Funeral
A week after leaving Forks for Olympia with Jasper and Edward, Carlisle finally found it necessary to call me home. I was anxious to be home; after all it would be left up to me to plan Bella's funeral and wake. This wasn't exactly the type of party I was use to throwing, not like the graduation party or Bella and Edwards wedding but it would allow me to distract myself. I came back three days before Bella was scheduled to die and that gave me time to ask her how she would like me to do things so a not to upset Charlie and Renée anymore than they already were. I knew that Bella was going to give me free reign once again, after all she was terribly happy with the way her wedding came out (much to her chagrin I might add…) Of course I decided to hold back that I knew so as to give Bella the chance to tell me personally. I would lie and say she had blocked my ability or something so I couldn't tell what her plans were. It took me about two hours to return from Olympia, I drove slowly as to give her more time with her parents. From what Carlisle told me Charlie was suspicious from the start but when he got Carlisle alone he said he'd play along for Renée sake. He knew that Bella was only pretending that be sick, and that's why he decided to call Renée so that closure might finally be given to her. I also knew that Charlie was planning to propose to Sue Clearwater within the next month and that was the other reason he gave in to her suggestions. With Bella dead, Renée and Charlie would no longer have any need to stay in touch and give him the ability to remarry without involving his ex (Renée and Phil were going through a rough patch and Sue was worried that if Charlie remarried it might hurt Renée. )
I immediately went the hospital, knowing it was clear of everyone except Rosalie and Emmett who were standing vigil in case Bella took a turn for the worse. They welcomed me home and I went in to see the sick patient.
"Hey Bella, how's it going in there?"
"Ugh, I hate lying to Renée like this. I know it's the only way, but do we really have to kill me off? Can't we just say I fell into a coma?"
"Now Bella you know that wouldn't work, Renée would just stick around Forks until you woke up. She might even decide to move back to be close to you." I sat next to her, grabbing some paper and pen acting like I was going to take notes on how to put together everything.
"I know, I just feel bad about having to do this to her. Oh well, I guess I don't have much of a choice. You came back to ask about funeral plans didn't you?"
"Yes Bella, I did. Now what do you want me to do?"
"You know you can have free reign over it. Just make sure its nothing too horribly bad. I want it to be somber and what not. Renée is going to be expecting a very traditional funeral. Carlisle prepared her for the worst already and she talked to me about my funeral plans and I told her I was going to be cremated. This upset her a little bit but she got over it and said she hoped that the celebration of my life would be a joyous occasion but nothing too extreme. I want you to invite Ben, Angela, Jessica and Mike and maybe the pack too."
"You can count on me Bella, now you need to prepare yourself. When the sun rises tomorrow Carlisle will be in to unplug your machines. Your parents will be right behind him and when they enter the room they will see you dead. I know you already said your good byes and so try not to get too upset. Practice lying on the bed without moving or breathing for a good twenty minutes so that way Carlisle has time to remove you from here and take you to the morgue. I will be there and so will Edward, we'll both take you to Olympia and then Jazz and I will head back here for the Funeral."
I left the room and went out to talk with Emmett and Rosalie. They both said that Bella had been a good sport about all this and that she was truly showing herself to be a Cullen. I was happy about that and then had to do the most dreadful thing…go back to the house. Renée was there with Charlie talking with Esme and Carlisle about Edward and Bella. I walked in to find Charlie and Renée having a glass of wine and much to my shock so were Esme and Carlisle. In my time with them I don't think I ever saw either of them take a bite or drink of human food or drink. I joined them in the living room where they were talking about the wedding; Renée was still distraught over her daughter's fate, blaming herself for not telling Bella to wait to get married. Charlie tried to convince her that it was the right thing to do and that getting married wasn't what was killing Bella. Carlisle tried to calm her down and explained that it was a tragedy that she got sick in Brazil. Esme poured me a glass of wine and stared at it for a long moment.
The cup of wine looked daunting, in my entire time as a vampire I was never enticed to drink or eat anything that was made for humans. While Charlie and Carlisle talked, Renée stared at me while I was focused on the glass of red alcohol. Not to disturb her I picked up the glass, took a deep breath and took a sip. It tasted interesting at first, it wasn't as bad as I expected. The one time I saw Edward steal a bite of pizza from his and Bella's lunch tray he looked like he had just eaten dirt. This wine, however, was wonderful tasting and I nodded an approving glance at Esme. She smiled back and in a voice low enough that only Carlisle and I could understand explained that they found alcohol was not horribly bad to vampires. Unlike humans we can't get drunk, but it has an amazing taste like as it would to a human.
