The Promise
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 13:
The first three days after Pete’s disappearance were sheer hell for Bella. Pete’s parents had come looking for them when they hadn’t shown up at the restaurant, and they’d found her where she’d crumpled in the alley, still sobbing and incoherent with grief.
They’d taken her home and the doctor had been summoned due to how distraught she’d been. After a dose of laudanum, she’d finally been able to share with them that Peter had been taken against his will by a man. She’d given a vague description; one she knew they’d never be able to match with any one person and she’d fallen into a fitful sleep after that, only to awaken a short time later as the shadow of terrible pain and terror filled her. Somehow, she just knew it was Pete’s feelings she was sensing and she mourned all the more for it while, at the same time, a tiny seed of hope bloomed within her.
If she still felt him, then he was still alive, and come hell or high water, she would find him.
Her in-law’s stayed with her the three days she was abed, coaxing her to drink and eat a few bites of soup, which was all she could tolerate. For the most part, she was unresponsive, retreating into herself and the pained connection she could still feel with her husband as it was the only thing that kept her going.
She could hear them speaking lowly at times and she knew from their hushed conversations that search parties had been organized, to no avail. She wasn’t surprised by their failure to find anything; Jasper was a vampire, after all and had probably taken her husband miles and miles away within minutes of disappearing. Still, it seemed this area had been where they fed and so she waited for that shadow of pain to end as a plan formed in her mind.
When she’d sensed the end of the pain, she’d risen from her bed, bathed, got herself together, and went to find Pete’s parents. It was time to send them home.
Pinching some color into her cheeks, she took a deep breath and entered the parlor where she’d heard low voices.
“Isabella, child!” Pete’s mother rose from her chair and rushed to her, engulfing her in a tight hug. Backing away a bit, she studied her for a moment. “You look much better, but should you really be up child?” She looked to her husband. “Jim, perhaps you should fetch the doctor…”
Bella shook her head as she took an open seat. “No, that won’t be necessary Cora. I’m feeling much better now, although I still miss him greatly…”
Cora sat by her husband as he spoke. “Isabella, we’ll find him. I know my son; he’s smart and one hell of a fighter.” She met his steady gaze as he continued, “Now that you’re feelin’ better, is there anything more you might be able to tell us? Somethin’ ya might have recalled?”
She felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she prepared to lie to her husband’s parents yet again. “I haven’t, I’m sorry. It was so dark in that alley…”
Cora leaned over and patted her hand when Bella trailed off with tears filling her eyes. “Shh, there now, don’t distress yourself child.” Her gaze was fierce when Bella met her eyes. “My boy’s gonna be just fine, you wait and see. Ain’t no way he’ll stand for bein’ taken from his wife and child.” She shook her head and leaned into her husband’s side as he put an arm around her. “Ain’t no way…” She choked on emotions and Bella had to look away to keep herself together, knowing these wonderful people would never see their beloved son again.
Just thinking on the whole situation had anger and determination welling within her and she steeled herself in order to do what she had to do.
She needed them to leave. There was just no way she’d be able to go out looking for Pete with them watching her every move, so, having made up her mind, she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and faced them with a steady gaze. “Jim, Cora, while I appreciate you both being here for me these past three days, I think it’s time that I adjust to being on my own now.”
Her heart nearly broke as Cora dissolved into wracking sobs, one hand over her face as she pressed close against her husband’s chest. Jim, however, looked determined and she knew she was in for an argument. “Isabella, there’s just no way I can leave you alone in this house. You’re our daughter now just as much as Peter is our son, and I just can’t, in good conscience, leave you without help and support. Peter would want ya looked after while he’s not here to do it, especially so close to the baby comin’. Nah,” he shook his head slowly, “…if we go back to the ranch, you’ll be comin’ with us.”
Seeing the determined set of his jaw, she decided to try to bargain, just praying it would work. “Jim, please try to understand, I need some time to myself—a few days at most—and then, if you still feel that way, I’ll move out to the ranch with you. Now is the perfect time ‘cause I still have the better part of a month before the baby comes.”
Cora looked up as she dried her eyes on a handkerchief. “You sound like you’ve given up on him.”
Pain lanced through Bella and tears filled her eyes, her voice trembling as she answered. “I’ll never give up on my husband, not as long as there’s breath in my body, but I need some time alone.” Her gaze moved to Jim’s as she continued. “So I ask again, please… give me three days at least, and then I’ll be ready to go if he hasn’t been found by then.”
