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Chapter 23: Skeletons in the Closet
Into The Sun
All this time we're going nowhere and we know it
I was so blind
All the lights are leading to where you're going
I'm not far behind
And now we're running into the sun
Getting close to something into the sun
You know that we're falling
We're falling back into the sun
His eyes shifted between me and the device in his trembling hand. He shook his head. "I don't know what-" His words trailed off.
I lifted our linked fingers to my face, cupping his palm against my cheek. His eyes were solely on me now. "He doesn't expect anything from you, okay? No expectations. You can say whatever you want. You can even ask him questions if that's what would help you become more comfortable. But if you'd like, I can make a suggestion how to start."
He nodded. "Okay."
I smiled. "Try asking him how he is. That's how a lot of conversations begin."
He pulled the Walkie-talkie toward his mouth, hesitating midway, taking in a deep breath, then continued the ascent, pausing a few inches from his mouth. "How… are you?"
He was still disconnected some emotionally, but I hoped as the conversation progressed, that would change.
The crackle from the other end registered once again through the air, then Marcus's voice came through, emotionally sound. "I'm… yeah, I'm doing good." Each word punctuated heartfelt emotion. "I'm doing real good. How are you?"
Edward's eyes trained on me as he answered. "I'm good. Bella's here with me."
I brought his hand to my lips, kissing his palm. "You're doing so good."
"That's… uh… that's real good that she's there with you. She's a special one, isn't she?"
Edward nodded, though Marcus couldn't see him. "Yes."
It occurred to me then that maybe if Edward heard me interact with Marcus, the calm easiness between us, it might make him less jittery to do the same.
"Can you hold the button down so I can say something to Marcus?" I asked Edward. He went to hand me the receiver instead, but I shook my head. "It's okay, you can still hold onto it. I just wanna say something real quick."
"Alright."
His fingers pressed in the mic key. "Hey, Marcus. Are you hanging in there?"
I nodded toward Edward, and he released the button. Marcus's nervous laugh came through the receiver. "I'm doing alright, kid. I think you know where my head is at, yeah?"
I smiled, knowing exactly what he was telling me. I felt Edward's eyes on me, watching me closely. "I think I do. It's a good thing, though, isn't it?"
"It is. You know what I wanna say to you, right?"
Edward pressed the mic key again, his interest in my conversation with Marcus obvious. "I do, and I'm gonna tell you again you don't have to. It's been worth it." I glanced at Edward and smiled. "It's been very worth it. Anyway, I'll let you talk with him again."
"Sounds good."
"What do I say to him?" Edward asked me.
I squeezed his hand. "Say whatever you feel like."
His thumb was aligned over the button, his forehead scrunched in thought while his eyes shifted back and forth over his lap. Finally, he sighed and pressed the button in. "Umm… thank you."
"What for?" Marcus was surprised.
Edward glanced at me for reassurance, then answered. "You know, for the food and clothing. Well, for all of it. I just… I wanted to say thank you."
"Oh, you don't have to thank me for that." Marcus cleared his throat of the emotion coming through his voice. "It was nothing doing."
"But you didn't have to do it," Edward whispered.
Even whispered, Marcus heard him, and he was just as affected as Edward. "I wanted to. I wanted to do it." He paused, collecting himself. "And so you know, if you need anything… yeah, you can just have Bella let me know, and I'll be sure you get it."
As silence fell between them again, I used the quiet to compose myself. I was slammed with a whirlwind of emotion the moment they began speaking to one another. Pride, happiness, adoration, so many good feelings rushed through my body, finding no other way to purge itself but through the tears that slid down my cheeks.
I wondered which of them would end the silence first. It was Marcus.
"Bella tells me you like watching movies." His nervous grasp at conversation was pretty endearing.
"I do," Edward told him. "I enjoy them as much as I do listening to music."
"Good deal." A noise filtered through that sounded like Marcus's bench seat moving. "That's a real good deal. Yeah, I don't get to watch much television, but I do love me the classics."
"Classics?" Edward questioned.
"Oh… uh… old time movies. The black and white ones."
"I've seen some of those. Bella and I watched one recently. I believe it was called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
"That was a good one. You got any others you like?"
I watched Edward, awestruck at his strength. "I realize it's probably a movie meant for kids, but I actually liked E.T."
Marcus laughed. "You're never too old for E.T. I liked that one myself. In fact, that's how I got to liking Reese's Pieces."
