The Twilight Saga is the rightful property of Stephenie Meyer. I only take credit for my own ideas.

Chapter Twenty One

"Alice, come on!" Riley called after me the following Friday (I had managed to ignore him for five days, but it looks like that was about to end), chasing me down the halls as I tried to get away from him, ignoring his apologetic stance. I knew what he wanted, but I also knew that Bella was waiting for me to come over her house so we could discuss strategies on how to tell her father, and I did not want to miss any chance of showing the world who she rightfully belonged to.

"Slow down will you?" His footsteps quickened in pace so I knew he was trying to catch up to me.

I decided to be nice, so I turned around to face him, though my expression was anything but. I glared at him, my hands holding my books tightly against my chest as I stared at him like he was a murderer. That scared him. "What do you want, Riley?" I asked in a gruff tone, showing him that I wasn't in the mood.

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I—I wanted to apologize…you know…for being an ass with my friends. I promise I can change, just…can you please give me another chance?"

"I'm sorry Riley, I can't do that." I turned on my heel then, ready to walk out of the school building when I felt his hand on my shoulder, trying to force me to turn around and look at him. Of course, no amount of force he could exert would be able to make me turn to him, so I turned around with his hand and made it seem like he did it.

"Why can't you? I thought our date went well…I mean, I know I'm an ass when I'm with my friends and all but I thought we were having a good time?"

I sighed as I shook my head. "It's not just that, Riley. There's more to it than that…just…I've got to go."

"Alice, why can't you talk to me?" he asked in a pleading tone, his eyes conveying the same emotion. "Please? Just give me five minutes and if you still don't want to date me, then I'll let you go. Can you just let me explain myself?"

Glancing at the clock on the wall above the doors, I could see that I had time to give Riley five minutes so I nodded. "Five minutes. Not a second more."

He nodded and began explaining that he was only an ass with his friends because of peer pressure, but once the five minutes were over, I shook my head and left without giving him another word. His mouth was left agape as I left the school building, but I didn't care because I wanted to see my Bella.

Rosalie was waiting in the parking lot, leaning against her BMW as she raised a curious eyebrow at me. "What took you so long?"

I shrugged as I got in the passenger side seat, Rosalie hurrying to the driver's. Once she was in, I opened my mouth to speak. "Riley wanted to talk to me."

Emmett snorted from the back seat; he had been lounging across it, acting like he was taking a nap. "He needs to learn a lesson…want me to teach him for you?"

With a chuckle I shook my head. "No, Emmett. I'm fine, thank you."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Emmett sat up and placed his hand on the back of my seat, giving me his best attempt at a puppy-dog pout. "Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes as she started to drive out of the parking lot. "Emmett, how old are you?"

Emmett's pout contorted into a wide grin as he held up four fingers. "I tree years old," he said in a baby-voice, causing both Rose and I to laugh our heads off.

"Yeah, I figured that, Emmett," I agreed, looking out of the car window as I imagined Bella waiting anxiously near her door. "Besides, Riley doesn't need to get hurt…he'll be plenty hurt when he sees me with Bella."

He guffawed. "I highly doubt that, Ali-cat. He'll be more excited to know that he kissed a lesbian…it's every guy's fantasy to hook up with one."

"Is that so?" Rosalie asked as she turned to face her husband. "Are you telling me you have a fantasy to hook up with our dear little sister?"

"What?" Emmett asked, his brow furrowing as he realized what he said. "N—No…I didn't mean that…I meant for human males! Rosie, you know you're the only one I want."

"Mmm-hmm, I thought so." She glanced in my direction as she turned onto Bella's street. "Well, here is your stop, Alice."

I smiled at her before I leaned over and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. "Thanks Rose."

"Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." Emmett whisper-chanted from the backseat as he watched our exchange, rubbing his hands together like he was praying. "That would be the hottest thing ever."

We both rolled our eyes before Rose raised an eyebrow. I looked ahead into the future and saw that she was going to lean in slowly to tease Emmett before pulling back, so when I came back to the present, I grinned widely and nodded.

