She Sleeps

Chapter 6

BPOV

I was 99% sure I was dreaming for a few reasons. One, I was outside in our meadow. I haven’t been outside in almost a month and a half and it’s been even longer since I was in the meadow. Two, I was wearing my prom dress from junior year, which I haven’t seen since I made Alice get rid of it. And three, Edward was walking toward me.

I started hyperventilating. I couldn’t believe it. He was here, even if it was a dream. The closer he got the harder I stared at him. He was perfect. My wonderfully perfect Greek god. He stopped a few feet from me. “Bella?” I was shaking so badly that I was surprised I remained standing.

“Edward? Why…why are you here?” He looked at me confused, and then flashed that crooked smile that I loved so much. “I’m here because I love you of course. Do you want me to leave?” I was too stunned to answer. He loved me? Then why did he leave? “Bella? Do you want me to leave? I can if you wish.” He looked sad and started to turn around. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. Just know that I love you no matter what.”

I could feel the tears start to fall. “Edward wait!” I called. He was almost to the other side of the meadow, but was back at my side in an instant. He swept me up in a crushing embrace and swung me around. “I knew you wanted me here!” He was smiling so broadly that it made me giggle. It was a strange sound, my giggle. I hadn’t felt the need to laugh in a very long time. I was so very beyond happy at this point, but I still had to ask him some questions.

“Edward, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ll ask you again. Why are you here?” He put me down but didn’t let me go. “Bella, I love you. Forever and always. I will always be here.”

“But you left me. You left me alone and broken. And…and I went a little crazy when you left.” I looked away as I said the last part. If I looked in his eyes I would forget what I was trying to say.

“Silly Bella. I never left. How could I? You are my life and my only reason to live. If I left you I would be nothing.” He was smiling as he said it and it almost made me believe that this was real and everything else was a terrible dream, but something wasn’t right with him. There was one way to know for sure if this was my Edward. “Edward, what would you say if I asked you to change me into a vampire right now?”

He looked down at me still smiling. “I would do anything you asked love. You know that.” This wasn’t my Edward. This was some horrible imposture. I pulled away from him so fast that I actually managed to get away. It was only because I surprised him though. He looked at me still smiling and a little startled. “Bella what’s wrong?” I took a step backward. I needed to get away from him. I didn’t know who this was but it wasn’t Edward. My Edward was stuck on me staying human.

“Bella stop. I just want to take care of you since you clearly aren’t doing a very good job of taking care of yourself.” Now I was the confused one. How did he know what I was or wasn’t doing? I looked down and saw that the dress was gone and I was once again in the hospital gown and I looked thin and too pale to be healthy. I quickly looked at Edward again, but he was gone. I ran toward the other end of the clearing thinking he left the same way he came in. Before I got there, I collapsed on the ground too exhausted to move.

I woke with a start. I was sobbing uncontrollably and I didn’t know why. I remember have a strange dream but I didn’t remember what it was about. I think Edward was in it but I couldn’t be sure. I buried my face in my pillow to muffle my sobs. The last thing I wanted was Matt coming to check on me. I would have to see him soon enough as it is.

When I finally stopped crying, I laid in bed trying to remember my dream. I think I was in our meadow. I think Edward was there and I think he told me he loved me, but it was very fuzzy. I sighed and rolled over to face the wall and waited for Matt to show up with my breakfast.

EPOV

Bella, I don’t want you to come with me…that was one month ago. I was an idiot. I thought I could live without her. Still this was the best option. I couldn’t, no I wouldn’t, put her in danger anymore. She would go on to live a normal safe life. And me, I would be miserable, not that I didn’t deserve it. I deserved to endure a slow agonizing death for ever putting my Bella in danger.

I left my family. I couldn’t take the looks on their faces or their thoughts. Not only were they all feeling sorry for me, they were pissed off. Everyone loved Bella, not like me of course, but they loved her none the less. Alice was so angry at me for making them leave. She wasn’t speaking to me. She considered Bella a sister and I forced her to abandon that sister. I knew I was driving Jasper up the wall with my emotions I just couldn’t seem to care. Esme was depressed which made Carlisle unhappy. Emmett missed her “humanness” as he called it. Rosalie was the only one who wasn’t in some small way angry with me, but she was still full of pity. She may seem shallow, but she really does care about her family. She didn’t like seeing me like this. So I left. I just needed some space to figure everything out.

Before I left I made Alice promise not to look into Bella’s future. We had done enough damage already. She was even less happy with me after that conversation. Now I was hunting, just not animals. I was trying to track down Victoria. She would pay for the part she played in trying to kill my Bella. No not my Bella, not anymore. I made sure of that when I left. I will never forget the look on her face when I told her I didn’t want her. It was of course the blackest form of blasphemy I had ever uttered, but she believed me so quickly. I stopped myself there. It did no good to dwell on the past. It was done.

Victoria had a knack for getting out of trouble. I almost had her cornered in Mexico, but she slipped by me. I tracked her to South America, which is where I was now, but I hadn’t seen her in days. I would keep looking until I found her. I had all the time in the world and nothing else helped distract me from the overwhelming sense of lose and pain I felt every time I thought of her. So I would hunt until I found Victoria and then I would lock myself away and suffer alone.