Title: Cut the Ropes

Author: LazyWerewolf

Disclaimer: See chap 11

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was out a bit late, I honestly have no excuse except a whole mess of things happened these past two weeks, and I've been busy. But here it is, at last!

About Bella's relationship status… Honestly, my ideas went from "Start off with Bella and Alice in full on puppy love" to "Bella will have feelings for a bazillion OCs and a Volturi dude" to "Bella will pair up with a few OCs, most of which will be male, and then deal with her feelings for Alice" to "Bella will pair up with one or two OC guys to get her… ahem, experienced, and then finalize her love for Alice". I still want to go forth with the AxB pairing, but there will be a few heterosexual relationships for Bella before she gets to see Alice again. (Some people used to give me massive shit about pairing Bella up with Jacob and not automatically making her gay... Glad that's done)

No one got the symbolism in Bella's dream... I don't blame you though, I thought I wrote it almost a bit too obscure. Bella dies in the last chapter. She dies of blood loss, so the dream is kind of like the crossing into heaven. Bella is exactly what she wants to be (vampire, not werewolf), and her own personal angel (Alice) leads her into heaven (the Exit door, with all her friends and family), thereby killing her. But she's a werewolf, so her condition heals her rather rapidly, preventing her from dying(Zeus and the sand demons, with the Volturi indirectly as well) keeping her from heaven (The monsters killing her and tearing her apart), and thus saving her from dying. So really, Zeus was saving her from death, but death is really the only way she could get everything she wants. Hope that makes more sense now.

Alice doesn't come in till later... But the rest of the vampires are coming very, very soon!

See you at teh bahtom.

Seven

Xerxes shuffled around the kitchen, his massive footsteps making loud thuds. We had sat still for about an hour in silence, waiting for the last of the police to clear out. Xerxes said that they did this whenever they wanted to draw attention to somewhere else; that they would just be moving the "fake" drug lab somewhere else in the city later. Police here were lenient, I figured that much. I sat reclined on a wooden chair, admiring Xerxes from behind. I'm not gonna lie, I've been staring at his butt for the last fifteen minutes or so.

I'm such an ass-man. But this isn't the first time. I admit, I stare at butts as they walk by. Both girls and guys. Grr, I'm such a whore.

Xerxes turned around, blushing slightly and scratching his head when he saw me admiring his backside. I partially blushed, hiding the red with my hand and turning to the side. "You have some tomato sauce on your pants..."

He turned around to look at his bum. "Oh, yeah, I do," It sounded a bit strangled because he almost completely turned around, but he took the material in his hands and wiped it off. He had finished cooking, so he brought over two steaming plates of... I don't know.

He sat down, and I put all legs of the chair on the floor and began eating. "Hey, what is this? It tastes delicious..." I ate more of the odd tasting noodles. He looked up from the pasta, one noodle sticking out of his mouth. I tried to suppress a laugh.

"This," he picked up the remaining noodle with his index finger and slurped it into his mouth, "Is a type of pasta. I believe it is Arabic of origin, but I'm not sure."

I had to laugh a bit at his facial expression. He looked like a duck. The two of us lapsed into a comfortable silence as we continued eating. We both had just finished the food and were sitting there, when he asked me a question. "Tell me... What brings someone like you all the way out here, hiding from Zeus?"

I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. "How do you know about Zeus?"

"Alexander told me. He talks a whole lot about you... Your past and future especially."

I put my fork down and raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

He nodded and made a "hmm" sound. "I can't talk to you about your own future. That would break some... I don't know, time stuff. But, I don't actually know your name... Alexander was very vague in his descriptions."

"Isabella Swan, but I prefer Bella," I said.

His eyes widened. "Italian?"

"Half. What about you?"

"Half English, half German. Glad to see someone else out of place. I think you need some bandages for that shoulder of yours."

My wounds were still gaping open. I nodded at his offer, so he went to a high cabinet and pulled out a roll of gauze. Xerxes tossed both to me, and pointed to a room across the hall. I walked toward it and closed the door behind me.

The bathroom had a dirty mirror and was almost completely made of wood, save for the urinal. "Toilet, toilet, toilet... Hey Xerxes?" I yelled through the door. I heard loud footsteps, then his voice behind the wood.

