Found

The impact as he grabs me knocks us to the ground.

'No!' I scream panicked. I won't go down without a fight, how futile it ever may be. He is lying on top of me, my face close to the dirt, I start squirming desperately, hoping I can get away.

'Stop.' He commands. I ignore him and start clawing at any skin I can find, I am hurting myself. I even try biting his wrist as he shifts. 'Stop it.' He says again, this time his voice is angry. He turns me around without much effort so we are face to face and then pin me down under him again.

'Get off me!' I slap him through the face, hurting my hand against his marble skin and having not much of an effect on him.

'Relax, I won't hurt you.' He says in a calm and controlled voice.

I have been so panicked that I have not once even tried to read him since I started running. I focus with all my might and see that he is not lying, he won't hurt me. I see a beautiful country side, must be Italy, my face mingle with the image. He wants to take me there, away from the Cullen's. He hates the Cullen's.

'No, let go of me!' I scream. 'I am not going anywhere with you!' I start punching his shoulders, bruising my fingers.

'Did they hurt you? Did they brainwash you?' He is huge, bigger than Emmett, his eyes bright red, he has fed very recently. He takes hold of my hands and pins them to the ground.

'Who?' I growl between clenched teeth. His clothes is non-descript yet in fashion, he'll blend into any crowd but not in an obvious way.

'The Cullen's.' he hisses. 'Did Carlisle kidnap you? You said he kidnapped you.'

'No I didn't...when did I...?' the memory flashes vivid in his soul; me getting into the car joking that Carlisle isn't the first vampire to kidnap me.

'I meant it as a joke.'

'Stop squirming.' He says annoyed. He has short dark hair. Everything about him screams killer, not only of humans, vampires also. He has crescent shaped bite-marks, though not as many as Jasper. Wait. He is the vampire Edward showed me in his memories.

'Felix.' I say his name startling him.

'You know my name?' he asks.

'Yes, the Cullen's told me about you. You are a guard in the Volturi. What do you want with me?'

'I will take you away, they'll never find you again, I promise.'

'Well then get on with it!' I yell. 'Kill me.'

'I don't want to kill you. I will never let anyone hurt you.'

'The Volturi wants me.' I state the obvious.

'They don't know I found you.' I don't really take the time to process this information.

'Please get off me.' I beg. His eyes scary and bright red still somehow manage to betray an emotion, I just don't care enough to find a name for it. He reluctantly gets up. Then I see the memory he somehow managed to show yet hide from me. Was it intentional on his part or mine? Am I still that blind? The most important memories in Felix's life is his transformation and the discovery of his mate: me.

'I'm your mate.' I mumble surprised. I really need to find my filter again, I use to be able to stop words from escaping like this.

He looks startled and vulnerable. 'How...?'

'I have a gift, I can't take credit for it.' I try the lighthearted approach, sometimes it works.

'You read minds?'

'No, I read souls, memories basically.'

He tilts his head confused before he starts nodding. 'Figures. The Cullen's like to collect talent.'

'Strange, that is what they said of your master.'

'That is not true, Aro is not like them. The Cullen's cannot be trusted, they are not normal.'

'Not normal?' I am immediately offended.

'They feed on animals, it is abnormal behavior for creatures like us.'

'You sound like Alana.' I spit angrily. 'Why are you here? To kidnap me? To rescue me from a live of abnormality? I hate to break it to you, I was never normal. I...'

'You are special.' He says simply, stopping my rant. He said that like Jacob did about Nessie. Something I cannot quite place or name springs to live in me, in my soul.

'I chose to stay with them. They did not kidnap or harm me. I have never felt safer than I do with them. Alice Cullen is my mother and Jasper my adopted father.' I explain patiently. Where is all the understanding coming from? It would probably be better if I was running. 'Alice gave birth to me when she was human.'

'You do look like her, a little.' He concedes a tad reluctantly. He doesn't like her very much. A memory of Alice in a snow covered clearing preventing him from having fun by fighting, flashes out of him. I frown the memory showed another part of him, a scary facet in his character. Living with the Cullen's I have forgotten the true nature of vampires.

