In The Blood Chapter 12 Teaser

If you haven't figured it out already, allow me to warn you now: this story is going into the dark place in Edward and Bella's relationship. That's right, there's enough pain to go around and everybody's going to get a big, heaping plate of angst. But just remember, no good thing comes without a price. In order for our erstwhile lovers to get their happy ending (and I do love me a happy ending), they're going to have to make it through the tough times.

artwork by dholl

Unlike my last chapter, I have known EXACTLY how this chapter would work from the very beginning. Let me set it up for you just a bit:

On a whim, he stopped by the park where she had found him again so many years ago. He wandered past the field with the tall oak trees where they had kissed for the first time. As he did, Edward caught the faintest whiff of something…not human. It was soft and lush like vanilla with a sweet undertone of ripe strawberries. But there was something else mixed in with it: an underlying odor of chocolate? Coffee? The aroma nagged at him. Like a sleepwalker, Edward followed it past the formal gardens, past the reflecting pond, and out onto the street and into the city again.

It led him to the heart of Isabella’s old neighborhood, only a few blocks from where her house once stood. For a moment he forgot the scent he had been following and remembered how he had stood on the porch of that house the day they had made love, how nervous he had been and how very much in love. In the thirties, not long after he had left Chicago to follow Carlisle to the Pacific Northwest, he had purchased the grand, old Queen Anne and had it demolished. It was the only time he acknowledged the anger and betrayal he had felt and done something about it. Though cathartic, it had not done much to cleanse his heart of the ichor with which Isabella’s leaving had filled him.

The wind shifted again, and the scent he had been following called him onward, past the seedy corner currency exchange with its neon sign alternately blinking “2:12” and “39˚F.” Edward barely noted the time, something that would have sent warning tremors through him normally, especially combined with the perfume he identified as Isabella’s. He inhaled deeply, turning his head up to where the aroma was strongest. He easily scaled the building and was streaking along the rooftops of the warehouses that dotted the main street when he heard her voice.

“Baby, please…come with me.”

Uh, oh.... something tells me Edward's about to see something he REALLY won't like. Oh well...

One thing I did want to mention was that the park described above (and in Chapter 5 when Bella kisses Edward) is based on Douglas Park in Chicago. It is still a beautiful place today. The following pictures were borrowed from The Jens Jensen Legacy Project.

The main park building


The lagoona

The playlist song for this chapter is The Chain by Fleetwood Mac: