CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – FAIRYTALES

BELLA POV - (During Behind Enemy Lines)

I came out of unconsciousness with my eyes closed. A smile spread across my face because for the first time in my life I was happy, happy beyond belief. I stretched my arm out across the bed then my whole happiness shifted to the realisation. My eyes snapped open to find the bed empty and my happy mood now vanished and terror filtered throughout my body. I sat up and pulled the sheets just above my chest and scanned the room, hoping, praying that Edward was still in the room. My breathing accelerated and my heart plummeted into my stomach because he was gone, he had gone to the fight.

My eyes feel down to the table beside me and I reached out and grabbed a folded up note.

My dearest Bella
Please forgive me for not waking you but I didn't want to have to look into your eyes and regret the decision I was about to make. Last night was the greatest night of my entire existence and I hope and pray that it will not be my last. I will stay alive for you Bella because without you there would be no reason for me to keep fighting. While I am away I will do nothing but worry about you so please be careful and don't leave! I will never forgive myself if anything was to happen to you so please don't hesitate to use the knife I left you. Whatever happens know this, I love you and if I was to receive my judgment today then know that your name will be the last thing that escapes my lips.
Forgive me.
Edward

I stared at the note for ages watching the tiny pools of water mix in with the black ink making the writing disappear as the ink ran down the page and turn into splodges, it was then I knew I was crying. My tears were making maybe his last ever words to me disappear into nothing. I held the note close to my chest and took in little breaths because of the massive lump that had now formed in the back of my throat. What time was it? How long had he been gone? Was he hurt or worse was he dead?

More tears came and my body started to convulse as I pictured his body, his beautiful body lying lifeless in a ditch somewhere. His body covered in his own blood, the bullets that penetrated his skin. I felt physical sick with worry for him, I started to dry heave but nothing came out because I hadn't eaten since yesterday. My stomach growled to the lack of food but I didn't care, I was too worried to eat and the thought of anything passing my lips right now made me feel even sicker.

I put the note back on the side and picked up the knife that he had left. I brought it to my face and I examined the blade up and down. A hundred thoughts flew through my mind at once and all of them shared the same ending. I wonder what would be the quickest way, the most painless way. I guess all off my thoughts bared pain and agony. My wrist was the first thing I pictured then came my throat followed by my chest. I wonder how long the blood would take to flow out. How much blood does a human have to actually loose for them to die?

What the hell are you doing Bella? Why the hell are you even thinking about killing yourself? I growled to myself and threw the knife on the floor even if I wanted to do it I couldn't because I was too much of a coward to do it myself and I was not the sort of person to take the easy way out. Could you imagine if I would have killed myself because I thought that Edward was dead then the next minute he walks through the door, unhurt and alive? Shakespeare would be rolling around in his grave laughing.

I wrapped the sheets around me and managed to stand up on my shaking legs. I picked up my clothes from the floor and walked to my duffle bag. I could have done with a shower but one, I was too worry about Edward to even care about my appearance and two, I didn't even know where the bathroom even was in this house and I didn't have a towel anyway. I pulled out my toiletry bag and luckily I found a pack of hygiene wipes inside. I used a few wipes and wiped myself all over to freshen myself up, It was the best I could do in this situation. I discarded the used wipes in the bin and pulled out some fresh clothes. I through the sheet back onto the bed and changed into a pair of black sweats and a white sweater before I slipped into my converse and put my hooded jacket on I wore yesterday. I stuffed my dirty clothes back into my bag and placed it back next to the wardrobe. I didn't even bother to brush my hair so I just tied it up in a messy bun.

I sat on the end of the bed and balanced my elbows on my knees. I chewed my nails something I fairly ever did and nervously bounced my foot up and down causing my whole body to do the same. I cursed at myself for not having a watch and I cursed at my farther for not letting me have a phone. He refused to buy me another one because I had already gone through four phones since I came to Forks because they were all stolen from me. I didn't have a clue what the time was, I didn't know what time this call out thing was going to take place or even where for that matter but I presumed because it was daylight outside that it must have taken place during the day, so if Edward didn't show up before dark then something must have happened to him.

I knew that leaving was risky because Edward could have walked back though the door any second and I didn't want to miss him but I couldn't just sit here in this room and do nothing either. I had nowhere to go and besides I didn't even know the area. I knew Forks wasn't that big but still I didn't want to get lost wondering around. I huffed out loud and stood up. I walked to the bedroom door and pulled it open. I listened out for anything but it was silent. Before I walked out I turned around and picked up the knife from the floor. I didn't think that I would actually have the guts to use it on anybody if necessary but it was better to be armed and expect the worse than be completely defenceless. I slipped it into my jacket pocket and zipped it up. Stupid place to keep it really considering the sharp point of the blade was already sticking into my side and making me uncomfortable. I pulled it back out and leaned over then slipped it down the side of my converse. It still wasn't the best place to keep it but it was disguised and I didn't have to worry about accidentally stabbing myself so there it stayed.

