Chapter 18

Bella's POV

I was consumed by the dry sobs wracking my body.

I tried to pull myself from under the table but I couldn't do it. I was paralysed. Frozen with shock. Engulfed with panic.

I know that Edward told me what to do and I know that I said I would do it for him, but would I? Would I really?

The five minutes were up and he had not yet returned. I was beginning to register the fact that maybe something might have happened to him, this only resulted in more dry sobs. I wasn't ready to admit to anything like that just yet.

I know that he told me stay here but I can't do that. I have to find him and help him if he needs it. Or maybe he's just running a little late, doing whatever he went to do. He could burst through the entrance at any second so would it be a foolish thing for me to lock up the doors? I should just wait a few more minutes.

An even louder crash sounded above me.

Suddenly my sobbing stopped and I was overcome with a new sense of rage with a mixture of unreadable emotions.

I couldn't just stay here weeping like the damsel in distress. That would just prove that Edward was right in sending me away. I couldn't just stay here and do nothing. I had to find my husband, what if he was hurt or worse…

I can't bare the thought of losing him.

With my new found courage and want for Edward I leaped from my position, leaving the padlock behind. I ran with my new found force until I made it to the bottom of the steps that led up to the basement entrance.

I stopped as all of a sudden the doors flew back.

A wave of relief entered my body, a feeling not unlike Jasper's effects.

It was Edward.

My relief was short lived as his scent quickly hit me.

It was human Edward. His breathing and heart rate were racing rapidly, obviously he was after running. His scent made my throat burn and my venom swell but I ignored it, I had more important things on my mind.

As he stepped closer to me, closing the doors behind him I finally took in his appearance, which I was unable to do earlier due to his overpowering scent.

He looked like my Edward but he wasn't him at the same time. He was skinny but not muscular and if it was possible he seemed a little shorter. He looked younger, more boyish. It was obvious that he was sixteen. He wasn't pale, he even looked a little flushed. His nose wasn't as straight and his cheekbones were less pronounced. But the most noticeable difference was the colour of his eyes. They were the most mesmerizing shade of green. They were different. They made him less like my Edward. As a result it made me want my own Edward even more. I could understand why I mistook him to be my Edward but he was not mine.

I took a step back, turning and running towards the back wall. I stood facing the direction the human Edward stood with my back up against the wall.

He didn't acknowledge me. In fact he didn't even notice me. As he made it to the final step I realised the room was too dark for his human eyes to see me.

He ran quickly but at a human speed and began lighting some of the candles that were on the table that I was hiding under moments ago.

His face was full of worry and he kept looking towards the entrance. He began looking for something on the table. What ever it was I assumed he couldn't find it as confusion spread across his face. He sighed. I didn't know whether I should make myself known to him or not. How would he react to the woman who just tried to kill him in his own home.

Suddenly our eyes were back on the doors. They cashed open with too much force. The sounds of a distraught, weeping woman erupted from outside. Thankfully I heard the most amazing voice call from the steps.

"Bella! Get the locks now!" Edward yelled as he quickly entered the basement with his weeping mother cradled in his arms.

I ran from the back of the basement, lunging under the table grabbing the large lock and chain from underneath it. They would have been heavy if I were human.

I ran up the steps, taking two at a time. I dropped them in front of me as I went to close the doors. I looked out I saw one of the monsters in the distance but it was flying towards us.

I turned my head quickly. I found my Edward placing his mother on a chair beside the table with the human Edward going to her aid. He turned and bolted up the steps, following me.

I slammed shut the doors in front of me. Edward was now by my side and he began to wrap the chains around the doors large handles.

"Edward, what about your father?" I asked quickly realising he was nowhere to be seen.

Edward didn't respond he just continued to lock up the doors. I helped. I put the padlock through the chains, locked it and began to hand the key to Edward.

As I outstretched my arm to hand him the key suddenly something came ramming into the locked doors. It was the monster and it was growling furiously outside the door. It even sounded frustrated. It kept trying to break the door down and attack but it didn't succeed. I couldn't believe our little barrier worked.

