Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. Plot is all mine.
Meanwhile, a few hours ago, back in Forks …
Edward felt something was off despite everything going so very well. He couldn't put his finger on why he just felt the way he felt without a probable reason behind it.
He was crouched behind a cluster of bushes beside his sister. They were carefully stalking a herd of elk as they stopped by a tiny stream to have a drink of water. Completely unaware that one of them could become a meal for a bloodthirsty monster. In a way, it was a twisted circle of life – with vampires being right at the top of the food chain.
But Edward couldn't think too much into that as he felt rather peculiar. He looked at Rosalie, who was mentally too focused on the hunt, despite the fact that they were simply observing the animals and haven't surrendered to their predatory senses yet. And Rosalie was being unbelievably quiet. Which was so unlike her as she enjoyed frightening the animals, and then turn the hunt into a grand chase.
And furthermore, Edward felt like his head wasn't in the "game" either. He wondered why, of all the people in their family, she wanted to hunt just with him – whither she wanted to talk to him privately or not, they could have easily gone a little distance away from the house where they couldn't be heard and had a conversation on whatever she wanted to discuss.
Rosalie and Edward hardly ever got along as they never had anything in common. So the fact that she even suggested an activity where they would prolong their time together so unnecessarily was rather … weird. To be honest.
And never mind that, but also her timing was by far the worst. Bella was going to be arriving at their house at any moment, and she was going to be very disappointed to see that Edward hasn't even waited for her before he took off with his sister.
They hardly spent any time during the day together, especially after Charlie forbade her from leaving the house except for school and her part-time work. And now that he so timidly decided to unground her, Edward was excited to have her come over.
He planned the whole day for them to spend together; they would have dinner at the restaurant where they had their first date. Afterwards they would go to their special meadow and lay among the flowers in bloom in each other's arms.
And then, when the time was just perfect, and Bella wouldn't suspect a thing. Edward planned to take out the blue velvet box he prearranged to have with him all along – which had the engagement ring his father proposed to his mother with – and then ask Bella the question he has been waiting for nearly a century to say; 'Will you marry me?'
And then … he would spend the rest of his life with the love of his entire existence. Something he thought was impossible, especially when every one of his family found their special someone and he never did. And just when he was about to give up, he met Bella Swan.
Granted, their story wasn't the typical fairy tale. And they had several bumps along the road; James and his coven. Jasper's relapse, which Edward never held against him. And then all of them leaving. But worst of all was the Volturi; going to them was the biggest mistake Edward ever made – and he also couldn't forget Bella's werewolf friend that made it his mission in life to ruin their happiness.
Honestly, once Bella graduated he would take her and go to a university somewhere out of the state. Though he didn't want her to stay out of touch with her father, so Edward would make sure they stayed in contact. But that way, Bella would at least be safe from those emotionally unstable, behaviorally erratic, and dangerous hounds.
Edward didn't realize how engrossed he was in his thoughts until he felt Rosalie clutching his arm and shaking him back to reality. Edward looked back at her and he noticed how she was gazing at him so very uneasily. How weird. And that she blocked Edward from her thoughts with more effort than she usually exuded.
He wanted to question her about that, but Rosalie interrupted him when they noticed the herd of elk were about to move. "Would you focus on our chase instead of me? God, what the hell is the matter with you? – You're being weird." She said offhandedly as she flicked her perfect blonde locks over her shoulder.
'Oh, I'm being weird, she says.' Edward thought sardonically as he rolled his eyes.
Edward suddenly rose from his crouching position behind the bushes and looked down at his sister. "Let's get this over with, shall we? I have somewhere I need to be." Without looking back at Rosalie he started his hunt.
He pushed his thoughts aside in favor of his more animalistic senses. The faster he got blood in him the quicker he can get this conversation over with Rosalie. And the sooner he can be back home, hopefully with Bella not waiting too long for him.
He was sure Alice could manage to keep her busy for a while. Even though he wanted to be the one to entertain her, alone. He thought with a smirk.
Edward began to surrender to his instincts, like slipping a hand through a perfect fit glove. It felt so natural despite how much he abhorred it. And crouched down to gain some momentum before he began sprinting after the herd that instantly sensed danger and took off running – The starving fiend within him enjoyed chasing after the prey very much.
After the hunt …
Edward dropped the fully drained lifeless carcass of the animal. Though he could drain another, he felt quite sated for the time being. He looked over to where Rosalie was on her second prey.
