"We can't trust anyone!" Maria grabbed Rose's hand as they snuck through the back entrance of the precinct, "We have to stick together." The girls couldn't afford to go out the way they came in since the people who currently want them dead were out patrolling through the precinct's lobby. At this point, trust was something they needed to hold onto tightly. The lieutenant could be involved for all they know. Since the limo was parked on the other side of the building, they were all stuck walking.
The back entrance led to an alley. Trash and rats were scattered throughout the darkened backstreet. The nightlife was in full effect, and the predatory creatures of the night took cover in the poorly lit side streets. "I'm scared!" Maria threw her arms around her eldest sister. Her face nuzzled into Carmen's fizzed out hair as she shielded her eyes from her surroundings.
"Seriously," Bella blew a strand of hair out of her face, "you're afraid of the dark? My son's not even scared of the dark anymore. How old are you Maria? Five."
Kate pushed Bella against the brick wall, "This isn't the time to insult one another! We have to stick together, not fall apart!"
"And I'm not afraid of the dark," Maria spat, slowly pulling away from Carmen, "I'm just a little scared of what may be in it. I hate not knowing. Anything could be out there Bella. Anything."
"We need to keep moving," Rosalie waved for the girls to follow.
While Maria may have drawn away from her older sister, she didn't wander too far. She held onto Carmen's hand for dear life. It reminded her of when they were kids. Carmen has always had this protective instinct, and when one of her sisters needed her, she'd never turn them away. No matter how old they were, Carmen was always there. Once they were out of the alley, and on a sidewalk that was beautifully lighted by streetlights, Maria released her hold.
"Where are we going?" Alice drawled out.
Irina followed closely behind her youngest sister, "As far away from here as possible."
"We can't just keep walking to a destination that we know nothing about! Rose, you're the closest out of all of us in the law and criminal profession!" Renesme bellowed, pulling the young Hale to a stop, "You have to know somebody that can help us…preferably somebody who isn't crooked."
Rosalie stood in the drafty night. Her dress blew through in the cold breeze of the windy night's air. Her hair began to fizzle out from the sweat beads forming along her forehead. As her green eyes scanned her sisters and friends, her mind ejects itself from the situation in order to come up with a plan. Everyone was depending upon her for a way out. She was the youngest of the group, yet everyone looked to her for rescuing. While the precinct was off limits, she had to think of the next best thing.
Her richly manicured hand firmly grips her best friend's cold wrist, "We can go to the DA's house. He'll help us!"
Upon returning from her two-week long honeymoon, Rosalie would immediately start working for District Attorney Jason Jenks. Her well-known and highly publicized father managed to use his never-ending connections to obtain his youngest daughter a career within her desired profession.
"Are we there yet?" Renesme kicked off her remaining high-heel as she limped behind the girls.
Bella suddenly stopped, allowing her sister to catch up, "Patience."
"Please tell me Bella how I am supposed to be patient when there are people trying to kill us?!"
"I want to go home," Irina whined, resting her hand on top of her forehead, "I want to take a nice bubble bath and cuddle with my husband! I want to hug my baby. I want to crawl into my bed and go to sleep."
Bella looked towards Irina and rolled her eyes, "Alright princess, if you haven't noticed we're in a predicament. It's time to focus."
"I'm cold. Walking in these heels make my feet feel like I'm staggering barefoot on glass!" Irina suppressed her tears.
"Suck it up princess, hate to say this, but this isn't your castle! Now let's keep moving…"
"The votes are in," Maria muttered, crossing her arms indignantly, "It's unanimous. You're an asshole."
"You know what Maria, won't you do yourself a favor and shut the hell up."
"Don't talk to her like that," Carmen's protective instinct kicked in as she turned to face the older Swan sister. The stress and fatigue of the night were weighing down on all of their patience. However Carmen didn't care. She didn't like people talking down to her sisters. No matter how much she and her sisters argue, she absolutely hated other people hurting her family.
Renesme felt the thick and penetrating tension in the late and squally night. They all needed to stick together, and she knew addressing the situation wouldn't help much. Carmen was stubborn and when Bella is upset she can be just as tenacious. The younger Swan thought the best thing to do was change the conversation. She placed her heels carefully back onto her swollen feet, "You know, I'd rather it be a zombie apocalypse than whatever this is."
