Chapter Twenty-One

Bella helplessly watched as Edward held his hands over his chest, struggling to breathe. And though she couldn't see everything the spirit riding him was sharing, she knew it had Edward in its clutches. For every forced breath he had to take, the more her anger started to grow. She caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror, saw how close she was to losing herself. Every time he had a second of clarity, able to discern what was real and not, the spirit would pull him back into its grasp.

She felt his pain.

She knew what she had to do. There was no other choice, but to leave Edward alone. She had to traverse another plane to find the spirit riding him. It didn't matter how much she tried to tell him what he was seeing and feeling wasn't real. His mind believed he'd been stabbed multiple times, so his body reacted as if he had been, and it could kill him. In a way he was scaring himself to death. She had seen only once before, and the more horrific the spirit died the harder it was to break from its hold.

She gave him one last look, her hands curling into fists as her anger heated her blood. The blackness she pulled in, growing inside her, bubbled up and spilled from her eyes. It manifested into energy, shaking the very foundation of her surroundings. She swallowed her fears, she couldn't let them rule her. Closing her eyes briefly, she allowed her entire body to phase. She felt a thousand times lighter, freer. For a fraction of a second, she wanted to explore the sensation of being free from the confines of her mortal body. The whisper of her name from Edward instantly grounded her. She promised to help him before turning toward the wall.

Her mind braced for pain as she stepped through layers of tile, plastic, cement board, and wood, but it only lasted for a few seconds. It was agonizing, but once she realized when she was phased, it shouldn't hurt, the pain disappeared. She had to take a moment to assess how she felt, and set out to discover the spirit threatening Edward's life.

How the hell did it get inside? Before she could dwell on the issue, she heard the sound of someone crying. It seemed to move throughout the house, and she did her best to follow it. She called out for James and the others, hoping if they all rallied around Edward, they could help him snap out of the trance. When they didn't answer, she realized something was blocking them from coming inside the house.

What the hell was going on? Her home was her sanctuary, the only safe haven she had. It was the place she could rest without anything other than human could enter. Wards, spells, everything she could do, she did to protect her house so she'd find peace within its walls. Demons and spirits usually had no power there, and couldn't pass through walls of her house. Somehow a spirit was able to pass through her protection, but not the others. It made no sense. If it was able to attack her and Edward from within the house, Jane and the others should be able to come inside, too.

She opened her mind and gifts in search of anything supernatural, but for whatever reason, she couldn't feel anything beyond the house. Looking back one more time at Edward, she caught a brief glimpse of the memories attacking him. It had to be the young woman stabbed to death by her younger brother. The same boy who grew into a man and a serial killer, following the footsteps of his grandfather.

With every step she grew more and more angry and scared, but fear had an ugly effect on her. She pulled in the hate, the anger, and fear, letting it fuel her, expanding her powers to a level she rarely dared to use. It hardly mattered if she went full on dark.

If it saved Edward, it would be worth it.

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Edward didn't understand what he was seeing. The image of Bella walking through the wall was superimposed over the image of his mangled chest. It wasn't possible, Bella had said she never completely phased due to fear she'd die from by doing so. Yet she disappeared into a fucking wall.

What had she said before she disappeared? Why did she leave him there, dying, bleeding, and in so much pain? It was excruciating, though the pain was starting to lessen as the seconds that felt like hours ticked by. He looked down at his hands expecting to find them covered in his blood, but they were clean. Wet and clean. The tips of his fingers wrinkled from being in water for too long, like in a pool or bath. He wasn't in the middle of some forest, drowning in his own blood. As soon as the realization hit him, he was once again bombarded with memories, a searing pain in his chest made him gasp and groan.

Bella's words echoed in his head, her beautiful face covered in tears and fear swam through the dense fog between two images. "It's not real, Edward. Oh God, baby. It's not real, look at me."

He looked down at his bloody chest, feeling the nine stab words as if they were still there. As if it had happened to him. They hadn't though, because Bella was right. It wasn't real.

"It's not real! It's not fucking real!"

