"Sinned"

I knew I had to make a mad rush back to the family, or everyone would worry. I didn't want to traumatize Nessie, and I didn't want Edward more infuriated with me. The heels were ruined, and I felt like running in my bare feet, so I carried them through its loops. As I was approaching the scene again, Rose and Alice met me about hundred feet away from the car. I stared at them, then my shoes, and glared at them, "You knew, didn't you?"

Alice tried to look innocent. "Knew what?"

I was now aggravated, "The heels. You knew these heels were going to be used other than a matching accessory. You knew in Port Angeles when we went shopping." Alice tried to shake her head, but I continued, "You insisted in going to a particular store and chose a particular dress…"

"You picked the shoes!"

"Really, Alice…When, since I've been a vampire, have I ever chosen what I wore?!" She didn't answer, so I figured I was on the right track. "You could have prevented this. Edward could have kept me in Vancouver through the funeral, made some excuse for us to stay, but you allowed me to…"

"Bella, we're not going to stop something we believed needed to happen. We think you used a lot of self-control…."

"Self-Control? I impaled the guy's palms into the ground!"

Rose finally spoke, "Which is farther than he would have if I got a hold of him! Don't you understand? We liked Jessica too. She befriended us too with your help. In our position, we can't make a lot of human friends, but for the time you've been here, we were able to interact with the people here. We wanted revenge as much as anyone else."

"And you?! The truck smoking? That was a diversion, wasn't it? To guarantee an opportune time to attack Andrews? You knew what exactly to do to the truck to make it smoke and cause a problem. You're the mechanic of the family! This was all premeditated and I…." I crouched on the grass putting my hands on my head. I gazed up at my sisters—and saw nuns.

Every Easter as a kid, my Mom and I would sit and watch the Sound of Music. I guess since she and I didn't have much rhythm or coordination, it was a time for us to bounce on the couch and sing off key to every song in musical. My favorite part of the movie is when the Von Trapps were escaping from the convent to the mountains of Switzerland, and the Nazis tried to catch them; however, their cars didn't work. The nuns confessed to the Reverend Mother that they had "sinned." The Reverend Mother, concerned about this sin, asks what they had done. Looking at each other, the nuns revealed Nazis car parts in their hands. They had "committed a sin" for the overall good. Their love for Maria and the Von Trapps overruled the idea of non-involvement. Rose and Alice wanted justice for Jessica, and instead of leaving it up faith, they "sinned" by ignoring the vision and creating a diversion. What could I say?

"Bella?" Alice interrupted my memories.

"You think I made an impression?" I smiled.

Both Alice and Rose grinned, "Crystal."

"And Edward? Charlie?"

Rose offered a hand, and she lifted me up. "Don't you know we're family? We protect our family." A part of me glowed, because she said the same thing to me as Carlisle said to her when James was after me. "And Edward? Don't let him feel guilty or take ownership of this. He takes things too personally. As a Cullen, we accept who we are no matter what, and we will not stop loving each other because of a…transgression." She held my hand, "Besides, if I got a hold of him, I would have ripped his head off literally-and not felt an inch of regret." She held my chin. "You shouldn't either."

Finally relaxing, I hugged my sisters and as we walked to the car, I was humming, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."

March 23, 2011

Days have past, and life has become normal. You'd think Edward would have had a fit, but he didn't. That shocked me as well as everyone else. The entire family knew what had occurred, and it wasn't mentioned. Even Carlisle didn't say anything. Whether Alice or Rose got involved, I am not sure, but no one confronted me on what happened at the funeral, except Charlie.