A/N:

I'm terribly sorry this chapter is coming later than usual. I was in Yosemite for most of last week and had no internet or cell phone reception. I could only text! I tried to do some writing, but my body was so sore from hiking all day that all I could do was collapse catatonic into my sleeping bag each night.

ms. ambrosia, my beta, despite her incredibly busy schedule, had this chapter ready, waiting for me in my inbox when I returned. Posting this, after a long, hot bath, is one of the first things I did when I returned. So please forgive me for the delay.

There are a few twists in this – surprise, surprise – and I hope that you like them! I know that some of you are worried that I'm going to pull a "New Moon" in this story. Please, give me the benefit of the doubt, and know that I am putting my own slant on the original plot so no matter what, it will be different! Trust me!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own my twist on the story.

Chapter 22

I dragged my feet as I walked out to my car, prolonging the inevitable. Emmett and Alice had left for school moments earlier, their spirits lifted by the sun. I couldn't help envying how easy and uncomplicated their lives were. I was feeling utterly sorry for myself as I slipped into my car, wondering how I was going to survive the day without Bella.

Ever since I'd met Bella my life had become like some sort of dark fairytale, taking on a surreal quality that distorted my perception of things. Despite this, I couldn't shake the sense that even more change was coming and I was increasingly nervous that it might not be the good kind.

Instead of allowing me a moment of peace, my solitary drive to school propelled me to a heightened state of anxiousness that I couldn't explain. I wasn't sure if I was looking for Bella to jump out of the bushes or for something else to happen, but I tensed before every corner, scanning the background at each intersection.

When I finally reached the familiar morning scene in the front of school, students milling around the parking lot, basking in the warm touch of the sun, I felt some of my trepidation fade. I hesitated at my car for a few minutes, summoning the energy and the will to head inside. I wasted just enough time for Jessica to notice that I was by myself. She slinked over to me, swaying her wide hips in a ridiculous manner, and before I could walk away, she propped herself against my car.

"Hi Edward!" she said enthusiastically, wriggling closer to me. "Isn't this weather great?"

"Um yeah, I guess," I replied, throwing my bag over my shoulder and making to turn away. She started rambling about some upcoming dance when something sparkling caught my eye. I narrowed my gaze toward the edge of the trees in the distance, where for an instant, I was sure that I saw the sunlight reflecting off a glittering surface. My heart beat accelerated and my fingers tingled as I took a step forward. Bella.

I was only minutely aware that Jessica was still talking to me, even reaching out to grab my arm. I looked at her incredulously, almost angry that she was touching me, and shook off her hand, taking another few steps away from the school. I reached out my mind like a fishing net, hoping to capture some of Bella's thoughts. But I received nothing.

I narrowed my gaze, squinting into the sun and searching the trees, but there was no sign of Bella or her smooth, diamond-like skin shimmering in the sun. I ignored Jessica's chattering, her footsteps falling in behind me, drawn as if mesmerized toward the trees. I was already at the edge of the parking lot when Emmett yelled my name, shaking me from the spell I was under. I heard the first period bell ring, and turned reluctantly to the school for only a moment. When I angled back to fix my eyes on the tree line again there was still no sign of Bella, shattering any hopes I had of seeing her.

I headed back toward school, bumping into Jessica, catching a glimpse of her confused and rejected face as I passed. "Sorry," I mumbled inadequately as I scaled the steps to the school doors, knowing that it was all I could give her.

At the last moment before crossing through the doors, I felt a burning urge to glance at the tree line one last time. It was desperate gesture, as I was much too far away to see distinctly, yet I felt compelled to look in a way that defied reason.

Faceless bodies scrambled around me to get to class, a few jostling me from side to side, but I felt the instinctual need to stay fixed where I was. Even though my eyes watered and burned, I continued to stare.

I was just about to give in and succumb to the pull of my school responsibilities, when I saw something. There was a flash of movement, a rustle in the trees. I took a step out the door, swallowing the saliva that had pooled in my mouth, shivering as the heat dissipated from my body. I strained my eyes trying to see, and I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw a pale face staring at me from the shadows. But it wasn't Bella.

