Welcome back! And thank you to Jesspots1704, Memeymyu, Guest, Ladysylphide, Kathryn L. Malone, Joana, Speedforce 1229, myfanficaddiction, Magda95, William Francies Reisen-Newman, and Sharpeyes for reviewing!
Jesspots1704, that's an interesting theory and thank you for your thoughts! It slightly has something to do with adrenaline, but nothing with mating.
Memeymyu, I hate making you guys wait… but classes are almost over! Thank you for reading.
Guest, Renee is a touchy subject. I remember when I was younger, I never put much thought into Renee and how she practically was absent in Bella's life after she moved in with Charlie. Yeah, you're right though, I never got into exactly what happened with the hospital in Prologue.. Let's just say that Vilinsea handled it, and came up with a plausible story that Bella had fallen in the parking lot and tumbled down a small hill near the grocery store.. And the hill had rocks. That sounds good. Yepp. Bella's initial motive was to absorb Edward's energy.. But after she had those flashbacks and her body connected with his in the raw emotional moment, she was completely blindsided when she accidentally made the direct eye contact. And yes. I wrote the wolves this way because they were always up the Cullens' ass and would have loved to kill them if there was no treaty, so I imagined they would be the same about Bella.
Ladysylphide, I wouldn't completely say because of her moment of weakness. It will be explained later what had happened though but thank you for your theory! I know I know, it would be great to get an Edward POV to hear his thoughts and what he does on a regular basis. Just to get more of an inside scoop on the Cullens' motives instead of what Bella is thinking. Team Bella always though!
Kathryn L. Malone, Just for everyone, yes. It is a Bella, Edward pairing! Me and Kathryspoke more over DM so that I wouldn't spoil too much for you guys!
Joana, yes please someone serve up some fine energy for our starving girl!
SpeedForce 1229, yes, I wrote the wolves this way because of how they spoke of the Cullens in the books. They most likely would have gone after the Cullens and killed them or tried to if there was no treaty. They hated them very much, so I wanted to push that feeling onto Bella considering she killed someone on their land. Like, if the Cullens had done it, the treaty would have been null and the wolves would have attacked, so I wanted to push that agenda on Bella, as well… but she doesn't have a treaty protecting her. Reylo theory! Ha I love that! It will be explained later though!
Myfanficaddiction, it's always a pleasure to read your reviews! I know, I wanted to write a kiss in there. Almost did, but then I was like… this might not be the right moment. Like, there isn't enough context between them to form that, but I added Edward kissing the top of her head while he comforted her. Oh… the lip-lock is going to be definitely interesting… and may show how much Bella has to control herself this time instead of Edward. I like your theory on why he had read her mind, but that will be revealed soon. Bella does have a mental shield around her mind, that she could control herself, based on how it was used in Breaking dawn, but aspects of her being… not as strong as a vampire comes into play here. I hope I didn't fully spoil that. Yes, Bella has now noticed that her hunger for him has decreased after that raw moment between them. She's not sure why or how it's forming. Yeah, a past reviewer mentioned Valentine's Day, and I thought, sure why not. Bella probably isn't too big on it, so I expressed her awkwardness with it when Mike and Ethan showed up with small gifts. I wanted to add a gift from Jacob because he had given her one in New Moon on Valentine's day, so I thought this would be cute. Thank you!
Magda95, yes, I wanted things to be a little different from a succubus and a vampire. Vampires had to stay away from their friends and family because of the blood lust, so I thought instead for a Succubus, that they can form bonds that keep them safe from those desires! Yeah, Jake is a soft spot for me, so I wanted to keep his kind, pre-wolf personality for Bella. Yeah, I'm doing my best to not FORCE their relationship on each other, but only slightly hint at it that… it's going to happen eventually because this is a Bella, Edward pairing. The woods scene took me way too long to write. I am horrible at writing actions scenes, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. And keep reading to find out!(:
William Francies Reisen-Newman, thanks mate!
Sharpeyes, I was worried you had given up and weren't returning, so I'm glad you are back! The reason for some of their evidence was that there wasn't a scent at all on the body, which is a gift that Bella has, so they had a way of deciphering that it was her. Bella's not the best liar, she's getting better. So, she wasn't actually going to go find a job when she ran. She was on her way to get out of town to hunt but her senses had blindly brought her to the nursing home because of her last kill being of an elder. She ran inside as a way to get away from the wolves because she knew they wouldn't follow her in there. But when she realized where she was, she had remembered that this was a job she was looking into to take. The subconscious monster speaks in Latin tongue mostly, and Bella only recognized the word 'proceed.' She figured the lure wouldn't work on Edward without making eye contact the same way it hadn't on Sam, so that was her plan was to try to force eye contact so she could feed, but Edward had figured out what her direct eye contact does, and he avoided her eyes. When the moment had happened, it happened after raw emotions were released and she… was basically blinded like a deer in the headlights. But yes, her intent was to feed on him, but Edward already had piled up enough information on her to know what to avoid.
I love your theories on possible ways that Edward had read Bella's mind! It will be revealed eventually! Wonder who will figure it out… well… who normally figures out why gifts work the way they do? (;
All rights to the characters and to the Twilight Saga go to Stephenie Meyer. Enjoy!(:
Chapter 12: Weaver
Tuesday. February 15th, 2005.
I laid awake in my bedroom for the rest of the night, staring up at my ceiling in complete silence, but my innermost thoughts were filled to the brim of none other than Edward Cullen. I was sure that the wolves had continued their patrol outside of the nursing home tonight, but when I had scented his energy lurking nearby, I knew that I was no longer going to be able to control the thirst that was eating away at me, the thirst that the subconscious monster no longer wanted me to resist. He wanted it, and I did, too. I was starving and had no other choice than to attack Edward when he did not heed my warning, but my plan had been compromised significantly.
I had known that it was a possibility that he would not be affected by command by my voice alone and had strategized myself to make direct eye contact with him the same way that I had done to Sam Uley when the command hadn't worked on him in my kitchen. Edward was smart, and that was something that I hadn't taken account for in the moment. He knew of what I had done to Sam Uley, and he had already been one step ahead of me to block me from connecting my pupils with his own. I had noticed that my own strength and speed was useless when combated with him, but I had almost felt equally as powerful to him in the slightest moment when I had been able to grab a hold of his head and repeatedly smash his features into the rocky uplifted structure of the ground.
It wasn't until then that Edward had my arms pinned up above me and my thighs held down under his own weight that I had almost fallen completely terrified in the moment. It wasn't him that I was afraid of, but it was of the memories and thoughts that I had thought and hoped I had kept locked away back home in Phoenix. It was not until then had I realized how worse I had been affected by the past traumatizing events that I had felt weak— helpless, and that moment with Edward had only reminded me of them. I know now that wasn't his intent, but in the moment his words had meant nothing to me against my urge to feed. My urge to feed on him, precisely. There was something about that pooling energy from him and his family that called to me the most, but now, it had grown weaker with Edward.
And now the thought goes back to what Edward had seen in that moment, what he had read from me which I had no understanding of why? He had said I was unreadable, and my thoughts were not seen or heard through him, except then. Was Edward's mind reading capability stronger than he had realized and he had finally found a breakthrough to pierce through my inner thoughts? Or was it just me and I was broken. Preferably broken as before being the only one he has never been able to read, and now that gracious fact had become unraveled under his tight grip against my wrists.
