DISCLAIMER - The characters were created by Stephenie Meyer. To the extent it does not infringe on Ms. Meyer's work, the remainder is my original work and I own the copyright.
Beta - TwilightZoner
CHAPTER 7 -AND SO IT BEGINS
EDWARD
Our preparations were progressing well, and a cautious optimism gradually began to permeate the atmosphere that had been thick with fear and uncertainty. We still didn't know the details of the attack, but we had confidence in our strategy, and we acted on it swiftly. It kept us busy and helped fend off some of the negativity that was always festering just beneath the surface. Jasper was working round the clock training the wolves and the rest of us in the most effective methods of fighting - and defeating - newborns. He'd also devised a plan to draw them away from the house to a location of our choosing - one where the wolves would be in hiding ready for ambush - one where Carlisle had hidden medical supplies and an ample stockpile of kindling and lighters ready for a quick dispatch of our attackers. We may not get much warning without Alice's gift working to our advantage, but at the first scent, sight or sound of trouble, we knew the roles we all had to play to lure them away giving us a tactical advantage.
Still, even with our thorough preparations, there was always a strong undercurrent of tension that was palpable amongst us all, vampires, wolves and humans alike. We were going into battle, and no matter how prepared we felt we were, nothing was certain. There was still that elusive something we didn't know, and though we'd spent endless hours speculating, no amount of theorising could bring us to any kind of meaningful resolution. We were in the dark, and we couldn't pretend otherwise. And more than that - so much more - I was entrusting Bella, the very meaning of my existence, into the care of two young wolves. I trusted Seth implicitly, but it was Bella, my Bella, and when the time came for battle, she would be miles from me, out of my sight, my hearing, my care. It was so completely right - the only way, but at the same time, it was so very, very wrong. Fundamentally, inherently and categorically wrong. Apprehension rippled and coursed through every part of my being at the thought of it. I couldn't bear to be away from her, but the plan was set, and I had no better alternatives, and though I felt secure in the knowledge that Bella would be safe, the reality was that I didn't know who would be left of us to return to her. It was not something that was spoken aloud - not by anyone.
Bella was feeling the strain, too, and I imagined the adrenaline coursing through her veins was having a similar outcome as my own anxiety, though of course the process was different. We were both tense and fidgety and agitated, all senses on heightened alert, only she was alternating between sheer exhaustion and excited animation, the extra oxygen flowing into her lungs and muscles thanks to her rapid heartbeat giving her frequent bursts of energy followed by total burnout when her stamina had been depleted. But if anything, the added tension only served to intensify our connection.
Since the very beginning, we'd known there was a special bond between us. It crackled and sparked, alive and thick with emotion and need. It simply was - it was how we were. But it had grown into something more during this unsettling time, this electrical charge, arcing and snapping, drawing us to each other like an inexorable magnetic pull. Knowing what was coming - our forced separation and the tacit uncertainty of our reunion - only fortified it. So while we were still able, we simply couldn't be apart from one another. We had to touch, feel, look and love, taking every precious opportunity to consume each other, utilising whatever time remained.
So as much as was possible, she was never out of my sight, and even though our battle training took up a great deal of our time, she was still with me on the sidelines, wide eyed and intent as she watched the instruction, an unmistakable longing to participate and not be on the outside looking in. I even saw her mimicking our moves when she thought none of us was looking. She concentrated so hard, soaking it all up like a sponge, and it both scared me and made me proud at the same time. The very thought of Bella in battle was terrifying. Of course, I sympathised, finally able to really understand how she must be feeling and how aggravating it must be for her to not be able to participate in her own defence. I understood it, and I loved her for wanting to be involved, but I didn't like it. I didn't like to think of her anywhere near such danger. If I could have hidden her away somewhere where she didn't have to see any of this and get any crazy ideas, I'd have gladly done it. But I knew that keeping her protected involved more than just the two of us. If we were going to prevail, we needed to do so as a team, family and allies collaborating in our common goal: keeping Bella safe and destroying our enemy.
So Bella was with us, in the thick of things, watching our battle training with as much concentration as she gave her Austen novels. It was beyond unnerving, but I could accept it, because that acceptance was based on a firm belief that she would be safe. She could watch and wish as much as she liked, but when it came time for any confrontation, she would be whisked away to safety with Seth and Leah, the mixing of scents an integral component of our tactics to confound our enemy. They simply wouldn't understand the wet dog smell, and if anything, it would unsettle their own plans. Even better, Seth and Leah would be able to follow the progress of the battle from a great distance thanks to the wolves' special abilities and adjust their location accordingly to keep her protected.
