Control

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Twenty Four

Quil yawned widely as he strolled into the kitchen. He found his grandfather sitting at the table with his reading glasses perched on the end of his bulbous nose. His dark eyes twinkled merrily in the deep folds of his skin as he scrutinised the voluminous book laid out in front of him. The elder looked like he was about to burst out of his skin with excitement.

"What's up, Pop?" Quil asked curiously as he hovered over the old man's shoulder and peeked at the faded text on the brown pages of the book.

"What's up is that your grandfather is a genius, boy." Old Quil slammed the book shut sending up a cloud of dust.

Quil shot back as he accidentally breathed the dust in. He coughed violently and glared at his grandfather. "There's a lot of words I could use to describe you, but genius isn't one of them."

"Oh, stop complaining." Old Quil retorted good naturedly. "Are you on your way out?"

"I've just come in." Quil grumbled. "Didn't you even notice I was gone?"

"Why would I?"

"Well that's nice. I'm out all night and half the morning patrolling, risking my life so that you can sleep safe in your bed, and you didn't even notice I was gone." Quil said grumpily.

The old man's bushy brows drew down into a deep frown as his keen gaze zeroed in the on the partial pink lipstick stain colouring his grandson's neck. "You may have been out, but you've certainly not been patrolling all night. If you're gonna meet up with a girl, cover your tracks better next time. You're lucky I'm not ratting you out to Sam." He patted Quil smartly on the shoulder before ambling out of the room.

"Hello?" Billy kept his voice low when he answered the phone in order not to disturb Jacob. He had no idea that his son wasn't even in the house sleeping like he presumed.

"Billy!" Old Quil bellowed down the phone. "I am a genius."

Billy winced as he pulled the receiver away from his ear. He was fond of Old Quil but why did the old man insist on shouting down the phone so half the res could hear him. "You sound excited, Quil." He said cautiously. "But could you tone it down a bit. Jake's sleeping. He's been up all night patrolling."

Old Quil dissolved into laughter. "You haven't fallen for that crock of shit have you, Billy. Quil tried to pull that one on me, but I know he's been with some girl, though he's being very mysterious about her. I bet Jake's been with his Bella."

"Jake takes his duties very seriously." Billy replied gravely.

On the other end of the phone Old Quil rolled his eyes at Billy's superior tone. He didn't believe a word of it. He brushed his irritation aside and began to babble incoherently about the revealing information he had just found out which he felt was relevant to Jacob and Bella's intense connection.

"Slow down and take a breath." Billy said testily. "I can't understand a word you're saying."

Old Quil grunted in annoyance as he exhaled slowly and started all over again. "We've been looking at Jacob and Bella's connection as a spiritual one-"

"That was your theory." Billy cut him off scornfully.

"Will you stop interrupting?" Old Quil huffed. "Now listen-imprinting as we understand it is a profound, intimate phenomenon that exists among the Quileute shape shifters. It's a way of finding their soulmates. It usually happens the first time the shapeshifter sees the person he's imprinting on."

"I know all this-"

"Just listen. This didn't happen with Jacob and Bella."

"Since when has anything about Jacob and Bella's relationship been straightforward." Billy interjected impatiently. "There have been so many ups and downs, their friendship-not to mention their relationship-constantly on and off again. They've always been so intense about everything, even when they were younger they were drawn to each other straight away."

"And there we have the heart of it." Old Quil crowed. "This connection they share isn't an imprint as we know it. It is something different altogether. That's why it's not comparable to Sam's or any of the others."

"What are you suggesting?" Billy was getting caught up in the old man's excitement despite his reservations.

"Have you ever heard of a 'twin flame' relationship?" Old Quil asked.

"What the hell is that? It sounds painful."

"Well it can be for the people involved. And it certainly has been for poor Jacob and Bella- but that's the point."

"Explain." Billy pressed urgently.

"I came across it in one of the books my old grandfather left me." Old Quil continued eagerly. "There was a lot of blurb in there but I came across one passage that instantly captured my attention."

"About the 'twin flame' thing?"

"Yes." Old Quil drew in another deep breath. "There tends to be a lot of confusion about what a "twin flame" relationship really is. Unlike "soul mates," which are our perfect matches (or our spiritual family) twin flames are our perfect mirrors. Relationships with twin flames tend to be on-again-off-again, intensely passionate, and sometimes intensely painful. Twin flames help us awaken like nobody else, and they ultimately serve to show us who we really are."

"That sounds like Jake and Bella." Billy murmured.

"I thought so, too." The elder agreed. "Let me quote you what the book actually says about it:

1. You are intensely drawn to them. Without any real cause or reason, you feel as though you've known this person before, even if you just met.

2. They have opened you up to a completely new way of thinking. With them, you exchange ideas, beliefs, religion, and so on. You've "awakened" because of their love.

3. They come in and out of your life. You're together, and then you're not, and then you are again. Despite the fact that you love each other more than anything, one of you (the "runner") seems to not be able to handle it, and dissolve the relationship. It's almost as though your connection is too intense for you to be consistently together.

4. They feel like home. Upon meeting them, you immediately sense that you've known this person before. Your connection is too intense for you to have just been strangers – there is a deep feeling of familiarity when you're with them.

5. You are the epitome of yin and yang. They seem just like your other half, the parts of you that were missing all along. (What you've yet to realize is that they are the parts of you you've yet to know.)

6. Looking back, you see that the period of time right after you're with them is always defined by change. They bring about a lot of intense transformation in your life, sometimes painfully so.

7. You will find yourself becoming almost irrationally emotional when you're with them. (These are the feelings and energies that have been in suppression, which they are there in part to help you recognize and heal.)

