A/N: Sorry for late posting. I had an exam and didn't have time to put the finishing touches on Friday and last night, FFn had decided to be a pain in the ass. Anyway ... enjoy!

Chapter-22: Dark Clouds Looming

BPOV

There's a moment when we start to wake up after a good dream … a moment of struggle. On one hand we know that waking up will make the dream go away while on the other hand, there's a subtle possibility of the dream coming true if we wake up.

That's how I felt when I sensed the sunlight filtering through the blinds and trying to wake me up the next morning. My decision was made by the sound of knocks on the front door though.

Sitting up, I glanced at the clock and frowned. Edward isn't supposed to come to pick me up this early, I thought.

Another sharp knock had me scrambling to my feet as I went to get the door.

When I opened the door, a small sigh of disappointment left me at the sight waiting for me which was not the sight of Edward's smile.

"I've been knocking for hours!" Leah Clearwater said as she placed her hands on either side of her hips. "You sleep like the dead."

"And you get up at ungodly hours," I returned before moving from the door and gesturing her to come inside.

She had the grace to look embarrassed as she stepped inside. "Sorry, I'm an early bird."

"So it seems," I said with a smile, letting her know that I was only joking. Telling her to make herself at home, I started coffee for us and then went back to my room to freshen up before I could hear the reason behind her sudden visit.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

When I walked back into the kitchen, Leah was sitting on the same spot I had left her in, twisting her hands in her lap. I poured us each a cup of coffee before taking a seat across from her.

She clutched the coffee mug in her hands, making me wonder if she was nervous about something. "Leah?" I called her name softly. "What's going on?"

She looked like my voice had brought her out of a stupor. Shaking her head slightly, she said, "I went to visit Mrs. Goff this morning on my way back from my walk. She … uh …" She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "She told me that you were hurt."

I smiled remembering how concerned Mrs. Goff had been for me. "She's a sweet lady," I said fondly.

Leah looked like she wanted to say something but stopped midway and took a sip of her coffee. I was surprised to see this side of her. The last few times I had seen this girl, she had been no-nonsense and very much vocal about her thoughts. What's changed between then and now? I wondered.

She gave me a sharp look as she asked, "What hurt you?"

"Nothing," I replied. "It was an accident. A guy from the car rental company came by to get the car and his bike sort of fell on me." I saw her eyes widen and quickly said to reassure her, "I'm fine now though, really."

"Oh thank God!" she sounded relieved as she said. This time she offered me a timid smile as she murmured, "I'm sorry for waking you up."

I waved off her apology. "It's okay. I needed to wake up soon anyway."

It wasn't until she walked out of the house when it struck me. She had asked me what had hurt me, not how I got hurt.

Did she know something?

What can it be?

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

Looking at the time, I decided not to wait for Edward to show up as it was nearing the opening time for the bookstore. So after gathering my purse, I walked out of the house and started to lock up. That's when I felt it—a presence behind me.

"I thought I told you to stay put," a voice whispered in my ear. I felt a shiver run down my spine at the sound of his voice.

"I thought …"

He didn't let me finish as he leaned in close, his nose touching the back of my neck. "You thought I lied. You thought you couldn't trust me, didn't you?"

"N-no …"

I felt all coherent thoughts leave me as he held my ponytail out of the way and ran his nose up and down the side of my neck before stopping to kiss the point where my neck met my shoulder.

My eyes closed at his touch and I breathed his name. "Edward."

His kisses became incessant as he spoke, punctuating each word with a longer kiss. "I'm not going to leave you, Bella. I'm not strong enough. Don't you know that by now?"

I couldn't take it anymore. So turning around, I draped a hand on his shoulder before putting the other one right over his heart. I knew that his heart didn't beat anymore, but to me, it was just as precious. "Hey, listen to me," I said, beseeching him to meet my eyes.

When he looked up, I stared deep into his Emerald-green eyes and stood on my tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth. His mouth curved upwards at my actions. Smiling back at him, I said, "Not leaving doesn't make you weak, you hear me? It makes you very strong because you're staying to defend what we are … what we mean to each other. In my books, that's courage."

He opened his mouth to speak, but I put a finger on his lips, shutting him up. "And just so you know, I trust you. I trust you because I trust us … I believe in us."

His eyes didn't leave mine as he wrapped a hand around my wrist and after placing a kiss right on my pulse point, moved it to the side. He brought his other hand up, effectively caging me between himself and the door. "Will you ever cease to amaze me?" he asked, inching his face closer to mine.

I gave him a half-shrug. "I can't help it if I'm amazing." My smartass comeback made him chuckle before closing the gap between us and brushing my lips with his. Finally, I felt complete.

EPOV

I kissed her softly. I kissed her hard. I kissed her until she was breathless in my arms. And with every kiss, I craved her more.

"Sorry I was late," I said as I let my lips skim down the column of her throat, allowing her some much needed breathing time. "I heard someone else inside so decided to come back later."

