21 Years Later: Chapter 2
Summary: The Cullens visit the Denalis after 21 years to be met with the most unlikely of surprises.
Bella/Tanya
Charles Swan pulled up to the mansion that was the Denali home. "Oh, Bella... no." He damn near cried when he saw the Denali coven members. He jumped out of the car seconds later. "You are going to change her... right? I mean, why else... I mean if you weren't she be in a hospital. She is here because..." Charlie rumbled on.
It took the coven seconds to realize the man in front of them knew all about them.
"Yes, that is the plan," Tanya answered calmly with her hand on Charlie's arm. He let out a strangled sob and nodded in relief. He'd rather his daughter was a vampire than dead.
"What happened?" That was the question he should have asked, but in his panic, he just needed to assure himself of the reason why Bella was with the coven instead of in a hospital.
"We don't know," Tanya answered as they led him into the house. "We have been away and got back yesterday. I could smell blood and a lot of it. I ran into the forest and found your daughter. She was lying in a pool of her own blood, and thankfully mostly out of it. She was lucid enough to mumble something then passed out. She'd been out since then. It looks like she was bitten by a predator. She has sepsis, her organs will eventually fail, and her leg will not heal unless amputated. I'm afraid even if she survives, her quality of life... it will not be much of a life." Charlie could see that. She'd be in and out of the hospital for most of it.
"You are a doctor," Charlie stated.
"Yes, we all are. Immortally is hella boring, and you have to find ways to occupy yourself." Kate answered, earning a grin from Charlie. Tanya opened one of the many doors on the corridor; he walked in to find Bella on a huge bed looking paler than usual. She had a drip on her, and her leg wound was dressed even though it was pointless.
"Oh, Bella, if there is trouble to be found, you will find it." He murmured as he sat on the chair next to the bed. She looked comfortable, despite everything. "Thank you." He whispered as he took Bella's cold hands in his.
"We are hoping she will wake up and hopefully we can explain everything to her. It's her decision..."
"I know she is an adult, but you will change her if her condition worsens. I will deal with the fallout." Charlie said, cutting Tanya off. "If I have to steal your venom and do it myself, I will." He threatened much the coven's amusement.
"How do you know about us?" Irina asked the question that had been on all their minds.
"I am friends with the Quileute tribe in La Push. I've heard the stories about the cold ones all my life. Didn't think much of it until the Cullens moved to Forks."
"Of course, they lived there a few years ago. They are our cousins." Irina added. Charlie's face morphed into anger.
"No offense but your cousins are a bunch of fucking assholes." He turned his attention back to Bella. "They took her in, gave her something I couldn't, and without a word abandoned her. Alice... god I loved her like my own daughter, and she left without a word. They just disappeared and left her thinking the worst. Bella thought the Cullens had been killed for revealing themselves to her considering everything Alice had said about your rulers. She did not for a second think they'd just leave without so much as a goodbye. Alice called Bella her best friend, the sister she never had, and then..." Charlie let out a shaky breath.
"She spent months thinking the worst, waiting for your rulers to come for her. One day she finally broke down and told me everything, as she couldn't live with the guilt anymore. She had no idea I knew what the Cullens were, so she was trying to keep me out of it. She wanted to go to Italy and beg for their lives, hoping they were still alive. I happened to know they were alive. I had heard the gossip from the diner. Carlisle had taken a job in New York, and the family had left. I in all that time thought she knew. I knew she'd be down from them leaving, but I never suspected it was so much worse than that." Finally, the fight they had witnessed five years ago in their living room finally made sense. Bella was the girl that had split the coven. What didn't they understand though, was how Bella didn't know. Rosalie had admitted she and Emmett wrote to Bella saying goodbye. That revelation started a brawl in their den. "Bella and I are very similar in personality, very taciturn. We weren't the sit-down and talk type. Had we been maybe her pain could have been avoided." Charlie, for years, had wondered if they not sitting down and talking about what they knew hurt more than helped.
"So... which one of you is it? I know it's not Eleazar and Carmen. Which one of you imprinted on Bella, or whatever version vampires have."
"Imprinted?" Eleazar questioned.
"You know, your one and only, your soul mate, the one you can't live without. The only reason I think of why you'd risked exposure instead of dumping her at the nearest hospital is that she is destined to be with one of you ladies."
Tanya smiled at the police chief. "That would be me."
"Not that it made any difference which one of you it was. I just needed to check."
"That there was zero chance of us abandoning her," Kate said what Charlie wouldn't.
"Yes." He admitted. "She's been hurt enough." He whispered.
"Those days are over," Tanya uttered with conviction. Calling Bella's father had been a risk, but one they had to take considering his line of work. Bella had been staying at a bed and breakfast for the last few days.
People had seen her, and they couldn't risk bringing law enforcement to their doorstep. Especially as Kate had asked about Bella around town to try and figure out if the girl was a local or not. They had decided the lesser risk was telling her father, and in the end, it had proved to be no risk at all.
"Bella." Alice moved towards her only to be thrown back by something none of them could see. Jasper was quick to catch her. He wasn't about to cause any more damage to the Denalis' home. Last time, the Denali's kicked them out without so much as waiting for an explanation.
"How was the movie?" Tanya asked as her mate enveloped her in a hug. She was on the phone when she heard the Cullens; Tanya quickly texted Bella to inform her of the Cullens' arrival. Bella, it seemed, didn't care whether they stayed or left, but Tanya suspected she wanted them there. Bella wanted to show them just what they had walked out on.
"It was brilliant; we have to go and see it as I won't mind seeing it again."
"Sounds like a plan," Tanya whispered.
"By the way, Kate damaged your car again." Tanya turned her glare on her sister.
"It wasn't entirely my fault." Kate attempted to defend herself.
