Disclaimer- All recognizable characters belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer, whereas all new characters belong to me.

Chapter 15- Race against the clock

I laughed and watched as Travis stood up from the bed. He chuckled and stepped towards me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He patted my back and pulled from me slightly. " How are you doing?" He asked, his eyes showing his worry for me. I pried myself from his arms and shrugged my shoulders.

" Lanina send you to watch me?" I asked in reply, not wanting to talk about Annebelle. He ran his hand through his hair and nodded sheepishly. I playfully hit his shoulder and laughed a little more. Edward was behind me, not saying anything. I remembered what I had entered the room to get and quickly snatched my cell phone up from the nightstand in our room. " Has Lanina gotten anything from the search?" I frowned when Travis told me she had not.

" Why?" He questioned me, watching while I dialed Lanina's number. I held up a finger and waited for Lanina to pick up. She didn't until the fifth ring.

" Hello," she spoke from her line. " Nol, don't be mad that I-" I rolled my eyes and bit back the scoff in my mouth. I knew why she'd sent Travis, and I was glad that she cared about me enough to do that.

" Lan, Annebelle isn't after Hope." I interrupted. That got everyone's attention.

" Well then, why did Evangelo take-" She stopped, putting the pieces together like I had. " Shit, you've got to be fucking kidding me!"

" No, I didn't realize it either until just now. Lan, we have to find Eliza."

" I know. . . Alright, I'm going to up my search. I'll start snapping fingers off if I need to. But, for now, it may be good for you and your family to come back to Volterra. We need to be together in this."

" I agree," I nodded my head, even though she couldn't see it. " I'm sure the Cullens will help us after I explain what's been going on." I sighed and bit my lip. What a huge mess. " Be careful Lan, I'll see you soon."

" You too, keep yourself and your family protected."

" Always." I hung up the phone and met both Travis' and Edward's glares. By the look on their faces, they did not like being out of the loop. I understood; it would've killed me too. " Follow me, " I said simply.

I sat in the middle of the living room, all eyes on me. My phone was on the coffee table, speaker on so Aro and the rest of the Volturi could hear what I was saying. It was dead quiet. I suddenly realized that I should've hated being the center of attention, but didn't. " Alright Bella, talk to us." Marcus said, sounding a bit annoyed. I really needed to have a talk with him one of these days. He really had no patience. I needed to take the stick that was stuck in his ass and pull it out. I looked around, every face was concerned. I took a deep breath and let it out. Then I started from the beginning. I told them how I didn't trust Evangelo, and why I wanted to get Eliza away from him. I told them about my dream, and why I had rushed here. I told them what had happened between Annebelle and I. Their faces never strayed from mine, and not one person spoke.

" At first, I thought she wanted to take over Hope. She knows that that would kill me. And she wants to cause me the most pain she can. So, when she said she wanted to take Hope-"

" You assumed she wanted to take over her body and make it her own." Edward finished for me. I nodded my head and cleared my throat. Outside rain once again began to fall. Lightning crashed in the distance and thunder boomed. Talk about adding to the mood. I fidgeted in my seat before I started to talk again.

" While I was with Edward, I remembered something. In my dream, Hope was a young vampire. Which got me thinking. . . Annebelle doesn't want to be Hope, she just wants to make her a new, play mate." I scrunched my face in disgust and pushed the thought away. " Which left me one person who could give Annebelle a body. Eliza. Ash, Mike and I have already figured out he's working with Annebelle. He must have. . . I don't know. Charmed Eliza for her, and Annebelle is going to take over her baby's body." The room was silent. No one talked for a full three minutes. I played around with my hands and waited for someone to say something. Anything.

" Are you sure?" Yuzria asked, his face a little pale. I shook my head yes. He left, and shortly after I could hear the sound of him throwing up in the front hall bathroom. I decided to talk to him later, and turned back to my family. They were acting like they couldn't hear a thing.

" What do you think Aro?" I said into the phone. He sighed and let out a dry chuckle.

" Bella, you manage to get us into some very interesting predicaments don't you?" He replied. I smirked and some of the tension in my body flowed out.

" Yeah, you knew what you were signing up for when you asked me to become one of you."

" That I did. Well, I'll further the search. Marcus and Caius will keep a watch out on our city while I deal with our international friends."

" I love that you have friends in high places Aro," I told him seriously.

" Yes, it does seem to come in handy doesn't it?" I saw Carlisle squeeze Esme's hand out of the corner of my eye and straightened up again. What was going on? She seemed so worried. Jasper's eye caught mine and he pointed to the kitchen with a single finger. I nodded my head and stood up.

" I'll be right back. Aro, call me when you hear anything, as soon as you hear anything." He assured me he would before I hung up the phone. Then I pocketed it and then walked into the kitchen. I could hear Jasper's steps behind me. I whirled around, almost hitting him. " What's up?" I asked before he could say anything. He smiled softly and put a hand on my elbow, leading my over to the table. I sat down and waited for him to speak.

