Again, this is part of my work for NaNoWriMo 2012
Following the rules, it's unbetaed till new order.
This chappie is dedicated to the lovely Raum (good luck with your Nanowri project too) berdb, and lizzieee.
Especial hugs & mwahs to neyvada and notthatamanda
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 2:
Edward raised his head, and stared at the unknown girl dressed in the long white gown. He was truly shocked, yet he was thankful to see her. A few days after they moved to Forks he had stopped sleeping like usual, and from that moment he had spent his nights trapped in that haze that didn't completely feel like a dream, but he wasn't sure how to call it either. He was sure something was wrong with his head, even when he didn't dare mention it to his father, it had been bugging him to no end. He was almost sure that normal people slept through the night without remembering most of things in their dreams, just random odd and pieces from a couple of them in a week.
Dreams were supposed to be crazy and ridiculous, however his were different. He had been dreaming for months that he was in his bedroom, always in his bed like when he fell asleep, only it felt as he was awake. The most confusing thing was that he remembered everything the following morning, but no matter how much he promised to himself that he would try to snap out of that haze the next day, every night he found out that he didn't remember the promises. It was as if his mind refused to cooperate with him, so he ended up spending night after night submerged in that numb state, sitting on his bed, while his body was sleeping.
He was relieved that at least his body appeared to be doing what was expected, he couldn't start to imagine how difficult it could be to explain if he slept while standing, or worse than that, if he wasn't able to rest at all. There was no way he could have hidden that from his family. Fortunately, all the strange situation seemed to be happening inside his mind. He could keep the secret until he figured out what was wrong with him or the mysterious town of Forks.
That's why when Isabella stepped in Edward's dream room, it made him hopeful for the first time in weeks. His optimism didn't last long when she saw the girl's horrified eyes staring back at him.
"Who are you?" He asked hesitantly.
"You...you...can see me..?" Bella's soft voice half asked, half gasped.
"Of course I can see you, why? Can't you see me?" Edward tried again. When Isabella nodded, that perplexed expression never leaving her face, he started putting the pieces together. She was able to see him, so that wasn't what was disturbing her; he could only think of two other possibilities. Either in her eyes he didn't look like his usual self, or he was the one not supposed to be able to see her. Because Edward was a little full of himself even when the circumstances weren't favoring him, he put the idea of looking somehow monstrous or repulsive as his last option, and went for the easiest for his ego. "Are you a ghost?" He asked swallowing hard.
"A ghost?" Isabella couldn't help but laughing. In all the years she had been wandering in people's heads the first time another being was able to her, and he thought she was a ghost? Her laugh sounded clear, unplanned, and it startled her. She wasn't used to laugh, she didn't remember laughing since she was a young girl, so that sobered her up fast.
Edward's green gaze was on her when she looked up again. He was trying to decide what to make out of her, he had the feeling that he had seen her before, but she couldn't place her face. Maybe she was a distant relative who died at a young age and that was why her facial structure looked vaguely familiar to him, perhaps somebody he had known long time ago and he couldn't remember.
"Have I met you, spirit girl?" He asked, and the moment the question left his lips he wanted to kick himself at the sound of it. He felt out of his territory, he had never thought he would have to interrogate a spirit to get the answers he was so desperate needing. He wondered if there was any protocol to interview a ghost.
Bella, who had been having a hard time biting back the giggles again, couldn't believe the turn her visit was taking. She had hoped that, once she knew a couple of embarrassing secrets about him, his charm would go away; but instead of that, she was immersed in a ludicrous conversation with an apparently conscient Edward who was convinced she was a spirit.
She wasn't sure what had gone wrong, she knew nobody should be able to see her, at least that was what Helen had told her long ago, and she had never found a reason to think the contrary. She couldn't count on Edward remembering anything in the morning, but she was thrilled to finally be able to talk to him. It didn't matter to her that he'd probably forget everything in a few hours, or that she wasn't technically talking to him.
Suddenly another idea crossed her mind, perhaps the problem wasn't that he could see her, there was a chance that this was her own dream. Isabella had always considered as a rule that she couldn't have dreams of her own, but she had no proof to support that theory, so it could have a flaw. She decided she liked the crack in her speculations if that meant she could dream of Edward Cullen.
