Chapter one: The Phone Call

Bella's POV

"How are you Bella?" Angela's voice brought me crashing back to the earth that was really a hellhole.

I blinked, steadying myself against the wall of the elevator. I felt so dizzy all of a sudden. It was daylight. My throat was dry and I was hungry. My stomach rumbled uncomfortably just to remind me that I hadn't eaten anything apart from that cereal bar early this morning.

I was on the ground floor of the building that I was in and I needed to get off the lift. I quickly skipped out, ignoring the awkward glances I got from the messenger girl.

"Bella?"

"Oh", I gasped aloud as Angela appeared besides me. She smiled assuringly me.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you", she apologised gently, "I was just asking if you're ok."

She didn't need to know that practically any female voice calling out my name in a concerned tone scared me.

"Yes, I'm fine Angela; I told her forcing a smile "Yeah...um, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm OK", she said simply. We walked in silence to the car park. I liked how she didn't wish to fill the comfortable silence with awkward small talk. Angela was a colleague from my work. She had long straight light brown hair and deep dark eyes.

We looked quite similar feature wise. I had long wavy brown hair that seemed more dull and flat by the minute that I lived on. My eyes were wide and brown and could look sparkly but somehow had lost its shine.

I sighed and glanced at my watch. It was half past five. I had just gotten off from work. Work was Hale Magazine Co-operations a company which produced many fashion magazines. I was an editor for the magazine GloryGossips. I worked from eight to five everyday but occasionally, recently, I tried to spend as much time at work as possible.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner next weekend", Angela said softly. I looked up at her. If I was honest, all I wanted to do this weekend was to crawl under my covers and cry my eyes out. But I shouldn't say that aloud.

"Oh? This weekend?" I repeated, trying to sound confused. I was merely buying myself time until I could think up an excuse. I had already thought up millions of excuses in the past month to get out of social functions and parties. I think I was running out of them.

Headache...stomach pains...got plans...too busy...too tired...cat died...sister died...

I shook my head from that last thought.

"Sure Angela", I heard myself say. My voice, like everything else about me, was flat and toneless. Just a dead, unenthusiastic person. "W-what time?"

"How about Saturday night at seven?" she suggested, "I want you to meet my fiancé. Ben Cheney. I told you about him, remember?"

She sighed contently as she spoke his name. I could see the dreamy faraway look on her face. I looked down, reminisce a time when she would go on and go about her boyfriend and I'd be excited to hear every detail.

"Oh yeah..." I said a couple of minutes too late. Angela sent me a wary look. I walked over to my rusty orange truck. "So um, see you there Angela. Bye."

"Alright Bella", Angela smiled unconvinced, "Goodbye. Have a nice evening."

She turned and walked the other direction towards her car. I would think up an excise on Saturday morning and not go. I got in the car and pulled out of the company car lot.

Today was Thursday, plenty of time to make up something. Besides, I really did have plans this weekend. I had promised myself that I would do it on Saturday.

After three whole weeks, I was going to clear out her room. Sort out the stuff there. Maybe put up an advert in the papers that a room was free up for rent.

No.

No!

Too soon. It was too soon for that. After all, it only had been three weeks. I'd simply clear out her things. She had only lived in the apartment with me for a little over a week, and then she...went missing.

Most of her things weren't unpacked yet since she had so many clothes. Designer of course. Only a couple of things were scattered on her dressing table and few clothes in her wardrobe.

I would go in, get the clothes out and put them in a black bin bag. Then drop it off to a charity centre. Simple. Easy.

I would get her possessions or anything valuable and give it to my mother when she would come for dinner on Sunday. Then the room would be cleared. Everything would be sorted out.

My mother always came to dinner on Sundays now. She didn't mind the long ride from Forks to Port Angeles. It was our routine. We were both lonely women and we both needed each other. Either she drove to Port Angeles or I go to Forks. Though, I was reluctant to go back to Forks. It had many memories of my sister.

I took in deep breaths and stopped the truck as I felt like my insides were clenching into a tight, uncomfortable ball. I pulled over to one side and turned off the engine.

My sister...

My beautiful amazing sister...

There last thing I said to her was, 'Rosalie, you should stop trusting your beauty. Or it will get you killed.'

I hated being right.

--

It was Friday night before I knew it. Well, Friday at half past six. I had managed to stay at work for another hour and a few minutes today. I went to work, avoided my colleagues and came home. That's all I ever did nowadays.

My life seemed to be dragging on sluggishly on minute and speeding up the next. I remember Monday morning when I was stuck in traffic and wanted time to go past. Instead, it seemed like the clocks of the world had stopped ticking.

And now, here I was already. Friday night. My breathing hitched a little but I tried to keep it under control.

Friday night was Rosalie's favourite time of the week. It was also the time she went missing.

As I got into my apartment, I noticed how quiet it was. Everything was clean. There were no dirty socks on the leather brown designer couch that my mother insisted she buy for us. There were no old pizza boxes littering the carpet floor. It was also quite cold thought Rosalie preferred warmth. Well, she isn't here now.

It seemed as thought no one lived here.

I dropped my handbag into my room and went to take a shower. The hot scalding water felt relaxing against my skin and muscles. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on nothing.

But as usual, I couldn't.

Of course I couldn't. I could never think of anything but her. Alive or dead, my sister was always on my mind. I just hoped I was on hers.

She was my sister, my best friend. Rosalie Swan was tall and beautiful with long golden shiny hair. Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of sky blue. Her skin was pale but in a beautiful toned complexion.

She had always been the favourite out of the both of us. When we attended Forks high school, she was the most popular girl there. She had tons of boyfriends and guys who would worship the ground she walked on.

She wasn't over intelligent but got average marks like As and Bs. At the age of 18 alone she had been contacted by a modelling agency already and given up her plans to attend a college to pursue the modelling career.

