Hey guys! So here is Chapter 25. Thanks for all the reviews:) Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you at the bottom :)
I stared at the painting and I could feel my stomach drop. It was truly beautifully painted, but what caught my eyes was the colour. It was painted in black and white and having gone through all the canvas in Edward's room I found it odd that this was the only one done in black and white. It was also the only portrait. I looked at the painting trying to find an indication of when it was painted. Heidi looked younger than she is now, maybe around 17, in the painting. It was clear she hadn't started her Botox fetish. She looked happy and carefree, she looked in love. Maybe it wasn't the painting that was on the easel that Edward kept hidden from me. I tried to think about this rationally and not jump to conclusions but as I stared at Heidi's happy face the feeling that something was very wrong grew. I turned around and looked at Edward's sleeping form. He looked so beautiful and peaceful. After everything that has happened between us, would he really be capable of hurting me this way. I pushed down my insecurities and jealousy at the beautiful girl in the painting and decided I will give Edward a chance to explain before I kick his ass.
Edward started stirring in the bed and reached out to my side of the bed with one arm. I watched as his arm searched for my body. Edward pushed himself up and looked to my side of the bed and then his eyes moved around the room, looking for me. His eyes finally landed on me and I could see a small smile of relief but as he took in my expression the smile turned into a frown. Edward got up from the bed and moved so that he was standing in front of me.
"Bella, what's wrong? Are you ok? Why aren't you in bed?" Edward asked concernedly. The evident concern in his voice was a nice reminder that he did still care about me and perhaps there was a logical explanation for the painting. I deserve a bloody award for my self-control and for, not going ape shit on his ass for having a painting of his ex-girlfriend wearing an engagement ring.
"I couldn't sleep. I tried reading, but I couldn't focus so I just gave up. I was going to go back to bed, but I spotted your paintings and thought I'd have a look." I said timidly. I moved to the side so that he could see the painting I was talking about and that had me upset. I carefully watched his face as he spotted the painting. Surprise, then confusing and then worry crossed his face. There was no guilt or panic.
"Bella, where did you get that painting?" Edward asked in a worried tone. What? I couldn't understand what had him worried or why he was asking where I got the painting from when it's his bloody painting and his ex-girlfriend!
"What do you mean?! It's your painting Edward. I found it at the back of all the other paintings." I said angrily. Edward turned to look at me with wide worried eyes.
"Bella I swear to you I didn't paint that. I have never seen it in my life. I don't paint portraits, I find painting people boring. That's why I asked you to let me paint you. I wanted my first portrait to be you. You are the complete opposite of boring." he said nervously. He looked so very vulnerable admitting that. My heart melted a little at his admission. I let out a deep sigh and accepted the fact that I will never understand men.
"Well, Edward if you didn't paint it and have never seen it before then what the duck is it doing with your paintings?" I asked, ignoring what he said about painting me as I tried to hold on to my anger. He wasn't getting off that easily. I need more of an explanation before I blindly believe what he is telling me. Yes, I have trust issues, don't judge me.
"I don't know where it came from or how it got here Bella. I swear on my life that I have never painted Heidi. I honestly don't know how it got there." Edward said with pleading eyes, but I could see him thinking hard about this and then he went pale. Edward stood rigidly with a fearful expression. He looked around the room and then started moving frantically searching through the things on his desk.
"Edward what are you doing?" I asked trying to figure out what the hell just happened. He grabbed one of my bags from the floor and threw it at me. I managed to catch it easily.
"Pack whatever you will need to get dressed for the day and any books you need," Edward said in a final tone as he went back to rummaging through his desk. I quickly grabbed a few bits of clothing and my toiletry bag from the bathroom. I shoved everything I'll need to get ready for the day into the bag and grab the bag that had my books. I watched as Edward continued to search around the room.
"Edward!" I said loudly trying to get his attention, but he just continued throwing things around the room in his search for something.
"Edward!" I screamed and he stopped and looked up at me.
"What is going on?" I asked as I started panicking.
"Someone was in my room Bella." he said dangerously.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Someone broke into my room and placed that painting here. They knew you would find it. I don't know how they knew, but they did." Edward said. He was confusing me. It was like he knew something and was speaking in riddles that I couldn't figure out.
"Edward calm down. You're speaking in riddles, I can't understand you." I said as I moved over to him.
"Bella we need to get out of here. We can go stay in the Royal Quarters in my old room, but we can't stay here," he said. Whatever Edward thinks happened has really gotten to him. I have never seen him so worried and angry at the same time.
"Ok, I have my things packed but please explain to me what is going on. You're started to freak me out." I said softly.
