I'm gonna continue putting the disclaimer here just be sure that everyone are aware of where this story originated.

This story isn't 100 % mine. I have transformed it into a story from an interactive story app called Choices (an app I am completely obsessed with) and the creators are Pixelberry Studios.

So here's my disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the plot of this story. All recognizable content belongs to their respective owner. No copyright infringement intended. Names and places have been changed for the purpose of Fanfiction.

{Chapter 2}

The man in the bespoke suit grinned at his son. "Aren't you going to say hello to your father?"

Alistair stood motionless, his eyes ablaze.

Tanya nudged him. "Alistair?"

Finally, he opened his mouth. "I have many things to say to you. 'Hello' is not one of them."

Cullen shook his head. "Somehow you inherit no qualities of mine, and yet you have your mother's tongue. Truly a miraculous feat."

Tension filled the strange, sterile museum hidden beneath The Ethereal's grand atrium.

Peter cleared his throat. "Yo, this is super awkward."

Cullen turned to him. "Imagine what it's like for me, Mr. Chen. Can any of you explain what my son is doing here?"

Alistair looked at his father incredulously. "What are you talking about? You invited me. I got your email after I wrote you."

Cullen knitted his eyebrows for a moment, then relaxed. "Right, of course. My apologies. My memory is still coming to me." He looked around at the strewn glass on the floor. He lingered by the empty pedestal where the amber idol had stood. "And what, pray tell, happened here?"

"We—"

I elbowed Kate to shut up and hid the idol behind my back, out of sight. "Everything was smashed up before we found this place."

Alice stepped forward with a contrite expression. "I apologize for the condition of the resort, Mr. Cullen. I—"

Cullen stopped her with a gesture of his hand. "Save the groveling, Alice. At the very least, you managed to keep our most honored guests alive all this time. How long have you been here, anyway? What day is it?"

"December 27, 2017, sir."

Cullen turned to see Iris' hologram flickering behind him. His face softened. "...Iris?"

"Good morning, sir. Time is based on the internal clock. Internet connection to the atomic clock, unavailable."

"December 27..." he mumbled. "That long? And you, you're ... alive. How? State your version."

"0.9.1"

Cullen nodded to himself. "An old backup copy, of course. Tell me, all of you, how did you find this version of Iris? How have you managed to stay alive here for over six months?"

Peter frowned. "Bro, I don't think you get the situation. You are gonna answer our questions, or else."

Cullen smirked. "Or else what?"

Peter grabbed him by the collar and lifted him clear off the floor, pinning him to the wall. "You wanna find out, amigo?"

Cullen just smiled down at him.

I put a gentle hand on Peter's shoulder. "Put him down, Peter. He just woke up from who knows how long in that tube. He can't help us until he knows what's going on."

Peter hesitated, but then consented. "Aiight. I trust you on this." He set Cullen down on his feet, who immediately smoothed out his lapels.

"Now then ... where were we?" he asked.

I quickly recapped everything that had happened; the arrival, the Watchers kidnapping Benjamin, the time portals...

"Ah. I have a clearer picture of the situation now. Come along." Cullen headed for the stairs, and I blinked in shock.

"Whoa, hold on. We've got questions for you, too."

"Of course you do. There will be an occasion for that later. Unless you want to be here when they return."

"When who returns?" Victoria asked softly.

"Why, the Hostiles. You told me that you had sent some of them through the portals before sending yourselves. Obviously, that means that those Hostiles emerged just minutes before you did. Surely, they immediately returned to their stronghold. But once their leader realizes what this means, they'll be coming back for you. We must go at once."

Leah glared at him. "What are you talking about? Go where?"

Cullen smiled. "To rescue your friend, of course. I can't have guests perish at my establishment. Could you imagine the Yelp reviews? Besides, the Hostiles' home will be briefly undefended, as they send their warriors here to collect you."

"You know the way?" I asked, surprised.

"I know this island like the back of my hand. Come now ... time is of the essence."

With that, Cullen bounded up the steps to the atrium. We all looked at each other and then followed him. I hung back with Edward and Garrett.

Edward looked very irritated. "We can't seriously be taking him with us."

"You got a better idea?" Garrett asked. "He knows the way."

"You're saying we should trust this guy?"

"I'm saying we need this guy."

I nodded. "Garrett's right. Right now, Cullen is our best shot at getting Benjamin back. We have to take that risk."

Edward looked at me like I was crazy. "You're serious?"

"Edward, it's our fault he's in this mess. We don't have a choice," Garrett said and Edward turned back to him.

"But you do. Bad stuff happens. Doesn't mean you gotta throw yourself into the fire 'cause of guilt."

"For me, it does." Garrett walked off, leaving me and Edward alone.

