Wow! Loads of reviews! I was so happy I did a little dance!
Here is the next chapter with a bit more Edward. Enjoy!
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Chapter 12
The Day of the Interrogation
"Goodbye, Edward." I slid myself out from between his arms and made for the door. Before I had a chance to reach the handle, I heard him take a deep breath as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight to his chest.
"Bella."
"Edward," I didn't know what to do. Here I was ready to say goodbye to him and yet now I was pressed against his perfectly formed chest. I couldn't do this. I wasn't ready yet. I gently pulled my way out from his grip and faced him. His eyes were dazed, he had a bit of light that wasn't there before but he still wasn't the man I remembered.
"Bella, you are so beautiful. This has to be the best hallucination yet. You look so real." He reached out and ran his fingers down my cheek, leaving a blazing path in his wake.
"Edward, what are you talking about?" I think he had gone slightly insane. "I am real. I'm here in front of you."
He continued to stare at me with a small smile etched across his stone features.
"You always say that. Although, I must admit you never looked like this. You look much more... durable this way." He was starting to scare me slightly. I could see why Esme was so worried about him. He could no longer define between reality and fantasy. I heard the door behind me open as Carlisle stepped in.
"Bella, are you ok?" He looked at me with eyes full of concern. I just nodded at him. I had no idea what I was doing but I knew that Edward would not threaten me.
"Carlisle, you're here too. Is everyone here?" He was speaking in a very airy way. He really believed that he was dreaming. Carlisle spoke to him in a calming tone.
"Edward, of course we are all here. We are at home. Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
Edward held Carlisle's gaze as you could see his brain working through what Carlisle had just said. He blinked and his eyes now held sadness rather than a dreamy quality. He sat down on a chair and rested his head on his arms on the table. I glanced at Carlisle who motioned for me to go forward, before leaving us alone in peace.
I pulled up a chair next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I rubbed comforting circles on his back whilst he sat silently, unmoving for several minutes.
"Esme, please. Just leave me alone." He sounded so broken I felt like crying. He shook my hand off his shoulder as he continued to sit at the unused table.
"Esme's not here Edward, but I shall leave you alone all the same." I stood up to leave and made my way once again to the door. I heard him lift his head as his eyes scrutinised me.
"Bella? You are here?" His voice held a little bit of hope so I turned around and smiled at him.
"Of course I am. Now I'm going to talk to your family so if you would like to join me, I'm sure you have questions as does everyone else." I spoke softly to him as to not send him back into a downwards spiral. He frowned slightly, before standing and following me out into the lounge.
I could hear his every footstep, which lacked the grace and confidence I imagined him having. He had been destroyed, I was glad I had come back. I would help them as much as I could even if I wasn't able to stay.
All heads turned to face us as we entered the living room. Each couple had sat together on each of the three sofas leaving only one chair unoccupied. I turned to Edward who briefly looked me in the eye, revealing a level of intense pain, before he then walked over to the window next to the piano, staring out at the Montana scenery. I edged my way over to the armchair and gently sat down, waiting for the onslaught of questions.
We sat in silence for a while waiting for someone to break the ice. None of them were able to look me in the eye and once again I felt the need to speak.
"You must understand that I cannot reveal everything at this time. It will take a while for me to be able to trust you all fully again. However, please be reassured that I will answer any of your questions to the best of my ability and I do not blame any of you for leaving me. In fact, I am thankful." I spoke each word as clearly as I could, looking Jasper straight in the eye so that he knew I had forgiven him. He had no reason to feel guilty, I just hoped he realised this.
Edward turned around, his eyes raging with fury. His body language had completely changed. He had gone from subdued to furious in the blink of an eye.
"Thankful? How can you be thankful? We left you, Bella. How can you forgive us so easily? And look what happened in our absence! You lost your humanity!" His was shrieking by this point. He was torturing himself and it was so difficult to watch. His breathing turned into panting as he closed his eyes and balled his fists at his sides. His family looked terrified but I knew better. I could tell he was just confused and scared, the 17 year old boy coming through his 109 year old persona. I slowly walked over to him, whilst he was shaking with anger, and stood in front of him. I looked him square in the eye and without giving him a chance to say anything, wrapped my arms around his shoulders, placing his head on my shoulder. I felt his breathing slow as I ran my fingers through his hair as he began to sob lightly on my shoulder before wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Sssh, Edward," I whispered into his ear. "I forgive you." I stood there letting him release all his pent up emotions whilst his family looked on in awe. He had kept things bottled up for far too long. As his sobbing slowed, he lifted his head off my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye. He said nothing to me; he just nodded and went to sit with his family, regaining the face of stone.
