I watched her walk away, still visibly upset from the events of the night, and her thoughts seemed incredibly clouded in comparison to the clear scream they were whenever she used her power. I faded back into the shadows, feeling guilty for the part I had just played in the ending of her relationship to Angela. As the guilt loomed over me, I dug in my pocket for a moment and procured a thin black band that held the most amazing scent in the world. I had held onto it since I was last in her room, swiping it like a thief in the night. It had been so much easier to ignore the pain of missing her when she wasn't nearby, but that encounter was enough to set my whole body on fire once more. I felt so entirely consumed by her, and this token of her scent would live on with me. I took a soft inhale and let the scent swirl around me. Lilacs and pomegranate, the comforting scent that never changed.
I took one more headlong glance at the hair tie fighting the rigidity of my wrist, and with a quick run I was back at my family's home, which was now buzzing with activity. What happened? Is Ara okay? Did she do it successfully? All of their thoughts buzzed around me like bees as they swarmed in. I sighed, knowing I'd never get a moment of peace as long as they kept up their questions, and resigned myself to leaning against the wall and waiting for them all to finish gathering in the entryway. "Well!?" Rose was the first to break the verbal silence.
"She was successful. I drove her home. She also made Angela forget that she ever truly loved her, so pardon me if I don't feel like celebrating that shattering of Arabella's heart." My words came out venomous and bitter.
"Edward." Esme spoke, her voice both stern and gentle. She used such a motherly tone when it came to me that it made me forget she wasn't my real mother. "Nobody is asking you to celebrate."
"Some of the moods in the room say otherwise. Don't they Jasper?" My eyes flashed over to him, knowing already that I was right. With a simple and quick nod he confirmed what I thought. My eyes then flashed pointed and angry toward Rose, accusing her in front of everyone.
"I won't apologize that I'm excited the family has an extra layer of protection, Edward." She shot back in a growl. "We are safe for as long as she is alive."
"Ara is not a tool to be used!" I felt my anger building in my chest, it was taking everything in me not to lunge at Rose, and that was when Jasper stepped in. The whole room settled into a calm, and Carlisle cleared his throat.
"Let's all just settle down, we need to let Arabella mourn her relationship before we even think about entering some contract agreement with her." He spoke, sensible as ever, and attempted to once again ease tensions, forever the mediator.
"I'm very much in favor of not coming to that agreement regardless of her grieving status." I spoke in anger before feeling another, more concentrated, wave of calm wash over me from Jasper.
You two really were cut from the same cloth, feelings so intense I might just mistake them for my own. Jasper thought with mild annoyance. The others thoughts started to trickle back in once more. Each one of them has an opinion they wanted to give, and I was the unwilling recipient. My wonder lingered about which two Jasper was referring to. Was it myself and Rose or myself and Arabella. I had seen him on multiple occasions rush to alter the moods of both women, though I had never paid attention to the particular strength he was experiencing through his ability.
I was just about to flee for silence of mind when a glimmer at the edge of a mind caught my attention. Alice. I thought to nobody but myself. Just as soon as I snapped my attention toward her mind exclusively, the vision overtook. I heard her tiny verbal gasp as her mind took over command and the vision played off its own volition.
Arabella was standing in the middle of her room, her hands were shaking, and I recognized the face she was wearing all too well. Being in the vision meant I couldn't hear her thoughts, but I could read them on her face, and something was very wrong.
Outside of the vision Jasper stiffened and gently grabbed Alice. "What is it? What are you seeing?"
"Edward?" Esme asked gently, her hand resting on my arm as she looked at me with worried eyes, but I couldn't answer, I was trapped studying every detail of the vision.
One moment she was vertical and wobbly, and the next she was racing toward the ground and hitting her head off the bed frame. After that her future became a spinning mass of uncertainty, making it clear to me that while the future we had just seen hasn't happened yet, nothing will prevent it. In one variant she stood before me with red gleaming eyes, though it was unclear how she got to that point, in another she lay unconscious in a hospital bed.
I immediately jumped into action, fishing my phone from my pocket and selecting her contact. The line began to ring, and as I waited the agonizing amount of time for her to pick up, I monitored the situation through Alice's visions in the corner of my mind. The call went to voicemail and I tried again, now turning to Carlisle and fully expecting the worst case scenario. "What's going on Edward?" Carlisle looked confused, as he recognized Alice's sign of a vision striking, but neither of us had spoken.
Futures continued to flash in the corner of my mind. Arabella dead. Arabella a vampire. Arabella happy in college. They all started to spin around me like a tornado. Some futures are much more docile than others, and far more than my liking ending with her as a vampire. The one constant I knew I'd have to face, her headstone. The date ever changing.
