Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight; all original characters and plot are hers. The rest is mine.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus - William Ernest Henley

Chapter 2: About to take Flight

When I woke I could hear Charlie getting ready as he did every Sunday morning to go fishing with Billy Black. I took a quick shower and then returned and began cleaning my room. Staying in the room until he left to prevent myself from breaking down in front of him. I wanted to say good bye but I was not sure if I could do it without alerting him to my distress.

"I'll see you later." Charlie yelled up the stairs to me.

"Bye dad." I replied. Adding "I love you." in a whisper.

As soon as he was gone. I took my personal bag and shoved into my back pack and lifted my suitcase from under the bed. I took the remaining letters and shoved them in my purse along with my wallet and the money I kept hidden in my sock drawer.

I left my suitcase and purse by the door and took my back-pack into the kitchen. I loaded it with items I could snack on, that had only been for me and would be a reminder to Charlie. In an attempt to further eliminate my smell I opened every window in the house, hoping the neighbors would think I was trying to air it out. I then took the note pad from the counter and left Charlie a note, 'Gone to clear my head. I love you, Dad.' Grabbing all of my bags and moving as quickly as I could without tripping I ran to my truck. I threw the suitcase in the back and jumped into the front. Going as fast as my truck would go I drove to the Cullen home. After my last trip I did not think I would return but like many things today I would force myself for the safety of those I love.

I knew when I walked in it would nearly kill me to see everything gone. I tried the front door first but as I thought it was secured. I walked around to the door by the kitchen while looking for something to break the window. I hated the idea of breaking anything of the families that I once thought I would belong too, but Victoria would surely do it and I needed to place my letters. As I bent down to pick up a stone I noticed the security panel. I tried several combinations. I tried everyone in the families' date of birth. I tried the years they were born and the years they were turned. Nothing I tried worked. I once again resolved myself to breaking the window when I decided to try again. I pressed zero, nine, one, and three, to say I was surprised that it worked would be an understatement. The door unlocked and the alarm deactivated.

I entered the home and realized that they had left all the furniture in the home. It looked as if someone one could still live here if needed and I would have but this would be the first place that everyone would check. As I looked around I noticed the small things that were gone. The little details that make a house a home. I wanted to take time to miss my lost family but the pack could be here anytime.

I knew I did not want Victoria to find the letter I wrote him so I went to the closet hoping there would be something there I could use to mask my scent. I pulled out a coat of Esme's that was no doubt a prop and probably not needed somewhere else they might live. As I put the coat on I noticed a pack back sitting on the floor with an envelope with my name on it. I wanted to rip it open and see what was left for me but there was not enough time for that now.

I took my letter for Edward and headed up to the third floor, I would place my letter in the drawer in his en-suite that I used when I stayed the night. It was the only place in the house that was just mine or at least they had let me believe it was. When I was outside the door, I could feel my body shaking. Looking at his room and seeing just the items that did not mean anything to him left behind was going to hurt. When I opened the door I gasped, it felt like all of the oxygen in my lungs had been sucked away. There everything sat, his music, his journals, even the picture of him and his parents. Why had he left it all behind? Was he so desperate to get away from me that he could not take the time. Wouldn't the family have taken it for him? It made no sense. Looking at everything in its place, I wanted to sit on the couch and listen to music. I wanted to pretend that it was the wonderful summer again when he and I would sit here together for hours. Without him I did not want to live now let alone for eternity, I could wait her and pretend until she came for me and been happy but I had promised him and the pack will send someone to look for me and I would have failed. I took a deep breath and quickly went to the bathroom placed my letter. I grabbed the picture of Edward as I hurried back downstairs careful not to trip, there was no one here to catch me like there had been in the past. I had to get out of the house before I fell apart and stayed here forever.

I knew I only had a short amount of time before Jake noticed I was not home and notified Charlie something was up. I returned the coat to the closet, grabbed the backpack with my name on it, and placed the letter to Victoria on the coffee table. Before I exited out the back door and relocked the house. I quickly made it to the truck and was going to start driving when I decided I needed to at least look at the letter. Someone had placed it there for me. I don't know when but right now I could use any help I could find.

I took a deep breath as I prepared myself to see the beautiful handwriting of my lost beloved or the cute script of my best friend. I did not recognize the writing right off and was dumbfounded when the signature revealed it was written by Jasper. Why would Jasper write to me? When did he do this?

Dearest Bella

I prepared this bag for you with the hope that you may never need it. Since you are reading this letter I am truly sorry we are not with you at this time and hope that we will find a way to help you. Alice says she cannot see a future right now where you would need this but it makes me feel better knowing it is here.

First I want to apologize for my actions on your birthday that set our current circumstances in motion. I wish I had better control of my thirst and you were not harmed. I know it is your nature to forgive and you did not hold it against me as soon as it was over. But you need to know how truly guilty I feel for everything.

