A/N: I own nothing and BellesYellowRose beta'd. There is a warning for this chapter because it involves an attempted assault and violence. Compared to other stories I've read it's not that bad. However, if this is something you can't read feel free to PM me and I'll give you a rundown of what happened.
A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it - Unknown
Friday, September 13, 2002
Twenty-One Years Old
The Second Terrible Day
Edwards POV
I jerked awake. I must have been dreaming because my heart was pounding in my chest so loud I'm surprised it didn't wake Bella. I turned my gaze to her in our bed, she was sleeping soundly. The clock beside my bed said 5:30, much too early to be awake. I plopped back down against my pillow and rubbed my face roughly with my hands.
Today wasn't like my last terrible day not even close. I love my family and I love Jasper like a brother and I wouldn't know what to do if they were gone. Believe me when I say though, that if anything happened to Bella it would be different. The rest of my family I love dearly, if they died it would take a long time to function again. If Bella died though…I might as well die with her. The thought of losing her sends a deep ache through my heart and it hurts.
As a precaution we had checked on Garrett's status at the jail. We were assured he was still locked up tightly. This of course means nothing he could break out today. Something tells me though our business with Garrett is finished; today will be something else entirely.
The last two years being married to Bella was like something out of a dream. We had a terrific honeymoon, just lounging around the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. Eating terrific food, sightseeing, and making love every chance we could. When we returned we settled into our house comfortably, and the undecorated bedroom stayed that way…for now.
Bella's bookstore was thriving and she had an amazing business sense. I wasn't supposed to know, but she had also started an outline for her novel she wanted to write. I had sold twenty-two songs in the past two years and I was becoming well known in the music industry for my work. Artists were now contacting my agent in Seattle to write songs specifically for them. For the last two years Bella and I lived comfortable off our earnings and the interest from my inheritance. Life was pretty spectacular.
Today though, could change everything. We had been discussing for the last two weeks what to do today. Bella wanted to lock ourselves in the house and just do nothing. Since it was her birthday though I wanted to take her to Seattle to do something special. She argued of course, but I just told her it was going to happen regardless. I wasn't hiding, as if that was even possible when destiny was at work. Finally I had worn her down and she agreed to go to Seattle for dinner, then we were staying at the Sorrento Hotel downtown.
I shifted to my side and just stared at Bella for how long I don't even know. I moved closer to her and began trailing my hand down her face than to her neck, and moving down her body to her thigh than back up again. After a few minutes her eyes fluttered open and she gave me a sleepy smile.
"Morning." She said with her voice still laced with sleep. She sounded sultry and sexy.
"Morning love. Happy Birthday."
"Thank you, do I get a birthday kiss?" she smiled.
I leaned forward and kissed her softly on the mouth and trailed down her jaw to her neck.
She moaned softly, "We don't have time for that. We need to leave in an hour."
I pulled back and looked at the clock, she was right.
"Can we at least take a shower together?"
"Of course. We don't have time for any funny business though." she told me as she rose out of bed wearing only one of my shirts.
"I wouldn't think of it Mrs. Cullen." I replied back. When we got out of the shower forty five minutes later both of us satisfied from the shower sex, I made her blush with an 'I told you so.'
After getting dressed we grabbed our bags from the bedroom floor. Half way downstairs we could smell the coffee we definitely had not made. We both looked at each other with a smirk and at the same time said, "Alice."
Walking into the kitchen I started in on Alice, "You know sis, if I knew giving you a key meant you would be here all the time I think I would have thought it out a little better." I was just teasing but I stopped instantly when I looked at her.
There in the kitchen sitting on the counter top was Alice in sweats and one of Jaspers shirts. Now that probably doesn't sound life altering to you. For Alice though to be dressed in anything but full designer attire, it meant something was very wrong.
"Ally," I approached her quickly, "What's wrong? Is Jasper okay? Mom, Dad? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she gave me a weak smile; "We need to talk though."
She looked so small in Jaspers clothes, they swallowed her. Her hair wasn't styled, hell I wasn't even sure she had brushed it. And if the bags under her eyes gave any indication she had slept like shit last night. I poured a cup of coffee for all three of us, and Bella and I leaned against the counter across from Alice. She took a sip and closed her eyes, cupping the mug in her lap with her small hands. I gave her a few minutes to collect herself than asked again.
"Ally?"
