Summary: "His eyes were red, wild and feral, the blood dripping down my neck from Edwards abrasions to my skin flowed softly to the forest floor. He snarled. I froze. Edward looked at me in a stage of terror as the vampire lunged at what I thought was, me."
Rating: Mature audiences only for... well I am not sure. Just a precaution.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the storyline! Thank you, Stephanie Meyer, for letting me play around with your characters. Excerpts from Twilight - Memories.
CHAPTER 4: The Mystery Lover, Connections And More Memories:
(Bella's POV)
I knew looking at Sarah that this would be a longer journey than I had thought to get back to my body and knowing that Marcus was waiting for me yet again made my heart feel like shattering. I walked down the path with her and took her hand. I just had to accept what she was willing to show me and then yet again we were off. Where I was expecting Sarah to take me was far from where we had ended up. I was expecting to be back into my room again or worse reliving the time I first met the Cullens.
All I could see around me were walls after walls although they were very beautiful, the buildings around me were situated on a hill and built from sienna, or cinnamon brown, stone. In front of me was a huge tower featuring a clock that was about to chime. Something about this place was putting me in an uneasy feeling. The heat was one thing for sure but the sight of the streets in front of me was filled with people dressed in red cloaks, cheering in the streets as a parade was happening. I was completely lost. I had to be somewhere foreign as everyone around me had an accent. The people around me were getting louder and louder and the passer by's seemed to shove me further into the crowd. The anxiety in my chest was creeping further and further and I felt as if I were really breaking out into a sweat. Where the hell was I?
"Sarah? Gammy?" I cried out. I was definitely not supposed to be this far away from my body. The crowd was cheering now,
"Marcus! Marcus! Marcus!" The crowd was more agitated now and was waving flags in my face, I could only see one exit in front of me now but I had to run through the water fountain, and so I did. The crowd was chasing me, and my lungs ached as the adrenaline inside of me surged. Something was wrong, very wrong. Where was Sarah and where was Gammy?
Gammy did say she was not the only one to lead me through this spiritual journey but she was nowhere to be found. Had they both given up on me?
A figure appeared and opened up the dark mahogany doors, the vast fresh air that hit my skin felt so real. None of this was real, I had to remember. I looked up and realised just who had opened the door.
"Felix?" I muttered his name as his red eyes zoned in on my racing pulse. He smirked at me as if he could really see me when another figure pulled down her hood. It was a brunette, I realised then that his response was not actually for me. The woman in front of me was stunning. Her face and body could easily match Rosalie. My heart was in my chest now, I was in some strange trance. Her doe red eyes were thick with long lashes, and her heart-shaped face was covered in the amount of freckles one who rarely saw the sun would have. Her high cheekbones and blood-red lips matched her eyes. She was taller than me albeit she was wearing stunning heels. The dark red cloak she wore, covered her white lace dress and she curtsied before embracing Felix in a passionate kiss.
"My love," She whispered as his hands caressed her face, both of them were looking at each other the way I had wished for Edward to truly look at me. "We can't be too long or he is going to suspect something is up between us." She murmured and ran her hands through his hair.
"Don't worry my love, he is busy with a job that, 'Aro,' assigned to him." Felix chuckled and ran his hand down her face, her cold features were warming under his embrace. Who was she? And why was I seeing this moment? I thought Felix was with Marcus?
My gut sank hard, where was Sarah? The nausea of being away from my body was beginning to take its toll. I was watching them both feeling insecure within myself. I wished Edward had even looked at me that way and now looking back it wasn't for me he was looking at like that but it was for my own blood. He had used me and the love we had shared wasn't real. Could I experience this love for myself? Just watching my moments even flash by from earlier and how I was beginning to see the truth in my own nativity towards Edward just made me angry that I had let it go on for so long. I looked at my form and noticed I was wearing the same clothing before I had felt everything shift in the room when I was speaking with Marcus. Gammy had said that this wasn't going to be easy but is this what she meant? But seeing my clothing from before made it sure that I must still be in my own mind.
Felix was wrapped up in this women and another throat beside him cleared. Felix stepped back from her which made her growl angrily.
"My Queen. I'm sorry to interrupt but I have some news." A smaller woman stood before me and had to have been below 5 feet. She has black hair and is slight in build, her heels added to her short height. She was wearing one of the darker cloaks which made me believe there was a hierarchy in the side of the Volturi. I wondered just how far up the chain she was and to be speaking so bluntly to the 'Queen,' she had to have been of a higher ranking.
