These are not my characters they are just my soulmates. Full disclosure I wrote this chapter on notes in my phone because quite frankly that's the only way I'll ever have time to do this. I apologise for the typos I have big thumbs.
Chapter 2
Three days later, even faster than Alice had predicted Edward arrived home.
"You have to look, Alice." Edward demanded the second he arrived to the Cullen's English cottage house.
"Why should ?," Alice yelled. "You strictly forbid me too. You left her Edward. We all LEFT her to die. You knew that leaving her meant she would die one day and now you're want me to look for her? Why?"
"ONE DAY! Alice, one day after she's grown old and lived her life fully not at 25 from a violent deadly disease. Alice come on!!"
"Edward I can't."
"Of course you can, Alice just do it," Edward roared so loud that the picture frames of the wall shook.
"No, Edward I can't," Alice firmly said in her mind before assisting Edward with memories of 7 years ago.
"Werewolfs! She's been involved with the dogs and you all kept it from me for this long?" Edward whispered no longer even capable of shouting.
"Well it's pretty easy to keep things from the mind reader when the mind reader never comes home," Rose sneered.
"Al... you should of told me. You should..."
"Enough," Jasper commanded. "You have no right to show up here like this demanding anything from anyone. You've been gone for years Edward... years and you have not so much as even bothered to say hello to anyone not even to Esme before you've started in on Alice. I will not tolerate this any longer. Go upstairs and clean yourself up as quite frankly you look more like a zombie then a vampire right now. You'll find your bedroom is fully stocked because despite how much of an ass you are to us, we all still love you. So go clean up and calm the fuck down and then we will all talk... civilly."
Just listen to him man, Emmett thought privately. Don't make us have to force you.
Resigned, Edward retreated to his third floor bedroom, a room he hadn't stepped foot in since after the End of World
War 2.
The room looked spectacular. Safe colored walls with modern copper fittings and a giant mahogany piano sitting in the center of it. Esme had thrown herself entirely into Renovating the space as a way to feel closer to her missing son and Alice made sure his closet was kept up to date with the newest fashions for when Edward finally decided to return.
Edward, though he noticed every tiny updated detail within a second, including a framed picture of the Forks residence that sat on top of the new piano, didn't care at all. He quickly grabbed a pair of designer jeans, and a dress shirt before storming into the en-suite bathroom, which was also done up in neutral tons with copper touches. He could hear Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose all reciting various nonsense in an attempt to keep any useful thoughts out of their head. Even after all this time they still knew how to keep their privacy when they really wanted to. It was infuriating. Edward turned on the shower and tried to search for Esme's inner voice, feeling slightly guilty for not at least acknowledging her when he returned.
Esme was no longer in the house. She wasn't even close to the estate anymore. Edward could just barely pick up the faint traces of her thoughts, which meant she was now at least 30-miles away. With deep concentration he gathered that Esme was going to London to get Carlisle before his shift ended and he started running towards the channel on his way to the hospital in Paris. Carlisle was apparently too busy to answer his phone these days.
Sighing, Edward ran his fingers through his matted hair and pinched the bridge of his nose while gazing at himself in the mirror. There was a lot going on in this family that he no longer knew about. He should of at least kept up with what everyone else was going through, but the truth was he just couldn't. Simply staying alive after making the ultimate sacrifice was a daily struggle. A struggle he only put himself through because something inside of him had told him that he must stay alive as long as Bella was breathing. Just in case she needed him again.
Jasper was right though, Edward looked like a black eyed Zombie. Though he could not age and his body showed no long-lasting wear or damage, years of living in a literal cave of misery had left him caked in dirt and grime. If it turned out Bella did need him- and she clearly did if she was on cohorts with werewolf's- then he would have to become presentable. So, as quickly as he could, Edward showered and showered again, washing away the physical traces of years rough living in about 30-minutes. By the time he got downstairs again he found all his siblings waiting for him around the dining room table, forming a united front as they all recited the words to Hamilton over and over again in their heads.
"I am sorry Alice," Edward whispered, "Let's hear it please. And don't... hold back. I will be good."
And just like that his siblings silently bombarded him with 8-years worth of pent up memories. Images of Esme dry-crying night after night. Of Carlisle trying to comfort her as best he could while still dealing with his own grief. The two years where Rose and Emmett hardly spoke to each other because Emmett struggled to forgive Rose for giving Bella such a hard time. The months and months Jasper spent looking for Edward, desperate to make amends with his brother and fix his family. In the beginning he was always slightly behind Edward because Edward purposely never make a decision until the last minute as a way to avoid detection. By the time Edward had decided to simply take residence in the Himalayas, Jasper had long given up hope of fixing things and had returned home to try to salvage his marriage.
No. Wait. That wasn't why he returned home. Edward honed in closely to Alice's memories realizing that Jasper stopped following him when Alice called him to report she had saw Bella die. Or, at least she thought she had.
