Happy Sunday everyone!
Chapter Eight
"James," Alice said, placing her hand on Bella's shoulder. "Who is James."
"Bad." Bella said slowly. "James bad."
I stroked her hair out of her face. "We didn't see anyone names James in her memories."
"Perhaps it was a repressed memory." Alice said, her eye glazing over slightly as she thought. "Memory taps are wonderful, but if she has repressed memories, then we wouldn't be able to see them. Whoever James is, is bad."
"If he's so bad, then why didn't she repress the memories of her mother dying? That was pretty horrific."
Alice tapped her chin. "Bella is very primitive. If there are others like her then—,"
"Then the others would be very primitive as well. Including the men." Dad said.
"Especially the men." Alice said as she moved to one of the screens and sat. "Dad, do you remember when we looked at that body scan? We saw those strange, healed, markings on her lower back. We thought they were just wounds, but now I'm starting to suspect they're ritualistic in a way. Some sort of strange… mating ritual."
I growled. "You think there are men on this planet that are doing weird ritualistic… raping?" My growl intensified. "You think Bella was raped?"
"Edward to them, it's not rape. It's just nature." Alice said as she typed on her keyboard. "And no, I don't think it's happened to Bella. The markings appeared to be—,"
"From infancy," Dad said. "Humans of this time were social creatures. Bella and her mother being alone is starting not to make sense. Someone would've had to impregnant her mother. There is no way Bella just happens to be the last of her kind. There have to be others. And if they've survived this long, then they must have rituals."
I lifted Bella's tunic and only found healed wounds on her lower back. They were small and almost unnoticeable underneath all of her other scars. It made me wonder why they believed these scars were special in any way.
"Then that settles it. There are others on this planet." I said. "I'm going to have to get a group together. We're going to have to search."
"Edward, I have a bad feeling about that," Alice said. "I don't think Bella is going to let you leave. Nor do I think you should leave."
"And why is that?" I asked. "If there are humans on this planet then we need to help them."
"I agree with you on the helping them part, but Bella alone is so primitive. Yet she is tame, in a way. I can't imagine the men being as tame as she is."
"But we are at an advantage," I said. "We are warriors, trained to deal with hostiles like this."
"What do we do with Bella in the meantime? If you leave, we won't be able to help her efficiently." Dad said. "She only cooperates when you're around."
I frowned. "I cannot send my men out there blindly."
"Then perhaps it's time to introduce them to Bella." Alice said. "They need to know why you've stopped everything. They're going to become agitated because they want the generator in the ground to wake their mates. You know this."
I let out a heavy sigh. "Perhaps it is time to address everyone."
"Leave Bella here," Dad said as he pulled out a needle. "I am going to inject her with a blocker. I think once she has the blocker in her system, it will enable us to then effectively put her to sleep."
I wrapped my arms tightly around Bella and lifted her tunic. It was not going to be a pleasant shot, especially since she has already received a rather larger shot in her lower back. And I had had this shot myself. It didn't feel very good.
Bella let out a squeal and turned around to snap at my father. I rubbed Bella back soothingly. I knew she must've been tired of being poked and prodded. I wished she'd just sleep.
Bella pulled away from me and started blinking wildly. Then, she begun to sniff, almost dramatically.
"Bella what's wrong?"
"Where Edward?" She asked as she sniffed me harder.
I chuckled. "It's okay, I'm right here."
"Gone Edward." She whispered; her voice shaky. "Edward go?"
"No, Edward is right here," I told her, grabbing her hand, "I'm right here Bella."
She slowly shook her head in confusion.
"Her sense of smell is much better than I anticipated," Dad said as he patted her back. "I think not being able to smell you is upsetting her."
I frowned and stroked her hair. "Bella it's alright. I'm right here."
Brown tears fell down her cheeks. I was confused by the fact they were now brown and not black, but her tears hurt me.
"Bella I'm sorry, but we have to do this. You have to be okay when I'm gone. I need to find the others like you and help them."
"Edward stay Bella," She whimpered, shaking her head. More tears followed.
I sighed, "Bella please, you are going to make me sad. Stop crying, it will be alright."
"Edward, I think it's best we let her sleep. I have a good feeling she's actually going to sleep, now that the connection from her to you is broken."
His words were hard to hear. Our connection was broken. I didn't like that phrasing. I gently rubbed my lips against her face. I hated that I had to go, but I knew I had to. There was no other way around this. I had to find the others.
My father placed a mouthpiece on Bella's face and held it. She struggled a bit, but after a moment, her eyelids started fluttering. I stroked her back gently as I watched her drift off to sleep.
