Chapter 12- Revisit, the Encounter
Edward drove his silver Volvo down an abandoned foggy road. His windshield wipers flew back and forth in front of him as it was pouring rain now. He and his siblings had split up to look for Bella, who could have been anywhere by now.
He sped closer and closer to the La push borders. It was the native reserve which now was home to their biggest threats, he hadn't told his family about the Quileute's transforming into wolves again, only Carlisle knew. The others had no idea of the threat they faced.
He parked his car off to the side of the road, which was bordered by tall trees and a thick forest. Then he got out into the pouring rain. He disappeared off the concrete, blending into the deep wilderness of the surrounding woods.
He ran, keeping his senses on high alert. He also kept on guard for any other dangers, something he found himself doing more recentl,y with all the new foes they have made of late. He sprinted through puddles and jumped over logs and off dips and cliffs until finding a clue; there was no presence of Bella. He scoured the place for 20 minutes until hearing his cell phone ring, he picked it up,
"Alice what is it?" he asked. She was the only one who knew where he was now, because of her visions.
"We found her path; it's in the east. She's coming your way."
He crouched down further to the forest floor and closed his eyes. It was frustrating that he couldn't hear her thoughts. He could hear thoughts farther than he could pick up a scent. He focused solely on listening for movement; her running would have been faster than the animals inhabiting the woods, much faster.
Then he heard the steps and he took off towards them, rustling through trees pounding the dirt beneath him. Bella wouldn't be able to remember the treaty. Vampires could not by any means cross the land to the reserve; it was a direct signal for war.
He got closer, and then he saw her. He knew she saw him too by the way she swerved out her path.
"Bella," he called. "You have to stop."
She didn't and with a burst of energy, and just enough force he practically flew past her, and before she knew it she was crashing into him. Her face filled with frustration, she tried to push him but he only dodged the attack. Then she turned and ran the other direction, but he was in her way again.
"Why should I stop? How do I know that I can trust any of you," She shouted, she tried to run again but he moved in front of her and said, "You left me, why on earth are you even back in Forks if we broke up?"
"You have stop because if you don't, there will be devastating consequences, for you and for our family. You won't understand now but you have to-"
"Wait, did you say, devastating consequences?" She asked, looking as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. "Because the fact that both my parents were murdered, I was just in a coma for months after allegedly attempting suicide, only to be stolen from the hospital by a psycho vampire, and turned into an amnesic vampire aren't devastating consequences?"
She broke into a fit of laughter, Edward just looked at her.
"I know you don't really think that's as funny as it is, your emotions are just extremely intensified right now, your body is reacting to that emotion the only way it knows how to manage it," he said.
Her laughter slowly got less and less, until it morphed into the point that it looked as if she was hyperventilating, and she wasn't smiling anymore, her face looked confused and she was in shock.
"I can't believe they're dead," she managed to say. Finally she sank to the forest floor and it seemed as if grief and her emotions had finally gotten the best of her. Bella curled inwardly into herself, wrapping her arms around her frame and her long hair draped over her face.
She felt Edward embrace her, she wasn't crying anymore, her emotional meltdown had finished as quickly as it had started.
"I don't have anything to live for anymore," she whispered.
Edward felt as if a sharp stabbing in his stomach at her words. He'd always feared the day she'd say those words, an she had just spoken them. She sounded too much like himself only days ago. He knew the feeling of emptiness too well. Vampires didn't grieve like humans, when their hearts were broken, they either completely detached themselves emotionally, or died a slow death, and withered away into thousands of years of nothingness, no pain, no pleasure.
Edward could not let her feel that, however he would not simply tell her never to think that way, because he'd fallen victim to the same trap she was in now. Instead he got up and reached out his hand, she looked up at him finally and he said,
"I want to show you something."
~o~o~o~
"Nice going Rosalie, really are you always so eager to break bad news to everyone?" Alice said from the living room couch, where she sat.
"She wanted to know what happened to Renee, there's no point in playing down to fact that her mother died like you were," Rosalie replied.
"It's called being considerate while delivering bad news, maybe you should try it once in a while," Alice snapped back.
"Where is she now?" Said Emmett as he and Jasper walked into the house.
"Edward is with her," Alice replied, Jasper joined her on the couch. "They are both fine, kind of."
"Let's just hope vampire Bella can handle moody schizophrenic Cullen brother," Emmett said as he stood by where Rosalie was at the table, flipping through papers.
