Reservations: A Twilight Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own Stephanie Meyers 'Twilight'. If I did, you can bet your ass that there'd be a recast.
"I'm an idiot, I know that. I'm sorry for any worry that I caused, and Paul? I love you." She presented her journal to the Pack, offering it up in lieu of an explanation. Why didn't she just tell them? Well, it boiled down to her simply being ashamed of how 'Bella like' she had acted. She shivered every time she thought of her 'Oh my God! Everything revolves around me' moment.
"You," Sam held his head with one hand, "you mean to tell me that this," he jabbed a finger at the book he was holding, "is what had you upset?" She nodded; he exploded and Paul? Paul pulled her to him as the Alpha shifted.
"I'm sorry, okay?!" She shouted after the black wolf. She turned around, looking a little exasperated, as she faced the Pack. Quil was the only one to really give a reaction after the Alpha ran off and it was true to his personality.
"Holy shit Carter!" He broke down laughing.
"Are we gonna have a talk now?" Paul asked, gaining her attention. She nodded.
"It seems a little overdue, doesn't it?" The man was about to answer when Quil interrupted them.
"I imprint on a what?!" Carter just held her head in her hands.
"Shit. I forgot about that." Paul walked over and smacked Quil upside the head, snatching the journal away from the mortified teen. "Don't worry Squirrel: your feelings are strictly platonic. You might want to just straight up tell Emily though."
"A four-year-old! What's wrong with me? What did I do? Huh? Carter, tell me!"
"Get back to your patrols. Now." Paul commanded them. The Pack nodded and those that needed to shifted. "You: let's go sort this out like adults, okay?"
''
Paul was many things: a Quileute, a Shifter, an Imprinter to the most beautiful woman in existence (at least, in his humble opinion). He was also frustrated, confused and, above all else, disappointed. Carter, his life, had so little faith in him, in their bond, that she had believe he'd kick her to the curb the moment he met his supposed soulmate. He told her as much, too, despite not wanting to see the guilt in her eyes.
The last few days had not been kind to him: he was running extra patrols, his Imprint had run off, his Alpha was angry; hell, that wasn't even half of his problems. As if worrying for the love of his life wasn't enough, as if being on alert for nomadic vampires wasn't enough? Carter was playing nice to a bloodsucker who, and Paul was raging about this, had a thing for her. That blonde asshole had, according to Charlie, been with her the night before and it made Paul's blood boil. The fucking 'God of War' was practically begging the Shifter for one, if the looks he had been sending Carter were any indication. He needed Carter to realise that the blonde wasn't looking out for her, not in the friendly way she believed him to be.
Unfortunately, Carter brushed off his concerns, thinking it was simply jealousy and the wolf talking. So, he'd give her that, but he was a male. He could see the looks other men were stupid enough to give her, could practically hear their thoughts, so he tried his best to explain what Jasper 'fucktard' Cullen was really thinking and feeling.
After that topic had been discussed, Carter then explained that she had been feeling insecure about their relationship because she thought he was going to run off with a woman he didn't even know. That was fun trying to explain. He shouldn't have mentioned that they had gone to school together, because that apparently meant that he was going to 'reprint' on Billy's daughter; probably shouldn't have mentioned how he went to the park one time with her when he was younger (he was six) but he thought Carter was above feeling jealous and would be able to see her own illogical conclusions for what they were. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and it was doing Paul's head in trying to properly understand why Carter was acting the way she was. Once again, that blood-sucking fucking leech certainly wasn't making matters any better by encouraging her, and that was exactly what the little shithead was doing.
"Don't go near her. Don't speak with her; don't even think about her. Understand?" Paul could be a reasonable guy, he usually was, so he decided to handle this like a sane, perfectly confident in his relationship, kind of person.
"No." His eye twitched and he had to start consciously making an effort not to shift. He'd give it one more shot.
"Leave. Carter. Alone." The words were a growl now, a threat, and that smarmy, Southern twit had an amused smirk on his face.
"Make. Me." Paul was certain he'd never moved, or shifted for that matter, so fast in his life. He was going to pay for this later but right now? He couldn't give a flying fuck.
''
Meanwhile, the rest of the Pack had called a meeting to properly discuss the contents of the books Carter had left them with.
"Well shit, man. That's insane."
"She's from another world?"
"Holy shit! She's like, forty or something!" The Elders shook their heads, finding it thoroughly enjoyable to watch the young one's reactions to the words on paper but becoming equally frustrated when the group of young adults focused o trivial matters rather than what was important.
