A sharp wrap on the French door interrupted our conversation. I speed over to greet our first arrivals.
"Tanya!" I breathed.
She stepped forward and bound my arms to my body as she yanked me into a strong hug.
"Bella, you must be so heartbroken!"
I shook my head. "My heart isn't broken; it's completely controlling my body at the moment."
Tanya dropped her hands gently to move onto Edward. Carmen stepped forward, her eyes deep and filled with pain. She had been the first to listen to our case and not fear Renesmee, she loved her. Carmen's eyes did not look into mine; instead they wandered, glancing down at the floor then at the shattered television set and back again.
"How long has it been?" She took in a deep breath. "How long have they had her?"
"Five days." I choked. I hadn't realised it had been so long, it had all seemed so fast for me. For her, it would have been torture. Edward must have seen my expression as I spoke.
"Bella, she'll be alright." He murmured in my ear.
Kate stepped to the side to clear the doorway and as a subtle hint to Edward.
"I'll speak to you later Edward." Tanya whispered as she glided further into the villa to greet the rest of the family.
I closed my eyes as Edward's arms curled tightly around my body and he scooped me up to cradle me into his chest – only opening them when my neck rubbed against the hot sand as he finally laid me down.
"You know that if I could, I would be ripping their throats out right now." Edward whispered, settling next to me with his arm curled around my waist.
I felt so useless. Why were we laid here in this blissful place when our daughter was in so much danger that I couldn't think of it without falling limp and lifeless once again?
I pulled a tiny bit of energy together to whisper a sentence. "That's what their probably doing to her as we speak."
Edward wrenched his arm from underneath me and disappeared behind the rocks.
How could I be so selfish, so self centred? I'd been falling to pieces so much that it would have been nearly impossible for him to stay together. Edward had to stay together, or I would completely crack.
"Edward, I'm sorry."
I pushed my body from the sand and slid behind the jagged rock face.
"Please, don't, apologize to me." Edward pulled his hands from the stone where two handprints had sunk in as easily as a knife would cut through butter, his face was so torn with pain that I couldn't bear to say anything else. "You have nothing at all to apologize for Bella."
"I do, I've been so ignorant and selfish and..."
He shook his head and pulled me to his body. "You are the most un-ignorant and un-selfish girl I have ever met. I can't bear to see you in this much pain." He squeezed my shoulder. "I hate them so much. They're killing us from the inside, tearing away at every opportunity to try and weaken us. If only they knew how much it's provoking us. They're so unbelievably, breath-takingly sick, I cannot see how no one has knocked them of the top spot by now."
My head snapped around instinctively as a new scent stung the air - wolf stench.
"Come on," I mumbled. "I'm going to need backup with him."
I took Edward by the arm and leaped across the beach to the villa where the disgusting scent was even stronger. With every second we stood in the clearing in front of the villa, the scent became more and more pungent, like someone was screaming louder and louder, deafening my senses.
"Jacob..."
"How could you even let this happen?" Jacob spoke with a hint of disbelief in his voice as he emerged from trees that swayed gently in the breeze. His simple clothes were ripped and frayed, his hands were gripping his jaggedly cut hair tightly and his eyes were ringed with a dark shadow, as dark as the night sky.
"Jacob, it was never Bella's fault." Edward snarled.
Jacob pulled my into his arms, breathing unevenly down my neck. "It's only you that makes mistakes, isn't it Edward."
I pushed him away abruptly and stepped back into Edward's awaiting embrace, glowering at my best friend with an expression that I hoped looked annoyed.
"Jacob, I know how hard this is for you, for all of us." I said. He shook his head viciously from side to side and turned to face into the trees so that he was stood with his back to us.
"Hard? That has got to be the biggest understatement you've ever made Bella. I've never felt so torn, so hurt!" He shouted, still facing away. "Even that seems like an understatement. When you've nearly died so many times before I was pained then, but this is so much worse! I feel that I'm looking at a world so bleak and bland that there is no point at all in life, in me living at all."
