A/N: I'm sorry for the wait… I do not like waiting to post as much as you guys don't like having to wait but I've had no time with all my concerts.

Thank you all for your reviews… I hit 200 with the last chapter :)

Some of you may not like what is about to happen but it was the plan all along…

Let me know what you think!

Chapter 25- The Past Haunts

Two days later, we packed up the Alaska house and began the trek back to Forks. We were moving back to the house right outside Forks for a while, so Ness and Jacob could get married there without too many complications; it was also going to give Tanya the room she needed to get over Edward. I could not hide my relief that we were putting a lot of miles between Edward and Tanya. I trusted Edward completely, but I did not trust Tanya at all and I wanted him away from her.

I was thrilled that Ness and Jacob had decided to get married at the Cullens' house in Forks. I couldn't wait to go back home and introduce Charlie and Renee to their granddaughter. We had told Renee to be there that weekend for a homecoming. Renee was thrilled to find out that I was okay and that everything had turned out all right. She was furious at me for apparently running away with Edward when I found out that I was pregnant however, we knew things were going to take an interesting turn when we told her the truth. We had written to the council for their permission to inform Renee why I still looked like the teenager she had sent to Forks so many years ago. Jane and Alec gave their permission whole-heartedly as long as we got my mother to promise to keep the secret to keep our world safe. I was overjoyed at the idea of getting to keep my parents in my life and to allow them to know their granddaughter. As we drove Edward's old Volvo back to Forks, I sighed contentedly thinking about all our homecoming would bring.

Edward half-turned to me, asking with amusement, "What are you thinking, love?"

Without thinking, I pulled my shield down, not wanting to stop my thoughts to have to verbalize them to Edward. In the seat next to me, Edward gasped. I giggled as I realized that I had only done this to him once before in a hotel room in France. I definitely needed to do this to him more often.

Finally, after a few moments of him being stunned and only narrowly missing a few trees on the side of the road, Edward gasped out, "Bella, next time, some warning, love?"

I giggled and told him, through my thoughts, that next time I would give him some notice. Then I began to think about why it would be so strange for him. He was so used to hearing everyone else's thoughts.

Edward smiled at me and said, "When I hear your thoughts, they are almost all consuming. The second your shield went down I couldn't hear anyone else but you, love."

I laughed, thought at him that it was definitely a good thing to know and that it was something I could really use to my advantage. Then, I started sending him thoughts that were definitely more than R-rated about what I was going to do to him the second we arrived at the house in Forks. Edward started to breath heavily and I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. As I continued to send my racy thoughts to Edward I heard a very annoyed pixie speak quickly into the phone and let me know that she had booked a hotel room for us at the next turn off and that they expected us to stay for three days.

I began to question Alice, but she cut me off with a frustrated groan and hesitantly said, "Because it is going to take a minimum of three days before any of us can stand to be around you again! Now go!"

Edward's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he sped off towards the hotel.

Three wonderful days later, we reluctantly crawled back into Edward's Volvo. Soon we were confronted with the very familiar scenery of Forks so unchanged by the passing of time.

All the sudden Edward looked at me with a mischievous grin and said, "Bella, close your eyes, love. I have a surprise for you."

I grumbled, but complied reluctantly. Secretly, I had grown to love surprises, however I liked that Edward still thought I despised them. It was fun to mess with him on occasion, especially since I was the only one whose mind he could not access without permission. Edward took my hand and led me through trees that I could feel brushing against me occasionally.

Finally, he turned to me and said, "Love, I'm going to put you on my back so you don't knock down any more trees."

I laughed. I was not as clumsy as I had been as a human, however a bit of my klutziness had remained, but now instead of hurting myself, I hurt the things around me. Edward laughed as well. I heard a hint of another emotion in his voice. I thought it might be nervousness. I was suddenly very curious about where he was taking me.

Just as I was about to give in and peek, I felt Edward's phone buzz and heard him laugh as he said, "Bella don't you dare peek or Alice will tell me."

I grumbled and called her an annoying little pixie under my breath. I felt Edward shake with silent laughter as he ran faster through the forest.

