of a lifetime of darkness, and in turn he awoken her from a lifetime of darkness. They were put on this earth to be together.
I suddenly became aware of the fact that we were not alone. I looked around the room and I noticed Jacob black standing by the door. It seems he was the key to unlocking Bella's memories of the fact that we are vampires. I think I need to step out and give them some space; hopefully Jacob will follow me out, and leave Edward and Bella to work things out together.
Jacob POV
What the hell happened? What did those bloodsuckers do to her? Why is she just staring at him? She still is as beautiful as she was before. I can't believe I am actually looking at Bella. She didn't know who I was though. Why didn't she know me? She acted like she had never seen me before. She made that bloodsucker tell her they were vampires. Didn't she already know that? When the hell did they come back here? I wonder if the pack knows. I should go and inform them, but I feel that if I leave now I may never get to see Bella again. Wow I still can't believe she is right here in front of me. I just wish she would stop staring at that filthy bloodsucker. I need to say something to her, and snap her out of the spell he is putting her under. I remember going over to Charlie's and trying to console him after she slipped into the coma. He was so heartbroken. I wonder if she knows how he died yet. I have to get her attention.
"Bella can you hear me?" She didn't respond, so I walked over to her, and shook her shoulder. She shuddered and jumped away. At least she finally broke eye contact with that bloodsucker.
"Jacob Black if you ever put your hands on Bella again I will rip them off and feed them to you." Edward coldly spit out.
"Who are you; to tell me what I can and cannot do; you filthy bloodsucker." I snapped right back at him.
At which point he jumped up and stood in a crouch fighting stance directly in front of me, and I sprung into my fighting position. Just as we were about to go at it, Bella screamed.
"STOP IT, PLEASE. I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU TO FIGHT!" she slumped towards the floor, Edward caught her just before she hit the floor; he carried her over to the bed and laid he down upon it.
"I am sorry for screaming, but it looks as though I have both of your attention now." She spoke in a soft, but authoritative voice.
"I am having a hard enough time trying to figure everything out that is going through my head without having to break up fights between you two. Please I beg of you I am going to need both of you to help me recapture who I was 50 years ago. I have a lot of memories flooding my head all at once, and I may need some help putting them in the places they belong. I have questions for both of you to answer." I don't remember her being this demanding, but I think I like it.
I glanced over at the bloodsucker, and he shot me a nasty glare, oh that's right I almost forgot he could read minds.
"Now Edward would you mind; if I had a few minutes to speak with Jacob alone? I think he can answer some questions that I have regarding Charlie." She looked over at him and I could tell she was pleading with him through her eyes.
"Fine, but just so know I will be right outside the door." He shot a glare my way. I just smiled, and I thought to myself knowing he could hear it 'ha bloodsucker she does want to talk to me first.'
There was a deep growl eradiating from within him as he walked out of the room.
Now it was just me and Bells.
"What would you like to know bells?" my tone went back to being nice and chipper.
"Well for starters can you tell me what happened to me?" She needed to know the truth and who knows what those bloodsuckers out there have told her.
There was a loud sounding growl coming from right outside the door. Good he is listening; he should hear all of this; after all it occurred because of him.
"You were in your truck and you were hit by a drunk driver in a suburban. His vehicle was bigger than the truck and he was going very fast. I came to the accident site just as they were taking you away. It was a very gruesome sight to see. Everyone was shocked that you even came out of it alive and in one piece. Let me know if I am saying anything that you don't want to hear okay Bells." I wanted to truthful with her, but I don't want to hurt her.
"No I need to know everything, I lost 50 years of my life. Did you know who was driving the other vehicle?" she looked like she was strong enough to hear the truth.
"Yeah, I think the drivers name was Tyler something… Crowley I think. Yeah his name was Tyler Crowley." Her face turned to utter shock.
"Tyler Crowley did this to me? What almost killing me the first time with his van wasn't enough? Oh I just can't believe my luck.
"Can you tell me about Charlie? I need to know how he was after what hap…" she started to tear up and couldn't finish her sentence, but I knew what she wanted to know. I just wished it wasn't me to be the one to tell her.
"Charlie had a rough time after the accident. You were his whole world; I know you know that he loved you more than anything in the world. He slipped into a deep depression. His whole life fell apart when he lost you. He came up here every day for a year to sit by your bedside, and hold your hand. He would talk to you for hours on end, but you never woke up. He eventually got fired from his job and he quit going fishing. On the one year anniversary of your accident, Billy and I went to visit him and to check on him, we…" I couldn't be the one to tell her. I can't hurt her like that. She is going to be in so much pain.
"And? Please I want to… I need to know!" she was pleading with me through her eyes now. I can't refuse her when she looks at me like that.
"We found him unconscious in his bed; he was holding a picture of you and him. The official cause of death was ruled a suicide by sleeping pills." She cried out in hysterics; I knew this was going to hurt her.
Edward came running in and went right to her side. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth. She was sobbing Charlie's name over and over. He shot me a dirty glare, but then it changed into a remorseful apologetic look, as if he understood how hard it was for me to have to give her that news, and thankful that he wasn't the one who had to do it.
I needed to get out of here. I couldn't handle seeing her in this much pain.
"I am so sorry Bells; I never wanted to have to tell you. I am so sorry." I don't know if she heard me or not, but I had to leave, so I turned towards the door and ran. I ran all the way through the hospital; all the way to the woods behind the hospital, as soon as I was in the cover of the trees I phased, and ran until I couldn't run anymore.
Edward POV
Jacob was right; everything that has happened was because of me. If I wouldn't have left her that day; none of this would have happened. Bella would have never been in that accident, Charlie would have never felt the need to end his life, and I would have been with Bella for the last 50 years instead of her being trapped in darkness. If she ever found out this was entirely my fault; she would never be able to forgive me. She is hurting so deep right now, I am just thankful she is not pushing me away. I couldn't stand it if she had to suffer like this alone. I wish I had the power to go back and never leave her. I don't know if she can get over how much pain Charlie had to endure. That he was in so much pain he thought the only way out was to end his life. I know she is feeling guilty thinking it is all her fault, but the blame lies at my feet. I have to help her get through this, but how? What can I do?
"Bella what can I do to help you get through this; to stop feeling so much pain?" I pleaded with her.
"Just hold me… and don't let go. If I am going… to get through this… I need to feel you… all around me." She sputtered out in between bouts of hysterical sobs.
"I love you Edward." She whispered as I held her tightly against my body; wrapping my arms around her.
"As I love you Bella."
A/N Thank you for all of the reviews, I enjoy reading them and knowing that somebody out there enjoys my story. i already know how I am going to end this story, but everything leading up to that point is just flowing through my fingers as i type. so if you find the story is going astray please feel free to let me know. thank and enjoy.
Chapter 13: Chapter 13
A/N: Thank you all so very much for all of the good reviews. I really enjoy reading them and knowing that so many people like this story. I apologize that I won't be putting this through Bella's POV, but her mind is racing all over the place and I don't think that I could put it into words that anyone would be able to understand.
Truth and Lies
Edwards POV
As I sat there holding her in my arms; allowing her to cry out all of the pain she felt about Charlie; I thought about the fact that she just told me that she loves me. She still loves me; even after remembering what I am. I keep wondering if she has remembered that day yet. The day that will forever be planted into my memories as the day I ruined Bella's life. I don't know how much more time I have before she remembers it. What will be the trigger to set it off? I notice that the important memories need some kind of trigger in order for her to recall the memory. I have to figure out what it could be, so that I can avoid it. How much longer will I get to be with Bella? I am hoping that our love will be enough for her to forgive me for leaving her, but with Bella I never know what she is going to do, or how she will react.
I glanced at the clock on the wall; we had been sitting here now for about 6 hours. She was still sobbing and crying out for Charlie. Every time she said his name I felt an ache within my cold non beating heart, and then she would look up at me and I swear I could feel it take a beat. I wish I could take all of this pain away from her. Just then the sobs seemed to slow down, and come to a stop; was she going to make it through? I gave her a slight squeeze, and she responded by reaching up and touching my cheek with her hand. She uncurled out of our embrace and cupped one side of my face within her small fragile hand. She just stared right into my eyes, no better yet she saw straight through right into my soul. She must have seen something, because her eyes didn't squint anymore, and it looked as though a huge barrier had been lifted from her eyes. She pulled away from me at that moment. Oh my god, she must have remembered that day. What am I going to do? I can't lose her, not now.
"Edward I think it is time for you to answer some things for me." She spoke in a soft, calm voice. Just moments ago she was hysterically crying, and now she was calm and she wanted answers from me. What am I going to say?
"What would you like to know?" I tried to hide the fact that I was about to have a panic attack. I kept telling myself don't let it show, remain calm, and whatever you do don't hurt her again.
"Well for starters…" she trailed off, and it looked as though she was trying to find the right was to say something.
Was she trying to tell me that she didn't want me anymore, because I had already been the one to leave her, and that I was the one to blame; for why her whole life had been taken away from her? I think she saw that it looked like I was about to have a panic attack when she spoke again.
"Give me a moment I want this to come out right. Okay." I would give her all the time in the world, if it meant that we could stay together forever. The she started to speak again.
"I have all of these memories coming back to me at once, some I understand but there are some that don't make any sense to me, and then there is this one memory. It hurts to even think about it, and I think you are the only person to elaborate on what happened. So can you tell me everything now." She looked confused and bewildered. She was determined to get everything out in the open and make sense of all these new memories.
My worst fear came to light, she remembered that day. What am I going to say to her? How am I going to explain that I was so wrong to even think about doing that to her; let alone the fact that I Did actually do that to her. What am I going to do?
"What memory is it that hurts you?" I tried to sound like I didn't know what one could possibly hurt her so much.
"Well it is still kind of blurry, but I see you and me and I am in so much pain, I am burning so much inside; then you say that you will make it all go away. Then you bite me and the burning pain goes away. I know that you stopped me from becoming one of you and I want to know; why?" her voice trailed off into a whisper by the time she said that last word.
Oh thank the heavens above, she remembered the day that James attacked her, and not the one when I had left her. I had to try and focus I could not let on that I was so excited by the fact she didn't remember the worse day of her life.
"Oh that was when James attacked you, and he bit you, I sucked all of the venom out before you went through the change. I couldn't stand to see you in pain." I hoped that I didn't sound excited. I tried to speak in a non emotional tone.
"But why? I mean why wouldn't you let me change, why didn't you let me become one of you? Didn't you love me? Don't you want me to be with you?" tears started to form in her eyes.
I had to explain to her; at that time I still considered myself to be a monster, and I didn't want to take her soul from her, I couldn't end her life. But how was I going to get it through to her in just the right way? Here goes nothing.
"I didn't allow the change, because I loved you so much that I couldn't end your life; I couldn't take your life from you. I believed myself to be a monster at that time; it was you who finally showed me that there is a purpose to living. You were not ready to leave everything behind, and I knew that. I also want to admit that I was selfish I wanted you to remain human; I wanted to keep you human so that you could experience a life, a normal life. I loved you with all of my heart, and I still do. I wanted to spend a lifetime with you." I was being truthful with her, and at the same time I was being truthful to myself.
The look on her face then changed from one of confusion to one of understanding, and she curled back into my arms, and squeezed me as hard as her tiny fragile human arms could muster. I felt a rush of relief wash through me. She understood why I did what I did at that time, Could she understand like this when she remembers that I had left her? I could only hope and pray.
We sat there and talked all through the night, and I told her everything, well not everything the only thing I didn't tell her about; was that day. She seemed to be more at peace about her life now; it was as if she was complete again. She had said since she woke up from the coma;that she had felt like there was this big hole that was consuming her, but now that she knew everything it seemed to be almost gone.
"Edward you have told me everything; right?" She asked with a worried, but yet calm expression on her face.
What was I going to do now? I don't think I have it in me to lie to her. I was hoping she wouldn't ask this, but she did. Now I have to decide what I am going to do. I can't tell her, there would be no way of telling her something like that without hurting her. I decided that I had to lie to her; she had been hurt enough today. I didn't want to lose her again.
I quickly pulled her close to me, so that she couldn't see the look on my face as I was about to lie to her. I felt so ashamed and guilty.
"Yes." As I said it a wall of utter disgust for myself hit me. How could I lie to her? I had to keep convincing myself that I did it to protect her, so she wouldn't be hurt, but my rational side kept reminding me that I was also doing it to save myself from being hurt.
As soon as I said that she yawned and snuggled up deeper into me; I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her; instantly she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I looked down at her sleeping face and felt so ashamed of myself, but then I thought about the fact that I still have her in my arms. She is still here with me; I had to keep telling myself that was the reason for doing it. A struggle I was going to have to live with forever.
I realized a while later that I hadn't been able to finish my hunt, and I was thirsty. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone. I needed to call someone to come over here and stay with Bella, while I go hunt.
"Hey I was wondering when you were finally going to call me." Alice said with a tint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Yeah well Bella is sleeping now, and I need to hunt, can you come over here and stay with her?" I knew she would, but out of courtesy for her I asked anyway.
"Yeah sure I will be right over, oh and by the way you know you didn't have to lie to her. When will you ever have faith in Bella?" I really wasn't in the mood to have to deal with Alice, because I knew she already knew what I had just done to Bella.
"I know, please don't rub it in I feel bad enough as it is. I really don't want to talk about it right now." I hung up the phone.
Alice was right, but the damage was done and I would have to live with it. I decided to have Bella stay in the hospital overnight, I felt it was safer for her to be here than anywhere else right now. I remembered that Victoria was on her way to Forks, and with me gone to hunt I figured it was safer for her to be here; she would have Alice and Carlisle around to protect and watch over her.
Alice and Carlisle walked into the room, and I slid gently away from Bella, and walked over to Alice. I gave her a look to tell her please I don't want to talk about it right now. She seemed to understand and nodded back to me. I then looked at Carlisle,
'Edward don't worry we will take perfectly good care of her, she is safe with us. Plus I want to check her out, and run some tests; considering she wasn't feeling so good this morning. Now go and hunt.'
I nodded to him and he gave me a small smile as he nodded, as if to reassure me that Bella will be fine,
I left the hospital and made my way into the woods behind it. I could still make out the scent of Jacob. This was the way he had gone. I started to run. I needed to clear my head, but I couldn't get the fact that I had just lied to the most important person of my whole existence. How could I have done that? I wasn't paying attention to where I was going until something made me stop dead in my tracks. It was a scent. A vampire scent; it was slightly fresh maybe from earlier this morning. I started to follow it, and I seemed to be getting close, but then I noticed I was at the border. I came to a halt. I really wanted to follow that scent, but I couldn't break the treaty.
Out of the trees ahead I saw a couple of figures coming out. I looked closer and sniffed the air. I realized it was a wolf. I wasn't sure who it was, so I listened to their thoughts.
'What is he doing here; he almost crossed the border, and that would have meant war.' Came from the silver one
'Settle down; let us see what it is he wants' came from the brown; I took him to be the leader of the pack; he had a strong authoritative tone in his thoughts.
"I am Edward Cullen, and I am sorry that I almost crossed the border, I was on the trail of another vampire's scent." I wanted to reassure them I wasn't looking for a fight.
'Jacob told me about him that is the bloodsucker that can read minds.' The silver one seems to have a temper about him.
"Yes I can hear you."I was trying to be as respectful as possible with them.
'Well then we will be able to communicate without having to phase.'
'Yes we have been out patrolling our land and we came across that scent this morning, we have been chasing her all around, she is fast and very elusive. Why may I ask are you following it?'
"Well I am afraid that she has come here to hurt a human girl, Bella. I am trying to protect her."
'Bella. Bella Swan?'
"Yes," Do you know Bella?" I knew this was not Jacob.
'I have never met her, but Jacob has shown me thoughts of her, so why does this female vampire want to hurt Bella?'
"Well a long time ago, her mate tried to hurt Bella so my family had to kill him, and she wants revenge, so she wants to kill Bella." Just saying those words made my whole body cringe.
'We will assist you on our side of the border, but I can't allow you or any of your family onto our land. We will do everything in our power to protect Bella; we do not wish any harm upon her. If we are to find this female vampire on our land, we have your permission as a Cullen that we may destroy her?'
"Yes, and may I ask a favor of you?"
'What is it that you would like to ask?'
"Well I was wondering if you could relay a message to Jacob from me." I was so hoping he would agree.
'A message for Jacob? Okay what would you like me to say to Jacob?'
"I wanted to tell him thank you and also to say I am sorry it was him who had to be the one to inform Bella about her dad's death. I know it was very hard for him to do that. I also wanted to tell him that she is doing better now, she is devastated but she has regained herself. I just wanted to let him know that she will be fine; I know he was worried about her when he left earlier. Thank you for granting me this favor."
'If that is all, we must get back to our patrols now.'
All of them turned around and headed back into the trees and were gone.
So Victoria is back. At least we have the assistance of the wolves if she runs onto their land.
I had to go hunt, I had to be strong to protect Bella. I took off running up north away from Vitoria's scent so that I won't get distracted again.
I had to hurry so I could get back to my Bella.
I missed her already.
Chapter 14: Chapter 14
Chapter 14 A/N Thank you so much for the reviews.
Danger in our midst
Edward POV
As I walked back into room; I could see Alice sitting in a chair next to the bed. I gave her a look and she shot one back at me.
'So are you ever going to tell me why you lied to her, you didn't tell her everything, I think you "left" out the most important thing?'
It was times like this that I really dreaded that Alice could see the future, and know everything. I knew I had made another mistake, but I was still rationalizing that it gave me more time with Bella, more time that Bella loved me.
I shook my head at her, and she just stood up and stomped in a very quiet manner out the door, as to not disturb Bella.
Once we were alone again I climbed back into the position next to Bella, she wiggled around a little bit, but stayed asleep. I gently moved a few strands of hair from her face and put them behind her ear. Oh god I love her.
It was starting to get dark again and she still wasn't waking up. She had been sleeping for 16 hours now. I was concerned hoping that all of the news she received yesterday and last night didn't push her mind over the edge and slip back into a coma again.
I called out to Carlisle, in a voice that was so low that no human would be able to hear it, but I knew Carlisle would.
"Carlisle, Bella is still not waking up it has been 16 hours. Can you please come and check on her?"
It was only about 5 minutes later that Carlisle walked in.
"Edward she is fine, yesterday was a traumatic day for her, she needs time to recover from that. She will wake up when she is ready. All of the tests I ran came back; it seems that is was just a simple virus. Her immune system will battle it, but I want to keep her here for a couple of days though. She is going to be fine. You just need to give her some time." Carlisle always seems to be able to calm you down, no matter what he was talking about. He always spoke with a certainty in the words he spoke. He would never lie to you. He is so much of a better person than I am.
"When I went out to hunt I came across Victoria's scent, she is back. I followed it out to the border; that is when I ran into the wolves." I didn't want to tell him that I almost crossed over the border into their land.
"What happened? The treaty isn't broken is it? Did you inform them that Victoria is not one of us?" Carlisle was worried; he didn't want the wolves to think of us as any danger to them.
"No Carlisle the treaty is still intact, and they have stated they will take care of her if they find her on their land. They know of Bella through Jacob, and they feel the same way protecting her." I could see the worry lines fade as he heard all was well with the treaty.
Just then Bella moved around a little. She put her hands up to her eyes and rubbed them; then stretching out her arms and yawned. She is awake, I was so happy.
"Hey there, how long was I asleep?" she looked at me with a small half smile, she seemed happy to see that I was here. That is a good sign she hasn't remember it yet.
"Well you have been asleep for about 16 hours, love." I gave her that crooked smile I know she likes, and just on cue her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red.
"You just love to make me blush, stop it." She giggled, but continued to blush.
"Bella you must be hungry, I can get the nurse to bring you something to eat, what would you like?" Carlisle said.
"Yeah I guess I am hungry, Could I get some soup, my stomach still feels a little queasy. I like chicken noodle. Thank you Carlisle." She snuggled up into my chest and wrapped her arms around me.
Carlisle stepped out of the room to go take care of getting Bella her soup.
"Did you have a nice sleep? How are you doing? Are you okay?" I said rubbing her back as she held onto me tighter.
"Well I think I am okay, I mean I still feel this ache in my heart for what happened to Charlie. I just wished that I could have woke up, and helped him. I miss him so much. How are you doing?" she looked up at me with those big chocolate brown eyes; they still had a bit of sadness to them, but when she looked at me they filled with love. I got a sudden surge of guilt penetrating my whole body.
"Better now that you are awake." That was the truth. I leaned down and kissed her hair.
"Edward, I was thinking about school, and I am not really sure I want to go back. Since so much as happened lately and I don't think I would do any good at school, at least not right now. Do you think that is okay?"
"You can do whatever you want, if you feel that you don't want to go back to school; then you don't have to go back, if later you would like to go back then I will see that it happens. I just want you to be happy, and that is all that matters to me, besides it looks like Carlisle wants you to stay here for a couple of days. I love you." I kissed her hair again, and she just sighed
"Well if I am going to have to stay here can you go get me some fresh clothes and my toothbrush please?"
"Okay I won't be long. Esme was saying how much she wants to come see you, would that be okay?" I didn't want to frighten her about the fact I didn't want her to be left alone for a single minute, because there was a vampire wanting to kill her.
"Oh I would love to see Esme; I have missed her so much, now that I remember who she is. I still feel so bad that I had forgotten all of you." She bowed her head as she said the last part of that.
I reached over and put my finger under her chin and raised it back up.
"Don't you ever feel that you have to apologize for what happened; none of it was your fault. Please don't feel sad; you remember us now and that is all that counts okay. Now let me see you smile." In an instant a perky little grin appeared on her face.
She leaned up and gave me a kiss, I think it was meant to be just a short little peck, but she wrapped her hands around my face and held pulled me closer to her. I then in turn wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer to me. Kissing her always felt so right. She moved her hands up into my hair and grabbed chunks of my hair in both hands squeezing and tugging, I felt a surge of lust flow all the way through my body, we had crossed over the boundaries I had set in place all of those years ago. I was pushing my self control to the most outer limits it would go. I didn't want to end this kiss, our lips moving in unison together, but I knew I had to stop. I had to stop before I got to the point where I wouldn't be able to stop.
I pulled back just a bit, and she knew that was the sign I was losing my control. So she pulled back too. It took her a moment to catch her breath, and then she just shook her head from side to side with a dazed glossed over look in her eyes.
"How could I have ever forgotten that?" she said jokingly still shaking her head back and forth.
"I have to go… now. I don't think I have the strength to fight my self control to not grab you and repeat what just happened. Carlisle is getting ready to come in anyway. Esme will be here in a few. I will see you later, I love you so much." I got up and walked to the door glancing back at her.
"I love you more."She instantly replied. I smiled at her. If only she knew the extent of my love for her.
As I walked out the door I knew Carlisle was standing right on the other side.
"Can you have Esme come here and watch Bella I am going to get her some fresh clothes I won't be gone long." I hated being away from Bella; I think a part of me was thinking that if I stay close to her and am always in her sight, then maybe she won't remember that day.
"Already done, I was at the door and I heard you two talking, and I didn't want to interrupt." Carlisle said looking away.
'I don't know how Edward has that much control. I have never seen two people have so much passion towards each other.'
"Carlisle, you saw that? How come I didn't hear you come in?" I was completely shocked, how could I have missed him coming in and catching us kissing like that. Thankful Bella had no idea that Carlisle had walked in on us, because I don't think there is a name for the shade of red she would've turned.
"My son, you were very distracted." He smiled and let out a chuckle.
I drove to her house, and as soon as I stepped out of the car I smelt it. Victoria had been here. I quickly went inside. Her scent was not in the house, so that means she hasn't been in the house yet. I went upstairs and threw some clothes in a bag, and got her bathroom necessities for her. I put the bag down in the car. I wanted to follow that scent.
I followed it for about 6 miles, It seemed to be getting stronger and then it just faded to the point it was hardly noticeable. I turned around and started to head back to the house when my phone started ringing. I stopped and looked at the phone; it was Alice.
"Edward, I just saw Victoria, she was at Bella's house. She saw you, and you didn't have Bella with you, so she went to the hospital. Edward I saw her go into the room. I saw her attack Esme, and then Bella. Carlisle couldn't get to her in time. I tried to call Esme but her phone rang here, she didn't take her phone. I am so worried; we are on our way to the Hospital; you can get there faster we are still an hour out. Get there quick please." Alice was frantic.
"I am on my way, I decided to run all the way to the hospital; I could get there quicker by running. It only took minutes before I ran into the room, I didn't know what to expect, but when I got in there Esme and Bella were sitting there talking. I frightened both of them as I had run into the room at full speed. Bella looked terrified, and Esme looked at me.
'Edward dear what is the matter? You look like something has you terrified.' Esme asked quietly in her head as to not alarm Bella.
"Alice had a vision." That was all I said. I didn't want to go into what she had seen, Bella would have freaked out.
'What was the vision? Was Bella hurt? You know I would never leave Bella unattended.'
"I know that Esme, everything is okay now, we don't need to worry about it anymore." I said pointing my expression towards Bella, Esme got what I was doing.
'Oh you don't want to tell Bella about it, you think she will be scared? Edward she is stronger than you give her credit for. She understands the danger of being around us, we talked a lot tonight. She had been doing a lot of soul searching since yesterday. Have trust in her; she will let you know if something is too much to handle.' Esme was right.
I always seem to react as if Bella can't handle anything, but look at how well she handled the news that vampires do in fact exist and she knew and loved a whole family of them.
"What was Alice's vision?" Bella was alert and wanting answers.
"Are you sure you want to know, because it is not going to happen. I can promise you that." I would die before I would let that evil witch Victoria lay one finger on Bella or Esme, or anyone of my family. She is going to die and soon.
"Yes I want to know what is going on. You have been acting strange today, and now Alice gets a vision of something you come running in here at full steam, and you had a look on your face like you were surprised to see us in here. What is going on?" She stated in a demanding but yet concerned tone.
I had no choice I had to tell her the truth, I promised myself I would never lie to her… again.
"Alice called me and said she saw Victoria coming here and then she saw her attack Esme…" I shot a glance over towards Esme, and she looked scared.
'It is okay Edward continue.' The look on her face didn't match the thought she was thinking.
"Then she turned to you Bella. Alice said Carlisle was too late and we had lost both of you." I hated having to be the one that had to tell them both Alice had a vision of them being killed. Now I know what Jacob had felt like when he had to tell Bella about Charlie.
"What Victoria is after me? Why? When? For how long?" she was frantic.
"When Alice took you shopping she had a vision that Victoria read an article about you waking up from the coma, and decided to get her revenge. She wants to take you away from me, because she feels that I took her James from her. Vampires are very bonded to their mates. When a mate is killed it affects a vampire on a much deeper level and they almost always seek out revenge." I was hoping that would help to explain why Victoria wants to kill Bella, so as to not scare Bella.
