Chapter 1 Ultimatum. Part One
Brushing my fingers over the ebony and ivory keys, I coaxed out of them a mournful tune. I thought of those long months apart, the pain, the loneliness, the self-loathing, and put that into music, a ballad. Every single emotion I had experienced during that time poured out of me. It felt... relieving to get that out, to finally express it. This was my way of expressing things. I only played the minor keys, for the major ones are the jovial ones. D, F, A, E, and B were the ones I concentrated on. I created low chords, with a long, lifeless melody farther up the keys.
Abruptly, the song got darker, deeper, as I recalled the pain and despair that I had been in when Rosalie had called. It became hopeless and hopeful, at the same time. Opposites in one. When I was going to Italy thinking that Bella was... dead, but that was also when I was contemplating the chances of being...wherever you went after the final and absolute death with Bella. However impossible that was.
"That was nice, but you made Jasper leave." I looked up.
Alice was leaning on the end of the grand piano, facing the window.
"I wasn't intending to do that to him. I just felt compelled to put that into music." I explained, my mind still on that trip.
"I'm surprised that you are still here. It's nearly seven. Oh, and you'll have a surprise of your own when you get there." Alice suddenly looked at me, she was grinning mischievously. I tried to look into her mind, but she was reciting Shakespeare's Hamlet backwards and in Bantu. She was definitely blocking me.
Glancing at my watch, I saw that she was right. It was ten minutes to seven.
"Good-bye, Alice." I called as I ran outside, to my Volvo.
"See you tomorrow." She responded, not talking any louder than if I was standing right next to her. 'Now, where did Jasper go?' She thought.
Still contemplating what she had meant, I slid into my Volvo, which was still in perfect condition. I turned the key and it purred to life, just like always. I was going to miss this car when it stopped working. Which would be awhile, thanks to Rosalie's skills with mechanics.
The appearance of Forks, Washington was just as green and dreary, not much had changed in this inconsequential town since September. I droved through the light rain at a semi-normal speed. I was lost in thought, and I didn't need to be in an accident right now.
I was still thinking about the past, however masochistic that was. I was reminded of everything I had done every time I was with Bella and even when I wasn't. People were forever thinking about how much better Bella looked now that I was back. Images of her when we were apart flashed through their minds. I cringed as I thought of how fragile Bella had been, even more so than usual. She had had black circles beneath her eyes, she had lost weight, her once deep, beautiful eyes were dull and lifeless. But it was her state of being that truly frightened me the most. The was she wouldn't do anything, how she was catatonic for a week, the list went on and on.
Forcing myself to stop thinking about what was, I made myself think of what is. To think of how much I loved Bella, not of how much I had hurt her.
I stopped my car in front of Bella's house, and turned it off. I got out of it, doing so I heard the conversation Charlie and Bella were having.
"Nothing. I was just... Just wondering what... Edward's plans are for next year." Charlie said. He hated using my name, he still hated me, for that matter. It was a miracle that he would even let me into his house to see Bella. I think, as did he, that he didn't want Bella to go back as she was without me.
"Oh." My angel said, clearly surprised.
I searched for what Alice might of meant, but I didn't see anything in Charlie's mind, and Bella's was, as always, blocked to me-to my displeasure.
"Well?" Charlie pressed. I decided that it was time for me to interrupt their conversation.
Rapping on the door three times, as I usually do, I heard Bella's over-excited heart race.
"Coming!" Bella called as she ran to get the door.
"Go away." Charlie mumbled, oblivious to the fact that I could hear him as well as if he was standing right next to me and saying it in a conversational voice.
Bella opened the door hurriedly, overly eager. She slowly met my eyes with her chocolate ones. But when she did, it was indescribable.
She reached for my cold-to her- hand and I gave it willingly. Our hands, however different, when together like to pieces of a puzzle. Her warmth still amazed me, the feeling of her skin against mine, despite how little there was touching, made my skin feel... alive, barely.
"Hey." She greeted me, smiling-making my dead heart melt. I would do nearly anything for her to make her smile.
I raised our intertwined hands to brush the back of my hand against her flushed cheek. Her warmth was still intoxicating, she was my true brand of heroin, as she had phrased it only a year or so ago.
"How was you afternoon?" I asked, not merely out of politeness, but because I actually wanted to know. Curiosity killed the cat... yet, I was already dead, so I didn't really need to worry about that particular superstition. She was still an enigma to me.
"Slow" She answered.
"For me as well." Well, in a way. It had been a slow afternoon, right before I started to write that ballad. I had spent most of my time before then up in my room, finishing the idiotic homework that had been assigned to me today. But, that only takes so long. Otherwise, I was listening to a random Cd. Alright, so random wasn't the right word, it was more like one Cd. A copy of the one Alice and I gave to her for her last birthday.
