Hey guys! We do not own any of the characters in this story. Except for Ruth, I guess. We did make her up...

Well here's chapter 15 for you! Hope you enjoy it!

And there definitely won't be anything up for a week or two after this; we have exams. Great, I know.

Chapter 15

I came back to the couch and sat on Alice's left, Jasper on her right. We didn't talk much; we were all caught up in our thoughts trying to decode why James would go to a ballet studio.

A few hours later, Alice gasped for a second time. "Something's changed. I can see another room now."

She flipped over the paper I drew the studio on and sketched another room. It looked sort of like a house.

Bella came in and sat next to me to peek at the picture. "Did she see something more?"

"Yes. Something's brought him back to the room, but it's light now." I replied.

We watched Alice draw more and more details. I was right; it looked like a family room. But where . . .

"The phone goes there." Bella whispered, pointing to a small table Alice just drew.

We stared at her.

"That's my mother's house."

Alice was already off the couch, dialing a number on the phone. She was no doubt calling the others. Jasper got up and sat uncharacteristically close to Bella. He put his hand on her shoulder, increasing the effect of his power over her.

I got up and stood next to Alice.

"He's going to her mom's house, Edward." Alice muttered at vampire speed . . . there was no way Bella could even comprehend what she was saying.

"Yes, good. It's better if you come. All of you."

She paused. Then, "Right, someone has to stay and protect our home. Alright, bye."

She hung up and there was a desperate look in her eyes . . . something I hardly ever saw in her.

"Bella, Edward is coming to get you. He and Emmett and Carlisle are going to take you somewhere, to hide you for a while." Alice said. Bella just looked at her numbly.

"Edward is coming?" Bella asked.

"Yes, he's catching the first flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport and you'll leave with him."

"But my mother . . . he came here for my mother, Alice!" Bella cried out in hysteria despite Jasper calming her.

"The three of us will stay here until she's safe." I reassured.

"I can't win. You can't guard everyone I know forever. Don't you see what he's doing? He's not tracking me at all. He'll find someone, he'll hurt someone I love . . . I can't - "

"We'll catch him, Bella." Alice said.

"What if you get hurt, Alice? Or Ruth? Or Jasper? Do you think that's OK with me? Do you think it's only my human family he can hurt me with?"

I was touched by Bella considering us as family, but I knew we needed her to be calm. Alice looked meaningfully at Jasper and he sent a wave of tiredness sweep through the room.

"I don't want to go back to sleep." Bella snapped.

She walked to her room and shut the door. Neither Alice nor I followed her. Bella needed time to think things through and see that this was the only way to keep everyone safe . . . her included. We sat silently for at least half an hour.

"She'll get over it." Alice muttered at vampire speed so Bella couldn't hear.

"I know, but she's right. We can't protect everyone forever." Jasper replied.

"We'll get him . . . I know we will. We're smarter than him because there are more of us." I said. "We've got all the advantage over him."

"Ruth, please don't make this a revenge attack. We know what he did to you was wrong, but don't be reckless." Alice said, worried.

"I'll be fine." I said, tonelessly. I did my best to hide my anger, but it was no use.

"You always say that and yet, you're lying." Jasper concluded.

"How am I feeling then?" I asked, angrily.

"You want to talk. You can't keep everything hidden inside you anymore. Your fear of the truth is making you upset. Stop me when I've said enough."

"Alright, alright, you've said enough!" I said, holding my head in my hands. "Yes, I'm afraid. You have no idea how much I lost because of him."

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Alice asked.

I nodded. "Not about James, though."

"Tell us something happy, then. From your human life. Anything you can remember." Jasper said.

It felt a bit funny . . . like counseling, but I found myself telling my brother and sister about Carlisle and I growing up. "When I was 12, Carlisle used to take me to a small clearing in the woods near my parents house whenever I was sad. I used to tell him about the latest suitor my parents arranged for me to marry; there was four or so and all were old and ugly." I added with a laugh. "Carlisle was the fifth choice and the only person I ever ended up loving. But, whenever I would cry, he would make me laugh. He would tell me funny stories or do something silly or tell me the next man couldn't be any worse than the one before."

"Why did you sign 'EC' on your paintings from Volterra?" Jasper asked.

"Oh, well, that's easy. My full name was . . . is, Ruth Elizabeth Cassandra Bennett, and then later added on when I was married, Cullen. I was named for my mother, Ruth. To cause less confusion, everyone called me Elizabeth. I started using my first name when we came to North America. It took Carlisle a while to get into the habit of calling me Ruth."

Alice smiled a bit. "Tell us about your son."

I sighed. "William was absolutely the most adorable baby I'd ever seen. His hair was sort of like Edward's, only blonder. His eyes were dark green, like mine were. I miss that colour . . ."

"How old was he when you last saw him?" Jasper asked.

"He was a year and a month old for me, about 4 and a half for Carlisle when he was human. But like I said, he protected us, so he saw him more after he was a vampire."

"You really don't know what happened to him?" Alice asked.

I shook my head. "The Volturi were very keen on us to forget our past life together, so they never let us return to England. When I went before moving to Forks, I was searching for him most of the time, but I never found anything."

"I'll help you. When this is all over, I'm going to help you find him." Alice said, determined.

I smiled. "Thanks, Al. That means a lot to me."

"I might as well help, too." Jasper said, fake sighing.

"Of course, Jaz." I replied, with an eye roll. "But right now, I think you ought to check us out of the hotel and find us somewhere closer to Bella's mom's place."

"Right, I'll get on that." He said and left.

Just then, the phone rang. Alice picked it up. Bella came out of her room to join us.

She was talking so fast, even I had a heard time hearing her. All I caught was "Safely away", "Canada" and "Bye".

"They're just boarding their plane. They'll land at 9:45." Alice said, glancing at the clock that read 5:30 AM.

"Where's Jasper?" Bella asked.

"He went to check out." I said.

"You aren't staying here?"

"We're relocating closer to your mother's house."

The phone rang again. Alice answered.

"Hello? No, she's right here." Alice mouthed that it was Bella's mom and handed the phone to her.

"Hello?" Bella said as she wandered back into her room.

I heard her sigh. "Calm down, Mom. Everything's fine, OK? Just give me a minute and I'll explain everything." A pause, then. "Mom?"

"No, Mom. Stay where you are." She said. I sat down on the couch. I felt sort of ashamed, so I tried to tune out her words.

A few minutes later, Bella came out if her room after saying good bye. When she returned to the main room, she looked tired.

"My mom was worried and she wanted to come, but I told her to stay away."

"We'll make sure she's fine, Bella, don't worry." Alice said.

Bella looked at a blank paper. "If I wrote my mom a letter, would you leave it at her house for me?"

I nodded. "Of course, Bella." I said carefully. I could tell she was slowly falling apart.

She took the paper and a pen to her room to be alone.

"She's not OK." I muttered.

Alice nodded. "I know, but she'll never tell us what's bothering her."

We stared at each other for a moment, hoping that the other had the answer we were looking for; that everything was going to be alright. Of course, that was one thing that only time could tell.

You know what I'm gonna say. So just do it. Now. I'll make you fictitious cookies. That may be a bit lardaceous. Yes that's a word. Search it on . You'll see. And while your at it, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!