"So who would like to ask me a question?" The atmosphere in this room had grown very tense so I tried to make us all relax. I looked around again and saw Emmett starting to fidget in his seat.
"Bella....?" I prepared myself for what he was going to ask. "How did you unplug my TV?"
I burst out laughing and before long everyone else was chuckling along with me. Trust Emmett to make a joke out of a stressful situation.
"Watch." I threw him a grin and a wink before closing my eyes and letting the warmth spread through me. Everyone but Esme gasped and began looking around the room for where I had gone. Carlisle's eyes lit up with the chance of learning about my ability. I focussed on reappearing and felt the coolness spread through my body and when I opened my eyes, they were all staring at me in wonder.
"That is so cool! How do you do that?!" Emmett reminded so much of Jacob with all his enthusiasm.
"Honestly, I don't know although it is kind of useful." I admitted to him.
Carlisle was the next to ask me a question. "Bella, we all notice that you are no longer human, but if I may ask, how long have you been like us and who changed you?"
I couldn't tell them the truth. I was not yet willing to let them know about my little one. I was still a bit nervous about being around them myself. "I said I would be as honest as I could so please accept the vagueness of my answer. I was changed approximately two weeks ago; however, I have not been human since you left. As for who changed me, I cannot reveal that at this point."
"Two weeks?!" Jasper looked astounded. "How can you be so controlled and rational after two weeks?!" He took a deep breath to calm himself and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Bella, I just can't feel you and it unnerves me."
"You can't feel me?"
"No, it's almost as if you don't exist anymore. I feel absolutely nothing coming from where you are stood. I've never had it before. Please excuse me." His southern drawl came through under the stress he was putting himself under.
"How did you find us?" Rosalie was the next to speak up. Her tone was not harsh like it used to be, but oddly inquisitive.
"A few months back, a friend and I paid a visit to your old home in Forks. Whilst I was there, I found a letter telling me should I have any problems, to go to Denali to find the other members of your family. A few months later, something happened which meant I had to leave Forks so I headed alone to the one place I had left, Anchorage. My friend was not very happy for me to go alone but I persisted and left the next morning. By pure chance, I met Carmen and Kate whilst I was there and they took me under their wing. I stayed for a day or so before heading home. Before I left, they told me where I could find you." Rosalie and Esme were both nodding at me as I made the longest speech so far.
"How did you get back? You flew out but there was no return flight." Esme looked very worried. Clearly this issue had been making her very anxious.
"Easy. I ran back." She shook her head in disbelief.
"But it was over a month ago that you flew up there! You said you had only been a vampire for two weeks." They were all looking questioningly at Esme. I guess she was going to be questioned when I left.
"As I said, I may have been a vampire for only two weeks but I have not been human since you left."
This seemed to confuse them even more. Rosalie spoke up again.
"You said that you found the Denali Clan, yet how did you find our house? We had to bring Edward in as he had never been here before and yet you arrive on your own. How did you do it?"
"I never said I came alone." I smiled at her. "I came to Seeley Lake yesterday and headed straight for the Medical Centre to find Carlisle. I arrived at the hospital just as his shift ended so I hitched a lift in the Mercedes." Carlisle looked absolutely stunned.
"I knew it! I knew I wasn't alone! That is simply amazing!" The need to learn had reappeared in his eyes. He stood up and started pacing around the room muttering to himself.
I turned to Alice and Edward, the only two yet to speak.
"Where have you been staying these last two weeks?" Edward spoke so quietly I barely heard him.
"I have been staying in Forks. Why do you ask?"
"Have you been on your own all this time?"
"No, of course not. Charlie has been very supportive of all my decisions, as have the wolves."
At the mention of the wolves, the whole family wrinkled their noses in disgust.
