A/N: I'm glad you guys have taken to this story quite well. Yes, I realize that it's a little depressing, but NM was a depressing time. Well, here's Edward and the Cullens finding out…
Disclaimer: SM owns it all.
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Edward's POV
It has been seventy five years since we'd been in Forks. I really hadn't wanted to come back. It would remind me too much of Bella.
But Esme had insisted. She missed the house too much. Alice, too, wanted to come back. She had missed Bella, as well, and had wanted to see the remains of Bella's life. She wanted to know if Bella had married, if her children and her grandchildren were still around. If Bella was still around.
I didn't want to know. I didn't want to see. I had promised her never to come back, so I couldn't. But I had just returned to the family ten years ago. Carlisle had been adamant that I came with them.
I wouldn't be going to Forks High, though. It was too much of a reminder. It would have changed drastically by now. Seventy five years had gone by, after all. But I would still see her everywhere I went.
If I were to sit in Biology class, I'd remember her next to me, her sweet scent enveloping me in a warm rush. If I were to sit in the cafeteria, I'd remember her asking me so bravely questions about my life any other human would die not to hear.
I couldn't do it.
Jasper, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett would, though.
Jasper still felt the remorse of attacking that day. Bella hadn't blamed him and neither had I. He still felt guilty for not being able to control himself.
Alice berated herself for not stopping me from making my decision. She called it a mistake. So did I.
Rosalie was finally starting to understand how much Bella meant to me. She still hated the fact that Bella had come into our lives at all. She hated that Bella had such an impact on me, and the rest of the family. But she understood my love for Bella was unconditional. She saw what it did to me to be away from her. And in her deepest thoughts, she missed the humanity Bella brought with her. Just a little.
Emmett felt like he had lost a little sister. He had been on good terms with Bella. He and Alice had treated her like a part of the family. He had accepted her vision of her becoming a part of our family without question.
Esme and Carlisle felt like they had lost a daughter, Esme especially. In their minds, they had lost me, too.
I drove up to the white mansion we always occupied when we came to Forks. It looked the same as it had before, but it felt…Empty to be here.
I stayed in my car while the others slowly went inside. From their minds, I could tell that they, too, were plagued with memories of Bella.
I sighed. There really was no point in staying out here. I just had to get it over with. At least I'd be able to stay home. Not that anyone could push me to do anything else, really.
Rosalie had tried to set me up with one of her vampire friends from Norway. Needless to say, I had almost torn both their heads off their shoulders.
Esme had chided Rosalie for being so tactless, and Emmett had pretty much told me matter-of-factly to calm down. He really hadn't wanted to lose his mate.
Well, neither had I.
I went into the house and stiffened. Everyone was crowded in the living room. I walked over slowly to them, their thoughts becoming clearer each second.
Dried blood? Whose…
What the hell happened here?
Oh, dear. Had someone been killed in our house?
Why didn't I see this?
Was it a vampire's doing?
I hope that's not going to stain…
I stood next to Jasper and stared at the dark patch of dried blood. It was glaring, so contrasting against the white floor. I couldn't catch a scent of it, so it must have been quite some time ago.
I raised my eyes slowly to Carlisle, who looked as baffled as I did. "Do you have any theories?" I asked him, knowing fully well that he didn't.
Carlisle cleared his throat and shook his head, coming out of his shocked state. "No, I don't," he mused. "Maybe…Did someone get killed here?" he turned to Alice.
She shook her head, her face pulled into a frown. "I can only see the future. I couldn't…I don't know," she said desperately.
Edward, I feel strange, she said to me through her thoughts. I feel like…Like we're not the only ones here? No, it can't be. Do you sense anything?
I shook my head, almost imperceptibly.
Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice's waist. "Come on, darlin'," he drawled. "Let's fix up the computer. Maybe we could search for what happened? The body isn't here, so someone must have removed it…Maybe humans did?"
Alice sighed, rubbing her temples. She was upset and not being able to see what had caused this, and the strange feeling like someone was here besides us.
She nodded her head and smiled at Jasper. "It's our best bet," she agreed.
They moved up to their rooms, each carrying a stack of boxes weightlessly. I heard them going up to their room and moving things about. Emmett and Rosalie did the same. Esme and Carlisle moved around the living room, straightening things out.
I closed my eyes and took in a huge breath. My eyes snapped open. A huge burst of freesia had hit me hard. I looked around. Freesia? No, I was dreaming…Of course, I couldn't actually dream.
I turned to look at Esme and Carlisle, but they, too, had stopped whatever they were doing.
"Son," Carlisle said tentatively. I knew he was afraid to say anything that could potentially set me off. "Did you smell…That?" he asked lamely.
I nodded my head mutely and looked around. The freesia had smelt too strong to have been a hallucination. It's scent still lingered in the air. Even my parents had smelled it.
Emmett bounded down the stairs, then. "Hey, Esme, Rose wanted to know where the-" He stopped as he caught the freesia scent. "Doesn't that smell like…" He shot a worried look in my direction.
A cold gust of air burst through the kitchen, and we all turned in that direction. My jaw dropped when Bella, my Bella, came through the kitchen door.
She was wearing the blue shirt I had loved on her, and a white skirt. She looked impeccable, if not outdated. She looked…Just as she had seventy five years ago. From her clothes to her eyes, to her hair to everything.
The only thing wrong with the image was her frown. She stopped when she saw us. She didn't look as if she recognized us. I wondered for a moment if I was imagining it, or if she were someone else.
I took in another deep breath and shook that thought out of my head. She was definitely Bella. "Bella," I breathed, taking in her beautiful face. I wanted nothing more than to rush up to her and pull her into a huge embrace.
