Chapter 3 - dark shock
Bella's POV
It was as though time had stopped or as though it didn't matter anymore. The shiny silver cell dropped out of my hand because I hadn't realised I needed to be holding it. All my senses and limbs had stopped, an end-less, empty void was the only thing left of my brain. Edward carefully reached down and picked up and phone and started to speak to Jacob very quickly, I couldn't hear his words but I knew that a deep growl was coming from his throat.
My little Renesmee - gone. What did he mean 'gone', what had happened to my baby? My hands drifted down and I clutched my stomach, she used to be there, right there.
I cried uncontrollably, screams escaped my lips but no tears would form and fall. Edward had called off and Jacob was on his way over him and the rest of the Cullens would be here any minute. Edward wrapped his arms around me as I sank to the floor.
Our daughter, my own flesh and blood was gone. Gone. Renesmee, gone.
Edward was speaking to me, comforting me but I cold not make out what he was saying, I couldn't think anymore. I looked into his eyes, they were burning, there sparkle had left and now he was pale and in agony. Our daughter was missing. Edward and I lay on the bedroom floor in indescribable pain.
I wanted to close my eyes and wake up and find her sleeping next to me but it was not so. I was not dreaming. And the cold, harsh reality hit me that the little girl who I had only just stopped fighting for had gone.
And it was my entire fault.
Rosalie's POV
We ran to the house faster than we had ever run before. Alice suddenly stopped what she was doing, we knew she wasn't having a vision but her eyes suddenly went blank. It took her three words, "Renesmee is gone"
We opened the door and ran to the bedroom to find Bella in her silk nightgown with Edward in a loose top and tracksuit bottoms curled up in the floor. They looked as though they were under Jane's attack although, as impossible as this may sound, they looked worse. I saw such pain across the lifeless faces. No one said anything; we all just stood there, shocked. Alice was the first to move, she leant down and started speaking softly to Bella; she picked her up in her arms and took her into the living room. She gently put an old hoodie over Bella's head. We all followed, I was the last one. Emmett stood by me and when he tried to speak I held up a hand. He sighed and then left to join the others in the living room.
The perfect child was gone. The child which should have been mine was left in the incapable hands of nothing more than a cowardly dog. I pulled myself together and went to join the others.
Alice was tenderly stroking Bella and still speaking to her softly though Bella didn't even bother to look up. Edward's head suddenly snapped up. He stood up and went over to Alice; he put his head level to hers.
"Why didn't you see it, hey Alice!" he said through gritted teeth, "Why didn't you see it!"
Jasper put himself between the two and put his arm around Alice and lightly pushed Edward away.
"Don't do this to her" said Esme, who went to sit beside Bella, "It's not Alice's fault"
"I'm so sorry Edward" sobbed Alice, "But I can't see Nessie or Jacob, she's just an empty hole"
"An empty hole, an empty hole" said Bella, rocking herself backwards and forewords.
Edward stood back and then looked at Alice, "I'm sorry" he said so quietly that even I strained to hear it.
Alice mimed 'its fine' and then hugged Jasper. Edward went to kneel down beside Bella; he lightly lifted her chin and said to her, "I love you Bella Swan-Cullen. And I will get our daughter back"
Bella just nodded and started to cry again although no tears spilled from her eyes.
My anger burned up inside of me, everyone was comforting Bella, who had let this happen in the first place.
"If it wasn't for you!" I said, "She would still be here! You let her go home with that mutt and then you expect everything to be fine! Your daughter is gone! If she were my daughter, she would never had even gone down to La Push in the first place"
Bella looked up at me and said, "I know"
And I could see it in her eyes that she was taking on so much guilt and sorrow. And I felt so bad for accusing her of being a bad Mother. I was positive that Bella would run to the ends of the earth for Nessie, she would kill herself or be tortured for every year of her life just so that her Nessie could have a better life and yet I couldn't bring myself to say sorry. Emmett took me by the shoulder and looked into my eyes and I wanted to cry and just wrap my arms around him. But I didn't.
I went outside and stood in their little rose garden. I remember when Nessie helped us girls plant these roses and when she had cut her finger on a thorn and Bella was so worried about her. Even though there was a little blood. Bella wasn't even worried that she would drink her daughter's blood, she was worried that it would hurt her and if the thorn got embedded in her skin and if it would get infected.
That's the type of Mother Bella was.
I took a deep breath and was ready to go back in, I needed to apologise to Bella. But then a figure walked through the garden fence, Fido. I growled and get into a defensive crouch. My anger was re-ignited, he had lost Renesmee. But when he got closer I realised that his hands were shaking uncontrollably, his eyes were red and puffy and that his cheeks were tear-stained.
Jacob's POV
I passed Rosalie; I couldn't even look at her. I knew she truly hated me now, I knew that she could kill me and not have one regret or worry for the rest of her life.
