ok, so I got a little carried away with going into details this chapter and as a result, the story didn't go very far. (waits for the torches and pitchforks) I'll be better next chapter with advancing the story, promise!
Oh, and keep reviewing please! It gives me motivation to keep writing!
I was still wedged between Edward and Alice, and they didn't seem to want to let ago, afraid that I would dart again. I knew that I wasn't as fast as either of them though. "It's okay... I'm not going to run," I mumbled into Edward's chest. Alice loosened her hold and slid over to sit on the sand. I continued pressed against Edward, simply breathing his scent in. How could I ever have thought of leaving my angel? I hated myself. I realized how much he cared for me and how much I meant to him.
I heard Alice give a slight sigh next to me. I looked over and she was dialing in her silver cell phone. I heard her begin to speak quickly to Jasper. "Jasper, I need you to bring a container of gas with Rosalie and Emmett and pick up my car and Bella's." She paused for a moment while Jasper responded. "She is set in her plans. She just tried to run from us but we caught her. Edward and I are going with her..." Another moment of silence before Alice's voice gained a panicked edge. "No! I won't let you get sucked into this too!"
I knew that Alice was trying to stop Jasper from following her and the thought broke my still heart. I couldn't separate them, not again. Jasper had been afraid that he would lose his love the first time we traveled to Volterra. I would not cause him that kind of pain again.
I sat up and went over to grab Alice's hand. She looked up at me with surprise, the cell phone still to her ear. "Alice, I won't let you come with me. Jasper needs you, the rest of the family needs you. Edward and I can handle this, I don't want to put you in danger," I said to her. She eyes became sad and she dropped the cell phone to the sand. She threw her arms around me and began to dry sob into my shoulder.
"Bella, I can't let you do that! I can't... Edward... you... I can't let you go without me!" she cried.
I wrapped my arms around her and ran my hands along her back, soothing her. I whispered in her ear, "You can let us go Alice, and you will. Jasper needs you. And you need him. We will be fine. I just don't want to take any chances of them coming here." Mentioning Jasper seemed to hit a nerve with her and she crumpled in my arms. "We will be fine and we will see you again soon," I assured her.
She looked up into my bloody gaze and forced a small smile on her face. "I know you guys will be okay. I can't see everything cause I don't know what the Volturi will say, but I have faith in you two. And thank you Bella. I would follow you no matter, you know that right?" she questioned.
"I know Alice. I know. But what I need to know is that you are safe," I assured her. She nodded and picked up the cell phone that she had dropped in the sand, soothing the probably frantic Jasper.
I turned my attention away from her and turned to Edward. He had been very quiet throughout the conversation and he was staring at me with compassionate eyes. He spoke for the first time, "Bella, you don't have to do this. We can stay here and take this on as a united family. It doesn't have to be this way. We have a better chance if we stay here."
I just shook my head and spoke quietly, "Either way, Edward, I can't think this is going to end very peacefully. If we go to Volterra now, we have the element of surprise and we may be able to reason with Aro. If we waited, they would just send Jane and the rest of the guard who probably have little to no compassion. This way we can hold some sort of chance."
His shoulders slumped and he had clearly seen my logic. Jane would have no hesitance in ripping through the Cullen family. And I had no idea what other gifts the rest of the guard possessed. We would have to face the problem head on.
He stood up and reached for my hand. I took it and he pulled me up into his embrace, wrapping his arms around me in an unbreakable grasp. After a few moments, he broke away but continued to hold my hand. "Come on then, you will need to hunt again if you are going to be in an airport and airplane full of people for many hours," he said with a forlorn look.
Oops, I had forgotten about the whole thirsting for human blood thing when I had gone running off. This might be harder than I thought.
"Actually Edward... about that," Alice's voice cut in. I saw Edward's jaw drop.
"So much for blending in at all," he mumbled under his breath. I looked with curiosity at Alice and she giggled.
"So I might, just might, have hit the stock market surprisingly well the past couple weeks," she grinned. I was waiting to see where she was going with this. "And I might have bought a private jet," she said with a sheepish smile. My jaw dropped to match Edward's.
"You... bought a jet?! Why would you need your own airplane?! Alice..." I groaned. Knowing her, she wanted it to make trips to Paris to shop whenever she wanted to.
"Well you never know when the urge to shop designer clothing is going to hit you..." she said slowly with an embarrassed edge to her voice. Yep, leave it to Alice to buy her own air transportation to shop.
"I suppose that it is a good thing that you did, as ridiculous as it is. But one question, who is going to fly it?" the thought hit me. But the problem was instantly resolved.
"I will Bella. I've had enough time in the past hundred years to go to pilot school," Edward chuckled. I should of known, I laughed to myself. Edward was perfect at everything.
The humor died away and we all returned to the current situation. I was the first one to speak, "Well I guess we should get back to the cars and get going." Edward nodded ever so slightly and led the way away from the ocean, keeping a hold on my hand. Alice followed closely behind, still clutching the cell phone to her ear and murmuring to Jasper.
We ran through the woods, Edward easily keeping pace with my slightly slower run. We came to the road and I found his Vanquish half in the grass, the door still wide open, long skid marks evident on the pavement. Alice's Porsche was set about a quarter of a mile ahead, also with deep skids leading up to her back tires. I could see the red glint of my Lexus a small ways behind Edward's silver car.
"Rosalie is going to kill you for ruining all of our brakes," Edward tried to joke. I cracked a small smile and allowed a little giggle to escape from my lips. He smiled back at me and led me over to his car.
