Twilight: Betrayal

Chapter 14

I felt as if my entire body had started glowing. I was barely in control of my actions as I bolt to my father and picked him up in a crushing embrace. He laughed for the first time in a long time and Emmett's booming voice filled the house. "We're back, baby!"

Rosalie grinned and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, holding in her laughter as she was filled with glee. She wrapped her arms around her bearlike husband. He threw one arm around her and thrust one victorious fist in the air, whooping like a banshee.

Esme giggled in gratification. "We're getting Bella back." Her lip quivered and she tucked her face into Carlisle's shoulder. He closed his eyes, grinning from ear to ear and held his wife.

Jasper had one arm around Alice's shoulders, laughing with abandon and making small talk with Emmett. Alice stood there, so still I thought she might break. She seemed to be in a sort of panic.

In her head was a deafening silence I had never heard before in anyone. It was unlike when I had tried countless times to listen to Bella's thoughts; then I hadn't heard a thing because it was as if her thoughts didn't exist in this dimension. But with Alice, it was like a piercing ring, so high in tone that I could barely hear it. No words, no images, nothing. It was all blank space.

I looked passed it, too filled with reprieve to care. I was going to get my Bella back.

We made our way to Forks with great haste. I was going to get on my knees, I would beg and plead for Bella to take me back. I would move heaven and earth to have Bella in my arms. I wasn't going to give up. A new sense of hope ignited in my chest as I read 'Now Entering Forks'. We pulled up to our house but I was out of the car before we could come to a complete stop.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I pushed them to go faster than I had ever gone before. The forest was a green blur around me. The grey light of another cloudy day in Washington filtered into the forest through the leaves and gaps between treetops. Rain began to pour and my clothes stuck to every curve of my body.

It wasn't long before I slid into her yard. My hair was a mess and I couldn't help my beaming smile as my eyes found her window, but my smile faltered. Yellow police tape encircled the house, wrapped around rusty poles that stuck gruesomely out of the earth.

My brows furrowed in confusion as I sped to the door. Of course it would be locked. I did what I knew to do best and bounded up the wall to her window, not caring if anyone saw me at this point. Her window opened easily and I slid inside. The scene before me left me numb.

Her bedroom was bare, stripped of any personal items or indication that she had ever existed in this space. I tightened my hands into fists as I walked deeper into her room, taking slow, steadying steps when an idea hit me. The floorboards. Before I had left, I hid her CD and our picture beneath her floorboards. I was quick to get on my knees and rip the cheap wood from its resting place.

I was aware of their presence as I reached in and brought the image to my eyes. There she stood, as lovely as ever beside me. Her skin was red with a blush as she looked worriedly into the camera. My head snapped up to my family. They gave me a stony look in unison.

Rosalie spoke to me through her mind. Edward, she's gone. The whole town is talking about it... Charlie killed her.

I shook my head forcefully. "No, Charlie wouldn't lay a finger on Bella."

Esme stepped forward with a grave look on her face. She couldn't dare to make eye contact with me as she spoke. "She's in the cemetery, Edward."

My fingers tightened around the picture as I thrust it into my pocket and fly out the window. I'm running again without a care. Though I could see the small headstone in my mothers mind, I had to see it for myself. I reach the cemetery in record time and I find her easily.

'Isabella Marie Swan: Beloved Daughter and Friend'

I fall to my knees as the rain picks up again and my face lowers. The very life of me was sucked out just then. I closed my eyes in the most intense pain I had ever felt. It was something worse than venom. I felt my insides rotting away as I imagined my Bella beneath me, lying peacefully in a pine box, awaiting the elements to decay her beautiful, creamy skin. One day she would be nothing but another set of remains in a coffin.

Alice gasped behind me as an image plowed through her mind. I would go to the Volturi and they would end my suffering. They would send me to my Bella. "Emmett, Jasper, get him!" She exclaimed. I was tackled before I could make a move.