BPOV
Did I ever think I'd be in a car race with a murderer and kidnapper, driving a Volvo at 200 miles an hour, down a deserted highway to Forks, Washington, on my birthday?
Uh… no.
Did I ever think I'd even dream about bashing into a car with my new birthday present?
Not really.
So, what do you do in a situation like that? Go away and flee to the police, especially when the guns come out? Leave your crush to die? Or do you try and chance it against all odds to get him back? From the discoloration of his face, he had been through too much for one man, and nobody should be subjected to more of that when there was a possibility he could escape.
There was a gunshot and my eyes went to Edward, who cringed in pain. For a second, I thought he was dead, but he resurfaced again with a look of pure concentration on his face. I though he was trying to read somebody's mind before I saw his foot in the window, holding a small, glinting metal object up at his shoulder's height. He dropped them behind his back, and I assumed they had handcuffed him, the monsters. The black Mercedes jerked and the driver swerved, and Edward breathed a sigh of relief.
The Mercedes swerved again, this time bashing into my side of my Volvo. Luckily, the airbag didn't go off. That would have hurt, in more ways than one.
I struggled to slow down in time for a turn, and nearly went into the barrier when I did. By the time I was at a reasonable speed and across the turn, the Mercedes was considerably farther from me. I prayed to god and slammed my foot on the gas. Was Jasper like a psychic, or something?
I quickly caught up to the Mercedes, clipping one of the lights and breaking it. The car swerved once more before righting itself. As I came level with the driver, I saw he was beginning to panic.
Edward, on the other hand, was rubbing his swollen, discolored wrists with a look of accomplishment and pain. Weird combination, but totally accepted, at the moment. After a few moments, he looked pointedly at me and began attacking his door's lock. He pointed to the back door on my side.
He wanted to jump.
My mouth dropped open and I instinctively shook my head. He gave me puppy dog eyes and opened his door. His bronze hair was so covered with dirt and grime that it barely blew in the wind, but the beautiful metallic glint was still there.
I groaned and opened the backseat. Edward crouched at the edge and took a frightened look at the driver, who saw what we were going to do and began swerving. I inhaled sharply and screamed as Edward lost his balance and fell onto the road.
EPOV
Curse my fractured leg to the planes of Oblivion. I would have been able to make that jump, even with my sudden lack of balance, if I had full use of my limbs. But, when your wrists are infected, at least one of your arms sprained, and you have a fractured leg and many other wounds in the process of healing on their own, you're bound not to get very far.
Thankfully, I hit the ground rolling, and on my left side. I heard innumerable cracks and felt large and piercing stabs of pain course through my veins like fire, but I didn't die. The pavement on the road chaffed my skin through my ragged clothes, rubbing it raw. I ground my teeth in the pain so hard that tears began to gather at the corner of my eyes. Never before had I cried because of a wound, but this just hurt too much.
Red spots began encompassing my vision, but I realized that was my splattering blood scattered in a trail behind me. The smell reached my nose and I felt stomach acid rise in my throat. This was not the time to vomit, but I couldn't help it. A sickly green accompanying the blood made it look like everything was trapped in a demented Christmas from Hell.
I twitched before everything went black.
BPOV
"Edward! NO!" I screamed and forced the steering wheel in a hazardous U-turn. The Mercedes' driver didn't notice, but rather kept speeding away.
My phone rang just as I saw a lump of horrifying red on the cement.
JPOV
I stared at the clock on the news channel emotionlessly, waiting for the purr of Bella's new car to come into the driveway. She should have been home half an hour ago, but I hadn't told Mom this. Knowing her, she would just freak out, and I didn't want my, possibly, only surviving family member hysterical and insane.
Bella dead. The though was unbearable, especially since Alice. If she died, I think I would follow soon after. I had never been close to my mother, her being an international model and me being a history major in Maine. My dad was dead, from a heart attack, and Bella's dad was just gone. He divorced Mom years ago, just a few months after my half-sister was born. I had been three, so I didn't clearly remember any father figure in my life at all.
Growing up, I had guided Bella. She was a better friend than any of my girlfriends, or school friends. Only Alice could compete with her, but Bella hadn't minded. She had embraced Alice as her own sister just weeks after they had known each other.
With Alice's death, I wouldn't be able to cope with Bella's. We had known each other too long, and were too close.
I wiped away a tear creeping down my cheek. I didn't want Bella to die. I didn't want her to kill herself. I know that I had seriously considered suicide, and Bella was just as close to Alice as I was, but still. I was just beginning to come out of my emotionless shell for her birthday. I didn't want to regret that.
I finally got impatient and picked up my cell phone.
It kept ringing, until it went to voicemail. I began to worry.
"This just in: what looks like an innocent highway race identified as a deadly rescue attempt." The news reporter said seriously. A traffic cam clip of the highway from Port Angeles to Forks showed two blurs, a black and a silver.
They played it again, this time slower, and zoomed up on the two cars. One was a Volvo. Bella's Volvo. I let out a shaky breath.
"Earlier today, a sighting of the abducted Edward Masen was reported in the Port Angeles area. A black Mercedes was identified to be owned by his captors, and it is now being 'raced' by a silver Volvo, identified as Isabella Swan's."
I began to hyperventilate.
"Spotted by local traffic cams on the highway to Forks was a rescues attempt by Isabella Swan. As we can see, Masen had been prepared to jump cars before falling out of the Mercedes. Ambulances and authorities are already on their way."
