Disclaimer: Nope, the characters aren't mine! They belong to SM.
A/N: Hey, thank you so much for the reviews, guys! We've reached 300 (and plus!), which means that I will throw a special something in at the end of the story! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I thought it would be a good time to broaden out Carlisle's character, as will this one. Um, I am feeling somewhat better. I think it's mainly allergy related, so I'm not overly worried. It's just annoying. Thanks for your concern! Also, it is an amazingly beautiful day here today! It's about 82 I think, and the sun is out and it's just gorgeous! I'm in a great mood, lol. This is my kind of weather. I've been noticing a great song for this story (especially this part) that really helps me along is "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace. Go figure. But enough rambling from me so I can avoid hairbrush-throwing twins, and enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter 25- Hide and Seek
Our drive to the small town that Billy had mentioned was a silent one for me. A backpack of some of my things- an extra change of Bella's clothes, my iPod, my cell phone, my stuffed black bat, my hairbrush, toothbrush, and other necessities- that someone had packed for me sat on the seat next to me, but I left it relatively untouched as I blankly stared out the window. Carlisle was talking in quick, nearly silent tones to Esme or Jasper so he was updated on James' movements from both groups, and Emmett continuously glanced back at me to see if I was okay before sighing when he got no response and turning back around.
As I watched all of the trees that passed by us in a flash since Carlisle was driving way above the speed limit without getting caught, I suddenly wondered what it would be like to die. Would it be painful, or would it instead be peaceful, as Rosalie had heard it to be? Would there be the often talked about, telltale white light, or would there be nothing but darkness? What about the afterlife? What would that be like? Would it be like the depictions of a mystical city suspended high in the heavens amongst the clouds, or would it simply be a place where you were surrounded by the people that you love as you watched the rest of the people close to your heart from above? Would I be with my parents again? Would Jasper really meet me there? And if he did, would he be the attractive vampire I knew now? Or would his human soul follow me, finally at rest and filled with a sense of peace, with eyes that I imagined to be a beautiful shade of the purest blue? Either way, I knew we would be together…
Finally, after about another fifteen minutes while the sun was beginning to set, we reached the town that Billy had told us about. It was so small that everything appeared to be within easy walking distance of everything else, and I saw that there were only a few houses in the area as we slowly drove down the gravel street. I didn't know what the name of this town was, and I highly doubted that even the people who lived here knew its name. Oh, yeah. We were so going to be safe here…
After another couple of minutes, Carlisle pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of what appeared to be a small motel. He turned the car off before he looked at Emmett and I. "Are you ready?" When we nodded, a small smile appeared on his handsome face. "Al right then. Let's go."
I sighed as I grabbed my backpack and put it over my shoulder before climbing out of the car and walking beside Emmett as we followed Carlisle into the motel's main office. It was small and dimly lit, containing only a small, wooden desk across from us and nothing else. A young woman with shoulder-length, dark red hair stood behind it, filing her nails without interest as she quietly hummed along with her iPod. When she heard us approach the desk, she quickly glanced up, and her eyes shone the moment she saw Carlisle.
"Oh, hi!" she said with a broad smile and a slight, nervous laugh, hurriedly pulling out her earphones and setting down her nail file. "May I help you?"
Carlisle gave her a polite smile in response to her sudden enthusiasm. "Yes, my children and I would like to have a room for the night," he told her.
The woman's face fell instantly, but she looked somewhat confused as her eyes ran over Emmett and I. I knew that Carlisle looked way too young to have any children at all, much less two of our age. "Oh. These are your children?" she asked.
"They're adopted," Carlisle answered with amusement. "We're on our way to see my wife, but we still have a long way ahead of us, and we need a place to stay." I smirked slightly when I noticed how he had stressed the word "wife."
"Right. I'm sorry, did you want one or two rooms again?" Wow, this woman sure was flustered…
Carlisle turned to look at me, and I shrugged in answer. It didn't really matter to me since I didn't have very long left here anyway. At the moment, all I wanted was Jasper.
"One room would be fine," Carlisle told the woman as he turned back to her. "It'll just be for one night before we're on the road again."