Slowly our heads leaned in towards one another, our eyes zeroed in on the other's lips. Emmett's eyes grew wide as he leaned closer, his eyes darting between the two of us. His expression reminded me of a thirteen-year-old boy seeing a woman naked for the first time, his mouth agape as he couldn't believe what was happening before him.

Rose closed her eyes as I felt her breath tickle my lips, so I closed my eyes as well. Normally our lips would have touched by now, but instead, we pulled back with a large smirk, turning towards Emmett who gaped like a fish.

"Wh—Wh—Why did you stop!" he complained, looking as if someone had just broken his favorite toy. "That was better than Cinemax!"

I rolled my eyes as I got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Rose."

"Thanks for helping me mess with Emmett," she said with a wink. "Have fun with your mate."

I waved as I walked towards Bella's house, only something felt off…different. Normally Bella would've opened the door to greet me as soon as she heard Rose's engine, so seeing the door closed was a definite sign that something was awry. "Rose, don't go," I said just as Rosalie gunned the engine to life, and thankfully she heard me, turning her car off. "I think something's wrong."

I walked up to her porch and knocked on the door several times, Emmett and Rosalie watching intently as I got no answer. Her father wasn't home, so the house was quiet and I knew I could sneak in without being caught.

And that's when it kicked it.

The house was quiet. There weren't any heartbeats.

"There's no heartbeat," I yelled in a panic towards my siblings before I found the key under the placemat and opened the door, peering inside as I took a cautious step inside. Thankfully I couldn't smell any spilled blood, so I knew that Bella wasn't dead.

Unfortunately, that meant she wasn't here.

"Maybe she's not back from school yet?" Emmett asked from behind me, almost causing me to jump. I hadn't heard him and Rosalie approach because I was too preoccupied with the case of the missing heartbeat.

"Her truck is in the driveway," Rosalie countered, stepping towards the living room as she raised her nose in the air. "Alice, check upstairs. We'll check down here."

I nodded in her direction and ran up the stairs, sniffing the air in the hallway before I slowly made my way towards Bella's room. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I caught a whiff of a familiar scent that made me growl.

"James," I snarled as I caught sight of the open window, the wind blowing the curtains. I glanced around the room to see if anything was out of the ordinary when my eyes caught a piece of paper taped to the mirror. I grabbed the paper in a flash and noticed that it was a note from the aforementioned vampire.

Dear little freak,

So sorry you couldn't come to the party, apparently you had more important things to do. It's a real shame, but don't worry, the main course has yet to be served. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm going to be nice and wait until it's fully ready before I eat. Can't have it trying to run away from me, now can I?

I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive yourself; you really should learn to cook better, short stuff. The spice is wonderful, but the flesh could use a bit more seasoning if you know what I mean. No? Oh well, I'd say better luck next time, but I doubt I'll ever bother with you again. You're a terrible chef, but you do have good choice in quality food.

Ta ta for now, Bloody Mary. Thanks for the free meal.

Love,

The greatest tracker in the world and a devilishly handsome demon, James

A low growl resonated from my chest as I realized what had happened. James kidnapped Bella. And he was going to drink from her.

"Rose! Emmett!" I called as I left the room; only to find the two of them waiting in the hall, worry in their eyes.

"What happened?" Rosalie asked, taking the note in her hands.

"Remember how I went to help the wolves track down a vampire that had killed a hiker?" I asked them, both of them nodding as they read the note carefully. "This is from the same guy. He took Bella…she might already be dead!"

Emmett placed his hands on my shoulders, staring straight at me with confidence swirling around in his ocher eyes. "Alice, calm down. We're going to find this guy and tear him apart for taking Bella, and I'll be damned sure that we find her before he does anything. Okay? Count on us."

I nodded as Rosalie casted a glance in Emmett's direction, who nodded in return, and Rosalie ran out of my view, the engine to the car gunning to life before I heard her drive off.

"Let's see if we can't find this sucker," Emmett smirked as he walked towards Bella's window and hopped out. I looked out of it to find Emmett staring up at me. "Are you coming or what, Tink?"

I nodded as I jumped out of the window and landed on the balls of my feet before the two of us followed the lemon-like scent that belonged to my mate's kidnapper. I could only imagine the horrors he was putting her through. He seemed like someone who played with his food, so I couldn't fathom what he would do to her. Would he gag her? Would he hit her a few times? Or…would he try to play with his food before taking a bite?

