AN: Try listening to Placebo's song Black Eyed, it's the song I was listening to when I thought up having this chapter. Enjoy!

EPOV.

The forest floor was an interesting place. The rain splashed from the trees above into murky, muddy puddles below. Animals scurried around aimlessly, unsure of where they would be safe from the pounding raindrops. They supplied a thrumming rhythm, one that only could be created naturally. The forest was a good place to think. It was a good place for monsters, too. But I wasn't allowed to think like that, not now, not while we were all in danger. If I didn't exist in the first place, it would be easier. If I died before my parents, giving Carlisle no chance to help me. Would he have changed someone else, or just stuck with even numbers? No, of course, he had to change me, the defective vampire that fell in love with humans and endangered them all. I should have remembered how fickle humans can be. Of course, I originally wanted her to move on, though my heart certainly didn't want that. I can't blame her for moving on. I told her to, and she can do nothing but that. Sure, she was sad, but at the time it was the best thing for her. At least until those wolves had to mess things up. Really, no matter how much I hated them, I could only blame myself. I had wanted her while things were safe and easy, but only to discard her when they got too difficult. Now, I wanted her back; what would she think of me? She had a new boyfriend now, anyway. The one who would prevent me from saving her.

Somewhere, far off in the distance, lightning crackled in the air, breaking through the gathering murky mist like a snake flicking its tongue. It snapped me back into rational thought. I had no time to ponder over Bella's love interest, or envy him. There were more important things at hand. I would protect her, no matter who she cared for, and that was what I had to do. There was rarely a way around Alice's visions, though I would always stubbornly disagree. There had to be now, I couldn't let this happen. If I knew who would be the one to... remove her from the world, I could stop them, watch them like a hawk. Then at least her werewolf would be able to protect her; and there would be no interference from me. It sounds simple enough, but that's hardly ever the case. It's like having to break up with her all over again, though this time we're not even going out. I have to be selfless, let better judgment of her safety come before my desires. Though they equalled; in similar ways. Another roll of thunder snaked through the dark clouds, meeting the impenetrable fog with a snap. It was getting closer, though still too far away for human ears to hear it. Who could be doing this to us? It had to be someone with knowledge of Alice's visions, to slip through her sight undiscovered. It had to be someone clever, who could reach her when neither my family and I, or the future werewolves were watching her. I cast my memory back, to see if there were any clues in Alice's vision. Even a slight hair, left behind by them. Though, knowing mine and Bella's luck, it would be a bald vampire. There was absolutely no way of telling from the heart-wrenching image of the lifeless Bella, so I quickly, and gladly looked at the other scene she had found. It was easier to watch the beginning of my end, than see a lifeless Bella. I searched around the shadows of the scene. There was one, but I imagined it to be a wolf. There was still some emerging into the clearing in this vision. Since this was Alice's vision, there were certain thoughts she had of this image. I remembered them clearly. Some of them weren't even words, just a searching. She looked around at each member of the family, and the blurred images of dogs. There was something, a fear Alice had hidden from me, and I needed to find it; it could be vital.

That was when I noticed it; I could not see Jasper in this image. He wasn't fighting, he wasn't waiting, he simply wasn't there. It couldn't be. It won't be. He wouldn't. It wasn't Jasper who gave Bella her death. Certainly not. I had more faith in him than to believe that. As did Alice, she obviously didn't want me jumping to conclusions. He could easily be behind the picture. This is, after all, Alice's sight. He could be hidden in the trees, using his power to help us. He could be fighting in his own little battle against a wolf. He could be returning from Bella's house...

No.

I refused to think like this. Jasper would never hurt Bella. He might have wanted to, at one point, so long ago; but he knew better than that now. He would never set out to maliciously hurt her, and he would know not to be overpowered by her beautiful blood. I shuddered; try as I might, I was unable to shake the thought. Then again, I couldn't shake any bad thought away at the moment. The rain couldn't peel away at them, try as it might. The wind couldn't throw them out of my head. The fog couldn't mist them up, blinding me. The lightning didn't strike fear in me, like it did with the forest elements. It couldn't destroy the things I begged it to, no matter if it desired or not. And of course, it did desire it. It hissed furiously with every strike, creating desolation on the tiny centimetres it singed. Try as it might get me, try as I might offer myself to it, there was no way it would damage me. I couldn't think such depressing thoughts now, anyway. There was no way I would take the easy way out now and leave my family to their deaths without me. Even if I couldn't find out the source, I would die with them, not now on my own.

Could it be the Volturi? If they found out about Bella's knowledge, that would surely happen. And the Quileutes know about us. Though, we know their secret too. All the same, would they be comfortable with their inside information? Would we be asked to get rid of them, or them us? I couldn't be sure if it was the Volturi or not, so I pushed them aside. Who else would want all of us dead? What about the wolves? In this equation, they weren't going to die. They couldn't have...? No, not if one of them loves Bella. They wouldn't be able to 'hire' a vampire assassin anyway. They wouldn't want to. Perhaps it was coincidence that she died when we were losing a fight? No, too coincidental. Someone wanted both the wolves and my family out of the way while they killed Bella. So it was all about her. But what vampire would want to hurt her? I can think of a few that would to hurt want me... but not Bella. The one closest linked to Bella would have to be Victoria. Since I killed James, she's bound to want to kill me. Not Bella, she was just the reason I got rid of him... That's it. She still wants at me, but she's going to do it theatrically. She'll use Bella's pain against me, kill her like I killed James. And I'd basically led her into this. Like leading a sheep into a lion's den, then leaving it to fend for itself. If I could find Victoria before she finds Bella... Though there was only a small chance of that happening. James was a tracker, she was an evader. And if her scent hadn't yet crossed anywhere near Forks? I wondered briefly if Laurent was still in Denali, and if he had heard from Victoria.

