In It For Life
E POV
When Bella told me what The Souls did, I almost threw up. All the serial killers and mass murderers had nothing on these things, and the possibility of her leaving me behind in those woods terrified me. What were they? Before her explanation, I honestly didn't think humans were capable of doing something like that. Sure there were rapists and pedophiles, but even they had limits. This seemed barbaric, so maybe they weren't human.
It became clear, in that moment, that she honestly held my life in her hands, and upsetting her like I had done with the "bed" was out of the question. Bella had the power to throw me to the wolves and I couldn't do a god damn thing about it. All I could do was stay on her good side. And so I begged like a pussy, about to fucking get down on my knees if that was what it took for her to give in.
After my pledge to be grateful from this point on, she looked ashamed. Of what, I did not know. Without pealing her eyes away from the floor, she nodded. Unlike most of her actions, this one was slow and delicate. I held my breath as she came closer, confused as to what she was planning to do, until I felt small but strong arms wrap around my waste. Saying I was shocked would've been an understatement. I was blown away, and my mind went back to that moment in the woods. Even though we were in danger, her smell and her skin sent shivers down my spine, and as we stood their in Alice's house, I couldn't focus on anything else except her body against mine. Without hesitation I circled her shoulders in a tight embrace, making her figure press against me even more.
"I am hopeless." She whispered into my chest. I didn't know what she meant by that, but denied it anyway. "No, you're one of the most independent, strong-hearted people I know." She looked up then, and I froze. If eyes could speak, her's would have. I could see sadness and hope and confusion. I squeezed her tighter, producing a soft sigh from her throat.
"Well, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The annoying voice chimed, "but this is my house. Bella, you should just take him back to you're chambers." Bella jumped so high, the top of her head smacked my chin. "Ow!" I moaned. She leaped out of my arms with the reddest of shades smothered on her cheeks, but appeared unharmed by our contact. Alice giggled, and skipped in the door, unaware of what a mother-fucking cock block she was. Bella, still blushing furiously, glared at Alice. "I am absolutely not going to take him anywhere! You saw nothing of affection what so ever." She shouted with her fists balled up. "That was sure a quick walk, Alice! Unless you were just outside the window, like I know you were!" Alice smiled sheepishly. "I might have. That still doesn't deny the fact that you were embracing him very fondly, almost lovingly." Bella groaned and turned to me, still fuming. "You can sleep on this" she pointed to the piled up blankets, "or you can sleep outside!" And with that she shoved past me and Alice and slammed the door.
I was speechless. Not only had she said that there was no affection at all, but on top of that, her reaction was just strait up fucking vicious. I mean, I was embarrassed too, but didn't bite anyone's head off. I looked to Alice who just sighed and shrugged. "I know what you're thinking. She has lost her mind." She giggled again. "And that might be true, but that's not the reason she got so upset." Alice motioned for me to sit beside her on a couch. "Bella has always been and probably always will be the most stubborn creature you'll ever meet. She does not believe in true love or destiny or anything of the sort, and to be caught in a moment of vulnerability was unsettling to her. And now she is probably moping somewhere, trying to think of a way for her to gain her pride back. She could erase my memory. That is fairly easy to accomplish with a few spells, but I know she wouldn't do that. She is much too kind-hearted to everyone, but exceptionally so to the people she cares for most." She smirked. "Do you know how she said she could have left you there in the woods?" I was frustrated, for she had definitely been listening when I begged for my life. "Yes, I heard you're plea. But about what she said, about leaving you there to die. She was lying."
I looked at her questionably. "She couldn't have done anything close to that, even if you were her worst enemy. You might not believe me, but did you know she's never killed anything besides Souls?" Alice was right. I couldn't believe her, and somehow I thought this was a secret, Bella wouldn't have shared with me. "Not even hunting." she murmured. And as I thought of her face, even when hostile or annoyed, I realized she was compassionate through and through. Of coarse she could have left me behind, but she didn't for any other reason than she couldn't let someone die. While I was a stuck up prick that thought with my dick, she was trying to save my fucking life. I also thought about how annoying Alice was when she barged in on us, about how I thought she was interrupting what could have actually been something. I saw that I was wrong. Bella wouldn't submit herself to me no matter what, with or without Alice's presence. She wasn't like other girls.
I had been fucking Tanya for a long time before we got together, and I knew why. I was attractive and I knew how girls thought of me and how they saw me. Truthfully, I didn't have a problem with it; I actually fucking enjoyed it, but Bella just wasn't that type of person. She was the only girl that I had met that didn't jump on me right away, besides Angela. She was the quiet girl in homeroom with her glasses and her nose in books. She had a nice body and face so I thought I might as well do her, with images of me bending her over on the library desks and pounding into her as hard as I could, but she was as indifferent as if I had asked out a cat. She just walked away without fucking giving me a response.
I was Edward, the man-whore according to my brother's fiancée, Rosalie, and was lucky as shit to get a hug out of Bella.
When Alice was ready for bed she attempted to rearrange the blankets for me, but her effort was useless. The pile was bigger than her. I made do with what I had then drifted off to sleep, dreaming of dark woods and the sound of arrows flying by my ears.
The smells. They were what grabbed me first, the dusty smell of the blankets and the smell of food. And then I felt the warmth of sun rays filtering through the windows and hitting my face. I turned away from the window and shut my eyes tighter, burying my face into the silky covers. I heard the sounds of metal, but past it were birds and the soft rustling of leaves. I groaned and reached for Tanya, something I did because I heard girls loved that shit. My hand found empty air and I opened my heavy eyelids to see where she was. She usually didn't wake up till noon.