"Yes, Renata?" The woman tone was of impatience and boredom. She was clearly upset from being interrupted. I watched Renata in front of me know and noticed her demeanour had changed into her face as being rigid with distress, and her personality timid and frail. She seemed in a trance and in contrast to the greater number of the Volturi guard she seemed to not harbour any bloodlust or desire to fight, only protect. Was she protecting herself?
"Aro has become aware of Marcus's absence and wants to know why Felix has sent him away to Forks. Or well why his signature has been used on a scroll he doesn't remember writing." Renata bowed her head awaiting to be chastised no doubt. "Although I am seen as Aro's personal shield, standing beside him at all times during the day is becoming suspicious and he is noticing how forgetful he is becoming, what do we do now Mistress?" She clasped her hands together and wasn't prepared for the delicate hand to strike her face back in such a manner. Renata gasped as her face formed tiny cracks where the other woman rings had made contact. During the confrontation, I watched as Renata's hand as being sewn onto Felix's cloak as she stood close behind him. Was this how she used her gift?
"I created you child and this is how you choose to disappoint me? Aro is my brother and you will have Chelsea rebind him to me. You are to shield him from anyone else having contact with him and that includes his wife, Sulpicia. Our plans have just begun." Felix nodded anxiously and moved to grab Renata from behind him. She could not hide from her wrath but something told me something was not right about this situation. Marcus had mentioned that the Denali's had sent him to Forks so was he lying to me? He also did mention that Aro had sent him here but was it all just a game or a decoy? Was he too under this woman's influence?
"Renata need I remind you that you have the ability to divert physical attacks, if someone is to approach Aro you are to repel them, implant the thought that Aro is to be seen but heard from a distance and that whatever agreements he has signed and plans that he has made he has made from his own sound mind." The woman's beautiful face was now marred with the expression of revenge. She tutted and kept continuing the conversation. "He won't be able to detect you in the throes of passion and having Sulpicia catch you will put her in the dog house." Her eyes were gleaming now. She ran her hand down Felix's chest and he was purring at her.
"See, killed two birds with one stone?" Her shrill laugh caught me off guard and as I backed away out of the parlour she turned her head to look at me as if she was really looking me in the eye. Renata bowed and turned away from them. Felix locked her lips in another embrace which made me shudder. I gulped, the air around me began to tunnel back in and a hand darted out from behind me.
Sarah yanked me back into her timeline and it was like we never left her Grandparent's house. The weather had drastically changed though and the storm was raining down on me. The hard pelting rain on my skin sent shudders down me.
"Bella! Where did you end up? You're not supposed to be that far away from your body." Sarah was glancing up at me as if she was really concerned for my wellbeing. I was the one that was confused now.
"I swear on the life of me that we were standing just right here, minutes ago." I walked under a tree realising that I wasn't actually getting wet from the rain. I was overwhelmed with what I had just seen, and I doubted that Sarah could tell me who I was seeing. So far there was now Renata and Felix that I recognised or who I could actually identify.
"Minutes, it's been hours. Your body is still with Marcus. Did somebody else take you?" Sarah reached for me, I suspected that we were late.
"Here," She reached out to me and as soon as our skin made contact I felt grounded. "I'll give you a few minutes, I apologise for adding to your stress, I barely remember what it was like to be within two planes myself and I did that more often than not when I was sleeping, but I was also a child." Her tone was softer now and instead of scolding me this time she was being really attentive.
"I'm not sure where I just ended up but I really need to get back to my body. I need to warn Marcus." My tone was more than insistent. Sarah was standing over me and was trying to calm me down.
"I'll be dropping you off at the next location Bella, what have you learnt so far? We need to ground you back into this plane so that does not happen again." Sarah was sitting next to me now. I sighed and recapped my journey.
"I've learnt that I need to trust my intuition more and when I make decisions they are for me, not for someone else. Edward was very controlling and seeing the way he was treating me and others just make me see how naive I was into thinking that we were going to work out and be happy together. Seeing how he affected my relationship not only with my friends but with my father... I need to get my priorities in order. Becoming a Vampire isn't the only thing I should be caring about." I was rambling on at this point and I felt I could really vent to Sarah.
"Finding out that Edward or possibly finding out the truth should have scared me and I should never have jumped into that relationship so quickly. Seeing how he treated Jasper and me, definitely me after- after my birthday." I was struggling to hold in the emotions I was carrying.
"All along he was telling me that he was a monster and that I shouldn't be friends with him just suckered me in but he pushed me into those plates and gave Jasper more of a reason to provoke him, I can see now how he played me and his family that night. It's like he wanted them to make the hard decision for him since he could not stay away from me but he had no right to try and take what belongs to me." I was a sniffling mess now and I realised just how robbed of my humanity it was to be loving or to be loved by Edward. Sarah rubbed my shoulder and her little words comforted me.
