Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the creator of these intriguing characters. She and the filmmakers have made a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. I wish to borrow her background and add a plot twist of my own.

Chapter 4 - The funeral of "Isabella Marie Swan"

Carlisle's POV

After the call we were all devastated and I now had the task to inform Charlie that his daughter had an accident while visiting Italy.

Alice was the closest to him but according to the story she had been in the same car and was now 'being hospitalized' in Italy. Therefore my wife Esme would come with me to Bella's dad as she knew how difficult my task would be. I was sad so I didn't have to fake that; telling Charlie that his lovely daughter would never return was bad enough but knowing her real fate tore me and my family apart.

As we drove up his drive he came towards the door to meet us and seeing his expression we knew he already had been informed of the accident. The expression in his eyes, were that of a defeated and hollow man as he stood in front of the screen door.

I quietly asked "Charlie may we please come in?" and at first I thought he would refuse us. After a moment of hesitation he opened the door and when we entered the room we saw one of the women from the reservation. Judging by her expression she knew what we were and she was very distrusting.

I didn't know where to begin as Esme said "We are so sorry with your loss, Bella was like a daughter to us but we realize our pain is but a fraction of yours."

Thankfully her words had helped me to open my mouth "Charlie, my family and I are all devastated with your loss. I came here to help in whatever way I can."

Charlie's expression changed from sadness to anger as he shouted "What the hell happened? All of a sudden Alice shows up and she takes off with her, I didn't even know that they had gone to Italy till I was called by the authorities and told of her accident."

The woman with him tried to calm him putting her hand on his shoulder but to no avail as Charlie shook her hand off saying "No Sue, I have to know what happened"

With pain in my dead heart I gave him the explanation that was expected of me. "She and Alice went to Italy and Alice lost control of the steering wheel sending them over the Cliff. Miraculously Alice was able to jump in time but Bella was trapped in the car as it rolled over the cliff. If it's any consolation she didn't suffer"

"But she is still dead; she was only 18 and had a lifetime ahead of her. She was the light in my life and tomorrow I have to pick up her body at the airport. I don't even know how to tell her mother."

"Please let us help you." Esme said her voice full of compassion "We can make travel arrangements for Bella's mother and her husband and organize anything else that you need"

"Of course" I said "you've got enough to handle with the sorrow of your loss and we would be more than grateful if we can help in any way possible"

The woman called Sue asked "Why was Bella with Alice anyway? You moved from Forks almost a year ago and as soon you are back she picks up Bella and has an accident"

Charlie turned to face us and all of a sudden we saw his expression change "Yes, why did they go to Italy?"

"Alice wished to reunite Edward and Bella" I said.

"After what he did to her?" Charlie shouted.

"Believe it or not Edward does love her but he had to leave," I explained "As you must know he is adopted and his parents had traced him to us. They live in Italy and were very animate that Edward would come live with them and had even pulled a couple of strings to force him to go. We followed him so that we wouldn't be separated but noticed he had a hard time living without Bella in his life."

"I didn't notice that, otherwise he would have at least called or written her." Charlie mocked "Do you have any idea of how much pain he caused her? We had a hard time to get her back on the rails but thanks to the reservation and Jacob she was finally able to build up her life. Why couldn't you just leave her be?"

"It's difficult to explain but Edward wasn't able to communicate with her because his biological parents are part of a criminal organization and Edward refused to let them know about Bella, being afraid that he might get her involved." I tried to explain "You know as well as I that if he would have told her, Bella would have followed no matter what. He therefore decided to stop their relationship without an explanation"

"Then why did Alice come and get her?" Charlie asked.

"Unhappily enough his biological family found out about Bella and so the only way to protect her was to bring her back to Edward" I answered.

"This sounds like a crock of shit! Do you really expect us to believe this?" Charlie asked.

"It does sound strange but life can be stranger than you can imagine, things are often not what they seem" and with this I looked at the woman called Sue.

The next week we tried to help Charlie and Renée as much as possible.

We wished to help with the funeral costs, knowing that Charlie's salary would not be able to cover anything but the basics. When we offered we explained to him that we had also loved Bella as a daughter and would be very grateful if he would allow us to help give her the best possible send off. At first he protested but Renée agreed overruling Charlie's decision.