He was starting to become impatient. He wanted to head home and take the delicate beauty, the light in his eternal darkness, into his arms and never let her go. His Bella. Edward smiled as he thought happy thoughts of love, poetry, and romantics. Even as he bent down to bury the dead animal he feasted on a moment go.
Once he made sure that every inch of the elk was covered with dirt, Edward wiped the grime onto his pants. He would change his clothes the moment he got back anyway. He looked over at Rosalie again, and thank the lord, she was finally done feeding. She stood up, dropping the animal from her grip and sighed with satisfaction from the blood that quenched her thirst as it ran down her throat.
She looked over at Edward and frowned. 'Is he done already?' she thought.
Edward raised an eyebrow. "Please make this quick, Rose. I have to head back soon." He said as he crossed his arms impatiently.
Rosalie raised her chin but remained silent as she started burying her carcasses as well.
Seeing how slow she was moving, Edward huffed. "Do you want some help?" he offered. Not quite out of chivalry, but more that he wanted to speed the process along. And for someone who was as impatient as Rosalie, she was seriously moving much slower than usual. Almost like it was intentional.
"No, thanks!" she said over her shoulder.
Offhandedly, Edward retorted. "You know, I never thought it was possible for vampires to age. But with the way you're moving I can literally feel myself growing senile – Rose, I hardly ask you for much, but can you please move this along?"
Something wasn't right. And Edward's suspicions kept rising. He couldn't decide if she was up to something, or if this was just Rosalie being Rosalie – That's what Edward would have assumed, and would have probably brushed off his doubts. If not for Rosalie's true thoughts slipping between the cracks of the mental wall she built to block Edward out.
'I need more time!' she thought.
Edward stiffened. His wide eyes burning into Rosalie's back as she still was facing away from him. She froze, she her stance was tense. She stopped spading the dirt and gripped what she had in her hands tightly. So tight that it began to trickle between her pale slim fingers.
Edward slowly took a step in her direction. She flinched and started humming a tone loudly in her mind, trying to vacate all her thoughts. He narrowed his eyes and stepped closer. Now he knew for sure she was hiding something from him.
He stopped when he was a few inches away from her. She was still bent down over the half buried dead animal. And Edward stood over her hunched form. "Rose," Edward spoke carefully. "why did you think that you needed more time?"
"Ummm …" She mumbled. "I .. was thinking that … well, we didn't have any time to get to our talk. You know, that's all." She blurted out.
Edward didn't have to be a mind reader to know that she was lying through her teeth.
He tried not to growl. Despite how much she was vexing him at the moment, Rosalie was still his sister. Edward exhaled, trying to calm his temper. And very evenly he said, "Well, you have my undivided attention. Say what you wanted to say to me. I'm listening." He could feel the venom pooling in his mouth, despite how much he tried to swallow it back down, more just kept flooding his mouth. And as his anger built, the monster within him grew furious.
Rosalie warily stood up, patting her dirty hands on her jeans. "Well … how do I begin … let's see now …" she said loudly.
"Spit it out already!" Edward snapped. "Or are you just deliberately trying to be a pain in my ass?!"
Rosalie gaped at him and his sudden use of improper language. She pretended to be offended. "I can't believe you just said that! The nerve of you!" She whined.
They stood still looking at each other across the small span of clearing for several minutes. Both had their hands clenched but for entirely separate reasons. As the siblings challenged each other in what seemed to be a staring match, Edward suddenly realize that he shouldn't have come here in the first place. This was a waste of time. Bella was probably on her way right now as he stood there in the middle of the forest indulging Rosalie in her irrationality.
"You can stay here for as long as you like – I'm going back." He declared calmly.
"No! Wait! … Edward, I said wait!" He didn't care anymore. He wasn't listening to this.
Edward turned around and was about to run back to his home, when suddenly he got tackled to the ground hitting the dirt face first. He was stunned. He let his guard down, but only because he never ever expected Rosalie to attack him. And not while he had his back to her.
"Rose! What has gotten into you?!" He snarled as he tried to push her off him. Which was rather challenging as she placed all her weight on her knee and pushed it over his back, pinning his torso still. Also, she had more blood in her system than him. Giving her a little more strength.
"Rose!" Edward yelled. "Why are you acting so strange? – First you tell me you want to hunt, you drag me out of the house, and then you say you want to have a private talk with me. But say nothing and waste my time. And now, you attack me!" he grounded his teeth in frustration. His entire body was shaking with anger.
But Rosalie, she didn't even utter one word. All she did was breathe heavily. She was panicking. She just needed time. And she needed to block Edward out of her head. She simply focused on her task of keeping him restrained to the ground.
