Chapter Four – Not Alone

Edward

"Hayley," Bella cried out, turning fully to face the blackboard. The look on her face was priceless. It exuded embarrassment, innocence, and anger. I couldn't help my laughter.

Laughing was something I hadn't done in a long time. I was sure that was Hayley's doing. She'd always try to make me laugh at the most inappropriate times. She hated to see me bored or upset. God, I missed her.

I sighed heavily as the realization that my late daughter was whispering secrets in my ear hit me hard. A sob escaped me as my hand tugged my hair, and my mind reeled.

Bella's small cry pulled me from the downward spiral. My gaze snapped to her as she looked between me, and the board. She sighed and shook her head, looking back at me. "What is it?" I asked.

I had so many questions, all of them at the tip of my tongue. Yet, I had little desire to ask them at that moment.

"The connection you share with Hayley is extraordinary," she said softly, but she didn't elaborate further.

"Tell me," I demanded, slicing through the silence. She had already bombarded me with too much information, enough to overwhelm. The least she could do was not leave me hanging.

"Calm down," Bella said heatedly. "I'm trying to find the right words to explain." She put her hands on her hips, a fire lit behind her eyes as her hair whipped around her. She huffed and rolled her eyes, turning to look behind her. "That's not funny, Hayley."

I chuckled under my breath. My daughter was playing with Bella's hair somehow, trying to lighten the tension. Something she did in life. "I'm sorry, Bella," I said, ashamed, considering my little girl was watching, a sobering thought.

"Look, Edward," Bella said, facing me again. "The connection is so strong that your emotions are tied to how she projects herself."

"What are you saying?" I asked. I was thoroughly confused as Bella's face softened. "That if I'm sad, she looks like how you described?"

"Yes," she answered. "And when you were seeking comfort, laughing just now, she looked… radiant."

I was horrified at the news. For almost three years, my little girl had watched me suffer. All the nights I'd slept in her bed in a drunken stupor. The countless nights I'd begged to hear her sweet voice one more time.

Taking note of the look on my face, Bella placed her hands on my cheeks. "Edward, honey, you need to breathe," she said, her voice shaking. Her vanilla mint breath fanned my face, and my eyes fluttered closed. Her touch was soothing and warm. "Breathe."

I took a deep breath, listening as Bella instructed to keep going. With my eyes clenched shut, I allowed myself to luxuriate in her voice, touch, and sweet breath. After a few more, I felt a warmth wash over me. I felt lighter and freer than before. I took another breath and was able to hear Bella's voice along with Hayley's haunting whisper. It was as if someone had changed the channel on a radio.

"-ella, is my daddy okay?" I heard the soft echo of my daughter's voice.

"I'm fine," I whispered, a little afraid to talk louder.

"Edward, it's late. Maybe we should talk –" Bella started.

Panic struck me again. "Please, I can't." I was unsure of what I was trying to say, but I knew I couldn't go home, not alone.

"You don't want to go home alone, do you?" Bella asked. Concern softened her features.

I shook my head, unable to speak. Bella's eyes darted over my shoulder. "It's not you, Sweetie."

"No, it's not you, Hayley," I said softly, looking over my shoulder. "All this is too much."

Bella's fingers touched my cheek and turned me to face her. "She's worried about what you'll do when you get home," she said, her eyes were warm and inviting.

"I'm so sorry, Hayley," I said firmly, "That will never happen again."

"Come on," Bella said after her hands left my face. She started to gather my belongings.

I jumped to my feet to help her. "Where are we going?"

"Well, your daughter is as stubborn as you are," she said, handing me my briefcase. "She's threatened to never let me sleep unless I take you home."

I grimaced. "I wouldn't want to take more of your time."

"Don't worry. Now, you're from Aurora?"

"Yes," I answered as I took my laptop from a table.

"Same here," Bella said with a smile, and then she quickly scowled. "Hayley, you need to stop singing that."

K-I-S-S-I-N-G. The singsong voice of my daughter reached my ears.

