Chapter Six – Chasing the Sinner

EPOV-

The familiar crunch of granite as we reached the entrance of our house did nothing to calm me down. For some reason, I felt duty bound to protect that insufferable girl. Maybe it was penance, but at this rate I would be happier continuing my journey to hell.

I tried to relax myself and instead focused on finishing Mozart's Requiem, a task that did not, as I had hoped, take up all my brain power. And so I was once again thinking about Bella. Was she afraid? Were those men truly thieves or something worse? Given the state of the girl I would think it to be the latter.

Rosalie would not be happy.

A smile tugged at my lips. 'At least I'd be able to cleanse my conscience for not protecting her. Even though that is a ridiculous thing to pain myself with, as I have nothing to do with her.' But even after this logical explanation of how I shouldn't care for that annoying girl, I still did.

I hate my human instincts sometimes.

Taking a deep breathand a quick glance at Carlisle, I entered.

…

RPOV

Edward was back. My mouth twitched in annoyance; I had been looking forward to spending more time with my M3.

"Rosalie! Come down, it's about Bella." Alice spoke in her usual lilting tones; however, her face betrayed a worry that I hadn't seen on her features in a long time.

"What happened?"

"You'll find out downstairs, now come on!" My sister tapped her foot impatiently.

"No, I meant your expression." I started to worry. If that girl had endangered my family, I might have to ignore Carlisle's peacekeeping just this once.

"Oh, it's just a vision I saw. It's err…nothing, anyway come on." Tugging on my hand, she led me downstairs.

Edward looked different, almost as if he was fighting a battle within himself, choosing which path to take.

"Eddie's in love!" A familiar rumbling voice shouted: Emmett. I smiled and nestled in his arms.

"What do you mean, Edward's in love?" I began to think about cover stories, exits and how my new Lamborghini would be delivered to an empty house.

"I am not in love!" Edward growled, "I don't know why I'm acting like this, and you don't have to be so horrible about it."

"You're just in denial. Eddie's in love!"

"I don't think so actually." Jasper interjected. "He is protective of her, but he's not in love. Not yet, at least."

"What happened to her to make you all care so much?" I didn't get why Edward and the others were so worriedif all she's done is fall over. Really, humans aren't that fragile and, after all, I really needed to go to that new mall in Seattle.

"She was attacked by a group of men outside of school, and she barely survived. I think you can imagine the rest, Rosalie." Carlisle looked at me with his calm gaze, picking the very words he knew would make an effect on me. He succeeded.

I wanted to kill them, hurt them in the worst possible ways I could imagine. Because I knew how it felt, I knew the thoughts that were going through her mind, the terror.

"What happened to them?" I couldn't help it; my voice shook slightly.

"I don't really know. All I can see is a dark alleyway. But we can track them, can't we?" Alice looked at Carlisle.

"It would risk exposing us, and I don't want to endanger any of you."

I glared at him. How could he just stand by when people like them were about? After King I absolutely hated those monsters, I was about to tell him exactly what I thought of his plan when Edward beat me to it.

"We need to chase after them! She didn't deserve what happened to her. Are we just going to stand by until some other girl gets mugged and attacked, too? No, we should go after them."

I nodded in agreement. Edward was very irritating but he made up for it in these kinds of moments.

Carlisle looked at Esme, and she nodded. "We should do it, Carlisle."

Carlisle sighed, defeated.

We got to work quickly; Jasper and Edward were on foot tracking while Carlisle, Esme and Emmett followed in the Jeep. Alice and I were going to flank the attackers, whoever they were.

I could smell them, but couldn't hear them, not even a heart beat or a flutter of an eyelash. Nothing. 'Were they human?'

I walked forward, glancing around until I hit a marble body. Edward.

I let out a surprised gasp and whispered, "Edward what are you doing with us?"I turned around. "Alice what's happening to the attackers?" But Alice was gone.

"Alice!" I shouted "Where are you?" Edward was still beside me, calm and unmoving, 'Was he even Edward? Or was he some shape changing vampire?'

"Rose, I never thought you cared so much about me." Alice appeared from the shadows, "Do you remember that vision I saw." Her smile seemed mocking, 'Was that actually Alice?'

"The one you didn't tell me about. What happened in it?" I was terrified. 'Were these people actually my family? Who were they?'

"Bella, sitting in class laughing with a smile on her face. Bella, covered in blood and grime with a bittersweet expression on her face. Bella in a coffin surrounded by lavender." Edward chanted, expressionlessly reflecting Alice's thoughts.

"Hey Rose!" Emmett was behind me. I turned around and he put his arms around me… was it to comfort me or restrain me? But this was Emmett and I knew it. I knew it in my very soul that this was Emmett and not an imposter.

"What happened to the attackers?" I asked Emmett, releasing myself from his embrace.

His normally cheerful expression sobered. "We found them here. They're dead, all of them."

They were piled on top of each other, killed by some sort of monster but with every injury serving a purpose. This was not a mindless killer.

"Who did this?" Carlisle asked striding towards us, Esme behind him. "Who would do such a thing and why?"

"The same reason we came here, but I can't find any scent here apart from Bella's." Jasper answered, his expression morose. "But Bella couldn't have done this, so who did? Who has no scent and would want to kill these men?"

"Alice had a vision where Bella was covered in blood," I said suddenly. For some reason, that fact was important to me.

"And then she was dead, lying in a coffin about to be buried." Edward looked down, hiding his expression from us.

"Who is Bella really?" Emmett asked.

I had no answer to that.