"Really, why don't you tell me what happened, and I will make that determination," Tanya growled. The Cullens watched Bella, who watched her mate with obvious lust. Bella had simply ratted out Kate to see this side of Tanya. A side Edward also found very arousing.
A growl left Bella, who took a menacing step toward the Cullen in question. "Isabella." That stopped her in her tracks.
"Edward, I would advise you to step outside, and next time control yourself," Tanya warned. Bella's eyes remained on him until he disappeared out of sight.
In all the excitement, no one had noticed Carmen coming up the driveway until she was on the doorstep. "Carmen, let me get that." Bella swiftly took the box from her.
"Thank you, but that in the kitchen." Bella froze.
"Kitchen?"
"Mija, he has to eat," Carmen argued.
"He can cook for himself." Bella retorted.
"We all know he can't. You cannot truly watch your father go hungry while he's here. The nearest town is several miles away." The Denali's were very much off the grid. "And at his age, he has to watch his health diligently."
"Not when he rubs your cooking in my face every chance he gets. " Bella whined.
"I will talk to him. Now, put that away and get the rest of the stuff from the car." That was the end of the conversation, and Bella knew it.
Charlie..." Alice started.
"You will keep my dad's name out of your mouth if you know what is good for you." Bella threatened. The power that rolled of her had Jasper pulling his wife back protectively.
"Of course." He answered before Alice could stupidly utter another word. He didn't need to read her emotions to see the anger and hatred leveled at them.
"Charlie will be home tomorrow with Irina. I will advise you to stay well clear of him for a couple of days." Tanya warned.
"If you haven't noticed, you aren't exactly welcome here. I'd find a place to rent if I were you lot." Kate sneered. She, unlike the rest, made no effort to hide her anger.
The Cullens watched from the window of the guesthouse as Charlie and Irina arrived home. Charlie had retired early to spend what time he had left with his daughter. "He looks good for his age," Edward whispered.
"Yes, It wouldn't surprise me if he lives a very healthy lifestyle. We know how devastated Bella would be when he passes." They were simply delaying the inevitable, but Carlisle understood.
"How was the trip around the world? I knew in the beginning, but then the calls only came once a week, then once every couple of weeks, and then every few months, and nothing in four months. If Irina wasn't keeping us up to date, who knows what I'd think." The Cullens heard Bella complain.
"I knew Irina was keeping you informed, so I saw no reason to disrupt your life any further," Charlie said with a wry smile.
"How considerate of you," Bella muttered sarcastically.
"Don't unpack the fishing gear, Eleazar and I are going fishing tomorrow," Charlie called out.
"Old man, you just spent over a year on a private yacht fishing in every body of water that can be found, and you are going fishing tomorrow." Bella groused in disbelief.
"Your point?"
"You know what, forget I said anything." Bella threw her hands up in defeat.
"Their relationship is so different now." Alice mused out loud.
"I was thinking the same thing. They barely talked in the past; watching them hug back then was almost painful. Now, it's as though they can't show enough affection to each other." Edward added.
"I wonder how all this came about?" Jasper murmured as he walked away from the window.
Soon the rest of the Cullen's found something to occupy their minds. Alice, though spent most of the day and the night by the window watching for any sign of Bella. At around midnight, when she saw Charlie would no longer be up, she left the guesthouse under the pretense of going to hunt. She walked around the property, taking in the extension that doubled the size of the house. There was also a large garage to the side and a new driveway leading around to the front yard. Alice didn't understand why there were so far from the main house when it was clear there was enough room for them. There were only four of them compared to their usual seven, and even then, they stayed in the main house. She could hear Carmen and Tanya in the kitchen and decided to go in. She tried the backdoor that led directly to the kitchen to find it open. Tanya and Carmen barely acknowledged her as they carried on with their conversation. She stood at the door, feeling out of place, when Kate sauntered in.
"Do you have any idea how much a new steering wheel cost when it comes to a Lamborghini? Then there is finding someone to replace it." Tanya sighed. "What happened this time?"
"As I said, it wasn't entirely my fault. These two girls pulled up next to us, and..."
"You broke my steering wheel over..." Tanya rubbed between her eyes as she could feel a headache coming on. Yes, she was a vampire, and it took a great deal to cause her pain, but right now, her head was beginning to hurt.
"Then you really aren't going to like the next thing I have to tell you." Tanya looked up, slowly resigned to whatever the news was. "Aida is coming for a visit."
"WHAT!" Tanya exclaimed.
"Yeah, she left me a message a couple of days ago."
"What is the point of a cell phone if you never answer it or worse, check your messages. Call Aida back, tell her she cannot come; I don't care what reason you give her... just stop her." Tanya was fast becoming unraveled.
"I already tried; her phone is switched off."
"Bella is going to kill her." Tanya moaned.
"No, she's not. She won't if you tell her not to." Kate interjected. In reality, she was looking forward to Aida's visit. Bella was one possessive and jealous mate. The subject of Tanya's past never failed to bring out Bella's beast, whom they had nicknamed Isabella. When it came to Bella and her beast, it was something no one had ever seen before, not even the Volturi.
Aida was from Tanya's recent past, as in only two decades ago, Isabella would be out in full. "I have never known anyone to have as much control as you have over Bella's beast. Just threaten to withhold sex, and she will play ball." Kate chuckled.
"It is true," Carmen added with a giggle.
"Come on, Tan, the girl can barely sit next to you for five minutes without wanting to jump your bones. Let's be honest; the idea of the lack of sex would do it, and you know it."
"Okay, last I checked, I haven't done anything for anyone to be using sex as a threat," Bella said as she walked into the kitchen, looking as though she'd gone a few rounds with Mother Nature.
Tanya glared at her sister before turning back to her mate. Later, she would rip Kate apart.