"Wolves? Do they know that you are a vampire? Do you know about the treaty?" Carlisle looked so worried. I didn't realise that the wolves had this kind of reputation with the Cullens.
"Yes, they know and yes, I know. They were very useful when Victoria came to visit." I chuckled to myself at the memory of Victoria burning in the violet flames.
Silence fell once again over the living room. Carlisle stopped his pacing and Edward had paled, if that were possible.
"Victoria?" His voice was full of anger although there was a hint of regret in his voice.
"The day I returned home, she decided to pay Charlie a visit. I was glad I was there otherwise I cannot imagine what could have happened."
Carlisle had frozen. I couldn't understand why they were all so stunned with me. Was I abnormal?
"So let me get this straight, Bella. You have been a vampire for two weeks, in which time you have tracked us down across a continent, killed a vampire who is immensely older than you and moved in with your human father." Carlisle counted each point on his fingers as he spoke to me.
"I guess you could say that." I was suddenly glad I could no longer blush.
The discussion went on for several hours before darkness started to fall. I had been questioned about everything I could ever think of and yet somehow I had been able to not reveal anything that I was not yet ready to tell. I realised that they were all getting frustrated about the ambiguity of some of my answers but they did not pressure me into admitting more than I was ready to.
The time was coming for me to leave, and I knew that it would be difficult. I had only just regained my family and in such a short space of time I had to say goodbye to them once again. I could only hope that I would be welcome back into their home the next time I decided to visit.
I was worried about Alice. She had not spoken to me once in the whole time I was here. I guessed that she was a bit put out that her visions were redundant whilst I was around. The conversation going on around had stopped making sense a while ago. It became a blur in the background and I watched Alice. She stared into space, her eyes glazing over for a few seconds before focussing on something in the distance. Her eyes had taken on a bit of madness through the desperation to see something. Our eyes met across the lounge and I gave her a small smile. She begrudgingly returned one. I didn't want my best friend to hate me so I asked the one thing I would never have imagined me saying.
"Alice, do you want to go shopping some time?" I tried to sound as eager as possible. Even if I couldn't stand the physicality of shopping, I could enjoy the time spent with someone I love.
Her eyes became feverish as she started to vibrate she was sat. A large smile spread across her face, cracking the marble features that were there before. The vibrations turned to bouncing as Jasper grabbed hold of her hand to steady her. It didn't work. In a flash she had ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, giggling like a lunatic.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh my God, I can't wait! You'll have to stay over and then we can go to Missoula tomorrow and we can spend all day as you won't get tired or need to eat anymore and..." Her words became a blur as the speed she was talking increased.
"Alice." I tried to stop her.
"Alice. I can't stay here overnight." Her face dropped. "We can still go shopping tomorrow but you must understand that I need to go home to Charlie. Would it be ok for me to meet you in Seattle? Or would that be too far? Maybe we could make a girl's day of it?" I glanced at Rosalie and Esme, who started to grin at my suggestion.
"That's sounds great. Shall we meet you at 9? I'm sure I can borrow the Mercedes." Esme gave me a wink.
"Ok well, I'd better make a move. I told Charlie I would be back by nightfall and as it's already dark, he will be worrying. I shall see you tomorrow." I walked over to the front door and placed my hand on the handle. I felt so torn. I wanted to return home to my daughter and yet, I did not want to leave my family. I opened the door and made my way out into the darkness. Edward took this moment to come after me.
"Bella, wait! I can't have you leave without saying this."
I turned back to face him. His eyes were full of love and devotion. I knew what he wanted to say, but I was not ready for that, not yet. I approached him and placed my hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes at my touch. This was the most serene he had looked all day.
"Edward, I know." I let the warmth flow through me and when he reopened his eyes, I had disappeared into the forest, rushing back to our baby.
I arrived home in the early hours of the morning. Charlie had already gone to bed, and my daughter was sleeping soundly in her carrier in my room. On the kitchen table was a note.
Dear Bella,
I guess you forgot what time it was, but don't worry, I know you can look after yourself.
I'm heading off to bed now and should you return tonight, I have fed and changed Ellie already.
I shall hopefully see you in the morning.
