21. Farewell
Bella's POV
"I'm worried about Brooke," I confessed to Edward.
"What are you worried about? We have only been gone a week, I'm sure she's fine," Edward replied.
"I know but I can't help feeling that something isn't right. We need to go back for her. Joshua needs her, he has changed so much I don't want her to miss out on him growing up," I said.
"We will go back love, as soon as today is over with we will go," Edward promised.
"Thank you," I replied.
Today was going to be hard for all of us especially Carlisle and Esme. Today we were remembering Emmett and Rose. We had arranged a memorial service at the big white house and had invited all our friends to join us in remembering Emmett and Rose.
As we entered the house I saw that Alice had kept herself busy all night by decorating the house with garlands of red and white roses. It looked beautiful and was very fitting for the occasion.
Alice wore a black lace dress that floated down to her knees. Jasper looked very smart in a black suit, white shirt and black tie as did Carlisle, Jacob and Edward. Nessie's black dress was very simple with a white belt under the bust. Esme wore a long flowing black dress that skimmed her slim figure. My dress was also back and very simple with long chiffon sleeves.
Edward and I helped Esme in the kitchen to prepare the food for the human guests that would be attending.
I had informed Charlie of our loss and he would be attending with Sue and the rest of the wolves. Although the wolves were, still the enemy of vampires the wolves had grown to like our family and felt sad for the loss of Emmett and Rose.
"When will everyone be arriving?" Nessie asked.
"About 12.30," Carlisle informed her. "The Denali's will be here shortly."
Alice had set up a marquee out the back with rows of chairs and more decorations of red and white roses. Alice had also made a huge banner of a photo of Emmett and Rose, which hung on the back wall of the marquee. I tried to avoid looking at it, as I couldn't control my emotions every time I saw it.
"Nessie can you help me light the candles please?" Alice asked.
"Of course," Nessie replied as she walked out to the marquee with Alice.
Carlisle, Jacob and Jasper were talking quietly in the sitting room awaiting the arrival of our friends and family.
Edward and I began to take the food into the dinning room where Alice had cleared the table in order for all the food to be placed upon it. There were more roses and candles in the dinning room giving the room a calming feel to it.
Our guests started to arrive as we placed the last of the food onto the table. The Denali's were the first to arrive giving us their condolences whilst we embraced. Charlie and Sue were next to arrive closely followed by Billy, Paul and Rachel.
"I am terribly sorry for your loss," Billy said as he shook Edward's hand.
"Thank you Billy and thank you for coming," Edward replied.
As more guests arrived, we all proceeded outside to the marquee to take our seats. Carlisle stood in front of the huge photo of Emmett and Rose to address all our guests.
"I would like to thank you all for coming today to remember Emmett and Rosalie. They have been my children for many years and have given us all many happy memories. There will not be a day that goes by that I will not think about them and remember the way they were. If anyone wishes to say anything please do so."
I was surprised when Nessie stood and walked towards Carlisle. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before returning to his seat.
Nessie took a deep breath before speaking and glanced towards Jacob whom gave her a reassuring nod.
"I would like to share a poem with you all that I have written for Emmett and Rose.
'You have left this world with good grace
Fighting to save the human race
You fought for our lives and for a place
To keep us free from disgrace.
My love for you will never cease
I need to know that you are at peace
Give us a sign and let us see
That your soul will never ever cease.
We love you both so very much
And hope in us you can trust
We miss you loads and hate to admit
That you are gone and that is it.
Our memories of you are true and strong
And they will help us move along
We will never forget how you made us laugh
Or how you got when it came to cars.
I'll leave you now to rest in peace
In our hearts is where you'll always be
Remember our love will never fade
But please be strong until we meet again.'
Thank you."
I tried to hold back my sobs as the tears ran down Nessie's cheeks. Her poem was so beautiful and heartfelt. I got to my feet and pulled her into my arms. "That was beautiful Nessie," I whispered.
I turned to see Edward standing beside me and I presumed he wanted to comfort Nessie so I was shocked when he spoke.
"Thank you Nessie that was beautiful, Emmett and Rosalie will be very proud of you," Edward said before turning to address our friends.
"Nessie's poem brought back my own fears but I now see them in a new light. Nessie asked for a sign so we would know that Emmett and Rosalie's souls were not lost. I have always believed that being a vampire meant that I have no soul and many of you may agree with me. After listening to Nessie's poem, I now believe that I may have been wrong. How can someone who is loved as much as Emmett or Rose not have a soul? A soul is what makes you who you are; your soul is what people fall in love with. Just because our hearts do not beat does not mean we do not have one. Our hearts are still but they are full of love for our friends and family. I will miss Emmett and Rose but they will always live on in my memories. Emmett was the best brother a person could ask for; he always picked me up when I was down. Rose well, Rose was Rose, she never liked her life as a vampire but I believe she loved each and every one of us. Nessie I want to thank you for making me finally believe that I have a soul, your soul is the purest of all souls and I'm proud to have you as a daughter."