She watched as he looked away, the muscles in his jaw twitching as he struggled with what she was asking of him. It went against his better judgement, but he finally looked back at her and gave her a stiff nod. “Three days Isabella, but no more… I’ll be by at noon, Thursday to collect ya.”
Nodding slowly, she met his gaze. “I’ll be ready, unless something changes.”
He rose and helped his wife up. “We’ll be going then. You be sure to contact Ray if anything happens or ya need anything. He’ll be able to get word to me.”
She hugged them both and backed away with a wan smile. “I will. Thank you for everything and please don’t worry about me.”
Jim shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “We’ll always worry sugar. It’s what parents do. We’ll see ya Thursday.”
With that, they turned and left and Bella eased back into a chair as she sighed in relief. That had gone better than she’d anticipated and for that small reprieve, she was thankful.
Her stomach grumbled with hunger, so she struggled up out of the chair and headed into the kitchen. She tried to stifle the tears that wanted to make a reappearance at the memory of Pete helping her out of that same chair just days ago. She missed him, terribly, and this little house held bittersweet and painful memories everywhere.
As she put some cold ham on a biscuit, she reached a decision; if, for some reason, she couldn’t find Pete, she would not stay here. She just couldn’t. They’d been so happy here and now…
A sob choked her and she put the food back in the cold box, her meager appetite now gone as grief clawed at her anew. Despair took hold and she slowly slipped to the floor. She felt helpless and alone… so very alone.
Why had this happened? Why did fate bring her so far, in such an otherworldly way, just to rip her soul in half and leave her so broken she didn’t know how to go on? Why?
Her sobs morphed into angered screams and she beat her fists against the cabinet she leaned against. “Damn you Jasper Hale! Damn you to hell!,” she railed, her face red with fury and wet with tears. “I’ll watch you burn some day, I swear it. I don’t care if it takes me a thousand years…”
She collapsed all the way to the floor, her blank gaze seeing nothing as her mind’s eye pictured her eventual retribution; the flames, hot and sure as they licked up and slowly consumed the blond vampire as he screamed for a mercy that would never be forthcoming.
Yes, she would make sure to be the harbinger of a painful end for Jasper Hale. She smiled a chilling smile just thinking of it and resolve filled her as she used all this rage to strengthen herself.
‘Lying here certainly isn’t helping your situation Bella,’ she thought to herself and she slowly sat up and dried her tears as a surprising thought occurred to her: She could now see why Victoria had responded the way she had when James had been destroyed. She was shocked to realize that she not only understood it, but she sympathized as well.
Pain such as this was so all-consuming, that if she didn’t have the rage to shore herself up with, she would collapse completely, despite the little one she carried within her.
Her brow furrowed as she stared down at the floor. Perhaps she would feel differently once her child was born and she held him or her for the first time. Perhaps then, she would have more than hate and revenge to live for. She’d just have to wait and see…
Until then, she would take whatever strength available to her, no matter the source, for there was much to do and important decisions to be made and the Goddess knew, she would need every ounce of strength she could get.
With that last thought and a nod, she rose from the floor and went to ready herself for her first foray out to find her husband.
She moved through the back streets of San Antonio as quickly and as quietly as she could, determined to avoid drawing any attention to herself; any human attention, that is. The dark dress and hooded cloak she wore helped in that regard, allowing her to blend easily into the shadows. Now, if she could just avoid tripping over anything… Toward that end, she watched closely, where she placed her steps. She couldn’t afford to screw this up. If Jim and Cora somehow got wind of what she was up to, she was certain they would insist on her immediate move to the ranch, where she’d be watched like a bug under glass.
Finally making her way to the alley from which Jasper had taken Pete, she settled into the darkest shadow she could find, and began her vigil, desperately hoping her patience would yield results.
Silently, she watched as a cowboy and his somewhat questionable ‘lady’ stumbled into the alley, laughing and kissing as they made their way through to wherever they were going.
That very same scene was repeated twice more over the next hour, and her legs had started to ache as her patience waned when a sound—a very familiar, inhuman sound—caused her heart to lurch and take off racing. It had been a growl and she stared down at the far end of the alley when a man dragged the struggling form of another man into the shadows and appeared to embrace him. She knew better though and her breath hitched at the sounds of feeding she could hear.