The phone stopped ringing and her voicemail connected. "Hi this is Ari, can't get to the pho-" I disconnected the line and tried again, the image of her blood red eyes still vivid in my mind as Alice was finally released from the vision. By the point Alice began relaying everything she had seen, I was shaking violently. "Hi this is Ari, ca-" I roared in rage as I punched her number one more time, but this time it went straight to voicemail. "Hi th-"
"Edward, take a deep breath, she might be okay." Alice said, her inky black eyes large with concern.
"And she might not be." I snapped back, taking a step as I did. This of course launched Jasper into a protective stance and caused Emmett to lay one of his overbearingly large hands on my shoulder.
"Take a breath Edward." Jasper looked me deep in the eyes, his hand resting gently on my sternum. A deep feeling of calm washed over me, radiating out from where Jasper applied pressure. It worked for a moment, until Alice's mind wandered back to the vision, and Ara's eyes floated in my mind, crimson and angry.
Arabella's POVMy hand shook so intensely I dropped the picture, but unlike an etch-a-sketch, this photo did not fade or disappear. I was barely breathing, my chest ached, my heart pounded in my ears, and there was an annoying buzz that filled the room around me. It took a moment before I realized that the buzzing sound was my phone and I located it, but the caller ID was the exact opposite of what I wanted to see. Edward Cullen was calling my phone, at midnight, for the first time in nearly nine months. My mind couldn't grasp all that I had experienced, that I still sat in my halloween costume, that tonight I had chosen to read the letter that had been looming over my head for nearly two months. "So stupid." I said breathlessly, my hands flying up to the sides of my head with my phone still gripped and buzzing. "So so so so so so stupid!" My words did little to help the breath that refused to fill my lungs. "After everything, after Ange-" my voice broke on her name. "After Gaia? I really chose tonight?" I found so much disbelief beneath the surface of the crater that was now my heart.
My whole life had unraveled, and the culprit wasn't a stray strand that was caught, it was me and a pair of scissors. I had such a false hope, I had hoped for something that would explain it all and allow my biological family to find me. Unfortunately for me, in just the last few hours I found myself single, biologically orphaned, unable to explain to my best friend why everything has happened, and the niece of my ex boyfriend's adoptive sister. Such a wonderful night had turned out so shitty so suddenly. I knew somewhere in this god forsaken town Gaia was being given the whole spiel while Angela was moving on with her life, all but forgetting about me. I felt like my heart was shattering into a million finite pieces, each one holding someone I love, and I would never be able to find all of those pieces once more.
I shook my hands, effectively throwing my still buzzing phone down onto the bed, while I desperately wanted my blood and brain to stop feeling like they were carbonated. There was something so fascinating about the sensation that my brain was floating in a McDonald's Sprite, fascinating but horrific. I ripped at my costume, trying to free myself from its restrictive binds, but only came away from my stomach holding clumps of fake leaves stiff with glue. My vision began to tunnel, and before I knew it I was on the floor, the room felt like it was a million degrees. The music felt far too loud, but I didn't seem to have legs at the moment. I felt so weak from everything, my ears ringing and my lungs burning, there was no physical way I could survive this. I'm dying. I thought, because surely it was true. There was no way my body and mind could go through this much in such a short span and not just drop dead. I let my cheek rest on the cool wood floor, slowly losing my ability to do more than gasp for air and drown in the feeling.
I knew only one way to make this feeling go away, and that wasn't an option right at the moment. The only person who hadn't done anything wrong to me, who hadn't hurt me, who hadn't abandoned me, who wasn't a part of the supernatural world. I willed so hard from my slowly creeping paralysis that my dad would come into my room and sweep me up and make it all better. He wouldn't though, not unless I called him, but I didn't even have enough air in my lungs to call out to Siri. Tears slid from my eyes as I attempted to count my breaths and calm myself, but I could barely make it past one.
I started focusing on the music, hoping the beat would help slow my racing heart and rapid breaths, and after what felt like an eternity, I remained unsuccessful. By the time Haunted began pouring from the speakers, I felt a sudden blast of cold air, but my eyes were closed and refused to open against the light of my room. I felt ice hands grab me gently, pulling my limp frame up from the ground. I think I whimpered, because then I heard the gentle shushing as he stroked my hair. "Ara." Edward's voice wrapped around me. "Ara, what happened?" When I didn't answer he placed me on my window seat. First the music stopped, then I heard my closet open and felt the soft fabric of one of my cardigans brush over me as Edward covered me. I still refused to open my eyes, the darkness easier to handle than the truth. Edward pleaded with me once more, eventually giving up to search for the answer. As soon as I heard the papers rustle, I began crying once more. After a few seconds, I heard the sharp inhale that told me all I needed to know. He had seen the picture and knew why I had a photo of Alice in her "before" years.