But it was his cool skin that had dissolved me from my turmoil.
I leaned over onto my side, clutching onto my spare pillow to hold it tighter against me as the emotions continued to course through me, sobbing into it until the morning daylight had finally creeped in through the window. Charlie was shuffling around in the kitchen preparing something for himself to eat before he was heading off to work. I scrambled myself off the bed, preparing to make it before I put on a pair of new sweats and a white camisole. I didn't want to go to school today. I didn't want to have to block myself from Edward and create an uncomfortable tension between us. I did not blame him for what had happened last night. He was only defending himself from my attack, but I knew that I was almost uncomfortable, even embarrassed that he had been able to see into my trauma.
"Hey, kiddo." Charlie said, stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth as he chewed through his bites. "You're up earlier than usual. I would have made you breakfast if I knew you were coming downstairs."
"It's fine, don't worry about it," I smiled sheepishly at him. I walked over towards the cupboard to grab the box of strawberry pop tarts, unraveled the packaging and stuck it into the toaster. "Can I miss school today?" I looked over, eyeing at him nervously for his response.
"Miss school? What for?"
"I'm just not feeling well. I didn't get any sleep last night and so I got out of bed when I heard you down here." I leaned my back against the counter, tapping my fingers along the edge of it
"You already missed enough school as is, Bells. Don't you guys have some attendance requirements to meet?" He placed his glass of orange juice on the counter, looking up at me skeptically.
I nodded, looking down at the ground as I ran my toes against the molding in between the tiles. "Please?" I asked him, softly.
Charlie heaved out a heavy sigh, forcing his mouth to the side as he continued to process his thoughts. "I guess if you really aren't feeling well," he grumbled. "Just promise to give your mother a call today, let her know what you've been up to."
"Yeah, I'll do that," I replied.
Charlie stood up from the counter and placed his plate into the sink. "I'll be back tonight to check up on you," He said, looking over at me. "Don't worry about making dinner, I still have left over pizza from last night."
"I'm not going to have you eating day old pizza. I'll make something before you get back."
"Alright, kiddo. Take it easy today," he softly smiled at me, turning away to grab his gun belt and jacket, along with the keys to the cruiser. "I'll be home around six-thirty."
"See you then," I waved. He nodded and walked out of the kitchen to the front door. I exhaled roughly when the door had shut behind him at the same moment that the pop tarts had popped out of the toaster causing me to slightly jump. I looked over at it, slightly growling at the inanimate object that was only doing its job.
Mr. Taylor had called me not too long after that reminding me that he would have me fully on the payroll by the end of the week, starting on Monday that I will be added to the system. He told me that he had not needed me to work tonight, but I should come in tomorrow and Thursday after school hours are over. I sighed, wanting more shifts to keep myself occupied, but I understood. He couldn't have me working every day of the week considering I was under the age of the working requirement and that it would be strictly a part time job until I turned eighteen and graduated high school.
The morning had grown long while I paced around the house, looking for chores that I could accomplish for the day while Charlie was at work and I was at home 'sick.' I had felt bad about lying to him, but it wasn't an untrue statement that I wasn't feeling well, I just wasn't sure how to deal with seeing Edward today. I couldn't understand the feeling that I had last night when I was pressed against his body. Comfort? He held me, cradled me while I sobbed into his neck, feeling the electrical excitement that danced across my cheek. It didn't make sense, and it was completely delusional to think of any idea that he had felt the same tingle that I had.
I made a mistake when I had looked into his eyes, causing him to become lured to me. I understood what was radiating through his own demonstrations, because they were the same as every human that I had come across and used it on. Lust and sexual desire. Though, this hadn't happened to Sam Uley when I had made the connection to his eyes. He had stiffened and heeded to my words to leave my home without any intentions to lunge himself at me. That was curious. Maybe Edward was weaker than he was.
I ended up calling my mom like Charlie had asked me to. She wasn't up to much this week other than following Phil around at the batting cages while he practiced. She said she had made friends with some of the other wives of the players on the team. She marveled over how outgoing the women were compared to her and how they had already traveled across the country before for their husbands' tournaments. Renee was slightly jealous at that, but I had to remind her that there is no one more adventurous with many different talents from numerous hobbies than she was. She had laughed at my statement and proceeded to ask me questions about how I was. I told her the deal with the two boys at school that followed me around. I told her that I had made friends with two girls named Jessica and Angela, who was much shyer than me surprisingly. My mom thought it was cute that Mike and Ethan waited for me every day at my parking spot, but I disagreed and told her it was unnervingly ridiculous.
I had almost grown bored, knowing I couldn't call Jacob back to thank him for the gifts he had left me. He would be at school on the reservation right now and not be able to answer the phone. I would have to invite him over again another night. Most of the chores were done by now. I had scrubbed the kitchen sink along with the counters and mopped floors. I did all my laundry, reminding myself that I would need to find new clothing soon since the ones I had were becoming untethered and dirty from my last trips into the woods.
I still couldn't riddle Edward from my mind no matter the many distractions that I had found myself participating in. He was always there in the back of my mind and I hated my thoughts and memories for it. It would be easier to forget Edward Cullen. The one that had called me fascinating, forced me to see his father in the hospital, ignored me, held his breath in the classroom in courtesy, and held me. I scoffed at myself. He means nothing to me, just another obstacle to cross.
I went upstairs to make sure most of my assignments for the week were done before I had crossed over to the shelf in my room to glance over my book collection. The books I had had been worn through already and were mostly lacking since I had left most of my collection at home with my mother in my old bedroom. I decided that the morning was still early and that I would go to the local bookstore to see what they had in selection. When I had walked to my truck, I realized that the wolves were not following me. No scent or sound was coming from them in the tree line and I became curious as to why that was. I shook my head and headed to the local bookstore anyways.
Regrettably having used my gas on that trip, I realized that the bookstore was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to sign up for a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… and shuddered at the thought. If I were to go to Seattle or Olympia, I would have to go on foot instead. If the wolves had decided to follow me that day, I supposed I would have to be inclined to allow them to. It was still curious to why they hadn't followed me here, or today at all. Sam and Jared both looked to be much too old to be in school, possibly in their early twenties, so they must have a lot of time on their hands.
When I had gone back upstairs to look idly at my shelf again, I sighed, grabbing onto the shabbiest volume being a compilation of the works of Jane Austen. I took out my contacts and grabbed a ragged old quilt from the linen cupboard at the top of the stairs on my way down to the kitchen to grab a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and headed out through my backdoor. I looked around again to check for any signs of the wolves, but still they were nowhere in sight, but I was too filled with worry to push my luck to decide to go out to hunt again. I looked up at the sky, seeing the large cloud passing over the almost translucent fog that guarded the sun rays from passing. Seeing that I wouldn't get any sun today anyways, I headed into the facing tree line and took off into a fast sprint, passing the trees and jumping over the rooted forest floor and boulders. It didn't take me long to find a clear spot on the foliaged ground that was relatively flat and within five minutes of running from my house. There wasn't much light coming through the trees above, but it would have to do.
