Chapter 13

The end…

Alice leads me to the Mercedes parked in front of the house and we leave in heavy silence. When I walk through the door of the villa, four pairs of eyes pierce me and, for the first time, I really feel fear. Carlisle invites me to sit across from him, explains that Rosalie is feeling unwell and that Emmett is with her. I easily understand the implication: if she is in the same room as me, she strangles me ... I take a seat on the soft sofa and wait.

"Bella," Carlisle begins, "we don't understand why you've withheld such important information from us."

If I had, I say with conviction. You would have panicked and canceled the meeting with the tribe. I had to warn them so that they take me seriously in order to avoid all these useless deaths.

It's likely, indeed, that we canceled at the last moment and I understand that you wanted to avoid these deaths, but, Bella, you have to trust us. We want to protect them as much as you do and the little trust you place in us forces us to question our relationship with you. »

I feel my heart sinking, I think I know where this discussion is going and I prefer to end it immediately. Might as well give me the coup de grace myself.

"Anyway, no matter what I did, you were going to leave leaving me behind. Since the beginning I have been alone and I can only count on myself! »

I feel my eyes watering up. Esme protests:

"No, honey, we're not leaving...

Not yet, but you will, I saw it! I…I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that there were nomads coming to the area, but the wolves had to see them for when she comes back to kill me…"

I hear Esme gasp. I know my speech is confusing, but at this point I'm hovering between panic and fear of accidentally selling my secret.

"Who's coming to kill you, Bella?" Carlisle asks, seemingly calm as ever, but I see tension in his hands.

Victoria… She'll hunt me down after James.

Wait, two vampires are going to chase you? asks Edward, speaking for the first time.

It seems that I smell very good, I say, bitter, and they like to play with their food...

We will destroy them, Edward asserts.

You won't necessarily succeed, I reply, sniffling.

For what ? Jasper asks me in an icy voice. What are you still hiding from us?

They have gifts, at least James and Victoria. Whatever I do, James will find me. He's a tracker. »

I hear Edward growl.

"You mentioned two gifted vampires," Jasper continues, still concentrating.

Victoria… I huff, grimacing. She may even be more dangerous than James, because she has a gift for escapism...

Complicates things, Jasper nods. »

Silence settles in the room. Carlisle finally speaks up:

"We need to think about how to process this information and decide what we will tell the Quileutes. »

Those words were crystal clear. I was not invited to the debate and I will not be part of the negotiations. I wish them a good weekend and let Alice drive me home. She looks at me from time to time with a sad expression. I have no illusions. Given the way Edward reacted after the original Bella's car accident, I'm going to be shunned like the plague...

I had many strange and distressing dreams that night. One image stuck in my mind more than the others: two red eyes framed by a scarlet mane. Day after day, this image came back and never left my thoughts during the day and my dreams at night. The resurgence of these cryptic dreams prompted me to check my status: I had reached level two of prescience. This knowledge doubled my latent anxiety. I had had dreams from time to time since my arrival and all of them had turned out to be more or less correct. Their frequency had gradually increased, until it became daily after the hearing with the Quileutes. It seemed like the further I strayed from the original script, the more Bella's gift developed. Which meant… I was headed straight for my death… A scarlet death.

I continued my daily life like a robot, getting up early after a restless night, where I woke up once or several times. I walked to school, the Cullens didn't talk to me anymore, and I didn't give any explanation to Jessica and Angela when they questioned me. The ice queen had deserted our common lesson, Emmett no longer sat next to me and the others ignored me as much as they could. However, I preferred classes, because I had an excuse not to talk, unlike lunch where you had to socialize. Very quickly I stopped going to the self-service at lunchtime, taking refuge near my only outlet, the music room. The music I played got darker and darker, reflecting my state of mind and I felt my hopes of survival dwindle.

But the worst part was that tearing feeling in my heart when I thought of Edward. At first I had moved closer to him to make sure I survived, then curiosity piqued me and I grew to appreciate the man behind the vampire. I missed our light talk, his closeness burned my skin and the electrical tension between us was painful, as if my body was warning me that I was making a mistake.

My lack of appetite alerted Charlie, he had also noticed that I was walking to and from school alone. One day he caught me crying over my guitar after playing "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer." by Calogero. He asked me no questions about the instrument I was not supposed to play, took me in his arms and I collapsed there, mourning the loss of my family, my old life and my budding love. Because I had finally identified this feeling that oppressed my heart. I had finally fallen in love with Edward and now all hope of being able to express to him was gone.

