Twilight - Midnight Sun - Chapter 10. Theory

"Can I ask just one more?" she entreated instead of answering my demand.
I was on edge, anxious for the worst. And yet, how tempting it was to prolong this moment. To have
Bella with me, willingly, for just a few seconds longer. I sighed at the dilemma, and then said, "One."

"Well...," she hesitated for a moment, as if deciding which question to voice. "You said you knew I hadn't
gone into the bookstore, and that I had gone south. I was just wondering how you know that."

I glared out the windshield. Here was another question that revealed nothing on her part, and too much
on mine.

"I thought we were past all the evasiveness," she said, her tone critical and disappointed.

How ironic. She was relentlessly evasive, without even trying.

Well, she wanted me to be direct. And this conversation wasn't going anywhere good, regardless.

"Fine, then," I said. "I followed your scent."

I wanted to watch her face, but I was afraid of what I would see. Instead, I listened to her breath
accelerate and then stabilize. She spoke again after a moment, and her voice was steadier than I would
have expected.

"And then you didn't answer one of my first questions..." she said.

I looked down at her, frowning. She was stalling, too. "Which one?"

"How does it work-the mind reading thing?" she asked, reiterating her question from the restaurant.

"Can you read anybody's mind, anywhere? How do you do it? Can the rest of your family...?" She trailed
off, flushing again.

"That's more than one," I said.

She just looked at me, waiting for her answers.

And why not tell her? She'd already guessed most of this, and it was an easier subject that the one that
loomed.

"No, it's just me. And I can't hear anyone, anywhere. I have to be fairly close. The more familiar
someone's...'voice' is, the farther away I can hear them. But still, no more than a few miles." I tried to
think of a way to describe it so that she would understand. An analogy that she could relate to. "It's a
little like being in a huge hall filled with people, everyone talking at once. It's just a hum-a buzzing of
voices in the background. Until I focus on one voice, and then what they're thinking is clear. Most of the time I tune it
all out-it can be very distracting. And then it's easier to seem normal," -I grimaced- "when I'm not
accidentally answering someone's thoughts rather than their words."

"Why do you think you can't hear me?" she wondered.

I gave her another truth and another analogy. "I don't know," I admitted. "The only guess I have is that
maybe your mind doesn't work the same way the rest of theirs do. Like your thoughts are on the AM
frequency and I'm only getting FM."

I realized that she would not like this analogy. The anticipation of her reaction had me smiling. She
didn't disappoint.

"My mind doesn't work right?" she asked, her voice rising with chagrin. "I'm a freak?"

Ah, the irony again. "I hear voices in my mind and you're worried that you're the freak." I laughed.
She understood all the small things, and yet the big ones she got backwards. Always the wrong
instincts...

Bella was gnawing on her lip, and the crease between her eyes was etched deep.

"Don't worry," I reassured her. "It's just a theory..." And there was a more important theory to be
discussed. I was anxious to get it over with. Each passing second was beginning to feel more and more
like borrowed time.

"Which brings us back to you," I said, divided in two, both anxious and reluctant.
She sighed, still chewing her lip-I worried that she would hurt herself. She stared into my eyes, her face
troubled.

"Aren't we past all the evasions now?" I asked quietly.

She looked down, struggling with some internal dilemma. Suddenly, she stiffened and her eyes flew
wide open. Fear flashed across her face for the first time.

"Holy crow!" she gasped.

I panicked. What had she seen? How had I frightened her?

Then she shouted, "Slow down!"

"What's wrong?" I didn't understand where her terror was coming from.

"You're going a hundred miles an hour!" she yelled at me. She flashed a look out the window, and
recoiled from the dark trees racing past us.

This little thing, just a bit of speed, had her shouting in fear? I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Bella."

"Are you trying to kill us?" she demanded, her voice high and tight.

"We're not going to crash," I promised her.

She sucked in a sharp breath, and then spoke in a slightly more level tone. "Why are you in such a
hurry?"

"I always drive like this."

I met her gaze, amused by her shocked expression.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" she shouted.

"I've never been in an accident, Bella. I've never even gotten a ticket." I grinned at her and touched my
forehead. It made it even more comical-the absurdity of being able to joke with her about something so
secret and strange. "Built in radar detector."

"Very funny," she said sarcastically, her voice more frightened than angry.

"Charlie's a cop, remember? I was raised to abide by traffic laws. Besides, if you turn us into a Volvo
pretzel around a tree trunk, you can probably just walk away."

"Probably," I repeated, and than laughed without humor. Yes, we would fare quite differently in a car
accident. She was right to be afraid, despite my driving abilities...

"But you can't." With a sigh, I let the car drift to a crawl. "Happy?"

She eyed the speedometer. "Almost."

