Branded: Chapter Six
"What the hell!" She cried.
"Well," the big one scoffed, "she's awake."
Bella had no idea what was going on. First of all, she still had no idea what happened with Edward back at the warehouse. Second, what had happened at the warehouse? She just went into a…dream state. She could feel everything: the tear of her hoodie, the stab when Drake had plunged a blade through her flesh, and – most of all – she could still smell the blood. The visual of her being dragged across the hardwood floor, the blood she trialed as she was dragged, and the sound of her nails as they scraped across the floor and as they broke, causing her to bleed through her fingers as well as her face, abdomen, and soon to be arms as Drake would slit them with a blade.
She was afraid of what happened once she was in that room. She remembered the rest of her hoodie being torn off of her, her bra revealed to the man who was about to… She flinched at the thought.
"I saw everything…" She heard.
She looked up to see the blond guy looking at her, sympathy and sincerity in his eyes. "Wh -" she began, getting up and backing away from them.
"Jasper can feel emotion," Carlisle answered. "While you were unconscious, Jasper could see everything you saw, most possibly because the emotion you felt was so powerful, that it pulled him in with you. Edward saw everything as well."
"Empath?" Bella asked, looking at Jasper. "But, those…"
"Wow," voiced someone. Bella scanned amongst them to the blond woman, who looked almost as beautiful as she found Edward. "She actually knows the term," she scoffed.
"Of course," Bella spat back, "I've been reading up on demons for the past week. Of course I would know."
With that, the room fell silent, until the largest one sounded. "Demons? Really?"
"Um…well," Bella retorted, not in a very nice tone, "when you have brands on your wrists than enable you to set things aflame, conjure objects, manipulate matter, and burn the crap out of somebody, you tend to get curious if you're evil or not." She was surprised that she was smarting off so early into her acquaintance with these strangers. She defiantly woke up quick enough, as if she were never asleep at all.
She was expecting a "How's that going for you?" from Mrs. Sports Illustrated, but nothing came. Instead Carlisle spoke.
"Interesting, that's very…"
Bella took an exasperated sigh. "I need to get home," she said to herself. "Oh, holy crow…" she exclaimed to herself as she pulled out her cell phone. "How long was I out?" She asked.
"A couple of hours," Edward answered.
"Oh…Shhh…" she began to swear as she saw that her cell phone read midnight. This was not good. With her reputation with staying out late, sneaking out, and making irresponsible decisions (even though she never really made them) her dad would not be proud. Especially since Forks had a ten o'clock curfew for teenagers under eighteen. Would her father, the chief, really charge his own daughter…? But she was more concerned of what he would do to her as a parent, other than as a police officer. "I need to go." Bella said simply and turned around to the door, which took her no effort to find.
She heard footsteps behind her, and she knew it was Edward. "You don't have to follow me everywhere Edward…" she said.
"I'm you're ride," he replied, worried.
She stopped, mentally slapping herself, "Oh, duh, that's right." She waited for him, not for long since he seemed to be rather fast.
"I was quite worried when you collapsed like that," he informed her as they were in the car on the way to her house.
"Yes, well…" she looked for something to say, but she remembered. She had just passed out, with no recollection of what had happened with Drake. She took one look at him and he sent her into a dream state. "What happened to Drake!" she exclaimed, so worried that she turned in her seat to get the best look of Edward she could manage, her arm resting on the dash and the other on the arm rest.
"He cut out as soon as you hit the pavement, pretty hard I might add," he replied. "Carlisle wants you to see him as soon as possible if you feel any dizziness or headaches."
"Oh, I forgot, he's a doctor." She said to herself. "Why'd you take me to your house?" She wasn't offended (not that much), a little, but not a lot. She didn't like the idea of dependence, which is why she didn't like the idea of dating, to get attached to someone. Ever since the brands, she felt like she needed someone desperately. She eventually promised herself that she wouldn't ever need anyone. Perhaps this is why she resented hanging out with Edward as much as she did, because she enjoyed it, and so did he. She was afraid that something would form. Maybe in him taking her to his house, for Carlisle to look her over, it showed that Edward truly cared about her well being and not her brands. This sent her heart fluttering again, and then she reminded herself about her independence and shot down the butterflies.
"Yes, I thought it convenient." He was looking at her.
"You know I realized that you have a tendency not to look at the road." She stated.
"You needn't worry," he smiled crookedly.
"I'd rather you do."
"Bella, will you trust me to protect you already?" he mused aloud, and turned to the road.
What did he just say? "Protect me?" She repeated.
