"Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure" - Psalm 16:9


The Thread

In front of her house, there was a giant tree. It was heavy on the top, and slightly weak underneath. The leaves were of an odd colour, like something that is conjured up the moment she sets eyes on it. When dusk hits, and the yellow lamplight underneath turns on, there is no green to rival the ones of those leaves. Another tree is right beside it, a bit forward, the tip of its left side hitting the top of the one behind. In the middle there is a small horizon, peaking out in a small triangle of bright oranges and blues. Right when the clock hits seven, she likes to go out and gaze at that small triangle in the middle. Protected and furiously beautiful. During the summer she can see a few dark wings pass by against the setting sun, birds in flocks, running away.

She wished she could run away without looking back too. Free flight on a warm, chilly afternoon.


Bella decided was going to make her way to the dungeon once again. This time not as her, but as someone unrecognizable. She spent half of her money on a pair of black leggings and a top. The hat was from a fishing trip from years ago, with all her hair tucked into it and the hood pulled up, she looked like a robber. Unrecognisable. Hopefully.

Maybe its too much? She thought to herself looking in the mirror. Her face was the same, the same lips and round eyes. She looked distinguishable in this outfit. Too… would stand out too much She tried again, stripping everything off and putting on the most random things she could find, things that she'd never wear.

A long cardigan, a massive shirt, and a peasant skirt. All neutral colors. She needed to do something about her face. She rushed down to the nursery, borrowing a costume wig from Ada, who looked slightly bewildered, with a hint of pity. Great.

Blonde looked alright on her, she concluded. She fingered the dirty strands of her fake hair. Putting on a pair of glasses she seemed confident she wasn't recognisable.

It was time to put her plan in action. She had about a five percent success rate, with the rest alluding to her spending the majority of her life in jail. But what had she got to lose?

She had no parents, no house, no job, not much education. Hell, she didn't even have a hundred saved in her bank account. All she had was her ailing grandmother. She wanted to protect the one thing she had.

It was 4 am by the time she had trekked out to his office. She had clutched the pole in the bus she rode in, eyes downcast and breathing heavily. She desperately wanted to return home and crawl in her cold bed.

Her eyes fell on the dimming skyline as the world passed her by. Tall buildings came into view, the slight glow of the hiding sun reflecting off of the shiny walls, trees swayed in the gentle breeze and the world suddenly came to a standstill as she thought about the way the world had brought her to this moment. Standing here. Ready to throw away everything she has to save the one person who had held her hand while she had been abandoned.

The last thought of running slowly filtered out as she reached her stop. It was time.

The building was harder to enter this time. She couldn't just walk in and cause a ruckus. She cursed in anger at not thinking of a cap to wear to shield her from the cameras. She swiped her bangs more forward to hide as much of her face as she could. The emergency exit next to the bushes was the perfect spot to slip in. It seemed Mr. Cullen didn't see the long grown leaves of the tree beside it obstructing the CCTV. She smirked in triumph. She had managed to get one over him finally. Finally, she had the upper hand.

Upon reaching his office she noticed two things. One was that this man had zero taste. As someone who preferred dark colors, even she couldn't fathom how dark his office was. The blinds were a dark gray, floor was a light gray, and the ceiling was an even lighter gray. It was like he decided to go for the next best thing after complete darkness so that he feels proud of himself. What an ass.

The clock ticked as she searched. There had to be something here. Something. Something that could allow her to find some leeway. It was her last resort. Everytime her confidence waned or her heartbeat increased she thought of her grandmother at home, and her smile every time she brought her a hot bowl of soup. She would run out of money to buy her some salt let alone soup in a few days.

She breathed a thanks to her guardian angel, who had let her flirt with the security guard and swipe his pass. Besides one or two one night stands, she hadn't really focused on men in a long time. It seemed like she had gone rusty, but her fear pushed her confidence higher.

Her hand finally fell on an envelope tucked into the bottom of the drawer. It's cover was made of a different, thicker material than the rest. It was unusual. She was filled with glee as she opened it up slowly, her back pressed against the desk hiding her from plain sight.

The only thing that dropped out was a receipt.

Maybe he has a secret son and a baby mama. She thought. There's no way women were not throwing themselves at him.

She checked it carefully, her fingers tracing each and every line to try and understand what was written.

Under 'Item' it read,

Engravement,

"What the hell does that mean?", she whispered as she fumbled to read further. She came up with nothing. He had spent seven thousand dollars on an engravement? She took a deep breath. The door before her was closing fast. She scoffed at that analogy, it was more like a slight crack with barely any light shining through

"Look harder Bella, there must be something ", she mumbled to herself in a last attempt to save her entire life.

Her eyes fell on the address. Celine Memorials.

Huh. It was a cemetery. Her brows furrowed as she thought this through. Maybe this was a clue? But she should keep looking. This wasn't enough, and she didn't think she had the courage to do this again.

A sudden thud resounded from below, making her freeze. Her blood ran cold as her eyes dried up from lack of blinking. Shit

She waited for twenty minutes before slowly getting up, she took a picture of the receipt, making sure to return everything to it's rightful place. Not that there was much here, just a few files about how much he was raking in and a dusty Bible.

Figures, she thought, why would the Devil read the Bible?

She grabbed it anyway, flicking through the pages, wondering if he left a photograph or another receipt, people tended to leave their most precious things to the hands of god.

She found nothing. A few words caught her eye, underlined severely. Another thud resounded before she read it fully, closing it shut she shoved it away in its rightful place, heaving and planning her escape.


The next morning she found herself in front of the very same cemetery that Mr. Cullen had donated seven thousand dollars to. She wouldn't even dream of having that much money at once. And this man had spent it on an engraving. If she'd have it her way she'd have a stick cross on her grave to save money. But then again, the more you love someone…This thought had led her here. He must have loved this person. There was no second guessing.

Her eyes adjusted to the tall gates of the rundown cemetery, it was secluded, and took her half a day to find. The gate was covered in thick ivy, and in the corner a bushel of yellow roses, with thorns so thick that even the atmosphere around it would have been prickly to go near.

She slowly went inside, cranking the iron gate open further, for some reason it was already open. The chilly weather did nothing to ease her fear, it was going to get dark soon. Who was he hiding here?

She stepped over to each gravestone carefully, pulling out her phone to see if the names matched, but she found nothing.

She sighed in defeat, sitting down on a bench. A small bee flew by buzzing around her, the incessant buzzes increasing her headache, she swatted it away, phone in hand, causing it to slip and crash far away.

She groaned in agony, thinking of the bill she had to pay. She sat there and breathed not even bothering to go check it in fear of it being completely broken. Finally, when dark clouds started to appear in the evening sky, she gathered her wits and grabbed her phone, it was covered in falling leaves, which seemed to be covering something else…

She pocketed the phone without a second glance and knelt down, her breath quickened as she started wiping the leaves away, her fingers growing dusty from the sand and gravel covering the large gravestone. How did she not see this? She thought. It was the shiniest one of all. She finally uncovered the name, written against dark marble, in shiny white, carved in the most beautiful calligraphy.

In loving memory of Carlisle Masen

Her smile widened, yet she felt her heart sink. Like she was somehow connected to this man lying here, she felt her hands go towards the words written underneath, tracing each one with her fingertips.

"A part of me has departed with you"