Chapter Twenty
Edward had Bella tucked against his side on the couch, her body shivering in the cool house. After her episode in the basement, they had forgotten to change thermostat. He wasn't sure if what happened to her was the cause, but the temperature around them dropped more than usual.
Jane was the first to speak up once they gathered in the living room, looking more dead than usual. "Bella, do you pull all the bad stuff from us?" She shared a look with James and Shelley, each of them wary of her answer. Edward didn't blame them for their concern.
Bella closed her eyes, her hand tightening around his fingers. "As much as I can." Edward shook his head in disbelief. Why hadn't she told him? "Mostly from you Jane, since your death was more violent than the others." The poor girl hung her head, her form fading for several moments. "Once Alec's ex was out of the picture, it was much better, but…" Bella paused, Jane's gaze snapped up to look at hers. They seemed to communicate silently for a few moments.
"I'm not ready."
Bella nodded, offering a her an understanding smile. "I know."
"What just happened there?" Edward asked, frustrated with it all. "You can't keep anything else from me, Bella." The words were delivered so harshly, she flinched.
"It's not my secret to tell." Her eyes remained on Jane, who continued to shake her head. "She'll tell you when she's ready."
Jane's gaze softened as it landed on Edward, appearing brighter than usual. "I'll tell you soon, just give me some time."
Edward didn't know what to say. "Fine. Whatever." The secrets were becoming too much. "Tell us what's been going on at the Lexington House." The others all shared a look, Jane staring at Bella apologetically. He wasn't ready to address his behavior, there would be time later for it.
James shuddered suddenly, his eyeballs shaking, too. "As ghosts we don't feel things like the cold or the sun on our backs. But for some reason, I felt so fucking cold there."
"It was horrific," Shelley whispered, a faraway look in her eyes. "In all my years in this afterlife, I never felt so incapable of free will."
"Something or someone had a hold of us there," Jane said, pacing a few feet above the floor. "There's three evil spirits, an old man, couldn't have been more than seventy when he passed. His wife, though she looks older than him. Another woman, possibly one of the first victims. She's been there the longest, she's so angry."
"I sensed the same thing," Bella said, tapping her fingers on her knee. "Anyone on the verge of turning?"
All three nodded. "Maybe three others, there's the girl, their granddaughter, too. She's torn between what she knows is right and her anger, she could snap at any moment." Shelley looked at Bella, a deep sadness in her haunting gaze. "They won't let Vicky go, the only reason we were able to escape was because they truly have no hold over us." Vicky had been killed by one of the evil spirits relatives, it would make since that she had a connection with the family. "We had to gain the strength to free ourselves though."
"What are we supposed to do now?" James asked.
"Call for reinforcements," Bella said, rubbing her face with a hand. Her eyes closed tightly, before clearing her throat. "The owners of this house will be here in two days. I suggest we all gather our strength and regroup soon. They know I'll be coming, and they'll whisper their evil into the souls of the others. If we don't put a stop to it soon, something horrible will happen."
Edward had to ask. "Are you sure the owners are really coming home?"
Bella looked away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I deserved that, I'm sorry. Right now, you know what I know."
Edward wanted to apologize, but it was too soon. The pain too fresh, the memory of watching her being torn apart too vivid in his mind. She had kept something vital from him, and now Jane's secret. He wouldn't leave her, but trusting her was another matter.
.
.
.
Two days later Bella led him to her house, his truck following close behind her car. She had asked for him earlier to wait for her down the road from the house she was watching, while she returned the keys to homeowners. He had erased any evidence of his stay. Any trace of his tinkering in the network and security was set back to normal, it was as if he had never been there.
James, Shelley and Jane remained close by, but not hovering. Whatever it was Jane needed to say, she was going out of her way to avoid him. Though she had a lot on her mind, and he felt she needed the time to deal with it all. Her family decided to bury her the following day, and Edward debated on attending the funeral. In life, he'd never known Jane. How would his attendance be explained? Or Bella's for that matter.
