A/N: So the last chapter left you with a slight cliffy, but don't worry, this takes up exactly where the last chapter ended, and that's why I won't keep you here longer than necessary!

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 atm) 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.

Title: The Mystery of El Jardín

Beta: Belynda Smith

Genre: Mystery/Drama/Romance

Rated M

(NEW) Summary: A group of college students with clashing personalities wins an all-expenses-paid weeklong vacation at a luxury resort in the Caribbean, thinking it will be spent on the beach in the glorious sunshine. However, after landing it becomes very apparent that all is not as it should when the students find themselves alone on the island with only their pilot and one guide. Or are they..?


{Chapter 9}

Silhouetted by moonlight at the edge of the mountain, Leah squared off against the colossal crab.

"Leah!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Get out of here!" Tanya called to her, but Leah ignored us, squaring off against the monster. She whirled the spear in her hands, the shaft blurring with speed. The crab scuttled toward her, claws raised.

"Let's dance."

A massive claw snapped at her, but she dove, rolling around its side. She stabbed forward with her spear but the crab knocked it aside, out of her grip. Leah teetered on the edge of the cliff, barely keeping balance.

The crab charged once more.

"The hell are you doing, Katniss? Move your ass!" Edward called for her.

At the last second, Leah dove forward, vaulting over the crab's shell, narrowly threading through its slicing pincers. She snatched her fallen spear and thrust it at the crab but it had already spun around and caught it.

Leah pushed forward with all her might, trying to shove the crab off the edge, but its sharp legs dug into the earth.

"This chick needs a little help," Rosalie said to my right. Furball stood between us, and I had an idea.

"Furball! Hit it with an ice blast! Aim for the ground!"

Furball breathed a blast of cold, this time under the crab's feet. It formed a slippery sheet of solid ice.

"Now!" I cried to Leah, and she once again forced the spear forward, sliding the crab back on the ice. It tipped back over the edge of the cliff, plummeting out of sight.

Leah looked back at me while wiping sweat from her brow."Thanks. Now ... one of you wanna tell me what the hell you're doing off the resort grounds?"

"We're calling for help," I told her and then explained the situation.

She shook her head. "You shouldn't have left. I told you to stay put."

"It was worth the risk," I insisted.

"Was it? If not for me, you'd be dead right now," she replied with narrowed eyes.

"But we're not, are we?"

"No. Not yet."

Tanya approached the two of us timidly. "Leah, how did you find us?"

"I just went toward the sound of you all screaming bloody murder."

"Fair enough," Kate mumbled.

"So, Sarah Connor, you gonna tell us where you've been the last two days—" Edward started, but Leah answered him before he'd gotten the entire sentence out.

"No," she simply said, and Edward nodded.

"Cool, good talk."

She turned from us and headed down toward the rainforest.

I took a step toward her. "Where are you going?"

"The crab survived. It will be coming for you. I'm going to hunt it down and finish it off. You're welcome."

Just before she disappeared into the darkness below the jungle canopy, she looked back over her shoulder and met my gaze. And then, just like that, she was gone.

"I sure hope Leah can fight that crab all on her own." Tanya mused.

My dream from earlier that morning echoed in my head. I took another step forward. "You guys keep going. I'm gonna help her stop that crab."

Peter gaped at me. "Dude, seriously? You're gonna go looking for that thing?"

"She saved us once. I won't let her do it again without help," I told him.

Furball trotted after me as if to follow.

"Wait here with the others, little guy. I'll be back," I said and patted his head. He made a small purring sound and joined the group again.

Garrett met my eyes, trying to read me. "Good luck, Bella. Catch up with us if you can."

"Will do."

Edward started toward me. "I'll go, too."

I stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. "No, Edward. Leah's going to be mad enough one person came after her. If we both go, she'll send us packing."

Edward hesitated, but then he put his own hand over mine and grabbed it to lace our fingers together. It was the first time he gave me any indication of perhaps deeper feelings on his part. "Fine. Just ... be careful, okay?"

I smiled at him and squeezed his hand gently. "You know me. I've got this."

I was just about to leave when Peter called after me again. "Oh, and Bella! Ask her if she can get us some food? My stomach is growling loud right now."