I walked up to him and put my hands on his chest, and he instantly placed his hands on my waist. "I don't trust Cullen any more than you do, but I need Benji back with us. He's my best friend. He's my Jazz." My eyes welled with tears, but I didn't allow them to spill over.

Edward sighed with a pained expression, but I knew he understood. "Guess we're stuck with Cullen, then."

I stretched up and kissed him softly to thank him. "I'll be keeping my eye on him, though. I guarantee you that."

I packed what I could safely carry with me on the dangerous journey to rescue Benjamin from the Watchers. I held the amber idol in my hand and then put it in my bag. Through the shattered bedroom window, a brutally hot sun baked me. The cool breeze was long gone. Sweat formed quickly on my brow.

I would have to change my clothes to something a lot cooler, or I would no doubt faint on the way.

There was a knock at the door, and Victoria peeked her head inside. "Everyone's downstairs. We're all ready to go. You have everything? Last time we'll be here for a while."

I nodded. "Yeah. You know, weirdly enough, I'm gonna miss this place. I know we've only been here for six days now, but it almost started to feel like home."

She smiled. "We certainly made some memories here."

I wiped at the sweat on my forehead and exhaled sharply. "It's over a hundred degrees right now. I thought it's supposed to be December!"

Victoria shrugged. "Must be a heat wave. Nothing about time on this island makes sense. I don't expect it to start now. You'll definitely want to wear the right outfit for this trip."

"Yeah, I was just about to change."

I went into the bathroom and put on a pair of shorts and a crop top. I also made sure to put on good shoes since we'd be walking through the jungle.

"How do I look?" I asked Victoria when I came back out.

"Ready to face the heat! All set?"

I took one last look at the room and then nodded. "All set."

We headed out into the hall and I closed the door behind me.

Later that day, we trudged through the rainforest. The blinding sun glared down on us.

Edward groaned. "It's gotta be hundred and twenty degrees ... and a thousand percent humidity."

"That's neither how percentages or humidity work. Nevertheless, I concur," Alistair said. It was obvious he was too hot to argue in his usual manner.

Rosalie tried to shade her eyes from the light. "It's so bright I can hardly see. And if I have to hear about Peter being sticky one more time—"

"But I am sticky! Feel!"

"I absolutely will not feel."

"I know it's hot, but come on, guys. Benjamin ... he's counting on us!" Tanya said to motivate us, and I felt so grateful to her.

Emmett huffed and puffed. "Never give up! Never surrender! No matter how toasty it gets outside, we're coming for you, Benjamin!"

I laughed at the others' antics, completely at ease in my outfit. I'd also thought to bring a pair of sunglasses with me, so I had no problem seeing either. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. I'm feeling great!"

"You know I really wanna hate you right now, Bella. But I can't. 'Cause you look too damn fly," Peter said, and I winked at him.

"I know."

"The sooner we get there, the sooner we can stop walking. Doesn't that sound pleasant? Now hurry up," Cullen said, instantly bringing the mood down.

"Mr. Cullen, you're not even sweating. How is that possible?" Garrett asked with a suspicious frown.

"Impeccable conditioning," Cullen replied, but it caused Edward to scoff.

"I bet you just Botox'd your damn sweat glands shut."

Suddenly, I had to double over in pain. A throbbing headache pounded in my skull ... Visions flashed before my eyes, as real as anything I'd ever known ...

Victoria looking down into the water. "This river looks pretty deep. How are we supposed to get across?"

Cullen looking at me with a calculating expression. "I had my people search all over the world for you. And we could never find you."

Kate's eyes widening in gratitude. "Bella, you don't even understand how much you just saved my life."

Garrett holding up a round object. "Check it out, I found it at the bottom."

Edward's face close to me, his eyes shining with desire. "Damn. Couldn't you just stay here forever?"

My headache faded. The others continued on ahead. None of them appeared to have noticed.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Iris asked me.

"I..." I couldn't word what I had just experienced.

"This river looks pretty deep. How are we supposed to get across?"

I looked toward Victoria in shock. The others had arrived at the banks of a rushing river.

"Iris ... how did I know Victoria was gonna say that? I saw all these ... visions..."

"Scanning. I detect a disturbance in the tachyon field. It seems that we have entered a time loop. Such phenomena normally cannot be sensed by humans ... yet apparently you can see it."

I gaped at her. "Hold on, what do you mean, a 'time loop'?"

"A period of approximately thirty minutes will repeat indefinitely ... even this very conversation should you choose to have it again."

"We're stuck here forever?! How do we break the loop?"

"There must be a source of the time disturbance nearby. You must destroy it to escape the loop."

"I've gotta tell the others!" I started to walk again, but Iris stopped me by placing herself in my path.

"Warning: Informing them of the temporal vortex may cause irreparable damage to space-time."

"Seriously? I can't tell them about it without reality caving in on itself? You're saying I'm on my own."

"Yes, though there may yet be ways to use the others to your advantage."

