I took a glimpse out my bedroom window and I witnessed dark hair and pale white skin. I almost screamed, but I held my breath and covered my hand over my lips with a smack sound. My father wouldn't hear me, or he would enter my room wondering if I was having a dream or if an intruder was at my window.
For a brief millisecond I thought I saw a ghost of Edward, but the hair was different, a spikey pixie cut, and it's soft angled feminine face, made me realize it was even worse because I would now have to face my fears. I would have to face another Cullen.
It was his sister, my ex best friend, and sister in law.
Alice.
I took a step back and stumbled along the wall, bumping my head on the shelf that was hanging on the wall next to my window. A I hoped she didn't see me, but it was too late as she saw me.
"Bella, Can I come in PLEASE? I need to talk to you." she spoke urgently through the glass.
I couldn't respond. I didn't have any words for any vampires. How could any of their kind be trusted after what happened to me. The person I trusted the most turned into my enemy. A viscerally sinister beast. He only wanted to consume my blood and discard me like detritus.
"I saw what happened Bella…. in a vision. I'm so sorry Bella." She earnestly stated.
I hesitated for a few minutes. She was always the kindest of the Cullens. "How do I know you are honest? I thought I could trust your brother," I questioned somberly. I couldn't attempt to look out the window and see her kind eyes. I gazed at the unmade purple floral comforter.
"I promise you, if I knew how much of a monster he was, I wouldn't have planned the wedding. I would have ended his life before you did," she declared, looking through the smudged glass. It had been opened and shut so many times these past few months from Edward entering and exiting it as if it were a door. I never got around to cleaning it.
"Please can I just come in? You know I could just break the window if I needed to, but I wouldn't do that. I want you to regain my trust," she pleaded.
After a long pause, I wiped the tears rolling down my cheek and sniffled before opening up the window with my trembling hands, to my sister by marriage.
In one swing, she landed nimbly over the white window ledge, landing swiftly on her petite muted black three inch high heels. She dusted off her white ruffled scoop neck blouse and black dress pants.
The severe gravity of the situation hung low like a snow-filled canopy ready to collapse or break through. My guts wretched with worry. I felt like I just came out of a Gravitron ride at the amusement park. I went on that ride once. Only once….with Jacob. He laughed at me when I threw up in the most conveniently placed, rancid-food ridden trash can from the ride. I was so outraged I demanded to go home afterwards. I now missed his laughter. I'll never get to hear it again.
She stood in that spot, statuesque and apologized, "Bella, I'm so, ssooo sorry, these words don't do justice to how I feel. I wish I would have been there to help. I wish I had the vision sooner." she hung her head low and if she could produce tears, she would surely. She'd shed them like leaves off of an autumn tree limb.
I hesitantly walked backwards and plopped down on my bed. I was too anxious and did not want to let my guard down. I still couldn't accept it. The apology, and what happened to me. I am so numb, so distressed from what happened to Jacob, even Edward although I don't grieve from his death, I mourn for our marriage, our happiness together. It was a marriage with a painful twist. Twisted like an ancient oak. I didn't know where to begin. Almost everything was taken away from me violently in one night like a sailboat in a tsunami. I don't have much, of course besides my father. I love my dad, but he doesn't know all the secrets in my past or present life. I need a friend to help me cope. To help me get through the grief, and sorrow.
Maybe Alice can be trusted.
The tears restarted in my stinging, red eyes. I tried to push them back, but they ended up trailing down, slithering like a serpent.
Alice casually took a step forward.
I scooted back and rested my feet on the charcoal cotton sheet, hugging my knees. I averted my eyes from her and gazed on the sheer curtain ahead of me with my chin resting on my knee. I took a huge, almost exaggerated shaky breath. I needed to calm down.
She took another step and was crouched down in front of me, then stopped.
I brought my view up to her and she had a sad sincere look on her face. Her large amber eyes had a look of worry, eyebrows pulled together and her usually warm smile was now in a sorrowful frown.
