Chapter Nine
Edward and Bella worked together to clean up the living room as much as possible. Alec and Tanya were on the way back to discuss what happened and to answer whatever questions the couple had. "How can we be absolutely positive that Irina is gone?" Edward asked as he righted an end table.
Bella removed the canister from the vacuum she used to collect Irina's ashes from the Oriental rug. It was only a precaution in case Irina attached herself to something else. Bella claimed it was highly unlikely and stated that Irina's departure was rather violent, and most angry spirits didn't have the forethought to prevent their demise.
"Easy," she replied, sealing the ashes in a small container she had retrieved from her car. It had several markings etched into the glass. "Here, hold this." Edward held it out in front of him as if would attack, making her chuckle. "It's fine. I'll show you."
She stood back and pulled off her jacket, leaving her arms bare. Her head tipped back, her eyes on the ceiling above. She whispered a few words that sounded like a spell, holding her arms out. "I'm opening myself to spiritual plane to see if there is anything is the vicinity."
The markings slowly emerged, moving along her wrists, and glowing a soft gold.
"You're still lighting up."
"That's because of you, but if they turned black or blue, it would mean that a ghost or demon was nearby."
"They glow gold because of me?"
The markings disappeared as she looked at him, her eyes a little brighter than usual. They changed like her tattoos, darkening or lightening at will. "I recognize someone that is gifted like me. I told you that."
"You can tell that I can see ghosts because of the markings?'" She nodded. "I can't do the things you do," Edward stated, shaking his head. "I may be able to see and hear them, even help a spirit cross over, but that thing you do is something entirely different."
"It's a different method, I suppose." She slipped back into her jacket. "You probably have a hundred questions."
Edward sat roughly on the couch, exhaling sharply and rubbing his hands over his face. He couldn't look at her. Adrenaline still ran through his blood, and mixed with his desire for her, made him a ticking time bomb. If he wanted answers, he needed to keep that part of himself in check.
He didn't need to open his eyes to know where she was; he could feel her move across the room, each step bringing her closer. He'd never been so aware of anyone. It hardly helped that they had met literally hours earlier. Did he want her because they understood each other better than anyone else could? He wasn't sure he liked that thought, because it seemed too convenient. There was something very wrong with settling for someone, just because it wasn't possible to be with anyone else.
It wasn't fair to either of them.
The cushion beside his moved slightly when she sat down, the brush of her thigh nearly sending him lunging for her. He was starting to forget why they couldn't jump into bed yet.
"I was a child when the markings first appeared," she whispered.
"You said your father died when you were five, but you mentioned a grandmother."
"She was my grandmother in every sense of the word, but blood. After Charlie died, I was sent to a foster family, but after of two days of night terrors, I was taken to another, and another."
"I can't even imagine what it would be like to have this gift as a child. Sometimes the spirits look exactly how they did when they died. When I woke up at the hospital, I thought I was going crazy, with all the dead patients around."
"Charlie stayed with me for a while," she said, wrapping her arms around herself.
Edward realized how hard it must be for her to tell him, so he offered her his comfort. "Come here."
She eyed him for a second, then snuggled by his side, and he wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders.
"I was the only thing keeping Charlie here, and he wouldn't leave until he knew I was okay. Anyway, eventually, they were unable to place me with a family, so they sent me to an orphanage run by nuns at the time. I developed an attachment to Sister Margaret. She had Charlie's brown eyes. It was tough at first, because the kids there only thrived when donations were coming in. Even then, it wasn't easy. There were a few spirits there and I think I was eight when I helped the first spirit crossover. Sister Margaret realized what I could do, and we did our best to keep it that way. The other kids stayed away and called me a freak, because I would sometimes faint or seize when a spirit was near. One night, after a trip to a local movie theater, a spirit followed me back to the orphanage. It had bad intentions and when it tried to attack me in my sleep, I was able to grab it. Imagine all the kids suddenly waking up and seeing me strangling something they couldn't see. My skin started to glow and I started to spew out words in another language."
"Jesus, they must've freaked out."
"They did when they could finally see what I was holding. I'm not sure how it works exactly, I think when the markings glow and I'm touching a spirit, I literally have one foot in our plane and another in theirs." She struggled to explain it and looked for the easiest way to make sense of it all. "Ever watch that cartoon Danny Phantom? It sort of works like that, though I've never gone completely 'ghost'."
"You're talking to a resident geek. Of course, I've heard of Danny Phantom. You got a catchphrase," he teased, poking her side and making her laugh. The discussion was rather heavy and he wanted to lighten it up—anything to make the sadness in her eyes disappear for a little while.
"No catchphrase," she said, rolling her eyes. It took a couple of minutes for her to start up again. "The sisters had to report me to the Vatican. I was tested, but they couldn't recreate what they'd seen. They needed a ghost to do it. They determined that I was a possible threat and they wouldn't let me leave the orphanage after that."
"That's unfair of them. Did you force that spirit away?"