Suddenly Felix crouches and bares his teeth with malice. Without searching for a cause I turn to run. Bad choice. Behaving like prey only gets you killed. I don't get very far, he takes hold of me before I have taken two strides. Bella told me that Felix's gift is to be a fighter that can anticipate the moves of his opponent. I am dead. Then I see them. Jasper and Alice, running toward me. What are they doing here? Felix slings me over his shoulder and start running at a deadly speed.

'What are you doing?' I ask him and see how Jasper is gaining, he is flanking us. 'Stop, you have to stop.'

My words only make him take bigger strides. I cannot see Jasper anymore, the whisper of his feet is outflanking and gaining. 'Please Felix, stop. Put me down.' I insist.

'No, they will take you.' He refuses pulling me tighter against him.

'I chose this life Felix.'

With a growl he stops and puts me down slowly. His eyes is pleading. 'Come with me.' He asks.

'I...'

'Mary-Alice, are you hurt?' mom sounds hysterical as she reaches us and shoves Felix away from me. He doesn't put up a fight but snarls angrily at her. With great speed she picks me up and cradling me against her chest start running away.

'Mom!' I hear growling behind us. The sound takes me back to the night of my birth and the death of my father. 'Put me down!' I squeal and somehow manage to get out of her hold. I run back to where Felix and Jasper are having a go at each other. I have never seen a vampire so sure of his fighting ability as Jasper, what really makes the stomach flip is that his believe is not grounded in arrogance but experience. He launches himself toward Felix, a horrifying dread fills the air. Jasper is not fighting fair. Felix is not deterred and takes the challenge head on. I think he might even be enjoying himself. The growls and sounds as they hit and miss echo off the cliffs and trees. They are pretty evenly matched.

'Stop!' I shout at the top of my lungs. Naked dread robbing me of sanity as I jump between them. My mother appears next to me, her hands stretched out protectively toward me. 'Please stop him. Mom, please Jasper stop!' I beg. 'Please, Felix is just protecting me.'

She looks at me with absolute disbelief. 'He is kidnapping you.'

'No, he has chosen me as his mate. He thinks you kidnapped me.' I try to explain an impossible situation.

'I have read him. I am his most important memory.'

Jasper, understanding what I am saying straightens up, mirroring my mother's disbelief. 'You mean to tell me, he has chosen you as his mate?' his accent is more heavy than usual, he is really upset.

'Yes.' I say softly.

Jasper meets Felix gaze. 'We will see about that.'

'Don't look so upset little one. Poor Jacob got the same treatment when Bella got wind he imprinted on Nessie.' Emmett laughs loudly and winks at Bella. 'She completely lost it when she heard Jake's nickname for her; "You named my daughter after the Loch Ness monster?"' He mimics her perfectly.

'Do you wanna go outside?' Bella challenges an eyebrow raised. He flexes his muscles and smiles broadly.

'You are not a new born anymore Bella. This time I'll run you into the ground.'

'You two.' Esme scolds softly her eyes staying on Felix where he is standing close to the door. He looks very uncomfortable, well, everyone is. Right now Emmett is the only one in the living room behaving like nothing strange is happening. He seems oblivious to the fact that old friends of Carlisle turned enemies by jealousy is represented by the huge elephant in the room: Felix. Jacob couldn't tolerate to be in the same room with him, he was shaking terribly and only Nessie could get him to calm down. The two of them are in the kitchen right now, the werewolf clearly raiding the fridge by the sound of things. I look over everybody. They have calmed somewhat after the initial shock.

Carlisle and Esme where they are sitting close together at a desk, softly whispering. Edward and Bella are also close on a sofa across from Emmett. Rosalie is sitting next to me plaiting my hair and glaring at Felix. I have somehow become a pet of both her and my mother, they take turns dressing me up and doing my hair. Bella has secretly thanked me for allowing them to do this, since it fell to her to be the life sized paper doll before Nessie and I came along. Jasper is standing very close to Felix wearing his fighter face. Alice is sitting at my feet.

