— 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟔 —
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

"Bella—STOP!" Sandy screamed, but her voice was unheard.

She was too far, and Bella had already decided... she jumped off the cliff's edge.

Cassandra screamed and in an instant, she teleported from her spot to where Bella had been standing split seconds ago. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were wide as she watched Bella fall into the ocean, hitting the powerful and restless sea.

She thought that Bella may have died upon impact, the sea was in no condition to be swimming right now. By the grace of everything good in the world, the brown-haired human emerged from the waves with what Sandy thought might have been a smile on her face.

"What—what?!" Sandy started running her hands through her hair, spinning in a circle, and laughing humorlessly. "You're the luckiest human I have ever met in over three hundred years!" She screamed to rainy skies.

Thankfully, it was not pouring rain, but it was lightly sprinkling. Yet, there was no sun in sight, there was only the cold harsh nipping winds. Nature thrummed with joy at the weather—flourishing.

To put the situation into perspective: it was March. A solid comfortable month had passed, and while Bella and Sandy remained close—Jacob had been busier than usual with hunting Victoria. He would still hang out with them when he had the chance, but the entire pack was busy with making sure Victoria did not come near Bella, Charlie, or the town of Forks.

In that month, the Quiluete tribe officially met Cassandra and learned that she was a fae. One—if not the last—faerie in existence. They understood why she was hesitant to share her nature with them when she explained her kind had been wiped out by vampires.

She was very vague in her explanation, only delivering important facts such as who and what she was and why she was alone. While they were not thrilled that she was friends with the Cullens (even if she had not spoken to any of them for months), they respected her and liked her nonetheless.

Sandy was allowed on Quileute land anytime she wished.

While everything was theoretically looking up: Bella's situation only worsened. She was not out of her depressive state from Edward's departure, and her screaming thoughts only got louder when she was alone.

Cassandra did her best to make sure the human was rarely alone, but even then, it was obvious that Bella was still haunted internally.

Humans and other supernatural creatures alike naturally felt lighter and happier in the presence of a fae. But even Sandy could not stop the cloud of sadness that overcame Bella with the loss of a mate.

There was nothing out of the ordinary on that particular day, other than Sandy choosing to skip school. Bella agreed to come by her house after school.

Sandy may have been able to skip as she pleased, not caring for her temporary grades, but Bella could not.

Thankfully, ever since the incident in the woods where Bella had a run-in with Laurant; Sandy had been a bit more protective of the girl. Observant, if you will.

This all to say, she was using her powers to sense when there was something wrong and Bella was in danger. So when Bella was supposedly leaving school and on her way to Sandy's house, but Sandy's internal alarm bells started going off violently, she knew that something was wrong.

She did not hesitate to leave her house to track down Bella, using her instincts to find where the human was as fast as she could.

Imagine her surprise when she finally caught sight of Bella only to watch the human fling herself off a cliff.

The momentary relief at Bella not dying from the impact was washed away when a huge way came and hit her, sending her under. A huge wave that was followed by another one and another one.

Sandy did not hesitate, did not think twice as she dived from the cliff's edge into the rowdy waters to save Bella's life.

She was a fae: land-based in nature, but still an excellent swimmer. Not to mention, she was able to control the water. All four elements were often like putty in her hand—she simply had not had to use such skills in a long while.

Along with being slightly rusty, she would tire out easily. She was a creature of the supernatural, but unlike vampires, she could become winded.

She fell toward the water in a clean dive, cutting through the air quickly, and hitting the water within seconds.

The rain and wind did nothing to help the already powerful waves.

The shock she felt from the ice-cold waters was unmatched, the Pacific Ocean was merciless with its numbing frostiness. Let alone in the winter. It went straight to her bone, nearly forcing her body to freeze on the spot.

But she pushed through the shock—staying strong and moving her limbs to propel her body and move the water around her. As the feeling of shock slowly wore off, the fae was quick to investigate the area around.

Sandy could see extremely clearly through the salt water, and to her horror, the first thing to greet her was Bella's unconscious body floating downward toward the rocks. It was more than apparent that she was in the midst of drowning.

