A/N Sorry for that very evil cliff hanger LOL*

Chapter 31 (Bella POV)

I took in a breath to scream, but it caught in my throat when I realized that it was just Emmett. My hand shot over my mouth to muffle the odd strangled sound. My eyes darted past him, searching the room for Jasper, but he wasn't there. I felt my heart sink when I realized that something must be wrong.

"Where is he? What's going on?" I asked, trying not to panic, though I was already on the verge of an anxiety attack.

"Shhh . . . Calm down Bella. Jasper had to take care of something with Alice real quick, he'll be here in a couple of hours." He gave me an apologetic look.

"What's something? Is it Edward?" My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest.

"So, don't freak out . . . But uh, he left the mountain and Alice doesn't know where he went, she can't see him. Jasper has to go with her up to the mountain so they can try to track his scent and find him, or at least get a better idea of where he went. He told me to tell you that he's really sorry and he promises no matter what he'll be here before you fall asleep. Until then, I'm here just in case and I can assure you, no one's getting through me."

"So, why did he have to be the one to go with her? Um, not that I'm not thankful that you're here." I asked.

"Jasper's better at tracking than the rest of us, at locating someone's scent and finding them, I attribute most of it to his war experience. He has the best chance of finding Edward besides Alice."

"This all happened so fast . . . He just left like twenty minutes ago and he didn't say anything."

"Alice had a vision on her way to pick him up, he didn't know then."

"What was the vision?" I asked, hesitantly, remembering the one she'd had this morning.

"It was Edward, he was just running. She couldn't tell where he was headed."

"Okay, well . . . I told my dad I was just going to the bathroom, so I'll be right back. I need to tell him I'm gonna go to bed early."

"No sweat." Emmett sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of my room and I tried not to wince, wishing desperately that it was Jasper sitting there instead.

I took a moment to actually use the bathroom, then went back downstairs to finish my dinner. When I was finished I cleared the food containers from the coffee table and told Charlie that I was going to head upstairs.

"Bella, it's only 6:30pm." He said, giving me a strange look.

"I know, but I've had a long day, almost dying and all that good stuff. I've been fighting a headache all afternoon, I just want to lay down."

"Alright, well, I guess you have had a pretty traumatizing day."

"By the way dad, thanks for the snow chains. If it's any consolation, they worked great this morning." He gave me a bit of an awkward smile.

"No problem. At least yah got to use 'em once."

"Goodnight dad."

"Night kid."

I tried my best to walk up the stairs at a normal speed, hoping I could avoid making Charlie suspicious. I realized while I was eating that I could make this time with Emmett useful and ask him a few questions. I opened the door and found him stretched out on my bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Bella, this bed sucks. How on Earth do you sleep on this thing?" He asked with amusement. His large burly figure looked so out of place on my small bed with it's purple blanket.

"Jasper doesn't seem to have any complaints." I said with a bit of an edge. He laughed.

"He wouldn't would he." He raised his eyebrows suggestively and I felt my face turn red. He got up and went to take his place back in the rocking chair and I sat down on the end of my bed facing him.

"Um, Emmett, can I ask you something?"

"That depends." I could see the mischief in his eyes.

"On?"

"Will I be getting an invite out to the cabin sometime this week for a game night?" It sounded like a more than fair trade, there was just one thing that I was worried about.

"Do you promise to keep this conversation between us?"

"You mean, do I promise not to tell Jasper?" He asked with a grin, I nodded. "I promise to keep it between us as long is it's not a matter of your safety."

"Deal. So, how does someone become a vampire?" I blurted out nervously.

"Woah! Coming out swinging Bella. I like it!" He laughed. "So you haven't talked to Jasper about this at all?"

"Uh, well . . . no." I admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me indecisively. I could tell he wasn't sure if he should be having this conversation with me and I hoped that I hadn't crossed a line by asking. Maybe there was some big secret that I wasn't supposed to know.

"Really, it's just a matter of a bite . . . but the tricky part is that the vampire has to have enough control to stop themselves from killing the human. It's kinda hard to stop drinking once we start, I don't think I could do it personally."

"So who changed you? Rosalie?"

"No, it was actually Carlisle. Rose found me though, I'd been mauled by a bear. She wasn't sure she'd have the strength to change me, so she carried me over a hundred miles to Carlisle and he was the one who did it. Guess she just knew I was the one." He smiled.

"That must've taken a lot of self control . . . for her to carry you that far with all that blood."

"Yeah, she's pretty amazing. I wouldn't have been able to do it." I noticed that seemed to be a common theme with Emmett, at least he was honest about his limits. Even so, I didn't feel afraid of him in the slightest.

"So did Carlisle change all of you?" I asked after a moment.

"All of us besides Jasper and Alice, they came to us after they'd already been changed, but I'm sure you know all about that." I nodded, though I didn't really know much, I wasn't going to ask Emmett about Jasper's past. I knew that was something that he'd have to open up to me about down the line.

"So does it . . . hurt? Becoming a vampire . . ."

