I don't own Twilight!

Chapter Twelve: Time Passes

Alice, Jasper, Emmett and I had been hunting for Edward for months now, and we were still no closer to finding him.

I knew that our progress had been slowed considerably because of my inconvenient human needs, which left me feeling frustrated. Our little hunting party had to stop every time I had to sleep or eat, and it annoyed me to no end. I tried to insist that I could sleep on one of their backs while they were running, and carry food around in my duffle bag so we wouldn't have to stop, but they wouldn't hear of it.

Every night Alice made us check into a hotel so I could sleep in comfort, and they would order room service for me so I could eat proper meals. What added to my frustration was that Alice always made sure we had the penthouse suite of any hotel we stayed in, which in my opinion was completely unnecessary. After a while, I learned that it did me no good to complain. They refused to listen, and insisted that it was the least they could do after everything Edward put me through.

Sleep wasn't the only reason we stayed in hotels, though. For one week each month we would stay in a hotel because it was too hard for one of them to carry me while I had my period. Apparently that blood is not as potent as the blood running through a human's veins, but it is still uncomfortable for them to be around. So, we would stay in hotel in two separate rooms. Emmett, Jasper and Alice all insisted that they could be in the same room with me, but I didn't want to take any chances. Plus, it embarrassed me to know that the smell was that obvious to them.

I used that time each month to call Charlie; of course I mean I would call the house when I knew he wasn't there and leave him a message. I was too nervous to actually talk to Charlie, but I figured I should let him know I was okay. My messages were always the same:

"Hey Dad, it's Bella. I am still looking for Edward, but I wanted let you know that I am okay. I will call you again when I can. Bye."

The messages were short and to the point, because I really didn't know what else to say to my father.

I was also a little worried about what was going to happen at school, because I had missed so much. If I found Edward soon, then I could finish the year and then make up what I missed in summer school, so I tried not to dwell on it.

Holidays also slowed us down a little bit, because Alice made us stop and celebrate them; I had a feeling she was hoping they might cheer me up, but they never really did.

Halloween was first, and she made us stop and carve pumpkins and leave them on people's doorsteps, which I thought was weird, and a waste of our time, but I didn't complain. Jasper and Emmett also bought me a big bag of candy, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I was very grateful Alice didn't make us do anything involving costumes.

Thanksgiving was next, and I was thankful they didn't make a big deal out of it. They bought me a turkey sandwich and made disgusted faces as I ate it, which I actually found pretty funny.

Christmas was nice, but I felt guilty for keeping Emmett away from Rosalie during that time. I begged Emmett to go home to Rose for Christmas, but he wouldn't do it. We spent Christmas at fancy hotel, and Alice dragged us to a nearby mall to buy presents for each other.

Since Jasper, Alice and Emmett had paid for everything on our journey, I actually had some money to spend on gifts for them. I bought Alice a friendship necklace – the kind that she keeps half and I keep half, because I knew she would get a kick out of it, and a gift card to her favorite store, Victoria's Secret. I got Emmett and Jasper video games and gift cards to their favorite stores; Spencer's for Emmett, and Barnes and Noble for Jasper.

My other present to them was that I didn't complain when I saw they had bought me presents as well. Alice got me some winter clothes, which I was grateful for. Of course she knew that I didn't have any winter clothes with me, and that my tolerance to weather was much different from theirs. Emmett bought me a gift card to Victoria's Secret so I would have something special to wear when I saw Edward again. When Emmett pointed out the purpose of his gift I turned five shades of red, and then tucked the gift card away. I was much happier with the gift card Jasper gave me because it was for Barnes and Noble.

New Year's Eve was uneventful. We stayed in our room and watch the ball drop on TV and then I went to sleep.

Valentine's Day was the most recent holiday we celebrated, and by we I mean Alice and Jasper. Alice and Jasper went out together while Emmett and I stayed in our most recent hotel and watched movies. It was nice spending time with Emmett, but I could tell he wished he was with Rosalie on Valentine's Day instead of me, and I felt guilty all over again.

The calendar soon read March, and we were somewhere in South America because Alice had had a vision of Edward coming there. We had been to so many places that I eventually stopped keeping track of where we were.

I was on Jasper's back as we ran through what I could only assume was a rainforest, when the three of them came to a sudden halt.

"Do you smell that?" Alice asked, and I could tell she was talking to the other two because I didn't smell anything.

"Yeah, what is that?" Jasper asked as he sniffed the air.

"I know what it is," Emmett said, and he looked nervous, which in turn made me nervous because nothing scared Emmett.

"What is it?" Jasper asked.

"Werewolf," Emmett answered.

AN: Thank you to my beta fnmom68! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE :)