Hello, all! I hope this will settle some of your feelings to the situation I've put these characters in. I also hope it will answer some questions while leaving other things a mystery. Here's to hoping I did my job! As a note, this is the longest chapter in this story. I had a lot to say, and I didn't feel like there was any good place to break it up.
EPOV
As we ran, Carlisle's thoughts drifted between worry for me and sorrow for Bella. He believed that Victoria would complete her plans before we could find them. I couldn't allow myself to think that way. We had rescued Bella once. We would do so again. I clung to my faith as the miles dropped behind us.
Less than an hour after we left the hospital, Carlisle and I arrived at the outskirts of Seattle. The streets, bright and busy despite the deepening gloom, forced us into caution and a human pace. As we slowed, my cell phone rang. I snatched it out of my pocket and answered.
"Yes?" I demanded.
"Victoria has her. She hasn't decided where to take her, though. Apparently, there are quite a few options in the bowels of the city." Alice's voice revealed her worry. "We're headed back now. We should be there in a few hours and can help with the search then."
"Hours?" I latched onto the word. "We'll find them long before that!"
"No, Edward, you won't. Victoria will keep her alive but hidden away, and whatever she chooses will be too dark to identify. She wants to make us all suffer, but you especially. Nothing she's considering will be a quick death. She'll need somewhere isolated for that."
A growl built in my chest. Only Carlisle's hand on my arm reminded me that I must restrain myself in the presence of humans. "That is unacceptable. I will find them before it comes to that."
"I'm sorry. I wish I could say that you will, but Victoria will go to ground before you even reach the location where she took Bella." Alice sounded like she would be crying if she could.
The phone cracked in my hand, and I lowered it to stare at the pieces. Bella was in Victoria's vindictive claws, and it was my fault. I drove her away in a misguided attempt to protect her. I didn't recognize the true threat to her safety until it was too late.
Carlisle's phone buzzed with an incoming text message. We both looked at the screen.
Victoria is going hunting. You might find her in Capitol Hill if you can get there on time. I hated the phrasing. Might. How was Victoria able to evade Alice's visions? She had demonstrated the ability before, during the panic of last spring. There was no way for her to know that my sister could see the outcomes of her decisions. Was there?
I dismissed the fragment of thought so that I could focus on winding my way through the crowd. Carlisle used the pressure of his hand on my arm to maneuver us into a narrow, deserted alley. I nodded in response to the plan he thought of, and the two of us jumped to the rooftop of the nearest building. We could move at our natural speed then as we made our way to Capitol Hill. When the gaps between buildings were too wide or a rooftop too well-lit, we dropped down into the alleys once more. Every time we were forced to do this, I ground my teeth together to hold in the growls threatening to escape. Any delay was intolerable.
I kept a mental eye on the minds around me as we ran. Large groups of minds usually created an intelligible background noise until I chose to hone in on a specific mind. Since I had no idea where Victoria would choose her victim, I worked overtime examining every mind I could reach discarding thousands every minute. I stretched to the very limit of my reach, a little more than three miles, but I found no indication of vampire activity. No fears outside of the usual human crimes of domestic violence, rape, and murder, none of which were my current concern. The safety of one precious human was, by far, more important to me at the moment, so I ignored what I couldn't change and intensified my search.
Carlisle, knowing the focus I needed for the task, kept silent until we were deep into the heart of Capitol Hill, close to the nightlife district where Victoria might find her easiest prey.
"Nothing?"
The single word jolted my concentration but did not break it. I continued scanning the masses while giving him a quick negative reply. I prowled through the area with him at my side. The possibility that Alice was wrong surfaced, but I dismissed it until the phone in Carlisle's hand vibrated again.
She changed her mind.
The words mocked me from the small screen. We slipped away from the crowd into a dark side street.
Carlisle answered the phone before it had a chance to ring. "Actually, she keeps changing her mind. One moment she decides Capitol Hill. Then she decides to head south. Then she decides west instead. It's almost like she's doing it on purpose." Alice's frustrated voice informed us. "No matter which direction I decide to send you, she isn't there."
