Chapter 38 – Dark and Stormy Night
Bella
The wind had picked up, and a storm was blowing in as had been forecast, promising a wet, noisy, and restless night for me. Big storms usually made it hard for me to sleep, as I would imagine hearing all kinds of scary, creepy things out to get me with every creak and pop of the old house. I doubted my parents would hear a thing, though. They both slept with earplugs that would block the noise of an atomic blast, because they each snored as loud as the other, so the storm wouldn't bother them, at least.
Exhausted from all the cooking and baking, I quickly fell into a restless sleep. In my dreams, I found myself running up the steps in darkened stairwells and ducking through deserted corridors, terrified by an unknown entity following me. The faster I ran, the closer whatever it was following me seemed to get. I couldn't see its face, but I could feel its presence, and I knew its intentions were malevolent. Occasional flashes of light were coming from empty rooms as I ran past, searching for someone to help me, knowing whatever it was, it was closing in on me fast. Its voice was loud, as it caught up to me in another stairwell. It grabbed me from behind, throwing me to the floor, and I could feel the cold blade of a knife, as it slashed violently across my throat.
I shot bolt upright in bed with bloodcurdling screams, trembling in fear and scattering Oliver and Felicity off me. Edward was in my room in a matter of seconds, holding and comforting me, looking me over and trying to find anything wrong with me. The storm was raging now, as thunder rumbled loudly, and lightning crackled outside my windows, flashing bright as day. I clung to Edward, sobbing like a frightened child. I was a trembling mess of nerves, and the sound effects from the storm that had accompanied my nightmare didn't help. It was barely two o'clock in the morning, but I begged Edward not to leave me, telling him I had also had a horrible nightmare and didn't want to be alone.
"Please, stay with me and hold me, at least until this storm passes," I whimpered. I could hear Edward sigh softly, as he climbed into bed with me and gathered me into his arms.
"You're safe, Bella. I'm here now," Edward crooned to me, as he pulled me closer, wrapping his body protectively around mine.
"I feel like such a baby," I groaned, but the memory of that dream had me still trembling. "It felt so real," I whispered.
"What did?" Edward asked, sounding like he was well on his way back to sleep.
"My nightmare…there were dark stairwells, a knife…so much blood…"
"It was just a dream, sweetheart. You're fine, no one is going to harm you here," he said, kissing my forehead. "Go back to sleep now."
Edward's reassuring voice soothed my nerves, and I finally fell back to sleep, only to be woken up at eight o'clock by my dad, who walked in and cleared his throat loudly when he saw Edward and I cuddled up and sleeping together.
"AHEM!" dad barked. "GOOD MORNING!"
Edward and I woke with a start, sure that the house was being blown down around our heads. He had run upstairs to check on me without a shirt, and my nightgown and fallen around my shoulders, so when we sat up, it looked pretty suspicious. Mom was coming out of the bathroom and stood beside dad, staring at us with her mouth open and eyes wide.
"Mom, Dad, I…" I stammered, half asleep, trying to do damage control. Edward looked at me, my hair going in every direction, my shoulders bare from my gown slipping down, and he started laughing. If I weren't so mortified by my parents standing there, staring at us like we had just been caught in the backseat making out, I would have laughed, too. I looked at Edward, and his hair was also a mess and sticking up in every direction. His eyes sparkled with mischief, as he looked back at me with a brow wiggle, making me smile.
"I love you, Bella," Edward whispered to me, resituating my gown on my shoulders before pulling me into his arms, my parents still watching.
Mom turned around to head back to the guestroom, pushing my dad in front of her, as she pulled my door shut. "I'm going down to put the turkey in the oven, Bella. Come down as soon as you can!" I heard her yell through the door, laughing all the way down the hall. Dad was muttering something, and I heard mom shushing him loudly.
I couldn't contain it, and neither could Edward. We both started giggling hysterically. He was so funny when he laughed like this, and I couldn't help but want to tickle him to make him laugh harder. I had discovered he was excruciatingly ticklish on his chest, so I hopped on him to pin him down and started attacking his chest with my fingers. He was squirming madly under me and laughing, trying to defend himself. I was stronger than he anticipated, with my knees locked on either side of his hips. He kept trying to grab my hipbones to tickle me in return, but he would have to stop to defend his chest. I finally stopped tickling him to let him catch his breath, amazed at the beautiful man beneath me. He reached up and pulled me down to him, kissing me in a way that had me going limp in his arms, and him, well...not so limp.
"I could get used to this in a hurry," Edward said between kisses. "Definitely the preferable way to wake up in the morning."
"BELLA, EDWARD, ARE YOU COMING?" I heard mom yell up the stairs, looking for help getting dinner started.
Edward and I looked at each other, bursting into another round of giggles. Before I had a chance to yell down that we would be there shortly, Edward whispered in my ear in a snicker, "Not yet, Mom, but not for a lack of wanting to."
