Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for my own little plot line and any characters you may not recognize. Everything else is property of the genius Stephenie Meyer.
A/N: Firstly, thank you so much for the awesome responses the first chapter received! And just for that, I found a little time to write an update ;) There's still a lot of mystery in there, so don't expect to have everything solved and honky dory right away. Just bare with me here... lol.
Also, please forgive the monotony of the beginning of this chapter. I had to sort of throw in the feeling of Bella's life being robotic and simply uninteresting due to her emotional state.
Anyway, enjoy!
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Bella's POV:
The warm breeze swept past my skin as I made the five-block trip to my home. Today had been an interesting day… to say the least. It seemed that I would soon have a new friend here in Jacksonville. Whether or not I was actually pleased of that fact, I wasn't sure. However, I planned to make the most of it, starting with meeting Verrin at the library after school tomorrow. And if there was any time that I could ask her about her "doodlings" it was going to be then. Besides, Renee and Phil would want to see me hanging out with people again. Right?
Sighing, I adjusted the strap of my bag, glancing up towards the brilliant sun-filled sky. In some ways, I almost wished that I stayed in Forks. At least there, Charlie wouldn't be so apt to voice his concern for my current… condition. I could pretend that I was okay, surrounded by my friends at Forks High, more easily than I could here. Plus, there was always Jacob. He would send me the occasional e-mail every once in a while. I knew he had to be at school in order to do so, but the fact that he even made that kind of effort was oddly comforting.
My thoughts turned sour as Billy Black's face appeared in my mind. I'm sure he was getting a great kick out of my situation now. "We'll be watching you." Ha! Let him watch me nine states away. Or was it ten?
The wind picked up slightly, feathering my hair over my eyes and completely obscuring my vision. Not a good thing for the uncoordinated.
I lost my footing on a patch of uneven sidewalk, stubbing my toe in the process. The air left me in an audible 'whoosh,' leaving me to fall towards the ground. Instantly, I shot my hands out to catch the weight of my body, but only managed to scrape away the first layer of skin on my wrists.
Fabulous.
Thankful that no one seemed to notice my graceful face plant, I quickly pushed myself up and made my way down the remaining two blocks; carefully watching my footing as I went.
Phil's car was still missing when I walked up the small path to our front door, which meant that he was still at practice. The screen door squeaked as I pushed it open, holding it steady with my foot as I fumbled with my keys. Overall, our home in Jacksonville was nice and definitely spacious for a three-member family like ours. We had an indoor pool and everything. So, when my mom said that I would love it here, she wasn't lying. The only problem was that I lacked the emotional capacity to even really care.
The sound of Renee's voice echoed throughout the house upon my entrance. As I walked past the kitchen, I noticed that she was talking animatedly on the phone, lazily sitting in one of the bar stools as she spoke. She became aware of my presence and mouthed a "hey, baby" before I made my way up the stairs.
I let my bag fall to the ground with a loud thud as I entered my room. The sun still cascaded over the floorboards, illuminating the area with a warm cheerfulness. And yet it still never ceased the cold that forever haunted me.
My wrists stung from the newly exposed flesh, making me wince. It used to be that colds hands would have enveloped mine, gingerly holding them while bandaging the wounds. But what once was reality… was now only just a dream.
Feeling more alone than I had felt since arriving here, I made my way into the bathroom and bandaged my hands all on my own.
The rest of my day was dull. Boring.
I ate dinner with my parents and listened to Phil as he talked relentlessly on today's practice. And afterwards, I washed the dishes and headed back upstairs to finish my homework.
Around ten that night, I finally crawled in bed, doing everything in my power to will myself to sleep. Again, the nightmare plagued my mind and again I woke with a start, clutching my chest as it tightened painfully.
A few sobs escaped my lips as I lowered my head into my hands. Would it never end? Would I ever be normal again? I could feel the tears slipping through my fingers and dripping down my wrists. The feeling only made me cry harder.
Eventually, I lifted my head and reached out to grab a tissue. In doing so, I caught the faintest sign of movement out of the corner of my eye. A shadow of a figure was cast over my wall, almost as if someone was looking in on me from my window.
A cold chill shot down my spine as I immediately turned towards my window, not knowing what or who I should have expected to see.
But there was nothing. Only the trees swaying slightly in the night breeze.