"Didn't you have issues following her movements before? I wondered then if she had a gift." Carlisle's calm voice infuriated me.
"What kind of gift could block Alice?" I snarled.
What could block the man who can hear all minds? Carlisle thought, his eyebrows raised. I hissed and looked away.
"Why don't we decide to meet up outside of the city once Jasper and I get there. I can follow the trail of each area we decide on and see if our meeting will have any effect on whether we can find them."
Carlisle nodded, and although I wanted to argue the delay, I couldn't. If Victoria had some ability to block Alice's gift, the best thing we could do was try to plan further out in time. It had worked before, on the few occasions where a slip up occurred at the most inopportune time to get away from a location unnoticed. I had to hope and pray to a God who most likely no longer cared about me that the same strategy would work in this case. After all, Bella's soul was still pure and good. Surely He still cared about her well-being.
First, we decided to meet Alice and Jasper to the north of the city, but she immediately vetoed that, saying that somehow that led to a future where we were all destroyed in fire by a vengeful Victoria. Next, I suggested that we meet to the east of the city, since that would bring us together the fastest. However, Alice countered that with the prediction that we would be attending Bella's funeral in several days if we followed that course of action, so of course we abandoned that plan immediately. Meeting in the southern end of Seattle had the same effect. Finally, the idea of meeting between Seattle and Forks garnered her cautious approval, although all she could say was that there were more positive possible outcomes than negative.
Carlisle and I raced to retrace our steps. All the while, I kept my mind open in hopes that I would catch a hint of Victoria's thoughts. No matter what Alice said, I thought there was still a chance since the redheaded bitch seemed to be able to bypass her gift. However, I didn't hear anything except the usual human babble as I ran.
We reached the prearranged spot. I allowed myself to freeze in place in the deep shadows of the surrounding forest while my terror and doubt threatened to consume me. I wanted to have faith that we would be able to rescue my love yet again, but with every minute that passed that faith slipped further from my grasp.
Carlisle watched me from a few feet away, his thoughts full of worry for both Bella and myself. I wanted to shout at him not to bother with me, but my panic was too strong even for that. My only hope was that Alice's promise to call Carlisle if she saw a change to the status quo of Victoria's treatment of Bella, although she wouldn't say what that was exactly. The lack of information contributed to my terror, my only consolation that I would know the full truth of the situation once Alice drew near.
My hopes were dashed once the thoughts of my brother and sister registered in my mind. Jasper focused on the task at hand, namely ways to find and defeat Victoria. Alice, on the other hand, ran through all thirty-seven plays and one hundred and fifty-four sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. She had to know that I wouldn't accept her attempts to block me, and I prepared myself to argue with her.
"Not until we're closer, brother," Alice hissed. She was still far enough away that the trees obscured my view of her, but at least I could hear her voice. In less than a minute she stood in front of me, her large eyes black with emotions I couldn't name. For once my sister looked less than put together. Her short hair hung in limp strands around her face, and her beloved clothing was ragged from small tears gained running through branches she hadn't bothered to avoid.
"So eager to see what your precious plan has wrought? Fine." She glared at me as she allowed me into her thoughts. She replayed the visions she had over the past hours.
I fell to my knees as I watched Victoria approach Bella in a diner and lead her out into a nearby alley. Bella looked terrified, but her jaw was set in determination. I knew that Victoria had most likely threatened the other humans around them to keep my love quiet, something that would have triggered her protective side. Alice's next memories were all sound only, but I could hear every crunch of Bella's bones as Victoria rained both verbal and physical abuse down on her.
"Do you see, Edward? This is all on you. It was your idea to 'protect her from our world', but how well has that worked, brother? You hadn't even left yet, and she became a pawn to be used against us," Alice hissed. Her black rage-filled eyes bore into me, driving her point home.
"We have to get her back," I croaked.
