Chapter Five

Bella

"Jasper"

I called as loudly as I dared hearing a cruisers siren but he didn't return and I got up, staggering out onto the street again, my jaw aching from the punch I'd received. The other girls were getting to their feet and binding up cuts and checking for broken bones. When the cops finally drew up they weren't convinced by our story but taking a look in the alley they called up an ambulance and took us all to the hospital to be checked out. I found out that one of the two guys who'd attempted to rape me was dead, a broken neck. The other had been emasculated and bled out before he could be picked up. They kept me in an interview room for hours but I couldn't tell them anything, I hadn't seen who had saved me. I had no idea who my savior had been, I had no friends here and eventually they let me go.

Unfortunately one of the cops recognized my name, Charlie had put out an unofficial watch for me so he came on the phone relieved I was OK but furious I'd just upped and left with no more than a note and a few calls. It turned out Edward had besieged the house for weeks, demanding to know where I was. The Cullens had now left Forks but he still contacted Charlie every week for news. I told dad I wasn't going home and begged him not to tell Edward anything. He pleaded but eventually agreed with me as long as I accepted some money to find a better place to stay. I didn't but added the money to my fund for travelling. I stayed at the restaurant for another few months but things had changed. Some of the girls moved on, terrified by what had happened and the new girls coming in weren't so friendly so just before Christmas I headed off again.

The pull was still there moving me ever Southwards. I rang Renee and Phil and they invited me for Christmas with them so I relented and went home for the festive season but it wasn't a great success. They tried to persuade me to stay in Jacksonville but I wanted my freedom, I was beginning to enjoy travelling and trying different jobs short-term, it wasn't a way to get a career but I didn't want one now. I felt unsettled if I stayed in one place too long. I had already decided it was time to move on when I overheard a phone call between Phil and Edward.

"Yes Edward she's here but I don't know how long for. I know you worry about her and I promised to let you know if we heard anything. She OK, working and travelling."

That was my cue to get the hell out of Dodge. I wrote a thank you note and left it on the table when they went out shopping then topped up the gas tank and headed towards Arizona. I had no idea why but it seemed to call to me. Once I started moving the ache in my chest eased. It had started building as I stayed in Jacksonville and I knew it was my internal compass drawing me ever onward. I needed to get a fair distance from Renee's before Edward could get there and try to trace me. As I headed South something suddenly changed, it wanted me to head North so I turned the truck around and drove on.

After ten straight hours again I stopped exhausted at a motel and slept but only for a few hours before I woke in a cold sweat expecting to see Edward sitting beside my bed. The room was empty and I heaved a sigh of relief but I couldn't get back to sleep so I went next door to a cafe and had two mugs of strong coffee and breakfast. Sitting in the window the ache in my chest eased right up and I looked out to see a shiny pick-up drive past. Very nice I thought and then the ache started again but stronger than ever. I went out to my truck and followed the shiny pick up along the highway, the ache almost disappearing when I got close.

This was ridiculous, if I told anyone I'd be locked up as crazy. The pick up turned off the main road and I carried on but the further I got from it the worse the ache got, as if pulling me back. In the end I pulled over and sat trying to catch my breath. What the hell was going on? Was I really going crazy? I debated going on but the ache was getting worse so I turned the truck round and retraced my route until I got to the turn off the pick up had taken. There was a mail box at the top of the drive, "Whitlock". That meant nothing to me and I could hardly go driving down there. What could I say, "a weird feeling made me drive after your pick up truck". Yeah sure! I got out of my truck and stood looking down the drive, I couldn't see any house but it was a long driveway, well rough track really. I shook my head and got back in my truck starting the engine still undecided.

In the end I drove back down the highway until I came to a motel and I took a room for two nights. Going to eat in the attached diner I thought it might be a good idea to ask about the Whitlock place. The waitress was happy to chat as business was slow,

"Oh the Whitlock place! Yeah I know it. A couple own the place, odd really, they hardly ever come in to town, I think she's a designer of some sort and he raises horses, lots of money. I think its been in the family a long time, my parents remember Whitlocks there, always a couple never any children, very odd."

"Do they drive a pick up?"

"Yeah, a shiny new one. I think they have a guest because I saw two guys in the cab this morning and the woman wasn't there, unusual that. Why do you ask?"

"Idle curiosity really, I saw the name and I had a friend called Whitlock once, I wondered if they were related."

"Oh right. Well I don't think they're very friendly, they don't mix anyway."

"Probably not the same family anyway but thanks."

As I was finishing my meal the waitresses friend came in looking flustered,

"Mel honey, what's up?"

"I have just seen the man of my dreams Annie. He was drop dead gorgeous, blond hair, face of an angel and a smile... God I want to have his kids!"

"OK where did you see this God?"

"Well that's the interesting bit. He was with that Whitlock guy at the Feed Store."

I didn't wait to hear any more but paid and went out smiling. I wondered if the guy really was so gorgeous or if she was just joking. I'd met a guy like that once and I wondered what he was doing now, if the family had finally forgiven him for their own actions. As I lay in bed that night I remembered his face as he took my hand, the way he had swept me round the dance floor and his lips on my hand. Even the memory had power enough to make my heart beat faster, Alice was one lucky woman to have a guy so beautiful and so graceful, so relaxing.

"Whoa Bella stop! You'll be panting soon. Think of Edward, you thought he was the man of your dreams. I tried very hard to conjure up Edwards face but it was blurred, a hint of bronze hair, part of a smile but nothing to take my breath away as it once had. The next day I stopped by the sign again and gazed down the track having the strange feeling I should follow it but knowing in my head that was crazy. I drove into town and stopped outside the Feed Store watching for the pick up but of course it never appeared, they had been there the day before, too late as usual Bella. I walked round the town, browsing in the book store and picking up a book of poetry without really looking at it. Back at the motel I paid for another night although I didn't know why I was delaying my journey. I needed to get a job soon, I was wasting time here but still I stayed. I found myself stopped at the end of the track or parked close to the Feed Store. I needed to see these Whitlocks for some reason I couldn't explain even to my self.