Hey, so it's been 2 months since you last heard from me. Sorry about that. Adult life got in the way and I had really writer's block, every time I would write I'd remove half of what I wrote the next time because it didn't sound right. I must have rewritten this chapter 9 times but I've gotten to a point where I'm happy so I hope you all enjoy this late night update
CHAPTER 2
FEAR
After an hour of driving in silence, we finally arrived at the Cullen's house. Esme turned off the car but made no effort to move. No one moved nor did we speak about what we just witnessed. I glanced over at Alice, the anxiety in her eyes contrasting the confusion in mine. The air felt heavy with tension. The older woman looked shell-shocked, she was already pale, but at this point, she was ghostly white.
After what seemed like an eternity, I heard the seatbelts begin to unfasten and Alice's door open, I grabbed my bag and followed them into the house. The Cullen house was dark and quiet, which contributed to our uneasiness until we heard Tanya's faint giggle coming from the living room. It was Esme who led us into the living room, I did not want to see Edward swallow Tanya whole, however, I did not want to be alone in my thoughts. The three of us sat on the couch opposite the couple who still hadn't noticed us just yet.
I wanted answers to all the questions that had been floating around in my head all day. I tried to think but my mind just kept taking me back to Port Angeles. I was starting to get a headache from all the questions. I wonder if Dad's day is any better than mine. On instinct I grabbed my phone to text my dad, I guess in doing so I must have startled Edward.
"Holy shit! When did you come in" Edward screamed pushing Tanya off his lap at seeing his mother and sister.
"Not long," I said still distracted by my thoughts when I heard sniffling beside me.
I noticed that Esme was trying to hold back her tears, I watched as Alice went to comfort her mother. I didn't blame her we didn't even know what happened before we got to her. However, what we did see was scary enough. I held my hand out for her for comfort, thankful when she took it and held it tight.
"Hold my hand as long as you need to," I reassured her.
Alice mouthed 'Thank you," as she held her mother, I nodded in response.
We all forgot about the couple sitting in confusion across from us. I didn't know what they thought of our strange behavior, but that didn't matter. I heard Edward clear his throat to speak.
"Is everything alright?" Edward asked almost too loud in contrast to the silence in the room
No one had a chance to speak when another phone alert rang through the once-quiet living room. My heart dropped when I read the message, "Stay inside or seek shelter as soon as possible. Stay off the roads." I had more questions than answers and I couldn't wait any longer. I immediately jumped up and made a run for the door. I felt myself get pulled back at the last moment. I noticed Edward grabbed my forearm to stop me from leaving, his concern showing on his face. I was taken aback by his sudden bout of feelings toward me. There was warmth in his hand and a strong grip on my arm.
"You read the alert. Don't go. Please" Edward asked quietly.
Edward loosened his grip on my forearm and waited for me to agree. When I nodded in agreement he let go of my arm. Tanya was shocked by Edward's actions, I watched as she gave him a smack to the shoulder out of spite. Alice and I were both visibly shocked as well. Where was the Edward that wouldn't care if left, this just wasn't like him. Just then Esme let go of her tears along with everything else.
"I. screwed. up." Esme said in between sobs.
"What do you mean you screwed up?" I asked cautiously not trying to push her to speak if she didn't want to.
"I've. see-seen. Th-that man. be-fore." Esme spoke through sobs.
"What man? Who did you see?" Edward asked
"Th-the man. In P-port. Angeles" Esme bawled out
I went numb, Mine and Alice's jaws nearly dropped as Edward and Tanya just sat there confused. A minute of silence passed and all that was heard were Esme's sobs as she tried to calm herself enough to speak.
"What happened at Port Angeles? Edward asked us.
Esme was still attempting to calm herself so Alice spoke up.
"Well, Bella and I didn't see much. We got to Port Angeles and walked over to the dress shop-"
"Walked? You mean dragged!" I cut Alice off "Sorry continue"
Alice scowled at me and continued,
"Okay well, when we got to the dress shop it was closed. So we decided to get something to eat and that's when we noticed no one was around. Most of the shops and restaurants were closed and even had signs in the window that said 'Closed until further notice'." Alice started
"It was very quiet and eerie, It was all very unusual" I cut in
"There were a bunch of people screaming they all echoed from everywhere around us," Alice explained
"So we ran to the car to find some guy was trying to attack Esme-" I started.
"WHAT?" Edward cut me off.
"Are you ok?" Edward asked his mother.
The volume in which Edward spoke must have scared Esme as she jumped at his questions. I jumped up and started making movements toward the kitchen, I noticed Edward's eyes follow me to make sure I wasn't attempting to leave. When in the kitchen I grabbed a tall glass and filled it with water in hopes it would help calm Esme. I noticed Edward's eyes follow me again as I walked into the room again.
