There are times when the chapters come flying at me, then there are the ones that come at a slow pace. I hope they are what you expected. I thought I was almost done, but I'm only halfway.

The Game, Blurs, & Stupid Things: Chapter 10

Bella prepared herself mentally for her biggest challenge of her life. She had taken her walks before bed each night, very slowly with her brace on, to let the fresh air push out thoughts of Edward. She kept the known fact of his age, the impossible relationship, & the vow she made to Sunset as key points in her goal to finish her mission.

The ankle brace held her back the first night, her pace faltering, but as each night went on, her step went back to normal. She avoided calling Dr. Cullen, at all, to ask the question about therapeutic exercises. No reminders of Edward allowed, she cautioned herself, and thinking of Dr. Cullen was a reminder. Bella had also tested the walk, no matter how long it took, with the brace off. Her step was almost a skip when she was able to walk without it easily. It delighted her to no end.

Bella had borrowed old binoculars that belonged to Charlie to check out the Cullen house from afar. The directions to the Cullen home was very difficult to find at first, but with much determination, she was able to find it. Along with almost getting lost in the thick forest. Being in the military had many advantages. It taught Bella many things she wouldn't have been able to do if she would have never joined the military at all.

The Cullen home was beautiful and very remote, it seemed. This was good, as it would make her escape easy with the thick forest surrounding the building, the road seemed inaccessible, or at least difficult to find. Which pleased Bella for it would take some time for any help to arrive.

She had preferred if she had a layout of the rooms of the Cullen home. Knowing where the exits and every corner of the house would have made her job easier, but she had done without it before, in other assigments. It would not be difficult. She just had to be careful and stealthy.

If Walter failed in her hour of need, she had planned to use her specially made hairpieces to do the job. Two chopsticks, made out of metal, the pointed end, filled with poison that would not be traced in an autopsy. The blunt end, opened up to a sharp spear. She remembered the "death points" of the body that would help aid her victims do die quicker, if she had hit them precisely.

Two nights before the game in Seattle, Bella had ran through the forest agilely. Her ankle and foot was back to normal. She was ready.

* * *

Every night, as Bella took her walks, Edward watched her from the height of the trees, making sure he was unseen. Her ankle was back to full capacity, more quickly than he estimated. The hope for another accidental meeting never happened. Bella made sure she wouldn't bump into him at all. When she did see him from a distance, she turned the opposite direction and quickly made her escape.

There were times when he wondered if Alice's vision was true, if she was in love with him. The doubts ate at him for days until that one day she had seen him across the street from the hunting store she just came from. Edward had waved and she ignored it and looked away. He knew that there was still hope as her blushing face gave her away. Bella was fighting her emotions, he could tell.

Another moment he knew there was hope was when she went on one of her walks. She was walking leisurely and slowed to a stop. Her arm had rested against a tall tree, the tree he was hiding in from the top. Bella's head leaned against her forearm and she sat silent for minutes, finally mouthing out into a whisper, "Get out of my head, Edward." The cold air had froze her warm breath as she sighed.

Don't fight it, Bella.

That was the night she started to run. The adrenaline that rushed within her made Edward tense, her scent being the strongest. He had no idea that it could be even more dangerous than it already was.

Still, Edward kept his distance. He would wait. Wait till she would come to him. Hopefully that moment when he would be able to see her deep chocolate brown eyes up close again would come soon.

* * *

"Bella! Are you ready yet?"

"I'm coming!" she called from her door upstairs.

She grabbed her sunglasses she just purchased yesterday and headed downstairs in sonic speed.

"Let's go. I want to get a good parking spot."

"We are arriving 2 hours early! Of course, we'll get good parking."

Excitement emanated from Charlie. The game was in two hours and he was practically driving Bella crazy. She had expected it though. She smiled as she glanced up to see a cheesy grin upon his face. He looked like a little kid getting a new toy for Christmas.

"I'm glad that your ankle is better. I didn't want to carry you all the way to our seats."

"Hey!"

Charlie chuckled.

"Don't laugh, Dad. Now that I'm not crippled anymore, I could beat you to our seats."

"We'll see about that. You want to drive?"

"Yeah, if you drive, we won't get there in 2 hours, we'll get there in 4."

"Well, if you wanna drive...then you'll have to beat me to the driver's seat." Charlie said in a hurry before he took off quickly to run out the front door.

Bella's eyes widened in a "not fair!" expression. Charlie was already in the front seat, closing the door to the truck when Bella ran halfway toward the truck.

"Get in slow poke."

Bella laughed. She walked back towards the house and locked the front door. Entering the truck, giving Charlie a mock look of anger.

