BELLA'S POV
Growling, Jake pulled me so that my back was fully touching his bare chest, "No Bells. Stay right there."
Reaching out before clenching them to my chest, my hands gripped the edge of the bed, trying to pull out of the current bear-hold I was in, refusing to relinquish or cease my attempt at escape, even after Jacob growled.
"Bella, stop that right now. You're not going anywhere." His hands grabbed the blanket and tightened it around me when I shivered lightly. "What's so bad here that you're in such a hurry to leave? It's that fucking bloodsucker again, isn't it?!"
His hold tightened, his razor sharp nails digging deep into my flesh, halting all movement my way. "Jake I feel disgusting. Let me go now."
His face pulled into a grimace against the back of my shoulder before he snarled out a, "Snowballs chance in hell. You're staying right where you are."
"Jake…please, I feel dirty, and I have work at nine. You can go with me if you insist, but really I just need to—umph-"
I was cut short when something long and wet caressed the inside of my thigh, traveling upward until the tongue brushed slightly between my legs.
Gasping only sent him into an even stronger surge of determination that propelled him to continue the action more fervently.
Reacting quickly, my hand made contact with Jacob's left cheek, foot kicking him in the lower jawbone, both sounding out with a boom against the walls. Scrambling further up the mattress, my back hit the headboard, marking the end of my flight where I crawled into a ball, head tucked to my knees as I involuntarily shivered.
His hand went up to his jaw, flinching when the muscle retracted back from its swollen state, sending a jolt of pain down his spine. Looking down at his retracted hand, he watched his fingers roll the blood, his blood, around between his fingers before looking point blankly at me, changing quickly to fury and then defeated in almost the same moment.
He must have remembered his promise that he vowed to me, that he would always protect me, because he leaned back on his calves, covering his face with a forearm, murmuring a gruff "Just go."
Jumping off the mattress, I rushed to the bathroom, locking it quickly with shaking hands, knowing that if he wanted to come in, the door would not even barely stop him.
Backside against the door, I slid to the ground, realization of what I had done hitting me hard as I shook uncontrollably, short- gasping sobs coming out in bursts.
Crawling into the shower, the sobs continued, as I bathed, too weak to stand in the tub as the shower beat against me on the porcelain floor.
The water rolled over my body, as I clawed at the skin I could reach, determined to banish the feeling and scent of skin touching mine, blood seeping from the slashes on my abdomen, arms and legs.
After the water began to cool down, the hot water running out, I found the strength it took to pick myself up, grabbing onto the soap shelf to pull myself up against the wall, when I realized I needed the heavy beat of the shower spray to clean the gashes and soap off.
Glancing out the window, I shrieked, nearly falling off of the barely balanced wall I leaned against, when my eyes met a shimmering pair barely two feet from the window in a tree.
Chéri sat blindly on the willow branch, a toothy grin acknowledging her mother's presence, before standing up and gliding gently towards the window, breaking the lock off the window from the outside.
Sliding it open, I stepped out onto the ledge of the window frame, shaking nearly as bad as the night before in the freezing weather after crawling from cold bath water in nothing but a towel drawn around my chest and upper thigh.
The small girl extended her arms; ready to help me from the thin wood edge I stood on. I took her hand, letting her drag me up onto the branch and into her arms, where she lifted me with silent ease.
"Goodbye…Jake…" The words fell empty as she flitted away with me into the early air, the darkness of early dawn comforting me in an uneasy way.
She ran away from the ocean, the sounds of the waves fading into nothingness. Her face turned up a bit, in a sensitive look as she shot around and over moss covered trees. We did not stop until she nearly crashed into a wrought iron gate, which marked the edge to a graveyard.
A black car, sleek and short sat a little ways off from where we had stopped at the gate.
The car made a psssssssht noise, one of the dual doors pushing outward before it mechanically drew to stand above the car, a long, muscular leg stepping out of the vehicle, putting both white-strapped black high heels firmly to the ground.
