Chapter 3: Shoe Shopping
After Alice insisted I keep the brochures and look them over, I went to bed. I dreaded tomorrow, partly because I knew I had no say in what shoes I was going to get.
That night, I slept restlessly. I had my nightmare again where I was lost in the woods, trying to follow Edward. Only this time, it was much worse. I knew where Edward was going, and he was in trouble. Tears started running down my face.
"Bella, wake up. Wake
up!" Alice shook me. "What's wrong?"
"Just a bad dream,"
I whispered. "When did you get here, Alice?"
"I had a vision of
you crying, and I didn't know why. I decided to go and check it
out."
"I miss Edward."
"I warned him it was a bad idea.
He insisted that he go to the Voultri and−"
"HE WENT TO SEE
THE VOUTRI?" I shrieked.
"Shh, Charlie's
still sleeping."
"Why did he go?" I hissed.
"Come over to my
house, and we'll go shoe shopping."
"Alice, why are you
avoiding my questions?"
"There's a reason why Edward and
Carlisle went."
"Why?"
"I'm not telling you. Edward
would kill me."
"Why would he kill you?"
"He
didn't want you to worry about him. There was little chance that he
couldn't come back…" she trailed off. I cringed, knowing what
she meant, though I still had no idea why Edward left in the first
place. I looked over at the clock. It was 7:30.
"Alice, go home. I'll be there after Charlie wakes up."
It was 10:00 when I arrived at the Cullen's. I knocked, and waited a couple of minutes. No answer. "Alice, I know you're in there. Let's get this over with." Still, no answer. I took out my cell phone Edward gave me in case of emergencies. I dialed the phone number. It rang four times, and then an answer machine. I sat down.
"Maybe they had to go out for something," I told myself. And then what Alice said this morning dawned on me.