I exhaled and rubbed my face. "Okay, first things first. I've gotta find the source of the time loop. I can do this," I encouraged myself.

"Over here, guys," Leah called a few meters away from the others. "There's a fallen tree going all the way across. We can use it as a bridge."

The group lined up single-file to cross the river over the moss-covered log. I walked behind Kate to cross since she was the second one I'd seen in my visions. She easily danced across to the far end gracefully, but then she stumbled on the other side.

"Agh! Dammit, I just lost a contact lens!"

I approached her. "Hey, Kate, can I help you look?"

Kate sized me up for a moment. "Ugh, fine. So long as you agree I never asked for help."

I got down on my hands and knees beside Kate, and we combed through the high grass together.

"This is impossible," Kate groaned.

"Wait, hold on—I found it! Here!"

She gasped and her eyes widened with gratitude. "Bella, you don't even understand how much you just saved my life."

"Whoa ... there's something else here too," I said and frowned. I reached through the grass and closed my fingers around something small and bright red.

"What the hell is that?" Kate asked when I held it up.

Edward heard us and knelt by my side. "Well, lookie here. That's a 12-gauge armor-piercing shell casing. It's for the USAS-12 automatic shotgun. Lemme tell you, that's some heavy-duty firepower. Hell, my old black-ops squad used those."

I locked eyes with him. "So you're saying whoever fired it meant business."

He nodded. "That's an understatement."

When everyone was safely across the river, the group continued. Cullen walked by himself and whistled cheerfully. I hurried up my step to catch up with him.

"Alright, Cullen. You promised me some answers," I demanded.

He continued to look forward as we walked side by side and inhaled deeply. "Do you know what business I'm in?"

I frowned and shrugged. "I don't know. Resorts?"

"I dabble. But mainly I'm in the business of information. And that means I don't give it away for free. I expect a trade. I'll answer one question of yours. Only one. But first, you will answer one of mine. Fair?"

I contemplated it for a minute and then nodded. "Fair."

Cullen smiled. "My question is very simple. What is your name?"

I blinked in surprise at the inane question. "It's ... it's Bella."

"Bella ... Bella ... What a delicious name," he said excitedly and then stared at me with a calculated look. "I had my people search all over the world for you. And we could never find you. And to realize that all this time you were a student at Hartfeld, like Alistair. Let's just say, if we survive this, I'll be firing my intelligence staff."

"Alright, you've gotten more than enough out of us today. My turn to ask questions. I want to know what that tube was that we found you in."

"A sleep tank filled with tachyon-slowing fluid. My research showed that Mount Suerte's eruption would cause a cascading temporal event. Tearing space-time apart. If I were to endure that effect, I risked instantly aging into dust ... or reverting to before I was born." He shrugged. "Anything could've been possible. Before the eruption, I entered the tank to keep me at my current age. I'd set it to awaken me shortly after, but clearly, the time effects of the blast derailed the scheduled release. That's all you're getting out of me for now. We must focus on the road ahead." He shooed me away.

Edward stood high atop a boulder and peered northeast. He hopped down just as I reached it. "There's a nice clearing out that way to the right. The river ends in this beautiful lake if you follow it a bit."

Leah looked thoughtful as she came up beside me. "Hm. Might be helpful to send someone to get our bearings."

"I could go," I volunteered. "It does look beautiful out there."

"You want some company?" Edward asked with a smile.

I grinned and winked at him. "Your company? Always."

Edward and I followed the river up to the clearing. A gorgeous, shimmering lake sparkled before us, and I gasped in awe.

"Wow ... it's beautiful."

"Yeah, you could say that," Edward agreed, and then pointed upward. "Does that look like snow to you?"

In the distance, the mountain range gleamed white in the sun.

I frowned. "You're right! In the middle of a heat wave? I didn't think the mountains here were tall enough for that."

"Yeah. 'Cause they're not."

He lead me over to the base of the mountains where a white pile had gathered in the shade.

I reached down and scooped up a handful. "It is snow!"

"This place is making less and less sense every minute." He stepped to the water's edge and skipped a pebble across the placid surface. I joined him and shaded my eyes against the blistering sun.

Edward rubbed his neck to wipe away the sweat. "Damn hot out. Could use a minute to cool off."

"We could swim in the lake," I suggested, and Edward's responding grin was all the answer I needed.

Both of us stripped down and waded into the crisp, cool water. I felt instantly refreshed and I turned to Edward who was looking at me with desire written all over his face. I walked up to him and wound my arms around his neck.

"Damn. Couldn't you just stay here forever?" he said and caressed my back with his hands.

I smiled gently but mumbled to myself. "More than you know." If I didn't find a way to break the time loop, we would stay here forever, and while I wouldn't have minded at that very moment, living the same thirty minutes over and over again would become very tedious after a while.