All my love,
Dad.
I felt immensely guilty. I had been disregarding my new family in order to find one that had left me. I sat down on the couch and let the emotions of the day come crashing down around me. I sobbed dry tears into the cushions on the sofa as I thought of my life up until this point. I had been obsessed with finding the Cullen's these last few months and had neglected everyone else around me.
I rang the phone number that I memorised earlier and waited for someone to pick up. After 5 rings, Esme once again picked up the phone.
"Hello, Cullen Residence."
"Hello, Esme. It's Bella. Just to say I'm back in Forks now. I was meaning to ask too, can we put back our shopping trip until 11am. I have something I need to arrange in the morning and I want to have breakfast with Charlie."
"Of course, Bella. That will be fine. I shall try to rein Alice in from coming to get you any earlier."
I heard my baby start to stir upstairs.
"Anyway I must go. See you tomorrow." I put the phone down without waiting for a reply and dashed upstairs, picking up my baby before she had a chance to wake my father.
I cradled her in my arms as she gave me a smile that was only for me. I danced around the house with her in my arms as I hummed my lullaby to her. It always calmed her, even in the worst of upsets. I gave her another feed of her last bottle and changed her. I told her all about my day and the family she was yet to meet. I described her Daddy to her, and she smiled her beautiful, toothless smile once again. She would melt their hearts when I introduced her. I just knew it.
By the time Charlie woke up in the morning, I had done him a full spread for breakfast. After the guilt I felt last night, I had cooked him eggs, bacon, pancakes, all his favourite foods. He looked stunned when he came down in the morning at the table full of food before him. I sat in the other chair cradling my baby in my arms, giving her a bottle.
"Morning, Bells. Is this all for me?" He hadn't yet taken his eyes off the feast before him.
"Yes it is. I feel bad. I have been neglecting you all so I decided to try and make it up to you."
"There's no need to do that. I don't mind looking after Ellie. It makes up for all the times that I missed out on you growing up." He looked away as he took a mouthful of pancakes. I walked over to him and wrapped my free arm around his shoulders.
"You are the best Dad ever. Don't let anyone tell you differently."
He just nodded and carried on eating his breakfast before getting ready for work, heading out without saying another word.
The time was nearing for me to go to Seattle and I still hadn't summoned up the courage to leave my newborn daughter for another day. With her cradled in one arm, I picked up the phone and dialled the one person I knew I could always depend on.
"Hello." Sleepy, as always.
"Good morning, Jake. I don't suppose you are busy today?" If he said no, then I would have to call this shopping trip off, wrath of Alice be damned.
"No, free as a bird. What do you have planned?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you would be up to a spot of babysitting. I've got to head over to Seattle for the day and I can't leave her on her own."
"No probs, can't wait!" I could hear the excitement in his voice.
"Ok, I'll drop her down in a bit."
I gathered all the bits she'd need for today before locking the house and heading down to La Push. I killed a deer on the way to give Ellie a fresh supply of food for the day.
After arriving at Jake's I gave him a strict set of instructions for the day. Unlike Charlie, Jake had no experience with children. He was the youngest in his family. At least I could be reassured slightly. He is after all the Alpha of the pack so he has a certain amount of responsibility with younger people. I gave him my number for a cell phone that Charlie had given me should there be any problems.
Leaving my daughter in the (hopefully) capable hands of my best friend, I began the seemingly long journey on possibly the worst day of my life.
The journey to Seattle took a little less than an hour. Thanks to Alice's visions, we knew it was going to be cloudy all day. I arrived at the large mall where we had decided to meet only to find that the Cullen's were yet to arrive.
I checked my new cell phone for the time and found it was only 10:58. I guessed that they were always on time, so I had another two minutes to wait. I sat on a bench near the entrance and watched the people around me. It was so interesting to watch how humans behaved around each other, I barely realised when an excited little pixie sat down beside me.
"Morning!" She shouted in my ear whilst waving her hand in front of my face, pulling my out of my reverie. "You ready for some shopping?"
Her beaming smile showed all her white teeth. She almost looked threatening. Rosalie and Esme were standing at the entrance subtly waving at me as I was assaulted by Alice.
