Casandra Clare and Stephenie Meyers are the creative force behind the characters.

I know, I know...I should have an excuse, but I don't. I'll just remind you that I struggle with this one. I messed with this chapter for weeks, and I'm finally giving up. I think I got the point across. Valentine's desires should be a bit more apparent. Thanks to everyone who favorites and reviews! You're the only reason I try...

Chapter 14

Losing Her

or

Losing Hope

Edward POV

"Bella!" I shouted it over and over again, my voice being sucked into the storm. How had this happened? Leaving was supposed to protect her, allow her the normalcy being with a vampire could never allow. I had never anticipated things could go so horribly wrong.

She'd been pulled into the thundering mass of black storm. My body tremored as I screamed out to the place Bella disappeared. There'd never been an instant in my life that I felt more scared, and it was tearing me apart. I'd lost her.

Alice was shouting, but her small voice was easily taken before it could reach my ears. But I couldn't block her mind. He's here Edward! It was him!

My eyes snapped up to see the blonde man standing a few feet away. Luke, the werewolf, was close to him, leaning forward, arguing with the madman from the park. But Valentine's mind was clear, and Luke's was angry, swirling. I could make no sense from either. But it didn't matter. I was already charging.

Valentine's eye looked up and caught mine. The smile that twisted his face was sickening, contorting his even features into a gruesome mask. Then he laughed as he drew a glowing symbol in the air. The air swirled around he and Luke, warping my sight like heatwaves rising from pavement.

I pushed myself harder, but I wasn't enough. Luke, Valentine, and the haze were gone the moment I made it to the spot they'd been standing.

I screamed out an unprintable word in my anger. He had Bella, and he had Luke, our best chance to find her. What was that guy's problem?

I was sobbing, but barely recognized the wrenching gasps were coming from inside my chest. Small hands touched my back as Alice tried to console me, but it was impossible. I felt utterly wrecked.

Suddenly there was a flash of brightness, and I couldn't help but look up. It was too bright, not lightening, and not the right color.

I thought I was dreaming for a minute. There was a man in the clearing behind the cabin that didn't belong anywhere near this world. His body was unnaturally long and lean, and he had a barrage of spines sprouting from the top of his head. His body was draped in tight fitting neon clothing, and his eyes were a peculiar shade of yellow.

He was swaggering directly over to me, eyes feline and laughing. I readied myself to rip his head off just for mocking my pain, but Alice increased the pressure on my back. Easy, Edward. I'd almost forgotten she was there, but as soon as I registered her behind me, I sensed Jasper lurking further back, eyeing the stranger with the same apprehension as I did.

The man kept walking, smile growing brighter the closer he came.

"Now, now, boys," he said in a taunting voice. "Is that any way to treat a high warlock? More importantly, the high warlock that's going to get you out of this mess? Oh, and I just have to say," he raised a hand to his chest and looked at Alice, "I love your hair."

*

Luke POV

"The girl is unimportant," Valentine smiled. "She is a tool. A tool to get what I need."

"She is a human being," I hissed out. I hated being this close to him. He was evil lurking amongst men.

Valentine leaned over his desk, and clasped his hands in front of him. Long fingers laced together. I could see the faint shine of his steele inside his hands. He never had it far from reach. Especially if there was danger present. I almost smiled knowing I could make him as uncomfortable as he made me.

"The Volturi are indecent. They are the reason I even joined your crusade at first."

I hated to admit it to him, but the Volturi was everything wrong with the world. Their power and influence was unmatched the world round, and they had their hand in mundane affairs. They killed and destroyed without mercy. They were the very reason my own jaws craved the marble of their flesh. They were my mortal enemy based on instinct alone. Logic made us enemies on a much broader scale. The Volturi were nothing like the trio looking for the girl. They were power hungry, thirst driven monsters. The Cullens' golden eyes assured me of their difference. It was red eyes that haunted my nightmares.

"You look tired, old friend. The days grow slow for you, don't they?"

I looked away from Valentine and at the hands I held clenched at my side. They were aging. They looked old and worn. I reminded myself that these hands had been strong and courageous hands. I may be my own man, but I was still a slave to time.

With a sigh, I unclenched them and placed them cautiously on Valentine's desk, leaning forward. He'd brought me to some warehouse. I wasn't exactly sure, but I thought we were in the city. I'd been brought here for a reason, and my old friend still hadn't divulged his intentions yet. His desire to see me dead was strong. I could see it in his eyes, smell it on his breath. I just couldn't understand why he hadn't made a move yet.

"What do you want with me?" I growled settling my heavy gaze back on him.

Valentine smiled again. My body tremored a bit, as my instincts howled that I rip the smug look off his face.

"They didn't ask for you specifically, Lucian, but I thought I'd throw in an added bonus. They are unwittingly giving me the means to destroy them."

He paused and winked at me. "Aro has some experiments with your name all over them."

