"Ember?" I asked confused. Leighton was crying uncontrollably, and I knew that she would have burst out of our house and never came back if I wasn't holding her against my chest. Her hands clutched my shirt and she was shaking so much I could swear my own vision was being affected.
To be honest, I didn't blame her. This was the first time I had seen any maliciousness coming from any of my family. Like honest to God maliciousness, I have seen them angry, but it was always with a friendly back bone; this, they looked like they would kill; everyone except for Grandpa, Grandma, and my mom, who looked as though she was completely indifferent.
"Edward calm down. Your scaring Leighton." She turned to me; her eyes a pure mask of delightfulness and it made me frown.
"You should take Leighton upstairs. I'm sure she will calm down without the tense atmosphere." Grandma said. I was just about to say that Jasper could change the atmosphere just fine, but he looked just as livid as the rest. I stood with her and realized I had to support most of her weight. I lifted her into my arms and her arms wrapped around my neck as tights as they could, like she was sure that nothing would happen to her as long as I was in the way.
"Shh, shh. Everything will be fine." I whispered to her while I walked to the stairs. "I expect to be told about what's going on, you know." No one answered me so I just continued upstairs, surprised at how light she was. Luckily though, my door was open. As light as she was I didn't think I could keep her up with one arm.
I kicked the door shut and placed her on my bed. Her arms were like chains around my neck. I chuckled, lightly reaching back to yank her arms apart.
"It's just us, you don't have to choke Me." she didn't laugh at my humor but she loosened her hold so that I could pull myself free. I shook my hair before climbing up onto my bed. Her arms were now wrapped around her knees, head buried in them. "They are just angry. We had to move around more than we usually would because of my mom and dad's past." They never told me about it, exactly, but I had a feeling this Ember was the problem.
"So she's after you; her and her coven, are going to hunt you and your - family down?"
"I guess that's possible." She lifted her head and looked at me with pink glittering eyes.
"Your not frightened?"
"No, I trust my family. They would do anything to protect me." Leighton chuckled without humor.
"Must be nice." I heard a hint of flame in her voice and I tilted my head sideways confused.
"Your family wouldn't?" she laughed again laying her chin on her knees.
"My dad cares more about his new family. My mom died six years ago and he remarried right away. He's got the poster family he always wanted, blonde aristocrat types to match his career." She laughed again but this time she actually sounded full of humor, a small smile graced his lips.
"You know, one interview he did, he talked about his son Gage and daughter Jane. Gage grade 12 off to Yale next fall, and Jane, Jr. miss BC, three years in a row. They aren't even his real kids, but they walk around calling him dad, and posing for pictures like the perfect diplomat family they are." I looked at her eyes wide, I understood what it was like to be the black sheep of the family, but I never felt alienated about it. "He sent them to private school. I even decided to keep my mom's maiden name. He never asked me too, but he didn't fight me on it when I wanted to be a Summers instead of a Churchill."
"If it's any constellation I like your name?" I half asked trying to lighten the mood. She genuinely smiled, like the predicament with her family didn't bother her.
"Are you going to move?" She asked, her smile fading quickly.
"I don't know."
"Will she come here?"
"I don't know."
"If she does and she finds me, or smells me here…" Leighton's voice started to tremble. I was sure that she was thinking about what else they could do to her if they found her knowing that she was involved with us. Instantly I felt sorry for talking to her, for bringing her here, I had put her in danger, not immediate, but danger none the less, I couldn't forgive myself if what I did, me talking to this human would end up killing her. She didn't deserve this. She was just a poor girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time twice with my kind.
"I'm sorry." I found it strange that I couldn't make my voice higher then a whisper. I looked down guiltily.
"Why?" she asked. I didn't answer until I felt a cool hand under my chin pushing my face up. "Why?"
"Because, you shouldn't be involved in all this." She shook her head eye's narrowing.
"You didn't get me involved in this. I went to your coven's old house,"
"Family." I interrupted her but she continued on.
"And I was the one who talked to you, and brought attention to my self. I decided to come here, you have nothing to do with the decisions I made." The way she phrased the last part made me frown, I don't know why, but it sounded…. No idea, it just bugged me.
"Be right back." I told her. A thought had occurred to me and I needed to talk to my family.
"Let me come with you. I promise I will be calm this time." My face wrinkled in indecision, but she placed her hands on her hips determined and I sighed.
"Fine."
"Grandpa!" I called the family was in the same place, with the same expressions as when I left. I could feel Leighton's reluctance and I grabbed her hand keeping her close to me to help her feel better. None looked at me they were all watching Alice with exceptional concentration. I knew she was searching and then suddenly Dad growled, not vicously but annoyed.