"Hiker's spot abnormally massive wolf footprints. These are the same animals suspected of the death of chief deputy Swan last month," she read from one of the articles.
Everyone looked up at her, all thinking the same thing, the Quileute shape shifters. Suddenly Carlisle arrived home, within seconds he walked into the room and said,
"We must pack our things immediately," Carlisle said,
"What do you mean?" Emmett said. "We just got back to Forks, we can't just pack up and leave when things are finally going okay for once."
"I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice right now Emmett," Carlisle replied.
"Where are we going?" asked Rose.
"We are not sure yet, our only plans are to get out of town." Carlisle replied. "It's true, the Quileute's are transforming again. I suspect Victoria and her newborns must have triggered the gene in some of the descendants at the reserve when they started killing humans on their land," said Carlisle, as he stood next to Esme, who had just entered the room after hearing all the commotion.
"They are planning an attack on our family; they suspect we were responsible for Bella's disappearance," He continued.
"They suspect. And if they find out she's a vampire?" Esme said.
"The only other pathway is battle, which I will avoid at all costs, hence the reason why I think our disappearance from this town would be best. Edward is not bringing Bella back, at least not until it is safe to do so," said Carlisle.
"What are we even going to tell the wolves if they have made plans to come here? And how will we even communicate with them; Edward is not here to tell us what they are thinking? There's no way this is going down without a fight," Emmett said.
"Then I will do the talking, for now, they have no reason to take action against our family. They don't know that that Bella is a vampire, nor will they find her here," Carlisle said. "We will leave town as soon as I can make arrangements. So gather whatever you are taking" Carlisle said as he slipped out the doorway of the living room and upstairs to retreat to his study.
~o~o~o~
"There is still a full scale investigation surrounding your disappearance, and Renee and Phil's deaths. The bodies have not been found," Edward said, driving through rain towards the direction of the town.
"What do you think she did with them?" asked Bella.
"Most likely dropped the bodies in the river, I doubt she would have taken the time to bury them."
Bella said nothing in response and they just drove, she was still numb to her feelings, she didn't want to ask for too much information and fall into another sinkhole of sadness and rage. She had sealed up her pain already and didn't want to make the mistake of splitting it open.
"Where are we going?" Bella asked.
Edward didn't need to answer; Bella immediately recognized the quaint little houses and trees which lined the suburban street. She saw a house from her past, the door was locked and the windows had been boarded.
"The police moved your old belongings already, but there are things in there that I left long ago, that I highly doubt they could find," He said pulling into the driveway. "I can hear the thoughts of everyone around here, there are a few spying humans from their windows, wondering what I am doing in Charlie Swan's driveway. Don't get out of the car until I say."
Edward got out and walked to Bella's side of the car. He opened up the door, leaned in and said,
"Move as fast as you can to the back door when I say. Their eyes will not be fast enough to see you."
"Got it," she said.
"Good. Now," he said.
Bella got to the back of the house within a millisecond. Edward joined her and then with one simple hand motion, opened the locked door, breaking the lock through the wood and held the door open for Bella to go inside.
Bella stood for a moment, taking in all the nostalgia this place brought her. She stepped over the threshold and into the kitchen. The place was practically empty, it looked bigger, there was yellow tape everywhere, making it seem like a massive crime scene.
"It's as if I lived here a lifetime ago," said Bella.
Edward walked in behind her and waited as she wordlessly gazed at everything around her, they eventually went upstairs to Bella's old room. She barely recognized it as her room now that the purple sheets from the bed were gone.
"Before I left Forks, I left you with mere memories of our short time together, unbeknownst to you. These were your birthday gifts. I wanted you to forget about me, to live a normal human life, but still I couldn't bear to take these things with me," He said. Then he went directly to a spot on the hardwood floor and pulled off a floorboard revealing things that he had left with her.
Bella's eyes went wide; she dipped down to her knees to look at the hidden treasures which had been under her floorboards the whole time.
Looking down, she picked up a CD,
"That has all the songs I composed for you on my piano," he said.
Then Bella found more pictures of them. And plane tickets, she looked at the printing on them, they were tickets to Phoenix, to see Renee she guessed. She looked down at the items all laid out in front of her and was amazed. Everything she'd been told, about her old life and the Cullen's and becoming a vampire, all seemed less and less like a dream all of a sudden.
