Chapter 4

"Ok, tell me, slowly." Edwards's eyebrows glided into a frown as he listened intently to Alice on the other end of the phone. His eyes were fixed on a dark pebble that as yet hadn't been swallowed by the snow. Not for years had I seen his perfect face so torn with anguish, I was desperate to know what was wrong but knew I had to be patient. His worried tones continued to murmur down the phone, until finally, after an augmented couple of minutes he turned to me.

"There's a Vampire heading for Forks and the Volturi are tracking him."

My face collapsed, the smile that had been lingering from our tight embrace vanished as I relayed all possible outcomes and solutions to this devastation in my head. Our family bliss had been wrenched from us. Alice had been keeping an eye on Charlie through her visions and would never unduly worry us so I knew she'd seen, or at least anticipated something serious.

"His name is Vasek, we know of him, of the legends that surround him. He has lived through millennia and become more savage with each day. Bella, I have to tell you this, if we are to return to Forks then you have to know what he is, he is a killer, more than a killer for blood, he is a killer for meat, for sport, for his own sadistic joy."

"I understand."

"You don't Bella, you can't! He could destroy the town in a lightning strike if someone were to provoke him!"

"So why is he heading for Forks?"

"He has heard of our coven but not of our move. He is heading for Forks to ask for sanctuary with us. The Volturi want him dead, he struck down two of their members and a mate of another."

"Oh."

"Yes Bella. Oh."

Swiftly he sped inside the house; I could hear him telling Carlisle and Esme the news. Nessie and Jacob were laughing in the living room, still blissfully unaware of the dangers that were soon to befall us all once more. I rushed upstairs and began packing a couple of cases for Edward and I, still grappling with the idea that such a terror was about to hit Forks, the town I'd come to love. I heaved with little effort, the cases down the stairs; I had a debate in my head over whether to take Renesme to such a dangerous place but then decided I could never leave her. I ran up once more and packed things for her and Jacob. Then, even more ashen faced than was natural for me now I flung myself into the living room. Jacob quickly switched off the television and stared, piercingly at me.

"It's happened again, hasn't it?"

"It's about to. This time worse, we have to go"

I left Jacob to explain the details to Renesme whilst I hauled our things into the Jeep, Carlisle's latest automotive extravagance. Edward came hurtling down the stairs, Carlisle and Esme in tow, each carrying a suitcase, Carlisle's rattling oddly. I looked up at him, "medicine, anti venom, anything that might help should something happen". I smiled gratefully, there was a reason Carlisle was a Doctor, he had the compassion of a Saint that drilled through his cold vampire exterior and let him be one of the kindest people I had ever known.

We all crammed into the Jeep and the Volvo, shutting up the house behind us. Back to Forks, back to where it all began and where it looked like it was all going to end. Renesme shifted quietly in her seat, I glanced in the rear view mirror, she was gripping Jacob's had with all the might she had. She might have the knowledge and bravado of someone much older but really she was just a tiny young girl. I stared at Edward who was transfixed on the road ahead, suddenly he turned to me and said, "I love you Bella. You are part of my soul." If my eyes had it within their capabilities I would have been crying icy tears of sorrow, fear and desperation.

It would take us days to travel through Canada and back to Washington but there wasn't time to buy plane tickets and running was totally impractical with Renesme on board as she tired easily. We had to stick it out; clinging on to the hope that we wouldn't arrive too late, that Vasek had changed his course or that the Volturi had already caught up with him. Anything that stopped us breaking down in sheer panic and rage, our lives were once again going to change.