Into the Woods
By Everleigh Allen
Chapter 30
A/N: Biggest chapter yet. Thanks for reading.
Renee was sitting in the living room when Bella stopped at the top of the stairs.
She and Edward had gone through her window, as per Alice's directions, and waited while the awkward formalities between Renee and Charlie to cease but she was now waiting for Edward to read their minds pertaining to the situation they were about to walk into.
The silence was unnerving to Edward, who was desperately trying to get a read on Renee but it was proving more difficult as her mind seemed to flash with colors and pictures rather than words.
So far it was just random pictures of her drive to Forks- with a pit stop to take a selfie at Kitchen- Dick Road because she thought it was hilarious.
Edward's frustration grew. He remembered being able to read her mind a lot easier when she was young and pregnant, but it was almost as if she was trying to block him. He tried to concentrate on the blips of rambling thoughts to pick at the convoluted information.
Her thoughts were very circular and brief, skipping to many things before rotating back onto the first few thoughts.
It reminded him of Alice but without the foretelling.
"She's waiting for you," Edward said. "Alice said you should chat about me before introductions are made, if you want."
Bella nodded, biting her lip. It wasn't often that Bella was subjected to conversing with her mother anymore and it wasn't as if she was going to willingly step into the rink.
"How will she react to seeing you?"
Edward's jaw locked tightly. "Not well- in any which way, I am afraid. Be ready for a show."
Bella huffed. "Well, I guess we best get it over with, then." But Bella stopped and looked back at Edward. "Don't, you know, lose your temper, okay? She has a way with upsetting people but that's just her. She doesn't think before she speaks."
"I promise." Edward smiled. He was happy that Renee's mind became a little clearer as she relaxed. It also could've been the shot from the flask she took in the bathroom. "She's nervous. She's thinking about tomorrow, but I can't get a read on anything about that, yet. I will be watchful, of course but won't interfere unless needed."
"That's all I ask." Bella nodded, giving Edward a soft smile before she made her way down the stairs and into the living room where Charlie and Renee sat.
Renee saw Bella first and bounced up off the couch and engulfed her daughter into her arms.
"Ow," Bella said, trying to pull away, but Renee just giggled and held on tighter as if letting her go, her child would vanish.
"It's been too long," Renee cooed. "Oh, honey… You feel tense." She pushed her daughter away to get a good look at her, her eyes wary and searching.
"Maybe because I'm still not happy with you," Bella sighed and Renee huffed, releasing her and turning away defiantly.
"You and your father are too much alike, always holding onto grudges. Live and let live!" she groaned, with exasperation before she fell onto the couch. She padded the spot next to her, which Bella ignored.
Charlie scoffed, "It's excellent that you can so try to easily insult both of us at the same time when you're the one holding the biggest grudge of all." He said facetiously.
Renee whipped around to Charlie and glared into his dark, soulful eyes. But he just mirrored her giving her a non-verbal warning.
Renee was undeterred.
"What have you told her Charlie?" She sneered, looking between her daughter and her ex-husband. But neither gave anything away.
"What are you talking about?" Charlie scowled back, standing up in defense. He was itching to get at her, but held himself back.
"What do you mean, 'what are you talking about?' What have you told Bella about me to make her so flippy?" Renee said between her teeth.
"Flippy?" Bella repeated scornfully.
"Flippant about me being here, Bella! You're acting like you're not happy to see me at all!"
"I'm not acting."
Charlie scoffed with exasperation, shaking his head. He knew she was no longer the young, free spirited young girl he fell for as a teenager. Hell, he wasn't the same either, but she had always held a place within his soul, his heart. But the picture of her in his mind was vastly different than the snake of woman before him. "For your information, I've never spoke ill of you Renee, ever. And besides, I can't say anything that I don't know! You've kept me in the dark her whole life and when I tried to get close to either of you, you retreated into the void and you took my child with you as if it's a fucking game!"
Renee flinched as if she had been slapped, but recovered quickly, fist balled in anger and then she screeched, "I was protecting you, both of you!"
"The only thing Bella's needing protection from is you, Renee."
"I didn't think you'd want to leave here-"
"And be without by wife and baby? You're unhinged." Charlie shook his head in denial, "No, you only ever think about yourself and you were being selfish! You could've come to me and told me your fears, told me everything that I should have known so long ago. You chose to run and you've been running ever since. I've been here, waiting, watching… hoping. Hell, I would've left here and gone anywhere with you and Bells but I wasn't even given that choice either. You never gave me a choice in anything. I can see it more clearly now. You're not here for anything other than to protect your lies. What are you still hiding, Renee?"