Second, in this bag I have placed a few things that you may need. I have placed some money and again I know you would not like that but I feel better knowing you have the funds to help you on this adventure. Please take it? I also placed spare identifications that I had created during spring break. We luckily did not need them then but maybe you will find them useful now.

Lastly I have included a set of keys to an old truck of mine. It is in storage just outside of the Houston airport. The address is in the bag. I know you will like the truck, nothing as ostentatious as you are used to seeing us in.

Remember Bella "Family does not give up on family."

Yours Truly

Jasper

I was no longer part of that family and it hurt to be reminded of that but I did not have time to think about any of this, like many other things I had seen today. However, I would take whatever help I could get and I placed the letter back in the bag and started my truck.

As I drove away from the Cullen home I tried to decide how I would confuse my trail. First I needed to make it hard for Charlie to track me down. I know even though I asked him not to he would look for me.

I needed to confuse my scent trail as well. If I was going to live for any real length of time I needed to make it hard for Victoria to find me as well. I knew if I got in a vehicle my scent trail would be hard to follow but that did not give me much hope at losing her.

Knowing my truck would not get me far and would be easy to track I decided to drive to the Port Angeles bus station. Once there I went to one ticket booth and purchased a ticket to Vancouver, Canada. I then went to a different window and purchased a ticket to Portland, Oregon. This would make it difficult for Charlie to know where to begin his search.

I then went out to the bus yard and claimed to have left my back pack on the bus upon my arrival just a couple of hours ago. I walked up and down each bus that would allow me to look for my lost bag. I knew when I was done I had left me scent on at least a dozen buses.

I returned to my truck and called a cab. While I waited I pulled out the airline tickets from my birthday and called the airline. I asked if I could redeem the tickets for a location other than the original purchase and if they were transferable. As long as I was able to pay the transfer
fees, I could do as I see fit with the tickets. With that in mind I dug into the back-pack Jasper had prepared for me and took the first set of ID's I could find.

I pulled out the new identity of Annabella Marie Hale. I was touched that Jasper had made me his sister but did not have time to dwell on it. I told the woman on the line Annabella would pay the fees when she picked up the new ticket at the window. I let her know that I wanted to trade both tickets for a one way ticket to London.

Set to leave the Seattle Airport, I would leave in a little more than three hours and have only
one lay over. Then I would be leaving the country. I was not sure where I was going and right now I just wanted the greatest distance between me and the ones I loved.

I briefly thought of trying to find my - his vampire family but I knew they would not want me. I thought of looking for their cousins in Denali but they would know that the family did not want me as well and would not want to be bothered by a human. The only other vampires I knew how to find were the Volturi and I though I cared little for my life and knew they cared even less I would not risk theirs. I would not let the rulers know that they had let a human know and left them alive.

As soon as the cab arrived I loaded my bags in the back with me and left the keys to my truck, my cell phone, and the remaining letters in the glove box. I locked up the truck and got in the cab without a backwards glance.

During the drive to the airport I was anxious, my eyes darting around convinced someone would be following me, Victoria, the pack, or worse Charlie. With nothing to occupy me for the two hour drive I was left to my paranoia. Surely someone from the pack had arrived at my home, with the windows open and my truck gone they would have alerted Sam. Jacob would have started looking for me. He would have been able to have someone in the pack get to Charlie to let him know I was missing as well. They would be starting the search. I was not sure if Charlie would see my note and give it time or if he would panic. I hoped my little tricks would slow them down. I did not know how long it would take them to locate my truck or if they would follow my false leads. I wasn't sure how long it would take Charlie to call in favors from surrounding police agencies. Not knowing how any of this worked I just hoped that I would be able to get off the ground before someone recognized me.

When I arrived at the airport I realized I needed to move some things around in my luggage to avoid questioning. I hid in a small corner of the airport. I took what seemed like an adequate amount of cash for my international trip and stuffed the rest in my suitcase that I would check in. I didn't want the amount of cash Jasper left me to be seen through the x-ray, I would be stopped. I replaced my true identification with Annabella's and then shoved the extra set and my originals in the suitcase as well. I took some of the snack food I had packed and placed it in my new bag, it looked like it could handle travel better than my old beat up one. I placed Jasper's letter in my bag and considered placing the CD and pictures in the new backpack as
well but I could not afford a break down on an airplane, so they remained in my suitcase. I stuffed my old bag between an old set of metal chairs and the wall. Then with my purse, new backpack, and suitcase Annabella went to the ticket
counter.

Due to the drive and the need to arrange my luggage, there was not enough time for panic to truly set in. Once I was checked in I had to move quickly to board the plane. I would be able to plan the next leg of my adventure as Jasper put it, during the four hour flight.