I opened the door to find all of the Cullen's crouched around Bella and Edward, I could hear words of comfort and reassurance but all I could think about was that fatal moment.
The sun hadn't even set yet and we were sitting in my living room with Seth. She had made us play fairy-princesses with her which was funny seeing Seth in a tiara and fairy wings. Nessie was happily watching the TV and Seth and I went into the kitchen to make some popcorn. We went back in and she wasn't there. Nothing.
We hadn't even heard any screams or movement; it was like she had disappeared into thin air.
"Jake" whispered Bella. I went closer to her and knelt down at her feet. She leant down and clutched my hand. I could hear Rosalie growl from outside and so her mate went to comfort her. Rosalie needed comforting! - Always the attention seeker.
"Before she went" Bella whimpered, "Did she look happy?"
Her breathing was heavy and her eyes had become dull, she was shaking wildly and she kept on blinking, as though she was crying. Edward was once again the burning, crazy man that he was when he thought Bella would die giving birth to Renesmee and now it seemed that Bella would die without Renesmee.
"Yes" I said and then looked away.
I couldn't bear to see the look in her eyes, the pain, the emotion and the guilt. Why was she so guilty? It was me, not her. I had brought so much pain on my best friend and the poor, little girl whom I loved more than anything or anyone was missing because of me.
I walked out of the house that very moment and I didn't look back. I didn't look at Rosalie and Emmett who were sitting on the garden bench, I didn't look back at the little cottage and my walk transformed into a run. I let the angry guilt flow through my body. I ran through the woods, trees rushed past me as my shirt ripped and was left discarded on the forest floor. My two legs became four and I let the adrenaline rush through my body.
I ran.
Carlisle's POV
It has been two hours and forty-five minutes since we first head Alice's words, "Renesmee is missing"
I was trying to be positive and reassured everyone that we would find her. But the pain in Bella's and Edward's faces battered my confidence. And what if we couldn't find her? What then? Renesmee had made our family bonds stronger, she had brought together people, she had made us uncles and aunts and grandfathers and grandmas, something which we'd all thought we would never become, biologically at least. She was a part of our family, maybe even the most important part of our family. Now, a life without Renesmee seemed unbearable.
I needed to think of a plan to get her back; I needed to throw some logic into this confusion. It was like being asked to complete a jigsaw when you had no pieces whatsoever.
The first step would be going to Jacob's house, trying to find any evidence of who took her, if there were any hair or flakes of skin that could lead to identification. Then, hopefully, we could track them down which would lead out to Renesmee.
Edward looked up at me; he was obviously still scanning through our thoughts. He nodded at me and stood up.
"I'm going to go and find our daughter and bring her back" whispered Edward in Bella's ear. Then he tenderly kissed her on the lips and left with Jasper, Emmett and I. All we could do was hope and pray that we would find something. And that something would be just a small glimmer of hope for us all.
Esme's POV
After the men left, it was just silence. Other than the faint sobs of Bella; she was trying to hold it in for us, I know she wanted to scream until she had little Renesmee safe in her arms. I know.
Rosalie was still outside, anxiously waiting for her phone to ring, although they probably hadn't even got to La Push yet. I knew Rosalie wanted to apologise to Bella, but her pride got in the way. I know she was anxious for Emmett as well, we weren't sure if we were even aloud on La Push land. The treaty wasn't very clear anymore because of Jacob imprinting on Renesmee. Alice was pacing the room, I knew that Edward had battered her inside; she was feeling guilty that she couldn't see Renesmee. And I was just sitting there, uselessly stroking Bella's back. I was their Mother and I was torn between the three, I knew at some point I needed to go and speak to Rosalie, to tell her it would be right if she apologised to Bella because Bella needed her at the moment and I knew that Bella would forgive her straight away.
I wanted to take Alice in my arms and tell her that it wasn't her fault; even a physic can sometimes not read the future.
And then there was Bella. She was so different to the Bella this morning. This morning seemed so far away now, when all of us were happy and care-free and joking around. Now the seconds are filled with guilt, sorrow, anger and just emptiness.
And my dear granddaughter was gone.
Bella's POV
I was acting like a child. I couldn't even bring myself to stand up, I couldn't think, I tried to breath calmly and told myself it would be okay, but what's the point of lying to yourself? What's the point of life when one of the most important things in your life isn't there anymore?
My cell started to beep, the sound filled the room, it almost made my ears hurt. Alice pounced on the phone and flipped it open.
I tried to stop myself from whimpering, I needed to hear who she was speaking to, I needed to hear that they had found Nessie and she was fine.
Alice then hung up on the phone and turned to look at us. Her face was blank.
"They have recognised a scent" she said, "the scent of a vampire".
