A/N: I really wanted to get this story up by Halloween but due to Covid, that didn't happen. I tested positive for Covid almost a week ago and I've been really sick since then with lots of fevers and body aches and nauseas. It's horrible. It's been especially hard because this is my last semester of school before graduating with this degree and having Covid during a time like that is definitely stressing me out. Financially, it's been difficult too since I don't have a job that has any benefits or sick time unfortunately. Anyway, working on fanfiction has definitely cheered me up.

Just a fair warning, this probably has a lot of mistakes in it. I wrote this all while having a Covid fever so don't come for me. Leaving nasty, dumb comments on fanfiction says a lot more about you as a person than it does about the fic or the person writing it. So, maybe it's time to self-reflect? Anyway … major angst ahead! Don't worry though because this story (like all of my stories) will have a happy ending. At this point, there will be one more chapter and an epilogue. This story became a lot of fun to write and really got away with me! Enjoy!

3: It Comes at Night

Outside, surrounded by the autumn breeze, they tried again. Still, she felt stiff and out of sorts, wondering if things had ever truly come easy. With a focused brow, she lit the candles around her, creating a circle in flames. Edward watched silently, not wanting to distract her from her efforts. He huddled in the circle next to her, feeling the energy change around them before she even began her spell.

Bella closed her eyes, focusing her energy on the elements. The air was her friend tonight, carrying her messages through the air. The sky was her friend, too, supporting her as the spirits drew near. With black onyx in her hand, vibing with the energy of her palm, she focused on the name. Felix. Someone here is looking for Felix. Calling forth spirits still felt new and rare—completely unnatural.

"Felix," she murmured the name over the sound of the wind.

Edward reached forward, taking her hands in his while letting the crystals slid between their joined palms. "Relax and focus. Can you remember the ghost you saw? The man who came to you?"

She kept her eyes closed, nodding her head as she called the image forward. At first, she barely remembered the spirit as if time had wiped it from her mind. However, as the energy around them increased, the images became more familiar. She saw the sorrow in his face. The age that graced his cheeks. The look of death found in his eyes even in the afterlife. Bella opened her eyes, sensing him before seeing him. Now, he was there in front of her, watching with sunken eyes and a swallowed gaze.

Edward turned, recognizing the man instantly. His spine straightened as Bella felt his grip twist. Whoever this was meant something to him. Or, at least, had meant something to him in a different life.

"Alistair."

The ghost stared at him with open eyes and spread hands, as if he wanted to reveal everything without opening up at all. These two men knew each other in life. In a reality that existed long ago when life felt like a different world. They existed before televisions and radios and computers and smart phones. They existed in a world that wasn't this one. Bella envied them—for all of their memories were intact. For her, any history was more than a lifetime away. She had been born and dead many times over while they had just existed on. Whether as a vampire or as a ghost.

"He's out there again. It's bad this time," the ghost said, looking like something out of a gothic as he spoke.

"Has anyone noticed?" Edward asked, sounding as vague as always.

Bella hung on their words, wishing he would let her know what was going on. As they spoke, other spirits came and gathered around their circle. They watched from the sidelines, almost as if they were waiting for their turn. Is that what the afterlife was? Waiting for someone to notice and tell your story? Do spirits wait around for their loved ones to die and join them?

"He's on the move now. He's waiting for you to come back," Alistair said numbly, almost bored, as he watched Edward from his spot in the sky.

"Does he know I'm here?"

"He's known for a while. He won't stop."

Edward was grim, staying silent for a moment as he watched his dead friend. The casualness of the encounter put Bella on edge as she wondered how common the horrors of the world were for Edward. All of this time, she thought she was living some sort of extraordinary life where she saw things beyond the many realms of the world. However, Edward was giving her a run for her money. Perhaps, there wasn't much that was extraordinary about her at all. Internally, she was screaming at the sights around her while Edward was perfectly calm—perfectly composed as he spoke.

"Where is he now?"

Alistair watched the pair for a moment. "He's where you left him. In the city. Where everyone disappears."

Suddenly, Bella wondered just how much was happening under her nose. People were going missing, yet she never saw a single bit of it on the news. Did people often just disappear through the cracks of the world? Where did they go?