"Cheater."

"Keys, please."

Bella handed Charlie the keys. She folded her arms, still in the act of faking her anger.

"Love ya."

"Love ya back, Dad. Now drive, old man!"

Charlie laughed and started the truck.

There were rules whoever drove the vehicle: driver had control of the music. Charlie was a fan for old music. He had a station memorized that played 60's music. Bella had no choice, she had to stick it out for an hour until they arrived to Qwest Field, where the Seahawks would be playing.

Nowhere To Run by Martha Reeves blared loudly on the radio. The lyrics hurt Bella to the core. She tensed up, but the smile she had plastered on her face was now just a mask to hide the pain she felt at that moment.

Nowhere to run, baby

Nowhere to hide

I know you're no good for me

But you've become a part of me

The song seemed to haunt her while she sat silently, listening to the truthful words. Edward had become a part of her, for the rest of her life, but he was no good for her.

"I love this song." Charlie said over the ruckus of the torturing song.

"I don't particularly like it." Bella said, looking out the window to hide her face.

"What? It's a classic! An oldie."

"I know."

Bella watched the other passing cars, then changed her view to the asphalt of the road, the dark gray blurring into itself.

Bella watched the other passing cars, then changed her view to the asphalt of the road, the dark gray blurring into itself. Reminiscing back to the diner, the same song had played at the diner while they, or she had, eaten their lunch, on the mini jukebox that sat at their booth. Her hands were clasped together in her lap. Bella's nails dug deeply into her skin as the song went on.

The day had passed by like a void of time. Events that happened throughout the day was hazy, somewhat like a dream. Bella's spacey stares didn't pull Charlie's attention away, as he was completely absorbed in the game. The loud hollering from other game goers and Charlie, did not phase Bella. Charlie had thought that Bella was going with him for support, politeness. He had always known that she had never been into football.

After the game, Charlie had thought it odd that Bella gave him the okay to drive home, with no argument. She had just claimed she was tired. Her voice was low & monotone when she had bid Charlie a good night before heading up the stairs to her room.

"Thanks for today, Bella. It was a great day."

"Mm-hm." Bella replied.

She closed the door to her bedroom and leaned against it, breathing deep breaths into her lungs. She tried to keep her mind free of nightmares and goldish eyes. It didn't seem to be working as she felt the tug of her throat, a sign that the tears were soon coming. Distraction was vital at this point, as she was about to break down. Bella did not want Charlie to witness this, so she tried to clear her mind, even just for a few seconds, to get out of the house and take her routine run.

Think of something stupid. Okay, um, high heels are stupid. Drivers that don't use their signals are stupid...

Bella opened her bedroom door and kept her thoughts of stupid things fresh in her head. She rushed down the stairs and called out to Charlie, "going for a run, Dad."

"Okay, hun."

...ignorant people are stupid.

Bella finally made it to the backyard, sprinting full speed into the thickness of the forest. The air was cold, and she welcomed it. The sting of the cool air left her skin with goosebumps, but the bite of the cold was just enough to think about just the cold and not about bronze haired boys. Her breathing picked up as her heart started to race a little from the run, her thighs already starting to burn. Bella welcomed all of it, the sting, the bite, the burn.

Feeling she was within the safety from eyes of any witnesses, Bella took this moment to test her strength. Since she has been in Forks, she has not been working out like she usually did in New York to keep her body in tone. Charlie didn't have weights and she didn't want to get him suspicious of new habits that she never took up while she was living with him a long time ago. The woods seemed like a good place to test herself.

A tree with a low hanging branch, just low enough for her to hop and grab the branch was a perfect pull up bar. She huffed a breath, it cooling when it hit the air, then jumped up to grab the thick branch. The bark was rough as she pulled herself up very easily 10 times. She swung herself on the branch, her palms burning from the rough bark, until she was swaying widely on the branch. She then dismounted off the bar with a single flip, landing like a cat onto the soft forest soil.

Bella observed her hands, it was already forming callouses. Some parts bleeding from the bark scraping against her skin. It stung, but again, Bella welcomed it. The aroma of her blood was bothering her just a touch, but if she kept moving, keeping her hand away from her nose, she would be okay. A bigger tree with a wide trunk was nearby, the roots sticking up from the soil. She ran to it, full speed, placing a foot onto the wide root, then working her feet up the tree bark, up the side of the tree to flip, then land on both feet. To someone else, it would look like a breakdance move.

She continued to train for 2 hours into the evening, the sun beginning to set. On her run back home, she had proven that she was still agile and quiet. A silent killer. That's what she was. Bella was just a day away from the end of her vacation.