Renee's mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish out of water.
Edward took that moment to walk into the house from the front door and into the living room. All eyes, narrowed in anger suddenly opened in shock, but none more than Renee's. She hissed and backed away with her hands held in front of her as if in defense. Edward supposed it was better than the screaming that Alice also saw her doing upon seeing him.
"Hello again, Renee," Edward's soft masculine voice was the only sound in the instant stillness of the room.
Renee's nose scrunched up in distaste for a fraction of a second, until it registered in her mind who was before her. She screamed and recoiled away as if she was hit.
Edward thought too soon about the screaming.
Bella, Charlie and Edward were unmoved.
There, before her, was her nightmare in solid form. The man who had wreaked havoc on her dreams for the past seventeen years.
"Mom, I don't believe you've formally met my boyfriend yet… this is Edward." Bella smirked, enjoying a moment of retribution.
Renee sucked in air, shaking her head with horror and dismay while Edward just stood there smirking.
"Hey," he gave her a small wave.
He was so loving this!
Being a mind reader was obviously awesome at the moment.
Bella imagined Renee screeching in her head like a banshee. Better Edward than her, because being in Renee's head was not somewhere she wanted to be at the moment.
"You can't- Bella! He… he tried to kill me!" Renee suddenly whipped around and grabbed her purse. She was a going to bolt.
But Edward was already moving slowly toward the door and was preparing to block the way, if needed. After all, she had been running for too long already.
"Let's all just sit down and have a nice, civilized little chat, shall we?" Edward practically cooed, but there was something a little sinister to the look in his eyes. It was as if he was holding himself back from tearing the woman apart. "Renee has some things to confess, after all."
Renee cried out and her body twisted and turned as if she was being possessed. Bella gave a beseeching look to Edward but he just shrugged and rolled his eyes.
Charlie still sat back down in his recliner, thoroughly bored.
"Sit!" Edward finally bellowed and Renee stopped her dramatic, tortured soul- movements and moved toward the couch stiffly, and breathing roughly. She put her purse down at her feet.
Once she sat down- once everyone sat down, Bella decided to start the conversation with stating the obvious.
"You're really pissing me off, Mom, so please cut the dramatics and act your age for once! You're not in control anymore. You don't get to just run off and be in victim mode anymore. You'll behave like an adult – or I will lose my shit and let Dad shoot you or Edward eat you, your choice."
Renee gasped in shock before giving her daughter a withering stare and then her eyes darted toward the growling man of her nightmares; the man who just happened to be sitting between her and her daughter.
"Okay," Bella huffed. "Now that we're all civilized and on the same page we were doing introductions… Edward meet Renee, Renee meet my boyfriend, Edward."
"Hey," Edward raised his hand, like a true gentleman and Renee stared at it for a few moments before looking back at Bella with wide eyes.
"Abject horror face is the best she can do, Edward."
Edward dropped his hand.
Bella shook her head as she moved closer to Edward. He wrapped his arm around her as Renee shuddered.
"We all know Edward didn't try to kill you, Mom. We all know that the only one trying to kill you, and me for that matter, was you when you tried to drown yourself."
"Bella! How can you say that? I didn't try to hurt myself! " Renee gasped, shaking her head and pointed a wobbly finger in Edward's direction. "Whatever he told you was a lie, I never-"
"Edward has no reason to lie to me," Bella interrupted. "But I know and that is that. We went all over the topic. So that leaves us with why you're here, today, on June 20th, the day before the Summer Solstice?"
"My birthday," Edward added quietly.
Bella looked at him with a smile "We'll talk about that later since Alice had to tell me because you didn't."
"There was so much else going on."
Bella gave Edward a feigned scowl. "We are so your day celebrating later."
"I know. Alice made some family plans for us."
"Good." Then Bella turned to her mother who was sitting there watching the two stoically, as if she was invisible.
"So what were we saying? Oh, yes. Why are you here?"
Renee didn't really want to answer anything. She looked around the room and avoided all of the eyes on her. "I'm here to help you celebrate the solstice, of course."
"Mom, did I mention that Edward's a vampire?" Bella used her high pitch voice and Charlie snickered and pulled open his newspaper as Renee gasped in shock… or horror.
"He's a- a cold one?" Renee looked positively ill… or disgusted or mortified.
"Yep, he eats people daily… but mostly the annoying ones who don't want to play nice with others or answer seemingly obvious questions."
"Bella's right." Charlie added, "All of this could have been done over the phone, but you had to come here."
