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Chapter 28
Surprisingly, the next few days passed in a blur. As much as we were all dreading Jane's return, and with her, the mysterious Volturi; inevitably, there was nothing we could do to stop the steady march of time. The days passed much as they had before Jane's visit, the only exception being that I woke up in Bella's room each morning instead of mine, and she didn't have to sneak out the window.
The family held a conference around the large dining room table where it was decided that we would keep the original timeline for my change and do nothing before the Volturi's return.
"That's ridiculous!" I groaned in frustration. "Why not do away with our biggest liability: me being human?"
"It won't make that much of a difference, Edward. You'll be too new to be of any help. You'll be too ruled by your thirst," Bella said, shaking her head adamantly.
"It's worth a shot. It can't make things any worse…" I faded off, looking around the table.
"It can, actually," Jessica murmured from the other end of the table. She looked up at me apologetically. "You heard Jane's warning. It won't matter what we do, they're still going to come."
"Yeah, but they're already pissed. What's the harm in making me a little less vulnerable?" I questioned, my eyes landing on Mike for support.
"Look, Edward, I know how frustrated and helpless you feel. I would feel the same way if I were in your position. But Bell and Jess are right. Even if we could get you through the change in time, newborn vampires are ruled by their instincts and, believe it or not, you would be even more of a liability," he said. "Plus, we're not even sure it's going to come down to a fight. Maybe it won't…" he trailed off, no conviction in his words as he looked down at the table.
I leaned back in my chair and put my hands over my face, yelling into them in frustration.
"Edward." Bella's voice was soft, and I leaned forward again and looked at her. "I will change you. I've already promised you that. But I won't do it because you feel that you have no other choice. You deserve to be able to make this decision because it's what's best for you, not because you think it's the only way to save us. We will find a way to protect you."
I puffed out a deep breath and nodded reluctantly. I still thought it would be better to change me as quickly as possible, but I was forced to defer to their judgment in the matter, as I had no experience dealing with vampire law.
At school, it was pretty obvious that I was distracted and jumpy. Even Bella, with her normally cool and collected demeanor, seemed slightly rattled. Of course our behavior didn't fail to escape Jasper's ever-observant eye.
"What's up with you two? Are you on the run from the mob or something?" he asked bluntly one day at lunch. He smirked playfully as he said it, but I choked on my milk and Bella coughed lightly. Jessica and Mike looked down at their shoes.
I mumbled something about being nervous about graduation, and Jasper shrugged it off. But I could tell from the look that he gave me out of the corner of his eye that this wasn't the last I would hear of the matter.
His comment had given me an idea though. I brought it up to Bella that night as we lay in her enormous bed surrounded by what felt like hundreds of pillows.
"Why don't we make a run for it?"
She looked up at me and smiled, but it was a cheerless smile. "Trust me, the thought crossed my mind. But it's not possible," she said, her voice sad.
"Why not? I don't care about staying here. We planned to leave before you changed me anyway."
She shook her head, "It's not that, Edward. Remember what I told you about the Volturi guard?" I searched my memory for what she meant. She didn't wait for me to catch up before she continued. "Each member of the guard is gifted. There are members of the guard that are trackers, like James, but much more powerful. The Volturi would never allow anyone to escape from its far-reaching grasp. They would hunt us down, and then we would be worse off because we ran."
I felt my heart sink at her words.
"So there's no hope for us?" I asked quietly, holding her closer.
"No, Edward, no. There's absolutely hope for us. The Volturi are not supposed to be the bad guys. They are the reason that we are able to live the peaceful lives we live. Without their influence, others of our kind would not be nearly so inhibited in their behavior."
"So, you trust that they will come here and find that there has been no injustice and leave peacefully?" I asked, the doubt plain in my voice.
Bella was silent for a moment.
"No. I don't trust anything. I hope that is what will happen, but I don't know what will happen," she finally whispered.
Amazingly, there were actually moments when I didn't think about our impending doom. There were times during the week that I felt like a normal teenager. I stressed over homework and upcoming exams. I called my parents several times and reassured them that Mike and I were keeping out of trouble. Apparently, Charlie had stopped by to vouch for Mike's story and thank them for letting me stay with him this week. They didn't suspect for a moment that Bella was really by my side the entire time, instead of away with Jessica and Renee.
Bella did leave several times during the week to hunt. She said she wanted to build up her strength for the Volturri's visit, just in case. She would always return a couple of hours later, sliding her cool body under the covers until she was right next to me. Most of the time I would awaken enough to pull her into my arms, but even if I wasn't conscious enough to remember waking at her return, I would always find her in my arms when morning came.
Things never did get as…intense…as they had that first night. I felt guilty for pushing her too far, even if she had been right there with me. I didn't want to make things any more difficult for her, especially with our impending visit from our Italian friends.
