Disclaimer: It upsets me to think that I'm not imaginative enough to come up with characters like these in this chapter. Unfortunately, though, 'tis the truth.
Sorry guys, I know it's a really slow story at the moment, but throughout the Twilight series, it isn't all action is it? I wanted to give the characters a proper introduction, after all, it's been two years and they're bound to have changed slightly. I promise that things get interesting after this chapter Let me know what you think, please x
By the time we reached the Cullen's house for the second time that evening, Edward and I were completely calm. Of course, we were both scared to death for our daughter but we knew that screaming at our family was not going to help. Edward threw his arms around Esme the second we arrived and kissed both her cheeks gently. I could see from the look on her face that she'd completely forgiven us both. Carlisle was going to be slightly harder to win over; it was obvious by the way he stood beside Esme, ready to protect her if Edward lost it again. He kissed my forehead, however, and I knew we hadn't been disowned entirely. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper had returned from an extended hunting weekend and were just as appalled as Edward and I to hear about Renesmee's disappearance. Rosalie was fuming and for a second I thought that she was going to behave as badly as Edward. She held it together though and settled for cursing Jacob under her breath.
Esme gathered us all round there mammoth dining table which I had only even seen used twice before. Edward sat beside me and stroked my hand reassuringly.
"Everything will be fine, we'll find them. Both of them". He evidently added the last part thinking that I was worried about Jacob's welfare too. I almost laughed out loud at how wrong he was.
"The only reason I want him to be found alive is so I can kill him myself", I hissed through my teeth. Edward smiled slightly; he knew as well as I did, that deep down, I would never let any harm come to Jacob. Rosalie was still calling Jacob every name under the sun when Carlisle stood to speak.
"A few days ago, Nessie told Jake that she loved him". I snarled at this but Edward shushed me gently. "He, like the rest of us, assumed that she loved him as a brother. However, it became apparent that this was not the case. Obviously, those feelings are reciprocated very strongly by Jake, so he made the decision to take off with her yesterday, while Esme and I were hunting. Alice followed them as far as Seattle but then lost the trail. We have absolutely no idea where they are now". I felt like screaming at him and by the tension in Edward's shoulders, I could tell that he felt the same. I stood up to speak.
"How can you be so calm about this, Carlisle? My daughter, your granddaughter, has been kidnapped! Who cares if it's by someone she loves and trusts? The fact of the matter is that Jacob has taken her without mine or Edward's permission. They're out there, doing things that I do not even want to begin to imagine and you're discussing it like you would the weather!" Edward pushed me back into a seating position and continued for me.
"Carlisle, you know that I have the utmost respect for you, but we have to go looking for Nessie. If this is what she wants, then fair enough, she can stay with him. I know she's safe with Jacob and I know that she isn't foolish enough to get herself in any trouble. But I want to hear this from her mouth and I want to break both his legs for running away with my daughter." Carlisle shook his head sadly.
"There's nothing we can do, Edward. Not for a good week or two anyway. Alice says that tomorrow is going to be the hottest day on record and for 12 days after that ... it's a heat wave". Edward's face fell even more than mine. For the entire time that I'd lived in Forks as a human, I'd longed for even the tiniest bit of sunshine. Now that I was a vampire, unable to go out in the sun in a public place, wanting to search for my missing daughter, the sun would be out all day, every day, for a while.
"Fine, we'll search through the night". Edward silently agreed with me. I saw Carlisle shaking his head again and I wanted nothing more than to hit him. I couldn't believe how calmly he was taking all of this.
"We've thought of this, Bella. Jacob loves Nessie too much to make her run with him all day and all night. They'll be resting at night so that they can both sleep and eat. He can't take her out in the sun either, so for the next two weeks, they'll be sleeping through the day and travelling at night. They must already be at least 700 miles ahead of us, so if we're to make any ground on them, we need to run when they're resting". I was utterly confused. Edward leaned in to me and explained it simpler.
"He means that while the sun is out, they'll sleep because Renesmee cannot go out for the same reasons as us. When the sun goes in, they'll carry on running. If we do that too, then we'll never catch them up. We have to wait until this heat wave is finished and then you and I can run all day and all night to find them. We'll catch them up in no time. Can you wait two weeks?" I hesitated. My daughter, though only alive for 2 years, had the body and mind of a 15 year old; she was not stupid. Jacob towered over her and I knew that he would do anything to protect her. I nodded. Edward stroked my cheekbone gently and breathed something down my ear. The sweet scent of his breath and the silkiness of his voice calmed me at once.