Suddenly, Edward stopped and dropped me into tall thick grass. I felt the sun shining down, warming my skin. I knew exactly where we had to be. We were in our meadow. More than any other place in the world, this small, secluded spot felt like home to me. I blinked my eyes open and looked around me to see Edward smiling at me as he sparkled in the sun. I practically flew across the small space and threw myself into his arms. How he knew that I would want to come here before going anywhere else, I was not sure, but I was thrilled. As I held on tightly to Edward, the memory of the first time he brought me here flooded my mind, and I pulled down my shield quickly to share it with him. Edward's smile grew as he saw that important day through my frail, flawed human eyes, and looked at me in total adoration and love. Then my mind traveled to the last time he had known I was here with him, the day of my disastrous eighteenth birthday party. I also gave him that memory. I knew he really needed to see how much that day had meant to me. I needed him to understand how much his leaving me had truly hurt me, how deep my love was for him, and what he had taken away that day. Edward gasped after a few moments as the full force of my emotional memory hit him.

Eventually, with a sad and broken tone, Edward slowly said, "Bella, love, I had no idea. If I had known, I never would have been able to leave you. I am so very sorry, love. I wish I could turn back time and change all of it. I never should have left you, love. I know that now."

I turned to him and simply said, "Edward, I needed you to understand so that we never have to suffer like that again. I knew if I could finally show you my thoughts, you would understand the depth of my love for you, even then. I love you, Edward Cullen."

Edward smiled at me and crushed me against him, pushing his lips fiercely against mine.

Then, after a few moments, Edward smiled and said, "Love, we are here for a reason. I have something I need to take care of."

I looked at him in confusion and he darted away. I got comfortable in the grass lying down to look up at the sky. After a few moments, Edward's head suddenly blocked my view as he smiled down at me. Quickly and carefully with a speed only a vampire could handle, Edward was laying down on top of me. I smiled mischievously. This was definitely somewhere that we had not had sex yet and I was eager to break in our favorite place.

However before I was able to put my thoughts into action Edward chuckled and said, "Before we get too carried away, love, I would like you to close your eyes."

I smiled up at my Edward and my eyes flitted closed. Edward kissed both of my eyelids and my nose as he moved around slightly on top of me. Then Edward got up and pulled me to my feet.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Edward whispered to me, "Love, open your eyes."

I looked at Edward and after a moment, my brain registered that Edward was down on one knee the way he had been on my birthday so many years ago. I gasped in air and held my breath. I was fairly certain that this was not a promise ring.

Edward smiled up at me and softly said, "Bella Swan, I have loved you every moment since the day I first met you. You are the bravest, kindest and most wonderful person I know. I love you with all my heart and soul. You are my life, and have been since the moment you walked into that biology classroom. The years without you were like the blackest of nights with no stars or light. I am only truly alive when you are with me. I never want to be without you again. I love you more than life itself. Isabella Marie Swan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Suddenly, there was a sensation that I had not felt since I was a human. There were tears of venom streaming down my cheeks. I didn't even think that was possible! They were tears of joy. Edward wanted to marry me! They distracted me for a moment when I brushed them away. I looked down as they glistened in the light on my already sparkling fingertips. However, after that brief moment, my eyes caught Edward's shirt and I focused on him again.

I took a few slow deep relaxing breathes and said with evident joy, "Edward Cullen, I have loved you from the moment I saw you walk into the cafeteria my first day at Forks High. I love you more than my life. I would do anything for you. I cannot live without you. I need you with me always. I would love to become your wife."

I smiled down at my Edward as he looked up at me with joy, making his face shine even more than the sunlight was. Slowly and reverently, Edward bent his head and kissed my hand before placing my engagement ring on my finger. I looked down and smiled. I recognized it. The ring was the one he had given me so long ago, except an extra row of diamonds had been added to wrap around the outside. It was the perfect ring for me and he knew it. Once the ring was securely on my finger, I threw my arms around him with such force that he fell backwards into the grass with me landing on top of him. Edward laughed and flashed his gorgeous crooked smile at me before he grabbed my face and pulled it down into his, kissing me with abandon.

