Disclaimer: I can't claim anything other than the original plot points and the setting...all other recognisable characters etc are property of Stephenie Meyer. I'm feeling really jealous right about now...
Part XI – You'd be surprised…at how often my kind are the source behind the horrors in…human news.
"Isabella, it's Luke from the office. You're probably still asleep, but I need you to come in to the office as soon as humanly possible. Come straight to my office when you get here—I'll explain everything then. ASAP please, Isabella."
BPOV
Talk about a rude awakening.
I felt myself go stone-still the instant I heard Luke's voice. I felt Edward lift his mouth from my hip as I was abruptly torn out of my blissful state of euphoria. I crawled off the bed, letting my fingers linger on Edward's neck, reluctant to let him go. I curled in on myself on the sofa as Luke finished his message. I stared at the answering machine as he hung up, watching the little blue light flashing, mocking me as it let me know that I had one new message.
Funny, in no sense of the word, that he would ask me to get there as soon as "humanly" possible.
I felt oddly numb. Odd, because I could still physically feel everything—the silken texture of the suede sofa I sat on, the heat of the sunlight on the back of my neck, the subtle air currents stirring the dust mites—and yet I still felt…numb. Well, then—if it's not physical, it must be emotional. An emotional numbness. Maybe because I was feeling so much, my mind couldn't decide what to feel, so it just deadpanned.
It was probably the guilt…and the panic.
I had known this was coming. I had known I would be stuck in the middle of this, merely by association, regardless of the lie fabricated to hide my real part in it. The problem was; I had never had to deal with something like this. Lying had never been my forte—neither had acting, for that matter. Yeah, sure, I've been lying and acting for the last eighty years, but this was different. The last eighty years were harmless lies that were embodied by actions rather than words and involved no one other than myself. Besides, it's not like people come up to me and ask if I'm a vampire and I say no in their faces. The last eighty years of lies was to allow myself to be as human as possible without ever giving anyone cause to think otherwise. But the lying that would be required now would need to be done in response to direct questions, questions that would be answered with scenarios based around Lanna, scenarios that weren't true.
Poor Lanna.
I stared at the machine, at the flashing blue light, but all I saw was Lanna's terrified face, the gaping wound in her neck, and the blood… Ah, the blood. Even now I could still smell it and my throat burned.
The phone started ringing again. I watched the red light flashing next to the blue one with an incoming call. After five rings, it beeped twice. I stared at it as Alice's high soprano voice rang out of the speaker, talking over the top of my recorded greeting.
"I know you're there, Bella. Pick up. We need to get your story straight before you go in."
xoXox
I walked into the office, calling on all the decades of practice to keep my face devoid of knowledge and to keep a mask of polite confusion in place. Christian stood at the desk with two tired-looking detectives, logging into the system, gathering whatever evidence they needed. He looked up at me dolefully when I stepped off the elevator. Playing my role as the confused innocent, I paused and frowned in concern as the detectives turned to look at me. The corridor leading to my office was tapped off with bright yellow crime tape, the words CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS in big, black letters blazoned against the background. I let my eyes grow wide as I looked back at Christian and then back at the crime tape. I could smell the stale blood as well as I could hear the forensics team moving around in my office. The memory of the thirst tore through my throat, making my mouth baked and desiccated. I closed my eyes as I swallowed a fresh mouthful of venom.
Christian turned to look at me as well. He grimaced when he saw me and pointed up the curving staircase. "Mr. Randall wants you to go right up." He waved a hand at the detectives then at the tapped off corridor. "He'll explain everything." His voice was rough, his eyes red-rimmed and tired.
I nodded gently as I made my way up the staircase, taking extra care to move at a human pace and to let my eyes linger, as a human would, on the crime tape and the detectives—they were still watching me.
"Who is that?" I heard one of them ask in a would-be subtle voice if I wasn't a vampire.
"Miss Masen," was Christian's simple answer.
"That's Miss Masen?" The voice was louder.
