My bed creaked as I slowly sat up, abandoning all efforts to fall asleep. Forks at night was a quiet place, with the kind of silence that you could feel right in your bones. The silence that was now smothering me. I switched on the lamp on the bedside table and smiled tenderly at the picture beside it- Renee and I when we were teenagers, just after our elopement in California. She looked beautiful as always, of course, her gaze not meeting the camera lens, a delightful laugh escaping her lips probably as she remembered some funny joke she'd heard a few days ago. I sighed. First my wife, and then my daughter. What was it with me and my incapability of keeping beautiful women in my lives? Bella... A sharp glance at the clock on the wall told me there were seven hours left until the dreaded moment. Until I had to surrender my daughter to the arms of another man. Until she was wedded to that lowly-.
She's happy, I scolded myself for still being prejudiced about Edward. She is happy. That's all that matters. Just like Renee was happy with Phil now. That was life- some things just had to be given up for the greater good. Besides, I reasoned, though this was an argument I had faced with myself a dozen times- Carlisle was a good man, and the Cullens a good family. I should be proud to call them my daughter's in-laws. In-laws. The word hit me like a ton of boulders hurled after one another. This was happening too fast, too soon; but there was nothing I could do to stop it now. It would break Alice's heart to back out now, even if I did manage to sway Bella's mind right at the last minute, a feat that was pretty much impossible. All the effort that poor lamb had thrown into planning this wedding- I couldn't let that go to waste. But what about a postponement? I wondered hopefully to myself, even if this debate seemed dismally familiar by now. I knew the outcome of this conflict already: Bella was going to get married, and I was going to be a good father for once and walk her up the aisle with a smile on my face. This would be my last present to her as a guardian.
I was staring blankly into space, contemplating whether or not to go down to the kitchen to fix myself a midnight snack just to soothe my frazzled nerves, when a loud purring noise came from the driveway. Puzzled, I recognized the noise to be Bella's truck engine- and frowned deeply. I thought she had been planning to sleep over at the Cullen's house tonight. Alice's wedding-planning sessions rarely ran this late too, and for God's sake the ceremony was tomorrow! What on Earth was left to discuss? I heard a door slam and the sound of the front door being unlocked. The latter too was slammed, and I heard Bella's voice a moment later, in a short frustrated scream. Then came a series of noises which sounded like she was kicking something, causing it to topple over; my bet was on the pile of wedding magazines that Alice had left lying in the kitchen. I froze in place. Maybe swaying her now wouldn't be such an impossible feat after all. But I was still careful to not make any audible movements, straining to keep from breathing too loudly. I waited for her to step on the top stair, which creaked, and listened for the sound of her slamming her bedroom door. Only then, I exhaled. A few minutes passed- the suffocating silence was back.
I got off the bed as lightly as possible, but took my time shuffling into my robe and slippers. I was afraid she would be crying- I had issues with tears, somehow. That was one of the things that had led to Renee leaving; she was so prone to drama queen moments and expected to be comforted every single time her eyes moistened, whereas I would shy away as far as possible from any sort of excessive emotion. My hand gripped the doorknob firmly, and soon I was outside Bella's room. This was, maybe, the one thing that I could stand up for.
"Bella, honey?" I tapped lightly on the door.
No answer. I frowned. In the past three years that she'd been living with me in Forks, she'd had tantrums and crying fits and God knows what else... but she had always made some sort of verbal reaction whenever I called. Now though, there was nothing. Like she wasn't even there. If that bastard left her again, I thought darkly, my mind instantly moving to schemes involving the FBI and arresting the entire Cullen family- I had a suspicion that their legal documents were fake, I just needed the proof... I threw the door open, half expecting to see my daughter in a crumpled heap on the floor, miserable and unconscious.
The room was empty.
That was odd. I crossed the room quickly to peek out the window- yes, that was definitely Bella's truck parked outside. But where was she?
Something terrifying suddenly registered itself in my brain. The window had been closed this morning; I'd shut it myself when I was leaving the house for work, a few hours after Bella had gone to the Cullen's. She would have left a note if she'd come back during the day.
The window was wide open now.
Should I continue this:S I'm on a fence here.
