Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!
Like most little children, I like to dress up on Halloween (FYI, I don't like trick-or-treating...It makes me feel weird to ring the doorbell with single-digit-aged children and chorus with them..."HAPPER HALLOWEENERS!" I have my dignity! My friends, on the other hand, not so much...) So, because of my short stature, I'm going as Alice Cullen. Unfortunately, my boyfriend doesn't have blond hair and refuses to wear a wig, so I am Jasper-less. On the other hand, my boyfriend does indeed have brown hair and did offer to be Edward, but alas, I refused because, quite frankly, I don't like incest. There. I've said it. Now, for all of you writers who do write the EdwardxAlice types of stories...Please don't. It's scary.
Okay, I've gone off on a tangent enough for today. Without further adieu, my readers, I give you...Chapter Three: The Breakup Chapter.
~Geneth
PS An unexpected twist emerges from within. Approach with caution, because it is quite shocking :)
PPS Chapter has been beta-read by sbsp92 (Thanks for putting up with me, girlie :P)
When I woke up, the first thing I felt was regret. My mind still thought about Jacob's kiss yesterday, and I wondered if I should question him about it. Most likely not…He would fake innocence until I eventually dropped the subject. Jacob was stretching on the floor as I got out of bed, and he leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss before he sprinted home to get ready for school. But, again, the kiss was sad, as if he was never going to return to pick me up. As he vaulted out the window, waving to me before he jumped over the neighbor's fence, I watched him, biting my lip to prevent any unwanted tears. What was going to happen?
I washed up and got dressed slowly, heading downstairs to eat alone while Charlie was at work. I half-expected the doorbell to not ring that morning, but sure enough, Jacob rang it at his usual time and I opened it for him. He smiled at me, helping himself to an apple from the kitchen table, but something was wrong in his face. The glorious amber eyes I loved to admire were troubled, hiding something deep within them.
We took Jacob's motorcycle to school, something we did occasionally, but I found reason in why he choose to ride his bike today. I'm willing to bet a hundred dollars he didn't want to have to make awkward conversation with me in the car. When we pulled into the lot, I was surprised to see most of the usual Quileute spots empty. The only occupied space was Seth's tan motorcycle, and only Seth and Claire sat waiting for us on it. I started towards Claire as soon as we were parked, thinking to vent my thoughts to one of my few girlfriends, but the bell rang just as I was within a few feet of her. She started walking off alone, and I nudged Jacob.
"I'm going to walk Claire to her first class…Okay?"
Ordinarily, Jacob would've volunteered to come with me. Instead, today he shrugged. "Sure, Bella. See you later." And, just like that, he disappeared into the mob of people.
I stared after him with my mouth gaping open for so long, I nearly forgot about Claire. I spun around, just in time to see Seth leading her towards the freshman building. Damn it, I lost my chance.
I hurried to first period, and slipped into my seat next to Jacob, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He was absorbed in his History notes, squeezing in some last minute studying, and I sighed with relief. That was a legitimate reason why he wouldn't come to walk with me; he wanted to put in some more studying time before the test after lunch. He looked up suddenly, and I quickly smiled at him. He returned the simper, but went back to his notes almost immediately.
Class ended sometime later, and as I walked to my next class with Jacob, I asked him again where everyone was. "Sam needed Quil and Embry's help bringing Leah and Paul up to Canada. They still don't think they did anything wrong, so they're not going down without a fight. The elders didn't want Seth to miss school, since he is the youngest, and Emily insisted that Claire go as well." Not going down without a fight…The words echoed in my mind, and I shuddered briefly.
Lunch finally came around, and after lasting most of the day with Jacob ether studying or staring blankly into space and not even talking to me, I was ready for a break. After we bought our lunch and sat down at the table, I couldn't help but notice how quiet Seth and Claire were. Up close, I noticed that Seth looked tired, with bags underneath his dark eyes and his usual huge grin missing from his face. Claire also looked worn, and she was gingerly reading her big book of herbal remedies instead of speaking.
