A/N: I am SO sorry this took so long to finish! I had an extreme case of writer’s block about halfway through and I finally finished it. I’m sorry for the abrupt ending of the chapter, I didn’t really know how to end it lol. Leave some comments or message me about any ideas you might have for the story! xoxo
The day that Bella went missing in the woods was the beginning of a long three months of depression for her, and therefore, dad and I as well. The Cullens had left and Edward had broken up with her on that walk just before she got lost.
She wouldn’t listen to music, she wouldn’t go out with her friends anymore, and she barely left her room for those first three months. She was definitely depressed, but our dad didn’t want to force her to see a doctor if she didn’t want to, no matter how many times that I brought it up.
The worst part was when she would start screaming in the middle of the night. She would always, without fail, wake up screaming and dad and I would take turns helping her. It was exhausting and I was barely getting any sleep. Even the nights when dad would help her I couldn’t get back to sleep right away.
Dad actually had a serious talk with her last night. He told her that if she didn’t start trying to get back to normal, he was going to send her to live with her mother in Florida. That had seemed to snap something in her because she went out with Jessica to the movies tonight. Dad had wanted me to tag along to keep an eye on her, but I had to work until 10 so that hadn’t been possible.
I got home before she did and if I hadn’t left my bedroom because I needed to use the bathroom at the very moment she got home I probably wouldn’t have seen or heard her come in. I had tried to make conversation about some customer at the restaurant, but she seemed even weirder than usual. But that was the first night in three months that she didn’t wake up screaming in the middle of the night.
It was the first good night’s sleep that I’d had in awhile and I woke up that Saturday morning feeling refreshed. That relieved feeling didn’t last however when Bella dragged me to Jacob Black’s house, but not without making a stop to buy two used and run down motorcycles. She wouldn’t even let me ask any questions.
The next month was spent going back and forth between Forks and La Push. We would go to school, then go to Jacob’s garage, and then Bella would drop me off at work. It was a pretty consistent schedule and I was grateful to Jacob for helping Bella get close to normal again.
There were still some times that she seemed sad again about Edward and the Cullens leaving, but for the most part she was alright. Except for her new craving for adrenaline she had developed. She had gone to the ER a few times just this month and dad was starting to get worried, but Bella’s new goal was to find some meadow in the woods that Edward had brought her to. Which seemed a lot safer than riding motorcycles.
Jacob didn’t really want to help as he wanted Bella to let go of Edward all together, but I thought it would be a good idea to find the meadow. I thought it might help her finally accept that he had left.
So while January had been a mostly blissful time in the Swan household, February brought some trouble. Bella had gone to the movies with Mike Newton and Jacob. It was an awkward combination of people, but I couldn’t tag along because I had to work that night. She had come home earlier than expected and said that Jacob wasn’t feeling well so they had called it a night.
That was the beginning of the craziness that changed my life forever. Jacob stopped answering Bella’s calls and Billy’s excuse of mono weren’t working anymore. She was angry at first, but then she just got sad again.
Jacob was starting to piss me off now. Bella had finally gotten back to normal and I had forgotten what it was like to not sleep all night due to her screaming, but with Jacob not speaking with her she was basically back to square one. It was like all that progress that she had made these past few months hadn’t ever happened.
So while Bella continued to try to call Jacob and had more and more sleepless nights, I continued going to school and work while also getting more and more sleepless nights. Finally, February came to an end. The shortest month of the year had definitely seemed like the longest in my mind.
The first Saturday of March was the day that Bella and I went out to find the meadow. I wasn’t about to let her go alone, so we went earlier in the day because I had work that afternoon. It was a long ass hike to that meadow.
“Bella,” I groaned for probably the tenth time that day. “Do you have any idea how much longer?”
“I have no idea,” she huffed out, definitely as out of breath as I was right now. “I don’t know exactly where it is… it’s been awhile.”
“It’s literally been two hours,” I responded, taking a quick pitstop to drink some water. “You hate hiking. How the hell did you do this last time?”
She didn’t respond and instead started walking again. I hung back for a second, chugging my water again before sighing and climbing the hill, where Bella had just disappeared from my line of sight.
“Bella?” I called out to her, but there wasn’t any response. I finished climbing the hill and finally the tree line broke and I saw what was once probably the beautiful meadow that Bella had spoken so highly of.
Bella seemed to be in shock as she kept looking around at the brown, empty field.
“Well,” I sighed. “It is the beginning of March. Not exactly the time for flowers to be in bloom.”
“I just didn’t think it would look like this,” she said, kneeling down to touch the dead grass.
“We can always come back in a month or two and it’ll be just like the last time you were here,” I offered to her, but she shook her head.
“It won’t ever be the same as the last time I was here,” she said softly, slowly standing up. She seemed like she was going to say something else, but she stopped short. She was staring at something behind me.
