A/N: Hey, guys! Rosie got her cast off. You know what that means . . .
WE'RE BACK!
The week had passed in tremendous stride. I had to admit that it was almost too good be true, and a few times I had to pinch myself.
Rosalie was out of the house, but certainly not forgotten. She'd come sometime in the night and spoke only to Emmett. The man must have had a heart of steel to even speak that woman again. Nonetheless, Rosalie remained living at her parent's home across town and we hadn't heard a word from her since.
But the large bruises around my throat were enough to keep her in mind.
Several of the maids who had been delivering messages between Jacob and Rosalie were let go, and though it was a sad leaving, I couldn't help but feel some relief. Jessica had been Rosalie's major accomplice and Edward held no tolerance for it.
My knuckles were bruised an ugly purple, but the white gauze wrap hid their shade from everyone. Edward avoided looking at my hand whenever possible, but he still held it gently.
As for Edward and myself, well . . . things had been somewhat melancholy.
He no longer regarded me as a servant, or a maid, or a slave; he started treated me like a human being who was of the same superiority as he.
The tasks that he asked of me were small in and inferior—accompanying him to town, making the bed, helping him choose his clothing for the day. I enjoyed the personal time with him more than anything.
And yet I wasn't completely pleased…
Edward and I spent more time together, and we were nearly inseparable. Almost every night he would welcome me into his bed for either talking or sleeping, or sometimes more intimate things as the evening progressed.
Well, to say I was not pleased… that would be a lie. We'd become more… adventurous in bed. The thoughts of those adventures made my face light on fire, and I'd found myself thinking about it on more than one occasion.
I suppose I wanted him to tell me what I was already so assured of. I knew in my heart what I felt, and I had to believe that he felt just an inkling of the same thing.
I loved him.
I loved him very deeply, and very honestly.
I tried to express how devoted I was to him, but whenever I would think of telling him how I felt, he would suddenly appear and I would back out with cold feet.
Regardless of the situation, I needed to remember that I was still a servant, and when others came to visit the household, I acted as one.
"Isabella."
"Yes?" I jumped at the sound of a voice.
The quiet library was mute around me and as I looked up, Edward was standing in the doorway. His arms were crossed over his chest and he smiled down at me.
I closed the book and silently rose to my feet. I had, on many occasions, been found in the library staring off into space. Alice told me I looked a scholar deep in thought. Even in my head I still snorted at that.
I walked to Edward and as soon as I was facing him he turned on his heel and walked toward the foyer. I followed along just as he expected of me.
He paused at the coat rack and threw me a pair of leather gloves and put his own on before opening the front door.
"We need to go to town." He said while helping me into the carriage. My heart skipped a bit at his use of the word we and I was glad he was still outside.
"Of course," I said.
"Jasper's cousin was just engaged and since we still have the formal dining wears from last time, we decided it would be best to hold the party here." He nodded at the driver and with a whip from the reigns we were off.
"What about the flowers?" I asked.
" Alice will deal with those; she has several florists making trips at this moment."
"The vases?"
"We keep the china vases in the basement for storage purposes."
"Invitations?"
"Have already been sent out."
"Then what on earth are we going to town for?" I asked.
Edward turned to me and grinned a bit, and the tilt to his smile made me giddy for no apparent reason. Perhaps it was the fact that when he smiled, Edward was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. He had been smiling much more often now and everyone in the house seemed to appreciate that.
"In due time, Isabella. You're much too impatient," he teased. His shoulder nudged my own and I couldn't help but smile.
--
Town was fully crowded when we arrived, merchants handing their products left and right to the customers who paid for them. Children ran around the cobblestone where horses were feeding, perfectly content with the small things running about them and coaxing their messy fur down.
I watched the extreme sights of tightly packed crowds with enthusiasm. I had never seen such a crowded market in all my life!
A stage was set in the middle, a large water fountain in the centre of the chaos. The crowd piled around it and I could see wealthy gentlemen conversing with each other.
"What's going on?" I asked, standing on the tips of my toes to get a better view.
Edward turned his attention to the forming crowd in confusion. His eyes drew over the heads that moved around and suddenly his eyes popped wide open.
He tugged on my wrist and pulled me forward quickly. My mind raced with a thousand questions, but as soon as they came from my tongue, the crowd would erupt in an explosive cheer.
"W—wait!" I yelled to Edward.
His back was straight and tense but he didn't slow one bit. A graying man stood on the edge of the fountain and gathered the attention surrounding him.
He yelled behind him and a line of people emerged with shackles attached to their wrists and ankles. The front person was a man with a hard face and a tensed jaw.
"Oh God," I whispered. My feet stopped moving and I was being pulled by Edward for a moment before he turned and caught where my gaze was directed.
"You don't need to see this," he yelled over the crowd's deafening cheers.
I shook my head as the people were unchained one by one and set up on the edge of the fountain with the proctor. My stomach dropped as he yelled out a name and age for the man and the wealthy men at the front of the fountain held up wads of cash up.
So this is what it was like…
The whole time I'd been on the other side, the side where I could look over the crowd and see what was happening, and now I watched as one of the people who stood there.
