Author's Note: Hello dear readers! If you have come to this story from reading Monarchy in Flames- please know that I am NOT abandoning that story. Rather, the chapters coming next in Monarchy in Flames are very emotionally taxing to write, and I will be taking my time so I do not over-stress myself with the current global circumstances. Now that we're all spending more time at home, I found inspiration and now present to you, dear readers, another Aro x Bella fic, "Stuck."
Chapter 1
The dashboard of her rental car read 4:32 PM in green, glowing letters. It would less than a half hour before she reached Forks. Shivering a bit, Bella turned a knob on the temperature control. Giving a contented sigh at the warm air, she took a sip of her travel cup of coffee that she had acquired two hours prior from Sea-tac; she only grimaced slightly at the lukewarm mocha, but she appreciated the caffeine all the same.
Drumming her fingers against the black leather steering wheel, she sighed in mild frustration. She squinted and bit her lip in concentration, her mind cursing the weather. Snow. It was mid-November, and the pacific northwest had been having heavy snowfall and unpredicted storms since late October. The few years she lived with Charlie hadn't converted her to particularly liking the cold, but she was excited to spend Thanksgiving with him this year.
Charlie and Renee now traded holidays, seeing as Bella lived in Arizona after graduating from college, with Charlie in Washington and Renee in Florida, respectively. This year, the set-up flipped so Charlie would have Thanksgiving, and Renee would have Christmas.
It was only a few minutes later that Bella took the offramp to a smaller, two lane highway, if you would call it that. Evergreens framed the road on both sides, becoming denser as the minutes passed. The branches swayed, occasionally dropping bits of snow, while some broke entirely under the weight densely packed above them.
Her smartphone buzzed with an incoming call. "Must be getting impatient," Bella smiled softly, knowing full well she wouldn't answer it. She was a responsible driver— understandably so after a few years driving in her beloved red truck. It was a sad day when the old monster finally kicked the can a semester into her freshman year at UW. Forks was a small town. Meaning, she had paid attention to the letter of the law since she had moved there all those years ago, knowing that people had high expectations of her as the police chief's daughter. Responsible driving rules were just as emphasized by Charlie in her teenage years and each time she visited now, which made her all the more careful when in Forks. Awkward lectures were to be avoided at all costs.
Precaution given, there was nothing that could have prevented the following events. The road was clouded in an ethereal white dust, cascading onto the road and obscuring her vision. The rental car began to slow as she applied the brakes, trying desperately to make out what was ahead of her.
Then it became clearer. Bella gasped, digging her fingers into the steering wheel as she braked as smoothly as she could on the slick road. She must have closed her eyes, as they reopened when she came to a haphazard, skidding halt at the base of an amassed obstruction of snow, branches, and dead pine needles. Teeth clenched and entire body locked from the anticipation of the impact, Bella's body loosened as she took deep breaths. Her heart was racing with adrenaline.
Logic began to filter back as her fingers found her phone in her jeans pocket. It was buzzing again with an incoming call.
"Bella." He sounded relieved. "Are you okay? Some locals called in about an avalanche on the highway. I know you're on your way from Seattle and—"
"Yeah, I'm okay." Bella cut off his worried rambling— he must have been very nervous to break his typical cool, calm, and collected demeanor.
"Good, good." Charlie sighed.
Sarcasm laced her tone then, her eyes taking in the near twenty feet of snow piled ahead of her. "Wasn't the sort of welcome home I was looking for but…"
"Yep, you must be fine…" Charlie huffed at her sarcasm. "Look, Bells… the station doesn't have an accurate assessment how big of a problem this is."
Craning her head to look up out the dash, Bella laughed dryly. "Oh, it's big."
Charlie sighed. Of course she was near the avalanche, the danger magnet that she was. "And you're sure you're fine."
"You know me, I'm used to the dramatics... But hey… no scratches." This was a first. "Let me do a once-over on the car and I'll turn back and find a room for the night in the next town over." Scanning the car, Bella grimaced as she looked to the dashboard. "Shit." The rental's dashboard glowed red with various warning indicators.
After stepping out to inspect the car, it was clear that the front two tires were already starting to go flat. By the sound of the hissing, as well as their forms that had become mangled with sharp shards of bark puncturing in places from rolling over multiple tree limbs. And, although she hadn't been hit by the avalanche, she had skidded into the runoff, leaving the car surrounded by two feet of snow and debris. "Definitely not good," she said mostly to herself, stopping to clarify to Charlie what had happened.