"Perfect, just perfect."
"Edward calm down." Alice chided her soprano voice not twinkling like usual.
"She's getting closer Alice. We have to move again, there is no other option."
"Dad."
"She's at our fifth last town, picking up our leads, they are finding us way too easy." Alice told everyone her face solom. "She has more in her coven now then when she found Leighton. Five are newborn's." She threw a glance at Jasper then and everyone's eyes followed.
"So we should leave false trails, buy fifty houses in every state we know of and move back to some where we used to live." Raiden said like it was the simplist thing in the world.
"Not that simple. I think they must have a tracker with them, that's the only way I can think that they would be finding us so quickly.
"CARLISLE!" I screamed finally getting the attention I wanted. "Grandpa, we can't move. If we leave her here, her scent is all over the place, they will recognize it and they will torture her. That Ember or whoever only spared her because she wasn't involved and you know that. If we leave her here and they find her… We aren't like them, we don't intentionally hurt humans. Leaving her is negligence, we should stay and fight, gather a coven like hers if we have to."
"Jett, don't talk, you have no idea what is going on." Dad growled at me and a snarl ripped through the room. Mom was beside me, her eyes boring into my dads and he recoiled.
"Don't growl at our son." I was shocked. Mom and dad were the most loving couple I ever knew, for her to take that tone against him, it was something completely otherworldly. "He's right, and I agree with him. We can't move and endanger Leighton. She is our responsibility."
"Bella don't be childish."
"She's after me; I will make the decisions." She turned to grandpa stepping behind me placing a hand on my shoulder and on Leighton's. I felt her hand twitch in mine but she didn't move, not even when mom looked in her eyes stroking her hair lovingly. "Go if you need to. I won't endanger you all, but they want me, and I will not let her be harmed because you and I wanted to be together." She directed the last part to my dad and I looked up at her.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Heck yes! I agree with Bella, we can take them down no problems." Uncle Emmett shouted all excited while he jumped up and down. Aunt Rose flicked him hard with the back of her perfect hand to silence him.
"What do you mean; she wants you because you are with dad? What happened?" mom turned to me with eyes as sincere as they always had been.
"I think he's old enough to know everything don't you?" Mom asked the room. When no one answered she smoothed Leighton's hair back from her face and Leighton seemed mesmerized by the motherly touch.
"Would you like to hear our story Leighton?" Leighton nodded while Mom sat us down on the stairs beside her. Leighton moved tight to my side and I switched hands so that my left arm was around her back holding the railing and her left hand was in my right.
"Jett's father and I met when we were 15, he moved to my town and much like now," she paused to look at my dad who smiled at her fondly from across the room, "was the most beautiful person I ever laid eyes on. I was a bit of an out cast but Edward was still my friend, especially after I helped take care of him when he got jumped by some guys at our school whose girlfriends had a crush on him."
"Hey jack ass, stay away from our girl!" Dane shouted slamming his hands on Edwards shoulders pushing him backwards.
"Hey guy's I don't want any trouble."
"It's to late for that." Chase said stepping forward
"I don't know what you're talking about. They were just being friendly."
"Yea right." Dean drew back his fist and cranked Edward in the jaw with a sickening thud. Edward fell to the ground while Chase kicked him a few time's in the stomach. Chase had his arm locked around Edwards's neck holding him in place while Dane punched him repeatedly.
"STOP! STOP IT!" I screamed running to the court surprisingly not falling. I pulled on Chase's shirt until he stepped away and I pounded on Danes back till he turned around to shove me back.
"We fell in love and for my birthday, I was home alone and he spent the weekend with me, it was the weekend that he had proposed to me and the weekend that we conceived Jett. That Sunday was the last night I saw him… human that is."
"Bella?"
"Mrs. Masen? What's wrong?" I shot up quickly. My heart started pounding.
"Have you heard from Edward?"
"Last time I saw him was at ten. He stopped by after his trip and he left at ten, why what happened?"
"He still isn't home, he hasn't called. We have people out looking but…" she trailed off and started crying louder. I dropped the phone not bothering to hang it up and pulled on my sweater. I could hear Edward Senior shouting my name into the phone but I didn't care.
I took off tripping down the stairs.
"Bella you're awake how was your- where are you going?"
"Edward's missing!" I shouted as I ran you the door. I could hear my parents calling after me, there footsteps behind me, but I could only concentrate on the drumming in my ears.
"EDWARD!" I screamed. I could hear cop cars in the near distance. I turned a few corners, following the route that he usually would have taken home from my place. After about ten minutes of running with my eyes blurry I tripped over something and landed in wetness.