Did I look that afraid? I thought.
"You don't need to see this," Edward repeated quieter. He grabbed my hand and tugged me along with him.
My eyes were locked on the group of cowering women on the side and I remembered how I had been in that group once. People I thought of as my mother were shipped off one by one as I watched them go.
And now I watched as another woman—maybe a mother, or a daughter, or a friend—was put up and auctioned.
"D—do something!" I yelled at Edward's back.
He rounded the corner away from the roar and talked without looking at me. "I can't rescue every slave or servant that I come across, Isabella. I needed a servant at the time of your arrival, it was a coincidence."
"But—but—"
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do," he murmured, his eyes looking anywhere but at me.
I knew it was irrational, I knew it was wrong, and I knew I was being childish, but I was suddenly overwhelmingly angry at him. Not only had he dragged me away, but he was making excuses as to why those people should be left there to suffer.
My temper boiled over and his eyes snapped up when I snatched my hand away from his. Those emerald eyes bore down into mine, and he was daring me to defy him. Why, oh why, did he have to look at me like that?
I turned on my heel and ran through the streets and alleyways and into the loud, roaring crowd. I head Edward's voice behind me, and I honestly wished I wasn't so stubborn. I could just turn around and say I was sorry, that I was just caught up in the heat of the moment.
But of course I didn't. How could I turn away from the people standing on that stone platform of the water fountain?
I stopped when I was as close to the front as I could get. Many thoughts raced through my head, but the one that echoed was, what do I do now?
My irrational anger had made me blind, looking for anything to occupy my time with, and now I was stuck in the middle of a noisy, sweaty crowd that screamed out ridiculous prices for a living human being.
I suddenly wished I hadn't left Edward, and as stupid and pigheaded as it was, my stubbornness began to unfurl and I could feel the terror coming from the people up on the fountain.
He was right, I shouldn't have watched this.
And yet I couldn't turn away. I was just like the people in this crowd, my eyes locked on these innocent people who committed no sin other than living, and now they were being separated and brought to God knows where.
"Sold!" the proctor yelled.
The man stepped from the stage and into the hands of a young man and a woman. I heard her clap with joy at not having to do the sewing anymore.
I felt like an idiot, a complete and utter buffoon. So I turned around and went back the way I came, slower this time. I watched every person move through the crowd, and I looked for Edward, hoping that he was out here—somewhere.
I grumbled to myself, pushing the robins' egg blue dress from in front of my feet. Why did we have to come to town on today of all days?
I walked to a tall brick wall and pressed my back against it, my eyes scanning the large crowd that engulfed the patio. Men and women laughed and ogled the people who stepped up onto the fountain, making remarks about a slender woman who didn't look like she could life a bag of rice.
I wondered if people made those remarks about me when I was up there…
An hour passed without incidence. The people on the fountain dwindled down to twenty, then ten, then five, and on the last one several men fought over him. After a foreign man pulled out a wad of cash and shoved it at the proctor he declared him the buyer and left with his purchase.
My stomach churned and I tasted the eggs from this morning, burning and rising. Disgusting. Absolutely volatile.
Unfortunately, I didn't see Edward either. I glanced around the area and stood on the tips of my toes, but he was nowhere to be found. Surely he wouldn't leave me here . . . would he?
After another half hour passed me by and as most of the crowd diminished I became more worried and on edge. The thinning crowd held no glimpse of Edward anywhere.
My heart sped up like a canary's wings as I left my spot against the wall and walked through the crowd. The water fountain was cleared of any people or objects and I stepped up on the edge. I tried to keep my balance before I fell on the jagged pebbles beneath my feet and then I looked around with narrowed eyes.
Where did he go? my mind asked desperately.
I let out a shaky breath and continued to scan the area. Something pulled on my elbow with a sudden, quick tug and I lost my balance from the stones I was standing on.
I braced myself and felt my knees hit the hard stone of the ground. The sting ran through my legs and I hissed quietly, whimpering as the grains of dirt dug into the dress and pressed into the scrapes on my knees.
I looked up above me to see what had knocked me over and a dreadful recognition hit me full in the stomach.
"Well, well, lassie," the man sneered. "Never thought'd see you again."
The dirty face and dark brown eyes with a sweep of sweaty hair covering them sent my body into an adrenaline rush. I looked around me, hoping to God Edward would be somewhere close by, but I only saw a man standing next to a black metal pole lighting the candles for the night.
His hand grabbed onto my shoulder and he yanked me up to my feet. My knees stung with the sudden movement and I tried to take a step back from him.
His hands were more urgent now, pulling me and pushing me, almost like he was taking my sense from me and make me weak.
"What happened to the young masta' that bought you off my hands?" he asked, his finger tracing the apple of my cheek. "Wearing make up? Are you his whore now?"
I pushed back from him and the terrible recognition from before came back so much stronger now. He was the man that was with me on the day I was sold to Edward. He was the stage hand who had dragged me onto the stage.
I smelled rum on his breath, the kind Emmett had been downing in over the last couple of days. His eyes were blood shot and his tongue darted over a fat lip that still had a trace of blood on it.