Looking around and searching for a solution, her eyes found a small turn off turn in the road, leading to a private road she had programmed herself to forget altogether. "I think I've got an idea, but you're not going to like it."
Over seven years later, nothing had changed. Certainly, the landscaping and upkeep of the Cullen home was somewhat amiss due to disuse, but it was still magnificent.
Since that dreaded 18th birthday, they had not returned.
Life kept moving.
Her world's axis had righted itself again, and with mending to her broken heart, she moved on. This home, however, was like a time capsule.
Bella did not spend time reminiscing in view of the house as she reached it, half frozen after walking from her indisposed vehicle far down the road. She walked up the steps and shakily typed in the code for the security system at the front door. She remembered Emmett once telling her how annoying carrying keys was with vampire hearing.
As such, many of the Cullens cars were advanced models with the modern development of key pads, unlocking your car via phone, the list went on. Of course the older, collected cars were not subject to this preference as they were kept in pristine condition. Isabella begrudgingly thought about how each of those cars were somewhere across the continent now… the Cullens never traveled without their esteemed collection.
Once inside the entryway, Bella set down her suitcase and bag and kicked off her snow-caked boots and socks, leaving them haphazardly on the floor. Under Edward's watchful eye, she would have carefully taken them off at a small bench by the door stowed them away so they weren't visible. Luckily, he wasn't here and being quaint and delicate was not on the top of her list of priorities.
It's addition to the entryway was mildly insulting. After she and Edward had been dating for a few weeks, Edward had purchased it for her "safety" since she would wobble and sometimes lose her balance when taking her shoes on and off. Now older and more sure of herself, the clumsiness had faded— though it reared its ugly head every so often to make things interesting.
Bell opened the small side door to the garage and saw that it it was empty as she had suspected. She was definitely stuck for the time being.
She typed a quick text to Charlie letting him know she had gotten into the Cullen home just fine and not to worry. Bella took the small flight of stairs up to the living area, noting that the walls lacked the typical photos, art, and even the humorous collection of graduation caps. Left behind was generic stylistic decor, which would make it easier to stay here for the night.
Experimentally flipping on the overhead light switch, Bella was rewarded with a slow flickering before the living room was illuminated the room with a soft glow. Looking around, Bella noted that personal items such as Jasper's immense collection of history books, Emmett's mass collection of video games, were also removed. The TV and sound system remained… it was curious to see how insignificant these expensive items were to be left behind, assuming these comforts were present at each of the unoccupied homes for convenience.
The guest bedroom bath suite was set apart from the other bedrooms on the second floor and remained practically untouched. She wondered what the state of the other bedrooms would be, but she wasn't the least bit inclined voluntarily keep moving down this uncomfortable and weird memory lane.
To her delight, the water and heat were also still active in the home, albeit a similar delay like the lights. Bella turned the knob of the clawfoot tub and sighed happily when water flowed freely.
One delightful jasmine scented bath later, a completely thawed Bella wrapped herself in a cream bathrobe that had been left on a hook to the left of the tub, and made her way downstairs to collect her suitcase.
A sound made her freeze at the top of the short flight of stairs down to the entryway of the house. A tall, dark figure was visible on the other side of the glass door— making quick work of the security system. With a last press of a button to the security system, it gave a small chirp as the internal locking mechanism audibly clicked.
"Oh shit." Bella cursed before covering her mouth and cursing her stupidity. She began to shrink back away from the unknown person into the hall, as quietly as she could. There was still a creak. The stranger's head snapped up, hand frozen on the door knob as his eyes locked with hers. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
In the next moment, Bella's panicked mind registered the small gust of wind and sound of the door opening and closing along with soft footsteps up the stairs. Her eyes had somehow become glued to the floor, now fixating on the masculine, dark leather shoes, unperturbed by snow or dirt.
Slowly, her gaze trailed up the man's black trousers, along each button of his expensive black shirt, over the lapels of a well tailored black suit jacket, and finally to his face. The man's dark eyes held a curious expression, his nose, jaw, and lips far too perfect to be human.
Bella unconsciously stepped back, those mesmerizing dark eyes trailing her progress as he followed step for step. It would be a slow but sure game of cat and mouse if they continued on like this. With this thought, her tired mind shut down. As the world spun and spun and went black, she wished for a painless death.
Author's Note: SO, what did you think? Love it, hate it? I want to know! I've got longer chapters ready to post as soon as I tailor them. As always, please take care of yourselves during this unprecedented times, and stay safe. Sending all my love.