AN; Heyy again :D first of all , I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ! to ALLL my reviewers :] , you really do make my dayy (:
To thee questions asked ; Yea, I think I have a little bit of a plan about the Jaspery – Maria thingy .. but I won't give anything away ! ;) and to FireKumori Mage's question, I have to say, I don't really know yet. I think that this story will be a whole other thing to happen BEFORE anything in Twilight happens, but I may take a few things from twilight, like possibly the van accident and the rapists in Port Angeles … but yea, idk about the whole storyline thing. What do you guys think? Should I do the Twilight storyline too? Or go in a whole different direction? It wouldn't be strictly accurate for James and everyone to come in like a month in my story, seeing as its set earlier than twilight, just after the summer. But they could come in later…
Anyway, I'll leave that up to you guys to help me decide… for now, on with the story :)
Disclaimer; Nopee , Stephenie Meyer hasn't agreed to let me have the Twilight series yet, not even one, measly Cullen ! But don't worry; I'll break her eventually ;) For now, the series is all hers - sobs – and Edward too! :[
Recap
"No Michael. Now. If they find us, they kill us. They'll kill her for us anyway. You can continue your hunt elsewhere. It's too late for the newborns, but we can still make it."
There was someone there. Standing at the bottom of the stairs. They were wearing a long, grey cloak and slung over each shoulder they had a body. Not just any body to be precise, but the bodies of Phil, and my mom.
I don't know where I ran; I just made sure it was in the opposite direction of the sirens.
I let out another gentle sigh. Forks, here I come.
Chapter 2; Paranoid
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," I was getting really sick of hearing that voice, having heard it repeat the same things at half an hour intervals for five hours. "I hope you enjoyed the flight. We will be landing in Port Angeles at approximately 6:15pm. Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened until we have landed safely, and the seatbelt sign has been turned off. Once again, I hope you had a lovely flight."
I rolled my eyes. Oh yes, just lovely. Five long hours to sit and think about the fact that my mother and her fiancé had been brutally murdered less than 48 hours ago, and I had witnessed it and done nothing to stop, or help it.
Not that I think I could have helped anything, really. I mean, I'd have probably made it worse. I'm lucky I escaped with my own life – on second thoughts, seeing as how I now have to live without my mom, maybe not so lucky.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind, not wanting to dwell on those thoughts too long.
It was about an hour later that I finally made my way out the airport doors. It being near the end of summer vacation, I guessed there was a lot of people rushing back in time for the new semester.
I quickly hailed the first cab I saw, and got much the same reaction that I'd had with the one back in Phoenix – only possibly worse, because now I had the fact that I'd been on a plane for five hours to add on.
After handing him a wad of cash, we were soon speeding our way into Forks. Great, yet more time to think about what had happened to me recently. Why didn't I bring a book or something?
I decided I'd refocus on what I'd been thinking about in the last cab. It was the less painful, but some what more confusing option.
I mean, if I'd been right, which, I'll admit, did seem pretty doubtful - come on, a VAMPIRE? This is real life, not a horror story – then I'd guess there'd be more than one of … them.
So did that mean they were everywhere? How do we know that, well, that guy at the store, or that girl in your class, or that woman across your street, how do we know that they aren't in fact … I gulped, vampires?
Okay, maybe the fact that I hadn't eaten in a while wasn't helping my common sense very much, but, hey, it could be true. Although, you'd think that people would notice those wild, crimson eyes as a little strange… just the thought of them gave me the shivers.
Oh, and there was also the fact that they were so abnormally pale. I know I'm pale and all, but compared to them, heck, I was Pocahontas.
And there was the other thing. Okay, so they were about to kill me and all, but I couldn't help but notice they were both exceptionally beautiful. The man too, maybe even more so than the woman, if it weren't for that evil sneer on his face.
I racked my brains, trying to think of any other aspects of their appearance or personality that had struck me as strange.
It was hard, having been so terrified at the time I didn't really register much else than the fact that I was going to die.
And then it hit me. I'd even thought it before I think. The way he'd…killed mom and Phil. He'd snapped their necks with a flick of his hand. It had looked… effortless. In an eerie and horrible way, yes, but still. That was something right. Also, when they'd gone, it had seemed as though they'd just disappeared out of thin air. It was the same with the person in the grey cloak…
I mentally scanned through the list that I had seemed to create;
Red eyes
Extremely pale
Beautiful
Super strength
Super speed
Right. So I guess I just had to watch out for super fast, super strong, pale supermodels with red eyes. Easy. I mean, there couldn't be many people like that in a small town like Forks, right?
Somehow, asking Charlie that question didn't seem like a great way to ensure him of my sanity.
***
The journey seemed to take forever, and it got more and more depressing as it went on. Every time we went past a tree, which was on average probably around every hundredth of a second, it was greener than the one before. I'm not even kidding. Even parts of the road, were beginning to go a little green.
It was as I was thinking this, and about how I was going to miss Phoenix, however hard I tried to forget it, that I saw it. Or, her, to be more precise. I could have sworn that it was her. Even from the back she looked beautiful, I had to admit.
That short, black hair, hanging just above the shoulders of that tiny, perfect body. The tiny, perfect body that I'd last seen trying to convince her mate out of killing me.
