Jasper Whitlock
Bella and I made it back to Phoenix, where we had left the others, but they weren't here anymore.
"Where are they?" Bella asked. She was feeling anger and a small amount of fear.
"Don't overreact until we know what's going on." I pulled out my phone, there was no message from Peter. I tried calling him, but there was no answer.
"Can I overreact now?" Bella asked.
"No. James knew we were in Phoenix, they must have come here, the others must be on the run. They won't do anything without us."
"Are you sure?" Bella asked.
No, I wasn't sure, but I had hope.
"We need to head back north." I sent a message to Peter asking him to make contact as soon as possible.
"Why?" Bella asked as we took off.
"We can't stay here," I told her, "they know we were here, they might double back. Until the others get in touch, we need to play our part. If Emmett and Rosalie were true mates then he's a liability. We knew he was in Maine with Alice, so we need to track him down. Something is going on with him, I just know it and we need to find him."
Bella didn't say anything for a while. She was still feeling scared which was unusual for her. She had never felt fear, she was never afraid, just determined.
"Why are you scared?" I asked her.
"My father is out there," she said.
Right, I forgot about that. When I changed brothers, they were constantly worried about each other. It was almost like mates, safer to keep them together.
"He will be fine," I told her, "he is with the others. We need to keep course."
"Can't we track them? Aren't we safer together?"
"We can't track them. If they're being chased then they'll be doing whatever they can to stay ahead and avoid detection. The red-head, I'm sure she has a gift. You saw them, they were there one minute, gone the next. I thought they were running from us, but perhaps they went to chase the others. We don't know. We just need to be smart about this. Peter will get in contact when it's safe to do so."
"But they were in disarray when they called us," Bella said, "something had happened with Angela and Garrett."
"Bella, just trust me. We're going after Emmett unless we hear otherwise."
I wanted to be harsher with her, I wanted to command her to fall in line, but I knew she would never stand for that and we couldn't have any internal rifts right now, not with all the external crap we were facing. Bella had killed Rosalie, there was going back now, we had to finish this.
We made it back to Banff National Park and I stretched out my gift, we were alone. I took off, running along the border, heading towards Maine. I kept focus, completely on alert. There were at least six vampires chasing us. The Cullen coven; Alice, Edward and Emmett. And the three newcomers; James, Victoria and an unknown.
Things had shifted, before we had the numbers, we had the upper hand, but now, it was more evenly matched, and we had no information about the newcomers. It wasn't ideal. I tried to come up with a way to find out more about them. Usually I sent Peter in, but he was right, Alice knew his mind signature, it was too risky.
"Stop," I said, pulling on Bella's arm. She was running fast and unfortunately my careless action caused her shoulder to pop out of its socket.
Her anger flared and she turned around and smacked me on the head.
"Sorry," I told her, taking the time to pop it back in for her. She was mad and in pain.
"You could've just used your words," she said.
"I wasn't thinking."
"Why did you stop us?"
"I thought I felt something, give me a second." I closed my eyes and stretched out my gift.
I could feel agony, pure, unending agony, and it wasn't coming from a human. There was a vampire in pain, they were feeling frustrated and trapped.
"Put your shield around us," I told her, "I have no idea what we're walking in on, but it can't be good."
"Is it a trap?" Bella asked.
Her comment made me pause. It was a curious situation, it could be a trap. I stretched out my gift again, we were alone.
"I don't think so, but it could be." I needed to take more care.
Bella put her shield up and instead of running in like I usually did, we took our time, slowly circling around. I got Bella to drop her shield every now and then, but we were still alone. The only way this would be a trap is if they had a shield which was doubtful. The vampire we were approaching felt strong even in their weakened state, but I wasn't worried. Bella was. Maybe she had more sense than me.
"Do we take to the trees?" Bella asked.
I looked up, there wasn't enough of them.
"No, something isn't right. They're weak, injured, possibly stuck. They haven't moved."
"Have you ever felt something like this before?"
I never had, and yet again Bella was making me see things in a different light. I was a man of action, calculated, running on instincts, but Bella was clearly more cautious. We were a good match it seemed.
"I think we move in fast, they're alone, there's two of us, let's end whatever this is."
Bella was still hesitant, but I knew best in this situation.
I took off, full speed, and what met me stopped me dead in my tracks. I had never seen anything like this before.
"Help me," the vampire said, "kill me, please."
"It's Emmett," Bella told me. She was torn between feeling shocked and disgusted. "What happened to him?"
I had no idea, but I had a feeling Alice and James were behind it. Emmett had his back against a tree, he was tied with rope to keep him upright, and his body was sectioned into three parts by something metal. It was keeping him from fusing back together and he was too weak to do anything about it.
"Who's there?" he asked. "How do you know me?"
I stepped closer, his eyeballs were missing. Surely Alice hadn't done this, it was so sadistic and what was the purpose?
"Don't worry, we're here to save you," I lied.
My eyes met Bella and I silently let her know my intentions. Emmett wouldn't be spared, he didn't deserve it.
"What happened?" I asked, stepping closer, pretending to help him.
