I do not own Twilight
This story is going to be in 4 parts with a total word count of 7K. It's been entirely prewritten and I'll be uploading chapters quickly.
Massive thank you to Janna my beta reader! You so such a fantastic job.
Edward
It had started out innocently enough, though none of us understood it; just the occasional item delivered to what appeared to be the wrong address. Apparently, someone had just gone through a bad breakup and the unfortunate individual hadn't written their address down correctly.
The dead flowers had been addressed to "I hope you rot in hell."
The mix CD of angry rock songs had been to "Got the hint yet?"
Last week we'd received a rock with the message "Finally found a friend at your level".
Whatever this poor person had done, they were clearly holding a grudge!
Today's package had caused some discomfort through the family. The message had been, "You should try not being so dense, live a little!" attached to a black vampire costume, complete with plastic teeth and fake blood.
Carlisle had reasoned that, with it nearly being Halloween, it was likely to encourage someone to attend a party, so we had all reluctantly dropped the topic.
However, we had all had to congregate again when the following week's package arrived. It was a tiny, tiny dog, which I thought looked more like a rat, and the note "To help you get out more."
"Well, does anyone have any ideas?" Rosalie demanded. "We need to stop these packages and what on earth are we going to do with that… thing. It's not staying here."
"Awe, Rose baby, he likes me! Won't you let me keep him?" Emmett whined.
"No, if you want a pet I'll get you something that lives in a cage or a tank. Something that doesn't smell so bad!"
"Moving on," Carlisle said, interrupting Emmett before he could respond, "clearly someone is going to a lot of effort and is apparently unaware that the packages are not being received. We don't want someone coming out here searching for missing packages, it's bad enough the delivery people come around."
It was true. After I'd finally realised that I wasn't going to be able to find Victoria, I'd come traipsing back to the family and practically holed myself up in my room. I'd noticed that I wasn't the only person struggling with what was left behind. Esme couldn't bring herself to keep the house as human as she had used to, Emmett didn't make his jokes anymore. It was like the life had been leached from the family.
"I can try and trace the shipment," Jasper said, clearly annoyed. Reading his mind I knew it was because of the risk that possible exposure held to Alice. "I'm having nothing to do with that though." He pointed to the white fluff ball currently licking its balls on the dining room table.
"Thank you, Jasper," Carlisle replied "That will hopefully shed some light. With regards to this puppy –"
Emmett cut him off. "He's called Sir Flufferton the Third."
"No he isn't. Come on! If you name it you'll get attached and you are NOT keeping it, Emmett," Rosalie snapped.
"Anyway…" Carlisle drawled, sending Rosalie and Emmett sharp looks. "Dogs are not cheap for a human so we should at least attempt to get it to its rightful owner. That means we look after it but don't get attached. I also forbid anyone from eating it." In his head I could see some rather creative images involving random members of the family doing some rather interesting things with this dog.
"I'll look after it," I offered, not really sure why. It seemed like the right thing to do. Whoever sent this was hurting. Hurting like I'm hurting. Besides, some company might be nice.
The room froze. Even their minds were blank in amazement.
Finally, Esme broke the silence. "That would be lovely. I think it would really help you." Her words were sincere, but they irritated me nonetheless.
"Yeah, maybe it'll untwist his panties some," Rosalie smirked. You clearly aren't interested in women, maybe starting by admitting you love a male of a different species will help you realise that you bat for the other team.
I growled at her mental accusations and that immediately put Emmett on the defense.
Just as I was considering throwing them both out the window, Carlisle cleared his voice. "Gentlemen."
"Yes Edward," Rosalie says, "You really should start being more of a gentleman. Even they have occasional sex."
"That's enough, Rosalie," Esme chided. "Keep your opinions and thoughts to yourself. We're done here. Edward, I suggest you go into town and get some basic supplies for the dog."
I didn't want to drop it. I was fed up with being the joke of the family simply because I did what was best for Bella. Even thinking of her name sent sharp pains through me.
Since returning home, I'd been tempted to ask Alice to search for her and find out how she's doing, but I didn't think it was a good idea. I can't predict what would hurt more-the pain of staying away from her if she's still upset or the pain of her having done what I asked and moved on.
I realized that getting away from the family for a while would be beneficial. So, bunding the cotton ball into the car, I head off to get dog supplies.
What does a dog even need? Surely a small dog needs less stuff, and it won't be here for long.
Looking over at it, I question what type of dog it is. I hadn't owned a dog in my human life and owning a dog in my vampire one was definitely not in the cards. Maybe I should buy a book too.
Bella would know what to do.
I couldn't stop the thought from ghosting through my mind as it stabbed at my heart.
Away from the family I allowed myself to wallow in my despair. "I miss her, you know," I said to the cotton ball. "I know I did the right thing, really it was the only option, but that doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't help hearing everyone's thoughts about how much of a mistake I made. Hopefully one day they'll understand."
I lapsed into silence as I continued driving. "What if I did make a mistake? She's human and so fragile, anything could happen to her. I just wish I had managed to eradicate Victoria." I took a deep shaky breath.