I turned around but remained in Edward's arms, his hands now on my stomach. I entwined our fingers and leaned back against his front. The view before us was so beautiful, and when Edward's voice vibrated through his chest, it made everything magical, somehow.

"You know, growing up in Louisiana, I used to swim in the bayou all the time. We'd have to clear out real quick if a gator showed up though."

"You miss home ... don't you?" I asked him softly. I knew more about his military past now, but not much about his life before that.

"Nah ... not much back there for me anymore."

The cold lake water began to chill me to my bones, and I trembled despite the warmth that radiated through me wherever Edward's skin was touching mine.

"Are you cold?"

"A little bit," I replied.

"I'll warm you up."

He turned me around and slid his hands over my arms.

We stood there in the pristine water, wrapped up in each other. My hands moved up his chest, over his shoulders, and I ran my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Then I pulled him in, kissing him deeply.

He picked me up in the water, never breaking the kiss. "Feeling warmer?" he asked against my lips.

I smiled and bit his lower lip very gently. "You could say that."

Reluctantly, we left the lake and caught up with the group as they approached an ancient, eroded stone pillar. I knew that I needed to focus back on breaking the time loop, so I squeezed Edward's hand before I let go and jogged forward to join Garrett at the front.

"Hey," he said. "Hot as hell, isn't it? Kinda wishing I'd jumped in the river back there."

I chuckled. "I would've liked to see you fall in."

"Yeah, but that's 'cause you want this whole expedition to turn into a wet t-shirt contest," he teased, and it shocked me a bit. Garrett hadn't been the teasing type since we landed on El Jardín, but maybe he was finally relaxing a bit more. "The current looked pretty fast, though," he continued. "Fortunately, I'm a strong swimmer. Back during sophomore year, I blew out my knee. It took a lot of rehab, a lot of which was swimming. I always thought there was something really calming about it. It centered me."

Suddenly I was back at the riverbank.

"This river looks pretty deep. How are we supposed to get across?"

I blinked and exhaled sharply. I realized that the loop had reset and it made me dizzy.

"Over here, guys," Leah called a few meters away from the others, just like last time. "There's a fallen tree going all the way across. We can use it as a bridge."

The group lined up single-file to cross the river over the moss-covered log. This time, I went up behind Alistair and followed him and Tanya across, in case it would give me any more clues.

Alistair took Tanya's hand. "Steady now. Look straight ahead, rather than down. It improves your balance and sense of horizon."

"I ... I think it's working!"

I wobbled slightly as my foot hit a particularly wet patch of mossy wood, barely able to keep my balance. "Whooaaa..."

"When you fall into the river like a buffoon, Bella, I beg of you, please do not allow the water to splash me," Alistair commented.

"How on earth are you balancing so well?" I asked him. His agility was beyond impressive.

"Simple. I alone brought very few possessions on this trip. I've no interest in materialism. My bag is nearly empty. Thus, I am unencumbered while you drag yourself down with silly trinkets."

When everyone was, once again, safely across the river, the group continued. Cullen walked by himself and whistled cheerfully. I hurried up my step to catch up with him.

"Alright, Cullen. You promised me some answers," I demanded like I had the last time.

He continued to look forward as we walked side by side and inhaled deeply. "Do you know what business I'm in? My business is—"

Already knowing what he was gonna say, I waved him away. "Information, yeah, I got it. You tell me one thing, I tell you one thing. Deal."

He smirked. "Straight to the point, I see. Then tell me—"

"You wanna know my name? It's Bella. My turn," I said, not allowing him to say anything in between. "Why did you bring us here?"

"I presumed this would be your question," he said with that same obnoxious smile of his. "During the most recent expansion of The Ethereal's facilities, a worker discovered a photograph buried in the sands. It was dated to be five-hundred years old, despite the art of photography only having existed for two-hundred. Photographed therein were eleven young people. All of you, except Alistair. I knew you must somehow be critical to solving this island's mysteries."

"Then why not just tell us that?" I questioned.

"Frankly, I intended to. I intended to enlist your help to save the world. Clearly, the world had other plans," he replied and shrugged. "That's all you're getting out of me for now. We must focus on the road ahead." He shooed me away, and I smiled to myself because while that was all I could ask him that time, he wouldn't remember anything once the time loop had reset.

This time, I noticed Edward and Leah peering out toward the lake in the clearing, and I decided to steer away from them. While it had been nice to spend time at the lake with Edward, I really needed to focus on my mission.

I caught up with the group as they approached the ancient, eroded stone pillar. I wandered over, joining Peter instead.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Dude, this is garbage. It's so hot. Can't we take a break?"

Cullen looked unimpressed. "You're tired because you're wasting energy complaining."

Peter glared at his neck. "I'm gonna waste energy beating your ass, geezer. Come on, there's some awesome shade over there from that stone pillar thingy."

