7 Years Later

The silence had filled my world. And like the sad little girl I'd become, I had welcomed it with open arms. Only in silence was I able to think back on happy days. But was that really healthy for me? The answer was easy...of course not. I should have moved on by now, but I had made the promise that I'd never forget.

I had hoped my family would come for me shortly after Jacob and I were forced to leave. We had gone to our predetermined destination, and waited there several months. I wasn't allowed to leave the hotel much, due to my rapid growth. And we could only stay in one hotel for two weeks at the most. But in those several months, there was no sign of any vampire, and we were forced to move because of my noticeable growth.

There was one thing I was absolutely sure of. Demetri was dead. If he were alive, and the Volturi had won the fight, he would have tracked me down by now. That didn't mean that the Volturi didn't win, because there was a definite possibility that they were still looking for me. Which is exactly the reason Jacob encouraged moving so often and not leaving the hotels much so I could keep a low profile. Although if my family won and were looking for me, we were making that very difficult for them as well.

Jacob forbid me to return to Forks. With no idea of the outcome of the fight, there was no way of knowing who was lying in wait for us in that town. But I had to go back. I needed to know what happened. There was an incredibly good chance that Alice and Jasper were still alive, knowing that they weren't even present at the time of the fight. Maybe Alice could tell me what happened, if I failed to find anyone else. Or what about all of those witnesses? Someone was out there that could tell me everything, so I could finally ease my restless heart and empty world.

Right now we were in France. It was tough being here and not knowing how to speak their language. We were also dangerously close to Italy, home to the surviving Volturi (if any). The killer part was that we had no idea of who survived and who died. Jake and I usually, and unwillingly, got into conversations about who may or may not have survived.

"Well your mom was still a newborn, and she'd be nearly unstoppable." Jake would say, "And others would protect her to make sure that she could keep the mind shields on them." It was always convincing to believe him. And I wanted to so badly. "And Edward. Well he had that annoying ability to read minds so he would always have the upper hand, right?"

But I'd always find some way to counteract him, "My dad was never a great fighter, not quite like Emmett or Jasper. So I don't know." I really hated to always be the negative Nessie in these situations. But they hadn't come for me, so how was I supposed to be positive?

As usual, I was home alone. But this time, it was in an actual home and not just a hotel. Jake and I didn't know how long I would grow for, or when I would stop. But I hadn't even grown an inch for the last four months now, so it seemed like I was done. Which allowed us to have a more permanent setting. We estimated that my body was somewhere between 17 and 20, although really I was only about seven and a half. But it was amazing, since I didn't feel as young as seven but I felt and could think like a mature adult. I was sure things were going to get awkward between me and Jacob, now that we physically looked the same age. But I didn't think about that, knowing that we were nothing more than best friends-like brother and sister almost.

Now that I had seemingly stopped growing, I could exit the house more now, without causing suspicion. But instead, I chose to stay in the quiet home. Jacob had gone out to work, taking a job in an auto shop despite the language barrier. Despite the large amount of money that was given to us, it had depleted much quicker than we expected with all the traveling and hotels and homes. In order to keep us a decent sum of money, Jacob went to work. I was alright with it, giving me more time to think to myself, although I did still enjoy his company.

Right now, I was flipping through the pages of a scrapbook. I never understood why I tortured myself like that, looking through the book that was given to me as a gift from Alice and Rosalie. It was filled with beautiful pictures of family and friends, which is exactly the reason Jacob didn't like me to look at it. He had hid it from me for a long time, but just this morning I had found it. There were a couple pictures of Seth in there, and even one of Lea. Of course he didn't like seeing those, reminding him of his wolf pack and only hoping that some survived. This life on the run killed him just as it killed me, because those wolves were like his brothers...that much I understood. So I was careful not to complain about how much I missed my family, knowing that he missed his too.

I looked carefully through the book, knowing that these pictures did know justice to the faces on the paper. I stared hard and longingly at each one of the faces, but it was all cut short. I heard his car park in our little driveway, and I slammed the book shut shoving it under some papers. If he saw me with the book...well, I don't know what he'd do. But I was afraid of any of the possibilities.

I moved quickly to the couch, lying down, as he opened the door.

As if I had been laying there the entire time, I rose from the couch and greeted him, much more enthusiastically than I probably should have with a simple, "Hi Jake!"