"Oh my God, she jumped," Edward cried out as he watched an image of Bella jumping off a cliff to certain death spiral out of Alice's head. Immediately, every sibling started to recall the time Alice saw Bella jump and the events that happened afterwards. Jasper came home to prepare to help everyone emotionally. Carlisle and Alice flew to Fork's to confirm the truth. Rose ran off in a rage and Emmett followed but kept his distance because for the first time in his life he just couldn't see his wife the same way he use to. And Esme, poor Esme...
Edward shuddered at the catatonic visions of Esme coming from Jaspers memory. No amount of emotional help from Jasper seemed to make any difference. Esme was distraught.
"Wh... why why didn't you just get me Jasper?"
"Because I didn't want to be the cause of Esme losing another child and I didn't trust you not to run to do something stupid at the news of her death. Was I wrong?"
Edward didn't bother answering him. Everyone knew he wasn't wrong. In fact, Edward would of probably been on his way to Italy right now if he hadn't already seen in Alice's head that Bella was still alive and living with werewolves.
"He saved her. The wolf. He saved her," Edward muttered.
"He did, Edward. He loves her. He tried to fix her... because Edward... she did need fixing," Alice gently said, showing Edward images of a very broken Bella. Images that didn't seem far off from the level of broken Edward had been all these years.
"My God... what have I done. I thought she would get over it quickly... I thought because she's human...and you just left her like that. In the care of wolfs?!"
"It wasn't easy. But...yes. Jacob Black loves Bella and I figured the wolfs could at least protect her from Victoria- because yes dear brother Victoria was Hunting," Alice said.
"What?!?" Edward bellowed.
"Don't worry I took care of it," Emmett interrupted, showing Edward an image of him ripping Victoria's head clear off.
"Cleaning up your mess yet again," Rose added.
"Ok... so why leave her with the beasts then. You can't even see her anymore? How do you know if she's ok now?"
"Edward. You told me never to even look. No, my powers don't work when werewolf's are around so no I can't see her. I left her there because... what else was I to do? They meant her no harm and I hoped..I hope that with time Bella could in fact move on."
"So what? She's married a wolf now?" Edward cringed.
"No actually," Rose interjected surprising everyone as she slammed a file down onto the table. "The precious Bella Swan never married as far as I can tell. Jacob Black however did. He married a Leah Clearwater not even six months after Bella jumped into the pacific."
"Wow," Alice said in amazement, "That kid thought Bella walked on water. He was firmly decided that she was his true love. I...I can't believe it."
At that moment, Carlisle and Esme walked in. Carlisle had somehow felt a shift in Esme's need for him the moment Edward had arrived and had decided to leave the hospital early.
"The boy must of imprinted," Carlisle stayed, joining the conversation as if he has always been there. "If a wolf imprints there is no going back, much like when a vampire mates," he added on quietly, "welcome home, son it has been a long, long, time."
Seeing Edward again affected Carlisle deeply. The first person he saved, his first ever family in this new life. Having spent the week prior to this watching more and more people die a tragic death from this awful virus, Carlisle couldn't help but reflect on the circumstances that brought about Edwards own change. Or about all the unlucky people of similar age to Edward who hadn't been saved by him. Carlisle often wondered what exactly it was about Edward or his mother that compelled him to take that step, but he could never put coherent words to his decision other than it was what his gut had told him must be done.
Edward nodded at Carlisle's welcome and wished deeply that he didn't have to see the face of his birth mother in Carlisle mind right now. It was almost more than he could take. Standing, Edward made his way over to Esme and gave her the proper hug she deserved.
"Oh my dear son, I've missed you so," Esme cried.
Rose rolled her eyes and cleared her throat to get the attention back to her. "Would anyone like to know what else I've found on miss Bella Swan? No? Alright then..."
"Go on Rosie, my bad ass detectwife," Emmett praised.
"Isabella Marie Swan did not graduate from Forks High with her class year. I've got nothing on her for three years other than a few hospital admissions, one for a re-fracture of her leg from landing oddly sky diving, and another for what looks like a... drug overdose. After that, she got her GED followed by an AA and then a bachelors in social work. She has worked for the city of Port Angeles ever since it seems. And... uh, I'm sorry to say that Charlie passed away from Covid not too long ago."
The room fell eerily silent once Rise stopped talking. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard and, for a split second there was not even a thought to be had by any of them. Even a vampire brain needs a minute to process such painful information about a person they love.
"Ok..."Carlisle stated first, ever the logical one. "There isn't any record of her being admitted to the hospital recently then. So that's good. Charlie would of been very protective of Bella anyway. I doubt he would of broken quarantine. And, Alice, you still can't see anything no matter how hard you try, correct? So that must mean she's still in La Push abs still by—"
As if Carlisle had flipped a switch in Alice's head, Alice got a vision of Bella. And the vision was loud and clear: Bella was going to die.