Chapter 8: Returned

A/N: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. (In other words – I don't own it, I'm just playing). Please take the time to leave some words if you really loved it or really hated it! Thanks to my beta FE71SH for working the magic.

- EPOV -

The first few days after I threw Jacob out were difficult. I spent the time trying to fix the worst of the damage the brunette had caused. I boarded up the window and returned all of the furniture to its rightful position, throwing out anything that was too badly damaged. I replaced the dust covers and swept the house to clear all the debris and mud that had been tracked through. That wasn't the difficult part though. The hard part was that despite the busy work my hands were doing there was nothing to stop me thinking, specifically thinking about her.

At least three times a day, I called Alice to find out if she had seen anything new. However, the most she ever saw were random flashes of the female running through the forest.

A week after I arrived, I finally went hunting for the first time. I was surprised when I crossed her scent in the forest almost immediately. I followed it without thought. I was on the trail for an hour before I noticed my phone ringing.

"Edward, please don't," Alice said.

"What?"

"Please, just go back to the house."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If you keep going in the direction you are currently heading, I can see you leaving us for long time."

"I need to do it, Alice."

"You don't need to do anything." I could almost hear the eye-roll down the phone.

"I have to find her."

"I don't see you being successful though, Edward. You are not a tracker. You won't be able to find her."

I growled. "I have to try." For my own piece of mind.

"Please, Edward?"

I remained silent but took a few more tentative steps along the scent trail.

"Look, I'm keeping an eye on her, but so far, I can't see what she's going to do. Until we know for sure can you stay with us? Please."

I reluctantly agreed and headed back to the house. Early the next morning, I packed up the last of the items that remained; the emergency cash and my mother's jewellery, before climbing into the car and driving back to JFK airport to pick up my family.

The days turned into months with no further sightings of the female. Alice kept a near constant watch on her future, but saw nothing more than occasional flashes of random towns for months. Eventually the towns became forests and caves, and the female seemed to lie prone for days at a time. But there was nothing concrete to base a search on. The one thing which gave me some hope is that Alice saw the Volturi having as little success as us. At least that meant the female couldn't be used as a pawn in Aro's planning.

During the months of silence my family had settled back into a permanent residence and integrated back into society. For once they had listened to my advice and moved to Shelton, Washington. I knew Alice had more than a little to do with the final decision and I was thankful to her for it.

Our peace was disturbed once, about eight months after we moved. The Volturi guards who were in America to search for the brunette came to visit us. They again extended Aro's offer to Alice and me, but we politely rebuked them. I wondered how many times we would have to refuse his offer before he realised we would not leave our family - or how many times he would accept our refusal before turning to other, more dangerous, options to gather us into his fold.

Nine months after our initial visit to the Volturi, Alice finally saw something concrete about the female. A decision. Through Alice, I saw her walking into a house. A house I recognised but I couldn't understand why. I frowned at the maddening hint which got me no closer to her. I realised that in order to find her from that small clue, I would have to go back to every place we had lived for the past hundred odd years to try to find that house. Alice put a stop to that plan before I even had a chance to pull out the map.

"I understand your frustration, Edward, we all do," she told me.

"You don't," I snapped. "You all have smaller pieces missing, and you have each other to fill the void."

"You have us," she said. "All of us - we're here for you."

"It's not the same," I challenged.

She shook her head sadly. "No, it's not. I know it's not. But you can't do it like this. You can't leave us for an indefinite period to chase shadows and dreams."

I groaned. She obviously knew about my night-time whisperings. About the brown eyes I saw every time I closed my eyes. Chocolate pools that I often pictured in the female's face. I knew I was combining two unique situations, but in my mind they fit together - like two lone puzzle pieces which don't appear to match at first glance but work together to complete the bigger picture. I wished I knew what the bigger picture was.

"It's not just that though, Edward, and you know it." She was referring to the visions she kept getting whenever I thought of leaving to go in search of the female - Aro's guards finding me alone and 'persuading' me to go to Italy permanently. "We're not ready to lose you like that."

I sighed, resigned to the fact that the time was not right to leave my family but I would wait for the opportune moment. But I wouldn't forget about the brunette. She was never far from my mind anyway; I constantly vacillated between desire for revenge and - without understanding why - desire for her body.

It was another four months before Alice had a second meaningful vision of the female. She saw her enrolling in Forks high school. Forks... Washington. Less than 150 miles as the crow flies - or as the vampire runs. It was all Alice could do to keep me running immediately, reminding me of my duty to keep my nature a secret from the humans we were in school with. But she couldn't delay me forever. As soon as night fell, I shot from the house and sprinted through the darkened forests. My destination was set in my mind and I ran without stop. As soon as I neared the outskirts of Forks my body took over. My feet seemed to know exactly which direction to go. My mind turned to thoughts of the female. I anticipated our meeting with fear, but with an overwhelming sensation of lust. Every cell in my body called for her, seeming to sense I was drawing closer.

