AN (1): I would like to thank everyone for your kind words in regards to my mother-in-laws health. Sadly she passed away at home and it has been a challenging time trying to support my husband and two children. There is however a light at the end of the tunnel and I am starting to get back to normal life, which includes getting back to this story.

AN (2): Please note that this chapter has been neither pre-read or beta'd so all poor grammar is my own.

AN (3): Biggest hugs and thanks to the ladies from C2C, for your continued support and love.

Chapter 15

When time and space and change converge, we find place. We arrive in Place when we resolve things. Place is peace of mind and understanding. Place is knowledge of self. Place is resolution.

Abdullah Ibrahim

The moment he set foot on the Island, Carlisle knew Edward was gone. The pull of his mate, the sensation of his presence, no longer existed on the island. Racing to the lighthouse he found all as he left it; except the bed was no longer occupied. There was no unfamiliar scent, no sign of an intruder, no indication that the vampire had somehow been taken against his will - Edward had left of his own volition. Carlisle tried to maintain a small bubble of hope that his mate had simply wandered away in his delirium however, upon following Edward's scent, that bubble soon burst and it was clear that the other had purposefully abandoned the island.

His distress at Edward's absence quickly turned to fury at the young vampire absconding strictly against orders. Returning to the lighthouse, he stood in the middle of the room at a loss as to what to do next. Looking around, he suddenly felt the walls closing in on him, the sensation of claustrophobia dragging at both his body and mind. The pressure soon became unbearable and he lashed out at the room, tearing it apart in a desperate attempt to free himself for the feeling of suffocation.

He soon found himself surrounded by the debris that was their belongings. In the silence he could hear a 'tap…tap…tap' sound, sounding disturbingly like a heartbeat. The regular sound was accompanied by a sharp odour that warned of kerosene leaking from a broken lamp; shattered during the destruction.

Carlisle stared at the liquid, tipping his head to one side he could almost imagine the liquid was blood oozing from a wound, that delicious sound tantalising in both its tone and texture. He breathed deeply, only to remind himself that this was not the cherished nectar of life but the source of fire; something that bestowed light and warmth, as well as death and destruction.

Collecting the shattered lamp, he upended the remaining contents in a single splash. He then moved around the room gathering the remaining lamps, meticulously empting them all over the room. Taking one last look, assured that there was nothing that he wanted to keep, he opened the window and jumped out; pausing only to strike a match on the window sill and throw it into the room. He then turned his back and walked away as the lighthouse was rapidly engulfed in flame.

His return voyage across the lake provided time to think about what had just happened, about what it meant for Edward to run away from Carlisle in this manner; for Edward to throw Carlisle's gifts and help and love in his face, in exchange for what was a non-remarkable human boy.

How could he throw away his future for a human? How could he do that? Carlisle shook his head.

Edward was remarkable from the first moment he saw him, little did Carlisle know then how valuable and unique Edward would be as a vampire, one that was all his. William was nothing, a nothing who would live a life hidden behind his mother, seducing happily married men into his clutches, abandoning them as he became bored.

This nobody had touched his mate…worse than that, he had held and kissed Edward. William had been welcomed into Edward's classroom, and their home; betraying them both by attempting to create a rift between Edward and himself.

Becoming distressed at this train of thought Carlisle stopped the boats engine, allowing the sudden silence to wash over him.

Looking around he let his gaze wander absorbing his surroundings, the sleek shape of the vessel, the dark and gloomy waves lapping gently at the hull. But instead of calming him, the tranquil scene infuriated him. Why could his life never be perfect? Why could he not have a time of peace and tranquillity with his mate? Why must it always be trouble and trauma for them both?

Holding his head in his hands, he cried out in anguish, he could only see one way out. By removing all traces of their presence and removing Edward away from the wicked influences of the town, Carlisle could only then hope to restore their relationship and the balance between them.

He now understood why Aro was ruthless when eliminating evidence of their existence. Humans like William were a risk; he could not be left behind only to speculate on Carlisle and Edward. He was sure to become curious about the couple and soon ask enough of the right questions to become a potential risk.