She smiled at that thought. Considering her options, making the best she could of that visit was clearly her best shot; she could analyze the situation in the morning, and think of a contingency plan. If that was her dream, she could take the reigns and stir it in whichever direction she wanted.
"Why do you insist in treating me as if I was a ghost?" She asked, amused.
"Are you going to reply all my questions with another question?" Edward asked back, he was starting to get annoyed, and he had never been good at the anger management department. He was impatient by nature, and he was used to get what he wanted with very little effort from his part.
"Of course you've answered all mine so you're in an excellent position to bark at me, right? Bella replied cocking an eyebrow. "What are you? Five?" The fact she had determined that it was her dream gave her a determination she didn't fathom possessing.
"I call truce. White flag!" He said raising his hands in a surrendering gesture. "We're not getting anywhere like this. I'll answer one of your questions, and then you'll answer one of mine, we'll keep turns until one of us runs out of questions, what do you say?" His tone was a lot more calm than he felt, he was getting restless, but Isabella was the only change that had happened in his monotonous dreams, and he was willing to bet anything that she was the missing piece of his puzzle. When Bella nodded, grinning, he took it as a good sign, so he played nice and gave her first reply on his own. "I think you're a ghost because of how you look like?" His statement sounded hesitant and he intoned it as a question, he hoped the girl wouldn't notice.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," she clicked her tongue shaking her head disapprovingly. Her new discovered confidence was making her saucier. "Are you asking me what you think?"
"Ok, I give up! You're impossible!" He said, frustrated. "I think you are a ghost because you look like one," he pointed with his hand up and down in her general direction, and added, "you are pale and you're dressed like one." Edward wasn't pleased with his explanation, but he didn't have a better one.
"Awesome!" Bella clapped her hands. "I'm so honored to be in the presence of an authority in the ghost field! Seriously? That's the best you've got?"
Edward shrugged unapologetically, but his intents to hide his discomfort weren't completely successful. She saw his weakness and pressed.
"So I take it as, in your book, everybody pale or dressed in white must be a ghost then," she pretended to ponder the situation for a moment, and then said "polar bears and albinos are ghosts. How about an anemic bride? Oh my god! That must be a superghost-"
"Shut up!" He interrupted her, but he was visibly fighting his laugh. "You were surprised I was able to see you. I was only looking for a reasonable explanation." He tried to sound certain, but he knew he was shooting blindly and hoping to aim, he just wished the mysterious girl started giving him something firmer to work with.
It was Isabella's turn to squirm. She wasn't expecting him to notice that detail, so she decided to deflect the veiled inquiry. "My turn! No, we haven't met before," she said answering his earlier question. She was aware that she wasn't technically lying, but she wasn't telling all the truth either. She knew him, but he didn't have the slightest idea who she was, and they haven't formally been introduced. She mentally rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the situation, not even in her dreams she was other thing than invisible in Edward Cullen's world.
He was momentarily distracted contemplating that new piece of information, which helped Bella to relax and gain control again. I was her turn to ask. There was a million things she would like to know about him, and at the same time she thought sadly that whatever answers he'd give her would be only a product of her own imagination, not the real answers he'd give if she asked the same things when both of them were awake, so she downplayed it. "What's your name?"
"Edward Cullen," he replied without hesitation. Bella felt the giggles raising in her throat again, so she swallowed heavily, the last thing she wanted was starting laughing like a hyena in front of him, but her thoughts were hilarious. In the last moment, when she had already started to ask him about his name, she realized how horrible it could be if her mind played her tricks and her dream Edward was named some other thing.
"A rose by any other name...," she muttered under her breath. She had never paid too much attention to that quote, but now she understood what Juliet was feeling. It didn't matter what his name was in her dream, it didn't even matter that he wasn't the real Edward, she'd take anything she could get, even that silly banter they had shared meant a lot to her.
If Edward heard what she whispered, he chose to let it pass, because he didn't comment, he just jumped to his next question. "What's your name?"
