-xi-
Waking from her stupor would have been welcome...if she hadn't still been gazing up at the cracked ceiling of the abandoned house she'd been brought to against her will. It took a moment for Isabella to realize that her limbs were no longer restrained, but before she could sit up, his voice floated to her ringing ears.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Her first reflex was to jump from the table and back away from him as fast as possible. Her eyes darted about the room, looking for the others that had ambushed her in the alleyway. She didn't know for certain that this wasn't some sick trick.
Not seeing or sensing any others, she kept her back against the wall so they were facing one another. She noted the way he frowned at her, as if her not wanting to be near him had been baffling. You beat me til I was unconscious...what did you expect?
His words hit her finally and with a sad realization, she understood that he didn't remember her anymore. She stayed where she was, appraising him and his posture. I want to go home...
Though she doubted he would release her, she had to at least ask..., "Please let me go home." She thought he may have stifled a wince, but he didn't answer her. Instead he continued to stare at her, as if she were a puzzle he was trying to put together. Long moments passed between them and when he stepped forward to come closer, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself... expecting a hit.
(***)
He had no idea who this creature was, where she came from, or where she lived. But hearing the soft lull of her voice as she asked him to let her go home had made his beating heart ache. Besides Marcus, one of the royal Volturi, he'd never heard another vampire's heart beating until now.
He was about to ask her once more how she knew him, but the sound of her accelerating heart had confounded him, the pain in her eyes more punishing. No, he didn't know her...but that didn't stop him from wanting to.
As he stepped toward her to assure her that she was safe in this moment, she turned her head and cringed, her body a mass of tension as she braced herself for what he could only imagine was an expected hit. Shame flooded him.
"Who are you?" he'd thought that maybe his words would come out sounding more firm, but instead his they came out more dazed and mirroring his emotions. She didn't answer right away, instead squeaking her eyes open, no doubt shocked by the softness in his voice.
He vaguely realized that she hadn't answered him yet, was too distracted by the sight of her little fang running over her bottom lip as she weighed her answer. His gaze was drawn to the sight; he couldn't seem to drag his eyes away. Visions of taking that bottom lip into his mouth made him dizzy, like it was something he didn't want to try, but something he wanted to experience again. I feel like I've done it before.
Edward thought he would go mad if she didn't answer him soon, her silence killing his usually all-knowing mind. Just as he was about to demand she answer, she dropped her eyes and replied.
"I don't know how you don't remember me...or even why, but...I'm Isabella." He could hear her heart beating wildly as she waited for him to reply, could hear in the way she said her name that she expected that to mean something to him.
It...Didn't.
Though the name was beautiful and the woman it belonged to was its equal, he was certain he'd never heard it before. Still, he looked at her face and realized that she was familiar to him. Perhaps he'd drunk from her lover? Maybe that was why her face seemed to be flooding his mind. It made sense that that was the answer...what else could it be? As an immortal, when you drank someone to death, you gained their memories. He'd gorged himself on victim after victim during the turning, so much so that for the last two years his memories hadn't been any of his own. Just recently was he able to start functioning and making coherent thoughts that weren't others.
"How do we know each other? You seem to look at me as if were familiar with one another. Did I kill your lover? Is that why you know my name?" Even as he said it, he knew it wasn't true. It would have been too easy...to ideal. No, if he was being honest with himself, he knew that there was more to this story than just a crossing of paths.
She frowned but wouldn't raise her face to look at him. Instead she continued to look down, her shoes apparently being the most fascinating thing in this room. "I was your, Isabella...you used to call me your little bride."
(***)
Sinking to the floor, she curled her legs to her chest and set her cheek along the tops. The action confounded him, why hadn't she tried to run? The action seemed to be surrender, and he wasn't all that sure he felt about that.
She said that she'd been his, but he couldn't wrap his head around that. If she had been mine I would have never let her go. He eased closer toward her, unable to stop the growing feeling of wanting to comfort her. She was a stranger to him, and still he couldn't help wondering how she would feel pressed against his chest. If I take her into me, I doubt I'd ever be able to let go...
"You really don't remember me at all?" her eyes were mesmerizing, he knew her, she was familiar to him… and yet he knew he'd never seen a creature quite as breathtaking as she was. Sheer frustration began to well in him, because if what she was saying was true and he did know her, then he wanted to remember her.
With her sad eyes staring deep into his, she leaned forward on her knees as if to cup his face. When he could feel the air between them had grown warm, his eyes slid shut as if from memory and for the first time in this life, he felt anticipation…
The touch of her fingers on his face made him feel as if a blanket of calm had just been wrapped around his body. As if from reflex, he rested his face there, his eyes stayed closed as he savored this simple touch of affection. He'd never craved it before, had never felt tempted. But right now, on this dirty floor, with the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen showing him warmth and acceptance; he ached for it…for more.
"You found me when I was a little girl and fed me. You kept me safe and warm and loved. I thought you would send me away and so I ran from you. I stayed hidden for years until I grew into maturity and then nine years later we found one another again…that night you took me to your home, we kissed and touched…the next morning we made love…"
His mind conjured the pictures of events she described. He imagined what it would have been like to feel her untried body. To catch her gasp of surprise with his mouth on her own as he entered her for the first time. He'd grown restless just imagining it.
