Chapter Twenty Six

Bella

Jasper and I had decided that I would leave work before the wedding and then I didn't have to worry about a cover story for leaving once we decided the time was right for me to become a vampire. We had discussed the whole thing with the rest of the family and decided that an accident while abroad on our honeymoon would give everyone the cleanest break. The rest of the family would give it six months after that and then begin plans for moving themselves. That way we could, if we chose, join them or we could continue travelling or make a home of our own. Personally, I thought having the family for support during my transformation and newborn phase was the best option and to my relief, Jasper agreed. We just had to decide exactly when I would undergo the transformation. A few weeks pain-free as a newly married woman did appeal I have to admit although I was the one keen not to age any more.

Having a lot of free time now I spent as much as possible of it with Jasper but he kept working at the newspaper and the times he was working I usually found myself at the house with Esme and the girls. I still felt a little nervous alone at home as we had no idea where Edward was but over the course of a few weeks that anxiety did ease up. Carlisle thought he had gone somewhere to lick his wounds and would turn up again when he thought enough time had passed for him to be accepted back by the family. When I asked him how long he thought that would take he smiled a little sadly,

"I'm not sure he will ever be trusted by any of us again Bella but this is his family, the only one he has so eventually we will put our anger aside and he can then come back and try to earn it back. It would be easy to say never, but never is a very long time for an immortal being like us."

I hadn't really thought of it that way but he was right, I couldn't imagine being shut out from my family for eternity with no one else to turn to. Perhaps, just perhaps, I would find a way to forgive if not forget but I doubted Jasper would be so liberal minded.

Edward

So, one big happy family, my family yet I was barred from it. Bella was welcomed with open arms, her family too but not me. I was an outcast, a fugitive and threatened yet she was the one who got all the sympathy. Why was I the only one to see what a disaster she would be for the family? Jasper may appear in control these days but I remembered him when he first arrived on the scene, following Alice like a muzzled attack dog ready to kill anything that crossed him. Did they really think he had done a complete 180? If they did then they were fools, all of them. The first time Bella did something to cross him the mask would slip and the beast would appear. How would they explain Bella's death then?

The Volturi were sure to hear, Aro had eyes and ears everywhere and we were an easy target, we stayed in one place and made them nervous by interacting with humans all the time. One slip is all it would take and we were dead or prisoners and I for one had no intention of spending the rest of eternity as a prisoner in Volterra. I had tried to avoid just such a fate but no one understood. If Bella had admitted her feelings for me and seen how much better for her I was then we would be safe. I could look after her, keep her safe, and I was not a threat to her or her family. I had been forced to explain Jasper's true nature, our secret to her in order for her to understand the peril she was in but the stupid bitch panicked and caused all this trouble.

I had tried to decide what would be my best move now, I couldn't hear what the others were thinking but I was sure that Rosalie would be fuming even if she hid it well. She had always been terrified our secret would come out and she must see Bella was the most likely candidate to do just that, women could never keep their mouths shut however hard they tried. A secret was an alien concept to them. But Rosalie wouldn't act, she was too afraid of Jasper which meant it was still down to me to save us all and unfortunately it meant the end for Bella. The only way to silence her permanently and rid ourselves of the possibility of destruction was to kill her.

Of course, I had no intention of draining her, I'd had my fill of human blood years before and understood only too well the evil allure of its magic. I would have to ensure she had an accident if I could find her free of bodyguards that was. I was beginning to think that an impossible task but then opportunity knocked. Emmett and Rose were out hunting, Alice was still on vacation, Carlisle and Jasper both at work and Esme had to go to Seattle to pick up some urgent samples she'd been waiting for. When Bella said she would stay home, she had some laundry and baking to do for Charlie I knew this was my opportunity to act.

This was further underlined when Charlie announced he would be out of town all day, so all I needed to do was to lure her out of the house and into the forest. I didn't want my scent in the house or Jasper would spend the rest of eternity hunting me down and to be frank, the thought of that scared me, especially now there was nothing but silence in my head. Remembering that I could do a reasonable approximation of Jacob Black's voice I decided to lay the blame at his door, what could be better than one less wolf sniffing around.

I was tense when Bella answered the phone, would she recognize my voice? Would she suspect a trap? No, she was short with me but I knew she was no fan of her old flame these days and hadn't seen him in a long while.

"What do you want Jake?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye. I know you're leaving Forks soon with the leec….Anyway, I'm going to Montana, to my uncle's for a while and I didn't want us to part on bad terms. You've made your decision and I can't change it."

"We can say goodbye now."

"I'd like to see you just one more time, I have something for you."

"Come here then, I'm busy."

"Please Bella, I don't think you want my scent in the house for your boyfriend to sniff, do you? It won't take long, I'll meet you at the old picnic site on the edge of town."

She hesitated so long I was sure she was going to refuse which would mean me breaking in and hauling her out, something I didn't want to do for a variety of reasons.

"OK, but I only have an hour, I'm busy the rest of the day."

"Really or is that an excuse?"

"I'm having lunch with Jessica and Angela, satisfied?"

I hadn't known of her plans but it made no difference, I only needed a few minutes.

"Thank you, Bella. I'll see you soon."

I made my way quickly to the picnic site, one I'd heard her telling Jasper about one day, somewhere she and Jake had used as a meeting place when they were dating, not that it looked very romantic, or maybe she was just easily pleased! I found a good spot to watch for her arrival, a tree on the path that led from the parking lot. As she walked beneath it I could drop on her, snap her neck and be out of the area in seconds. It smelled of rank wet dog so the wolves still used the area which was good, it would help mask my scent from the curious. Her body would be found, but not too quickly which would give me time to make myself scarce. I would make my way back to the house and wait for the news of her death to break. Maybe Jasper would be the one to discover her body, now that would be poetic, it was just unfortunate that I wouldn't be there to witness his pain.