Chapter 21
Firefighters arrived at the house within minutes of Edward calling 911. They fought valiantly against the flames, but Bella knew it was too late. She'd seen for herself how quickly the fire had engulfed all her and her father's worldly possessions. Even if they put the fire out quickly, there'd be nothing left.
They fought the fire for a few hours, well into the early hours of the morning, until eventually it dwindled and all that was left was smoke and ash, coal and embers.
It was all gone.
"We'll come back at first light." Edward suggested. "We can look through the rubble and see if anything survived."
Bella nodded her head dejectedly.
"Where will I go?"
"To my house. Come on, let's go." Edward responded. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her towards his father's car.
Carlisle had come as soon as he'd heard the news. He tried his best to comfort the girl but he could see she was beyond it at the moment.
Together, the trio made their way to the Cullen house. This time when they arrived, Bella didn't take in her surroundings, or notice anything about the house. She was numb and her eyes felt like they were dried out and filled with sand.
"What do you want to do, Bella?" Edward asked as they made their way through the living room.
"Shower and sleep." She choaked out. She could smell the putrid stink of smoke on her clothes and in her hair. It filled her nose and throat, making it difficult to breath.
At her response, Edward led her upstairs to the spare room. He got her a towel and walked her to the adjoining bathroom.
"Everything you need is in here." He explained, leaving her to it. "I'll put a change of clothes in the bedroom for you."
Bella nodded in thanks. As he left she stripped, throwing her clothes outside the bathroom door.
"Get rid of them please." She shouted out to Edward, begging that he take the reminder away.
Bella started the water and for a long while just stood under the spray. Automatically her body went through the motions of washing her hair and scrubbing her body. She rubbed her scalp raw in some places because she should still smell the smoke and feel the ash in her hair.
Once she was clean, she dropped down to the floor, pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed.
She cried for her beloved father and the house they'd lost. The memories and mementos she'd never get back. Her fist struck the tiled wall when the pain inside became too much. It bubbled up, spewing out of her like the fire that had burned the house to the ground.
A bone in her small hand gave a sickening crunch, but she ignored it. Instead she welcomed the pain. At least, she thought sardonically, it was something different to the horrible, gaping hole in her chest.
A moment later, Edward was knocking on the door, asking if she was okay. She ignored him because she wasn't okay, and the pain from everything was too much. It sat heavily in her throat like a lump. She could barely breath through it, let alone speak.
Edward pushed the door open and made his way to the shower door. He could see Bella curled up in a ball, clutching her hand, and crying while rocking back and forth.
"He's gone." She kept repeating over and over. "It's all gone."
Edward reached inside the shower and turned off the now cold water. He reached over with a towel and draped it over her shoulders. As he went to pick her up she looked him dead in the eyes.
"Is it a dream?" She begged.
Edward wanted so desperately to tell her yes. But he couldn't lie even though he desperately wanted to. Just give her a moment of peace.
He shook his head no. It would be worse to lie and then have to reopen the wound in the morning.
Lifting her from the floor and onto her feet, he wrapped the towel snuggly around her shivering body.
"You need to dry yourself off." He instructed.
As if a switched flick, Bella followed his instructions and began drying off. Edward left momentarily to get her the clothes he'd left on the bed.
"I'm going to step out so that you can change." He told her. She was still in shock, he surmised but she was able to follow instructions. Her body knew what to do, even if her mind was somewhere else.
She came out a moment later dressed in one of his grey t-shirts and a pair of red boxer shorts. They swallowed her slight frame but she was comfy and the scent of him on the clothes comforted her. It gave her something new to smell as well, banishing the smoke that was somehow still in her nose, mouth and head.
Pulling back the covers, Edward helped her lay down. As he turned to leave she caught his hand and pulled him back. He knew what she wanted, so he walked to the other side of the bed, pulled back the covers, and laid down next to her. She rolled over so that they were looking at each other. Reaching out with a shaking hand, Bella rubber her thumb over the pointed end of Edward's ear.
"You and Carlisle both have this." She told him.
He nodded and pulled the comforter up and around her neck.
"Are you warm enough?"
She nodded and then closed her eyes.
It wasn't long before the tears started. They made silent tracks down her cheeks, dropping softly onto the grey sheet.
"Why?" She spoke into the darkness. "How?"
"I don't know." Edward whispered. "But we will find out. I promise Bella. The people who did this, they won't get away with it."
"Okay." She sobbed.
That night, unsurprisingly, Bella dreamed of the fire over and over. Sometimes she made it out. Sometimes she didn't. Sometimes she died alone and painfully, surrounded by flames and smoke.
Other times she would be trapped, begging at Edward or her father to help her. Sometimes they did, but sometimes they left her to die.
Even worse, though, was when she watched them burn alive. In one dream, her father fell and couldn't get up. The smoke was too much and then the flames overcame his body. Edward was pulling at her arm, trying desperately to get her to leave so that they could escape. But she took too long to respond and they too were wracked with dry heaves and deep coughs from the smoke.
It was too thick and they couldn't see. Eventually they fell too and were engulfed in the flames.