Ch 4. Traveling

" I think we should go to another country." Edward said. "I want as many miles as possible between Bella and him."

"I don't know if that would be a good idea, " Alice said apprehensively. "I'm going to be keeping my visions focused on him, and if I see him get away from us and, I want to be able to

get there as soon as possible to help. If you're too far away, it's going to be a lot harder."

"She has a point, " Emmett said.

"Maybe we should just go into Canada somewhere," I suggested.

"We are not going to go with any of your suggestions," Edward said. "He is able to guess what you want to do too easily. Look at how quickly he found you here."

"How about New York?" Calrisle suggested. "There's a plane leaving in about half an hour for New York, and it wasn't suggested by either of you. I think he might be able to predict your plans too, Edward," he added.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Emmett asked impatiently, "Lets get going, we know what we're going to do."

Edward turned his attention from Carlisle to Emmett to glare at him. Then turned back to Carlilse and nodded. I wondered what Carlisle was thinking that Edward seemed to be listening to.

"I hope everyone stays safe," Carlisle said warily. He smiled weakly at Edward and me, and turned to go to his car.

Alice ran over to me and hugged me. "I hope everything ends okay," she whispered in my ear.

"Thanks, for everything," I was tearing up a little.

"It was no problem," she smiled. Then she turned to join Jasper and follow Carlisle.

"Come on, Bella," Edward said gently, taking my hand.

Emmett was already getting the tickets. He was coming back with three tickets. "They were actually easy to get," he said smiling. When we got on the plane, I sat next to Edward and took his hand

again. I felt exhausted now, the time away from him was very stressful, and now that he was with me again I could feel the toll that had taken. I rested my head on his shoulder and struggled to fight off the sleep.

Edward noticed, of course, "Why don't you go to sleep?"

"I just don't want to right now," I answered stubbornly. I wanted to be awake and enjoy Edward's company as long as possible.

"Just go to sleep, when you wake up we'll be there." He started to hum my lullaby. It felt like Jasper was there again, forcing sleep on me. I found myself once again hating that I was human and

had so many needs. I slept very lightly, and would keep waking up now and then. But each time I woke up I could feel Edward against me, and I felt so tired I would be back asleep in seconds.

Then one time I woke up and noticed it was becoming dark outside, and I could tell the plane had stopped. People around us were preparing to get off. I sat up, letting myself become fully awake.

"Good," Edward said," I was just about to wake you."

"What time is it?" I felt like I had been out for days.

"Here, it's almost six. Back in Phoenix it's only close to four."

I frowned. My sleep patterns were so screwed up already, and the change in time zones was only making it worse.

When we got outside the airport, I noticed two things. The first was I noticed it was cold. Even in the middle of spring, New York was a cold place to be. I began to shiver as I noticed the second thing. The signs all around me indicated we were in Albany. I blinked, "Weren't we going to New York City?"

I knew Edward was noticing my shivering, but he overlooked it. "No, we thought going to a country setting would be better. That's what Carlisle was thinking at least, and I thought it would be good to follow his advice."

"Why did he want a county setting?" I had been picturing staying in a hotel in the busy crowded city.

"For a few reasons," he started as we headed to a bus to go to a car rental place. "One is he thought it would be good to be in a place with less people, he didn't want him hunting a whole bunch of

other people while he tries to get to you. We also thought it would be more comfortable for you, less noise and people, and we can stay in a comfortable apartment this way. Which brings me to another

reason, it will be easier to be unexposed and inconspicuous, not as hard to hide our secrets. There will also be more opportunity to hunt."

I nodded, they seemed like good enough reasons. I also had to admit, staying in an apartment would be more comfortable, and I liked the thought that Edward would be able to hunt. We got on

the bus. It was a very quiet ride. Even Emmett hadn't said anything, he seemed to be thinking quietly in the seat behind us. This still didn't feel real. At least I wasn't any less calm, because even though Jasper

wasn't around to calm me down, Edward was.

"Are you hungry?" Edward asked me after he had rented a nice little red sports car, and we were inside, driving to some unknown location. Emmett and Edward both predictably insisted on a fast good quality car, I was just happy the heat worked well.

After he said this, I realized how hungry I was. Actually I was starving, I hadn't eaten all day. "I guess I am a bit."

We stopped at a nearby mall. Emmett groaned, and Edward glared at him. "You know it's not going to take as long without Alice," he growled.

