21-25

Of all the things you choose in life,

you don't get to choose what your nightmares are.

You don't pick them; they pick you.

- John Irving

I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare. A terrifying nightmare that I could not wake up from. I tried everything, to make sure that none of the events of New Moon would happen. But I failed. I failed miserably. For a moment I almost wished that I never came here. I wanted to wish myself back in my world in order to protect everyone here. But you can't have everything that you want.

I felt like I was in a room with no way out. Trying to navigate my way through this crowd was exhausting and not helping at all. I would shove my way through the crowd only to find my way blocked. After many turns I was finally able to see the clock tower.

I ran towards it like my life depended on it. Which it did. I had to save and protect my family. We may die here, but I will do anything to prevent that from happening. I will do anything to protect my family. Even if it meant losing my life in the process.

Well we are now in New Moon. Tell me your thoughts please! Until next time.

BANG BANG BANG.

My eyes fly open at the most annoying sound that happens almost every morning.

BANG BANG BANG

"Sophie wake up! It's time for school!"

"Ugh." I roll over in my bed and look at my bedroom door. "Can't I just take a sick day and sleep?"

Alice decides to open the door and walk into my room. "No can do Sophie. Come on we need to get to school!"

I start to get out of bed and look at Alice. "Why do you seem extra hyper today?" Alice looked at me exasperated.

"Don't tell me you forgot what today is. It's Bella's birthday!" My eyes widened in realization. Crap. Today is her birthday.

"Oh. I completely forgot about it." I gather my clothes and start to get dressed for school. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I know what's supposed to happen tonight. I just need to stop it from happening.

I walk down the stairs to see Alice holding a package. "A present for Bella?" I ask Alice.

"Yes! It's a dress I bought for her. She's going to wear it tonight for her party."

"Party?" I get into the car with Alice, Jasper and Edward. Edward starts to drive to school.

"Yes, we are going to be throwing her a birthday party tonight."

"Alice, do you really think that this is a good idea? I don't think she even wants to celebrate her birthday."

Edward then chimes in. "I have to agree with Sophie, Alice. She doesn't seem too thrilled with today."

"Oh stop it. We are having this party tonight. She's going to have a wonderful time!"

We soon arrive at the prison that I call school. Alice, Jasper, and I start to head inside the school. Leaving Edward outside to meet Bella in the parking lot. I tried to talk some sense into Alice to not do this party but she wouldn't listen to me. Bella soon came into the building with Edward.

"Bella!" I walk with Jasper behind Alice. "Happy Birthday!"

"Shhhhh." Bella hugs Alice while looking around to see if anyone heard her. "Here." Alice hands Bella her the present.

"Alice, I thought I told you no presents."

"You did, but I chose not to listen. Besides, I've seen it and you love it! Your wearing it tonight, our place."

"Alice, I don't want a party. I just want..."

I look at Jasper to see him concentrating on Bella.

"Really Jasper?"

"What? She needs a little push" he says while chuckling.

"Ok, fine." I heard Bella say.

"Yay!" I look up to see Alice making her way over to us.

"Jasper, no fair with the mood control thing."

"Sorry Bella. Happy..never mind." Alice and Jasper disappear into the crowd as I walk up to Bella.

"I was against this whole party thing but you know Alice" I say while smiling.

"Can't trust vampires. Trust me."

I look around to see if anyone overheard Edward. "Will you be quiet. What if anyone heard you?"

Edward laughed. "No one heard me. I'll see you later Sophie."

I smiled at the both of them. I said goodbye to them and started to head to my first class.

Once I started to walk away, that's when the nerves hit. The party is happening. There was no way to stop the party from happening.

But I will make sure that Bella doesn't get a paper cut. I will make sure that we don't leave Forks.

Because if it does happen, it would be a catastrophe.

So there we go. Sorry that it's a little short. Thank you so much for reading this story! It really means a lot. Until next time everyone!School went by at a snail's pace. I was finally able to get peace and tranquility once we got home. But being in the comfort of my own home couldn't stop the nerves from arriving.