"Yes?"

"Is there a toilet in here?"

"I'm afraid not, you'll just have to learn, but there's a shower..."

Ugh.

"Thanks anyway," I yelled to him and heard loud thuds fading. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was disheveled ridiculously, and my skin had a layer of grime and blood over it. The small shower in the corner, however bare it was, beckoned to me. I stripped naked and got in, taking a bar of soap from the top of the shower door.

"Fuck!" I hopped around in the shower, twitching. Cold, cold, cold! "Ow, ow, ow, shit!" I scrambled around in the shower, climbing up a wall and clinging to the doorframe because of the temperature.

There were hurried footsteps and knocks at the door. Xerxes' worried voice resonated from beyond the door. "Bella, are you okay?"

I calmed down a bit before speaking. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a bit cold, is all," I sounded out.

"Well, hurry, because it only gets colder. I never got that fixed." He left, going back to his business.

Colder? How much colder before it starts snowing?

I quickly scrubbed the majority of grime and dirt off me, saving my hair for last. After fifteen minutes in freezing cold water, I could almost be remotely presentable. As I stepped out of the death shower, I noticed a slight problem. I have no clothing. I quickly scavenged the dirty underwear, opting to trash the shirt and only use the gym shorts. I dried myself off with a towel, then wrapped the gauze securely around my shoulder and my ribcage. It would be kind of awkward going out topless in front of a guy, though, even with the gauze, so I opened the door and poked my head through the opening.

I looked around for signs of Xerxes, my wet hair blocking my vision. "Hey, Xerxes?"

Pause. "Xerxes?"

More pause. "Xerxeeeees?"

Nothing. It was safe to come out. I went back into the bathroom and grabbed a towel for my hair, trying to dry it off as best I could before draping it over my shoulder. I caught glimpse of myself in the mirror. Is that a fucking four pack? Damn, Bella.

I exited the bathroom, but there was still no sign of Xerxes. But I still needed a shirt. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I borrowed one, though, but where could the clothing be?

The hallway had a few doors. Maybe I could find some clothes. I rummaged through the first room, which was just a broom closet. No clothes here. The next room was the laundry room, which was unfortunately empty. The last room on this side was a staircase. Leading to what; I don't know, but it probably wasn't clothing. I closed that door and headed to the fifth door. When I opened it, needless to say I was surprised.

Xerxes was stark naked, facing away from me into a closet. He hadn't heard me open the door. I should probably say some thing... "Do you have any clothing?" Smooth, Bella.

The blonde man jumped, and reached for a random piece of cloth to cover himself. He was blushing furiously and was staring at the ground. When he saw me without a shirt, he blushed even more, covering himself with the bed sheets on the floor.

"Um, no... I'm actually quite bare, as you can probably see..." When he spoke, he didn't meet my eyes. I remember when I used to be that shy. But then I grew a pair.

I rolled my eyes at him. "That's not what I meant. Could I borrow a shirt?" I asked.

He reached in the closet, exposing a bit of his bum before he tossed a huge, oversized green shirt at me. "Here, um... There's a TV upstairs..."

I caught it and turned to the door. "It's uh-kay, I'll leave now," I said, walking through the doorframe.

I walked toward the staircase, putting the plain green t-shirt on. Already at the door, I felt something stab my bare foot. "Ouch..." I lifted it up to see a huge splinter. Once I pulled it out with my fingernails, my foot instantly healed. The marvel of werewolf water.

I slowly opened the door, expecting to see more dark wood and unkempt grime. However, instead of dirt and grime it was a homey apartment, with white paint and a stone countertop in the kitchen. It was extremely small, but I said this because I had yet to go through the hallway. I stepped out of the doorway, closing the door behind me. The actual door was hidden by a bookshelf. Highly unoriginal, but it works. I sauntered over to the kitchen. There were a few prepared sandwiches lying around, along with a wrap of whatever. I ate two sandwiches in the blink of an eye. The rest of the apartment was nothing to look at, besides the small, 13 inch square television mounted on the corner of the kitchen countertop, which was spouting news in Arabic. I pulled a chair back and recline on it, leaning back to watch the pretty pictures. A few cartoons passed, and I found myself supporting my chin on the kitchen table, waiting for something to happen. I thought I heard something familiar. Ah, yes. English. Finally, a commercial for Billy Mays. Outdated Oxiclean commercials, in this case only, were the best.

