CHAPTER 4

-:- No Man is an Island -:-

2016 -:- Present Day

We had been working relentlessly on the house since we arrived—day and night. With seven vampires never having to sleep, we had managed to almost restore it to livable conditions in just four short days. We had patched the roof as best we could, we borrowed many of the supplies from abandoned houses, but most of the stuff, including our furniture, had come from one of the caches we had kept nearby.

Carlisle and Esme had planned for our return ten years ago—we just didn't expect to be back so soon. They had moved all of our belongings out of the house and stored them in an underground bunker not too far from Forks. Emmett and Jasper went to retrieve our stuff and by the time they had moved everything back in, it was as if we had been living in a time capsule. Everything looked as it did ten years ago, even my piano.

Scowling at my brothers, I watched them carry the piano with ease into the house through the living room window which still needed to be replaced. I had asked Jasper not to bring it, but Esme overrode my wishes, and told him she wanted it here, even if I had no intentions on playing. She said it 'brought her comfort.' She wanted the house just as it was—which was a laugh because no matter how hard we tried, nothing would ever be the same.

They placed it down on the platform, and the keys rattled. It would definitely need a tune up, but that didn't concern me, because my fingers would never touch those keys again.

Esme heard the sound of the keys and came rushing down the stairs. Her hands were clamped over her mouth and her eyes were wide with excitement.

"You brought it! Oh, thank you, boys," she exclaimed blissfully as she kissed them both on the cheek.

I turned on my heels and walked out of the house, trying to get away from the conversation they were about to have, but it didn't matter, I could still hear them.

"I don't know why we bothered, it's not like he's ever going to play it ever again."

"Ye of little faith, Emmett." I know my boy, and he will play again.

I hated to disappoint Esme, but she was wrong. There was no way…

I had no idea where I was going, I hadn't ventured very far from the house in the past few days. No one was to go off by themselves, another one of Carlisle's wishes— the rule of never separating was still in effect.

I didn't care about the rule. I just needed to be alone with my own thoughts. I started to run, trying to familiarize myself with this forest. There was a time when I knew every inch of this place. Everything was different, the trees, the soil, the sound, the smell, nothing was recognizable any more, it had all disappeared. But I reveled in the silence. This was the first time I had been alone without the thoughts of the others in months … years even. I stopped short holding my breath. Silence. Closing my eyes, I held my arms out from my body, just listening … for anything. And there was nothing. I wasn't sure if it was comforting or not. I enjoyed the idea of being completely alone, but at the same time I was fully aware that I was alone. It was such a bittersweet moment, and one that weighed heavily on my mind as of late.

It wasn't until this past year that I had actually taken time out to reflect what my life was going to be like once we established a bit of normalcy. In the past decade, there was always a need. There was always an urgency to everything we did. Since the day of Alice's first vision, our family had never stopped, and more specifically I had never stopped. The family fell apart, and I guess you could say I went a little mad trying to hold on to everything. After I lost Bella, I wanted to die along with the rest of the world, but fate had other plans for me, or perhaps it was God. Regardless, I was spared, and I did my damndest not to lose anyone else in my life. I never had the chance to grieve my loss, there just was never time, and years passed and I buried all the feelings deep within. It wasn't until almost a year ago when we made the decision to travel back to Forks that I allowed those feelings to resurface. The family was mended for the most part, apart from Alice and her visions. We still had no idea why they hadn't returned, but we had gotten so used to her 'feelings' that we never questioned them. Being back here in Forks was allowing me to channel those emotions I hadn't felt in a very long time. It was like I was coming full circle again. The family was safe, and I was back where I belonged.

I started running again. I just wanted to feel the wind rushing past my face and see the trees racing past me. It was exhilarating feeling this again, and I didn't pay attention to where my legs were taking me until I stopped just at the edge of the forest near Bella's house, or what was left of it. It had not survived after all these years.

The old tree outside of Bella's window had fallen, crushing the house in its wake—completely destroying Bella's room. I almost laughed at the irony and despair that surged through me at what lay before my eyes. It figures there wouldn't be one thing left of her that I could hold on to, even this had been taken away from me. Just add this to my wide streak of appallingly bad luck.

