***Important info: I (Kasi) accidently posted the uncorrected chapters, so please note Tanya was the third killed and her name and initials were put into the story incorrectly. TER not TAR and Tanya Emma Reed not Tanya Anna Reed. I'm sorry to have messed this up and with so much going on with we both overlooked my mess up.***
Chapter 8
Feeling someone touch me, I look up as the television clicks off.
"Bella, you need to take deep breaths."
My eyes move to Professor McAvoy as he stares at me.
"Just breathe, nice and slow," he repeats.
"That's three girls now," I say looking at him.
"I know; it's exciting, isn't it?"
Covering my mouth, I gasp at his unusual choice of words about the situation. "What?" I yell as I recover from the shock of his words and he looks at me with an ashen face.
"Sorry, wrong choice of words."
Snorting at him, I shake my head and he makes a small shrug.
"Bella, I'm sorry; it's just this has been my life for over thirty years. I can't help but find the criminal mind in general and specifically serial killers fascinating."
"I don't see how killing young women is fascinating, how can you?" I yell moving away from him.
"The victims have all been whores, Bella. They made the wrong choices in life and how to make a living."
"My sister was not a whore!" I hiss out at him.
Something in his head must have clicked as his face turns white as he starts to stutter. "I'm sorry," he manages to get out. "Why don't we work on the profile?" he carries on as he moves away from me.
McAvoy starts writing things down when the door bursts open and my dad hobbles in.
"Bella," he says looking at Professor McAvoy.
"Mr. Swan, I'm one of Bella's professors," McAvoy says jumping up with an outstretched hand. "I'm helping with her investigation," he carries on cheerfully.
"Oh well, err, I need to have a private word with her so if you can leave it for today that would be good," my dad says without shaking the professor's hand as he opens the front door.
McAvoy nods, picking up his notebook and walks out giving me a smile and a wave.
After Dad closes the door, he turns to me and says, "In my day, a professor being in a student's home would've been frowned upon."
Bobbing my head, I feel a little more relaxed now that he's gone.
"Bella, maybe you should sit down," he says and I shake my head at him.
"I heard the news, it was on the television already," I say flatly.
My dad sighs and flops down on the sofa.
"Where was she found?" I ask, knowing he already has the answer.
"Out of town, but she's from here. She works in the same area where Maria was found."
"Tanya," I whisper as my mind goes back to the first time I went to the place where my sister was found with Edward.
Edward, my mind echoes.
"I need to go," I say leaping up and out the door.
Needing to go, I don't even stop when I hear my father's voice as I run out of the house.
Pulling up outside of Edward's shop, I see the place is locked up. Hoping he is here, I bang on his door. It feels as if I have been standing outside his door looking up at his apartment over the shop for a long time. Stepping forward and refusing to give up, I raise my hand to beat on the door again just as it opens. Looking up and seeing the haunted look in Edward's face, I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him closely to me.
"Bella," he says softly.
"I'm sorry, I just heard," I whisper out trying hard to keep my sobs at bay. Somehow, I know I need to be here for him.
"Heard what?" Edward asks looking at me confused.
"About Tanya," I say pulling my brows together as he keeps looking at me. There's suddenly a voice inside my head telling me he must not know. Closing my eyes, I let out a deep breath. I've never had to tell another person someone they know has passed away, let alone been murdered. Standing here on Edward's doorstep, a large part of me isn't sure I can do it.
"Hey," he shushes me and pulls me back into his arms. My body relaxes a little as I feel his hand run up and down my arm.
"I'm sorry," I sob out this time. "I thought you knew about Tanya with her being on the news." Carrying on, I try hard to hold myself together, but he interrupts me.
"Bella, I know Tanya is dead. I just don't understand why you're telling me you're sorry."
Silenced by his words, I just look at him. "You and her ... weren't you?"
Edward shakes his head. "She didn't mean anything to me." Edward's words come out sounding harsh and unfeeling and I move back a little from him.
"Fuck," Edward hisses out. "Bella, I know most of the street workers and people by their first names. I lived there for three years myself, remember? Most of the wh ... hookers would approach me every time I was there. I never slept with any of them. As for Tanya, where I'm saddened she has been killed, the only feeling I had for her when she was alive was annoyance."
