Run.
That's all Edward told himself as he ran as fast as he could through the forest. The trees blurred as his legs pushed him harder and harder until he reached the edge of the cliff that looked out to the sea. Finally letting out the breath he'd been holding in, Edward felt that he could breathe without his throat instantly drying up. The need to drink the girl's blood became all too real, too fast the moment Carlisle and Esme stepped foot into their home. The sweet scent of her blood was unexpected. It called to him as if it were a song. A deadly, sweet song...
Gritting his teeth, Edward slumped against the nearest tree trunk and sat down to understand what the hell just happened back there.
No one had noticed he'd jumped out of his bedroom window and took off; all of them were still too preoccupied with the human in Carlisle's arms. He'd only managed to catch a glimpse of her small, sleeping form through Jasper's eyes before the thirst became unbearable. How could he ever think to harm an innocent child? One who'd lost so much in such a short amount of time.
Edward knew he needed to tell Carlisle about this strange feeling that disturbed him. His soul might be corrupted and beyond saving, but he wanted to protect Bella's if he could. He wouldn't take the chance and go back home until he knew without a doubt that he could control his thirst. Running a hand through his unruly hair, he stood up and took off once more - needing to hunt as much as he could before attempting to return home.
He wouldn't kill the child.
He wouldn't become the monster he's always thought he was.
It burns.
Bella stirred under the soft sheets that kept her little body warm. Her face nestled further into the soft pillow as she turned onto her side and the strange, painful sensation on her shoulder made her whimper. Why does it burn so much?
She felt her lashes tickle the skin under her eyes as she opened them slowly. Blinking up at the darkened room, Bella grew increasingly confused, unsure of where she was or what bed she was sleeping in. This wasn't her bed; she knew that much. Her bed was smaller, and her room was often colder than it is now. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she looked around the darkened room until she noticed a door was slightly ajar, warm light spilling past it, across the hardwood floor, and onto the large bed covers.
The ache in her shoulder made her wince. Her eyes filled with tears when she couldn't quite understand why her back and arm hurt so much on one side more than the other, "Ow..." sniffling, she pushed the covers off her as best she could before crawling across the bed and sat up. The name she called was instinctual as she called out cautiously, "Daddy?"
The sound of rain hitting the window ahead made Bella move cautiously to the edge of the bed until she slipped off it, biting her lip when she felt another sharp stab of pain on her shoulder.
Stepping cautiously, Bella held her own hands in front of her as she walked towards the drawn curtains that reached all the way up to the ceiling. As she slowly pulled them aside, Bella was surprised to see that it wasn't the sound of rain that she heard but the faint sound of waves crashing against the shore. Stepping through the curtains and only the familiar beach, Bella beamed when she saw two figures walking in the distance, holding hands. Breaking into a run, Bella stumbled behind the silhouettes of two people she recognized right away.
"Mommy! Daddy! Wait for me!" She shrieked as she tried to catch up to her parents, hoping that they'll stop and wait for her. But her voice was drowned out by the waves and the rumble of thunder. Her legs dragged behind even though she kept running, her hands stretching out for her father, who was waving at her to keep up.
"Come on, Bells! We got some fish to catch!"
"I'm trying...wait...wait for me," she mumbled with a smile but realizing that tears were running down her cheeks. Her hands fell slack at her sides as she felt as though she was gently being pulled back like she was floating in the ocean and the waves were helping her along. "Wait..."
"Bella!" Renee's voice echoed in the distance as they grew farther and farther away from the little girl. And before Bella could move another step, she was suddenly screaming and kicking as she felt desperate to escape the horrible feeling in her chest. The loss of her parents.
"No! No!" She cried, trying to kick the cold hands that gently tried to hold her legs down.
"Bella! It's me, Esme! Open your eyes, sweetheart."
Covering her ears, Bella rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball, whispering as quickly as her heart was now beating in her chest, "No...no...no..." She tensed when she felt a hand land on her aching shoulder, and her eyes shot open, crying harder when the pain felt all too real now that she was truly awake.
Two different voices called her name, trying to make her look at them and realize that she wasn't alone. That she had someone there to comfort her and hold her. But Bella couldn't bring herself to focus on anything other than the pain.
"It hurts!" She sobbed as she curled onto her side once more, her eyes desperately searching for her father's brown eyes to tell her what was wrong. Instead, she found beautifully pained golden ones in the now dimly lit room. Carlisle was staring at her as he sat on the edge of the bed, one hand hovering over her as if he were about to touch her while the other held Esme's; the latter had a look of pure devastation. Tears streamed down the sides of Bella's face as she looked around her once more. When she finally felt her panic simmer down slightly, she mumbled again, "It hurts..."
"What hurts, Bella?" Carlisle asked, leaning closer until he noticed a faint red stain on her t-shirt in the crook of her neck.
She must have opened her stitches...
"Esme, go get my bag from the study, please." He murmured low enough that Bella wouldn't hear him. Esme did as her husband asked without any hesitation before standing up from where she'd been kneeling this whole time and walked as quickly as she could out of the room—without using the usual speed she would have used, unsure if the child would even notice but not wanting to risk it now. "Bella, do you mind if I take a look at your shoulder? It looks like you're bleeding, love."
