A/N: I am so embarrassed. I used my parents' computer for the last update and their program on there was not as good as the program on mine, so my grammar and spelling was so off in the last chapter. Please forgive me.
I am now back to my regular schedule. I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 19 Trickery
∞Bella/Izzy∞
When I reached the suite Anthony was not there and I immediately started to freak out. I was afraid that I was not alone. I methodically searched all the closets, looked under the bed, and looked in every dark corner; all while turning on every single light there was.
Talking out loud to myself I knew I wasn't right; everything felt completely off. I paced the floor from the front room to the bedroom as I pulled at my fake colored hair. I grew more frustrated by the second.
"He's not here, he's not here, where is he? My parents are dead, no, no, their alive. No they are dead. Who am I? Where am I? They're here. They're going to kill me. No, no I can't let them hurt me again." I pounded on my forehead with the ball of my hands. "I've got a gun. Where's my gun?" I began pulling out all the clothes in the drawers and yanked all the clothing from their hangers in the closet. In frustration I grabbed the cushions from the couches and tossed them across the room; knocking down the vases with flowers in them. I ripped all the sheets off the bedding; I paused when I reached between the mattresses taking off the fitted sheet to find that I felt my gun sitting snuggly under the top mattress. Safely I removed it, gripped it hard and flipped the safety off. "I am not going to let them get me. I will kill them before they lay another hand on me. I can do it. My dad taught me well. Oh, my dad, my dad. Maybe I should just go into Aro's suite and kill them all. Ya, ya that's what I need to do. Uh, uh! Get Alice and Bree and get the hell out of this Sin City." I laughed, it didn't sound like me.
My breathing sped up, I closed my eyes and I knew I was losing control. All of a sudden the image of James' face popped into my head as he spoke his chilling words to me. "Hmmm…you are so soft. I wish you were mine. I think I should make you mine." I could still feel his blood curdling breath on my neck. Then it was like it was happening all over again. The beatings I had taken in the basement of the Newton's store came through my mind. Each time I was beaten by James I had never seen his face, but now his face was being replaced by his mask that he used to wear when I had these memories cross my mind. Tears were streaking down my cheeks and my face was heavily moist. My body was trembling and my right hand was sweaty and hot from gripping onto my gun.
All of a sudden I heard the front door click and my instincts took over. I spread my legs shoulder width apart, grabbed the butt of my gun with both of my hands, extended my arms straight out in front of me with a slight bend at the elbows and pointed the gun to the door that was slowly opening.
James' face stared back at me. He was shocked and totally taken off guard. His hands were in the air and I knew I had him. I placed the gun between his eyes. This was my chance because I knew he hadn't come here to chit-chat, but to hurt me and I was going to kill him before he ever got that chance again. That didn't happen though because he spoke.
"Whoa there Izzy, um, Izzy put the gun down. I am not going to hurt you, Love."
Love? I shook my head and was completely confused. That's Anthony's voice, but wait this is James standing before me.
∞Edward/Anthony∞
I stood there as still as possible, hoping not to alarm her, as I waited for her to back off. She looked hot standing there with the gun in her hand, but I had to remind myself that the gun was pointed at me. I couldn't look her straight in the eyes because I was afraid that would intimidate her, so I took this as a chance to assess my surroundings. First off I noticed that Izzy had been crying and it seemed that she had been crying for a while. Mascara streaked her cheeks all the way from her eyes down to her jaw bone. Her face was a slightly flushed and her hair was disarray, as if she had been pulling through it.
Secondly without moving my head I looked past her and examined the room. Everything was a complete disaster. The couches were torn apart, lamps and chairs knocked over and clothes strung about the room. I was at a total loss of words because I knew things were worse than I thought and couldn't figure out how to fix them.
I needed to reach her and snap her out of whatever is going through her mind.
"James, I am telling you right now stop messing with me! If you don't stop, so help me I will pull this trigger!"
"Izzy, I don't know what you are thinking or even seeing, but I am not James. I am Anthony," I pleaded, hoping that she will just snap out of it, but she looks like she is growing more agitated by the second.
"You have five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on. 1….2…"
"IZZY, SNAP OUT OF IT. THIS IS ANTHONY!" I reached for her waist and touched it lightly with my fingertips, but she flinched away from me.
"3…"
"Come on, I love you, don't do this Izzy!"
"4…"
It comes to me. There is only one thing I need to say for her to understand that I am not James.
"5…" "BELLA!" We both say at the same time.