"Knock knock." I look over at Edward wearing a nice suit. I smile at him as he walks over to my bed. "You look really pretty."

I smile. I was wearing a dark green dress that Alice gave me. "Thanks. Alice made me wear it." I trail off staring off into space. I need this night to go as smoothly as possible.

"Are you ok Sophie? You seem really tense." I look at Edward to see him looking at me with concern.

I try to smile reassuringly at him. "Yes, I'm ok. I'm just really nervous." Edward sits on my bed next to me.

"Why? You know you can tell me anything."

"I know. I just have this feeling like something bad is going to happen. I'm also afraid of what will happen if something bad does happen. I just feel like this party is going to go horribly wrong." I had to be careful on what to say. I don't think this is the right moment to let them know about my other world.

Edward waited patiently while I talked. We always had a close relationship. He would always listen to me when I would need to vent or voice my concerns. It was relaxing for him because he couldn't hear my thoughts. Even though it did frustrate him at times.

"I understand Sophie. I'm not too thrilled with this party either but it makes Alice really happy. Probably because we don't celebrate birthdays a lot. Besides yours of course." I start to chuckle.

"She always went overboard on my birthday parties. Remember when she rented me a pony for my eighth birthday." Edward started laughing.

"How could I forget. We had to stop Emmett from eating the poor thing when it was time for you to eat cake." I laughed at the memory of that day.

"What about my 16th birthday when I got my drivers license?" Edward released another laugh. This one caused his whole body to shake.

"How could I forget. Rosalie got you a Ferrari and you decided to test it out on the race track near Monroe. You drove 120 miles an hour and then decided to do doughnuts in the grass."

"I got arrested for trespassing. Carlisle was able to get the charges dropped and then took my license away. I did get it back after a year though."

"Speaking of birthday. Yours is going to be here soon." I smiled.

"October 31st. Also known as halloween or all hallows eve. I feel like that day is suiting for me."

"You do love halloween. I can't believe that you will be 18."

I laugh. "Finally. I feel like my life has been dragging towards that day." Which it has. I went from a 17 year old to a 6 year old.

Edward smiled at me. Probably remembering the good times.

"I miss those days." It grows quiet after I say those words. I look over to see Edward watching me. He gives me a crooked smile.

"Me too. I miss the days when things were simpler." I look at him confused.

"What do you mean?" He grows quiet. He looks away from me lost in his own thoughts.

"A lot has changed lately. Things are different now."

"Changed how? Do you mean Bella? Yes things are different Edward, but isn't that a good thing? Some changes are for the better. Edward, what's going on?"

Edward sighs. "I feel that being with Bella is causing complications."

"Complications?" Where is he going with this? "Is this about the incident with James? She didn't get hurt too bad."

"Yes but that was because of you. You were the one putting yourself in harms way to protect Bella. She probably would have gotten bit if you weren't there."

"But I was there. I had to protect her. She means everything to you."

"So do you Sophie. You have no idea how much you mean to me, what you mean to all of us. Bella was in danger because of us. And that put you in danger also. I don't want Bella to end up dying."

"But you won't change her." Edward sighs in frustration.

"I want her to live Sophie. To live a long and happy life. Even if that means with or without me."

"I don't think that's wise Edward. I understand that you want to protect her and that you want her to live. What would happen when she gets older? She would eventually be old enough to look like your grandmother. And if she did die, what would you do? You would always be sad and miserable. You can't live without her Edward. I know it, and so do you. We can't leave her Edward. She needs you." Edward nodded his head and gave me a smile.

"Ok. Thanks Sophie." He didn't need to say anything. I knew he would want to talk to me about this again later.

"I miss our talks Edward. We used to talk to each other and hang out all the time. It was something I always looked forwards to. We don't really spend time together anymore. I'm not blaming this on you or Bella before you jump to conclusions. I just want us to hang out more and talk to each other like we used to."

Edward paused and looked at me for a while. "Your right. We haven't done this lately. When you were younger I would take you out for ice cream sometimes. You always seemed to know how I was feeling or if I needed a break from everything. It was always relaxing being around you. Not hearing your thoughts helped me to relax. I felt like you where the tylenol to my migraine. If that makes sense."

"It does. I just want things to go semi-normal. I know it won't go completely back to normal, but I'm ok with that. I am happy to welcome Bella into our conversations."

"Thank you Sophie. It really means a lot that you are supportive of Bella and I. I know it can't be easy for you."

"Your happiness is more important to me. It was nice not being the only single person for a while. That ship is long gone now. I'm the last man standing on the single's cruise." I smile at him and laugh.

Edward chuckles with me. "You will find someone someday. We will do this more often though. I promise." Edward turned his head towards the window.

"Bella's close. I'm going to go out and meet her. I think Alice might still be decorating." I nodded my head and followed him out of my room.

"Oh, before I forget." I quickly grab a bag. "Here." I hand the bag to Edward. "I know she didn't want any presents but I wanted to give her something. It's gloves. Make sure she wears them please. I made sure that they matched her dress."

Edward gave me a smile and hugged me. "Thank you Sophie." He turned around and walked down the stairs. Hopefully with Bella wearing gloves, it would prevent her from getting a papercut.

I head downstairs to see Rosalie and Emmett. "Rose! Emmett!" I run over to them and leap into Rosalie's arms. I'm then tossed into Emmett's arms. "When did you get here?"

"About 10 minutes ago. We missed you." Rosalie and Emmett graduated high school back in June. The two of them have been on an extended vacation.

"Hey, Emmett. Can you do me a favor?"

"Depends on the favor." I smile at him.

" Can you open Bella's presents for her? She will be wearing gloves but I'm afraid she will do something that could give her a papercut. I don't want anything bad to happen tonight."

Emmett nodded in understanding. "Sure, I can do that."

I smile at him. "Thank you."

"Sophie. It's almost time! Can you go get Bella and Edward ?" Alice walked over to me. I nodded my head and walked over to the stairs that led to our front door.

Bella was going to wear gloves and Emmett would be opening up her presents. Hopefully this will prevent the events from unfolding. Only time will tell.

The party was ready to start. Hopefully, all of my precautions would work. I head towards the front door to get Bella and Edward. I just reached the front hallway when I caught Bella and Edward's conversation.

"The Volturi?" I stopped in my tracks. He was telling her about the Volturi. Memories of meeting Aro flooded into my mind. We haven't heard or spoken to the Volturi since their visit all those years ago. One of the main reasons to stop New Moon from happening was because of the Volturi. I didn't want to encounter them any time soon. I knew we would have to eventually, but I didn't want to worry about that for the time being.

"The Volturi are a family. A very old and powerful family of our kind. You could consider that as vampire royalty. They reside in Italy. Carlisle spent a little time with them in his earlier years before he came to America."

"Is that them?" Bella was looking at the painting that was in the hallway. "That's Carlisle in the background isn't it?"

"Yes." Replied Edward. "They are very refined for our kind. But they are ruthless. You don't want to irritate the Volturi unless you want to die."

Bella's face turned to horror. "You can't talk like that. Don't you ever talk like that again. You must never do anything that could get you hurt or killed."

Edward didn't say anything. He just smiled at her. "I still feel terrible about putting you in danger."

"This is about James. You took care of him. He can't hurt us anymore."

"I know but I still worry. What happened to you and Sophie is etched into my brain." I instantly put my hand on the bite mark that was on my wrist. This bite mark was a constant reminder about what happened all those months ago. I tried to keep it hidden under long sleeved shirts but that didn't always work. My family would get quiet every time they saw it. Edward's face would look pained. It killed me when I saw his face look like that.

"Victoria." That name took me out of my thoughts and back into the real world.

"She will come after me. We will be prepared for her." Wrong Edward. She's coming for Bella.

"Change me. I can protect you." I decided to take that as my cue to interrupt.

