Chapter 21

CAIUS

It was utterly heartbreaking to watch her disappear.

I had a strong feeling she would to begin with. So much had happened to her in the last few days that it must have been too unbearable, knowing her. But she had to know what was going on. I couldn't let her remain in the dark, no matter how much it would mess her happy relationship with the Cullen boy. She had to know.

I needed to talk to her.

Aro seemed to read my agenda before I took off after her. He grabbed hold of my shoulder, and held me firmly in place. "Leave her for now, Brother. She needs to find out who she is before you fill her in with more."

I gave one nod in his direction. Aro was right. For an irritating partner, he did have his moments.

The Cullen boy still seemed baffled by my love's amazing speech. He barely moved, and it seemed difficult for him to find his way out of his scowl. During her entire insult, I felt like cheering her on, waves of pure satisfaction and sweet revenge rolling through. The boy had this coming from the beginning. And it was the greatest honor to see it up close.

Edward's Bella was dead.

My Bella rose from the ashes.

The pixie-like vampire had collapsed against the side of the house, sobbing loudly in her hands. She made the only noise out of us all, and frankly, nobody thought she deserved to be comforted. I agreed with that statement all the way. Any person who took part in the rearranging of my Bella Swan should never get the least bit of formality.

Carlisle looked so strained that it seemed to weaken my contentment. I always had a strong feeling he never took part in it, no matter how much he wanted his son and Bella together. Lying and hiding were two words that never fit in Carlisle's description.

Yet it was obvious that Carlisle would never banish the two minions from his clan. They had been with him too long, and he became too attached to them. The same with his wife. With hope, they'd at least keep an eye out for their foolish children the next time they planned out something so foul. That is, if either Cullen boy or girl had any wickedness left in them.

Before anyone could make another move, I distantly heard a phone ring deep inside the house. Carlisle made no reaction to get it, until it reached the last ring. "Emmett," he glanced over to his strongest son. "Get it for me, will you?"

Emmett was gone in a flash.

After about a minute, he returned. His expression was grim. "Bella's dad. Charlie."

"What did he want?"

The strong boy grimaced. He told us everything there was to tell.

My legs started off before he finished talking. I needed to find her as quickly as possible.

Her scent was still fresh, and leaded East. This worried me beyond belief. We were heading in the exact direction the strange attackers were going to come from. And she was completely alone.

I needed to find her now.

Only now did I find myself regretting that I had returned her memories. This was the worst time to do so, especially with what was going on with her father. She needed to know, and it wasn't helping that she was practically walking right into this attacker army.

Eventually, I caught up with her. She was sitting next to a marble white fountain surrounded by bushes and white flowers. Water ran smoothly out of the outlets, spilling loudly on to the rest of it. It was quite a scene, yet her presence made it a thousand times brighter and more beautiful.

Her back was to me, long brunette hair falling down her waist. It looked like she was breathing heavily, as if she were about to collapse from exhaustion. But I knew that wasn't the case. She was completely traumatized.

"I need to be alone," she said suddenly, sensing me. Part of me was drawn back, but I knew deep down her words were reasonable after all that happened to her.

I slowly stepped forward, and continued to do so until she actually turned around to face me. I nearly crumpled in awe from her beauty, but I forced myself to speak. "You need someone."

"Look, I know I'm supposed to love you," her hands covered her face. "I'm sorry- I really am…I just need some time. Everything's so confusing and-"

"Its alright," I told her reassuringly. She looked up at me in disbelief. "I understand."

After several seconds, Bella slightly smiled. "…Thanks."

I nodded back. At the moment, she did need to be alone, but I decided to stay nearby, just in case she wanted to talk. The frantic news I needed to tell her started to fade from my mind. A good ten minutes passed until she looked back up at me. "Why didn't you ever come after me?"

I felt drawn back, remembering the agonizing pain after all those years. Fifteen years of absolute disgust and hate and sorrow. All those things I thought she had wiped from me had returned, until I saw her a few weeks ago. My eyes met her beautiful golden ones, and I spoke. "I did. Once."

Her eyebrows rose. "I don't remember-"

"We never saw each other," I interrupted. "But I did come. I looked for you. Aro and Marcus thought I was hunting when we came to the United States to take care of some newborns. Instead, I left for an entire day and tried to find Forks. It took me so many hours…"

Bella waited. Her eyes were sparkling.

"I finally found it," I continued, reflecting on the memory. "I came to the sign that said 'Welcome to Forks'. And I just stood there, watching it, remembering everything that happened when you came to Volterra and how you never came back…and…"

I paused. It was beginning to be harder to talk about it.

"I turned around and went back to Aro and Marcus. They never found out I tried to look for you."

Bella looked stunned, disappointment ringing in her expression. "But… you didn't try…? I would've been there- I had always been there! I was waiting for you, I…even though I didn't know it- I waited!"

"I know that now," My eyes closed in defeat, and I sat next to her on the edge of the fountain. "But back then, I had no idea what was going on. Three thousand years of living can make one a bit insane, like Aro for instance. And I was mad with cruelty and how harsh I was. When you came into my life, you were so bright and purging, and everything made sense of why I was transformed and put on this world for so long. But when you left, it…nothing made sense anymore. I had serious doubts that you ever loved me and…I panicked."

Bella listened intently. I went on. "I couldn't bring myself to continue pass that sign. My pride stepped in, and I walked off, thinking that if you ever did come back, you would come back yourself, not me retrieving you. I was so foolish."