We ate in silence, the occasional shuffling of pages and notes from ether side of the table. Seth cleared his plate and put his head down, snoring quietly almost instantly. Seconds later, he sneezed loudly, startling himself awake
"Seth, you all right?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." He yawned loudly, taking a napkin and blowing his nose. "Sam made me stay up until two in the morning looking for Leah, and when I did get home, I found her hiding underneath my bed." He scratched his shaggy hair with one hand, taking a drowsy sip of his water with the other. "Hey, wake me up when the bell rings, okay?" Before I could even reply or ask him another question, he closed his eyes and drifted off again.
I tried Claire next. "So, Quil went up to Canada?"
She nodded, turning a page without looking at me.
"When did he leave?"
"This morning." No kidding.
"Do you miss him?"
"Course." Stupid question, stupid answer...
"What happened after I left?"
Silence. Finally, Claire replied. "We went all over the reservation looking for Paul and Leah. Emily made me stop searching at twelve, but I stayed up until two listening to them speak from outside."
"So why do you still have to go to school?"
"Emily says so." This was going nowhere.
I didn't bother with Jacob, knowing it would be like trying to make a brick wall move, and I spend the rest of the lunch picking at my untouched food, trying to tell myself that it probably wasn't about me…It was about Paul, Leah, and Kemp…or whatever his name was.
Quil was right; the History final was so easy, I finished in the first fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, that meant I had to stew in my own thoughts of horror for the remaining half hour for the test. I peeked at Jacob, hoping for a distraction, but found him getting to his feet and talking in an inaudible husky voice to the teacher. After they had a conversation, mostly with him smiling pleasantly to her and she with a flustered expression, he handed his test to her and left the room, carrying his bag and a hallway pass with him. I watched the door close behind him, feeling a pang of sadness, and oddly, a bit of jealousy towards the teacher. She had gotten more genuine smiles out of him than I had gotten out of the whole day.
I walked to my next period for Advanced Mathematics alone, for the first time since the beginning of the year. I considered catching up with the Welcoming Committee, particularly Angela because she was in my next class, but decided it would be best to collect my thoughts alone. When I entered the classroom, I scanned the room, searching for Jacob's face and coming up empty. I slid into my seat with a feeling of dread in my stomach. But, as the final bell rang and the teacher got up to write on the blackboard, the door swung open and my heart leapt.
Unfortunately, but also fortunately, it was Quil, looking just as tired as Seth had been. He lazily handed a piece of paper covered almost completely with tiny lettering to the teacher, who scowled at him and motioned for him to take his seat behind me. I gave him a small wave as he passed me, and he smiled tiredly back.
I was so tempted to pass him a note, or twist around in my seat to ask him the billions of questions I had, but the teacher watched Quil like a hawk throughout the lesson, as if he assumed that Quil only came to school to cause trouble. Finally, class ended, and I quickly cleaned up my books and got to my feet, hurrying after Quil as he swiftly left the room.
"Quil! Quil!"
He immediately slowed for me, a natural friendliness about him that I've always loved. "Oh, hey, Bells. What's wrong? You look upset."
I wiped my face clean, replacing my emotions with a mask of calmness. "Jacob left in the middle of our History final, and he wasn't in class just now. Where did he go, and how did you get here?"
"We had to swap for a little while," he explained, holding open a stairway door for me and ushering me up the crowded steps. "Jake's faster than I am, so when Sam passed by the school, he said we could switch. I'm more than happy to relieve my duties; I'm beat. I feel bad for Seth though; he had to go too, even though he didn't get any sleep."
"Well, only one more class left," I said with false cheerfulness.
"Yeah, but that means I only get fifty minutes of sleep," groaned Quil. "After school, we have to lea…I mean we have to make sure Paul and Leah made it to the Kitcisakiiks safely."
Quil had stumbled over a word, I was absolutely certain of it. But I couldn't figure out what the rest of the word was. Have to lead? Have to leap? What could it mean? But, then again, I had gotten more information of Quil than I had out of Seth, Claire, and Jacob combined.