"Is there nothing I can have?" I screamed at the heavens to anyone that was maybe looking down at me, laughing at my misfortune.

I walked up the trunk which hovered directly above the remains of her room. There was nothing discernible, just a pile of rubbish. Crouching down, I placed my head in my hands trying to make sense of it all, anything. After all these years, I had been living with the faintest of hope that through all of this, somehow a part of Bella survived somewhere. I knew it was preposterous, but a part of me just couldn't give up that glimmer of hope. Being here and seeing all of this destruction just reaffirmed that she was gone forever. The pain I had tried to bury all those years ago ripped wide open again as I remembered the last time I had been here.

2006 -:- Past Memories

"She's gone, Edward, and that is all that I am going to tell you. You don't deserve anything more."

Charlie's mind was not as silent as Bella's, but I knew where she inherited hers from. Before Bella came along, I always thought of him as a man of slow thought, but when I discovered her mind was silent to me, I realized Charlie's thoughts were partially concealed to me as well. Bella was more like her father than she ever realized. When he was extremely stressed or upset, it was as if he flipped a switch blocking his most pertinent thoughts. And he had now flipped that switch and was completely denying me any access to his thoughts or memories of Bella. He was protecting his daughter in more ways than he knew.

He glared at me begging for my defiance—I could hear that part of his mind all too well. He wanted me to challenge him and he was ready to deliver some justice for what I had done to Bella.

I didn't have a choice—I would take the consequences.

"Please…" I looked at him with as much remorse as I could possibly convey. "Where is she?"

"I'm sorry, Edward … no, actually I'm not. She's moved on, after you left. Now I suggest you do the same. Leave, now. I have somewhere to be." He turned around and slammed the door in my face.

I cursed under my breath. That did not go at all how I had hoped. I cursed again wishing for Alice and her psychic hotline to return. I ran my hands through my hair letting out a frustrated groan. What do I do now? I looked up at Bella's window, I needed to get in there, and maybe there was some kind of clue in her room as to where she was.

Returning to my car, I pulled out of the driveway, parking down the street away from Charlie's line of site. I just needed to wait until he left. What if she was still sleeping? No, I knew that wasn't the case, I only heard one heartbeat in the house. She wasn't there, just as Charlie said.

Once Charlie had left, I ran through the trees to the back of the house. I managed to climb up to her window in seconds, and stayed perched on the window sill for a moment looking in, not wanting to disturb the sanctity of her room. It looked exactly the same, just as I remembered it. I took another moment to gather myself before opening the window, because this was it, as soon as I smelled that all too familiar scent that was ingrained in my very being, there was no going back. I knew her scent would flood my senses and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from re-entering her life. I was a selfish creature, and I would fight for her, whether she wanted me or not. I frowned as a quick image of Newton flashed in my mind.

Shaking my head, chuckling at my absurdity, I opened the window with ease even though it squeaked, just like that first time I had ever opened it. I stilled, taking in a deep breath. My eyes flashed open, scanning the room... there was only a faint trace of Bella here. I could still smell her, but it was definitely old. It had been months since she had been in here. Months.

I walked over to her bed and picked up her pillow holding it to my nose breathing deeply, hoping to imbed the very essence of her in my body. I smiled. Bella. She was still here, and six months had done nothing to lessen my desire for her. Not wanting to let her go just yet, I carried the pillow over to her desk—hoping for some clue as to where she might be.

Logic told me she was probably with her mother, Renee, but what I didn't know was why. I looked over the desk and it was exactly as it was the week I left. The same books and papers were piled on top, even the last CD we had been listening to was perched on the corner of the desk. Nothing had changed in her room. If Bella was gone, she left shortly after I did and left most of her things. This troubled me more than I thought it would. What did Charlie mean by gone?

I made my way over to the closet and noticed the majority of her clothes were missing. Relief flooded my senses. Not 'gone.' But that relief was quickly overshadowed by dread. The empty closet meant she was gone from Forks, just as Charlie meant. I looked further into the back of her closet, at a black garbage bag and what I saw inside made my stomach lurch. It was the stereo my brothers and sister had given her for her birthday, but it was damaged beyond repair. It looked as though someone had hastily and forcefully removed it from the dashboard.