"Bella! Bella wait!" I heard my mom scream I looked over to her and she stopped dead in her tracks as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Oh my God," escaped her lips.
I looked at what I tripped over. It was Edward's bags and I had fallen in a pool of his blood, Edward nowhere to be found.
"I moved to fork's and it was just fate that we were in the same place, but unfortunately, the change had caused him to loose all his memory. He saved me from almost getting hit by a car, for the second time in my life." She chuckled "but, he was a new vampire, and I was his singer."
"What's a singer?" Leighton spoke up. She was concentrating on my mom hard and I knew that she was trying to ignore the other vampires in the room.
"It's when a humans blood is so appetizing to a vampire that they can't refuse it. Edward almost gave in, but when his family pulled him away, he was upset and went to Denali."
"The place you guy's just lived in." mom nodded and I squeezed Leighton's hand proud of her melting fear.
"He fell for a vampire there, Raiden's best friend Ember. Raiden was a human just like I was when the Cullens brought me there. But Edward had no, and didn't want any memory of me."
"That must have been awful, living so close with the one you love…" Leighton said her voice tight. I smiled hearing this part of the story before, just not the part about Ember living with them, that made me feel angry. Dad denying mom, who was carrying me, and dating another vampire infront of her. I couldn't imagine my parent's lives apart from eachother, and the fact that there was a time when he loved some one else, that bothered me."
"It was, but Edward remembered. Unfortunately, Ember wasn't willing to let go of him that easily. She went to the Volturi think the prime minister of Canada, only for all vampires, but when they found out a human knew the secret, Aro, the head of the Volturi sent his Familiars, a group which like creatures, they put a curse on me, I was dying. Ember said that she would go and tell the volturi that I wasn't a threat, but she volunteered just so that she could make sure I died. Raiden knew something was up, bless his intuition, and he tried to stop her, but she changed him, just trying to buy some time. Raiden was able to get home to tell us what Ember was planning and we had to make a plan to save me. Edward tried to trick her. She got away, and I was safe for now, but she threatened us that if she couldn't have him neither would I, so we moved all the time, Edward and I, until I was close to giving birth to Jett. We went back to forks and the night you were born, was the night she came and attacked me.
"Why Bella, it's so nice to see you again." I started shivering on the ground as I pulled myself up slowly ignoring the pain.
"What is it now, six months? My, my aren't you getting big." Her hand grazed across my stomach and I instinctively turned so my stomach was away from her. I felt her face brush across my shoulder and I flinched away.
"You always smelt so amazing. It was a wonder how Edward could ever resist." I heard a deep laughter and I looked towards the door only to see Jeremy. His eyes were hungry, for what I didn't know but they frightened me. Ember was smirking at him and I took that moment to try and run. I got free of her arms only to have her get me again and pushed me down the four steps that led to the secret hallway. I landed on my back and I heard something crack as my head connected with the tile. My vision was black and fuzzy with white spots. My stomach was in immense pain but I rolled over and tried to crawl away before I felt ember straddle me. She gabbed my hair and yanked my head upwards elongating my neck.
"If I can't have him neither will you…" she whispered as Jeremy perched in front of me licking his bottom lip.
"Ember stop!" Raiden snarled launching himself at her and knocking Jeremy down as he went by. It was to quick for her to properly respond. Raiden had her in a headlock keeping her eyes hidden.
"Bella go now!" It took until I was 'safely' on the other side before I realized.
"She can't transport where she can't see…" I started to run down the hall until I felt something strange. Looking down, I could see a dark red stain on my jeans it was soaking through and down my leg heavily. I turned to look down the hall and there was a trail of my blood.
"Oh god…" I choked out before pain came again. It was worse. Like contractions… Contractions? I was six months! The pain made me double over. I pressed in the next code and entered my house making my way to the panic room. I could hear banging from the hall it was loud and persistent. The smell of blood was churning my stomach. I breathed through my mouth as I closed the panic door behind me. There was a phone in here and by now I was crawling and crying hysterically.
I dialled his number. Urging him to pick up.
"Bella! Bella were coming hold on okay! Are you alright." I bit my lip trying to keep the sobbing from coming but it swelled behind my lips until it exploded in a cry of pain.
"Please… it hurts…" I managed out.
"What does? Bella? What does?"
"B-blood…everywhere… t-the baby..." I slurred before everything faded out into black.
A/N: most of this chapter was a recap, hope your not too dissapointed, but it needed to be explained and for thoes who red B4TWV and forgot a bit, here is a refresher