"Is there anything I can do to help, Carlisle?" Cassie asked, standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Upon hearing her inquiry, Carlisle glanced up from his task of checking Jacob's vitals for the third time since returning him to the estate, in order to give her a grateful smile. While Abraham, Vermundr, Edward and Alice had gone off to try and find out where Bella had been taken after Jacob was forced to leave her behind, Carlisle had carried Jacob back to the estate in order to better ensure Jacob fully recovered from the effects of the dart's toxin. Not wanting to disturb or alarm Renesmee, who was still fast asleep when they'd arrived, Cassie had gracefully allowed Carlisle to turn her own bedroom into an improvised examination room. While Jacob had fallen into a fever-induced sleep shortly after they'd returned to the estate, his heartbeat and breathing had remained steady enough to prevent Carlisle from growing too concerned.
"I appreciate the offer, Cassie," Carlisle replied. "But with the limited medical equipment that's available in this century, there's not much more that can be done other than to just let him rest. All things considered, I think that, thanks to Jacob's enhanced metabolism, he's doing just fine in fighting off the toxin on his own.
"All the same, it might be best to try and keep Nessie as preoccupied as possible once she wakes up," he continued, guiding Cassie out of the room to allow Jacob to sleep it off. "It'll be hard enough for her if she finds out that Bella was captured by the Carnival. Seeing Jacob like this on top of everything might be too much for her."
"Of course," Cassie agreed. "She looked to be sound asleep when I checked in on her a minute ago, but once she does wake up, I was going to bring her out to the stable to help groom Nightmare."
"Yes, that might be a good idea," Carlisle said with a nod.
"Carlisle? Do you think… that the others will be careful?"
"I don't see why they wouldn't be," Carlisle reasoned. "Particularly after what happened tonight, or rather last night, I'm confident that none of us will take things lightly."
"Yes, I know you have a point," Cassie relented. "It's just that… sometimes I worry about Abraham and Vermundr."
"Well, I admit that I have not been around them as long as you have," Carlisle acknowledged. "But from what I've gathered this far, they do seem to be good at what they do."
"Yes, that's what I worry about," Cassie explained, glancing at her feet. "I worry that their success as monster hunters has made them… I wouldn't go so far as to call them arrogant or careless. But there are times when they just seem too sure of themselves. Sometimes, I get the feeling that they forget that Abraham is only a human. Every time they go out on a monster hunting job, I just get worried that that will be the day when one of them won't return home."
"Have you ever discussed your concerns with them?" Carlisle asked.
"No, of course not!" Cassie exclaimed. "I'd be too afraid of sounding like I have no faith in them and their abilities. After everything they've done for me, I could never risk offending them."
"Wouldn't they be more offended if they thought you didn't feel like you could be completely honest with them?" Carlisle pointed out kindly.
"Oh, I never thought of it that way before," Cassie admitted, looking slightly embarrassed. In response, Carlisle placed an understanding hand on her shoulder, but before he could say anything, he paused, only just keeping his eyes from widening in surprise. In the silence that had fallen, he was able to distinctly hear a soft sound. It was so faint that, even with his advanced hearing, he wouldn't have been able to hear it if someone was speaking or making any other kind of noise. But once the silence had fallen between him and Cassie, he could hear it, and no matter how quiet the sound was, it was a noise he could always identify instantly.
Before Carlisle could question Cassie about the origin of the quiet sound, the guest room's door opened and Renesmee poked her head out.
"Morning, Grandpa, Cassie," the little girl greeted, stepping out into the hall with Grimalkin trailing behind her. "Are Mommy, Daddy and the others back yet?"
"Um… actually, Nessie," Carlisle spoke kindly, adopting the tone of voice he usually used with his patients. "Something unexpected came up last night. Jacob was hurt, but it's nothing too serious. He's resting in Cassie's room right now, and it will probably be best if we let him sleep for a while. As for Edward, Bella and the others, they are going to be out a little longer than they originally planned. But I'm sure they'll come back before the day is through."
