I was planning on waiting to upload this, not wanting to overwhelm anyone with too many chapters at once, but I couldn't resist.
A huge thank you to everyone who has commented and/or favorited...knowing that you enjoy this story is making it so much fun to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well-it's a bit shorter but was the most fun to write by far! Please don't forget to leave comments or constructive criticism-it's extremely motivating and very much appreciated. : )
Usual Disclaimer: Twilight and all of its characters are the creation and property of author Stephenie Meyer.
Extraordinary: Chapter Three
Happiness exploded inside of me, along with the most complete sense of relief. I was back! I was at La Guardia Airport, where it had all begun. It had to be the second chance I was praying for, I had to set everything right. Edward had to live this time-he just had to.
Although I could see quite clearly for myself that everything was the same as it had been before, I couldn't resist turning to peer down the escalator past the bushy haired redhead in my way. Were they there? They had to be...
My heart gave such a huge leap I was surprised it didn't come flying out of my throat when I saw them, just like I remembered. Alice, her hair short and disarrayed, face grim, looking absorbed in her own thoughts as we rode upwards. And Bella, long hair hanging carelessly over her shoulders, pale and wan, looking so sad and scared that I could have cried right there for her, was standing next to her, staring over the railing at nothing at all.
A sudden wave of dizziness washed over me and I swayed once more, feeling a jolt of fear that reminded me that I didn't like escalators any better than I had before. Determinedly, I turned back and gripped the railing as hard as I could. I wouldn't panic this time. I wouldn't wreck everything. Because the very best thing I could do, the only thing I had to do to make sure that Alice and Bella got on that plane to Florence was...nothing. Absolutely nothing. As long as I didn't interfere, everything would be fine.
It was only about a minute ride on the escalator but it seemed to take an eternity and apparently, I wasn't the only person who felt that way. Behind me, I could hear aggravated grunts and hissed comments as people were jostled out of the way. I couldn't resist turning again to see Bella and Alice squeezing past the woman between us, not content with the speed at which we were moving. Bella was murmuring apologies but her face was determined. I flattened myself against the railing even though it made me feel like I was going to plumment right over the side to make room for them to pass me. They moved past without even a glance in my direction.
"Hey!" The man in front of me snapped as they reached him. "Hold your horses! You're not the only people with places to go!" With a surly expression he swung his large duffel bag into the small space next to him, blocking their passage. Anger suddenly surged inside of me and before I could think it through, I leapt forward, pushing him to the side.
"Move!" I snapped. The man looked shocked and infuriated but I didn't care. Maybe a little interference wasn't such a bad thing after all. I saw Bella shoot me a startled look and then she and Alice dashed up the last remaining steps to the top of the escalator and disappeared.
I couldn't help myself. As they moved out of my line of vision, my legs reacted before my mind could and I was tearing after them, ignoring the swearing of the man I'd pushed. I just had to see for myself that they were going to make it. I barely registered the relief I felt as I reached the top and jumped off the escalator. I could see them far ahead of me, running through the crowd, stopping only briefly at a turnstiled gate manned by several uniformed agents. I saw Alice wave what was probably their tickets in front of his face impatiently and then they were off and running again.
The P.A. system suddenly crackled to life. "This is the final boarding call for Flight 1431 from New York to Florence, Italy. Repeat, the final boarding call for Flight 1431 from New York to Florence, Italy."
A new, and much stronger surge of relief hit me, and I almost stopped running, I was so distracted by it. Last time I'd been here, Alice and Bella were still downstairs at this point thanks to me and my extreme spaz attack. They were going to make it. I knew this so strongly that I felt tears well up in my eyes. In just a few hours, Bella and Edward would be together again. Everything was going to be alright. The only thing that could have possibly made me happier was if I could have been in Italy to see their reunion with my own eyes.
"Ticket!" A man barked at me. I blinked, realizing I was at the turnstile. The airline agent was staring at me impatiently.
"Oh, um..." I took a step backwards. "I don't actually have a-"
"No unticketed persons beyond this point!" He snapped, looking at me like I was an imbecile.
"Sure." I took another step back. "Sorry, um...I just went the wrong way." I turned and went back the way I'd come, enduring the scary escalator ride back down to the lower level with gritted teeth. I didn't really understand why I was still there at this point. Alice and Bella's place must have left by now, and there was nothing left for me to do. Bored, I began to wander down the huge, carpeted corridor, absently watching passengers rush by and looking at the stores and souvenir stands that lined either side of the terminal, hoping I was going to wake up soon. Nobody paid any attention to me, which was a definite good thing considering last time I'd been here I'd almost been hogtied and carted off to the mental ward by security.
