My apologies for the delay on this one. It's been a long week. I hope you all enjoy this next installment. Let me know what you think! –SS

Chapter 6 (Bree)

A boulder flew into my left side, ripping me away from the sweet, sweet blood. A snarl ripped through me as soon as my lips lost contact with her throat. I swung at the boulder, but it avoided my fist; I realized it wasn't a boulder at all, it was Emmett. I kept swinging and he kept dodging me as he ran me further away from the house and from Bella. When we were far enough out to no longer smell the blood, he stopped and put me down, still holding my wrists in his iron grip.

Without the scent of Bella's blood assaulting my nose and throat, I could see no reason to continue fighting him. Her screams echoed off of the trees around us, and I realized what I'd done. I'd bit a human. If it had been just any human, the Cullens would've forgiven me. They were just that understanding and compassionate. But Bella wasn't just any human. I was going to have to run, never to return to these gentle vampires with the calm golden eyes. Would Fred let me run with him? I really hoped so, because nothing scared me more than being alone.

Emmett's hands lingered on my own, but his grip loosened as my own will dissolved into nothing more than the desire to curl into a ball and sob. I wanted to throw my head back and scream along with Bella, to join her in the pain and anguish she was feeling.

"It's going to be alright," Emmet said, though he was still tensed and ready for a fight at any moment. "You didn't kill her. It'll be alright." His words were directed at me, but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.

I just stayed still. There was nothing I could say or do now but beg them to let me leave with my life. These people had gathered to fight an army in protection of that girl, and in a matter of seconds, I'd sunk my teeth into her as if she were nothing. I was sad, terrified, and most of all, ashamed.

We stayed in our pose, Emmett's hands still resting on my wrists, ready to subdue me at any moment, until Rosalie appeared through the trees almost an hour later. She trailed a hand along Emmett's arm before taking my face in her hands. This was it. This was how I was going to die.

Instead, she rested her fingertips gently against my skin, calling my attention to her beautiful face.

"Bree, I want you to know that neither Emmett nor I are angry with you. This was an accident, and accidents happen."

"Yeah, I've had loads," Emmett input.

"But Edward is not going to be very understanding, especially at first. He has no sense of reason where Bella is concerned. So you, Emmett, and I are going to go away for a while. Just long enough for Edward to get over himself. Then we can come back, okay?"

I nodded. I still didn't trust myself not to sob if I opened my mouth.

We ran in a line. Rosalie was at the front, leading us wherever it was we were going. She often switched directions suddenly, carrying us far east before leading us back west, or suddenly darting south when we'd been headed steadily north. She also took us through water often. She was trying to confuse the scent, to make us harder to track.

I stopped short when this dawned on me, forcing Emmett to leap over my head to avoid running straight into me.

"How much danger have I put you in?" I asked her when she and Emmett both turned to look at me.

"We aren't in danger, we're just being careful." It was a lie, and I knew it.

"I'm not moving until you tell me everything." At first, her stare was unforgiving, and I wondered if my newborn strength would be enough to allow me to fight off Emmett if he picked me up and started carrying me.

But then, her face relaxed. "Alice called as soon as you decided to bite Bella. That's how Emmett and I got there so fast. I was able to take Bella back into the house and wait with her until Alice could get there. She said she was checking up on something near Seattle, which is why it took her so long."

Checking up on something in Seattle…Alice had been doing a favor for me, checking up on my sister, and I'd been nearly killing the girl who was like a sister to her. How could I?

"There were still a number of uncertainties when I left. What we know for sure is that Bella will become a vampire, now. Edward and possibly Carlisle are the only two who might have been able to stop it, and even if we had called them immediately, they wouldn't have gotten there in time. Edward was out hunting, and I guess he left Bella with the impression that the three of us would be away from the house, so she came to see Alice. This is what happens when he only barely comes home! Things get miscommunicated and mistakes are made." Anger was bleeding into her voice. Emmett moved to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder that she took with her own as she settled back down.

