Chapter 7: Returning to Blackvale
1419 Words
BELLA'S POV
Today is the day of my return to Blackvale—the place where I lived for almost all my life. My clinical tests yesterday were all good, and I’m finally going home. As I requested, Sebastian came with me, even though he still had other things to oversee at his new research facility.
We traveled by sea on his private yacht for almost two hours before reaching the shore. It was early morning, and the rich city of Blackvale welcomed me again.
I felt strangely… home.
A luxurious car was already waiting at the exclusive pier.
Sebastian held my hand with tenderness. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”
He asked with a gentle look on his face. My heart raced seeing him like that. I mean, I’m used to this kind of gesture from him—he’s always taken care of me like an older brother. But this time felt different. I felt something odd stirring inside my chest.
I smiled faintly and nodded. “I’m good. I just missed this place.”
We entered the car, and once we were settled in, it began moving along the most familiar highways, where tall buildings and skyscrapers nearly touched the sky. The bustling crowd, the traffic lights—everything about it was still vivid in my mind.
God, how much I missed this place...
After passing the heart of the city, our car entered a more private area, where tall trees lined both sides of the road, until a grand, sprawling mansion came into view through the window.
The car slowed as the towering iron gates of the Whitlock estate opened automatically, welcoming me home.
Yes. I’m finally home.
The word echoed strangely in my chest. It felt real… yet not quite whole. Like something had been plucked out of me—something small but important that I couldn’t fully comprehend.
I leaned my head against the window, watching the familiar landscape unfold. The winding greenery, the full blooms of my favorite peonies and roses climbing the stone walls. The scent of earth and old memories.
This place hadn’t changed. But maybe I had.
I was still myself… yet I felt strange with this amnesia. Dr. Keller said the sudden loss of memory might come back in time, but there’s also the possibility that it may never return. That wasn't the reason for the unease in my chest—but even though it may be an uncertain memory, and maybe not even important, I couldn’t help but feel its absence.
The car came to a gentle stop. For a moment, I just sat there, staring at the grand mansion that had raised me. The place where I grew up surrounded by laughter, love… and Sebastian’s gentle care.
The door opened before I could move, and Sebastian was there. He didn’t say a word—just reached out his hand, warm and steady. I took it.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, I heard the front door swing open. Ava was the first to appear, her eyes already glistening with tears.
“Bella,” she whispered, rushing toward me.
My chest filled with warmth and longing as I saw her. After my parents died when I was five, she took care of me like I was her own. The entire Whitlock family treated me like one of them.
“Mom…” I called.
Yes, I call her Mom—because that’s the only thing she ever wanted to be called. Same with her husband.
She wrapped her arms around me before I could say anything else, holding me like she’d been waiting years just to breathe again. And maybe she had. I hugged her back tightly, burying my face into her shoulder, breathing in the soft, comforting scent of a mother’s love.
“You’re home, sweetheart,” she murmured into my hair. “You’re finally home.”
Behind her stood Magnus, tall and quiet, his eyes red-rimmed but proud. This big old man had always been stern—but when it came to his children, he was soft and gentle. Just like Sebastian.
I pulled away from Ava only to fall into his arms next. His hug was rougher and steadier—like a shield I’d forgotten I had.
“Welcome home, Bella,” he said, gently patting my back.
“Thank you, Dad,” I replied, my heart swelling with gratitude for their endless love, even if I wasn’t one of them by blood.
Then came Selene.
She didn’t say anything at first—just stared at me like she wasn’t sure I was real. Selene had always been smart and kind. She was the best sister I could’ve ever asked for. We were the same age, too.
“Hey,” I said softly.
That cracked something open.
“Are you really Bella…?” she whispered, voice trembling with uncertainty.
I smiled faintly, almost laughing at her words. “What… of course I am! Though I do feel… different.”
Then she lunged forward and hugged me tight. I let myself feel this moment.
Because this was my family.
This was where I belonged.
We moved inside together, and nothing about the house felt strange. The living room was still as elegant and majestic as ever. The long, winding staircase. The European-style decor. The chandeliers.
I remembered it all.
Late-night talks with Selene. Ava mastering her delicious recipes in the kitchen. Magnus reading in his study while sipping his favorite tea.
It all came back easily to me.
But sometimes… when everything grew quiet… I felt it again.
That silent pull. That hollowness in my chest. A missing piece I couldn’t find. A gap in my heart that even Sebastian’s smile couldn’t quite fill.
I didn’t speak of it. I didn’t want to worry him. He had done so much—for me, and for his family. I’ll always be grateful for that.
As long as I’m happy and safe, that should be enough.
For now, what matters most is that I’ve recovered—after a long battle between life and death.
Now, I’m home.
And Sebastian is here.
*****
SEBASTIAN’S POV
I should’ve felt nothing but relief. She was safe now, surrounded by people who loved her—Mom gently brushing Bella’s hair behind her ear with motherly care. My Father smiling with that rare softness in his stern features, and Selene clinging to her like a younger sister reunited after a storm.
And Bella… she was smiling. That same smile I used to see before everything was taken from us—gentle, open, and kind, the way she used to be before I broke her. Her laughter filled the room, light and warm, and it shouldn’t have made my chest tighten the way it did.
This was the old Bella. The girl who once spun barefoot on the wet ground, playing in the rain. The girl who used to hum a song sneakily when she thought no one was listening. The one I used to watch from afar, before fate twisted our paths into a darker path, something I never meant to become.
I should be happy. And I was—truly, deeply.
But there was something else. A strange uneasiness I couldn’t shake, brewed in the depth of my bones.
She looked different, yes. This wasn’t the body I had marked beneath the full moon, the body I had carried into madness with my need—but when she turned, when our eyes met everytime, something inside me recognized her instantly.
It's not her scent or her face.. but her soul.
The bond was still there—silent but strong. My mark was gone, wiped away along with the body I’d once claimed… but her body, I know, it still remembered me. Still responded to me in ways it have been before.
Callum had warned me from the beginning that this is normal. It was what was imprinted in her brain during the procedure. She's a clone, the same Bella as she was, reborn in perfection.
I let out a sharp breath. Maybe i was just paranoid. I just can't believe that Callum could be this brilliant. He hadn’t just brought her back.
He’d recreated her, completely.
Mind. Heart. Body. Soul. And the bond..
I didn’t know whether to be furious, or grateful.
But one thing I was sure of—she wasn’t just a memory brought to life.
She was still mine. And somehow, impossibly, I was still hers.
- Writer