"Zombie apocalypses aren't real." Bella spat the words in irritation. Maria abruptly stopped.
"You don't believe in the zombie apocalypse?" the brunette questioned in complete disbelief, "You obviously haven't seen Tanya before she has her morning coffee."
The sharp skin to skin contact that Maria received from her older sister forced the younger girl to pick up her step. The comment did pull a much needed smile onto their faces. It was something Maria managed to do. With the night going like this, it was much appreciated.
Rosalie pulled herself from the conversation. Her mind was focused on the street signs, and the building addresses. She knew her boss lived near, but she didn't realize how near until she reached 8231 Walnut Drive.
Alice pushed her best friend towards the door, "Rose, you go knock."
"Why do I have to knock?"
"Maybe," Maria shrugged her shoulders, "it's because you're the only one who knows him!"
"Oh, right." Rosalie nods in agreement, as she walks up the three porch stairs.
The youngest Hale inhaled a sharp breath, and released it seconds after. Her heated breath could be seen in the crisp night. The impatient eyes of her sisters and friends pushed her to knock long and hard on the red, wooden door. Her knuckles turned a dark shade of red with each passing knock. The contact of the wooden door soon began to ware on her sensitive knuckles.
"Who is it?!"
"It's Rosalie Hale." Rose gently massaged the skin around her knuckles, "You know, Julian and Vanessa Hale's daughter."
Jason pulled away from the door, and unlocked each latch. You could never be too careful, especially in the heart of Forks. Safety was always a priority, and the locks on Jason's front door proved it.
"Come in," Jason pulled the door wide open to allow the women to enter, "it's late. What do I owe this visit?"
"We need your help."
The smile on Jason's face fell, "You get straight to the point. I like that, especially in this profession." He closed the door, before relocking each latch, "Start from the beginning…"
The long story made short rotated between each person. The only person who did not share a part of the story was Bella, who was too shaken up and upset to speak. It has yet to actually sink in for the rest of the girls, but for Bella, her mind constantly replayed tonight's events. She had witnessed not one, but six people getting killed. She had watched a drug deal go bad. She had realized that the Forks Police Department was corrupt. Or at least some of the officers were. She didn't know for sure…and she didn't want to find out.
"I'm more exhausted than I thought," Bella flopped down onto the sofa, "I just walked into the couch and apologized." She leaned back and closed her eyes. She trusted that her sister and friends would handle the situation, at least long enough for her to catch her breath, settle her thoughts and regain her energy.
"What did you do?!"
Bella immediately broke out of her reverie by the high-pitched voice of Alice. She watched the springy maid-of-honor snatch the cell phone out of Jason's hands, "Why did you call the police? They can't be trusted! We've told you that!"
"Everyone in the department isn't bad," Jason nodded, sliding his phone from Alice's hands.
Irina pinched the bridge of her nose, "We're so dead. We're so dead. We're going to die."
"Did you call 911 or a specific number?" Rosalie refused to allow her thoughts to catch up. She had to think in the moment. Someone in the room had to keep focus and if 911 were called it was a better chance of a random officer showing up, but if he dialed a specific number of an officer in the police precinct, she had to know who…even though she didn't know any of the corrupt officers' names by heart. She would never forget their faces. None of them would.
"I dialed a specific number."
Rosalie wished she stuck with Mr. Jenks when he made the phone call. She wasn't able to hear his conversation with whoever he phoned. Mistakes were something they couldn't afford to make. They're lives were in danger. If the officers knew that they got the DA involved, they would kill him. The officers already killed Paul, and she didn't want any more blood on their hands. The hard pounding knock on the front door cleared Rosalie's over-active thoughts. The knock was so strong, it shook the metal latches drilled into Jason's wooden front door.
"Sir, do not answer that," Rose shook her head. While it was a chance that the officer(s) at the door were law-abiding, there was also a chance that they weren't. It was a chance she wasn't willing to take. She didn't want to risk her sisters or friends' lives.
