Prouder of this chapter than I am of the last. Enjoy James, or at least his voice, everyone. Thank you to SarcasticBimbo, Vagabonda, jansails, snowflakelover, Guest, Capricorn75, nickaroos, and muffinmom for your reviews, Animefiend176, SerenShadow, Theoneandonly Mrs EdwardCullen, jmasencullen, maria2678, salome3, and sueIZide for your follows, and Ivy Robsessed Pattinson, cps4, maria2678, sueIZide, and .73 for your faves. Four chapters left!

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

THE TRIP TO THE POOL had tired me out, but it had seemed to instill a sort of renewed energy in Alice. She chattered on as we entered the room, noticeably more relaxed, and I carefully avoided Jasper's cold stare, sensing he was less than pleased that we had slipped out without telling him.

Judging by the open defiance radiating off of Alice, I assumed an argument was imminent, and made a big deal of lying down on the other bed, hoping they'd take it outside. They didn't; I assumed they didn't want to leave me in the room alone; and instead slipped into the cramped bathroom. One of them turned on the faucet, and I could barely make out their hushed, vicious voices over the sound of it.

My wet hair bothered me as I tried to listlessly nap, but eventually I did, and when I woke up again things felt strange in the way they only ever do in the very early hours of the day. The clock on my nightstand said it was two in the morning; I was right. I struggled to remember what day of the week it was.

It was Wednesday, I finally realized. March 23rd, 2005. I had been away from Forks for roughly two days. Dad had to be sick with worry, and I couldn't imagine what Mom was thinking. He had to have called her and let her know by now. I could almost hear her ranting; This isn't like Bella, Charlie, and you know it? Now where could she be? You're sure she said she was going back to Phoenix? I imagined them arguing over it, and felt even more guilty.

When I looked around the room, I saw Alice frantically scribbling something on one of the little yellowed hotel notepads, Jasper hovering over her. Her head jerked up to spot me, and she silently waved me over. I stumbled over to them, wrapping my arms around myself, and she passed me the notepad. "I saw this sign."

PAOLE WAY

"That's my street," I blurted out. "Here in Phoenix. Where my mom and I lived. 34 Paole Way." I glanced up at her. "You saw it? How did you see it? I mean-,"

"He's there," she murmured. "He's found your old house."

I felt sick, while I tried to reassure myself there was no reason to panic. The house was just that, a house. Neither Mom nor I lived in that condo anymore. But I was panicking. Two days was plenty of time for either Dad or Mom to make it to Phoenix, and if they were looking for me, chances were they'd think I'd gone back to that condo, my childhood home. What if they'd been there when James arrived, waiting for me to show up?

Alice and Jasper were clearly thinking the same thing- Alice was already on the phone, speaking so fast it was as if she wasn't even speaking English. Then she hung up. "Ed, Em, and Dad are flying here from Seattle as soon as they can. Bella, you'll go with them, and Jasper and I will watch the house."

"What? No, what if my parents are there?! I can't just leave- we have to go there right now and get them!"

"We don't even know if they're in Phoenix, Bella-," Jasper began soothingly, but I felt anything but soothed.

"I have to call them."

Alice was shaking her head.

"Alice," I hissed. "I have to call them. My mom. Let me call my mom, just to find out where she is and where my dad is."

I held my hand out for the phone. "I will go wherever you want," I promised. "After I call." It was all I could think of. Mom always answered her cell phone, without fail, and I knew her number by heart. She'd made me memorize it before the move. I told myself that I would hang up as soon as I got some clue as to where she and Dad were- Florida, Forks, wherever, anywhere but here.

After a long pause Alice sighed and handed me the phone. I almost dialed wrong the first time, my fingers trembling, but finally it was calling and I walked half a pace away from them, phone to my ear, making for the door. Neither tried to stop me, but they both lingered in the room doorway as I paced in the hall, waiting, praying for her to pick up.

"Come on, come on-,"

It stopped ringing, and I heard someone pick up on the other end. I nearly stopped breathing.

"Mom," I exclaimed in relief, staring at the suspicious stains on the wall. "Mom, it's me, it's Bella."

"Bella, it's so good to hear from you," said a voice that was not at all my mother's, and my knees nearly buckled. This voice was male, youngish, and nauseatingly normal- generic, almost. The sort of voice that could be any number of men you knew; calm but not too calm, measured but light, amused, but cautiously so, not approaching mania or even glee, but the sound of someone who had a feeling everything was going to work out in their favor. Self assured.

James, I immediately knew, was, above all else, an optimist.

