Hello everyone! This is just the prologue, which I don't usually write, but this story needs one. It's in 3rd person POV, but the rest of the story won't be.
This idea kind of just popped into my head the other day. I was re-reading a certain part of a story and I just wondered at something that I can't say now for spoiling things, and then musing on that led me to thinking and developing a story for it. Which led to this.
I know there are probably millions of stories out there like this but I hope you give this one a shot, because I am going to work hard to make it a little different than the norm. You all know me - I hate to be predictable.
Enjoy, review, and let me know what you think!
"Edward," Bella laughed, catching the young boy and swinging him up into her arms. "Gotcha!"
Laughing, the boy hugged her neck. "Miss Bella, can we have piz'a fer dinnuh?"
"Hmm…" Bella hummed, tapping her chin and looking up at the ceiling. She flicked a glance down, smiling. Edward watched her in excitement, a hopeful expression on his little face, and tightened his arms around her neck.
"Okay," she smiled, and Edward cheered, planting a kiss on her cheek.
Bella carried him inside, setting him down in the kitchen and reaching for the phone, flipping through the phone book to find the number for a pizza place. She was picky about her pizza consumption, and was not going to settle for Dominos or Pizza Hut or something.
Edward watched her as she spoke into the phone, ordering a small cheese pizza, and giving out the address for the pizza guy to deliver to. When she hung up, he grabbed her hand. "Miss Bella, Miss Bella! I gots a new movie yeserday. Wanna watch it?"
Bella grinned at him. "Okay, lead the way."
Edward lead her into the living room, dropping her hand when the reached the couch and searching the cabinet under the TV with a large frown puckering his face. That disappeared into a grin as he grabbed the video box he was looking for and ran it over to his babysitter. "This one, this one!"
Bella looked down at the box and made an excited sound. "I wanted to see this!" She smiled down at his happy and proud expression. "Do you want to wait for the pizza to get here?"
Edward frowned, puzzling out if this was a trick or not.
"We can eat the pizza while watching the movie in our pajamas," Bella added. "Like a slumber party."
Edward grinned, turning to rush up the stairs to his room. Bella caught him by the elbow when he stumbled on the second to last stair, and he grinned at her in thanks. She changed into her own pajamas - she always changed for 'bed' when Edward did - in the bathroom and waited for Edward outside his door. He came out, hair tousled, shirt inside out. He had his favorite teddy bear in his hands, the fur bedraggled and faded in some places, the bowtie hanging crooked and loose.
Bella pressed her lips together, commented on how cool his pajamas were, and held his free hand as they walked downstairs. They had to wait about twenty more minutes for the pizza, by which time Edward was getting antsy. Bella gladly went to the door to get the pizza; it would keep Edward from throwing a rare fit.
"Hey Dillan," she greeted the delivery boy. "How are you?"
He smiled at her. "I'm good. We're still on for tomorrow night?"
She smiled shyly up at him handing him the money. "Yeah. Thanks," she added as he pulled out the box.
"Careful, it's hot," he warned, and Bella rolled her eyes as she took it.
"Call me when you get off," she said, and he told her he would, pressing a swift kiss to her lips. Bella smiled as he walked down the walkway, turning and closing the door.
Edward was standing in the hallway, his face twisted. "Eew," he stated.
Bella laughed. "What?"
"He kissed you." Edward said the word kiss like it was dirty, making Bella laugh again.
"One day, you're gonna kiss girls, too," she teased him, setting the pizza on the kitchen table.
Edward shook his head so hard, his hair flew around it crazily and Bella wondered how he didn't get dizzy. "Nuh-ah. Girls are icky."
Bella raised a brow. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm a girl."
Edward's brow furrowed as he looked up at her. "But Miss Bella, yer the cep- eggcek-" He frowned, huffing in anger.
"Exception," Bella provided, then added, "Where'd you learn that word?"
Edward beamed proudly. "Momma. She said all other little boys are meanies but I'm a genelman, and the…" He trailed off, frowning.
Ex-cep-tion," Bella said slowly and clearly, listening and smiling as he said it like she had, hardly stumbling over the large. "There ya go. Did she tell you what it meant, too?" she asked, slicing the pizza.
