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Okay, lets get down to business. This is the 8th chapter and I'm pretty excited. Lots of 'changes', hence the title. (=
Thanks everyone who messaged and rated for previous parts. Keep 'em coming!
ONWARD!
Time seemed to stand still.
The waiting was unbearable.
In the middle of the Tacoma International Airport of Seattle, with humans racing around him at a frantic pace, Edward stood. He looked like a beautiful statue. His white skin looked as though it were carved out of marble by Michelangelo for he hadn't moved an inch for series of long minutes.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed and his full lips parted to let out a desolate sigh. Though there was an annoying buzz of thoughts flying around him and the maddening sound of announcements spoken through a loud speaker over a frenzy of voices, he remained with only one distressing thing. The thought of Guinevere dying.
He clenched his jaw and tried to rid himself of the idea that crashed over him in waves. Tried, but lost. Guinevere's still face. Her emerald eyes losing their whimsical life. Her broken body. The triumphant cries of the Volturi guards that took her life. Her masochistic love for him. All of these thoughts laced in his mind with urgency and desperation.
"She's changed her mind," Alice mumbled to herself, throwing a quick glance at Carlisle. His topaz eyes flashed to her at the comment. The vampire nodded and followed her as she stood to her feet and slid through crowd of people with revered grace. "Edward!" she spoke loudly through the idle talk of the humans.
He heard her call and turned to her. "Edward, she's changed her mind. For whatever reason, Guinevere's decided to wait." Alice watched for any change in his expression, but he remained still. Then, he suddenly closed his eyes, his glorious features frozen and stone-like. He breathed through his nose heavily and blocked out the noise of the airport once again. His lips twitched into a smile, just barely there. Then, as quickly as it came, the smile disappeared.
"Do you think we'll be in time to stop her?" Carlisle asked, his voice cautious.
Alice nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. "We will be."
"Unless something else changes." Edward opened his eyes. The liquid intensity of them startled a passer, who in reaction, tripped over her own feet. She let out a faint giggle and turned on her heel, desperate to get away from the attractive creatures.
"'Yes," Alice agreed, her attention turning back to her brother after the small intrusion. "But, Edward, there's hope."
"Come." Carlisle tilted his head toward a black screen that was constantly changing with lit departure and arrival times. "We should be boarding soon."
The two nodded in agreement and followed their father soon becoming swallowed in the sea of people. Edward quickly became the leader of their group of three, for his impatience was superior to the others. He weaved in and out of the crowds, being careful to keep himself in check. Now was not the time for someone to witness his inhuman speed.
When they finally met their gate, seats ahead of them being called by an airy voice of a woman, Edward found himself once again alone. He stood by a glass wall. Through the dusty window, he stared at the airplane that was to take him to Italy, a place he never had the desire to go back to. A place that he had once sent himself to die. A place he had come back with Isabella, who had saved him.
Isabella. His dear Isabella Swan. Edward shook his head. It was not the time to think of her, but the time to make a plans that would save Guinevere, someone who loved him passionately even after lifetimes had passed.
"I'm coming, Gwen," he mumbled through his perfect, full lips.
The hospital reeked of death. It reeked of sorrow and of pain.
With every turn a vision of a hectic calm was to be seen. Nurses were found going from patient to patient, their eyes underlined in their own tire and sickness. Doctor's were making their hopeless rounds, weariness etched on their faces.
A white stretcher, carried by two men, drifted past lines of full beds, until one of the men stopped. "Miss? Where should we put him?" He looked around, unsure, while the nurse he was inquiring, turned. She sighed and looked down at the next patient who would surely die there.
Her pretty face twisted and her cheeks paled. "Edward." His beautiful eyes opened only for a moment and set on her before they closed once again.
"Ma'am?" the man asked, his arms fatiguing.
She looked at him quickly and then frantically gazed over the room. "There." She pointed towards an empty cot by a big window. A window. Edward would like that.