He closed his eyes, the ground started to tremble under his feet. A shampoo bottle tumbled from the shelf, rolling along the tiled floor, and then another. Something seemed to make the air around him vibrate with energy. It was so strong and despite the destructive power, he knew its source – Bella. And she was pissed.

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Bella felt Edward trying to break himself free from the spell, and doing so on his own, an impressive feat. She knew he had it in him, and she was doing her part to help, giving the ghost a taste of her own medicine. Scaring her with her power. The ground and walls rumbled with her anger, with her need to save Edward.

The others were right; Heidi Lexington's spirit was on the threshold of becoming something sinister. However, Heidi was frightened of her, enough to run when Bella almost had her. "Damn it!" she cried, reaching outward for the wayward spirit. She heard Edward call for her, the sound of his voice pulling her toward him. There was no denying it, it was stronger than the need to hunt and destroy the fleeing spirit. From the hallway leading to her living room and kitchen, she watched Edward frantically search through each room through the wall. It was translucent to her, she'd never experienced it before and it would help in future hunts.

Edward caught her attention again, he had pulled on some pants, his body still wet from the shower they shared before everything went to shit. She knew he was gorgeous, but in all the time since they met, she hardly had a chance to look at him so fully. His chest, though on the lean side, was sculpted beautifully, highlighting the dips and valleys of his muscles. A small smattering of hair trailed down the middle of his abdomen, disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. He had a small mole, along one side of the inviting shape of his hips. She wanted to explore it, with the tip of her finger and her lips. Her tongue.

It was startling how much she felt, the desire for Edward had been there from the start, but she hadn't expected to feel so much while phased.

"Bella! Fucking answer me!" As he passed her, he stopped and looked right at the wall where she stood behind of, watching him. "Bella?" He reached to touch the wall, his hand falling through, making them both curse in surprise. Suddenly she felt his hand on her arm, being pulled toward him at the same time her body came to flesh.

She screamed, but the pain lasted only a second, long enough to remember it shouldn't hurt. They stood there, panting and utterly clueless what had just happened. Even as she stood before him, her mind continued to process everything she learned. The thing she was most confused about was how had she come down from her episode without purging? Was it Edward?

"Are you okay?" she asked, surprised to find it hurt to talk.

Edward arms wrapped around her tightly, his nose nuzzling her neck and shoulder. "Fuck no." He shook his head, taking her hand in his after a minute. He led them into the kitchen. "I'm suddenly fucking starving, but we're going to talk about what the fuck just happened."

"Uh, I don't have an issue with that, but I'm naked." He stopped, looked at her from the top of her head to her toes, lingering longer than needed on her chest and legs. The desire she felt while watching him renewed, stronger than before. "Let me get some clothes on."

"I could use the distraction, please."

How could she refuse him? She followed him, while she opened her mind to everything around her, in search of the spirit that invaded her home. The events started to unfold in her mind, working through the possibilities and explanations.

Edward appeared confused, and likely in shock. After eating, he'd probably knock out within a few minutes. There was also a good chance he wouldn't remember much. Vicky had after she witnessed a non-standard crossover after discovering what she could do. She had thought it was just a nightmare. Sometimes, Bella wished nights like that were bad dreams, but her reality could be just as horrifying.

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Edward was in a state of numbness. There was a healthy dose of 'what the fuck' followed by a bit of 'you've got to be kidding me' but fear wasn't the most prominent for some reason. He was clearly losing his shit, his mind was sending all the bad stuff to a deep, dark corner. Somewhere he couldn't find it.

Bella talked animatedly about what happened in her bathroom, but he barely heard a word. Sure her pretty pink nipples were distracting, or her cute little belly button begged for him to tease with the tips of his fingers. A voice in his head wanted to kick his ass for allowing himself to be so distracted, but he needed it. Just a while longer, he told himself. Maybe it was a some fucked up dream.

"I haven't heard a word you said." Honesty was the best policy, and for them it had to be. "In fact, you're probably not even real. Just like watching my chest bleed hadn't been real." Bella's eyes narrowed, and a spark of black fire rose within their depths. She reached over and pinched his arm, hard. "Ow! What the fuck was that for?" There was a damn welt forming.

