Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I just enjoy playing with her characters. Unfortunately, Lawrence belongs to me. I'd much prefer Edward.

This chapter was beta'd by Bronze. I know you're having too much fun to read this, but thanks for everything. Your hard work is always appreciated.


Mirage Chapter twenty-nine

Things that go bump in the night

EPOV

Ever since we came home from Volterra, the monster has been taunting me, baiting me. I know he's out there, waiting and watching. The frustration is suffocating. My fears have only escalated after the wedding. It seemed after we returned from our honeymoon, the taunting has become nearly constant. Instead of the inane chatter that buzzed off of everyone in my vicinity, my mind seemed to be focused solely on the horrible scenes that flashed before my mind.

The thought of leaving Bella's side terrified me. I know she thinks I'm some sort of control freak, but the real fact is that I'm scared that I'll turn my back for a minute and she'll be gone. I try to blend in, be inconspicuous, but I know she can sense my presence, the same way I can always sense hers. Something as simple as a trip to the mall with Alice makes me follow in the shadows. I'm no better than the obsessed vampire stalker I used to be when I first realized I was falling for my little human. Yet this time I do it to protect her; the curiosity is gone, and she is mine.

I'm sure they all think I'm being irrational. I follow her everywhere. The Volvo would be too conspicuous, so I follow on foot. I know he's coming for her - I can feel it. He keeps telling me I'm no good for her, that I'm no better than he is. I know he's wrong, but it's hard to break the mind set that has been nagging me almost daily for several years. I know I should have never interacted with Bella. She'd be a happy college freshman, dating an interesting, intellectual guy, and most importantly, she'd still be alive.

Because of my selfishness, she will never have a long-term career, due to the need to move frequently. Her chance to find love, date different people until she finds the prefect match, marry and have children has been stolen from her. She has sacrificed the rest of her life with her parents. I'm surprised the loss hasn't killed her father. She'll never know the joy of having children. All of these things I've stolen from her.

My brother is absolutely right. I am no good for her. I've destroyed her human life.

Because of me, she runs the risk everyday of being tortured or killed by my brother. My twin. The genetically identical double of myself. I haven't seen him in 80 years, and I wondered if Bella would be able to tell us apart. Carlisle couldn't.

I'm afraid if I left her side for even a moment, he'll turn on his sick charm and lure her away from me. By the time she realizes what's happened, she'll be in the clutches of my evil twin and Victoria. I'd dropped out of classes at Cornell, and Carlisle arranged for me to take a break for a semester. We both knew that we wouldn't be here for the next semester.

I've been able to successfully keep Alice out of my mind, and no one but Carlisle knows I'm not attending classes. I need that time to follow Bella through her classes to be certain she's safe and accounted for at all times. I have this gnawing fear that if he ever gets her into his evil clutches, I'll never see her again, and even worse, I'll leave her undefended against this monster.

He knows I'd follow them to the ends of the earth to find her. He'd like nothing better than to torture me with images of what he's doing to her, with her, while I can't bring her to safety. No, I definitely cannot allow that to happen.

For several days I've caught glimpses of white, just here and there, running among the trees behind the house. I know he's testing the waters. He wants to see how close he can get before someone notices. I know he's here. Victoria won't come near here, as they all know her scent. But his scent they'll never suspect. It's nearly identical to mine.

I wish he'd just get it over with and make his move. The terrorism is more than I'm able to handle. I needed to talk with certain members of my family. Carlisle will have a game plan and Alice has already seen. I believe it's time to come clean.

Knowing he's inside reading, I stopped by Carlisle's study. "Hey can we talk for a minute, Carlisle?"

"Of course, what's on your mind?"

"I really think it's time for me to sit down and explain everything to the family about Lawrence."

He nodded. "I agree, Edward. Before there's some kind of catastrophe, we should tell them. Don't worry, son. I made the mistake, but it's really your story to tell. I'll help you get over the rough patches."

"I know it's not been fair of me to keep it to myself, but the embarrassment has had me paralyzed. I just wasn't ready."

"Do you want to gather them all now?"

I thought for a minute. "No, I want to hunt first. I need some time alone to decide what I want to say to them; I'm afraid they'll all hate me for putting them at risk. I've been so wrapped up in following Bella everywhere that I haven't hunted in weeks. I'm not feeling like myself. I know I'm weak and I can't let that happen if I'm going to be able to defend any of you against what's coming. I know Bella's safe right now; Rose and Alice are doing her hair. If she knows I'm going off to hunt, she'll want to come along. I don't want to take her out there, just the two of us, right now. I'd rather we all hunt when Bella goes."

"What are you afraid of? She's shown great restraint. There really isn't any concern."

"I am afraid… that my brother is out there somewhere waiting for us to get separated so he can snatch her and run with her." I saw the wheels turning in his mind. I couldn't believe he hadn't picked it up before. "I've had glimpses of something, or someone, running in the woods in the evening. Near twilight. It's not human; it's too white. It's one of us. I know it's him."

"Okay, son, when you return I'll have them all ready. Don't worry, it will be alright. They are your family. They'll understand."

