While I ran to La Push, I began to think of reasons why Alice hadn't come find me by now. Did they... Did they give up on finding me? Why would they? It sounds like the wolves said they were still looking for me ten years ago...
Confusion running through my mind fueled me to run faster, wanting—demanding answers now. I needed Edward, I couldn't take the pain in my heart, numbing my insides. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing but wait for them to come anymore. I needed to take action now, no more waiting.
Wait, wait, wait. Patience, you'll mess things up if you get it over your head, girl, I thought, scolding myself. Think of this like a waiting game of sorts... They wouldn't abandon me if they have been searching me for a long time. But... why hasn't Alice come yet? Did... they decide that I wasn't worth it anymore? That Edward's words really were true? That... that... I'm not wanted anymore?
I stopped running, trying not to cry, scolding myself for allowing my mind to run away with me. This is why I need to find them, Bella! To find out if they still want me! I thought angrily, They wouldn't just up and give up on me after looking for me!
But... maybe they felt sorry for me when they heard what happened... An obligation...
Shaking my head and tried to think of nothing but finding Jacob, I began running again, doubt and anger filling I arrived on the street to his house, I slowed to a walk, taking a moment to calm myself down then I walked up to Jacob's house.
I knocked on the door to Jacob's house and waited a minute. The little girl, Bella, answered the door and saw me. I smiled at her, asking if Jacob is home.
"Dad! Bella's at the door!" she yelled, then looked at me.
"So, you're up late?" I asked conversationally.
"It's Friday night," she said as though it was obvious.
"Ooh, right, I forgot," I said sheepishly. Jacob chose this moment to show up and the girl left without a preamble. "Hey Jacob, got a moment?"
"Sure, the beach?" he asked, walking out and I closed the door after him.
"Sounds good," I said, both of us walking to the rocky shoreline.
"So, what's up?" he asked after a few minutes. I took a deep breath, not wanting to stumble over my words.
"Where was their last known location?" I asked, watching the crescent moon falling behind the horizon on the ocean. I realized with a start that this rare night had no clouds in sight.
"Somewhere in Alaska..." he said, trying to remember the name of the town.
"Denali?" I offered a guess.
"Right! But, that was about fifteen years ago though..." he said, thinking. "Then they went to... Oh yeah, somewhere in eastern Europe."
"Europe?" I asked in astonishment. "What are—were they doing there?"
"They said they would search the world for you," he said, looking at me. "So, they started looking in all the possible locations you would be in, supported by what sort of climate and trees you stayed at. Even though Alice's vision showed that Eastern Europe did not look exactly the same as where you stayed."
"Oh... but... well, I couldn't have swam the ocean to get there..."
"You guys can swim, you know, but we couldn't have known that you wouldn't try," Jacob said. "They couldn't chance it."
"How did you all try to find me, anyway?" I asked, realizing my opportunity to ask this question.
"With the pack, we scoured the whole of North and South America, and with our mental links, we were able to cover a hundred and fifty miles between us, since the furthest we can hear each others' thoughts is three hundred miles. You could say we were actually combing the land. With the Cullens helping, we were able to narrow down the range to about a hundred between all of us. We were never able to pick up on your scent though..." he explained with a faraway look in his eyes as he recalled the years.
"I must have hid well..." I murmured, remembering the location where I hid. "I made my area to be only about two miles around. Any bigger than that, I would have endangered someone."
"That is a small area to hunt, Bella. That's like us, as ants, crawling into a haystack, trying to find a single grain of sugar," he said, shaking his head. "You must have depleted the animals there."
I smirked and shook my head, "I made sure that I didn't, I only stayed in one area, at a waterfall and hunted when I needed to. Which wasn't very often because I barely expended any energy I got from the animals. I might have only hunted once a month or something, I really don't know. A long time between when I fed. I was..." I looked away from Jacob, "too overcome with grief and... loneliness out there, Jake. Having your only thoughts to keep yourself company. I'm amazed that I'm even sane right now. I... I miss him so much. So... damn much," my voice cracked slightly.
"Bella," Jacob began, anguish filling his voice and failed to keep talking.
In silence, I studied the starry skies, now all too familiar with each constellations of the stars, even if I couldn't put a name to all of them.
"So, am I supposed to go to Eastern Europe and start from there?" I asked with slight sarcasm, trying to figure out where I should start searching. My heart continued to ache for Edward, his topaz eyes staring back at me in my mind as I watched the heavens sweep by.
Jacob scoffed and shook his head, "What if they moved on to somewhere else and ran into something that caused them to... stop contacting us?"
"That's what I plan to find out. I'll start in Denali, I know there's a coven that's like the Cullens," I said. "I can ask them about their whereabouts."
