Wheee. I wrote another chapter, in the same day. :D Almost. Thank you so very much to Alex, he helped inspire this chapter. I couldn't have written it without him. Honestly.
Special thanks also to Ayumi. She helped to motivate me, so she and Alex get a special dedication. Thank you both so very, very much!
And to my lovely reviewers, thank you ever so much for taking time to post a review for me. It means a lot. (:
"Bella, don't move." Edward said quietly.
At first, I didn't understand. Why wasn't I to move? Nothing was wrong, was there? That's when I looked down. Oh, damn, I groaned inwardly. It was the second time that I had gotten myself hurt, in the Cullens' house. Bright red liquid substance had already begun to seep out. It wasn't very big, but it was definitely enough to make me queasy. A shard of glass had cut into my arm, making a nice neat crimson line along my left arm. I glanced at Edward. It didn't look like he was breathing.
"I think you should go outside for a bit," said Olivia's voice, which was surprisingly calm, despite the childlike tone to it. "And start breathing again, while you're out there. It makes me uncomfortable knowing you aren't."
"No, I don't wan-"
"Edward, please." her voice was so soft, amazing. Who could say no to something that sounded so angelic?
The room was already spinning. The smell, rust and salt... It was getting to be too much. My legs gave out. I closed my eyes, welcoming the rushing sensation of falling. I stopped, all of a sudden, being caught in two icy, hard arms. At first, my thoughts turned to Edward. I tried to lie very still. Then, I remembered that Olivia had sent him outside. Almost immediately, I was afraid. Why would he leave me here with another vampire I barely even knew?
"Okay, Bella. Are you alright to walk?" she asked, placing her hand over my bleeding arm. I shook my head, trying to fight off the urge to vomit. She sighed. "Okay. Take it easy, Bella. I'll carry you."
I felt the same sort of unnatural breeze for a few seconds. Then, we were in the kitchen. I opened my eyes, slightly afraid of what I'd see. I knew what I didn't want to see. I didn't want to see a blood thirsty technically fifteen-year-old vampire standing in front of me, with coal black eyes, wanting to drain my body of every drop of blood. To my great surprise, Olivia was busy fetching a roll of bandages, leaving me to sit on the kitchen table. When she came back, she surprised me again. Her eyes, instead of turning black, like the others, her eyes remained the same, if not brighter in their topaz colour, like Carlisle.
She took care of my arm quickly, without a word, while she hummed the notes she had played just a few minutes previously. She made quick work, wrapping my arm expertly. When Olivia had finished, I examined my newly bandaged arm.
"There," she said cheerfully. "That wasn't so bad, was it? I'm not as good as Uncle, but I do pretty well, don't you think?"
I nodded, still feeling quite sick. My thoughts wandered, as Olivia left to clean up the shattered glass. Hunt. What did it mean? Was someone hunting Edward? Or was someone hunting me? Who was it? Why? What did they want from us? Was it... There were too many questions. I was over thinking. I think it was my brain that was starting to hurt, not just my head as a whole. I felt drowsy, just sitting there, staring up at the ceiling. Swinging my legs back and forth, I closed my eyes, feeling as if I would fall asleep at any given moment. That's when I heard arguing from the living room.
"What does it mean?"
"The hell if I know." came Edward's reply, sounding rather irritated.
"What do we do, then?" Olivia sighed. "Do we tell Uncle?"
"It would make sense, wouldn't it?" he snapped.
"Don't take this out on me," her tone was dramatically different. It was the same sweet trill, though the childlike innocence was lost. Cold, serious and if not somewhat menacing, she added in a low tone, "You're just as much at fault as I. I told you about this, and you never thought anything of it."
"I didn't think it would happen," he said, sighing. "I thought your power was like Alice's. It wouldn't always be accurate."
"You're such a retarded, ignorant piece of shit," Olivia said irritably, like quite the rebellious modern-day teenager that she would be.
I could almost hear Edward grin. "You've changed, Livvy."
"What can I say, I've spent the past two years getting myself up to date and blending in with the current adolescent crowd." she snapped.
"I should bring Bella home." I heard him say.
"No. You shouldn't," her tone was firm. "You will go nowhere near that girl until her arm mends, do you understand? Go hunt, you seem thirstier than usual. I will bring her home."
"Charlie doesn't know you," Edward protested angrily.
I heard Olivia laugh. It was a melodious sound. "As if he likes you any better. Now will be the perfect time to make my existence known in Forks. Don't you think?"