Nessie's eyes were streaming again as she embraced Edward. I was so choked that I couldn't talk; I couldn't believe that Edward had finally admitted that he had a soul.
Carlisle stood to close the service when Jake tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hold on Carlisle, I would just like to say a couple of things," Jacob said.
"Oh sorry of course," Carlisle said as we all returned to our seats to listen to Jake.
"You are probably wondering what I could possibly say about Emmett and Rose but in truth after living with them for eight years I have got to know them and also grew to love them. I will miss them just as much as anyone else here today. Nessie I believe you have just been given your sign. Emmett and Rosalie's souls live on in all of you and no one could ever doubt that, not even me. You all know about my turbulent relationship with Rose, we fought like cat and dog all the time but neither of us ever hurt the other intentionally. I guess you could say that we cared about each other without ever acknowledging it. I will miss Rosalie for all of these reasons and I will always remember her. Emmett was an amazing person nothing ever fazed him. He was so happy all the time that you couldn't help but be happy when you were around him. I can just imagine Emmett watching us now and laughing. He would probably say something like 'what are you crying for you big pansy, so what if I'm dead. You're alive you should be happy, stop being such a sissy'."
We all laughed as Jacob's words rang true, that was definitely something Emmett would have said.
"So in true Emmett fashion I would like to ask you not to cry for your loss but to laugh at your memories," Jacob said before returning to his seat.
Carlisle stood again, "Thank you Jacob, your words were very true. Now I would like to ask each of you to light a candle in memory of Emmett and Rosalie."
Carlisle gestured towards a tower of candles in front of the photo of Emmett and Rose. Everyone stood and slowly moved forward to light a candle, whilst Bon Jovi's song 'Bed of Roses' rang out around us.
I loved the song and thought it was very fitting, I remembered the first time I had heard Emmett and Rose singing it.
We were bored and decided to occupy ourselves by sorting through Edward's music collection. Nessie had found the Bon Jovi album and insisted on playing it. Emmett had ran to Alice's room and thrown on a leather jacket returning with two hairbrushes in his hands. He threw one to Rose and they both sang into the hairbrushes whilst dancing around the room and acting out the lyrics. It was hilarious and had us all laughing for hours.
I laughed at the memory as I lit a candle for Emmett and Rose. "You will always be remembered," I said before walking away.
I watched the procession of wolves all paying their respects. It was true that Rose and Emmett were loved by many and I hoped they were happy wherever they were.
Brooke's POV
I cannot take this much longer I need to hunt, the pain is too much. Where are they? Why haven't they come back for me? I need them, I cannot do this alone it is too difficult. I can't let the monster inside me escape I won't allow it. I need to be strong; I need to control this thirst I need to hunt.
I paced around the room trying to decide what to do. Could I risk hunting or should I wait for the others to return? What if they never return? I could be going through all this pain for nothing I could be waiting forever. What would happen if I never hunted again? Would I die? I'm not strong enough to wait to find out the burning is too much.
I had made my decision; I took a deep breath and descended the stairs out into the dark street. I took a deep breath once I was outside revelling in the new smells around me. I could smell the damp earth and the homey scent of someone cooking.
I made the mistake of taking another breath as I wondered through the streets keeping to the shadows. The scent was so appealing, my mouth was watering and my throat was burning fiercer than ever. What is that delicious scent?
I could feel the monster inside me getting stronger; I was too weak I couldn't control it. I needed the blood I needed to stop the fire that was raging in my throat.
I turned a corner to see a tall dark haired boy leaning against the wall talking into his cell. Of course, only human blood could smell so appealing. Why did I risk this?
I was fighting the monster inside me, she wanted the blood she wanted to stop the burning but I didn't want to take his life. I didn't want to be a monster but I wanted the burning to stop, I wanted to feel the warm blood sooth the burning in my throat. I wanted it too much I couldn't stop it, the monster escaped from inside me and I pounced onto the unsuspecting boy.
Bella's POV
Most of the guests had left the marquee and were now in the dinning room eating the food we had prepared. Esme and Carlisle were still in the marquee saying their last goodbyes to Emmett and Rose. I was amazed at how well Esme had kept herself together during the service, I was afraid that it would be too much for her.
Edward and I were thanking the wolves for their support. I wasn't surprised that Leah never came but I did hope she was okay. I had no idea what had happened between Leah and Nahuel after the fight but I preyed she wasn't hurting, she didn't deserve that.