"Oh!" she responded as she moved her head to the side, allowing me more room to continue my exploration. "That was Leah."

"Who's Leah?"

"She's an … acquaintance," she said before rewording her reply. "Or I guess she's a friend now."

"A friend, huh?" I pushed my body further into hers before continuing. "You're friends with local people already? We've known each other for some weeks now, Bella. So tell me, what does that make me to you?" I tried to sound casual, but in reality, I needed to know this.

She opened her eyes to gaze into mine. "You're a boy and a friend," she said. "A little bit more than a friend."

"I like the idea of more," I confessed. And I did … very much so.

Her smile made her eyes dance with happiness as she pulled my face to hers, kissing me boldly. "You are so much more."

"We are," I corrected her, and with one last kiss on her lips, I led her toward my car.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

Somewhere in Another City

The man wearing the black cloak averted his eyes from the papers lying on the desk before him, not wanting to allow his mind to think of the ramifications of this.

However, like moth to a flame, his eyes went back to the neatly placed stack again. This time, he reached for the paper lying on the very top. It was a message for him from his employee … the pawn he had placed to keep him aware of every movement of his target.

The message was short and to the point. It read:

The agent has been terminated. Attached are the requested documents.

He knew about the death of the agent his employee had placed on duty, and frankly, the death of an insignificant woman didn't mean anything to him. All he had asked for was the autopsy report of the agent. When his employee couldn't figure out how the woman had been murdered, he had decided to give the matter second thoughts.

Now, as he looked at the photograph of the dead body, he felt an apprehension fill him … an apprehension as ancient as the beginning of life on earth itself—fear.

There, plainly visible for everyone to see was the awkward angle in which the neck was twisted. She had fallen down by accident, broke her neck and died … that's what the mortician had determined as the cause of death. What the mortician didn't detect was the barely visible finger marks on her jugular and around her throat. Someone had broken her neck, the man realized.

And in his long lifetime, he had come across only one creature powerful enough to kill with so little effort—a vampire.

Sitting in front of him, his cell phone screen blinked, indicating the call he had been expecting since first laying eyes on the documents.

"Yes?" he answered the phone, his voice a deep resounding tone in the otherwise silent room.

He waited for a moment to hear what the other person had to say before saying in a stern voice, "There's a vampire in Forks, Washington. Find him."

This time, he didn't wait to hear the response as he slammed the phone down on his desk. The force of his action made the phone screen crack into a hundred tiny fragments. Looking at the broken pieces of glass, he sighed. No one was going to take his prize from him … no one. He will have little Isabella Swan … his ultimate prize.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

EPOV

"Thank you for coming in today." I looked up with a start at the sound of Carlisle's voice as he poked his head inside the small space I was currently sitting in, in an attempt to escape the ridiculous lustful fantasies of nurses who could very well be older than my mother was when she died.

Horney delusional bitch! I cursed inwardly as I tried to block out another one of Jessica Stanley's bondage fantasies starring me.

Tuning her out, I gave Carlisle a half-shrug. "I said I would, didn't I? Or have your brain cells finally started to decay?"

He wasn't bothered by my sarcastic comeback. Instead, with a mild smile, he said, "Anyway, it's always good to have you here, son."

Condescending asshole! I cursed him just because he's Carlisle.

Oh and Edward, I heard him think to me. You should check your calendar before counting my brain cells.

Feeling confused, I pulled up the calendar in my phone and cursed … out loud. "Fucking fuck!"

Two weeks had passed since I made the deal to work in the hospital with Carlisle. I'd stayed longer than I thought I would. Why? Because my mind had been otherwise occupied these past two weeks. And then there was also a certain brunette beauty I could look at from the hospital window.

What is this human doing to me?

As I stood there, debating whether I wanted to quit the hospital not, now that I was free of the stupid deal I had made with Carlisle, I felt my phone vibrate where it was still clutched in my hand.

Pulling it out, I saw the caller id and groaned. I pressed the answer button and said, "I don't want to hear your 'I told you so', Alice."

Alice's voice sounded frantic as she asked, "Edward, where are you?"

"In the hospital?" my answer came out sounding more like a question. "Wait, can't you see me?"

"Now I can," she replied after a moment. "I guess I needed to hear your voice to locate you again."

"Locate me? You mean you lost the sight of my future?" This was some news.

"Only momentarily," she said slowly. The worry in her voice was palpable as she continued, "I kept watch over you like I always do for everyone of us until a black cloud … or I guess you can call it smoke … came and shrouded you from my vision."

"How about now?" I asked, feeling intrigued by this new development.

"Now you're visible again," she said. Just before hanging up, she added, "Oh! Edward? I told you so."

I stood there, with my phone still in my hands as I tried to figure out what the clouds might mean.

A/N: It's shorter than usual, but I wanted to get something out to you.

Share your thoughts with me and leave a review?

Thanks for reading.

Song rec for this chapter: Enter Sandman by Metallica.

See you next week.

Take care.

Ann