Chapter 10 WTF?

Bella

I stared back and forth between Edward and Alice, but neither seemed to feel the need to include me in their silent conversation.

"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

I couldn't quite understand the expression on Alice's face. She appeared almost guilty of something. She wrung her tiny hands together before replying, "I've been so preoccupied with you being taken by the Volturi and our fate here, that I must have missed it."

Missed what, Alice?"

Edward moved between us completely blocking my view of the little pixie-like vampire. Like always, he was hiding things from me.

"What's done is done." His words were devoid of all expression. "There's nothing we can do about her…" He shook his head several times as though words failed him. I'd seen that look before. Right before he'd taken my blood to suck the venom out. "Can we make it back in time?"

"I just don't know, Edward. One moment the vision was clear. I saw him looking at the crime scene photos from Florida…" She shot an aggrieved glance at me then continued, "Then he was speaking to Laurent outside the station and then nothing. The vision just cut off."

I was so tired of being kept in the dark. Edward would never give me a straight answer, but Alice damn well would. "Dammit, Alice! You better tell me what's going on with Charlie."

"Bella, please, there's no time," Edward intervened barely sparing a glance in my direction. He turned back to Alice. "Tell Carlisle everything, and then get permission to travel back to Forks."

Charlie

All the police training in the world never prepared me for this. I was just thankful that Bella was out of the country. The thought of what could have happened to her was too painful to consider.

I glanced at the computer again only to find my mailbox empty. The crime scene photos were supposed to have been sent ten minutes ago. I grabbed the phone intending to light a fire under Detective Davis's ass when the phone fell from my hand as the photograph slowly loaded on my screen. Phil and Renee. So much blood. I fell onto my desk chair. Even though I'd been told what had happened, I wasn't prepared for the reality. Renee and Phil were dead.

Something crashed to the ground outside the station. My gun was already in my hand and pointed toward the door. In a low crouch, I moved as quickly and quietly as possible keeping close to the wall and out of sight of the windows as I made my way to the door. I drew in a deep, steadying breath wishing I could see around corners and flung myself through the door rolling up on one knee, my gun pointed in front of me.

A man was stretched out on my car with one leg drawn up and his elbow haphazardly resting on it while he took a long drag from a cigarette.

"Chief Swan?" he asked, a stream of smoke trailing from his lips as he spoke with a slight accent.

I nodded.

"I met your daughter once." He smiled openly and hopped off my car. I was still in shooting position, adrenaline coursing through my system, my heart pounding furiously. He appeared harmless enough - all smiles and talking of Bella - but my body was reacting as though I was under attack, and my gut was rarely wrong, so I kept my weapon trained on him.

"Oh yeah, when was that?" I asked genuinely curious. He didn't look like the kind of man that Bella would know.

He ignored my question. "My…friend sends her regards. She was really looking forward to visiting Bella again, but I can see she is no longer here."

"Not for a long time," I murmured uneasily.

"We knew that… that's why Victoria stopped by Renee's last night, but Bella wasn't there either, so you can see why she thought maybe she was back in Forks visiting. I told her I'd drop in and say hi when I passed through."

My blood ran cold at his words. A picture of Renee coated in blood and this madman talking about his friend visiting her looking for Bella. What the hell had Bella gotten herself into?

He took a step toward me still smiling genially down at me, his muscles rippling like those of a large cat, his eyes suddenly just as predatory. He shrugged as though talking silently to himself. "May as well. After all, a guys got to eat." He lunged at me at the same time I squeezed off the first few rounds, his hands outstretched. They struck me, and my gun sailed from my hand hitting the pavement several feet from where I'd landed with him on top of me, his red eyes quickly turning black as the night above us.

I saw my death in those eyes and knew that this maniac would hunt down my daughter, and she would meet the same fate as me.

As quickly as he'd tackled me, he was torn from me by a…bear? I got to my knees, my mind not believing my eyes. Not a bear a…wolf. A really big-ass wolf. The likes of which had never been seen here before…or anywhere, as far as I knew. Several more incredibly large wolves encircled us, their eerie eyes focused wholly on the lone wolf tearing and rending the man that had nearly been the death of me. I scrambled across the pavement and clutched my gun for all the good it'd done. I'd shot the man five times and it hadn't fazed him. Must be high on PCP or something. And what about the red eyes? I was all out of logical answers to that particular question.

