Chapter Two
Edward stood by the window gazing into the distance, completely distracted, eagerly waiting for Bella to return from Charlie's house. His body tense and strained, almost as if he was about to make an attack. Of course, this was Edward's typical behaviour if he ever thought there was a threat to Bella and lately it had become apparent that there was one. A huge threat. None of us knew the exact details. In fact, not everyone knew about the threat at all. It was in my power to make Edward promise not to tell the family, and Alice, well that couldn't be helped, after all her gift does allow her to see the future of events. I know that by not telling the rest of the family, especially my darling Esmee, does appear to be selfish and dishonest, but I do have my reasons for not doing so. Until I know the exact details of the threat and the extent of danger that we may be put under, I do not want to panic the family unnecessarily. And as for Bella, after everything that has happened lately, I do not want my son's love to be destroyed through worry. We must all remember that she is human: not only is she vulnerable to our kind, but she is also vulnerable to herself.
Somehow Forks always seems to be the perfect place for, well death I suppose. The endless amount of woods and isolated places is an ideal location for any hungry vampire. Less work has to be done to cover up any unwanted evidence that may be lingering around. Or for the less cautious and more irresponsible of our kind, the dead bodies are left and can be easily framed as unfortunate animal attacks. How I despise the actions that the majority of our kind make. Their behaviour truly sickens me; all of us did begin as humans after all. I knew from the moment that I was changed that I could not harm a human, no matter how strong the urge was. I decided my future from the very beginning, to help the vulnerable mortals saving them from a fate like mine. This is one thing that I would never wish upon anybody, no matter how terrible a person they may be, and yet I created myself a family. Changing them was the hardest thing I have ever done, for I did not know whether they would accept the immortal life that easily. I did not know whether they would accept me, especially after damning them to a soulless abyss known as eternity. And should they die for the final time, would they be accepted into heaven? Edward is certain that he won't, and the rest of us shall follow him to hell if that is to be our fate.
Anxious about Edward's reaction to the situation I felt the need to calm him; I couldn't have him spending hours going over various scenarios, all of which ended badly. He only feared losing Bella. When you love someone so much that you would give them the world if you could, you can't help but imagining the worst: a world with them present no longer. Seeing someone's soul mate being taken from this world is the hardest thing about being a doctor. I would watch their partner's as they fell to pieces, crying out for their loved ones; I will not let Edward go through such a thing. As his father, it is my job to make sure that he is happy and that means keeping Bella safe. He was yet to change his stance.
"Edward. Bella will be home shortly, Alice and Jasper are with at every moment. None of us will let any harm come to her. Please try not to be on edge, she is not going anywhere." My voice was stable in the hope that he would be reassured in someway, but I knew he would read my unease at the subject. I waited for a response, but after two minutes it appeared that I was not going to settle him that easily. After all, what was I thinking? Of course I couldn't guarantee that Bella would be safe, none of us knew the full extent of the threat and from which angle they would no doubt ambush us. As I just decided to leave him in peace, he finally responded, his reply somewhat unexpected.
"Carlisle, Bella will always be in danger now that she knows of our kind. No matter how much I want to protect her I won't be able to. I've almost lost her once. Others will always be faster or stronger than me or any one of us. We are fighting a losing battle." He paused and turned to face me directly. "Besides, they are not going to hurt her. They are going to destroy her slowly." Completely puzzled I had to ask what he meant, but before I could get the words out he added, "Think about it Carlisle. What's the best way to really destroy someone? Take away the people they love the most in life." And with that said he returned to staring out of the window apprehensively, leaving me to fully digest what he had just said.
Edward was completely right, destroying the things someone loves the most would of course devastate anyone. But as for Bella, I was doubtful as to whether she could handle knowing about the threat, let alone losing the people she loved. One thing in particular brought immediate unease crashing down on me; if Edward was right and they were to destroy the people Bella loves the most, that would indeed mean that Edward would be one of those people. Unable to grasp the concept of that ever happening to my son, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind where I tried to lock it away, but I knew that Edward was listening in. I swiftly left the room heading towards the kitchen on the hunt for something to keep me busy, cooking would do just fine and maybe Bella would be rather hungry…
A distinct sweet smell filled the air – Bella was home. Leaving the risotto to cook I went to greet Bella; familiarity would be the key to hiding the truth and keeping her safe from herself, for now anyway. Edward trapped her in his long embrace the same as he did whenever he greeted Bella, but there was a stiffness in his posture and a look of despair on his face. I knew Bella would never break the embrace, that was always Edward's job, but not today it seemed.
"Bella. I hope you are hungry, I'm cooking risotto for you." As I spoke Bella slowly released herself from Edward's tight grasp.
"Yeah. Thanks Carlisle. Charlie tried cooking me dinner but it didn't go to plan. He ended up burning the chicken to ash. Goodness knows how." Just for a moment, a smile appeared on Bella's face. The first genuine smile she had worn for the first time in months. Of course she smiled now and then, but they were only worn in an act of politeness. This one was definitely genuine because her eyes sparkled. Edward looked at me as he heard those thoughts and shook his head. Fear flooded his face. Not fear for his own life, but fear for Bella's. He knew from her smile, that one beautiful smile, that Bella could be so easily broken. A world without Edward was to her no world at all.