Author's Note: Another chapter in this incredibly long, complex, head-scrambling story! I'm nearly going crazy keeping everything I'd planned straight. So please, go easy on me if I miss a few plotlines. I've set up so many, it'll be hard to follow them all.

Take heart, my friends! There is hope on the horizon! This chapter is crucial to the Carlisle and Rosalie fans' existences!

In response to one of the reviews for last chapter: I'm not going to give away too much, but don't worry-- Jasper's not going after Bella for the reason everyone thinks he is.

Please review and favorite, too! Thanks so much for all the support, everybody! I never would have thought I'd get 71 reviews! ;) Keep 'em coming!

Adieu, and enjoy!

25. A Beginning

I don't why I wandered aimlessly away from Edward, especially when he'd been in such deep pain. Maybe I had figured he needed some time alone, to grieve, to rearrange his thoughts. Or maybe, somewhere in my unconscious, I had sensed there was more. More to the story, that I had to look beyond the supposed remains of my family members.

Without a doubt, that had been the most appalling moment of my life, when the truth of the ashes and the ring in Edward's hand had broken into my foggy human mind. I had watched helplessly as Edward, Emmett, and Esme suffered. I had been crying, of course, so that had clouded my vision and my thoughts, but at least I'd had the presence of mind to touch Edward, to hug him, try to console him. Even though it'd been useless, I had tried, and that's what mattered now.

And, somehow, I knew I was trying to help him, as I stumbled along over the rocky cave floor, tearing my jeans when I tripped.

From the midst of my anguish over Carlisle and Rose's deaths, I had seen, out of the corner of my eye, a flash of black near the entrance of a cave to my right. When I'd turned I could see that the flapping black thing was a thin strip of cloth that had been tied to a tree. Mesmerized, I'd watched it wriggle in the breeze. Who had placed the cloth there, and why? Was it some kind of signal? Should I warn Edward about it?

Without a thought I'd left Edward's side and drifted to the marker, taking it in my hands. It was made of a very heavy material, almost canvas, thickly woven for extra durability. It had obviously been torn off a larger piece and loosely fastened to the sapling. That was weird; who could tear that kind of cloth? I had nearly hit myself in the head from irritation. Who could tear cloth like that? Well, who did I think? For a vampire, canvas would be a piece of cake.

And that had begun it. Hope, unwanted and unbidden, began to sprout in my chest, making my cheeks flush with confusion.

Impetuously, I started into the cave, with one backward glance to see if anyone had noticed my departure. I'd walk a couple feet in, then I'd come back and tell Edward what I was thinking. There wouldn't be any harm done, I would be all right. He wouldn't be too angry at me.

My feet slowed after fifteen steps, however, till I finally stopped, indecisive. How could there be any hope, though? Carlisle was very dead, from the evidence on the ring. Somebody had killed him violently, the only way to kill a vampire. I couldn't hand this miniscule scrap of clothing to Esme and declare, "There is hope yet!" like a Robin-Hood character from a black-and-white movie.

But the nagging sense of otherness perisisted. There was something, something, we were missing! There was something to this black cloth! Maybe Carlisle was dead--I would concede that. What about Rosalie? Maybe she was trying to contact us. But that was just supposition. Agh, I didn't know anything! I kicked a rock in frustration, then danced around from a stubbed toe. "I can't do anything right, can I?" I muttered discontentedly. "I can't even kick a rock properly."

"I think you have something here, though," said a polite voice.

"Gah!" I fell over. "Jasper!"

"Hey," he said absently, kneeling down to pick up the cloth I'd dropped. "This has Carlisle's scent all over it," Jasper commented, eyeing it speculatively. "Where did you find this?"

"Um, tied to a tree, outside this cave." He went back to scrutinizing it. "Uh, Jasper? Why are you in here?"

"I followed you," he answered almost cheerfully. "I could feel something, some incongruent emotion coming off you. It flabbergasted me-- how could anybody feel hope when we knew Carlisle and Rosalie were dead? Alice is probably a little concerned right now," he went on, not heeding my stare, "she thinks I went to look for Siobhan. But, now that I think about it, if we follow this lead we might find Siobhan. And...whoever's left."

"I bet they're all a little concerned," I said, doing a bad job of not sounding nervous. Being alone with Jasper was always a tad disquieting.

"They'll be fine," Jasper said, moving past me, intent on an invisible clue. "I'm sure they'll find out where we are in a minute or so. This cloth, it's some kind of signal, but from whom?"

"That's what I was wondering. What if it's a trap?"

"That would seem kind of obvious to me, leaving such a blazing trail to follow."

I was perplexed. "What trail?"

He looked up blankly. "What?"

"What trail?"