She didn't wait for an answer. I hopped off the table, Olivia almost instantly by my side. I heard the front door slam. With the sinking feeling in my stomach, I had realized two seconds later that Edward hadn't said goodbye. She placed a cool, pale hand on my shoulder, smiling a lovely, heartening smile.
"I sent him away with good reason," she said quietly. "I was afraid he might not be able to resist the smell of your blood."
"Can you?" I sounded surprised, much to my dismay.
She nodded. "I can. I'm more like Uncle, than anyone. I barely notice the smell of the blood. And human blood was never very appealing to me anyway. It made me sick, even as a human."
"Makes me wonder what kind of vampire I'll turn out to be," I said dryly. Olivia only laughed blithely, leading me upstairs.
Her room was at the end of the hall. We entered a pale blue room, with dark brown accents, here and there. I noticed her shelves were a dark brown against her lovely blue walls, as were her bookends. The majority of the shelves, there were a lot of them, were filled with books. There was a shelf by her bed, which held a few framed pictures. She had a bed covered in white and blue sheets, which was sort of ironic, since Edward told me that vampires don't sleep. A teddy bear sat neatly against her white pillows. And beside her bed, there was a night table that supported a lamp, digital clock, pen and a pad of tan coloured stationary. Olivia wandered over to the closet, while I took a closer look at the pictures. The first one I laid eyes on held the image of the whole family; Carlisle and Esme standing in the back row, smiling proudly, like any parents would with Rosalie and Emmett on either side. In front of them, stood Edward and Jasper, grinning like idiots while being sandwiched between the angelic Alice, with Jasper's arm around her waist and the ever lovely Olivia, beside Edward. Their arms were wrapped around each other, in a way so dreadfully intimate, had I not known that Olivia was Carlisle's niece and Edward his adopted son; I would have thought them to be lovers. I moved on to the next picture. This once featured Olivia and Alice, both wearing gorgeous white and red dresses that fell to their knees. The two were smiling, seeming very close. I looked to the next photograph. It was a simple picture of Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett, all grinning. Rosalie looked her usual self, like a model stepping off the cover of a magazine, while Jasper and Emmett struck stupid poses, that made Rosalie laugh, and making the photo look candid. The second last picture was of Olivia and Edward; it made them look more like siblings, or close friends flirting. They were at a fountain, a beautiful white marble one. She was soaked, and in mid-shriek of surprise, gathering water in her hand, readying herself to throw it back at Edward. He, as always, was handsome, grinning at her, with a smile I hadn't yet seen. His hands were brought up, as if to shield himself. I looked at the final picture. It contained Edward and Olivia, yet again. They were smiling and holding each other close; it reminded me of the first photo, and also, of the strength and stability of their relationship. My heart sank, knowing that their bond was incredibly strong. What had happened, years before Edward and me? Before I was even born? Were they… Were they… The thought hurt too much to finish. I tore my gaze away, to find Olivia, spinning around in the mirror, checking her current outfit. She wore a medium length tan coloured skirt paired with a simple white tank top and a pair of black sandals. She smiled at me.
"Well? Do I fit in, now?" she said, a mischievous grin placed on her face. "Will Charlie buy that I'm not a three hundred and forty-eight-year-old vampire?"
I had to laugh, in spite of my heavy heart. She grinned. Something about it was infectious. "I think he might."
"Good. Shall we be going, then?" she didn't seem to notice that I had been staring at the pictures. With another nod of my head, she released her hair from the braid, allowing it to cascade around her shoulders in perfect waves. Her hair was a lot longer than I had first thought. Olivia ushered me out of the room and to the Volvo; the same one Edward had drove here.
She asked me various questions, some of them quite random, as she drove. It reminded me of the days Edward spent bombarding me with questions. She asked my favourite colour (which happened to be green, that day), about how I liked living in Forks (very considerate, we had a lot to chat about on that topic), and even Charlie and Renée. She asked my opinion on the song they had played for me. I turned to look at her. I had to admit, like Alice and Edward, she was a very good driver. I'm pretty sure that she had slowed the speed just for my sake. Her lovely face was framed with wispy stray strands of blazing red hair, illuminated by the faint sunlight emitted by the setting sun, against a pink, darkening sky.
"It was so… Wonderful," I said at the thought of the melody. "It was almost too good to be true."
She smiled. "Thank you."
"Edward never told me about you." I said with my gaze directed out the window.
