Twilight 1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Luke was patient. If he hadn't been, he would have lost his mind or been killed decades ago. It was lucky for him that he knew to wait for luck. And wait he had.

He had been so careful in the past, but he had lost focus and a savior found him.

Carlisle Cullen had raised him from his deathbed and taken him away from the pain and given him salvation. Yes, he owed Carlisle. And life would have continued—or rather, perhaps it was death now?—If it hadn't been for the nosy teen who couldn't stay out of people's heads. Thoughts were private and he had done his penance—with a few slips. Everyone was fallible. There had been no call for what had followed.

But there was call for what would come.

Perched in a doorway, the overcast clouds filled the afternoon sky as he observed two girls eating at a sandwich café across the street. One was average. Curly hair, regular features, talked too much. The other was what held his attention. Quieter, with a soft-featured quality, she sipped her drink and added insight to the conversation. Her movements were even soft. Until she knocked over her soft drink that was.

So this was the one. Finally after all this time, the _mind reader_ had gained a soft spot.

He pushed away from the wall and crossed the street without regard for the traffic.

And what a beautifully delicate soft spot it was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"But seriously, you've been a terrible friend, how good a kisser is he really?"

Some days, Bella regretted not having a better friendship with Jessica. Sure, she was a little boy crazy and still oh so slightly obsessed with her fiancé … but Jessica was normal. Bella loved how Jessica faced normal problems and it was refreshing to hear her frustrations, her hopes. They wouldn't be Bella's, but she was happy for Jess.

Bella sighed and pretended to consider as she took a bite of her chocolate chip pancake. "He's alright," she finally decided, barely hiding her grin.

Jessica sputtered on her orange juice. "Alright?" She gargled. Swallowing, she shook her head. "You can't be serious."

"He's, it's …" Bella tried to describe it. "It just lights me up."

"Ohh," Jessica's eyes danced knowingly. "Alright then …"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Not like _that_ … okay, well like that too," she admitted hastily with a blush. "But what about you and Mike?"

Jessica snorted and shrugged. "Mike's just … Mike. I don't even know if I feel like I like him like him at all anymore. He's just … I don't know." She drew off and bit into her toast.

Bella let her gaze drift to the flowers dangling above them. They were purple. She didn't know what kind.

"Holy Cow."

Bella heard Jessica whistle under her breath. "What?" Bella found that her reflexes had slowed since the immediate threat of her and all her loved one's demise was now over. She was so much more relaxed—even with Edward. Especially with Edward.

"That guy is seriously so hot," Jessica's voice was hushed, but nearly a whispered squeal.

Bella tried to turn nonchalantly and noticed a guy with dark hair, shaggy, but above the chin. He had sunglasses on, but she could tell his features would be classically handsome. His body was fully developed and tall. His lean muscles moved lithely. A little too lithely …

She frowned. She was seeing monsters everywhere now.

Choking back a laugh, she shook her head. Vampires were not as common as she was used to. It had just been an anomaly.

"Yeah, he's pretty hot, Jess."

Jessica nodded, still fixated past Bella's shoulder.

"Wait, I think he's coming over here!"

Well, Bella shrugged inwardly. This was bound to be awkward.

"Ladies." The voice was pleasant and boyish. She had a front row seat of Jessica's swoon.

She turned to be polite. He really was attractive, she was forced to admit, glancing up at him.

"I hope you don't mind if I cut in," he smiled behind the sunglasses hesitantly. "But I saw you and I just had the feeling that I would really be making a huge mistake if I walked by and didn't stop."

He was talking to Jessica and Bella settled in for the long haul. Jess certainly deserved a spot of good luck too. After Edward, Bella didn't begrudge anyone a chance at love, but she hoped of course they wouldn't have to go through everything she had to keep it, of course …

"…And this is Bella." Jessica was still talking chattily, Bella realized and she gave the man a half wave.

"Hey."

"Luke," he nodded with a tilting grin. "Well," he exhaled and looked back at Jessica. "I really have to be going now, but I thoroughly enjoyed these past few moments. Can I give you my number, in case you're ever looking to do something fun?"