"It's okay to feel love though but just understand that it was a mistake and this one mistake doesn't define you, you have the ability to see things for the way that they are and you will continue to see them. Sometimes it takes reflecting on every painful moment to understand what you truly are going through. Change doesn't happen overnight. It's the baby steps. Now come on, wipe your face," Sarah handed me a hanky from her shirt and I did as she had said to do.
We stood side by side and I suddenly remembered what she was saying to me before I 'took off.'
"Sarah wait a second, can you show me that photograph again?" My eyes were sore and my nose was slowly going back to normal and she stopped and pulled out the photo again. She opened the journal to me and I noticed something off about the back of it like something was hidden. Another photo was tucked into the back of it and I saw that this time it was Sarah's mother with another woman. She looked familiar to me and I recognised her as the woman Felix was all over in my vision? I also recognised another woman in the picture but there was a fourth I had not seen before. I remembered suddenly what Heidi had said but what if she was in on it just like Felix was? Who could I really trust?
"Why do you want to see it again? You've not met anyone of these people." Sarah was confused. I shook my head and pointed.
"You're wrong the one of the left of your mother is someone I just saw literally in my vision, the one of the far-right is a woman named Heidi. She treated me I guess yesterday from my wounds that Edward... had inflicted. She told me her story in rather annoyingly in detail but I remembered she mentioned a woman named Hilda had turned her." I turned the photo over to see if it had anything written on it and luckily it did. What was written was each name, "Didyme, Victoria, Hilda and Heidi, June 15th, 1980." Sarah grabbed the photo out of my hands. Didyme... that was the name of the woman who I had just seen. Aro's sister. What was she doing with Heidi's clan and why did she not mention her name?
"I was only a baby that year, why would my mother have a copy of this?" Sarah asked me. "What else did this Heidi say?" Sarah crossed her hands over her arms now.
"She said something along the lines of; 'I was very young when I came across a vampire named Hilda, who decided to change me and two others out of pity. Since then I had lived long happy years with my coven, which was gradually expanded by the involvements of Mary, Victoria, Anne and Noela.' She did not happen to say which year but Sarah that is the same woman in that picture. But she had said that Aro, Marcus's brother had killed off of the rest of her clan and only Victoria was spared, and I've only ever come across Victoria if she is the same woman." Sarah was staring at me now assessing me as if I was lying to her but I had no reason to.
I wrung my hands together waiting for her to say something, anything. I wanted to continue this spiritual journey as fast as we could but I was not sure why was stuck in that particular moment, it had thrown me.
"So what if she had manipulated them in some way is there anything else? What did you actually see? The future or the present moment?" Sarah was pacing now, her mind seemed to be racing a mile a minute.
"From before? You pulled me back into your realm, did you not catch a glimpse? Could it be the future? Felix was just standing with Demetri outside of my home." I was confused because I thought I was grounded to this realm with Sarah now.
"I've grounded you, for now, Bella but where you were I could not get a grasp on, you must be linked to someone else in these plains or where you were otherwise you would not have made such a strong connection." Sarah was rubbing her hand along her chin. I sat in silence and let her churn her own words.
"You're attached to my realm because I was heavily attached to Gammy, she was my replacement grandmother so this bond you seem to have with Marcus? Could that have connected you over?" I shrugged but that confused me since I had only just met Marcus.
"The man that this woman, Didyme," I now had her name, "She was all over someone Marcus considers to be in his close guard so I am not sure what I saw was of the past." Sarah was looking at me and looked at the photo again.
"Of course!" She exclaimed her eyes were as bright as her red hair. "Either she is linked to you or you are linked to another."
"She said Aro was her brother so she is his sister? I've never met Aro before." She looked me up and down and kicked rocks off to the side.
"Then how can you be connected to them? You could have an ancestor? Plus if what you were seeing was either the future or the present time then she was apart of my history..." I was thinking back on my own history and linking up Sarahs was bringing up more questions than answers.
"Will solving my journey bring you more answers? I thought it was only Billy and your kids that we were going to leave messages for?" I did not want to disappoint her on this journey.
"This right now Bella is why we have to continue. One day with you and I am already closer to finding out who my mother actually was or is." Sarahs eyes pleaded with me.
"What if I get stuck in the other realm?" I was curious as to what would happen to my real form. Would I be stuck in a coma forever?
