Summary: "His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."
Rating: Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution. This chapter contains attempted rape YOU'VE BEEN WARNED if it makes you feel uncomfortable, please don't read it and skip to the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the story line!
A/N: Welcome, I am so sorry for all the kerfuffle. I promise you I'll continue this story once I am happy with these last few chapters. I have added much more of a story line to these chapters as well as heaps more detail. I am so proud of my self. Thank you all for the nice reviews and thank you Avon, you're awesome.CHAPTER 2: NIGHTMARES, GOODBYES AND AWKWARD INTRODUCTIONS
(Bella's POV)
I was drifting in and out sleep the next night. In my groggy haze, my dreams were filled of nightmares of what happened after I sliced open my finger. Jasper's face, bite marks that I usually couldn't see where present. His fangs, over extended, his eyes as jet black as could be, and his face was slowly morphing though, his blonde locks getting shorter, the colour slowly diluted to auburn locks, springing up in every direction. Jasper's face had morphed into Edward. Fear and nausea rolled through me, could Emmett and Rose hold back Edward? Was I ever truly safe? I awoke from my slumber a few hours later, I had explained to Charlie when he noticed I hadn't come out of my room yet, so he decided to check up on me, that I was too sick to go into the first few lessons of school. I wanted a few more hours to ponder about yesterday's dramatic events. The stitches in my forearm were beginning to pull a little whenever I rolled over. I sighed, a glass of water and the bottle of Tylenol was sitting on my bedside table, and it was a beacon of hope to ease the throbbing. My stomach still had the uneasy feeling but worse, cramps were slowly bubbling.
Oh crap, I thought it was next week? I rose quickly, stumbling in the dark hallway to the bathroom. I immediately pulled my pants down and sat on the toilet. Damn it, my period had come early. I did not look down, seeing blood two days in a row was sure to make me pass out. I immediately scrunched up face towards the harshness of the bright light in the bathroom, it made me feel as if I was in a hospital bathroom, everything plain, white and smelled sanitary. It made sense as to why I was so emotional last night with my period coming early and all. I quickly undressed, relishing in the thought of a hot shower, the bitterness of the wind in this rainy town always took my breath away. It was not something you got used to after having spent most of my life living in the hot, Phoenix sun, which was something I missed, when fork's had it's rare sunny day. I quickly wrapped the bandage in cling wrap, to protect it from water damage. I finally stepped into the shower, sighing as the water started to warm up my toes, before I submerged my whole body under.
The hot water blasted on my skin, soothed the chill I always seem to have in my bones when it came to living in Forks. It reminded me of home, and that was ironic really. As I was in love with somebody as colder than ice and I was living in the wettest place in the continental U.S. I leant my head under the water, letting it roll down my face. The old pipes began to rattle a little. The hot water would run out soon. I looked at my favorite strawberry flavoured shampoo and got to work on cleaning and conditioning my hair as quick as possible. Stepping out of the shower after I was done with my usual personal maintenance of shaving and using my favourite coffee and sugar body scrub. Which made my skin tingle and wake up more alive than ever. Thank you Angela for sharing that one. As I made my way back into the room, the clock read 10:30 a.m. Edward was not sitting in the rocking chair, I knew for sure because the window I had opened earlier was completely shut. Which was odd for sure, it was never really closed. Did he not stay the night last night?
Maybe he was planning on making up for last night? Even though I told him not to get me gifts, a selfless picnic and time away from everybody in our Meadow sounded like absolute heaven and it did not cost a single penny, well except for food but it was nothing compared to a new car, like a Porsche. I always enjoyed those days, the sun would come out and shine across Edward's face and the nape of his neck. The way his skin looked like diamonds embedded in marble stone, always made me feel in awe. He captivated me. We always laid there, talking, touching, and it was the rare times where Edward was more or less 100% comfortable with me.
