Throughout the night I was tossing and turning, trying to get Edward's words out of my head, but the more I tried the more the images burned into my mind. About halfway through the night I chanced a glance at the clock, I groaned it was only one in the morning. It was then that I noticed that Celine was having trouble sleeping as well. I kept still because I didn't want to disturb her. She was sitting upright in her bed, facing the window, but her face was blank and she didn't appear to be watching anything. I sighed and started to go back to my unsuccessful attempts at sleep, but then I realized that Celine was muttering something under her breath.
"Why now? Why now? They found either me or them. Me or them. Why?", her whisperings sent shivers up my spine. What in the world was she babbling about? Then I figured it out. She was only sleepwalking, well not exactly walking, but she was talking in her sleep, sleeptalking! I almost laughed out loud. Edward and Celine were right, I was too stressed out, I needed to take a breath and relax. Nevertheless, Celine's crazy whisperings continued and it took me another couple of hours to fall back to sleep.
"Wake up sleepyhead", the gentle voice said.
"Not now", I grumbled.
"Yes", the voice insisted.
"Five more minutes", I pleaded.
"Not a chance", the voice said more firmly.
"Go away", I said weakly, knowing that I was losing the argument.
The voice chuckled. I was starting to hate that gentle and smooth voice that was making me get up. "Bella, you need to get up. Besides", the voice continued, "Edward's here." That awoke me in a second.
"What?!" I exclaimed, throwing the covers off my body and struggling to rise out of my bed.
"Whoa, if I knew that would get you out of bed so fast I would have done that a lot sooner." I looked up towards the source of the voice; it was none other than Celine who was becoming a constant annoyance. She apparently had gotten excellent rest while talking in her sleep. I made a mental note to ask her about it one of these days, but right now I needed to prepare myself suitable for Edward's presence, so I could find out what had freaked him out last night.
"Coffee?" Celine asked, holding out a full cup of steaming goodness.
"Yeah, thanks." I sipped slowly savoring the unique taste that trickled warmly down my throat. Yep, coffee was definitely what I needed. Finishing it to the last drop, I thanked my cousin again, grabbed my toiletries and headed for the bathroom.
When I was done with my bathroom routine, I plowed down the stairs, stopped to pull on my parka, and headed out to join Edward who was waiting patiently by his car in the steady downpour of rain that defined the town of Forks.
"Edward!" I said embracing him.
"Bella", he returned gently caressing my face and staring into it as if it were a priceless masterpiece, "did you sleep well."
"Of course", I replied hoping that for once I would be able to fool him.
"Liar", he grinned, touching a lock of my hair. Then, all of a sudden, something changed his mood like a fire that was quickly put out by a blast of water. "We need to talk, and Bella", he said staring fiercely into my eyes, "it's important that you understand what I tell you and do exactly as I say. Will you do that for me?" I paused. I didn't know if this was some sort of trap in which Edward would make me promise him something that he very well knew I would not approve of.
"I don't think…", I began.
"Bella!" Edward shouted. I jumped, shocked, Edward had never yelled at me like that before. "I am not trying to trick you." he said, again guessing my thoughts. "Please, promise me."
"Yes, fine." I said taking a leap of faith, praying that I hadn't done the wrong thing. At least Edward looked relieved that I had agreed to it.
"Get in the car, we can't talk here", he said.
Becoming more confused with each passing minute, I got into the car and was uncharacteristically silent, willing to follow his wishes if it meant that I would be able to get to the bottom of this mystery that seemed to spook even Edward, my solid rock. He drove out of town in a hurry, heading for our spot in the woods where I had first gotten a real glimpse of Edward in the sunlight. He parked in the same spot as always, hurried me out of the car and up into the mountains until we got to our little sanctuary. Unfortunately, it was still raining and showed no signs of stopping so the chance of getting comfortable was zero.
"You're shivering", said Edward draping his coat around my soaked parka.
"J…J…Just a b…bit", I said teeth chattering. He looked down at me concerned more than ever. What was he waiting for I wondered. "Edward, don't change the subject just get to the point."
"Maybe going here wasn't a good idea after all", murmured Edward.