Alice came next to me and held out her hand. I dropped the key to my car in her hand and gave her a quick kiss on both cheeks. She hugged me and I whispered in her ear, "I will see you soon, and I love you more than words can say. You are my sister and nothing can keep me away from you." I smiled brightly at her and she tried to return the gesture. I knew how much she wanted to come with us but I just could not let her.
I slid into the passenger seat of the Aston Martin and gently closed the door. I heard Alice and Edward exchanging farewells and soon Edward was sitting next to me starting the engine. I took one last look at Alice's sad face before we were speeding south once again.
It was a quiet ride and Edward avoided any towns or cities, always keeping the windows rolled up and the air recirculating in the car. Soon though, we began to see signs for Seattle. I heard Edward groan and felt the car slow as we encountered a busier highway.
He followed the signs to Sea-Tac Airport and entered a long line of cars waiting to gain entrance to the airport's parking garages. Edward turned into a parking garage and wound his way up to the upper level. He stopped in front of a gate and flashed a card in front of the sensor next to the driver's side window. The gate opened and he slowly advanced onto the top tier. Instead of regular parking spaces, there were rows and rows of individual garages.
He pulled up to one of the doors and touched a button on the dashboard. The door opened and he eased the car into the space. Edward smirked at me, "I wouldn't want someone stealing my car while we were away." I just snickered at him and made to open the door. Edward grabbed my arm and I stopped my hand reaching for the handle.
"Bella, we are in very close proximity to hundreds, no thousands, of humans. I hate to make you do this, but I think you should probably hold your breath until we get on the plane. I know it is uncomfortable but I don't think we can risk it," he said. I nodded, seeing the logic in it. It wouldn't be so bad to hold my breath for an hour or so.
Edward produced two pairs of stylish sunglasses from the glove compartment. He handed one pair to me and I proceeded to put them on, hiding my crimson irises. I took one last deep breath and held it in my lungs, saving it or later in case I needed to speak. I nodded at Edward and opened my door.
It was impossible to complete block out all of the scents that I was bombarded with but I clenched my teeth and allowed Edward to wrap his arm around my waist, holding me to him. We walked out of the garage and Edward touched a keypad on the wall to close the door. Together we walked at a normal pace to a set of stairs a hundred feet away.
I kept my eyes fixed on Edward's face, trying to block out of all of the irresistible smells of blood assaulting me. He set a brisk pace forward and we avoided large groups of people. Every time a human passed too closely to us, Edward would tighten his grip around my waist.
We came to a desk that was marked 'Private Flights' where a young woman sat. Edward approached her and she looked up from the computer she was typing on. Edward removed his sunglasses and the girl sat back a bit, 'dazzled' by his appearance.
"Hello, my name is Edward Masen. I would like to charter my Cessna Mustang to Rome." Edward presented her with a pilot's license and some paperwork.
"Ah yes, I see that your jet is housed in Hanger 4. Just give me about 20 minutes to work you into the take-off rotation and work out fuel stops for your jet," the woman stated. Edward nodded and she began to type quickly into the computer.
Edward steered me over to a couch set back from the crowds and I cuddled against his shoulder. My lungs were aching but I did not dare to breath. We sat there for about fifteen minutes before the young woman called to Edward.
We walked over and she explained our route. Due to the smaller fuel tank of the plane, we would need to stop three times to refuel. The lady was professional enough not to ask us why we didn't simply save a lot of money and fly first class on a commercial flight.
"You will need to fly from here to Chicago to refuel. From there, you will travel to St. John's, Newfoundland. Then to London where you will be able to make it to Rome. You will need to radio ahead 45 minutes before you reach each airport so that they may work you into the arriving and departing line-up. You are tentatively scheduled at each of these times as of now," the woman explained as she handed Edward a printed piece of paper.
Edward thanked her and steered me through a door to the side of the desk. We descended the staircase behind the door and came out onto a huge expanse of pavement. Ahead of us were a multitude of hangers with giant numbers on each. We walked toward the one with the giant 4.
The hanger doors were wide open and I could see a few small planes housed inside. One plane was being towed out onto the tarmac and it was towards this one that we walked.
Oh Alice... I thought. The plane was a gorgeous sleek machine. Two small engines adorned the tail of the white plane. A ladder was lower and Edward and I climbed up into the cockpit. Edward pulled the door closed and secured the latch in the locked position.
"Okay, Bella, you can breathe now," Edward told me. I took a deep breath and felt the oxygen flowing into my lungs. It felt wonderful to smell properly now.
Edward sat down in the pilot's seat and he motioned for me to sit in the seat next to him. I sank into the leather and put on the pair of ear phones he handed to me. He was then flipping all kinds of switches and speaking into his headset. It was all pilot talk and I didn't understand nor cared to understand what he was talking about.
I simply laid my head against the seat and closed my eyes. Before I knew it the plane jerked slightly and Edward had his hands on the controls, steering the plane towards the runway. I heard a voice buzz in my ear, "Cessna Mustang, you are cleared for takeoff."
"Roger," Edward responded. He pulled the plane onto the straight expanse of pavement and pushed his foot down on a petal. Suddenly the plane was accelerating at great speeds down the lane. As we were approaching the end of the pavement, Edward pulled the handles back gently and the nose of the plane rose into the air.
And then we were flying. Flying away from home and flying to meet our fate.