"As much as that sounds intriguing, it would be a downer to be the only human around." I walk over to them and smile at Bella. "I enjoy having someone around that's still breathing." Bella chuckles at that with me.

"I just want to help." I smile at Bella.

"I know. I do too. But you know Edward, he's stubborn as a mule."

"Hey!" I laugh at Edward's expression.

"What? It's true and you know it Edward."

"Sophie." I look at Bella.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever met them before?" My face goes grim.

"Not all of them but yes. I met Aro and two of his guards. The Volturi found out about me and they decided to pay us a visit. I hope you never have to meet them. They are the type of people who you don't want to mess with. They don't believe in second chances which made me relieved when they decided not to kill us. Aro told us in exchange for our lives that I would need to be turned. I was too young at the time so it would have to be when I'm older. I worry every day about that. I will be 18 soon and the day where they come to tell us that I need to be turned grows closer and closer."

"Which proves we shouldn't worry about this right now," interrupted Edward. "We can all worry about this later. Besides, it's my job to protect the both of you. From everyone except my sister." Alice dances in at that moment.

"It's time it's time!" Alice grabs Bella by the hand and takes her downstairs. I smile at Edward and follow after them.

Alice really outdid herself. She decorated the room with balloons, flowers and streamers. She had music playing and there was also a birthday cake. Bella noticed the cake also.

"Alice, a cake? Besides Sophie, you guys don't even eat."

"I just want everything to be perfect." I walk over to Alice.

"You did a wonderful job Alice."

"Thank you Sophie." I walk over to Rosalie and stand beside her. I look at Bella and sure enough she is wearing the gloves I bought for her. Good.

"Present time!" Alice looks at Rosalie. Rosalie hands a box to Bella.

"It's a necklace. Alice picked it out." I smiled softly at Rosalie.

Bella took the box from Rosalie. "Thanks." I quickly take the present out of Bella's hand.

"I hope you don't mind with Emmett opening up your presents. I know you are wearing the gloves I got you but I just want you to be safe."

Bella seemed to understand. "Ok. Oh, and thank you for the gloves. They are beautiful."

"I'm glad you like them."

The rest of the party went very well. Bella loved the plane tickets to see her mom and Emmett installed that new stereo into her truck.

Jasper stayed in the back of the room during the party. Jasper was taking a precaution around Bella. He didn't want to slip up tonight. And so far everything was going well.

Carlisle and Esme were having a great time as well. They enjoyed all the laughter and liveliness that was in their house. It made them forget for a little while that they weren't human.

The night went by in a flash. I guess time really does fly by fast when you are having fun. Even though Bella didn't want to celebrate her birthday, she seemed happy to be with us.

Rosalie kept to herself mostly. I knew she would rather be somewhere else. Jasper kept his distance the whole night. He seemed fine with that though.

"It's getting late. I'm going to take Bella home." I let everyone say goodbye before walking up to Edward and Bella.

"Happy Birthday again." Bella smiled at me softly.

"Thank you Sophie. Oh, and thank you for eating cake with me. It's nice to not be the only human around."

"No problem. I happen to love cake. It's honestly nice having you around. Kind of refreshing really."

I followed Bella and Edward to the front door. Edward embraced me into a hug. "I will be back later."

"Ok. Bye." I wave goodbye to them as they exited the house. Everything was fine. Nothing bad happened. I couldn't help but to smile.

Nobody got hurt. All of my precautions worked. I was lost in my thoughts that I failed to notice what was about to happen.

I was in my own thoughts that I didn't see Bella trip over a flower pot that was placed on the sidewalk leading to our driveway.

I didn't see her landing on the concrete which caused her to scrape her knee.

It was only when she said "ow," that I realized what had happened.

My breath caught in my throat. Our door still happened to be open when she scraped her knee. I watched the blood drip onto our driveway.

That was when all hell broke loose.

stared at Bella with wide eyes. Edward's head snapped to the door. Staring at something past me.

