[Elizabeth]

When I woke up, Carlisle told Esme to keep an eye on me and she took his word to the letter. Whatever they didn't want me to know was outside that door… and Carlisle knew Esme was the perfect guard for me, because I would never try and fight against her. I simply couldn't bring myself to… and beside that, I knew it would be completely useless. What chance could I have, with my unstable heart, against an invulnerable being?

At least they left me my tarots. I started mixing the cards, my mind a million years away. Maybe… maybe I could try and find out what happened by myself… The cards and my sixth sense never let me down, and I needed both more than ever in that moment. I silently displayed the cards in front of me. Was my grandmother alive? I was asking them. And the verdict hit me like a blade straight to the heart. Grandma Helena was dead. That was the real reason why I felt so bad earlier that day… I could even imagine her surrounded by her roses… everything was fine, and then all of sudden…

I widened my eyes. What the hell was that? One second I was looking at the cards, and one second after I saw Gabriel attacking my grandmother. He crushed her against his iron body, provoking the internal damage… he then bit her on the wrist, drinking her blood, to be sure she wouldn't survive… and then he sat her in her chair, so that everyone would look at her and think she fell asleep…

I started crying silently. In half a second, Esme was next to me, giving me a hug.

"She's dead, isn't she?"

Esme sighed, and kept stroking my hair. "The blood loss was too big. Her heart was weak, it couldn't cope…"

"Did she suffer?"

"Carlisle made sure she spent her last moments in peace."

I was sure of that. Carlisle would never let someone suffer if he could do something about it. I was going to tell her what I had just experienced, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. Bella and Jasper's words resonated loud and clear in my head. That girl, Alice… she could see the future. I just saw the past… and I wondered what I could see if I asked the tarots where Gabriel was. Maybe I could learn something useful… That monster took away from me the only person he should have never dared to touch. I didn't care what could happen to me. All I wanted was to get revenge.

I asked Esme if she could get me something to eat because I was starving, and with a smile she immediately went to find something. I felt incredibly sorry. Esme looked so much like my mom that I felt horrible lying to her. But I had already decided I would deal with that situation alone, and I wouldn't change my mind.

The first card I picked was The Tower. The Moon, The Wheel of Fortune and The Death followed it. I didn't like that combination of cards. I didn't like how it was making me feel… I was upset, nervous… and then another vision hit me. For a moment I felt satisfied… Gabriel was in my vision.

But Mick was in there, too. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, with his throat slashed. They were at my studio. I could recognize the photos on the wall… I immediately tore the IV from my arm and jumped out of the bed. I quickly changed into my clothes, and after checking if Esme or any other Cullen was in sight, I went out of my room and the hospital. I didn't know if what I had seen had already happened or was about to. If there was a chance to save my best friend, I would do the impossible to make it happen.

[Bella]

We were in Elizabeth's room, discussing what to do next, when I saw him. Mick was looking at me from the other side of the room, with a sad look in his eyes and his throat horribly slashed. Jasper noticed I was staring at the void, and he immediately asked me if I knew the ghost.

"Yes," I whispered, chocking back a sob. "It's Mick."

When I said his name, Mick immediately realized I could see him. He pointed a finger at himself and asked me if I really could see him.

"Yes, Mick, I can see and hear you."

"Really? How?"

I sighed. "Long story. Mick… what happened to you?"

"Gabriel. Half an hour ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, it's not your fault, isn't it? Bastard son of a bitch found me at school after my detention and… you can imagine the rest."

"Do you know where Lizzie is? Please, tell me you were already here when she ran away."

Mick nodded. "I was here, but she didn't say a thing about where she was headed…"

I bit my lip. Elizabeth read the tarots before leaving. What if she had seen his friend's death?

"Mick… where are you? I mean… where is..?"

"Elizabeth's studio. Do you think she's going there? Bella, he's still there, he will kill her! You have to do something!"

"We will."

"Care to share your thoughts with us, little sister?" asked Emmett.

"Mick's dead. Gabriel killed him less than an hour ago in Elizabeth's studio."

"Gabriel?" asked Jasper. "But I thought…"

"Yes, I know. Talk about coincidences. And I'm afraid that this is exactly what Elizabeth saw in the tarots."