I folded the quilt in half and spread the quilt out onto the dampened ground. I lay on my stomach, crossing my ankles in the air, flipping through the different novels in the book, trying to decide which would occupy my mind the most thoroughly. My favorites were Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I opened the book and the jar of peanut butter, scooping it up with a spoon as I placed it into my mouth, humming with the way it coated my throat. This was a day that I needed the most to myself to keep myself occupied. I continued through the book as I was now able to read and comprehend the story at a faster rate than I had before as a human. After continuing through it, I had only slightly forgotten that the hero of the story happened to be named Edward. Of course, it was, and of course Edward had pushed his way back into my thoughts again. I grunted at the pages, and closed the book, pushing it off to the side. Angrily, I turned to Mansfield Park, but the hero of that piece was named Edmund, and that was just too close. Weren't there any other names available in the late eighteenth century? I snapped the book shut, annoyed, and rolled over onto my back with the spoon still in my mouth, involuntarily closing my eyes.
The next thing I was conscious of was the scent of sunshine, lilac, and decadent sweet honey. I blinked my eyes slowly as I still had been trying to wake myself up from the unintentional slumber that my body desperately had cried for since the night before. I looked down, still seeing the spoon in my mouth and immediately grew embarrassed as I pulled it out. A large glob of saliva came out with it, and I quickly grazed my arm across my face to wipe off the leftover strings of saliva from my chin. I turned my neck, looking around for where he was.
"What are you doing out here in the woods?" I turned my head towards the sound of his voice, seeing him standing there, leaning against one of the nearby spruce trees with his arms crossed. He didn't seem amused in the slightest as his eyebrows had been tightly knit together, but luckily, his golden eyes had only shown brighter today. I sat myself up onto my elbows, moving strands of hair away from my forehead and eyes.
But I did not reply. I looked up towards the sky, seeing that it must have been only noon.
"It's not safe out here, you know."
"They—," I coughed slightly, my throat having already dissolved the peanut butter and now left my throat dry. "They weren't following me today." I felt slightly uncomfortable for him to have found me lying asleep in the woods, especially at only the start of the afternoon after last night's events. I felt the heat begin to blister into my cheeks as he continued staring at me. I didn't have anything to cover myself up with as I was still only wearing my white camisole and sweatpants.
"I know," he replied in a monotone voice. "Carlisle is trying to work things through to them."
"What?" I asked, staring at him stunned.
"Carlisle, um. He's been speaking with them," he replied, glancing his eyes down at the jar of peanut butter, flattening his lips tightly together.
"About leaving me alone?"
"It's not fair to you," He nodded. "The wolves are becoming unreasonable."
"Oh," was all I could muster up to say. There was a long strain of silence between the two of us as Edward looked towards a different direction, staring through the trees of the woods. His alabaster eyebrows still furrowed together as he seemed to be contemplating something to say. I took the time to stare at him myself as I continued to wonder what was going through his mind. His hair had been disheveled as always, and he was wearing a charcoal long sleeve shirt that his muscles have been prominently outlined in along with dark washed pants and black loafers. I continued my eyes up and down his form, addressing that his body was stiffened in his lean against the tree, but it didn't seem threatening.
"Edward?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Did I harm you?" he prompted.
"What?"
"Did I harm you," he asked again, but the matter was pressed in his hardened voice.
"I—uh. No, I don't think so." Edward scoffed and uncrossed his arms as he tore his fingers through his tousled hair, walking slightly forward with an annoyed expression across his face as his upper lip curled. He must have been thinking of last night. "Edward, if you are speaking of last night, it wasn't your fault."
"Wasn't my fault?" he laughed bitterly. "What I did last night was unforgivable."
"I attacked you, remember?" I argued.
"And you had every reason to do so. It was foolish of me to approach you in your condition, Bella," His voice grew louder. "A condition that my family had caused," his stare had fixated on me in a pained grimace. "And for me to force myself on you? For me to lack control for even a moment… I thought I was prepared for that."
"I was planning on killing you," I forced a hard swallow. His grimace had narrowed as his eyebrow raised, causing a slight brood in his features. "I wanted to kill you," I spoke again. "You countered me in self-defense. You can't blame yourself for that." Why was I speaking to him? I should be running away or fighting him onto the ground. I shouldn't be lying here in a vulnerable position as he continues to stare at me. But I couldn't find myself the opportunity or want to move. I was curious as to why he was here. How he was able to face me after last night, which was the entirety of the reason I hadn't gone to school today.
"I have many reasons to place blame on myself, Bella. And harming you?" He bore his eyes onto me, shaking his head back and forth as his lips parted, exposing his lower teeth. "That would be the lowest act I ever could do."
"You read my mind," I brought up to change the subject. I could see the slight wince in his eyes as they had slightly altered away from me. "How were you able to?"
"I'm not sure," he spoke softly, looking away from me, glancing his eyes onto the ground. I paused, waiting for him to continue as I stared at him. He only slightly walked away from the tree again. I fixed my position from my elbows and sat myself up on the blanket, not taking my eyes away from his form as I fixed my shirt, pulling it up to hide my exposure.
"Edward? Why are you here?" I looked at him skeptically.
"I needed to know," he spoke. "When you hadn't shown up to school today, I needed to know if you were okay."
"I'm fine," I said, setting my jaw. Edward snickered, placing the bridge of his nose in between his fingertips as he exhaled a heavy breath leaning his forehead against the trunk of the spruce tree, he had idly made himself back towards.
"Tell me I'm to blame. Tell me to leave Forks," he said in a disdainful voice.
"Leave Forks?" I asked surprisingly as I stared at him; stunned.
"Yes," he replied, defeated.
"No, that's not fair to you, either," I said, interrupting him.
His fingers left the bridge of his nose as he swung his arm down to the side of his body. He looked over at me with a disapproving glare. "Damnit, Bella. Am I alone in remembering the details from last night?"
"Edward!" I raised my voice at him to stop his rant, but he snarled at me unexpectedly. In too quick of a movement, I had collapsed onto my back against the ground of the blanket. I looked up at him, realizing he had launched himself over onto me, staring at me as his teeth gritted together through his curled upper lip.
"Tell me to leave town, Bella." The decadent honey and wistful scent that had slid through his lips had instantly intoxicated me as it glided its way down my throat, but it quickly staled and dissipated as he had begun to hold his breath. I slightly groaned at the loss of the energy that was beginning to spill across the swollen tissues. His eyes had narrowed as they darted back and forth at mine, trying to decide where to focus his gaze. A wave of unsettling fright came over me as I silently gasped.
"Do you want to kill me?" I asked him shaken, keeping my eyes focused on the whites of his. His eyes continued to dark back and forth between mine until he seemed to finally find somewhere to settle his gaze upon. He tightened his lips as his pupils continued to constrict. He looked as if he was almost deciding to shake his head to gesture a 'no', but he had hesitated and formed a nod instead. I felt a cool chill shudder down my body, but not from him. He craned his neck and face into his shoulder, and quickly pushed himself off of me. His body had landed ten feet away from me, standing near the familiar spruce, again.
"I'm sorry for my rude behavior. I've been convincing myself that the dogs are the ones who are volatile when it is I that is, as well." His stare was no longer towards me as I hitched my breath, stunned. "And now you're afraid of me." I could see a slight upturn of his lip that didn't relatively form a smile but hinted at amusement.
"I am hardly afraid of you, Edward Cullen." I said almost truthfully. "Just slightly whiplashed. Though, I don't understand. You've been ignoring me, but then lately you've acknowledged that I actually existed again."