"Edward," she began, "I didn't sleep at all last night. I kept getting visions, flashes of what's supposed to happen today. You two cannot under any circumstance go to Seattle today. I'm sorry, by the way Happy Birthday Bella."
"Thanks." she whispered softly.
"Ally, I don't understand what did you see? Has this happened before, I thought your visions didn't keep you awake?"
"They never have before. I mean I've had dreams of things that have come true, but I've never had a vision that won't let me sleep. It was just the same thing, over and over again, like it was playing in my head on a loop.
"What did you see Alice?" Bella asked.
"You and Edward were walking through a parking lot, its dark. You're wearing the clothes I picked out for you to wear for dinner. A guy appears and everything goes black, I can't see what happens. I do know that he's dangerous and he wants to hurt both of you, it's just a feeling I'm getting.
"Did you see him Ally?" I questioned.
"Yeah, I got a good look at him. Six foot two maybe, short blond hair, blue eyes, medium complexion. He was muscular, good looking. Honestly Edward he looked like a nice normal guy, but he's not I can feel it."
"Alice, are you sure we were in Seattle?" Bella asked her.
"Absolutely, I could see the Space Needle behind you in the distance."
"So what are you thinking, sis? If we don't go to Seattle nothing terrible will happen today?"
"That's the conclusion I've come to. I mean Granddad predicted these days but he didn't know that I would have the gift. Maybe I can see them and counteract them. Besides as soon as I decided this morning to come and tell you, the visions just stopped."
"This is great news then Ally, we'll just go to Port Angeles and go to dinner and a movie there. Is that alright with you, Bella?"
"Sure, sounds fine with me."
I walked over and gave Alice a tight hug. "Thanks Ally, why don't you go get some sleep? You seriously need it."
"Shut up Ed, I know I look like crap." She finally smiled at me "Call mom and dad and let them know. I'm going straight back to Jaspers to crash."
"Kay, love you Ally."
"You to, Ed." she gave both Bella and I a hug and left.
"I swear Edward, M. Night Shyamalan knows how to make a movie. I'm going to have nightmares tonight, that alien was freaky as hell. I thought that kid was dead for sure."
"What about when Merrill is in the closet with the TV and he freaks out from seeing the alien at the kids birthday party. That was pretty scary too; maybe we should stay up all night just to be safe. I have the perfect thing to do all night too." I wagged my eyebrows at her and she giggled.
I had my arm around her shoulder as we cut through the alley to the car.
"Swing away Merrill." she hollered. We both broke into laughter and I stopped her halfway down the alley. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against my chest.
"So what kind of person are you?" I questioned, "Do you see signs and miracles, or do people just get lucky? Are there no coincidences?" I kissed her just below her ear.
She looked thoughtful, "Hmm. I don't know which group I am; I do know that whatever it was that brought me you I will be eternally grateful."
I leaned forward and gave her lips a chaste kiss, but Bella wanted more. She deepened it; my hands were sliding down to her ass when I heard movement to my left. I pulled away and looked over, and there he was.
Six foot two, short blond hair, blue eyes. Fuck he was muscular and if I had seen him under normal circumstances I would have thought he was just a normal guy. Alice was right though, this guy wasn't nice and he wasn't normal. I pulled Bella closer then pushed her behind me; I could feel her gripping the back of my shirt tightly.
"Hey man, can I help you?" I tried to be nice.
"Yeah, man you can help me alright. See you owe me some money and since I have taste similar to my father you can give me your wife too."
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm James Smith, and my father is Garrett Smith. You stopped him from getting my money three years ago. Now you need to give it to me plus a hell of a lot of interest. I've been watching you; I followed you when you left the house. I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to approach you. I've been looking into you and your hot ass wife. I know you've got the money I need. I know you can give me more than my dad was asking for. So just give it to me and your wife and I will leave here and we won't bother you again."
"Fuck you, asshole! She's not going anywhere with you!"
"Huh, well Edward we'll see about that."
He stalked up to me and I pushed Bella further behind me. Then he punched me right in the face. Now I take care of myself, I exercise and I'm by no means a weakling. I wasn't a fighter though, and I wasn't as strong as this guy was. He knew what he was doing. He punched me again and again in the face the stomach and ribs. I tried to block him and I even managed to get in a couple of hits to his jaw. Before long though, I was lying on the damp concrete groaning and unable to move. At one point I think I might have blacked out for a minute because when I came too. I heard the sound of clothing ripping, than a 'Fuck yes' come from James.
