Twilight Fan fiction

Transitionals

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Twilight. I have used some sentences directly from the book, I don't own them. There are just some descriptions and dialogue that I can't bear to change and or leave out. They were originally and forever owned by Stephenie Meyer.

Thank you all for your patience with me and the story.

This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful younger cousin. Thank you for helping motivate me.

Chapter 21

Emmett's POV

This was not how any of us thought this night was going to end. Sure we had a habit of getting into fights at the end of our normal baseball games, but usually, that was all in good fun. This, this was what we had all been trying to avoid.

All our hard work trying to protect Bella and the little girls, trying to make sure that something like this wouldn't happen, was ruined.

Now Carlisle, Edward, and I were out hunting James, while Jasper and Alice had Bella, and Esme and Rose had Anna and Cissy.

Truth be told, I didn't know if I was in the right group. I could've seen myself in any one of the groups, but only a small part of me wanted to be part of the hunting party.

I wanted to help take care of Anna and Cissy, they had become such a big part of my life. Deep within my mind part of me was panicking. I tried not to focus on it because that little worry was my need to see Anna and Cissy, and Bella.

I needed to focus on what was important. I needed to be part of the hunting party; Carlisle and Edward needed me.

Despite Dad's reluctance to kill, he wasn't going to sit idly by while someone was after his little girl. His fear for Bella's safety and anger at James for threatening her had created a rage in him. He was trying to remain calm but the fact that I could see how angry he was, was troublesome.

And Edward was even worse. Anger, Fury, Rage, none of it could describe my brother.

Compared to my brother I didn't have to worry about Carlisle doing something rash. Dad could control himself. Edward on the other hand, I had no idea.

Yes, I was needed in the hunting party, if only for Edward to be able to borrow my strength.

"So what's the plan?" I made sure to keep my voice low enough that only the people in the car would hear. No point in giving James a heads up.

"We needed to find a place where we won't risk running into humans, so we can destroy James," Edward growled.

I tried to lighten the mood, hoping it might help Edward relax. "That's not much of a plan."

Carlisle reached back, whether to restrain Edward or to calm him I had no idea. I wisely kept my eyes on the road and away from my rearview mirror. I did not need to look back to see Edward's fury.

"We need to continue to make James believe that Bella is with us," Carlisle began thoughtfully.

"Which means we need to find a place to stop," Edward replied sharply. "James would be expecting us to stop soon to make up camp so Bella can sleep."

"Why exactly are we camping again? If we had Bella we'd want her to be as comfortable as possible." I sure thought Edward would have wanted her in a hotel, something with a soft bed instead of her sleeping on the hard ground.

Carlisle shook his head. "We need to stay out of populated areas so we don't draw attention ourselves. Camping is the most logically."

Edward raised a bag sightly so I could see it in my rearview mirror. "I made sure Bella would be comfortable."

I laughed before realizing Edward wasn't trying to be funny. His face was set into a deep grimace and his eyes were almost hollow looking.

"We're going to take care of James and Victoria and anyone else who wants to hurt Bella. I promise."

He only nodded at my words.

Carlisle continued with the plan to distract Edward. "Once we find a safe place we'll set up camp and one of us will need to sit in the tent, to keep up the rouse that someone is staying with Bella."

I nodded my head towards Edward. "James will expect Edward to be in the tent with Bella since they are mates."

Carlisle nodded. "I'm going to guard the tent, but I think it would be wise if there are only two people at the campsite at all times.

I shot a confused look at Carlisle. I didn't know about Edward but I was wondering if Carlisle was mentally alright.

He explained quickly. "We need to be well fed and as strong as possible if we want to defeat James." I was about to argue but Carlisle raised his hand to stop me. "James will think he has a better chance if he doesn't have to go through three of us."

One pointed look to me and I realized that our strategy to wait for him to attack us would happen most likely while I was the one out "Hunting."

