A/N: Wow, you guys. That's all I have to say. I'm speechless. Thank you soooo much for all of the reviews. Can we see if we can get up to ten for this chapter? That would be woooonderful! Did all of you guys like the movie as much as I did? It wasn't as good as the book, of course, but then, when has that ever happened? Chapter title borrowed from the wonderfully talented, highly respected (by me, at least) Jonas Bros!!!

Part Twenty-Four

Lovebug

"Where are we?!" I asked again, this time with much more urgency, undoing my seat belt.

"This," he started, stretching out his arm, referring to the vast strip of land that surrounded us, "is a little place I like to call La Push."

I gasped, shaking my head anxiously. "No! I… you… Jake!"

"Yes. Recognize this?" he asked, spinning around and then facing me again, a hand cupped around his mouth. "'Bella Swan, if you're listening to this, we're coming for you.'"

I stood staring, mouth agape, afraid to speak for moments. "No! You… bur you said 'we'," I pointed out. He nodded, laughing, a spine-tingling cackle.

"A little something to throw off Cullen's scent. He's a strong one, that boyfriend of yours. It took much effort to tie him up in that chair. And I had to do it so quickly, too." He grinned, obviously proud of himself for overpowering Edward.

"But, I could have sworn it was… Quil, a-and Embry…" I pressed, sinking to my knees, the wet sand soaking through my jeans.

"Oh, they were accomplices in this little endeavor, make no mistake," he said, sitting down beside me. "Actually…" He paused, pushing back his sleeve to look at his watch. "They should be starting in on him right now."

"No!" I shouted automatically, looking wildly at him. "It's me Jacob wants. Leave Edward out of it!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said. "Mr. Black wants Edward out of the picture permanently. You must not cry for him, Bella. He's got… a bit of an advantage. He's definitely strongest of the three, I'll give him that."

But no matter what anyone said to try and console me, I knew it was all a terrible lie. Edward was outnumbered, and that was one of many disadvantages. He was tied down, for one. And I knew, though I hoped against hope to be proven wrong, that Edward could not get himself out of this one.

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"Now that you're well rested, we've got a couple of errands to run," Doctor Collins said, hovering over me the moment I woke up in the tiny blue tent. I wondered if he ever found time to sleep.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, rubbing my eyes tiredly, looking down at my faded jeans that now bore holes in both knees. I stood, a good foot shorter than he was.

"Well, I thought we could find you a decent place to say, or, at the very least a home," he sniggered.

I stood a bit taller at these words. A house! That was at least an upgrade from this dingy little tent on the beach, right? "Where?"

"Well…" He paced, a wicked grin spreading across his deeply tanned face.

"Doctor!" I said. "Get to the point."

"For starters," he continued, fingering the slight mustache that had begun to grace his face. "I think, considering the circumstances, you should know that I am not, nor have I ever been a doctor or a Collins. You may call me Sam. Sam Uley."

I gaped. "Sam… You a-a-and Jake, you guys were friends… but how… how did you… It's still illegal to fake a doctor's license in the state of Washington, right?"

He laughed. "Of course it is, Isabella." I cringed at the use of my full name. "But I found it quite simple to outsmart the co staff members at said hospital. It was a piece of cake. Figuring up a plan to outsmart your boyfriend, now that was a challenge. I am humble enough to admit it."

My thoughts flashed back to Edward, outnumbered, alone. I wanted to cry for him, as I had the night before, but the tears were washed out of my eyes. "What will they do? To Edward, I mean."

He smiled, as if speaking of Edward's demise gave him great pleasure. "Well, I've arranged for them to kill him. Nothing big or too fancy, of course. Don't want him to suffer too much. Losing you to Jake will be enough."

"I'll never do it, you know," I said indignantly. "I love Edward. You'll have to kill me first."

"Well, that is always an option," he said, producing a knife about as long as a ruler from his back pocket. "As they say, 'Have it your way.'" He grabbed the knife and held it to my heart.

I backed away from him slowly, my eyes glued to the dagger. "You won't kill me. Jacob wants me alive, I'm sure of it."

"Are you now?" he quizzed, stalking forward still.

I nodded anxiously. "Of course I'm sure. Otherwise he would have killed me that day in the Cullens' yard, instead of kissing me, of all things. He wouldn't have you kill me!"

Sam was inching forward now, and I could feel the cool of the knife even before it touched my skin. "And what on Earth, Isabella Marie Swan, makes you so sure that I answer to Jacob Black?"

I stared back at him, confused. "Earlier… You said 'Mr. Black'…"

"And you assumed that meant Jacob Black? I see…" he said. "Dearest Bella, I was referring to Billy Black, not his wretched son. I could care less about the dolt, frankly."

I continued to stare, the knife pressed to my chest, attempting to piece the facts together in my mind. "But Jacob… He tried to kill Edward…"

"For his own selfish reasons. Billy never cared about Eddie, or any of the Cullen freaks, for that matter," he explained, standing his ground. I shook with fear.

"Th-then why d-did you…"

"Have him killed? To ensure that he wouldn't be standing in our way. He's much too difficult an opponent to ignore," he shrugged. "So I did away with him. But enough questions."

I held his gaze fiercely. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean by that is, prepare to die…"

A/N: Cliffy? Yeah, I think that's a good way to summarize that chapter. Lol. REVIEW and you get the next chapter with great speed. I haven't decided when to end this story yet. I was going to carry on until I got at least two hundred reviews, but it doesn't look like that's EVER going to happen. I'll just have to keep working. Anyway, thanks for the… eight or nine reviews on the last chapter. You guys rock my polka-dotted socks!