I turned, careful to keep my human façade in place, as any other person would at the sound of their name. The younger of the two detectives, probably still green out of the academy, was fully turned and staring at me. His partner elbowed him sharply in the side. "Focus, Jones."
I turned away as he did, but I could feel his eyes on me as I continued up the stairs until I was out of sight. As soon as I reached the top of the landing, Luke's secretary picked up her phone. I heard Luke's phone ring through two sets of heavy oak doors.
"Miss Masen has just arrived, sir," she muttered when he picked up.
"Send her straight through, please, Mel."
The secretary nodded, as if Luke could see her. "Yes, sir."
She smiled softly, standing as she hung up. "Just go straight in, Miss Masen. Mr. Randall is expecting you."
I returned the smile as I went. "Thankyou."
"Isabella!" Luke's usually jovial voice was tight and strained. It was only a quarter-to-eight and he had already removed his jacket, rolled his sleeves and loosened his tie. His hair was standing on end from running his hand through it so many times. It looked like his day was just ending, rather than just beginning.
"Have a seat," he offered, holding out his arms to indicate one of the chairs in front of his desk. I carefully navigated the sunlight falling through his window and moved the chair a few inches back so it wouldn't hit me as the sun continued to rise. Thankfully, the maroon carpet absorbed more light than it reflected and Alice's recommended outfit of a charcoal business suit and a grey silk, full-sleeved blouse left a very little surface area for the sun to reflect off of.
As I settled myself in the chair, Luke stood against the front of his desk in front of me, crossing his arms across his chest. He looked extremely uncomfortable while he tried to hide it. He smiled awkwardly.
"You're probably wondering why I called you so early…" He uncrossed his arms and took a pen out of his breast pocket and began to fiddle with it. "You're probably wondering about all the police cars and detectives and yellow tape, too," he muttered with a single, rueful chuckle.
I fidgeted in my seat. "What happened?" I asked softly.
He took a deep breath and looked at me. He fiddled with his pen for a moment more before putting it back in his breast pocket. He clapped his hands.
"In a few minutes those detectives down stairs are going to take you downtown to ask you some questions." Still playing my role as the confused innocent, I set my face into an expression that I hoped resembled panic and opened my mouth as if to voice that panic. I must have had it spot on, because Luke instantly reacted, holding up his hands with a contrite expression and moving as quickly as he could to sit in the chair beside me. "You're not under arrest or anything, Isabella; they just need to ask you a few questions to help them sort this all out."
I shook my head slightly, my mouth still open as if to speak. Luke rushed on.
"They wanted you to go straight downtown, but I asked them if it would be all right if you could come here first so that I could explain to you…" He hesitated, trying to watch me carefully without really meeting my eyes. "You see, Isabella, your secretary, Lanna, was…attacked last night."
I made my eyes go wide as I feigned shocked, horrified surprise, deliberately catching my breath.
"'Attacked'?" I whispered.
He nodded sympathetically. "Someone broke into your office…"
I frowned. "Broke in?" I repeated, colouring my tone with confusion. "As in, they broke the lock? But someone must've seen them come in! Why…?"
Luke shook his head, his expression a mix of confusion, disbelief and sorrow. "No, no, no. As in, they came in through your window."
I made my face go blank for a moment and blinked at him. Then I let the frown come back as I shook my head, feigning obvious disbelief. "Luke, my office is—"
"Fourteen stories high, I know." His voice was soft, strained—he was obviously having a hard time believing that anyone could come through a window that high. "But it's the only way that makes sense. The glass was all over the office floor, not down on the pavement." And I could see what else he was struggling to comprehend—the glass windows in this building, and all other modern buildings, were just as strong—if not stronger—than the glass used for Boeing planes. Not even a hammer could break through them as cleanly as Edward had.
Luke shook his head, obviously trying to dispel either thoughts he didn't want to deal with or thoughts that weren't making sense…or maybe a combination. "Isabella, I obviously can't tell you much—I just wanted to…" He stopped and tried again. "I thought you might appreciate it if I was the one to tell you rather than the…" He waved a vague hand that I understood to indicate the detectives. He shook his head, wincing. "God knows that they were crude enough when they told me."
