CHAPTER 15
London, England - 2006
Edward’s Story - One Year Later
Although nobody else would say so, I thought I was doing better. I was working full-time again. In fact, I was working all the time. I used work as a distraction. A distraction from her. My family and friends constantly told me how unhealthy my obsession with her was. I tried to call at random times throughout the year, holidays and whatnot. Eventually, her home phone was disconnected. I found an address and wrote to her, but I never received a response. A couple of months ago, just before the home phone was disconnected, I got an angry call from Jake. He threatened me and told me to stop bothering Renee or he would come after me. I thought it was humorous, but also a little strange. While he did say that Bella was never coming back to me, he didn’t really mention anything else about her.
I was finally beginning to come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t coming back. My family and friends constantly tried to get me out of the house and set me up with other women, but I wouldn’t hear of it. Nobody compared to Bella, nobody. I didn’t want anyone but her. Things really got bad when Rosalie found out that I had renewed Bella’s lease on her flat and had been paying the rent so all of her things would still be there. In the year she had been gone, she never once returned for any of her belongings. In the months after she left, I would spend every spare minute of time I had at her flat, just thinking she would show up one day for her things, or that eventually a moving company would come to pack and ship her things, but it never happened. Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper came together to try to get me some help. They suggested counseling even, but I laughed it off. I was fine, just heartbroken. Emmett started dating my sister, which was really weird, but they seemed to be really into each other. Jasper checked on me a lot. He found me at Bella’s frequently. He was the one who finally convinced me to let her flat go, to clean out her things, ship them to her address in the states, and move on.
It was harder than I thought it would be. Bella haunted my dreams in the days leading up to the weekend I planned to pack up her things and turn in her key to the leasing agent. If it weren’t for some of the things in her flat, I sometimes think it would be as if she never existed. If it weren’t for our picture in the frame next to her bed, I sometimes think I’d forget what her brown eyes looked like, or the way she bit her lip when she was nervous. Every time I started to feel ready to move on, to let her go, she would appear in my dreams, hauntingly beautiful and so very real.
I felt her shuffle on the bed next to me, and then saw the light from the morning sun come in as she opened the curtains. She was wearing an ivory night gown that was practically see through with little spaghetti straps and a lace v-neckline. She was breathtaking. Her mahogany waves fell down her back and over her shoulders. “It’s a beautiful day. The view from here is gorgeous,” she said as she looked out the window. “Indeed it is,” I responded, speaking of her, not the scenery. She turned and smiled at me, taking my breath away. The sun danced across her features and I stretched out my arms towards her. She slowly sauntered towards our bed. She reached out to touch me, but I couldn’t feel her. When I reached for her hand, she wasn’t there. “Don’t forget me, Edward,” she said as she was only inches from my face. I reached out for her again, but she was gone.
Dreams like those would set me back so far. It’s impossible to describe the ache in my chest when I would see her in my dreams. It was like she was really there for a moment, only to be taken away from me again. If only she would’ve explained. If only I had some closure.
I shook the thoughts from my head. I had to do this. I had to move on. I had to let her go.
~
I took off work the following Friday to get her flat cleaned out. I was supposed to be packing things up at her flat, but I was more or less just going through her things. Seeing her clothes and smelling her shampoo, it killed me. I had only gotten two boxes packed when there was a pounding at the door.
“Edward! Are you in there?”
My sister. What the hell was Rose doing here. I sighed and went to open the door. She looked crazed.
“Rose, chill out. I’m packing her stuff up to send. See, I have two boxes already,” I said, pointing next to the bed. I looked back at Rose. She looked sweaty and pale. “Are you okay?” I asked. She was breathing heavy, like she had been running.
“Edward, I know what happened to her,” she panted.
“What are you talking about?”
“She killed her father. She’s in prison.”
“Who? Rose, who are you talking about?”
“Bella!” she screamed.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you out of your mind?”
She smacked me across the face. “No! I’m not out of my mind. I just ran six blocks from my international criminal law lecture, you ass hole!”
Okay, she was serious. “Can you elaborate?” I asked.
She stepped inside and threw her messenger bag on the bed, opening it and pulling out some printed information. “I was in lecture, and someone was giving a presentation, they were talking about plea bargains and when they’re a good bargain and when they’re not, they cited her case. They said her name, and cited the Circuit Court in Phoenix, Maricopia County. I ran to the library, I mean, how many Bella Swans can there be in Phoenix, right?”