"Well, we better get a move on and hope that it doesn't happen." Sarah was going to continue with what she was saying but a white orb appeared on her right side, flashing white lights absorbed into the area and there was Gammy.
"A move on is right Sarah, we're wasting time." Gammy's tone was disapproving assuming she had heard what had just unfolded between us.
"This is important though..." Sarah was walking with Gammy now and I had no choice but to follow.
"All in good time Sarah, this is Bella's journey most of all. You have to remember that." Gammy wrapped her arms around us both and she pushed us back on the right track. I remembered that Sarah had said about Gammy keeping her from the truth, her appearance all of a sudden was suspicious as she was rushing us away too quickly. Was she holding information from us?
Bella's Mind - Memory 5 (Chapter 8- Port Angeles)
We appeared on the road again but were travelling by car this time. This was odd. Gammy and Sarah had moved off to the side sitting in the back of the car and I was sitting between Jess and the real me whilst Jess drove faster than the Chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. Ahhh this was when I had the first girls night out, I said to myself. It had been a while since I'd had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. This was the first night that Edward had shown me the real him and I should have been with the girls enjoying our own human moment. I watched as we listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with. Jessica's dinner with Mike had gone very well, and she as hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first-kiss stage. I watched as I smiled to myself, pleased. I looked back at Sarah and she nodded, knowing I had dodged Mike but should I have warned her how handy and unappealing he really was? I felt like she would have kicked me out of the car if I had really been honest with her.
Angela said was passively happy to be going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. Jess tried to get her to confess who her type was, but I interrupted with a question about dresses after a bit, to spare her. Angela threw a grateful glance my way. I really realised then that Angela was one of the few people in my life who I had really met that was a proper friend. We both were shy and outcasts of sorts so it made sense that we had found our way to each other. I did have that revelation earlier that my friends did matter to me. I know looking back Jessica and Lauren were only my friends for fame and drama.
I watched as we passed into Port Angeles which was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. But Jessica and Angela knew it well, so they didn't plan to waste time on the picturesque boardwalk by the bay. How I wished we had actually done a second trip or stopped to see the sights, to really take it all in. Jess drove straight to the one big department store in town, which was a few streets in from the bay area's visitor-friendly face.
The dance was billed as semiformal, and we weren't exactly sure what that meant. Both Jessica and Angela seemed surprised and almost disbelieving when I told them I'd never been to a dance in Phoenix.
"See Bella? You denied yourself time and time again for these experiences. You deserve them." Sarah nodded to Gammy in confirmation that she was right.
"I did not notice that I was missing out on moments." I shook my head. "I did not think I was wasting opportunities." I watching Jess's curious glance towards me. For once she wasn't concerned with Lauren's opinion and I was glad because once Lauren was gone Jess was much more approachable.
"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store.
"Really," I tried to convince her, not wanting to confess my dancing problems. "I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much." I watched as I wrapped my arms around my self, it was a defence mechanism I developed whenever I had to talk about myself. Jess was brutally honest and straight to the point, it was intimidating sometimes though.
"Why not?" Jessica demanded. She twirled in the dress she was in and was making poses in the mirror, she adjusted the straps to show off her assets so to speak.
"No one asked me," I watched as I answered honestly.
"Or you just weren't noticing your opportunities." She looked sceptical. "People ask you out here," she reminded me, "and you tell them no." We were in the juniors' section now, scanning the racks for more dress-up clothes. The store had limited options.
"Well, except for Tyler," Angela amended quietly. Jess scoffed then.
"Eric, Mike and Tyler." Jess grinned. "Hell even Edward is wrapped around your finger and he wasn't looking at any of us, god knows we tried." Jess was snickering now.
"Excuse me?" I gasped. "What did you say?" I was really shocked to hear that Tyler was making those claims.
"Tyler told everyone he's taking you to prom since he heard that Mike and Eric asked and you said no," Jessica informed me with suspicious eyes.
"He said what?" I sounded like I was choking. This was the first time we were all being honest and open. Gammy had disappeared giving Sarah a stern look that posed as a warning. I blushed at her realising she was still watching all of my awkward interactions.
"I told you it wasn't true," Angela murmured to Jessica. See, Angela had my back!
"That's why Lauren doesn't like you," Jessica giggled while we pawed through the clothes. I huffed watching this exchange because I really never gave Lauren any reasoning as to why she should hate me. I did not choose any of the boys around them. So why did I feel guilty? Like I lead them on?
I ground my teeth. "Do you think that if I ran him over with my truck he would stop feeling guilty about the accident? That he might give up on making amends and call it even? I've ignored him as best as I could since he nearly killed me." I shoved clothes back on the railing with emphasis.