The woman stood up tall out of the car, flicking her cigarette in between her fingers, before taking another drag, looking me over. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"What?" I found myself asking, generally confused at the moment, as Chéri smiled warmly at the stranger.
"It's a Lamborghini Murcielago, one of the greatest models if I do say so myself." Her voice was a heavy Russian, her accent so thick that it didn't surprise me when I came to her heart shaped face, where fiery golden locks curled in ringlets, tickling the base of her back, nor did her brilliant teal wide-set eyes, which felt like they could see through me.
"You are Bella Marie Swan?"
Missing my voice, I nodded to her, watching as she grabbed something from the passenger seat, another pair of arms reaching out to hand the woman the item she was in search of.
"Here." She tossed something silvery white at me, which I fumbled with before catching it when it nearly hit the ground. "Get dressed."
"Here? Now?" I said, indignantly. I was not about to undress before a stranger.
"It is nothing I haven't seen before."
Chéri held my towel in her hands, giving me no choice but to dress in the ivory dress the woman gave me.
"Bonjour, Osza!"
"Bonjour, le petite Chéri."
My daughter rushed the woman, grabbing onto her white silk dress, as she embraced her while I finished dressing.
It fit quite nicely, collecting under my breasts where it knotted, the material only coming to my ankles.
"Get in." She said, clicking the button of her keys. The second door hissed, before it too lifted.
I don't know why I listened so easily, but I did, going around to the side where a second woman sat, large black eyes glaring at me as she moved out so I could get into the tight, dark backseat with Chéri, whom bounced merrily n the bench.
The driver and her accompanier got in, sharing a look, which clearly read, "behave" before the mahogany-haired beauty turned, "All set there, Bella?"
I nodded to her, as she smiled a large, full smile that reminded me of Jacob's goofy grins.
We sat in silence for nearly fifteen minutes till I realized where they were taking me.
Forks had never really been a shopping town. More over, it never really was a living town, if one was completely honest.
It was too small to thrive in, the inhabitants just happened to live here for so long, there just wasn't anything outside of it that they wanted.
I, having grown up in Phoenix, knew of social living, even if what I had there had been minimal.
What we did have in Forks was bare essentials and Newton's, a sports and outdoors store which stocked with the seasons.
The woman pulled to a stop at the back of the parking lot, turning back to me, her eyes hid behind big thick bug-eyed sunglasses embellished with rhinestone hearts like any typical Arizonian.
"We'll be around."
The doors opened, dismissing me obviously, when all three ran from the car, leaving me alone within the vehicle.
I sighed, pushing the seat forward and got out, walking barefoot on the damp asphalt, the sound of my feet slapping the wet ground echoing against the light poles that were shutting off now that the sun had began to rise.
Mrs. Newton had just unlocked the doors, going into her office to start the accounting for the month, leaving Mike to empty her small grey blue Sedan of the new hunting posters brandishing the new laws for our area; ever since last summer there had been more precautions, even if the humans had no idea why.
Rushing behind the counter, I grabbed my red vest-apron, tying it on in the back as Mike came in, his arms full of the 3 x 8 ft posters that were going to be hung up over the register counter sometime today.
He smiled, and made the move to wave, but thought it better as one of the posters began to shift away.
I took a couple from him so he could come through the door, setting them on the counter.
"Thanks, Bella. Did you see that car out there?" he whistled, dropping the multiple rolls of laminated posters down with a pant, leaning against the counter like he was about to die from running the mile.
"Yeah, I saw it."
"Makes me wonder where they got that kind of money; no one around here makes that much, I know that for a fact."
His eyes drifted down my waistline, noticing the bell-sway dress. "Nice dress-wait Bella, are you barefoot?"
I threw my hands up, trying to think of a good enough lie, "You caught me. I spent the night at the beach with a friend last night. Somehow I lost my sandals."
Looking me up and down, he must have took it, because he nodded, returning to the posters, connecting the hook chains to hoist them up to the ceiling.
"Aisle 3 has discount shoes. GO grab a pair before my mom has your head."