Just as Edward's hands began to wander, I felt my phone vibrate. I threw it across the lawn. I knew exactly who was calling and I wasn't about to interrupt this moment for that little pixie, unless it was an emergency that needed our immediate attention. My phone went off twice more before Edward's phone began to go off relentlessly. I groaned. Edward rolled his eyes and said Alice's name with serious venom. I heard Alice's voice come through the speakers as she spoke so fast that only a vampire would be able to understand it.

Alice's voice was practically screaming shrilly through the phone, "You two need to get home now. Hurry up. There is something going on that you need to be here for."

Alice abruptly hung up the phone and after cursing at his pixie-like sister, Edward and I ran for the car.

As we pulled up to the house all I could think of was the first time I had come here with Edward to meet his family.

I smiled, and Edward asked me, "What are you thinking, love?"

I just said, "You'll see."

Then I pulled down my mental shield and showed him my memories. I heard Edward laugh in the seat next to me as we pulled the Volvo into the garage. We were still laughing as we walked into the house. The second we entered the living room however, the smiles fell from our faces when we took in the expressions we saw on everyone else's. A moment after that I realized that Renesmee was missing and my heart went into overdrive.

I looked fiercely at Jake and spat out, "Where is Nessie?"

He looked at me in complete agony and Alice reluctantly began to speak, "Bella, Ness went hunting last night. She never came back. I've been looking for visions that might include her but since I can't actually see her…"

Alice's voice trailed off into the now extremely pregnant silence. I looked at Edward as an expression of agony flashed across his face as well.

I turned towards him and he choked out, "Love, there - there were signs of - a struggle."

I felt myself dying inside. My baby was missing and someone had taken her. After all I had gone through to protect her from the Volturi she had still been taken from us. I felt my body start to shake. Almost instantly, Edward's arms snaked around me and pulled me to him. Edward's body was shaking too and we quickly fell into a jumbled heap on the floor sobbing. I unblocked my thoughts from Edward and let him see what I was feeling.

Edward said, "Love, we'll find her. I'm not about to allow anything to happen to her now."

I nodded into his shoulder and frantically started thinking about Jasper calming me down. I knew that my tears were not going to help me find my daughter.

Quickly Edward said, "Jasper, we need some help calming down here. I think this is going to be more effective if we aren't both freaking out."

I nodded at Jasper and felt a soothing and numbing calm come over me like a heavy blanket. I could feel the terror and agony still under the calm but I was able to think past it and allow the calm to control me.

Once I was in control, I said gravely, "I need to see the spot where you think she was taken. I will be able to find clues you may have missed. I was the head of the Volturi guard for 10 years. I was taught about what to look for. I need to see it for myself."

I started to hear objections from all over the room. Whatever evidence was there was going to be bad. I knew they weren't going to let me out the door and so I decided it was finally time to use the other part of my gift. I had only used it twice before in my existence. I hated how I felt afterwards. I knew Edward had already seen the scene in his head. I took down my whole shield and grabbed Edward's hand. I heard him gasp and I felt the flood of thoughts come through my body. I was completely overwhelmed. Edward's gift was nothing like Aro's. Hearing every voice was a complete overload at first. After a few moments though, I was able to control it and see what I wanted. I steeled myself and watched the grisly scene as it unfolded in front of my eyes.

I saw the family running through the trees, following Nessie's scent. I saw them find a dying, half-drained deer. I saw the marks in the trees that on closer inspection were clearly grooves from the nails of someone trying to hang onto its bark in a desperate attempt to not be carried off. I saw some blood on the ground and the scent in the memory told me that it wasn't from the deer. I saw them follow the path further to a small cabin, secluded deep in the woods. I saw the door open with a squeak. I saw blood everywhere. I could almost smell it. It was my daughter's blood. There was a lot of it. I could hear their thoughts about their doubts of her survival from so much blood loss. I looked closer and saw no body parts or anything of the like. I looked closely at the blood and noticed that it had been spilled over a prolonged amount of time. Whoever had done this, wanted us to think she was dead when she wasn't. I couldn't take it anymore and let go of Edward's hand and allowed my full shield to spring back into place as I sunk to the ground. Using someone else's power was draining.