"Is there much time left?"

"Not much."

Alistair's words were so concrete that they made Bella's heart race. Not much time left … what does that mean? she wondered as she watched Edward's trained expression. He was so cool and calm and collected that it made her entirely the opposite. She was on edge, holding onto her crystals as if they were the only things tethering her to this Earth.

"I'll find him, Alistair. Before it's too late."

Too late … what's too late? Bella watched as the spirit said its goodbyes and faded into the air. Edward was silent for a long time, not acknowledging the other beings that floated around them. Are vampires always this stoic? She smiled at her thoughts, trying her best to control her breathing as she began to end the spell. She said a few words of protection, speaking to the night like an old friend, before closing the circle off. Edward's eyes were on her the entire time, watching carefully as she blew out the candles and moved to stand up. Edward helped her onto her feet and held her close, almost as if he thought she would kneel over and fall down if he didn't support her. Maybe she would have. The night was making her lightheaded and the strength it took to call forth ghosts was becoming too much.

"Bella? Are you all right?"

His voice was comfortable, like a greeting from an old friend. She clutched the collar of his shirt, feeling herself relax by the smell of him. He smelt like the forest—the nature that supported her body and soul. He pressed his face against her hair, letting his breath tickle her skin as they embraced each other in the night.

"I think I need to lay down," she said as she looked down at her feet.

For a moment, it felt like she was floating. It was the aftereffects of using her power. She felt like a ghost, fading away in the air. Although, she knew the world was grounding her. She knew Edward was holding her steady.

"Want to come with me? You can stay with me for the night."

Her brain was foggy—more of a haze than she cared to admit. She drove her. She remembered that much. But the thought of getting behind the wheel of her car and going anywhere felt nearly impossible.

"Where do you want to go?" she whispered. Am I really leaving with a vampire? What happened to my self-preservation? What happened to protecting myself?

The lack of fear she felt surprised her. For some reason, she thought her heart should be racing a mile a minute but instead, she felt calmer than she had in a long time as Edward guided her to his car. He helped her into the passenger seat, watching her for a moment, as if he was afraid that she would fade away.

"I live nearby. Only twenty minutes away. You feel safe coming with me, right?"

She nodded without thinking, watching him as he closed the passenger door and moved to slid into the driver's side. Edward turned the car on, messing with the radio for a moment before deciding on a station of classic rock. Bella relaxed against her seat, trying not to fade in and out as he began to drive. She watched her car as they drove away from the graveyard. It was safe and sound, parked by a tree and turned off. Tomorrow, she would come back for it. Tonight, she would just focus on regaining her strength.

"I didn't think this sort of thing would … take it all out of me like this," she murmured as she watched the night outside her window. "In the past, it wasn't this bad. You know … I just … didn't know what to expect."

She felt herself nodding off as the panic rose. Was he controlling this? Was this handsome stranger making me tired? Putting me to sleep? "I don't feel like myself," she said as she gripped the center console.

Edward, focused on the road, turned down the radio. "What do you mean? Do you feel like you're going to be sick?"

"I feel like I can't stay awake. Like I'm going to pass out any moment."

"What you did took a lot. You focused. You used all of your strength to call Alistair forward. Of course, you're tired. You need to rest."

"Rest … is that all it is?"

"I think so." He paused. "I hope so."

"I hope so too."

She went back to watching the streets as he moved toward his home. His neighborhood was nothing out of the ordinary—nothing that felt like a vampire castle or something out of a dream. It was a gated community where every house looked the same. Cookie cutter and perfect. It didn't seem to fit in with anything else and yet, it felt perfect. With everything extraordinary going on, something like this calmed all the energy down.

Bella laughed quietly. It made her feel better—comforted as they pulled into his driveway.

"What is it?" Edward said as he parked his car and turned it off.

"I don't know … You're just full of surprises. This isn't the sort of house I expected you'd have."

"What were you expecting? Dungeons and coffins and moats?"

