Waking Up

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Foreboding

"The evidence is conflicting, the pieces horrifying. A vicious new gang or a wildly active serial killer? Or something else the police haven't yet conceived of?

Only one thing remains indisputable: something hideous is stalking Seattle."

It took Bella three tries to read the last line, and it took her a moment to realize it was because her hands were shaking so violently.

"Bella?"

Focused as she was, Edward's voice, though quiet and solicitous, startled Bella so much, she just about managed to suppress a scream. She whirled around, staring at him wildly.

Edward was leaning in the doorway, his eyebrows pulled together. Then he was suddenly by her side, reaching out to cover her trembling fingers with his. The icy touch of his hand made Bella shiver. Tears formed in her eyes, she gasped, turning her head aside as she tried to contain them.

"Did I startle you? I'm sorry. I did knock…"

"What are you doing here?" Bella whispered; brown eyes still glossy with tears.

A frown creased his forehead. "When Alice alerted me to your distress, I couldn't stay away." He admitted in a low voice. "I had to come, Bella. I hope you understand."

"Alice can still see me?"

"Not as often." Edward admitted. "And when she does, the visions are hazy, more so when you have been spending a lot of time with the do – werewolves." He corrected himself at the last minute. "But you were alone today, allowing her to see you more clearly."

Bella was slowly beginning to recover from the shock of Edward's unexpected appearance. She held out the paper toward him. "Have you seen this?" She demanded shakily.

"I hadn't seen today's news yet. But I knew it was getting worse. We're going to have to do something…quickly."

"Why didn't you warn me? Or…. or warn Jacob and the others?"

"You were adamant that you wanted space, Bella." Edward answered curtly. "As for the werewolves, I'm sure that they are already aware of the situation. Perhaps Jacob decided not to bother you with it, maybe he didn't want you to worry."

Bella's eyes flashed with irritation. "Jacob would not keep something as vitally important as this from me. He is not you." She retorted.

Edward grimaced, his teeth slamming together at what he considered an unjust accusation. "Sometimes it was necessary to keep things from you. You were already suffering enough. I didn't want to burden you with even more worry. I always had your best interests at heart, Bella."

Bella wasn't impressed with Edward's weak excuses. She had heard the same speech explaining his motives from him many times before. It was always about her safety, her protection. Edward thought her weak, incapable, and fragile. His attitude still hadn't changed. He had learned nothing from the split. It just reinforced the fact that she had made the right decision in breaking up with him.

"What does Alice say?"

Edward looked pained when Bella brushed his hand away from hers. He let it drop back to his side. "That's the problem." He admitted. "She can't see anything…though we've made up our minds a dozen times to check it out. She's starting to lose confidence. She feels like she's missing too much these days, that something's wrong. That maybe her vision is slipping away."

Bella gazed at Edward, perplexed. "Can that happen?"

"Who knows? No one has ever done a study…but I really doubt it. These things tend to intensify over time."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Self-fulfilling prophecy, I think. We keep waiting for Alice to see something so we can go…and she doesn't see anything because we won't really go until she does. So, she can't see us. Maybe we'll have to do it blind."

"You mean take the risk? Just like a human would?" Bella didn't bother to hide the veiled sarcasm in her tone.

"Bella, I – "

"No, Edward, I can already imagine what you're going to say. I am under the pack's protection now. You cannot get involved."

Edward's hands curled into fists at his sides as his budding frustration got the better of him. "The risk is far greater now." He argued.

"Its no greater than it was five minutes ago before I read that headline. So don't use that as an excuse to weasel your way back into my life. It won't work, Edward." Bella snapped. "And have you ever thought to yourself why Alice is struggling so much? Perhaps its because you are putting too much pressure on her, maybe making her focus on unnecessary things."

"Like what?"

"Like me for instance." Bella watched as Edward's jaw tightened, confirming her suspicions that – even though they were no longer together - he had coerced Alice into keeping tabs on her at all times. How else would he have shown up so quickly, if Alice wasn't so focused on what she was doing at every minute?

"Please don't be difficult, Bella." Edward said sharply. "I love you. Your safety and wellbeing are my only priority. Surely you couldn't have expected anything else?"