"You knew she was coming after me, and you didn't tell me. I thought we weren't hiding anything from each other. We agreed no more secrets." She was starting to get upset. Esme spoke up for me.
"We all thought it was for the best sweetie; we are very sorry we did not intentionally hide this from you. You only just got back your memory and we didn't wasn't to frighten you. We were going to tell you when the time got right, and I think that time just came. So please do not be upset with Edward dear." When Esme spoke with that tone of loving and caring in her voice no one could ever stay mad.
"I am sorry, I understand." Bella looked over at Esme. See what I mean.
"I am so sorry Bella; this is all my entire fault."I lowered my head down, and I swear if I could cry I would have sobbed.
Bella got up out of the bed and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me as hard as she could. I kissed her hair, and then she pulled back and pushed me head up with her finger.
"Don't you ever feel that you have to apologize for what happened; none of that was your fault. You were only doing what came naturally; you were protecting your mate. Now let me see that smile." Bella was comforting me. I don't deserve this, if it wasn't from being with me that day James would have never gone after her in the first place, so it was my fault. EDWARD I yelled to myself, you have to stop thinking that way; that is how you were thinking when you decided to leave her; remember! No stop it. I quickly snapped out of it and gave her a smile.
"Now I know you can do better than that." She looked at me; waiting for me to fully snap out it, and gave her a real smile.
"You asked for it." I said as I released a powerful grin, one that reached all the way to my eyes. I knew I had done it right when she grabbed my face with both hands and planted a kiss on me.
Just then Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose all came strolling in. all of them instantly changed their expressions once they saw everyone was safe.
'It was close Edward; you beat Victoria here by mere minutes. You must have set a vampire speed record getting here. I am so glad they are safe, that vision scared me. I will be looking more closely from now on. But she knows my power and she waits till the last minute before deciding anything. We will all have to be on the lookout all of the time. Right now I don't see her doing anything. Thank you for getting here so quick.'
I looked over at Alice and gave her a look of acknowledgement. She in turned went over and hugged Bella and Esme. Everyone followed suit and the hug parade was started.
My family was again safe.
But I knew we hadn't seen the last of Victoria.
Chapter 15: Chapter 15
Chapter 15 A/N Thank you for the reviews, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I do apologize for the cliff hanger, I will be updating it soon though, enjoy and please let me know how you think the story is going.
The Trap
Bella POV
I have had enough of this hospital, and I wanted to go home. Edward was staying with me around the clock. I noticed that we were never alone together again. There was always someone else hanging around the room with us. I guess they wanted to make sure I was safe, but I was starting to feel like a small child that had to be looked after every single minute. If I had to use the restroom Alice, Rose, or Esme went with me to stand guard. I felt as though I was being locked up. I needed some fresh air, but they thought it best that I stay indoors. I tried a couple of times to sneak out, but Alice always seemed to be one step ahead of me. Today is the day Carlisle said I could finally go back home.
I packed up all of my stuff, and was waiting for Carlisle to give the final okay to leave. Edward went outside and surveyed the entire hospital grounds. He said he wanted to make sure no one was or had been around the grounds in awhile. He came back in the room and said the grounds were clear. I get to go home.
I had been having this reoccurring dream. I wasn't sure what to make out of it, so I usually just let it go. I never got to finish the dream, always right at the end everything would go black and I would wake up. I was sure that is was just a dream, since I had gotten my memory back. I was sure I was back to having dreams and not memories.
I had been thinking a lot about whether I wanted to become a vampire or not. I know that before I wanted nothing than to become a vampire, however I don't think the same as I did before. My whole life has been altered. Before I had no doubts, even when it meant I would have to give up Charlie, Renee and all of my friends. Now I have no one left to have to give up, and the decision is harder. I can't understand why when I had so much to lose, I was willing to give up my humanity, but now that I have nothing to lose; I am not sure I want to give it up.
"You ready? I just got the okay from Carlisle." Edward said as he was walking over to the bed. I was sitting on the side of the bed when he sat down next to me and put his arm around me, and kissed my hair. I pushed myself into him just a little.
"Heck yes I am ready, I think I have had enough of being in this hospital. I want to go home." I stood up and headed for the door. I looked back and he was still sitting on the bed.
"Well you coming? Or do I have to walk home?" I was trying to sound serious, but I was only joking around.
"What? You think I would let you walk…" he looked over at me and saw that I had replaced my serious look with a huge grin.
He got up and walked over to me, and hugged me. "Not funny Bella."
On the drive home we didn't say a word. It was total silence. When we were a couple of blocks from the house I finally broke the silence.
"I can't believe we are alone, where is everyone?" I looked over at him and he seemed to be a million miles away.
"Edward… earth to Edward." I chuckled.
He finally turned his head to me. "Sorry I was trying to concentrate to see if I can sense anyone around the house. What did you say?"
"I said I can't believe we are alone, where is everyone?" I said it in a snide manner, and hoping he picked up on the fact I hated to be ignored.
"Oh, everyone is out searching the area around Forks. They will be coming by later."
We pulled into the driveway of the house. He held up his finger at me to instruct me to stay put. I obeyed and just sat there. He opened his door and stepped out. His face went cold and statue like. I wondered what he sensed.
He quickly turned in the direction of the house and stared at it for what only seemed to be a few seconds, and then he scanned the street in both directions. He then looked back at me in the car, and I was still sitting there wondering what was going on.
"Ed…." I started to call out to him, but he just held up his finger to his lips and looked at me. So I didn't say another thing.
All of a sudden he stiffened and grabbed me from the passenger side of the car and pulled me through the driver's side. I was pinned up against the car with Edward in front of me. He was posed ready to attack. I could tell he was listening for thoughts all around him, and I looked around to me we seem to be alone, but I knew he sensed someone was here. I kept looking around but saw nothing. He grabbed me and ran up to the porch of the house. He put me with my back to the door and kept moving his head in all directions trying to see who was here with us.
All of a sudden I could see them, there was two figures coming from each end of the yard. Each of them was moving closer to the house; closer to me and Edward. I saw one of them, he was tall, and had a muscular build. I would say he was in-between Emmett and Edward. The other one was small in height, but had huge muscles like Emmett. Could Edward fight the two of them, and still protect me?
Edwards's phone was ringing, I bet it was Alice she must have seen this coming. He didn't answer it, he was too busy looking at them and I bet he was listening to their thoughts and what they were going to do.
I could hear the growls and snarls coming from Edward. The sounds that were coming from him slightly scared me. I had never heard these deep scary sounds before. I backed up to the point where my back was glued to the front door. I wanted to run, but I knew I couldn't out run them, and I didn't want Edward to get hurt trying to hold me. What could I do? If that was Alice and she saw what was happening I knew they must be on their way here to help. How long would it take them to get here? Could Edward hold these two off until help arrived?
Both of the vampires were now at the edge of the yard. They just stopped. Edward looked at both of them, and then his face got hard. It looked like he was searching for what they were thinking, but it appeared he was getting nothing useful. They both took a jump forward towards us, and Edward went into a crouching position. He took one step forward leaving me standing at the front door. There was a good arm reach between us.
He shot his head back towards me in a swift motion almost a blur to me, and then it all happened so fast. The two vampires lunged forward to Edward, and he was looking at me, and then he turned back to them, the front door opened someone grabbed me and I was carried away in a fast motion. I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn't know which one of the Cullens had me, I was trying to open my eyes to see, but they were glued shut due to the speed in which we were moving.
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Edwards POV
On the drive back to the house I was trying to concentrate on everything around us. I was trying to listen to see if I could hear if anyone around the house. Bella had been quiet throughout the drive.
"Edward… earth to Edward." I heard Bella say something and it brought me out of my concentration.
"Sorry I was trying to concentrate to see if I can sense anyone around the house. What did you say?" I didn't mean to ignore her, but I keep hearing someone, but they are thinking erratically, and strange.
"I said I can't believe we are alone, where is everyone?"
"Oh, everyone is out searching the area around Forks. They will be coming by later." I had told them to search for any signs of Victoria.
All of a sudden I heard voices.
'I see them.'
'Yes I see them too. Wait till they get to the house, don't go near the car.'
I pointed over to Bella to stay in the car; they didn't want to attack while she was in the car. I opened the door and stepped out. That is when I caught their scent. There were two of them. I had never smelled these scents before. Then I caught another towards the house, but it seemed old. I looked down the street in both directions to figure out where they were.
"Ed…." I cut her off by holding my finger to my lips. She needed to be quiet.
'She is still in the car, in the passenger seat, you distract him and I will snatch her from the car.'
I can't leave Bella in the car. I quickly reached in and grabbed her and pulled her through the driver's side and I set her down behind me pinning her to the car. I shot my head around and tried to listen.
'Oh he took her out of the car. She is in the open now. Just make sure he doesn't get her close to the house.'
I quickly grabbed her up and ran up to the porch. I set her behind me, now they have to go through me to get her. I can see them now they were coming at us from two different directions. They were getting closer.
I heard my phone ringing, I knew it had to be Alice, but I couldn't answer it, I couldn't allow myself to be distracted for one second. She must have seen this, and if I don't answer she must know what is happening I know they will be on their way here, can I hold these two off until they get here. Can I keep Bella safe long enough?
I felt a deep growl coming forth and I started to snarl, I have never felt this much rage before, how dare these vampires dare to try to hurt my Bella. I feel Bella move back a step, and I moved forward a step, so that I may have a better advantage.
'Hum hum hum hum hum hum hum' that was all I was getting from one of them
'La La La la lalalala' and the other one is doing the same thing, they are useless.
I heard a faint sound behind me I turned to look at Bella thinking she may have collapsed. As soon as I was looking at Bella I heard them
'NOW'
'NOW'
I heard them both lunging my way, so I turned to fight them, and as I was getting ready to defend myself I heard the front door open, and that was when they stopped and stood still.
When I turned around Bella was gone. She must have went inside, I was distracted for a split second when one of them grabbed a hold of me; He tried to squeeze me, but I caught him slipping and took advantage and got out of his grip. We danced around and I finally went in for the kill. After I was done with him, I looked around, and saw Emmett was fighting with the other one. I saw Alice, Rose, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle, but no Bella.
I ran into the house, I was hit with the scent of Victoria. She had been in the house. I ran through the house looking for Bella. She wasn't anywhere to be found.
"Edward Victoria has Bella, which is what I was trying to call and tell you, why didn't you answer your phone?"
I fell to my knees, and my family all came to put their hands on my shoulders. They were all thinking the same thing.
'We will find her'
Victoria has my Bella.
Chapter 16: Chapter 16
Chapter 16 A/N Thank you for the reviews, Again I am sorry for leaving such a cliff hanger, but as i saw it unfold I had to leave it there. I hope you won't be disappointed with this chapter. I am trying to update 1 to 2 chapters a day. depending on how easy it flows out. some chapters are harder than others. but with all those awesome reviews it makes it easier to keep writing this story.
Victoria's Revenge
Victoria POV
I was running through the forest with Edward's mate on my back thinking of the fact that my plan actually worked. I had fooled those stupid vegetarian, mate killing vampires. It seemed too easy; I used their powers against them. I knew Edward would fight to save his precious little human girl. They had to pay for taking my James away from me. A mate for a mate. Now maybe he will feel the pain that I have endured for all of these years. I was just happy that those two lackeys had the sense to do as I told them and think of only the things I had told them to think. Edward reacted to their thoughts just exactly as I had planned.
I had to admit though I did owe Laurent for informing me of all of their gifts. After he left our coven when they killed James, he went up to Alaska to live with that other coven. They were friends of the Cullen coven. They accepted him right away. They told him everything I needed to know. He would relay information about them to me. I was going to get her one way or another. Now she is mine. I thought about killing her right away, but instead I figured that I would play some cat and mouse games with Edward; using this human as live bait.
Laurent had also told me of the treaty the Cullen family has with the Indian tribe here. He informed me that none of the Cullens were allowed onto their land. That made my plan perfect. I could go there and they wouldn't be able to follow me.
I would have to hide this human on their land, so I would be able to start my game. I was getting close to the place I wished to hide her, so I slowed down to a walk and came to a complete stop. I pulled her off of my back and set her on the ground. Her eyes were still closed. Even more perfect, she didn't know it was me that had taken her. I get to see the look of terror on her face. Just then she started to speak and open her eyes.
Bella POV
Finally I thought we are slowing down; I felt as whomever it was that was carrying me set me onto the ground. I was dizzy; Edward had never run this long with me on his back before. I needed to regain my senses. I sat there shaking my head back and forth.
"Geez are we even in the United…" I finally opened my eyes, and what I saw nearly scared me to death.
It was not one of the Cullens who had grabbed me and ran. It was Victoria. How could this have happened? Didn't Alice see this happening? Edward, oh my Edward was he okay? I straightened up immediately and looked at her. She was staring at me, then her expression changed it was as if she was toying with me. She smiled at me.
"Oh now there is no need for you to get hysterical, I have no plans to kill you, I am only using you to get to Edward." She spoke in a quiet voice and if I didn't know the rage she had towards Edward and me; then I would have thought she was sincere.
She didn't want to kill me, but she wanted to kill my Edward. No I wouldn't allow that. I couldn't allow her to harm Edward. I needed to save him, but how? I knew there was no way I could over power her, or even run away from her, or better yet there was no way to kill her.
I saw her turn her head to the tree line, I saw a figure walking our way. I thought; is that Edward had he found me? As the figure came closer I noticed it was not Edward. It was Laurent. Had he come to save me, after all he was friends with the coven up in Alaska. They were like a branch of the Cullen family. He had moved in with them after the whole James issue. But then I saw that he wasn't walking towards me; he was walking straight towards Victoria. She smiled as did Laurent.
"I see your plan worked Victoria, I should have never doubted you." I looked closer at him and noticed his eyes were red; not the golden color of a vegetarian.
I really feared for my life now; instead of one red eyed vampire there were two, and they were now staring right at me.
Oh Edward… Edward I love you.
Edward POV
As soon as I heard that Victoria had my Bella I ran in the direction of her scent. The scent seems to fade in and out, it didn't make any sense, I couldn't quit thinking about Bella, and what I could have done differently. It was my fault that Victoria had her. I just hope that I will find her before Victoria could harm her. I realized that I was running in circles. Where could she have gone? I was going back and forth hoping to find a fresh trail when my phone rang. It was Jasper.
"Edward you need to come back here. Alice is having a vision about Bella, She said that you won't find her if you stay where you are. She says that right now she can see that Bella is alive, but you need to get back to our house. She says you will find something on the way, but to keep coming home. She will explain when you get here. She says for you to hurry."
"I am on my way." I closed the phone and took off running the long way home; it would take me out by the border. I wonder what I would find.
As I neared the border I slowed down, I caught a scent in the air, I stopped and took a full breath in to see if it was the same scent I was following before, this one was different, but I did know it. It was Laurent. What was he doing down here, this scent was fresh. I could tell he stayed on the wolf's side of the border; he knew of the treaty we had with them. Why would he stay on their side? Alice had told me I would find something, was this what she was meaning? I decided to go home and find out. Just then my phone rang again, it was Jasper again.
"Hey, Alice said to tell you to go two miles north along the border, she says you will run into the wolves, because your future disappears. She said we need to tell them about what happened to Bella. She says we need their help."
"Got it, I will be home after I talk with them." I hung up the phone and turned to head north.
It only took a couple of minutes to notice a rust colored wolf was running along the border. I called out to him.
"Can we talk please?" I made sure to emphasize the word please, to show respect.
'What do you want bloodsucker?' I knew that voice, it was Jacob.
"That vampire that has all of us on high alert; well she has Bella." I really wished it was any other wolf other than Jacob. He has always hated me for being with Bella.
'WHAT HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THAT BLOODSUCKER TO GET HER HANDS ON BELLA?' he was screaming very loud within his thoughts.
"I didn't allow it, she set an ambush and snatched her up, she has taken her and I can't get a fix on her scent, it seems she has passed onto your land. I come here to inform you and your pack. I had talked with Sam earlier. He expressed his desire to help protect Bella. So I am asking for that help now." I knew that he would do anything to help save Bella.
'What do you want us to do? You know I can't let you onto our land without Sam's permission. I will search our land to see if I can't locate Bella's scent.' He seemed to sound as concerned and determined to find Bella as I was.
"Oh and I came across a scent that I know; His name is Laurent. I noticed that his scent stayed on your side of the border, so I do not know what that means, or if he is involved with Victoria. That is all I came here to say I need to get home so we can come up with a plan to find Bella." He nodded his head and as he turned away he thought one more thought.
'Sam gave me your message, Thank you I needed to know that Bella was fine after hearing about Charlie.'
He did really care for Bella. In a way I felt bad for him, because I know how special Bella is, and how much of an impact she makes on everyone she meets. You can't help but to love her.
I turned around and headed back to the house. I needed to talk with Alice and see what else she has seen about Bella.
Laurent POV
I couldn't believe Victoria's plan had actually worked. She is a crafty thing I will give her that. Edward is going to be furious. I just hope that by me staying on the other side of the border he would not be able to sense that I was involved. I don't want the wrath of Edward to come back to me. Victoria was planning on killing Edward, but I don't know how she is going to do it, she has kept her plans about that to herself. I don't think she has decided yet due to that pixie one seeing it.
"Laurent I want you to take Bella somewhere for me. I have found the ideal place to spring my trap on Edward. Go about twenty miles south over by the base of the mountain. You will see a small clearing, if you look up the cliff face you will see a cliff, I want you to take Bella and put her in that cave. Once she is there come back here to me okay."
"You want me to leave her there alone? Aren't you afraid she will escape?" I was confused she went through all that trouble of getting her just to leave her alone in a cave.
"Don't worry, she is human she won't be able to get out of there, you will see when you get there. I need her to be hidden on their land so Edward cannot find her. Now go we need to hurry."
I looked over at Bella she had a terrified look on her face. I felt bad about helping Victoria, but James and she was my coven. I didn't like James all that much, but I felt I owed it to Victoria to help her seek revenge. I walked over to Bella and picked her, flipped her over on my back and took off running.
As I was running I got a strange scent in the air, it reeked, but I kept running to get to the cave. It took about 5 minutes and I saw the clearing, looked up and saw the cave. Victoria was right there would be no Bella could escape from there. It was about 200 feet straight up a sheared off cliff face. I got to the base and moved my way up into the cave. I set Bella down, and she broke into sobs.
She looked at me with her eyes filled with tears.
"Why Laurent, I thought you had turned your way of life around? What happened?" she pleaded with me.
"My dear I tried for many years, but I was not able to fully embrace that style of living. Victoria had welcomed me back, and I vowed to assist her with getting revenge over James. I am sorry that you had to be involved. Now stay here and please don't try to escape it would upset Victoria if you were to die before she gets what she wants." I tried to sound as nice as possible.
I left her there just like Victoria had wanted me too. I made my way back down into the clearing. I was going around in circles confusing the scents. Once I could tell that Bella's scent was scattered around I started running back to where Victoria was when I came face to face with a giant wolf. This wolf was the size of a horse. He sniffed the air, and then he growled at me. I crouched in a fighting stance, he lurched right at me, I tried to move out of the way, but he took a snap at me, and bit into my arm. He was shaking it viciously. You could hear the grinding of his teeth as they sank deeper into my skin. Finally my arm gave way and it came clean off. I tried to swing my other arm to hit him, but he moved out the way and bit into my side. He had my whole mid section between his teeth. He started to shake his head back and forth I was being ripped in half. I was going to cease to exist. He let go of my right before I was torn in two. He walked up to me, and I knew what was coming next… he lunged towards my head and bit it off.
Jacob POV
I was out searching our land when I came across Bella's scent. It was faint like someone was trying to hide it. But I knew her scent all too well. I could find even the smallest trace of it amongst a million people. I started to follow it when I came face to face with a vampire. I sniffed the air and he had Bella's scent on him, and I could tell he was in on kidnapping Bella with that other bloodsucker. I growled at him. He took a fighting stance, but I was angry and I wanted to kill him.
I charged at him, he tried to move but I got a hold of his arm. I shook it until it tore off from his body. He tried taking a swing at me. It only made me angrier. I ducked his swing and was able to sink my razor sharp teeth into his mid section. As I shook him back and forth all I could think about was Bella, and wondering if she was still alive. I nearly ripped him clean in half, but I stopped and dropped him to the ground. He was heavily injured, and was unable to get away. He sat there on the ground, this was too easy I walked up to him still feeling so much anger,
This is for Bella, you filthy stinking bloodsucker'
I thought to myself as I bit his head off.
and ended his existence.
Chapter 17: Chapter 17
Chapter 17 A/N Again and Againi wish to thank all you that gave me reviews. i am sorry if I wasnt clear on what happened with Bella, I hope this chapter will help. Please enjoy.
In Search of Bella
Bella POV
I sat there on the cave floor for about ten minutes. I wasn't sure if Laurent was going to come back. I finally stood up and walked over to the opening of the cave. I peered out and I could see a clearing down below. I was so high up I realized there would be no way for me to escape from this place; Victoria was right. I could only hope that Edward would be able to find me and save me. I was so afraid that Victoria would find him first though. I figured it would useless to scream, so I just turned back to face the inside of the cave. I just then noticed there were camping supplies sitting over against the far wall of the cave. I found a sleeping bag, and spread it out on the ground. At least I wouldn't have to lie down on the bare ground.
As I laid there, I couldn't help but wonder if Edward was okay. I needed him to be okay. I had to reassure myself that he is fine and he will find me. I knew he would never give up on finding me. I just hoped that it would be soon. I missed him already. I needed to feel his cold arms around me. It was only when I was in his arms that I truly felt safe.
I hadn't realized how tired I was until I let out a big yawn. I decided to try and get some rest. I laid there staring at the roof of the cave, and let my eyes close. Before I knew it I had fallen asleep.
Edward POV
I arrived at the house, and everyone had come outside to meet me. I felt so empty inside without Bella. How could I have let this happen? I couldn't protect her. I turned to Alice, and she had a sorrow expression on her face.
'I am so sorry Edward; I didn't see it until it was happening. I am sooo sorry.' I couldn't blame her; it was my fault I was there with Bella and I couldn't protect her.
"It is not your fault Alice. Have you seen anything more? Is she okay?" I was desperate; I needed to know that she was still alive; that Victoria had not killed her yet.
"She is fine at the moment, I just got a vision that she is in a dark cavern of some kind, and she is lying down on a sleeping bag. She has just decided to get some sleep. I can see she is by herself. No one is with her." I could see the vision as she thought about it. She looked so terrified. I knew she hated to be left alone, but at least she was safe right now. I don't know how much more time we have though.
I wondered what Victoria was planning. It was like she was playing games with me. She could have killed Bella, but she didn't. I cringed at just the thought of Bella being harmed, let alone being killed.
"What did the wolves have to say? Are they willing to help?" Carlisle spoke up at that moment.
"Yes, they are going to search on their side, and I caught Laurent's scent on their side, I was puzzled as to why he stayed on their side. I don't know if he is helping Victoria or not. I told Jacob that Bella had been taken. He could not give me permission to enter their land, so I came back here as soon as possible. We need to find her." I dropped to my knees and covered my face with my hands.
"We will find her Bro, she will be fine." Emmett said.
"Oh dear Edward, we love her too, we will do everything to get her back." Esme said in her soft voice.
'Oh how I hate to see you in such pain.' She thought; I cringed at the thought of Esme being in pain because I was in pain.
"Come now let us go inside and figure out what our next plan of action will be." Carlisle said as he came over and rested his hand on my shoulder. That gave me the strength I needed to stand up and walk into the house. He was right I needed to remain level headed if there was any chance of saving Bella.
We walked inside and sat at the dining room table, we started to talk about all of the possibilities of how we were going to track down Victoria. When all of a sudden I heard a thought, it was far off and I could barely hear it, but I knew whom it belonged too. It was Jacob Black.
'Edward, I hope you can hear me. I need to talk with you, I have some news.'
"Jacob Black is out there, he says he needs to talk; he says he has some news." I was already to the door before I had gotten it all out.
As I was running I suddenly sensed that my family was running behind me.
I caught his scent and came to a walk. I could see him standing by a tree. He was in his human form. He had a worried look upon his face. He looked at me and noticed my reaction to his expression. I tried to hear his thoughts.
'I wish I had better news.' What did he have to tell me? Please don't tell me Bella was hurt.
"You said you had news to tell me. Did you find Bella?" just as I started to talk to him, my family arrived. Jacob stiffened a little.
'Great now I am totally outnumbered, what are they going to do to me when I inform them?' Jacob seemed to be scared of our reaction.
"No need to worry Jacob, they came only because they are concerned for Bella." I was trying to reassure Jacob, and it worked he relaxed slightly. "Now what news do you have?"
"Well after talking with you I went searching on our land for any sign of Bella. I came across a scent; it was a mixture of Bella's and a vampire. It was not the same scent as that of Victoria. I followed it and it seemed to be as if someone was trying to disguise it. It kept fading in and out. That is when I came upon the vampire." Jacob stopped talking and stood up as if he was bracing himself in a defensive position.
'If they attack me I couldn't fend off all of them, I hope that the treaty is not broken.' He thought to himself.
"No need to worry Jacob, we have no intentions of fighting you. What happened?" I looked at him with a confident look. As to reassure him we were not there to fight with him.
"Well I could smell Bella's scent all over him, and I knew he had recent contact with her, which meant he was involved with her disappearance. I got angry and we fought. I killed him, and besides he was on our land. So the treaty should not be broken, do you understand." He got defensive all of a sudden.
"No son we hold no hard feelings towards you for killing him, you were justified as he was on your land, and he was involved with taking Bella. As far as I am concerned the treaty is still intact." Carlisle spoke up, and hearing this from Carlisle Jacob relaxed.
"Where on your land did you encounter him? Did you find Bella?" I felt a rush of anxiousness as I awaited his reply.
"I found the scent about 50 miles from here, and I searched around after I was through with that bloodsucker, but I could never get a real trail on it. He did a good job of disguising it. I will keep trying to find it. I just thought you should know what happened." He stood there for a second waiting for our response.
"Jacob I know that your people do not like our kind, but we have to ask something of you and your pack. I think that if you guys were to allow me and my family onto your land to help search for Bella, we could find her sooner. And I also think that if your pack could get a sense of our scents that way you could distinguish us from any other vampires." I was pleading I really felt helpless having to stay on this side, when I knew she was somewhere out of my reach.
"I will have to discuss that with Sam. He is the alpha. Only he has the power to modify the treaty. I will be in contact soon." As that he turned around and phased and took off. I could hear his last thought.
'Maybe it would be in the best interest of Bella for us to work together, but I still don't like it.' And then he was out of my range to hear him.
I turned back towards my family; they all had looks of hope on their faces.