I hadn't got very far into the forest around the town before I caught her scent. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. This time I would have her. My hands clenched into fists by my side as I propelled myself forward. I kept to the forest, staying clear of the Quileute treaty line. I grew angry with myself for not thinking of coming this way sooner. Jacob knew the female. The dots connected in my mind - my memory was patchy since living in Forks, and Jacob knew the female and lived in La Push which was just a skip away from Forks. Everything came back to this small town.

As I ran, I crossed a location where her scent was heavily concentrated and tinged with a hint of fresh blood. The kill was obviously recent. I breathed deeply, and felt myself growing hard – which was a reaction I had never experienced before while hunting. I had never even realised such a reaction could occur, but the combined scents ramped up my desire, making me realise it had been a while since I had hunted. I hadn't been taking as much care of myself as I probably could have - only feeding enough to avoid the temptation of snacking on a classmate. For some reason hunting held very little thrill for me, but the smell of the female mixed with blood was driving me crazy with need and desire. As my thirst battled my lust I wasn't sure which would win out.

I froze when I heard a sound. It was only then I realised the female was closer than I expected. I should have known better than to not be on guard. I had forgotten that she could bypass my ability somehow. I became enraged and driven by primal urges to protect myself and my family.

I whipped around to leap at her, watching as her honey-coloured eyes widened in surprise. Then she mouthed one word which made me stop cold - my name. I was dumbstruck. She knew my name, and said it with such reverence; wrapping each syllable with love as it reverberated around us. It had been a near-silent offering, but it hung between us in the air for longer than I would have thought possible.

My body twitched, driven by a strange compulsion to be near her. To touch her. I didn't understand it and it was driving me crazy so I sneered at her instead. "Who are you?"

Her face broke at my words. Sadness filled her eyes, although I knew tears would never fall. It broke my heart seeing her in such pain. Being in close proximity to her made me ever more conflicted and torn. My body battled with my mind; my heart waged war with my head.

She took a step closer to me and I stepped away instinctively.

"Please," she begged. "Can I explain?"

She raised her hands towards me. I growled at her and stepped back. I didn't know what her talent was, but after dealing with a patchy memory for so long - and knowing that she was somehow responsible - I was naturally suspicious of any move she made.

She slowly stepped towards me again, moving with grace and precision. I matched her step, keeping the space between us constant. There were so many things about her that were positively stunning up close, but it wasn't the big things I noticed, like the shape of her body underneath her simple clothes. How the amber and red highlights in her hair stood in brilliant contrast to the deep chocolate brown of her hair and were evident even in the dark of night. Instead, it was the little things that captured my interest. Like the way her hair curled when it hit her shoulders. The way her top lip was just a little bit too small to match her bottom lip. Tiny imperfections that no-one else would see, but that combined to make her even more perfect. It was as if I knew her face so well I could see these small details - even though I'd never met her before. I put it down to turning the visions Alice had seen of her over and over in my head so much that I could recognise the intricate complexity of her features.

She dropped her hands and took a step away. I felt a loss knowing she was further away than she had been before, so I stepped toward her. She tilted her head to the side and regarded me. I stopped. I couldn't approach her - but I couldn't let her leave either. She stepped to the side, but used the step to close the gap. I stepped in the opposite direction, placing us the same distance apart.

She surprised me by chuckling. "Always so stubborn," she whispered.

Her voice was low and seductive and sent my body into a frenzy I didn't recognise. I bristled at both the sensation and the assumption in her words.

"How would you know whether I am stubborn?" I challenged.

"Because, I know you, Edward," she whispered, staring into my eyes.

My body tensed, preparing to close the space between us. Instead, I took a step away from her terrified of the unknown reaction. I could only assume this... draw - the magnetism - between us was part of her talent. The other part was obviously concealing her thoughts - her true intentions. It was disconcerting not being able to read her true intentions in her mind. I was used to every mind I encountered being laid bare for me to hear. I wanted to confront her over that much at least, but wasn't sure whether I should reveal my talent just yet... if at all. I furrowed my brow as I regarded her more intently.

You are wondering why you can't hear my thoughts aren't you? Her inner-voice assaulted my mind.

