Lunar Black: A Twilight Story

Chapter 26: Destination Arrival

Bella's POV:

I rubbed my temples lightly as I continued to gaze out the window. I had refused to go back to sleep, so I had stared out the window for the past couple hours.

I was still confused as to why we weren't there yet, especially because of Edward's insane driving. But as I finally looked outside and understood what I was seeing, I realized the slowing was because of the tall snowbanks piled high on the side of the thin roads of Alaska. Traffic was contorted along the wavy paths, and there was no way for us to get around.

I sat up a bit straighter and looked over at Edward, who was staring out of the windshield with a frustrated expression. I quickly looked back out of the window and I saw a bear dart into the covering of the trees in the forest beside us.

"That bear looked really good," Emmett mumbled from the back seat. I snorted.

"There's going to be a lot of those, Emmett. Get used to it."

"How would you know, Bella?" Emmett asked me.

"My mom and I visited here before. The trip was cut short though when I was nearly mauled by a black bear."

Emmett snorted back laughter, and Edward glared at me.

"What?" I asked him, and he just shook his head and stared back out the windshield.

I sighed annoyed and opened up the glovebox. CDs scattered to the floor, and as I bent to pick them up, Edward slammed on the breaks and I hit my head on the dashboard.

"Ow!" I screeched, and immediately cool hands were holding my head.

"Are you okay?!" Edward asked me quickly.

"That hurt!" I yelled.

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, sighing and looking at the damage.

"What'd you do that for?!" I continued to scream.

"The guy in front of us stopped quickly. I'm sorry, Love."

"Well that guy needs to learn how to drive!" I bellowed.

"Quiet down, you're going to give yourself a headache." Emmett called.

"Too late," I growled, and reached for the door handle.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Edward asked, grabbing my hand.

"I'm doing laundry, what does it look like I'm doing?!" I hollered, shaking his hand off of me and swinging open the car door.

"Bella get back in the car!" Edward commanded as I stepped out of the car. Ignoring him, I stormed up to the car in front of us.

"Emmett, go grab her," I heard Edward say, and I walked quicker. I walked around the front of Edward's car and walked up to the driver's side window of the Honda Odyssey. I pounded on the window.

A lanky yet buff-looking young man - around the age of twenty-three, perhaps - rolled down the window with an indifferent expression.

"What?" he asked, his New Jersey accent imminent.

"Why did you slam on your breaks? I hit my head!"

"That's not my fault," he said, chomping on a piece of bubble gum. I wanted to punch the snot out of him.

"It kind of is," I growled.

"It's not my fault you were in a position to hit'cha head. Now leave, before a lot more than your head hurts." he glared at me.

"Is that a threat?" a voice snarled from behind me. I could already tell that Emmett and Edward were both standing behind me.

"Yeah, it is!" he said, opening his door. Edward reached out and shut it as he was preparing to get out.

"You'd better stay in that car if you know what's good for you," he growled, shooting the man daggers.

"What are ya, kid, like nineteen?" the man sneered.

"Close," Edward snorted, "Seventeen."

"Well, I'm twenty-two and I'm not scared of no snarky -"

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "do you really want to finish that sentence?"

I unhooked my fingers from his shirt and he threw his door open. As he stepped out, he stood about three inches taller than me, and two inches shorter than Edward.

He pulled back his arm and clenched it into a fist. Snapping his arm forward, right before it made impact with my nose, Edward's hand caught the man's fist. The man glared at Edward, and Edward twisted his arm around, making the man holler in pain. The man went to kick Edward, but Emmett grabbed his leg and pulled. making him fall on his back.

Edward let go of his arm and pulled me back to the car, Emmett following swiftly behind.

As soon as all the car doors were shut, Edward turned to face me as the cars moved forward and he hit the gas.

"What the he** was that, Bella?!" he roared.

"He ticked me off! He deserved what he got," I screamed back.

"What he got from Emmett and I, yeah! He would've beat you to a pulp!" he growled."

"Thank you for your faith in me," I snorted sarcastically.

"You're very welcome!" he spat.

I scoffed and glared out the window. Moments passed before anyone spoke.

"Are you crying?" Edward asked. When he said it, I suddenly became aware of the moisture streaming down my face.

"No," I said instinctively, wiping my face.

"I'm sorry. I overreacted. Will you forgive me?" Edward asked sweetly.

I looked at him - big mistake. His eyes smoldered into mine, and I was unable to break the gaze. My thoughts scattered, and I couldn't remember what he asked me.

"Uh-huh," I said shakily, still staring into his eyes. My favorite crooked smile appeared.

"Excellent," he smirked, staring out the windshield again, "I've still got it."

I shook my head dizzily as Emmett began to chuckle, and I tried to wrap my head around what had just occurred. As soon as I realized and turned to scold him, however, he shut off the car.

"We're here," he smiled at me.

Where? We're in the middle of no where!

I looked out the window confusedly, not seeing anything but sparkling snow.

"It's over the hill," Edward said, answering my unspoken question.

"Oh," I muttered stupidly, reaching for the door handle.

And so it begins.