All things Twilight belong to the awe inspiring Stephenie Meyer (22 Days till Breaking Dawn)


Chapter 10 - Closer

"Alice Cullen, don't you dare . . ." I shouted, but she'd already disappeared down the stairs at a rate of knots. Her giggle could still be heard from where I was stood. Beside me, Edward chuckled lightly and threw his arm around me.

"It's really not funny, Edward." I commented, but couldn't resist wrapping my arm around his waist.

"Bella, you have so much to learn." he smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Alice always gets what she wants, believe me fifty years of living with her, kind of makes me an expert, anyway, you need to get used to being spoiled, I plan on doing it a lot."

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him, I knew the Cullens had an insurmountable wealth but it seemed it went above and beyond any figure I could have dreamed up. The amount of the car had seemed like pocket change to children the way they'd behaved.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it, Edward." I sighed as I headed towards my room.

"You should know one thing, Bella." he smiled warmly.

"What's that?" I asked stopping and turning to face him.

"None of us had any of this before, when we were humans, we were living in the poorest of times, Rosalie was the only exception, she was a socialite. But the rest of us don't come from wealthy backgrounds." his face turned more serious. "I was dying of the Spanish Influenza when Carlisle saved me, Alice remembers nothing of who she was as a human, she doesn't even remember the pain, Esme was married to a soldier, he abused her, when she lost her child she tried to commit suicide by jumping from a cliff. Jasper comes from the civil war era and wandered until he found Alice. Emmett was a hunter. You grow accustomed to it, and it's all perfectly legitimate, we invest our money and it grows in time, Alice is very gifted at the stock exchange, and when we change identities, we inherit the money from a dead grandfather. We even pay taxes." he added laughing.

I felt guilty about what I had said now. I had never considered how each of these beautiful people had been as humans or even what they had been through to get them where they were now. Edward could see how I was feeling and immediately tried to alleviate the mood. He wrapped his arms around me once again.

"I wasn't trying to upset you, Bella, I just wanted you to understand it gets easier. You're a part of this family now, you'll begin to see how things work. Believe me, every house we purchase or own has it's own charm, but they get more elaborate, the cars we buy get flashier and more expensive. Our clothes, you see how Alice and Rosalie dress, their closest's are probably three times the size of yours and are full to capacity with designer clothes. Each of us came to this family with nothing."

I closed my eyes and leaned into his chest. I understood what he was saying, it was like a birth, you come into the world with nothing but build your place amongst the family. It was all part of becoming a Cullen.

"You're right." I sighed heavily.

"About?" he asked, kissing the top of my head lightly.

"I have a lot to learn."

My comment had made Edward laugh and I was glad that the moment had passed, I had started feeling like an ungrateful brat, which had never been my intention. The Cullen's had done everything in their power to make me comfortable and I was throwing it at them. My head shook lightly on his chest as his deep laugh subsided to a chuckle.

"I should probably go and thank Alice." I said not really wanting to move.

"She knows, she just saw you decide." I could hear the smile in his voice now.

"You're welcome, Bella." Alice's light voice carried up the stairs easily to me.

"Thank you, Alice, and you, Rosalie." I said back.

"You're welcome, Bella." Rosalie's beautiful angelic tone reached me and I laughed.

"Have they been listening the entire time?"

Edward nodded. "Welcome to the family.'

I shook my head against his chest and closed my eyes enjoying my new favorite sound, Edward's laughter. It was so melodic, and above everything it meant he was happy. I just hoped he was as happy as I was. Some giggles from the Cullen's sibling's reached me as Edward's laughter quieted. I didn't mind the embarrassment too much, it seemed like a natural course, it was all about becoming part of this unusual family.

I heard Alice come back up the stairs, she was being intentionally noisy so we would hear her coming. I imagined she didn't want to walk in on anything.

"Alice?" I heard Edward's tone change and his body froze around me. I pulled my head away from his chest and looked back at Alice. She was frozen to the spot, her delicate hands were wrapped around the stair railing. Her eyes were slightly glazed. She was having a vision, and from the reaction of Edward, he'd seen it, and it couldn't be good.

"They're getting closer," Alice murmured quietly. "It won't be long now, but they're purposely taking their time, they know we expect them so they're holding off."

I could tell that Alice was avoiding something, they were hiding an important piece of information from me. I wasn't sure if it was because they didn't trust me, or because they were afraid of upsetting me.