I was deeply saddened at the idea of Bella frantically trying to rip it from its place. What could have possessed her to do that? A frantic thought occurred to me and I dropped to the floor near Bella's bed, desperately prying up the floorboards. I breathed a sigh of relief again, as I lifted the small tin I had placed there six months ago, as a reminder that I would always be with her. Inside, were all the pictures Bella had taken of us with her new camera, the CD I made for her and the plane tickets to Florida Esme and Carlisle had purchased for her as a gift. I trailed my fingers gently along our names, Ms. Isabella Marie Swan and Mr. Edward Anthony Cullen, as if any kind of pressure would wipe away their existence.

Picking up the photographs, I carefully slipped them into the front pocket of my jacket, the left side, without looking at them. I needed her to be as close to me as possible, if I couldn't have her here in flesh, then I would have her here in memory … for the time being. I didn't know what had possessed me, but before I even knew what I was doing, I placed the CD in the player and had lay down on Bella's bed. I closed my eyes as the first notes of my Lullaby, her Lullaby, played through the tiny speakers. Apart from the confines of my mind, I hadn't heard the song out loud in over six months. It was real, all of it. What have I done?

I laid there until the CD had played all the way through, thoughts turning in my mind as to what I should do, where I should go next. It was all just too overwhelming. I reluctantly sat up, still not sure as to what to do next. All I knew was that I was wasting time. From Charlie's thoughts, there was no way he was going to tell me what I needed to know. I doubted he would even speak to me again. I pulled out my phone and called Bella's mother in Jacksonville—maybe I would have more luck with her. I held my breath as I heard the operator come on the line to tell me the phone number was disconnected. I let out a string of curse words that I didn't even know I was capable of. I needed help and I needed it now.

.

CHARLIE EVENTUALLY INVITED ME in to talk, of course that had everything to do with me being flanked by Carlisle and Esme. I had called them while they were in Alaska and asked them for their help. It was such a relief to see Carlisle. I was comforted by his empathy and the deep intelligence in his eyes. He would know what to do. Charlie had always respected Carlisle, and I was hoping his presence would have a greater effect on the man than my own. Charlie was more than surprised when they appeared on his doorstep, but reluctantly let us all in eventually.

"Coffee?" he asked my parents, thinking it was the polite thing to do. He never asked me if I wanted anything, he wouldn't even look at me.

Carlisle and Esme declined his offer and thanked him for agreeing to see us.

"Well, I am sorry you came all this way, but I'm not going to volunteer any information about my daughter. I don't want your son around her—I hope you can understand that."

"Charlie, I can understand that you want to protect your daughter, but Edward's intentions were very honorable when we left," Carlisle tried to explain, but Charlie snorted in disbelief.

"I love your daughter more than you can possibly comprehend," I said quietly.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't comprehend. You left her, and left me to try and pick up the pieces. I can comprehend just fine."

"We left because it was the best thing for her at the time. Edward was also protecting her."

"Is that right? Well, now I find that hard to believe. And just what was he protecting her from?"

I hadn't been paying attention to Esme, but I could see that this conversation was upsetting her. Carlisle reached for Esme's hand to try and comfort her. "She didn't fit with our certain … lifestyle."

Right away I could see that his choice of words were the wrong ones, and Charlie misunderstood what Carlisle was trying to say.

"Your lifestyle? You rich, arrogant son-of-a-bitch! What … my daughter wasn't good enough for your son? Carlisle, I thought you were a different man."

Esme gasped. "Charlie, that's not what my husband meant to say. I know you and I haven't had much in the way of conversation, but I will tell you that we love your daughter as if she were our own."

"I'm sorry, Charlie." Carlisle raised his hands in defense. "It was the wrong choice of words."

Edward, we need to try another angle. We need to tell him the truth, some of it anyway.

"No," I spoke abruptly without thinking.

"Excuse me?" Charlie's eyes were wide and incredulous and his face started to turn a shade of red. Just who does this kid think he is!