I pulled her wrist up to my face, our hands still intertwined. My eyes closed as my nose skimmed along the skin there, and I smiled slightly without opening them. I was resisting her blood, but I was also enjoying it.
Yes, the scent of her blood still sang to me, but I wasn't as tempted to...drink from her as I was half a year ago. My entire body, including the monster, shied away from hurting her. I couldn't stand to be in that same agony again, ever. So, now I didn't have to be quite so strict with her, for she was not in the same danger as she had been.
Granted, it would be much easier when she was...turned. Yet, as... saddened by the prospect of Bella being damned as I am, I was a little bit happy. Not having to hold back, not having to worry about even stoking her face. It would be bliss.
Charlie was approaching, stamping his feet on the way to, as he thought, 'make the wretched boy feel even worse about being here'. My eyes snapped open and I let our hands fall, but still letting them stay intertwined.
"Good evening, Charlie." I tried to stay perfectly cordial towards Charlie, not wanting to give him another reason to dislike me.
He grunted at me, and just stood there with his arms crossed. He liked to take the idea of parental supervision to the extremes. He was always listening to us when we were talking, and was doing this very thing most times I was here.
"I brought another set of applications." I told Bella, holding up a stuffed manila envelope. I was wearing a ring of stamps around my smallest finger.
She groaned, not very pleased with the prospect to filling out more college applications. I had been forcing her to apply to as my schools as I could.
I smiled, she wasn't happy with me for finding so many 'loop-holes' openings. But, I had to, it was so late in the year, and she hadn't done any of this before...
"There are still a few open deadlines. And a few places willing to make exceptions." Or, willing to accept donations, large donations. I hadn't told Bella , but I think she knew about that.
She made an exasperated expression, and I just had to laugh at it.
"Shall we?" I asked, towing her toward the kitchen table. She was still very reluctant.
Charlie huffed and followed us, but even in his mind he wasn't complaining with what was occupying us tonight.
Bella cleared the table quickly while I organized large stack of college applications. When she moved Wuthering Heights, I raised one eyebrow. Hadn't she read that at least a hundred times, already? She had a look on her face that told me that she knew what I was thinking. I was about to comment, but Charlie interrupted.
"Speaking of college applications, Edward." Charlie said, his tone more sullen than usual. He didn't like to address me directly, and when he did... His thoughts were not pleasant. He continued. "Bella and I were just talking about next year. Have you decided where you're going to school?"
I smiled up at Charlie and my voice was friendly. "Not yet. I've received a few acceptance letters, but I'm sill weighting my options."
"Where have you been accepted?" He pressed.
"Syracuse... Harvard... Dartmouth... and I just got accepted to the University of Alaska Southeast today." I turned my face slightly to the side so that he could wink at me. She stifled a giggle.
"Harvard? Dartmouth?" Charlie mumbled, he couldn't hide his awe, in his voice or in his mind. "Well that's pretty...that's something. Yeah, but the University of Alaska Southeast...you wouldn't really consider that when you could go Ivy League. I mean, your father would want you to..." He trailed off.
"Carlisle's always fine with whatever I choose to do." I told him, keeping my voice perfectly serene.
"Hmph." He grunted, his thoughts equally impressed with my response, which is to say, none at all.
"Guess what, Edward?" Bella asked in a bright voice.
"What, Bella?" I played along.
She pointed to a thick envelope on the counter. "I just got my acceptance to the University of Alaska!" She grinned.
"Congratulations!" I grinned back at her.
Charlie's eyes became slits and he glared back and forth, at us. "Fine." He muttered after a minute of glaring, which we purposely ignored. "I'm going to go watch the game, Bella. Nine-thirty." His parting comment was getting old.
"Er, Dad? Remember the very recent discussion about my freedom...?" So that was what Alice was keeping from me, and what I had picked up traces of in Charlie's mind.
Charlie sighed. "Right. Okay, ten-thirty. You still have a curfew on school nights."
"Bella's no longer grounded?"
"Conditionally." Charlie corrected me, through his teeth I might add. "What's it to you?"
Bella frowned at her dad, Charlie didn't see.
"It's just good to know." I said. "Alice has been itching for a shopping partner, and I'm sure Bella would love to see some city lights." I smiled at Bella. Her heart picked up speed, yet again.
"No!" Charlie growled, and his face approached purple. In his mind, he was thinking of Seattle, of all that was going on there.
"Dad! What's the problem?"
Charlie tried to unclench his teeth, and it worked. "I don't want you going to Seattle right now."
"Huh?"
"I told you about that story in the paper-there's some kind of gang on a killing spree in Seattle and I want you to steer clear, okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "Dad, there's a better chance that I'll get struck by lightning than that the one day I'm in Seattle-"
I cut her off. "No, that's fine, Charlie. I didn't mean Seattle. I was thinking Portland, actually. I wouldn't have Bella in Seattle, either. Of course not."