A couple hours after I returned, Jacob arrived with Reneesme in hand. He was obviously in on the situation because if I knew Jacob he'd be off on a suicide mission trying to save Bella. He looked a little confused and distressed when he finally came into the living room. Though he was only eighteen and the chief of police was sitting two feet from him, Jacob grabbed the remaining cup and poured him a glass of wine. He drank it slowly but more often than I drank mine. By the time I was closing in on the last drop he was already on his third glass of wine.
"What's wrong Jacob?" I said low enough so no one could hear.
"It's nothing; I just have a lot on my mind."
"Is it about Bella? You know what's really going on don't you?"
"Yes, but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm not really in the mood to talk about it just yet. Maybe after everything has returned to normal I'll be able to explain." He stopped talking and drinking and just stared at Nessie. The sun was slowly beginning to rise, much to the amazement of Charlie and Renée and Carlisle had to get to work. He invited Charlie and Renée down to the hospital to visit Bella when they got the chance. Of course they were tired and told Carlisle that they would be down after breakfast. I told Carlisle that I would come with him to work so I could spend more time with Bella. Of course my main cause was to give Carlisle enough warning for when Bella's parents decided to make an appearance. Jacob decided he was going to go back to the reservation leaving Nessie with her grandparents. The day was bright and sunny, one of those few exceptions for Forks, Washington. Carlisle and I were careful as we got to the hospital, we park in the underground parking garage and took an elevator up to the fourth floor where Bella was being kept. Rosalie was down the hall and Emmett was in the room with Bella when we got there. Carlisle entered the room ahead of me and told Bella that today was the day. A little fear was in her face as I walked in; I knew she was afraid her mother wouldn't handle her death very well. I explained to her that all would be fine and that I was keeping an eye on her and Charlie to see if they were preparing themselves for her death. Of course Charlie already knew to some degree about Bella being a vampire, and from what I could see her mother would leave town shortly after the funeral.
It was nearly two in the afternoon when I saw Charlie and Renee leaving the house for the hospital. I approximated that they would arrive around three in the afternoon, giving Carlisle and Bella time to prepare for the death scene in this production. I sat anxiously by the door, watching the elevator for when Charlie and Renée would step through to head towards Bella. Around three the elevator doors opened and out stepped Bella's biological parents. I whispered to Carlisle and Bella that Charlie and Renée had arrived. Rosalie and Emmett had made themselves scarce, though staying in the hospital in case we needed any assistance with Renée. When they finally got to the room Bella would have thirty minutes to say good bye when the heart monitor would begin to fail signaling her death. I would stay outside the door in order to give Bella a notice when the machine was close to stopping allowing her time to play up her weakening condition. Bella appeared even paler under the new lights Carlisle had installed. This gave the impression that Bella was sicker than she was the day before, and her parents wouldn't be able to notice the difference in lighting with their all too human eyes.
Immediately upon her parents entering the room Bella began the process of saying good bye as subtly as she could. When asked by Renée how she felt, Bella responded that she felt weak and wasn't sure how long she could hold on for. Her mother tried to comfort her, saying she was a strong young woman and could fight this disease. Charlie stood by watching, I could hear his breathing become heavier realizing that his baby girl was already dead and that he was seeing things in reverse order. Carlisle came to the room one last time shortly after three thirty to check on Bella and provide her with the warning that her machine was about to die. Bella began to slowly fall in and out of consciousness and at a quarter to four in the afternoon, Bella took her last breath. The heart monitor began to indicate that Bella's heart was failing. Carlisle reentered the room, having never actually left the hallway, and attempted to revive her. After a few short minutes of trying to doing this, the machine failed and flat lined…Bella officially died at four o'clock in the afternoon.
"Charlie, Renée I'm sorry that this has happened, we all loved her dearly and I know that you most be torn up by her passing. All I can say is that she lived a full life without any regrets." Carlisle consoled Bella's parents as much as he could. Charlie's eyes filled with tears, finally able to mourn the life of a daughter he lost a year ago. Renée continued crying for minutes after Carlisle unhooked all the machines and Charlie tried to calm her down. Emmett, Rosalie and I all entered the room to give Carlisle and Bella time to transport her out of the room. Edward would be waiting at the back door in a few minutes and Carlisle needed to get Bella safely out the room. Rosalie was finally able to convince Renée it was time to let Carlisle finish his job and take Bella to the morgue. She finally relented, realizing that funeral arrangements needed to be made. I informed her that Bella had asked I take care of the funeral, knowing that it would be too hard on Edward, and her parents. She smiled graciously and then I broke it to her that Bella wished to be cremated and her ashes spread across the Quileute reservation. This news caused Renée to renew her sorrows and more tears began springing from her eyes.