She was just about to step out and make her presence known when the ‘man’ dropped the other and spun toward her with a snarl.
He blurred forward and stopped in a shaft of moonlight just a few feet from her and she sobbed out his name, “Peter!”
She watched as his blood covered face crumpled in agony as he spun away from her, his voice pitched in agony as he spoke. “You shouldn’t be here!” He dropped his head and clutched it with both hands as sounds of distress came from him. “Please Isabella, run…”
She stepped closer and held a hand out. “Peter, please… I know what you are and it’s okay. I don’t care. I love…”
He cut her off and snarled. “Then you know what I’m capable of… I want nothing more than to drain every drop of blood in your body right now and it’s killin’ me to fight that urge. Please Isabella, I’m beggin’ you… Leave this place and don’t ever look back.”
She sobbed and shook her head as she stared into his bright red eyes. “I can’t do that. I love you and you promised me Pete. Do you remember that? You promised me!”
He choked and backed away a few steps as he shook his head. “I can’t! Don’t ya see?! I can’t!”
She held her had out again, pleading, “Peter, please… I’ll wait for you to gain control. When you do, we can still be together… still have a happy life…”
“No! This is no life and you don’t belong here anyway! I don’t know how I know that, but I do… This is not your place or your time and somethin’s tellin’ me to tell you to go home, to your real home.”
He backed away a few more steps as he continued. “A life with a dead man is no kinda’ life Isabella, and that’s just what I am—dead.” He turned and began walking away slowly but paused and looked back over his shoulder when he reached the end of the alley. “Go on with your life darlin’. Peter Whitlock loved you more than anything in this world…,” he faced away, his voice sad but resolute when he continued, “…but dead men can’t keep promises.”
He took another step but froze when she spoke as her voice trembled with tears. “My husband is not dead. I am speaking to him now, and he made a promise. I intend to hold you to it, you hear?”
He didn’t turn. He couldn’t. He was at the end of his control and terrified of hurting her but still, he spoke. “I won’t be comin’ back here sugar and you won’t find me, I’ll make sure of that. Go home Isabella, and raise that young ‘un…” His voice choked and wavered with emotion, “…and never doubt that I loved ya.”
The first three days after Pete’s disappearance were sheer hell for Bella. Pete’s parents had come looking for them when they hadn’t shown up at the restaurant, and they’d found her where she’d crumpled in the alley, still sobbing and incoherent with grief.
They’d taken her home and the doctor had been summoned due to how distraught she’d been. After a dose of laudanum, she’d finally been able to share with them that Peter had been taken against his will by a man. She’d given a vague description; one she knew they’d never be able to match with any one person and she’d fallen into a fitful sleep after that, only to awaken a short time later as the shadow of terrible pain and terror filled her. Somehow, she just knew it was Pete’s feelings she was sensing and she mourned all the more for it while, at the same time, a tiny seed of hope bloomed within her.
If she still felt him, then he was still alive, and come hell or high water, she would find him.
Her in-law’s stayed with her the three days she was abed, coaxing her to drink and eat a few bites of soup, which was all she could tolerate. For the most part, she was unresponsive, retreating into herself and the pained connection she could still feel with her husband as it was the only thing that kept her going.
She could hear them speaking lowly at times and she knew from their hushed conversations that search parties had been organized, to no avail. She wasn’t surprised by their failure to find anything; Jasper was a vampire, after all and had probably taken her husband miles and miles away within minutes of disappearing. Still, it seemed this area had been where they fed and so she waited for that shadow of pain to end as a plan formed in her mind.
When she’d sensed the end of the pain, she’d risen from her bed, bathed, got herself together, and went to find Pete’s parents. It was time to send them home.
Pinching some color into her cheeks, she took a deep breath and entered the parlor where she’d heard low voices.
“Isabella, child!” Pete’s mother rose from her chair and rushed to her, engulfing her in a tight hug. Backing away a bit, she studied her for a moment. “You look much better, but should you really be up child?” She looked to her husband. “Jim, perhaps you should fetch the doctor…”
Bella shook her head as she took an open seat. “No, that won’t be necessary Cora. I’m feeling much better now, although I still miss him greatly…”
Cora sat by her husband as he spoke. “Isabella, we’ll find him. I know my son; he’s smart and one hell of a fighter.” She met his steady gaze as he continued, “Now that you’re feelin’ better, is there anything more you might be able to tell us? Somethin’ ya might have recalled?”
She felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she prepared to lie to her husband’s parents yet again. “I haven’t, I’m sorry. It was so dark in that alley…”
Cora leaned over and patted her hand when Bella trailed off with tears filling her eyes. “Shh, there now, don’t distress yourself child.” Her gaze was fierce when Bella met her eyes. “My boy’s gonna be just fine, you wait and see. Ain’t no way he’ll stand for bein’ taken from his wife and child.” She shook her head and leaned into her husband’s side as he put an arm around her. “Ain’t no way…” She choked on emotions and Bella had to look away to keep herself together, knowing these wonderful people would never see their beloved son again.
Just thinking on the whole situation had anger and determination welling within her and she steeled herself in order to do what she had to do.
She needed them to leave. There was just no way she’d be able to go out looking for Pete with them watching her every move, so, having made up her mind, she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and faced them with a steady gaze. “Jim, Cora, while I appreciate you both being here for me these past three days, I think it’s time that I adjust to being on my own now.”
Her heart nearly broke as Cora dissolved into wracking sobs, one hand over her face as she pressed close against her husband’s chest. Jim, however, looked determined and she knew she was in for an argument. “Isabella, there’s just no way I can leave you alone in this house. You’re our daughter now just as much as Peter is our son, and I just can’t, in good conscience, leave you without help and support. Peter would want ya looked after while he’s not here to do it, especially so close to the baby comin’. Nah,” he shook his head slowly, “…if we go back to the ranch, you’ll be comin’ with us.”
Seeing the determined set of his jaw, she decided to try to bargain, just praying it would work. “Jim, please try to understand, I need some time to myself—a few days at most—and then, if you still feel that way, I’ll move out to the ranch with you. Now is the perfect time ‘cause I still have the better part of a month before the baby comes.”
Cora looked up as she dried her eyes on a handkerchief. “You sound like you’ve given up on him.”
Pain lanced through Bella and tears filled her eyes, her voice trembling as she answered. “I’ll never give up on my husband, not as long as there’s breath in my body, but I need some time alone.” Her gaze moved to Jim’s as she continued. “So I ask again, please… give me three days at least, and then I’ll be ready to go if he hasn’t been found by then.”
She watched as he looked away, the muscles in his jaw twitching as he struggled with what she was asking of him. It went against his better judgement, but he finally looked back at her and gave her a stiff nod. “Three days Isabella, but no more… I’ll be by at noon, Thursday to collect ya.”
Nodding slowly, she met his gaze. “I’ll be ready, unless something changes.”
He rose and helped his wife up. “We’ll be going then. You be sure to contact Ray if anything happens or ya need anything. He’ll be able to get word to me.”
She hugged them both and backed away with a wan smile. “I will. Thank you for everything and please don’t worry about me.”
Jim shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “We’ll always worry sugar. It’s what parents do. We’ll see ya Thursday.”
With that, they turned and left and Bella eased back into a chair as she sighed in relief. That had gone better than she’d anticipated and for that small reprieve, she was thankful.
Her stomach grumbled with hunger, so she struggled up out of the chair and headed into the kitchen. She tried to stifle the tears that wanted to make a reappearance at the memory of Pete helping her out of that same chair just days ago. She missed him, terribly, and this little house held bittersweet and painful memories everywhere.
As she put some cold ham on a biscuit, she reached a decision; if, for some reason, she couldn’t find Pete, she would not stay here. She just couldn’t. They’d been so happy here and now…
A sob choked her and she put the food back in the cold box, her meager appetite now gone as grief clawed at her anew. Despair took hold and she slowly slipped to the floor. She felt helpless and alone… so very alone.
Why had this happened? Why did fate bring her so far, in such an otherworldly way, just to rip her soul in half and leave her so broken she didn’t know how to go on? Why?
Her sobs morphed into angered screams and she beat her fists against the cabinet she leaned against. “Damn you Jasper Hale! Damn you to hell!,” she railed, her face red with fury and wet with tears. “I’ll watch you burn some day, I swear it. I don’t care if it takes me a thousand years…”
She collapsed all the way to the floor, her blank gaze seeing nothing as her mind’s eye pictured her eventual retribution; the flames, hot and sure as they licked up and slowly consumed the blond vampire as he screamed for a mercy that would never be forthcoming.
