Chapter Twenty
"Welcome, Carlisle."
The Cullens stood at the door to the home of the Polish coven: Ania, Maria, Ian and Marek. Ania greeted them at the door, her platinum blonde hair illuminating the darkness of the night.
"Hello Ania. Thank you for allowing us to convene at your home," Carlisle said kindly, as Ania stepped aside to allow the Cullens into her home.
"It is our pleasure, Carlisle. You have done so much to help us in our time, we feel it only proper to repay you however we can," Ania said.
"Where's the rest of your coven?" Alice asked curiously, looking around the small house.
"Marek is in the back room. Ian and Maria are in the village, hunting," Ania replied.
Bella could not help but cringe slightly at the thought of the innocent humans down in the village who were about to become dinner to Ian and Maria.
"So, I hear Siobhan, Liam and Maggie have gone to Russia to aid you in your search," Ania remarked, eyeing the Cullens with a look of intrigue as she carefully placed herself on the pristine white sofa sitting in the middle of the drawing room into which they had entered.
"Yes, they wanted to help. And we were not about to turn them down," Carlisle replied, taking a seat across from Ania, as Edward, Bella, Emmett, Alice and Jasper filed uncomfortably into the clean, shining white room. The Polish home lacked the sense of comfort and family that the Irish's cottage had had.
"They chose to go in search of your grandchild?" Ania asked, eyebrows raised in intrigue.
"Yes. We would never force anyone else to risk their coven to help us," Carlisle replied.
"Even Siobhan willingly sent her family off into danger to search for this girl, and the wolf?" Ania asked, staring at Carlisle with a look of shock now.
"Yes. It was a great act of charity. We are eternally grateful to the Irish," Carlisle said, nodding.
Ania's head shot around quickly as she examined all of the Cullens, as if taking them in for the first time.
"That is quite a large act of charity indeed," she remarked softly.
"Hello Cullens."
Marek entered the room without so much as a sound, his perfectly crisp blonde hair gelled into style. He was beside Ania in a flash.
"Ah, Marek. Good to see you again," Carlisle said, smiling as he and Marek shook hands.
"My pleasure, Carlisle," Marek replied. "How is the search going?"
Carlisle hesitated for a moment, looking over at his family. Edward turned away quickly.
"We haven't had any sign of them. It's been almost three months," Carlisle confessed.
"One could say that is a good sign. If they can remain so well hidden from you, then the Volturi will have trouble as well," Marek stated.
"Yes, we are thankful for that," Carlisle agreed.
"You haven't heard anything from the Volturi lately, have you?" Alice asked, staring at Ania and Marek imploringly.
"I am afraid not," Marek replied, a solemn look crossing his face.
"That is not such a good sign," Ania muttered.
"They must know of the situation. Why are they refusing to act?" Marek asked.
"We're not sure. We just want to find Renesmee and Jacob before they have the chance to," Carlisle said firmly.
"A noble goal, my fr-"
Marek was cut off by the tinny ringing of Carlisle's cell phone ringing. Carlisle frowned for a moment, before reaching into his pocket curiously.
"Rosalie," he muttered, staring down at the number flashing on the front of his phone. "Excuse me - this is my family back in Brazil. They might have news."
"Of course. Go right ahead," Marek said kindly, motioning towards the door.
Edward and Bella stepped aside to allow Carlisle out of the room. Ania and Marek were still gazing curiously at the Cullen children.
"Edward, we are very sorry about your daughter," Ania offered sympathetically, staring at Edward and Bella with wide, sad eyes.
"There's no need to be sorry," Edward said curtly.
"What Edward means is, we're going to find Nessie and Jacob. We know it," Emmett offered more politely.
"Of course. Carlisle has never let down a family member," Marek said.
"Carlisle has never let down anyone," Ania added.
At that moment, Carlisle came walking back into the room, a concerned look across his face. All the Cullens were instantly on alert.
"What's wrong?" Alice asked.
"It's the pack," Edward said, frowning at Carlisle.
"It appears Seth and Leah have gone missing," Carlisle replied, a look of harrowed worry raking across his beautiful face.
"Seth and Leah?" Emmett repeated.
"They took off weeks ago. The pack didn't want to get us involved right away, because they didn't want to distract us from the search. But it's been close to a month now, and they haven't been able to find either of them," Carlisle explained.
"They went after Renesmee and Jacob," Bella uttered.
"Seth, maybe. But Leah? She hates them both," Emmett pointed out.
"She wouldn't abandon her brother. She's probably going to take care of him," Alice insisted.
"Whatever their reasons, they're missing. And the pack is just as worried as we are right now," Carlisle stated.
