In a matter of seconds the family had arranged themselves in some sort of battle formation.

Edward and jasper at the front crouching low almost cat like, ready to pounce. Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme stood in a semi circle around Alice and Bella. Alice was holding Bella's hand, an expression of worry tarnishing her pretty features.

Bella realised that if it weren't for her being there, the Cullen's would be a million miles away in a much safer place. Why had she insisted on coming along? Why hadn't she realised that she was putting everyone's safety at risk?

Suddenly jaspers head spun to his left, obviously detecting something that no human could hear. The rest of the family took no time to react, heads flicking towards the "noise".

The moments ticked by slowly Bella was too scared to move let alone talk, she shut her eyes. Only when Emmett did the most unexpected thing did she open them, he laughed. Bella opened her eyes to look at Emmett to get an explanation for his laughter. Bella realised that it was not just Emmett laughing but the whole family had a small smile on their faces.

There in the clearing where the vampire hunters were meant to be standing stood a large deer. The deer looked at the family for a second and as if sensing danger quickly dashed out of sight Relief took over Bella, she didn't realise until now that she had been holding her breath the whole time and now felt quite light headed. "False alarm" Emmett chuckled. "But I saw..." Alice whispered obviously doubting her abilities.

Bella was still catching her breath when she heard Emmett scream. Surprised, Bella looked up. There in Emmett's right shoulder was a small dart.

The group watched as Emmett slowly removed the dart studying it intently, eyes widening in realisation. "Venom", said shocked, dropping the dart as if it was cursed. Suddenly Emmett dropped to his knees holding his shoulder cringing as if his shoulder was on fire, letting out a low moan of pain.

Jasper was the first to react, "Alice, Esme get Bella out of here now! Run!" Just as jasper was yelling a second dart was fired straight at him. Jasper just managed to avoid it but ducking with incredible speed at just the right second.

"Come on Bella", Alice said but Bella's legs would not cooperate. Seeing Emmett in such pain and knowing that Edward could suffer the same fate had stopped all her feeling in her legs. All she could do was watch. Alice sensing this whispered quickly, "he'll be fine" before picking Bella up and chucking her over her shoulder. Alice gave one last look over her shoulder at her beloved family, eyes resting on Jasper for a second then they were off.

Tears streamed down Bella's face as they ran through the trees. Neither Alice nor Esmae had spoken since they had fled. From the expression on Alice's face Bella could tell that if tears could have come from her beautiful eyes they would have been flowing now. They had been running for a good 20mins before their pace slowed down to an almost human speed.

"This should be far enough" Esme stated looking back in the direction the came from, searching for a sign of the rest of her family. Bella felt that there was something different about Esme, she realised that is was the first time that Bella had seen her without that relaxed motherly smile. The smile had been replaced by a worried expression that did not suit her at all.

"We should wait here", Esme said in a low tone. Alice nodded placing Bella down.

The silence was long and deep. Bella found the silence was slowly suffocating her, leading Bella's thoughts into places she didn't want to go. Bella needed to break this silence before it consumed her. Alice hadn't moved the whole time they had been waiting. Eyes locked in the direction they had come from. The place she had left her loved one. Esme was on guard watch listening to her surroundings her elegant body poised to attack at any moment. Bella decided it was time to speak.

"What were in those darts? I though vampires couldn't be harmed by anything that humans made?"

"Yes that is true", Esme said frowning "But own venom is another story altogether"

Bella's eyes widened, "So it was vampire venom in those darts?!" Bella asked shocked. Esme only nodded. Suddenly it was clear why Emmett had had such a strong reaction to being hit.

"How could they possibly have vampire venom in those darts?" Bella asked.

"Don't underestimate the skill and intelligence of the Etheridge's, for as many years there have been vampires there have been hunters passing down knowledge through generations, slowly perfecting their art. However I do admit I would have never thought they would have become this skilled", Esme frowned.

Alice suddenly stood, "Jasper!" she let out.

The amount of glee and relief in her face emphasised how much love they had for each other, it made Bella smile a little just by looking at her.

Jasper soon came into view. His eyes showed signs of pain and he was limping badly while carrying something heavy on his back. "No..." Esme said in horror said briskly walking over to jasper. As jasper approached Bella realised what the heavy thing on Jaspers back was.

"Edward", Bella whispered. Jasper placed Edward on the ground. His expression was pained. To any other person he would have appeared unconscious however Bella knew better than that.

"Edward" Bella said again touching his face lightly. "What happened" Alice asked Jasper. "He got hit by four darts. "Jasper explained "He was fine for the first three, it wasnt until thee forth one hit did her collapse".

"You're hurt", Alice stated looking at his leg.

"I'm fine... only been hit once", Jasper said unconcerned.

"What about the others? Are they okay?" Esme asked.

"They managed to get away relatively unharmed. They are heading west they are going to go into the city. We should be safe there..." he was interrupted by Alice who jumped up to hug him.

"I was so worried", she told him.

The moment of bliss didn't last long however as jasper suddenly pushed Alice to the ground swiftly. "Wha-", Alice began but jasper had already moved out in front of the small group, standing at the seemingly unconscious Edwards feet. He faced them with his arms spread out wide.

"You must leave!" Jasper yelled "go find the others". Esme was the one who picked Bella up this time.

"Alice..."

"NO! I don't want to leave you again" Alice yelled.

"Get her out of here Esme" Jasper whispered.

As Esme nodded Bella saw a group of small darts heading for them. "JASPER BEHIND YOU", Bella warned, but jasper made no effort to dodge. He just stood there looking at Alice. As the darts hit him he flinched only slightly, blinking as if slightly stunned.

"Please go-" he said to Alice almost pleadingly. Then the pain kicked in. Jaspers eyes widened as he doubled over in pain. Alice was sobbing wanting to help jasper in some way.

"I love you" she whispered as she turned to run with Esme.

As they departed Bella could see the relief on jaspers face, knowing that the one he loves most was safe, before he collapsed to the ground.

(Notes: Hope the story is going okay so far. Sorry for the long wait fot this chapter, had my uni exams but now I'm on holiday so expect quicker updates. This story is going to split off into two directions soon so I hope it will still make sense.)

P.S Reviews make me smile (hint hint :D).