And when I turned back around, the shadow was gone as well. Swallowing heavily, I reached over to the lamp on my nightstand and turned it on. Its soft glow stayed illuminated for the rest of the night. It never helped me fall back to sleep, but in some way, I vaguely felt more comforted by its presence.
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The next day was the same as yesterday. I ate my breakfast in silence. I walked the halls of my school quietly, carefully avoiding any attention. And when lunchtime came around, Verrin was there at my table, waiting for me.
"You look like hell," she stated, watching me with concern as I sat down.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Thanks."
"No, seriously, are you okay?"
She seemed genuinely concerned as she unwrapped a bagel sandwich. And as much as I tried to not flinch at the intensity of her violet eyes, I couldn't help but shudder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep that well." I brought out my own sandwich, which looked like it needed to be slapped a little in order to bounce back to life, and grimaced. Feeling slightly nauseated, I quietly pushed it away.
"Hey, do you mind if we go to the public library instead of the school one? I mean, I figure, why go to the one here. It's so boring," Verrin said, taking a huge bite of her meal.
I stared at her quizzically wondering just why she was so apt on going to the library anyway. "Um… no, that's fine, but it's about a ten minute drive from here. And I don't have a car," I added glumly. Bringing the truck here was out of the question. Renee refused to have something so trashy parked outside of our home. So, it stayed with Charlie. And if I was being honest with myself, I preferred it that way. Too many memories that I didn't want to deal with anymore.
"It's cool. I'll drive!" she chirped, winking at me happily.
I did my best to smile at her, all while telling myself that I just wanted the day to be over with.
To my happy surprise, someone up there must really love me, because the last three classes of the day quickly flew by. Soon we were driving down the road in Verrin's Audi, speeding towards the library. I chuckled quietly, knowing that this car would be good enough for the Cullens but definitely not fast enough for Alice.
"What's so funny?" Verrin asked, smiling in my direction. She rolled her window down and allowed the warm air to whip through her long black hair.
I smiled. "Nothing really. So, why did you want to go to the library?"
"Make-up work," she huffed. "You wouldn't believe how much I have. Plus, this is a lot quieter than my home."
"Oh," I responded rather dully and shifted my gaze back out the window. I had been to the public library several times before whenever Renee felt the need to let me borrow her car. So I can honestly say, that I didn't mind Verrin's choice for a hangout.
The parking lot was relatively empty when we pulled in and I couldn't have been more grateful for it. Not that it really mattered if there were tons of people here or not. The library was a large one-floor building with several enclosed corners where you could read in peace and not worry about too many people milling around.
It was nice and the only place that I had felt somewhat comfortable in since I moved.
Book bags at the ready, Verrin and I made our way through the front doors of the library and into the main room. The high vaulted ceilings added more to the exceptional space and instantly I felt my body relax.
For the next two hours, we sat at a circular table set off to the side. And every so often, I would look up from the book I was reading to see what notes Verrin had scattered about on the table. My eyes would frantically scan over each page for those infamous two letters when I knew she wasn't looking.
After another twenty minutes went by, I had finally made the decision to give up. Of course, that was the very same time she pulled out another notebook from her bag and dropped a few loose pages to the floor. Instinctively, I reached down to grab them. And my heart nearly stopped.
There on the very top page, were the two letters I had seen in class yesterday. "E.C." I blinked hard, wondering if maybe I was delusional and only slightly happy to realize that I wasn't. But just below the letters, were other drawn out symbols and written names. Some I didn't even understand, but one phrase drew me in, so familiar to me and yet so terrifying. "Two dark headed, one white." I felt a small shiver run through my spine as I straightened up and quickly handed the papers to Verrin, forcing an apologetic smile on my face.
She stared back at me intently and I had to fight the urge to go hide in the back corner of the library and never leave. But eventually, her hardened expression softened and she carefully placed the papers back in her bag.
I knew I shouldn't ask her. I knew, especially after that stare, that I shouldn't even dream of asking her this question. But because I'm socially retarded, I did it anyway.
"Verrin?" I asked cautiously, watching her reactions closely. She tilted her head in my direction as she filled out a statistics worksheet, but never lifted her gaze to mine. So, I took it as my move to speak further. "Who's E.C.?"
Her head snapped up so sharply, I was sure she pulled something. But in that moment, as her eyes sparkled dangerously beneath the light, her possible neck strains were the least of my worries.
