A/N: Thank you all who have reviewed :) Please- keep bringing me the sunshine! **This chapter was done without my beta :( Kikithebookworm- where have you gone???**
Chapter Eight: Andare as performed by Ludovico Einaudi
"They're not after you Bella… They're after Edward. " Her eyes were full of sorrow as she spoke those words; words that cut through me like a knife. They're after Edward?
Immediately, my hands flew up to my head, pulling at my hair. I let out an ear-piercing scream as her words set in. "No!" I screamed. "No, no, no!" I fell to the floor in a heap.
The bathroom door swung open and Carmen and Eleazar walked through. "What's going on here, Tanya?" she asked. She noticed Irina and walked over to greet her, "Irina, welcome home, where have you been?"
"Italy." she replied softly. "I went to Italy."
Kate entered my room like a gust of wind, and when she saw me on the floor, she rushed over and pulled me into her arms, hushing my sobs and rocking me back and forth.
"Hush now darling, shhhh, shhhh" she said, over and over again. She looked at her sisters before finding Irina. "Irina, what did you do? Did you go to the Volturi?" she hissed to her sister. Irina nodded her head, slowly. "Irina, how could you? You know we can't stop them!" Kate looked up to Tanya and then over to Eleazar, his arm around Carmen's shoulders.
"So the Volturi are after Bella?" Carmen asked. Again, as if she couldn't speak, Irina used to her head to answer the question, shaking it no. "Then who Irina?"
I saw the look on Eleazar's face as he whispered to Carmen, "Edward."
Carmen gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth before saying, "We have to warn them, Eleazar! They must know!" Carmen rushed out of the room and came back with her cell phone. She looked at me, eyes wide. "They must know Bella! They're your family!"
I, much like Irina, could only nod my head. I wasn't ready to face Edward, but there was no way I could deal with the idea of him dying. I heard her pushing the buttons on the phone and then, "Hello, Carlisle dear, its Carmen. We have a bit of a situation here. Yes, yes, it's very serious, I'm so sorry, yes I know you are all on vacation. Well, I'm afraid we need you all here in Denali. We will tell you everything when you get here. Mhmm, yes, okay. Oh, and you must bring Edward! What do you mean you don't know where he is? Well find him!!" she was starting to shout. I stood up and took the phone from Carmen.
"Carlisle?"
"Bella, is that you? What are you doing with Carmen?" he asked.
"Carlisle, there is something you need to know. Please come to Alaska as soon as you can, we need you here, all of you." I pleaded.
"Okay Bella dear, we'll be there as soon as we can. I'll have Alice contact Edward. Can you tell us what this is about?"
"Not over the phone Carlisle, you really just need to get here. Please."
"Okay, we'll be there no later than tomorrow evening. It's good to hear your voice Bella, we've missed you. But you sound… different."
"I know, just bring everyone with you and I'll explain everything. I miss you, too. Goodbye." I hung up the phone and gave it back to Carmen.
"Don't worry honey; they'll bring Edward to us tomorrow." Carmen said, grasping my arm. "Everything will be just fine."
"Fine? How can everything be just fine? How are we supposed to fight these, these, these monsters?!" I screamed. I began to shake uncontrollably, my hands pulling at my hair. I could feel myself losing control. Kate approached me slowly.
"Bella, we will figure this out, I promise." She said finally, wrapping her arms around me. I reveled in her strong embrace, and I clung to her, trying my hardest to deal with the stabbing pain I was, yet again, feeling in my undead heart. I heard Tanya and Irina talking behind us quietly.
"Tanya, Irina, what are you talking about?" I asked them.
Tanya looked at me and then at Irina then back at me again. "I'm afraid our dear sister here left out some of the details. I was skeptical as to what she had said earlier, for we know Aro. You see, he has an ability, too. He has the ability to see the truth with just a touch."
"Well if he has the ability to see the truth, then he would know that Irina lied about me because out of control, right? But then, why are they still going after Edward?" I was so confused by all the vampire antics going on in the room.
Eleazar stepped forward, his face was calm, "Bella, Edward has been asked on multiple occasions to join the Volturi Guard and each time, he refused. I used to be a part of the guard, until I met Carmen." He looked at Carmen lovingly before continuing, "Aro was intent on having Edward and Alice apart of the guard, no matter the consequences. I think that Aro may have finally gotten fed up with the little game and has decided to end it. Although Marcus and Caius are also considered the leaders of the coven, they will follow Aro's orders."
"How do we stop them? How can we stop them from mur" I paused, struggling over the word and corrected myself, "hurting Edward?" I asked. There just had to be a way out of this.
Carmen stepped forward, "We must teach you how to fight."
Carmen was right; I would need to learn how to fight. I knew I was stronger than everyone else because of my newborn strength, but we were going to need something else to put us ahead of the Volturi. "My shield! My shield can protect everyone!" I exclaimed. I thought I had finally found a way out of this debacle.
"No, that would expense too much energy. We will all have to fight, and maybe we can enlist the help of others. I have friends who may be willing to stand beside us if necessary" Tanya said.