"He told me all about you," she said simply. Her voice, though it had regained the pleasant and ingenuous, almost sing-song tones, seemed more... Mature, in a way. "He called me one day, last year, I believe it was. At first, he ranted on about how you smelled too appealing. Then, as the days went on, he called me more frequently, telling me about how he was afraid that he was-"
She stopped, shaking her head. I turned to look at her again, and a slight smile was traced on her face. "That he was falling in love with you," Olivia murmured. "Of course, that was obvious with the way he talked about you. Honestly, I had felt sort of jealous of you."
"Jealous?"
"Mmhm," she replied softly. "It felt like... You were stealing Edward away from me. Silly, isn't it?"
I remained silent for a while. How could I reply after what she had just confessed to me? The pictures flashed across my mind's eye. Was she still jealous of me? I wondered, staring straight ahead without really seeing. I had to ask. "Are you… Still… You know…"
"Jealous? Oh, no, Bella. I'm actually relieved. I'm very happy Edward found you. I have never seen him this happy before. And if he's happy, I'm happy. He is, after all my best friend," she smiled her heartening smile.
"Relieved?" I was still confused by her words. Or maybe it was just my brain, being clouded with weariness.
"Yes. I was cautious. I thought, despite what Edward told me, you would turn out to be a rotten person that I'd have to kill off." Olivia laughed in a calm manner that sounded like tinkling bells. Her words made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I shivered involuntarily. She didn't seem to notice. "But, once I set eyes on you, I knew you were a good person, with a good heart. I wouldn't have to worry about you hurting him."
As if that were possible, I said in response, silently.
After our little Edward discussion, it was a matter of minutes before Olivia parked just in front of the house. The lights were on, and the cruiser was in the driveway. That meant Charlie was home. Stepping easily out of the car, she waited for me by the passenger's side. We both made our way to the front door, with-in my opinion-an uneasy silence hanging over us. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Charlie so furious. He had only been that way once, and that was when I had rushed off to Italy…
Olivia quickly stepped in front of us, her pale hand already extended. "Chief Swan? My name is Olivia Cullen. I am Dr. Cullen's niece. I came to move in with him, after my parents… Oh, I am terribly sorry that I kept Bella out so late. It's my own fault. I was so absorbed in the tales she told me about the city, the high school, the people…" she sighed and flashed him a dazzling grin. "I am sincerely hopeful that you will be able to forgive me for being responsible for keeping your daughter from you. I honestly lost track of time."
Charlie seemed stunned. He took her hand, shaking it lightly. After he dropped her hand, he said nothing. Then, he smiled. "Well. I'm glad you've made friends with Bella already. How do you like it here in Forks?"
She grinned again. "It is simply fantastic, Chief Swan. I love it here."
I suppressed a laugh. Biting down on my bottom lip, I couldn't believe how easily Charlie was buying all of this. "Edward should be along to pick her up a little while later," I said, my mouth and my breathing threatening to give way to laughter. "He went to the Thriftway to pick up a few things for her."
Charlie seemed to buy it. "Polite kid, that Edward Cullen." He had chosen his words carefully. Olivia simply shrugged.
"I heard about what happened, before I got here." Olivia said quietly. "Please rest assured; once I heard of it, I gave Edward an earful and then some."
I did not doubt it. Had I not overheard her yelling at Edward earlier, I might not have. I glanced at Charlie. He looked like he could not believe that Olivia was capable of yelling anything, let alone giving someone a lecture.
"How old are you, Olivia?" Charlie asked once we were all sitting at the kitchen table.
"I just turned fifteen three months ago," she replied politely.
Charlie looked taken aback. "Only fifteen?" she nodded. "You seem so much older. At least older than Bells."
"Thanks, dad," I said wryly.
"Well, doesn't she?" he said in his own defence.
I kept quiet. He had no idea how much older she actually was, and I intended to keep it that way.
"Are you hungry?" Charlie asked us. Olivia shook her head, and I nodded. "I bought pizza."
"That's very kind of you, Chief Swan. But I'm afraid I will have to pass. I'm willing to wait until Esme returns. She'll lecture me if I don't finish what I have on my plate, and for her to find out that I've been eating before her dinners… It might offend her." Olivia lied so easily, it was very convincing. It didn't convince me of course, but it sounded honest. I wondered if she had lied to me about anything. I racked my brain.
Charlie nodded. A car passed the house, the headlights flashing through the window. Olivia jumped up, moving gracefully toward the kitchen window. "Oh! That must be Edward." My head snapped up at the sound of his name. She winked at me, while Charlie was busy grabbing another slice. "I'll see you later, Bella!"
She bounded out the door, and I guessed, into the car. I saw her speed past, through the window. I sighed, my thoughts turning to the dark side of all things at the same time as I nibbled on my slice of pizza.