"You were kicked out from a bar and so you come out to harass women?" I whispered in a shrill voice.
He let out a guttural laugh and pushed me back hard. I stumbled backwards and fell on my hands before my backside hit the ground. He loomed over me, still laughing, and looked down at me with a wicked gleam.
I lifted my palms from the ground, a cold shiver running down my spine, and I scooted backwards until I could get to my feet. His clammy hand wrapped around my wrist and he threw me down again.
He was playing with me! Every time I moved to stand he would grab my shoulder or my hair and push me back to the ground. He laughed loudly and for a time I think he forgot what he was here for.
Tears assaulted my vision and I couldn't stop the pathetic whimpers that left my throat every time he threw me down harder. When I didn't move he would come closer and force me up, only to drop me again.
His sausage fingers dug into my hair and I cried out loudly, my voice forming into Edward's name and a shriek echoing through the air.
"Who now, lass?" The man asked. He titled his head toward me like he wanted me to tell him a secret. "Oh come now, don't be quiet now!"
His fingers twisted and tug and my mouth opened while my eyes snapped closed. "Edward!"
"That your Jon?" He asked while laughing to himself. "When I'm done with ya' I'll pay him what I got on me."
It was surreal, like a horror book. I had always wondered how a person would feel in a situation like this; a monster looming above them, merciless and drunk with rum and power. It was utterly terrifying. Of all the times I'd been scared, I couldn't think of a moment to compare to this.
It had to be because now I had something to live for, something to hope for and something to keep me safe. I was scared, so scared, and one thought danced through my head over and over again like the endless chiming of a clock late at night.
Edward. Edward. Edward.
The man's chuckling was cut short with a winded breath. His fingers left my hair and my eyes stayed closed as I listened to the sound of the man nearly choking. A rancid smell took over my senses and I stopped breathing all together.
"No… please," my eyes snapped open to where the man was laying on the ground, his head pressed into the cobblestones.
A hissing cough left the man's throat and he gasped the same words again, this time more urgent.
Standing above him looking terrifyingly frightening, monstrously vulgar, horrifyingly unkempt, and fuming with rage, was Edward.
He wiped an arm over his face to get rid of the blood that shot at him as the man coughed. And somewhere in my clouded, foggy mind I could tell that he was ready to kill.
That gleam in his eye of pure hate and the paleness of his face accentuated with the pink on his nose from the wind made him seem sallow. Edward stepped over the man and grabbed him by the hair, lifted him, and then threw his head into the ground.
My book shook with a rapid shiver and I watched the man cry out in a flurry of pain. Edward's hand rested on top of the man's hand again and right as he lifted it up, I scrambled to my feet.
"No!" I screamed. "Edward! No!"
His glossy emerald eyes locked onto my wide frightened ones and his right eye twitched for a split second before he dropped the man's head onto the pavement, taking a step back to survey the damage.
He didn't look dead; I didn't think he would die. There was so much blood, though….
"Edward," I whispered. The column of his throat expanded as he swallowed and his breath was panting as he stood perfectly still.
The man coughed and rolled over onto his side, looking as if he were going to sleep.
"He won't die," Edward muttered, a murderous gleam entering his eyes again.
I took a step toward Edward and touched his arm gently with my hand. When he didn't back away from me I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his chest. A loud sob ripped from my throat and I sank into him. His arms wrapped around my back and his face pushed into my hair.
"I was so scared," I cried into his jacket. His arms tightened around me and I grabbed onto him harder. "I didn't think you would come…"
"It's alright," he whispered, his voice sounding a bit detached, almost desperate. "It's alright, I promise you."
"I thought he was going to kill me," I sobbed brokenly into his chest, my voice cracking. "I'm sorry I ran away, I'm so sorry."
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no, you have nothing to apologize for."
I pulled away and looked up at him through my wet eyelashes. My eyes stung when the cold air hit them, and before I could get a clear look at his face, his lips were forced onto mine. He peppered hot openmouthed kissed onto every inch of my skin.
"Edward," I sighed.
"Don't leave me again," he whispered.
"I'd never," I vowed, pulling his face up to mine and looking in his deep green eyes.
"How do I know that?" he asked desperately, anguish bubbling in his voice. "How do you even know that, Isabella?"
"Because I love you," I whispered quietly.
His eyes opened wide like a terrified mouse and his mouth popped open just the tiniest bit. He didn't say anything for a few minutes and I immediately regretted saying it.
It was too soon! My mind yelled. You've ruined everything you stupid girl!
A/N: Several things:
I just checked my profile and realized that I have 984 reviews on this story . . . which is freaking awesome! Ever since I started writing fan fiction, it's been my dream to reach 1,000 reviews on a story. Do you think you guys could make that happen for me on this one? Please? Pretty Please?
Second, another plug for our thread over at Twilighted. Stop by for news, gossip and weekly teasers. It's seriously a lot of fun.
Finally, just a bit of shameless self-promotion. I've written an entry for TheThreeSmutketeer's Steamy Movie Crossover contest. It's a Twilight/Six Feet Under Crossover called "We Bury Love". Please head on over to my profile and check it out. And please VOTE!
Love you guys.