DISCLAIMER- I do not own the rights to any part of the Twilight Saga.
The night before my wedding to Edward Cullen, I heard a soft knock at the door. It was early in the morning before anyone was supposed to be back from hunting. Only Carlisle had stayed with me but I knew he was in his study and wouldn't have interrupted my sleep for any reason. I hadn't been asleep anyways; I had been thinking the whole night.
I climbed out of the bed and opened the door, surprised that at who was standing on the other side.
It was Jasper.
"Bella, I'm sorry if I've woken you but I felt the need to speak with you before tomorrow." Jasper spoke in his southern drawl.
"Yeah, of course. Come in." I told him, stepping aside to let him in. "I wasn't asleep anyways so it's fine. Aren't you supposed to be out hunting with the others though?"
"I hunted and came back early. It was imperative I talk to you without the... outside influence... if you will." He explained. So without the others listening. Got it.
"What is it that you needed to talk to me about?" I questioned curiously. I wondered if he'd felt my hesitation.
"You know about my abilities, Bella. I feel like I need to be completely honest with you about some of the things I've felt, both from you and others. As you well know, emotions can't lie." He began, making me wonder where this was headed.
"You can feel my doubts, can't you?" I asked him, swallowing nervously.
"I can." He replied. "I've felt them ever since we returned to Forks."
"I didn't realize..." I muttered.
"I was... kept from speaking with you about them. I felt I couldn't continue to ignore it any longer." He explained as my eyebrows rose.
"Who?" I questioned, wondering if was Alice or Edward.
"I'm not at liberty to say." He replied curtly. So both then. "This is not a life you can enter having any doubts, Bella. There is so much more that you'll lose if you choose this life. More than you realize."
"You said there were others?" I questioned.
"There are others who would be willing to give their lives for you, to give anything for you. I've never felt such strong bonds before." He explained. Was it Jacob? He had said others, as in more than one. He obviously didn't want to say names, so I didn't ask.
"Does Edward know?"
He nodded solemnly.
"La Push?" I questioned, hoping I'd get a little more information. "It's why he kept me from the reservation, wasn't it? It's the wolves."
He didn't say anything, so I knew I was right.
"There is… another option." He spoke, confusing me.
"What other option do I have? I can't stay human. The Volturi will come for me and all of you—"
"There's an option where the Volturi won't ever come into the picture." Jasper told me.
"How? They've already—"
"Time travel, sugar." A vampire with red eyes that I'd never seen before sped in through the door. She was short with a red pixie cut and a southern accent like Jasper's.
"Time travel?" I questioned, not quite believing it.
"Well not exactly time travel, but I can send your consciousness back to the moment your current future was decided." She explained to me.
"Charlotte is part of my family from before the Cullens. Charlotte and Peter Whitlock. No one but us know about her gift and we'd prefer it to stay that way, too many people would use it to their advantage. If you want this option, you'll have to choose quickly Bella. The others won't be long now." Jasper told me.
Jasper had been right. I'd wanted a way out but couldn't see how it could be possible with the Volturi on my back. If I had a way without them ever being a problem, then I was willing to take it.
"I want to do it." I replied with absolution.
"Alrighty then, let's get this show on the road before we end up being toast." Charlotte said, clapping her hands together.
"Is there anything I should know about doing this?" I asked her before she did anything.
"You'll probably not remember this conversation or that I sent you back for a little while. It usually takes a good rest to get your memories back." She told me.
"Then how will I know to do things any differently than I did before?" I questioned.
"I'll be there to guide you in the first few minutes, sugar. Well at least my voice." She said happily.
"O-Okay." I replied, trying to mentally get myself ready. "Thank you, Jasper. Truly."
"It's the least I could do, Bella. I just wish I could've helped sooner. You deserve so much more than what this life would've condemned you to. I know you'll be well protected but do try to keep safe." Jasper said to me before nodding to Charlotte.
"Alright, sugar. You might feel a bit dizzy for a minute. It'll be gone soon." Charlotte told me before placing her fingers on either side of my temples.
I closed my eyes and felt the dizzy spinning sensation she had mentioned before everything went completely black.
The first thing I realized before I even opened my eyes was the smell of salty air and a breeze on my face.
The last thing I remembered was lying in bed the night before my wedding.
I didn't know how I came to be standing at the edge of the cliff. I closed my eyes, trying to remember.
Was this a dream?
Had I fallen asleep and was dreaming that I was in La Push?
It didn't feel like a dream, at all.
"Bella"
I jumped up, looking around for girl who was speaking to me but seeing no one. It wasn't a voice I recognized.
"You can't see me, sugar."
I was officially going crazy.
"Your true destiny was never with Edward Cullen. You were meant to live happily, never to be controlled. There is more to life than wishing for immortality. The things that would be lost could never be replaced in your heart. There are things you didn't even know you had to lose. Futures that would be far greater than any life with the Cullens. There are others who need you."
What did the voice mean? My destiny wasn't meant to be with Edward? There were things I didn't even know I had to lose? There were others who needed me?
I was confused. I knew I'd been having doubts about marrying Edward and becoming a vampire, but I had no choice with the Volturi's demand.
How did I get here again?
"You've been granted another opportunity at a key moment in your life. The metaphorical fork in the road, so to speak. Jump and you'll be returned to the moment you left. Stay and meet your true destiny. Choose wisely."
Another opportunity? Had I been thrown back in time somehow?
I realized where I was. The cliff I'd jumped off of trying to see Edward again. I looked down at my clothes. The same one's I'd been wearing when I had jumped.
I thought about what the voice had said. I'd had my own doubts about the same things. How much I could lose if married Edward and became a vampire. My parents, my life, my chance to have a family of my own, to grow and not have the urge to kill people on a daily basis.
Then there had been the concern about how controlling Edward truly had been. Trying to keep me away from La Push, a place I considered my second home. Trying to keep me away from my friends that resided in La Push, the pack. Keeping me from doing anything that he didn't approve of first. I couldn't even think on my own, regardless if my mind was silent to him. My choices were never my own.
I looked over the edge of the cliff. I remembered the water, how freezing cold and relentless it had been. Being pulled under by the current from the storm. I remembered Victoria swimming toward me, though I didn't know if that had only been part of my adrenaline-induced haze.
I couldn't do it. I couldn't jump. Not again.
As I looked over the edge, some of the rock began to crumble under my foot and I felt myself slipping. NO!
I felt a hot hand grab onto mine from behind, pulling me away from the edge immediately. I turned and ran right into a solid, burning hot, naked chest before feeling a relaxing warmth encompass me completely. I felt something akin to an electrical buzz running through me where our bodies touched and it was so comforting. I didn't know what to make of it.
I briefly wondered if it had been Jake, but I knew in my bones that it wasn't.
After a moment, the heat left me. I looked up to see who it was that had pulled me away from the edge just in time.
"Embry?" I asked as I saw him swallow nervously.
A/N- I did the author no-no again... starting a new story before finishing the others. Well, technically I have *cough* five *cough* stories in progress... I will say that Another One Bites The Dust is on hiatus at the moment until I can get in the right mindset for it.
This one is a bit different and this is a double imprint story, so be prepared for that!
I hope you enjoy it.