"No … not the moats," she responded with a yawn as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

Edward smirked and slipped from the car, moving around the front to open the passenger seat for her and proffer his hand. She took it, smiling a quiet thanks as she stepped down and swung the door closed behind her. Quietly, they moved inside, and Bella felt warmer already, more comfortable as they passed his front door.

Everything was minimalist and modern and like something from a magazine. It looked like something Edward had paid someone for. Bella couldn't imagine the man decorating this himself.

"What are you thinking?" he asked as he guided her toward the kitchen.

She sat down at the island on a barstool and leaned against the marble. For a moment, she felt more clear and awake. Edward moved toward his fridge, pulling out a glass bottle of water and setting it down before her. He grabbed a cup, pouring her a glass before joining her on the stool to her right.

"Just relax for a bit. Tonight was a lot. More than I imagined, honestly."

She took a drink. "Who's Alistair?"

"An old friend," Edward said simply. "I've known him for a century at least."

"A century." She laughed gently in disbelief. "You say that like it's normal."

"It's normal for me. It was normal for you."

"Normal for me … How's that?"

"Bella, you've lived with me before. Don't you remember anything?"

"Remember … remember you? Remember before?"

"Is this the only life you can recognize?" Edward asked, growing more serious by the moment.

"What other life is there?"

His eyes softened and he reached forward to push the curls out of her face, wanting to see her more clearly. "Maybe one day, you'll remember. Maybe it'll come back to you in a dream … just like it did before."

"Come back to me …" She finished off her water and looked down at her hands, almost as if she expected herself to change somehow. Like perhaps she would grow or shrink just like Alice in Wonderland because all of this had to be a dream. The ghosts. The vampires. The past lives. It had to be more than what it seemed. "Did I know Alistair, then? From before? When I was with you?"

Edward looked grim. "You knew him. He stayed with us for a spell. He was a drifter for most of his life. Until Felix ended it."

"The man we're looking for murdered your friend?"

"He murdered a lot of people, Bella. He's still murdering people today."

"Is he … is he like you?"

"A vampire?"

She nodded, still wondering if all of this was a dream. A fragment of reality she was grappling with.

"He's a vampire too. He's older than me—much older. He doesn't act like it, though. He's vapid and careless."

"Careless … like leaving bodies around sort of careless?"

He gave her a pointed look. "There aren't bodies to leave around. Not anymore. They're either somewhere in the ground or they're one of him now."

"One of him?" She was thinking out loud. Already, she knew the answers to everything because this had happened before and somehow, she was remembering it. Remembering all of it. Everything flooded her brain, making her sick and she covered her mouth, feeling her body react to her mind. "He's putting an army together?"

Edward leaned forward, hovering near her face until she looked at him. "You remember?"

"A little," she murmured, feeling herself grow weaker. "I only remember a little."

"Do you know where you are in your memories?"

With her eyes closed, she searched for the truth. She tried to find a sign of the time but came up short. Wherever she was, was dark, wet, and void of anything that would clue into a certain time. It looked like a basement. The floor was gravel beneath her feet and the walls were completely blank. In her memories, she began to move. She walked around the room, staring at the walls and the ground as if she didn't know where she was. Then, she found a hallway, leading to another room that was completely empty. These walls were different, however, and she noticed it right away. Handprints were on the walls. Some looked like they belonged to an adult. Others looked like they belonged to children.

In her memory, she began to scream. It was animalistic and uncontrolled and almost made her feel better as she remembered. Edward gripped her now and gripped her in the memory, too, holding her against his chest as horror overwhelmed her. She didn't know what she was reacting too. She couldn't remember the story behind the handprints or why despair was creeping through her veins.

"Bella," Edward said calmly, keeping her in the present as he rested his chin against her forehead. "What do you see?"

"A basement … handprints … I don't know. I can't tell where I'm at." She was silent for a moment, watching the memory as it faded into nothingness. "You were there. You were holding me and … You were holding me and then memory just faded away."

"That wasn't that long ego," he murmured carefully. "That was just the last lifetime."

"The last lifetime? When was that? When did I die last?"

He pulled away and stood up, moving toward his liquor cabinet with a quiet calm. "Do you really want to do this tonight? Aren't you tired?"