It took everything I had but I rolled myself over toward where I heard him and what I saw caused me to take in a painful gasp. Bella was lying on the ground with James straddling her hips. Her shirt was torn open and he was working on getting the button of her jeans open. Bella was struggling and hitting him, but her small fists and struggles were no match for the man three times her size. I tried to get up but I couldn't, I fought through the pain and struggled to pull my chest off the ground.
Then all hell broke loose. James moved off of Bella to pull her jeans down which gave her the perfect opportunity to knee him right in the junk, which she quickly did.
That's my girl.
He recovered quicker than he should have, then pulled his fist back and hit my wife right in the face. That was all it took, I was up on my feet quicker than I knew I was able and pulled him off of her and threw him on the ground. All I could do was start kicking him in the side than the back once he rolled over. By some miracle someone heard us and started running down the alley yelling. James launched himself quickly to his feet and took off running in the opposite direction. I should have chased after him, but Bella was far more important. I kneeled next to where she was sitting with her shirt pulled together tightly across her chest. I wrapped her in my arms while she cried and I rubbed her back.
The man who came down the alley took one look at us and pulled out his cell phone and called the police. Pulling the mouthpiece away he asked us if we were alright.
How the hell was I supposed to answer that?
We were alive yes, but no we were not alright. Seeing two people get shot in that bank three years ago had given me nightmares for a long time. Seeing what my wife had just gone through. What could have happened to her if I had blacked out for longer than I had would haunt my dreams forever.
Before long the police and an ambulance had arrived. I insisted they check out Bella first. While she was in the ambulance I gave the officer a quick run-down of everything that had happened. Including everything that had happened at the bank three years ago. An APB was put out for James and as a courtesy they insisted on calling Bella's father. I quickly called my father and asked him to meet us at the hospital.
An hour later when we pulled into Forks General everyone was waiting for us. Charlie and Emmett were in full uniform, he had joined the force right after graduation. A teary Alice, Jasper, and my mom and dad waited at the door. I insisted on walking into the hospital on my own two feet and I had Bella tucked firmly under my arm. At this point the only words I had heard her say was in the ambulance asking if I was okay. Even with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders she was still shaking, and I doubted it was from being cold.
Everyone followed us in and my dad started giving orders, I insisted we be put in the same exam room. Like hell if I was leaving Bella's side any time in the immediate future. Before I could even ask him Carlisle checked Bella's face quickly but thoroughly insisting that nothing was broken but she would have a nasty bruise for a while. He called the nurse to give her some extra strength Tylenol, than he turned to me. Nothing was broken on my face, but it was already swelling and bruising. I also had a laceration on my forehead that would need stitches. My chest was covered in bruises and he insisted that two of my right ribs were fractured. I was also given some pain reliever, and he taped my ribs up than stitched up my forehead.
Alice had brought Bella and I one of Jaspers clean shirts, and insisted that she and Jasper were staying with us at our house for a few days to help out. It was already after midnight so any danger that today had poised was over. I could see that her guilt was overwhelming her though, and if staying with us helped lessen it than it was okay with me.
"Edward, Bella," Alice said softly once we were all alone, "I'm so sorry I was wrong."
She broke down crying and I pulled her into my and Bella's waiting arms. "You didn't know Ally; it's not your fault."
"Yes, it is. I should have seen something; I should have been able to stop it…"
"No Ally, that's enough. This is not your fault, you did nothing wrong." Jasper's came into the room pulling Alice to him.
"Ally baby, if we're staying at Ed and Bella's house we need to go pack a bag."
"We'll talk about this later Ally," I told her, "remember what I said."
She nodded her head and left the room leaving Bella and I alone. She was still sitting on the hospital bed and I pushed her legs apart and stood in between them.
"Love, are you alright?" she nodded her head yes but wouldn't look at me. I put my fingers under her chin and pulled her head up to face me.
Her left eye was swollen and beginning to turn an ugly shade of purple. She had scars on the inside though, ones that couldn't be seen.
"Love, are you gonna be okay?"
She started to cry and I put my arms around her pressing her into me. "Shhh, everything's okay now."
After a few minutes' her crying subsided and she looked up at me. "I tried so hard to get him off of me Edward. Nothing worked everything my dad taught me, nothing worked. I felt so weak, and I hate feeling like that."
"Hey, you're not weak. You are the strongest person I know. I was so scared I wasn't going to be able to get to you in time, I love you so much Bella."
