Chapter 21 - #121 Rude awakening

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Note #121

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.*

*Mark Twain

Little Elliott McCarthy had woken unusually early that Friday morning and it wasn't because he was hungry or because he needed a change of diapers or anything trivial like that. No, it was because he was running a fever from a reoccurring ear infection. And that's why Emmett McCarthy found himself roaming the streets in search for the nearest 24-hour drugstore at six in the morning.

When he returned, baby Tylenol in hand, half an hour later, he was greeted by knife on his doorstep. The knife, which he recognized as one of his very own kitchen knifes, had been used to pinned down a scarlet red envelope to the floor in the foyer. As usual the note was addressed to Edward, but in actuality it was nothing more than a diversion. As it turned out, the real action that morning took place in another part of the building...

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When Edward woke up from sleep that morning, he opened his eyes to find a dark room and an empty space in the bed beside him. He lifted his head from the pillow with a deep frown, thinking Bella had already left, then he heard the water running in the bathroom and realized she must be in the shower.

He winced as his head suddenly decided to announce its presence by throbbing. How dense can one get. Of course she was still there. Well, duh… he was in HER bedroom, in HER apartment. If anyone should be sneaking out in the wee hours of the morning it should be him not her.

He made a move to get up but his stomach already turning from the mere thought of standing up and getting dressed, practically lurched when he moved to sit up just slightly.

Hangovers were a bitch.

He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. The digital numbers on the display read 06:25. Bloody hell! Forget it… way too early to even think about getting out of bed. Another hour or two of good sleep wouldn't hurt. Getting dressed could wait… Making it back to his own room didn't seem all that important anymore.

He pulled the blankets closer and buried his face in the pillow. Within minutes he was snoring again.

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The warmth of the shower did nothing to wash away the confusion that been plaguing Bella's mind since the moment she had woken up that morning.

Edward was still out there, in her bed, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. Oh God. The thought of facing him again was like preparing to get on an emotional roller coaster. How was she going to face him, knowing how careless she had been?

After breakfast, she vowed, she would go see Seth first thing. How she could bring herself to admit to the mistake she had made she didn't know, but somehow she would, and Seth would make sure that Edward's safety wasn't compromised from her unprofessional actions.

How could she have done such a stupid thing? Granted, she had been frustrated and hormonal and, well, horny. Why couldn't she have just taken care of that 'itch' herself? It wouldn't have been the first time she took matters into her own hands so to speak. But no, not this time. Not when she had the real thing within arms reach…

She knew there was no point in getting upset over something that had already happened but she couldn't help but feel ashamed at her lack of self control. Not that she hadn't enjoyed it at the time. She had; there was no denying it. No, it was not the physical activity itself that she regretted, but rather its emotional repercussions that she feared.

Unhappy with the path her thoughts were taking, Bella yanked the showerhead off the wall. Adjusting the water she grabbed the soap and began washing herself. She could still feel his hands on her skin, his weight atop her body and the taste of him on her lips. They had used protection (thank God) but she could easily imagine his semen trickling down her leg. No matter how much soap she used, she could not wash away the memories they created together.

Bending over to retrieve the sponge she had dropped on the floor, she caught sight of herself in the glass door to the shower stall: naked and flushed, with her wet hair clinging to her face and water running down her slender frame. There were more curves to her body now than eight years ago. Back in those days she had been an innocent young school girl… a virgin… but the reflection in glass door; a woman with deep-red nipples, swollen and tender and tingly from a man's attention, was as far from innocent as one could get. Edward's body had changed too, from a flat boy's body into a muscled man's body. Contoured and hard. With a shudder Bella realized her washing had turned to caressing as her body reveled in the afterglow of (admit it, dammit) the strongest orgasm she'd had in years.

With a deep sigh she turned the water all the way to cold, and scrubbed herself from head to toe as harshly and hurtfully as possible, to punish herself and banish the last pleasurable tingles

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This time around it was the sound of footsteps that roused Edward from his slumber. He heard a door close and then seconds later he saw a silhouette of a woman in the streetlight coming through the window. He caught a whiff of Bella's perfume and grinned sleepily as he felt her crawl back into bed with him.

He could feel her slim arms wrap themselves around him as she snuggled up behind him. Her lips nuzzled his neck as she drew him closer.