"Here, drink this," I said as I handed Esme the glass.
"Thank you," Esme said silently.
About 5 minutes later when Esme calmed down enough is when she finally spoke up again.
"I saw that man at work yesterday. He was in a hit-and-run accident early in the morning. He was brought in and died on my operating table but something strange happened. Jeff the hospital mortician said, that he heard some weird noises coming from the cooler so he opened it. The man got up off the table and started walking toward him, growling almost like a rabid animal. As he got closer he bit Jeff, and when he ran to get help, the man was gone." Esme recalled
I heard Tanya scoff quietly, I chose to ignore it until she spoke up.
"So what a dead guy got up and walked away? You probably didn't do your job right and he wasn't dead." Tanya screeched at Esme which caused her to leave the room sobbing again.
"Wow, Tanya learn some fucking respect." I screamed, "That is your fucktoy's mother you just insulted and might I remind you was just attacked." I was furious.
"No one asked you, Bella. For all we know the three of you planned this little attention-seeking charade." Tanya snidely responded.
"What would Esme or Alice need attention for in they're own home?" I shouted at Tanya.
"Not them. You Bella! You want attention from my Edward!" Tanya shrieked.
"Why the hell would I want any attention from your Edward? And If you can't read between the lines Edward and I hate each other." I yelled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward's face drop but I was seething with too much anger to care.
"You know what? Edward get your Barbie doll in line, she disrespected your mother and you are just fine with that but I'm not." I scolded as I grabbed my things and dashed to the door.
Edward made no move to stop me like before. I wasn't surprised.
"Don't go Bella it's not safe out there." I heard Alice call to me.
As I got to my truck I slammed the door behind me, ignoring the faint calls from Alice. I sat there for a minute rethinking my decision to leave but I was too angry and needed answers. I pulled out fast and made my way down to the forested path. The Cullen's lived up in the mountains in the middle of the forest away from town. When I finally made it out of the trees I was greeted by more cars heading towards the exit of Forks.
As I was getting close to town the scene around me startled me. Chaos was everywhere, what was going on? I saw cars totaled and abandoned as were homes and businesses. What happened while I was in Port Angeles? Everything was normal when I left my house today. I remembered my dad's words, so I pulled out my phone to call him. The phone rang twice and that's when I heard my dad's panicked voice.
"Bella? Where are you? Are you ok?" Charlie asked breathing in a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I'm fine-" I cut myself off when I noticed my surroundings, it looked like a war zone. There was fire everywhere, and people were screaming. Homes were burning around me and destroyed vehicles were littered everywhere.
"Where are you, Bella?" I hear my dad yell through the phone.
"I'm about a block away from home. What is going on?" I ask as I continue driving when a man steps in front of my truck.
I couldn't swerve in time to avoid the man, and hear my windshield crunch and shatter as he hit it. Distracted, I crash into a tree and flip my truck. I hear my dad's frantic calls over the phone trying to figure out what just happened but I'm too distracted by the man dragging his broken body toward me. This was a nightmare.
"I just hit a man and flipped my truck. I think I'm stuck I can't get out," I start to panic and attempt to release my seatbelt to no avail, just then I start to smell something burning.
"I think my truck is on fire I smell smoke, and the man I hit is crawling toward me." I manage to ramble out.
"Dad, what is going on?" I screamed in panic as my truck started getting almost unbearably hot.
I started attempting to kick out my already broken windshield and then my windows, whatever would help. I was struggling to breathe in the smoke and heat, which didn't help my panic attack. Nothing I did was working, I didn't fear death but I knew I didn't want to go out like this.
"I'm coming to get you, please try anything you can to get yourself out" I heard the fear in his tone.
"I'm trying, but my door is stuck and It's hot in here. I think the man I hit is sick he's growling and crawling toward my truck like a rabid animal." I panicked as I struggled to catch my breath with all this smoke in my face, I couldn't stop coughing
"Stay calm Bells, I'm right around the corner. I see your truck just stay calm for me baby." Charlie said reassuring me
The man was groaning and biting at the air as he dragged his limp body closer to my truck. I could hear screams from everywhere which scared the crap out of me. I was scared and confused, I guess I didn't notice I was hyperventilating until I saw my dad's sheriff's car pull up to my wrecked truck, that's when everything went dark.
When I woke up I was back at the Cullen's, did I fall asleep and dream all of that? The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was in Alice's bed, strange as I didn't go into her room during my visit today. Then I noticed Edward was asleep in the hall, I knew I had to be dreaming. Edward would never watch over me or act as he did earlier. I noted that he looked scared in his sleep, I wondered if he was having a nightmare. I gave myself a pinch to ensure I was awake, sure enough, I was my pained gasp must have woken Edward. I watched as he hit his head hard on the doorframe.
