A/n: Thanks again for the amazing reviews glad your enjoying the extra chapters. Since you all love me so much... would you like to check out my new Twilight story? It's called 'The Jacob Chronicles' and I've posted up 2 chapters so far it's basically going to be a series of one shots from his POV. Anyways here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy x
Chapter Twenty One – Insomnia
I couldn't sleep that night, Jacob's light snores didn't ease me like they usually did, I got out of bed, carefully so not to disturb him and softly padded down the stairs, I made myself a cup of coffee and sat outside on the porch swing and wrapped my arms around my legs, it was cool out tonight. I took a sip of my coffee and rubbed my forehead. My head was wired and I couldn't block out my senses tonight like I normally could the noises around me were amplified by a thousand, I could hear everything. I was getting a migraine.
A shiver ran down my spine and a strange feeling came over me, I remembered this feeling from a long time ago. I was being watched. My senses were already in overdrive and I could hear someone moving nearby, the scent was familiar yet distant but I knew who it was. I knew I'd have to get this over with sooner or later.
"Edward?" I whispered
A white figure emerged from the trees that lined the side of my house, he hadn't changed a bit, frozen forever at 17. A stone god. He came and joined me on the porch
"I can't get used to your new scent, it took me a while to track you down," he said,
"Sorry" I muttered
"Carlisle said you were here," he said in his velvety voice, "he told me not to bother you, but I had to see you again, you look well, Bella."
"So do you," I commented, it was true, compared to the last memory I had of him, he looked so torn, and I had caused that. It was a relief that he seemed okay now but that could be down to years of practise at masking his pain.
Edward just shrugged, "What other choice do I have?" he asked,
I remained silent I didn't have an answer for that, I would always have that guilty feeling in the back of my mind about leaving Edward heartbroken, but in the end I had to do what was best for me, I had to choose my true love.
"I met your daughter today," he said, "Sarah Black, she was sat next to me in Chem. class," he cast a sideways smile at me. Chemistry, just like when I first met him. "She's interesting," he commented, "She looks like her father except for her eyes which are the most beautiful eyes in the world," he said, "But just like her mother her mind is a blank canvas to me, and her scent is just as overwhelming as yours used to be. She reminds me so much of you, Bella"
"How?" I asked
"There's just these little things, the way her mind works... not that I can hear that, but how she answers questions, she's so much like you" so Edward couldn't hear Sarah's thoughts either? It sounded to me like he was more than just interested in my daughter, "And after all these years, it's still frustrating not to know what you're thinking now," he laughed
"I'm trying to decided whether we should go back home or not," I replied
"Why, because of us?" Edward asked
"We've been here a day and already our son is burning up and he's growing taller by the second," I explained, I could see Edward didn't understand, I forgot he didn't know much about the La Push wolves. "It means he's becoming a werewolf, the gene activates when they're old enough to handle it and when vampires are near," I explained, "I don't want that life for him, I want him to have a normal life, I want him to be safe." Then I met Edward's eyes, "And I want you to leave my daughter alone, Edward," I warned him. I saw the look on Sarah's face today when were talking about the Cullen's she wore the same look of curiosity I once had. Edward had left me broken and I didn't want history to repeat itself. His face became unreadable now, he turned his head to the house, as he did I heard Jacob stirring upstairs "Your husband is awake," he said, "He's wondering where you are,"
"I suppose you'd better go then," I said
Edward rose to his feet and nodded, "I just want to know one thing before I go," he said turning back to me, "Are you happy, Bella?" he asked
I looked at him and smiled, "Yes," I said, "I love my family, Jacob is everything to me,"
"Do you ever wish..." he struggled to find words, his face was a see-through mask trying to disguise the pain he was really feeling, "... that you had never met me?"
"I'm a 42 year old woman, Edward," I said, "And in my 42 years I've not had any regrets, what happened in the past made me who I am today,"
"Bella?" I turned to the sound of Jacob's voice and the door opening, I turned back and Edward was already gone, "Bella, I've been looking for you, what are you doing out here?" he asked he sat beside me and pulled me into a hug.
"Just came out to think," I replied, "I couldn't sleep,"
"Is it the Cullen thing?" he asked
I nodded, "Do you think we should just… go home?"
"Do you?"
"I'm not sure, Caleb is changing and with the Cullen's around that's not going to stop," I said, "Do we want that for our son?"
