This is an Alternate Universe New Moon collaboration story by the partners in crime, Carla and Paula.
Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight, but we wished we owned Edward and Jasper… and the sexy beast that is Carlisle Cullen.
Prologue
Just one drop, that was all it took.
It had happened so quickly that I barely had time to understand what was going on, let alone react to it. One minute it was quiet, peaceful and serene, the next it was vicious, loud and angry. The vast change in atmosphere had disorientated me, it had made it hard for me to comprehend what had just happened.
All I saw was Jasper fighting against his brother's grip so that he could do the one thing he had been trying so hard not to. My blood was calling to him, like an urgent cry in an empty room. There was nothing there to distract him from my calling. To him, the room was empty. To him, I was all he could see, my blood was all he could see.
My blood was the problem. My blood was the cause. But it was me who had made the mistake.
And now, only one week later I found myself standing in a forest that held more life than the eyes of Edward, the man that held my heart. The man that was holding my heart in the palm of his hand right now. Torn between the decision of protecting it, or destroying it beyond repair.
And it was that decision that I was dreading. Because there was only one way out of the unending maze we had found ourselves in. And the way out was a route neither of us wanted to take.
"Bella, we have to leave." His voice was cold, devoid of emotions.
"What?" My voice was a hoarse whisper. I wanted more volume in my voice to show that I wasn't weak, that I wasn't fragile. Yet as I spoke, my voice sounded as if I were a child.
"We have to leave Forks," he replied. His voice sent a wave of nausea through me. "We have been here for too long, it is time to move on."
My brow creased as I looked at him. "Can't we at least wait till we've both finished school?"
"You will finish school here, Bella."
"I don't... understand. I thought you said we had to..." My voice trailed away from me as I realised what his words meant.
"You're not coming with us." Each word was punctuated with a short breath, making the pain more defined, more precise.
"But..." I could barely find my voice. "I belong with you."
He shook his head. It was one fast, jerky movement. "You belong here, with Charlie."
I was about to protest, but he held out his hand to silence me. "You don't belong in my world, Bella."
"You're wrong," I cried in defiance, finally finding my voice. I wasn't going to let him do this to me, not after everything we'd been through. It wasn't going to end this way.
"Look what I did to you," he replied. I watched his eyes flicker to my bandaged arm. I covered the arm with my hand instantly, making sure that he couldn't see the thing he was referring to.
"What happened with Jasper, that was nothing!"
"You're right, it was nothing more than I expected," he murmured. His dark eyes bored into my own, as if he was trying to convince me that there was no other way out of this. This was going to happen and there was nothing I could to prevent it.
He was leaving me, over nothing.
It was just one drop.
If only Edward saw it that way.
Please review! Reviews make me (Paula) finish off the last bit of chapter one.