My standing here and looking at him makes him sigh.
"I'm not a person that bitches and moans about someone when they're alive only to act like we were best friends when they die. Will I miss her? No, absolutely not, because she wasn't a part of my life. Am I sad that she was brutally killed? Yes, but I would feel that way for anyone, if I had read it in the paper." He stops talking and looks away from me. When he starts talking again, his voice has dropped to a whisper. "This is who I am, Bella."
Taking a deep breath, I rub his arm with my hand. "I know and I'm sorry. I just assumed there was something between you two. I know how I felt—so numb—when I heard about Maria. I didn't want you to be alone."
Knowing he doesn't need me as I had previously thought, I go to move away only to have Edward pull me back and hold me.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't stop to think how this must be for you." For the first time, Edward's voice is filled with emotion.
"It isn't getting any easier, I miss her so much." As the words come out of my mouth, I find myself breaking down, yet again.
Edward lifts and carries me inside. He holds me in his arms whispering soothing words as his hand runs through my hair. After a while, I stop sobbing finding my eyes locked with his.
"Why didn't she ever talk about you?" I ask as my hand moves to the top of his head touching his soft hair.
Edward looks to be in deep thought and I lay my head on his chest. Somehow, I know the closeness will help him.
"We weren't the best of friends. When I was on the street, she would bring me food and check me over. She would babble on as she was doing it," Edward chuckles a little. "As you know, I am not much of a talker, and I don't think she liked the quietness."
Smiling, I nod my head, knowing my sister hated not having someone to talk to. Needing to talk and converse is one thing my dad and Maria shared. If someone was in the room, they had to fill it with chatter. Me on the other hand, I can go hours without talking and be perfectly comfortable.
"After the whole thing with you, I saw her more often. I even ended up going with her when she was performing medical checks on people. She did that while I would cut a person's hair and give them a shave if they needed it."
Silently, I ponder why he wasn't with her that night. Maybe if he had been, she would still be alive.
Edward clears his throat as he seems to read my inner questions through my body language. "That was until she and Jasper started dating."
Unsure of what he's talking about, again it's like he has read my thoughts.
"He wasn't happy that she was spending time with me. He got it in his head that I had feelings for her," Edward says sounding as if he was angered by the thought.
"Did you?" I ask my heart pounding, and a feeling of dread seems to wash over me.
"No," Edward says stroking my hair, calming me.
There's a small wave of relief that fills me, but soon washes away with guilt as my mind starts to question the feelings stirring inside of me that I am beginning to have for Edward.
"Bella, I didn't see her like that. I wasn't even attracted to her. Sure, I was grateful that she stopped and helped the people down there. There was a kindness about her; she wanted to help people, but that's all it was. Anyway, by the time she and Jasper hooked up, my eyes were firmly on another."
I nod my head in understanding, yet hate that his last words seem to have sent a wave of jealousy over me.
"Jasper seemed to think it was impossible for a man to be around Maria without wanting to fuck her," Edward says and I feel him shaking his head. "No matter what I said, he'd never give up." Maria never told him our history."
Lifting my head, I just look at him. He shrugs as if to say he still doesn't get it.
"Jasper was getting into a huff so much that I pulled back from her. I hadn't seen her for almost six months before she was killed. A part of me still feels like it's my fault."
Sitting up more, I see the tears running down his face.
"I should have told Jasper to fuck off, that he was the one in the wrong, not me. If I had, she would've called me before going down there. She would still be alive."
Shaking my head, I feel like I'm going to explode. Something isn't right; I have never seen Jasper even a little jealous of Maria talking to another guy.
"You don't believe me," Edward says harshly for the first time.
Knowing this is more of a defensive reaction for him than it is true offense, I don't take it personally or move away from him.
"It's not that. Its just that I've never seen Jasper act jealous and Maria never said anything about him being that way." Keeping my arm around him as I talk, I feel reassured by his closeness. "But I know people can be one person in private and then a different person in public."
Edward let out a shaky breath. "Well, I think it was my fault. When I found out they were dating, I was pissed off at both of them. He may have mistaken my anger for jealousy."
