Disclaimer: Invisible people can't own Twilight.
Chapter Four
Something was wrong.
Since Bella could remember, she had perfect control over her astral form, aside from the fact that it was involuntary upon slumber; she never had any issues getting back inside of her body.
Until now, that is.
Bella looked on as her body was carried downstairs, her brother and sister changing and cleaning her up – it was very much an out-of-body experience. She half expected Riley and Bree to just look up and see her standing at the foot of her own bed, not three inches from her own blankets, but they didn't, even when they looked in her direction.
She was invisible.
There was a brief thought that maybe she was dead – but then, her astral form was very familiar and, while she was usually never in the real world, she had a feeling that she would be able to touch some objects, move them and communicate with someone, just like she could when she was dream walking.
Bella waited until her siblings left, deciding that if she couldn't will herself into her own body – like she normally does – then she would try a more direct approach, namely attempting to literally lay on herself in the hopes that she would seep in. When that didn't work, Bella decided that sticking around her body was doing her no good; if she couldn't get in, then she had to do something.
And, really, she didn't want to linger. Her body looked horribly beaten and that was depressing.
As she moved towards the stairs, she was pleased to find out that her astral form did possess some about of weight in the real world, the proof given through the tiny creak of the stairs. A tiny moment of self-consciousness sneaks through her mind and she looks down at her attire; a overly large black vintage sweater with white stars scattered randomly across the worn fabric and a rather small pair of black yoga shorts that were almost covered entirely by the sweater. If she hadn't seen Bree dressing her, she would have instantly known who picked out her current attire – it was one of Bree's most preached Rules of Fashion, "Show skin on either your top half or your bottom half for optimal sexiness. Too much skin equals a slut".
Coming to the closed basement door, Bella pauses; in dreams, she could pass through objects and she doubted that here, in reality where she seemed to have slight weight, she would be able to do the same. But she had to try because she refused to be stuck in the basement for who knows who long, even if it was her room and was stocked with crosswords. To her immense relief, Bella was able to pass through the door with no resistance when her hand failed to grasp the door handle.
Just like when she was dream walking, there was a limit to what she could grasp; she could pass through anything she wanted to, but only the objects that were not connected directly to the nightmare or the subject of the nightmare were the objects she could move. She reasoned that by being able to open the door, she would be alerting someone to her presence – someone who could not know that she was in her astral form.
Bella did not intend to actually stay in her home, mostly because she didn't particularly want to run into Charlie. That left the question as to where she would go, as she had never bothered to make friends in this town.
Oddly, the first person that came to mind was Edward, maybe because he had been so involved in her life earlier in the day.
He'd been rude, he'd saved her and right before Charlie ordered her to the car, he seemed to have a shift in demeanor that he didn't get the chance to express. It made Bella curious.
Now, the question is where to find him, she thinks as she passes through the front door, pleased that the pouring rain and cold wind from earlier had no effect on her astral body. She'd been lucky enough to leave the house without seeing any of her family.
Riley had mentioned, in passing, that Edward lived alone on the far side of town in a house rented by his father; for a while, when Edward first moved to the sleepy town, this information was a source of excitement due to the potential of parties. To Bella's knowledge, no such parties had ever been hosted, but the mere possibility was enough to keep students excited.
Bella knew there were only a handful of homes on the far side of town, newer homes farther from the high way, closer to the forest – she figured that, with her ambivalence to the weather, she could afford to wander around until she found him.
Naturally, that's exactly what she did.
Bella's astral body was an interesting thing – a part of being with a specific set of limitations that Bella had mastered very early on in life. Though she was not familiar with her astral form in the real world, she still maintained her belief that anything she could do while dream walking, she could do now. With a brief blink of her eyes, Bella sent her astral body to the far side of town; it was almost like jumping dreams, just a bit more specific.
All she could do now was to wait and wonder why Edward the Asshole was the person she had intentions of seeking. There didn't seem to be any particular reason – just a feeling in her gut that drew her in his direction, a sense in her mind that nudged her towards him.
Stuck in her astral form, she had no reason for denying what her most base instincts requested. After all, it wasn't like she could do anything else.
Materializing on a random street on the far side, she stands in the rain, silently marveling at how the rain seemed to both avoid her body and pass through it. Her feet were bare and made tiny impressions on the puddles she stood in, but she could not kick the water, make a splash, or feel the cold that would normally seep into her toes. For a few moments, she explored the odd sensation of being in the rain without getting wet and found herself smiling – normally, her astral form when dream walking denied her this experience.