"Anyway, Edward didn't know yet when I left to come get you. Alice sees a number of possibilities when he finds out. She seems to think there is some danger that he'll hunt you immediately in his anger, but I think that underestimates what it's like to watch someone you love changing." Her grip on Emmett's hand tightened. "Once he hears her scream, he won't be able to leave her side. The rest depends on how Bella does as a newborn."

"What do you mean? I thought Alice saw her adjusting well forever ago. Isn't Bella supposed to have some kind of super control?" Emmett interrupted.

"Alice said the vision is changing. She said that when she first saw this, Bella was older when she changed. Something else happened, and Bella had plenty of time to know for sure the change was coming. She had time to prepare and to envision the control she would have, and I guess in that vision, the preparation helped her maintain control. But now, she's had no real time to prepare. Alice thinks that will change things."

"So, what? Edward's going to lose his mind and come chasing after Bree if Bella kills a human?"

Rosalie shot him a look. "No," I said. "I want to know."

With a sigh, she answered. "It's not whether or not she kills just any human. It's whether or not she kills her father."

Emmett looked flabbergasted. If the situation hadn't been so tense, I would've laughed. "That's a possibility?" he asked.

"It's more like a probability at this point."

They were silent for a beat as that settled over Emmett. For the first time since I'd met him, Emmett looked scared.

"Alice didn't explain how it would happen, just that it happens more often than not in her visions right now. I think she's going to try to convince them to stage Bella's death and then move. She can't tell if Carlisle and Edward will agree or not."

She turned back to me then. Apparently, what she saw on my face wasn't promising. "We're going away now just as a precaution. And I keep changing direction because Alice is used to looking out for Emmett and I, and now even you. She's trying to tune us out, and I want to give her as many opportunities to miss my decisions as possible. I'm going through the water in case that doesn't work."

"It's not fair that you two are risking your lives for me."

Rosalie smiled at that. "Bree, my brother is very dramatic. Yes, he is angry, and yes, the thought of killing us all will cross his mind. He may even decide to chase us down and try to do it. But I'm confident that he is not truly willing to kill Emmett or I to get to you. He may think he can in a melodramatic reaction, but once he lays eyes on us and realizes the gravity of such an act, he won't be able to do it.'

"He has enough of a god-complex to think he is the only person capable of adequately protecting another. I'm sure he's convinced himself that Emmett and I will just wander off and get distracted, leaving you entirely defenseless, and he'll be able to pick you off. He's wrong; we aren't going to leave you defenseless at all. And this—running in zig-zags all across the Northwest—is just one of the defenses."

"We're not going to let anything hurt you," Emmett added. "Bella will wake up in a few days and talk some sense into Edward, and everything will be fine."

"Come on," Rosalie said, seeing that I'd started to calm down a bit. "Let's keep moving."

We took off back to the west, this time running in more of a group than a line. After about half an hour, I realized we were right outside of Mount Rainier. We stopped for a while about a mile from the base of the mountain. The storm was still raging, thankfully, which kept the humans, and any of their scents, away.

I couldn't help but be aware of how close we were to Bellevue.

"Hey, Rosalie. Did Alice say whether she'd finished her errand?"

"She didn't."

So, I'd have to leave here not knowing how Ashley was, or whether she was being taken care of. I probably deserved that.

"Do you know what she went for?" Rosalie asked me in return.

There wasn't any point in keeping the secret now. "She went for me. I have—had—a sister. I wanted to know that she was okay."

"Are you worried that she isn't?"

"Not exactly," I answered. "She was being fostered about a year ago. I know the family was planning on adopting her, but I wanted to make sure, you know? In case there was something I could do for her."

"Where is she?"

"She was in Bellevue the last time I saw her."

Rosalie and Emmett exchanged a long look which ended in Emmett sighing and nodding his head. Rosalie then focused her attention back on me.