"There's more, isn't there?" I asked, hoping they would be honest with me.

Alice nodded and Edward's arms tightened around me. They didn't want to upset me. I should have known really.

"We need to speak with Carlisle." Edward said pointedly.

The three of us made our way downstairs to the living room, Carlisle had a shift at the hospital later, but for now he was on the couch with Esme. We were getting closer to the inevitable move, so they were ironing out any little creases. It seemed my arrival had sped up the process a little, we all knew I couldn't stay in Forks, there was a large chance I could run into someone I knew. I constantly apologized for this and it always gained me a hug from Esme, she hated that I felt uncomfortable about things like that.

As soon as we walked into the room we had their full attention, something about the way Alice and Edward had walked into the room alerted them to the fact that something was going on, and it was important.

It didn't take long for the rest of the family to join us, either. Jasper had felt each of our emotions as we passed through the second floor and had alerted Rosalie and Emmett. Each of the family took their places and Edward sat me down next to Esme. He gave her a knowing look before kneeling on the floor next to me taking my hand. Alice took her place next to Jasper before beginning.

With Jasper's expression, it was obvious that Alice and Edward's emotions were a lot darker than mine. I hadn't realized how bad this was until now, and Jasper made it very obvious, because his eyes continued to flicker between the two of them, his face shadowed with concern.

"I had a vision," Alice started, she looked at Edward quickly before continuing. "They are getting closer, they know we expect them and they are trying to use the element of surprise. They're also a little smarter than we gave them credit for."

"In what way, Alice?" Carlisle asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"They have a hostage." she said simply.

My breath caught in my throat and every hair on my body stood on end, I knew who they were talking about, I was the one who'd made the mistake. I had never thought they would stoop so low, but apparently, they had.

"Renee," my voice was at a pitch I never knew it could reach, and my entire body shook violently.

Alice's knowing eyes settled on me, full of concern and apologies, she didn't have to say a word, I already knew. James knew how much my mom meant to me, I'd asked him to check on her after they'd taken me. I'd been concerned about how she was dealing with my death. This was all my fault, I'd done this, I'd put her life in danger, all because they wanted me.

Esme's strong supportive embrace encompassed me and Edward squeezed my hand gently with one hand and rubbed my arm with the other. I was frozen, my mom was one of the more potent memories I had as a human and I could remember almost everything about her. Now she was with the people who had taken me from her.

"How?" I asked simply. I knew how they found her, I just wanted to know if they had taken her by force, or had they told her something to gain her confidence. Alice seemed to know exactly what I was asking.

"They told her you were alive, and that they would bring her to you. They've been kind to her so far, and she has no idea what they are. We need to warn the wolves." Alice sighed. She hated bringing the wolves into the equation because she lost all sight when she did, the outcomes couldn't be determined after their involvement.

I sat in silence trying to find any way out of the situation, there had to be a way to get Renee to safety, I couldn't let her be involved in what was happening away from human eyes. She was one of the most perceptive people I'd ever met, in time she would figure out something was wrong, and I was afraid they would hurt her if she attempted to run. As a human she was so fragile.

My mind wandered to my time with the small coven, my only silver lining had been Laurent and I hoped that he would extend the same courtesy to my mother as he had to me. His name continued to repeat itself in my head, at this point he was my only hope.

"Laurent." Esme said out loud.

The whole room gave her their undivided attention, she seemed just as shocked as the rest of us.

"What?" Rosalie asked gently, eyeing Esme curiously.

Esme looked a little embarrassed at her outburst. "I don't know, the name was repeating in my head."

Each of the Cullen's exchanged a look. Did she have the same idea as I did? I was sure that Carlisle would have shared my concerns with her, during my plight to save Laurent, I had explained his kindness towards me. Maybe Esme knew he was my mothers only hope.

"The same thing was going through my mind." said Emmett looking a little confused.

I frowned, how often did the Cullen's talk when I wasn't around?

"Bella?" Edward said, confusion and fascination lit up his face.

"Yes?"

"What were you thinking just now, before Esme spoke?" he asked gently, the excitement was now sparkling in his golden eyes.

I looked down at my hands. "Laurent, he was so kind to me, he was the one that protected me while I was with them, I was hoping, maybe he could . . ." my voice trailed off, each of the Cullens were now watching me wide eyed and on the edge of their seats. "What?" I asked shocked at their expressions.

"Bella, each of us were thinking the same thing," Edward said quietly.

