Chapter 1

5:17 pm

"Edward, can you please slow down?" Bella said a bit too loudly at the close range in which they where sitting, "You're going to kill us!"

Edward looked down at the speedometer, rolling his eyes. He was only cruising along at a hundred, far from his normal speed limit.

"Bella, I am not going to kill us," he replied, taking hold of her hand, "and besides, I can't die."

Bella just huffed and put her earbuds back in to listen to her iPod. Edward looked at her, trying to figure out when exactly Bella had changed. They had been married for only two weeks and already the honeymoon felt like it was over.

"Edward!"

The speedometer began to inch back up and he tried to force his foot to relax, "Sorry."

"What's the matter with you?"

Edward turned to look into her brown eyes, "What's the matter—." Easy Edward, control your temper, "I'm just a little tense, okay?"

She smiled at him and reached over to turn the radio on, "Maybe you should listen to some music?"

His grip tightened on the steering wheel, "Yeah, that has been your answer to everything lately, hasn't it?"

Bella furrowed her brow together, "Excuse me?"

He let out an unnecessary breath; he needed to stop taking her bait. "Sorry," he said for the tenth time in the last hour.

Always apologizing. He looked her way and forced a smile, hoping that she would believe it, but he knew it never made it to his eyes. It hadn't for a while now.

She was beautiful, enough to capture the heart of any man in the world, just like she captured his unbeating heart. Brunette, youthful, a real credit to the tight jeans that she was currently wearing; everything a guy could long for. No doubt those deep pools of brown eyes could still sparkle, but the spark had left sometime during the past couple of weeks. Right now, they were being covered up by a pair of designer sunglasses, and craning to see out the back window.

"I think there's a cop behind us."

Edward looked up to the rearview mirror. The highway, which had narrowed to two lanes, curved lazily through the late fall forest and farmland, rising and falling over dips and inclines, hiding and revealing a single car. It was gaining on them, near enough now for Edward to get into the man's mind. The rack of currently unlit blue lights perched on top were now visible to the naked eye. Edward looked down and checked his speed, letting the pressure of his foot loosen on the gas.

The police car kept coming. The man behind the wheels thoughts going to the plates and thinking about calling in the car as stolen. Not many drive a new silver Volvo along this part of Route 66.

"You better slow down," Bella said, turning her attention to Edward.

"I'm going the speed limit."

"You sure?"

"Bella, I can read the signs."

A few seconds more, the cruiser caught up with them, the entire review mirror covered by the reflection. Edward could see the iron jaw locked on the officer. His black sunglasses obscured the view to his eyes, but not his thoughts...

Edward slowed down even more so, hoping that the cop would pass and not rear end them as he was considering. Yet the highway patrol continued to inch closer.

Edward smashed his foot on the gas and gunned the full power of the Volvo. Bella fell against her seat, being pushed in by the force.

"Edward, what are you doing?"

"He is thinking about rear ending us."

Bella turned to look at the cop as it fell back ten yards or so. Its red and blue lights began to flash to life.

Bella let out a huge huff, "Great."

Even though Bella's was the one mind that was cut off from Edward, he could already hear the blame that was going on inside. It was obvious by the tone of her voice. Always the blame and always the apologies. But she is the one that is having second thoughts, Edward thought to himself.

The cruiser pulled up next to them, veering into the oncoming lane. The uniformed officer turned to face Edward, meeting his eyes, or at least what Edward thought were his eyes. There was no expression on the cop's face; it was a total blank, as was his mind. Edward forced his eyes back to the road and set the speed control to sixty miles an hour.

The two cars were now side by side, matching each other's speeds, locked in formation.

"What are you doing, Edward? You need to pull over."

I would if I could. Edward looked toward the side, trying to find a suitable place to pull over. The forest was thick on either side of them; vines draping all over the place, building a wall along the shoulder.

"I can't. There is no shoulder. I just can't…"

Edward slowed the car down, the cruiser matching his speed. There had to be a turnaround somewhere on this deserted piece of highway. He began to veer off.

The cruiser surged and left them behind, lights still blazing in silence. Fifteen seconds or so more and the car was just a dot in the distance. Eventually it was gone.

"What was that about?" Edward asked, checking his mirrors, rubbernecking and easing back onto the highway. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"You were speeding," Bella said, pulling the map out of the glove box, avoiding his eyes.

"That is not what he was thinking and besides he did not even pull us over. And why do you think he was so close to us? You saw how close he was."

"Well, what exactly was going through his head?" Bella retorted, "And besides we're in the back country on this long ass highway. The cops around here let you know when you do something wrong."

"Yeah, but you don't run some off the highway for speeding."

Bella slapped her hands on her thighs out of frustration; though, the one that should have been feeling frustrated was Edward. Edward had promised to take Bella to see Renee one last time before the change and ever since they had been in this car on the way back to Forks, they had done nothing but fight and complain.

"Edward, do you think you can get us back home in one piece, and legally? Please, I would really like to see Charlie one more time while I am still alive."

Edward chose to bite his tongue instead of making a comeback, and concentrated on the road. Just save it until we make it home.

Bella shook out her shoulders, put a smile on her face and turned her attention back to her iPod.

The wedding had changed everything for them. All he had left now were the memories that stole his mind away even as his eyes remained fixed on the road ahead. Her arms wrapped around him, the secrets that were shared with just a glance. All she had been asking was for him to change her; make her one of them. But he had been coming up every excuse in the book to put it off and now that her nineteenth birthday was just a week away, he knew he could not put it off any longer. She had fulfilled her side of the bargain; now it was time for Edward to do what he had promised: damn her soul for eternity.

"You're lost, Edward?" Edward shook his thoughts as Bella began to look down at the map.

Yep, I am lost. Lost at how to fix this without ruining your life.

"Edward?"

He brought himself out of his daydream and looked out at the road ahead of him. The forest began to break apart, now giving way to crude homesteads and stump-filled pastures.

Bella began to scan the map, studying all the little red and black lines, but he was the one who was lost. With his heightened senses and her looking at the map, he began to consider which of them was really lost.

"Maybe we should pull over so you can hunt," Bella asked, the words more of a statement than a question, "You have been pretty grumpy since we left Renee's. And besides we are still lost."

Me, I'm the one who has been grump; he knew that the words that would leave his mouth next would be laced with sarcasm. "What do you mean? I am fine. I can wait until we stop for the night and what do you mean we are still lost? You're the one reading the map."

"Did you not see that highway marker? It said five." She traced her fingers along the map, "We somehow got off of 66."

Edward tapped his finger to a black line, "Where does that one take us?"

"Not home."

Edward's mind picked up on the policeman's mind again and his fingers tightened around the wheel. The red and blue lights flashed up ahead.

"Oh, great," Bella sighed, flopping back into her seat, "We really don't need this."

Edward slowed down as they approached the patrol car parked just beyond the yellow cones that had been set up to block the ongoing highway.

Repaving Operation. Highway Closed to Thru traffic

"Well, we have to turn around now," He pulled off onto the gravel and then had a second thought, "Actually, let's ask him. There might be a faster route than backtracking."

Edward eased his Volvo up behind the officer's cruiser, just as the door to the car opened. An officer stepped out – the officer ­– his eyes still hidden behind the aviator sunglasses.

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