Submission

by Katrina-H-Creates

Edward returns to Forks to save Bella from the Volturi; she finds herself irresistibly drawn to his newly dominant and intense nature, igniting a fiery passion between the pair as he finally claims her virginity for his own.

1. Chapter 1

Submission

Chapter One: Now or Never

Bella Swan

I managed to lift my head from the pillow that morning before I thought of him for the first time. I had dreamt about him a little last night, reliving the last moment we were together—the smell of the forest, the ache in the pit of my stomach, and the look in his eye as he said goodbye. I got out of bed and undid my hair tie before re-scooping my hair off my shoulders and into a bun above my head before I began making my bed. It was Saturday, and from the alarm clock across from me, I could see it was just a little after six. I had the entire day ahead of me, and there was plenty to be done. Perhaps I'd start with some grocery shopping and cook and freeze some meals for Charlie's return on Monday. Maybe I'd wash my truck afterwards and order some takeout for my dinner as a treat.

It doesn't take me long before I find myself in the bathroom, brushing my teeth while trying not to look at my own reflection. Whenever I looked in the mirror, I expected to see the girl I was before he left, the girl he loved, and not the girl he left behind all those months ago. If he were here right now, we'd already be making plans together. We'd probably drive out of Forks and go up into the mountains, somewhere we could be alone together. I missed him every day. Sometimes it felt like it might just kill me, but on the days I woke up completely numb, I was grateful, like today. It was on these types of days that I got stuff done, made up meals for the week, hung out with Jacob, or even caught up on some schoolwork.

Music and books hadn't been a priority to me since he left; somehow the words and lyrics didn't hold the same weight with me as they use too.

Nothing held the same weight that it used to. Since he left, it was as if everything about my life was on both pause and fast forward, and no one could tell me how to fix it. Sometimes I'd have moments of sheer clarity; I'd think about how I was neglecting my family, friends, and even my studies. I'd go around my room scrubbing everything down, reorganizing my closet, and de-cluttering so much that I could actually see my bedroom floor again. It was a perfect high all the way up to the moment my head hit the pillow, then I'd wake up to the tidy bedroom, the completed home work, and the empty to-do list, and suddenly I didn't have the strength to get out of bed.

There was no fixing me; everything I did and everywhere I looked reminded me of him. I'd thought about leaving, going home to my mom and Phil, and starting a new chapter. But it would feel like I was retreating, going back to a life I no longer knew. I couldn't fool my mom like I could Charlie. She would read into every small look, every nightmare, and most likely even my clothing. I didn't belong in Florida, and for the first time in a long time, I don't feel like I belong in Forks.

I was reminded of us everywhere I went: the tall trees he had climbed to show me a bird's-eye view of the forest; all the greenery reminded me of the meadow; and even the rain reminded me of our first conversation. I'm eighteen; I could leave, drop out of school, try my luck in some big city in a small apartment, get myself some window baskets, and get a job to distract me from the train wreck that was becoming my life. No way; I hated cities. If I had to go somewhere, it would be a quiet state where the air smelled clean and your neighbors gave you a wave in the morning but didn't pry into your business; somewhere I could maybe make a difference, step a little outside of my comfort zone, and even dare to be part of a community or something.

It's crazy how quickly your mind begins to wander when doing something as mundane as brushing your teeth. I stopped then and focused on the day ahead, rinsing out my mouth and washing my face and hands before leaving the bathroom to return to my bedroom to dress. Something simple today: jeans, a grey tank top, and a blue flannel shirt—nothing out of the ordinary for me. I made my way downstairs afterwards, laundry and jacket in hand. My plan was to go grocery shopping, come home, and make a few trays of lasagna. Charlie would be home late Monday night; he was on a weekend fishing trip and finally taking a well-deserved break after hunting Jacob and the rest of the wolves these past few weeks.

I knew after he came home and cleaned up his equipment and gutted his fish, he'd want nothing more than a hot shower and a home-cooked meal. Perhaps I'd even get a whole chicken and portion it up for meals and sandwiches for him to take to work. He'd have a mountain of paperwork to come back to too, and by the way he inhaled his dinner at times, I could just tell when he skipped lunch. Besides, if I cooked some meals and got the place cleaned up for his return, maybe he'd stop worrying about me so much. The idea of him and my mom worrying just caused my insides to knot up and refuse to quit. I constantly felt like I was disappointing them; I just had no idea how to act in a way that wouldn't worry them. It seemed everything I had done since Edward left just wasn't meeting their criteria for belief.

I dumped my clothes into the machine and made a mental note to remember and pick up fabric softener at the store as I put on my jacket and made my way to the front door, collecting my keys on the way. I unlocked the door and stopped in my tracks, finding a delivery truck at the end of the driveway. A skinny, broad-shouldered man was making his way up the frosty footpath, parcel and clipboard in hand.

"Swan?" "Isabella Swan?" he asked as he climbed the porch steps.

"That's me"

"Sign here, please," he said as he handed me the clipboard, and I scanned down the page, noting the priority shipping and overnight fee, as well as express shipping, which was checked so the parcel would arrive before nine a.m. that morning.

"Someone clearly wanted to make sure it got here on time," he commented.

I scratched my name down and was handed the parcel, which was surprisingly heavy. I quickly searched for the parcel's sender's details, discovering it was from Miss Alice Cullen.

"What is it anyway?"

"Something that couldn't wait," I replied, my eyes not lifting from her name as he turned away and left me stunned on the doorstep.

I cut the elastic tape around the box like fine silk, my heart racing a hundred miles per hour in my chest, my cheeks flushed, and my mind racing for possible explanations for this arrival, my eyes not leaving the parcel as I shut the door behind me, heading for the kitchen in search of scissors. I opened the box and removed the bubble wrap and other packing materials inside used to protect whatever it was she had sent to me out of the blue. I'd been reaching out to her from the moment they left town, and now, after all these months, I finally get a response?

It didn't make any sense to me.

Inside was a black binder and an embossed envelope. I kept both of them in my hands as I took a seat on the kitchen floor, not bothering with the nearby table and chairs. With my back leaning against the cabinets behind me, I placed the binder down on my lap and wasted no time opening the envelope, breaking its seal, and hurrying to read whatever was left inside for me to find. I opened up a single page, my heart bursting at the sight of Alice's handwriting and my eyes threatening tears as I began to read.

Bella,

There is so much to say in this letter that I hardly know where to begin, but only to tell you that I'm not contacting you with good news. Yesterday afternoon, I received a vision of you. I have not stopped keeping an eye on you since the moment we left Forks, and I'm glad I didn't. I understand you already know about the Volturi and the lengths they have gone to throughout the years to keep the secret of our kind from humans. I'm afraid that news has reached them that you might be a danger to our secret, and you might go as far as exposing it. We believed Victoria was responsible for this turn of events and that she has become aware of the fact that you are now alone in Forks and without our protection, making you an easy target for anyone the Volturi will send your way.

The vision I had of you, however, does not involve you coming to harm but instead involves you receiving my letter and changing the course of your life. The binder I have sent to you has all the necessary information you'll need to take you into the future and assure your safety. It contains one of the safety nets Jasper has gathered for us throughout the years, should the Volturi ever come for us. The binder holds within it a spell that must be cast as soon as you have all the requirements in place.

I have secured, along with the spell, the history behind it, information on the witch who created it, and how it came to save her life. It's a protection spell; it casts a powerful shield that will stop the Volturi from finding you indefinitely. The spell itself requires great sacrifice; you will have to push yourself beyond what you thought possible and either accept it as your fate or face a future I cannot yet see.

Now you must brace yourself for what I am about to tell you; even with the threat of the Volturi, I know this next part will hit you much harder.

Edward is on his way to Forks.

He is aware of the spell, but what he doesn't know is that you now possess it. He is against the casting of the spell; he believes he'll be able to keep you safe and keep you hidden, but Bella, that will not be the case. He refused to hear anything further from me and ended the call. According to my vision, he'll return to Forks at midnight on the 27th and head straight to your house.

A plus to this spell is that it puts a blanket of sorts around you; in other words, if you can convince Edward to do this, then this spell will allow him to walk in the sunlight without the sparkle.

You must get the ingredients for the spell to work before he arrives, and you must convince him that the spell is the only way to keep you safe from harm. If anyone can convince him of this, it's you. You must perform the spell on the same night he returns to Forks and be gone by morning by any means necessary. Do not tell anyone where you are going. The rest is up to you.

I know you will make the right decision, no matter what. Just remember you are stronger than you think, and sometimes things don't have to be normal to be beautiful.

I doubt our paths will cross for a while, but until they do, know that we are all behind you, no matter what. And remember, if the spell is not replicated exactly, it will not work.

Remember, Bella, the clock is already ticking.

All my love

Alice

The Volturi, or vampire royalty, as Edward described them, were coming to Forks to kill me. But Edward was also on his way here. I truly didn't know which was worse; I feared both of them might be the end of me. I couldn't face either of them; I didn't even know if I could pick myself up off the floor right now.

They're coming, he's coming, and it's worse than that tick tock tick tock tick tock.

Both my hands were trembling as I dropped the letter to my side and stared down at the binder. Whatever was inside it might just save my life, but Edward was somehow against it, and Alice said it required sacrifice, and I wasn't sure I was prepared to sacrifice anything, not that there was much left within me to sacrifice. All I could feel right now was fear and my heart battering against my chest. I was freezing. I wanted to run upstairs, climb into bed, and wake up from this apparent nightmare.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

I picked up the binder between both hands and finally opened it. It was a mixture of things: old journal entries, sketches of three women together and another of them with a man, and all kinds of other information.

The information I gathered went back as far as the sixteenth century, and I began reading preserved and catalogued documents pertaining to alleged witches of that time period. I read about their lives and families, how quickly everything changed for them when they were suspected of witchcraft, and I read the letters they wrote to their families as they waited in a jail cell in unspeakable conditions while awaiting trial, as well as about the witches who managed to escape and those who somehow thrived despite the nightmare that was their daily lives for a very long time indeed.

The further I looked, I found one name in particular continuing to make an appearance: Holly Elizabeth Doyle. Her date of birth was unknown; however, it was believed she came to the States with her parents somewhere in the very early seventeenth century. Her father was a carpenter who organized a marriage between Holly and a very promising apprentice of his by the name of Jonathan Petersen. Unbeknownst to Mr. Doyle, his eldest daughter had no intention of marrying, and when Holly divulged this to her future fiancée, he went straight to the town pastor, claiming that instead he did not want to marry Holly as he had suspected for some time that she was in fact a witch. Sensing the dogs at her door, the young Holly made the very courageous decision to flee in the middle of the night and spare her family the heartache of a trial. After years of turmoil, starvation, and countless degrading jobs, Holly would come to a newly constructed town by the sea. Here she would find steady work as a housemaid in one of the larger houses; it was here she would meet Olivia Wilson, a vampire, and Harriet Richards, another witch.

In less than a year, they would all be accused of witchcraft with no circumstantial evidence; neither of the girls had practiced witchcraft in over five years. A few of the town's folk, however, were not impressed by their ability to construct medicines that treated the suffering and impoverished. Each of them considered running, but it was Holly who instead devised a plan for them to remain together and beyond the grasp and pitchforks of the town's folk. She carefully devised a spell with the assistance of Olivia, Harriet, and a man Holly was set to marry by the name of Joseph Jones.