"I apologize," he spoke softly, almost inaudible to be heard. After ten incredibly long seconds, he walked away from the tree towards me at a slow pace, even for him. He stopped, still several feet away, and sank gracefully to the ground, crossing his legs. His eyes were now back onto my face. He took two deep breaths and then sheepishly smiled in apology.
"I brought you something," he finally said, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a flattened rectangular object. He twisted it in his fingers and then tossed it over towards me as it landed onto the blanket next to me. It was a cellphone. A Sony Ericsson K750i model that my mom had gotten herself this year.
"I can't accept this," I looked up at him. "It's too much and Charlie won't know where it came from."
"I hardly believe the Chief of Forks's Police would be upset that you have in possession of an item that he can use to communicate with you." He smirked.
"Why are you giving me this?" I asked confused, picking it up and clicking one of the buttons on the phone to see the screen light up.
"The wolves haven't completely accepted our proposal… and I'd hope you'd use this if you find yourself ever in trouble."
"I've been taking care of myself for a long time," I notedly reminded him.
"In Phoenix, did you come across blood sucking vampires and intolerable wolves, as well?" His eyebrow raised as his mouth had formed a crooked smile.
"No," I spoke through shaken breaths, staring at his perfected features, blinking to remind myself that he was real. "But I think I've been handling myself quite well."
He nodded, clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "I keep underestimating you," he spoke with words that had shocked me, but his voice was quiet, rougher, reflecting strain on his words. "Five times now, actually." His eyes had now turned into a pained expression as he continued. "I underestimated you the first day that I had partially met you. I underestimated you when I had come across you in Alaska. I underestimated you when I had pushed the van away from colliding on top of you. I underestimated you when the wolves had followed you last night. And I underestimated you when you had attacked me. I am very well aware that you can take care of yourself, Bella. I am now. But it still would bring me peace of mind to know that you have some way of communicating with me when a situation becomes too large for you."
"Can I ask a favor of you then?" He looked at me cautiously, nodding. "Are the wolves going to stalk my home later this evening?" He continued to stare at me, nodding again. I sighed, looking away from him, staring down at his fingers that were placed onto his lap. "Can you keep them away tonight?"
"Can I ask why?" His voice was ominous.
"A favor with no questions asked," I added.
He paused, sucking air into his lungs. "It's Tuesday," he spoke with calculating eyes.
"Hmm?"
"On Tuesdays and Fridays, you leave town and return every time to a large pond in a park passing out seed to a group of ducks."
"You follow me?" I asked with frustration in my tone. I have only noticed his scent there once when I had been to Teddy's home to tell his son that his father had passed and was buried next to his deceased wife.
"No," he replied. "Only a couple of times. Though, the wolves do follow you." He brushed his fingers through his hair again, continuing his stare. "The favor?"
"Later tonight, around midnight, possibly earlier."
He nodded, flattening his lips with caution. "I'll see what I can do."
I had made quick haste to prepare steak and potatoes tonight for Charlie after eyeing the frozen fish in the freezing that was easily piling up but deciding against cooking them. It was easily made as I seared the two steaks on the pan and boiled the potatoes until they were soft after chopping them up in sections. I looked down at the cellphone on the counter next to me trying to figure out a way to tell Charlie that I am now in possession of one. He most likely would not be opposed to the idea since it was a more direct way to contact me if need be, but then again, he would ask how I had come up with one. I couldn't tell Charlie that Edward Cullen purchased it for me, nor could I tell him that I bought it considering that I wasn't on Charlie's cell phone plan. I could very well have created my own cell phone plan, but he would ask how I had gotten one when I said that I needed to stay home today from school.
I eyed the time on the phone, counting down the minutes until Charlie would make himself through the door after his shift. He had about five minutes left until he would get here expecting a prepared meal that was almost done.
I turned around when I heard the phone ringing on the wall of the kitchen, expecting that it would be Charlie to tell me that he was going to be coming home late.
"Hello?" I asked, chewing on the inside of my cheek.
"Bella!" Jacob replied enthusiastically. "I came by yesterday, but you weren't at the house."
"Oh! Hey, yeah, I found a job at the Forks Assisted Living Facility yesterday. I'm sorry I didn't call you back, it was late when I got in, and I wasn't feeling very well, today."
"You got a job? That's awesome, I mean, if you like helping old people," I heard his smirk through the receiver.
"You help your dad, don't you?"
"Don't let him catch you saying that. That man still claims he is as quipped as a guy in his twenties," he chuckled. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well today."
"Yeah, it's just some congestion," I lied. "Anyways, thanks for the Valentine's day card and gifts. I felt bad that I hadn't gotten you anything."
"You put up with me and those two boneheads, that is easily a gift of its own."
"It is a tough position that I put myself in and question daily why I do it," I teased.
"Sure, sure," he chuckled. "Well, I was just calling back to see how you were doing."
"I'm fine, just cooking Charlie some dinner. He should be here any minute now."
"Lucky him. I'll let you get back to it, then. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Yeah, of course. Bye, Jacob."
"Bye, Bells," he hung up.
Five minutes past the time Charlie said he would be getting home, he walked into the door, exhaling an exhausted breath from his lungs as he took off his jacket and unclipped his gun belt, hanging it onto the key and coat hanger. He walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air around him as an amused smile spread across his upturned lips. Immediately, having him around had extinguished the burning in my throat, and I was pleasantly satisfied.
"Smells good in here," he said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "You feel any better?"
"Yeah, much better," I smiled at him, placing his plate in front of him onto the table.
It was around eleven thirty already as I continued to stare through my window towards the tree line of the woods. I waited patiently, tapping my fingers against the windowsill, waiting in anticipation for it to be closer to midnight. I had told Edward possibly earlier than midnight, so the timing of right now would hopefully be fine to head off. Charlie had retired to his bedroom only a couple of hours ago after he had finished watching his sports broadcast onto the television of two older men discussing the plays of last weekend's game. He had already begun snoring loudly, echoing it across the upper floor of the house.
I had changed into a pair of jeans and one of my already ruined sweaters and tied my hair up into a bun on top of my head. I mostly played on the cellphone since dinner in my room, figuring out how to use it productively. Edward had already programmed three numbers into my speed dial. Number one on the list was the police station, following Charlie as the second, and third as Edward's number. I chuckled that he hadn't placed his number at the top of the list based on him being the one that had been worried enough to give me a cellphone. It was much too flashy and expensive for me to accept, but I would have felt rude to persistently deny it. He had also added my name engraved into the back of the phone and his number to call in case it got lost.
When I had believed it was enough time to make my escape from my room, I jumped out through the window and headed out of town to my usual destination. It was dark but the park had been faintly illuminated with the lights that outlined it. The pond was the darkest spot of the park with a small light near the bench. The moon cascaded a light along the water as the ducks were feasting seed that was thrown into the water, gobbling it up as they continued to dip their beaks into it. I knew that this excursion wasn't only to just feed ducks, which was why I had asked Edward to keep the wolves distracted for a time. I needed to feed tonight, just to hold myself over for the rest of the week until I could find the next person that I would need to feed on.
Luckily, the form that held the residents of the facility had several people that seemed to have less than qualities of living a proper life on their own. I had planned myself to use that as a way to help free them if they allowed me to. It was possibly a ridiculous and sick idea to have taken the job for my own benefit, but I hadn't any clue of an idea that came to mind that would be easier.