(Olivia)
I sighed, parking the car carelessly into the garage. Trudging up towards the house, I felt so exhausted. I was so very tired. I knew that it wasn't normal. I knew there was something wrong with me. No one else-not any vampire anyway-that I met ever slept. And yet, here I was, thinking of my nice, warm bed in my room, and how much I wanted to just let myself fall into it and sleep.
As a matter of fact, I always slept, since becoming a vampire. It was natural for me. It was when I dreamed. And when I dreamed, I usually saw things. Good or bad, that was irrelevant; I don't choose what I see in my dreams. Now, I didn't sleep all the time. I could, like a normal human. But I didn't. It was usually five times a week. Sometimes I slept more than that, but only because I was terribly exhausted. That was a sign that I was to see something happen. Of course, it had to be in my dreams.
I confronted Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme about this. I thought there was something wrong with me. They simply said it came with my talent. There were always flaws to them. Like how Jasper was limited and Alice's sight was never completely accurate, after someone changed their mind. Or like how Edward needed to be in range to hear someone's thoughts. But for me, it was different. I dreamed about complete strangers. Depending on how serious the situation was, I could have six different dreams about six different people and still wake up in the morning and still be able to describe each one of them, down to the person's socks.
I entered the house, still exhausted. I shuffled my feet, slamming the front door loudly, and yawning. Edward was home, I knew that much already. I looked up, to see the same ochre eyes staring down at me, from the top of the stairs. He met me at the landing, his arms wrapped easily around me, to support my unstable body that ached with weariness. When was the last time I slept?
"You're back," it was a statement, not a question.
"Am I?" I snapped back at him. "When are the others coming back?"
"Sunday morning." Edward replied gently leading me up the stairs.
"Agh, dammit," I muttered under my breath, reaching for the doorknob unusually sluggishly. Edward was quicker; he opened the door, and basically threw me on my bed. I groaned, not enjoying the feeling of being lifted off the ground. "You're such a jerk."
"Sorry," he said, grinning as I dove under my covers, curling up into a ball. He leaned against the doorframe. "I forgot."
"Like hell you did," I mumbled sleepily. Maybe I'm more human than I thought, I mused before adding out loud the words, "Go away."
"I'll check back later. And I am going to wake you up if you start screaming whether you like it or not."
"Shut up, get out, close the door, and come back when I'm not sleeping." I muttered, irritated. The words came out like mush, even to my ears. I closed my eyes, letting sleep wash over me, letting my dream consume me. I did not resurface for quite a while. Because the dream didn't want to let me go just yet. And that's what made it so different. I wasn't seeing things like I usually was. I wasn't watching the subject. It was me.
I sighed. I didn't feel safe. I ran my fingers through my hair, looking around. This place was so unfamiliar. I didn't know where I was, and I was afraid. Afraid they would find me. Frowning now, I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and headed down the brightly lit halls of the airport. I hated airports. I loathed them. They were intensely disgusting to me. I wanted out. And I didn't want to be on a damn plane, either.
But that seemed to be my only choice. I had to get on that plane. I had to get out of this place. If I didn't, I would die. That was for sure. If I stayed, I'd be dead within the hour. And no way was I going to let that happen.
"Let's go," I said to myself, glancing around nervously at all the people. I wondered if they would know that I was putting them in danger. I wondered how many of them, if not all of them would die, because I was hesitating.
I saw a little girl in a red dress, carrying a rag doll in one hand, a basket of plastic flowers in the other. She turned to look at me. She had honey blond hair and pretty blue eyes. Smiling, she waved, putting her doll in the basket. I smiled faintly, waving back. She would be so beautiful when she grew up. That is, if she survived an innocent trip to the airport.
I boarded the plane in silence, staring straight ahead of me. I knew there were people staring at me. They were wondering where I could possibly be going. I caught sight of a group of teenagers. Stupid jumbo jet, I thought, irritated. Stupid jumbo jet and stupid people for boarding it the same time as I am. There were five other teenagers, sitting in the middle row. My seat was at the end, by the window. Sadly, they could still see me, and I could still see them. I saw them looking at me. I heard their thoughts. The three girls and two boys directly beside me were all very interesting in my appearance, apparently. I heard the girls' vicious, venomous thoughts about me. They contradicted the thoughts of the two boys that accompanied them, that thought nothing but praise for my looks. I stared straight ahead. I saw the little girl again. She was with an older woman who was probably her mother. They had the same facial structure, and the same honey blond hair. She waved again and her mother grabbed her hand, leaning down to scold her.
