Soleil

13. IT'S A HORROR STORY

"I can't believe this." Bella began shaking her head in a slow, back-and-forth sweep of denial. An uncontrollable shudder swept through her body.

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

Bella pressed her lips together. It made sense why Billy had not wanted the legend shared. It was the stone-cold truth that Jacob had let slip through his loose lips.

"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed because he did not know any better.

"I'll take this to the grave." She meant it quite literally as she recited her intended line. Mike was her doom. He must have been chasing her for the sick and twisted fun of it before snacking on her. He wanted to play with his food.

She turned her attention away from Jacob to stare at the ocean, muttering please repeatedly under her breath with a wish that they find that damned book come Monday. She filtered out Jacob's worries on oversharing the legends with her. It wasn't until Jacob's head snapped into another direction that Bella stopped begging the universe to reunite them with the book.

She cast her head in the same direction and then gawked at Edward and Jessica approaching from about fifty yards away.

"There you are, Bella," Edward called out to her. His voice was music to her ears.

"Is that your-" Bella pushed against the force holding her in her seat next to Jacob. Edward was here. He came back, as he had promised. She wanted to sprint to him, but instead she was forced to wait as he strolled over to her. Bella continued to ignore Jacob as her attention was stolen and held hostage by Edward. When Edward began to rush over to her in a hurry, Bella swiped a finger under her right eye to hide the tear being shed.

Edward stood in front of her and Jacob now, his eyes appraising Jacob. He was dissatisfied. Which made sense because Edward had warned her something was off about Jacob.

"What happened? Why do you look like you just had the life sucked out of you?" He threw a dirty look at Jacob before pulling her up from her seat and placing her by his side. He slid his hand over her shoulder in a protective manner.

"It's worse than we ever thought, Edward. About Mike," she whispered. Bella hesitated from spilling the truth out in the open. How could she be sure Jessica could not understand anything she said outside of her lines, or what if Jacob understood she divulged the secret he had just told her?

But then again…this was a Mike Cullen free zone.

She grabbed his right-hand hovering over her shoulder. She dragged it down to drape over her chest.

"What are you-"

"Just wait for it," she interrupted. Her fingertips were soon tracing letters in the palm of his hand.

V.A.M.P.I.R.E.

"You can't be serious?" His hand resurfaced at her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. She had heard the incredulity in his voice. But despite it, she knew he would believe her. Until they confirmed it in the book at least. So, she just nodded at him while offering a grave expression. "We need it to be Monday, now." Edward looked off in the distance to the others. "They're packing up. We should leave and speed things up. I am assuming we have nothing more to gain here?"

Bella shot a glance to Jacob. He was just sporting a foolish grin and looking at no one in particular with a glossy stare. Bella felt guilty knowing she had used Jacob and could not save him. This kiss she considered earlier was a foolish idea. She doubted anyone could become like her and Edward. They were flukes, daring to disrupt the story flow. One could even suggest maybe Jacob was not even real. Maybe in this moment, but not outside of it. She could not extend her capacity to care for more people or she would be weighed down trying to save everyone. This was her horror story, and she would focus on her and Edward being saved first. It was selfish. But it was the decision she had made up in her mind.

"We don't. Let's go."

"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said to Bella.

"It won't happen again," Edward promised, a lethal grin stretching his face.

Bella elbowed Edward in his ribs. "Be nice. He helped."

She muffled a laugh when Jacob grinned at her now too, his more joyful though. "That would be cool."

"And thanks," she added earnestly. It was the least she could say for herself and the other Bella that shamelessly used him to gain information.

Bella left Jacob with Edward and Jessica, heading back to the parking lot. Bella stumbled over some stones along their path. Before she slipped again, Edward caught her by the elbow. "Can you watch where you are going?" He complained before clenching his jaw. He minutely shook his head, as if reorganizing his thoughts. "Did my warning mean nothing to you before I left?" There was a gentleness to his tone that surprised Bella, especially with the absence of any audible irritation. She knew he was referring to Jacob.

"I could not fight the story flow."

Edward sighed. "I know. I am not angry at you. Just…"

"Everything?" She finished for him.

His lips quirked into a tiny smile. He removed his hand from her elbow only to replace it in her right hand. He led her forward to their destination. Jessica's presence forgotten by them a long time ago.

"Something like that," he finally answered.

As she climbed into the front seat of the suburban, she knew she was fighting the flow of direction. Her body pulled her toward the back of the vehicle. But this time Bella found herself able to resist, unlike before. She smiled to herself when she clicked in her seatbelt after Jessica was settled in next to her. Her victory was short lived as it dawned on her that her allowed resistance most likely meant no time would pass during the ride. Edward had just punched the gas and was revving up the speed of the suburban when Bella glanced at him with a heavy heart. "Thanks for your support today, Edward. You always-"

It was Monday. The weekend stretched on for too long for once, but Bella had survived it. She had survived enduring a nightmare about vampire Mike that resulted in her having to lookup vampire facts. A pointless endeavor when she was banking on knowing everything necessary from the book today. She had survived a hike in the woods, where her thoughts toiled around knowing the entire story. She kept Mike as far away from her thoughts as possible because she was not allowed to submit to her fear. This decision was ridiculously easy to live with. Dangerously easy. All thanks to Edward's recent supportive role towards her. It was to her eternal gratitude that Mike did not show up during her forced hike.

She was one of the first ones to school. She waited anxiously on one of the picnic benches on the south side of the cafeteria for Edward to show up.

