Chapter 1- Into and Out of Washington
Bella
When I was eleven, I remember distinctly sitting at my mom's big, oak dining table, huffing in frustration at my impending departure to spend the summer with my dad in Washington. There was something that changed in me that year, as I had previously hardly been able to contain my excitement as the last days of school arrived, eager with anticipation of long walks in the woods, playing in the mud the constant Fork's rain created, and on the beach. But this particular year I had really started to make friends, had started to grow into adolescence, and the thought of missing a summer of sleep-overs and pool parties was hard to reconcile in my eleven year old mind.
"It's not fair!" I exclaimed heartily, convinced that my social life would be forever ruined after my absence for a few months.
"Sorry, life's not fair kiddo."
My mom had a habit of deflecting my pre-teen outbursts like it was nothing more to her than swatting a pesky fly away, and this day had been no different. She didn't even bother to stop washing the dishes or glance in my direction as I ranted. Eventually, I threw my head down on the table, sighing at her indifference.
"All my friend's parents are still together. No one else has to switch houses every summer," I whined sadly from my prone position.
I knew that would hurt her, and while I didn't want it to, I wanted her to understand my feelings. She dropped the plate she had been scrubbing back into the soapy water and looked at me straight in the face, more serious than I was sure I had ever seen her.
"Don't compare your life to anybody else's Bella, it's a dangerous road to travel down."
And that was it. She walked quietly out of the room, dishes still in sink, and a few days later I was thirty five thousand feet in the air, headed straight for Sea-Tac and a summer at Charlie's.
-X-
It was those exact words that were now clanging around in my head noisily, causing the already persistent ache to become much worse. I had always taken that moment, and that advice, to heart; surprisingly so, because Renee and I rarely agreed about those types of things. But now, life had dealt a blow so incredible it was near impossible not to feel pangs of jealously for all those continuing on blissfully unaware in their normal routines. Running deeper than the jealousy though was the razor sharp pain of knowing how drastically life would never be normal again for those who loved me. My parent's faces floated into vision in my mind, and an ugly sob escaped my lips. How did I get here?
Self-pity engulfed me completely as another sob broke free. Even if I somehow managed to survive this, I had a strong suspicion that I would never see home again. The seatbelt restraining me felt like a thousand unwanted hands crawling all over my body and my chest heaved again and again painfully. None of the other occupants in the car spoke, but even through my cries I could sense the tension my display of emotion was causing. Jasper seemed especially on edge, sitting straight as an arrow in his seat, his eyes focused intently on the road ahead. It didn't even seem that he was blinking.
"We took you, Bella." It was said as simply as if he had been telling me the day's weather or that he was going to the store. No explanation offered, no apology, just four simple words and my life had been ended. I sat comatose, lost in shock, and no one else had said any words beyond that.
Time stretched on and I lost count of how long we sat in the silence, maybe only minutes and maybe hours. My heavy head lulled to the left, eyes still stinging with the remaining unshed tears, and I watched as an endless landscape of flat earth sped past my window. It didn't look like we were in Washington anymore. The moon was full and bright causing it's silver light to dance across the plains. It was beautiful, but I wished for darkness. In darkness there would be at least some semblance of privacy so that I could grieve. I noticed the door beside me was unlocked and the idea of escape passed fleetingly through my mind, but at the speed we were traveling I could only imagine my body hitting the ground and bouncing along the highway like a stone being skipped across the water; not ideal. That is, of course, if I even made it out the door before one of them stopped me.
"We're nearly there, only 40 more miles or so until we reach the hotel," the driver, Emmett, spoke, his voice terrible and beautiful all at once, interrupting my thoughts. I denied to myself that anytime any of them spoke it shook me, the words coming out too flawless and the voice itself too melodic.
"Why are we stopping?" I asked nervously, not doing a good job at hiding the fear in my voice. "Won't it look a little strange, three men escorting one lady into a hotel room?"
It was a ridiculous thing to say, but my mind was near frozen with panic and it was the first coherent thought I could get to my lips. I couldn't go into that room with these strangers... I would never make it back out again. Too many episodes of crime scene dramas flashed in my mind as my heartbeat picked up rapidly and I felt dangerously close to becoming sick. How long had it been since I had eaten?
