Chapter 9: Memories

Chapter 9: Memories

I beat Edward to Bella’s house, whirling into her back yard half a second before he did. Although, to be fair, that was only because he slowed down to check if Charlie was in.

“I win, I win!” I crowed, dancing around in a circle.

Edward darted out of the trees.

“You cheated!” he growled, springing at me. I danced away, twirling out of his reach every time he tried to grab me. I couldn’t stop laughing, watching his face stretch into a huge smile.

A light laugh from above our heads made us both stop. Bella was leaning on her window sill, watching us with amused interest.

The breeze suddenly changed direction, blowing her hair around her face, and her scent in our direction. Edward gave me a worried glance, wondering how I would react to a human scent, especially one as strong as Bella’s.

I gagged.

The smell was disgusting! I had never smelled anything worse. I was briefly reminded of Bella describing the way blood smelled to her - like rust and salt - before my stomach twisted and felt like I was going to throw up. I bent over, clutching my stomach, and tried to rally enough concentration to change back to my human form.

I heard, through the roaring in my ears, Edward’s voice, asking me what was wrong, and then the faint sound of a window closing. The smell disappeared with the sound, and I collapsed onto the grass, finally managing to complete my Change. Within half a second of being human again, my forehead was clammy and I was exhausted... but the nausea was fading.

“Becky?” Edward asked again, anxious. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” I croaked. I coughed, trying to clear my throat. One cool hand smoothed across my forehead, while another lifted me into a sitting position. I realised my eyes were closed, and when I cracked them open Bella was just coming out of the back door, a worried look on her face. I shook my head, trying to clear the dizziness. A few deep breaths helped, but my head was pounding like the pistons on a steam engine. I moaned and clutched my head.

“Should I call Carlisle?” Bella asked anxiously, coming to kneel on the grass beside me. “You don’t look so good.”

I shook my head again. “I’ll be ok in a minute. Your scent just took me off guard a little.”

Edward nodded, as if he had expected that would be the route of the trouble. “The thirst can be uncomfortable. I’ve never seen anyone react like that before though...”

He trailed off; listening to the replay I was running in my head.

“I wasn’t thirsty,” I said in a quiet voice, “I never have been. Right from the start... it just wasn’t there.”

“What then?” Bella wondered. She was bizarrely nonchalant, considering we were discussing why I hadn’t wanted to kill her the second I smelled her.

“The smell... I can’t even describe it.” My nose wrinkled at the memory. “I just felt so sick I couldn’t even stand up. I think it’s probably The Necklace’s idea of protecting me. It knows I don’t want to hurt people in that form, so it made them physically disgusting to me.”

“Are you sure?” Edward asked, frowning. “It seems a little bit odd. Isn’t it supposed to protect you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Don’t ask me how this thing works; I haven’t got a clue.”

I played absently with the little silver bow as I spoke, twisting it in my fingers. My head was starting to clear and my forehead had quickly dried off in the chilly Forks air. I managed to pull myself up onto my feet, but made use of Edward and Bella’s helping hands to get inside.

For the rest of the afternoon, as I sat in Bella’s living room listening to her talking with Edward and getting over my queasiness, I pondered just how much I didn’t know about the Silver Necklace. I had no idea of the extent of its power, or its limitations beyond the rules instilled by those above me. Thinking of them made me shiver.

My life was controlled by forces far beyond the comprehension of most people. The Volturi didn’t compare.

There was Hope, of course, but even she answered to someone. Someone who had the power to terrify us all with just the sound of his name.

Darcy.

Darcy Pembrook, born in 1818, was a well respected, though widely disliked, English gentleman. In life he owned a jewellery shop. Though he was cordial to his customers, outside of his professional life he was, to put it mildly, an ass. He was rude, coarse, unsociable, degrading, insulting and utterly friendless. When a mystery supplier sold him an interesting piece one day, he couldn’t find it in him to part with it. The Silver Necklace never even touched Darcy’s shelves. He kept it in his pocket, carrying it everywhere with him. When he found out what it could do, he abused the power. At some point, something in it leaked into him, making him even worse than before.

He died the way he lived; bitter and alone.

The Necklace, along with all his other possessions, was passed to his brother. As Darcy’s only living relative, he had inherited everything when a will could not be located. Mr Pembrook gave the Necklace to his daughter as a birthday present.

And so it began. Hope made it through life without problems. It was when she passed away that the trouble began. Darcy had been existing in the strange nether region between worlds known as Unreality. When Hope joined him, her strength combined with his, and gave him the power he needed to recover, and to control her. With every new addition, he grew stronger and stronger, and the Sisters were powerless to defy him. He had haunted my nightmares from the moment I knew of his existence. Though I had yet to meet him, I knew it couldn’t be too much longer before he made an appearance.

