I'M BACK!! BE EXCITED!! Og my god, it feels SO good to have a working computer!! I'm SO sorry for the delay, but here's chapter twelve. Enjoy!
Sorry again.
Chapter 12: Oh my God
BPOV
The next few weeks were wonderful. Anthony and I did nothing but talk to each other through emails and phone calls. I talked to him so much in fact, that it was getting harder and harder to believe that he was actually still in America, much to my dismay. In fact his correspondence was so constant and reliable that I began to fear them. Over the past few weeks I started to know Anthony more and more. So much in fact, that I might actually be starting to fall in love with him, which is scary. I don't know how to explain this but it seems that all I could think about was 'him'. And whenever my phone rang or the always faithful 'You've got mail' message was displayed, my heart beat substantially increased. But this was bad, this was so bad. I couldn't be falling for Anthony because that would mean that I had stopped loving Edward, which was a very scary thought. Is it possible to love two people? I mean when Jacob was still n the picture, I loved him, but like a brother. How could I be in love with Edward and Anthony at the same time? Even though deep down in my heart I knew I had to let Edward go, I just couldn't. I would always love Edward, that I was certain, even though he didn't love me in return.
New text message from Anthony
The message blared across my phone screen as usual. Without a second thought I opened up my phone, eager to read it.
Guess what? My whole family has decided to spend the next two weeks in Italy
No way! That's awesome, you can come visit lol I texted back.
Yea, we r leaving 5 am 2morrow so we should be there round 5 pm that day.
(AN, I don't know how long it takes to get to Italy so let's just say 12 hours)
Great, I can't wait :D I'll pick you guys up from the airport.
Thx but we already hired someone. want to catch up afterwards?
Sure, but rnt you going to be tired?
Oh, it's ok. I dn't sleep much anyways lol
Ok lol, meet me at the Volturi castle. I would love to give you a tour and then maybe we could catch dinner afterwards.
Okay sounds great :D g2g, I still haven't packed 4 Italy yet lol
Go pack!! I'll see you tomorrow.
Okay, can't wait
I closed my phone, smiling and fell backwards on to my bed, the huge grin still plastered against my face, where it remained until I fell asleep that night.
I nearly jumped out of bed that morning. I don't know how I managed to sleep last night. I ran vampire speed through my morning routine. Brushing my hair and my teeth at the same time and actually letting Jane put some make-up on me. I quickly got dressed with a simple' jeans and a t-shirt,' and a little necklace. I looked at my watch. 11:00 am. Ugh! Six more hours, I groaned to myself. I collapsed on my bed, staring at the ceiling, desperately thinking of things to keep me busy. I first decided to clean my room at human speed. My room wasn't really messy so I finished pretty quickly. I looked at my watch 11:15. I sighed heavily and decided to call Brian.
"Hey Bella!" Brian's voice came from the other line after two short rings.
"Hey Brian, just calling to see how things are doing with you, haven't heard from you in a while."
"Oh well, umm I've been umm busy lately. You know how it gets," he said the last part cheerfully but I had a feeling he wasn't telling me something. I shrugged it off.
"Yeah, I know all about it trust me," I said with a laugh.
"So what are you doing today?"
"Oh, I'm meeting up with someone I met at the last ball. We're going out for dinner, probably at La Bella Italia. I'm really excited because I really like him," I said, confessing the truth to Brian. He was a good friend and I knew I felt I could trust him.
"Oh, the umm the man you were dancing with? Brown hair, blue eyes?" Brian asked.
"Yeah that's him! Do you know him?"
"Oh, um no. I just saw you dancing with him."
"Oh…so what's on the Prince of England's busy schedule for today?"
"Oh, um nothing just meeting up with someone."
"Oh, sounds cool. I won't keep you any longer. Just call me because we have to hang out sometime."
"Sure thing Bells, see ya," he said and the line went dead. I sighed and fell back onto my bed before looking at my watch. 11:30. Perfect…
EPOV
The plane ride was miserable. I was seriously debating jumping out of the window and swimming to Italy, thinking it would go faster.
"Edward don't you dare jump out, it will be longer than if you would just sit still!" Alice's thoughts came into my mind and I smiled.