"Char—" I started, but was cut off by Carlisle.

"I'm sorry, Edward was speaking to me." There's no other way, son. He looked resolved and I knew I wasn't going to convince him this wasn't the best course of action. We don't have time for this. I relinquished to Carlisle, because I trusted him wholeheartedly and he did know what was best when it came to the family. If he felt this was the only option, I would go along with it. I could tell from his thoughts he wasn't going to tell all of our secrets, just the ones that would help to convince Charlie of the truth.

Charlie looked at Carlisle a bit confused and his thoughts were very guarded.

"You of all people know my family is unique." He cleared his throat, and continued. "When others have criticized or judged us unfairly, you have always stood your ground and defended us." Charlie shifted in his seat uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going.

"You have always treated us with kindness and respect, Charlie. But we are unique, in many ways." Carlisle was staring at Charlie, trying to convince him with his eyes to see the truth.

Charlie thought hard about our uniqueness. He had noticed that we never seemed to age, but just chalked that up to good genes, and diet. He thought of all of our other attributes, our wealth, our looks, and the way we walked and carried ourselves. The fact that he had never seen me eat anything is his house and lastly, he looked at the three of us, at our eyes in particular. Family not by blood, but with the same strange, amber colored eyes.

"Yes, I'm aware." He nodded his head, but had not come to any conclusions as to what that could mean.

"What you can see with your eyes does set us apart from everyone else, yes, but there are other things that you cannot see. My family—some of my children— have special gifts." He looked at me and then back to Charlie before continuing. He wanted to make sure that I was on board. A slight nod of my head made Carlisle continue.

"Edward and Alice are extremely unique. Edward, can read the minds of those around him."

Charlie's eyes bulged out of his head and his thoughts turned to speculation that Carlisle was messing with him or that he hadn't heard him correctly.

"That's ridiculous!" He stood up and started pacing the room trying to laugh. Just who the hell do these people think they are! I've always respected Carlisle. He's a brilliant doctor, and his wife is pleasant enough, but he's lost his mind if he thinks I am going to believe that! Why all these lies? What is there to gain from them?

I wasn't sure what to say, but now that it was out there, I had to convince him it was the truth.

"Yes, he is a brilliant Doctor, Charlie, and Carlisle never lies." I looked down at the floor as I let my words register with him.

He whipped around to stare at me. His mouth was wide open in shock. Not possible!

"It's true." I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. "I didn't want to have to tell you or get you involved like this, but you won't tell me where Bella is, and we need to find her."

Realization crossed his face and he smiled smugly. "Well if you can read my mind, why don't you just read where Bella is?"

"That's the thing. Bella is the only person I have ever come across that I can't read her thoughts. She is completely blocked to me. We don't know why, it just is. She's different. And it seems Bella has inherited that trait from you. Your thoughts aren't completely blocked to me, only partially. But it's the part that concerns Bella, I guess it's as if you're subconsciously protecting her from me." I leaned back in my chair letting out a deep breath.

"Huh." It was about all Charlie could muster up. He was rather proud of himself for this bit of knowledge. He had successfully protected his daughter from the likes of me. "Why should I tell you where she is? You don't deserve her, you know."

"Yes, I am well aware that I don't deserve her, but that is beside the fact."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Carlisle interjected trying to diffuse the argument that was brewing between the two of us. "Because she is in danger. We all are."

Charlie's face blanched at Carlisle's words and he sat down again in his seat. "Wha—I—what? I-I don't understand? What kind of danger?"

It was Esme who spoke. "Charlie, we need to find Bella, because what my husband is trying to tell you is true. We are all in danger, including you, and we are here to help in any way that we can."

Esme's voice was always the calming force in a room. It was always filled with love and when she spoke you couldn't help but believe her. And it seemed as if Charlie did.

"H—How do you know?"

"Alice, our daughter, whom you've met," Charlie nodded his head in acknowledgement and Esme continued, "has another special gift. She has visions … of the future."

He let out a string of curses as he blew out the breath he was holding. "Oh, I'm sorry, Esme," he apologized for his lack of manners.

