A/N: Hello!
Thank you for the reviews and follows! I am uploading a bit early but over the weekend I managed to finally get this chapter to an end that fit.
An older review mentioned that Bella wasn't acting like she was mated to Edward, and I wanted to clear that up. They are mates, however part of Bella's gift has allowed her to override a lot of how a vampire would act, including her newborn stage. This will be something she has to overcome as the story progresses and she begins to explore having a mate, so please be patient with her.
I do not own Twilight.
Any mistakes are mine.
B.P.O.V.
When I first woke, blessed relief overcame me when I found he wasn't there, confusion followed, terror too, but my predominant memory of my first moments as an immortal was the sweet relief that perhaps he truly was a demon, and had gone back to hell.
Of course I soon learned that wasn't what happened, but in the years since, he has become a horrid figment I packed away and buried.
It is surreal to find him made flesh before me, a small part of me had always hoped he'd met his end somewhere along the way.
"You look just as lovely as the night we met, don't you, Isabella?"
He smiles, something wicked and unnerving hiding behind the motion. Unlike my death however, I'm not frozen in place, fear trickles in, but for once my instinct to fight overrides my more human tendencies and I find myself on my feet and already picking up on the second scent that mingles with his.
A female.
She's just a few yards back in the shadow, and while he looks delighted, she looks murderous.
I don't know who she is, but it's clear she isn't at all enjoying this encounter as much as he is.
James.
I have to push away the memory of Maggie stuttering out the question of who the stranger before us was that night, her shaking making it almost impossible to push the words out. He only found it inviting.
Blood pounding, fear rolling off us in waves, we had been the perfect prey, not a soul in sight and nothing to stop him from giving into the hunt.
The same was not true anymore.
Like a second skin, I can feel the pulse of my shield, like breathing it expands and contracts, a steady rhythm that not even James can disturb.
"What are you doing here?"
A small crease forms in his forehead as his lips turn down ever so slightly, he lowers his chest the smallest amount, as if to drop into a crouch and regards me now as a predator, not prey.
Good.
The scared girl he left in a shallow grave over a century ago is long gone.
Instead of answering he watches me a moment longer before his expression changes again, this time the smile is taunting, his eyes watch my face with keen interest.
"There is more than just your scent here, I've enjoyed watching Marie and little Bella come visit your grave."
My stomach drops out.
He knows.
How long has he known?
Whatever my expression gives away pleases him, he moves closer to me, and out of the corner of my eye I notice the red haired female tense and take another step closer. She looks too at ease with him to assume she's not with him, and if she is with him it is safe to assume she would fight with him if I attacked now.
I know too little about how he fits into their disappearance to risk it, even if the alternative is playing the scared little girl, and allowing him this close to me again.
At this range I can see the hints of garnet in his eyes, he's fed but not recently, there is a smattering of bite marks on the exposed parts of his arms and chest. If possible, he looks more menacing now than he did to my human eyes. He smirks and lets out a laugh that leaves my teeth on edge. He's toying with me.
"I was hoping you'd return, you left so quickly this year." He leans in towards me, and now I can feel the cold air hit my neck and hair as he speaks quietly into my ear. "Was it because you wanted to meet Chief Swan?"
Pretending to still fear him was less of an act in that moment.
It was as if he was dangling Maggie's life in front of me all over again. He knew. He knew about all of them, and he knew my part in it as well.
He'd been watching me, all this time, he'd never truly vanished. I had never been free of him.
Worse still, was that he'd obviously been watching Marie, and little Isabella. In my attempt to keep them safe, I had left them unprotected, it was only by some faceless miracle he hadn't taken them too.
"Why are you here?"
He pulls away and smiles that predatory smile at me again before slowly raising a hand to play with a strand of my hair, like a child with a doll.
"There was only one before you that I might have called my favorite, she got away, but not you. You, I like to remember."
Revulsion slithers through me.
"Tell me Isabella, where did you hide them?"
So he doesn't know who else is playing either, if nothing else, learning that he does not have a hand in Marie and Bella's disappearance is enough to end the charade.
The red head is far enough away still that she can't stop me from attacking, but James is enough of a threat that even this close, I hold little to no advantage, other than my shield. This time when he raises his hand to touch my face I don't hold in my protection, instead his hand lands just beyond my skin, unable to penetrate.