She nodded, sluggish but ready for more. "If not tonight, when else? If this man is doing … whatever he's doing …" She yawned, feeling herself fade in and out. "… then we don't have time for other stuff."

"We don't have time for sleep?"

"You don't sleep," Bella said with authority.

"I don't, but you do. You're going to be useless if you don't rest."

"I won't be useless."

"Well, what do you want to do, if not sleep?"

She arched her brow, coming across almost bold as she was so out of it. "I can think of plenty of things."

Edward snorted as he poured himself a glass of scotch. "More water for you?"

Bella nodded, slumping against the island as she felt her brain brimming with memories. Each memory acted like a vision, teasing her senses without giving too much away. She felt like she was on the cusp of something. Like any moment, she could discover something monumental about herself. she was just on the cusp, but never there. It felt like something was blocking her from the truth, distracting her from her true memories.

"I could help you with that if you'd like," Edward said as he came to sit next to her.

He nursed his drink, pouring her more water as he watched and waited for an answer.

"Can I have a drink too?" she asked as she eyed his glass.

"Not if you want to remember. You'll have to stay sober for this. There's no use of being drunk with an open mind."

"An open mind … you want to help me remember?"

"Sure. If you want me to help you, I'll help you. Besides, I want you to remember. Everything in your head … it's us."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Isn't this soon enough? We only just became close today. You only just realized I was a vampire."

"I know … but … Well, I don't know. Back at my shop. You could have said something right away."

"Why? Would you have believed me? You would've taken me for some crazed lunatic stalker."

"No. I doubt that."

"Why?"

"You're too handsome," Bella teased before drinking her glass of water. "So, tonight, you'll help me remember?"

"Not everything. Of course, that would take far more than an evening. No. Not everything but a lot. I can help you remember as much as you want and have energy for."

"I have energy for a lot," she said in a small voice.

Her eyes were tired from the events of the day but still, she grasped onto consciousness. If this was her past, she wanted it. Edward was feeling more familiar every second and it troubled her knowing that they had a shared history together that only one of them knew.

"We can work in my meditation room. You can lay down, make yourself comfortable, and focus on the sights and sounds. It will be relaxing—like falling into a dream—I promise you."

"You promise … Even if it wasn't going to be relaxing, I'd do it. I just want to know the truth."

"Now, you beg for the truth, but soon, you might change your mind. What if the truth's not what you want?"

"It doesn't matter if it's what I want or not. Life's never getting what you want. It's too messy. I expect the past will be messy too."

He gave her a pointed look and finished off his drink before offering his hand for her to take. She did, lacing their fingers together as he pulled her gently from the room. They moved down a hallway, and she peered at the few art prints that hung on his cream-colored walls. They were all scenery. Lakes. Oceans. Meadows. Everything lacked people as if the observer was the one looking out, judging the scene with their own eyes. At the end of the hallway, was an unassuming door that opened to a room that looked like something out of a film.

Everything was warm colors and sleek wood furnishings. Bookcases lined every wall and in the center of the room, there was a long rug that looked like it cost more than her entire witch shop. It was regal and posh and everything Bella imagined from an old castle or haunted mansion. It didn't match a single thing about the rest of the house and suddenly, Bella wondered if everything else was a front. Maybe this was Edward's style and everything else was just for show. The whole minimalist thing definitely didn't make any sort of statement. If anything, it looked like something from a catalogue. Something put there as a distraction from everything else. It shouted: someone lives here who's normal.

"You're quiet all the sudden."

"Did you decorate this yourself?" she asked as she let her fingers slip away from his and began to walk around the room on her own. "This is … it's different, that's for sure."

"You like it? Does it feel like home?"

She shrugged. "Should it?"

For a moment, he seemed to be at a loss for words. It was like he was weighing whatever it was he was planning on saying next. He watched her expression, looked at her as if he had known each and everything part of her. Maybe he did. Maybe there was more than he would ever tell her.

Sometimes, the truth wasn't as great as it seemed. Everyone claimed to want to know everything but when they finally did, they seemed to want nothing more than to be completely ignorant. There were reasons people always said ignorance was bliss. Having the whole truth doesn't always set you free. In fact, sometimes, it just boxed you up. It made you a stranger to your own mind. Sometimes, being ignorant was just better.