"Just wanted to prove I'm real."

He rubbed his arm. "I'm having a hard with all of this. It's fucking insane. I thought you said your house was safe. You said it would allow you to rest so you could to be ready to go to that damn hellhole tomorrow and save those souls. Some of which can't be saved, according to you and Jasper. Instead, we were here, five fucking minutes, and I almost die. You phased completely, when you could've ended up being Casperized forever and you're expecting me to believe all this is fucking real."

"As real as the tits you're staring at," she said as she stood, walking over to a cabinet and pulling on a red apron. Well fuck, he didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. "This is all I have handy. Now can you try looking at my face please?"

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm freaking out and my mind is going to the one place where I'm fucking happy. And that's inside you. God, that sounds awful. Sorry."

"No offense taken."

"But if the situation was reversed and you had no clue any of this was possible, you'd be doing the same."

She went back to her sandwich and chips, eating and gathering her thoughts. "I pretty much grew up like this, so yeah, I don't know what it's like to live a normal life. I can understand to some degree, but only because you're pretty much reacting to it all like Vicky had. At first she wanted to know everything, and when she finally saw how intense it can get, she freaked out. She believed she was having a nightmare. One she couldn't wake up from. I had to tell her about her mother haunting her to get her to snap out of it."

Edward rubbed his face and groaned. "I had a few spirits whisper things in my ear, even had one visit my dream once, but I never had one take over like that. I actually thought I was dying."

"I know."

"Do you know how this happened?" A dark look came over her, he touched her fingers and her eyes softened to their natural color again.

"I think I figured it out. Let's finish eating, I'll show you."

He agreed, still hungry but found it strange he had an appetite after what he'd seen and felt in the last half hour. She explained once that dealing with the spirits took considerable energy, and after she often was often wanting to consume food. As they ate, mostly in silence, Edward ran his eyes over every exposed inch of Bella. For someone with the ability to walk through walls, other the dark circles under her eyes, she looked fine.

He had to ask. "Is the ghost still here?" He closed himself off when they sat down to eat, needing a break for a few minutes. He was better at quieting the voices since they met.

"No," she whispered. "She took one look at me after I…anyway, she spooked."

His jaw dropped a little. "I can't believe you said that."

She laughed and helped him clean up after they were done with their food. Leading the way, he watched her bare ass, all framed by red ruffles from her apron. It took considerable control to stop from touching her.

"I swear I didn't scare her away on purpose," she continued, oblivious to where his mind went. "It would've been easier to take care of her now than tomorrow. Ready?" She stopped by a living room window.

He nodded, gently squeezing her fingers in his hand.

"Now, for you to understand, my grandmother and I went through a lot to get all the protection for this house. I had to have a safe haven for me."

"But it's obvious it didn't work."

"That's the thing, it had always worked before. My grandmother bought this house when I was a child, even though we moved around a lot, we always came back here for a little while. She started the process of fortifying it since I was a child. I had Caius Lexington's vengeful spirit right outside, huffing and puffing with no way in the house. He was the strongest spirit I'd been up against before his grandparents. Trust me when I say, my house was a safe place."

"So what happened?"

She walked over to a window, on the white sill was a strange circle burned into the wood, like someone had used a branding iron. On each side of the image was a crack, the wood had split down the center, but the circle and inside it was intact.

"See the cracks here and here, but not between?" she pointed out, her finger running along the cracks. "When the crack split the spell, it killed it, allowing Heidi inside.""

"The crack isn't running through the spell now though? The spell looks complete."

"I think I fixed it," she said, barely looking at him. "I think that's why Heidi is gone now. Between scaring her and the power of the spell, she probably had no choice. Remember when I said there are times where my instincts take over. This is one of those times."

What she meant by 'I fixed it' was the little earthquake he felt earlier. It had been her.

"Time out. I need a drink." Edward spun and headed toward a liquor cabinet they had passed on the way toward the window. Bella sat beside him on the couch seconds later, as he drank two shots, before returned his attention to her. "Okay, you may continue."

