AN:Thank you to oneiros lykos, 4vr17Vi, AmberGlow2, pricel, ChildOfTheApocalypse, wherthewild1s-trulyare, Lost in Believing, RosalieandEmmett, totallyanon, stressylemon, distorted realities, Anima Bella, juliet233, HorsecrazyJr., Brandicimo, Jesusrocks, Stacie-Ann Halliwell, Gotsta Have My Hardy, PhoenixSnowSunIce, mayian, twilightgrl61692, Twi1ightR0cks and Fire.or.Ice for all of the reviews, alerts and favorites. Again, I apologize for the lag between updates but I'm trying!

38: Jailed:

Elizabeth:

I pulled myself into a sitting position, my head had finally stopped spinning with all of the new realizations that my dream had brought me. As much as I wanted to just lay back down and go back to sleep, I knew that I had to go downstairs and share my new found knowledge with my family. I wasn't sure what they could gather from the new information, or how they would use it, but I'm sure that anything would be helpful at this point.

I flung my sheets away and stood. For whatever reason, I felt like I had to change my clothes. I stripped down and wandered into my closet, looking for something comfortable. I settled for a pair of old jeans and a loose sweater. With new clothes, I felt so much better. I caught my reflection in the mirror and quickly piled my hair into a messy bun. Declaring myself decent, I opened my bedroom door.

As I rounded the corner of the stairwell, I found my entire family seated around the expansive couch. Well, almost my entire family. My mother and Jacob were missing. Alice looked up and wrinkled her nose at my appearance and I stifled a grin. Rosalie looked over at me and smiled, scooting over on the couch to make room for me. She patted the space she had created for me and I went to her.

I settled into the space between her and the arm of the sofa. She put her arm over my shoulders and pulled me against her side. I relaxed against her rigid body, completely comfortable.

"How did you sleep, sweetie?" she murmured to me, appraising my face with soft ocher eyes, "You still look exhausted."

"I actually slept fine, Aunt Rosalie," I answered, "Where's Mom?"

"She and that beast wandered out about an hour ago," Rosalie sniffed.

"Rose," Esme shook her head, exasperated.

Rosalie straightened herself to her full height in her seat, her head raising haughtily.

"You're going to have to get used to him, Rose," my father spoke, "He's going to be around for a while."

I sent a sheepish look at my father who smiled at me. Rosalie smoothed a stray lock of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear.

"I still think that she can do much better," she muttered.

Dad sighed, shaking his head as if he were tired of this conversation. I briefly wondered what I had missed while I'd been asleep. The front door burst open and all heads snapped to attention. My mother came speeding in, laughing like I'd never heard before, her face alight with a carefree joy. My father, who had stood up with worry, relaxed and went to her side.

"Did you have fun?" He smirked at my still jubilant mother.

"I won," Mom sang out, "Jake didn't stand a chance."

"I let you win," Jacob replied as he appeared in the doorway, his impressive chest bare and heaving with exertion.

I was staring, I knew I was. Jacob was very, very distracting. His towering frame was powerfully built, his torso made of steel. He caught me looking and flashed me a brilliant smile. The look in his eyes made me blush down to my toes. My father made a strangled sound, shooting Jacob a look meant to kill.

"Will you stop," he snapped, "She's only sixteen!"

Jacob chuckled, "Sorry. I'll try to behave."

"Thank you," Dad replied.

I yanked my eyes away from Jacob with a herculean effort. Rosalie wrinkled her nose when Jacob stepped closer. In fact, everyone did, except me. Everyone smelled perfectly fine to my weak human nose. My mother folded herself against my father on the arm of the couch while Jacob claimed a spot on the floor. I cast another glance around the small gathering. Everyone looked perfectly at ease now that the initial sensory shock wore off, well, everyone except Rosalie, of course. Maybe this could work after all.

"So," Jacob's deep voice boomed into the contented silence, "What did Bella and I miss?"

"We were forming a plan," Carlisle supplied, "We're going to spread out and do a search from the store outward. Hopefully, we can catch a fresh trail."

"Um," I began, remembering that I had new information, "I have something to add."

