Love Is Watching Someone Die - 16
Love is Watching Someone Die
Chapter 16 - Wanted
Rating: PG-13
AN: As always, thanks to firstillusion for her beta help. Also, after this, all I have left is a short epilogue. It's almost over!
All chapters @ ff.net
Chapter 16
Bella POV
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Edward and Rosalie standing in front of me. If I hadn’t been so terrified, my throat dry with the scent of the frightened man permeating the air, I might have thought it was all a dream. But no, this was real. This was really happening to me.
Why was he here? I’d been gone for months, why would he show up now, of all times? How on earth did he find me? Did this mean he still want me? Impossible. There must be another puzzle piece I didn’t know about.
I turned back to James, waiting to see what he would do. He was murderously angry to have his game interrupted, but he didn’t make his move just yet.
“Bella,” I heard Rosalie’s voice call my name, and I turned back to them, looking to Edward first, purely by instinct. “Do you want to stay with them?”
Stay with them? These people that had been lying to me for months, used me for bait, and had absolutely no loyalty to me? Rather than go with Rosalie and Edward, who, if nothing else, would at least treat me with respect.
I shook my head decisively. And if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, I could’ve sworn I say Edward’s face relax for the briefest second, as if he’d anticipated my refusal. Which was ridiculous.
Before I could analyze that any further, Victoria decided she was done with me. All those times of being forced to be civil to me must have grated on her, and this was the final straw. She lunged toward me, shrieking, “You little brat! I knew we shouldn’t have bothered with you at all, you worthless thing!”
I braced myself to counter her, but Edward, Edward, sprang between us, crashing into Victoria, and the nearest wall, leaving a gaping hole in his wake. I could do nothing but watch, my eyes wide in horror. What if she hurt him? Why would he do that for me?
I didn’t have enough time before Victoria decided to make a run for it. And after a moment’s hesitation and an apologetic look, Edward followed.
Frozen, all I could do was stare at the hole he’d disappeared through.
With a sickening CRACK, my attention was brought back to the small, dimly lit office space.
I spun back around, both dreading and knowing what I would see. James had used our distraction to reach his goal: he snapped the man’s neck.
“No!” I cried and ran towards him, not knowing what I was going to do, simply knowing I had to do something.
“It’s too late, little Bella,” James laughed as the man’s heart stuttered to a stop. “He’s dead. I win.”
“No,” my voice was weak. I couldn’t believe he’d just done that. That just like that, this man was dead. “No…”
“Bella,” Rosalie called softly, but I ignored her. James couldn’t get away with this.
I wasn’t normally an angry person, but after seeing Edward when I thought I would never see him again, after learning James was just playing me all this time, and after seeing him kill a man in cold bold, I snapped.
I lunged at him, teeth bared, arms outstretched, ready to tear him limb from limb.
He snarled and tossed the body at me like a shield. I caught it easily; it was still warm. I couldn’t see straight anymore. All I saw was James, and his attempt to escape.
I charged him again as Rosalie darted to block his exit. He looked at the two of us on either side, a smug look on his face. He was confident I could not beat him. Well, I would show him.
Rosalie and I watched him like hawks, and he turned to face me. My eyes darted to Rosalie’s, but James spoke in the smooth voice of his, catching my attention. “Come now, Bella. We both know you won’t fight me. What was he to you?” he gestured toward the body, which was sprawled on the carpet. ”Nobody. And I? I took care of you. I was there for you when no one,” he stressed the words, “else was.”
“You lied to me.” My voice was low and deadly. I knew I was stronger and faster than him. But he had more experience than I did. “Why should I believe anything you say to me now?”
“Because you have no one else.” He replied simply. “Who would want you?”
“We want her,” Rosalie growled. “And if it’s what she wants, she’s coming back with us.”
He seemed to have forgotten Rosalie was in the room, and when she spoke, he realized the two to one odds. He narrowed his eyes, then glanced at the window behind me.
“Try it.” I growled. “I dare you.”