Yes, she would make sure to be the harbinger of a painful end for Jasper Hale. She smiled a chilling smile just thinking of it and resolve filled her as she used all this rage to strengthen herself.
‘Lying here certainly isn’t helping your situation Bella,’ she thought to herself and she slowly sat up and dried her tears as a surprising thought occurred to her: She could now see why Victoria had responded the way she had when James had been destroyed. She was shocked to realize that she not only understood it, but she sympathized as well.
Pain such as this was so all-consuming, that if she didn’t have the rage to shore herself up with, she would collapse completely, despite the little one she carried within her.
Her brow furrowed as she stared down at the floor. Perhaps she would feel differently once her child was born and she held him or her for the first time. Perhaps then, she would have more than hate and revenge to live for. She’d just have to wait and see…
Until then, she would take whatever strength available to her, no matter the source, for there was much to do and important decisions to be made and the Goddess knew, she would need every ounce of strength she could get.
With that last thought and a nod, she rose from the floor and went to ready herself for her first foray out to find her husband.
She moved through the back streets of San Antonio as quickly and as quietly as she could, determined to avoid drawing any attention to herself; any human attention, that is. The dark dress and hooded cloak she wore helped in that regard, allowing her to blend easily into the shadows. Now, if she could just avoid tripping over anything… Toward that end, she watched closely, where she placed her steps. She couldn’t afford to screw this up. If Jim and Cora somehow got wind of what she was up to, she was certain they would insist on her immediate move to the ranch, where she’d be watched like a bug under glass.
Finally making her way to the alley from which Jasper had taken Pete, she settled into the darkest shadow she could find, and began her vigil, desperately hoping her patience would yield results.
Silently, she watched as a cowboy and his somewhat questionable ‘lady’ stumbled into the alley, laughing and kissing as they made their way through to wherever they were going.
That very same scene was repeated twice more over the next hour, and her legs had started to ache as her patience waned when a sound—a very familiar, inhuman sound—caused her heart to lurch and take off racing. It had been a growl and she stared down at the far end of the alley when a man dragged the struggling form of another man into the shadows and appeared to embrace him. She knew better though and her breath hitched at the sounds of feeding she could hear.
She was just about to step out and make her presence known when the ‘man’ dropped the other and spun toward her with a snarl.
He blurred forward and stopped in a shaft of moonlight just a few feet from her and she sobbed out his name, “Peter!”
She watched as his blood covered face crumpled in agony as he spun away from her, his voice pitched in agony as he spoke. “You shouldn’t be here!” He dropped his head and clutched it with both hands as sounds of distress came from him. “Please Isabella, run…”
She stepped closer and held a hand out. “Peter, please… I know what you are and it’s okay. I don’t care. I love…”
He cut her off and snarled. “Then you know what I’m capable of… I want nothing more than to drain every drop of blood in your body right now and it’s killin’ me to fight that urge. Please Isabella, I’m beggin’ you… Leave this place and don’t ever look back.”
She sobbed and shook her head as she stared into his bright red eyes. “I can’t do that. I love you and you promised me Pete. Do you remember that? You promised me!”
He choked and backed away a few steps as he shook his head. “I can’t! Don’t ya see?! I can’t!”
She held her had out again, pleading, “Peter, please… I’ll wait for you to gain control. When you do, we can still be together… still have a happy life…”
“No! This is no life and you don’t belong here anyway! I don’t know how I know that, but I do… This is not your place or your time and somethin’s tellin’ me to tell you to go home, to your real home.”
He backed away a few more steps as he continued. “A life with a dead man is no kinda’ life Isabella, and that’s just what I am—dead.” He turned and began walking away slowly but paused and looked back over his shoulder when he reached the end of the alley. “Go on with your life darlin’. Peter Whitlock loved you more than anything in this world…,” he faced away, his voice sad but resolute when he continued, “…but dead men can’t keep promises.”
He took another step but froze when she spoke as her voice trembled with tears. “My husband is not dead. I am speaking to him now, and he made a promise. I intend to hold you to it, you hear?”
He didn’t turn. He couldn’t. He was at the end of his control and terrified of hurting her but still, he spoke. “I won’t be comin’ back here sugar and you won’t find me, I’ll make sure of that. Go home Isabella, and raise that young ‘un…” His voice choked and wavered with emotion, “…and never doubt that I loved ya.”
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.