"I've come to the conclusion that too many people have tried to kill you and that you need to be protected at all times, which is why I suggest you stay near one of us at all times." Once he had said one of us she assumed he meant the entire Cullen family. He was telling her his intentions on protecting her. "Especially me," he finished. He wanted to protect her. She felt safe with him, and she trusted him, and she hated herself for it. For the longest time, since she was sixteen, she was able to keep to herself, not to really associate with anyone except Jude, Mickey, and Nate. (Her best friends from Phoenix) She had learned this for her own good.
Once she had gone through those fights with her mother and everyone around her, she felt unwanted, not taken seriously. She hadn't a memory of that night, and no one believed her, and blamed it on the supposed high amount of alcohol she consumed that night. She knew something was wrong, and she remembered being drug into an alley, and a cloth smothering her mouth and nose, so she was worried. She didn't know what was done to her, but she knew whoever did it knew where she lived. This was one of the reasons she left Arizona in the first place. Yes, her mother was in danger, but her mother was now on the road with Phil, her new husband.
That was another reason. With all of the commotion of her rebelliousness (which was caused by the stress she carried due to the low amount of care and respect) and Phil absolutely casting a shadow over her, causing her mother not to see or take Bella seriously, she needed to get out. She needed to get away. She felt a pain in her stomach as the feel of being unwanted came back, the feeling she got the day she boarded the plane with a fake goodbye from Phil, and what Bella thought were fake tears from Renee.
But then she remembered. She remembered the being right beside her: the being that promised to protect her. She was cared for. She was wanted, apparently. She found her stomach fluttering again, and she shot her pride down with a shot gun and looked him in the eyes as she found him looking back into hers, once again…making her feel naked: dazzling her. "Thank you," was all she could muster.
Confusion spread across his face. Why was she thanking him? He probably thought. She didn't care. She was thanking him, for caring. He was the only one besides Melissa who cared, but Edward didn't seem to need to get to know Bella first.
They pulled into her driveway. She turned to get out, but Edward was there in no time at all, opening the door. This almost scared her, but it didn't. She had brands that glowed, burned, gave her nightmares, and gave her paranormal abilities. She got out, looking at him. "I still don't know how you do that?" she teased, smirking.
"It's not hard…" he replied, smiling crookedly. He walked her to the door. Charlie would be difficult to handle. "He's not angry," he informed her. "He got Carlisle's call. You passed out in the middle of a bookstore and I brought you back to him. Charlie will be worried, and he will not punish you."
"What…how?" She found herself asking.
"I'll explain in a few hours."
"What…" she was trying to object but his hands where on her hips again and his lips didn't waste time to linger. He pressed her lips against his own and she found herself kissing him, deeply. Her fingers found his hair, and his hands found her lower back, pulling her closer.
He pulled away, sweetly pecking her on the lips once and his face adopted a calm face, but she stayed in her daze, her eyes still closed and her head still tilted up. She heard him chuckle. The door opened and she heard Charlie.
"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed.
Bella opened her eyes, Edward-less. He had kissed her and just cut out? She heard a honk and she turned to the driveway to see his Volvo pulling out. She smiled, and turned back to Charlie, actually passing him, really, and headed up the staircase.
"Are you alright?" Charlie probed. "Do you need a doctor? Should I call Dr. Cullen again?"
Bella quickly snapped her head around to look at her father. "Dad!" She exclaimed, "I'm fine!"
"Have you been kissing?" his accusation sent her hands to her lips.
"Going to bed," she replied, cutting out to her room, still in a daze from Edward's kiss.
She floated to her room, grabbing her toiletry bag and headed to the bathroom. She quickly stripped of her sweat-drenched clothes and stepped into the tub, turning on the shower head. She was still so…light headed. If she didn't breath and didn't look away from the shower head, she would surely drown. And of course is she was still at home, she would feel so ashamed to feel this way about anyone – not that she knew how she felt about Edward. She knew she was deeply cared for him and was felt for by him, or he wouldn't be going through all this trouble.
There was still the question of what he was. The image of Edward growling at Drake, his eyes dark, and his pose intent on releasing her and attacking Drake flashed through her eyes. But as dangerous and scary it should have been, and as scared for herself she should have been, she only felt all the more safe because as soon as she hit the ground, her last visual was Edward, with topaz eyes, hovering over her, a worried expression on his face. He was no monster. He was protective of her; that was apparent. He was protecting her from her own monster, Drake.
But however, the Cullens, most possibly, were like Edward. Edward obtained some sort of ability, as did Jasper. She concluded the rest of them did as well. If Jasper was an empath, and Edward saw what Jasper saw, then something must have enabled Edward to see it. Maybe he and Jasper shared a connection, or maybe it was Edward's ability that could tap into Jasper like Jasper tapped into Bella's dream state. They were connected. But it then hit her.