"Emily, you don't know that girl!" she hissed.
"But mommy, I saw her in the airport." The little girl whined while she was dragged to her seat at the back of the plane.
I closed my eyes, exhaling a breath of relief. I had made it this far without endangering anyone. How much further could I make it?
"Hey." I opened my eyes, startled that the voice was so near to my face. It was one of the teenagers that had been watching me. I took a better look at him. He had messy, brown hair and electric blue eyes. He was smiling at me. He had a very, very nice smile.
"Hey," I replied softly. I felt suddenly flustered. "I'm sorry, did you need anything?"
"No." he smiled wider. "I just thought I'd say hi. I'm Adrian."
"Nice to meet you, Adrian," I replied with a slight smile. "My name is-"
The dream shifted. I groaned, feeling myself turning over in my bed. I hated it when the dreams shifted all of a sudden. It was of Edward, now. Edward and I were standing just outside of the house.
"This shouldn't have happened." I said quietly, between silent sobs. "I should have seen it…"
"I'm sorry, Olivia," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Tears were flowing down my cheeks as I stared up at him. I didn't think I was still capable of crying. I hadn't cried since…
"Please," he murmured, pulling me close. He ran his fingers through my hair. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over me. I couldn't help but let the tears continue to fall. I brought my hands to my face, as he hugged me tighter.
"How could this happen?" I whispered into my hands.
And everything went dark. I was somewhere dark. In front of a house-a house that I'd seen before, I'd been here before. I had to hurry, before anyone noticed. I had to have them find me before they did. Didn't they realize I was in trouble? I felt panicked. I was so afraid. Afraid I couldn't make them see I needed him, especially. Why didn't they see that I needed help?
I banged on the windows, hard. I needed them to notice me. I needed them to see that I couldn't tell them yet. I turned around, to face the trees. There was a tattered, off-white banner hanging from the trees nearest to the house. Thick, bold letters written in dark coloured ink were printed onto the fabric. The wind ruffled my hair, as I took off running. I couldn't afford to have them see me at this time. They might kill them. They might-I can't-I couldn't let them-
"OLIVIA!"
I screamed and sat up. I was breathing hard, Edward hovering worriedly over me. I glanced around frantically. Sunlight poured through my window. I had been sleeping since last night. I still felt panicked. I grabbed for his shirt.
"They're coming!" I hissed. "They're coming to kill me!"
"What the hell are you going on about, Olivia?" Edward was confused, and very, very concerned. I blinked, everything suddenly registering clearly.
"M-my dreams," I sputtered. "There were three of them."
"What happened?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.
"These were so different. I wasn't watching them, like I usually was. I was the subject of the dream. Each time, I was seeing things through someone else's eyes. It was like… I wasn't even me." I took a deep breath. "I was in an airport, the first time, boarding a plane. There was a little girl in a red dress. Her name was Emily. She was carrying a doll and a basket of plastic flowers. She waved at me in the airport and again in the plane.
"Five teenagers sat to the left of me. Two boys and three girls; one of them was named Adrian. He had blue eyes, messy brown hair and-"
He raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"He had a really, really nice smile." I mumbled. Edward smirked. I swatted at his arm, angrily. "Oh, shut up, you piece of shit."
"Continue." He said, ignoring my comment.
"Then it changed. You and I were standing in front of the house. I was crying. I asked you 'How could this happen?' and everything changed again." I sighed. "The last dream… I was panicked, afraid. I was in front of a house that I-the person-me-no, whoever he-no, she-whatever-had been before. There was a banner, with dark writing hanging from the trees… I was banging on the windows…"
Edward led me down the stairs, silently. His lips were drawn into a tight line as he steered towards the window. I gasped, my knees giving out. It was too much for me. Edward held me steady as I watched a white piece of fabric flutter against the wind, hanging from the trees. It was a white banner, with dark, brown writing printed over it. The penmanship was messy, shaky-as if it was hurried out of fear. The word made me feel faint. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So the person I had seen-whoever they were, was here. In Forks. They had been near the house. The word was ordering me to do something I couldn't, because my legs had turned to jelly.
Run.
Wew. 4691 words. I've currently noticed a flaw in my plot. It irritates me to do so, but I'm adding in that I changed Bella's age. She came to Forks when she was sixteen, not seventeen, so it was her seventeenth birthday, when she cut her arm. It makes things messy, explaining her classes with Edward, so let's say she took a junior biology course while being a sophomore. Okay? Sounds good. I am very sorry. D: