It was dark and cold outside. And we still hadn't found Bella.
"I'm going to try the Cullens' place again" said Charlie.
"That won't help" I said. "They're gone, Charlie"

"Good riddance" said Harry Clearwater.
"Where'd they go?" asked Charlie.
"Don't know. Jasper didn't tell me when he said goodbye" I said and hugged myself with Jasper's sweater.

"We'll find her" said Harry.
"Charlie, Emma" said Jacob and looked at the forest.
Sam came out of it, without a shirt... and was carrying Bella...

Charlie and I ran towards them.
'I'm so going to kill Edward for leaving her alone in the forest'
"She's all right" said Sam and gave Bella to Charlie.

"I got her" said Charlie.
"Where did you find her?" I asked him, he felt the same as Billy Black...
"In the middle of the forest. She's freezing" said Sam.
"Thank you, for finding her" I said and went inside with Bella and Charlie.

~

A month passed and I turned 18...
In the month that had passed, my nightmares returned, Bella didn't talk and hardly slept...
I began to notice that my heartbeat began to beat slower and slower... I was slowly changing...
Sometimes I could feel so much death, that I wanted to scream, but the scream just wouldn't come out...

I was going crazy, I was on edge most of the time, like I was before meeting the Cullens.
But then, on my birthday, I slept really well...

And I just knew that Jasper had been here... for that one night, I didn't have nightmares, I didn't wake up from all the death around me. And when I woke up, I was wrapped in a sweater from Jasper. A new one, it smelled like him and it made me smile that he came back for my birthday. I looked at my nightstand and saw a rose on it with a card.
"Happy birthday, darling"
I smiled and I was happy, but also sad...

I came downstairs, Bella was still in her room, so it was just me and Charlie.
"Happy birthday, Emma" said Charlie and gave me a new sketchbook.
"Thank you, Charlie" I said and smiled.

"You look like you slept well" he said.
"Yeah, I slept really well. Did Bella have any nightmares again?" I asked and he sighed. "That bad heh..."
"I just don't know what to do" he said.

"All we can do is give her space and time. She loved Edward very much" I said.
"Yeah, I know. But you loved that Hale boy, didn't you?" he asked.

"Jasper. Yeah, I loved him. But we were never together like Edward and Bella were. So I don't know what I'm missing, I guess. But I do miss him and Alice" I sighed. "But I've known loss before and got over it. I know it's cruel to say, but losing my parents made this a lot easier. Since I know how to move on. Bella doesn't. She'll come back to us, it'll just take time"

"You're right. Sorry to ruin the mood for your birthday" he said and I smiled.
"No problem. You can make it up to me by teaching me how to drive today" I said and he smiled.
"Okay, okay. You've got a deal" he said.

~

Months went by and soon it became December. Bella screamed every night and she didn't sit with our friends at lunch.
She was always alone... even at home, she always stared blankly in front of her.

She didn't even notice that I got my driver's license.
It became really hard on Charlie, I tried to help when Bella screamed at night. But even for me it was exhausting...

And it didn't help that I hardly slept, since I could feel death all around me.
I was learning how to block it out, but sometimes it was hard...

"All right, that's it" said Charlie one day.
"What?" asked Bella.
"You're going to Jacksonville. Live with your mother" he said.
"I'm not leaving Forks" said Bella.

"Bells... he's not coming back. None of them are" I said.
"I know" she said.
"It's just not normal, this behaviour. Quite frankly, it's scaring the hell out of me, your mother and Emma" said Charlie. "Baby, I... I don't want you to leave. I don't, but just go. Go to Jacksonville. Make some new friends"

"I like my old friends" interrupted Bella.
"Well, you never see them anymore" said Charlie.
"I do, I... I'm... gonna, uh, go shopping tomorrow with Jessica" she said.
'First I'm hearing of this'

"You hate shopping" said Charlie.
"I..." sighed Bella. "I need a girls night out"
"I feel offended" I said and they both looked at me. "You arranged a girls night out and didn't invite me? Bella you break my heart"

"All right. Girls night. Take Emma with you, shopping. I like it. Go. Buy some stuff" said Charlie.
And I looked at him.
"You owe me" I mouthed and he nodded.

We got in the car and I looked at her.
"You realise you're a terrible liar, don't you?" I said and she sighed.

~

We went to see an awful movie... I mean it was horrible... Jessica did agree to come with us, but I was just hoping to get to an art store. I wanted to finish my painting of the Cullen family, but I needed new colours.

"I don't know why you want to sit through all those zombies eating people and no hot guys kissing anybody" said Jessica. "It's gross, like... why are there that many zombie movies anyway? If it's supposed to, like, draw a parallel about leprosy, my cousin had leprosy. It's not funny, you know. And, like, is it supposed to be a metaphor for consumerism, because don't be so pleased with your own, like, self-reverential cleverness, you know. Like, some girls like to shop. Not all girls apparently. Though I was surprised you even called at all, you know?"

'Oh for the love of God, Jessica stop talking...'
"Like, your depression thing, I get it. I'm totally, totally worried. But after a while, it's like, you're still bumming? I'm going through stuff too. You know, like Mike he said he wants to be just friends. It's hard" she continued.

But Bella wasn't listening... she was focussed on the bikers who were calling out to us.
"Dude, come on" said Jessica when she noticed that Bella wasn't listening.
"Come here for a sec!" shouted one of the bikers.

"I think I know those guys" said Bella.
"You're joking, right?" I said.
"We got beer! We got bikes!" shouted the biker.

"Well, they seem great. Can we go?" asked Jessica.
"I'm just gonna see something" said Bella and went to the bikers.
"Bella!" I shouted and I wanted to go after her but Jessica stopped me. "We can't let her go"
"She'll come back" said Jessica and I watched how Bella sat on a motorcycle and drove off with a strange guy...