I knew that I now had the inexplicable ability to be any place I wanted, so I squeezed my eyes shut once more and willed myself to the one place I wanted to be more than anywhere else—Edward's house. I pictured his spacious home, with its large white rooms that had always felt so welcoming to me, purposefully imagining myself on the paved road in front of his house, and when I inched my eyes open, I was there. But everything was wrong. All of the lights were off and his massive house felt intimidating as I walked up the path, I hesitated before deciding not to ring the doorbell, but let myself in instead, swinging his oak door open wide as I stifled a gasp. Rather than the warmth, belonging and acceptance that I had always associated with Edward's living room, it now held nothing for me but despair. The walls been stripped bare, and now those white walls were overwhelming and sterile, and my breath became more ragged as the walls began to close in on me as the heart of Edward's home began to bear an uncanny resemblance to a hospital room. I flew through the rest of the house, running so impossibly fast that I must have been channeling Him, my heart continuing to sink lower in my chest, until I'm quite sure that I stomach acid must have begun to start dissolving it. Every room was empty, and I collapsed in Edward's room when a thought occurred to me that kept my panic attack at bay—what if this wasn't really Forks? What if this was all in my imagination? It was actually far more plausible than the presumptions that I had previously been operating under. The thought that, in reality at least, Edward still lived here was a comforting thought to me. This new train of thought slowed my heart rate considerably and I allowed myself to wonder about my own home, would it be as desolate as Edward's?

Once again succumbing to curiosity that I had caused more of my problems than I could ever count, I shut my eyes once more, and more sure of my newfound powers this time, envisioned Charlie's. My journey was a success, one which I was unfortunately so overjoyed with that the temporary euphoria overwhelmed my common sense and I thought it would be a good idea to start walking before I had opened my eyes all the way…and promptly running right into the peeling gray paint of my front door. I hit the entrance with a dull thud, and by some miracle found my hands bracing me on either side of the doorposts before I could fall down and give myself a concussion. Shaking the fog of confusion from my mind and trying to avoid the veil of panicked dew that was sure set in, I busied myself with retrieving the spare key from underneath the muddy not-so-welcome mat. I carefully fit the key into the lock, only to feel foolish when my house proved to be unguarded. My sheepish grin was replaced by confusion and alarm when I crossed the threshold and saw that someone was waiting for me. And not one of the someones I had hoped would be.

A young man of scrawny build and medium stature stood before me, his position relaxed, as though we stood in his front hall instead of mine. His stern countenance lifted as he gave me a wide smile and overly familiar greeting; "Why, hello."

I started at him in befuddlement, waiting for an explanation. When the pregnant pause continued, I began to scrutinize his slightly pockmarked face. Strong jaw line, round wide-set dull brown eyes placed under arched brows. Wow, were his eyebrows arched…..and his forehead was wrinkled….something was off. I panned out again and realized my mistake. He no longer looked relaxed, or pleased, he looked expectant. He was expecting something from me….an explanation. I mirrored his creased brow as my confusion mounted, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. I guess he decided that we had stood there in silence long enough because he tried to prompt me again.

"I'm Gabriel…." He let his words trail off, a clear opening for me to pry my tongue from the roof of my dry mouth and speak.

And speak I did, though rather stupidly, "Gabriel…." I tested the foreign name in my mouth, not sure if I liked the taste.

He let out a half laugh in a valiant attempt to relieve the mounting tension. "I'm Catholic."

As though that explained anything! Oh wait, maybe it did. Gabriel was an angel. Aha! A light bulb went off as I finally began to resume brain function. "OH! Gabriel! Of course, I'm so sorry. I had been wondering when someone was coming to get me. This is purgatory right? So you're here to collect me and transport me to….the greater beyond? Great, let's get out of here; this place was really starting to give me the creeps. I mean, not this place specifically, because I lived here, but this place generally."

He responded to my incoherent ramblings with additional skepticism; "Right, well, not really. You see…."

Realizing what he wanted, I supplied my name quickly.

"You see Bella; I'm not exactly that Gabriel. I'm here because you are-as you seem to have guessed- dead. More specifically, you were murdered."

I stared stupidly, replaying my death for the umpteenth time in my mind's eye, trying to see a murder in me, once again, being a klutz. If I hadn't been so confused, I probably would have felt bad for him, as his patience wore thin with my stupor.

He continued with a sigh, "Look, maybe you don't remember. You were at a hotel and you got pushed out a window." He held up a calloused hand to silence me before I could give my objections. "Now it doesn't usually work like this, even for murder victims, but as a special case you've been brought back."

As my brain suddenly started working in high gear, I began to put the pieces together. My untimely death-my love that always seemed other-worldly-karma. I had been good enough in my past life, so I was getting a second chance! I was beginning to regret previously questioning God's sense of humor….then I remembered Gabriel was still in the room. As my eyes brimmed with happiness I managed to choke out the words. "I'm being reunited with Edward?!?"

He seemed relieved that I was finally understanding as he immediately exclaimed, "Yes!" Then pursing his lips in consideration as he continued, "'Reunited'? I suppose…but that is an odd way of putting it. No matter, knowing his name makes this whole matter much easier, trust me I know from experience, let me get you some equipment." He said this in what I'm sure he thought was a reassuring voice as he had noticed my tears.

This whole matter was starting to get irritating, as I was very tired of being confused. "Equipment…?"

"Oh. You do know what Edward is, don't you?" He looked rather put out.

"….Yes. Edward is a Vampire." As if I didn't know everything about my Angel. As if I hadn't studied his sparkling skin shining in the sun for hours on end. As if I didn't understand what was keeping us from being together.

"Well good then. As you've also probably discovered, you posses certain abilities now. But those won't be enough, so you need certain equipment I've handpicked for this kind of thing."

This was ridiculous, didn't anything make sense anymore? "Right, well I still don't see why I would need abilities or equipment, care to explain?"

Startled by my suddenly snappish behavior, he did explain, as though it were the more sensible thing in the world, "Why, to kill him of course!"