I heard an earth shattering growl. A growl that was coming from inside the house.

Everything happened all at once.

I was suddenly grabbed from behind and pushed against the side of the house. I looked to see Edward pushing Bella away right before Jasper charged at him. Edward grabbed Jasper and pushed him away towards the woods. Which caused a tree to snap in half.

It was then that I realized that Rosalie was crouched in front of me. Protecting me from Jasper while he was in this state. Her eyes never left him.

Jasper made another run at Edward when Emmett and Carlisle grabbed him. They pulled him back while Edward crouched over Bella.

I couldn't move from my spot that Rosalie had pushed me up against. I couldn't do anything but watch as everything unfolded.

Jasper was still struggling against Emmett and Carlisle.

Jasper's eyes where black and they held no emotion. They just stared blankly at Bella. Seeing Jasper looking this this killed me.

Alice instantly came to Jasper's side and started to calm him down.

It was only when Alice calmed Jasper down did they all realize that Bella had been injured even more.

When Edward pushed Bella back, she was thrown through more flower pots before she landed and rolled onto the asphalt.

Bella had ceramic pieces stuck into her right arm as well as her right hand. She now had scrapes on both of her legs from landing roughly on the asphalt.

Rosalie was distracted by the blood, that I was able to run over to Bella. I knelt beside her while placing my body in front of my family. Carlisle ran to us in a blur. He knelt on the other side of Bella. He held his hand out to stop anyone from coming towards us.

"Emmett, get Jasper away from here." The look on Edward's face scared me. He looked miserable. I knew he was blaming himself for this.

Upon Carlisle's instructions, I helped Bella back inside the house. I had her sit on a chair in his office. Carlisle grabbed some tweezers and started to take the ceramic shards out of her arm.

"Sophie, go outside to Edward. I know he could use you right now. You also might be able to calm Jasper down." I nodded and gave Bella one last look. She looked at me and gave me a smile to try to reassure me. It didn't work.

I exit the house to the sound of a loud crash. I run to the back yard in time to see a tree being thrown farther into the woods.

Seeing Jasper like this killed me. I started to walk to Jasper when Edward stopped me.

Edward grabbed my arm. I looked at him but he was watching Jasper. "Don't go to him right now Sophie. He's unstable at the moment." My eyes widened.

"Unstable? He's not unstable. He's upset! There's a big difference." I pushed Edward's hand off of me and proceeded to walk towards Jasper.

"Sophie, stop!" I ignored everyone's warnings. I got to Jasper, who had his back turned to me.

"Jasper." I touched my hand on his back. Before I could blink, Jasper had grabbed me and sped me over to a tree that was 10 feet away from us.

My back slammed against the tree and I looked into Jasper's eyes. The Jasper who I grew up with was no longer there. In his place was an animal.

"Jasper, it's me. It's Sophie." Jasper's hand was close to my throat. I just stood still and hoped that he wouldn't kill me. "Jasper remember the time when you took me to the museum of history in D.C? That's when you told me your story. How you became a vampire. Don't let this inner demon take over you. You are strong."

"No I'm not." Jasper's voice didn't even sound like him. It sounded like an animal.

"Yes you are. Your name is Jasper Whitlock Hale. You are my brother. You are so strong. You can't help this Jasper. You are new to all of this. Please come back to us." That seemed to calm him down. His eyes then started to come back to reality.

"Sophie." I smiled at him and embraced him into a hug.

"It's going to be ok." It was only when I stepped away from Jasper that I really saw Edward. He looked pained.

"We need to leave." Those words struck me.

"What?" This couldn't be happening.

"I'm putting Bella in danger. She needs to be safe. As long as we are in her life, she's in danger of getting hurt or worse."

Everyone was silent. No one dared to say a word. This was bad.

Edward tilted his head towards the house. "I'm going to take Bella home. We will discuss this when I get back." Before I could say anything, he was gone. This couldn't be happening.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to my left and saw the hand belonged to Esme. She gave me a sad smile. "Come on. We should go inside. Let's wait for him to come back." I nodded and followed everyone back into the house.

