Chapter 11: James
Edward's POV (Right after Bella left)
I watched as the elk, Alex, carried her farther and farther away from me. Would she really be safe? I whimpered softly. "You really do care about her, don't you." Esme said smiling. I nodded. How could I not? Bella was such a kind caring person. She'd been through hell and back and yet she wasn't mean or cruel herself because of it. Not that she'd ever feel the same way about me. I was lucky she would even talk to me after all she had bee through.
"She'll be fine." Jasper assured me. I nodded.
"Get back to the game." Alice ordered. I decided to bat again. I tapped the ball lightly. I wouldn't hit it far when we were expecting company. The game wasn't even half hearted now. We stopped when we could hear them as they approached. I moved to stand beside Carlisle like usual. I reached out for the minds of those approaching us. The one in front and clearly the leader seemed hesitant to come out of the tree cover. He didn't want to bring his coven close to such a large potential threat. They look so tense already. We're being foolish to go so close, but that's James for you. Laurent thought. Maybe Laurent wasn't the leader. It was probably this James. Behind them stood a wild looking female. Her orange hair was almost as wild as her eyes. She was eyeing us cautiously before she would look around for possible escape routes.
This is dangerous! The blond male has experience! We'll be hurt! At least she knew Jasper was dangerous. Maybe they would leave quickly. Laurent was in the front as they approached us. Apparently they wanted us to get the wrong impression. To bad for them I was already aware of the truth.
"Hello, I'm Laurent. These are James and Victoria." He said politely. James better know what we're doing!
"I'm Carlisle. This is my family: Edward and Jasper; Rosalie, Alice Esme and Emmett." They nodded.
"We heard your game. Would you mind if we joined?"
"We were just finishing, maybe next time." Carlisle said.
I don't have time for this. Get on with it! James thought irritated. What the hell? He was the one who probably told Laurent to come here, but the way he was looking at us seemed like it was for the first time. "Are you the coven that took in an orphan?" He questioned. I stiffened slightly. He smirked. "Apparently you are."
"What do you want?" Carlisle inquired.
"We want the orphan." He said smirking. I growled angrily at him Oh, come on mind reader. I just want to play with her. He said. I leaned forward into a crouch and James did the same. I felt everyone around us tense. A second later we were surrounded by forty vampires. I straightened up confused. How had they managed to surprise us? I hadn't even heard their minds!
The rest of the family was thinking similar things. James smirked happily. "It seems I'll be getting that orphan of yours after all. So where's she hiding?"
"I don't know." I said shrugging. Thank god Bella had run for it. There's no way we'd be able to fight our way out of this one. We were trapped.
"I really don't like being lied to." He said before he snapped his fingers. The vampires around us burst into action and so did the family. We fought desperately but to no avail. We couldn't beat them. When they grabbed Rose, Alice, and Esme we had to stop fighting. The others couldn't take the lose of their mate. They growled angrily. Other vampires came forwards and restrained us as well. We couldn't fight for fear someone would be killed. "Now where were we? Oh, I remember." James came over and bit my shoulder. I'd never been bitten except for when I was changed. I hissed in pain. That hurt like hell. "Where's the orphan?"
"I don't know." I said through gritted teeth.
"We'll see about that. You know what to do." He said to the group. Suffer mind reader. He thought to me. I growled at him angrily. Then we were being forced forwards. The other vampires fell into a formation around us. We ran where they told us knowing that fighting was useless. We weren't getting out of here. What about Bella? Would she be able to make it on her own? Hopefully that Elk and the spell or ability she seemed to unknowingly posses would keep her safe until we could go find here. Was her path from the clearing traceable? Hopefully the Storm had erased it enough that we didn't have to worry about it. Bella, I hope you're safe.
I had to focus now. I had to find a way out. Edward, are you okay? Alice called. I shrugged slowly enough that the others wouldn't catch on. What are we going to do? I frowned. I really didn't know. I had no idea where they were taking us. Why do they want Bella? I shrugged again. I had no idea why they wanted her. I just knew there was no way in hell I was going to let them get to her!
The vampire behind me shoved me forwards through a door. Where were we? It looked like we were in a Castle. How did I not know this was here? Actually this was probably one of the few spots past the mountains I hadn't explored. We were ushered down multiple flights of stairs to what looked like a dungeon. We were each chained to the wall. They all left us once they were sure we couldn't secured.
The second they were out of sight we all strained against our bonds. "Damn!" Emmett yelled as he realized he couldn't get free. "What are these things made of?"
"I have no idea. I've never come across anything like it." Jasper growled out frustrated. He reached for Alice desperately. They could barely touch fingertips.
"Why do they want Bella?" Alice questioned.
"I have no idea. I just hope she can make it out there on her own." We were quiet for a minute.
"How did they all manage to sneak up on us like that?" Rosalie questioned.
"The only thing I can think of is that they have a shield that can block both Alice and Edward. We would have known otherwise." Carlisle deduced.
"That's just great." Alice muttered.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Esme asked.
"We can't even get off the wall. I think we're stuck. It would take someone that's free for us to be able to get out of here…" Jasper started.
"And the only one that's free is human and the one they want the most." I finished for him. What if Bella found out we were trapped and tried to save us? She would be captured to. I strained against the chains even harder. We had to get out before Bella came here. I couldn't let James get a hold of her.