And yet even he wasn’t at the top of the ladder. The Necklace came to him in mysterious circumstances. At least, they were mysterious at the time. Now we knew everything.

The ultimate power belonged to two beings. The first was Fate. We called him ‘My Lord Fate’ or just ‘My Lord’. He carried out the decisions, did the physical things that made events happen. He was a very busy man, understandably, and I had never met him either. But, unlike Darcy, I could very easily go through my life and not even catch a glimpse of Fate, or his sister.

The Lady Destiny; the true controller; the top of the heap; the one calling all the shots... the decision maker. If Destiny wanted something done, you did it, no questions asked. This last, I had had the pleasure of seeing personally. I had to ask her permission to tell Alex about my life, and, luckily, she had accepted my request.

According to Lillian, I was the only one out of all of them to have even met Destiny, much less plucked up the courage to ask for an audience with her.

My mind continued to wander, remembering that magic moment when Alex and I first got together...

Slowly, very slowly, my consciousness began to return to me. I became gradually aware of my surroundings. Small sounds, muffled and unintelligible, registered in my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of them. I couldn’t see; my eyes were closed, and when I tried to open them... nothing. I couldn’t move, not even to twitch a finger.

My hearing got clearer and clearer. The noises began to make sense.

A slow, rhythmic beeping.

Rattling window blinds.

Breathing, low and uneven, hitching in odd places.

Sobbing.

Someone was sobbing? What could there be to cry about?

More senses returning. There was a nasty taste in my mouth, the kind of thing I got sometimes first thing in the morning if I ate too soon before going to bed. I could feel the rough sheets that were wrapped around me. I could feel that I was half sat up on a lumpy bed, leaning on big pillows. I could feel the wires and tubes sticking into my arms. And I could feel hands curled around mine, and something wet dropping onto my skin.

Tears.

I felt a sudden urge to comfort this stranger; this mysterious person crying over my hands. I struggled with my lids, trying to open them. It felt like someone had glued them shut, or weighed my lashes down.

“Becky.”

It was quiet, a broken whisper, but I instantly recognised the voice. The shock broke through the walls in my head, and my eyes flew open.

A head, invisible but for a mop of unruly curly black hair, was bent over my folded hands. His shoulders heaved with the sobs that racked his body.

“Please Becky,” he whispered, “please wake up. I need you to wake up. Please. Please.”

I had to answer. I would do anything to take the pain out of his voice, anything. My throat was sore, my mouth dry, but I persevered. After half a minute of struggling, I managed to croak out a response.

“Alex?”

His head snapped up, his hazel eyes locking with mine. We stared at each other for a moment. Then he threw his arms around me, holding me tightly, but gently, in a warm, comforting embrace.

In that moment, something within me changed. I barely knew Alex; he was just a boy in my Maths class. He didn’t mean anything to me. He wasn’t even a friend, really. But here, in his arms, I felt safer than I ever had in my life. Something about him made me feel things I had never felt before.

I felt special.

I felt loved.

Alex didn’t let go of me. He leaned away slightly, but kept his arms around me. He looked into my eyes again, very serious.

“Becky,” he sighed, finally smiling. His grin was infectious; I had to smile back.

“Alex.”

He took a deep breath. “I have something I need to tell you Becky.”

I waited.

“Becky, I... I love you.”

I didn’t realize at first that I had said the words with him. But when I did, my smile grew. He loved me. And I loved him. I was certain it was true.

He gaped at me for a second, then smiled, a breathtaking smile of pure happiness. Then he leaned in, very slowly, and pressed his lips to mine.

That was my first kiss, and every time I kissed Alex, it seemed to get better. He was magical.

I was pulled out of my daydreams by Edward.

“Becky, Charlie’s around the corner. We have to go.” He smirked. “Unless you’d like to explain how we got here when neither of us has a car.”

I laughed, my blissful mood lingering. “No thanks. Let’s get out of here.”

I got up and hugged Bella, promising to be in school the next day, before exiting through the back door and hurrying a few feet into the trees before I Changed. I didn’t want to be incapacitated by her scent again.

Edward joined me a moment later, and we ran together through the trees.

When we reached the Cullen’s house, the whole family was waiting for us. I was hugged by each of them in turn, assuring each that I was fine and there had never been any danger.

They finally let me leave around ten. I was exhausted; I could barely stand, much less run, so Alice drove me home.

Once again, I fell asleep to dreams of my darling Alex.