Back to the Beginning
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you all for the kind reviews and for following this story.
Part Ten
It was a relief to Bella that Jacob believed her. She knew it sounded crazy. Traveling back in time! None of it made sense. She was still unsure herself. But with his support she felt less alone, but it didn't make it any easier on her. What was she supposed to do? Keep silent? Spill her guts about everything she knew and damn the consequences. Some things had worked out in her favour. Jacob knowing before he phased had really eased his transition. Embry appeared to be coping with the shocking revelation of who his father was. She had frightened Harry into making changes in his life in order to improve his health. That more than anything was a weight off of Bella's mind. But she still hadn't told anyone about Seth or indeed Leah's transformation. Would it even still happen? What about Emily? In Bella's time line Sam had already imprinted on Emily by this stage.
It was such a heavy burden to bear. Bella spent another sleepless night. Victoria haunted her dreams as usual, but this time so did her anxiety over the Clearwater's. She was beginning to wonder whether it was time to mention something discreetly, maybe to Billy or Harry, about what may come. Would they even believe that a female could phase. It had been a shock in her reality. Here they would think she was insane.
"You're not sickening for something are you, Bells?" Charlie asked in concern the next morning. He noticed the dark circles under his daughter's eyes from lack of sleep. She looked peaky. "Maybe you shouldn't go into school today." He suggested.
This was a boon to Bella. She had completely forgotten about it. She agreed hurriedly before Charlie changed his mind. "I might go straight back to bed. I think I caught it off of Mike."
"Mike?" Charlie questioned. "The Newton boy?"
"Yes."
"I didn't know you and he were um…." Charlie struggled to use the word dating. He scratched his chin awkwardly.
"No dad." Bella refuted firmly.
"Oh, okay." Charlie smiled in relief. "I mean he's a good kid but you don't want to get tangled up in another relationship too soon."
"No." Bella agreed faintly as her mind drifted to Jacob.
"Well I'm off to work. Call me if you need me to come home, kiddo." Charlie got up from the kitchen table and dumped his breakfast bowl in the sink.
"I'll be fine. I just need some sleep that's all." Bella gathered herself together and stood up. She could use some shuteye but doubted that it would happen. Every time she closed her eyes Victoria was always there, waiting.
"The rest will do you good. See you later, Bells." Charlie gave her a quick hug and then promptly left.
It was a slow day. Being alone only gave her too much time to dwell on all her problems. She tried calling Jacob, but no one answered, not even Billy. It was pointless driving to La Push on the off chance. Bella tried to distract herself with housework. It worked for a while. She did the washing, ironed the dry laundry. She hung up all of Charlie's pressed shirts neatly, smoothing out all of the wrinkles. Bella dusted, vacuumed, swept. She took out the trash. She polished the kitchen table until it shone. You could see your face in the sink. After four hours of intense activity she was exhausted physically, but mentally she was as overanxious as ever. She craved sleep.
In the end Bella tried watching a movie. She put on one of Charlie's DVD's. He loved old black and white cowboy films. John Wayne appeared on the screen, whistling. Bella nearly laughed at his enormous hat. His spurs dragged along the dusty ground as he pushed his hat up his sweaty forehead. She tried her best to concentrate on the inane dialogue, but before she was aware, her eyes drifted closed and she fell into a light doze.
It was cold. Bella fidgeted, trying to seek some warmth. She sighed irritably as she fumbled around for her duvet. Where was it? Bella rolled onto her back, one arm flopping forward. Her hand hit something hard, rigid. She became still, heart beating ten to the dozen. This couldn't be happening. Her fingers twitched. She tried to delay the inevitable, but failed. Cold fingers entwined around hers. "Bella." The voice whispered her name, silky and smooth as honey.
