DC: I don't own it
Thanks to my reviewers!
I'm glad some people think Bella is annoying. It's supposed to be how Edward sees her. lol fun!
Chapter 2,
I reached the top of the stairs and looked around. This place was creepy alright. The upstairs especially. It was so quiet and much darker. I moved my flashlight slowly, taking in everything. Dust was everywhere. There was a thick layer on the floor. I grabbed Bella's hand. She gave me a strange look.
"Dude."
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"Which way should we look first?"
"In the west," she said, "Carlisle loved the sunset and he would want the best view of it."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" I demanded. Bella pushed by me and headed off. "That's north by the way."
"Oh shut up," she grumbled, walking east.
"Keep trying," I said, thoroughly amused. She pushed me and went west. I followed her with a smile on my face. She was entertaining in her own way.
We walked down the hall. There were rotting portraits on the walls and moss creeping in. Overall it was creepy, not nearly as beautiful as the outside. By the look of it we were in the outer hall. There were no window frames. No glass shards.
"How old is this place anyway?" Bella asked.
"Fifteenth century maybe," I guessed. "This place hasn't been used since the sixteenth century. Maybe seventeenth."
"Not since he died," Bella murmured.
"Which he? There were a lot of them."
"Your mom."
"Oh aren't we the pinnacle of mature," I grumbled. She looked back at me and flashed the light in my face.
"I learn it all from you my dearest Edward," she said.
I sighed and followed her down the hallway. On the corner there was a large room. We walked in and saw a wide open space. There was a broken bed in the center on a platform I was ever surprised how much was left in this place. It was almost...unnatural.
"Bella look at this," I said, turning my attention to a box on the floor. I knelt down. It was a wooden box with a big metal lock on it. I lifted it. It was really heavy.
"What do you think is in it?" Bella asked, kneeling beside me.
"I have no idea," I said, turning it over. It had beautiful decorations carved into it. Bella stood and I heard her walk off to another part of the room. I looked up and she was staring out the window. Curiosity got the better of me and I went to the window and followed her line of sight. Rather than looking out at the beautiful view, she was looking down at a tree. The tree stood out among the others because of the pink blossoms. "Bella?"
"The key," she whispered.
"What?"
"What?"
I rolled my eyes. Bella was never helpful. She twirled her flashlight in her hand. Leave it to her to go completely ADD on me when we were supposed to be working. She stopped suddenly and glared at me. I swear she can read minds. She turned and left the room.
"Wait up!" I called after her. She didn't wait. I didn't expect her to. It was always like this. Little battles for control, and it had been the same since childhood. Come to think of it, I can't even remember why we didn't like each other. Habit I guess. Or maybe because she was the most infuriating little creature in the world!
"Hurry up or the ghosts will get you," she said in a lazy sing song voice. I glared again. Whoever thought Bella Swan was beautiful and an object of desire was severely disturbed.
I stopped when I heard something. I whirled around and came face to face with nothing but air and darkness. "Hey, Bella, did you see..." I turned around. Bella was gone. "Bella?!"
I ran down the hall, determined to find her. She had to pick today of all days to be a brat. I needed to slow down. I had no way to tell if the floor was sturdy or not. I saw Bella ahead and sighed.
"Bella get back here!" I yelled. She looked towards me. Her face was as white as a sheet.
"Edward..." she said quietly. I barely heard her. She took a step and there was a crunching sound, like stones rubbing together. She looked down just before she disappeared with a scream.
"BELLA!" I yelled. I ran down the hall and found her hanging.
"EDWARD!" She screamed. I dropped to my knees and grabbed her arms. I tugged on her arms. For someone so small she sure was heavy! She screamed again. I wanted to yell at her to calm down but there was no use. I looked up and saw a flash of white. Before I could do a double take Bella went still. Completely still. Oddly so actually. If it were me I'd be flailing and scrambling to get back up. Her body went limp. I couldn't pull her up. It was as if she was stuck on something. Then, suddenly she came free. I pulled her up and she fell on top of me. Much to my surprise she gripped me in...a hug.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She smelled nice. Like strawberries and freesia.
"Edward," she sobbed, "this place..."
"Time to go," I said. Just to check, I knelt down by the hole and dropped my head down for a peek. There was nothing there. Just an empty corridor. Was it the fear of falling that kept her screaming? And why did she go so limp like that?
I shined my light down and continued to see nothing. With a sigh I heaved myself up and found Bella standing. She held one hand to her lips, chewing on her nails again.
