MELTING THE ICE

Summary: AU-post-NewMoon. Victoria kidnapped Bella to torture her and make Edward suffer. Something happens and everyone began to think that Bella is dead. Years after that Alice see something. A crowed street and a beautiful Bella with red eyes. She can´t remember her past and she´s living with an old woman who treats her like her granddaughter. What happened to her? Why can´t she remember?
Pairing: Bella/Edward
Beta: RingTheBella (Thank you so much for being my beta. This fanfics wouldn´t be here without your help!)

VISUALS: You can see the cover and future visuals in my profile.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To understand this fanfic is important that you know about a Little detail that is explained in "Breaking Dawn". It's not a big spoiler, but I think it's important to let you know about it before you read my fanfic. Even if this story is located between New Moon and Eclipse I will talk about that "special gift" that Bella has after becoming a vampire. If you haven't read BD and don't want to spoil yourself, maybe it's better that you don't read me.

x.x.x.x.x

Chapter 1

"Then I didn't know that, even if there's not a day when doesn't dawn,

if you can't wake up tomorrow never comes."

BELLA POV

Time had flown away since the first time I saw Edward Cullen's eyes, and that time was the most wonderful, painful and passionate ever. My memories were a distillate mixture of bitter and sweet that satisfied all my senses.

The time until graduation was less and less, and that means that I would become a real member of Cullen's family before long. Just like Edward's fears because my fragile humanity, my own fears about growing old, the sweet closeness with my father's and my life in Forks will come to an end.

Everything in my life was divided in pros and cons. It didn't matter if it was love or life. Anyhow, I must to admit that on both counts the good things were more than the bad ones. Whatever happens in the future I would live forever with the person who I love the most, and nothing can be better than the feeling of knowing that. No more fears, no more hours in front of a mirror, fearing that all my life would pass like the blink of an eye.

Was it normal for a teenager to spend every day worrying about getting old?

No, it was not. Of course not. The sickly fear that that idea provoked had been living for months in my nightmares, hidden in all the gloomy and dark corners of my mind. Always and in every moment present in my life. My only comfort was a conversation with Carlisle. I fell down in the street, and of course I ended in the hospital. But it was a good chance to talk with him. He has the power to make you feel calm. He assured me that, if I was sure of my decision, he will change me after the end of our classes.

We both knew that Edward would protest until the last second. He didn't want me to abandon my stupid humanity. Even if it makes me a fragile and tempting thing that only attracts bad luck.

And those are the things that made me end up like this. I don't know exactly where I am, but I knew Victoria had captured me; even with all the efforts from Edward, his family and Sam's pack.

Seeing the light entering a little crack in the wall I can say that I have been here for two days. They were the worst and longest ones of all my life. There was no millimeter in my body that didn't hurt, and I already knew that my skin was covered of cuts and bruises. I understand now what Laurent meant in the meadow with his comment "Look at it this way, Bella. You're very lucky I was the one to find you."

Yes, there was no doubt. Victoria was enjoying a sadistic revenge in the most twisted way. I always thought that if this day came, Victoria would make me suffer a little bit and then kill me without a second thought. It seemed like I was wrong and she would kill slowly. Well, maybe she wasn't even thinking about killing me. Just torture me until I couldn't take it anymore.

The door's metallic creak made my body react with an uncontrollable shiver. I was so afraid, so scared… not because the pain, even though that scared me too. It was because I could die soon and never see Edward anymore. If I could make a wish before die, it would be this one: for a second, just for a minute, to feel the touch of his hand, like a nice hallucination.

"It looks like you're stronger than I thought," she taunted. "I would have bet you would only bear it for some hours, but I'm being gentler than you deserve." The knife she had was now in my face, the cutting edge touched my cheek with enough pressure to hurt me without cutting my skin. That pain was nothing compared with the past several hours. Anyone would have sworn that I was the one who killed James with my own hands considering how she was treating me.

"You can do whatever you want to me, but Edward will find you." Her vain laugh resounded with echo in the cold room.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but right now they don't even know where look for you. I'm not as stupid as you believe. I know better than anyone that he will look for you everywhere so I took precautions. You would be surprised to know how easy the smell of a human disappears after a few hours of rain."

"Then they will be on the trail of your smell and that will lead them here." Those words were more of an attempt to convince myself than to scare her.

"You're so innocent… it's almost sweet." Her smile had wasn't sweet. "My smell is all around this forest, it would be impossible for them to know which trace is the right one. I can't wait to see that moment, when your vampire-lover discovers your dead body."

She moved the knife away and put her hand in the pocket of her fluffy, white jacket to search something. I was afraid to know what new torture was coming, something even worse than the past days, but it was a surprise to see a digital camera. "Let's send Edward a little gift. I'm sure he misses to see you, although… you're not at your best right now." She sickly enjoyed this situation, but I just could think how hard it would be for Edward to see me like this. I hope he can stay calm and not get himself in danger.

x.x.x.x.x

Some days ago I lost track of time. I wasn't worried if it was morning or night or even if days passed. In my mind there was just enough space to beg for a fast death. The pain was driving me crazy. Sometimes, I woke up from my temporary loss of consciousness and for several minutes I didn't even remember where I was. Cry, laugh, talk to myself… there were no reason for my actions. My brain couldn't work more anymore, my body just barely fought against my wounds.