Carlisle needed to take Edward away, away from the lure of those who would take advantage of his generous and friendly nature, but Carlisle was also obligated to protect them (and the rest of the vampire nation) from his mate's error in judgement. He looked into the night to the now smouldering lighthouse. Destroying the lighthouse was a good decision, a good first step in cleaning up; he now needed to continue, remove all evidence be it property, papers or persons.

Looking around him, he sighed. This new found resolve would come with some heartbreak. The boat on which he sat was one of Edward's most prized possessions. Carlisle hated that he had a history of giving Edward vessels to only take them away again. But he needed to be ruthless, he would get Edward another boat once they had settled down again and the young vampire could be trusted to not leave Carlisle again. Edward would be distressed, but he would understand one day the importance of Carlisle's actions and how they protected them both.

Before he could second guess his decision Carlisle stood and moved to the rear of the boat. Opening the fuel tank he looked around and found a length of rope under the seat. Dipping the length into the fuel tank he then laid it along the deck, leaving one end of the rope soaking in the tank. Pulling out his lighter he lit the other end of the rope and then dove from the boat, swimming down deep as he kicked strongly away from the doomed vessel.

A light and small shockwave altered him to the boats fuel tank catching alight. Without bothering to break the surface to look, he struck out to shore.

Upon reaching the solitude of the vacant boathouse, Carlisle changed into fresh clothes he had stored there. Leaving the building he stood and looked out to the water, in the distance he could make out a faint glow from the lighthouse and closer to shore, like a satellite, a smaller glow as his mates beloved Elizabeth struggled to remain afloat.

He stood, absolutely still, and watched until the smaller glow faded and disappeared into the depths with a gentle hiss. The fire on board Elizabeth had finally consumed the boat; extinguished as she sank to her watery grave.

The wood and stone lighthouse took longer to burn and despite the glow of the fire, it appeared that the buildings demise had attracted little to no attention; well at least not enough to encourage anyone curious enough to head for the island to investigate. *[see AN below]

Without another thought, Carlisle turned his back on his handiwork and ran in the direction of the town, his mind already focussed on his next target.

~*.*~

It was pre-dawn when Carlisle arrived at the outskirts of town, the cloud cover assuring him that he had at least one day to finalise his business with Oberlin and a couple of its residents. Walking through town he watched as the first signs of human activity occurred for the day, he had always liked this time of the day; the air was heavy with potential and life. However today he saw the rising populace only as having the potential to separate him from his mate, to destroy his happiness.

Looking around he suddenly realised that he had reached his destination. Standing outside the Pearson home he felt a sense of peace and calm, all anger had drained out of him and he smugly took this as a sign that this was the right decision, he was on the right path to resolving the mess that Edward had created.

At that moment, William Pearson emerged from the cottage with his mother. They were clearly on their way to their activities for the day, Mrs Pearson to the hospital and William on his way to the conservatory, his satchel of sheet music over his shoulder. Carlisle pulled his hands through his hair to give the impression of dishevelment and ran across the road, shamming panic and shortness of breath.

"William, thank goodness! I need your help," said Carlisle faking frantic distress. "Edward is unwell and asking for you. I know we have had our differences, but I need your help to calm him. He has a raging fever, not aided by a bout of hysteria which is impeding my ability to treat him. I fear that unless you can assist me to calm him, Edwards may not fully recover."

William looked torn, but his concern for Edward soon overrode any suspicions regarding Dr Cullen. He turned to his mother, who nodded her support.

"Of course I will Dr Cullen. Anything to help Edward," he replied, taking a step closer to the vampire.

"Thank you William, Mrs Pearson, you cannot understand how grateful I am to you. Please come now," Carlisle gestured towards the centre of town and the conservatory.

William kissed his mother's cheek, then falling into step with Carlisle, followed the other to Edward.

~*.*~

Carlisle was aware of the old man as he sat seemingly immobile in the Cullen's car which was parked outside the hospital. The increase in his heartbeat gave the Maestro away as much as any other sound or movement could. Carlisle could feel the old man's gaze as he walked by with William in tow, he contemplated approaching the vehicle, but decided against it, reasoning that the old man was probably waiting for Edward and will no doubt tell Carlisle's wayward mate of his movements thus reducing the need for Carlisle to track him down.