I nodded silently, like I was in a daze.
It felt like my acting was over-the-top; that Luke must be able to tell that something was off. Didn't he realise that my every response seemed just a bit too right for someone who has no real part in the incident other than just being the person who happens to work in the room where it happened? Can't he tell how perfectly calculated everything was?
But I didn't have to act as I asked my next question. "Is she…? I mean, she's…? She's all right, isn't she? Lanna?"
I waited tensely for his answer, watching him hesitate. Alice hadn't said anything about Lanna, being too busy making sure I knew how to act my part and that I had an answer for any question they might throw at me. Edward hadn't been able to contact Carlisle before we left and Carlisle hadn't contacted Esme by then either. So I had no idea if she was still alive. I was hoping that the silence from Carlisle meant that he was busy trying to save her life.
Not that it would have been such a desperate race if I'd been stronger.
I flinched at the thought, hating myself for letting my desires take place before the needs of someone else.
Luke saw me and thought I was reacting to his silence.
"She's still alive," he said. "It's just…she's critically unstable, even with the life support." He looked away and rubbed his hand over his face with a heavy sigh and my sympathy for him flared. It wasn't fair that he would have to go through this. Luke was a good person—ruthless when it came down to business, but not to the point where he forgot about his employees. He was the kind of boss that came in of a morning and greeted everyone by name, that stopped and had an idle chat occasionally—he knew when to be a friend and when to be the boss.
Lanna hadn't deserved what had happened to her either. She shouldn't be lying in a hospital bed, unconscious and wired up to monitors.
Victoria had no reason to hurt innocents, damn her. It was Edward she wanted to hurt and she had already decided that killing me would be the most efficient way to do that. Why go after a helpless human? She should have just gone straight after me. Edward thinks she's been watching me for some time, and if that were true, then she would have had plenty of chances to have a go at me. While I may have doubted Edward's feelings for me before, she would have had to of known that vampires don't fall in and out of love—that my death would've affected Edward, no matter where he was.
I turned my face away so that Luke wouldn't be able to see my face if he looked back at me. I was furious and I knew that anger would be obvious on my face—it was too potent to be contained right now. Hopefully he'll think it's because I'm trying hide tears or something.
I felt the heat of his hand hovering above my arm, but before he could physically touch me, his intercom buzzed and Mel's voice informed him of the detectives waiting outside.
He told her we would be out in a moment before turning to me. "Just take a minute, Isabella. I know it's a…nasty shock." His eyebrow rose as he spoke. Clearly he didn't think 'nasty' was the appropriate word, but he used it anyway. "You don't need to worry, because you've done nothing wrong. They're just looking for a lead."
I nodded, keeping my eyes wide with disbelief. I sat for a moment, trying to make it look like I really was taking some time to try and calm myself down and accept what I'd been told. Really, I was going over my story in my head. Alice had seen some of the generic questions they would ask me but some answers opened up opportunities for a million other questions that they could ask and she didn't have time to go through them all.
I began to panic again at the thought. I closed my eyes and thought back to this morning after I got off the phone to Alice. Edward had wrapped me up in his arms and whispered in my ear.
"It'll be fine, Bella. You're not a suspect. Just do as Alice said and you'll be fine."
I had shaken my head, pressing it into his shoulder. "Humans can do grotesque things to each other, Edward, but this is too malevolent. There's no way anyone could think…"
"Actually, Bella," he had interrupted, "you'd be surprised at how often our kind is the source behind the horrors in the human news." His voice went icy. "And you'd be surprised by how many humans are as capable of doing that as Victoria is—even without her strength. All you have to do is look through history—the evidence is there." I had shuddered because I knew he was right. He had squeezed me tight in his arms, then. "Relax, love. There's nothing there that ties you to the scene, Alice made sure of it."
