CHAPTER NINETEEN

UNWOVEN

"Is there anything on the news?" I asked no one in particular as I paced the forest floor. "If Alice saw Bella massacring a town, she might cause other havoc on her way to that dark future. There might be signs in the news. We might be able to stop her."

"Edward, it's probably too soon for that." Carlisle said quietly, putting a hand on my shoulder to stop my pacing.

Dagny had shown up minutes after Bella had run off. As an officer of the law, he could not ignore a death.

"Technically this is within the town of Forks and is in my jurisdiction." Dagny said, looking at Leah.

"Good! If Jacob won't let me kill her, then she can go to jail for murder. We will find her and you can arrest her!" Leah raged.

"Leah, I need you to calm down." Dagny said, placing one of Leah's hands in between his and kissing her fingers. "Will you do that for me, please?"

Leah's face was a mask of struggle, but she nodded and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and attempting to quell her rage.

"We aren't here right now." Dagny said to everyone in the clearing. "This didn't happen here. This is obviously a bear attack that took place within the boundaries of the Quileute reservation. I'm sure the tribe will want to know there is a bear on their land. I will contact the chief of the La Push police in an hour and tell him that a report was made by hikers that there is a body near the edge of the reservation. Let's make sure he finds one." Dagny said, looking intently at Jacob.

Jacob nodded. "We'll get it done. Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul, you guys take Sam to the rez and then go to the shop. I'll meet you there."

Embry stepped toward Sam, but Quil, Jared, and Paul stood in place, looking at each other with tears in their eyes..

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know what to do. I feel so lost." Paul said.

"It hurts so bad, and I can't think straight." Jared said.

"What's wrong with us?" Quil asked Jacob.

"Your alpha is dead, so technically you have no pack now. I will take you. You can be with me and Leah and Seth and Embry, if you want." Jacob said.

"Yes." said Paul. He took a deep breath and seemed to relax.

"Me too." said Quil, who smiled and took a ragged breath.

"Yeah." said Jared as he drew in a sharp breath and then shook his head, wiping his eyes and sniffing. "Let's do this."

Quil, Embry, Jared, and Paul took Sam's body and began the arduous task of transporting him through the wilderness to the Quileute reservation.

"Why are you doing this?" Jacob asked Dagny.

"I told you before that I would never do anything to hurt Leah or reveal the secrets we all carry. I know that Charlie didn't know the whole truth, but what you all don't seem to realize is that he covered for all of you. A lot. Apparently it comes with the job." Dagny said, running his hand through his hair. "So, to answer your question, I am doing this because it's the right thing to do. We have to protect each other from the outside world."

"She has to be punished." Leah whispered.

"She will be." Dagny said. "Every day of her immortal life. Do you really think Bella is a monster? A cruel maniac that killed Sam out of spite or some other dark intent? No. She's broken and scared. It was an accident, Leah. When she comes to her senses, she will be devastated. She will punish herself more than any of us ever could. Besides, do you really think putting a vampire in jail would in any way keep their secret, or yours?"

Leah was irritated by his logic, but couldn't deny it.

Dagny turned to me and asked, "Is there anywhere she would go? Some place special? Anyone she would turn to?"

"No. I can't imagine her taking any of this to someone else's door. She's stubborn. She will try to handle this alone." I said.

"Someone has to tell Emily." Renesmee said.

"I'll do it." Jacob said, turning to go.

"Like hell! She's my cousin, I will tell her. She's not going to want to see your miserable face, feeling sorry for Bella, while you tell her that she killed Sam." Leah spat.

"I'll tell her." Seth said, speaking for the first time since he had phased back into human form. "She's my cousin too, and you are way too venom on Bella. She doesn't need that right now."

Renesmee shook her head and walked toward the trees.

"Renesmee, where are you going?" I asked.

"I will tell Emily. She's my friend. And she needs a friend right now. You all can stay here and fight." Renesmee said.

"I will go with you." I told her. "And there is no sense arguing. I'm coming. Let's go."

"What? No!" yelled Leah, but Dagny held her back and shook his head.

"We will all go." Dagny said. "This is about Emily, not any of us. We need to be strong for her and stop fighting. She needs us all."

The drive to Emily's seemed to go on forever. Dagny was behind us with Leah in his cruiser. I was driving the Tesla with Jacob, Seth, and Renesmee in the back seats. Renesmee was sitting in the middle holding both Jacob's and Seth's hands, taking deep breaths and trying to will the tears in her eyes to stop falling.

We pulled up in front of Emily's house and as we got out of the cars, Emily came outside, a pained grimace on her face.

"I wasn't expecting visitors. You all should have called, I'm not feeling well at all. I suddenly started feeling this awful pain in my chest. I was about to go to the medical center…" Emily's voice trailed off as she got a closer look at the faces of the people gathered in front of her house. "What is it? What happened?"

Renesmee stepped forward and Emily looked at her wide-eyed as Renesmee put her arms around Emily.

"I'm so sorry, Em." Renesmee said.

"Sorry? Why? What's going on?" Emily said, grabbing Renesmee's shoulders to look in her eyes and asking, "What happened, Renesmee?" Emily looked around and realized that Sam, Quil, Paul, Jared, and Embry were not present.

"It's Sam. He's gone Emily. I'm so sorry." Renesmee said.

"What? No." Emily said, her face contorting in anguished doubt. "No. Come on you guys this isn't funny." Emily said, backing up.

"It's true." Jacob said, glancing at Emily and quickly looking away.

"No." Emily breathed, the pain in her chest and head increased as she stumbled backwards. I ran forward to catch her so that she wouldn't hit the ground. She steadied herself quickly and pulled away from me. "How? Where are the others? Are they…?"

