Chapter 04
By the time Bella was done with burying the remains of her meal she was sweating heavily. She had thought a long tiring run up the mountain would be a good way to clear her head before picking Charlie up from the station and taking him for a hunting lesson but now that it was all over she was exhausted and her mind was still filled with memories..
Arriving at the meadow Edward had shown her, she fell backwards right in the middle and looked up at the stars. The sky became her private cinema screen as memories filled her mind.
She didn't even sense Charlie coming to her and laying down next to her on the soft grass.
"Are you okay kiddo?"
He said, barely louder than a whisper. Bella smiled a sad smile
"You do know I'm not a kiddo right?"
Charlie rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I do know that. My brain isn't as mushy as you all keep saying it is. I'm still a father though"
Bella took a deep breath. Maybe keeping everything bottled inside wasn't the best tactic after all. Her hand traveled to her neck but the cameo pendant wasn't there. She liked to take her cheat-pendant off when it wasn't needed. Sometimes vulnerability was a good thing.
Resting her head on the side, she regarded the older man biting her bottom lip. Then she opened her mouth and let everything pour until she couldn't speak any more.
"I think you're over reacting"
Charlie said casually. Bella's eyes narrowed to slits
"He killed me"
"You seem alive enough to me"
"Only because he was stupid and accidentally changed me"
She exclaimed. Charlie smiled a paternal smile that Bella secretly adored
"Semantics"
Bella shook her making Charlie laugh
"Seriously though. Don't you think he deserves another chance? Billy gave one and we're mortal enemies now"
he wheedled.
"No, you're not. Billy is the one who called me when you got diagnosed. He wanted you to live even if it meant you'd be like me. Besides I had just chased the Cullens away, he owed me one"
Bella gave Charlie an exaggerated wink, the two laughed for a while. When Bella spoke again, her eyes were closed and her voice quiet
"I just... I hate him. We grew up together and he was my best friend. My partner in crime. We used to pull pranks on Damon together and he'd take my side when Damon reciprocated. But then we grew up and my crush on him blossomed to full on love"
a tear slid down a pale cheek
"But he fell for the vampire. Katherine showed up one day, began compelling her way with everyone around and... She took him"
"You were jealous"
Bella nodded
"And she knew it. She teased me about it and even told Giuseppe that it wasn't a good thing that I acted as if I were an equal to his sons. He agreed and gave me a post as a helper in the kitchen. She didn't even have to compel him. Then Damon came home."
A wry laugh escaped her lips
"He argued with Giuseppe and Katherine didn't like that. No matter how many times she tried to compel me to compliance, it didn't work so she hid her pendant in my footlocker and accused me of stealing it"
"What happened?"
Bella opened her eyes to meet with Charlie's
"Nothing. It was the night the town council swept the town for vampires. She was taken away with the rest of them and entombed"
"You don't seem particularly happy"
Charlie noticed.
"She had fed her blood to both Stefan and Damon and once Giuseppe saw they tried to help her escape her fate, he shot them as traitors. He triggered their change"
"Daddy of the year"
Charlie muttered darkly. Bella snorted and reached for the older man's hand.
"It was different back then but it is true he was hard on his sons. Mostly Damon but he wasn't easy on stef either"
She shook her head
"Anyway. The next evening Stefan came home and long story short he killed his father. Then he grabbed me to take to Damon so he'd complete it too. I was pleading with him to let me go but..."
"it didn't work, did it?"
"Nope. Damon refused to at first but when Stefan tore at my skin the smell got to him. Damon drank from me and then Stefan lapped up the rest. He snapped my neck and left me there"
She sat up abruptly and hugger her knees to her chest resting her head on her knees
"They were stupid and left some of their blood in my wounds. When they killed me it triggered my own transformation. For weeks I wasn't sure what the hell had happened to me and when I realized it... I ran away. I couldn't get back into the house and the few servants that were left knew that Stefan had taken me so they wouldn't invite me inside. All I had was the clothes on my back and the bitch's pendant. I had planned to sell it but with it the sun wouldn't burn me"
Charlie slowly sat up and took his eyes off her. A few moments of blessed silence later he spoke again
"Your life sounds lonely kid"
"It was but I like lonely. It made me stronger and once I realized I could get away with only drinking a little or having animals altogether it was even better. I didn't have to kill anymore"
For years her hate of him had overshadowed her crush on him. She had dated but she had never stayed in one place long enough to form actual relationships. When she and Damon met she had contemplated killing and burying his pieces but Damon hadn't let her. The cocky bastard had forced her to see the human he was once inside the new attitude and the two buried their hatchet before leaving together for adventures like they were kids again.
For a while she thought she was alright, at peace with her past and ready to move on. But then Stefan and she began talking again. Vampire Stefan was an even broodier version of human Stefan and it tugged at her heart strings until the two formed a sorta friendship. They wouldn't braid each other's hair anytime soon but it was nice to bury the other hatchet.
Bella had finally felt ready to have a relationship when she enrolled herself in a college in California. She met a nice guy who taught her how to trust again (her story was that she was an orphan who was in college because that was her parents dying wish).
Leland was a man with gentle hands and a patient nature and he had persuaded her that being alone and lonely had nothing to do with one another. Lee had transferred schools and was brand new in their town but had still taken her under his wing and showed her everything life had to offer. He taught her how to surf with soft touches and simple kisses, until Bella began to believe him. He had opened Bella's eyes, and invaded her body, but never touched her heart.
He couldn't. Not when Damon was joking about her tasting the local flavors and to invite him to meet his little sister and definitely not when Stefan had accused her of playing with her food. She had stopped speaking to him for a full year then.
The fact that she'd lost control once and almost drained Lee during sex had solidified Stefan's words. But she had moved on to other boyfriends, she liked sex but it never was more than that. She had managed to convince herself she wanted someone with an equal life span to hers.
A believable lie.
One that went up in flames when Stefan mailed her to tell her that Lexi was gone. Lexi, the vampiress that had helped Stefan avoid human blood had been staked by Damon when he needed a scapegoat for the anti-vampire council of mystic falls
"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"
"Elena's here"
"Who's Elena?"
"Katherine's doppelganger and my girlfriend"
It had taken all her willpower not to scream at him. When a month later a broken Damon told her that Katherine was never entombed she closed herself off of them. Her heartfelt mails became fickle and superficial.
Let the Salvatores fight over the bitch and her doppelganger whatever the hell that was. She had her own life.
