Believe Me Chapter 24

Charlie had been the perfect dad since Bella woke up. He not only felt guilty about not being there when she did wake up, but also started to hover around her to ger her anything she needed. Truthfully, Bella was really touched and liked that he so obviously cared so much whereas Renee had called several times to ‘check’ on her and ended up spending a couple hours talking about the next big trip she was going on with Phil. It was nice to be doted on for once instead of having to take care of someone else.

Then there were the Denali’s. When Charlie was finally convinced Bella would be okay to rest for a few days while he was at, he promised to bring home her favorite food from the diner every night, the Denali’s took over his spot. Irina was beside herself in making sure Bella didn’t have to lift a finger and if she ever seemed uncomfortable, she did what she could to fix it. Kate was her normal goofy self, if at least hovering a bit more than what Bella was used to. And Tanya tended to stand in the back, just overseeing everything. It was like she was constantly on guard duty, just watching over what was happening but not interacting that much.

Whenever one of the Denali’s, usually Irina with her smothering, started to overwhelm Bella, Victoria was always there to save her. Victoria would reign in the Denali’s and have them calm down. Victoria was also the one who had put off talking with her mate and her mate’s parents about what they needed to do. Victoria was concerned about what her mate’s answer would be and what they would need to do in order to remain within the laws. Frankly, she was hoping for some fallout for the Cullen’s and how Edward and Carlisle had behaved. There were a lot of complications that Victoria really wished weren’t there. But Bella was due to go to go back to school soon and the Denali’s couldn’t keep hiding out in Charlie’s house forever. They needed a plan and they needed a plan that resulted in Bella’ being turned before the Volturi deemed her a risk.

They were all sitting in the living room, Charlie wasn’t due back for several hours and Bella had just finished an early lunch. It was the perfect time to figure something out.

“I know I want to be a vampire.” Bella said after Victoria explained what she wanted to talk with everyone about. “I’ve always wanted to be a vampire since I found out about them.” She would just leave out the part about wanting to be with Edward forever as a vampire as that was more than just a moot point and she didn’t think her mate would like to hear that.

“Good, because I was struggling to find a way to politely tell you, you had no choice because I’m to selfish to let you die early.” Kate said with a frown. She knew she would have volunteered to kill Bella if the Volturi forced their hands because she knew she wouldn’t to kill one of her own mates so Victoria was out of the question and she didn’t want her mates to do something so horrible. Kate was the warrior in their triad and that meant doing the very dirty work. Thank whatever deity she needed that her daughter was willing to be a vampire.

“I would have turned you anyways.” Irina said with a shrug. “I’m sure between Victoria and I we would have been able to figure out how to do so quickly. Now we just don’t have to force you into it.” Yes Irina may not have wanted her daughter to do anything she didn’t want to, but it was a matter of life and death and she wanted her daughter to live, so she was committed to making sure it happened.

“The question though, is when.” Tanya said, moving their conversation along. She was sure figuring out the details of how to do it would be more difficult than they would prefer. “We can try to wait until graduation, but that leaves a lot of time for the Volturi to catch wind of a human knowing our secret. After the newborn army attack, I’m surprised there weren’t already guards here to see what was going on. I don’t want us to break any laws.” She stressed. She wanted to make sure they stayed off the Volturi’s radar and the sooner Bella wasn’t human, the better.

“The sooner the better.” Kate agreed. The safer her entire family was as vampires the better. If she thought they would agree, she would offer to change Bella as soon as her wrist was healed and would happily create a hiking attack. Hikers went missing all the time, right?

“What do you believe Charlie would find the most believable and not keep searching for answers after you’re gone?” Tanya asked Bella directly. She could see how much Bella didn’t want to answer, likely didn’t even want to think about it. But Bella would be the best person to know what Charlie would believe or not. She would know the best way to give him closure.

Bella was struggling to think of something. There were so many different scenarios but every time she thought of something, she could see the crushed yet determined look on Charlie’s face. Without a body, Bella wasn’t sure Charlie would believe anything. She knew her dad had horrible guilt of not being there for her when she was a kid and was sure he would do everything he could until there was a body. She just didn’t know what they could do that would involve Bella’s own body there for cops to ID.

Thankfully, Irina seemed to understand and fortunately, the Denali’s have had centuries to figure out how to cover up deaths. Even with all the advancing technology, they were still able to hide bodies.

“What if Bella, you maintain a friendly relationship with the Cullen’s,” Irina started and had to ignore Victoria’s warning growl to keep talking. She already knew Victoria wouldn’t want Bella near the Cullen’s but there wasn’t much of a choice. “You go there one night for a sleepover with young Alice on a rainy night. And as you drive along the road, a tanker full of fuel happens to be there and loses control of the vehicle and crashes into you. The fire and blast would be so large that no human would question the bodies not being found. Us, the wolves and the rain can make sure the fire doesn’t burn too much. Would your father believe that?” Irina asked, hoping it would be enough because while she had a few other ideas, she wasn’t as sure of those plans as she was this one.

Bella looked at Irina with wide eyes. It was the perfect plan! After what happened to Billy and his wife when Bella was a kid, Charlie would emotionally find it more difficult to look closer and to dig for more information. And if Billy was in on it, which he would have to be to not attack the Cullen’s, he would act as another distraction for Charlie to not look closer.

“I think that would actually work.” Bella said, fighting a smile. She was happy because they had a how, but she was sad because it was something they needed in the first place. Bella was already morning what she would have to do, she didn’t want to even think about how hard it would be when she actually does leave.

“But when?” Victoria asked, wrapping an arm around her mate. While Bella was strong and seemed to be doing okay, she knew there would be a time, when Charlie would be actively planning her funeral, that she wouldn’t be okay. Victoria wanted to make sure her human, temporarily human, knew she would be there for her. She would follow Bella’s lead but it never hurt to show silent support even if it wasn’t asked for.

“How about during winter break?” Tanya suggested, recalling all the ‘vacations’ her cousins would do to get away for the few weeks in between school terms. “It will give you a good reason to go over to the Cullen’s and it will be practically guaranteed to storm more often than not.”

That would give Bella only a few months left with Charlie. It really didn’t seem like that much. But the Denali’s were really concerned about waiting too long for her to change and if there was one thing she was sure of it was that the Denali’s only ever wanted was best for her. If they thought a few months was safest for her, then she would agree. No matter how much she didn’t like it. She would just have to make the most of the few months she had left without Charlie thinking anything of it.

“Let’s do it.” Bella said with a firm nod of her head, leaning into Victoria to somehow absorb her strength. Thankfully, Bella knew she wouldn’t need to go over the finer details of what would happen and how, she knew everything she needed to know except for the date. But she didn’t need that at the moment, for now, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her father and make the most of what time she had left with him.