Hey guys. This is Chapter 6-9. I was going to add most of the Forks chapters but the Jacob parts needed work cause some people were confused and the Edward parts are new because he didn't spend a lot of time with Bella. But the kiss is totally HOT. And then there will be new stuff including our mystery voice. Wow I sound like a bad commercial for a soap opera!
Thanks for reviewing. Steph's characters. Disclaimed.
Bella.
"No. No. No." Alice scanned one outfit and moved on to the next in quick succession. "Plain. Pretty. Yours!"
I marvelled at how fast she was able to flip through the racks of clothes, even with her vampire reflexes. She threw the 'yours', a white and blue halter, on top of the mountain Jasper was already carrying.
"This really isn't necessary." I said for the hundredth time today.
"You just had a bad break-up. You need a bad break-up wardrobe." She sighed exasperated. Jasper rolled his eye dramatically with the mountain shielding him from Alice's view.
"I saw that." She quipped.
"I'm fine!" Everyone was convinced I should have been in worse shape, but given mine and Edward's truce I really was fine.
Too bad he had been MIA since. "Where's Edward?" I asked Jasper, trying my best not to sound too eager. "Shouldn't he be here carrying the other half of the store?" His passive shrug and aversion from any eye contact wasn't comforting. I was about to press the matter when my phone went off.
I miss U. Cum C me. -Lucas
I instantly pressed delete. It wasn't much different from the other 8 messages I had received since leaving the house. Alice appeared at my elbow, her brow arched in question.
"Fine?" she asked incredulous.
"YES. Can't you see that?"
After a moments deliberation she replied, "Yep, but you're still getting a new wardrobe."
My groan echoed throughout the store in unison with Jasper's. We were in for a long day.
Edward.
White picket fence. Check.
Extreme coloured door on picturesque white house. Check.
Swing hanging from ancient tree in yard. Check.
Prick inside the house in need of beat down. Check.
I lifted my arm to knock on his door, careful not to accidentally reduce it to splinters. Bella's phone had rang incessantly since Halloween. I didn't have to ask her to know who it was. Lucas answered. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and his hair was in disarray. He smelled as if he hadn't bathed since the night in question.
I put on as welcoming a smile as I could manage to gain invitation.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
"Oh Thank God." He screamed. Not the reaction I had expected. I also didn't expect him to grab my arm and drag me in the house slamming the door behind us. "This way," He walked off in the direction of his room. It looked as if a bomb went off inside.
"Okay, what did she say?" Why did she have to send her brother? I wish she would have just come herself.
"Huh?" I was having trouble following. There were very few things I wanted less then to be in his room. I was only here to stop the incesent messages.
His impatience was growing on his face. "What did she tell you ...to tell me?"
Oh. The temper I was already having trouble reigning in flared. The human boy was under the impression Bella would forgive him. "I think you misunderstand my presence here." I growled. Lucas looked confused followed up with his shoulders slumping in defeat when he realized I was here of my own accord.
"She didn't send you?"
"No."
"Why won't she talk to me?" We just had a small misunderstanding. It's not like she didn't deserve it. The last part was sneered in his head. He tried to keep his face passive as his anger mounted. HE was angry with HER.
I lost it.
Before my brain caught up with my actions I had Lucas pinned against the wall. I narrowly avoided the small amount of light coming in from the window.
"Listen to me," I hissed through my teeth, increasing the pressure I had against his throat with my forearm, "because I'm only going to say this once." The feral look I wore was having the desired effect. His fear was evident by the look on his face and his incoherent internal ramblings.
"You will NOT." I pulled back and pushed him back into the wall again, "Text," I pushed again, "Call, email, let alone think..." I put the other arm through his wall an inch from his head. When I pulled my hand from the wall plaster and concrete rained down to the floor. "...about her again."
I examined my unharmed hand thinking about how easily it could have been his fragile skull. I was no better than him.
"Do you understand?" I asked solemn, still watching my hand. When he didn't answer I turned my attentions back on him. Tears stained his face. I hit the wall again, lighter this time but the window managed to crack with the stain on the wall. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" I insisted louder.
I understand. I understand. His mind whimpered though he couldn't bring himself to words.
I released him and ran my hands through my hair. Outside the door his mother was coming to investigate the foreign sounds.
"Wh...what-- are you?" The 'what' caught my attention.
"You don't want to know."
Using my vampire speed I exited through the broken window. Lucas meant it when he agreed to stay away. Now the only person I had to protect Bella from was myself.
oOoOoOo
Bella.
This Lucas thing had left me more confused than I thought. I was having identity issues with nowhere to turn. Edward was avoiding me and any question I asked the family they didn't have many answers for.
Charlie Swan, Washington
Google was the only source left to turn to. A police head shot popped up with a brief commendation to his service and an even briefer description of his demise.
Nothing turned up on my mother except for being mentioned in the same article.
hmmm... Related Links.
Missing: Isabella Marie Swan
There I was. Staring out at myself. A grainy picture of my 5 year old self and a scarily accurate projection of what I might have looked like at 13. Below that picture was another person I recognized.