Edward shook his head, eyes downcast. "I've never had Reese's Pieces."
"We'll have to change that, then. I'll get you some the next time I run out." In that moment, I couldn't have loved Marcus more.
"You don't have to do that."
"Well, we can't have you going without tasting some Reeses Pieces. No, sir… We can't have that."
I listened to them, my heart swelling with love for the man who owned my heart and soul… and for the other man who was in all the ways that mattered Edward's father. Their interaction, it was a thing of beauty, something I could sit and witness on a daily basis.
Conversation with loved ones was taken for granted these days… or nonexistent, but with these two? They were seeking that connection, even through the unknown, and that connection was cherished. The tension eased the longer they spoke, and it became so that Edward didn't look at me for some kind of direction.
They spoke for about an hour, discussing different subjects, even music and books, and I loved every single second of it. I felt lucky to be a part of something that I considered profound.
Afterward, Edward and I lay together on the mattress.
"I didn't know," he whispered.
"Didn't know what?" I asked as I shifted closer to him while running my fingers softly through his hair.
"That it would be like that." His voice was so low, his eyes still lifted toward the ceiling.
"Do you mean talking with Marcus?"
"Yeah." He turned on his side, facing me, age beyond his years flourishing behind his green eyes. "His voice, it wasn't…" His brow furrowed.
I ran my hand down his back and began rubbing in a circular motion to soothe him. "It wasn't what?"
"It wasn't cold," he murmured. "It wasn't Aro's."
I shook my head. "No, it wasn't."
The fingers of his right hand skimmed along my cheek. "When you talked to him, for me, you were good with him." His words and stare held so much adoration.
I placed my hand over his, curling my fingers around , and pulled downward, tucking it against my chest so his palm rested over my heart. "So were you."
"Thank you… for being here with me."
"There's nowhere else I'd want to be."
"Do you have to leave?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No, I'm staying here."
He briefly glanced down at his hand placed over my heart. "Your heart is beating so fast."
"I know," I whispered.
"So beautiful," he breathed, his eyes canvassing my face with such awe it left me breathless. "Inside and out. You nearly blind me, Bella." He leaned forward, nuzzling his nose against mine. "Você é tão preciosa para mim, meu anjo."
-OO-OO-
The abrupt shift on the bed and a loud gasp woke me from the sleep I hadn't realized I fell into. Edward was sitting upright on the mattress, both hands running down his face, his breathing staccato. I sat up beside him, wrapping my arms around him. "Are you okay?"
He shivered. "I'm fine."
He wasn't, though. I could feel it as much as hear it.
"Was it a bad dream?"
He lay back down on the pillow and reached for me, pulling me against him. He remained silent, staring up at the ceiling as he usually did when he was mentally deliberating, but I didn't press, knowing he'd tell me when and if he were comfortable enough to do so.
The silence was thick, the lack of sound making my ears ring.
Words I had already assumed I wouldn't hear sliced through the quiet. "It was raining outside that day. I know because I could hear the drops hitting against the roof of the house. There wasn't much of a sound barrier from the noises outside. It was dark, but only because I was locked in the closet again. It's where he kept me when he left. I'd been in there so long I lost track of time. I wasn't sure if it was as dark outside as it was in that closet.
"I hurt all over from the hunger. I felt weak too. He liked keeping me weak. The space was so small, and I knew I was breathing in the same air I'd just exhaled. It was so hot, and that on top of being hungry made me feel dizzy.
"I curled up on my side, thinking if maybe I put some pressure against my stomach, then it wouldn't hurt so bad, but it didn't make a difference. I started sucking in fresh air through the bottom of the door. I liked the feel of the coolness of it on my tongue. I imagined it was water, but that only made me thirstier than I already was. Sometime later, I heard Aro's voice. It was muffled because the closet door was shut, but not only because of that – he'd been drinking. I knew what happened when he drank."
Tears had fallen from my eyes, catching on the material of his shirt. I could feel the ach in his words. "Edward, you-"
"Please let me do this," he whispered. "It's poison inside me, and I… I need to tell you to get it out."
"I'll listen," I promised. I wrapped my arm around his chest, meshing our bodies closer together so he could draw strength from me if he needed it.