"Maybe," Jess snickered. '"If that's why he's doing this." The dress selection wasn't large, but both of them found a few things to try on. I sat on a low chair just inside the dressing room, by the three-way mirror, trying to control my fuming. I smiled watching myself because it was the first genuine response I had given any of them since I moved here. I watched and my heart ached knowing I hadn't picked any options for myself, I guess that is what I get when I start chasing dangerous men. I had to call him like he was. HE was a 109-year-old man. I shuddered just realising how creepy our age gap really was. I watched as Jess was torn between two, one a long, strapless, basic black number, the other a knee-length electric blue with spaghetti straps. I encouraged her to go with the blue; why not play up the eyes? I watched myself wishing I gave myself this advice, I was just as good as pairing options for others.
"Angela?" I began, hesitant, while she was trying on a pair of pink strappy heels, she was overjoyed to have a date tall enough that she could wear high heels at all. Here I go, here is where I bring Edward in to ruin the moment I was having.
Jessica had drifted to the jewellery counter and we were alone. I could ask Angela almost anything really and that is what I appreciated.
"Yes?" She held her leg out, twisting her ankle to get a better view of the shoe.
I chickened out. "I like those." Why did I hesitate?
"I think I'll get them, though they'll never match anything but the one dress," she mused. Angela was stunning and I really wished she knew just how good she really is.
"Oh, go ahead, they're on sale," I encouraged. She smiled, putting the lid back on a box that contained more practical-looking off-white shoes. Something her mother would have chosen.
I tried it again. "Um, Angela…" She looked up curiously.
"Is it normal for the… Cullens," I kept my eyes on the shoes, "to be out of school a lot?" I failed miserably in my attempt to sound nonchalant but Angela did not hesitate and speculate my intentions before answering.
"Yes, when the weather is good they go backpacking all the time, even the doctor. They're all real outdoorsy," she told me quietly, examining her shoes, too. She didn't ask one question, let alone the hundreds that Jessica would have unleashed. I was beginning to really like Angela. I almost hated myself for making it about the Cullen's but I couldn't help myself. The predator in Edward drew me in.
"Oh." I let the subject drop as Jessica returned to show us the rhinestone jewellery she'd found to match her silver shoes.
Sarah huffed with amusement at our exchange. "Fishing for more info Isabella? You could have had just a girls day out if you weren't worried about him and his family." I blushed. I knew I wasn't innocent.
"Come on, I'm walking away from the group soon, keep up," I muttered and followed the group outside. I remember we planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, but the dress shopping hadn't taken as long as we'd expected. Jess and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and then walk down to the bay. I told them I would meet them at the restaurant in an hour, I wanted to look for a bookstore. I really wish I had not turned them away but I did not want to put them in danger, but thinking again I knew that Edward shouldn't have known where I was and it should not have been romantic of me to think he was charming for keeping me safe. I should have seen he had ulterior motives then...They were both willing to come with me, but I encouraged them to go have fun, they didn't know how preoccupied I could get when surrounded by books; it was something I preferred to do alone. They walked off to the car chattering happily, and I headed in the direction Jess pointed out. I was disappointed in myself even Angela would have encouraged me to be myself more.
I had no trouble finding the bookstore, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The windows were full of crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. I didn't even go inside. Through the glass, I could see a fifty-year-old woman with long, grey hair worn straight down her back, clad in a dress right out of the sixties, smiling welcomingly from behind the counter. I decided that was one conversation I could skip. There had to be a normal bookstore in town. Sarah smiled then as if she recognised the woman.
"Do you know her?" I asked as we passed.
"It seems history has a way of repeating itself, she was my server back in the day as this was more the Ateara store. Gammy ran it with my mother, now it is called something different; 'Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore." She smiled. She watched as Bella was handed one of the many books she had read when she was younger.
"I didn't know that. I also didn't get to finish it." I shook my head I was disappointed in myself. I wish I had truly taken Billy's warning. I was beginning to hold my breath now as I knew what was coming, should I warn Sarah?
I was watching as I meandered through the streets, which were filling up with end-of-the-workday traffic, and hoped I was headed toward downtown. I wasn't paying as much attention as I should to where I was going; I was wrestling with despair. I was trying so hard not to think about him, and what Angela had said… and more than anything trying to beat down my hopes for Saturday, fearing a disappointment more painful than the rest when I looked up to see someone's silver Volvo parked along the street and it all came crashing down on me. Stupid, unreliable vampire, I thought to myself. He was far from that though in reality. HE was stalking me.