"She isn't dead Jacob; we're going to get her back." Edward rubbed my arm gently as he spoke. "I won't let them get away with this."
Jacob spun around. "She isn't dead."
"Jacob." I warned him.
"She isn't dead." He mimicked again, "She is my world, my universe, my anchor to reality. How the hell can you say that! They'll be torturing her, hurting her, destroying her and all you can think of is that she isn't dead! She isn't like you are! She's so delicate, so small and still a baby and you have no idea how much pain she'll be in now. She wants somebody to kill her; I can feel it, because of how much pain she's in. If you aren't going to get her back, I am, now."
His body shook from head to toe as he unbuttoned his ripped shirt. Edward let out a dark growl.
"Jake, stop." I choked. Hearing a description of what Renesmee must be suffering out loud ripped my heart apart word by word.
"No Bella, you stop, stop being so useless and boring and get a life, a proper one."
The fur burst from his body as he sprung into the trees, leaving a cloud of dust floating innocently in the air.
"She wants someone to kill her." I whimpered.
Edward pulled back my hair from my face, stroking his hand along my cheekbones.
"We're going to have to go sooner than I thought. Bella, she is not going to get her way, no matter how stubborn she's being." Edward whispered. "I need to go after Jacob; it's only going to get a whole lot worse if he goes to them alone. I'll be back soon, love."
My throat stung as I spoke. "Why can't she just do what they say?"
Edward pressed his lips to my cheek before turning to run, "Because she's your daughter Bella, and she's a Cullen. Would you stand by and let them boss you about?"
He too sprinted into the trees leaving the shrubs rustling in the wave of air his speed created.
Why couldn't she just do what she was told, just until we got there? I hadn't realised, or wanted to realise, how much pain she'd be going through. With Jane at her side, playing with her mind like a chew toy and no one there to help her, my baby would be being tortured. It hurt me to even think about it; so much so that I felt as if I was there with her, being ripped to shreds.
I staggered forward slowly, following Edward's scent into the trees for a couple of minutes.
"Bella!" Two voices spoke at once.
One was a high tinkling bell that was shouting out in horror. I recognised it instantly as Alice.
The other a deep voice that was full of satisfaction and delight, easily identifiable as an enemy.
"Bella, we've been waiting so long for you to be alone." Felix stepped forward with his arms open wide and a smile covering his face. "Don't you get tired of Edward following you, it's like he stalks you ever minute of the day."
Alice screamed from somewhere in the trees. "Bella, you have to run!"
I spun round, desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. I felt a pressure around my waist, getting tighter and tighter like a boa constrictor. I realised that I was the helpless prey. It was only then that my legs began to move, trying to run from the danger. Trying to run from whatever was already holding me back.
"Too late Alice," The voice sung out. "Snap decisions are the trick to get around you, you see."
I pushed with my all the strength I could summon, trying to snap the unbreakable band around me, my limbs were thrashing out at every possible part of my captor that I could reach but I seemed to do no good whatsoever.
"Alice, you have to get away." I breathed through the pressure on my chest and my throat.
Demetri laughed as he walked into my view. "Although Alice would be the perfect addition to our guard, we have no intention of taking her today Bella. We just need you."
A hand pressed tightly to my mouth, muffling any hope of shouting for help. Edward would be too far away to hear any of this and there was no way that Alice would be able to fight off Demetri and the bulk of muscle behind me.
"We can get past Alice's gift easily, yours is a different story Bella and under Aro's orders, you are not going anywhere near this fight." Felix tightened his grip around my throat, his hand gripping a clump of my hair so hard that I feared he was going to tear it straight from my head. He jerked my head back sharply every time I attempted to move even a single inch.
So they already knew it was going to be a fight, and they knew that without my shield it would be a hell of a lot easier for them to win. They could blind every one of my family, torture them like a raging fire and then kill every single one of them with ease.