They were quiet for a while, content with just lying there enjoying the other's company. Then hands started wandering and the stillness and the silence was broken. He tried to roll over and face her, but she wouldn't let him. Instead she wrapped a leg over his thighs and began tracing patterns on his chest with her hands.

"Ah, baby...ahem. Is this suppose to put me back to sleep or...um, get me started?"" he murmured and playfully batted her hands away.

She answered by letting her fingers drift downward, following the delicate trail of hair over his flat stomach and all the way down to the thick curly growth of hair which crowned his manhood.

"Oooooo…. Someone is feeling amorous this morning eh, Bella?"

Again, her answer was a wordless one. Copping a feel of his most intimate parts she startled him with her intensity as she began massaging his groin.

Edward froze. Even in his hungover state of mind he could tell that something was wrong. He couldn't quite put a finger on what it was, exactly, but he knew that something felt... off...

It took all his willpower to push her away.

"Please, baby let me turn around so I can see you," he pleaded as he struggled with maneuvering her off of him.

Still no answer… And that's when he figured out what it was that had him so bothered. She still hadn't said a word since she'd crawled back into bed with him… not one single word…not even a 'good morning'. Instead she had gone straight for the frosting, ignoring the cake. It was very unlike her. Where had his sweet lover from the night before disappeared to? It was almost as if he was a whole new person this morning. Ahhhhh….It only took a few seconds for realization to dawn on him. The perfume was too strong, the hair had the wrong texture, the body shape was wrong… everything was just wrong…

"What the hell… Turn the bloody light on, so I can see you, dammit." He jolted up, scrambling for the light on the bedside table. "Who are you? Because you sure as hell is not the same woman I went to bed with last night. She is not you, you're not her!"

With a groan that could have been heard for miles the woman spun around and shoved her elbow against his throat. "Who cares about that bitch! Shut up and fuck me! You know you want to."

That voice…he recognized that voice…in fact, he knew it all too well… Struggling for air, heart pounding in his chest, Edward finally managed to reach his arm out far enough switch the light on, only to instantly regret it.

"Holy #%$"

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Lost in thoughts, memories, and confused emotions, Bella stayed in the shower long after the water turned icy,

What finally brought her out of her trance was the sound of arguing and raised voices. Somewhere nearby a couple was having a really bad disagreement. It sounded close, almost as if it came from the room next door.

As she stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, she could've sworn it was Edward's voice she heard, but that didn't make any sense. Edward had been sound asleep last time she had checked. Who would he be talking to? Not that many people knew about his whereabouts to begin with and the front door was locked and monitored with a sensor alarm. Seth would not have let anyone enter the apartment without warning her first.

That's when it struck her… her cell phone… she had not brought her cell phone with her into the bathroom. Not only had she forgotten it in the bedroom, tucked away underneath her pillow, but it was most likely still set on vibrate-only mode, which was not good given the circumstances.

Cursing under her breath, she leaped for the door, leaving little pools of water on the floor. Just as she put her hand on the door handle she heard another noise that made her stomach drop, the sickening thud of flesh hitting flesh. Even more unsettling was the soul wrenching howl of pain that followed.

Her initial instinct had been right. This was not good, not good at all… Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The door lock snapped as she turned it but when she tried the handle the door wouldn't open. Alarmed, she turned the handle the other way. No response. She twisted the lock; there were only four possible combinations of handle and lock positions, and still the door wouldn't budge. Something was blocking the door.

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Edward's mind was whirling, the lack of oxygen making his thoughts sluggish. "Angela! What the hell is wrong with you?"" he croaked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "What are you doing here? Get away from me now!"

"What's, the matter sweetheart? You don't like my company? You didn't seem to be complaining a minute ago," the young woman taunted in a sultry voice as she tightened her grip on his throat. "In fact I think you liked it. You wanted it. You still want it… ME , ME, ME not her."

Edward barely had time to register what she was doing before she had shoved him flat on his back and straddled his body.

Repulsed at the invasion, he managed to wrestle free and crawl off the bed in the nick of time.

"Keep your hands off me", he roared, carefully inching backwards towards the bedside table where he hoped, prayed that Bella still kept her gun. "I mean it, stay away from me."

