Bella looked into James's eyes. She tried not to show fear as his fingers dug into her forearm. "Do you think your life is worth your group's supplies?" he asked, lingering just a few inches away from her face.

Her answer came in the form of a scowl that she hoped looked tough. Bella's eyebrows pressed together and she hardened her jaw.

"Hmm?" James smirked and dug his fingers harder into her arm. "I wonder if your male companion will even care enough to pass the word or even say you went missing."

"They're going to kill you," she mumbled.

"What was that?" James asked with a sinister grin, jerking her toward him a little more. He pressed his ear against her lips and Bella didn't think, she spit against the side of his face in frustration. James pulled back, scowling back at first and then smiling again before grabbing the bottom her face hard with his free hand. "Yell out to your friends," he hissed and then raised his voice to yell in her face, "Tell them to avenge you! Tell them!"

Bella felt a wave of shock pass through her body when both of his hands released her at once. When her mind adjusted to the reality of the situation she realized James had been knocked to the ground and Edward was on top of him. The two of them wrestled around Bella wasn't sure what to do.

"Edward!" she called out, and then jumped and screamed when she felt a hand brush against her back.

"It's me, Bella," Emmett told her before hurrying to assist Edward with his pursuit of James.

She stood open-mouthed as the two of them managed to grab him and secure him on his feet between them.

"Edward!" Bella repeated, "How did you know where to-"

"We were hunting," he huffed, breathing heavily as James began to struggle. Emmett used the butt of his gun to hit him in the side of the head. James cried out in pain and stopped struggling.

"It took us a minute to realize what was going on," Emmett confessed, tightening his grip on James. He looked at Edward and gave him a head nod, prompting Edward to rush to Bella.

"How did this happen?" he wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him fiercely back.

"They... they took me," she told him.

"They?"

"Him and Victoria," she replied, "The woman he was with."

"Where is she?" Edward asked, now beginning to scan the woods around them.

"I don't know," Bella confessed, "He told her to go to their meeting spot while he negotiated with my dad... over the radio."

"Where are they?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know."

James tried to slump to his knees but Emmett forced him to stay on his feet. He then pointed in the distance. "Look!"

Edward and Bella still stood together and looked in the direction of Emmett's outstretched arm.

"Who is it?" Bella asked, fearful and then she fixed her eyes on one of the four people running straight for them, "Jake!" She smiled and sighed, "Jacob!"

"Bella!" he called back.

"Jake!"

When they finally reached the clearing, the three of them recognized the first to reach the location were Jacob, Jasper, Quil and Paul. "Are you alright?" Jacob rushed and threw his arms around Bella, nearly knocking Edward out of the way. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Bella sighed into his chest and clung to him as fiercely as she had Edward, "It's okay."

"Walkers," Jasper said nonchalantly. He rushed past them, removing a knife from his belt to stab four or five in the head without assistance from any of the others. He then refocused his attention on Bella. "Are you alright?" She nodded and then Jasper looked to James, who still looked back smugly despite his situation. Blood began to run from the side of his head where Emmett had hit him. "Where are your friends?"

James smirked but didn't respond. Quil and Paul greeted Bella, making sure she was alright as the others had. A moment later the rest of the group reached the location, all overwhelmed with relief when they saw that Bella was alright and James was captured.

"Bella!" Charlie ran up, now the one to nearly push Jacob aside as he almost knocked his daughter down as he hugged her. Tears filled his eyes and he let them run down his face. Bella, too, began to cry and embraced her father as he had no intention of letting her go. "I'm so sorry Bells. Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay Dad," she assured him, "I'm alright. I'm not hurt. Edward and Emmett came and saved me." She forced a smile and took in a deep breath. As much as Charlie had intended to come in with his guns drawn against James, his anger and hatred toward the man was pushed away and all he could do was hug his daughter.

"We should put him down," Jasper said, looking Emmett in the eye.

"Put him down?" Emmett asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Kill him," Paul finished.

"Right," Jasper confirmed. "We should do it now."

"Kill him?" Emmett asked, raising his eyebrows.

Bella flipped her head around. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but she didn't think that they would kill James now that she was safe.

Should we? she wondered. As angry and terrified as she had been, was it really right to kill a person?

"He's just going to do this again," Jasper informed them, "If not to us than to someone. And those someones might be us. We don't know."

Alice looked at him in the eye, half shocked but half in agreement. She didn't speak. She stood frozen for a moment.

Edward looked at Carlisle and Esme, who had come in at staggered times and stood apart.

"You can kill me," James told him, "But it won't go over well with my wife... or our other friends." He smiled again, "She's worse than I am."

"Let's do it," Paul said, eager to put James's life to an end. He took a step up to stand even with Jasper.

"Wait," Quil and Bella said at the same time. Jasper turned to look at Bella and Paul looked to Quil.

"What?" Jasper asked, "He was going to kill you if we didn't give him supplies."

"I know," she said, tucking hair behind her ear. Bella sighed. She didn't know what to do.

"Think about this," Carlisle chimed in. "We can..." He thought for a moment. He didn't know what to do.

"We can what?" Jasper asked, "Keep him chained up in the barn? What happens when he gets out?"

"Sam's baby," Esme said, more thinking out loud than anything.

"Aww there's a baby?" James smiled wider and Emmett twisted him into an uncomfortable position, making him wince.

"You see?" Jasper said, "He needs to go."

"I'm with you," Alice said quietly.

"So am I," Paul agreed.

"What do you think cop?" James asked, "Is it right to kill me?"

Charlie looked down at the jacket that gave away his profession. He then looked to Bella, who's eyes were full of questions about right and wrong. The truth was that Charlie wanted to kill James. The laws of the world had changed when the world died. They could kill James now without consequence. However, he could see the apprehension in Bella's face. He couldn't gun down this man in front of her. It would change her forever. It could change the nature of their relationship.

"Dad?" she asked, not sure which answer she wanted him to give.

A gunshot rang through the forest and everyone ducked or jumped or moved in some way.

"Here she comes," James said with a laugh.

Emmett made eye contact with Jasper and the two of them seemed to be speaking without any verbal communication. James continued to laugh madly and several more gunshots rang out, leaving everyone on edge and looking in all directions. A second later, Emmett threw James to the ground, got out of the way and Jasper fired a shot straight through the center of his forehead.

Everyone jumped, screamed or stood wide-eyed and open-mouthed not knowing how to feel.

James's body slumped to the leaf-ridden ground below them and even Emmett couldn't hide the wave of shock that was possessing him. His mouth hung open and he stared at the body for a moment before looking to Jasper. He then felt his eyes travel over Jasper's left shoulder and finally snapped out of the daze that had paralyzed him. He pointed, unable to speak at first and then ran past Jasper.

Edward felt like everything was happening in slow motion as he turned and saw why Emmett had reacted. He, too, ran in the direction that Emmett was running and couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him.

"Edward..." Carlisle choked out his name and dropped to his knees. His name almost came out as a question.

Esme screamed and followed to where her husband slumped to the ground, an open wound pouring blood where his right eye had been.