Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Growing Up

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 03:

BPOV

“You must really not like me very much, huh?” I figure I may as well get this out there. He spent thousands changing me into a different person. Even Alice didn’t go this far.

“What are you talking about?”

“You have pretty much changed me into a different person. The hair. The clothes, the makeup, the damn shoes. I’m just thinking you must have really thought I wasn’t good enough.”

“Bella, look at me. Do you really think I am the type of guy who gives a damn about stuff like that?” He asked. Damn his eyes.

“I can only guess. I mean, I just went through 12 hours of being transformed into someone I don’t recognize.”

“Do you not like the way you look?” He asked, turning his head back to the road.

“That’s beside the point and didn’t answer my question.”

“Bella you were beautiful the way you were and you still are. I don’t give a damn what you wear. But you had a very casual look. I can appreciate that. I like casual. But the Cullens ain’t gonna stop searching for you. The last place anyone will ever look is for the blonde haired blue eyed rich girl hanging out at Halbrook Academy in Austin Texas. Nobody is going to look for you there. Nobody is going to ask questions there. One because I can pay off the Head Master and Principle not to ask questions. Two because those kids are so damn self-absorbed they ain’t gonna worry about digging too deep in a cover story for you. They don’t care. That’s why we did what we did today. It has nothing to do with how you were.”

Did he just say…

“You think I’m beautiful?” I asked quietly.

Peter took a deep breath.

“Yeah okay? But that doesn’t matter. I was turned when I was 24. You are 17. You are still a kid whether you want to admit it or not. Now if you don’t like it I can take you tomorrow, we can’t get your hair back to brown, get you enrolled in public school and try our luck. But while you are sleeping at night, instead of sitting in a corner watching you snore, I am actually thinking about this stuff. So why don’t you trust me, do what I say and stop worrying about whether I like you?”

“I want you to like me.” I said quietly before I could stop it from coming out.

“Do you like you?”

What the hell does that have to do with him liking me?

“Yeah. I like myself.”

“Really? Cause I don’t think you do. Clothes and hair color and all that shit don’t mean a thing. It ain’t you. Do you like you?”

“I guess.” I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean I guess I always just kind of saw myself as average.

“When you know that you like yourself then you can start worrying about whether I like you or anybody else likes you. Until you like your self, ain’t no one’s opinion of you is going to matter.”

God he had a way of pissing me off. I don’t believe anyone has ever pissed me off in such a short amount of time knowing him as Peter can.

“Do you like you?” See how he likes his own self examination.

“No.”

Oh. Okay. Guess he is pretty in touch with himself.

“Why not?” Not that I cared. I didn’t like him either. Much. I mean he was okay.

“I’m sure you think it’s because of all that I’m a monster stuff Cullen told you. I am a monster. That’s not the part I don’t like. Hell I accept being a monster. I even enjoy it at times. We are all monsters to some degree. The part I don’t like is that I live my life with a single goal of killing someone who I feel has wronged me. I recognize it is not a healthy way to live. But I got nothing else.”

“You got me now.” I said looking at him in the eyes and wondering where I got the courage to say that.

“Do I? Are you really with me?”

“Yes.” I answered without hesitation.

“Then please trust me and stop giving me shit about how I want you dressed. One day if you decide you want to be a vampire, when you are older and can make a completely informed decision, then we can head to Australia or the Congo and you can run around in the wild butt naked for all I care. But for right now, Bella, I need you to trust me.”

I nodded my head. I would. I had a lot to think about. A lot to mull over about my behavior the past several months. How I let myself get here. Why did I leave Charlie? He could have easily been attacked as soon as I was gone just to prove a point to the Cullens and I.

What must he be going through now?

I pulled myself away from Peter. As pissed off as he could make me, it was difficult not to be around him. Not difficult as much as I felt more comfortable around him. I needed to unpack these clothes. I needed to learn to walk in heels without falling on my face. I needed to think about my life. Peter says he will turn me if I want. But if he doesn’t even like me, why would I want to be a vampire? I get that we were mates. I felt the spark that damn near knocked me out of my shoes the first time he touched me. I knew in that instant that we belonged together. But he doesn’t want me. He says I am a child. I suppose to him I am…

Then there were the dreams. Only two so far but they felt so real. Did it mean anything? Was my imagination running away with me?