His hands were shaking as he fumbled with the drawer behind his back. It was stuck; it took several fierce tugs before he managed to slid it open.

"Shut up, just shut up!," Angela slammed her hands against the sides of her head covering her ears. "Why do you go after her when you can have me? She's nothing! She isn't anything special! How could you fall for her?," she rambled on in an almost incoherent manner, barely taking a breath between words. "It doesn't matter now. She won't be bothering us anymore… I've seen to that…"

"You have what?" Edward interrupted, his voice snapping out like a slap. He felt his fingertips touch the cold metal of the small handgun hidden in the drawer of the bedside table. "Where is Bell-… B? What have you done with her?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Angela answered with a sick demented laugh that sent shivers down Edward's spine. His fingers wrapped around the handle and clicked the safety off.

"Stop laughing and answer me! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

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Casting a glance around the room, Bella searched desperately for something she could use to pry the door open. There was nothing.

What had mere minutes ago represented her own personal sanctuary, now seemed like a cage.

Gripping the handle tighter, she braced her foot against the doorframe and pushed, willing it with everything she had to open and let her get to Edward before it was too late. Slowly, the weight pressing against the door was subsiding. Then suddenly it flew open with a loud bang. Losing her bearings Bella all but fell into the room and into the arms of a very cautious looking Edward.

"Goddamnit Swan, your strength and beauty are indisputable, but your timing leaves much to be desired," he commented in a voice that sounded both slightly perturbed and very much relieved.

He was unharmed, she concluded upon assessing the situation, unharmed, naked and with a gun in his hand. The room looked like it had been turned completely upside down. No wonder the bathroom door had been stuck. Pillows, sheets, blankets, clothes and even furniture had been thrown about as though a tornado had blown through… or as though a stalker had gone berserk, because that was exactly what had happen.

Bella had to give Edward props for taking control over the situation. She was well aware of his dislike of firearms and the shock he must have experienced upon discovering the true identity of the stalker. Despite all that he had managed to keep the intruder from leaving the room.

Being held under gunpoint must have had a somewhat calming effect on Angela Webber. Not only had she barricaded herself in a far corner of the room, but she was rocking her body from side to side, babbling incoherent nonsense over and over again. A mental breakdown or just an act? Bella couldn't tell for sure. This girl had fooled her before and she wasn't about to take any chances.

Reclaiming her gun, she quickly sent Edward out of the room, officially to search for Seth, unofficially simply because she wanted him out of the danger zone as quickly as possibly. An unwise decision she realized as she watched him waddle out of sight clad in nothing but a sheet wrapped around his waist. He might just as well have had a neon sign with 'just got laid' flashing in red letters over his head.

With a sigh Bella threw a careful glance at the suspect before she began gathering various articles of clothing from the floor in quick, jerking motions. Backup was for all she knew mere minutes away and soon the whole apartment would be invaded by FBI people. She could already hear the rumor mill churning…Clothes everywhere and there were condom wrappers on the floor…CONDOM WRAPPERS… Could it get any more obvious?

Just as she bent down to pick up a wrinkled foil package, she caught a glimpse of motion in the corner of her eye and that's when her world swirled to black. Bella's head exploded in pain from a sharp blow to her temple and the ground rushed up to meet her body, but she didn't notice. She was out cold.

AN: So, Angela is the stalker. Did you see that coming? Was it too obvious, or was it too subtle? There were some clues, I'm not sure if you picked up on them...

- The stalker kept track on Edwards whereabouts because she was working herself towards becoming a good friend of the family.

- The stalker could come and go as she pleased because she lived in the very same building as the Cullen/McCarty/Hale's.

- The stalker was a frequent guest inside Emmett and Rose's apartment because she babysat for baby Elliot on a weekly basis. Several envelopes and notes were actually found near the baby.

- After having taken a peak inside her apartment/bedroom Bella described Angela as a compulsive neat freak. That in it self doesn't have to be a bad thing, but severe OCD sometimes goes hand in hand with other mental health problems.

- Whenever a woman got close to Edward, there would be some kind of threats made against her, but there were never any threats made against Angela.

Of course there were also plenty of false leads and twists to the plot to keep you all guessing. I have a few more chapter planned. Keep on reading if you're interested in finding out more about the true motive of the stalker.