"Bella…even though Edward is gone….you'll still be my sister to me. I hope you know that," she confessed.
I was unsure of her honesty, but her look, posture and statement made me believe her. I nodded my head to reassure my genuinity. I lost so much, I didn't want to lose more family.
She brought her chilled, marble-like hand up to me with a tissue and handed it to me. I obliged and dabbed the tears, causing the tissue to become damp. I crumpled it up, leaving it in my hand.
She then sat gently beside me and turned towards me with her arms extended out like an eagle's wingspan and I unfolded myself bringing my bare feet down to the wood floor planks. I turned and we embraced. Her cold stone body was comforting, even though it reminded me of him in that matter. Her angles were so much softer. Her features were much more petite and flowing. She almost had a feline posture and way about her.
"If there's anything you need, let me know, well my family really. Carlisle and Esme are of course very unhappy by his actions, and are grieving a bit.." She released me from the hug.
"Thankyou Alice, I appreciate it," I mumbled, sniffling a bit.
I closed my eyes and rested my temple on her stony shoulder, then started to sob yet again, until my eyes could no longer fill with tears.
I must have fallen asleep because I awoke to white feathers all around me. I wondered how could have that happened when the last thing I remembered was Alice consoling me. I brushed off the down, and I noticed how dark the room was sticky with humidity. I was drenched in sweat. It didn't have the moonlight peaking in to give it a natural nightlight. I went to turn on the square light to the left of me and then I realized I was not in my room. I was in the four posted canopy bed from that island I despised so much. The place of paradise that seemed to be only in dreams was now a place of nightmares.
I scrambled upwards, throwing the silky sheets away from me and nerve-wracking, jolted out of the bed. Suddenly a light shined down from out of nowhere. The room no longer looked to be a room, but a set of a play. The spot light flashed and turned to the right corner of the stage and I saw Jacob in his wolf form, cowardly cowering in the corner. He was facing the back of the stage, his fur mud-caked and matted. He trembled with fear and his blood stained tail tucked between his urine-soaked legs. He was whimpering as if he were injured.
"Jake! You're back! Are you Okay? I missed you… so much. I thought you were gone," I cried. My eyes tear filled with hope. I fought with my mind, contemplating on whether this was just a dream, or a hallucination, hoping it was reality. I was being naive. I bit my lip as I edged closer to the petrified, massive red wolf hunched over.
"I'm sorry, I- Im sorry I wasn't able to help you. Jacob I didn't know he was a monster. I should have listened to you." I sniffled, stepping cautiously closer, holding on to myself. I couldn't believe my Jake was here.
"But I'm here now, I'm willing to do what it takes to save you. Don't be afraid Jake," I crooned as I brought myself up to him.
He never turned to look at me. Still shivering, whining and yelping like a puppy that lost its mother.
"I want to help you, Jacob. I love you," I whispered, as I coaxed him to look at me. I placed my hand to stroke his warm damp fur.
The minute my hand fell into his russet muddy pelt he sprang around and snapped like a feral, visceral rapid beast. Foam was dripping from his taut jaws, teeth bared and crimson stained. His eyes were wide with enraged irascibility and they were no longer dark, but the color of a foamy sea.
I screamed.
Panicking, I turned hastily to find the red neon exit sign.
"Where do you think you're going, love? My wonderful loving wife?" He questioned with a bit of bitterness.
I didn't believe I heard his voice again. Not again. Never again.
Leisurely pacing from behind the red velvet curtain was the man I loathed. The most deceitful bastard I knew in my existence. Someone I wish I never met in Biology class, in Forks, anywhere… My husband, Edward Cullen.
Bile came up in my throat, but I swallowed it back down. I was hoping he would be washed away from my sight.
"What's wrong hun, cat got your tongue?" he whimsically quipped walking towards Jacob.
