Author's note: Original 12/28/10

Chapter 28 – Stolen Property

June 2009 – Present

"Jacob," Bella said with a sigh. "I was so worried. When you kept changing I thought … I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm fine, Bella," Jacob smiled brightly. "But damn, how can you stand the thirst?" He leaned against the altar with Bella in his arms, but even as he tried to focus, his red eyes scanned the crowd of Quileutes still clustered along the sides of the hill. They were his family, his friends, yet the urge to kill and drink was almost overpowering. Unconsciously, he licked his lips.

"You have to feed. We need to go into the city." Bella frowned. Her black eyes shimmered with need as she looked at Jacob's confused expression. She took a moment to think about the best way to tell him. It was murder she was planning, and there was no way to hide the truth. Yes, it was hard, but she knew they had to do it to survive.

"Why, Bella? Why the city?" Jacob's smile had completely disappeared. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

She bit her lower lip and blinked almost wildly, her body demanding sustenance. She hadn't fed for days, as she'd waited for Jacob to recover. Now she was frantic with thirst. "It's not so bad," she said unconvincingly. "Come on. I'll show you."

"Show me how to kill people? No, I'm not doing that," Jacob pressed his lips together and moved away from her. He was wild with thirst, too, but what Bella was proposing disgusted him. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you do it either."

"No! We have to. Be reasonable," Bella spluttered. "You need blood, Jacob. There's no other way."

"I am being reasonable. I'm just not into killing people." The white wolf at Jacob's side began to growl and whine. It was clearly unhappy.

"I know it seems wrong, but we're different now. We have to feed. And I've never killed anyone that didn't deserve it. We can feed off prisoners or-or look for gang members. Y-you can't imagine how many bad people we can find."

"Bella," Jacob said sternly. "I won't. And that's final."

Bella's face reflected her panic. She loved Jacob, but she was getting desperate. Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm.

"Bella," Carlisle interrupted. "There is another way."

xxxxxx

Alec stood behind the two vampires and carefully eyed his prey, his muscles poised to attack.Alice and Jasperhad moved away from the others to be closer Jacob, and the Volturi henchmen had followed. Alec stepped closer, anxious to act on Caius's instructions, but before he could make his move, Alice's back stiffened. She knew what was about to happen, and in that instant of time, she twisted her body backward to face her attacker.

"No!" Alice gasped. As swift as a lightning strike, she spun in a circle and swung her leg backward like a club. Her foot met with empty air, her counterattack not quite fast enough. Alec was well-trained in military combat and had anticipated her move. Flinging his body upward, Alec removed his cloak, and with a practiced hand, he wrapped Alice's head in the thick, wool cloth. He knew they had to move fast. The advantage gained by the surprise maneuver was quickly slipping away. With a powerful surge, Alec picked Alice off the ground and threw her over his shoulder as easily as a plucked daisy.

When Jasper heard Alice's muffled cry, he turned his head just in time to see the terror in the eyes of his beloved. Although caught by surprise, Jasper's reaction was instant. He threw his arm back across his body like an arrow shot from a bow. His hand barely missed Alec's cloak.

However, Santiago, the second Volturi guard, was ready. He blocked Jasper's offensive blow and twisted wickedly to the side. The demon warrior struck like a viper, flipping Jasper over his head and slamming the vampire into the dirt. Like a spring, Jasper popped back up, but it was too late. Finding their path suddenly clear, the two henchmen had bolted backward into the darkness with their prize.

Jasper was beyond murderous. He snarled like a tortured crocodile, his anger boiling to a fever pitch. But even as Alice's champion took off after them, he knew he might already be too late.

"Alice!" Edward shouted. "They have Alice!" Like a bullet shot out of a sniper's rifle, Edward sped after Jasper with Amy right on his heels. They rocketed into the forest and up the mountain, traveling at a furious pace. After several miles, the crude path collided with a snowfield, but the glacial turf never slowed them down. Instead, the trio continued to move higher, easily slashing through the frozen landscape. As expected with any newborn, Amy's strength fueled her speed, and soon she bolted. It wasn't long, however, before Amy realized that Jasper was no longer in her wake.

"Over here," Jasper yelled. His voice shook with rage as he stared down the face of a precipitous cliff. The trail had ended abruptly with nothing but air beneath the sharp edge of rocks. His piercing dark eyes moved to Edward. "Can you hear them? How far are they?"

