Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ Bette Noir ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Bette Noir

~*~Chapter 5~*~

“It would be another two hundred years and thirty years before I would see my love's beautiful face again, though now she answered to the name Jacqueline. To look into her sparkling emerald eyes and know that my beloved Marguerite was gone…”

Esme's bell-toned voice trailed into silence and she looked down at the sleeping girl next to her. Lifting the green silk hair ribbon from where it rested on her thigh, she tucked it in between the pages and set the centuries-old book aside. Sitting with her back against the headboard, Esme let her hand fall gently to smooth over Bella's hair in long, slow strokes.

A sudden feeling of pride welled up inside of Esme as she looked down upon the battered and bruised girl sleeping next to her. Bella was so traumatized by the events that had recently plagued her, yet still she had told Esme to take care of the child instead of coming home to her.

Looking up when she heard the bedroom door open, Esme greeted Edward with a warm smile. Responding in kind, Edward came to sit at Bella's side, opposite his adoptive mother, and looked down upon his sleeping love. His movements were measured and slow as he trailed his fingertips over her face, gently tracing one bruise after another. He could hear the confusion in Esme's thoughts, though she directed none of them to him. Turning his eyes on Esme, Edward sat back and looked at her quietly.

“Edward,” Esme spoke aloud, only for the benefit of Carlisle who sat tucked away in his office. “You've been avoiding Bella. Why?”

Edward sat quietly giving his father time as he slowly made his way up the stairs as well as giving himself the time to find the right words to express his thoughts and feelings. That first night when he saw Bella's face, bruised and cut, and knowing that there were worse injuries hidden beneath her clothing had left him shaken to his core. He waited for Carlisle, nodding when the man poked his head inside the door, and motioned for him to sit next to Esme.

“Bella is my life,” Edward began slowly, still forming the words to speak his thoughts. “Her warmth, the beating of her heart, the sound of her breath…it all calls to me, sings to me. The thought of taking that away, of destroying what endears me so to her humanity, has been abhorrent to me since day one. To know that this life,” Edward motioned to himself, “that our immortality is something that she not only desires, but sees as a gift and not as damnation…it was almost too much to take. And then to come to realize that for Bella there has never been a choice - that she would never choose to be without any of us…”

Edward's voice trailed off and he turned his attention to the human girl sleeping in the bed. He brushed his hand lightly over her hair while studying the bruises and scrapes marring her face. To any human they would have seen the surface discoloration and only the very surface of the cuts on her skin. For Edward and his family though, their superior vision could see the different stages of healing could see where the blood was still damp and watch as it clotted and began mending.

“She wants me to change her. For so long I've resisted the idea, tried my best to distract her…And then Alice found me and I saw Bella through her eyes,” he looked up at Carlisle, “the way you and Emmett found her. I've never run faster…Had I seen her before you'd had a chance to clean and bandage her …I would have changed her then, no questions asked, no hesitation. That scared me more than anything, I think. I couldn't allow myself to be near her until I knew that I wouldn't be tempted to change her.”

`Edward,' Carlisle spoke in his thoughts, `had there been any doubt as to her survival that night, I would have changed her then.'

“I know, Carlisle, and I thank you for that,” Edward said with a slight nod of his head.

Edward took a deep, unnecessary breath and looked back toward the bedroom door. Jasper stood just outside, waiting to come in while he spoke with Edward through his thoughts. Brow furrowing, Edward looked to Carlisle.

“Tanya is here,” Edward told Carlisle and Esme. “Jasper and Alice met her while they were out hunting. She wishes to speak with both you and Esme.”

Nodding only once, Carlisle stood and went to the window. Starring out into the thickness of the forest he watched as the trees moved in a set path, blonde hair appearing seconds before Tanya stepped into the clearing behind their home. He turned his head, his golden eyes meeting Esme's briefly before he opened the glass window and alighting gracefully to the ground below. Esme followed seconds after and Jasper stepped into the room.

“You're at peace,” Jasper spoke aloud, his voice pleasantly surprised.

“Yes,” Edward spoke quietly as he tucked the blankets around Bella and stood. “Come, we should let her rest.”

Jasper followed Edward downstairs and into Carlisle's study. Picking up a leather bound journal, unmarked but well read, Edward handed it to Jasper. Nodding to the black swan feather that was used as a page marker, he waited for Jasper to open the book and read the passage contained within the pages.

I have read about such things happening, but never once had I imagined such a moment befalling me. I had met her years ago as a girl, but when I caught the scent of her blood, it happened. That one, perfect - singular moment of absolute clarity and I knew then that all the authors spoke the truth when they said that a single moment of clarity can break a man and heal him in the same moment.