I looked across the park, seeing that it was mostly exiled from the townies in the area. There had been several teenagers drunk at the gas station that I had passed, and another group of young adults walking on the sidewalk, chatting with each other towards the nearby neighborhood, other than that, there was a lone girl sitting on the slide of the playground. I looked over to her, sighing to myself.
"Don't think about it, Bella," I whispered to myself. "Don't think about it, and just do it. You don't know her," I said trying to convince myself. "But… her family would miss her. No, you have to do it. Stop thinking about it." I stood up from the bench after tossing one last handful of seed to the ducks that hadn't swam away yet. I looked over at her again, and she was leaning her back against the slide on her cellphone with a cigarette in her hand. She looked relatively tall in her long slacks and ballet flats with a sweet ruffled green top that was covered by a creamed colored cardigan.
I sprinted over towards the direction where she was, standing at the edge of the playground in line of sight of her.
"Hello," I said. The girl glanced up at me with one of her eyebrows raised as she lifted the cigarette to her mouth, puffing smoke from her nostrils. She moved a strand of her long burgundy hair behind her ear. "You know, those things kill you, right?" Odd statement coming from someone who was going to kill her.
"I'm going to die anyways, so what the hell do you care?" She replied. I stepped forward, getting closer to her. What a sad and depressing response from her as if she had no hopes or dreams in life. She looked at me, eyeing me up and down as her eyebrows furrowed with frustration. "Can I help you with something?"
"I'm… I'm so sorry for this," I spoke in a whisper to where she could hear.
"Sorry for what?" She sat up on the edge of the slide, holding herself up with her hand placed behind her.
"Do you have a family?" I asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you have a family," I asked again, louder.
"Piss off," the girl said, standing up, and tossing her cigarette onto the mulch near the rockwall of the playground set. She looked at me again with a skeptical expression, and walked away, crossing her arms as she picked up her pace. I raced after her in too fast of a motion, and grabbed onto her shoulder, turning her around.
"Hey!" she said, pushing her hands against me, but not causing me to budge. She slowly glanced down at me with her jaw slacked as she had now made eye contact with me. Her body had stiffened, and had started moving her hands up my stomach, and mounding one of her palms against my breast, hastily as she leaned it. I chewed onto my bottom lip, lightly grabbing onto her wrist to take it away from me and held it against her side. She leaned forward again, extending her other hand as she reached up to my face, placing her palm onto my cheek. I stopped her motion again, holding it next to her side as she struggled to get closer to me, not taking her eyes off mine.
"Tell me the truth," I commanded. "Do you have family?"
"They are dead to me," the girl replied softly, smiling down at me as she continued to struggle to close the distance between us, staring lustfully into my eyes as her tongue grazed over her front teeth. I bit back my own lip as I tried to hide the tear that was forming in my eye. I didn't want to kill her. She couldn't have been older than only twenty-two years old, full of life ahead of her, but if she didn't have a family that would miss her, then she would be the perfect victim.
"I'm so sorry," I spoke softly again, tightening my grasp onto her wrist until I had finally loosened them. She pushed herself forward against me, placing her hands on my cheeks. She craned her face down into my direction, slowly closing the distance between our faces, parting her lips as she then smashed them against mine. I parted my lips onto hers, forcing hers to widen even more as the girl moaned against me, rubbing her hand down my shoulder as she traced it down onto my hip, tugging on me to push myself into her.
Her scent was unappetizing. The taste of the tobacco laced over the honey scented energy that spilled through her lungs into my mouth. I scrunched my nose at how unsatisfying it was as I continued draining her energy. Her hands started falling slack, lightening their touch against me, but I couldn't handle the taste anymore. It almost had felt like I was contracting smoker lungs myself. I broke the connection, moving my face away from hers as her forehead collided on top of my shoulder. I held her into my arms, still hearing her slow beating heart against my chest.
"She's alive?" I asked, confused. Had I actually not drained her completely? The taste was too off-putting to fully quench my appetite from her, and now I had an almost unconscious woman slacked against me. What am I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave her here, or she could actually die on her own. I wasn't sure if energy replenishes or not without consuming more food to resupply her body. I stood there for longer than I should have, glancing around the park for any possible witnesses, and luckily there were none.
I sighed, holding her away from me, looking down at her as her back had curved away from me. She muttered words through her lips that were almost undescriptive enough to translate. She was alive. Thank, god. I looked closer towards the road in hopes that the small town possibly had a clinic nearby that I could take her to. I picked her up in my arms and cradled her, which would have most likely been impossible if I still were human. I walked forwards, hiding in the shadows where the lights of the park lamps did not touch and headed closer towards the road where the stretched shopping center of the town was.
Thankfully, I had found a clinic nearby that was open. I hid away from the glass door from the people that were inside and walked closer towards the side of it, looking in both directions for anyone that would see us. There was a wheelchair near one of the windows that were covered with a sign from the inside of an advertisement of the clinic's hours, mentioning that it was closed on Sundays after ten p.m. I looked down at her as she continued to mutter indecipherably words through her lips and placed her into the seat of the wheelchair. I looked at her as her body slacked in the chair. I leaned forward, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and patting the back of one of her hands.
I looked up at the clinic again, pulling out my cell phone from my back pocket to check the time. It was nearing two a.m., and I wasn't sure how long Edward was going to keep the wolves occupied. I am sure he would text me if he knew when they would be leaving or coming to look for me. I walked closer towards the window of the clinic and knocked loudly against it.
"You're going to be okay," I whispered to her. I turned my neck, hearing someone walk towards the door and so I turned around and flashed back to the park, finding my way out of sight from the clinic. I picked up the bag of duck seed and continued through the dark streets hastily and made my way back to Forks in the matter of fifteen minutes.
I climbed myself through the window, looking behind me seeing that none of the wolves had shown up. Edward must still be entertaining them. I hadn't a clue at how he had been able to accomplish this, but I wasn't going to ask questions. I still wasn't fully satisfied considering that I had possibly only drained half of her energy, but it was enough to leave me sustained and stop the burning in my throat. I was just glad that she was alive and there was a clinic there that would help her.
I changed out of my clothes in my shorts and separate tank top and headed into the bathroom to wash my face off. I looked up into the mirror, seeing the streaks of vibrant red reflecting in my hair from the light of the bathroom. My cheeks had looked much fuller again with a blush of pink in them, and my lips had been stained a darker shade. My skin had been practically glowing again, not so much pale as it had been before, but as if I had a slight tan. My fingernails were now rounded perfectly again with the look of a well-polished manicure. I looked considerably beautiful.
I walked back in my room, feeling guilty of the smile that was shown on the edges of my lips. I grabbed my new phone off the bed, clicking the front button of the phone to illuminate the screen. I pressed on the menu button to find the contact screen, clicking for the text message icon under Edward.
Thank you. I wrote. I placed the phone on my lap as I turned around and sat on the edge of my bed, staring down at the phone. It had buzzed again with a notification from him.
Have you made it home safe? He replied.
Yes, I texted. The phone buzzed again with another notification.
Get some rest, he wrote back. I lightly smiled at the message and moved over on my bed to place it onto my nightstand. I leaned against my pillow, pulling the covers over me. I had absorbed someone's energy without killing them tonight. I wouldn't know if I could recreate this event on someone with a more appealing taste, but I was relieved that I had been able to keep her alive.
