31.
I was falling behind everyone as they ran through the lobby of the hotel, which was almost completely empty. Emmett noticed my lagging and grabbed unto my wrist, pulling me along until we reached the street and piled into the cars. Edward and Alice were talking so fast I couldn't understand a word they said, talking over each other as they ran. I was pushed into the car, Emmett coming in behind me, head first, slamming the door just as Edward pulled the car out into the road and sped off.
"What was that about?" I burst out the minute I pulled myself up into sitting position. Edward glanced back at me through the mirror and apparently wasn't too pleased to see I had been dragged along. He glanced at Emmett, who shrugged. I was along for the ride.
"I don't know how she did it, but Lisa got through the shield. She told me where she thought she was."
"What about Alice, what did she see?"
He glanced at Bella, who was sitting next to him before replying, though she wasn't watching him. "Edward, watch out!" she yelled.
He neatly pulled the car back into the right lane. "Lisa is in trouble. Alice was able to piece together that she was where we assumed she was: Aro's vacation house."
"That's where we're headed now. How long?"
He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "We'll be there around ten or eleven."
It was now 7:31. It was going to be a long ride squishes in between Emmett and Rose.
"Any ideas as to what caused the shield?" I asked about an hour into the trip.
Edward glanced up in surprise. No one had said a word in the last hour and he must have forgotten I was here. "I don't know. Aro might have found someone that can put up a mental shield like that."
"Might have?" I didn't think I wanted to know the other alternative he was considering.
Edward glanced at me, and having read my thoughts, stayed silent.
In our hurry to get out the door, Emmett had only been able to grab his shoes, so now he was bent over, tying his sneakers. I grunted as he shifted his weight around to be able to reach his shoes. "Sorry," he muttered into the back of Bella's seat.
Every once in a while, Edward shook or nodded his head in response to some unspoken question and I wondered who he was talking to. The scenery outside had changed. The perfectly timed flashes of light from streetlights faded into the occasional spark of light from little cottages on the hills. The road grew smaller as we moved from the city to the village. Every once in a while my head would snap down and scare me awake, though I never realized I had fallen asleep.
I glanced at the bright green digits shining on the dashboard. We should be there soon if Edward's calculations were correct.
Suddenly the houses disappeared and we drove through miles and miles of vineyards on a one-car road. Occasionally we would hit a pothole that would nearly send me flying to the roof. Bella warned Edward several times to slow down, but he always managed to find his way back to the same jarring speed.
A hill crept into view, on top of which sat a huge old villa. Its white walls reflected the lights of our headlights as we came closer.
"This is it?" I asked as Edward craned his neck over the steering wheel to look at the house.
"Yeah," was all he said.
Everyone suddenly became alert as Edward flashed his beams before turning off his lights to signal that Carlisle should do the same. We slowed to nearly a crawl, which got on my nerves, as approached the huge house in darkness. Only a few lights were shinning in the windows. I could see no movement as I peered out the car window.
Carlisle stopped the car a good ten yards from the house, parking it on the side in the grass. Edward followed suite. Before getting out, he glanced back at me with a frown on his face.
"I'll stay," offered Emmett, but Edward shook his head.
"We need you in there. Rose?"
She glanced at Edward, begging him with her eyes. "No offense to John, but I want to catch this monster and tear him apart for what he's done to us. Sitting out here would be pure torture." She glanced at me. "Again, no offense."
"None taken," I said gruffly. I was annoyed with Edward that he would make me sit in the car, asking people to baby sit me like I was a toddler likely of getting under foot.
He glanced at me. "It's for your own good," he said.
I exhaled in frustration, having forgotten the man could read my every thought. "I'll stay here, I promise."
He looked me up and down as if searching for some reason to trust me. "Okay," he finally said. "Don't move."
I could tell he had raised a teenage daughter by the way he commanded me to stay put. "Fine," I said grimly.
He pulled his head out of the car and shut the door quietly. Rose and Bella had already joined the occupants of the other car, scanning the house for any signs of life.
"I'm sorry, man," whispered Emmett. I glanced at him. I knew he really was when I saw his eyes.
I nodded. "Go. Save my wife."
"You think this is it?" I heard Bella whisper just before Emmett closed the door.
Darkness covered me like a blanket as the little car light went off. The Cullens moved off in complete silence and left me alone. A chill ran down my spine as I watched them leave, and I reached into the front seat to make sure the doors were locked. The sounds of the night pushed through the windows and made my leg shake. I felt like I did when I watched a horror movie, except this time, I was in it. I shut my eyes and tried to think about something else.
A memory floated into my head. Seeing my wife smiling at me in my head calmed me considerably as I sank into my head.
"Wow," I uttered under my breath, completely in awe, as an angel in white made her way down the aisle towards me, her father at her arm. She glanced up at me through the veil and my heart skipped a beat. Could this be happening? My hands broke into a cold sweat as I waited for her to reach me. Her father kissed her on the cheek and she made her way up the three steps to where I stood with the minister. I grinned at her and then turned to face the priest, grabbing hold of her hand. There was a small tremor in her hand and I glanced at her through the corner of my eye. A tear had escaped her eye and was rolling down her pink cheek. A smile that could have lit up the whole world sat permanently on her face. Again my heart skipped a beat when I realized she was going to be mine. To think that she had agreed to marry such a wreck like me!
"Jonathon Lee Freeman, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish her from this day forward for as long as you both shall live?"
A feeling of true happiness bubbled up into my throat as I opened my mouth to say "I do." I choked back a sob as a fat tear rolled down my hot cheek and whispered the two words.
I heard Lisa sniffle next to me as the priest repeated the words to her.
The world was lost to me and the only thing I heard came from my bride's lips as she said, "I do."
The feeling the filled my belly I could never explain. All I know is that I started laughing like a fool as I turned around and pulled Lisa into my arms, smothering her with kisses.
I rolled my head around to look out the car window, staring at the rows and rows of grape vines. "What ever possessed you to marry a man like me, Lisa?" I whispered to the darkness.
Whatever it was, I sure am glad she did.