"Yes, it was quite the lightshow." She said nothing for a while. "One night, Sister Margaret packed my things and hers, and we left. I was in her care after that, adopted, and I recently found out that an anonymous benefactor pretty much paid all our expenses. She left me a letter when she passed a few months ago that stated shortly after reporting to the church about my gifts, someone offered me everything I would need, but only if I had a true home."
"There has to be more to that."
"Maggie already loved me and I her, so she had no problem taking me away. The catch was that my gifts were allowed to flourish." She shrugged. "I think she knew that couldn't happen under the church's watchful eyes."
"You were lucky then," he said, pulling her closer. "You were so young to go through all this."
"I'm grateful that she cared enough to help me," she whispered, but Edward heard some anger in her words. "I just wish I knew who it was, you know?"
"I would want to know, too."
"Anyway, my grandmother had taken me to various parts of the world trying to find answers, all paid for by this person. The markings changed every time for some reason, so it's hard to pinpoint what they mean. She wanted to know what they would mean for me."
"Did she find anything out?"
"A shaman recognized one of the words as redemption, and a gypsy said one of them meant punishment. Each time someone interpreted a word, it would change."
"Neither of those words answers why this is happening to you?"
"I don't think I'll ever find the answer, either. The only one that probably knows more about all of this is whoever gave birth to me."
He had another thought. "The benefactor could know something, too."
"I thought that, too, but they could also be one in the same."
Edward finally understood why any mention of the mysterious benefactor made her angry. If it was her birth mother, at one point in time, she chose to leave her baby in a trashcan.
"Is there anything else that I should be aware of?" he asked, unable to resist kissing the top of her hair. Amidst the chaos of the room they were in, Edward wanted nothing more than to lay her back and kiss her, more if she allowed it. Maybe it wasn't just convenient. There was real chemistry between them.
"I've had regressive therapy."
"Seriously," he said, pulling away enough to see that she wasn't joking. "Did you remember past lives?"
She looked away, doing a half-shrug thing and nodding, too. "I was the same in all of them." She held up her wrist, the markings barely visible, and a warm gold. It was strange to know that they reacted to him. "I had these in every life before this one."
Edward didn't know what to say, other than ask more questions. "How many are we talking about?"
"According to the therapists' notes, he counted twenty-five, dating back as far as the revolutionary war."
"What do you mean his notes? Did you stop seeing him?"
"We had to, because he had dollar signs in his eyes. Maggie thought he wanted to use me to further his career. She was afraid I'd be exploited."
"How old were you?"
"I was fifteen." She pulled away, curling up as small as she could. "You ready to run yet?"
He understood why she was open at times, while at others, she put up a fortified wall. Everyone else, other than the woman that adopted her, had left her after learning what she could do. Those that didn't run probably tried to take advantage of her.
"I'm not going anywhere, Bella."
"If you stick around, maybe I can tell you the rest."
He hated that she held onto some secrets, but he understood her reasons. "Come back, Bella, please."
She untucked her legs from under her, uncrossing her arms from her chest, tapping a few fingers on her arm as if she was contemplating something.
He smiled softly, offering a hand; an invitation to be with him and be herself.
She launched herself toward him, laughing when he grunted. Her knee almost caught him between the knees. That soft mouth of hers was everywhere, teasing him, pressing sweet, little kisses all over his face. Her eyes snapped open, meeting his, her lips poised over his. "We're probably mistaking adrenaline for lust," she whispered, pressing her mouth to his anyway.
"No," he groaned as he pulled away long enough to shift her. She straddled him, still unsure, but the desire in her eyes was unmistakable. "I wanted you before I even knew what you could do."
Fuck, you're just figuring that out.
She moaned softly, cradling his face as her hips rolled over him. He was hard beneath her, and he worked to stop himself from thrusting up for more, for something deeper and without fucking clothes. Something was stopping him, and it wasn't doubts anymore. It was the fact that the owners of the house would arrive any minute.
"God," he hissed, his head falling back. Her lips drifted from his mouth, over his chin and sucked at the pulse point on his neck. They both groaned, her hands tightening around his jaw, his on her hips. "As much as I want this to continue, if you don't stop, I'm going to come."
A breathy laugh had him cursing, and the scrape of her teeth on his neck made him guide her hips over his. "That's kind of the point, Edward."
A noise from the front entrance alerted them—the sound of keys in the lock. Her eyes widened when she realized why he tried to put a stop to their encounter.
"Shit, Tanya." She scrambled off his lap, finger combing her hair, but returned to him with a brief kiss. "Get up, or else they're going to figure out what we were just doing." She looked pointedly at his crotch, and sure enough, there was no hiding his arousal sitting down.
"Go greet them," he huffed, rising to his feet and trying to adjust. She looked at him for a moment, popped up onto her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Can't wait to ride that thing," she teased, leaving him in the same situation they were in on the couch.
"Bella," he groaned and turned away to gather some control. It wasn't long before he heard Alec and Tanya talking with her. By the tone in Tanya's voice, she was angry. At least it killed his unruly dick.
"I'm trying to understand why you're here, Bella," he heard Tanya snap. They walked into the living room and everyone stopped talking to stare at each other. It was a rather strange situation. "Explain why she's here. How could you bring someone else here?"