That's when things started to go a bit wrong. She moved out of the three bedroom house our mother called home. She went to New York for four years, doing adverts and working in the fashion industry. At the age of 22 she came back to the small town of Forks with anorexia nervosa.

It hurt me those times to see my sister so weak and frail. She was convinced that her curves meant she was fat. She was sure that if she ate anything with over 10 grams of fat in it her thighs would blow up.

It was then that Rosalie and I got to be closer than we ever were. I was still at school but I helped her get better, just by being there for her and supporting everything she did.

Then, she was 24 years old when another modelling agency called her up at Port Angeles and asked her to model permanently for Hale Magazines, where I was currently working. She got through everything and sorted out her life. She was so strong. We agreed to move into a flat together in Port Angeles since we were both working there and it would be quicker to get to work.

It was a complete turn around and her life was finally changing for the better. She was better.

And then she went missing.

I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself. My sister was popular so it was obvious that she went out clubbing and dancing most nights, se got drunk quite often though she was no alcoholic. But I wished she would've told me about the drugs.

I snapped out of my thoughts as a familiar sound broke the silence in the apartment. A cell phone.

Some sort of song.

Ringing?

It definitely wasn't my cell because the ringtones for all my contacts were set on a default ringtone. The sound that was heard was familiar.

I recognised the song.

It was Hot N Cold by Katy Perry.

I followed the noise, grasping the towel around me as I ran. It led me straight to where I thought it would. Rosalie's bedroom.

I stood in the doorway as my eyes searched. There on the dressing table was phone, flashing red and blue. It was plugged in and had been charging for over a month. I could almost laugh if the situation wasn't so creepy.

I gripped the doorway, trying to force myself to enter the room. The room which I hadn't been in since she was alive. But no, my legs wouldn't move.

The ringing stopped.

Silence enveloped the apartment once more. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty now for some reason. I glared at the phone on the table. Her phone. The one which she left home on Friday 20th.

Who would be calling a dead person?

I winced at my own thoughts and choice of words. Suddenly, the phone started ringing again. Gritting my teeth, I walked into the room. A beautiful rosy scent filled my nostrils. It smelt like Rosalie.

I grabbed the phone and ran out like the chicken I was. On the phone screen was a picture of man I didn't know.

He was smiling back at me, a lazy crooked grin. Rosalie didn't introduce me to this person. He had an odd coloured hair that was very messy and I could green piercing eyes through the grainy picture.

"H-hello?" I answered, my voice was shaking. I walked back towards my bedroomly, careful not to trip.

"Rosalie Swan, what the hell?" A smooth velvety voice snapped at me, "No calls, no texts, no nothing for over a month! I know I went back to New York but that was for only a week. I told you I'd be back. You could've called, I thought you were dead!"

The man's voice was half joking back the last sentence but it twisted my stomach and brought tears to my eyes. I had no idea who this person was but it seemed that he didn't know about Rosalie's death.

I sighed. Rosalie's death.

My sister knew lots of people, most of the time I had now idea how she knew so many. But she was popular and beautiful and that drew many friends to her. Mostly men.

I opened my mouth to speak and took in a deep breath.

"I...this isn't..." My voice was going to betray me. The words weren't coming out.

"Hey listen, I'm coming back to Forks this weekend", the man carried on talking, "Do you want to meet up? Have a drink sometime?"

"Err, I'm really sorry", I gasped out, my voice shaking almost trembling so that it sounded like I was half crying. And I was. The tears were now silently rolling down my cheeks. "This isn't...I'm not Rosalie."

"Oh." There was a pause and a breath of frustration. "Sorry. I've...I've got the right number, haven't I?"

"Yes", I said quietly, "I'm Bella and –"

"Rose's sister?" The man cut in. I was puzzled how he knew about me since I knew nothing about who I was talking to.

"Yes...I...I'm Rosalie's sister", I muttered, entering my bedroom. I sat on the bed, bringing my knees to my chest.

There was nervous laughing on the other line.

"Sorry about the shouting. Can I talk to Rose please?"

And I froze. The clenching in the stomach began again. I felt like I was surely going to be sick. He didn't know. Oh god, he didn't know and now I was going to have to tell him. I had made sure to send a teXt to all of Rosalie's contacts to tell them about her death. I must've missed out this guy.

I took in a deep breath, almost bursting my lungs with all the extra air.

"Rosalie Swan passed away on the 20th of July", I whispered my voice wobbling. I had gotten used to saying this so many times now, it was like a mantra. My fingers were shaking as I struggled to hold the phone. "She was missing for six days and was found on the 26th."

There was a long silence of which I took to try and breathe normally. There was a stunned shock on the other line. I waited.

"I...hey, what? Are you...is this...?" The man struggled to hold his voice properly. He laughed humourlessly after couples of minutes. "Rose? You're fucking about with me, aren't you?"

"My name is Bella Swan", I whispered gently, "She...she passed away."

There was no pause this time as my words sunk in for the guy I was talking to.

"Oh god. Tell me you're joking", he demanded with clear anger.

"Rosalie is my sister. I would never joke about her life", I told him tonelessly.

"She...she died? Rosalie Swan? Oh fuck...she can't...just she can't..."

"I'm sorry you weren't notified", I said sighing; "Rosalie didn't mention you at all."

"Oh god...no, no, don't apologise", he said quickly, "No it's ok. I just can't believe...oh Bella...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. She...she was a good person."

"Yeah", I murmured, closing my eyes, "She was."

"Look, I'm sorry for ruining your day or whatever...I didn't know and..." The man trailed off uncomfortably.

"Its fine", I told him, "I don't...um, what's your name?"

"It's Edward. Edward Cullen."