"Uh-huh," Edward agreed, stepping closer to wait. "She said the one that isn't like the others."
Bella smiled down at the smart boy. "Well, thank you for making me your exception to the icky girls."
Edward grinned, stretching up to try to see the pizza.
"Why don't you go grab a plate?" Bella suggested, and Edward rushed over to the cupboard where his plates and cups were kept for his easy access. When he came back, Bella put two slices onto his plate and told him to sit on the floor in the living room. When she joined him, she had two cups of water and her own plate.
As she pressed play for the movie, she said, "One day, Edward, you'll find a girl that isn't icky, that you love, and you'll kiss her like Dillan kissed me."
Edward scrunched his face. "I love you and you ain't icky."
Bella smirked. "A girl your age."
Edward shook his head, sighing at the silly thoughts big people had. "Nuh-uh Miss Bella. No I won't."
Bella shrugged. "We'll see."
They watched the movie, Edward falling asleep towards the end. Bella turned off the movie, leaving the screen glowing blue, and grabbed the dirty dishes. She set them all in the sink, promising herself she'd wash them once Edward was in bed. She bagged the spare pieces of pizza, brushed her hands off on her pants, and walked back into the living room. Leaning down, she lifted Edward into her arms, carrying him upstairs and into his room. As she tucked him in, he stirred awake and stared at her.
"Miss Bella," he mumbled sleepily. "Can I have a bedtime story?"
"Sure," Bella whispered, searching his little bookshelf. "How about Peter Pan?"
Edward grinned, sitting up against his headboard and rubbing his eyes. Sitting down at the edge of his bed, leaning back slightly with him, Bella began to read. Edward interrupted her a couple times, asking why Peter didn't want to grow up, and why pixie dust helped people fly.
"Because it's magic," Bella whispered. "Magic makes it possible for people to do amazing things, things that other people can't do."
"So why don't more people use magic?" Edward asked in confusion.
Bella thought, slowly answering the little boy. "Well, I guess it's because not a lot of people believe in magic. Not even in little, every-day magics. Like a kiss, or learning a new word, or…" she thought harder. "Or in learning new things and helping people. Most people don't believe in magic."
"Why?"
Bella shrugged. "They think it's for little kids. It's make-believe."
Edward frowned at his blanket, then looked up at Bella. "Do you believe in magic?"
Bella smiled, looking at the little boy next to her, and thought that she most definitely did. "Yeah, I do."
"So can you fly?" he asked, eyes shooting wide.
Bella laughed. "No, I can't. I don't have a pixie!"
"Oh," Edward frowned. "Well when you find one, can we go flying and visit Never Land?"
Bella smiled slightly. "We'll see."
After a moment, Edward nodded and looked back at the colorfully illustrated book, and Bella started to read again.
They were at the point where Captain Hook kidnapped Wendy and the Lost Boys when Bella suddenly stopped, tensing. Edward looked up at her, noticing the frown on her face.
"Miss Bella," he started, when she put her finger to her lips. Edward went quiet, watching as Bella quietly closed the book and set it on the bedside table, before creeping her way to the door. She pressed her ear against it, listening, a variety of emotions running across her face.
Edward felt fear churn his stomach sickly when something shattered downstairs.
Bella bit her lip, looking back at the little boy sitting upright in his bed, eyes wide and fearful, face pale. She crept back over to him, staring him straight in the eyes. "Edward, I want you to hide in your closet, okay? Don't come out until I get you. No matter what."
Edward nodded, quickly rushing over his carpet and slipping into his closet. Bella, muscles tense and strained, slid open his door just enough to slip into the hallway. She tip-toed her way to the top of the stairs, glancing down. Shadows danced across the floorboards, stretching out from the living room.
Terrified, Bella rushed as quietly as she could to the parents' bedroom, knowing there was a phone in there. She prayed the intruders would stay downstairs until the cops arrived.
Edward sat on the floor of his closet for forever, wondering and worrying. Miss Bella had seemed really scared, and Miss Bella wasn't afraid of anything, not monsters under the bed or Captain Hook or the dark. What was scary enough to make Miss Bella afraid? Edward shifted in his spot on the floor, feeling tears gather in his eyes. He wished he were as brave as Peter Pan.