Jessica hastily yanked out her phone and withheld her enthusiasm by a string as she punched the numbers in with shaky hands. Bella hid a smile.

"Thanks," she said, more than slightly dazed.

He waved and walked off.

Bella watched as Jessica seemed to break from her dazed stupor and began to speak. She had a feeling she wouldn't be getting a lot of words in for the rest of their outing.

* * *

Walking to their car, Jessica pulled on Bella's arm.

"Oh my gosh, is that him? That Luke guy?"

Bella squinted. It was cloudy and the sky was darkening every minute. It looked like rain. Surprise surprise.

"Maybe."

But as they walked closer to their car, they saw it was indeed Luke, working under the hood of a very pretty red car.

"Hey, Luke!" Jessica called out to him.

"Well," Bella noticed he still wore his sunglasses. "Isn't this a weird coincidence?"

It was a little strange he would be parked right in front of them, Bella thought, frowning slightly. Jessica elbowed her.

"Is there something wrong with your car?" Jessica asked with concern.

"Yeah, I think it's the transmission actually. Thing'll start, but won't go into drive. I think I'm going to have to call a cab." His left hand was holding a small black phone.

"Well," Jessica chewed her lip and Bella tried to send her the mental no without shaking her head. "We could give you a lift if you live in the area.

Oh, Edward would not like this. Moving past Edward's future reaction, Bella realized that she didn't like it either. Luke was perfectly nice, but he made her uneasy. He just … she tried to shake off the thought. Disregarding her craziness, he was definitely a strange guy. She didn't think it was a good idea. But it was Jessica's car and apparently Jessica was not open to reasoning as she coaxed him into shutting the hood of his car and walked him over to the passenger door.

"Well, if you're sure …" he drew off hesitantly.

"Totally sure," she held the door wider. "You live close to where we do anyway—just a little bit outside of Forks."

"Well, alright then," he looked in Bella's direction and she shrugged, trying to push away her niggling feelings and slid into the backseat. She was doing it for Jessica she figured as she caught Jessica's mouthed "thank you." She had put Jessica through hell that one night, she figured she owed her one. Plus, it would be fine.

They had been driving for about ten minutes and Bella stared as the tall overarching woods blurred in the window.

Jessica and Luke had been chatting away easily and she had been wrong. Everything was fine. The car suddenly lurched to the side of the road and she was thrown into the back of the driver's seat as it screeched to a stop. Gasping for air in shock, Bella saw Jessica was slumped over the seat and Luke's hand on his shoulder. His other hand was grasping the emergency break. Jessica must have passed out, Bella thought, staring at her prone form. They had to get her to a hospital. It wasn't until Luke let go of Jessica's shoulder and she slumped forward casually that Bella started to hazily piece together a different reality. He hadn't been touching Jessica to make sure she was okay or in surprise he …

He disregarded Jessica as he turned to Bella.

"Ok back there?" He was totally calm.

Swallowing, Bella nodded slowly.

"That's good," he smiled at the sight of Bella's panicked, racing eyes and took off his sunglasses casually revealing a pair of blood red eyes. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt yet."

**A/N:** So let me know what you thought. Comments are always welcome, encouraged, and appreciated! It makes my day to read them! As always, thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bella's world slowed down to a radical slow motion movie. Outside of herself, she could hear her breath panting. She felt the purring vibration of the car engine rumbling against her sensitive skin. She could see her own horrified face reflected in Luke's eyes—reflective pools of red. Seconds, minutes, hours, she felt like it was an endless moment locked in that stare.

Then she moved.

Every movement was jerky and panicked. He didn't want Jessica, he wanted her and she had to get away. It was the only thought racing through her mind on a reel. _Get away. Get away._ She yanked at the door handle and fell out of the car as her feet touched the ground. Her legs had turned to jelly. Throwing each leg forward, she half crawled, half threw herself into a lunging run. She had no idea if he was still in the car—where he was. She could only concentrate on moving away from the car.