I heard Alice's thoughts 'They will agree because the future disappears, which means our future is intertwined with that of the wolves. I don't like it though because I can't see how it turns out, stupid damn dogs.'
I couldn't help but smile at that last part; she looked at me and frowned.
Victoria POV
Where was Laurent, he was due back here ages ago. He better have done what I told him. He wouldn't dare cross me. I couldn't stand it any longer I had to see for myself that he had followed my instructions. This was not part of my plan. I would be risking it all by going to check, but if he did not put her where I told him my plan would not work.
I took off running towards the cave. It took me longer to get there, because I had to spread my scent everywhere to throw off anyone from following me. I made it to the cliff I climbed up into the cave. She was here; Laurent had done it, but where was he? I looked down at this little human girl sleeping.
I wondered what it is about her that a vampire would care so much about her. She was food; plain and simple. Humans were put on this earth to sustain us. What is so special about this human? How could he feel such a powerful need to protect her? And then I thought that would be his downfall. His need to protect her would give me the opportunity to exact my revenge for him taking my James away from me.
I suddenly felt the burn in my throat, I was getting thirsty. I had to leave here; I could not feed upon this human, no matter how delicious she smelled. I needed her alive so my plan would work. I needed to get away from her. I held my breath before the thirst was able to take me over. I jumped out from the cave and headed away.
I hadn't gotten too far when I came across the scent of Laurent. It was mixed with a foul reeking scent of a dog. What was that smell. Then I noticed the remains of a fire that had been used to dispose of a vampire. Something had killed Laurent. I was not expecting this to happen.
I will have to change some things, but first I needed to feed.
Jacob POV
As soon as I phased I heard them. All of them. It was the pack.
'Jacob, are you okay?' it was Quil.
'Wow how did it feel to rip that bloodsucker apart, you are so lucky I wish I could have been there.' Paul was always wishing he could kill a vampire.
'Quiet now everyone, Jacob that was very dangerous of you, you could have broken the treaty. You need to be more careful in the future.' Sam was upset but at the same time I felt a sense of approval hidden in his thoughts.
'Sam I just got done talking with the Cullen family. They want me to ask you if we could modify the treaty and allow them on our land to help search for Bella. I would have to agree with him on that one; I don't like it, but I think it would help find Bella quicker.' I secretly hoped he would say no, so that I could be the one to save Bella, then maybe she would think of me as her savior instead of that bloodsucker.
'I think that it might just be okay to modify the treaty just this once. Our main concern is to see that Bella is found.' Damn he agreed with them.
'Okay I will inform the bloodsuckers.' I replied but I wasn't happy about it.
'Jacob, wait we will meet you, I will be the one to talk to them. Stay where you are we will be there soon.' Sam gave me an order.
I quickly phased back into my human form, so that I could have some form of privacy about my thoughts.
Why did Sam have to agree with them; I could find Bella, I could save her without the help from those bloodsuckers. I needed to be the one to save her, and then she might love me for coming to her rescue when her bloodsucker couldn't. Why did Sam have to allow them onto our land?
I only had to wait for a few minutes when the pack started to arrive. We ran together until we hit the edge of the border.
'Jacob, can you call to them, they seem to know you. Tell them I want to talk with them.' Sam still didn't trust them, but somehow he knew I did in a weird, sick way I did trust them, only because of Bella though.
I walked a bit closer and sent my thought out towards their house, hoping that maybe he wouldn't hear me.
After a few minutes I knew he had heard me, crap stupid bloodsucker had to hear me. They walked up to us, Sam had ordered all of us to stay in our wolf form, and he still didn't trust them.
'Jacob here has informed me that you wish to modify the treaty. I have some reservations about doing so, but I do feel it may be necessary to find Bella.' Sam was looking over at Edward.
Edward repeated everything Sam had thought; he repeated it word for word.
"Yes, our main concern right now is to find Bella; she is in the hands of a very bad vampire that wishes to cause her harm." Carlisle stepped forward in a friendly way with his hands out in front of him, as to show how desperate we were.
'So what is it that you ask of us? What kind of modification are you thinking of?' Sam wanted to hear exactly what they wanted, so that he could make sure nothing else would change in the treaty.
Edward repeated Sam's thoughts again.
"We were wishing you would allow my family to enter onto your land in order to search for Bella, and for you and your pack to acquire our scents, so that you would be able to differentiate us from those of other vampires. As soon as this situation is over we can discuss outing the treaty back to the original agreement. As I stated before we mean you and your people no harm." Carlisle spoke with a calm and very certain tone in his voice. Even I had the feeling he was sincere.
'I see what you want, and I feel that you can be trustworthy not to harm any of our people. I can see that you care very deeply for Bella, and that we both have a common interest to preserve her life. Your request is granted. Now if you would hold still so that my pack could smell your scents.'
Edward repeated what Sam had said. They all nodded their heads, and one by one the pack went up to each one of them and took in their scents.
'EW they stink.' Embry was shaking his head as he smelled them.
'I think I am going to be sick, I don't think this is a good idea, I won't be able to get rid of this stench.' Paul was thinking.
I was the only one who didn't walk over to them. Sam looked at me and pointed his head over towards them.
'Jacob I know you do not like this, but you need to smell them.'
'Sam I already know all of their scents, I used to smell them on Bella. Please don't make me do it again.' I was pleading with Sam. I still hated the fact she was in love with him.
He nodded his head at me. I looked over at Edward and he was looking at me, he had a small smile on his face. He looked so smug; I just turned around and took off. I still couldn't believe Sam had let them on our land; their scent is going to be everywhere. I could not escape from them no matter where I went now.
But I would deal with it; if meant Bella would be found safe and most of alive.
Edward POV
As soon as we got the permission to enter onto their land I took off. I ran in the direction that Jacob had said he had fought with Laurent. I soon found the remains of the fire. I stopped and looked around; I took a deep breath and got a faint aroma of Bella's scent, it was faint but I was positive it was hers. Then I caught a fresher scent; it was Victoria. I quickly ran after hers. It was fresh and it was strong. I followed it not realizing that I was heading towards the town of Forks. I slowed to a walk near the out skirts of town. I followed her scent down the streets it was getting stronger I knew I was getting close. I heard someone, it was Victoria. I listened.
'Oh I needed this, I was so thirsty, and her blood is so delicious. I can't wait to see the look on Edward's face...' Victoria was feeding. Where was she? I looked around through her thoughts and I saw the alley way. I ran there.
Then I saw her in the alley. I saw her kneeling over someone. I looked closer and realized that it was a girl, she had long brown hair, and she just laid there, her heart beat was barely beating, and then it stopped; the girl was dead. Bella came into my thoughts at that moment; no that couldn't be Bella.
I gasped at the thought that could be Bella. Victoria heard it and whipped her head around at me and just smiled and took off. I wanted to chase after her, but I had to make sure that girl was not my Bella.
I ran over to the body and picked up her head, I closed my eyes hoping when I opened them I would not be looking at Bella. I couldn't open my eyes. I was too afraid. I sat there holding this limp body in my arms. I had to open my eyes; I had to see, I had to know one way or another.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked at this girl's face. I felt as though my heart would burst out of my chest, and then a rush of relief washed over me.
It was not my Bella.
Chapter 18: Chapter 18
Chapter 18 A/NThank you again for your reviews, oh and to Nickster, I just wanted to tell you I am 100 % Team Edward, so you have no worries. I hope that didn't spoil anything for any of you.
Confusion
Bella POV
When I awoke, I looked around, and noticed I was in a cave. I had thought it was a dream, but seeing as I am in a cave I knew everything had happened. I was taken by Victoria, and Laurent was helping her. She wanted to Kill Edward. Oh my Edward if only I knew he was okay. Laurent had brought me here to this cave under orders from Victoria; it had something to do with her plan.
I kept trying to think of what she could possibly be planning. How would she be able to trick Edward? How did she trick him to get me in the first place? I missed Edward so much.
I had to get up, my body was sore from sleeping on the ground. I stood up and stretched. I walked over to the entrance to the cave and looked outside. I could see for miles, but other than the clearing all I saw were the tops of trees. I wanted to scream out for Edward, but as far as I knew; by how long Laurent was carrying me and running I could be in Canada. I didn't see anything happening out there so I went back into the cave. I noticed there was some food in an ice chest. I did feel hungry so I grabbed some of it and went back to the sleeping bag. I sat there and pondered what I was going to do.
I was lost in thought when I heard a noise at the entrance of the cave. I looked up and Victoria was standing there. Is she here to kill me?" Is this my final moments? She just stood there staring at me.
She took a few steps toward me and I instantly cringed and closed my eyes. I was terrified of her. I thought back to when I found out Edward was a vampire, I wasn't scared of any of them. But looking at her I was terrified.
All of a sudden I realized I was no longer sitting on the ground, I was being lifted up, and then the wind hit me. She was running with me. She came to a stop and set me down. I opened my eyes and looked around. We were in the clearing. The clearing I could see from the cave. I glanced up to see if I could see the cave. It was a small black opening on the side of the cliff.
"I want you to walk around here. I want you to go everywhere." Victoria was pointing in all directions.
I just stood there; I was too petrified to move. I thought is she playing with me, maybe she likes it when her prey tries and runs. I couldn't move.
"NOW!" She screamed.
I took off running. I had no idea where I was running too, but I was going to run. Then I did what I did naturally. I fell. I hit the ground hard. I tried to catch myself but my arms were too weak to withstand the force of my body. I hit my head on a small mound of dirt. Normally I wouldn't have been running so fast, so the fall wouldn't have given me much of an injury, but I had been running full force.
I started to bleed; I had a gash on my cheek. I hated the smell of blood. Just then it dawned on me. I was laying here bleeding and there was a blood thirsty vampire over there, I looked to see if she was there and noticed she was right next to me. I didn't know if she was going to eat me.
"Perfect" was all I could hear her say before I lost consciousness.
Victoria POV
I headed into town to feed. I knew it was risky but I knew Edward wouldn't be in town, because he would be running around in circles looking for Bella. I still can't believe everything is working out for me. He is so predictable.
I walked around searching for my next meal, when she stumbled into my view. She had long brown hair, and at first glance I would have thought it was Bella, but knowing Bella is trapped up in that cave I knew it wasn't her. Perfect I thought, since I couldn't have Bella I would take this girl. I sniffed the air, and her scent caught me off guard for a moment, she smelled wonderful and delicious. I followed her until we came up to an alley way. I ran up to her grabbed her and pulled her into the alley. I looked around no one had seen us. I bit down into her skin and started to drink.
I thought to myself how delicious her blood was, and I couldn't wait to see the look on Edwards face.
Just as I finished up with this girl I heard a gasp coming from behind me. I shot my head around in a flash and I saw Edward standing there. By the look on his face I think he thinks this girl must be Bella. I took my opportunity and tossed him a smile and I was gone. I took off running and didn't stop. I looked back every once in awhile and noticed he wasn't coming after me. What could make him not come after me? Didn't he want to chase me down and get his precious little human girl back? I had been relying on the fact that he would hunt me down to find her. I think I may have to rethink what I am going to do.
I ran around for a couple of hours not allowing my scent to stay in one place. I had learned from some friends down south how easy it was to mess with a vampire's senses. They had told me that vampires rely solely on their senses and all you had to do is over whelm the area with your scent and it would confuse whoever was after you. The only kind of vampire that this kind of tactic didn't work was that of a tracker, that was what my James was.
I finally had disguised my scent trail so I headed back to the cave. I made my way into the cave and saw her sitting there she had found the food I had left in here for her. I was wickedly evil, but I was not cruel; I needed to keep the human alive. I stood there staring at her wondering why Edward was not out looking for her. Maybe her scent was too hidden, so I walked over to her and she cowered down and closed her eyes. I thought to myself good she is afraid of me. I picked her up and headed out to the clearing.
I sat her down and took a step back; I looked at her and could tell she was trying to comprehend where she was. I gave her a minute to gather herself.
"I want you to walk around here. I want you to go everywhere." I pointed in every direction around the clearing. I needed her to spread her scent around; I wanted it to be fresh.
She just stood there, why wasn't she minding me?
"NOW" I yelled at her, we didn't have a lot of time. She took off running; she was darting back and forth not running in a specific direction, and then she tripped over her own feet. Clumsy little human. I let out a small chuckle. I saw her lying there she was bleeding, thank goodness I had just fed or I might have attacked her right then and there, and ruined getting my revenge on Edward. It wasn't enough to just take his mate from him. I wanted him to watch me as I did it, and then I would kill him.
I walked over to where she laid on the ground, her cheek was bleeding.
"Perfect" was all I could say before she fell into unconsciousness.
I picked her limp body up and ran around the edges of the clearing marking it with her blood, and her scent. This would bring him into this clearing. After I was done spreading it around; I headed back to the cave. I needed to tend to her wound, before she dies. It would not be good if she died now.
After I fixed her up, I noticed her shirt was covered in her blood; I removed it and put on a fresh one. I then took the bloody shirt down and set it in the middle of the clearing. Then I had to make a decision, so that the one called Alice would see.
I thought about it for a moment and I decided that I would kill Bella in this clearing.
Alice POV
I was out looking for Bella when I was hit with a vision. I saw Victoria and she had decided to kill Bella. It happened in a clearing, but I had never seen this clearing. It must be on the wolves' land. I looked around and I saw Bella lying on the ground bleeding. She wasn't moving.
No Bella cannot die! I had to find Edward and the wolves they would know where this clearing is.
Once we find this clearing; then I knew we would be able to find Bella.
I whipped out my phone and called Edward.
It just kept ringing. He didn't answer.
What has happened to Edward?
Chapter 19: Chapter 19
Chapter 19 A/N Tahnk you for the reviews, without them i think I would have given up on writing this story, With every review it gives me the confidence to continue knowing there are people who enjoy this story as much as I do. I can't seem to stop writing it. Thank you again for the comments.
The Clearing
Edward POV
I was sitting there staring at this girl I was holding in my arms, Thankful that it was not Bella, but then sadness fell over me. She may not be my Bella, but she was someone's Bella. My phone started ringing; I just let it go to voice mail. I didn't want to talk with anyone right this minute. I had to figure out what I was going to do with this girl's body. I couldn't just leave her in this alley. I had to do something. I knew Carlisle would be at the hospital, so I took her there. He would know what to do.
After dropping the girl off at the hospital I headed back to the alley to pick up on Victoria's trail. I followed it for a little ways and then it was everywhere. I couldn't concentrate; it seemed like she was going in every direction at the same time. My head started to spin. I stopped to gather my senses.
It was then that I looked at my phone to see who had called. Alice had called me. I dialed her number and before it rang once she picked up.
"You know you should really not ignore my calls. What if it had been life or death?" she really sounded irate.
"I am sorry I was dealing with something emotional at that moment." The tone in voice as I recalled seeing that girl thinking it was Bella; expressed my emotional state.
"Edward what happened?" She sounded concerned.
"I saw Victoria feeding on a girl and at first glance she resembled Bella. So I am sorry if I didn't answer your call. Now what was so important?" I was still a bit shaken of thinking about that again.
"I had a vision."
"And are you going to tell me?" Why the secrecy?
"Well I need to show you, it took place in a clearing and I don't recognize it. It is about Bella." As soon as she said it was about Bella I closed the phone and took off running. I didn't even know where Alice was, but I would find her.
It only took me about 20 minutes before I came across her. She was standing there with a wolf. I didn't recognize him.
'Hello my name is Seth.' He was looking at me; he must know I can read his thoughts.
"Hi Seth, I am Edward Cullen" I was being polite to him since he had introduced himself nicely to me. I noticed he wasn't as mean and non-trusting as the other wolves were.
I looked over a t Alice and in that instant she showed me the vision she had earlier. I couldn't help but to growl and hiss when I saw Bella lying on the ground not moving and bleeding.
'I am so sorry Edward, but I need you to find that clearing.'
I had never seen that clearing or its surroundings before. It must be deeper into their land.
"Seth, Alice had a vision of a clearing, I think it is on your land. I saw a large cliff on one side of the clearing. Does this sound familiar to you?"
'Yes, it sounds like the one that is at the base of the mountain towards the north from here. I can take you to it if you would like.' Seth had a nice and kind way about him. I could tell by his thoughts that he is a gentle soul.
"I don't mean to be rude Seth, but I think it might help us more if none of the wolves were involved. You see Alice has visions of the future, only every time the wolves are involved our futures disappear. Alice could be very helpful and needed in order to get Bella back safe and sound." I felt bad for having to refuse help from Seth, he seemed so eager to assist us.
'Just go North till you see the mountain and then you will come into the clearing right before the cliff. Good Luck. I will inform the rest of the pack to stay clear so that your Alice's visions will not be hindered.' Seth thought and then watched as we left.
'I don't know what Jacob has against these guys I think they are nice.' I heard Seth's thought as we started to run north towards the mountain.
We were getting closer I could see the mountain becoming bigger, and then Alice came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes glossed over, and I could see what she was seeing.
'I walked into the clearing; the scent of Bella's blood was surrounding us. It was everywhere. I panicked and ran all the way around the clearing, only to not find Bella but her bloody blouse, thinking I was too late I dropped down to my knees and sobbed for Bella. Victoria caught me off guard and called to me. I turn around and she said if I ever wanted to see Bella alive that I would have to meet her about a mile over there, and she pointed towards the cliff. Then I see her with Bella, and she rips Bella's heart out. I lunge for her and kill her, but the damage is done. Bella is dead.
I viscously shake my head back and forth.
"No Alice, that can't be right; we have to change it. We have to. Bella cannot and will not die." I was growling and spitting out the words.
"Edward, we need to think about how we are going to approach that clearing, it feels like it is a trap. I get the feeling that it is an ambush. Victoria has been using our strengths against us from the start. I see it now. She was never going to attack Esme and Bella, and then when she took Bella from the house, she used those two lackeys, and they used their thoughts to manipulate you into doing what she wanted. We have to think of how we can outsmart her. That is the only way we are going to stop her from killing Bella." Alice had a point, it all made sense now that I stepped back and looked at it.
Just then Alice received another vision.
Bella POV
I woke up and I realized I was back in the cave. What was the last thing I remember? Oh yeah I was running in that clearing and I fell. Just then I felt the pain. My face hurt. I reached up and touched my cheek. I felt a thick bandage coving my wound. Who did this? Did Victoria tend to my wound? Why? Why would she help me? I was majorly confused. I tried to stand, but I felt dizzy, so I sat back down.
I looked around and saw that I was alone. Since I couldn't stand I crawled over to the entrance of the cave. I looked out over the tops of the trees. I don't know what I was looking for, maybe a sign that Edward was coming, but I saw nothing. I needed to do something. I could not let Victoria kill me. I decided that if I was going to have to die, that I would die on my own terms. I decided that I would jump from this cave. I would jump to my death rather than let her kill me.
I tried to stand, I still felt dizzy, but I finally got to my feet. I stood at the edge holding onto the side of the entrance. I closed my eyes and whispered the words.
"I love you Edward."
Edward POV
I looked over at Alice and saw that she was having another vision. This time I saw Bella, she was standing on a ledge in the middle of a cliff. She had a bandage on her face. She had been Hurt. She was getting ready to jump. I saw the clearing as it was the one in Alice's previous vision. She was looking out and then she said
"I love you Edward."
And then she jumped.
"NO! Alice; why do all of these visions show Bella dying?" I was frantic I couldn't face life without Bella, I had tried to do it before, and now after having her back I couldn't bear one day without her. She can't die.
"Edward, wait this is good news." Alice was jumping up and down.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" How dare her say that Bella committing suicide was good news.
'Edward look at it, Bella just showed us where she is. We can save her before you go into the clearing. Victoria won't be expecting it. You will know she is safe and you won't go crazy.' she showed me in her thoughts.
"I see what you mean, and I am sorry for even thinking that you didn't care about Bella." I held my head down.
'Okay enough moping lets go save Bella. I will go up the cliff and get her you go into the clearing and freak out. I will let you know when I have Bella and you can get Victoria off guard okay." Alice sounded like she was very confident this was going to work out.
"Okay lets go, I really want to kill Victoria for harming my Bella." I sounded all too eager to get this over with once and for all.
We set out towards the clearing. Once we got close enough to see the edge of the clearing Alice cut around and headed to the cliff that housed the cave. I was to wait until I heard that Alice had rescued Bella and she had her safely away from here, before going into the clearing.
Oh i wish Alice would hurry up, I need to know Bella is safe.
Alice POV
As we got closer I could see the cliff and then I could see right where the cliff was. I could see a figure standing in the entrance, it was Bella. I had to hurry before she had the chance to jump. I ran faster and just as I made my way into the entrance I heard her whisper "I love you Edward" then she started to take that fatal step. I wrapped her in my arms and pushed her back into the cave.
She opened her eyes and stared at me. She looked as though she wasn't sure she was really seeing me.
"Am... I… dead?" she stuttered out the words.
"No Bella, snap out of it. I am here. I stopped you from jumping. Oh and how could you do that to us? Do you know how devastated Edward would have been? You should have seen the look on his face when he saw it in my vision. He was frantic." I think I got my point across because she had a look of total remorse for even thinking of jumping.
"I am sorry I just didn't want Victoria to be the one to kill me." She started crying.
"Well I am just happy that I was able to get here in time. Now wait right here don't move I have to let Edward know that I have you." I started to walk towards the entrance to let Edward know Bella was safe.
I heard her whisper to me "Please dont leave me." then she started to sob.
"I am not going anywhere Bella, calm down I am just going to be right over there." she must have been through hell these last couple of days.
'EDWARD I HAVE HER, SHE IS SAFE. I AM GOING TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM HERE. I WILL SEND SOME HELP.' I knew I didn't have to shout it in my thoughts but I wanted to get his attention.
I grabbed a hold of Bella, and put her on my back. We made it out of the cave, and I ran the opposite direction of the clearing. I hated to leave Edward there alone, but I knew that in his state of mind, Victoria would not come out of that clearing alive.
Edward POV
I was standing there waiting for what seemed to be a lifetime. Then her voice came in loud and clear.
'EDWARD I HAVE HER, SHE IS SAFE. I AM GOING TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM HERE. I WILL SEND SOME HELP.' Dang she didn't have to shout it.
That was my cue; I went running into the clearing. I could smell Bella's blood. It was so much more potent then what I had imagined in the vision. I needed to keep a level head about myself. I acted like I was going insane running all around the clearing, before heading into the middle. I saw her blouse lying there on the ground. I knew Victoria was near. She would appear in just a second. I dropped to my knees, and she appeared.
'Yes just as I had planned Edward would react. If you kill me now you will never find you precious little Bella.' Victoria sounded so sure of herself, if she only knew that Bella was safe with Alice.
Then she spoke. "If you ever want to see Bella alive again, you should meet me about a mile over there." She pointed in the direction of the cliff.
I knew that she would not find Bella when she returned to the cave, but she didn't know that yet. I waited for her to run and I started to run after her; I was faster than she was and I had caught up to her quickly. I caught her off guard with her back to me. I pounced onto her pushing both of us onto the ground. She sprung up as did I. we both stood in a crouch position facing each other.
'Doesn't he care about seeing his human girl again?' her thoughts had a hint of fear in them.
"Oh Victoria you think you have outsmarted me. I know where my Bella is, and it is not in the place you think it is." I couldn't help but to sound a little smug about it.
She quickly looked up towards the cave.
"That's right she is no longer in that cave up there." Now I could see the fear in her eyes as well as in her thoughts.
'How? I had it all planned out. I can still kill you though. It won't be as good as what I had planned for you, but it will have to do.' She thought the words but they didn't have much feeling behind them other than fear for her life.
I snarled at her and she flinched. I wanted to kill her. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. How dare she try and take my Bella from me. She is going to die.
I lunged for her, catching her off guard and caught her. I leaned in and bit into her neck, I think I did that for revenge for that poor girl from town. I ripped out a chunk of her skin. I heard her wince in pain.
I threw her to the ground still holding onto one of her arms. I put my foot on her to hold her down, and pulled her arm up. I felt it give way and then it was separated from her body, I then reached over and grabbed her other arm and did the same to it.
She was screaming out in pain, but I ignored her, I could never make her feel the amount of pain I had felt seeing that vision of her killing Bella. I wanted to make her suffer, but then I thought of Carlisle, and my rational side came back to me. I reached up and separated her head from her body, putting her out of misery.
I then gathered all of the pieces together started a fire and burned them.
I thought to myself Victoria will no longer be able to bother us again.
Bella is safe.
Chapter 20: Chapter 20
Chapter 20 A/N I am sorry that I haven't updated in a few days. I was attending my sister's college graduation. So now that I am home, I am able to start writing again. I know you all can't wait till Bella remembers that day, It will happen, believe me it will happen. Enjoy.
Another Discovery
Bella POV
Alice ran with me safely on her back for what seemed to be a long time. She finally came to a walk and then stopped. I climbed down off of her back and had to sit down. No matter how many times I run with them I still get dizzy; whether I close my eyes or not. After a couple of minutes I looked up at her; she was looking back in the direction we had just come from. I turned to see what it was that she was looking at. I had to squint my eyes to see that far, but I finally saw it. It was a plume of smoke. I turned to Alice to get her reaction to the smoke.
"Alice what does that smoke mean?" I was curious as to what it could mean.
"That smoke means a vampire has been destroyed." She never even turned to look at me when she spoke; she just kept her eyes focused towards the clearing.
"Is Edward okay? Victoria said she was going to kill him. Did he get hurt from those two vampires? I am so worried Alice I need to know that Edward is okay. How come you came, does that mean Edward is not okay? Alice, please will you tell me something?" I was rambling and saying everything so fast. Tears were starting to pour down my cheeks now.
"Bella, slow down; I can't tell you anything if you are talking a mile a minute. Just relax and breathe." She then turned to face me.
"Bella I think if you just look that way, all of your questions will be answered." She said pointing towards the clearing.
I quickly shot a look in the way she was pointing, and I saw a figure standing along ways off, and before I could ask Alice anything about it, I saw him; it was Edward. I was going to be in his arms again. The next thing I felt was his cold unbreakable arms wrapped around me. He was holding me tight, but not too tight. It seemed like he always knew just how tight he could wrap his arms around me without hurting me. I squeezed as hard as I could, knowing that it didn't matter how hard I held onto him, because I knew I couldn't hurt him. We stood there holding each other; not caring about the time. He finally leaned down and with his hands cupped around my face he brought his lips to mine. Our lips moved in synch with one another. I didn't care if I ever took another breathe again; I couldn't pull myself away from him, and he wasn't breaking it off either. It wasn't until we heard a throat clear that we realized we were not alone, but it still took another minute to pull ourselves apart from one another. As we separated we looked into each other's eyes. At the same time; as if they were the only words in the English language; we said "I love you".