"At least it's probably scaring off other predators." Kate said in an attempt to joke.

I followed the path Leah disappeared down, jogging as fast as I could over underbrush and gnarled roots. My footsteps pounded and I ran past a tree when Leah leaped out, stabbing forward with her spear.

"Hiya! ... Bella?" She stumbled as she reacted, pulling back her lunge. The sharp stone spearhead stopped inches from my stomach. "I almost killed you! Why did you follow me?" she asked accusingly.

"Because I dreamt you told me to," I told her honestly.

Leah blinked. "You ... dreamt about me?"

"Yeah, I know, it's weird."

Leah furrowed her brow, deep in thought.

"Or have you been having weird dreams, too, since we got here? Ones that feel like—"

"—memories? Yeah. One about you, actually."

Now it was my time to blink in shock. "You dreamt about me, too? What happened in it?"

"We were adrift in this ... underground lake. It glowed blue with algae, lighting up the cavern's walls. Then you took my hand and we—" She looked at me and a hint of red colored her cheeks. "Uh, then I woke up. It ... it doesn't mean a damn thing."

She walked away from me, but I stopped her. "Listen, Leah, I'm not going anywhere."

"You're stubborn, aren't you?"

I smirked. "Could say the same thing about you."

She appraised me. "Well ... if you're just gonna stand there until you turn into a tree, then I guess you might as well come with me, but keep close."

I stayed near Leah as she navigated the forest, her footsteps light and quiet. I was looking around for a sign of the crab when something sharp and painful pricked my neck. I covered the painful spot with my hand.

"What's wrong?" Leah asked.

"Nothing, I ..." The world around me blurred into strange, whirling lights. My knees buckled, but Leah caught me before I fell and laid me down on the moss.

"Bella!" She climbed over me and looked at the mark on my neck. "Dammit, you were bitten by a snake! They hang from the branches sometimes."

I felt nothing but cold trickling through my veins and Leah's voice sounded a million miles away.

"I'm gonna have to suck the venom out, okay?"

She pressed her lips to my neck, and suddenly I felt a strange sensation, one seemingly long-forgotten ... warmth.

I was no longer in the rainforest. His weight rested on top of me, his hand cradled my head as his lips moved against my neck. He leaned away and his hair had fallen into his green eyes.

"I think I got it, Bella. Come on, stay with me."

I didn't understand what he was telling me. What did he get? Why did he ask me to stay? I was right there with him. I tried to stay conscious, but my thoughts drifted and swirled like the colors in my vision, deteriorating.

"Focus on my voice."

Everything was too blurred. I slipped deeper into darkness.

"No, no, no, Bella, stay with me! Come on!"

He caressed my face, and the touch slowly brought me back. I opened my eyes and saw Leah looking at me worriedly.

"I ... I think I'm okay," I said with a hoarse voice. I didn't remember much, or how long I'd been out, but I was relieved to feel that I wasn't lying. I felt okay again. Not great, but okay.

"I guess you're tougher than you look." Leah stood up and offered a hand. She pulled me up with impressive strength. "Let's get you out of here."

She wrapped an arm around me and steadied me as we walked toward daylight. We emerged from the forest near the edge of the mountain ridge. Before us, the island sloped down toward the Caribbean.

"Looks like the sun is rising already," Leah observed.

The two of us sat down to rest by the cliff's edge, watching the light of the sun beginning to set the horizon ablaze.

"Man ... I'm gonna miss this," she mumbled, and I looked at her with a frown.

"What? The sunrise? There's always another."

She shook her head. "Not for all of us. Let's just say, when I came to El Jardín ... I didn't expect to leave a free woman." She noticed me staring at her. "I don't get you. You don't look scared of me."

"I'm not. Do you want me to be?"

"No ... I don't."

The edge of the sky lit up like wildfire, and the sun crested the ocean, rising quickly and in the space of less than a minute, it was full daylight.

I gaped at the sight. "Did we just see what I think we saw?"

"It's the island. There's something about— Move!"

Leah pulled me out of the way just as the titan crab slammed down a claw from above. It scurried down the sheer rock wall I'd been leaning against and faced me, pincers snapping. Leah stepped forward, spinning her spear around.