A gentle breeze caused her long hair to rustle along with the wind. She awkwardly pushed it back down in its position, even though it looked beautiful the way it was. "So," she said. "You didn't know what happened to me and my memories until a little while ago?"

"Not until I caught Chelsea getting back from doing it to another person many years afterwards," I explained, clenching my face at the memory. "I still can't believe she betrayed the Volturi like so."

"No," Bella suddenly said. "No, what she did was horrible. But it was no-where near as much as a betrayal to what Edward and Alice had done. Chelsea at least was trying to provide for her husband, without asking you guys for money. Edward…he knew how much I had loved you but he only thought selfishly, because he wanted me as well. And Alice…Alice must have thought it was best if I remained with her brother. Best for her, too. She wanted someone to dress up and talk to about clothes, since Rosalie never did that stuff with her. She betrayed me just as much as Edward…"

"Will you ever forgive them in the future?" I asked her.

Slowly, she shook her head. "The thought is so infuriating at the moment, I don't think I ever can. But…I might. I'm too much of a nice person. I get pushed around too easily."

"You know," I told her. "When you were at Volterra, you held yourself particularly well. You always bossed me around."

Bella smiled brightly, and it was beautiful. "Yeah, I was a bit of a jerk, wasn't I? I don't know whatever came over me, but you were just so easy to piss off for some reason."

I returned her smile. "Well, of course. I was the grumpiest old thing in the world. Still am, sometimes. But, my point being, you can be anything you want. I think you have the potential to tell them no for good, if you wanted. But if you want my advice, I would go back to them once you've thought everything out, and forgive them."

Her eyes widened in complete disbelief. I shocked myself even a little bit.

"But," she uttered. "I thought you of all people would be telling me to forget them and hate them and-"

"No," I said softly. "On my way trying to track you down a little while ago, I realized the true freedom of letting go. You are the best person I know, Bella Swan. I believe that if you forgive them, you'll be able to move forward and feel a lot better about the whole situation. I do not suggest you continue on with your marriage with Edward, but… you understand, correct?"

She nodded, a slight grin coming to her lips. "You know, you're a very wise guy, Caius."

"Three thousand years of living," I said. "I've seen a lot of things. Only now do I realize how it takes into account later on."

"Well, if I do forgive Edward and Alice," she turned to me. "Will you forgive them as well?"

"Lets not get carried away," I returned, and she laughed brightly, smacking my arm in a somewhat playful manner. I officially feel like the luckiest man in the world, laughing with the most beautiful girl, both of us finally together and ready to finally get what we've always wanted. Nothing felt like it could ruin this moment.

After a while of talking, I felt her head lightly lean against my shoulder. "Will you wait for me, Caius? Wait until I've officially cleared up my mind and everything? Because I will go with you and everything, I swear. Just like I promised all those years ago. That I'd come back."

"Took you long enough," I grinned at her. "But yes. We have the rest of our lives still ahead of us. I will wait another three thousand years if I had to."

"I might be a little less than that," she said. "But that is reassuring. Thank you, by the way, for comforting me. Everything makes a lot more sense now, and I feel ten times better than before. We can go back now, if you want. I'm ready to face Edward and Alice again. I think."

While she stands up and dusts herself off, my mind snaps back into reality. I have to tell her about what her father said, and we have to get out of here before any attackers show up. She has to know as soon as possible.

"Wait, Bella," I grab her arm, causing her to stop and look at me. "There's something I had come to tell you beside the fact of wanting to speak to you. Your father called the Cullen's house because you weren't answering your cell phone. He's been sent out to help stop the attacks. They didn't give him time to pack or anything. He wanted to call to tell you that he loved you and that's he's sorry."

Bella's face crumpled throughout my whole speech. Her fingers raked at her face and she gave a shriek of terror. "W-When did he leave Forks? When? Can we still get to him? Can we beat him to the attackers!"

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "Lets get back to the others. They'll know what to do."

A few seconds after we both race out of the city, a ravishing scent catches our attentions. We both slow at it, feeling both hungry yet horrified.

Blood.

And a lot of it.

Without warning, she dashes the opposite direction, heading further into the city at a rabid pace. I cannot tell whether or not she's smelled her father's blood perhaps, or if she merely is wondering who has been recently killed. Either way, I follow her, not bothering to stop her.

We round several streets and deserted buildings until we finally turn down another street and stop in our tracks. Before us, very many dead bodies were scattered among the length of the road, none of them drained. Instead, their blood is smeared upon the walls and each other's faces, the bodies all ranging from elderly people to mere children. My being feels up with utter dread when I take sight of the large red 'S' on the highest part of the wall. Bella gives out a terrified shriek at the scene.

How had we not noticed the blood before? Or had the attackers been that quick at killing all these people right under our noses…? It seemed impossible. The way the blood smelled, it didn't happen recently, but it didn't happen too long ago. The attackers had already moved on.

Already moved on.

I froze in my spot.

The attackers had to be in Forks.

Uh oh- things are piling up! Thank you guys for all your awesome reviews and I'd LOVE some more! :D

As far as my poll goes, I most likely will pick up a plot for Aro/ Bella since that pairing had pretty much all of the excitement. I'm also most likely going to do a Jane/ Jacob- since the plot for that has been building up in my head all damn year! That story will most likely be in just Jacob's POV.

For Stuck in Volterra 3, I'm seriously debating whether or not to do it. I have a few ideas I could do for it, but not for sure. If you guys are really for a 3rd one, msg me for some ideas or something ;)

Review ^^