The second bell rang and I resisted turning away, even when the voice of authority called as a teacher stomped loudly through the hall behind me, rounding up stragglers. I felt a hand tugging on my arm, a hot breath on my cheek, but I couldn't peel my eyes away. The sun shifted briefly as I resisted, and as I craned my neck for one last look, it finally illuminated the spot where I'd been staring and lit up a head of red hair into a fiery blaze. I gasped as the red flickered ominously in my sight before disappearing into the darkness.

I sat through my first class in a thick daze. I kept trying to reconcile the veracity of what I thought I saw with the probability that I'd fabricated the whole thing. I couldn't get the image of a wild mane of flickering, burning hair from consuming my thoughts. And yet, there was such an unreal quality to the entire morning. Ever since I'd been inside of Bella's mind, I was having a hard time distinguishing between what was real and what was a figment of a dream or a thought or an image from the past.

Lately I'd been growing increasingly insecure of my grip on reality. Rather than confusing me more, Bella's presence calmed me; her lucid thoughts seemed to clarify mine. But when she was absent, my brain twisted and writhed around errant remnants of thoughts and images, both mine and hers, and it simply got lost in them. I seemed to be living my life somewhere between reality and dreams.

By the time I walked into my second class, I was almost convinced that the alarming vision had simply been an illusion, a trick of the sunlight. Perhaps I'd woven parts of my nightmare and Bella's memories into a distortion of reality.

When I walked out to my car at the end of the school day, I was thoroughly positive that crazed by my need for Bella, and plagued by her memories, I'd entirely lost my grasp on reality. Even when I wasn't with her, my mind was no longer my own. After playing it over in my mind all day, I had finally concluded the diamond-like flickering and the blaze of red hair I thought I saw wasn't even a trick of the light, but an elaborate fabrication of my subconscious or a kind of waking dream. I pushed it all to the back of my mind like so many other images and recent dreams that I couldn't possibly place or understand.

I automatically drove to Bella's house, needing so desperately to be with her again. My need as always hit me in the gut, both delighting me and frustrating me at the same time. Why did I want her so much that it hurt? Why did my need for her dominate everything else in my life so that nothing else mattered anymore?

I was so anxious to see her that I practically skipped up the steps, taking them three at a time. I knocked on her door and waited. There was no sound coming from inside, but that wasn't unusual. Bella could be thoroughly silent if she wanted to be. After several minutes, I dolefully accepted that she wasn't home and left.

I drove around for a while, but it wasn't long before I had the same sense that something was wrong that I'd had this morning. I almost felt like I was being watched or being followed. I felt the hackles rise on the back of my neck, all my senses acute.

I finally decided just to go home, and hopefully, Bella would come to me. I tried to ignore the depth of the disappointment I felt as I pounded on the steering wheel in frustration. I wanted to hit something, to tear something apart. I peeled out of Bella's driveway quickly, my tires leaving a burning trail on the concrete, and sped off hastily toward home.

Alice was in the kitchen when I walked through the door, making chocolate milk and Pop-tarts for a snack. "Hey Edward, the weather's great today. I'm thinking we could do our picnic this weekend. I already talked to mom and she said that dad has Sunday off. Ask Bella okay?"

I scowled at her, but she didn't notice which irrationally made me even angrier. Oblivious to my mood, she didn't even wait for my response before taking her snack and plopping down in front of the television in the living room. I could hear her tinkling laughter as I scaled the stairs to my room and grimaced, wishing that my mind was so unfettered.

I had been stretched out on my bed for hours, my homework long abandoned, trying with all my might to quiet my mind. My fears and insecurities were nearly overwhelming. I was desperate to talk to Bella, to see her. Things had been so good between us and then last night something shifted. Her struggle to control her baser desires was palpable, thickening the air around us.