I stomped along in a southerly direction, toward some glass-fronted shops that looked promising. But when I got to them, they were just a repair shop and a vacant space. I still had too much time to go looking for Jess and Angela yet, and I definitely needed to get my mood in hand before I met back up with them. I ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times and took some deep breaths before I continued around the corner. I really had a horrible sense of direction, I should have taken my phone with me.
I started to realize, as I crossed another road, that I was going the wrong direction. The little foot traffic I had seen was going north, and it looked like the buildings here were mostly warehouses. I decided to turn east at the next corner, and then loop around after a few blocks and try my luck on a different street on my way back to the boardwalk.
"Bella, you really shouldn't have been out here, aren't you suppose to meet with your friends again?" Sarah asked me. Sarah stopped and her mouth gaped in horror.
A group of four men turned around the corner I was heading for, dressed too casually to be heading home from the office, but they were too grimy to be tourists. As they approached me, I realized they weren't too many years older than I was. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other's arms. I watched as I scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as I could to give them room, walking swiftly, looking past them to the corner.
"Hey, there!" one of them called as they passed, and he had to be talking to me since no one else was around. I glanced up automatically. Two of them had paused, the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavyset, dark-haired man in his early twenties, seemed to be the one who had spoken. He was wearing a flannel shirt open over a dirty t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and sandals. He took half a step toward me.
"Surely..." Was all Sarah could mutter. I shook my head.
"They won't but this is hard for me to watch again," Edward had turned out to be just like these men, someone he was trying to protect me from. I guess if he couldn't have me, they couldn't either.
"Hello," I mumbled, a knee-jerk reaction. Then I quickly looked away and walked faster toward the corner. I could hear them laughing at full volume behind me. I wanted to scream at my younger self. Run, protect yourself!
"Hey, wait!" one of them called after me again, but I kept my head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief. I could still hear them chortling behind me.
I found myself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of several sombre-coloured warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south side of the street had no sidewalk, only a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard. I'd wandered far past the part of Port Angeles that I, as a guest, was intended to see. It was getting dark, I realized, the clouds finally returning, piling up on the western horizon, creating an early sunset. I was very late to seeing Jessica and Angela.
The eastern sky was still clear, but greying, shot through with streaks of pink and orange. I'd left my jacket in the car, and a sudden shiver made me cross my arms tightly across my chest. A single van passed me, and then the road was empty. I should have grabbed it I would at least have my phone. The sunset also reminded me of Marcus and I had to keep reminding myself that what I was seeing was only memories.
The sky suddenly darkened further, and, as I was watching myself look over my shoulder to glare at the offending cloud, I realized with a shock that two men were walking quietly twenty feet behind me. They were from the same group I'd passed at the corner, though neither was the dark one who'd spoken to me. I turned my head forward at once, quickening my pace. A chill that had nothing to do with the weather made me shiver again. My purse was on a shoulder strap and I had it slung across my body, the way you were supposed to wear it so it wouldn't get snatched. I knew exactly where my pepper spray was, still in my duffle bag under the bed, never unpacked. I didn't have much money with me, just a twenty and someones, and I thought about "accidentally" dropping my bag and walking away. Dad would have been so disappointed in me, that I didn't bring it with me.
I remembered a small, frightened voice in the back of my mind warned me that they might be something worse than thieves. They were.
I watched walking behind myself as I listened intently to their quiet footsteps, which were much too quiet when compared to the boisterous noise they'd been making earlier, and it didn't sound like they were speeding up, or getting any closer to me. Breathe, I had to remind myself. You don't know they're following you. I continued to walk as quickly as I could without actually running, focusing on the right-hand turn that was only a few yards away from me now. I could hear them, staying as far back as they'd been before. A blue car turned onto the street from the south and drove quickly past me. I thought of jumping out in front of it, but I hesitated, inhibited, unsure that I was really being pursued, and then it was too late. Looking at myself from a distance I could see just how easily they were luring me into them.
I reached the corner, but a swift glance revealed that it was only a blind drive to the back of another building. I was half-turned in anticipation; I had to hurriedly correct and dash across the narrow drive, back to the sidewalk. The street ended at the next corner, where there was a stop sign. I concentrated on the faint footsteps behind me, deciding whether or not to run. They sounded farther back, though, and I knew they could outrun me in any case. I was sure to trip and go sprawling if I tried to go any faster. The footfalls were definitely farther back. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, and they were maybe forty feet back now, I saw with relief. But they were both staring at me.