Jasper saw what she saw. And in that being realized, she knew that Edward saw what she saw: the screaming, the running, the memory that implicated her torture, rape, and murder. Edward knew and Edward would bring it up. It worried her. How would she try to talk with…Edward, a guy, and a guy she admired, about her own rape and murder? First of all, she wasn't even sure of what he saw, and wasn't sure of what he thought.
Then…what were the Cullens. Jasper could feel other's emotions, and do more possibly. (He could control them of what she read.) She didn't remember specifically what could control emotions. It was rumored as a talent of the cold ones which she hadn't a clue of what that meant. She remembered that Edward was cold, like an ice pack on your skin after you hurt your knee cold, possibly freezer cold. He was apparently a cold one; she could at least figure that out. But why was she worrying? He planned on explaining it: the speed, how he knew what Charlie had in mind, the warehouse scene, and even his ability to drive without the speed limit and the oh-so important concept that you have to look at the road while driving!
Then it dawned on her. (She had had too many things that dawned on her that day.) In a few hours? Edward would be in her room in a few hours? She wasn't even done shaving? She still had to do the actually bathing, and the soaking! "Oh, I must be so feminine…" she stated sarcastically to herself. She finished quickly. She wrapped a towel around herself, brushed her teeth, quickly snatched the knots out of her hair, towel dried it, and combed it out again. She grabbed her toiletry bag and padded across the hall with a tight grip on her towel if Charlie decided to show up and scare her.
She squeezed into her door, so as not to awake Charlie, and turned around to see a dark figure at her window, gazing out at the moon. She quickly screamed and lost grip of her towel. It was Edward who turned around to look at her. A shocked facial expression overcame him and he quickly turned back around as she dropped her towel gathered herself back together.
"I…am...- my deepest…apologies." He tried to smother her with apologies but she only dismissed it.
"How did you get in my house?" She almost exclaimed, but so not to catch the attention of Charlie, unaware of his whereabouts.
"It's not difficult. Just climb the trees…and…"
"But my window was closed!"
"Shhh, Charlie's asleep."
"And how do you know that?" She was almost yelling.
In the blink of an eye, and with a blur, he was in front of her. She was now pressing herself against the wall, about to lost grip of her towel again, and – for lack of a better word – freaked out. "Shhh," he put his finger to her lips, "if you would only get dressed and not reveal yourself to me, and in such a manner," he teased, "I'll be more than happy to explain myself, with no lies. I promise."
"Hey, I didn't reveal-" she began, but he cut her off.
"It was a joke, Bella," he said this in an easy tone, calm, and composed. She opened her mouth for further objection but the cut her off again. "Get dressed…"
With that, she made a slight nod and turned to her dresser, grabbing some clothes, and squeezing out her door again. She changed, blush on her cheeks from Edward seeing her naked, wet and naked…dripping wet. It worried her. But she dismissed it, thinking of the things she would ask him.
After dressing, she squeezed back into her room. Edward was still standing in front of the window, still gazing at the moon. "You can have a seat you know," she said as he turned. He could hear her when she came in, she knew that.
"I'll stand for now," he insisted. She plopped down on her bed and looked up at him, waiting for him to speak. "I assume you have questions…"
"Yes," she answered. "First of all: what did you see?"
He knew exactly what she was talking about because he paused to take consideration in choosing his words. His expression became puzzled and he finally spoke. "I was sure you'd ask that." He began. He looked back out the window and too the moon, the full moon. "To put it lightly…everything."
Her heart stopped beating for a minute. He saw…everything, and that was putting it lightly? "Lightly?" she asked, astonished, worried.
"Jasper's ability to feel people's emotion wasn't supposed to enable him to see what you saw. But he explained to us that you're emotion was so powerful that in order for him to feel it – which is impossible to prevent – he was sucked into your…"
"…dream state," she finished.
"Yes," he complied. He still was not looking at her, yet she couldn't take her eyes away from him. "And with my ability to read minds…"
"Read minds?" she remarked. "You can…"
"Don't worry, I can't read you." he stopped her, trying to finish his explanation. "I'll explain it.
"But with my ability to read minds and Jasper was pulled into your dream state, he saw everything in your mind, and with that, so did I." He looked to Bella. "You should have heard Jasper's speech, telling me I needn't break anything." He smiled.
"What do you mean?" He approached her, sitting on the bed with her, and looked her in the eyes as she sat there, staring into his. "The naked feeling…" she thought.