I took another two steps backwards, widening the gap even further. Her hand seemed to reach out for me for the briefest of seconds before she clenched it into a fist and forced it to remain by her side. The more the distance between us slowly increased, the sadder the brunette's face grew. I didn't answer her direct question - if it could be called direct when it was only asked in her mind. I knew she was asking me though - she knew I could hear her. I wondered if maybe I had been wrong about everything - maybe she was never in danger from the Volturi, maybe she was a plant to lure me away from my family. I knew it wasn't above Aro to play such a game.

Please, she thought.

During the time it took her to think that word her mind was open to me. I saw her and I in a tight embrace, my hand was in her hair and her lips were locked with mine. It was too much. I stepped back and turned to run, secure in my knowledge that I could outrun her easily. I was the fast one in my family - if I could beat Emmett, the female would pose no problem especially when I had a head start. I took three steps before I heard her voice, broken and small, whisper, "Edward, please."

The heartbreak in those two words almost tore me in half. But it wasn't logical. As far as I knew she posed a threat to me and my family. I shook my head to clear the sympathy that was starting to build for her. I had been in this world long enough to know that sympathy for the wrong person could get you killed. So I ran.

I could tell after a few dozen miles that she wasn't following me. Her actions confused me. Was she trying to give me space? I turned back towards the place I had left her, staring through the dense forest as if it would suddenly part and reveal her to me again. I already missed the presence of her smell, the sight of her face. I could only imagine what the touch of her skin would be like. My lips burned as though remembering the kiss I'd seen in her thoughts.

I took a tentative step back towards Forks. Towards her. It felt natural, easy even, to follow this path and travel back to her - which was exactly the reason I couldn't. I whipped around and started running towards my family. In the direction I knew held safety... and loneliness.

I had only taken a few strides when my mobile rang. "Alice?" I said as I placed it to my ear.

"I think you should go the other way."

"What?" I asked.

"The direction you were going before - back towards the female. I think you should go that way, but it's not really clear. Something is messing with my visions... but I think you'll find something there - something you are missing."

"Are you sure?" I was wary of going back alone, now that I knew how much the female seemed to know about me. She must have done some serious reconnaissance or something.

Alice sighed. "I can't tell you for sure. All I can say... is follow your heart."

My heart had been calling for the brunette since the first glimpse I had seen of her over a year ago. "Keep an eye out, Alice, just in case."

"You know I will. And, Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful. Keep yourself safe."

I hung up the phone and ran back towards Forks with renewed enthusiasm. I felt lighter as a result of Alice's encouragement. I tried to do what she said and found that by allowing my heart to take over I no longer felt the war raging inside.

When I reached the spot where I had left the female she had already gone, but it was relatively easy to follow the fresh trail of her scent through the dense woods. It stopped at a small house on the outskirts of town. I didn't stop to think before throwing myself up the side of the house and into an open bedroom window. It was only when my feet hit the floor inside that I realised what I had done. But by then it was too late. I was trapped by my own traitorous mind.

The female was lying on a bed, hers eyes half-closed, her breathy steady and rhythmic. She was completely unarmed and seemed unconscious. I wasn't sure if it was a trap but I had to get closer to her. I tentatively stepped closer to the bed, knowing at any stage she could spring and that I had to be prepared so I wouldn't be taken off-guard. And yet, despite that knowledge, I felt something strange. I felt safe. I felt at home.

I reached my hand toward hers painfully slowly. The instant my fingers brushed along her skin I felt a current run through my hand. It wasn't painful but it was unexpected so I pulled my hand back. As soon as our skin had contacted something else changed in the room. Suddenly I could hear her thoughts. It was confusing because she wasn't planning an attack, she didn't even seem aware that I was in the room with her. Instead she was picturing something off. Me in the bed she was currently lying on, my arms wrapped around her, her head resting on my chest. We were talking about something. It was evident by the state of the room, compared to its current state of disrepair, she was thinking about the past - or imagining the past. But I knew that was impossible because if I had been in the room before, lying beside her, I would know. I would remember.

I staggered back as the weight of the realisation hit me. I couldn't remember. So much of my life was missing... so much was unknown. The war between my head and heart began again. My head was screaming to leave. To run and not look back. My heart was demanding answers. I wanted to know why I couldn't remember. What she had done to me. What she had taken from me. What I had done to deserve the torture she had put me through.

I crept back up to the bedside, taking her hand in mine. I gasped as the current began again, it burned my skin in an unfamiliar, but oh so fantastic, way. The vision in her mind ended with me leaning down to kiss her. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. I scooted backwards a little, still wary of what she might be able to do. Her eyes locked with mine again and she blinked uncomprehendingly. Slowly her face and thoughts seemed to recognise I was really there and not just... a fantasy?

"Edward," she breathed. "You came back?"

I stared at the relief on her features, listened to the thoughts of love in her mind, and wanted to know just one thing.

"What the hell did you do to me?"