On the night they were set to perform the spell, Holly, Harriet, and Olivia became Joseph's wives. Each of them took the same vows, each wife holding equal measure in the eyes and heart of their husband as their bond of love and sacred trust was formed forever. Together they constructed a fire, and each of them surrendered their blood to the flame before joining hands and chanting the same enchantment as the flames grew high above their heads. Upon the last chant, the flames extinguished without a breath of wind in the air to aid them. Holly would later write in the journal she kept in her last year of life that she could still recall the feeling of the spell wrapped around her that night like a blanket as they all worked together to escape, packing their lives up into a single horse and cart, never to be seen again. Holly, Harriet, and Olivia remained married to Joseph for the rest of their lives.

Harriet was the first to give Joseph a child; Holly would give him his next four. It would be another five years of prayer and devotion before Olivia would finally be blessed with her first child.

"Wait a second. That can't be right."

I sat upright on the floor as I re-read the last few sentences before confirming that Olivia was indeed a vampire. Olivia's history was unknown; how she came to become a vampire wasn't documented, nor was her life before she came to meet her friends and husband. However, her desire to have a baby was recorded in Holly's journal, where she wrote of the different methods Olivia would try throughout the years; she'd go to church and pray almost daily that she would be blessed. Until she became pregnant one day, and there were no complications during the pregnancy or the subsequent one two years later.

Olivia would go on to give her husband a total of five children. Holly went on to write that she didn't hear of another vampire pregnancy until she was fifty years old; it was such a rare occurrence that it became nothing more than a rumor and, eventually, a thought impossibility. Further into the journal, Holly speculated that she believed that each child born from their joined marriage appeared to strengthen the spell in the years that followed. "The cloak that I hadn't felt around me in months has returned stronger than ever since Harriet's son's birth; now we can be confident that our bloodline was always meant to be shared, that the spell continues to hold, and will throughout our lives with the blessings of children to come," Holly wrote. Although there is little information about Holly's death, it is believed that she died in 1764. Followed the next year by her husband, and then Harriet a few months after that. Nothing further was written about Olivia or any of their children.

I was at a complete loss for words. Vampires aren't able to have children; Edward told me so himself. Had he lied to me about it? Or did he actually believe that it was impossible?

"Oh, my god."

Suddenly Alice's words catapulted through my mind, and everything became brutally clear to me. In order for me to live, we would have to replicate Holly Doyle's spell, meaning Edward would have to marry me and two other women at the same time. I immediately found the strength to pick myself up off the floor. If the Volturi were coming after me, I was going to pack my bags and get out of here before they got here.

I stopped dead in the kitchen doorway, casting my eyes down at Alice's letter on the floor. She couldn't see my future if I didn't perform this spell; if I didn't convince Edward that it was the only way, then my life was a blank canvas. For all I knew, today was my last day; I might not wake up tomorrow, never read my favorite book cover to cover, make eggs for Charlie, buy toothpaste, pass a test, or see my mom again.

There was no way I could cast this spell. I could see why Edward had refused to hear about it; the idea was insane. Edward might not; he doesn't; and I know he doesn't love me anymore, despite the fact that I still love him. Even so, there was no way I could stand back and be his wife while he was the husband of two other girls. It would break my heart; there was no way I could be part of any future that involved Edward having three wives.

He was on his way to Forks right this second; I wanted him here right now, but at the same time, I didn't. I'd always wondered what I'd do if he and I ever crossed paths again, whether I'd take the moral high ground or not, and right now, all I wanted was to live. The Volturi were coming for me, and I was focusing on seeing Edward instead. What was going on with me right now? I needed to get my mind straight and focus on staying alive and nothing else.

Alice said that without this spell, she didn't know what was going to happen to me, which also meant she had no idea what was going to happen to Edward either. She said I had to find a way of convincing him that the spell was the only shot at survival. Edward left me, and yet she still believed I was capable of such a thing; he didn't listen to what I wanted, and if he had, he would never have left Forks in the first place. He was only coming here now out of guilt—there it was, the hard but necessary truth behind his actions.

If we didn't do this, then we would both face the Volturi, and I'd possibly have to watch Edward die. I couldn't allow that to happen, nor could I imagine spending the next sixty to seventy years of my life on the run, never trusting another person, sleeping in a different bed every night, worrying someone might poison my food, holding my breath every second Edward wasn't with me, and watching everyone around me like a hawk. No, that wasn't a life for me; I knew me, and I'd go crazy in a matter of months, if not weeks.

I had to be rational and mature and come up with a solution to all of this. I returned to the kitchen, took a seat at the table, and stared down at the letter.

If this was the only way Alice saw my future, then I had to trust her and somehow come up with a way to make this work. Just because their husband had an intimate relationship with his other wives didn't mean Edward had to do the same, but now that we were no longer together, that meant he was indeed allowed to, should he wish. The idea of it brought tears to my eyes, however—the idea of him sharing with other girls what he and I had not and now never would.

But if I stepped away from reality for just a second and pretended I had it within me to do this, then I would need some rules set in place, never to be challenged or altered. For starters,

For starters, I'd need my own place to live. I couldn't live in the same house as his wives; it'd be too much to bear. So, with Edward's money, maybe we could find houses close to one another, if not perfectly side by side, perhaps in a neighborhood where new homes were being built, and come up with a story for the neighbors together, and all of us moving into different houses on the same day wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

Then Edward could decide—no, scratch that; his other wives and I could come up with a schedule together on how life was going to be. If Edward was going to be gifted with three wives, then we were going to be gifted with everything else entailed in those marriages. We would have to come up with an agreement on how to split our time so each of us had time with Edward—I mean, with our husband.

I would have to be the one to choose which girls to ask; Alice said I had to have all the elements of the spell ready for Edward's arrival. But if I didn't approach these girls with a strong plan for a life for us outside of Forks, then they would have no reason to help me. So I had to start working on something to give them an idea of how life could be if we entered into this together. Edward wasn't my boyfriend anymore; we only had our history, so technically I was in the same boat as them, whoever they might be.

I retrieved the spell and Alice's letter from the kitchen floor and made my way upstairs to my room, sliding off my jacket as I sat down at my desk and turned on my laptop. If this spell meant Edward's skin would no longer sparkle in the sunlight, we could go somewhere warm. I had to track them down somewhere no one would think to look for them—somewhere they were constructing new houses, perhaps in a new suburban area outside of any major cities, somewhere with lovely clean air and places to go walking, somewhere like...

"Utah," I read aloud as my cursor hovered over the state map.

I needed to do this right, to take my time and practically sell each of them on the idea of a new life here. I knew Edward could afford anything, but the Volturi would see the house they lived in here in Forks and start looking for properties in that style. I didn't want us to live on the beach; I didn't want housekeepers and gardeners; I wanted to move somewhere where I wouldn't have to worry about locking my door at night; somewhere where we'd have a community; somewhere where I could buy in bulk and make a life for myself.

There were plenty of developments all over the place. An hour ago, I couldn't believe my luck when I found not only one but three houses, side by side, each with their own individual design and house layout. I began to read through the descriptions of each individual house and took a look at the real estate agent's photographs. They were beautiful and all completely brand new; even the grounds surrounding them were made of dirt and required sod.

It was so brand new that we would have had to lay out our own grass and make it a home from scratch. I was smiling ear to ear as I took it all in; obviously, I couldn't decide this on my own; it would have to be agreed upon by everyone involved, whoever they may be. But if it were up to me, I already knew which of the houses I would choose.

I sent all the information I had gathered to the printer, everything from the blueprints to the descriptions, photographs, and prices. My hands refused to stop trembling, I couldn't seem to get warm, and I knew I was going into some level of shock from all the news. I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of someone knocking downstairs. The Volturi were not known for knocking, and I had my doubts that Edward would either.

I gathered myself and made my way downstairs to the front door, opening it to find no one on the other side. I peaked my head around the corner and found no one there. I was about to shut the door when I heard the knock again. I whirled my head around, finding the sound coming from behind me, and shut the front door before making my way to the back of the house. I unlocked the backdoor; we never even used this door when taking out the trash; it was purely decorative at this point.

I unlocked the door to find Leah Clearwater on the other side, using the lids of our trash can to cover her naked form beneath. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying; her hair was matted; and she smelled like the forest. It didn't take a genius, though it took me a minute to put the pieces together. I stepped to one side, and she made her way past me and into the house. Jacob had mentioned Leah to me; she was Sam's ex-girlfriend; she was Harry Clearwater's daughter; she was an old friend of Charlie's.

I shut the door behind me and kept my eyes to the ground as I made my way past her, giving her some dignity as I retrieved my robe from the ironing basket and exchanged it for the trash can lids, which I returned outside while she dressed. Jacob was a werewolf, but he'd kept Leah's identity hidden until now, and why he did so, I don't know.

Not that it matters right now anyway; this girl was clearly upset and needed help. It was hardly the time for questions; right now seemed the time for a shower and a change of clothes. I made my way back to her, and Leah tightened the ribbon of the robe as tightly as she could before she ran her hand through her hair.

Jacob never mentioned anything about you, so I was a little thrown. "I'm sorry," I explained.

"He doesn't know; it just happened for the first time."

"-Wait." "What?"

Leah shifted uncomfortably at my questions, and I returned to my senses.

"What's wrong?"

"My father died this morning, he had a heart attack."

"Oh, Leah, I'm really sorry."

"Don't act like you care." "I know who you associate yourself with, okay?" "If it wasn't for them being here, I wouldn't have been this way in the first place."

She was in pain; she was grief-stricken, and I wasn't helping. She must have fazed and returned to herself only moments ago. My house must have been the only one she knew around here. She clearly didn't care for me, but she knew my past, and besides, she was naked and cold. She needed support, although she seemed to be the type who would sooner die than admit it.

"Look, I just need some clothes, alright?"

"Yeah, of course." I turned to leave her when I stopped hearing the smallest sob escape from her mouth. I didn't dare turn around and attempt to comfort her; instead, I said, "I'm going to run you a bath and leave fresh clothes in the bathroom for you."

"I don't need your help!" She snapped harshly, almost snarling at me, "Just the clothes."

Sometimes even the shyest and most timid must find a little bark behind their bite in situations such as these. Sometimes just the act of repeating yourself is enough to calm and distract someone in pain.

"I'm going to run you a bath and get you some fresh clothes," I repeated.

This time I didn't wait around for a response; I made my way towards the stairs and didn't stop until I found myself standing by the bathtub, my heart racing in my chest as I began the necessary work. Suddenly all thoughts of Edward and the Volturi were pushed back to the farthest part of my mind. Leah had just lost her dad; she was in pain, and for some reason, she had landed up right here on my doorstep. So this wasn't about doing the right thing; this was one girl helping out another. This was the reality: when things fall apart, even the most unlikely pairs find their way to each other. I secured the plug for the tub and began to run the hot water, quickly adding to the water some lavender-scented bubble bath, a handful of Epsom salts, a rose-scented bath oil, and a small pink bath bomb from a collection my mom had sent me over Christmas.

As the tub filled with hot, steamy water and fluffy bubbles, I continued to work on setting up the bathroom. I unruffled the bath mat and returned it to its proper place. I cleared Charlie's shaving products off the sink before rinsing it out. I swapped them out for a new bar of vanilla-scented soap and a small tea light candle in a glass holder that I covered with a lid. I got fresh white towels from the closet, one for her hair and the other for her body, and a few white face cloths, which I placed on either side of the tub. I opened the one window we had in the bathroom slightly to keep the air filtering through.

I got rid of any empty product bottles around the sink and quickly replaced them with the back-ups from beneath the sink before I brought in the box of tissues from my bedroom and placed them by the sink. I found her a pair of dark blue jeans I believed were just about her size and a blank tank top. From my underwear drawer, I collected a sealed pack of black full briefs along with a black bra and a pair of socks. Even if she didn't take any of the underwear, I had at least offered them to her. I brought them into the bathroom and sat them on top of the toilet lid for her to find.