It was increasingly difficult to remind myself of this, however, when I was enveloped constantly in her scent. Everything about her room reminded me of her. I took quite a few cold showers that week. Though, they weren't quite as effective as I would have liked, since I was showering in her shower while she waited only a few dozen feet away, in her bed.
Renee seemed thrilled at the idea of having someone to cook for in the house. Each morning when we came down to the kitchen, I was greeted with the enticing aroma of bacon and eggs, or pancakes, or French toast, or any other breakfast concoction she could dream up. I would breathe deeply, and hum in response as I hurried down to grab a plate and load it up with Renee's offerings. For not eating human food herself, she was a great cook.
Bella would do her best to keep a smile planted on her face for my sake, but Jessica and Mike were slightly less diplomatic.
"Oh my Lord, what is that awful smell?" Jessica had yelled the first morning as she descended the stairs two at a time, her nose scrunched up in disdain.
"It's breakfast…for Edward," Renee had said, rolling her eyes.
I furrowed my brow, sniffing the food. It smelled, and tasted, delicious to me. "Does it really smell that bad to you?" I wondered.
"Just wait. Just you wait," Mike smirked, clapping a marble hand on my shoulder, causing my fork to fall from my hand and clatter to my plate.
Bella and I both grimaced at him, but for different reasons, I'm sure.
The night before the Volturi's scheduled arrival, I slept poorly. I tossed and turned and would startle myself awake, gasping and sweating against Bella's soft sheets. She would take me in her cool, firm arms and run her fingers through my damp hair, soothing me back to sleep. It was no use though. Finally, when the sky was still an inky purple, I gave up. Bella stroked my damp and matted hair and I could feel her eyes on my face in the dark.
"I'm sorry you can't sleep, love," she whispered, sadness in her voice as we both thought of the reason for my insomnia.
I sighed into her shoulder. "It's okay. I'm going to take a shower." It was Saturday, so there was no hurry to get ready, but I wanted to feel the relaxing steam of the hot water. I crawled out of bed and headed for the shower.
When I finished in the shower, I dressed quickly. The bedroom was empty, and I walked down the stairs searching for Bella. I found her sitting in the kitchen. Renee was making her usual enormous breakfast fare for me.
Bella looked up at me when I entered, a small smile playing on her face. I bent to kiss her quickly.
"Good morning, sweetheart," she said softly, pushing my still damp hair back. "You smell wonderful." She pressed her nose into my collar and her cool breath gave me chills.
"Good morning, Edward," Renee said. Her voice was cheerful but I could see the worry in her eyes.
I sat down to eat and Jessica and Mike wandered in soon after, fresh from an overnight hunting trip. Jessica turned her nose up at the smell of the bacon and eggs. I rolled my eyes at her and waved a forkful of eggs at her. She laughed and batted my hand away.
After a moment, the laughter died down as we looked around at each other, our faces somber as we each thought about what the day might bring. Charlie entered a few moments later, having taken the day off.
We weren't sure when exactly they would arrive. We only knew they would need to call in order for Bella to lower her shield. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't more than a little nervous about the fact that I was vulnerable and unprotected by Bella's shield. During her previous visit, Jane had tried to attack Charlie and Renee, even though she knew Bella's shield would protect them. What would happen when she inevitably tried to use it on me and found success?
After sitting around for a few hours, I couldn't take it any longer. It felt like the walls of the gigantic mansion were closing in on me.
"Bella, do you want to take a walk?" I asked, standing up and stretching. She nodded and took my hand as we headed out the back door. I looked up at the sky as we walked through the back lawn. It was a rare sunny day in Forks, and Bella's skin was sparkling brilliantly, but it didn't matter because we had no plans to be in public.
"Do we need to stay close by the house?" I asked.
Bella shook her head, "No, I've got my cell phone and Jessica will call if she hears anything. I may have to run you back, though," she smirked. I rolled my eyes, and we continued walking.
We followed the trail over the footbridge and across the river, moving deeper into the forest as we went. As I looked around the mossy green forest, it was hard to feel the gloom and doom that was so oppressive in the house. The sun shone brightly, and I could hear signs of wildlife all around us as we walked slowly along the path.
I didn't worry about getting lost with Bella. I knew her infallible senses would help us find our way back without any problem. Soon, we lost the path, and I could tell that we were very deep in the forest. We climbed a small ridge, and from the little clearing at the top we had a view the dense forest surrounding us on all sides.
"Do you want to rest for a minute, Edward?" Bella asked, pausing to look back at me.
I nodded. I hated to admit it, but I was slightly out of breath after the climb. I knew I didn't need to admit it. Bella was tuned into my body better than I was.