The second horrible thing to greet her was the sight of a redhead vampire swimming toward them. Whether Victoria knew that Cassandra was not human or not, Sandy did care, for in the next second her appearance changed.

Her eyes lit up and her ears extended themselves as she bared her teeth in the most ferocious manner she could. Her glimmer had dropped as she focused her power in defense—the only spell to stay was the one that hid her wings as it was a more permanent spell.

She thrust her hand outward causing the water to shift and bend before slamming against Victoria in a way that would have killed any regular human. But for a vampire, it only propelled her away at breakneck speeds and got her caught in various strong whirlpools.

Victoria tumbled around and struggled, screaming through the salt water and coughing as it went into her mouth and nose. Even as she did not need to breathe, the sensation of salt water pushing into her lungs was more than uncomfortable.

Sandy took that moment to grab Bella by the arm, hoisting her up and using her power to will the water to carry them to the surface faster. The second they both broke through the water and emerged from the surface, the nippy air caused the cold to become even more unbearable.

But Sandy continued forward, the water bending and splitting to get the two to the shore in seconds.

Cassandra easily hauled Bella over her back before gently placing her against the sandy ground.

Jacob Black, who had been in the area chasing Victoria before the red-head dove into the water raced over when he saw the scene. It had been pure luck that he was passing through when he saw and heard the two; running over in a pair of shorts he'd found on the forest ground.

"Bella! Bella!" He cried, landing next to them with a thump, leaning over Bella in panic.

Bella's lips were turning blue and she was not breathing.

"She's not breathing!" Jacob called, immediately beginning to do CPR.

However, the next second, Sandy pushed him away. "No, let me fix this!" She huffed, ghosting her right hand over Bella's mouth and closing her eyes as she sensed the water stuck within Bella and blocking her airways.

She gathered her power, refusing to allow herself to feel winded at all. Not when Bella's life was on the line.

"What're you doing? She'll die if we don't—!" Jacob's frustrated cries were cut off as Sandy's hand suddenly glowed a faint purple and water started floating upward out of Bella's nose and mouth.

It floated upward rapidly, barely going for a few seconds before enough was out that Bella started coughing and spluttering up the seawater. She sat upright, rolling onto her stomach before puking up the remaining water that had been blocking her from breathing.

Sandy sighed in relief, rubbing Bella's back as she coughed up the water—only ending as she hyperventilated to catch her breath. Her big brown eyes were out of focus as she fully came to before darting around in alarm as to see where she was.

Because the last thing that Isabella Swan remembered was being knocked far under the waves and seeing Victoria coming straight at her. She thought that she had died—Bella did not think for one second that she had been going to live through that.

When she was finished, slowly becoming alert, Sandy pulled her into her arms along with Jacob. Neither of them had been confident that Bella was going to make it through that either.

"What were you thinking?" Sandy finally asked after a few minutes, pulling away and staring into Bella's eyes with pure anger and fright. "You would have died if I hadn't sensed that something was wrong and came after you. You would have been dead, Bella! What about Charlie, what about us?" Sandy pointed to her and Jacob. "Do you think your life has such little value that nobody would care? That we would not mourn you for the rest of our existence?! How dare you even think of doing something like that?!"

Bella looked more than guilty, shaking her head. "I'm sorry... I just wanted to see... I needed to see him..." She barely was able to get out through violently chattering teeth as the cold set in.

Sandy let out a sob, pulling Bella into a tight hug and rubbing her wet hair. But even she could do only so much against the cold when they were both wet. It's why she had to pull away sooner than she wished and allow Jacob to hold Bella; his wolf warmth would be enough to numb the effects of the chill.

While Sandy was also cold, she would be fine—far less susceptible to getting sick from it.

Sam came running from the woods at that moment, shirtless like Jacob and wearing only a pair of shorts. The wolves were not affected by the cold at all. He had an intense look written on his face. Sandy had met him only a handful of times, but they got along well—he quite liked the fae.

"You two take her home! I'm going to go help out at Harry's place!" He yelled before running back toward the forest.

