Hey peeps! Sorry again about the long update. It'll probably be faster once school's over. Or not. We'll see. Here's chapter 14

Chapter 14

Leading away James and Victoria went well. Rosalie and I had been driving all night when Victoria stopped following us.

"She must've gone back to town." Rosalie concluded.

"We can't leave Esme to protect the whole town." I pointed out.

She turned the truck around so fast that it protested and we got back home within 6 hours.

"She stopped following us." Rosalie said as we walked inside our house.

Esme looked concerned. "What should we do?"

They looked at me for a solution. I thought for a minute. "Well, the entire town may be in trouble, so you two are going to protect it . . . especially Chief Swan."

"And you?" Rosalie asked.

"I'm calling up the airport and catching the first flight to Phoenix." With that, I called the airport in Port Angeles and booked a ticket on a flight that was leaving within 2 hours.

Esme and Rosalie left after I made the call and I gave them the phone. I was left alone. I went to my room and changed into my own clothes and packed a small bag with Bella's clothes and some of mine. I grabbed my own cell, too.

I went back downstairs, checked my phone's clock and left the house. I didn't bother taking a car - I could run quicker anyways. When I reached the airport, I called Carlisle.

"Ruth?" I heard Edward's voice through the phone.

"Yup. I'm at the airport catching a plane to Phoenix. Victoria stopped following Rose and I near morning." I talked fast and quiet as I walked through the sliding doors.

"He's still following us, now. We're near the Canadian border at the moment."

I heard Emmett singing loudly in the background. "How long has he been at it?"

"A few hours." Edward replied glumly.

"Put him on."

I heard Edward tell Emmett I wanted to talk to him and the singing stopped. "Ruthie!"

"Emmett, stop singing before you drive Carlisle and Edward crazy."

"But I'm bored." He whined.

"Hold on a second." I went to the counter and got my ticket. As soon as I was done, I put the phone back to my ear. "Emmett, stop or I'll tell Rose not to give you anything for a whole month . . . and I mean anything. Not even a kiss."

"You wouldn't dare." Emmett replied, shocked. I heard Edward and Carlisle laughing loudly in the background.

"I told you I'd get you back and I'm sure Rosalie would love to help me after the prank you pulled on her a few years ago." I shuddered as I remembered that particular moment. Unfortunately for me, vampires have great memories.

For a while, all I could hear was laughter. "I need an answer, Emmett. I'm getting on the plane soon."

"Fine, I'll stop. Bye." He replied, dejected.

"Bye." I hung up the phone and laughed silently as I got onto the plane.

The ride was only a few hours and it was 10 pm when I got to Phoenix. I looked around and Jasper was standing in the crowd.

"Alice told me you were coming." He smiled.

"That's why I didn't bother calling."

I looked around the terminal and saw a young couple reuniting. The girl jumped into the boy's arms and kissed him. A small twinge of sadness swept through me as I was reminded of being alone.

Jasper sensed this and pulled me into a hug. "Better?"

"I guess." I said, smiling up at him.

He let me go, but kept a protective arm around me and we walked together outside in the hot, dry air.

"You won't be alone forever, Ruth. Remember that."

"That's what everyone says." I sighed.

"Then why don't you believe it?"

I didn't reply. The Mercedes came into view and we got in. I still didn't say anything as Jasper drove to the hotel and brought me up to the room they were in.

"Bella's sleeping so be quiet."

I nodded as we silently went inside. Alice jumped on me and squeezed me in a hug. "I was worried about you." She whispered.

"Well, I'm here now and Rose and Esme are alright, too. As are the other boys."

We watched talked quietly. I began to notice I was thirsty near morning.

"Here." Alice said, holding out a black container with a lid and straw. "Carlisle gave us some, knowing we wouldn't be able to hunt."

"Is it . . . human?" I asked. "Because I'd rather not have my eyes turn crimson."

She shook her head. "No, it's deer. Don't ask how he got it, but he did."

I took a sip and felt a whole lot better. I took my time, making it last because I didn't know when I would get to feed again. I finished just as Bella came out of her room.

"Hey, Bella." I said, hugging her.

"When did you get here?"

"Last night."