"Oh yeah, it's fucking horrible - uh, sorry. It is horrible though. It feels like you've been set on fire, then it lasts for three days. I'd say it's worth it though, being a vampire is sick. Why? You thinking of giving up burgers for blood?"

"I mean, I don't know. I think I would, but Jasper hasn't said anything. I don't think he's thought about it."

"Bella, trust me, he doesn't sleep, he has nothing but time to think, he's thought about it."

"Well, I wish he'd tell me what he was thinking. Maybe he's not sure if he wants to spend that long with me, forever is a long time."

"If I know Jasper, which I do, you've got it wrong. He's crazy about you, he probably be happy to know that you were thinking about this kind of stuff. I bet he just doesn't want to make you feel pressured."

"That does make sense . . . that's kind of why I didn't bring it up to him. I didn't want him to think he had to be stuck with me forever if that's not what he wanted . . . "

"You two are probably just so stubborn that you're waiting for the other person to bring it up. Just grow some balls Bella, tell him what you're thinking. Wouldn't you rather know where his head was at?"

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right." He grinned and crossed his arms.

"So I have another question . . . Really it was more of an idea I had. Jasper shot it down, but I was wondering what you'd think." He sat, waiting for me to continue. "Uh, okay, so my idea was instead of trying to avoid Edward catching my scent, we could face it head on." He gave me a horrified look.

"I don't know Bella, maybe that's not the best idea."

"Why not? He doesn't want to hurt me. I don't mean to use myself as bait, but maybe just something with my scent, so he can try to build a tolerance to it like Jasper has."

"I mean Bella, if you want me to be honest, it's even a bit rough for me to be in here right now locked in here with you. I don't know how Jasper does it, have you guys even kissed yet?"

"Uh . . ." My face turned red and he started laughing.

"Oh man! I have to give him credit, that would be difficult, you're lucky you didn't meet him a few decades ago, you would have became food for sure!" I wanted to get off of this topic.

"So you really don't think it's a good idea then?"

"Look, here's the way that I see it. I've came across someone before with a scent that drew me in the way that yours would to Edward, it was a long time ago in New Orleans. Let's just say . . . they didn't survive. It's like my body took over before my brain could react. It wasn't a matter of choice. So no, I'm thinking it's not the best plan."

"But maybe it's just because you didn't expect it. What if you'd had your entire family helping you build a tolerance to the scent before you came into contact with the person?"

"How would they help in this case?"

"I'm thinking you guys could take Edward somewhere and introduce my scent to him. If he were to try and run, you guys could hold him back. Make him get used to it."

"Bella if he catches your scent, he will track you down and hunt you until he gets the taste he's craving."

"What if you made him hunt right after?"

"He'd still be thinking of it. Trust me, I've never forgotten the scent or the taste of the woman who I came across, no meal will ever compare. I don't think that Jasper is just being over protective if that's what you're worried about." I sighed, maybe I was doomed to just live in fear. "Then again Bella, if you'd just talk to Jasper about becoming a vampire, you wouldn't have to worry about any of this stuff. You and Edward may even get along after all this."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Just, please, don't say anything to him. I'll talk to him when I'm ready."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it." He sighed.

I grabbed some clothes and excused myself to go take a hot shower. It felt like every muscle in my body was sore from the tension I'd been carrying around all day. When I was done, I went downstairs and grabbed a glass of water as a cover so that I could check the junk drawers for a deck of cards. I found some and stuffed them in the pocket of my sweat pants before heading back upstairs. I went and sat at the head of my bed and pulled out the cards, holding them up to show Emmett who grinned ear to ear. He came to sit in Jasper's usual seat at the end of the bed and rubbed his hands together excitedly. I hoped maybe I wouldn't lose every single hand since most card games were more about luck than skill.

"I know it's not as fun as a video game, but I figured it'd help pass the time."

"What are we playing? Strip poker?" He wiggled his eyebrows and I couldn't help but giggle, though I knew my face had turned tomato red.

"Shut up, I thought maybe Rummy?" Did I really just tell a vampire to 'shut up'? He laughed.

"That'll do." He said, pretending to crack his knuckles. He grabbed the deck of cards from my hands and shuffled and dealt them so quickly I could hardly see what was going on until the cards were laid out perfectly in front of me. We played several hands where he demolished me completely, but I won the last round. It was almost 9pm, Emmett saw me eyeing the clock and he pulled his phone out, it looked like he sent a text, but it was so quick that I wasn't sure.

"Hey, wanna play 52 card pick up?" He asked, holding the deck of cards and giving me a mischievous look.

"I'm scared to find out what that means . . ." He bent the deck between his fingers and let go, I watched the deck of cards spring from his fingers and scatter all over my bedroom floor, I probably should have seen it coming. I sighed and began to pick the cards up while Emmett laughed. As I reached for one of the them, a pale hand shot out in front of mine grabbing it before I could. I looked up to see Jasper smiling and I threw myself at him, wrapping him in my arms. I dropped all the cards I'd already picked up. I hadn't heard him come in.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." He began planting kisses all over the side of my face.

"It's okay, you're here now." I squeezed him so tightly that it started to hurt my arms.