Then there's silence. Fresh tears are streaming down her face washing the mascara streaks away. She lowers the gun. I take one step forward; shut the door, never taking my eyes off of her.
"Love, please give me the gun," I whisper.
She closed her eyes, pressing more tears down her face and lifts her hand. I slowly removed the gun from her hand and put the safety on. With my other hand I quickly grab and pull her to me. I embraced her it a tight hug and she began sobbing. She pressed her head in the crook of my neck.
Gripping her tightly I guided us over to the couch, reached down and flipped a cushion back onto the couch. I sat down and pulled her into my lap. After setting the gun down on the coffee table I began stroking her hair, trying to smooth out the mess she had made.
As she pushed her head into my chest her sobbing started to subside. I sat quietly and continued stroking her hair and let my hand linger to her back, rubbing it lightly.
She sighed. "I am so sorry. I am losing myself."
"Love, I've got you now, but can you please tell me what happened?"
"I'll try, but I am so confused. My head hurts. I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to give up and end myself, but the other part wants to stay and fight. To keep everyone alive, but that's what I thought I was doing after I left Forks, keeping my parents alive. I failed at that," she choked out a sob. "When the door opened I saw James, but heard you. I just thought James was messing with me like he always has. What is wrong with me?"
I had a hard time comprehending her words. It made me sick to think that if I was one second later than I had been she could have killed herself. I shake that thought from my head.
"Love, like I said, you are suffering from PTSD. We need to start getting you medicated." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the prescription. "Have you eaten today?" She shook her head. "Well, then go get cleaned up and I will take you to lunch."
"Can we, I need to lie down for a while first. Is that all right?" She pulled away from me and batted her eyelashes. Even though she was a complete wreck she was still beautiful.
I nodded, stood up and we made our way to the bedroom. She quickly ran into the bathroom. I stood in the room and looked at the aftermath of her breakdown. I shook my head and got to work putting the sheets back on the bed, the clothes could wait.
She entered the room as I was climbing into the bed.
"Oh, did I do all this?" She asked while looking around the room and peered out into the front room.
"Well, I certainly didn't do it. So, um, you don't remember any of this?" I gestured my hand out toward the room.
"All I remember was looking for my gun and thinking about how James was never going to hurt me again."
I looked at her and realized that she truly looked exhausted.
"Well, let's not worry about that now. You need some rest and then we need to get you fed." I patted the bed letting her know to join me. She climbed up, slipped her shoes off and snuggled into me. I kissed the top of her head; she moved her head so she could look at my face. She leaned in and kissed me passionately.
Our hands were all over each other. Not one inch was left untouched. All our clothes deposited to the floor, skin touching skin. We made love for the first time, hoping it wouldn't be the last time, but all that mattered was the here and now; just Edward and Bella.
The rest of the week I tried to make it less stressful for Izzy and also tried to get her mind off of her parents. We spent a lot of time out of our suite; which was a good thing because we were now paranoid that Aro had heard everything through the bugs hidden in our room. I hardly slept. I kept my ears open to every sound. Luckily one of the side effects of Izzy's prescription was drowsiness and I made sure she took it around bedtime so it would help her feel rested in the mornings.
We ventured down the strip. Each day we would watch a few shows like the pirate show at Treasure Island, water show at the Bellagio and we also watched Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield, Blue Man Group, Phantom and one of our favorites Jersey boys. They were all awesome and we seemed to enjoy them better than we normally would have because they were all at the expense of Aro.
We enjoyed having dinner's one on one with each other. We were constantly touching each other more than ever since we had taken our relationship to a more intimate level. We seemed to never be able to get enough of each other. The more time we spent together Izzy seemed to be getting better. She relaxed more and appeared to genuinely be enjoying herself. I really felt it was because she enjoyed spending a lot of Aro's money; which I didn't mind because that man owed her more than what money could buy.
We also did quite a bit of shopping on Aro's dollar at the Caesar Forum Shops. Everything there is so over-priced, even for a doctor, but we were definitely living it up. Plus, we wanted to look our best at my first performance this Saturday.
It is now Saturday, the day of my performance. I am nervous, but it is not about playing, it's about seeing Aro. I am assuming since it has been a few days since Izzy's breakdown in our suite that he may not have heard anything. I would think by now that if he had heard it he would have tried to kill us, but I have been wrong before.
