32
Bella stood in the doorway of her parents' house, her childhood home, with tears in her eyes. It wasn't her home, hadn't been in a long time, but she had missed it. Though, now it was just a structure: walls, a ceiling, and floor. Nothing inside that structure meant anything to her. This would always be the place where her daughter was stolen from her, taken away from her by a madman. She hated this house, this structure.
"I can come with you." Looking over her shoulder, she found Carlisle standing behind her with his suitcase next to him. "I can help."
"You can't," she said, shaking her head. "And I can't do this if I'm worried about you, Car."
He pressed his lips together, his eyes looking back to wear everyone was waiting for them. While she and Edward would be leaving together, the rest were going to be setting their trap, but Carlisle was going to stay with an associate of Garrett's. A woman named Esme, who promised to keep him safe. It was the only way Bella could do this, and she had to do this. Marcus Volturi had taken too much from her, and she would make him pay.
"What if . . . what if I don't ever see you again?" he asked, his lips trembling. "I just found you, Bella. I can't. . . Mom and Dad are gone. I can't lose you, too."
"I know," she said, quietly. "And I wish I could promise you that . . . that I'll come back to you, but I can't. I'm going to kill him, Carlisle."
Carlisle nodded, his tears slipping down his face. "Get a few hits in for me, okay?"
"More than a few." Bella threw herself into his arms, her tears seeping into the front of his jacket. "I love you, Carlisle. I love you so much."
"I love you, too, Bella," he sobbed, kissing the top of her head before releasing her and fleeing. He hurried down to his car and was gone before she could take as much as a breath.
Bella reached behind her and pulled the door to the house closed and walked down the front walk, stopping next to Edward, who wrapped his arm around her.
"Everyone knows what to do?" she asked, looking from Jasper and Alice to Garrett and Kate, Emmett and Rose, and then Jacob.
"We'll be ready," Jasper assured her.
"Are you sure about this, B?" Garrett asked, his eyes dark, full of regret.
Bella nodded. "I have to do this, Gar. For me, for Al, for T," she whimpered, and when he reached for her, she stepped away from him. "I'm going to kill him for my mom and dad, for . . . for Charlie," she sobbed, and immediately Edward had her in his arms, one hand on the back of her head, the other arm wrapped around her waist. "I'm going to make him pay for everything he's done to us. Just be ready, okay?"
"We will," he promised, sliding his arm around Kate. "Just be careful, okay? We don't want to lose you, either."
"I will," she said, knowing the odds were stacked against her. Marcus Volturi wanted her dead, and if taking him out meant she had to die, too . . . Well, that was a sacrifice she would be make. Besides, without Charlie, she didn't have anyone to live for, anyway.
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