The woman seemed slightly disappointed by our short stay as she rang up our total. "All right. One room for one night… That will be sixty-three dollars and twenty-three cents." Small town, high prices, I guess. The poor woman had to feed herself somehow…
I watched curiously as Carlisle pulled his wallet out of his pocket and took out none other than a credit card. What would a vampire need a credit card for anyway? That thought made me smile…
"That takes care of it. You're in room twelve," the woman said, handing Carlisle back his credit card after she rang it up along with a room key. "Have a good stay."
"Thank you." Carlisle nodded respectfully to her before he turned to Emmett and I. "Come on, kids, let's go." He put one arm around my shoulders and the other around my brother's before leading us toward the door. I glanced behind me at the woman standing behind the counter, seeing that she was looking at Carlisle with a dazed expression on her face as we left and entered the mild, evening air.
Room twelve ended up being behind the office and was facing a small, backyard-like clearing with dense trees on the other side of it. Carlisle pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door before pushing it open. Emmett entered the dark room first, and I followed after him with Carlisle behind me. I blinked when the room suddenly flooded with light since Emmett had turned on a lamp on a small, creaky, wooden desk near the bed, and I sighed when I saw where we would be staying for the night.
There was a single bed against the far wall with ugly blue and pink sheets with one white pillow, and a television sat under the window beside the door. There was another door near the foot of the bed that led into a small bathroom, containing only a toilet and a sink. Thankfully, this was only going to be for one night…
"Well, Alice gets the bed by default since she's the only one who actually sleeps," Carlisle said with a smile while he shut and locked the door behind him.
"Yeah, lucky her," Emmett muttered with an eyeroll, feigning jealousy. Then, he smiled broadly as he ruffled my hair.
I smiled and laughed a little as I pushed his now cold hand away. Then, I sighed and walked slowly over to the bed, dropping my backpack at the end of it before lying down on my back, merely staring up at the cracked ceiling. I saw Emmett sit down on the floor in front of the television out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head and watched as Carlisle stood by the desk with the lamp on it, emptying his silver cell phone and set of keys on it before sitting down in the wooden chair in front of it. He sighed, running his hand through his blond hair. It was an action that made me nervous. I had never seen Carlisle so visibly worried before…
"So, what's the news on James?" I asked him quietly.
Carlisle slowly turned to meet my gaze. "Esme has told me that the tracker has left the camp and is heading west, and she and Rosalie believe the female is still around the camp somewhere. Nothing has changed there since one of them would have called if it had. Then, Jasper told me that he, Bella, and Edward have to keep moving since the tracker is right on their tail."
My eyes widened with fear at this statement. James was following Jasper?! That wasn't what I had expected-or wanted- to hear! But before I could say anything, Carlisle and I both jumped when we heard a loud crash, and we turned to look at Emmett across the room from us. If possible, my eyes got even wider when I saw he was now standing in front of a demolished T.V. set…
"What?" Emmett asked, looking at us as though he was a deer trapped in headlights. "The T.V. wasn't working. It had really bad reception. It's not my fault…"
"Emmett…" Carlisle groaned with a sigh, placing his thumb and index finger on the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "Can you at least try to act human like we're supposed to instead of destroying the things that make you angry?"
"It's not like many people come here, Carlisle. I bet they won't even notice this for like another month or two," Emmett replied casually with a grin. "Besides, if we did have to pay for it, we could just charge all repairs to your credit card!"
"You broke it, you pay for it, Emmett."
I laughed a little at their bantering as I turned onto my side to face the wall, sighing as I closed my eyes and tuned them out. But before I could get comfortable, I quickly sat up and unzipped my backpack, pulling out my cell phone and placing it beside the pillow so it was within easy reaching distance and my stuffed bat, holding it close to me as I lay back down. I sighed again, knowing that the stress of the situation wouldn't lift no matter how much I willed it to. Only Jasper could do that with that special ability of his, and just being near him seemed to make me forget all of my problems.
But he wasn't here… Tears formed in my eyes when I saw his perfect face in my mind's eye, and I knew that would be the last I ever saw of him… the last conversation we had being the last he would ever say to me. I would never see him again…
Suddenly, I gasped as my eyes snapped open when my cell phone began to ring. I reached over and grabbed it, flipping it open before bringing it to my ear. "Hello?" I asked, my voice heavy.
"Alice?"
I gasped again as my face lit up, and I sat straight up on the bed when I heard the familiar, comforting voice on the other end. "Jasper! Where are you? Are you all right?"
I heard his soft laughter on the other end, a sound that made me feel much better. "Slow down, Alice," Jasper told me. "I'm the one who's supposed to be checking up on you, remember?"