"Let's all take a quick break," I said to break up the impending fight.

"Finally!"

Everyone groaned in relief as they sat down.

Alistair slumped against a tree, throwing his bag aside while Peter leaned against the shady side of the stone pillar.

"Sweet, sweet shade. This is heaven right now."

A sudden cracking sound had me looking around.

Peter's weight against the pillar had shifted the stone blocks, and the pillar began to topple over, and I noticed Alistair was in immediate danger of being crushed.

"Alistair, look out!" I yelled, and he scrambled out of the way just as the pillar hit the ground with a shattering sound. It broke into a mound of rubble, and dust flew everywhere.

"You nitwit!" Alistair yelled at Peter. "You utter simpleton! You just crushed my bag!"

Peter looked apologetic. "My bad, dude."

Alistair dumped out the few contents of his bag. "Fortunately, I had next to nothing in there. I could've had much more."

"Maybe we should keep moving, before we destroy more ancient, priceless artifacts," Garrett said, and Peter looked utterly crushed.

"But ... nap time ... ugh."

And in a flash, I was once again back at the riverbank.

"This river looks pretty deep. How are we supposed to get across?"

I sighed. I needed to find the source of the time loop. Iris had said it was somewhere close around, but I had no idea where. It must have been somewhere less obvious. Hidden where I couldn't see.

"Over here, guys. There's a fallen tree going all the way across. We can use it as a bridge."

The group lined up single-file to cross the river over the moss-covered log, and I followed Rosalie onto it. Together, we inched our way across.

"This is total bull. I do not do the outdoors," Rosalie grumbled.

"You can make it, Rosalie," I encouraged.

"I know I can make it. I'm just ... a little out of my element. Whoaaa!" Rosalie teetered, about to fall in the river.

I reacted quickly and reached out to steady her before she fell. "Gotcha!"

"Whoa, too close! Thanks for bailing me out, Bella. You want money or something?"

I looked at her, confused. "What? No."

"You did it for free? Weird. Did not wanna fall in there. Who knows what's down there?"

When everyone was, once again, safely across the river, the group continued. I hurried up my step to catch up with Cullen and went through the conversation process with him again.

"Alright, Cullen. You promised me some answers."

"Do you know what business I'm in? My business is—"

"Information, I know. Let's make a deal. You tell me one thing, I tell you one thing, alright?"

"Straight to the point, I see. Then tell me—"

"You wanna know my name? It's Bella. My turn. What was that radio call we heard?"

"The one you heard over the satellite array in the Observatory, yes. I strongly suspect that was an echo from our planet's likely future."

"An echo ... from the future?"

He nodded. "Yes. Right now, we are in a bubble of time, safe for the moment. But an eruption of Mount Suerte risks plunging the planet itself into a prehistoric time when all the world was lava. Civilization would immediately be engulfed in the fire of a bygone era. That, my young friend, is what I need your help to prevent. That's all you're getting out of me for now. We must focus on the road ahead."

He shooed me away like previous times, and my smile was now a grin. If I could keep up this time loop, who knew how much information I could get out of him without him being any wiser about it.

I wanted the time loop to repeat itself this time, and that was why I decided to go back to the lake with Edward. Maybe I could find out more about him as well.

Edward stepped to the water's edge and skipped a pebble across the placid surface. I joined him and shaded my eyes against the blistering sun.

Edward rubbed his neck to wipe away the sweat. "Damn hot out. Could use a minute to cool off."

"We should relax and drink some water. That should help," I said, and we sat down by the shore and filled our bottles with the clear, ice-cold water.

Edward took a sip. "Know what, Princess? I think that's about the best water I've ever tasted." He took up another rock and skipped it across the lake, making a string of perfectly circular ripples across its mirrored surface.

"You're pretty good at that," I observed.

He shrugged. "Growing up in rural Louisiana, my sister and I had a lot of practice entertaining ourselves. Life could get a little boring."

My heart jumped in my chest. "Your sister..." I said softly. I hadn't even known he had a sister up until that point. "You don't talk about her much, do you?"

"Nope. But one day I'll tell you all about her." He turned and smiled at me, his hair tousled in the wind.

Overcome with sudden emotion, I pushed Edward down onto the grass and straddled him. I leaned down and kissed him deeply. Then I straightened up, my hands still on his chest, and gave him a wink to smooth over my attack.

"What was that for?" he asked with a pleased smile. "Not that I'm complaining."

I shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure life wasn't getting too boring for you."

He chuckled. "Around you, I don't think that's even possible."

We returned from the lake and caught up with the group as they approached the, now intact, ancient, eroded stone pillar.

I wandered over to Peter, knowing he would suggest a break, and I was wondering if maybe I would find the source for time loop if I said we should keep going instead.

"Dude, this is garbage. It's so hot. Can't we take a break?"

"You're tired because you're wasting energy complaining."