"I promise I will tell you everything but we need to leave right now. It's not safe here for us anymore." Edward said as he grabbed a bag and started throwing clothes into it. The uneasy feeling that I got in the pit of my stomach when I looked at the painting earlier just got more intense. I looked back over to the painting and this time it was almost as if it was mocking me. Whoever did plant the painting there didn't succeed in their mission to break me and Edward apart. Maybe it was Heidi that put it there. I remember Edward telling me that she wanted to get back with him so that she could keep her social status among her friends. Edward having me as a girlfriend surely didn't reflect well on her and perhaps she devised a plan to get rid of me. Could she really be that pathetic though? I thought about what I do know about her and decided that there is a real possibility of her sinking that low in an attempt to get her social status, I mean Edward, back.
"Are you ready to go?" Edward asked me as he slung his bag over his shoulder. I nodded and grabbed my bag. Edward, always being a true gentleman, took my book bag and carried it for me. We silently made our way over to the main building that housed the Royal Quarters. Edward walked closer to me than usual, in a protective manner. He was constantly looking around the grounds as if he was expecting someone to attack us any given minute. My uneasy feeling was starting to turn into full blown fear with the way Edward was behaving. Edward led me through hallways in the main building and up a few flight of stairs. He remained quite and an angry troubled look marred his face. Edward stopped in front of huge wooden ornate double door. Edward took a key from his jean's pocketed and opened the door. He stood to the side and let me in first.
The room was spacious and the decorated very stylishly and very modern. Just like Edward's room in the dorm blocks, one wall was covered with windows. His bed was placed against a wall that had been painted black. The wall opposite the bed was also painted black. All over the wall there were paintings of all sizes strategically placed. It looked like one big painting that was made from smaller painting. It was unique and captivating. I wonder if Edward painted all of those paintings. The wall behind us that holds the door held a unique bookshelf. It was white and went from floor to ceiling. It appeared like a solid block of glossy white concrete that had square boxes cut out from it. In these boxed shaped openings, there were books, framed picture and other knickknacks. Edward grabbed my bag and went over to the second door and placed our bags in it.
"That's the walk in closet and over there is the bathroom and the door next to it leads to my study slash art room," Edward said as he pointed at the doors. Wow, that's nice, he had a little sitting area by the windows so all he really need was a dining room and a kitchen then his room would be an apartment.
Edward took my hand and led me to the comfy looking couch. We sat down and it felt like I was sinking into a cloud. Damn who knew couches can be this soft and comfy.
"For starters I would like to apologise for my behaviour, I'm sure you are confused and freaked out and that was never my intention. So I'm sorry Bella." Edward said quietly.
"It's ok but you better explain to me what the hell is going on though," I said almost afraid to really hear the truth. That feeling of dread is still very much present and I had a feeling it was about to get much worse.
"Right well, like I said someone was in my room. I don't know who it was or how they managed to get in. Rosalie and I have protection spells placed on our rooms, that's why we don't have roommates. The spell stops anyone from being able to enter our room. People can only enter our room with our consent and if we revoke our consent verbally or mentally the spell would literally throw the person out the room." Edward explained.
"Ok, so maybe it was someone that has your consent to enter your room." I tried to reason.
"That's the thing though, the only people who currently have my consent are you, my parents, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Alice. Heidi used to have my consent but after the stunt she pulled I was very quick to revoke it." Edward said.
"Who do you think it was then?" I asked nervously. I don't think I'm going to like the answer to this.
"I don't know, but they did more than just place a painting of Heidi in my room," Edward said as he started pulling angrily on his hair.
"What do you mean they did more?" I asked. Edward let out a heavy sigh and looked me in the eyes.
"They took some books from my desk. They took books that were related to dark magic and one of my books on the history of Aluthsia. They also took the book you got from the forbidden section. I think the painting was simply a decoy." Edward said.
They took the book. I kept repeating it over in my head. What the hell! Who would do this? What do they want with all these books? How did they know we had the book from the forbidden section? A million questions ran through my head and I understood Edward's reaction now. If it was me I would've freaked out even worse.
"What do you think they want with the books?" I asked nervously as my stomach turned. I was right, that feeling of dread just got so much worse.
"I'm not sure love. I was thinking of what happen tonight with the soul eater and something just didn't make sense. Soul eater live up in Shadow Mountain and this would be the first time they have attacked outside the Unknown. The portal stops them from crossing over, it must have had the help of a very powerful witch to cross over." Edward said disgustedly.
"You think it's one of the dark witches?" I asked as my heart beat started to pick up.