I walked down the hallway taking small steps and examined the surrounded. The only door that was open was the bathroom one so at least I knew where that was. I didn't really feel like invading his brothers and whoever else lived here's privacy so I continued down the stairs. I hugged myself as I entered the downstairs hallway and into the dining room. I could barely make out the table underneath all the clutter that was on the top of it. I didn't even want to imagine how this house got like this, probably years of abandonment.

I carried on through the dining room and out the back to the kitchen. I passed the fridge and curiously peeked inside. Empty food wrappers, out of date food and dozens of beer bottles. Did Edward and Jasper even eat? I closed the fridge and strolled through the kitchen and casually opened and closed a few cupboards examine the insides. I knew I was been rude and nosey but I had to find ways to take my mind preoccupied. I got to the end of the kitchen by the back door and a blue flashing light from the microwave caught my attention. I silently thanked god as the numbers 11.57am flashed in front of me. At least I knew the time now but how long would I have to wait until I told myself that Edward was gone forever. If he wasn't back by tonight then something must have happened so every second from now was against me. Every second that ticked by crushed my hopes a little more and made a crack appear in my heart.

I walked out the kitchen and now entered the living room. I was going crazy because I didn't no what to do with myself. I hated waiting around and my patience's wore thin with every minute that passed by. I growled out in frustration and headed back upstairs. I entered the bedroom once again and sat on the window ledge. This window wasn't boarded up like the ones downstairs so I could see straight out of it. The sun tried to make an appearance but the dull grey clouds swallowed any rays attempting to enter through the skyline. I examined the street below and a couple of houses across the street tiring to imagine this place how it once was.

I could visualise the sun shining down, the smell of flowers in bloom. An ice-cream truck parked up by the side of the road with children surrounding it. The images of children running, singing and playing then floated in my mind. The boys riding on skateboards, playing football and the mother's scolding them for covering their clothes with grass stains. The girls twirling around in beautiful dresses, having tea parties and jumping with skipping ropes. Their mothers stood gossiping to each other on their doorsteps while waiting for their husbands to return home from work.

It's funny how things change over time, how easy it once was to have a carefree life. You could leave your front doors open and be safe knowing that nobody would come in. Now you had to have alarms, chains, locks and surveillance equipment to even leave your house to walk to the shop. It's sad really to think how far down society has gone but as long as greed and the need for power are in the world then things will never change. I could only imagine things getting worse so reminiscing on the good old times were the only way to accept humanity without feeling ashamed of our actions.

I had been so deep in thought I barley even noticed the black SUV pull up outside the house. My heart fluttered and I jumped off the window ledge. I waited impatiently with a huge grin plastered on my face waiting for Edward to step out but in a split second my smile vanished and my heart plummeted into my stomach once again. The oversize figure was all too familiar to me and I had to blink a few times to make sure my eyes weren't lying to me.

The figure didn't disappear from my vision so I knew well and truly that Mr Bryans was real and not just in my head. What the hell was he doing here? My heart was racing and my body was shaking in panic. I watched as he walked up the footpath and I heard the sound of the front door opening down stairs. I was frozen in place, my eyes fixated on the bedroom door. Don't just stand there move it! I screamed in my head. Run Bella Run! I screamed again. Where? I was trapped in a room upstairs? Hide! I shouted again. I pulled my body out of its frozen state and scanned the room. My first instinct was to hide under the bed so that's were I went first.

I lay down and growled inwards because there was loads of junk under it preventing me from crawling under. I stood back up and I began to shake more violently as I heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs. My eyes darted to the wardrobe, it looked big enough for me so I quickly ran to it and pulled the doors open. I pushed the clothes that were hanging to the side and stepped in. I pulled the doors closed and listened for the metallic click that confirmed it was shut. I heard the sounds of some doors opening from the hall wall as I sprayed the hanging clothes back out in front of me. One of Edward's jackets fell off one of the hangers so I used it to my advantage. I knelt down and threw the jacket over myself to cover me. I closed my eyes and used my hand to cover my mouth as I heard the bedroom door open.

I heard him walk into the room and then I heard him rummaging. I began to shake again and I took little breaths as I heard him just a few feet away from me. There was a moment of silence but I didn't dare move because I didn't here any footsteps telling me that he had left.