I jumped at the first impact at the door. Edward chuckled at my reaction and as I handed him the key. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into an embrace.

"I'm so sorry. I should have never left you. I know I said I would never let go of you but getting you to safety was my first priority," Edward said with a tone that sounded like he was begging for forgiveness.

I hugged him back. Squeezing him as tight as I could without hurting him. Through some more dry sobs that escaped I began to respond.

"I thought I lost you," I cried.

He began running his fingers through the hair on the back of my head.

"For a second there so did I," he replied mildly yet concerned.

He kissed the top on my head and murmured "Sorry."

A feeling of relief and joy now swelled in my system as a result of his touch but something didn't seem right.

Our joyous reunion was cut short by the cries of Edward's mother and I was brought back down to earth with a bang. I leaned out of our embrace, Edward still had his arms wrapped around me. I looked straight into is eyes. They conveyed a sense of unexplained pain.

"Edward what happened? Where's you father?" I asked.

Edward sighed and took his arms from around me and placed his head In in his hands. Pinching the bridge of his nose. Sitting down at the top of the stairs. He growled pained yet not furiously. I sat down closely beside him.

"It's all my fault…" he paused "If I had gotten to him sooner…"

"Edward, please tell me what happened," I begged.

He sighed again "Those things destroyed him and it's all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and selfish none of this would have happened. The thousands of lives and families that have been destroyed and it's all because of me."

I grabbed the sides of his head with my hands and pulled his face round to have him facing me. His eyes didn't make contact with mine.

"Do not blame yourself. If it's anyone's fault here it's mine. I'm the one who lost control-," I said before he interrupted me.

"But Bella… I," he stammered now giving me eye contact but before he could continue I started again.

"You have no idea how guilty I feel that I did what I did, attacking you and your family-," he tried to interrupt me again but I wouldn't let him. "Your human blood smelt like no other scent I ever encountered before. It was amazing, overwhelming and even unbearable. It was like nothing else mattered except having that heavily blood quench my thirst. It smelt floral even. Like lavender or even fr-"

"Freesia," he said interrupting me finishing my sentence as a slight smirk broke it face. My hands began to retract from his face but he kept our eye contact.

"What?… how did you know?… is my shield?" I stammered out incredulously.

He chuckled "That's exactly what you smelt like to me when you were human." His smile became noticeably wider and he leaned forward and kissed me gently yet passionately on the lips.

"I guess our relationship has just gotten even more complicated. I bet Carlisle will find it interesting that my human self is your singer just like your were mine," he said lightly.

Singer? So that's why I reacted like that. Now that explains everything. That's when it dawned on me.

"Edward if that's how I smelt to you, how did you bare it? When you touched and kissed me when I was human. The thirst. The fire. The pain. It must have been unbearable." I said shocked as I realised what I must have put him through.

His face softened and he squeezed my hand "It was worth it for you, Bella love. Yes, the thirst was at times unbearable but the thought of losing you was even worse."

With that I lean forward and I placed another gentle yet passionate kiss on his full lips. "You love me more than I deserve," I whispered as I laid my forehead against his.

Unexpectedly he pulled his face away and a new found pain engulfed his face with a furrow developing in between his closed eyes. My hand was still squeezed in his. "I am so sorry Bella. It is you who loves me more than I deserve. You have given me everything. A beautiful daughter, happiness beyond anything I could never imagine, you even willingly gave up your life as a human for me and how do I repay you? By getting us trapped here and destroying thousand of lives and families-."

"Please will you stop blaming your self, we will find a way. The Doctor will help us," I begged, interrupting.

"I don't think I can," he sighed.

He looked over to his now broken family who where down in the centre of the basement. He sighed again.

"Did you know that they don't recognise me?" he said meaning it as a statement rather then a question.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked innocently.

"Depends…" was all he could mumble as a response.

He stood up still with my hand grasped in his. He took one step down.

"I guess its time to face the music," he said unusually unsure of himself.

"What will we tell them?" I asked in earnest as I stood up and followed him. We took another step and continued at a slow human pace.

"Everything…" he replied. "Everything…"