"They don't know you're here."
Kate grabbed onto Rosalie's arm and pulled her out of the direct view of the officers. She buried her head into her younger sister's blonde hair, "Why is this happening to us?" Her question goes unanswered as the DA unlocked each latch sealing his door closed. Maria takes a hidden stance behind the attorney's bookshelf, as Alice ducked behind his couch. Tanya pried open the back window and stepped one leg out, just in case they had to make a run for it. She was ready. Carmen was the only one in sight of the front door. As Jason pulled the door open, the eldest Denali immediately recognized the three faces. They belonged to the corrupt cops.
"It's them!" Carmen backed away from the front door, "Sir, it's them!" Tanya instantaneously hopped out of the window and was followed by Maria and then Alice.
The district attorney stepped to the side as they treaded into the house, "I know."
Jason Jenks slammed the door closed after the third officer entered. Carmen waved for her sisters to run towards the back window as she slowly backed up. Irina and Kate soon disappeared out of the opened frame. The red head, Victoria, tightened the silencer around her gun, as she waited for Jason's orders. Rosalie was in complete shock as she and Bella flipped the couch in order to distract them. He was going to be her boss. She was going to work for him after her honeymoon. The youngest Hale admired him as a lawyer. She looked up to him and the work he did. Rosalie and Bella escaped out of the window as Carmen pushed the bookshelf in line of the officers' vision.
"Carmen, come on!" Renesme waved for the older Denali to run. And at the sound of her name being called, Carmen turned on her heels and raced to the back window.
Jenks raised his finger and pointed, "Kill them."
As silent shots are being fired through the attorney's living room, the remaining girls scatter and run. Renesme and Carmen duck behind the couch as they mentally plan a way to escape out of the house. At least they were on the first floor, so it wouldn't be a long drop if they needed to jump out of the window.
Maria waited underneath the window, "Where's Carmen? She didn't come out."
"And Renesme," Bella added.
Soon enough both Carmen and Renesme came barreling out of the window. Carmen landed on an unsuspecting Maria as Renesme landed on a heap of trash bags.
"Oh thank god," Bella leaned forward to help her sister up.
"Why didn't you catch me like Maria caught her sister?"
Carmen stood up and helped her sister up afterwards. Maria brushed off the dirt and grime as she glared towards Renesme, "It wasn't by choice. If you didn't notice, I was more of a landing zone for her."
"We have to keep moving," Alice urged, waving her friends along.
They could hear the distant sounds of the muffled gun shots being fired in their direction. The further they got, the fewer shots they heard being fired. It was a reassurance. The girls were finally getting away.
"Stop," Bella exhaled, struggling to catch her breath.
Rosalie gripped the hem of the bottom of Bella's dress. She ripped some of the fabric off as Bella pushed her away, "What are you doing?" Rose wrapped the fabric around her hand before punching through the driver's side window of the closest parked vehicle.
"We're down the street from Jason's house," the youngest Hale brushed the glass out of the seat, "We need to get as far away from them as possible!"
Carmen nodded in back-up, "Rose is right. They're probably planning a way to take care of us right now as we speak. Jason seems to be the leader. The others make it look like a game. They could have killed us right then and there if they wanted, but they didn't. It's like they want to hunt us."
As the engine roared, the women hopped into the vehicle. Carmen stepped into the driver's side as Rosalie raced around to the passenger seat. Tanya leaned forward from the second row of the van and pressed a kiss to her younger sister's sweaty cheek, "You're a genius!" She sat back and strapped her seat belt, "Just a thought though, where'd you learn how to hotwire a car?"
"Yeah," Irina second her sister's question, "I bet if mom knew she would flip her shit!"
"Really not the time," Rosalie shook her head in order to ignore their question.
With Carmen driving and Rosalie in the passenger seat, that left Tanya, Irina, Maria and Kate in the middle row and Alice, Bella and Renesme in the back. The back row of the car was tighter and small, with its closed windows and cramped space. In the close-fitting space, Alice felt a liquid drip onto her right hand. She ignored the first few drops and blamed them on the sweat spewing from her overly hot body, but when the drips persisted, she glanced down.