Class flew by, and I didn't try to question Quil any further, in case his mental telepathy suddenly let a signal out to Jacob, wherever he was, that he was spilling the beans to me. When the last bell finally rang, Quil walked me outside, to where an innocent-looking Jacob sat on his motorcycle, patiently waiting for me. To the naked eye, he would seem perfectly the same, as if nothing had changed, but to me, I could see how his shirt had new stains along the front, and how the hole in the bottom of his jeans had widened.
Smiling casually, as if I suspected nothing, I leaned in to give him a kiss on his cheek. "Where did you go during History? Did you ditch school again?" I asked playfully.
Ether Jacob was unaware of my displaced tone, or he was choosing to ignore it, for he chuckled in response, letting me peck his smooth cheek. "Actually, I did skip. It was fun; you should do it more often, Bella," he added in a teasing tone.
Quil had gone silent, glancing around the grounds while Jacob and I talked. The second Claire appeared, he hurried to her, pulling her aside. At first, I thought they were embracing or something, but instead I saw him talking to her, and say something that makes her face fall. Claire nodded severely and they started towards us. What did he say?
"We should get heading home," Jacob said suddenly.
"Oh, okay. Are you going to stay for dinner tonight?"
Jacob always came by, and the answer he gave me seemed so out of place. "Not sure yet. I'll call you on your phone if I stop by." Was that the real reason why he purchased the phone for me?
Quil and Claire approached us. Claire's face was wiped clean of emotion, all signs of her shaken face and sad eyes completely lost in a mask of coolness. Jacob explained how he was going to take me home before driving back to the reservation, and the two nodded in unison, as if understanding a hidden message in his words.
"Good bye, Bells," Quil said, his voice somehow too sincere for a farewell for the day. He leans forward, wrapping me into his large frame before weakly saluting me and heading off towards Seth's abandoned bike.
Claire also gave me a hug, something she normally didn't do on a school day when we were all heading home. "Be safe, Bella," she whispered before she released me and hurried towards Quil. They drove off, faces and emotions concealed under their helmets.
We approached the house in silence, the sound of the motorcycle revving replacing whatever conversation we could had have. I climbed off, hitching my bag higher up on my shoulder and staring at Jacob, waiting for him to say something. He lifted his helmet off, and instead of saying something comforting, he leaned in and gave me another one of his urgent kisses. I tried to enjoy it, but honest curiosity about the strange behaviors in all of my supposed friends kept eating on my insides.
I stayed in my room for maybe three hours, doing homework and playing on my laptop, trying to find something to keep myself occupied while I waited from some sort of life form to appear downstairs. Finally, someone did, but it turned out to be my father, home from work early because of an upcoming baseball game between Charlie's favorite team and their arch rivals. We ate dinner in front of the television, and the only conversation we had was me asking Charlie to pass the napkins.
After spending another hour and a half in my room, I heard the doorbell ring. Charlie opened the door, speaking to the husky, velvety voice of Jacob, and then the door closed. Judging by the footsteps, Jacob had gone into my living room.
I started towards the door, eager to go downstairs, but hesitated, remembering the new Jacob that awaited me. What was bothering him, and possibly the rest of the Quileutes and wolf-girls, was beyond me but, much like Jacob's kisses, I felt like time was slowly running out. Soon, the last grains of sand would fall to the bottom of the hourglass, and I would have to hold tight to find out what was coming. But what could I do to preserve the time that all of us spent together? I looked to my bed, seeing that on my nightstand was my digital camera, the tiny USB, with lots of memory to hold my pictures, completely empty next to it. Hmmm…
Creeping as quietly as I could, I came down the steps, and crawled on my hands and knees to the living room. Charlie was in the only armchair facing me, and his eyes were glued to the screen like they normally were. Jacob was watching the television as well, and I wasn't sure if he had heard me. His werewolf senses made it possible for him to, but then again, his newfound focus on the flat screen might have distracted him.
