author's notes: an INSANE amount of apologies for the long wait, my exams have brought down the muse hard, and make it very difficult to focus on anything else. still, hope you all enjoy the new chapter, let me know what you think. super THANK YOU to all my reviewers and a super-special thanks to my beta helaluvE.

characters (this chapter): Edward/Bella, Jasper/Alice, Rosalie

warnings: au. wip. all vampire. all canon pairings/characters. changing POVs (underlined)

disclaimer: fic•tion [fíksh'n]: literary works of imagination


IN THE SHADOWS

chapter 29: hide and seek (3)


(Bella POV)

Everything was going so fast for me; I felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride, held in place only by Edward and the rest of my family. Rosalie's reaction had taken me by surprise most of all. At first when I had met her ice-cold gaze I thought she was angry with me, though I couldn't understand why. Now that she had explained her past to me, how Royce had hurt her, and how she had always wanted a child of her own, it all made sense to me; Rose's support, her anger towards James even though she'd never met him. Next to Edward, she was my strongest supporter.

Not that I could say anything bad about the others. Emmett would have joined us in an instant if Jasper hadn't thought it better for him to stay behind. Alice had assured me that James wouldn't go to Forks, but still, I couldn't help but be worried about Esme, Carlisle and Emmett. James was of course no match for Emmett, my strong big brother. James might have been a great tracker, but when it came to fighting, I'd put my money on Emmett any day.

Alice's visions going blank was yet another worry of mine: she'd told us it was something that hadn't happened to her before, so naturally everyone was worried. Part of me wanted to agree with Edward when he told me we shouldn't go into anything blindly, but my desire to find my daughter was much stronger. For the first time in my life I knew where I needed to be, where I needed to end up. And that was in a life where I had my daughter and Edward right by my side.

I hated seeing Edward and Rosalie arguing over me, especially when they were both just looking after me in their own way. Rosalie understood my will to find this missing piece of me, my little girl, though if she truly had been aging in my mind, it was very possible she wasn't that little anymore in reality. And Edward, he just knew me better than anyone; he knew my moods now, my body, my past and present, and he was my future. I couldn't do without him, nor could I do without the support my family was giving me. Esme, Rosalie and Alice all related, and Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett tried to understand. I couldn't be more grateful for that even if I tried.

In all the crazy mayhem surrounding us, I had even talked to Edward about marrying him. It wasn't in that many words, but I told him it had crossed my mind, like I knew without a doubt it had crossed his; that's how he had been raised. It only seemed like the next logical step towards our eternity together. It wasn't something I would have ever considered if I'd still been human, get married so young, but then in human years I would have been twenty-three by now.

I knew that seeing Lauren again would be trying; not only because she was human, but now that I knew she had learned I was vampire I had no idea how to behave around her. I said as little as possible the entire time we were there, to make sure I didn't say anything wrong, to make certain I didn't go for her blood, but it seemed my preoccupation with finding my daughter soothed most of the thirst. Strange, I thought, but maybe I was just that focused. It wouldn't be the first time my focus had taken the best of me; in this case I was thankful for it.

"The scent heads east. It'll probably lead us to Bella's apartment," Jasper said once he'd picked up James' scent again. I could have told him that before ever coming to see Lauren, but I kept it to myself. I already had the slight suspicion that Edward had asked the rest of them to make this little detour so I could explain some things to Lauren, and show her that I was alright. Bless him. "It'll take some time to find it there, but it's not impossible."

"Don't worry Lauren, we'll take good care of her," Edward said, and squeezed my hand in encouragement. I guessed that Lauren was worrying about me, even though there was nothing to be worried about. I wanted to say something, but I was still holding my breath. I thought it best to just leave without saying anything at all. Maybe when all of this was over, I'd have a chance to talk to her properly.

"Will she be alright?" I asked Edward as soon as we were making our way downstairs again. He had undoubtedly heard all of Lauren's thoughts.

"She was a little overwhelmed," he grinned, and opened the car door for me to get in. I didn't get in; I wanted to know what he had to say first. I could hardly blame Lauren for being overwhelmed by seeing five vampires on her doorstep; but at least Edward didn't say she'd been scared. "And she definitely has questions. But for now she's just happy to see you happy," he smiled softly, a gesture I could only grant him half-heartedly. It was sweet of her to worry of course, but I was much more worried about her mental well-being.

"Are we ready?" Alice called out to all of us from the first car; she was alone, I guessed that Jasper had taken a head start to my apartment already, to make sure we'd be able to hurry on fast. I got in the car, Edward driving this time, Rosalie joining Alice in the other car. Despite the fact that they'd both calmed down, Alice and I seemed to agree to keep Edward and Rosalie separated for the time being.

Jasper was tracking James on foot, because it was simply easier that way, and the rest of us followed in the cars. Alice called Esme and Carlisle for updates regularly, just so they'd know about our progress; I had never seen a better organized road trip. It seemed that Jasper was just as experienced in tracking as James was; knowing James, he'd do whatever he could to cover up his tracks, but Jasper was dead convinced that we were on the right path. And without Alice's vision to guide us, we had no choice but to trust him.

