Chapter 13

Predator Has Chosen his Prey (Part 2)

Edward pulled up slowly being careful to stay behind Bella's truck in the driveway. I tracked James and saw he wasn't there and I knew Edward had read my thoughts.

We were all alert the atmosphere was so tense that if we heard the slightest bit of a sound we would all turn to make sure nothing was there.

"He's not here. Let's go" Edward said and we all got out.

Emmett was helping Bella with the harness and said "Don't worry Bella; we'll take care of this." I could see the tears welling up in Bella's eyes and could only imagine her fear right now. On top of that she had to leave Charlie and break his heart as well.

"Hazel, get in the truck and put the keys in the ignition but don't turn it on or Charlie will know. Alice, Emmett" Edward said in a commanding voice and Alice and Emmett took off towards the house.

I sprinted to the truck and got inside and hid under the glove compartment. I could hear everything between Bella yelling about how she hated Forks to Charlie trying to convince her to stay to Edward hopping out the window and joining me in the truck.

"She's doing a pretty good job you know" I said.

"I know" Edward said.

"I'll call you tomorrow!" I heard Bella's voice coming out of the house and she turned to get into the truck.

As the house and Bella's father became out of sight Edward said "pull over."

"I can drive" Bella said as the tears continued to stream down her face and I felt terrible but I couldn't think anything of the sort because it would make Edward feel…OH SHIT!

I saw him…the tracker he was here he had heard the end of Bella's speech.

"EDDIE!" I hissed in my head and he got the message.

Without another word Edward pulled Bella into his lap and suddenly he was driving. "You won't be able to find the house" he said in a convincing voice but I knew the real reason.

Alice was coming behind us and as Bella saw the lights her eyes went wide with horror.

"It's just Alice" Edward reassured her.

"The tracker?" Bella asked.

Edward looked at me "tell her!" I thought.

"He heard the end of your performance" Edward said almost forcefully.

"Charlie?" Bella asked.

"The tracker is following us and is running behind now" I said fast enough for Bella to hear but fast enough so Edward couldn't stop me from what I was saying.

"Can we outrun him?" Bella asked.

"No" Edward said and sped up instantaneously.

Bella turned around and just at that moment Emmett jumped onto the roof as Bella screamed.

"It's Emmett!" Edward said.

"It's OK Bella, you're going to be safe" Edward said and then added "I didn't realize you were still so bored with small-town life. It seemed like you were adjusted fairly well – especially recently. Maybe I was just flattering myself that I wasn't making life more interesting for you."

"I wasn't being nice. That was the same thing my mom said when she left him. You could say I was hitting below the belt" Bella said.

"Don't worry he'll forgive you" Edward said.

"It's going to be OK Bella." I tried to assure her.

Bella looked at Edward "why did this happen…why me?"

"It's my fault I was a fool to expose you like that" there was rage in his voice and I rubbed his shoulder as his position relaxed slightly.

"That's not what I meant. I was there, big deal it didn't bother the other two. Why did this James decide to kill me? There are people all over the place why me?"

Edward hesitated for a split second and told her the truth "I got a good look at his mind tonight. I'm not sure if there's anything I could have done to avoid this once he saw you. It is partially your fault if you didn't smell so luscious he might not have bothered. But when I defended you…well that made it a lot worse. He's not use to being thwarted no matter how insignificant the object. He thinks of himself as a hunter and nothing else. Now he's got a challenge. He likes these kind of games because he knows we'll get angry it's his most exciting game ever."

"And that is the definition of a real asshole" I muttered.

Bella half smiled at me before asking "I thought I didn't smell the same to others as I do to you."

"You don't" Edward said gesturing to me.

"That doesn't mean you aren't a temptation. Although for me it's a bit easier since I have pretty good self-control but for them…who aren't used to being around people with your scent. It would've meant a fight right there if Edward hadn't intervened." I said.

Bella shuddered.

"I don't think we have an choice but to kill him now. Carlisle won't like it." Edward explained.

As we were getting closer Bella asked "How do you kill a vampire?"

"The only way to be sure is to tear him to shreds and then burn the pieces" Edward said harshly.

"And the other two will fight?" Bella asked.

"The woman will." I said.

"Laurent not so much. They don't have a very strong bond he's only with them for convenience. He was embarrassed by how James acted."

"But James and the women…they'll try to kill you?" Bella asked in a scared tone and I looked at her thankful for saying what I was afraid to say.

"Bella, don't you dare waste time thinking about me. Your only concern is keeping yourself safe and please try not to be reckless."

"Is he still following?" Bella asked.

"Yes" I said.

"But he won't attack the house…not tonight" Edward said turning into the drive way. We all got out as Emmett picked Bella up and carried her like a football to the door.

We were in the den and Emmett put Bella down and we then saw Laurent.

"He's tracking us" Edward announced glaring at Laurent.

"I was afraid of that" Laurent said.

Alice went to Jasper's side and they went upstairs. Rosalie watched them and went to Emmett as she looked at Bella…furiously."

"What will he do?" Carlisle asked Laurent.

"I'm sorry. I was afraid when your boy there defended her. That it would set him off."