"Children, if you would be so kind?" Harry Clearwater spoke, gesturing for the Pack to take a seat and intending for them to be quiet. "Now, Billy."
"What you've read was written by Carter. We have every reason to believe what she told us. She was forthcoming with information and let us know all she could without disrupting the story she believed had to happen."
"But hardly any of this did." Embry pointed out. "At least, that we know of. The Police Chief's daughter wasn't in a car accident, there was no back-alley attack that took place. Jacob hasn't even transformed yet, and he was meant to shift before Bella went crazy and ran after the Coven to Italy. She's not with the bloodsuckers, the Cullen's have left and there's no freaky, hybrid baby."
"As much as Carter was intending for the future to go as she had read, she unfortunately was involved in different versions of the incidents herself." Embry waited for clarification as Quil Jr looked on confused. The rest of the Pack had their heads down, solemn expressions on their faces. "I believe it to be the just the two of you who were not privy to what has happened to that girl, simply because she didn't wish to burden you with the knowledge." Billy looked to the Elders and they nodded their heads. "Sam, if you'd be so kind. I haven't the heart to retell the events of that night." Sam nodded, turning to the boys.
"Follow me." He walked into the forest. It was but a few moments later that the Alpha joined them once again, and the two younger boys returned with stony faces.
"There is more." Spoke Quil Senior. "We held back the information." He said simply. The rest waited to be told what it was.
"Quil Junior, you glanced briefly at some information that related to your future: you read about your intended imprint." The younger Quil nodded his head. "Carter had written up a list of, what she entitled, 'Undisputed Facts'." Billy continued, reading the page out loud to the Pack. By the end of the meeting, the Pack had split up. Each thinking over their future and dwelling on the events that had led up to this day. Embry, in particular, had felt some form of inner turmoil. Especially in regards to Jacob Black. He wasn't sure how he felt about Carter playing around with their lives like that. In a way, she had taken something from his best friend and he knew Jacob was never going to get it back. He wondered, if there was a soulmate for everyone, would the boy get another chance? Would there be someone else for him or was his intended all that there was?
''
Carter was currently with Charlie in Forks. After several hours of talking things out and explaining herself to Paul, she decided to take a break from La Push. Naturally, the first place she thought of was the Police Chiefs.
"She what?" Carter shook her head. "Sorry, Charlie. Did you just say that your daughter ran off with a Cullen or do I seriously need my hearing checked?" The man looked done with everything. He'd just gotten off the phone with Renée and she informed him that her daughter had gone on a vacation with a beautiful blonde that was friends with Bella. "Well shit, Charlie. I didn't expect that. What brought it on?"
"That blonde girl. I was reading through Bella's emails," she raised an eyebrow but he dismissed the look, "and she's been talking with the girl. Some half-assed revenge and retribution plot about getting her 'man' back." This couldn't be easy for Charlie. That was his daughter, his flesh and blood. Carter hugged the man.
"Did you want me to get Jasper to contact them or something? Or maybe, I don't know, get the Volturi involved?"
"I have the choice of choosing either the revenge seeking Cullen Clan or the blood lusting, ancient beings that rule their world? Can I call a friend?" He asked sarcastically.
"Nicely summed up, Charlie. You almost sounded like me." She said, half-heartedly attempting to make light of the situation.
"I'm too old for this, Carter."
"I feel you, Charlie. This is technically my second time around, remember?"
"How did life get like this for us, kiddo?" She shrugged.
"You know what? Call Billy. That man is wise beyond our years. The Elders should be able think of something and the Pack are creative." He nodded, looking defeated. Carter placed a hand on his shoulder as he went to leave. "Look, you'll get your daughter back; Isabella will come back, and she'll understand soon enough and realise the truth. You've only ever wanted what's best for her." She took a breath. "And I'm sorry." He went to speak but she kept on talking. "I could have tried harder with her, but I let my preconceptions and judgements get the better of me. If anyone's to blame, Charlie, it's me. So, take a load off and don't burden yourself with the feeling of fault, because from where I've been standing you've been wonderful to her, for her, and you've done everything that you possibly could have." She kissed his cheek and went upstairs, heading into Bella's room and booting up the computer. It took her less than a half hour to read through what Charlie had thought were emails (turns out he had read unsent drafts and a fake conversation between the herself and Rosalie) and another twenty minutes to hack into her actual account.