Then a thought popped into my head: Jacob. If I could just talk to Sam then maybe we could work out some sort of alliance between us. "We need to go to Forks."
Everyone was staring at me. "Why?" Kate asked.
"First of all, I need to be sure that my father is safe. Secondly, we need to talk to the wolves. They may be willing to help." I knew it was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt.
Eleazar and Carmen looked at each other and then at Tanya, who just shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try" she said.
"Good, then it's settled. We'll go to Forks tonight. Call Carlisle and ask him to meet us at the Cullen home" I said. I smiled to myself thinking that I had just come up with a feasible plan. I would also get to see Jacob and hopefully work something out, but more importantly, I would get to see Edward. I was nervous and scared. Edward would be furious with himself and with me. Jacob, well, I really had no idea how Jacob would react. Either way, I knew of one thing that was for sure: Everyone would soon find that that I'm a vampire.
We all dispersed our separate ways, needing to pack for the trip. I heard Carmen talking to Carlisle on the phone, telling him to meet us at their place. Again, he seemed to be asking questions, but Carmen would not answer them. He would know soon enough.
I was packing some of the clothes that Kate had given to me when I heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's Irina, may I come in please?" She called from the other side of the door.
I inhaled deeply. Honestly, she was the last person I wanted to be around, but I knew I would need her on my side of the fight. She glided into the room, finding a spot on my bed, and watched me pack. She began to say something but I cut her off.
"Irina, I understand, okay? A mate for a mate right? I'm not saying that I like it, because believe me, I don't. I am nowhere near ready to fight an ancient royal pack of vampires, but I will, for Edward and for my family."
"I'm so sorry Bella." She said, pulling her knees into her chest. "I just didn't know what to do. I loved Laurent so much and I felt like you were the reason why he's gone. When Aro said he would take care of it, I didn't ask why or how, I just nodded my head and came back home. On the way, I began to think I did the wrong thing. When I arrived here, seeing you with my sisters, I knew I did the wrong thing. You belong with us Bella. You truly are like family to us, and you've become so in such a short amount of time. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me?" She looked at me, her face serene and full of askance. Her eyes then moved to look at my duffle and then back up again. "Are those Kate's clothes?" she asked.
I exhaled, "Yes. I don't exactly have any clothes with me, and Kate lent me some of hers. Some of the stuff is a little tight, but I'm not complaining." To be honest, Kate was a lot smaller than me so a lot of the clothes were tight. The jeans tended to be a little short, and the shoes were starting to get uncomfortable, but I couldn't wear my Chucks in the snow.
Irina's smiled brightly, "I have some stuff in my closet if you like?"
I knew it wasn't much of a start, but if I was going to be a part of this family, I knew I had to start somewhere. I had hoped that we would make it through whatever the Volturi had in mind for us and we might be able to start a true friendship. "Okay Irina. I'd appreciate that." She walked off to her room and came back moments later holding a box of clothes. I rifled through them, finding some jeans and sweaters and threw then in my duffle. I pulled on my boots and stood up, and gave Irina my hand. We have to start somewhere.
Kate, Irina, and I climbed into Kate's little SUV, while the others climbed into the Tanya's Suburban. It would be several hours before we made it to Forks, no matter how fast we drove. It would have gone quicker had we flown, but we didn't want to risk anything. No matter how much control everyone felt I had, there was no way I was walking into an airport full of humans.
With Kate driving 120 miles an hour, we made good time and arrived in Forks sometime in the night. We stopped just outside town so that I could go hunting and I tracked down some deer, hungrily feeding on their blood. Eleazar mentioned that my eyes were practically golden and that made me a little bit happy. I'm almost normal, ha. We made it to the Cullen's and I pulled out my spare key. Although they rarely locked the door when they were home, I figured they would lock it while they were away. I opened the door and invited the others inside.
Other than the sound of the window panes screaming in protest as the wind pushed against them, it was eerily quiet. What was more unsettling was that the house actually looked as if someone was living there, other than the vast amount of dust that had settled. The living room still had purple streamers, now faded, hanging from the ceiling. There, in the corner, sat a piano. I was immediately drawn to it, quickly accessing the ivory keys. My fingers gracefully glided along each piece of ivory, making a dissonance of sound. I closed my eyes, letting the sounds reverberate in my head. I found myself once more falling into a memory.
Edward was sitting at the piano bench, carefully tinkering at the keys. He seemed to have been working on some form of melody. I sat down beside him, kissing his shoulder and giving him a quick smile. He responded with a deep inhale and then placed both hands on the keys.
"You inspired this one." His voice was gentle and kind.
I leaned into his marble body, placing my head on his shoulder. The melody started out slowly, but picked up pace. It was… breathtaking. Beautiful. I could hardly believe that I inspired him to play such music. I could feel how much of his heart and soul he had poured into this piece. Tears formed in my eyes and slid down my cheek. When he finished the piece, I all but fell into pieces.
"I don't deserve you." I murmured.