Was this still too fast for her? "I hate driving slow," I muttered, but let the needle slide another notch
down.

"This is slow?" she asked.

"Enough commentary on my driving," I said impatiently. How many times had she dodged my question
now? Three times? Four? Were her speculations that horrific? I had to know-immediately. "I'm still
waiting for your latest theory."

She bit her lip again, and her expression became upset, almost pained.
I reigned in my impatience and softened my voice. I didn't want her to be distressed. "I won't laugh," I
promised, wishing that it was only embarrassment that made her unwilling to talk.

"I'm more afraid that you'll be angry with me," she whispered.

I forced my voice to stay even. "Is it that bad?"

"Pretty much, yeah." She looked down, refusing to meet my eyes. The seconds passed.

"Go ahead," I encouraged.

Her voice was small. "I don't know how to start."

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" I remembered her words before dinner. "You said you didn't
come up with this on your own."

"No," she agreed, and then was silent again.

I thought about things that might have inspired her. "What got you started-a book? A movie?"

I should have looked through her collections when she was out of the house. I had no idea if Bram
Stoker or Anne Rice was there in her stack of worn paperbacks...

"No," she said again. "It was Saturday, at the beach."

I hadn't expected that. The local gossip about us had never strayed into anything too bizarre-or too
precise. Was there a new rumor I'd missed? Bella peeked up from her hands and saw the surprise on my
face.

"I ran into an old family friend-Jacob Black," she went on. "His dad and Charlie have been friends since I
was a baby."

Jacob Black-the name was not familiar, and yet it reminded me of something...some time, long ago... I
stared out of the windshield, flipping through memories to find the connection.

"His dad is one of the Quileute elders," she said.

Jacob Black. Ephraim Black. A descendant, no doubt. It was as bad as it could get. She knew the truth.

My mind was flying through the ramifications as the car flew around the dark curves in the road, my
body rigid with anguish-motionless except for the small, automatic actions it took to steer the car.
She knew the truth. But...if she'd learned the truth Saturday...then she'd known it all evening long...and
yet...

"We went for a walk," she went on. "And he was telling me about some old legends-trying to scare me, I
think. He told me one..."

She stopped short, but there was no need for her qualms now; I knew what she was going to say. The
only mystery left was why she was here with me now.

"Go on," I said.

"About vampires," she breathed, the words less than a whisper.
Somehow, it was even worse than knowing that she knew, hearing her speak the word aloud. I flinched
at the sound of it, and then controlled myself again.

"And you immediately thought of me?" I asked.

"No. He...mentioned your family."

How ironic that it would be Ephraim's own progeny that would violate the treaty he'd vowed to uphold.

A grandson, or great-grandson perhaps. How many years had it been? Seventy?

I should have realized that it was not the old men who believed in the legends that would be the danger.
Of course, the younger generation-those who would have been warned, but would have thought the
ancient superstitions laughable-of course that was where the danger of exposure would lie.
I supposed this meant I was now free to slaughter the small, defenseless tribe on the coastline, were I so
inclined. Ephraim and his pack of protectors were long dead...

"He just thought it was a silly superstition," Bella said suddenly, her voice edged with a new anxiety. "He
didn't expect me to think anything of it."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her twist her hands uneasily.

"It was my fault," she said after a brief pause, and then she hung her head as if she were ashamed. "I
forced him to tell me."

"Why?" It wasn't so hard to keep my voice level now. The worst was already done. As long as we spoke
of the details of the revelation, we didn't have to move on to the consequences of it.

"Lauren said something about you-she was trying to provoke me." She made a little face at the memory.

I was slightly distracted, wondering how Bella would be provoked by someone talking about me... "And
an older boy from the tribe said your family didn't come to the reservation, only it sounded like he
meant something different. So I got Jacob alone and I tricked it out of him."
Her head dropped even lower as she admitted this, and her expression looked...guilty. I looked away
from her and laughed out loud. She felt guilty? What could she possibly have done to deserve censure of
any kind?

"Tricked him how?" I asked.

"I tried to flirt -it worked better than I thought it would," she explained, and her voice turned
incredulous at the memory of that success.

I could just imagine-considering the attraction she seemed to have for all things male, totally
unconscious on her part-how overwhelming she would be when she tried to be attractive. I was
suddenly full of pity for the unsuspecting boy she'd unleashed such a potent force on.

"I'd like to have seen that," I said, and then I laughed again with the black humor.

I wished I could have heard the boy's reaction, witnessed the devastation for myself.

"And you accused me of dazzling people-poor Jacob Black."

I wasn't as angry with the source of my exposure as I would have expected to feel. He didn't know
better. And how could I expect anyone to deny this girl what she wanted? No, I only felt sympathy for

the damage she would have done to his peace of mind.

I felt her blush heat the air between us. I glanced at her, and she was staring out her window. She didn't
speak again.

