Huge thanks to Gredelina1 for beta'ing.

Chapter Fifteen — Victoria

Bella

Something stopped me from telling Jacob what had happened the next morning. I was afraid it had been some kind of hallucination. I told myself if it happened again, I would tell him, but it took another two weeks of visiting Edward for me to come clean, and that was because he caught me at it.

I had lingered too late one morning while Jacob slept, because the family had been hunting together, and I had been lost in the sight of the people I loved and missed. When I finally tore myself away and back to my body, Jacob was already awake and shaking me.

"Bella! Bella, please!" he cried. "Wake up!"

My eyes snapped open and I sat up in one smooth movement. "It's okay, Jake. I'm here." I was mortified to see tears in his eyes when I looked at him.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. "You wouldn't wake up and you weren't moving—not even breathing. I thought you were dead!"

I forced a smile. "I am, kinda."

"I'm not kidding, Bella. What happened?"

I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest. "I… It was me… drifting."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, that clears that up… No, wait… It doesn't. What the hell, Bella?"

Slowly, haltingly, I told him what had happened to me, leaving out mentions of Edward, making it sound like I had merely been exploring the area instead of visiting invisibly with my love.

"You're telling me you can just… drift off to wherever you like?" he asked doubtfully.

"I don't know," I said carefully. "I have been able to for a couple weeks now. I don't know how or why though. It's more than imagination. I am not just envisaging these things and places. I am actually seeing them."

"You're gifted," he said in an awed tone. "I mean I knew gifts existed, you told us they did, but I never thought you'd have one. It's… Wow, Bells."

I smiled. "Seems like it anyway."

"This is awesome. Think what you can do now. You can see anyone you want. Have you…" He looked awkward. "Have you seen Charlie?"

I bowed my head. I hadn't once thought of seeing my father with this ability. The kindest explanation was that I was avoiding the pain of seeing him again, but it wasn't completely true. It was Edward. He drew me like a magnet. I wanted to see him more than I wanted anyone. I was a terrible person.

"That's okay," Jacob said bracingly. "It might make things worse for you. Can you… Never mind."

"What, Jake?" I asked.

He looked nervous. "Can you check on Billy for me? It's just… He's on his own now. I worry…"

I felt a wave of guilt. "Of course, Jake."

I closed my eyes and tried to find a calming center to enable me to drift. It wasn't easy; I was anxious and guilty now. I focused on the soothing sound of Jacob's deep breaths. As soon as I found that sound, I relaxed and felt myself go. I took a moment to look down at myself and saw Jacob watching me carefully as I sat, silent and unresponsive, and then I let myself go. Billy's name whispered through my mind, and I found myself pulled towards him.

He was in the little red house of the edge of the forest, sitting in his wheelchair. He looked reasonably well, maybe a little tired and stressed, but he was a picture of health compared to the man on the couch. Charlie. He was sitting hunched over with a mug of coffee in his hand, and his face was drawn and haggard. He was dressed in his uniform and his gun was on his hip.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Billy said. "There's still no sign. Sam and the other boys have been searching, but there's no guarantee she will surface. You know what the currents are like here."

I surmised from this that my death and lack of body had been explained as a drowning. It was as good an excuse as they would be able to come up with without telling him the truth.

Charlie got to his feet. "I guessed as much. Had to see though. I better get into the station. Mark's covering for me at the moment, but he's got Beth and the baby to get back to." He made for the door and then turned back to Billy. "Still no word from Jacob?"

Billy shook his head. "Nothing yet. I know my son. He will come back when he's ready. He… Well, you know how he felt about Bella. The accident hit him hard."

Charlie scrubbed a hand over his face as if wiping away the tears that hadn't fallen "He's a good kid. So was she. She was my…" He trailed off.

"I know, Charlie," Billy said in a low voice. "Come back when your shift's over. Harry and Sue are bringing dinner over, and I know they'd like to see you."

"Yeah, maybe," Charlie said vaguely.