It was probably my imagination. One main thing I had to ponder on was Edward. Edward and the Cullens.

Peter was very, very different than Edward.

Was Peter right? Did Edward like me because of my blood and the silence of my mind? Why did he watch me sleep? He was with me constantly. If we weren’t at school or his house we were in my room, unknown to Charlie.

Since Edward decided we would be public at school, it had pretty much been the two of us or Alice if anyone.

I sat and thought about the decisions I had made since coming to Forks. Decisions that had led me here. I must have drifted off to sleep at some point. I sort of remember Peter walking in and lifting me from the chair in my room and laying me under my covers.

I was having a baby. God it hurt. Why wasn’t I in a hospital? I was in a hut of some sort. It was covered with palm leaves. I was screaming a name. I didn’t recognize the name but I knew I was screaming for Peter. A dark woman was delivering my baby. I heard a scream. It was me. Then crying. My baby. Peter walked in and held him. Peter was wearing a kilt. He had beautiful long hair. He had tears running down his face.

A knock on my door woke me as he was about to place the baby in my arms.

I peeked out from under the covers and saw him at the door.

“What’s wrong? Did I fart to loud?”

Oh damn I just said that. I should probably not talk for an hour after I wake up.

“You need to come into the living room.” Peter turned around and walked away.

I stood up and grabbed a pair of very expensive blue jean shorts and a t shirt from my drawer and got dressed. I brushed my teeth. I didn’t want him to smell morning breath. Why did I always worry about what other people thought?

Maybe Peter is right. Maybe if I liked myself more I wouldn’t need to constantly seek the approval of others. Maybe I could have stood up to Edward instead of letting him shove me a car with Alice and Jasper and shipped me off.

I didn’t bother with shoes. Screw it. Maybe I would get that bikini that clothing terrorist made me get and take a dip in the hot tub later. I wonder what Peter would think of his little niece then?

Face it Bella. That isn’t happening. It would be cool if it did though.

I walked in and saw Peter sitting in front of his laptop on the coffee table. Surprise, surprise, he did not look happy.

“What’s wrong? Stock Market crash? You need to return my clothes?”

“Bella have a seat. I got something I need to tell you.”

Damn. Why did I have a feeling this wouldn’t be good?

Peter POV

Those fuckers couldn’t wait a week? Three days? They didn’t waste time.

“Bella where did you leave your truck?”

“At the Cullens. Why?”

“Bella… they staged your death. Your truck was found at the bottom of a ravine. Burned up. Made to look like it exploded on impact. You have been declared dead.”

The look on her face was heart breaking. Poor kid. I knew they would pull something like this but so soon?

“That’s impossible Peter. They should have at least tried to find me. Get me back to Charlie right? Right Peter? I figured I would go missing a while.”

She is still holding on, isn’t she?

“Bella they don’t know if you are alive or dead. But they couldn’t risk your truck being found at their place. Plus this allows them to look for you without having to worry about your Daddy looking for you at the same time.”

“So what would happen if they found me? They would keep me somewhere?” She was freaked out. I could understand.

“Edward would have hidden you away until you got too old or he couldn’t stand it anymore and would have drained you. That’s if Jasper hadn’t changed you first. He would be interested in your ability to block Edward’s power. Jasper is a collector. He likes to collect. Believe me, I know.”

“Peter I realize you are angry at Jasper for turning you but Edward would never…”

Yeah. It was starting to hit her now.

“They can’t declare me dead without a body.” She whispered.

“They got one, kid.” I told her.

“Don’t call me a fucking kid!” she screamed. Okay. I guess maybe I deserved that. I’m not good with emotional situations.

“Where did they… no, they could prove that it wasn’t me, Charlie would…”

“The body was a female about your height and size, traces of brown hair remaining.”

