Sorry it's taken so long. Been kinda out of it lately. :(
Disclaimer-Twilight and all associated belong to Stephenie Meyer.
I felt my muscles coiling and scrunched my eyes closed. I shoved Jasper and Emmett off of me (as impossible as that sounds) and broke free of Edward's grip, leaping.
As I soared through the air, the eyes of the human widened in shock, then in recognition. I collapsed at his feet, sobbing, and he bent down, patting my back softly.
"I'm so sorry Bella, I'm so sorry." He murmured. I reached up and took him in a hug.
"I can't believe it. I just saw her less than a week ago. I can't believe it." I whimpered. "Dad, it's not possible. It can't be."
"It was painless Bella, I promise." He said softly. Tears were streaming down his cheeks though. I tried to search his mind for confirmation, but got none. Then I checked Edward's. I ignored the voices of my family ringing through both of our heads and searched for Charlie's. I heard it softly, muted almost. What was wrong with me? He was replaying what the Phoenix police station told him.
I heard the phone ringing from the kitchen. I hoped it was Bella, I hadn't heard from her in over 3 days. I knew Billy said she was staying with Jake for a while, but still. It would be nice to talk to my baby girl. I heaved my self up from the couch, leaving the Knicks game behind. I went into the kitchen and picked up the phone warily.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Swan?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"My name is Larry Stoss, with the Phoenix police department. I understand that Isabella Swan is staying with you, and you have legal custody of her at this moment?"
"Yes…" I answered warily. "Well not at this moment, she's not home. She's at a friend's house right now."
"Okay. Can I speak to you as her legal guardian then?"
"Of course." My brow wrinkled in confusion. What could have happened?
"Do you know of a Renee or Phil Dwyer?"
"Yeah, Renee's my ex-wife and Phil's her new husband." My voice turned gruff. What did this kid want?
"Sir…I'm so sorry to have to report this…Mrs. Dwyer was murdered today. Mr. Dwyer is the main suspect at this moment." I could feel the blood rush from my face.
"W-what?"
"Yes. Mrs. Dwyer was murdered…I hate to say it was painful. Mr. Dwyer admits to it, too. Her eyes were gouged out with knifes, and then he took frying oil and drenched her in it, taking a lighter and setting her on fire after that. Needless to say, she didn't survive. He was drunk. Extremely drunk and we think that caused him to be so violent."
"No…" I whispered. "Not Renee…Phil was such a good man." I shook my head sharply from side to side. I had met the man; I went down for the wedding. Renee was so happy and Phil was such a good man for her. It wasn't possible.
"Sir, can I trust you to tell your daughter?" He asked, timid now.
"Yes…Of course." I said, the gruff voice back again.
"Okay, we'll fax the paperwork to your station. Thank you." Then he hung up. I set the phone back in its cradle gently. Renee…dead. I couldn't wrap my head around it.
I withdrew from the memory and tightened my arms around Charlie. We started doing a little swaying thing, gently rocking back and forth. I reached up and wiped off his tears, burying my own face in his shirt. My mommy, my mentor, my guidance and best friend…was dead. And it was all Phil's fault. I was so sure I was leaving her in good hands when I left, so sure. And yet, look at this. Luke's dead, Renee's dead, I'm a vampire…this sucks, to put it bluntly. It really sucks. Wait. I'm a vampire. I whipped my head around to Edward, holding in my breath tightly. I called to him in my thoughts and he looked back at me from his lap, where he had been looking to give us some privacy.
Edward! I need to get away from him…I'm not going to last long am I?
No, I don't think so Bella. Not in your newborn state. A few years will probably have to pass before you can be with a human comfortably.
Oh. Okay. Help me?
Oh! Yeah, one sec. He jumped up from the couch and I relaxed myself back into Charlie again. He started patting my back, we were in the awkward zone again. I looked back towards Edward, surprised to not see him. Then I was in his arms, being taken out of Charlie's slowly and gently. I started sobbing again, into Edward's chest now. He eased me out of the room, me still not breathing.
"Mr. Swan, I'm taking her outside right now." He said quietly. Charlie nodded to him softly and heaved himself up, rubbing his eyes as he did. He then turned to talk with Carlisle, probably about legal things. I could see the pain in his eyes reflected in Carlisle's mind. It made my knees go weak and I collapsed into Edward, who easily scooped me up. Then I started thinking.
"Edward, why can't I hear his mind?"
He looked at me in surprise, and then realized that it was true.
"Wow. I'm not sure, we're going to have to have another family meeting inside, won't we?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
He looked at me shyly then. "Bella, you miss your mother. Do you want to talk about her at all? I can barely remember my own…" his face turned grievous.
"Of course I miss her. It's so hard, knowing that I could have saved her. My mom…okay. Her name was Renee Shiloh Anderson before she married Charlie. She was in band in high school, played the flute. Until she gave up on that, approximately one semester into her freshman year. She loved running though, and that she stuck with. Renee fell in love with Charlie the moment she saw him, she always says. It was a crush at the time, her sophomore year, but it blossomed to something more when he asked her out for their junior prom. They went in Charlie's father's car, the police cruiser.
"They went and realized that their "crushes" were true love. They skipped out on the ending of the dance and went to the beach to talk. Throughout the summer and their senior year they dated steadily, and Charlie popped the question a week before their graduation.
"They skipped their graduation to get married down in Vegas. Their parent's were heartbroken, but soon just learned that it had to be done for their kid's happiness. I was conceived not long after, and after 6 months they had me."
"Wait, 6 months?" Edward asked, perplexed. "You came early?"
"Yeah. I was really small as a baby. Renee just couldn't stay calm when she was pregnant so…I came early."
"Wow."
"Yeah. 4 pounds 7 ounces, I was tiny. They have pictures and foot prints and stuff. I ended up staying in NICU for like 3 weeks."
"Oh. Wow, that's not cool."
"No, I guess not. I caught up though."
"That's good."
"Obviously."
Review?
Love you guys,
Spack