I made my way down the stairs, to grab a bowl of cereal after dressing in the usual, a black long sleeve top, some tight fitted dark jeans, and my converses as well. I eyed Charlie's woolen, black, knitted jumper, with the re-attachable hood. It was his favourite hoody and right now I needed some form of courage. I left my hair down, and grabbed my beanie. The rain was slowly coming in and I knew if I didn't leave right now, I would end up looking even worse for wear. I grabbed my bag and keys, quickly running to my car, luckily enough Charlie had, had the front driveway redone so the concrete under my feet, wasn't the enemy anymore, and the crunchy gravel was. I opened the door and huddle myself in the front of my Chevy. I turned the keys in the ignition quickly, the heat thrumming into the car, made the engine backfire, her usual spout of black smoke, smelled even viler. Was it signifying something darker was to come? If so, the clouds were still already doing a good enough job, the weather report on the radio had said it was reaching up to 90 kilometer winds, and heavy storms. I made it to the car park in record time, and there Edward was, like he had been the day before, sitting on the hood of his Volvo, however he his expression was smooth, almost lifeless. I pulled in next to Edward, and he opened the car door, helping me out. He smiled, but the firmness in his jaw, indicated that something was wrong. But what? I could not work it out. I understood why he would be angry about last night, but I wasn't sure if avoiding the subject was going to make the situation worse or better.
"How are you feeling?" He asked. Looking me up and down, eyeing my jacket with a bit of disgust. He hated it when I dressed more tomboy. However, today was not the day to mess with me. I was enraged with hormones and everything was going to set me off. I should have told Charlie it was girly needs and he would have clammed up, blushed and left the room, leaving me with the answer I wanted- a day off from school, so I could avoid having this conversation with Edward until later.
"Peachy." I lied between my teeth as he slammed the driver door shut behind me. We walked into school, not saying a word to each other, he shortened his long stride to match with my short one. There were so many questions that I wanted to ask Alice, but she was nowhere to be seen. How was Jasper? Was everyone okay? What could Alice see happening next? Would she tell me why Edward seemed to be so depressed?
The morning passed slowly, Edward remained aloof during most of our lessons, only ever asking me if I need anything for my arm, and how I was. I was the one Alice usually had to wait for in the cafeteria, at our table but today, she was nowhere to be seen. I turned to Edward, I frowned, I was starting to get really worried, she never usually missed school unless it was sunny, or there was a sudden shopping spree. Or her class was running late, until I saw Angela and Ben who were in her fourth period, French class.
"Where's Alice?" I asked Edward anxiously, playing with the hem of my sleeve, wiping the bottle cap of my lemonade on my jeans.
"She had to leave with Jasper for a while." He crushed his granola bar into dust, as if he did not care as to where they were. I could not believe what I was hearing. They left? What?
"Where did they go? For how long?" I was shocked to hear this, I never thought Alice and Jasper would have to leave. But of course, if Jasper had to go, Alice had to follow. They were mates, just like I would if Edward ever had to.
"She was trying to convince him that he had to stay with the Denali's for a while." The Denali's were a band of unique good vampires that followed the same diet that Carlisle had adopted under his wing many years ago. Tanya, Irina and Kate Denali, lived with Eleazar and Carmen. I had heard of them only three times and those moments were brief. Once when Edward had to run there to escape the difficult arrival of me, when Carlisle had asked for them to help out with the Nomad situation and when Laurent, the most civilized members of James's coven had gone there rather than to side with his own coven. I felt so guilty, a lump was forming in my throat, and I had run the two of them out of their home just like I had with Rosalie and Emmett, with the James's scenario.
By the end of the day, the silence between us was becoming comical. Me, being as stubborn as I am, I refused to break it even for a tiny moment, but it seemed to be my only choice if I ever wanted him to speak to me again. Was he really that upset? After all, what happened last night was nothing in comparison to what James had done to me in that ballet studio, he had left me broken and nearly beaten to death as well as all the blood I lost. Last night was a tiny paper cut, he only made it worse. Was it because Jasper was a brother and not the enemy that he and to protect me from? We jumped into Edward's car as mine sadly was refusing to start. Edward had driven almost like a mad man, to get me home, usually he drove slowly. He did view me as fragile. He walked me up to the door and Edward turned to me and kissed my forehead, bidding me goodbye, he quickly mumbled something about hunting and that he wouldn't be back until later tonight. I was left stunned outside the front of my front door. My car keys hanging limp in my hand, he didn't even say goodbye properly.