The drops of liquid were thick and red like blood and not thin and clear like sweat. She didn't feel pain anywhere. And at the angle her hand received the drips, she knew it wasn't falling from her body.
"Somebody's bleeding!" Alice shouted, wiping the blood onto the seat.
Bella scanned her body and saw no sign of injury. Alice did the same once more.
"Guys," The two looked to Renesme and followed her line of sight. She was staring at her side stomach surrounded by blood. They all missed it. In the panic and fear, they all completely overlooked the blood spatter on her dress. The adrenaline numbed the pain, but now that it was wearing off, Renesme started to feel the burning sensation of the bullet engorged into her side.
"Carmen!" Bella shouted as she leaned over Alice to place her hands over Renesme's wound, "Drive faster! We need a hospital! Renesme's been shot!"
Kate leans over the seat to check on Renesme's injury, "Keep pressure on it. She's lost a lot of blood! We need to make sure she doesn't lose anymore!"
"It hurts!" Renesme squeezed her eyes closed as sweat began dripping down her forehead. She gripped onto the seat and dug her nails firmly into the cushion. There was no adrenaline left and she felt everything.
Alice ripped off a piece of Renesme's long gown and used it to apply pressure to the bleeding wound. The harder she pushed down onto it, the louder Renesme screamed. They could feel their bodies whipping around the backseat as Carmen made sharp and fast turns.
"Let's get her mind off of the pain," Kate ordered, looking around to see if anyone had an idea.
"Oh, I have one. I have a story," Maria turned in her seat to face her wounded friend, "When I was little girl, I used to" she silenced herself in thought, "oh wait, never mind I still do that!" Renesme chuckled lightly.
Rosalie shouted from the front seat, "How is she?!"
"She needs a doctor like right now." Kate informed, tearing her eyes away from a crying Renesme.
As Alice held pressure down, Bella gripped her sister's face, "Look at me," she gave her younger sister a comforting smile, "you're going to be okay. I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere." Bella briefly pulled away in order to glance towards the front of the vehicle, "How far away are we?! What's taking so long?!" She turned back to her sister as Carmen answered, "We're like two minutes away!"
"Hold on for me," Bella pressed a moist kiss to her sister's beady forehead.
Carmen pressed down onto the brakes as the tires squealed against the ground. Bella happily sighed at the feeling of the stopped vehicle. She looked out and saw the word hospital shining in bright, red lights. Each person hopped out of the car. Rosalie ran into the hospital in order to get some help as Bella, Alice, Kate and Tanya carried Renesme into the building.
"Alice," a familiar voice whispered, as doctors rushed up to Renesme.
Alice noticed the familiar curiosity etched into her mom's face, "I'll have to explain later. Just save my friend."
Mrs. Brandon nodded her head and followed the doctors to the emergency room. Irina, Maria and Carmen soon rushed into the hospital and looked around for their friends. "What's the word?" Irina wondered, worriedly.
"It's too soon to tell," Kate answered, as Bella broke down into tears.
Harry Clearwater stepped out of Jerry's office with a long and strenuous sigh. He didn't plan on talking to his wife for as long as he did, but what was spoken needed to be said. They were in an argument and now that they talked it out, the argument is over and they're back to normal. The lieutenant thanked his co-worker Jerry, as he walked back towards his office.
"Sorry, I took so-" When he opened the door, his eyes were met with emptiness. No one was here. The girls all left. Harry stepped back and turned to face the desk sergeant, "You know the girls who came in a while ago? It was like nine of them. They looked a little roughed up."
"Yeah, Julian and Vanessa Hales kids?"
The lieutenant nodded, "Yeah them. Did you see them leave?"
"No."
Harry Clearwater sighed to himself as he reentered his office. At the sound of his door closing, he flopped down into his seat. The older lieutenant stared out into the window and watched as officers came and went. None of it was making sense. He's met the Hale women on plenty of occasions, but not in the fashion in which they were today. They looked worn-out and roughed up. The look in their eyes looked as if they've seen a ghost. They looked completely and utterly terrified. They were shaking and cold. Their makeup was grungy and their outfits looked unkempt. They would never leave the house like that. It was definitely out of their character. What didn't make sense to him was why did they show up in the first place? If they needed help, they would have stayed. They left though, were they planning to perform a bachelorette night joke and backed out?