"A dark witch yes, but it was an inside job." he said angrily.
"An inside job?" I asked confused.
"The dark witches that live in the Unknown wouldn't know how to alter or disable the portal to allow creatures from the Unknown to cross over. I had the same thought with the Banshee attack. I couldn't understand how they crossed over the portal. Someone on this side must have either done it or instructed a dark witch in the Unknown how to do it." Edward explained.
"So there is a rat leaking information about the university and good magic to the dark witches?" I asked shocked.
" I think so. I think there is a dark witch in the university stealing information and giving it to the witches in the Unknown." Edward said furiously.
"This is very bad, very fucking bad," I said quietly as the feeling in my stomach turn into a dark ball of fear. Information was supposed to be our advantage against the dark witches and now they know what we know if not more.
"What now? What are we going to do?" I asked defeated.
"Right now we sleep. In the morning, we will head to my mother's office. She is usually there early and then we tell her what happened and ask for her help." he said as he got up and crawled into bed.
"What can we do though?" I asked as I moved to join him in bed. Edward wrapped my up in his arms and placed a kiss on my temple.
"We find the rat and then deal with him or her as we see fit," Edward said darkly.
I didn't question him further. He started humming what is now my lullaby until I drifted to sleep. I was so tired that I fell into a dreamless sleep. Edward shook my shoulder to wake me up and for once I wasn't rudely woken up by that damn alarm clock. I reluctantly got up from bed and stretched. My muscle were sore from my fall yesterday and I still felt exhausted. My headache was only a dull thud and I was very happy about that. There was no way in hell I would get through the day with a pounding headache. Edward still looked very sleepy as he rubbed his face clearly trying to wake himself up. He looked so much younger, but the dark circles under his eyes gave away his true age. I slowly got out of bed, wishing that I could just hide under the blankets for the day and forget all the shit going on in my life. Unfortunately for my tired body, I wasn't the kind of person to hide from my problems.
I walked over to the door that Edward pointed out to be the bathroom last night. The bathroom was even more luxurious than the one in his dorm room. I went back out to grab my bag before as I forgot that I have none of my stuff in this bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth before I got in the shower. I hate morning breath and that awful taste in my mouth in the mornings. I turned on the shower and stripped off my clothes. I hopped in the shower and let the warm water soothe my muscles. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to just enjoy the warm comforting water. I so was lost in my little tranquil haven of warm water that I didn't hear the door open. I felt a gust of cold air hit my warm body and then I felt Edward press against me. He placed an open-mouthed kiss on my shoulder and then reached for the body wash.
"Good morning love" Edward purred in my ear. I felt a shiver of pleasure run down my spine. I was going to say something but then he continued to kiss my neck. I hurt the squirting of the body wash and then Edward put the bottle back.
Edward placed his soapy hands on my shoulder's and started slowly washing me. He made small circles on my shoulder with his hands and then moved down my back and cupped my ass and I let out a soft moan. Then he started washing from my feet upwards. He ran his hands slowly up my legs and the higher he got the harder it was to breathe. He massaged my upper thighs never touching were I desperately craved him. He continued rubbing his hands in circular motions up my stomach. He cupped my breast and massaged them with his soapy hands. It felt so good that I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on his shoulder. Edward placed his lips on the spot where my should and neck meet and sucked hard and at the same time he pinched my nipples. My eyes shot open at the sensation and I moaned, loudly. I turned around before Edward could tease me anymore.
At first I was going to return the favour and wash him and tease him like he did to me. The carnal lustful look he was sporting changed my mind immediately. I threw my arms around his head and dug my hands into his hair as my lips crashed onto his. Our lips moved frantically against each other, never seeming to get enough. Edward slipped his tongue into my mouth and I moaned at the taste of him. I bit down on Edward's bottom lip and he growled. He quickly picked me up and pushed me against the wall. I threw my head back and moaned as I felt his hard rock cock rub against my swollen clit. Edward wrapped his lips around my taunt nipple and sucked and nibbled on it. Sensation of pure pleasure wracked through my body. I was a panting mess. I wrapped my legs around Edward's waist and pulled him to me, trying to create more of that delicious friction. Edward must have copped on to what I was trying to do or he must have grown tired of teasing me as he slipped his cock into me. We both moaned at the sensation of him filling me. It felt like a missing piece of me has return. I don't think I will ever get enough of this, enough of Edward. He moved in and out of me fast and hard. This time wasn't sweet or slow. No, this time was pure animalistic and rough. He moved faster and harder sending me into my first blinding orgasm that hit me like a train. My body was shaking with pleasure, but Edward didn't stop. It was like he was trying to remind me that I was his and what pleasure only he can bring me. #
"I need you to cum for me again love" Edward purred as he started rubbing my clit. I looked up at him and his mouth was slightly open and he was breathing hard. His eyes were nearly my undoing. I have never seen so much lust in someone's eyes. I decided to get a little payback for his teasing earlier. I placed my hands on my neck and slowly moved them down and then cupped my breasts. I closed my eyes and massaged them. I pinched my nipples and let out a loud moan as my body was in overdrive with sensations. Edward pushed into me hard and growled and then I felt him cum in me. All of this sent me into another mind-blowing orgasm. It was like white hot heat spreading through my body in the most pleasurable way. We sunk to the shower floor and sat there as we tried to catch our breaths.