My face slammed on the rock as Felix threw me to the ground. He spun around to defend himself from the attacker who had just tried to take a rip out of his throat. Alice had told me to run, Alice was nearly always right. I pushed my body from the ground and sprung into the air as elegantly as an antelope only to be yanked straight back down to earth like a helpless object caught in a gravitational pull. Demetri secured his rough hand under my chin and his arm around my chest exactly where Felix had placed his before. From around his body I could see Alice clawing at Felix's back furiously.
"Alice, run!" I screamed desperately."Please listen to me Alice..."
The rest of my sentence was cut off by Demetri's hand clamping down over my lips. A huge figure appeared from the trees, launching himself forward at the two who were fighting in front of me.
Jacob.
"Jacob, you have to fetch the others!" Alice screeched, as she leaped out of the way of a swipe from Felix. "Do it!"
He swung again and caught her around her hips, chucking her effortlessly behind the pile of jagged rocks to my right. Jacob turned as quickly as a flash lightening in a raging storm towards the villa again, his legs pumped up and down as he ran and his rusty fur flew back in the wind. Before he disappeared I saw his head snapping back as he let out a piercing howl.
"Felix, we must go back before the rest of them come." Demetri snarled as I kicked at his legs.
A sound rolled out from the trees. A rip of terror through the dry air. The sound was something so terrifying I would have believed it to be another enemy, if I didn't recognise the tone.
Edward.
He ran, eyes open wide and mouth open wider, into the clearing, letting out a growl so loud it was like a thunder clap in the middle of a storm. His hands were drawn back behind his body like a cape.
His voice tore of his mouth in a staggered snarl. "Get your disgusting hands off my wife."
Demetri laughed and loosened his grip on my arms slightly – an action that made me instantly dread whatever was coming next.
"As you wish Edward." He whispered, smiling. "I'll use my feet instead."
I felt a sharp crack in my neck as Demetri snapped my head around to face Edward. My back arched backwards elegantly as he struck it with an enormous amount of force, his studded boot sending cracks up and down my back. The pain surged through my veins like a fierce fire. I couldn't scream, I couldn't for Edward's sake. Demetri struck my back again but with much more force, it sent me into flying through the air and slamming face flat into the rocks opposite. I could feel cracks in the marble skin of my face as well. I ran one finger over my cheek and it felt as if someone had shattered a vase and then blindly stuck the pieces back together. I dreaded to think what I looked like to Edward.
"Bella, no!"
I heard his voice through the searing pain that continued to surge through my body. He sounded so confused, not even sure what feeling to let take over. Pain, love, or anger. The fiery feeling in my back started to ease, gradually sinking deeper into my granite skin. I raised my head off the rocks. Edward and Felix were a blur in front of me as they weaved in and out, striking out at each other at every opportunity. If he got hurt... I couldn't even bear to think about that. So many ifs, why couldn't life be certain, why did everything have to be confusing, so difficult?
The blurs stopped. Edward was knelt on the floor, frozen. Felix had one of his oversized hands around his neck and the other pressed against his forehead. Between his thumb and index finger he held a small, metallic, cigarette lighter.
"Would you like the honour Demetri, or can I?"
Felix smiled as Demetri grabbed me around the waist and hauled me up to my feet. I started thrashing out again, so much more viciously this time. How dare they do this to us, to him! I wanted to kill them all, the whole lot of them, now. Their blood would be spilled and it was going to happen extremely soon. I couldn't speak, call out to him, I could only fight the clasps around me.
"You can have him; I'm saving myself for the wolves if you must know." He ran his hand across my tangled hair like he was caressing it, stroking it in Edward's place.
Edward's mouth curved downwards, his chest was heaving slowly up and down. Felix took his grip on his neck and cheek, ready to kill, his nail inching closer to the switch that would drown his captives body in burning flames. Edward took a deep breath, and tensed, ready to die.