Years ago, when I met Esme Platt, she was only 16. I found myself heartbroken to leave her behind, but so drawn to her was I that I didn't dare risk staying any longer. Then two nights ago, when the scent of her blood was heavy in the air, there was absolutely no question - no doubt in my mind or soul that she belonged to this life - that she belonged with me. It took her dying as a human for me to understand the pull that I felt for her and the knowledge that my life as a vampire was not a mistake, nor damnation. For through this gift of eternity, not only was I brought to meet her, but through this gift I was able to grant her the freedom she so richly deserves.

C.C.

Jasper replaced the feather as he closed the leather-bound journal and looked up at Edward. Closing his eyes as the memory of holding Bella's blanket wrapped body flooded his mind, Jasper breathed in deeply. The feel of her emotions - so raw and powerful - was as fresh and real to him now as they were in the moments that he had held her.

“I understand completely,” Jasper said handing back to Edward Carlisle's journal. “Alice is worried.”

“So is Tanya,” Edward confirmed. “You would think that Rosalie would be more understanding.”

Jasper's eyes darkened. “Rose has been jealous of Bella from the very beginning.”

* * * *

Emmett sat silently, holding the sleeping child in his lap and watching curiously as Alice rubbed her temples, trying once again to search for any hint of the child's future. Reaching out to his sister, Emmett tapped her arm and waited for her to look up at him. A person didn't have to have her talent to know what he was offering. Moving slowly, her migraine building stronger, Alice curled into his side.

Wrapping his arm around Alice and tucking her closer into his side, Emmett rested his cheek on her hair and breathed in slowly. Closing her eyes and relaxing into her brother's embrace, Alice took comfort in his warmth and strength.

“You've been trying for days now, Ali,” Emmett told her gently. “You're wearing yourself out and you haven't hunted once since you've been here.”

“I hate not knowing,” she confessed, her voice strained with worry. “Our kind doesn't get tired, but for the first time that I can remember, all I want to do is sleep.”

Emmett hugged her closer. “Then close your eyes, Ali. I've got you.”

Alice sighed softly, her body relaxing against his as she accepted the shelter he offered her. His dark hazel eyes looked down at the sleeping human girl curled up on his lap. The child was so fragile, so tiny, so ...young . He knew that she would be hungry when she awoke and wondered what he should order for her from the little café across the street.

“Chocolate chip pancakes,” Alice told him, her voice so soft that no human would have heard. “With whipped cream, not syrup.”

Looking up at the approaching heartbeat, Emmett gave a smile of gratitude when the nurse quietly offered him the light blanket she held in her arms. Holding onto the edges and letting the violet fleece fall open, the dark haired woman tucked it around Alice and the child.

“You have a beautiful family,” she told him as she stepped away.

“Not worth it,” Alice said too quietly for anyone but Emmett to hear when he opened his mouth to correct the nurse.

“Thought you really had fallen asleep,” Emmett whispered to her.

“If that were actually possible for one of our kind, I'd be snoring,” she said in reference to the exhaustion she felt.

“If you did snore I'd never stop teasing you about it.”

He felt Alice vibrate slightly with her soundless laughter. “You mean like how you won't let Esme forget that she belched while feeding on that Elk two years ago? It's no wonder she won't hunt with you anymore.”

“Hey, even Carlisle thought it was funny,” he chuckled.

“Perhaps,” Alice said. “But Carlisle didn't teas her about it for two weeks straight.”

“Alice?” Emmett tucked her closer. “I keep thinking that we should take Bella to a hotel or something, but I don't want to leave Charlie and her parents here alone in case something happens.”

“That's why I'm here,” Carmen said, approaching from the entryway far across the room. “Both of you need to hunt,” she said coming to stand before them. “By the way, did either of you know that there's a werewolf outside?”

“That's Jake,” Alice said, her eyes barely open. “He's Bella's - Edward's Bella - friend.”

“Ah.”

Carmen watched the trio curled on the waiting room sofa, the child so perfectly matched to both Alice and Emmett's coloring. Her features were so delicate and fairy-like that the Spanish vampire was certain that any human would consider these two Cullens to be the child's natural born parents.

“I will stay here and await any news. You two see to the child's needs and your own.”

Standing slowly and folding the queen-sized blanket, Alice watched Emmett stand with the child cradled in his arms. He looked every bit the doting father enchanted by the tiny child he held and it was in that moment that both Alice and Carmen understood Rosalie's irrational anger born of jealousy.

Thanking the nurse for her kindness and the use of the blanket, Alice asked that their `Aunt' Carmen be kept fully informed of all updates on Charlie and Bella's parents. Watching Emmett walk through the door, the sleeping girl in his arms, Alice was suddenly struck still with a vision she didn't want to see. Looking toward the doors that led to the surgical suite, the pixie-haired vampire whispered a silent goodbye.

