The Real Mate (James) (au)

Chapter Thirty One

× This chapter does not contain James and Anna. It will only be about the people in Forks. If you want to skip, you can. This chapter is simply to explain their lives without Anna. ×

     When Carlisle arrived back in Forks, he found the note that Annabeth had left on the Cullens' doorstep. He read the note, and though he and his family were hurt by Anna's actions, Carlisle understood. He would've done the same, had he been in Anna's situation, if someone was trying to hurt Esme, rather she was trying to hurt someone else or not.

     Since he understood, he decided to follow her wishes. He called Charlie later that night, and informed him of Anna's passing. He told the police chief that Anna had passed away because the aneurysm had ruptured, and surgery couldn't fix it in time. He lied, telling Charlie that the rupture was due to the stress of Bella leaving Forks. He also told him that Anna had asked to be cremated if something happened to her, and that she wanted to be cremated before anyone seen her body — not wanting that to be the last thing they remember of her.

     Carlisle gave Charlie fake cremains, but Charlie would never know they were fake. Bella and the Cullens planned to keep that a secret for the rest of Charlie's life. After recieveing the cremains, Charlie had a funeral for Anna. He invited all of their family, everyone on the rez that knew her, as well as all of her friends and their families. The funeral had a huge turnout of people, but Charlie wasn't surprised, Anna was loved by so many people.

     Crystal cried the entire funeral. She missed Anna more than anything in the world. She actually blamed herself for not seeing that Anna was in need of medical help in time to save her. Charlie gave Crystal a small urn of cremains, knowing that in the end, Crystal was and forever would be, Anna's best friend. Crystal had some of the ashes blown into a crystal heart that she would keep on display forever, along with a picture of the two together, which would always sit on top of her dresser.

     Alex and Avery cried at the funeral. Alex was going to miss his friend, though he knew he had upset her only weeks leading up to her death. He blamed himself, because he knew that showing up unannounced had most likely added to her stress. Stress was what had killed her, and that made his heart tear in two. He hated that he wasn't there in the end, but he had no way of fixing his mistakes now.

     Avery hated herself. She had let Sam get into her head. She had shifted into her wolf the night before she had gotten mad at Anna. Sam had told her that it was safer to stay away from Anna, so she ignored her and blew her off. If it wasn't for Sam, Avery would've been there for Anna when she was sick, when she found out about the aneurysm, and possibly moments before she had passed. Hell, Avery believed she could've saved her, if it wasn't for Sam, and she'd always blame Sam for Anna's death.

     The only reason Avery and Alex were seen together was because Avery had imprinted on Alex. Avery had told Alex the truth the day before Anna had seen the two together. Avery wished she could've went back to that moment, stopped Anna, and told her everything. If she could turn back time, that's what she would've done, but she couldn't, and Anna was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

     Charlie was possibly the one most hurt by the passing of Anna. He felt empty inside, knowing the ray of sunshine in his house was forever gone. He kept her room closed up, never allowing anyone inside. He didn't care what anyone thought, he was preserving the only memories he had left of her inside of that bedroom. He kept her ashes on the mantle in the living room, and he would talk to the urn when he was feeling lonely, feeling sad, or whenever he was watching ball games. Anna use to watch ball games with him when she was a little girl. She may have been gone, but in those moments, Charlie felt like she was still there with him.

     Bella was the only one that knew that Anna was, in fact, alive, but she couldn't tell anyone. The only other people that knew were the Cullens, and they refused to talk about Anna. Well, by they, she meant Edward, Jasper, and Alice; everyone else seemed to understand why Anna had did what she did. They would've done the same for their own mate, and they couldn't deny that fact at all.

     Bella wondered if she'd ever see her sister again. She knew if she ever seen Anna, she would be with James — the vampire that had tried to kill her. This thought frightened Bella, but it also made Bella wonder if James would leave her alone simply for Anna. She wondered just how much Anna really meant to James, because she seen just how much James meant to Anna.

     Bella envied their relationship. Anna had went to such drastic measures to save James. She became a vampire simply to save him, and Bella wished she could be like Anna. She wished she could be a vampire, but Edward wasn't going for that. She wondered if she was really Edward's mate, like Anna wad James's. She had so many questions, but she was almost sure they'd never be answered. She just hoped that wherever Anna was, that she would always be happy with the one that Bella knew would always love Anna for the person she was...