Chapter 20
James was right. Bella didn't have a choice. Hesitantly, she made her way over to James. She looked back to Edward, Carlisle and Emmett for reassurance, but their faces held no promise of safety.
When she was within arms reached of James, he painfully grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him and held a gun to her temple.
Edward was furious at how James handled Bella and attempted to charge at him. But Carlisle held him back as the remaining mercenary pointed a gun towards them.
"Let her go!" Edward yelled.
James dragged Bella to the water's edge, keeping the gun aimed at her head and completely ignoring Edward. "I want those tablets," he whispered in Bella's ear, "and I'm sure you don't want to see your precious friends dead. So, why don't you be a doll and get them for me."
With his final words, James violently pushed Bella into the water.
Bella couldn't stop the forceful momentum of falling forward. She fell into the pool, completely going under in the cold water before she came up for air, startled and sputtering water.
Bella stood waste deep in the clear water afraid to move. She didn't want Demetri's fate.
"Now!" James commanded loudly, causing Bella to flinch at the sound of his voice.
She turned back to look at him and watched as he smiled at her and turned his gun at Emmett. She had no choice since she wouldn't risk Emmett's life for hers.
Bella carefully waded into the water and when it was deep enough she pushed herself off the bottom of the pool to swim out to where the tablets were.
As she approached the remains of Demetri's burnt body, her teeth began to chatter. She was unsure whether of not her chattering teeth were a cause of the cold water stabbing her skin, or the gruesome sight of Demetri.
With fear and disgust, Bella pushed Demetri's body out of the way. She watched as the charred body smoothly floated away.
She saw the glow of the tablets several feet below her. Bella looked back to the edge, James still had his gun pointed at Emmett, while the mercenary kept guard of Carlisle and Edward. She was too scared to proceed. Her breath became shaky and uncertainly looked between the tablets, Emmett and James.
"You're running out of time Bella," James stated, his threat rang clear and true.
Bella relented. She took in a trembling breath and dove for the tablets. She took her time while under; the tablets illuminated the pool around her and Bella was able to look at her surroundings.
A few meters away from her was an entrance to an underground cave. She didn't have time to investigate as she was running out of air, but she hoped it was a possible way out, if they were able to get away from James alive.
As scared as Bella was, she reached for the tablets. Her hands began to tingle, but before she panicked a calm surge overcame her and odd images appeared before her eyes.
Edward was counting the seconds during the time that Bella was under. She was underwater longer than expected and when Edward counted to sixty he looked worriedly over to his father.
Carlisle expression lacked the comfort he needed. The splash of water brought his attention back to the pool. Bella finally emerged with the tablets clutched to her chest.
James grinned widely, "That-a-girl. Now, bring them here."
Edward noticed something peculiar in Bella's behaviour. Without any hesitancy, Bella swam back towards James while looking at him stoically. The tablets' glow resonated in her hands and eyes, making her look like she was in a trance like state.
"What's happening?" Edward asked, "Why is she like that?"
"It's probably the tablets," Carlisle replied, "they must be doing something to her… I can't make any sense of it…"
Absolute dread filled Edward. "They could kill her," he said moving forward, but was soon stopped by the mercenary. "Bella!" he shouted to get her attention.
Bella didn't respond to Edward and continued towards James.
"Bella!" Edward called out again and tried one more time to walk towards her.
"Stay where you are and shut up," James ordered.
"Do as he says, Edward," Carlisle reprimanded.
Bella stood before James with the tablets held out towards him.
"Thank you Bella," James cooed.
He reached for the tablets, but recoiled before he touched them. James rubbed his neck out of nervousness. Who was to say that he would be able to hold them like Bella, there was always a risk that he could suffer the same fate as Demetri.
As he watched Bella holding out the tablets he realized that the he had a fifty-fifty chance or surviving, since one out of the two that held the tablets died.
He decided to take his chance and reached out for them again, but at the last moment he hesitated and stepped away from Bella.
The tablets began to shine brighter than they had before. Bella simply stood there waiting for James to take the tablets from her.
Carlisle believed that Bella was safe, if something would have happened to her, it would have happened by now. From the look of it the only thing the tablets did was hold her in a hypnotic state.
"She brought you the tablets. Take them. What are you waiting for?" Carlisle goaded, "Or do they have too much power, even for you?"
