Fallback

Part V:

Here they are, two former lovers, one nostalgic and one trying to forget. She finds it odd that after just two years, they have run out of words to say to each other. Finally, Bella coughs lightly and announces that she has to meet a friend elsewhere. Edward's icy hand catches her wrist, and his intense gaze scorches across her.

"Are you happy with him?"

She doesn't lie. "Yes, I am. I've learned that I can live without true love. Sometimes, you have to settle for reality."

As she gets up to leave, she hears his low whisper. "I ask for forgiveness."

Bella shakes her head slightly. "It doesn't matter now. Goodbye Mr. Cullen."

So it's true, Edward realizes, a man can lose everything in just one moment.

"Well, this is unexpected."

Silhouetted against the glass wall, the small figure turns to flash a cherubic smile at her and explains, "I've been ordered to investigate an incident down south."

Bella takes a step forward and pauses as if asking for permission before affectionately hugging the little boy.

"I'm glad you're here, Alec," she tells him. "As long as your demonic sister isn't here with you."

He shrugs. "Jane dislikes the States. She's an old soul."

"No, she's an evil soul," Bella asserts. "I can barely believe that you two are related. How are you so mellow when she's just…psychotic?"

Alec frowns. "I'm not exactly a saint, Bella. I can't even quell the thirst right now."

"Oh you're hungry," she says slowly. The tension always becomes unbearable when one of the many vampires in her life needs to hunt. She feels like an accomplice in a murder, agreeing to stay silent even when she knows someone's life is going to end very, very soon.

"I'll see you later then," Bella murmurs awkwardly and heads to her room.

Almost everything in her life right now is morally ambiguous. After all, she's married to a man who kills people every night, and she's no longer disgusted at seeing a spot of blood on Aro's otherwise immaculate clothing. Yes indeed, Bella has adapted to her husband's lifestyle.

Lying down on her bed, Bella muses to herself that her very relationship with her husband is ambiguous. Aro has stated more than twice that she is perfectly free to seek sexual relations with other humans, but he has also pulled her close and whispered that the nights were his and his alone. A relationship with Aro is not one of equal partners. There are two roles: the teacher and the student, the master and the slave. Aro possesses more knowledge than most libraries, and is constantly teaching her about art, music, and history. He criticizes her sketches, takes her to operas, and discusses philosophy with her. But his one true passion is time and the chronicling of events. Patiently, Bella teaches him about the modern century. She has demonstrated how to use all kinds of inventions from computers to cell phones.

As for Aro, he loves her in his own way, but he does not know her. For some inexplicable reason, his talent for reading thoughts cannot penetrate her mind. He has never found out about her relationship with Edward or that she has met vampires outside of the Volturi.

And Bella does not love Aro. She cannot love Aro, who is a murderer and a lover and a savior. However, she takes what he offers, consequences be damned.

"Wow, this one is amazing," Lola cries as she pulls out a sketch. "Who is he?"

They are in the studio because Heidi has refused to spend another moment with Lola, thus leaving Bella as the alternate female friend.

Bella regards the sketch with a creased brow. The drawing is of Edward, one of her better ones in fact, but she really doesn't want to be reminded of him right now.

"Uh, just some male model," Bella answers casually.

Actually, she doesn't mind Lola so much. The blond girl reminds her slightly of Jessica back in Forks, and Bella knows that having some human company is beneficial. Peering out the window, she decides that it's time to stop working.

"Hey, it's getting late," Bella mentions. "Are you going back to our place?"

"Nah, I have to meet Caius uptown," Lola replies. "See ya later."

As she walks outside, Bella can't help but think of the sketch again. It's time to let go. I should burn all of the drawings.

She's still debating about whether or not to do it when she realizes that the guy across the street has not changed his route from hers for the past eight blocks. Too early to panic. Bella turns right and then glances discreetly behind her shoulder. The man crosses the street and follows her. Her pace quickens, and she makes random, sharp turns now. Still, the man's step echoes behind her.

Shit, I should've taken a cab. And Bella freezes in shock. The guy is somehow standing in front of her, his face obscured from sight by his tilted baseball cap. He chuckles, low and deep, and moves forward. A stinging, tingling feeling pricks her arms and travels up her body. This, she recognizes, is one of the special vampires, one whose gift she is not immune to.

"I'm a bit lazy, you see," the vampire tells her softly. "Why chase my prey when I can just paralyze them?"

He circles her once, twice before coming up close and grabbing her chin. "Now gimme a smile, pretty child."

He flourishes a pocketknife. Bella closes her eyes as the cold steel presses against her jaw.