" You shouldn't go looking for Eliza. We all agree, well most of us." My face dropped, my jaw almost hitting the floor. I did not like where this was going. Jasper held up a hand, not wanting me to talk yet. Oh, I was going to talk whether he wanted me to or not if he didn't hurry up. " Bella, if you go you're risking your life! It would be easier to just, leave Volterra. Come somewhere with us. You can change your identity and just forget about Annebelle. It would be-"

" The cowardly way out." I interrupted, standing in front of him. I took a deep breath and shook my head. " Jasper, I get what you're saying. But I can't." He threw his arms up and frowned.

" Why the hell not Bella! Listen to me," he grabbed my arms and looked straight into my eyes. " We love you too much to lose you."

" Jazz, if I could just go I would. But Annebelle cannot be allowed to walk the earth. She's truly evil. She's a true monster. She will kill so many people, torture and change so many people if I run away. I can't run. I just can't. I won't allow myself too."

" Let other people find her Bella! Carlisle thinks-"

" I don't care what Carlisle thinks!" I yelled. Then, I realized this was something I had to talk about with everyone. I walked back into the living room and looked at every person there. " Let me get this straight, you all think I shouldn't do this? You all think that I should just walk away from this?" For a few seconds everything was silent. Then, everyone except Alice nodded their head. Even Edward. Ash and Mike were in the corner, their faces grim. They knew I couldn't as much as I did. Joanne was seated by Rosalie, her eyes opened wide. I wondered just how much of my anger they could feel. Had to be enough to scare her. I started to pace, my mind whirling.

" Bella, it makes sense." Yuzria spoke up. I turned to him, my hands clenched into tight fists. Travis walked up behind me and put his arms around my waist. I instantly calmed down. Edward let out a low growl, but I snapped a look at him that made him shut up. But I knew he didn't like me being touched so intimately by someone who wasn't him. 'Too bad,' I thought.

" No, Yuzria it doesn't. Let me tell you what will happen if I allow Annebelle to be reborn. Just picture this; a demon controlling all vampires. Hell, controlling everything! She's powerful enough to, hell I don't even know what she can do."

" Then what makes you so sure you can kill her?" He argued. " Just because you've done it once before?"

" Because I know her. I know her weaknesses and I know her strengths. None of you save for three do. You can't possibly imagine the hell she could unleash on this world. So, I'll say it again. I am going after her. I'm not forcing any of you to follow me. I could care less if you do. Hell, I would rather you didn't. Because someone will end up dead. I assure you if everyone in this room came with me, at least one of you would die." I took a few moments to let that sink in. Then I removed Travis' hands from me and patted him softly, letting him know I appreciated it. " Annebelle will get members of every supernatural body to help her. I'm talking weres, elves, fairies, everything. She will find the most powerful witches she can, necromancers. Every damn thing she can."

" Is it all about power to her?" Carlisle asked, his eyes tired. I nodded my head and crossed my arms over my chest.

" Not just that, she just loves killing. She loves watching the life to leave someone's eyes. She loves to watch blood pour from the body," Esme got up and walked away, her face troubled. Carlisle was torn between staying and listening to me, or going and helping her. I looked at him and pointed my head towards the direction Esme had walked. He bent his head once and bolted out of the room.

" Is there anything she won't kill?" Alice whispered, holding onto Jasper's hand tightly. My eyes met Ash's and Mike's, we all shook our head no.

" If they get in her way. . . she'll kill them. End of story. Now, I'm leaving tonight. Make your decisions. Because as of right now, it's a race against the clock. I looked at them each one more time, then made my way outside. Before stepping out the door, I looked at Ash and Mike. " Follow me." I said simply and then swung the door open. They followed, closing the door behind them. I made sure we were a sufficant amount of feet away from the house so no one else would hear us.

" What's up Nol?" Ash questioned, worried about me. So was Mike. I looked up, my face on the sky.

" If something happens. . . if I give in. . . I want you to kill me." I replied, not looking at them.

" Noleen-"

" No," -my eyes shot back to them- " if I give in, I won't get back out. I've crawled out of the hole once, I cannot do it again. I need your word. Both of you." Ash shook her head, her eyes black.

" I will not kill you Noleen." She spat, then she turned and walked away. I sighed, knowing I was going to get that response from her.

" Mike?" He took a moment, then nodded his head.

" You have my word." He said quietly.

" Thank you." I replied before watching him walk away.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long, I had computer problems. But, everything is fixed now! Yay! Hope you liked this chapter, review and let me know. Remember, reviews make me happy, therefore, I update faster haha. ( I love bribery) So, the more reviews, the happier I am. Make me happy people hahaha.

Until next time,

Faith