Charlie's Story

Chapter Twenty

It has been three days since I woke up. Three days of following the same routine; wake up, eat breakfast that Bella nervously cooked, chat politely with Edward though his mind was elsewhere, then go talk to Lleyna and Lewis. I have to say, it was driving me crazy.

I wanted desperately to visit Momma and Spencer, but every time I asked, the answer was no.

Abby was the only one allowed to stay with them but that was only because she was too tempting for Jasper and Emmett to eat with her extremely sweet blood. She's staying with Esme in the cottage since we're not sure how Nessie is going to react when she is finally not sick anymore; fully vampire or her normal self.

My other siblings had been taken to Port Angeles to stay with Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett until things changed one way or the other. Most of them didn't want to come back to the Main House since Lleyna was here, and Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper were busy off in search of an answer to the question of whether a half vampire had ever been bitten and lived before. So far, there was nothing conclusive.

Nahuel's three sisters were rarely seen by him, though he does know that two of them broke off ties with Joham as well, so tracking down Sari and Kumda was the main concern right now. Nahuel had never been bitten since his biological aunt made sure of that, so it was up to one of his sisters to fill in our questions. I just hoped that any information they had wouldn't come too late.

On my third day of unease, Arrietty stopped by.

She came by looking all cheery though definitely missing her imprinter and I just didn't have the heart to tell her that her soul mate was lying on a bed not even a thousand yards from here more than likely dying.

"Where's Spence?" Arrietty asked, her green eyes staring hopefully into mine. "I haven't seen him since you guys went on that spur of the moment vacation and I just wanted to see him before I left for mine."

"You're going out of town?" I asked; this was news to me, though at this point it wasn't that shocking.

Arrietty nodded, flipping her blonde curls back behind her shoulders as if her hair was causing some great pain to sit there in the first place.

"Christmas break is starting Saturday so I thought I'd get a jump on it and leave Friday after school let out." Arrietty said with a smile. God, when was this girl ever not happy? "Spencer was supposed to be coming with me to meet my family, but he's been AWOL so I guess it just doesn't matter to him..." A slight frown before her genuine grin returned. "But that's okay because I know he's just busy and not ignoring me...he's not ignoring me, is he?"

Man, this girl was bipolar. I don't know how Spencer put up with her mood changes. But then again, she's his imprint so nature obviously wanted them to be together.

"I'll be sure to tell him that you're looking for him, next time I see him." I said, not sure what else I was supposed to say. I could hear Edward's thoughts behind me and knew that I had done what I was supposed to so I bid Arrietty farewell and closed the door.

"You handled that very politically." My grandfather said, smiling briefly as he pulled me into a hug on the couch. "You could run for office some day."

"I highly doubt that anyone would elect a half vampire. My campaign could be 'I only eat people who don't do as I say.'" I said, rolling my eyes to emphasize my point at how reticules he was being. "Besides, I think some people would notice that I never aged."

"You're only twelve," Edward said in my defense, "you have a long time before you have to make any of those kinds of decisions."

I felt tears sliding ungracefully down my face and before I knew it, I was full out crying. "I-I'm not twelve; I'm fully grown." I stated for the first time in my life.

"What?" Bella asked, coming into the room and taking the seat next to mine.

"I-I'm fully grown." I said, mumbling incoherently. "If I wasn't a baby, the-then Momma and Spencer wouldn't be d-dying." I blubbered, burying my head into my arms since I could no longer look at the parents of the girl I had practically helped kill. It should have been me that was borderline, not them. They shouldn't have come try to rescue me.

"I don't want to ever hear those thoughts again, young lady." Edward said sternly.

"Bu-but it's my fault." I sobbed.

"It was not anyone's fault but the Volturi's, you hear me?" Edward said, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "I know you're upset and trying to blame yourself, heaven knows that I've been doing the same thing, but the best thing for everyone is to not get wrapped up in who's fault they think it is."

"I just want them to b-be okay." I mumbled, wiping away some of the tears from my face and a little snot from my nose. "If I had..."

"We should take her to see them." Bella interrupted, startling me since I had forgotten she was sitting there. She truly only wanted to go see her daughter and grandson for herself, but in the back of her mind this trip was going to be for my benefit too.

"Bella, love, that's really not wise..." Edward started, but from the look in his eyes and the thoughts that matched it, I knew that he would give in to his wife's demands.

"She needs this." Bella said, talking about me and herself. "We won't get in Carlisle's way."

And like that, it was settled; we were going to see Spencer and Momma.

I ran upstairs to offer for Lewis to join us, but Lleyna was getting close to being fully flushed of all of the former blood in her system and him leaving might cause her to flee and get more, so he declined.

I truly admire all of my extended family for being able to resist Abby's blood like they have been able to. It was harder for Lleyna though because her baby was craving it since it was more than likely going to be at least 75% vampire.

When we arrived at the Main House, Jacob was sitting on the front porch with his hands burying his dark face in pain, exaustion, or both.

"Dadddy!" I yelled, running and tackling him in a hug. I hadn't seen him since I woke up, and before that, it had been twelve days of being held guard in Italy; but it felt like so much longer.

"Hey there, Char." Jacob said with a half hearted grin for my benefit. I could see the sleep deprivation on his weary face and wondered if his imprint had let him get any sleep. "Your mom is sleeping right now, so it'd be best not to go see her just yet, okay?"

"How is Spencer?" I asked, glancing up to see that Bella and Edward had already disappeared inside to find out for themselves. I stayed on the porch with my father though to give them some time alone before I found out for myself.

"There was so much venom...there's just nothing else that Carlisle or anyone can do..." Jacob said, looking like he was about to cry for probably not the first time today. "He's not going to last much longer...Spencer is going to die."

At that, hearing it straightforward for the first time, I started crying myself.

"It's just not fair." I complained to the tears falling onto the hardwood. "He has his future in front of him. He was healthy, athletic, and had a beautiful girlfriend. It's just not fair." I said, wiping a few tears away, though not the majority by a long shot, and attempted to say my next words clearly. "She stopped by today. Arrietty. She wants to see him, but I didn't know what, or how to tell her this..."

"You shouldn't have to be the one to tell her." Jacob said, clearing his throat to hold back his own tears. "Tell her to stop by tonight. I think it might be Spencer's last and she should be here for it."

I sobbed into my father's chest and let him console me while he continued to talk. "I've sent word to Rosalie and she'll be bringing the kids back within the hour. Alice and Jasper might not make it back in time but they said they were heading back home last time I talked to them."

I nodded, too numb to say anything, and continued to cry until I felt there couldn't possibly be any tears left in my body. "I have to call Ari..." I said, shaking myself off and pulling my small purple phone from my pocket.

"You sure you don't want me to do it?" Jacob asked, though his thoughts told me he would rather do anything but.

Instead of answering, I disappeared into the garage and dialed the number.

"Hey Charlotte!" Arrietty said enthusiastically and I had to swallow deeply to get this conversation out.

"Arri, I need you to get over to my grandparents' house quickly." I said, not hiding the urgency in my voice. "It's Spencer."

"I'm on my way." She said as soon as I mentioned her wolf. For her sake, I hoped that he could hang on long enough to let her say her goodbyes.

AN: Sad day :(