It was this that gave me the comfort and assurance to concentrate on my own training, despite Bella's own desire to fight. Though I could hold my own, the path my existence had taken hadn't crossed with too many others of my kind, and I'd certainly had no cause to fight for my survival, my greatest battles having been fought within myself. Though I'd had experience with Esme, Rosalie and Emmett as newborns, strategy on how to destroy them had never been something Carlisle and I had needed to contemplate, our focus concerned with the introduction into their new existence and helping them acclimate to our chosen method of sustenance. So as instinctual as much of it was, our bodies sculpted for speed and strength and agility, Jasper's instruction was invaluable, and I applied myself diligently not allowing the distraction of Bella's attentiveness to divert my efforts. But my efforts weren't completely driven by our predicament. I had something to prove, even if only to myself, so I relished the complete physical absorption, appreciating my strength and vigour in a whole new way.
In truth, I was looking forward to the fight. Though technically nothing had happened yet, our enemy's mere existence disrupted our peaceful way of life and threatened Bella, not to mention the mystery surrounding Alice's vision that I was certain was somehow connected. The threat was brazen, and I was more than eager to seek retribution so we could get back to our lives.
The plan was sound - as much as it could be with what little we knew - but I felt even more optimistic, because it was Seth who would be taking charge of Bella's safety. Though young, Seth had become Sam's second, and he had grown into his role admirably. I trusted him implicitly with Bella. He was still so pure of heart, but he took his responsibilities seriously, and his run in with Jacob had toughened him up considerably, not to mention his continued physical development. He was built like a tank, impressive in both human and wolf form, a fact even Emmett had to concede, albeit grudgingly. He was still the fun, spirited boy I had come to know, but he was also a serious and fierce protector of his people, and he considered us his people. Not all of the wolves felt quite so benevolent, but Seth did, and so his sister, Leah, followed his lead, even if resentfully so at times. However, I had no doubt that was as much about the pack hierarchy and having to follow her younger brother's orders, than it was about Bella or my family in particular. No, I had no doubt that they would keep Bella safe or die trying, and thanks to Jasper's strategic mind and the element of surprise the wolves would bring, I felt secure that our attackers would never even find Bella, nor would they even have the opportunity to look. But, still, the lingering doubt remained. I wanted to be the one to protect her, but in this case, I knew she would be safer away from me. Bella had not been pleased, but she'd not fought me on the plan either.
"I know I'm the weak link. I don't want to be apart from you. The thought of it, well, it terrifies me, but I know you'll all do better without me there. I'm a -- distraction. I want you focused. I want you to tear them to shreds, and when Seth tells me that everything's okay and I see those purple smoke trails in the sky, you can bet Kevin Costner that I'll be dancing with wolves," she beamed, more than a glint of malice in her eyes.
"Hmm, dancing with wolves, eh? Now that's something I'd like to see." I smiled playfully before turning more serious. "I love you even more for not fighting me on this. It really is the best way." I pulled her into me tightly, bathing myself in her everything - her touch, her smell, the incessantly soothing thrum of her heartbeat.
"We've come a long way haven't we," she stated, smiling up at me. "There was a time when I'd insist on coming with you, or I'd do my best to sneak away and confront them on my own to try and spare you. I was an idiot. Don't get me wrong, I still want to do that. I'd do anything to spare you, to spare all of you. I'm the one they really want, and I hate that I can't fight them myself. But we've got to play to our strengths, and my greatest strength is to get out of the way and let you do your thing. I know that now. I trust you."
"Thank you. . . for everything. For trusting me, especially after. . ."
"Shhhh. Of course I trust you, Edward. What happened with you and Alice, well, it scared me to death. It still does, because I don't understand what it means or if it will happen again. But I guess we have to have faith. We all have to trust each other and just hope for the best. We can't plan for something like that. And I have to believe that between all of you and the wolves, that it will be okay. I have to believe that, and you do, too."
"I love you so much, Bella. It's going to be okay, in the end. We're going to be okay," I assured her, for the first time in days actually feeling confident in my words. She was right, we had to believe. We had advantages that they couldn't know about. The plan was sound.