He took a deep breath. "I always knew what happened when he drank. I expected it… the fists, the angry kicks, the leather strap that left its signature on my skin more times than I could count. I waited, because I knew it was coming, and as he opened that door with a calming force, I cowered as far back against the wall as I could get. I would have climbed inside that wall if I could because that was not how he usually acted at all. He was never calm. I just knew my time had run out. I felt it as sure as the rapid beat of my heart. I was going to take my last breath soon.
"The alcohol was so strong it polluted the air. There was no smell but the stink of alcohol, or maybe it was my fear and soiled clothes. They mixed inside that closet and made my stomach turn. I should have been used to every one of those smells, Bella, but the three of them together did terrible things to my stomach. I wasn't so hungry anymore. But he dropped a bottle of water on the floor and put a plate of burnt rice in front of me. It was plain, no seasoning. It looked old too.
"He told me to eat it, and I knew better than to go against anything he said. As much as the smell in the air made me queasy, my stomach sensing the food in front of me started growling again. I looked at that rice, thinking he probably poisoned it, but I was so hungry, and I thought that at least the poison would be a better way to go than being beaten to death. You know what else was strange?"
I found his word choice odd, because to me, the entire situation wasn't strange, it was sick. But to him, that had been his normal, everyday life. "No."
"He watched me eat every bite without saying a word. His feet never moved. I was sure that he'd poisoned the food then, thinking he was watching me just so he could see me die. I finished eating anyway, I was gonna let the poison claim me, but the pain wasn't completely gone. I'd waited so long to eat. He still stood there, as quiet and calm as ever. I kept my eyes on his feet, though. I didn't dare look up at his face.
"Finally, after I don't know how long, he said to me in a slur, 'Hell's demons are coming for you so they can take you back where you came from. You reek of their fucking stench. They marked you at birth, and your curse cost me everything. I wish I never would have laid eyes on you. I tried to give her what she wanted, so I gave her you, but your black heart destroyed everything. They know now. They're coming 'cause they know, but I'm gonna do what I should have done a lot time ago.' I waited for the blow to come with the words I didn't understand, but it never came.
"I was stupid and looked up at his face. I don't even know why. He was bloody, like someone had hurt him. He didn't say anything more, just turned around and walked away. He didn't even close the door. My eyes became heavy, so heavy, and I couldn't keep them open. The last thing I remember is hearing two voices, one Aro's, arguing and something breaking." He swallowed, the sound cutting eerily through the air. "I don't even know how I… I don't know how I…"
I knew without him finishing what came next. The anger and heartache flickered white hot within me. "There was something in the rice, wasn't there? And then you woke up here, right? Do you think he brought you here?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, and that's why I don't know if he's looking for me. It doesn't make sense because I… I really feel like he wanted to end my life, so why would he take me somewhere and leave me alive? But there was someone else there, someone he was fighting with. I think it might have been a woman. When I woke up, I woke up here. I didn't even know where here was. I opened my eyes, and everything was so black and cold. Nothing made sense. I thought… I thought he was telling me the truth, that I was going back to hell. I waited for the demons to come, but the only thing that came was… him."
"Marcus?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "The demons never came, not the ones I expected. The only demons I found were the demons in my mind. After awhile, mostly after I'd gotten down here, I realized this wasn't hell, but I had this feeling the demons were still looking for me. I felt safe here, though, like they couldn't sense me through the thick walls. I had what I needed here, but I couldn't trust anything or anyone… not until you."
"Please don't think I'm upset, but I… Do you know why you waited until now to tell me all this?"
"I still don't understand any of it." He finally turned on his left side, draping his arm over my waist and pulling me close. "It's hard to explain something when I don't understand it. It wasn't that I didn't trust you to tell you how I got here, but that night, it was… I just needed time to be able to talk about it. I know what that night was supposed to be, and talking about the night you were supposed to die isn't easy."
"He can't hurt you anymore, Edward. You aren't that child anymore. You can fight back." His eyes lowered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's not that. It's just… I have no more secrets, Bella. At least none that I know of. I needed to give you that and give me that if I'm gonna… I can't get better with secrets between us."
"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me."
His forehead rested against mine. "Trusting you wasn't the problem. Being able to give you what you deserve from me, that's what this about."
I inhaled sharply and swallowed back the anger over his self-loathing. "Haven't we already been down this road? You do give me what I deserve, and I want you to have what you deserve, which is getting out of this place. I don't like when you doubt yourself… or make what you've done less than it is. It's like you're giving all those awful things Aro said to you and about you power of control over you. None of it's true."