"Geez get a room you two" I recognized that voice, it was Emmett. When did he get here?
I looked around and the whole family was standing over by Alice. I shot a look up to Edward and he was shooting dirty glares towards Emmett. I could only imagine what Emmett was thinking.
Within a blink of an eye, everyone had come over to where we were standing and one by one they all hugged me. Edward never let go of me all of the way, as each one hugged me he kept one arm around me. I truly felt loved at this moment. I kept looking back up to Edward and he would look back down towards me, and then we would smile to one another. I was so happy that I was back in his arms.
"Edward can we go home now? I really want to go home." I wanted to shower and change, and most of all I wanted to be alone with Edward.
"Yes I will take you home, but first we need to find Sam and let him know that you are safe and Victoria is gone for good." He cringed as he spoke her name, but it was finally over.
I nodded my head as to let him know, he pulled me onto his back and we took off running. It was only a short time later that we had run into a couple of wolves. I was confused; these wolves were huge. I didn't understand why we were meeting these wolves. Then we came to a stop in front of them. They didn't try to attack us, so I glanced up to Edward with a puzzled look on my face.
"Edward who are these wolves, I don't understand." I tried to whisper but I could tell that they heard me, because they both looked right at me and then one of them walked away into the bushes. One minute later Jacob came walking back.
Was that rust colored wolf Jacob? Now I am confused. I looked at Jacob and then looked back to Edward. Edward smiled at me as to reassure me everything was okay.
"I think I will let Jacob explain." He said looking back over towards Jacob. Jacob nodded his head to Edward; it was almost like he was saying thank you to Edward.
"Bella would you mind taking a short walk with me?" Jacob said as he walked closer up to me.
I quickly looked to Edward; he just nodded his head letting me know it was okay. I reached up and gave him a kiss, and I swear I heard Jacob sigh, and when I turned away from Edward I saw that Jacob had turned his back to us.
Jacob and I walked a short distance away from the others, but I kept looking back at Edward and he was still watching us until we stopped walking, and then Edward turned towards the other wolf and started talking with him.
"Hey there Bells, it is so good to see that you are safe." Jacob smiled; it was the little smile that I remembered from all of those years ago.
"Wait, I have some questions for you. Why didn't I ever know you could change into a wolf? How come you haven't aged? I am so confused." I almost started rambling again, I needed to stop asking questions and give him a chance to answer.
"Well you remember when we took a walk on the beach that one time right?" now he was asking me questions.
"Yeah" I wanted him to answer.
"Well do you remember what I told you that day?" Another question.
"Yeah; you told me about the cold ones." I remember that is when I figured out that Edward was a vampire.
"Before that, do you remember what I told you before I told of the story of the cold ones?" Why wasn't he just spitting it out, why is he making me guess? I hate playing these games.
"Okay give me a minute," I thought back to that day and it came to me.
"You said that your tribe was descendants from wolves. Oh I get it now, I thought you were only kidding, I guess you were serious." Now it makes sense, I guess.
"Well at the time I had no more idea that it was true, it wasn't until after your accident that I found out that I can phase into a wolf. Are you freaked out?" Now he had a worried look.
"No not really, I mean if vampires exist, then why not werewolves." I chuckled a little, it seemed to relax Jacob, and he chuckled too.
"So we are okay then?" He looked at me and grabbed my hand. I didn't try to pull away.
"Yeah why wouldn't we be okay?" I smiled back at him.
"Bells there is something I want to ask you, but I don't want you to get upset okay." Jacob looked back towards Edward to see if he was looking our way, but he was still busy talking with the other wolf.
"Sure you can ask me anything." Now I was the curious one, what could he want to know that might upset me?
"Well I was just wondering… I know that you are back together with that blood... I mean Edward, and I was wondering…" I had to interrupt him or he would never get it out.
"Jacob spit it out; I won't be upset no matter what it is."
He took a deep breath and started again.
"I was wondering if you loved him." Wow that took me by surprise. Why would that upset me?
"Yes Jacob I do love him, I have always loved him, and I plan on loving him forever. Why do you ask?"
"Forever? So you plan on becoming one of them? You can't…" he turned his face away and I noticed his hands were balled up into fists and he was starting to shake.
"Jacob what is wrong? And for your information I don't know yet if I want to become a vampire or not, I mean in the beginning I did, but I am not so sure right now." I noticed his shaking had stopped, but then I felt the presence of Edward close by me.
I looked over and saw Edward; he had a look of pain and shock on his face. I just lowered my head, I hadn't meant for Edward to hear that. I know that I would have to explain to Edward what I had meant by that, but I wanted to do it when we were alone.
"Jacob looked right at Edward and he said only four words.
"Remember the treaty Bloodsucker." His tone was so cold and mean sounding.
"I think before you start something with me about that you should go talk with Sam." As soon as Edward said that Jacob looked over at the other wolf, which I finally caught on; he must be Sam, and he just nodded to Jacob.
"No how could you ever agree to that? That goes against everything that we stand for." Jacob was ranting and screaming towards Sam, and then looked at me. He had the saddest expression on his face. I wasn't sure what was going on.
"Bells I have to go, I don't want you to become a bloodsucker, but if you do then our friendship is over." He was starting to shake again and that is when Edward pulled me close to him, and moved us back a little ways from Jacob.
"Stupid bloodsucker I would never hurt her. I am not that kind of a man. It takes someone without a heart to hurt someone as special as Bella." He was staring straight at Edward when he said that. I wonder what he meant by that. I looked at Edward and his expression changed as though what Jacob had said hurt him. What could Jacob had meant by that, and why did it affect Edward in that way?
After that Jacob took off running into the trees and Sam followed immediately after him.
"Wow I wasn't expecting that; what did you mean when you said he needed to talk to Sam?" I knew it had to do with the treaty, but I didn't know what exactly the treaty entailed.
"Well the old treaty stated that we the Cullens; could not bite a human, which would mean we could not change you. We talked it out with Sam, and he agreed that you are a special consideration. That you would have the choice on whether to become one of us or not. We explained to Sam that you no longer had any family alive, and that you had once been bitten before and that is why you haven't aged in fifty years, so he agreed to modify the new treaty to exclude you." Edward reached down and gave me a kiss. It was just a simple one, but I still got all tingly inside.
"Oh okay can we go home now?"
"Okay, let me tell the others that I will meet up with them later, so I can take you home." He turned his head to talk to the others, but I grabbed a hold of his arm to get his attention.
"I don't want to go back to my house; I want you to take me home. I want to go to the home that houses my family." I smiled up at him hoping he would catch on.
He looked back at me and I saw a wave of emotion sweep across his face. He turned to the others and said.
"We will meet you guys at home; Bella is finally coming home." And he grabbed me up and engulfed me into his arms. He smiled the biggest smile I had ever seen. He was truly happy, and that is when I made my decision. I had made up my mind at that moment; I would become a vampire.
I truly wanted to spend forever with Edward.
Chapter 21: Chapter 21
Chapter 21 A/N I am sorry if I gave the impression that the story was done. It is just that in many reviews people kept asking about when Bella wasgoing to remember. I just wanted to tell everyone that it was coming. I am not done with this story just yet. you will know when it is complete. thank you again for reading and reviewing. The reviews really help me to know how everyone is interpetting the way the story is heading. please let me know what you think of this chapter.
Welcome Home Bella
Bella POV
As Edward was running with me on his back; I was thinking of how I was going to tell him that I wanted to become a vampire after he had just heard that I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not, and Jacob crossed my mind too, why would me turning into a vampire ruin our friendship? I didn't want to have to choose between my friendship with Jacob, and spending eternity with the man I love. Jacob was forcing me to have to choose.
I was deep in thought when I noticed Edward had slowed to a walk. I opened my eyes, and noticed we were not at his house, but instead he had brought me to our meadow. I had not remembered it being this beautiful. My memory of this place seemed so clouded. I looked around as Edward pulled me off from his back. This place felt so magical. I brought up the memory of when Edward had first brought me here. He wanted to show me what he truly looked like in the sun. I remember that was the day I knew I loved Edward; that I wanted to spend forever with him.
I looked at Edward wondering why he had brought me here.
"Edward why did you bring me here, don't get me wrong I love this place, but I thought we were going home." I looked up into his eyes and they were glowing with so much emotion.
"Bella I thought we needed some privacy to talk, and at the house we wouldn't be able to have any. Is that okay?" I swear sometimes I really do think he could read my mind. I chuckled to myself.
"Yeah I think we do need to talk." He grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the ground with him as he sat down.
"Well first I wanted to ask you about what you had said to Jacob. I didn't mean to listen in, but I heard Jacob shouting it in his thoughts. I need to know. Do you not wish to become a vampire?" I knew he was going to start off with that one. I looked into his eyes and they had so much worry in them.
"Well, let me explain please. I remember when there was nothing I had wanted more than to become one of you, but my whole life changed. When I finally remembered what you are, I wasn't sure anymore. I had time to be around you without knowing what you are, and I didn't have the fact that you would live forever and I wouldn't; hanging over my head. As far as I knew we were both human." I noticed he had hung his head down and held it in his hands. I reached over and pulled his head up to look at me.
"However I now know that I want to spend forever with you, I have decided that I do want to become a vampire, and I think my decision this time is one made with a clear head. I love you and I never want to be without you…" I wasn't able to finish what I was saying before he pulled me towards him and pressed his lips to mine. We fell backwards still intertwined.
It wasn't until I needed to breathe that we pulled away from each other.
"Bella now that you have made your decision on that matter I was wondering if you would…" He just stopped and stood up, and then he pulled me into a standing position.
"Bella I love you, I have always loved you, and I will love you for the rest of my existence. What I am saying is…" He then bent down onto one knee, and grabbed my left hand. "Bella Swan will you marry me?" He pulled out a ring and waited for my answer.
I couldn't believe what was happening. Edward had just proposed to me. I thought about what my mom and dad would think, and then the sadness hit me; they were gone. I think Edward noticed my sad expression, because he quickly stood up and faced the other direction and said "I'm sorry"
"What are you sorry about?" I grabbed his arm and turned him around.
"Well you didn't look happy that I just asked you to be my wife." He looked as though he would cry; if he could.
"I was just surprised and then I thought about what my mom and dad would think about this, and then I realized they were both gone."
"So you weren't upset that I proposed?" His expression was one that showed excitement now.
I put my finger up to his mouth to hush him. "Wouldn't you like to hear my answer?" I was toying with him now. He nodded quickly and his eyes were glued upon mine.
"My answer Mr. Edward Cullen is…" I hesitated just for a second and his eyes grew wider. "
"Yes I will marry you, and spend forever with you." I smiled and I didn't know if I jumped into his arms or if he grabbed me up, but we were locked into place connected as one. Both of us feeling the electricity flow through us; as we held onto one another. He then gently pulled away from me and took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger. I held my hand up and stared at it for a minute. I looked at him and he had a look of pure joy on his face.
He flung me over his back and took off running; I think he really wanted to get back to the house to tell everyone the news. I wondered if they knew what he was going to do. I knew Alice would have known, and she would have seen me say yes, so the whole family knew.
We made it as far as the river before I noticed the whole family standing there. Emmett was hooting and hollering, so he definitely knew; which meant they all knew. Edward let me down and Emmett snatched me up and spun around.
"Welcome home little sis, and welcome to the family." He was still spinning me around, and I was trying to warn him by tapping on his shoulder to let me down.
"Emmett stop; your making her sick." I heard Edward as Emmett finally stopped. I fell to the ground and held my stomach; I was so close to losing it all. Edward came over and put his cool hand up to my forehead; it felt so good.
After a few moments I was feeling better, but Edward had already sent everyone back to the house. He picked me up and carried me towards the house. When we were close I tapped Edward on the shoulder.
"I can walk from here. I am feeling better." I was my stomach wasn't feeling queasy any more.
He let me down and we were to the corner of the house, as we turned it to where we were facing the driveway and the front of the house; my head started to spin. I was getting dizzy. I stopped walking as did Edward. He came over to me, but I held up a finger to get him to stop. I needed a moment to gather myself.
Then all of a sudden this image popped into my head. It was me and Edward standing right where we are right now, I had tears rolling down my cheeks and he was telling me I wasn't any good for him and that he didn't want me. What is this? When did this happen?
I looked up to him to see if he could explain to me about what I am remembering. Why hadn't I remembered this before now? Why now? I remember feeling the hurt and the pain. Oh the pain I remember the gaping hole in my chest. I couldn't breathe. I wish he would say something, but I said something first.
"It will be as if I never existed." As soon as I said the words I heard a gasp from Edward. I dropped to my knees. He had left me before.
"Edward you… you left me; you didn't want me. You left me. Why? I thought you said you loved me. I thought you said you had told me that I had remembered everything. You LIED to me. How could you." I was sobbing uncontrollably now. He came over and put his hand on my shoulder, and I shoved it off. I didn't want him to touch me, how could he have done that to me.
"Bella please let me explain." Edward said, and I noticed that he sounded funny. I looked up at him and his chest was rapidly moving in and out and his face was torn and so much emotion was clouding his eyes. He was scared and he was sobbing also. He was in pain. I thought I needed to hear him out. I still loved him, but right at this moment I wasn't sure how much I liked him.
"Fine; explain how you could have left me, and I also want to know why you felt the need to LIE to me!"
Edward POV
I was carrying Bella to the house; when she tapped me on the shoulder.
"I can walk from here. I am feeling better." So I let her down.
We were almost to the corner of the house where the driveway was, and she started to sway a little. Then she stopped. I was about to ask her if she was okay but she put her finger out to me to stay, so I waited for a second. Then her facial expressions changed rapidly; first it was confusion, and then came the pain, and then it looked as though she was having difficult time breathing. Oh my god no not now… she remembered. Why? Why now. She had just agreed to marry me. I can't believe this is happening. What is she thinking? Then I heard it.
"It will be as if I never existed." Oh why did I ever say those words to her, hearing those words come from her was the ultimate in pain. I could only imagine how much I had hurt her when I had said them to her all those years ago. I felt as though I was going to crumble into a million pieces. What did she think of me? I needed to know what she was thinking. I needed her to know why I left her. I didn't know how to tell her. I didn't know if she would even listen to me. Then she spoke again.
"Edward you… you left me; you didn't want me. You left me. Why? I thought you said you loved me. I thought you said you had told me that I had remembered everything. You LIED to me. How could you." Even worse now, she knows that I lied to her. How can I get her to believe me now? She was sobbing uncontrollably I needed to comfort her; I needed to let her know it is going to be okay. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder, she shoved it away. I have lost her. She doesn't love me enough to forgive me. How can I convince her that I left her while loving her? How can I convince her I still love her? I needed to explain everything to her.
"Bella please let me explain." Just as I spoke the words it was hard for me to breathe; it was a weird and strange feeling considering I didn't even need to breathe, but my chest was moving rapidly in and out and I felt this ache and this overwhelming pain in my chest. I couldn't control it. I was so terrified of losing her forever; especially now that she had agreed to spend forever with me.
"Fine; explain how you could have left me, and I also want to know why you felt the need to LIE to me!" she was going to give me a chance, now come on Edward think; think of how you are going to tell her.
I tried to slow my breathing down, so that I could talk to her.
"Bella please understand that I never stopped loving you, I made the mistake of leaving you all those years ago because I thought you would have been safer without me in your life. I wanted you to live your life without the constant worry of being hurt or better yet killed, by just being around me. I didn't know what a huge mistake I had made until it was done. I lied to you back then when I said I didn't want you, I did want you; I do want you. I wanted you so much but I felt it necessary to protect you from my world. I was wrong, and I am so sorry. I hope you can forgive me." I looked into her eyes; I needed her to see that I truly meant every word I was saying.
"What are you saying? You told me that you didn't love me. How could you do that?" How can I ever convince her?
"Bella leaving you was the hardest thing I had ever done in my whole existence. When I told you that I didn't love you I thought it would take a long time to convince you of that, but you believed the lie so fast. I mean I thought you knew how much I loved you. How could you have doubted it so quickly?
"It never made sense for you to love me, and I knew that." How could she think that?
"No Bella to me it never made any sense for you to love me, for many years I thought of myself as a monster, but when you came into my life you showed me that I was capable of love, and that I was capable of having someone love me. I never meant to hurt you. I love you too much. All I wanted was to keep you safe." I felt as though I wasn't getting through to her, but then she said.
"I understand now why you did what you did all those years ago, but what I don't understand is; if you truly loved me why did you feel you had to lie to me?" she was staring at me waiting for me to explain this one. What was I going to say? I can't lose her.
"I was scared when you started getting your memories back, you were falling in love with me again, I didn't want to lose you. I didn't think about what I was doing. I loved you and I thought I had been a second chance with you. Before I came back and found you at the hospital I thought I had lost you for good. I couldn't bear to not have you in my life again. I didn't want you to hate me." I turned my head down to the ground in shame for all that I have done to her.
"I don't know if I can forgive you right now. I need to be alone and think. Can you please just give me some time?" As she was saying the last part of that she reached down and took the ring off of her finger and handed it back to me. "Please don't think that I don't love you, because I do. I do love you more than anything I have known, but I need time to sort things out. Will you promise me one thing?
"Anything, as long as it means you will come back." I needed to know that she will come back to me.
"Can I borrow a car, and I don't want you to follow me please. I just need time, can you give me that?" tears were streaming down her cheeks. I had to give her whatever she wanted, I owed her that.
"Yes you can take my car, and can I ask you something?" I handed her the keys to my car.
"What would you like to know?" She asked.
"How long do you think you will be gone?" I didn't really want to ask her that but I needed to know.
"I don't know" She looked down as she said it.
"However you decide about us, can you please come back and let me know, please don't do what I did; I would like to know whichever way you decide to go I will accept your decision. And I wanted you to know that I am truly sorry for all the wrong I have done to you." I just needed to let her know I wanted her to come home.
"Edward; please tell them all that I love them and that I am sorry for leaving, but I can't see them right now. I need to go." She walked over to the car and opened the door, and got into the driver's seat. She started the car and hesitated for a moment. Then she started to drive off down the driveway. I heard her say "I do love you Edward, please wait for me."
"I will wait forever for you to come back home my love." I whispered as I dropped to my knees clutching my chest in my hands.
And then she was gone.
Chapter 22: Chapter 22
Chapter 22 A/N I want to thank those who did review. I know that it seems like this story is taking a turn but it will all make sense later I promise, enjoy.
Choices
Bella POV
I walked over and got into the car; I started the engine, and I sat there for a brief moment. I almost got out of the car and ran back to Edward, but I told myself I needed the time. I then put the car into drive and headed down the long driveway. I couldn't allow myself to look back; if I was to look back I knew I would turn the car around and run back into his arms. I had to go.
"Edward I love you please wait for me." I whispered out loud. I was hoping in a way that he would hear me.
I made it to the highway, but where was I going to go? I couldn't go back to my house; everything there reminded me of him. I didn't know what I was feeling, but I knew that I still loved him; I would love Edward for the rest of my life.
I was driving slowly down the highway, and I noticed a white cross on the side of the road. I decided to pull over and take a look. I had a weird feeling that this place was familiar to me, had I been here at this spot before? I got out and looked at the cross. There was some writing on it. I recognized the handwriting.
It said 'Isabella Marie Swan' across the top of the cross. It was Charlie's handwriting. He must have written this when I had my accident. I looked around at the site in which I was standing, and it came back to me in spurts. I remember that I had pulled over here after leaving Edward's house. I was crying. I tried to remember the crash, but it never came to me.
I looked back at the cross and noticed some other writing further down than that written by Charlie; it was written in beautiful script handwriting, there was only one person I knew that wrote that perfectly. Edward. When had Edward been here? Why didn't he tell me about this? I leaned down and read what was written.
'I cannot live without my life I cannot live without my soul: My Bella'
Edward had written that about me. He truly does love me, but I needed to do some soul searching to see if I had it in me to be able to trust him again. I sat there with tracing my fingers along the words that Edward had written. I cried for what seemed like hours. I kept thinking many times to just go back to him, but that wouldn't help in the long run. I needed to be able to trust him. I couldn't see him for awhile, because just seeing him I would meat and forget about everything. I needed to heal myself, before I could heal us.
I finally pulled myself up and got back into the car. I sat there with the car running at an idle for a few minutes. I finally opened up the glove box to see if there was a map. Don't ask me why I thought he would have a map but I decided to look any way. What I saw blew my mind. There was a map, a letter and an envelope. I pulled it all out to have a look. I set the map down on the passenger seat, and looked at the letter; it had my name on it.
Bella,
I had a vision that you would be taking this car on a trip. We will miss you. We want you to remember that we all love you. I will be looking forward to seeing you again. I have put some cash in the envelope, and just in case you need more I have included a credit card with no limit. I want you to be safe so that you can come home to us. I know that you have a lot of soul searching to do, so I promise that we; I mean Edward will not be going after you. Please hurry home.
Love Alice.
P/s if you look next to the driver's seat there is a cell phone in case you need it.
Oh Alice, what would I do without her? I looked in the envelope there must be about $20,000 in here, and a credit card. How long does she think I will be gone? I couldn't even know how long it would take me.
I put the car in drive and just drove for awhile. Before I knew it I found myself going south. I crossed the state line into Oregon. I needed to stop and get some rest, so I pulled into a hotel, and got a room. I realized I didn't even have any clothes with me. I went shopping and got some clothes and personal items. I went back to the room and took a shower. I went out onto the balcony and sat down in the chair. I had gotten a room with a view. I was in Portland and I was overlooking the river. It was beautiful at night. I thought that it would be perfect if Edward was here to share this with me. I shook my head I had to stop thinking like that, nit forever just for a little while. I missed him so much. I walked back into the room and got dressed; I wanted to go get something to eat.
I walked around downtown Portland until I found this neat little restaurant. I walked inside and there were a few patrons already seated and eating. I waited in the front to be seated when a man came in the front door. He looked at me and I saw something familiar about him. I tried to place where I had seen him before. I kept staring and then it hit me. He had golden eyes, just like the Cullens. I wondered if he was a vampire. I couldn't just come out and ask him. I looked to see if he was alone or if he was meeting someone. If he was a vampire what was he doing at a restaurant; vampires don't eat human food.
"Are you dining alone?" Oh I can't believe I did that.
"Are you talking to me?" he pointed to himself. His voice sounded just like theirs, it had a hint of musical notes to it. I was becoming more convinced by the minute he was a vampire.
"Yes, I was just asking because if by chance you were I was wondering if you would like to join me. I hate to dine alone." I tried to act like that was what I wanted, but I really was curious.
"Well I think that would sound okay, I was supposed to be meeting someone but it appears I have been stood up, are you sure you don't mind dining with a stranger?" He was very nice and he seemed harmless, after all if he was a vampire he was a vegetarian.
Just then the hostess came over to us.
"Table for two?" she said pointing to me and this gentleman.
"I guess it is a table for two." He said and I nodded and followed the hostess to a secluded table in the back.
Once we were seated he looked over at me and said
"By the way my name is Edmund Wellington, and might I ask with whom I am dining with this evening?" the way he talked and his name instantly brought Edward back into my thoughts. I was dazed for a second, but then realized he had asked for my name.
"Oh I am sorry I am Isabella Swan." I gave him my full name because I didn't think I wanted to hear anyone call me Bella right now.
"It is very nice to make your acquaintance Isabella. And may I ask as to why such a pretty lady as you is dining alone?" His voice was calm and very reassuring, but I still felt like I had to keep my guard up.
"I was supposed to meet a friend here and she bailed on me at the last minute." I lied to him, but I didn't want to let him know I was alone in a strange city far from home. Home… damn I thought about home and then Edward came back into my head. I missed him now more than ever.
"Can I ask you about something?" I was curious, and I didn't know how I was going to ask, so I thought I would just come out and ask.
"Well I don't have anything to hide ask away." That was a strange way to answer; it almost seemed like he had a lot to hide.
"Well I noticed the color of your eyes, and I was wondering if by chance you were a vegetarian?" if he was one he would understand at that moment that I knew. I looked at his expression and then I was positive; his eyes grew wide and had a look of total surprise on them.
"Excuse me, how would you know of such a thing?" He was shocked, I could tell he was testing out that I was a human he took a deep breath and turned his head a bit sideways to listen to my heart. He sat up I know he had heard my heart beating.
I didn't say anything I just put my right hand up on the table exposing my scar. He looked down at it and smiled.
"So you do know about me, how? I see that you had been bitten but you remain human. Would you care to elaborate?" He was the curious one now.
I told him about the time James attacked me and bit me, and then what Edward had done to save me. We spent the next couple of hours sitting there talking about everything. It felt so good to be able to sit and talk with someone and know that Edward wouldn't know all about it. I finally felt like an independent person. When I was finished telling all about me, I asked him about him.
He had told me that he was born in 1898 and he had died, well changed in 1917. He had lived his human life in Chicago. I kept thinking so much of his story sounded like Edwards, it was almost creepy. I asked him about how he had become a vegetarian and he told me that he had heard of a coven up in the Pacific Northwest that had decided to live that way and he had started to do it, and found he enjoyed his existence much better. He also said he was traveling up to find this coven. He wanted to see how a large coven can stay together for so long. I knew exactly which coven he was seeking out. It was my family.
We were still talking when the waitress came over and informed us that they were closing. We got up and I paid my bill considering he didn't have anything, and we walked to the front door. We stood outside and agreed that it was getting late.
"I so enjoyed your company, I was wondering if you would like to have lunch tomorrow with me?" was he asking me on a date? I was so not ready for that. My heart still belonged to Edward, but I did enjoy talking with Edmund.
"Well you know I am really not looking to date…" I started to say but he cut me off.
"No please don't get me wrong you are a very pretty woman I was just wishing to continue our conversation." As soon as he said that I blushed and he smiled.
"Well then why don't we meet at the park right by the river, I know you do not eat so we could just take a walk." I really did want to continue our conversation. I smiled as did he.
"Okay then it is a date; oops I mean I will see you there." He smiled. I giggled.
We parted ways after that. I walked back to the hotel. I was thinking of Edmund and how strange it was that I spilled my guts to him. I had told him everything. I felt almost as I did in the beginning with Edward. I felt a sense of security that I could tell him anything.
I made it back up into my room and as soon as I sat on the bed; my phone rang. The only person that I thought would be calling is Alice. Of course she saw what had happened tonight. I reached over and answered the phone.
"Hello" I tried to sound like I had been sleeping.
"Oh now I know that you were not sleeping, do you mind telling me what you were doing with a vampire tonight?" she saw right through me, as she always did. No one could ever fool Alice.
"Alice please relax; it is not what you are thinking. I noticed he was a vampire and asked him to join me; I needed to talk to someone. He is a very nice gentleman. He actually reminds me of Edward." I tried to get it all out before she would stop and interrupt me.