I walked inside, hearing nothing but the buzzing of the fridge in the kitchen, Charlie's holster was empty. I forgot he had mentioned that he was on a night shift tonight. I spent my time washing the dishes and cleaning up the house, I vacuumed and dusted, and took out all the trash. Once I started I could not stop. I cleaned all the cupboards and did all the laundry, dried and folded them. I put them in the basket to be sorted later when I looked over at the clock it was close to 7, Edward would be here soon, hopefully.
I stomped my way up into my bedroom, the baby blue walls, from my childhood was crackling in the corners, they were in desperate need for a sand down and a fresh coat of paint. Maybe I would end up fixing the whole house this year. After all, Charlie had taken me in, and he would need a fresh start once I was gone. I threw myself down on the computer chair, pressing the button on the side of my computer to boot the old thing up. The suspense of Edward's arrival made me bite my nails. Screw Alice, old habits die hard. On the table in front of me, were the presents that Charlie and Renee had gotten me, I touched the scrap book and sighed, I turned the front cover open. I decided that now would be a good time to kick this gift into gear, I plugged in the camera, the scrapbook Renee had bought supplied the printing paper so I did not even need to go in to town like I would have, had an old school roll, had been used. I hooked up the printer, after it took 15 minutes for me to work out how. After the first image appeared on the computer screen I gasped aloud. Edward looked just as beautiful as he did in real life, staring at me out of the picture with the warm eyes I'd missed for the past few days. It was almost uncanny that anyone could look so… so… beyond description. No thousand words could equal this picture. I clicked through the rest of the images quickly once, and then clicked print, watching them all as the pages stacked
I picked up the picture of Edward and me standing awkwardly side by side, it was one Alice had taken before the incident. Edward's face was the same as the last, cold and statue-like. But that wasn't the most troubling part of this photograph. The contrast between the two of us was painful. He was not looking at me as he had earlier, even though I went to of all that trouble to stand out, for him. I looked at my bag on the floor and I decided that instead of doing my homework, I was going to put my pictures into the album while I waited. With a ballpoint pen I scrawled captions under all the pictures, the names and the dates. I got to the picture of Edward and I and I sighed. Finally, it was quarter to 8 by the time it was done and as crazy as it was for Alice to convince me to do this, it was worth it.
I packed up my stuff and there was a 'tap' on my window. Edward? I ran to the window and pulled back the curtain and I sighed with relief. There it was, the silver Volvo, sitting in my driveway. I was confused, Edward usually came through the window. I pushed the latch up and lifted. It wasn't normal. He was leaning against the drive side of his car. He smiled at me.
"Come for a walk with me?" He suggested in an emotionless voice. I nodded and closed the window, I grabbed Charlie's jacket, I had yet to return it to him since I borrowed it the other day. I chucked it on, pulling the hood over my head, it had begun to drizzle outside, which reminded me that a storm was coming. I chucked on my converses again and almost sprinted down stairs, I remembered to grab my keys and my phone, I wasn't sure how far we were going to walk. I slammed the front door shut, and made my way over to him. He offered me his hand, leading me behind my house, into the forest. I didn't like this. This is bad, this is very bad, the voice in my head repeated again and again. I followed unwillingly, trying to think through the panic. It was what I wanted, I reminded myself. The chance to talk it all through. So why was the panic choking me?
We'd gone only a few steps into the trees when he stopped. We were barely on the trail which was good because I could still see the house. Some walk. Edward dropped my hand and walked a little bit further in front of me, I stopped and he turned, and lent his back against the tree. It was time for our talk.
"Okay, let's talk." My voice didn't shake which was good and it sounded much more braver than it should have.
"Bella, we're leaving..." Edward spoke harshly, trying not to prolong the tirade any longer than necessary. I took a deep breath as this was an acceptable option. I thought I was prepared. I knew we had to leave town. But I still had to ask.