Alice made sure of it…and Alice was meticulous about details.
I opened my eyes and gave Luke a tiny smile as he watched me closely. I stood up slowly, carefully, as if I was still in shock. "Thankyou," I said, straining my voice slightly. "I do appreciate it."
He nodded as he got up to walk me to the door. "You're welcome, Isabella, although I do wish I hadn't had to." He shook his head. "How someone could do that to Lanna… She's such a bright young woman. I hope they catch the bastard," he muttered darkly.
A fresh wave of guilt flooded me—Victoria may have started to kill Lanna, but I had been the one that had almost finished what she hadn't. If it weren't for Edward, Lanna would be dead.
xoXox
I went to the station with the detectives in their black, unmarked Dodge. They had given me the option to drive or be driven because, after all, I wasn't under arrest. Alice had told me they'd offer and it would work in my favour if I went with them rather than driving myself. I had the whole young, innocent and naive thing going, helped along by my youthful appearance. It was obvious from the way that the detectives, who had introduced themselves as Detective Hogan and Detective Jones, kept glancing at me that they thought that my apparent youth was a sure fire indication that I was fragile. It annoyed me to have to play along with it and I was only going to tolerate it until the "shock" wore off.
As they led me to one of the interrogation rooms, I saw a tall, blonde haired figure standing at the reception desk through the glass wall of the waiting lounge.
"Carlisle," I breathed, too quietly for the detectives to hear.
He put his pen down and smiled at the uniformed officer behind the desk as he handed him a sheet of paper with a quiet thankyou. He turned casually, then, his golden eyes sweeping the room before meeting mine through the glass. He smiled gently, his lips curving slightly at the corner.
I hadn't known that Carlisle would be here. I didn't understand why he was here. I knew he would've been first on the scene, according to the humans, but I didn't understand why he had to come down to police headquarters. Surely they would have taken his statement at the hospital?
"Just in here, Miss Masen."
Detective Jones, or Rookie as Detective Hogan was fond of calling him, had been hovering as close to my elbow as his subconscious allowed him. Now he darted forward and held the door open for me. His heart rate increased as I walked past him, doting him with a quiet thankyou. He didn't wait for Hogan to enter but jumped forward to pull out a chair for me. I suppressed a sigh. I was grateful I didn't have Edward's ability to hear thoughts—Jones' behaviour alone was enough to have me grinding my teeth.
I sat down and waited for them to settle themselves. I was tired of the helpless act.
"How can I help?" I asked softly.
Hogan lent forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on the tabletop. "We want you to understand, Miss Masen, that you're not under arrest."
"I understand," I muttered, trying not to let my annoyance show. "I want to know what I can do to help put Lanna's attacker behind bars." Like they stood a chance. Bars would never hold any vampire and Victoria would make a meal of them before they even realised what had happened.
Hogan opened a manila folder with the Illinois State Police shield printed on the front as he said, "Well, first we just need to ask you a few questions to clear you as a suspect…"
"At the moment, anyone linked to that office is a suspect," Jones informed me, an apologetic look on his face.
Hogan gave Jones a reproachful glance and continued. "So, if you could tell us where you were last night, Miss Masen? One of your clients arrived on the scene, around seven, saying she had an appointment to meet you to work on a manuscript. A Mrs Sovent." He squinted as he read from a report in the folder. I read every word upside down. He looked up at me. "But you never showed up."
I shook my head, frowning. "No. I was…" I paused and took a deep breath for theatrical purposes before starting again. "Lanna"—I made myself grimace delicately—"was supposed to cancel that meeting for me." My voice was soft and pained. "I was with my partner. He's just returned from an extended trip over seas." Jones straightened and sat back in his chair with an annoyed sigh that only I heard at the word 'partner'.
"So you wanted to cancel your appointment to spend the evening with him?"
I twisted my mouth unhappily. "I know, it's not good work ethic, but…it felt like I hadn't seen him for years." That was true at least. "I don't usually put pleasure before business, Detective Hogan, but I just…I needed to see him."