Jasper insisted Felix come here and explain his intentions to everyone. An old fashioned notion. It was an uncomfortable situation smoothed only by Carlisle's good manners and friendliness. Jasper didn't help one bit with his ability although I suspect him to be the reason behind the cold atmosphere.

'I am just saying.' Emmett says raising his hands in surrender. 'That is how we treat the mates of hybrids in this house. Although in Nessie's case poor old Seth got hurt, Felix doesn't seem to have a scratch on him.' He smiles at Felix, a challenge shining in his eyes. 'I am very disappointed Jasper, I thought you knew a thing or two about fighting.'

The sound of a car turning onto the dirt road ends the mockery – or that is what I hope it was.

'It's grandpa, their back!' Nessie exclaims as she comes bouncing out of the kitchen. Felix moves away from the door and toward the kitchen passing Jacob and laughing arrogantly when the werewolf is clearly upset by the close proximity. I only notice this in passing. There is more grandfathers? I look at Carlisle, surely there can't be any more vampires. How is the townsfolk missing the fact that the largest coven I know of is right outside their town? At one point someone is bound to notice a dozen golden eyed vampires.

'He is human.' Edward explains.

'Human?' What? No way! I thought they said Bella was the only human they had constant contact with before she was changed.

'Yes human, his Bella's father.'

I look at her with wonder. Risky letting a human know so much.

'He chooses not to know everything and it wasn't exactly our idea.' He looks accusingly at Jacob. A police cruiser pulls up and the chief of police and a Native American woman gets out.

Chief Swan only has eyes for Nessie. He hugs and kisses her on the forehead.

'My goodness but you have grown! When will it ever stop?' he shakes his head slightly before hugging Bella and Edward. I try to keep my expression stony. I have never seen humans willingly hug vampires. Alice smiles happily and also gets a hug from the chief of police who smiles broadly. Then his dark brown eyes finds me and the look of surprise only lasts for a small second before a queer expression crosses his face and he mumbles; 'Need to know.' Then he looks at me and back at Alice, his eyebrow raised. Suddenly I see the likeness of Bella. She is most certainly his daughter.

'She is my sister.' My mother explains quickly. 'She came for a visit.'

'Why stay at the motel...never mind.' He shakes his head slightly. 'How are you, M.A?'

'I am better thank you chief.'

'Call me Charlie, she does.' He points with a thumb towards my mother a fond smile on his face.

'It takes a while to make her call you by name.' Carlisle jokes softly. 'I had to remind her a few timesm she kept calling me doctor.' I stick out my tongue making him chuckle.

'Charlie would you like some coffee?' I ask making quite a few faces look at me with a mixture of confusion, alarm and distrust.

'Thank you that would be nice.' Even Charlie sounds surprised although his face betrayed nothing aside from interest. 'How about you honey?' he looks at the woman who has sit down next to him.

'That would be lovely thank you.'

'Certainly...um.'

'Sue Clear...I mean Sue Swan.' She smiles apologetically at the chief. 'We have only been back from the honeymoon for a week.' She explains to me the sound of suppressed laughter making her voice rich and deep. Emmett is shaking his head at me and looking skyward. Mouthing the words; would you like some coffee. Don't they offer their human guests coffee? It is normal to right? I mean it was for Lucy. And in Ethiopia a sign of hospitality. I very quickly - that only Emmett will see - stick out my tongue. Bite me - I think, making Edward chuckle and then pretend to cough. Bad cover-up telepath.

'I hardly ever get coffee here, do they have any?' Charlie asks smiling. Okay so offering coffee is not standard operating procedure.

'I'll check. I just so badly want one myself right now.' I lie quickly. In truth I am desperately looking for an excuse to go search for Felix. 'How about you doctor can I bring you some? Anyone else?' Esme and Alice is smiling proudly while Carlisle is clearly enjoying my joke, his golden eyes sparkle with amusement.