Harry blinked out of his never-ending train of thought, and pulled out his cell phone. His desk phone was useless at the moment since it didn't work. He quickly dialed one of his detective's numbers and waited for him to pick up.
"Lieu, I'm off tonight," Jasper hollered over the music and into his cell.
"I know that," Harry proclaimed into the phone, "Your wife and Rosalie stopped past the precinct with their friends. They look like they're in trouble."
Jasper stood from his seat, and covered up his other ear in order to hear his boss better, "Say that again."
"Your wife, Rosalie and their friends stopped past the precinct," Harry raised his voice, "They looked terrified. I'm worried."
"What are they terrified about?"
Jasper stepped out of the club with Emmett and their friends closely behind. Emmett recognized the look of concern on his best man's face. The only reason Jasper would look as troubled and afraid as he does right now is if someone he cared about was in danger. Jasper didn't care about many people because technically he was an orphan. Emmett knew everyone that Jasper cared about and they happened to be people he cared about too. And knowing that Rosalie, Alice, Bella and the other girls were out and about in downtown Forks made the beating of his heart grow faster.
"I don't know. It seemed important." Harry paced around his office. He wanted to help Jasper as much as he could, but he honestly had no clue what was going on. He was as lost as they were right now. "They left before I could question them about it. They seemed really freaked out and shaken up. Give them a call please and then call me right back. I just want to make sure everything is okay."
"Thank you," Jasper says before hanging up, "Something is wrong. We need to call the girls ASAP."
Rosalie sat in the uncomfortable hospital waiting room chairs in between Alice and Maria. She held both her sister and best friend's hands as her nervous foot tapped impatiently. In her peripheral vision, she spotted Bella pacing back and forth as she frequently chewed upon her fingernails. She couldn't imagine what Bella was going through. Just the thought of one of her sister's in the emergency room fighting for their life made the beat of her heart amplify. Kate and Carmen leaned against the wall as they waited for some type of update as Tanya and Irina appeared from their quest to the restroom.
The only sound heard in the waiting room was the news. Jessica Stanley, the anchorwoman's voice blared through the speakers of the television, "We have breaking news. Nine women are suspected of murdering over five people in an alleyway near a downtown nightclub they were spotted leaving." At the familiarity of the details, Rosalie looked up. As their descriptions echoed through the waiting room, she looked around at all of the strangers' faces. None of them had any clue. The descriptions provided could have belonged to a lot of people. "If you see these women," sketches of the nine women appear onto the screen, "do not approach. They are most likely armed and dangerous."
"You," a young lady screamed while frantically pointing at the girls, "you're the girls on the television! They match the description! Security!"
As more shouts of security repeat around the closed in waiting room, the girls quickly run out. Bella looked around in a panic, "I can't leave without my sister!" She runs down the hall she last saw them take her.
"She's dead if we leave her," Alice whispered, looking between Carmen and Rose.
Carmen nodded and waved for her sisters to follow, "We can't leave her here!"
Bella raced down the hall in search of her sister. She passed doctors who ordered her to go back, but she refused. Bella had no intention of leaving the hospital without her sister following closely behind. And since the police were most likely being called, if she left her sister here for those bad cops to find her, then she was definitely dead.
"Alice,"
Alice looked up at the sound of her mother's disappointed voice. She looked up at the familiar face with a pout. Positioned against the wall was a television and her face was upon it. Her mother definitely saw the news report…and she was not happy about it. Mrs. Brandon pulled her gloves off and took a seat, "Please tell me what they're saying isn't true." Her hand pressed against her forehead.
"It's not." Alice assured.
She approached her crying mother, "We're being framed. I don't want to tell you too much because then you'll be in danger, but you have to believe me. If officers come, you don't know me."