"I just… I look at you, and I see everything I wanted and thought I'd never have." He closed his eyes, fanning warm breath across my face as he exhaled. "I see the way I am with you, a person I never thought I'd be. I had no idea that loving this much was possible because I'd never had love before you.
"Love was just an empty word to me. But you changed that, didn't you? You gave it a definition. You found your way through all the broken parts of me and began piecing me together. It was always meant to be you, you know. Sometimes, though, I still can't believe this is all real, that you're here with me, that you're mine. There is and never will be anything more special to me than you are, Bella. I need… I need you to know that. I need to be able to show you that. I need to be able to give back what-"
"You have." I kissed him softly. "You gave me your trust and your heart. You gave me you, Edward. There's nothing you could give me that's worth more."
"I love you," he whispered. "More than my own life."
He kissed me as he pulled me closer, practically crushing our bodies together. The kiss was gentle, then hungry, an echo of the love we had for one another.
The hand dangling over my waist palmed my lower back, fingers pressing hard into the flesh under my tank shirt, before moving to my side and drifting down to my thigh. His fingertips were warm on my bare flesh, my skin accessible because of my pajama shorts, and gentle in their touch, but then his fingers hooked underneath and pulled my leg upward, draping my thigh over his waist.
His hand ran back and forth over my skin, like he was trying to learn unchartered parts of me, goosebumps rising under his touch. I whimpered as his hand shifted upward, pausing at my side, pressing his fingers partially into my backside and pulling my hips closer.
He broke the kiss, gasping for air, his lids still shut tight. "Bella," he breathed. "You're making me… I feel… God, Bella, I just…"
I could see so clearly as his eyes opened, staring into mine. Sometimes you didn't need to hear the words to know what was being said. Sometimes the eyes said it all. "I know."
-OO-OO-
I woke to soft kisses whispering along my jaw before a warm nose nuzzled below my ear. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, keeping my eyes closed as I inhaled, taking in the scent of shampoo and Edward. "Good morning." My voice was hoarse from sleep. "You smell good. Did you just shower?"
"Yeah."
"How long have you been up?"
"Awhile," he said. "I showered, then I sat here watching a movie. It got me thinking about things."
He started lifting himself off me, but I gripped him tighter, holding him to me. "Not yet. I'm not ready to let go yet."
He chuckled as he kissed my forehead. "You don't ever have to let go."
"Mmm," I hummed. "That's good. That's what I like to hear." I sighed, feeling the weight of him above me. It was comforting and right. "What were you thinking about?"
"Well that's… uh… that's why I woke you up."
I opened one eye at a time and stared up at him. "Is that so? Are you okay? Did you have another bad dream?"
He smiled, shaking his head. "You always worry about me, don't you? Why don't you let me worry about you for a change."
This time when he pulled back to lie beside me, I let him. He rested his head on a propped elbow and stared down at me. I turned on my side, mimicking his movements, catching a scene of The Elephant Man playing on the little DVD player.
Interesting choice of movie, I thought. It had to have come from Marcus.
"Is there a reason I'm not aware of that you should be worrying about me?"
He smiled. "No, that's not what I meant. After waking up from… well, I had, you know, one of those thoughts come to me that made me see things I hadn't before."
"An epiphany?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, well tell me about this epiphany you had."
He brushed a stray hair off my forehead and tucked it behind my ear. "It's just, you're always worrying, always trying to help make things better for me, but I need to be able to do some of that for myself, right? I need to make decisions of my own about my life. Isn't that the point of leaving this place? If I can't take care of myself out there, if I can't handle things on my own, I won't make it, Bella."
"But you aren't on your own."
"But I have to be able to handle being on my own, because there's always a chance that-"
"No." I sat up. "No, there's not. I refuse that option. I'm not leaving you."
"You can't promise me that."
"Yes, I can," I cried. "I can promise you that. Why are you…What is this about?"
"Hey." He sat up, reaching for me, pulling me into his lap and wrapping me in the warmth of his arms. "I'm not saying-"
"I'm not gonna lose you," I choked out, shaking my head. "I won't."
"That's not possible." He ran the pads of his thumbs under my eyes, swiping away the tears. "No matter what, you'll never lose me. But we have to be prepared for what could happen when… I've thought a lot about what you've said, and you're right about me needing more. I watch those movies, seeing all those people, and I see how different I am from all of them. Loving you, it's made me see things differently. I don't like feeling like I'm not a m-"
"Don't say it. Don't say you aren't a man because you are."