''
It had been about an hour when Charlie heard the footsteps and the tell-tale creaking of the stairs. He waited until he could see her before he addressed her.
"Cater?" She had made her way into the living room and was standing quietly in front of the television, blocking his view of the screen. Charlie put his beer down. "Are you alright?" This was weird, even for her. The young woman had a hand on her neck, a gesture he recognised she tended to do before asking something she thought would be considered 'stupid'. He supposed that they better get it out of the way with now. "Carter?" She blinked slowly and looked at Charlie before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her body pitched forward and Charlie jumped to his feet, arms out to catch her. "Carter?!" He shook the woman in his arms but there was no response. He laid her down as best he could, clearing the floor and making room before turning on the lights. The sight before him made him freeze and he screamed for help, rushing to her side and hoping against everything that she'd be alright, despite her current state, but there was just so much blood that he held little hope that she would be.
''
"Come on, come on! Pick up your damn phone now, boy. I'm serious Paul. You better get your ass down here! For fuc-" The dial tone beeped once more and Charlie tried to stop his hands from shaking as he tried Billy, knowing he'd have filled up Paul's message bank by now. The older man was running on pure adrenaline right now and was hoping to get in contact with someone, anyone, before his mind caught up with everything and his body shut down. A squad was on their way. It would take them a good thirty-five minutes to get to his place seeing as they needed to call in the forensics over in Port Angeles.
"Hey Chief. What can I do for you?" Charlie recognised that it was Jacob he was speaking to but he just needed someone to know, someone to go and alert everyone up at the Res.
"Get them down here now! Carter, she's… they tried to… she's-" Jacob felt his stomach drop. He could hear the panic, could hear the helplessness and the sadness in the Chief's voice. He could practically hear the tears.
"Chief? Calm down, please. I can't understand what you're saying. What happened to Carter?"
"They killed her." Jacob didn't have time to even drop the phone before the pain hit him and he fell to the floor.
''
Paul's ears perked up and he stopped his assault on the Southern Vampire. Jasper tilted his head, putting distance between himself and the beast of a man the moment he was given the chance.
"What is it?" The beast was gone and Jasper, sensing the distress and disbelief from the man, took off after him.
''
Charlie Swan was sitting on his loungeroom floor, covered in blood and staring blankly at the wooden boards by his feet. He wasn't allowed to go with her in the ambulance, being that the severity of the wounds required the paramedics entire attention and having him there would only serve to hinder their attempts at keeping the woman alive.
"Hey Chief?" The Alpha of the Pack was more than a little shaken by the discovery of the Swan man. "Charlie? Chief Swan?" Charlie looked up at him. "Hey. What happened?" Sam could smell the pungent aroma of a familiar Vampire and was doing his best to push down his instincts to shift. Charlie simply looked at his hands, still wet with blood, and broke down right there and then. Sam nodded to Embry, a silent command telling the boy to keep the Chief company. Embry nodded, trying his best not to look around. He felt sick. The smell of blood was too much, especially due to the fact that it belonged to Carter. Sam turned, following the trail Carter had left up the stairs. He walked into the bedroom, glanced around before turning on the light. He turned away, holding a hand to his mouth, trying his best not throw up. He made his way over to the computer desk, doing his best not to step anywhere near the chunk of flesh by the foot of the bed, and moved the mouse. The screen immediately turned back on and he crushed the mouse in his hand. He took a deep breath, followed by another, and manually navigated the pages that Carter had obviously been reading before the attack.
To:
From: BellSwan
There were many. The correspondence between the youngest of the Cullen Coven and Bella Swan had apparently been going on for quite some time. They'd been talking for a few weeks now, evidently. He read it all. With his enhanced abilities, he was able to get through them relatively quickly. Upon clicking the last of the messages, he froze and fought the chill that went up his spine. It was a photo of the room, with Carter sitting there at the desk, reading the last few emails. He scrolled down and his blood boiled, anger reaching to a point that he could only hope he'd be able to reign back in.
To: BellSwan
From:
Thought we'd forget about you? You took away my happily ever after. I'm going to take away yours.
''
Authors Note: So, I started typing and this happened. I honestly don't understand where this is going because the drafts for this chapter, and the previous one I had started writing, were absolutely nothing like this. However, after I read it, I decided to keep it. I'd give certain shippers a warning, but it's give away too much for the upcoming chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading though! Thank you for sticking with me on this one!