His pride wouldn’t let a challenge from me, a mere newborn, little Bella, go. I was the only thing standing between him and his escape. The man he killed didn’t matter to him anymore. All he cared about was getting away. I doubted even Victoria crossed his mind at this point.
He shifted his weight left, then right, then left again. I mirrored his every move. Then, he launched himself at me, trying to feign left, but I cut him off. He crashed into me and tried to overpower me, gripping my shoulders and shoving me to the side. I stumbled back, just long enough for him to change directions, and just long enough for Rosalie to cut him off. I leapt back up, and latched onto his back. With one swift twist, I did exactly what he had done to the man and snapped his neck. Only I didn’t stop there. In another twist, the head was wrenched free.
“We need to burn the pieces,” Rosalie said urgently.
“Here?”
“No, we can stage this to look like a simple break-in. I’ll carry him out to the woods and we’ll start a forest fire. You take care of that, if you’re alright.” She nodded toward the near forgotten corpse.
I wasn’t alright, but I nodded. I could handle that. She scooped up James’s remains and dashed out. I think she expected me to follow right after, but as soon I crouched next to the body, it all hit me.
I just killed a man.
I grabbed the body, desperately hoping that everything my vampire senses were telling me was wrong, that he was somehow still alive. I tried to find any sign, a pulse, a breath, but it was in vain. He was gone. The human warmth was fading.
Footsteps softly echoed in the silence. It must be Rosalie, wondering what was taking me so long.
“Bella?”
That was not Rosalie’s voice.
I slowly set the body down and turned around.
There he stood, and I don’t know what did it, if it was the fact that I truly never expected to see him again, if it was the relief that James was dead and Edward was not, if it was the grief of the man’s death, or if I was just losing it, but I rushed at him, throwing my arms around him and burying my head in against the cold skin of his chest. He didn’t even hesitate, he wrapped his arms around me, so tight I wouldn’t have been able to breathe if I’d needed to. I crushed myself to him, needed to feel he was real. My body shook as I sobbed tearlessly.
“Bella, Bella,” he murmured against my hair. “I thought I lost you.”
I could only shake my head.
“What happened? Where’s James?”
“I killed him,” I choked out. “He killed that guy, and I killed him. He lied to me, Edward. He tricked me. ”
“Shhh, It’s alright now.” He smoothed my hair down and kissed the top of my head. “I’m here now. You can come home now.”
Home? I shook my head. That wasn’t possible anymore. “I can’t go home with you,” I protested, but couldn’t force my arms to loosen their grip. “Why would you want me to? I killed someone, Edward.”
He loosened his grip and I knew this was the part where he left. I was no good for him.
Instead, he surprised me by hooking one finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes burned into me, and I couldn’t speak. “Isabella. I want you. I have wanted you since I first saw you, and I have wanted you these long months without you. Don’t make me chase after you again, because I will, without hesitation, but I want you to be with me now. “
“But I - “
“No, Bella, listen to me. We don’t all have clean records. I’ve killed more than once. And none of us, least of all me, will fault you for yours. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have. He would not have been allowed to live. Not just because of what he did tonight, but for what he did to you.“
I didn’t know how to respond. My shaking subsided, and after a moment, I just let him press my head to rest against where his heart would beat. “I’m just so glad to see you again. To hold you,” he sighed softly.
When I still didn’t speak, his body tensed. “Of course,” he said hesitantly, “If you want me to leave, I’ll go. “ He began to pull back.
“No!” I cried and held him tighter. “I want you, too, Edward. Of course I do. It’s just… I’ve been so stupid. I don’t know what to do now.”
“Well, we can start with helping Rosalie clean this up and cover our tracks.” We broke from our embrace, but I held his large hand tightly between my two smaller ones. “Then, we’ll go back to the others. Alice and Jasper were on their way to help, I’m sure they’ll be here soon. Alice is dying to see you again. And then, we’ll go back home. “
“Back to Forks?”