His hands felt around the floor for his teddy, and he felt his panic spike when he couldn't find him. It had been forever and Miss Bella hadn't come back. What if she was hurt? What if she was in trouble and waiting for him to save her? Like Wendy was waiting for Peter Pan to save her from Captain Hook!
Edward pushed open the closet door, peering around it on his hands and knees. His bedroom door was open just a sliver, and Edward could hear muffled voices downstairs. They weren't familiar.
He glanced at his bed - teddy wasn't there. Biting his lip, Edward crawled to the door and peered through the crack out to the hall. No one was there. The strange voices were gone.
Quickly, Edward pushed his door open and stood up in the hallway. He walked towards Momma's and Daddy's room, and heard Miss Bella on the phone. Edward felt his fear slip away. She must be talking to the boy who kissed her. She had told him to call her. She must have forgotten Edward was hiding in the closet and she had to let him out.
Reassured that everything was okay, Edward decided to look for his missing teddy. He thought back to earlier in the night, and remembered that Teddy had wanted to see the movie, too. Grabbing tight to the banister, Edward lowered himself down step by step, grinning proudly when he reached the bottom without incident. He glanced around, and hurried into the living room to grab Teddy. Miss Bella had put him to bed, and he wasn't supposed to get out of bed once she did that. He was hoping if he hurried, she wouldn't know he had broken her rules.
He found Teddy on the ground where he'd been sitting down, and hugged him to his chest in relief. He turned to go back to his room and stopped, confused. Two men were standing there, grinning. They weren't nice smiles, though, and their teeth were yellow. Bella and Momma and the dentes' always told him that if he didn't brush his teeth every morning and night, his mouth would turn yellow. These men obviously didn't listen to their denteses and mommas.
One had a bag in his hand, and the other held a shiny black squirt gun. Edward frowned in confusion.
"Hello little boy," one chuckled. "Where's your mommy and daddy?"
Edward frowned some more, looking at the mom. "Momma says to not to talk to strangers."
The men grins widened. "Oh, but we're not strangers. We're friends of your parents. Where are they?"
"At a party," Edward said. "You need to leave," he added decisively, his frown growing. Friends weren't allowed over to play when Momma and Daddy weren't home.
One of the men stepped closer, and Edward scrambled backwards. They scared him, and he wished he'd stayed upstairs like Miss Bella always told him to.
The man grabbed Edward's arm, pulling him off balance. Edward tugged, feeling tears gather in his eyes. "Lemme go!"
The man growled out for him to be quiet, but Edward struggled harder. "Stop squirming!"
Edward bit the man on the arm. Hard.
"Ow!" the man shouted, yanking his arm away. Then he backhanded Edward, sending him to the floor, crying. Through his tears, Edward looked over at the two men, who still blocked the living room doorway. Neither of them were grinning anymore, and they looked really, really mad.
Then Edward felt hope flutter in his chest. Miss Bella was sneaking out from the kitchen behind them, a frying pan held in her hand. When she saw him staring, she quickly put a finger to her lips.
Bella was petrified. When she'd finished her call to the police, she'd hurried back to Edward's room.
To find the door open. And Edward not in the closet. She'd whispered as loud as she dared, searching the rooms upstairs, when she heard the intruders talking downstairs. Thankfully, their backs were to her. She'd edged past them, heart pounding too hard, and into the kitchen. She could have grabbed a knife, she figured, but a frying pan would be so much more effective, and it was larger. That should make it easier to hit a target, right?
She was also completely furious. The man had backhanded Edward when he bit him, and anyone who could hurt little kids deserved to go to the deepest pits of Hell in Bella's opinion. Anyone. She'd felt vicious pride that Edward had bitten the man, but sort of wished he hadn't had to. If only the boy had stayed upstairs!
Holding her breath as she got as close as she dared behind one of the men, she pulled her arm back and swung with all the strength and anger and fear she had in her.
The man fell to the ground with a loud thump, and Bella turned quickly for the second man, the one who had hurt Edward.
He pointed a gun at the little boy. Bella froze, her breath freezing in her chest. Oh, no.
"Put it down," the man spat, and Bella dropped the pan from her hands, listening to the loud thwang as it hit the floorboards. Her eyes flickered from the man, to the gun, to the little boy.