"I don't know, I think I was double-crossed." His answer was truthful.
"How many vampires did this to you?"
"Three."
Interesting.
"Do you have a mate?"
"Yes, she's gone now though. Recently, I felt it. Please kill me so I can join her. Life means nothing anymore."
They were true mates. I wondered why Rosalie's feelings had lessened over time, had Alice done something?
It was time to reveal our hand. I looked around for Emmett eyes, surely they didn't burn them, that was too final.
"What can you see?" I asked.
"Nothing, I can't see anything. Just kill me please."
I pointed to Bella and then my eyes and then the area around us. She shook her head no. I guess I'd be the one looking for his eyes. I used my vampire vision and smell and started searching the area. I couldn't find anything. What if they had taken them with them? This was not ideal. We couldn't kill him completely if we didn't have every part of him.
It was Bella's turn. I took a step back and nodded towards Emmett.
"Do you recognize my voice?" she asked.
He didn't. "No, who's there?"
"It's me, Bella Swan."
I could feel Emmett's regret, it wouldn't save him.
"Bella, I'm so sorry."
"Shut up," she seethed, "I don't want to hear it. You're right, your mate is dead, I killed her."
Emmett's fear spiked.
I wouldn't have revealed that piece of information to him, but I figured there was no harm in Bella doing things her way. We were alone, Emmett was defenseless.
"Will you kill me too please?" he asked.
"Not yet. Who did this to you?"
"Alice and two others."
"Why did you split up from your mate?" Bella asked.
"Alice suggested it, it was supposed to be temporary."
"What is she planning?"
"I don't know, Alice never includes us in her plans, only Edward, but she's been playing him too, from day one. Nothing was ever the same after we left Carlisle."
"Why would she do this to you?"
I was enjoying watching my mate at work.
"I don't know. She should've killed me. Please just kill me, I miss Rosie. I'm sorry for what I did, so sorry, please kill me."
Bella turned to me. Yet again, Alice was the one who held the answers we needed. Why she secured Emmett to this tree didn't really matter. It would be an easy kill for us.
"Just kill him," I told Bella, "he's no use to us, not now that his mate has been killed."
She paused, feeling conflicted. "Can you do it?" she asked me.
"Why?"
Bella didn't answer me. Whatever. This would be quick work. I pulled the metal out and then slashed the ropes. There wasn't enough time for him to heal. His three body parts scattered on the ground. I decided to do no more. Just like his mate, he wasn't fighting, he had given up.
It would be the last easy kill I suspected. Edward was in too deep, Alice was in charge, and the newcomers would be a match. I grabbed my lighter and flicked it. I looked to Bella, it wasn't too late for her to kill him, but she was just standing there, watching him.
I lit the closest part on fire and the flames spread quickly. Before too long, Emmett Cullen was gone. I was still hesitant, we didn't burn his eyes, but perhaps Alice had. I saw no reason for them to keep them, but it felt like an unfinished job. Even with his eyes possibly out there, he would never be living again.
Bella didn't move.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Alice manipulated them," she said, "all of them."
"That doesn't excuse what they did."
"I know, but I can't help thinking of Carlisle. These were his children and somehow Alice was able to take them from him. You heard Rosalie, Alice was weak in the beginning, she played it perfectly. I bet they were good when they were with Carlisle and then she came along and poisoned them. It's just… I want to kill her, please let me be the one to kill her."
Bella and I had already killed two, so I wasn't sure if that would be possible. I knew Garrett and maybe even Angela would want to kill Edward and Alice, we couldn't be selfish. Peter would also want a part of this. Where were they?
I pulled out my phone, still no word. We had nothing now, no play left. We wouldn't be able to find the others, I had trained Peter too well. The Cullens and new vampires would most likely stick together. The only thing we could do, and it went against everything I believed, was to draw Alice to us.
It wasn't a wise move, we didn't need to become the hunted, but the rest of my coven most likely already had. There had to be something.
"How does Alice's gift work?" I asked Bella.
"I'm not sure."
"Think hard." This was the one question we should have asked Emmett and Rosalie, but it was too late now.
"I think it has something to do with decisions, but I'm not sure."
Decisions? …Decisions. Alice can see the future, everyone's future except Bella's, who was a shield, and those of us who ran on battle-mode. But that made no sense, if Alice's gift worked on decisions then she would be constantly bombarded with decisions that were fleeting, never to be materialized. How could she tell what was important and what wasn't?
"What if the others aren't okay?" Bella asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. "What if they got to them? What if we're the only ones left? Maybe Emmett was a distraction, not a trap. I can't live without my father, Jasper, or the others. You heard Angela, our coven won't survive if some of us die."
"You're overreacting again, my Swan. They will be fine, I'm sure of it. Let me think."
Peter would be leading this charge, or Garrett, and I knew them best, I trained them both, they followed my command. I had to get into their head, I had to figure out their game plan. I needed to find them and I prayed I'd find all members of my coven safe and sound. It was optimistic, but not foolish. A lot of time had already passed, what if we had already lost someone?