“No, we were getting ready to move up to Denali, to spend time with some friends there. “
I stiffened. More vampires. Edward caught my expression and squeezed my hand. “They’d like you. And they’re like us in their diet. Besides, they live well out of the way of any humans, and it would be nice for you to have that distance. Please come with us?”
I could never deny him anything, and told him as much. “I’m going wherever you’re going.”
“That’s all I need to know right now.” He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation. When he pulled back this time, his eyes darted to my lips. He was going to kiss me.
Panic suddenly flared up deep in my chest. I wasn’t ready for this! I couldn’t handle this!
He moved closer, and I ducked my head, dodging him. He looked surprised, the rejection written clearly in his eyes.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I... can’t. Not now. Not yet.” I pleaded for him to understand. I owed it to him - and to myself - to have my emotions sorted out before any of that. No matter how much I wanted him.
“Of course, Bella,” he made my name sound like a caress. “I understand.”
“Do you really?”
He sighed and smiled sadly. “You’ve been through a lot today.” He rested the tips of his fingers against my cheek. “Through these past several months, too. I understand that you’re confused. I’ll give you all the time that you need. I’ll be right here. After all, I have eternity, and I know of no other way I’d rather spend it than to be with you.”
We just stood there holding each other for a long time. Long enough for Rosalie to come back to see what was taking us so long. When she saw us, a small smile curved her lips before breaking us apart and making us help her stage the office. We moved quickly, making it look like a simple break-in. We knocked over a bookshelf to account for the hole in the wall and looked for anything valuable. We didn’t find much and threw what we did in the river.
Then we left. Just like that. It would go down as yet another unsolved case. But I knew who did it, and why. And I repaid the culprit in kind as best I could, a life for a life.
We met up with Alice and Jasper at the airport, and Alice hugged me almost as tight as Edward did, squealing with happiness. Jasper smiled warmly, saying he was glad to see me.
We met the rest of the family in Alaska, where I was greeted just as warmly. Emmett wrapped me up in a fierce bear hug, and as soon as he let go, Esme wrapped both Edward and me in her arms, telling me how grateful she was that we were both home safe. I wanted to cry all over again.
And Edward held my hand the entire time.
Chapter 16 - Wanted
Rating: PG-13
AN: As always, thanks to firstillusion for her beta help. Also, after this, all I have left is a short epilogue. It's almost over!
All chapters @ ff.net
Chapter 16
Bella POV
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Edward and Rosalie standing in front of me. If I hadn’t been so terrified, my throat dry with the scent of the frightened man permeating the air, I might have thought it was all a dream. But no, this was real. This was really happening to me.
Why was he here? I’d been gone for months, why would he show up now, of all times? How on earth did he find me? Did this mean he still want me? Impossible. There must be another puzzle piece I didn’t know about.
I turned back to James, waiting to see what he would do. He was murderously angry to have his game interrupted, but he didn’t make his move just yet.
“Bella,” I heard Rosalie’s voice call my name, and I turned back to them, looking to Edward first, purely by instinct. “Do you want to stay with them?”
Stay with them? These people that had been lying to me for months, used me for bait, and had absolutely no loyalty to me? Rather than go with Rosalie and Edward, who, if nothing else, would at least treat me with respect.
I shook my head decisively. And if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, I could’ve sworn I say Edward’s face relax for the briefest second, as if he’d anticipated my refusal. Which was ridiculous.
Before I could analyze that any further, Victoria decided she was done with me. All those times of being forced to be civil to me must have grated on her, and this was the final straw. She lunged toward me, shrieking, “You little brat! I knew we shouldn’t have bothered with you at all, you worthless thing!”
I braced myself to counter her, but Edward, Edward, sprang between us, crashing into Victoria, and the nearest wall, leaving a gaping hole in his wake. I could do nothing but watch, my eyes wide in horror. What if she hurt him? Why would he do that for me?
I didn’t have enough time before Victoria decided to make a run for it. And after a moment’s hesitation and an apologetic look, Edward followed.
Frozen, all I could do was stare at the hole he’d disappeared through.
With a sickening CRACK, my attention was brought back to the small, dimly lit office space.
