OKAY, so you might be wondering, WHY THE HECK IS THIS SO SHORT! My answer: because it's part of the ALTERNATE ending! THIS IS NOT THE END. I REPEAT. THIS IS NOT THE END! It's simply just something that COULD have happened! And don't worry! Next chapter is the FINAL part of the ALTERNATE ending! But chapter 31 is just the continuation from this one! You can still read the next chapter, but don't think of it as an actually part of the real story line! Chapter 30 will be a ALTERNATE ending, not the real thing! So if you don't wanna read it! FINE! Just skip to CHAPTER 31 when I finish it! Have any questions? Post it as a comment and I'll reply ASAP! Keep reading! Stay Happy! -xoxo rayray

Stuck Between a Vampire and a Hard Place

Chapter 29: Unkempt Curtains

ALT. End. Pt. 1

BELLA.

Okay, so maybe Raven was just as -maybe even more- as effed up as me. Attempted suicide. Rejection. Sobbing. Excommunication.

But this was a little different… Technically, I didn't directly hold a knife to my throat… Nor repudiate the family and friends that actually understood, unlike Charlie and Jessica… or Carlisle.

I couldn't really imagine ever ignoring Edward. He was my world- even when he left me.

I shivered at the reminder.

How could Raven even think to disregard Carlisle? He was like the mentor and friend that I never had. Not that he was strictly for advice, but if I went into detail about talking on the tangent of my boyfriend's father… I didn't have repugnance towards the man, but it would be awkward.

Raven had it all… and it only took one nightmare to swipe it all away.

My experience with this type of sadness was limited, but I'd gone through enough to say that I had at least a clue.

Raven wasn't my best-buddy or anything close to that, but I felt like she had some glow over her… giving the sincere witch a sense of better judgment than most. I never expected something as simple as this to throw everything off; but as life goes on, I realize how the unanticipated usually occurs at one point or another.

But she didn't seem like the person to ever wing-it or go by the need-to-know-basis. And maybe the limited preparation for this tragedy was the main cause for the… mess.

I'd been granted to talk with her, maybe then she'd open up her feelings… if feelings even mattered at this point.

The walk to her room felt long and tedious, although nothing appeared in my path. It was as if though the trek itself was pulling me down. Her sadness forming an aura across the entire upstairs, the weight of pessimism and shame swallowed me up. I stood strong and hoped that my unusual mental shield would have any effect at all against the gloom and darkness.

My feet pacing step by step, I halfheartedly wanted Edward with me right now…

He'd know what to do…

Faster than I'd expected, I faced the placid, white door embroidered with grey French trim. The knob so close, yet so far away, I reach for it in hesitance. What was I to find? A weeping, hurt, disheveled girl? Or a lifeless wreck passed on? No, Raven couldn't have died.

That discomfited irk creped onto my conscious. Almost yanking the door open, I shoved into the dark room.

Unkempt curtains draped over weary windows. A darkness engulfing me immediately, almost dispersing a sickening feeling, made me step back in unease and discomposure. My eyes circled the room searching for any form of life. Dread escaping my lips in one gasp, I froze.

PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT TOP OF PAGE! Or else the next few chapters won't make any sense!