My dead heart was beating a hundred miles an hour. Just the thought of being able to see my Bella again tonight made it jump out of my chest. Of course it would be as Anthony because I was too much of a coward to be with Bella and facing the possibility of her looking at me with that great look of fear frozen in her eyes. One of my biggest fears was having Bella fear me. I stared at the window, searching in vain for a distraction from my thoughts. My family and I are all staying in Italy for two weeks. The plan is for me to get Bella back at the end of that time and then show her who I really am. Something I was dreading deeply. What would her reaction be? Would she be afraid of me like last time? Would she completely reject me and wish to never see me again? I shuddered at the thought. Never the less I shoved the thought back into my head and sighed. Two weeks. Two weeks to make Bella fall in love with Anthony. Two weeks until the moment that will decide the way I live my life for the rest of eternity.
………………..
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Bella said he'd be there for two weeks. He's probably planning on reveling himself then."
"Okay, good job. We'll strike in two weeks then."
"Mhmm. Just two more weeks from now and Bella will be mine."
"And two weeks from now Edward will be mine."
"Until then."
I hung up the phone. Two more weeks Bella, two more weeks until we can be together.
………………
BPOV
My dead heart was pounding out of my chest as the silver car pulled up, the seemingly never-ending driveway. The beating accelerated the closer the car came to me until finally it stopped. The door opened and out stepped Anthony. His pale skin seemed to shine like moonlight in the dark and his ice blue eyes twinkled like stars. He smiled at me and I felt my heart skip a beat. The way it used to with Edward. God, he even smelled like Edward too. I breathed it in greedily.
"Hello Isabel," his voice flowed like water.
"Hello Anthony, it's so good to see you again," I said with a smile.
"Not as good as it is to see you," he replied sweetly, making me blush a little.
"So would you like a tour of the palace, or would you just want to go straight to dinner?"
"Oh, I completely forgot about the tour, I would love to but I made these 6:00 reservations," he answered, slapping himself on the head and beating himself up.
"Well Anthony, being Lady Isabella does have it's perks, we can go whenever you'd like," I answered with a smile.
"Really? Okay then I would love a tour," he answered with a heartbreaking crooked smile. I forced myself to look away before my mind could think.
I took him around the upper three levels of the castle, which were by far the nicest. The rooms were all lavishly decorated, rich, grand painting hung on every wall and countless works of art lined the hallways. The lower levels of the castle were strictly forbidden to visitors because that is where the Volturi headquarters are. Also a stable full of animals for out new 'diet.' People would get suspicious if they found out we kept a large amount of bears and deer in our basement. Anthony was quiet, seeming to be in deep thought at the beginning. However he quickly recovered and we started talking conversationally. Nothing personal just the usual; "How was you trip? Good, how have you been? Good" stuff. Finally, I took him the library.
"Wow, you guys certainly have a big collection. Good stuff too," he said, trailing his fingers along some of the classics.
"Thank you," I said joining him by the classics section, my favorite. "When I first came here, there were no books. Well, no books worth reading, so I took it upon myself to get all of these," I said, waving my hand around.
"You picked all these books out?" he asked, softness visible in his blue eyes. I instantly had a flashback of Edward and the way he used to look at me, all those years ago…
"Yeah," I reply weakly, avoiding his glance and wandering around to the next aisle. He pulled out a book and I could see him through the gap, he was smiling.
"Ah, Wuthering Heights…" he said with a smile, glancing down at the book. "One of my favorites," he spoke, his voice light and turned his glance back towards me.
"Really?" I asked taken back. "Good choice. I have to confess that it is one of my favorites."
He smiled one of those 'too much like Edward' smiles at me and I forced a weak smile.
"Are you hungry?" he asked suddenly.
"No not really," I confessed. "But if you are then I wouldn't mind at all going to dinner," I quickly added.
"No, I'm not hungry either, that's why I was asking you," he said with a laugh.
"Why don't we go for a walk?"
"Sure!" I answered too quickly and enthusiastically, making me blush a deep red.
He laughed and before I knew it, my hand was in his and we were heading out the door, into the night.
EPOV
Oh, it felt so good to have my Bella's hand in mine again. The smooth softness of her skin against mine felt like magic. During the tour I had memorized the layout of the palace and quickly found the exit. No matter how nice it was, I would never forget the events that took place there, and I wanted to get out as quick as possible.