I shook my head, I didn't quite understand what he was trying to say.

"Bella, could you think of something else, like you were thinking about Laurent? I have a theory." Carlisle said smiling encouragingly.

I tried to remember what I had been doing while I was thinking, was it the desperation for my mothers safety, or the repeating of his name, hoping he would help. I went with the latter, I thought of my mother, her name rolled around my head in waves, her face, and her name flickered through my mind.

"Bella?" Carlisle said drawing my attention away from my thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Were you thinking about your mom?"

I nodded.

Carlisle looked ready to jump to his feet with excitement, but he settled instead, by placing his index fingers on his temples. I looked at Edward and frowned, but he was lost in Carlisle's thoughts. Esme's arm tightened around my shoulders.

"I don't understand." I said, looked directly at Esme now, "What are you trying to say?"

"Bella, honey." Esme's soothing voice relaxed me a little but I was still confused. "I think we've discovered your talent."

"Talent?"

"Well, Edward reads minds, Alice sees the future, Jasper controls emotions. We're thinking that you're talent could be similar." Carlisle said, gazing at me hopefully.

"Wouldn't I know about it though?" I asked.

Carlisle thought about my question before even attempting to answer me. "I think . . . and we'll have to test it out . . . but I think you've never needed it before, and if no one's ever told you, you would have never known."

I frowned at them, what did he mean, needed it? What was it anyway? A talent was all I needed, something else to juggle in an already stressful moment.

"What about my mom?" I said trying to divert them all back to the more urgent topic.

Edward and Carlisle stared at one another, I had a good idea that they were trying to have a conversation, I watched Edward closely. Carlisle could speak directly in his mind to Edward, but in order to answer, Edward would need to make a gesture.

Edward's eyes finally met mine, the look that filled them confused me, I had no idea what had been said but I couldn't understand the look that was filling me with a small shred of hope.

"Bella, I think maybe if Carlisle's right, this could help your mom, but we need to make sure that we're right before we do anything especially something that involves Renee's safety." Edward said, never breaking eye contact.

"Okay, so what do we do?" I asked.

"We need to know exactly what you can do."

I took a deep breath and looked around the room, I knew this was important and I was sure that each of them had gone through the same process at some point when they joined the Cullens. I just didn't know how much time we had. Time was my only concern when it came to the experimentation.

"We just need to know the extent of what you can do."

"What do I do?" I asked, "I'm not even sure of that much."

"It seems like you can manipulate thoughts, it makes sense really, Edward can't seem to access your mind, which suggests that your mind is locked."

"So why would it manipulate thoughts if it's locked?" I asked confused by Carlisle's train of thought.

"It's almost as though it's protecting you, while it's locked, when you needed help it called out. It seems the concern you have for your mother had you looking for a solution, when you believed you'd found one, your mind projected it."

"So how will this help her?"

"Well if there's a way your mind can truly manipulate thoughts, maybe you can convince James and his coven to release your mother, or even make them forget her completely, and you."

I laughed at how completely ludicrous it all sounded, but I was alone in my humor, the others seemed to believe it could work. I looked at Edward again, my heart was leaping out of my chest.

"What if you end up forgetting me too? What if it works but I can't train it on just one set of people, and you all forget me too?" I asked, fear suddenly engulfing me.

Edward was on his knees and had my face gently between his hands in a second. Our eyes connected and I wanted to get lost in them.

"That's why we want to play with it, Bella, we will never do something that could hurt you and I will never risk losing you again."

Everything was happening so fast again, life at the Cullen house had just begun slipping into a nice calm serenity, we were all just getting to know one another, but again my life had to catch up with me and bite me in the ass. It seemed I couldn't escape my past, it continued to find me like I had a beacon screaming "over here." If this new revelation and this talent helped deflect these problems I would willingly help, these people had put so much faith and trust in me, it was time to repay them.

"Okay, let's do it." I said swallowing my fear. "Carlisle, where do you need me?"

Carlisle smiled and was on his feet in an instant. "We need to make sure you can control it first, and it would be nice to know whether you can target just one person."

"How do I do that?"

"We know that you can place thoughts in our mind, you've done it twice already. Why don't we start with trying to narrow your targets down. Try and tell Edward something."

I looked at Edward carefully and concentrated, I wanted to make sure that it would work on just Edward before I tried communicating with him alone.

'Call Alice a pixie' I repeated in my head over and over again. I concentrated on each word as I thought it.

