Reborn
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of its characters.
I also do not own
the first part of this chapter (which is in italics), That segment is
taken from page 361 of New Moon by Stephenie
Meyer.
--
BELLA
I didn't want to
fight anymore. And it wasn't the light-headedness or the cold, or
the failure of my arms as the muscles gave out in exhaustion, that
made me content to stay where I was. I was almost happy that it was
over. This was an easier death than others I'd faced. Oddly
peaceful. I saw him, and I had no will to fight. it was so
clear, so much more defined than any memory my subconscious had
stored Edward away in flawless detail, saving him for this final
moment. I could see his perfect face as if he were really there; the
exact shade of his icy skin, the shape of his lips, the line of his
jaw, the gold glinting in his furious eyes. he was angry, naturally,
that I was giving up. His teeth were clenched and his nostrils
flared with rage.
"No! Bella, no!"
Goodbye, I love you, was my last thought.
--
EDWARD
This day, above all, was the most painful for me.
As I watched the sun rise over the cool and wistful waters, I felt physical pain tear at my insides; it was as if my still heart had begun beating again, and I had been inflicted with some fatal wound; a dagger in my heart, a knife that repeatedly stabbed at my core. I had felt such feelings before, but never quite so strong.
And suddenly, as intense as the pain itself, her face flashed across my mind, as vivid as if she stood before me now. Her brown eyes were warm and laughing, her cheeks warm with the flow of her blood, her lips tugging gently into a smile. She was so beautiful, so beautiful . . .
And then her face came to me again, only this time, it was still. Her skin was pale, nearly as pale as my own, with an odd blue cast. Her eyes weren't laughing now; they drifted between open and closed, as if she were nodding in and out of sleep. Her hair fanned out behind her, as if she were . . .
"No! Bella, no!" I howled the words, and they echoed around me, pulling me back into reality. The pain in my chest was worse than ever, burning . . . burning . . . I fell to the sand, my hands pressed against my face. I wished for tears that wouldn't come, that hadn't been able to come in over a hundred years.
With sudden clarity, I heard Bella's voice whisper in my ear:
Goodbye, I love you.
"Bella," I whispered to nobody; to the ocean, maybe.
Bella, my Bella.
This wasn't the first time I had had this sort of vision; in fact, more recently the visions had been coming more frequently, each time ripping more out of my non-existent soul.
I wondered if I was going mad. These visions certainly weren't a part of my power; only Alice had been able to do that sort of thing.
I recalled one of the more recent ones: Bella, straddling a motor cycle, her grin wild and fierce. This one had puzzled me; why would I be seeing Bella on a motorcycle? This wasn't a memory – I was sure of that – for I never would even have allowed Bella to go near one. If the girl couldn't handle a truck, I thought wryly, she certainly couldn't handle a monster like that.
"Edward?" The sound of footfalls was clear in the otherwise perfect silence.
I instinctively positioned my body into crouch, ready to pounce if necessary. When I heard the familiar, comforting sound of Alice's thoughts, I relaxed, rising to my feet.
"Oh, Edward," Alice's beautiful face was tragic; her normally golden eyes were darkened with thirst, and her features were cast with a mood that only could have been described as dread. If I hadn't known better, I would have said that she was in tears.
"Alice," I started, but then I stopped. She ran to me, embracing me tightly, resting her head on my hollow chest. I scanned her mind, trying to alleviate some of her anxiety, but then I stopped. Her thoughts were hectic, but one word danced across, vivid as a crimson bird in a pale blue sky.
"Alice, what happened?"
She pulled away and looked up into my eyes, her lips trembling.
"Edward . . . Bella . . ."
All at once, the pain was back, ferocious and relentless. I grimaced, clutching my chest with one hand.
"What happened? Tell me." I was surprised at the evenness of my tone.
"Edward . . . I'm not even sure myself . . . she's in the hospital now. . . she was found in the water, she nearly drowned . . ."
Nearly drowned.
The vision came back to me with startling clarity; Bella, drifting in the water . . . that was why her skin had been cast with that strange blue hue . . . why her hair had danced around her face like that . . .
"I saw her . . . jump off of some sort of cliff. She . . ."
But I didn't hear anything else Alice had said after that.
Bella had jumped. She had tried to kill herself.
Because I had left her.
I had told her I no longer loved her, and she believed me.
"Edward, you need to come back. If worse comes to worst . . ."
I snapped my head to look at her, furious, for I had heard the thought dance across her mind.
"NO. Alice, no. We won't need to resort to that; she isn't . . . she's not dying, surely . . . surely, she is going to be okay."
But Alice shook her head sadly. "She's in a coma, Edward. They don't even know if . . ." She broke off, unable to continue.
"No," I whispered. Bella . . . my Bella couldn't be so near death . . . to never have her again . . . to see her lying so still, her cheeks void of the blood that had always rushed so willingly when I touched her, to see her so fragile, to see her . . .
"Carlisle's taking care of her, Edward. We're moving back into the house. At this point, there is no other option."
I nodded numbly, my thoughts still elsewhere.
"Please come home with me, Edward . . . we need you . . . Bella needs you . . ."
I almost felt anger at Alice in that moment, for even taking a moment to doubt that I would come back, that I wouldn't do everything in my power to keep her alive . . .
Or to at least see her one last time, if . . .
I shuddered. That wasn't a possibility.
"Edward?" Her eyes were anxious, too afraid to be hopeful. She was poised, ready to run at my word.
And so I ran, ignoring the thoughts I did not want to hear, hiding from the thoughts I did not want to see.
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Read and Review. Chapter 2 will be up in a couple days or less.
Hope you guys like it so far.