Sniffling, she shook her head and answered feebly, "No..."
Carlisle frowned and moved to take Esme's initial spot by kneeling in front of Bella, tilting his head to look into her tired, sad eyes.
"I know, but I can't make it stop until I look at it to find out why it's hurting first. Do you understand?" When she still didn't seem willing to let him, clasping a hand over her shoulder to prove the point, he felt backed into a corner. Carlisle didn't want to force her to accept his aid, but he couldn't risk an infection festering in her wounds due to it.
"Bella? Look who's here to see you," Bella turned her head up slightly to look towards the door as Esme spoke softly upon entering the room. She walked towards the bed with a bag in her hands and handed it to Carlisle before she stood next to him.
Behind Esme, however, was a tall, blonde young man with the same amber eyes she could somewhat recognize. His lazy grin graced his lips and wiped away whatever intimidating air was being emitted from him. The two stared at each other for a long moment as he slowly walked towards Bella and crouched down beside Carlisle.
As soon as he spoke, Bella instantly remembered him, "Hello, darlin'. Do you remember me?"
She nodded, pinching the sheets with her fingers nervously, "The pretty boy."
Jasper's smile widened a bit more, especially when he could hear Emmett breaking out into a cackle downstairs. However, when his gaze flickered towards her shoulder, his smile faltered a tad, "Looks like you're hurt, little lady. Do you think you can let Carlisle take a look?" The hesitation in her eyes was all he needed to gently send her a wave of calm, trying to coax her into a state that wouldn't result in a panic attack as she almost had when she woke up.
"I don't want to," she mumbled, her eyes growing tired as she relaxed further into the sheets and fleece blanket.
"Why not? Carlisle is a doctor, Bella. He's not going to hurt you."
"I hurt people," she admits, and the sadness radiated off her small body and into Jasper's heart. Not sure what she meant, Jasper tried to understand and hopefully lull her to sleep once more when Carlisle started preparing the bandages and antibiotic cream from his bag.
"How could you ever hurt anyone?" He asked, resting his forearms on the bed.
"Because he said...I hurt Mommy and Daddy," her words were starting to jumble together, the sentences not making much sense when she trailed off as if she were about to doze off, but her body gave another jolt, and soon her heart was racing again. "I don't want to hurt Carlisle." Anxiety? Fear? Jasper tried to distinguish all the emotions he could detect off the little girl and worked hard to soothe her again. Reaching out towards her slowly, Jasper placed his hand over hers for a second before she slowly slipped it out from his grasp and tucked her hands under her arms, "I don't want to hurt anyone..."
Sitting back on his heels, Jasper stared at the little girl for a long time before asking, "Do you want me to help calm you down? So that you can sleep? And when you wake up, the pain will be gone."
The way Jasper spoke to her surprised everyone in the house. Hearing how gentle his voice was as he tried his best to find a way to comfort her ignited a mixture of pride and delight from Esme and Carlisle, but he tried his best to ignore them.
"No touching..." Her voice wavered, and soon fear followed the path towards him again.
So that's what it is...
Jasper nodded without hesitating, feeling somewhat bad for the small lie, "Okay, Bella. We won't touch you," sending as much tranquility to Bella; Jasper continued speaking softly as he watched her eyes close again, "you're safe with us. Sleep..."
A single tear rolled down her cheek as she finally slipped into a peaceful sleep, hugging her sides while still curled into a small ball on the massive bed that was too big for such a small child.
"Good job, Jasper," Carlisle whispered as he stood up and slowly went to move Bella's collar to the side and hissed with disapproval as soon as he lifted the bandage.
The smell of blood didn't bother Jasper as he'd been holding his breath long before walking into Bella's bedroom, but the sight of it made him grimace, "How bad is it?"
"It doesn't look like she'll need stitches again, but the wounds need to be cleaned. Whatever did this to her was determined to leave scarring behind."
Jasper moved aside and allowed Carlisle to gently clean one of the gashes on Bella's shoulder that disappeared behind her back before changing out the bandages with clean ones, whispering comforting words when Bella whimpered once more. Jasper focused on her emotions the whole time, trying his best to keep her as relaxed as possible while Carlisle helped the child.
"She doesn't want to be touched because she thinks she'll hurt others. If she thinks her parents died because of her..." Jasper confessed his assumption, and when Carlisle nodded sadly in response, the empath knew he'd been right. "She mentioned a man. If that doesn't tell us what did this to her, then I don't know what will."
"We'll see about scouting the area. If a nomad was passing through, they might not be close, but it's better to be safe."
Esme gently tucked Bella under the covers, "And if they're still in Forks? What if they want her?" A low growl from the two men beside her made Esme know that was a silly question to ask. The answer was clear even without Carlisle's reassurance.
"Then we'll protect her," Carlisle said without an ounce of hesitation, and Jasper could only agree with the man beside him, his golden eyes never leaving the sleeping child's face.
I know I'm updating too much lately, but I can't seem to stop writing! I will definitely start updating every Saturday starting next month, though now that school is starting back up for me x
Follow me on Tumblr for twilight posts and story updates x hazeyhale