Mimic | Jacob Black

31. Anger

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"River, what happened? What's wrong?" Bella clutched onto his arm, gently swaying him to try and get him to look at her, but he wouldn't.

"I think you should give him some time," Alice said.

"Why? What did Carlisle tell him?"

"It's probably best if you go ask him yourself," Alice continued. Her voice sounded off, like she was preoccupied with something else.

"Alice?" Bella probed.

Carlisle's voice could suddenly be heard.

"Bella, you can wait in my office if you'd like, I'll be there in a minute."

River could hear Bella walking away, and then the door closed, but he could still hear Alice and Carlisle.

"What did you see, Alice?"

"It's not so much what I saw, rather... what I can't see anymore," she answered. "I don't think telling him all of this was a good idea. At least not now, all at once."

"Is it his future?" Carlisle asked worriedly. He probably felt guilty, because Alice was right.

"All his futures are hard to read now, and some have just disappeared. It's a tangled mess."

"It was presumptuous of me to assume. He dealt with everything so well, right up until the very end... Please try to keep an eye on him for a while..." Carlisle's voice faded as they walked away.

River didn't move until his joints began to feel stiff and his neck hurt. He unfurled himself and kicked off his shoes before crawling over to the other side of the bed, bringing his legs up to his chest as he laid there, facing the dark forest beyond the glass wall. He didn't bother grabbing the cover Bella had left draped over the couch that was much too small to accommodate its size.

River's iffy plans after graduation seemed like a luxury now. He'd rather not know what to do than have something like this forced onto him. River would now be put in the same situation as Bella, except he didn't want it. He would have to disappear from human society, lose his humanity, and live off of wildlife in some sunless part of the world. He didn't have his own future anymore.

Bella wouldn't give up on her future, to be Edward's equal. It wasn't fair to her if she had to base her life choices around River. But it also wasn't fair for River to be forced into this life because Bella wanted it. So where did that leave them?

He felt surprisingly in control of his emotions right now. Or maybe he only thought so since he would feel spiteful and miserable anyway.

After some time passed, River heard the door open again. It wouldn't be anyone other than Bella.

She closed the door and he heard the sheets rustling as she moved onto the bed, shuffling her body over to his side. She stopped not far from him, he could just make out her reflection in the glass. She was sitting behind him.

"Do you hate me?" she asked quietly.

River answered after a moment of silence. "I don't want this." His avoidance of the question hung heavy in the room, unmissable. He didn't know what he felt for her right now, but he wasn't certain he could give her the answer she was hoping for.

"It doesn't feel real, but all of that stuff is in the past," Bella said.

"Not all of it," River mumbled. "I don't get a future."

"That's not true. You can still have one," Bella offered.

"Not my own. You could also just stay human," River countered, a hint of anger slipping through. Knowing she still didn't want to give up being a vampire deepened his anger. Bella didn't say anything. "See? It's not pleasant to hear, is it?" Bella couldn't imagine how demoralising it felt for River, because in her eyes, it just meant that River would be with her for that much longer. She wanted to become a vampire, so the idea didn't sound terrible to her, even if she knew he didn't want it.