"Take the stuff and go. The cops are on their way already. If you leave, I'll say we didn't see anything, you can get out of here, get away before anything bad happens," Bella whispered. Of course, she would tell the cops everything she could. No way was she completely idiotic. Her dad had died because of idiotic, uncaring, horrible men like these. Because he'd always tried to stop them. Tried to be the freakin' hero.
The man laughed. "I don't trust you farther than I can throw you, girlie."
Bella was glad the man's attention was on her, because that meant he didn't see Edward crawling away to hide closer to the couch. She took a step farther back….
The sirens started reaching their ears. The man backed up towards where he thought Edward was still sitting. When he reached down, still staring at Bella, and didn't find anything, a frown crossed his face. He looked down, noticed the boy wasn't there.
Edward dashed for Bella, fear making him want her comfort.
The man aimed his gun for the little boy.
Bella shouted, darting forward to grab Edward out of the way.
The gun shifted towards her and went off.
Edward screamed as Bella fell to her knees, a pained, shocked look on her face. One arm wrapped over her chest, and she pushed Edward towards the stairs with the other.
"Run," she ordered, glaring.
Edward dropped his teddy and ran into the kitchen and out the backdoor. He heard angry shouting from the bad man, more loud noises that made him clap his hands over his ears, and he pushed at the loose board in the fence and ran faster, his bare feet cutting on loose rocks.
He hid himself in his friend Rickie's fort house, which was a few houses away, and crushed his knees to his chest. He trembled fiercely, and wished he knew if Miss Bella was okay. She'd looked like she was bleeding, but he couldn't be sure. She'd covered her chest too quickly.
And that hadn't been a squirt gun. Squirt guns didn't go ba-bang.
Edward swiped one hand across his face, snuffling loudly. He wished that Bella was a fairy, like Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell had gotten hurt and then everyone clapped their hands and she got better. Bella was like a fairy, Edward thought. She was pretty and magical. Shaking, sniffling loudly, and tears staining his cheeks, Edward unwrapped his arms around his knees and clapped his hands, feebly at first, then with growing ferocity. Maybe, he thought, maybe if I clap loud and hard enough, Miss Bella will get better too.
Eventually, his hands stinging and his clapping weaker, tired, his tears all dried up, and his nose dripping, Edward heard people calling his name. There were flashlights shining all the way at the street, and lights were on in Rickie's house.
Edward scrambled down the ladder, rushing towards the backdoor.
"Missus Harrison!" he yelled, sobbed. His tears were back. He wanted his momma and his daddy and his Bella back right now. He wanted to wake up and find this was all a bad dream.
Mrs. Harrison, eyes wide and hair dishelved, phone pressed to her ear, appeared at the backdoor.
"Liz, he's here. I swear to god, he's right here at my back door. No, he's okay. Alright, I'll see you in just a few minutes." She hung up and yanked the door open, dropping to her knees and holding her arms wide.
Edward launched himself into the embrace, sobbing. She picked him up, making soothing noises, telling him he was okay.
"Miss-Miss-Missus Har-Harrison!" Edward sobbed brokenly. "Miss Be-Be-Bella! She-She-She-"
"Shh, shh. Your Momma and Daddy are coming, Edward. You're okay. Everything is okay now, I promise," she soothed calmly.
Edward sniffed and nodded, burying his head in her shoulder again. Everything was okay. That meant Miss Bella was okay, too. The bad men were caught, and he could pretend this night had never happened.
*~**~**~**~**~*
"We have the men in custody. The one we found at the house is willing to testify that the gun the bullet matched to was his partner's, and if you can get your son to also testify as identifying him, it will be a shut case."
Elizabeth looked at the officer in front of her with desperate eyes. "Do you really need Edward's testimony so much? He's only four and a half!"
The officer glanced into the living room, where the little boy was staring at the floor. Elizabeth glanced at him too, crossing her arms anxiously. No matter how much she'd scrubbed and scrubbed, it didn't seem to be enough. And he had torn apart his teddy bear because it had blood stains on it, then cried for it the other night. She was panicked over what this whole thing was going to do to her son. Bringing him to court and letting him see that violent man again? What would that do? Certainly nothing good.