I listened, running down the third aisle, grabbing a size 6 flip-flops, knowing the odd green shoes would not be missing from the bin, as I skipped back to the register, jumping onto the counter and sliding over the polished marble-board.
The day passed uneventfully, us taking lunch when Mrs. Newton came back into the front, saying we needed to eat at one-thirty.
We sat on the fishing counter display cabinet in back, watching the fish in the wall tank swim around methodically in pairs or groups.
Mike, who usually sat pressed up against me, trying to get an open to touch me, sat on the other side of the metal-trimmed glass sheet.
He nibbled lightly at a hamburger, the contents squishing out oozing through the bun onto the aluminum wrapper.
He had insisted on buying lunch today, forcing me into the corner to accept a plain cheeseburger which had been scraped off with a plastic knife to get the grease off the meat so it didn't seep into the bun.
I took full half bites, not really hungry, despite the fact I hadn't eaten breakfast.
He watched me, his pale blue eyes starring directly at my neck and shoulders, before he reached over, drawing me into a hug, before pushing off the counter, crumpling his paper in his hand.
Pausing, he turned back to look at me, "Bella, if you ever need to talk… I'm here."
"Thanks Mike." I forced a smile for him, as I watched him leave, going back up to the front of the store to relieve his mother.
And soon it was time to leave. I impatiently stared at a customer that was contemplating between green or orange striped metal flashers.
The man reminded me of my father, fussing over something so minute as fishing lures. He had on a blue fishing cap, fly-fishing lures attached around the brim. Holding up the two, he smiled widely at me, the wrinkly excess skin pulling up to expose a few gaps in his teeth.
"Which one do you think, young lady? On one hand, this one's bright, it'll stick out in the water like a red flag in Antarctica, but this one's quite handsome too. Both have this shiny strip, but I'm not sure whether the gold might scare-"
"Sir," I said leaning over the counter, irritated, a smile spread across my lips, as I looked up at him, both hands pressed to the glass in front of me. " I could care less if one guaranteed you fish every time. As far as I'm concerned, my shift ended twenty minutes ago. Now either buy the fucking lures or get out."
His jaw dropped, shocked at my reaction.
"No? Then I'm leaving." Lifting the apron back over my neck, I threw it down on the counter, grabbing the uplifting board and moving it so I could step out from behind the counter.
Mike looked shocked down at me from his place on the ladder where he was currently hanging signs.
"See you tomorrow, Mike." I called, pushing through the glass doors, the bell alarming that I was leaving.
The sound of him hitting the ground in a rush barely registered until I heard him running out the doors, the slam making it quite clear he was coming for me. The pounding of feet also gave it away, as well as the hand that grasped my dress, halting me before he wheeled me around so I faced him.
"What was that about, Bella?!" his arm shot out in the direction of the store. "you disappear for two weeks, not heard from, and then this? Not even Officer Swan knew where you were, do you realize how worried we were about you?"
I opened my mouth to say something, but was stopped by his hand.
"Don't you dare cut me off, Bella. You're not going to avoid this this time."
He sighed, running his hand through his carefree hair agitatedly. "Seriously, Bella. Don't you think I'd now something was up? You haven't called anyone lately either. Its just you and Cullen, always."
"Angela and I were worried he hurt you again. It hurt us too, what he did to you, you know that Bella. If I find out he's done anything to hurt you-"
"I think you've got it wrong, he'd never do anything to-"
"But damn it, Bella he did! Can't you see that?
"God, Bella, what's this I hear you snapped at Charlie? He's your father, for Christ's sake! What we're we supposed to think, Bella? You never talk to any of us anymore, not since he came back. I know something's going on, so just come out and tell me. Trouble at home? Trouble with Cullen? What, Bella tell me; explain to me why you're all bruised up!" His voice had risen to yelling at me, and he took a breath before softening his voice. "If either of them are hurting you Bella, we can help you get out of there. You deserve better than that."
The hairs on the back of my neck rose, as a foul odor assaulted my nose. Reaching forward, I stopped Mike from continuing on, my hand on his lips. "Mike, I think you need to go back inside."