"By we, you mean-?" I started to say before he cut me off. The small gaping hole in my chest seemed to grow bigger as he spoke. Tears filled my eyes instantly. I tried to hold them back. I took a deep breath.
"I mean my family and myself." His words made my chest feel as if my heart was ripped from my chest. I felt used, unwanted. I couldn't breathe, after all we had survived through he was leaving me. The forefront of my emotions began to bury themselves deep inside my soul, as a hole emerged, slowly sucking the life from within my veins, darkness clouded my eyes and just before the darkness embedded itself completely, anger rose through me. All the emotions that I had buried began to bubble and rise to the surface.
"But- I-" I tried to understand what had changed. Yesterday we were fine, absolutely fine. It was just one minor accident. One. I was about to take a step closer to him, but he stopped me.
"Don't, you mean nothing to me, you were just some plaything to pass the time with, and I never wanted anything more from you." His cold tone sent shivers down my spine. My emotions took a turmoil and they were spinning out of control. I knew it, I fucking knew it. I knew this was far too good to be true. I wasn't meant to fit in with their world as I had believed. But this was not the way I wanted to end things. I was tired of him treating me this way and I had finally had enough.
"You know what?" His head cocked to the side in confusion. A bitter laugh escaped me as I couldn't help but let all my frustrations out. "Rosalie was right, so fucking right from the beginning. I don't belong with your family. Go. Leave. I am done." I turned to walk away from him and I only made it a few steps before pain shot up my spine, I had realised that he had slammed me up against the tree roughly. I gasped, the wind being knocked straight out from me. He had finally had enough of my smartass attitude towards him.
"You ungrateful bitch. After everything I have done for you... This is how you repay me? By ending it?" He snarled and slapped my face, my head snapping in the opposite direction. "NO. It was mine to end. MINE.". He was no longer the emotionless Edward. His true colours were coming to light. Tears filled my eyes as my cheek stung. "Isn't this what you wanted Bella?" His hands roamed me freely now but all I could think of was disgust. "To touch you like this?" His intoxicating breath blew across my face, blinding me. I began to struggle in his hold. He grinned.
"N-no. Stop." He didn't, his hands tore at Charlie's jumper, flinging it across the path way. He pinned my arms above me. His expression sadistic. His hand held mine, while the other held my throat. I could hear the crunching of leaves from a distance. Panic, sending my senses into full height. His mouth skimmed my throat, his teeth nipping at my skin. This wasn't what I wanted. He chuckled.
"If you scream, I'll drain the blood from you so fast and crush your vocal cords within a matter of seconds, no one will hear you…" He said in my ear as his hand on my throat squeezed tighter, evidently indicating the truth behind his words. My eyes caught something in the distance, the carving of letters in the tree from the time Jacob and I had trailed our asses to my truck, in order to get home in time for curfew. I was on the border line of territory. The outskirts to be exact. Alice wouldn't be able to see mine or Edward's future. I was utmost and utterly fucked. Edward's hand skimmed through my hair, softly, then he pulled it tight, in between his fingers. I gasped and cried out the pain searing through my back of my scalp. He pulled my head even further back, exposing my throat. my heart felt as if it was exploding through my chest.
His hand then traced down my sternum. The tips of his fingers brushing against the material of my plain bra. He pulled the bow on the middle while huffing. He grinned then and pulled the strap of my bra, the sound of the thwack it made, made me cringe and move an inch or so further from him.
"Oh poor little Bella..." He cackled. He pulled the strap again, harder even, it had me crying out but he didn't seem to care. He was drawing this out for all it was worth. He took a step back, marveling at the bruises that were forming on my skin, for which I wouldn't have been able to tell yet. He like having his mark upon me making me shudder in disgust. I decided, it was now or never. I turned and took off running, panic mode made me surprisingly graceful.
Trees were blurring around me and all I heard was sadistic laughter. I didn't stop. I kept running trying to get closer to Forks. Home. Anywhere away from him. I could hear him coming closer, toying with me. At some stage I even felt him breathing on my neck, sending shivers through me. I knew at some stage I would tire out and by any means he would catch me. I knew then that I wouldn't survive.