"PIXIE," everyone of the Cullen's shouted out loud looking at Alice, Alice merely pointed at herself.

I pressed my lips together trying not to laugh at the scene laid out ahead of me.

"Hey!" Alice rested her hands on her hips as she feigned annoyance.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Okay Bella, that was quicker and the thought was a little stronger making the urge to shout it stronger. Try again, and if you could focus everything on Edward as you do it."

I nodded and sucked in a large breath. My eyes connected with Edward's and I thought of him carefully, then I pulled in the word Maserati and repeated it with as much force as I could, looking only at Edward and concentrating on him carefully.

"Maserati," he said in his velvet voice, our eyes were still connected and I didn't want to avert my attention just yet, it seemed that my concentration had worked, no one else could hear what I was saying. I love you danced around my head slowly as I thought about only Edward, our eyes were still connected. His lit up beautifully and his crooked grin spread across his handsome face.

He sprang towards me and pulled me into a tight embrace, "I love you too." he whispered gently into my ear.

"Do you mean that? Or did I manipulate you into saying it?" I laughed. I knew it was a valid point on my part, but I could be nothing but happy about the words he'd just whispered into my ear.

"I said it! It was just a faint voice in my mind and I recognized it as yours. I didn't let it get any further." he laughed.

"Did anyone else hear it?" Edward asked refusing to let me go.

The Cullens shook their heads and watched Edward as his embrace engulfed me. Edward smiled and kissed me on the tip of the nose before stepping away from me.

"Okay, Bella." Carlisle smiled. "Let's try a group."

I nodded and pulled in a deep breath. Alice and Jasper joined Edward in front of me. I tried to think of something none of them would know. I decided on my locker combination from Phoenix. I thought about Edward, Alice and Jasper, I saw their faces in my mind and began thinking the combination twenty-Four, Nineteen, ten. I repeated the words in my head over and over again.

"Twenty-four," Alice said.

"nineteen," Jasper followed.

"ten," Edward finished.

My eyes grew large and I looked at Carlisle again. What ever was going on, it seemed to work, the three of them had heard what I was saying and in perfect coordination read it back to me.

Carlisle seemed excited. "Can you make them forget it?"

"Uh?"

"Bella, try and convince them that they never heard the numbers." Carlisle said happily.

"How?"

Carlisle grinned at me and headed towards me quietly. "Tell them there is no such number as ten, just keep repeating those words and see if that does it, if not we'll come up with something else."

I nodded and looked at the three of them stood in front of me, I concentrated on them with my mind before repeating the sentence. Nothing really happened other than the four of us stood looking at one another.

"Jasper, can you tell me what comes after nine?" Carlisle asked.

"Eleven!" Jasper answered simply.

Emmett chuckled happily from the couch. Rosalie looked stunned but Alice and Edward seemed to agree. I tried not to laugh at the situation, but it was proving to be more difficult than I had anticipated. I looked at Carlisle and began snickering, he joined in with me, but Alice, Jasper and Edward looked confused.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked grinning at me.

"Ten," Emmett laughed. "Ten's funny man!"

"What's ten?"Alice asked.

That was it for the rest of us, I knew I had to fix it but their confusion was entirely too easy. Edward seemed like he was getting aggravated, so still laughing, I concentrated on only him and told him to remember ten, it's between nine and eleven. Finally a look of complete realization washed over his face and he smiled at us.

"Funny guys, that's just mean," he laughed. Alice and Jasper looked at him again.

"Edward, what the hell is ten?"

Edward tried to hold back his laughter but he was soon doubled over with the rest of us.

"Bella, please," Chuckled Carlisle, "can you fix that?"

I nodded and concentrated on the two of them. Each time I tried to convince someone it was getting a little easier, and I didn't have to concentrate so much on the words, just the people.

The laughter finally died down a little. My thoughts once again traveled to my mom and the situation she was in. Why hadn't I thought about her when I left, I should have known he would try something, especially seeing as it had taken them so long to get here. Their absence should have been what alerted me that somethings was wrong. In my stupidity, I had asked James to find her, of course he would use her against me, he knew just how much she meant to be, and how much it would hurt if anything ever happened to her. I could feel my subsiding laughter turning into the sobs I'd been holding back. Edward was at my side in a second and I was wrapped safely in his arms before the first violent sob shook my body. What was wrong with me, my emotions were all over the place and I couldn't control my train of thought.

