Chapter Eighteen

Bella

After I threw my drink over Jake he stayed away. I missed Jaspers company and longed for the barbecue to be over knowing he wouldn't come back until the wolves had left. I was tired long before the party was finished and struggled to stay awake talking to Sue about weddings. She offered to help with our wedding assuming it would take place in Forks for Charlie. I wasn't going to tell her I would never come back to Forks, I'd never put Jasper in this situation again and I hated Jake for causing the problem. I noticed Harry and Billy shooting me concerned looks but I pretended I hadn't and ignored them as much as possible. I'd liked both of them but if it came down to a choice between their friendship and Jasper, he won hands down.

Jasper

I wanted to be angry with Charlie for inviting the Quileutes but he didn't know, and they were his friends. Leaving Bella with them was hard but it was better than starting a fight and Jake wasn't going to let it drop. I decided to go hunting and then check the old house just out of curiosity. Hunting took a while and then I approached the house which sat silent and desolate in the moonlight. The door wasn't locked and I walked in, it smelled of dust and Humans. Someone had been in here, probably kids, although nothing looked touched. There were no empty bottles on the hardwood floor, no graffiti on the white walks. I went upstairs to the room Alice and I had shared, it was empty except for my old leather recliner and a few books on a shelf by the window. Picking one up I opened it, a History of The Civil War, smiling I sat down and began to read. The room was in darkness but that wasn't a problem with my enhanced sight. As I reached the end of the second book I looked up, the sky was a dark velvety blue with stars shining through it here and there but in the distance I saw an orange glow marring the darkness.

In seconds I was out of the window running through the night towards the source of the glow. As I approached I heard the sounds of high pressure hoses and excited voices. Pushing my way through the small crowd I looked on in horror as the first floor of the house crashed down into its centre, looking round desperately I saw Sam and Jake talking. Running over to them I pulled Sam round to face me.

"Charlie? Bella? What happened?"

Jake growled but Sam stopped him with a hand,

"We don't know, when we left Charlie was putting the barbecue out and Bella had gone to bed. We only just got here but I heard the Fire Chief talking to one of the Deputies. Someone in the next street saw the flames and rang it in. No one had seen Charlie or Bella and it's too hot to get inside the house and search. Why don't you stay here with me until we get any news? If they got out we'll hear soon enough.

I looked at the water-logged, still steaming ruin of the house, unable to believe Bella might be gone. I tried to feel her emotions, sure if she were here, nearby, I would feel her, but there was nothing, just an ache in my chest where her fire had burned. I would stay until they had searched the ruin for bodies but I already knew. My beautiful Bella was gone and I fell to my knees, the sorrow knocking my feet from under me. As I knelt there consumed by grief I heard voices,

"We're ready to go in now Chief."

The Fire Chief gave the go ahead and the Fire Crew started their search. I heard the second they found the first body and I tensed,

"Looks like Chief Swan here, in what's left of the sitting room. It looks like he was overcome by fumes by the way he's laying."

I allowed myself a second of hope before I heard another cry.

"We've got another one. Looks like whoever it was, they were in bed. I guess its his Daughter but we'll need dental records to tell. Did she wear a ring?"

I had to see, I had to know, and I went forward dodging the [Police cordon to reach the place they were standing. Kneeling in the black oily water I looked at the remains of a Human among charred sheets and a twisted metal bed frame. The figure was wearing a ring, a distorted gold band with a single stone covered by soot. I brushed it away and collapsed in a heap, my life was over, my Bella dead.

Sam

When I heard his cry of pain I knew he'd found her and I went to him, pushing away the Officers trying to move him. I put an arm around him and lifted him to his feet,

"You come with me Jasper, Now, before they start asking questions"

I took a quick look at the remains of Charlie's Daughter and led her broken-hearted fiancé away, ignoring the Treaty and taking him straight to our place on the Reservation. He sat silent, head bowed as I explained what had happened to a shocked Emily. She looked over at our guest with compassion then put her hand over mine in support. I looked at her tiny hand, the ring sparkling against her dark skin and my mind flashed back to the sad picture of Bella, or what was left of the beautiful girl who had captured at least three supernatural hearts.

Jasper

A pain and darkness engulfed me when I wiped away the soot and saw my ring. I blamed myself, I should have been there to save her. She should have been in my arms, safe when the fire started. I couldn't believe that fate could do this to me, let me find my mate and then snatch her away from me at the very moment our life together was about to start. My eyes closed with the effort of keeping control in front of all these Humans when all I wanted to do was rip the smoking ruins apart, find a still glowing ember of the fire that had taken away my Bella and coax it back to life to consume me too. Let me join my love in whatever came after this life. I knew if there were a Heaven Bella would be there, happy and peaceful but I also knew my path there was blocked when I became what I am, only eternal damnation awaited me.. When I felt Sam's hand on my shoulder I wanted to rip it off but I controlled myself and having no idea what else to do I followed him back to his truck and onto the Reservation. I didn't even see his mate as he gestured me to a seat but I heard voices, voices which merely underlined what I already knew, Bella was gone and with her the only worthwhile part of me.

Sam

I closed my eyes and the picture of the fire site floated in front of my eyes. Something was nagging at my subconscious, something I'd missed. I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen and drew what I'd seen, then looked at it, was it right? Was it what I'd actually seen? I took another piece over to Jasper and laid it on the coffee table in front of him, putting the pen into his unresisting hand. He looked at it, then me, catching my mood,

"Draw what you saw, exactly what you saw."

"Why?"

"Trust me, Just draw it. I'll explain afterwards."