~.Read.&.Review.~

Bella's POV

I was constantly telling myself that we would make it there as long as we kept our speed. Alice had assured everything would be fine for us, that nothing would get in our way - as long as we followed her instructions - and that we would reach Edward's scent within a few miles, along with Victoria's. I had been avoiding Victoria for so long, and now I was running straight to her without a second thought. It's funny how the world works.

I was moving with all the strength I could push into my marble legs. I was faster than the others. I suppose it had to do with my own personal motivation; Edward was so much more to me than he was to any of them. Mike was keeping up well though. He glided next to me effortlessly. We had been running in silence for quite some time. After we had separated from the Cullens none of us had yet to say a word. I hadn't really noticed that until now. I had been too lost in my own thoughts to worry about it.

When I turned my head to look at my friends my stomach sank. Their expressions... I didn't know what to make of them, but somehow my instincts knew something was bothering them, that Alice's plan was not something they were easily accepting.

Besides Angela, and possibly Ben, the looks on my friends were almost...angry, or maybe hesitant was the word I was looking for...distrusting maybe? I had no clue the emotion coming from them.

"What's wrong?" I asked, breaking the dreary silence.

No one answered, they all merely glanced at each other briefly before pretending like I hadn't said a word. When my gaze met Angela's, she stared at me almost apologetically. She must know what's wrong with the others, and most likely she doesn't agree, but she won't tell me either; it wasn't her problem to share.

The fact that nobody was responding to me - worse even since they were acting like I hadn't even spoken - was really frustrating. I had enough to deal with right now, but I couldn't just ignore my friends if something was wrong and they weren't telling me.

Then I realized that I had spent a great amount of time with Alice, with the entire Cullen family, while my friends here have not. Their human memories of the Cullens are much different than mine, and even though they had come to accept, and even like Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice, they were not as accustomed to trusting Alice and her visions whole-heartedly like I was. Perhaps that's what is bothering them now.

"Alice knows what she's doing," I told them strongly. I didn't think we had much time for me to convince them further but I would try if it meant they would feel better about this. I trusted Alice with my life, and so should they.

"We don't doubt Alice," Jessica grumbled barely loud enough for me to hear. "It was her visions that helped them find us in the first place." The tone of her voice made me defensive, because there was something else she was implying, and no one would speak up about it.

I halted, spinning toward them. "Then what-"

"It's nothing, Bella," Mike murmured harshly.

I looked at him doubtfully. "Nothing?" I scoffed. Obviously it was something. No one responded to my remark. Were they trying to hide something? And if so, what? I didn't want my friends to be miserable. If they had something to say, if there was something that was bothering them, I wanted to know about it so maybe I could help.

I began to think that maybe it was our lack of good fortune that was upsetting them. I mean, everytime it seemed things were finally settling down for us, that we would be able to actually relax and get accustomed to this vampire life at our own pace, something always had to occur to mess it up for us.

That was my fault though. Maybe I should have stayed with Riley and his group while Ben and the others got away. Then they could have finished me off, Victoria would have been satisfied, and I no longer would plague the world with my horrid luck.

I looked my friends over. Each stared back questioningly.

"Look, I'm sorry," I sighed.

"Sorry?" Eric asked, confused. "For what?"

Mike looked me in the eyes for the first time. "Why are you apologizing?" He asked as if he already knew that I felt a sense of guilty responsibility toward everything that has happened.

"It's my fault. All of it," I told them, my tone brimming with remorse.

"You have nothing to do with any of this," Mike said.

"I have everything to do with this."

"You were only human, Bella."

I was only human? What did that mean? Did he not fully understand the situation? Was he not aware of who was responsible for all this chaos? Maybe I should remind him. "Victoria is after me. Me!"

He narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't make it your fault," he countered.

"Oh please, Mike. I'm the one she's been after from the very beginning, and I knew she was after me, yet I didn't do anything to prevent her from hurting the ones around me. It's my fault she's invading our lives now. She attacked Forks because of me."

Before I could go on with my list, Mike interrupted me. "Again, you were only human. What could you have possibly done to change things?"

I ignored the fact that it was a rhetorical question, and I answered anyway. "I don't know. Maybe I could have-"

"Bella, be real. There is nothing you could have done." Mike sighed, clearly irritated. There was something about the way he spoke that told me he believed someone was at fault. But if he wasn't directing the blame at me, then who he was directing it at? Noticing the incomprehension on my face, Mike asked, "Why is she after you, Bella?"