Vaguely, I registered the fact that I wasn't wandering around in my pajamas, which definitely would have attracted unwanted attention. Instead, I was dressed in one of my favorite outfits, my most comfortable yet still nice looking jeans and an emerald colored knit top that everyone said really brought out the green of my eyes. Funny enough, I could have sworn I'd had to throw this same top away a couple of weeks ago after I'd spilled bleach on it. I stopped to ponder this for a minute, craning my neck to see if I could see any stains on it. Nope, good as new. Interesting. If I could conjure up my favorite clothes in my dreams, maybe I could do other stuff. Like conjure up a few bucks so I could go get a soda and a magazine. I wasn't actually hungry or thirsty at all but it would help kill the time until I woke up again. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard, then opened them and dug into my pockets hopefully. They were empty. Darn it.
As I stood there I suddenly realized I wasn't invisible anymore. A man walking past me looked at me absently, then suddenly froze and stopped, staring at me, his eyes wide. Nervously, I looked away, wondering what had caught his attention and I saw more passengers stopping, their heads turned in my direction, eyes popping and fingers pointing.
"What the hell?!" I thought I heard someone say but everything was getting dimmer and it was hard to see or hear anything, like I was surrounded by a soft white haze. What was it about me that they were all staring at? I looked down at myself apprehensively and was completely stunned when I caught sight of my hands. I could see through them to the red flooring below...they were transparent. I was fading away...disappearing before my own eyes and apparently everyone else's too. And then I was gone.
Home Again
Dimly, I was aware of how warm and comfortable I was, back in my soft bed. Gentle hands were tucking the blankets in around me, and then smoothing the hair off my forehead.
"Mom?" I mumbled, still mostly asleep.
She leaned down to kiss me lightly on the top of my head. "Just checking. Go back to sleep." I heard a snap and then my bedside light clicked off.
Before the words were even finished, I already had.
Back to Black
It was dark where I was, and I didn't like it. I tried to open my eyes, hoping the shadows would be vanquished, but it didn't happen. It took me a minute to realize my eyes were already open. I shifted nervously, my arms wrapped around myself in trepidation as I tried to figure out where I'd ended up this time. I looked around, searching anxiously for some familiar landmark.
It seemed that I was outside, but where exactly, I had absolutely no idea. Underneath my feet was cobblestoned pavement. I was able to make that detail out because as my eyes adjusted to the gloom I could see that it wasn't as dark as I had thought. In fact, far far overhead the sun shone brightly in a perfect blue sky, but the high reaching, ancient looking bricked walls on either side of me blocked most of it out. I was in some kind of narrow passageway or alley as far as I could tell, and I was completely alone. My earlier euphoria was completely gone, to be replaced with a gnawing fear that had the distinct possibility of turning into all out screaming terror. This dream-for it had to be a dream-was just as vivid and 3D as my airport vision, but it had definite nightmare overtones. It was the perfect setting for a horror movie style event, like the dead end alley some beautiful but empy headed girl would run screaming into before the serial killer who was chasing her caught her and cut her into pieces. I could my breathing quicken, along with my heart. I had to get out of here before something awful happened.
A few feet in front of me it was a dead end, another brick wall staring me directly in the face. That only left one way to go. I turned and followed the passageway, which was climbing just slightly upwards. I walked at my normal pace at first, but as panic really began to set it, I moved faster and faster until I was nearly running. Where was I? And just how was I going to get out of here?
The passageway was slowly curving around, leading to who knew where. I slowed down a little, but there was really no other choice but to follow it. I certainly wasn't going to stand around waiting for whatever monsters lurked in the darkness to come and get me. My pace quickened once more.
As I progressed through the dark corridor, I gradually became aware that I could hear distant voices...cheery, happy sounding voices chatting or calling out words I couldn't quite understand, laughter, and even an occasional blast of singing. I could feel the tension began to leave me. This didn't sound like it was such a horrible place after all. And the further I got along the pathway, the closer the voices sounded. I was almost to safety...it couldn't be that much further.
Then, as I completely rounded the corner and saw what was ahead of me, I stopped, riveted into place. I couldn't move another step. I didn't even know if I could remember how to breathe.
Not more than twenty feet ahead I could see where the alley ended, opening onto a vast bright and cheery sunshine filled square, and beyond that I caught glimpses of red-clad people moving past, their voices and laughter filling the air with the sounds of celebration. But of far greater importance than that was what-or should I say who-was standing between me and the crowds of people.
His back was to me, facing out into the square, and I shouldn't have been able to see him clearly at all but his perfect white skin gave off such a glow that it seemed to create a halo of light around him, illuminating every detail, from the off white shirt he was wearing, looking comparatively dark next to his alabaster skin, to the untidy auburn hair on his head.
Everything clicked together, like I'd found the last piece of a complicated puzzle. I was in Italy. It was St. Marcus Day.
And I was looking directly at Edward Cullen.
TBC