I returned downstairs and had barely made it to the last step when she rushed past me and disappeared upstairs, slamming the bathroom door shut. I waited at the bottom step, half expecting her to return in under a minute, but she didn't. Five minutes later, with still no sign of her, I made my way off the stairs and into the kitchen. I used this time to make her a BLT with some chips on the side and a tall glass of Coca-Cola. I placed it on the table across from where I sat, using my time to go through the information I had gathered yet again, ensuring that I understood the spell perfectly, going over the chant in my mind again and again.

It was all cart before the horse anyway; there wasn't a chance in hell I'd find two girls willing to help us before midnight. Anyone who did help us would have to be supernatural, or I'd have to expose Edward's secret to a terrified human who may or may not believe me. It wasn't as if I could prove anything without him here; all I had was a bite on my arm that could have been easily caused by an animal of some sort.

With only hours until Edward's return, actions had to be taken sooner rather than later; this was something I couldn't leave until the last minute. Alice was right: I had to get everything in place by midnight, and I would.

I held my breath when Leah entered the room twenty minutes later. Her hair was damp, and she had changed into the clothes I had left out for her. It was clear she had been crying again, and something about hot water did something for me too; it was a release of sorts for me. I held out my hand, encouraging her to sit and eat, and she reluctantly caved and tucked into the food right away. She was hungry; she wasn't even pausing to taste; she was eating ugly food and not giving a care in the world about it, and why should she? I wasn't about to start judging her; I was practically on a first-name basis with a few of the delivery guys at this point. Since Edward left, I hadn't taken care of myself, which I regretted. I should have made a better effort to tap into my pain rather than layer it with food and silence.

Leah was in pain; I couldn't imagine the pain of losing a parent so young. I wasn't sure if it was the stress that had caused her to faze, but she was handling it surprisingly well, if you asked me. I guess deep down in her heart she must have believed it might be possible one day, even if that meant being the only female in her pack. I guess crazier things have happened in Forks.

I couldn't imagine not seeing Charlie every day, but sadly, if this plan came together, that would have to be the case.

"Thanks," Leah blurted, breaking my train of thought. "You didn't have to do this." "I better get going."

"Sure," I said, lowering my head and returning to my reading as she slid her chair back.

"What's got your attention so badly anyway?"

I glanced at her for a moment and shook my head. "Nothing worth talking about." I responded

"You look worse than I do."

I began to nod and slid the pages shut before I met her eyes.

"Can I get you anything before you leave?"

Leah shook her head and turned to leave the kitchen, paused in the doorway, crossed her arms, and returned to me.

"What's wrong with you?"

I scoffed, "I don't think I'd even enter the top thousand in your concerns right now."

It's true; if I were in her shoes right now, I wouldn't even be able to stand up, and yet here she was, this girl who clearly detested me and was trying to get answers behind my silence. If I told her she could run off and tell Jacob, Edward could come back and walk right into a trap, but wait, no one would be protected on this side of the land. The worst Leah could do was tell Jacob, and he could show up here and get in the way of what I was trying to accomplish. Either way, she'd tell Jacob something was going on with me, as I imagined.

"You won't like it."

"So?" Leah replied, her face scrunching up like she had just sucked on a lemon.

I watched her return to her seat, sliding the plate to one side before placing her arms down on the table in front of her.

"How well do you know the Cullens?" I asked as I retrieved Alice's letter from inside the pages.

"Enough to keep my distance like any sane person would."

"Fair enough." I sighed "Do you at least know their names?"

"-I guess"

"The dark-haired girl Alice"

Leah nodded in response.

"She can see the future."

Leah leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving mine. I didn't hesitate in telling her that Alice would never return to Forks in Leah's lifetime, probably not even in her children's lifetimes.

"How is that possible? I mean, how does she see it?"

"Visions"

"Like in her dreams?"

"No, vampires don't sleep."

"I thought that was another rumor."

"No"; "I don't know how to explain exactly; she gets visions, and sometimes they change; the future is never set in stone, but nine times out of ten, she is correct. I'd bet my life on her visions; I've had them myself."

Leah rolled her eyes, making no effort to mask her impatience.

"So why are you telling me about this?"

"Well, you think the Cullens are bad?" "They're butterflies compared to the Volturi."

Leah leaned forward, curious; clearly, she thought the Cullens were the threat until now.

"The Volturi are vampire royalty in a sense; they weren't given the power; they merely took it, built an empire of sorts in Italy, and now whenever a vampire gets out of line or causes too much ruckus, they step in and deal with them by any means necessary."

"How many of them are there?"

"To be honest, I have no idea, but they're gifted, like Alice, with abilities that would frighten any supernatural being on the planet, including werewolves."

"I doubt that."

"You shouldn't"

With that, I handed her the letter. Leah studied it in my hand for a moment before rolling her eyes and snatching it from me. I watched her open it up and begin to read, seeing her expression change as the news of the Volturi's impending arrival washed over her like a tidal wave, bringing her down further and further until there was nothing but darkness.

Leah swallowed hard as she handed the letter back to me.

"They're coming here?"

"If her letter is right, one or more of them may even appear as early as tomorrow."

"Why didn't you warn us?" "Why didn't you at least warn Jake?"

"The letter just arrived, and then..."

"And then what?" "What took your attention?"

"You," I stated unequivocally.

Leah looked away from me, then began drumming her nails on the tabletop. "Tell me about the spell."

Instead of explaining it, I handed her the same information I had been provided with, and as she read, I poured myself a glass of water in an effort to put off a threatening headache. I hadn't even eaten breakfast yet, and already I felt totally wrecked, almost destroyed. I returned to my seat and downed the glass in mere minutes, returning to refill the glass a further two times before Leah finished reading through the history of the spell and its requirements.

"She wrote in that letter that the spell had to be followed exactly the way it was back then."

I nodded in response as I measured the remaining water in my glass.

"So she wants your boyfriend to be part of a spell that marries him to you and two other girls? So you can have a protection shield or something over you that's going to protect you all against these Italian vampires?"

"In a nutshell," I responded, raising my glass in a toast to my pending future, my expression completely blank.

"Well, you can't do it."

"Why not?" With a slight shrug, I inquired."I mean, you know what I'll face if I stay."

"According to Jake, you've been a zombie these past few months; everybody knows who is responsible for that."

"...It's complicated"

"Right, I'd never understand." "Because I've never been dumped by someone I thought was the one."

I studied Leah watched as she shook her head at me for doubting her.

"He did you a solid by leaving town. My guy stayed and started seeing another girl. So you can sit there and reflect on how bad your situation is. But put yourself in my shoes: imagine he dumped you, stayed around, and then you see him with another girl after a few weeks. You have no doubt that he still loves you, that what you two shared was unique, a once in a lifetime kind of love, that you're the girl in the movie to whom he'll pledge his love by the end, that this new girl is just a stand-in and you're the one."

Tears pricked my eyes as I attempted to picture the pain she had endured. I knew the history between her and Sam, and she was right to call me on my thoughtlessness.

"You're right."

"I know." "I'm living the nightmare over here too." "So, like I said, there's no way you'll do this spell."

"You're-" "You need to explain that to me."

"You really think you can see him with two other girls?" "Live his life with them? "Have miniature blood suckers?"

"I don't know him anymore," I said honestly, "and even if I did, I wouldn't be witnessing it daily."

"How do you mean?"

I handed her the next few pages of my research, again taking the risk that she might run off right this second and tell Jacob my intentions, but I figured she'd stuck around this long; she may as well continue to poke holes in my logic. I explained to her my theory that Edward could buy all three houses side by side, which each wife would live in, and together they could put together a schedule of sorts, where every few days or every day Edward would live in the house with a different wife. I went on to explain about Edward and the sun, why I picked Utah, and how I believed life could be if enough effort was put into it.

"I know me better than you think." I explained, "I know what I can handle and what I can't."

"It's ridiculous"

"You don't think I know that?" "This isn't a naive girl blinded by love here; it's life and death, or I wouldn't do this otherwise."

"People have done even crazier things for love than this."

"I doubt-" I paused when our eyes met, and yet again, I was reminded of the reality that every love is different. "Sorry," I mouthed.

This time Leah managed to avoid another eye roll.

The phone began to ring then, and the answering machine in the sitting room immediately kicked in after the first ring. Charlie used to leave this on whenever he went away for the weekend, just in case anyone from work wanted to leave him a message to come back to. Plus, it wasn't as if I got many phone calls these days.

"Bella?" "Bella, are you there?" a seemingly distraught Angela asked over the machine.

"She's a friend from school," I explained as I got to my feet then.

"Please come get me, my parents." "They're divorcing, and Eric's cheating."

I picked up the phone in the kitchen before she could say another word about it.

"I'm here"

"Thanks for picking up." I didn't know who else to call.

"Are you okay?" "Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I'm not at my house; I couldn't stay there; I had to get out." "My parents and-" "I saw Eric and Jessica; they were in her car, and-"

I looked over my shoulder at Leah, who could hear Angela through the phone with zero difficulty; the poor girl was practically hysterical. I turned back around and held in the urge to sigh; I didn't have the time to deal with this right now. I should have done what Leah asked and seen her on her way, and now this. I understood people needed help, but I was in a practically unusual situation at the moment, and I needed time to think.

But that's not what I found myself doing.

"Do you want to come here?" I asked

"-No. Your dad is there."

"Charlie's gone for the weekend. Just stop by."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." "No, of course."

I hung up the phone and turned back in Leah's direction, finding she was turning the page on the papers in front of her, looking at the property details of the last house. The truth is, a small part of me was totally in love with the brown house that came first; the one in the middle was only slightly bigger; then came the one Leah was reading about. I returned to my seat, crossing my legs together as I looked her way.

"This girl coming here, does she know about the Cullens?"

"You mean like their secret?" "Uh, no, why?"

"Then forget it."

"No, what were you going to say?"

Leah shook her head, not looking me in the eye; her attention was not lifted from the paperwork, which she continued to turn over.

"Tell me," I encouraged.

"No, if I do, then I might vomit in my own mouth."

"This wouldn't be the worst thing to happen in here today."

She huffed and ran her fingers through her damp hair, clenching slightly at the ends. She continued to glance in my direction without saying a word before she finally returned to her page-turning.

"I don't know. I just find it strange that you need two girls to get out of here right now, two girls. Show up."

I held my breath then as her words sank in, trying to make some semblance of sense from them as her eyes met mine. Was she accusing me of setting this up? Or was she actually suggesting that she and Angela, whom she didn't know, be part of a spell that would marry them to Edward, a vampire she hated and might be tempted to kill?

"What are you telling me here?" I asked before I scoffed, "You're making fun of me, and..."

"I'm not" Leah finally looked up at me and said, "I'm not," which she repeated slightly softer.

I shook my head in disbelief, but her dark eyes remained on mine until I finally stopped.

"You despise him."

"Yes," she replied, almost through grinded teeth.

"So why would you even suggest such a thing?"

"Really? You can't think of one single reason."

"I think I need to hear it from you."

Leah closed the paperwork in front of her, leaning her arms across it as she moved forward in her chair.

"All of the wolves are up in Canada right now, hunting some red-headed vampires they've been chasing for weeks." The second they come back here, they'll know I've fazed; they'll be able to hear my thoughts and every thought I have for the rest of my life. "Including my grief for my father, my love for Sam, but above all, you don't think they'll be a little curious about the first female werewolf in, I don't know, how many centuries?"