"What do you know?" James spat back sarcastically.
"Enough," Carlisle answered, "Once legend becomes real… well, it tends to have a detrimental effect on your life."
"You have experience in that field?"
"You don't want to know," Edward said to James with a humorless laugh when he thought back to last summer and his trip to United States.
He and Carlisle went to a small town in Washington, called Forks, for an archaeological dig. The dig was going fine until one of the researchers accidentally crossed the boundary line that led to a reservation owned by the Quileute tribe. They were restricted to step into their territory and all hell broke loose when a pack of wolves descended on them. Fortunately, there were no deaths and the team quickly retreated to the other side of a river that that served as a boundary line.
The next morning Carlisle and Edward went to see the chief to apologize as a symbol of good faith, even though no one saw them cross the boundary except for the wolves.
The apology was accepted, but it came with a forewarning that the Quileutes would attack again, but cause more damage.
The warning baffled Edward and Carlisle The Quileutes had no way in knowing that they crossed the boundary line. Just as they were leaving Edward swore that he saw a boy about 15 years of age leap into the forest and change, becoming something that resembled a wolf.
He thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but when he looked back at his dad, he knew that Carlisle saw the same thing. They quickly got off the reservation and within twenty-four hours the dig was finished for fear of the archaeologists' safety. They hadn't spoke about the incident since.
James looked at Edward and started to believe that they were only trying to scare him. It wasn't working. "I've had enough of your antics. Bella, put the tablets down on the ground."
Bella didn't respond and stood there staring at James, waiting for him to take the tablets from her.
"Bella," James said, raising his voice, "Put the tablets down on the ground."
Bella looked down at the tablets, then back up to James. It looked to Edward that Bella didn't understand what James was saying. It was as if he was speaking another language to her.
"Are you daft," James yelled, becoming nervous at her demeanor.
"Bella, put the tablets down," Edward coaxed from behind the mercenary.
Bella still didn't respond. She was somewhere else, in a world that was real but hadn't happened yet. She recognized it as a possible future. Everyone that was with her now was there, and Aro was there, as well as a woman that she didn't recognize, but she had the same hair color as Edward. It must be his mother, she thought to herself.
Everything played in front of her eyes like the world was on fast forward, but she managed to take in every detail as it burned into her memory.
James slowly pointed his gun at Emmett in order to get her attention. Maybe the threat of her life wouldn't scare her, but the threat of a loved one might get her to comply.
"That's it!" James screamed, slowly easing back on the trigger.
"Bella?" Emmett said nervously as he looked straight into the chamber of James' gun.
Bella was still stuck in the other world, enjoying what she was seeing—her and Edward many years from now happy and in love, Carlisle retired and watching his grandchildren grow. Bella knew they were hers and Edward's; they had Edward's green eyes, and Bella's brown hair with a tint of bronze in it. Emmett had become a commercial pilot and…
Something started to happen… the image of Emmett was beginning to change. He was staring to fade. Fear and anxiety grew inside Bella when she realized that Emmett soon wouldn't be a part of her future. There was something that was altering it; a decision had made that removed Emmett form the equation. What ever it was it was presently being made, why else would he just start fading away?
Present, Bella thought. She needed to get back there. She struggled to pull herself out. It was difficult as the tablets were always trying to pull her back to the future. She started to become aware of the movement around her and she forced herself to concentrate on it.
Before James was able to kill Emmett, Bella snapped out of her trance. "Wait!" she yelled, getting James' attention.
Bella slowly bent down and lowered the tablets to the ground. She continuously kept her eyes on him. When James lowered his gun in anticipation something flashed before Bella's eyes. There was an action and an outcome that benefited her. It was the future again, the tablets were telling her something and she decided to act upon it.
Before the tablets left Bella's hands, she suddenly tossed them towards James.
"Catch," she said, and watched James drop his gun in an attempt to keep the tablets from falling.
James was completely caught off guard. He fumbled with the tablets for a moment, before he managed to get a firm grip on them to keep the tablets from smashing on the ground.
He smirked when he realized he was holding the tablets and they didn't affect him in anyway. He tucked them underneath his arm and picked up his gun before Bella had a chance to get it.
"You stupid, stupid girl," he said, while he pressed the barrel of his gun to her forehead. "Say goodbye, Bella."