Chapter 20

Bella arrived in Jacksonville with an unexpected tag-along, Edward. I think I should have been surprised, but the nature of their relationship seemed to keep them stuck together like glue. No matter what sort of horrible cycles of love-hurt they seemed to be going through. At least Bella was going to therapy.

"Bella!" Renée cheered at her daughter when we had found them at baggage claim. I followed behind a little more slowly while our mom ran to hug Bella enthusiastically. I eyed Edward suspiciously, and he looked at me with an unreadable expression. He definitely seemed far more interested in face than I remembered him being. Bella and Renée were laughing happily while rocking in a happy hug, entirely guided by Renée if my instincts were telling the truth.

"Mom," Bella said chuckling, "I missed you too." Renée pulled away with another light chuckle, giving Bella a gentle pat on the cheek.

"You look good." Renée commented with a joyful glimmer in her blue eyes. I stepped in next to our mom, and Bella turned to me her smile disappearing as she took in my face. I couldn't stop myself from flinching at her startled expression. I was going to have to get used to people I knew looking at me like this. It made me stomach turn.

"Ma-Maddie..." Bella forced a smile on her face, the gears in her head kicking into overdrive, "I'm glad you're doing better." I hummed in response, and Renée squeezed Bella's hands again before releasing to give me a comforting squeeze as well.

"It's going to be great having both of my girls at home with me," she said in a cheery voice. I knew she was trying to smooth over Bella's obvious awkwardness. I avoided looking at Bella again. I didn't really want to know what she was thinking about me, and my... face.

As we walked back to Renée's car, I found myself tugging at my hair, wishing it covered my face better. Bella kept glancing at me and furrowing her eyebrows, and it was honestly making me uncomfortable. She clearly wasn't going to bring up her questions around our mother, who I was pretty sure she thought didn't know a thing about the supernatural. Bella didn't know how wrong she was about that.

For a moment, I wondered how many people really didn't know about the supernatural. The number had to be a fair bit more than I ever expected, but it probably still wasn't something the majority of people knew about.

Bella glanced at me again with that troubled expression from the backseat of the sedan with Edward. I sighed. Renée hadn't really said anything about Bella bringing along her boyfriend... fiancé? But I guess, they were about to get married in a few months so no separating them at this point or something.

I had been practicing wards with Renée all morning, so I was a bit tired by the time we got to the airport, and now in the quiet car with a thirty minute ride to our mom's house I was beginning to slip further and further off. At least I wouldn't have to deal with all of Bella's staring while I was sleeping.

I startled awake when the car pulled to a stop and shut off. Sleep clung to me and moving was a bit difficult at first as I stirred in the seat.

"We made it back home, sweet pea," Renée said, patting my knee before she stepped out of the car to help Edward with the luggage in the truck of the car. I could hear her speaking comfortably to him, but I couldn't quite understand what she was saying. I felt out of it, a bit like my body was trapped under something heavy. Still, I pushed through and got myself unbuckled.

I lagged behind the others a bit, but somehow I managed to get myself inside while feeling a bit like my whole body was shutting down on me. I staggered down the hall to my room, shutting it behind me quickly and collapsing into the pillows. I was more tired than I realized. I blinked slowly, staring at the ceiling and fighting to stay awake. Ultimately, I lost.

.

I woke with a gasp in my throat, and my heart racing. I turned my head to look around the room. It looked much the same as when I fell asleep. The light was still on; everything was where it was supposed to be. There weren't any strange figures in the room, but someone was knocking on the door. I groaned softly to myself, not yet ready to move.

"Yes?" I called, my voice hoarse with sleep.

"Did I wake you?" Bella asked, surprised, and poked her head in the doorway. She gazed at me with big, dark brown eyes, and I sighed, forcing myself up into a sitting position on the bed and rubbing at my eyes.

"I dunno... Yes?"

"Sorry." She apologized briefly before moving on to what she'd actually come to bother me with.