Mrs. Brandon looked into her daughter's brown and mesmerizing eyes. She could always tell when her daughter was lying…and every part of her told her that the words Alice spoke were the truth. And it made her terrified. It made every fiber of her being frightened. What have these girls gotten into? The older nurse rose to her feet and pulled her daughter into her arms, "Of course I believe you," she looked up and smiled towards Rosalie, "keep each other safe. Renesme's in ER number five and I'll hold security off as long as possible, but you all really need to leave."
Alice pressed a small kiss against her mother's cheek. Her mother had absolute dying faith in her daughter. She could witness Alice kill someone and if Alice told her she didn't do it, she would believe it. Scanning her daughter's eyes for the truth was a lie. She honestly couldn't tell, but she knew her daughter and she knew Alice and the other girls wouldn't just kill all those people. She knows Alice and she knows Rose, and knowing those two girls eased her heart of the lies that the news report tried to fill it with. Rosalie and Alice couldn't hurt anyone. And they definitely weren't capable of killing anyone either. "I love you sweetheart," Alice smiled as she pulled away.
"She's in ER five." The young Brandon took off after her friends down the hallway.
Mrs. Brandon wiped her eyes and turned in the direction of oncoming security. Without murmuring a word, she pointed in another direction. It led towards ICU. And ICU was big. By the time they realize the girls aren't down there, they would have already been long gone from the hospital.
Bella's feet came to a halt as she spotted emergency room number five. Her sister was behind those doors. Tanya approached the crying woman, and placed a calming hand upon her mid-back, "We have to be quick. You have to get her. We need to leave right away."
The older Swan picked up speed as she raced down the hall. Her sister's name continuously whispered out of her mouth as she grew closer and closer to her location. She could see through the window and spotted no doctors. Her sister's surgery must have just ended and that's why Mrs. Brandon was walking from the opposite direction, but at the same time, Mrs. Brandon no longer assisted in surgeries. She must have helped to wheel Renesme to ER five. And she must have not come from the direction of the emergency rooms. It was an intercepting hallway, and she could have easily been walking from ICU.
"Get your sister Bella," Irina whispered, giving the woman a nod of encouragement.
Bella pushed open the doors and silence surrounded her. She looked around and saw no one, not even her sister. The older Swan approached the surgery table and noticed a long white blanket stretched a top of a bodily figure. Everything was starting to add up in her overactive mind. She was putting two and two together…and she didn't like the results she was getting.
"No," her hand covered her mouth in fear, "Please no." She stretched her free hand out and slowly pulled the blanket back.
Her sister's closed eyes and pale face greeted her. The strength in Bella's legs immediately gave out, forcing the woman to lose balance and fall to the floor. She never loosened her grip on the sheet and pulled it down with her. It held the scent of her sister's favorite perfume. Bella pulled her knees towards her chest and cried into them. She gently rocked back and forth. How was she going to tell Jacob? Emmett? Edward? How was she going to tell her parents? Robert? It wasn't fair! This was not supposed to happen!
She pulled the white sheet to her nose and inhaled deeply. The scent of her sister was strongly embedded into the fabric of the thin sheet. Her body rocked slowly back and forth as her eyes closed. The sheet caught all of the loose tears that escaped the older Swan's eyes. Bella refused to believe it. She refused to acknowledge the fact that a few hours ago they were all laughing, partying and having a good time…and now her sister was dead. This morning, her sister was so excited to have a night out on the town with the Hales'…and now her sister was gone. The door gently swung open and she looked up to spot all of her friends. Maria's giggle could be heard filling the small ER, "Oh shit, are you crying?" Her laughter immediately ceased. Their wide eyes met Renesme's exposed body that the blanket no longer covered.
"Bella," Rose whispered, stepping forward.
She threw the sheet across the room, "No! Stay away from me! Don't come anywhere near me! This is your fault! We were out celebrating your bachelorette party! She came out to help celebrate your wedding! And now she's dead! My sister's dead! Don't talk to me!"
"How was I to-"
"I said don't talk to me!" Bella screamed, as her makeup smeared into her dress.
Carmen slowly inched forward, "Bella you can point fingers, but you know this is no one's fault. We can all take blame, but none of us pulled the trigger."
Bella's whimpers immediately stopped. She rose to her feet and turned to face her sister, "That's ridiculous. How could I possibly take blame for any of this?"
