Disclaimer: Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Atom Publishing House. All events and characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual people or events, other than those clearly in the public domain, is purely coincidental.

A/N: And, as Chapter 9 was so short, I overcompensated!

Screaming Silently

Chapter 10

Edward POV

The phone rang in the darkness. Personalized ring tone.

Shit, Alice, I thought, grappling for the tiny silver device and flipping it open.

"What's wrong, Alice?" I asked, struggling not to make my voice sound sleepy.

"We think that James is in the apartment," said Alice, her voice practically breaking in fright. "We were out at a party and came back and his car was parked out the front and the pizza guy said a guy was in our apartment."

"Are you all alright?" I asked, jumping out of bed and pulling on my jeans. The worst things began to rush through my mind: Bella, falling off a cliff and bleeding under my hands.

"We're fine but we don't know what we should do," she replied. I pulled on a jacket without a shirt and grabbed my keys from my desk.

"Come back to Forks right away," I said. "I can come and get you if you need. I'll be there in a couple of hours just go to an all night diner or something and wait where there are witnesses and I'll come and get you."

"We'll go to my studio and sleep there then drive home in the morning," Alice replied. "That way, I can get some clothes for Bella and Rose and we won't be so tired. I promise to take every possible precaution and call you as soon as we get up in the morning."

I wanted Bell – all of them safe, and it took me a moment to reply. I told them I would see them in the morning.

After that, I left a note for my parents and got in my car.

The drive wasn't pleasant. I nearly drove off the road once because I was worrying profusely about Bella. That's a little dangerous when you're doing 125mph.

I came into Seattle before dawn and immediately sped straight across to Alice's studio. I swear I was so lucky not to get pulled over: it would be just my luck if I got nabbed by some police officer with a grudge or some such shit.

The tires spun on the gravel driveway that led straight to the door of the studio. Its metal exterior looked kind of unnatural and foreboding in the pre-dawn light, immediately bringing mangled bodies to mind. Oh, god, what if I was too late and that creep had already gotten to them!

I parked the car haphazardly and immediately took out my spare key for the back door, and tried to insert it into the lock but the door swung inwards when I pressed on it. The groaning hinges echoed eerily inside the studio which was colder than outside.

Deathly cold.

I stepped into the freezing interior, trying to still the groaning door. As stealthily as I could, I tiptoed across to the stairs that lead to Alice's loft, where she had lived for close to a year. The door was slightly ajar and I crept forward, placing my sweaty palm against it and pushing it open to reveal the inner chaos.

It looked as though a hurricane had torn through the room. The floor was littered in scraps and swathes and disorder reined supreme.

When I saw the pale hand fallen limply in front of the low couch, body obscured by its frame, my mind jumped to the worst conclusions.

I saw Peter and Charlotte in my minds eye, their pale bodies dripping in blood. My own hands clenching Peter's as his last breaths gurgled from his throat. Standing in the shower and watching the dried blood from my hair, face, arms and legs run down the drain: watching life drain away.

I stepped forward to the pale hand, which was attached to a pale arm, which was then connected to Bella. I cried out softly in relief, feeling my knees weaken, as I realized that she was only asleep: her chest rose and fell with every breath she took.

Bella, Alice and Rosalie lay in cocoons of fabric samplers, all fast asleep and oblivious to my presence. I thanked the gods that nothing had happened to any of them.

I stepped forward and pulled a large piece of soft fabric over Bella to keep her warm then did the same for Alice and Rosalie before going back downstairs to close the back door properly and starting the pot of coffee so we could all get a quick start and leave for Forks as soon as possible. Above all, I wanted Bella and Alice safely at home where we could see danger approaching and be prepared.

Alice started with a fright when I tripped over a stray bolt of material leaning against a table and it fell onto the floor. Her eyes darted wildly around before coming to rest on me, the guilty look still plastered on my face.

"Edward Cullen, you scared the shit out of me," she said in an angry whisper. "You should know better than to sneak in and watch women whilst they're sleeping. Someone might take you for some sort of sick and twisted pervert!" She raised her pointed nose and sniffed the air. "But I'll forgive you because you made coffee," she added, disentangling herself to go searching for her daily caffeine fix.

She brought back three cups on a tray then roused Rose and Bella, handing them each a drink. Geez, you'd think it was a baby the way those two cradled them reverently, savouring the warmth and caffeine fix.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Alice, returning from the kitchen with four cheese and ham croissants that had been toasted.

"I came to take you back to Forks," I replied. "I didn't want you three travelling alone so I came. I was a bit paranoid that James would have already gotten to you."

I watched Bella cringe and grip her handbag like a life preserver. My heart ached an I longed to be able to sit and hold her in my arms like a child and kiss her cheek, nose, forehead and mouth, all soft and silky beneath my lips. Alas, I stayed in my seat.