"Bella are you sure you know what you are doing?" She sounded worried. I wasn't sure if she was worried about my safety or about whether I would be coming home.
"Yes Alice, I am fine, and I know what I am doing. Believe me when I tell you my heart still belongs to Edward." There I hot both of her worries.
"Okay but just be careful. I love you." she sounded a bit more relaxed.
"I love you too Alice I will talk to you later Bye." And I hung up the phone. I needed to get some rest. I lied down on the bed and soon drifted off to sleep. I had a hard time sleeping that night it was the first night in many nights I didn't have Edward next to me. I missed his cool hard body pressed up against me.
In the morning I awoke and jumped out of bed. I looked at the clock and realized I had overslept. I was supposed to meet Edmund in about one hour. I quickly got ready and darted out the door.
When I got to the park he was sitting on a bench reading the newspaper. I walked over and sat down beside him and asked him if he had the funnies. He looked over at me and chuckled.
We started talking some more about his adventures and then somehow Edward came into our conversation. He asked why I had such a look when mentioned that name. I thought to myself could I talk to him about Edward, or was that just too private. I finally realized I had no one else to talk with about Edward, and I needed to talk to someone. So I told Edmund everything. He let me sit there and get it all out. He was very patient even through the sobbing fits. He never crossed the line when trying to comfort me. He would just put his hand on my shoulder to let me know it was okay. When I got to the end; I looked at him and he just stared at me. He put his hand on my shoulder again and said in a soft caring voice.
"It sounds like you have a choice to make. I can tell by what you have said that you love this Edward very deeply, and I can also gather that he loves you deeply. It sounds like you two are soul mates. And with him being a vampire I can tell you that when a vampire feels the way I have heard he feels for you, it is forever that way." His looked turned to one of deep sorrow.
"What choice do you think I have to make?" I didn't think I had a choice; I loved Edward and he loved me.
"Well dear Isabella your choice is; do you love Edward enough to forgive him, or do you choose not to forgive him and move on with your life without him. Do you want to you live with or without him in your life? I will give you some advice; whichever way you choose it has to be forever, there is no turning back. So you must choose wisely." He seemed to be talking like he had been through this before,
"Have you ever had to make such a choice before?" I asked him.
"Yes I am afraid so. I lost the love of my life." He bowed his head down.
"May I ask what happened, but if it is too painful I will understand." I really wanted to know.
"It was a very long time ago. I was living in northern California when I fell in love with this girl, her name was Betty. I loved her more than anything. The only problem was she was human, and I was a vampire. You have to remember that I had yet to become a vegetarian at the time. She didn't care that I was a vampire. She still loved me. I thought I could keep her safe from all dangers, but I was wrong."
"Tell me about her please."
"Well she was the most beautiful creature ever to walk this earth. She had long brown hair and the softest blue eyes you have ever seen." He pulled out a picture and showed it to me. She was very pretty.
"She never wanted anyone to do for her; she was so busy always doing for everyone else. I loved her so much. It was my love for her that was her demise. I should have never have let our relationship go that far. I had tried to convince myself to leave her, but I didn't have the strength. Remember when I told you that when a vampire feels love it is strong and forever? Well I stayed against what my head was telling me to do." He shook his head back and forth. And he looked at me.
"Bella I know that it hurt you when Edward left you but please understand I can see his side, I was there once. I left Betty. You were lucky you were given a second chance with your soul mate. I have to live my whole existence with the fact that I never went back for her. I never saw her again." He started breathing irregular it reminded me of how Edward looked right before I left. He was sobbing.
I was speechless I didn't know what to say. I just put my hand on his shoulder to let him know it was okay.
"Bella please you have to rethink how things happened. You have to step outside of yourself and put yourself in his place. He loved you enough to leave you, then he found you again, he was given a second chance, and he just couldn't lose you again. If I could go back I would have done anything to regain the love we shared, but I never got a second chance with my Betty."
"Would you have lied to her?" I asked in a whisper.
"I would have said anything if it meant keeping her in my life with me. I would have hidden her away from the whole world if it meant she would be mine forever." I looked at Edmund for a moment and I started to see what he was getting at.
"Edmund there is something that I need to tell you." I think I should let him know about the Cullens now.
"What is it" He looked at me, and waited for me to answer.
"Well that coven you are searching for, well that is my family. The Cullens; I could give you the address to where they live." I was hoping this would cheer him up.
"I take it you are not ready to go home then? May I ask you if I was any help in aiding you along your journey?" He smiled at me.
"No I am not ready just yet, and yes you have allowed me to see Edward's side of things. I just need to spend some time alone and clear my thoughts. I need to miss Edward. I need to know what I feel is real. Do you understand?" He nodded, and stood up I gave him the address and he said he must be on his way.
I thought to myself I think I will go to the Oregon coast. I always did my best thinking while watching the ocean, and Edmund had given me alot to think about.
So I went to the hotel room packed up and checked out.
I got in the car and headed west to the ocean.
Chapter 23: Chapter 23
Chapter 23 A/N I want to thank you all; this story has gotten over 10,000 hits. I really like it when you review it helps to let me know that I am taking this story in the right direction. So please review, and let me know what you think. All reviews are welcome, if you don't like something about the story or with my writing please feel free to say something. Enjoy.
Visitor for the Cullens
Edward POV
I was sitting in my room; as it seemed that was all I ever did since Bella left. I just kept thinking about all of the wrong I have done. I missed her so much. Alice isn't letting me know anything. She just keeps singing songs in her head whenever I am around her. She says Bella is okay and to just give her time. Alice said Bella needs to make her own journey now, and then she will come home. I held onto the fact that she said Bella will come home. I just don't know if she would want to be with me when she does comes home.
I decided I needed to hunt, so I got up and was heading out the door when I heard an unfamiliar voice. I listened for a second.
'I hope this coven is as nice as I have heard. I can't wait to meet them. Isabella said they would be welcoming.' He was curious to meet us, and he didn't seem to want to cause any harm. Is he thinking of Bella?
There was a knock at the door; I opened it to find a man with copper hair and yellow golden eyes. He looked closely at me and then spoke.
"Hi my name is Edmund Wellington; I just wanted to meet the coven that had inspired me to change my lifestyle. I wasn't sure I had the right place until you answered the door." He was looking at my eyes. He was very proper and nice.
"Oh yeah, we are the Cullens, my father will be home shortly, won't you please come in." I held open the door so that he may walk in.
'I wonder if this is Edward, from the way Isabella described him to me, he must be him.' What? How does he know my name? Isabella? My Bella knows this man, this vampire. How? Alice has some explaining to do.
"Do we have a guest?" Esme came walking into the room.
"Yes this is Edmund; He wanted to meet us." I said as I guided him to the living room.
"Well Edmund welcome to our home." Esme always loved it when we had visitors.
"How did you know where to find us?" I needed him to say that he knew Bella.
"Well I had been searching for many years, and I was in Portland when I met this very lovely human girl; Isabella. We got to talking and she told me you were her family and gave me the address here." He looked at me and smiled.
"You know Bella, and wait you said you were in Portland. Was she okay? Do you know if she was planning to stay in Portland, or where she was going?" I had so many questions and before I could read any of his thoughts to get the answers I wanted; I was grabbed up and pulled outside. I was carried far enough away from the house before I was let go. It was Alice.
"YOU PROMISED HER!!" she screamed at me.
"What? I am not going after her I just want to make sure she is safe, and why didn't you tell me she had met a vampire. You know she is a danger magnet." I tried to justify myself.
"I am keeping tabs on Bella to make sure she is safe, so you don't need to interfere, and he was a gentleman, Bella just needed someone to talk to and he was there. Besides her heart still belongs to you, and I have a feeling that his heart belongs to someone else." Alice was talking instead of screaming at me.
"So can we go back to the house I promise to be good, but I would like to hear his story." I looked over at her and gave her my crooked smile.
'Now you know that look may work on Bella.' Alice thought.
"Fine but you better be good. You hear me." Alice said turning and running back to the house, I took off after her and I beat her there. I see that it does work on Alice too…sometimes.
I walked in and saw that Carlisle had arrived home. He was sitting in the living room with Esme and our guest Edmund. They were talking about why he wanted to meet us.
'Wow I never thought I had inspired anyone outside of my family to live they way we live.' Carlisle thoughts were almost pleasing that he was finally seeing from someone outside of the family what a great man he is.
I just sat down and listened to what Edmund was saying, and then he got to the part in which he met Bella. I sat straight up and paid more attention.
'Be good Edward, I am warning you!' Alice was scolding me in her thoughts.
"We talked about the things she was sorting out with her life, and I told her of what had happened to me. I hope that she takes to heart what I had told her." His face turned downward towards the floor; he was feeling sad.
'I hope she and Edward don't turn out like me and my Betty. I hope she forgives him.'
So he knows all about what happened with me and Bella, and I wonder what happened with this Betty.
Just then he looked over at me.
"You must be Edward am I correct?" He waited for my response.
I just nodded my head.
"Would you be so kind as to take a walk and give me a few moments of your time to talk with me?" He asked in such a manner that I couldn't say no.
"Okay, I know of a place we can go to talk." With that we both stood up and he followed me out the door. I would take him to the meadow. I haven't been there since the last time I had taken Bella there. We took off running and in no time we were there.
We sat in the middle of the meadow and he started.
"Edward I know I don't need to tell you how special Isabella is. My Betty was special too, because as Isabella is human so was my Betty. I fell in love with her the minute I first laid eyes on her. I loved her more than anything. And as you with Isabella I wanted to keep her human. We were always in danger. I tried to protect her, but the time finally came that I thought the only way to save her was to leave her." He stared at the ground. The memories of this Betty were very hard on him.
His story sounds all too familiar to mine and Bella's romance. I see now why Bella sent him here.
"The only difference between us is that I never went back for Betty, and you had been given a second chance with your love. There isn't anything I wouldn't give to get a second chance with mine. But she is gone. I told Isabella to make her choice with a sound mind. I know you miss her and I could tell she misses you. I guess what I am saying is she needs to take her journey to see where it leads her. I am hoping for both of your sakes that it leads her back here to you." He was very sincere with his words and his thoughts were just as sincere.
"I know I am not supposed to be asking you this but do you know where she is headed?" I was breaking the rules, but I needed to know.
"I don't know where her next stop on her journey will be; only she knows that. But I will do the same for you that I did for her. I will give you some advice; you need to rethink what all happened and somehow step out of your shoes and into hers. You need to see things from her point of view. I think that this time apart from one another will actually do you both some good." He said looking deep into my eyes.
He was right though; I needed to stop wallowing in my own self pity and think of how Bella felt. I was always so absorbed in my own feelings and worries that I never stopped and saw what Bella was going through. How could I be so selfish? I needed to change the way I view things before Bella comes back. I need to become a better man for her. So now that I see it; I am thankful for the time apart so that I can become the man Bella deserves.
"Thank you for showing me what I need to do before Bella comes home. I also wanted to say am sorry about your love, I know more than anyone what you had to give up when you left her. I didn't come back for my Bella either, but I think fate found a way to bring us back together. I only wish there was a way for you to recapture your love again.
"Edward you truly are a good man, I see why Bella loves you so much." He was telling me I was a good man, and yet he didn't see himself that way. He truly is more like me than we both care to see.
"Edmund, I was wondering if you would like to stay with us for awhile. I know Carlisle would love to have more talks with you and I would enjoy having you around." I liked him, and maybe if he stayed he could help me become the man I need to become.
"I would like that very much. Are you sure that it will be fine with your family?"
"They would love to have you come on lets go tell them." I said while getting up from the ground and heading back towards the house.
Bella POV
I knew I was getting close when I could smell the sweet aroma of the salt water. When I had lived in Phoenix I never thought of the ocean, but when I moved to Forks and went to see it I fell in love with the ocean. It held such mysterious powers that seem to draw you in and stare at the marvel of its beauty.
I saw a sign that said Seaside 4 miles. I wasn't sure why I picked Seaside but something was drawing me to this place. I saw a small motel that was right on the beach. You can go out your door and step right into the sand. I pulled in and went into the office to check in.
I stood there waiting for someone to come to the desk, but no one came. So I rang the little bell that was sitting on the counter.
A couple of minutes later this woman walks in carrying an armful of towels.
"Hi I will be with you in a moment, please fill out a card there with your name and car information. I will be right back." She had a lovely almost musical tone to her voice. I never got a look at her face, but from the sound of her voice I could tell she was beautiful.
I filled out a sign in card and waited for her to return.
When she walked back in I looked up and saw her.
She had golden eyes and long brown hair, and she was beautiful.
She looked familiar but I don't remember where I have seen her before.
Then it finally hit me and I let out a loud gasp.
"Oh my God!"
Chapter 24: Chapter 24
Chapter 24
The Coast
Bella POV
I just realized where I had seen this woman before. She is Betty; the girl in the picture Edmund had shown me. How? I thought he said she was human, but looking at her I knew that she was indeed a vampire. I just stared at her with my mouth hung wide open.
"Are you okay dear? You look as though you have seen a ghost." She said it not knowing that I indeed was looking at a ghost.
"It is just that you look exactly like someone I know of." That was the only way I could spit it out. Technically I never knew Betty, but the picture; it was definitely her.
"Someone you know of?" she sounded confused.
"Well a friend of mine had shown me a picture of a woman, and you look exactly I mean exactly like her." I replied to her.
"Well who is this friend, maybe I might know him?" she said in an almost giggly tone.
"Edmund Wellington." As I said his name her eyes grew wide with shock and then turned to a sorrow look.
"You know Ed… Edmund? How? Who are you? Is he here with you?" I could see all of these emotions going through her at one time. I recognized them because I had at one point felt the same way.
"Yes I met Edmund just recently, and my name is Bella; no he is not with me. That means you must be Betty." She looked totally surprised that I knew her name.
"Yes I am Betty, but why would Edmund tell you about me?" she seemed shocked that Edmund would even speak her name.
"I know you don't know me, but is there a place we can go and talk? I think we might have a lot in common." I felt that she was what was drawing me to this place, and that fate was playing a game with me. These two people lost their way as Edward and I had. Now it seemed like fate was about to reunite them.
"Yes, would you like to walk along the beach?" I think she was still in shock. I needed to tell her my story and then tell her what Edmund had told me. "Let me close this place up and we can go." She escorted me to the door. She locked it and pointed over to the beach access.
We walked for a little ways not saying a word. I think both of us were trying to figure out where to start. So I spoke up first.
"I have a story to tell you and I would like it if you were to listen to the whole thing before asking questions is that okay with you?" I needed to get it out. I knew she had experienced the same things I had, I think that we both may be able to help each other.
She nodded her head, still in disbelief this was happening.
"I know what you are…" she shot her head over at me and I just smiled and nodded my head and put my finger to my lips. She let me continue.
I told her all about Edward and I. we both battled our emotions as the story went on. I could tell she was remembering her love with Edmund. As both of our stories; were as if we were telling the same one. It helped me to know that I was not alone. Someone else had felt the same pain I had once felt. Once I was complete with the story of me and Edward I got to the point where I had met Edmund.
I told her of how we met, and then I told her that he had told me of her, but he thought she was dead.
"He said that he just wanted you to be safe. He loves you still to this day." I noticed she was sobbing minis the tears.
"He loves me? Why then did he never come for me?" she said in between dry sobs. I know how she feels.
"May I ask you how you became a vampire if Edmund was not the one to change you?" I was curious about that one.
"Well you see after Edmund left me, I was a total wreck. I wouldn't eat, sleep or even function in any way. After months went by and he still didn't come back I went looking for him. I never found him, but I came across this vampire and he took pity on me. You see I truly wanted to be like Edmund. I wanted to spend forever with him, but he wanted me to remain human." Oh God that sounds just like Edward; they could be twins with the way they both think. I laughed to myself.
"He took me to this place in the middle of the woods and he changed me. The burning was real bad, but I kept thinking I would be able to find my Edmund once it was complete. I screamed for Edmund to come help me, hoping he would hear me, but he never did. When I awoke from the transformation I saw the man that had changed me. He had such a sorrow look upon his face. I didn't understand it until he mentioned Edmund's name. He had expected me to be his mate, but he saw that I already had a mate. So he stayed with me for awhile until I was able to function on my own." She looked as though she would cry tears but nothing came out.
"So this man that turned you left you too? I am so sorry for you. Have you been alone since?" I felt bad because I had been in a coma, so I didn't have the feeling of loss as she had.
"Yes I choose to live alone. If I couldn't be with my Edmund I didn't want anyone else. So I traveled around for many years finally settling on this place. I still hope someday within my existence I will find Edmund, but I think sometimes I will never find him." She was giving up.
"Can I ask you about your eating habits I noticed your eyes are golden? I know that means you feed on animals; what made you choose to do that?" I thought the Cullens were the rare exception in the vampire world.
"Well many years ago I heard of this large coven that survived on animal blood instead of human blood. It intrigued me because I never was too fond of having to feed on humans. I tried it out and I found that I could live again. I could mingle with the human population." She seemed proud of herself for living the way of the Cullens. I was proud that more vampires out there were choosing the lifestyle of my family.
I let out a large yawn and she responded.
"I think it is getting late, you need to get some sleep. I will get a room ready for you. You may stay here as long as you like. I would like to talk with you some more. If that is okay with you." she was being so nice. I wanted to tell her about Edmund, but I wanted to spend some more time with her, and I knew the minute I told her where she could find him she would leave. I was being selfish I know.
I felt like I needed her to help me heal. To help me sort through things.
We walked back to the motel and she took me to a room.
I was too tired to take a shower so I crawled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep.
Betty POV
I showed Bella her room, and then headed back to the beach. I needed to think and the beach is where I feel the most comfortable. I never would have imagined after all these years searching for my Edmund; that a human girl would walk into my place and recognize me from a photo shown to her by Edmund. What are the odds? Who is this Bella, and I do I feel so connected to her? I have been alone for so long, and yet I feel as though she has been with me through it all. I am so majorly confused. I thought I was the only person in the world to have felt the pain in which I had been feeling. But I see now that she had felt the same pain.
I don't know what to think anymore. Talking with her about Edmund has brought up so many memories. The worst memory was the day he left. He left me there crying, and I felt as though my whole world had come crashing down onto my heart and breaking it into millions of shattered bits. Now being with her has somehow started to rebuild my heart.
How could a human girl help me to mend? What power has brought her into my life? I can see that she needs to heal too. Maybe I can help her through her ordeal and she can help me to put my heart back together. Then once it is complete I can go search for Edmund again.
It feels like fate has brought us together in order to help one another.
Bella POV
I awoke the next morning and immediately I felt a sense of wellness. I haven't felt like this without Edward being with me. I thought it was strange, but I got the feeling that I didn't need Edward to feel good. I knew I still loved him, but I was beginning to realize that I am my own person. I can feel good being by myself. I did miss him, but it wasn't the painful kind of missing someone. It felt more like I was finding who I am. I never knew who I was before. Edward had consumed so much of my being that I seemed to have forgotten about me. What I wanted. What I needed. I always put Edward ahead of me, but now I am putting myself first and it feels great.
I got up and got dressed. I needed to get something to eat. As I opened the door I saw Betty standing there, and she had donuts in her hands. I wonder if she could read minds like Edward because that is what I was craving. I shook it off.
"Would it be okay if I came in, I brought donuts." She smiled and I nodded.
She came in and sat in the chair by the window.
"I did a lot of thinking last night, and I came to the conclusion that somehow fate seemed to bring us together. Our lives have both been lead down a similar path, and we both have been deeply hurt by the men we love. I think that we can help each other." She took the words right out of my mouth.
"Can you read minds? Because that was exactly what I was thinking." I said giggling a bit.
"No I cannot read minds, but something brought you to me and you must have felt it too." She sounded so sure that was what it is.
We sat there talking most of the morning she wanted to hear about Edward. I told her about how he had lied to me about my memories, and how he had proposed to me. She looked surprised when she heard about the proposal.
"He proposed to you? A vampire usually doesn't care about human traditions. This is strange." She was thinking of something because her brow creased and her eyes deepened.
"Why do you think it would be strange for Edward to propose? I thought it was romantic. He wanted to get married before he changed me." I remembered the meadow and how happy we were before I remembered that day.
"Well you see a vampire feels differently about mates than humans do. I mean when a vampire takes a mate it is forever, but we see marriage as being small in comparison to having a mate. So for Edward to want both means he loves you in such a way that I have never heard of a vampire being capable of loving. It almost seems as being with you has brought back some of his human emotions." She was still puzzled but was coming to the conclusion that me and Edwards love was unique and very special.
"I thought all vampires feel human emotions?" now I was the confused one.
"We feel emotions that humans feel, however the emotions for vampires are on a different level than those of humans. Do you understand I can't seem to say it just right? I mean for Edward to feel the need to marry you that means part of his human side is overpowering his vampire side. Does that make sense?"
"So you mean by being with me I have brought Edwards human self back to him." It did kind a make sense. I had noticed how Edward did seem different from all of the other vampires.
"Yes, and for a vampire to change like that, well it is powerful and everlasting. He will forever be connected to you. You are more than just a mate to him. You have given him a soul." Just as she said that I thought back to the cross on the side of the road.
'I cannot live without my life I cannot live without my soul My Bella.'
I then changed the subject before I broke into a sob fest. I asked her about her and Edmund. She told me of the memories of them together. She really loved him. I wondered when I would be able to tell her about where Edmund was. I needed to talk to Alice, and find out if he was still there. I needed to ask her to keep him there.
"Betty I don't mean to be rude but I was wondering if I could have some alone time." I tried to ask without sounding inpatient.
"Oh yes dear I am sorry that I have consumed most of your time. Just give me a holler if you wish to talk some more later." And she got up walked over to me and engulfed me into a hug. She squeezed at just the right pressure. I hugged her back. She had been my eye opener to how important Edward was to my life and how important I was to his. Then she walked out the door.
I picked up my phone and dialed Alice's number.
"Hello Bella, I know why you are calling and yes our visitor is still here. And yes you are on the right path. I know what is happening and I must say it has surprised even me." Why did I even bother to try to ask her anything? I chuckled.
"Alice how is Edward?" I know I shouldn't ask I told him not to ask about me, but I felt like I needed to ask.
"Bella you will just have to wait and see when you get here. And yes I know when you will be here. So don't try and change your mind, I have seen you try but you always pick the same time to return." She chuckled.
"Oh Alice I love you I will talk later, bye." I hung up the phone.
I now knew I would return home soon.
Chapter 25: Chapter 25
Authors Note
I know I hate these too, this is not a new chapter, but as most of you know I do regularly update this story. I try to do at least 1 to 2 sometimes 3 chapters a day, I am going out of town for 5 days. I will be writing the chapters but I will not have access to the internet to upload them. So be prepared that next week I will be adding them. I just didn't want you all to think I had stopped writing this story.
I am glad to hear from some of the reviews that you guys like the characters Edmund and Betty.
So I think I will be updating around Monday night or early Tuesday morning. I don't know how many chapters I will have done, but I promise they will be worth the wait.
Thank you
TamTam43
Chapter 26: Chapter 26
Chapter 25 okay I am sorry that I said I wasn't posting until next week but I had just finished up on this chapter and I wanted to get it posted before I leave. I hope you all like this chapter. I couldn't wait to post it knowing I had gotten it finished before I left.
Finding One's Self
Edward POV
As each day passes without Bella here, I notice that I don't feel as though I am an empty shell. My family has noticed it as well. They see that I don't mope around as I did for all of those years that I was without Bella. I feel like a new man, because of this I know that I can love Bella in the way she needs to be loved. I no longer feel the urge to protect her from everything, and I now know that she has to experience all of the things in her life. The good and the bad. She needed time away from me so that she could find who she was; I understand that now, and I have discovered that I too needed to find who I was.
All of those years I spent without Bella in my life; I never lived I just went with the motion of everyday living. Now I feel as though I see the world with new eyes. I think of her often, and yet I don't feel pain about it. I just feel eager to see her. No longer do I feel that I need to control her every move. I have been given so many chances with Bella, and it wasn't until she left me that I realized how deeply I truly do love her. When she agreed to marry me, it felt as though my heart grew and my mind opened up to a whole new meaning of life. Even though she is not here physically I feel her presence all around me.
I have started to join my family on their hunts more now, and I spend part of the days talking with Edmund. He is wise beyond his years. He has given me so much to think about. How I need to stop making decisions for Bella. He tells me that I need to stand beside her instead of always standing in front of her; protecting her. I need to support her instead of controlling her. If I keep acting the way I had I would lose her forever.
I stopped wallowing on how miserable I felt and realized I wasn't miserable. I was glad that Bella was off discovering the world out there.
My family was happy to see me enjoying life again. I even went shopping with Alice. Jasper was curious as to how my emotions had changed almost overnight.
"Edward I have noticed a change in your emotions lately and wanted to ask what happened for you to feel so differently." Jasper said as he walked over to me.
"Well after talking with Edmund I realized how I had been putting my insecurities ahead of what Bella truly needed, and I knew I had to change or I could lose her forever. So I thought long and hard about what she needs. I discovered I do have a life of my own and she has her life. We need to discover who each of us are without the other in order for us to be together again." I said the words and they truly made sense to me.
"Well I have to say that I feel the difference in you, and I like this you better. I know that Bella will too. You are much more confident in who you are now. It shows; you smile even though she is not here. You are part of the family again and I feel something deeper within you that I didn't feel before. I feel a deeper feeling of love. I think this separation between you and Bella has made your love for her stronger." Jasper came up and gave me a hug. "It is good to have my brother back. We missed you"
I went over to the piano and sat down. I looked at the keys and started thinking of what to play. I have not played a single note since Bella left, but now I wanted to play. Playing the piano brought me joy. I had thought I always played for her, but I actually played for me.
I let my fingers glide across the keys, and before I knew it Esme was standing behind me listening.
'Oh Edward you are playing again, but this time there is something different in the way you play. I think it is wonderful, so vibrant and full of life.' Esme noticed in her thoughts how different my playing was.
I thought about it as well. I was playing for me now. This song I was composing was for me, it was the story of my life. For the first time I was experiencing the joy of my own music.
When I was done with the song; I looked at Esme, and instead of looking as though she would burst into tears she had a smile of pure joy on her face, and I heard her thoughts.
'Edward I wish you could see what you look like right now, you are truly happy with yourself, and that makes all of us truly happy. You are finally becoming the man that we all knew you to be.' She was right.
I stood up and kissed her on her cheek.
"I am going to take a walk I will be home later." I told her as I walked to the door. I wanted to go see something and I needed to be alone to do it.
I went out to the garage and got into a car. I felt like taking a drive. I knew where I would be going, so I took off down the long driveway and onto the highway. I drove right to it, and parked the car. I walked over to it and looked down at it. I was at the spot of Bella's accident; where the white cross marked that dreadful event.
