"In my absence, I hope you remember that I existed to protect you… even from afar."
— From Kain's Thoughts
✦ Bella's Perspective ✦
A month and two weeks passed.
Fifty-four days since a clear night dedicated to baseball turned into a bloody battlefield. Fifty-four days in which everything changed, even if we tried hard to pretend that nothing had changed.
Kain… was no longer the Kain I knew.
And I… was no longer me.
Now, I sit in my room surrounded by piles of review notebooks and schoolbooks. The smell of old paper fills the air, but my mind swims elsewhere. The school is preparing for the final exams, and after that… the graduation party. The end of one stage and the beginning of another unknown one.
Alice and Kain had disappeared a week ago. They left suddenly as they appeared, leaving behind nothing but a troubling emptiness. No one knows when they will return.
But life in Forks, the town where the rain never stops, did not stop. The calm returned to cover the atmosphere, but it was a fragile calm, tainted with anticipation. Victoria, the vampire with fiery hair and a vengeful soul, did not appear again. No trace, no scent, nothing. As if she evaporated into the air.
Edward says this silence is more worrying than her direct appearance, and I find myself agreeing with him.
And yet, there was one thing that confused me more than the ghosts of the past and the fears of the future: my relationship with Edward.
We began to get closer. Very slowly, and with caution wrapping every touch and word, but something was forming between us. Every time he looked at me with his golden eyes, I saw a complex mixture I could not decipher.
Tenderness? Caution? Or buried pain?
Perhaps all of that together.
"Would you… would you like to go to the graduation party with me?" I asked him hesitantly a few days ago, and I felt my heart would stop.
A faint smile, a little sad, drew itself on his lips.
"It would be my honor."
I don't know if this was a true beginning for something new, or just a passing station on a long road of confusion. But in the middle of all this… I miss Kain.
I know now that he is my brother. Not by adoption or by circumstances, but by blood. But his existence made me discover the meaning of this word every time.
That night in the forest… when James caught my scent, Kain did not hesitate for a moment. He did not ask, did not plan, did not discuss. The calm look in his eyes turned into a storm, and he launched. He turned into a beast, a predator, a defender.
And he killed James. Because he saw him as a threat to me.
For my sake.
In that moment, I realized the wonder of having an older brother. Someone who truly sees you, and understands you without the need for words.
Kain… where are you? When will you return?
I… miss you.
✦ Kain's Perspective ✦
The Amazon air was thick, laden with the scent of the damp wildlife… and the coming scent of blood.
Alice and I were racing between the trunks of the giant trees, two shadowy beings whose feet barely touched the ground. Our speed tore the wind apart, leaving behind deadly silence. Ahead of us, a huge jaguar, the king of this jungle, was running with instinctive caution, unaware that two other kings, more lethal, were chasing him.
I laughed a muffled laugh, whispering into the ear of the wind:
"Come on, I'll beat you to him."
Alice replied with a sparkling smile, full of challenge:
"In your dreams, slowpoke."
She increased her speed, turning into a flashing blue phantom. I smiled in turn.
"Lightning Breath – 30%."
My body ignited with silent electrical energy, and I felt the static electricity dancing on my skin. In less than the blink of an eye, I was beside her, then overtook her. We were like two dragons of shadows racing for one prey.
Alice leapt first, with a graceful move like a ballet dancer, but she missed the target by fractions of a second. That was my chance. I launched from above, and my hand gripped the animal's neck with a swift, precise strike. Moments later, the majestic jaguar was a lifeless corpse beneath our feet.
I stood upright, dusted off imaginary dust from my clothes, and said with a confident smile:
"I won."
Alice sighed and put her hands on her waist with a fake frown:
"Tch… you cheated! You used 'Lightning Breath'!"
"Cheated? No, my dear," I said as I approached her, "this is called using every available resource."
"That's not fair."
"Welcome to real life, where the stronger is the one who sets the rules."
She laughed, then pushed me lightly on my shoulder.
"Then, we'll consider it a tie… just this time."
I laughed in turn.
"I don't mind, as long as I admit you are a brave… and beautiful opponent."
She gave me a shy sideways glance that melted the ice of the two poles in my heart, then said quietly:
"Shall we return to the hotel now?"
"Yes, I think it's time for pampering."
✦ That Night ✦
We were lying on the luxurious bed in our hotel suite, our bodies intertwined, radiating warmth defying the cold of the Amazon night. Her short black hair was scattered on my chest like silk, and her eyes shone in the darkness like two pieces of polished gold.
I asked her quietly, my voice deeper than usual:
"Alice… do you mind telling me about your past? I mean… before you found the Cullen family."
A short silence prevailed, during which I felt her unnecessary breaths gathering. Then she said in a clear voice: "I don't mind… though the memories are hazy."
"I woke up in a mental asylum… without any memories. My name, my identity, my family… everything was erased. The only thing I later recovered was just a feeling, a sense that I used to live somewhere in the south of the United States… maybe the state of Mississippi. After I transformed, I suddenly found myself seeing the future. I was afraid and alone."
I asked her as I passed my fingers through her hair:
"And when did you meet Carlisle?"
"After many long years. Edward was the one who sensed my presence first… and Carlisle was the one who helped me control my talent and understand it."
I shook my head in admiration.
"No wonder you are this strong."
Then I asked her suddenly, driven by a curiosity I couldn't restrain:
"And what about Eliana?"
She raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Eliana?"