"In the meantime," Cassie added. "I could use some help in the stables. It's been a while since we groomed Nightmare. And maybe, if we bring her some apples, she might even agree to let you ride her for a while."
"Okay," Renesmee agreed.
"This is it," Edward announced as he, Abraham, Alice and Vermundr stopped at the bank of a forest stream. "This is the place I saw in Jacob's mind. The two carnival workers appeared right over there." Without waiting for the others to make an official decision, he leapt over to the opposite bank, in hopes of picking up Bella's scent trail, but to no avail.
"I wonder if they traveled upstream, or even downstream," Abraham thought out loud. "The water would certainly make it hard to leave behind a scent trail, which would discourage anyone who'd try to come after them."
"I don't think so," Alice disagreed, joining Edward on the opposite bank and examining the bark on a tree. "Look at this! There's a scrap of material caught on the bark; the same color and material as the dress Bella was wearing. Her shoulder must have brushed against it when the carnival workers carried her off, and the dress must have snagged on the bark."
"That means we're on the right path," Edward announced, taking a few strides away from the stream bank. He only stopped when he heard the sound of his friends all starting in shock. Looking back, he saw Alice, Vermundr and Abraham staring in his general direction, disbelief etched all over their faces.
"What? What happened?" Edward demanded, doubling back. "Did you see something?"
"No," Alice replied, mystified. "That's the problem."
"The moment you walked past that elm tree over there, you completely vanished," Vermundr explained. "One moment you were there, and the next, you weren't. We couldn't even hear your footsteps. And then, you reappeared, just as quickly as you'd disappeared."
"I wonder," Abraham spoke in contemplation, crossing the stream by wading across and walking past Edward, only stopping when he had reached the indicated elm tree. Wordlessly, he lifted an arm and reached out. As his hand extended past the elm tree, it vanished from sight, almost as if an invisible curtain had been draped over it.
"Abraham!" Vermundr cried in alarm, dashing forward to pull him away.
"I'm okay, Vermundr, see?" Abraham replied, holding up his arm to confirm his point. "Not a scratch. But don't you realize? This explains why we couldn't find the carnival, and why Jacob and Bella couldn't see, smell, or hear those two carnival workers until it was too late. There's a protective barrier around the perimeter, almost like the one that exists around Baba Yaga's tree. And anybody who goes past the barrier becomes completely shrouded in sight, scent and sound."
"Like a one-way mirror," Alice realized, catching on to what Abraham was implying. "Can they really do that?"
"They found a way to keep beings like us inside cages, didn't they?" Vermundr pointed out. "When you take that into consideration, creating a barrier like that doesn't seem so impossible."
"In any event, it looks like we found where the Carnival of Darkness has made camp," Abraham concluded. "And who knows? Once we're on the other side of the barrier, we may pick up Bella's scent trail or at least that of the carnival workers."
"I just hope we get there before the branding," Vermundr snarled.
"Branding?" Edward snapped, rounding on him.
"Have you forgotten the brand mark on my chest, Edward? All newcomers into the Carnival of Darkness undergo the branding within the first few hours after capture. And once you're branded, you're magically tethered to your appointed cage, and unless you manage to destroy the enchanted seal that's carved into the roof of the cage, you are unable to stray beyond a three-foot radius."
"Then it sounds like we don't have much time to stand around," Alice pointed out. With these words, the four friends moved past the invisible barrier and proceeded to track down the carnival.
Within their cage, Brynhildr was sitting with her mouth agape as Bella wrapped up the story of how she'd ended up being captured by the Carnival of Darkness. After a long, pregnant pause, the older vampire finally spoke.
"Am I to understand that… you're telling me my bróðir survived?"
"For all this time," Bella explained. "He thought that you had been killed that night. He's been forever searching for the vampire you were both fighting before he was changed, in order to avenge you and the rest of your human village." Brynhildr didn't reply. She simply stared off into space with wide, unbelieving eyes.