"Take a deep breath now. And you don't take another one until we're back in this spot, yes?"

"Wait, we're going? We can really go check on her?"

Rosalie ran a hand through her hair, the first real sign of stress I'd seen from her.

"We may have to leave for a while. If we do, we'll be cutting off communication with the rest of the family to try not to bring ourselves to the forefront of Alice's mind. If we don't check on her now, we may not know for some time."

Emmett cut in. "But you cannot breathe. You'll hear heartbeats, and you have to maintain control of yourself, or I will restrain you and I will take you away. I understand that you were surprised earlier, but you have time to prepare now."

I agreed, and started the same way I always did, by immobilizing myself entirely. It would be tricky, because I would have to let some of that control go, but I didn't need to use the upper half of my body to run. I'd focus on keeping those muscles locked. And this time, Emmett would be right here. If he had to take me away, I wouldn't fight. I would let him stop me.

"Tell me exactly where you think she lives," Rosalie said. "We're going to run in a line again. You'll follow me, and Emmett will be right behind you."

I gave her directions to the house Ashley had been in the last time I'd seen her. Then, I inhaled some of the clean air and steeled myself for what was coming.

I focused my sight on Rosalie's back and on keeping my upper body completely immobile. I was sure I looked like an idiot running without pumping my arms, but it gave me somewhere to channel my focus. I did my best to tone out the sounds around me, to not hear the ground slopping under my shoes or the birds in the trees. If I could drown them out, maybe I would be able to ignore the human hearts as they got nearer.

We stuck to the woods for as long as possible before we finally had to cross into more open territory. Rosalie stopped running then, though it didn't seem like anyone was out at this time of night. I couldn't drown out the sound of my feet slapping the sidewalk, which scared me, but I still didn't let even a slight whiff of air into my nostrils. I wouldn't mess up this time.

I began to hear and see signs of human habitation as we got closer to town. Emmett moved until he was right beside me, no longer trailing behind. Breaking my rule about upper body immobility, I offered my arm out to him, letting him escort me. He grinned and took it, getting the message: he was to hold onto me and not let me go, no matter what. Once his giant hand was wrapped securely around my arm, I froze my muscles again.

"Good, Bree," he murmured.

We kept our pace, moving ever closer to the small yellow house. I could hear human movements all around me now: feet shuffling across carpet, televisions playing mindless shows, low conversations. And, underscoring all the other noises were the low, even thuds of human hearts. Just as before with Bella's, they called to me, signaling me like beacons to come closer, nearer, just one taste. I stopped walking, refusing to allow my legs to get ahead of my will.

"Bree, are you alright?" Rosalie had turned as soon as my feet stopped hitting the pavement. I didn't move, didn't answer. I just stayed very, very still. The heartbeats ran through me, like steel drums beating through speakers. But I'd made my mind up, I'd promised myself I wouldn't do this again.

Eventually, the urge faded. I twitched a finger, measuring to see if that single release of control shook my resolve. My will held, and I wiggled my toes, then flexed the muscles in my calves, and thighs. None of the movements propelled me forward. I nodded my head in answer to Rosalie's question and began walking again.

She smiled. "Very well done. We're almost there. We'll pick a tree that will allow us to watch her without being seen. We can't stay long, just long enough to know she's alright."

I'd locked my upper body back in, so I gave no sign of my understanding. Rosalie didn't seem to mind, because she kept moving forward. Ten minutes later, we'd all three climbed a tall maple at the edge of the yard. Through an upstairs window, I'd caught a glimpse of Ashley smiling. My heart no longer beat, but it still felt lighter when I saw that smile.

There were two other girls in the house who looked to be near Ashley's fifteen years of age. I didn't recognize either of them, and I wondered if they were just friends, or if they were her adopted sisters.

After a while, a middle-aged couple ascended the stairs, hugging each of the girls before going back down and turning out the lights. The group of girls dispersed then, but Ashley remained in the same room. She stared at the window for a long time. The expression on her face wasn't one of confusion or worry, but her sight was pointed so directly at us in the trees that I wondered if she had noticed us.