I tapped a button on my camera, the instruction manual at my feet. Carefully, I set my settings to a setting called, "Black & White", and slowly crawled to the sofa. At the count of three, I jumped at an odd angle onto the couch, aiming the camera at Jacob's face and clicking away. I landed on the couch with my feet in Jacob's lap, and he looked up, genuinely surprised.
I smiled innocently to him. "What, I can't take pictures of my handsome boyfriend?"
He pouted, and replied in a mocking, childish tone, "No! I don't wanna…" He tried to take camera, and he could've used his usual forces to snatch it from me, but I ducked, hiding under a pile of sofa pillows. I felt Jacob's hand on my side, suddenly tickling me with his talented fingers, and I emitted a soft shriek. For the first time that day, I felt like I had my Jacob back, and I cherished that moment.
Suddenly, Charlie jumped to his feet, cheering as the player scored a homerun or touchdown or whatever it was called. I peeked out from under my pillow protection, aiming my camera at my father's victory face and clicking the camera. Like a bloodhound, he somehow heard the camera's silent click and he turned to me.
"Bella!" he exclaimed, not only surprised by the position Jacob had me in, but also at the fact that I had taken pictures of him. Before I could explain, Jacob took the camera from my hands and I yelped, sitting up from under the pillows and trying to grab it back from Jacob's hands.
The rest of the blissful hour was spent snapping pictures of furniture and of each other. While the game was on commercial, Charlie suggested that we take freeze-frame photos of us jumping off something. He regretted the suggestion later, because at around nine forty-five at night, our neighbors called, asking why his daughter and her boyfriend were leaping in quirky poses off the back porch.
But, at the stroke of ten, in a fashion similar to Cinderella, Jacob fell out of his normality and transformed back into the distant, mysterious boy who had gone to school with me in the morning. "I have to go," he said blandly, handing me my camera.
"Are you really leaving for the night, or are you going to come back?" I asked in a whisper.
"For the night," he said, the touch of sadness still there but muffled somehow, like he was suppressing it. Lightly, he leaned in and began to make a trail of gentle kisses from my collarbone up to my face, landing the last one on my lips. I wanted to hold it there, keeping the perfect picture of how our lives should've been, but he pulled away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he murmured gently before disappearing around the side of the house. Seconds later, the sounds of his motorcycle revving away convinced me to go inside.
"Where'd Jake go?"
"Had to go home," I said bluntly. "Night, Dad."
"Oh, g'night, Bella…" The crack of the something hitting a ball cut my father off from his parting words, and I sighed and headed to my room.
Following the manual again, I hooked my camera up to my laptop, tapping a few buttons and uploading the pictures onto a file onto my USB. The process was slow, so I washed up and got into my ratty pajamas, knowing Jacob wouldn't see me tonight. When I returned to my room, and turned on the screen of my computer, I nearly fell backwards in my chair with wonder.
The first uploaded picture in the preview screen was taken on the first day of my camera, and it was of Jacob in the kitchen during dinner. He looked almost twice as gorgeous as he did in real life, his beauty frozen on my computer screen. His dark amber eyes were full of warmth, the type of loving look that I yearned for today during school and only briefly experienced just now, and the glare of the kitchen light made his smile brighter than the sun.
The next picture was of Emily's backyard, and the lovely decorations that were draped all over. The proceeding ones were various pictures of the Quileutes and me during present time, taken sometime I couldn't remember. Jacob must've taken my camera and given it to one of the Quileutes, for there were pictures of me giving big hugs to all of the wolves and wolf-girls.
After deleting a bunch of blurry pictures taken during my awkward leap onto the couch, I found the perfect candid shot of Jacob. Unfortunately, he looked so lifeless, the exact opposite of his first warm picture. His expression was sober, to the point where it was clear that something was paining him. The Black & White special effect made it worse, making it seem like he was modeling for a Goth magazine.
