The Bittersweet © 2017 by Starling Knight. All rights reserved.
Chapter 9 DELIVERED
Edward held me close as we walked down the stairs of the tower. It was late at night and none of the lights were on so I couldn't see if there were other doors, but I knew there were a few other rooms from what I remember of the night he first brought me here.
"Why is it so dark in here?" I asked as I stumbled down the stairs.
"So no one looking in can see inside."
"Mkay...What's in the other rooms?"
"Just dorms. It isn't really a house, at least it used to be."
"Mmm. Are they your father's men?"
"Yes. Usually they're inherited but never free to go. They know too much." Right, they would. But how to-
"...has anyone been killed?"
"No one has tried to leave or snitched or betrayed my father, or me."
"I see." I decided not to pry further. He opened the door and the wrought iron gate on it, and quickly closed it behind us. The paranoia was sort rubbing off on me and I wondered if he was paranoid, and worried for him.
He let go of my waist and grasped my hand, letting me have some space. I took a deep breath in and let it out. It was cool but not cold, and very 'fresh'. I pulled my hand away and stretched, the popping sounds ringing loudly in the silence. I walked around in a large circle around him.
"So we're just just going to walk around the house?" He asked.
"Pretty much. It's all we can do right?" His gaze fell to the ground and I turned back around to walk farther into the clearing the house sat on.
"In this world we have to be closed off from nearly everything but...together we make it." He said.
"Hmm...but you go stir crazy." I sort of joked.
"It's an incubator for extreme behavior." I thought seriously for a moment then returned to his side.
"I like crazy, and you haven't seen anything yet," I teased.
"Oh, really?" He asked with a smirk.
"Mm-hm. What was that?" I asked when I heard some rustling. Edward glanced to where I looked before relaxing.
"It's just my men keeping watch."
We walked for a bit, swinging hands between us.
"So what have you been up to?"
"You know I can't tell you that."
"Yes, you can. You just don't want to. Next time you go on one of your little trips, I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"Yes, I am."
"No. You're not."
"Yes. I. Am." He stopped us and grabbed my shoulders.
"I don't want you to come," I stared back into his eyes just as intensely, already thinking of hiding in the trunk or something.
"And don't you dare do something crazy." He adds, backing off. "I highly doubt you want to see me recruit innocent people for fucked up lives of addiction."
"You made a deal,"
"To keep you in the know. Never did you say coming with me was included."
"Should've read the fine print. But in all seriousness, aren't you more than well off? It wouldn't hurt you if you stopped. You can get a place somewhere and start over, get a real job, and...and-"
"And?"
"U-um... I don't know. Whatever you want."
"With you?"
"I…really?" We only met five days ago!
"Would you?"
"When…we get rid off Volturi. We have to frame them for kidnapping me or something."
"Whoa,"
"And then you'll be home free, right?"
"I'm not sure. You're diabolical," He laughed.
"I'm serious, they're worse right? So we'd be doing a good thing."
"Let me figure it out." He said.
"What have they been up to,"
"Basically combing the streets for you. James…he moves around a lot but he's somewhere in the area."
"Hmm…how far or close is the FBI?"
"Well…" He looked at me like he was trying to decipher something.
"I'd rather they weren't around at all but I'm glad they're protecting your family."
"Would Voturi use my family against me? Could he?"
"Yes and…yes, your uncles could. But with the FBI so close to them, it's a risk even for them."
"Alright. Don't forget, keep me up to date okay?"
"I don't know why you insist-"
"I don't know why you insist on going at it alone! Fuck Edward...I refuse to live in that tower for the rest of my life hoping that Volturi doesn't barge in there and kill all of us,"
"He-It isn't so simple,"
"I know it isn't, I know it's going to take time, but I need to know how close we are to-to..." My going home, or us being together? I tried to put the two together, but it wouldn't click.
"To what."
"I don't know, we'll figure it out when we get there. Please Edward-"
"If I knew anything I would tell you, but I don't. I. Don't." He huffed.
"What?"
"I don't have a clue about anything, I'm-we're blind." He rubbed his face and pulled his hair to the side. He looked like a kid trying to do all of this on his own, take care of what's been thrown onto him. Exactly like that. Fuck me.
"Um…no worries. We'll…figure it out, we will." I rubbed his arm, trying to rub some comfort into him. "We could…lead them to me and take them out?" I thought out loud.
"The FBI could get a whiff of you too."
"Lead them to the FBI?"
"How?" He got me there. I patted his arm and nudged him to keep walking. "I was thinking of bringing Jasper here, he's studying psychology and-"
"What?"
"I worry about you and how you're handling-"
"I'm fine." I deadpanned.
