All characters except for Annabelle Causley and a few others belong to Stephenie Meyer…and, of course, the writer is not receiving any profit for this story whatsoever.

This is an AU out of Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. This story starts after Eclipse, two weeks before Edward and Bella's wedding.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Annabelle stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, arms wrapped around herself. She could still feel his touch, the smoothness of his skin, smell the rich scent of his blood.

The burn at the back of her throat had been torture, being so close to him, but the pleasure of being touched had consumed her mind, her body, her very soul that she hadn't felt the burning thirst.

Breathing in his scent, which seemed to permeate her very skin, Annabelle relived the night before in her mind, flashing slowly through every picture, pausing at her favorite ones…their first kiss…his hands running down her body…the weight of him covering her…the warm silkiness of his tongue against her skin…

A knock interrupted her revere. Opening her eyes, she stared at the door, wrapping her arms tighter around herself as she called out permission to enter, knowing instinctively it was Edward.

Entering the room, Edward wrinkled his nose at the smell as he leaned against the door, shutting it with a soft click. He stared at Annabelle, quickly assessing her from head to toe.

Her hair was tangled, mud and leaves in various places. The t-shirt and jeans she had been wearing were dirty. She had streaks of dirt over her face and arms, which were still wrapped around herself, as if she was trying to hold on tight to something. Edward shook his head, his face a mask of barely contained disgust. Not only was Annabelle an absolute mess but she smelled like wet dog.

"What did you do," Edward muttered darkly, "Wrestle a werewolf?"

Annabelle smiled as she closed her eyes again. She had kept herself invisible until Edward entered the room, but now, she didn't make an effort as she remembered Jacob's kiss…his arms around her…her body melting into his…

"Annabelle, stop!" Edward gawked at her, a mixture of shock and disgust evident on his face, "Tell me you and the mutt didn't actually…you know."

Annabelle grinned at him, her full lips stretching over her white teeth, "I don't know what you mean by 'you know'?"

"Yes you do," Edward took a breath through his teeth, "And could you please shower and air out your room?"

"If you don't like it, you can just leave," Annabelle shrugged, her arms wrapping tighter around herself, sadness seeping in as the last vestiges of warmth bled out, leaving behind the pleasant humming of a satisfied body.

"If you don't want everyone in the house to find out, then you better do as I say," Edward felt slightly irritated at the turn the conversation was taking. He had come in hopes of having a good talk with his best friend, yet here they were, practically snarling at each other.

Annabelle sighed heavily, her arms falling to her sides as she gave Edward her full attention, "What did you want Edward?"

Edward gripped the doorknob, unable to handle the smell anymore, "Emmett wanted to take you out driving today."

"I said I'll learn how to drive when I'm ready," Annabelle glowered at him, placing her hands on her hips.

"That's what I told him," Edward grinned at her over his shoulder as he stepped out of the room, "Except for the ready part…I told him you were too much of a coward to actually do it."

"Tell him I'll meet him downstairs," Annabelle snapped without thinking then locked her jaw in irritation at how easily Edward had manipulated her.

Edward tossed out a last remark before closing the door, "Make sure you open the window before you get into the shower. Your room smells like a damn dog kennel."

Edward closed the door on Annabelle's snarl, a pleased smile on his face. Getting her to agree to the driving lesson had been easy…just like when they were kids. His smile turned sour as he looked at the door, groaning at the thoughts going through Annabelle's head.

"Should have known," he muttered darkly as he walked down the hall at human speed, knowing full well she could hear him, "She does have the makings of a succubus. Going to have to introduce her to the Denali sisters, even though they have better taste than her…he's a dog. Honestly Annabelle!"

Edward rushed down the staircase towards the living room where he found Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Bella. Rosalie was in the garage, Carlisle at the hospital and Esme was in the office, working on blueprints.

Bella was sitting on the couch next to Emmett, playing a video game with Jasper across the room, calling out advice. Edward knew Emmett had to have done a lot of begging and whining for Bella to have agreed to play with him. Emmett was a poor winner and a sore loser, and it got tiring when dealing with his antics.

Alice looked up from the wedding photo album she was still working on, "Is she going?"

"Yes," Edward sat at the piano, his fingers picking out a scale, "Told you I could get her out of the house."

"She's doing it," Emmett looked away from the television screen, a pleased smile on his face.

"Yeah," Edward shrugged as he moved his fingers over the keys, playing a familiar melody as he looked at Bella out of the corner of his eye, a small smile on his lips when she looked his way, "She's just cleaning up."

"Cleaning up," Alice looked up from the family wedding photo on her hand, "Why?"

"She's a mess," Edward muttered, moving away from the piano to sit next to Bella, "A smelly, disgusting mess. She went out last night and came back covered in dirt and leaves."

"Uh," Alice put the photo album aside, "I can't see her…this is driving me crazy. I'm going up to talk to her."

"Alice, wait," Edward sighed as he turned back to the television screen. She had been up the stairs before he even finished saying her name. Oh well, he shrugged as he wrapped an arm around Bella's shoulders, Annabelle will have to figure it out on her own.


Annabelle opened her eyes at the soft knock on the bathroom door. She knew it wasn't Edward –he wouldn't dare request to enter the bathroom when she was in the tub –so she gave permission to enter.

She watched silently as Alice closed the door behind her and sat on the bench across the large bathroom. She couldn't imagine what would prompt Alice to seek her out while she was soaking in hot water, but she decided to lay her head back and wait for her to speak up.

"I was wondering if I could ask a question."

Annabelle turned to look at her with half-closed eyes, a relaxed smile on her face, "You can ask me questions without having to wonder about it."

Alice laughed as she lifted her legs to her chest, resting her feet at the edge of the bench.