"Edward," she whispered, taking his hand in hers. He knew what she wanted to say, but thankfully she didn't offer for him to walk away. There was only so many times he could hear those words and not feel like it was what she wanted.

"I'm okay, Bella. I'm here, please continue."

She looked ready to argue, but one shake of his head and she chose not to. "I will continue, if I can make a suggestion."

"Anything. I think that's obvious, even if I check out every once and a while. I'll still be here." Minor meltdowns were expected in their line of work. It wouldn't be the first time, and he doubted it would be his last.

"How about a two-week vacation anywhere in the world, preferably tropical. I can handle a cabin, too." When he had said nothing, too shocked she'd even suggest such a thing, she looked ready to backpedal. He knew how insecure she felt about how her gift drove people away, and his distance lately and his latest reaction seemed to reaffirm her beliefs.

"That sounds perfect" he whispered, releasing her hand and cradling her face gently to brush his lips over hers for several seconds. "The idea of you on the beach in a bikini sounds amazing. Now before I get preoccupied with those images, please continue."

She huffed when he pulled away from her mouth. "How am I supposed to think now after kissing me?" He tried to move away, but she grabbed onto his hands tightly and led back to the kitchen for some reason.

"Okay. I can do this. While you were lost in Heidi's memories, feeling and seeing what she did, I phased fully to search for her. I knew she was in the house, and as I looked, I pulled in as much of the negative energy from around me, including her. I think it weakened her, helped you break her hold on you, and scared her off. Once I realized she was in the house, I opened my mind more and saw that some of the protection around the house had been broken. I was getting angrier by the second, add that to all the pain, fear, and anger I was pulling inside me. Then adding hers, yours, and my own emotions, it manifested into the minor tremor, fixing the broken seals. Again, my instincts kicked in, and I'm guessing you'll be seeing more of that tomorrow."

"I'll address the 'minor tremor' later, but I have to ask. How is a spell broken?"

"Depends on the kind, in this case, no demon or spirit would be able to break them. So either a human or something else did it. Whatever it was, it was capable of breaking all of the seals at the same time by splitting wood and tiles." She pointed to tiles under the kitchen window with intact spells, but the tiles had clearly broken in half at one point, like the window sill she showed him.

"What the fuck has the power to do something like that, Bella? Are you telling me there's something more powerful than demons and spirits around here?"

"I have no idea, I never met anyone or experienced something like this. The last time I went almost completely dark, I killed a man, but through phasing. Earthquakes has never been in my bag of tricks."

He didn't know how to address the magnitude of what she'd done. "I'm trying to decide if what just happened is a good thing or not?"

She bit her lip and exhaled sharply. "I think it was."

"Me almost dying is a good thing?"

"No, fuck no. Edward, the last time I went as dark as I had just been, I purged for almost a full twelve hours straight. Broke about every bone in my body to do it." He flinched at the idea of her in so much pain. "Right now, I don't feel it inside me. It's gone and I think it's because you touched me."

"I thought you said when I touched you, you pushed it back down."

"I thought the same thing, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe I was being too cautious before to let you. You mean so much to me already, Edward. I had to be careful, and I'll continue to do so."

In other words, she didn't want him risking his life by touching her when the darkness within her threatened to take over. He wasn't making any promises.

"So explain how I was able to pull you out of the wall?"

"I think when I phase through a wall, it does something to the wall itself so you were able to pull me free. How did you know where I was anyway?"

Edward shook his head. "In a way it's like when a ghost is nearby, I sense that its close, but maybe because we're deeply connected, I knew exactly where you were. I couldn't see you, but I felt you."

"We're going to be okay, Edward. I truly believe we will be fine tomorrow. I know the thought of stepping on that property scares you, it scares me, too. But we'll get through it together."

"Together sounds so fucking good."

Unable to curb his desire any longer, he kissed her, gently at first. The last thing he wanted was to scare her with how desperate he wanted to touch her, hold her, and climb inside her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, a moan emerging from between her lips as his own trailed down her neck. He rose to his feet, pulling her up and around him. They had hours before they had to settle down for the night, prepare and rest for the following morning. Until then, he'd show her how much she meant to him.