"No, Bella, I said I won't leaving and I'm not going to until we have this sorted out."
Something flashed behind the Lamborghini, large and eternally black racing. Another object silver in color with a streak of molten gold crowning it followed, slightly slower then the being before it. So slow that I was able to recognize this as Cheri, her cherubian face distraught, bringing even more of a chill to my spine.
"Really Mike. You need to get back into the store bef-"
Before I could finish the sentence, something ripped past the two of us, grabbing me by the leg and dragging me from where I stood.
The asphalt burned at the exposed flesh it could grab on to, as my dress hitched up underneath me when I was dragged, screaming at the top of my lungs.
My opposing leg kicked at my offender, as I tried grasping at anything I could get my hands on, including the bare asphalt as it passed my hands. Over my shoulder, I saw Mike trying to scramble back up and towards the store. A creature had dropped from a light fixture in front of him, where it released a predatorial hiss.
Looking back a head of me, I prepared to fight both offenders off if I had to.
Mike, flew past me, coming to a landing about 10 feet from me, his head lolling to the side as he hit the pavement with a thud, as the hand that grasped my foot released me, the two beings jumping so they stood at alternative ends, both ravenous and snarling.
Both were quite familiar to me, even in their current state.
Neither showed any skin, yet I could identify them immediately by their stances.
One stood tall, back arched in a feline-like way, her hips swaying seductively like they were on a pendulum hung under a thin sheet on the flowing waterfall, her legs looking like they went one for miles compared to her companion. Her eyes peaked out of a hood, thick kajul around her lids accenting her bright orange-centered lime eyes. Thin red lips too stuck out through a veil.
The other, as I remember now, sister, walked in a delicate manner, shoulders back in a relaxed state like she was strolling through the park. Her face, unlike the woman, was uncovered by the veil, her sickly white flesh only protected by her hood, where brown ringlets swayed from beneath the bill.
Now, I finally was able to look between the two of them without being torn limb to limb, I realized that each had a majestic beauty to them that the Cullens and other vampires simply lacked, all their own, separate from one another. Conscious and control. The smaller of the two moved with great sadness in her movements, while the bigger aggressively stalked, ever ready for the kill.
Dark eyes stared hollowly at me, as her hand outstretched, expecting me to hand her what she wanted.
"Now give me the amulet."
Author's notes: Sorry for the wait. I decided to write the ending and work backward, starting with my favorite scenes, and avoiding scenes that hurt me to write.
I'll be honest, I cried writing out the synopsis of the next chapter.
So Lily and Dahlia come back for round two. Who will win, you ask. Well you will soon see.
Also, I'm sorry I did that to my readers. I mean, Jake and Bella. When most people read my story description, I'll bet their mind immediately went to Edward, didn't it? Well here's around the time that I tell you that her stalker wasn't Edward. If you haven't quite figured it out, the creature that the description is actually three people, and Edward is sadly not one of them: one is Jacob, who left the ring; two is Genesis, who left her the note, and three, which is the one I really meant to be "the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth," Ciella Elizabeth Marie Swan-Cullen (as she is know later in the story) or 'Chéri' as you would currently know her.
Why is she the most beautiful creature, you ask? I will answer: she is beautiful because she changes. Vampires do not change, cannot give birth, but she is proof that there is hope for Bella and Edward somehow. She was born of Marcus and Genesis, A vampire and a werewolf queen. Cheri has grown from an infant, into a child, and although she has taken nearly a thousand years to grow, she has.
Why is Genesis beautiful? Because she gave Bella the gift of eternal life. She will live forever searching for someone she will imprint, only to be with Edward forever. She gave her the mortal way out, to give him what he loves best about her, while granting her daughter ever lasting life with the man she loves.
Jacob? Because he is the end to that means. Even if Bella is unable to produce a child through Edward, he will give her the means to produce. He will forever love her, as she is unable to imprint, age and die, her best friend shall forever be with her, as he has imprinted with her, and lives to serve her alone.
Anyway- Review, and I'll get the next chapter up sooner.