24.

John's perspective –

The light filtered in through the thin curtains covering the windows of the little cabin I lived in with Lisa, announcing that a new day had begun. I had been calling this home since almost a year ago, and if I were honest with myself, it was the only place I'd truly felt at home in. I had always been one step behind everyone my entire life, stumbling through life, until my eyes fell on a beautiful angel named Alisa. She had pulled me into sync with her steps and nothing had ever been the same. Loosing Lisa had been like growing up with a family and then finding out many years later that the people you thought were your parents were actually not; your real parents had abandoned you on the step of a Catholic church for the priest to find.

I rolled over sleepily, letting my free hand fall on the pillow next to me, which was empty. It still came as a shock to me some mornings that Lisa wasn't there next to me. I groaned and glanced at the clock: 9:16. I pushed the covers off me and sat up, my head lolling around as I fought off the last bit of sleep. A yawn made me stretch out my whole body. Then I slipped on my slippers and shuffled into the kitchen. Something I could not place my finger on stopped me in the doorway. I took a sniff of the air. The smell of coffee and eggs was not there. Lisa must have forgotten to make me breakfast, perhaps thinking I would sleep longer. Maybe she was with Alice.

"Lisa?" I asked the silent cabin. No response came to me. Louder this time, "Lisa?"

I padded into the living room, expecting to find Alice and Lisa with their heads bent together, whispering. But the chairs were empty. "Lisa," louder again.

My sleepiness fell off me as panic started to take over. Where could she be? I ran to the door and yanked it open. Somewhere a blue jay sang. Bright sunlight filled my eyes, making me squint and hold my hand against it as I scanned the woods. "Lisa?" Empty.

Motion to the left of me caught my attention. Emmett was making his way towards me. I wondered if he had heard me call out. "What's up?" he called while he was still a few feet away from me.

"Where's Lisa?"

He shrugged his huge shoulders, still moving towards me. He sped up a little when he saw the distress on my face. "What is it?"

I spun back to face the inside of the cabin, making sure I hadn't missed her. Only an empty house stared back at me. "She's gone," I whispered mostly to myself in disbelief, and then louder, "She's gone, Emmett."

By now he was right by my side, crowding me in the doorway as he scanned the empty room. He spun around, heading back to the house, saying, "Well, maybe –"

He was cut off by something. The soft breeze and slight red blur told me someone else was coming fast, and suddenly Alice materialized before me. Her red blouse was the flash of color I had seen. "Oh my…" started Alice as she scanned the room.

"Alice," said Emmett, concern written in his voice. "What is going on?"

"I don't know!" cried Alice in utter frustration, grabbing at her hair madly. "I don't know, I can't see a thing. Oh no, oh no," she muttered over and over as she paced in front of me. By now most of the others had found us. I saw them whisper to each other as Alice wore a path into the ground.

"Alice, what is it, honey?" said Esme.

For a minute, Alice didn't seem to hear the question. Then she stopped all of a sudden and faced the others, completely ignoring me. "She's gone. Someone's taken her, I can feel it!" Then she was grabbing at her hair again, pacing once more. "But I can't see anything!" A growl erupted from her throat, sending a shiver down my spine. I had never seen Alice so angry before. In fact, I had only ever seen any of the Cullens angry once or twice.

"What does that mean?" I shouted in frustration, wanting someone to pay attention to me. It was my wife that was gone, for Pete's sake!

Carlisle's face turned towards me. "Someone has taken Lisa, someone who is using a shield to keep her hidden from us."

"If only we knew who had taken her, we could find her!" ranted Alice.

"We can't find her?" I stuttered in disbelief. Couldn't these vampires do everything? Where had this gone so wrong?

Edward was shaking his head. "It was Aro," he muttered.

Alice stopped. "What?" she nearly shouted.

Edward didn't seem to notice, merely moving his eyes to her for a split second, before they moved to Carlisle's. "I should have seen this coming, Carlisle. Aro was hatching some sort of plan when he was here, though he didn't mention anything about kidnapping."

"Then how do you know he did it?" I asked, exasperated. Standing still like this while my wife was who knew where was getting on my nerves. My hand began to twitch for the need of something to do.

"I know he did it because kidnap is the only thing he didn't think about."

Carlisle nodded slowly, understanding. "He purposefully kept it out of his mind."

Edward nodded, horror marring his features. He turned his sorrowful eyes to my face. "I'm so sorry, John."

"Edward, stop beating yourself up about this. Aro didn't want us to know about this, so there was no way we could have known."

"So how do we find her?" I said slowly, trying to control my unrest.

Everyone exchanged slow glances. "If Aro has taken her," said Carlisle, "he'll most likely take her to Volterra."

"Volterra?"

He looked at me. "Italy."

A moan left my mouth. Italy?

"We've no time to loose," Jasper spoke up.

Carlisle nodded. "He's right. Let's pack, everyone. Bella, call Jacob and ask him to stay with John."

I took a step forward, waving my hands in the air. "Leave me! No, no, no, I'm coming with you."

Emmett stopped me with a hand to my chest.

"It's really best if you stay here," said Carlisle. "For all we know, this is all a lure to get you in Aro's hands. You're safer here."