"Anthony, where are we doing?" Bella asked as we stepped out into the night.
"You'll see," I replied mysteriously with a smile on my face.
I opened the door to my car for Bella and she shyly stepped in. Soon as she was in I closed the door and all but flew to my side of the car. After about two minutes Bella asked, "Seriously Anthony, where are we going?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, we should be there soon anyways, it's not very far from the palace."
"Then why are you going 80 miles an hour on a local road!" she exclaimed, looking at the speedometer.
"Oh, sorry old habit," I said flashing her one of my crooked smiles, bringing the speed down to an itching 65 mph.
"Gosh, you remind me of my ex…" she trailed off.
"Is that a good thing?" I asked in a light tone with seriousness behind my words.
"I'm really not sure…" she replied quietly and looked out the window, making me, for about the thousandth time wish I could read her mind.
Five minutes later we had arrived at our destination. Before I had gone to the Volturi to ask for my extermination, I had found this place. It was so beautiful and I remember at the time, wishing with all my heart that Bella could have seen this place. I quickly got out of the car and opened the door for Bella before she could get her seat belt undone. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the woods.
"Where are we going?" she demanded, now a little scared, which was understandable I guess. I mean she had only known me for a month and seen me only twice, and now here I was leading her out to the woods. But then again, she was a vampire and she could take care of herself, so her fear must have been coming from a distrust of me. I sadden at the idea.
"Don't worry, I just want to take you to this place I found the last time I was in Italy, it's worth the little hike trust me," I said as I stepped over a fallen tree limb. The smell and sound of water soon filled my ears and I picked up my pace. Bella easily followed along, without much tripping to my surprise. We finally came to a clearing and I took her hand and pulled her along gently. And there it was, just as I remembered it. As if made purposely, various rocks of different sizes form perfect stairs. Moss grew between them to keep them solid and together. A series of gentle, small, calm waterfalls gracefully fell down the 'stairs.' The water tumbled down, laughing the whole way, before reaching the quiet, solid looking lake. The liquid perfectly reflected the starlit sky, making the water looks as if it were ablaze by millions of tiny stars. An ancient weeping willow stood at the waters edge, it's branches touching the waters surface, making it ripple with every moment. Fireflies quietly danced around, truly making it look like something straight out of a storybook. I heard Bella gasp behind me and she quickly raced past me to the waters edge where she stopped and took everything in. I watched her the whole time. She looked even more beautiful than when she was human, if that's possible. Her eyes still had that same soft, kind look in them, she still smelled exactly the same right down to the strawberry shampoo and her face was still just as beautiful as ever. Could there ever be a creature in all of time that could rival her beauty? I wondered to myself, but quickly deemed it impossible. There would never, ever be anyone as beautiful as her. I joined her by the waters edge and merely looked on with her, stealing secret glances at her.
"It's so beautiful…"she whispered, her voice making my heart flutter inside my chest.
"That it most certainly is," I replied looking straight at her. "Just like you," I whispered shyly.
She blushed a deep red and turned away from me. "Please don't hide you face," I said quietly, going to touch her face, very shyly. The minute our skin touched, she recoiled. I could feel the hurt on my face.
"I'm…I'm sorry it's just that, it reminds me so much of Edward…" she said my name with a tear forming at her blue eyes.
"Oh, no Isabel, please don't cry, I'm so sorry," I said desperately, gently touching her shoulder.
"No, it's…it's not you fault, it's mine really, I never got over him…"she trailed off, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered.
"There's nothing to talk about. He never loved me. He said it himself then left me," she sobbed, and then I truly felt my heart disintegrate into a million different pieces, all equally hurting. I had done this. All of it, I had single handedly hurt, no, destroyed the most beautiful thing that will ever walk this planet. I looked at her again. Even if she was a vampire, she was more fragile now than ever, as if one word could break her. I very carefully wrapped my arms around her and she buried her face into my shoulder and cried. It was a bittersweet moment. Here she was, in my arms again, her face buried into me as she cried, cried from the pain I had caused her. I slowly stroked her back.
"I'm so sorry Isabel," I nearly sobbed too.
"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault…"she mumbled in my chest.