_Get away. _

The wind had picked up and the tree branches around her were swaying, helpless against the violent wind. The sky was nearly black. It was going to storm. She realized this all in a disconnected part of her mind.

Running and weaving past the trees, she grew so frustrated with her body. It just wouldn't move. She knew he would be on her any second. He was a vampire. He could have stopped her from getting out of the car. What was he waiting on?

Her breathing was ragged and a stitch made her realize she couldn't keep going. Her body just wouldn't run anymore. It stabbed and she wanted to cry. A part of her that knew there was no hope just wanted to stand there and wait for him to come and get here. But self-preservation burned too brightly within her. She wanted to see Edward again. She wanted to talk to Charlie again. Watch Alice get frustrated when she couldn't get her way. See Emmett antagonize Edward and watch him unable to control his irritation.

No, she wouldn't give up. But Bella knew she couldn't keep running. Lightning flashed and the whipping wind brought hard beads of water, stinging her face and skin. With a deafening crack, thunder filled the silence in the woods. No, she couldn't run, but maybe with the help of the rain washing away her scent . . . she could hide.

She looked around frantically, hoping that she hadn't wasted too much time before thinking of this idea. She couldn't see him anywhere.

She searched until she found a tree with a hollow groove in the base of the trunk. Crouching down, she crawled and curled herself up in that spot and pressed into the small hole as tightly as possible. The rain was drenching now. Thunder boomed again.

Reaching into her jeans pocket, she fought the tight wet denim until she yanked out her cell phone. With cold, shaking hands, she pressed Edwards's number and held it up to her ear.

"Bella, have you already—" Edward's honeyed tone flooded her senses. Bella closed her eyes, unable to stop the hysterical sobs from bursting out.

"Bella? Bella! What's going on?" His voice was drenched in worry.

She couldn't stop crying. The rain was pounding hard now.

"Bella, tell me where you are, I'm coming to you." His voice was firm now, demanding she answer. She tried.

"Ed-ward, I can't …" she felt like she couldn't breath as sob after sob wrenched from her chest. It was stealing her ability to talk. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die without him.

"Bella, damn it! I'm in the car, what's going on? Are you hurt? Are you still in Port Angeles?" She could hear his car engine roaring to life.

"There's a man—vampire," she whispered into the phone. "He's coming, _he's_ _coming_. I can't outrun him . . ."

"Bella, what are you doing right now?" His voice was calm, but she didn't think he was. She pushed tighter into the tree. Where was Luke?

"_Please_, Edward," the hysteria was back and Bella didn't want it. She wanted to just be able to tell him calmly, but it just kept rising and rising. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to talk over the thundering crashes. "A man came up to us, Jessica, she gave him a ride …. Sunglasses." She could hear Edward cursing and the sound of acceleration. "Couldn't see he was …. I thought though . . . Off of 1-63 . . . Jessica might be dead—I'm scared."

The lightning kept illuminating the trees. Her eyes raced during those moments, scanning for the red eyes she knew would be there. Her body was a live wire writhing with tension.

"It's going to be okay," Edward's voice washed over her. Her wet tangled hair was plastered to her head. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to touch him, feel him. She knew she would be fine if he was here.

But she was alone. She felt so vulnerable knowing that he could attack any second. Helpless. She'd wanted to be turned so she would never be helpless again.

"Bella, I'm on my way, but listen, I need to know, are you moving? Are you in one place? What did the man look like? Focus baby."

Bella's mind skipped over the details, tripping and stumbling. "I found a place, I'm hiding. I haven't seen him. I don't know, his name was Luke."

She heard a sharp inhale.

This was not good.

"You know who it is?" Lightning flashed again. It felt like she was in some kind of end of the world storm. The ground was pooling with water, flooded with it.

"Bella, listen, I'm going to stay on the phone, but whatever you do, don't talk anymore. I don't want him to hear your voice. Stay quiet, baby. I'm right here with you."

She wanted desperately to hear his voice again, but she knew he was right. She waited, trying to silence her shallow breaths. He was coming.