The rain started to fall a bit harder at that moment, the clouds even darker.

Sandy had no clue what Sam meant by that, but she had the most horrible feeling that something terrible had happened to Harry Clearwater.

Bella was quick to ask the question on both their minds. "What happened at Harry's?"

Jacob's face fell. "Harry had a heart attack. My dad and Charlie are at his place with his family..." He trailed off sadly.

"Is he okay?" Bella's brows were furrowed in immense concern.

The feeling of dread crept up like a shadow on Sandy: a feeling she only got when death had been near.

And Jacob only confirmed her fears with his next words, anguish leaking into his voice.

"He's gone, his spirit has passed from this world to the next."

————————

As they finally managed to leave the beach after a few more minutes; Sandy could not help but look back toward the water sensing dangerous eyes on them. Victoria was out there: watching, waiting for her moment to strike.

She would not attempt something so foolish right now with Cassandra and Jacob present. She was already unable to win against Cassandra, there was no way she even stood a chance with Jacob added into the mix.

Sandy allowed her eyes to glow in warning. While she may not be able to see Victoria, she fully knew that Victoria could see her. With that last message sent, Sandy turned on her heel and followed her friends.

They found Bella's truck and Jacob took the wheel. Bella had been put into a large coat she carried in the back of her truck, the human sitting in the middle of Jacob and Sandy. Sandy, while cold, was not shivering any longer—choosing to rest her head on her hand and keep her eyes on the passing forest as they drove.

The rain continued to pour.

Bella looked to her friend guiltily knowing she had disappointed Sandy beyond measure. However, despite how many times she opened and closed her mouth, nothing seemed to be the right thing to say. So she said nothing at all.

While Sandy was upset, both the girls knew that Sandy was too soft-hearted to stay so bitter and disappointed with Bella. It was in a fae's nature to be forgiving—in a few hours and with a genuine apology, the incident would be forgiven.

Forgiven but not forgotten.

Bella would no doubt be under lock and key with Sandy; she would never again be given the chance to jump off a cliff. Not that she had planned to.

"It's 108 degrees over here..." Jacob piped playfully, referring to Bella's shivering.

He appeared to be blind from the tension. Bella was quick to scoot over and cuddle Jacob, desperate to be both warm and close to one of her best friends who she was slowly catching feelings for. Not that she would ever admit this out loud.

Love was complicated: there was no rhyme or reason for it—no truly right or wrong way for it to appear. Bella Swan loved Jacob Black despite what many might try and argue, and she was confused because she still loved Edward too.

One can love two people at once, it was more than possible. Was it right? Not necessarily all the time, but sometimes things like this are hard to prevent. And despite everything, with such a unique situation as the one Bella found herself in: someone was bound to get hurt.

"My hands are freezing," Bella finally muttered against Jacob. "It must be nice never getting cold."

"It's a wolf thing," Jacob smiled

"It's not," Bella sighed. "It's a Jacob thing, you're just warm. You're like your own sun..."

Sandy was staring at them both in unbashed bemusement. This was going to end so badly.

Especially considering the closer they got to the Swan residence, the easier it was to sense a vampire lurking inside. But seeing as no alarm bells of warning were going off internally, Sandy was willing to bet that it was a Cullen.

She hoped it was because if it was not—then that vampire had a hot firey death that they should look forward to. And if it was indeed a Cullen like she suspected, then Sandy had a bone to pick with them.

Her current mood would do nothing to help them either.

They pulled up to Bella's house, and Sandy noticed the Mercedes sitting on the other side of the road many feet away instantly. Bella nor Jacob seemed to notice this as they were murmuring to each other.

Words of affection.

However, seeing as Sandy was now nearly 100% sure that it was a Cullen inside Bella's house, she could not help but scoff as she realized that Jacob and Bella's relationship-thingy was about to be blown to hell. She could only hope that their friendship was strong enough to survive it.

It was not Edward inside, that much Sandy knew—it was fucking Alice.

