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Chapter 7
Day Two Hundred and Thirty
The flight to Anchorage was as expected. Several hours of hell. All the flight attendants were very helpful, offering me food and drinks and whatever it was I needed. That was, they were nice to my face. Little did they know that I could hear their cruel gossip when they were out of sight. They theorised over all the reasons why a heavily pregnant girl would be flying first class to Anchorage. They thought that clearly I had been knocked up by a top businessman unbeknown to his wife so he was flying me north so that his wife never found out. I didn't care to be honest. Whatever they guessed wouldn't be the truth so I just kept the pretence up and smiled at them whenever they smiled at me. We had some turbulence over Canada which my baby didn't enjoy very much; she kicked the hell out of me the whole time. The landing was fairly smooth and we touched down without too many problems. I thanked the flight attendants with a smirk and got off of that plane as quickly as I could.
I grabbed my luggage and headed for the nearest taxi. I had no idea where I was going so I just asked for the closest hotel.
We pulled up outside an average looking hotel. Perfect. Not too expensive, but not too cheap. I still wanted to live fairly decently even if I wouldn't need it to sleep or eat. I approached the reception desk to find a very small, old lady with horn rimmed glasses and grey curly hair.
"Hello. Welcome to Hotel Sheraton. I'm Judith. How may we help you today?" Her tone was cheerful enough and I didn't feel judged by her in the slightest. I breathed in deeply and realised that she had a very flowery scent but it wasn't tempting in the slightest, even though I was hungry. All I could see was this little old lady with a happy face in front of me.
"Hello, I was wondering if it was possible to get a room. Do you have any free at the moment?" She had been polite to me. It was a good change to the rest of my day.
"We sure do. It's $75 a night. How long will you be staying?" She never looked at me like I couldn't afford it. I was glad to meet someone who didn't judge people by how they looked.
"I'm not sure to be honest. I'm looking for someone."
"That's ok darling, you can pay when you leave if that's easier for you." She gave me a warm smile as she handed me a key to a room. "If you need any help, just give me a call, and I'll do everything I can."
"Thank you so much. It's great to finally see a friendly face." I was truly grateful that I had met someone I kind of like.
"No problem, honey. If I'm honest I found myself in a situation similar to yours so I can understand what you're going through." She gave me a wink as I made my way over to the elevator.
The room was basic but clean and warm. There was a massive bed in the middle of the room covered in thick, fluffy blankets. I had my own bathroom too which was tiled but very welcoming nonetheless.
I put my few belongings on the side, phoned the various people at home to let them know I had arrived safely and started my first day in Alaska.
A month had now passed since the day I arrived in Anchorage. Judith had become a confidant to me somewhat and we often had coffee when she had finished work. Every pregnancy worry I had, she reassured me that everything was normal. I had told her everything about my life to this point minus the supernatural aspects and she listened to every detail I gave her. She told me some of the stories from her life and how she came to live in Anchorage. My situation and hers had been very similar. Her lover had left her and she searched to find him, they were reunited shortly before she gave birth to the first of 3 sons.
Her story gave me hope that I would one day be reunited with Edward.
Each day was the same story. I headed out to the Denali National Park to hunt and to try and find the where the Denali Clan lived. Whenever the Cullen's mentioned where they lived, I always pictured it being it a house on the outskirts of a small village. I was wrong. Their house was somewhere in the vast wilderness that was the Denali National Preserve. Each day I covered a little more ground, narrowing down the places where the house could be.
I had learnt the scent of many of my favourite animals. My most favourite prey was now either the Lynx, it always reminded me of my first meal of my new life, or a big stag. The life force in a stag always rejuvenated me which meant that after I would not have to eat for a few days.
I could still eat human food but it no longer held the flavour that it once did. Most foods tasted like a mixture of cardboard and soil, not pleasant in the slightest.
It was easier to hunt whilst searching for the Denali family as it provided a distraction I sometimes needed when I got too annoyed that I wasn't getting anywhere fast.
I had been here officially a month before I even crossed the scent of another vampire.
Judith had been taken into hospital, with minor heart palpitations and I had gone along with her for some moral support. Whilst Judith was being seen by a doctor, I wandered round the hospital, trying to forget all the times that I had found myself in places like here. An idea suddenly crossed my mind, why hadn't I thought if it before.
"Excuse me," I asked the receptionist, "do you know if Dr. Cullen is working today?"
The receptionist looked me up and down before saying in a patronising tone,
"Sorry sweetie, no he is not." Well that was helpful.
"Can you tell me when he will next be working then please?" My patience was wearing thin with people these days.
"I am so sorry," Liar "but he hasn't been working here for several months. He moved away with his... wife."
Ah I see. She was bitter about him leaving. Poor Carlisle, I don't think he realised the effect he had on people.
"Can you tell me please where he is working now?"