"What did you do then?" I prompted. Time to get back to the horror story.

"I did some research on the internet."

Ever practical. "And did that convince you?"

"No," she said. "Nothing fit. Most of it was kind of silly. And then-" She broke off again, and I heard her
teeth lock together.

"What?" I demanded. What had she found? What had made sense of the nightmare for her?

There was a short paused, and then she whispered, "I decided it didn't matter."
Shock froze my thoughts for a half-second, and then it all fit together. Why she'd sent her friends away
tonight rather than escape with them. Why she had gotten into my car with me again instead of
running, screaming for the police...
Her reactions were always wrong-always completely wrong. She pulled danger toward herself. She
invited it.

"It didn't matter ?" I said through my teeth, anger filling me. How was I supposed to protect someone
so...so...so determined to be unprotected?

"No," she said in a low voice that was inexplicably tender. "It doesn't matter to me what you are."

She was impossible.

"You don't care if I'm a monster? If I'm not human?"

"No."

I started to wonder if she was entirely stable.

I supposed that I could arrange for her to receive the best care available... Carlisle would have the
connections to find her the most skilled doctors, the most talented therapists. Perhaps something could
be done to fix whatever it was that was wrong with her, what ever it was that made her content to sit
beside a vampire with her heart beating calmly and steadily. I would watch over the facility, naturally,
and visit as often as I was allowed...

"You're angry," she sighed. "I shouldn't have said anything." As if her hiding these disturbing tendencies
would help either of us.

"No. I'd rather know what you're thinking-even if what you're thinking is insane."

"So I'm wrong again?" she asked, a bit belligerent now.

"That's not what I was referring to!" My teeth clenched together again. "'It doesn't matter'!" I repeated
in a scathing tone.

She gasped. "I'm right?"

"Does it matter ?" I countered.

She took a deep breath. I waited angrily for her answer.

"Not really," she said, her voice composed again. "But I am curious."

Not really. It didn't really matter. She didn't care. She knew I was inhuman, a monster, and this didn't
really matter to her.

Aside from my worries about her sanity, I began to feel a swelling of hope. I tried to quash it. "What are
you curious about?" I asked her. There were no secrets left, only minor details.
"How old are you?" she asked.

My answer was automatic and ingrained. "Seventeen."

"And how long have you been seventeen?"

I tried not to smile at the patronizing tone. "A while," I admitted.

"Okay," she said, abruptly enthusiastic. She smiled up at me. When I stared back, anxious again about
her mental health, she smiled wider. I grimaced.

"Don't laugh," she warned. "But how can you come out during the daytime?"

I laughed despite her request. Her research had not netted her anything unusual, it seemed. "Myth," I
told her.

"Burned by the sun?"

"Myth."

"Sleeping in coffins?"

"Myth." Sleep had not been a part of my life for so long-not until these last few nights, as I'd watched

Bella dreaming...

"I can't sleep," I murmured, answering her question more fully.

She was silent for a moment. "At all?" she asked.

"Never," I breathed.

I stared into her eyes, wide under the thick fringe of lashes, and yearned for sleep. Not for oblivion, as I
had before, not to escape boredom, but because I wanted to dream.
Maybe, if I could be unconscious, if I could dream, I could live for a few hours in a world where she and I
could be together. She dreamed of me. I wanted to dream of her.

She stared back at me, her expression full of wonder. I had to look away. I could not dream of her. She
should not dream of me.

"You haven't asked me the most important question yet," I said, my silent chest colder and harder than
before. She had to be forced to understand. At some point, she would have to realize what she was
doing now. She must be made to see that this all did matter-more than any other consideration.

Considerations like the fact that I loved her.

"Which one is that?" she asked, surprised and unaware.

This only made my voice harder. "You aren't concerned about my diet?"

"Oh. That." She spoke in a quiet tone that I couldn't interpret.

"Yes, that. Don't you want to know if I drink blood?"

She cringed away from my question. Finally. She was understanding.

"Well, Jacob said something about that," she said.

"What did Jacob say?"

"He said you didn't...hunt people. He said your family wasn't supposed to be dangerous because you
only hunted animals."

"He said we weren't dangerous?" I repeated cynically.

"Not exactly," she clarified. "He said you weren't supposed to be dangerous. But the Quileutes still didn't
want you on their land, just in case."

I stared at the road, my thoughts in a hopeless snarl, my throat aching with the familiar fiery thirst.

"So, was he right?" she asked, as calmly as if she were confirming a weather report. "About not hunting
people?"

"The Quileutes have a long memory."

She nodded to herself, thinking hard.

"Don't let that make you complacent, though," I said quickly. "They're right to keep their distance from
us. We are still dangerous."

"I don't understand."

No she didn't. How to make her see?