"Your other secretary…Christian…said that you had visitors earlier that day. He said it was rather unusual that you have unscheduled visitors."
I nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably and looking down at my hands. "That's true." I hesitated, and then continued softly, "I'm not a very social person, Detective Hogan. It's not that I don't enjoy company, I just…don't always click with other people outside of the work sphere."
Jones raised an eyebrow. "Everyone at your office seems to speak very highly of you, Miss Masen."
I looked him in the eye. His muscles went taunt as he tried not to flinch. His attitude was annoying me and I wasn't making an effort not to scare him. Alice would berate me for it when I got home. "At the office, Detective Jones. Part of the work sphere."
Blood flooded his cheeks and he sat back, blinking.
My cell phone beeped quietly at me from my handbag sitting demurely on the floor. I reached for it automatically then paused, looking at the two detectives sitting opposite me. "Do you…?"
"Go ahead," Hogan allowed.
I pulled out my phone and slid it open. The message from was from Edward.
Love, are you all right? I'm picking up Carlisle from police headquarters and he told me something happened at the office last night. He said you've been brought in for questioning? I'm not sure I understand, but we're going to wait inside until you're done. I love you.
He was here, across the hall. I snapped the phone shut and turned most of my attention back to the detectives in front of me. Obviously, something was going to happen that he wanted to be nearby for. His message was full of information he had already been aware of and read like a panicked, confused spouse—a cover, probably in case the detectives happened to see it. He was setting down some groundwork for something.
Hogan was jotting down some notes on the legal pad at his elbow—a surmised version of what I had just told him. I set my cell on the table in front of me.
"Who were your visitors, Miss Masen?"
"My partner and his sister."
"And what was the purpose of the visit? Is this when you decided to cancel your meeting with Mrs Sovent?"
I shook my head. "No. Um…actually, it was when I made the appointment. They came to surprise me. I would've told them not to if I'd known."
He looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. His eyes darted away from mine, focusing somewhere just below my forehead but I saw the question.
"Because we had the CSO in," I explained. "The day was busy enough."
Hogan nodded, looking back down at his legal pad. A light sheen of sweat beaded his brow. I glanced at Jones and he had his arms crossed tightly across his chest, determinedly looking over my shoulder. I obviously needed to make more of an effort to make them feel more comfortable. "How long has your partner been back?"
I modulated my tone slightly, hoping the difference wouldn't be too noticeable. "Only a few days. I'd only spoken to him once before he came to the office and that was over the phone. I hadn't seen him until yesterday." Both of them relaxed visibly, but not completely.
"So when did you decide to cancel your appointment with Mrs Sovent, Miss Masen?"
I frowned, like I was thinking about it. "When my partner called, and asked if I would be able to clear my schedule for the evening." I shook my head. "Like I said, Detective, it's not something I would usually do but it felt like I hadn't seen him in…eons and when he had shown up in my office earlier, it just made it worse." I let my voice drift off, like I was embarrassed to admit it…which I was. Seeing him in my office yesterday had almost driven me insane…let alone when he had started kissing me.
Hogan nodded again while Jones huffed silently.
"What's your partner's name?"
"Edward. Edward Cullen."
"Cullen?" Hogan flicked through the three sheets of paper in the file. "Is he related to Dr. Carlisle Cullen?"
I nodded. "Yes. Dr. Cullen is his father."
Hogan nodded. "Could we have some contact details for your partner? We just need him to verify your statement."
So that's what the groundwork was for. I picked up my cell and brandished it slightly, indicating the message I'd just read. "Um…actually, Detective Hogan, he's out in the waiting room with Carlisle. They're waiting for me."
Hogan's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Excellent. Go out and bring him in, would you Rookie? We'll get two birds with one stone."
Jones stood with a subtle frown, obviously unhappy with his assignment. "What does he look like?"
"Bronze hair, pale…" I don't think giving my own personal assessment of Edward's appearance would go down too well with him, although the idea was tempting. "He'll be with Dr. Cullen. You won't miss them."