"I'm sorry but we cannot release that kind of information." That was clearly the end to our conversation so I walked away from the desk and headed back to Judith's room. As I was walking away I heard the receptionist mutter under her breath 'if I knew where he had gone, I would go to...' I had to speed up slightly to stop myself from giggling and embarrassing the poor woman.
When I got back to the room, I was told that Judith would have to stay in overnight so that they could keep an eye on her. She gave me an apologetic smile as we couldn't go for coffee like we normally did.
"It's ok don't worry. I'll head back to the hotel. I should really speak to my Dad anyway. Get well soon."
I slowly made my way outside, appreciative of the fresh air after being in the hospital for an hour or so. I sat on a bench and just breathed in the refreshing Alaskan air. I had been there a while when a sweet scent crossed my nose, a scent that was indisputably a vampire. I searched for the culprit when my eyes set on a female across the street from where I was sat. She was walking fairly quickly so I decided to follow her.
She was fairly tall, with medium length honey-blonde hair. She was almost as inhumanely beautiful as Rosalie, undoubtedly a vampire. It was a particularly cloudy day, so she walked about with ease. She seemed to be searching for something so I kept my distance, keeping just close enough so I could approach her if I needed to.
She was soon joined by another female, who was slightly smaller than the first and had straight black hair. Her skin didn't seem as pale as the blonde female. In comparison, she almost had an olive complexion.
"It's no use, Carmen. I can't find her. I have looked everywhere and can't pick up her scent anywhere." The blonde female spoke. What she said piqued my interest, who were they looking for?
"I know Kate. Maybe she didn't stop here for long. We will have to let Esme know. I have asked in all the hotels and none of them have an Isabella Swan checked in." She had a slight Spanish accent, hidden beneath her velvety voice.
Wait, they were looking for me, why? They wouldn't find an Isabella Swan anywhere, I had checked in under a pseudonym, Marie Masen, but now regretted it.
"We should head back. We're not gaining any ground here. She could have moved on as quickly as she arrived. Esme only knew she flew here. She could have rented a car or anything and gone elsewhere. We just don't know."
"I agree. We need to investigate the scent of that other creature that has been crossing our territory too. They must be vegetarian like us; there have been no unexplained disappearances."
They headed for a nearby parked car. It was a new Jaguar, clearly the Denali's had as much money as the Cullen's.
I ran after them as quickly as possible without attracting any unwanted attention.
"Kate, Carmen, wait please."
They both looked back at me and their eyes widened. When I reached them, they pulled me into a nearby alleyway.
"How do you know our names?"
"I heard you talking. Sorry I shouldn't have listened in but I needed to know if you were the ones I had been looking for the past month."
Kate glimpsed Carmen before whispering, "Carmen, I think it's her."
"What do you mean?"
"I think it's all her. The strange scent on our territory, the person Esme has had us look for, this is her. I'm sure of it."
They both stared at me for a while before noticing my massive bump protruding from under my shirt. Carmen raised an eyebrow at me.
"You, Bella is it, have a lot of explaining to do." I felt threatened until an enormous grin passed across her face and she enveloped me in a hug. "You must come back with us. Everyone would love to meet you."
I was dragged back to the car and sat in the back. In an instant, we were flying through the Alaskan countryside on the way to the Denali household.
It took us about 20 minutes of driving before we turned off the main road and onto a gravel driveway. The driveway was about 3 miles long and almost completely hidden by the undergrowth. A human would never know to look for it. The driveway, instead of arriving at the house, just led to an enormous garage which was big enough for about 8 cars.
"Ok we have a bit of a run ahead of us now. Would it be ok for one of us to carry you?" I knew Kate was trying to be polite so I let her down gently.
"Thank you for the offer but I should be ok. I can run pretty quickly you know." They both stared at me in amazement.
"You're human Bella. I don't think you will be able to keep up." Carmen said to me in the gentlest way possible.
"I may appear human, but I assure there is more to me than meets the eye. Please lead the way and I'll do my best to keep up." I grinned at both of them as they shook their heads at me in confusion.
"I'll run ahead to let them know we're having a visitor..." Carmen darted out the garage and off through the snowy fields into the distance.
Kate turned back to me. She had a glint of excitement in her eyes.
"Well, let's see what you're made of. Try to keep up." She laughed as she dashed off after Carmen.
I knew this was my chance to test myself. If I could keep up with a fully fledged vampire, then I was definitely on my way to earning a place in this world. As the garage door started to shut, I pushed myself the fastest I had ever run after Kate. The freedom this even faster speed gave me made me chuckle as the distance closed between me and the blonde vampire in front of me.
She started to slow as we approached the enormous white house hidden amongst the Alaskan forest. I started to pick up on various other scents the closer we got. Kate gave me a quick nod of approval as we came nearer to the front door.
