Hi Folks, the next instalment is now up for you to read., I hope you enjoy. Just so's you know, I'll be posting again on Friday.
Once again, thanks to those of you who took the time to review.
I must ask though: why is it that Twilight readers don't leave comments? I also write in the much smaller world of Janet Evanovich and while 5 times the number of you read my Twilight updates, I get 20-30 reviews per chapter for my JE inspired stories compared to 5 or so in this genre and this baffles me! Is my work within Stephanie Meyer's world really that unimpressive? Why not drop me a line and explain… ;-)
Oh, probably should have issued a disclaimer shouldn't I?!
This is all my own work and only based on Stephanie Meyer's characters, everything that I write here comes from my own twisted imagination. Typos, literals and good ol' mistakes are all mine too.
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"Slow down, Alice!" Esme ordered as her frantic daughter stuttered out what had happened over her cell phone.
Having it on loud speaker allowed Jasper to listen in and he winced as he heard both sides of Alice's desperate and tear laden call as he drove them back to her home.
"We'll find this Riley Biers boy, I promise, Honey." Esme said calmly, trying to placate her near hysterical daughter. "Just get home as soon as you can. I'll speak to your Dad, he'll know what to do, but don't worry! I'm sure they're doing what a lot of kids do after Prom." She reassured her, "They're probably on the beach at La Push or at some party with the rest of the class…"
"Thanks, Mom…Bye." Alice hiccupped quietly as she finished the call.
Not long after Jasper pulled onto the bottom of the long driveway that led to the Cullen family home and they rode up the long, windy, unmade road to the house. Daylight flickered through the dense canopy like teasing wisps of hope, quickly being replaced by the dark shadows again. All too soon they pulled up to an impressive glass and wood structure that was straight out of Esme Cullen's head.
Renowned architect Esme Platt met the brilliant and already famous cardiac surgeon Carlisle Cullen at a party and the rest as they say, was history. They married a few years later and had Emmett and Edward in quick succession and then five and a half years later Alice, a total yet wonderful surprise, had appeared to complete their family. As they waited for their third child to be born, Esme designed the house of her dreams and persuaded Carlisle that it should be built on land that had been in the Cullen family for decades. Once the builders had re-created it in bricks and mortar, the small family shifted across the country. The five of them had lived in the three story, six bedroom sprawling Bauhaus inspired home from just after Alice had been born.
Alice turned to Jasper "I love you, you know that? Right?" he nodded in reply, confusion etched on his face as he wondered where Alice was going with her declaration.
"Just help me keep calm, ok?" she added as a knowing look came over Jasper's face.
After last night, Jasper would walk over burning coals for her, so stopping her from falling apart was the least he could do. And Alice wasn't the only one feeling guilty. After all, if he hadn't suggested they sneak off then… he shook his head, he really didn't want to think the worst, but in his heart of hearts he knew something was hideously wrong.
One day, soon, he hoped to put their relationship on a more permanent footing but he knew she wasn't ready. And if Bella had been abducted then if would be even longer as they came to terms with the fall out of their selfish behaviour, but he would wait. Forever if needed. Alice was it for him.
"Always Darlin'." He replied - to everything she had just asked of him.
Closing the door of the Jaguar XJL they walked the walk of shame and into the house, holding hands, getting themselves ready to face her parents.
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Charlie grinned as he thought about the abundant haul of fish he had in the cooler box in the trunk of his car. Just thinking about the large, beautiful creatures that had been tempted to try his bait time after time and the fact that he had caught so much in such a short space of time made him extremely happy.
But the biggest bonus had been that for every small fish his best friend Billy had netted, he had caught three big ones. Now that surely was a cause for celebration...
Shame he and Billy had had to cut their trip short but the weather had closed in rapidly so they'd decided to cut their losses and leave early.
The icing on the cake would be getting home to find Bella had let her hair down and had a really good time at her prom. Perhaps it would be too much to hope that she'd met a nice boy, one she genuinely liked and didn't feel obliged to date. After all their tragic history it was about time something went right for the kid, after all, miracles had been known to happen.
Smiling he turned to Billy who glared back from the passenger seat, his arms crossed over his large chest as he pretended to sulk.
In reality Billy had had a ball and even if his fishing exploits had left a lot to be desired, the company he'd kept had been great. But he was having fun pretending to be pissed.
"Admit it, old man." Charlie said, gloating. "You're angling skills suck."
Billy harrumphed good naturedly and turned to stare out of the window, admiring the beautiful scenery as it whizzed past. "I let you have all those fish,…" he replied haughtily, trying not to grin.
Charlie chuckled with glee and twitched his moustache as they continued their homeward journey.
"Don't worry, I'll share." He added sometime later with amusement in his voice. "No-one needs to know…" he added, wiggling his eyebrows in mirth.
"Seriously! Do you really think I'd take charity from you, Paleface!" Billy retorted with a grin on his face.