After around three minutes of Billy Mays, more Arabic CNN came on, droning out the sounds of children playing in the street outside. Their joyous peals of laughter did nothing to soothe my nerves. My mind started wandering. I thought about the cold shower, this comfy green shirt, some stuff… No, no, no! Aw gawd, now I feel like a whore...I tried to focus on counting the clear white ceiling tiles.

Forty seven, forty eight, forty nine, fifty, fifty one, fifty two... Large footsteps came from beyond the bookshelf door. It slowly slid open, revealing Xerxes, who was wearing khaki shorts and a plaid shirt, buttoned all the way to the top.

I frowned. "Don't you know how to wear anything?" I hurried over to him and started fixing his collar as he shut the bookshelf door.

Xerxes looked down at me with wide eyes as I unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. "Euh, Bella, I like you and all, but I haven't actually had any experience with this—"

"Done!" I finished unbuttoning the last one. He had these spectacular abs, and was well muscled. His shyness was cute, but come on.

"You sure you haven't gotten any yet?"

He shuffled back, looking down and ruffling his hair. "Any of what?"

I sighed, and shook my head, hiding my eyes with my hand. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two physically, but around twenty-seven age wise," he said.

I stopped fiddling with my hair as he came and took a seat next to me. "Wait...what?"

He looked confused as he clasped his large hands together on the table. "We're immortal... Don't you know that?"

I nodded slowly. "I thought only vampires were immortal."

"No. The reason is that... Well, think of it like this. We were the first to exist, and we eat meat and drink water, right? If we lived forever, our resources would be gone eventually. That's why nature created vampires, because if werewolves kept wasting resources we would be in eternal drought. Same thing with vampires, if they kept drinking the blood that was supposed to be absorbed into the soil, then there would be a drought as well. So, it's a cycle. They kill us, give back to Mother Earth, we kill them, and give back to Mother Earth. We exist to kill one another," Xerxes said. My heart dropped.

I exist to kill vampires.

I exist to kill Rosalie. I exist to kill Emmett. I exist to kill Jasper.

I exist to kill Alice.

But that can't be right. I love them. They're my family. There was an awkward silence as I sat with a shell shocked expression on my face. After ten minutes of him fidgeting, Xerxes lifted himself from the table, his eye length blonde hair fluttering around him. He looked to the ground, until he took one large hand and used his fingers to lift the table like it was nothing.

I immediately took my legs off of the table. "Woah, Xerxes, buddy, what're you doing?" He looked up at me for a moment, his mouth slightly open, before going back to his business, lifting several chairs, including my own, which sent me tumbling onto him. He grabbed my leg, catching me just as my face was about to hit the ground. Xerxes was holding me on his shoulder. I probably looked like some four year old.

"Hey, hey hey hey HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" I screamed and punched his back.

"Have you seen my—" We were interrupted by an unlocking of a door. Warm breeze hit my leg. Through my peripheral vision, I could see a bush of curly black hair and the makings of a beard on Alexander's tan skin.

"Alex!" I yelled, waving behind Xerxes. "Good to see you!"

Alex walked over, setting down several large plastic bags and a huge brown box. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but in case I am, the hmms are in the back hmm," he said, looking toward the cabinet in the back whenever he hit the "hmms". My face was beginning to turn red from being upside down so long.

Xerxes shook his head, clearing the blonde locks from his vision. "You haven't seen my shoes, have you?"

I shook my head, perching my elbow on his bum and holding my head up. "No, but the hmms are in the back hmm," I said.

Xerxes sighed, before he put me down on a chair. I shook my head, sending my hair flying in all directions. He looked to Alexander, who was rummaging through the brown box.