I kept replaying her words that had filtered into my thoughts and seeing the panic in her feline eyes. How is it that so much had changed in just one night? I wanted to know her story, but not at the detriment of our relationship. If stirring up these memories only weakened her resolve and made her thirst for my blood, than I would no longer ask her to share that part of herself with me. And yet, somehow I knew that my curiosity would get the best of me. I needed to know her, to understand her completely. I wanted to climb into her skin and see the world through her eyes.

Searching for a distraction, I busied myself with my homework for a while, but my mind kept wandering. Plus, school work just didn't seem as important anymore. At one point Emmett stormed into my room without knocking. He was bored himself and always barged into my room when he was procrastinating.

"Problems with your vamp girl?" he asked, dropping heavily onto my bed.

"No," I snapped, irritated by his question.

"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off for asking. I just hate to see you moping again. I really do like you better when she's around," he said, slapping me on the back just a little too hard. I threw him an irritated glare.

"I'm off to pick up Rosalie for an evening ren-de-vous," he said, stretching out the word for emphasis. He turned back to face me, his hand on the door as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh yeah, Alice is all worked up about the picnic this weekend. You better make sure Bella comes or Alice will pitch a fit," he yelled over his shoulder as he shut the door behind him.

I put my iPod in its docking station, setting it to a mellow playlist with a mixture of classical and ambient songs. I tried to calm myself and to lose myself in the music, but I could never completely shut down my mind. I was always attuned to Bella now, a part of my mind continually listening and searching for her.

I felt irrational surge of anger at my powerlessness to reach her, fisting the sheets in my hands. I curled into a ball on my side, bringing my knees up to my chest, and focused on the beat of the song that was playing. The beat slowly changed until I could hear a subtle vibration in the air. When I began to sense the familiar tingling in my limbs, I knew Bella was near. I closed my eyes, concentrating all my energy on bringing her to me, and on listening into her thoughts.

I have to see him with my own eyes…to see if he's alright. I can't wait to see him. I smell him. Faster.

Bella appeared seconds later. Her motions were so fast that I never even saw her climb through my window before she stood at the foot of my bed, her hand on my ankle.

"Edward." I missed you. So much.

She ran her hand up my leg until she reached my thigh, her hand pausing for a second before she pulled away. She jerked off layers of her clothing quickly and then half-pounced on the bed, so deftly that the springs didn't even flex. She straddled me like a predator and my body instinctively tensed until I looked in her eyes and saw her need and desire for me so clearly reflected in them.

We were fixed in this position for a hot moment before the ridges of her brow softened, her pose relaxed, and she dropped soundlessly to my side, winding her body around mine almost protectively. There was a new rigidity, an urgency, to her touch that slightly unnerved me. The feel of her arms reminded me of the way in which she held me when she lobbed me up against the side of her house.

I couldn't shake the feeling that there was an invisible barrier between us, something weighing on her mind that she wasn't willing to share with me. I wondered what she felt like she needed to protect me from.

I fell asleep in this way, with her firm body encasing mine like a human coffin and though it may not have been the most physically comfortable position, I slept soundly.

The rest of the week continued in this way. I spent my days at school in a dream-like haze, unable to focus on anything. Only Emmett seemed to understand, defending me from Alice's digging questions and sharp gaze. Rosalie took to shooting me piercing stares, as if she sensed that there was something deeper going on than I was letting on. Even Jasper got on my case, demanding that we get together after school to hang out. I was pretty sure that Alice put him up to it.

I tried to feign interest in Alice's plans for the picnic on the weekend, but I secretly worried that Bella wouldn't show. She had so many fears and reservations that I knew I was going to have to plead for her to come. And the weather continued to be uncharacteristically clear and sunny which was sure to keep her away. Alice ironically, couldn't be happier about the weather and even planned on bringing her bathing suit.

Each night, Bella climbed through my window without fail, clinging to me as if I might disappear. But it was her who disappeared each morning, leaving me to feel like I'd imagined the whole thing. Yet, I could still smell her uniquely alluring scent lingering on my sheets and I could feel the imprint of her touch on my skin. I actually awoke on Thursday morning with bruises on my arms where her fingerprints had gripped me too tightly.