"Do you know what you were attacked by?" She asked, slipping into the room and shutting the door behind her. I blinked tiredly. I supposed I should have expected this. Of course she was going to be quick to interrogate me about it all if she was as deep into all the supernatural goings on in Forks as I was pretty sure she was.

"Vampire." I answered tersely, and Bella startled, almost falling on her way to sit down in the swivel chair. Her eyes were big when she looked at me. I could tell she had expected this to be the case, but also seemed very surprised by it as well.

"Do you remember what the vampire looked like?" Bella hedged, looking like she knew a fair bit more than she was letting on. This was about what I expected. However, the question brought back memories of red eyes, pain, and the like, so I just flinched and tried to focus on breathing. I didn't think that was something I was really capable of talking about in depth with her.

"I can't," I said through a tight breath. I was struggling to articulate, but it seemed like Bella caught on and was backing off at least.

"That's fine." She replied in a tone that showed she was trying to hide that she didn't really think it was but knew there was nothing she could do about it. I stared at her with furrowed eyebrows deciding to not keep this fact finding mission of hers one-sided.

"Why are you asking me all this?" I prodded, and Bella looked surprised I'd even asked.

"I'm just worried about you," She said, her eyes shifting off to the side. She twisted one finger in her grasp nervously as well. So, I knew she was lying to me. Though, the obvious signals were really unnecessary.

"That's not what someone who's worried about me would ask." I pointed out, deciding to not let her get away with it. If I were feeling nicer, I might have, but I could still feel my nerves crackling beneath my skin. I was having a hard time distinguishing whether it was anger or anxiety. I remembered how Jacob, our mom, and our dad had worriedly asked after my well being and this exchange was just not measuring up in comparison.

"I, well..." Bella trailed off, not immediately sure of what to say. With how much she had been lying the past couple of years, I was surprised she was even struggling to figure out what she was going to lie about now. Was that too judgemental of me?

"I already know that vampire is dead, by the way," I said, figuring sharing information was the route to go in this situation. Jacob had told me that their pack had made sure it wasn't going to be biting anyone else in town.

"So, I'm assuming that your vampires haven't fixed the issue since you feel the need to ask me about it. Is that correct?"

Bella's mouth worked for a moment while she struggled to find the words. Finally she snapped back into focus.

"Wait, you know they're vampires?"

"I had a feeling." I replied with a shrug. "You just confirmed it for me is all."

"Maddie! Can't you ask like a normal person?" Bella asked with a frustrated note to her voice. I rolled my eyes.

"No. Now back to the main point: the problem. Still ongoing?"

Bella sighed, accepting defeat, which I was glad for. I would much rather be in the loop from now on. Mostly to avoid being mauled again. I rather thought the one time was plenty of experience for me.

"Yes and no," Bella said. Her shoulders slumped as she admitted this. I wasn't even really sure why she was trying to keep it all under wraps. "The vampires that were attacking people were all newborns, and they're all dead as far as we know. The vampire that made them, however, was never around so it could happen again."

"I see..." I responded, thinking about what she'd just told me for a moment before bringing my original question back.

"So, why are you asking me all of this?"

Bella grimaced slightly at the question, probably aware she couldn't lie this time. She shifted uncomfortably for a moment before she spoke.

"Because you should have been dead. The newborn that attacked you... It would've killed you a lot faster if it was ...eating. Well before any of the werewolves could have gotten there to help you, at least." She told me this stiffly, like even she didn't like thinking about this, but it was obviously something that had been discussed. I couldn't say I was too happy to hear about it either, so we sat in unhappy silence for several minutes.

"Suppose I should thank my lucky stars then," I said with a sigh. Bella looked at me with a bit of mild concern. It was nice to know she still cared, even if she was maybe the absolute worst at showing it.

"Yeah..." She responded, clearly lost in thought. She was probably trying to figure out why I'd been singled out for ...changing. I shuddered at the thought. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her. I'd been naive in thinking that more information could only be beneficial, but now I was starting to see why Jacob had been so resistant to leaving.

Good and bad news, gonna be more than 22 chapters in this (unlike planned smh). Just gonna drop all the way to 21 now though!