Our journey took us all the way to Seattle.

The city was bustling with people, even at night, making it more difficult for Jasper to follow the right scent. I knew that after me, he was the most recent in the Cullen family to turn 'vegetarian'. I hoped I wasn't asking too much of him. Something told me it wasn't in his nature to complain though. "There are other vampires here," Jasper said as soon as we got out of the cars, "It'll take me some time to pick up the trail again," he added.

"Take your time," Edward said.

"Wait," I called out, and Jasper stopped quickly in his tracks. Edward's eyes rested on me, but he didn't ask me what was wrong yet. I took a step forward, and breathed in deeply, my hand still in Edward's. "Do you smell that?" I asked to no one in particular. There was something floral hidden in the night's air. It was familiar to me.

"It's another scent. Another vampire," Jasper said, and I heard him take a step closer to me. "Do you recognise it?" he asked. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. My blurred memories suddenly returned to me with more clarity than ever before. I'd never had Victoria's scent locked away the way Jasper had memorized James', but something in my human memory was reawakened when I caught the smell.

"It's Victoria," Edward answered for me, seeing her image in my head once again.

"Let's go," Rosalie said, picking up on the scent herself, ready to follow it wherever it led us.

"Rose, hang on," both Edward and I called. I smiled up at him briefly. I watched him concentrate, closing his eyes, searching for any thoughts that could help us out. I was pretty sure he would recognise James' thoughts by now. "It's okay," Edward opened his eyes again, "He's nowhere near here," he said. I didn't know how far Edward's gift reached, but I released a breath, feeling instantly relieved. At the same time, a wave of disappointment hit me; my daughter probably wasn't here either.

We followed Victoria's scent two blocks further, away from the crowds as we had expected. The scent became stronger the closer we got, but there was no sound to accompany it; it seemed strange, because Victoria should have known we were coming as well. Another vampire's scent was very distinct to us, let alone five vampires all travelling together.

Rosalie kicked the door in when we arrived at the place where the scent was most potent; it made a hollow sound when it got torn from its hinges and dropped to the floor. We heard a scraping sound when we walked inside, all together, our senses raised to the highest level of alertness. What was that? My foot hit something lying on the floor. "Oh my God." I took a fearful step back, and felt my back connecting with Edward's chest, his hands on my shoulders. It was an arm.

My eyes went wide as I looked further into the room, Victoria's limbs were scattered all over the floor. She lay torn to pieces, with James' scent all over her skin. He did this. Why?

"This was recent," Jasper said as he crouched down beside Victoria's torso. As if finding her like this hadn't been horrible enough, it seemed like the body parts were starting to move back together. "He can't be far," Jasper growled, probably not because of Victoria's current state, but because how brutal an attack it seemed. It also made no sense to me whatsoever. Why would James attack his own companion?

I felt Edward pull me by the hand, and Rosalie's hand came to rest on my arm as well, to push me out of the room and continue our search; it was clear my daughter was not here. "We have to make sure she's okay," I objected nonetheless. I couldn't just leave Victoria like this, torn apart by a man she loved. Even despite all the things she did to me, I wouldn't leave her to her fate the way she had left me five years ago.

"Bella, are you serious?" Rosalie was the only one that didn't accept my statement, probably for the same reasons that would have convinced me to walk away; but it seemed I was much more compassionate than Rose. "After what she did to you?" Rose asked.

"She has spend the past five years with James and my daughter," I looked at Rose, and saw her eyes mellow instantly; she knew that I was right. "She might know where he's going. Hell, if Edward can just see something, anything, then..."

"Okay," Rosalie interrupted me. "But don't expect me to be nice."

"What about James?" I asked, looking at Jasper.

He in turn looked at Alice. "Alice?" he asked.

"I can't..." Alice's eyes narrowed, but she shook her head again, just like she had done last time her vision went blank. It seemed we were still blind. "I still can't see him," she cast down her eyes. She hated not being able to see anything; she felt guilty, as if somehow she was responsible for her gift not working properly. We had all told her that it wasn't her fault, but she wouldn't listen. Now however, a small smile appeared on her face. "Bright side, I can see all of you again," she looked up, "And we're fine, she won't attack or anything."

"How is this possible?" I asked, looking down at Victoria's body again. Her arm reattached itself to her shoulder, making a disgusting snapping sound as it did. I had never seen anything like it. Was there really no limit to a vampire's regenerative ability? I suddenly felt grateful for never having had the chance to find out.

"Our kind are very hard to kill, Bella," Jasper answered. I was aware by now that he had fought others of our kind many times before; I wondered how many bodies like this he had seen in his lifetime. "That clearly wasn't his intention either," he added, in sync with my own thoughts. As unbelievable it was that James would ever attack his Victoria in the first place, I couldn't help but wonder why. Why now? Was it because he knew we were following him?

Victoria was in no way slower than him, so why did I get the feeling that he had considered her a burden?


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