However, she couldn't hold him off for long. It seemed the angrier that Edward got, the stronger he became. And the more he thrashed, the more he managed to shake the blonde off of him. Until finally he went completely wild. And used all the force within him to build momentum, and with a forceful kick, Edward finally pushed himself up, knocking Rosalie over. Enough time for him to get on his feet and away from her.
"Listen to me you deranged woman! If you want to have a talk you can go have one with you and yourself – As for me, I need to head back!" Edward snarled. His eyes black as coal. The monster within him wanted to rip the blonde bitch to shreds and leave her in the forest. But he kept repeating in his head that she was his sister and that Esme and Emmett won't be very pleased if he did that.
Rosalie screeched. "Why are you even in such a hurry to get back? – Your fucking precious piano isn't going anywhere!"
Edward was shocked to see in her thoughts that she was prepared for this dispute between them to escalate into a full on fight. Actually, she wanted this to turn into a fight. Edward stood speechless. Nothing made sense. There was nothing that could justify Rosalie's actions. He looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun has marginally shifted. A few hours had already passed, almost past noon.
He looked down at his dirty clothes. And then at Rosalie's messy appearance as she waited for his reply or whatever he was about to do next. Whatever rage that stirred within Edward seemed to have vanished. He had something more important he needed to get back to.
"Well, aside from the obvious reason, being that I want to get as far away from you – Bella should be at the house by now. And I promised her we would spend the entire day …. together …" Edward trailed off.
Rosalie's eyes widened and she placed a hand over her mouth and shuddered. She didn't say anything. Except stand there, frozen like a statue. But her thoughts rang loud and clear. 'That stupid human! This is bad. This is really really bad. Oh fuck!'
If Edward didn't panic before he was panicking now. He ran up to Rosalie and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "What did you mean by that? ROSE, TELL ME NOW DAMN YOU!" He screamed in her petrified face. But she didn't say anything.
The gentleman in Edward flew out the window as he raised his hand and slapped Rosalie across the face. It didn't hurt her as she had hard skin just like him. But the force of the impact effectively snapped her out of her frozen state. She stared back at Edward and blinked. A gasp escaped her.
And then suddenly all the walls around her mind crumbled. And Edward, he finally saw the truth that was hidden from him in Rosalie's mind – He saw everything that happened earlier today; the conversation with Carlisle and Alice. Alice having a vision about the Volturi. Their plan to lure Edward out of the house. He witnessed their entire scheme that they devised behind his back.
Edward loosened his hold on Rosalie's shoulders. He staggered away from her as though she was the one who slapped him. And he felt like he would have had a heart attack right then and there if his heart wasn't already dead. Edward screamed to the top of his lungs, his roar echoed across the forest and caused birds to flee from the trees in fright.
'Bella' her name rang clear in his mind. He had to go back. He had to get to her.
He turned on his heels and ran faster than a bolt of lightning. Faster than he had ever ran in his entire existence. And as he ran, Edward kept thinking of nothing but the worse. Did anyone back at the house even know that Bella was going to be there? And Alice, if she was distracted with focusing her visions solely on the Volturi and their arrival then she may have missed Bella's decision to come to the house. Edward felt like a complete imbecile. He should have at least told Alice that Bella was on her way. But he didn't even know! He thought today was going to be like any other innocent and normal day. He thought all the troubles they had with the Volturi were behind them now.
They should have told him! But instead, they removed him completely from the situation.
Edward ran faster. While his mind was spinning reasons as to why the Volturi would want to come visit them. Especially after they had returned from Italy only a couple of weeks ago. What motive could they possibly have to their visit so soon after the incident in Volterra? – and they hardly ever troubled themselves to travel all the way to America. Unless it was a serious matter.
Then he remembered what he witnessed in Rosalie's mind, something Alice had said; "But I know one thing for certain, whatever they are going to say it's going to make Edward furious! And he will attack them."
There would only be one reason Edward would be compelled to harm members of the Volturi; and that is if Bella was put in harm's way.
'Oh god! No! Don't let that be true!' Edward silently prayed and pleaded – Did the brothers decide to rush Bella's change? No, that can't be it! Edward was so very sure that Alice would have seen if Aro decided on that choice. She was keeping a close eye on his every decision that involved Bella. So they can at least be prepared.
'Please, Bella! Please be safe! I can't lose you again …'
The large white house came into Edward's view as he crossed the tree line and jumped over the stream that separated the backyard from the forest. It took only a second for him to reach the backdoor. And when he walked in he was met with a sight that could have stopped his heart if it wasn't already dead.
