AN: Hello everyone. I'm happy to see so many of you still reviewing this fic, as well as so many new readers. This chapter flows a bit differently than the others, but I hope you still enjoy it.

As always, I do not own Twilight.

Bella always knew, in some deep part of her mind, that she wasn't going to make it to her nineteenth birthday.

Oh sure, Jasper and every other vampire she was close with was going to do their absolute damndest to prevent that from happening.

But she knew.

Laying here, slowly bleeding out in a tasteful townhome in the middle of New York State kind of proved that point to her.

"Isabella, it's a shame you're so willful, you truly would have made the perfect pet for me."

Trying to focus was getting hard for her, but Bella tilted her head slightly to look at Edward when he talked. He adjusted the line as yet the blood bag attached grew full, changing it out so quickly that she knew not a single drop of her blood hit the floor.

"Ya know Eddie," Her words were growing sluggish and she knew that soon she would lose consciousness all together. "It's a shame I won't be awake when my mate tears you apart."

Edward actually laughed, sounding happier than the whole time she had known him.

"Oh Isabella, that's not what is going to happen. Oh no," A smile, that patronizing one she remembered so well. "You're going to die here, and I am going to have these to keep your memory alive."

He patted the bags of blood next to him, and Bella didn't know if there were more present or if her vision was just swimming too hard to focus.

Against her will, Bella's eyes began to slip closed.

"Mm. Good luck, Eddie. Ya gonna need it." Her words were slurred but she knew he would hear them just fine.

Then she drifted, doing her best to focus on the last few days she had with her mate.

Jasper didn't want to take Bella up north to confront the Cullen's, really he didn't. But even he could admit that it was simply smarter and faster for her to come with.

It had nothing to do with how he was reluctant to leave her side for any period of time lately. Nope. Not at all.

Which is how he ended up in this position, his mate curled up in his lap fast asleep while they headed north in a makeshift caravan.

Only around half of the large nest had wanted a piece of Cullen, many simply choosing to try and move on; they just wanted to live as quiet of a life as they could.

They had let them go, simply reiterating that the rules must be followed. The rest of the group seemed anxious to get a piece of their maker, and Jasper couldn't deny the urge.

He talked quietly into the phone with Alistair, all too aware of Bella on his lap mumbling in her sleep.

"Major, there is something off about this house though." Alistair's voice rang clear over the phone, despite his quiet tone. "I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something."

"How many do you sense in the house?"

"Three, but there is something else sometimes there. Like a flicker almost." The frustration bleed into his voice so much that Jasper didn't need his power to understand how Alistair must be feeling.

"Just keep focused on Carlisle for me, I wanna make sure we can surprise him with our arrival."

"Understood." A pause over the line, only noticeable because of Alistair's hesitant nature. "Major, if I may be bold for a moment?"

Jasper braced himself, unsure of what a man who typically asked so little could want from him.

"Carry on."

"How is the Princess? Is she well?" Jasper almost laughed out loud at the hesitant words, but he knew that they were coming from a place of almost familial love for his mate.

"She's well, Alistair. Doin' a damn near better than most I'd say." Jasper did chuckle then, unable to keep the amusement out of his tone. "She'll be a handful when she's turn'd. That's for damn sure."

A relieved breath down the phone and Jasper shook his head at how easily his mate managed to charm people without even trying.

"Thank you Major. I will continue to send you updates until you arrive."

Then the line was dead.

Jasper put his phone away, leaning his head back against the seat's headrest to stare up at the car's ceiling. A part of him knew that this was going to be messier than he wanted it to be, and he only hoped that any surprises thrown at him would only be minor inconveniences.

"Hey Major, we're gonna stop soon, get a bite in at the next city." Peter's voice cut across his thoughts, but Jasper just nodded.

"Gonna hafta be quick." He muttered before he closed his eyes and let himself drift in his mate's soft emotions.

They were surrounded. Surrounded by nearly thirty newborns, their disturbing orange eyes hungry and wild, and Jasper was pissed the hell off by all of it. It didn't matter that Jasper knew that he could tear through these newborns like paper, even with his less experienced companions. Or even that he knew that reinforcements were right behind him. Shit, it didn't even matter Jasper knew that this little distraction wouldn't save Cullen's ass like he hoped it would.

No, all that mattered was the fact that his mate was missing.

Bella was missing, her cellphone crushed into pieces at his feet, and Jasper had to deal with this absolute bullshit before he could find her.

He snarled, rage blackening his eyes, and distantly he noticed his team flinching back before steadying themselves again.

"Ya poor fuckers better run," He snarled, walking forward purposefully slowly. "Cuz if I reach ya, Imma tear your head right off."

He only got wild growls and snarls in response, the newborns too damn stupid to know a threat when they met one.

With a lazy roll of his shoulders Jasper dove into the fray, not caring if his team followed.

Bella hated being left behind. She understood why she had to be of course, being only human, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

So here she was, in some generic hotel room, half-heartedly attempting to work on some online work so she could get her high school degree.

It was crazy how things that should have been important to her, like grades for one, were becoming less and less of a concern.

She glanced at the door, where she knew at least three of the newly recruited vampires were standing guard, and then over to the other bed in the room where Rosalie was casually flipping through a car magazine.