"That's what's worrying me. I don't know how you're handling all this, I can't read you at all."
"I'm fine." I said with a slightly wavering voice.
"Do you think you're going slowly insane in the tower?"
"By myself, heck yeah. That'll change when I get back to school though." He suddenly chuckled.
"In a way, well technically, I'll be seeing you off to your first day at school." I grinned at that.
"Ha! So when are we going back to school shopping daddy?" I said in my best little girl's voice and clutched his arm. He trapped me in his arms and held me tightly, burrowing his face in my neck.
"Thank goodness I'm not your father." He said wickedly. I blushed hard.
"You naughty boy." I said, and smacked his ass.
We sat down on the grass and got to know each other better. I had zero idea how this would end, but one thing's for sure, Edward Cullen will be the death of me. Second, I was falling for him if I hadn't already. The problem was that he already loved me even though he hadn't said it yet technically, and I was still fighting him even though I agreed to try.
We probably spent an hour outside when Jacob came with a package in his hand.
"Edward, the package's here." He handed Edward a cardboard box.
"Great. It's your uniform," He said with a smile.
"You naughty boy. I know what you're thinking, I see you," I teased, though I was uber excited to see what was inside myself.
I struggled to open it and he easily tore it apart, and gave me the box inside of it. The white garment box somehow made it with it's sharp edges and had the school's crest in red ink in the center of the cover. The uniform was wrapped in white tissue paper with a red ribbon tied in a bow, and not a plastic bow but one of ribbon and tied by hand. Tucked under it was a letter sealed with red wax and a stamped with the school's crest. I felt like I was accepted at Hogwarts.
After opening it carefully, I was faced with the perfect red blazer and gold embroidered crest on it's breast pocket. Edward took the letter from under my arm.
"I would like to personally congratulate you upon your entry to Crimson Rose Academy, the most prestigious educational institute in the east coast. I hope you enjoy your experience and believe you can flourish intellectually here. I look forward to welcoming you at the door on the tenth of January. Best regards, Principal Gilliard Ainsworth of Crimson Rose Academy-
"This is awesome!" I shouted, and modeled the blazer.
"It's a perfect fit," Edward commented who had a matching smile.
"Eeeek!" I cried.
"Check what's inside the pocket," I took out the folded papers in the blazer's inner pocket. I skimmed them and found it was my schedule, supplies list, and the school's rules of conduct.
"Culinary class, hospitality…physics, what? Edward, what did you do?"
"Don't worry, I know you'll do well."
"Yeah, but I'm not Einstein or whatever. Piano?"
"I don't have one here to teach you myself but I thought you'd like to learn."
"True. Micro-biology, Concepts of Art in History, dang…" I shook my head and moved on. "Rules: No foul language, No inappropriate behavior which includes sexually offensive and aggressive-shiiIIT!"
"ah-ah, no foul language. That was rule number one." I shoved him and he took me down and initiated a tickle fest.
"Detention! Suspension! EXPULSION!"
I didn't have class until the end of the week so I was still stuck in the tower but Edward would spend the evenings with me. We'd dance in kitchen while cooking, watch movies whilst making out on the couch plus have afternoon walks. He stuck to his promise and responded with full transparency when I asked how work was.
"Some of my customers aren't happy I contacted their family and got them into rehab, although I did pay for it." I turned and looked at him in confusion.
"You were right. I can find something else. I will do whatever it takes if it means our chances of having a future together are better. Besides, I don't want our children to grow up like I did."
"Children?"
"Not now of course. In the future, should you want to..." He stuttered. I snorted.
"Well, alright."
"...would you consider it?"
"Um...yeah." He pulled me under him.
"Really?" He said through a grin. For a moment I thought about how things would be no different if we had children. We'd still be up to no good and he'd still be gentle with me. I thought about having a belly and couldn't deny it was a turn on, to have one because of him.
"Yeah." He kissed me hard.
When we were together, like two magnets, we found each other and had difficulty keeping our hands off of each other. Oftentimes I had to push him away because now wasn't the time to get carried away. I almost loved him but I wasn't sure if I knew what love was considering this was my first experience.
The next few days were the same. Gone all morning, walks in the afternoons, talks at night…It wasn't boring, because he was opening up more to me and I was getting to know him better. He told me stories about the trouble that he, Emmett, and Jasper caused as kids. Those were the best.
"One time, we made an overly complicated plan to get the cookies that were still in the oven and bring them into the tree house in the backyard of the Masen estate that our Dads built for us." He proceeded to get a paper and pen from the coffee table to draw it out. He actually had to draw it out!