"You don't think she can see us, do you?" asked Emmett.

"There's no way. There's no light back here at all," Rosalie's answer sounded so confident that neither Emmett nor I questioned it.

After a long round of staring, Ashley finally climbed into bed. She looked healthy and happy, and I hoped very much that she didn't spend her time thinking about me. Rosalie and Emmett both stiffened beside me suddenly.

"Stupid dog," Rosalie muttered. "Bree, we have to go right now. Follow me and move as fast as you can. Don't breathe until I tell you to."

We set back off through the trees, quickly approaching and diving directly into Lake Washington. Rosalie didn't slow at all, eventually swimming through Lake Union and into the Puget Sound. It felt like a long time before we finally surfaced at Point Wilson.

"You can breathe," Rosalie said as we climbed out of the water.

"What happened back there?" I asked.

"It seems that Jacob has learned of Bella's impending transformation."

"Who is Jacob?"

She looked at me for a moment. "Did you see the wolves in the field the day we met, or were they gone before you got there?"

"Wolves?"

"Hmmm…I guess you arrived late. There is a pack of werewolves who live in La Push. We have a cordial relationship with them, at Carlisle's urging, but they are still fundamentally opposed to our kind. Jacob is not only a werewolf, but he's also Bella's best friend. And he's the only person more adamantly against her becoming one of us than Edward is."

"And he's here?"

"Not here. But it does seem that he tracked us to Bellevue, which is concerning. Hopefully our time in the water will throw him off."

"But he's coming after me?"

"The dogs are hot tempered," she waved her hand, brushing aside my worry. "He'll settle down and realize how likely he is to die if he takes on three vampires alone. And he was very much alone."

A strange expression crossed Rosalie's face.

"Bella won't forgive that, Rose." Emmett said. "She'll be on our side if things don't change." It sounded like he was bargaining with her, trying to talk her out of some idea. I didn't ask, because I had a very strong feeling they wouldn't tell me even I did.

Finally, Rosalie relented. "Yes, you're right. It would complicate things." Emmett breathed a sigh of relief.

Their conversation shifted to a strategic one. Emmett seemed to want to go North, to Denali. Apparently, the Cullens had friends there. Rosalie didn't like that idea. If we truly needed to run, she reasoned, we'd need to go somewhere more unexpected. She also wanted to go somewhere more populous. Our little venture into Bellevue had convinced her that, with help, I would be able to tolerate moving through crowds of humans for limited amounts of time. She wanted to hide among as many mental voices as possible if Edward came for us.

I thought about Ashley while they discussed. She'd looked really happy when she'd been with what I presumed were her sisters. She looked older, though. Not just physically, but like she'd lived more life than a fifteen-year-old should. A part of me wanted to think it was because she missed me. Maybe the stress of not knowing where I was, whether I was even alive, had aged her. But a much larger part of me hoped she never thought about me at all. I wanted her to have a whole, fulfilling life, devoid of concerns about me.

Rosalie stood. I took the time to quickly process the conversation I'd not been really listening to. They couldn't decide where we should go next, and Rosalie thought their lack of decision-making made now a good time to find a burner phone and risk a call home. While she was gone, Emmett and I hunted. He thought it would be a good idea if I was going to potentially be so close to human soon.

I was only mildly thirsty, so we settled for a couple deer not far from the coast. We spoke very little. He was worried about Rosalie, and I was worried about everything else. We stayed quiet once we returned to wait for Rosalie. She didn't keep us waiting long.

"No answer," she said as she crossed the sand. "The call went straight to voicemail, so I think she was her phone off. I'll keep trying. She'll turn it back on when it's okay to call. I spent a few minutes staring at the number written on a piece of paper, so maybe she'll see that."