I continued to stare right back at her as she started to make a lot of sense.

"I don't have to like him; I don't have to love him; I just have to trust that he's as committed to the spell and getting the hell out of here as I am."

"There is nothing else to work out or focus on. If he is genuine, then so am I. That you have my word on."

I swallowed hard before reminding her of the letter: "He doesn't want to do the spell."

"Well, regardless of what I think of you, his sister thinks you can persuade him—" she adjusted in her seat "You seem the type to get things done the way you want. I don't have to like it to respect it."

"You could just be saying all of this to get me to drop my guard; the minute the spell is done, you could try and hurt him."

"I read that spell; it binds the wives to their husbands through blood and trust." "I don't want to know the backlash of what might happen to me if I even thought about doing such a thing."

"You say that, and I-"

"You still don't drop your guard. Good, I wouldn't either. I guess you're going to have to trust your gut, just the way women like us have been doing for decades."

"So I should trust you based solely on the fact that you want to get out of town?"

"If you were in my shoes, where would you go?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but when I met her eyes, I found myself at a complete loss for words. I couldn't imagine the pain she was dealing with right now, but I knew for sure that if I were in her shoes, I'd be on the next flight out of here. I'd want to separate myself from my whole life here, and only Edward would be in the seat next to me, who wouldn't bat an eyelid as I squeezed his hand for support. Leah wasn't the friendliest of people; she seemed to be the type who got things done on her own because she'd been let down by those who claimed they wanted to help her. Did I trust her? Not a chance. But did I trust that she wanted to get out of Forks and never look back? I was starting to.

"But the spell would bind you to Edward, and you'd be his wife in reality."

"-I know." She nodded slightly. "But it's my way out of this place before I have to face reality and be entered into the pack."

"Leah"

"Look, I'm offering it with zero hidden agendas." I just can't be here. That's all there is to it."

"Please look at me," I begged without sounding any more pathetic than necessary.

She did so without the slightest hesitation.

"If somehow we got Angela on board, got her to come to grips with vampires, werewolves, and the idea of being Edward's wife," "Not only do we have to convince Edward to do the spell, but we have to face the reality of our future." I leaned forward. "You would be living in a house that would technically belong to him; he'd be paying the bills; he'd be the one buying the furniture; and together-" I paused to take a deep breath. "Together, whether that be twice a week or whatever, you two will be in the same house together, sharing a life together, or the spell will not continue to hold up and not only will the Volturi find us but they will be pissed."

"And the pack," Leah added in agreement.

"Leah, it's a hell of a chance to take." "Are you sure you can do this?"

She leaned towards me, then her eyes locked on me, and without even blinking, she began to nod her head, her eyes not leaving mine as I came to accept and trust in her that she was in this with me.

"But can you?" She asked me, "I mean, really?"

I swallowed before answering, "I'm not going to pretend that I've really processed it all; I think, no, I know that seeing him will make me feel everything twice as hard, but at the same time, I think you and I are on the same boat, and I need to get out of here."

"And what about this friend of yours?" "Is she trustworthy?"

I brought my fingers through the top of my hair, then swept it slightly to the side.

"First, I'm going to have to convince her that vampires and werewolves aren't just in story books and movies."

"How long did it take your blood sucker to confess the truth to you?"

"Edward," I paused before addressing him."He didn't tell me, but I figured out that there was a chain of events that led me into discovering their secret." I don't even know how I'm going to do this."

With that said, there was a knock on the front door, causing Leah and I to lock eyes.

"Times up," she commented as I rose to my feet.

I unlocked the front door to find Angela a blubbering mess; she immediately wrapped her arms around me and sobbed against my shoulder, unable to let go. I rubbed her back gently up and down, soothing her the best I could as I also guided her inside and used the heel of my shoe to kick the door shut behind her. We remained there for a few minutes as she collected herself. I finally collected a few tissues for her and helped her dry her eyes before I reluctantly guided her into the kitchen as time was of the essence and we couldn't spare it.

Leah Angela had excused herself and attempted to leave, believing she was interrupting, but I convinced her to stay. Leah's having overheard Angela's telephone message put her immediately at ease when she admitted she too was having a bad day, and that's how she found her way here too. I was surprised by Leah's sudden kindness but was quickly reminded that Leah knew we were on a tight countdown and that she was doing what was necessary, like she and I were already on the same team or something. I encouraged Angela to tell us about it, and despite Leah being a perfect stranger, Angela took my seat and began to confess about the morning she had endured. As she began, I gathered her a glass of milk and two aspirin to take. Her head must have been pounding with all that crying; I know mine would be by now. I took a seat between them and listened closely.

Angela and her brothers were informed at breakfast that morning that her parents were getting a divorce. That her father was leaving Forks to live with a man he had met at church. Her mother was devastated and had made plans for Angela and her brothers to go and live with her for the next few months; apparently, she was going to a retreat in the south of France. Angela explained that the exact words she used were "some me time." Apparently Mrs. Weber left the table as Angela burst into tears, claiming she couldn't deal with her pain and had to focus on herself. Angela had dropped off her brothers at their grandmothers and returned home to find her mother getting into a cab without even a wave. Her father was also gone; his side of the closet was completely empty, as were his office and his nightstand. He'd been locking his office for weeks, and now it was all clear to her. He'd been aware he was leaving their home, and piece by piece, he had removed his things from the family home.

Then, if all of that wasn't enough, she had driven over to Eric's house when she couldn't reach him on his phone and pulled up at his house only to discover Jessica's car was in the driveway. When she confronted them, Jessica revealed they had been seeing each other since the night of the prom, but Angela wasn't allowed to say anything because she was with Mike, and if Angela told, she was just a bitch. Apparently, Jessica was going through a lot that she couldn't talk about, and she felt attacked by Angela.

It was at this point that Leah looked at me and said, "And you gave her a glass of freaking milk?"

I had collected some more tissues for Angela and disposed of the used ones. I was speechless over what she had gone through; for her parents to practically abandon her and then for Jessica to claim to be the victim in all of this was insane. Both Leah and Angela had real life problems compared to mine; in reality, both of their families were falling apart, and nothing could compare to my broken heart; they had real life pain, and all I had to do right now was shut up and listen.

Angela had no idea what she wanted to do; she loved her grandmother and grandpa, and she knew her brothers would be happy there; no doubt they'd go to the beach together today and probably see a Pixar movie that night. They were the type of grandparents who were fun, gave you good gifts, but also knew when you were lying, which made them as perfect as can be. She came here because she didn't want to spend the day alone; the thought of going home to her big empty house with all the photographs and memories on the walls was too much for was then that Leah confessed about the death of her father and how she didn't want to go home either. Angela had apologized for her loss and again offered to leave, thinking it was only appropriate. Leah told her to sit down. Again, Angela had apologized to her for talking about divorce and cheating boyfriends when Leah was dealing with the worst pain of all.

Leah stopped beating around the bush right then and there, telling Angela there was a way she could help her. Leah instructed me to put on a pot of coffee as she saw the blood drain from my face as she began to confess the truth to Angela. It wasn't until I began pouring the coffee that I understood Leah's reasoning behind it: we were all going to need a lot of caffeine for the day and night ahead if Angela agreed to this, and the more caffeine the better for us in the long run. Leah spoke about the history of werewolves first. I didn't take my eyes off Angela as she listened closely, trying to keep up with Leah as she went into all the necessary and sometimes horrific details. She told her how many wolves there were and about them being in Canada chasing something that was hunting me. I didn't think it was possible for Leah to confess such things about the pack, but then I remembered she hadn't officially joined them yet, and until she did, I guess she could speak freely. When Leah finished, I had begun to confess the history of vampires and had just begun to mention the Cullens when Angela accused us of trying to make fun of her. Half an hour later and a lot more tears later, Angela still wasn't convinced and even got up to leave a few times.

Finally, Leah had gotten up from the table, which made Angela do the same. I had rushed after both of them only to bang into Angela in the hallway as we were confronted by a grey werewolf snarling back at us. Angela opened her mouth to scream when I reacted faster, covering her mouth with my hand and turning on the radio next to us to mask the sound. Leah fazed back to her human form as Angela continued to scream into my palm and batter her fists into my arm, which was now holding her steady in place. Leah had gotten in Angela's face and repeated,

"Breathe. Calm down." Until Angela finally, and I mean finally, settled herself down.

I let her go and ran to the front door, opening it and telling Angela that we were wrong to tell her and that she was scared, that I understood if she never wanted to see or speak to me again, and that I was so sorry for involving her in this. Angela did leave. She left the house and went down to her car, starting up the engine. When she paused, she cut the engine and remained there for a few minutes before she returned back to us. Letting herself in and shutting the door behind her, her eyes were on me as she asked, "Why did you decide to tell me now?"

Leah got herself dressed, and together we all took a seat on the stairs, with me near the top, Angela around the middle, and Leah on the bottom. I wasted little time and practically blurted out that the Cullen family were all vampires. I, like Leah, explained their abilities, their diet, their history, how they came to find each other and become a family, and the real truth behind how I discovered Edward's secret along with all the Cullen's gifts. Leah had gone into the kitchen and collected all the information and Alice's letter after I first brought up the subject of the Volturi. Leah and I had watched Angela read through Alice's letter, then the history of the spell, the wives, and the spell itself. Before going on to explain the Volturi, who they were, what they stood for, how I came to know of them, and confirming Alice's warning about them in the letter, Angela, like Leah, was shocked and couldn't believe I'd entered into such an arrangement; she didn't need to know Edward was a vampire to see the love we had for each other before they left town; she didn't know Edward that well obviously; I mean, she'd had a crush on him at some point, but she knew he only had eyes for Bella. Angela said, "Yeah, I didn't even need to know Alice to know she was right in the letter; trying to convince him into this arrangement will be extremely difficult."

It was right around then that Angela clocked the exchanged looks between Leah and I and put two and two together. Again, Leah and I offered to let her run and forget about the whole day, but Angela, being curious, continued to push. Like with Leah, I had to explain my theory about how life would be after the spell, and Leah supplied Angela with the information regarding the houses. Leah and I were at a complete loss for words when Angela spent more time looking at the pictures of the middle house than of the other two. There was no way that this was fate; it was merely a coincidence.

"Bella, you know how much I care about you, but I don't know if I can do this." "I'm sorry"

"No, I get it. Trust me."

Angela looked down at Leah, then asked, "Are you considering this?" before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I am," Leah confessed, "I was in your shoes two hours ago."

"It took you two hours to decide to marry someone."

"It took me five seconds for me to realize my fate if I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Bella told you so herself; this pack of vampires is probably on their way to Forks this second and aren't the type to grant mercy."

"You've met them?"

"No, and I won't be sticking around for inductions." I'm the only female werewolf in decades; they're going to find out and they're going to come after me. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make that impossible."

"Are you sure this isn't just a favor for Bella?"

"Angela," I gasped.

"No, I don't even like her."

When I looked down at Leah, she shrugged innocently, "Come on, let's not pretend otherwise.""You roll with vampires."

"She's right, and to answer your question, it's not a favor to me; I mean, read the letter again if you have to; I'm just as new to this as you both are; I still don't know if I'm capable of doing this," I said, nodding."I'm about to beg the guy I love to marry me through a spell and two other girls just so that we can live and flee our homes." "It's not exactly what I pictured for my life."

"We're all in the same boat there." Leah spoke out then: "Every one of us woke up this morning with no idea this day would destroy our lives; nothing is going to be the same for any of us again, spell or no spell."