Edward sighed deeply. "We'll all need to go off at least once then."

Carlisle gave him an apologetic nod. "I'm sorry Edward, but I think this…"

"It's a perfect plan to draw him out." Edward agreed quickly.

"So, where are we heading?" I asked.

Carlisle glanced back at Edward before facing forward and answering me. "We need to get out of Washington. I think it would be best to head for the Canadian wilderness."

"Away from Denali," Edward added sharply. "We can't chance Laurent double crossing us and helping his old coven mate."

I grimaced. Honestly, I thought we could handle one vampire, but having the Denalis as back up would have been nice. They, of course, would have been more than willing. In fact, I was certain that as soon as Laurent shows up and tells them what happened, Tanya will want to help. Her sisters would follow her with Carmen and Eleazar not far behind them.

Carlisle sighed but agreed immediately.

Theoretically, I probably shouldn't have sped up, what with the fact Bella wouldn't have approved and she was supposed to be in the car, but I couldn't stand the pain on my brother's face. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Rose's POV

Anna was unusually quiet as we drove away. I knew she was going to be, any of us could have guessed that she would, but this, this was too quiet. She wasn't crying. No sniffles, no change in her breathing. She was just utterly silent.

I shared a glance with Esme.

"We'll be at Charlie's in a little bit, we just need to get the woman farther away from the house." She whispered softly.

I nodded and pushed the car faster. Bella wouldn't approve but she wasn't here to argue. Besides I had complete control of the car, nothing was going to happen to Anna or Cissy while I was at the wheel.

Every now and then as I glanced out the mirrors I caught a glimpse of red. The vivid color was easy to pick out compared to the green of the foliage.

I didn't want to lead Victoria into the town, it would be too easy for her to pick out Bella's scent and find her way to Charlie's.

Then, a brilliant idea came to mind. We knew that there was at least one wolf down in La Push, maybe he could make himself useful. I drove towards the border hoping that the wolf would be around.

Esme gave me a curious look as I drove along the border. She didn't ask but her sharp raised eyebrow was a question in itself.

I shrugged offhandedly. "I thought maybe the wolf that Bella ran into might catch her scent…" I left the sentence open.

Esme nodded and turned around in her seat to check the two little girls. Cissy, of course, we couldn't see, but from her steady breathing, we knew she was calm. She'd fall asleep soon enough.

"Anna, what are you feeling?" Esme asked. She offered her hand out for Anna.

Anna took Esme's hand and refused to let go. I grimaced after seeing Esme's shocked expression.

"What is it?"

Esme shook her head. "There's so much, how can she handle all of this."

I didn't know how, but I really wished she didn't have to.

Once I was sure we had given Jasper and Alice enough time, I drove for Charlie's. As soon as I had the car parked, Esme and I jumped out of the car and grabbed the girls.

Charlie had obviously heard me tear down the street. He was waiting at the door, and he clearly knew that something was wrong. His eyes scanned over us and I knew he was wondering about Bella.

"She's with Alice and Jasper," Esme told him as she ushered him into the house.

Charlie locked the door behind us. "What happened?"

Anna wiggled out of my arms, then threw herself at her uncle Charlie. "It's the Undermining." She showed him all she had felt so far.

It was hard watching Charlie's panic. He was remarkably calm for Anna but Esme and I could both see it. This was his daughter after all, and no parent wanted to deal with something like this. No parents should ever have to.

"Bella said that she needed to go to…"

"I know," Charlie stopped me. "I know where she went, and I also know that the Undermining will expect her to go back there." He shook his head and led the way into his small living room.

I hadn't been in this house much, but the few times that I had, I'd noticed how small it was. This house wasn't big enough to hold the four of them. We needed to find them a new house.

"Until we clear up this mess Bella can't come back here." Charlie eyed the ground angrily. "They weren't supposed to be able to find Bella in Washington. So how did they?"