After that, all there was to do was wait. Rosalie tried to call Alice every thirty minutes. She went to voicemail every time. A few times I almost apologized again, but I knew they'd hear none of it, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

Emmett paced, and Rosalie followed him with her eyes. He was bored and on edge while she was too calm, too composed. There was still something going on here that I wasn't seeing. I wanted to ask, but I again knew they wouldn't tell me.

On Rosalie's eighth attempt at calling Alice, the phone rang.

"Hello," an easy male voice answered.

"Jasper," she said. "Where's Alice?"

"She can't block visions of you. She saw you buying the phone, and Edward saw in her mind where you are. We've left, we're going to stay in Denali until things settle. She's trying to watch his decisions, so I thought it would be best not to break her concentration."

"What is she seeing?"

"It's all still so undecided. She does think you have at least until the transformation is complete. Edward won't leave Bella's side now."

Rosalie grinned at that. Of course, she'd predicted his behavior exactly.

"Rosalie," Jasper said. "He's livid. I've never felt an anger that strong from anyone. It was like it was consuming him. I mean I could feel it filling his body and taking over. If Bella hadn't started thrashing and screaming again when she did, I think he would've left her."

Her grin fell. "Does Alice see any way out of this for us?"

A voice like bells came across the phone. "If Bella wakes up happy and if she manages not to kill Charlie, it'll be fine. She'll talk him out of hunting you, and when he lets himself start to enjoy life with her, she'll even convince him to forgive."

"She'll wake up happy. She's wanted this for a while."

"I agree. Charlie is the concern. I tried to convince them to leave with her now. Edward can see what's coming. Charlie is worried about Bella already. He's called Carlisle, and Carlisle told him we haven't seen her. Charlie will get suspicious, though. He's going to come to the house to make sure. And if she's just woken up, she'll kill him. She won't be able to resist."

"Why won't they just leave?"

"Edward won't say. I've never seen him like this before. He's beyond reason. I think a part of him hopes she does kill Charlie. He wants Bree dead, Rose. Even more than James or Victoria, he wants her to pay for this. You know what he thinks of this life for Bella."

"He's being ridiculous. And Carlisle is going along with it?"

"Carlisle is worried that Charlie will hunt us down if they leave now. Think about it, Bella has disappeared and none of us will be in school for the foreseeable future. If Charlie comes to the house and it's empty, that will all but tell him what happened—or at least the most conceivable version to him."

"Dammit!" Rosalie shrieked, slamming her fist into the sand and creating a hole almost a foot deep.

"Calm down, Rose. We don't know enough at this point. There is still a chance."

"And if he comes after us? What then? I'm not going to just let him have her, Alice!"

"No, and neither will we. If he decides to hunt you, Jasper and I are going to join you. I'm not going to stand aside and wait to see who kills who first."

"Emmett wouldn't."

"Yes, he would," Alice countered simply. "If it was kill Edward or lose you, he will kill Edward every time. And Edward is so beyond reason right now that I think he will kill Emmett, and you, or die trying. But if Jasper and I enter the equation, there's a chance of stopping him before it gets there."

Rosalie paused for a few beats. "Fine," she said. "So what do we do now?"

"Stay where you are, if you can, and wait for me to call. I'm watching his every thought, and I've warned Carlisle so he can keep me posted in case Edward finds some way around my vision."

"Alright," Rosalie answered. She seemed deflated.

"And Rose, I know Bella is not your favorite person. But I do see that she will have no anger at Bree, and she's going to be quite put out with Edward for reacting the way he is. Bella's influence over Edward may very well save Bree's life. Remember that."

Instead of answering, Rosalie clicked the phone shut. She laid her head down on her knees, not talking to either of us as she contemplated what was coming. Emmett finally stopped his pacing and sat down beside her, placing his arm across her shoulders. She didn't react at all to his presence, and something about that finally broke the dam I'd put in place to hold back my emotions. I shot Emmett an apologetic glance before I shot off to finally let my sobs tear out of me.