Her head lulled backwards once she was completely out. My dad chuckled.
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen her go completely under."
"You think she'll stay asleep?"
Alice placed a wired cap onto her head. "If all the nerves in her brain are firing correctly, she'll sleep for a long time."
Alice and my father watched the screen as an image of Bella's brain appeared. I didn't know what any of the flashing lights meant so I settled for gently caressing and kissing her. She didn't even flinch in her sleep as I did this.
"She is completely out." Alice smiled as she gently removed the cap. "All the nerves in her brain are sending off the normal signals. She is finally resting like she should."
My father took her gently from my arms. I had to swallow a growl.
"I'm going to place her in one of the pods in the back room. I can monitor her there and keep everyone away from her." He said as he started towards the door. "Edward, you should go get a group together and begin the search. Alice and I will only be able to entertain her for so long and I would hate if she slipped into a depression because you're gone."
I nodded and hopped to my feet. "Please take care of her. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but if she wakes up and panics then just call me. I'll pick up so she can see my face."
"We'll take care of her Edward," Alice smiled, and she pulled a box from the cabinet. "I have plenty of things to keep her entertained, and if all else fails, well, then we'll knock her out again."
I growled. "Alice please, this isn't funny."
"I know. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little." Alice smiled at me. "Go. And take care of yourself and the others. Report back whatever you find."
Mess Hall
Jasper rounded everyone up into the mess hall. It was abnormally quiet. I could feel the strong tension in the air, I'm sure if I squinted hard enough, I'd be able to see it as well.
Once everyone was seated, I stood as tall as I could. This would be a hard conversation and one that I wasn't entirely prepared for, but it had to happen.
"Greetings brothers," I called out. "I know all of you are wondering why I've stopped construction and why I've closed the medical wing down for emergencies only. I'm here to answer all of your questions."
I paused for a brief moment to gather my thoughts. I turned my neck to each side, cracking the bones beneath my skin.
"We have discovered life still residing on this planet—,"
"Bacteria!" Someone stood. "We knew coming here there'd be bacteria!"
Jasper was quick to jump on his feet and slam him onto the ground. It was quick, but a strong enough message to shut everyone up.
"As I was saying," I said, shooting a glare towards the man on the ground. "We've found life, significantly bigger than simple bacteria. We have discovered a human."
There was an audible gasp in the crowd.
"Yes, a human to our surprise." I said, shaking my head sharply. "I am in as much shock as you are. But the fact of the matter remains, we cannot continue construction on this planet until we've helped the surviving human population."
"How long is this going to stop construction?" Another man asked as he stood. "You assured us that in two weeks the generator would be in the ground, and we'd be able to awaken our families! That is what you said!"
"I understand what I've said, but now in light of our new discovery, I am going back on my word. We will not be doing anymore construction until we've figured out exactly where the rest of the humans are and how to assist them."
"This is ridiculous!" Another jumped up. "We cannot stop everything because you've found your human mate on this trash planet!"
I growled. "And exactly how did you know that!?"
"The council is on their way." Another said. "Some of us are just as informed as you are, commander!"
I growled, my tail whipping back and forth. "Listen! I understand you are all upset with this news, but I have the council backing me. We are stopping all construction until we've helped the remaining humans! They are our ancestors! And this is their planet!"
"How do you even know there are more humans? Our scanners are the best in the galaxy!"
"Quiet!" Jasper snarled.
"Our scanners are the best, but this is not the first time they've let things slip. I will not tarnish my reputation as commander by destroying the home of another." I said before turning my back. "If you want things to move along faster, the volunteer for the search committee. If not, then stay here and do nothing. There will be three search teams. Myself, Jasper, and Emmett will be leading the three teams. The faster we search the areas we plan to build in the faster we start building! The search teams leave in an hour!"
I stormed out of the room, irritated with the entire meeting. Jasper and Emmett would be able to get the groups together while I checked on Bella.
A hand grabbed my arm and I turned, snarling as I did. It was a younger man. I lowered my top lip but kept my guard up.
"What?" I demanded.
"I wish to be on your team," He said. "I want to finish searching this planet as soon as possible."
"Great." I said as I turned.
"Wait!" He stopped me again, "The human, can we see her?"
"No."
"But why? We should know what kind of humans we're looking for."
I slowly exhaled through my nose. "I will send out an image once the teams are made."
"Thanks sir. And when we find the humans, what are we planning on doing with them."
"We will go from there." I said as I walked off.
That I hadn't thought of. Truly, I hadn't. It didn't matter now, because there was a chance Bella was the last living human on this planet. Of course, the chances of that are small, but not totally impossible.
