Hi all, I still do not own twilight by the way. Sorry about the late posting, my weekend did not go as planned. Big thanks to all of my loyal readers and reviewers, you make my heart swell. And yes, when you review or add me to your alerts I check to see who you are. I just had someone PM me telling me they were surprised to see some of my favorites were there favs too. I like to get a feel for the people who read my stories, so I check out your profiles and see what you write and what you like and if I like what I see, I copy and paste the title/author onto my master list of ff I need to read. Its a long list but I make progress on it. Anyway I hope you like it!

Ch 18

Edward's POV

The knowledge that Bella is missing and hasn't tried to contact her parents haunts me. Bella cares more about other people than she does herself, especially when it comes to her family. Under no circumstance would she willingly hurt them this way by not contacting them, so they know she is okay; which leads me to believe Jacob is right about Bella being in trouble. I don't care how far or wide I have to search, all I know is that I can't stop; not until I have her safe in my arms will I ever stop looking for her. I have to keep focused on finding her, because when I stop to think for the tiniest second I fall apart with the what ifs. What if she is hurt? What if I never find her? What is she is already dead? I stop myself from thinking the last question, seeing as I can feel her in my dead heart; I know she is still alive.

So far my search for Bella has led myself, Alice & Jasper almost all the way across the US. We started with what we did know, which was Bella packed for a long journey and departed in her beloved old Chevy. Considering the capabilities of her truck, Jasper and I poured over maps of all the major highways out of Forks. We took to traveling them on foot, looking for any sign that Bella had passed through, but we came up empty handed. Then I resorted to showing Bella's picture to every gas station attendant I could find, but not one of them remembered Bella or her truck. I got more and more irate the further I traveled stopping in gas stations. I knew she would have had to of stopped for gas, it was impossible for her to have gotten this far without stopping once, unless she planned ahead and stored gasoline containers. I knew that I was searching for a needle in a hay stack and that it was probably crazy to travel every highway between Washington and Massachusetts, but it was all I had to go on. Alice and Jasper made sure we stopped to hunt occasionally during our journey, but the never questioned my madness until now.

My frantic emotions had long been weighing on Jasper and my temper was getting shorter towards Alice. I had depended on Alice far too much in the past and now with her visions of Bella being disrupted, I knew she felt worthless and guilty for not knowing Bella had survived her jump. I shuddered as Alice's vision played through my head; Bella standing on the cliff looking out over the water. She looked terrible, like she was in immense pain; I shook my head to dispel the memory.

"We need a new plan Edward. We have traveled one coast to the other with no luck, there has to be a better way" Jasper said pleading with me. I knew he was beginning to think I was crazy trying to search every state in the US to find her, but if that's what it took I would do it. I didn't want to give up…I looked away from Jasper not willing to give him an answer. We had made it all the way to Boston Harbor and we were standing on the edge of the world for all I felt at this moment. I watched the dock hands walk back and forth between the ships and thought about showing them Bella's picture. Suddenly, I saw Alice freeze out of the corner of my eye. She saw me asking the docks hands, they were all shaking there heads no, but then a man in a dingy red hat paused looking at the picture and said yes! I took off down the docks toward the men looking for the red hat as Alice's vision faded to black. I had to slow my pace so not to startle the men, for in my haste I forgot to act human. Then I saw the man from Alice's vision and nearly felt my dead heart do a flip.

"Please, I am looking for my girl friend have you ever seen this girl?" I pleaded as I handed the man the photo. The man looked at the picture thoughtfully and then back to me.

"Ya, I think it could be the girl I saw a couple months ago. She looked real fragile, thin like she was into drugs and she was with some older guy. I couldn't tell you what the guy looked like though, he was in the shadows the whole time, but he tugged her along and I saw them board a cargo ship. The second in command use to mule people across the Atlantic for a price, but that was the last time I saw him too. When the ship made port they couldn't find him…he disappeared and that's why I remember this face" the man said.

"Which ship was it and where was it going?" I asked.

"That ship hasn't docked here in weeks, although I think it was headed for France then, but that was almost six months ago when I saw her. Son, she probably killed herself with those drugs by now, she's a lost cause by now" he said as I walked briskly toward Alice. She was on the phone to the airport seconds later and not more than an hour after that we were boarding a flight to France. This was big; it was the first person to have actually seen her and from the man described it was her. I was so anxious by the time they let us off the plane my hands were shaking. I listened as Alice had a vision asking the employees at the car rental booth if they had seen Bella, but they knew nothing. Alice had no visions about Bella the whole time we were traveling to Boston, but she could see the outcomes to my decisions like when I thought about the dock workers. Suddenly, I realized how to use this to our advantage. I stopped us in front of a large map of the country on the wall and started to make decisions about what directions we would travel, waiting to see what Alice's vision would reveal. Finally, when I decided on a course that would lead us toward the southwest corner France, Alice saw us inside a house digging through personal belongings and we were talking about Bella's scent. Hallelujah I mentally screamed as Alice grinned at me.