There was not much else I could do. I whipped out my phone, and called Kate. She was the only one of the sisters I could actually bear. Tanya's flirting drove me insane, and Irina's cold annoyance was just as bad. She answered on the third ring.

"Edward?" She said, sounding confused by my call, more than anything else.

"Kate. Laurent came to Denali, didn't he?" I didn't bother with pleasantries, though I would have to apologize to her before hanging up, at least.

"Yes, he did. Edward, is everything alright? This sounds urgent. Can I-"

"Is he still in Denali?"

"Well, yes, he is." She said, and I sighed in relief. This was the best link I had. "Edward, what is going on?" She said, and I could hear a slight panic in her voice.

"It's fine, Kate. Nothing to worry about. I need to speak to Laurent, is he nearby?"

"Er... no. We're out shopping..." She mumbled. She sounded like Bella; out of the sisters, she least liked shopping. "Umm.... Tanya would like a word, do you mind?" She sighed, just as tired with her sister as I was.

"No! I mean, no thanks, I've got a lot to do at the minute. If you could just tell Laurent to call me as soon as you get back...?"

"No, we'll be ages, apparently." She groaned. "Why didn't you just call the house? I'm sure he'll be in,"

"I was worried that someone else might have answered if I called the house. If you know what I mean," I said, smiling slightly.

"Oh, okay," She giggled. "Bye Edward!" She said cheerily, and hung up. I called the house almost instantly afterward.

"Hola?" It was Carmen that answered.

"Carmen, generally we speak English in America," I smiled a little, despite myself.

"Ahhhh! Señor Edward ¡ Como estas?"

"Sorry, Carmen. I would like to chat, but I really need to speak to Laurent, is he around?"

"Si! I mean, yes! I'll go get him for you," She leaned away from the phone and an immeasurable amount of Spanish could be heard, profanities stringing through till it no longer made sense. She returned to the phone a second later. "We're all going on holiday to Spain soon, they all want to be more than fluent in Spanish," She giggled. "He doesn't have a clue what I called him,"

"I wish I didn't either," I smiled.

"Hello?" Came the sound of Laurent's deep voice on the other side of the line. Joking time was over. I needed to find out about Victoria.

"Laurent, are you still in contact with Victoria?" I said urgently. He was silent for a long moment, and I knew the truth instantly, no matter what he would say next.

"Yes," He sighed after the long pause.

"Have you got any recent information?"

"Not recent, though I do believe she was heading your way, south perhaps? Not heard about her either?"

"I have, that's why I'm calling. I need to find her; fast."

"Ah. Well… I'm not sure what I can do to help you," I could tell he was lying. I don't know how, it was just a feeling I had. And what he was lying about, it was important to me.

"When was the last time you saw her? I asked, a rough edge to my voice.

"…Quite a while ago," He answered hesitantly.

"You're lying," I snarled. "What do you know?"

"I know you're too late, and she's not going to be happy with me for talking to you," He snickered, a major turnaround. Filthy rat.

"I can, and I will hunt you down, Laurent, if you do not tell me."

"Really?" He said innocently. "But what do you think I know?"

"I do like making French bonfires, Laurent." I hissed. "I don't know what you know, but God help me, I will find out, even if it means I make you into a fire. In fact, I like it better that way."

I could hear him quiver a little on the other end of the line. Laurent was a rat, a two-faced deceiver, not one for violence. I would beat him, no question. "S-she's after Bella." He stuttered, changing again.

"I know that. What do you know that I don't?"

"I swear Edward, that's all I know. She only told me this because… If she needs help, she will call on me. But we both doubt that. I'm essentially still part of her coven. She can call on me whenever. Though you won't tell the Denali's, will you?"

"I won't tell my cousins that you are a filthy lying rat?! Why are you with them, if you're not in their coven?!"

"Well… you see… Irina and I…," He said.

"I am going to tell them. Why would I protect you?" With that, I hung up with enough force that shattered my phone into miniscule pieces. How was I going to save her now? I couldn't exactly stalk her and wait for Victoria to strike, she was going to hit when we were preoccupied, fighting werewolves. So… was there any way to stop the fight? Not even Alice knew why, so there was basically no way to counter it. For all I knew, sometime in the future it would be us calling for the war, not them.

I couldn't stop this from happening. Victoria would come, find Bella and leave again, undetected, all the while my family and I would be dying in the hands of dogs. And Bella was with this Jacob, meaning there was nothing I could really do on that side of things. The best I could do is to try and figure out her situation, if things were going well with Jacob, find a loophole in this. Though I knew we were already doomed. Bella would end in the hands of Victoria; my family would end because of mutts. Either that, or they all ended because of me. Of course, I would die with them, even if I had already died today.

AN: What do you think? Review, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? I haven't updated in a while, I worked on a new story idea, and it got 2 hits! Just 2! :( :( So I'm feelin' kinda sad xD

Thanks, reviewers & readers, you do indeed make my day :) Well... it's kinda night now.. :P

Will someone please read my other story? It's kinda random stuffs, I know, but I like humor... even if it is a little silly. Anyway, the story's called 'Mysteries of an Adopted Vampire'. It's an after Breaking Dawn story, not a New Moon one, shocking. So give it a try. The first chapter is in another character's POV, but she's minor, methinks. Either way, please read? Tyyy.

I think I got 1 guess about Alice's vision, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm getting predictable. It's kinda right... All shall be revealed! Mwaaaaaaha. No, srsly, don't go reading that review. ¬_¬
Thanks neway, crazycass. Cookie to you, and all others who read and reviewed anyway, even without guessing.
Think that one of the next chapters will be Jacobs POV, and there's going to have to be a couple of schoolish ones, right? Mhm, yeah. I think so.. :P

Rachee (: x