14

Detectives McCoy and Hitchens were already at Peter's when we got there. Esme had Alice wrapped in her arms as they detailed everything that had happened. Carlisle placed his hand on the small of my back and attempted to lead me to the couch, but I pulled away and headed for the stairs, needing to check on the boys, needing to talk myself into leaving them.

I hated the decision I was having to make, but it was me or them. If I stayed, I knew without a doubt that the person who called himself Gabriel Varner wouldn't stop until he found me, until he took everyone I loved away from me. If I left them, if I moved on with my life, I would be saving their lives, even if that meant sacrificing my own. They were more important than me, anyway. I was nobody, while they were going to change the world.

The boys were sleeping in the same room they had shared weeks ago when we waited for Carlisle to move us from Forks to San Francisco. So much had changed in the last few months. San Francisco was supposed to be a new start, a second chance, a life away from those who wanted to judge us, but it hadn't been.

Gabriel Varner found us, always one-step ahead it seemed. He destroyed our possessions, snapped photos of Carlisle and I making love, burned Sasha's diner down, followed the boys . . . Always there, always watching, always waiting.

Tears flooded my eyes as I slipped into the room, and walked over to the full size bed they were sharing. I toed off my shoes and climbed on behind Tyler, wrapping my arm around him and Michael, trying to keep from waking them with my sobbing. How was I going to be able to let them go? They were my world, my children.

"Momma," Tyler mumbled, his voice thick with sleep as he looked over his shoulder at me.

"Hey," I whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

"Why are you crying?" he asked, rolling so that he was facing me. His tiny hands came up and brushed away the tears lingering on my cheeks.

"Because I missed you," I told him. "Did you have fun with Alice and Esme?"

He smiled. "They brought us ice cream. Big ones, too."

"Bet they were delicious."

Tyler scooted closer, nestling himself in my arms. "I'm sleepy."

"Me, too," I whimpered. "Sleep, sweetheart. I've got you."

I waited until he was fast asleep before I slipped off the bed, kissing each of them on the head. Slowly, dreading every step I took, I walked out of their bedroom and down to Peter's room. I grabbed pair of his sweats and a T-shirt, changing out of my dress. I didn't have shoes, but I didn't care. Not right them. All I cared about was protecting my family — all of my family.

As I walked downstairs, I could hear Carlisle talking with the detectives, pleading with them to do something—anything—to protect our family. But they couldn't. Until he made his move, there wasn't anything they could do. They were handcuffed by the law of the land.

"There has to be something we can do!" Carlisle yelled as I slipped into the kitchen.

I found a notebook and a pen and sat at the table. Taking a deep breath, I wrote the hardest letter I would ever have to. Tears saturated my face, dripping onto the paper, but I couldn't stop crying. Carlisle was the love of my life.

I folded the letter in half and scribbled Carlisle's name across it, leaving it in the middle of the table before slipping out through the garage. The air was cool as it wrapped around me. I walked to the end of the driveway and looked from my left to my right, before deciding to go to the left. Every step took longer, felt like I had lead weights strapped around my ankles. Tears continued to fall, my heart ached, and my soul felt like it was being ripped apart.

I'd managed to walk ten blocks when a car pulled up next to me. I turned back as the door opened and Peter jumped out, rushing over to me.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he snarled, grabbing my arm and trying to drag me back to the car. "Leaving a note in the middle of the night! You're lucky I found it before Carlisle did!"

"Let go of me!" I screamed, tearing myself out of his grip. "Don't touch me again!"

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly. "But you can't do this, Bella. You can't do this to my son or those boys."

"I have to," I cried, bringing my hand up to my mouth. "He'll kill them all, Peter. All of them to get to me. I have to leave."

"No, sweetheart, you don't." Peter sighed, dragging his hand though his hair much like Carlisle did when frustrated. "I know you're scared. So am I. I just . . ." he paused, his lips trembling. "I just got my son back, Bella," he whimpered. "I've just met my grandsons, and I don't want to lose them."

"You won't," I cried. "Not if I leave."

"But I don't want to lose you, either." Peter brought his hands up to my face, wiping way my tears. "You don't see what you've done for my family, Bella."

"What?" I asked, pulling away from him. "Put them in danger? That's why I have to leave!"

"No, you don't!" he argued. "And what makes you think this asshole is going to leave them alone if you leave? Hmm? For all you know he'll kill them just to draw you out."

I flinched as I turned from him. "That's why you have to promise to keep them safe for me."

"And I will, you included," he said, stepping up behind me and placing his hands on my arms. "Leaving him will only break him. And not like when Tanya left, either. He'll never survive losing you."

"Do you think I want to leave?" I asked, turning and looking at him. "I want nothing more than to throw myself in his arms and beg him to never stop loving me, Peter. I love him so much. He was the one who kept me together after my dad died, when my mom drank all the time, when she called me a whore. Carlisle's been the only constant in my life, but I can't stay and watch him die! I can't!"

"Shh," Peter murmured, drawing me into his arms, one hand covering the back of my head while the other rubbed my back. "I know you're scared, sweetheart. So am I. We all are, but leaving, running away, isn't the answer."

"Then what is the answer?" I asked. "Tell me what to do, Peter, because I don't know what's right anymore. He's always there. All the time. And I'm scared. I'm so, so scared."

"So am I," he admitted. "Please come back with me. Please."

Closing my eyes, I found myself nodding, the fight to leave slipping away. While I was still sure that I was putting my family in danger, I couldn't bring myself to argue anymore. I was exhausted. Physically, emotionally, mentally exhausted.

Peter led me to the car, opening the driver's side door for me, but before I could climb in, another car sped around the corner, driving right at us. Peter pushed me into the car, but before he could climb in after me, the car sideswiped us, sending him flying through the air. He hit the pavement with a deafening thud.

"Peter!" I screamed, scrambling out of the car and rushing to him, falling to my knees. He had several cuts and scrapes on his face, and his leg stuck out at an awkward angle. He opened his mouth to speak, but blood bubbled out instead. "Don't die, please, don't die!"

"Be . . . behi . . . behind . . . you," he stammered, trying to grab my hand.

"What?" I asked, but before he could tell me what he was saying, I felt a pair of hands grab the top of my arms and pull me backward. I screamed, spun around, and felt all the strength I had left evaporate. Because there, standing there, with a smirk on his face and a gleam in his eyes was the man I knew as Gabriel Varner.

He knelt down, keeping one hand wrapped around my arm and bringing his hand up to my face, almost caressing me intimately. "I told you I would find you. Now, you're finally going to be mine."

"I will never be yours," I cried, trying to free myself from his grip.

Gabriel laughed as he stood up and dragged me along the ground, ignoring the way I was screaming for help, pleading for someone in one the fancy houses surrounding us to save me, but they didn't. Gabriel lifted me off the ground and threw me into the trunk of his car. He placed both hands on the lid to the trunk, looking down at me. The red glow from the brake lights cast an eerie glow around him, one that made him look even more evil.

"You're so beautiful, Isabella," he cooed. "My Isabella."

As another scream left my mouth, he slammed the trunk shut. A moment later, I felt the car shift as he climbed inside and started driving. And all I could do was scream until I passed out, praying that my family would forgive me for leaving, for costing Peter his life.

Thank you for all the reviews. Short chapter, but it was intense and emotional and evil because I left it totally on a cliffy, which you all should know that I LOVE to do!