None of them addressed my question regarding the hotel room, but I saw Jasper and Carlisle exchange a look.
"I think Bella might need some crackers, Carlisle." Jasper had turned around and was regarding me curiously.
How strange, I mused. I hadn't noticed my stomach growling...it was as if he had read my mind.
I didn't have long to dwell on the thought before Carlisle produced a sleeve of saltines from a backpack at his feet and handed them to me.
"Just try to relax, Bella. Everybody here has your best intentions at heart, though it may seem otherwise."
I don't believe you.
"You don't need to fear us," he continued, speaking slowly and taking care to emphasize each word.
He couldn't possibly expect me to believe him.
I took note of an array of medical supplies peeking out from the interior of the backpack as he reached to zip it back up, foreign things I didn't recognize but looked like they belonged in a hospital.
"Don't worry about that," Carlisle responded as he watched me. " Just a precaution. You are in good hands."
More reassurances...but for what purpose? To keep me complacent until they killed me? Or accomplished whatever other sadistic goal they had in mind?"
The crackers soothed my stomach and the car kept flying forward, it's destination unknown to me, dancing down the road gracefully to the music playing through the speakers. The song was some old classical piece that I didn't recognize, the rhythm switching back and forth from quick and intense to slow and mournful. It was doing nothing to ease my anxiety. I closed my eyes in an effort to quell my headache and I realized immediately how tired I was. The constant adrenaline rushes had left me drained and I was soon fighting to stay awake. Eventually, I let my guard down, accepting that there was nothing I could do to help my situation at the moment, and allowed myself succumb to sleep.
-X-
What seemed like only minutes later I was jostled awake by a bump in the road. In my sleepy haze I brushed off the annoyance and set off to go back to sleep; still exhausted and head still pounding painfully. My mind prodded me to rouse though, and I was just begrudgingly about to open my eyes when I heard soft voices discussing around me.
"We're ruining her life," Jasper spoke." Maybe we should have just let her be and..."
I clenched my eyes shut, afraid they would betray me and shoot open revealing that I was awake.
"And what? Let her die?" Emmett cut in sounding heated. "She deserves to have a chance to live, Jasper. Whatever kind of life that may be now. She deserves the same chance that we were given."
"We're doing the right thing. It's the only option." Carlisle confirmed, conviction in his voice. "Any life that we can give her will be better than the alternative at this point."
"But you don't even know for certain that they would take interest in her!" Jasper cut back in. "Alice's visions change, she doesn't always see the future that is absolute..."
I hadn't noticed I was holding my breath but I quietly let the air out and tried to resume breathing normally, now more afraid than ever they would discover I could hear them.
"What about the danger that we present to her?" Jasper's voice had gotten so low I could barely hear him. "What if one of us loses control?"
"No one will," Carlisle responded, his tone resolute and leaving no room for discussion.
"So you are certain they will come for her then."
It was a statement of fact, a confirmation, not a question. The car was deadly silent but the air was electrified all around me. I was in horrible danger.
"Wars have been waged over far less, Jasper. We have all lived long enough to know that truth."
I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or scream, but the act was up. Thankfully, a second later it was revealed to be the latter of the two. Long and desperate, I wailed louder than I thought I had strength for. Three heads whipped around at inhuman speed and stared at me.
"I must have been too focused on our conversation, I didn't notice she was awake!" Jasper informed the other two quickly, as I gasped for air ready to scream again.
A noise like a cloud of bees buzzing suddenly swirled all around me and I realized they were conversing more quickly than I could follow. A second later I felt that strange calm feeling come over me again, but this time it was much more forceful in it's approach. Jasper was touching me again, his long fingers outstretched across either side of my face, his head bowed and eyes closed. My comprehension was diminishing as my head started to get heavier, falling more by the second into Jasper's waiting hands. As I was fading, I felt Carlisle take my hand, his skin still ice cold. Had it been chilly in the car? I hadn't noticed.
"You're safe, Bella," were the last words I heard before my world went black.
I wanted to scream, "Liar!" but I was already gone.