'Why thank you M.A. you know how I like my coffee.'

Now it is my turn to be surprised but I play along. 'Why yes doctor, two sugars no milk.'

'Exactly.'

I nod and hasten to the kitchen while keeping a human pace. I follow Felix's scent thru the kitchen and out the back door. I follow it for a few paces more before stopping. Where has he gone? Did he go to get the Volturi. He said that they didn't know of my existence, though he only explained to Carlisle that he hasn't seen Aro for some time.

'Can you see him?' I ask mom while I am pacing up and down in my bedroom. I have to stop behaving like Alana. I sit down and anxiously clasp and unclasp my hands. I still want to change this sofa, it is the only furniture left over from the days the room belonged to Edward, I think it is an ugly sofa.

'Stop moving around.' She asks and shuts her eyes.

'He has been gone for some time now, where did he go? Do you think he went to get the Volturi? Maybe I read him wrong. Maybe...' I don't really have any more theories.

'Mary-Alice.' Mom says looking exasperated. 'You have been asking those questions nonstop since Charlie went home. I am trying to see. Calm down and sit still.'

'I'll try.' I whisper making myself small on the sofa.

He left, he just left. I could've been fooled by thinking I was his mate. Do I even want to be his mate? I don't know how to answer that. I don't know him. Sure I have seen some of his memories but people can be more than that. One can choose to not be governed by your history and the bad things that have happened to you. I frown, unsure if I have mastered that technique.

'He found him.' Mom speaks opening her eyes and looking at me with alarm.

'Who found who?'

I hear the front door open and then Felix's voice.

'Where is she?'

'Upstairs in her bedroom.' Carlisle answers. I swear I can feel the feeling of unwelcome radiate out of Jasper all the way to my bedroom. I hear the swift steps of Felix as he ascends the stairs.

Alice jumps up the minute he walks in. Her eyes fliting from me to him, she seems unsure and grows anxious with every step he takes toward me. He chuckles softly about this and winks playfully at her. He kneels in front of the chair and takes one of my hands in his.

'You accused me of killing your human friend.' I blink not knowing how to respond.

'This is not a good idea!' Alice erupts. 'I can't see what you are planning, but you are not putting my daughter thru more trauma.'

Jasper appears in the door, he has far more practice and talent at identifying het state of mind by the sound of her voice, but I can also hear the anger and fear in it.

'She needs to see him.' Felix insists.

'No, you just want to prove what little innocence you have.' She hisses, Jasper crosses the room and softly takes hold of her shoulders. I feel the warm sensation of love and calm he radiates.

'Show me who?' I ask.

'The human that killed your friend.' He stresses the word human.

'Lucy, her name was Lucy.' He nods gently and softly presses my hand. 'Where is he?'

'Outside.'

I stare at the crumpled man that is kneeling in the dirt. His eyes is wide and focused on Felix whom he has clearly decided is the biggest threat. I would think the same where I in his shoes. Felix is standing behind me, more threatening than I have ever seen him. I now realize that when he caught me he was being nice and very polite.

I know the face of the man. I had seen him the night when I left the motel to get take-out. I did not once or even consider to fear him. My trust in humans to be kind has been misplaced. Yes, I have seen bad memories of them, but I am stronger than them so fear seemed ridiculous.

'How do you know he did it?' I ask softly.

'His scent. It was outside you motel room right before your frie...Lucy was killed.' He answers as he leans forward and pull at the man's collar to reveal a necklace. Lucy always wore it, it belonged to her father.

'How did you find him?' I sound detached, not caring. But that is only because too many emotions are flitting around in my chest to focus on one. I feel anger, fear, hate, triumph at having found the murderer, joy at the prospect of revenge.

Felix looks a little ashamed before answering. 'I broke into the police station while the chief was here. I did a little detective work of my own. I recognized his scent on one of the folders, they had him in there a few weeks ago on a charge of assault. Idiot was still staying at the address on the document.'