She shoved the papers in my hand, I started to read the first article and then she took them from me, flipping several pages to a newspaper printout, with her picture. Isabella Swan Pleads Guilty and Takes Plea Bargain for the Murder of her Father. I was frozen. Not by the words on the page, but the terrified look in her eyes. I couldn’t breathe. She looked terrified and confused. I couldn’t make sense of all this. “What the fuck?” I asked Rose.
“I’m sorry, Edward,” she said sincerely.
I kept flipping through the papers. “No, I mean, this isn’t right. She didn’t kill her father. She would never do that. What was the date?”
“What?”
“What was the date of the murder!” I screamed.
Rose took the papers from me and flipped to one that was earmarked. “December 19, 2004.”
I lost it. “God damn it!” I kicked my feet like a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum. I tore my hands through my hair. I couldn’t believe it.
“What?” Rose asked as she backed away from me.
“This is bullshit! Her mom has something to do with this! Why would she lie? The last time I spoke to Bella was December 18, 2004. She sent me a text message sometime after Christmas saying she was back together with Jake. That couldn’t have been her if she killed her father on the 19th. Her mother told me she was with Jake, too. She’s trying to hide something.”
“Edward, maybe you should calm down. You’re getting a little ahead of yourself.”
“No, I’m not! How did she do it?” I asked.
“She stabbed him,” Rose said cautiously.
“Bullshit! Look at her!” I said pointing the paper with her picture on it. “She’s tiny! How is she going to stab a fucking police officer to death? He couldn’t defend himself against a 110 pound girl with a knife? Give me a break.”
Rose stared at me blankly.
“I need access to this case. Let’s go to the library.”
“Edward, you can’t go in there. You’re not a law student.”
“I don’t care, I need to see everything.”
“Edward, there’s nothing to see. This is it. She plead guilty in exchange for a 20 year sentence, avoiding life and the death penalty. She claimed temporary insanity. She’s in a mental hospital and has been since she accepted the plea. The case never went to trial.”
I was sick to my stomach. This was too much to take in all at once. “I need some time to digest this. I’m going back to my flat. Do you mind if I keep these?” I said, referring to the information she brought.
“Of course; it’s yours.”
We left Bella’s flat and I went back to mine. I spent the next four hours scouring the internet for any information about her case. Rose was right though, there wasn’t much. Bella had one of the most well respected criminal defense attorneys in Phoenix, not just some court appointed attorney, the guy knew his stuff. There must have been some pretty significant evidence stacked up against her if her attorney felt the plea bargain was her best option. It still just didn’t sit right with me. Bella wouldn’t do this. I wouldn’t believe it until I heard it from her mouth.
After doing a fair bit of research, I learned what hospital she was at and I attempted to call to see if I could speak with her.
“Maricopia County Mental Health this is Bree, how may I direct your call?”
“Yes ma’am, I’m trying to get in touch with a patient there. Isabella Swan.”
“Just a moment, sir.”
My heart started racing. Would it really be that easy? Would it really have been that easy all this time?
“I’m sorry, sir. She cannot accept phone calls.”
Deflation. “Well what is your address? Can I write to her?”
“Let me check.”
I heard her hitting some keys on her computer.
“No sir, she cannot accept mail either, I apologize. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Well who I can speak to on her behalf? I need to get in touch with her.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I am unable to release that information.”
I sighed, frustrated. “Thank you.” I disconnected the call and the wheels started turning in my head. If I couldn’t call her or write to her, I’d just have to go see her.
~
When I told my family that I was planning on going to the states to try to find Bella, they all thought I was crazy. Initially my father refused to allow me time off work, but after I begged and pleaded he finally relented, advising I could handle some of our accounts in the states while I was there. I agreed, immediately. We had several accounts in Los Angeles and I could easily stop by there on the way in and out of Phoenix.
I spent the next week doing even more research and working with a private investigator that I hired in Phoenix. I knew where Bella’s mother lived. I knew where her father was buried. I knew where the hospital was in which Bella was sentenced. I knew the office in which her attorney worked. I knew how much money Renee inherited upon Charlie’s death. When I felt like I had enough information, I booked my flight and my hotel. I was planning to stay at least a week in Phoenix and a week in Los Angeles. I packed my bags, and left London on a journey that would change my life forever.
***Author’s Note: Sorry this one was a shorty, but the next one will make up for it! Thank you all for reading/reviewing. For those of you who have not already been out to see Water for Elephants, you must! It is absolutely stunning, by far the best movie I’ve seen in a while.
Twitter: AllOrNothingKR
Facebook: AllOrNothingKR at gmail (dot) com
**CHAPTER 16 - CLICK HERE**
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