Bella's house was not what he expected when they arrived. Her flashy car seemed out of place in the driveway of an English style cottage, with a lot of masonry work, and a matching garden. He helped her with her bags, everything between them subdued with the weight of everything.
There had been no need for her to purge since the last time, but she rarely slept. He knew it was partially his fault.
"I'm going to take a shower," she whispered, dropping her purse on her bed. He followed her inside her bedroom to drop off her bags and his. "You're welcome to whatever you need." She didn't look back, or trail her fingers down his arm like she usually did when she wanted to share a shower. He was putting the doubt back in her eyes with his behavior.
He couldn't help it. Fear clogged his veins and filled his mind with countless nightmares. The problem was each one possible because of the horror he'd seen. It scared him. Stripping himself of his clothes, he stepped into the steam filled bathroom shortly after debating with himself. In the corner of the large walk-in shower enclosure sat Bella, her knees pulled up to her chest, her shoulders shaking as she cried.
"Bella." He pulled her up in his arms, whispering the same apologies he had for her. They stepped under the water, holding onto each other so hard, they struggled to breathe.
It hurt to breathe, too much in fact.
Bella pulled away, looking around frantically, she phased her hands and searched the walls. "What is it?" Edward gasped, grasping for the tile wall with one hand. Nearly choking on his tongue, he tried to talk again. "Wha—" Spots started to dance in front of his eyes, but he managed to reach for her.
Her eyes widened in alarm when his other hand fell through the tile. He felt nothing out of ordinary, other than a slight pins and needles feeling in his arm, or where his arm should be. One of her hands turned back to flesh again, pulling his phased arm out of the wall. He looked down, expecting to find a bloody stump, but it was back to normal.
"What the fuck?"
Keeping a phased arm in the wall, she placed his hand on the tile, only for it to happen again. "That's never happened before. Fuck. Keep one hand on me. at all times, Edward. Never take it off. I'm not sure what will happen if I stop phasing while your arm is in the wall."
Edward cocked an eyebrow. "Let's not find out." He reached around, strange to know his hand was following his commands. Though he couldn't see it, he could feel what it was doing. "What am I looking for?"
"There's a presence here," she spat, reaching further into the wall. "That's why we couldn't breathe." The pressure was still in his chest, but it had decreased since Bella started her search.
"How will I know if I found something?"
She didn't need to answer, because the next thing he knew he was plunged into darkness, his hands around a skinny arm. He heard Bella calling out his name, seemingly so far away.
"Let go," she screamed, an unphased arm pulling at his shoulder. She couldn't stop phasing her other arm in the wall without risking his. It was useless to fight, something gripped had a tight hold of him. Memories ran through his mind, though they were not his own. He wasn't looking at the scene from the outside, he was the poor soul. It was happening to him, and the spirit's fear sent him to his knees. His chest felt like it was on fire.
"Let go! Edward!" He felt whatever he had a hold of being shaken, and heard a soft laugh in his ear that chilled his blood. The vision he stepped into was starting to fade, but not before the damage was done. He fell to his knees, his arm slipping out unscathed from the wall. Blood seeped from multiple stab wounds, the pain barely registering as edges of his vision started to darken.
"It's not real, Edward. Oh God, baby. It's not real, look at me." He felt her hands on his face and chest, her palm slick from the water and his blood.
"Don't worry, I'll be right back to watch over you." He heard her scream and saw her reach through the walls in search of the spirit riding him.
"It's not real, Edward!"
The lights overhead flickered, the glass of the shower started to tremble, the tile beneath Bella's feet cracked at the weight of her anger. Her eyes black as coal stared into the wall, with one look over her shoulder at him, he knew something horrible was about to happen. She stepped inside the wall and disappeared.
AN: I'm a horrible, horrible person. The next part isn't in either of their POVs so I had to separate it. In supernatural terms 'riding' means possessing, but in this case, it's more like influencing. I'll try to answer any questions. I know it feels like I'm dragging it out, but a few things need to happen before they go and kick some ass.