I sensed Bella's look of disbelief, but I was looking at Charlie's newspaper. I started to read it, seeing what else had happened there.
My response must have appeased Charlie, for he left to go watch the game. All he said was, "Fine." and left, or rather stalked, out of the room. He was in a bit of a hurry though, he didn't want to miss the beginning of the basketball game.
Bella seemed to be waiting for Charlie to get settled. "What-" She started to ask.
"Hold on." Charlie was still listening to us, I didn't want to chance him hearing anything more that he needed to.
I kept my eyes focused on the paper, as I pushed the first application towards her. "I think you can recycle the essays for this one. Same questions." I said, trying to appease Charlie. He was still half paying attention to us.
Bella sighed, filling out the repetitive information on the application. I had finished reading the article, and was staring out the window, lost in thought.
What really was going on in Seattle? Clearly it was a vampire, probably a newborn that was causing all of this chaos. But why would someone just set one loose in a city? But, if it wasn't a newborn, what if it was a mature vampire. What could be the reason behind the killings? A death wish? My mind was brought back to the present when I heard Bella snort, and pushed the papers away.
"Bella?" I asked, befuddled with her actions.
"Be serious, Edward. Dartmouth?" I could see her restraining not to roll her eyes in her expression.
I lifted the discarded application and laid it gently in front of her. "I think you'd like New Hampshire." I said. "There's a complement of night courses for me, and the forest are very conveniently located for the avid hiker. Plentiful wildlife." I pulled out the crooked smile that she so loved.
She took a deep breath. Probably to calm herself.
"I'll let you pay me back, if that makes you happy." I promised. "If you want, I can charge you interest." I urged. I really wanted her to go college, to have at least that human experience.
"Like I could even get in without some enormous bribe. Or was that part of the loan? The new Cullen wing of the library? Ugh. Why are we having this discussion again?"
"Will you just fill out the application, please, Bella? It wouldn't hurt you to apply." I pleaded.
Her jaw flexed, irritated. "You know what? I don't think I will." She began to reach for the papers, but I removed them so fast that she couldn't even see me. I tucked them into my jacket, and sat in exactly the way I had been before she tried to grab the application.
"What are you doing?" She asked, not sounding pleased at all-not that I hadn't been expecting that.
"I sign you name better that you do yourself. You've already written the essays." All I had to do was copy her essays and sign the sheet.
"You're going way overboard with this, you know." She whispered. "I really don't need to apply anywhere else. I've been accepted in Alaska. I can almost afford the first semester's tuition. It's as good an alibi as any. There's no need to throw away a bunch of money, no matter whose it is." I instantly grasped what she was talking about. The very thing I didn't want to happen to her.
My expression immediately changed, "Bella-"
"Don't start. I agree that I need to go through the motions for Charlie's sake, but we both know I'm not going to be in any condition to go to school next year. To be anywhere near people."
Of course she wouldn't, she would be bloodthirsty, volatile. She wouldn't be able to be anywhere close to humans after...
"I thought the timing was still undecided." I told her softly. "You might enjoy a semester or two of college. There are a lot of human experiences you've never had."
"I get those afterward." She was still so determined.
"They won't be human experiences afterward. You don't get a second chance at humanity, Bella."
She sighed. "You've got to be reasonable about the timing, Edward. It's just too dangerous to mess around with."
"But there's no danger yet." I insisted, but that wasn't entirely true. There wasn't any danger here. But, Victoria was still alive-how much I wanted to end that threat. There was the Volturi who wasn't going to show up for ten years (maybe). But that is what Aro was thinking. Yet, I had Alice looking for that and so far, nothing. Also, there is the vampire or vampires in Seattle, much too close for comfort.
I knew that having this conversation was a waste of time, she had already one it. Carlisle was going to change her after graduation, only a few weeks away. It was too close, there wasn't enough time. I didn't want her to be changed.
Or did I? Yes, the selfish part of me wanted her to be a vampire, but the other part wanted her human. It was just too much to give up, even though she said it wasn't.
I looked at her face, it was twisted in distress. She was obviously thinking about what she was to give up. She had to give up everything. Her parents, her human friends, her life.
"Bella." I murmured. "There's no hurry. I won't let anyone hurt you. You can take all the time you need." I just wanted to make her feel better.
"I want to hurry." She whispered, trying to force a smile and failing miserably. "I want to be a monster, too."
She had no idea what she was saying. A monster? How could anyone want that? "You have no idea what you're saying." I flung the wet newspaper onto the table, right between us. I stabbed my pointer finger at the headline:
DEATH TOLL ON THE RISE,
POLICE FEAR GANG ACTIVITY
"What does that have to do with anything?" She said, confused.