Minutes later we were racing through France heading south, within a few hours we pasted into the Parc Naturel Regional de Camargue. The beautiful swamp land whipped by us, as we raced faster and faster. We were getting closer…I could feel it and with any luck Bella would be okay. I slowed down as we started to pass familiar scenery from Alice's vision, but when the house came into sight I didn't even pause. From the silence I knew no one was home, but I was still cautious as I burst through the front door. The house was much larger than the one we had in Forks and it was expertly decorated. No one had been here in a while but Bella's scent was still lingering, but it smelled wrong. It was mixed with another vampire…

"Laurent…?!" I gasped. In a flash, I flew at Alice gripping her shoulders. "Can you see him?" I demanded shaking her.

"Get a grip Edward!" Jasper said sternly as he freed Alice from my grasp. Alice stepped back and took a deep breathe. I listened to her focus all her energy on Laurent, but there was nothing… I closed my eyes in defeat.

"I see nothing, I am so sorry Edward I don't know why I can't" Alice sobbed as she stepped toward me.

"Wait, Irena was here too" Jasper said quietly. I stepped forward concentrating on the scents, I could just vaguely smell, Laurent, Irena, Bella and maybe another vampire I didn't recognize. The scents were so faded and had run together so much they were had to separate.

"Alice, will you try like you did in Bella's room?" I asked her. Jasper and I trailed Alice as she moved through the house letting her hands graze over things. On the main floor, Alice got a vision of Bella reading when she touched a window seat. In the green house, Alice got a vision of Bella clutching herself sobbing amongst the ferns. She was sitting on the ground, while lightning flashed through the sky and rain pelted the glass. Alice looked at me almost apologetically for what she had seen. "Keep going. We need to know more" I told her, even though my heart was breaking at the sight of Bella so unhappy. Then, Alice climbed the stairs to the second floor. Bella's scent was here too and Alice took a turn into the bedroom that had the greatest concentration of her scent. When Alice pushed the door open, she saw Laurent carrying Bella's limp form to the bed. I held my breathe as the vision faded, Alice turned toward me again.

"Oh god Edward, I'm scared to see what came next" Alice said with tears in her eyes she would never shed. Jasper came forward wrapping his arms around her as he guided her to the bed. Ever so slowly Alice reached out for the pillow and a number of things flashed through her mind. It was fast, but I could see Bella sleeping, Bella stirring in her sleep, Bella screaming out from her nightmares and then it slowed down as Laurent entered. I wanted to yell out and tell him to get away from her, but this was the past. He gripped her shoulder and touched her cheek waking her. Her eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty and I closed my own eyes seeing it almost as if it were happening before me now. And then I fell to me knees watching Laurent's hungry eyes zero in to the base of Bella's neck where her shoulder starts. He pulled her forward from her bed and leaned in sinking his teeth into her soft skin. My insides were screaming as I saw her eyes go wide with the pain and then drift shut as Laurent took his fill of her blood. I swayed kneeling on the floor, feeling as though I should purge my insides. I felt Jasper grab hold of my shoulders pulling me to my feet.

"Edward?" I think Jasper was saying; everything seemed muffled. Before I had a chance to respond Alice's phone rang out.

"Alice, I just got off the phone with Tanya and…Irena and Laurent have been destroyed by Victoria. Tanya said they also had a daughter they were calling Sophie but she wasn't with Irena and Laurent when Victoria showed up. The Denali's are tracking Sophie who went after her parent's killers and Sophie is tracking Victoria and they are all heading towards Forks right now. We… we think Sophie might be Bella" Carlisle said.

"We will get on a plane as soon as possible and meet you in Forks" Alice told him. I stared at Alice shocked by what I just heard. Vaguely I remember Jasper picking up a set of keys from the counter. Before I knew it, I was in the back seat as Jasper sped towards the airport we had just come from a few hours ago. Alice managed to get us a flight with only one lay over in Chicago. When we touched down in Chicago and rushed to our next flight Alice decided to call Carlisle for an update.

"Carlisle, we just arrived in Chicago and we are about to board our connecting flight, is there any news?" Alice asked.

"Alice, the Denali's arrived in Forks about an hour ago and picked up Sophie's scent mixed with the werewolves at the treaty line. Esme and I are still driving from Seattle to meet them, but they are worried the wolves may have her hostage or worse. Tanya promised not to do anything rash, but she was beside herself. I am trying to get there as fast as I can" Carlisle explained.