I would never believe in hell, there was nothing worse than this.

The humidity and cold made me shiver, and that was another torture for a body that hurt even while being still. Water was leaking through the walls and roof, making me soaking wet. I barely ate, just enough to be alive for her games. Victoria wanted to enjoy it for a long time.

If all that wasn't enough, the humidity and dirt attracted some rats. I didn't feel revulsion for them, that would have been silly, the worst part was that they were biting me. I was chained up to that chilly, wet wall, with shackles hurting my wrists and ankles, and the sick visits from Victoria. I didn't want to live if it would be like this. I knew they wouldn't find me and knowing that no one would save me I just… I just didn't want to fight anymore. I had no energy left, no hope… nothing made sense.

"You're no fun anymore." Victoria's voice was close to me, but it felt far away. "You're lucky, today is the end. Say your goodbyes."

x.x.x.x.x

10 YEARS LATER…

EDWARD PoV

My life had been reduced to 17 years which I didn't enjoy like I should have done, and a little more than one year that I didn't value enough until I didn't have that person who made me happy. The time between those two periods was something monotonous and boring, but not completely bad. Now, after ten years without her, I felt like I was in hell.

I would have wished to die instead of being away from Bella, but the stupid and unrealistic hope that she could be alive somewhere was enough to keep me sane and searching her. I never saw her body, so even if everyone said that she was dead I couldn't believe that. Of course, I still had that awful picture where I could see an ashen, hurt and scared Bella. Her eyes begged me to rescue her, but that proof wasn't enough to make this man in love to hope for the impossible.

"She couldn't have resisted much more after this photo. The human body has its limits for the pain." Carlisle had said to me years ago.

"I stopped seeing her future after a week of her disappearance. We both know what that means. If she wasn't already dead she would have come back." Alice tried to reason with me.

They fought to convince me, but soon gave up. It was stupid to try to do that. Just like I spend months looking for her after Victoria kidnapped her, I would spend all my life doing the same thing until I was sure she was dead or alive.

When Alice had a vision of Victoria in a little alley close to Ottawa's theatre, where we were living now, my hopes grew excessively. She and Jasper pledged to come with me to meet her. My sister suffered a lot too. For the two first months of Bella's disappearance she was with Charlie most of the time, and the sight of that big and strong man crying hurt her too much. Now, all my family wanted revenge in Bella's name.

"In my vision I saw that she will be there in two hours, so there's no hurry… She was alone and thirsty. I think she will attack someone who is walking around there."

"I'm not doubting about your power, you know. But I want to be there before her."

"Yes, we should do that." Jasper said. "If we're there before she arrives, we can be prepared to attack her."

"We will catch her, believe me," she smiled with a little touch of sadness.

Less than twenty minutes after that we were in the street across from that alley. We could see it from a coffee shop. Of course, Alice was right and Victoria showed up. Hidden in the shadows she looked for a new prey. The street was less and less crowded, and the thought of how easy she could kill someone there made me angry. Alice and Jasper looked at each other and then at me. There was no need to use my power, I already knew that it was the moment to act. I was looking forward it.

The thought of being face to face with the woman that hurt the person who I love made me growl like an animal. I couldn't stop myself. I was thinking about all the things that she could have done to Bella, and the pain in my chest was incrased. I wanted to destroy that woman – if she can be called that – and make her suffer more than she did to Bella. Even if Bella was alive – an option that was nearly impossible – I wanted to punish Victoria. Yes, there was no real reason to believe that Bella was alive. Why would Victoria keep her alive for ten years without contacting me? I was who she wanted to punish by hurting her, then it didn't make sense to hurt her without letting me know it. That was hurting me more than any other thing, I was responsible of all this. The hunt which James put her through, Victoria's cruel revenge...

Jasper and I looked at each other, and rapidly we split to be able to surround her. Alice just moved to my side and observed that nobody could be able to see us. It was so easy to catch her that it almost made me sad. I would have liked things to be harder so I could have frightened her. In less than two minutes Jasper grasped her and almost had her immobilized. Alice growled in a threatening way and I just wanted to torture her to discover everything I wanted to know.

"It took you longer than I thought it would. You weren't really interested in your love's search." Even if she was making fun of me, it didn't matter. The only bad thing she could do to me was already done.

"Where is she? Where do you lock her up?" I asked.

"Let me see… It happened long time ago. Oops! I can't remember." She laughed in a exaggerated way.

"What did you do to her?" Jasper's scream surprised me. I wasn't expecting this type of reaction, I thought he came here because of Alice. He used more strength and Victoria's bones made a cracking sound.