"Well, there's not much to say. We're in a run-down motel owned by a woman who has a major crush on Carlisle in a room with a broken T.V. since Emmett smashed the life out of the poor thing not too long ago," I replied with a slight smile. Just hearing his voice again was very comforting. "So, even if I had wanted to watch something on television, I can't now."
"That certainly sounds… interesting," Jasper commented.
I laughed a little. "Yes, it's certainly interesting," I agreed. "But what's going on with you? Are you all right? I mean, I know James is following you…"
"Yes, I'm fine, Bella. Alice is sleeping now, but we're still driving since I think it would be best to keep moving with the tracker so close behind us," Jasper said.
What was Jasper talking about? I wasn't sleeping, so why was he telling Bella that I was? Then, I realized that he was calling me Bella and was referring to Bella as me. James must have been within hearing range of him.
"He can hear you, can't he?" I asked quietly, knowing that he would know who I was talking about.
"Yes, but not you."
That was a good thing. Knowing my luck, I would probably say something that would give the whole operation away. "So, I take it the plan's still going well then?"
"So far so good," Jasper told me. "We're taking Alice as far away from the campsite as possible."
It hurt me to hear him say my name but not actually be talking about me, but it also made me realize how dire the situation I was in truly was as tears formed in my eyes. Was this going to be the last time I would ever hear Jasper's voice? I hoped not…
"It's all right," Jasper suddenly muttered comfortingly as if he could sense my tears, even through the phone and we were so far apart. "Hopefully, this will be over soon and we can get Alice back to the camp safely again."
That's when a tear slowly fell from my eyes, but I brushed it away quickly so that hopefully Carlisle and Emmett wouldn't notice it. "Hopefully," I whispered. "I love you, Jazz, so, so much."
There was a moment of silence before Jasper said anything. "I love you too." His voice was quieter now, probably so James couldn't hear him. "I promise you that I will end this soon. I love you." Then, he hung up.
I sniffed as I flipped my phone closed and set it beside my pillow, holding my stuffed bat close to my chest. The way Jasper had said "I love you" twice made me feel very nervous… as though I wouldn't be seeing him again…
"What did Jasper say, Alice?" Carlisle asked me gently. He must have known how painful that conversation had been for me.
"He said that James was still following them, so we're safe here," I answered. "At least… for now…" I added silently to myself.
The rest of the evening was spent uneventfully. I lay on the bed with my back turned to the rest of the room, staring blankly at the wall in front of me. Behind me, I heard Emmett pacing restlessly and Carlisle speaking in low, anxious tones to who I assumed was Esme. But I remained silent, my eyes only holding the wall in front of me as a few tears fell from my eyes, unnoticed by my brother and father figure.
"The female has left the campsite and is heading north. Esme and Rosalie, along with Jacob and Sam, are going after her," Carlisle suddenly announced as he closed his cell phone, his quiet voice making me jump a little. "Hopefully, they can keep her away from the humans."
"So, what are we going to do then?" Emmett asked impatiently. I could hear his worry for Rosalie. "Do we still just sit here?"
"Yes, Emmett," Carlisle answered, almost hesitantly since I knew that he was worried about Esme too. "We have to keep Alice safe."
They had to keep me safe. I didn't quite know the point anymore since even with all of their efforts, I knew that James was still going to get to me. His determination was just too strong…
Unfortunately, these were the last thoughts on my mind as my eyes slowly began to close. At first, I foolishly thought that Jasper was somewhere nearby since I suddenly felt much calmer. But I then realized that it was my own exhaustion, my own acceptance, that was making me drowsy, and I gave up fighting and allowed the darkness to take me.
I heard a girl's scream, one that sounded familiar, echo around me. I looked around me at the dark forest with confusion, wondering how I had gotten there when I had just fallen asleep in the motel room. I heard the scream again, and since I appeared to be the only one around, I ran forward along the path that gently sloped uphill to try to find and help her. My heart began to quicken with every step that I took as a feeling of anxiousness began to blossom inside of me.
When I reached the top of the hill that overlooked a dark lake, I stopped with shock as I watched James approach a girl lying in the grass. She wasn't very tall, and she had short, spiked, black hair in a pixie-like style. He reached down and picked her up forcefully, looking at her with a sense of triumph gleaming in his red eyes, and I gasped with fear when I suddenly recognized the girl in his hands.