It seemed to take forever for me to get to the corner. I kept my pace steady, the men behind me falling ever so slightly farther behind with every step. Maybe they realized they had scared me and were sorry. I saw two cars going north pass the intersection I was heading for, and I exhaled in relief. There would be more people around once I got off this deserted street. I skipped around the corner with a grateful sigh. I felt safe for that brief second.
And skidded to a stop. "They are herding you, Bella, they split up." Sarah reached a hand over her mouth, I was right this was going to be hard to watch. The street was lined on both sides by blank, doorless, windowless walls. I could see in the distance, two intersections down, streetlamps, cars, and more pedestrians, but they were all too far away. Because lounging against the western building, midway down the street, were the other two men from the group, both watching with excited smiles as I froze dead on the sidewalk. I realized then that I wasn't being followed.
I was being herded. I paused for only a second, but it felt like a very long time. I turned then and darted to the other side of
the road. I had a sinking feeling that it was a wasted attempt. The footsteps behind me were louder now.
"There you are!" The booming voice of the stocky, dark-haired man shattered the intense quiet and made me jump. In the gathering darkness, it seemed like he was looking past me.
"Yeah," a voice called loudly from behind me, making me jump again as I tried to hurry down the street.
"We just took a little detour." His grimy hand reached for my face and I felt frozen.
My steps had to slow now. I was closing the distance between myself and the lounging pair too quickly. I had a good loud scream, and I sucked in air, preparing to use it, but my throat was so dry I wasn't sure how much volume I could manage. With a quick movement, I slipped my purse over my head, gripping the strap with one hand, ready to surrender it or use it as a weapon as need demanded. The thickset man shrugged away from the wall as I warily came to a stop, and walked slowly into the street.
"Stay away from me," I warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless. But I was right about the dry throat, no volume.
"Don't be like that, sugar," he called, and the raucous laughter started again behind me. Sarah was watching the interaction still with shock on her face.
I watched as I braced myself, feet apart, trying to remember through my panic what little self-defence I knew. The heel of the hand thrust upward, hopefully breaking the nose or shoving it into the brain. Finger through the eye socket, try to hook around and pop the eye out. And the standard knee to the groin, of course.
That same pessimistic voice in my mind spoke up then, reminding me that I probably wouldn't have a chance against one of them, and there were four. Shut up! I commanded the voice before terror could incapacitate me. I wasn't going out without taking someone with me. I tried to swallow so I could build up a decent scream.
"I was prepared to scream and fight my way through it but Edward saved me in time," I muttered and turned expecting the car at any second.
Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hitting the stocky one, forcing him to jump back toward the sidewalk. I dove into the road, this car was going to stop, or have to hit me. But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet from me.
"Get in," a furious voice commanded. Sarah's eyes widened as she took in Edward's face and appearance. He was seething with anger. Pure rage.
It was amazing how instantaneously the choking fear vanished, amazing how suddenly the feeling of security washed over me, even before I was off the street, as soon as I heard his voice, see his allure Bella, you were such an idiot... I jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind me. Sarah was sitting in the back of the car with me now looking at the interaction.
"I did not feel like I was sitting next to another predator at this moment and it glorified him in my mind but it also scared me because how did he know I was here? He barely confirmed plans to meet with me on the weekend let alone he was supposed to be with Emmett." I was murmuring to Sarah.
"I can see how he would seem noble at this moment especially since you were supposed to go into shock in any minute." Sarah was watching my face and was wary because I wasn't showing signs yet. "He was tracking you though... I wonder how?" She asked me.
"We find out later but he can read minds, he was tracking everyone around who had thought of me especially Jess and Angela, when he realised I wasn't with them he must have tracked the minds of these men." I shook my head. "I'm only shocked Sarah because Edward tried to do what they wanted to do to me that night." I was watching my face now and I really showed no sign other than gratitude. "His scent lured me into a false sense of security." I was wringing my hands now.
"When was that?" Sarah was beyond shocked.
"A few days ago he was breaking up with me in the forest, and it turned beyond ugly. Marcus stopped him from going any further." I sighed. Wishing I did not have to relive all this again and again.
"Just recently? That's why you were hooked up to a machine." I turned to face her now as I had not told her that.
"You can see from the other side? My reality?" I was exploding with questions at this point in time now. The afterlife was a curiosity.
"Yes, but only snippets." She changed the subject again and turned it into about Edward. "Even watching you now I was more concerned with your wellbeing as soon as you saw him." Sarah put her hand against my shoulder in comfort. Our conversation fell silent. I noticed how it was dark in the car, no light had come on with the opening of the door, and I could barely see his face in the glow from the dashboard. I could barely see how the predator was coming out. The tires squealed as he spun around to face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving toward the stunned men on the street. I caught a glimpse of them diving for the
sidewalk as we straightened out and sped toward the harbour.