"I thought she could only see the future," said my husband.

I sighed. "Apparently not, Jasper. We have to run. Mick said Gabriel is still there… Elizabeth is in danger."

Carlisle nodded. "Esme and I will stay here. Rosalie, Emmett… go to Elizabeth's house, keep an eye on her adoptive family. Just in case. Bella, Edward, Jasper…"

"We'll go there immediately."

"Whatever happens, take her back here. After this, I'll need to visit her again."

A quarter of second later we all left the room, and Jasper and I, along with Edward, rushed to the car.

We just hoped to arrive at the studio before it was too late for Elizabeth.

[Elizabeth]

After I got out from the metro I ran to the studio the faster I could, ignoring my heart and all the signals my body was giving me to make me slow down or better yet, stop and go back to the hospital.

The door of my studio was slightly open. I pushed it a little, so I could enter… Mick was on the floor, right in front of me, with the eyes wide open. He looked terrified, even in death…

"No…" I started sobbing, and I kneeled beside him. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… Forgive me, it's all my fault…"

When I finally found the strength to raise my eyes from his body, I looked at what was around me, and I started shivering.

When I first entered the room, I was too focused on Mick to notice. But now I could see without a doubt the black roses adorning every free surface of the studio, and that every photograph on the walls had been replaced by another one, nailed on the wall in the exact place where the other had been. And all the new photographs were about me… from the moment I came back from Canada till a few hours earlier that day.

I realized in that moment that I had stepped into the lion's den. And that the lion was there with me.

"Hi, Elizabeth," Gabriel said, slowly approaching me from behind. "It's been a really long time since we last saw each other."

"Not nearly enough, in my opinion."

I felt him put his colds hand on my shoulders. I instinctively jerked away, and turned to face him. He laughed.

"There was a time you liked when I touched you."

"There's a chart in the hospital saying otherwise."

"That was just your fault. Like your friend and your grandmother's death. You used them as pawns in your game against me… and as pawns they just fell down…"

Before I could realize what I was doing, I attacked him. Probably the most stupid thing to do in that case, but I was too enraged to think clearly. He clutched my arms before I could hit him, and I felt my left arm break like a piece of chalk under the pressure of his fingers. I screamed in pain, and he let me go. I fell on the floor, choking back my tears, and I held my injured arm close to my chest with the sane one. Perfect. Now I was completely helpless. I couldn't run, I couldn't fight back, and Gabriel knew that perfectly. But I also knew that I wouldn't be granted a quick death. No, I dared challenge him… and he would use every second of life I had left to make me understand the enormity of my mistake.

[Bella]

We heard Elizabeth screaming in pain when we were still one mile away from the studio. I instinctively pushed down the accelerator, to close the distance between us and her in the shortest time possible, and once we got to the building we ran up to vampire speed to the studio. Mick was dead on the floor, covered in blood. Elizabeth was bleeding from a cut on her head, and by the way she was nursing her arm it had to be broken. She was on the floor, and she looked unable to get up…

Gabriel was going to clutch her by the throat to throw her against one of the walls when we entered. I attacked him almost instantly. Ghosts might be my field of expertise, but thanks to my husband and Emmett, I was more than able to hand myself in a fight. And he definitely wasn't waiting for a vampire girl to ruin his fun with his prey.

[Edward]

Bella's attack was fast and precise. Gabriel never expected to be attacked from a vampire, and the blow to his face made him fall against a wall and then on the floor. I was surprised too, even though Jasper and Emmett had told me how well little Bella could handle herself in a fight. Before he could get up on his feet, Jasper was already at his wife's side, ready to help her. I moved immediately towards Elizabeth. She was covered in bruises and cuts, but except for her broken arm she didn't seem to have other broken bones.

"Elizabeth? You're going to be fine. Talk to me. Please."

Elizabeth didn't say a word. I looked briefly at Jasper and Bella fighting, and decided to take advantage of that distraction to take Elizabeth back to the hospital. I took her carefully in my arms, and I actually marveled at how frail she was, how light she weighed in my arms. Her body didn't match her spirit. Before I could take a step, though, Gabriel was right in front of me.

"She's mine. Don't you dare take her away from me."

