Bella's point of view. Big chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers, especially litnerd, for some brilliant ideas and wonderful feedback. Enjoy!

Edward glared at me from across his room, muttering on about my lack of self-preservation. I glowered back, rolling my eyes at his incessant comments. After we had both taken showers, Carlisle had called a meeting.

We had decided that one of us needed to go to the reservation to discuss the treaty with the wolves. After all, they were supposed to stay off our lands, and us off of theirs. I was the first to volunteer to go, of course. The blame for this mess rested entirely upon my shoulders, and the rest of the family had agreed that I was the best of them to talk to the wolves.

Well, almost all of the family.

Edward growled under his breath as I pulled out a sturdy pair of jeans and a warm thermal shirt. He sprung to his feet and ripped the fabric away from my hands, flinging it back into the dresser. He slammed the oak drawer shut, and a large crack split the boards in two. I ran a hand through my hair and wheeled to face him, narrowing my eyes visciously.

"Oh, yes, Edward. Break the furniture. That'll help us a ton." I rolled my eyes, turning to face him with a hand propped up on my hip. "Unless you want me to go in a bathrobe. I'm sure Jacob will absolutely love that."

He flinched, and I instantly felt guilty. I pulled the clothes out again. He stepped towards me. I held up my hand, stopping him silently. I grabbed the armful of clothes and headed for the door, a fierce scowl of determination etched onto my face. He blocked my exit, crossing his arms stubbornly. I looked directly into his topaz eyes, challenging him.

"You aren't going." He declared, his voice thick with finality. I leaned closer to his face, never breaking my glare.

"You want to bet?" I asked. And with that, I spiraled towards the opened window. My flight did not last long. Within a hundreth of a second, Edward's arm pulled me sharply out of the air. I let out a small shriek of frustration.

"I'm going!" I walked briskly into the closet, yanking my arms and legs into the clothes, lacing up my hiking boots. I lifted my arm under my hair, which was tucked into my shirt, and flipped it out around my shoulders. Edward was sitting on the edge of his bed with his face buried in his hands when I emerged.

My irritation dulled briefly, and I walked silently over to him, pressing my lips softly to the top of his head. I trailed my fingertips along his hand, unable to reach his face, and turned towards the door.

I felt him approach, but I said nothing, letting him grab my wrist and spin me slowly around. His face was crumpled in a mixture of anger and despair. His eyes were coal black.

"You're upset." I murmured, cupping his cheek with my free hand. "Don't be."

He laughed, the sound bearing no amusement. "I'm not upset. You're staying."

The newborn anger, that I'd been repressing so well for the past few months, boiled in my chest and bubbled over. I tore my hand from his grasp with enough force that it would have been shattered if he was human. I could almost feel my eyes darkening in color.

"Stay? What am I, Edward, your dog? Sit, down, roll over?" I jumped neatly into the air, landing on the balls of my feet on his dresser. He glanced up at me, his expression unreadable. "Do you like this trick, Edward? Hm?" I grabbed a hold of the spinning fan, letting it carry me to stand in front of him once again. "Do I get a treat for that?" He looked at the floor.

"I…can't…lose you, Bella." His voice cracked like a young boy's. "I can't let you leave me."

"At least you know I'm coming back." I whispered, my head swimming with painful memories. He glanced up at me, his expression crushed.

"Do I?"

I blinked, staggered. He took my moment of confusion for his advantage.

"Jacob tried to set us on fire, Bella. How can you possibly think I'd let you go with a smile and a kiss? Victoria is near. The—"

I gasped, and he stopped.

"Oh, god, Edward. How could I have been so stupid!?" A wave of shame washed over me. Edward's brow furrowed, his expression frustrated.

"What is it?" He pressed, his eyes following me as I paced around the room.

"Victoria!" I cried, exasperated. My fingers moved to my mouth, and I bit down on one diamond hard nail. I ripped my hand from my lips and scowled, fleetingly wishing that habit had been burned away by the venom. I wheeled to face him, gripping his shoulders with both hands.

"Don't you see, Edward? It was her. Victoria… She was watching me, while you were gone. I saw her in the water… Oh!"

Edward, who was listening intently, jumped at my exclamation. I continued on without skipping a beat.

"She must have seen Jacob! She knew I was close to him… She's playing with our minds. She must have gotten that tool in his garage! The one that sparked. Oh, god. She must have gotten the gasoline there, too! She is close. Too close."

I spun towards the window, panic and terror knotting in the pit of my stomach. Victoria was close enough to Jacob, close enough to my best friend, to hurt him. To kill him, even. No amount of groveling or restraint from Edward would stop me now. I snatched the small phone off of the bed and jammed it into my back pocket.