I couldn't watch anymore. I couldn't see my father's suffering and know there was nothing I could do for him. I could handle Edward's as I knew he would be happy again one day when he was with my young self. I had seen it. I had no guarantee Charlie would have happiness again.

I felt myself snap back into my body and a sob built in my throat. I covered my face with my hands.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked quickly. "He's okay, right?"

I nodded and reluctantly dropped my hands. "He's okay, Jake. Harry and Sue are taking care of him. It's Charlie that's not. He's…" I couldn't finish as a wave of fury swept through me. I got to my feet and circled our small camp with my hands fisted. This was all so wrong. So unfair. I had been prepared for my death, I had made peace with it even, but stupidly, selfishly, I hadn't considered the people I was leaving behind properly. If Charlie, who rarely showed emotion, looked like that, how would Renee look? It was unfair and I wanted revenge.

"Her…" I snarled. "This is all because of her."

"Ummm… who?" Jacob asked cautiously.

"Victoria!" I hissed. "She did this to me. She stole my life and future. She did this to me and to you. She did this to Charlie and Renee. She did it to all of us."

In comparison to my murderous rage, Jacob looked relaxed. "Yeah, she did. She screwed us all over. So, what are you going to do about it?" He saw my incredulous look and he laughed a little. "Bells, you're a vampire now with a kickass gift. You want revenge, you can have it. Track her down and we'll end her."

"We can do that," I said slowly.

"Sure we can. All we've got to do is find her and it'll be easy. With your mad vamp skills and my wolfy ones, we can kill her."

I nodded slowly. "Yes. That's what I want."

Jacob clapped his hands together. "Awesome. One dead vamp coming up."

The fire that was my need for revenge burned in me. I spent hours searching for Victoria, but it wasn't as easy as finding Edward or Billy. Familiarity seemed to be the key. I tried though, searching for hours at a time, and though I perfected the process needed to drift—calming myself and being able to let go of the physical—I found no way to connect with Victoria in a way that worked. I would see glimpses occasionally, her running through a forest or in a city, but there was no way of knowing where she was.

When I wasn't searching for Victoria or spending my nights with Edward, we were dealing with other day-to-day parts of being a vampire and werewolf living wild. I found that it eased the burn in my throat to hunt regularly, so every other day or so Jacob would change into his wolf form and we would search for prey. He couldn't eat the meat of the animals I hunted, as the venom would seep into the flesh, so he would hunt his own food while I hunted mine. He preferred real food though, so we would occasionally move into human areas for him to retrieve some supplies and clean clothes from houses or hikers.

He was on one of those retrieval trips when I had the first useful glance at Victoria. She was in a forest and it looked as though she had killed a hiker. His backpack and belongings were strewn on the ground, and she was rooting through them, looking for something. My gaze flickered over the scene, searching for something that would give me a clue of her location. The fates were on my side; as she threw down a plastic folder on the ground, I saw a map marked Kluane National Park with sharpie marked places. I wanted to go back to myself, to tell Jacob what I had seen and to start our journey to her, but sense overpowered. Just because there had been a map, it didn't mean that was where she was. It could have been part of a collection the hiker had camped with. I needed more information. I looked around the destroyed campsite and trees surrounding it, and spotted something along the trail. There was a wooden marker with a number on it; the type Rangers used to locate people when they needed help. It was marked Forty-One, which didn't tell me much, but below that was the Kluane National Forest emblem.

Feeling that things were finally going right, I snapped back to our camp and my body. "Jake, you won't believe what I…" I trailed off when I realized he wasn't there. He was still out collecting.

Without thought, I leapt to my feet and began running, tracing his potent scent through the trees. I heard the rumble of a car on the road before saw the small house.

