Pick me up, dust me off

Give me breath, and let me cough

Drag me back, collect my thoughts

I've come back to the land I'd lost

The palms are down, I'm welcomed back to town

Sometimes I feel like they don't understand me

I hear their mouths making foreign sounds

Sometimes I think they're all just speaking tongues

Tell me all the things I've missed

Who's been killed and who's been kissed

Chapter 42: Unheard Warning

Alice POV

"Come on Bella! Let's go!"

"I'm trying." Bella's voice came out strained as if she were struggling. I paused my running to figure out what was taking her so long.

"There's no time for that!" I exclaimed in a panic. She had been trying to dispose of her clothes while she ran. "Just shift."

"But you hate when I shred clothes." She finally succeeded in getting her shoes off, but stopped when I told her to.

"I know. But they could be after us right now."

"Ok." She looked sheepish. Usually shifting in clothes was an unplanned sort of thing. Bella closed her eyes and started to shake into it.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"It's just- that is a nice belt." She smiled and removed it, handing it to me gingerly. "And the jeans with that perfect fit were hard to find."

"Alice!"

"I'm sorry!" Bella seemed to settle on the fact that maybe I wasn't ok with the clothes shredding and stripped at a rapid pace, throwing articles of clothing my way haphazardly.

"Happy?" She stood gloriously naked in front of me and I grinned boyishly.

"For multiple reasons yes." She rolled her eyes and backed away from me.

"No time. Watch out." Almost as the words fell from her mouth did the giant beast come bursting out of her. My large wolf grinned, or at least I believe it was a grin in this form, and sprinted deep into the forest. I was hot on her heels, trying to fold her clothes neatly in my hands while we ran.

We ran for miles. Bella had smartly found a small river and directed us to run through it. The constant stream of running water would cover our scents. So we followed the river, until we moved to another. And another. Eventually it seemed Bella was satisfied with the distance between us and our family, and she stopped in an open clearing.

Apparently comfortable, Bella bowed into a deep stretch and curled up lazily on the ground after.

"Happy?" She grunted and immediately curled around me when I sat down. "Thought so." I scratched her ears lightly and her tail wagged at the notion.

The long run had exhausted her and she soon dozed off. I had to admit, I did miss her wolf form. Not in some weird way, but she had needed some time off. She had been way too tense lately, and in turn, so had I.

Bella was difficult to read. She had always been hard to read, but especially after the Volturi and her guards went up.

Her emotions were impossible to predict when we started dating, and sometimes still to this day. But years of being with her, and many a fights and emotional breakdowns gave me some knowledge.

There were some tell tale signs of an upcoming outburst. Panic attacks came on suddenly and there was no preemptive solution. But explosions of anger and emotional collapses had a little forewarning, if you knew what to look for.

For instance, before any bad fight we had had, Bella had begun to withdraw from me and become antisocial. It was her way of trying to avoid any triggers. Unfortunately for her I was definitely not on that same thought train.

Then there were the breakdowns. They were usually proceeded by an increase in smaller panic attacks, and general foul moods. It all sounded so angsty and teen drama-y. But you had to remind yourself that we were both forever stuck in our teenage years. A roller coaster of emotions is bound to happen with that crappy deck.

"Bella." I nudged the peacefully sleeping wolf cuddled on my side. Several hours had passed and the sun was about to go down. The family was probably worried sick at this point and I knew we didn't want to piss them off any further. "We should head back now." The wolf grumbled with drooping eyes and tried to hide her face under my body. "Bella!" I giggled at her antics.

She groaned dramatically when I tugged on her. Eventually succumbing to my pestering, Bella melted back into her human form.

"Really?" I raised an amused eyebrow at her very naked form. She made no movement to cover herself.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" I rolled my eyes at her lame attempt.

"Here." The clothes she had stripped out of earlier were in a neatly folded pile near me and I handed them to her. "Get dressed, we should get back."

"You're a real bummer." Put out, she complied and threw her clothes back on.

"I know. But it was my idea for this little journey. Do I at least get the fun points for that?" Bella chuckled and gave me a quick kiss once she was fully dressed.

"I'll consider it."

"Consider it! Where would you be without me Isabella Swan?"

This playful banter continued all the way back to the vicinity of the house. As we came nearer, Bella showed signed of obvious nerves and slowed down.

"I'm sorry I thought you were a wolf, not a pussy cat." I teased at her state. She gulped loudly and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"I don't want to go in first." The woman knew how to play me like a fiddle, and I had grown very soft when I was with her.

"Fine!" I threw my hands up in defeat and braved first into the yard. Just when we got within smelling distance, a large crash sounded.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Esme came rushing over, easily more pissed off than I had ever seen her.

"Abort?" Bella whispered to me so quietly under her breath that Esme could not hear as she stormed towards us. I had to suppress my giggle, which was easy to do when I was currently fearing for my life.

"Well Bella needed to run and– "

"SO YOU JUST LEFT WITHOUT A WORD?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE? YOU COULD HAVE BOTH BEEN KILLED!"

"Would you rather do nothing and have her suffer day after day?!" I understood her frustration. What we did was irresponsible and probably rather alarming for them. But I had begged and begged with Carlisle and Esme for weeks leading up to this. Pleading for them to just give Bella some free space for a while.

"No! But you – "

"Esme dear." Carlisle approached the fight with a somber expression. "Please don't yell at the two. We don't want another situation. Let's handle this with care this time."

"Situation?" Bella inquired, finally perking up after cowering behind me. Carlisle and Esme shared a glace, and then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"While we were worried sick about you," he started sternly, "there was a great deal of yelling and commotion going on. I believe it became too much for Liam to handle and he shifted quite violently. I think it startled him much more than us, and he ran off very confused and afraid. We haven't been able to find any of you since."

"Wait he's still out there? Alone?" Bella looked around, almost as if she was hoping he would suddenly pop up behind her as she said this.

"Yes. And now that you're back we could definitely use your help tracking him."

"And let them out again?!" Esme protested immediately.

"WHY DO YOU THINK HE PHASED IN THE FIRST PLACE? THIS IS A TOXIC ENVIRONMENT!"

"Easy Al." Bella placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back into her to calm down.

"I'm afraid she is right Esme love. We were both being so protective that we overlooked the other effects this protection had. I'm sorry Bella, truly."

"But we were protecting them." Esme was grief stricken at this revelation. "I didn't mean – "

"I know you didn't." Bella blurted before Esme could break down. I knew she hated it almost as much as watching me cry. "Your intentions were pure. And you're not a wolf so you couldn't know."

"Yes, but we could have listened." Carlisle was full of guilt. I wasn't as ready to forgive as Bella was, but I was willing to let go for the time being. There were more pressing issues.

"We can talk later. Liam."

Bella POV

"Right." Carlisle acknowledged Alice's obvious tone that she was not done yet. She could get quite feisty when it came to me. "Edward and Jasper are already out searching. Emmett and Rosalie can go with you two. Esme and I will stay put in case he comes back on his own."

"Sound good?" Alice turned to me for confirmation of the plan. I nodded and followed them back to the house to meet up with Emmett and Rose.

Once inside, Rosalie immediately slapped me across the face in a fit of rage and relief.

"Rosalie!" Esme chided, but I waved her down, feeling I deserved some sort of punishment for the worry we inflicted. The ice queen stomped out the door, fully knowing we had no choice to follow.

"Lead the way dog." She spat, once we reached the edge of the woods. I presumed this was the spot where they last saw him.

"Alright that's enough Rose." Alice grew irritated with her attitude directed at me.

"Oh I'm just getting going."

"You have no – "

"Stop!" I placed my hands over my ears to drown out their fighting. "Please I need to concentrate." The two complied but the tension in the air was palpable.

After a few moments of sniffing around, I managed to catch a trail and walked pointedly in a direction. The remaining three followed.

We walked deep into the woods, miles to follow his scent, stopping every now and then to make sure I had the correct track. After about three miles, the scent grew so strong, the others were able to sense it as well.