"Well you-" Kate grabbed onto Irina's arm, instantly stopping her from finishing her sentence.
Kate shook her head, "This isn't the time or the place. She doesn't need to hear that."
"Yes I do! I'm not leaving until I hear it!" Bella screamed, pulling the sheet off of the ground, "Irina, what were you going to say? How could I possibly take blame for this?"
"You notified them. You made a noise and alerted them that we were there. We could have snuck away without them seeing us, but no, you alerted them and now they're hunting us down like animals."
At the mention of Irina's honest words, Bella looked back towards her sister. She lay against the ripped and ragged dress that Renesme was supposed to return the next day. It was stained in drying blood. Irina was right. All of them could take responsibility. She had no right blaming Rosalie for something that was out of her control. This was out of all of their control.
"I'm sorry Rose," Bella broke down into the fabric of her sister's dress.
"It's okay."
Alice glanced up at the clock on the wall. She hated to rush things, but if they wanted to live through the night, they needed to leave. She gently pushed through Tanya and Rose, "Bella, I know it's going to be hard, but we have to go."
"No!" She shook her head at the outrageous thought of leaving her sister. It was completely absurd. Her sister just died…and now they expected her to leave her lifeless body.
"Alice is right," Tanya added, "Your sister would want us to get justice for her. We can't get justice behind bars or buried six feet under! We need to leave! When we clear our names, we'll be back. We'll get her. You'll see her again…and you won't have to leave her."
Bella glanced down at her sister's closed eyes. Renesme would want her to leave and stay safe, but she just couldn't do it. She lifted her hand and cried into the engagement ring wrapped around Renesme's finger. She would never have her own bachelorette party. She would never walk down the aisle. She would never have children. She would never get to tell Jacob goodbye. She would never get to tell her goodbye. The older Swan used her fingers to brush through Renesme's hair. She straightened up her sister's dress before draping the sheet back over her cold body. When the doctors come back, her sister deserved to look dignified…not sprawled out and exposed on a cold operating table.
"I hate to sound insensitive, but we need to go!" Carmen reached forward and grabbed the woman's upper arm, "The people who are still alive, I prefer they stay that way, including you."
Bella tore her arm from the older Denali's hold, "You still have your sisters! You have all of them! I lost my only one! You wouldn't leave if one of them were lying underneath that sheet! And you know that!"
"You're probably right," Carmen shrugged, pulling Bella out of the emergency room, "I wouldn't be thinking clearly, but I would trust that you would take charge and help keep me alive. I'm sorry for what you're going through right now, I really am, and I'm sure it's a feeling you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, and it may sound wrong of me, but help me keep everyone else alive, so none of us have to go through that! No one else deserves to die, and if we stay here, that's exactly what will happen." Carmen could tell Bella was listening to her words, "We have parents. We have children. We have husbands. We need to see them again."
Without another word, Bella stormed towards the door leading to the stairwell. Carmen sadly looked at Bella's retreating figure and sighed, "She's going to hate me, but at least we'll all be alive." The girls departed the hospital and stepped into the colder night. As the minutes ticked pass, the Forks temperature decreased.
"What do we do now?" Bella snapped.
Alice scanned their surroundings, "We need to find help."
"No shit Sherlock!"
"Bella, we're sorry about your sister," Irina whispered, cautiously stepping towards the grieving woman, "but it doesn't give you the right to be an ass."
Maria waved her arm in the air, "Guys, over here!" She pointed forward at a lit gas station, "We can take cover inside there."
"Inside a gas station Maria?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Maria rolled her eyes at Kate's remark. She may have been the younger and sometimes childish sister, but she knew when to get serious. Maria hated to have her ideas thrown out like yesterday's trash.
Rosalie saw her older sister upset. She intertwined her fingers through Maria's cold hand, "I personally think it's a great idea." Rose pulled along her sister's arm, as she waved for the others to follow. It was a late Friday night. The gas station shouldn't be crowded.
"Shit!" Alice tumbled over, "My heel broke," she felt Tanya and Kate pull her to her feet, "Thanks."
-Tiffany.