Pieces of the man were spread everywhere when that beast turned its eyes on me. Without a seconds hesitation I shot at him wounding him four times before clicking empty. The wolf fell and the others swarmed in, growls reverberating in the cool November night.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any more bizarre, one of the wolves suddenly became human, and naked at that. Worse, it became someone I knew – Sam Uley. He stared hard at me for a brief second then knelt down beside the wolf that had now shrunk into an all too familiar boy. Jacob. Oh God, I'd shot Jacob Black.

Bella

I stroked Dylan's wet, matted hair soothingly while he thrashed around in pain, the venom eating through him like acid as it slowly, painfully transformed him into the very thing he'd longed for since he was a child.

It was only his second day. He still had many torturous hours to endure. The horrible screaming had ceased, but there was no mistaking the anguish that he was all too aware of. In a few short days, I'd get my chance to live through this hell. Aro had refused our request to fly back to Forks and had informed me that I would be transformed once Dylan completed his conversion. Carlisle had tried to sway him, but Aro was not letting me out of his sight.

He'd agreed to let Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie go, but Edward, Alice, Jasper, and I stayed as per our agreement. Most of the Denali clan was traveling with them to offer their help, but Tanya and Irina were sticking around. Gee, I wonder why? A certain bronze haired god couldn't have something to do with that decision, could it? Have I mentioned how much I loathe that woman with her runway model looks and her drool worthy sex appeal?

I brushed a kiss across his forehead. "It'll be over soon, Dylan. Just hold on a little longer," I encouraged as I got to my feet.

Leaving that room had been such a relief. I had no idea how I was supposed to endure the transformation if I couldn't even bear to witness it. I'd gone there in an attempt to distract myself from Alice's vision and it had worked, but the fear and concern were again eating at me as I left Dylan's side.

Waiting for the Cullens to arrive at Forks was killing me. I needed information and I needed it now. Alice was no help. Her vision appeared to be broken. She was as in the dark as the rest of us which had her in a really bad temper. I dialed my mom's number again hoping against hope she'd know something, but just like the last ten times, she still didn't answer.

I contemplated calling him. Things had ended so abruptly. One minute we were best friends and the next he wanted nothing to do with me. But if anyone could give me real time information about Charlie, it was Jacob Black.

The phone rang on and on before the machine picked up. I left a hurried message then tucked my phone back in my back pocket as I glanced around the corridor trying to remember how to get back to my room. We were in an older part of the castle. Nothing cheery about this part of Volterra. I was deep underground and the walls were damp and musty. This was what I'd been expecting upon arriving here. I'd been shocked by the white and gold gleaming marble halls, but pleasantly so. This part of the building reeked of funk and old blood. I'd smelled it immediately when I'd first checked on Dylan, my stomach heaving as the coppery scent filled my lungs making me gag, but I'd since become desensitized to it.

By the time I made it back to the pretty, soothing part of the castle, I was completely lost. I figured eventually I'd run into someone or a familiar hallway if I just kept moving, so I did. Maybe not one of my brightest ideas.

A sultry voice met my ears after ten mindless minutes of my journey. I paused, suddenly wanting my presence to go unnoticed, but I wasn't sure why. Moments ago I'd wanted to meet someone, anyone, so I could get back to the comfort of my own room and wait for news from Carlisle about Charlie.

"You know I could do things to you that you've never even dreamed about…not even in your deepest, darkest fantasies," Tanya crooned temptingly, her voice pitched low and promising a good time.

My heart missed a beat as I waited to hear who would respond, but already knowing deep down who it would be.

"I'm sure you could," Edward answered smoothly, a bit of laughter in his voice. "And I'm sure it would all be very enjoyable, but I'm afraid I must refuse."

"She's not worthy of you, Edward. She practically fucked Demetri, a complete stranger mind you, right in front of you! How can you still want anything to do with her?"

"I love her," he replied simply as though giving the answer to two plus two.

"I know…but, like everything else…love fades. I could make you happy." There was a brief pause and she continued. "She's no good for you. I saw you…how messed up you were…" she trailed off and I found myself moving cautiously forward as quietly as possible, though why I was bothering was a mystery. They had enhanced senses. Surely they were aware of my heart beating and my scent. They could just be that distracted, I thought to myself as I took a few more steps toward the room.

"You take her back, and mark my words, she will hurt you again and again."

"It would be no less than I deserve for the hell I've put her through, Tanya," he stated softly, a deep ache in his words that wrapped around my heart and squeezed tightly making me wonder how I could've hurt him the way I had with Demetri.