He chuckled, "I think you have it the other way around, love. I don't deserve you." He placed a chaste kiss in my forehead and I nestled back into his body.
I opened my eyes and found the others staring at me. Apparently, I had been humming the melody. I then realized that it was the same melody that Alice had hummed while we were in the forest. I smiled to the others, and Kate approached me, a worried look upon her face.
I took her hand and gave it a squeeze, "Just a memory Kate."
She nodded and returned the squeeze. I walked upstairs and found myself again being pulled, but this time to a door. I opened it slowly, and then peeked inside. It still smelled of him: honey and sunshine. My fingers ran along the bookshelves that still held the various volumes of his favorite literature. I stopped at one book in particular and my finger strummed its spine. Delicately, I plucked it from its place and smiled when I read the title.
"Romeo and Juliet." I said out loud. I lifted the cover, and the pages of the book flipped open, stopping at a page that looked particularly weathered. If I had to guess, I would assume that Edward had sat here with this very book, staring at this very page, going over the words in detail- tearing them apart and over analyzing. One set of words were deeply faded and without my vampire eyes sight I wouldn't have been able to read them.
"I still will ... stay with thee; And never from this palace of dim night depart again: here, here will I remain with worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here will I set up my everlasting rest, and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh." My fingers glided across the words and I was hit with a pang of anger, which was quickly subsided by a feeling of complete and utter devotion.
"Forever and always" I whispered to the empty room. Holding the book close to my breast, I collapsed on the chaise. Immediately, his scent engulfed me. As I leaned against the hardness of the chair, I could almost feel him holding me. Again, I opened the book, the pages easily flipping to that same spot. I read and re-read the words. It was clear to me what these words meant to him- that even after death we would be together. That maybe, just maybe, he really did want me.
I sat there for a moment longer, drinking in his essence and then decided it was time to check on Charlie. Opening my duffle bag, I found a dark hunter green cable knit sweater and threw it on. I ran a brush through my hair and then pulled it up into a high pony tail. I then made my way downstairs. Kate met me at the bottom of the steps.
"Are you okay, dear?" She asked kindly.
I flashed her a smile, "Better than ever."
She chuckled, "And just what brought on this change of attitude?"
I took her hands and swung her in a circle. We giggled like little girls, falling to the marble floor. As I laid there staring at the ceiling, our heads touching, I truly felt like she was my sister. I took her hand, pushing the shield around us. "He loves me." I whispered.
As if she'd known all along, she responded with, "I know." We giggled again and I pulled her up off the floor. "So where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm going to see Charlie."
She blanched, "Are you sure that's the best idea?"
I quickly assured her, "I'll stay at the forest edge, and I won't go anywhere near the house. I'll be able to smell him if he's there."
"Yes, smell his blood. You are still a newborn, Bella." She was concerned and I didn't blame her for that.
"I've resisted him once; I'll even hunt on my way over to sate my appetite. I promise, he is in no danger."
She contemplated my idea, "Well, alright." Then she added, "Would you like me to go with you. It might help, just in case."
"Kate, I promise- I'll be fine and so will he. I'll be back in an hour." I gave her a quick hug and sprinted out the door. As I darted through the trees, I picked up various scents of the animals surrounding. Moments later, I had hunted down three more deer and drank my fill. I would not put my father in danger.
My hunger sated, I made my way to the little house. I paused at the tree line, and breathed in. I smelled his scent: pine, spice, beer, and of course his blood. I felt a tiny tickling in the back of throat, but I hushed it away. My nose twitched at the other scents: garlic, tomatoes, basil, and noodles. Spaghetti; which smelled disgustingly burnt. I wanted to go inside, to make him dinner like I always did. But I knew I couldn't. It would only make matters worse. So I moved so that I could watch him through the window. I felt a bit like a peeping tom, but I reasoned it was okay since it was my father. He was sitting in front of the television, watching a baseball game, eating a bag of chips. Apparently he had given up on the spaghetti.I was startled when I saw that he wasn't alone. Billy Black was sitting next to him, in his wheel chair. I was happy at first, to see that he wasn't alone, but then I became sad all over again. I had left my father with only a note telling him goodbye. I was one hell of a daughter. I sighed loudly and began to walk back towards the Cullen's when I smelled it: wet dog. Of course, if Billy is there, Jacob had to be around somewhere. I started to panic; I wasn't ready to come face to face with Jacob yet. I was about to start running when I heard leaves rustling behind me.
"Jacob?" I whispered.
"Not exactly."
I turned to face the person, wishing more than anything that I hadn't. I immediately dropped down into crouching position and hissed, "Victoria."
A/N: Ai-ya! What a cliffhanger, eh? Hehehehe I'll make you a deal- you, as lovely wonderful readers, leave me 20 reviews and I'll update. Promise!
Also- side note..... Philosophically speaking, you tell this boy how you feel about him- a lot. That you have liked him for as long as you can honestly remember. He responds by saying that he's speechless. Then by saying, "I guess you should follow your heart. It hasn't steered you wrong yet". Do ya'll feel this a good or bad thing?
