Slow Life

IX - DECODE

IX - DECODE

"Call me Bella," I replied with a fake cheerful voice. "Or Leonora, whatever. I'm still waiting for an explanation, you see. And since I overheard you talking about that night, I figured that you did remember something, and I wanted to know what it was that you remembered. Perhaps you remembered that you told me that Edward had died, that you told me how sorry you were for the loss of my fiancée, that you left me in the room alone with him for fifteen minutes before you took him away,..."

I wanted to continue talking but my voice clogged up from the tears that finally started dripping down my cheeks. I stopped walking and angrily brushed them away.

"Actually," I said, "I'm not even angry with you anymore. I just want to know why you lied to me and what you did to Edward. He doesn't even remember me anymore."

I figured that since they had their secret and I had mine, that I would be honest enough and tell them the secret to their faces. Perhaps they would tell me theirs so that I would understand what the hell was going on.

"And I haven't seen him since then and I was worried about that, since we always found each other in the past."

"What do you mean we always found each other?" Edward asked me with a surprised voice. I sighed and looked at him.

"Have you ever heard of the word reincarnation?"

Dr Cullen's eyes started shining as he finally comprehended what was going on.

"Yes," I helped him, "Me and Edward reincarnate when we die. We keep our memories and we find each other every time we are reborn. It's been going on since the beginning of Earth. Of course, Edward's soul is younger than mine for about two thousand years, but it's still older than any of the other creatures on this planet. Mine is the first soul."

Dr Cullen looked at Edward then with a look in his eyes that I thought meant to say 'see, I told you you have a soul'. You might wonder why I seemed to understand what he was saying with his eyes - it's really simple. I've been around people for as long as they existed, of course I learned how to read their bodies. Of course, it was difficult to read the Cullens, since they seemed to not be humans and had different reactions. But with every minute I was in their company, it got easier.

Edward didn't seem to agree with what Dr. Cullen was telling him with his eyes.

"Yes, you do have a soul," I said aloud and watched them with amusement as they turned their attention back on me. I wondered what they were thinking. They were probably surprised that I could interpret the silence and facial expressions so well.

"Can you read our minds?" Dr. Cullen asked me curiously before Edward could interrupt (I saw him open his mouth to say something). I shook my head.

"Nope, but I've been around long enough to be able to read people and their expressions."

I turned to Edward and repeated what I said before,

"Before you say you don't have a soul, I can assure you that you do. I can feel it inside you. It hasn't accepted my soul yet, but it's there."

I had to stop myself from pointing my tongue at him and telling him, 'so there'. It probably wouldn't go over well.

Edward was quiet after that. It seemed as if I have given him a lot to think about. Instead I conversed with Dr. Cullen a bit more, answering his questions about my reincarnating ability, with Rosalie watching us. When Dr. Cullen said that my dad was coming for me, I looked behind myself, but didn't see Charlie yet.

"You have to tell me how you know that. I mean, I've told you my secret, so I think it's only fair that you tell me yours," I replied with a shrug. Dr. Cullen was quiet for a few moments as he looked over toward Edward and Rosalie, before nodding.

We agreed that I would come over to his house this weekend so that we could talk some more.