"So what are we supposed to do? Start a second search? Break up to try and find the wolves?" Jasper demanded.
"We will continue our search. If we happen to pick up a lead on Seth and Leah, then we can discuss breaking off," Carlisle said.
"We can't afford to break off. We need everyone we have searching for Renesmee," Edward growled.
"Sam and the pack are our allies, Edward," Carlisle said.
"Seth and Leah are my family," Bella added gently.
Edward scowled, though he said no more. Jasper merely rolled his eyes, as if the thought of alliances and family both meant little to him at the moment.
"Carlisle."
All the Cullens turned suddenly to face Ania, who had leapt to her feet. She stood now, staring at them eagerly.
"Marek and I will search for your wolf allies," she offered. Carlisle stared back at her for a moment in shock.
"Ania..." he uttered.
"You have done so much for myself and my coven. We owe you, and you need help. So we will help you," Ania declared.
"Yes, I agree," Marek said, also standing up. "We will inform Maria and Ian upon their return. We will set out tonight."
"We don't even have a lead on where they might be," Carlisle said, staring at the two in bewilderment.
"Then we shall search everywhere," Ania said.
"I could never ask you to sacrifice your coven's safety like that," Carlisle began.
"You do not have to ask, Carlisle," Ania insisted.
"I... thank you," Carlisle finally relented, still shell-shocked as he stared at his Polish allies with utter admiration.
"Nonsense. This is us thanking you," Ania said.
And she and Marek quickly took off into the next room, to prepare for their journey. Carlisle turned back to his family, who all stood in the doorway, also staring in bemusement.
"All right... we continue our search tomorrow morning."
"Come on. Get up."
Seth opened his eyes just in time to see Leah's fist coming at his arm, as she punched him violently. Once she saw that his eyes were opened, she stopped, immediately dashing across the hotel room.
"What's going on?" Seth muttered, sitting up slowly as he groggily rubbed his eyes.
"We're going to Switzerland," Leah said, bustling around in the dark as she shoved assorted objects into their duffle bag.
"Switzerland?" Seth repeated, his eyes opening wide as he stared at his sister in shock.
"Yes. Come on, help me pack," Leah snapped, shoving flashlights into the bag.
"Leah, we're in the middle of Berlin. It could take us weeks to get to Switzerland," Seth remarked.
"Not if we travel by plane," Leah replied.
"We can't travel by plane, we don't have any money left," Seth remarked, confusion clouding his already sleep-ridden thoughts.
"We have a way," Leah replied absently, continuing to rush around the small room. Seth frowned.
"What do you mean 'we have a way'? And why are you so hell-bent on getting to Switzerland?" he demanded.
"We have a lead," Leah said.
She had stopped her frantic pacing, staring at her brother with a look of eager hope. Seth stared back in awe.
"A lead? But... how?" he asked.
"There's no time to discuss it right now. We have to get out of here," Leah insisted.
"Why? You didn't steal money, did you?" Seth snorted, stepping out of his bed slowly.
"No... I didn't," Leah muttered.
Seth stopped, turning to face his sister. Leah avoided eye contact, busying herself with the duffle bag.
"What?" Seth said in shock.
"Come on, Seth!" Leah snapped, quickly dashing over to the small bedside table and scooping up a pair of water bottles.
"You stole money!" Seth cried.
Leah immediately whirled around, slamming her hand over his mouth and glaring at him furiously.
"Do you want to get us arrested?" she hissed.
"Clearly you do!" Seth snapped, wrenching himself from Leah's grasp and staring at her in shock.
"I already told you. I didn't steal anything," Leah replied firmly.
"So what? You got some poor sucker to do it for you?" Seth snorted, staring at his sister in disgust. "What'd you do, Leah? Turn into a wolf and threaten to rip his head off if he didn't give over his money?"
"I may have a temper, but I'm not a con-artist," Leah snapped back, zippering up the duffle bag in one swift motion.
"You're not making any sense. What is going on?" Seth demanded.
"You'll understand everything soon enough," Leah replied, flinging the duffle bag over her shoulder and heading for the door. "Come on."
"Leah..." Seth moaned, jamming his feet into his boots and quickly dashing after her.
Leah was already halfway down the stairs to the lobby, and Seth had to run to keep up with her as she bolted through the hotel, looking around cautiously.
"As if it weren't bad enough that we're running away from home, now we're felons," Seth hissed into her ear as he followed her past the registration counter.
"Would you shut up?" Leah growled.
Seth was about to argue when Leah burst through the front doors of the hotel. Seth stopped as he stepped out into the sun, the sight before him suddenly putting all Leah's crazy ramblings into place.
"... oh."