Disclaimer: Invisible people can't own Twilight.
Chapter Seven
Bella's astral body didn't sleep – but Edward did. After a very awkward moment of dancing around sleeping arrangements, which Bella ended quite efficiently by blurting that she simply couldn't sleep, Edward had lumbered off to his room, resolutely closing the door behind him. Bella had then been at a loss; what could she do while he slept?
The answer came rather abruptly when, not an hour after Edward disappeared into his room, a low, keening groan drifted through the walls.
Edward was having a nightmare.
It was a gut feeling for Bella and she didn't hesitate to breach the barrier between his room and the living room.
For a moment, she admired the shape of his broad, tanned shoulders as he slept stretched out on his stomach. He was truly a fine specimen of a man.
Her flash of admiration didn't linger; her attention was drawn back to his situation, his fingers digging into dark sheets, his skin prickling under cold sweat.
It could have been his own nightmare, a nightmare that was private, meant solely for Edward.
It could have been, but it wasn't.
The pull of her astral instincts indicated that this nightmare was for her.
It was a horrifying realization, one that shook Bella to her core. She didn't seek Edward out for the mere fact that he was meant to help her; he was also meant to carry on her duty, forced to experience her nightmares while she was unable to. It wasn't fair to him – she wished that she could change this hopefully temporary fate of his, but she couldn't.
Bella believed in fate.
She had to, as a changer of fate, she had to believe it existed.
Right now, it was Edward's fate to have Bella's nightmares – but that didn't mean she couldn't help. She was the master of her nightly excursions, having dealt with them for the past seventeen years.
If Bella didn't help, Edward would be completely lost.
She takes a deep breath, huffing through her nose.
There was no easy way to breach someone's dreams; it wasn't something gentle that had to be done, it was abrupt, a violent intrusion. Bella was very familiar with it.
She seats her astral body on Edward's bed, the mattress unmoving underneath the invisible weight of her body, legs crossed, hands hovering over Edward's rebellious hair. Beside her, he made a pained, choked sound.
She didn't have time to waste.
Her fingers sink into his hair, buried in soft rust colored hair. With a resolute huff, Bella closes her eyes and allows her mind to sink into Edward's body, melding with his dreams, leaving the very translucent form of her body beside his as her astral mind sinks into his nightmare.
Her nightmare.
To her trained eye, it was obvious that the nightmare had just started; the most horrific scene greeted Bella's entrance, large gasoline semi-truck burning, crunched home underneath fire, screams echoing into a dark night and, on the opposite side of the high way, a blue pick up twisted around a large tree.
Bella shivers.
This was nothing new – she was used to these images and she kept them vague in her own mind.
The end result was never the most important part.
Bella's eyes rove the scene for Edward, finding his stunned form beside the small blue truck, his eyes wide, dismayed, frightened, angry. His fingers push through his hair in distress; he doesn't notice her until she steps up beside him, forcing her eyes away from the mangled corpse reeking of whiskey that lay over the steering wheel. She gently turns him away.
"The nightmares always start at the end," she tells him. "This is a warning, a picture of what will happen at the end."
"What?"
"This is the end of the nightmare," she says again, keeping calm. "We're about to go to the beginning, so brace yourself."
Before Edward can sputter out his incredulous response, the world around them blurs in reverse, the blue truck behind them uncoiling from the tree, backing up, un-swerving around the oncoming gasoline semi, driving backwards, parking in a lot, the driver stumbling gracelessly backwards towards a reversing door until, finally, the drunk driver is merely spending his time getting drunk.
Edward looks dizzy.
Bella, used to this rapid reversal, begins to observe her surroundings – she had to know the time, the exact place and the when.
The dive bar was familiar, one that was on the outside of town near the highway. Nondescript, just wooden and brown, more like a shack than a place to get a drink.
Bella grabs Edward's elbow, leading him through the door.
"We just walked through a door," Edward tells her unnecessarily. "Through a door."
"Yes, we did. Now pay attention."
Edward digs his feet into the floor, causing Bella to stop. She sighs, looking up at his scowling face.
"What the fuck is going on here, Bella?"
She removes her hand from his elbow. "You're having my nightmare."
"You mean, the nightmares that are actually premonitions that you have to stop from happening?"
Bella nods, once.
"What the fuck?" Edward explodes, throwing his hands in the air. His voice is louder than the bad country music playing in the bar, but none of the patrons notice – they can't see her or Edward, they never can.
Bella crosses her arms. "It's not like I picked you, Edward. This is beyond my control."
This doesn't seem to appease Edward.
"This is five shades of fucked up! This shit is real?"
"You thought I was lying?"
"No!"
"You thought I was crazy, then?"
"No," he insists, his body suddenly losing tension. "No. I believed you. I just…didn't expect this."
Bella pushes hair out of her face, shrugging one shoulder. "Neither did I, trust me. This is the last thing I wanted. But since I apparently can't change it or prevent it, we have to get to work. What happened back there…that's a tragedy we can prevent."
Edward stares at her back for a moment. "Has anyone ever told you that you're remarkably brave?"
She smothers her snort – she was brave? She was probably the most cowardly person on the planet, too scared to lose the small bond with her siblings, too scared to defend herself, too scared to stop Charlie. What she did with the nightmares wasn't the product of courage – it simply was.
A duty.
A purpose.
It was her life – nothing more, nothing less.
"Come on, Edward," she says, purposefully choosing not to reply to his last remark. "We have to figure out a way to prevent this nightmare from becoming a reality."