"Bella, calm down, it's okay." he whispered gently.

"How does this help my mom?" I asked, my voice gravelly from the sobbing.

Carlisle looked to Edward and then back at me, "I have one more thing I would like you to try, it's evident that you can target certain people and localize the effect, but I wonder how strong it is? Do you mind?"

I shook my head and took his hand, I hated leaving the enclosure of Edward's arms, but if this is what would help save Renee, then I was willing to try it.

Carlisle placed a large ornamental vase in the middle of the coffee table. "Rosalie, would you like to help with this one?" Carlisle asked.

Rosalie shook her head, her eyes wide, but Emmett jumped at the chance and was stood beside Carlisle so quickly if I'd have blinked I would have missed it.

"Okay, Bella. What I want you to do, is make the vase disappear, like it never existed, do you think you could do that?" Carlisle asked.

I nodded and concentrated on Emmett, I thought about him and the vase never existing, there was no vase it was never there.

As with the number ten, nothing seemingly happened and Emmett stood looking at me expectantly. I shrugged my shoulders and looked to Carlisle.

"Emmett, do you remember where I put the vase on the table?" Carlisle asked.

Emmett shook his head and chuckled. "You didn't put a vase on the table Carlisle."

"Bella?" Carlisle called.

"Yes?"

"What did you do to give him that reaction?"

"Well, I thought about the vase never existing, that there was never a vase there."

'Alice, can you pick up the vase for me?"

Alice nodded and danced forward, she picked up the vase carefully and Emmett watched her closely, his eyes tried adjusting and he looked closely at her hands.

"Very funny, Alice." he laughed.

Rosalie raised her eyebrows and stepped forward. "Babe, it's right there." she said rubbing the edge of it gently.

"Alice, hand it to Emmett, will you?"

Alice nodded and held out her hands to Emmett, Emmett laughed again. The decoration looked so large in Alice's small arms, it wasn't heavy to her, vampires had immeasurable strength, but it certainly looked awkward.

"Emmett, take the vase." said Rosalie, frustrated.

Emmett's laugh disappeared when he saw the seriousness of Rosalie's expression. He sighed and held out his hands waiting for Alice to place the vase in them.

"Be careful please," Esme insisted. "That's one of the better vases."

As Alice let go of the object, Emmett's face dropped in shock. "I can feel something."

Carlisle nodded and Alice took the vase from Emmett's arms and set it back on the table.

"It's not perfect, but it'll work." Carlisle sighed.

I could see the plan now, make my mom invisible to James and make it as though she never existed, and then help them forget about her, I think he was right, it would work.

"How much range do you think I have on this?" I asked wondering if I could do something to help my mom now.

"I'm not sure, but I really don't think it would be a good idea to try something now." Carlisle said thoughtfully. 'We need another meeting with the wolves, I think we can still carry out the plan, but we need to give Bella enough time to work and get her mom away from there. Maybe this way we can help Laurent too"

I nodded, the possibilities seemed endless, I could say goodbye to my mom the way I wanted to and then make her forget she saw me. I could finally say goodbye to Charlie. I felt hopeful again, I had something to look forward to. I could tell each of these people how much I loved them and they would never know that it was real. It had been difficult having them ripped out of my life so suddenly and it was one of the many things holding me back, it was stopping me from fully letting go. I had to say goodbye to them, I wanted to and this would be the one way it could happen.

"Do you think I could persuade someone that a memory was a dream?" I asked hoping that it would be possible, I would love to have the chance to say goodbye and them remember it in their own way.

"What do you have in mind, Bella?" Asked Edward wrapping me in the protective embrace I wanted to feel for eternity.

"I want to say goodbye." I whispered, leaning my forehead against his neck gently.

'It can't hurt." Esme said standing up and placing a petite hand on my arm. She looked to Carlisle to make the decision.

"I think that's a nice idea." sighed Carlisle.


A/N: Okay, I never really intended Bella to have a gift in this story but it just happened, Esme blurted it out and it took off from there. I won't be dwelling on it too much, I think this chapter pretty much explains what she can do. At least i hope it does. ;0P

Thank you for the Alerts and Faves, for some unknown reason, every now and again my email and fanfic have a bit of a problem communicating, it's super annoying but, eh what can u do? Thanks to the REVIEWERS, YOU GUYS SUPER DUPER ROCK . . . LIKE ROCKSTARS ;0)

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