"He's near." I whispered, straining my ears and eyes now for the wolf.

"Liam!" Alice called, in a much different mindset than I. But it worked, a few seconds later the unmistakable sound of a wolf padding closer came by. He emerged from the thick woods, rather frazzled looking. Alice tossed him a bag of clothes they had packed earlier, and he snagged it between his teeth before changing back behind a tree.

"What the fuck?" Rosalie went to slap him as well, but he was quicker than I and dodged her attack. "You god damn fucking moron! You all could have been killed today!"

"Yeah and I was trying to warn you!" Liam exclaimed, ducking yet another attempt Rosalie made.

"What?" Emmett pulled Rosalie back while he questioned.

"There was a fucking vampire scent nearby but you all kept screaming at each other about Alice and Bella and were too occupied to hear me. So I phased to get your attention, but then my wolf kinda overtook and I started to hunt the scent down on my own accord."

"A vampire scent?" I took a long whiff of the surrounding air.

"Yes. I started to lose it around here though. And then I was able to gain control back. But I swear I smelled it Bells."

"Yeah I smell it too." Alice said, surprising everyone.

"You do?" Rosalie appeared to not be able to pick up on anything. I was getting a hint, but I couldn't quite clarify it. It had a certain note, something that I vaguely remembered. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Bella!" Alice cried, her face horrorstruck with a sudden realization.

"What?" She was freaking me out and I started to approach her.

"The Rom – " The words were snuffed out of her mouth. Something moving at an unnatural speed slammed into her, sending her flying away.

"Alice!" I ran after her direction, Emmett hot on my heels. But all too suddenly I was crashed into, sending Emmett and I tumbling the other way.

Flashes of pale white skin surrounded us as we fought the intruder. The forest and vampire fell into a mixed blur, leaving me dazed and confused. Once I finally gained the use of my feet again, I found the face of Vladimir in front of me.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I growled, remembering my vow I made to them if they had shown up again.

"Friend or foe?" Emmett, still standing next to me, asked nervously.

"Foe. Definitely foe." I spat his way. The sound of another running our way alerted all of us. Liam had somehow managed to find us. Realizing he was very outnumbered now, Vladimir ran. But today, I decided, was not his day.

Without a second thought, I chased right after him. My brothers stayed close, ready to flank. Emmett was on my right, and a brilliant idea crossed my mind.

"Emmett. Move 31." He nodded at my attack call. We had trained for this with Jasper just that day.

"On your mark Bella Bear." I smirked at him. My speed increased into a burst so I could just catch up with old Vlad. Fearing I would jump his back, he turned to attack my front. Just before he grabbed my neck, I dove and slid into his legs. But Vladimir was old, he knew how to jump in time before I knocked him down. Exactly what we expected. While he distracted himself from avoiding me, Emmett got a hold of his torso, struggling just enough to lean him back for me. And within a minute, I had him beheaded.

"Fucking nice!" Emmett was beyond psyched at our success. "That right there was god damn perfect!" I laughed at his excitement and looked for a lighter or some matches. "Here." Emmett tossed me a spare match which I lit on a tree before throwing it a top the ancient vampire. Soon to be a pile of ash.

"Nice one big guy." I slapped him on the back.

"Couldn't have filled me in on that one?" Liam was a bit disappointed that he missed out on the action.

"Well that's what you get for sleeping in bud." Emmett tried to mess with his hair. It was a very lighthearted moment. Until –

"Alice!" I cried out. How could I have fucking forgotten! I ran in the opposite way in which we came. Two! There are two of them Bella. I smacked my head as I ran, praying for Alice to be unharmed nearby. "ALICE!" I yelled once I thought I was close enough.

"Bella." A gut-wrenching croak reached my ears, and I lunged after it.

Rosalie was laying several feet away, one arm ripped off and missing her right leg from the knee below.

"Emmett!" I called frantically searching for her leg. Rose's arm was nearby, but I could find the damn leg. Jasper emerged from the woods, carrying the missing leg and a dead deer. Emmett slid next to me and cradled Rosalie in his arms.

