BPOV

"This is incredibly stupid of you, Isabella," James' voice boomed through the clearing. I had never hated my name, but hearing it from him, it made my skin crawl again. Like nails against a chalkboard.

"I won't let anyone get hurt because of me," I declared defiantly.

"What? You think you can fight me off, run away? I'd catch you, there isn't a place on Earth that could hide you from me."

"I'm not planning on running," I growled. I just had to hold off James enough for help to come. I would do exactly what Jasper said not to.

"You're not strong enough to beat me, and you're too arrogant," he gawked.

"I'm strong enough to kill you." The words had flown out of my mouth before I could stop them. I needed to push away that compulsion to defend, it wouldn't help me right now.

"Not likely," he laughed wickedly.

"You're stalling, James. You're scared," I challenged, the plan hadn't been to antagonize him just stall long enough, and admittedly it wasn't my best idea. But it was all moot.

I didn't know how much of our plan he knew, so I couldn't exactly count on that. And I wasn't sure just how long I could preoccupy James before this escalated, but I would face him if I had to.

"Don't you worry, Bella." His eyes narrowed, and he started pacing in front of me. I didn't once take my eyes off of him, "Do I kill you? Or do I keep you as my own little pet? I brought this. Maybe I'll send it to him? Have him try to avenge you. Or maybe I'll keep you just out of his reach, every time he gets close to finding you, I pull you just out of his reach. And all he'll have left of you is this video of your suffering. That sounds like a lot of fun."

The camera made sense now, he was going to taunt Edward with whatever transpired today.

This time I couldn't contain the shiver that crawled down my spine, "I'd never go anywhere with you."

"Oh, but you will, or maybe I'll pay a visit to that little girl of yours?"

My protective instincts took over as I turned sharply. My lip curled over my teeth. "I'd kill you before you got the chance."

And just like that I knew there would be no more stalling him, he was right. I would either go with him or I would kill him, but I would protect my daughter with every fiber of my being. I had to make a choice now, concede or attack.

And I wasn't about to give up that easily.

"I see I hit a nerve there." He sounded much too pleased.

"How do you know about us?"

"It wasn't hard, a friend told me there was something special about you,"

"Laurent," I whispered. Was this what he was hiding from Edward on our short visit to Alaska?

"To be fair, he didn't know what exactly was special about you, but it was enough confirmation for me. And once I found out, well, I knew I had to have you."

"Why? What did the Cullen's ever do to you?"

"I told you they get to keep her, and I'll take you, I think it's a fair trade."

"Who?"

He ignored my question, "She smelled so good, better that you, no offense. I still regret that I never got to taste her. She was in that asylum, all alone. A vampire made the same choice your little boyfriend made, he changed her. She didn't even notice the pain after being stuck inside that black hole for so long. I was so close before he turned her. Once he turned her, there was nothing I could do, so I killed the old vampire in vengeance. I had always been shocked at the fascination our kind has with humans. I was so surprised to see her in this very field that day. I picked up your scent from that house and I knew I had to have you. Your coven should take some comfort from this experience. I get to keep you and they get her. The one victim that got away, quite an honor. She led me to you, truly full circle."

I kept quiet as he circled me, and finished his little tirade. I started to put the pieces together, Alice was the only one of us that didn't know her past, "Alice."

"You're smart, aren't you?"

"I'm not a human anymore, you can't have me either." I lifted my head in defiance, slightly squaring my shoulders to seem more confident.

He started circling me. With each loop around me he inched his way closer and closer to me, each lap around me closing the distance between us. I kept my hands curled into fists at my sides.

"There are other things that you can give me. It's truly unheard of, a vampire who can bear children, you'll make a nice pet." He stopped right in front of me, and reached out to trail his finger down my face. This time I didn't resist the urge to push him away full force.

"Finally! This was a little too easy for my taste, maybe your mate will give me a more satisfying chase," he jeered as he landed in a crouch. Jasper had been correct, he was an experienced fighter, it didn't matter that I had the strength. He had the strategy.

He charged me into a tree, the tree splintered beneath the force. I had such a visceral reaction to having him so close to me, I used whatever strength I had to get away from his grip. It was too much to have his body pressed against mine, it reminded me of what exactly he wanted from me.

I knew I didn't know how to fight, but I would give it my all, and if I went, Edward would know I went fighting.

We circled each other for a second, I tried to follow what Jasper said, to not be predictable, but it was like he knew what I was about to do each time.

With each attack, he had me back on the ground.

I took a second to think. He had several cracks in his face from my assaults, but nothing seemed to deter him.

It was clear I couldn't beat him with brute force, I needed to use my wits. He rushed at me again, I could tell he was getting cocky. I grabbed a handful of the ground beneath me. He didn't even notice when I flung it in his eyes. It wouldn't do much, but it blinded him for a split second. It gave me enough time to recover and get off the ground. He bounced back quickly, and he ran at me again. I used my strength to bound out of his way, he turned and snarled viciously. Anger and irritation were forming on his face, the tides were finally turning in my favor.

He stopped a few yards in front of me, it reminded me of a bull getting ready to stampede.

But the saying was right, desperate people do desperate things. He charged again, and as I cleared over him he grabbed my ankle harshly yanking me back down to the hard Earth. I could feel the slight indentation of where my body had landed formed into the ground. All of the air rushed out of me as I made contact with the ground. My evasion had further enraged him. I tried to sit up but he kicked square in the chest, to force me back down, I felt my skin crack.

"Not so tough now? Are you?" His teeth were bared in the most inhuman and wicked way. I instinctively raised my hand to defend, when I felt his teeth dig into my palm. The only thing this pain could compare to was the burn I felt entering this life. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream, I gritted my teeth at the unbridled pain.

He used this lapse in defense, to grab me and fling me like I weighed nothing. The painful contact with the ground meant nothing, I still could only focus on the burn in my hand.

Out of my peripheral, I could see him readjust the camera, it was facing us again, he was saying something for his sadistic keepsake. The pain was still overwhelming me. I tried to keep myself still knowing that he was still capturing this as a means to torment Edward, but I couldn't help but writhe in agony.

"Tell him, Bella. Tell him to avenge you."

"Never," I said through gritted teeth. I was up in an instant. This time he made no attempt to keep me down. I pushed away the excruciating pain in my hand, I could see the deep crevices that formed where he had bitten, almost like he had been trying to take a chunk of my hand.

"Well you're spirited, I'll give you that. I'll have to fix that. Maybe tear off an arm or two?" He lunged at me again. He plowed me down before I could defend.

I was on my back with James hovering over me, with a wicked and sadistic smirk. I wouldn't accept this defeat, I would fight until he tore me apart. I futilely tried to kick him off of me several times.

He wasn't strong enough to keep me pinned down and still, so he stomped on my leg to get me to stop kicking at him. He used his boot to bend it in an awkward direction, I had could hear the cracking from each brutal blow. Then he went for my left arm, I tried to fend him off, but I could hear the shrieking noise and cracking of my skin, he was trying to tear it off. He knew it wouldn't kill me, and that he could put it back and do it over and over again. It reminded me that this was some twisted game to James. I wasn't a human anymore, he couldn't feed off of me anymore, this was all for sport.

He was too focused on trying to tear me to shreds that I went for his neck, I wedged my other hand under his neck, I could hear the same shrieking noise coming from him. He was slipping, too consumed in his anger and game to think straight, by the time he tore off my arm, I would have torn off his head. I had been so focused on James that Edward tackling him off of me almost shocked me.