"Here," Alex tossed me a white scarf, and some brown sandals. He gave me a sort of white robe along with it, along with a leather belt. I held it in my hands, and looked at him questioningly. "Your name is Ari Madwesh, you're going to the market to buy food for your loving fiancé," Alex pushed a few traditional clothes to Xerxes before continuing. "The two of you are getting married in two months. You just moved here from Kuwait, and your skin is pale because of the car ride. They know why your eyes are yellow, and your," he turned and tapped Xerxes' shoulder. "Hair is blonde because you bleached it. The police have nothing on you. Here is your wallet," He handed me a small canvas pocket, which contained a whole lot of money and a fake ID before turning to Xerxes and handing him his own. "And here's yours. Bella, don't say a word, and learn to pronounce your name."

I looked down at the ID to see my picture in it, along with fake information, like where I've lived, address, and age. The name was spelled completely different than what it sounded like. That wasn't confusing. "Ari Madwesh." Airy Madaweshhhh.

"No, Ari Madwesh," he said, pronouncing every syllable perfectly with practiced ease.

"Ari, Madwesh..." Airey Madwiiish...

He sighed. "Just don't speak, alright? Xerxes will take you down into an alley with a door that has a crescent moon on it. There lives a mated pair. Their names are Elizabeth and Rebecca, treat them with respect, for if you disrespect one you disrespect the other, and that won't turn out well. You need to talk to them about finding a home for Bella. Go. I know this will turn out moderately well."

Xerxes started toward the main door, taking my wrist with him. I nearly tripped over a stray power cord as he led me down some steep stairs onto a street, where a motorcycle identical to Mr. Rusty was parked. I slipped the white robe on and tied the leather belt around my waist, pulling the hood over and tying a knot with the strings. I probably looked like something out of the Assassin's Creed. Xerxes donned a black... Thing as well. There was a cheap looking white car next to Mr. Rusty 2 as well. Xerxes pulled a key from who knows where and slipped it into the car. We were off in minutes.

The world zoomed around me past my thick hood. Everything seemed so fucking CANVAS! CANVAS CANVAS MOTHERFUCKING CANVAS! Everything was made of canvas. Fucking plaid equivalent. I sighed. The disgusting smell of a certain tan fabric. Ugh. I parted the obnoxious fabric to only reveal my eyes.

A few people were staring at us, but mostly at Xerxes' hair. It was true; he could probably cover it up with a hat, hood, or maybe even a wig if he was feeling dramatic. I sighed into the fabric. When will it all end? I've never actually thought about settling down before, but that seems extremely plausible right now. Wait. What the fuck? I'm nineteen, for crying out loud! Damn you, Daniel.

The car came to a stop, the engine rumbling loudly. The alley itself was dead quiet. A pin could have dropped and it could have been an atomic bomb. The door we parked closest to had a sleek red crescent moon on it. Xerxes exited the car first, before going to open my door. The warm air acted like an aphrodisiac on me, making me slightly drowsy. He held out his hand. "M'lady?"

I'm not even going to answer that.

I took his hand and got out of the car. The door itself was old and rotted, but if you looked at the bottom of the door you could see the beginning of a modern inside to the building. The silence was completely shattered when two loud feminine moans escaped the door. A muffled name came from beyond it. Xerxes and I simultaneously flushed.

"Well, um, we've come at a bad time, um, so, we should go, like now," he stuttered out.

I nodded my head, blushed and walked with Xerxes down the alley. It led down straight to the town center, with the fountain and everything. There were a few people buzzing around, but definitely not as much as before. The fountain was devoid of people, except for the occasional couple wandering through the general area. Xerxes took my hand and led me to the far shadows on a wall, obscuring us from view. His tone was hushed, and he spoke quickly.

"Have you even been freerunning before?" he inquired softly.

Hmm. Well, if you count the rooftop dash, the Alice escape, or the mountain climb circuit, then yes, yes I have been freeruning before.

"No, it sounds fun though," I forced out. Psh. Fun.

He grinned devilishly, and took me into a doorway. The small room had a spiral staircase that went several floors up. Xerxes ignored it, opting to scale the staircase rails itself like a ladder. I mimicked him.

Yes! Bella, Queen of the Monkey People! All must bow before me! All hail The Queen of monkey people! I am almighty! Bow before my greatness! I SAID BOW! BOW! OW, DAMNIT!

