Yays! I found a way to add Jacon in. But just as friends. Enjoy! (Sorry on the late update last time, so this one is early)
Chapter 8: Goodbye
BPOV
Listen to: Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park
We pulled into the garage just before Emmett and Rosalie, screeching to a halt. Alice and Jasper were already there, sitting in the hood of Alice's Porche.
As soon as I could, I was out of the car and streaking towards Alice. I threw my arms around her, relieved she was safe.
She hugged back, then released me and said, "I know how I know, but how do you?" Emmett and Rose looked at me, waiting for an explanation as well. Carlisle pulled in before I could start and came toward us, concerned.
"What happened, Alice?"
"I wanna know how Bella knew, first." She declared. I was the center of everyone's attention. Again.
I repeated my theory and reasoning.
"Ok. I get it." Said Alice, smiling. "Nice. That'll help."
Now it was Alice's turn to explain.
"I saw the Voluri, but not much else. It was Jane, Alec, and Aro, with a couple of the guard. I have no idea what they want, but I assume it's bad if they're bringing the Twins. I assume I couldn't make out much because of your shield, which is really annoying, but I think they're here for you, Bella." I frowned.
"What are the Voluri?"
"They're basically the royal family of the vampire world," explained Edward, "They are the ones who enforce our rules and keep our existence hidden. Do you have something to do with them?"
"No." Then I remembered. "Well, I don't think I do." Confused looks. "Vance – that's my creator – said something about bringing me to join them. I told him repeatedly I didn't want to leave, but he insisted. He told me that I was created especially for them. He was one of them; a talent scout, but not a usual one. He could feel talents, and could tell when someone didn't have one. He couldn't tell anything about me, so he knew I was probably blocking him. He was ordered to create me to see if I did have any talent, and if I did, to bring me to the Volturi. I refused to go for a month, and then we parted company. I just assumed it was because of the differences in our diets. I didn't think he would go get help to bring me there!" I wanted to hit myself. I was so stupid! Now Edward and Alice, and the entire family was at risk because of me.
"I have to get out of here," I said, not wanting to cause yet more trouble with my presence. "I have to get out of here before they find you guys…I'm so sorry. I didn't think! I was just so happy to find someone like me…"
I curled my hands into fists and ran, ducking my head and running as fast as I could from the garage and the Cullens. I didn't look at Edward, knowing that if I did, I wouldn't be able to leave. And I hadn't even told him I loved him yet. I was such a coward. And now I wouldn't get the chance.
I covered myself with a solid weave, blocking Alice's visions and hopefully whatever Alec and Jane could do as well. I ran to Forks, masking my scent with the over-powering smell of humans, not even paying attention as they brushed against me this time. I didn't realize where I was going until I was standing at the front door.
I was standing in the middle of the porch of my childhood vacation home. Charlie's home.
I looked under the eve for the key; it was there, where it had always been. I used it to open the door, slipping inside and closing the door behind me.
Nothing had changed in the time I had been gone. The wallpaper was still peeling at the corners and the rug hadn't been shook out for years.
Charlie's gun and coat were gone; he was still at work. I wandered through the house, memorizing each surface and comparing it with my human memories.
I went into the living room and looked around. Everything was a mess, as always, but there was something new. I couldn't place my thumb on it for a minute, until I looked closer at the pictures.
There was one of me when I was probably around two, a river in the background and a fish in my hand. I was grimacing, holding the large fish away from me and holding my nose. Next was one of me around five. I was holding up a page that had a really badly drawn cartoon of stickfigures, one labeled Bella, the other Daddy. There was heart in between them and at the bottom it said 'I luv daddy' in big, untidy letters.
The last one was more recent; me with my mom in Pheonix, smiling at the camera. It was taken a couple months before I made the decision to come to Forks. I choked on the tears that wouldn't come.
I turned and walked up the stairs. There was one bathroom and two bedrooms. I followed my memories and walked into my bedroom. It had always been my bedroom. It had been painted when I was one, and it hadn't been redecorated since.
