Sorry about the late update. I just went through finals and it was hellish. But now I have lots of free time to finish this story. Thank you for reading and special thanks to the ones that left a review on the last chapter. Always glad to read them. Thank you.
~Chapter Twelve~
"Bella, why don't we go back to the room? I'll wait with you till Edward returns." Rose suggests after some time has passed since Edward's departure beyond the gates.
The truth was that there was a compelling feeling that urged me to go after him, to warn him, to beg once more to stay. And what feared my horrors a reality was the motion to abandon the very place he last saw me. No, it was paranoia that has taken root with in me. Something was not right about this secret meeting with Aro and I needed to find out why. The only problem was that my mind and body seemed to be in two completely different places. My mind in all its paranoia is bellowing at me to get moving and find out what I can while my body has no desire to move as if to leave this spot would mean death. It is irrational but understandable at the same time. If I leave this spot, than the reality of his departure into danger becomes genuine and too much to bare.
"Bella? Did you hear me?" Rose asks again.
Of course, I did. I was just stalling for a few moments longer before stepping away.
Her hand gently squeezes my shoulder in an attempt to grab my attention.
"Bella?" Rose whispers.
I felt torn. I did not want to cause my friends any unnecessary worried but acting well is not going to be an easy challenge.
But what good would come if I continue to stand here?
None.
This spot is not important. He is and he will come back to me.
I take one last look beyond the gates that Edward disappeared and sigh.
I nod and turn to face everyone.
"You should listen to Rose Bella and return to your room. I'll be with the court all day. Once I hear any news, I will let you girls know." Emmett said as he gave Jasper one final look before walking back into the castle.
I catch the far-off gaze Jasper had before Emmett left. Unconsciously I walk up to Jasper and gently lay my hand on his shoulder.
"How are you doing Jasper?" I asked. He departed from his mate too and I'm not completely lost in my own misery to not notice his. He is the only one here that understands the pain I am are going through. Both of our mates had left to do what they can to end this war. The feeling of bleakness and fright makes it impossible for us to relax.
"I'm managing." He simply stated without making eye contact. He quickly began to escort us back to Edwards's room.
"I'll make some tea." Rose offers as soon as we step inside the room. Jasper and I take our seats at the table by the bay windows.
There is an uncomfortable silence that takes place while we wait for Rose to come back with the tea. Both of us stare at anything but each other and it begins to annoy me. At first, I couldn't fathom the reason for this discomfort between us. After all, Jasper and I have gotten along quite well since we came to the castle so it is a little nerve racking to with stance this silence between us.
And then it hits me like a flash of light.
Jasper and I are both suffering from the same loss so if anything we would be more comfortable with one another because of our sharing pain. This awkward silence is not from that. Then there is only one thing it can be.
I know that Edward gives me the bare minimal of details when it comes to his war business. He does it in order to protect me. But something about this whole secret meeting with Aro does not fit right. I still don't understand why he had to go alone. Couldn't his Royal Guards and Jasper follow behind discreetly?
I'm missing something and maybe Japer knows. This uncomfortable silence between us is due to Jasper withholding something from me. Something to do with Edward.
"Jasper where is Edward meeting Aro?" I asked him as I try to gain any information from him in regards to Edward.
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me." Jasper simply said.
"Jasper, tell me the truth. What is Edward hiding form me? Is there something else with this meeting with Aro?" I push after the awkward silence continues.
Jasper finally turns to look at me. He looks me dead in the eyes like searching for some hidden meaning to my question and say's "I don't know what you mean Bella."
The confusion in his eyes makes me doubt myself.
But only momentarily.
"Please, Jasper. I know you're hiding something from me." I begged.
Jasper sighs "Bella, Edward is not only my King but my best friend. I promised him that if anything happened to him that I would protect you. I would also not reveal anything that has been said between Edward and I." He pauses and hesitates before continuing.
"Not until he no longer can personally tell you, I would be obliged to tell you certain information to keep you safe. And I do hope that day never comes." He finishes.
"Me too." I said.
I felt a tear escape my eye and roll down my face. I look away from Jasper and wipe my face.
My selfishness has lead me to ask Edward's friend to betray him and for what? Just so that my selfish need to know everything could be put to ease.
"Here you are." Rosalie comes in and lays out the small teacups and pot on the table.
I bring the teacup up to my lips but couldn't stomach to drink it. I feel like my insides are all twisted up and a cold chill runs up and down my spine.
