Swan Diaries (crossover between Twilight and The Vampire Diaries)

T H I R T E E N ∘ Kill The Witness

POV: BELLA VINCENT
Monday, November 6 2017

Aaron's scream woke me from my deep and much-needed slumber. "What the hell?! Bella! I've been looking for you for almost thirty hours! Where the f—"

"Please... stop... yelling," I begged.

"Where did you go?"

I took a deep breath before sitting up. It was dark out. When I got back from the Cullens' place, I saw that Aaron wasn't home.

I meant to just rest my eyes for a few minutes before going to find him. I guess I must've fallen asleep.

"I got hurt, so someone gave me a ride."

"Hurt?" His tone raised an octave. "Were you near that fire?"

"I was in the fire."

"What? Why?"

"I was checking to see if anyone was in there, but the ceiling collapsed on me. I'm sorry for worrying you. I wanted to find you, but one of the doctor's sons took me to their house to get checked out before I could."

It took him a few seconds to realize who I meant.

I was honestly starting to care about Aaron. It may have just been my foggy, half-dead brain, but it didn't feel like a lie when I called him my brother earlier.

"Dr. Cullen? You were at Dr. Cullen's house? Which one of his sons?"

"Edward. You know him?"

"Yeah. They never go to public events like the carnival. I wonder why they went."

I chuckled. "Maybe they're stalking me," I joked.

"They're what?!" He clearly wasn't in the joking mood.

"Listen, I'm sorry. But in my defense, I get a little forgetful when I come back from the dead. You didn't go to the cops or anything, did you?"

"I was about to. I've been searching for you all night and day. I wanted to see if you had come home before I went to Charlie."

"Charlie, who?"

"My friend, the Chief of Police."

"Oh, right."

"Wait a minute. Come back from the dead?"

I hesitated. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"Want to explain that one?"

I fumbled with the loose string on my sweater. "I don't think so. You might freak out, and I was just starting to like you."

"Gee, thanks." He started to turn back toward the hallway but stopped to glance back at me with a soft expression. "I wouldn't make you leave. I was telling the truth when I met you. I don't have a family. It's oddly nice to have someone to care about again... I'm glad you're okay."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I was grateful he didn't wait for a response.

I made my way to the bathroom and stripped down to nothing. My hair felt really heavy and greasy, and pulling it through the stream of water felt so much better.