Hands in his pockets, Edward nods, following Bella a safe distance away, merely watching as she seems to wander aimlessly around.
He could only assume she was letting her "instincts" guide her.
It was odd, he decided, to be lucid, to know he was dreaming about a future event. He wondered how she kept her sanity, especially if those images that assaulted her on a nightly basis.
He wondered how many tragedies she prevented on her own – how many lives she saved.
That number was probably very high, considering the very low crime rate of their small town.
"Got it," Bella says suddenly, standing beside a gruff man in a plaid shirt, greasy hair hanging over his face. She nods towards the set of car keys sitting beside his whiskey shot on the bar top. "We just need to get these."
"Great," Edward says quickly. "Get them and let's get out of here. I don't like being here-"
"Edward," she interrupts, stepping away from the sloppy drunk. "Taking his keys away here isn't going to do any good."
He blinks at her.
Bella sighs. "We need to get out of this dream and actually do something about it," she says firmly. "Go to this bar right now and take them away."
"How do you know this is happening right now?"
Bella crosses her arms over her chest. "I never nightmare more than two days in advance," she confesses, her eyes flicking to something over his shoulder. "Plus, that little television is set on the news. Date and time, right there. Let's go."
Edward decided Bella was a lot smarter than she looked.
She reaches for him and hesitates, shaking off the feel of his eyes on her face – that didn't matter right now. Bella grabs his hands suddenly and forces them from the nightmare, her eyes closed as she shuts off the invisible connection to the future.
Upon waking, Edward gasps, cold sweat dried on his back. He moves, sitting up, the sheet falling off his waist to reveal plain black boxers slung low on his hips. "Jesus, was that real?" he mutters.
Bella takes a moment to make sure she's fully settled in her astral body before she answers. "Yes. Grab your keys. We have to leave now," she orders, standing from his bed.
"Right," Edward answers, reaching for his dirty jeans and whatever shirt that was next to it on the floor. Comfortable in his body – he was arrogant enough to know he looked good – he doesn't mind Bella's silent presence in his room as he dresses quickly.
Keys in hand, Edward and Bella rush out his front door. Edward blinks stupidly when Bella passes through his passenger door; it was so weird to see someone so tangible just…disappearing through objects and coming out unscathed on the other side. He shakes the thought off and pulls out of his driveway, listening to Bella's directions.
Merging onto the highway, he glances at her lithe form. "What would you do normally? I mean, this bar is pretty far from your house."
Bella shrugs. "Walk," she answers simply. She chooses to omit the fact that her astral body can transport her anywhere she wanted if she knew the location. It wasn't relevant.
"You don't wake Riley?"
"It's not his responsibility," she tells him, her toffee eyes cutting to the side.
Edward nods. "Okay. I get that."
"Good."
"Right."
"Left here."
"Right," he replies easily, hands clenching and unclenching on the wheel. He can't bite his tongue for too long and finds himself blurting words into the silence of his car. "Why is it my responsibility?"
Bella sighs, shifting, placing her feet on his dash – something he hates but can't really comment on, given the fact that she wasn't really there. If she was ever truly in his car, he'd have to break that habit.
"It's your responsibility because of fate. Just accept it. It's temporary."
Edward doesn't get the chance to respond, as Bella is already waiting for him in front of the bar. Shit, she's fast. And impatient.
He just barely manages to follow her through the dark bar, hands in pockets as he tries to seem as casual as possible. He had the brief thought that he was glad it was him to have this nightmare; a girl as pretty as Bella didn't belong alone in a place like this.
Thankfully, the bar owner seems to be absent or out back, as he is able to slip through the mostly empty room with admirable stealth. Like in the nightmare, Bella is standing beside the oblivious drunk, eyeing the keys.
"What do I do?" Edward mouths, standing on the other side of the slightly snoring drunk man.
She rolls her eyes. "Just take it. He's passed out for now."
Edward nods – that makes sense, after all. Carefully, he closes his hands around the sparse set of keys, gripping them tightly so he doesn't make noise.
Then he turns to Bella, hand full of keys at his side. "Now what?"
Bella's eyes rove around the bar, her body pulling her towards the bathroom. She turns, quirking a brow at Edward. "Flush them."
And so, he does.
A/N: UPDATE TWO OF TWO! I'm continuing to respond to reviews from Chapter 5 here!
Twilight Rocker 12 – Glad this could cure your cold! Lol
Jansails – Bella's astral form is seeking him out for all kinds of reasons. She won't be in that form for too long!
miranda04 – Like I've said before, people who grow up around violence react in different ways; they watch, the ignore, they become violent themselves, etc. Riley and Bree are still teenagers and they do what they can to help after the fact. Sometimes, that has to be enough.
boo1414 – Ah, Edward, he seems a little dopey here lol
solidae26 – Glad you love it!
luvstwilight4ever – Glad you liked the chapter!
james3142 – LOL I love how you get suspicious of Edward! Hilarious!
brittany86 – Good observation. You know how some people are only really certain that they love black coffee? Well, that's how he feels about fighting – he likes the fight and to an extent, he might like the pain. Just like black-coffee lovers might not want cream or sugar, Edward might not want to deal with anything outside of his fists.
LunaDiSangue85 – Lol at this point, why he can see her is like a four-for-one!
Libby Blue – Hmmm, I wonder how prone to over reacting this Edward might be!
yagalinus0420 – I love your enthusiasm!
ratih choco – I'm glad you love the story, even if you hate the Charlie!
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.
~cupcakeriot