Alice was talking to Tanya when her expression suddenly changed. Edward turned towards her as her vision took hold of them both. Edward's mouth fell open in shock and I took his hand. I had a feeling that Alice's vision involved Brooke but I didn't know the details. I knew something was wrong, I knew we shouldn't have left her.
Alice's eyes finally became more aware.
"What is it?" I asked impatiently.
Alice didn't answer she just stared at me with a look of shock on her face. Edward squeezed my hand and I looked up to him, he gestured to the door with his head before pulling me outside. We began a slow run back to the cottage.
"Edward what's going on? Is it Brooke? Is she okay?" I asked.
"We have to go, I'll explain on the way. Pack whatever you will need for a few days," Edward replied.
I didn't want to wait, I wanted to know now but Edward still looked shocked and anxious so I didn't want to upset him further by asking more questions, I knew he would tell me once he was ready.
I packed some clothes for Edward and I and I also threw in a few things for Brooke, she must hate not having a change of clothes.
Edward was on my cell trying to get us a flight to Italy. I started to panic, worrying about what we would find in Italy.
"Are you ready?" Edward asked.
"Yes" I replied.
He took the bag of clothes in one hand and my hand in the other and we both raced back to the house.
"What about Joshua?" I asked.
"He can't come with us, not yet. Nessie and Jake will take care of him," Edward replied.
I was surprised when Edward pulled me around to the garage; I thought we were heading back to the house.
"Are we not saying goodbye?" I asked.
"Sorry love we don't have time. Alice will tell them what has happened when all the guests have left. We will call them when we get to Italy," Edward replied.
We climbed into Edwards Volvo and he sped out of the garage and down the serpentine driveway in less than a minute.
The drive to Seattle was very quiet and before long, we were boarding our plane to Italy. It always amazed me how Edward could get us flights at such short notice.
As we took our seats on the plane I had to ask what was going on, I couldn't wait ant longer.
"Edward please, I need to know, what did Alice see?"
Edward lent in very close to me and whispered in my ear, "Okay, Alice's vision wasn't one of the immediate future but one of the near future. As you know her visions can change and we can not afford to leave Brooke alone."
"I don't understand are you trying to prevent the future or keep it on track?"
"We are trying to prevent it," Edward replied.
"Why? What did Alice see?"
Edward took a deep breath before replying, "Alice saw Brooke change a human boy. We believe the boy to be her younger brother," Edward explained.
"No!" I shouted.
"Shh Bella," Edward said as various people turned to look at us.
"Sorry I just can't believe Brooke would do that. I thought she hated being a vampire. Why would she put her parents through the loss of another child?"
"I don't know but we can't allow it to happen, children do not make good vampires," Edward said.
He wasn't wrong there, I had heard all the stories about the immortal children and how they could not be trusted to keep the secret. It would be just our luck that once we had destroyed the Volturi the secret would be released.
"What are we going to do? How can we stop her?" I asked.
"We can't leave her; we need to stay with her until she is strong enough to come home with us. I'm hoping she has been fine without us to help her, if she can learn to control her thirst quickly it will be a lot easier," Edward said.
"Jasper should have come with us. How can we control her alone?" I said.
"Don't worry Bella it will be fine. I will know what she is thinking so between us we should be able to stop her before anything happens. Let's just see how she is when we get there, don't worry yourself about it now," Edward said as he kissed my forehead.
I tried not to worry but it was extremely difficult, all I could think about was how she had been coping on her own. I felt awful for leaving her I wish I never had, we should have just taken her home with us. Jasper could have kept her calm or she could have travelled in the storage compartment away from the humans. It was too late now; we had left her alone now all we could do was prey that she would be fine when we arrived.
Edward started to stroke my face and distracted me from my thought, no doubt his intention. I looked up to him and saw fire in his eyes, what was he thinking?
"You are so beautiful," he said.
The intensity in his eyes was so strong I found it hard to concentrate enough to reply.
"Are you okay?" Edward asked.
"Um yeah," I shook my head trying to reassemble my thoughts. "You're dazzling me again," I admitted.
"Oh sorry," Edward apologised as he pulled away from me.
"What are you doing?" I said as I nestled closer to him again.
"You want to be dazzled?" Edward asked raising an eyebrow.
"I want you," I replied.
"I love you," Edward said. "Thank you for making this easier for me. I don't know how I would have stayed so strong without you and Nessie. She has made all the difference to our lives and I am very grateful to you for that."
"Thank you for being you. Nessie has certainly had an impact on you; I can't believe what you said today. I told you your soul was not lost and it is especially precious to me," I replied.
"I know love, I'm sorry I never believed you. I guess the loss of Emmett and Rose has changed my perspective on the way I see myself," Edward admitted.
"I'm glad you have finally realised you are not a monster. I love you so much and I'm so happy that we are together," I said as I reached up to kiss him on the lips.