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Dream's Shadow

Summary:
This is my take on the over- and usually poorly- done plot. Edward leaves Bella again. She is changed and they meet again in the future. There will be a big twist! Requested by Iris. Banner by Iris!

Notes:
Try it! I know stories like this usually stink, but I thought I'd give it a try. I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns all.

22. Chapter 22

Rating 5/5   Word Count 550   Review this Chapter

“What could be so terrifying an entire clan of eight vampires had to run from it?” I ask some miles later. We are now presumably in the mainland of Europe, and quite soggy after swimming across the sea.

We had neglected to bring clothes while fleeing for our lives. This was a necessity all of us were now regretting as we dripped on the sand, particles sticking to sodden bodies. Vampires don’t clean off very easily, especially not those currently disguised as the opposite gender. It’s a mercy I only have to shower rarely.

This place makes me wish I’d had time to go sightseeing as a human. It was lovely. D-day… the invading forces had successfully stormed the beaches of France.

France had very nice beaches. The sand shone pale white beneath the identical shade of moonlight, a yellow so buttery it is golden, almost colorless in luminescence. The sea laps against the shore, a dark blue that is the same fabric as the sky.

It is almost as lovely as my companions, panting beside me on the shore. My kind does not tire easily, but we did just sprint across a continent. They have formed protective little groups. Carlisle is rubbing Esme’s shoulders. Jasper and Alice, as usual, are not actively touching, but they stand very close together. They are almost one person. Emmett and Rose, always the most demonstrative, are locked in a tight embrace. She is clearly shaking. It is the first time I have ever seen Rosalie shaken- except for that one night when she told me of her past…

Only the fourth couple is sundered. Edward and I stand awkwardly apart, several feet away, waiting for an answer. It is painful to realize that we could have been married, forever a pair as these others are, in each other’s arms with just as much confidence, had he loved me.

No, I can’t think like that. He may or may not love me.

Had he not left me.

Going off on painful tangents is merely distracting me from the long silence. Something is being kept from me. I am certain Edward already knows it. His power is much more passive than mine- he can merely stand around and absorb thoughts. Mine requires a little more effort.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just read your minds,” I threaten, and Esme meets my eyes. She is imploring with motherly familiarity. She acts the way she treated Bella, not the way she relates to Jacob, the stranger in the family.

Not now, she thinks. I scan the thoughts of others, and all I hear is Not now, not now, not now…

No one will tell me.

“Will you tell me?” Edward asks.

“Absolutely not. Now, we need to speak with… Jacob. Privately.”

I know then. They know about me, somehow.

I follow Carlisle from the shore where the others stand. We run a brief distance, just enough to be out of earshot. We are not from the range of thought-hearing, so he speaks aloud, his thoughts still a litany of nonsense.

His eyes dart around, and finally he bends his golden head to my ear, whispering next to silently, “Bella?”