"I'm gonna waste energy beating your ass, geezer. Come on, there's some awesome shade over there from that stone pillar thingy."

I pushed forward. "Peter, keep up the pace."

Peter grimaced. "Have I ever told you I hate you, bro?"

And then, I was back at the riverbank.

I was running out of ideas for where to look, but when Victoria called to us about the river, I realized that was one place I hadn't looked yet, but I knew I couldn't just start searching the water either.

Iris said I could use the others.

I looked up and my eyes locked on Rosalie.

She had almost fallen in the last time. If I didn't steady her, she would end up in the water. I approached her and followed her onto the log.

"This is total bull. I do not do the outdoors."

"You can make it, Rosalie," I encouraged, waiting for when she would lose her balance.

"I know I can make it. I'm just ... a little out of my element. Whoaaa!" She teetered, about to fall in. This time, I didn't do anything. Rosalie lost her balance and went headfirst into the river.

"Pffbll! Thanks for the help, Bella!"

"No sweat. You looked like you needed to be cooled off," I told her, disguising my intent with a joke.

"Ugh ... could someone gimme a hand up? There's something glowing at the bottom of the river! Get me outta here!"

Peter and I helped her back onto the log.

"What was it?" I inquired hopefully. Maybe it was the source I was looking for.

Rosalie shook her head. "No idea. But it's way down there, and even if I wanted to find out, I'm nowhere near a good enough swimmer to dive that deep."

Her words triggered something in my mind. Maybe she wasn't a good enough swimmer, but I knew someone who was.

I hurried up my step to catch up with Cullen and went through the conversation process with him again.

"Alright, Cullen. You promised me some answers."

"Do you know what business I'm in? My business is—"

"Information. Let's say you tell me one thing, and I'll tell you one thing in return."

"Straight to the point, I see."

"Yes, and I'm guessing you want to know my name since you didn't have it in that file you wrote on me. It's Bella. My turn. Tell me about the sea monster."

He grinned. "Ah. So you've met Cetus."

I gaped. "Cetus? It has a name?"

"Roughly translated from thousands of years ago. A name of legend. But as you've no doubt seen, the beast is far more than legend."

"It wasn't so tough. We blew it out of the water with a little plastic explosive."

Cullen chuckled. "A cocky one, aren't you? It has survived far more dangerous foes than you, little friend. It only re-emerged in the last week before your arrival. I have no doubt the two of you shall meet again. That's all you're getting out of me for now. We must focus on the road ahead."

I needed to talk with Garrett about his ability at swimming, but that conversation was fifteen minutes into the future. I needed to waste a bit of time, and therefore, I went back to the lake with Edward, hoping to find out more about his past.

"Damn hot out. Could use a minute to cool off."

I smirked to myself, and before Edward could react, I had picked up a small scoop of snow and pegged him with it.

He looked at me playfully. "A sneak attack! Aw, you little—"

"Bet you can't catch me!"

In a flash, Edward and I were hurling little snowballs at each other, diving and rolling out of the way. At last, I hit Edward square in the face with one. He grinned and let himself fall into the snowbank.

"You got me. I give up!"

I dove into the snowbank after him. "You sure surrender easy, don't you?"

He turned his head toward me. "Only to you..."

I locked eyes with him and turned to face him, leaning close. Our lips met, and the heat of our kiss seemed to melt all the snow around us.

"I accept nothing but unconditional surrender," I whispered against his lips. I was sure I would never grow tired of kissing him, and I was damned if I wouldn't take every chance I got.

He smiled. "Well, I don't want to make this too easy for you."

I shushed him and fell back into another kiss.

We returned from the lake and caught up with the group as they approached the ancient, eroded stone pillar.

I jogged up to Garrett, ready to ask him to fetch what it was that had been glowing in the river.

"Hey," he said. "Hot as hell, isn't it? Kinda wishing I'd jumped in the river back there."

I chuckled. "I wouldn't have minded seeing you fall in."

"Yeah, but that's 'cause you want this whole expedition to turn into a wet t-shirt contest. The current looked pretty fast, though. Fortunately, I'm a strong swimmer. Back during sophomore year, I blew out my knee. It took a lot of rehab, a lot of which was swimming. I always thought there was something really calming about it. It centered me."

I grabbed the window of opportunity immediately. "Hey, you know, Rosalie said she saw something in the river. Think you could grab it for me?"

Garrett nodded. "Sure thing."

We returned to the riverbank, and he pulled off his shirt.

"Looks deep, but I should be able to get down there." He dove in, with hardly a splash. He was under for what felt like five minutes and then... "Check it out, I found it at the bottom!" He climbed out of the river and put something heavy and smooth in my hands.

"Whoa," I said as I recognized it. "It's another of those glowing orbs, like the one we found in the abandoned mining tunnels. Touching this one isn't doing anything, but it still feels like there's some kind of energy running through it."

