See? I promised I would try harder… the only problem is updating my other story which has gone longer than this one without an update. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to iNSOMNIAC-rEADER-2010 and to LexieFang makes Fexie, the two people who reviewed last chapter, even though I didn't really deserve it. Thanks you guys! I still only own Ian; either Meg Cabot or Stephenie Meyer owns all the other characters. Sorry it's so short. Please R&R.
Edward P.O.V.
Bella and Suze came down the stairs just seconds after Carlisle and I walked back in. Suze was concentrating on Bella's movements, and how little noise she made whenever she took a step, despite how creaky the staircase was. Bella concentrates hard for a moment; she is letting her shield down for me. I then see the entire conversation she had with Suze. And the word ghost is not one that I had thought of in relationship to how different both Suze and Jesse seem from normal humans.
Jacob P.O.V.
Nessie sits on my lap and we listen as all the others make pointless small talk. Which I hate. Sure, sometimes it's necessary, such as in the incredibly awkward moment when I went to tell Dad that I was leaving with the Cullens. I tried to avoid that. But this is just one of those times when neither of the groups present have anything in common. When that's the case, small talk is just stupid; a way to avoid all subjects, and therefore any possible way to offend the other group. It lasts an hour and a half before Carlisle stands and says, "Well, it's nine thirty, everyone. We should probably get going. You all have school tomorrow." Not like anyone other than me and Nessie needs to sleep. But whatever. I'm still getting used to the unusual dynamics of this family, especially when they're talking to humans.
We arrive home, and Edward turns to Carlisle and says, "Bella discussed the situation with Suze. They each asked one or two yes or no questions. And the reason Suze and Jesse seem so different is the fact that they can see ghosts. Or at least Suze can."
I suppose that, by now, this shouldn't have surprised me at all. But it did. Changing at sixteen into a werewolf that's meant to kill my best friend's vampire boyfriend? Sure, no problem, that's perfectly believable. But the existence of ghosts? Impossible. That reaction is stupid of course, but it's still my first reaction. Edward looks over at me and rolls his eyes.
He then goes on to say, "I think this has something to do with the conversation I had with you; the cloudy thoughts, the deaths of his sisters. I don't know, Carlisle. I just don't know. When Bella thought the word ghost at me, my first thought was that Jesse is a ghost. But that's just not possible. For one, none of us has the ability to see ghosts. Unless there are just so few we haven't run into one before now, and all vampires have the ability to see ghosts. But I don't think that's it. You've been around long enough that you should have run into at least a couple, but you're as surprised as Jacob and I are. And besides, whether or not that is true, he's a doctor. Humans can see him, and if he is a ghost, not everyone would be able to see him. And everyone knows that once you die, you can never come back. If someone is dead enough to be a ghost, he isn't going to be alive ever again."
His rant ended, he stares at Carlisle, waiting for an answer. But for the first time—or at least the first time I have witnessed it—Carlisle doesn't have an answer.
However, Bella does. If not an answer, a hypothesis. "Being dead doesn't mean you can't be alive. There are plenty of people who have died, for minutes at a time, who are alive now. They speak of out of body experiences; isn't that essentially being a ghost. And another example of people who have died, who are alive… us." She looks around and meets each person's eyes, if only for less than a second. "Our hearts don't beat. We don't sleep. We don't need food. We don't need to drink. We don't need to breathe. We are essentially dead. And yet, we walk, we talk, we interact with others. In all appearances, we are alive. Why is it so hard to believe he was dead at one time, and now isn't?"
Edward looks at her for a moment then whispers, "The fact that he would have to have been dead for a good hundred years or more. And that doesn't happen."