"Don't worry, they will wait. I see you bringing them back to the house to discuss our plan of action" Alice replied. We boarded our next flight quickly and took our seats. Jasper and Alice's thoughts were going round in circle's taking in the latest news about Bella. My Bella was now a monster like me, I couldn't believe that after I gave so much up to set her free that her fate remained the same. Maybe Bella was right; maybe she was meant for this life more than I am willing to accept. The next thought that went through my head was the Denali's, Alice said they that they were calling Bella, Sophie and that she was Laurent's and Irena's daughter. Had she replaced my family? Would she rather stay with the Denali's when this was all over? Would she take me back? Does she even remember everything from her human life? I hadn't even gotten a very good look into how different she might look now that she was a vampire; Alice's vision only showed the beginning of the transformation. Lost in my thoughts about what I would even say to Bella when I saw her, I was shaken when we landed. Emmet and Rosalie were waiting for us outside.

"How are things at the house?" I asked.

"We only just arrived an hour ago ourselves, but the Denali's are taking everything pretty hard" Rosalie said.

"Yeah, we went out to pick up the trail they followed to the treaty line. It definitely smells like her, but she has to be with the wolves, because we couldn't find her coming back into Cullen territory." Emmet said.

"The Denali's have been trying to call her non stop but her phone is off. Everything was pretty quiet when we left. They didn't want to go into too much detail about anything until we were all gathered" Rosalie said glancing back at us. As we rolled up the driveway the house was extremely quiet; too quiet in fact. Not a word was being exchanged and the Denali's were all blocking me. I didn't like the fact that they were hiding something from me. When we walked in the door, everyone was seated in the living room. It had been months since I had seen Carlisle and Esme; but they welcomed me like I had never abandoned them.

"Edward, come sit down" Esme asked.

"Now that we are all here, Tanya would you like to begin?" Carlisle asked.

"Well I think starting at the beginning would be better. Why don't you start Edward?" Tanya said glaring at me.

"What is that supposed to mean exactly Tanya?" I asked her, glaring back.

"I want to know what you did when you left. She wouldn't talk about any life she had before Laurent, she only said it was painful. In fact, she did her very best in the beginning to distance herself from us" Tanya said.

"I wanted to give her a chance to have everything I couldn't give her. I made a mistake; I thought she would move on, I thought she would forget me and grow old and have children. But I couldn't live without her so I came back and I will do whatever it takes to make things right with her again. I love her more than life itself, I can fix this" I told her.

"I don't think there is anything to fix. She has made new friends and has found a new family. We would certainly not abandon her like you all did. She deserved better than what you did to her" she said.

"Bella is my best friend; I never planned to leave her behind. I thought she was dead, we all did, but I was wrong. I should have come back to make sure but I couldn't see her; I thought it was too late. I can't see her now even, how was I supposed to know she was alive and hurting without us. I would do anything to go back!" Alice yelled as her shoulders shook. Suddenly, Alice was still and we all paused to watch her as she let out three gasps. Her vision was moving so fast, I almost couldn't see it at all. We were standing outside in the driveway, arguing about Bella when suddenly we heard something approaching. Voice's filled my head in the vision, but they all had one thing on their mind "Kill the golden eyed ones, leave the one called Bella for mother."

"How soon Alice!?" I demanded, feeling the turmoil building inside of me. She turned slowly, with a terrified look on her face.

"Six hours, maybe less" she said grabbing hold of Jasper, who was standing beside her now.

"What's happening?" Carlisle asked.

"Victoria has been building an army while we were away and she plans to unleash them here. In the vision I said they were told to kill the ones with golden eyes and they were suppose to leave Bella for Victoria to kill" I said ominously.

"How many?" Eleazer asked.

"I see thirty-two now plus Victoria, but they are fighting amongst themselves. It could be less by the time they get here" Alice replied.

"Eleven versus thirty, the odds are not favorable. We should flee" Jasper said.

"They will attack Forks if, we leave…it will burn to the ground" Alice said as she kept looking to the future.

"We will fight then. If Sophie is looking for Victoria surely she is near by and Eleazer has trained her well. I don't think we are as outnumbered as you think" Tanya said confidently.

"She is too young to make that big of a difference" Jasper said thoughtfully.

"On the contrary, Sophie is more powerful than probably all of us combined. She won't stop until she has destroyed Victoria, she loved Irena and while she doesn't look like much she can be extremely volatile. But she has a weakness, she is still part human and if she has an attack she would be vulnerable" Eleazer contemplated.