Tanya swore softly and then not one sound escaped that room for several long minutes, but when she began talking again, I felt the difference. I couldn't focus on her words; I just felt my soul yearning for her's.

"If you truly loved her the way you claim to, Edward dear," she purred seductively, her voice trailing over every part of my body like a lover's teasing nails, "why are you suddenly so full of desire for me?" She giggled and I swear my body responded as though she ran her tongue over my flesh leaving me hot and needy. Not needy for just anyone, but for her. A truly disconcerting sensation since I was as straight as they came. Worse, if she was causing me to feel all of this by accident, what must Edward be feeling? Marcus had warned me about the triplets' powers - that they were succubae, but I hadn't fully appreciated how dangerous that particular gift could be until now.

While lost in her lusty haze, I'd moved even closer, now peering into the door that was slightly ajar, though I could not see them. Did I really want to? I glanced to the side of the room and caught their reflections in the mirror hanging above the white dresser and saw Edward running his lips down her pearlescent neck. I wanted to be angry, but all I felt was desire. My Edward was with another woman, looking at her the way he used to look at me, and I was turned on? What the hell was wrong with that picture? Even though I knew everything was off kilter, I couldn't shake free from her powers.

"I've wanted you for so long…" she mewled, her hands slipping under his tight t-shirt. He growled in response. "Say you want me, too. Say it!"

He raised his head, his eyes scorching over her body before settling on her eyes and said, in a low, gravelly voice, "I want you, Tanya."

His lips fell on hers hungrily as he pushed her back on the bed, his hips grinding against her jean-clad form as her legs hooked behind his back securing her to him.

A small sound, that had nothing to do with the sounds of their lips feeding from each other and the growls emanating from their chests, filled the room. It broke his concentration, his head lifting slowly as though it took more strength than he had to search out the source of that feeble sound – me. I was both crying - my heart further shattering - and damp with arousal as I stared at their entwined forms. Both seemed pretty pissed to find they had an audience.

It took Edward the better part of a minute to completely free himself from her lusty clutches, I saw the difference as soon as the last hint of her power fell away, his eyes no longer heavy with desire, but blazing murderously. At that point, I wasn't sure if all that fury was directed at me for disturbing his fun or at Tanya for nearly raping him, for that's what it would've amounted to.

"Get out!" he snarled.

I flushed crimson as I realized that the anger was all for me, and I ran out of the room tripping over nothing in particular and landing hard on the slick marble.

I couldn't think. All I saw was his face twisted in rage and his stony voice echoing endlessly in my head.

I pushed back up and forced myself forward, far away from that room, his room. Left, right, left, left. That's all I knew as I ran down that slippery hallway. Thoughts, living, time…all unimportant. All that mattered was putting enough space between me and Edward as possible.

I took the stairs two at a time, and in my haste, I tumbled down two flights, a small yelp of pain punctuating each blow my body suffered as it repeatedly struck the stone steps. I landed in a heap, blood trickling down my chin, my head throbbing. "God fucking dammit!" I cursed kicking out at the treacherous step while wiping the blood off of my face. "I wish I'd never met Edward-fucking-Cullen!" I screamed it at the top of my lungs while my body screamed at me just as loud for constantly abusing it.

"Then we wouldn't have met." a musical voice replied, her slight shadow from the wrought iron torches along the stairwell eclipsing my huddled form.

She glided effortlessly down the remaining steps. "I tried to get here before you…well, let me have a look at you." Alice knelt, her normally caramel eyes now black with thirst as my blood beckoned to her. She licked her lips, but remained business-like as she helped me gently to my feet and checked me for further injuries. I felt like I'd been run over. There wasn't one part of my body that had escaped injury, my broken heart least of all.

Scalding tears spilled over, not from my physical pain, but from emotional crap.

When she spoke again, it was evident how difficult it was to be so close to me when I was sporting a fresh wound. "Go get cleaned up, Bella. I'll be up in a minute. Go!" Her face had been averted, her jaw set against her blood lust.

I didn't need telling twice. I took off as fast as my clumsy feet would allow and she called up to me. "For God's sake, Bella, walk. You'll just end up back down here, otherwise."

Somehow, I made it back to my room without running into anyone. And by anyone, I meant Edward. Had I really thought I would? Yeah, I guess I had. But that was foolishness on my part. He was probably having sex with Tanya. Karma, baby, it's a bitch. I was simply being punished for the torment I'd caused him by screwing Demetri.

