Bella Swan was a nice girl once. But that was a long time and many mistakes ago.
Edward Cullen never stopped thinking of the beautiful girl he left in that small town years before.
When he finally sees her again, she is a different person he...
"Be near me when I fade away, To point the term of human strife, And on the low dark verge of life The twilight of eternal day."
~Lord Alfred Tennyson
Jacob
Bella was dead. Or rather she would be dead in mere minutes. I could hear the life being drained from her body with every breath. I had seen her broken and bleeding before, after Port Angeles she was a mess. But this was different. She was already gone this time. I held my tee shirt to her wound as Edward worked her over, trying in vain to get her back. I knew it was futile. We had both lost her and she was never coming back. It was useless to avoid the truth of this matter. Bella was dead and no normal person could bring her back. Sobs choked my throat as I thought about my pack, those stupid girls she worked with in Phoenix; all the people who'd miss her. I watched Edward as he did the chest compressions, urging her heart to keep beating. He loved her too, she loved him and he loved her. I'm sure even the bloodsucker would be sad.
Charlie, what was he going to do without Bella? What was I going to do without her? And Ryland, how could I tell that little boy that his mother would never be coming home?
But it didn't have to be that way. I knew there were other avenues. As much as I would like to say that she was better off dead, I knew better. I knew I couldn't do that to Ryland.
I didn't want to face the truth but I knew what I had to do, the atrocity I would have to stand by and allow. I couldn't shake her last words to me and even at the time, in a macabre way, I knew what she was telling me. With her eyes wide and bright, she shoved a finger into my chest.
"You listen to me and you listen good. I will do anything to protect my son. Whatever it takes. Do you understand? If you really love me, you will get that through your head."
I got that message. I just wasn't very happy about it.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Riley
La Push turned into Forks, which turned into Port Angeles and Sequim. We rounded Discovery Bay and turn offs for Lavender Festivals in the late spring. Jane sat silently the whole trip, knowing that one word from her would set me off. Not that I was proud of it but I did have a temper and every once and a while I would lose it. Jane was smart enough to try to stay out of my way typically.
While driving I snuck glances at Ryland, I had expected the kid to freak out at some point but he just sat quietly in between us, staring out the windshield. His hair was the same shade as mine, springy curls that were matted with moss and blood spatters. War wounds streaked on his cheeks and a large rip on the front of his shirt. He looked like shit, just like the rest of us. His tiny hands were clasped in front of him almost in prayer. I tried to think back on whether Bella was religious—we had never discussed it and she had no issue with drug use and premarital sex.
There were so many things Bella never told me. So many things that went unsaid between us. Her reasons for leaving had me so confused. Sure I lost my temper a few times but to just take off like that? It didn't make sense.
Ryland is worth more than my life and you or your family didn't deserve to have him.
Her words resounded in my head, a scratched CD that I couldn't get out. Why would she have said it like that? She didn't even know my family; she only met my dad and Alec once. What the fuck was going on? There had to be something else going on and now I would never know the truth.
If only I could pray now, If only I could find some way to atone for all my misdeeds just to take that moment back. Was there a god that would forgive me? Was there any way to get back that moment? I was just so stupid to think that I could somehow fix this with Bella. What in the hell was I going to do now? I couldn't figure out what came over me. I was emboldened when I saw her and I had thought for that briefest second I could fix things with us. Instead I had gotten her killed and kidnapped our son.
Fuck, I didn't even know the kid. Sure he looked like me, but up until a few hours ago I had no idea I was even a father. What if the kid had allergies or a medical condition or some crazy disorder or...Fuck. What the hell was I going to do now?