I hesitated, confused by his question. "Huh?"

"Why does Victoria want you dead?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Because I-"

"No!" Mike snarled. I stared at him, shocked by his ferocity. "Victoria is after you because of Edward," he growled menacingly.

My jaw dropped.

This was what he was getting at? He was pushing this all on Edward? I was...speechless - I didn't know what to say because I wanted to say so much.

I felt how round my eyes had become. I knew my jaw was hanging open in complete disbelief. I was aware of Mike taking in my reaction with a knowing gleam in his heated eyes. Yet, I didn't care. I couldn't compose myself. I hadn't been expecting his words, his accusation, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to infuriate me the way it did.

Mike kept his red eyes pinned on my face, watching me intently. He had probably already guessed what my response would be, because he was shaking his head before I finished what I was saying.

"None of this is Edward's fault."

"He's the one who killed Victoria's mate isn't he?"

"Edward saved me from James," I whispered harshly.

"You wouldn't have been in danger at all if it wasn't for him. He should have never brought you into his world in the first place, exposing you when your blood smelled so much better than the rest of ours. If he had followed his little vampire rules then all of us would have been spared this fate." He gestured to our now 'vampire' friends.

"You can't blame Edward." I glowered at him, a low rumbling growing in my chest.

Edward was not the bad guy in this like Mike was making him out to be. He had no right to be judging Edward like this, accusing him like he had intentionally put me in danger. Edward has done the complete opposite of what Mike is saying. Edward had tried to keep me out, attempted to make me forget about befriending him. It was me who never gave up. I continuously sought out the answers I was forbidden to know. And even when I finally got what I was looking for Edward had always been there to save me from the world around me. Never once had he put me in harms way. "If it wasn't for Edward I wouldn't be alive right now!" I shouted in frustration.

I watched the looks on everyone's faces shift, waiting for me to catch my mistake; and I did. "Well, ok, technically I'm not alive anymore. But-" I continued quickly as Mike's smug expression grew more pronounced, "I would have been dead long ago if it weren't for him." I paused thinking back to my human years. "Tyler's van crushing me would have been my last moments."

Mike's face grew grim, defeated. I smiled victoriously, no trace of humor or happiness on my face.

"Then he should have left you alone after that," Mike grumbled stubbornly.

I let out a sharp breath. Mike was really starting to aggravate me, and considering I was still a newborn it took some effort to keep calm. I did not want to get out of hand.

"Why should we help him?" Mike continued quietly when I didn't say anything. I heard the other's watching quietly behind us, and I took their silence as siding with Mike.

"Where was he when those damn newborns attacked our town, huh? He expects us to go help him, to put ourselves in danger for him when he wouldn't do the same for us?"

"He came back with his family to help us," I argued.

"Oh, he felt guilty did he? That's great, Bella," he sneered. "But it's too late. Those newborn bastards took away everything. Everything! Do you honestly expect me to head straight to them, straight to their dangerous leader, and watch them kill you, too?" I stared angrily at him, a hint of sadness flooding my eyes as his words reminded me of the loss of my father. After a long pause he continued. "You, Jessica, Eric, Ben, Angela...you're the only friends I have left, the only people who weren't taken away from me. I'm not going to risk losing any of you for him."

My gaze softened. I understood where he was coming from. He was angry, resentful, heartbroken. But still...

"You'd let him die?" I flinched inwardly at my question to him.

Mike furrowed his eyebrows. "Just letting him fend for himself just as we had to do."

"That's wrong, and you know it."

"Honestly, how could you have forgotten what he did to you?" Mike's red irises were glued to mine in an odd way. I stared back, almost hypnotized by his gaze. "He left you, Bella," he whispered, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "He did not want you anymore, and he left you undefended against Victoria. He left you when he knew danger was still out there. You do not want to save him after what he's done. You don't, Bella." He was shaking his head softly.

I know that. I know he left me... He left me to fend for myself, just as Mike said. I did have to face Victoria on my own, with werewolves being my only form of protection...which had failed. Why would I want to save someone who has brought so much pain into my life? What did I owe Edward?

"Your love for him was not real," Mike continued, his tone serious.

