Chapter Two

Ethereal

Bella sent the vampire away shortly after breakfast without giving him an answer. He had pushed her hard but she couldn't give him a definite yes or no. There was a mental battle going on inside of her and she was sure that her muddled state had to do with age.

Young Bella never debated too long, she was rather prone to rash, snap decisions. Those rash decisions had led her down the wrong path more than once in her lifetime. A lot of those decisions had been in regards to Edward Cullen.

Now as she sat on the couch in the same house she'd once shared with Charlie and then much later with Jacob as his wife, tears fell freely down her face. Jacob was gone, he had been for two lonely years. She had never been this alone in her adult life and it was a hard existence for her. She'd done nothing but wait for death to claim her since her beloved had passed on. Now she had a chance to be eternally young again. What would it feel like to be free from pain, to not feel her body rotting and dying from the cancer?

She felt the presence of someone else in the room and thought that Edward had heard her crying and had returned.

"Edward?"

No reply came and she turned to look behind, nothing and no one was there.

"Who's here?"

Silence was prevalent, thrumming loud in her ears and interrupted only by the sound of her own breathing.

She stood to check the rest of the house and that's when the smell hit her. The woodsy, musky smell that for so many years she had fallen asleep with and woke up with.

"Jacob?"

The smell intensified and she stumbled backwards onto the couch. Then just as if the rays of the sun were shining down and enveloping her, she felt warmth. His warmth. It was as if he was holding her, even though she couldn't see him.

I must be suffering from dementia. She thought to herself. But if that were the case, would she have the wherewithal to make that assumption? Charlie had always told her, crazy people never know or think that they're crazy. Was it really that big of a stretch to believe in ghosts when she had spent a lifetime in a world of so-called mythical creatures that were very real?

"Jacob, I have missed you so much, my love."

Suddenly the warmth that surrounded her was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Her heart sank and the tears flowed again. She was sure that it was just a case of wishful thinking and that she had imagined the whole thing. It would have been all the more plausible if the smell of him didn't still linger in the air.

She couldn't bring herself to do much of anything for the rest of the day. Her energy was nil and her motivation even less. She made herself a bowl of soup for lunch that sat untouched for the most part. She knew that Edward would be back soon and would be hoping for an answer, one that she still didn't have.

Bella sat in the fading sunlight, waiting for him to reappear silently as she knew he would. She felt his icy cold fingers on her shoulder and she couldn't help but jump.

"Forgive me Bella, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright. You'd think I would be used to it after all these years I suppose."

"Have you thought about my proposal?" His eyes were burning into her, she could feel his gaze even if she couldn't see it.

"I'm ready to see Carlisle."

The trip to see Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens was much longer than it had been before. The Cullens no longer occupied the home Bella remembered from her teenage years. They had bought a larger property in Aberdeen twenty years ago according to Edward. They'd needed a larger land with more privacy due to their addition of two wayward newborns.

They'd built what sounded to Bella like a compound. Carlisle and Edward had also built their own state of the art laboratory on the property and that's where they conducted all of their research and experimentation. All of the family had withdrawn from a public life locally. They didn't need money, thanks to Alice and her foresight, their stock portfolio's never failed to produce an incredible income. Carlisle was content working towards finding cures for various human diseases. Being limited in their contact with the locals had assured them the ability to stay in one place for longer than they'd ever been able to before.

Edward talked ceaselessly during the trip, filling what might have been an uncomfortable silence. He respectfully kept the car under the speed limit without Bella having to ask. She felt much more at ease than she thought she might.

"Tell me about your new family. Are they adapting well to the vegetarian diet?"

"Don't worry Bella, they've been comfortable with our lifestyle for many years now. You've nothing to fear," he said with a heart melting smile. "Aaron came to us when we tracked him down in Seattle. We caught wind of him before the Volturi, luckily, and brought him into our fold. He bonded immediately with Jasper and they have been pretty much inseparable for the 15 years he's been with us."

"Does he have any special abilities like you and Alice?"

"None. But I have to tell you, he's probably the funniest vampire I've ever known. He'll have you in stitches," Edward laughed as he seemed to mentally recall something Aaron had said.

"And the other vampire?"

The smile left his face and he looked sadly at Bella. His voice was hesitant as he began to speak.

"Kallie. She was only thirteen when she was turned. She does have a very special gift indeed. One that is hard to explain and better left for her to show you, if she chooses to."

"That's rather cryptic of you but I'll leave it at that."

"Bella, there is something that you should know about Kallie. Jacob is the one who found her, he called us to come and get her. He gave her a second chance by turning her over to us instead of allowing the pack to kill her."