But his eyes scared me more than anything I had seen. The reason? It was a mixture of frozen depression and desperation, clouded over with a thin layer of gladness. Had Jacob been merely acting, like so, during our photo shoot, or had it been genuine happiness?
Charlie in mid-victory dance was hilarious, and I felt a little better. Our furniture pictures, in Sepia or in focus on a single color in the room, were nice, but when I got to the freeze-frames, I couldn't help but feel that bit of longing yet again. There were a few of me looking up at the sky as I fell off the deck, all dramatic and theatrical, but they were nothing compared to the shots of Jacob doing a karate kick or a Superman pose in mid-jump.
I opened the two candid shots of Jacob in separate windows, putting them side by side using one of my camera's special programs. The first one, full of warmth, and the second, where he seemed too dead to even be living. The images startled me yet again, the contrast between what it meant to be in love or falling apart, and I shut down my computer, stewing in the darkness until I felt a little drowsy.
I didn't sleep, half-expecting Jacob to tap on my window and let himself in. But he didn't. I tried to play some music to lure me to sleep, but the second I realized that I was on the radio station where Jacob had made his song request, I turned it off and just stared at my ceiling, eventually drifting away to a dreamless state.
The day followed in the lifeless pattern it had before, with me getting ready and driving to school slowly, Jacob-less. He hadn't even come to pick me up, to see if I was okay. As I pulled into my usual parking spot, I noticed with dread that Jacob was the only Quileute in the lot, hiding underneath a few trees as the light drizzle rained down onto the ground. He had no motorcycle next to him, not even his father's old car. Had he walked to school?
He walked briskly to me, standing by my window before I even got a chance to get out. He mouthed something that I couldn't hear through the thick glass of the car window, and I raised an eyebrow at him. After a silent sigh, he opened the driver's door, pushing me over to the passenger's side as the bell rang. I started to get out, but he slammed the door shut and pulled me down, causing me to be stuck between the passenger's seat and the dashboard.
"Jacob, what the hell?!" I whispered harshly.
"Shh! Don't move, and stay down!" he replied, crouching between the steering wheel and the seat. The final bell rang, and my fingers itched towards the door handle, but Jacob leaned forward and awkwardly wrapped my hands in his. The warmth radiating off them was pleasant in a way, and I stilled. "Remember how I told you how you needed to skip school more often?" Jacob asked.
I nodded dumbly, and then his words sank in. "Are we…Are we skipping today?"
He smiled his usual warm smile, but it felt forced, especially since it didn't reach his amber eyes. "I think we need a day off. Besides, I have to talk to you." As he said that sentence, his face formed a grimace for the slightest second before fading into a mask of blankness.
We sat still for five minutes. Finally, Jacob eased his hands off mine and slowly opened the driver's door, stretching his legs out and landing easily on the pavement. He came around the side and cradled me down, putting his arms under my legs and supporting my neck.
"Ready?" Before I could reply, he closed my truck's door and started running out of the lot, his feet making no sound on the sidewalk. He must've been going pretty fast, for the world zoomed past us and not one person got a good glance at the running blur that was Jacob and me. Jacob braked to a sudden stop, using his worn-out sneakers as his guide, and hoisted me onto the ground. I looked around, finding us in the forest that was about a block or two away from Charlie's house. We sat down on a large tree root, staring at anything but each other. After some time, Jacob said the one sentence that emotionally killed me.
"Bella, we're leaving."
I turned to him, watching his eyes study a spot above my head. "You're leaving?" He didn't respond, and I got to my feet. "Okay then, I'll come with you."
"No, you won't." His rejection stung, and I stared at him, shocked. "You can't come, Bella, because…because I'm going hunting for my imprint."
Again, I felt every word drip with venom into my heart. "You're…you're going to look for your imprint? B-b-but…I don't understand. Why are you suddenly going?" He shot me a look, and realization sank in. "Your grandfather talked to the elders about how you and I can never be together…didn't he?"