She heard a snap and jerked her head to the left. Lightning blinded. Nothing there. She pressed against the tree harder and turned to look to the right. More lightning revealed a body right next to her. Molten red eyes.

_Him_.

She screamed and pushed away from the tree. Her muscles protested the sudden movements after remaining cramped for so long. He barely touched her ankle, but she fell hard, water splashed up, drenching her already wet body.

"Please don't—" she begged, knowing he was going to kill her. Then, she cut herself off. She remembered the phone—didn't want Edward to hear this. Luke advanced on her, his dark shape intermittently outlined and illuminated. The rain was blinding her eyes as she scooted backwards.

He picked her up by her shoulders and stared into her face. She could see his eyes they weren't starving, but were the type to always look hungry for something. Stubbornly keeping her mouth shut, she muffled her shriek as he tossed her down to the ground.

Lying there, she looked to her phone, fallen a few feet away. Vibrations buzzed through but she couldn't hear the words. Luke, it appeared, could and bent to pick down the phone. He casually encircled his fingers around her ankle and pressed. She winced and could feel her ankle bone being compressed. He could snap it so easily. Her heart was racing.

Laughing, Luke eased the pressure. He released her only to grab her hair at the roots and pull her head closer to him. He examined her, face curiously, like a predator before sinking its teeth into its prey's jugular. Her breathing was erratic as she watched the raindrops rolled over his face, into his wildly glowing eyes. She hated that she was helpless, but she knew even trying to resist his hold would only serve to make him more amused. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Anger burned in her stomach riding right next to fear.

"Hello, Edward, it's been a long time. It's the oddest coincidence." He smiled at her comfortingly, calculatingly. "You see, I think I've just run into your human friend …"

**A/N:** So let me know what you thought. Comments are always welcome, encouraged, and appreciated! It makes my day to read them! As always, thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Laughing in an unnaturally joyful peal, he snapped shut the phone and Luke turned to Bella. She tried to stumble backwards, feeling the mud and wet grass slide beneath her scattering palms.

"Stop, stop, stop, _wait_," she tried to reason with him. But it was hopeless, she knew it. He was undeterred by her pleas, just as she'd known he would be, so she stopped talking. She pressed her mouth into a firm line. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

But it was so hard to contain the fearful cries. They trebled on the edge of her lips.

"_What_?" Luke asked in astonished delight. "Are you simply prepared to lay down and let me kill you then?" He leaned closer and nudged his nose against her throat.

The rain dripped off of him onto her face.

"Mmm, delicious. I'm surprised the _mindreader_ hasn't given in to a taste yet. I might, you know. I'm not quite the masochist he is." He bent to take another inhalant of her scent. Her heart was pounding, but it was actually from anticipation. He mistook it for fear and was taken aback when she abruptly kicked him between the legs. Out of shock rather than pain, he fell off to the side and she scrambled to stand.

Rising on shaky legs like a newborn colt, she took off sprinting unsteadily. She could hear him. He was laughing. Bella wasn't. She knew it was foolish to think she could outrun him. But Edward was on his way and every second she ran was another second she gave him to arrive. She darted around the trees and while it chilled her to the bone to imagine him fighting Luke, she knew it was better than the alternative.

_No_.

She couldn't let herself imagine that possibility. She would run and give Edward time to come.

_Give him time, give him time_, she chanted to herself.

She wondered why Luke had not caught up with her yet—though she didn't want to press her luck—when that same evil stitch in her side caused her to stagger to a stop. It was then that she realized that he had simply been giving her time to tire. She kept trying to start running and then broke into a walk.

When, after she felt she couldn't run any longer, she stuck one palm on a tree trunk and leaned over her knees to catch her breath.

An icy hand plunged into her hair and tightened into a vise, knotting into her wet tangles. She felt her scream break off as she was dragged backwards. She was stumbling and trying to walk backwards with his quick stride to keep up with him. The stitch was burning her side and she was struggling to breathe through the wrenching pain.