Edward scowled. "They've made it to the highway."

"Can we catch them?" Amy asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure. I can't make out anything, but … wait! It's Alice. She … she sees the wolves. She … damn!" Edward swore.

"What? What about the wolves?" Amy demanded, her frustration growing like raging fire.

"I didn't catch it all. She's out of my range."

"But what exactly did you see?" Amy took hold of Edward's arm and held on tight.

"The wolves were with Jacob in Aro's throne room. They were having quite a heated discussion, but I didn't see how it ended. Alice may not even know."

"Bella," Amy gasped. Her eyes lit up like sparks as she remembered. "She was supposed to bring Jacob back to Aro, remember? She made a deal with him to save Jacob's life. But why did they take Alice?"

"That's simple," Jasper answered through gritted teeth. "It's so we can't see what they're planning." Jasper turned to look at Edward, his usually calm face contorted with rage. "I'm going after her. Tell Carlisle."

"You know they'll take her to Italy. We should fly with you," Edward replied sensibly.

"Yes," Amy added. "We should all go."

"Not everyone," Jasper said quickly. "Edward, explain it to her. I'm going alone. Let me follow them, and if I find out where they've gone, I'll call you."

"Okay. But be careful," Edward grasped Jasper's hand and gave it a quick grip. "If we don't hear from you, we'll go straight to the Volturi. First we have to warn the Quileute."

Amy and Edward felt a slight breeze as Jasper bolted off the edge of the cliff. The mist swirled darkly in his wake, and then he was gone. For a few moments, Edward listened to the empty silence, but he could hear nothing. Amy could tell Edward was especially displeased.

"What will they do to her?" Amy asked in a concerned tone.

"Don't worry," he said evasively. "Aro would never want her destroyed. Her talent is too precious of a gift to waste. Come on. We need to get back to Carlisle."

"Wait," she said. "What did Jasper mean when he said you'd 'explain it to me?' Why doesn't he want me to come with you? I could be a big help. I'm a newborn, remember? Strong and fast—"

"Yes, and that's exactly why you can't come along. You'd be confined in a jet filled with the smell of humans, and the sound of pumping blood. They'd be easy prey with nowhere to go …" Edward closed his eyes as he pictured the scene. "It even makes me thirsty just thinking about it. You'd go crazy."

Amy's dark eyes glazed over at the thought as she shuddered. Yes, she thought, Jasper was right.

"We need to hurry," Edward said urgently. "I have an idea, but I need his help."

"Okay then, let's go," Amy said. Edward grasped Amy around the waist, and together they took off.

xxxxxxx

As Carlisle began to explain the philosophy of his family to Bella, he heard Edward's cry as he and Amy bolted away after Jasper. Startled, Carlisle suddenly felt Esme at his elbow.

"What's wrong?" he said as he spun around to face her.

"Alice and Jasper. They're gone," Esme exclaimed.

"Gone?"

"Yes! They were here a few minutes ago. And the Volturi are gone, too."

"Where did Amy go?" Jacob asked worriedly. "And who are the Volturi?"

Beside him, Bella's mouth opened slightly, her eyes widening in horror. Something must have gone wrong. Alec and Santiago were supposed to wait and accompany her and Jacob back to Italy and eventually, to Aro.

"Emmett said Amy and Edward shouted something about Alice and then took off," Esme explained in a panic. Her eyes were swimming with fear as she looked up at Carlisle. "What are we going to do?"

Quickly Carlisle turned to Bella. "We'll need your help. You have to tell us what happened," he demanded, his voice strained. "Where are they taking her? You were working with the Volturi. You must know."

"N-no! I don't know. I—"

"Please, Bella. There's no time. Why did they take her?" Carlisle had run out of patience. Alice was in danger, and he needed answers, but Bella seemed bewildered. "You must tell us. What is their plan?"

"I told you, I don't know," she finally answered. "I was working with them, yes, b-but I have no idea why they took her."

"What the fuck is going on?" Jacob asked. Bella shook her head and gave him a look of warning before turning back to Carlisle.

"You must know something." Carlisle said in frustration. "What do they have to hide? What don't they want us to see? Bella, you need to tell us everything." Without Edward as interpreter, Carlisle needed to Bella to cooperate. "Can you start with why you approached Aro? What did you promise him?"