The front door swung open. "Woah oh, here he comes. He's a man- eater… watch out girls he'll chew ya up!" Alice sang as she shut the door behind her, ignoring everyone looking at her. "Not really how the song goes but I improvised."
"Does no one knock anymore?" Charlie huffed playfully.
"Nope!" Alice giggled. "Besides, you shouldn't talk to your mother that way, Bella, She's going into shock and then you expect her to spill the beans. You just threated to have your vampire mate eat her, after all." She admonished and then went straight to Charlie and gave him a kiss on his head, ruffling his hair in greeting.
He blushed and gave a small smirk.
Edward then gave her one of his signature creepy smiles that really showcased how sharp his teeth were and how good they were at severing arteries. "I wouldn't, by the way," Edward said to Renee. "Eat you… You're not my favorite kind of… snack. But maybe-"
Renee stopped breathing. Her angry, flush face paled, and her eyes went wide.
"You guys are so mean." Charlie laughed, totally indifferent to Renee's stress.
"How can you just sit there, Charlie?" Renee started to cry silently. "You're supposed to protect me!"
"Nah, that stopped the moment you walked out that door all those years ago and sent me divorce papers." Charlie lifted his hand and pointed at the front door.
Renee's eyes followed the movement.
"You're not here to be dinner, Mom," Bella sighed. "Just tell me about the Solstice. Tell me about the empty wooden box."
Renee stood up, hands covering her face and screamed.
All eyes watched her warily. It would have been vastly entertaining if it wasn't so horribly dramatic and unnecessary.
Renee's hands swayed above her, as if she was being electrocuted. Maybe she was. Maybe her inner demons were playing electric shock therapy on because she was about to pass out.
"I said don't open the box!" Renee seethed, all red-faced with wild eyes.
Bella frowned, shrugging her shoulders, "What's the big deal? There wasn't really anything in the box, anyway."
Renee's head shook. Actually, her whole body did. Her audience was so confused.
"It wasn't empty!" Renee cried, horrified.
"It was empty," Bella looked at Edward for reinforcement and he nodded. "We both saw it. We both looked in it and it was empty except for the charm and some rocks."
Starting to pace back and forth, Renee muttered with sadness, "You don't understand. You don't know what you've unleashed-"
"So tell us!" Edward roared finally fed up.
Charlie put his paper down enough to glare at his ex. He was suddenly happy that he hadn't spent the past seventeen years with such hysterics. He peeked over the paper and said, "Spit it out, Renee."
Again, with the tears, Renee looked from Edward to Alice and then to Charlie, but when she looked at Bella she looked older and a bit worse for the wear.
"I was trying to protect you, us- from… him," Renee whispered, her voice cracking as she lifted her palmed fist and stretched out a boney, pointed finger at Edward.
There was a collective eye roll as Edward moved toward his mate, pulling her to his side and giving her a small kiss on her head. "She never needed protection from me nor will she ever."
"But- the river-"
"I was protecting Bella, not saving you. When you went under the water, pregnant with Bella, and didn't come back up, I reacted."
Renee recoiled backwards with a sneer, "You threatened me!"
Edward rolled his eyes but his jaw was deliciously tight. "I warned you, that's all." He was calm, too calm.
Too sexy.
Renee's thin lips were lined in anger as the others watched them volley but Bella had had enough of the diversion. "What did you do or say when you were standing at the edge of the forest and pregnant with me?"
Renee's head whipped around so fast that there could have been concern for whiplash. "How do you know about that?"
"I saw it." Bella said simply, annoyed that her mother managed to deflect again. It was easier to see now.
"How?"
"No. We're not going over that again. We all know what happened at the water. Answer the question about the box." Bella sneered. She was so sick of her mother's obvious knack for distraction. All patience was lost.
"Like I said, I was protecting you," Renee said as she turned toward her daughter, "A mother would do anything to protect her child. So, I… uh, did what I needed to do."
Renee moved to sit, her pallor face tight with worry. She helped herself down, holding the armrest, biting her bottom lip. But it was her eyes that gave away her true thoughts. The woman was defeated and lost.
"What did you do, mom?" Bella whispered.
"Just with Edward and Alice standing here as a… uh, a vampire… is enough to know that there are things out there…. Things that that even the worst of nightmares cannot compare."
"We'll try to take that as a compliment." Edward glared and Alice readily agreed.
Bella grunted, rubbing her temples of her head. Even though she was used to her mother's behavior, deflections, and antics it didn't get any less annoying. "Yes, I know all about the shapeshifting wolves, too, unfortunately, and their grotesquely masculine bodies. I know all about the vampires, too, so what else is there?" Bella asked, sitting down next to her mother, trying to calm her frustrations, while closer to force the woman to answer. Edward and Alice followed suit.