This was real, Edward was real, and she was an immortal vampire. She figured she could sit around the rest of her eternity angry and sad, but she knew she was stronger than that, she had to be if she could make it through what she had. Bella bottled up her self-pity, grabbed the things from her old bedroom floor and took a last look at her bedroom before going back out to the car. Edward got in the driver's seat and she, the passenger's seat.
"Bella there is something I still haven't told you yet. I only came to your house to get those things, really we were supposed to have already left town; this was the plan all along."
"What do you mean? What about the others? Where are we going?" asked Bella.
"Our family are leaving too, I will explain everything on the way to Seattle where we will meet the others, I promise. For now you just have to trust me," said Edward.
Bella couldn't help but in this moment feel completely drawn to him. She thought about Forks, she was finally leaving the place which had been the very thing that had entrapped her in it's cloudy suffocating air, was this finally goodbye to her old town, her old life?
She looked at Edward, all he had ever been since she woke up from her transformation was kind to her, he was at this point, a force of gravity that pulled her into him when she didn't know if she wanted to be. As she looked at him, she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time, something all the confusion and loss had taken from her, she felt safe.
"I trust you," she finally said.
Around her, Bella could hear the voices of crowds, engines of buses and car horns, she could see, more vividly than ever before, the traffic lights, the neon billboards and all the humans of different sizes, shapes and shades, moving about on the sidewalks, from the window of the car. She had hunted right before Edward drove to Seattle, so the blood didn't faze her as much. She had forgotten how it felt to be in the city, to be in Seattle. It felt surreal to her.
She had been given eye contacts Edward had received from Alice for her. The venom would burn them out every half hour but it was better than walking around like a monster. Right now, Bella wanted desperately to experience being among people again, and now that night had fallen, she could be. It felt as if her old life had never happened, she was thinking nothing of the grief she left behind in Forks, right now she was alive.
"Where are we meeting your family?" she asked.
"We won't be seeing them until later tonight, they should be packing their things about now," he replied.
"Maybe we should walk around, you know, kill time" she said.
Edward glanced at her, studying her, and replied,
"I don't know, you haven't had much experience with humans since being changed, even being in this car is taking a huge risk for a newborn."
"I'm in control Edward," she insisted.
Edward thought for a moment and then he said,
"Promise you'll let me know if you are about to lose control," Edward said.
"I promise," she said.
They parked in a quieter area but had made their way to the main street. They walked a human pace down the concrete sidewalk; Bella soaked in everything around her with heightened senses. The street vendors, the performers, the people, all seemed like characters in her little world.
"I never thought I'd actually enjoy noisy places like this, but now everything feels so different, so..."
"So much more enhanced, it's one of those things that come with the transformation. We can see and hear everything crystal clear, our minds are always absorbing everything around us, you're able to notice more, do more," Edward said. "And because you are a newborn, you're more prone to feelings of impulsiveness and uncontrollable feelings of energy and excitement. Some, like Emmett would say it's the best part of being a new vampire."
"And what do you say?" Bella asked.
Edward smiled that crooked smile she found herself gawking at, "Sometimes, a little fun is good."
"According to your brother's, you're the fun-hating brother," She said.
Edward laughed, "I suppose everyone needs a role to play. That must be mine, according to them."
"I don't even know what my role would be now," she replied, "Is it just me or does everyone seem to be staring at us? You can read their minds can't you?"
Edward looked like he was holding back a laugh and turned them to stare in front of one of the mirrors in the shop window, viewing their reflections.
"Isn't it obvious? Every person in sight is looking at you."
Bella looked at her reflection in window, it's true she did look different; her hair was shinier, her lips were fuller and rosier, her eyelashes were longer and her facial features were more pronounced and more crisp and smooth, even her clothes fit better than when she was a human. Still Edward's words made her snort sarcastically.
"Fine, don't believe me then, but it's the truth," he said.
"I believe you; it's just weird that's all."
"What's weird about it?" he asked.
"Let's just say I was never Miss Beauty pageant material as a human."
"You're right," said Edward. "You were far too stunning for a pageant."
They continued walking down a quieter street, there were not as many humans around here.
"I'm beginning to think that you just love to argue," Bella said.
"Wrong, I think you like to argue, maybe that's what your new vampire identity should be, the stubborn newborn," said Edward, who smiled smugly at her.
Bella's mouth dropped in disbelief and she shot back, "Aha so you're impertinent too, I'm learning something new about you every second."
"I believe 'accurate', would be a better description," he replied.