"I love you, too."
"Let's go home."
"Okay." she sniffed
The weekend was spent resting on the couch with Bella beside me. Alice and Jasper took care of the cleaning up and just spent time with us. My mom and Rose had been alternating bringing food and on Sunday afternoon my dad stopped by to give me refills for pain meds and to check my ribs. To say they hurt would be an understatement. It hurt to move, it hurt to breath, it hurt to sleep, hell just sitting hurt.
I'm luckier than most though, since I was self-employed I was able to take as much time off as I needed to. Alice had already called Angela who had been working at the bookstore for the last year. She had agreed to take over Bella's duties for as long as she was needed. It was nice to have friends and family who loved us and took care of us.
On Monday morning when Charlie stopped by Bella and I were curled up on the couch watching Friends reruns on TV with a blanket and a bowl of popcorn. As soon as he sat down I could tell this was in a business capacity.
"So, apparently this James fellow was staying at a motel in Port Angeles. From what we've been able to find he owes a lot of money to a lot of different bad guys. Seems he has a bad drug and gambling problem, has had for years from what we can tell. The whole 'money for college' line he gave his dad three years ago was bull. The guy never even graduated from high school, and his mother said she hasn't seen or spoken to him since he took off when he was seventeen."
"Are you any closer to finding him, Dad?"
"No Bells, though the police in Tacoma recovered his car there. After that he either left on foot or had access to another car, nothing has been reported missing. We did find some items of interest in his hotel room though." He hesitated
"What Charlie? What did you find?"
"Apparently this guy has been watching the both of you for a few months now. I'm assuming he followed you to Port Angeles on Friday. I don't know how he got them, but your bank statements were in his room plus a complete rundown of your daily schedules. There were also a lot of pictures of the both of you. Bella in the bookstore, both of you in your cars, leaving the house, stuff like that. There uh…was also one of Bells that was taken through the bedroom window. She uh…was getting dressed."
"What!" Bella's eyes widened.
"You weren't naked Bells," he held up his hands, "you were mostly dressed and just putting your shirt on. I know it's still an invasion of privacy but it could have been a lot worse. Right now the problem is that I can't use my guys to keep an eye on the house 24/7 anymore. They're going to make random drive by's as a favor to me, but that's all I can do at this point. So I have some suggestions for the both of you.
"I'll do anything Charlie." He gave me a sad smile.
"I know you will son. First get an alarm and use it religiously, make sure it has panic buttons installed though out the house. Secondly put some heavier drapes on the bedroom windows and keep them closed. Bells, I want you to take a self-defense course. I know what I taught you didn't help much since you couldn't reach his face, and that's what we focused on. An instructor will teach you more moves and help give you your confidence back. You also stopped carrying your pepper spray, start keeping it in your purse with you." he hesitated.
"What is it dad?"
"I uh…also think you should buy a couple of guns. Bells I know you can use 'em and Emmett and I would be happy to teach Edward. I just think with three more terrible days to come its better safe than sorry." he sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. He looked older than he did on Friday.
Bella and I had sat down with Charlie, Emmett and Rose last year and explained everything to them. We felt having Charlie and Emmett on the police force it would be beneficial for them to have a heads up if we needed them on these specific days. Rose was included because we knew as Emmett's wife he would have told her anyway. This way we could explain it right and answer her questions too.
Surprisingly it was Rose who had the most problems believing us. She didn't think we were lying, she just felt it was just a coincidence up to that point. At the hospital though she had admitted that she was wrong, and she would do anything to help if we needed her.
"Charlie," I took my arm off Bella and leaned forward to look him right in the eye, "I will do whatever it takes to keep Bella safe. I'll buy whatever guns you want me to, I also want Emmett to start helping me with strength training and fighting skills. If he shows up again I refuse to not be fully prepared for him."
Charlie gave a quick nod, "Okay son then we're all done here. I'll talk to Emmett and we'll start getting everything set up for you guys. This is also the number for a guy I know he'll install the alarm for you." passing me a business card.
"I'll call him now if you want to visit with Bella." Charlie nodded yes again and I went to my office to make the call. If anything my second terrible day had taught me two things.
One, that Alice's visions were subjective. Just because you take a different road doesn't mean you won't still cross the same fate planned for you. Two, was that whatever was coming next, I was doing everything possible to prepare for it. If James came back, I would be ready.