I sat there looking at it for a while, and thinking of Bella. I missed her so much. I pictured her in my mind. I saw her long brown hair swaying in the wind, and her deep chocolate brown eyes staring back at me. I felt so close to her even though we were miles apart. I was thankful that I could always picture her so perfectly in my mind. She will always be with me.
I whispered into the wind "I love you Bella. I am still here waiting for you. However long it takes you I will be here waiting."
I thought there was something else I had to do, so I got back into the car and drove. I found myself pulling up to the cemetery. I needed to visit Charlie. I walked over and found his grave. I kneeled down and thought about what he looked like. Once I had his vision in my mind I started to talk to him as though he was right there with me.
"Charlie I thought it was time for me to tell you how very sorry I am for all that has happened. I thought I knew what was best for Bella, but I was wrong. I never meant for you to lose her as well. And for that I am truly sorry. There is nothing I can ever do to make up for what my actions have caused. It was my actions that led Bella onto that highway that day. I just wanted to let you know that she has turned into a beautiful person. I have asked her to marry me and I wanted to tell you. If you were still here I would have asked for your blessing…" Just as I said that last part; a gust of wind blew right through me, and I felt a sense of closure. I knew I was just imaging things, but it felt as though Charlie was letting me know he forgave me, and he was giving me his blessing.
I looked back at the grave and bowed my head. I promised him I will love Bella until the day that I no longer exist.
I sat there remembering Charlie. I only wished I had more memories of him. He was an important part of Bella's life, which meant that he had become an important part of mine.
I realized I had been sitting here for the whole day, and thought it was time to get back home. I went back to the car, but before I got in I looked back over at his grave and said aloud.
"Goodbye Charlie and thank you for bringing Bella into my life. I will forever be in your debt for that." Just then another gust of wind came and I could swear I heard the faint whisper of "No, Thank you" mingle in with the wind. Charlie was saying thank you to me.
I got into the car and drove back to the house. I walked inside and found everyone sitting around talking. I smiled at everyone and they smiled back. I noticed they weren't trying to hide their thoughts around me anymore.
'Edward I love it when you smile like that.' Esme thought as she looked at me.
'Edward has changed a lot since I first arrived. He seems to enjoy his life more now. I think he has finally seen the light, that in order to truly love someone else you must learn to love yourself first. I am happy for him. He has been blessed with a new outlook on life.' Edmunds thoughts of me were always so kind and understanding. I was only blessed because he showed me the way.
"Edmund would you mind taking a walk and talking with me some more?" I asked him knowing he would say yes.
"Yes Edward it would be my pleasure to talk with you." He always spoke and thought in such a proper manner, I remembered that I used to talk in that manner, but in order to fit in with the humans I taught myself to talk how most humans talk nowadays. I picked a lot of it up from Bella.
We went out the back door, because I wanted to walk around down by the river.
"So Edward what is it that is on your mind?" He smiled at me as we walked.
"Well I just wanted to thank you for all you have done to help me." I could never say how truly thankful I was to him.
"Edward I did nothing to change who you are; that was all you. You have always been this person you see now. You had just lost your way. You didn't understand the emotion of love until you met Bella. All of those new emotions hitting you all at once; messed up your rational thinking process. I know how it feels. I went through the same thing when I fell in love with Betty. Now that there is no longer any guilt you feel, you are able to decipher your emotions better." He spoke to me as though he was speaking into a mirror.
"I can see how all of the decisions I made were always wrong ones, but one decision I will never see as being wrong." I thought about when I asked Bella to marry me.
"What one is that may I ask?" He looked like he was trying to figure out what one I was talking about. I remembered I had never told him I had proposed to Bella.
"The day that Bella left, I had asked her to marry me, and she had accepted. It was when we reached the house to tell everyone that she remembered the day I had left her and that I had lied to her about her remembering all of her memories. It was the best day and the worst day of my existence." I felt as though my heart was racing even though it hasn't held a beat since 1918.
"Why haven't you told me that you had proposed to her? That changes everything." He seemed shocked to hear about my proposal to Bella.
"What do you mean that changes everything?" now he had me worried.
"Edward do you know what that means?" He asked me waiting for an answer.
"I didn't think I was doing anything wrong; I love Bella and I wanted her to be my wife. I knew I wanted to spend forever with her. She had decided to become one of us. So I asked her to marry me. I wanted her to become my wife before she was to become my mate." I couldn't see where there was anything wrong with that.
"Edward you know that when a vampire takes a mate it is forever. Well for you as a vampire to want to marry Bella, well that is a human emotion. It seems that being with Bella had brought your human side back to you, and just by proposing to her you allowed your human part of yourself to overpower your vampire part. I have never heard of a vampire doing such a thing. Once a person changes into a vampire all of their human attributes are overtaken and enhanced by the venom. But Bella brought out your human side. You will forever be connected to her, and she has given you something that I thought to be impossible, she has given you a soul. Not the kind of soul that we all have, I believe we all have a soul, but she has given you a pure soul. One that could never be lost. Do you understand?" I do have a soul then. I thought I had lost mine, I knew Carlisle believed we kept our souls even when we became vampires.
"I have a pure soul? How does that change things?"
"A pure soul is that like one of a baby. When you discovered love with Bella, you were in sense reborn. All of your prior sins were washed away, because between you and Bella you were destined to be together. That is why fate has kept bringing you back to her. She is your soul. You saved each other." As he spoke I listened to his thoughts.
'If only me and Betty had that kind of connection. He has no idea how deeply bonded him and Bella are. I think if one were to die the other would perish as well. I don't think I should tell him that though; not right now at least.'
What did he mean if one of us were to die than the other would perish as well? That bothered me, but I thought about when I thought I had lost her to James, I had wanted to die as well. I hadn't really thought about that until I thought she was dead. It popped into my head the minute I saw Alice's vision of Bella dead. It also made sense to me why without thinking I had been so protective over her. but I didn't understand and I took it overboard.
I had so much to think about that I had excused myself from Edmund and went on a run. I ran as fast as I could and before I knew it I was in our meadow. I looked around and I could see Bella in everything. So she was my soul mate in every sense of the word.
Our love was unique and special.
I looked up into the sky and saw a falling star.
I closed my eyes and made a wish.
And then sealed it with "I love you"
Bella POV
I had decided to take a walk along the beach tonight. I had been walking for a long time. I kept thinking about what Betty had told me; that I was Edward's soul. I still didn't quite understand how me; a simple human could change his life so drastically. I know that he had changed mine. My heart will forever belong to him. I thought about how special it had been for him to ask me to marry him, then I thought about the look on his face when I handed him back the ring. Why didn't I just keep the ring? At the time I was very hurt and confused, but still I looked back on it and I realized I was no better than him. I had hurt him by leaving also.
All this time I spent wallowing in my own self pity; he was hurting too. I know now since I can see myself clearly that we both had caused each other so much unnecessary pain and heartache.
My legs started to hurt from walking so I thought I would take a break and sit for awhile. I sat down in the sand and wrapped my arms around my knees. I didn't feel like crying but tears started to ease their way out of my eyes. I missed Edward, and for some reason right at this moment I felt his presence all around me. It felt like he was sitting right next to me. I laid back; putting my arms under my head, and I stared up into the dark sky. I just laid there looking at the stars.
I thought about going home. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face Edward. For some reason I suddenly felt ashamed for my behavior. I thought about what I would have done if the roles were reversed. Would I have lied to him about something that terrible? I asked myself. I looked deeper into my mind to pull out my answer. It finally came to me; yes I would have done the same thing he had done. I would have lied to keep him near me. How could I be so upset with him, if I would have done it too? I knew right then and there that there was nothing for me to forgive him for. He was acting out of desperation.
He was trying to hold onto me. He loved me enough that he lied to me. I know it sounded strange to think of it like that, but by him lying to prevent me from remembering the worst day of my life, he was protecting me from hurting myself. I was too blind to see that if I would have remembered it before I had the chance to fall in love with him all over again, I would have left him for good. He lied just to give me more time with him.
I saw a shooting star streak across the sky, and I closed my eyes and made a wish.
I sealed it with "I love you"
Edward and Bella POV
Just then I heard a faint whisper in the wind.
"I love you" it was Edward's voice
"I love you" it was Bella's voice
My wish came true.(Bella)
My wish came true.(Edward)
Chapter 27: Chapter 27
Chapter 26 A/N Guess what everyone. i was riding int he car when I typed this chapter out, and when we got to our hotel, it has free wi fi. So I am able to post this chapter. I don't know if I will be able to finish the next chapter before we check out in the morning, but I will try, and if the next hotel has free wi fi I will be posting, sorry for the confusion about my earlier post. i didn't realize hotels had free wi fi. so I will try to finish the next chapter. enjoy and don't forget i like reviews!
Complications
Bella POV
It has been almost a month since I had arrived here at Betty's motel. We have become very close. It wasn't that hard to open up and talk with her. She is the only person that could truly understand the way I feel. I think I have noticed a change in her as well. She was very guarded when I first met her, and now she seems happy and carefree. We take walks along the beach every day. I really enjoy her company, but I knew that our time alone was coming to a close. I have been selfish for far too long. I needed to tell her about Edmund. She had to know where he is. I just didn't know how to tell her. I don't want her to be mad at me. I hope she will understand why I kept that information from her.
I decided to hint that maybe it was time that she hunts. I feel she would be in a better mood after she was fed. I know Edward was always in a better mood after he hunted.
"Betty hasn't it been awhile since you last hunted? I think it might be a good idea for you to go hunt I can stay and watch the motel. We haven't had any visitors in awhile, so I should be fine." I tried to sound like I didn't have ulterior motives behind her going hunting.
"You may have a point Bella, it has been awhile. Are you sure you can handle everything here by yourself?" She was already heading towards the door.
"Yes go I will be fine." I pointed to the door.
She got the point and headed out waving as she left.
I was sitting at the counter doing a crossword when the door opened. I thought that was quick, she had only been gone for about 30 minutes. So I looked up to see if it was a customer.
I froze as I looked into the eyes of a man standing on the other side of the counter. His eyes were bright red. He was a vampire. A vampire that fed on humans, and I was human and I was all alone here. I was terrified. I wanted Edward. I decided to act innocent and not let on that I knew he was a vampire. I also thought why else would a vampire be coming to a motel other than to eat me; vampires don't sleep why would they need a room? I screamed within my thoughts hoping, and yet knowing Edward would never be able to hear me. The phone started to ring, but I was too frozen to answer it. The phone was behind me and I didn't dare turn my back to this vampire.
"Hello sir do you need a room?" I tried to hide the fear, but I was never that good at acting.
"No I am in no need of a room." His voice was soft, but yet it still sent chills up my spine.
"Then what is it that you are here for?" I just knew he wanted to kill me, but why hadn't he already? I mean I was all alone and He could've killed me within seconds of walking through the door.
"I am searching for an old friend, and I know she was here." He still spoke in a soft voice.
"Do you know if your friend stayed with us, and how long ago I will be able to look her up in the registry?" I was trying to see if I could help so I could get him to leave.
"No she was not a customer she is the owner. I am looking for Betty." His voice got a bit colder. I was getting more scared by the minute.
I heard the phone start ringing again. I had a feeling it was Alice. She would definitely see me in danger. I had to answer the phone, but I would have to get him to leave first.
"Betty is not here right now, but if you leave your name I will let her know that you stopped by." I hoped that would work, but I had my doubts. I could hear the phone, and he looked at the phone as well.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" he said pointing to the phone.
"Yes I think I should if you will please excuse me." I inched my way backwards trying not to let him out of my sight.
His eyes narrowed as to say that how I was acting was an insult towards him.
I answered the phone, as I had thought it was Alice.
"Hello" I said knowing he was listening.
"Bella, are you alright? I saw…" I had to interrupt her before he heard her.
"Yes Alice I am fine, I am just helping someone who is looking for Betty. He is an old friend. He kind of reminds me of James." I was hoping she would get the hint about the red eyes and know how scared I was.
"Oh is Betty there?" She replied, yes she got my hint. She knew he was listening.
"No Betty stepped out to get something to eat; I don't know when she will be back." I had to think of something. I was running out of time.
"Bella I was calling because I wanted to tell you that Jasper will be picking you up from work tonight. You get off in a few minutes right?" she was letting me know Jasper was on his way here.
"Oh okay yeah I get off in a couple of minutes. When will Jasper be here?" I don't know when she sent him, but I was hoping he was close.
"Oh he should be there in just a minute. He was afraid that he might be late so he left a little bit early." Just then I heard a car pull up in the front.
"Alice I think Jasper is here, yeah I see him now. Oh Emmett came with him. Why didn't you tell me? Now I have to put up with him teasing me all the way home." I laughed as to let this guy think that they picked me up all of the time.
"Okay well I am going to let you go now that they are there. I love you Bye." She sounded a bit more relaxed.
"Bye and Thanks." I could always count on Alice. I hung up the phone.
I looked back to the vampire standing there staring out the window; he was looking at Jasper and Emmett making their way into the office. His eyes narrowed into a thin line when he took notice of the fact they were vampires. He shot a look back at me. It terrified me. He was angry.
Just then Jasper and Emmett walked in smiling. Emmett came over behind the counter and grabbed me up into a huge bear hug. I could sense he was thrilled I was unharmed. I looked at Jasper and he was sending out calm feelings, because all of my fear subsided. He stood by the door putting the red eyed vampire in between him and Emmett. Strategic that was Jasper.
"I guess I will just come back another time, maybe Betty will be back by then." He wasn't too happy, he was out numbered. He turned to the door and started to open it.
"Excuse me but you didn't tell me your name." I quickly spoke up before he could leave. I wanted to warn Betty.
"Just tell Betty that Landon came by." And he sped off into the night.
I collapsed in Emmett's arms. I was so relieved they were here. Jasper came over and touched my shoulder, and I was totally calm.
I reached my arms around Emmett and started to sob. He just rubbed my back.
"You are safe now little sis. Your big bros' are here. I am just glad we made it in time." He gave me another squeeze; almost making me pass out, because I couldn't get a breath in.
Jasper had to slap him to get him to realize I couldn't breathe.
"Oh sorry sis I keep forgetting how fragile you are." He said as he took me over to the chair and sat me down.
"So are you ready to get going, we can be home within an hour." Jasper said looking at me.
"I can't go home just yet. I still have something I need to do. I have to stay here and wait for Betty. She will be back from hunting soon." I wasn't going anywhere without her.
"Hunting? Is she a vampire too?" Emmett popped off.
"Yes but she is like you guys. She is safe. We have become very close friends. I will be safe with her. Can you guys stay until she gets back? I don't want that Landon to come back." I knew they wouldn't leave me there alone.
"Yes but I was told by Alice to bring you home with us." Jasper said his tone was that of concern because Alice was going to rip him a new one for not bringing me with him home.
"Don't worry Jasper Alice knows that I have decided to stay here." Just as I said that the phone rang.
"See I told you so, now you won't get in trouble." I giggled.
Jasper answered the phone and talked with Alice. He nodded his head a couple of times. Then there were a couple of yeses and then a no, and then he said something real low that I wasn't able to hear. Then he hung the phone up.
"Okay she said to stay here with you until your friend returns then we are to leave you with her and head home." Jasper didn't sound like he agreed with Alice, but had no other choice.
We sat around and talked for about an hour. They were telling me about how much the family likes Edmund. We talked about everyone in the family except Edward.
"You know you can talk about Edward; I can handle it. I am not the same fragile Bella as I was before." I hoped they had seen the change in me.
"Alice instructed us not to say a word about Edward. She would know if we said anything and we would be dead the minute we walked through the door." Emmett chuckled it out, but I got the feeling he was serious. I wonder why Alice won't let them tell me about Edward. I started to worry.
"Bella I feel that you are confused and worried. All I can say is that there is no need to feel either of those emotions. Trust me please. That is all I can say." Jasper put his hand on my shoulder again, and I felt relaxed and my worries went away.
"Okay I trust you Jasper, but I know I will worry again right after you leave." I smiled up at him and he smiled back.
Both Jasper and Emmett shot a look back over to the front door of the office. They must sense something outside, and then the door flew open and they both took a protective stance in front of me. I peeked around them and noticed Betty was standing there with a shocked look on her face.
"Okay everyone relax!" I shouted to get all of their attention. It worked they all looked at me.
"Betty this is Jasper and Emmett, they are part of my family from Forks. And guys this is Betty." As soon as I introduced them they all relaxed their positions.
"Why are they here?" Betty asked looking directly at me. "Are you leaving?" her tone turned into a soft whisper, she thought I was leaving her.
"No I am not leaving; they came here because they thought I was in danger. I had a visitor stop by. He was looking for you. He was a vampire, and he had red eyes. I was scared and Alice must have seen that and she sent these guys here." I realized that I just let it slip that Alice sees the future; I have not told either her or Edmund that anyone in my family had powers.
"Did he say who he was?" She had a strange look on her face; it was as if she was trying to figure out who would be looking for her.
"Yeah he said his name was Landon." As I said his name her face went as white as a ghost. She had a terrified look on her face.
"Who is this Landon and does he mean you harm?" Jasper spoke up, and I knew he could feel all of the emotions that were showing on her face. I wondered who this Landon was.
"Landon was the vampire that changed me." She shot a look over towards me. "Remember when I told you about when I was changed?" I nodded and she continued.
"Well when he changed me he expected me to be his mate. He left me a year after I was changed, but he has been hunting me down ever since. I thought when I came here and I hadn't seen him in so many years that he had given up. But now he has found me again. He has also been searching for Edmund. He wants to kill Edmund, so that I will become his mate. He knows that as long as Edmund exists I will never want anyone else." As she said Edmund's name her voice saddened. Jasper walked over to her and touched her shoulder, the sorrow look disappeared and she looked at Jasper and then to me.
"How did he do that? How did he make me feel like everything was okay? I felt a rush of calmness sweep through me." She wasn't hysterical; she was actually speaking in a calm manner. I knew that was Jasper again.
"I have the power to manipulate people's emotions. I just thought you needed a little help to calm down." Jasper pulled his hand away when she shot him a glare.
"I don't want you to take away any feeling I have about Edmund. Whether it is good or bad; I want to feel everything about him." She relaxed her glare, and I understood what she meant.
"So is this the same Edmund that…" Emmett started to speak but I cut him off.
"Yes this is the same Edmund that I had met in Portland." I shot Emmett a look that told him to shut his trap. He understood and looked away. He says that sometimes the looks that come from my little human face scare the crap out of him. I know he is not scared of me, but I still use that look.
"Are you safe to be here with him around? I don't like leaving you and Bella here if this Landon means any harm." Jasper spoke up.
"I don't think he would harm me, but I am afraid I can't say the same for Bella." Betty was worried for me. Of course she was I was still human.
"Well how about we take both of you back home with us and my family will be able to protect you." Emmett was the one to suggest this.
I had to think of something quickly; I had been planning on going home soon, but I wanted to be able to tell Betty about Edmund. I thought of a way to tell her about Edmund, but we needed to be in Forks for it to work.
"That sounds like it is the best option we have. Let me go get my things together and we can leave. Bella are you ready to go home?" Betty was asking me if I was ready to go home to Edward. I was ready.
"Let me go get my things together too." I only had a few minutes to call Alice and set my plan in motion.
I went to my room, and I knew that she wouldn't be able to her me in there. Her room was too far on the other side of the motel complex. I whipped out my phone and called Alice.
"Alice I need you to do something for me." I knew she had probably already seen what I was planning.
"Yes Bella I saw what you are planning, and I like it. It will be less of a shock than if you were to tell her there. I will have everything ready here. You guys just be safe and get home. I have also seen this vampire. He doesn't give up too easy. I will have to tell Carlisle and Edward about what is happening. I can't tell yet but I think this might end in a fight. Please be careful. Love yah."
"Thank you Alice and I love yah too." And I hung up the phone.
I walked over to the door and was just about to open it when my phone rang.
I flipped it open while letting out a little chuckle.
"What Alice?" I said in a laughing tone; what had she forgotten to tell me?
"Don't open the door." It wasn't Alice.
It was my Edward.
Chapter 28: Chapter 28
Chapter 27 A/N okay guys i am still at the hotel and I finally completed this chapter, i am sorry for leaving a cliff hanger there. but it was the best place to leave it. so here it is i hope you like it, please review and let me know. I will be leaving this hotel in a few hours so i dont think I will be able to get another chapter posted today, Remember to review please.
Bella the Danger Magnet
Edward POV
I heard Alice screaming downstairs, so I ran down as fast as I could to see what was going on. She threw me a phone.
"Call Bella and tell her not to open the door. Don't ask just do it NOW!" She was frantic she must have seen Bella in danger. I quickly dialed Bella's number.
"What Alice?" she said when she answered the phone.
"Don't open the door." I said back in a tone I knew she would understand would mean she was in danger.
Just then I heard the door break open, and I heard a man's voice.
"I figured I would need an incentive in order to get Betty to talk with me. I heard how close you two have become. You can come with me the easy way or the hard way, because you smell so delicious." He sounded so evil.
"BELLA RUN; RUN TO JASPER AND EMMETT!!" I screamed into the phone.
"EDWARD HELP!" Bella screamed she was still holding the phone. He was going to take Bella. I felt so helpless. Please Jasper, Emmett get in there and save my Bella.
I then heard her scream again and the sound of the phone hitting the floor. I could still hear noises in the back ground. He took her! I am going to kill this vampire.
"Hello who is on here?" I heard Jasper's voice.
"Jasper this is Edward. Is Bella okay? Please tell me she is okay." My voice was begging.
"I am sorry he took her, she is not here." Jasper sounded as though he couldn't even contain his own emotions.
I let out a loud growl and then came the dry sobbing. My chest was aching like I have never felt it ache before. My Bella is with a human feeding vampire. I saw his red eyes through Alice's vision. Please let her be safe.
I hung up the phone and looked at Alice.
"Alice tell me where she was. I am going and you are not going to be able to stop me. I want to know where to go." I was demanding of her; I was never like that with her. I know that I promised Bella, but she needs me now.
"Edward she is in Seaside Oregon. I am trying to see her, but I can't see her. Just go now please. Bring my bestest friend home please." Alice was so upset. I knew she loved Bella too.
I was going to ask Edmund to go with me but as I headed to ask him Alice cut me off.
"No Edward he can't go. You will understand when you get there. Please just trust me. Now Go!"
As I ran out the house I wondered why Edmund couldn't go, we would need all the help we could get. I went out and got in the car. I drove as fast as the car would go. I didn't stop for nothing.
I pulled into the motel parking lot. I saw Jasper's car and I had barely put the car into park when I jumped out. I ran inside and demanded someone tell me what is going on.
"You must be Edward. I will fill you in." It was a woman vampire, but her eyes were golden. This is who Bella has been with for the last month.
"And may I ask who you are?" I was trying to tone down my voice, but I was still more angrier and worried than I had ever been before. Jasper's touch couldn't even affect me. And he was worried by how deep my rage went.
"Oh I am sorry; my name is Betty, I have gotten close with Bella and I am very sorry for her getting kidnapped is my entire fault." She sounded so concerned for Bella. What does she mean her fault.
'Yes Edward she is Edmund's Betty, but Alice told me not to say a word to her about Edmund. She said they will find out about each other soon, but now is the wrong time so says Alice.' Jasper quicklythought, I think he knew I was about to ask if she was his Betty.
"Can someone please explain to me what is going on, who has Bella and why he took her?" I wanted answers. And all of their thoughts were jumping around I couldn't cue in on them.
"We really don't have time to go through all of it; Landon is the one who changed me. He wanted me to be his mate, but during my transformation I screamed the name of my true love Edmund. So when I was done with the changing He realized I could not be his mate because I already had a mate. He stayed with me for about a year, thinking I would be with him, only to leave me when I still refused. He has been hunting me down ever since. He is also hunting for Edmund. I hope that he never finds Edmund because he will kill him. He thinks I would be his mate if Edmund ceases to exist. He has taken Bella has some form of leverage to get me to talk to him. I am scared of him, he is pure evil. I will go to him in order to save Bella." She was will to sacrifice herself in order to save Bella. I could not allow that no matter how much I needed to save Bella. Betty needed to be protected.
"So where has he taken her?" I wanted to go searching for her and bring her back.
"I don't know but I think we should start looking up the beach about a mile south of here there is some caves and they are very secluded." She said and we listened to her since she knew this area better than us.
"Jasper you go with Betty and had east into the mount range. Emmett you go north and search along the beach and cliffs. I am going to these caves. Call if you find her scent or his."
We headed to the room where Bella was when he took her. I caught his scent and burned it into my mind; I was going to kill this vampire. I smelled Bella's scent; I lingered there in the room engulfing all of the air, I had missed that scent. I turned around and followed her scent; it led me out to the road, and then disappeared. He must have had a car here. I then turned to the south and headed for the beach. I ran down the beach until I was coming up on the caves. The wind blew and I caught Bella's scent. I went crazy. I took off running as fast as I have ever run. I hot the entrance to the cave. I saw him standing there. I looked around the cave and saw another man holding Bella. She was lying in his arms. She wasn't moving so I listened for her heartbeat, and there it was. She was just sleeping or passed out. But she was alive.
I growled at this vampire named Landon. I glared at him.
"How dare you take my mate!" I spit the words through my teeth.
"Your mate? But she is human. I didn't smell any vampire on her when I first met her. I only smelled Betty on her. If she is your mate than why does she not have your scent on her?" He spoke back to trying to justify taking Bella. Assuming that no one had claims on her.
"She has been visiting her friend Betty for a month now. She was going to come home soon, and then you went and snatched her. I demand you give her back to me now and I will let you live. Harm a hair on her head and I will kill you where you stand." I was growling in between each word. I wanted him to know that I meant business.
"All I wanted was to talk with Betty; I was never planning on hurting this human girl. I will give her back to you if you can just have Betty talk with me," He stated.
'What you promised me I could have this human after you got your Betty. That is not fair.' I heard the one who was holding Bella think.
I let out a large growl.
I heard the sounds of someone approaching, and I could hear the thoughts of Jasper and Emmett.
'Edward we are coming we will be there in a minute.' Jasper thought.
'Hey bro don't start fighting till I get there.' Emmett was always looking for a fight.
I turned back to this Landon guy.
"I will not say it again. Release Bella now and you two may walk away from here alive. Refuse and you will die." I snarled at the end.
"Not until I see Betty. I have waited a long time for this." Landon seemed so confident as long as there were two of them and only one of me.
Just then Emmett and Jasper appeared in the entrance of the cave and stood next to me.
The look on both of their faces turned to utter shock as they realized they were the ones that were out numbered now. The one in the back of the cave holding Bella thought to himself.
'This is not worth it; I can get a human girl anywhere what is so special about this one.' He was scared but he was not willing to fight with Landon.