Several times I gently wrenched myself away from her stiff embrace, attempting to recapture the deep physical connection that we'd somehow lost. I lovingly caressed her arms, running my fingers along her shoulders. She allowed my touch, but didn't encourage anything more and I slipped into sleep feeling stifled, and unfulfilled. I questioned her inflexibility several times, but she evaded my questions and held onto me with such intensity it rattled me to the core. I also skimmed her mind, but she closed me out. This cold refusal to open her thoughts to me was almost harder to accept than her physical detachment.

On Friday morning I awoke like usual, reaching the empty spot on my bed with the same glum sensation of loss as I did every morning. I longed for a future where my bed would no longer be empty, but Bella would be there, waiting for me to wake, her lovely presence filling me with joy and making me feel complete.

These thoughts were fleeting when the harshness of reality overcame my musings – this future was so improbable it was preposterous. Bella's weird insecurity at night was beginning to crumble my certainty that we could overcome all obstacles. Doubts began to creep into my mind. Emmett's words of warning were starting to make more sense. I was a human and she was a vampire. How long could we pretend that our relationship wasn't doomed to fail? What kind of future could we have? If I remained human, I would only get older while she stayed young. And I wasn't able to protect her like she could protect me. I was weak, vulnerable, and I'd always be a liability.

I went through all the motions of my morning routine, these dark thoughts weighing heavily on my mind. I came to the realization that at some point soon I would need to make a decision regarding my future. But deep down, my decision had already been made. I would sacrifice everything to be with Bella – even my life.

I was surprised when I stepped outside that it was raining steadily. I hadn't even noticed the dramatic change in the weather until that moment and instantly my mood shifted. Bella would be at school. My body and mind rejoiced, knowing that soon we would be close, touching and connecting. She would share her mind with me, and I would finally feel whole again.

I waited on the front steps of the school in the rain several minutes past the final bell, before I accepted that she wasn't going to show up. I fruitlessly tried to mask my disappointment as I searched the halls for her between every class. Even though I didn't feel the telling vibration behind my eyes when she was near, I still hoped that she might come to Biology class, if even just to see me. But she didn't show. I began to panic. The weather was her excuse for being absent all week, but today the weather was perfectly horrible and gray. She had no reason not to be at school, unless she had an excuse that I didn't know about.

All of a sudden I began to question how she had spent her days when she didn't come to school. Why was she keeping things from me? She waited until it was very late every night before coming to me in my room. So late that I was already tired and in bed and didn't have much energy to talk or pose questions. How had she been spending her time? Why did we not talk of it? I grew so frustrated I was almost frantic. I could barely sit still through the last few hours of school, my legs bouncing under the table, my palms sweating and my fingers trembling.

I shot out of school as soon as the bell rang, not even stopping at my locker to grab my books or my coat. I immediately drove to Bella's house, but I somehow knew she wouldn't be home. I pounded on the door for several minutes, until my knuckles were raw. I only stopped when an elderly neighbor stepped out onto his doorstep and glared at me annoyingly.

I sat in the quiet of my car for several minutes, thinking of all I knew about Bella and where she could conceivably be. I thought of Jacob, the werewolf. He might have known where she was, but I didn't exactly know how to get a hold of him. I was considering the idea of driving to La Push and asking around when I remembered Bella's little cabin in the woods. It was the only other place I could think that she might be.

I started the car and drove there as fast as I could, missing the indistinct dirt road at first just as I had the last time. When I finally got close to the house, I skidded the car to a stop, causing the muddy earth to splatter the trees at the edge of the clearing. I jumped out of the car into the rain, not even bothering to avoid stepping in the huge puddles of mud that surrounded my car, and clomped up the steps to house to pound on the door.

As I expected, there was no answer. I circled the cabin, light rain dampening my clothes. I peered through the windows into the dark interior, my anxiety increasing. My heart began to beat wildly in my chest. I couldn't shake the persistent feeling that something was wrong, that Bella was somehow in trouble. I just couldn't imagine where she was and why she hadn't gone to school.

