Previously on Kidnapped: Bella and Alice came to the Cullen house; Bella asked again what they were, but Alice responds that Bella already knows. Bella takes time to reflect and remembers a key memory she'd blocked out - Edward licking her blood off her hand. Shocked by the revelation, she looked up just in time to see Edward rushing toward her. "Vampire," she whispered.

I watched in open amazement and dull horror as Edward Cullen was, once again, restrained from an effort to kill me. But I could see that while the situation mirrored that of what felt like an eternity ago, both Edward and I were changed.

Edward's attempt on my life, this time, was neither feral nor incomprehensible. Rather, it was calculated and cold-blooded.

My agape mouth, this time, was not due to physiological shock nor denial but rather a kinder sort of horror - without the inhibition of my assumption of the way the world works, I could fully acknowledge and appreciate the awesome and awful nature of the Cullen family.

Edward Cullen snarled at me, loud enough to be heard through the glass.

"How long are you going to keep this up for, Alice?" His voice was thunderous and rocked through me. Although I could only see Jasper and Emmett as they restrained him, I guessed Alice must have been in the foliage.

I forced myself to keep my eyes on Edward. It wasn't easy. I couldn't refrain from the slight shudder that ran though me, however.

"It's just going to get worse for her, so drop the act. You're not doing her any favors by drawing this out."

His eyes bore into mine, though, as he spoke.

"No. I can taste her fear from here." He paused. "There is no other option!"

I gasped as Edward single-handedly whipped Jasper back with the jerk of his arm, punching Emmett and jumping out of the way - just in time for Emmett to charge Jasper.

While the blur rushed toward me, I felt something cold touch my neck. I jumped, whipping my head around.

"Alice…"

Alice, who I'd considered the least terrifying of the Cullen's, proved me wrong as she growled and bared her teeth, poised to bite.

"Wha- no, no, Alice! I'm Bella, Bella. Don't do this, Alice. Please, Alice."

She didn't bite. "Calm down, Bella, I'm not going to kill you." She sounded very… Alice.

"Then what-"

Edward stopped on his own accord, now. "I'll kill you, Alice. Don't you dare."

"You're not giving her another option, Edward." A woman I didn't recognize - but immediately recognized as one of them appeared on our side of the glass.

Edward looked pained, now, his eyes lowered to where the glass hit the ground.

"Look at Isabella now, Edward," Carlisle appeared on the other side of the glass, and pressed his palm against the glass where my fingerprints still lay. "She's still alive."

"No, she's already dead." His nostrils flared. He said something else but it was hard to make out through the glass.

Jasper shrugged but put his hand on Edward's shoulder.

"Look at her," Jasper basically shouted.

Was it just my imagination that they were talking so loud for my benefit? It seemed ridiculous.

"Listen, mate, she's obviously still alive. Not very lively, sure, but she's definitely still kicking," Emmett stage-whispered.

I surprised myself with an eye roll. I was even more surprised to see my would-be-murderer do the same. I found myself smiling at the oddness of the moment. He smiled back at me.

My heart thumped unevenly. He looked away.

Unfortunately, Edward was not talking for my benefit. I didn't catch his next words but then included gesturing toward me and lots of scoffing and "-a life like that worth saving!?"

My face burst into flames. "Not worth saving?" Hot trails of angry tears started rolling down my cheeks. "Not worth saving? Maybe you should have thought of that before you saved me from that stupid van. It's not my fault you can't stick to a single flipping decision!"

"Isabella," I saw him mouth my name. I cut him off.

"What, is this so casual to you, Edward. My life on the flip of a coin? Heads, you try to save my life - tails, you try to save it?"

I slammed my first against the glass pave.

"I mean, you came here to kill me then get protective the second Alice pulls out her teeth? Bit hypocritical, don't you think?

I clenched my teeth, trying to hold back. Alice reached for my hand - I jerked it away.

"Gosh, I really can't believe I read you so wrong. I really felt bad for you, can you believe that? I thought you didn't want to kill me. But I was wrong. I misunderstood you. I'm sorry I ever mistook you for anything other than a monster."

All of you, I wanted to add, but just then I caught Carlisle's eyes. I thought of the gentle doctor who just days ago cared for me at the hospital. My thoughts then led me to Edward's eagerness to take care of me that day. I sighed.

"Look, Edward, I'm sorry. You're not a monster. But let's just talk this through before we make any more rash decisions, okay?" I said at a near whisper, confident he could hear me. I placed my hand back on the glass plane. Edward eyed me hesitantly, then slowly put his hand on the prints Carlisle had left behind.

I tried to smile encouragingly, but it seemed to have the opposite effect: Edward Cullen pulled back his hands and raised them to his face and started to weep.

AN: Short but important! I'm going to try to put out one more before Christmas so I can post a Christmas bonus without spoiling anything. uwu

(Please note anything Christmas-y will be chronologically unsound, haha. We can consider it "non-canon" lol.)

What did you think? Are you surprised? Are you curious what he said that she couldn't hear? (Me too. I can't remember now what he said there.)

(Nevermind I just remembered.)

Yay! Edward and Bella want to thank you for reading! This story has been so fun for me and I'm so glad you guys are with me for the journey.

oh ~ btw I adopted a puppy and she is the cutest thing. I just thought you'd want to know ~ ▽・ᴥ・▽