It was me.
Then, the image was blurred and replaced with another one of a panicked Jasper kneeling on the grass on top of the hill, shaking someone's limp form. He appeared to be crying, but no tears were falling from his eyes. His perfect lips were moving quickly repeatedly forming someone's name, but I couldn't hear him. But then, my vision moved down to who was in his arms, and I gasped as my eyes widened with fear.
It was me. My eyes were closed and I didn't respond to Jasper as he shook me and called my name, my dark hair moving into my deathly pale face as my head lolled limply against his arm.
This was all the confirmation that I needed…
James was going to win.
My eyes snapped open as I gasped, quickly turning onto my back to look at the motel room around me. I sighed with relief when I saw that James was nowhere in sight, but I felt a wave of fear rush through me when I saw that Carlisle and Emmett weren't there either…
I slowly sat up, wondering where they could have gone. It's not like there was anything to do in this town. And why would they leave me alone when James was still out there somewhere?
Then, I noticed that a long, small box with a salad with ham, cheese, tomatoes, carrots, and ranch dressing was sitting on the desk near the lamp. I reached forward, not realizing how hungry I was until now, and I opened the box and poured the dressing over the salad before opening the plastic fork and beginning to eat. After taking a few bites, I saw that there was a piece of paper sitting on the desk beneath Carlisle's set of keys that hadn't been there before. I curiously set down the box with the half-eaten salad in it back down on the desk before I reached over and picked it up, looking over the neat handwriting quickly. It read:
Alice,
Emmett and I have gone hunting in the woods behind the motel away from any people, but we are still close enough in case the tracker comes anywhere near the area. We're sorry that we didn't tell you we were leaving, but you needed the rest, and we were in desperate need of hunting, especially after Emmett destroyed the television… We will be back soon. I have my cell phone if you need to contact me. Enjoy the salad!
Carlisle
I sighed and placed the letter back down on the desk, running my hand through my short, dark hair without bothering to pick up the salad again since my appetite had suddenly left me and was replaced with a feeling of dread. I was alone. Though Carlisle had told me that they weren't too far away, I still felt completely and utterly alone.
Suddenly, my vision blurred, and instead of the small, wooden desk I had been staring at, I saw James watching as a golden car passed the road in front of him. Jasper was behind the wheel of this car, and I watched as he looked over at James as he passed him before turning the corner and out of sight. Then, James growled angrily and lunged after the car…
He knew. At that moment, I knew that James realized that he had been chasing the wrong people, that I wasn't with Jasper. He was angry now, and I knew that would only fuel his determination to come for me in any way that he could…
Then, I jumped and shrieked when my cell phone rang from the bed behind me. My heart beginning to return to its normal rate, I slowly turned around and picked up the small phone. Without even looking at the number, I immediately flipped it open and brought it to my ear. "Jasper?" Who else would be calling me?
But I heard a soft laugh on the other end, and I sighed and closed my eyes. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised that it wasn't Jasper's voice that I heard.
Instead, it was the cruel laugh of James.
A/N: Alrighty, there's another cliffie, lol. Sorry, I couldn't help it. There will be a couple of cliffies for a little bit yet, so get used to them! I will try to update as soon as I can! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated! And I actually remembered the preview this time! I'm not as tired, I guess. So, enjoy!
Next Chapter: Dance With Death
My heart nearly stopped cold when I heard his statement. "Wh… what have you done with Jasper?"
Xxx
I fumbled for the right key in the darkness, and finally finding it, I started the car.
"Carlisle's going to kill me," I muttered to myself, adjusting the rear-view mirror before backing out of the parking lot and driving onto the road as I headed in the direction of the camp.
Xxx
It was where Jasper and I had shared our first kiss… where I had learned about his scars… where I had first slapped a werewolf… It was Jasper and my special place, and now, it would be the place where I would meet my death.
Xxx
"So… my life is just a game to you now?" James truly was sadistic…
James only smiled at me as he lifted me off the ground by my arms again, pulling me up close so that our faces were only inches apart. "Oh, no, Alice," he muttered with a laugh, his crimson eyes shining. "You're much more to me than that."
Xxx
"He won't come."
Then, another cry ripped from my throat as the pain suddenly intensified after a moment, and I rolled onto my back as I desperately screamed, "Jasper, help me!"