Bella drifted through the streets of the far side, the homes in the middle of construction, until she came across one street with a lone house at the end. For whatever reason, this house called to her more than the few others had; during the blue-grey light of day, even smothered by icy rain, the home felt familiar, painted a deep green with white trim, one garage, a plain mail box. It wasn't anything interesting to look at but Bella felt that if she could just stop and stare at the home, some of her questions, even the ones unasked, could be answered.
It wasn't long until a silver car that was far too familiar drove down the street, towards the house Bella was standing in front of. Slowly, the car pulled into the driveway, the engine shutting off quickly, leaving only the pitter-patter sound of rain on concrete. Almost cautiously, the car door opens, the bottom of his jeans almost immediately soaked by the onslaught of rain.
Edward's steel grey eyes are wide, his jaw tense, his hair falling over his forehead, plastered to his face as the rain coats his body. "What the fu-Bella?"
A small part of her is pleased he knows her name – she didn't have any idea, really, that he paid attention. She assumed that Edward, like the rest of their class, simply didn't bother to remember who Bella was, only that she was the weird girl related to the pretty cheerleader. A wave of satisfaction rolls over her shoulders, which she ruthlessly pushes away because she doesn't care that he knows her name – that would be stupid.
As for the rest of her, Bella is downright shocked that Edward can even see her – so she doesn't say anything as her eyes widen. She stares back at Edward, trying to comprehend how he can see her astral form when her siblings didn't even detect her presence.
That…wasn't expected.
Edward slams the car door, hastily approaching the girl standing in his driveway, his heart pounding in his chest because she looked positively ethereal, standing in nothing but a sweater and shorts…her short hair unmoved by the wind…her dry hair.
His own hand moves to his scalp, pushing against wet strands, his brows furrowing.
That doesn't make any sense.
Bella is staring back at him, her expression something akin to shock, which also doesn't seem logical – Edward doesn't understand.
Why is she in his driveway?
Why is she dry?
Why is the rain bouncing off her?
Why…does she look alarmed that he can see her?
His stomach sinks quickly, meeting his feet, making his head light as he takes a step closer. "What are you doing here?"
Edward watches as Bella shrugs, the movement of her shoulders not even grazing the ends of her wild hair. He thinks, in that brief moment, that she might possibly be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
Why hadn't he noticed before?
It was almost as if the events from Biology had completely and viscerally altered his entire perception of the quiet girl – he suddenly noticed who she was, what she looked like, what she could potentially mean to him. Edward was almost uncomfortable with these seemingly random thoughts, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering how soft her skin was or if her hands were really as tiny as they appeared. He realized a little belatedly that he admired her, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the day's events or if it was something he hadn't consciously realized.
"I don't know," she finally answers, her brows furrowing as her crosses her arms.
Edward nods, because at this point, what did make sense?
He again notices the way the world seems to interact around her body – the wind that pushes against his own clothes doesn't have an effect on her sweater, she doesn't shiver from the chilled rain and she doesn't seem to notice that she's standing in a large puddle.
A chilling through crosses his mind and he blurts it out – a little upset, a lot shaken.
"Are you dead?"
A/N: Completely blown away by the response to this story – I mean, I post last night and when I check my email today, literally 126 messages in my inbox, telling me that people are following, favoring and reviewing. I was flabbergasted!
Shout out to the first ten reviews of the last (3) chapter(s):
Theoddwallflower – I think you really nailed Riley's characterization; he knows what's happening is wrong but he also recognizes that he can't take on Charlie by himself. Smartish and wimpyish. Got it.
Twivampchick – That's a really nice way of saying Charlie's a nutjob lol
Dinotopian – Stick with it! I promise it gets better! In fact, I'm 90% certain that the last chapter was the last Bella-beating one; any other violence will be Edward losing his shit or Charlie getting the beat down.
celia azul – I think, if possible, Bella would stay in the astral plane by choice!
Lilypad10 – Glad you like it!
boo1414 – Bella is invisible in more ways that one and unfortunately, that goes for a lot of abused kids.
Kgunter34 – I don't really like writing the angst, but I like this so far!
Jasper's Wifey xoxo – Ah, the awesome Ed/Bella development. More to come!
Dipsydoodle – Sometimes, we can't really explain why people who observe abuse don't take action; sometimes, it just is. These are teenagers, they can't be perfect, sadly!
LunaDiSangue85 – Yeah, Bella's been dealt a really bad hand . I'm evil!
bbe4evr – Glad you're loving it!
Super special shout out to the first review of the last (3) chapter(s) – Savannavansmutsmut – Due to the amazing response, I got another chapter out ASAP.
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.
~cupcakeriot