All eyes turned to me and I swallowed hard.

"I had a dream," I began, "The vampire showed me where he's keeping Alex."

"Was it somewhere you recognized?" Carlisle asked.

I shook my head, "No. It's a beat up old cottage in a clearing somewhere. It's surrounded by trees and there's a creek running nearby. There's also a little cliff that I could see breaking through the trees."

"That's helpful," Emmett scoffed, but not at me.

Jacob's face broke into a wide grin, "I know exactly where it is! I've passed that place a thousand times. Hell, I've even stayed there a couple times during my travels."

My heart fluttered, hope seeping into my chest in a warm flood, "How far away is it? We need to go, like now!"

"It's in Alaska," Jacob explained, "About a day and a half by car and another days hike. It's complete wilderness, but I'm sure you knew that already."

I jumped out of my seat, "Let's go!"

"I think you need some more rest," my mother said, "You still look exhausted."

"No," I shook my head, "We needed to go hours ago. We only have three days."

"Three days until what?' Dad asked.

"Until he kills Alex," I replied, "He told me he would."

"We can start the journey there while you stay and rest," Carlisle opted.

"I won't be able to sleep, trust me," I told him in all sincerity, "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Now that we know where he is, we have to form a plan of attack," Carlisle ignored me, "Alex's safety is our top priority and with so many of us, it shouldn't be a problem to..."

I tuned him out. I was vibrating with adreniline. How could they all still be sitting here talking when we knew where Alex was? There was no need for strategy. All we needed to do was go, grab Alex and come home. Simple.

I walked past my family and up the stairs to my room to prepare for the trip. My guess was that we were going by car for the days trek so I decided that my current clothing was fine. I grabbed another pair of jeans and two sweaters and a parka and threw on some hiking boots. I stuffed all of this into my currently unused backpack and threw it over my shoulders.

I opened my door and squealed in surprise. My father stood before me, his hand poised as if to knock. His hand fell to his side as he eyed the backpack on my shoulders.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To save Alex," I replied, as if it were obvious, which it should have been.

"You're staying here," he replied firmly.

I opened my mouth to object but he cut me off.

"We're all agreed," Dad continued, "We feel it would be safer for you to stay at home."

"You can't expect me to just sit here and worry about what's going on!" I said, "I have to go."

My father reached for me but I stepped away from his hand. He frowned and dropped his arm. I was too upset to feel guilty about the look of pain that had crossed his face by my backing away.

"Please, Elizabeth," he pleaded, "Don't make this any harder than it has to be. We're leaving you with Jacob."

"Great," I rolled my eyes, "Now you're using him as a watch dog. Perfect."

"We know he wouldn't let anything happen to you," my father said through pursed lips, "We're going hunting and then we're leaving. Without you."

I felt burning hot tears of rage prick at my eyes. How could they do this to me? I let out a growl of frustrated anger and slammed the door in his face. I reached around and threw my backpack off. It landed on the floor with a satisfying thud. I ran to my bed and grabbed my pillow, screaming angrily into it.

After I was done screaming, I walked over to my window and peeked through my curtains into the backyard. Eight bodies were rushing out into the dark forest. Fine! If that's how they wanted it, fine!

Suddenly, an idea struck me. It was so obvious that I felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier. Of course, I'd never had the need for such a thought before, or the resources with which to carry it out.

I strolled over to my door and walked into the hall, half expecting Jacob to be propped against the opposite wall. I was relived when he wasn't. I did need him, though. I continued into the living room and found him sitting on the sofa, his back rigid. He looked at me when he heard me coming down the stairs, probably expecting me to make a break for it. I was planning on it.

"Hi," I said sheepishly, horribly awkward. We'd never been alone before.

"Hey," he smiled and my heart fluttered.

He chuckled at my hearts reaction which I was sure that he could hear as plain as day.

"So you're my warden, huh?" I asked, wandering over to the place where he sat.

"Something like that," he nodded, "What do you need?"

"Oh, nothing," I replied, taking a seat, "I guess I just wanted to talk to you. You know, since we have the opportunity and all."