"Where is Edward at?" Charlie attempted to break up the sound of Renée crying.
"He and Jasper are still camping, I tried to reach them by phone but I don't know if they will be able to get reception where they went." Then the phone rang, it was Edward and he was waiting at the back door in Rose's car. "Jasper just told me that Edward is too distraught and will be unable to return. He has gone to Alaska to visit our cousins in the Denali."
"That isn't what Bella would have wanted." Renée said through the tears, "She would have wanted her husband to be present at her funeral."
"Bella and Edward had a discussion back when she was first stricken by the illness and he told her that if she died he would be unable to attend her funeral." Rosalie tried to reassure Renée, "She tried to fight him, but he said he would rather remember her the way she was when she was living rather than always carry with him the image of her dead."
Carlisle was able to remove the body, and I walked with him to help. As soon as we got to the elevator Bella's eyes sprang open. "I hope that they are alright. Renée seemed so upset about my passing."
"Don't worry Bella; she will be fine in a few days." Carlisle tried to comfort her, "Edward is waiting outside to take you to Olympia. If she stays on her present course Renée will leave Forks in about a week. Alice has cleaned out as much of your things from Charlie's as she could. Renée will attempt to take a few mementos of you back with her to Jacksonville. Charlie will be given all the information about us and you once Renée has boarded a flight back to Florida. This is breaking with the laws of the Volturi and I can't say what they will do once they find out that we have let another human know the truth of our existence. I can only hope that his relationship with Sue Clearwater provides him the protection he will need."
Bella and I looked at each other, it hurt me as much as it hurt her that Charlie's life would be put into danger; this was something Bella tried so very hard to avoid ever since learning the truth about the Cullen family. We reached the basement, where they keep the morgue at Forks General, and Bella removed herself from the table. She said her short goodbyes to Carlisle and I, informing me to be gentle and tasteful with the funeral I was to plan. She then saw herself out the back door where Rose's new BMW was waiting, engine purring to life as her and Edward sped away. Before the door could slam shut Jasper gracefully walked through and came to embrace me. I felt whole again, something I knew I would need over the next couple of days as I planed and executed Bella's funeral. We all would need our loved ones next to us, even though we knew Bella was alive and well this was still something none of us could handle.
It took a few days to prepare Bella's funeral, even though the plans had been in place for a few weeks. The Priest from St. Anne's Catholic Church agreed to celebrate the funeral service and we gained permission from the Quileutes to allow us on their reservation; Bella wanted the ashes scattered on First Beach. Meanwhile, it took me a few days to plan the memorial celebration at our house following the funeral. I sent out invitations to almost everyone that Bella knew in Forks and even those who knew her from La Push. Jasper's calming effect helped me keep my focus on the plans at hand. I planned to decorate the house as much as I could get away with. I put black and red roses throughout the lower living room where the celebration would happen. I took Edward's stereo and put it down there as well, including his more somber music. I ordered enough food to feed an army of humans and a few bottles of wine. By the time I was finished I didn't even realize it was already three days after Bella's death. Carlisle had convinced Charlie and Renée that they shouldn't be there when they cremate her body. That allowed Emmett and Jasper to find a proper replacement, hunting and killing a small black bear. With help from Carlisle, they burned the body and placed it in a magnificent golden urn. I received confirmations from twenty people that they would be attending the memorial celebration, while all ten of people invited to the funeral itself accepted as well. Esme kept Renée occupied while the rest of us planned and elaborate fake funeral for Bella. Two days before the funeral Renée's husband Phil reached Forks and took over Esme's and kept Renée quite occupied until the funeral. Charlie had Sue Clearwater to watch out for him, a relationship that all were happy to see continuing to grow.
