Chapter 10

I watched as Edward walked her to the door. The look in his eyes as he watched her was strangely familiar, the same look I have seen in Jasper's eyes. At that one moment I realized how truly, madly in love he was with her, and how important this was to him. I swear, I will never let anything happen to that girl. I would never be able to look at his face again if anything goes wrong.

At that moment I started looking; looking for anything involving James.

His eyes glare as Bella crosses in front of him leaving her house. Tears stream down her cheeks, but nothing happens. Then he chases the cars driving swiftly through the night.

Edward! I tried to make my thoughts as loud as possible, but he promised he'd be listening. Edward! He's here! He's coming; he'll be here watching her! Get out of there and warn Emmett! HURRY!

Within seconds, Edward was by my side in Bella's truck. "Go to the Jeep with Emmett, plans have changed, follow me and Bella back to the house, and make sure that all four of us get into the house safely. He shouldn't attack as long s we all stay together."

"Okay," I agreed, I couldn't think of what else to say.

"Don't forget, she needs to eat more often than we do."

"I won't forget." I started to get out of the car.

"And Alice," I turned back to him, "You have to promise me that you will watch her, and make sure that nothing happens to her, don't let her leave your sight, make sure that –"

I cut him off, "Edward, I promise she will be fine. I love her too, you know, trust me that nothing will happen."

"Thank you Alice, and tell Jasper that too, I shouldn't have gotten everyone in this mess."

"It's not your fault Edward." I looked again back into his eyes; I looked into the furry, the anxiety, and the worry that clouded his face. I turned, and went back to the Jeep where Emmett was sitting. As I climbed into the driver's seat, Bella was just leaving the house. I turned to Emmett, there were not words exchanged, but we both understood that this was the beginning of a long journey. He turned and went back outside into the dark air.

When she reached her truck, we both started up the engines and I followed close behind Edward. Emmett followed next to us the entire drive home.

When we arrived, Emmett carried Bella inside and Edward and I stayed by their side. As we entered the house everyone got up. "He's tracking us," Edward informed everyone.

"I was afraid of that," a voice came from the corner of the room, an unfamiliar voice that even caught me and Edward off guard. Laurent stood staring back at us.

I rushed to Jasper, whispering the plan in his ear, and we ran upstairs.

Bursting through our door, we collected everything we would need, money, credit cards, sunglasses, and a quick change of clothes. I stood there with Jasper for a moment, and he pulled me into his arms. The first trace of fear finally creped up on me, and I held him tight in my arms. He lifted my chin up and placed his lips against mine. In that instant I had a new boost of confidence.

I heard Esme's footsteps up the stairs, and gathered the last things together and placed them in my leather bag. Jasper started downstairs and I waited at the top for Esme and Bella. We raced down the stairs where everyone was waiting. Carlisle handed me a small silver cell phone.

"Esme and Rosalie will be taking your truck, Bella," Carlisle explained, "Alice, Jasper – take the Mercedes. You'll need the dark tint in the south."

We nodded, looked at each other, and ten back to Bella. Her face was still blank with fear.

"We're taking the Jeep," Carlisle continued. "Alice, will they take the bait?"

I closed my eyes.

The Jeep leaves the driveway; soon after James follows. The truck then leaves, followed by Victoria.

"He'll track you. The woman will follow the truck. We should be able to leave after that.

"Let's go," Carlisle walked towards the kitchen. Edward crossed to Bella. I couldn't look away from the two of them. I felt Jasper's arm around my shoulders, and finally everyone was ready to go. Bella's eyes watered and I longed to have that feeling again, just to be able to release everything. Esme answered the phone.

"Now," she said, and Rosalie and Esme headed towards the kitchen. Esme turned, looked back at the three of us waiting, her gentle smile was a comforting reminder of why we were all doing this.

I answered my phone just as it started to vibrate. "Esme says the woman is on Esme's trail. I'll get the car." I headed out to the back of the house. I got in the car and drove it to the front of the house. Reentering the house I noticed Jasper and Bella talking. "May I?" I asked before picking her up.

"You're the first one to ask permission." I had to laugh at this, and I lifted her up and brought her to the car.