"Yes. He convinced them that the reason why I haven't imprinted yet is because you're holding me back." The emotionless way he said it made it seem even more painful. "So," Jacob continued, "I'm going to be moving out of Forks and relocating with the rest of the wolves who haven't imprinted."
"Seth and Embry," I murmured and he nodded again. "But what about the rest of the Quileutes? They'll still be here, right?"
"No, everyone's leaving. The imprinted wolves are all relocating to Canada. They're going to live with the Kitcisakiiks."
"But what about Kim, and Claire? They have lives here, with their own families."
"That's none of your concern, Bella," he replied harshly, and I shuddered at his tone. And then, in a softer tone, he added, "Claire lives with Emily now, so it's not a problem, and Kim's parents don't mind…"
I searched for a reason for why he should stay in my mind, and found one triumphantly. "But in Phoenix, you promised you would stay. You promised you wouldn't leave me here, alone. So now, you're backing out of your commitment?"
"I said I would stay unless you needed me to leave."
"And I don't need you to leave now!"
"Yes, you do. We both know that sooner or later, I'm going to find another girl, and then what, Bella? I'll have to leave you anyways. Let it be now, instead of later. Besides, we don't need each other anymore."
I looked him right in the eye. "You…don't need me anymore?"
He stared right back. "No, Bella. I don't." A flash of emotion flickered in his eyes, and I thought I understood it. Was it…denial? Or honesty? "I don't belong in your life, Bella, and this is only the best for you. You were going to get hurt anyways." He was on his feet now, turning to leave.
I grabbed his hand, and for a second, I thought I felt him squeeze mine. "Jacob," I whispered, "please don't do this. Please don't leave me, Jacob. I…I love…" I couldn't choke out the last word, and instead bit my lip to prevent a sob.
He twisted his body around, tilting my chin up. "I'm sorry, Bella," he said, genuine sadness returning to his voice, "but this is for the best." He leaned forward, giving me a single kiss on my forehead, and then another on the tip of my nose. "Take care, Bella," he whispered, pressing our foreheads together so that I could see the intensity glowing in his eyes. And then, gently brushing my hands free from his, he disappeared into the trees, the rising fog vanishing him before my very eyes.
I sank to my knees, my jeans immediately drenched by the moisture of the forest floor. The light drizzle seemed to absorb my mood, and I curled up in a fetal position, staring at the fog that had consumed my Jacob, my love. The crunch of paper in my jacket startled me, and I dug my hands into the pockets, thinking of throwing it into the darkness so I could sink into depression in piece.
In my pocket was an old receipt, and a small square of paper, with my name written in tiny handwriting on the front. I had worn this jacket yesterday, and Claire had given me a hug around my body…With shaking hands and numb fingers, I unwrapped it. Her familiar handwriting greeted me.
Bella,
He didn't want us to stay; he knew it was going to be too hard for us to say goodbye. We didn't want to leave you, but Kemp insisted. If half of the pack is gone, what's the point of the rest of us sticking around…right?
But, he fought for you, Bella. He tried to convince the elders otherwise, but they wouldn't sway. He loved you, Bella, to the point where he offered to be relived of his duties as a pack member in order to stay with you in Forks. He only wishes for you to live a normal life, even though we all know that it's not possible. So, for now, it will be like all of us never existed in your life. But, we'll try to come back, even if we are gone at the moment.
He loves you still. And we love you too.
We're sorry.
-C/Q/S
I threw the paper into the woods, watching the drizzle ruin it and cause the ink to smear. The paper represented my life now: Ruined, unreadable. I could never live my ordinary life again, knowing that he would end up with his perfect match while I sank deeper into the darkness. How could he do this to me? How could they all do this to me?
Somehow, I fell into a silent state, daydreaming and unaware of everything moving around me. The day passed, and I watched as darkness slowly surrounded me, watching all that I love disappear with the light. The moon suddenly stood in the sky, and I hid from the utter brightness of the full moon. The moon did little to warm me, and I shivered in my thin coat, rubbing myself against the tree root for little warmth. A wolf howled in the distance, and I wanted to scream, "SHUT UP!" to it, but I knew that it wasn't any of the wolves I knew, let alone the wolf-girls imitating them. How could I have trusted them, and then watched that trust burn into the abyss along with all of the feelings I had towards them?