Anna, who was still clinging tightly to Charlie lifted her eyes to his. "It's the vampire, Uncle Charlie. He's a tracker."

Esme knelt beside Anna, brushing at her hair. "I don't understand sweetheart. Why does that matter? Shouldn't the magic blocking the Undermining work on him too."

Charlie scrubbed his face with his hand. "As soon as he joined the Undermining, the magic would make it impossible to find Bella. Since he was able to track her though it means he isn't from the other world."

"Since he's part of the mythical world he can use his power to track Bella, even in Washington?" I growled deeply. "How is that even fair. If he is a part of that horrid group of people he and his mate shouldn't be able to find Bella."

Esme reached out a hand to calm me. Surprisingly, so did Charlie. As soon as he realized what he was doing though he lowered his hand. I was touched by his brief action.

"As far as we knew the Undermining were only members of the other world. They want to rule the world, they wouldn't team up with mythical creatures." Charlie sighed. "We should have realized that they'd do something like this though. No doubt as soon as they find this man expendable they'll dispose of him."

They won't get a chance to. Hopefully, Emmett and Edward and Carlisle will stop James.

Esme set about to caring for Cissy and Anna, getting them ready for bed while remaining alert, and I filled Charlie in on what happened

"So what do we do now?" I asked once I was done.

Charlie sat down in his chair leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees. "Since Victoria was with James when his powers led him to Bella, she'll be able to track her scent through the area."

I took a seat on the couch. "She'll be here soon I suspect."

Surprisingly Charlie grinned and a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Yes, I suppose you're right. You'll get to see just how protected this house really is."

"Bella mentioned that the house was protected."

Charlie smiled at me. "This is my family's home, it has been for generations. This house is protected by old magic."

I listened thoughtfully all the while thinking about my plans to find the Swans a new home. It looks like we'd have to see whether or not we'd be able to add onto the place.

"So I guess we just wait here for Victoria?" I really hoped that wasn't the plan. As soon as she showed up here, I was going to turn the tables on her. I could trail her just as easily as she had done with us. I wouldn't lose her though.

Carlisle's POV

We found a safe place to set up our trap. It was a small clearing that would be easy enough for us to protect.

Once we had the tent up and Bella's jacket inside, I added the finishing touch while Edward raced off to hunt. He would pretend to be out longer than he really was, and wait downwind of camp to monitor the nearby thoughts.

Hopefully, now James would be too focused on tracking us, to shield his mind to the extent that he was before. Even the slightest opening in his mind and Edward would be able to learn something of the Undermining's plans.

"What's up with the heartbeat?" Emmett asked using barely a whisper. He got up from the ground, dusting his hands off. He had been building a fire.

I didn't know if James knew that temperatures didn't bother Bella, but we weren't going to take any chances.

I spoke hardly any louder than he had. "There's been a time or two when I've needed a heartbeat. I have several recordings."

Emmett nodded before ducking into the tent. "Good call on using a more accelerated one."

I had purposely chosen that recording because it was of a frightened person. The sound was perfect because if Bella was here, she probably would be feeling a bit frightened. It would boost James' arrogance to know that he was scaring her, at the very least that would hopefully help us.

"Bella's heart doesn't sound like that," Edward whispered, after getting back from his hunt.

I wasn't the only surprised by this turn of events.

Emmett stuck his head out of the tent. "You can tell Bella's heart apart from all the others?"

I didn't even notice the differences in the heartbeats of the humans.

Edward nodded before pulling Emmett out of the tent. "Your turn to stand guard while Carlisle goes and Hunts."

I shared a brief glance with my sons and hurried off to hunt. I didn't want to be gone long. I could understand why Edward didn't even want to leave the tent even though he knew Bella wasn't really with us.

I didn't want to leave. Just the thought that James believed one less person was around to protect Bella, was difficult to handle. I wanted to be there to protect her. She was another daughter to both Esme and me. She completed our family, and there was no chance that I was going to let that vile excuse for a creature hurt her.