"Why were you angry?" I ask finding it odd for him to feel that way if he had had no romantic feelings for Maria.
"You liked ... like him and they both knew how you felt, yet never once kept that in mind when they decided to be with each other."
Looking at the ground, I feel humiliated knowing he knew how I felt about Jasper. Even more than that, I feel mortified as it seems Jasper was aware too.
"They fell in love," I mutter trying hard to justify what went down.
"Maybe so, but still they never took your feelings into account. Jasper would moan and complain that you weren't talking to him the way you used to. Maria would just laugh it off. I lost it with both of them, and starting yelling. Now looking back, I can see how he may have thought I was in love with Maria."
Shaking my head, I have no idea what went down with them. "I wish she had talked about you," I say smiling at him as he nods and pats my back.
"She talked about you all the time," Edward grins out at me. "She told me so much, I feel like I almost know you more than I did her." He starts chuckling "So Nathan Fillion?" He questions and I feel my heart start to race, as he keeps that damn smirk in place.
"Yeah," I say shaking my head in embarrassment.
"Bella, he's like fifty," Edward carries on.
"He's forty-four, and he super sexy and has a smile and hair that makes me ..." I stop when Edward raises his brow at me.
"Aren't young girls like you supposed to go googly eyed over younger movie stars and musicians?"
"He was in a movie," I say smugly.
"He was?" He asks and I look at him in shock.
"Yeah, Serenity which is the best movie of all time."
Edward just keeps looking at me.
"Firefly?" I say questioningly.
Edward shakes his head.
"Oh God this is a crime," I mock with a happy smile. "I need to school you in how to be a brown coat." "Brown coat?"
Raising my brow, I look back at him. "Stay here, I'll be back. We can watch Firefly and then Serenity," I say with glee.
"Err, Bella, it's a little late, I'm not sure if I can watch an hour of a TV series."
"It's only one series, thirteen episodes, it's not that long. Damn it Fox, WHY?" I yell out still feeling pissed they canceled it. Those fuckers! "I'll run home to get the DVDs and grab a pizza on the way back."
Driving home, I call and order the pizza before running into my house. "Hey, Dad, I am hanging out at Edward's. I'm going to school him on how to be a brown coat."
"Okay," he says with a chuckle. "You know not everyone likes Firefly." I look up at him narrowing my eyes.
"Hush now, old man. You gonna be okay here tonight by yourself?" I ask as I hold the DVD box set of Firefly and the Serenity in my hands.
"Yes I'll be fine, Bella, besides I already had a few of the guys coming over tonight to play poker."
Nodding at him, I quickly kiss his cheek and run out to my car.
I stop and pick up the pizza, breadsticks and wings I had ordered. Making one more stop at the convenience store, I grab a six-pack of beer before heading back to Edward's. When I walk to his door, he already has it open for me.
Edward and I settle down and I put in the first episode. "Just so you know, I totally ship Mal with River, so if I make a face at Inara you know why."
Edward just looks at me and I shrug looking back to the television. We're only halfway through the season when we take a break to straighten out our legs, and use the bathroom.
Joining Edward in the kitchen, I make more snacks while he makes coffee.
"Okay, I can see Mal and Inara have something weird going on, but him and River? I mean she's seventeen, he's what, forty?
Rolling my eyes at him, I shake my head. "So you're saying he would be better off with Inara the whore than with River because of her age?"
Edward just gives me a look. "Companion," he sighs out. "But you're right, I don't think Mal would ever be with her while she's giving herself to other men, working or not. I also don't think she would be happy with just Mal, and living out in the black. But ... River?"
"First off, I think he's maybe thirty-five and she's almost eighteen, and they both have this darkness inside of them that the blackness seems to claim. Just watch the rest of the series, but keep in mind the film is where you see it the most." Edward just looks at me shaking his head.
"What is it with girls and shipping characters?"
Shrugging, I pick up the bowl and plate of snacks before walking back into the living room.
As the episodes go by, I find myself moving closer to Edward and hugging him as River talks to Jubal in the episode, Object in Space. This episode never fails to make me cry.