It was his voice. It was Edward. Bella opened her eyes, scooting backwards at the same time. She nearly fell off the bed. It was only his tight grip on her hand that prevented the fall. Bella stared at him, confused, disorientated. Time apart had dimmed his beauty. He was too ethereal. His white skin gleamed in the half dark. He was smiling at her indulgently. "You've been dreaming, my love." He crooned. He reached across with his other hand and gently grazed the skin of her cheek with the back of his hand. His touch was so cold. Bella shuddered.
"This is a dream." Bella said in despair. She put her hand to her forehead, rubbing her temples. She sat upright, her long hair falling about her shoulders. "You're not real." She glanced at him again, blinded by his beauty.
A frown marred Edward's perfect features. Her words seemed to hurt him. "I am as real as you."
Bella stared at him, uncomprehending. "I don't understand. You left."
"I came back." Edward soothed. "I'll never leave you again. I promise. You can count on me, Bella. I will protect you, always."
His words were a mishmash of Jacob's the night before. It was like he had stolen them. Bella scooted further away from him. "Where's Jake?" She demanded. "Where is he?"
"Jacob who?" Edward gave her bland smile.
Then it all changed. Edward's features distorted. They became more feline. His golden eyes began to bleed until they darkened to a vibrant red. His hair grew alarmingly fast, turning dark red, as if it was on fire. Bella felt the cold snow seeping into her clothes. Victoria was hovering above her, cold fingers wrapped around her throat, face contorted into a feral snarl. "Tick tock." She hissed.
Bella screamed…
Something was holding her down. Bella thrashed around, fighting. She lashed out. There was a faint gasp, then an annoyed curse. The hold on her loosened and Bella was able to move. She rolled, falling off the sofa, and hitting the floor with a dull thud. "Ow." Pain exploded in her left elbow. Her eyes flared open and she gazed around blearily, trying to get her bearings.
"Next time you want to throw a punch, warn me." A female voice spat sarcastically.
"Huh." Bella sat upright, holding her head in her hands. She moaned softly. "What happened?"
"I knocked on the front door but no one answered." The same female replied irritably. "Then I heard all this screaming. The front door wasn't locked so I came inside. I thought you were being assaulted or something."
Bella finally managed to clear her vision. She gaped at her unexpected visitor. Her eyes took in the sleek back bob which ended at the girl's chin. Her eyes, dark like melting chocolate, glared back at Bella. She was scowling, a familiar expression to Bella. She had seen this expression on her visitor's face countless times. The girl stood up, hands on hips, her posture only enhancing her athletic frame.
It was Leah Clearwater.
"Is it helping?" Bella asked solicitously. She watched as Leah placed the frozen pack of peas over her right eye.
"Not really. I'm going to have a black eye now thanks to you. That's what I get for trying to do the right thing." Leah complained. She was sitting in Charlie's recliner, long legs stretched out in front of her. She adjusted the frozen packet of peas over her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Bella apologised for the umpteenth time.
"So you keep saying." Leah muttered. She winced. Her damn eye was smarting. "Who knew that you had a mean left hook? You look as weak as a kitten."
"It was an accident." Bella protested. Even in this reality Leah was already getting under her skin. They had always rubbed each other up the wrong way. "Why are you even here?" She demanded rudely. She had given up trying to apologise.
"Well you're the only other one who knows." Leah retorted angrily. "I could hardly confide in Seth. Or mom." She rolled her eyes. "Dad would have a meltdown if he knew that I knew. Sam wasn't supposed to tell me."
It finally dawned on Bella what Leah was talking about. So Sam had done as she suggested and told Leah about his wolf side. "Wow." She breathed.
"Wow? That's all you have to say?" Leah continued irritability. "My freaking boyfriend bursts into a ball of fur at the drop of a hat and all you can say is wow." She imitated Bella's voice perfectly. "Jeez, girl, I hope you gave lover boy a better reaction than that."
"Lover boy?" Bella questioned in confusion.
Leah snapped impatiently. "Jacob, dumbass."
"Jake and I….we…I mean…um…." Bella's skin burned with mortification.
"Damn, you're making this hard work." Leah complained. She dumped the frozen peas and touched the underside of her eye gingerly. "Is it bad?" She asked Bella.