"His driving would make anyone sick though, he was not that concerned with your wellbeing," Sarah muttered to me. I smiled because then he then said,
"Put on your seat belt," he commanded, and I realized I was clutching the seat with both hands. I quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the darkness. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing through several stop signs without a pause.
His commanding made me feel out of control but I felt utterly safe and, for the moment, totally unconcerned about where we were going. I stared at his face in profound relief, relief that went beyond my sudden deliverance. I studied his flawless features in the limited light, waiting for my breath to return to normal until it occurred to me that his expression was murderously angry. His expression was mine when he was breaking up with me. I could see how that triggered him. BUt watching myself now I could see how he was really affecting me.
"Are you okay?" I asked, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded. I watched as my eyes glazed overtaking in his scent again.
"No," he said curtly, and his tone was livid. I should have asked him right here and now how he had come to find me.
I sat in silence, watching his face while his blazing eyes stared straight ahead until the car came to a sudden stop. I glanced around, but it was too dark to see anything besides the vague outline of dark trees crowding the roadside. We weren't in town anymore. This should have scared me but it didn't.
"Bella?" he asked, his voice tight, controlled.
"Yes?" My voice was still rough. I tried to clear my throat quietly.
"Are you all right?" He still didn't look at me, but the fury was plain on his face.
"Yes," I croaked softly. I wasn't but I wasn't going to feed into his ego of how safer he did make me feel.
"Distract me, please," he ordered. His tones towards me should have been another red flag as well.
"I'm sorry, what?" I was shocked now.
He exhaled sharply. "Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down," he clarified, closing his eyes and pinching
the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Much like he did when he was speaking or thinking about Jessica and Lauren. I was not one of those girls.
"Um." I wracked my brain for something trivial. "I'm going to run over Tyler Crowley tomorrow before school?"
He was still squeezing his eyes closed, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Why?" He was going to smile now. Drawing me in deeper.
"He's telling everyone that he's taking me to prom — either he's insane or he's still trying to make up for almost killing me last… well, you remember it, and he thinks prom is somehow the correct way to do this. So I figure if I endanger his life, then we're even, and he can't keep trying to make amends. I don't need enemies and maybe Lauren would back off if he left me alone. I might have to total his Sentra, though. If he doesn't have a ride he can't take anyone to prom…" I babbled on.
"I heard about that." He sounded a bit more composed. Edward was smirking now.
"You did?" I asked in disbelief, my previous irritation flaring. "If he's paralyzed from the neck down, he can't go to the prom, either," I muttered, refining my plan.
Edward sighed, and finally opened his eyes. My oddly morbid comments seemed to appease him.
"Better?"
"Not really." I waited, but he didn't speak again. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face was rigid.
"What's wrong?" My voice came out in a whisper.
"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella." He was whispering, too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. "But it wouldn't be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those…" He didn't finish his sentence, looking away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again. Again, another red flag.
"At least," he continued, "that's what I'm trying to convince myself." He was hiding his monster considerably well.
"I at least counted three strikes there Bella, what were you feeling right now?" Sarah asked. I hesitated to answer.
"I..." I was mirroring my own memory now and I could not answer her.
"Oh." The word seemed inadequate, but I couldn't think of a better response.
We sat in silence again. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was past six-thirty.
"Jessica and Angela will be worried," I murmured. "I was supposed to meet them." Why was I so weird? I wondered.
"First dates coming huh?" Sarah teased. "Although it was with a Vampire I can understand completely as to how nervous you would have been... Billy and I... Ooph." Sarah fluttered her hand against her face and it made me blush red.
"I do not want to know Sarah, he's like a second Dad to me." I shuddered and she let out a laugh. I smiled then and watched as Edward started the engine without another word, turning around smoothly and speeding back toward town.
This was where it was going to get interesting and I really wanted to warn Marcus though... Even now I was thinking that maybe I had replaced the codependency thing I had with Edward onto Marcus but something seemed off about everything. I was thinking about the moment before I snapped into this realm. There was something really wrong with me... Seeing Renata in action though and hearing that Didyme said she was Aro's shield made me curious. Did a lot of humans manifest gifts before they were turned? Is that why Edward couldn't hear me? Could Chelsea forge bonds from miles away or? So many questions were racing through my mind and I would have to find out but for now, I had to endure awkward interactions and a very, very awkward first date.
Let me know what you think - Marcus POV is coming.