With pure joy, I smile when I feel Edward rub my arm as River lands softly in Mal's open arms.
Just a little later, he pulls a blanket over us as we watch the rest of the episodes.
"Are you ready to watch Serenity?" I ask and Edward smiles looking at his watch.
I know it's really late or early morning, but this is what you do when you have a marathon run.
"Sure, and for the record, I'm glad I have nothing booked at the shop for tomorrow ... uh today," he says with a smile and I clap as I get up to put in the movie.
The movie flies by and I find myself still laughing at the same old jokes. My heart still thumps hard while River is fighting. I still feel sad when I find out what happens on Miranda, despite having seen this movie about twenty times this year alone.
"Okay, I can see that there's something between River and Mal," Edward says. "They have an unspoken bond," he continues and I grin happily, mainly because I'm still unable to convince Jasper.
"Yeah, welcome to the Maliver group," I say yawning because I suddenly feel very tired.
"Come on, it's bedtime," Edward says pulling me up onto my feet.
He walks me into the same guest room I had slept in before. He leaves me on the edge of the bed and takes a step back. "Goodnight, Bella," he says softly looking into my eyes.
"Good night, Edward."
He looks at me and then smiles shaking his head as he walks away.
Sleeping into the early afternoon, I wake up feeling refreshed. After making a light meal and eating with Edward, I leave to head over to see Jasper.
"Hi," I say walking into his apartment. As I look at him, I see that he's giving me a cold stare.
"What's wrong?" I ask worriedly.
"I called you last night."
Frowning, I know I didn't have any missed calls on my cell.
"Charlie said you were with Edward."
Frowning, I pull my eyebrows together not understanding why he's so upset.
"So? He and I are friends." I say and Jasper's face turns to stone.
"Firefly is our thing and you shared it with him," Jasper yells out at me.
My mouth opens but quickly closes.
"That was yours and mine, we watched those episodes and Serenity together, I never watched them with Maria."
"Maria didn't like them," I yell back at him.
"That's not the point. How can we watch them together now? You spoiled it."
Holding up my hand, I hope he stops yelling and acting like this. "Jasper, what is this really about?"
"Nothing! It's not like you care anyway."
"I do care," I tell him as he sits down on the sofa.
"He tried to take Maria away from me, now he's taking you away too. He's not a good person, Bella."
Standing in silence, I find myself in shock. Edward was right, Jasper clearly doesn't like him. After a moment, I decide to try to defuse this issue once and for all.
"He said he didn't have romantic feelings for her," I tell him softly placing my hand on his arm, but he bats it away.
"Yeah sure, and you know he made a living being a male whore, right?"
"What? He cut people's hair, Jasper."
Jasper just shakes his head. "He used to sell himself, Bella. He's had guys' dicks in his ass and that's fucking gross."
I pull back from Jasper because I don't like the way he is acting or what he's saying.
"If that's true—" I start to say, but Jasper's up so fast that I jump and shut up at the same it.
"It is true!"
Holding up my hand, I move to stand right in front of him. "It's not for us to judge, Jasper."
He shakes his head. "You can't sleep with him. Hell, I'd be surprised if his dick still works. I can't believe you are that desperate."
Shaking my head, I back away from him and move to grab the jacket I took off when I walked in.
"Where are you going?" Jasper's voice seems much calmer now, but I still open his door.
"I didn't come over here for you to bitch me out and insult me."
Jasper almost runs to where I'm standing. "Please, Bella, don't go. I was worried, and jealous, I'm sorry."
Unable to help it, I let out a sigh as he gives me a pleading look.
"I thought that was our thing, something only we shared. I just ..." Jasper trails off and looks down. "I've been drinking again. It just fucking hurts so much and I feel so angry. I am sorry I took it out on you, but I don't trust that guy. Bella, he's not a good person, I can feel it.
Jasper kicks the door closed as he pulls me back to the sofa. He wraps himself around me, hugging me to him as he cries. As his tears fall, my own guilt grows inside my chest.
A/N: So Jasper is a little jealous and very possesive. He doesn't seem to like Edward much. The professor is creepy, and even Charlie got that vibe. What did you think of Bella's time alone with Edward?