"This is absurd," I shouted past Emmett. "You can't possibly think about leaving me here."

Emmett ground his teeth, and I could see he was regretting what he was about to say. "The decision's been made, John. It's best," he added.

"Argh!" I screamed, turning to punch the wall of the cabin. Pain shot up my arm but I ignored it. They couldn't keep me here! When I turned around, I was alone in the forest. This was not happening, but I wasn't sure how to stop it. I ran to the house as fast as I could, pulling up panting.

Jasper's eyes landed on me first. I couldn't read his expression, but I felt a wave of peace wash over me. I tried to push it off, but it was too strong. "Jasper, please," I whispered weakly. I didn't know much about what Jasper could do, only what Lisa had told me; some sort of mood manipulation.

Jasper cast a glance at Esme, who came to my side, softly asking me to sit down. I obeyed, sinking down into the plush couch. She sat down next to me and began rubbing my back slowly. The tears came before I could stop them. Ashamed, I hid my face in my hands, trying not to make a sound.

"Please," I begged her. "Please let me go with you."

"John, it's really not such a good idea."

Don't you think I realize that,I wanted to ask. I knew exactly how weak and useless I was compared to them. But it was my wife's life on the line, and I refused to be left behind. I grabbed Esme's hand and squeezed it as tightly as I could. The cold of her hand cooled the sweat on mine. "You don't understand how it would kill me to be left here."

I recognized the look that flashed in Esme's eyes. She knew exactly what I was talking about. I pressed in, hoping to break her. "My wife is out there somewhere. I've already lost her before, having no clue what happened to her. I won't let that happen again. Please, Esme."

She broke down and glanced at Carlisle. I saw his shoulders lift and fall in a sigh. Esme stood and walked towards her husband, where they stood quietly talking. Once in a while one of them would glance at me.

With the edge of my sleeve, I madly wiped off the tears from my face. When I opened my eyes, Carlisle was standing in front of me.

"Against, my better judgment," he said heavily, "I have decided to let you come."

I jumped up, but he stopped me before I could do anything.

"You need to understand, though, that if anything happens to you, Lisa will be very… unhappy with us. So you need to do exactly what we tell you. There will be no going off on your own, and if we tell you to stay at the hotel, you are not allowed to leave." He sensed my hurt and frowned. "I hate to do this, but it's for your own good. You're no use to Lisa dead."

I nodded slowly. "Thank you," I whispered.

I reached the door when I heard Carlisle mutter, "I hope I won't have to regret this decision."

My bag was packed in under 7 minutes. I flew through the room, making sure I had the essentials. I was back at the Cullens' doorstep in 12 minutes. They were already waiting for me, all the bags packed in the cars. Emmett came to stand beside me, silently, like a tower. Jasper kept glancing at me anxiously, maybe waiting for my emotions to go haywire again, but I kept them skillfully under control.

The ride to the airport was done in silence. I was squished in between Emmett and Jasper in the backseat of Carlisle's car. I felt like everyone was avoiding speaking to me, probably mad at me, but I couldn't apologize for my behavior.

I was stunned when we drove into a hangar, and not into the airport parking lot like most people would. The plane sitting inside the hangar was big enough to seat twelve comfortably.

"A private plane?" I whispered in awe.

Emmett nodded, something close to a smile popping up on his face.

I was the last one inside. Emmett stood waiting inside for me, closing the door behind me and sealing it shut. I found a seat near the back, Emmett choosing the chair next to me. That's when the jitters and impatience came back to me. The plane ride to Italy would probably last an eternity, which was not going to help my nerves, which were already at the breaking point.

Jasper had chosen the seat in front of me, and he now turned in the seat to glance back at me. He looked me up and down with a cautious eye. "You okay back there?"

"Huh? Sure."

He seemed unconvinced, giving me one more look-over, before turning back around. I glanced at Emmett and Rose, who was wrapped up in a magazine; or skillfully ignoring me.

"So, are you my bodyguard or something?"

Emmett glanced at me with a grin on his face.

I nodded. Of course, he is.

My fingers began taping the armchair impatiently. Emmett glanced at them once, making me stop. I glanced at my bag. I had brought nothing to keep me occupied on the plane ride. My eyes began to wander around, sometimes staring out the window, sometimes at the various people inside the cabin. I caught myself tapping my fingers once in a while. Lisa, why do these things have to happen to us?

The monologue I was having with myself was helping me out a little bit, but then I lost my cool and kicked the back of the seat in anger. Angry tears burned in my eyes.

I'm sorry, Lisa. This is all my fault, my stupid, stupid fault.

Jasper turned around again, though this time he looked at Emmett, not me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett get up and whispered something to Carlisle, who glanced at me under Emmett's arm before nodding. He pulled something out of his carry-on bag and handed it to Emmett, before kissing his wife and standing up to join Edward in the cockpit. A hand appeared in front of me. Two round tablets lay in the dead center of the icy palm. I looked up into Emmett's eyes.

"To help you sleep," he answered to my unspoken question. Sometimes I wondered if all of them couldn't read minds.

I thought about objecting but saw no point, so I took up the two tablets and swallowed them dry, though Emmett offered me a water bottle. 3 minutes later, the world slipped away from me as I slid into the darkness.