A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 19-

Charlie's POV-

"Can we believe her? I mean, what if she is lying?"

I turned to look at my wife, appalled by her question, an eyebrow raised as I stared at her in absolute disbelief, having just ended the phone call, a hundred plans to rescue my daughter running active in my mind.

How could she even ask such a question, or have such an improbable doubt in mind?

This was my daughter we were talking about!

And let me be the first to tell you this, Bella was the most innocent, nice, caring and loving girl out there. She did not have a mean bone in her body, or one that could lie or deceit another.

She wasn't lying; I don't believe she was capable of lying.

Now, now, I am aware that all parents think their kids' to be out of this world good, blaming the other kids at all possible times- their judgment heavily flawed. But I wasn't one of those- something I credited myself on being. I was an ex- cop. I could definitely tell the difference between right and wrong.

And my Bella was the right.

She wasn't lying.

There was no doubt in my mind on this.

Not a single one.

"But Charlie," Tanya continued to protest, "she has contacted us after five whole years. Where was she for all this while? How did she even get your number? Nobody of your past life has it! And why contact us now? Don't you think it to be a little suspicious?"

"My daughter has been taken captive, Tanya." I emphasized. "She is helpless and scared. I don't care how she got my number; I am glad she did!"

"It is not that easy, Charlie!" Tanya waved a hand in air, desperately looking around her for support, the rest of her…our family having arrived down the stairs on hearing all the commotion.

"What Tanya means to say is…"

I instantly shut Eleazer off with a glare, annoyed by him trying to act like my father, butting in and playing peacemaker when not invited to do so.

I was two years older than him for heaven's sake!

It was amusing in the beginning when he tried to get all parental on me, but now it was simply annoying and dumb. And rather ridiculous.

Eleazer immediately shut up, thankfully taking the hint.

"I am not against her, Charlie," Tanya continued. "But I have a right to be cautious, don't I?"

"Of course, you do." I agreed with her. "But this is my daughter we are talking about. She is family."

"I thought we are your family." Tanya muttered under her breath, a statement I knowingly ignored; I had no answer for it. I wasn't denying that her family was my family, but there would always remain a difference. And nobody could ever take the place of my daughter. Or even think of replacing her in my life.

"You have abandoned her, Charlie." Eleazer commented. "The smart thing would be to let the past remain in the past."

"I haven't abandoned her." I spoke through gritted teeth, glaring at the man. "She was an adult. She no longer needed me as much. And the circumstances were not in our favor. You, out of all, know that."

Tanya was relentless in her attempts to convince me to become one of them as soon as possible. The guilt of divulging the secret to a human too much for her to bear. She was close to breaking down…and I could not let that happen. She was my wife. I loved her.

If being a vampire was all she asked from me, I would gladly give her that too.

But every coin has two sides to it- the good and the bad. Bella could not be involved in the secret, and Tanya had been a vampire for more than a millennium. Bella was safe in her company. I couldn't guarantee the same for my presence, now. I had been informed that I would be functioning on only my instincts for at least the first year of being a vampire; Bella being food for me being the first of those instincts. I could not risk it.

I would not have been able to live with myself had something happened to her. Had I accidently harmed her in any which way.

Creating distance between us was hard yet required. I had to let her go. I had to pretend to not want her in in my life. I had to purposefully break the bridge down.

It was needed.

I wish there had been any other choice…

And after that first year had ended, when I had finally returned to my senses- aware of who I was and what I wanted from life, I had been too ashamed to contact her, or even to ask Alice to find her. I had abandoned my daughter; what right did I even have to want her back into my life?

What would I even say?

I had no words to correctly apologize.

But the truth remained that I wanted her back into my life…

She was my blood. The little girl I had held in my arms minutes after she was born. She was the reason for me to become a parent.

I could never not want her in my life.

I agree I had made a terrible mistake by abandoning her…but maybe…the bridges could still be mended?

She already knew our secret; if only I could get her back to safety…

"Don't even think about it, Charlie!" Irina warned, aware of where my thoughts were heading. "She is in Volterra. I am not going in there. And neither should you. Everyone has their own destiny to face. Maybe…this is her destiny?"