The grace my feet held in that moment was cut short when I didn't see the incoming tree root which blessed my foot to trip over and land face first into the ground. It knocked the air out of my lungs, seizing the sound of helplessness from my throat. His roaring laughter could be heard other than me sobbing. Hard. The tears just wouldn't stop as well as my ragged breathing pulling me closer to the darkness I felt earlier.
"P-please…Stop. Let me go." I was past the point of caring, I was willing to do and say anything for him to let me go. This wasn't the Edward I knew and loved.
He towered over me. He straddled me from behind as I struggled to get up. His hand pushed my face closer into the dirt and leaves leaving me breathless and not in the good way.
"Silly Bella… we predators go wild when we have to chase our prey… I thought you would remember that." He lifted my head up, his nose trailing along the pulse line of my neck pushing his hardened length into my backside. Emmett and Jasper had warned me of this. The territorial and almost uncontrollable urges and instincts the vampires had in their first year of life, but it seemed to have stuck with Edward, buried deep inside his charade he posed with his family. I wondered then how he could have gotten away with it, but of course, my concern turned towards the moment at present, knowing I would need internal strength and courage to survive his actions of brutality. Edward's teeth grazed at my neck, blood started to trickle ever so softly down my neck as his tongue skimmed across his mark. He rolled me over, causing the sudden movement to roll my stomach with nausea, making my head spin prolong itself.
Memories stirred to the surface of my mind of James's sadistic behavior in the ballet studio, wishing death had found me then... Wishing Edward had drained me then and there when he had found me, wishing Jasper had followed through with his urges on my birthday, so peace would find me quickly. The inevitable clouds of rain began to drizzle softly, slowly gaining speed and strength, chilling my body to the core. Edward laughed at the sight of my body turning a slight shade of blue. He nipped at my neck harder even closer to the main artery, fear emanated through my body. My teeth began to chatter, as my hair stuck to my face. I whimpered, waiting for his next move.
While his other hand pinned my small ones to the floor, he began to rip the only sense of warmth for my body: my jeans. In this position I had no way of hiding what he didn't deserve to see. The rustling of leaves behind him distracted me for a brief moment. Edward dragged his teeth more harshly along my throat, making the blood flow much more quickly than before, adding to the sick feeling in my stomach. Edward froze his ministrations quickly and I turned my head in the opposite direction only to turn my pleading gaze towards the man behind us, hoping he would take away my agony and humiliation. 'His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me.'
Edward's body was ripped from on top of me so quickly, that the relief flooding through mine had caused immediate emotional whiplash. My breathing became ragged as I turned away from the commotion slowly crawling towards an impossible escape. The dark gaping hole in my chest was alight with the embers of fire, even more so with the sting of my beloved's betrayal. The rain had forced my skin and bones to lock up as the cold finally seeped through my adrenaline rush. My vision began to darken and fade, exhaustion and pain settling into my body, sobs were trying to escape from my lungs but the effort caused me to succumb to the darkness and the last thing I felt was the softest touch of a robe covering my body…
I awoke with what felt like hours later, my body feeling as if it had been run over by a bus, and as I became more aware of my surroundings, I noticed the slight motion of somebody carrying me ever so gently. The brief movement of tilting my head up towards my saviour caused nausea to roll through my stomach, but to no avail, nothing made it past my lips, except for the gagging sound of a dry throat. As my eyes started to focus on who was carrying me, I could not believe it. Was I in a dream? It was him... Marcus Volturi from Carlisle's painting. But he didn't look the way he used too. In the painting he was sitting on the golden throne, with a look of detachment from the reality of the world. His dark, long, hair was shorter now, a lot shorter, making his harsh jawline and cheeks look more predominant. He oozed sensuality and the pure essence of what a man is and should always be; strong. I closed my eyes as the slow strides in his steps, began to soothe me. My head was throbbing and I slowly raised my hand, wincing as it took all of the strength I had as I was clenching my jaw, to stop the tears from coming. I pulled my hand back as I hissed. The back of my skull must have been cut open, a large lump, no doubt had formed when Edward had slammed it into the tree. The strong arms that held me, tightened just a little bit. I let my hand drop to his chest, warm liquid was on my fingertips and I knew if I looked at it I would be sick.