During my scaling effort, my leg slipped through the rung and left me hanging by my fingers on the spiral staircases handhold. Xerxes didn't stop climbing up the wall and staircase, doing amazing flips and jumps even though I was down here, clinging to life by my fingers.

My right pinky slipped, until the entire right hand was off. I was suspended fifty feet above concrete. I shimmied along upwards when I got my hands back up, hoping to find somewhere where I could put my leg over. After several minutes of extreme pain, my feet finally hit a ledge.

I AM QUEEN OF THE MONKEY PEOPLE ONCE MORE! ALL MONKEY MEN MUST BOW BEFORE ME! BOW! BOW, BAHAHAH- OW, WHAT THE FUCK NOW?

I held my aching head. Roofs are so painful. Xerxes lent me a hand, lifting me up through the hole in the roof and letting me out once more into the beautiful sunlight. The air was thick with heat, but I thought it was comfortable. It was very nice out, you know, for Saudi Arabia. Xerxes gave me a look that said "On the count of three". I suddenly realized I had a race to win.

"One..." I put my fingers on the ground.

"Two," he said, staring straight ahead.

"Three!"

Xerxes took off maybe a millisecond before I did, but it was all he needed to jump the first roof before I did. However, I quickly caught up, my light build helping me here. He looked strained as he turned his head to the side, sticking his tongue out at me. I grinned, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much. Honestly, this guy was all sunshine.

The second leap was larger, but still relatively easy. I could see the messy blonde pile of hair in front of me, warning me that I was going to lose at this rate. So what I did to catch up was take a short cut by climbing up the highest building, and then dropping down onto a lower one, and a lower one, and a lower one, saving myself the trouble of jumping. Xerxes was no longer ahead, in fact, he was nowhere in sight. I stopped on a rooftop that had no external windows, wondering what kind of boxy building this was. It was no use to keep on running seeing as Xerxes beat me by a long shot. The sun beat down on my skin, making me feel like a wet towel. There wasn't a cloud for miles. Just sun, sun, sun, and more sun. It was actually nice. I thought I would probably hate it, seeing as I lived in perpetual fog for the beginning of my existence, but it wasn't that bad.

"BOO!"

"FUCK!"

Xerxes appeared suddenly from the side of a building, looking like a giant blonde gorilla as he maneuvered around the buildings and ran straight at me. I crouched down in the stance Daniel taught me a few days back. Come to think of it, all of this shit happened in less than two months. How fucked up is that? As he approached me, I did the flip that Daniel taught me, sending him flying over my body. He landed on his back with a satisfying thud, and a loud "oof".

"What was that for?"

"Like you weren't just trying to jump me!"

I lent him a hand, and tried to lift him up, which really wasn't the best idea in the world, since he pulled me down onto the concrete, which earned him a loud "Oomph". He chuckled, and rolled me over on top of him so I could get a better look. I'll be honest, this dude was pretty hot. And he has a sense of humor.

"Like you weren't just trying to jump me," he mimicked with a stupid look on his face. I pushed his nose down, making his face fall backwards onto the concrete. I rolled off of him. There was a pause for a few minutes as I tried to put words to my madness. How was I supposed to ask if Elizabeth and Rebecca were... you know, done? 'Cause it's pretty rude to just start fucking when you know you have visitors coming, so... Jesus Christ, this is madness.

"This is Sparta..."

Xerxes lifted his head up. "Hmm?"

I shook my head. "Nothing..." Just do it now before you chicken out. "Hey, um... do you think they're, um, you know, uh...done?"

His eyes widened. "Euh, well, I would think so, seeing as how it generally takes less time for mated pairs, so, I figure after they went at it for a few hours—" I clamped my hands over my ears and started screaming.

"T-M-I! T-M-I! GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"

He laughed. "Oh, Bella, did Danny never talk to you about the birds and the bees? Well, first, when two werewolves like each other—"

"Okay, haha, you're funny... But seriously... Do you think they're, um," I trailed off, twirling my hair around my fingers.

He lifted himself up on his hands. "Well, yeah, I figure... I know them, they've probably been at it since-"

"LALALALALALA!"