"You can't be serious now!" I glared at her, pin drop silence dominating the room. "This is my daughter we are talking about! Or have you forgotten that? Had this been one of your sisters, would you have the same answer to provide? I highly doubt it."

"It is different." She unapologetically muttered, shaking her head in defiance.

"How?" I demanded to know, appalled by her arrogance. How was this any different?

Wasn't my daughter as important as her family?

Did she mean to state that?

"Charlie, Irina, please," Carmen pleaded, looking between the two of us. "We are family. Let's not forget that. What Irina means to say is, this could be risky…"

"You think I don't know that already?" I questioned, folding my arms over my chest. "I completely understand the risks, but they have my daughter captive. Tell me Carmen, could you live with not helping your daughter when she asked for the help?"

Carmen was the most maternal out of all the women in this coven, having been pregnant when her sire had forcefully changed her, resulting in her losing her child, and by association, her planned future. She still blamed her estranged sire for that.

"Let's not be sentimental here." Kate commented, waving a hand in the air. "To clarify, I am not against helping anyone. Charlie, you are like an older brother to me, and I would gladly fight the world if you needed the help, but I agree with Tanya, too. We need to be sure that Bella does need our help. Let's not rule out the possibility that she could be lying…"

"Bella's not lying." I frowned, spitting the words out. "Why would any sane person even lie about something of this sort? What would she even achieve from doing so? And why construct this massive lie, if what you are suspecting is true?"

"We don't know that." Tanya whispered. "But I can't lose you, Charlie. I have waited for you for so long…"

I took her head in my hands, softly kissing her on the lips, assuring her that my safety was never at risk. I wasn't leaving her and going. Not now and not ever.

"I can confirm if Bella is actually in the castle or not." Eleazer suggested. "I still have a few contacts in there, contacts who are loyal to me without letting Aro know of it."

"Fine." I gave in my agreement, aware that every eye in the room was on me at the moment. "But if my daughter is in there…."

I did not need to complete the sentence. It was as obvious as the day.

I wasn't abandoning my Bella for a second time.

It may have been five long years since I had seen her last, but time meant nothing in front of family.

I wanted her back into my life, and I was willing to do anything to make that happen.

Anything.

Eleazer nodded his head in assent, his phone removed from his pant pocket as he dialed in a few quick digits, putting the phone up to his ear, silence once again settling over the room.

"Hello, yes, Chelsea, how are you doing these days? Yes, oh good. I have been good too. I called you for a reason, actually. My sources informed me that a human has been taken captive…oh. Is it? Marcus did? Unbelievable! No. No. I am not planning to visit Volterra. Not anytime soon. Yes, I will talk to you later."

"So?" I demanded from him as soon as he ended the phone call, quite frankly annoyed from being a witness to that one-sided conversation of his.

"Bella is…" he paused, framing the sentence in his head, the minutes going by slow as I waited for him to speak. "Marcus has taken her captive."

"Marcus has?" Tanya's mouth suddenly dropped open, a reaction that was mirrored by all the other women in the room. "Why?"

"No one knows that." Eleazer shook his head in response. "At least not anyone in the guard. They are still waiting for orders."

"What…what does this mean for us?" I questioned, puzzled by his words.

I did not know much about this Marcus, but did he generally not do such stuff to garner such shock?

"Charlie," Tanya sighed, "Marcus is the least…volatile out of the three masters. This is not good news. If Marcus too becomes like the other two, violent and egoistic, our world will become a dangerous place…"

"What does this mean for my daughter?" I waved a hand in air, more concerned about her safety than anything else.

"I guess…" Tanya stuttered through her words, "I can call Carlisle and ask for a favor. But we are not fighting. We will go in there with the intention of talking…to try to convince them to let Bella free. What happens after that…we will see…"

I slowly nodded my head, scratching my jaw, as I thought of contingency plans, and backup plans. Some involving talk, and some not so much talk.

I was going to rescue my daughter, bringing her home with me.

And no one could stop me from doing so.