The Escape

After breaking down over Bella and Holden’s predicament, Edwin’s fear turned to rage.

“Break the spell, Vlad!” he shouted with his fists shaking.

“My dear son, surely you realize that my fun is just beginning,” Vlad replied innocently.

“All I cared about in that moment was getting them both out of there,” Edwin tells us. “I knew the longer Bella and Holdenwere there, the worse their fate would be.”

“Don’t hurt them to get back at me!” Edwin stated angrily. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll train day and night to be the vampire you’ve always wanted me to be.”

“Enough!” Vlad interrupted. “You and I both know that You’ ve proven yourself to be nothing but soft. Maybe watching what I’m going to do to your friends will give you a real vampire’s heart.”

“No, no!” Edwin cried.

“However,” Vlad said carefully. “The girl has potential. The girl can be quite useful to me.”

“Bella? What-What do you want with her?” Edwin stammered.

“I’ve watched her,” Vlad replied. “She’s passionate, powerful even. She commands respect.”

“Why does that matter to you?” Edwin asked.

“Don’t you see?” Vlad asks. “She can use her influence to usher in a whole new generation of vampires–more powerful, more evil than ever.”

“I have no idea where you’re going with this but I can tell you that she hates evil, Vlad! She will never help you do anything!” Edwin stated defiantly.

“I’ll make this very clear then!” Vlad growled back at Edwin. “If you want Bella to escape my wrath tonight, you will agree to turn her. She will become your vampire queen and my right-hand ally in recruiting a majestic vampire army. However, If you refuse, she will meet her end right here tonight!”

“Even if I wanted to turn her, which I don’t,”she would never agree to your twisted plans.”

“Very well!” Vlad roared menacingly, inching towards Bella’s form. “You have made your choice.”

“I knew I had to act fast before Vlad did something horrible,” Edwin tells us. “Bella’s life was in my hands.”

“I’ll do it,” Edwin replied impulsively to Vlad. “I’ll convince her. I just need. . .time.”

“But of course,” Vlad replied. “I am quite reasonable, you see. You will have until her 18th birthday, which according to my sources, is just a few days away.”

“Of course If you fail, I will be forced to punish you both and quite severely,” Vlad added. thoughtfully “I will find you both and while you know what I will do to her, you can only imagine what your fate will be.”

“I was use to Vlad’s threats, Edwin reveals, “but there was something more sinister this time.”

“I won’t fail,” Edwin stated nervously to Vlad.

“Very well,” Vlad stated matter-of-factly while glancing down at Holden. “Now we have the matter of getting rid of him. such a fool to chase after a girl whose heart seems to be in two places.”

“You can’t do that!” Edwin stammered, wild with panic. “Bella would stop at nothing to find out what happened to Holden. Can’t you cast some type of forgetfulness spell on both of them so they don’t remember the things that happened tonight?

“If you ever read your Encyclopedia Vampirica, you would know the answer to that question. Nevertheless, I will be forced to release him as well if I want my plan to go accordingly. He is quite a pathetic piece of work if you ask me, but I know you already agree with me, Vlad laughed.”

“With what little vampire power you actually possess, see to it that your friends are returned to their homes,” Vlad said to Edwin. “By the time they wake tomorrow morning, they will have no memory of this night.”

Bella safely woke the next morning feeling rested, but felt a bit uneasy.

“I woke up and immediately remembered the conversation I had with Edwin. Something was off–way off– and I needed to see him as soon as possible.”

That night Bella met Edwin at the pier near the carnival in Copperdale.

She cut straight to the chase.

“Edwin, I know what happened to me last night when I saw Vlad.. I also know that I’m not supposed to remember any of it” Bella said seriously.

“I knew it!” Edwin tells us. “Vlad’s forgetting spell doesn’t always work 100% of the time. I can’t let him find out about this!”

“How much do you know?” Edwin asked quietly, after recovering from Bella’s admission.

Bella chose her words carefully. “Everything. I know Vlad is a vampire which makes you a vampire.”

Edwin froze. “So, she figured it out,” he tells us sadly “I realized it was just a matter of time before she knew, but there was a small part of me that wished we weren’t there yet. She would now see as a monster.”

After a few seconds, Bella broke the silence.

“What? You think I’m close-minded enough to think occult Sims are inferior? Do you think you being one changes my feelings for you? Well, you would be wrong on both counts. ” Bella exclaimed defiantly.

Bella continued. “Edwin, There’s just something about you, something that I can’t stay away from. Something that makes me want more. And–you have feelings for me, too. I know it.”

“I was speechless,” Edwin states. “I couldn’t believe what she was saying.. It was everything I could never give myself permission to dream of, but I knew that it couldn’t happen. “

“I can’t deny it, Bella. From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I’ve wanted to be with you. I love your passion to do what’s right, I love the way you change things for the better. . .”

“But we could never be together. As a vampire, would never hurt you, but Vlad can cause you great harm. . . just to get back at me.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Vlad want to get back at you? You’re his son. He should support you.”

“Vlad comes from a long line of vampires who believe in evil and ruthlessness. He wants me to share his beliefs –which I don’t. He thinks if he breaks me, I’ll be just like him. He’ll destroy anything I care about to change me. He already knows I have feelings for you, so you’re a target.”

Bella took a few deep breaths.

“it’s not going to stop me, Edwin,” Bella replied. “I refuse to let an evil vampire stop me from going after what I want.”

“You’re forgetting one major thing,” Edwin stated.

“I know you and Holden have genuine feelings for each other,” he continued. “I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, the way you act when you think no one is watching. You can’t deny it.”

Bella took a deep breath. “What I had with Holden, what I thought I had with Holden, It was never meant to be. What is meant to be is sitting right in front of me.”

The two spent the next several minutes walking around the pier in silence, until Edwin’s feelings overwhelmed him.

“Im tired of holding back, Bella.”

“When Edwin kissed me, I felt an overwhelming energy pulsate throughout my body,” Bella tells us. “I never wanted him to stop.”

“Our kiss was beyond amazing and I now realize that there’s no going back,” Edwin tells us, “I regret not telling Bella about Vlad’s threat, but I intend to keep her safe no matter what it costs me. I won’t let her down.”

Can Edwin keep Bella out of harm’s way when Vlad will stop at nothing to use her for his evil plan? Do Edwin and Bella truly have a future? What will happen when they both finally reach the young adult stage?