I heard a faint sound, one that sounded an awful lot like my name, but I ignored it, shutting my eyes and willing them to stop. I heard the sound of someone sniffing, almost like a dog, and a few more rustles in my direction. A twig broke as someone stepped on it, and I flinched, covering my ears with my hands. Go away, I tried to tell them, but my voice was caught in my throat. The sounds stopped, and I gingerly removed my hands from my ears, going back to my lifeless state. I kept my eyes closed, so that I could stew in total darkness, but a sudden bright light snagged the corner of my eye. Was it sunrise already?
"Bella?" A strangely familiar voice sounded in my ears, and light footsteps headed in my direction. The footsteps stopped in front of me, and I willed my eyes open, seeing the brightness of a flashlight right in my face. My rescuer put his flashlight down on the tree root, bending down to examine me. I stared back at him blankly, absorbing his features. He was pale, with the face of an angel and the hair the color of a bronze statue. His abnormal golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark, and they examined me carefully.
"Bella," he said in a soothing velvety voice, "are you okay?"
I didn't respond, still staring at him with unrecognizing eyes. Who was he, again?
"Bella, it's me…Edward." Edward Cullen…A friend…At least he had come to find me. I must've said something –although I don't remember saying anything–, for he stroked my forehead with gentle but cold fingers.
"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry…" He held out his hand, and when I didn't respond or reach for it, he hoisted me up, slipping one arm under my legs and the other behind my head. The second he held me to his chest, I snuggled up against him, even though it was like snuggling up to the refrigerator. Edward's foster parents didn't believe in heaters, making his adapting temperature strangely lower than average. At the moment, it should've clicked in my mind that I was snuggling up to a neutral friend, but I didn't care. A small smile on his face, Edward adjusted me in his arms before he scooped up his flashlight with one hand and started towards a brighter light source.
"I got her," he called, and the sounds of human voices answered him, swarming me. No particular face clicked in my mind, but I did recognize another two pairs of golden eyes gazing at me. Everyone was asking me questions, but I cowered, hiding in Edward's muscular chest like a baby. Edward lifted me closer to him in a comforting fashion, and started towards another person who was standing alone by the sidelines.
"Charlie, I think something's wrong," he said softly to that person. "She keeps whispering, 'He left me.'" Shoot, so that's what I said to him before. I clamped my mouth shut, pressing my cheek against Edward's heavy jacket.
"Bella," the other person asked, "baby, sweetie, are you okay?"
"Daddy?" I whimpered, my voice as small as an infant.
"I'm right here, sweetie." His voice was full of relief, and I felt his light touch on my cheek.
"I want to go home," I cried softly, sounding more like a child.
"I'll take her, Charlie," Edward offered, and Charlie moved over to let us by.
With that, Edward started walking in a graceful fashion through the woods, stepping gingerly over each branch so he wouldn't drop me. I clung to his shirt as we walked, staring up ahead of us to the lampposts and the houses, all lit as if to guide us home.
Soon we were at Charlie's house, and Charlie was ahead of us, opening the door and leading us to the couch. Edward started to put me down on it, but I dug my fingers deeper into his shirt. Sighing, Edward sat down, carrying me absently in his lap like I was a small child. The scent of a former person –one that was husky and warm, and tinted carefully with the scent of forest– was still on the couch, and I twisted away, trying to focus on Charlie's leathery smell or the scent of Edward. Yes, the sweet smell of Edward blocked the other out.
"Bella?" Another familiar voice filled my ears, and I turned to look into the honey eyes of a blonde, gorgeous man in a white doctor's coat.
"Dr. Cullen?" I asked in my small voice.
"That's right, Bella," he said encouragingly. "Are you hurt, Bella?" Was I hurt? Physically, probably no, but emotionally? That was on a whole other level.