Bella smiled as they reached the end of the alley they had walked through, they both smelled something that could not be mistaken as fresh blood. Edward felt Bella tense as she fought to control her instincts, Edward led her back into the brick leaned up against the wall, fighting her instincts. Edward said, "Hold your breath and focus on my voice and nothing else."
The seconds counted down and Bella seemed to regain her control by the second,
"Now breathe out," Edward said.
She did, and although her throat still tingled with a fiery sensation, she felt under control.
"That was amazing Bella, you only needed a few seconds to regain your control," Edward said.
She looked him in his eyes and felt a sudden connection with him that had been lingering at bay before. It seemed to suddenly come to life.
"I think you easily distract me. Whenever you're with me, my thirst seems to go away. When you're not, the thirst, the anger and the pain comes back," She said.
Edward looked at her deeply with his searching golden eyes.
"I'll never leave your side, if that's what makes you happy Bella," he said.
"This all seems so familiar, you, everything. It feels like all these memories are being kept at bay in the back of my head somewhere and I'm fighting to get them back," she said.
She was still against the brick wall and realized how close they were now. It was if her hand could not help but reach up to touch his perfectly chiseled face, his silky golden brown hair.
She suddenly realized what she was doing and pulled away slightly, she was happy she could not blush anymore, otherwise her cheeks would have been bright red.
"I'm sorry," she said, pulling her hand away only to feel him grasp it in his.
"Don't," He said. "Don't let go of those memories."
She couldn't help feeling the adrenaline in her heart when he took her hand. It felt so protective and secure that she hadn't even noticed that he was leading her away from the busy street, towards where the lake was. The water shimmered from the moonlight ray as it painted a precise picture of the perfect scene. If she was still human, her heart may have been pounding inside of her chest, frightened to death by the fact that she was beginning to feel like she was falling head over heels for this vampire she barely knew other than through stories of the past and pictures.
They sat on the edge of the beach, and looked out at the dark water; the only light was from the moon. It was quiet here, peaceful, she hadn't felt this calm since before she could remember. He looked into her eyes, their heads were on the same level as they sat on the sand.
"What color were your eyes when you were human?" she asked.
"They were green," he replied, looking out at the vast stretch of waves. "Like my mothers."
She glanced over at him, she could tell there was so much more to him beneath the surface. All of a sudden, she wanted to know everything about this mysterious, brooding Cullen who looked beyond, across the lake. She told herself to quit her worrying and doubts. Those were things that held human Bella back, she was a vampire and she wasn't going to let anything scare her anymore. She leaned in closer to him, he was so close she could smell his scent, she knew she would never forget it.
She tilted her head slightly, she couldn't help but stare at his face for as long as she could prolong this moment.
"Bella," he started to say and then he paused.
She looked at him, she showed him that she wanted this and he didn't say another word, he leaned in so close, everything felt so natural and yet amazing to her when his lips reached her jaw, tracing the lines of her ear to her collarbone. They were so warm and against Bella's skin. She reached her hands up to his shoulders, where she entwined them with his soft brown hair. He put his hands down at her waist, pulling her closer to his chest when they were about to break all boundaries and kiss. Then he froze and pulled away.
She looked at him with surprise; surprise that he stopped and surprise that they she was with him like this in the first place.
"We are being watched," he said, any signs of his previous affection and tenderness turned off.
He got up instantly. Bella was still on the sand, she was still shocked, she looked around for any signs of anyone else, all she saw were a few stray humans wandering about in the dark.
"Oh no," Edward said as he suddenly seemed to vanish. Bella searched for any sign of where he went. It didn't take long before he was back where she was and running a hand through his hair in a stressed, urgent way. "I can't believe I could be so stupid."
"What do you mean?" Bella asked. She was worried; everything had happened so fast, "Edward?"
"How could I have let him get passed me?" he said to himself.
"Please. Tell me what's going on."
"The wolf pack knows you are a vampire, they sent someone to track us down and they have seen us. The Quileute's know we turned you; I have to warn my family. There are too many wolves for them to take on at once and all of them survive. If they don't leave before the pack gets to the house ..."
"Don't tell me they are going there to kill them," Bella said.
Edward just looked at her, and then he took out his cell phone.
A/N: So I figure you don't want to hear my rant about my crazy week and why I couldn't update in a while so I'll just skip right to the point. The next chapter's going to be pretty intense with the wolves and the Cullen's; I've already written half of it so you should expect it up soon. Be sure to let me know some of your thoughts in the review section :)