Silently, we made our way back to our house, along with our visitors. I wasn't completely sure what our plan was, but I was scared of what James's plan was. He had a look of determination on his face, and although I was sure that it did, I hoped that it didn't have anything to do with Bella unless it was to leave her alone.
"Excuse me, please," James murmured, and slipped smoothly out the door with Victoria. They slipped away into the night, and we couldn't hear them talking at all, as much as I wished to be able to. Carlisle sank wearily into a chair, looking completely wiped out for the day.
"What do you want to know?" he asked Laurent, who was standing nervously near the door, as though wondering if he was welcome.
"And sit down," I invited, gesturing to a chair facing mine and Carlisle's. Tentatively, he walked over and sat down in the easy chair. Not that the extra cushion was necessary for us vampire people, but we had to keep the human charade going.
"So, what do you want to know?" Carlisle asked again. Laurent hesitated for just a second, looking tense, his eyes darting around the room.
"Why don't you just start from the beginning?" he asked. Carlisle nodded, and began to retell the story of his beginning. I settled back, comfortably drowning him out. I always loved my husband, of course, but I had heard this story many times through, and he knew it. The first was when he first told it to me, and I was raptly interested. The second was to Rosalie, then to Emmett, then Alice, then Jasper. Then Edward had retold it to Bella, but I was interested in Bella's reactions to things that she believed impossible, up since this day, I realized.
Suddenly, I heard a Jeep screech through into the driveway, then silence. Carlisle paused in his story, in which he was at the part of us remaining inconspicuous in Forks.
Seconds later, Emmett raced into the house with Bella, her eyes wide and frightened, tucked snugly into his chest.
"He's tracking us," Edward growled at Laurent, pulling Bella close to his side from where Emmett had put her down next to him.
"I was afraid of that," Laurent replied unhappily.
Alice sprinted over to Jasper and whispered to him, then they darted up the stairs together. Upstairs, I could hear them move into the bedroom that they shared, then heard their low murmurs, although I couldn't disconcern what they were saying. I shot a warning look at Rose, and she met my eyes. I hoped she'd gotten the message, not to say anything. She could be unhappy or furious, whichever one, and no one would care. It was a minor problem in comparison to Bella's life. She moved to stand by Emmett's side, ocassionally shooting glares at Bella, but otherwise her eyes were merely intense.
"What will he do?" Carlisle asked Laurent, in unfriendly tones now that Bella was present.
"I'm sorry. I was afraid, when your boy there defended her, that it would set him off." Laurent explained, sounding apologetic.
"Can you stop him?" It was more of a demand, rather than a question.
"Nothing stops James when he gets started." Laurent replied, shaking his head.
"We'll stop him." It was clear what Emmett meant, and I wondered what had been said in the car.
"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven." Shaking his head, Laurnet glanced at Bella, puzzled, and back at Carlisle. Instinctively, I snuggled a little closer to my husband's side.
"Are you sure it's worth it?" Laurent asked, puzzled. I had no need to answer; Edward's enraged roar filled the room. Even Laurent, in the coven of the deadly killer, flinched back.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice." Carlisle's voice didn't change.
"I'm intrigued by the life you've created here. But I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you any enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I will head north - to that clan in Denali." Laurent finally said, after a long pause. He hesitated after this little speech, as though deciding whether or not to tell us something.
"Don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head on...I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry." He bowed his head in the worldwide symbol of apology, guilt, and other things along that line. Underneath this dramatic performance, though, I saw him shoot another curious glance at Bella. I could tell that Carlisle saw it, too, because he tensed slightly beside me.
"Go in peace," Carlisle finally declared. Laurent glanced around him one more time, probably committing everything to memory. In less than half a second from when he hurried out the door, the silence was broken.
"How close?" Carlisle asked Edward. I slipped over to the keypad on the wall, and almost instantly, the large metal shutters began closing up the glass walls. I could see Bella gaping, and I smiled to myself. There were so many secrets here that she would know in time.
"About three miles out past the river," Edward answered Carlisle's question. "He's circling around to meet up with the female."
"What's the plan?"
"We'll lead him off, then Jasper and Alice will run her south."
"And then?"
"As soon as Bella is clear, we hunt him." There was no tone of compromise in my oldest son's face.
"I guess there's no other choice." My husband agreed, looking grim.
"Get her upstairs and change clothes." Edward demanded, turning to Rosalie. She only stared back, despite Carlisle and I's repeated warning glances.
"Why should I? What is she to me? Except a menace - a danger you've chosen to inflict on all of us." I stared, astounded. That - Rosalie's attitude towards Bella - would definitely have to change.