"We try," I told her. "We're usually very good at what we do. Sometimes we make mistakes. Me, for
example, allowing myself to be alone with you."

Her scent was still a force in the car. I was growing used to it, I could almost ignore it, but there was no
denying that my body still yearned toward her for the wrong reason. My mouth was swimming with
venom.

"This is a mistake?" she asked, and there was heartbreak in her voice. The sound of it disarmed me. She
wanted to be with me-despite everything, she wanted to be with me.

Hope swelled again, and I beat it back.

"A very dangerous one," I told her truthfully, wishing the truth could really somehow cease to matter.
She didn't respond for a moment. I heard her breathing change-it hitched in strange ways that did not
sound like fear.

"Tell me more," she said suddenly, her voice distorted by anguish.

I examined her carefully. She was in pain. How had I allowed this?

"What more do you want to know?" I asked, trying to think of a way to keep her from hurting. She

should not hurt. I couldn't let her be hurt.

"Tell me why you hunt animals instead of people," she said, still anguished.

Wasn't it obvious? Or maybe this didn't matter to her either. "I don't want to be a monster," I muttered.

"But animals aren't enough?"

I searched for another comparison, a way that she could understand. "I can't be sure, of course, but I'd
compare it to living on tofu and soy milk; we call ourselves vegetarians, our little inside joke. It doesn't
completely satiate the hunger-or rather thirst. But it keeps us strong enough to resist. Most of the time."

My voice got lower; I was ashamed of danger I had allowed her to be in. Danger I continued to allow...

"Sometimes it's more difficult than others."

"Is it very difficult for you now?"

I sighed. Of course she would ask the question I didn't want to answer. "Yes," I admitted.

I expected her physical response correctly this time: her breathing held steady, her heart kept its even
pattern. I expected it, but I did not understand it. How could she not be afraid?

"But you're not hungry now," she declared, perfectly sure of herself.

"Why do you think that?"

"Your eyes," she said, her tone offhand. "I told you I had a theory. I've noticed that people-men in
particular-are crabbier when they're hungry."

I chuckled at her description: crabby. There was an understatement. But she was dead right, as usual.

"You are observant, aren't you?" I laughed again.

She smiled a little, the crease returning between her eyes as if she were concentrating on something.

"Were you hunting this weekend, with Emmett?" she asked after my laugh had faded. The casual way
she spoke was as fascinating as it was frustrating. Could she really accept so much in stride? I was closer
to shock than she seemed to be.

"Yes," I told her, and then, as I was about to leave it at that, I felt the same urge I'd had in the
restaurant: I wanted her to know me. "I didn't want to leave," I went on slowly, "but it was necessary.

It's a bit easier to be around you when I'm not thirsty."

"Why didn't you want to leave?"

I took a deep breath, and then turned to meet her gaze. This kind of honesty was difficult in a very
different way.

"It makes me...anxious," I supposed that word would suffice, though it wasn't strong enough, "to be
away from you. I wasn't joking when I asked you to try not to fall in the ocean or get run over last

Thursday. I was distracted all weekend, worrying about you. And after what happened tonight, I'm
surprised that you did make it through a whole weekend unscathed." Then I remembered the scrapes
on her palms. "Well, not totally unscathed," I amended.

"What?"


[If you want a man to really commit to you,
seduce you, chase you, and keep that spark going
forever you can't just make him love you, 
you've got to make him ADDICTED to you . . . 

Which is why you need to go watch this new
video from relationship expert Michael Fiore . . .
Click To Watch Here NOW]


"Your hands," I reminded her.

She sighed and grimaced. "I fell."

I'd guessed right. "That's what I thought," I said, unable to contain my smile. "I suppose, being you, it
could have been much worse-and that possibility tormented me the entire time I was away. It was a
very long three days. I really got on Emmett's nerves." Honestly, that didn't belong in the past tense. I
was probably still irritating Emmett, and all the rest of my family, too. Except Alice...

"Three days?" she asked, her voice suddenly sharp. "Didn't you just get back today?"

I didn't understand the edge in her voice. "No, we got back Sunday."

"Then why weren't any of you in school?" she demanded. Her irritation confused me. She didn't seem to
realize that this question was one that related to mythology again.

"Well, you asked if the sun hurt me, and it doesn't," I said. "But I can't go out in the sunlight, at least, not
where anyone can see."

That distracted her from her mysterious annoyance. "Why?" she asked, leaning her head to one side.

I doubted I could come up with the appropriate analogy to explain this one. So I just told her, "I'll show
you sometime." And then I wondered if this was a promise I would end up breaking. Would I see her
again, after tonight? Did I love her enough yet to be able to bear leaving her?

"You might have called me," she said.

What an odd conclusion. "But I knew you were safe."