"I'm sorry," I said a bit ashamed for waking him.
"Charlie asked me to watch you. There was an emergency and he needed to step out, but he wanted to make sure you were ok. How are you doing?" Edward replied sheepishly at being caught.
"I'm ok, my head hurts but I'll live. How long have I been out? I ask caught off guard by Edward's concern.
"A couple of hours" Edward replied.
"Hours?" I practically shouted just to have Edward silence me.
"Shhh, not so loud you'll wake Tanya," Edward said quietly.
"Oh, so your troll is still here. So why aren't you with her? Or did you finally get bored of her?" I spat at the mention of Tanya.
"She's asleep and I told you, Charlie asked me to watch you," Edward replied.
"Where's my phone?" I asked.
"It's in the living room, Charlie left it there when he headed out," Edward said shocked when I jumped up and made my way to the living room.
When I made it there, I sat down and noticed something odd, both mine and Dad's suitcases were there by the front door. I got up and walked over to them, I wasn't shocked that my truck wasn't out there, I was sure that thing was scrap metal by now.
I bent down to inspect my suitcase, and as I unzipped it I found everything was a mess. It looked as if Dad threw everything inside in a hurry, I wondered what for. In addition to my clothes and favorite books, I found my camera and photo album my parents gave me for my 18th birthday. My surprise was when I found the charm bracelet Jake gave me with a miniature wolf hanging from it. I remember Jake once told me his tribe, the Quileutes, had descended from wolves. I packed everything in my suitcase again.
"What's with the bags?" I asked pointing toward mine and Dad's suitcases as I returned to the living room.
"I don't know?" Edward shrugged "Mom won't say anything until Charlie returns."
"What do they need to tell us?" I asked slightly confused
"It seemed important when Charlie dropped you and the bags off and asked me to watch you" Edward responded
"You said my phone was out here?" I asked
Edward walked over to the bookshelf and handed me the phone. That's when I noticed I had 24 missed calls from Jake. I went to check my latest voicemail and heard a panicked Jake.
"Bella I know you probably won't get this but I'm sorry for being a dumbass and not being there for you. I was stupid and I'm sorry" I heard Jake ramble out with screams in the background
Hearing the screams reminded me of my accident earlier, My fear rose as I decided to call Jake. I was terrified of every ring that went unanswered and when I got Jake's voicemail I hung up and tried again. After 3 missed calls I started to panic, I tried again and again. I stopped after 5 more failed attempts, by this point I was so scared I wanted to rip my hair out. Edward seemed to notice my uneasiness, he inched close enough to put a supportive hand on my shoulder. I was so shocked.
"What are you doing?" I ask quietly.
"You seemed like you needed some comfort and no one is here to make fun of me" Edward joked.
"I know you were being an ass but thanks. I needed it" I replied calmly.
Edward nodded not saying a word.
"Jake and I have been best friends since we were 5 and even though we weren't always close I'm scared that something might have happened to him," I said fearing the uncertainty.
Just then my phone started ringing, I looked to see Jake's contact on my screen.
"Jacob, are you alright?" I nearly sobbed over the phone.
"Yeah, I'm alright but I can't say the same for others," Jake replied flatly.
"What does that mean?" I asked with fear rising again.
"I'm with your dad, actually a couple of us are. We're on our way to the Cullen's right now." Jake replied.
"How far away are you?" I asked fear finally dissipating.
"Coming up the drive now," Jake said
That's when I noticed headlights coming up the driveway
I didn't care what threats were outside or that I wasn't wearing shoes, I felt the gravel outside tearing into my feet with every step I took but that didn't matter. I tackled Jake to the ground when he stepped out of my dad's car.
"Jacob you can't scare me like that I thought something terrible happened to you when you didn't answer my calls." I scolded him in between sobs.
"Bella, are you ok? Look at your feet." Jake asked referring to my now bare bleeding feet.
"Come on you kids," I heard Charlie say as he headed inside the Cullen's home
I was so wrapped up in my relief at seeing Jake that I didn't notice Seth and Leah. I had more questions now than before. I was tired, scared and not to mention sore from my recent accident.
"I'm not letting you walk on those feet, come on let's get you cleaned up," Jake stated as he picked me up and carried me into the house.
I didn't notice Edward was standing in the doorway watching us but I couldn't make out the look on his face. Jake sat me down on the couch gently so as to not hurt my aching body. As if on queue my Dad came down the stairs with Esme in tow. I took note that she wasn't as ghostly pale as she was earlier.