Bella haven't thought what answer to give to him if he asked that, so she felt like an idiot for leaving the possibility at his feet. When she didn't reply right away, Edward gained some territory again.
"What happens? Did the cat eat your tongue? You don't want me to call you Ghost... Would you prefer Anemic Bride? Because if you don't tell me your name I'll have to call you one of-"
"Magaska," she blurted out without thinking. It was the first thing that crossed her mind, her grandma Helen used to call her Magaskala, little swan in Lakota. For some strange reason, she didn't want to give him her real name, and her Lakota name wasn't more real than Isabella. In fact she was Magaska when she walked in the dreams, so it made sense offering him that name.
Edward was confused at the way it sounded, but decided not to waste his turn demanding explanations. He didn't know what much time she had, and he didn't want to wake up without having shed some light on his problem.
"Why wasn't I supposed to see you, Magaska?"
Bella cursed herself silently. She felt she was the most incompetent dreamer in the world. How could she be getting into trouble every five minutes? She really didn't have control over the situation and that made her feel sick, but she tried to calm down convincing her inner self that she wasn't used to dream.
"It's complicated," she offered, wondering whether he would leave it at that or not.
"Listen," Edward addressed her curtly, "both of us know that you're trying to hide something from me, but I happen to need the truth. Why don't you give me the uncensored version and let me decide if I can handle it myself."
"It's not about what you can handle or not, it's not that simple," Bella told him in a tired voice. She was starting to think that the truth wasn't such a bad idea at that point. "I don't know why you need to know," she said, stressing the word, "but I'm quite sure that your problem has nothing to do with me. Let's make a deal, you tell me what exactly do you need, and I'll give you that particular answer if I know it. How does it sound, Edward?"
It was the first time Isabella said his name out loud, and she paused to savor it, she didn't know if she'll ever have the chance to repeat the experience while being awake. Edward briefly contemplated his options, deciding he didn't have anything to lose. He was still a little intrigued about the secrets the girl could be keeping, but in his book Edward Cullen always came first than the rest of the world. He wasn't used to put anybody's needs before his own, and much less a stranger's. That meant that if he could solve his problem with her help, he wouldn't care much about anything else.
"Ok, deal." He was getting exasperated so he went directly for what he wanted. "Why can't I get out of here?"
"Where is here?" Bella asked, confused, not really noticing that she had replied with another question until she saw Edward's angry eyes glaring at her. I'm serious, I need to know where here is to answer that question-"
"Here!" He growled, flapping his arms gesturing the room.
Isabella was intimidated by his irritated tone and the way he was looking at her, but she asked in her tiny voice "Do you recognize this place?"
"Of course I know this place! Do I look like a moron? Why wouldn't I recognize my own freaking bedroom?" he jumped from the bed, and he was standing in front of her in a second, his long legs closing the distance in a few strides.
Bella gasped, and recoiled until her back hit the wall. The terror in her eyes must have brought him to his senses, because his expression softened, and he took a step back from her.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Magaska," he told her, and his voice sounded truly apologetic. "I just...I...I've been trapped in this room every night for weeks...I think I'm going crazy." His shoulders were slumped forward, his gaze cast on the floor, and Bella couldn't bear to see him so defeated. She was about to try something, anything to help him when she felt the familiar cool air on the nape of her neck. She shuddered, and she knew she was out of time.
"Edward," she said, and her voice sounded like honey. He raised his head to lock his eyes with hers. "You have to go back to bed now-" He tried to interrupted, but she went on in a firmer tone. She needed to keep him safe, and explaining him anything then would only get them in trouble. "You can't go out now, it's dawn and it's dangerous. I can't stay either, but I can promise you one thing: tonight I'll come back looking for you. Now you need to lie down."
Edward didn't have the energy to protest, suddenly he felt weary, his legs protested and didn't hold his weight any more. He dragged his feet across the carpeted floor while Isabella walked to the door and opened it.
As she walked through the light corridor and into the mist, Bella was praying she could be true to the word she had given to him.
A/N: Well, my pretties, we got to met Edward and he sounds a lil conceited...What do you think so far? Ideas? Critics? Theories? Scroll down and leave them in the box for me. Come on! I know you want! *winks*