Edward was sure to come to him.

Smiling at William he led the young human into the conservatory grounds. After a short time Carlisle became aware of the old man's presence behind him, clearly Edward had not advised the old man as to the danger he faced following Carlisle.

Carlisle and William entered the music building, Carlisle leading the young man to Edward's office.

"He is in here," Carlisle opened the door and gestured for Will to walk ahead of him into the room. Carlisle watched as William frowned at the empty room.

Carlisle had thought long and hard as to the method of debilitating his prey. He did not wish the young man to expire prematurely, however he did require that William be incapacitated for the duration of time between his capture and Edward's arrival.

Fiddling with the vial in his pocket, Carlisle snapped the glass allowing the liquid to soak the surrounding rag. The sweet solvent smell of Ether alerted the young man seconds before Carlisle placed the cloth firmly over William's mouth and nose. The boy had no time to struggle before he fell limply against Carlisle, kept upright solely by the hand that held the cloth to his face. Feeling the body start to slide to the ground Carlisle picked up the boy and carried him into the music room where he tied the human to one of the comfortable arm chairs.

Looking down at his captive, Carlisle started to get anxious waiting for the Maestro to catch up with them. Rather than remaining with the unconscious boy he decided to investigate the offices. The search of Edward's office was quick, as his mate mimicked Carlisle's own behaviour of bringing minimal personal effects to his workplace.

Moving down the corridor, Carlisle used his well-honed lock picking skills to enter, and search, the Maestro's office. He found the office to clearly belong to one of a teacher and bureaucrat. Rifling through the papers he found it told the story of an elderly professor living out his final years in a pinnacle position.

Placing the papers back, Carlisle made sure to tidy the desk, moving to reach over the desk, his foot kicked something solid bolted underneath the piece of furniture. Bending down he furrowed his brow at the small metal box bolted to the underside of the desk. Looking closer his frown became deeper as he recognised the box as one he has seen before.

Ripping the box from its housing, he broke it open, hoping that for once he was wrong. Looking at the contents of the box he conceded that he was not.

"This explains everything," he mumbled to himself. Staring at the Volturi Diplomatic papers and Agent signet seal, he was not surprised by this new information. There had always been something about the Maestro that was familiar and unsettling in equal measure to Carlisle. Now that he had his vague suspicions confirmed he could place the old man clearly as an adversary and a risk to Edward.

A faint sound alerted Carlisle to the old man's arrival. Pocketing the seal and papers he made his way out of the room to the front door of the building. He watched as the Maestro paused at the bottom of the steps, seemingly unsure as how to progress. The old man hesitantly climbed the steps and opened the door, apparently unaware of Carlisle's presence. The vampire noticed the shiver as the old man walked past him and quietly cleared his throat.

Startled at the noise the Maestro turned swiftly, throwing himself against the far wall at the sight of the red-eyed vampire.

"Dr Cullen," he gasped. "You startled me?"

"Well Maestro," Carlisle smiled without humour. "Considering you followed me from the hospital, I am somewhat confused at your surprise. You seem so determined to follow myself and Mr Pearson, will you not join us?"

The Maestro opened his mouth to make his excuses, when Carlisle grabbed the old man's arm. Carlisle was no longer the pacifistic humanitarian doctor but a member of the vampire nation proud, strong and menacing.

"Please understand that this was not a request," Carlisle continued his voice hard and cold.

The Maestro winced at the firm grip in which the vampire grasped his arm.

"Indeed I must insist," the vampire lead the human down the hall.

~*.*~

Edward raced to the lighthouse; stressed that he had yet to find Carlisle.

Upon visiting the hospital it became clear that Carlisle had not visited that day. Leaving the Maestro to watch for his sire, Edward raced to their house where he found evidence of Carlisle's having spent time packing. The house had been stripped of all items, labelled boxes stacked in the living area, while the furniture had been pushed to the far wall tagged and labelled for storage.