Paperwork pays off.

'Edward?' I softly call. The only members of my family that came outside with us was my mom and dad.

He walks towards us, his jaw clenched. I am surprised when memories of killing people vibrates off him. He use to hunt killers, this is difficult for him.

Sorry. I apologize. I just want to know if it's really him. – I ask in my mind.

'Yes.' He nods stiffly. 'She wasn't the only one. He likes to kill.'

'I won't do it again.' The man on his knees promises. 'Please just let me go.'

'Why?' I ask him. He looks to me with confusion. 'Why do you kill people?'

'I...I...' he blinks rapidly.

'You should be honest, he can read minds.' I point to Edward. My voice sounds bored.

'I...'

'He likes the power it gives him.' Edward says between tight lips. Bella rushes down the stairs and takes hold of her husbands' hand, her golden eyes worried.

'The power.' The blood it is always the same answer, isn't it. I go down on one knee before him. 'You know what I liked? Lucy. I liked her.'

'Look I'm sorry.' He mumbles.

'Me too.' I whisper getting up. I look down at my hand and slap him hard across the face. 'You have no idea how much!' I yell.

'We need to stop her, she'll hate herself if she hurts him.' I hear Esme softly say, I turn and see her and Carlisle looking at me with compassion and alarm. My mother is standing still watching my every move, unsure what to do.

I try and catch my breath, when did I start hyperventilating? I am torn. Esme is right I'll hate myself if I go thru with the plan that has already started to form in my mind. But I want to kill him slowly, painfully.

'I'll do it.' Felix says to me, softly placing a hand on my shoulder. Did the doubt show that clearly on my face?

'No, we're not killing him.' I say, he looks surprised. 'We'll take him to Charlie, I'm sure there is enough incriminating evidence to put him behind bars.'

'He knows too much.' Felix counters, I look at him with alarm. 'I brought him here so you can look into the eyes of Lucy's killer. By the law of the Volturi, it is his or our death. The Cullen's have once again decided to allow a human to know of their existence. Charlie's ignorance is the only thing keeping him alive and they know it.' Bella hisses and he only gives her a sideward glance before continuing to address me alone. 'This one however.' He points to man on the ground. 'Won't keep his mouth shut about any of this. He will expose us. I will not place you in that kind of danger. They will kill you as well as him. Do you understand?' he steps forward, his face close to mine. 'I am sorry, I shouldn't have brought him here alive.'

'Dead then?' I ask frowning.

'You don't understand, this can ruin everything.' He looks like he is about to faint. He is truly distressed.

'How so?' I step closer to him, forcing him to explain. Give me a memory, anything.

'I have kept your existence secret from them. Aro doesn't know about you. We were sent out to look for hybrids, we have been searching for months and only found a handful. I found you quite by chance. When I saw you I immediately thought you had to be the child of Alice. You look a lot like her. Aro once mentioned that she has no memory of her human life, so nobody knew about you. It is best if he doesn't. Aro covets your mothers' gifts. The minute he gets word of my deceit, there will be trouble. He is curious that every member has a noteworthy gift, but he covets the more powerful talents of some. Wanting them for his own, yet waiting patiently to see what will be the outcome should they stay together. Trust me, after years in his service I still cannot be sure what he will decide to do. Whatever it may be, he will see it done at any cost.'

'We don't need you to protect us.' Bella say with anger.

'M.A. decided to be with you.' He meets her eyes. 'I will never leave her side.'

'They don't know about Mary-Alice?' my mother ask stepping closer.

'No, and I will keep it so.'

'What about the human?' Jasper asks, his jaw clenched.

'I'll take care of it.' Felix says simply and grabs him by the scruff of his neck. Before anyone can stop him he vanishes into the woods, the man screaming.

I feel tears streaming down my cheeks. I have never cried this much in all my live. I am not sure if it is out of relieve or dread. Everyone is more at ease now that we know the Volturi is not involved. But there is much to contemplate, his words wasn't exactly reassuring.