"We'll find her, love. They both know what they're doing; she's safe". I knew this already but to hear Edward whisper it to me in his velvety tones made it more definite. I kissed him and he pulled me from my chair onto his lap. I heard Emmett groan slightly and Rosalie sighed, but I clutched Edward's hard, muscular body as if we were alone in our cottage. He pushed his tongue against my lips and I opened them slightly so that our embrace could become more passionate. I knew that this side of our relationship would never fade and I didn't ever want it to. Eventually I broke away, gasping for air that I did not need. All our family were smiling patiently.
"Okay, we'll wait two weeks. If the sun stays any longer then we will search through the night regardless. I don't expect you to join us, you all have your commitments here; we know this". It was Esme's turn to shake her head.
"Our only commitment is Forks is ensuring the safety of our family. Carlisle and I will help you look; we'll cover more ground that way". I smiled gratefully at her and instantly felt ashamed that I'd had such violent feelings towards both her and Carlisle earlier. Alice jumped up from her seat. She hadn't spoken once since we'd returned and I'd almost forgotten her presence.
"Of course, Jasper and I will come too. You'll see more if I join you". Edward beamed at his favourite sister and I shadowed this. Rosalie looked uncomfortable.
"Rose, please don't feel like you have to help us search just because the others are. It's not your problem at all and Edward and I won't blame you if you stay". Rosalie snorted slightly.
"Bella, you prune! Besides the fact that Emmett and I adore Nessie, we love you and Edward to pieces; your problem is our problem. Of course we'll be joining you all".
"Obviously it will be a great opportunity to teach Jacob a lesson", Emmett growled playfully with a grin that wasn't so innocent. I certainly wouldn't begrudge him that.
Edward and I left for our cottage shortly after that conversation closed. I curled up to him in the magnificent four poster bed, and sighed. He stroked my hair and looked at me questioningly.
"I wish you'd start letting me in your mind a bit more, now you know that you can do it". Yes, I'd learnt how to remove my shield from my mind, allowing Edward to read it, but the things that shot through my head were sometimes more than embarrassing. He smiled as if he'd heard that thought. "What are you thinking right now?"
"I'm thinking that Renesmee will wind up hating me one of these days". Edward made a face as if to say, don't be ridiculous. I sighed again and he pulled me closer to him, kissing my head.
"We don't have to go after them if you don't want. We know they're going to be perfectly safe. All I want is to hear her tell me that Jacob is who she wants. I can't settle 'til I know that he didn't force her into this". I was about to tell Edward that Jacob would never do something like that, but I never got the chance. Every single pane of glass in our house seemed to shatter instantaneously and thousands of shards flew at me. Edward pushed me off the bed and lay over me, shielding me from the razor sharp glass that was flying round the room. I rolled out from underneath him; refusing to allow him to take the brunt of this. I crawled across the floor impaling myself with glass as I went. Edward snatched at my ankles to try and pull me back but I knew he'd only get injured if I let him protect me. I screamed as an enormous gust of wind blew into the bedroom causing the settled glass to fly around once again. Edward yelled a warning to me which was little more than a growl now. My ears were ringing from the immense amount of noise but I knew it wasn't over. I continued to crawl through the bedroom and into the huge closet that Alice had insisted I have. I turned, pushing with all my strength against the wind, and searched out Edward. The bedroom wasn't exactly huge, but the elegant cream curtains were in tatters across the floor, as was the bed and apparently every glass item we owned. I saw Edward's terrified face trying to find me and I yelled out to him. He crawled impossibly quickly
over to where I was cowering and wrapped his arms around me to shelter me from the hurricane that seemed to have hit our home. All of this happened in a matter of seconds. Eventually, the wind died down and the debris settled. I looked at Edward fearfully and he held me tighter; it wasn't safe to move yet. Waiting for something even more unexpected to happen, we watched as a small, trembling figure was all but fired into the bedroom. She slammed against the wall, leaving a huge crack, and slumped on the floor. Without lifting her head off the layer of glass on the carpet, she muttered,
"Edward, Bella- you have to help me. I've angered the Volturi!"