I blinked. Wait...what? That can't be right...can it? My love for Edward, was it truly never really there?

"Mike!" Angela shrieked as she appeared next to us. She glared at him with a fierceness I've never seen in her eyes before. "How dare you!" she hissed at him. Ben jumped between the two. He was in complete shock as he watched Angela reacting so hostile. Mike stared at her wide-eyed, probably not expecting her reaction either. "Don't use my power like that!" she demanded. I tried to understand her words, their meaning. What was Mike doing? He was doing nothing wrong, he was simply telling me the truth...the truth...

My mouth parted, shaping like an 'O' as I turned to Mike in absolute horror, realizing exactly what he had been doing. He had been manipulating the truth into what he wanted me to believe, going so far as to make me think that my love for Edward was non-existent. I felt the fury brewing inside me, boiling, breaking my composure.

Ben gave him an appalled look. Mike shrugged, and turned his guilty eyes to the floor. Eric and Jessica had halted some feet away, raising their eyebrows at Mike; Jessica seemed a little amused at him.

"Bella," Angela addressed me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "He was lying, Bella. You were in love with Edward."

I blinked at her, and I felt all the intense anger that Mike had created in me being unleashed.

"Were?" I gaped at her "I still love him!" I blurted. Jessica's eyes widened. A knowing look came across Angela's face, while a confused, almost disgusted look crossed Mike's.

"He left you, Bella," Mike fumed. "He hurt you!"

"You're just gonna go running back to him like nothing ever happened?" Eric asked, clearly not trying to be rude, but merely trying to understand where I was coming from. But I was too far into my anger to accept his curiosity as anything other than the same hate Mike has.

"Are you crazy?!" I asked incredulously, shaking my head in disbelief. "You...none of you know anything about Edward!" I shouted at them. They watched me, stunned at my sudden outburst. Angela let go of me and took a step back.

Not one of them had a clue that vampires went to their school. They didn't know the real reasons the Cullens skipped classes, or why they never ate, or the reason they kept to themselves... Every day they went to school oblivious to the fact that monsters were sitting across from them in the cafeteria. "Every single one of you were clueless!" I yelled. My rage heightened, and the hole in my chest - the one Edward had created when he left way back in September - was flaming. But I had no patience to think about that at the moment. My friends had finally made me snap. "I was the only one who knew their secret, yet now, all of a sudden, you're telling me what to believe, what to do, and are claiming you understand Edward better than I do?" I growled, directing it at Mike. He stiffened automatically, instinctively baring his teeth defensively.

"And all of you agree with him, huh?" I asked, turning on the others. They leaned away from me slightly.

Angela was shaking her head slowly. Ben looked to be in debate in his head. Eric was glancing from Mike to me. Jessica was staring emotionlessly at me. Every one of them were unsure of what to say.

I growled involuntarily. If they were going to act this way then fine. I didn't have time to stand around and wait for them to organize their thoughts into coherent words, I needed to heed Alice's warning to hurry.

"I don't care what you do," I hissed sourly. "But I'm going to Edward, because he needs help. I'm not just going to stand around and wait to see if he survives or not. Ignoring the fact that I love him, my morals are obviously higher than any of yours."

I turned on them, continuing off into the direction Alice had pointed us in, ignoring Angela as she called my name, pleading for me to wait. I refused to hear more of their ignorant remarks about Edward, or more appropriately Mike's ignorant remarks, since the others lacked any kind of speech at all. I knew how they felt. They were not the only ones to lose family, though I only lost a father, while most of them lost all they had. I did sympathize with them, I empathized even, but how could they even consider just leaving Edward out there to fight Victoria alone? And Mike...I remembered his vengeful behavior toward Riley, but the way he had acted now was ridiculous. Mike had never been so cold hearted before, both figuratively and literally... Could the affect of all we've been through really have been so strong in him?

Then I remembered Alice's other warning. She had told us to stick together. As a "team" she had said. She made me promise... But we couldn't stay as a group if they weren't willing to protect Edward, which was the whole point of this mission; what good was a support team if they were not willing to support you?

And even if I stayed to convince them, which I had no patience to do after Mike had attempted to brainwash me, their hesitation would have slowed us down, and we wouldn't have made it to Edward in time anyway. Alice had to realize that. There was nothing else I could have done. My concern for Edward was overpowering, and I was not capable of ignoring it, nor did I want to.