"The objective is not here" He reported.

What objective? Was he talking about something or someone? I could have only guessed that he was talking on the phone.

"Negative" he said again.

I hated the way he spoke he always used military talk in class and reminisced about his glory days. Anybody would actually think that he still is in the army not a Math teacher and Gym coach.

"What about the other objective?" He asked.

Other objective? If he was talking about a person being the objective then I knew all to well that he must have been talking about me and Edward and if that was true then he must have been talking to either Conner's or Harding and considering Bryans was here for me then they must have gone after Edward and that thought made my hopes drop rapidly and my heart break into.

"It's not that hard to terminate one measly human, what happened!" he shouted.

In that moment my heart started racing again, because it sounded like that Conner's or Harding had failed with whatever they had planned to do so that meant that Edward was still alive, for now. There was another moment of silence and in that moment I had the urge to sneeze. Maybe it was because I was covered in musty clothes or the fact that when you actually try and be quiet you end up being louder for some reason. I fought the urge anyway, I wasn't going to get caught all because of a fucking sneeze.

"Get Harding back to the house and fix it, I'm on my way!" He growled.

Within the matter of seconds I heard his heavy footsteps storm out the room and down the hallway. I heard him on the stairs then the front door slammed shut. I waited for a minute and heard a car engine and what sounded like screeching tires. I knew that he was gone but still I didn't move because I was scared in case my ears were playing tricks on me. I sat there in the dark and in silence for what seemed like ages. I swallowed hard and shifted in my space then I quietly rose to my feet letting the jacket fall to the side. I listened for any movement and gently pushed on the wardrobe door. I had visions of locking eyes with Bryans which made me hesitate. I took a deep breath and forced my shaking hand to push on the door. It creaked open and the room came into view. I peek around the door and stepped out squinting my eyes because of the sudden change in light.

I waited and listened for any more noise but the only thing I could hear was my teeth chattering because my body was still shaking. I crept to the door that was open and peered out the hallway. It only took the sound of another car engine for me to slam the bedroom door shut and bolt back to the wardrobe. I stepped back inside and pulled the doors closed again. I crouched down again and threw the jacket back over my head. I heard the front door burst open and I jumped out of my skin. His footsteps were more powerful now as he ran up the stairs. His movements sounded like he was enraged and I knew that he was going to find me.

Tears started to spill out of my eyes as I gripped Edwards's jackets for dear life. His footsteps ran down the hallway and the bedroom door burst open. This was it, I was dead. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the wardrobe doors to fly open.

"Bella!" I heard a musical voice shout.

I could hear the anguish that lingered in his words. My eyes snapped open but I didn't move because once again my ears could be playing tricks on me.

"Fuck!" He shouted again.

I knew that 'Fuck' from anywhere, he used it that many times I had it memorised. It was Edward I knew it was, he was alive!

"Edward!" I shouted.

I jumped up throwing the jacket to the ground. I shoved the doors open that fast they nearly came off the hinges. I stepped out and scanned the room for him. He was standing by the door and I watched his anguish turn to pure relief. As I looked into his eyes my heart was repaired and my happiness from this morning came flooding back to me. I noticed the dried blood down the side of his face but looking at him now knowing that he could have been dead, the fight, the teachers none of it mattered because he was alive. What ever happened today was already forgotten because every time I looked into his eyes nothing existed except for me and him.

I didn't waste another second, I ran towards him and without thinking I jumped on him and wrapped my legs around his waist and snaked my arms around his neck. He stumbled backwards and hit the back wall but he didn't care, he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly. We didn't speak because there was no need for words. Instead his lips found mine and I kissed him with urgency. Our tongues massaged around each other's and he moaned against my lips as I pulled at his hair. He spun me around and slammed me against the wall and pinned my arms up against it. He kissed me more passionately then dropped one off my arms and took the top of my sweater into his fist and yanked it to the side so he could gain access to my neck and collar bone. His lips trailed up to my cheeks and back down to my neck at a frantic pace.

"Edward were you born in a barn you stupid fuck, lean to close a door!" Jasper shouted up the stairs.

Edward froze and began to chuckle in my chest. His laugh was contagious because I began giggling as well. He pulled back after the laughter subsided and gave me his cheeky smirk.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you" He whispered leaning his forehead against mine.

I wrapped my arms around his neck to support myself.

"I think I do" I whispered back. "I kept thinking that something bad had happened to you" I frowned.

He removed one of his hands from around my waist and cupped my face.

"I told you I wouldn't give up, I told you that I would fight for you, for us" He whispered kissing the tip of my nose.