"Edward." The name passed through my lips before I had the mind to stop it. The caption read:
Depiction of young kidnapper as describe by murderer in
tragic mugging gone bad. If you have any information...
I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck. Turning back to my door his amber eyes bore into mine. He looked so tortured I wanted to reach out and comfort him.
I readied myself to say something but he retreated faster than any words would come.
Edward.
"Where to now?" Emmett asked from the opposite end of the couch I was sitting. Rosalie sat on his lap playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.
Bella sat in an armchair across from them too preoccupied with her pyjama strings to pay attention.
Kidnapped. The word ran through my head again. I hadn't thought about it like that in years. Essentially I guess that's how it was.
I wonder if she saw it that way.
Alice sat by the coffee table equally as preoccupied reciting every Dr Seuss rhyme she could recall in German. The made up word made translating more difficult but she managed.
She had to have already known where we were going and judging by the lengths she was taking to keep it from me; I wasn't going to like it.
"I think its Esme turn to decide." Rose said. She was crossing her finger for Russia again. If it was Esme's turn to decide I couldn't possibly have much to worry about.
"Don't be silly," she tutted, "You all know I'm happy to be wherever you are." She was always so selfless. Carlisle laughed and kissed her lightly. I cursed her on this occasion for the same quality I was usually so thankful for.
"I guess that means it's Bella's turn to decide."
She started at the sound of her name. Up until now she mustn't have been following. "I'm sorry, what happened?"
"It's your turn to decide." Alice stated catching Bella's eyes. They stared intently at one another for a long moment before Alice nodded. Bella's heart rate sped up but she maintained a calm exterior. She to nodded, mostly to herself. It didn't matter where she chose as I was sure to follow. She glanced my direction before speaking.
"I want to go to Forks, Washington."
And my world came crashing down around me.
Bella.
The moment of truth. I looked back to Edward to gauge his reaction.
"I want to go to Forks, Washington."
He tensed. If it had of been possible I would have sworn he grew a few shades paler, I watched closely to see if he would blink or twitch but for all I could tell he may as well have been a statue.
Someone cleared their throat breaking me from my trance. Edward still didn't move.
"Washington?" Rosalie asked in disgust. "But it's so... Washington."
"It's her choice." Alice said with an air of finality. She was looking at Rose when she said it, but I figure she was defending my decision to Edward as well.
"Washington." Carlisle piped in repeating the name again as if anyone might have missed it. He put on a forced airy smile while everyone else faces were a mixture of hurt or confusion.
"Yes." I said wishing my voice sounded as sure as Alice's had a moment earlier.
"If you don't mind my asking. Why exactly?" he asked.
I looked back to Edward. He still hadn't moved and I started to worry. I was hoping if anyone, he might support my decision. It didn't look like that was the case.
"I need to see where I came from before I know where I'm going." It sounded like a riddle in my own ears but Carlisle nodded as if I had made sense. Edward's statuesque posture didn't change but pain flashed behind his eyes. Esme reached out and placed a comforting hand gingerly on my forearm. "That's beautiful, dear." She smiled. Her eyes also reflected a touch of sadness.
"We'll have the arrangement taken care of as soon as possible." The couple stood to leave. Carlisle stopped and turned back to the 6 of us that remained seated. "How about an extended Christmas vacation first? You all deserve a break."
"Definitely." Edward was quick to agree, speaking for the first time. He pressed his lips into a thin line and looked back to me. "Let's."
oOoOoOo
An uneventful New York Christmas became an uneventful New Year's as Edward insisted we stay for the dropping of the ball. We all dressed to the nines and rang in the New Year in style. The whole week my anticipation had been building.
I was going... home doesn't seem like the right description. Potential Home. It had the potential to have been my home if my life had been drastically different. Maybe it was my future.
Montana's landscape flew past my window. Edward had opted to drive across country rather then fly. On long trips like this one, we always rode together. Just me and him on the open road. It was harder for him to avoid me this way so I just sat blissfully content in the passenger seat.
He stared out the window in deep concentration but his mind didn't appear to be on the road. I couldn't help but feel guilty for my good mood when he obviously wasn't.
"Are you okay?" I asked trying to break the silence. The skin on his knuckles was pulled tight.
"I'm fine." he lied. His face gave way little to his emotions but his eyes couldn't lie. I placed a comforting hand on his knee, rubbing smooth circles with my thumb.
"Liar."
A small smile gave way to his crooked grin. We rode in companionable silence across the state line.
Welcome to the State of Washington
"We're here." I sighed leaning over the consul to rest my head on his shoulder my arm still resting down the length of his thigh.
"Oh joy." was Edward's reply.
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I read these books you guys might like or have already read... but if you like Twilight. I'm not saying their a lot alike or anything. Lots of angst, A LOT more action and some more hot vampires to drool over. ANYWAY, The Cassie Palmer Series by Karen Chance; the first book is called Touch the Dark.
Next update soon!