"What do you want to know?" He beamed, happy with my small lie.

"I would say everything but somehow I don't think we have that much time," I laughed.

His answering chuckle sent chills down my spine, "You only need to ask it and I'll do it."

My smile flashed huge and victorious. This was going to be easier than I thought.

"Would you really do anything I asked you to?" I replied with wide eyed innocence.

"Yep," he nodded, sending some of his beautiful hair tumbling over his broad shoulders. I fought the urge to reach out and touch all that hair, "We kinda have to. Keeping our imprints safe and happy is our top priority."

"Really," I asked, distracted by his answer, "That sucks."

He looked down at me then, his dark eyes catching mine, "It's not so horrible."

I had to look away from that smoldering look. I was dimly aware that my face was burning. It was so hard to try and be sneaky when he looked at me like that. It instantly made me feel guilty. I sighed in dejection.

"Okay, so I want to sneak out," I fessed up.

"I can't let you do that," Jacob replied quite somberly, "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"But I need to go help Alex," I said, "It's my fault that he was taken and now I need to fix it. Besides, I wasn't planning on going alone."

I looked pointedly at him as I said the last. He looked away from me and out of the wall of glass where my whole family had disappeared. The struggle was plain on his face. I needed this to work.

"Please, Jacob," I pleaded, placing a hand on his arm causing goosebumps to explode across my skin. We both shuddered at the same moment from the sensation, "I need to go. I won't let him be my fault."

"You do realize that Edward will skin me alive, don't you," Jacob replied, but he was smiling now.

"I won't let him," I promised, "So how are we getting there?"

"We might have a thirty minuet head start if I start running," Jacob mused, "Of course, if they're still out there, they might catch my scent and the jig will be up."

"We can drive then," I suggested but instantly found the flaw with that plan, "Oh, nope. That's no good, either. They'll notice if one of the cars is gone."

We sat in silence for a second and then Jacob grinned again.

"We run, then," he said, standing up like a shot.

"We run," I nodded.

"Get you're things, baby girl," he said, "And I'll meet you outside when you're ready."

I nodded and raced up to my room to grab my already prepared gear. I was back downstairs in record time. I peered into the darkness, squinting in an attempt to find Jacob's massive form in the shadows. A noise off to my left caught my attention. A huge, bear-sized wolf peered at me over the top of the railing of the porch. I gaped at the wolf from my dreams, my phantom protector made flesh.

I clambered down the steps until I stood before the imposing animal that Jacob had become. I smiled slightly as I lifted my hand, my fingers caressing the short hair that covered his muzzle. His bushy tail wagged and a low whine sounded in his throat.

"Thank you," I breathed.

Jacob pressed his muzzle against my hand. Somehow, I knew that he had understood what my gratitude was for. He had been the one who had given me the opportunity to live. He had come between my mother and her untimely, horrifying demise. My Jacob. My savior and my perfect love.

He lowered himself to the ground. Even laying down he was taller than me. I hesitated, unsure.

"Do I just get on your back?" I asked, eyeing the distance.

He bowed his wolfish head in a nod. I frowned as I balled my hands around tufts of his shaggy fur. I didn't want to hurt him. He gave me an amused snort and shook his head at me, his black eyes rolling. I laughed and pulled myself onto his shoulders, marveling at the distance between me and the ground as he stood up. My weight didn't seem to bother him in the least.

I leaned into him, surprised to find how perfectly I fit into the contours of his back. He leaned his face forward and I felt his muscles tense and I gripped his fur a little tighter, trying to brace myself for the ride.

He threw his head back as a deep, joyous howl rose form his throat. It pulled a laugh from me, that sound. And then he ran. I yelped in surprise as I pressed myself tightly against him, holding on for dear life. The speed of it was incredible.

We were blurring past the garage and I couldn't be sure because of the speed of which we flew by, but it looked like all of the fastest cars were gone. How far along were they already? And how much would we lag behind them when Jacob was running? I pushed aside those thoughts, content with the fact that we were fast. I could only hope that we were fast enough.

AN: I am so sorry that this took so long! I hope you enjoyed it.