Chapter 4:

Was it Real?

Was E—he really here? Or was this just another hallucination? Bella sobbed quietly, shuddering away from the little hope that the thought brought up.

The figure darted into the trees, anger skittering across its face—anger at itself, for letting it get so absorbed in its reminiscing that it had barely noticed when Bella had arrived home. It had only had a second before she walked in the door. So the figure had pressed the board back into place, gently, so as not to make too much noise or to break the board. A second later the figure was sitting outside Bella's window, hiding itself in plain sight, waiting for the girl to come to her room.

It watched, eyes wide, as it noticed the board, raised above the others, as she walked past it, unaware of its altered presence. It waited, tense, for a moment that would allow it to dart past her and correct the mistake.

And then she noticed the board, standing out so greatly against the rest of her floor, smooth and uniform. It watched, eagerly waiting for her to look away, so that it could correct its foolish mistake. And there was the figure's opportunity. It took it, opening the window so fast that it didn't make a sound. It darted inside and shoved the board down within the unneeded blink of its eye, and was perched outside Bella's window, the window firmly closed, before Bella turned back to the board.

Bella was perplexed for a moment, staring dumbfounded at the spot where she knew the board had been. Then she moved her fingers along the floor in front of her, attempting to find that board. After a few moments, Bella gave up and sat back, her shoulders slumping slightly in defeat. She closed her eyes and shook her head once.

The figure began to relax, as it appeared that Bella was done discovering its mistakes. A moment later, though, Bella opened her eyes and stood up, slowly coming around to face the window. The figure moved, hiding itself in the cover of the woods, making sure it had a clear view of Bella's window. She approached the glass, standing before it for a moment before slowly raising it enough for her to poke her head out. She did so, immediately pulling herself back inside and slamming the window shut. Bella then took a quick step away from the window.

The figure waited several moments for Bella to reappear, but for some reason, she remained out of sight. The figure waited a few more moments before cautiously approaching Bella's window. Bella was sitting on the floor, her face filled with horror, as she stared at the window. It took Bella a moment to realize who was on the other side of the glass.



Bella's pallid face turned even paler, and her eyes widened even farther than they had already been—which had already looked as if they were about to pop out of her face—and Bella gasped sharply, yet quietly, as her eyes took in the sight before her.

The figure grimaced, quickly replacing it with a bright smile that made Bella blink quickly and flounder for a moment. A long, pale arm reached out to slowly open the window. The cold-skinned creature was moving slowly, making sure to stress that it meant no harm to the wide-eyed human it was staring at.

The window was open, now, and the vampire slowly, cautiously, stepped inside. Bella's mouth was opening and closing, now; she was speechless that this beautiful creature had returned to her, after such a long time of being neglected.

"Hello," the vampire said, smiling again at Bella, watching the pain form in her eyes as its melodic voice reached her ears. The vampire's eyes tightened in response, but the smile never wavered. "I'm sorry. I couldn't make the others come back with me, but I just had to make sure that you were safe," The vampire explained.

"Why is that?" Bella asked, a hint of curiosity making its way across her face even as pain rooted itself in her eyes.

The vampire hesitated, and Bella seemed to think that she wouldn't get an answer. "Because Edward convinced himself that you were going to kill yourself." The cold- and pale-skinned vampire said the words clearly in the musical vampire voice it possessed, letting the words hang in the air as it allowed Bella some time to think this over.