Alice shook her head, her shoulders slumping forward. Her eyes dropped from mine. "I've been trying to find a way to rescue her, but every decision I make ends in her death. It's almost like she would be better off if we stopped trying and went back to Forks to wait it out!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she stiffened. I knew if I could see her eyes, they would be blank as the vision took her. Alice and I watched as Victoria ran through the dense forest with Bella in her arms. Victoria stared straight ahead as she ran, a deranged grin lighting her face. The moon shone through the trees as Victoria stopped at a large clearing, one we both knew.
"No."
"Shut up, Edward."
Victoria dropped Bella to the ground. She reached down towards Bella's head, but Alice's vision ended before she made contact.
"I know where she's going to take her! We have to go there!"
Another vision hit Alice. Victoria ran through the woods again, but this time she veered in a different direction, her face a mask of fury. She looked down at Bella, a sneer lifting her upper lip as she stared at my beloved. With a growl of frustration, Victoria threw Bella away from her and kept running. Meanwhile, Bella grew weaker until she gasped a final breath and was still. I saw us reach her body too late, having failed to track Victoria while she ran away and not knowing where in the woods she dropped my love.
"No! We will not go there yet, Edward! We will go to Forks, and we will wait. We will only leave for that meadow once we're sure that we can intercept them," Alice argued as her normal sight returned. She bared her teeth at me in a feral snarl. "I'm not going to let you risk my sister's life because you have to try and control everything! Look where that has gotten us so far. You never thought that Bella would have a mind of her own and figure out what you were up to before you were ready to give her your little speech, but that is exactly what happened. Your need to control everything around her in order to protect her backfired and caused this mess. Man up, admit you were wrong, and trust us to work together so that Victoria doesn't get a chance to kill her!"
As Alice spoke, her first vision returned. Victoria ran into the meadow and dropped Bella. Unfortunately, the vision ended abruptly once more, and I cursed the lack of further insight. With no way to know for sure if we would reach Bella in time, I was reluctant to agree to Alice's plan. At the same time, a small part of me knew that she was correct. The events of this day were my fault, and I owed it to Bella to give her the best chance for survival.
"Fine," I bit out. I turned without another word and began to run at my fastest speed toward home. I heard the others follow me, but I wasn't I the mood for their company. Sadly, I couldn't block out their thoughts, all of which swirled with worry for Bella and, to a lesser extent, me. I was positive Alice at least knew some of the actions I'd been considering in the event of Bella's death. I'd been careful not to decide a path so that she wouldn't feel the need to call a family meeting about it—or even just give me an Alice-brand scolding.
The trip back to Forks passed in a blink. I stopped in the backyard, unaware of how I'd reached it and unwilling to go inside and see the dust cloth-covered furniture. Alice and Jasper gathered around me, while Carlisle informed me with his thoughts that he was going to retrieve my car from town. He was back in less than thirty minutes, satisfied that few of the humans would have noticed the presence of my car for such a short period of time. After that, we all stood, frozen, as Alice reviewed Victoria's decisions over and over.
Less than an hour later, Victoria gave up on torturing Bella and gathered her up in her arms. Alice and I watched her carry my love out of a nondescript warehouse and into a dirty alley. Still unable to determine where they were, I breathed an unneeded sigh of relief once Victoria moved on to more familiar territory. I cursed out loud when I realized that we must have passed her hiding place at one point, but I waved off Carlisle's concerned thoughts instead of explaining my outburst.
Alice began a sort of untimed countdown. Every other minute, she decided that we should head toward the meadow. Thirty-five times she tried that. Each time, Victoria veered away and ran deeper into the forest where she tossed Bella's limp body and continued running. On the thirty-sixth try, Victoria kept running toward the meadow.
"Now!" Alice directed us, and I shot off once more. I knew my family would follow my trail to our destination.
I dodged around trees and over bushes as I ran, trying to go as quietly as possible. I didn't want to spook Victoria into running and potentially harming Bella more than she already had. I slowed as I reached the outskirts of the clearing. I could smell Bella's blood, and it made me anxious, but there wasn't so much that I thought she might be bleeding out. In the distance, a familiar and unwelcome stench reached my nose as well. It wasn't close, not yet, and if I could help it I would get Bella away from Victoria and our baseball clearing before I had to deal with that complication.