I took a breath to call Jacob's name, and that was when the scent hit me. It was so rich, so tempting, I knew at once it was human. My mouth flooded with venom, and I bit back a growl. My instincts were screaming at me to run to the scent, to feed and sate the thirst, but my will overpowered it. I didn't want to kill someone. I didn't want to risk tearing a family apart. I walked forward slowly, fixing the image of Charlie's grief stricken face in my mind, and walked into the yard. I could only hear one heartbeat in the house, and it was a deep, reverberating sound I knew well: Jacob's heartbeat, so I eased open the back door and stepped inside. I called Jacob's name, and he appeared in the hall, half a Twinkie in his hand, the other half in his mouth. "What?" he asked thickly.

"Victoria!" I said quickly. "I've seen her. She's in Kluane Park!"

He dropped the cake and gripped my shoulders. "Are you sure?"

I nodded excitedly. "I saw one of those trail markers."

"This is awesome," he said happily.

"We've got to find her. I don't know how long she'll stay. I figure we need to find the camp she was at and then follow her scent from there. We need to get to the Park."

Jacob laughed softly. "Someone up there loves us, Bells. We're in the park already. Or just outside it. Look." He picked up a sheaf of envelopes from a side table and waved them in my face. Through the clear plastic window I could see the address. Marshall Creek Road. Haines Junction. "We're about a five minute run away. What was the marker you saw?"

"Forty-One."

He pushed past me into the small kitchen and sat down at the table where there was a laptop. He flipped it open and typed quickly for a moment then snapped it closed. "I've got it. You ready for this?"

"More than ready," I said in a low growl.

He grinned. "Come on then, we've got a vamp needs killing."

Edward

I was sitting on the couch, staring at the piano, trying to find the will to play. I was thinking of Bella and the lullaby I had been composing for her. I wanted to complete it. I wanted it ready when I went to her again, so she could hear it in its entirety at last, but I couldn't make myself do it. I knew her phantom memory would be with me as I played, and I couldn't bear that. Since Carlisle had forced me to realize the dark fate that had befallen Bella, I found her presence less soothing, steeped in guilt as it was. Perhaps she sensed that, because she didn't stay as long as she used to. Before, I would have whole nights of her presence, now she stayed only a little while before leaving me. I hoped she had found a better place to be, a better person to stay with when she wasn't with me.

Esme came into the room and saw where my gaze lay. Please, Edward, play for me.

I hated to deny her anything, especially something that would bring her so much joy, but I had never felt less connection to music. It was a thing of joy, something I liked to do, and I didn't deserve that anymore. I deserved nothing, not even death, as that would give me peace and I had denied that to my Bella. I was sure I knew why she was here, what her unfinished business was: me. She had died knowing I still loved her, and knowing that I was eternal. Her dedication to me had lasted almost her entire life, she had always waited for me and been true, why should that end with death?

"I think I will go for a run," I said, getting smoothly to my feet.

My poor son. She came to stand in front of me and cupped my cheeks in her hands. "Shall I come with you?"

I forced a smile. "I won't be gone long." I didn't want company. I was forced to maintain something of a dignified calm when I was among the rest of the family, to shield them as much as was possible, and I needed the privacy of my runs to feel freely, to allow the misery free rein for a while. The only one I couldn't fool was Jasper. He never disputed my need for privacy though, as he needed the reprieve, too. His gift was a true burden around me now.

I reached the door when I heard Alice's hiss and Jasper's concerned questions. All thoughts of privacy leaving me, I raced up the stairs to their bedroom. Alice was sitting on the window seat and Jasper was beside her, his arm around her shoulders.

I dropped to my knees in front of Alice and gripped her hands. Her thoughts filled my mind, images rushing through.

"Victoria," I breathed.

I barely heard the exclamations of shock from the rest of my family or Emmett's whoop of glee. I wasn't truly in the room; I was in a forest clearing, watching Victoria pounce on a man and sink her teeth into his neck. The man struggled for a moment and then, as the blood loss weakened him, he fell still. Victoria dropped him down to the ground and wiped a hand over her bloody mouth, smearing her cheeks crimson.

"Look around, Alice," I murmured. "We need to know where."

Alice's view pulled back and I caught sight of a trail marker. I sucked in a harsh breath. "When, Alice?"

