Chapter 11 - Welcoming Rage

Washington D.C.

6:07PM

EPOV

"Bella, since we are staying in D.C. for now, I want to take you to meet someone very important to me," I said.

"Who?"

"My son."

Bella looked at up at me. Her eyes were wide with confusion.

"You're not…married…are you?" she asked.

I shook my head quickly. "No. Tanya and I divorced about six years ago."

"Oh." Bella nibbled slightly on her lower lip. I could tell she wanted to know more, but was unsure if she should ask me or not. I saved her the trouble and decided to tell her about Tanya and Anthony.

I sat down on the hood of the car and tugged on Bella's hand to bring her down next to me. I kept her hand in mine and played with her fingers as I began the story.

"I met Tanya about a year after I left Forks. I had just finished my qualifications for the Green Berets along with Emmett and Jasper. We had been friends since basic and had bonded instantly. When Emmett said he wanted to try and qualify, Jasper and I immediately decided to do it with him. Anyways, we had decided to head out and celebrate our success."

I took a deep breath and hoped that the next part wouldn't upset Bella too much. "I was at a point the I was angry at you for letting me leave. The anger was just easier to deal with than the pain of losing you. I had just accomplished something huge and I was so pissed off that I didn't have you to share it with. When we went to the bar that night I met Tanya. She was the exact type I was looking for at the time, the total opposite of you. Tall, blonde, tan, and curvy with blue eyes. There was nothing about her than could possibly remind me of you, so I went up and talked to her."

I looked over at Bella to see her reaction, but she was just patiently listening to me. I silently thank the higher powers for her patience and understanding, and so I continued.

"She was a nice girl, in school for pre-med and we hit it off fairly well. Fast forward about a year and we were still together. I was over my anger with you by then, but I also thought that I would never see you again. Tanya was good woman and I did love her. I hated to admit to myself that she was only second best. It wasn't fair to her, but she was. At some point during our relationship I had told her all about you, about how I felt about you, and how it had all ended. She had handled it with great dignity, but when I decided to propose to her I thought she would say no for that reason. She didn't and a few months later we got married. Ten months after that we had Anthony."

I took a pause to picture my son in my mind. He was a perfect mix between me and Tanya. He had my face with Tanya's deep blue eyes, and even though he had Tanya's blonde hair, his inability to control it came from me. I loved him more than anything and I wished I could see more of him. I tightened my hand around Bella and told her how it all ended.

"As much as I did love Tanya, she always knew that I still loved you. She had hoped that over time it would fade, but it never did. When Anthony was two we decided to go our separate ways. It wasn't an ugly or hateful divorce, but it still hurt. Not so much because I was losing her, but because she knew she was never enough for me. I do still care for her deeply and I hope that one day, she will find a man who loves her as much as she deserves."

I hopped off the hood of the car and went to stand in front of Bella. I wiped away the tears that had silently leaked down her cheeks and leaned forward to kiss her lightly.

She wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear. "I'm so sorry, Edward. If I could go back I would have ignored my self doubts and told you what I was really feeling."

I pulled Bella off the hood so I could hold her as close to my body as possible. She laid her head on my chest and I buried my nose in her soft brown hair.

"Don't be sorry and don't wish to go back. The events of that day led to making us the people that we are now, and I don't think I want to change that. We are stronger and more confident in ourselves than we were back then and I think that can only help us in the long run."

Bella craned her neck to look at me. "You're right. And yes, I would love to meet your son." She smiled and started to pull me to the car. "Let's go, I can't wait to meet the little guy."

I smiled as I kissed her. When we got into the car and drove off I was still smiling. The woman I loved was going to meet my son and she was excited about it. What man wouldn't be happy about that.

Woodbridge, VA

7:02PM EST

It was a fairly quiet ride to Tanya's sprawling Woodbridge estate.

Not only was Tanya becoming quite the accomplished surgeon, but she had a substantial trust fund from her family. The six bedroom brick mansion might seem a bit much for two people plus an au pair, but Tanya always did like her space.