*

Bella POV

When I woke up, I couldn't see anything. I didn't know if I was above ground or below, how far I'd come, or what had brought me here. There were heavy restraints around my wrists and my ankles. It was impossible to move them. My tongue was dry and tasted like I'd thrown up then slept for a week.

I couldn't hear anything that might give away my position. There wasn't the roaring sound of engines, city traffic, or even a cricket chirping. There was only silence.

Silence and darkness.

A swell of panic overwhelmed me and I twisted my neck back and forth, looking for anything that would indicate my location. A beam of light, a hushed footstep, a horn honking. I just needed something to reassure me that I wasn't dead.

I realized that it was much easier to know how death would come for me, like when I'd stared into the cold red eyes of James before he bit me. That had been simple to accept.

But that time, he'd been there to save me.

My thoughts turned to the glimpse of bronze I saw as I was jerked off my feet and into the air. Had I imagined that as the bat-thing carried me away? Or had he really been there? I was almost terrified to entertain the thought that I'd been so close.

But, how could I be so scared of someone I'd pursued, kissed, loved?

I'd been having nightmares about him for weeks. They were senseless and terrifying, like when Jace had told me to run from him or when he tried to smother me with his hand. In fact, every dream I'd had lately had been like that, and it left a sick spin in my stomach. My brain was crossing signals left and right and thinking about it made me even more anxious.

I wondered how long I'd be kept here. How long I'd been here already.

Then, there was a soft sound, barely distinguishable. I became immediately apprehensive, not knowing if it was friend or foe. I inclined my head, not really knowing where it came from. I listened as hard as I could, hoping to hear it again.

It could be rats or spiders or worse. That bat wasn't pretty.

Goosebumps rose over my arms and continued down my spine.

Suddenly a small puff of air hit my ear. I froze, my heart thundering and my breathing quick and shallow.

Isabella.

I more felt my name than heard it.

The empty space around me felt like a tomb: old, forgotten. I cringed, but didn't know which way to duck away. The voice was everywhere. The threat was everywhere. I tried turning my body, but with the shackles weighing me down, it was pointless.

I heard it again. This time, the voice was laughing.

There was a flash of bronze, then, a man was suddenly standing before me. Tall and confident, he appeared under one of the suddenly illuminated fluorescent lights overhead. He was only vaguely familiar, as he stared at me with deep red eyes. But my heart tore to pieces at the sight of him. I hadn't thought there was anything left to break, but there it was. Like a thousand tiny razors to my heart, hope drained from me.

Thin lips curled into a smile more wicked than the one James had given me. He was intimidating in the tightly fitting black clothes. I wished I had Jace by my side as he stared down at me. Jace was strong, an immovable force. I had no doubt that he could look at this and not cower like I did.

"Isabella, I'm so glad you could make it," he sneered. "What a pleasant surprise."

My ears felt like they'd burst at hearing the musical tenor again. Tears slid from my eyes, but I let them fall. Here he was. The man of my dreams, the terror of my nightmares, smiled at me with his crooked grin dripping pure malice.

"Aro will be pleased enough, I think." His voice was mocking as he studied me like a specimen in a test tube.

The name rang a bell, but I couldn't place it. Why would this Aro be pleased?

His finger reached out and touched my cheek. The action was too intimate, and I tried to turn my head. Icy fingers closed over my chin and he held my face so I could look nowhere but at his cold, crimson eyes. I felt none of the electricity he used to drive through me.

"As long as the downworlder scum live up to their side of the bargain, it doesn't matter what happens, does it, my dear? You'll be making a sacrifice for the good of mankind. You are a fine human. Consider yourself proud that you will serve a greater cause."

"I don't want to serve any cause," I stuttered defiantly. I tried to ignore his fingers pressing harder into my chin.

"But it never matters what the human wants," he hissed, bending his lean body closer. I could hear the fabric of the clothing stretching. "No one cares about the merely mortal."

My breath caught in my throat. His words were like slippery oil as they slid over my thoughts. He was right. No one did care what happened to someone who was just a flicker in time. Well, maybe Charlie and Renee, and probably Jake, if he survived the cabin collapse, but hearing it from the lips of the one I wanted to care the most was too much. If he cared so little, than why should I be different? My chest tore open wider. Pain shot through my body. My fingertips were tingling.

Then, I went numb. Completely.

With resigned acceptance, I raised my chin higher, stretching my neck, offering to him what I knew he desired above anything else. I would give him the satisfaction of knowing that what happened from here on out, was pointless. I would take what I was given, because I couldn't care. I just didn't have it in me anymore.

Sensing I wasn't about to say anything, Edward raised himself back to his full height. He swept from the room with a final glare. His bronze hair gleamed slightly as he moved, but I was plunged back into darkness.

I stared at the nothingness with resignation. Nothing could be worse than that. I'd been barely a person for months, and this was the final blow. I didn't want me any more either. Death could only be relief.

A/N: SO what did you think? Let me know in a review!