When they gently removed him from the white carrier and placed him on the bed, the boy groaned. "Edward." She took his feverish hand in hers. He opened his eyes again and wrinkled his forehead in confusion.
Taking a seat on a bedside chair, she let go of him and dipped a cloth in a bowl of water. "I have to get your fever down." Wringing the fabric, she allowed herself to look at him. "You're burning up."
A roar of a truck's engine as it barreled through the quiet town of La Push made everyone cringe just a little. It made a noise that the citizens hadn't heard in a while. A noise that used to be very familiar and not quite as startling as it had been that day.
Suddenly, it stopped in a small driveway just behind a Rabbit. When it's occupants emptied with uncertainty, a teenaged boy walked out of his front door, his brow knit in confusion. "Bella?"
She sighed in relief, jabbing her car key in her front jean pocket. "Jake," she whispered.
"What are you doing here?" He walked down the few cement steps and hesitated. "Is there something wrong?"
Isabella stumbled closer and shook her head. "Jake, I -" She looked into his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "I really just needed a friend."
Jacob's expression softened from it's resent coolness. "What happened?"
She was only a few feet away now. Looking down at her empty hands, she answered, "Edward left me again."
His face became contorted into something like anger and disgust. "He what?!"
Her head snapped up at his tone and her eyes widened. "No. I mean - He did leave, but not because of what you're thinking," she said quickly. Jake trembled somewhat and motioned for her to go on. Bella moved away and leaned against her red truck, but the werewolf stayed still, his hands clenched at his sides.
She sighed and continued. "There was a new vampire, Guinevere Kent, that came to visit Carlisle and," she stopped herself and asked, "Did you know?"
Jacob shook his head and replied with an edge to his voice, "No, but I did notice a new smell."
She made a short nod and began again. "She supposedly knew Edward when he was alive, though he doesn't remember her. She loves him." Jacob's eyes widened a little in curiosity. "Some of the Volturi guards came to check on me, to see if I was a vampire or not. They were … they were going to kill me."
His eyes squeezed shut and he tried to control himself. After a small moment, in which Bella was watching him closely, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "And?"
"She sacrificed herself for me. She knew Edward was in love with me, so -"
"The bloodsucker gave herself for him," Jake finished and leaned against the truck beside her. He stuck his hands in his pockets and didn't notice the glare she gave him. Bella really hated it when he called them bloodsuckers. "That was nice of her, huh?" His voice was lighter.
Bella nodded. "Yeah."
"So…" He turned to her and rose his eyebrows. "What's the problem?"
"Edward left to get her back and he might die doing it." She shook her head and explained, "Alice saw Guinevere killing one of the guards and the Cullens figured that she was trying to get the Volturi mad at her so they'd kill her."
"Why?"
"Because she wants to die."
"Let me get this straight." Jacob held out his hands as though he were trying to pause time. "Your letch went to Italy to save another letch from a certain death because she loves him?" She nodded and he laughed humorlessly. "Unbelievable." He stayed quiet for a moment and then he suddenly became serious. "Bella, what do you want from me? To go and help him?" Bella started a reply, but he ignored her. "Well that's not happening. If Cullen dies, then I say good riddance."
Bella scowled. "I wasn't going to ask you." She stared at him for a moment then weakened her gaze. "I think Edward loves her. It's strange. She was only here for a couple of hours, but ever since she left, he hasn't been the same. Jake, I'm not sure what to do."
Jake sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, your getting married at the end of the month, remember?"
She cringed slightly. "Yes, I remember."
"You don't seem too happy about it."
Isabella sighed and replied, "You know how I feel."
"Yeah, I do." Jake pushed himself off of the truck and stood in front of her, his eyes becoming wild and intense. "Look, Bells. You made your choice, but I could love you more than he can. I could have given you a life, a family." He gently grabbed her arms, making it impossible for her to move. "We could grow old together."
She shook her head. "Jake, I love him."
"But you love me too, maybe even more. You're realizing that now, aren't you?" He pressed his face closer to her, leaving only an inch between their noses. "You're realizing what you'd be giving up."
