7. Unexpected
(Bella's POV)
People always tell you to expect the unexpected, as if you can somehow prepare yourself for it. I don't think any amount of expectation could prime you for the unknown. This opinion comes from personal experience, as I'm sure you've gathered. Therefore, when I entered the Police station I truly hadn't prepared myself for the unexpected sight of Edward... and his entire family.
I almost laughed because it was such a twist in this tale.
The shock prevented any real amusement and I literally froze in the doorway, mentally running through a list of possibilities. They could be here for a completely unrelated reason, though that seemed unlikely because the crime rate in Forks wasn't exactly high. So, how could their presence here ever be connected to my presence here?
Carlisle sent me a little wave from across the room, where every single one of them was staring over at me. Because I'm awkward, and severely on edge, I simply nodded back at him a few times like one of those bobble-heads.
"Bella, over here," my auntie Sue called, effectively dragging my eyes to the left.
It was only then that I noticed the building had actually descended into chaos. There were officers rushing around all over the place, most of whom I didn't recognise. It must be something serious then, I concluded, seen as they had called in men and women from other stations.
"What's going on?" I asked, approaching her and the officer she was standing with.
"Ma'am," he greeted me, offering a sympathetic smile that had me concerned. "I'll leave you two alone for a minute."
"Thanks, Chris," auntie Sue said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. It was the first time I'd looked at her since I arrived, I mean really looked at her, and she didn't look at all thrilled.
I waited patiently for her to start talking, for I knew she was already aware that I needed some sort of explanation. I could feel the Cullens' eyes burning into the back of my head but I resisted the urge to turn around. I felt rather ill and I was sure that their eyes would only make me feel worse.
"Please don't panic," she whispered, staring me dead in the face. "I need you to be very brave for me, Bella."
"Just tell me," I practically begged, unable to stand the suspense.
"The authorities have reason to believe he has come back."
The fear that rippled through me upon hearing those words would have been strong enough to shake the earth. I didn't need clarification, I knew exactly who she meant, and I don't think anything could have been worse. It was yet another unexpected thing that there was no chance in hell I could have prepared for.
My brain became disconnected from my mouth for a few thorny moments and I could not get a single word out. All I did, and I must have looked insane, was stare blankly, unmoving, at my auntie.
What were you supposed to say, anyway, when your childhood nightmare had just come to life for the second time? This was different, however, because there was a sense of inevitability. He didn't succeed in getting rid of me the first time and so this time, if he were to get the opportunity, he would.
"How do they know?" I finally asked, trying very damn hard not to hyperventilate.
"A man matching his description approached someone outside your school."
"He was—" I swallowed hard, "—at the school?"
"There's no need to be afr—"
"Who saw him? Who did he speak to?" I demanded, too panic-stricken to mind my tone. I would apologise later.
Her eyes moved to the side, to look over my right shoulder, and I hesitantly followed her gaze. Funnily enough, it landed right on Edward. Again, the hysteria almost made me laugh. I knew that this was strictly coincidental but it seriously couldn't get more ironic.
Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or possibly the frustration, that had me moving in the direction he was sitting. He looked oddly calm considering a kidnapper had approached him, though it was unlikely that he knew the details of my past. I had to consider the possibility that something was said that prompted Edward to go to the Police.
"Please tell me what he said," I whispered and, on their own accord, my eyes filled up with tears. My vision was blurred but I could still see Edward crystal clear.
He sighed, leaning forward in his seat. "I don't know how to say it."
"Just say it as it is," I whispered, breathless. I felt as if I was seconds away from collapsing. "Just say what he said."
He frowned, meeting my gaze again. I could see the reluctance in his eyes and I just knew that what was about to leave his mouth was something horrifying. In that second, I didn't care that I was face to face with Edward Cullen and that said person was about to see my life fall apart once again.
"He offered me money to kill you," he said, eyes never leaving mine.
"Which is fucking ridiculous, obviously," Jasper assured me. He was perhaps the one member of their family I had never encountered in person.
"What did he look like?" I asked, barely acknowledging any attempts to downplay the situation.
"Uh... Tall, very pale, piercing blue eyes... Long, blonde hair..."
"Does that sound like the guy you described to us, ma'am? All those years ago?"
I turned in search of the person who spoke, to come face to face with the man my auntie had been speaking to when I entered the station. I think she mentioned the name Chris. He was completely unfamiliar to me and, stubborn as I am, I didn't really want to answer him. However, I knew that he was only there to help and not answering would in actual fact be even more detrimental to the situation.
"It sounds exactly like him," I mumbled, trying my hardest to blink back the tears.
"We're conducting a search of the town at the moment," he explained, backing away from us all. "As of yet, we haven't found any traces of James."
I cringed so far into myself at the sound of his name, that I might as well have just disappeared into nothingness. I only allow myself to think his name on special occasions—as in, those evenings where I'm so close to self-destruction that he would have been better off killing me a long time ago.
"He's been on the run since I was 13," I snapped, unable to hold back the tears any longer, "and you're standing there telling me he was two minutes from this building and you have nothing?"
"Well, we have been—"
"Where the hell have you been looking? 4 years, 4 years, I've had to worry about him coming back for me and... now he has! You don't know, none of you know, what it was like! I have scars all over my arms because of what he did to me..." I shoved my hair out of my face, trying to catch my breath. "I want to go home."
"Sweetheart," auntie Sue said, slowly making her way over to us. She sort of looked like she didn't know what to do and, to be perfectly honest, if I was her looking at me right now, I wouldn't have a clue what to do either. "You can't go home."
"What do you mean?"
"He knows there will be days, sometimes nights, when you are alone there," she explained, resting her hand gently on my shoulder. "You need to be around people."
"We're trying," the Chris guy said, tucking some papers under his arm. "Protecting you is our main priority so you have two options ma'am: one, you'll be placed under witness protection."
"I'm not leaving town," I said, swiping at all the traitor tears.
He shrugged. "Option two it is. You'll be staying with Doctor Cullen and his family, temporarily."
The idea was absurd and I very nearly screamed the words at him. Why is it that I, a teenager, feel as though I could be doing his job a lot better than him?
"You have to know that you might have just said the most stupid thing I've ever heard a human being say," I said, giving him a look I hoped was incredulous enough to make him doubt himself. "I'm not putting other people in danger because of me."
"James isn't out to get anyone else," he muttered, heading towards a doorway on the North side of the building. "Your aunt will be safe at home; he'll figure out soon enough that you're not living there. The other wonderful part of it all is that he ain't going to come near you when there are seven other people with you. That'll give us time."
And he was gone.
"Bella, I know this is all a little overwhelming for you and—"
"I need some air."
And I was gone, too.