I found a large boulder and sat down, wishing I had thought to bring some water.
"Is it okay if we head back?" I asked. She didn't respond. "Bella?" I asked again before looking up at her. When I did, I was surprised by her sudden defensive posture. She was crouched low and her eyes were focused on a spot in the trees further down the ridge that I couldn't quite make out.
I'd seen this behavior from her before. Instead of asking her the thousand questions I wanted to, I stayed as still as possible on the boulder and waited for her to give me an explanation. After a few moments, when none was given, I grew impatient.
"Bella…?" I hissed as quietly as possible. Her head snapped to my face as if she'd forgotten I was here. Her eyes were wild and desperate.
"Edward…" Her voice was despondent and filled me with dread.
Before I could question her further, Jane stepped through the trees, a vindictive smile playing across her lips. My jaw fell open at the sight of her.
"Hello, Bella. Edward."
"Jane," Bella said simply.
"It's good to see you," Jane said, mockingly.
"Where are your friends?" Bella asked, her voice flat.
"Oh…around," Jane said vaguely, waving her hand in the air.
"You're out here all alone? I'm surprised. Shouldn't you be with your masters?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow at Jane. The tiny vampire was edging ever closer to Bella, and I could see that Bella was doing everything she could to keep herself between us.
"My orders from my masters are really none of your concern," Jane snapped before changing the subject. "Something you should be concerned about however: you were holding out on me before, weren't you?" Jane smiled sweetly at Bella. I furrowed my brow, trying to follow their conversation.
"Well, you can understand why I didn't want to let you in on that little secret. I was surprised, however, that James didn't tell you." Bella's voice was low and dangerous.
At Bella's words, Jane's eyes flashed dangerously and her small jaw clenched. "It doesn't matter. I know now."
With that Jane looked around Bella and her eyes settled on my face. I felt complete and total paralyzing fear for a split second. Then, before I realized what was happening I felt the most excruciating pain rip through my entire body. My muscles tensed up, and I completely lost control, slipping off the boulder and hitting my head hard on one of its sharp planes on the way down. The pain in my head was nothing compared to the pain that was ripping through me as Jane held me in her sadistic gaze.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware of Bella's feral scream as she launched herself at the other vampire. I felt something warm oozing down my head and it became clear that I had another problem besides the pain. My blood was flowing freely now, pooling in a deep red puddle on the forest floor. I was in the presence of two vampires, one of which would not hesitate in the slightest to kill me. In fact, as I lay on the ground, dizzy and slowly losing consciousness, I knew that Jane would relish the opportunity to take my life.
Bella slammed into Jane, the impact sounding like two boulders colliding in mid air. She managed to break Jane's gaze, and the pain stopped immediately. I groaned, trying to catch my breath as I rolled on the ground. I couldn't seem to get my feet under me and I felt woozy. I tried to follow the sound of the two vampires' struggle, but my head kept swimming, and the trees above were spinning.
I felt my stomach clench in fear for Bella's safety. I knew she was strong, but so was Jane. I finally managed to push myself up on my elbow and lean against the large boulder I had been sitting on only a moment before. I glanced down at the ground, and felt my stomach roll at the sight of all the blood. Could I really have lost all that blood? I pulled my eyes away as my vision blurred, and finally located the blur of pale and brown that was Bella and Jane.
They were moving too fast for me to make out their individual forms. I could hear shrieks and growls; grinding and popping, but I was unable to tell which girl they were coming from.
"Bella…" I meant for the word to be a shout, but it sounded weak and low, my head spinning with the loss of blood.
Suddenly, I saw Bella fly across the tiny clearing atop the hill. I screamed in terror as her small body slammed into one of the ancient cedar trees. The tree shook and groaned under the impact and branches and needles rained down onto the forest floor as Bella landed in a tangled heap at the base of the tree. Before I knew what was happening, Jane was upon me. I tried to avoid her gaze, knowing what would happen, but as I tried to see if Bella was all right, Jane's eyes came into my line of sight.
I gritted my teeth in a vain attempt to suppress the scream that escaped my clamped lips. My vision blurred and blackened around the edges as she gazed down at me, grinning at the absolutely unbearable pain she was inflicting.
Jane bared her sharp teeth at me and drew nearer until she hovered over my throat, never breaking my gaze. She bent near enough that I could feel her cold wet breath on my throat. Finally she was too close to maintain eye contact, and for a split second I felt exquisite relief as the pain subsided. Before I could really enjoy it, however, a different, equally unbearable pain replaced it as her teeth tore at the flesh on my neck.
I cried out, and I could tell my cry was growing weaker as I lost even more blood to the vampire over me. I couldn't hear anything except a dull ringing in my ears as I sunk into the velvety darkness that surrounded me.