Being alone in the open was good for me. I made sure to stay out of Edward's radius, I needed to be alone with my thoughts to myself, and Edward needed to be able to focus on James'.

I felt horrible throughout the car ride. I hadn't been able to filter my thoughts well, and I couldn't shield Edward from them. I knew he had heard the rage that I was struggling with.

Since creating this family, I had loved my wife and all of our children with a strength unmistakable. There had been a few times where my role as the head of the family had been needed to protect us. Not many but there had been times where I did what needed to be done to protect them. This was completely different than any other time though.

Bella was my daughter, but unlike Rosalie and Alice, I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she could protect herself. Rose and Alice are my daughters and I know that very few things can harm them. They know how to protect themselves. The same thing can be said about Bella, and yet she is the one I worry about more.

Bella is far more fragile than Esme, Rosalie, and Alice. More things can hurt her, and that terrifies me.

James' threat was bringing out the vampire in me. The burning desire to destroy what was threatening my family was overwhelming. I was struggling to deal with my anger, knowing that I needed to remain in control.

Nothing could distract me though, I couldn't clear my mind enough to relinquish my hold on the fury. It was times like these that I would have called Esme, but I couldn't. I couldn't call her yet, not now. We needed to limit our time on our phones just in case James or Victoria was listening in.

I took down a few deer and headed back to camp.

I was surprised when I got back and heard a different recording. The heartbeat was softer, and each beat was even and slower than the recording I had played.

Emmett grinned at my surprise. "Edward found the one you marked as sleeping peacefully. He figured once she fell asleep she'd be fine for a little while before ending up with nightmares."

I nodded after a moment. "I just figured Bella would have been more stubborn. She probably would have fought to stay awake longer."

Emmett chuckled. "Doubt it. Edward made sure Alice was given some last minute instructions."

I raised a curious brow and waited for him to explain.

"Just the basics. Feed her, water her, make sure she sleeps."

I shook my head knowing that Alice would take good care of Bella.

"He's getting closer, but he doesn't have any plans to attack at the moment," Edward whispered. His voice was so soft I almost missed it. "We were right, he doesn't want to chance going up against all three of us."

His tone shifted darkly and he growled. "He's certain that we took Bella with us. He doesn't believe that I would separate from her with him hunting her."

"He's going to wait until I leave," Emmett guessed.

Edward didn't reply, but that was answer enough for us.

"Stay until tomorrow morning then go off and hunt." I stopped Emmett before he could get up.

He nodded and moved to sit behind the tent.

I took my spot in front of the entrance and waited there all night.

No one spoke until the next morning.

I didn't dare get lost in the surrounding quiet of the forest, but I still was caught off guard when the heartbeat in the tent started racing.

"Unless you have a scream that sounds like Bella, I suggest you wake her up." Emmett chuckled softly, trying to start the day off lightly apparently.

Once Edward had changed the tracks, Emmett got up from his post "I'm going to go hunt now." He kept his voice low, but not nearly as low as we had been. James, if he was around, would hear him, but it would sound like Emmett had lowered his voice for Bella's benefit.

Hunting, after all, wasn't a topic we talk openly in front of her.

I started heating water for a hot drink for Bella and some oatmeal. Hopefully, James would see me as distracted, making Edward in the confined tent a more appealing target.

The minutes ticked by and James never showed.

Edward emerged from the tent and scanned the area. "I can't hear him anymore."

"He took off," Emmett called out, joining us beside the fire. "I circled back like you told me to, and found his scent dulling. I'd say he hasn't been here for a half hour or so."

Edward dumped the water on the fire. "He couldn't have gotten far, I only just lost his thoughts. He's been staying farther back than we thought he would."

We left the camp as it was, only taking the time to make sure that the fire was out.

Why would he leave?

Edward replied with a growl. "Something must have tipped him off."

"Maybe it was our theatrics?" Emmett offered.