"Are you sure you want to know it?" She smiled with a sadistic face. "Where should I start my story? Knifes? Blows? No, no… the rats. It was so sweet to hear her sob like a baby while they ate her alive." Once more her smile and laugh made me growl.

Stay calm, Edward. My sister tells me in her mind. She only wants to provoke you. If you act like this then she will have what she wants.

"She didn't even beg for her life, only asked twice to kill her. I must to say that she was stronger than I thought. I expected her to die faster. There was a moment when it was boring to torture her…"

"What did you do to her?" My voice resounded in that alley. Before I was aware of it my body was moving to hit her and I used so much strength that Jasper had to hold her with more force. Pain and wrath were mixed up in my veins like revenge in its purest form. "Tell me what the hell you did to her?"

"I already said it, but if you want me to give you more details…"

I felt how Alice's mind was trying to block the memories of some visions humming a silly song for kids in Hebrew. The first days of Bella's disappearance she suffered a lot with visions of Victoria doing all type of things to Bella, but she always blocked them one way or the other so I couldn't really see them. Some parts of those visions escaped from her mind when she was distracted, but I was sure they were only little things. Even so, to see the truth and hear the painful pants of Bella would be something that I will never forget.

"This isn't a game." I tell her while putting one hand around her throat and squeezing. Her eyes had a funny spark because my reaction. Anyone would have sworn that she was masochistic, enjoying that pain because she knew that I was suffering even more.

"It hurts to lose what you love the most, right? It was even worse for her, believe me."

I felt how my body became more and more tense with every word she said, but before I could lose my control and destroy her, Alice put her hand on my shoulder and to get ahead of me to be face to face with Victoria.

"You killed her, right?"

I was afraid of that question.

But I wanted to hear the answer.

"Someone could say that I did it and someone could say that I did not."

"Don't play games. I know she's dead!"

"Oh, right. You're the little witch who can see everything. Well, it seems to me like your powers aren't that good. Laurent had heard from Irina that you were almost infallible. I suppose this is the exception." That affirmation was a straight punch to Alice's heart. Jasper growled at those words and it the prison of his arms became even tighter. It must to hurt more than she wanted to show off, but a moan mixed up with a growl escaped her chest. "You can kill me if you want, but I will not say a word."

"Don't give me ideas."

Edward, this makes no sense. She will tell us nothing, I've seen it. Once more Alice's thoughts burst in my mind.

"Are you sure?"

Believe me; I used all my energy to see this. Even if we torture her, she will not change her mind.

I couldn't be rational about this. Victoria was the only clue we had to know where to find Bella. Alive or… I couldn't even think about the other option. If I killed her now, then there wouldn't be power on the earth that would solve this terrible doubt. It didn't matter what the truth was, I couldn't forget Bella. But, at least, if I knew the truth about what happened to her I would have a little peace. Even with all those thoughts, I believed in Alice and I knew that she was right.

"Let's end this. We need to go somewhere else."

Victoria growled while trying to escape from Jasper's arms, but it was stupid. Jasper was stronger than he normally shows. When she heard my words, her apparent docility disappeared and she tried to run away. Once more it was useless. The moment of my revenge was here.

All my pain, sadness, agony and hate would be the last thing she feels. Everything she did to Bella would be paid with interest. This way, even if I can't really be forgiven for my sins, I would get revenge in Bella's name.

x.x.x.x.x

5 YEARS LATER…

A little town in Canada.

(Eira PoV)

It was snowing so much that it was hard to see between the snowflakes. Winter was hard in this part of the country and it made things harder for the people living here. Well, there wasn't many people here and it hardly can be called a "town". Three houses were distributed along 10 km and the closest city was 40 km away. When a blizzard lasted longer than 2 days, all the houses were isolated.

"Eira, can you bring some wood from the storage outside?"

"Of course."

"Don't forget to take a jacket."

"I don't need it… I never get cold."

"Oh, that's right. I will never get used to that." The nice old woman smiled while she stirred something that was on the stove. Before she could say anything more, the young woman was there once more, but with a lot of wood in her hands and humming something that was similar to a lullaby. "I can't understand why you like that song so much. It's beautiful, but…"

"It's the only thing that I remember. For some reason I love to hear it, even if I must you sing it myself."

"My poor snowflake. That name was really a good one for you. You're cold and beautiful like a snowflake, but when someone gives you a little warmth you slowly melt. Sometimes I think it was better for you to forget everything. I hope you never remember whatever your mind wanted to forget."

Even if I never sleep sometimes I daydream. I dream about a melody that someone made for me. I dream about lips that loved me. I dream about the day when I discover who I am. Please, whoever you are don't forget me… I can't remember you.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Eira is a Welsh name and it means snow.

x.x.x.x.x

I would really appreciate if you leave a review. This is my second fanfic in English, if people isn´t interested I will not write more (xD I don´t want to bore you all) Pretty please?