26. DESTINATION

As I fell backwards along with the tree, whose roots were now completely out of the ground, I caught a glimpse of Edward. He stood a few feet away with his back turned against me. It seemed as though he was contemplating on what to do next. Below him laid Greg slowly sinking into unconsciousness as his screams began to drift off. My eyes lingered on the drop of blood sliding down his neck. The smell was still overwhelming. I found myself going into a crouch. Every instinct was screaming at me to attack. The taste was still on my tongue and I wanted more. Thump...thump......thump. I could hear with perfect volume the beats per minute of Greg's heart rate that slowed every few minutes that elapsed. I didn't want to become a monster, so with what inner-strength I had left, I dug my fingernails into the soil and tried to remain stiff as a statue in that position. I concentrated on Edward who still stood above Greg, figuring what to do with the mess I'd caused.

Edward swiftly turned his head to look back at me. "Go to the car," Edward growled. His voice was harsh, acidic. Even though Greg's blood didn't have the same effect on him, just being in front of Greg was still causing Edward pain. A part of me wanted to get up, get Edward, and run in the opposite direction, but I didn't know how long that would last before I wanted to finish what I started. Ultimately, I stayed planted on the ground, the safest route I knew. "Now," Edward added, but I couldn't move. His face grew soft. "Then look away."

But, I couldn't. I watched as Edward bent down on his knees and leaned over Greg. "Edward, don't." I managed to say. Greg was mine, It had shouted in my head. Shaking off the urge to finish off my prey, my mind instead tried to understand how Edward thought that this was our best option. Destroying evidence. I had no prior knowledge in the area of this kind of mistake. What was the protocol?

A few minutes later, Edward straightened up, leaving Greg on the ground near the patio furniture where his body laid rigid. Edward then ran at full speed towards me. It wasn't until I got a closer look into his eyes that I noticed the irises were still bright gold. My assumption was false. Edward had been sucking the venom out of Greg's open wound. My eyes widen in astonishment. Edward had more temperance than anyone I had ever known.

"We have to go." He told me with urgency apparent in his expression.

"How did you--I mean, I thought..."

He quickly caught on. "I've had practice."

I suddenly recalled back to the cloudy memory of when James attacked me at my old ballet studio. I glanced down at the half moon scar and shuddered. "Greg is---?"

"His blood is clean. He'll wake up with a hang-over tomorrow, but alive. Hopefully, he will forget what happened here or at least shrug it of as for being completely out of it that he was hallucinating. If Greg remembers...we'll deal with it accordingly." Edward replied, his voice was somber, detached. His face then contorted to anxious. "We truly have to go." He lifted my arm and softly propped me up.

I waited for Edward to answer my silent question.

"Linus."

If I had been thinking clearer, I would have jumped to conclusion instead of just staring at Edward with vacant, confused eyes.

"When Carlisle called Linus, there was no answer." He took a short pause. When he began again, he spoke faster than any human could. "The Volturi arrived in Portland twenty minutes ago. And, since we weren't at our house, Aro and the rest followed our scents. Here." I felt my jaw drop. "Alice gave us ten minutes before they reach the open field." Edward's face changed from anxious to nondescript. I couldn't tell if he was just as worried as was I. "We can not guide them here. It would be too much fun for Jane to massacre the whole town seeing as all of Forks is in that building." Edward glanced over at the town hall. "And don't believe for a minute that just because of the Volturi's law of discretion, it would stop her."

I started to shake uncontrollably. I stared at Greg's body and then back at Edward. There wasn't enough words in my vocabulary repertoire to describe how I felt at that particular moment. "I--"

He rubbed up and down my arms, but comfort was not something that could be achieved. "Bella, love, listen we don't have time anymore. We're all in danger."

As strange at it may sound, I felt back to normal once I heard the word: danger. It was as though all the clocks in my head were going the right direction again. Greg's scent was still in the air, but I pushed it so far into the back of my mind. I was finally able to see the bigger picture. That's when my dead heart sunk to the pit of my stomach. "OH MY GOD, NESSIE! CHARLIE! THE WEDDING!"

---

Before we reached the lot, Edward grabbed my arm. He then stepped in front and pulled me into his arms. His lips crushed into mine. There was tension like all the other times he had kissed me right before a life or death situation. I could see it blatantly in his eyes. Edward once again thought we only had so much time left for us.

"Nessie..." I muttered as I pulled away from Edward's iron grip.

"Jacob has her. They're riding with Rose and Emmett as we speak."

As we ambled towards the parking lot, I couldn't help having more questions come to mind. Amazingly enough, Edward had no problem answering them all. "Are the guards coming?"

"We were able to get a hold of Ben, Tia, and Dustin. Carlisle also called our cousins in Denali. They will all try to meet us at the field as soon as they can."

I then thought about wedding. Sue and Charlie never looked so happy. I even noticed Mike and Angela were talking as if they were friends again. Of course, whatever Mike had to say to me was probably going to be left unsaid. "Does Charlie know why we left?"

