Hey all – It's me xtina-chan :D Once again, I know it's been a long time, and I apologize, but you know how it is … life gets in the way. I have an almost 2 year old daughter so she takes up most of my time, and work is very busy. I have some downtime tonight at work so I wrote this up real quick. Hopefully it is up to par with the rest of the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 11:

An array of images flashed before me. All slightly blurred, but unmistakable.

Bella

Bella was alone. She was sleeping peacefully, but after a few moments sat up with a dazed expression as if she wasn't sure if her dream was a nightmare or not…

She was speaking to her father. They were sitting in his living room talking. I missed the familiarity of that house, the memories associated there, and hell, I even missed Charlie. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Bella seemed unsure of whatever it was, while Charlie had that awkward look he got while having any kind of heart to heart. He was shifting in his seat uncomfortably...

She was in the bathroom, head down, and I couldn't see her face for a few long moments, only the top of her head with that luscious brown hair. Finally she looked up. I gasped out loud. She had a black eye! Her face was so swollen and discolored. You could tell it was fresh. That if was painful.

Who had done this to her?

I didn't think I could be anymore furious until the last images flashed before me. Bella was in her truck recklessly speeding down the main road in Forks. Stop, she yelled at herself as there was no one in the cab with her. There were no words to describe the sound of desperation in that one word, or the way it made me feel to finally hear her voice.

Bella was crying. She had pulled over, stopped the car, and was sobbing loudly. The sound was heart wrenching. I had seen her cry, more times than I wanted, but never like this. There was something strange about the way her left arm was moving as she hit the steering wheel in anger. Then it hit me. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

She was in a pharmacy, hiding her arm from the cashier under a sweater, and buying supplies to bandage her arm. Why didn't she go to the hospital? She was staring at her hands for a long time before she finally ripped the ring off her finger, and threw it on the dashboard.

The blurry quality went away, and everything looked crystal clear. She was bandaging her arm. I could see the determination in her eyes as she was applying it. The screaming and crying were almost too much to bear, but I kept watching. She put her arm in a sling and then finally rested her head against the back of her seat for a moment, and smiled in a way that befuddled me.

Her eyes squeezed shut tightly, and she was yelling again. She was pleading with some invisible force. No … stop … please! I wished I could make it stop. I wish I could take the pain away from her body, her mind, and her heart. You could see in her eyes she had aged. She was exhausted and defeated. I had never imagined seeing Bella like this.

She reached for the band she had thrown in haste, and slipped it back on her ring finger. What I was seeing became a blur again while she started driving back the way she had come from. Then it was over. I was left with nothing. There was nothing but emptiness, emptiness that she was gone, and sadness and anger from what I had witnessed.

Alice was purposefully not looking at me. She was looking at everything but me, giving me time to process what just happened. There were four things I was sure of: Bella needed my help, something was off about that ring, I had to speak with Carlisle, and Jacob.

Jacob. I was sure he was behind Bella's injuries. I didn't want to believe that as I'd seen inside Jacob's mind plenty of times, I knew who he was, and I knew he would never hurt her, which was why I did not fight Bella when she wanted to leave, but I didn't know what he had become. Who was Jacob now? Bella tossing her wedding band aside had been a key piece of information leading me to that conclusion.

"Carlisle," I whispered.

Not a second later he was standing in front me.

"Edward," he began, but I interrupted him.

"I have to go to back to Forks."

"No," he answered. "We have to go back, all of us, for Bella." We all care for her, he thought.

I nodded.

"Did Alice mention the ring to you," I asked him. He had traveled many places in his time. If anyone knew anything it would be him.

"No," he stated looking puzzled.

I explained Bella's desperation and anger when throwing the ring. How when she took it off the vision was much clearer, but then when putting it back on it became blurry and strange. There was something off about the item.

I could hear Carlisle's thoughts as he was trying to remember anything he ever heard about a ring. The ring, Samara, Lord of the rings, my precious, magic, magic ring … the thoughts were coming faster and faster: magic ring, magick, witches, Canada, Esme …

Esme?

I wanted to rush to Bella, to save her, to go in guns blazing as they say, but I knew I couldn't. I had not dealt with witches before, and certainly not their magick. We had to go to them, to speak with them, to figure out as much of this as we could. I knew this, and so did Carlisle.

I will tell everyone to pack their bags, he thought at me.

"Thank you." I was grateful to say the least.

I woke up disoriented to hear a loud knocking at my front door. I swung my head back and forth trying to get a grip on my surroundings. It all came rushing back to me as I sat up, and felt the stinging from my left arm as I tried to use it as leverage.

"One minute," I called out to whoever was behind the door waiting.

I felt awful. My arm hurt, my head hurt, my eyes hurt, practically everything hurt. I stood up, slightly wobbly, and walked slowly over to our bedroom. I opened the door quietly and peered in. Jacob was not home.

The knocking began again.

"One minute," I replied again, and then asked, "Who is it?"

There was a long minute of silence before he spoke.

"It's Billy."

I froze. I wasn't sure what do. Should I open the door? Should I try and come up with an excuse not to?

"Bella, please, I need to speak with you."

I could tell by his tone that he knew. How much? I wasn't sure, but he knew.

I opened the door cautiously, not having any clue what he was doing here or where this was going.

"May I come in," he asked quietly avoiding my gaze.

I stepped aside, "Yes, you can come in Billy."

So, what did you guys think? It's probably not one of the best chapters, but is moving the story forward a bit. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks so much for reading!