Edward shook his head. "He believed Bella was with us. Up until I lost his thoughts he was sure of it."

"Let's hurry so we can catch him." I pushed myself as fast as I could knowing Edward wanted to go on ahead of us. I couldn't let him get too far ahead though, and thankfully he understood and stayed with us.

He knew it wouldn't be wise for him to go on alone.

We chased James through the forests. He was leading us into more populated areas. Towns turned into cities and back again. We followed his trail all the way to Vancouver. Not long after that, we tracked him to the airport. He was gone.

"We need to let everyone know we lost him," I pulled out our phone and called Esme first.

Esme's POV

It took a little while to get Anna to sleep, thankfully Cissy was so young that she didn't understand what was going on. She slept peacefully through the night while Anna struggled with nightmares.

I ended up spending the night holding Anna on the bed she shared with Bella. It was the only way to ward off the bad dreams and get her to sleep. It made it a little harder to take care of them that night, especially when Cissy needed me.

Rose wasn't there to help. She had caught sight of Victoria across the street. She and Charlie had waited to see if Victoria would come to the house but she clearly wasn't getting any closer.

She had stayed for a short time and then had left. Rose had followed her, hoping to catch her off guard; so it was only Charlie and me here with the little ones.

Charlie came and sat in the rocking chair, offering a soft smile.

He took care of Cissy while I held Anna. We stayed in Bella's room all night. Despite my constant offer that I could take care of both girls, Charlie didn't sleep all night.

He remained in the rocker and sat in silence until Cissy needed him.

When morning came I was sure that he was going to go sleep, but he followed me to the kitchen and helped me settle the girls. He even offered to cook breakfast.

I remembered Bella say he could make a decent breakfast, but I hadn't thought that would be a good idea just in case he was tired.

So he sat at the table sipping his coffee, and any other person would have believed that the man had gotten a decent night sleep, instead of staying up all night.

Rose walked into the house just as Anna finished her food.

"Rose!" Anna yelled. She flung her arms around Rose's stomach and refused to let go.

Rose lifted her into her arms and sat at the table. "I followed her all around town but it doesn't appear to be any clear reason why she went around the town. She stopped at pretty much every place of business and then left before I could get too close to see what she was doing."

Charlie's eyes narrowed slightly, something both Rose and I caught. He didn't offer an explanation. He got up and returned with the device he had sent with us to Chicago. He had called it an expander and had warned that it was completely experimental. Anna, of course, had no qualms about using it since her daddy had been the one to build it.

"You ready to help out, Anna?"

Anna tried to smile and nodded. She placed her little hand in the box and it glowed instantly.

When she shook, I couldn't help myself. I wrapped her in my arms and held her as she sent her powers out to scan the area.

"Only Victoria," she announced after a while.

Charlie nodded. "Any hunters that may have been after her would have followed her to Phoenix if they managed to follow her signal out of the state."

"And Carlisle would know to get James away from the town," I supplied confidently.

We sat there at the small kitchen table, Anna sitting on my lap while she used the expander with her powers.

"When will Bella be able to come back?" Rose didn't glance up from looking down at Cissy. The baby held tightly to Rose's finger, and Rose couldn't look away from her.

Charlie got up and refilled his coffee mug. "The first thing we need to focus on is to remove James and Victoria from the situation." Charlie glanced at the girls cautiously.

Rose and I nodded, acknowledging his attempts to word thing carefully.

"What happens if they tell the Undermining where Bella has been staying here in Washington," I asked nervously. "All that work…"

Charlie held up a hand to stop me. "That's why Bella had to go to Phoenix. When we set up the spell that makes it where the Undermining can't find Bella in forks, we set up a failsafe. If we have reason to believe that the undermining will learn of Bella's location here in forks, Bella can reset the spell as long as she gets back to the place where it was cast. She has to get there before for the Undermining is told though."