Dr. Cullen was still waiting for my answer, so I answered, "No."
His cold fingers, only a degree warmer than Edward's, gently pressed against my forehead, and then feeling my wrist. After a few moments, he lightly probed the back of my head, feeling for any sensitive areas. "Bella, can I ask what you were doing in the forest?"
I froze for a moment, and then relaxed and turned away, studying the pattern on Edward's jacket, now visible in the light. No offense to him, but who the hell wore a gray pea coat in Forks? But, then again, it was really soft…
"Bella," Edward said gently, stroking a stray strand of hair away from my face. His cool touch soothed my skin, and I shuddered. "Bella," he repeated, "can you tell Carlisle why you were in the forest?"
"I was taking a walk," I mumbled, "and I got lost." I yawned. "May I take a nap, please?"
"Of course, Bella," Dr. Cullen replied, releasing my head so that I could relax on Edward, who in turn also settled in. I closed my eyes and went limp, pretending to fall immediately to sleep but actually listening to the conversations around me.
Edward didn't seem to mind the extra weight he had on his lap; in fact, he was very casual about it, and didn't try and get rid of me straight away. A little after I made soft snoring sounds to confirm my drowsiness, he started to rock me carefully back and forth as he too listened in on his father's conversation.
"Are they really gone?" I heard Charlie ask Dr. Cullen.
"Billy told me this morning," Dr. Cullen said in his tranquil voice. "Tribal problems out of state, and they didn't want to make a scene. The reservation is empty right now, all of the houses just…abandoned."
"They could've at least warned her. How the hell did she end up in a forest two miles away from her school, without her truck?" muttered Charlie.
I had a feeling that Dr. Cullen knew the answer, but he didn't reply. But that was enough for me, and I fell into a true sleep. Later, I woke up as Edward was carrying me up the stairs and setting me on my bed, pulling a quilt over me and tucking me in. He whispered a caring goodbye before closing the door behind him, and I drifted away again.
When I awoke, it was eleven o'clock in the morning, and a storm was raging outside. I got up from my bed, pulling the quilt with the lingering scent of Edward around my shoulders, and peeked through the windows at the humongous storm clouds that were almost as black as coal. I shivered, thinking of what dreadful future my former love was reading in the skies, and turned to the door of my room.
Charlie wasn't downstairs, meaning he had let me skip school for the day. That was okay, I guess; it would give me time to recollect my thoughts and properly mask my emotions. I went back to my room, sitting on the edge of my bed and staring at the wall, tempted to return to my slumber. But that's when I noticed something peculiar.
The USB where I stored all of the pictures taken from my digital camera was on my nightstand, rather than sitting comfortably on my desk. In addition to that, the cap was missing from the top of the USB and my camera was facing the opposite direction on the edge of my laptop. Suddenly, I felt horror sink in, and I jumped to my feet, the quilt falling off from around my shoulders. I opened my laptop, waiting impatiently for it to load and then plugged in the USB.
The first picture shocked me. It wasn't him in the kitchen, or even a picture of Emily's backyard. Instead, it was a picture of a vase, the camera focused on the bright blue of the abstract designs on it. I clicked on the previous picture, and was even more surprised that it went straight to an awkward picture of me jumping face down off the deck, prepared to land on the soft squishy grass of the yard. I skimmed through all of the pictures, desperate to see his face or a face of someone I knew, but there were no remaining photos of my past life.
…For now, it will be like all of us never existed in your life…
"Oh my God," I whispered, soundlessly falling off my chair and sinking on the floor. The world was spinning now, and I laid my cheek on the floor, feeling the coolness of the wood. "Oh my God."
"Oh my God."
And all I can remember now is darkness.
Oh my God indeed, Bella.
Thoughts? Comments? Please review and let me know :)
I'm not sure when I'm going to put up the next chapter, but think in about a week to a week and a half. Until then, my dearies :) Happy halloween and don't eat too much sugar!
~Geneth