"Argh!", I shouted at him in frustration, "Edward Cullen you tell me whatever it is you need to tell me right now!" I stamped my foot down in the slushy ground to make my point clear. He was not going to get away with not saying anything today.
Edward smiled at me and for one glorious moment it looked like he was going to tell me everything, but, all of a sudden, his head snapped back and he growled inhumanly at some invisible menace.
"Edward…", I whispered. I was beginning to become frightened by Edward. His mood was changing faster than a cheetah chasing after her prey.
Edward, however, seemed to have forgotten about me. He seemed intent on something. His head waved slowly back and forth like he was trying to pinpoint someone's location. Suddenly, he froze and growled again.
He was mad at something but what? Bella thought.
"Stay here," Edward snarled at her and charged straight into the woods with impressive speed.
"Edward. Edward. Edward!" Bella called after him. Not wanting to just wait around, Bella followed after him as best she could, but the fact that she was one of the clumsiest people in the universe and that Edward hardly left a trail for her to follow, made it extremely difficult. Nevertheless, she went in the general direction that Edward had taken off in but her continual tripping over roots, losing her footing in the muddy earth, getting hit with branches, and slipping on wet rocks did not help her progress.
However, it must not have been that far away, because pretty soon Bella heard what sounded like many angry animals fighting. Bella's heart dropped into her stomach. "Edward," she breathed and redoubled her efforts which only earned her more cuts and bruises.
She focused on the sounds, trying to make sense of it. She definitely heard Edward's growl which sounded like a mountain lion with a soft, dangerous tone in it. She also heard what sounded like a wolverine but this sound was more wild and rabid like it was trying to fight off something even though it knew it was trapped. And then there was also another sound or sounds. It was a distinct but alien sound to Bella. It almost sounded like a devilish laugh but it was too metallic and screechy to be that. Whatever it was, it scared Bella and sent chills down her spine.
She tried to hurry all the more but it seemed that she couldn't get any closer; she could hear but never saw them. After what seemed an eternity the fighting suddenly ceased. Bella stopped. Was Edward okay? She thought. Then, out of nowhere, she heard a growl but not just anyone's growl, it was Edward's growl! Bella was so relieved. She opened her mouth to call to him but then she heard a horrible crashing of bodies than a crunching sound and lastly a heart-breaking whimper that unmistakably came from Edward.
"Edward!" Bella screamed and rushed toward the direction of that sound, not caring that whatever had defeated Edward she would definitely be no match for. She needed to get to him, to comfort him. Please, please, she thought, let him be okay, maybe it's not that bad, maybe, maybe, oh Edward! Finally she broke through the underbrush a came upon a dismal scene.
To the untrained eye, it would have looked like a mini tornado hit this particular spot in the forest, but Bella knew that a vampire fight typically caused this much damage. Trees were uprooted and broken in two. Rocks had been smashed and moved. The ground looked trampled and worn. But the most heartbreaking sight of all was the absence of Edward. He wasn't here. Bella sunk to the ground, hoping to hear some more noises that would lead her to Edward but nothing.
Bella didn't know how long she stayed seated on the ground, waiting for some sign of Edward but she didn't care.
Suddenly, strong but small hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her to her feet in one motion. "Whaa.t," Bella began, startled.
"Ssssh," whispered a somewhat familiar voice.
Bella turned around and was surprised to see Celine. She was the last person Bella would ever have suspected of finding her here.
"Bella, where were you?!"
Bella just glanced around still mindlessly searching for Edward. How could she explain anything to her cousin? The answer was she couldn't. This frustrated Bella all the more. She needed to speak to someone, anyone, but she couldn't, she would never be able to tell anyone, anything, ever.
"Bella!" Celine shook her out of her thoughts and forced her to look at her. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Edward?"
At that last question Bella lost it. She cried. She cried like she never had before. Where's Edward? I don't know, Bella said to herself, I don't know! She had been without Edward before, but that time she knew he was going to leave. This time, it seemed like Edward was not trying to leave her. In fact, it looked like he was taken from her.
Bella sobbed and sobbed, with Celine holding her until she could cry no more.
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