8. Your bond is instantaneous, and your relationship moves very quickly. Right off the bat, you "click" as though you've known one another forever. This only grows over time, and the more you get to know about them, the more absolutely in love you are.

9. You are more than just lovers. You are one another's teachers, best friends, and so on. You have such a deep and layered connection that you do a lot more for one another than just be romantic.

10. It seems like you're always pulled back to them in one way or another.

11. Your relationship can be tumultuous at times. This is because your twin flame serves to show you everything that needs to be healed within you. This is not to be confused with "love" being painful. Love is not painful. Everything that stands in the way can be, though.

14. One of you is more "spiritual" than the other. One is more soulful, the other more practical. You teach one another the virtues of how you think and behave – that is part of your purpose.

15. You feel very attuned to them, almost telepathically. You can feel what they're feeling, or know what they're thinking. It's as though you are one."

"Fuck, Quil." Billy breathed in awe.

"Watch your language." Old Quil said disapprovingly as if Billy was a five year old.

"Sorry." Billy apologised distractedly. "This is huge, Quil. And it explains a lot."

"Yes." Old Quil said gravely. "Jacob and Bella are twin halves of one soul."

Jacob was at Forks high within minutes. He hastily transformed back into his human form and quickly pulled on his shorts. Bella was a creature of habit, she always parked her truck in the same place without fail. Jacob went straight there, but when he arrived he found that the old red Chevy was missing. The vamp stench hit him as soon as he got near the empty space-he recognised Edward Cullen's foul odour straight away, along with the one belonging to the little psychic. A sudden fiery rage took hold of him. A primal rage that was so intense that it made him explode into a wolf right in the middle of the parking lot.

"I need the bathroom." Bella demanded as they made their way past reception.

Edward paused for a minute as he exchanged a long look with Alice. She was the first to break the intense stare, hanging her head and sighing. Edward then approached Bella and wrapped his arms tightly around her before she even had a chance to move. He pressed his cold lips against her cheek. "Alice will go in with you." He murmured.

"I don't need a chaperone." Bella tried to wriggle out of his tight embrace but it was impossible. The more she moved the tighter he squeezed.

"Edward." Alice admonished him sharply.

Edward growled in Bella's ear. "Alright, Alice." He sneered, before finally letting her go and stepping back.

"Come with me, Bella." Alice murmured as she took hold of Bella's hand and guided her toward the nearest facility.

As they walked through the door to the bathroom Bella was disappointed to find that they were the only two occupants. Her hasty plan to use other people as a distraction so she could make her escape fell flat.

"I'm sorry about Edward." Alice said apologetically as she hovered by one of the cubicles. "He has been very stressed since our return from Italy."

"That is not my problem." Bella hissed angrily.

"I know you are upset with him. I understand that-"

"You don't understand anything." Bella interjected scornfully. She disappeared into one of the cubicles and locked it.

With her back to the locked door Bella closed her eyes tight and tried to contact Jacob again. This time she concentrated really hard. Her skin began to burn and her temperature rocketed as she tried to force the connection.

"Jake! Jake! Please, answer me!"

Nothing!

Bella tried several more times but hit the same blank wall of silence as before. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead and her hands curled into fists. She was full of frustration and anger. She was so hot she felt ready to explode. There was a light tap on the cubicle door.

"Bella, are you alright?"

"Yes." Bella replied coldly.

"I'm sorry, Bella." Alice said sadly. "I'll leave you to wash up. I'll wait outside with Edward."

"You do that." Bella snapped as she made a great show of flushing the toilet. She waited a few heartbeats to make sure that Alice had really gone then slowly unlocked the door.

It seemed Alice had kept her promise as the bathroom was now empty. It was only a temporary stay of execution. There was still no means of escape. The bathroom had only one tiny window which was too small and too high up to make a quick getaway. After checking her pockets she found her cell phone was missing.

"Fuck." Bella cussed as she turned on the tap over the sink and splashed cold water on her hot face. As she glanced up at her reflection in the small mirror hanging over the wash basin, she noticed how flushed her skin was. Her brown eyes were ringed with fever. It Carlisle examined her now he would definitely think there was something wrong.

Her only chance of escape now was to try and create some kind of fuss in front of some of the staff swarming around the hospital. She would have to do this before she reached Carlisle's office. Maybe if she could just reach a phone she could contact Charlie at the station or something.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Bella smoothed her hair down and slipped quietly out of the bathroom. Edward and Alice were like two sentinels standing guard outside. Bella expected both of them to accost her immediately, but for some strange reason, when they looked in her direction, it was like they were looking right through her. Bella paused, her heart speeding up in anticipation as she raised her right hand and waved it in Alice's face. There was not a flicker of recognition. It was like the little psychic didn't even perceive that she was there-

"Oh, my god! They can't see me!" Bella cried in her head.

Something niggled in the back of her mind-something that Jacob had told her once-about how puzzled Sam had been that he had not been able to see or sense her when she had come to meet Jacob on the beach one time. Then she recalled the time she had crossed paths with Victoria on the beach, and how the crazed redhead seemed unable to sense that she was there, instead mistaking her scent for that of a wolf.

"I'M SHIELDING MYSELF." She shouted in her head, feeling completely awestruck by her own abilities. "DAMMIT, JAKE, IT'S LIKE EVERYTIME I'M FRIGHTENED OR SCARED IT ALLOWS ME TO DRAW FROM OUR SHARED ENERGIES AND CHANGE OTHERS PERCEPTION OF ME. THIS IS HUGE. I WISH YOU WERE HERE. I NEED YOU TELL ME I'M NOT CRAZY. ANSWER ME!"

A/N-thanks for reading!