"Where's Alice?" I asked Jasper, growing more panicked by the second.

"She's not with you?" His question almost threw me into a set of hysterics. But I held it together for the moment. I just needed to find her.

"Bella?" Edward sounded off further away. His tone was tentative, maybe even a little sick? My nightmares came true when I found him, standing over the body of my mate. Her neck almost cracked all the way off.

My knees turned into jelly and they buckled. With no power left, I was forced to crawl my way over to Alice's body. She was much too still.

"He was next to her." Edward pointed to the head of Stefan.

"Burn him." The guttural sound came from me. The noise was unrecognizable. But the rage melted away once I looked back into my arms. "Alice."

"Jasper we need another deer!" Edward went to give the command to Jasper personally. But I knew from the sound of his voice that a deer would be of no help. Not even one deer would heal Rosalie's wounds. Hers would take days of feeding.

"Alice please." The shakes and tremors wracked my body. I was helpless. I had left her. This was the cause of it. "Wake up baby. I'm right here." A wave of empathy hit me as I found myself in shoes that Alice had worn several times. She didn't have a heartbeat that I could listen to to go off of. I had no way of knowing if she would ever wake up. "Please just tell me what to do!" I screamed at the sky.

Aro's venom. A small dark voice replied. I ground my teeth at it.

"No." I spat venomously. "No." But the thought gave me an idea. This situation required impulsive decisions. I once asked Alice how she knew to snap my neck while I was dying. She said she didn't, just had one last hope of an idea and prayed it worked.

Desperate, I grabbed a sharp rock nearby and sliced my wrist on its edge. It burned incredibly, but the pain of possibly losing her made it nothing in comparison.

Once the blood from the cut began to flow freely, I placed it over Alice's mouth. How could I get her to drink when she was unconscious? I propped her up slightly, hoping any blood that fell into her mouth would slide down her throat. And I sat there, waiting for any indication.

"What are you doing?!" Edward shouted once back in the clearing with another dead deer.

"Shut the fuck up or I will kill you." I threatened back. If this didn't work I definitely would kill him just out of anger. But it would work. It had to.

Through some miracle, or some cruel god, after about five minutes of this, Alice made some movements of life. I let out an audible gasp and a little more optimism came to me.

Ten more minutes went by and Alice was actually able to grab my arm and bite into it. It was a blind reflex feeding. Like how newborns knew how to breastfeed once born. It was a natural instinct.

I looked up to Edward with a watery smile. She would be okay. Jasper soon joined with a plethora of woodland creatures, but became fascinated with the scene before him.

"Her neck!" He exclaimed excitedly. I glanced back down to Alice and gasped again at her healing neck. Alice's strength was returning and her grip on my arm grew tighter. She bit down into my wrist again, an obvious frenzy underway.

"Easy Alice." Edward went to remove her from me, but I growled as he neared.

"Not until she's healed." I monitored her neck closely. Yes, it was healing at a miraculous rate, but it still had a long way to go.

"You'll bleed out." Jasper warned softly. I looked up at him, and he understood in my eyes that I didn't care. He nodded and stepped away, motioning Edward to do so.

"Keep drinking Alice." I repositioned her in my lap so she could sit up as she grew strength. The more she drank the more she began to move again. "Just keep going."

My vision was growing blurry and I had to prop myself up on a nearby tree. She still wasn't conscious. Alice may have been drinking but it was more of a dream-like state.

"Bella you need to stop." Seemingly out of nowhere, Liam's hand grabbed my shoulder, trying to shake me away from her.

"No she needs the blood."

"And she's gotten enough. You need to rest." I felt him tug me away.

"Just a little more. Just keep drinking. Keep dri…" The world faded into darkness and I succumbed to the weight on my chest pulling me down.

A/N: I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS! If I were crazy I would say before 2020, but I know myself too well. BUT IT IS HAPPENING. I'm just lazy when it comes to getting the words out.

Thank you for all your patience. I promised you I would never let this go. I've kept that promise, albiet quite slowly. This is the final stretch though. WE CAN DO IT