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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.

72. Chapter 72

Rating 4.5/5   Word Count 557   Review this Chapter

“Edward?” I whisper. That sweet, soft, velvet voice still echoes in my ears. I can hear the perfect sound, ringing eternally, a whisper to be cherished as long as I have memory to hold it close.

“Bella, my dearest, it’s just that way. To the left.”

“Where are you?”

“Go where I tell you, Bella. Listen to me. The left, love, the left.”

Utterly bewildered, I obey, running as fast as I can to the street on my left as commanded. I feel the cobblestones, hard and unfamiliar beneath my aching feet. This run is burningly familiar- I’ve sprinted through this passage once before. Last time I was slower, and human… but last time Edward was there waiting for me at the end.

I didn’t know it then, but the fact remains that my love was nearby and praying for my return for him. Now I am again unsure that he is mine- and that he is here. Last time, at least, I could see him. Yet I can hear his voice, ringing like a perfect bell in my ear.

I run still faster as he urges me on. “I need you to go faster, Bella, for me, love. Please, run, run, now, please…”

It’s practically gibberish, this pleading, but I heed the emotion behind it nonetheless- he wants me to run. So I do. It’s really fairly simple.

The streets are dark and empty. No human sees me run by. The only thing I notice is a girl, about twenty, with short, dark hair and a white laptop. She is writing something, her fingers sprinting across the keys as fast as my feet dash across the street. She is utterly absorbed in what she’s writing, but she does look up and at me for one moment. Her green eyes see me, and I wince.

“Hello,” she whispers, almost a gasp, and then stares.

“Hi…”

I wonder if she’ll comment on my extraordinary speed. There is a moment, but she does after a while, though it is not as I expected. “I won’t tell anyone, you know.”

“All… all right.”

“And I’ll bring him back soon.”

She smiles. I revise her age down to about fourteen when I see the glint of braces on her teeth.

I gasp. “Do you know about…”

“Edward?”

I wince. “Yes.”

“Sorry. I forgot you don’t like to hear the name. You should go now. They’re right behind you.”

I run again, trying to forget this strange encounter. As soon as the girl is gone from my sight, Edward’s voice continues to berate me. “Run, love, run.”

I do exactly as he says, of course. I have to. Unlike my fears the last time this happened, his voice doesn’t fade when I obey him. It remains a constant velvet whisper in my ear, whispering sweetly and softly as I run.

“You’re almost safe now, sweetest. My heart, almost, almost. A little faster…”

“Edward?”

“Yes, my dear… no, don’t slow down!”

I ask, “Edward, what am I running from?”

I can hear the sigh in my ear, can almost feel the hiss of cool breath as he exhales. “The…” and then he screams.