* * * *

“You're being ridiculous and irrational,” Kate scolded Rosalie as the taller blonde ranted once again about her `stupid brother's pointless infatuation'. “You realize, my dear that Bella could have easily died that night?”

“That fool wants to die,” Rosalie sneered.

“Not like this, Rose, I can promise you that.” Starring into the crackling fireplace, Kate shook her head. “Why does Bella's desire to be with Edward bother you so much?”

Rosalie spun around so quickly that Kate growled at her in response. Standing back, Rose sighed angry at the other vampire's ignorance.

“None of us chose this life,” she began slowly, speaking to Kate as though she were talking with a child. “Had any of us seen vampires when we were human we would have run the other way.”

“But Bella knows about our kind - our world - and she isn't running,” Kate pointed out.

“No,” Rosalie sneered. “That little fool wants to be one of us. She would willing give up her life, her heartbeat, her ability to bear a child, and for what? For this?”

And that's the crux of it all, isn't it Rose? Kate thought as she watched the blonde begin to pace once more. “Rosalie Cullen, how selfish of you.”

“Selfish?!” Rosalie hissed furiously.

“Just because you still desire a child of your womb, what makes you think that Bella ever has? Not every woman desires to be a mother.”

“What she desires is to die!”

Kate narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Are you angry that Bella's choosing to give up her humanity, or that she is being given the chance to make an informed decision and still chooses this life over her human one?” Kate sat back stunned at her own revelations. “That's it, isn't it? You're mad that Bella, knowing everything she knows, still chooses to be a vampire when you would choose to be human.”

“It's insane!”

“No it's not. Rosalie, look at us through her eyes. We may be vampires, yes, but we are not soulless. Nor are we murderous, out of control, or evil as so many stories depict our kind to be. Yes, she will lose her human life to gain a new life, but the taking of human life is not necessary for our survival. We don't live as solitary beings - not the vampires that she knows. We live together and love each other as family. We support and care for each other. To her, this life is not the darkness and damnation that you make it out to be.”

“She'll hate it.”

“No,” Kate chuckled, “I don't think she ever will.”

The anger drained from Rosalie as she stood starring into the flames. “All I've ever wanted was a child. To feel it grow with in me and hold it in my arms.”

“What about this little Bella? This human child you said that your mate is caring for?”

“That child will come to know about our kind. She will either be killed or changed once she comes of age.”

“And a child of your own would not?” Kate asked as she looked out the window to see Carlisle and Esme standing in the snow.

“If I had a child of my own I would not be a vampire.” Rosalie stated with certainty.

“You don't know that. You were meant for this life, Rose, we all were. One way or another - even had the turning been different - we would all be as we are now.”

Rosalie snorted indelicately. “When did you start waxing philosophical?”

“It comes in spurts,” Kate grinned. “You might as well come in. How long have you two been out there?” she asked as Carlisle and Esme stepped inside and hung their coats up on the wall.

“Long enough,” Esme answered gently. “Rose, do you truly hate being one of us so much?”

“No,” Rosalie said, her demeanor tired. “I've just always wanted a child so much more.”

“It wouldn't be unthinkable for you and Emmett to adopt,” Carlisle pointed out reasonably.

“For our kind, Carlisle? It's unthinkable. We'd be condemning the child to death as soon as they were of age.”

“There is no undoing what we are,” Carlisle said, searching his daughter's eyes in the hopes that she had not considered it possible.

“I don't know that I would want to be human, so much as I would want the function of it. I love Emmett. I love all of you. That has never once been a question for me.”

“Than what is the question?” Esme asked Rosalie.

Rosalie found herself without the words to express her thoughts and was surprised when Kate spoke for her.

“The question, dear ones, is how can Bella be so at peace with this life when Rosalie is not?”

* * * *

Edward looked down at Bella, his love sleeping so peacefully, and wished for the thousandth time that he could heal her wounds. Hearing Jasper's thoughts as his brother approached, Edward looked up, seeking his endless wisdom.

`Just lay down next to her, Edward,' Jasper thought as he walked into the room, `she'll find a comfortable position against you.'

Toeing off his shoes, Edward did as instructed a grin forming when Bella spoke his name in her sleep. Jasper stood leaning against the doorframe as he monitored Bella's emotions. He was happy to see that she was doing better, gaining more control over her despair and fear.

Feeling his cell phone vibrate in his jeans pocket, Jasper removed the device and opened the text message from Alice. His eyes widened and met Edward's before both turned their attention to the girl waking slowly in the bed.