"But I didn't know where you were. I-" She came to an abrupt stop, and looked at her hands.

"What?"

"I didn't like it," she said shyly, the skin over her cheekbones warming. "Not seeing you. It makes me
anxious, too."

Are you happy now? I demanded of myself. Well, here was my reward for hoping. I was bewildered,
elated, horrified-mostly horrified-to realize that all my wildest imaginings were not so far off the mark.

This was why it didn't matter to her that I was a monster. It was exactly the same reason that the rules
no longer mattered to me. Why right and wrong were no longer compelling influences. Why all my
priorities had shifted one rung down to make room for this girl at the very top.

Bella cared for me, too.

I knew it could be nothing in comparison to how I loved her. But it was enough for her to risk her life to
sit here with me. To do so gladly. Enough to cause her pain if I did the right thing and left her.
Was there anything I could do now that would not hurt her? Anything at all?

I should have stayed away. I should never have come back to Forks. I would cause her nothing but pain.

Would that stop me from staying now? From making it worse? The way I felt right now, feeling her

warmth against my skin...

No. Nothing would stop me.

"Ah," I groaned to myself. "This is wrong."

"What did I say?" she asked, quick to take the blame on herself.

"Don't you see, Bella? It's one thing for me to make myself miserable, but a wholly other thing for you to
be so involved. I don't want to hear that you feel that way."

It was the truth, it was a lie. The most selfish part of me was flying with the knowledge that she wanted
me as I wanted her. "It's wrong. It's not safe. I'm dangerous, Bella -please, grasp that."

"No." Her lips pouted out petulantly.

"I'm serious." I was battling with myself so strongly-half desperate for her to accept, half desperate to

keep the warnings from escaping-that the words came through my teeth as a growl.

"So am I," she insisted. "I told you, it doesn't matter what you are. It's too late."

Too late? The world was bleakly black and white for one endless second as I watched the shadows crawl
across the sunny lawn toward Bella's sleeping form in my memory. Inevitable, unstoppable. They stole
the color from her skin, and plunged her into darkness.

Too late? Alice's vision swirled in my head, Bella's blood red eyes staring back at me impassively.

Expressionless-but there was no way that she could not hate me for that future. Hate me for stealing
everything from her. Stealing her life and her soul.

It could not be too late. "Never say that," I hissed.
She stared out her window, and her teeth bit into her lip again. Her hands were balled into tight fists in
her lap. Her breathing hitched and broke.

"What are you thinking?" I had to know.

She shook her head without looking at me. I saw something glisten, like a crystal, on her cheek.
Agony. "Are you crying?" I'd made her cry. I'd hurt her that much.

She scrubbed the tears away with the back of her hand. "No," she lied, her voice breaking.
Some long buried instinct had me reaching out toward her-in that one second I felt more human than I
ever had. And then I remembered that I was...not. And I lowered my hand.

"I'm sorry," I said, my jaw locked. How could I ever tell her how sorry I was?
Sorry for all the stupid mistakes I'd made. Sorry for my never-ending selfishness. Sorry that she was so
unfortunate as to have inspired this first, tragic love of mine. Sorry also for the things beyond my
control-that I'd been the monster chosen by fate to end her life in the first place.

I took a deep breath-ignoring my wretched reaction to the flavor in the car-and tried to collect myself.

I wanted to change the subject, to think of something else. Lucky for me, my curiosity about the girl was
insatiable. I always had a question.

"Tell me something," I said.

"Yes?" she asked huskily, tears still in her voice.

"What were you thinking tonight, just before I came around the corner? I couldn't understand your
expression-you didn't look that scared, you looked like you were concentrating very hard on
something." I remembered her face-forcing myself to forget whose eyes I was looking through-the look
of determination there.

"I was trying to remember how to incapacitate an attacker," she said, her voice more composed. "You
know, self defense. I was going to smash his nose into his brain."

Her composure did not last to the end of her explanation. Her tone twisted until it seethed with hate.

This was no hyperbole, and her kittenish fury was not humorous now.

I could see her frail figure-just silk over glass-overshadowed by the meaty, heavy-fisted human monsters
who would have hurt her. The fury boiled in the back of my head.

"You were going to fight them?" I wanted to groan. Her instincts were deadly- to herself. "Didn't you
think about running?"

"I fall down a lot when I run," she said sheepishly.

"What about screaming for help?"

"I was getting to that part."

I shook my head in disbelief. How had she managed to stay alive before she'd come to Forks?

"You were right," I told her, a sour edge to my voice. "I'm definitely fighting fate trying to keep you
alive."

She sighed, and glanced out the window. Then she looked back at me. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she
demanded abruptly.

As long as I was on my way to hell-I might as well enjoy the journey. "Yes-I have a paper due, too." I
smiled at her, and it felt good to do this. "I'll save you a seat at lunch."
Her heart fluttered; my dead heart suddenly felt warmer.