I turned to launch myself out into the night, but Edward caught me, locking his arms around my waist and pulling me roughly into his chest. My eyes narrowed before he pressed his lips into my hair, a small sob breaking through his lips.

It was then I realized that he wasn't restraining me.

"Promise me, Bella. Promise me that you'll come back." His silken voice was uncharacteristically jagged, choked up with emotion that was uncomprehensionable to me. What I did understand, however, was that I couldn't honestly promise him anything that had to do with my return.

"I love you. Forever." I vowed, and I tilted my head up to seal the words with my gaze. His golden eyes burned into mine for only a moment. Then, he crushed his mouth against mine desperately, frantically, and I bowed my body to his, absorbing every plane of his face with my hands, every curve of his body with my own.

I was the one who broke the kiss. I pressed my face into the hollow at the base of his throat, inhaling his pine-and-snow smell deeply. He did the same to my hair. Unthinkingly, I caught a glimpse of his thoughts.

Strawberries and freesia. He smiled into my hair. I squeezed my eyes shut as he stored my scent carefully into a precious part of his mind. I also broke the embrace, lunging out the window.

I couldn't stand to see his face, to take in the pain-clouded expression that I knew would distort his beautiful features. I landed on the balls of my feet, sprinting into the forest. The night was deathly silent, the tiny creatures in the forest holding their breath as I passed. Try as I did not to look behind me, I'd still caught a glimpse of the ghostly figure in the window through my peripheral vision. His skin was silvery from the shine of the moon, his face crumpled in searing agony.

I'd caught a glimpse of a burning man.

………………………

I ran with a purpose, with a mission. I released my thoughts into the wind that carressed my face as I flew through the woods, concentrating on the eerie silence, the standstill of the world around me. It unnerved me, and yet I ran, shaking the disturbed feelings that crawled across my skin.

I was blissfully happy that it hadn't been Jacob who had tried to kill Edward and I. This thought I couldn't escape. My fury towards Victoria boiled even hotter as I imagined her hurting him. Hurting the wolves.

Hurting Emily.

I prayed fervently that my vision hadn't come true, that Emily hadn't gone into the forest. I tried so hard to keep the memory of murdering Sam in a tightly taped up box in the back of my mind. With La Push nearing, I could no longer keep the memory from surfacing. I shuddered. I wouldn't hold it against her if she hated me, she had every right to.

I murdered her fiance. It wasn't something one could lightly brush off. I remembered the emotions that drowned me when Edward had left me in the woods. Pain, rejection, despair, horror. There were no names for them. If he had been taken from me, I could only imagine it would be worse.

Or would it be better? To have something you love taken from you was painful. But to have them openly leave you, despite your unwavering adoration and devotion?

Agonizing.

Suddenly, I felt another wave of guilt for turning thoughts of Emily's pain into a pity party for myself. I shook my head, trying to clear it. The forest still blurred around me as I ran. So selfish. That was me. Bella, the selfish, greedy, pathetic excuse of a soul.

Edward was wrong. If anyone were to be soulless in his family, I was the resounding winner. Carlisle was far too compassionate. Esme was far too caring. Alice was much too accepting. Jasper was too understanding. Rosalie was too dedicated. Emmett was too amiable. Edward was too self-sacrificing.

I was shaken out of my self-loathing as I burst through the ferns skirting the Black's driveway. A warm rush of nostalgia enveloped me as I took in Jacob's tiny barn house with it's faded red paint and withered door. I chuckled softly as I gazed at the small garage, fondly remembering our motorcycles and my trading of being a slave for life for a box of candy hearts. Sighing as the nostalgia died away, I bounded up to the door and knocked gently.

I heard Billy roll his way over. Suddenly, I grew terribly afraid. Billy was human. I sucked in a huge breath and prayed on my rarely lucky stars that I wouldn't hurt him.

A second hadn't passed. Billy was still rolling to the door. He opened it, and I did not miss his strangled intake of breath, or the way his eyes bugged out and raked over my stone form, his expression terrified.

"B-Bella?" He spluttered, still reeling from his first sight of me.

"Hi, Billy." I cringed mentally at my ringing, bell-like voice. He paid no mind.

No, his eyes narrowed, obviously remembering the treaty. I'd known this was coming. "Bella, you of all people know that the Cullens aren't allowed to be on Quileute land." His voice was stern, but I detected some warmth in his voice, brought only on by the fact that I was Charlie's daughter.

"Um… technically, I'm still a Swan." I smiled wryly at my sad excuse.

His gaze flitted to my left hand. "Ah, but not for long."

I cursed inwardly, tucking my hands into my pockets. The delicate little ring suddenly felt as if it weighed a million pounds. "No, not for long. Billy, I need to talk to the pack. There's… a threat in the area."