"Let's go," I said. I took her hand and pulled her off. She was in shock but I had no idea from what. She hesitated at the top of the stairs, looking off down the corridor. I looked but whatever it was it was gone now. I reached towards her impatiently and when she didn't respond I grabbed her hand again. It was like grabbing ice. "You're hand is freezing."
She didn't say a word. She walked by me and I followed her. When we got outside it was pouring rain. That didn't make any sense at all! It was clear and sunny just a moment ago when we were in Carlisle's room. A few clouds perhaps but not nearly that many! Bella walked into the rain, not even wincing as the thunder rolled overhead.
We made it back to the truck with some difficulty. As hard as it was going up, it was just as hard going down with the slippery grass. We made it and Bella slid into the drivers seat. She started the car and drove off, silent the entire way.
--
Bella Swan was a flake! I couldn't believe that she was standing me up like this! What a little brat! Mrs. Henderson was calling each group up to present their findings thus far. Stupid flakey Bella! She had one job. One! Show up today. Was that really too hard for her to manage?! I mean really!
Mike looked smugly at me. He had a thing for Bella. I had absolutely no idea why he would have feelings for such a horrid pest and even less of an idea as to why he saw me as a threat! Paranoid I guess. In all honesty I was much more attractive than he was and much more appealing to the opposite sex. My aloofness made it worse for me. The girls ate it up. Especially Jessica Stanley.
I was willing to believe there was someone I disliked more than Bella.
"Edward, would you come and present your findings? Isn't Bella here?"
"She's sick," I muttered. Or she was going to be, I would make sure of that.
"I'll have to take points for that."
I was going to freaking murder her!
"Now if you could present what you have found..."
Bella had that packet. Murder was going to be justified!
"Well we have found much of the same really," I said, "the common stories about the prince and Esme..."
I heard the door open. Bella came in. Well better late than never I suppose. At least I won't have to commute to kill her.
"Ah Miss Swan so glad you could join us."
"We have theories that Carlisle and Esme planned on marriage and that Carlisle's father knew about it. We also have theories that his death was a direct result to hers as he died less than a year after she went missing. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, he was so in love with her and when his father killed her he was distraught. Evidence shows that he was slowly getting weaker and weaker with no sign of an actual illness. He was heartbroken and didn't want to live on without her. So he stayed around long enough to reproduce before he died under the cherry tree, which was their special place."
What. The. Hell.
"Very well thought theories," Mrs. Henderson said. "I would like for you to prove them before presenting them in your final project."
I was stunned into silence. Bella took her seat and promptly propped her head on her palm and looked outside at the rain. I had no idea what to make of her! She was the ditziest person alive and yet...I don't know what else. How did she manage to get that information though? She never sets foot in a library if I don't force her...at least I don't think she does.
The bell rings and we are excused. I grabbed her arm as she walked by me. "Hey, where did that come from?!"
"Speculation. To buy time," she said with a shrug, "I'm late."
Her skin was icy again. I let go of her wrist. "Do you want to meet in the library after class."
"Can't," she said, shifting her bag, "busy."
"Fine by me."
She didn't say anything but her eyes caught mine as if she was going to. They looked so different all of a sudden. Warm and sad. She left silently, ignoring Mike as he tried to get her attention. That earned a glare from him to me. Joy.
She wasn't in any other class. I don't know why that disturbed me.
--
I peeled my shirt off and dropped it in the hamper. I sat at my desk and took the pictures off of the camera and put them in a folder marked project research. I printed some of them off just in case. One of them caught my attention. I picked it up. There was Bella standing beside the window. I don't remember taking that picture. She was facing me, her head slightly tilted towards the window. I looked closer. Her skin was pale. She wasn't photogenic at all!
It caught my attention though. Her pale skin. Too pale even for a girl with no tan. Like something unreal. I looked closer and I saw something else. Eyes. That couldn't be right. I was going crazy. I looked closer at the darkness of the shadow behind her. But that was weird in of itself. What was a shadow that dark doing in the corner near the window? I grabbed my pen and circled the eyes. I would as Bella tomorrow. Actually...
I stood and went to the window. She was awake, sitting at her window and looking out. She was completely zoned out. She looked like my mother when she was getting over the divorce with sleeping pills. My eyes widened when I saw them again. The eyes. The angry, smokey, eyes from the picture. Behind her.
TBC
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