He left and Hogan cleared his throat, reading through the report.
"Do you remember the last call you made on your office phone, Miss Masen?"
I frowned as if the question didn't make sense. And it wouldn't if I was less involved. But Alice had said that this was the question they would ask to validate Carlisle's story for being first on the scene—he had received a call at home around six thirty and the ID on the phone was my private line from the office, a number I had already given Edward, who had already programmed it into their phone. When he answered, he had heard the sound of someone in trouble asking for help and then screams of pain. Thinking it was me, he had left straight away, calling nine-one-one as he went. If my last call was to the Cullen residence, then Lanna might have reached for the phone on my desk and hit redial in an effort to get help—a perfectly plausible scenario.
Of course, in reality, the phone call around six thirty had actually been me and it had actually been Edward that had answered. But for our scenario to work, I had to have called earlier in the day, before I 'went home'. Alice had said that she had gotten Jasper to hack into the phone company's records and alter them so that it would appear that I had in fact called earlier in the day.
"Yes. Edward rang while I was in a meeting and left a message asking me to call him back at his parent's place."
"And you made that call on your office phone?"
"Yes."
He nodded, looking back down at the report. "Okay." He was uncomfortable with me, reluctant to meet my eyes. He hadn't made eye contact for any longer than three seconds yet, all morning. It had to be hard to tell if you were being lied to if you couldn't make eye contact. I guess it made my job easier though, because I hadn't made any calls on that phone between speaking to Mrs Sovent while Edward had been sitting there watching me and calling him at home as I tried to distract myself from my raging thirst.
I heard the loud drumbeat of Jones' footsteps, followed by Edward's softer ones coming down the hall to the room. When Jones came in, he only held the door long enough not to be considered rude, until Edward put out his hand to hold it open as he followed the detective through.
I watched they way his eyebrows came together in a frown as he took in the scene, the concern that emanated from him as he hurried over slowly, sitting down next to me and taking my hand. He was so much better at this acting thing then I was.
"Are you all right?" he asked, and I could tell that his concern was genuine—he knew I didn't like to lie. "What's going on?"
"I'm fine," I said softly, clasping my free hand over our entwined ones. I knew what part I had to play here. "What did Carlisle tell you?"
Edward's eyes darted between me and the detectives, full of confusion. I had to hand it to him—he really was a brilliant actor. "He said that someone was attacked in your office last night and that you'd been brought it for questioning." He shook his head. "It's absurd. He said you weren't a suspect, but…"
Hogan spoke up and we turned simultaneously to look at him. The way he shuddered didn't go unnoticed by either of us. If he'd been uncomfortable before with just one vampire looking at him, it had nothing on how he felt now with two of us doing it. Jones had taken up a standing position at the wall behind Hogan, arms crossed over his chest. I wasn't sure if it was out of annoyance or subconscious self-preservation.
"As soon as you can verify Miss Masen's alibi, Mr Cullen, she'll be clear." His brown-hazel eyes were focused on Edward's eyebrows rather than his eyes. I was getting the faint impression that he wanted to be over with this as soon as possible. "Can you tell us where she was last night, Mr. Cullen?"
"Of course. She was with me." Like I would be anywhere else.
"And where was that, exactly?"
Edward's broad shoulders lifted a little in a shrug. "At her house. I just got back from overseas and since I'm living with my parents until I get settled into my new place, we opted to spend the night at hers." The partial truth just rolled of his tongue like nothing at all.
"You didn't take her out for dinner?"
Well, didn't that just sound like a personal jab at Edward's expense. I watched the hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. He hadn't missed it either. His eyes glittered in amusement as he glanced at me. "No," he lied. It's not like I have our kind of cuisine lying around the house. "Bella's never been one for the fancy restaurants." At that, I couldn't help my small smile. That was true enough.
"When did you get back from overseas?"
"On Monday."
"And yesterday was the first day you'd seen each other?"