'Oh crap now there are three of them. And this punk I know won't help me. I don't feel like dying tonight, I will get her another time. They can't protect her forever.' Landon thought.
I looked back at Emmett and Jasper to hear what they had planned.
'The one who has Bella looks the most scared; I don't think he wants to fight, Edward give me a nod if he thinks about dropping Bella and running. You go get Bella and we will distract Landon.' Jasper could read what the one who has Bella was feeling, and he was thinking along the same things I was.
I listened to his thoughts again.
'I could just drop this girl and run, they won't come after me, and all he wants is the girl. Okay come on Scott on the count of three drop her and run. 1… 2…' I didn't let him get to 3 before I turned to Jasper and nodded my head.
I ran over and caught Bella before she hit the ground and Emmett and Jasper crouched in front of Landon. I had Bella she was safe.
Just when Jasper and Emmett were about to attack; Betty came into the entrance and distracted them for a split second, which allowed Landon to escape. He was gone but both Bella and Betty were safe.
"Oh my god, is she okay?" Betty looked over at me holding the very limp body of Bella in my arms.
"She is just unconscious, other than that I think she is fine. I need to get her back to a bed so I can lay her down." I said while running with her back to the motel. As soon as she wakes up I will take her home so I can keep her safe.
I made it back to her room and as I put her down on the bed, she spoke, and I recognized the sound of that talking, she was asleep.
"Oh Edward I love you" She mumbled.
I whispered back to her as I moved her hair to behind her ear. "I love you too Bella."
I sat next to her bad as she lay there sleeping. She tossed and turned a couple of times. I would rub her back or caress her forehead and she would relax.
"I cannot live without my life I cannot live without my soul; my Edward." She mumbled out.
I was shocked I remembered I had written that on that cross. How did she know of it? Did she see that cross? She feels as though I am her soul.
It was about 3 hours later that she finally came too. I wasn't sure if I should stay by her side or not. I whispered real low; so low that she would not hear me.
"Betty I am not supposed to be here I think you need to come in here." I knew she would hear me.
I started to head towards the door when I heard her sit up.
"Please don't go Edward." I froze right where I stood I had my back to her.
"Please Edward forgive me." This shocked me. Why was she asking for forgiveness from me for?
"Forgive you for what? You have done nothing to require me to forgive you." I was so confused.
"Edward we need to talk. I was hoping to do this in a different place and under different circumstances." She sounded so sure of herself. This is a new side to Bella.
"Are you sure you want to talk right now, we can talk later when you are more coherent." I did want to talk everything out, but I wanted to make sure she was feeling okay enough first.
"I am fine and yes I want to talk now please. I need to explain everything I have been sorting out in my head and my heart.
"Okay we can talk." I said as I walked back over to the chair by the bed.
"Well Edward I want to say some things and I want you to be quiet and hear me out before you say anything. Okay?" She wanted to go first, that is something new. She is so much bolder.
I nodded my head and sat back in the chair my eyes glued to hers.
"Well for starters I want to say I am sorry for leaving the way I did." I was getting ready to say something and she held up her finger to me and I kept my mouth shut.
"As I was saying I had no right to leave you the way I did. I never meant to hurt you. A friend gave me some great advise; he said to think about if the roles were reversed what would I have done, and that got me thinking and I came to the conclusion I would have lied to you also. I mean I understand why you did it, you were trying to prevent me from getting hurt by my own memories, and giving me the time I needed to remember how much I loved you, and I found that I learned to love you in new ways during that time. I want to thank you for doing that. I have always thought I wasn't good enough for you never thinking that you felt the same way. I have learned over this time apart to finally see myself clearly. To see myself the way you tell me you see me." Tears started to swell in her eyes.
"After talking with Edmund and Betty I understand why you left me all of those years ago. Betty has explained to me how deep our connection to one another is. I also wanted to ask you to please forgive me for accepting your proposal and then giving you back the ring. I never meant to ever take that ring off of my finger. I was confused and hurt, but after leaving I realized I would have been hurt a lot worse if I didn't have you in my life to be with me."
"I have to admit that the longer we were apart I discovered that I could think of you and not feel pain and heartache. I was able to see the world through my eyes instead of yours. I love you but you did get a little overprotective at times. I need to be able to make my own mistakes."
"Tonight when you called and then he broke into my room, I screamed for you. I needed you. When I thought I was going to die I thought of you. I know I need you in my life. I cannot live forever without you. I just want you to know you have nothing to be sorry for." She held her head down and cried. I wanted so much to go over and pull her face up and kiss her, but I needed her to hear me out now.
"Bella I need to tell you some things too. Before I met you I just barely lived my life. Then you came along and being with you opened my eyes to a whole new world that I was missing out on. Then I left you and was without you, and life was not the same I survived but barely I moped around and barely functioned. Then you came back into my life. And I thought we were meant to be together every minute of forever, and I thought that if we were separated I would fall back into that way of life again, but this time I realized I needed to live my life for me. I missed you but like you said I didn't feel the pain or the heartache. I didn't know if you were happy, but I felt as though you were, it was strange but I felt as though the farther we were apart the closer our bond became"
"You are my soul Bella. I found I can survive without you in my life, but I cannot survive without you in the world. You are your own person and I realized that I needed to stop standing in front of you always protecting you and instead I need to stand beside you and support you." I looked over at her and she was crying but it wasn't a sobbing kind of crying, it was more like tears of joy that we both really understand our love for one another.
I wanted to reach over and hold her, but I was afraid she didn't want me too.
She looked into my eyes and the next thing I know she had jumped into my arms and wrapped her arms around me. I in turn wrapped my arms around her. We just sat there holding each other for the longest time. Not saying a word just holding each other. I felt closer to her than I had ever felt before.
I reached down and pulled her face up to look at mine.
"Bella I promise you from this day forward I will respect you as your own person. I will respect your wishes and wants. I will listen to you about what you think you need, and I will love you with every fiber of my being for the rest of my existence. No matter what decision you make I will stand by your side and support you. I don't want to lose you completely from my life." I kissed her forehead. And pulled back to look at her,
"Edward I promise you from this day forward I will respect the fact that you are your own person as well. I will respect your wishes and wants. And I will let you decide what it is that you need, and I will forever love you with everything that makes me who I am. My heart has belonged to you since the first day I saw you. I don't want to lose you either. And I want you to know nothing on this earth would please me more than becoming your wife. To spend forever with you is everything I wish for, everything I want, and everything I need." She reached forward and grabbed my face with both hands and kissed my with every ounce of passion she had within her.
I didn't want to pull out of this kiss; I had missed this so much. I was gentle with her; I didn't want to lose control. We had been kissing longer than we had ever kissed before, and yet I felt no sudden surge of losing control. I was in complete control with her. I started to kiss her a little harder and she responded pulling herself up into me. She let her hands move into my hair and grab chunks and then she pulled my hair. I let out a deep moan, and she pulled away knowing that is usually the point in which I say enough, but I was more in control of myself than ever before. So I pulled her back into me and we resumed kissing each other only pulling apart in order for her to take a breath.
I finally pulled away from her and picked her up and set her back in the chair.
I kneeled down in front of her and I quickly pulled out the ring from my pocket.
I pulled her left hand down and stretched out her fingers.
Isabella Marie Swan.
I love you with all of my heart.
Would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?
She held out her hand even closer to me and said.
"There is nothing I would want more than to marry you and spend forever by your side.
Staring into each other's eyes we both said at the same time.
"I love you"
Chapter 29: Chapter 29
Chapter 28
Plans
Bella POV
He slipped the ring ontomy finger. I thought to myself; why did I ever remove it in the first place? I didn't think I could feel any happier than I feel right at this moment, and judging by the look on his face I knew he felt the same. I had my Edward back, and we decided to leave the past in the past and make a fresh start.
Now I had to focus on my plan to reunite Edmund and Betty. They deserved to be happy. They had suffered long enough without each other. I just hoped that everything will work out as I have planned it to. I needed to get Betty to Forks, so that I can set the wheels in motion. I didn't want it to be us that reunited them. I wanted them to find each other on their own.
"Edward we need to help Edmund and Betty recapture their love." I said as I snuggled into his arms.
"Yes love I agree with you. I heard their thoughts of one another. They still think of each other in many of their thoughts. When I would talk with Edmund; every time I would talk of you and how much I missed you and the love I feel for you; he would think of Betty. I can sense that he feels as greatly for her as I do for you, and that surprised me, because I didn't think there was anyone that could feel that deeply for someone." as Edward spoke he gave me a gentle squeeze and kissed my hair.
"Well I have an idea, but we need to get Betty to go to Forks. I don't know yet if she will go. I need you to do something and I know that you will say no right away but please hear me out okay." I really didn't want to tell him to do this, but I really had no choice.
"Okay love I promise to hear you out, so what is it you want me to do?" Edward had a smile on his face, but I knew it would disappear as soon as he heard my request. I knew him all too well.
"Well I need you to…" I hesitated for a brief moment trying to figure out the best way to put it.
"Bella please don't be afraid to tell me anything. I gave you my word I will hear you out. Do you remember what I just told you? I said that I will trust you in the fact that you know what is best for you. I love you and I want you to be able to tell me anything." Wow this is a completely different Edward. I looked into his eyes and they were genuinely soft and caring.
"Okay I need you to go back to Forks without me." There I spit it out quickly. I looked to him to get an idea of what he was thinking by the look on his face. To my surprise he wasn't frowning, and he didn't look mad.
He sat there looking at me with a blank look; I knew that look he was in deep thought. He was mulling over what I had just said to him.
"If you think that is best, then I will go back to Forks without you, but may I ask a Question?" His look turned to one of concern.
"Anything Edward." I was still mystified by his response. Before; I would have to argue with him just to let me out of his sight; to go to the bathroom.
"I will do as you ask and return to Forks alone, but I would like to know if you do intend on coming home to Forks as well." His voice trailed off, and I realized what he was thinking. He was afraid I wasn't going to go home. I had to explain to ease his mind.
"Yes Edward I do plan on going home, I will be bringing Betty home with me. I need you to go home to be with Edmund and get him to be in a certain place at a certain time. Do you understand why I need you to go without me now?" I hoped that cleared things up for him.
"Oh okay, you had me worried there for a moment, I thought maybe you were not ready to come home yet." The concerned look quickly faded and changed into one of his crooked smiles. I melted.
"So I think it best if you, Jasper and Emmett all go home together and Betty and I will follow in a day or so. I want Betty to feel as comfortable about going there as possible." I shot him a smile and he responded to it with reaching down and kissing me on my forehead.
"I don't want to sound like I am overreacting, but there is still the fact that Landon is still out there, and he wants to get his hands on Betty. I read his thoughts and he thinks she belongs to him. He will stop at nothing until he gets her. I really wish you would rethink the idea of you two traveling alone." He was worried, and it showed on his face, and in his tone.
"I have thought about that, and if you could read my mind you would have known that." I giggled. I thought by teasing him he would ease up and laugh. I thought wrong. He gave me a little groan and closed his eyes.
"Edward I really have thought about it, and I figure that you guys can take off first and then double back to make sure he isn't following us. Then when we get close to Forks you guys can go ahead. Alice will fill you in on what needs to be done." I looked back at him with one of my confident 'Everything will be okay' looks.
He glanced back at me and went into a blank stare for a moment. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. I knew he hated the idea of not being with me to keep me safe, but he wanted to let me make my decisions, and trust that I can be safe without him.
He finally spoke up. "I see that you have put a lot of thought into this, and I think it will work. We will stay close enough to watch out for you, but far enough away that Betty won't know we are there." He sounded as though he was convinced my plan was the way to go, but somehow I sensed a bit of concern and doubt in it, but I wasn't going to open that can of worms; he was agreeing to do it my way.
"Thank you Edward I love you so much, and I have to say I like the new and improved Edward. It suits you well."I said laughing a little.
"Well thank you and I am glad I have changed into the new me, because I don't think the old me could survive the new you." he said as he let out a chuckle. I liked it when he chuckled it told me he was relaxed and not as tense.
We sat there on the chair curled up together for what seemed to be hours, but was only minutes when there was a knock on the door. I looked at Edward and he let out a low growl and moved me off of him, and went to answer the door.
I tried to see who it was but he was blocking the view. I could hardly hear what they were talking about, so I got up and walked over to the door. It was Jasper.
"Hey Jasper what is going on?" I could tell something was up because neither of them had happy faces on them.
"I think I will let Edward explain, I have to go back to patrolling the area. Have a good night Bella." He turned and walked off; I got a sense that he was very worried about something.
I turned to Edward waiting for him to explain.
"Bella we have a complication in your plan. I know what I agreed to earlier but with what jasper just said I have to discuss another way to get you and Betty to Forks, and we have to go now before it is too late." His voice was so cold and filled with anger.
"What has happened? Why do we have to change the plan?" I knew something was wrong but now I was starting to get worried.
"Jasper and Emmett have been taking turns doing patrols around the area, and Jasper was out around the outskirts when he came across a bunch of scents. They were scents of vampires. He said he could make out about 15 different scents and one of them was Landon's scent. Jasper thinks he is building an army to get Betty."He looked away from me at that moment and I knew there was something else.
"What else are you not telling me?" I grabbed a hold of his shoulder and tried to spin him around.
"Well Jasper wants me to go with him to search out for these vampires to see if I could hear them. I don't want to leave you, but I think we really need to know what they are planning. Emmett has already called Carlisle and he is in the process of calling in favors from old friends. If this comes to a fight we will need all the help we can get." He didn't want to leave me, and instantly I thought that a part of the old Edward was slipping back through, but I could see where he would not want to leave me after what had just happened to me because of Landon.
"Edward please go and figure out what Landon is up too. I will be safe here. Emmett can stay here. Please don't let worrying about me get you hurt. Okay. I love you but you need to go and do this." I reached up and put my hands around his face and pulled his lips to mine.
I felt his icy hard lips as they gently pressed into my warm soft lips. It was like fire and ice, only the ice was never melted by the fire, actually it was the fire that was being melted by the ice. His lips swayed back and forth with mine, when I had to pull away to breathe he would only allow our lips to be parted by a portion of an inch. As soon as I took a breath he pulled me back into him, and he gently moved his tongue around my lips. My whole body was riveted with tingles flowing throughout it. I reached up and wrapped my hands into his hair grasping with both of my hands and squeezing. He let out a low deep moan from the middle of his chest and let it rumble up through his throat. I wasn't sure how much longer his self control could hold out. He usually ended it by now. I started to pull away and this time it was him that wouldn't let go.
I wondered how he was controlling himself like this, but I didn't want to think about that. I threw myself back into the kiss. We stayed locked into each other's embrace for about twenty minutes, but it seemed like eternity to me. We only separated for brief moments in order for me to be able to take a breath.
I was losing all control over my own self control. I wasn't going to be able to stop myself. I wanted Edward. I wanted all of Edward, and I was willing to give him all of me. When he pulled away for me to allow me to take a breath I managed to speak
"Edward… make love to me." I whispered while exhaling after a quick breath.
He instantly pulled away.
He looked at me and I noticed his eyes were burning with lust. He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand and it sent shivers throughout my body.
"Bella I would love nothing more than to make love to you right now, but I don't want our first time to be like this. I want it to be in a special place. I am sorry I lost my self control. I didn't mean to get so carried away. I love you and I promise soon we will be together in every way." I could tell that it took every ounce of self control he had left at that moment to say that and to stop.
I knew if I really wanted too I could break his control and get what I wanted, but he was right I wanted our first time to be special too. So I pulled myself away and took a few more breaths to calm myself down.
"You're right Edward, I am sorry I was just so wrapped up in the moment." I turned my face away and looked down. he reached over and with his finger he lifted my face back up to the point I was looking at him.
"Don't ever apologize for wanting me like that, because I want you more than anything. I am sorry that I have to go now. Jasper is waiting outside. I will be back soon." He stood and reached down and kissed me on my head. He started towards the door and looked back at me. I heard a low moan and saw his eyes; they were still black with lust. He then mouthed the words 'I love you' and opened the door. He walked out and was gone.
I took a deep breath in and let it slowly seep out. I missed him already.
Edward POV
I walked out the door leaving Bella behind. My whole body was aching for me to turn back around and go back to her. Go back and sweep her up into my arms carry her over to the bed and make mad passionate love to her. I heard Jasper clear his throat, and just then I realized he could feel what I was feeling. He just looked at me with a very apologetic look upon his face.
'Edward I am sorry for interrupting I can feel that you wanted to stay. But I need you to be able to read them from a distance, and I need you to concentrate on this. I know it is hard but you have to get those feelings of lust out of your mind for now.' Jasper was thinking, and he was right. I needed to concentrate on helping to keep Betty safe.
"Sorry Jasper I will try to get my emotions in check. Now where do we go?" I needed to change the subject.
"I caught the scent about 20 miles south of here. I think we should turn our phones off, I wouldn't want them to ring and alert them we are there." I nodded and we both turned our phones off, and then he pointed in the direction for us to go, and we took off running.
It wasn't long before I caught the scents, so we slowed down a bit. I was trying to listen to see if I could hear any of them.
I came to an abrupt stop when I heard a bunch of them.
'Wow this is the sweetest scent I have ever smelt, I have to have her. I will have to savor such a delectable treat.'
'I have to be the victor, after getting a whiff of this scent, I have to have her. She will be mine.'
'Landon wasn't kidding this is a most delicious reward. I will kill whoever I have to in order to be the one to receive her.'
'I can't decide whether to eat her or turn her, she smells so delicious, but I want a mate. Should I take her as my mate before or after I turn her? Oh she is delicious smelling that's for sure.'
That is when I heard him clearly. I heard what Landon was thinking.
'Now that I have all of their attention with that human girl's scent; I can use them to distract her mate and those other two vampires, while I take back what is mine. I will have Betty. She will be mine whether she likes it or not.'
He was very rude and hateful in his thoughts when it came to Betty. He truly believed she was his mate. He cared for her, but not in the way I had heard Edmund think of her. Edmund truly loved Betty, and Landon only thought of her as belonging to him, as since he didn't have her; that just made him want her more.
Once I heard that I let out a growl.
I was going to go in there and kill all of them for even thinking those things about my Bella, until Jasper came over to my side and put his hand onto my shoulder. I suddenly felt a calming effect sweep over me, and I knew then that Jasper had felt my rage.
. "Edward what is it that you heard, what could make you feel such rage?" Jasper spoke softly and sounded very concerned.
"Sorry Jasper and thank you, I needed that. I just heard Landon and he is planning on using Bella as a reward for all of those vampires to fight us, so that he can take Betty. He has given them Bella's scent and they are going crazy over how sweet it smells. They all want her." I felt sick to my stomach to even think about what they all wanted to do to my Bella.
"Edward you need to remain calm, there are only two of us, and it wouldn't help for us to attack them right now. Let us go back and get the girls with Emmett and get out of here and go to Forks. Carlisle will have some news on any help that may be coming." Jasper knew strategy and I had to put faith in his logic, but I was still thinking of going in there and attacking them for wanting to harm Bella.
We turned back towards the motel and set off running, when we arrived I noticed the car was gone. No one was here.
I quickly shot a look over at Jasper and he looked just as surprised as I did, I pulled out my phone turned it on, and dialed Emmett's number. It rang once and then someone answered it.
"Hello" It was Betty. What was Betty doing with Emmett's phone?
"Where is Emmett?" I didn't mean to sound cold but I was worried that they were all gone and Betty was answering Emmett's phone.
"I think I should let Bella explain, but relax we are all fine. I will keep her safe." She quickly stated before I had the chance to cut her off.
"Edward we are fine, Emmett received a call from Alice, I guess you guys turned your phones off, so Alice called Emmett. Emmett talked really fast to her and then hung the phone up. He instructed Betty and I to take the car and head towards Forks. He is running and making sure we are not being followed. Something has Alice freaked out and judging by the look on Emmett's face it is big. Do you know what is going on?" She sounded as worried as I felt.
"No Bella I have no idea until I talk with Alice, but I am glad that she called to get you guys to a safe place. All I care about right now is keeping you and Betty safe. Tell Betty to drive as fast as possible. I will meet you in Forks." I tried to reassure her that everything is going to be okay.
"Edward you remember what my plan was? Can you find a way to make sure a part of that plan is not in Forks when we arrive?" I knew what she wanted. She wanted for me to find a way to get Edmund away from Forks for awhile. I will call Carlisle.
"Don't worry love I will call Carlisle and arrange for that to be taken elsewhere for awhile. I love you and I will see you soon."
"Thank you and I love you. I can't wait to be in your arms again. Bye." Just as she said that I thought about our moment earlier.
"Bye love." I hung up the phone.
I heard Jasper at that moment.
'Edward concentrate you need to focus.' He was looking at me like I had committed a deadly sin, but then he smiled.
We went to my car and I started it up. As we pulled out of the parking lot I heard a familiar voice in my head.
'They are leaving; I need to find out where they are going. I will get what I want.' It was Landon; he was close by; close enough to see us. I had to lead him away from Bella. I drove in the opposite direction than the way Betty and Bella had gone, and they followed us.
"Jasper, Landon and those others are now following us, I need to lead them away from Bella to give them time to get to safety. We need to call Alice and find out what she saw." He nodded and picked up his phone and called Alice. He then handed me the phone. Before it even rang she answered it.
"Edward, are you okay? I tried calling you and Jasper but your phones were off. I saw you attack a bunch of vampires and it didn't turn out good, I then saw those guys go and take on Emmett and the girls. I told Emmett to get them out of there and I was so worried about you and Jasper. What were you thinking? Are you suicidal or something? If I was close to you right now I would smack you. You are just lucky that Bella has no idea what you had decided to do. Don't you ever do that to me again do you hear me?" Damn for such a small little thing she can be so vicious. I knew she had seen what I wanted to do to those guys. I was going to go in there and try to stop them from doing what they were thinking of doing to my Bella.
"Alice, will you let me explain please?" I pleaded with her.
"Fine but this had better be good." She was still pretty upset with me.
I told her about what I had heard and that it was a good thing that she had gotten them out when she did because they showed up as we were leaving. I also told her that I was leading them away from Forks.
"Okay I understand why, but next time use your damn head before you decide to do something that stupid; especially when you have my Jasper with you." Now it dawned on me that even though she was frightened by her vision of me; she was so upset because I would have caused harm to Jasper.
"Can I speak with Carlisle please?" I needed to talk to him about Edmund.
"Yeah hold on." I could hear her take the phone across the room.
"Hello Edward, what is it you want?" Carlisle remained calm, but I could hear a bit of concern for me in his voice.
"Carlisle, Bella wanted me to ask you if you could find a place for Edmund to go for awhile without being too obvious. She doesn't want him to be there when she brings Betty there. She said Alice will explain."
"Yes Alice has already filled me in, and I have sent him up to Denali with Rose. I told them that they were going to ask for help on a situation that may be coming here. Alice says he will need to stay up there for about a week. I have also asked a few others to come. You be safe and come home as soon as you think it is safe. We will keep Bella and Betty safe here. So you just concentrate on coming home safe to Bella." Carlisle always had a way of confirming that the situation no matter how serious would always work out in our favor if we stuck together as a family. I would have to agree with him. Our family has been through a lot together over the years.
"I will be home as soon as I lead these animals away. When Bella gets there tell her I will see her soon."
"I will tell Bella that you will be here as soon as you can. Bye." I hung up the phone and sped up.
The sooner I led these creatures away from my Bella.
The sooner I could go back and be with her.
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A/N Thank you for all of the reviews so far. I am sorry that is has been a few days, but I am home from my trip now and I am able to write some more chapters. Oh and to Nickster, it was about time you reviewed, I looked forward to hearing about what you thought about Bella remembering. and I am glad to hear the paranoia is gone, lol. I hope you all like the way the story is flowing. I have to admit I almost ended it, but then more ideas popped into my head and I had to write them in: Edmund and Betty. I have plans for them, and you will just have to wait and see what happens to them. There will be some action coming in the near future, please remember to review. I will be writing the next chapter as soon as I post this one so it will be up soon, as you may know I usually try to get 1 or 2 sometimes 3 chapters in a day done. So don't fret if I leave 1 with a cliff hanger. You won't have to wait too long. Enjoy
Chapter 30: Chapter 30
Chapter 29
Trip to Forks
Bella POV
I noticed that Betty drove as fast as Edward and Alice. I thought to myself what is it about driving so fast, it must be a vampire thing. I let out a giggle and Betty turned to look at me.
"What is so funny Bella?" she had a surprised expression, probably wondering how I could giggle at a time like this.
"Oh I was just thinking to myself about the fact that your driving reminds me of Edward and Alice's driving, and I was wondering if it was just a vampire thing." I had to giggle again just at the sound of it.
"Oh I enjoy driving fast because my senses are more acute than those of a human, so what you consider to be fast in actuality to me is normal speed, so I guess it is a vampire thing." She giggled too.
We had been driving for about thirty minutes now. I knew we were getting close, but I had to use the restroom. I knew I would not be able to hold it till we got to Forks.
"Betty I need you to pull over at the rest area, I need to go to the bathroom." I closed my knees and held them together, as a sign to tell her I was serious.
"Oh I forgot that you needed to have pit stops; I'm sorry. I will pull over at the next stop." She smiled at me and I nodded squeezing my legs together more.
We pulled off of the freeway into the next rest area. I jumped out of the car and ran into the bathroom. I was almost too late, but I made it.
When I came walking out I noticed someone talking to Betty. I had never seen this man before, and he kind of gave me the willies. As I got closer I realized that it seemed as though Betty knew this man. I had a puzzled look upon my face when Betty looked over at me.
"Bella this is an old acquaintance of mine. His name is Demetri." I looked at him and noticed his skin had an olive tint to it,and his wavy hair went to his shoulders and then I saw his crimson red eyes. He was another human eating vampire, and again I am a human.
He stared at me for a second and I cringed when I saw his eyes. By the shocked look on his face he knew that I knew that he was a vampire. He then turned back to Betty and motioned her to step away from me. She walked over to where he had motioned, and he followed her. He began to talk to her, and then it seemed like they were arguing. He didn't seem too happy to know that I knew about them being vampires. She had a worried look to her. She then said something and his look relaxed. They both walked back over to me, and I was worried what was going to happen next.
Just then Emmett came walking across from the tree line. When he got up to us he kept his eyes on Demetri while speaking to me.
"You okay Bella?" His tone was concerning but at the same time it was as if he was letting this guy Demetri know that He was there to protect me.
"Yeah Emmett I am fine; this is Demetri. He is an old acquaintance of Betty's." I motioned over to Demetri.
"Demetri is it? And what are you doing here? Are you alone?" Emmett asked him while standing in an almost protective stance next to me.
"Yes I am alone. I was in the area and noticed Betty here, so I thought I would say hello. Do you have a problem with that?" Now Demetri was being the rude one. Why was Emmett so worried about this guy? If I was in any danger Betty would have said something by now.