His mind screamed at him to be rational, that this was a trick of seduction on her part, a simple attempt at sparing her life. But his heart told him something different, and his body was responding to her in ways he'd never known it could. These emotions and his earlier reactions to her couldn't possibly be a coincidence. He began to accept the idea that there were bigger things in motion here than just a target wielding a seduction power.
Before she could continue on with her accounts and details of their supposed relationship, she shrieked in agony and fell to the ground with a thud.
Jane. If Edward had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have realized that they were no longer alone. Jane, Alec and Demitri had returned and at the sight of him with the female, they took action.
Demitri dragged Edward from her side and removed her from his sight as Jane and Alec continued on with her punishing. The only thing Edward could perceive in that moment was that she was in danger, if he couldn't fight hard enough and get to her, they would destroy her, with or without his blessings.
As fast as he could, he countered Demitri's moves and fought with a savage need to kill. I thought of this man as a brother? Hit after hit was exchanged between the two, but still there was no end in sight. In a last moment of desperation, Edward had planned to actually try and bargain, but before he could get that far, Jane and Alec's thoughts hit him as if a yell.
Where did she go? Who was that! He could see who they were talking about in their minds. Three vampires had appeared out of nowhere and had traced Isabella away. A small pixie had cradled her in arms and then disappeared as quickly as she'd come. The other two, both males squared off defensively against Alec and Jane as if waiting for them to attack. Jane had been so startled by how they'd appeared that she hadn't time enough to react with her gift. Then at once, both men left in a blur of speed.
Stopping his fight with Demitri, Edward traced to the room, his gaze searching for her, looking all over in hopes of seeing her safely tucked away, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Demitri caught up with him then, his anger palpable and his nerves shot. He wasn't worried about the fact that Edward and he had been fighting, his concern was with the fact that their target had just escaped.
"See what your little antics have caused? Are you happy now?" Every line of Demitri's body seemed to be bulging as she started at Edward with contempt. In his mind he continued to yell at him, each word making Edward question his sanity. She's a temptress! A Femme Fatale! You fell into her trap and now she's escaped! We should have destroyed her the second we had her in our keeping! I will not go down for this…I'll give them your head before I pay for your mistakes!
Without her face to focus on, his mind returned to his mission. Those overwhelming emotions are gone…She had been wielding a seduction over him! He may have been played for a fool, but no longer. Doubling back to his crew, his body shook with rage. "Find her…then destroy her."
(***)
Three vampires she'd never encountered before had taken her from that hell and were now frantically driving her out of the city. All Isabella had managed to gather was that unlike the ones she'd just been rescued from, these immortals weren't bent on destroying her.
"Where are you taking me?" Was her voice really that weak? She sounded like a child might after having a nightmare. No one paid her any attention though, the three pointing and yelling at one another to go different routes for different reasons.
They were in a fast car that much was evident. The darkened windows were passing buildings and roads in blurs as a blonde vampire with scars drove through the Interstate. The little brunette pixie that she had recognized as the one that carried her out was in the backseat with her and what looked like Demitri's physical twin sat in the passenger side up front.
"I'm absolutely sure they won't catch up with us if we take the rural route and then charter a plane from the private airport. Every other decision I see us making will lead them right to Bella."
How does she know my name? As if finally catching her breath, the pixie turned to Bella and smiled warmly. "I know it's not much of a mannered way to meet, but I'm Alice, nice to meet you." She extended her hand and smiled brightly, as if they'd met in the aisle of a whole foods market and not in a near death experience.
"Wh-Who are you guys?" Deciding she would trust the pixie, because she had just saved her, she shook her hand and curled into her seat.
The passenger turned to her with a big happy smile to answer her. "I'm Rosalie's husband…so that makes us brother and sister in-law." He turned back to mess with the radio as if this whole scenario were just simply a regular outing.
This was almost too much for Isabella to process, but she couldn't seem to find the energy to ask any more questions. Keeping to herself she stared out the window as they made their way around the city to whatever private clearing they were to leave from. No one bothered her, nor did anyone try to fill her in on any details.
When they arrived at the private airport thirty five minutes later, Alice finally broke the quiet game. "Okay, we need to hurry! Let's go!" Pulling Isabella by the arms and dragging her to the helicopter that was starting up, she kept looking over her shoulder as if expecting someone to appear.
Bella couldn't help but ask the question, "Who are you looking for?" Tossing Bella up into a seat she sighed as if tired and finally answered.
"Your boyfriend is going to want you back…luck for us we'll be in the air before he and the rest of his goons park their car." As the helicopter lifted off with the four of them in the back, a black Mercedes screeched to a stop as the immortals she recognized as her captures from earlier jumped from the doors and sprinted for the rails.
Isabella locked eyes with Edward and as the others continued their attempt at catching the copter, he merely stopped trying and watched her until all she could make out from him was the tiny dot he'd become in the distance.
(***)
As he watched that helicopter lift off, the thoughts of all except Isabella's rang out with the same sad comment, "He'll hate himself forever for hurting his mate like this…" those comments were enough to halt his tracks as he watched her sad eyes watching him as she continued to fly away from him.