Alice, her close friend who had been ghosting her on and off for over seven months now! Even after Sandy told her not to do it again when Alice first called her back and Sandy announced that she was moving to Forks to help Bella Swan seeing as the Cullens ditched her!

"I'll meet you guys inside," Sandy mentioned, earning nods from both of them but neither was really paying attention as they had been speaking quietly to each other.

Cassandra did not waste another minute, knowing that both of them were bound to realize Alice was inside in the next few moments. She opened the door, the old truck creaking as she did, the fae hoping to the ground and closing it behind her.

She took a deep breath, eyes filled with the utmost annoyance as she marched toward the front door. Sandy was cold and soaking wet—her curls clinging to her head and neck, but her eyes were full of fire.

Alice nor any of the other Cullens were about to be let off the hook easily.

Cassandra had no doubt that Alice had a vision of Bella jumping off the cliff and was probably here to see if she was dead or not. The fae had left her phone at home earlier, so if Alice tried reaching her to confirm such a thing, Sandy had no clue.

But what she did know was that she was going to have a firm talking with Alice and force Edward and the rest of the Cullens to come back if it was the last thing she did. Bella needed Edward and Edward needed her.

Sandy slammed open the door closing it behind her as she flipped on the lights.

Unsurprisingly, Alice Cullen stood in all her pretty glory in the middle of the living room. She looked worried—staring at Sandy with guilt and dread.

Cassandra had not seen Alice Cullen since Christian's wedding in either 1997 or 1998, she could not remember which year it had been. But it had been a good eight or nine years since they had last seen each other.

Alice, of course, looked the same other than the fact that she was adorned in the newest fashion trends rather than the stuff of the 90s'. Her hair was dark as ever, cut into a short spikey style—her golden eyes alight and pale skin reflective.

She was still shorter and far more petite than Sandy, something that Sandy secretly loved as it was rare for her to come across someone shorter than herself.

"Cassandra—" Alice started, her voice soft as she took a step forward.

Sandy held up a hand, looking at Alice with irritation.

"Alice, don't even..." She bit. "There is no way that it took Bella jumping off a damn cliff for you to finally stop ignoring us! What the hell is wrong with you all? You know the effects of a mated pair being separated like this!"

Alice sped forward, stopping in front of Sandy pleadingly.

"I know! I'm so so sorry, we didn't think it'd be this bad, though! Bella's still human and Edward said she could not feel the bond as he could! He assured us that she would be fine and she just needed a little time!"

"Well, as you can see, that is clearly not the case! Edward either lied or is delusion or even both! He does not get to choose and write out Bella's life for her—him leaving does not mean that she is magically going to have the best human life ever! You all know that, my question is why you did not try harder to knock some sense into Edward!"

Alice looked ashamed. "We thought he'd only last a few weeks—so we entertained him until he broke... but he hasn't broken yet..."

"Aha! No shit!" She cried, turning and grabbing her head harshly. "My God! Of all the ludicrous things in the world—!"

"Sandy—" Alice tried but was cut off by the door opening once again and Bella racing in with huge eyes.

The human froze at the sight of Alice—a spark seeming to reignite within her. There was hope in her once more, Sandy could sense it.

"Alice?" Bella asked, closing the door and staring at the vampire in disbelief.

She looked to Sandy as though to confirm what she was seeing was real and not just another sick hallucination of her mind. Cassandra pursed her lips but nodded her head at the human to confirm that Alice was real.

"Alice!" Bella cried, surging forward and bringing Alice into a tight hug that lasted only a few seconds before they pulled away and Bella was staring at Alice. "Oh my god—I'm sorry, I just can't believe that you're actually here!"

"Why would you try to kill yourself!" Alice finally said, her voice distraught. "I saw a vision of you jumping off the cliff—I thought you were dead! I can see now that Sandy saved you! I mean, what about Charlie, what about—?"

"I didn't try to kill myself," Bella hastily explained. "I was cliff-jumping. Recreationally. It was f-fun..." She stuttered at the end, wiping tears from her eyes but cringing back at Sandy's glare. "Sorry, not fun, incredibly dangerous and stupid and it went wrong in almost every way it could have..." Bella added.