"Soon," she whispered.

"Will we make it in time?"

She shook her head. "Not to save him."

I got to my feet and made for the door. Victoria was in Canada, soon she would be in the Park and a poor, innocent man would lose his life. We would not be able to save him, but we would be able to avenge him. Him, Bella, and every other person she had destroyed in her long life.

"Wait!" Emmett called after me. "What's happening? Where is she?"

"Canada," Alice answered, following me out the door. "Kluane National Park. I saw a trail marker. Esme, look on the Park Service's map for marker forty-seven. Call us when you know where it is."

"Of course," Esme said, internally lamenting the fact she would not be with us on the hunt. She had no taste for violence ordinarily, but she was more than a little bloodthirsty for Victoria. She wasn't alone. Even Carlisle, the most passive of us all, wanted to see this. He wanted to see Victoria ended.

I felt almost exultant as I ran. Finally, after all this time, we had a clear idea of where she would be. We would find her this time, I knew it, and when we did, I would end her.

I would snuff out her life as easily as she had Bella's, and I would smile doing it.

Bella

We raced through the forest, the vampire and the monstrous wolf seeking their prey. With Jacob in his wolf form, I had no way of communicating, but we didn't need to. We were perfectly synchronized in our goal. I let him take the lead, as he was the one that had seen the map, and his huge paws pounded the dirt.

I had never been a violent person before, but I was unafraid to admit that I was looking forward to this fight more than anything in life excepting summers. She had caused so much misery; she had taken my life, destroyed my father's, and stolen Jacob's family from him. Because of her, so many people were suffering. I would make her pay.

I smelled the blood before I saw the camp, and my throat burned, but I was in control of it. I had something more pressing on my mind than feeding. I was thinking of revenge. I growled as I caught the first hint of her scent, almost overpowered by the blood. It was sweet and sickly, nothing like Edward's scent had been. That had been the most perfect thing. Victoria's made me want to get away from it. But I had to follow. She was at the end of this journey.

Now I had the scent, I didn't need to follow Jacob. I pushed myself as hard as I could, relishing the freedom as I raced towards my goal. The first glimpse I got of her was a flash of red hair through the trees. I hissed at the sight, and heard a growl in response. Jacob was close on my heels and I could hear his deep, even breaths.

"Why are you running, Victoria?" I shouted. "Afraid to face us? Afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Jacob huffed a wolfy laugh behind me.

"Come on. Don't you want to see me again? After all that effort you put into hunting me, you can't run now."

She glanced over her shoulder as she ran and then her pace slowed. "You!" she hissed.

"Yes, me."

Her shock and distraction were what I needed to catch her. I launched myself forward, flying through the air, and caught her around the waist. We fell to the ground together, and I straddled her, holding her with my hands at her shoulders. She struggled beneath me, almost bucking me off. Her head snapped to the side and she sank her teeth into my wrist where I was pinning her down. I hissed in pain as the foreign venom burned.

She probably would have got away from me there and then if it wasn't for Jacob. I had enough presence of mind to stay on top of her, and he acted quickly. I couldn't see what he did, as he was behind me, but I heard the screeching sound and Victoria's howl of pain. Her struggles grew more intense and her face twisted with pain.

Jacob butted his head against me, and the message was clear: you can move now. I got to my feet, prepared to pin her down again at a moment's notice, but there was no need. I felt slightly sickened as I saw what he had done. Her right leg ended at the knee. He had bitten off the rest. It lay on the ground a few feet away, pale and quivering.

"Nice, Jake."

Jacob huffed again. Victoria pumped her arms and remaining leg, dragging herself away from us, but as there was no chance of her escaping, I let her try. I looked down on her with hatred bubbling within me, and she looked back at me with equal loathing and a little shock.

"I killed you," she said in her high, baby voice.

"You tried," I said. "You didn't succeed."

She shook her head, her desperate fury clear in her eyes. "Why didn't the wolves kill you?"