Bella sat on the couch next to me. "What was in there?" She asked, indicating my cup.

"Blood. Not human, obviously." I replied with a wink.

"Oh."

"You look tired, go back to bed." I said, concerned.

Bella didn't argue. Alice followed her.

"Has she been like that the whole time?" I asked Jasper.

"Pretty much."

Silence fell over us. There wasn't anything to talk about. We stared at the TV, not really watching.

We heard Alice telling Bella how to become a vampire after being asked.

"That's what happened to Ruth. James bit her, but didn't kill her because of Carlisle. A few more seconds and Ruth would've been dead. We never told her that before, but she has every right to know." I heard Alice say.

I flared with anger. Why keep something so important away from me? Then again, I kept my whole human life a secret for so long. I let the anger pass. More silence, then Alice saying. "Something's changed."

I grabbed a hotel pen and paper and we were at the door the same time as Alice. She was focused on the future.

"What do you see?" Jasper asked, leading her to sit on the side of the bed. Bella was sitting up, concerned.

"A room. Long, with lots of mirrors and wood floor. He's there in the room, waiting. A gold stripe around the middle of the mirrors."

"Put your hand on my arm, Alice." I said. She obeyed and I saw what she was seeing. I drew quickly on the paper using the bedside table.

"Where's the room?"

"I don't know, something's missing - another decision hasn't been made yet."

"How much time?"

"Soon. He'll be there today or maybe tomorrow. It depends. He's waiting in the dark now.

"What is he doing?" Jasper asked in a practiced manner.

"Watching TV . . . no, running a VCR, in the dark, in another place."

"Can you see where?"

"Too dark."

"And the mirrored room, what else is there?"

Just what I said before. But there's a big black table with a stereo on it."

I added it to my drawing in the correct place.

"Anything else?"

Alice and I shook our heads. She moved her hand from me.

"What does it mean?" Bella asked.

I stared at my picture. It was a rough sketch of what we'd seen, but enough to tell us something. "The tracker's plans have changed, but now it depends on whatever decision hasn't been made yet."

Just then, Alice's phone rang.

"Carlisle." She breathed.

She listened for a moment. "Yes." She replied with a glance at Bella."

"I just saw him." She described the vision again. "Whatever made him get on that plane . . . it was leading him to those rooms." Another pause. "Yes." Alice held out the phone to Bella.

"Hello?" She breathed.

"Oh, Edward. I was so worried."

I picked up my drawing and left the room. Alice and Jasper followed after me.

We puzzled over the drawing while I fixed it up here and there.

Bella came in and looked over my shoulder. "It a ballet studio."

We looked at her in surprise. "You know this room?" I asked.

"Well, I took lessons when I was 8 or 9, but the stereo was here . . . "She pointed at another spot. "And that's where the bathrooms were and there was no TV. There was a window in the waiting room. This is the perspective of the room if you were looking through it."

"Is it the same room?" Jasper asked.

"I don't think so. Most studios look the same . . . don't they?"

"Would you have any reason to go back?" Alice asked.

"No, I haven't been there in nearly 10 years."

"So there's no way you could be connected to it?"

"No, I don't think the same person even owns it." Bella replied.

"Where was it?" I asked in a grave tone.

"It was just around the corner from my mom's house. I used to walk there after school . . ." Her voice trailed off.

"It was here in Phoenix, then?" I whispered.

She nodded. We stared at the drawing silently again.

"Is that phone safe?" Bella asked.

"It would just trace back to Washington." Alice replied.

"I'm calling my mom. She can't be here if . . ."

"James is here." I concluded.

Bella took the phone and left a message for her mom then gave the phone back to Alice. Bella fidgeted while us vampires stayed completely still. Eventually, Bella fell asleep waiting for the phone to ring. I wished I could sleep to, just to forget everything for a while.

I picked Bella up gently and carried her to the bed. "Sleep well, Bella." I whispered and went back to the others and stared at the TV, not really seeing what was on. My mind was too occupied to focus on any one thing.

You know what to do my friends. Turns out we did get some reviews so we'll keep writing.... Maybe.... Depends on what happens between now and the end of the "twilight" sector. That meaning once we finish prom.