I finally opened my eyes, squinting against the harsh overhead light. Edward stood in the middle of the room, the papers held in his hands, and a shocked look plastered on his face. His eyes kept glancing between me and the photo, as if taking in all the similarities. After all, Alice looked about my age in that photo, and only looked a year or two younger than the age she was currently frozen at. I felt like my whole body was jello, all I wanted was sleep, but I needed to clean the makeup off my face and change out of my outfit officially. Guessing my thoughts, or perhaps hearing them, Edward disappeared for a moment before reappearing with my makeup wipes in hand. "Here, let me." He said softly as he crouched down in front of me, gently wiping the ruined makeup from my face. Once he was done, he procured a hair tie from his pocket, one I hadn't seen in months. With well practiced hands he pulled my hair back into a low pony. I wanted to speak, to thank him, but no words would form in my throat, and my mind had gone completely silent. I sat there numb, staring at a boy who appeared to love me, though he had never truly said it. I knew the only way out was through at this point, and I resigned myself to falling asleep. I had no way of telling Edward what I was doing, so I just closed my eyes and hoped he understood.
"No, Ara, don't go to sleep, I think you might have a concussion." Edward shook my shoulder gently. I groaned in protest, the cold air coming through the window slowly waking my senses back up. "No seriously, I'm taking you to Carlisle, your head is bleeding a little and you've done a number on your knee." I felt the confusion wash over me as I raised a lurching arm toward my head. Edward sighed in relief as he saw my motor functions slowly returning, and I felt a small amount of wetness right at my hairline, it was thick and warm and my head throbbed when I touched it.
"Ouch." My voice croaked out.
"Yeah, you got yourself pretty good." He mumbled, clearly upset. "Alice's vision… we didn't know what happened, we just thought maybe all the compulsion was too much. We- I thought you were…" He couldn't finish the sentence, though the pained look on his face made it clear what he thought. The unspoken word hung between us for a moment, making the air feel almost thicker.
I sighed eventually and nodded my head cautiously, then looked down at my outfit. My pantyhose had a horrible run in them, my knee staining the material. "Can I at least change first?" I croaked weakly.
"Yeah, what do you want?" He stepped over to my dresser and looked back at me.
"Pajama shorts and a hoodie." I mumbled as I started to stand, but as I rose from the window seat the world rushed around me and the dizziness set in. The cardigan that had been draped over my form fell to the ground with a soft thump as I threw my hand out desperately. I lost my footing and saw for the briefest moment the world rushed around me before Edward caught me.
"I'll just bring your clothes with us." He said, a nervous edge still present in his voice.
"No, it's fine, I'm fine." I pushed against him feebly as he adjusted his support of me.
"No you're not Ara." He sighed, as if he had forgotten how we used to go back and forth like this. He settled me back onto the window seat, then walked over to my dresser once more and grabbed the first pair of shorts he came across as well as the first hoodie he saw. He then walked over to my bed hesitantly and picked up the letter and photo, sliding them back into the envelope and placing it on top of the folded clothes. He then located one of my tote bags and slid the whole stack in, then located my now dead phone, the charger, and a soft throw blanket. With the tote bag slung over his shoulder, he took the blanket and draped it over me like he had with the cardigan earlier, and lifted me bridal style. "Close your eyes." He whispered as he stepped through the window and into the freezing night.
The motion of him running did little to help the dizziness that held me in its grasp, but I fought the nausea and buried my head in the crook of his neck. My shaking hands were laced around the back of his neck, and I hoped desperately that the journey would end soon, as the blanket was doing little to stop the ice cold air from ripping at me. As soon as we stopped running and the warmth of being inside enveloped around me, I felt the need to vomit slam into my throat. Panicked, I raised my head, though far too fast for my current state, and looked at Edward with a bewildered expression. "Shit." He mumbled under his breath, rushing to the bathroom and setting me in front of the toilet just in time for the first heave. Granted, he had had plenty of experience dealing with the fickle nature of my stomach.