As I pulled into the drive, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something wasn't right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I could feel it.

I looked over at Bella and saw she was picking up on the same thing. She reached into her bag and pulled out the small S&W she had in there. As she check her clip and took off the safety, I reached over and pulled my own side arm out of the glove box.

Leaving her bag and high heels behind on the floorboard, Bella slipped silently out of the car and I followed suit. We quickly made out way to the front door scanning the area as we went. I checked the door and realized that it was unlocked. The door was never unlocked.

I felt the wave of fear start to choke me, but Bella put her hand on my arm in a silent reminder. In situations such as these, emotions can cloud judgment. They can get you and everyone else killed. I took a deep breath to calm myself and compartmentalize my fear. It was the only way.

Without having to say a word, Bella covered me while I opened the door. She tracked the foyer with her gun before stepping inside. I followed her in and we quickly check the open archways along the foyer, carefully avoiding the spilt blood and the body on the floor.

After making sure that no one would sneak up on us for the moment, I check the girl on the floor.

It was the au pair, Irina. There was no need to check for a pulse. Someone had put a bullet right in the center of her forehead. The pretty Russian girl's pale green eyes stared sightlessly up to the ceiling above and her white blonde hair was streaked red with her own blood. She had just turned twenty last month.

I shut my anger at the waste of such a young vibrant life in the mental compartment along with my fear.

Bella and I systematically cleared all the rooms on the first floor. There was no one else downstairs, dead or alive.

We went upstairs were the bedrooms were. Bella went right while I took the rooms on the left. The second to the last room was Anthony's. Thankfully, there was no body and no blood, but there were signs of a struggle.

His desk chair was overturned, the hunter green curtains had been ripped down, and the bed side lamp was shattered on the floor by my feet as if someone had thrown it at whoever came in through the door.

My son had fought whoever had been here. That and the fact that there was no blood anywhere gave me hope.

I left the room and went to the last room which was the master suite. As I opened the door, I heard noises that sounded like someone struggling and screaming through a gag. I brought my gun up, slammed open the door and tracked the room.

It was empty accept for Tanya who was beaten, gagged, and tied to a chair. She burst into tears the second she realized that it was me coming in and not someone else.

Trusting Bella to check the rest of the rooms, I ran to Tanya, set my gun down, and began to untie her.

"Bella!" I called. Tanya's eyes widened slightly, but there would be time for explanations later.

Bella came in through the door. "The house is empty, Edward. There's no o…" She stopped when she saw Tanya in the chair. "Oh god. Is she okay?"

Just then I got her right hand free and she immediately ripped the gag out of her mouth. "Edward! He took Anthony!" she shouted.

Several things happened simultaneously. Tanya's hand shot up to her mouth and she began crying uncontrollably, Bella gasped behind me, and oddly enough my phone started ringing. I, however, barely noticed it. I was frozen. I could feel a new emotion that I had never felt before swelling up inside of me.

It was cold, raw, dark, and hateful. It was pure rage.

This time I didn't lock it away. I let it fill me as I finished untying Tanya and pulled her down into the arms to comfort her. I unclipped my phone and tossed it to Bella.

"Find out who that was and then call Eleazar and Caius. Tell the what's happened and to send an ambulance and a coroner. Ask them to gather the teams and to meet us here in three hours. Tell them to come prepare for anything." I could hear how much darker my voice sounded.

Apparently, Bella did too because stared at me for a second before she nodded and headed out to make the calls.

While Tanya cried in my arms, I allowed my dark rage to grow inside me.

Aro was going to die. He was going to die bloody, slowly, and painfully.

He was going to die by my hand and I was going to enjoy every second of it.

Voting for the outtakes is still going, so if you haven't voted yet please do so. I will keep counting them till Friday, June 11th until about 6pm CST. That night the first outtake will be posted under the story name The Other Forces along with a new chapter here.

Also, for those that like bad ass Bella, I have a new story up called New Night. It's a Dark-Hunter cross-over and while Bella is quite so bad ass yet, she'll get there soon.

Thanks for reading,

Star