She opened the door for me as we entered into a room which was a similar size to the house in Forks. However, this room had a much earthier feel. There were lots of wooden beams and most of the furniture was dark leather. It felt really warm and welcoming.
Carmen came into the living room just after we arrived accompanied by a male vampire. He had black hair and a very friendly face, just like Carmen. He also appeared to be of Mediterranean origin as his skin was olive too.
"Eleazar, I would like you to meet Isabella Swan."
"Encantada mi Bella. You are a very interesting person if I don't say so myself." His eyes studied me for a while before he smiled and sat down on one of the sofas. I guess he was just like Carlisle with his sense of discovery.
Kate sensed my awkwardness and pushed me towards another couch.
"Sit down for a while. Irina and Tanya should be back shortly. They are just on a hunt."
Eleazar just sat across from me staring intently. Every once in a while he would shake his head and mutter something incomprehensible under his breath.
Within 10 minutes, the door flew open as the people I assumed to be Tanya and Irina entered into the living space. I knew Tanya as she was the one with the flowing strawberry blonde hair so I guessed that Irina was the one who stood directly behind her, the one with chin length silvery blonde hair. Kate pulled me to my feet and introduced me to her two sisters.
"Tanya, Irina, this is Bella." They both looked me up and down, I was getting quite used to this now, before their eyes settled on my baby bump. Tanya stepped forward suddenly making me jump, then she took my hand in a pleasant gesture. I was surprised when her skin didn't feel cold to mine.
"Welcome to our home. It is finally good to meet you after all this time. Would you please mind explaining what has happened to lead you to being stood in the middle of Alaska in our front room?"
"It's quite a long story..."They all snickered then Eleazar spoke.
"I think time is something we all have plenty of..."
I was a bit hesitant in explaining my life story to all of these people who I had only known for a few hours. But then again, if the Cullen's trusted them then so should I.
I told them everything. From my first day in Forks to when I found out about the Cullen's secret to the day that Edward left me in the forest. None of them interrupted me. They just sat and listened to every detail, even if they did tense up slightly when I started talking about the wolves.
When I had finished my story, they all sat in silence for a while digesting the information I had given them. Tanya was the first to move. I was wary of meeting her as I had heard of the history between her and Edward and yet, she seemed very kind when it came down to it. She came and sat next to me on the couch and pulled me into her arms as the last few months of grief came pouring out from deep within my heart.
"Sweetie, would you mind if we asked you a few questions?" Carmen asked me softly as she passed me a box of tissues. I just shook my head and waited for the onslaught. They just looked amongst themselves lingering until the first one broke the silence. Once again, it was Tanya.
"It has not escaped our attention that you are quite heavily pregnant. Am I right in assuming that Edward is the father to this child?" She enunciated each word clearly, even though I'm not sure she realised she was doing it.
"Yes. Edward is the only man I have ever been with." They all hissed at this. Kate spoke out against her better judgement.
"So you're telling me that he fucked you and then left you in the forest on your own and you haven't heard from them since? None of them at all?"
"I have not seen any of the Cullen's since that day. You are the first true vampires I have seen in 8 months. I did find a letter from Esme when I went to their house, but that was by pure chance."
"I can't believe this. After claiming that he's a gentleman, then leaving you knocked up back in Forks! And we've all felt pity for him these last few months at his depression!" She stood up and started pacing around the room to try and calm herself down.
"It's not his fault. I doubt he even realised that I could become pregnant. I don't think the others know what happened between us. He would have tried to keep it quiet." I defended him. I knew that if he had have known I would have at least heard from him.
Carmen, always calm and collected, spoke to me next.
"Why have you come to Alaska?"
"I came here to try and find out anything I could about their whereabouts. Esme said in her letter that should I ever need anything that you would help me but I didn't comprehend how far into the wilderness you all lived."
She smiled. "We don't like to socialise with people as much as the Cullen's. We like to keep to ourselves a lot more. Esme has been worried about you. She has kept the knowledge she has of you to herself. She panicked slightly when she noticed you had withdrawn a fair amount of money and flown to Anchorage. She phoned me last week to ask to check on you. She will be so happy to know that you are safe."
"If it's ok with you, I would like to find them myself so I can give them a chance to be part of my little girl's life."
Kate and Irina squealed. "It's a little girl! Fabulous! Do you have any names???" Excitable vampires were slightly scary.
"I'm not too sure. I'm hoping that when I meet her, her name will become apparent. Do you have any other questions?" I looked to Eleazar, he had been silent this whole time.
"You have a very powerful latent ability. It is almost overwhelming. How many vampires have you managed to block out?"
"Only Edward. I couldn't block Jasper's empathy or Alice's visions. How do you know that?"
"My apologies. I worked for the Volturi, I can recognise abilities in other vampires and I must say I am very impressed with yours. Would you mind if we test you?"