"It's going to be okay, Brynhildr," Bella continued. "I already told you that we were planning on saving as many as we could from the Carnival. And I know Edward and the others will come for me before much longer. And when Vermundr sees that you're here, too, there's no way he'll leave you behind."
"And you plan on just leaving me here while the pair of you dash off with your white knights?" the male vampire, who Bella had almost forgotten was even there, snarled. For a second, it looked as if Brynhildr was about to say something in retort, but she jerked her head to the left before she uttered a single syllable.
"It's him," she announced, glaring at something. "He's back."
"Who?" Bella turned to glance in the direction Brynhildr was glaring in.
"Josiah. He's the human who runs the carnival." As Brynhildr spoke, Bella saw a man emerging from the surrounding forests and stepping into the clearing. One look at the expression on his face was enough to make Bella realize that this was someone who was not the least bit likable. His most distinguishable feature, however, was his left hand, which hung limply at his side, visibly mangled beyond repair.
"What happened to his hand?" Bella whispered to Brynhildr.
"I do not know. Whatever it was, it happened before I was captured. Now, please hold off on the questions for a while. Whenever Josiah shows his face here, it's usually to give his followers instructions. When you see him make an appearance, it's always best to keep quiet and listen." Bella silently agreed and joined Brynhildr in listening to what Josiah was saying.
"What were you trying to pull, collecting another vampire?" Josiah shouted, glaring in fury at one of his employees. "We've already got two vampires! I expected all of you to round up creatures we didn't already have. First, you sit back and allow that zombie to get away before the branding was complete, and now, I find you're wasting valuable time and resources to bring me a creature that was already represented!"
"But Josiah," the man stammered. "The vampire female we just captured was straying dangerously close to the boundary line. She might have discovered us."
"Are you always this stupid?" Josiah barked. "The barrier is still up, isn't it? As long as that barrier holds, no one, not even a vampire could smell, hear or see any trace of us unless they're right on top of us. Now, because of your incompetence, we've wasted valuable time. How many times do I have to remind all of you? The ritual must be performed during the full moon, and that's only one week away! If we don't have a complete sampling of all existing immortal creatures by then, we'll have to wait even longer. And I want to eliminate every last one of those wretched… things from the face of the earth as soon as possible."
"Well, there is still the wolf to pick up," the man suggested timidly.
"What wolf?"
"When we picked up the female vampire, there was a man with her. He turned into a very large wolf."
"A Lycan? You really are a fool! We've already captured a Lycan. Or did you imbeciles place an ordinary human male into the cage next to the Manicore's?"
"No, I mean, yes!" the man choked out nervously. "I mean… the wolf that was with the vampire, Josiah! He was able to become a wolf without a full moon! We thought that it might be something completely new!"
"A Lycan who can change forms independently of the lunar phase?" Josiah spoke slowly, seemingly turning this new information over in his head. "Well… that is something. I suppose you fools aren't a complete waste. Where is this wolf, now?"
"Well… we're not quite sure where it is at this precise time, sir. But Reginald managed to hit it dead on with one of the darts, so it couldn't have gotten that far."
"For your sake, you better be right," Josiah snarled. "Now, I'm going to head out with Reginald to search for this wolf. I expect you to handle the branding of the new additions. That is, if you think you can handle that?" Giving one final withering glare at the other carnival workers, Josiah turned and stalked off, with the man he referred to as Reginald hurrying after him.
"Did I just hear that right?" Bella whispered in shock, sharing a wide-eyed look with Brynhildr. "They're… going to perform a ritual that will wipe out every immortal from the world?"
"Every immortal creature that is exhibited here," Brynhildr replied, glancing out of her cage to take stock of the other creatures present. "Every manicore, every griffin, every gnome, every…."
"And every vampire!" Bella cried, paling instantly as her thoughts went to her family. "Every single one, removed from the world. Forever!"