The day came for us to execute this funeral and as I had foreseen the day was the cloudiest dreariest day, even for Forks. We all dressed in our most eloquent black attire and prepared to put on yet another show for the humans we interacted with on a daily basis. I ordered three limos for us all to ride in. The first carried Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Reenesme, Jasper and myself; the second only had Bella's parents and their significant others. The only other humans invited from Forks to the funeral, Mike, Jessica, Ben, and Angela, occupied the third limo. Six of the Quileute agreed to meet us at First Beach for the funeral: Seth & Leah Clearwater, Billy & Jacob Black, and Sam & Emily Uley. We followed behind one of the most beautiful hearses money could buy. Charlie arranged for the local police to escort us down to La Push from our house. It took thirty minutes to reach the reservation and another five to reach the beach. When we got there black wooden chairs were set up on the beach with a white altar area at the front of the rows of chairs. The chairs were aligned in rows of four and Bella's parents sat in the first row on the left while Carlisle, Esme and Reneesme took the first three chairs in the front right row; they left one chair empty for Edward. The rest of us sat behind them and our friends from high school behind us; the Quileutes sat in the chairs behind Bella's parents. The Priest was dressed in white vestments and had two young boys to either side acting as Altar servers.
The funeral was magnificent, better than I could have hoped it to be. The Priest did a marvelous job, taking only two hours. At one point near the end Jacob and Emmett went to altar and took the urn from the Priest. From there they opened the urn and walked slowly down the beach, letting the ashes fall to the sand. At the end of the funeral as the Priest and the servers walked down the aisle, we sang Ave Maria; this was a request from Edward, who was a Catholic when he was still alive. We milled around a few minutes talking amongst ourselves and our friends from Forks High School. Renée was in tears from the moment the ceremony started and had picked up even more when the ashes were spread across the beach. Charlie and Phil attempted to comfort her to no avail. Sue Clearwater came over and thanked Carlisle and myself for putting on the funeral allowing Renée the chance to move on with her life now that she knew Bella was gone. Jacob and Leah Clearwater offered to take care of Reneesme for the rest of the day and Esme agreed it was probably easier if they did. When the sun was just about near the top of the sky we all gathered back into the limos for the drive back to the house. The drive took us less than thirty minutes this time and when we got there some of the other guests were waiting around.
Mike's parents were the first to come over and offer their apologies to Charlie and Renée over Bella's sudden and early death. Quil and Embry flocked towards Jacob pretending to offer their condolences for Bella's passing as well. Everyone began to slowly migrate into the home where I had everything perfectly prepared. All the guests seemed pleasantly surprised by the celebration I prepared for Bella's life.
Charlie came up to me and complimented me, "Alice, this has been a remarkable funeral. I appreciate what you have done for Renée; I know this has been hard on her."
"Thank you, Charlie. Will you at least warn me next time you think to do something like call Renée? That almost gave me a heart attack!"
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking very clearly obviously. Sue explained everything to me and I want to apologize for doing this. I think what you all have done was the most appropriate solution to the problem I created. Renée can't be involved in this, and it is best that you gave Bella a way to cut ties with her cleanly and absolutely."
After that he became uncomfortable, obviously still trying to adjust to the idea his daughter was a vampire and that he was in the house where eight vampires called home. He slowly walked back to where Sue and Renée were talking. I could hear Seth ask Emmett where Edward was at and he responded that Edward was with Bella; Seth seemed to know what this meant. The party continued for a few more hours as people slowly began to leave our home and the sun began to set. Finally, the house was empty with the exception of my family, Charlie and Sue, Renée and Phil, and Jacob, Seth and Leah. I cleaned up as quickly as I could with Renée and Phil still around. Jacob and Leah sat by the television playing with Reneesme. Renée seemed to be calming down more and was able to announce she was leaving in two days.
"I'm sorry Charlie. I know that this is sudden, my leaving Forks so quickly. You have Sue to help you through this though right? I just can't be here anymore, not without Bella." She said apologetically to Charlie.
"It's ok. I know you never cared much for Forks and now that Bella is gone you have no reason to even think of this place." Charlie tried to sound polite, but even after all these years he still felt some resentment toward Renée for leaving him. Phil glowered at him for a minute but stopped abruptly when Emmett's foot hit the coffee table; he was obviously trying to calm the situation. Jasper gave him a look and then I felt his calming influence wash over me; I was sure he was calming down the whole room. After a few minutes of this Renée announced she was getting tired and asked Phil to take her back to the hotel. They left will little fanfare and apologized to Carlisle and Esme when they admitted they would not be returning before they left. This left me a little sigh of relief, having Edward and Bella gone made me uncomfortable.