"You picked out some of this. The couch, for instance," he said as he gestured toward the deep red leather sofa. "That was all your idea."

I picked out some of the things in this room? Have I been here before? Or is this all carried from another place and another time? Is that why it looks so strange? It doesn't fit in because it's not meant to fit in? So many questions passed through Bella's head as she crossed the room and came to sit on the couch she had allegedly picked out. For some reason, she felt as soon as she came in contact with the piece of furniture, she'd experience some wild, crazy memory. However, that wasn't the case. Instead, she sat that there like this piece of furniture may as well have been in a hotel. It felt totally removed from her. Sometimes, the past had a way of leaving traces of itself behind. History marked itself all over places, infecting things like furniture or entire homes. This couch didn't speak to her. Nothing in the room really did. At least, not yet.

"It's comfortable," she murmured as she bounced on the cushions, testing it out for good measure. "I guess, I have good taste."

Edward shrugged, smiling slightly at her. "I don't know about good taste but it's some sort of taste nonetheless."

"You don't like it?"

"I don't hate it." He moved to sit on a matching chair in front of the sofa and leaned his forearms on his knees. The lighting in the room made him look more like a classic actor—a star on the silver screen. "I usually just pick less dramatic furniture."

She rolled her eyes, offended for whatever version of herself picked this couch for him. "What was I like back then? Whatever life I picked out this couch?"

"You were …" he trailed off as he dropped his gaze. "You were very much the same. The same … and different. I don't know how to describe it. Some people come back entirely different. I mean, they're reborn as different people with the same soul. Sometimes they're women and sometimes they're men. Sex has never mattered much. With you … you've always come back as a woman. And every time, you look eerily the same. You're a conundrum really. I've never seen anything quite like it. Every time I see you, I recognize you. If I'm being honest with you, I saw you months before ever visiting your shop."

"You did? Where did you see me?"

"At a coffee shop inside a bookstore. I was shocked. I've gone decades and decades without you before. And I never know when you're going to return again. You just sort of pop up. Fate exists between us—as it does many people. When you're meant to find someone, you'll find them. The universe will assure that. I never worried about losing you because I knew that when the time was right, you'd end up in my lap again. When I saw you ordering your coffee, I wanted to approach you right then. I mean, decades of separation … if I could've cried upon seeing you, I would have. Instead, I followed you around that day. Followed you to your work. Followed you to your house. Made sure to memorize what your car looked like. Your license plate. I'm surprised you never noticed. Maybe years of vampirism have made me the world's best stalker."

"I didn't notice you at all," Bella said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I'm surprised I didn't feel you following me."

He smirked at this as if he was sharing a joke with someone. "Humans aren't as great with their senses as they think. Especially now with so much tech everywhere. Imagine all the things you'd notice if you weren't looking at your phone screen or scrolling through social media. It's for the best, really. It would be a mass hysteria if people started to notice the flood of monsters in their city. It's safer to just walk by them unaware."

"I think I'm more perceptive than most people, though. I mean, fuck, I talk to the dead for a living and cast spells."

"And I'm a vampire who's been on Earth far longer than I'd ever care to admit."

"I guess we can't compare to someone who's ancient," Bella teased, still lost in all the new truths that were washing over her.

"I'm not ancient … just old. If you don't count all the instances of death, you're ancient too, Bella."

"But I have died many times apparently. I'm still young, then." She was silent for a moment, watching him carefully. Why does he keep letting me die, anyway? Why not just keep me alive as a vampire? Why keep me human? Especially if I'll just keep returning again and again anyway? "Why don't you change me? I guess, I mean, why haven't you changed me into one of you?"

His lips drew together in a thin line. "You want to become a monster, Bella?"

"I don't think vampires are monsters."

"They are. We're all monsters. The whole lot of us. Even the good ones. In the eyes of whatever higher power is up there, we're a textbook definition of monster."

"What does that matter? Are you afraid God won't like you for being a vampire? Even if you spend your days doing a bunch of good deeds and saving people or stuff like that?"