"That was amazing," I said breathily as I looked at Edward.
"It was better than amazing. With you it always is though" Edward said with a salacious smirk. He was right though, it was always beyond amazing with him.
"Come on we need to finish and get ready," Edward said as he helped me up.
We managed to shower for real before the water ran cold. We got dressed and ready in comfortable silence. It was as if we have been doing this for years, it just felt natural. I looked through my bag as I tried to figure out what I did actually manage to pack in my haste last night. I settled on a black cotton skater dress, a red cardigan and my ballet flats. I pulled my hair into a messy bun as I didn't have the time or energy to do anything more elaborate with it. Edward looked delectable as always in a fitted pair of dark washed jeans and white v-neck t-shirt and his signature converse. We grabbed our book bags and headed out towards Esme's office.
"What classes do you have today?" Edward asked as he took my hand in his.
"Umm it's Tuesday so I have spells and charms with your mother and then I think I have a biology lecture. I'll have to check actually." I said as I tried to remember my schedule.
"Do you want to start your extra defence training with me today after lectures ended?" Edward asked as we made it down the hallway leading to Esme's offices. I could still feel the students staring at us. I figured we would be old news after everything that had happened, but I guess I was wrong. I could hear some of the girls whisper to each other 'I don't know what he sees in her'. I didn't even let it bother me because he was all mine and their just jealous bitches. I smiled at the fact that their mean whispers didn't bother me. I was growing up, who knew!
"Yeah, I think with everything that has happened we should start as soon as possible," I said with a smile. Training alone with Edward should be interesting.
"You're right. I'll meet you in the gym after your last lecture then." Edward said and gave me a kiss on the head.
We made it to Esme's office and Edward knocked.
"Come in" Esme shouted through the door. Edward opened the door and let me in first. Edward followed me in and we took our seats in front of Esme's desk like last time.
"Good morning you two. I'm actually glad you are here, I was planning on calling you this morning to talk," she said and the dark uneasy feeling returned to the pit of my stomach. I said a quick 'good morning' to her to be polite.
"Morning mom. We actually have something we need to talk to you about as well." Edward said seriously.
"Ok, why don't you start then. What's going on?" Esme asked concerned. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have such a warm caring mother or to have had the pleasure of growing up with a mother like Esme.
"We have reason to believe someone has managed to break into my room," Edward said and Esme gasped.
"Are the two of you ok? Were you there when it happened? Did someone hurt you?" she asked franticly.
"No, we weren't there. Bella is still a bit upset and shaken by what happened last night and I think whoever broke into my room is connected to the attack." Edward said.
"Oh, Bella dear I heard what happened. Are you ok? I was so worried about you. Sue said not to overwhelm you so I left before you woke up. If you ever need to talk my door is always open." Esme said in a warm voice and her concern was evident on her face. I swallowed back the lump that formed in my throat and willed my tears away. My mother never cared like that, she never showed concern like Esme just did.
"I'm ok. Thank you for being there." I choked out. I will not cry! I will not cry, I kept repeating it in my head hoping I don't make a fool of myself and burst into tears cause I had someone appear as a motherly figure in my life.
"Mother the person who broke into my room got past the protection spell and they stole the book Bella got from the library among some of my books. I think this person is responsible for getting the Banshees and the soul eater across the portal too." Edward said and I was glad he didn't mention the Heidi painting. Esme's eyes were filled with worry and shock. Her face become pale and she got up and started pacing.
"Mom?" Edward asked drawing her attention back to us.
"I did the check of the forbidden section of the library yesterday. Your book wasn't the only missing one." Esme said softly.
"What other book was missing?" I asked. I hadn't removed another book so it must be someone else. This person was clearly very good getting past these protection spells.
"The book that was missing was all about the life and power of Constance," Esme said gravely. Oh shit...
Wonder who is broke into Edward's room... Till next time :)