In the corner was an old, beat-up computer that looked like it would barely run. I walked over to the twin sized bed and sat down; it creaked under my weight, betraying its age. I looked around at the room, noting the changes Charlie had made in preparation for me coming. There was a new comforter and a new light, but that was about it. I picked up the Hello Kitty pad I had had since first grade and smiled.
I curled up on my bed and closed my eyes, holding the pad to my chest and cementing all my human memories with my parents. A minute later, I heard the door open and someone come in.
They were trying to sneak up the stairs. I opened the window and jumped out, landing on the grass soundlessly. Charlie had come home.
I closed my eyes and ran again, this time away from Forks.
I stopped when I got to the clearing where I had met Edward. I looked at the spot in the moss where I had laid, remembering his face when he had come out of the shadows.
It had glowed and shimmered. His eyes had been a dark amber, like melted gold. And he had been smiling a little bit.
I chocked again, dropping to my knees with words I hadn't said. He could never know how much I had grown to love him.
I looked at the pad, still clutched in my hand. It was one of the really small ones, the kind that every five year old would carry around in her arms. It was the kind with the little clip-on pen.
I ran away from the clearing, making sure to rub against leaves and tree on my way past to trail my scent. The Voluri would be able to track me away from Forks, but they would never be able to track me through the ocean. I headed for the coast, trailing my fingers over the plants.
EPOV
Listen to: All We are by Matt Nathanson
Suddenly Bella was gone. She tore through the garage and out through the door. I ran after her, yelling "No!" over and over. But she was gone. She had run faster than I could; using her newborn strength.
I found myself alone in the forest, following her floral scent. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett caught up to me fast.
"She's gone," said Alice, panicking. This had been her vision; the part she hadn't been able to see. "I can't find her in my visions anywhere." She choked on the last word, wanting to cry but being unable to.
We tracked her scent all the way to town. There her scent was everywhere. Humans walking by on the street, and even different corners. We had lost her.
Emmett and Jasper went back to tell Carlisle, but Alice stayed and helped me try to sort through the scents. I checked everything, desperate to find her. Then I found it.
Me and Alice walked up one of the streets and followed the smell to a house. It was old, but that only made it better. We walked up the steps and tried the doorknob; it was unlocked. Bella had been here.
We walked into the hall, following the scent to the living room. There were pictures everywhere of the same little girl: Bella. She had always been beautiful; in every picture she was smiling, or faking a grimace. There was one that had to be very recent. It was of her and a woman, smiling with a cactus in the background. It was Bella with her mother, I assumed. This must be her father's house. I looked at the mail on the chair next to the television. Charlie Swan.
I took another sniff; the smell was still really strong. She had been here a minute ago. I cautiously crept up the stairs, my breathing speeding, not helping me.
When I got to the room at the end of the hall, no one was there, but the window was open.
I returned to the house, crestfallen. We hadn't found anything, and Alice said the Voluri had caught her scent in Phoenix and they were following it here. They would be here in a couple hours.
"Where would she go?" asked Carlisle, looking towards me. You know her better; what would she do?
"She's already been to her father's house in town," I sighed. "I have no idea where she'll go next. Perhaps to her mother's."
"Her father lives in town?" asked Carlisle, surprised.
"That's why she came here. She was supposed to come spend a couple months with him before…well, you know." I looked down, hating myself for giving her away, but wanting to find her more. I wanted her safe, and in my arms.
Then a thought hit me. "Wait. Maybe…" I didn't finish. I ran.
I arrived at the clearing where I had first seen her.
There, where she had been laying, was a piece of folded paper. It was white, and ripped in half. I picked it up, unfolding it.
I love you. - Bella
I chocked at the sight of the words I hadn't been able to say myself.
My family found me like that, kneeling and staring at the note. Jasper didn't ask; he knew what I was feeling. Instead, he looked around.
"There's a strong scent this way!" he cried, pulling me out of my reverie. I stood up, immediately taking off in the direction of the scent. I ran as fast as I had ever run in my life, and then stopped.
I was at the treaty line that had been drawn over half a century before. The line I was forbidden to cross under pain of death. I stared in horror in the direction Bella had gone. Carlisle caught up to me first. In seconds his face mirrored mine. If we didn't find Bella first, she would die.
Next Chapter: Jacob Black
