Chapter 2 - The Betrayal
BPOV
It had been three weeks since the last sign of Victoria. My guess was she was lying low in hopes that the pack would think she had moved on. If that was the case, she was right on track.
Jacob came by yesterday to give me the news. As was usual of him lately, he said what needed to be said and then went on his merry way without so much as a hello or goodbye. It hurt to think about.
I was currently sitting on my bed, knees bent, back up against the headboard, just thinking about how shitty my life had become. I looked down at my old grey sweatpants I had on. At some point I had ripped the elastic out of the ankles and the knees were so worn I could almost see my skin through them. I frowned at my pants. What would Alice say if she saw me looking like this? Come to think of it, I'm not even sure what I look like anymore.
I turned off my alarm clock since it was going to go off in like 15mins anyway and rose from the bed. I walk over to my closet and lifted the sheet up that was hiding the items from my past. Underneath were all my picture and posters. My old bed set, pillows, and the item I wanted, the framed mirror.
Without looking directly at it, I pulled it out of the closet and leaned it up against the wall. I returned the sheet to it's job of concealment and shut the closet door. I now needed to face the truth about what I had become.
I stood in front of the mirror but all I could see standing was mid-thigh down to my feet. I closed my eyes and lowered myself down to my knees. For a few minutes I just sat there in front of the stupid mirror with my cowardly eyes closed.
Suck it up, Swan, I thought.
I opened my eyes.
The girl I had once been was nowhere to be found in the mirror. In her place was a bitter, self-deprecating shell. My hair was flat and stringy, brown roots showing over the black die job that I had been meaning to redo but never did. My face looked pale and washed out, my lips were chapped, and I just generally looked like shit.
I'm not sure how long I sat there before I made a revelation. Why was I letting them do this to me? So what if they didn't think I was worthy of them? It was still my life and I deserved to live it to the best of my ability. Starting now, I would do things my way. There would be no Edward or Jacob telling me what was best for me or that my way was the wrong way. Starting today, I was a new woman.
I looked again and could already see one change. My eyes that had just moments ago seemed lifeless and dull now sparked with new found purpose. I jumped up and went into the bathroom and pulled the box of dye out from under the sink where I had put it weeks ago. Opening the box, I read through the instructions, and got to work.
While the color was doing it's thing, I set about shaving my legs. It had been so long, I could probably run with the pack and no one would know the difference. Hell, I had to change out my razor blade halfway through. I then took my shower and blow dried my hair so that was silky, shiny and straight.
Feeling quite pleased with myself, I went back to my room and to my closet. I pulled the sheet back off, rolled it into a ball, and tossed into the laundry basket. In the back corner of the closet was a stack of boxes where I had put all the clothes Alice had bought me. There were seven of them. I pulled them out and put them in a circle around me on the floor.
I just stood there, staring at the boxes and chewing on my thumb nail. This would be so much easier if Alice were here to show me how everything went together. At least I had thought to label the boxes. There was pants & shorts, shirts & dresses, shirts, jackets, shoes, accessories, and underwear & pjs.
I kicked the underwear box aside. For now I would stick with my regular stuff. Deciding that jeans were a safe bet, I opened the pants box. I dug through and came up with a basic pair of fitted, black, boot cut jeans. I laid them on the bed and reached for the shirt box. Right on top was pretty white lace camisole. White and black went together, I was sure of it.
I finished picking out what I needed and got dressed. Then I went back to the mirror. After the shirt and jeans, I had pulled out a Valentino jacket Alice had insisted on buying me, totally ignoring the $6000 price tag. I finished it up with white ballet flats and a black rose necklace. Putting on some mascara and lip gloss, I smiled at myself. It was the new me and I had to say that I liked it.
I glanced at the clock and realized that I had to leave for school in about ten minutes.
These past few months, Charlie has been waiting for me so he can take me to school since I refused to drive my truck. I scooped up my bag and darted down the stairs. The sounds of clanking dishes and the smell of frying bacon alerted me to the fact that Charlie was in the kitchen. I walked in just as he was putting the bacon and eggs onto plates.
"Morning, Dad," I said cheerfully as I grabbed my plate off the counter.
Charlie looked over at me with obvious surprise on his face. "Bells?"
I raised my eyebrow at him while I swallowed a bite of egg. "Yeah, Dad?"
He shook his head as if to clear it. "Nothing. You just look real nice today. Though I'm still not to sure about the hair thing."
I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to eat my breakfast.
A few minutes later I put my plate in the sink and walk outside with Charlie. I stopped on the porch and looked over at my faded red truck. Charlie stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back to see what was holding me up. "Is something wrong, Bella?"
"No," I answered. "I'm just thinking that maybe it's time I start driving myself again."