"Oh yeah, the Denali Coven, they mentioned them briefly... Well, I'd go with you, but..." Jacob said, shaking his head, "I have my family and Alice won't be able to see you."
"I'm beginning to doubt she will ever see me if she hasn't by now," I said, trying not to worry too much about Alice, "but you're right, stay. I don't want to pull you away from your family."
"When will you go?"
I kept my eyes on the skies, wondering when I should set out.
"Tomorrow, I guess," I said. "There's no point waiting any longer. I'm going to miss you guys."
"Get a cell phone," he said, and I realized now just what to do with my money.
"That's a great idea," I said, thinking about getting a prepaid phone since I saw myself not using it very often. "Then after that, I'll go. Thanks for coming out here with me."
"Anytime," he said, leading us back to his house. "Night Bella."
"Night," I said, watching him go in the house and then I went into Forks. I decided to go to a late night supermarket to pick up a prepaid phone, and soon arrived at the local walmart.
I made my way to the electronics part of the store and began sifting through different choices of phones. After picking out the second cheapest phone, so it did not suck as much—I'm assuming—so hopefully it's better, I paid for it. The phone was simple enough, but looked much different than I was used to back in the first decade of this century. The phone was sleeker than the average prepaid phones back then, but not as cool as some of the phones I've seen today. It seems that the prepaid phones were the only phone that still had the traditional keypad. I felt ancient.
After making my way home, I took the phone out out of the factory box, followed directions, and then activated it. Looking at the time on the phone, I decided not to call Jacob and wait until morning to make my first call. I was looking forward to it, the morning couldn't come faster.
Slipping the phone into my pocket, I wondered what I could do now. I looked at the clothes on the couch.
Pack. Right. I thought, walking to one of the couches, covered in my things. I picked up the duffel bag from Kiley and began packing. Once done, I went out to hunt, and fed on two elks not far from the house because I figured that I didn't really want to bother with hunting on the way to Denali. Thirst satiated, I went back to the house and decided to read until it was time was decent enough to call Jacob. I stopped walking I realized something about Denali.
Hm, that's right, I don't have their address... Well, that's one thing I'll call Jacob about in the morning, I noted to myself and continued my way to get a book off the shelf. For the rest of the night, I tried to keep my focus on reading the story about a deaf girl and a undercover guy dealing with the mafia. It apparently became one of the American classics while I was away in the wilderness. Just before I reached the climax, I noticed that the sky was bright again and I saw the time, it was now after nine. Dog earring the page, I dialed Jacob's number.
"Hello?" Jacob answered.
"Hey Jake, it's Bella," I said with a grin, "got a phone."
"Oh, great! So I guess I have your number now then, huh?"
"Yeah, and one thing I wanna know, do you have the address in Denali?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, sure," he said, and then he gave me the address. "Will you come by before you go?"
"Just give them my number and we'll be in touch," I answered, "I'm getting too antsy staying here."
Jacob sighed, "All right, be safe Bells."
"Thank you, Jake, I wouldn't know what I would do without you guys," I said with a somber smile.
"It's our pleasure, Bella, bye."
"Bye Jake," I said and the line went dead. Tucking the phone into the duffel bag, I made my way out of the house and locked it up with the key Jacob had given me. Taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I set out into the woods. My nerves felt like they were on fire, anxious to find Edward and the others—especially Edward. I began to dread at the thought of why none of them had come. Especially Alice. I knew something must have gone wrong.
Making my way north, not five minutes later, I smelled an unique scent that filled my nose, I stopped, studying the scent. It smelled sweet, like honey, but nothing like a human, and not horrible like the wolves. I frowned, looking around and found the scent trail. It led back to my house. My heart soared at the thought of this scent belonging to a vampire. I could sense two different ones, one sweeter than the other. After a while of following the trail, I realized the scent veered away from the house and I scowled at this piece of information.
What are they doing? I wondered, trying to figure out how fresh the scent is. Not even an hour old, that I was sure of. I picked up the pace, trying to catch up to the two mysterious vampires.
I skidded to a halt when I arrived at a clearing when I saw a body drained of blood on the ground near a campsite and I froze, not breathing. My mind went back to the day I took Charlie's life, and I couldn't move. All I saw on the ground was the empty, soulless eyes of the corpse, too much like what I saw in my father's eyes. I still couldn't move, paralyzed in the midst of my own memories.
"It's... too much," I mumbled, shaking my head, trying to push the picture out of my mind. I looked at the area and studied the campsite carefully. The grass and other plants looked way overgrown for a camp site. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the tent had been pierced through by some of the plants near the body.
I shook my head, stepping away from the crime scene, my stomach recoiling by the sight. I got a bad feeling about this...