The drive was long. Bella slept in the back with me, but hearing her mention Edward's name over and over was almost torture. What our family had done to her life, I felt bad about, yet I had never seen Edward to happy for the entire time that I have known him. She finally fell asleep after crying for about two hours straight. Jasper and I didn't talk much, afraid that we would wake her up. He broke the silence only once.

"Carlisle is going to call us when anything changes with James, and Esme or Rose will call if anything happens with Victoria. They are going to be cautions though, they don't want them having any idea where we are going."

'Okay," I whispered in response.

As we were getting closer, Bella finally woke up. "Which way to the airport, Bella?" Jasper asked.

"Stay on the I-ten, we'll pass right by it." She answered in a monotone. "Are we flying somewhere?" she looked up at me. Her eyes were bright red, and had a look of defeat in them.

"No, but it's better to be close, just in case," I answered her, trying to be convincing. After this she put her head back down on my neck and fell asleep. It was nice feeling her breathing and her heart pulsing, it was soothing in a way. We came to the airport and found the nearest hotel. I bundled up as much as possible to cover my skin, and picked Bella up out of the back seat.

The sun was glaring down, and the temperature was a severe difference from Washington. Jasper took the bags and went straight to the front desk inside after parking. I went inside and sat down in a chair with Bella on my lap. Jasper came over with a room key and went to take her from me, but I didn't want to let her go. We went up to our room. Inside it had one main room with a television, and another room with a bed in it and a bathroom. I laid her down on the bed, closed the blinds, shut off the lights, and closed the door. Jasper turned on the television, and we both sat down on the couch.

I didn't know what to do; I just sat there, and waited. Jasper held me close in his arms. The hours passed terribly slowly; Carlisle should have called by now. We should have some news, and I started to worry about Edward, and what Bella would do if anything happened to him. I racked my mind for any clues as to what was happening but I couldn't find anything.

It was about three when I heard her soft footsteps on the floor. I knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure" she answered.

"You look like you could sleep longer," I commented as I took note of her tired eyes. I crossed to the window to close the blinds. "We'll need to stay inside."

"Okay," she responded, but her voice was hoarse.

"Thirsty?" I asked.

"I'm okay. How about you?" I was glad she changed her tone.

"Nothing unmanageable." I didn't want her worrying about that with me or Jasper. "I ordered some food for you, it's in the front room. Edward reminded me that you have to eat a lot more frequently than we do."

"He called?" she looked eager and I felt horrible for my response.

"No, it was before we left." Her face fell. I helped her to the other room where Jasper was. Bella sat down on the floor with her food and I moved to the side of the couch next to Jasper. A few minutes passed, and I looked down at Bella, finding her looking back up at me.

"What's wrong, Alice?"

"Nothing's wrong." I was a bit surprised at her question.

"What do we do now?"

"We wait for Carlisle to call."

"And should he have called by now?" I couldn't help but look over to the phone. I wasn't quite sure how to answer.

"What does that mean? That he hasn't called yet?"

I tried to sound as calm and convincing as possible. "It just means that they don't have anything to tell us." I hoped she would leave it at that. Jasper was suddenly at my side.

"Bella, you have nothing to worry about. You are completely safe here."

"I know that."

"Then why are you frightened?"

"You heard what Laurent said. He said James was lethal." Her voice was becoming panicked. "What if something goes wrong, and they get separated? If something happens to any of them Carlisle, Emmett, Edward …" I could feel her voice shake, "If that wild female hurts Esme, how would I live with myself when it's my fault? None of you should be risking yourselves for me –" Her voice finally stopped as she began crying again. I reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Bella, Bella, stop," Jasper's voice was calming, and I realized he was doing his best to help the situation. "You're worrying about all the wrong things, Bella. Trust me on this – none of us are in jeopardy. You are under too much strain as it is' don't add to it with wholly unnecessary worries. Listen to me! Our family is strong. Our only fear is losing you."

"But why should you –" her confusion was apparent.

I interrupted, "It's been almost a century that Edward's been alone. Now he's found you. You can't see the changes that we see, we who have been with him for so long. Do you think any of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you?" And that was the end of it. The rest of the day past slowly, Jasper and I stayed on the couch, and Bella could not seem to stay still. I grew more and more worried about her. She finally went into the back room and I followed as inconspicuously as possible.