"She wouldn't even be able to find us. Don't worry Edward." Jasper said soothingly.
"It's Bella. The girl has an elk that can out run a vampire and she can perform ancient rituals to do all kinds of things. I'm pretty sure that if she put her mind to it she would find us." I shot back. They didn't have anything to say to that. They knew I was probably right. We'll get out of here Edward. Don't worry. Alice assured me. "It's not me I'm worried about." She nodded. Before she could reply someone started to descend the stairs and we fell silent.
It was James. "Nice chains aren't they?" We didn't respond. "They're made with vampire ashes. They're the only thing strong enough to hold back a vampire." So that was why I couldn't break them. He opened the gate to the cell everyone was in. he shut it securely behind himself. He really was dead set on making sure we couldn't escape. He came up to me. "What's the orphan to you?" He questioned. I didn't reply. He bit me in the arm angrily. I hissed against the pain. "I asked you a question."
"She's with our family." I said evasively through gritted teeth. He smirked. "Is that all? Then you wouldn't mind if I took her for a while would you?" I growled angrily at the very thought of this man anywhere near Bella. "That's what I thought. So I'm guessing none of you will tell me where she is will you." No one even looked at him. "I'll take that as a no. Too bad. We could have done this the easy way." Not really mind reader. It'll be fun making your family squirm. I snarled angrily and pressed against my restraints he wouldn't touch them!
James made his way slowly down the line. So many to choose from, who should I torture first mind reader? He asked me. I watched helplessly as he walked up to Esme. What about her mind reader? She would do.
"No! Leave her alone!" I roared at him. Then who mind reader. "Me, just leave them alone." I said looking him in the eyes. He shrugged and let me up off the wall. Suddenly his mind was blocked from me. Damn it! There went my advantage.
"Did you really think I'd leave my mind unguarded when I unchained you? You're dumber then you look." He snapped his fingers and two more vampires came into the cell as well. I growled angrily at the three of them. They smirked as one and lunged at me. I lunged back. We collided with a sound like two boulders. I kicked on in the stomach and sent them into the wall. James managed to shove me in the opposite direction. I jumped up quickly to find them already waiting for me. Be careful Edward! Alice called. I nodded before I lunged at them once more. "This is fun. Are you always this bad of a fighter or do you really rely on your power this much?" He teased. I growled again. He rolled his eyes. One of the other vampires lunged at me and I shoved him away once more. What I didn't see was the vampire behind me. The warning from Alice came too late. He bit me and the other vampire did the same. I hissed angrily through the pain and through them off. James lunged just as I was standing and we crashed to the floor loudly.
He held me down by the throat. "Did you really think you could beat me?" He questioned before he ripped a finger off. I roared in anger. I heard the others hiss angrily. "So where's the orphan." HE questioned.
"I don't know." He lifted me off the ground and threw me into the wall.
"Are you sure about that?" He interrogated before he bit me again.
"The only thing I'm more sure of is that you're an ass hole!" I growled out. He kicked me in the stomach and I doubled over. Was it normal for a vampire to be able to hurt so much?
"You really shouldn't have said that." He tore my right arm off as he spoke.
"Edward!" Esme screamed. God, that hurt. I felt venom dripping from where the limb had once been.
"You bastard! I'm going to tear you apart!" Rosalie yelled. James turned to her angrily.
"What was that bitch?" He questioned. She didn't even flinch as he advanced. I couldn't let him hurt her! I forced myself of the ground and knocked James away from her.
"Leave them alone!" I yelled at him. My head hurt. How the hell did that work? Vampires couldn't get headaches! I didn't have time to think about it. I was too busy dodging James. Focusing was now taking all of my energy. James took advantage of my weakness and threw me around like a rag doll and bit me another ten times. I stumbled slightly and fell back against the wall. James smirked and roughly shoved all my missing pieces back into place. It hurt like hell! He chained me back to the wall before he exited the room.
When the door at the top of the stairs shut everyone was staring at me. "Are you okay Edward?" Esme called over to me.
"I'm fine."
"Liar," Jasper muttered.
"What's your point?" I shot back.
"Jeez Edward."
"Sorry Jasper," I apologized.
"It's fine. I know the pain's making you irritable."
"Why did you suggest yourself? What conversation did we miss?" Emmett questioned.
"He was walking around and saying there were so many to choose from. He asked me who he should torture first. Then he walked up to Esme and said she would do." Everyone shuddered at the thought of someone hurting Esme. "That's when I yelled leave her alone. He asked who he should torture instead and I suggested myself." I finished looking down.
"Edward," Alice groaned.
"What?"
"If you're going to be noble like that you're going to get killed! I don't want to loose my brother!" She said angrily.
"Well I can't watch any of you being hurt!"
"And you think we like watching you writhe on the floor?" Esme retorted. I didn't have anything to say to that.
"I'm sorry for getting him even angrier Edward." Rose said looking down.
"It doesn't matter. This is just a game to him." I said bitterly. Jasper was radiating disgust.
"We need to get out of here." Jasper muttered.
"How: they're good fighters." I reminded him.
"If one of us could manage to get and stay free, at least from the wall, we would be able to get out of here." He said quickly…