"What?" Her voice was off and certainly didn't carry the lighthearted musical tone to it that I was so used to hearing now.
I opened my mouth to say something… anything… but before I could, a loud booming voice cut me off.
"Hey there, chica! What are you doing here?"
Verrin immediately looked from me to two tall, dark-haired men who now stood by our table. I knew that they couldn't be much older than us, but "boys" would hardly describe them. They were huge, in the bulky sort of way, making me suddenly think of Emmett.
"Christ, Alex!" Verrin hissed. "Do you have to be so loud and pop out of nowhere like that?"
The man, who I took to be as Alex, shook his head with a wry smile. The slightest hint of an accent colored his voice, but I couldn't quite place it. "Absolutely, sister. What's a big brother for anyway?"
Verrin casually rolled her eyes and turned back to me, the E.C. comment forgotten. "Sorry, Bella. These are my two brothers. Alex and Damian."
Both men turned to me, smiling brilliantly, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek from gasping in surprise. Just like their sister, they both had the same brilliant violet eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella," Damian greeted, extending his hand to me. I smiled and took hold of his hand, shaking it lightly. Damien was a bit shorter than Alex and had slightly longer, curlier hair but both were equally beautiful. The all too familiar outcast feeling crept up inside of me as I watched the modelesque family begin to talk quietly amongst themselves.
Feeling the need to get some air, I quietly excused myself and walked to the front desk, three new books in hand. The old librarian, Mrs. Fitch, stared pointedly at me from the top of her glasses as I approached the counter.
"Hello, Mrs. Fitch." I hoped that my voice didn't sound too depressing, but more than likely… it did.
"Hello, Bella," she said, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth as she took the three books. "It's nice to see an old regular here again."
Frowning as I watched her scan my library card, I couldn't help but ask a question. "Really? Have there been a lot of new people here or something?"
She sighed and nodded towards my table. "Those two young men over there." I turned around, closing watching Alex and Damian as they sat down, both faces wearing similar grave expressions. "They've been in here for hours at a time for the past three days." She shook her head in annoyance as if spending that amount of time in the library was a bad thing. I stood there, studying them as the three siblings spoke quietly. It was obvious that whatever they were discussing was quite serious. I watched as Alex's body began to stiffen and slowly, making my heart begin to pump so wildly that I thought it would burst free, he turned to me, and locked his powerful violet gaze with mine. My breath caught in my throat as small tremors cascaded down my legs. "They're always checking out books on Volterra or some such place."
I turned my gaze sharply back to Mrs. Fitch, both thankful and fearful for what she had said. Volterra? The memory of Edward walking me through Carlisle's study flashed through my mind. I could still see the haunting portrait of the powerful vampire leaders in Italy.
"Well, here you go dear. They're due in a month."
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I smiled politely to Mrs. Fitch and retrieved my books. "Thanks."
By the time I got back to the table, both Alex and Damian were gone and Verrin was packing away her things.
"Do you mind if we call it a night?" she asked casually, the same bright smile on her face.
"No." I shook my head quickly, doing my best to mask the uneasiness that I still felt. "No, not at all."
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It was dark by the time Verrin dropped me off at my house, and I waved goodbye to her, promising to have another library date very soon. Mentally, I told myself that I would find out anything I could about Verrin and her family during that time.
Walking up the small sidewalk, I did my best to stay focused on my footing, but found that I was too engrossed in today's events. The Rigas family was slowly becoming more mysterious by the minute, if the library incident wasn't enough to prove it. And then the connection instantly came to my mind, dowsing me with its icy coldness. Gasping suddenly, I stopped in midstride on the pathway to our home. Volterra… Two dark headed, one white…
"The Volturi are a family," Edward explained to me, his eyes distant, still brooding as he looked past me. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind."
The flashback of us watching Romeo and Juliet haunted me for days after he had left me, but I failed to really focus on this one particular part. Was it possible that the Rigas family was researching the Volturi? Maybe it was too much for me to hope, but I felt – more so now – that E.C. stood for Edward Cullen. The name itself almost brought me to my knees.
"Bella! Come inside, what are you doing?"
Instantly, I looked up to see Renee standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips, staring at me uncertainly as if I may drop dead at any moment.
