CHAPTER FOUR

UNWOVEN

I recognized the woman in front after a double take. It was Dr. Peruro! Her hair fell to her waist in frantic waves. I had only ever seen it in the large bun atop her head during my office visits. The color had always been hard to discern when Edward and I had gone to her house for sessions. But here, at the edge of everything, the sun setting behind me, her hair was not blond and not black, but many shades of brown and red with traces of white and silver glistening in the setting sun.

Her clothes were different too. In our sessions she had always worn frumpy skirts, high neck shirts, and baggy sweaters. But now she stood in front of me in laced, brown knee high boots, dark leggings, a rag skirt and a thick leather belt hung from her hips. She wore a black long sleeve Henley with a burnt orange, cloth, form fitting vest over it. An amber necklace hung from her neck and it blazed like fire in the light of the setting sun.

On her round face was the familiar smile with slightly crooked teeth, only now that smile held no joy. Her eyes seemed to be blue or green with flecks of yellow. Or maybe hazel. It was hard to tell because with the tilt of her head, she seemed to have a layer of the lightest purple as well. How could that be? How had I never noticed that?

It suddenly occurred to me that not only did I not recognize the three women behind her; I also didn't really know who Dr. Peruro was either. Carlisle had recommended her, but only because she had been recommended by other physicians that Carlisle trusted in a medical capacity. This woman had obviously wormed her way into our lives.

"Who are you?" I demanded. I felt silly asking it, but my mind was a whirlwind and I couldn't pin down a stable thought long enough to analyze it.

"Your blood." Dr. Peruro smirked.

What a peculiar response. Was she offering herself to me? No, of course not. She didn't know I was a vampire, did she? She must mean she was related to me by blood, but that couldn't be either, could it? "I have only one blood relative left and it surely isn't you." I told her before I could stop myself.

The woman laughed at the surprise on my face at my own admission. "Don't worry, Bella. It's no big reveal. I know that Renesmee is your daughter by birth. But how little you seem to know, am I right? Your Gran would be so disappointed to see you now. Fallen so far from grace. First, choosing to be a vampire, then birthing an abomination, but now? A killer of the innocent to boot? What a tragedy."

"What do you know about my grandmother?" I whispered. I had never mentioned Gran during our sessions. I don't think Edward would have either, but I couldn't be sure. I hated to think that she was probably right. Gran would be disappointed. So would my mom. And my dad. I could feel that disappointment crushing me inside.

"I know a great deal more than you, I'd wager. Much more." She taunted. I wanted to run, but they were blocking my path into the trees. I was pretty sure I could dodge them, but the water might be a better option. This lot didn't strike me as the type for cliff diving.

"You are having trouble with your shield, aren't you?" she said. All thoughts of escape left me as her question cut through the chaos in my mind and struck me to my core. I stood slack-jawed at her accusation. "I thought so." She laughed.

I walked toward her to shut her up and the others stepped forward behind her. "I'd be careful if I were you, Swan."

Why would she call me Swan? She knew I was married and went by Cullen. What was she playing at? "Who are you?" I demanded again.

"My name is Ashland Peruro. As much fun as it has been having you call me doctor, you can call me Ashe. This is Daedra, T'sikati, and Anail."

T'sikati. I had heard that word before. It was a Quileute word. It means land or nature spirit. This woman, who stood inches taller than me in her bare feet, looked like she could be Quileute with her brown skin, black hair and sharp facial features. But her eyes, they were exactly like Ashe's. I had never seen a Quileute with eyes like that.

She wore sandals, but they were barely anything; a sole with a string that wrapped around her foot and up her leg. She wore capri pants that looked to be suede, her belt was thinner than Ashe's but looked to be cut from the same leather and it had pouches hanging from it in various shapes, sizes, and colors. She wore only a suede vest with no sleeves. Around her neck was a necklace of black and green turquoise.

And Anail, that sounded familiar too. It was Irish for breath. This woman was barely shorter than me, but her skin was pale as snow, and her hair was a beautiful light strawberry blond made more intense by the setting sun. At first I thought her eyes were hazel, but a closer look showed that they were the same as the other women. She was dressed in a flowing white dress of gauze. She had a delicate leather belt around her hips and her necklace was made of white turquoise and silver.

Last was Daedra. My mind could not place that name. I wanted to think 'sorrow' or 'broken-hearted', but those didn't seem exactly right. As a vampire, there was no such thing as sleeping, so reading and learning became imperative past times.

But I had never seen anything like this woman. She was head and shoulders taller than the rest. Her skin was black as night, with features long and thin like a carved statue. Her waist length, silver hair was loosely gathered at the nape of her neck and flowed down her back. The color of her large, almond eyes mirrored that of all of the other women; a stark contrast to her dark skin.

She wore a suede vest and a gauze skirt, both a dark, dusty blue. Like T'sikati, she had on the barest excuse for sandals. Her necklace was a deep blue turquoise. She was graceful and imposing. I could not figure out why she was not leading this group instead of Ashe.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" I pressed.

"We want to help you, Swan…little Bella Swan…" Why was Ashe so obsessed with my maiden name? She suddenly struck me as slightly insane, or highly unstable at the very least. How had I never noticed this? I had spent hours pouring my heart out to this woman and now, for the life of me, I could not fathom why.

"Well, I don't need any help." I told her, as I turned and leapt from the cliff.

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