"Bella, get behind me!"

The crab lashed out with its claws, but Leah expertly parried them in an elegant, deadly dance at the cliff's edge. The crab advanced, cornering us against a sheer drop. Leah lunged, striking at the crab's carapace but the spear deflected off its hard shell.

"I'm barely leaving a scratch! Its armor is way too strong."

I looked around, desperate for something to turn the tide. And I saw it. "Leah, look! On the next ledge up! There's a boulder! We can drop it on the crab."

"Hang on ... one ... second ... Okay, run to me now!"

Without stopping to think, I ran toward Leah's back. At the last second, she dropped the spear and turned, cupping her hands.

"Jump!"

I planted one foot in her grip, and she launched me up. I grabbed the ledge above me, pulling my legs up just before the crab crushed my ankle in its claw.

"Hurry!"

I pushed against the boulder, positioned directly over the crab. "It's too heavy without leverage! Leah! Throw me your spear!"

"Are you completely insane?!"

"Trust me!"

Leah leaped back from a pincer strike and hurled her spear into the sky. I caught it and planted one end beneath the boulder and pulled down on the other. The butt of the spear levered up the colossal rock, and it fell freely.

The boulder landed squarely on the crab, instantly crushing its powerful armor. Its pincers snapped one last time and then it was still.

"I'm actually impressed." Leah helped me down from the higher ledge.

I stared at the crushed crab with wide eyes. "I can't believe that worked."

"Yeah? I think human history would argue that smashing things with rocks has pretty much always worked. But we almost got killed, Bella. We almost got killed because I was thinking about you instead of watching my surroundings."

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

Leah shook her head. "No, don't you get it? This is on me. I can't do this. I don't have the time or the margin of error to ... to..."

"To what?" I asked carefully.

"To care about you, okay?!"

In an uncomfortable silence, we gazed upon our fallen enemy. Leah spotted something and reached for the crab's shell and wrenched it out.

"Is that ... an arrowhead?"

She nodded.

"Looks like it's made of some sort of amber?" I observed, but ended it as a question since I wasn't sure.

"Looks like it, but it can't be," Leah said and examined the arrowhead closer. "That shell was hard enough to block my spear but not this? It must be way stronger than amber. Whatever this is, it's way sharper and stronger than anything I've seen." She pocketed it. "Well, this crab won't be causing your little wilderness safari any more problems. Let's get you back to the others."

"Actually, before I forget," I said as I remembered Peter's request. "Do you have any food? We lost ours on the way."

Leah thought for a moment. "I might have an idea..."

We headed back in search of the others only to run into them in the forest.

Garrett looked relieved and called over his shoulder. "There! Bella's back!"

Tanya smiled widely. "You're okay!"

They all surrounded me, grinning and patted me on the back.

"Ha! I totally would've bet you were dead! Mad respect," Peter said and gave me a wink and a thumbs up.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, and then felt Edward's hand on my shoulder. I turned toward him, and he traced his hand down until he could lace our fingers together. I smiled.

"Coming after you," he said, and then that familiar teasing glint in his eyes returned. "Couldn't leave you to bail us out of danger. You'd never let us hear the end of it."

I chuckled and shook my head to show him that it was totally true.

"So? Did you kick some crusty crustacean ass or not?" Rosalie asked, but before I could answer, Kate asked another question.

"And I don't suppose you ... found any food?"

I grinned at them. "As a matter of fact ..." Ilooked back over my shoulder, where Leah was dragging several huge crab legs wrapped in leaves.

"Anyone wanna help me build a campfire?" she asked and then laughed at everybody's shocked expressions.

We emerged from the rainforest back onto the cliff edge into a beautiful night sky.

I frowned. "Weird. It's nighttime again already?"

Garrett looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean 'again,' Bella? The sun hasn't come up yet."

Leah and I shared a look but didn't say anything.

Soon, we were all sitting around Leah's campfire, and Peter let out a loud burp.

"Ha ... best crab I've had in my life, dude."

"Seriously, Leah, you're the best," Kate agreed with her mouth full.

Tanya wiped her mouth and turned to us. "I still can't believe you managed to beat that thing."

Leah looked at me. "Actually, it was mostly Bella. I just helped a little."