"Hayley," I said warily. "Why is it that sometimes I can hear her and sometimes I can't?"

"Like before, your emotions are tied to how she perceives herself. But she's really strong, so I'd say she doesn't want you hearing everything she's saying or it'll take a while for her to get used to all this."

"I'm sorry if she's bothering you."

"She's not bothering me." She patted my arm gently, smiling a little. "I'm here to help both of you."

Bella made her way down from the stage, until she tripped over her own feet. I quickly grabbed the back of the top she was wearing, and I pulled her against me. "Are you all right?" I asked.

"Sorry, I'm usually more aware of my surroundings." I saw the flush creep quickly over her face, and I couldn't help but smile.

I released her, but felt reluctant to do so. "I'm curious. How are we supposed to find out what happened to Hayley?"

"Well, since her memory is spotty, I'd suggest we attempt to jog her memory."

"We'd have to retrace our steps," I said as I led her out of the auditorium.

"It's a start. I also need to make a call." She pulled out an iPhone and pressed it to her ear. "Hey, Dad, I need you pull a cold case file." She hung up shortly after promising to meet up with him tomorrow.

"Your dad is the police chief of Aurora?" I asked, wondering if I had met him before.

"Yes, he was promoted about three years ago. He said he wasn't a detective on Hayley's case, but he remembers it."

I nodded and stopped in front of my white Chevy Silverado. "Would you mind riding with me?" I asked nervously. Now that I knew Hayley was with me, and had been with me, I was nervous of being alone with her. I feared what I could do, or what she'd do. Worse, I had no idea what to say to her.

I was barely hanging to my sanity as it was.

"Of course not," Bella answered. She looked across the parking lot where a blue four-by-four jeep stood. She mumbled something I couldn't make out as I opened the door.

"What's the matter?"

She sighed, blushing despite the cold weather. "Your daughter is…um…persistent."

I smiled a bit before closing the door behind her. Once behind the driver's seat, I turned on my truck and turned up the heat. It was the middle of October, and the temperature was rapidly dropping in the evenings.

"What's Hayley being persistent about?" I asked. For a few seconds, I warmed my hands in front of one the vents and Bella did the same. I pulled out of the parking spot and onto the street.

"I think she's trying to tell me all your good qualities." She laughed softly and then smiled widely. "But she's listing all your annoying habits, too. Wants to make sure they aren't a deal breaker."

I scowled and turned away from Bella. Hayley was making every effort to impress tonight.

"Sorry –"

"Don't apologize," Bella said, shrugging. "Now, I have a request."

All she had to do was ask, and I'd do it. "What is it?"

"I'm starving."

I agreed with her, realizing I hadn't ate anything all day. After grabbing something from a no-name hamburger drive-thru, we hit the I-70 to head home.

"Okay, so tomorrow we'll meet with your dad, retrace Hayley's steps at the mall, in an effort to find out what happened to my daughter?"

"Yes," Bella answered.

"Wouldn't it be easier for her to show you where her body lies?" My voice cracked a few times. I was barely able to squash the waves of emotions I was wading through.

"It doesn't always work that way." She shook her head and chewed on a fry. "Especially for Hayley," she added.

"Explain, please."

"Sometimes when a person dies, their…um, spirit is ripped from the body, and they feel a pull. That pull takes them where they're supposed to go, but sometimes they don't. Sometimes that pull leads them somewhere else. In Hayley's case, the strongest pull was you."

"In other words, you're saying that she didn't have time to see her surroundings when she died."

"Exactly," she said, before throwing a small fry in her mouth.

I tried to deal with the thoughts running through my mind. There was too much in there. I'd thought that all this time my daughter was gone, I'd know it. However, now I had intangible proof that she was dead, and there wasn't a person I could tell. How was I supposed to tell my parents that their granddaughter was dead and that she'd been haunting me? I pushed back all the dark thoughts as they started creep in, because it was something I'd have to deal with when I was alone.

I didn't want Bella or Hayley see me that way.

"How long have you been like this?" I asked.