I am happy. Izzy seems to be in high spirits, in control and focused on our assignment for today. She is hoping that Aro will show a very high interest in her before the concert and that he will want her to sit with him. She has a long blue dress on and her hair is pulled up in a French twist, she looks gorgeous, so I believe there is no way Aro will be able to take his eyes off her. I am a little unnerved about that, but I will be close by and plus she is a strong woman that can handle herself.
I do not wear a suit because it is hard to play the piano in, plus I already am nervous and don't want to sweat too much, a fitted jacket so I opt for a blue button down dress shirt and black slacks. It looks great and it's comfortable. And I am slightly aware that Izzy and I are coloring coordinating like we are going to prom, but I don't care because we look good together.
∞Bella/Izzy∞
I am so surprised that I am not a nervous wreck. I feel strong and ready to face this evening head-on.
My love for Anthony has grown stronger and I have never felt more loved than I do now. His touch is soft and loving. It is definitely something I do not want to give up and is a complete opposite of how I felt earlier this week. My medication is working and I am happy. I could battle the world with our love. And with that I am ready to put my under-cover mask on and face Aro.
As we walk hand in hand into the Monet Ballroom of the Bellagio Aro approaches us unexpectedly and both our eyes meet. We don't say anything, but we know and we can feel each other's unspoken words of confidence that we are able to pull this off.
We have only been here for a week and I already feel as if I am truly becoming this Izzy girl.
When Aro gets closer his eyes are trained on my form and it makes me uncomfortably happy because I know I've got him hooked.
"Well, well look at you two. I must say you are absolutely breathtaking Izzy. And what a pair you make," he declared with a smug, wide smile that showed his yellowed teeth.
"Thank you, sir," I answered. He reached for my hand and he placed a lingering kiss to the back of it.
"Anthony," he nods and shakes his hand. He then hands Anthony a piece of cardstock paper and I assume that it is the program for tonight. Anthony looks over it, looks up and stares at Aro.
"Um, I don't understand. I was under the impression that there would be other performers here tonight," he assumed.
"Actually, I have a confession," Aro smiled. I looked at Anthony, swallowed hard and noticed his Adam's apple bob up and down. I knew he was just as nervous as I was.
He continued. "I cancelled all the other performers for tonight. I am only interested in you, Anthony." He paused. "Do you think you could entertain all of my guests tonight, all by yourself?"
Anthony seemed as if he wanted to ask questions, but just answered, "Of course, Sir, that should not be a problem." He looks at me and smiles. "But, as long as I am able to get a dance in once in a while with my beautiful girl."
"Oh, believe me I won't keep her all to myself. There are plenty of my guests that would love to dance with this beauty, but I will be selective."
Yes, he is totally wrapped around my little pinky.
When all of Aro's guests come in he greets them, while I stand at his side, and then they are seated at the round dinner tables. The room is elegantly decorated and I honestly feel like Cinderella in my blue dress.
Anthony is setting his music up on the black, grand piano at the head of the room. He is practicing very softly and it makes wonderful back ground noise as everyone is settling.
Aro introduces him and then he sits down next to me at a table close to the piano. James and Victoria sit across from us. His face is still bruised, but seems to be healing well. I feel relieved because I know he knows I am here, but he never looks at me. I smile inside because it makes me happy to know that Anthony really did scare him.
Anthony plays very well and I can tell that Aro is extremely pleased; especially when he places his hands on top of my thigh and squeezes it. It makes me feel a little ill, but I don't brush it off and I don't encourage it either. I simply look at him and give him a tiny smile.
People clap politely after every song Anthony plays and I think it's cute when he stands and bows to the audience.
After about six songs Aro stands up and asks me to dance. I please him by excepting his extended hand. When we are on the dance floor, he grips my hip tightly and places his sweaty, clammy hand in mine. He's and okay dancer, but it doesn't come naturally to him. The song ends and he gestures me to follow him.
"Come, there's someone I think would love to dance with you."
We approach a man with sandy blond hair, his back is to us.
"Excuse me, Mike." I stiffen and he turns around, our eyes meet. I hope he doesn't recognize me and if he does I hope he plays dumb.
"Mike, this is Izzy. I was wondering if you would dance with her while I mingle, so my other guests don't feel neglected?"
"Sure, Sir, it would be my pleasure." He looks tired and his words seem as though they are programmed into his mind.
Mike takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor as Aro starts to mingle, but he keeps his eyes on us. I look over to Anthony and notice he is watching us too. He is wearing his poker face and I am happy he is.
We dance, in silence for a couple of songs and then he pulls me closer, so that his mouth is by my ear.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?"
Sorry I love cliffies. *** Runs and hides***