I hated feeling so helpless, so thoroughly at a loss to find her or help her. I felt defeated.

I let the rain wash over my face, running in steady rivulets down my neck. I wiped the damp hair off my forehead, pushing my hand back through my hair as I thought of Bella and remembered our passionate and emotional night in the cabin. It seemed like so long ago, but was no more than several weeks. I marveled at how much my life had changed, how much meeting Bella had affected everything. I sloshed my way slowly back to my car, my steps more careful now, and my eyes fixed on the muddy path I was forging.

I had just turned the corner at the edge of the house when I squinted up into the rain and caught movement in my peripheral vision. My head snapped to the side quickly, but there was no one there. I instantly sensed that I was not alone, and every atom in my body pulsated with nervous energy, as if my nerve endings were crackling with electricity. Time seemed to slow so that I became acutely aware of even the smallest movement, the tiniest shift of my eye. My lungs felt constricted, and as I labored to inhale, I could hear each breath as though amplified.

I automatically took a squishy step toward my car, my brain numb. And then she sprang into my vision as though an acrobat jumping onto a stage. She was much smaller than me, with tiny, feminine bones and an almost sweet looking smile gracing her lips. But I wasn't fooled; I knew exactly what she was and exactly what she was capable of doing to me. I didn't have a chance.

Her feral red eyes washed over my body, measuring me, examining me. Neither one of us moved for several moments until I realized that I'd been holding my breath and inhaled deeply.

She was instantly closer. She'd moved without me even seeing. Her head tilted to the side and she mimicked me, inhaling deeply as I had moments before.

"Delicious," she whispered almost seductively, her hand reaching out to run along my jawbone.

I flinched at her touch, but knew it was useless to try and get away. I realized as she moved closer that I knew who this was. I had seen her as clearly in Bella's mind as if I'd looked through my own eyes.

This was Charlotte, one of the vampire's who Bella traveled with before returning to Forks. I was trying to decide whether or not I should tell her that I knew her identity when her hand dropped to my chest. Her fingers splayed out, playfully running across my nipples and down to my stomach. I trembled under her touch as she claimed my body, dipping her fingers down into the front of my pants until she was cupping my cock in her hand. Her fingers wound around it, squeezing until, betraying my silent pleas, it sprang to life. But her fingers continued to squeeze, clamping down on my shaft until the stabbing pain in my groin caused my knees to buckle and I fell in the slick mud.

I tried to ignore the tears that slipped out of my eyes, hardening myself to face what I assumed would inevitably be the end of my existence. I closed my eyes and thought of Bella and how deeply and completely I loved her. I wanted my last thought to be of her, the final image in my mind to be of her amazingly beautiful face.

"Bella, I love you," I said as the cold hand on my cheek contracted and sharp nails scraped painfully down the side of my cheek. I opened my eyes to find her looking quizzically at my face as though all of a sudden, I'd become fascinating in a new light.

"Bella?" the vampire asked, her eyes softening. "Did you say Bella?" she asked in a voice that was strangely girlish and innocent.

"Y-es," I stuttered, shocked at her question. My brain struggled to think of anything I could say to free myself from this situation and I said the first thing that popped into my mind. "I'm her pet."

"Her pet?" she repeated as if she didn't quite believe what I'd said.

"Yes…and she'd be mad…if anything, you know, happened to me," I lied.

"Hmmm. Well, this does make things more difficult. You see," she said, cupping my cheek in one hand while sliding her hand through my hair with the other, "I'm very hungry. And here you are, so delicious smelling. I can see why Bella likes you," she said as she rubbed her small, hard body against me.

"It's so like Bella to have a pet. She is so different, with all her strange habits. I'm sure that she'll miss you, but it can't be helped. I promise to be quick," she said in an almost friendly voice and she pulled her arm back as though to slice my neck open with her nails.

I took one last breath and closed my eyes and waited for the end.

End Notes:

What do you think is going to happen? Is someone going to save him? I'd love your predictions! Or just send me some love!

Thank you for reading!