"Not at all. Just don't hurt me ok?"
Eleazar nodded to Kate and she approached me with her palms outstretched.
"This should only tingle..." I didn't trust her, she had an evil look in her eyes. But when her palms made contact with my bare skin, I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Kate looked slightly defeated.
"That should have floored you. I can bring a fully matured vampire to their knees and yet. You. Felt. Nothing... Amazing." My baby gave me a sharp kick but I ignored it, I guess she didn't like the idea of being shocked.
We sat and discussed my ability a bit more before I became aware of the time and made my excuses to leave. I had to get back to the hotel.
I was embraced by each of the Denali's in turn, Carmen being the last. She whispered into my ear,
"Thank you for completing our family. You will find the Cullen's in Seeley Lake, Montana. I wish you the best of luck and I hope to see you and la NiƱa soon."
I waved them farewell and ran back through the snow to the hotel. I arrived just after darkness fell and wrote a quick letter to Judith, informing her of the recent developments, then I placed enough cash, plus a hefty tip, into an envelope and handed it in to the reception desk.
I had a newfound sense of life as the snowy scenery of Alaska passed me by as I headed to my new destination. Anchorage was disappearing quickly behind me as my speed increased. The trees were just a green blur as each foot was placed quicker than the last. I felt no anxiousness about finding my long lost family. I couldn't wait to see them all again.
I had just passed Juneau when my baby gave another sharp kick to my ribs. She had never been this distressed before. I slowed down for a while whilst I waited for her to relax. I think my excitement was getting to her. Within another minute I felt another sharp kick which made me stop all together and grab hold of a nearby tree. I stood for a while and waited for my breathing to return to normal.
The pain vanished as quickly as it had come so I started jogging again. I had made it another few miles down the road when the strongest kick of them all brought me to the forest floor in pain. I crawled over to a nearby tree and propped myself up against the trunk and waited patiently for my little one to calm down. She had never done this before so I just hummed what had become our lullaby and reassured myself that she was fine.
I was on my third repeat of our lullaby when I felt something wet on my leg. I thought I had sat in a soggy patch when I realised that the forest floor was completely dry. Oh no, my water had broke. It was too early for her to come. I still had another month before she was due. What had happened?
My baby gave me another kick as I doubled over in pain. The time between the kicks was reducing. I came to the conclusion that my baby was coming now and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
Within 20 minutes I was getting a kick every 30 seconds. I had never imagined giving birth like this. To be honest, I hadn't even thought about it but I guess I wanted Edward to be there.
With every kick, I was getting the urge to push and couldn't help myself but complying with what my body wanted. I dug my fingers into the tree as I let out a scream of pain as my baby slowly forced her way out of my body. The forest floor around me was ripped to shreds as I try to share my pain with anything I could get a hold on.
This was torture. My heart was slowly trying to explode out of my chest as I forced my baby out with as much strength as I could muster. I had no idea what I was meant to be doing so I just went on instinct.
The intensity grew worse with every minute and I found myself hallucinating under the strain. I imagined that Carlisle was here encouraging me with every push, telling me when to breathe and when to stop, ensuring my baby was safely delivered. I imagined that Esme was here putting a cold, wet towel on my head to keep me cool under the pressure. I imagined that Rosalie was whispering words of encouragement into my ear, telling me how beautiful my baby would be. I imagined that Emmett would be stood beside Rosalie, cracking jokes at the most inappropriate of times. I imagined that Alice would be on the sidelines, telling me that everything would be fine, telling me how much longer I would have to push. I imagined that Jasper would be sat away from me, supportive all the same, throwing me emotions of calm and strength. I finally imagined Edward holding my hand, sat devotedly beside me as I delivered his child. I could see the love in his eyes and I could hear his utterances of love.
My heart carried on hammering away in my chest, fighting to get my baby out as quickly as possible. I heard someone say 'one last push' before my baby was finally released and started crying on the forest floor.
The faces of my family faded as quickly as they appeared and I realised that I was left alone once again. One thing stopped me from mourning their loss. My baby was crying out for me on the floor of the forest, cold against the night air. I grabbed my bag and wrapped her up in the first jumper I could find.
She was absolutely beautiful. She had bright green eyes, and curly brown hair. Her crying slowed as I held her against my chest and hummed to her. I knew her name in an instant. Elizabeth Jasmine Rose. She was more than I had ever hoped for. My heart started to slow as the relief of the birth passed. I just stared into her bright green eyes as she settled into my arms. I could hear her heart thrumming as she slowly fell asleep in my arms. This was heaven if it even existed. My heart continued to slow as I felt myself fighting to stay conscious. I couldn't give up now, not after all this.
As I cradled my newborn daughter against my chest, my heart beat for its last time and I faded into the oblivion.
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