Tricks of the Dead
"You know three days is way past my prognosis, and Tiff gave me that prognosis so she's looking at a lawsuit, anyway it's time for you to wake up!" A man was speaking in the eon of darkness I had been trying to understand for three days now, the last thing I remembered was a kiss. Not from Jasper though, someone else. I remembered brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, though the name had long since slipped from my mind.
"Who's there?" My voice echoed in an endless night, sometimes I thought my mouth actually moved to speak but other times I was speaking from nowhere. The first few times I had wondered where I was, more recently I worked it out; I was in my own head. Or at least I believed so.
"A person who doesn't really have the time to be in your head. Now would you hurry up and build your mind back up so everyone can get back to their jobs." The voice came again in a familiar nasty tone, I wondered where I had heard it before. A sudden and abrupt banging noise followed, some form of shooting I thought. Though the moment I thought it a thin wispy line of spoke depicting a gun crept through the dark eon.
"There we go, you actually formulated a thought. I'm impressed , considering your friends with Rosalie of all people so well done." The voice snapped and I felt vaguely insulted, then again I wasn't exactly the target of the insult; but she would never hear of it.
"Who are you?" I asked again and another smoke wisp filled my space, though this time it depicted a skull of some form. It was gone long before I had a chance to focus. Was my own head trying to show me images,
"If I tell you have seven billion people in your world alone to process, and far more many in others will you shut up and get your mind back together?" Came the next barbed response which send shivers of unease through me.
"How exactly do I do that?" Was my demand, it was unfair of him to suddenly order me to do something when I had no idea how. Anyway could he order me around in my own mind? Surely I was in charge here
"It's your mind genius, try thinking." He suggested and with that I thought of Jasper, he was my mate so it was only... wait a moment. I felt as if I was slowly rocking in my own mind. That was certainly where I was! It was rocking because I was... I had no idea why it was rocking .
"Think about something that isn't the... damn it I had it here. Tiff can't file for... ahh! No. Oh to hell, don't think of the manipulating bastard!" Was his roar, was he talking about Jasper? Jasper wasn't? Wait a moment, there was another word haunting me. Or an action, there was just something else about everything going on.
"You're trying to remember his arresting execution and his trial starts in a few days so I do need you alive and well, now." That same voice demanded from nowhere and for a second I considered its words. Then came a flash, I saw Jasper thrown against a wall, a man was speaking and then another the same woman with chocolate brown eyes. After that there was a flash, Jasper was on the floor.
"Look if Tiff's right then the moment you remember that name you spring awake and I will be here insulting you until you do, negative reinforcement it's the way forward." The voice declared in a self satisfied tone, ok so I needed to remember a name. What name?
I could see Esme and Edward, hear the voice of Carlisle and Emmet but there was another. A person whose eyes were chocolate brown with skin a pale white. Her voice was soft and yet I could hear it accusing Jasper of something. Why was the name so elusive?
"Because she's the one who freed you and if you don't hurry up and work out the name I'm going to start taking it out on your family." Wait what?
"Yes I will make life difficult for your loved ones, it's one of them many ways my office functions so efficiently. Do you work, get paid, no bonuses and no complaints or accidents might happen. Though as we're all immortal those accidents are often hard to think up." The man or whatever it was began rambling now,
"What name?" I demanded unable to bring it forward, there was no responses this time. Instead after a few moments I tried to follow the eyes, those wide chocolate orbs; the pale skin was like a river and memories unlike any other filled my mind. I could see some kind of shopping trip, I could remember it now; I made her model for me.
"Good, we're now opening up the mind. Well done, you're doing what the majority of conservatives cannot, yes a political joke is low but you're not giving me much to work with." Right irritating was now a minor version of the emotion this bastard was brining out in me, I needed to find out this name just to shut him up.
"Well you have motivation, it's a shame I can't just tell you but my fury says that could... some sort of mental suicide equivalent but then again she's been wrong before." He continued somehow managing to break through every effort to block him out.
Ok so what was that name? Wait, how did I forget? I could remember a sleepover, a fun one and then... a kiss? But I was married... then where was love? That was missing, Jasper. The image of him in my mind was making me feel ill. Why? I didn't kiss him I kissed... Bella.
"There we go, you worked it out. Nice work, a shame it was late, very late but who am I to complain? Oh wait!" This time I was finally able to block whoever it was out because I was flying, a bright light was above me... I was soaring towards it.