"When I saw you, scared, crying, bloody, your clothes torn, I couldn't stand it." His hand found her cheek. "I've grown to care deeply for you, and I still need to know more about you." His expression was sincere. "And…when I saw you, running away from him, you're clothes torn, your undergarments showing, it was clear what he had planned for you." His eyes closed, yet his anger was very readable. "To think…that someone would do that, and they would do it to you, it killed me. It makes me want to hunt him down…"
"I already had that in mind…" Bella mused, of admiration for Edward in her eyes and the smile.
"I saw him plunge the blade into your stomach and I saw him drag you…" he stopped, his eyes showed how much pain he was in, how much pain he was in now and when he witnessed her dream state.
"You don't have to finish…"
"And I saw him as he threw you against the wall, as you fought him, trying to get away." She didn't remember this. It must have been when she woke up. "And I saw him tear your shirt…"
"I…" she held her hand up, looking away, her eyes closed, begging him to stop, and "…don't need to know more…" He was confused. "That was about the time I woke up." She explained. He still looked confused.
"I don't dream anymore, Bella, please explain."
"With dreams, the ends are very vague. We don't exactly remember what happens when we wake up."
"But what about nightmares?" he asked.
"If I dreamt all of my nightmares, then I don't think I'd be sane." She explained. "Think of it," she insisted, "what it would be like to see what happens after you wake up. You think it's the worse when you wake up…" she paused, "but it's not." Bella only knew this because when ever she dreamt, just dreamt, her nightmares would end, but they would pick up where they left off the very next time she closed her eyes. Her nightmares were dangerous. She'd wake up crying, screaming, and scratches on her arms, almost bleeding. It worried her mother – when her mother wasn't bothering with Phil – but other than that, Nate and Jude made a big deal out of it, as did Mickey.
So she was lying. But it was the only way to explain and not to get off subject.
"It was…inhumane, what he was doing." Edward didn't seem to notice her moment of silence, so he continued. "Did you…remember…any of that?" He looked down to her, the moon reflecting on his white skin; his were eyes dark with sympathy, sincerity, and compassion.
"No," she answered truthfully. "I would dream it…" and she stopped. She didn't want to call herself a liar by finishing. "And that's it. I wouldn't dream enough to realize what it was. I could tell it was something from that night, but not memories. I never thought they were memories." Her voice broke. "I prayed they weren't."
In the blink of an eye, not even that much, Edward was bending down, his arm supporting himself on the bed, his feet on the ground, and his free hand on Bella's cheek. "I will protect you." He spoke these words softly, but louder than Bella could ever hear. They echoed in her ears, over and over. As he said them a jolt in her stomach tried to push her forward. She desperately wanted to kiss him then. The matter of him being in front of her with no effort at all, and in no time – literally – seemed to be bypassed by her. His eyes found her soul, making her feel naked and unprotected from him. It was as if he could read her mind –
"What are you?" she whispered, unbelieving.
He seemed hurt, a little offended, but mostly heart broken. "What makes you say that?"
"I've begun not to expect anything from you," her own expression was sincere and serious now, "because you seem to exceed all of my expectations."
A crooked smile crossed across his face. "I do owe you an explanation." He admitted. He sat beside her on the bed, his smile now leaving his lips.
"You do…" she agreed.
"Bella, I've involved you." He informed.
"No offense," she interrupted, "but you involved yourself into my own affairs. Not the other way around."
"What-"
"You pulled me into the broom closet. You're the one that pulled my secret out of me. You wanted to protect me. You're the one who took me to your family. I've come to the conclusion that you all are not an ordinary family. But I am no ordinary girl." His eyes were so solemn, and so thankful that she understood, or at least tried to. "We're in the same boat apparently."
"And what makes you say that, Isabella Swan…"
The answer was simple and she readied herself with an answer before he even answered the question. It echoed in her mind, her eyes smiling at him. She needn't bother to smile, for they were looking strictly into the other's eyes. "Because you wouldn't be looking at me like that…"
His eyes fell. He broke. She could tell. He looked back up to her. "We are monsters…" she tried to interrupt, but he held his hand up to signal her to stop. His eyes found her soul and stripped her. "We are monsters. We've found a way to improvise, so not to kill. We are deadly to every human and are invincible to everything except ourselves. The oldest of our kind live years like days and the most evil and bloodthirsty devour bodies like blood bags. And the kindest…" he seemed to trail off thought, the memory or acknowledgment of someone else at mind, "of us seem to be the worst of all.
"We kill humans. But when I saw you, I couldn't read you. I couldn't see how…I just couldn't break into your thoughts. You are so different. Alice cannot see your future and Jasper cannot feel your emotions unless you are in a dream state. You are immune to us all… I cannot stand it. I feel so helpless…so human."
Bella was speechless at first, but then just plain confused. "What do you-?"
"Bella…" he said softly, his hand finding her cheek, "I am a vampire…"