"Go to hell."
In seconds the entire scene changes, his face contorts before he's pulling back into a crouch, snarling at the discovery that I am not as vulnerable as he had thought. Snarls echo around us and the female finally makes her move, it is in a surprising twist that he intercepts her with a growl when she lunges forwards towards me.
"You don't touch her!"
She whips around and hisses back at him, and it's the only opening I need to strike. While James it not a viable target head on, ripping her arm from her shoulder and throwing it as far as I can manage while getting out of reach of them both is easily done. Her distraction and his surprise before he lunges at me gives me just enough time to throw my shield up and barely evade his hands, but he's slightly faster than I account for and instead of being just out of reach I find my spine crushing an old oak that had been somewhere behind me.
It didn't take him long to find a way around a physical shield, and now my element of surprise has gone. The female doesn't seem to care about her missing limb as she charges me now, enraged at being caught off guard. She's fast, but slightly awkward without both arms, if it were only the two of us I would easily walk away, but in dodging her attempt to hit me, I'm wide open to James, who's arm closes around my neck from behind.
The only way to kill a vampire is severing the head, fire is usually what follows, but our necks are the weakest point, it's where everything ends.
His arm closes quickly but instead of crushing weight and a painful tugging, he traps me against him while he snarls once more at the woman.
"Find your arm Victoria."
His grip on me does not loosen as she stalks off in search of her appendage.
"That was not very nice Isabella." He taunts me again.
In all my years, the depths of my hatred for this monster has never been matched. Fear and caution suddenly bleed away, leaving rage, unyielding loathing and one singular thought.
I want to rip his head from his body.
In response to him I do the only thing I can at this angle, I sink my teeth into his arm. It works, he yells in pain, or surprise and drops me to cradle the flesh I've just taken a chunk out of. I spit out the chunk I took with me while keeping him in my sight, letting him get close enough to do that again won't end in anything but a beheading for me.
"Bitch!" He barely pauses in his pursuit of me, too focused on regaining control to even bother going for the piece of his arm I bit off.
It's almost maddening how quick to adapt he is, swiftness and precision in his hunt leave me at a distinct disadvantage. It's mere seconds between my escape and his advance, not nearly enough time to find some way to turn the fight in my favor.
A blur suddenly catches my eye and just as quickly as he was advancing on me, James is now sent careening backwards again. Before me, crouched and snarling, is Edward.
He found me.
And he isn't alone.
Jasper pulls me up and then steps forward as well before disappearing towards a now nervous looking Victoria.
The entire encounter changes very quickly after that, James seems to rethink attempting to take on two opponents at once, and Victoria has vanished from sight after finding Jasper stalking her. In one breath James watches the two of us with narrowed slits and a twisted snarl on his lips, the next a red haired blur is beside him before they both retreat.
Everything around me seems to decompress, as if the very ground were waiting on baited breath for the outcome of the fight. Rage and adrenaline from the fight leave me in one fell swoop, leaving room for the horrid tugging in my chest to thrum back to life, full force and unignorable.
He is here, not ten feet from my grave, from Maggie. Even now, when I should be running, drawing away any attention to these connections to a human life, I can't do anything other than move closer, seek comfort.
He allows it, and for that alone I would fall to my knees to beg forgiveness for leaving him the way I did. While I had never had to live with a bonded pair, like most vampires, I learned of it, and how profoundly it affected our kind. My gift allowed me more flexibility than most, but it doesn't extend to him. Knowing that I caused that pain stings more than I care to admit.
He is silent for a moment, but when he moves, it is only to wipe away the now mangled flowers on my sister's grave. He traces the letters before laying his hand over my headstone.
The sudden realization that I could have been killed over my own grave takes me knees out from under me, and in a less than graceful move, I find myself sitting beside him. At first we don't speak, tension radiates off him in waves, but so does relief.
I came here to say goodbye to her, and almost ended up joining her instead.
"He offered me a trade. My life for hers." I trace the letters of her name slowly while I speak, because it's the first time I've spoken them aloud. "I don't remember how long he chased us, he enjoyed the hunt too much to end it quickly. We'd hidden against the trees, trying to keep quiet and move towards home, we thought we'd be safe there." Memories start to close in on me, enough to draw my hand back to my lap, to squeeze all ten fingers together in an effort to keep grounded. "In the end I threw myself over her, it was the only thing I could do to protect her."