My father and siblings caught up to me within moments, and Jasper gestured that we should fan out. He thought that it would be better to have the whole family here, but Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie were already on their way to New York. None of us had been able to reach them, and it wasn't as if they could have turned their commercial airline around and headed back to Washington. My brother resigned himself to using the resources at hand, and that meant circling Victoria as quickly as possible. We all nodded, although Carlisle wasn't completely aware of the details of Jasper's plan. It was simple enough for him to figure out once Alice and I began to move silently through the fallen leaves. He took position on my left, while Jasper moved to Alice's right.
Once we were in a semicircle around the clearing, Jasper nodded. We surged forward, eager to reach the middle where we knew Victoria had taken Bella. The sight that met us caused us to freeze yards away from Victoria, though, who grinned at us through the blood smearing her face. Bella's blood. My frantic gaze found Bella's body on the ground, arching in agony. Blood trickled down her wrists and neck, but I couldn't see any bite marks. In horror, I realized that Victoria had used venom to seal the wounds, venom that also coursed through Bella's system with every beat of her heart. With multiple bites, it would be almost impossible to draw out all the poison without draining her completely of the life-giving fluid. The monster inside me wailed at the thought of losing the chance to taste her blood once more, but I shoved it down with even more ease than ever.
"Look who finally showed up. How do you like my little surprise? It's not nice to abandon your pets. You never know who will pick them up and take them home." Victoria's high voice grated on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. Her insane giggle caused me to drag my eyes from Bella back to the madwoman in front of me.
"She's not a pet," I growled, moving closer.
Victoria leaned down and grabbed Bella's head while maintaining eye contact with me. "Now, now, Edward Cullen. You wouldn't want me to accidentally twist your pet's pretty little head, would you? It would be such a pity, after all. She'll make a lovely vampire."
"You don't plan on letting her live anyway," Alice announced from the other side of the meadow.
Victoria giggled again. "Hmmm, perhaps you're right, although I can see why you've all grown so fond of her. She's such an entertaining little thing." Her thoughts revealed how much she had enjoyed inflicting pain on my Bella, along with a tinge of anger that the human girl's screams weren't loud enough for her preference. Even now, she believed that Bella should be screeching with agony. However, other than her twisting body there was no indication that venom seared through her veins. "It also gives me so much pleasure to know how much she is suffering, even if she's being stubborn again."
I ground my teeth and moved one foot forward, but Victoria's grip on Bella's head tightened. "No you don't, little boy. I have lived for this moment for months. If not for the hope that I would see that look in your eyes, the pain that should have been there the second my James was pulled limb from limb and shoved into that fire, I would have let those damn wolves have me earlier." Her high voice rang with her triumph as she smiled at me, Bella's blood gleaming on her lips.
Speak of the devil, I thought as I heard heavy crashes headed toward us. The stink I noticed earlier increased as they drew near, a horrible mixture of wet dog and molding leaves. Three wolves burst into the meadow on the side closest to Carlisle, their snarls and growls adding to the tension. The black wolf in the lead intended to leap for Victoria first, since she was closest to the human lying on the ground, but my shout caused him to pause.
"No! If you go near her, she'll rip Bella's head off!" I hissed, anguish flooding through me as I once again confronted the reality of our situation.
Sam Uley's large canine head swung toward me, and I heard his thoughts as he recognized the color of my eyes. Cullens. The Elders said they would only bring trouble to the area. Looks like they were right. Doesn't matter if she's a friend of theirs, though. That leech has red eyes, and that makes her lawful prey.
I couldn't deny the truth of his thoughts, but I had to make him understand the precarious position we were in. "Please, think for just a minute. I don't give a damn what you do to the redhead, but I can't lose Bella. Bella Swan, Charlie Swan's daughter. Let us try talking with her more."