Edward wandered out and around the back of the property and stopped at the sight of his beloved piano on the ground in pieces. He had not thought of the fate of the instrument since that night when everything went to hell, but the sight of something that had been a large piece of his identity shattered and left in the dirt inspired within him a frantic determination to locate Carlisle, to ensure that their relationship did not end the same way has his piano.

Leaving the house Edward easily picked up his mates trail. Despite being an average tracker, Edward could follow Carlisle's scent through a hurricane…in the dark. He was a little surprised that Carlisle's trail headed toward the island without first having restocked their blood supply. Frowning, he kicked up a gear, and raced to the edge of the lake. The smell of burning diesel and wood left him with little misunderstanding as to what had happened. Making out the plume of smoke in the distance he could be assured that the lighthouse was now a smouldering mass of timber and stone.

A feint sound in the water drew his attention to a number of pieces of wood floating and bumping against each other. Bending to collect a piece that had floated to shore, he recognised it instantly. Edward dropped to his knees. Carlisle was clearly determined to remove any trace of their presence, eliminating all possibility of returning to their lives in Oberlin.

Kneeing on the bank, Edward looked across the water and tried to deliberate what Carlisle's next objective would be. Probably not the hospital, Carlisle had taken little of his own belongings to his work, preferring to do his research at home. This left the conservatory and Edward's office. Edward was not too concerned with Carlisle destroying anything in the office, any books and music that he had not committed to memory, would be easily replaced.

So what else was there that Carlisle could destroy at Edward's workplace? Edward looked at his feet as more pieces on Elizabeth washed to shore. Her destruction hurt more than he was willing to admit, he truly loved her, she was almost a real person to him, a confidant and an escape

Edward stopped the thought, he had been so focussed on what Carlisle might eradicate, he had not thought at all about whom. A part of him refused to accept the idea that Carlisle would hurt a human, but his sire was out of his mind with jealousy and blood lust. This was a dangerous combination that could finally push Carlisle from healer to hunter.

Without as much as a backward glance he turned and sprinted back towards the town. Paying no head to possible risk of disclosure Edward focused on his destination as he tried to ignore his frantic thoughts fighting for dominance within his panicked mind.

He knew he only had hours to find Carlisle, and extract him from their perilous situation, before the Volturi descended. He tried not to speculate past that objective nor allow other thoughts, fighting for priory in his mind, to distract him from his goal. If they were able to escape what would happen to William? Would the young human become collateral damage in this conflict? What of the Maestro, also a victim in this scenario? Could Edward morally allow the old man to be killed protecting Carlisle and himself? The lives of four beings were now dependant on him.

He rolled his eyes at that thought, who would have thought he was finally growing up, taking responsibly for their lives and actions.

The closer he got to town the more Edward felt that he was being followed. He felt a strange sensation at the back of his mind as if his extra sense was being clouded, he knew there was someone there, and he just could not 'hear' them in his mind. Rather than continue Edward swiftly climbed a large tree and hid amongst the branches. Staying absolutely silent Edward tried to maintain his claim, trying not to dwell on the thought that there were only a small number of individuals, all of whom were vampires, who could supress their thoughts and effectively hide from him. Most recently was Carlisle, the most proficient was Aro. The ancients own mind reading talent provided him with the skill to work around Edward's.

It was with that disturbing thought that Edward sat, straining his mind's eye, attempting to catch a whisper of his pursuer before they came into view. It was not long before he became aware of movement within the trees. He strained harder in an attempt to focus on his trackers thoughts. As his proximity to the stranger diminished he noticed something peculiar about the person's throughs. Not only were they heavily masked, but he experienced a sensation which was much like sliding on ice; the thoughts of his pursuer were present, Edward just could not latch onto them.

This was familiar to him, he knew this. He tensed as the figure came into view, stopping beneath the tree in which Edward was perched. He looked down as the other looked up and their eyes locked. Edward gasped.

"What are you doing here?"

~*.*~

AN: Middle Island is the southernmost point of Canada. Built in 1872 because too many ships were being lost on nearby reefs, the Middle Island lighthouse was manned by a series of keepers until 1918. It burned to the ground by the 1930's, how and when are unknown, but part of the stone foundation remains.