"What do you mean by that?" Angela challenged her.

Leah sighed and crossed her legs before answering, "It means that I'm leaving Forks with or without doing the spell."

With that, I became brutally honest as I locked eyes with Leah. "You don't feel at home here anymore, do you?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "It hasn't felt like home in a while, and after this morning, I just can't be here anymore." "I know I'm not needed here, and-" she looked at Angela and me, then said, "I'm not sure, maybe I'm needed in Utah instead."

I dipped my head as I began to talk, not being able to look at either of them: "I know I have no right to ask either of you for help; Leah and I don't know each other, and Angela, I haven't been a friend to you or anyone at school since Edward left town." I mustered up the courage to look at them, then said, "I'm asking the impossible of both of you, but I'm asking regardless." "I'm not asking you to do it for me; I'm asking that you do this for you and only you."

Angela locked eyes with me then.

"If you need to stay here for your brothers, then stay with my full support." But if—" "If you need to get out of here, If you feel like this might be right for you, then come to Utah.

"It's not just my family, Bella." "I mean what about school?" "We can't just walk out on our lives."

"I couldn't care less about school; after today, I feel like I've been hit by a truck, and finishing school is the last thing on my mind. I feel like I'm beyond school; I don't need to ask permission to go to the bathroom; I don't care about getting a good grade or even going to college. I feel like—"

I clasped my hands together."I'll be honest: I don't feel like I belong in Utah. But that's just me; those are my thoughts, and I'm not trying to make them yours.

"No, no, no, I know you're not attempting to do that."Angela sighed and placed her palm over her forehead. "I don't mean it like that." "What I'm trying to say is, there is a lot to consider here," she said, dropping her hand. "If I were to agree to this," she looked back and forth between Leah and me. "We will all be married to Edward." I mean, do you hear how insane that is?"

"Yes," we both agreed together.

"We are talking about leaving our homes and moving to Utah to be different people and..." "Besides the spell being really complicated and all that other stuff-" Angela's chin trembled as she pulled herself together. "Just the idea of leaving Forks, it-""It makes me feel like a weight is coming off my chest that I didn't even know was there," she confessed.

I slid down a few stairs then and reached out for her hand, which she accepted. I watched her as she dried her eyes; I cast my eyes down to Leah and tilted my head upward, encouraging her, and she nodded in agreement and joined us, sitting just one step down and across from Angela.

"I feel like I should be more ashamed, but I'm not." Angela continued, "I don't think I belong here anymore either." "But, guys, no for real-" she sniffed."How do we get out of Forks without being followed by this Volturi?"

I searched my brain for answers. "Well, Holly wrote in the journal that after the spell they returned to their home to gather up their possessions," I began.

"Right, she wrote about how they had to fit it all onto a single carriage because they only had one horse." Angela recalled "She said the spell allowed them a twelve-hour window to escape."

"She's right," Leah agreed with her, "I remember reading that part too."

"But we wouldn't need twelve hours to escape," I said.

"Not even close."

"But we do need a way of escaping so no one, including the Volturi, will come looking for us."

"So the spell kicks in twelve hours after the chanting, so if Edward arrives at midnight—" I stopped.

"No, go on!"

"Say what you were going to say," Angela encouraged.

"I just don't want to sound like I'm taking over, but in my option, I think we convince him somehow and be out of Forks by four a.m."

"That's a good idea."

"Honestly?"

Leah nodded in agreement too. "I mean, think about it, her grandparents will call her tomorrow to check on her; you said Charlie is back on Monday, and I know the guys won't be back until then; they said they weren't leaving until they caught her this time," she explained.

"But if we all left tonight, that would give us forty-eight hours to escape to Utah." "I don't even know how long it would take to even get there." I said

"We'll have to go by car; we can't go on a plane because they'll track down where we landed." "We'll go by car instead and cover our tracks the best we can."

"But that doesn't stop Charlie, Angela's family, and the wolves from searching for us." We need a reason for them not to come looking for us. I explained, "I know Charlie won't stop; he's the sheriff."

Over the next few hours we discussed possible ways of leaving Forks; some ideas were better than others, and everyone came up with their own at one point or another. We moved from the stairs and into the sitting room, Angela and I sitting on the couch while Leah paced back and forth before taking a seat by the fireplace.

"Well, you have been-" Angela stopped herself and dripped water on her head.

"No finishing," Leah instructed.

"No, I shouldn't forget I said anything."

"Angela," I said, reaching my hand out and covering hers with mine until she met my gaze. "Don't be afraid to speak," I told her before releasing my grip.

She sighed "Alright, erm, what I was going to say was that you've been lonely and torn up about Edward." "Could you perhaps convince Charlie you've skipped town?"

"You mean, like, ran away?"

"Not in the childish sense; you're eighteen now, your boyfriend broke up with you, and Forks was never your choice of places to be. Would it be totally out of nowhere for you to leave him a note that you've gone travelling or something?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and huffed, "I don't know if he'd buy the whole travelling bit, but he'd believe that I left because of what happened; I mean, he even wanted me to go home and live with my mom a while ago."

"There's another way." Leah spoke, then stared off into space as she began to speak: "A way for all of us to get out without anyone suspecting that we're all together or that Edward was any part of it either."

"Say it"

Leah looked at us then and said, "Even before I say it, I can hear you both refusing the mere notion of it."

"Say it anyway, and we'll rule it out," I told her.

"She's right about the whole running away thing, but we have to come at it from a completely different angle." "You're the sheriff's daughter, which means he's not going to stop looking for you; he'll turn this place upside down for some clue, but he won't be the first one to arrive home on Monday."

"The wolves?"

"Jacob will be over here within maybe an hour of his return home; your truck will be here, but you won't." He'll suspect something is up when you don't answer, given the company you normally keep. He'll find a way into the house, check all the rooms, and slowly he'll come to realise that something is off."

"Keep going," Angela encouraged her.

"He'll catch the scent of blood in the air and the undeniable scent of an unknown wolf."

"What do you mean?"

Leah leaned towards us then. "I'm a new wolf, and I'm fazed because of-" she cleared her throat, pausing once more."Erm, so I was fazed and not knowing my new body or how to control my urges, so I found my way over to the Sheriff's house, into the home of the vampire's girlfriend, unaware that she's not home alone she's in the middle of a sleepover with her friend, the pair try to escape me, and I lash out until it's too late."She continues as we stare back at her, jaws clenched, as she explains her concept."I return to my human form, freak out over what I've done, and decide to cover it up." I clean down the house, move furniture to hide claw marks on the floor and walls, mop up all the blood, or so I think, and write a letter saying that the both of you have run away together, missing out on the details behind Angela's decision to leave; obviously, I wouldn't know anything about the divorce. I'd say that she's merely supporting you and coming along for the journey; you, however, need to get out of Forks; you hate it here, and you never want to come back. So, when the wolves realize I've killed you both, staged the crime, and fled town before they come back to get me,

"No, just wait, wait, wait." "Just wait," I said, "that doesn't make sense; you can't stage our deaths; they'll come after you."

"The spell will protect me from them finding me."

"But Charlie will have the rest of the sheriff's station turning this place upside down."

Jacob will be so hell-bent on finding me that Sam will put him in his place and take over. He'll cover up the entire thing."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Did he get arrested for what he did to Emily?"

"No," I replied.

"Exactly. This isn't the first wolf attack; the boys will come in and clean it up; the only thing they'll find is a new letter that looks more like your own writing, which they'll find in your homework or notepads from your school locker." "So Charlie will have no choice but to then believe you skipped town with your friend."

"What will he think about you skipping town around the same time?"

"Grief," Leah replied flatly.

"I don't know about this." "You'll never be able to face any of the wolves again."

"I'm aware."

"That means Sam too."

"I know," Leah tucked her hair behind her ear, "I get that."

I looked to Angela and said, "I mean, would your parents even believe that you skipped town?"

"I mean, I guess it's possible given everything that happened this morning. "I acted out of shock, I think they might,"

"Uh, does blood smell different from our scent?" I asked Leah then.

"I ran by a dead hedgehog when I was fazed; it smelled like the forest, but the blood was, I don't know, like rust or something."

"So if we went with this plan then..."

"All three of us have to get rid of our scents, Jacob, and the rest will be more convinced that I am responsible since I went to the effort of masking not only my scent but yours."

"I don't know what you mean," Angela confessed.

I looked at her then and said, "She means that if the wolves can't track our scent, then they can't track down where she buried us."

"Ah"

"Exactly if your clothes are missing, then it makes the rest of Forks believe that the two of you really did run away."

"So clothes"

"Not just clothes, bed linens, towels, blankets, cushions, couch cushions, curtains, shoes, bags, scarves, gloves, and hats, gather it all up and take it to a Laundromat."

"Why a Laundromat?" and not our own machines?"

"Because the machines will be coated in other people's scents, you'll pick up their scent as well as your own. But that's only half the work. You'll need to scrub every inch of your houses, put on hair nets and gloves, and don't take them off until you're out the door. Scrub everything you've ever touched, and then scrub everything you've never touched, and then do it all over again. I cannot underestimate the strength of supernatural senses."

"She's right," I agreed.

"But what about the blood?" Angela asked

I got to my feet then and made my way out to the hallway, grabbing Charlie's keys to his cruiser and keeping an eye out for any neighbors as I headed outside. I opened up the trunk and began to look through his first aid supplies. I returned to the house with two new items in hand, closing and locking the door behind me.

"What is that?" Leah asked

I held them up for them to see for themselves. I had pocketed two blood transfusion sets from the first aid supplies.

I returned to my seat, and we began to talk about all the necessary work ahead of all of us. We agreed on separate launderettes, knowing we would all need use of many machines all at once, and we discussed the products we'd need to scrub the houses down, along with our cars and lockers, desks, and chairs at school. I came up with the idea of how we would approach the spell: we'd leave a note on my front door for Edward to find, and when he arrived there, he would see that we were united in our decision and that there was no turning back. We all agreed that if Edward were to agree to the spell, we would all wish to travel to Utah without him. I wanted to put the girls' minds at ease by saying that I didn't think of myself as any different from them and wasn't their favorite or anything. Leah would steal a girl across town who would blend in well on the roads, and she'd find large gas canisters for the trunk so we wouldn't have to stop and refuel for at least the first few hundred miles. We wanted to take every precaution, so we all agreed to not stop anywhere unnecessary, which meant no toilet breaks; we'd pull over on the side of the road when necessary, and that was it. Angela offered to get the necessary items for the fire. We weren't going to use any flammable liquids; we'd burn wood and dead leaves just as they did. And I offered to be the one to go to the school and scrub down our lockers, chairs and desks in case the wolves ventured there when they had no luck at the houses.

Angela and I went upstairs to the bathroom, armed with some plastic take-out containers and the blood transfusion kits. I was the first to take the needle, and I quickly did the same for Angela. We sat down on the floor of the bathroom and watched our blood make its way down our separate tubs and into the containers; it had to be enough so it was believable, and even though some of it would be mopped up and disposed of, the residue would remain for the wolves to smell. While we were doing that, Leah fazed downstairs and used her nails to scratch the surfaces. We agreed on the corner of the rug so she could use it to disguise the markings, on the wallpaper that she could push the side table a few inches to the left to cover, on the floor of the kitchen that we'd cover slightly with the dust bin, and then on the backdoor around like she had broken in through it, she was going to leave paw marks to and from the backdoor for Jacob or one of the others to find and eventually counsel.