He shrugged, but his eyes were worried, cancelling out his otherwise blasé expression. A brief flash of intuition was all it took for me to understand his face.

"They aren't here." Jacob's not here.

Billy shook his head. "No."

I sighed. "You don't know where they are." You don't know where Jacob is.

He shook his head again, sighing. "Emily came to the house to see Jacob, and the next thing I knew—"

I stopped him, gasping. His warm, moist, delicious scent burned in my throat. For a brief moment, flames went scalding down into the pit of my stomach. Surprising myself, I ignored it. I was too shocked by this information to even think about soothing the burn.

"Emily came here? When?" I asked, my eyes widening.

He blinked, surprised by my reaction. "A few nights ago."

My head reeled. A few nights ago? I'd seen Emily being cornered by Victoria weeks ago. There was no possible way that Emily could have outrun Victoria, could have fought her off. The wolves weren't there to save her, or else Alice and I wouldn't have seen the vision the way we did. I shivered.

"Thanks. Sorry to have bothered you." My voice sounded far away, like I was underwater. I wheeled around.

"Wait," I called. Billy turned to look at me, shuffling his chair around again with a huff of annoyance.

"Yes?" The irritation rang clear and true in his voice. I would have laughed if I wasn't so alarmed.

"What did Emily and Jacob talk about?" I demanded, my panicked voice revealing my fear.

Billy thought it over for a second. "Something about Emily's new friend, and how she needed Jake's help. She cried, I think. Said 'It's not fair,' and that Jake owed her."

I blanched. "Billy, what was her new friend's name?"

He squinted, trying to remember. "Something with a V?"

I couldn't find my voice. "Victoria." I breathed.

Billy nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

I thanked him and turned, my hands shaking, to the terrifyingly dark forest. I reached into my back pocket, my fingers flying numbly over the keys. Pick up, I wailed in my head, Pick up!

"Bella?" Edward's voice was stressed.

"Edward. Oh, god." My lips trembled as I tried to tell him. I couldn't get the words out around my choked throat.

I was running now, terror propelling me faster than I knew was possible.

"Bella? What is it? Bella?" Edward's voice shot through a few octaves in his wild concern at my obvious horror.

"She's after me, Edward. She's got the pack's help. Emily is alive."

Edward couldn't speak. When he did, his voice was as terrified as my own. "Where are you, Bella? We'll find you, we'll—"

I swallowed, my eyes darting suspiciously around at the dark trees. "No. I have to go… I have to run. I love you. I'm so sorry." I began to pull the phone away from my ear. A pained cry sounded from the speaker before I snapped the phone shut.

At least the rest of my family didn't have to die.

I could feel Victoria's presence. It shimmered through the air, causing the clear night to hold it's breath in trepidation. I heard her approaching. I stopped in a clearing, waiting for her to show herself. Why bother running? She would find a way to get to me eventually. I did not want her anywhere near Charlie or Billy. It was too late for Jacob, he was with her, too. I felt a strong jolt of courage. It was time to end this, and I knew very well how it would end.

I was stronger than her, yes, but she was more experienced. I knew I would lose the battle. It was inevitable. With the pack on her side, even if I did triumph over her, I would be ripped to shreds and burned before I could even relax my muscles. However, she only wanted me. That was the relieving part of the whole mess. She would stop with me, and leave Edward and the rest of my family alone. I twirled my beautiful wedding ring around on my finger. I hoped Edward would get it back. It belonged in his family, not in a pile of ashes. I wished that I would have gotten married sooner. I'd never know what it was like to be married.

I turned towards the sound of her entrance, a small rustle that I knew was intentional. She was taunting me. She emerged into the clearing. She looked much as she did in my memories. However, her eyes weren't black. They were a blistering, angry crimson. She was smiling. Her hair was just as chaotic as it had been in the field so long ago at that damned baseball game. She paused where she was, drinking in my image as I had been hers. Her face was eerily happy. I knew it would be. She'd longed for my demise for a while now. This was Christmas morning to her. I knew being able to see her would send a spasm of shear terror though me that would paralyze me momentarily. It still shocked me when it happened.

Yes, I knew a lot of things tonight. My knowledge was of no advantage to me.

Grinning, just had James had done that day in the ballet studio, Victoria coiled her feline-esque body, her hair a brilliant flame against the frigid black sky.

I hope you liked it. It took a really long time to think up an ending. I hope the part with Edward and Bella saying goodbye in his room wasn't too gooey. I actually just finished reading the series again. It kind of inspired me to put more effort into my stories. I'm hoping that I get a lot of reviews for this chapter, cause I thought it was a pretty big one.

Review!