“Dental records?”

“Can be faked by a good doctor with connections. You know anyone like that?” If she was holding on any illusions after this she was too far gone to save now.

She was quiet for a few minutes. I didn’t say anything. She needed to work this out.

“They know I am probably not dead Peter. Where did they get a body?”

“Stole one I imagine Bella. Some family is going to be missing the body of their daughter. Probably in the Seattle area where mistakes are more likely to happen. Maybe in Arizona at one of the big Phoenix hospitals. Maybe Jasper killed a girl. Either way a body that isn’t your is going to be laid to rest in your grave. I’m sorry to tell you this Bella. I figured the bastards would have looked a little longer, but…”

“But they never planned on bringing me back, did they? They were going to run with me. Edward was. He knew what… does this mean they will stop looking?” Her face was going through so many emotions I couldn’t keep up.

“No. This means when they find you, they don’t have to come up with an excuse for turning you or Edward holding you hostage till you’re an old lady. It means we have to be more careful about hiding you from them but not so much form police searching for a missing person.”

“Peter… Oh my God. I told you what I said to Charlie. The last thing I said to him? He thinks… oh no. Oh no. God no.”

“Bella…” I started not knowing really what to say. She solved the problem for me though. She ran to her room. I could hear her crying even though it sounded like she buried her head under the pillow.

Damn.

I knew what she said to her Dad to get him to let her go. She planned on apologizing to him when the nomad was taken out. But Edward wasn’t coming to Phoenix to take out the nomad. He didn’t know the nomad was there. He was coming for Bella. He wanted to take my Mate and run.

Bella stayed in her room all day and night. I brought her dinner and sat it on her dresser. She wasn’t crying any longer. Just looking out the window at the lake. She slept that night, tossing and turning. Mumbling louder than ever before. She kept apologizing to her Dad and Mom.

The next day was more of the same. She came out a few times. Mumbled a good morning and then went back to her room to read one of the books I had gotten her. She wasn’t crying anymore but she looked as dead as the world thought she was. She barely ate dinner.

Damn it.

I knew what I had to do. But I couldn’t. It would complicate things. It would cause so many problems.

I needed to make a phone call.

My friend picked up the phone on the first ring. Like he does every time I call him.

“Peter! How are you?”

“Hello Jenks. I’m the same. How about you?”

“I’m doing great Pete.”

“Business doing okay?”

“Nah. You know crime don’t pay Pete.”

I laughed a little. I wasn’t in the mood but I tried.

“So what is our favorite boy doing now? Any word from him?”

“Mr. Hale has actually been quite busy. He has been asking me to contact private investigators and bounty hunters and recruiting them in a search for a missing girl. One Isabella Swan. The same Isabella Swan who was found dead yesterday. I called him today and asked if he would like the search stopped. Want to guess what he said?”

“I’m betting knowing Jasper, he wanted the search intensified.” I said bitterly.

“Yes. Which leads me to believe the unfortunate burnt person in that truck was not Isabella Swan.”

“Yeah.” I said. I trusted Jenks. I worked with his father and I worked with him since he was 18. He was the one who taught me everything I knew about fake identities. He worked for Jasper as well. What Jasper didn’t realize was that instead of making him fear me, like Jasper did, I actually was friendly to him. As such I always knew exactly what ID Jasper was using. Where his coven was living. Where they were going to “School”. Jenks told me everything. I simply promised that if Jasper ever decided Jenks had outlived his usefulness I would take care of Jasper before he could touch Jenks. I also paid him much more than Jasper. I had a hunch I could trust his family from the start. I always followed my hunches.

“He ask for new IDs?”

“Yeah. They wanted to use the name Mason this time. Setting up shop in Utah. He said he wanted the IDs ready in two weeks. You want the address?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

I wrote down the address and placed the pad in a drawer.

“So what do you want me to do about this search Pete? Anything?”