"I mean… I don't see her in the fixed path I see for the future. I know you see branching possibilities… but as for me, I see only one path, a fixed course that doesn't change. And she isn't in it."
She sighed a deep sigh.
"Eliana is a long and complicated story. She is Edward's biological sister. Carlisle saved them both together from the Spanish flu epidemic… but Eliana never accepted Carlisle's way of life."
"She didn't accept it?"
"She had an iron will… even before the transformation. After she became a vampire, she refused Carlisle's rules and preferred human hunting. She left the family, and lived for many long years as a lonely killer."
"That doesn't resemble what I see from her now at all."
"Because she changed… when she met Jasper."
I raised my eyebrows. "Jasper?"
"Yes. No one in the family talks about this much, but they were lovers for a long time. Their relationship was stormy and complicated… but in the end he convinced her to return with him to the family."
"No wonder then that Edward doesn't fully trust her."
"Edward doesn't trust anyone easily… not even me at first."
I fell silent for a moment, thinking of the complex web of relationships of this family I had become part of. Then I said:
"I hope he will trust me someday."
She looked at me for a long time, and her eyes seemed to pierce my soul.
"I trust you, Kain. And that is enough for now."
I smiled, but it was a smile hiding behind it a world of secrets.
I wanted to tell her everything… about the "system," about the "tasks," about "Shine," and about the truth that I was not this young man who had just moved to Forks.
But I couldn't.
Not because I didn't trust her, but on the contrary.
The reason is that I don't trust those who can read her thoughts.
Edward… Eliana… and even Aro in the Volturi.
As long as I hadn't found a way to protect her mind from this intrusion, I wouldn't risk revealing my cards. I would tell her everything… but only when the right time came.
Alice cut the thread of my thoughts with her musical voice:
"Kain… the graduation party is approaching. We must be there."
I smiled a true smile this time. "We will be there. Together."
"And what about your exams?"
"Don't worry about the small details. Carlisle arranged everything. We are officially registered as patients receiving specialized treatment abroad. We sent forged papers proving we completed the exams in a partner school… everything was done by mail."
She laughed lightly.
"Even you… tamper with the law?"
"Sometimes, a little white lie protects a greater and more important truth."
She came closer to me, whispering in my ear: "As long as you return to me in the end… let them do what they want."
I kissed her a deep kiss, then we turned off the lights, surrendering to the silence of the night.
✦ Bella's Perspective ✦
And finally, the day of the party came.
I was standing in front of the mirror, wearing a silky dress in lavender purple, exactly as Alice had chosen for me before her departure. Her touch was present in every detail, as if she had left a part of her soul with me.
Edward arrived wearing an elegant black suit and a shiny silver tie. He opened the door of the Volvo for me with a calm smile, and said in his velvety voice:
"Ready?"
I nodded my head, and felt my heart beating strongly.
In the decorated celebration hall, the lights were dim and the classical music filled the atmosphere. Everything seemed perfect, like a vision from a dream.
We danced slowly in the middle of the attendees, our steps amazingly synchronized, his gentle whispers close to my ear.
Suddenly, Edward smiled a wide smile and looked toward the entrance behind me.
"They have arrived."
I turned quickly, and my heart almost stopped.
There, at the entrance, stood Kain and Alice.
As if they had just come out of a fairy tale. Alice was wearing a long sky-blue dress, studded with fine crystals reflecting the lights as if they were scattered stars on her gown. Her hair was lifted in an elegant hairstyle, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
As for Kain… he was wearing an elegant suit of the same shade of blue, with a pure white shirt and a matching tie, highlighting the beauty of his unique silver strand of hair that was shining under the lights. He was breathtakingly handsome.
They approached us, and Kain smiled that smile that melts the ice.
"Hello, Bella."
I didn't think. I ran toward him and hugged him with all my strength, and felt tears gathering in my eyes.
"I missed you…"
He held me gently, and I heard him laugh a soft laugh.
"I didn't disappear all that long."
I stepped back a little, and hit his arm with fake anger.
"You were unconscious for five weeks! And after you woke up… you leave again without a word?"
He laughed an embarrassed laugh while scratching the back of his head.
"Okay, okay… you win. How about I make it up to you?"
He extended his hand to me, and said with a charming smile worthy of a prince:
"Would you grant me the honor of this dance, my dear sister?"
I smiled through my tears, and nodded my head.
He danced with me lightly and gracefully, and our steps were harmonious as if we had trained on them all our lives. From afar, I saw Edward and Alice watching us, with a pure smile on their faces. For one moment, I felt that everything was in its right place.
✦ After the Party ✦
We stood near the back entrance of the school, where the cold air stung faces.
Kain suddenly said in a low voice, breaking the stillness of the moment:
"I will leave again tonight."
My features froze. I looked at him with real anger this time.
"Will you tell Charlie that you have returned?"
"No. He will not know."
I cried at him in a muffled voice:
"He was broken, Kain! He thought you might never come back!"
"I know. But I must go."
I fell silent, swallowing my disappointment and fear. Then I whispered:
"Just… come back alive this time, please."
He patted my shoulder, and smiled that sad confident smile. "Always."
I bade him farewell with one last hug, in which I felt it might be the last for a long time. Then I watched him leave with Alice, dissolving into the darkness of the nearby forest… leaving behind once again hearts waiting, and promises hanging in the air.
🌀 [End of Chapter Seventeen]
✦ Next Chapter: "A Temporary Return… and a Coming Farewell"