He was about to say more when Charlie's cell dinged. "Ah, back in the land of civilisation" he muttered as he rummaged round in his jacket pocket then tossed his phone to Billy.
"Check it out will ya." He added as he indicated and turned onto a road the sat nag* told him he needed to take.
Billy pressed a few buttons and waited for the messages to be replayed. "Fuck!" he whispered out. Charlie's head snapped round and he eyes studied his fishing pal's face for a few seconds.
"We need to get to the Cullens a-sap." Billy added. "Bella never made it home from Prom."
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Two hours later and nothing.
No one had seen or heard from Bella since she'd left the prom. She'd not made it down to the beach party and she'd not joined Jessica Stanley's after party get-together either. Not that she'd been invited anyway.
Mike Newton admitted to making her mad and seeing her storm off with some tall new kid with a pony tail, but had no further idea of what happened next as his stomach decided to revolt and he'd had to dash off to the rest rooms. He was the last person to speak to her.
No-one wanted to say it, but they all wondered if the kids at the prom were going to be the last people to see her alive.
"Honey. We're out of options, we're going to have to call the police." Esme finally admitted with a sigh as she sat down next to Edward and stared up at her husband from the large solid, heavy oak kitchen table that was now littered with coffee mugs, phones and scraps of paper containing hastily scribbled phone numbers.
Carlisle nodded in agreement and reluctantly picked up the phone. A few minutes and a very tense conversation later he put the phone down with a grim look on his face.
"I've got some news, Jasper can you go and get Alice, please."
Nodding, Jasper got up from the table and set off to collect Alice. Earlier he'd taken her upstairs and once he'd calmed her down and she'd fallen asleep he'd returned to help in any way that he could. Slowly but surely as he contacted everyone in the year book he could see that if Bella was trying to hide she was doing a damn fine job of it, but from what Alice had said about her that made no sense at all. Whatever Carlisle was about to tell them was bad, he thought. Something so awful that he couldn't bear to repeat whatever it was a second time. Reluctantly he realised that they needed to be strong and work as a team in order to deal with whatever shit Carlisle had to tell them…
Oh Fucking Hell! He mentally ranted as he raced up the stairs.
Edward got up, moving to the window as his hand automatically ran through his hair with frustration, and stared out to the exact position he'd last seen Bella.
When she'd entered the limo before leaving for the prom he remembered how he'd chuckled as he'd watched his Angel snarl at Newton and forcibly remove his arm from her pert little ass when he pretended to help her into the plush interior. Now all he could think of was that he hoped she was still alive and in one piece.
His heart clenched as several nauseating scenarios filled his head, each one worse than the last.
She was too good for all of them and she couldn't be dead! He mentally ranted, the feeling of helplessness all but swallowing him.
She had to be alive! If she wasn't, he would have felt it! He was convinced of that and as he stood watching the world go by he swore, on his grandmother's grave, that he would do whatever was needed to keep her safe from now on.
Once she was home…
Oh God! Please bring her home!
He felt his father wander over to stand next to him and neither said anything as they continued to stare out of the window with unseeing eyes.
Every emotion possible swirled round them: love, sadness, fear, frustration, hope, fear, helplessness, fear... They were all there, soundlessly filling the air with tense electricity.
Esme stood up, the sound of her chair scraping loudly across the tiled floor and pulling Edward back from his dark thoughts. She stopped between them both and lifted her hand to squeeze Carlisle's shoulder, seeking reassurance from the simple gesture and trying to give him her strength in return as they all three stood, silent sentinels. Frozen by emotions too big to handle.
"Please tell me it's all going to be ok." She pleaded after a few moments, looking intently into her husband's face even as she reached gently and automatically for her son's hand, seeking comfort from both her men. Carlisle shook his head slightly and the corners of his mouth tipped down as he put his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Much as I'd love to, it's not looking too good right now…" he said softly just as Jasper returned trailing a grief stricken Alice reluctantly behind him by the hand.
Turning, Carlisle looked at everyone in the room, forcing the three-way contact to break at each point.
"I've just gotten off the phone from Fork's Police and I'm afraid I have some bad news… I don't know how to begin to sugar coat this, so I won't even try." He paused momentarily before continuing.
"Riley Biers has been dead for three years." He said softly, trying to remain calm and composed. A muscle in his jaw flickered, giving away his inner shock as he fought to keep control of his emotions.
No-one spoke and the only sounds that filled the air were those of shock as they absorbed the truth.
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"What do you mean she never made it home?! She should have been with you Alice!" Charlie raged as he paced the floor of the Cullen kitchen some time later, oblivious to the distress and guilt etched all over Alice's face as he built up a head of steam.
"If it hadn't been for your selfish need to disappear with Lover Boy here" continued Charlie as he jerked his thumb at Jasper "she'd still be safe. She'd not have left the prom with him… I've told her never to go with strangers. Fuck! What was she thinking!" he howled rhetorically as he stormed out the back door, slamming it behind him.