Alice flitted around, grabbing clothes from here and there and piling them up: pair of jeans, shirts, dresses and so on. She tossed Rose a pair of figure hugging jeans with embroidered roses up the back and a grey shirt and red vest. The shirt was too big but the vest cinched it in around her tiny waist and accentuated her…well endowed chest.

On the other hand, she gave Bella a khaki pencil skirt that finished just below her knees and a beautiful blue blouse that revealed a tantalizing amount of her creamy pale flesh. They were forced to wear there shoes from the night before as Alice didn't have any in their size.

When we had the clothes in a case, we all went down to my car. Alice locked the place up and set the alarms.

Bella was going to sit in the back seat but Alice and Rosalie commandeered it before she could even open the door, forcing her into the front seat, beside me. I read the look Alice gave me like it was from a book: I've given it to you but it's up to you what you make of it. I gave her a small smile back as I slid into the driver's seat, locking the doors once everyone was in.

It wasn't until we were nearing Port Angeles that I got a prickly feeling on the back of my neck. I did a quick head check and didn't see anything out of the ordinary until a dark blue sedan changed lanes and slipped back in behind a car that was behind us. The driver was male, but that was all I could tell.

"What sort of car does James drive?" I asked, keeping an eye on the car in my rear-view mirror.

"Umm, a blue one?" said Bella, screwing up her nose. It was clear that she did not know or care about cars.

"It's a storm blue Ford Taurus," said Rosalie with a shrug. "Medium tint, modified headlights, and a small dent in its bonnet."

"Like the one that's following us?" I asked softly. Bella looked out the window and shrieked, immediately breaking down in tears and slumping in her seat. Her whole body was a mess of wracking sobs and garbled nonsense.

Alice instructed me to pull over but I said it was too dangerous at the minute. She and Rosalie comforted Bella over the seat whilst I drove into Port Angeles, looking for my destination. I pulled up in a gas station and quickly bundled a distraught Bella into the back seat, using the wall of the gas station as cover.

Meanwhile, the blue car slowed then pulled in at a garage across the street. I began to think.

My car could outrun his but I didn't want to attract attention. If I went straight back home, I risked my family's safety. If I didn't, I risked Bella's safety.

Perfect, I thought, a plan forming in my mind. All the girls readily agreed.

I waited another few moments and then took off, watching the car pull smoothly into the traffic a few cars back. I took a few abrupt turns, making Rosalie hiss when she nearly hit her head on the window. I took a scenic route round, through a drive through, and then pulled into a parking garage. I watched James pull into the driveway behind me.

Problem was this was an exclusive carpark, only available to those who paid a year's worth of parking. I saw James swear as his way was blocked behind us and we took off. I wasted no time, zooming off to the other side of the carpark where a second exit was located. Ah, the joys of exclusivity.

The girls cheered as we got back on the road to Forks. Bella was still paranoid that someone was following us but no one else could see anything.

I pulled into our obscure driveway and drove the mile long track up to our house. I heard Bella gasp as we broke out of the forest and into our gardens, all beautifully landscaped and orderly with nearly everything ordered and spruced. It was designed in such a way that it looked beautiful any time of year, even winter.

The house itself stood like the centrepiece of the ensemble, looking as beautiful as the day it was made. It's deceptive cottage-meets-modern design was actually quite spacious inside with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 4 car garage, living areas, 2 studies and a small library spread across 3 floors.

I pulled up then got out so I could open the door for the girls in the backseat. They thanked me then Rose and Alice flanked Bella as the three of them walked into the house.

I tried to catch up with them after getting the case out of the trunk but by the time I had brought it inside, my mother had whisked the three off into the kitchen for girl time: a clearly non-male affair.

"How are you?" asked my father, coming up behind me. "I was temped to call you but didn't want to bother you if you were doing something important."

"I'm fine now," I replied, following my father up to his study. "James followed us to Port Angeles but we lost him in a carpark. I'm confident that he wont try here but we're better to be safe than sorry."

"Fair enough," he replied. "How is Bella? She seemed a little distressed when she came in. Did something happen?"

"She broke down pretty badly when we realized James was following us," I said, recalling her distressed face and the raw emotions that exuded from her. "She cried for a long time and her whole body shook. I was worried."

Carlisle pursed his lips. "Keep an eye on her. Because she is scared, she could be likely to do something stupid and something she might regret. Just take it one step at a time and she'll get there slowly."

"Thanks Dad," I said, leaving. It was only a matter of time before this conversation started going way deeper than I wanted and then coming up with me looking the fool.

A/N: I'm SO excited! Chapter 12 is a JPOV and I cant wait for you all to tell me what you think! In the meantime, tell me what you think of this chapter.