Sam growled deep in his chest as he took in the scene with calmer eyes. He had to admit that Victoria's position wasn't ideal, but he also recognized that Bella had been bitten. He could smell the blood and venom in the air. The other two wolves communicated with him in their minds, just like their ancestors had years before, telling their Alpha that it would be better to get rid of two problems at once, whether one was the daughter of a friend of tribal Elders or not.
"No!" I shouted again, reaching out a pleading hand to them. "We'll teach her how to survive on animals like we do! Focus on her attacker, if you must, but don't endanger Bella."
Sam reared back, doubtful at the thought of allowing a transforming vampire to live. While the wolves argued amongst themselves, growling at each other, I became aware that Victoria was distracted by our interactions. She found them amusing in a macabre sort of way. I hoped it would be enough. While she stared at the wolves, I caught Jasper's eye and then looked back at Victoria, hoping he understood. He stood in the ideal position, far enough behind Victoria that she might not notice his movement until it was too late.
Jasper did take the hint. He jumped forward and onto Victoria's back, grabbing her wrists and forcing her hands away from Bella. At the same time, I ran forward and grabbed Bella, trying to be careful of her breaks but knowing she wouldn't feel the pain anyway because of the venom's burn. I cradled her against my body as I ran. When I felt we were far enough away, I turned back to see Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper pulling Victoria apart. Sam lunged forward to tear her head off with his teeth. Then, Jasper pulled out a lighter from his pocket, the one he always kept on him just in case, and lit the arm he held. He used the larger flame to set the other pieces on fire, careful not to let it get near his own skin or clothes.
With Victoria taken care of, the wolves turned their attention to me. I cut them off before they could form a coherent plan. "Please, let us amend the treaty to include Bella. She is an innocent victim in this."
Carlisle ran over to place his hand on my shoulder and turned towards the wolves. "I promise that we will ensure the safety of the people of Forks and the local tribes. We will take Bella away where she won't be a danger to those around her."
Sam stepped forward and thought, What of her father, bloodsucker? What will you tell Charlie Swan if his daughter disappears? He obviously realized that their legends were true when they spoke of our gifts, and he guessed that I had read their minds earlier. I repeated his question for Carlisle, letting him take the lead. After all, the treaty had originally been his idea.
Carlisle gave a slight smile. "Actually, we will be able to make the break a gradual one if you will allow us to take her away. She will be able to email him and even call eventually, when she learns to modulate her voice to approximate a human's. If you kill her, Charlie will have to deal with the grief of her death. With our way, he will be angry with her for running away after a fight with her boyfriend who was leaving. But, since she is legally an adult, he will not be able to force her to return. We will deny knowing her whereabouts when he manages to contact us, making her seem a normal runaway instead of permanently removing her from his life. Won't that be the better option?" he attempted to reason with them.
The wolves had calmed only a little bit after Victoria's take down, and now they began arguing with each other again. Two of the wolves favored leaving us to deal with the mess "our kind" had created. The wolf called Paul thought that they should fight to be able to destroy yet another threat to humankind. Sam listened to them all and weighed Carlisle's words before giving his answer.
Very well. The treaty will be amended to add the daughter of Charlie Swan. But you must leave as you promised you were going to. We expected you to be long gone by now. He was disgruntled that so many of us were still in the area.
I passed the message to Carlisle, who nodded. "We have indeed prepared to leave. Half of our family has already gone ahead. It was only when we learned that Bella ran away before Edward could tell her of our departure that we decided to remain. We wanted to help her. The police will locate her truck at the Port Angeles Greyhound station soon, as we did, and the needed seed of the story will be planted in Chief Swan's mind. We will take her away now to make her as comfortable as possible during her transition."
The wolves huffed at us and left without another thought directed towards us. At the same time, Bella twisted in my arms, already measurably stronger than she had been the last time I held her. Her eyes were closed and her jaws clamped shut against her screams. I shifted a little, knowing that nothing would make her comfortable for the next three days.
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "We're here, Bella. I won't leave you alone," I murmured to her, giving her what little I could. Carlisle's hand on my shoulder nudged me along while his thoughts urged me to follow him to the house.
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