We ended up talking about random things, like sports in America versus sports in Europe, not that I liked either, where we were from, and stupid things like that for a while.

"We have to go, you know."

"Okay, okay, fine, let's go."

Xerxes did the ninja flip thing, you know the one where you put your hands behind your head and push your legs upward to get up, and stuck out a hand for me to take. I ignored it, opting to mimic him. It actually worked out pretty well. He smiled and got in a running stance.

Round two.

"One," I counted.

"Two..."

"Three!"

The two of us were off in a split second, jumping over the first roof simultaneously. I took a shortcut, however, opting to miss the second rooftop in exchange for a food cart. I weightlessly bounced on it. This is fun.

Pretty soon I ran out of food carts to be on, though, so I managed to catch the end of a gutter in mid flight and monkey climb my way back onto the rooftops. Xerxes was way ahead of me, and when I saw him stop running he turned around and did a little jig, screaming "Yoohoo!"s and taunts. I jogged over to the rooftop he was on.

"I won, fair and square!" He laughed.

"Shut it! Let's go," I couldn't keep the humor out of my voice.

Xerxes led us into a doorway, where another spiral staircase was. We went down until another door came into sight, the light of day shining through. We exited and turned a few alleys until coming to the same door that we saw earlier in the day.

He shuffled awkwardly, putting his hands behind his back and whistling.

I sighed. "Chicken."

"Am not!"

I knocked on the door, waiting for a response. It was silent for a moment, and then a small hole in the door opened up, revealing a pair of yellow eyes. I stood to the side, waiting for Xerxes to take over. Xerxes, however, ducked under the hole and smiled at me devilishly.

"BOO!"

I never thought it was possible for a scream to have a French accent until now.

The hole in the door shut again, and when it opened again it revealed a pair of angry blue eyes glaring at Xerxes.

"What?" the voice from beyond the door was seething.

Xerxes laughed and stared right back. "Alex sent us? Remember? We were supposed to be here half an hour ago, but you two were 'busy'?" He made air quotes with his hands and his eyes were filled with mirth.

The eyes behind the door widened, before the hole shut again. It was quiet once more, until the door opened slightly and Xerxes made his way in. I followed, and was surprised at what was here.

The floor was a bright hardwood, looking much too expensive for an apartment on this side of town. One side of the room was littered with musical artifacts, several different guitars, a bass, violin, and a piano in the corner. The other half of the room included the kitchen, and had yet another spiral staircase leading up to a very bright looking room. But two more interesting things caught my eye.

The first woman was tall, skinny and about as pale as I used to be. Her dark brown hair went down to her shoulders, framing her diamond face. Her eyes were a startling yellow color, just like all werewolves. The second woman couldn't have been over 20. She was short. Like, Alice short. Maybe a bit taller, but still. She reached maybe halfway past her companions elbow. Her messy, chin length light brown hair was in curls, sticking out in every direction. However, she had blue eyes. The taller one's arm hung around the shorter ones shoulders.

"Lizzy!" Xerxes yelled, opening his arms for a hug.

He didn't receive a warm response. "Call me that again and I'll castrate you, Xerxes," the taller one growled.

The short one spoke up and looked at me with curiosity. "Who's your friend?"

I had nearly forgotten how to speak. "Um, hi, Bella," I introduced myself. Very awkwardly, I might add. My wolfiness may have taken away most of my physical awkwardness, but it tripled my social awkwardness.

"Bell-A. I like your name. I'm Rebecca." The short one spoke up.

Miss I'm-about-to-castrate-you-Xerxes still hadn't stopped glaring at him, but Rebecca elbowed her. She broke eye contact with Xerxes, and turned to face me. Her features were softer, but slightly uninterested.

"Elizabeth. Nice to meet you." Her voice had a slight French lilt to it, but not enough to be comical.

Xerxes shuffled over to me, and whispered very loudly, "It's Lizzy, she just doesn't want to admit it," he said.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and Rebecca looked like she was trying her hardest not to laugh. Rebecca spoke up, gesturing to Xerxes.

"You're not here for a friendly visit, are you?"

Xerxes shook his head. "Alex needs a home for Bella."

The pair stood there, stoic, until Rebecca looked like she was just hit by an idea.