My mouth dropped open and I quickly dialed Bella's number again, shocked, and scared for her life. She was racing Alice's murderer.
Shit.
BPOV
I slammed on the brakes. They squealed as my car skidded to a stop a few yards from Edward, who twitched every once in a while.
My phone rang again, but this time I actually answered it. I looked at the screen briefly, Jasper. Letting out an exasperated breath, I answered it at the same time I opened my door.
"Bella, what the hell were you thinking?" Jasper practically screamed into the phone. He tried to be angry, but I could hear the brotherly love and worry in his voice. At least my little stunt gave him some emotion.
"Out for a drive?" I tried. I groaned when I smelled blood, and nearly threw up at the scent on vomit. "Oh, Edward." I cried softly, kneeling beside his unconscious body. I completely forgot about my cell phone.
"Is he alive?" Jasper asked cautiously, the anger evaporating from his voice. I put my hand over Edward's heart, which was thankfully still beating.
"Yes." I panted with relief through my mouth. But that was short-lived. "He's bleeding too much, though, and he might have broken most of his bones."
"How fast were you going when he fell?"
I ignored my curiosity at how much he knew and answered. "Top speed."
"Wow. I thought it would be years before you went that fast, much less got used to it." Jasper chuckled humorlessly. "But an ambulance is on the way. The traffic cameras got it. I just watched the entire chase on the news."
"Thank God." I whispered to myself. I got up and carefully pulled Edward out of his growing pile of blood and bile, clenching my teeth at the smell. Half of his ribcage was partially collapsed, giving his body a gruesome appearance. His grimy shirt and jacket were torn open on his left side, showing me the tip of some broken ribs. Tears poured out of my eyes and I let out a sob.
"Bella, how bad is he?" Jasper asked, concerned.
I shook my head and began to full-out sob.
"Bella, just relax, I'm coming over there." Jasper said confidently. I heard a door slam and a car start. "And at the speed I'm planning on going, I'm going to get there before the ambulance."
I appreciated Jasper's attempt at humor in this situation, but it went almost entirely unnoticed by me. Nothing seemed a laughing matter in this situation. I just kneeled there, sobbing over Edward's body.
"Bella, it's going to be fine. I just got on the highway. I'm going to be there in less than a minute."
Edward began to breath quickly as he resurfaced, tossing his head from side to side like he was saying no. His right arm, oddly shaped at the wrist as it was, automatically went to his forehead. He hissed in pain.
"Edward, be very still. You broke a lot of bones." I said through my sobs. I wiped some of my tears away, leaving trails of Edward's blood on my face. His eyes flickered open to a squint, like he was trying to see through a thick fog, or through the sunlight after being in the dark, and he moaned, but had an odd smile on his face.
"I'd say I was in heaven, but it hurts too much…" At this point, I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. He must just be relieved to be free and see another human being. Besides, he was in too much pain to be coherent.
"Bella, is he awake?" Jasper asked. I had completely forgotten he was on the phone again.
"Yeah." I said softly. I heard a car squeal to a stop, and Jasper hung up on my phone.
"Bella!" Jasper's voice called. I looked up from Edward's pained and bloody face to see him running at me. He gasped. "Are you alright?"
He was probably eyeing the blood on my face. "It's Edward's."
"B-but, your side." Jasper stuttered as he bent down and touched my side. It suddenly stung. I hissed and cringed away from his touch.
"Oh, thanks for pointing that out!" I scolded through clenched teeth.
"Sorry." He quickly apologized.
Sirens entered my hearing, quickly growing louder and louder until the sound blared in my ears and deafened me. A headache sprouted in my forehead and one of my hands sprung in a vain attempt to stop the pain. But it was too great.
JPOV
I watched in horror as Bella fell over, unconscious, beside Edward, who was behaving similarly. I began to panic before four men with two stretchers hurried toward them, pushing and shoving me out of their way.
"That's my sister!" I yelled at them.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stay calm." A policeman said, restraining me gently. I ferociously tore out of his grasp.
"Stay CALM?!" I yelled. "My sister was just in a street race with my fiancée's murderer, trying to rescue my gardener, who is bleeding to death with said sister and I can't go with them to make sure they're alright, and your telling me to STAY CALM?!"
By the end of my rant I was in tears, the reality of the situation finally hitting me like a sledgehammer.
"Hey, Bergman, Freed!" The police officer waved two of his partners over. "Take the two cars to the hospital. I think this guy's going into shock, but there's no room in the ambulance."
The two policemen nodded and got into Bella's and my cars, quickly following the ambulance and were soon out of sight. I stared after them, unmoving and still taking the day in. Bella must be having a very interesting birthday.
"Come on." The police officer grabbing my arm and pulled me over to his cruiser. We got in and he began driving. "So, what's your name, kid?"
"Jasper Swan." I answered with my same emotionless tone. I spoke without looking his way, but I could see him stiffen out of the corner of my eye. "What's yours?"
He completely ignored my question. "I thought you looked familiar. It's been years since I last saw you. How's Renée?"
I turned to him, confused.
Realization dawned on his face. "That was Isabella, wasn't it?"
I nodded, like it was obvious. Technically, it was.
"Oh my god." Now he was the on in shock. "My daughter's going to the hospital!"
A/N: Just a warning, there is going to be some full out swearing in the next chaper, more so than this one. So, please don't kill me for that. It's just, how would you act if your step-father that abandoned you 20 years ago suddenly made and appearance in your life, and you had to spend an entire car ride with him?
No worries,
Kylie M.