I spun back around, both dreading and knowing what I would see. James had used our distraction to reach his goal: he snapped the man’s neck.
“No!” I cried and ran towards him, not knowing what I was going to do, simply knowing I had to do something.
“It’s too late, little Bella,” James laughed as the man’s heart stuttered to a stop. “He’s dead. I win.”
“No,” my voice was weak. I couldn’t believe he’d just done that. That just like that, this man was dead. “No…”
“Bella,” Rosalie called softly, but I ignored her. James couldn’t get away with this.
I wasn’t normally an angry person, but after seeing Edward when I thought I would never see him again, after learning James was just playing me all this time, and after seeing him kill a man in cold bold, I snapped.
I lunged at him, teeth bared, arms outstretched, ready to tear him limb from limb.
He snarled and tossed the body at me like a shield. I caught it easily; it was still warm. I couldn’t see straight anymore. All I saw was James, and his attempt to escape.
I charged him again as Rosalie darted to block his exit. He looked at the two of us on either side, a smug look on his face. He was confident I could not beat him. Well, I would show him.
Rosalie and I watched him like hawks, and he turned to face me. My eyes darted to Rosalie’s, but James spoke in the smooth voice of his, catching my attention. “Come now, Bella. We both know you won’t fight me. What was he to you?” he gestured toward the body, which was sprawled on the carpet. ”Nobody. And I? I took care of you. I was there for you when no one,” he stressed the words, “else was.”
“You lied to me.” My voice was low and deadly. I knew I was stronger and faster than him. But he had more experience than I did. “Why should I believe anything you say to me now?”
“Because you have no one else.” He replied simply. “Who would want you?”
“We want her,” Rosalie growled. “And if it’s what she wants, she’s coming back with us.”
He seemed to have forgotten Rosalie was in the room, and when she spoke, he realized the two to one odds. He narrowed his eyes, then glanced at the window behind me.
“Try it.” I growled. “I dare you.”
His pride wouldn’t let a challenge from me, a mere newborn, little Bella, go. I was the only thing standing between him and his escape. The man he killed didn’t matter to him anymore. All he cared about was getting away. I doubted even Victoria crossed his mind at this point.
He shifted his weight left, then right, then left again. I mirrored his every move. Then, he launched himself at me, trying to feign left, but I cut him off. He crashed into me and tried to overpower me, gripping my shoulders and shoving me to the side. I stumbled back, just long enough for him to change directions, and just long enough for Rosalie to cut him off. I leapt back up, and latched onto his back. With one swift twist, I did exactly what he had done to the man and snapped his neck. Only I didn’t stop there. In another twist, the head was wrenched free.
“We need to burn the pieces,” Rosalie said urgently.
“Here?”
“No, we can stage this to look like a simple break-in. I’ll carry him out to the woods and we’ll start a forest fire. You take care of that, if you’re alright.” She nodded toward the near forgotten corpse.
I wasn’t alright, but I nodded. I could handle that. She scooped up James’s remains and dashed out. I think she expected me to follow right after, but as soon I crouched next to the body, it all hit me.
I just killed a man.
I grabbed the body, desperately hoping that everything my vampire senses were telling me was wrong, that he was somehow still alive. I tried to find any sign, a pulse, a breath, but it was in vain. He was gone. The human warmth was fading.
Footsteps softly echoed in the silence. It must be Rosalie, wondering what was taking me so long.
“Bella?”
That was not Rosalie’s voice.
I slowly set the body down and turned around.
There he stood, and I don’t know what did it, if it was the fact that I truly never expected to see him again, if it was the relief that James was dead and Edward was not, if it was the grief of the man’s death, or if I was just losing it, but I rushed at him, throwing my arms around him and burying my head in against the cold skin of his chest. He didn’t even hesitate, he wrapped his arms around me, so tight I wouldn’t have been able to breathe if I’d needed to. I crushed myself to him, needed to feel he was real. My body shook as I sobbed tearlessly.
“Bella, Bella,” he murmured against my hair. “I thought I lost you.”