Jacob turned towards him snarling deep in his chest, ears flat against his head that was lowered to the floor. His fur was standing on end on his arched back. His teeth exposed spitting foamy saliva onto the shiny, polished wooden flooring.
"You know how easy it was to do it?"
I stood in silence still baffled by what I was witnessing before me.
"All I had to do was promise him one thing…"
"You, I told him he could have you. That you changed your mind. That you decided you want to stay human. No more fighting for you. He happily agreed to it because he's gullible as shit. He was like a little puppy that got lost and then found its way home," he admitted as he stepped closer to the large wolf.
My eyes wide with despair and horror. I was dumbstruck and I don't know why my feet wouldn't budge. It was like they were cemented to the floor.
"When I told him I could give him the world. Well you are the world to him I presumed, I walked up to him," he started, as he grabbed a switchblade out of his left back pocket.
"He phased into his wolf, he was hoping that he could kill me first, when he came to the utter realization that it was just a ploy. I caught him in my trap. I snagged him by his scruff like this," he exclaimed while doing the action to Jacob in front of me.
Jacob yelped a high pitch squeal and thrashed around like cattle getting prodded. Clawing and scraping into the wood with his three inch nails. He snapped his bubbling seething jaws at Edward trying to catch his arm with his canines, but it was to no avail.
Edward pinned him down to the floor and opened the knife. I covered my eyes as shock set in due to the repulsion. My fingers spread apart to watch, hoping the scene would be altered. It was like a car crash. I couldn't look away.
He took the edge of the razor sharp knife to the wolf's bottom mouth and sliced down his neck. Jacob howled in exacerbated agony. He slowly, with precise maneuver, intricately slithered its way down my best friend's abdomen all the way to his tail. Blood and pus spilled over like a pot of water over boiling. His entrails burst out of the cavity and laid out onto the stage floor. Piles of Maggots squirmed and slithered inside his organs.
The smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils and hit my guts turning them over. I haven't eaten in two days, so I profusely vomited only stomach acid down my purple fleece pajamas.
"And when I was finished I decided he would look great on the bed I would fuck you thing he always wished he could do with you. His wish was granted. Well, partially. I guess you could say he partook in it. Even in death I would torture him, Hahahaha," He laughed maniacally.
I couldn't speak. I stood in shock and horror, then suddenly, behind me I heard an applause. I faced the seats and every seat was filled. The audience whistled and hooted for the wonderful show they just watched. My friends and family sat in the first row of red velvet upholstered seating. They were all wearing formal wear, Angela and Jessica wearing beautiful gowns with their hair in elegant updos, their faces covered with a pound of make up. Even my mother was there,"I'm so proud of you honey," she praised, a huge smile on her face.
"Bravo," they cheered.
My dad was standing, looking thrilled, clapping his hands together. "That's my girl," he gloated.
Then Edward stalked over towards me, the bloody knife in his blood soaked hand still. An evil smirk spread across his marble heinous face.
"What are you doing?" I asked trembling, stepping backwards now to the left of the stage.
"You don't want them to miss the encore, now do you?" He jeered as he lurked closer to me.
I screamed a blood curdling scream and turned to run, but I tripped on a cord to one of the lights and fell hard on my ass. I stared up to him with wide frightful eyes like a deer in headlights,
The curtain sluggishly swept across the stage to capture the final scene.
Then I woke up.
I was drenched in sweat, with my covers up to my neck. I peeled them away to air out a bit and scanned around the room to see if anyone I didn't want to be there were there. I was unsure if it was still my imagination or real life. I didn't see Alice anywhere, and I pondered if that was part of the nightmare, but my eye caught a green scrap of paper on my desk.
I sat up and walked over, my pajamas clung to me like plastic wrap, and I unfolded the note in my hand.
It read;
Sorry I had to leave, I needed to hunt. Your scent was too enticing lol. Please don't hesitate to call if you ever need anything. I'm here for you.
Love.
Alice