As we sat there alone on the bathroom floor we reached out for each other's hands giving them a gentle squeeze and release focusing on our attention on anything but the blood flowing into the clear containers beside us. What we were doing was idiotic but completely necessary if we were going to pull off our plan. Leah, Angela and I had covered all our basis, we like many women before us had covered every minute detail before we made back up plans for our back up plans. We all agreed what we were doing was stupid, selfish and beyond reckless but the idea of staying here, the idea of just waiting for the Volturi to track us was enough to light a fire under each of us. We didn't have to be on the same page for our future in Utah to work for us, we didn't have to think about that yet. We agreed that talk could wait until we were out of the state and all together in the car. Together we decided that our own focus was on the tasks ahead and there were a lot of them for each of us to take responsibility for, none of us sharking the weight onto another, we were all doing the heavy lifting together as a team of sorts. We'd been together for six hours but it felt much longer, we'd encourage each other's ideas and truly listened to what the other had to say.

After the blood was prepared we sealed it shut and kept it in the bathroom together with a bar of soap on top of my blood so I would know which blood was whose. I gave a plaster to Angela and applied one to my own arm, when we returned to Leah she was back to her human form and buttoning her/my jeans. I looked down to the rug and despite only seeing the edge of the claw marks you could tell it was there right beneath the surface of the rug.

"Remember after you clean you have to make sure you put everything back to the way it is now" Leah instructed

"I will" I assured her before turning to Angela "Remember to wash and bring the clothes you're wearing right now back with you tonight. We will plant them in my room along with mine and make it look like we got into our pjs and went to bed."

"No problem."

"Also don't forget to leave a note for your parents or grandparents to find stating you intended to spend tonight at my house, then it looks like-"

"I slept over and we decided to run away that next morning" Angela finished my sentence.

I apologized to her then for I knew I was repeating what she already knew, each of us had gone over the plan step by step, we were going to pull this off because we all had something to lose if we didn't.

"Alright I'll take the forest back to my place, probably best no one see me leave your place" Leah said joining us then "Remember when you clean your houses use the strongest bleach and disinfectants you can get your hands on, go red in the face and don't stop until you physically ache."

"Okay" Angela and I agreed together.

"And remember guys just clothes and remember set your timers for when it's time to ditch our phones. Oh before I forget-" I made my way upstairs to my bedroom and collected my laptop bringing it back downstairs with me and handing it to Leah "Could you get rid of this for me?"

"What for?"

"My browser history is in it, I used it to collect the information on Utah." I explained and with Leah's hands clasping the sides of the laptop I opened the back cover and removed the hard drive "The laptop you can break in half and toss anywhere but this, could you I don't know throw it over a cliff or something?"

"I guess sure, there's a place I run by on the way back that would work, I'll break apart the laptop and bury one half in an old fallen tree stump and the other I'll bury. There's a cliff even Sam is terrified to jump I'll toss it there, they never go up that way anymore now anyway"

"Alright so we all know the plan for tonight. But for now we get the clothes done, I'll take care of the school, Angela the fire and Leah the car. Then after the spell we have less than four hours to scrub down our houses before our meet up here."

"Four a.m" Leah said out loud then and we all nodded in agreement.

"None of us can be late. The spell gives us twelve hours but we're getting out in less than four to be sure."

"It's agreed" Angela said then.

With it finally all agreed Leah took off out of the backdoor and Angela headed out the front without another word said between any of us. None of us would talk again until we reached our agreed upon location that night, we couldn't risk any phone records. After they left I finally cried, I cursed myself for leaving Charlie and in such a way as this but the less he knew the more he was protected. I cried over the reality that in a few hours Edward might possibly become the husband to three different girls. I took two aspirin to help with my headache that quickly followed. I knew before I began any of my work that I needed to take care of myself first. I made myself some scrambled eggs on toast with a glass of orange juice, I ate my food in the sitting room in front of the television, switching on some sort of food network in an effort to distract myself for ten minutes or so. After I finished clearing away my plates, before I collected some bleach and rags from beneath the kitchen sink. I made my way upstairs armed with some black bin bags. I gathered up all of my clothes from inside my closet, along with my shoes, scarf's and hats.

Next I stripped the linens off my bed, all of the towels from the bathroom and the ones in the cupboard along with the spare bedding. Each of them stuffed into individual bags before I went around the house and took all the curtains from their poles and added them to the growing pile. I knotted each bag and carried as many at a time into my truck as I could so I wasn't making trips back and forth. I drove across town and my first stop was the Laundromat, I was grateful to find I was the only one there, the place was dead and all the machines were empty. After getting some change and preparing each individual machine I made my way over to the lost and found and added discarded items to each of machines containing my things, now not only would my clothes smell of others washing and lint but now these were being added into the mix to mask my scent even further.

After that my next stop was the school, the building was always being used for one thing or another over the weekend and today it was a Zumba class. I arrived at that school armed with my bleach and rags from home, no one saw me once inside, I had parked my car four blocks away from the school grounds and kept my head down on my way in. I used the bleach and rags to scrub mine and Angela's lockers, desks and chairs before making a quick dash out of the door again.

Afterwards I returned to the Laundromat and quickly switched all of my items from the washers to the dryers, collecting all the stranger's lost and found items and bagging them as I left. I dropped them in a dumpster across town on my way to the grocery store along with the rags I used at the school, submerging both of them in the remaining bleach I had left.

When I got to the grocery store I went to work hard, I collected everything to stock the fridge, freezer and cabinets for at least the next two months. I bought all the ingredients I'd need to make Charlie his favorite meals, unknown to the girls I was buying food for the road and planned to make us enough that it would keep us fed for over a thousand plus miles. I stocked up on a few of Charlie's products such as aftershave, shaving foam and razors, not enough that he would suspect anything, after all I had done this before for him without him battering an eye. I wasn't going to do anything that would cause Charlie suspicion, he already knew I planned to go grocery shopping over the weekend anyway.

I thought a lot about Charlie as I pushed the cart around the store and loaded it up. I prayed that somehow he found find some level of acceptance soon and trust that wherever I was I was happy and loved. That's what I had to at least tell myself in order to go on with the new life awaiting me in Utah. But I still had to convince Edward whom was this second making his way to Forks, Alice hadn't mentioned where he had been all this time but I doubted he'd remained close by. Deep down I believed if he had been close to Forks I would have felt him somehow and I hadn't. I'd felt alone for so long but not anymore, not since this afternoon with Leah and Angela, I wasn't sure exactly how they felt about it but I felt a small connection when we were together.

I believed it was spiritual, the three of us coming together the way we did. The way we had sat down together, came up with the entire plan in a single afternoon, no idea was too small, no one felt dishearten or unheard, we were all together in that moment putting the pieces together until each of us was certain of every minute detail of the plan.

I didn't what to expect tonight when Edward and I were finally reunited. He would be angry that I had gone to these lengths, he'd discover Leah was now a wolf and that naive Angela was now indeed part of the fold so to speak. They both knew about the spell and were willing participants, they weren't ready to discuss what their marriages to Edward would entail, however they were able to give us their word that they were ready to enter this sacred trust, a partnership of sorts. We would all be united in this spell but each of our marriages to Edward would be very different indeed, but I couldn't allow my mind to wandered into anything relating to marriage right now, we all agreed that when the three of us were on the road to Utah we'd know when we were ready to discuss such matters and until then we were putting a pin in it. There was simply too much to do before then and each item on the list had to be checked off for us to succeed.

When I finished up at the grocery store I loaded up my truck and made my way across town to pick up my clothes. When I arrived I snapped on a pair of latex gloves and opened a new package of bin liners, I was alone again as I packed up my clothes and other linens, it couldn't have taken more than twenty minutes to get everything sorted into the bags and loaded into the truck. I took in the town of Forks as I made my way back to the house, I was never going to drive my truck through this town ever again, so I decided to appreciate it one last time. And then as I pulled up at the house I took it in, the lawn, the gutters that were always a little loose, my bedroom window and our mail box. This is where I lived when I fell in love and where I recovered when my heart was broken, it's where my parents lived together when they were happy and it's where Charlie would live for the rest of his life.

I snapped on a fresh pair of latex gloves before I began to unload the truck, keeping them on as I stocked up the fridge, freezer and cabinets. Everywhere was loaded without it appearing over stocked, before I left the kitchen I seasoned two large chickens and put them in the oven to cook. I made my way upstairs to the attic and collected all the luggage that I could, I'd brought a few with me when I moved from Phoenix, I collected a few hold alls too just to make sure I had enough for the stuff we'd need on the road.

I ironed the towels, bed linens and curtains before returning them to their place around the house before I began on my own clothes before folding them and packing them into the proper suitcases. I then wiped down each case and wrapped them in bin liners before placing them by the front door and at the ready.

I could have been knocked over by a feather when I looked to the clock above the fridge in the kitchen and discovered it was already eleven thirty. I had become so consumed in the task at hand that the time had just completely flown in. I wrote the note for Edward to find with my heart battering around in my chest as I stuck it to the front door for him to find after going around the house and shutting off all the lights. I picked up Angela on the way to the meadow and helped her put the supplies for the fire into the back of my truck. We met Leah on the way and walked through the forest together hauling the supplies between us. We used wood from the forest, fallen crispy leafs and set them to light in a large cast iron pot. All of us shaking from the cold, seeing the air around our mouths as finished up. Both girls stood at my side with me in the middle as we waited.

"You think he'll show?" Angela asked.

"He'll show" I assured her

None of us had brought our phones we relied on Angela's watch for the time, Twenty minutes later, still no Edward. We were all keeping an eye on the forest surrounding us for any signs of life; the sky above was clear enough to see the stars as we grew all the more impatient.

"He's here," Leah whispered, then, "I think I can sense him."

She looked at us then and nodded.

As Edward emerged from behind the tree line, we all looked forward to hearing the sound of twigs breaking beneath someone's feet. I held my breath as he made his way towards us, his amber eyes never leaving mine for a second; he was furious that he could see what I had done. Seeing him this way, I reached out and took both Leah and Angela's hands, much to their surprise.

"What have you done?" Edward demanded answers from me.

He stopped just a few feet shy of us and the iron pot before us. He didn't look well; he clearly hadn't been taking very good care of himself since he left Forks. But at least he had recently eaten; probably when he knew he was coming to get me, he hadn't been around me in a while and probably didn't trust himself very well. I'd say he'd never hurt me, but he had before; he'd abandoned me and left me a complete wreck. We were standing in the same meadow that had been our sanctuary, where we could be ourselves and perfectly in love without having to hide. I'd been the one to pick this place in particular to do the same, and I wanted Edward to see that I was so determined to do the spell that my final memory of our meadow would be tonight and the spell that would unite us forever with Leah and Angela.

"What I had to do." I responded, my tone and voice level in check as he walked closer, so close, not one of us dared to move. I knew that Edward had every power to overpower the three of us but yet he continued walking toward the pot of smoking charred pieces of wood before us.

"Where have you been all this time?" I asked wanting him to answer the questions that had been tormenting me ever since he left.

"I'm not discussing this in front of them. Bella, you have to come with me." Edward extended his arm towards me and began to come close but he didn't move past the pot between us. He watched as each of the three of us tightened our grips. He would have to move past the pot between us in order to reach me and I'd be damned if that was happening.

"You will not be taking Bella anywhere tonight or any other night." Leah snapped before I had a chance.

"Not until you hear everything we have to say." Angela said.

"He doesn't need to hear us out, he's already listening." I said and the knowledge of his mind reading abilites sank in then as silence quickly followed.

Edward stared down at the ground before he looked right back at me "So you shared the one thing you assured me you wouldn't."