He shook his head. "Not the way I should be. What other man besides me that you know lives in an abandoned hospital, hiding away? None, right? To the rest of the outside, I'd be a freak. You said earlier that I wasn't a kid anymore, and if Aro came looking for me I could fight back. It never occurred to me at all. It seemed so strange to me, because I grew up never fighting back. I couldn't. Getting better, getting out of here, that's going to mean I have to do some fighting, even if I end up-"
"You sound like you're giving up, like you believe that's exactly what's going to happen. You really think you're going to be locked away, don't you?"
His eyes lowered. "I don't know what's going to happen, but what I do know is that you can't fix everything for me. I can't expect you to. I want to be with you, Bella. God, I want to be with you, and I can't do that here. Not here.
"You can't be my safety net either. I can't do that to you anymore. I've done that for far too long. I have to get back what was taken from me. That's what you've been teaching me, isn't it? I'm scared about what's going to happen next, I'm really scared, but sooner or later someone will find out I'm here. I've been having dreams about that a lot lately. And if I'm going to leave this place, I want to do it on my terms. I want to do it as a man."
I cupped his face within my hands. "I know what you're saying, I understand, and I'm going to let you stand on your own feet because I see how important this is to you, but I won't leave you. I'm still going to be there to support you."
"That's all I'm asking for." He kissed me. "I need you to be there but to support me. I'll meet your friend, as soon as she'd like to come, and-"
"You don't have to force it right this second."
"Yes, I do." There was no denying the resignation his voice held. "I can't go back to what I was. I can't go back to where you didn't exist. To be with you completely, I have to leave here. I can't hide here forever, expect you to come to me, and believe that no one would ever find me. You have people that care about you, and one day they might be curious enough to come visit you. But it's more than that. It's like I told you, I want to be what you deserve.
"These last couple days, Bella, they've just been… Me in here, it's not what you deserve. So, if I don't force myself, someone else will, but not in the way I'd want. You know that." I tried to lower my eyes, but his hand came up under my chin, stopping me. "You know it. So I want you to bring your friend here so I can meet her."
"Then what?" I asked curiously.
"Then I think I'd like to step outside with you."
-OO-OO-
After leaving Edward that evening, I drove over to Alice's to talk with her about meeting him. As I pulled my truck into the driveway, she and Jasper were coming out her front door, hand in hand. They both waved, then continued talking to one another.
I put the truck in park and turned off the engine, clutching onto my totebag as I climbed out the driver's side. "Hey, you two," I called out to them.
"Hey, Bella. Long time no see," Jasper said, smiling. "How you been?"
"I've been good. You know, busy working, but good."
"I've heard. Are you liking it over at that place?"
I nodded. "Yeah. As far as rundown hospitals go, it's pretty great."
"I'll bet," he laughed. "Well, I better get going so you two ladies can girl talk." He kissed Alice. "I'll call you later tonight, baby."
"Okay," she whispered, her eyes reflecting love as she stared back at him. I wondered if I appeared the same way as I stared at Edward. I bet I did.
It wasn't until Jasper's car disappeared from sight that we went inside, making our way up to her room. As soon as the door closed, the twenty questions began. "Did you use them? Tell me you used them."
I laughed at the way she bounced upon her mattress, her tiny body bursting with infectious energy. "Yes, I used them."
She squealed. "What happened? Did he talk to him? Tell me everything."
"Alice," I chuckled. "Calm down and breathe." She took a deep breath, but her body still hummed with excitement. I sat down across from her. "I was so proud of Edward. He was pretty nervous, obviously, but he still sat there with that Walkie-talkie in his hand and talked to Marcus. As the conversation progressed, he wasn't as tense. It's gonna take some time, I know, but it was a huge step for both of them."
"What did Marcus think about it all?"
I smiled. "Marcus, he was in awe… and pretty choked up too. He waited seven years for that moment. He was so great, though. He let Edward lead the conversation, and he was more than willing to answer anything Edward had to ask. It was so hard to sit there and not let what I was feeling unravel. It wasn't anything bad, it was like… umm… the way you feel when you've defeated another hurdle. I sat beside Edward, listening to them talk back and forth, and I felt like I'd really had a hand in something important. I can't explain it, but that's what it felt like."
