Epiphany

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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Seventeen-Drowning

As soon as the words left her mouth, Bella realised her mistake. Her heart began to race as she noticed everyone had fallen silent and she was suddenly under the spotlight. Bella's eyes scanned their faces-Charlie's confused, Edward's horrified, and Jacob…frantic puffs of air left her mouth as she tried to resist the urge to flee.

"I'm so..sorry." She stammered. She could see the fine tremors running up and down Jacob's arms as he fought for control. Her revelation about the Volturi had pushed him over the edge.

Panicked thoughts began accelerating inside her head. She wanted them to slow so she could breathe but they wouldn't stop. Her breaths came in gasps and she felt like she was going to black out. Her heart was hammering loudly inside her chest like it belonged to a rabbit running for its skin. Bella's vision began to swim and her head spin and she was forced to squat on the floor before she fell down, trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. She felt so sick. So afraid. She couldn't look at any of them. Her heart was fit to bursting, almost like it wanted to break free from her chest, almost like she was having a heart attack….

Bella didn't know what to do. She couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Her breath was gone…blackness…. creeping blackness…she was on the floor in a ball-foetal position. Everything spinning…. blackness…. then she was gone….

…. Bella's eyes opened again when she heard the door unlock. She realised she was still on the porch of the house. Charlie was carrying her inside, struggling slightly as he tried to keep the door propped open at the same time. Finally, he managed to carry her through the door and to the sofa in the living room.

"Dad, what happened?" Bella asked feebly. She felt completely drained. She raised her hand, gingerly pressing her palm against her forehead.

"You blacked out." Charlie replied gruffly.

Comprehension dawned as her memories came flooding back. "Where's Jake?" She searched the room for him but he was nowhere in sight. "Dad?"

"Jake's taking care of business." Charlie's face was grim as he wrapped a warm blanket around her shoulders.

Charlie's words bounced off her like rubber bullets. She could tell by his harsh tone that taking care of business meant that Jacob had gone after Edward. Her head became a carousel of fears spinning out of control, fears for Jacob's safety, and worry about what could happen if he broke the treaty if he really unleashed the full force of his anger on Edward because of what she had told him.

There was a gentle tap on the front door.

"That'll be Dr, Gerandy." Charlie revealed.

"You called the Doctor?"

"I had to. You were in such a state. I haven't seen you this bad since…" Charlie's complexion turned grey as he fought against the bad memories of his daughter's zombie days. He shook his head to clear it as he went to answer the door.

"Hello, Bella." Dr, Gerandy's smile was warm as he greeted her.

Bella looked up at the grey-haired man leaning over her. "Are you hurt, Bella? Charlie tells me you had a bit of a fainting spell."

"It was nothing." Bella answered after a minute.

"Maybe you should let me be the judge of that." Dr, Gerandy's warm hand touched her forehead, and his fingers pressed against the inside of her wrist. She watched his lips purse slightly as he counted to himself, his eyes on his watch. He paused in his counting, his grizzled eyebrows shooting up in surprise when he noted the silvery scars from James' bite marring the creamy skin on the underside of the wrist he was holding. "What's this?" He asked Bella.

"That's nothing." Bella said hastily as she jerked her wrist away and closed her other hand around it.

"It looks like a bite mark." Dr, Gerandy frowned. "Even though it's healed, I can still see the teeth impressions."

"Bite mark?" Charlie questioned sharply. "What are you talking about?"

"The one on your daughter's left wrist."

Charlie marched over to Bella and demanded to see for himself. Bella shook her head, her eyes begging him to leave it alone. But Charlie wasn't going to be fobbed off this time, especially after what he had overheard her say to Jacob. He hadn't had time to process any of it after she collapsed on him. But Dr, Gerandy's discovery had brought it back to the forefront of his mind.

"Let me see your wrist, Bella." He said sternly.

"Please don't make a big deal out of this, Dad."