"Since I was born, I think. I wasn't really aware that I was talking to ghosts until my grandmother came to me at her own funeral."

I was completely dumbfounded. Bella was a beautiful woman that had seen and heard things only she was privy to, and she seemed fucking normal. She blushed, was a bit of a klutz, and an unbelievable artist. She didn't let this gift hinder her quality of life.

Besides her earlier outburst, nothing would've indicated that she had this gift.

I'd lost my daughter, which had turned me into the biggest asshole. I pushed everyone away, friends and family, and all because I was unable to come to terms with Hayley's disappearance.

"That's both incredible and depressing." I rubbed a hand over my face. Bella sighed and quieted considerably. "God, I'm sorry. That was rude."

"No. It's true."

Bella's phone chimed, indicating that she had received a message. "My dad sent me some pictures that were in Hayley's file. There are a few of Hayley, you, her mother, Katherine White. They also have one of man they believe took her. Garrett Richardson."

"Yes, that's his name. The police were able to match his prints and security footage to a short rap sheet in Washington."

"It might be a good idea for me to meet Katherine."

"Why?" I asked warily. I was disgusted with the idea of putting Bella through that introduction. It would be like handing her over to the wolves.

"I can try to see if she's lying. She may have a spirit attached to her, and they'd be able to tell me something."

"Well her sisters Tanya and Irina live in Denver, but they lost their parents in a car accident shortly after Hayley's disappearance."

We remained quiet for the rest of the drive until we reached the Sixth Avenue exit, where Bella asked for me not to take Potomac St.

"May I ask why?"

"There's a spirit there. She's tied to the road, and she's not very nice to me."

I had no idea what to say to that, so I took another route to my home on Cedar Ave. I noticed a car parked in front of my house – a black Mercedes.

"Stay inside the truck," I said to Bella. I felt very protective of her, and there was no way I'd allow Katherine to hurt her. "Hayley, please stay, too."

Katherine slammed her car door shut angrily after exiting it. I hadn't seen her in months, after her last attempt at trying to bleed money from me had failed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, walking to the end of my driveway.

"I got a call indicating that some bitch claimed to see our daughter," she spat. "By the way he made it sound, she was a ghost!"

"It was during one of my lectures, and it's none of your business."

"Like hell it isn't. If some bitch is out there claiming to see our dead daughter, then I have the right to know. She's probably trying to find a way to charge you to talk to Hayley."

"First of all, who the fuck do you have spying for you?"

She had the nerve to pretend she didn't hear my question. "She's wrong, Edward. She isn't dead. She's just trying to…I don't know…fuck you or something."

"What the hell does my sex life have to do with this?"

"Well, you haven't exactly let anyone in, and maybe she's just trying to break down your defenses using your only weakness – Hayley."

I shook my head, because I was sure that there was much more to Bella than what Katherine was indicating. "Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds? For her tell me my daughter is haunting me as a method to seduce me."

Katherine threw her hands up, and started spewing out how I'd been such an asshole and never allowed anyone to comfort me. Then I understood. She hadn't stuck around to give me grief. She'd stuck around in hopes to rekindle our relationship.

It was never going to happen.

"Katherine," I whispered, leaning in close. "I wouldn't fuck you if we were the last humans on this planet." She tried to slap me, but I caught her wrist.

"Edward," I heard Bella whisper behind me. I turned to look at her; she looked so frightened.

"Is that her?" Katherine hissed, breaking the hold I had on her wrist. "A bit young, isn't she?"

Looking at the space beside her, Bella whispered, "Get in the house." I tried to see what had her so scared, but I didn't understand. "Edward, please." She held out her hand, but her eyes on something over my shoulder. Her hands trembled as she bit her lip hard. She was genuinely scared.

I closed the distance between us and took her face in my hands. "Bella, what is it?"

Her eyes glazed over and dilated. She continued to look at something behind me. "She has a spirit attached to her," she whispered. I looked behind me to see Katherine fuming, tapping her foot and waiting. I saw nothing else.

"Who?" I asked.

Bella murmured, "Garret Richardson."