I pulled into the parking lot of the school, not seeing Mike or Ethan standing near my usual parking spot, waiting for me. Instead, it had been a silver Volvo parked next me that caused me to nervously chew down onto the inside of my cheek, worried that I would turn and hit the glossy paint job on it. Edward was leaning against the door of his car, with his arms crossed as he looked at me through the windows of my truck. A smile was formed on the edge of his lips as he noticed I was staring at him with disbelief. I successfully pulled into my spot without causing any damage to his, putting the truck in park as it created the insulting loud backfire. I winced as I twisted the key to turn the truck off and placed it into my backpack. When I looked over at the Volvo to my right, he was no longer waiting for me.
I jumped in my seat when I had heard the creaking metal doorframe of my driver side door opening with Edward who was slightly chuckling next to it.
"Edward," I breathed out a gasp.
"Bella," he nodded, trying to fight a smile on his lips. He held his hand out to me, which I hesitantly placed my own into it as he pulled me out of the truck. He leaned over and grabbed the backpack out of the middle seat and slung it over his shoulder where his book bag was on the opposite side.
"What are you doing?" I silently scolded him.
"Walking you to your first period," he looked down at me, still trying to fight a smile on his face.
"Where's Mike and Ethan?" I asked, looking up at him. He no longer was able to hide the smile and he nodded his head towards the stairs of the building. I looked over seeing Ethan had been leaning against the railing talking to Jenny, and Mike had been surrounded by our usual group of lunch friends with Jessica's hand placed against his upper arm. That was a difference. I was glad for it, but I didn't understand what had changed.
"Don't look too upset, Miss Swan," he rolled his eyes.
"I'm not upset," I protested. "I just don't understand what made them change their minds this morning."
Edward softly exhaled a single chuckle, "I guess we'll never know."
I looked up at him, investigating his eyes for any hint of detail from him, but his golden eyes were enigmatic. I looked away grunting, not caring for the answer. As long as Mike and Ethan were able to form relationships without my influence to stop them, I was glad. I lifted my arm up towards the strap of my backpack on his shoulder and quickly pulled it off of him and placed it around my own. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrow in question.
"I can hold my own backpack," I replied, looking forward.
He chuckled lightly, "I presumed so."
Edward had walked me to English in silence before we both parted ways. I sat at my seat, noticing the trail of eyes that were on me as I sat down. I looked away from them and grabbed my literature notebook from my backpack, placing it onto my desk.
"Saw you with Edward Cullen this morning," Mike said, causing me to hiccup as I hadn't realized that he had made his way over to me. I looked over at him, seeing he was on his knees with his arms crossed on top of my desk.
"Um, yeah. He walked me to class this morning," I replied with slight hesitation to answer him.
"Yeah, we all saw," he lightly chuckled. "Is something going on between you two?
"You and Ethan walk me to class everyday as friends, what would be the difference with Edward doing it?" I asked, countering his accusation. No, nothing was going on between Edward and I. I'm positive he didn't think so either or want to in the slightest. He had just felt pity for me that he and the wolves were causing me to starve this past month. I frowned, unintentionally.
"I guess. You saw Ethan with Jenny this morning, too, right?" He elbowed me slightly, wagging his eyebrows up and down.
"Yeah, I think it's great," I slightly smiled, nodding over at Mr. Varner who had his arms crossed in front of the classroom staring at Mike and I. Mike looked over at him, and widened his eyes as he quickly leaned away from my desk and stood up from the ground to make his way back over to his desk.
"Thank you, Mr. Newton," Mr. Varner spoke up and continued with his lecture.
Classes had gone by regularly for the rest of the morning. Jessica was back to her normally perky self as she had been giddied with having her time with Mike this morning. I understood she had feelings for him, and I hated that I was the cause of them not being able to form those feelings into a relationship, but luckily having Edward around this morning, it seemed they were able to do so. She had continued to poke my back with the eraser of her pencil as she wanted to speak to me about seeing me with Edward. I reminded her that it was nothing and came up with a lie that he was just asking me if I had the biology notes from yesterday. I guessed since he had shown up in the woods around noon, that he had missed the class, as well. She seemed content with that response and didn't continue any further on the topic but switched to a different one with her egging me on about her chat with Mike this morning. I smiled at her to let her know that I was happy for her in hopes that she wouldn't continue on, but she did all the way to the lunchroom.
After feeding last night, I was elated that my throat was no longer burning in the presence of all the swirling energies in the room. It had only felt slightly uncomfortable like a slight cough since I didn't completely consume all of the girl's energy, but it was easily manageable. Jessica quickly took her spot at the lunch table next to Mike after we had gone through the lunch line where I had grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice from the fridge and a plate of today's lasagna and an apple onto my tray. I sat down at the table, noticing that Ethan wasn't joining us today. I looked towards a different lunch table, seeing that he was sitting with Jenny and her friend Cara. I smiled, but noticeably frowned. I was happy for him, but I hoped that didn't mean that our friendship wouldn't continue. He was a nice friend to be around. I looked into a different direction glancing my eyes towards the corner of the cafeteria. Alice had enthusiastically waved to me when she saw me, and Rosalie had sympathetically smiled as Emmett slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his chest. Strange. Edward was hunched over at the table, where I could hear him slightly scold Alice for her behavior.
I joined in on the conversation of the table where they had briefly bantered over whether Ethan had strictly abandoned us today. Angela had been shy about speaking to Ben as she continued to glance up at him repeatedly. I smiled at her and asked her if she had the notes for biology yesterday where she excitedly pulled out a spare sheet of notes from her book bag that she had already prepared to give to me. I was surprised that she had been nice enough to have thought of me, and I thanked her.
I felt Jessica nudging my arm with her elbow as she continued to try to get my attention. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow as I brought the fork with a piece of lasagna pasta up to my lips.
"What's up?" I asked her. She darted her eyes back and forth at me towards something that was behind me. I looked at her questionably as I noticed the scent of sunshine, lilac, and decadent honey had been closely nearby. I halted the fork before placing it into my mouth and slowly looked towards the direction next to me.
"Hi?" I curiously spoke, looking up at Edward.
"Hello, Bella," he faintly smiled at the table and glanced back to me. "I hope you and your friends don't mind if I asked you to join me at the lunch tables outside?"
"Say yes!" Jessica whispered through her lips that would have been clearly audible to Edward. Edward slightly smirked and continued his stare onto me.
"I guess," I replied, turning myself out of the chair. Edward already had my lunch tray balancing in one of his hands as he gestured his elbow for me to follow him. I silently growled at him through my teeth which he only laughed at.
"I thought you said you were scared of me," I mumbled, reminding him of his remark when I drove him home as we took our seats at the picnic table outside. "And now you choose to embarrass me in front of my friends to ask if I would sit with you?"
The upturned smile on his lips never diminished as he pushed my lunch tray and drink towards me. "It was Alice's idea."
"And why isn't Alice sitting with us then?"
"Alice can be a tad overly enthusiastic that could easily scare any sane person away," he chuckled.
"Hey! I resent that, Edward Cullen!" An appealing musically pitched voice said from behind me. I turned my head seeing Alice skipping her way towards our table as she took a seat next to Edward on the bench.
"Alice," Edward hissed at her.