"Sorry you got stuck on babysitting duty." She muttered, knowing that Rose would hear her anyway.

She watched as Rose tucked the magazine away, looking up at Bella with a shrewd expression.

"It's not babysitting, Bella." Rose's voice still had that soft tint of a Rochester accent that Bella wasn't used to hearing. "You're more than capable of taking care of yourself, it's just this is a strange circumstance."

Bella snorted, causing Rose to grin at her.

"My whole life has turned into a strange circumstance."

Rose nodded at her, and opened her mouth as if to reply before a knock at the door interrupted her. With an eye roll that showed exactly how she felt about their new add-ons, she was up and answering the door.

"What is it?" She was back to the ice-queen that Bella knew so well, and Bella smiled to herself thinking that persona was once all she thought Rosalie to be.

The vampire there was trembling, a nervous little thing with dark skin and a sweet looking face that Bella figured had to be part of the newbies.

"Well?" Bella could almost see the arched eyebrow that came with Rosalie's tone, even though Rosalie was still facing the vampire in the doorway.

"I-I'm sorry." The girl stammered, and then suddenly Rosalie was on the ground looking for all intents and purposes like the corpse she was.

Bella jumped out of bed, her foot catching on the bedspread briefly before she untangled it.

"What did you do? Is she okay?" Bella couldn't stop flicking her gaze from Rose to the newborn, and back again.

A blink and the vampire was in front of her, a panicked expression on her sweet face.

"I-I'm sorry, really I am, b-but he asked me too, and I love him! I love him you k-know? I couldn't say no!" The girl was talking so fast Bella barely could catch the words, but she got the gist of it.

"Love him? Who?" Bella tried her best to keep calm, tried to get as much information from the girl as she could.

"Hello Isabella."

Bella froze at the voice she never thought she'd hear again. She almost couldn't believe what she was seeing when she looked up and saw Edward Cullen stepping over Rosalie's prone body in the doorway.

"Edward!" The girl's voice lit up in excitement, and she turned to him with a shy expectant smile on her face. "I-i did it! I got her all alone for y-you!"

Edward smiled then, a beautiful thing that once upon a time would have had Bella a blushing mess.

"My sweet Talia!" He swept forward, placing a hand onto the girl's cheek, causing her eyes to flutter in pleasure. "You did wonderfully, really, I'm so proud of you."

The girl swayed closer at his praise, and Bella felt a wave of disgust go through her. She had been just as bad, just as gone on that boyish face and charm, and she was disgusted to see a mirror image of what she must have looked like.

Bella saw the darkness flash in Edward's eyes just before the girl did, and she could see the way he had tightened his grip on her to the point that Bella knew it must have hurt.

"E-Edward?"

He sneered at her, his hand tightening on her cheek so roughly that Bella saw the girl wince. "Red eyes, Talia?"

The disgust was evident in his tone and Talia stumbled over herself trying to defend herself.

"I can change, Edward! I c-can be better! I didn't know where you were, but now we can be together! I'll change!"

Edward shook his head, fake disappointment coloring his features.

"There's no need for that, Talia. You see," A smile then, a cruel thing. "I found my mate, and now that you've helped me, well, I don't need you anymore."

The screech of Talia's head coming off made Bella flinch and close her eyes, sympathy welling up inside her for the girl she could now see was just a victim of Edward Cullen's charm.

She opened her eyes again in time to see Edward carelessly toss Talia's head over his shoulder, nudging her fallen body out of the way with his foot.

"Such a timid thing. It's a pity I could never be seen with someone of that coloring, otherwise I would have kept her around for appearances sake." His words were casual, and Bella flinched as he came closer to her. "No, your pale perfection would have been much better, Isabella."

He reached for her and Bella flinched away, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do as Edward's hand snapped forward to grab a fistful of her hair and pull.

He tucked his face close to her now open neck, taking a deep breath that had Bella shuddering in disgust.

"You still smell mouthwatering, Isabella. Freesias and strawberries." He moaned low in his throat and the sound of it brought Bella back to the ballet studio, when James had done the same thing. "I didn't think anything could smell better than you, but then of course, I found my mate."

He pulled back to smile at her, his hand still in her hair tilting her eyes up to meet his.

"Alice is the most darling thing, made for me in every way possible. She even has a power grand enough to match my own." He chuckled then, as if about to share a private joke. "It's fortunate really, as now it means I won't be forced to pretend to enjoy eternity with such a dull thing like you."

His grin in that moment scared Bella, scared her so much that she began to struggle, desperate to reach her phone that was sitting next to her still open laptop.

Edward held her in his grasp as if her struggles barely affected him. As if she was simply a bothersome fly.

"Oh no Isabella, don't fight. I know, you must be so disappointed to hear that I found my mate in someone else," He tsked at her before wrapping his arm around her to stop her thrashing. "But don't worry, I still have plans for you."

Then all she knew was darkness.

AN: So what did we think? I'm sure many of you noticed Edward's overt racism in this chapter, and I wish there was a way to warn you of it before it happened that wouldn't take away from the story telling. We're nearing the climax here, as well as the unavoidable close. Please let me know your thoughts on how you think everything is going to plan out.