"I can't see you in my visions anymore," she cocked her head to the side, nibbling on her bottom lip, "It's quite disconcerting. It started the night of the wedding reception. At first, I thought it was because of your disappearing trick but now…well, even when you're in front of me, I can't see your future."

"Uh," Annabelle shrugged as she closed her eyes, "I'm sorry that bothers you. I have no idea why, though."

"It bothers me because I can't tell if there's any danger or trouble coming your way," Alice grimaced at Annabelle's responding chuckle.

"That's not what I meant. I meant I don't know why you can't see my future," Annabelle grinned at her as she reached up to close the curtain. It was time to get out since the water had turned cold.

She quickly rinsed off before reaching for her golden plush bathrobe, hearing Alice close the bathroom door behind her as she exited. Annabelle stepped out of the bathroom, tightening her sash and stopped, her eyes on Alice.

Alice stood in the middle of Annabelle's room, her eyebrows lowered and her small nose wrinkled as she locked eyes with Annabelle.

"Why does it smell like dog in here,"Alice grimaced as the strong smell assaulted her senses, "Please tell me you did not get mixed up with the werewolves."

"I won't," Annabelle shrugged as she turned to enter the walk-in closet next to the bathroom.

Alice groaned as she followed Annabelle, "It all makes sense now! One of the werewolves that came to the reception caught your attention –although I don't know why –and once you decided to go after him, your entire future got lost, just like theirs."

"What do you mean lost?" Annabelle looked over her shoulder at Alice as she grabbed a blue cashmere sweater and a pair of black jeans.

"Because they're not completely human, they loose their future. It doesn't mean they don't have a future, it's just that they are so ruled by emotions and their phasing that any decisions that may shape their future are no longer consciously made –not when their decisions are ruled by their emotions."

Annabelle turned to stare at Alice, her arched eyebrows lowered in confusion, "So you can't see their future even though they are live human beings just because they change shape…but you can see the future of the living dead…who, technically, shouldn't even have a future?"

Alice nodded her head, finally comprehending the thing that made Annabelle the deep sorrowful being that seemed to plague Jasper with her pain and loneliness. If Rosalie weren't so damn stubborn, they'd probably be good friends based on this one commonality.

She watched as Annabelle dressed in vampire speed, walking out of the closet barefoot as she quickly French braided her waist length black hair.

"So how does my future, which I shouldn't have in the first place, get lost if I make the choice to get involved with the werewolves?"

Alice walked towards the windows to stand below the open window. The smell wasn't as strong as it had been earlier but it still was strong enough to be a bother, "I think it has to do with the fact that from then on, your future depends on their emotions…as long as you continue to decide to cross paths with them, you continue to place your future in their hands."

"My future in the hands of a werewolf," Annabelle stared off into space, her face expressing a mixture of wonder and curiosity that Alice couldn't understand, "So basically, as long as one of the werewolves is involved, any decision that I make,you are completely unaware of the outcome?"

"Technically," Alice nibbled her lip, not sure she would like Annabelle's reason behind her question, "Yes."

Annabelle sat at the edge of her desk chair, resting her forearms on her knees. If she did it, if she was actually brave enough to find a way to be destroyed, the Cullens would never know…as long as she kept her thoughts hidden from Edward. If she told them all she was moving on, going out on her own, they'll never know what really happened. For the first time, since she opened her eyes onto the immortal world, she had power over her own destiny. It was an intoxicating feeling.

"You should wear your black boots," Alice went into the closet and came back out with the ankle boots she was referring to, "Emmett's planning on coming up for you as soon as he beats Edward…which won't happen, so that may take a while."

Annabelle took the boots and pulled them on, her mind still on the possibilities of escaping the hell that was immortal life. Now all she had to do was get the courage to find a way to get the werewolves involved…but not until she felt she was done with Jacob…

"Out of curiosity," Alice walked towards the door, "Which unwilling werewolf are you after?"

Annabelle didn't think, otherwise she would have kept it to herself, "Jacob Black."

"What?" Alice turned so fast she was a blur, a look of shock on her face. Annabelle stood still, knowing Alice's reaction was for the same reason as Edward's.

"Look," Annabelle walked past her to the door, "Edward already warned me. I'm not going to hurt Jacob so there's no need for you to give me any kind of speech."

Alice snapped her jaw shut and followed Annabelle out the room and down the stairs.

"Hey," Emmett exclaimed as he looked up to see Annabelle enter the living room, "Ready for your driving lesson?"

"Might as well get it done," Annabelle muttered darkly, walking over to sit on the piano bench, "As soon as you beat Edward."

"Like that's going to happen," Jasper muttered as he flipped through a book.

"Ah," Edward dropped the control, "What do you know? Emmett won."

"In your face," Emmett jumped up from the couch, "And the only reason I am letting you get by at letting me win is because I am looking forward to seeing Annabelle drive my Jeep."

"You're taking the Jeep," Alice moved to stand next to Jasper, laying a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to smile at her.

"Yeah," Emmett moved across the living room towards the front door, "It's the one vehicle that won't look bad with dents and scratches."

Jasper stood up, kissing Alice's cheek before following Emmett, stopping to let Annabelle go first, "We'll be back as soon as Annabelle becomes a good driver. You coming, Edward?"

"No," Edward pulled Bella into his arms, tucking her into his side, "I'm staying with Bella and just…hang out."

Emmett and Jasper smirked as they witnessed Bella's flushed face, "Hang out…right."

Annabelle squinted at Edward, knowing there was more to the driving lesson. Edward wanted her out of the house but she didn't know why. This would be an interesting thing to puzzle over…when she wasn't carving a path of destruction to wherever the boys were taking her.