DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING STEPHENIE MEYER DOES!

Bella's Point Of View

Weeks went by. The cryptic notes kept coming, stuffed with suggestive phrases like, "We'll be rid of her soon," or, "She doesn't have much time with you left." We had no idea who it could be. We had no idea what to do.

Until we got the note that said, "I want you to be there when she is reduced to nothing. I want you to see how pathetic she really is."

It was Rosalie's idea, really. Out of sheer sarcasm she suggested, "Why don't we just use Anna as bait, to lure this person into the open?"

We all just stared at her, dumbfounded, for half of a minute. "Why didn't we think of that earlier?" Renesmee wondered aloud.

"Of course," Jasper snapped. "I think I have the beginning of a plan. I think, if we just…"

"No!" Edward suddenly stopped Jasper with a swift hand over his mouth. "Don't say another word," he told Jasper.

"What is wrong with you?" Emmett asked.

"Think about it," Edward said. "This person is obviously able to shield his or herself, and is obviously watching us at any and possibly all times. If Jasper had just told us his idea, he also would have potentially told the mystery person. Then it would never have worked."

"So what do we do now?" I asked. "How will Jasper tell us his plan?"

"I know!" Renesmee said. "Jasper can whisper it to me, and then I can give the thought to the rest of you. It's a little slower than what we're used to, but it's the only thing we can do."

Jacob nodded. "And I can tell Seth the next time we're both shifted. That way we're all in."

"Excellent idea, Renesmee," Carlisle said.

"Thanks, Grandpa," she beamed. "All right, Jasper, tell me your thoughts."

As Jasper began speaking to her in a voice so low that even the rest of us couldn't hear, Alice turned to Jacob. "I've been meaning to ask you," she said, "how the pack communication works with Anna."

"You mean, if I tell Seth while I'm shifted, will she find out too?" he asked. Alice nodded. "No. The only way I can communicate with her right now is if Seth allows it. Since she's not officially a member of the pack yet, she only hears what Seth wants her to hear, even of his own thoughts. It's very odd," Jacob admitted.

Jacob, because of his pack mentality, had no choice but to tell Seth and Leah about the notes. Both had been very worried, he said. But both had agreed it was best not to worry Anna. We just always made sure that at least one of us was with her at all times. This was very easily accomplished, as she split her time completely between our coven and Jacob's pack, and Seth was reluctantly willing to be filled in on our discussions about it at a later time. I was grateful that she was with him now, and that the notes had, mysteriously, always come at a time when she wasn't here.

By this time, Renesmee had moved on from hearing Jasper's thoughts to relaying them. She had already "told" Emmett, and she was telling them to Rosalie when Esme asked, "So what happened to the rest of your family, Jasper?"

"I…don't know," Jasper sullenly admitted. "It really hasn't come up between us."

That's strange, I thought, but aloud, I said, "Did you have any more siblings, Jasper?"

As Renesmee moved on to Jacob, Jasper searched for a place to begin. At last, he said, "There were six of us. I was the oldest. After me was Elyza. She and I were a year apart and the best of friends until Anna came along. After that, she just became…distant. A year after Elyza came the twins, Eustace and Ulysses. Always a riot, those two, and always up to something. Two years later, Matthew arrived. He was clumsy, awkward, but a sweet kid. And the year after that was Anna." Jasper became quiet.

"We won't let her get hurt," Edward quietly reassured him.


"That might work," Carlisle said after a long period of deliberation.

"I need to go tell Seth," Jacob said as he headed for the door.

"There are just so many uncertain variables," Alice whimpered.

"Jacob?" Jasper called as Jacob reached the doorway. Jacob turned. "Just…tell Seth not to get his hopes up too high. Alice is right."

Jacob nodded, and ran out of the door.


Later, Edward and I were in our cabin when I asked him, "Do you think it will work?"

He walked slowly, at human pace, over to me. He folded me into his arms. I laid my head against his chest and he kissed my head. Then, he said possibly the scariest thing I've ever heard.

"I don't know," he said. "I wish Alice could see this, but she can't, and I'm not sure how this will work out for any of us. I just don't know." He squeezed me tighter. "We only have a short time before this plan goes into action, and I'm afraid that it may be all the time we have left."