My chest pounded sporadically, reminding me that there was a greater feeling pulsing inside me, one that drowned out the guilt of breaking a promise, or the anger at the rememberance of why I did it; it was a feeling of immense personal pain.

I still love him!

I groaned inwardly at what I had let slip out. I knew I was angry, beyond angry, I was furious. But to suddenly confess that I was still in love with the man who had left me brokenhearted and depressed for months? And to say that in front of the people who watched me suffer through it all? That was not allowed to happen! So why had I let it?

No wonder my chest is engulfed with pain. I had actually spoken that forbidden word; love. And worse, I had said it about Edward. I had admitted to my feelings, and now I was suffering for it.

Was love really such a bad thing? True, it seemed to always bring heartache...but it was worth it, wasn't it?

I thought about the months I spent with Edward, the happiest days of my entire life. I had been keeping those memories locked away in the back of my mind, unwilling to forget them, but afraid to remember them. However, now I wanted to see them. I desperately wanted to bring them back and remember it all. It hurt, but it was nice. I realized that I was only lying to myself before, depriving myself of what I needed, which were the memories I had with Edward and all the Cullens. I think I would have been happier if I allowed myself that privilege, the privilege to remember. But I didn't, so I was consumed in my sorrow.

It was obvious what my problem was now that I thought about it without the fear of breaking down into a depression. Back then, when he left me, I rejected any temptation that led me to think of Edward, and that defiance filled me with pain. The more I hurt, the more I resisted remembering. The more I resisted remembering, the more I hurt. It was losing battle from the very beginning.

But not anymore.

The aching in my chest began to rapidly increase as I let myself think of the forbidden thoughts. The pain began fixating toward the center of the gaping hole in my chest; yet, the feeling was so familiar - like somehow, my wound was going through it's own vampire transformation. It was dying, but in a good way. It was disappearing. It was healing.

Alice's POV

Flaws. So many flaws, so many mistakes that could be made. I have never felt so helpless before. So many different scenarios... I'm not sure which one will lead us to victory in the end.

"I don't understand, Alice," Carlisle said, speaking for the first time since we parted from Bella and the others. I wanted to tell him that I didn't understand myself. "I'm guessing Edward ran off again, he is known for that... But meeting up with Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie? Shouldn't we be focusing on helping Edward?"

"Edward is not the only one in trouble." Carlisle and Jasper looked at me concerned, shocked, but before either could say a word, I continued. "They went chasing after Edward, especially knowing he had found Victoria's trail and was planning to fight her alone. What they didn't realize was that the closer they came to catching up with him, the closer it brought them to the newborns that were spared from the werewolve's during the massacre." It's a shame those dogs didn't finish the job.

"How many could there possibly be?" Jasper asked, his eyes narrowing.

I sighed. It was a terrifying amount. "Excluding the ones with Victoria...eleven."

Jasper's eyes widened. "So many?"

"Victoria had planned things well," I murmured, remembering the information we would have found if things hadn't suddenly shifted. "The eleven newborns who had gotten away from the wolves were scattered along Forks's borders, as look outs in case anyone decided to leave or enter the town."

"That makes sense for Victoria to have done," Carlisle said reluctantly. "It would also have made it extremely easy for them to escape unnoticed as soon as they realized what was going on with the wolves."

I nodded.

"Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie will run straight into the path of those newborns. They need our help as much as Edward does, if not more," I finished.

Carlisle and Jasper picked up their pace. I followed suit dutifully.

"They don't know how to take on the newborns," Jasper said, mainly to himself as his mind struggled to create a strategy with the little information it was given. Unfortunately, it won't be able to.

There were so many newborns, and only three of them, of my family. Emmett being the only real fighter, and Esme not being one for violence at all, gave them even more of a disadvantage. They didn't know how to take on newborns, as Jasper had pointed out, and the three images that had flashed through my mind were their deaths.

I shuddered involuntarily. Jasper looked at me.

"I'm ok," I told him. I reluctantly added, "Sort of", knowing there was no possible way any of us could be 'ok' right now. Especially considering the fact that I had just witnessed, in a way, the deaths of my brothers, sister, and mother today; not to mention my earlier visions were the deaths of Bella and Jasper. I sighed. I wouldn't be surprised if I needed a whole lot of therapy when this was over.