“Yeah. I want you to tell him you have hired hundreds of investigators and the girl has disappeared. You won’t actually hire any investigators of course. In a month or so you may happen to receive a tip from one of your imaginary investigators that the girl was seen at an airport in the company of a lovely red headed female. Unknown destination.”

“Sounds good Pete. Anything else? You set on IDs? Need any new bank accounts?”

“No. I’m good. Do need to know of any movements you notice Jasper making or any unusual requests, especially as it pertains to this girl.”

“Right away Pete.”

“Thanks. Hey did your daughter get that birthday present I sent her?”

“Yeah. A fucking horse? Hard to miss Peter. Damn thing eats like a pig. Plus the stable fees. The time I have to spend taking her out there. Thanks for that buddy.”

“Did she like him?” I asked smiling.

“Yeah, she loved him. Me not so much. Take care of yourself Pete. I will be in touch if our common friend makes any new moves.”

“I can always count on you Jenks. Thank you.”

The next morning Bella emerged from her room. She had actually gotten dressed and brushed her hair out. I liked her beautiful brown hair but she couldn’t look like herself. Even though the Cullens would recognize her scent, I had to worry about whether or not they hired other investigators Jenks didn’t know about. Just because they were moving to Utah didn’t mean they were staying there. They were going to use that as a base of operations to search the Southwest.

Bella walked to the water’s edge out the back and sat next to a tree. She began reading again. Finally after four hours she came in and fixed herself a sandwich.

“Tell me why you hate Jasper? It has to be more than turning you into a vampire.”

I looked at her for a moment to long I guess because she took a deep breath and stood up.

“Wait. Sit.” Shit she just glared at me. “Please sit?”

She sat back down.

“What did the Cullens tell you about Jasper?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Not much. Edward said he had a hard time with human blood so he mostly kept me away from him.

“Jasper Whitlock. Whitlock was his human name. He was a major in the confederate army during the civil war. He was turned by a vampire named Maria. Back then vampires became involved in wars between covens over feeding territories. Jasper became Maria’s chief of command.”

“Okay.” I guess she got that.

“Jasper turned people into vampires he thought would be strong vampires. Vampires are usually there strongest in the first year after being turned. After a year Jasper would kill them and make more. He turned me. The reason I stayed alive is because I my strength never went away.”

“You were valuable as a fighter?” she nodded.

“Yes. The problem was the details of my awakening were somewhat fuzzy. I remembered Jasper biting me. I woke up and didn’t have clear memories of my human life. It happens to come of us.”

“Yes. Alice Cullen has no memories of her human life.” Bella said quietly.

“One day we were culling newborns. That’s what Jasper liked to call it. We would gather those who weren’t great fighters or whose year was nearly over. We would kill them. We would call them back one by one behind a shed and Jasper would rip their fucking heads off while I held them down. There was a newborn named Charlotte. She wasn’t a very good fighter. Slim thing. Pretty weak for a vampire.

Jasper was about to kill her. He reached for her neck but she was looking at me. Then it hit me…”

“What?” Bella whispered.

“She looked like my sister. My little sister. When I saw Jasper about to attack her my memories came back. All of them at once. I saw myself trying to beat him off my sister. He was torturing her. His two buddies were ripping my mother and father to pieces. He molested my little baby sister. He cracked her bones. He tore her throat nearly completely out while draining her body. I was beating him on his back the entire time. He threw me off when he was done and bit me. He was laughing and wiping my sister’s blood off his face.

When he went to attack Charlotte it all came back to me. I lost it. I attacked him. We fought. No one had ever really challenged him before. He would usually make people feel fear. He tried it on me. But my monster was loose and my anger was too great. The image of his hands breaking my sister’s bones kept running through my mind. Without his power the major wasn’t so fearsome anymore. We fought but he was no match for my strength. I was stronger. I wanted it more. I ripped his head off. I ripped his limbs off. I turned and Charlotte was just standing there. I heard other vampires coming. I wanted to light him up but I didn’t have a match and I didn’t have time to get one. I just knew I had to get her to safety. I grabbed her and we ran. Most of those scars on Jasper? He got them from me.”