Renee shrugged before running her hand over her face. "I don't know everything that's out there, but since my family is from Ireland, I know of some of the things that people consider folklore to be true."
"Such as what?"
Renee sighed. "Every summer I was sent from Forks to visit my grandparents in Ireland. My grandmother had given me that wooden box to collect some of the herbs that she wanted in her stew for that night. I took the box into the nearby woods and sat there for a while in defiance for being told to go to task. You see, Grandmother would do this often, send me off to go find an impossible plant or herb or stone, just to get me out of her hair for a while. I was mad so I sat there, just beyond where she could see me out the window and wallowed. I started to pick at the random plants and the bark… anyway, I suppose I upset some woodland creatures because I fell asleep and when I woke up, it was night and my hair had been knotted with all of the leaves and bark I had plucked. That was my first inkling that there were unseen things in the woods. After that, I tried hard to not disturb their homes."
"So… like what? Elves or fairies?"
"Yes. Over the years a sort of relationship was developed and when I had to go back the summer before turning 18, I took some of the creatures with me … in the wooden box."
"You stole them?" Alice screeched but Renee was already shaking her head.
"I didn't- they wanted to go after I had told them about the forests in the Pacific Northwest and how much of the land was protected. That they would be safe and thrive here just as they did in Ireland."
"You wanted to keep them for yourself, you mean." Alice hissed.
Bella agreed. Renee was selfish enough to kidnap elementals. She doubted they had any choice in the matter. "It rains here more than it does in Ireland. Completely different ecosystem of plants, food, shelter-"
"They burrow into the ground so I'm sure they were fine." Renee shrugged. "Anyway, I grew a bit older and I met Charlie and got pregnant with you. I was devastated, at first. One day, I was sitting outside talking to them, trying to get them in the box since-" Renee swallowed and took a deep breath. "Anyway… one bit my finger. They never did that before. From that day on I could no longer see the fae or anything else for that matter. I couldn't find them. Add to that the marriage and as I saw it, my suddenly complicated life was too much for a teenager to take."
"Well, I feel loved." Charlie scoffed and several sympathetic eyes fell on him.
But Renee just frowned. "I did love you, Charlie."
Charlie raised his eyebrows in question but then just shook his head in defeat. The answer was right there.
She just didn't love him enough.
"Then what?" Bella asked.
"What Charlie didn't know was that I was going to be sent away." Charlie gasped but Renee continued. "Marrying didn't seem to appease my family and I was an embarrassment. So, I had to tell Charlie that I was going and we went off into the woods. I knew I was being followed. I knew there were things out there. I… I got upset and reacted badly. I went into the water to… to… to make it all stop. And then there was Edward. You have to believe me; I didn't want any of this to happen, Bella!"
"You lied to me my whole life, tore me away from my father, dragged me all over the place with some pretty seedy type of people and places because you were afraid of upsetting your family or because of the monster you made Edward out to be."
"Well, when you put it that way, yes. But I thought the seedier the better would make us more safe."
"I would've been safe here." Bella countered.
But Renee was already shaking her head, "No, he would have found you, here."
"Or do you mean safe from Edward?"
Renee didn't answer. She fidgeted under Edward's hard stare.
"I've found her every place you've taken her, Renee." Edward said. His voice and body was tense.
"I know. I thought I was keeping you safer than you would have been here." Renee sighed. "I guess it didn't really matter, after all."
Bella looked away from her mother and took several moments to collect her thought. Everything that came out of her mother's mouth stung, but there was something else. Something she wasn't saying or was hiding. Bella looked up to see the distressed look on her mother and narrowed her eyes. She was the kind of person you that you had to pull the truth out of and only when the proof was right there would she come clean. She was a mess of secrets leaving a trail of melancholy in her wake. The outward aloofness of her personality hid well the conniving nature of the woman before them.
Alice began to sing cryptically. "Walk into splintered sunlight,
Inch your way through dead dreams to another land.
Maybe you're tired and broken,
Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
A box of rain will ease the pain, and love will see you through.
Just a box of rain, wind and water,
*believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower, wind and rain,
In and out the window like a moth before a flame.
And it's just a box of rain, I don't know who put it there,
Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare.
And it's just a box of rain, or a ribbon for your hair;"
The room sat in silence for several moments. Only Edward and Alice knew the song was meant to calm the tensions and give a moment of reflection.
"What aren't you saying, Renee?" Charlie whispered.