"I just wish. . . "
"You wish? Tell me, Bella, please."
"I just wish there was time. . . for you to change me. I know it would only make me more of a liability at first. I get that, I guess. I just wish I could fight with you," she moaned.
I gripped her more tightly, understanding her emotions but feeling fiercely protective and grateful that I wasn't alone in my belief that changing her now was not in anyone's best interest.
"Bella, you do know why it's not a good idea to change you now, don't you? You know that we all think it's the wrong time, right?"
"Yeah, but remind me again, please?"
We'd been over this multiple times, but I patiently indulged her. Since my own recent experience with mortality, for want of a better term, I could understand only too well the frustration she felt at being too physically fragile to participate in the fight. Still, reminding her of why she couldn't be changed now had become somewhat of a mantra, the reassurance of explaining the limitations of the situation more for my benefit than for hers at that point.
"Well, for starters, we don't know when they're coming, and if they come during your change it will complicate things, not to mention how unpredictable you'll be once you do change. You'll be a newborn, too. You might not even deal well with the wolves. You'll have different priorities. And there won't be enough time for you to gain control over your thirst let alone focus enough to be trained in fighting techniques, and I can't have you out there fighting without proper training and control, Bella. That's going to be our greatest advantage over this army. At best, changing you now will throw Jasper's plans into disarray. At worst, it could diminish our advantage and leave us all vulnerable."
Setting aside the logic, I continued on a more sentimental level. "Besides, you don't want to change under these circumstances, do you? I want to be with you through every part of it. I want you to wake up with me beside you. I want you to see all my love when you look into my eyes, so that no matter what else you're feeling, you'll know how much I love you, and you'll remember how much you mean to me, without all these other things going on to distract us."
"I get it. I do. I just. . . I want you to be proud of me, Edward. Crap, I want to be proud of me. I don't always want to be the victim, you know?" The flame in her cheeks rose at the same rate that her eyes turned downcast, and she turned her face away, unable to even look at me.
Grasping her chin, I forced her gaze back to me. "Bella, look at me. Don't do that. Don't you know how proud I am of you? I've failed you again, haven't I? If you can't feel the pride and love I have in my heart for you, then I really have done something very wrong. I'm the deficient one here, Bella. Me, not you. Never you," I pleaded, determined to make her see the truth in my words.
She gasped, her eyes smouldering with lust, the mood between us shifting instantly to heated, desperate passion. "I love you, Edward Cullen, so very much it hurts to breathe sometimes. And I need you. I need you right now," she rasped, her lips smacking into mine with bruising force as she fumbled with the buttons of my shirt. I made quick work of all our clothes and had a condom at the ready, her sense of urgency spurring me on.
We fell into a frenzied push pull rhythm, the constant tension we'd been under only fueling our lust. My hunger incited every push of my hips and every touch of my hands, my fingers feather-like as they ghosted over her silken skin. Her body was so light and responsive under my touch, her flesh erupting with goose bumps at my icy contact, aching need pressing into aching need, her gasps of excitement and the way she sighed when she breathed my name unravelling my very soul as I gave myself to her in every way I could - in every way that mattered.
We needed this.
I choked at the sight of her face as she rode me, so serious and beautiful, her rhythm so graceful and totally belying her normal ungainliness. I treasured these precious moments for the glimpses of Bella that normally remained hidden. It was a part of her that I knew even she didn't know existed within her, for even after all this time, she still couldn't see herself clearly. This was the Bella with uninhibited poise and unabashed elegance, the one who loved me with such aplomb, the beautiful girl who was a walking, talking, stumbling, sashaying, cursing, fragile yet fierce contradiction. This was the Bella only I would ever see, and I lapped it up like a dying man savouring his last breaths.
Her slender fingers with the nails bitten down to the quick were white with the effort of her grasp as she guided us, bouncing a steady yet feverish pace while sweat beaded on her brow and glistened on her skin, rivulets falling between her breasts that demanded my attention. I wanted to devour her, my practised hands knowing the exact amount of pressure to exert on her cushiony skin, knowing the secret places that made her quiver and sigh and curse my name. It had taken time and concerted practice to reach this point, the understanding of our bodies so precise so as to elicit the reactions we both desired so fervently without fear of mistake. The thrusting of her hips made me ache with desire, her intentions resolute and coursing through me with each push and shove and moan. She was my greatest desire and fear. She was sensory overload. She was perfect. "You are everything. Everything." My words came out in a breathy tumble, so very real yet pitifully inadequate.