I instinctively drew her closer, but I regretted my gesture when I heard Elizabeth moaning in pain. Jasper and Bella were immediately at my sides, growling, and Gabriel started laughing.

"Vampires? I gotta say… I'm impressed. Kudos, Lizzie, you did your homework… but don't think it's over. It will never be."

"Leave," hissed Bella through her teeth. In that moment, my sweet little sister was gone. I've never seen her eyes filled with such rage and hate. Gabriel slowly touched his jaw.

"You're gonna pay for that, little girl."

Jasper moved faster than lightning and pinned Gabriel to the wall, with a hand on his throat.

"You heard her," Jasper hissed in a menacing tone. "Go away, or I'll make you."

Gabriel smiled, deeply amused. "I'll come looking for you too."

Jasper growled, and he let him go. Without dropping his smile, Gabriel walked out of the door and disappeared. He was so sure he would win that he didn't even bother to keep fighting…

Elizabeth moaned again against my chest. Bella moved closer, and looked at the bruises on her friend's face with a sad expression.

"Let's take her back to the hospital."

"What are we going to do with…?"

"I'll take care of it," said Jasper, looking at Mick's body. "You two take care of Elizabeth. I'll see you later," he added, watching Bella. My sister moved closer and brushed her lips against his for a second.

"Okay. See you later."

We didn't bother to take the car. Bella and I ran the fastest we could to the hospital. I was still holding Elizabeth in my arms, and my mind kept on comparing this situation to the moment when I found my Bella in the dance studio with James. Another vampire hunter obsessed with his human prey… but this time the situation was more dangerous. Gabriel was a monster that didn't care of how many innocents he would have to kill in order to get what he wanted. Poor Elizabeth, no one deserved something like that. Bella went looking for Esme and Carlisle, and I waited for them in a dark corner, in order to decide what to do and how to explain Elizabeth's new wounds…

"No one asked you to come."

I looked at Elizabeth. Her eyes, that just a few moments earlier were hidden against my chest, now were staring at me. Usually I would ignore Elizabeth's harsh tone, but not this time.

"Are you saying you wanted to die? Cause it's what would've happened if we didn't show up. So I suggest you swallow your pride and show a little gratitude."

"To you?"

"I'm not talking about me, and you know that perfectly."

Elizabeth hid again her face against me and closed her eyes. She tried to suppress another moan of pain, but I heard it anyway. I also heard something that I would've never expected to hear from Elizabeth. An apology.

"I'm sorry, Edward," she whispered, so low that I was certain she didn't even hear her own voice, and in that moment I stopped being angry at her. She started crying silently, and I almost move a hand to stroke her hair, but I stopped just in time. Elizabeth would have never allowed it, and I was too determined to keep her quiet to ruin everything. I thanked God when I saw Carlisle, Esme, and Bella running to us. Carlisle immediately started checking Elizabeth's conditions, and took her from my arms. The cover story was simple: we would say the truth. But in our story Elizabeth had been attacked by Gabriel in the hospital, and luckily for us no one seemed to question it.

"You've blood on your shirt," said Bella, coming closer to me and sitting in the vacant chair at my side.

"You too."

"It's going to get worse," I added, after a moment of silence. "Much worse."

"I know. And I have the perfect solution. But you have to come with me."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I have to make a phone call," she said abruptly, and got up from the chair.

"Bella?"

But she didn't listen to me. She took her phone from her purse, and disappeared in the crowd.

[Bella]

It wasn't the perfect solution. It was the only solution. A way to keep Elizabeth away from Gabriel, a way to help Dave… and a way for me to get back to the place where I was born. I composed Dave's number, and waited for him to pick up. Dave answered a second after.

"I'm coming back," I said, before he had time to speak. "Tell only… Don't tell anyone. Especially my father and brother. And if someone will try to harm me again, I leave, and you people won't see me again. Deal?"

"Deal. I can't wait to see you again, Bells."

"Me too. See you in a couple of days."

It was the perfect opportunity to tell him I wouldn't go back to Forks alone. That Edward Cullen would come with me, and a girl that desperately need protection. But I didn't. It wasn't necessary for them to know, and with a little luck, they would never know.