I carried the orb in my hands, and I noticed that it took longer for the loop to reset this time. I realized it must've had to do with the fact that I was holding the source. I needed to destroy it ... but how?

I tried to smash it as hard as I could against a rock, but that caused Kate to scream at me.

"What are you doing?!"

"Trying to break it? Obviously?"

Victoria looked at me cautiously. "We see that! But why?"

"Because—" I scrambled for an excuse. "Because I have anger issues?"

Rosalie nodded at me. "Truth. I feel you."

"Well, could you please not destroy something that could be important?" Alistair said, and all of them walked away.

The loop reset, and I was back at the riverbank. What was different this time was that I was still holding the crystal orb. I guessed it existed outside of time, just like I did.

I still needed to find a way to destroy it, and as I looked around, Alistair's bag caught my attention, and I remembered how the stone pillar had crushed it in one of the loops. If that wouldn't break the orb, I didn't know what would.

I lined up behind Alistair and listened to his calm encouragement for Tanya to not look down. I purposely wobbled this time, and like I expected, Alistair made his comment.

"When you fall into the river like a buffoon, Bella, I beg of you, please do not allow the water to splash me."

"How on earth are you balancing so well?"

"Simple. I alone brought very few possessions on this trip. I've no interest in materialism. My bag is nearly empty. Thus, I am unencumbered while you drag yourself down with silly trinkets."

I smiled innocently at him. "In that case, think you could carry this for me?" I showed him the blue crystal orb.

He frowned, recognizing it like I had. "Another one of those damned things! Wait a moment, what makes you think I'd carry something for you?"

"Because I'll put in a good word for you with Tanya?" I whispered conspiratorially.

He thought about it for a short second and then held out his hand. "...Give it here." He put it into his bag, just like I had hoped.

I hurried up my step to catch up with Cullen and went through the conversation process with him again for, hopefully, the last time.

"Alright, Cullen. You promised me some answers."

"Do you know what business I'm in? My business is—"

"Information, yeah, I got it. You tell me one thing, I tell you one thing. Deal."

"Straight to the point, I see. Then tell me—"

"My name's Bella. My turn. What's with all the secret doors in The Ethereal? We keep finding these secrets passages and rooms all over the hotel. The library, that weird museum, the security office behind the game room."

Cullen shrugged. "Needless to say, once I uncovered the true perils of El Jardín, I needed to ... remodel the resort."

"You should've closed it!" I retorted angrily.

"And invite the scrutiny of my rivals? Who could try to steal the island for their own nefarious purposes? No. It had to stay open. That's all you're getting out of me for now. We must focus on the road ahead."

I caught up with the group as they approached the ancient, eroded stone pillar. I wandered over, joining Peter, waiting for him to ask for a break.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Dude, this is garbage. It's so hot. Can't we take a break?"

"You're tired because you're wasting energy complaining."

Peter glared at Cullen's neck. "I'm gonna waste energy beating your ass, geezer. Come on, there's some awesome shade over there from that stone pillar thingy."

"Let's all take a quick break," I said quickly, and Peter sighed with relief.

Alistair slumped against the tree, throwing his bag aside, and Peter leaned against the shady side of the stone pillar.

"Sweet, sweet shade. This is heaven right now."

The sudden crack of moving stones had me moving quickly. As the pillar began to topple over, I pulled Alistair away, purposely leaving his bag behind.

The pillar broke into a mound of rubble, and dust flew everywhere.

"You nitwit!" Alistair yelled at Peter. "You utter simpleton! You just crushed my bag!"

Peter looked apologetic. "My bad, dude."

Alistair dumped out the few contents of his bag, including the crystal orb, now cracked in two and colored a dull gray.

I felt so relieved, I wanted to scream in elation.

"Apologies for your belongings, Bella, but—"

"I DID IT!" I exclaimed, completely unable to keep my happiness in.

Garrett looked at me worriedly. "Uh, what now?"

I couldn't stop grinning, but I waved him off. "Don't worry about it."

"Can we keep going now?" Kate asked with a huff.

I nodded. "Yes. Now we can."

The group continued forward, and I exhaled when the loop didn't reset.

As I walked past the rubble, I got a closer look at the split orb and the way it was cleaved in two felt familiar somehow. I couldn't remember where I had seen it before, though.

My eyes met Cullen's, and I knew he recognized it, too. His mouth split into a grin.

Garrett pulled me out of my thoughts by calling my name. "Hey, Bella. You see that, over there?" He pointed in the distance. The glint of gold sparkled in the sun, high in the trees. "Come on, let's check it out."

We looked up into the tree.

"There's definitely something there, in the branches!" Garrett said.

"I see it! It's one of those amber idols like in Cullen's museum!" I said when I recognized the shape.

"Want me to climb up there and grab it for you?"