"No problem on my side. So girls don't you think it is time to get on your way. Carlisle is expecting you soon." Emmett was trying his best to stay calm. I knew he would love nothing more than to get into a fight, but his main priority was to get us safely back to Forks.
"Carlisle Cullen? You know this Carlisle Cullen personally?" Demetri looked right at me when he asked that.
"Yes I know Carlisle. Do you know him as well?" I asked him back in the same tone as he had used with me. I didn't realize at the moment that I was being snide with a human eating vampire. That was until Emmett nudged me and shot me a look of 'watch it remember you are human'
"I know of him, he is old friends with my master, Aro." He said with a smile. I looked to Emmett and his expression turned to one of total fear. I thought it was strange that I had never seen Emmett afraid of anyone or anything, but when Demetri said the name Aro; Emmett froze with fear, and I think but I am not positive but I think it made Demetri's smile grow into a bigger one seeing that Emmett was frozen with fear.
"Okay okay Demetri is was very nice to see you again, but we really do have to get going." Betty spoke up obviously seeing the testosterone overdrive that was going on between Emmett and Demetri.
"Yes I will let you go on your way; I have to report in anyway. Aro will be pleased that I ran into friends of his old friend Carlisle Cullen. Have a nice day and it was very nice to meet you Bella is it?" he looked back at me and I felt like the nice words coming from him were not actually meant to be nice.
I nodded as to reply that I was indeed Bella.
He waved and ran off into the trees. I turned to Betty at the same time Emmett had turned to look at her.
"You know the Volturi? How do you know them, and how close are you to them?" Emmett was so curious and still a bit scared. I still thought it strange to see Emmett scared of something.
"Yes I do know some of the Volturi, but no offence my dear Emmett it is something I wish not to discuss right at this moment. First I need to speak with Carlisle." She was kind in the way she had said it, and Emmett was fine with the answer she had given him.
"Okay girls I think it is time to hit the road." Emmett pointed to the car.
We both nodded and walked over to the car. We drove back out onto the freeway heading towards Forks.
We sat there quiet neither of us saying a word until I couldnt stand it anymore and had to ask her about Demetri.
"Betty how do you know that Demetri guy?" I asked in my quiet shy kind of voice.
"Bella please as I said before I really can't go into all of that with you right now. I promise that will know soon. I need to talk with Carlisle first." She spoke in a straight calm manner and yet I felt that she was very frightened as well.
"You need to talk with Carlisle? You sound like you know him; Do you?" I was confused how would she know of Carlisle? And why would she need to talk with him?
"As Demetri had stated earlier I have never met him, but I do know of him, and I really must speak with him before I say anything else. I know that you are curious but please Bella it is for your safety now that I have to speak with Carlisle. I wish I would have known earlier that you are part of the Cullen coven, well so to speak; that you will become part of their coven." Now I was really confused.
I did as she asked and I remained quiet for the rest of the trip. Before I knew it I saw the sign that welcomes you to Forks.
I told her the directions to the Cullen's house, and she drove straight to it. When we pulled up into the driveway I noticed that Carlisle was the only one standing outside. He waited for us to come to a stop and walked down to greet us. I thought this to be strange of him, because before he would always stay up at the door and wait for people to come to him.
As I climbed out of the car he greeted me with a hug. Since I awoke from the coma and learned that Charlie was gone; Carlisle had stepped in and become like a father to me.
"Welcome home my dear sweet Bella. It is so good to finally have you back. I hope that your journey has served you well. I see you have brought a friend with you." He said looking over at Betty. He then walked around the car to introduce himself to her.
"Hello I am Carlisle Cullen, and you must be Betty. I have heard many pleasant things about you. I also want to express my deepest thanks for keeping Bella safe and returning her home to her family." Carlisle looked at me and with that look a father gives his daughter; one of caring and loving knowing she is safely at home after running away from home. I know Carlisle loved me, and I was foolish to go running off, but he also looked like he knew that I needed to get away.
"You're welcome Carlisle; she has changed my view of life. Just being around her has opened my eyes to a world that I had tried for many years to shut out. She is a very special girl, and I am glad to hear that she is part of your family. But if you don't mind though; I have some very important matters to discuss with you." She turned to me and gave me a smile and waved me over to her. I walked over to her
She grabbed me up in her arms and gave me a gentle squeeze. I hugged her back.
"Betty would you like to go inside we can discuss whatever matters you have to discuss up in my office." Carlisle was always the most hospitable host when it came to having visitors in his house.
"Actually if you don't mind, I would much rather prefer somewhere with a bit more privacy. What I have to discuss with you needs to just between you and me at first if you don't mind." She wasn't being rude about it, but I know what she means; no matter what room in this house you are in everyone except me that is can hear you.
"I should tell you I don't keep secrets within my family, but if you prefer to talk elsewhere then I know of a place we can go. Would you mind if I drove? Carlisle loved to drive as much as Edward does.
"No I don't mind if you drive. Can we go now, some of what I need to tell you are of dire importance, and you should hear about it right away, after talking with you if you choose to tell your family that would be up to you? But we must really hurry I don't know how much time we have." As she said that they both got into the car and drove off down the long driveway.
As soon as they were out of sight I headed up to the door. I was just about to open it when Esme opened it and engulfed me into her arms. I loved her like a mother, now that mine was gone, I considered her to be my mom.
"Oh my dear Bella we have missed you so much. Are you hungry I can fix you something to eat? Alice said you were coming home and I actually tricked her, I told her to go shopping before you got here, and she was jumping up and down until I told her to go shopping for food." She laughed so hard and I could hear growls coming from inside the house; that must be Alice. I laughed it was funny when someone could get one over on Alice, and especially dealing with shopping. Thinking of it again both Esme and I started laughing even harder and again a growl came from Alice.
"Not funny Esme; you had my hopes all up that I was going to be able to go shopping." Alice remarked back to Esme in a pouting sort of way.
"Well technically you did go shopping; just not for clothes." Esme let out another round of laughter while walking into the kitchen.
I thought about it and decided I was hungry. I hadn't eaten all day. I headed into the kitchen behind Esme.
"Yeah I guess I am hungry." As I said it I noticed Esme was already cooking me something.
"Is Edward back yet?" I just realized I had been in the house for minutes and I hadn't seen Edward yet. He should have been able to beat us back here. I hope he is okay.
"Edward said he will be here soon, he had things that he needed to take care of." Alice spoke up and I took it by her less pouty tone that she was no longer mad about the shopping fiasco.
"Hey Alice, can I ask you what your vision was about that Emmett pretty much threw Betty and I into the car and demanded that we come here? And why you were so worried that you couldn't get a hold of Edward or Jasper?" that had been bugging me the whole way here.
"Bella I can't be the one to tell you that. It is not my place even as your sister to tell you; can you please just wait and let Edward explain? And speaking of sisters; were you ever going to tell us about well you know what." At the end of that her tone turned into a more demanding tone.
"Oh I am sorry it kind of slipped my mind after all that has happened today. I accepted Edwards's proposal again." A large smile swept across my face as Alice and Esme came running towards me, as I held out my left hand to expose the ring on my ring finger.
"Oh I am so happy for you, I always knew from the first time we met you that you and Edward were meant to be together forever. I just wanted you to know that you have made Edward so happy. He truly loves you, and I can see that you truly love him too. You two were made for each other." I swear if Esme could cry tears we would need to give her about a case of Kleenex.
"How much do you love me Bella?" Alice was speaking in her guilt trip tone, and I knew that could only mean one thing; she wants to plan my wedding. I could never deny her that, but since she won't tell me about her vision I thought I would play with her a little bit.
"You know I love you, so what do you want?" I was asking sarcastically, and Esme giggled at the way I said it.
"Please oh please can I plan your wedding?" She went from guilt trip tone to pleading tone. I thought to myself this is going to be fun playing with her. I had to think of deciding to elope. There Edward and I were going to go to Vegas.
"NO NO NO! You wouldn't dare do that." Alice was throwing an all out tantrum. This was fun. She was jumping up and down screaming. I had to keep thinking of eloping to Vegas.
"Alice Bella can do whatever she wants; after all it is her wedding. What are you planning on doing Bella that has Alice in such an uproar?" Esme turned towards me.
"I was planning on eloping with Edward to Vegas." I said it trying my hardest not to burst out laughing. At the same time Esme quickly turned and ran into the kitchen, and then we heard a loud burst of laughter coming from the kitchen.
"Not funny Esme; that was not funny at all!" Alice was so upset that she stomped off upstairs. I just had to remember to keep thinking Vegas.
This will teach Alice to keep things from me.
A/N Here you go another chapter, Don't worry all of the secret
conversations will be explained, but at a later time, And review and let me
know
what you think about Betty being connected to the Volturi. I have many
shocking details to come out in the next few chapters I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 31: Chapter 31
Chapter 30
The Discussion
Betty POV
I wondered why Carlisle was taking me so that we may talk in private. I couldn't wait and figured no one could hear us in the car so I started.
"Carlisle the reason I needed to talk with you in private is that I ran into an old acquaintance of mine earlier, and I am afraid he saw Bella. I am also afraid to say that he works for Aro." I stopped at saying that name I wanted to get his reaction to hearing me speak of Aro.
He shot a look at me with utter shock on his face.
"Aro? What does he have to do with what is happening with Landon?" I needed to explain everything to him, and I knew from my time with the Volturi that I could trust him. Aro always spoke very highly of him.
For some reason this Carlisle was the only person that I had ever heard of that Aro held with such high esteem. He did not approve of the way he lives his life, but there is something about Carlisle that you feel you owe him total respect.
"Yes the acquaintance I ran into was Demetri; he wouldn't tell me what it was he was doing in this area, but he was alone, so I took it as he wasn't working. He did meet Bella and he noticed that she did know he was a vampire, so that may be a problem because she is still human. I did tell him that she was going to be changed soon. He did relax but as he was about to leave he did tell me he had to report back, and he was going to tell Aro that Bella was part of your family. I have a feeling that could bring some unnecessary problems your way." I could see that he was concerned about the possible visit from the Volturi, but I had a suspicion that he was more concerned on how I was associated with them.
"So may I ask how it is that you know the Volturi?" yep I knew it.
"Well I hate to admit this but at one time a long time ago I was part of their guard." I was really ashamed of that part of my life, but he had the right to know now that he is risking the lives of his family in order to protect me.
"You were part of the guard? How come I have never heard of you? I thought I knew all of the guard. What was it about you that intrigued Aro?" He was more informed of the Volturi than I had expected, so this will make it easier to talk with him. I won't have to explain everything.
"I was a special favorite of Aro's. He kept me hidden and out of the limelight. He craved the power that I had, but I would never submit to him no matter how hard he tried to get me too. It was there that I learned about you and the lifestyle you chose to live. I liked the sound of it so I told Aro that I was through with the Volturi. He was not pleased as you know how Aro gets when he loses something."
"How did you just walk away from them? I would think Aro would never let anyone leave of their own free will. What is this power that you possess; if you don't mind me asking?" He was so polite and kind. I wondered how he and Aro were ever friends.
"Well it was a quite powerful gift. I was able to look at someone and they would burst into flames; killing them before they could put up a fight." I turned my head down and stared at the floor boards of the car. I was ashamed that I had used my gift to kill other vampires. I didn't want him to judge me on my past.
"Wow such a special gift. No wonder Aro kept you hidden. I have heard of you, but your name was never used, but I did I hear you correctly when you said you used to be able to use your gift? Do you just choose not to use it?" He is very observant.
"Well you can say that I do choose not to use it. You see when I changed to feeding off of animals like you, I lost my gift. It appears that I need to consume human blood in order for it to work. Aro doesn't know about that. He still thinks that I have my gift that is why he leaves me be. He is afraid I will turn my power on him. I am very ashamed that I used my power to kill many vampires in my past, and I would prefer if you were to keep this part of our talk to yourself. I don't want people I care about to be afraid of me. So I am asking you to keep this a secret." I was really hoping I could trust him.
"All I can say is that I will try. I however have something to tell you. As you have a special gift so does a couple of people in my family. And that may be why I may not be able to keep your secret. Unwilling to me I may let it slip, or you may even let it slip." Whatever does he mean I may let it slip?
"What do you mean?"
"Well as you have already met Edward, he has a special gift of reading people's thoughts. And Alice which you will meet, well she can see the future based upon the decisions people make. So you see either one of them may find out about your power." Oh boy I was not expecting that. Bella never told me her Edward could read thoughts.
"Can I ask you if I can trust your family then? Do you think they would judge me or be afraid of me?"
"I cannot talk for them about whether or not they would fear you, but I can give you my word that if you can trust me with this knowledge then you can trust them. I also think that if you were to tell them that you have lost your power due to not drinking human blood then they will most likely not fear you as long as you stay on this kind of diet. Does that help to reassure you?" Oh he has no idea; I have longed to be close to people again. I hoped for so many years now that I could feel as though I belonged.
"Okay then I think we can tell your whole family, now back to what I also needed to discuss with you. It was Demetri that I had run into today. Do you know of Demetri and what it is he does?"
He nodded and said "Yes I know of him, he is a very powerful tracker. I wonder what he was doing all this way alone." He was just as worried as I was.
"Well I think he was looking for me. I think he was doing it as a favor for Landon. You see Landon was the one who changed me, and then he was the first to see me use my power. It was before I really understood it, and he was the one that informed the Volturi of it. He had always wanted to be a part of the Volturi, so he thought if I was part of it so shall he. He left me and went to Italy and sent them after me. I was all alone and agreed to go. I saw him there and wanted nothing to do with him, but some of the guards took a liking to him. So I feel that Demetri is locating me for him. I don't want to endanger your family so I think it best if I was to leave." I really didn't want to leave this family but I also didn't want them to be killed because of me.
"My dear Betty, Bella has accepted you as a dear friend, and she is part of our family, so that now includes you as well. We will do everything in our power to help you. I have called some of my friends and they will be here in a few days. You have nothing to worry about." He was so giving of his love, I felt like it would hurt him if I was to leave, so I decided to stay.
I noticed that he had just drove around for awhile, and that we never stopped anywhere. I remembered the road that led up to his house and then I saw the house. We were back where we started from. It felt so good to get things out in the open with someone. I had held all of this in for so many years. I have never known anyone other than my Edmund that I could fully trust, but I sensed that he and his family was some that I could trust with my life. It was a strange feeling opening up and letting him see all of me. I felt a huge burden lifted off of me.
He parked in front and turned off the engine.
"Before we go inside I just wanted to tell you that I will not say a word to anyone. It is your story to tell and when you are ready you will tell it. So take your time and when you feel the time is right they will be as accepting as I was. I give you my word on that." I really needed to hear that.
We both climbed out of the car and walked inside. Just as I walked inside a scent hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't put my finger on the scent. I know I had smelled it before, but I didn't remember who it belonged to. I looked around and tried to see if I could place it, but the more I went into the house the weaker the scent got. I finally shook it off and walked into the living room. I was greeted by a lovely woman who was as sweet as apple pie.
"Hello you must be Betty. I am Esme. Welcome to our home." She was just as kind as Carlisle. I have never been around vampires that were so kind and welcoming as this family is.
"Hi Betty, I am so happy to finally meet you. I am Alice." A small pixie like girl came dancing down the stairs. Oh so this was the one who sees the future.
The next thing I knew I was being hugged, I barely felt it so I knew immediately it was Bella. I hugged her back.
"I am so happy you came back. I missed you. Are you okay Betty? You look like you are out of it." Bella was the most caring one of them all. She was always so selfless. She was always so concerned with everyone around her, and forgetting to be concerned for her own well being. Sometimes I think that is why she attracts so much danger towards her. But you can't help but love her.
"Bella I am great, it just took a lot out of me to explain all that I needed to explain to Carlisle. And I promise if you give me a little time I will be able to explain it to all of you as well." I knew then that I would tell them everything about me.
"Just take your time, I see what you have to tell, and I just wanted to let you know that we all accept you for who you are and not what you have done. We love you no matter what." Alice whispered into my ear as she came up and gave me a hug.
I thought to myself that is two down and six to go.
Edward POV
I had been leading Landon and his little gang of animals on a wild goose hunt for about 3 hours when I called Alice to see if the girls made it home safe.
She said that they had just pulled up and were outside talking with Carlisle. I told her I would be home soon I just had a couple of things to do first. Then I hung up with her.
I circled back around so I could get a better listen to what he was thinking. I stopped the car when his voice rang loud in my head.
'Where are they going? We have been going nowhere. Every time I think I get close they are already gone. It almost feels as though I am being led on a wild goose chase.' He was acting just as I hoped he would. Dumb ass was all that came to my mind.
I was telling Jasper about what I had heard when Landon's voice came back.
'What does he mean he saw them up in Washington? I knew I should have waited for Demetri.' Demetri had found them. What was the Volturi doing helping Landon. What is going on? I listened to see if I could find out how many of the Volturi were there.
'They are with Carlisle Cullen now. I reported this Aro, he wasn't too happy that Betty had joined up with Carlisle's family. This changes how we are to go forward, and what about the human girl? What does Aro plan to do about her? I guess she is that Edward's mate. That will complicate things. Oh well I did what I came to do; now it is time for me to go home.' I heard Demetri thinking, How does Aro know Betty and why would Aro care about Betty, the only vampires that Aro cares about are the ones with powers. so I wonder what kind of power she has.
Also Aro knows about Bella, and that she is human.
I needed to get home to Bella and quick.
Chapter 32: Chapter 32
Chapter 30
The Discussion
Betty POV
I wondered where Carlisle was taking me so that we may talk in private. I couldn't wait and figured no one could hear us in the car so I started.
"Carlisle the reason I needed to talk with you in private is that I ran into an old acquaintance of mine earlier on the way here, and I am afraid he saw Bella. I am also afraid to say that he works for Aro." I stopped at saying that name I wanted to get his reaction to hearing me speak of Aro.
He shot a look at me with utter shock on his face.
"Aro? What does he have to do with what is happening with Landon?" I needed to explain everything to him, and I knew from my time with the Volturi that I could trust him, because Aro held him with such high esteem. He did not approve of the way he lives his life, but there is something about Carlisle that you feel he is trustworthy and holds his word to be true.
"Yes the acquaintance I ran into was Demetri; he wouldn't tell me what it was he was doing in this area, but he was alone, so I took it as he wasn't working for the Volturi on whatever matter brought him here. He did meet Bella and he noticed that she did know he was a vampire, so that may be a problem because she is still human. I did tell him that she was going to be changed soon. He did relax, but as he was about to leave he did tell me he had to report back, and he was going to tell Aro that Bella was part of your family, and that she was human. I have a feeling that could bring some unnecessary problems your way." I could see that he was concerned about the possible visit from the Volturi, but I had a suspicion that he was more concerned on how I was associated with them.
"So may I ask how it is that you know the Volturi?" yep I knew it.
"Well I hate to admit this, but at one time a long time ago I was part of their guard." I was really ashamed of that part of my life, but he had the right to know now that he is risking the lives of his family in order to protect me.
"You were part of the guard? How come I have never heard of this? I thought I knew all of the guard. What was it about you that intrigued Aro?" He was more informed of the Volturi than I had expected, so this will make it easier to talk with him. I won't have to explain everything.
"I was a special favorite of Aro's. He kept me hidden and out of the limelight. He craved the power that I have, but I would never submit to him no matter how hard he tried to get me too. It was there that I learned about you and the lifestyle you chose to live. I liked the sound of it so I told Aro that I was through with the Volturi. He was not pleased as you know how Aro gets when he loses something."
"How did you just walk away from them? I would think Aro would never let anyone leave of their own free will; especially one that was considered to be one of his special favorites. What is the power that you possess; if you don't mind me asking?" He was so polite and kind. I wondered how he and Aro were ever friends.
"Well it was a quite powerful gift. I was able to look at someone and they would burst into flames; killing them before they could put up a fight." I turned my head down and stared at the floor boards of the car. I was ashamed that I had used my gift to kill other vampires. I didn't want him to judge me on my past.
"Wow such a special gift. No wonder Aro kept you hidden. I have heard of you though, but your name was never used, but I did I hear you correctly when you said you used to be able to use your gift what happened did you lose your gift, or do you just choose not to use it?" He is very observant.
"Well you can say in a way I do choose not to use it. You see when I changed to feeding off of animals like you, I lost my gift. It appears that I need to consume human blood in order for it to work. Aro doesn't know about that. He still thinks that I have my gift that is why he leaves me be. He is afraid I will turn my power on him. I am very ashamed that I used my power to kill many vampires in my past, and I would prefer if you were to keep this part of our talk to yourself. I don't want people I care about to be afraid of me. So I am asking you to keep this a secret." I was really hoping I could trust him to do this.
"All I can say is that I will try. I however have something to tell you. As you have a special gift so does a couple of people in my family. And that may be why I may not be able to keep your secret. Unwilling to me I may let it slip, or you may even let it slip." Whatever does he mean I may let it slip?
"What do you mean?"
"Well as you have already met Edward, he has a special gift of reading people's thoughts. And Alice which you will meet, well she can see the future based upon the decisions people make. So you see either one of them may find out about your power." Oh boy I was not expecting that. Bella never told me her Edward could read thoughts.
"Can I ask you if I can trust your family then? Do you think they would judge me or be afraid of me?"
"I cannot talk for them about whether or not they would fear you, but I can give you my word that if you can trust me with this knowledge then you can trust them. I also think that if you were to tell them that you have lost your power due to not drinking human blood then they will most likely not fear you as long as you stay on this kind of diet. Does that help to reassure you?" Oh he has no idea; I have longed to be close to people again. I hoped for many years; now I could feel as though I belonged, and that I am not an evil person for all I have done.
"Okay then; I have decided that I can tell your whole family, now back to what I also needed to discuss with you. It was Demetri that I had run into today. Do you know of Demetri and what it is he does?"
He nodded and said "Yes I know of him, he is a very powerful tracker. I wonder what he was doing all this way alone." He was just as worried about that as I was.
"Well I think he was looking for me. I think he was doing it as a favor for Landon. You see Landon was the one who changed me, and then he was the first to see me use my power. It was before I really understood it, and he was the one that informed the Volturi of it. He had always wanted to be a part of the Volturi, so he thought if I was part of it so shall he. He left me and went to Italy and sent them after me. I was all alone and agreed to go. I saw him there and wanted nothing to do with him, but some of the guards took a liking to him. So I feel that Demetri is locating me for him. I don't want to endanger your family so I think it best if I was to leave." I really didn't want to leave this family, but I also didn't want them to be killed because of me.
"My dear Betty, Bella has accepted you as a dear friend, and she is part of our family, so that now includes you as well. We will do everything in our power to help you. I have called some of my friends and they will be here in a few days. You have nothing to worry about." He was so giving of his love, I felt like it would hurt him if I was to leave, so I decided to stay.
"Well I should let you know that Landon has friends throughout the Volturi, and I am afraid to say this but I know that Aro will help him if he thinks I would return. Landon threatened me the last time I saw him before I went to Seaside, that if I didn't come back to him he would have Demetri search for Edmund, my truest of true love, and destroy him. I could never let that happen, but I could never allow myself to feed on another human again. I have been searching for Edmund to keep him safe, but I have yet to find him. Landon thinks that if Edmund was out of the picture I would have nothing to live for and go back to the Volturi. I informed Aro that if Edmund was killed by the hands of the Volturi, that I would destroy them." Just then I missed my Edmund. I had to try and remember him, all I had were my faint human memories of him, but the feeling of love for him was strong.
I noticed that he had just drove around for awhile, and that we never stopped anywhere. I remembered the road that led up to his house and then I saw the house. We were back where we started from. It felt so good to get things out in the open with someone. I had held all of this in for so many years. I have never known anyone other than my Edmund that I could fully trust, but I sensed that he and his family were some that I could trust with my life. It was a strange feeling to open up and let him see all of me. I felt a huge burden lifted off of me.
He parked in front and turned off the engine.
"Before we go inside I just wanted to tell you that I will not say a word to anyone. It is your story to tell and when you are ready; you will tell it. So take your time and when you feel the time is right they will be as accepting as I was. I give you my word on that." I really needed to hear that.
We both climbed out of the car and walked inside. Just as I walked inside a scent hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't put my finger on the scent. I know I had smelled it before, but I didn't remember who it belonged to. I looked around and tried to see if I could place it, but the more I went into the house the weaker the scent got. I finally shook it off and walked into the living room. I was greeted by a lovely woman who was as sweet as apple pie.
"Hello you must be Betty. I am Esme. Welcome to our home." She was just as kind as Carlisle. I have never been around vampires that were so kind and welcoming as this family is.
"Hi Betty, I am so happy to finally meet you. I am Alice." A small pixie like girl came dancing down the stairs. Oh so this was the one who sees the future.
The next thing I knew I was being hugged, I barely felt it so I knew immediately it was Bella. I hugged her back.
"I am so happy you came back. I missed you. Are you okay Betty? You look like you are out of it." Bella was the most caring one of them all. She was always so selfless. She was always so concerned with everyone around her, and forgetting to be concerned for her own well being. Sometimes I think that is why she attracts so much danger towards her. But you can't help but love her.
"Bella I am great, it just took a lot out of me to explain all that I needed to explain to Carlisle. And I promise if you give me a little time I will be able to explain it to all of you as well." I knew then that I would tell them everything about me.
"Just take your time, I see what you have to tell, and I just wanted to let you know that we all accept you for who you are and not what you have done. We love you no matter what." Alice whispered into my ear as she came up and gave me a hug.
I thought to myself that is two down and six to go.
Edward POV
I had been leading Landon and his little gang of animals on a wild goose hunt for about an hour when I called Alice to see if the girls made it home safe.
She said that they had just pulled up and were outside talking with Carlisle. I told her I would be home soon I just had a couple of things to do first. Then I hung up with her.
I circled back around so I could get a better listen to what he was thinking. I stopped the car when his voice rang loud in my head.
'Where are they going? We have been going nowhere. Every time I think I get close they are already gone. It almost feels as though I am being led on a wild goose chase.' He was acting just as I hoped he would. Dumb ass was all that came to my mind.
I was telling Jasper about what I had heard when Landon's voice came back.
'What does he mean he saw them up in Washington? I knew I should have waited for Demetri.' Demetri had found them. What was the Volturi doing helping Landon. What is going on? I listened to see if I could find out how many of the Volturi were there.
'They are with Carlisle Cullen now. I reported this Aro, he wasn't too happy that Betty had joined up with Carlisle's family. This changes how we are to go forward, and what about the human girl? What does Aro plan to do about her? I guess she is that Edward's mate. That will complicate things. Oh well I did what I came to do; now it is time for me to go home.' I heard Demetri thinking, Aro knows about Bella, and that she is human.
I needed to get home and quick.