Charlie seemed surprised, pleased, and skeptical all at the same time. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely, I'll see you at dinner."
"Ok. Have a good day, Bells."
"You too, Dad."
I slid into the cab and set my bag next to me. The cab still smelled like peppermint and tobacco. And sure enough, Jacob's jacket was sitting on the far side of the cab. I picked it up and tossed it on to the floorboards. It seemed a fitting place for it.
Finally, I started the loud, growling engine and pulled out of the driveway. It didn't escape my notice that Charlie had waited for me to leave before he went anywhere.
I drove to school and parked my truck, earning my self a few stares in the process. I hopped out of the cab and headed towards the school. I heard the whispers but I chose to ignore them. I was just about to go in the door when a large hand wrapped around my upper arm, stopping me short.
I turned around and as usual Jacob was glaring down at me. But on the other hand there seemed to be something else there, way down in the depths of his eyes. I just couldn't place it.
"Bella, I need to talk to you," he said almost frantically.
I shook his arm off and without saying a word, turned back towards the door.
"It's about Victoria," he said.
That stopped me dead in my tracks. "What about Victoria?" Jacob cast his eyes around at the people mingling about. "Can we take this over to the rez? Last thing we need is an audience."
"Can it wait till after school?"
"No, it can't," he replied. Without another word, he grabbed my wrist and started pulling me toward the car. After he opened the door, he practically tossed me into the driver's seat. The way he was rushing was really starting to scare me.
"Jacob, how bad is it."
"Bad."
The ride to the rez was full of awkward silence, especially after Jacob found his jacket tossed carelessly on to the floor. He didn't say anything, just folded it over his arm and held onto it.
I parked in front of Jacobs house a while later. I had honestly missed it here. The little red house, the makeshift garage, the sound of the waves crashing into the shore, but most of all I missed my best friend.
Jacob walked around the truck and stood in front of me. That unidentifiable emotion was back in his eyes as he looked down in to mine. Jacob surprised me then when he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. "I'm sorry, Bella."
He pulled back and I saw tears in his eyes, but before I could question it, something hard hit the back of my head and everything went dark.
I had no idea how long it was before I came to, but my head pounded like hell and I was pretty sure I was moving. I opened my eyes slowly and saw dull sunlight poking through the tree canopy above me. I was definitely moving.
I turned my head slightly and realized the Sam was carrying through the woods. I tried to pick up my head, but it seemed to weight ten times more than it should.
"Where are we going?" I managed to mumble.
Sam said nothing, but I knew that he could hear me. "What is going on?" I tried.
Still nothing. I was getting really scared. I tried to struggle, but in my weakened state, all I could do was squirm a bit. Sam tightened his hold and there was nothing more that I could do for the time being.
Suddenly, Sam stopped and I turned my head to figure out why. And what I saw made my blood run cold.
There, not twenty feet away, stood Victoria. And she did not seem the least bit afraid of Sam. I tried to struggle. I wanted to run. But the pain in my head and the weakness in my body was just too much. I realized right then that I was going to die here.
Sam lowered me to the ground and I just laid there in dazed horror at the words that were spoken over me.
"Thank you, wolf."
"Don't thank me. I don't want thanks for this."
"Nonetheless, I am grateful."
"I don't care if you're grateful. I just want you gone."
"That was the arrangement, and I will honor it."
"We gave you Bella. Now you leave and never darken our forest again."
"Never again will you see me."
"I do ask that you give me a few moments to get far enough away that I don't have to hear it."
"Are you feeling guilty?"
"Yes or no?"
"Yes. Now go quickly wolf. I will not wait long."
Sam phased and disappeared back into the woods. I heard Victoria start talking but I tuned her out. I didn't want my last few moments on earth to be hearing her whiny voice.
I took in the light grey clouds rolling over head. I heard the ocean hitting the rocks, sending the smell of salt into the air. I feel the hard ground beneath my body.
I thought about my change of mind that occurred just a few hours ago. I finally decided to start living my life and now it was going to end. Oh the irony.
I let my mind wander to those that I cared about. What would poor Charlie do when he found out? My mom, she would be so devastated.
The Cullens; Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice. Oh Alice, I'm sorry about the jacket.
Finally, my mind settled on Edward. On his perfect features. On how his bronze hair looked in the sun that day in the meadow. How is eyes would light up whenever he saw me. How heart-broken he looked the day he left me.
Wait…heart-broken? Just like that it hit me. In my last moments I realized that he didn't leave because he didn't love me. He left because he thought it was what was best for me. Edward never stopped loving me.
Right on the heels of my realization I saw a flash of red and pain went through me as Victoria tore into my neck. Before I gave into the darkness, I could have swore I heard my own soul cry out at the injustice of it all.
What I would soon realize, was that someone else heard it too.