"Some people are forever barred from heaven."

"And you're saying vampires are barred?"

"I know they are."

"So, you've kept me human because you're worried for my soul?" She almost laughed at how ridiculous it all sounded. After the day she had, hearing someone like Edward worry so much over the concept of a soul seemed almost comical. She didn't laugh, though. Something on his face told her not to. Even if it seemed dumb to her, this was something that was very important to him. Maybe I can change his mind. Immortality can't be too bad … Living like this forever … Maybe I can take Alice with me into vampirism too. We'll turn into a piece of folklore.

"I keep you human because I want to give you a chance."

"Have we had this discussion before?" Bella asked, wondering how many times he turned her down in the past.

"Not every life."

"Why not every life?"

"Some of those lives get cut short."

"I've died really young?"

He grimaced, remembering something specific. "Before your time."

"If you could have … if it would've made a difference … would you have changed me if you could've. Like, before I had died too early, would you have risked it for me? Taken a chance and just turned me?"

He was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, before answering, "No."

"It was easier to let me die, then?"

He didn't move a muscle. "It's never easy. Of course, I wish I could turn you. Why would I want you to leave?"

"I'm asking you that. You're the one with the entire past.

"I've always been tempted to … but I can't do that to you. I can't be selfish and keep you here when you can enjoy the afterlife."

The afterlife … shouldn't I remember that too? Is heaven something you can remember? Or would it just feel like part of a dream? Maybe those crazy, vivid dreams I've had in the past are just glimpses of heaven. Maybe when I'm sleeping … I'm really dead … "You know, the funny thing is, I don't even remember what happens after I die. It's just like before I ever existed. Before I was a thought in my mother's mind. Before I was born, there was nothingness. And after I die, I'm sure it feels just the same. Nothingness."

"I don't know if people remember what after death feels like."

"Then, why do you want it so bad for me? If it's just going to be a period without existing, what's the point of it? Let me exist with you."

Edward smiled, almost sadly to himself. "We only just met and you're asking me to change you."

"That's not true. We've met many times before this, according to you. And besides, I'm not asking you to change me right this minute."

"It would have to be soon, though. You're smart enough to understand that. Felix is … Felix is worse than any demon. He's creating an army, Bella. He's not going to let anyone stand in his way. Things are calm now. Maybe they'll be calm tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe next month. But someday soon, he'll find us again. And if you're human then, it may already be too late."

"So, you want to change me now."

"It wouldn't be good timing. You'd be a newborn and when you're like that as a vampire, you're nearly impossible to control. Think of a human baby. Now, think of having to treat that baby as a full-grown adult at only three months old."

"You're exaggerating."

"Not by much. Of course, you'd be more competent and better off than a newborn baby, but your hunger would be uncontrollable. All you would think of is food ant that's it. When you're like that, everything about yourself—morals, ethics, everything that keeps you human—leaves for a while. You become a machine. Something that lives to eat and rest, eat and rest, until one day the hunger's sated and you look around and see what you've done."

She knew he was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Maybe this was why her past was so fractured. He would be risking everything in changing her if the moment wasn't right.

"They would kill you, Bella. The other vampires. If you became a liability … it's not worth it."

"So, we just never had enough time?"

He frowned, watching his hands for a moment before gazing back up at her. "Time was never our friend. I hope it won't always be like that."

When's time ever anyone's friend? It's always something we're chasing after and avoiding—never embracing. "You can show me the past? Everything that I want to see?"

"I'll show you everything your mind's open to know."

"How?"

"Lots of practice." He smiled sadly. There was so much more that he wanted to say that he never would.

"You've shown me before?"

"Many times."

Bella leaned back on the couch, letting herself relax against the cushions before closing her eyes. "Open my mind, then. I want to see the past."

"The past isn't always your friend. You'll have to remember that. Some memories …. they're painful."

"Life's painful," she said matter-of-factly. "But I can't just avoid living."

A/N: How was everyone's Halloween? I was sick the whole time but I ended up being able to watch a few horror movies like The Shining and Halloween (my personal favorite).