"Hopefully, James and Victoria didn't think to check in with them," Rose grumbled lowly.

"Thanks to the spell I would know if James had been able to tell them," Charlie explained.

The relief I felt was unmeasurable. "So we don't have to worry about James telling the Undermining?"

Charlie smiled thankfully. "No, Bella made it back to Toby's house in time, as soon as she stepped into his house the spell was recast. Once this is over she can come back to Forks."

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply; hugging Anna to me. "What about the hunters?"

Charlie gave me a curious glance. "What about them?"

"The hunters worked with the Undermining when they attacked..." I paused not wanting to upset Anna.

Charlie's gaze drifted to the window and he was silent for some time. When he did answer he was evasive. "The hunters won't tell the Undermining. They have a strange code that they all follow."

"There's nothing the Undermining can do to get them to give up this valuable information?"

"No."

I watched as Charlie got up and dumped the rest of his coffee in the sink. He walked out of the kitchen and not long after the front door opened and closed.

Rose finally looked away from Cissy. "I wonder what he's not telling us."

"I don't know, whatever it is though it seems to burden him."

Our phone rang then and Rose answered it without hesitation.

"We lost James," I heard Carlisle say.

Those were not the words I had wanted to hear. Though it was cruel, I had hoped that he was calling to say that James was dead.

"He got on a plane for Seattle, we think he is going to go back to Forks and start over his search."

This definitely wasn't what I wanted to hear. I motioned for Rose to take Anna, and she passed me the phone. I moved into the living room so I could speak freely without worrying about what Anna might hear.

"Anna is using the expander again, she can only find Victoria; and Rose followed her around the town and didn't see him. If James returns here though Anna will be able to sense him."

Carlisle sighed and I couldn't help clenching the phone tighter. "I still can't comprehend why Charlie and Bella, let her do so much. She's a little girl, and this is a terrifying situation. Her nightmares could get worse."

"They already have," I barely whispered, fearing my voice would break. "Last night was awful, and with Bella not being here it's been very hard on Anna."

"Maybe it would have been better to have Jasper with Anna so that he could help her through this."

I couldn't help shaking my head even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "Jasper needed to go with Bella. His experience will be helpful, and since Edward couldn't go with her, he needed Jasper too. His gift will help Bella handle being back there, and he'll be able to sense the Hunters if not the Undermining too."

"I should call Alice and Jasper."

"There's a good chance that Alice has already seen this; maybe she's even seen where James has gone."

Carlisle laughed dryly. "Most likely, but I'll check in with them anyway."

"Hurry back."

"We will. I love you."

"I love you too."

I sighed deeply after hanging up. Please let this all turn out alright.

Edward's POV

I paced impatiently as Carlisle called Esme. I was going crazy with worry. After learning that James had not only gotten on a plane, but a plane to Seattle, my sight had been covered in a blanket of red. I was furious. James was gone, he was headed back to Washington, and more importantly, someone or something had tipped him off.

All through the night, I had heard his thoughts, there had been no indication that he thought Bella was anywhere besides with us. I had to listen all through the night as his thoughts became too much. From plans of this "Game" to vicious ideas towards my mate, I struggled with not blowing our own plans.

James was going to die, his sick games were going to end with him in a pile of ashes.

"I just saw him."

My pacing came to a halt when I heard Alice's words. I was so lost in my own thoughts I hadn't realized Carlisle had called Alice.

I was at Carlisle's side immediately and desperately wanted to take the phone from him. He glanced warningly at me and I decided against taking the phone.

"He's waiting in this room with multiple screens covering one wall. The floor is wooden, nothing distinct enough to tell where he is exactly. That's all I can get, there's nothing to tell what this room is or where it could be. Whatever made him get on that plane, was leading him to that room."

"He must be heading to that room now." Carlisle sighed deeply, shaking his head. We're are going to go meet up with Esme and regroup." He glanced at me thoughtfully. Would you like to talk with Bella?