I could only shake my head.
“What happened? Where’s James?”
“I killed him,” I choked out. “He killed that guy, and I killed him. He lied to me, Edward. He tricked me. ”
“Shhh, It’s alright now.” He smoothed my hair down and kissed the top of my head. “I’m here now. You can come home now.”
Home? I shook my head. That wasn’t possible anymore. “I can’t go home with you,” I protested, but couldn’t force my arms to loosen their grip. “Why would you want me to? I killed someone, Edward.”
He loosened his grip and I knew this was the part where he left. I was no good for him.
Instead, he surprised me by hooking one finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes burned into me, and I couldn’t speak. “Isabella. I want you. I have wanted you since I first saw you, and I have wanted you these long months without you. Don’t make me chase after you again, because I will, without hesitation, but I want you to be with me now. “
“But I - “
“No, Bella, listen to me. We don’t all have clean records. I’ve killed more than once. And none of us, least of all me, will fault you for yours. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have. He would not have been allowed to live. Not just because of what he did tonight, but for what he did to you.“
I didn’t know how to respond. My shaking subsided, and after a moment, I just let him press my head to rest against where his heart would beat. “I’m just so glad to see you again. To hold you,” he sighed softly.
When I still didn’t speak, his body tensed. “Of course,” he said hesitantly, “If you want me to leave, I’ll go. “ He began to pull back.
“No!” I cried and held him tighter. “I want you, too, Edward. Of course I do. It’s just… I’ve been so stupid. I don’t know what to do now.”
“Well, we can start with helping Rosalie clean this up and cover our tracks.” We broke from our embrace, but I held his large hand tightly between my two smaller ones. “Then, we’ll go back to the others. Alice and Jasper were on their way to help, I’m sure they’ll be here soon. Alice is dying to see you again. And then, we’ll go back home. “
“Back to Forks?”
“No, we were getting ready to move up to Denali, to spend time with some friends there. “
I stiffened. More vampires. Edward caught my expression and squeezed my hand. “They’d like you. And they’re like us in their diet. Besides, they live well out of the way of any humans, and it would be nice for you to have that distance. Please come with us?”
I could never deny him anything, and told him as much. “I’m going wherever you’re going.”
“That’s all I need to know right now.” He kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation. When he pulled back this time, his eyes darted to my lips. He was going to kiss me.
Panic suddenly flared up deep in my chest. I wasn’t ready for this! I couldn’t handle this!
He moved closer, and I ducked my head, dodging him. He looked surprised, the rejection written clearly in his eyes.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I... can’t. Not now. Not yet.” I pleaded for him to understand. I owed it to him - and to myself - to have my emotions sorted out before any of that. No matter how much I wanted him.
“Of course, Bella,” he made my name sound like a caress. “I understand.”
“Do you really?”
He sighed and smiled sadly. “You’ve been through a lot today.” He rested the tips of his fingers against my cheek. “Through these past several months, too. I understand that you’re confused. I’ll give you all the time that you need. I’ll be right here. After all, I have eternity, and I know of no other way I’d rather spend it than to be with you.”
We just stood there holding each other for a long time. Long enough for Rosalie to come back to see what was taking us so long. When she saw us, a small smile curved her lips before breaking us apart and making us help her stage the office. We moved quickly, making it look like a simple break-in. We knocked over a bookshelf to account for the hole in the wall and looked for anything valuable. We didn’t find much and threw what we did in the river.
Then we left. Just like that. It would go down as yet another unsolved case. But I knew who did it, and why. And I repaid the culprit in kind as best I could, a life for a life.
We met up with Alice and Jasper at the airport, and Alice hugged me almost as tight as Edward did, squealing with happiness. Jasper smiled warmly, saying he was glad to see me.
We met the rest of the family in Alaska, where I was greeted just as warmly. Emmett wrapped me up in a fierce bear hug, and as soon as he let go, Esme wrapped both Edward and me in her arms, telling me how grateful she was that we were both home safe. I wanted to cry all over again.
And Edward held my hand the entire time.