Everyone started to speak at once, until I heard Jasper harshly say, "Stop, all of you - now! She's exhausted. Give her a few minutes."

Edward gently lifted me from the ground and into his arms and walked over to the pristine white couch holding me in his arms gently.

Finally, I felt my body regaining energy and I looked up at Edward and said, "She's not dead. She was drained of her blood a little bit at a time over a matter of hours. I am going to bet that you will find quite a few animal carcasses near the scene. They kept feeding her to keep her blood levels up. Her body works more like a vampire's than a human. She's still alive, for now. We need to find her. We have to find her. I can't…"

As I was about to start crying again, I felt another heavy wave of calm from Jasper and shot him a grateful expression. The whole family looked at me in shock and I quickly realized that they had no idea what had just transpired.

I looked at them and said, "My gift can be used another way. I hate doing it but I knew you wouldn't tell me what was going on to protect me. I needed to know so I pulled down both parts of my shield and borrowed Edward's gift for a moment. Now that I have seen it in my mind, I need to see it in person. I have been trained to track extremely well. I know what to look for, there will be clues. You are going to need me to find her."

Alice's eyes suddenly got that familiar blank expression for a few moments, and when they started to sparkle with her normal energy again, she said, "Bella needs to do this. It is the only way that Edward and Bella end up happy. I can only assume that it is the only way we find Nessie. Every other version of the future I see them in pain and mourning. We need to do this Bella's way."

I looked at my best friend gratefully and said, "Pack quickly. I need to make a phone call. Edward and Alice, please make sure I am packed."

I knew that Alice would pack completely inappropriate things and that Edward would help keep her from going too overboard.

As I turned to walk out of the house, I saw Jake still sitting there frozen like a zombie and my heart cried for him. I knew that look all too well. It was the look of pain and loss. I had the same look when I lost Edward.

I walked over to him, threw my arms around him, and said soothingly, "Jake, we'll find her. We'll bring her back to you. I need you and the rest of the pack to stay here. You need to protect Charlie and anyone else that we have connections with. Whoever took her is targeting the family, Edward, myself or you, and I don't want anyone else to get dragged into this."

Jacob looked at me for a moment in total agony and then I saw a look of fierce determination cross his face before he nodded at me gravely and ran out of the house, phasing the second his feet stepped across the front threshold.

I quickly moved out to the front yard and started running when I found the trees. I knew that Edward and no one else would feel comfortable with my next action but I knew I needed to do whatever I could to save me daughter.

I looked down at my phone, hit the voice command, and said, "Volturi council," with authority.

I knew the family did not yet trust the council and so I knew that they would be uncomfortable at the idea of the guard helping us find Nessie but I knew they were the best place to turn. After speaking with Jane, Alec and Marcus on speakerphone and confirming their assistance, I ran back for the house, eager to be on my way to our first stop, the place where Nessie had been bled.

The moment I got back to the house Edward came up to and said softly, "Bella, I know you trust the Volturi, but are you sure it will be okay? I know that Alice says nothing will go wrong but-"

I looked at him and with as much understanding as I could muster said, "Love, I wouldn't have called them if I had a single doubt. I know what the world thinks of them, but Chelsea's influence had so much sway over them. Please trust me, Edward."

I could see his heart break a little at fact that I had to ask for his trust.

He looked at me and said brokenly, "Love, I trust you with my whole life."

I smiled at him and threw my arms around him, determined to let him know that I didn't blame him.

Still smiling, I said, "I know you trust me, Edward. Trust them because I do."

He looked at me torn for a moment and then gravely nodded his head. I knew he would feel better about the situation as soon as he got a peek into their heads and so I let it go and we walked towards the waiting cars.

Did anyone see this coming? Anyone think they know what's going on? Leave me a review!