His gaze shifted from my name to my face, even if I looked him head on I doubt I could decern anything about what he might be thinking as I speak, but it deson't stop me. The story is spilling out now, and I never thought it would be so easy to speak of.
"He enjoyed that most. That was when he started his game, if he broke something small, would I still want to save her? A finger, a wrist, a rib. When I didn't give in, he started on bigger things."
His hand covers mine, easing the vice grip I don't realize I have on them until he can push his own between them, giving me someone to hold onto. Funny how it's not until this moment, with his hand in my own that I realize how long its been since I had someone to hold on to. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like.
"It was so cold that by the end, I could barely feel it anymore. I didn't care about anything except her, seeing her face, she was terrified, but alive, unharmed."
My eyes focus again on her name and resolve fills me, she was worth every moment, her life more precious to me than my own.
Just as Marie and little Bella are now.
E.P.O.V.
Horrifying.
It's the only word to adequately describe her transition, while most of us do find our death ends in violence, Bella's carries a distinct terror to it that resonates even after her story is told.
Catching her scent had been luck, this morning when I'd found this place her scent was older than the house, and all felt lost. While Jasper and Alice had retreated to find out more about the woman who lived in the brownstone I'd wandered the streets, lost in memory, I hadn't caught sight of her yet when I heard the snarls but the fear that clamped down in my chest propelled me forward faster than anything ever had. It overrode everything else, the confusion, the anger, the hopelessness, they felt so pale in comparison to the very real danger she had been in.
It's a mess of emotion to shift through, and I have no time to even begin as Jasper steps back into view, by the grim look I suspect he doesn't have any good news to share.
Once he is closer he speaks, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at Bella, who sits beside me still, holding my hand like a lifeline.
Touch or closeness with another usually makes the thoughts louder, it can become too much at times, but beside her is blessed silence, nothing but the stillness of peace.
"Whoever they are, they are quick with the getaway, we hit the tracks and they must have hoped onto a passing car."
He settles onto the balls of his feet, still just above eye level of Bella, but close enough to catch her attention.
"James. The female is Victoria, I've never met her, but he is the one two turned me."
She speaks almost clinically of them, nothing like the haunting sound of her words moments ago, but it would appear that Bella does not reveal much to most people. Something inside settles in satisfaction of providing her a confidant and I decide to never reveal what she's shown me, like Jasper did before, I will keep this secret of hers.
She was able to slip past me, narrowly, it shouldn't have been possible.
His words imply more, it's not simply over confidence on Jasper's part, not the Major of the southern Vampire wars. There were few on this side of the world who would likely be able to best Jasper in a fight, or evasion. I nod in acknowledgement but say nothing aloud, nothing about his observation will serve to help the current issue.
We've found Bella, and yet there is no sign of Marie or her child.
"Do they have your family Bella?"
She looks to me, finally, if she's surprised at all it's hidden well, because there is no surprise on her face, only those wide eyes, betraying the hint if hysteria lurking somewhere beneath the surface.
"No, he doesn't. That wouldn't fit into his game, he's been watching them, and me. He knows they are gone as well, but whoever has taken them has been watching us all."
Jasper rakes his hand through his hair in a move that I've learned over the years is a tell of his.
Her departure makes more sense now.
"I'm gonna call Alice, she may not be able to see you Bella, but you are unique in being beyond her scope. Whoever is in the shadows most likely won't be."
He gives me a look before standing and heading back towards the street, it's irritating having meddlesome siblings.
"Thank you." Her words filter through the still air around us, gaining strength as she shifts her entire being towards me. "For coming for me. Please understand my leaving was not meant to hurt you, but to protect you, and my family."
Her leaving. Yes, that gaping hole in my chest, the loss of control. That I hated.
"What did you find at the post office?"
I don't mean the casual dismissal of her apology, but I speak before I can stop myself, tasting the bitterness of being left behind without any explanation, or chance to stand with her. It stings still to think about her coming back to face this danger without me.
Her jaw sets ever so slightly and she stands, leaving my hand as she does.
"A letter, I've received them before, this one alerting me that I was being watched. Two people knew of that address, and one of them is human."