Jacob remained silent, "There's something else that's bugging you isn't there?" as always Jacob could read me like a book,
"Edward stopped by," I told him, "And I get the feeling he's interested in Sarah and vice versa,"
I could hear Jacob grind his teeth together, "Not with our daughter he's not, it's bad enough we have to share the same town again,"
"What do you suggest Jacob? Do you want to be the type of parent that forces his children what to do, who to love?" I asked,
"I want our children to be safe. We should move back to La Push," he said
"Jake, no. You love your new job." I said, "We said we'll give it a month right? Let's just see how things... evolve and if it gets any worse then we can go home,"
"Okay," Jacob sighed, he kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my hand lightly, "Come on let's go back to bed,"
A month had passed and nothing more was heard from the Cullen's. Sarah never mentioned them, not like she would anyway.
It was a Saturday and I was home alone, Caleb was round a friends house playing video games, he was still changing his body was getting bigger, more prominent, taller, his temperature was soaring, he was getting worse, Jacob predicted he could change any day now.
Sarah had gone shopping with a few new friends which was strange for her, it was true that she was so like me. We weren't the shopping type of girls, but she was still trying to make friends here so I guess it made sense.
Jacob was working, and I still needed to find a job. Now that the unpacking was out of the way and the house was obsessively clean, my life had gone from boring to mind numbingly dull when my family weren't around. I usually went for the occassional run. One good thing about the effect the venom had on me was that I never seemed to run out of breath when I ran so I could run literally miles without getting tired, I loved to run. It was a great way to think. But I had already gone for a run that morning and I still had the rest of the day to kill.
I decided to take a walk into town, we didn't live far from the centre, walking would pass more time anyway. I got some food in for dinner later and then headed to the local library to use the internet since ours wasn't yet connected and I ran a search for local jobs in the area. I plugged my flash drive into the prehistoric machine and uploaded my resume and emailed it to a few different employment agencies.
On my way out of the library I passed the payphone and saw the local phone book laid out on the table beside it. I picked it up and flicked to the 'C' pages and searched for Cullen, there was only one family in town by the name of Cullen according to this book but I could tell it wasn't the family I was looking for, the street these Cullen's lived on was two blocks away from my street and the houses on that street weren't exactly the kind of homes Carlisle and his family would live in. With frustration I closed the book and saw that this particular phone book was over 5 years old anyway I dropped it back on the table and decided to try a different method to locate them. I had more to say to Edward, I still cared about him and I wanted to make sure he was okay. That pained look on his face I saw when I last encountered him stuck with me and that was my fault, but what more could I say? What more could I do for him when my heart belonged to another? Regardless I wanted to try to help.
I picked up the payphone and dialled the police department. It was Bob Hatton who answered.
"Mrs Black how lovely to hear from you, are you alright?" he asked
"Yes, fine thank you,"
"Jacob isn't around; he's on a training course,"
"That's fine Bob," I replied, "I needed to ask you a question,"
"How can I help, Bella?"
"Dr Cullen and his family, where do they live?" I asked
"The Cullen's, why do you want to know that?" he asked me
"They're old friends of mine," I told him, "No doubt they have a large property surrounded by plenty of forestry,"
He chuckled, "Ah, so you do know them," he gave me the address I scrawled it down on the back of an envelop that was stashed in my purse and thanked him.
I walked back home to fetch the car, this journey would be a bit too far for me to walk.
I drove the winding roads through the forest until I arrived at a grand house, much grander than the one they used to live in, in Forks. I climbed out the car and Alice was already waiting for me with a forced smile on her face, "Hey Bella!" she waved. She danced over to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my waist.
"You've aged really well"
"You Cullen's need to stop saying that,"
There was a solid tap on my shoulder, "Guess who," said a voice,
"Hello, Emmett," I turned around and smiled at him, "It's nice to see you again,"
"You too, Bella!" he cried, "Wow you got old,"
"Yeah that's what usually happens to us mere humans," I muttered
"We all know you aren't just a mere human," Emmett winked
Esme, Jasper and Rosalie came out to join us they all greeted me and didn't forget to mention how old I looked either, apparently Carlisle was working but no one mentioned where Edward was.
"I need to talk to him," I said after a while, "Where's Edward?" An awkward silence fell among the group and no one answered me, "Well? Where is he?"
"He's… out," Esme supplied
"There's something you're not telling me," I said, and I noticed they were trying to block my view of something. But I saw it, I saw what they were trying to hide me from, my daughter's car was here, "Where is she?" I growled