For the next hour we waited in the living room in silence. No one said a word. It felt like a lifetime before Edward returned.

We all wanted to say something. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know how to start. Carlisle was the one to start speaking.

"Edward, I heard you want us to leave Forks." Edward remained standing in the doorway. Not looking at anyone.

"I think it would be for the best. I want Bella to live a long life and her being with us puts her in danger."

"The best for who? For her or for you Edward?" It surprised me that I was able to talk. All I wanted to do was go into my room and cry. I tried so hard to prevent this from happening.

Edward turned and finally looked at me. "Sophie, we need to leave. It will be better for her."

"Better? No, it won't be better. Everything will get worse. You will constantly be miserable. You can't be away from her. You will go into a depressed state. Who knows what will happen to Bella. How will she react?" I know how she's going react. But I couldn't tell them about that right now. "This is a bad idea."

"I agree with Sophie. We can't leave her Edward." Thank goodness for Alice.

"I think we should leave too. This will be good for all of us." What! Come on Rosalie.

"Rose, I know you don't like her but even you know this is a bad idea." Rose looked at me with an unreadable face.

"We were going to leave Forks sooner or later anyway Sophie. I think sooner would be best."

"We should go. I don't want to put Bella at risk again. I lost control, I can't lose control like that again." I looked at Jasper. My heart broke for him.

"I don't think it is wise for us to leave. But if Rosalie wants to leave then I will go with her." Come on Emmett.

"I think we need to stay here. We have a life here Edward," Esme chimed in.

"We have a life anywhere we go to Esme," interjected Edward. "We all knew we wouldn't be able to stay here forever."

"What about me then?" Edward looked at me. He knew where I was going with this.

"What about you Sophie?"

"You know exactly what I mean Edward. I'm human also. Would you leave me behind if I wasn't part of our family. If I was in Bella's shoes, would you take me with you?" All of them grew quiet. Edward turned his head away refusing to say anything. His answer was loud and clear.

"So the only reason why I'm going is because you've adopted me. I wouldn't be going with you if I wasn't adopted. Well Bella is part of this family whether you like it or not Edward. We can't leave her behind Edward. We shouldn't even be having this discussion! If we have to leave, then I'm staying behind. No way am I leaving Bella here all alone."

I heard a huff beside me and soon realised an angry Rosalie was glaring at me. "The big difference between you and Bella is that I like you. Scratch that, I love you. I would take you anywhere with me. Even if you weren't part of this family. And there is no way in hell that you are staying behind for her. I will drag you with me by your ear myself if I have to."

Edward decided to speak up at that moment. "The big difference between you and Bella is that you are part of this family. You bring us happiness and joy. Bella's just a nuisance and isn't good for me. I don't want her anymore. She bores me." That was a punch to the gut. Why would Edward say such a thing? I knew that he didn't mean it. He was trying to convince himself that this was the right thing to do.

"You don't mean that Edward." Tears started to build up. This couldn't be happening.

All of us stopped talking. We all turned and looked at Carlisle. What was he thinking about? Carlisle finally decided to speak up.

"I think that us leaving Forks isn't wise. Yes we would have to relocate eventually, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. Edward, I agree with Sophie about us not leaving Forks." Yes! Thank you Carlisle! "But.." But! But What! "But I know you won't change your mind. And I don't want us to be separated. Since it seems that the majority of us wants leave, then I guess we will."

It felt like ice cold water splashed on me. No. This couldn't be happening. "Carlisle.."

Carlisle sighed. "I know Sophie. But this is what Edward wants. We have to trust him that it will be for the best. Everyone should start packing. We will leave tomorrow morning." I couldn't say anything. We were actually leaving.

Edward nodded and then walked away. This decision was killing him. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Alice smiling at me sadly.

"Come on Sophie. I will help you pack." I stood up and followed after Alice. My whole body felt numb.

We were actually leaving Forks. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.