"I think I'm going to go lie down for a bit." I get up from the chair and make my way to bed.
As I lie on the bed, while trying to get some sleep, I hear Rose and Jasper talking. They are too far away for me to understand anything but the sound of their voices helps carry me into a deep slumber.
I open my eyes one after the other to a very well lit room. The small rainbows caused by the suns light reflecting off my cheap crystal chandelier my mom bought from Ikea, continue to momentarily blind me.
Wait…am I?
I quickly jerk up and gasp.
What am I doing in my old room?
I quickly get up and run to my window and see the vast Pacific Ocean I grew up close to.
Why am I in my old family house?
A knock on the door surprises me. In that moment my mother steps in and smiles at me.
"Sweetie you're finally up. Good." She says while I stare in shock.
"I don't understand. Am I dreaming? I have to be, there's no other way any of this could be possible if I'm not dreaming." I mumbled to myself.
"Are you talking to yourself crazy." My mom comments and laughs.
I begin to cry. Her voice sounds so real that it hurts knowing she isn't here.
I stare as my mom looks at my bed then back at me. Her expression suddenly changes from content to worried.
"Bella we don't have time." Renee walks up to me and tries to hug me but her arms go through me. She kneels before me and my hands quickly come up to cover my mouth.
Behind my mother, a body lays on my bed. What startles me though is the person still asleep on the bed.
"Am I dead? Or dreaming? Why is there another me on that bed?" I question as I move further away from the bed.
If this is a dream it feels and looks too real but if it is not a dream than am I a ghost? Or have I somehow projected myself off my body?
"Bella listen to me. You aren't dreaming and you're not dead." My mother moves in closer to me and has a determined and serious expression. It throws me off a bit because my mother isn't one to be serious.
"Than what is happening?" I ask again, as I try to gain control of my emotions.
"It is hard to explain everything right now because there isn't time. It is my doing. I put a charm on you that allows you to momentarily escape your time and into a safe place in the past. But it is only your mind that is here, not your body." Renee began to explain.
"Wait, I'm in the past but just through my mind?" She nods her head yes. I quickly scan my room and find what I needed. The calendar hanging above my desk read November 2014. So I am two years into the past.
"You're not human." I said out loud as I faced her again.
"No, I'm not and neither are you." She states.
"What?!" I wanted so badly for her to explain what she means but she quickly changes the subject.
"Listen the charm is only activated once and for a few minutes." Before she can continue I interrupt her.
"Mother something terrible happens- " This time Renee cuts me off.
"Bella you can not change what has already happened. You have to accept the past and look towards the future. If you try to change the past it will dramatically change the future. Besides my sweet child, I can already guess what happens or else the charm wouldn't have been activated." She begins to cry and I wanted nothing more than to hold my mother one last time.
Suddenly the light in the room begins to darken and the room starts to become more disorientated.
"What's happening?" I question.
"You have to find Helen. Find her and you will find what you have lost." Renee quickly started to say.
"What?! She died of cancer." I blurted out.
"No, trust me. That woman can not die from a human illness. She is one of the strongest witches alive. Someone like her can only die from someone stronger than her. One more thing." Her voice began to fade and I had to try really hard to hear her.
"You must be strong and wise in your choices. Listen to your heart and you'll do fine."
"'Mom!" I called out as darkness swept before me, turning everything pitch black.
I open my eyes and quickly sit up.
I'm back in the castle.
"Bella, are you ok?" Rose asks from the table.
I nod and grab the glass of water sitting on the nightstand.
As I drink the water I begin to organize my thoughts and newfound information.
Did I really go back to the past in my dream or was it just a crazy dream?
It felt so real though. And my mother…could she really have been a witch? It shouldn't really be surprising if she was a witch. After all Helen, her sister was a witch or still is if she really is alive.
I must not have heard my mother correct about the comment on my human nature. I posses no special powers to claim to be anything other than human. My mother must have been wrong.
My father must have been human since I'm human and I begin to wonder if he knew that Renee was a witch?
I wish I would have known. I wish I could ask.
Suddenly a faint pull from the necklace began to grow. I look down and see the dim light begin to blink.
The Book! It is near.
I quickly get up from my bed and run to Rose.
"Where's Jasper?" I ask her.
"Emmett called for him not that long ago. Why, what's happening?"
"The book is near." I state in panic.
"What?! Are you sure?" She asks in disbelief and I nod.
"I'll let Jasper know right away." She opens her communication device and calls Jasper. It rings but Jasper does not answer.