"Oh, God, Edward. Don't. Fucking. Stop."
"I love it when you curse. Have I ever told you that? So sexy," I panted between licks and kisses on her nipples.
"Not as sexy as you. Curse for me. Tell me how you feel, Edward" she urged, her ardor engulfing me.
"You make me feel so good. You make me feel so fucking alive," I hissed, my voice hoarse with passion. I flipped her to her back, and she circled me with her legs, her feet digging into me as she tried to draw me in further. She shuddered at the change in position as we resumed our frenetic pace. This wasn't our usual love making. This was desperate and urgent - everything we couldn't say but that we felt so intensely. All those deep seated emotions that had been bubbling beneath the surface finally breaking through and finding a voice in the slap of our bodies coming together over and over, wild and free and totally self-indulgent.
But we needed this.
"Oh, God, I'm almost there. I can't -- oh Edward. Edward!"
The sheer ecstasy as she came around me, chanting my name pulled me to my own release. I ground into her, barely keeping that necessary shred of control as I was almost completely lost to the moment. My hips jerked and twitched, the relief leaving me spent and satisfied. I breathed kisses across her shoulders and jaw working my way up to her mouth. "I love you, I love you, I love you. You're my world."
"Jesus, Edward, that was. . . . I love you so much. So, so much. Please don't leave me. Don't ever leave me. Promise me?" She was suddenly sobbing, her fears and insecurities finally winning out, and though we were still joined, we couldn't get close enough, every inch of our bodies united and holding onto each other as if there would be no tomorrow, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe there wouldn't be.
She nuzzled her face into my neck and trembled in anticipation of my response, but there was only one answer I could give her - only one that I could force through my lips. But even as I spoke, the words toppling out of my mouth easily and hitting the air in the form of an oath, tiny sparks of dread made me doubt if it were really the truth.
"I promise. I'll never leave you, Bella. Never."
-:-
We thought we were prepared. We even felt confident that we had the upper hand. But in the end, we just didn't see it coming. For everything we thought we knew, we didn't know nearly enough. . .
-:-
Regular hunting trips were all part of Jasper's strategy. Strength was the only advantage the newborn army would have over us, so we needed to keep our own strength up as much as possible, keeping close to home but sating our thirst as frequently as practical. Seth and Leah kept a vigil close to the house, ready to take action. A set of Leah's clothing, thick with the dog stench, was at the ready for Bella to be changed into at a moment's notice. Jasper was still tracking the news closely, and we felt confident that the army hadn't yet departed from Seattle, so training continued, although more sporadically. Even the wolves had gained considerable skills. We were as ready as we were going to be, and the extra time we believed we had only added to that sense of preparedness. It was that important something that we still didn't know that concerned us, but we focused on what we were sure of, and we were sure we were battle ready.
Bella, Alice and I had been taken out of school citing a family emergency, and to appease the powers that be, our educational requirements for the foreseeable future were to be completed via the home schooling method. This was not a complete lie, for Bella did continue her studies in this fashion, though concentration was an issue. Even Carlisle had taken a leave of absence from the hospital so that he could be ready to take immediate action when required. It wasn't ideal, but it was necessary, and though we kept busy with regular training, hunting and spending time with our mates, we were playing a waiting game and anxious for our enemy to make their move.
So for all intents and purposes, it was a rather ordinary day when my siblings and I decided to go for a quick hunt close to home. Carlisle and Esme were home with Bella with Seth and Leah keeping guard also, so it seemed as good a time as any. The selection so close to the township wasn't terribly varied or appealing, but we had to make the best of it given the circumstances, and though we were all a little restless, our mood was somewhat lighter than usual as we talked and joked and generally enjoyed each other's company as we made our way deeper into the woods. Yet it was still surprising when suddenly, out of nowhere, came Emmett's booming voice, intensely thoughtful.
"Anyone else notice what a sexy wolf Leah makes?"