"You can say that again," Sandy scoffed, hands on her hips as she shook her head.

Fifteen minutes later, Sandy had gifted Bella a warm cup of tea while she and Alice sat on the couch chatting. They were catching up.

While Sandy had much to catch-up with Alice too (seven or eight years worth), she did not feel like doing so at this moment in time. Rather, she left her two friends on the couch and wandered up to Bella's room to take a warm shower and get into a different pair of clothing.

The cold was finally getting to her and Sandy decided that her mood would be slightly better if she was not so cold and wet.

She had been keeping many of her clothes at Bella's since she stayed over so much, so finding dry and warm clothing after her shower would not be an issue.

She hummed as she braided her hair in two—the girl walking downstairs in newly dried comfortable clothing. Sweat pants and a loose long-sleeve, furry slippers adorning her feet. Oh, how she loved modern clothing; so relaxing. Despite everything, she would definitely be staying the night at Bella's with her.

Unfortunately, the second she came down the stairs, she was greeted with yelling and chaos.

"Why didn't you let me speak to him?!"

"He didn't ask for you!"

She came around the corner with immense confusion as Jacob and Bella argued, an anxious Alice standing next to Bella. Anxious was not the right word to describe Alice, the vampire looked absolutely petrified.

Something had occurred, something big.

"What happened?" Sandy demanded, Alice answered not only her but also shed light for Bella and Jacob.

"Bella," Alice grabbed Bella by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Edward's going to the Volturi. He wants to die too..." Her voice shook as she spoke.

Sandy's heart dropped—her entire soul dropped. And she nearly dropped to the ground... because this had to be a dream. No way this was real. This had to be some sort of fever-dream and she would wake up from a nap in her cozy bed while the Forks rain poured outside and Bella sat lazily on her couch watching the dramatic cooking channel.

Bella enjoyed watching Gordon Ramsay rip into people. She thought his British accent was awesome.

Sadly, this was not the case.

Because Sandy had to deal with many things at once.

Namely, Bella's mate was going to get himself killed. Not only that, but he planned to get himself killed by her very own mates. And to add the cherry on top, the second Aro read Edward's mind he would be made aware of her existence.

The only thing that might help her was the fact that Edward had barely met her and was not interested in ever speaking to her. Therefore, Aro would be clueless as to Sandy being his mate. Unfortunately, Edward was still aware of who Sandy was—so Aro would be aware of her.

Just in a weird third-person perspective. He would know that Sandy was one of eight children raised to destroy him and his coven.

She would be marked a Grade-A threat along with her siblings.

They would be hunted. They were going to come after her. Either they would come after her for being their mate or for being a weapon against them.

How could one sentence fuck her entire life up?

"We need to go stop him, how far away is he?" Bella was running around, already pulling out a small duffel bag from the closet.

She was listing plans A through Z on how to save Edward; not hesitating in throwing herself in the crossfire for just the slightest chance to save his life. Then again, Sandy supposed that was how mates worked.

A very complex and difficult bond to understand, and the only thing ever known to surpass it in some cases was a mother's love for their child.

Jacob was attempting to stop Bella by grabbing her arm and Alice was watching them. Sandy was looking around sadly, this was about to be her last few hours of freedom; of peace in knowing that Aro, Marcus, nor Caius had any clue of who or what she was.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked, placing a cold but calming hand on Sandy's shoulder.

She had noticed the way that she was staring off, and it was not in the typical way. Not in a fearful way, but in a sad way.

The fae only looked at Alice and in that second—Alice gained a faraway look in her eye as a potential future out of hundreds of possibilities came to her mind. And from her vision, whatever it was that she foresaw, she understood.

It was perhaps the best-kept secret of the century.

"Oh," Alice whispered almost horrifiedly, her golden eyes locking with Sandy's. "Oh, Sandy, why didn't you ever tell me?"

Sandy let out a short and humorless laugh. "Because, my dear friend, I've been ignoring and denying it myself for almost 20 years... but I suppose everything has a clock on it..."