I sighed and closed my door leaning against it while blotting my tears away with the scratchy lace of my shirt. How was I supposed to endure two years with Edward and not be with Edward? It just didn't seem possible.

I stripped angrily, a tearing sound indicating that I'd been a little more forceful than I should have been, and threw the ruined garment to the floor as I made my way to the bathroom to clean up.

The bag perched on the back of the toilet caught my attention. The bottle of pills, more precisely, and I struggled with the child safety cap for a few heartbeats before spilling several pills into my hand. I hadn't had to use them in months, but I needed them more now than ever before. Just a little help calming my mind. And some sleep. I couldn't remember the last good night's sleep I'd had.

I tossed them into my mouth swallowing them without water and sunk to the floor waiting for them to help me escape, to help me forget.

My last thought before oblivion took me was that I'd never see my dad again. I'd known that, of course, because becoming a vampire meant I had to give up such familial ties, but this was different. I wouldn't be able to check in on him throughout the years because he'd be dead. Alice had been very certain that Carlisle wouldn't make it there in time. Right? But how certain could she really be when her visions were clearly faulty? What if they weren't? What if she really knew but was lying about not being able to see?

Breathing was becoming harder as the weight of my panic crushed me. The pills weren't working. I grabbed another handful and stuck my head under the faucet to help swallow them down. My mind was still going over the half-assed explanations they'd given me and the snippets of info Alice had revealed. They'd also mentioned something else...about a woman…

"Isabella," a distant voice called to me. I cringed from the feel of ice against my cheek.

"Her breathing is leveling out and her heart rate's getting stronger," Edward murmured.

I couldn't quite pull myself out of my drug induced coma and honestly didn't really want to. There was nothing good for me waiting there, and I definitely didn't want to have to face Edward.

"You idiot," Alice snarled. "Haven't you caused enough damage already?"

"It wasn't my fault. Tanya…"

My stomach lurched dangerously and I had just enough sense to turn my head before I emptied my stomach all over the floor.

"Bella," two voices gasped in unison.

"Leave me alone," I muttered, my eyes still firmly closed.

I heard the sound of stone colliding with stone. "Are you happy now? She's suicidal again?"

"Again?" Marcus asked. That was whose arms I was currently stuck in. Hopefully I hadn't gotten any vomit on him. How mortifying would that be?

"I never meant-"

"No of course not," Alice interrupted angrily, "you never mean to cause her pain, yet you keep fucking doing it. Why the hell were you even alone with that woman?"

"That woman?" Tanya asked, her words warm with the beginnings of anger.

"Enough. Tanya, please leave," Marcus interceded. "I will notify the pilot and have the jet ready for you and Irina." I cracked my eyes open taking in Marcus who was obscuring my vision of the rest of the small room. "Can you sit up, Isabella?" I nodded and let him help me off the floor and I was suddenly aware that aside from the dark cloak covering the front of me I was completely naked. I clutched it tightly around me, but my humiliation was already complete. They'd already seen me passed out naked on the bathroom floor. And, let's not forget the puddle of vomit off to the side.

He turned to a human child, "Clean this up," and all but carried me back to my bedroom past Edward's pale form and Alice and Jasper. It just kept getting worse and worse. Jasper, also, got to see me naked. Death suddenly seemed a kinder fate.

I could hear their harsh whispers coming from the bathroom, but couldn't make out what they were saying. From their tones, it sounded like they had resumed their argument.

"Carlisle contacted us an hour ago," Marcus began as he wiped my face with a cool, wet washcloth. "Your father is…fine."

"Then why did you hesitate?" I asked slowly, still groggy from my meds. "What's wrong?"

He sighed not meeting my eyes. "Apparently there is a pack of werewolves in Forks."

I sat up, my head splintering in two, the cloak slipping down exposing my chest, and gasped, "What?" Was it possible that there could be both vampires and wolves in Forks? What the hell was in the water there to be home to two supernatural species? What next, a coven of witches? Demons?

He slid the cloak up, but I didn't miss the way his eyes lingered on the curves of my breasts and cleared his throat before resuming our discussion. "They did what werewolves do – they destroyed Laurent keeping Charlie safe, but you see the problem now?"

But I didn't. Charlie was all right, that was what my brain was focused on, that and the fact that, apparently, wolves had been his savior. I just couldn't wrap my head around that.

When I said nothing, Marcus spoke gently, "He knows about vampires, Isabella, do you understand?"

Ice poured through my veins at his words. Yeah, I knew all too well what happened to those who were unfortunate enough to learn about the existence of vampires.