The room that greeted me was not familiar right away, and for a moment I didn't know where I was. The walls were a gray brick and the furniture was weathered, but with soft colors. There were books on shelves along one wall, their spines worn away to the point where I couldn't see the titles. And clothes, so many clothes. Hangers slung on door frames with a curtain of nature colored silk and cotton. It was out of a fairytale.
But then everything that had happened yesterday came pounding back into my head like a train. My skull throbbed and my shoulder that I tried not to sleep on, for there was still an open gash, now felt well. My neck ached from the awkward position I had slept in and told myself I was going to find a solution to that later.
Looking at my shredded, dirt covered clothing, I immediately checked my shoulder. My shirt sleeve had been ripped off which revealed my blood-cleaned arm and a white bandage that wound tightly around the injury.
There was humming, sweet and melodic, coming from somewhere in the cottage. I tried to sit up but felt dizzy and fell back into the mess of cloth.
The humming turned to words and I recognized it as Alice.
Play in the brow-beating light as they come
And wither and dance in the milky moon
A thistle, a song, when you hear them run
A lovely night won't shine until we've begun
When the warmth is at its high
And camellias bloom
The scentless flower will cry
Right to withhold the gloom
Come sing tonight in your gown
White and green and gray
Come sing, Come sing
While the dead play
Come sing, come sing
The Macabre
I sat up and listened to her sing, its melody haunting and ghostly yet the lyrics warm. I stood up slowly trying to get a hold of my balance. I followed Alice's singing through the halls to a kitchen of metal and wood. This was where the food smell was coming from. Meat and biscuits and fruit. I had died and gone to heaven. "Damn, that smells delicious." I praised her. She giggled and thanked me, leading me to a chapped, wooden table. As soon as she sat the plate on the table, I began to stuff my face uncouthly. Alice smiled at my eagerness and made a plate for herself.
It was the best breakfast I had ever eaten. I hated to admit it, but better than my mother's cooking. The rich, salty flavor of the sausages and the soft flakiness of yellow biscuits had me drooling. I gulped it down with sweet strawberries and crisp melons.
Alice sat down a glass of milk which I swallowed after eating everything. My parched throat relieved from the cold and creamy drink. I hadn't eaten dinner last night and all the running we did left me starving. I finished the glass with a full stomach.
"You are one hell of a cook, Alice." She smiled and turned to clean up while I was left there pondering what it was that had changed. I did not normally praise people so much. My manners were scarce, with little appearances at all, and to be able to give someone compliments so easily was not a trait I had acquired, but just then it came naturally. There was no forced effort to be polite. It could possibly have been the forest or Bella, their mysterious wonders unfolding a psychological reaction in me. A catalyst for my own changes, whether positive or not.
Something stirred in me. Unrecognizable and unidentifiable, but still nagging at me like a paper cut. I wanted to see her again. The want I felt was for her face and her eyes and voice and her temper. All of it.
"Alice?" I said, "Where's Bella?" She turned from scrubbing plates and looked at me knowingly with a smile, then turned back to her task. "She's probably still at the castle. She sleeps in incredibly late." I smiled. So did Tanya.
I was startled by a gentle knock on the door. Alice giggled and headed to open it, only to find the man that came here last night…. Jasper. He looked at me briefly and nodded before leaning down to kiss Alice in the forehead. "So Bella still doesn't know what to do with him." He muttered. Alice replied with a grin. "No, but I think she is fond of him. I caught them hugging for a while." She looked at me and I could feel my cheeks heat up like a little girl. "Alice I told you not to sneak up on them. Bella was probably furious."
"She was, but you know how she is. It shall be forgotten by tomorrow." She said confidently. Maybe Alice was right. In spite of everything that I had said, all she did was yell at me, when I had a strong feeling she could have done much worse. I admired that she wasn't the type of person to hold a grudge, unlike Tanya who would stay angry until she forgot why we were fighting in the first place.
Something in me felt tired of Tanya. No, just tired of comparing Tanya to Bella and once I found a way to get back home I wouldn't feel the need to. Everything would be normal again. This thought was uncomfortable somehow.
Another knock on the door. My hopes to see Bella were quenched when her brilliant forest eyes revealed themselves through the door. However, something felt out of place, in a way I could not begin to describe or even notice until she came closer for it was so subtle. She walked gracefully towards me, past Alice and Jasper.
"I'm sorry" She whispered, her head bent down. Alice whispered something to her mate and looked strange, cautious. Bella looked up then, her eyes so beautiful and glassy; I had to hold my breath. She inched closer until I could feel the heat from her skin, only inches separating us. Alice gasped and Jasper cursed but everything left my mind as she closed the distance between us and stood on her toes to kiss me sweetly. Why? Why was she doing this?
Nothing made sense. Our lips separated when I heard a loud smack right in front of me, the vibrations hurting my ears. Bella lay on the cottage floor with her head cracked open spilling crimson. Jasper was above her, his hand positioned like cat's claws with Bella's blood stained on his fingers.
"WHAT THE HELL!!!!" I screamed. I looked down at Bella's unmoving body then looked at Jasper. He did not look at me. He kept his eyes fixed on the lifeless form below him. "WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU KILLED HER!!!!" I ended the answer to my own question with a crack. He glanced at me quickly then said "It'll take a lot more than that to kill it." Bella's body twitched and I gasped. When my shaking arms tried to help her Jasper snapped at me to stay away. "Are you crazy?!" I shouted, "There's a giant fucking gash in her head and you want me to just stand here, ass-hole?" Apparently he didn't approve of me calling him such a name because the next thing I knew, I was flying across the room with a smash in my chest. I slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch.
"Jasper!" Alice screeched and ran over towards me. "You can fix him easily Alice," He said "but I need you to keep him out of my way before this thing gets back up." "What?!" I screamed, "Bella?" Alice shushed me. "That's not Bella."