Charlie ignored her plea. He caught hold of her left hand and turned it palm upward, his keen eyes tracing the narrow thread of silver scars covering her pale flesh. The outline was definitely similar to a human bite mark. Charlie's eyes met Bella's and she froze at the ferocity shining in them. She tasted panic in the back of her throat, knowing there was no way she could deny what had happened to her now. This was all the evidence Charlie needed to confirm that what he had overheard outside had to be true.

Dr, Gerandy probed gently against the glands under her jaw. Behind him, Charlie's face remained hard as he waited impatiently for the doctor to finish his examination.

"Do you feel tired?" Dr, Gerandy asked Bella.

Bella nodded and closed her eyes obediently, hoping she could put off the impending conversation with Charlie for as long as possible.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with her." Dr, Gerandy confided to Charlie. "Just exhaustion. Let her sleep it off, and I'll come check on her tomorrow."

"Fine." Charlie answered curtly. "Thanks for coming at such short notice."

"You're welcome, Charlie. About that bite?" Dr, Gerandy began.

"Don't concern yourself about that, John. I'll speak to Bella about that." Charlie cut in. He motioned toward the door.

"If you're sure."

There was a creaking sound from the floorboards as the men left the room, their voices fading as Charlie showed the doctor out of the house. Bella didn't want to listen anymore. She felt around for the edge of the blanket and pulled it over her head.

Time passed. Bella didn't know how often she drifted in and out of alertness. She felt gentle fingers on her forehead, and then the weight of another blanket. The phone rang a few times, and she heard Charlie's quick footsteps as he hurried to catch it before it could wake her. Once the sound of his raised voice disturbed her slumber-he was arguing-from the cryptic one-sided responses she could hear, it was possibly Billy.

More hours passed. As she reached wakefulness, she heard the springs in Charlie's recliner groan when he settled himself in for the night. A few minutes later the phone rang again. Charlie moaned as he struggled to his feet, and then he rushed, stumbling to the kitchen. Bella pulled her head deeper under the blankets, not wanting to listen, she just wanted to go back to sleep and not think, not feel.

"What the fuck?" Charlie exclaimed on his end of the phone.

His loud voice pierced Bella's stupor. She slowly peeled the blankets back from her face as she listened intently.

"Where?" Charlie demanded. There was a pause. "You're sure its outside the reservation? But what could be burning out there?" He sounded extremely worried now. "Look, I'll call down there now and check it out."

Bella felt like invisible hands were squeezing the breath out of her body. An equally ghostly hypodermic of adrenaline pierced her heart, unloading in an instant. She felt her ribs heaving as if bound by ropes, straining to inflate her lungs. She strained her ears as she listened to Charlie dialling Billy's number.

"Billy, it's me." Charlie lowered his voice, making it harder for Bella to hear what he was saying. She was forced to leave the comfort of the sofa and creep to the door so she could listen in to the tense conversation. "Yes, Bella's fine. She's still sleeping. Listen to me. I just got a call from Mrs Stanley, and she says that from her second story window she can see fires out on the cliffs, but I didn't- "Suddenly there was an edge to his voice. "What the hell is going on? Are Jake and the boys alright?" He paused again for what seemed like an eternity. "Uh huh. Really?" There was a grim tone of satisfaction in his voice now as he spoke. "Yeah, just make sure the flames don't spread…I know, I know. Just keep me informed, okay."

Bella tried to pull apart what she could understand of the one-sided conversation. Instead of sounding pissed at Billy like he had earlier, Charlie sounded much calmer. It almost sounded like they were in league with one another, like a plan they had cooked up together had come to fruition. None of it made any sense.

"Thanks for sending Sam and the other boys up. You were right. About everything. Now's not the time to hold grudges. Okay, let me know when Jake gets back. I owe him…. I owe all of you…Yeah, I'll talk to you later." Charlie said, before hanging up the phone.

As he turned to go back to the living room, he jumped when a white-faced Bella stepped out in the hall in front of him. "You're awake." He said, stating the obvious.

"You were talking to Billy."

Charlie frowned. "How much did you overhear?" He asked cautiously.

"Enough to make me freak the hell out." Bella admitted shakily. "What's going on, Dad? What have you done?"

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.