I slowly turned around and saw a man. He had long dreadlocks and seemed to be wearing a suit, with the jacket hanging open to reveal his bare chest. And he was not giving off a friendly vibe.
“Laurent?” Bella questioned the mysterious man. I whipped my head back around to look at her questioningly. Did she know this guy?
“Bella,” Laurent greeted my sister. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”
All of a sudden, he was standing much closer to Bella and I. It was like I blinked and he had suddenly made his way across the field. There was no way someone could move that fast. Who the fuck was this guy?
“I went to visit the Cullens,” Laurent continued as he started circling us like we were his prey. “But the house is empty. I’m surprised they left you behind. Aren’t you sort of a… pet of theirs?”
I reached out to grab Bella’s hand, both to comfort her and myself about the situation.
“Um,” Bella responded. “Something like that.”
“Do the Cullens visit often?” Laurent asked.
“… all the time,” Bella told him after a moment of silence. My breath hitched a little in my throat at her blatant lie. This wasn’t going to end well. “I’ll tell them you stopped by. I probably shouldn’t tell Edward… because he’s pretty protective. He might misinterpret this little get together.”
“Well he’d be right, if he were here,” he continued. “But he’s not, is he? He’s far away.”
“Why are you here?” Bella asked Laurent. She kept herself slightly in front of me as Laurent came to a stop.
“I came as a favor to Victoria,” he replied and Bella gripped my hand tighter. “She asked me to see if you were still under the protection of the Cullens, because Victoria is quite put out with you.”
I could barely think straight, my mind was going 100 miles an hour.
“Me?” Bella asked, alarmed now.
“Victoria thinks it’s only fair to kill Edward’s mate, given he killed hers,” Laurent said matter-of-factly. What the actual fuck was going on? Edward killed someone?
“Edward would know who did it!” Bella tried to warn him. “And he’d come after you.”
“I don’t think he will,” Laurent said, shaking his head. He was so close to us now that I could see his red eyes. “After all, how much could you have meant to him if he left you here unprotected. Victoria won’t be happy about me killing you, but I can’t help myself. You are so mouthwatering.”
“Is this your sister?” Laurent addressed me for the first time. “She smells almost as delectable as you. Perhaps I’ll kill her first and make you watch. That would please Victoria.”
“Please don’t!” Bella begged him. “You helped us…”
“Shh shh shh,” Laurent was suddenly right in front of us, shushing Bella with his hands. “Don’t be afraid. I’m doing you a kindness. Victoria plans on killing you slowly, painfully… I’ll make it quick.”
Laurent pushed Bella out of the way and I whimpered involuntarily when he grasped my face with one hand and then leant in to smell my neck. I tried to get away, but he was freakishly strong. I’d been asking who this man was, but I think the real question was what this guy was.
“I promise you will feel nothing…” he trailed off as he stepped back and his red eyes widened and fangs appeared in his mouth as he raised his hand to strike down on us.
Holy fuck, was he a vampire? That would’ve been my last thought before he killed me, if Laurent hadn’t froze at that moment.
“I don’t believe it,” he said to himself after he had turned to the side of us to look at the tree line. Bella and I looked where he was looking and waited in silence, listening to the rustling of the trees and the low growls of some large animal.
A large black animal that I can only describe as a wolf stepped through the trees, stalking towards the vampire that was threatening us. Even Bella looked shocked, so I knew this was a new discovery for her too.
As the first wolf aggressively growled, more wolves appeared from the tree line behind it. Laurent suddenly whipped around at an incalculable speed and was gone. The shock seemed to be getting to me because my knees buckled and I fell to the ground, my eyes locked on the ginormous wolves, specifically the dark silver one.
This wolf also couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of me. Our eyes were locked together, even as the other wolves left the clearing and ran after Laurent. The wolf seemed almost conflicted, if that were even possible.
But as Laurent started attacking the other wolves at the far end of the clearing, the silver wolf shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts, and ran after the others.
It was at that moment that I realized that Bella had been trying to get my attention.
“Lizzie!” she was screaming at me. “Elizabeth we have to go! We have to go now!”
“He was a vampire… wasn’t he?” I was rambling now. “Holy shit… was Edward a vampire, Bella!?”
“Now is not the time, Lizzie,” she was now shaking me by my shoulders. “We have to go. NOW!”
She was able to pull me to my feet and my fight or flight finally kicked in and my body chose flight. Bella and I held hands as we ran through the woods, running for our lives.
I may have been in shape considering the amount of running I did for soccer, but this was a whole different experience and by the time we got home, I was heaving, could barely breathe, and there were tears running down my face.
As Bella dealt with dad downstairs, I immediately ran to my room and locked the door.