"No." Dagny said. "They are with Sam right now."

"I want to see him! Take me to him! Now!" Emily demanded.

"We will, we just have to wait for the coroner to pick him up and take him to the medical center." Dagny said.

"Well let's go then." Emily said, tears streaming from her eyes. In her mind, she did not want to believe any of this, but she was slowly realizing that it must be true. She was in so much pain and she was just beginning to connect the pieces that her pain came from Sam's passing.

When no one moved at her demand, she became suspicious.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked, looking around. "How did he die?"

"It was an accident." Renesmee said. "My mom…"Renesmee choked slightly and then took a deep breath. "Something happened to my mom. She… snapped… or something. She tried to run away from us, but we chased her down. We weren't sure if she would hurt herself or someone else. Jacob found her and she lunged for him and Sam tried to stop her. She killed him trying to get away." Renesmee finished, weeping. "I'm so sorry, Emily." Renesmee said as she reached for Emily.

Emily recoiled. "Bella killed Sam?"

"Yes." Jacob said.

Emily looked around at all of us, tears pouring out of her eyes, her breath hitching in her chest.

"Leave." Emily said.

"Emily, let us help you." Jacob said.

"You have done more than enough, Jacob Black." Emily spat. Jacob was taken aback by her outburst. "Sam took you in, we took you in, we both cared for you, fed you, looked out for you, but your heart was never here with us. You left. If it had been to be your own alpha, I could have accepted that, but you left to protect them. Always to protect them. And now you say you are sorry? I don't think you are. Not the way you should be. Leave, now, and take your family with you."

"Emily!" Renesmee pleaded as Jacob and Seth held her back.

"I'm sorry, Renesmee, but when I look at you, I see her." Emily whispered. She turned to Dagny. "Take me to Sam."

Dagny nodded. He, Emily, and Leah got in the squad car and drove to the medical center where the La Push coroner would take Sam.

"Let's go back to the house. There's nothing more for us to do here." I said.

"Seth and I have to stay." Jacob said. "We have to be with the tribe for the next three days. I'm sorry Renesmee. It's tradition. Please understand."

Renesmee nodded. Seth looked as if he wanted to argue, but thought better of it.

"Do you want a ride somewhere?" I asked Jacob.

"No, we got it." Jacob said.

" I'll call you later, okay?" Seth said to Renesmee.

She nodded and hugged him and then Jacob. "You guys go on. I'll be okay. I've got my dad."

Jacob glanced at me and said silently, "You better keep it together for her. She needs you right now."

I nodded and Jacob and Seth jogged off into the trees.

"Let's go home." I said to Renesmee, putting my arm around her and leading her to the passenger side of the car.

The drive home was a quiet one. I parked in front of the house and opened the passenger door for Renesmee. She got out, her movements stiff, her eyes staring off into nowhere.

"Maybe you should lie down, Renesmee." I suggested. She nodded and then looked to me with swollen red eyes.

"Can I stay in the guest room in the main house? I don't think I can be in the cottage right now." She admitted.

"Of course. Come on." I said as I guided her into the house. Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us.

"Come here, dear." said Esme, putting an arm around Renesmee and walking with her to the guest room.

"How are you holding up, son?" Carlisle asked, placing a hand on my shoulder and looking deep into my eyes.

"I don't know." I admitted. "Will you keep an eye on Renesmee? I need to go out."

"Edward, are you sure that's wise?" Carlisle asked, his brow coming together with concern.

"No, I'm not sure. But I'm not sure of anything right now except that I cannot just sit around and wait. I need to be out there. She is out there struggling, in the worst pain she has ever known, and I am not there with her." I lamented.

"Go and walk then, but be careful." Carlisle said.

I stepped outside and Alice was there waiting for me.

"I hope you're not here to try to stop me, because I'm going out there." I told her as I walked toward her. The look on her face stopped me. "Alice, what is it? Have you seen something?"

"That's just it, Edward. I see nothing." Alice whispered.

"What do you mean by nothing." I asked trying to quell the panic bubbling inside of me.

"I'm sorry Edward, but I don't see her." Alice said with a stunned hush in her voice.

"What does that mean, Alice? Why can't you see her?" I demanded.

"There are a few possibilities when I can't see someone. If werewolves are heavily involved, or if they are refraining from making decisions, but this feels different." Alice paused.

"Different how, Alice? Please!" I begged.

"If I can't see someone because they aren't making decisions, I can still feel them as part of the fabric of possibility. The same as with people involved with werewolves. At first it seems like they are totally gone, but if you look hard enough, you can still see them. Jacob has been helping me work on that." Alice rambled.

"That's fabulous Alice, but you said this is different. Looking for Bella feels different." I was beginning to lose my patience. I could tell Alice was hiding something.

"Edward, I can't feel her anymore. At all." Alice hesitated.

"No, Alice. No! You can't mean that she's… She's not…" I couldn't even bring myself to say the word out loud. Dead. She couldn't be. Could Bella have been in so much pain that she would have found a way to end her life? No. I refused to even entertain that.

"It's worse than that Edward."

"How the hell can it be worse than that?" I demanded.

"When people die, I see that. I can see them as part of the existence that precedes a vision of the future. The essence of them. But when I try to look for Bella she's just gone. Disappeared. There is this emptiness where her existence used to be within the realm of possibility. But spaces where she should be, even if she is not making decisions, or if she is with one of the pack, she's not there. It's like she was completely pulled from the fabric of everything." Alice whispered.

I didn't know what to do. I felt more helpless than ever. How could Bella just disappear?

* **************CHAPTER END*****************