"That idiot. I'll try the other idiot." She calls Emmett this time but he too does not answer.
"Every time you need them they never pick up. We are gonna have to go find him." Rose grabs my hand and ushers us towards the door. Right before she opens the door, one of the guards steps inside.
"You highness, there is an emergency- " Before he could tell us what the emergency was he falls forward with blood steeping out of his back.
I shriek and Rose quickly stands in front of me.
A man comes forward from behind the fallen guard and yells his demand, "Give us the girl."
What girl is he talking about?
"I don't think so." Rose swiftly takes out her wand and swings it once. In that instance, the man goes flying backward and crashes into the wall in the hallway.
Rose swings her wand one more time and the doors shut tight.
"Did he mean me?" I ask Rose after realizing that perhaps my cover was up and the enemies know I am the Book Keeper.
"Yes, it looks like you're their target. Is the book still close?" She asks as she pulls me away from the door.
"Yes." I say.
She opens and painting and pushes the wall, revealing the hidden door that Edward had recently shown me.
"Find Edward. GO!" I step inside the hidden space.
"What about you? Aren't you coming too?" I ask, not wanting to leave her.
"Don't worry about me and go. Find Edward. The castle is under siege and their target is you. Find Edward, he must have realized by now that it was a trick."
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused by her words.
"If the book is here, that means so is Aro." Ah, of course. Aro would never let the book out of his sight. Edward assured me that Aro saw the book as his greatest weapon.
"The meeting was a trick to lure Edward out of the castle." I blurt out, realizing the true intention for the meeting.
"Yes, and we all fell for it. Now go. Hurry Bella. Don't worry about me. Emmett will never let anything happen to me. Go!"
She pushes me further in and closes the door.
Now is not the time to panic.
I touch the wall Edward told me to touch and the blue lights light up. I quickly follow it as I go further into these passageways. I slip a few times but get back up and continue to run.
I must find Edward.
As I go further away from the castle the pull on my necklace continues to point towards it.
As soon as I am outside I stumble and fall.
I don't know which way to go. Jasper didn't even know which way Edward had gone.
I take a deep breath and try not to panic.
Come on Bella think.
If only this necklace would point to him instead of the book.
I grab the pendent and close my eyes.
If only you could read my heart and find what I want.
I slowly inhaled and exhaled. The cold breeze did not chill me anymore and the wind's howling became a distance woo. The tree's restless ruckus of leaf's swarming became nothing more than a quiet sound of chimes drifting off into the background. My breathing and sound of heartbeat became the only sounds so pronounce that my concentration focuses on the steady rhythm.
A hymn for the trees, the wind, earth, and the sun began to rise. The sound is so pure and devoted to nature that my heart feels at ease amidst the pandemonium.
In this entire bizarre occurrence, one thought kept playing over and over again.
Edward. Direct me to Edward.
My hold on the pendent becomes stronger to the point where my hand's ache from the hard grasp, yet I refuse to let go.
Somewhere within me, I had a hope of my necklace directing me to him. A hope that with Rose's magical powers and my determine will to find him can somehow manage this miracle. That her power will connect with my desperation to find him.
Edward. Please direct me to him.
Suddenly the pull changes direction away from the castle and like unmuting the television, all the sounds of nature come rushing in.
I'm left disorientated for a couple of seconds until I'm able to grasp my current situation.
It worked!
I quickly run as the pendent directs me to him.
He is so close!
His distance to the castle could not be more than two miles away and I move my feet as fast as I can to reach him.
I run on a small dirt road surrounded by trees. My heart tightens as my mind tries to prepare me for what I could encounter when I find him.
He hasn't moved. Not at all since I began to run and I could only hope that he is too injured to move and not dead.
Finally, the pendant releases the pull and settles. I stop and try to catch my breath. I walk slowly forward around the corner, fearing what may lie beyond my horizon.
My heart drops and I let out a sharp cry.
"Edward!" I cry as I run to him as he lies in a pool of blood, not moving.
"Edward! Please oh please be alive." I quickly get on my knees and check his pulse.
When I couldn't find a pulse, I bring my head down and put my ear to his chest.
But there is no movement.
"NO!" I cry out as I grab him while I burry my face in his chest.
"Come back to me," I beg. "Please, " I whisper again and again.
"He isn't dead yet." I hear a sharp voice say.
I slowly turn my head to face the man's voice, all while not letting go of Edward.