"Wait, Bella is more powerful than all of us?" Emmet questioned. "We are talking about the same girl right?"

"And what did you mean when you say she is still part human?" Carlisle asked.

"Sophie's change is different than most, she has been changing gradually, taking on vampire traits slowly. The last time we were with her she still had a heart beat and she didn't sparkle in the sun light yet, but she did kind of shimmer. She was changing in waves, she was struck with an intense amount of pain once when she was with us that lasted a couple hours and when it was over she was clearly less human than before. Her gift though, is even more interesting. She is the most powerful shield I have ever seen and I worked with her to teach her how to adapt it to other functions. Sophie was quite eager to learn more about herself, but she has attracted quite a bit of attention to herself. Aro came in contact with her and none of his guard could touch her with their gifts, not even Aro himself. I think part of the reason Laurent brought Irena back to Alaska was to put distance between the Volturi and Sophie" Eleazer said.

"That explains why I could never hear her thoughts even as a human" I said quietly. I was completely shocked with this new information. Bella was still part human, and she possessed a gift greater than anything we had encountered. Her gift felt like a smack in the face, why had I put two and two together? I should have figured out she was gifted, but I looked past it. It was just one more thing Bella had in her favor, in regards to her being made for vampire life. In the course of the last few years Bella had come in contact with more vampires than any human ever lived to tell about it and even when I left her they seemed to find her. Maybe it was fate I was fighting all this time. But there was no turning back now, Bella was headed on a one way course that would eventually lead to her last breathe when she would become a true vampire. I can't fight fate anymore; it was time to embrace what this life had given me; a mate made for me as much as I was made for her.

Suddenly, the room was humming as strategies were being worked out. Alice was able to see the newborns were going to break up into three groups; one was going to come straight at us while the other two flanked from the right and left. Jasper and Eleazer led the discussion as they prepared us for how newborns would fight. It seemed like only minutes had past, but the hours ticked by while we practiced in the clearing in front of the house. With only minutes left, we got into the formation Jasper had suggested. The Denali's were worried, they were extremely confident that their Sophie would come but she had failed to make an appearance yet. The rest of my family was sharing quiet goodbyes and whispering words of love to their mates in case this was the end.

"Wait" Alice called out. "They disappeared, they all just disappeared, I can't see Victoria coming!"

"Can you see us standing here still?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, whether we wait ten minutes or an hour we will still be here, but Victoria she just vanished; like she doesn't exist anymore" she said. My mind was in overdrive letting this new information sink in. Then, I had an idea.

"Alice, are they gone, like when Bella disappeared when she jumped?" I said, but the moment I asked I heard the answer in her head, 'yes.' A shrill ring startled me as Eleazer put his phone to his ear.

"Sophie?!" Eleazer exclaimed. I couldn't hear her responses; Eleazer was blocking his thoughts from me. "It's not your fault, Sophie, we do not blame you for Irena's death. You could never have known this would happen. Where are you? We'll come to you… I think we do have an idea; we are with the Cullen's, they told us about Bella… Victoria is coming… We won't leave you behind… We are coming…" Eleazer looked up to Tanya. "She has intercepted them, she said to look for smoke" he said with a smirk. We headed in the direction we knew the newborns were going to coming when Alice could see them. About fifty miles from Seattle we could see smoke, the battle had already begun. Eleazer led the group but suddenly came to a stop, he was looking at something up ahead. Only a few yards ahead the trees were stripped of their branches on the north side of there trunks. Eleazer walked slowly forward and put his hand out. It looked as though he was feeling the air and then his hands connected with something solid. We could see smoke up ahead between the trees, but everything was too quiet. It didn't sound like there was a massive battle going on.

"She's containing the battle. This is as far as we can go until she let's us in" said Eleazer. I walked forward pressing my hand against the invisible shield, I didn't want to wait. I wanted to know what was going on, on the other side of this barrier. Unexpectedly, a newborn broke threw the woods inside the shield coming toward us. It crouched immediately as it looked into my eyes and smiled. Then just as suddenly as the newborn appeared two wolves broke through the tree line moving faster than the newborn. The black wolf leapt forward bringing its claws down on the newborn's back and I saw the newborn scream out in pain, but I heard nothing. I watched in silence as the wolves tore the newborn to pieces and then carried away the pieces. I turned to my family when the wolves had disappeared into the woods again to see the Denali's shocked expressions.

"They are helping her!" Eleazer said shocked.

Well I hope you liked it! Next chapter is Bella/Sophie's POV of the battle. I am taking my time on this next chapter, so I can get the battle scenes described in a way that you see it like I see it in my head when I write it. Thanks for Reading! Please review!