I smiled sweetly. "Yes, please."

"Your wish is my command." With incredible athleticism, Garrett jumped and grabbed the bottom branch, pulling himself up. He quickly scaled the tree.

"Careful up there!" I called out. I wanted the idol, but I didn't want my friend to break his neck by falling.

"Don't worry about me. I'm almost at the top already! Whoa ... Bella, you're not gonna believe this ... The tree looks like it's grown around the idol. It's like it's part of the tree!"

"How is that possible? Can you even get it out?"

"Yeah, if I just pull ... real ... hard ... Got it!" Garrett yanked the idol free from the tree's bark and climbed back down. "Here ya go."

Just like last time, the moment I touched the idol, I found myself thrown through space and time.

Suddenly, I was in a college apartment. The LCD clock on the microwave read 2:13 AM. Garrett was rubbing his eyes, exhausted, slouched over a pile of economics homework.

"Equilibrium price and quantity if demand is..."

His phone buzzed from a text, and the screen lit up with the word 'MOM.'

"Your dad asked about you again. He misses you."

Garrett shook his head and tossed the phone aside. A key unlocked the door, and Peter walked in, looking anxious.

"Dude. I am so screwed. Know how Coach asked us about the rumors that the sports agent guy was giving free stuff to players? Well..." Peter opened his backpack to show Garrett a brand-new, high-end laptop.

Garrett's eyes widened. "Peter! Dude, why'd you take that? You know if the NCAA finds out you're taking free stuff, you'll lose your scholarship! You'll be kicked off the team!"

Peter groaned. "I know! I'm an idiot, okay? I just really wanted to play this computer game with a girl in my calc class. My old laptop sucked too hard to handle the graphics, and you know my fam can't afford a decent one." Peter slumped on the couch and hung his head. "I know I shouldn't have taken it, but now I'm screwed. Someone saw me with it and ratted me out. I'm already on thin ice with Coach. Now I'm done for. As soon as he proves I took this laptop—"

"He won't," Garrett said determinedly, and slipped the laptop out of Peter's bag and put it into his own. "Because I'm the one who took it from the agent."

"Dude, what? I can't let you take the fall for me. You'll get in so much trouble."

"I can handle it. You can't. Coach can't kick me off the team, so let me do this. I need you out on that field. You're more than my teammate. You're my brother … I've got this."

Peter and Garrett clapped their hands together. "I owe you, man … I owe you everything."

I was slingshot forward through time, reality warping all around me until—

Garrett waved his arms wildly. "Over here! Over here, big guy! Look at me!"

"Garrett! What are you doing?!" Kate cried out with tears streaming down her eyes.

Garrett was distracting the sabertooth away from the others, leading it toward the cliff edge. "Don't worry about me. Run! I can handle it!"

The sabertooth pounced, pinning Garrett to the dirt right by the precipice. Garrett used all his strength, gripping the tiger's fangs, wrestling it toward the edge...

"Don't do it, man!" Peter called.

Kate was full on sobbing at this point. "Garrett ... please ... no..."

"...I've got this." With that, Garrett rolled over the edge of the cliff, taking the tiger with him. They both vanished out of sight.

"Bella? You alright?"

"Garrett..." Overcome, I pulled Garrett into a hug. He hesitated at first, then hugged me back. Over his shoulder, I gazed at the amber idol still clenched in my white-knuckled grip.

Cullen's voice rang out from where the group had gotten ahead of us. "You two. You're falling behind. Keep up, the Hostiles' Stronghold is just over this ridge!"

We rejoined the group, trudging up the steepening slope.

"Do you guys hear that?" Victoria asked. "Is that..."

"Horns," Kate answered her.

We all broke into a sprint, racing up the hill. The forest grew thinner, sunlight was shining through gaps in the canopy. In the distance, I caught sight of an impossibly enormous tree rising into the sky.

We finally emerged from the overgrowth and gained a clearer view.

Emmett's eyes widened. "Now that's what I call a treehouse."

The Watchers' village was carved into the side of an absurdly massive tree, the size of a skyscraper.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing. It's ... impossible! Trees have never grown that large!" Tanya said in complete awe.

"Not yet, you mean. But one day, they will," Cullen said with his annoying smirk in place.

The horns blasted again, and far below, I saw a small phalanx of Watchers marching out of the village's base. In the center of the group walked a familiar figure, his hands bound.

Alistair squinted to see better. "Is that—"

Garrett nodded. "It's him."

From that distance, I could just make out the man's face and I exhaled in relief. "Benjamin ... He's alive."

A/N:

That was one hell of a time loop, wasn't it? But she did get some answers from Cullen, not all of them by a long shot, but at least, now she knows why he brought them to the island in the first place!

What are your thoughts after this chapter? Tell me everything and you WILL get a teaser this time :-D

Until next time,

Stay Awesome