I stopped the car in front of her father's house. She made no move to leave me. "Do you promise to be
there tomorrow?" she insisted.

"I promise."

How could doing the wrong thing give me so much happiness? Surely there was something amiss in that.
She nodded to herself, satisfied, and started to remove my jacket.

"You can keep it," I assured her quickly. I rather wanted to leave her with something of myself. A token,
like the bottle cap that was in my pocket now... "You don't have a jacket for tomorrow."
She handed it back to me, smiling ruefully. "I don't want to have to explain to Charlie," she told me.
I would imagine not. I smiled at her. "Oh, right."

She put her hand on the door handle, and then stopped. Unwilling to leave, just as I was unwilling for
her to go.

To have her unprotected, even for a few moments...
Peter and Charlotte were well on their way by now, long past Seattle, no doubt. But there were always
others. This world was not a safe place for any human, and for her it seemed to be more dangerous than
it was for the rest.

"Bella?" I asked, surprised at the pleasure there was in simply speaking her name.

"Yes?"

"Will you promise me something?"

"Yes," she agreed easily, and then her eyes tightened as if she'd thought of a reason to object.

"Don't go into the woods alone," I warned her, wondering if this request would trigger the objection in
her eyes.

She blinked, startled. "Why?"

I glowered into the untrustworthy darkness. The lack of light was no problem for my eyes, but neither
would it trouble another hunter. It only blinded humans.

"I'm not always the most dangerous thing out there," I told her. "Let's leave it at that."

She shivered, but recovered quickly and was even smiling when she told me, "Whatever you say."
Her breath touched my face, so sweet and fragrant.

I could stay here all night like this, but she needed her sleep. The two desires seemed equally strong as
they continually warred inside me: wanting her versus wanting her to be safe.

I sighed at the impossibilities. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said, knowing that I would see her much sooner
than that. She wouldn't see me until tomorrow, though.

"Tomorrow, then," she agreed as she opened her door.

Agony again, watching her leave. I leaned after her, wanting to hold her here. "Bella?"
She turned, and then froze, surprised to find our faces so close together.

I, too, was overwhelmed by the proximity. The heat rolled off her in waves, caressing my face. I could all
but feel the silk of her skin... Her heartbeat stuttered, and her lips fell open.

"Sleep well," I whispered, and leaned away before the urgency in my body-either the familiar thirst or
the very new and strange hunger I suddenly felt-could make me do something that might hurt her.

She sat there motionless for a moment, her eyes wide and stunned. Dazzled, I guessed. As was I.
She recovered-though her face was still a bit bemused-and half fell out of the car, tripping over her feet
and having to catch the frame of the car to right herself.

I chuckled-hopefully it was too quiet for her to hear.

I watched her stumble her way up to the pool of light that surrounded the front door. Safe for the
moment. And I would be back soon to make sure.

I could feel her eyes follow me as I drove down the dark street. Such a different sensation than I was
accustomed to. Usually, I could simply watch myself through someone's following eyes, were I of a mind
to. This was strangely exciting-this intangible sensation of watching eyes. I knew it was just because they
were her eyes.

A million thoughts chased each other through my head as I drove aimlessly into the night.
For a long time I circled through the streets, going nowhere, thinking of Bella and the incredible release
of having the truth known. No longer did I have to dread that she would find out what I was. She knew.
It didn't matter to her. Even though this was obviously a bad thing for her, it was amazingly liberating for
me.

More than that, I thought of Bella and requited love. She couldn't love me the way I loved her-such an
overpowering, all-consuming, crushing love would probably break her fragile body. But she felt strongly
enough. Enough to subdue the instinctive fear. Enough to want to be with me. And being with her was
the greatest happiness I had ever known.

For a while-as I was all alone and hurting no one else for a change-I allowed myself to feel that
happiness without dwelling on the tragedy. Just to be happy that she cared for me. Just to exult in the
triumph of winning her affection. Just to imagine day after day of sitting close to her, hearing her voice
and earning her smiles.

I replayed that smile in my head, seeing her full lips pull up at the corners, the hint of a dimple that
touched her pointed chin, the way her eyes warmed and melted...

Her fingers had felt so warm and soft on my hand tonight. I imagined how it would feel to touch the
delicate skin that stretched over her cheekbones-silky, warm...so fragile.

Silk over glass...frighteningly breakable.

I didn't see where my thoughts were leading until it was too late. As I dwelt on that devastating
vulnerability, new images of her face intruded on my fantasies.
Lost in the shadows, pale with fear-yet her jaw tight and determined, her eyes fierce, full of
concentration, her slim body braced to strike at the hulking forms that gathered around her, nightmares
in the gloom...

