Let Me In-Chapter Ten
Isabella says hello to all her humans but she never takes her eyes off Edward. She can even taste Tanya's jealousy in the air. The others can see the obvious chemistry between Isabella and Edward so they all move to diffuse the situation.
Rosalie and Alice take turns dancing with Isabella and Emmett takes Edward to find drinks for the entire group. Jasper sits with Tanya trying to assure her that nothing has happened between Edward and Isabella. He doesn't think anything will ever happen between the two but then again Isabella is acting really weird tonight. He wanted to ask Alice if she notices anything but he doesn't want to interrupt their night.
The band gets on stage and that's when the girls separate. They are pushed and pulled away from each other as drunken women crowd the dance floor to get a better glimpse at the band. Bella is too elated to notice that her dancing partners, Rosalie and Alice, are no longer near her. Instead she stumbles from the crowd of people into a dark corner near another table.
That's when she feels His touch.
He is here; she just failed to notice again.
"I've missed you so much Isabella. It's been hard staying away from you."
His voice is like velvet, if that's achievable. Even to her acute senses, He is melodious in every form. She remembers His words from long ago, telling her that she is too rash. She remembers recoiling from the sting of that comment. She remembers steeling herself for when He would no longer want to be in her presence. She is even surprised that she is holding up so well under the circumstances.
She turns to face her other half and she becomes still. That's when it all makes sense to her. Maybe she was deluding herself into thinking that it was Edward's good demeanor that attracted her. Yet she was wrong. She initially wanted Edward because he looked so much like Him but they are two different people. They have two completely different effects on her.
He is like Edward's doppelganger; the resemblance between these two men is staggering.
Isabella and Bella were two distinct creatures. It seems that Isabella had lost her humanity and He was her male equivalent. Yet in Edward, she had found her humanity. She found her capacity to more than a lover of carnage. She discovered that she could be Bella. She was a creature most foul but she had a taste of what it felt like to belong and she is not willing to give that up for Him.
"It seems that you missed me too. Your human pet, Edward, resembles me. In fact it seems that he is my descendant."
He chuckles and for the first time Isabella spoke, "Mason, what do you want?"
Her voice is measured. She feels light-headed because it has dawned on her that she is in a dangerous situation.
She always thought Mason was her soul mate. She thought he was so perfectly matched to her, that they were meant to be. Yet she could never get over the fact that he made her more ruthless. He brings out the worst in her.
Maybe our Isabella was afraid to admit that he wasn't for her until she met Edward.
Now it seems that she had been attracted to Mason because he was related to her actual soul mate. Her other half had not been born yet; her tether to Edward is so strong that she had formed a bond with one of his ancestors without the knowledge of his existence. Edward was the best part of her. He made her better. He made her want to be better and he allowed her to feel for the first time without having to manipulate her.
These thoughts run through Isabella's mind while she remains locked in Mason's arms. He is stoking her bare back and they appear to be two lovers in an embrace. She keeps her face smooth and free of emotion because he would end Edward if he found out his relevance to Isabella.
"Dance with me."
He starts to pull her into the crowd but she hesitates. She wants to keep him far away from the Cullens. So she shakes her head and scans the crowd. His chest vibrates as a growl begins to build.
"I'm sick and tired of you demeaning yourself by pretending that you're human. You need to accept that they are the prey and you are the predator. You need another life lesson and I'm going to begin with Charlie!"
Then it is as if he was never there. Mason leaves her standing alone in the dark corner.
She stumbles back and she nearly crashes into some people standing near. She needs to leave; Charlie is hers and she needs to protect him.
Isabella plows through the crowd and sees Alice. She doesn't have time to tell everyone so she hopes that Alice would understand why she needs to leave.
She holds the small human by the shoulders and looks her in the eye, "Alice, I need to leave…Charlie's in trouble!"
She doesn't wait for a response; she simply turns around and stumbles through the crowd. She is aware that there must be more than alcohol in her meal's blood because she feels unbalanced.
Leaving her coat behind, she shrouds herself in darkness as she makes her way to her car. She is on the highway in less than five minutes. The lines of the highway are blurred and soon the twists and turns are sharper than before.
She is in the midst of making a sharp right turn when Mason steps in front of her car. Reflexes take over and she swerves to miss him.
The sound of metal and wood coming together is a grating echo that causes Nature herself to groan. The car is wrapped around the tree in the aftermath and a small fire erupts.
Isabella extracts herself from the car as soon as she hears Mason's laughter.
This is a game to him.
Her rage binds her to wet ground as a frustrated growl escapes her throat. She needs to move quickly because she can hear the gas dripping as the small fire is eager to engulf the remnants of wood and metal.
She drags herself away from the vehicle and the snow becomes tainted with the fluids coursing through Isabella's body. She turns to look at the sky; waiting for her body to mend itself but the dense trees obscures her view. She is so weary and angry. Mason is on his way to Charlie while she waits for her body to heal.
It is mere minutes, but that is enough time for Mason to get to Charlie before she can.
She is irritated as she flings her pumps into a snow bank and takes off running.
Good job Isabella, why would you waste perfectly good YSL pumps? You could have given it to one of us, I'm sure we would have taken better care of eight hundred dollar shoes.
She is still hazy and nearly crashes into a few trees but her determination to save Charlie is stronger. She is on the doorsteps of their home when she hears Charlie's shriek. The door succumbs to her body hitting it full force.
Mason has Charlie pinned to a chair, glaring at the man.
Mason understands that Charlie and the Cullens have taken a special place in Isabella's heart...one that can no longer contain him. He has always hoped that she would love him. He never saw why she couldn't love him. He allowed her to be the vilest creature that she wanted and he never chastised her for her behavior. And still she couldn't love him.
Well Mason, maybe it's because you left out the part about being a sociopath.
Now she's allowing humans to take his place in her life. He never thought they would truly loose contact with each other. He didn't want to think that it was so easy for her to forget him. He thought she would run back to him telling him how lonely she was. When they were together, he made sure that their relationship was her only priority; that their relationship consumed all her time. He isolated her from everything. He wanted her dependant on him but it only seemed to make her more resistant to his efforts.
He is infuriated with this human before him. He wants to end the lives of all those that had taken her from him.
Mason has only begun with Charlie.
Edward is next on his list.