"Thanks, I'll be back soon. I'm not going far, probably the park near the covered bridge. I just need something to take the edge off, if you know what I mean."

He had to smile; of course he knew. "No problem. See you in an hour or so."

As I was heading out the door, I passed Esme. "I'll be back in a bit."

She smiled at me, that motherly smile that always melted my heart, no matter what kind of day I've had. I gave her a hug as we passed. Little did I know it would be the last time I interacted with a member of the Cullen family.

As I cleared the porch, I caught a flash of white a few hundred feet away. Like a shot, I followed it into the woods. As soon as I was out of sight of the house, something hit me like a rocket. I was slammed into a tree so hard that we broke it by falling it. Before I knew what hit me, my legs were out from under me. As quickly as I could, I jumped to my feet. Spinning around, I caught another glimpse of alabaster skin and a shock of bronze hair. I knew it had been him watching us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stalking towards me, hands outstretched.

"You can make this difficult, Edward, or you can just come along nice and quiet. Either way, you're coming with us."

I don't think so! He rushed me and tackled me at the waist, pushing me backwards into another tree. I felt the ground shake as the tree, roots and all began to tip behind the force that had ploughed me into it.

We rolled in the dirt; Lawrence had sticks and dead leaves in his hair. His shirt was dirty and torn. His face smudged with soil. This was the Lawrence from Alice's vision. She knew it was coming, yet there was no way to prevent it.

From out of nowhere, I smelled dog. This was a scent I recognized. What the hell? Looking up, I saw the dark russet skin of Bella's best friend. He had an ugly sneer on his face, resembling a predator.

I had underestimated Jacob Black. To the left of Jacob was a small Indian woman with a very choppy haircut. Not choppy like Alice's, but more like she cut it herself. I didn't recognize the woman, but she must have been a descendant of Ephriam Black. Behind the Indian woman was the unmistakable hair of none other than Victoria.

Victoria walked over and gave me a kick in the ribs, taking my breath away. The pain was excruciating. Then the Indian girl grabbed my ankle and twisted. I heard it snap. Oh God, they're going to take me out right here and then get Bella. Jake- Jake will kill Bella. I heard laughter, mocking me; it was my own voice, except I was silent.

"No, dear brother, that wasn't exactly the plan, but perhaps we'll change our minds."

Jake was standing over me, an evil look in his eyes. He put his foot on my left leg, and yanked on my right one, mid thigh. It made a sickening sound as it broke. All I could manage to do was thrash around. I couldn't get to my feet. I was helpless. Victoria looked at the dogs and said, "Come on, help me get him in the van. It won't be long and they'll all be out here looking for them."

Jake grabbed me under the arms. When did he grow so much? I remember seeing him through Carlisle's eyes at Bella's memorial; he was lean, lanky like the teen that he was. Today he would easily give Emmett a run for his money. Jacob Black was huge! The girl grabbed my feet and they threw me in the back of a van. There was a bench seat and two bucket seats in the front, but the back of the van was bare. The carpet had been pulled up, the seat removed. It smelled of dog. There were stickers on the ceiling. Apparently, the van belonged to the Quileute school.

I wonder if they sponsored the trip. Perhaps it was some sort of school project, Vampire Annihilation 101.

Victoria's voice was coming from the very front. She was whispering sweet nothings to someone. Certainly not Jacob Black, even he wouldn't stoop that low. Then I heard the laugh again. Lawrence was here. I was certain he'd go after Bella after I was unable to defend her. I heard the others get into the van. Slowly, quietly, I heard the van begin to roll down the gravel road that wound through the woods and passed our house. I wasn't sure exactly where we were, but I started screaming. I couldn't stand, but I kicked the doors on the van with everything I had. Before I knew what hit me, the girl made a terrible ripping sound and suddenly she was on top of me in the back. Her wolf self wasn't any more attractive than her human one. She lay across me, teeth bared. I knew she could rip my head off. I laid back down in defeat. I've been thinking so hard, trying to communicate with Alice.

His laugh was menacing. "She can't hear you, dear brother! It's the wolves. Isn't it great! Not only are they your adversary, but they prevent you from calling for help."

I was completely shut off from my family and at the mercy of my brother and his minions. I didn't stand a chance. It seemed like I was jostled around in the back of that van for an eternity. In actuality, it had probably been two to three hours since we had left Ithaca. The wolf girl was laying next to me now. At least she was no longer on top of me. She wasn't hurting me, but the stench was overpowering. I tried to stretch my legs, but they no longer worked the way they had. The leg that Jacob broke was in pretty bad shape. There was no longer any question in my mind, I could not walk on it the way it was, and none of my captors was going to repair it. I was stranded until my family found me. With the newfound knowledge that the presence of the werewolves blocked Alice's visions, I didn't know if they ever would.

If I was in a position to land a punch, strategically, into one of the wolves, I might've been able to inflict enough damage to take them out. Just as surely as my brother wouldn't doctor my wounds, he would let the wolves perish once they had served whatever purpose he had for them in his sick little mind.

I felt the van slow down and pull onto a gravel road. I had been watching out the window but because of my position, couldn't see more than tree tops and an occasional power line out the window above my head.

I was fucked.


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