I shrugged off the thought as Emmett and I bounded after the scent, Emmett's gaze perfectly focused as he leapt over rocks.

Suddenly two more figures joined us, and I was about to hiss and pounce when I realized that it was Rosalie and Hannah. They gave us a nod as they took their positions, Rosalie next to Emmett and Hannah behind me, and we ran.

"Fuck!" Emmett cursed as he came to a stand-still, and with one whiff of the air I could see why he did.

The scent went in four different directions, all of them fresh.

"How about we split up?" A voice came from behind us, and we turned around to find that the rest of our family had caught up with us. Carlisle took a step forward as he sniffed at each of the four scents, nodding towards us. "We could have two on each path, and that will make it easier to find this James and Bella."

"What do we do if we find him?" Esme asked, looking at her husband curiously. "Surely you don't expect us to kill him?"

Carlisle sighed. "I don't think we can avoid it, especially if he's already harmed Bella."

Emmett cracked his knuckles. "Okay, let's go! Come on, Rose!" Emmett called as he ran West, Rosalie sighing before she tried to follow him.

"Jasper, Edward, you two take the Northwest route," Carlisle instructed. "If you find him and Bella, make sure you call us when you can."

The two boys nodded before they ran in the aforementioned direction, grunting as they decided to make a game out of who can move faster.

Carlisle turned to me. "Alice, you and Hannah should take the North route. Esme and myself will take the East."

We all nodded before we ran in our directions, Hannah using her gift to make us move faster than we were previously.

As we ran, I tried to look into Bella's future, and thankfully I was able to, but it wasn't looking so good. She was currently tied up in a chair, her mouth covered in duct tape as James recorded the whole thing.

I hissed as I ran faster, kicking up dirt as I did. I could hear Hannah huff as she tried to catch up with me.

Once she did catch up with me, however, we came to a halt as we reached an empty warehouse.

Or not so empty.

"Yes, I could see the way you and Mary Alice looked at one another," his voice came from within the building, and I could bet one hundred dollars that he was grinning.

"Mary Alice?" Hannah asked with a whisper. "He doesn't mean you, does he?"

Maybe he did know me from my past, and he knew my original name. That would explain why he called me Mary in the note.

"Maybe," I whispered back as I dug into my pocket for my phone, only to find a butane lighter. "That'll work," I whispered to myself before turning to Hannah. "Do you have my back?"

She nodded. "Of course I do."

"Good," I said as I slowly walked towards the warehouse, near a smashed-in window. I peered inside to see James' back as he paced in a straight line, a video camera facing one thing. Once he paced out of the way, I could see my beloved tied up, and her eyes widened when she spotted me. I lifted a finger and pressed it to my lips as I looked at James again.

"You might be wondering why I'm recording our exchange," James said as he walked towards Bella. "I want Mary Alice to know what it feels like to have her prize taken away from her; much like my prize did for me so many years ago."

"I was traveling through Mississippi when I heard this girl scream from an asylum. I thought I'd be nice and put her out of her misery but then I caught a whiff of her delicious blood, which, not to offend you, smelt ten times better than yours."

He sighed as he took another step, blocking my view of Bella. "Remembering it now, it makes me thirsty. I decided to toy with her, you see, slipping into her room into the middle of the night and scaring her silly. She thought she was having night terrors, the poor girl, and when I finally decided to end her miserable excuse of a life, another vampire had already bitten her and took her as his own. I fought him, naturally. She was my meal and he stole her out from under me, so we dueled as she writhed in pain, the venom in her bloodstream changing her into a monster."

James chuckled as he shook his head. "I hadn't seen her since…that is, until I ran across her a few days ago, with a bunch of overgrown dogs. I was going to toy with her before I ended her life, but then I saw how close the two of you were at school, and of course in your bedroom." He licked his lips. "My…that was quite a show you two put on. But, as I watched on, I smelled your scent and I knew then that I wanted you. And what James wants, James gets."

He sighed then. "I know you're listening Mary Alice. I'm not stupid."