Pulling into the parking lot I killed the engine. "Are you coming in or do you want to wait here?" I asked the dog. He only stared at me. Crap, I've been talking to a dog this whole time, maybe they're correct in their assumptions that I am going mad, I mused to myself, throwing open the car door.
While I didn't really want to be seen with the dog, what if the sender saw me? I didn't really trust him alone in my car. The memories of Bella in my Volvo are somewhere I'd often retreat to when I was feeling particularly lost.
Scooping him up, I made my way inside.
Initially I tried to work out what I'd need alone, but after one look at the multiple bags of colored dog food, each claiming to have some unique fantastic property, I knew I needed help. Thankfully a store clerk noticed my confused expression and took pity on me.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"Yes please, I…" I trailed off. I should have thought of a cover story before this! What am I going to do?! Thinking quickly, I told her about how my sister had brought a dog home without fully thinking it through and we were not trying to make arrangements.
After spending a while cooing at Freddie (I refuse to use the name Emmett gave him) she bustled around the store collecting items.
"So, all you need now is a collar and a tag. Do you know what sort of collar your sister would want for him?" she asked me, pointing to a massive display of fabrics.
Finding this whole shopping trip was becoming incredibly tedious, I picked up the first one I saw and declared this one the choice.
"Perfect choice, the rainbows are incredibly popular at the moment. I'll start ringing this all up for you. Why don't you go over to the engraver and start filling in your details?"
I watched as she pushed the heavily laden cart towards the register.
Ten minutes later, having spent far more money on the tiny dog than I thought possible, were back in the car. "I hope you appreciate this." I scowled at him.
Grabbing my cell, I called the number for the vet the lady had given me.
There were no appointments left on such short notice, but I was able to book him in for two days time.
With a sigh, I realized that my peace was likely over. I needed to return home with the dog and the stuff. Even though I was determined to not form an attachment, I had enjoyed some space.
"You know, I don't know why you aren't running away from us," I said to his little face staring up at me. "Usually, animals are good at knowing we are a danger. It's a good job that we got you." He just continued staring at me as though hooked on my every word.
Over the next few days, Freddie became an integral part of my day-to-day life. He followed me around everywhere, barely letting me out of his sight for a second. I'd reluctantly started to rely on him, too.
When I needed space from the family for whatever reason, I'd just say I was taking Freddie out. It was nice not to be so alone all the time.
Jasper's searches had come up blank, or so he'd said. The order had been made anonymously and paid in cash so there wasn't a trail. I couldn't help but wonder if he had really made an effort though. All of the family had been making passing comments about how Freddie had been bringing me out of my mood.
I wasn't happy about the turn of events. I was practically the laughingstock of the family.
Rosalie had made a snide comment about how I'd moved from one pet animal to another and she wondered what I was going to try next. Well, it was safe to say that I lost it with her.
A few broken walls and a long hunt later, we had mumbled apologies and Carlisle had given strict instructions to us both to keep out of each other's way.
It was nearly two weeks before another package arrived. We were all shocked by it, having thought they had finally stopped sending them.
Inside was a wrapped gift and a note to open this alone.
As none of us know who these were really intended for, we opened them together.
To the family's mixture of horror and amusement, the box contained a large assortment of male sex toys and a message to "Try letting yourself go once in a while."
I didn't know what was worse, the items clearly given as a joke, or the serious ones.
I practically ran from the room when, at the bottom of the box, Alice found handwritten instructions on how to use each item.
Things didn't add up. I knew in my gut that something about these gifts wasn't right and I wanted to know more about the sender.
On my request, Jasper had given me the research he had done, but I could see why he had given up. It really was a dead end.
I moved on to trying to establish the purchaser. Many of the items had labels, so I was able to determine where they'd purchased them from. I spent a few hours hacking into their system trying to find any customer receipt that contained similar items to the ones we'd received.
It was a flop. Apparently, the person ordering had purchased each item separately and the number of orders the store received made it impossible to make a link.
Frustrated with the lack of answers and feeling of unease, I left the house with Freddie.
There wasn't a meadow quite like the one in Forks, but I'd been able to find a nice clearing that I could go to when I needed space. I found watching Freddie sniff around the space without a care in the world was relaxing.
Away from the family I also had the confidence to talk to him about what was on my mind. It wasn't as though I couldn't talk to the family about things, it was just that they didn't understand, and they didn't seem to be very responsive when I expressed my feelings about leaving Bella.
"It was your choice, you can always go back," they'd say to me.
"Well I can't go back, Fred, she needs me to be strong and stay away so she can have her normal life. I love her. I can't doom her to this existence, I can't take away her soul…" I put my head in my hands, wishing, not for the first time, I could let out these emotions through crying. "I just wish it were easier to do the right thing."
Freddie, apparently having sensed my upset, came and snuggled up on my lap while my body wracked with silent sobs. I had to pull him away from me when he started licking at the venom in my eyes. I didn't know what that would do to him.
Wriggling out of my grasp, he pounced on a stick and then stared up at me as though to ask if I was out of my funk enough to play now. "Alright, but not for long, it's getting dark and you need dinner."
What do you think about the start? It's slightly mad, but go with me, I think you'll like the ending. Please review.