This was not something any of us had anticipated. Not even I knew if we were doing the right thing. After 'seeing' Edward fighting a losing battle against Victoria and her two protectors, I was focusing solely on him. Even as we came closer to the point where we parted ways with Bella, I still had no idea that we were separating. Then, just moments before we reached that point the first image of my other siblings and my adoptive mother appeared, and it was a harsh one, a violent one. I only had time to think up three solutions. The first two were no good, we failed. The third one seemed to work, seemed to keep us all alive from what I could see. I couldn't be sure, but I had run out of time. I knew there were flaws in my choice, problems that I couldn't fix, and it bothered me. It was why I needed everyone to follow the instructions I gave them, because if they didn't one of our groups would lose, either ours, or theirs.

There was so much at stake, and Bella's group...my orders, they were not following them, and we would all suffer for it in the end.

Emmett's POV

"Well, they were here," I noted.

Esme and I were standing at the bottom of a rocky cliff side. It was obvious there was some sort of fight that had occurred here, judging by the loose rocks, the debris across the forest floor, the snapped trees, and, of course, their lingering smells - Edward and Victoria had definitely gone at it. Along with two others, although their scents weren't as strong. The question now was where the four of them went, and, most importantly, if Edward was alright.

Even being outnumbered though, I don't think Edward would be defeated easily. They had to be still going at it somewhere, and I wanted to join them.

Rosalie was scouting the area surrounding the tiny battle field, seeing if she could pick up Edward's newest trail. Hopefully she would find it.

My guess is that Edward ran for it, knowing he didn't stand a chance against three vampires even with his little advantage over them. I know how Edward fights. He doesn't go straight in for an attack, like I do. He doesn't strategize as much as Jasper does. He has his own way of fighting, which mainly involves messing with his opponent's head. It was clear that Victoria had the advantage, but Edward was fast. If he could escape, not retreat - that wasn't Edward's style, neither was it mine - but if he could get far enough away where he could somehow separate the three vampires that were after him, take them all out one-by-one, then that's exactly what he would do.

And, as I said before, he would mess with them. Twisting the thoughts he hears into things that are not true, yet you will think they are by the way he uses them against you. I shook my head remembering all the times Edward got me like that. He's lucky he cheats, or he wouldn't stand a chance against me.

"Emmett!" Rose's shrill scream bounced off the cliff face, echoing through the small clearing. Immediately I was no longer by Esme's side. Fear rushed through my body, my mind raced to understand what would cause her beautiful, always-fearless voice to call my name like that.

As I caught up with her intoxicating scent, I heard her hiss in synchronization with someone else.

All my mind could think about now was that Rosalie was in trouble. She needed me. And I would tear up whoever dared attack someone as special as Rose.

It only took me a moment to find her after that; her slim body crouched over, her glistening teeth bared at a tall, red-haired man who perfectly imitated her pose - except he wasn't nearly as sexy.

Just as she hissed another warning, he launched himself at her.

He was fast, I'll give him that much - but he was not fast enough.

I slammed myself into him, my teeth not hesitating before they sank into his neck, ripping his head free from his body. I didn't care who he was. If he was dumb enough to attack Rose then he deserved the consequences. I flung his head away from us, and yanked his squirming body around toward Rosalie, who, with her teeth, sliced his limbs off.

"Emmett," Rose snapped as she quickly created a small fire. I threw every piece of the redhead I could find in it. It all happened in a matter of seconds; really the vampire was no match for us. "You left Esme?" She glared, wide-eyed at me. Something in her stare had me nervous.

I didn't understand what was wrong? "You needed help," I said.

"No, I didn't."

"But you called my name."

"To warn you!"

To warn me? To warn me of what?

A large roar erupted from where Esme was, and the sound of boulders clashing to the ground made my stomach sink. I had misread Rosalie's cry as one for help, and I had left Esme alone, unprotected. "Damn!" I yelled, moving my legs at the fastest speed I could manage, hoping that I got every piece of that redhead into the flames. Rosalie was next to me, a small curse slipping from her lips.

"There were more," I hissed, now understanding what Rosalie had been trying to warn me of.

"A lot more," she hissed angrily.

"I didn't know."

Her honey eyes met mine. "Now you do."