Cerulean Star

Chapter 35: Tribal Meeting

The drive to Forks was just about the most loneliest but painless trip I'd ever made in my life. As soon as I crossed over into the city limits of Forks, a series of murky memories flooded my mind. Some were pleasant, actually most were. And I laughed at all of the ones involving Mike and some of my friends from the school. God so much has happened since my first trip to Forks that it seemed an unbelievable journey.

Most of the colleges would have started their classes by now, so I knew there was no chance I'd run into any of my friends. This was probably for the best. I smiled as I thought of my original thoughts of Forks while driving to Charlie's house first; it was too green.

I listened inside the house and didn't hear anyone, so I took a quick look at the house I used to call home. I inhaled the scents that lingered, mainly Charlie's and various foods that he cooked. Mostly, eggs. This wasn't the first time that I'd smelled human food, especially with Gianna at the castle, but she didn't like eggs, and I found this smell to be truly revolting. I ran upstairs, hoping to escape the smell, and first went into my old bedroom. I had tidied up as I packed my things for my return trip to Italy, but it seemed that Charlie cleaned up a little more. The old computer that I never used was gone, along with the desk that it used to sit on. My rocking chair was still in the corner and I couldn't help but smile as I thought of the many times I'd wake up to find Edward sitting in that chair.

I'd spent a great deal of time in Charlie's room. I wanted to get his scent in my head. I knew there was never any way that I would even find my father appetizing, especially since all of the Volturi remarked at how well my self control was, but I didn't want to take any chances. At that thought, I decided it was time to visit Charlie, only after I hunted some of the local wildlife.

It didn't take me long to find a few deer to drain, and I was back in the Vanquish driving to the hospital in no time. It was only a little after ten in the morning when I parked in the hospital parking lot.

"Ahhh, Bella. It's been a while since I've seen you in the hospital. How are you doing today?" Dr. Gerandy asked me when I walked into the hospital.

"I'm doing fine doctor. I came to visit my father. Would you happen to know what room he's in?"

"Actually I just came from his room. He'll probably be released tomorrow. He's in 347."

"Thank you so much! Take care." I waved back to Dr. Gerandy and headed towards the elevator. I considered running up the stairs to the third floor, but I noticed there was a camera that was placed looking into the stairwell. I couldn't take the chance that there were cameras that were actually in the stairwell. Whatever my uncles were going to plan on doing with me, I had to make sure that everything now was completely by the book. Not that I ever had any problems with that in the past.

The elevator was excruciating slow, but I bid my time and walked silently to my father's room. Charlie was sleeping peacefully, so I sat in the ugly brown leather chair and picked up the closest magazine. I flipped through the same magazine about three times before Charlie's eyes started to flutter open.

"Daddy?"

"Well now, it's been a while since I heard that. What are you doing here Bella?" Charlie's voice was rough and suddenly I worried that he would detect that my voice was considerably different.

"I could ask you the same thing, dad." I offered him a small, warm smile. "I was actually thinking of moving back home. Well, sort of."

"That's crazy Bella! You got a scholarship to a school that you assured me was tough to get into. I won't allow it." He stopped berating me for all of two seconds before asking, "How do you sort of move back home?"