I growled as I hopped in the warehouse through the window. "Took you long enough."

"No, I just thought you should hear about your past. You seemed surprised to know that I knew your name."

"If you truly knew my name you'd know that my name is Alice, not Mary Alice." I took a step forward, a hiss developing in the back of my throat. "Now, let Bella go."

He cackled as he turned the video camera on me. "Say that again, please. That was perfectly priceless."

"Let her go. NOW," I growled, my lips curling up over my teeth as I glared at him. "If you know what's good for you."

"Don't you want to hear that your real name is Mary Alice?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Mary Alice Brandon, to be exact, and your hair is that short because your parents threw you into an asylum where they cut it with sheers. I'm surprised you haven't gotten extensions, but then again, it does suit your lifestyle."

"Fuck you, James. What did I, or my mate, do to you?"

James chuckled. "Come again? Mate? Never in my lifetime have I heard about a vampire mating to a human, let alone a female mating to another female. I suppose it could happen."

"James, I suggest that you fucking leave before I come over there and tear your head off your shoulders."

"Such a large threat coming from a small one, don't you think?" James cocked his head to the side as he glanced at Bella. "You're scaring off my dinner, Alice. I suggest you leave so I can dine in silence."

A growl escaped my lips as I ran towards James, my hands extended out in front of my like claws as I caught him by surprise, tackling him to the ground, the camera falling to the floor.

He cackled as he struggled against my grip. "Excellent. Every good movie needs an action sequence."

"Bastard," I cursed as I balled my hand into a fist and sent it flying towards James, who grabbed it with his left hand before he kicked me off of him.

"Now, now, Mary Alice," he tsk-ed as he stood up, brushing off the dirt on his clothes. "If you want to join me for dinner I suggest you behave appropriately."

"I suggest that you fuck off," I growled again as I ran for him once more, only this time he was ready for it. He was crouched down as I grabbed his waist, trying to throw him, but his arms grabbed my stomach and I found myself flying towards one of the windows at the top.

With a crash the glass fell down to the floor, and I landed on the balls of my feet on the grass outside of the warehouse. I snarled as I charged inside, only to find James holding Bella's arm, his teeth inches from her flesh.

"No!" I shouted just as James was magically thrown away from Bella.

"What the hell!" he spoke as he stood up to find himself yards away from where he had been. "What the fuck just happened?"

"You messed with the wrong family," Hannah said as she entered the warehouse. "And now you have to face the consequences."

James smirked as he eyed the two of us. "Ladies, don't you think it's a little unfair that there are two of you and only one of me?"

"You're right," Hannah said with a smirk. Suddenly Bella's chair flew towards me, stopping right at my feet. "It'll be much more fair just the two of us."

My eyes widened in surprise. Hannah wasn't one to kill anyone, and I sure as hell didn't know she was one to toy with someone.

She noticed this and smiled at me. "Don't worry. Emmett and Rose are on their way. I'm just going to keep him busy until they arrive. Now, you go and free Bella," she said, shooing us away as James was lifted into the air.

"What kind of mumbo-jumbo is this?" he asked as he was thrown through the air, Hannah humming as she messed with him.

I grabbed Bella's chair and took it out of the warehouse before I took off the piece of tape on her mouth slowly.

"Oh, Alice, I was so scared!" she said once I threw it to the ground.

I hugged her tightly, even though I knew she couldn't hug me back. "I'm just glad you're alive."

"I think he was waiting for you to show up, so you could see him…drink from me," Bella said, her nose scrunching up in disgust as I began working on the ropes. Emmett and Rosalie zoomed passed me then, so I covered Bella's ears and ignored her curious glance as I could hear James screaming while his arms were ripped from his body, a terrible screeching sound filling the air.

I bit my lip as I tried my best to not flinch at the sound, as it was so loud it started to bother my ears, but I didn't care.

No, I only cared that Bella was alive. And she wouldn't have been if it weren't for my family.

A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't get this out yesterday. I had class and I had my first session with my phyiscal therapist, and I had to do my physical therapy exercises. I still need to do some of them, I only did one set so far, but I thought I'd get this out.

Happy late Friday greetings and I hope you have a good Saturday. :)