"Now Bella, Bella, Bella," Luke spoke calmly as he dragged her through the raining wooded grove. Lightning flashed, lighting the forest frequently. "I would have thought you would have more concern for your dear friend Jessica." He tsked.

Bella stiffened in shock. Jessica … was she still alive? What had he done to her before he'd chased her down?

Her scalp was burning from his hold and tears were streaming down her face mixing in the rain. She wanted Edward. She wanted him here to tell her it was going to be okay. She needed him.

There was still hope.

"Don't touch Jessica," she gritted through her teeth.

His superb hearing of course, heard her. His chuckle spurned her anger. "A little too late to be concerned."

Fear rushed through her. What had he done to her? "She doesn't have any part in this," she said, knowing it would be fruitless.

He stopped short and yanked her up by the hair to stare into her eyes. She shuddered as she looked into his blood red ones. They were fiery as he tightened his grip to an even more painful hold. She gasped in suppressed pain. Thunder boomed.

"Much more resilient than I would have thought," he admitted reluctantly. "But you should know it doesn't matter who deserves it. The fact of the matter is, sometimes bag things happen to innocent people. Just like me. Maybe you should ask your _mindreader_ what he did to me and then you won't wonder why."

With that, leaving so many more questions in her head, he dropped her down and she had a second of blissful relief before he started dragging her again.

It seemed like ages, but it was probably more like minutes when they reached the car on the side of the road.

"We're back," Luke trilled cheerfully and thumped on the trunk. Bella's eyes widened in horror.

He opened the door and threw her in the passenger seat, zooming to slip into the driver's seat and speed off. It took a second, but it was in that second she realized Edward wasn't going to make it in time. He wouldn't be able to find her now.

That was until Luke opened up the phone.

"So you see, Edward, I'm afraid that you and your human may have to endure a bit of a … let's call it a trial separation period."

Bella realized that Edward had been on speakerphone—had heard Luke hunting Bella, had listened to their conversation as he had taken her back to the car. Edward must be going crazy. She winced in pain.

He pulled the phone away from his ear as he sped through the slick dark roads. "No, no, no," he taunted Edward and Bella's stomach turned sickly. She could hear Edward's muted angry voice. "I don't think I'll let you speak to her right now." He patted Bella on the head and she resisted the urge to hit him. It would only hurt her, she reminded herself. "Now," Luke made a face. "That wasn't a very nice thing to say there Edward, after all, I'll be in charge of keeping your human alive for the foreseeable future. I expect some decorum. How the Cullens have changed …."

So he knew the Cullens then? Bella's mind was racing. How? And what had Edward done to him?

"Now," Luke's voice was brisk as he got down to business. "I'm afraid I have to dispose of this phone, but I do have our number, so be a gent and answer the phone if a strange number rings in?" He paused and then rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I suppose you can say good-bye to your human—for now. It's not good-bye forever." She could hear the delicate _yet_ hanging in the silence of his tone.

He held the phone to her ear. She was desperate for Edward's voice. "Bella! Bella?" He was shouting into the phone and even panicked and furious, his voice was the most beautiful thing to her.

"Edward, I love you. I'm so sorry, I was stupid."

"No, Bella, you weren't stupid. I should have _seen_ this coming. I should have _been_ there for you. I'm coming for you. I'll find you Bella. I promise," his voice was fury-filled with strength and anguish. "I promise I won't let him hurt you." His voice broke on the word hurt.

Bella's heart cracked at the sound, looking at the gleeful expression on Luke's face, she realized this was one promise Edward wouldn't be able to keep.

"I love you, Be—"

Luke cut off their conversation and pulled the phone up to his ear. "Shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Edward," he said, cementing what she already suspected and then he rolled down the window, tossing the tiny silver phone out into the rain.

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you guys so much for all of the wonderful comments and for continuing to read this story. What do you think about the latest installment? Let me know! Comments are always welcome, encouraged, and appreciated! It makes my day to read them! As always, thank you for reading!


End file.

Twilight, Suspense