But she looked outraged. She moved so quickly, I hadn't even seen it. I blinked when she was suddenly in front of me. "What are you doing here?" she screamed at me. I flinched at the volume of her voice. And her tone…It was so filled with pain, and hatred and loss…
"Who are you?" she turned around and screamed at Esme, Carlisle and Emmett.
Emmett recovered first and walked slowly towards her, hand outstretched in front of him as if he were telling her she needn't be afraid-he was harmless. "Uh, Bella…It's us," he said slowly. "Remember? I'm Emmett-"
"You can't be here!" Bella fumed. "Get out!" she yelled, and the vase behind me cracked and burst into pieces. Some of the pieces hit me but I barely blinked. It didn't hurt at all. I stared at Bella, open mouthed.
"This is his house!" Bella said. "It's his. He has to come back…I'm waiting," she whispered. Her wild eyes darted around.
I stepped forward, swallowing hard. "Bella?" I asked quietly. "Bella, love?"
She started, and looked at me. Then she was in front of me again. "You look like him," she whispered, trailing one cold hand down my cheek. I barely felt her ghost of a touch. "So much like him," her voice broke.
Before I could say anything, she had fled to the spot of blood on the floor. She looked up at us again, her brown eyes shimmering with silver tears. I started. Silver? When were tears silver?
"Edward!" Alice screamed, barreling down the stairs. She looked too heartbroken, her thoughts too scattered for me to read. She took one look at Bella and broke down. I noticed the letter in her hand.
When I turned to Bella, her sorrow filled eyes met mine. I saw a glimmer of hope. "Edward?" she repeated, as if she was starting to remember something.
As quickly as she'd arrived, she vanished. Into thin air. How had that happened?
Alice answered my question. "She's dead, Edward. She killed herself seventy five years ago… Bella's dead."
I sank to my knees, staring at the dried pool of Bella's blood. My body started to shake with uncontrollable sobs. What had I done?
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I hadn't moved. Not since Bella disappeared. I kept staring at the blood. I wanted her to reappear. I wanted to ask her, I wanted to hold her.
Could you embrace a ghost?
Was that what she was?
Alice had read the letter, as had everyone else. I didn't have to-I saw it all in their minds. I had taken the letter, though, and I had tucked it away in my pocket. It was the last thing Bella had left for me.
No one else could move, either. They were seated in the living room. Esme had given up trying to get me to move. Even Emmett couldn't pry me off the floor.
Alice was dry sobbing into Jasper's shirt, her body shaking with grief. Even Rosalie was upset.
"Bella," I whispered finally, after four hours of silence. "Bella, please come back."
Like the answer to my prayers, she floated down the stairs. How had I not noticed before that she didn't walk? She floated. Like she was basically walking on air.
Her angry eyes surveyed us. "I told you to leave!" she snapped. "You can't be here!"
I stood up on shaky legs. So did my family. "Bella…" I whispered, coming closer.
"NO!" she yelled, silver tears dripping from behind her eyes. "He's coming back!" she screamed. "He has to!"
Alice sniffed, and bit her lip. "What happened to you, Bella?" she asked softly.
Bella stopped screaming, and her head turned to the dried blood on the floor. "He killed me," she said softly.
I froze. Someone had murdered my Bella? Who was it? Had it been a vampire? Did I know him? I had to track him down, and kill him myself.
But wait. Hadn't she left a suicide note? Why had she done that when someone else had killed her?
"Who?" Esme asked, her quiet voice laced with anger and confusion.
"Him," Bella looked down, floating to the piano. "He played for me…I loved him," she whispered, her pale fingers trailing along the piano.
My dead heart broke. Me. I had killed her. I was the one who murdered her. That was how she saw it. I felt like breaking down all over again. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Bella," my voice broke as I said her name.
When I opened my eyes, she had drifted over to me. "He didn't love me back," she whispered to me, almost as if it were a secret. "He left me. I-I…Didn't know what to do. The pain…It was too much. I couldn't live. I didn't want to. I had to leave. He had to know how much I love him," she said.
She floated back towards the pool of blood. "Can you find him? He ran away…Somewhere in the woods. I can't leave the house. I don't know why. I-I'm so confused. You have to tell him."
She floated over to where Alice was. "You have to tell him I love him. Tell him I did this for him. Does he see it now?"
She was suddenly at the piano, standing right next to it. Her hands were pressed against her chest where her heart would have been. When she pulled away, her hands were covered in blood. Her shirt was becoming stained with them. The blood slowly trickled down her skirt.
It had no effect on any one of us because it technically wasn't there. The blood wasn't there. She wasn't there. Just a reminder of what was.
She held out her blood stained hands, her tears pouring down her beautiful face. "Does he love me now?" she whispered brokenly.
I took a step forward, but she had already disappeared.
With a howl of anguish, I dropped to the floor, my heart and soul calling out for my true love.
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To answer some questions I know will probably come:
Bella doesn't remember the Cullens because it's been 75 years. As a ghost, her memories started to fade. Her 'dreams' started to play tricks on her mind, so she's incredibly confused.
Yes, she will find out about Edward and the Cullens-she's already remembering Edward.
What will she do? Only time will tell.
What will Edward do? Same answer as above question. That generally means I HAVE NO IDEA. But it'll come to me, don't worry.
Anything else?? Feel free to ask. I don't want to confuse anyone because anytime I read a story with supernatural aspects, I easily get confused if it hadn't been explained properly.
Thank you for reading. Please review.
Juliet.