"Ah," I groaned as the simmering hate that I'd all but forgotten in the joy of loving her burst again into
an inferno of rage.

I was alone. Bella was, I trusted, safe inside her home; for a moment I was fiercely glad that Charlie
Swan-head of the local law enforcement, trained and armed-was her father. That ought to mean
something, provide some shelter for her.

She was safe. It would not take me so very long to avenge the insult...
No. She deserved better. I could not allow her to care for a murderer.

But...what about the others?

Bella was safe, yes. Angela and Jessica were also, surely, safe in their beds. Yet a monster was loose in
the streets of Port Angeles. A human monster-did that make him the humans' problem? To commit the
murder I ached to commit was wrong. I knew that. But leaving him free to attack again could not be the
right thing either. The blond hostess from the restaurant. The waitress I'd never really looked at. Both
had irritated me in a trivial way, but that did not mean they deserved to be in danger.
Either one of them might be somebody's Bella. That realization decided me.

I turned the car north, accelerating now that I had a purpose. Whenever I had a problem that was
beyond me-something tangible like this-I knew where I could go for help.

Alice was sitting on the porch, waiting for me. I pulled to a stop in front of the house rather than going
around to the garage.

"Carlisle's in his study," Alice told me before I could ask.

"Thank you," I said, tousling her hair as I passed.

Thank you for returning my call, she thought sarcastically.

"Oh." I paused by the door, pulling out my phone and flipping it open. "Sorry. I didn't even check to see
who it was. I was...busy."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, too. By the time I saw what was going to happen, you were on your way."

"It was close," I murmured.

Sorry, she repeated, ashamed of herself.

It was easy to be generous, knowing that Bella was fine. "Don't be. I know you can't catch everything. No
one expects you to be omniscient, Alice."

"Thanks."

"I almost asked you out to dinner tonight-did you catch that before I changed my mind?"

She grinned. "No, I missed that one, too. Wish I'd known. I would have come."

"What were you concentrating on, that you missed so much?"

Jasper's thinking about our anniversary. She laughed. He's trying not to make a decision on my gift, but I
think I have a pretty good idea...

"You're shameless."

"Yep."

She pursed her lips, and stared up at me, a hint of accusation in her expression. I paid better attention
later. Are you going to tell them that she knows?

I sighed. "Yes. Later."

I won't say anything. Do me a favor and tell Rosalie when I'm not around, okay?

I flinched. "Sure."

Bella took it pretty well.

"Too well."

Alice grinned at me. Don't underestimate Bella.

I tried to block the image I didn't want to see-Bella and Alice, best of friends.

Impatient now, I sighed heavily. I wanted to be through with the next part of the evening; I wanted it
over with. But I was a little worried to leave Forks...

"Alice..." I began. She saw what I was planning to ask.

She'll be fine tonight. I'm keeping a better watch now. She sort of needs twenty-four hour supervision,
doesn't she?

"At least."

"Anyway, you'll be with her soon enough."

I took a deep breath. The words were beautiful to me.

"Go on-get this done so you can be where you want to be," she told me.

I nodded, and hurried up to Carlisle's room.

He was waiting for me, his eyes on the door rather than the thick book on his desk. "I heard Alice tell
you where to find me," he said, and smiled.

It was a relief to be with him, to see the empathy and deep intelligence in his eyes. Carlisle would know
what to do.

"I need help."

"Anything, Edward," he promised.

"Did Alice tell you what happened to Bella tonight?"

Almost happened, he amended.

"Yes, almost. I've got a dilemma, Carlisle. You see, I want...very much...to kill him." The words started to
flow fast and passionate. "So much. But I know that would be wrong, because it would be vengeance,
not justice. All anger, no impartiality. Still, it can't be right to leave a serial rapist and killer wandering
Port Angeles! I don't know the humans there, but I can't let someone else take Bella's place as his victim.
Those other women-someone might feel about them the way I feel about Bella. Might suffer what I
would have suffered if she'd been harmed. It's not right-"

His wide, unexpected smile stopped the rush of my words cold.

She's very good for you, isn't she? So much compassion, so much control. I'm impressed.

"I'm not looking for compliments, Carlisle."

"Of course not. But I can't help my thoughts, can I?" He smiled again. "I'll take care of it. You can rest
easy. No one else will be harmed in Bella's place."

I saw the plan in his head. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, it did not satisfy my craving for brutality, but I
could see that it was the right thing.

"I'll show you where to find him," I said.

"Let's go."

He grabbed his black bag on the way. I would have preferred a more aggressive form of sedation-like a
cracked skull-but I would let Carlisle do this his way.

We took my car. Alice was still on the steps. She grinned and waved as we drove away. I saw that she
had looked ahead for me; we would have no difficulties.