After two heaves I was done and sitting on the floor, still miserable. I looked up to the concerned eyes of Edward, and smiled. "Eddie Eddie Eddie. Was that a curse word I just heard?" I laughed lightly, then clutched my head as I did so. I realized then that my anxiety had ebbed away, and that the familiar feeling of calm that Jasper gave me had taken its place. This made me feel slightly guilty, though that feeling disappeared as soon as it arrived, because I knew that Jasper had a difficult time around open wounds like this, and I was aware that the family hadn't been on a hunting trip recently.
Carlisle suddenly swept into the room and crouched before me, shining a light in my eyes and looking at me apologetically when I flinched away. They decided to move me up to Carlisle's office to sit on a plush leather couch, where Carlisle determined my head injury didn't need stitches but it did need bandaged. As for my knee I just needed to keep it clean and covered. Edward had seen himself out, heading to where I assumed Alice and Jasper hid. I couldn't help but feel guilty as I looked at Carlisle's studious black eyes, because I knew all of the Cullens still needed to feed, and I had just entered smelling like a buffet.
"As for the concussion," Carlisle began, "I would say it's a grade two, it should be healed in a few days but I still don't want you going to sleep just yet, and to be woken up every hour." He spoke gently as he cleaned my knee with delicate hands.
"One problem with that." I mumbled, now sleepy from the mood Jasper had wrapped around me the moment I crossed into his range. "My dads on nights for the rest of the week."
"Would Gaia be a viable option?" He asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he looked up at me.
"I wouldn't put my money on it right now. She just found out about everything." I tried not to sound bitter, though I couldn't help but find Paul's actions selfish. Had he discussed it with me before he did it, I could have been sure that Angela wouldn't see, that I wouldn't have gone looking, and that the Cullens would have had no reason to come running out of the dance like that.
"Hmmm…" he was silent for a moment before turning his attention to the door where seconds later it opened to a wide eyed Alice.
"Arabella… I'm so sorry, I never knew." Her words were rushed, like she was holding her breath and needed to get it out as soon as possible. I realized then that she was in fact holding her breath. All of their eyes were black.
"No, Alice, it's fine." I waved weakly at her, but that didn't change her expression. The complexity of the situation seemed to only make it harder to hold all of the Cullen's at an arm's length.
"If you don't want me to look into it, I won't, I promise!" Her words were rushed still, but I heard the desperation clinging, like she didn't want me to say no but she respected the idea of I did.
After a moment of consideration I finally spoke. "No it's fine, it's your past too… just don't tell me about it until I ask, okay?"
"Absolutely." With a quick smile and a desperate look, she spun and disappeared from the door.
After a moment I sighed and leaned back into the couch, looking at Carlisle with tired eyes. "It's been a long night." I could feel it all dragging me down further and further into the leather seat.
"I suppose it has." Carlisle smiled sympathetically, patting my knee gently before handing me a pack of bandages and alcohol wipes.
"Thank you." I spoke quietly, casting my eyes to the sterile bandages clutched in my hand. "For… everything." I cleared my throat that was still thick with sorrow, as I dragged my eyes up again to meet his.
"Ara, you're one of us, whether your heart beats or not." He stood and dumped the gauze he had used to clean my wounds into a glass bowl. After pouring some of the rubbing alcohol on it he procured a match from seemingly thin air and struck it. The bowl went up in flames as soon as he dropped the match in it. Slowly the bloody evidence of my night burnt away.
I excused myself from the room, making my way to the bathroom to change out of the costume that still bound me. With a glance in the mirror I saw how crazed I looked. While my makeup had been wiped away thoroughly, I still bore the shadow of my mascara and the eyeliner that had worked its way into my waterline. My hair was no longer delicate curls, but instead a mangled mess of red that was being held back carefully at the nape of my neck. Blotches covered my face and neck from the crying, and I had a bandage right at my hairline on the left side of my face. I looked just as I felt, as though I had been to hell and back.
I took extra care to peel the clothing from my body, grateful that Edward had thought to bring me a change of clothes. The costume was in tatters from my fit earlier, while the bodysuit underneath had survived my wrathful pulling, large clumps of the leaves had been ripped away to reveal bald spots to the green fabric below. Without the vines to add more modesty I found myself more scantily clad than I had ever been around any of the Cullen's. That realization made me blush hard, the embarrassment closing the space between the blotches on my neck.
After I finished changing I helplessly pulled my hair into a bun, then looked in the mirror once more. I was slightly less disheveled, but I knew it wasn't going to get much better until I got some sleep. Heavy bags hung under my eyes, each holding all of the events of the day and wanting desperately to drag my eyes down into a deep sleep, so it was to no surprise to me that as I opened the bathroom door sleepily, Edward was waiting.