Prologue: Bella
They're here. They're here. They're here.
My heart beat a frantic rhythm as I scrambled through the underbrush in what I hoped was the direction of the road.
Perhaps I should have been more afraid of the four giant wolves that had joined us in the clearing, but I couldn't make myself worry about them in light of this new information.
"She thought it more appropriate to kill you than Edward – fair turnabout, mate for a mate."
They were here. And Victoria wanted revenge.
Tears blurred my vision but I made myself keep going. Whatever temporary distance the wolves had gifted me wouldn't last long.
I wasn't a graceful person at the best of times, but my panic made it worse. Several times, stray roots and rocks left me sprawling in the dirt. And every time it happened, I waited for a weight on my back and the snarl that would signal the end of my life. But somehow, it never came.
I wasn't an idiot. Even if, somehow, the wolves had managed to keep Laurent occupied long enough for me to get away, I was by no means safe. If not now, then soon. Laurent had made that perfectly clear. My end - the end that E- the Cullens had been trying so hard to prevent before they left was finally here.
And in some way, I wasn't upset about it. As far as I was concerned, my life had ended back in September. It was time for my body to catch up. I would gladly give myself over to death, but there were…complications.
Charlie.
Jacob.
Victoria's search for me would bring her into town if she wasn't already. It's true that I didn't go much of anywhere but home, school, and La Push these days, but when she inevitably found my scent, it would lead her to one of those three places. While I wasn't exactly against death for myself, I couldn't bear to think of what would happen to either Charlie or Jacob if she came looking for me.
Finally I made it to my truck. Wrenching the door open, I twisted the key in the ignition and started driving the truck as fast as it could go back towards town. Charlie would be at work for a while still. That was a small mercy at least. The last time I left, I had the Cullens helping me. I could make it back to apologize. I didn't have that luxury this time. When I left, Charlie would never see me again. I couldn't face him this time.
I tried to focus on the road, but my thoughts were a million miles away. I would need to leave Charlie a note that was plausible enough not to raise suspicion, but would discourage him from trying to find me. I definitely didn't want him coming out to find me at the same time Victoria did. I snorted. Fat chance of being able to accomplish that. I would just have to keep running - away from Charlie - while Victoria found me. I mentally calculated my meagre savings from working at Newton's. It wouldn't last long, but it shouldn't need to. Victoria would still catch me before it ran out.
How long did I have? I forced myself to slow down as I entered the town of Forks. If Charlie had to pull me over, it would ruin absolutely everything.
There had to be another way, I mused as I pulled into the driveway. Something that would hold Charlie off from following me - for awhile - so I could move slower and give Victoria a chance to catch me.
The answer came to me as I dragged my duffel bag out from under my bed in an eerie echo of the previous spring.
Billy.
He knew. I could give him the story. A watered down version anyway. He wouldn't be able to do anything to help me, but he could know enough to understand why I couldn't have Charlie following me. He could convince Charlie to give me a few days of space. His camaraderie with Charlie would ensure his desire to see him safe. Hopefully that would be enough.
I shoved clothes in the bag without really looking at them. The loose plan was to head South. Being somewhere sunny would slow Victoria down even more. And, my heart clenched at the thought, it would effectively ensure the Cullens would be nowhere near when she found me.
Thinking of the Cullens gave me pause. Would they help if I asked them to? I snorted. Sure they would. Carlisle devoted his life to helping humanity. If I told them what was going on, of course they would try to keep me safe.
Did I want that though? Did I actually want to stay alive after all this? Especially if it meant being around Edward when he didn't want me around anymore. I wasn't sure, but it was a moot point anyway. I had no way of reaching them. All their cell numbers had been changed. All the emails I sent Alice had been returned. In the frantic 48 hours before the dark hole in my chest had utterly consumed me, I had made sure of it. They had given me no way to reach out to them.
My packing finished, I glanced at the clock on my bedside table. I had another hour until Charlie would be home, but by then I had to be long gone. Now was the part I was dreading. With a shaking hand, I ripped two pieces of binder paper out of my notebook and found a pen.
The writing was hardly legible and tear stains dampened portions of the paper, but in 3 minutes, I had the note that would destroy Charlie's world and at the same time secure his life.
Charlie -
I want you to know that this isn't your fault. You did the best you could, and you were right. Being in Forks is too much. The memories are too much. I have to get away. I need some space. Please don't try to find me. I'll call you when I'm ready.
Love you always,
Bella
Simple was probably better - I mused as I folded the paper and placed it on the kitchen table. No details. Definitely something a heartbroken teenager eager to find herself would write. The next letter would be more difficult.
Billy's letter took almost twenty minutes. I restarted it four times. It wasn't perfect but at the end, I had a paper that gave him the real reason I was running, while making sure he knew that it was his job to keep Charlie in Forks and take care of him now. As an afterthought, I made Billy a promise. I would phone his house every three days so he knew I was still alive. I was slightly morbid, I knew, but I couldn't bear the thought of being just a statistic. A missing person Charlie was forced to spend his entire life trying to find. He would need some closure when it finally happened, and this was the best I could offer him.
The letter still didn't feel complete, and it took only another minute to understand why. I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to Jake. He may not believe in what was happening, but the truth was he was the only reason I had healed enough to consider fighting back for just long enough to keep Victoria away from the people I loved. Grabbing a new sheet of paper, I scribbled a few sentences on it, and tucked it inside Billy's letter. It wasn't much. A note could hardly portray just how much I owed my personal sun, but it had to be enough. I labelled and stamped an envelope and grabbed my duffel bag. It was time.
Don't be ridiculous, whispered Edward's voice in the back of my mind. You can't escape her doing this. Silly Edward. That's not the point. He of all people should know that there was no use in avoiding the inevitable.
I paused briefly outside the mailbox to deposit the letters to Billy and Jake. I held it over the mailbox for a brief second. Suddenly I wasn't sure if I truly wanted to do this. But a flash of red out of the corner of my eye made my decision for me. I had no way of knowing if it was actually Victoria but still my time was up. My heart hammering, I got back in my truck and pulled away from the curb.
In the back of my mind, I had hoped to make one final stop at the Cullen's house, but there wouldn't be enough time. Even if I had, I hadn't bothered to write him a note and he had removed himself from my life. There was no one to come back for a note even if I did leave one. All I could do was content myself with a brief glance at the turnoff towards the Cullen's house as I sped past.
Goodbye Edward. Goodbye Alice. I'll see you in the next life.
With one last gut-wrenching effort, I ripped my eyes away from the rearview mirror and looked forward towards the gathering darkness as I drove away from the town I once called home.
A/N: This book is mostly complete. I am the overlord of abandoning fics so I wanted to make sure I would be able to finish it before I started posting. I'm not going to hold myself to a regular posting schedule but it should be no more than a month between updates. Thanks for reading!