"I had to do something," Bella tried to explain. "After I … I changed Jacob …" She bit her lip and looked up into Jake's questioning eyes. "I didn't know what to do. I was waiting outside your house watching. You can't imagine. I was so worried. I really thought I might have killed Jake."

While Carlisle listened, he watched Esme step a short distance away. She was trying to raise Alice on her cell phone, but she wasn't having any luck.

Bella turned back to look at Jacob. "I almost couldn't live with myself. I don't know what I would have done if you … if you had—"

"But I didn't," Jacob said patiently. "I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." He'd slipped his arm around her waist and spoke the words directly into her ear. Hardly anything else mattered to him now that he had Bella. She was the focus of his existence. "Just tell us what happened."

"Bella, we don't have much time," Carlisle said urgently.

"Yes, I'm sorry," she replied. "On the very first day after I bit Jake, a Volturi courier found me in the forest. She said she had a message to deliver. She must have been watching your house, Carlisle. Somehow the Volturi heard about Jake's condition—that he was a werewolf bitten by a vampire. They were—"

"Curious?" Carlisle interjected.

"Very curious. She wanted to know all about you," she said to Jake. "Where you came from, were there others like you, how many. I wouldn't tell her anything, but then she showed me her necklace, you know, the one only the Volturi wear?" She'd turned and looked at Carlisle. He nodded. "She told me that Aro wanted to see me. And so, I went. I didn't have a choice."

"That was the first day, you said, just after the accident?"

"Yes, and the courier and I took the next fight out. The Volturi had a passport ready for me, papers, airline tickets—everything. It was pretty intimidating. The Volturi had to have been watching me all along. I think somehow they knew what I … what I was thinking about doing."

"You were planning on changing me?" Jacob asked her. Suddenly Bella's last minute rescue had taken on a much darker tone.

"Well, not exactly."

"Then how, exactly?" Jacob wasn't quite sure how to take this new information. His grip on Bella's waist tightened as he waited for her to answer.

"Please, this isn't the time," Carlisle interrupted, his usual patience completely gone. "Tell us what you told Aro."

Bella looked away from Jacob's accusing eyes and tried to focus, but it wasn't easy. "He wanted to see Jake for himself. See if he was dangerous. If Jacob turned out to be more vampire than werewolf, he wanted to keep him there." Bella turned back to Jacob. "He wanted you very badly, and I think he still does."

"Who is this joker Aro, anyway?" Jacob scoffed. "What right— "

"He a very powerful vampire, probably the most powerful vampire in the world, and he wants you for his collection."

"Sure, sure," Jacob said dismissively. "Like I give a rat's ass."

"You're a unique being. One of a kind. I think he was going to ask you to join the Volturi, but he knew you probably wouldn't come on your own. So, he gave me an ultimatum. He promised not to kill you if I would bring you to him. I promised him that both you and I would join their coven."

"So," Jacob said flatly, "You chose for me. You made the decision without even asking me. Well, guess what? I'm not going."

"But, you have to. They'll come here. They'll find you and—"

"And what?" Jake replied, his voice packed into a growl. "Rip my head off? Tear me to pieces? I can handle anything they throw at me." He shook his head, but he saw the fear in Bella's eyes. Not fear for herself, but fear for him. "Listen. I understand what you were trying to do, but I won't be their slave."

A cell phone rang intrusively, the insistent strains of Beethoven's fifth symphony coming from Carlisle's pocket. In an instant, he'd flipped it open.

"Yes?" Carlisle answered. Bella, Jake and Esme stared at Carlisle expectantly as his eyes flicked back and forth, a strained expression clouding his features. "They never made it to the airport? But could they have gone somewhere else? A private airport?" More silence was followed by Carlisle's frown. "Canada? How do you know?" Slowly he nodded. "We'll join you in Port Angeles in two hours."

Just as he closed the phone, Amy and Edward ran up.

"Did you hear from Jasper?" Edward inquired anxiously.

"Yes. He found Alice's scarf. She'd written a message on it … in blood."

"What did it say?" Amy asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"It said 'Vancouver Terminal B.'"

Edward shouted. "Let's go."

A/N: Thank you to my beta Fainting Fancies. Comments welcome.

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