"There's an apartment in Dubai. Easy travel, and Xerxes can go with you. It's new, werewolf free, and perfect for a newbie's such as yourself."

Thanks for crushing my self confidence. I scoffed. "Newbie. I wouldn't want to be experienced in something like this anyway."

Rebecca ignored the comment, but both Elizabeth and Xerxes flinched slightly. Shit. I fidgeted around and murmured a quiet "Sorry".

Rebecca disconnected herself from Elizabeth's arm, and ran upstairs for a minute. In a few seconds she came back down with a map, a pair of keys, and a wallet. Rebecca handed them to me, and I stuffed them in the pockets of the robe I was wearing.

I started speaking. "Does Alex do this often?"

"Yes. He relocates newborn refugees, rogues from camp, and even a vampire or two to help them live happily, and peacefully," Elizabeth said, with her pretty French accent. "Some of us don't want to fight a war we never started. It's basically Zeus versus Volterra. Not pretty," she said.

I looked to Xerxes. "Is that all?"

"I was hoping for a visit, seeing as we probably won't be seeing them again, and all."

"You won't be seeing me again."

My heart stung with dull pain. I hope he's okay.

"Is it just me or do all werewolves play guitar except me?" I walked over and poked a Stratocaster that was leaning on a desk.

Xerxes shifted his weight onto his other foot. "Well, Alex doesn't really play, but I bet he knows how to, the bastard." Elizabeth and Rebecca chuckled.

Everyone decided the TV on the far wall needed some company, but I backed off when I saw that the news was in Arabic. I need to buy a translator or something. Xerxes picked up a guitar with Elizabeth's permission and started improvising some solos. After a while, Elizabeth said I could get an acoustic and have Xerxes teach me. She sat down and curled her arms around Rebecca's waist, and the smaller girl gave in and rested herself on Elizabeth. They really were a beautiful couple.

Xerxes taught me a few songs, and I caught on easily because I at least had some experience with guitars. Occasionally Elizabeth would plant a kiss on Rebecca's head, whereupon Rebecca would snuggle closer to her. The two were completely smitten with each other, and Rebecca would start talking to us about what it was like in camp, without moving from her place. Somewhere along the line, we ended up talking about what it was like to be a werewolf. Xerxes sugarcoated everything, making it seem great. Elizabeth tried to discourage Rebecca, but I just sat back bewildered.

So this was what Edward felt.

Such a stupid, stupid girl.

Willingly throwing her humanity away, wanting Elizabeth to change her... Now I understood. I understood why Edward never wanted me to change.

Who would have imagined that he was actually right?

I couldn't imagine condemning my soulmate to a life of pain and misery, if it meant being selfish and keeping them forever...

The room was quiet.

Pretty soon the sounds of guitars and Arabic news reporters entered the room again, and we were all lounging like she never said anything. But I hadn't forgotten. It must be so hard for Elizabeth.

Hell, it must have been hard for Edward too. But he was force feeding me BS about not having a soul.

Time passed, and before we knew it the sun had set and we were all watching an Arabic comedy. Everyone was laughing... Except me. I found myself leaning on Xerxes with his arm wrapped around my shoulder, so it was easier for him to explain the jokes. Some of them were actually pretty funny, but most of them were a play on words, which pretty much made it impossible for me to understand.

Elizabeth pointed out that it was late. It was around eight at night, which really sucked, because we had to be back at around five. Xerxes groaned.

"Ugh, I forgot again! Alex is going to have my head on a platter!" He buried his face in his hands.

"We should go, thank you," I said, taking his hand.

Elizabeth and Rebecca saw us out, but when I looked back to wave I saw two figures... Making out like crazy. Why couldn't they save it for another time?

Xerxes opened the car doors, and we sped off toward Alex's apartment. Several roads passed with little to no traffic, no police and no pedestrians. The town square was empty.

"Xerxes, are you sure there isn't anything going on?" I asked.

"Hmm? No, it's Tuesday, right?"

"No, it's Thursday..."

His eyes widened. Aw fuck, that can't be good.

Xerxes swerved into an alley and immediately parked the car. "Go, go, go!"