"We've informed all the wolves. Charlie knows enough to not worry about us. He was only disgruntled about not being able to say goodbye to you."

After slowing down a few paces, I thought about how I jeopardized everything in this one night. It wasn't just my life and the Cullen's now in the hands of someone else. It was my whole family, my friends, and every resident of Forks. "Do you think Linus is dead?"

"Probably."

I had just nodded and kept quiet until, eventually, we reached the Volvo. I then realized Emmett's jeep was already gone and so was Carlisle's black Mercedes.

As soon as I opened the passenger's door and got inside the car, I noticed Alice was already sitting in the backseat. Her mouth curved downwards and she fidgeted with her hands.

"Bella-Bella, I'm so-o sorry," she announced. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Enough, Alice." Edward growled as he turned on the ignition and sped out of the parking lot. He looked at Alice through the rear-view mirror.

Alice's brows furrowed. "Bella should know it's my fault."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I look back and forth between Alice and Edward.

"The vision..."

"Alice!" Edward yelled. I watched as his grip on the wheel became tighter. He then slammed on the gas pedal. As we drove, going already a hundred and ten miles per hour, even Edward's turns became sharper. It wouldn't be concerning if I had known what Alice had said to him silently. However, during the whole time on our way to the field where we had once played baseball numerous times, Alice communicated only to Edward via thoughts.

---

Once we parked the car near the entrance to the trail, I tore off my high heel shoes and ripped a part of my bridemaids dress to make running easier. Alice frowned, but didn't have time to complain that I just ruined a two-thousand dollar dress. We all ran towards our destination. Edward, of course, leading the way. As I arrived, I saw as everyone, including Nessie, and Jacob--still in their dresses and suits--were already there. However, through the fog that had no hindrance to my sight, I counted only four wolves. It seemed as though Sam truly believed this wasn't a fight that involved him and by default, any person that was a part of his pack.

Carlisle turned to Alice, who had just positioned herself beside Jasper. "How much time is left?"

"They will be here in three minutes. In about a minute and half we will be able to see them through the trees."

That's what triggered my shield. I expanded it to cover everyone, closely forming the elastic band to each body. After months of practice, holding the shield up for lengths of time gave me nothing more than a minor headache. Bearable. Controllable. I could retain the barrier even if I lost focus. Jane and Alec were no match against my impenetrable force-field.

All of sudden Jacob looked right at me. His eyes lingered on my face. "What's wrong with your eyes? They look freakier than usual."

I tried to find something reflective so I knew how different my eyes appeared, but failed. I ended up with answering his question with another. "No one told you?"

He shook his head. "I was only informed that those Italian leeches were coming tonight and Edward had gone to find you. I was going to wait, but Alice said just to get Nessie and get to the field as soon as possible." Nessie stood behind him, her hand tugging on his shirt tail. She peeked to get a view of me as Jacob added, "They're like, orange."

"Mom..." She trailed off, easily understanding something Jacob couldn't pick up as quick.

Jacob's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Not now, Jake." I answered while staring down at the ground. The frosted blades of grass stood straight up, unmoving as the breeze rolled in. Light puffs of snow were falling from the night sky and sticking to the ground. Alice was right about another thing, Sue would get her winter wonderland.

Jacob wouldn't let it go. He was always too stubborn for his own good. "You know, Leah said you were looking for me. And then, twenty minutes later, Alice was the one to tell me that she had a vision and that the bloodsuckers were on their way. So, where were you? What happened?"

I was hesitant to tell the truth, but gradually the words slipped out. "I...lost control."

Everything must have clicked because Jake's nostrils flared. His hands formed tight fists. He began to convulse. Knowing Jacob was about to transform into a wolf, Nessie ran towards me. Jacob stuttered as he tried to ask, "You-u-u bit him?"

I nodded my head. "He's alive. Edward stopped me before..."

Jake was usually good with his temper. But, after hearing that I almost killed someone, he went berserk. Jake phased into wolf form right then, splitting his clothes into shreds. His big brown wolf eyes stared at me with indignation and disappointment. He glanced once more at Nessie before sprinting on our fours towards town. Leah, Seth, Embry, and Quil followed behind.

"They'll come back." Edward said as he took me in his arms before I had the chance to collapse. "Jake loves Nessie too much not to protect her."

I buried my face in Edward's shoulder. My eyes pricked. It felt like I was stuck in sinking sand slowly being swallowed whole.

As I looked up, I noticed everyone else was pretending not to have listened. That, Jake and the others were never actually here. Carlisle and Esme had their own conversation. Rosalie and Emmett were face to face, talking about how they would go to Isle Esme after this was all over. Jasper just stared at Alice who watched the forest intently.

A few seconds later I saw Alice's body twitch. "Aro," she whispered.

In complete unity, we all stopped what we were doing and turned to the northern opening of the forest.

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