"Monsters are not a joke, Bella."
She fixed her gaze on headline, then looked at my expression. "A...a vampire is doing this?" She whispered, her eyes wide.
I smiled with out humor. "You'd be surprised, Bella, at how often my kind are the source behind the horrors in your human news. It's easy to recognize, when you know what to look for. The information here indicates a newborn vampire loose in Seattle. Bloodthirsty, wild, out of control. The way we all were."
She dropped her gaze, perhaps to read the article. But, I couldn't be sure, I couldn't read her mind. She was an enigma.
I decided to continue, "We've been monitoring the situation for a few weeks. All the signs are there- the unlikely disappearances, always in the night, the poorly disposed-of corpses, the lack of other evidence... Yes, someone brand new. And no one seems to be taking responsibility for the neophyte..." I took a deep breath, just out of habit. "Well, it's not our problem. We wouldn't even pay attention to the situation if it wasn't going on so close to home. Like I said, this happens all the time. The existence of monsters results in monstrous consequences." It had happened many, many times before. Even going back to the Black Plague, which was partially vampire's fault. Yes, many were killed from the disease, but hundreds were killed because of a mature vampire feeding, and not killing the human, thus changing them.
Most of the killings in Spain were because of this one vampire. He accidentally created thirty newborn vampires, and he didn't even know it. He was killed by one of the newborns. The newborns ravaged Castille and Léon, Aragon, Portugal, and Granada. Eventually the Volturi stepped in and obliterated the newborns before the humans took too much notice to the vampires.
There also has been vampire involvement in the United States. Once in 1775, which the cause is still unknown to humans; and in 1793 in Middletown, Pennsylvania and in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. All of those were the problems of newborn vampires, but the Volturi didn't have to step in on the 1775 one. Apparently the newborns killed each other. But no one is for certain, except the Volturi. But no one really wants to find out about that one.
"It won't be the same for me." Bella whispered, pulling me out of my reverie. "You won't let me be like that. We'll live in Antarctica."
I snorted, alleviating the tense atmosphere. "Penguins. Lovely." I thought about it for a moment. It would definitely be an... interesting experience.
Bella laughed, shakily, while knocking the paper off the table onto the floor. It made a dull thud.
"Alaska, then, as planned. Only somewhere much more remote than Juneau-somewhere is grizzlies galore."
"Better." That would be so much better than living in the coldest desert in the world. "There are polar bears, too. Very fierce. And the wolves get quite large."
Her mouth fell open and her breath blew out.
"What's wrong?" What had I said. Then it clicked. Wolves. Jacob. "Oh. Never mind the wolves then, if the idea is offensive to you." I kept my voice very formal, not letting any emotion show in it.
"He was my best friend, Edward." She muttered. "Of course the idea offends me."
"Please forgive my thoughtlessness." I said, "I shouldn't have suggested that." I should have thought about what I was saying and how it would pertain to her, I silently scolded myself.
"Don't worry about it." She was staring at her hands, they were clenched into a double fist, yet they were still so delicate.
The silence in the room, aside from T.V. In the other room, was very loud. I was wondering what she was thinking, yet again. I put my pointer finger under her chin and ever so slightly coaxed her face towards mine. The pure smell of her throat didn't catch me so off guard as it sometimes did. I could never hurt her...not even the monster in me wanted to drink her blood.
I kept my expression softer then it had been a minute ago, I was truly repentant for what I had said.
"Sorry. Really."
"I know. I know it's not the same thing. I shouldn't have reacted that way. It's just that...well, I was already thinking about Jacob before you came over." She hesitated. The anger that had flared earlier was back, but I kept a handle on myself. The only difference that she would be able to detect is a possible darkening of my eyes.
She started to sound like she was pleading. "Charlie says Jake is having a hard time. He's hurting right now, and...it's my fault." She tried to reason with me.
"You've done nothing wrong, Bella."
She took a deep breath. "I need to make it better, Edward. I owe him that. And it's one of Charlie's conditions, any way-"
My expression hardened, I did not like the idea of Bella being anywhere near a werewolf. "You know it's out of the question for you to be around a werewolf unprotected, Bella. And it would break the treaty if any of us cross over onto their land. Do you want us to start a war?"
"Of course not!"
"Then there's really no point in discussing the matter further." I dropped me hand and looked away, searching for a subject change.
Yes, I know that this is not the whole chapter. I just really wanted to post something to this story. I'll have the rest of the chapter out in a week or so.
BTW, I NEED A BETA!! I don't care if you beta only for this story or all of my stories! Just, PLEASE!! Ask me in a review or a PM!
Please review if you want to read anymore! Constructive Criticism is VERY GOOD!! I think for over 4,000 words I should at least get 6 reviews! That's what I got for the preface, so please!!