"Um…well….."
"Oh, forget it." Leah sighed and slumped back in her chair. "It's all so freaky, right. I mean all those times Sam just bailed on me. I thought he was seeing someone else, you know. But it turns out he was…." She shook her head in disbelief.
"Yeah." Bella tailed off. She didn't know how to respond. She wondered how much Sam had told Leah. "Um…when did he tell you?"
"Last night." Leah let out a low whistle. "Fuck, one second we're making out the next he's blabbering about telling me something huge." She paused and studied Bella carefully. "Sam mentioned that they all communicate with their thoughts. Freaky!" She leaned closer to Bella and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "They can share each other's you know what." Leah tapped the side of her head. "I warned Sam I'd kill him if he let slip anything. I have to tell you though, girlfriend, you better get Jake's head under control. Sam says some of the things he's let slip…." She laughed as she watched Bella's skin turn rosier. "I'm kidding."
"Oh, right." Bella said weakly. "I knew that. Jake and I, we're just…."
But Leah wasn't listening. She began to describe to Bella what Sam looked like in his wolf form. As if she didn't already know. Bella sat back and let the other girl ramble on. It was clear that Leah needed to verbalise her reaction to someone in the know just to wrap her own head around the weirdness of it all. It gave Bella time to gather her thoughts. She was still suffering the aftereffects of that awful nightmare. It had freaked her out seeing Edward again in all his glory. For a moment she had believed that she moved time zones again, but it was her mind playing tricks. Bella shuddered at the memory of Victoria. Tick tock she had said, what did this mean? Was it a warning? Was her time running out?
"Are you okay?" Leah had finally noticed that Bella had fallen silent. "You look peaky."
"I've got one of those sickness bugs." Bella lied.
"Don't pass it to me." Leah said in disgust.
"Shape shifters don't get sick." Bella muttered unthinkingly.
"I'm not a shape shifter." Leah snapped. "That's Sam, Jacob and the others."
"Yes, sorry." Bella cursed her slip of the tongue.
Leah stared at her for a long moment before she climbed out of Charlie's recliner. "Anyway thanks for the chat." She said sardonically. "But I have to go. My cousin's coming over. I'm hoping she's brought some of her makeup with her so I can hide this damn black eye." She touched the underside of her eye again carefully.
Bella's head shot up. Her heart hammered in her chest. "You mean Emily." It wasn't a question.
"How do you know my cousin's name?" Leah asked curiously.
This couldn't be happening. Emily couldn't come now. It would ruin everything and cause untold chaos. Bella grabbed hold of Leah's arm to stop her leaving. "You can't let Emily come. Please send her away, Leah." Bella pleaded desperately.
"Jeez, you are so weird." Leah snatched her arm away from Bella. "What have you got against my cousin? You don't even know Emily."
"Please." Bella begged again. She ran in front of Leah, trying to get in the other girl's way. Leah barged past her, angry now. Bella grabbed her arm again and used the sheer force of her weight to drag Leah to a halt. "Please, I'm doing this for you. You have to prevent Emily from coming to stay."
"Get off." Leah began to fight with Bella. "You are fucking crazy. I should never have come here."
"Please listen to me." Bella was openly crying. Tears streamed down her face. "I'm not crazy. I'm trying to help you."
"Help me do what." Leah demanded, seething. She shrugged Bella off. "You're insane."
"I'm not." Bella whispered brokenly. "You have to believe me. I'm only trying to stop it happening."
"There you go again. Stop what happening? You're making no sense." Leah yelled.
Bella had no choice. She knew that now. She could either let Leah leave and let fate take its course or risk telling her the truth and damn the consequences. Her arms wrapped around her waist in an attempt to hold herself together. She fought for breath. Leah was staring at her in alarm. "If you don't send Emily away…" Bella faltered. "Then you'll lose Sam. You'll lose everything. And there will be nothing you can do to stop it."
A/N-thanks for reading!