"Can you stop him?"

"Nothing stops James when he gets started."

"We'll stop him" Emmett promised.

"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal that's why I joined his coven."

AHA! So I was right about them trying to confuse us in the clearing. I looked at Edward who nodded I think he had known too.

"Are you sure it's worth it?" Laurent asked looking at Bella.

Edward's enraged growl filled the room and Laurent cringed.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice."

Laurent deliberated for a moment. His eyes took in all of our faces.

"I'm intrigued by the life you're created here. I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I will head north…to that clan in Denali. But don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. I'm sorry for what happened."

"Go in peace" Carlisle said formally.

"How close?" Carlisle asked me.

I closed my eyes. "He's about three miles out past the river. He's circling around to meet up with the female." I explained.

"What's the plan?"

"We'll lead him off, and then Jasper and Alice will run her south." Edward explained.

"And then?"

"As soon as Bella is clear, we hunt him."

"I guess there's no other choice" Carlisle agreed.

"Go upstairs and trade clothes" Edward commanded Rosalie.

"Why? What is she to me?" Rosalie asked angrily.

"Rose…" Emmett said trying to comfort her.

"Esme?" Edward asked calmly.

"Of course" Esme muttered and with that she swung Bella into her arms and darted up the stairs.

"Esme and Rosalie will be taking your truck, Bella. Alice, Jasper take the Mercedes you'll need the tint in the south." Edward commanded. "We're taking the jeep."

Bella stood and looked at Emmett, Edward, Carlisle, and I and knew exactly what we were doing.

"Alice? Will they taking the bait?" Carlisle asked.

"He'll track you. The woman will follow the truck. We should be able to leave after that." Her voice was certain.

"Let's go" Carlisle began to walk towards the kitchen.

Edward took Bella and seemed to be aware that we were all still there because he kissed her for a split second. He stared at her into her eyes.

Edward gestured for Emmett and I to follow him and we were off.

After several seconds Edward texted Esme to tell her that she and Rosalie should go. And then shortly after Alice to give her the green light.

"Hazel…is it working?" Carlisle asked and I tracked Victoria.

"Yes…she's following Rosalie and Esme." I confirmed.

Edward texted that to Alice.

"Haze, I want you to keep tracking him to you understand we'll run in his direction." Edward explained.

"Got it" I said.

As I closed my eyes I could feel him watching me. It was a strange sensation that I got since I could see what the people were doing as I tracked him. He knew this and was using this to his advantage.

He was north in the Rockies in Canada and that was where we were headed. My mind was racing with everything that was going to happen. I was hoping not everything would end like a total cliché but I was hoping that things wouldn't be as bad as they seemed it was going to be.

He was smart though carefully evading us.

"We have to make sure we keep a careful distance behind. Lead him the wrong way and then turn on him" Emmett said.

"Yeah but how are we supposed to do that while he's the one we're hunting." Carlisle asked.

"It's going both ways" I said.

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked.

"At one point he's chasing us and at one point we're chasing him." We have to keep him in front because if he's in back he could turn around or possibly go back to Phoenix." I explained.

"Shouldn't we keep him in the back?" If he's in the front he could escape and then we'd definitely lose him." Edward said.

"Sorry bro but I'm with Hazel on this one" Emmett said. "If he's in back it'll be even more difficult to get him. Rather as in font we're leading him on."

"Why don't we just try it both ways? Let it go as it has been going." Carlisle said.

"Alright" we all said.

I was unsure. Sometimes my brother's senses got the best of him and he was going into overdrive because he wanted Bella to be safe. These were definitely times where being the youngest annoyed me. If I was older I was sure they would listen to me more. But for now I was just the dwarf.

I had to focus…it was a matter of life and death. It would kill my brother if something happened to Bella. I wasn't going to let that happen.

Maybe it wasn't a total cliché what if he got a hold of her first? She was going to live…I didn't care about anything but that. I was totally focused on the fact of getting James before he did something to Bella.

We had been running for about a day. I tracked James and saw something…something I had been afraid of the whole time.

Edward saw it too. "He's on a plane."

"He's going to Phoenix" I said.

"Shit" Emmett said.

"We should've listened to you Haze…I'm sorry" Edward said.

"It's OK…Call Alice right now you have to tell her about the change." I said and Carlisle whipped out his phone.

I heard Alice answer the phone and they had a brief conversation before Edward asked to speak to Bella.

"Bella."

…

"Bella I told you not to worry about anything but yourself."

…

"We're outside of Vancouver, I'm sorry we lost him. He seems suspicious of us he's careful to stay just far away enough so I can't here what he's thinking. Hazel said she saw him getting on a plane."

…

"Yes…the female has been in town she went to the house while Charlie was at work. He's safe so don't be afraid."

They had a bit more of a conversation and as soon as Edward hung up he turned to us and very abruptly and with emphasis on every word he said.

"We're going to Phoenix."

We ran to Seattle and managed to get through on the next flight out. Something didn't seem right I could feel it. I could tell this wasn't going to end the way planned but I was ready to fight till the end.

Even if it meant I died.

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