Chapter 13

I sat in the cell, worried about what was happening outside. I was almost positive the intruders were Alice and the Cullens, but there was that little part that was worried that something would happen to one of them.

I don't know what time it was, but at one point, I heard shouting down the hall. I put my ear to the door to try and hear what they were saying, but it stopped as quickly as it had started.

I slumped on the ground in defeat. Then there was a loud bang on my on my door and the cracking of bones on the other side. I jumped away from the door in fright, hoping it would keep out the fight that was raging outside.

After the one bang, there were none others, so I assumed either the combaters had moved on, or one of them had been terminated. I cowered in the corner of the room, hoping it was the first presumption.

There was a soft knock on the door, then it was pulled off the hinges to revile a woman, most likely a vampire. It was too dark in the cell for me to make out any of her features, so I thought it was Alice, but she was too tall. Then maybe it was Rosalie, or Esme.

"Isabella? Isabella Swan?" The woman asked. She had an accent I couldn't identify as well as a low voice, too low to be any of the Cullens.

"Y-yes." I trembled.

"Come with me." She ordered. I shook my head from side to side and didn't move. She sighed and pulled something out of her pocket, looked at it for a minute, then put it up to her ear; a cell phone.

She spoke into it, too far away for me even to attempt to figure out what she was saying. She put the phone down and entered the room, came over to me, and handed it to me without saying a word.

I took it out of her hand, my hand shaking, and put it to my ear. "H-hello?"

"Bella, why are you insulting Tanya?" Alice asked tartly.

"Who?" I asked. The name sounded familiar but I couldn't remember who she was.

"Tanya, leader of the Denali? Bella, are you asking for a death wish?" Her voice grew snappier by the second.

"Oh." I said and glanced at Tanya out of the corner of my eye. She had a look of extreme displeasure on her face. In fact, everything about her person told me she didn't like me, even down to her posture; arms folded over her chest, back rigid. "Alice, are you here?"

"Yes and I'd like to find you alive. Apologize." She was real pissed off, but must have found an opponent because there was a shuffle and the phone went dead.

"M-my sincerest ap-ppologizes." I chimed. "I had n-no idea who you w-were."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. We have to go before more guards come and find that I was here and you are gone." I nodded and got off the ground, dusted my behind off, and handed her back her phone. She grabbed it impatiently out of my hand and slumped over into an all too vivid imitation of James' hunting posture.

"Get on." She ordered, pointing with a long, manicured fingernail to her back. I cautiously climbed on, being careful not to clutch her neck too tight, even though my feeble human touch couldn't damage her.

Instantly we were sprinting down the hall, the doors and even people flashing by as if we were fast forwarding a movie. The heads of the opposing vampires turned to look at us, but we were gone before they could react.

In seconds we were in the front yard of the estate, the front gate in plain view. In front of the gate, the limp body of a man, one of the ones I had seen in the hallway when we had first arrived, lay in the dust, his head turned at an angle ones head will turn only when done so by someone else's hands.

I hoped it was done by one of the Cullens or Denali, but couldn't be sure, with the way this place was run. For all I knew, he could be Denali. I hoped not.

Tanya came to an abrupt stop and I looked around for the source of her action. But I couldn't find anyone.

Suddenly, her hands were around my waist and I was pulled off her back. No, not her hands; the gesture was too soft of a movement for her current mood.

"Bella, finally. I've been waiting. Thank you Tanya. We owe you so much." Alice chimed, relieved. She gave a little bow to the other vampire.

"It was my pleasure." Tanya replied, not returning the bow. Alice was clearly lower ranked than the Denali sister. I wondered where that put me. I hoped in front of dinner remains.

"We will be in touch." Tanya promised. "But now I must go. They are on their way."

"Yes. I know. I saw them leave a few hours ago."Alice replied. I, of course, was clueless as to what they were talking about.

Of course you did. What was I thinking?" Tanya asked. She didn't seem embarrassed like I would have been, but more insulted. I guessed that she was envious of Alice's gift.

There was a rustle in the leaves of the trees behind us. I looked up and someone fell out of the tree. I screamed. The person hadn't fallen, he had been dropped and he was no longer alive. After a few seconds, the murderer joined us as well.

He jumped from the tree and landed, on his feet, next to the body. His body was hunched over into the cat like hunting stance, his legs bent ever so slightly, ready to pounce. It was dark out, so I couldn't see the features of his face; all I could see through the blackness was his glowing red eyes.

"Edward?" Alice asked. My breathe caught in my throat. There was no way this monster could be Edward. He would never feed from a human, especially not in front of me.

"Hello Alice. It was nice of you to visit. Though next time, I wish you would wait for an invitation. You interrupted a very important affair tonight." The voice was almost right. There was just something wrong. It was deeper, as if he were being possessed by a demon.

"As far as I'm concerned, the absurdity and blatancy of whoever is running this show was enough of a calling card, as well as what you were going to do to Bella."

"Do not insult my master."He commanded.

"You're not Edward." Alice stated, unfazed by Edward's order. 'The Edward I know would never let anyone order him around."

"What do you know Alice?" Edward snarled. "You don't know anything about Boss or anything he's doing here."

"I know it's dangerous to attract the attention of the Vultori. They're on their way right now to shut this place down for good."

"You're lying." Edward accused. The declaration, no matter how sinister he appeared, reminded me of that of a three year old.

"No, I'm not. And you had better snap pout of whatever funk you're in before they get here. If they find you on his side, they'll exterminate you just like the rest of these gullible kittens."

"They're not gullible.' I whispered. Alice heard me anyway, and, for half a second, flicked her head toward me, then back to Edward.

"What do you mean Bella?"

"They're being controlled, by Boss." She thought, or perhaps processed this for a moment, then sighed.

"Then there's only one thing we can do you save him." She said. "We have to kill this Boss person, before the Vultori arrive."