"That's quite alright. I know this is a lot to take in." She leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee, he flinched slightly at the contact. "If there was any other way, we would have kept this from you, but we are running out of time."

Charlie rubbed his hands over his face, rubbing at his moustache. "So let me get this straight, your family has special gifts. Reading minds and telling the future being some of them. And you're telling me we're all in danger because of a vision Alice had." He was speaking more for the benefit of himself. He was trying to wrap his head around all of this.

"And when you say your family is unique you mean something else. I—I don't want to know what that means. I have a feeling you wouldn't tell me anyway, but it's probably something that I really don't want to know. And I think this is enough to take in, for today anyway." He paused, carefully considering his next words. "So I guess the question remains, what did Alice see?"

We spent the next twenty minutes carefully explaining our assumptions. I could tell as we continued that Charlie was finding it harder and harder to believe us. The absurdity of it all was making him draw his own conclusions. He thought we were crazy, and he'd be 'damned' if he was going to let us anywhere near his daughter.

After Carlisle finished speaking, Charlie stood up, went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He was always a man of few words, a simple man, who loved his daughter fiercely. And what we were selling was 'crazy' and not something he was ready or willing to comprehend. When he came back into the room, he calmly and politely asked us to leave without any further explanation. I knew it was coming, but it took Esme and Carlisle by surprise.

"Charlie, please…" Esme said.

"I'm very sorry, Esme, I really don't know what you are playing at, but I need you to leave."

At that point, I could tell from his thoughts that it was hopeless. We weren't going to get anything more from him, or convince him otherwise. Our presence was only going to anger him. I looked at Carlisle and explained as quickly and quietly as possible knowing that Charlie couldn't hear me.

Carlisle frowned and looked back to Charlie.

"We will respect your wishes, but please listen and take heed of our warning. What we are telling you is the truth. It's coming. There is no stopping it. We just don't know when it is going to happen, but it will be soon." He reached into his briefcase pulling at three large manila envelopes. "I want you to take these. I've made provisions for you and the people of Forks. Everything you need to know is in these envelopes. Please take them and follow what is in there. I have a place for all of you to be safe. Use your discretion, Charlie. I suspect as the Chief of Police, you have some sort of contingency plan for this." Carlisle raised his eyebrows at Charlie, but he remained stone-faced. "Alice's visions are not definite, but as each day passes it's more likely to happen. We just want to help. Bella would be devastated if something were to happen to you and the rest of the people of Forks. She cares so much about you."

"I love her more than my own life, Charlie, and if this comes to pass, I just want to make her safe, can you understand that?" I asked him. "We have the resources to do so," I pleaded one last time.

He was silent as he held the front door open for us. I walked passed him giving him one last look hoping he would offer me something, but he just closed his eyes keeping his mind silent to me.

Carlisle placed the envelopes on the table before leading Esme toward the door. She let out a small sob as she passed Charlie. She grasped his hand and he was shocked by her cold touch and confused by the passion behind her voice.

"Please…" she begged.

"Esme, darling, it's all right." Carlisle reassured her before turning to Charlie. "Please—if nothing else—look at the documents I've left you. Inside are all the numbers where we can be reached. Just think about it, that's all I ask."

Charlie's thoughts became a muddled mess of confusion. He didn't want to believe us, but Esme's pleading had unraveled him. He knew there was something different about us, even if he didn't want to admit it. On the off-chance we were telling the truth, he was afraid for his daughter. He wanted Bella with him and protected.

Son, if you really can hear me, bring her home, to me. Her mother—Baltimore.

I looked back toward Charlie to let him know I heard him, but he had already closed the door. I let out a sigh of relief, which came out more as a laugh and Carlisle and Esme, looked at me with uncertainty.

"Baltimore," I said smiling widely.

Without delay, we got in the Volvo and Carlisle was already on the phone to the others by the time I pulled out of the driveway.

Baltimore. It had to be Baltimore. I heard Carlisle's admonitions. Of all the places she could be. I'm beginning to think the girl just has really bad luck—always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He chuckled.

"Yes, she really is a danger magnet. Regardless, that's where she is and that's where we're going."