COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

EIGHTEEN

Lucinda lied to him.

She spent nearly three weeks in Alaska, the emotions she was dealing with turning out to be too much for her to get under control. After the fourth day of receiving incessant calls from Seth, who used Carlisle's phone, Tanya convinced Kate to call Edward for a ride home.

"Lucy!" Kate called after she opened the door.

"Send him home," Lucinda answered immediately, her voice raw from screaming and crying herself to sleep every night. She stared at her reflection in her mirror and let out a tired sigh.

She hadn't bothered to clean up any streaks left after crying with makeup on, and she hadn't brushed her hair in ages. This was the worst Lucinda had felt in her very long life.

"Sam and Jacob had to pin him to our couch to keep him from coming with me," Edward called from downstairs. Lucinda could tell he was slowly making his way to her room. She waved her hand at the door, red mist flying out from her finger tips and wrapping itself around the door handle.

"That's nice," Lucinda croaked, sliding a sweater she'd stolen from Leon ages ago. Edward knocked gently on her bedroom door, then hissed when Lucinda's magic burned him. "Don't touch the door," she muttered emotionlessly. "It'll burn you."

"That would have been nice to know ten seconds ago," Edward sassed, and she could picture his unimpressed look. "Bella's in the car, and if we wait too long she'll probably freeze," he added in as Lucinda grabbed her tea cup.

"That's nice," she spoke quietly, pushing past Edward and walking down the stairs to the kitchen, where her fairly large teapot sat on the counter.

"He's worried sick about you, Lucy," Edward told her softly.

Lucinda looked up at him with red eyes, blotchy and red from all the emotions she'd been feeling lately.

"That's. Nice."

Edward flinched at her harsh tone and glanced over at Tanya, who offered him a pained smile. "Just come home, Lucy," he sighed, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Esme and Rosalie miss you. We all do."

Lucinda merely shrugged and set the teapot back down on the counter, then let out a shaky sigh. "I'm not ready to come home, yet," she whispered, her hands beginning to tremble around the teacup. "I don't think any of you are going to be able to handle me in this state."

"We'll figure it out," Edward promised her. "Just please come home."

•••

After almost two hours of Edward begging, Lucinda finally decided to come home. Kate packed her bags, then everyone said their good byes. Of course, she'd made Bella move from the front seat, and stared out the window almost the entire ride home, and the car was deadly silent.

As they drove across the Canada/Washington border, the ring around her finger pulsed. Lucinda sucked in a sharp breath and shifted in her seat. The incredibly large ruby in the center of the silver band glowed brightly, filling up the Volvo with a brilliant red light, and she let out a long sigh.

"What does that mean?" Bella asked her curiously. Lucinda pursed her lips and glanced out the rear view mirror, her eyes avoiding the large shape following behind them in the trees.

"It means Seth is following us," Edward answered quietly. Bella craned her neck to look out the back window, and Edward focused his attention on her. "Did you not tell him you'd be gone longer?"

"Did I tell you," Lucinda snapped rhetorically. Edward sighed and watched as she twirled her ring around her finger. "If you drive faster, I might be able to get in the house before I'm bombarded by him and the rest of Bella's pets." She turned her head and looked out the window.