We had always hoped to give Bella a massive celebration for her entrance in our family as Edward's wife; we had never dreamed that it would be for her funeral.

Rose and Emmett had not returned and for that we were all glad. We knew that the problems between Rose and our family would have to be solved but at the moment our minds were only focused on Bella's burial and a plan to try and get her free from the grips of the Volturi.

Jasper was having a hard time with all the emotions in our home. Alice and Edward were devastated and blamed themselves for their involvement in taking Bella to Italy.

"As soon as we saw Felix and I looked at Bella I felt her future change but by then it was too late." Alice stated "The nail in the coffin, so to speak, was when Aro read my thoughts; I couldn't hide it"

"I shouldn't have gone there in the first place" Edward moaned "They found out all about her from me and by showing them I set her up. If I hadn't told them about her she would have been safe and under their radar".

After a large sigh he said "I never took Rose seriously; why did I do it then?"

Esme stood up and leaned over the back of the couch as she embraced our son saying "You couldn't have possibly known"

"It was when I called Bella and heard from Jacob that Charlie was busy making funeral arrangements that I thought it was true, how could I have been so stupid?" Edward answered.

As we were talking we heard a knock on our door. Alice ran to her bedroom with Jasper and I stood up to answer the door. Of all the people she was that last we would have expected.

"May I come in?" asked the woman Sue from Charlie's house.

"My name is Sue Clearwater and I come here to ask for your help. I am aware of what you are, in the reservation we all are. At the moment there is a Vampire named Victoria who was after Bella.

"What!" said Edward "We had no idea"

"Well yes" Sue said "You wouldn't, considering you make no attempt to contact her while you were gone. The attacks began about a couple of months after you left. Our people were able to help and that is how my husband died. Charlie was helping me arrange his funeral the day that Bella left"

"God no! That was what Jacob meant" Edward muttered.

"Yes," she said "That is why I feel partially to blame for her being able to leave. If Charlie was at home I'm sure he would have stopped her. Anyway the vampire Victoria is still out there and hovering around Charlie's house looking for Bella."

After a moment of silence she continued "I am hoping that she will leave but she is determined to kill her as she seems unaware of her death. Now I am afraid she will hurt Charlie and I know Bella would never allow that. Will you tell this Victoria that the situation has changed, it's the very least you can do for Bella".

She then looked at us one by one and said "At first I came here to demand to know what happened to Bella. You see, I didn't believe Bella to be dead but seeing your faces I don't know anymore. So now I only ask that you take care of her father and resolve this problem for us. The tribe is willing to step in but I think it is better if Vampire fights Vampire" And with that she turned and left our house.

Esme said "Why didn't we keep tabs on Bella when we left. We should have expected that Victoria would take advantage of her defenseless position."

This brought us all in yet another abyss of guilt.

Edwards POV

The day was dark and rainy, a typical day for a funeral. The funeral service went well; Charlie was accompanied by Sue and Renée stood with her husband Phil. Charlie was like Bella and had difficulty showing his emotions but Bella's mom had difficulty composing herself.

Alice and Jasper were unable to attend because according to our story she was still recuperating in Italy and Jasper had gone to support and help her with her injuries. I accompanied my parents and stood on the sidelines watching as the priest gave his last blessing saying:

Réquiem æternam dona ei, Dómine.

Et lux perpétua lúceat ei

Requiéscat in pace.

Amen.

Anima ejus, et ánimæ ómnium fidélium defunctórum, per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace.

Amen.

All Bella's classmates and the faculty of the school had come as well as many people from the reservation. Jacob was between them and he and his friends all sent me angry stares and I knew that they blamed me, why wouldn't they, I blamed myself as well.

After the moment of silence the coffin descended into the ground and I heard many people in tears. It was then that my eye caught someone in the background. He was far from our group and looking at a tombstone further in the graveyard but I could see him clearly with my vampire eyes. It was Felix and I knew he was checking up on us.

I must have let my facial mask slip in my reaction to our unexpected guest because all of a sudden I saw Jacob turn and look in the same direction and I knew he was also aware of Felix.

I knew now that I would be getting a visit from Jacob Black as soon as the funeral was over.

When I then looked back in the direction of where I had seen Felix and he was no longer there.