Chapter Sixteen

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Renesmee

The past few hours seemed like a blur. First, I was driving with Nick, asking him the questions I finally had the courage to ask. And then, he was speeding to my house, rushing inside with me to grab my passport, cash, bathroom stuff, and few changes of clothes. I moved quickly, at Nick's request, hoping that my parents had just discovered the fact that I was not at Jacob's. Once they realized I was not there, they would send my family over to my house to find me.

We rushed back to the car, and Nick took off toward the airport. With promises that where he was taking me would answer every single question I had ever had, better than he could answer them.

And now, we were on a plane. Heading to Italy.

We had time on our side. My parents would have no idea where to begin to look. I turned off my phone, just in case there was a way for my parents to track me. Nick put my ticket on his credit card so they couldn't see my purchases, and I used only cash. They would never suspect that I was about to be halfway around the world on a mission to find the truth.

"We're going to figure all of this out, Nessie," he said softly, giving me a gentle kiss.

I sighed, nervous, but happy. Laying my head on his shoulder, I watched the clouds move quickly past us. The last time I had been on a plane, we had been heading from Alaska to Washington. To the place where I would discover how much of my own life I did not know. This time, I would be heading to a place that would give me answers. Somehow. But I trusted Nick that they were there waiting for me, like a lost treasure on a sunken ship.

For the first time in my life, things were going my way.

Bella

"She's not here, Bella," said Emmett's voice on the other end of the phone, sick with worry. Edward and I, currently racing home to find our daughter, called Emmett to see if she was at our house.

"Oh my god..." I cried. "Do you think she went to Nick's house? Edward, where does Nick live?"

"I don't know." He clutched the steering wheel harder at this thought. "She never mentioned going over his house."

Nick had been such a mystery to us; I realized with a painful guilt that it had been me who worked hard to keep it that way. I wanted Nessie to have one thing that was solely hers. One part of her life that was just normal. And now, here we were. Renesmee was gone. We had no information on Nick other than the fact that he attended Port Angeles high school and drove a motorcycle.

"Motorcycle!" I exclaimed. "What if Charlie could have someone look up motorcycle registrations in Port Angeles?"

Edward nodded eagerly. "That's a good idea. Call Charlie."

"Emmett, I have to go," I told him quickly. "Please have someone wait at the house in case Nessie comes around. Call us if you hear anything."

"Will do...wait a second, Bella," Emmett said. I heard him sniff the air and then let out a low, animalistic growl. "There...there was another vampire in your house recently."

The reality of those words settled in the center of my unbeating heart, threatening to tear it out of my chest in my grief. I heard a scream escape my mouth, but I did not remember making it.

Edward had processed the words as well, letting out a pain-filled cry and pushing further down on the gas to take the car as fast as it would go. "I knew there was something off about him!"

My daughter, in the hands of a potentially dangerous vampire. Nightmare was too tame of a word to describe this situation; this was much worse than any actual nightmare I had ever experienced. I told Emmett I would call him back, and then pressed Renessme's name on my phone: Straight to voicemail. The voicemail I left her was pleading and desperate.

"She had a strange feeling around him," he continued. "But you told me to not listen to her thoughts! And now look where we are! Where do we even start looking for her, Bella? Where?!"

"I don't know! What about Alice...?"

"Alice won't have had any visions involving Nessie!" He turned around a corner so quickly, the left side of the car lifted up. With a slam, it landed back on the ground.

"I'm calling Charlie. We'll find her." I pressed his number quickly, knowing now that every precious second counted. "Charlie! Renesmee is missing!" I shouted as soon as he answered the phone. "She was taken by...someone like us. We don't know if he's good or bad. He was a friend from school and..."

I heard Charlie inhale deeply as he processed what I had just said. And then, "Okay. First of all, you need to calm down or you won't be able to think clearly enough to help her. Where was she last seen?"

"In La Push. She was with Jacob, and they had a fight. She left with a friend, but Jake didn't see him."

I watched Edward's body tense up at the sound of the story being repeated. He would never forgive Jacob for letting her go when she was so upset. And frankly, I didn't think I would be able to forgive him either.

"His name is Nick," I continued. "He attends Port Angels High School and drives a motorcycle. We were hoping you'd be able to..."

"I'm already on it. I will call you back soon." And with that, he hung up.

Next, I called Carlisle. "I just heard from Emmett. We are tracking the scent now. Emmett stayed back in case she comes home. I will let you know when I find something. We will find her, Bella."

I couldn't even muster up the energy to say thank you. With every passing second, the realization that Nessie could be in the scariest situation of her life settled further and further into my mind and heart. We knew Nick was capable of killing; it was most likely he who was killing people in the forest. If he lured her in, it would be easy for him to take her wherever he wanted and...

I had to stop. I could think of the worst case. If I did, I would lose my mind before we even came close to finding her.

We arrived at our house a short time later. Edward ran out of the car faster than I had seen him do anything before. Within seconds, he was back outside. "Emmet's right," he snarled. "There was a vampire in our house. One that I don't recognize."

Emmett emerged out of the house, his face sunken and solemn. "Any word? I keep calling her phone, but it goes straight to voicemail."

"Nothing," I said softly. "We need to track her. Emmett, I'll stay here and wait to see if she comes home. You and Edward have the most experience in tracking. And then we can..."

I was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. It was a happy tune, out of place amidst the despair and hopelessness we were currently feeling. "Hello? Charlie?"

"Bella," he said, breathing heavy. "I called local airports."

"Airports?" I said. I hadn't even thought of the possibility that she could have left the state. "Did you find a ticket under her name? Where did she go?"

I let out another scream, rivaling the one in the car, when I heard my father say the one word that meant my daughter was in grave danger.

Italy.