"Demetri has been ordered to offer your father immortality or death."

I knew my dad well enough to know that there was no way in hell he was going to sign up to become the walking undead.

I closed my eyes, but tears still escaped them sliding slowly down my cheeks. "This is all my fault," I whispered to myself. The bed shifted and the door quietly closed, but I knew I wasn't alone.

The dread and sadness I'd been feeling suddenly floated away, replaced by an odd calm sensation. Jasper. I sat up, clutching the cloak to my chest, and faced the three Cullens still wishing I'd never met any of them. Yeah, even Alice. As much as I loved her, I still wished she never existed.

"Thanks, Jasper," I commented lightly, not staring at any of them. It just hurt too much.

"No problem."

Edward glided toward me, his eyes haunted, and sat at the foot of my bed. "I'm so sorry…for what you saw," he began and in an effort to keep from being dazzled, I turned my attention to Alice and Jasper but the little Houdinis had magically disappeared.

"Go away, Edward."

"Not until I've had a chance to explain."

"Don't you get it, I don't care." My voice didn't even sound like my own. "You want Tanya…then by all means. Just leave me the fuck alone. This is a really big place; I see no reason why we can't just avoid each other for the next two years."

I could feel his disapproval pressing down on me. "Stop being absurd. I've already spent far too much time apart from you. And," he added forcefully when I opened my mouth to speak, "I do not want Tanya. What you saw…" he paused, his eyes locked to mine as he struggled to find the right words, "was Tanya finally using her powers against me. I wasn't in my right mind."

"That's bullshit, Edward! I saw you…when you told me to get out, you were very much in control of yourself," I pointed out shoving at his marble chest to get some space. Normally, he'd have moved, but today he remained firmly in place, invading the hell out of my personal bubble.

"Again, I apologize. I was so angry with her, and I needed you…gone, so I could deal with her."

"Deal with her," I scoffed. "Is that what they're calling it these days?"

He grabbed my forearms and pulled me close to his face a snarl emanating from deep within. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not have much room to bitch. Didn't I just see you with Demetri? Voluntarily?"

I met those livid eyes and said, "Yep, and he was fucking fantastic."

He released me so abruptly that I fell back against the soft pillow, the cloak sliding away from me again, in time to hear the crack of what I'm sure was something expensive and irreplaceable.

He was on the other side of the room and a vase was shattered in a million pieces against the dresser top. He kept his back to me as he regained his composure which gave me time to throw the cloak on properly.

As soon as I'd said those words I'd regretted them. They were true, but still… "I'm sorry, Edward…I shouldn't have said that."

He ran his hand through his hair and turned back to face me. "I would never willingly cheat on you."

Every time he opened his mouth, I became slightly more pissed off. I sat up a littler straighter. "For the record, I did not cheat on you. You broke up with me. Told me to find someone normal, have kids and get married. Remember? And you don't owe me fidelity, either, Edward. We're not together; it's not cheating."

My words seemed to physically wound him, for he flinched as though I'd assaulted him. "Maybe not…but there will never be anyone else for me." He was back on the bed before I even realized he'd moved. "You promised me you wouldn't harm yourself," he said changing the subject so fast that I was struggling to keep up. It all came back soon enough, though. Me and Edward in the woods…him saying he didn't want me…making me promise not to harm myself.

"And you made me a promise too, Edward. You said it would be like you never existed – what a fucking lie that was. Your presence was everywhere…seared into my very soul – I couldn't breathe without thinking about you." I shook my head in disgust. "You ruined my life."

If I'd thought he was still before, it was nothing compared to the statue he'd become. "I know. That is precisely why I left."

I laughed, but there was nothing amusing about it; it was one of scorn. "You leaving didn't help."

"I didn't know how else to protect you from us…from me."

Neither of us said anything for a long time. "Charlie's going to die. You know that, right?" I finally asked.

He swore. "No, I don't know that and neither do you."

"Whatever, Edward. I know my dad, and I know what he'll choose. You and your family caused this, and I hate all of you for it."

He nodded just accepting my irrational outburst as though it were fact. He bent forward and brushed a kiss against my forehead, his finger trailing down the curve of my cheek, then like a gust of wind he was gone leaving me stewing in my anger and grief.

Only 3 more chapters left, unless I do some more tweaking. I've made quite a few minor changes so far and plan a few major ones starting with the next chapter. As always, I so appreciate your lovely comments and all the add/follows. Keep 'em coming.