"No way. For real?" Rosalie stared at me with wide eyes, and newfound respect was shining in her eyes.

Edward leaned back on his upper arms and smiled widely. "Well, well, well ... not too shabby, Princess."

"And you kept saying I had to be the hero," Garrett chuckled and shook his head,

I shrugged. "Didn't know I had it in me."

Edward leaned closer to my ear. "I did," he said softly, and I felt myself become all warm inside.

Everyone lounged around, feeling safe and content. Garrett looked over toward our intended path and thought for a moment. "Well, it's still dark out, and the rest of the climb looks dangerous. Why don't we rest up a little before pushing forward?"

Peter immediately lay down and put his hands behind his head. "You don't have to tell me twice."

Everyone did the same, searching for the most comfortable rock to rest on.

"I'm gonna need about ten feet of personal space from you, Peter," Rosalie growled out when Peter shifted and got too close.

"Er, my bad."

I shivered a little as a cold ocean breeze blew up into the high mountains, and I decided to walk over to where Edward was lying.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked. "It's a little cold."

"You wimp." Edward laughed but scooted over to make room for me. I lay down beside him, both of us on our back, staring up at the glittering stars.

"Wow," I breathed out in awe. "Back home, you definitely can't see this many."

"Yeah. In the city, it's easy to forget they're even there. It's a big sky, but we just block it out ... make our own lights." He looked over at me, or more specifically, the space between us. "You can get closer. I don't bite."

"You sure about that?" I asked him with a wide smile.

He smirked teasingly. "I guess it depends on what you're into."

I wriggled closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder as his arm snaked around me. I rose and fell with his breath.

"Better?" he asked.

I smiled. "Much better."

"Alright, sweet dreams, kid. Don't drool on my shoulder."

"I'll try," I replied dryly, wondering why he suddenly called me kid. To me, it appeared he did it because he attempted to distance himself for some reason.

Edward laughed at my reply, a little snort to himself. In the moonlight, I saw him smirk, and that was the last thing I saw before I drifted off to sleep.

The sunlight in my eyes woke me up. With a yawn, I stretched and rolled out of the still-vibrating massage chair in the lobby. Cracking my back, I rubbed my eyes and found myself looking in a mirror. I grinned at the image.

"Lookin' good, Emmett!" the mirror said, and I grinned wider and winked at it.

"Hey, you too, Emmett!"

Somewhere in the darkness, my voice floated up out of the void.

"I'm ... Emmett?"

I wandered outside the hotel and found Victoria, Benjamin, and Alistair lounging by the pool.

"Ya boy Emmett in the house!" Nobody looked up. "Hey ... why is it so quiet out here?"

Benjamin reclined in a floating pool chair, double-fisting Bloody Marys. "Just ... worried about Bella and the others, that's all."

"Same," Victoria seconded. "I can't stop wondering if they're okay."

"They're almost certainly dead, the fools ..." Alistair muttered.

"This is crazy. It must be some sorta dream ... unless …"

"Trust me, guys. They're all okay, I guarantee it," I said through Emmett.

"But how do you know?" Victoria pressed.

I hesitated. "How do I know?" Emmett thought. "Because if we put good vibes into the world, they'll come true," he said out loud.

"Oh, here we go..." Alistair rolled his eyes and groaned.

"I'm serious, man! Vibes is, like, the basis of string theory."

Victoria put a hand on my shoulder."I think it's a sweet thought, Emmett. I'll put my good vibes out there with you."

Alice walked by.

"Hey, Alice, how are you holding up?" Emmett asked.

She just paced back and forth, muttering.

"Uh, Alice? Where have you been, yo?"

"Huh?" she said and turned around. "Sorry, I'm just—trying to figure out this gosh-darn password."

"Any luck?" Benjamin asked from his recline in the pool.

"No ... I thought I knew Mr. Cullen well enough to guess it, but I was wrong."

Victoria hurried to reassure her. "Don't worry, Alice. I'm sure we'll find the answers eventually."

I looked around at the crestfallen faces. I noticed the diving board and a set of inflated beach balls lying beside.

"Yo, check this out!"

I climbed up the diving board and leaped off, spread-eagle.