"What? She asked why I wasn't sitting with you two and it sounded like an invitation to me." My eyes widened at her presence. I had only briefly met her twice before. Once in the bathroom on my first day of class, and the other in the parking lot of the school after the van accident. Edward was right, her personality was filled with life. "You're happy I'm here, aren't you Bella?" she said in a jeer towards her brother as she elbowed Edward into his side. He grunted at her in response.
"Um, sure," I replied. I reached towards the bottle of cranberry juice and untwisted the cap and took a quick sip of it as they both looked at each other. There was clearly some sort of interaction going on between them as they both grew silent.
Alice looked back towards me, shoving Edward with her elbow again, but lighter this time to resume his attention back towards the table. "You know, I have to say that I prefer your amethyst hue over the dark contacts that you use to hide them. Your natural eyes are very pretty if I remember them correctly."
"Alice," Edward scolded her again. "Why don't you leave and take care of Jasper instead of pestering her," Edward's voice raised.
"Jasper is fine," she replied. "And I'm not pestering her, just simply giving her a well-intended compliment." I could feel the blush heating onto my cheeks again as I looked down at the lunch tray, moving the fork back and forth on top of the melted cheese of the lasagna. "Oh, Bella, don't be embarrassed."
"I'm, uh—"
"Not used to how such a difficulty manageable personality can fit inside of a tiny pixie such as yourself," Edward spoke, growling again at Alice.
"No, it's fine," I spoke up, stabbing my fork into the lasagna and lifting it into my mouth. Alice continued to vibrate in her seat as she was practically jumping up and down at it with a gleeful smile on her face. I looked up at her questionably, darting my eyes back and forth between her and Edward. "Yes?"
"Oh, Bella you have no idea how I am sorry for my family's inexcusable behavior this past month! We didn't know!" She pleaded with her eyes. "I wish there was a faster way we could get around this, but Carlisle is working on it right now."
"Carlisle is working on what exactly?"
"Alice," Edward scolded her.
"Edward, she deserves to know if she is going to be a part of our family!" I coughed, choking on my saliva that had slivered its way into my windpipe at my gasp. I humiliatingly beat my fist against my chest repeatedly, coughing into the sleeve of my jacket as Edward's eyes had widened at my reaction. The cough slowly stabilized as I found myself able to recover from her statement.
"I'm sorry, excuse me?" I asked, reaching for my bottle of cranberry juice that Edward had pushed closer to me, gulping down another sip, waiting for Alice to continue as she was recovering from her own shock.
"I didn't mean to startle you, and I only meant that in the way that involves you with our treaty with the hounds," she held out a napkin towards me shyly with an apologetic smile on her face. I shamefully took the napkin, dapping the corners of my mouth.
"Treaty?"
"Yes, we have a particular treaty with them that allows us to be able to live here amongst the humans, peacefully," Edward spoke, narrowing his eyes at Alice. It seemed this was a conversation that he did not want to have been brought up, quite yet.
"And what does that have to do with me?" I asked.
"It means that Carlisle is trying to work through a way to add you into it. That would mean that my family are soulfully responsible for your actions in Forks," he replied.
"What actions?" I asked, already presumably figuring out the answer to the question. Don't kill.
"It means the same for us as it does for you. We are not allowed to harm or bite a human, but for your situation, considering that we are not fully aware of your— um," he paused before continuing, "diet, that Carlisle is working on an understanding and agreeable solution to allow that your inclusion in the treaty only extends to Forks and La Push territory."
I stared at the both of them, continuing my darting eyes between their distance as I was trying to formulate the thoughts in my head. They would be taking full responsibility for me if I were to hurt or hunt in Forks. If I had caused the treaty to become nullified, that would mean they would die for my actions? There were only two wolves and seven of them, how would they possibly lose that outcome? And the nursing home, which I had laid out my own plans to feed upon the residents that would agree to my offer of helping them escape their life on Earth. What would this mean now? That I would need to leave Forks every time and assess each victim that I would take before coming to the decision to end their possibly innocent lives?
"Bella?" Alice spoke up, interrupting my thoughts.
"I'm sorry, I'm just thinking," I mumbled, looking up at Edward who only looked concerned, hoping that there hadn't been a moment that he had been able to pierce through my thoughts again. He didn't seem to form a reaction to them, so I had presumed he had not.
"I don't need your pity," I said in the sincerest way that I could. "If me slipping could cause your family possible pain or death, then I can't accept your offer."
Alice and Edward both looked at each other, and Edward had only nodded. Shit. I gave more information than I had wanted to admit. They most likely were discussing my slip up, where I had only confirmed their suspicions that my diet does extend onto human life.
"Bella, while this does partially have to do with us wanting to make as much possible amends to you for our participation with the wolves, it doesn't mean that we wouldn't have wanted to help you in different circumstances." Alice spoke extending her hand out across the table towards me. "This would mean that the wolves would no longer follow. You would be free to do as you please throughout your days and nights without their interference."
I nodded, consuming in their words, and analyzing it. "Do I get a say in this?"
"Nope!" Alice replied with the same gleeful smile reappearing across her face. "Besides, this treaty only affects us, and without it, the same circumstances about hunting would have still applied to you with the wolves. Having you a part of the treaty just benefits you."
I supposed I hadn't thoroughly thought through my plan of feeding on the elderly at the assisted living facility. The wolves had already known I worked there now, and most likely would have kept up with any reports on sudden heart attacks. Either way in both situations, I certainly wouldn't have gotten away with more than one kill.
"Like I said, our family is the only one that is affected by this, and we are all in an agreement with this decision, so you cannot back out of it, either way."
"Is this why you are being nice to me? To get closer to me so that you could appeal to my empathy of keeping your family alive?" I asked, looking down at my hands nervously as I rubbed my finger along the skin of the uneaten apple on my tray.
Alice shook her head, holding her hand up at Edward who was about to protest with a reply. "Bella, I already liked you before we knew about the death of the hiker. Edward had, too. And if that was the case that we were only doing this to appeal to you to keep our family safe, then we never would have agreed to the treaty."
I nodded, biting down on my lower lip as I continued to nervously dig my nail into the apple, causing the juice of it to slip down over the skin. I shook my head at my own dwindling thoughts of having to accept their offer. I picked up my tray and bottle off the table and headed inside in anticipation for the class bell to ring for the next rotation of students.
The rest of the school day consisted of me keeping myself in silence while I spiraled through my thoughts of the treaty and how I now was unconventionally tied to a family of seven vampires. As a human, I most likely would have laughed at the idea of it all, not believing their words in the slightest or at the existence of wolves and vampires entirely. Now my life was consumed with multiple supernatural beings that I hadn't anticipated when I had decided to move to Forks to live with my father.
Paige and Ellen had waved to me when I entered the nursing home with my scrubs on that Mr. Taylor had provided for me on Monday. I sat at the third chair in front of the computer, turning the monitor on to log into my guest account that would be altered into my own whenever Mr. Taylor had fully added me to the system. Ellen was enthusiastic when showing me photos on her computer wallpaper of her two children that were in their elementary school years and a photo of her and her husband on their wedding day years ago. Paige had shown me on her phone of a new kitten that she and her girlfriend had adopted over the weekend that they had named Simon Pawfunkel, referencing the folk-rock band duo from the sixties of Simon & Garfunkel. She thought it was silly, but her girlfriend had pushed for the idea persistently.