I nodded quickly.

I smiled briefly before speaking to Alice. "Is Bella up, Edward would like to talk with her."

"Yes." I listened as Alice called Bella over the phone.

I thanked Carlisle, before taking the phone.

"Hello?"

I relaxed ever so slightly after hearing her voice.

"Bella."

"Where are you?" She asked.

"We're outside of Vancouver." I fought to keep the anger out of my voice; not wanting to worry her. "Bella, I'm sorry, we lost him. He knows how to block me, I don't know how, but he does. He got on a plane, and we think he's gone back to Forks to start over."

"I know, Alice saw that he got away. Have you checked in with Esme and Rosalie yet?"

While I was sure that she was worried about my mother and sister, I knew she was really asking about Anna and Cissy. "The little girls are okay, Anna's been a big help. Apparently, Charlie has something that can help expand her powers. I didn't really understand it. I was too worried about you."

"I'm worried about you too, all of you guys."

I sighed, I had known she was going to worry about the rest of us. "Bella, you only need to worry about yourself."

"Not true," she argued. "I've put all of you in danger, and none of you have gone up against a member of the Undermining."

"That you know of," I said to distract her.

Bella laughed but it I could tell it was forced. After a moment she asked, "Where's the woman?"

I wondered briefly whether it was wise to tell Bella so much since she was already worrying too much. It was a fleeting thought though, Bella wouldn't even notice my pause. "She's gone too. She had stayed around Forks, probably trying to pick up a trail. Rosalie followed her all around town."

"Be safe, I miss you." Despite the situation, I smiled at her words.

"I know Bella, I miss you too."

"Can you believe after all I've put you through, that I love you?"

I grimaced at the new sign of concern and I fought my anger at James again. This was just something else Bella would be misguidedly taking the blame for.

I collected myself quickly, letting my own love for her shine through my words. "Yes, I can, actually. I love you too, never forget that."

"I won't," she promised.

I hung up the phone and forced every bit of oxygen from my body, in a desperate attempt to cleanse myself from this irritation. It only seemed to help me focus my mind. The irritation was still there, and there was still a slight red haze covering my gaze.

"Come on Edward," Carlisle rested his hand on my shoulder. "Emmett purchased tickets for us for the next flight to Seattle, but we need to go get some luggage."

I tried to smile, I really tried but it was hard. The thought of shopping wasn't ideal, and I knew it wouldn't distract me while I had to wait. Keeping up appearances wasn't something I even wanted to think about. It was something we needed to do though. It would look strange to be traveling without luggage especially since we were heading out of the country.

We made quick work of gathering the basics and packing them. Seeing as we were just flying into Washington and weren't too far from it we could pass without too much scrutinizing with just carry-ons.

After getting through all the necessary security checks we finally made it to our gate. Waiting for the plane became increasingly hard.

Vampires under stress tend to become very still, this is the complete opposite of humans though and it tends to unnerve people. Carlisle and Emmett both kept me carefully animated during the wait and the flight so that I didn't alert any of the humans to our secrets.

I tried my best to follow their example, keep up with their conversations, and fidget, but it was hard. Had I been alone on the flight, I knew I would have become as still as a statue. That would have caused quite a fright when I reanimated to get off the plane.

Emmett showed that visual quite often to keep me from becoming too still, and to be honest the looks of horror he pictured on the faces of the other passengers were too comical. Any other time I would have laughed. Today though, I couldn't muster any humor, and I doubt I would until I had Bella back with me, and James' attack behind us.

Author's Note

Poor Edward, this guy really needs a break, but then again so does Bella.

I hope you guys liked this chapter and I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it.

So without further ado, what did you think. Did you like how I gave all five of them a chance to have it in their POV'S? (Alice and Jasper's POVs of this chapter and them with Bella are going to be outtakes and placed at the end of the story.)

Until next time,

LiveLifeAuthorStyle