The trip was very short on the dark, empty road. I left off my headlights to keep from attracting
attention. It made me smile to think how Bella would have reacted to this pace. I'd already been driving
slower than usual-to prolong my time with her-when she'd objected.

Carlisle was thinking of Bella, too.

I didn't foresee that she would be so good for him. That's unexpected. Perhaps this was somehow
meant to be. Perhaps it serves a higher purpose. Only... He pictured Bella with snow cold skin and blood
red eyes, and then flinched away from the image.

Yes. Only. Indeed. Because how could there be any good in destroying something so pure and lovely?
I glowered into the night, all the joy of the evening destroyed by his thoughts.
Edward deserves happiness. He's owed it. The fierceness of Carlisle's thoughts surprised me. There must
be a way.

I wished I could believe that-either one. But there was no higher purpose to what was happening to
Bella. Just a vicious harpy, an ugly, bitter fate who could not bear for Bella to have the life she deserved.
I did not linger in Port Angeles. I took Carlisle to the dive where the creature named Lonnie was
drowning his disappointment with his friends-two of whom had already passed out. Carlisle could see
how hard it was for me to be so close-for me to hear the monster's thoughts and see his memories,
memories of Bella mixed in with less
fortunate girls who no one could save now.

My breathing sped. I clenched the steering wheel.

Go, Edward, he told me gently. I'll make the rest of them safe. You go back to Bella.
It was exactly the right thing to say. Her name was the only distraction that could mean anything to me
now.

I left him in the car, and ran back to Forks in a straight line through the sleeping forest. It took less time
than the first journey in the speeding car. It was just minutes later that I scaled the side of her house and
slid her window out of my way.

I sighed silently with relief. Everything was just as it should be. Bella was safe in her bed, dreaming, her
wet hair tangled like seaweed across the pillow.

But, unlike most nights, she was curled into a small ball with the covers stretched taut around her
shoulders. Cold, I guessed. Before I could settle into my usual seat, she shivered in her sleep, and her lips
trembled.

I thought for a brief moment, and then I eased out into the hallway, exploring another part of her house
for the first time.

Charlie's snores were loud and even. I could almost catch the edge of his dream.
Something with the rush of water and patient expectation...fishing, maybe?

There, at the top of the stairs, was a promising looking cupboard. I opened it hopefully, and found what I
was looking for. I selected the thickest blanket from the tiny linen closet, and took it back into her room.

I would return it before she woke, and no one would be the wiser.
Holding my breath, I cautiously spread the blanket over her; she didn't react to the added weight. I
returned to the rocking chair.

While I waited anxiously for her to warm up, I thought of Carlisle, wondering where he was now. I knew
his plan would go smoothly-Alice had seen that.

Thinking of my father made me sigh-Carlisle gave me too much credit. I wished I was the person he
thought me to be. That person, the one who deserved happiness, might hope to be worthy of this
sleeping girl. How different things would be if I could be that Edward.

As I pondered this, a strange, uncalled image filled my head.
For one moment, the hag-faced fate I'd imagined, the one who sought Bella's destruction, was replaced
by the most foolish and reckless of angels. A guardian angel-something Carlisle's version of me might
have had. With a heedless smile on her lips, her sky-colored eyes full of mischief, the angel formed Bella
in such a fashion that there was no way that I could possibly overlook her. A ridiculously potent scent to
demand my attention, a silent mind to enflame my curiosity, a quiet beauty to hold my eyes, a selfless
soul to earn my awe. Leave out the natural sense of self-preservation-so that Bella could bear to be near
me-and, finally, add a wide streak of appallingly bad luck.

With a careless laugh, the irresponsible angel propelled her fragile creation directly into my path,
trusting blithely in my flawed morality to keep Bella alive.

In this vision, I was not Bella's sentence; she was my reward.

I shook my head at the fantasy of the unthinking angel. She was not much better than the harpy. I could
not think well of a higher power that would behave in such a dangerous and stupid manner. At least the
ugly fate I could fight against.

And I had no angel. They were reserved for the good-for people like Bella. So where was her angel
through all this? Who was watching over her?

I laughed silently, startled, as I realized that, just now, I was filling that role.
A vampire angel-there was a stretch.

After about a half hour, Bella relaxed out of the tight ball. Her breathing got deeper and she started to
murmur. I smiled, satisfied. It was a small thing, but at least she was sleeping more comfortably tonight
because I was here.

"Edward," she sighed, and she smiled, too.

I shoved tragedy aside for the moment, and let myself be happy again.

[Capture His Heart and Make Him Addicted To You Forever: Read Capture His Heart Reviews]

Continue Reading Twilight - Midnight Sun:
Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |

Read Twilight Saga Online

Posted in: Twilight - Midnight Sun

Twilight - Midnight Sun - Chapter 10. Theory