"Uh… sorry, mom. I'm coming."
Quickly, and cautiously, I shuffled into the house, bypassing Renee as she muttered something about dinner and made my way up the stairs towards my room.
After shutting my door, I let my bag collapse to the floor with a loud clunk. And because I somehow ask for it all the time, I tripped over the bag, and stumbled towards my desk where I eventually caught myself.
Sighing, I sat down and turned on the laptop that Renee and Phil had bought me as a welcome home gift. The only thing I was grateful for, was that it worked better than the old desktop that sat untouched in my room back at Forks.
The thought made me cringe.
Soon, I was online, checking my e-mail like I always did when I came home from school… or in this case, the library. My pattern never changed. It was routine, just like the rest of my life.
Several pieces of junk mail proceeded to fill in my inbox and I quickly went through the list, deleting all of them and staring at my screen in a daze. Nothing seemed to float through my mind. My brain was now switched on to autopilot.
And that's when I saw it.
A message from Jacob Black.
My heart squeezed painfully, just like it did whenever I heard from anyone in Forks. So, with curious eyes and a nervously shaking hand, I clicked on the message and waited with bated breath as it began to load.
Hey Bells,
How's life in Florida? Please tell me you're doing something productive, like beating your mom's butt in the kitchen with your mad cooking skills.
No, seriously, don't tell me you're still locking yourself up in the house. I haven't heard from you in a while and was worried.
Also, I thought you should know that the Cullens came back to Forks. Well, most of them anyway. The two older siblings are still off at Dartmouth or someplace. But the rest of them are back. My dad's having a holy fit over it, always muttering something about tribe meetings and whatnot. I swear, I love him but he's a superstitious old fool.
Anyway, I thought you should know. Please send me a message back, Bells.
Miss you,
Jacob
My heart did something other then clench for once. It fell – breaking into tiny pieces. I could feel each shatter, each miniscule ounce of pain. Tears began to cloud my eyes, warping my vision of the computer screen. Its bright light shone vibrantly through the watery haze and I allowed it to swallow me whole.
So, it was true. Edward really never wanted me. He only felt it necessary to return to Forks after he was sure that I was gone.
I wanted to be angry. I wanted to slam my fist into the desk, or take my laptop and chuck it across the room.
Only I didn't.
"Bella, honey," my mom called, lightly tapping on the other side of my door. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."
I opened my mouth, but couldn't tell if I was actually responding to her. There was a familiar sound in the air. It reminded me of my voice but I couldn't hear it clearly. Whatever I did say, caused her to leave me alone for the rest of the night.
At that moment, I quietly shut my computer and stood up. My feet moved on their own accord, carrying me to places that my mind couldn't process. I felt the bed against my knees first, and then the soft comforter molding to my body as I lay down. I saw the off white wall as I pressed my cheek to the pillow, its starkness almost blinding me. And I let the tears flow freely. Silently.
It wasn't until I heard the most pathetic cry echo throughout the room that I smashed my hands over ears, trying my best to block out the noise. It was too painful – hearing that sound. It made my heart sink lower and lower within my chest.
Still, the noise grew louder and with each new pitch, my body would tremble.
It wasn't until minutes later, that I realized the sound was my own heartbreaking cry. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to have Edward nearby. I wanted him to hear my screams. I wanted him to see the tears that soaked my sheets. Because this is what he had done to me. This is what I had become. Broken. Hopeless. And alone.
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A/N #2: Okay, I want to make a few notes here...
1) That little flashback you read earlier? Came from page 19 in 'New Moon' and is property of the genius Stephenie Meyer.
2) This story isn't going to necessarily follow the same time frame of the series. I can't really remember if Jacob would have been a werewolf after three months of Edward leaving, but in this story, I'm saying he's not... yet. muahaha...
3) I have no freakin' clue if Jacob has a computer. But for the sake that he doesn't, I've decided that he only e-mails Bella when he's at school and can get to a computer.
4) Alright, so for the whole "how many states away is Florida from Washington" bit... I counted in a diagonal line... so if I got it way wrong, don't laugh at my retarded geographical ways. :P
5) Edward's POV will be next! I can't help it... I miss him. *le sigh* XD
6) I don't have the time to respond to all of your reviews, but as I mentioned earlier, I appreciate all of them and thank you for even taking the time out to review this story! :D