"You did a lot of things to me you promised you wouldn't" I paused to regroup "You left me all alone."

"To give you a chance of-" Edward stopped and stepped back the leafs rustling below his feet.

"Of what?" I questioned my expression becoming even more rigid.

"To move on." Edward told us all, even though he was answering me "Of becoming more."

I wanted to slap that look of superiority clean off of his face, the look he had been perfecting over his 110 year old life.

"Bella is just fine the way she is," Leah added her fingers entwined within mine, "Despite her taste in men anyway."

Edward locked eyes with me once more "You know the threat we're dealing with. I have to keep you safe."

"The spell is all we need to keep us safe. It's the only chance we have then going on the run." I stopped and wet my lower lip with my tongue "I'm not going to spend days or weeks wondering how much time I have before one of them catches up to me."

"You actually believe I'd let one or any of them hurt you? Don't you know what you mean to me?" Edward demanded his tone taking on that usual pained expression, when I was making no sense in his mind and he couldn't understand why I wasn't automatically agreeing with everything he had to say. He would never be able to fully accept that the day he chose to leave me had been the ultimate betrayal.

"You promised me you wouldn't do anything reckless. This is reckless, this is beyond torture, it's a death sentence for your heart and mine."

"But I would be protected. We all would. The Volturi will never ever stop. Ever!" I snapped.

Edward looked to Leah and Angela "I suggest you both leave before-"

Leah's finger nails began digging into the skin of my palm "We're not going anywhere."

"Spell or no spell, you're stuck with the two of us and Bella."

Edward sighed exasperated at the thought, as though this was some minor inconvenience he was going to have to learn to deal with. It made the blood boil hot in my veins.

Edward then looked to Angela and then back at me "You told a human, the Volturi will come for her now. No matter what I do, you've made her my responsibility."

"We're gonna be responsible for each other now." I assured him

Edward immediately turned his back to me "This isn't the life you deserved." I thought I heard him say.

Leah's hand left mine "No one gets what they deserve" she said before reaching into her back pocket on her way over to Edward.

She handed him the pages which he very reluctantly took as Leah came and stood at my right. We all watched on as Edward glanced over the spell while I took Leah's hand back in mine needing her strength.

We watched Edward as he went through the pages containing all the information on the houses in Utah before he locked eyes with me once more.

"Three houses? Why would you need three houses side by side?" Edward asked instead of reading their minds for answers.

Leah responded "We're not gonna leave Forks as three high school girls, we're leaving as women and we need our own houses out there," She kept her gaze fixed on him "We'll figure the rest out but basically, without being too blunt, you'll be living between all three houses, one night you'll be with one of us and then another."

She was brave to be so open with him about our plans but all I could focus on was Edward and prepare for his reaction to our suggesting we live like modern day polygamists.

"And what happens when you all discover you can't cope with it?" Edward said looking up at her first and then me.

"Then that will be something we will deal with." Angela responded coming up to join Leah and me, as the three of us held hands again and I stood facing him.

"What do you get out of this?" Edward asked us and even if he did read their minds now, we would not react, instead the three of us shared a look and decided to each tell him the benefits they got from this.

Angela said it for the three of us "For the longest time we didn't know who we really were. For the longest time we were pushed into a mould that didn't fit. Each day since I learned the truth I've never felt more real, it has filled the void within me."

"You don't know what you're saying. You have no idea what vampires or werewolves are truly capable of."

"She does," I assured him "Read her mind, she threw up a couple of times when she listened to what you might do to her."

Edward smirked at me.

"She knows the temper beneath that smirk, how sharp those teeth really are and the reality of what a vampire can do to a human," I paused to press my lips together then released "When they're tempted enough."

Edward's smirk dropped and he looked away from me.

For a moment, neither of us said anything. Edward and I just stared back at each other; I kept my eyes locked on his and barely even blinked as he came to accept the reality that he hadn't returned to the girl he once knew. He scoffed and turned his back to us, causing the three of us to exchange looks and attempt to interpret his silence as a good or bad thing. With his back turned to me, it was easier to find my voice and finally say what I wanted.

"We know vampires can have children." I told him, "You shouldn't have lied to me."

"The chances are one in a million, and you were better off believing the lie."

"Just as rare as a vampire and a human falling in love, I'd imagine."

With that, Edward shook his head and ran his hand down his face.

"Edward, we're not asking for the perfect marriage; we know this isn't your typical situation, but it's the only way we all get a chance at a new life without worrying that the Volturi will find us. We can build lives together there; we'll be completely different people from who we are now. Have a chance at a normal life."

"I thought you weren't a fan of normal life." Edward turned around, then his eyes were on mine. "The girl I knew wanted to be a vampire and live forever."

"The girl you knew did. But I'm not her anymore. You can see that." I told him

Edward faced me head on then his eyes never leaving mine and I wouldn't dare look away from him.

"But you still love me." I said.

"So you're telling me this is what you want?" He stepped forward. "Three marriages, three houses, but one husband."

It was then I was reminded of something Alice wrote, something that wasn't clear to me until right here and now.

"Sometimes things don't have to be normal to be beautiful." I quoted her.

"And how do you suggest we live this new life you have in mind? Is there a road map for that?"

"We've got everything in place to get us to Utah," Angela told him.

Edward studied her for a second, obviously reading her mind and learning of our decision for Leah to fake killing us and pretend that Angela and I had run away from Forks. The more we talked about it the more crazy our plan sounded, but at least I now felt assured he wasn't going to put up more of a fight than he was, so long as Leah, Angela and I remained resolved in our decision and had everything prepared for the journey ahead.

Edward had seen the list of houses Leah brought to Forks and was currently going over them in his head. It was the perfect spot in my mind. Forks and all the events of the past year would become a distant memory.

"So you three are completely resolved in this? It's set in stone for you now?" Edward asked as if trying one last time to talk me out of this, trying to appeal to the old Bella that I once was.

"You do this, and it will kill Charlie," Edward told me.

"You take me on the run, and it will kill him too. At least this way, he believes I've gone off travelling with a trusted friend instead of my ex-boyfriend."

It was the first time I'd ever called him that, and we both knew it in that moment, so much so that we couldn't look at each other for a second.

"Look-" I paused and sighed, "We're not going to do this unless you're in it with us. You know about the spell now. You know what it entails, so let's not beat around the bush here."

"So I'm just supposed to decide right now what my future will be?"

"You didn't have trouble deciding mine when you left me in the woods."

Beside me both Angela and Leah exchanged a look between each other at my hustlity towards him.

I cleared my throat and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "Are you with us?" I asked him.

"You don't know what you're asking."

"I know what I'm asking." I assured him, "But the choice is yours

We all stared back at each other for what felt like forever, and when Edward finally made a move towards us, I locked hands with both girls, thinking it was all over. We watched him reach into the breast pocket of his jacket to retrieve something. He stood by the cast iron pot and revealed a silver zippo lighter, which he struck against his bent thigh to strike a flame, placing it against the leafy twigs sticking out of the pot and setting them on fire. The orange flames that licked the leaves went all the way up to the rim of the pot but the heat was far enough from the three of us standing closer to the forest. He held onto the lighter for a bit longer as we all watched him, his thoughts were undetectable which was most frustrating to say the least, but the three of us still could read every emotion within his face and eyes as we continued staring right back at him. His stare was fixated on me and he seemed so frustrated with how much the three of us were holding our ground.

My heart sank, but I rejoiced all at once at the sight—the man I loved was choosing to be with me; he was choosing to be with all of us. Edward had just agreed to become my husband, Angela's husband, and Leah's husband. I let go of the girl's hands as Leah reached into her pocket to retrieve a small pocket knife she said she would bring for the spell. My eyes watched as Edward pocketed his lighter. He knew what she would use it for and moved aside to let the three of us closer to the pot.

I was the first to take the knife in hand and tucked up my sleeve so fully exposed my palm, I didn't pause I immediately sliced the tip of the knife into my palm drawing blood to the surface. I looked over to Edward who had his hand around his nose and mouth breathing in, his eyes wide, obviously trying to fight back the temptation. Leah was next showing no fear or pain as she sliced her palm and then handed the blade to Angela who took a deep inhale before doing what she needed to do. I came around to Edward's side then when I was ready, when I felt we had finally reached that point, his hands were back down at his sides as he was adjusting to the scent of our blood in the air. He turned his gaze to meet mine, I watched the glow of the fire upon his beautiful face.

He offered his hand for mine and our eyes never left each other as I accepted his hand and thus I became Edward Cullen's first wife. Then and only then did Leah approach Edward from the left hand side but she didn't look at him not until he looked her way which I was grateful for. Edward raised his hand for hers and Leah very slowly brought her bleeding palm into his hand and became his second wife. Angela then joined us and we brought our hands over the fire and Angela placed her bleeding hand over the top of Edward's hand and became his third wife.

didn't look Edward's way as we began, but holding his hand was enough to make my heart race. Now that I was becoming his wife, I made a promise to myself to never act above either Leah or Angela; I didn't want our history to be an issue, and from this moment on we were all Edward's wives.

As we chanted, the flames grew above our heads just as it was written they would. We continued to chant, and we each kept our focus on the flames until they turned into nothing more than a gentle simmer as we came to the end of the spell, each of us focusing on them until they were no more. The spell worked; I immediately felt something drape over me like a warm and very welcome blanket on a cold night. I watched the others' reactions as they came to feel it too.

After the spell was complete Edward revealed the spell had blocked his ability to hear the thoughts of both Leah and Angela to their relief. He wasn't thrilled about it, he confirmed he could still hear thoughts however, there was a trucker on the road thinking about pulling in for the night so Edward's gift wasn't lost. While he took the pot to the nearest cliff, the three of us turned to each other and gave each other a small smile before we got right back to work.

"Alright, so remember, wear hair nets and gloves from start to finish, scrub hard at everything, and get rid of your phones before you leave your houses."

Leah responded "We're still fine for our timeline, so let's keep to the time we agreed." She finished by handing me the letter she had written for Charlie or Jacob to find.

It said all the necessary things: that Angela and I were running away, that I loved him and didn't want him to look for me because I was going to be alright, and I just needed to start a new chapter, even though that meant dropping out of school and leaving Forks forever.

"Okay so we're all at Bella's place for four a.m," Angela said before checking her watch and returned to my side with a bag which contained the clothes she'd worn today, the clothes her parents and others had seen her wearing. I'd place them somewhere in my room so that it appeared she had taken them off there before we got ready for bed.

"Alright, so I got us a station wagon. It's roomy, it will blend in easily on the roads, and it's got plenty of room in the trunk for our stuff. I've parked it outside your house and put the keys in the mail box for you. The gas cans are already in the trunk and they're full, so be careful." Leah instructed me.

Leah and Angela exchanged looks and knew this is where they needed to say goodbye. The next time we were in each other's company we'd be heading out for Salt Lake City. The three of us embraced for a second but didn't feel comfortable lingering.

Edward appeared unexpectedly, startling Angela, who took a few steps back before clearing her throat and apologizing.

"I assume these are now mine?" Edward asked me, revealing the house details clasped in his hand.

"Do you think you can get them?"

Edward reluctantly nodded. "I'll have the deeds by tomorrow morning." He told us

"We're not travelling together," Angela told him then.

"I'm aware of that." He replied as he tucked the house details into his pocket. "I'll have a few stops to make along the way; you're all free to go."

"Uh, what do you mean you'll be stopping?" Leah asked

"New identifications for each of us: birth certificates, driver's licences, medical records" He explained.

"Wait, you can get all of that?" Angela asked but regretted it, as we all looked at her in disbelief at her question.

