Twilight: But it's a Thriller and I Never Read Twilight

Chapter 39: Isle Esme

Edward and I didn't stay until the end of the reception. When he found me returning from the woods, he grabbed my arm, smiling as he dragged me along to the house. I didn't resist, too dizzy with the sounds of music as he led me along. I hadn't fully wiped the tears out of my eyes, but he didn't seem to notice them or think to put together why it was I had been crying. We just headed into the house where the lights were too bright white and the music from outside became a muffled beating.

"Get some sleep tonight," he told me. "We have a long day tomorrow."

My head rushed, trying to put it together in my head. We were married, I realized. That had been the ultimatum, and that had to mean he was turning me into a vampire. My mouth went suddenly dry as I looked at his dark smirk. My eternity with him would start with this, and once it was done all of it would be worth it.

"Tomorrow," I said. I leaned into him, wrapping my tired arms around him and pressing my forehead into his neck. I was so tired from the day's events that I was just amazed that our journey was almost over. Everything we'd done to be together was behind us. All the tests and the promises I'd kept. It all came to this.

"Go now," he said, dragging me out of his embrace. "We have an early morning tomorrow. Your bags are already packed."

I nodded weakly and followed his lead to bed. He held tight to my arm as we traversed the steps toward the room set aside for me. As soon as I turned on the light, I saw what he meant. Two suitcases were packed and sitting next to the vanity as we stumbled in. I nearly fell into bed with my wedding dress still on, but Edward stood me up and started to undo all the laces in the back with a fast and rough hand.

My tongue was thick and heavy in my mouth, stopping me from saying anything as he slid my arms through the sleeves and yanked the whole thing free from my body. I didn't know how I had gotten so dizzy and so tired. Perhaps it was all the grief of friendships lost and a young, single life gone. My world would be different from now on. I'd welcome being a vampire, I knew that well enough, but there was all this weight on my chest, all this loss.

I was too lost in my own skin to really do much of anything but get myself into bed and drag the blankets over my naked form. Edward sat on the bed next to me, his eyes glazing over me as I tried to find comfort in my sore bones. Swallowing down all the fog in my throat, I finally found the air to speak.

"Good night, Edward," I said, soft and slow, pushing each syllable out as precisely as I could manage.

"Good night, Bella," he returned, his low voice much clearer than mine. He seemed so levelheaded while I was swimming in overwhelming emotion. Love for him, loss for Jacob and Jessica, bittersweet regret that I would never be able to go back home again. My life was starting anew, and I felt drunk on it.

"Are you going to turn out the light?" I asked, wobbling through the words once again.

"I wanted to stay here and watch you," he said. "I'll make sure you get to sleep just fine."

I nodded weakly and closed my eyes, ceasing the burning that came at the back of my eyes as the light of my room bore into me. I laid silently, drifting into a heavy sleep, like an anchor drifting to the bottom of the ocean. The last thing I felt before I was out was Edward's hand tracing lines along my bare hip.

When I woke, I was still sore all over. The birds were chirping a song that banged into my head as they sang. Slowly, I opened my eyes and peeped out over my blankets to find Edward gone from the room. Light streamed in from the sunrise, shining into my eyes as I tried to bring myself into the morning.