When Bella became at a loss of words, Jake took his opportunity. He crashed his lips on hers, his passion and lust flowing through his mouth. Bella froze for a moment, surprised by the instant warmth he was releasing. Then, she gave in.
Her fingers entangled in his silky, black hair and she pressed herself closer to him, her body fitting perfectly with his every curve. She knew this was wrong, for there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind. When he gently pulled away, his hands framing her face and said, "Stay with me," that nagging voice disappeared. Everything she thought she had figured out and held in promises was carried away in the light summer breeze.
Jacob always caught her every time Edward made her fall.
She gingerly touched the cool cloth to his cheek and ran it down to his neck. He stared at her and opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Don't speak. You need your rest." He closed his eyes at the cool feeling on his burning skin. "You shouldn't be here," Guinevere whispered, her heart breaking. She turned away from him, trying to gather herself, and dipped the small square of fabric in the liquid.
"Guinevere," Edward breathed. She snapped her attention to him and dropped the cloth in the water, her hand finding it's way towards his hot skin. Leaning down to him, her brown eyes searched his face and he weakly pressed his palm to the back of her hand.
"You were supposed to take care of yourself."
Edward's lips curled slightly. "Sorry." His fingers ran over down her hand softly and he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of her smooth, cooler skin. His jade orbs watched her intently and, though he was ill, noticed something terribly wrong and tragic in her person.
She breathed out harshly and pressed her free hand to the other side of his face. Guinevere's gaze steadied on him and she sternly said, "You're going to be okay, Edward."
He closed his eyes and shook his head softly, denying her.
"Don't you dare give up." Guinevere's voice became demanding with a frantic edge. "Do you hear me? Don't you dare give up."
The world seemed to pass slowly by on the outside of the small oval window. The dark grey clouds appeared to be something out of a watercolor painting and moved, much to Edward's dislike, leisurely. He sighed and rolled his head back, leaning it against the cool headrest. Breathing in heavily, he felt his eyes shut. Slowly, but very surely, his impatience began to creep up on him again.
He sighed in frustration, shot open his eyes, and stared at the back of the seat in front of him. His gaze ran over the stitches holding the dark blue leather together and then down to the pocket that secured idle booklets and magazines. "Edward," a light voice came, ripping him from his dark thoughts.
Turning his subject of sight to his sister, who sat beside him patiently, Edward saw that she had a blank expression. Alice was having a vision that he was careful to listen to.
Letting himself be clouded with the pictures racing through her mind, Edward closed his eyes once more and saw Guinevere. She was sitting alone, her eyes showing something of hope. His lips twitched upward for a small moment, before it was swept away. Dark figures moved in his line of vision. There was a commotion, in which Guinevere stood to her feet. Only after a few words were thrown about, she fell back to the stone ground.
A low growl released from his throat. His fingers dug into the two armrests on either side of him. His eyes opened slowly and he turned his face away, so no one could see the tortured expression resting on his glorious face. Guinevere's screams echoed throughout his mind before they faded along Alice's vision.
Suddenly, Carlisle leaned across the aisle, his honey colored eyes wide with curiosity and worry. Alice murmured a few words to him and he nodded before discreetly shooting a concerned look in Edward's direction. The two vampires shared a few whispered seconds and then Carlisle returned to his casual demeanor.
Edward, who now stared out onto the endless water, became overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form. His eyes then lifted and danced over the various shapes of clouds as he rested his head on the seat, his body turned away from the others. When his fingers grazed the bitter glass of the window, he imaged what it would be like when they saw each other again.
"Hold on."
He never realized, before this moment, that he had been living underneath the surface, even when he had Bella. Without Guinevere existing in the world, he would drown in the black abyss. If Edward was too late and fate had it's way with separating them forever, he would die inside.
Edward needed to see her again. Then, and only then, would everything be alright.
He could walk on water.
Inspiration: 'Storm' by Lifehouse