"I mean, I'm sorry this happened to you, so sorry. Edward's a complete idiot and I'm sure he's regretting it as we speak," I said, empathizing the idiot part. It was true, but idiot didn't even begin to cover what a monster I was. That was it. Monster. That was what I truly was.
"I don't think so…"she mumbled. "He said himself that I was just some… 'distraction,' he never loved me," she sobbed again.
I didn't know how to answer that without totally blowing my cover. Instinctively, I drew her in closer to me. Rubbing her back and tentatively putting my head on her shoulder. She instantly reacted too and clung herself to me more, burying her head in my chest. God, did it feel good to have her in my arms again. It just felt so right, like two misplaced puzzle pieces finally coming together. After a few minutes Bella started to quiet her sobs and pull away from me. She looked terrible, her eyes were puffy from the crying and her face was washed out, except for the unmistakable red blush on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry you had to see that…I don't know what came over me and I just…" she trailed off.
I put my finger to her soft lips to silence her but as soon as we touched, an unmistakable force overwhelmed the both of us. Time froze and nothing but Bella and I existed. The air became heavy and static swarmed around us. I was lost in her eyes. Her sweet, caring, warm eyes, that had seen so much pain because I me. I became so lost in fact that I didn't feel myself getting closer, and closer to her. Leaning my head in towards her. I finally did notice when she started to move in towards me to. Time slowed dramatically and it seemed like a lifetime until our lips finally touched.
The kiss was indescribable. It started out slow, both of us were savoring the sweet soft 'taste' of it, or at least I was. I instinctively put my hand on the side of her head, very gently. Lightly stroking her hair while doing so. She responded by putting her own fingers on my cheek, leaving blazes of fire wherever she touched. I knew she was being gentle with me because she thought I was a human. I could feel her fighting to restrain her lips. Suddenly her lips became frozen before she abruptly pulled back. She was staring at me with a bewildered expression on her face. It was petrified in fear and she was trembling. I looked into her eyes and they explained everything. They were stretched as wide as they could go. Tears were starting to form at the bottom of her eyes and wait…they were changing color. They were turning brown and it took me a moment to realize what was happening. She was turning from 'Lady Isabella' back into the human Bella I once knew. Everything right down to her exact human skin color was there, right in front of me, everything that I loved. The brown eyes bore into me, shattering my heart once again. I could see endlessly into them. I was drowning in them. Pain, and hurt, and fear, and sadness were drowning me and my heart felt as if it were going to burst.
"Oh my god…" she whispered so soft that I had to strain to hear it. Then she turned right around and ran into the woods, and away from me again.
BPOV
Holy crap. What…how, why?! Why was he here? Why was he pretending to be Anthony? Why was he with me? Why didn't I catch it before? The signs were all there, the smell, the instant spark I got when he touched me, the smoldering eyes, the trails of fire he left on my skin…
The tears down my face turned from a tiny creek to a massive river. I felt as if pieces of my heart were crumbling, leaving the shattered fragments in the forest as I ran, leaving my heart with Edward. His kiss ripped through the stitches on my pain, opening up the wound all over again. It was just like one of my dreams I used to have. Seeing him there, wanting me, loving me before having to wake up and face reality all over again. The truth was that Edward wanted to be distracted. He did not love me, nor did he want me. He just wanted…well I didn't know what he wanted, certainly not me. Maybe a reminder of the past? I knew not of his reasons. All I knew was that I had to run. I had to get away from the one person that had enough of me as to crush me, once again, into dust.
I raced into the place. Ignoring the others as I flew to my room. I pack the essentials, clothes, money, passport, and phone. I quickly jotted down a note.
Dear family,
I'm so sorry. I can't stay here. He'sfound me and I have to leave. Please don't follow me. I don't know when or if I'll be back. I need to get away from him, and put myself back together again before he breaks me into even tinier pieces than I already am. Please, don't hurt him. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Ever. That means you Felix and Demetri, and Jane. I'm sure that I will always love him and will never be able to live if he did not exist. I thank you from the bottom of my broken heart for putting up with me all these years and for helping me through some of my darkest days. I'm afraid I'm going to have to fix this myself though. Again, thank you so, so much for all that you have done for me and I don't know how I could ever repay you. You truly are my family and I sincerely hope to see you all again.
Love,
Bells
There it is!! I'm SO excited my internet is working again and that I can continue with this story!! Please, please, please review!!