Questions had enraged my mind, trying to resolve the underlying issue of why the Volturi would have decided to pay me such an impromptu visit, didn't they handle much more serious issues? Had I broken any laws? Did Carlisle call them here to sort out me? Were they going to kill me? Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper. The thought of all of them leaving town, sent the ache in my chest into a frenzy. They were going to leave me, if they have not already done so. Would someone had ever found me, if Edward had finished what he started? My body began to shook, the drizzling of rain, did not help. The thick cloak that covered me from the harshness of the wind, gave me a form of protection from it. The reminder that my saviour was still carrying me through the woods. He was staring back at me. His ruby eyes were filled with worry, and anger, the sight was unnerving to see in the flesh again. James's eyes had done the same thing right before he broke my leg. I shuddered, fear permitted my body, he inhaled the air and his eyes softened. I was his prey and never before in my life had I been more scared. Would he kill me and drain me dry? I knew how the others had reacted to my blood, but he seemed to show no signs of being thirsty. His pupils were still small. He was in control of himself. My internal musing was interrupted by a male's voice coming towards us.
His voice came out of nowhere and made me jump. I buried my face into Marcus's chest and he hissed towards the male, his eyes glaring him down.
"What is it, Demetri?" Marcus, growled. Demtri took a step back, as if he did not want to impose, but he seemed to have urgent news.
"Master Marcus, I'm sorry. I know now is not the best time to be telling you this but Carlisle Cullen is demanding too see Edward." The man bowed and I peeked at him from the corner of my good eye, the other was having a hard time staying open as it was swelling up. He was much taller than I was, his dark olive skin tone suited him in contrast with his short,black hair. His eyes matched Marcus's as well as his cloak. He must have been someone who was obligated to protect Marcus. Demetri, I think that was what was Marcus had called him, was staring straight at me. I turned my head and closed my eyes, he was looking at me with disgust and pity. My heart began racing, fear was pulsing through me. Hope, was the only emotion keeping me from believing that I would be spared from the humiliation of what Edward did to me and that my suffering would end quickly. My body throbbed as my mind began to remember the feeling of his body crushing mine, his teeth slowly pressing into my neck. Fear raged through me knowing that was not the worst of what he could have done. I was shaking looking at Demetri's face, his expression turning almost murderous. My throat felt like it was closing in on itself as I began to apologise.
"I-I'm s-sorry." Marcus looked at me and stopped moving, his whole body shook with anger, but his eyes told me that it was not towards me, he was confused.
"Il mio amore, Isabella why are you apologising?"
"H-How do you know my name?" I was confused, we had no formally introduced ourselves yet. Marcus looked at me, his gaze lingering a little too long at my face.
"I will explain it when we reach the Carlisle's home, mia amore. Demetri, lead the way please." Marcus's tone was gentle, it sounded as if he was genuinely concerned with my well-being. He began moving towards the direction of the Cullen's house following Demetri's scent, I knew I'd need medical attention as soon as possible, and I was hoping I would have some answers but I was not sure I was ready to see the Cullen's. It seemed like I was not going to get a choice. My chest throbbed but the hole was not as big as it appeared to be before, my body protesting profusely which each of his strides. It could not be avoided, I could tell Marcus was trying not too prolong the pain I was in.
"I'm sorry, I am such an inconvenience." I whispered. I shuddered as Marcus growled loudly, it was almost deafening. I tensed expecting him to take his rage out on me.
"No woman deserves to suffer the way you did. Any man who does this is no man at all, he is a disgrace. You are not an inconvenience nor a liability, my anger is directed at the imbecile that touched you. All of us feel that way, they'd be stupid or insane to condone such behaviours directed at anyone." I took in his words slowly gaining an understanding that for once I was not being disrespected for being human. I was finally being respected as a person and a woman. Edward never did that, or if he did it came with a compromie to fit his needs. I relaxed, the tension leaving my bones, made me feel exhausted.