Edward barely interacted with the woman, but she was coming off more concerned than rude.
"I told you that I would likely need a friend to help me out, Bella is that friend." Alec gave him a look that he didn't believe the relationship status, but there was no reason to say otherwise. "She helped me rid your house of Irina."
Bella asked them to have a seat and took the one beside Edward, leaving them directly across from the Williams.
"Is she gone?" Alec asked, his eyes looking at the ceiling fixture directly above the coffee table that separated them. "I'd rather not have my wife here if she's still haunting this place."
"I'm going to let Bella do the talking. She's a medium and much more sensitive than me."
They had already agreed to that arrangement after he called Alec, but didn't have the time to go over what Bella had learned from Irina and Jane.
"What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to hear. Please allow me to finish before you ask any questions. It's very hard for me to discuss it. I'm afraid that, if I stop, I'll stop for good. Is that okay?"
The couple nodded, taking each other's hand.
"Good, I have a few questions first. Alec, I have to ask, did you notice any changes in your wife in the last few months?"
Alec winced, but nodded.
"Do you mean me? Changes like what, how?" Tanya asked, seemingly horrified.
"You became obsessed with what others thought and about our social standing. It was nothing like you, it reminded me of…"
"Of Irina," Tanya whispered, looking even more confused. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"We'd only been married a year. I thought it was stress and not working anymore." Tanya had several cookbooks in publication, a successful web series, and had a cooking show on the Food Network, she quit her web series and show after getting married. Alec shrugged. "You weren't always like that. It sort of seemed like you were two different people, though."
"That's because she was being influenced by Irina. I can take a guess she was the one like that." Alec only nodded, waiting for more. "At first, I don't think she cared about Tanya or your new marriage, but when she realized your wife was nothing like her, she couldn't, in essence, live vicariously through her anymore. The activity got more aggressive recently, right?"
"Yes, I'd say three months or so," Alec said as he looked at his wife for confirmation.
Tanya's eyes widened as if she figured out something. "Oh my God, I hadn't even realized, it was when I found out I was pregnant."
"What?" Alec looked at his wife, his eyes going through a myriad of emotions, finally softening. "You're really pregnant."
"Yes, I'm sorry I kept it from you, I had just confirmed it with my doctor when things got so bad here. I didn't know how to tell you."
Bella and Edward gave the couple a few minutes of privacy, grabbing drinks from the subzero in the kitchen. He pulled out a butcher knife that embedded itself in the door and waited with Bella beside him.
"How bad was it for Jane?" he asked, wondering where his companions had drifted off to. He wanted to call them.
"Is that on a scale of one to ten?" When he nodded, she blew out a breath and sipped from her drink. "It's a nine…no, a ten easy."
Edward noticed the glow coming from one of her wrists. He pulled up her sleeve slowly to watch the markings dance across her skin. They were blue. "Are they close by?"
"Yes."
He had felt their presence in the last few minutes, around the time Alec and Tanya arrived. "Why haven't they joined us?" he asked, pulling Bella close and kissing her forehead. She trembled as she pulled down her sleeve. She probably didn't want Tanya and Alec to see them.
"Jane's afraid she'd go dark if she was too close when I tell them what happened."
She had explained why she sent Jane and the others away, had Jane remained when Irina was still with them, she could've lost her soul due to her anger. Edward closed his eyes. "Jane was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes after Carlisle revived me. I thought she was real at first."
"Do you remember the exact stretch of road where your accident took place?"
He pulled away to look at her. "Yes, why?" It would be hard for anyone to forget where they killed their cousin.
"Her body was probably buried nearby," she whispered, tugging on his shirt to pull herself into his arms again. "When you're ready, I can call someone at the local precinct to investigate the area."
"That decision will be left to her." Edward shrugged and pulled away. "Irina's dead, and if she's responsible, what does it matter? Justice was served tonight." He wouldn't take the choice to crossover from Jane. From what he had learned, she'd already had many things ripped away from her. She would be the one to choose when and if she wanted peace and crossover. He hated it; he wanted her to have her peace, but not unless it was something she desired.
"I understand," Bella said, humming softly. "We'll just have to keep my tattoos from showing whenever I'm around you. Your family of sorts is a package deal, so I'll have to stick to long sleeves. They'll probably have to keep their distance in front of people, too. Can you imagine what people would say when I suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree?"
She was rambling and nervous, a little fidgety. It was cute.
All he heard was that she'd be around. "Does that mean we're in this together?"
She looked up just as Alec called for them from the living room. Bella offered her hand, a lifeline, and he slipped his in hers. "You're stuck with me, Masen."
"Sounds good to me. Besides, what will you do without me?" he teased, waggling his eyebrows. "You don't even have a catchphrase. What am I going to do with you?" He shook his head in playfully disgust. She tugged him toward the living room, trying not to laugh with him.
A brief light moment between them—it was needed.
It was time for more of those answers. A small whimper of pain alerted him of Jane's presence, closer than before. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what happened, but he walked beside Bella, determined work through it together.