Renee's face buckled as she struggled to remain detached, but it wasn't going to work. Bella nudged her mother and Renee looked up and into her daughter's eyes.
Charlie's eyes.
Both begging for the truth.
Renee had been running Bella's whole life and the lines over her face mapped out the harshness of her chosen path. She knew it was time to just lay it all out, sacrificing her sins at alter and wait for the judgment to ensue.
"In Ireland and a little here too, I dabbled in potions and spells as a kid. It was fun and I had no one to play with so it was mostly innocent fun creating. Much like a cook would dabble in recipes... But I took in the information that my grandmother instilled in me and as I got older and my little creations or spells got more complicated. I knew I had a gift of sort. I made soaps, balms, and lotions and sold them like one would sell lemonade on the corner for extra income. It wasn't anything different than you'd buy at the store, really, but more natural ingredients and made with love and intention. I then made recipes that healed, warmed, comforted. It's a simple thing, really. Well, for me, it was."
"You never taught me." Bella sulked.
"I did." Renee nodded with a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It's all in that brain of yours, but you're so much like Charlie, you always seemed to reject that part of you. You always saw it from a logical or scientific way… mom's being silly, again. Mom's being weird." She mimicked Bella for a moment, "You always preferred a book to the casting and creating. Anyway, I tried not to push anything on you. What I was really doing was trying to make protection charms and potions that would work. Mostly to protect us from, uh, Edward, but I suppose they didn't work as well as I hoped."
"I remember drinking all sorts of things." Bella scrunched her nose in distaste.
"Yes," Renee agreed. "So when I moved from Biloxi to New Orleans I learned some new things… darker things."
"Voodoo?"
Renee huffed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. It's just a religious belief system, Bella." She admonished, waving away the comment with her hand. "Anyway, no, not Voodoo. I stayed true to my Irish heritage and met someone named Maggie. She was instrumental in teaching me how to do certain things."
"Like what?"
"Bindings, mostly."
Which is what?" Bella moaned, exasperated.
"I think a better question is what did you bind together?" Edward said and the group agreed.
"I bound Bella." Renee whispered.
"To what?"
"To the Fae." Renee whispered, and then whispered the poem:
Deep into the woods, on the Gaelach day
She laughed as she watched the wild bluebells sway
With a flick of the light doth chance a teasing fae
While into the woods watching, the dire one lay
With mirth and mayhem doth she play
Straight into the woods where the spirits slay.
"And what does that mean?"
"It means that while she's protected in the woods, there are still some things that wish her harm. One that's deadly, one that will try to kill."
"Why would you do such a thing, Renee?" Charlie yelled.
"I was young! I was trying to protect our child the only way I knew how!"
"You were selfish! So selfish and callous and now the words that you meant to use to protect her will try to destroy her."
Alice, who was avidly listening to the conversation stood up. "I don't see it happening anytime soon. Why don't we all collect our thoughts and meet up at our house at six for a birthday dinner for Edward."
"But you eat…uh-"
"People? No. Not anymore. But you three will be more than welcome to feast on anything you wish that's human food and we'll just watch with disgust!"
"Alice!" Edward gasped and she grinned mischievously.
"What, Brother? I am sure the feeling is mutual and they wouldn't like to be present for our meal or they would be the meal."
"Dinner sounds lovely. We'll be there by six." Bella said before her parents could contest.
"Excellent!" Alice clapped but then looked hazy for a moment. "Nothing with knives, though. I see Jasper reacting badly."
Edward's eyes instantly went to Renee and very quietly, so quiet that Bella didn't think she really heard it- he said, "That might not be a bad thing. At least he'd get to eat at the table for once."
Alice snickered and walked out the door, waving a hand behind her.
Edward gave a quick kiss onto Bella's cheek and followed Alice.
A/N: LONG chapter but I couldn't really see where to break it up. (Shrugs) I know I got New Orleans/ Biloxi mixed up and other things. When I pulled to pub (which I didn't do since it was too Culleny) I had B coming from Cali and Renee from Biloxi- but the original fic had New Orleans. I will- eventually- fix it and the other mistakes (looks at chapter 24 with disdain) and thank you for remind me.
Alice songs:
"ManEater" by: Hall&Oates
"Box of Rain" by: the Greatful Dead
So, recap: Renee had a special box and she trapped the fae (great guess, guys!) and took them across the pond to Washington. They bit her and she lost the ability to see them. So there's not really a clear insight if there were still fae in the box or not (spoilers) and they will now be heading to the Cullen's to meet the boyfriend's parents.
Fun times.
Also, birthday suits because it's E's birthday.
Thanks for reading and reviewing as always.