"I'm still going to just wait in the car." Emmett complained.

I decided to get a sub for dinner, and we sat down so I could eat. "Do we need to get anything else here? I could just eat in the car," I offered.

"I hope you're not worrying about Emmett," Edward said disbelievingly. "He'll live, he can't always get what he wants. But, to answer your question, I do want to get some more food for you that

we can keep with us, and some warmer clothes."

As Edward had promised, we were fairly quick. I was so hungry, it didn't take me long to finish eating. Then Edward bought me some frozen meals, and other easy to prepare foods, so I wouldn't

have to worry about cooking. When we went back to the car it was now completely dark.

We drove just under an hour until the scenery was all country. Edward was focusing on the minds of people inside houses, hoping to catch something about any apartments available. We were

lucky, half an hour later he thought he heard something. There was a nice little apartment available in a little town, even smaller than Forks. Edward stopped at the owner's house to ask for information. Emmett

and I waited in the car.

When he came back he said everything was set, and he had the directions to the apartment. The apartment was only a few minutes away. We pulled up into the short driveway, and I

immediately liked how it looked. I thought it looked like a nice little house, even in the dark. There were no other houses visible, and the road was very quiet. The house was surrounded by fields on all sides, and I could vaguely see many trees making up woods beyond that. The area definitely looked very hilly and uneven, and it didn't look like there was a flat space anywhere. But the scenery still looked very pretty.

Inside was nice too. It was very clean, and I thought it must be fairly new. The door was a glass sliding door and just inside was a nice wooden table with two benches. To our right was the kitchen, and straight in front of us was the living room, with a leather couch and recliner. I already felt at home and comfortable here, Edward had found a nice place.

Edward had already brought the food in, and we worked to put that away. Then he helped me bring in my bags and we went to the bedroom to unpack. Emmett immediately flopped on the couch and

watched tv. After everything was situated we went in the main bedroom and sat on the bed together, silent for a while. To my disbelief, I was feeling tired again, I felt like I was in a daze.

Emmett's voice outside the door broke the silence, "I'm going to explore the area, " he called to us. "I'll be back in a few hours." Then I heard the door open and close, and we were alone. I laid

back against my pillow, and Edward did the same.

Edward was searching my face, no doubt wishing he could hear what I was thinking. "Are you really worried?" He asked, confirming my guess.

I thought about his question before I answered. "Really, I don't feel worried, but I also don't feel completely safe and untroubled. I feel numb, almost like I'm not even here."

We were both silent for a while. I took this time to inch closer and closer to Edward, until I was against him. His icy body against mine helped me feel more real.

"I really am sorry this happened to you," Edward apologized for the hundredth time quietly.

"It's not your fault," I said. I wasn't worried about myself anyway. I was worried James really would try to get to my mother or father, since pretending hadn't worked. I unwillingly started to think

of the week's events, watching James and his coven appear out of the woods, Edward defending me, the way I had to talk to Charlie to leave, how I had begged Renee to stay in Florida, how stupid I was to

believe James' trap, and the time I had spent away from Edward. I started to feel fear settle on me, and I started to realize just how much danger everyone was in, and how bad this situation was. I tried unsuccessfully to snuggled even closer to Edward and held onto him.

"Edward?' I whispered.

He looked at me.

"How long do you think it could take, for James and Victoria to be. . ." I couldn't say killed, and think of Alice and Jasper killing anyone, "gone so things can go back to normal again?"

I felt him tense next to me. "I would love to tell you this will be over soon, but I don't want to lie to you right now." He sighed, " James is very gifted, it could take a long time. But I can promise you I will do whatever I can to make you safe in as soon as I can."

"I know," I mumbled quietly. I didn't want to think about this anymore, but I also didn't like this silence, so I changed the subject. "Do you think we could see what this area looks like tomorrow? I'm curious about where we are. I've never been in New York before, or many places." I wanted something to do tomorrow, so I could keep my mind busy.

I felt him finally relax again at the new subject, "Sure, as long as the weather is right, and if it isn't we'll just go later in the day."

"That sounds good, " I yawned. I kept my thoughts as optimistic as I could, and focused them on exploring the area tomorrow. I tried to imagine what the surroundings and terrain based on what I had already seen in the dark as I felt myself inevitably drift into unconsciousness. The last thing I was aware of was Edward's arms wrapping around me.