Everyone looked to Billy for guidance as no-one had a clue how to react.
"I'll go speak with him." Billy said softly, sadly, before wheeling himself round and out the door to follow his friend.
Between sobs, all Alice kept repeating was "I'm sorry, so sorry…" as Esme held her in her arms and rocked her. "Shh, baby, I'm sure it's ok." She added, looking up at Carlisle and Edward, hoping to find strength in their silence.
In the first instance no-one moved, unsure of what to do, as they waited to see if Billy would be able to bring Charlie back inside. But eventually Carlisle walked over to the coffee machine and started to make new drinks for everyone just to give his hands and brain something useful to do while they waited for Charlie and Billy to return.
Time passed, punctuated solely by a loud ticking of a bank of nautical looking wall clocks which showed the time on three different continents, and what felt like an eternity later Charlie and Billy finally returned. Charlie looked twenty years older than he had less than half an hour earlier and both looked like they'd been crying.
"I remember the case as if it were yesterday." Charlie said finally as he sank into a chair and buried his face into his hands. Sucking in an audible and deep breath to steady his voice he sat up straight, splaying his fingers on the warm wood and staring without seeing as he continued with his story.
"Riley Biers was a good kid. Well educated but no rocket scientist. Captain of the school soccer team. Golden future in his parent's very successful business once he'd finished college. Well, you get the picture. In addition he had a carefully selected, parent endorsed, beautiful trophy fiancée waiting patiently at home… In fact his whole life was mapped out for him.
One evening he went to work as usual at one of the campus bars near where he was studying but after finishing for the night he simply disappeared. His parents called Seattle, Port Angeles and a couple of days later, Forks Police, wanting to put posters up everywhere, which we all gladly did. Reading between the lines though the cops in all the different departments were convinced the pressure of living up to his parents' dreams had gotten to him and that he had decided to run away for a while and have some time off from his responsibilities. Truth be told I wasn't at all surprised when he turned up dead."
Charlie inhaled slowly and deeply before continuing.
"His body was found a week later in the Elwha river. His parents said he'd occasionally take off into the Olympic National Park camping but that he tended to phone them at some point so they knew he was ok. So although initially they weren't too worried the first night he didn't go home, having no message by lunch time the next day made them think perhaps they should be at least a little bit concerned. By day three they were frantic.
I remember his Mom being inconsolable when the boys from Port Angeles broke the news to them. So sad.
Anyway, in a letter they later found in his room, he told of how he looked on his future with dread. How he'd spent all his life trying to be perfect for everyone else. How he didn't want to disappoint anyone. How he'd buried his own feelings and tried to be the poster perfect son. Only thing was he'd fallen in love with someone who wasn't his fiancée."
Charlie took a deep breath before he continued telling his captivated audience about the history that was Riley Biers.
"But the worst of it was the other person was a male fellow student. And totally straight. He'd rejected Riley's advances and was threatening to drag him kicking and screaming out of the closet. He explained that he couldn't bear to see the disappointment on his parents' faces when they found out so decided to end it all. They never identified the love interest to get his side of the story or to cross him off any suspect list. But the thing was, it was clear that Riley had acted alone so once the coroner had ruled the cause of death to be suicide the case was closed."
"So, who is this guy and why would he be pretending to be someone else?" Edward asked, changing the focus back to Bella's disappearance, even as everyone digested what Charlie had just revealed.
"Not sure, but if it's the guy who's been raping and tormenting his way round Seattle he's bad news. But the problem is that his description keeps changing. Some of the victims tell us he's got blue eyes and black hair, others green with a buzz cut and a tattoo on his scalp. Hell he's even had a goatee and glasses…"
"So his victims survive?" Asked Alice, hopefully.
"I'm a little hazy on the exact details as the guy's activity has been out of my jurisdiction but from what I've heard I'd say the answer to that is 'mostly'." He said before taking a large gulp of air for courage.
"Two were discovered too late. He's started injecting his victims with bigger and bigger doses of insulin then hiding them away. Some survived as they were found in time. Others… well let's just say they went to sleep and never woke up…"
Carlisle nodded in understanding. "Billy, You mentioned Sam and his team of trackers down on your res, do you think you can get them on the case? If she's still in the area maybe they'll find her?" he asked as he turned to him.
"Yeah. If anyone's going to find her it's them, especially young Jake, he's the best in the State. I'll give him a heads up, see if he can round up the team, I know they've been busy with Grissly Adams wannabe's out in the Park." Billy replied with a wry grin, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket. He knew Sam and his team would far rather be helping with a genuine case such as Bella's missing whereabouts than reminding ignorant campers that bears like to investigate food smells.
*(a/n: UK vernacular for the dictator that instructs us to take the longest route to get anywhere, just because it can!)
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Hope you're still with me - next installment will be on Friday
xxx