My belly slapped hard and painfully against the water, and I rained water onto the others standing poolside. I surfaced to find everyone laughing.

"Dude! That looked painful!"

"Ha, ha, are you okay?"

"You complete idiot..."

I lifted my shirt and looked at my stomach, stung an angry red. But it was all worth it to hear their laughter, to see them smile again.

I noticed Alistair examining himself in the mirror, drying his face and fixing his hair from my splashdown. I climbed out of the pool.

"Hey, Al, whatcha doing?"

Alistair noticed and stopped, his face flushing for a moment.

"Hrm? Nothing, I'm simply tidying up ... in case the others return."

"By others, you mean..." He said nothing, and after several seconds my grin fell. "Tanya, dude. By others, you mean Tanya. You were supposed to finish my line."

"What in the heavens has gotten into your smoke-suffocated brain? This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Tanya could return at any moment and catch me looking ... silly." He looked back at the mirror and began smoothing his eyebrows. I threw an arm over his skinny shoulders.

"If I may be so bold as to impart a little Emmett wisdom ... tell her how you feel."

Alistair glared. "How am I supposed to do that, when I don't even know how I feel?"

"Well, that's your first problem. Can't put her on the spot, unless you know what it is you want. Think about this, though. One day, I was really, really high, and I wanted Cheetos. But my couch was so comfy, and I didn't want to get up. I wanted the Cheetos to come to me. I dreamed of them showing up at my door and telling me they wanted me, too. And you know what happened?" I paused for dramatic effect. "I never got those Cheetos. I spent my whole day wishing instead of making my dreams come true."

Alistair gaped. "Oh, my lord in heaven ... I think something's wrong with me because that actually made sense."

I grinned."You're welcome, buddy. That's only the first step! Here. I'll write out my ten-step plan to romantic bliss."

I tore a photo of a pristine marina off the wall behind the bar and flipped it over, about to write on the back when I froze.

"Whoa. Dude. Look. Boats."

"Yes, it's a picture of boats. Now tell me Step Two!"

I ignored him. "Everybody, get over here!" Victoria, Benjamin, and Alice joined me and Alistair at the bar. "Look at this picture!"

Benjamin raised one brow. "Okay? It's a stock photo of some marina."

"Not just any marina. Look in the background!" I pointed. There, nearly hidden by the palm trees was a steaming volcano.

Victoria gasped. "That picture was taken here!"

"No way! You're right, that's the same shape as the peak of Mount Suerte!"

Alistair took the photo and looked closer at it."Hrm ... based on the angle of the photo, compared to the volcano, I suspect this was taken only a couple miles south-by-southeast of The Ethereal."

"It must be Cullen's private marina!" Alice realized. "Only the wealthiest VIPs kept their catamarans and yachts there."

"And if there are still boats left at the marina, then..." I said.

"Then you might've just found our ticket off the island!" Victoria finished happily.

I woke with a start, my heart pounding in my chest. The sun was up and as I sat up, I accidentally whacked Edward in the jaw with my elbow.

"Holy hell, Princess, you nearly gave me a heart attack! What's wrong?"

"I'm ... not sure. Weird dream, I guess. Sorry about that."

Edward rubbed his jaw. "Don't worry about it." Then he smiled. "Still think it was worth it."

I smiled back at him, and I could feel a moment between us building. It had never been so obvious that there was a mutual attraction. I wanted to kiss him so badly, and I was about to lean forward when Garrett interrupted.

"Okay, everybody, we should push forward while we've got daylight. This last stretch looks to be the most dangerous, so stay close."

Edward looked annoyed and glared at Garrett's back, while I sighed and got up before offering Edward my hand. I knew he didn't need it to get up, but he accepted it anyway, and our bodies came very close to each other when he straightened out fully.

I squeezed his hand slightly before turning away and joining the rest of the group.

After a short walk, the path around the mountain narrowed to just a foot wide. As high up as we were, the wind whistled as it raced across the jagged rocks.

Rosalie shook her head. "Yeah, this is gonna be one gigantic 'nope' for me."

Tanya trembled as she pressed herself against the mountain wall. "Um ... do we really have to go this way?"