A flash of bright light was all it took because in the next second I was awake. A powerful groggy type feeling which I hadn't felt in nearly a hundred years rocked through me. My head somehow hurt, my body ached but inside I felt... clean.
"Oh you're awake." Rosalie's voice crept into my ear "and there is a lot you missed out on."
Bella
Filing, a diary, a calendar, a meeting shortlist, a company introductory leaflet, blank forms, introductory paperwork and timesheets were all the things Death had left for me. Somehow the useless forms outweighed Victoria's file. Literally.
Ok so I had to put one form in a box which somehow delivered to Death or someone else, and then maybe if luck was on my side he would send a form back... the leaflet and introductory items were about as clear as stained glass, it was sort of there but most it was obstructed by a flashy picture.
"Bella what's all this?" Charlie asked peering into my room, I wondered if he had heard the ton of paper hit the floor.
"It's work." I didn't actually lie for once "I took a part time job."
"Really?" He was genuinely impressed, I didn't tell him my job involved murder and hunting down vampires but then again it was still a job.. Instead I just sweetly smiled at him
"Yes but the paperwork is somewhat overwhelming." I told him while glaring at the pile on the floor, I heard a low chuckle.
"Welcome to the world of work Bella, I'll leave you to it." He left then leaving me alone to silently brood on how I had been sucked into this job by Death, I now literally had gun in my top drawer and a file thick enough to bludgeon someone to death which for all I knew could be the idea behind it.
"So how do I find Victoria?" I asked myself aloud, finding a vampire that I didn't know was going to be hard and I supposed the murder part would be easy enough with the immortal gun but finding her? Then again wasn't there another vampire; Laurent! That was it but how did I find him?
This investigative work was harder than I thought, though I wasn't exactly qualified and when my phone began to ring I decided I needed the distraction.
"Hello?" The number was unknown but a dry sarcastic tone told me all I needed to know.
"Yeah hello Bella Holmes, glad to see investigating is a skill that has passed you by like almost every other skill." I sighed as Death spoke from the other end of the line.
"Yes Death, thanks for the review. What do you want?" I demanded quickly hoping to avoid the usual line of insults, well I say line... him insulting me and I me just taking it for reasons that had I had not yet worked out.
"Oh I just wanted to tell you that Alice woke up and also stop investigating from the comfort of your room, it's the most painful thing I've seen sine Fate decided to spite me by making the wrong side win the revolutionary war because I bet on... but I've moved on. After eight years of bloody anger managements but enough about me, I'm too interesting so a conversation on me would take too long and I have two minutes before this phone starts charging me." Death was explaining in a very confectioning way but then again what's new?
"Wait Alice woke up!"I picked up on his other point quickly enough, I needed to get over there now! Right after I hung the phone up if course.
"Yes, now do me a favour and look after her. I'll find you a partner with a brain and then you're amazing ability to get things done in a hopefully cost efficient way will present itself. Or not." I tuned out towards the end and hung up the phone. Death clearly wanted a quick chat and I provided.
Cullen Household - Bella
I arrived at the Cullen's not long after, of course after breaking several road safety laws, annoying every driver in my path and giving a particularly nasty teenager the scare of his life. I had been worried some of them may try to stop me getting to see Alice. Edward from his position at the window looked ready to jump in, but Rosalie was standing outside the door, looking without all the care in the world.
"Oh Bella you're here." She announced with raised eyebrows " I gather our mutual friend gave you a call?"
I nodded without any response, she could clearly sense I was in a rush and I wondered if she took some sort of perverse delight in what was going on. Though she let me through and the second I saw a flash of pixie hair I ran up and forced the vampire into a crushing hug.
"Bella." She said my name as if it was sweet to the tongue, a long forgotten memory which she was now revelling in.
"Alice." I sighed into her shoulder, my feelings of stress, worry and revenge finally at peace with themselves all thanks to the cold touch of the most beautiful vampire I had ever laid eyes upon. An embrace that seemed to last a lifetime followed,
"Bella..." She began but didn't have the willpower to finish, maybe she didn't actually know what she was going to say. I didn't really care, we needed to talk me and her. Work out exactly what had happened between us and where we could go from here. Though now was not that time, now was this embrace and I hoped it would last a lifetime. Both of us had plenty to spare.