"He is not dead, not yet at least." The man repeats. He stands a couple of feet away from us and wears a worried expression. I quickly recognized the familiar markings around his eyes and down his neck. The markings that are known on all goblins.
Is he friend or foe?
"Who are you?" I asked. I slowly lift my head up, prepare to protect Edward the need comes.
"My name is Aro."
A fear runs through me but it is quickly silenced by my anger.
He did this!
"You! You did this to him!" I get up on my feet and placed myself in front of Edward.
"My hands are clean of blood. I did not injure The King." He tries to defend himself.
"You could have ordered someone else to." I claim.
"My child lets be honest to one another. Only truths to be told between us." He says.
"Than admit you ordered to kill him." I complained.
"I did not order to kill Edward. I ordered to poisoned him." He takes out a small vile from with in his coat.
"And here is the antidote." He shakes the small vile before him. "If he does not take it in next five minutes, he will die." He assures in a despicable voice.
Looking at him in complete hatred, a hatred that I wish could burn him, burns me instead of in fury knowing what I have to do. I surrender and ask, "What do you want?"
"Your life." He simply states.
Without missing a heartbeat I say, "Deal." I reach my hand out to him. "Give it." I order.
"You haven't even heard of what will happen to you if you leave with me." He smiles in the most revolting way possible to show his win.
"I don't care what happens to me. As long as he lives, that is all that matters." I admitted as I still held my hand out to take the antidote from him.
"You are selfless my child, and stupid." He throws me the vile and I quickly open it and bring it to my lips.
I bring my lips to his and let the liquid flow between us, just as I had that first night we met.
Once I was sure that the liquid had gone down his throat, I gently bring my lips to kiss his forehead.
"Come back to me." I whispered as I am pulled away from him.
I don't fight them but watch as I get further away from Edward.
"Tell everyone to hurry back. We got what we came for." Aro orders one of his men.
"But sir, we can take control of the castle. We have enough men." One of the men says.
Aro stops and turns to face the poor rebel that stood a few feet away from him.
"Are you saying that you know more than I do by suggesting such an order?" Aro asks.
The Rebel realized his mistake and quickly bows his head. "I'm sorry sir. That is not what I meant. I was only trying to-"
"You were trying to impress me by suggesting new orders right after I have spoken mine." Before I could scream, Aro slashed the head off the rebel with his sword.
"Can any one tell me why he lost his head?" Aro asks, daring anyone to come forward.
My breathing began to increase and the fears begin to slowly take its rightful place within me.
"He was out of place for speaking, sir." One of the rebels say.
"And?" Aro pushes.
"And for giving a troublesome suggestion. We might have the men to take the castle but not for long. They have troops close by that can easily drive us out. Our objective today was not the castle but the girl. He was aiming for something above him and was not ready for it."
"Exactly. Listen well, all of you. We came with a plan and we executed that plan well. We did not come here for the castle. Is that not what we agreed on? If I start making new plans along the way it will put us off track. And just like him, we might all lose our heads. We are not like our enemy. We are above them. Lets go."
Aro walks up to me with a senile smile playing on his lips.
"Treat her well. She is after all our guest."
"Is that what you're calling me, a guest?" I spat.
"You will learn your place, everyone does. Does that do not, end up like him." He points at the headless body a few feet away from him.
"What about Edward?" I ask.
"He will wake up soon enough. His men aren't far behind looking for him. They will surely bring him back to the castle to heal him. Now let us go!"
A Rebel grabs me roughly and pushes me inside a shuttle. I desperately look behind me to see Edward still lying on the ground.
Please wake up. I thought as I was dragged away from him.
Once inside the shuttle, I am guarded by two rebels who have weapons ready to use on me.
I knew now there were only two options for me.
One, Edward will come for me. It would most likely happen after Edward has gathered enough soldiers and power. That rescue mission will be the end of the war. Either Edward wins or he doesn't. If he loses, I lose too and I join him in the after life. What ever that may be.
My other option is to wait for death. Unlike the event of Edward loosing, this wait for death will be brought upon my own usage to Aro. He will diffidently try to get me to open the book. He doesn't know that I had already tried opening that book back home and failed. Once he sees I can't, he will surely kill me.
I will be alive a couple of hours at most. There won't be any time for Edward to come for me.
I began to cry as I realized my doomed existence would end before Edward gets a chance to find me.
Still, I don't regret my decision. If I were given a second chance, I will still choose him. I will always choose him.