"It looks pretty risky, but this is the very end of the pass," Garrett said. "We get around this, we're at the volcano. We'll take it slow and safe." Garrett dug into his bag. "I brought some rope I found at the resort. We can tie ourselves together for safety."

Edward took the rope from Garrett. "I'll tie the knots. I had to learn some in training."

A few moments later, we were all tied together in a line, with Garrett leading the way and me right behind him. Garrett put one tentative step forward. The earth issued a frightening crack but the pathway held.

"Alright, let's do this! Don't look down!"

Cautiously, we inched single-file along the precarious, craggy path. Every few seconds, the wind picked up, battering us in a ferocious howl. I clung to the rock face with my fingertips, trying not to look down. I pressed on, one foot barely in front of the other, steadying myself.

"You've got this, Bella. Just hang on, we're almost there!" Garrett encouraged me.

"Tanya? You holding up?" Leah asked, but she didn't get an answer.

"I think we're about to lose the nerd, guys!" Rosalie called from the back.

"Chill out, Tanya," Peter said. "Do what I do. Think about something awesome instead. Like, muscle cars."

Tanya sniffled."I ... I like muscle cars."

"Right? Aren't they badass? I've got a Charger myself. When you put the pedal down, that beast just growl! Makes a sound like—"

There was a sudden tremor as the earth splintered beneath Peter's feet.

"Peter!"

Peter toppled over the ledge. Everybody pulled back on the shared tether but Peter's weight was too much. His momentum yanked Leah and Tanya off the edge with him followed by Rosalie, Kate, and Edward.

"Ah hell!" Edward exclaimed, and then Garrett and I were also pulled down.

Garrett reacted instantly, hooking himself to one of the rusted safety struts on the ledge and stopped everyone's fall. The rope pulled taut, as the full weight of everyone pulled down on him.

All of us dangled together, hanging against the cliff face, blowing in the wind. Peter looked down.

"Hooooly ... that's a really, really long way down."

"Calm down. It's such a high drop, you won't even feel it when you die," Leah said over the howling wind.

"Not helping! So not helping!"

In the distance, the sun dropped fast toward the horizon, night darkening the sky.

"Not again!" I groaned.

"I can't see a damn thing!" Rosalie cried out.

"Garrett, pull us up! What are you waiting for?!" Kate screamed in pure terror.

"I'm ... I'm trying!" Garrett's muscles flexed, veins popping in his biceps, as he tried to pull himself back onto the ledge.

"Respect for the gains, Cap, but I don't think that's gonna work!" Edward told him.

"It has to work!"

Below me, Tanya quivered in terror. "Tanya, I need you to focus if we're gonna get out of this! None of us can do it without you. Are you with us?"

"Y-y-yes! I'm with you, Bella!"

The wind buffeted me as the line dangled in single file from the fraying rope. Hanging just below Garrett, I looked all around for some way out, squinting through the dark. I saw a tree root sticking out of the cliff face and another ledge far to the side, down by Peter.

"There! Peter, do you see that other ledge?"

"I ... I think I see it! But it's way off to the side!" he replied.

"Run along the cliff face! Try to swing there!"

Peter huffed as he tried to do just that. "I can't get that far!"

"Everybody, help him! All of you, swing yourselves!"

Below me, the others pushed their legs against the cliffside, swinging like a pendulum in bigger and bigger arcs.

"Almost ... there ..." Rosalie was sweating copiously as she used all her effort to swing her part of the rope.

"I can get us there if I can just ... reach ..."

"Dammit! The rope's not long enough!" Leah grunted angrily.

I looked up where Garrett was still trying to pull himself up. He got his elbow over the edge and heaved again, but the weight of the whole group was far too much.

Peter yelled for him. "Garrett! I can get us to the other ledge, but the tether ain't long enough! You gotta let go, man!"

"Are you nuts?!" Kate screamed at him. "If Garrett lets go, we all die!"

"I can swing us to the lower ledge! We can make it!"

"Hff ... I can ... get us back up ... hff!" Garrett said, refusing to listen to Peter.

"Garrett, you gotta trust me! You gotta trust all of us!"

Since I was closest to Garrett, I pleaded with him. "Garrett ... Peter can do this!"

Garrett looked down at me, his face beaded with sweat. Finally, he nodded.