I followed him as he ran straight down the alley and came upon the door to Alex's apartment. He fumbled with the keys, shaking violently. The door opened from the inside, though, revealing a very, very annoyed Alex.

"You idiot!"

Xerxes shoved Alex back into the apartment, but Alex didn't flinch and continued to hold the door open.

"I didn't do anything," Alex drawled out, pretending like it was nobody's business.

"Yes you did, you could have gotten us killed! The police have permission to shoot anyone out past curfew, and you didn't even tell me it was Thursday!"

Shoot anyone? That's my kind of luck.

"Yes I did, I said it was Thursday, and besides, if you had come any earlier you would have been shot anyway," he said.

Xerxes took a deep breath, leaning against the door and falling to the floor. I leaned against the countertop, hungry as fuck.

"Hey Alex, what's for-" I was cut off by a loud, metallic screeching coming from the bookcase door. Everyone went still for a second, before we all entered the bookcase door, closing it behind us. I was the first to go down, so I flicked on the lights.

A figure covered in mud was leaning against the vent I entered through, holding it open for another. However, this wasn't just a random stranger crawling in through the vent. Emily spat out mud as she fell on the floor, trying to wipe the mud off her face as best she could. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw me. She offered a weak smile.

"Hi Bella," she called out.

I nearly sprinted over to her, kneeling down beside her and wiping her face of the mud plastered on it. "Emi, what the heck are you doing here?"

She coughed up a bit more mud, so I pulled her onto my lap. "I followed Derek."

That name sparked rage inside me. I looked over to the muddy figure by the wall. The man had collapsed, his head against the floor. "Why?"

She snuggled against me and closed her eyes. "Cause I knew where he was going."

"How?" Was I really that obvious?

"Most everyone that leaves goes to Alex."

"It's true," Alexander's voice spoke up from behind me. I looked to see him sitting down on the floor, his legs crossed as he waited for Xerxes to examine Derek.

"Some heavy fractures, sprained ankle and a shitload of lacerations, but nothing a couple gallons of water can't fix," Xerxes said, examining a deep wound on his shoulder.

I looked back to the girl in my lap. "Emi, are you okay?" I shifted her slightly so I could get a better look, but she stiffened and held back a whimper. "Oh, God..." The girl had a bloody mess on the back of her shirt, and had deep wounds on her back. "Oh my God... Alex, get water, now," I sounded out. It broke my heart to see Emily in so much pain.

"Guess what, Bella?" she mumbled out from her spot in my arms. Alex tossed me a bottle of water, which I hastily opened.

"Drink," I told her. She downed the whole bottle of water, and after a moment all that was left of her wounds were red marks. I sighed.

"I finally turned! It was fun," she sounded so happy. I flinched.

"Fun?" Xerxes and I both simultaneously asked.

"Yeah, it didn't hurt much, and it was fun being tall." Leave it to her to find the most painful experience of her life fun. She tried to move her hands, but couldn't because there was so much mud caked on.

"You need a shower. Why are you so muddy?"

"Cause we took the short cut," she said. Short cut? "We went down the river, where the sewer to here was, look, I even brought food and clothing, in case you needed it," she said, gesturing to a bag that was tied to Derek's belt. Short cut. I'm retarded.

"I can't believe that after all you've been through you still thought of me," I said, moving her so I could give her a hug.

"It was David's idea..." she trailed off, and her smile dropped.

"Is he okay?"

Her eyes started tearing up. She let out a soft sob. "Tent number seven..." She mumbled into my shoulder. Tears seeped in through my shirt, and I held her tighter. She shook slightly, her head resting on my shoulder. I started to tear up, too.

Zeus.

I'm going to kill him.

A/N: Bella will get her revenge! Eventually! More travel time for Bella. So, from Cali to London to Saudi Arabia to Dubai… fun. I have to update now, so sorry for any problems with the grammar, I'll try my best to get them fixed ASAP…

I made a tumblr for you guys! Cause I didn't update last week, so… yeah :D Don't eat meh…

Here it is: lazywerewolf dot tumblr dot com … except use these little bastards. I may or may not just do a whole update blog thing on CTR, maybe… I dunno.

Cheers,

Lazywerewolf