"I think you should say something," he advised, not at all threateningly, but like a team mate offering advice on how to outsmart the opponent. "Something safe, you know? 'Mom, I can explain', 'I'm so sorry Mom', 'Mom, stop screaming and just listen'…," he snickered. His laugh sounded younger than how he had looked, when I had seen him.

"Mom," was all I could get out, forcing it past my lips. What I wanted to say, to scream, was 'Mom, where are you, Mom, can you hear me, are you okay, did he hurt you, Mom please be alive please please-'.

"That's good enough for now; we're gonna work through this together, Iz. I like the sound of that. Iz. Izzy. Can I call you that? Yes or no question." He was nearly jovial now; I could almost feel the smugness over the phone. He was steadily getting more with my submission.

"Where are you." It wasn't a question.

"Getting right to the point? I like that. You know, you seem like a straightforward sorta chick, Izzy. Realistic. Not sure why you've waded waist deep into the Cullens's shit, if that's the case, but I can respect those traits." James snickered again, and then seemed to be thinking; I heard him hmming to himself, considering something. I didn't want to think about what that might be.

"Where are you?!" I snapped, and then froze in terror at what his reaction might be, but his mood only seemed improved by it. No outburst followed, just more friendly advice.

"Try to relax, your guard dogs are probably nervous wrecks. If you don't want to be polite and make conversation, I guess we'll get down to it. From now on, don't say shit unless I tell you to. Act like you're listening. Which you are. You should be, anyways. Class is in session, Iz; do the math: what do you think I'm going to do to your mom if you don't listen to teacher here?" He stretched the words out like a wrapper, waiting in eager anticipation.

I stayed silent, hating myself.

"Good girl. We are learning quickly here, aren't we? Tell her to stay where she is."

"Mom," I repeated numbly. "Stay where you are."

"Don't look at your security team, look at something else, or get up and walk away. Say okay." He was slightly shorter now, not any less friendly, but more forward.

"Okay."

"Tell your mom to listen to you. Come on, try to project some emotion here, you sound so stiff." He sounded as if he were poking fun at a friend; his teasing was good natured, easygoing. James didn't sound like a mindless hunting machine. He sounded like someone you knew; a classmate, a coworker, a neighbor who stopped by to chat mid jog.

"Listen to me," I put as much force into it as possible; I punched at the words, hoped that he at least felt it.

"There we go," he said enthusiastically. "Tell your mom to trust you- actually, tell me to trust you. Because I'm counting on it, Izzy, like you wouldn't believe. Your mom's counting on it too."

"Trust me," I mumbled.

"Oh, noticeable drop in quality there. Alright, I can tell when the fun and games are over. You're pissed. I get it, I do. You're thinking, who is this psycho with my mother's phone? I'm James. Sorry we were never formally introduced. Things got a bit fraught. Here's the thing. You have until… oh, I'd say around noonish, to get to where I am. If you don't I'm going to call you on this phone, and you and your mom can chat and reconnect while I break every bone in her body again and again and again. If you don't answer, don't worry, I'll have her leave a voicemail. Agree with me."

I was petrified with fear and under that boiling rage. I couldn't move a muscle; they were all screaming simultaneously.

"Agree with me," James repeated, reasonably, dangerously.

"Yes," I said slowly. "Yes, Mom, just let me talk to you." I suspected he would know what I meant.

"Oh, I see," he made a noise of agreement. "You want proof? Smart. I'll put her on."

I waited, and then-

"Bella!" It was my mom, screaming my name in utter panic. Nothing had ever horrified me so much in my life. My mother was not allowed to sound this frightened, she was never like this... "Bella-,"

She abruptly stopped yelling, and James was back on the line. Hatred rose up in me like a wave.

"Anyways," he continued breezily, as if having shaken off an annoying conversation hijacker. "Back to what I was saying. Ditch the entourage, go to your house, I'll leave a number by the phone. Give it a call. We'll chat some more then. Tell them silly Mom is still in Florida with a delayed flight. Got it?"

"Yes." I tried to keep my voice from shaking.

"Good. Tell her that you'll talk to her soon- don't worry, that's not a lie. We can all talk together, if you do the right thing."

"I'll talk to you soon, Mom." I swore it to her, both over the phone and in my mind. And then James hung up, and I closed the phone and turned to face Alice and Jasper. They were both staring at me in alarm.

"Where are they?" Alice asked impatiently. I looked down at the phone in my hand, and made the only call that made sense.

"He has my mom and he's going to kill her if we don't hurry."

I'll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye.

- Regina Spektor, 'The Call'