"NO, PLEASE!" I screamed. "STOP, I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
Edward opened his eyes to look into mine. His face morphed through several expressions in such a short time that it was almost funny. A second or two passed before he spoke – his words made the ones I was about to whisper fly out of my mind.
"You can take me; take me for as long as you want. I'll run with you all the way to Italy with no hassle, as long as you swear to let Bella go and never touch her again." He whispered, the words spilling out off his hanging mouth. "I'm begging you."
Felix smiled cruelly. "And why should we agree to that? We need only Bella tonight, Aro's orders."
"You want to gain an advantage in the fight. I can see exactly what you're planning to do; I can outsmart my opponents without needing my speed or my strength. If you want even a chance of winning this, you need me out of the way." Edward drew in a sharp breath. "I'm a better fighter, than Bella, you'll have a better chance of winning. She can't even use her shield while she's fighting!"
What was he doing? Giving the Volturi tactics that actually worked! Sometimes, I didn't understand my husband's mind one bit.
"I've caught you before Edward." Felix said. "Twice in fact, now."
Demetri spoke as I kicked out at his legs again, thumping my hand against his stomach. I had to get to Edward, stop him from this, stop him from doing this to himself for me, he just couldn't do this.
"You're right about the second part though. Not exactly superwoman is she?"
"Bella, please stop. You're going to get yourself hurt." Edward spoke with his eyes locked on my face
I shook my head in disbelief. "Get myself hurt! Edward you can't always throw yourself under the bus or in front of the bullet for me, I can't bear it."
Edward's face creased even more, his mouth was stuck somewhere between a forced sympathetic smile and a grimace.
Felix ignored me completely. "But what other advantage to us, Bella still has her darn shield even if she may not be able to maintain her power throughout."
"My point exactly." Edward whispered. "I know you are not just doing this for the fight or the victory, you enjoy hurting people, even if it's on the inside, in our minds. It's like a hobby for you, hurting, burning, and killing. You can't hurt Bella; you can't torture her through her thoughts like you could with me in Volterra."
"So Edward, you're suggesting we take you and torture you." Felix let go of him, but he still remained totally motionless. "In place of your wife, who Jane can't even possibly torture."
The two of us spoke at the same time.
"Yes" Edward croaked.
My voice towered above his feeble whisper. "NO!"
"Fine, Edward." Demetri spoke, smiling. "Have your way."
I choked on the air. My limbs stopped thrashing against the cage of arms that were wrapped around in front of me. Edward's expression twisted as he saw my face.
"Bella..."
Demetri interrupted. "Aro said we had to be back with Bella by midnight Felix, I'm guessing the limit still stands with him."
Felix grunted and stuck his hand out to point into the trees. "Edward."
He was going, to them, now and I couldn't stop it. He was walking willingly into the open arms of the sheer agony of torture. My eyes stung viciously like a hundred bees were stinging them at once and my mouth let out a pathetic squeak.
Edward spun around. "Don't worry about me Bella. I'm so sorry it's come to this."
"Edward." Felix grunted again.
Edward walked forward slowly towards me. He pressed his hand to my cheek as I started to kick out again, my chest pumping up and down against Demetri's arms.
"I love you." He whispered, his lips pressed lightly to my hair.
"Edward." Felix grunted, nearly snarled.
My breathing raced as his fingers slipped away from my face and he started to step away backwards, although his agonized gaze was still on me.
"How do I stop her from coming after us?" Demetri hissed to Felix.
"She will stay where she is if she knows what's good for her." He hissed back.
I flexed my lips over my teeth. "No, I bloody well won't!"
Edward's shoulders dropped like he'd been landed with a ten tonne weight.
"Don't you even dare." He hissed.
My head smashed against the sharp rock face again, a hundred times harder than last time, and my world disappeared into inky black darkness.