"It's not difficult." Edward was kind enough to say, "I'll meet you in Utah."

"You're leaving already?" I asked him.

"I have things to do."

I glanced at Leah and Angela "Can you guys give us a minute?"

The girls looked at each other with matching knowing expressions and it seemed they were reluctant but they accepted they couldn't tell me no, so with one final exchange of smiles with me they then walked towards the tree line.

I returned my gaze back to Edward as I saw Leah get into her car.

"Well, are you okay?" I asked him "With, uh... I mean... have you fed?"

"Why don't you just ask me and get it over with?"

"Did you miss me?"

Edward responded immediately by bringing his lips against mine, his hand coming up to caress my face. He kissed me soft yet strong. I missed the feel of him and his kiss and allowed myself to sink into it, but before I could lose myself completely and make out with him like teenagers would, I pressed the back of my hand against his chest as a sign of pushing him away, which Edward obliged but I remained in front of him.

I stopped to look at him as I tried to catch my breath, Edward opened his mouth and brought his lips back against mine. This time his kiss was gentler, like we had all the time in the world. After I felt him pulling away I went to steal my final kiss from him and stopped our lips from separating with my finger. Edward didn't kiss back and soon enough he was gently peeling himself away and brought his hand against the side of my cheek.

"I have to go now." I told him and attempted to turn away.

Edward pulled me backwards until my back met his chest and when it did he swept my hair off my neck and began to kiss and lick my skin, even taking a suck or two which caused me to jump on the spot. His grip around my waist was strong enough for me to feel secure in his arms. And I felt him dragging me closer.

His breathing was a soft cool whisper in the night as his tongue lightly tickled my earlobe and his hands dropped to my wrists and he pulled them further around his torso. I finally found the strength to back away from him and turn to face him once more.

"I'll see you in Utah." I said breathlessly.

What the hell was that? He'd never kissed me like that before, not once. He kissed me like that and I felt it all the way down to my toes. All I knew was I wanted more, I wanted him and I knew by that kiss that he wanted me in that way.

I walked past him not daring to look back or say another word. Edward would do what was required of him; he always did. There was nothing further to say tonight, nor the need to go over and over our plan; we had our separate parts and they needed to be followed. When I turned to look back at him he was gone, I caught up with the girls who were waiting for me.

We all turned to one another and exchanged a shared hug, holding onto each other tight as we all had a small cry, even Leah, who surprised me most. It was a release for us; we were finally coming together and saying goodbye to Forks. I wiped my eyes and promised to do my best for them, as they would for me. Each one of us had a to-do list as long as our arms and exactly five hours to accomplish every last thing. We agreed we wouldn't contact each other from this moment until we met again at four. Each of us had our own things to do, and we didn't want any phone activity that would cause any questions after we were gone. The spell was strong; I knew that, but we had to ensure we did everything within our power to disappear without a trace.

We said goodbye at the meadow, and I dropped Angela just a few blocks from her house as it was late now and my truck was noteworthy to nosy neighbors. There was a lot of work to get done, and the clock was already ticking. I just couldn't believe it; I was now Edward's wife and was leaving my home to be with him. He had actually agreed to everything the girls and I had discussed. We were now all together in our plan; the spell had been a success, and now we were all going to be together in Utah.

When I pulled up to the house, I immediately noted the brown Ford station waggon parked behind Charlie's crusier. Leah was right that thing would blend in easy on the roads. I could see the large gas cans in the trunk from here; I couldn't believe Leah had organised all of this for us so quickly.

The first thing I did when I returned home was glove up and scrub down the interior and exterior of my truck, scrubbing my seat and the door handles especially hard. I pocketed the station waggon keys on my way towards the house. When I got inside, my first task was destroying Alice's letter, the information on the spell, and my passport. Charlie had to believe I had taken them with me after all when I left station waggon keys on my way towards the house. When I got inside, my first task was destroying Alice's letter, the information on the spell, and my passport. Charlie had to believe I had taken them with me after all when I left. I burned it in the kitchen sink before rinsing away the evidence and plastering the drain with Drain-O and boiling water from the kettle to ensure it was gone for good. My next job was destroying my phone. I split the sim card in half and dropped one half down the toilet and flushed it five times to ensure it was gone. The other half went down the kitchen sink, and I dropped the phone down a storm drain just down the street from my house.

I cooked a small chicken and broke it down into bite-size pieces and made them up into sandwiches with some lettuce, diced onion, mayonnaise with a touch of salt and pepper, then some ham and tuna sandwiches. Then I cut up all the remaining vegetables in the fridge and cooked a mouthwatering pot of vegetable soup, which I poured into a large flask to keep it warm. As for the sandwiches, I wrapped them up individually in tin foil, keeping all the edges neat as I stacked them one at a time into the tupperware I had laid out.

I added individual bottles of orange juice and water into the bag before I collected some chocolate bars, crackers, peanuts, and chips. I doubted, given our current circumstances, that the girls would want to stop anywhere for meals; I imagined we'd stop only for gas and to pee wherever we could if it meant putting more distance between us and Forks. I collected some plastic utensils, paper plates and bowls, napkins, and face wipes; I planned to keep this entire bag in the back seat of the car so it was handy for all of us. After all of this was packed, I collected three smaller individual flasks and made up hot chocolate for each of us. It would be cold when we left town, and our nerves would probably be shot to hell, so it was best that we had plenty of things to help keep us warm. As the hot chocolate heated, I collected a packet of painkillers for the road too. None of us would have taken care of ourselves properly tonight; we were all rushing around trying to get out. Sooner or later, our bodies were going to catch up with us, and we were going to crash hard. After the hot chocolates were ready, I slipped some mini marshmallows into each flask before breaking up a fudge bar and adding some to each flask and finishing with some double cream. I sealed the tops on everything and double-checked that the Tupperware was all secure before I brought the heavy food and drink bag to the side of the front door.

I wanted this next stage to be as carefree for Leah and Angela as I could manage, so I opted to take extra special care of all of our needs. I brought the bag of food that I had prepared into the back seat of the station wagon, I got the arm rests into the perfect position, I supplied sunglasses above every seat, I laid out fresh, clean, scent-free blankets on each of the seats to keep us warm on the journey along with a pillow for each of us, I replaced the air freshener inside the car already with a lavender-scented one, I set the radio station to a classical broadcast only to help soothe us at the right time, and to just add that little something extra, I had packed each of us a heavy sweater and fluffy socks whenever we were

Some people might say I went too far with this, but then I thought about Leah and Angela and how they were leaving everything and everyone they had ever known, and if I could make that adjustment the slightest bit easier with some fluffy socks and some hot soup, then I was going to make that effort. This wasn't a road trip; from the second we got in this car, I knew it was going to be intense for all of us and that there was no going back.

When I returned inside, I put on a hair net and snapped on a fresh pair of clothes to begin the cleaning. After everything was scrubbed and I was in pain from head to toe, I went into my bedroom and ruffled up my fresh bedding, intending the pillows to make it appear to the wolves that we had been asleep when Leah barged in. I had done all of this in my underwear, and today's clothes had been washed and dried downstairs before both machines were scrubbed down with bleach.

After the bedroom was staged, I ran myself a bath. I needed to scrub the sweat off my skin, and I wanted to feel clean and fresh for when I finally left Forks to begin my new life in Utah. I shampooed and conditioned my hair, shaved my legs and underarms, and spent five minutes alone with the nail scrubber. After I finished in the tub, I scrubbed it down until my cheeks were glowing. After that, I got dressed in the clothes I had left out for myself: black skinny jeans, a black jumper, and boots. I kept an eye on the time as I collected the containers of blood. I used an old toothbrush and dipped it into the blood, keeping it together the best I could as I proceeded to set the crime scene.

The blood splatters couldn't be obvious; it had to look like Leah had done her best to cover her tracks. I coated the brush with some blood, and with a flick of the wrist, the blood shot across the dark wooden floor of the stairs, right in the corner, not visible to the human eye but not escaping the notice or nose of a werewolf. I did the same thing at the fireplace, the dark stones covering the blood well, a small splatter beneath an armchair, and a little in the corner of the dining room behind the floor lamp.

I then took one tub of blood along with kitchen roll, and I poured the blood all over the floor by the backdoor, smearing it all over with my gloved hands. I let it set for a minute before I gathered the kitchen roll and proceeded to clean it up. I did the same thing in the sitting room; I lifted up half the rug and smeared the blood all over again before drying it up and fixing the rug. Now the blood was right near a counselor claw mark. The containers of blood were destroyed and broken down into dust almost before half were put down the drain in the bathroom and the other in the kitchen. The blood-soaked kitchen roll was all burned and never to be found.

I destroyed the hair net and gloves before I left the kitchen. I had shut off all the lights upstairs; the only light now was in the hallway, where I now stood by the front door at the ready. I had finished with exactly five minutes to spare. I wanted to turn around and take one last look at my home, but I knew if I did I would break down immediately. It didn't smell like home now—just bleach and other disinfectant products. I kept an eye on my street, my heart in my throat, and my knees trembling, hoping that the girls hadn't changed their minds and decided to stay or hit the road alone.

Tears pricked my eyes at the sight of Angela entering the street; she too was wearing all black, as we agreed. She was wearing an oversized black hoodie over skinny jeans, and she wasn't even risking waking the neighbors with the sounds of her luggage wheels on the sidewalk; she was carrying everything by hand and holding it together the best she could. With my hand gloved by my sleeve, I shut off the light and stepped out onto the porch with my own luggage, setting it down before locking the door behind me and sliding the keys through the letter box. The letter was for Jacob or Charlie to find on my desk upstairs; they'd see it the second they walked through the door, I made sure of that.

Seeing me there waiting for her, dressed and on time, Angela picked up the pace, and I too rushed down the driveway. We didn't say a word to one another but instead focused completely on and loaded the trunk together. Leah arrived less than a minute later and went to work with us. We worked hard as a team, none of us saying a word, each of us equally focused on the task at hand of getting out of Forks forever. Each of us took care of the other's luggage as we very quietly loaded each item.

We climbed into the car together after we finished. Leah and I were in the front, with Angela taking the seat directly behind Leah, and without any logical reason, we locked our doors behind us. I suppose at the end of the day, we were three lone women travelling alone, and it only made sense. Each of us buckled ourselves in as I started the engine, and we all held our breath. Everyone in the car remained silent as I drove down the street. The car had a full tank of gas, which I was grateful to discover. We had gone over the route we were taking out of town; the fastest one got us out of Forks in just under ten minutes. Again, none of us said a word, as if a single sound would awaken the entire town. It wasn't until we got to the town sign wishing us farewell from Forks that we all exhaled together.

None of us said a word at first. I could feel the tears threatening to escape my eyes as I turned to find both Leah and Angela doing their best to keep it together in that moment. Angela unbuckled herself and slid between Leah and me as all three of us reached for each other's hands, holding onto them as we attempted to keep control. When we finally let go, I wiped my eyes and, with one hand, draped the blanket I had prepared for myself over my lap, finding both girls following suit, feeling the cold all of a sudden. I carefully adjusted the pillow at my back and turned the radio on nice and low, so low that you could barely hear the faint sound of the classical music broadcasting.

"Keep warm, okay?" I told them I was suddenly feeling so protective of them.

I cranked up the heating then wanting to keep everyone comfortable.

"Do you think he left town already?" Leah asked me.

"Something tells me he has; he's probably two hundred miles or so ahead of us by now." I answered her.

"So now the journey begins." Angela said behind us.

"No, now the real work begins." I told them.