Jacob growled and put his face close into to her, his teeth bared.

"Not yet, Jake," I said. "I want to talk to her first."

She bared her own teeth. "What do you want to know."

"You ruined my life," I said. "You ruined my family's life, Edward's life. Why did you do it? What had I ever done to hurt you?"

She laughed slightly. "Nothing except be the reason my mate was killed. That coven was protecting you. That Edward loved you, didn't he? James saw it."

I nodded. "Yes, Edward loves me." I could use the present tense as I was sure, wherever he was now, he did love the memory of me. He would love the child me. The only one he could perhaps not love was the vampire, soulless me.

"And that's why you had to die," she said. "Because of you, my James is dead. Because of him, James was defeated. If he had not interfered with the hunt, James would have fed and we would have moved on. That coven's strange relationship with you killed him. I will kill you and then I will end them."

I forced a laugh. "Good luck with that. They're a coven of seven and they have friends."

"I will make friends," she hissed.

"No, you won't get a chance."

I had my answers now, I knew the reason why. I would end her and it would be over. For her and for me.

Jacob and I locked eyes and I nodded. "It's time."

We moved in for the kill in unison. Jacob's pleasure in what he was doing was obvious. It was his birthright and revenge. Victoria had taken almost as much from him as she had from me. He'd lost his family, too. He'd lost the life he knew. He'd given it up for me, but he never should have been forced to. This shouldn't have been his life.

I didn't feel the same pleasure in what I was doing—her screams weren't music to my ears—but there was satisfaction. As I ran my teeth along her neck, severing her head, her cries cut off, and I knew it was done.

Edward

I was the fastest, therefore I was the first to smell the cloying smoke. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I waited a moment as the rest of my family caught up with me.

"Oh, no," Alice moaned.

"We're too late," I said in a monotone voice.

We walked forward, through the trees as one, no one speaking but all thinking loud enough to torment me.

We're too late.

Who did it?

What happened here?

What is he going to do now?

I smell dog.

It was Emmett's last thought that gave me pause. Now I concentrated, I could smell it too. It was slight compared to the thick scent of burning vampire, but it was there. This had been done by a werewolf.

The ashes were at the center of a small clearing, and they were still smoldering slightly. I looked down on them and saw the faint sheen that confirmed these were the ashes of a vampire, of Victoria.

"It had to have been the wolves," Emmett said.

Carlisle shook his head. "They would not leave their territory. They would not come this far north."

"One of them would," I said in a dead voice. "Jacob, the one that killed Bella; he left the pack after he… after it happened."

"How could he have known where she was?" Jasper asked.

"He could have been following her scent all this time. He was always fond of Bella, he fancied himself in love with her. I don't doubt that he would have wanted revenge, too."

Emmett kicked the ashes, sending them into the air. "Well, shit. Dog Boy beat us to it."

I hung my head. I had been racing towards this point for weeks, months even. I had wanted to be the one to do it. The wolf had beaten me here. I had missed my chance by only an hour at the most. If I had been a little quicker, if we had seen before. I could have been here. I could have been the one to do it. I had failed.

A hand rested on my shoulder and I turned to look into Carlisle's face. "I am sorry," he said.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I asked in a mournful tone.

Inexplicably, he smiled. "You see Bella. It's over now, Edward. Victoria is dead. There is nothing to stop you going to her."

Hope, burgeoning hope, lit my chest and forced away the misery. "It's time?" I asked in a tentative voice.

"Yes, Edward," he said, smiling wider still. "It's time."

So… It's time at last. Victoria is dead and Edward's ready to see Bella again.

The scene with Charlie was a helluva kick to the feels to write. I didn't like Charlie—mainly because of his support of Jacob—before I sat down and wrote him properly for the first time in Out of Sight, Out of Mind. I fell in love with him and saw the awesome things in canon Charlie, too. Now I'm a devout lover of the character.

The story is winding down now. There are only a few more chapters to go.

Until next time…

Simaril x