I had started hiking in the forest behind the house. I knew that wasn't reasonable with the growing population of vampires hating me or just wanting to feed nearby, but at the stage I was at, I didn't mind reducing my lifespan, since sometimes anyway to its end. The game was over, Bella would never have her forever love and with the number of imminent deaths she was facing, I was unlikely to make it through the year.

This is how one weekend, I find myself climbing this steep slope. My knees are shaking and hurting, but the physical pain is pleasant, because it distracts me from my internal pain. The only thing that has evolved positively is Bella's vitality, increasing to 100 after several hikes. Strangely the complicity with the members of the Cullen family haven't stopped wavering between the positive and the negative, except that of Rose who digs into the negative as soon as she sees me in high school.

I stop my progress, take a deep breath and pull up my pants. It seems that my lack of enthusiasm for food has caused me to lose weight, but I don't have a belt and I don't feel like shopping. This activity reminds me of Alice. I miss her too, but obviously she cut me out of her life, just like her brother… Like what, I was right when I told her not to promise me anything. Given our interactions, it's like they're gone.

I groaned at the thought holding my aching heart and decided to get back on the road. As I straighten up, I lose my balance and slide down the slope. I try to catch the roots sticking out but my dirty, wet hands can't hold on and my progress comes to a halt in a hollow opposite the hiking trail. It rained recently, the ground looks like a skating rink and I'm covered in mud. I wince, realizing the situation. I try several times to climb back up the hill, but fail each time, hurting my ankle in the process.

I see the sun setting above me and the light dims rapidly. The number of suspicious noises around me increases. Panic prevents me from thinking, my heart races and everything goes black. When I open my eyes again, darkness surrounds me. I see little shiny dots all over the bushes. I hear footsteps, animal cries. I think about asking for help, but I'm afraid of attracting predators.

I put my cold sore hands in my coat and grab an object that I had completely forgotten since it only served me to contact my old friends. I look at the battery, a bar. Fortunately, the batteries of the time are more efficient than those of my time. I'm about to dial Charlie's number when I hear a growl above me. I look up and find two glowing golden eyes staring at me. I then change the recipient.

"Bella? a cold voice asks, but still manages to comfort me as I prepare to die.

Farewell, I moan in a small voice. I like you. »

I drop the phone, which falls to the ground, and pull out the Swiss army knife that I found in a drawer in the hallway and which I use to leave marks to find my way back. I have no hope of getting out of this, but I'm going to make sure Charlie knows what happened to his daughter's body by leaving as many clues as possible. I hear Edward's voice screaming through the device, I don't understand, but the noise attracts the attention of the beast who hesitates to attack.

The seconds, then the minutes pass without him or me moving. Suddenly the phone cuts out and turns off. I have reached the end of the battery. It is the end. The growls start again, the puma squats down and jumps on me, while I hold out the Swiss army knife in front of me. A gust of wind carries the feline away before it reaches me. I hear roars and growls so loud they force me to plug my ears and then silence sets in. I no longer see any movement, the animal noises have disappeared, then I hear footsteps on the side. I fall to the ground. I dare not look. When a velvet voice calls me, I think I'm hallucinating:

"Bella? asks the voice, worried. »

I look in his direction but I see nothing, my eyes sting and tears blind me. I'm lost. I ask then.

" I am dead ?

Are you hurt? continue the voice.

Je veux revenir…je supplie en gémissant. Arrêtez de me torturer… Faites-moi revenir chez moi*. (*In french in the text. Traduction: "I want to come back…I beg moaning. Stop Torturing Me… Bring Me Home". )

Bella, what are you talking about? says the voice whose tone begins to rise.

Who are you ? I ask, my mind still foggy.

It's Edward. You remember me ? »

At that moment, my mind clears and my heart tears at the same time.

"Edward?"

It's me, says the voice, calmer.

So I didn't die.

No ! But that cougar almost killed you.

I had given up...

That's not what I saw...

I just wanted to hurt him so Charlie would have a clue of what had happened to my body, I gasp. »

Edward remains silent for several minutes, then asks me:

"Are you hurt somewhere? »

I clasp my hands to my heart.

"Yes, but nothing you can do, I answer with a heavy heart.

That, I'm not sure, he said, surprising me. »

I look up at him, but can't make out the emotions on his face because of the darkness and my tears. A blue window then appears. I squint to make out the characters that appear:

"Quest successful… A reward will be granted to you. »

"Complicity with Edward: +3"