Edward would suffer and he would definitely burn, but where would I end up? We made it to the outskirts of the Cullen home, Alice was waiting on the front steps and anger rose through me. Demetri and Felix who seemed to come out of nowhere stood in front of me. Carlisle burst through the front door, looking between the state I was in and the King that was holding me in his arms.
"Marcus, what is the meaning of this? What happened? Where's Edward?" His tone was full of panic as Demetri hissed at Carlisle for his blatant disregard for Marcus's title. Esme touched Carlisle's arm gasping as she saw the bruising and blood on my face. Emmett roared coming to the conclusion of what he thought had happened to me. Rosalie slowly made her way towards me seething with rage, her eyes flashed with regret, it seemed as though she knew what had happened, or what had almost happened. Alice held onto Jasper as he felt the onslaught of emotions from everyone. Jasper began snarling, he was almost as feral as he had been days prior, but he was not controled by his thirst. He did not scare me, I knew he had been dealing with more then one vampire's blood lust.
I did however, begin to panic at the amount of males that were around me, now that I knew briefly what their strength could do to me. Marcus spoke softly in my ear, trying to calm me down, speaking in Italian.
"Calma nessuno ti avrebbe ferito, it will be alright, we won't let anyone hurt you." Marcus then turned to Carlisle, his tone was full of authority, full of power. He turn to Carlisle to address the issue. "It was brought to our attention by the Denali coven, up in Alaska, your cousins…" Marcus snickered at the human formalities the coven insisted on keeping up with. "Insisted that you had a human, well informed of our existence, with your son Edward, and that he was insisting on keeping her human." Listening to Marcus talk, brought a sense of fear through me. Carlisle looked at Marcus in confusion, he had asked his fellow family members to aid them with the manhunt for James, but he never expected them to take it a step further without consulting him first, he was the leader of his coven after all.
"As you can see here, Carlisle, we were informed your 'son' Edward is responsible for breaking two of the most sacred laws of the vampire world..." Carlisle looked at me with guilt and sadness, knowing that Marcus would never lie about something so serious. I watched as his eyes immediately began looking over my injuries from afar, I knew his Father and Doctor mode were competing to take care of his 'daughter.'
"Please, bring her inside, let me take care of what he did to her..." My mind was racing but Edward's word about them all leaving wouldn't escape my thoughts. They were all going to leave without saying goodbye. I was just betrayed by someone who was my 'soulmate,' but by a coven who I had come to call 'family.'
"No." I was in agony but nothing could have been worse in this moment, if I could stand up for myself against Edward I could do the same against them. "You were leaving me... Leaving me without taking me with you or saying goodbye. I thought we were family?" Esme stepped forward, tears that would never fall, in her eyes as she handed me water and painkillers, she had breifly disappeared through the house. Demetri took them from her hands and she flinched at his harshness towards her. He passed it to me and I grabbed it weakly with my right hand, wincing as the pills brushed along my sore throat.
I realised then, of my lack of clothing, pulling the cloak around me tighter, feeling more vulnerable and embarrassed. Emmett was tearing down trees off in the distance, trying to control his rage. Rosalie turned her head, hearing his roars, making her flinch. Rosalie finally spoke, surprisingly with a soft tone.
"Bella, I am so sorry that Edward did this to you. We wanted to say goodbye but Edward convinced us that it would be better if we didn't, we fought for hours. Please, come inside, let us help you... Edward will pay for this." Seeing her expression made me shudder, I could not imagine why Rosalie was suddenly being nice to me, but the idea of scrubbing away at my skin til it was raw, was eating away at me. I needed to clean him off my soul, skin and mind. Marcus pulled me tighter against him, reminding me that he would keep me safe.
"Isabella, I will not leave your side unless you tell me too." His tone was gentle and soothing and Rosalie's words were comforting. I nodded and the fate of Edward, for now, was left in suspense.
Leave a review, please. -E
