Hey sorry about the wait. It's a long story filled with tons of excuses, but all in all my computer died. And then I couldn't get a new one. Also, all of my work including this story was lost along with others and all of the chapters I had written. And then I've been busy with school and sports so I hadn't had a chance to update. I may or may not of forgot about you guys haha. Anyways, without further a due,

Chapter 9:

Rain

Two days, twelve hours, twenty minutes, forty eight seconds and two fifty ninths of a fourth of a second. I quickly counted in my head. My eyes were wide opened, pierced on the window that showed the gloomy scenery of my home. I watched as the rain washed over the back yard in huge droplets as I continued to count off the time.

My eyes finally fell on a single drop as it slowly fell to the muddy wasteland. The way it fell was majestic. It flowed, moving back and forth as the wind's breeze twisted it in the sky. At first it looked like it was dancing with the wind. The way it waltzed. But then, the beautiful and elegant life began to dim drop the drop. The poor water vapor was pushed and shoved from side to side by the gusts of wind that played with it. It was helpless as the air took advantage of the small droplet; lifting it up and down, as well as left to right. It slowly plummeted to it's irretrievable death on the ground.

The ground seemed to be so evil now. It's cold claws thrust upward while striving to pierce the rain drop's lifeless body. Grass was frozen stiff with frost that would end up ultimately as the rain drop's doom. It hardly moved in the rough wind.

I held my breath in wonder. Did the grass not understand what it was doing? Did it not understand that the poor lifeless raindrop was helpless in a way? Sure, with many rain drops next to it, the droplet could stand strong. The force could become as destructive as a flood. But alone, divided, it was vulnerable and would easily fall the the ground's deathly grips.

I frowned as I watched the droplet... My droplet splash into the cold hard earth. The small pieces that made up the raindrop shattered far away from each other, and was then soaked into the ground. It was as if the earth was sucking it lifeless in a matter of seconds.

My thoughts snapped back to counting the time.

Two days, twelve hours, twenty minutes, fifty two seconds and twenty nine eighty sixths of a third of a second. A knock pounded on my door but it seemed distant. Unimportant. "Bree." Edward called to me, but his voice was blocked out by the walls. I could only hear his voice in a distance, but I couldn't acknowledge it. "Bree, This has to stop." He called from out side the door. I ignored him again and kept counting. Two days, twelve hours, twenty one minutes, seven seconds and thirty two elevenths of a ninth of a second. "Bree!" Edward snapped the door and rushed to my side. "Stop it. Please!" He yelled while taking my shoulders and shaking them.

I kept my cool glaze even with the window.

Two days, twelve hours, twenty one minutes, sixteen seconds and seventy two ninety fifths of a half of a second. "Bree!" He cried, his voice becoming a growl. His eyes were narrowed into slits as he hissed. My head finally jerked to where he was and my eyes took a moment to focus in on him. "This isn't healthy." He snapped.

I sighed and ignored that comment like anything else he said. "They're going to come back. "They have to. The Volturi never give up." I whispered. "They never lose." I turned the corners of my mouth down in a grim way.

"No. They left." Edward's words rolled off his tongue in a slick manner. He seemed many degrees less concerned then me.

I shook my head slowly as I grew impatient. "You saw what they did to you. And that's only one of them. That was my best friend. You were on the floor withering in pain." I muttered, not being able to erase that image from my head. I shook my head. "She did it to me too." I whispered. My bestfriend. She hurt me Edward.

I was never one who wanted to cry, but that was what I felt like doing. I wanted to curl into the deepest darkest corner of the earth and ball my eyes out.

"That was nothing." Edward tried to play it off as he relaxed a little. He fell back into my couch and took my hand in a confident way.

"Nothing my ass!" I snapped my hand away from his and jumped up from the loveseat. "Edward they can destroy you, and me, and all of us. I swear if anyone in this family get's hurt it's my fault. I will never be able to live with myself." I shuddered and my voice became thicker as I held back my pathetic dry tears.

"Shh." He pulled me into his lap and kissed my neck. "They aren't coming back." He told me. He looked so unconcerned. I felt like his eyes were laughing at my worries.

"Yes they are. You head Demetri." I whispered my voice becoming a growl. "He said, 'Aro will be disappointed.'. When Aro is disappointed, he gets upset. When he gets upset, he destroys."

Edward tried chuckling again. "He won't get upset. He let you leave freely." He said in a joyful tone. "He doesn't want you in the coven that bad, or he wouldn't of just sent Demetri and Jane."

I shook my head at him in a disagreeing tone. "I think I understand why he wanted me to leave for a while." My tone of voice now more low, urgent, and ominous.

"Why? Enlighten me." Edward smiled, as if we were playing a game.

I blinked. "Control."

"Control?" Edward asked as his mind sparked interest. "What do you mean by that?"

I shook my head. "He wanted me to gain control over my powers so I can become more powerful. And more Useful. And valuable." The list kept on going until Edward interrupted.

"That can't be true. He has had the most experience with Vampiric powers." Edward disagreed and pulled me down the stairs and away from my room. "He wouldn't just give you away to someone with less experience." He told me in a scoffing tone. "Besides, you'd be more powerful drinking human blood." He muttered.

I shook my head again. "No! He wanted me to have time away, with out distractions or anything. And he wants me to control myself. And to control my powers." I told Edward. "I Know Edward." I whispered. "I know." I hinted with my voice dull.

Edward then called to Alice. "Alice. You have to keep a close eye on the Volturi." He told her. "Bree's on to something." He told her quietly. I couldn't tell if he was just trying to calm me down, or was genuinely worried.

Alice nodded and skipped over to the couch with her Jasper.

Edward took me and gave me a small hug. "I'm going to tell Carlisle." He explained. "And don't worry so much, okay?" He kissed my forehead sweetly.

"Okay." I smiled fakely, and muttered the word in a dull voice. My eyes then fell on something on the horizon. I thought it was movement, but I guess I was wrong. As I focused in on to where the object was I saw nothing. I shrugged it off and sighed.

Edward then laughed at me again. "You're so worried your delusional."

I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my arm. "Shut up." I laughed and kissed him.

Some small voice inside of me told me he was right, and I had to stop worrying. But then again, in some part of my brain where I kept things tied up and locked behind a closed door a little voice said to me, They're coming. The little voice was almost silent compared to all of the thoughts that was rushing threw my head, and all the ideas I had been forming. It was mearly a whisper from my soul.

And as the voice echoed threwout my head and hollow body I shuddered. Not because of the words, but because I knew it was right.

Happy Holidays.

And sorry that this chapter is lame. But I just want to use it to lead up to some big things happening. And I hoped you understood that little metaphor about rain and life.