When he was finally present for this scene, she called to him. "Edward!" She stood up and walked over to him. He was wearing a striped rugby shirt and khaki shorts. It didn't match his personality at all. She swallowed the laugh tickling her throat.

"Janitor's closet?" He asked, brushing past her towards the doors leading into the school.

"I hope your hunch is right," she responded as she followed him.

"I was wondering how the Preface ties in," Edward mumbled.

"Hey, you never mentioned a preface during the hike."

Edward looked up from the book. "I didn't want to scare you," he admitted.

"So, you knew it was horror story from the beginning?" she accused.

"Bella, please give me more credit than that." The arrogance in his words vexed her to no end. "I flipped to the last page to make sure you were still alive."

Bella's eyes bulged, followed by rapid blinking. "What do you mean alive?" she asked sharply.

"Well, you had the brilliant idea to sacrifice your life in place of Mike's. You declared it was a noble thing."

"I did not!" She turned her head away from Edward, raising her hands to her face.

"You did," he insisted. "And need I remind you again, it's a love story. I promise you that."

Her gut tightened as she forced out a breath. "Well, why do I almost die? How do I survive?"

"Let me finish the book and I can tell you."

"Read fast," she commanded after pulling her hands away from her face. She leaned back against the wall and pushed the mop bucket further away from where she was sitting on the sticky floor of the janitor's closet.

Edward raised both eyebrows as he looked up from the book for a brief moment. "Haven't I been doing that this whole time?"

Bella scrunched her nose up, silently protesting his amusement. He was right, per usual. It was peculiar how fast he could read through the book. He was towards the end, and he only picked up reading from where he had last left off an hour or two ago. Time had dragged on for Bella since Edward had first started the book, but she could not read French so she had to wait. Asking him to narrate it out loud was off the table as well because that would take too long and Bella could not stomach the idea of hearing her 'supposed' internal monologue.

So, Bella waited again. She watched Edward's stoic face give away nothing as he was reading the ending of this wretched book. He had no reactions whatsoever. And she waited. And waited.

Bella's eyes were closed, and she was almost asleep when she heard the loud clunk of the book snapping shut. "Okay, recap time," Edward announced.

Edward was standing up and pacing around in the little floor space the closet had offered. "It is a love story but…" His lips pressed together in a slight grimace when he stopped.

"But what, Edward?"

"There are some dangerous elements to your love with Mike. Two main events in that category. The first is coming up tomorrow where you confirm he is a vampire."

"Oh god, does he try to eat me?" Her voice cracked on the word eat. She couldn't dispel this thought despite Edward repeating it was a love story.

Edward chuckled. She stood up immediately, not okay he was treating this as a joke. "Actually, he saves you from a dangerous situation." Edward's eyes grew dark. "You should try to avoid dangerous situations like the one tomorrow by using coming sense."

"Like I would be given that choice." Bella crossed her arms and looked down at the floor. "What happens?" she demanded.

"Some men try to take advantage of you when you're alone, but Mike comes to the rescue."

"That doesn't sound too bad," she admitted, looking back up at Edward. Well, compared to having her blood sucked out of her at least. It was the brightest outlook she could have in a trapped fate at the moment.

"It is bad though," Edward sneered. "Think of your safety." Edward cursed under his breath before sighing. "But in comparison towards the end of the book you're correct, it isn't."

"And what happens there?"

"A different vampire hunts you down, tricks you into taking him on alone- I mean you are just asking for trouble with your reckless decisions in this story, Bella. He terrorizes you and then bites you. Mike will save you by sucking out the venom and then he and his family kill the hunter, James."

Well, that was a lot to take in for Bella. A LOT. And again, how was this NOT a horror story? She chewed on her bottom lip. His family, Edward had mentioned. A sense of vertigo overtook her body when she put two and two together.

"All the Cullens are vampires then, aren't they?" She willed her body not to tremble when Edward nodded. "Well… And why isn't this a horror story again?"

She could not help but notice as Edward did a hard, obvious swallow. He offered her a too-quick smile. He was acting reluctant, but she knew nevertheless he would still answer her.

"Because you love him, you survive it and get your happy ending by having a vampire as a boyfriend." That was the reasoning? Bella could not help but snort. Was that supposed to placate her?

She held her chin up. "I don't care for any of that. What can we do? I don't want that ending."

Edward avoided eye contact with her for the first time in this conversation. "I don't want to disappear either."

There was a tightness in her chest. "What do you mean disappear?"

"As you start getting closer to Mike, our scenes together are very limited. You'll hardly see me anymore after your trip to Port Angeles tomorrow night."

Her stomach dropped and Bella sat back down on the floor, not caring for once that it was sticky.

"I don't want that. If I could rewrite this story, it would have been you as Mike," she confessed.

A wave of surprise flashed on Edward's face before it went blank. He was looking at her again though at least.

"Still would have been a horror story," he teased.

"Maybe if it was you instead, I would not have that outlook." A blush crept across her cheeks.

"He watches you when you sleep."

"What?" Bella jolted back up. "Tell me the whole story now! Chapter four to the end. I need to know it all. Now, Edward!"

Note: I was going to wait to post this. Consider another round of editing... But the wine made me do it. So if there are grammar mistakes, blame el vino rojo. Hopefully I don't regret this tomorrow.

I thought the last sentence of the last chapter was funny when I wrote it. I am glad it hit home with other reviewers too. Based on the number of people who commented on it…it inspired the turn this chapter takes in the closet and its title, so thanks! I didn't expect that originally but here we are also the conversation surrounding the book with ExB was really fun to write~