"So Emmett was the distraction, Jasper was the look out and I was the thief. In my house you could get into the kitchen from three different rooms, the backyard, the living room, and the dining room. Emmett went into the living room and tried to to do a strip tease in front of everyone but mostly for my mom, it was a 'Stacy's mom' thing." I laughed.
"Jasper was in the doorway. He was the sacrificial lamb because he had to watch. My job was to come out of the dining room, barrel roll to the back of the counter that was in full view from the doorway so if an adult turned, they would see. Ergo, the distraction. Then I was to take the tray out using mitts, then run like hell into the yard. Then I had to somehow get into the tree house using the rope ladder while holding the tray with an oven mitt. And it was heavy so that part felt like a "do or die" kind of thing. I made it though." He said proudly.
"Jasper had to go get the carton of milk all suave. My parents raised me to use cups at all times but it was too much trouble and we would be found out so that was skipped. It's a great memory, drinking from the carton, eating fresh out of the oven cookies up in our tree house, with no one the wiser.
Our parents found out of course but they were okay with it in the end. 'Now I know who to protect my Queen from.' My dad joked. We often played chess and he taught me all his tricks. That made me think that when I grew up and I found my Princess, I would protect her from anyone even if it had to be my best friend. "
"Awww. Well, you don't have to worry about that. Emmett and Jasper are like fellow bros and Jake? Sort of in between brother and friend. Expect no trouble."
"Yeah, Jacob's great. He helped out a lot in this so he's like a partner."
"Like Bonny and Clyde?" I asked, insinuating that I had a rival.
"No!"
"Heh heh..."
Soon it was my first day of school and Jacob was there dressed like a chauffeur. Edward wanted to make me a big breakfast but I told him that I didn't think it would be a good idea. I was easily car sick. I was left alone in the tower to get dress which almost took forever, putting on the shirt, skirt, knee high socks, leather lace-up boots, then a vest with six buttons and a blazer on top, and tie the cravat around my neck. I needed Edward's help with that.
The clothes felt expensive and, well, they were very nice. Much nicer than what I ever had. It was a slow reveal, walking down the stairs, for Edward and Jacob. Jake wolf whistled and Edward elbowed him playfully. Feeling happier and more energized, I did a twirl and curtsied.
"Do I look like a lady?" I asked, and batted my eyes.
"You look beautiful." Edward said.
"Th-thanks." I said blushing.
"You look hot!" Jacob shouted. Edward looked at him amusedly.
"I try." I said fanning myself.
"Skirt's a bit short. Be careful." Edward said. Jacob moved on to start the car.
"Well, I've got a lot of junk in the trunk."
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked seriously.
"Yeah. I shouldn't run into any trouble there." What could I possibly get into?
Edward handed me my leather school bag he bought along with my boots. "Be safe,"
"You too." We hugged again.
"C'mon already!" Jake shouted.
"Who's first day of school is it? Your's or mine?" I shouted. Edward walked me to the car, our hands still linked. It was hard to let go but I tried to keep it upbeat.
He held the door open for me then closed it behind me, stepping back to let the car pass. And we were off. We got out of the forest and into town then out into the wilderness again.
"Hey Jake, where are we?" He looked at me through the rear view mirror.
"The Adirondacks." Oh my god…I'm so far!
After a while, we passed the Academy's direction sign and Jacob stopped in between the sign and the actual entrance.
"I got what you asked for," He reached above him and took out a thick paper. "Here." I took it and sat back. It was Aro Volturi and-
"That woman, is your birth mother."
Aro Volturi and Sulpicia were pale like I was, I guess now I know who to blame. Aro had deep lines that casted shadows on his face in a strange way. He looked terrifying. Like a man who'd kill your family. And Sulpicia... she looked like a cold-hearted bitch, but she was beautiful.
"I know no one is supposed to judge by appearances but…"
"They're as bad as you can imagine Bells. I'm glad you didn't grow up in their hands." Jacob said. I could tell he really meant it.
"Yeah...All thanks to him right? Abandoning me, giving me a better life, albeit on accident, only to bring me into hell." Jacob sat quietly in the driver's seat.
"Fucking hell."
"What?"
"Edward lied."
"What do you mean?"
"He told me I didn't look like him, but I'm the spitting image of Volturi. And you knew it, didn't you?"
"It didn't matter to me because I sensed you were much different when I saw you. Sweet and strong. And not to mention feisty." I laughed.
"Maybe Edward saw that too." I said when I sobered. I stared at the photo for a moment longer before stuffing it into my bag behind my books.
"Ready?" He asked.
"Yeah."
Thank you pamela bellamy1 for following! Thanks all of you for taking the time to read this.
