Ebb and Flow (Twilight x Reader)

Chapter 18

That day I'd gotten a ride home from Jessica, because Bella was heading straight over to the Cullens after school and wanted to drive separately from Edward, for whatever reason. I asked why, but she just claimed that she wanted some time to think.

Pretty soon, the sun began to set. I was in my room doing homework when I heard Dad's car pull into the driveway.

"Y/n?" he called a moment later, the sound of the front door closing following his entrance.

I headed down the steps to greet him. "Hey, dad. How was work?"

"Fine," he shrugged. "Where's Bella?"

"At the Cullens'." I crossed into the kitchen, suddenly hungry, and Dad followed me.

"The truck is in the driveway."

My hand froze halfway into the fridge, all the terrible possibilities of why that could be running through my head.

But I forced myself to relax and continued browsing the leftovers in the fridge. "I'm sure she and Edward just came to drop it off." It wasn't unusual for them to do that. Sometimes when they went on dates out of town Edward would follow Bella in the Volvo to drop the truck off, then they'd take Edward's car. It had much better mileage than the truck.

But the sun set. Hours passed. And still Bella still hadn't shown up or called.

I could see Dad was getting worried, too.

"I'll call the house," I said, heading towards the phone. I dialed the number I had memorized by heart, then waited for it to be answered.

It wasn't.

A pit started growing in my stomach. I tried again, waiting for Carlisle or Esme or Emmett or someone to pick up, but they never did.

I turned to Dad as I put the phone down. My voice was weak. "They didn't answer."

His face went slack.

"I'm sure they're just out playing baseball or something," I said, even though I knew there wasn't a storm around for miles. "I'll drive over real quick and see what's going on."

"They live quite far. Maybe I should—"

"It's okay, Dad," I said, knowing that if he went instead of me he might see something that could expose the Cullens. "I'll be fine, I know where it is. I'll call you when I get there, too."

He didn't like the idea, but he relented in the end after more convincing.

I took the truck and drove as fast as I could without the car breaking down. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

What if something had happened? Something else like what had happened with Jasper on our birthday? What if Edward did something to her?

Oh my god.

What if James had escaped somehow? What if he came back to get Bella?

I shook my head at myself. No, that was ridiculous. I heard his neck get snapped. Carlisle told us all that he was dead. Emmett and Jasper had taken care of it.

When I pulled up to the house, it was dark. Their front lights weren't on or anything, so I had to use the flashlight I kept in the truck's glove compartment for emergencies. With a pit in my stomach that was growing bigger and bigger, I walked up to the front door and knocked once. Twice. Three times.

Nobody answered.

But when I tried the door handle, it was unlocked.

A stab of fear cut through me.