"I expect you to focus on the problem at hand, not to use your sister to spy on my every move. Its not necessary and a waste of her talent and valuable time. No wonder things are slipping through the cracks." Bella felt suddenly weary, she'd had this same argument with Edward before, it was tiring. They were no longer a couple, but nothing had changed. "Can you go, please?"

"I won't leave you alone and unprotected."

"I won't be alone. I'm heading to school in a minute." Bella pointed out. "I'll be perfectly safe there. Jake is meeting up with me afterwards."

"Did you have a strong desire to attend class today? We're only a couple of days away from finals, they won't be giving us anything new. Come to my house with me, Bella." Edward graced her with one of his most persuasive smiles. "Esme would love to see you. She misses you. As do Carlisle and the others."

"No." Bella refused bluntly, even though the thought of seeing the motherly Esme was certainly appealing, when she had broken up with Edward, it had unfortunately meant the whole family were included in that as well.

Edward's expression turned bleak. "I thought you wanted no more secrets." He said, weaponizing her own words against her. "If you come to the house with me, you might learn more to your advantage. We can talk to Jasper – "

"Why Jasper?"

In the Cullen family, Jasper was always a little on the fringe, part of things but never the center of them. Bella had always assumed he was only there because of Alice. She sensed that he would follow Alice anywhere, that the vegetarian lifestyle was not his first choice. The fact that he was less committed was probably the reason why he had more difficulty keeping it up. That's what Bella had always assumed anyway.

"Jasper knows things." Edward hedged, his eyes tightening at the corners. "He has a brand of expertise that might come in useful in situations such as these."

Bella studied Edward critically. She had never seen him feel dependent on Jasper before, which made her even more suspicious that he was keeping something vital from her. She felt the same old frustrations toward him building up inside as she wondered what he'd meant about Jasper's expertise. Bella didn't know much about Jasper's history, just that he had come from somewhere in the south before Alice found him. For some reason Edward had always shied away from any questions about his newest brother when Bella had asked in the past. And she had always been too intimidated by the tall, blonde vampire who looked like a brooding movie star to ask him outright. That, and the fact he had tried to kill her that one time.

"You can tell me what Jasper knows. I don't need to come to the house." Bella insisted, folding her arms across her chest, she glared at Edward resentfully.

"Always so stubborn." Edward murmured, shaking his head.

"Well?"

"Its not as simple as that, Bella." Edward sighed impatiently, matching her glare. "There are things I need to discuss with Jasper first."

"Fine!" Bella shrugged, dropping her arms back down to her sides. "You go and discuss it with him then, while I go to school. Then afterwards you can meet me – "

"Yes, I'll pick you up from school." Edward rushed to take advantage of the situation before Bella had a chance to finish her sentence.

"I already told you Jake is meeting me after school." Bella recited as if speaking to a child. "What I was going to say, before you rudely interrupted me, was that you can meet me and Jake after school finishes and give us both an update on the situation."

Edward's handsome features contorted into a sour expression. "I'm not sure that having Jacob Black and I in such close proximity right now is such a good idea, given the current circumstances, Bella." He declared pompously.

"Oh, grow up!" Bella snapped, losing patience again. "This is far too important for one of your jealousy flare ups. If Jake can control himself, so can you."

"This is not about jealousy!" Edward replied defensively.

"If you say so." Bella was done with the conversation now. "I'm running late, Edward. I must go. I'll leave it up to you whether you meet with me and Jake later. I'm tired of arguing about it."

"I'll be there." Edward finally agreed sullenly.

"Good." Bella grabbed her school bag and hiked it over her shoulder. Before she left the kitchen, she looked Edward's way one last time. He was standing as as still as a statue, his face frozen in pain as he gazed after her. She experienced a smidgeon of guilt, knowing what this must be costing him. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, Edward." Her tone was much softer now. "But this is the way it has to be."

Edward's amber eyes were tight with strain. "Nothing you say or do will ever stop me from loving you, Bella." He said over his shoulder as he made a graceful exit.

"That's what I'm most afraid of." Bella thought to herself with foreboding.

A/N-thanks for reading! Sorry the chapter isn't very good, sighs.