"As ready as I'll ever be. Come on let's get this over and done with." She looked a bit sad so I winked at her to let her know I was only kidding. They had to stop treading on egg shells around me, I was not that fragile. I stood up, grabbed her by the hand and signalled towards the mall. Let the shopping begin.
3 hours later, we had been dragged into every clothing shop in the mall and were on our way to another ever so slightly smaller one. The boot of the Mercedes was already full with shopping bags filled with things that Alice insisted that we all needed. Esme was driving with Alice in the front passenger seat controlling the CD player. She kept flicking from song to song, singing along to the lyrics an octave higher than the actual vocalist. Me and Rosalie were sat in the back rolling our eyes at Alice's excitable behaviour. Conversation was kept light and nobody mentioned any of the men who had not been invited along today.
We had been driving around the city for about 10 minutes before my cell phone started to shrill. Everyone in the car turned to face me, wondering where the noise was coming from.
"Sorry, I have to get this." I had only given my number to a few people. I felt my stomach drop as I looked at the display and saw Jake's name flashing back at me.
"Jake, is everything alright?" I could hear the forest in the background of the phone call so I guessed he was outside.
"Bells, Bells, something's wrong. She won't stop crying. I have tried everything, Leah has tried everything and we don't know what to do." His voice was so panicked; I had to refrain from crushing the phone in my hand. I focussed my hearing and heard my daughter screaming in the background, being shushed by Leah. I made my voice as calm as possible before responding to him. I could tell something else had happened but I did not want to react without knowing the whole story.
"Take her to mine. Now. I will see you there."
Without a second thought, I threw myself out of the car and in the direction of Forks. I could hear the others shouting at me from the car, but nothing would stop me now. My baby needed me and no one could stand in my way. The journey that had taken me 50 minutes on the way there only took me 30 minutes on the way back. The closer I got to the house, the clearer I could hear my baby's screams. I flung myself through the upstairs window and scurried down the stairs to find Ellie struggling powerfully in Leah's arms. I snatched my daughter out of her arms and darted back upstairs locking my door behind me. Leah and Jacob didn't know what to do, I could hear them talking. They decided it was best to leave us alone. Good, I needed to do this and I didn't want any interference.
With my baby bawling at the top of her lungs, I held her close and hummed our lullaby, desperately trying to calm her down. I paced around my room as she struggled against me. I bounced her in my arms, I placed her on my bed and I even laid her across my lap and rubbed her back trying to stop the horrendous noise coming from such a small creature. After about 30 minutes of doing anything I could think of, her screams had subdued somewhat to a painful crying. I was becoming frantic. Nothing I did was stopping Ellie crying and I was slowly going insane. As I thought things couldn't get any worse, I smelt a vampire coming up fast.
Without thinking I threw my shield up in front of me and over her, crouching into a defensive stance, ready to protect my daughter from any threat. A flash of blonde came in through my window as a growl erupted from my throat.
To my surprise, the blonde vampire didn't attack, she began shouting.
"How dare you do that to our family, Bella? We have only just got you back and yet you take off without warning, nearly taking the whole of the car with you. Esme is having a mental breakdown at the moment and Alice is doing her best to comfort her. What did you think you were doing? Good job I heard where you were going, I couldn't keep up with you! What would have happened if you had killed someone, eh? How do you think that would make us all feel! How do you explain yourself?" The lecture I was getting from Rosalie wasn't helping me; the growls coming from my chest did not stop, they just quietened to a slow, continuous rumble. She continued to stare at me as I turned my back on her and picked my invisible baby up from my bed, cradling her against the vocal harassment I was getting from her Aunt.
As I breathed in Ellie's scent, I managed to calm myself enough to answer the woman who was stood tapping her foot in my bedroom.
I faced her with as much strength as I could muster and made my baby reappear in my arms. I had no chance of keeping her a secret from Rosalie any longer. She would see the baby belongings scattered throughout the house anyway.
"I had a phone call that I had no choice but to answer. I have kept a secret from you all over the last few days."
I heard Rosalie gasped as I placed my little one into her arms.
"Rosalie Lillian Hale, I would like you to meet Elizabeth Jasmine Rose, my daughter."
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Until the next time...