The officer ran a hand through his hair. "It might, it might not. I don't want to let this man get away because of any reason, though, Mrs. Masen. I want to see him brought to justice as much as you do."
Elizabeth Masen looked back at the officer. "No you don't. You didn't know Bella Swan like I did. You don't have a son who has been suffering the entire time because of that mad-man! You don't want to see him burn in hell nearly as much as I do!" she finished, her voice nearly a yell. She was breathing heavily as she stepped back a step, trying to control her raging emotions again. Not only did the officer look taken aback, but now Edward was staring at her with his haunted, wide green eyes. She moved over to him.
"Edward," she said, crouching down to his level. "Go outside and see if your father need help with anything, okay?"
After a long moment, the little boy nodded once and - sparing a final glance at the floor, as if he could still see the stain there - he left to the kitchen and back door.
Elizabeth walked towards the officer. "If there is no other way," she said quietly, "Then if Edward says yes, I'll let him testify that that man was the one who shot Bella. If there is no other way."
The officer nodded, realizing that was as good as he was going to get, and put on his hat. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll call you to let you know by the end of the week."
Elizabeth saw the man to the door and closed it behind him, locking it. When she turned around, she was startled to see Edward standing there, staring into the living room. He looked up at her, and she stepped back a little at the look in his eyes, bright and angry and too full of emotion for a boy of his age.
"Is the man dead?"
It was the most he'd said since they'd admitted Bella had died. No one had had the heart to tell him that her body had disappeared, too. The police believed it was someone trying to cover up for the murder. She come out of surgery, with things still looking like they weren't going to be good, and then she'd been gone. After three days, they'd pronounced her dead.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, Edward. He is going to be put in jail, though."
Edward's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Police Man said he might not."
She hadn't realized Edward had been listening, that he'd understood what they were talking about. "I'm sure he will be, though."
*~**~**~**~**~*
The man who had killed Isabella Marie Swan was staring at the boring wall across from him of the armored car transporting him to the jail, musing about how he could get out of here faster. He'd pled guilty to the court, knowing that would lighten his sentence, then lied and said he'd shot her out of panic. He hadn't meant to kill her.
Which wasn't a lie. He had meant to kill the boy. That was the one he wanted to kill. That damn little boy. He lifted his cuffed hands, gazing at the deep bite mark that marred the skin of his left arm. He'd probably end up with a damn scar.
He lowered his arm, plotting some more. If he faked some good behavior, lied at acted remorseful, maybe he'd be out in fifteen years or something. Then he could hunt that damn boy down. First he'd hunt down his partner, though. He'd ratted him out, said it was all his idea to hit the house and bring the gun and kidnap the kid. Of course, he'd been knocked out, but if he hadn't been he wouldn't have hurt the girl or boy.
A complete load of bullshit.
Markus Ryans rolled his eyes. He would have to visit his old 'friend' first thing when he got out. Then he would go after the stupid boy.
Breaks squealed, and the car jerked around.
"What the hell?" he muttered, then cursed as he pitched forward and banged his head, unable to break his movements because of his chained hands and feet. The officers in the front stepped out, gun shots rang, and then silence. Markus shifted so he was sitting, listening curiously. What was all this about?
The door opened, and the sun blinded him, making him lift his arms to cover his eyes. Hadn't that door been locked? And what had run them off the road? He knew it was deserted, that they wouldn't take a murderer along a publicly used street.
He was yanked out by the hairs on the back of his head, and tossed onto the harsh, hot pavement. He swore under his breath as he felt some skin scrape off, then twisted to glare at whoever had treated him like that.
The blood drained out of his face.
"No… no, it's not… not possible…." As his attacker stepped closer, stalked closer, he felt terror hit his system like a punch to the gut, his heart beat race out of control. "No! Please! Go away! No!"
Then the blood was drained out of the rest of his system.
Okay, so as you can see this will be a human Edward / Vampy Bella fic. Like I mentioned, lots of different ones like it out there. But I decided to give this fic a shot, because it seemed pretty cool when I started thinking on it.
To everyone who has already read my other stories, you know what I'm like and what to expect. ;) Fun, fun, right? Remember Hydeward anyone? I have a feeling little Edward is going to put Hyde to shame. Jus' sayin'. smirks
Review, I know you want to!!!