"Yes."
"Did you know she had business appointments for the evening?"
I wondered if I should be offended that he didn't at least ask me to leave the room while he questioned my story. Wasn't this sort of thing supposed to be done individually, where there was no chance for communication between the two that were being questioned? I watched him as he continued scribbling away on his notepad, noticing the increasing perspiration building on his brow. He was just in a rush to get this over with.
Again, Edward shrugged, but this time his expression was a bit sheepish. It was an adorable expression on him…maybe because I saw it so rarely.
"I did know she had one appointment, because I was there when she arranged it. But I called her anyway and asked her if she could cancel it for me." He looked at me suddenly, passion blazing in his eyes. "And I'm glad you did." He looked back at the detectives. "I'm sorry for what happened to Lanna—she was nice girl. But if Bella had stayed, who's to say it wouldn't have been her?" He looked back at me. "Carlisle told me he thought it was you, when the phone rang. He hadn't known that you'd already left and he was terrified."
Hogan nodded again (if I didn't know that his sense of self-preservation was high, I would have to wonder if that was all he could do) while Jones glared unhappily at mine and Edward's entwined hands.
"Miss Masen, what time did you leave the building?"
I frowned as I thought for a moment. Alice had already told me that Victoria had taken out the security cameras. When I left the building shortly after five, to call Edward about the phone calls inquiring about me, the cameras were still on. When I came back about an hour later, they were off line—no one had seen me re-enter the building.
"I think it was about a quarter past five."
"And your secretary, Mrs Bells, was still there?"
I nodded. "Yes." I flinched; Lanna's mutilated form slumped under my window flashing in front of my eyes. Edward untangled his hand from mine and replaced it with his other one as he wrapped it comfortingly around the back of my neck, under my hair. "As I left I asked her…" I shook my head. "I asked her if she'd been able to contact Mrs Sovent. She said she hadn't but she had some other things she needed to finish up before she left so she'd keep trying. She told me not to worry and to just go and have fun." I turned to Edward. "I wish she'd just left."
And I did. I had told her that there was no need for her to stay, but she was too sweet for her own good. Her absolute belief that the stuff-up had been her fault had kept her from going home like she should've and look what had happened. I think I finally understood, to some small degree, the agony Edward had gone through while I was human. Yet, I felt even worse now, because, not only I had been the one to almost finish killing her, I was now putting all these words in her mouth that she had never said. I felt horrible for relying on the fact that, if she dies, she won't be able to dispute anything we've said she said or did, or, if she does survive, that the trauma of the attack might negate anything she might say.
I felt absolutely wretched and Edward could sense that. He turned to the detectives. "Is there anything else, Detective?"
Hogan shook his head. "I think we're all done for today. Thankyou for speaking with us Miss Masen, Mr. Cullen."
"Will you let us know if anything changes?" I asked softly as we stood. "If you need any more answers?"
Hogan nodded, standing as well. "Of course."
Edward kept a hand on the small of my back as he guided me out the door. I heaved a heavy sigh as we left, grateful for the lies to be over with for the time being. The detectives stayed in the room. I heard Jones' low whistle through the sound proof walls.
"What was that?"
Sorry for the wait, loves :C I was being a good girl and getting uni assignments done and working on getting the next couple of chapters written as well so that updates won't be anywhere near as long in coming. I'm hoping for one a week from now on...HOPING--I'm not making promises. I've also been caught up in a new story line for one of our favourite couples (yes, I do mean Bella and Edward). Hopefully that'll be up in the next week or so as well...
As usual, thankyou to everyone for the beautiful reviews...some of them are just so profound that they blow me away! It's incredible. Thankyou for all the alerts and favourites, as well XD And to people adding the story to communities!
Oh! And I almost forgot! 'It's Better When I Bleed For You' won another award for BEST OVERALL STORY over at the Twilight Fanfiction Awards! Thankyou so much to everyone who voted! There's a link on my profile to see the little banner I got :)
Much love!
xoxoxo