Even the split second benefit of hearing him formulate the question in his mind first didn't soften the impact of hearing him say it out loud. We all ground to a halt, the resounding silence practically screaming down on him as we faced him, slack jawed and genuinely perplexed at how his mind could travel to such ridiculous places. Only Rose's expression deviated from the rest of us, her open mouth quickly slamming shut and morphing into a harsh line of malcontent. It didn't take long for him to start back-pedalling, but he only succeeding in digging himself into a much deeper hole.
"I mean, for someone in the canine family. Like, you can totally tell she's a she, I mean, different from the guy wolves, well obviously, you know, even without being able to see her furry junk to make sure. . ." Finally sensing it was time to stop talking, he gulped loudly and braced himself for the onslaught.
"So you're saying that you check out the wolves' junk?" Rose hissed, one perfectly manicured brow arching high above her eye while her arms crossed disapprovingly across her chest. "And you think Leah is sexy--a sexy wolf? So you like, rate the wolves' attractiveness? Huh!"
"Babe--"
Rose quieted him with one raised finger, the silence resuming as Emmett's pleading eyes begged for her forgiveness. Rose's eyes narrowed, and she glowered back at him.
"So, do you check Leah out in her human form, too, or is your dirty little secret confined to furry mammals only?" she asked seriously, though her thoughts betrayed just how thoroughly she was enjoying this little exchange.
Alice ducked her face into Jasper's chest to muffle her laughter, while Jasper and I didn't even bother to contain our mirth. What was he thinking talking about sexy girl wolves and furry junk to Rosalie? Hell, to anyone! There are some thoughts that just shouldn't make it out of your mouth. Emmett was certainly not lacking in intelligence; however, what he did lack was a brain to mouth filter, and it never failed to get him into all manner of trouble, though Rose seemed to take immense pleasure in his frequent groveling for forgiveness.
"Awww geez, baby, it's not like that. I just mean you can totally tell she's a girl, she looks different from the guy wolves, less wolfy, you know?"
"Seriously, Emmett, I think you ought to quit while you're behind," I advised, chuckling.
"It sure does give 'doin' it doggie style' a whole new meaning," Jasper deadpanned, and we all burst into hysterical laughter, the levity reaching new heights as Alice's laughter turned into the most un-Alice of deep, nasally snorts. Even Rose couldn't keep up her glare after that.
Utterly relieved to seemingly be back in Rose's good graces, Emmett pulled her into his massive chest, wrapping himself around her and leaning in to kiss her passionately on the lips.
"No one can compare to you, Rosie," he added for good measure.
"Geez, it's so flattering to know that a dog isn't attractive as I am," Rose scowled, her lips twitching upwards and shaking her head in disbelief.
Looking to each of us in turn, Emmett gave us his well practised and curiously ironic puppy dog look, pleading, "Um, so do you think this discussion could stay between us?"
"Not a chance," Alice, Jasper and I replied in unison, all of us still doubled over with laughter when the scent of a herd of deer wafted into our path. Still sniggering, we shifted our focus and began the chase which took us deeper into the forest. The herd soon became aware of our presence, none of us taking particular care to mask our approach, relishing in the thrill of the hunt. As the herd scattered, so did we all, breaking off to pursue our respective targets. I had a young buck in my sights, veering off to the east leaving the others to their meals and gaining on mine rapidly when it happened.
My first indication that something was wrong was the loss of the buck's heartbeat. I'd been tracking it since we'd first encountered the herd, and it was like a beacon urging me forward - my very own deer GPS unit. But it vanished, and if I hadn't had my eyes trained directly on the animal, I might have imagined that it had never been there at all. Of course, it wasn't just the buck's heartbeat, it was everything else, too. The forest became eerily quiet, an unnatural silence that I'd not experienced before. I ground to an abrupt halt, the earth plowing beneath my feet, stray sods and mire showering down on me in a dirt filled rain as I scanned the landscape for signs of life, seeing everything that should be there - that should be creating noise - but wasn't. I could see several Spotted Towhee's and American Robins high in the tree tops, their beaks moving to form their songs but none emerging. The scurrying of the small Snowshoe Hare as it retreated from my vicinity was completely silent. The Roosevelt Elk I'd been tracking was now long gone, but I could only trace its escape by the swaying of the underbrush and the bent fern fronds and snapped twigs that had been in its path, for it, too, had been completely silent.
My hands raised to my ears reflexively, cupping and releasing them and shaking my head frantically trying to force the noises that I knew I should be hearing. Panic started building within me, my mind searching for meaning in this impossibility, coming back again and again to Alice's vision. It was happening.