They left the house and drove away in Phil's rented Toyota Yaris. With them gone it took Charlie little time to ask when Bella and Edward would return. Carlisle responded, "I think we should give Renée and Phil one day just to make sure they keep to their decision not to come here. We wouldn't want them showing up and seeing Bella sitting on the couch or anything. Rosalie is calling them right now to inform them that they can return tomorrow night, barring any mishaps. There is one thing I wish to impress upon you, Charlie. Our existence is a secret; it is against our laws to make ourselves known. The Quileute nation has done a remarkable job helping us conceal our secret both now and when things were tenser between us."
"I promise you that I will never betray your secret. As Chief of Police I can assure you that no one in Forks will ever harass any of you or find out your secret. You have protected my daughter so many times I cannot begin to thank you; let this be my way of showing my gratitude towards you." Charlie responded, grateful that we had been there so often to protect his daughter, our family.
For a few minutes the room was silent as everyone soaked in what Charlie had just said. We all knew he knew our secret, but it was never openly stated. When Bella returned with Edward I knew that she would want to do everything to protect him from the Volturi, should they find out he knows.
"Well, I think its time for Sue and I to leave and get something to eat. Thank you again for what you did here today. I will see you all again later." Charlie got up in a fluid motion and held his hand out for Sue who stood up after him. They embrassed Esme and Carlisle and then Sue turned to her children.
"Do you want to go and eat with Charlie and I?"
"No, I think I will stay here a bit longer with Jacob." Leah responded immediately to her sister.
"If its ok with the Cullens, I think I will stay here and raid their fridge." Seth followed his sister's lead, "You two go out and have a nice romantic dinner." He grinned.
Esme, with a smile on her face, told Seth he was more than welcome to stay and eat all the food he could from our fridge. He was really the only reason we kept it stocked, well with the exception of Charlie's rare and sporadic visits. Charlie and Sue left the house and we all went back to our normal routine. Rosalie and Emmett turned on the television and they watched with Jacob, Leah, and Seth. Esme and Carlisle decided to go to Bella and Edward's cottage and put Reneesme to bed. Meanwhile, Jasper and I went back to our room.
"What's going on with Jacob and Leah, Alice?" Jasper asked once we were in the solitude of our room.
"I don't know, I think it has something to do with their legends though. They haven't decided to make it known to anyone else, and of course you know I can't see when it comes to the pack. But there is something brewing with Sue and Charlie, there is more to why Charlie was happy to have a funeral for Bella. I think he wants to ask Sue to marry him; he wants to ask me to put on the wedding like I did for Bella and Edward."
"Charlie and Sue? Really? That progressed slowly. They were together all last year after the problem with the Volturi." He sounded genuinely surprised. They really had gone about this really slow, but I guess it was better safe than sorry. Charlie and Renée divorced at a young age, only in their early twenties. At the same time Sue had been married to her husband Harry for such a long time before Harry died of a heart attack a couple years ago. For them to get married it seemed like a safe idea for them to wait and see how things developed first. Sue had begun staying over with Charlie about six months back but that stopped about a month ago when thing started up with Renée coming to Forks.
The night passed and the sun began to rise. When the sun was finally over the horizon I had a vision of Edward and Bella returning home from Olympia. They arrived home shortly after twelve and the first thing Bella did was raced to see her daughter; Edward embrassed Carlisle and Esme. The day was slow as we tried to get back to the pressing matter of Nathaniel and my visions of my past. While in Olympia Edward took advantage of the larger library and did some research as best he could.
"It seems that our friend Nathaniel is older than most. He seems to have been born some three hundred years before Christ. He was born in Greece and was named Polycrites. As a human he was particularly brutal and he became governor of one of the cities. He was turned into a vampire and disappeared off the books around the time of Christ. The first mention of Nathaniel was in the year 1100 in the Normandy region. He appears to have gone to England where he lived until the late 1700's when he moved to the Americas." Edward explained all of this in a very subdue voice.
"We need to find out why he went to India. Does he work for the Volturi or was he only doing a personal favor for Caius? Most importantly, why was he in Biloxi. Silas wasn't known for being particularly friendly to other vampires; I can't imagine him being friends with Nathaniel." Carlisle seemed more worried now than he ever had been since I received the vision. "We will keep looking for more information and Alice will continue trying to search her own memory for more clues. Meanwhile, I want Emmett to team up with members of the pack and do patrols. We need to know if anything is coming after Alice." All fell silent after this last edict; it seemed like only yesterday Jasper and I found the Cullens asking to become family.