She steps away from me then, leaving me to deduce what transpired after, and it is not hard to do either. Human means vulnerable. So she came back here.
"One more letter was waiting for me in Marie's home, telling me they were safe, and I am not. I am now certain the danger is James, he is relentless, and ruthless." She turns to face me as I stand as well. "He told me I was his favorite, it's why he comes back, to relive it, and that is why I know he'll go to Forks. He knows about Charlie."
Where she had been open to me, she now showed me nothing. Closed off again, the tugging in my chest feels like its itching, she's going to run.
"You plan to follow him right into this trap."
She finally breaks the blank look to scoff.
"I don't have much choice in the matter, do I?"
To simply let Charlie die crosses my mind, a callous, void of a place in the darkest corner that I push down over and over, the part of me that holds no humanity, only the monster I've become. Watching her however, I don't see it, vampire she may be, but Bella's connection to her humanity is awe inspiring, she holds onto it so fiercely, to the point of denying her nature.
"No. I suppose we don't."
She regards me carefully for a moment before speaking in a measured tone, as though she already knows my answer, or fears it.
"You are not helping me to save Charlie at all are you?"
I want to deny it, but I don't.
"You are my mate, I will not leave you to danger." I swallow needlessly, as we both know what is coming. "But I am not doing this to save the human, we do not reveal ourselves to them. It risks everything."
She scoffs angrily.
"Everything? What everything? What is so worth protecting that I should trade my own blood for?"
"Your life!"
We both growl at the other, her blindness to the danger she puts herself does nothing but fuel the rage I'd traveled here with. She twists away again, facing the endless expanse of tombstones.
"Does your own existence mean so little to you?!"
I rarely raise my voice, but it only seems to spur the fire in her, she turns on me, closing the distance as her voices gains volume as well.
"THEY ARE MY EXISTENCE."
Her words sting, but I can't help but admire her as well. I hate it.
I want to hate her.
She stirs something in me, something that challenges what I know, what I've accepted.
"And what of us, mate? Does that not mean anything to you?"
She draws back, and for the first time I see some hesitation, it sparks life to the hope that she'll accept the mating bond, her ability to fight it as she has, while fascinating, has only hurt us both.
The depths of those dark eyes watch me for a moment longer before she speaks, once again in the softer tones that I find myself preferring.
"I do not know what it means in relation to them. You ask me if it means anything to me, and the answer is undoubtedly yes. It means my entire world shifted when I found you waiting for me in that clearing, a peace that I haven't known once in over a hundred years wrapped so tightly around me it felt as though I'd never known anything else. The call of the bond is so alluring, I can barely understand how I lived before, but I did, for them."
She swallows needlessly and gathers my hand between hers again, it's the softest of caresses but it quiets the entirety of my being, her words are the only thing I hear, and the emotion behind them is so raw it almost hurts to listen to.
"What you offer me, is sacred, I know, but so is what they offer me as well. I will not give up one for the other, please do not ask that of me."
I don't understand it, but when I listen to her, it's a window into her mind, into her understanding, and it makes sense in a way that my human self would have agreed with.
Has it really been so long that I can barely remember what it was like? Having family by blood? In comparison to the family I've had now for so long, it's a blurry memory, an imprint that has almost faded to nothing. They are important to my memory, to my beginnings, but they have never stretched into this life as her family does.
Perhaps that, it is worth protecting.
Carlisle would tell me now that family is sacred, by blood or by choice, the people we care for are worth more than anything else in this world. Now those words hold more meaning than they previously did, now there is a new understanding there, one I know so little of.
The beauty of living forever, I will have time to learn.
"I vow here and now, I will never ask you to turn away from your human family Isabella." She looks up from our joined fingers to listen. "I do ask that you allow me time, to remember what it was like. Allow me to learn your world, as you will learn of mine."
A small smile works its way onto her face as she nods once.
"That I can do."
Something shifts between us, it is no longer as maddening as I found it before, to know so little of her. She seems less like a distant dream, she's real.
Very much real, just like the hunter on his way to Forks.
So most of you guessed James, and here he is, being a vile creature. I thought about making it someone else in the beginning, but he is just so good at being such a bad guy.
What did you think of Bella's retelling of her death?
Next Chapter will be up next week.