She reached across the space between us, offering me her hand. I took it. "You feel that way because it was something important. You watched two people you care about connect. They both needed that time together. Edward needs all the support he can get, and Marcus needed to form that bond with the man he considers his son. What you did with the Walkie-talkies, it opened those doors for the both of them. You say you're proud of them, but you should be proud of yourself, too. I know I'm proud of you."
I blinked against the tears welling in my eyes. "Thank you."
She stood up and moved to the bed, sitting alongside me, pushing away scrapbooking material and pictures that sat above the comforter, and wrapped her arms around me, embracing me. "Don't get all sappy on me, Swan."
I laughed as warm tears rolled down my cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'll try harder to contain myself, Cullen." I cleared my throat, then focused on the mess of books and pictures that were now resting near the edge of the bed. "What's all this stuff?" I pointed toward the clutter. "Are you being creative?"
She reached for one of the scrapbooks, the cover etched in white and pink lace, and opened it up, showing me pictures she'd placed neatly inside, words and other décor outlining each page. "It's kind of a pet project. My mom has talked about making scrapbooks for years, but she's never gotten around to it. I'll be going off to college soon, so I thought I'd start them for her. I'm making three of them, actually. One will focus on my parent's beginning up until now. That one is already finished. I also finished the one dedicated to my father's family history. I'm now working on my mother's."
I took the scrapbook from her hands, running my fingers delicately over the lace and velvet wording. "Alice, these are really great. I'm impressed."
She blushed. "Thanks, it's really nothing, though."
"I don't think your mom will think these are nothing."
"I… uh… I gotta go in the attic and get more pictures. You wanna come with me?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure."
I followed her out of the room, down the long hallway to the last door on the left – it led up to the attic. As we climbed the stairs, the musty scent of things that sat for a long period of time filled the air.
"We don't come up here much, as you can tell."
Alice stepped forward after clearing the top step, walking right into a vacant spider web. She shrieked as her hands came up, rubbing at her face to remove the webbing. I stood back, laughing as she carried on like a crazy person.
"This is so not funny, Bella."
I continued laughing. "Yeah, it really is. But you don't have to worry, Alice. There wasn't a spider in it."
She shivered in disgust. "There could have been, though. That's so gross."
"Attics get spiders. It's, like, mandatory or something." I walked around her, chuckling. "Okay, where are these pictures we need to get?"
"Over here." She veered off to the right, so I backtracked and followed behind her. "These boxes here, they have pictures of my mom's family. I'll gather up some of the family, and you can grab some younger pictures of my mom."
"Yeah, I can do that." I gazed at all the boxes. "Which box should I go through?"
She patted her palm against the second box in the tower before me. "This one right here."
"Alright." I moved the first box, setting it on an old canopy bed that was partially draped with a white sheet covered in dust particles that were visible because so many had accumulated. I had to pull tape off the top of the box, but the tape relented easy enough, so it wasn't really taxing.
I sifted through the mass of pictures, lining up the ones neatly that I'd already searched through, then laying them in a pile on the enclosed box I had first removed.
Alice and I stopped on occasion, sharing pictures we found with one another that were either funny or sweet. She pulled one aside of Esme wearing what appeared to be a clown shirt, the ruffles vast around the neck, and bell bottoms that were wider at the calf than I'd ever seen.
Alice looked horrified at the picture she held within her fingers. "Can you believe she actually wore that? This shirt, it looks like it belongs to a pirate reject. I seriously think I may have been adopted."
I bumped her shoulder with mine, snorting. "As hideous as that thing is, you are most definitely not adopted."
"That picture is so not going in my scrapbook." She held it up, flapping it in the air. "And I'm raiding her closet to make sure this shirt is not in there. If I find it, it's getting burned."
I laughed as I stepped back toward the box I was exploring, the attic floor creaking under my steps. I resumed my search of Esme pictures, nearly forgetting the reason I stopped by Alice's house to begin with.
"Oh, once we're done, I want to talk to you about coming to the hospital and meeting…" My words trailed off as I gazed down at a picture that seemed familiar, yet wasn't. A biting coldness blew through me, chilling me to the bone.
I didn't know the woman whose face I was staring down at, had never met her before, but the features, they were so similar to ones I saw every day. It was eerie how closely they were in similarity. But that wasn't what struck me speechless. No, it was the eyes. Those eyes were ones I'd recognize anywhere. Those eyes, they were Edward's.
-OO-OO-OO-
Você é tão preciosa para mim, meu anjo = You are so precious to me, my angel.
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