“Scars?” Bella asked quietly.

“Yeah I imagine he likes to keep them covered up. I got a few from him too. It’s probably hard for your human eyes to tell but they are there. They ain’t shit compared to ones on my soul.”

“What happened to the girl? Charlotte?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “She is around. I saw her about fifty years ago. I catch nomads sometimes traveling around. She is doing good last I heard. She joined a few other nomads and is traveling. She is safe. But I haven’t seen her in a long time. Doesn’t matter. She wasn’t my sister. But at least I got to save somebody from that son of a bitch.”

Bella was quiet. I wasn’t sure how she would take this. Then she stood up and did the last thing I expected. She reached over and hugged me. I was so surprised I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been hugged. I would imagine it would have been my sister or parents when I was human.

“I understand why you feel the way you do…” she whispered in my ear… “Thank you for telling me.” She backed up and wiped a tear from her eye. Turning around she walked back towards her room.

“Bella wait.”

She stopped and turned.

“Sit back down, please? I need to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

She sat. I asked, we talked, we talked some more.

“You think they could both stay quiet?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“You swear you won’t leave me? You will stay hidden with me? No matter what?”

“Yes Peter. I don’t know how I feel about you. Truthfully I have no idea how you feel about me. But I know I am supposed to be with you right now. Call it a hunch. I’m learning to follow my instincts. But if you aren’t sure…”

“You think he can handle it then, I trust you. If we are going to be mates we are going to have to trust each other right?” I grinned.

She just nodded. Damn it looked like she was crying again. At least this wasn’t sad tears.

This was going to be an added complication I didn’t need. It was an unnecessary risk. It was a stupid idea.

But it would make her happy. Damn it.

I dialed the number she gave me.

“Hello?” The voice answered, sounding very, very broken. It was a tone I recognized.

“Charlie Swan?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“My name isn’t important right now. But you need to realize this isn’t a joke or a prank call. I have information about your daughter. Information you need to know about her, the Cullens and what has been happening since she came to Forks.”

“Who the fuck is this? My daughter is dead!”

“Charlie. I’m gonna need you to trust me on this. Underneath your bed is a shot gun right? The vacuum cleaner is in the hall closet. You go upstairs, take a right and it’s the one at the end of the hall next to your room. Bella’s room is directly at the top of the stairs across the hall.”

“Who are you? Please?” he was begging.

“My name is Peter. That is all you need to know right now. Do you want to know why your daughter left that night? The real reason? How the Cullens were involved?”

“Yes…”

“Are the Cullens still in town?”

“No. They left this morning. Dr. Cullen claimed Edward was too broken up about Bella dying.”

“Good. Attend her funeral tomorrow. The next day be on a flight to Florida, to see your ex wife. When you get to her house I will call you again. We will meet. You cannot say a word about this to anyone. I suspect anyone besides you or your ex wife knows about this the meeting is off and I am gone, understand?”

“Yes. I understand. Did you… did you kill my daughter?”

“No I did not. Will you be there? I could go on about the placement of items in your house? What drawers hold what clothes. You get the idea.”

“I will be there. Is there anything you want? Money?”

“No… actually there is. I need you to find a metal rod at your ex wife’s house. Something unbendable. Steel pipe, Something no person could possibly break. I am going to need it for part of this story. If not we will waste time getting you to believe. I don’t have time right now. See you in two days in Florida. If anyone asks you are going there to collect things Bella left behind, understand?”

“Please tell me what is going on. Please. I have to bury my little girl tomorrow. I can’t take this.” I looked at Bella. She was crying. I guess she could hear.

“Charlie, I don’t know who that is ya’ll are burying tomorrow but it ain’t your daughter. If you want this to go down though you are going to do a damn good job of pretending it is. You got me?”

Charlie Swan was silent.

Finally after thirty seconds he spoke.

“What drawer are my socks kept in?”

“Second drawer from the bottom.”

“I’ll see you in two days. My daughter’s funeral is tomorrow. I need to get some sleep.”

“Night Charlie.”

“Good night Peter.”