"Bella, I want to thank you for your help earlier. I was a mess and a lot was going on in my head." Esme Thanked me
"You're Welcome, but I didn't do much other than give you a hand and some water," I replied confused as to how two small things made a difference.
"You kept a level head even though you were just as scared and confused as we all were, and you stood up for me when my own son didn't." Esme gave a pointed look to Edward who looked away in shame.
"Who knows if you weren't as calm as you were something might have happened to Alice in Port Angeles." Esme continued.
"Dad, what is going on?" I asked my Dad as he sat down on the couch next to me.
"Why are our suitcases here and what's going on out there? What was the emergency you had to take care of?-" I started to ramble out questions when I was cut off by the sting of Esme cleaning my torn-up feet.
I hissed in pain when I felt the cloth soaked in what had to be rubbing alcohol going over all my fresh cuts and nearly screamed when she pulled tiny rocks out of my heels.
"We will answer your questions soon, I promise" Charlie assured us as he comfortingly rubbed my back as Esme put some antibiotic ointment on my feet.
"We are just waiting for the morning before we do-" Esme started.
"-And a few more people" My Dad cut her off.
Esme sighed then continued, "Alice and Tanya are both asleep, and from the looks of it you all need some rest too." referring to Jake, Seth, and Leah.
"Don't worry, there is plenty of space here for all of us," Esme assured us as she finished bandaging my feet.
Esme got up to dispose of the package the bandages were in. I no longer felt the pain from my feet, to my relief.
"So where do I sleep? I'm tired." Leah asked curtly
Esme attempted to rest her hand on Leah's shoulder, just for Leah to back away from her.
"I'm sorry," Esme apologized "You have a cut on your shoulder. Can I take care of that for you? Then I'll show you to the spare room."
"Go ahead," Leah said dryly
"Come with me, I only brought out enough bandages for Bella. Charlie didn't tell me there were other injuries." Esme glared at Charlie as she guided Leah up the stairs.
"Well anyway, Bells I'll be staying with you in Alice's room. I just want to know my little girl is safe." Charlie stated.
"I'm not a little girl anymore Dad, But if we are in Alice's room and she's asleep then where is she?" I asked a little confused as to the current arrangement.
"Oh I forgot to mention that, little sis is in Mom's room, she offered up her room to you when your dad brought you here unconscious," Edward replied startling me
"You're still here?" I gasped shocked at how I didn't notice he was still sitting there.
"Where else would I be? This is my home." Edward fired back.
"I know that I just thought you would have gone to bed already," I replied.
Just then I couldn't stop a loud yawn from escaping.
"I think it's about that time for all of us," Charlie stated referring to my yawn and the already passed-out Jake.
I nodded in agreement, I was so tired. I tried my hardest to get off the couch but my injuries just made it hard on me. Apparently, Edward noticed my struggle, because a second later I felt his arms around me, lifting me up before I could protest.
"Thanks son, everything is sore after today," Charlie said awkwardly putting a parental grip on Edward's shoulder.
"Hey dude, can you show me to the guest room I would like to be with my sister right now?" Seth said sadly.
I wondered what happened, why was Seth so sad but I assumed I would find out in the morning.
"Yeah, just let me take care of this," Edward responded
"Won't Tanya be upset after all she claimed I wanted you?" I asked sleepily
"WHO claimed WHAT?" Charlie asked slightly upset
"It's a long story, I explain later," I said closing my eyes.
"Yeah, but we got in a fight after you left so fuck it let her be mad," Edward replied quietly to not wake me.
I had my eyes closed for so long that I never heard the door open to Alice's room. I instantly felt the cold of the uninhabited bed underneath me, I thought I would freeze until I felt the blanket get pulled up around me. I faintly hear Dad thank Edward. I opened my eyes one last time to see Edward's retreating figure, I assumed he was going off to help Seth.
I closed my eyes, content to be left alone with my thoughts but to my surprise, my mind wouldn't shut off. So much happened today, it was all change I wasn't prepared for, I couldn't even fathom the things I saw today. As I lay in Alice's bed staring out the window I could hear my dad's soft snores, How did he fall asleep so fast? I wondered what were we going to hear tomorrow. How different will we be after all this? I tried to push all thoughts from my mind but my thoughts were the least of my worries. I kept hearing the sounds of many helicopters in the sky. There isn't much air traffic over this area of Forks, so I was feeling a whole new wave of fear and uncertainty. I only hoped tomorrow would be easier but I knew that was too good to be true.
Before I leave you I just wanted to let you all know I'm sorry chapter updates won't be on a specific schedule but I will try to not let 2 months go by with nothing again.