Falling to my knees, the sensations were suddenly overwhelming. Sound rushed at me in a thundering clamour making me almost wish for the silence of moments before, hysteria obliterating all logic and composure as I was thoroughly disabled and unable to focus on anything but the searing racket inside my head. It was as if every sound, every thought, every word I'd ever heard and could ever hear was thrust upon me, overloading me, crushing me with its intensity. All the forest sounds I'd just been searching for came hurtling towards me, the crunching and cracking of the underbrush as the animals scampered over it roared through my ears amplified to hundreds of times its normal levels. Voices were booming and pounding to such a magnitude that I couldn't distinguish them from each other or where they came from. Was I actually hearing them, or was I thinking them - remembering them from another time? I couldn't tell. It was a cacophony of chatter that left me twisting and stumbling through the trees until I fell to the forest floor, writhing in agony and screaming, "Too loud, too loud," over and over again, the heels of my hands pressing into my ears so forcefully that I thought I may well crush my own skull.
Then just as quickly as it came, it went again, a giant vacuum of garbled disharmony that ripped through my ears like a chisel hacking its way through marble, and I couldn't stop myself from checking for moisture, because surely my ears must be bleeding, even if only venom. And then my world was cast in the eerie silence once more, and for those few initial moments, I was grateful, but it was short lived as the panic began building within me again. With all sound lost to me and no indication when it might return, I felt disoriented and lost, casting my eyes franticly about me searching for the cause of my malaise, but before I could truly focus my other senses, the sadly familiar wrenching, yanking pull from Alice's vision gnawed at me, tearing at my insides, crippling me with agony and loss and sensory overload and deprivation all at the same time. Thrashing on the ground, I wasn't sure if I was screaming or silent in my torture, the torment so absolute I was no longer even aware of my surroundings, unsure if I was still on the forest floor where I'd fallen or if I'd been transported elsewhere. It didn't matter.
I was vaguely cognizant of my limbs flailing, a last ditch effort to grasp onto something - anything - to tether me and afford me some control. But it was all an illusion. My body was no longer under my own command, and all hope was quickly lost, siphoned out of me with everything else, my very being drained of vitality as my unseen foe depleted me completely.
I'd been so arrogant thinking we had the advantage. All this time I'd believed Victoria, if it really was her, was acting out her revenge, a complex plan that would come undone in the face of our superiority. Yet there I lay, rendered useless and waning, unable to do the one thing I'd vowed to do. Was I alone in my demise, or had the rest of us been trounced as absolutely as I had been? Who would protect her now? I never even got to ask her to marry me.
I should have known it was too good to last. I couldn't escape what I was and what I'd done, and so part of me believed I deserved this. At least I'd experienced love - the most pure and beautiful example of it I could ever imagine. I'd been complete. I'd been happy. I couldn't - shouldn't ask for more. But the price of my happiness had been too high. Even if I was the only one attacked, I no longer believed that she could be saved. She wouldn't recover from this, from me, and what I feared all along would come to pass. My loving her had condemned us both.
Images of Bella filled my mind: her face as she lay broken and bleeding on the ballet studio floor; her face as she came to life again full of hope and verve; her face smiling up at me every time I entered a room; her face as we made love promising our eternal devotion; her face as I awoke from Alice's vision, tear stained and frightened. I wondered if every promise I'd ever made her would be proven a lie, because for the first time in my existence as an immortal being, I believed my immortality to be fallible. It was an obscure threat before when naïvely I'd been focused on my loss of strength and my gift. But now it was real, and it was no longer my strength I feared losing, it was my very existence. Blackness swirled around me, tempting me with its calm emptiness. I could feel myself slipping and weakening as the pain became too much to bear. I was a mere shell now, the chasm within swallowing me whole. It was her face I took with me into the void as the blackness eclipsed me. It was her face I took with me to my end.
A/N
Thanks for reading - I know this chapter was a while coming.
Many thanks as always to my beta, TwilightZoner - I'm so lucky she continues to support me given her hectic schedule.
Reviews are really nice!
It's Indie Award time again, so go find some unappreciated fics you love and nominate. Google Indie Twific Awards to find the link.
.
So, anyone ever plan something important to the last detail only to have it go completely wrong? Come on, tell me your stories. . .