"On your hard count, Peter! You're the Q.B. now!" he called.

"Everyone, we need one more big swing!" Peter instructed.

Below Garrett, the rest of the group ran back along the cliff face, away from the lower ledge, storing up energy. Kate prayed and had to force herself to not close her eyes.

"Forward..."

We all ran the other way, and when we were almost as far as our momentum could take us, Garrett unhooked himself. He fell, weightless. The tether went slack and Peter landed on the wide lower ledge.

He laughed. "Booyah, mother—"

He went down as Leah landed directly on top of him followed by everyone else. I groaned, limbs entangled in a pile.

"Oof! Thanks for breaking our fall, Peter," I said breathlessly.

"Owwww..." Peter moaned from underneath us all.

Edward shifted uncomfortably under me. "Uh, whose hand is in my pants right now?"

Garrett winced. "That'd be me. Sorry about that."

Edward and Garrett looked away from each other awkwardly. Garrett helped Peter up and dusted him off. "Not bad, bulldozer."

"Not sure I'd put that one on my highlight reel, but..." Peter said.

Garrett put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. It's about time I let someone else carry the weight."

Peter gave him an unamused smile. "Hilarious. You and your damn puns. But, to get a little sappy here, dude ... thanks ... for trusting me."

"Thank Bella. She made me realize that I couldn't do it all on my own, even if I want to protect others. It's not just about showing up. It's about trusting each other with the hard parts."

When we felt ready to move again, we found a way that soon took us past the mountain ridge and we climbed the smooth slope of Mount Suerte. The sun rose quickly on our approach, giving shape to a big dome-shaped building.

"There it is ... the El Jardín Observatory."

"This satellite uplink had better work," Rosalie grumbled, pissed that our journey had so far not been a walk in the park.

Tanya smiled. "I've got a good feeling it will."

As we followed the path up toward the massive domed structure, I heard a soft hiss of air coming from the ground.

"Whoa! This hatch just opened!" I exclaimed and pointed toward the hole that had appeared in the ground.

"Is that the entrance?"

Edward stepped toward the open hatch. "Only one way to find out."

Kate stared at him. "You want to go into the volcano?"

The hatch revealed a ladder down through a dark tunnel. We climbed down, one after another.

Rosalie's voice echoed around us. "Anybody else getting really hot all of a sudden?"

Peter snorted, which caused her to groan.

"Grow up, Peter!"

I agreed with her, though. "It's seriously, like, boiling in here."

The darkness began to take shape in a faint red light. Steam filled my vision, stinging with heat. I reached the end of the ladder, a metal walkway clanging beneath my feet. I stepped forward, and the steam cleared.

Instantly, I recognized it from my vision, back in the ballroom with Rosalie and Peter.

The others came down from the ladder and gawked at the sight. Kate made a squeaking noise.

Dozens of swaying metal catwalks dangled hundreds of feet above a sea of magma.

"Out of the frying pan ... into the fire, I guess," Rosalie mumbled.

"Oh my goodness ... we're in the central chamber of Mount Suerte!"

Garrett pointed forward. "Look, on the other side ... I see windows! I think that's the observatory lab!"

"You're gonna go across these rickety-ass catwalks? You seriously trust them to hold?" Rosalie questioned with wide eyes.

Garrett's eyes met mine and he smiled. "No ... but I trust us."


A/N: Where did Leah learn her mad combat skills? What was that amber arrowhead about? How did Bella get into Emmett's head in her dream? Do I sense some love in the air between Bella and Edward now? And what the hell is up with that chamber of magma?

Give me all of your thoughts and even if you have your own questions, give me those as well! Won't answer them if the answer would reveal too much of the plot, though ;-) I'm still gonna keep you on the line, or this wouldn't be a proper mystery.

Now for other things, if you're in my Facebook group, you know that I had to move back to my parents' place because I was tricked by someone I thought I could trust. Turned out I was very naïve, and it annoys me to no end that I allowed myself to be manipulated by the dickhead.

Anyway, it won't affect my updating schedule on this story! Still gonna go strong every week with this, so don't worry about that, but I just thought to tell you anyway!

But okay,

Until next week

Stay Awesome!