"Uh . . . I'm gonna go then." Emmett said awkwardly. I was a bit startled, I'd almost forgotten that he was still there. I got up and walked over to him and gave him a hug too, I could tell it caught him a bit off guard. He patted me on the back and looked to Jasper cautiously before I let go.

"It's fine. I'm glad you two are getting along. Thank you for staying with her." Jasper told him, picking up the deck of cards at vampire speed from the floor.

"Don't forget Bella, you owe me." Emmett said, giving me a wink.

"You have my word." I gave him a sarcastic salute and Jasper looked at us both suspiciously before rolling his eyes. I blinked and Emmett was gone. Jasper went over to close the window and locked it, then he checked to make sure that the lock on my other window was secure. He stood for a while staring out into the woods.

"So did you find him?" I asked after a moment.

"No, but we will."

"Did Alice have any more visions?"

"No, she can't seem to catch any more glimpses of him. We don't know why he left or where he went. We found the spot where he had been sitting up in the mountains and I tracked his scent a few miles North of there before I lost it. At least it looks like he wasn't headed this way, but I'm not going to let my guard down."

"What are we going to do about school?"

"We're going to go and have a normal day at school. One of us will sense him if he ends up on school property and if we do, I'll find you and get you out of there, but I don't see it as a likely possibility. The school is too public, if he was up to something he'd wait for a less dangerous opportunity."

"How long are we going to keep this up?"

"For as long as we have to." I swallowed hard. Wishing I just had the guts to tell him what I was thinking, it was just that my last idea hadn't gone over so well. Emmett seemed to think that me wanting to become a vampire would be something that Jasper would be happy about, I just wasn't sure and I was still too scared to ask.

"Okay." I said a bit dejectedly. He mistook my nerves and sadness for something else.

"Don't worry Bella, I'm not going to let him hurt you." He wrapped me in a fierce embrace and I felt my stress start to dissipate. He picked me up and carried me to my bed, laying me down gently before climbing in beside me. We laid facing each other in silence and as I looked into his eyes I could tell that he was the one who needed calming. I brought my fingers up and brushed them through his honey blonde curls. He let out what sounded like a purr as I continued playing with his hair. I brushed my own hair away from my neck so that he could take in more of my scent, hoping that it would relax him. It seemed to have a different effect, because suddenly his lips were on mine, then they moved to my neck and started trailing down lower as he pulled at the collar of my shirt. I sat up and he paused.

"I'm sorry . . ." He trailed off as I took of my t - shirt. I was glad I'd at least remembered to put a bra on after I showered since Emmett had been here. Jasper looked a bit shocked at first, then he carefully let his hands explore the new terrain. I shivered as his icy fingers made their way up my stomach and his lips found my throat. I wanted more of him, but the sound of my father walking up the stairs to go to bed made us both freeze. Once we heard his bedroom door close we both chuckled with relief and Jasper tossed me my shirt.

"You're going to be the death of me Bella." He said, his face was buried in my pillow. He rolled over and watched as I pulled my shirt back on, letting out a low husky sigh. "We should probably hold off on anything else like that until this whole Edward thing is over and I can hunt again."

"That's fair. But maybe Emmett can stay with me again if you need to hunt." I suggested.

"I'll consider it."

"Uh, by the way, I guess I owe him a video game night or something like that." I felt my face turn red.

"Oh yeah, how did he bribe you into that?"

"He didn't . . . I just feel bad saying no." I was hoping that Jasper wouldn't pry.

"Well if that's all it is, I can get you out of it easily, I don't have a problem telling him no."

"It's okay, I want to." It wasn't much of a lie. I thought hanging out with Emmett was fun, I just wasn't ready to tell Jasper what I was thinking yet.

"Then why does it feel like there's something more than you're telling me?" He raised an eyebrow and eyed me skeptically.

"There isn't . . . I'm getting kind of tired."

"Okay . . ." He let out a deep breath and turned off my light before getting out of bed to look out the windows one more time. He stood there for a moment with his eyes closed, I figured he was using his extra sense to make sure no one was out there. After a moment he seemed satisfied enough and came to lay back down with me. His body tucked in perfectly behind mine while his arm wrapped around the front of me, he kept the blanket between us so that I wouldn't get cold. I was asleep within minutes.

I'm down in the living room with my dad. Dinner is laid across the coffee table in styrofoam containers. The same game is on from earlier tonight and I realize I must be dreaming. I jump off of the couch and my dad gives me a strange look.

"Everything alright Bells?" My dad asks.

"Uh, yeah . . . I have to use the bathroom." I say, though I don't feel the need to go and I can't remember why I jumped up in the first place.

It feels like a strange deja vu that I can't escape or change. I go through the familiar motion of running up the stairs and into my bedroom. I close the door and lean my head against it, gasping when I feel the pair of icy cold hands on my shoulders. This time, I turn around prepared to see Emmett, but its Edward. He looks at me with his menacing black eyes, but I'm not afraid. I find myself in a crouching position and suddenly I'm springing towards him, when our bodies collide it sounds like thunder.

A bit of a struggle ensues, but it's quickly over and then I'm holding Edward's decapitated head in my hands, his black eyes still blinking at me.