I smiled at his words and I kissed him again. We pulled back after a few minutes and gasped for much needed air then he dropped my legs and just held me.

"Thank you for not leaving" He whispered.

"Its fine and beside it's not like I had anywhere to go" I replied.

"And thanks for nearly giving me a heart attack" He smirked letting go of me.

"What do you mean?" I asked as he walked over to his wardrobe.

"You scared the shit out of me when I came in and you weren't here. What the fuck was you doing in the wardrobe anyway?" He smirked "I'm sorry to break it to you love but I think Narnia doesn't really exists" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and smirked, glad he found my little charade so amusing but this situation was no fairytale. There was no such thing as enchanted worlds, magically fairies, wishes, genies and above all my own little fantasy, a big pink glittery castle made from rainbows and marsh mellows. God what the hell was I thinking that Christmas when I asked Santa for that?" My mind was so absorbed with Edward and now pretty things that I had completely forgotten why I was in there in the first place.

"Well I wasn't hiding from no lion or witch" I sarcastically countered. "I was hiding from Bryans"

All laugher vanished from his face and he was suddenly rigid.

"What!" He spat.

"Bryans was here" I told him.

I watched as his face went from shock to disbelief to certainty in less than a second. He rubbed his face with his hands and exhaled deeply whilst running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm so sorry Bella" He whispered not looking at me.

I walked up to him and put my hands on his sides.

"Don't apologize Edward, this wasn't your fault" I reassured him.

"Yes it is Bella, it's all my fault" He groaned "If I didn't drag you to their apartment then they wouldn't be after you. If I hadn't had beat Jacob up then that fucking call out wouldn't have been made and you wouldn't be hiding"

"Edward, stop" I interrupted him by placing my hands on the side of his face. "Stop blaming yourself for everything. You didn't drag me to their apartment I chose to go, and if you hadn't had stopped Jacob then I wouldn't be here now" I told him.

I could see him beating himself up about the whole thing and that my words of comfort did nothing for him.

"I don't know what to do Bella" He whispered wrapping his arms around my waist.

"We will think of something, we always do" I said placing my arms around his neck.

"I just" He paused leaning his forehead against mine "I don't want to lose you" He whispered.

"You're not going to lose me" I reassured him using the words he once said to me "We will figure this out together and we will get more people involved if necessary, somebody's got to believe us about the teachers"

"Yeah we could talk to your farther again because he was a big help last time" He sarcastically spat.

"Edward my farther knows"

"What, that he has been a big help" He smirked.

"I mean he knows that we know, he knows about the teachers but his not saying anything"

"What do you mean?"

I dropped my arms from his neck and walked over to the bed. Edward followed and sat down on the edge with me.

"Remember yesterday just before you came to my house?"

"Yeah"

"I confronted him about it and he tried to cover it up by saying that they were just lies and the whole idea was a load of nonsense but I could tell that he was lying about it, about everything"

"Ok so let's go over everything that we know" He began "We know that there killing people, we know that your farther is envolved and we also know that there not human"

"How?"

"Bella, Harding's was there today at the call out, I emptied a whole fucking clip into him and the fucker didn't even go down" He informed me.

"Well, I over heard Bryans talking on the phone and I think he was talking about you and he was referring to you as a measly human. I think he was talking to Conner's because he said get Harding back to the house and fix it or something"

I could see him debating about something, probably replaying today's events for all I knew.

"I left Harding's a present before I left but I didn't stick around to find out what happened so maybe I did injury him or let's hope killed the fucker" He said.

"We need to tell your gang" I perked up.

"No" he said shaking his head.

"Why?"

"You're a civilian they won't listen to you and if they find out that me and you are together then they will make you join and I won't allow that. Emmett's the only one that's knows and pretty soon Jasper will to but I know they won't say anything. I dont want anybody else finding out about us and I plan to keep it that way"

"Fine, you tell them" I protested.

"They won't believe me Bella, fuck sake I'm having a hard time believing it myself."

"Well what would make them believe you?" I asked

"I don't know, proof maybe"

"Well let's find some proof then"

"Bella we don't even know what the fuck were dealing with ourselves and besides where the fuck are we going to start looking?"

I was silent for a while as I debated with myself. There were them letters from my dad's office that Edward and I found, we could show the gang them but then again it didn't really give us anything concrete to go on. If there was only something in writing or any evidence as to what the hell was going on. Just then I was hit by a bolt of lightning, well not technically but it felt like it.

I jumped up off the bed and Edward was up quicker than I was.

"What's wrong?" He asked as worry spread across his face.

"Take me home" I asked.