And then, quick as a flash, she was gone again; fading out of sight, as the cab continued to whiz down the road and round a corner.
Was it my imagination?, I questioned myself, so astonished that I'd forgotten to panic.
But could a persons' imagination be that vivid, if said person has been awake for over 2 or maybe 3 days?
That was probably it, just hallucinating. Or maybe this whole experience has just made me more paranoid. Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, she isn't the only person in the world with short, dark hair… and abnormally pale skin …
I was still attempting to convince myself as the cab pulled up at Charlie's house; it wouldn't be too great a first impression if I broke down as soon as he saw me. Especially seeing as he's probably certain that I've perished, along with my mom.
Oh well, I hope he likes surprises…
***
I was suddenly nervous as I waited on the doorstep of the house of which I hadn't stepped foot in for 3 years – I'd decided to ring the doorbell, thinking it may cause a bit of a fright if a 'dead' person simply strolled into your house at night.
Plus, I didn't want to admit that I'd thrown away my key, long ago, thinking that it wouldn't be needed in the future. Wow, how wrong I'd been.
Any of the nervousness I'd managed to calm a few moments ago came rushing back as I watched the front door swing open and Charlie's face go through a fair few number of emotions as he stared at the person waiting for him.
"Surprise…?" I tried, weakly, to sound up beat and joyful, but failed horribly, making it sound like a question.
Shock was prominent on his face as he continued to stare open mouthed at me. I looked for horror – hey, my first reaction would have been that I was a ghost. I told you, I am very pale – but found only… relief? Mixed with grief, and sadness, I guessed for Renee.
"Oh, Bells. I thought… they told me…" He mumbled, apparently having trouble forming sentences. I wasn't surprised; I don't think I would have been able to speak if I'd wanted to either. So, we just settled for a gentle hug, which went on longer than I'd ever thought Charlie to be capable of.
The truth was, after everything, it was quite nice just to be held. And I realized, with a slight pain in my stomach, that it was all I was going to get from now on, Charlie being the only person I had left.
It was as I thought this, that the inevitable tears came, and Charlie, probably not wanting me to stain his shirt, pulled me inside, mumbling something about 'not wanting me to catch a cold'.
He took my bag and set it down in the hall, before proceeding to lead me into the living room and onto the couch. The plasma screen was switched to a baseball game – nothing's changed there then – and there was an almost empty beer can on the table in front. I didn't think I'd be joining in with the baseball watching personally, if I was going to live here, but I'd probably be cooking the dinner from now on, looking at the empty pizza box lying next to the beer can.
Charlie came back a few minutes later, armed with a box of tissues and a cup of tea.
"I- I'm sorry about ... or did they …?" Again, he didn't seem able to finish, or start, really, a sentence, so I helped him out a bit.
"It's okay, I'm … coping. And no, they didn't get that wrong. Mom and Phil are… they're dead." I stated, my voice only breaking a little at the end. I sipped at my tea a little. Whoa, the man may not be able to cook, but he sure could make a mean cup of tea.
It was silent for a few moments. Not really an awkward silence, more, a grieving silence; I think we were both thinking of Renee.
"I'm sorry." Charlie said again.
"It's okay," I repeated, trying to bring a lighter mood to the atmosphere, but failing with the tone of my voice "I'm just a little homeless at the moment," I continued with an attempt at a smile, again, I think I failed "I didn't mean to just barge in but –"
"Don't worry about it Bells, you know you're always welcome here." Charlie interrupted, with a shaky smile of his own.
"Thanks," I mumbled, neither of us was that good at showing emotion, so this was practically the most emotional conversation we'd had in … well, ever. "I guess I'd better go get unpacked then…" I said, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable under his pitying, but searching gaze. He was probably wondering why I wasn't weeping buckets; the truth was, I was trying to hold that back, at least until tonight. I was pretty sure I would be weeping buckets then.
"Right. I'm sure you remember where your room is, and the bathroom." He said, standing up, as if ready to lead me there.
"It hasn't been that long Dad," I replied, shuffling into the hall and towards the stairs; I held onto the tissues… I expected I'd be needing them later if what had happened at the door had been anything to go by.
"Sure seems that way…" I thought I heard him mumble as I trudged slowly up the stairs.
***
Flopping down on the bed after unpacking as much as I could manage,
(which wasn't too hard, seeing as how I'd only packed about 10 items of clothing in my haste to get away) I let out a long sigh. Welcome to your new home, I thought, as I stared up at the ceiling of my 'new' room.
A few more tears started to leak out of my eyes, and I grabbed for my box of tissues.
It was going to be a long night.
What do you think? I think maybe it was a little better written than my last one, but again, not much happened… except for the little cliffy about who Bella saw in the cab… hmmm? ;) I was going to have Bella starting at school in this one, but it would have gotten a little too long. Plus, I figured this was an okay place to leave it.
Anyway, tell me what you think (: I hope to update again in the next couple of days, but it depends on how much homework I've got. And my teachers are nagging at me to start revising for these tests we have coming up, but they're not that important, so I'm not really planning on doing that … anyway, we'll see how it goes :]
Hope you liked (:
Love Ellen
x x x x