A/N: Forgive me for ignoring this story, but was trying to wrap up Moving On. It will be finished within the next couple of chapters and I will focus on this one whole heartedly. For those wondering who Bella will be paired with in the end, based on reader requests, right now it will be Jasper. You will find out more about our mystery person later in the story, but you are more than welcome to guess as the story continues. Enjoy the new chapter and please review if you can.

Chapter 14 – No Help Found

Edward sat in his room looking at the window. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he somehow knew that his chance, his life, with Bella was over. They had so many things thrown their way, so many hardships, that it was bound to break them sooner or later. Wasn't it?

Sighing, he moved to his music collection. Music was all he had now. He put in a new cd and wondered if he needed to leave, maybe head north. Everything reminded him of the love of his life and he couldn't get her out of his mind. He knew that Carlisle and Jasper were trying to figure out what happened. He knew that they were trying to find the men and they wanted/needed his help, but he refused to give it.

Pressing play on his stereo, his room was filled with the works of Chopin. Edward looked around the room and could remember the first day he brought Bella to this room. He never should have let her get involved in his life, but her blood had called out to him and he could not resist having her near him. The more he tried to fight it, the more Bella tried to weave her way into his life and he could do nothing but hold her close. That had been like signing her death warrant.

Edward could admit to himself now that he was a little controlling and overprotective of Bella. He just wanted to keep her safe. Apparently all of his reasoning and actions were all for naught though. She hated his controlling ways, but somehow put up with them… most of the time.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Edward let it out slowly. He had almost destroyed her when he left her after a simple paper cut. She risked her life for him in Italy and begged for mercy to spare his measly life and to take hers instead. In the end, Alice saved both of their hides by showing Aro her vision of the future. They came back and have had to deal with wolves, Victoria, Charlie hating him, and newborns; but somehow they overcame all of that and now she is gone for good. Per the letter, their destinies lie separate. It was something that he always knew would happen, and tried to accomplish from the beginning and then many times after that, but until now he was too weak to really let her go.

Edward walked up to the window and looked out over the trees once again. He had been too weak before and he was weak now. He always seemed to play the coward while she fought fiercely for everything, but the choice was no longer his. It had been taken out of his hands and forced upon him with Alice's visions and her actions. Bella was gone and he had to accept that, and that is why that he could not help Jasper and Carlisle find the missing girls. He had to let go, and in doing so he hoped that would keep her safe.

Voices running through his head, Edward would never forget the words or the sound of the timbre of the man that was speaking. The fact that he was talking about Bella, that he was after her, was enough to give Edward chills. It was enough to let Bella go. If vampires could cry, he would have shed a river of tears for the loss of his love. He knew that the others did not understand his decision to shut up and let go, but he had his reasons. He needed to protect Bella and at the same time Alice, and he knew there was something more going on than anyone else understood. It was bigger than anyone could imagine, he just wished he knew what it was.

Jasper was about to knock on Edward's door in order to try questioning the younger man again, but the feelings of loss and sadness radiating from the room made him hesitate. Now was not the time to question his "brother" about anything. In the state of mind Edward was in, Jasper would not be able to extract any answers and it would just be a waste of time.

Walking towards his room, Jasper went over everything they did and did not know in his head. He was missing something, but what could it be? What could possibly be the key to all of this? He was starting to wonder if anything had to do with Edward at all. Maybe he needed to close more closely at Bella.

Picking up the phone, the former major dialed a number he knew very well, "Jenks, I need a complete background check on Isabella Marie Swan. Anything and everything you can get your hands on, I want."

"Of course, I will make sure I make this a priority," Jenks stated knowing that with Jasper, nothing was to be put on the backburner. He asked the man a few questions and then got off of the phone to start his search.

When he hung up the phone with Jenks, Jasper looked at the picture of the family that was on his desk again, "What is going on Bella? I need answers and I don't know where to go looking for them."

He sat down hard in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. Jasper was at a loss, but he was far from ready to give up. He was not going to stop until he had answers and until the girls were safe. He was not Edward. Exhaling, he turned his attention back to his desk. He would go over every bit of material he had gathered again until he could find something. His next step… he was going to take a trip to Seattle to see if he could find anything there.

With Bella and Alice

"How much longer before we get to Maine?" Bella muttered quietly from her seat.

"Well, we are not taking a direct route because I want to be sure that we are hard to trace, so it will be at least another three or four days; hopefully nothing more than that. I already have a house ready and waiting for us. It is far enough away from people that we can hide relatively easy, but close enough that we can get food and such for you. There are also plenty of areas for me to hunt when I need to," Alice responded. She was trying to make her friend feel better, but knew it was falling flat and honestly she was feeling the same. She missed the family and she missed home, but right now Bella's safety was more important.

Sighing, Bella said, "Ok. Do you think they listened to you and are not looking for us? What about whatever is after me?"

Shaking her head, Alice wished she had more answers, but she didn't. "I don't know. I haven't seen anything, but that doesn't mean that someone is not working in the shadows. As for the others, I wish I knew that one too. I don't think Jasper and Carlisle have given up, but I don't know about the rest."

Bella noticed that Alice did not say that Edward had not given up. She only gave two names and that made the wound in her heart hurt just a little more. Would Edward really give up so easily on her after everything they have fought for, everything she did to make sure they were together? Her head shot up, everything she did? He worked to keep them together too, didn't he? "Do you think that Edward has stopped looking?" Bella hated how her voice sounded so meek and small, but she needed to ask that question.

Alice looked at her best friend with sad eyes. She didn't want to lie to Bella, but she also knew that Edward was doing nothing to help the cause. She didn't know if it was the letter she left or something else that kept him from trying to find his Bella, but he was digging himself into a hole of depression so great that it had the potential to end badly for him. "He isn't doing anything right now, but that could be because of the letter I left and because he is still reeling from the fact that you are gone. Maybe he will do something soon." Alice added that list bit to give her friend hope, but didn't really see that happening.

"Thank you," Bella said with a small smile. She knew at that moment that her friend was just saying something to try to make her feel better. Why did he give up so quickly? Bella was baffled, but decided to not dwell on it right now. If he was ready to give up, maybe it was time to really think about everything and what Edward really was in her life. There were a lot of other things to think about right now, such as staying alive and making it to Maine in one piece. That was the priority right now and that is what she had to focus on. Any other thinking could happen later.