I had checked in a few of the guests when visiting hours opened after Ellen had left for the day to head home to make dinner for her family, leaving me with Paige for the rest of the evening. I had already enjoyed her presence, a lot. She was more talkative than I had imagined her to be, but she was very sweet with her words and eager to get to know me better. I practically gave her the regular rundown of the story on why I moved here to live with my father, which she had agreed that it was a good idea, and especially happy for my Charlie to be able to spend time with me.
Many of the residents had made their way into the lounging area near the receptionist desk as they listened to music on the record player while their family and friends entertained them. I smiled at their interactions with each other, wishing that my own grams had still been alive. I had missed her sometimes but did not think too often of her as I should have. No more visitors were making their way into the building so Paige had leaned back in her seat, reading the first book of the Harry Potter series. She said the beginning was hard to get through as it thoroughly bored her, but now that she was closer to the middle it was quite an enjoyable read. She offered to loan it to me when she finished it, but I declined her offer, not needing any more supernatural entities to make an appearance in my thoughts.
When the visitors had started making their way out of the building as visiting hours were coming to an end, most of the residents stayed in the lounging area to enjoy the music and chat amongst each other.
"You know, there isn't much for us to do now since visiting hours are over. Why not go over there and grab a book off the shelf for you to read while we wait for our shift to end?" Paige nodded her head towards the lounging area that held a sparse amount of content on the shelves.
"Can I do that?" I asked, nervously not wanting to get in trouble on my second day of the job.
"Totally. I usually just play on my computer during this time or hangout with the residents anyways. Mr. Taylor sometimes does it himself if he's not hiding away in his office," she leaned her head back towards his wooden door behind us. I looked back over towards the lounging area before deciding to stand up to head in that direction.
I walked past some of the residents, looking over at the lack of quality in the books on the shelves. Most of the contents were outdated magazines, nonfictional and educational , along with some literature that contained American authors and poets of short stories and well known poems. Other books were zoological ones or botanicals which were filled with pressed flowers along with their scientific name stamped under each one of them.
"Is this all that is provided in the book selection?" I asked, turning around to one of the male residents while I continued flipping through the pages of a book which had pictures of different types of whales on the pages.
"Yeah! It's a mocker, ain't it?" The man said that I had recognized from the form that I had read on Monday of each of the residents. His name was Elliot Cane Rhodes, age seventy-eight. "I don't want to read no damn fashion magazines or the new upcoming 'heart throb'" he motioned his fingers in quotation marks, "of today's youths. They even took away my nudey magazines! This stinkin' place doesn't give me a damn break!" A look of shock formed over my face along with a heavy blush at his forwardness. I slowly put away the book on the shelf trying to hide my laughter as he continued to rant about the number of breasts that used to cover the pages of his lost playboy magazine.
"That's absolutely terrible," I snorted.
"Ain't it?" He raised his hands up in disbelief.
"Maybe I'll see what I can do about getting more content back onto the shelves. Nothing really seems that enjoyable to read on here."
"And get me more nudey magazines while you're at it," Mr. Rhodes muttered as one of the nursing staff rolled him back to his room down the hall as she apologized to me with a look. I grabbed one of the literature books filled with the American poets and headed back towards my desk. Paige hadn't been able to contain her laughter from the conversation that I had just been afflicted with and continued to tease me about what selection of playboy magazines I preferred purchasing for myself, which only continued to harden my blush.
Paige excused herself to the bathroom after she finished sweeping the floor near her desk and Ellen's. She handed it to me for me to continue sweeping around mine and in the visitor lounging area. I heard the squeaking of a wheelchair making its way down the hallway towards me in the lounging area as I continued sweeping. I looked over at the pale woman whose white hair had been set into curlers. I had also recognized her on the resident form, as well. It was Ruby Elizabeth Weaver, age seventy-four.
"Hello, Mrs. Weaver. I'm almost done sweeping and I'll be out of your way," I smiled at her, but she only continued to stare at me. I looked over at her, sheepishly nodding an apology in her direction as I quickened my pace and scattering the dirt towards the receptionist area so I could finish piling it up into the dustpan away from the lounging area. Her stare had only continued to harden onto me as I had felt a tad uncomfortable by our silent interaction with each other. I paused, straightening myself up and looked back over at her.
"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked politely with a smile.
She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, pausing slightly. "I didn't expect there to be a succubus so close into town," she spoke, folding her hands onto her lap. "Especially not working at my nursing home," she said, narrowing her eyes.
I widened my expression, completely stilled in my movements as I only continued to stare. Had I mistakenly heard her call me a succubus?
"Excuse me?" I asked, through my parted lips, dancing my eyes across her facial expressions that hadn't changed.
"C'mon, Bella. The quicker you sweep up that dirt, the quicker we can get the hell out of here," Paige said, exiting the bathroom and wiping her damped hands on her scrub uniform. She paused near me, darting her eyes back and forth between the both of us with a skeptical look.
"Hello, Mrs. Weaver. Do you need me to call in a nurse to come help you?" Paige asked, walking towards me to grab the broom out of my hand.
"No, dear," Mrs. Weaver's face softened as she looked over at Paige, featuring kind eyes and soft smile as she placed her hands back against the wheels of her chair. "I can manage. I just wanted to meet our new receptionist that Elliot keeps talking about."
"Oh, yes! Sorry, I should have introduced you two. Bella, this is Mrs. Weaver. She's one of our guests that has been staying here over the past couple of years. Mrs. Weaver, this is Bella Swan!"
I cocked myself out of my shocked expression and offered a rictus grin in her direction as I slightly raised my hand up to wave at her. "Nice to meet you," I said. Mrs. Weaver smiled back with a nod and turned her wheelchair around slowly and wheeled herself back down the hall towards her room.
"Huh, that was weird," Paige nudged me in the arm, giggling. "Now c'mon. You are taking too long to sweep. Go ahead and shut down the computers for me and we can clock out." Paige turned back around and vigorously continued to sweep behind me around the receptionist desk, but I only continued to stare down the hall as Mrs. Weaver had finally made it to the door of her room. She turned her head towards my direction, raising her eyebrow with her lips pinched together as she slowly opened the door to her room and wheeled herself inside.
"Bella, c'mon!" Paige called out again.
"I— I'm coming!" I shouted back to her, still staring at the closed door of her room as I turned around back to the front desk.
Read below for competition details.
A/N
NOTICE: I have a little competition for you guys. I am desperately trying to find new fanfiction to read, and what I'm hoping to find is along the lines of… After Edward leaves Bella in New Moon, she gets in her truck and goes off on her own adventure to find him and his family. It needs to be good quality, good grammar, and lengthy. If someone finds a fanfiction like that for me, I will reward that person with the chance to: Give the name of Bella's next victim and provide the victim's back story and how Bella would kill that person. If you do win, please don't troll. Use your writer's mind and think of an idea suited for Bella. That person will be credited in the story for providing it! Note: This kill cannot be someone vital to the story line such as: main characters, characters we already know, or Bella's past assaulters. Leave a Direct Message if you do find a story and provide your idea! First one takes the prize! Happy hunting!
Onto a more relevant topic… so much happened in this chapter! I realized that most of my chapters lately have lacked dialogue that you guys had mentioned enjoying before, and I wanted to provide. I changed around my outline A LOT to fit it in. Review the story with your thoughts and I really hope to see at least 5 reviews before I upload a new chapter! And as always... until next time!(: