Author’s Note: Let me explain what happened in the last chapter. The magnetic force of the MRI was enough to shake the telekinetic barriers that are holding Bella’s memories of the McRaes. When the magnetic waves passed over her head, it pulled the walls apart and let a memory leak out. Now, we find a loose end that the McRaes forgot.
Chapter Four
The Strangers.
“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” – Oscar Wilde
The warehouse was burning from the inside out, threatening to collapse at any moment, but that was the least of my troubles. Even though my life was hanging in the balance, I knew that I had to help…someone. They were in danger, and outnumbered. I could smell the burning building, the blood, and the gasoline. The heat was on my face, and my torso throbbed from…I can’t remember.
I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to focus on the dim memory floating just out of mind’s reach. Shifting through a haze of déjà vu and pain, I desperately tried to dissect every part of the image, but still came up short. There were missing pieces to this puzzle—pieces that I couldn’t find. I groaned in frustration and thrashed my arms, hitting white plastic walls in the process, only to realize I was still in the machine.
“Edward?” I called out, and, when I received no response, I banged on the walls surrounding me. My lungs tightened as I grew more claustrophobic and my entire body started to tremble. “Edward—let me out!”
Somewhere, a door opened and Edward’s voice echoed all around me. “Just be patient, Love, we’re working on it—the MRI is jammed.”
Jammed?! Oh, of all the things that could go wrong!
“Please, get me out!” The walls were starting to close in, which made me sob uncontrollably. I had never asked him to help me before, never pleaded for him to save me like a damsel in distress, but now I needed Edward more than anything else. “Edward, help me, please!”
“Carlisle! You have fifteen seconds!” Edward growled and angrily started counting aloud while Carlisle argued in the background. Finally, after the countdown had concluded, Edward addressed me one more time. “Bella, cover your eyes!”
His tone left no room for argument, and, despite my intense confusion on why I should do this, I hid my face in the platform below. A loud commotion startled me, and was followed by a deep guttural roar. When I looked up, the top of the cylindrical medical equipment had been ripped clean off. Bits of dust and debris were floating in the air, and I promptly covered my mouth to keep from inhaling anything.
“Bella, are you all right?” Edward wrapped his arms around me and picked me up, kissing my forehead. Suddenly he growled and glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll replace it, Carlisle!”
It was difficult to focus on Edward and Carlisle’s unspoken conversation, mainly because I was too busy thinking about what had just occurred. Beyond the searing, unthinkable pain, there were images and voices that I’d never seen or heard before…or had I? My brow pulled together and I tried to think where the images had come from, and more importantly where they’d gone. As Carlisle and Edward argued back and forth, I found that I couldn’t pull up any more of the voices I’d heard or faces I’d seen.
“It’s a brand new machine, Edward,” Carlisle said and pinched the bridge of his nose, a movement Edward was notorious for. When he dropped his hands, I could clearly see the irritation in Dr. Cullen’s eyes and it bothered me a great deal. In fact, the very sight of Edward’s father was irritating me. “They just delivered it last night.”