"Oh. Well, this black flag, for one. And there's a scent trail, one only we could follow. There's Carlisle, and--" he moved to the left "there's Rosalie. It's rather fresh, about four hours or so. It might not be a trail at all, it could just be from when..."

I felt a sudden dampening to my hope, icy and painful. "Uh, Jasper? You're killing the hope, here."

"Oops!" The cold went away. "Sorry, Bella."

"So, are you saying Carlisle and Rosalie were in this cave four hours ago? What were they doing?"

"I don't know, but the trail is heading in this direction." He bent to examine the ground. "Did you happen to bring some kind of light?"

"No. I didn't think I'd need one."

"Neither did we. I guess this will have to do." There was a click, then an orange flame sprang from the metal lighter in Jasper's hand. "From the depressions in the sandy spot here, it looks like there were quite a few people in this cave. And there was a struggle. Ah, here's some tangible proof." He held a flaky piece of crystal to the light. It was so small that at first I missed it altogether

"Why is that proof? What is it?"

"It's a fleck of skin."

"Vampire skin?" I gasped. How was that possible? Vampires didn't lose skin, did they?

"Somebody had a bit of a fight, it seems. This kind of fragment only happens when one is bitten. It comes off where a tooth makes a puncture. And boy, did someone get a mouthful," he added appreciatively. "I commend him, whoever did this, even if--" He left off.

"What are we going to do, then?" I asked, breaking the silence. "If the trail's fresh, we should follow it."

"I wouldn't make that leap," Jasper said quickly.

"Why not? They could be alive, Jasper!"

"Let's not get our hopes up. There's no actual evidence stating that this cave served any other purpose than an executioner's block." I flinched at the words. "I'm sorry, Bella, but that's the truth."

"Look, we don't have to go very far in," I whispered, bleakness seizing hold of me. "If we don't find anything, we can come back and cry with the rest of them. But what if we don't follow this trail, and..." I swallowed, the pause full of implications. "Somebody wanted us to trace this scent; why don't we go past the first couple feet?"

Putting a thoughtful hand to his chin, Jasper clicked the lighter on and off, his superhuman speed winking it at impossible rates. "We should tell Edward," he said, slowly.

"Jasper, we don't have time!"

"And why not? It's already been four hours, what's five minutes?"

"I--I don't know why not," I faltered. "But I just feel it! You can see how that makes sense, can't you? We've got to follow this trail now!"

The odd thing was, I did feel it. I wasn't fabricating my feelings. Certainty surged through me, bizarrely, creepily: Jasper and I had to go after the scents leading further into the cave, or we would be too late. For a second I wondered if there was some vamprie lurking in front of us, one with a special ability of playing with people's convictions. Then I recalled that most vampires' abilities didn't work on me, so that wasn't a valid possibility, really.

Jasper shook me out of my self-doubt. Snapping the lighter shut, he crept ahead of me into the blacker darkness of the inner cave. His body went stiff as I made to follow him; I froze, afraid I'd brought my appetizing scent too close. but He turned back to look at me, the dim light in the cave reflecting in his eyes. He flicked the lighter on again, stooped down to look at the ground, then the cave walls. His eyes widened.

From where I was standing, I couldn't see what made up his mind about the trails, but I did see him nod his head once in confidence. He motioned for me to come forward, tossing me the closed lighter. By some miracle, I caught it with the ends of my fingers. I pressed the lever and the flame appeared. Jasper nodded at me, and turned around to face the tunnel.

Curious, I waved the lighter over the spot where he'd stopped to look, and my mouth dropped open.

There was a message inscribed on the cave wall, written with dust from the ash pile.

We went after them. We think they're heading to

France, avoiding England. We will find them, but

we need your help. They're alive, Edward!

"Oh, they're alive." My voice wasn't a voice-- it was a breeze.

Bring them all. Hurry. Be prepared-- the chances

still aren't good. Be careful, they're dangerous.

Siobhan

"Hurry, Bella," urged Jasper.

"They're alive," I said again, as a fuzzy feeling entered my heart. I stifled a dizzy laugh. "They're alive, Jasper!"

"Maybe." I respected Jasper for being so brutally honest with me. "We have to hurry!"

"Then go on. I'll just slow you down. I'll wait for--"

"No, no, you have to come now," he insisted, grabbing my hand. I was shocked by the move, because it wasn't hostile in the least, and Jasper didn't seem to mind my close proximity. "I have a few ideas, but I need you to come with me. Edward will find us. Are you game?"

"Uh, yeah," I sputtered out. "Anything for Carlisle and--"

"Come on, then." He took one deep breath, eyes closed. He was working up to something, and I had a pretty good hunch what it was.

"Jasper, uh, I don't know if--"

Before I had time to react, or before he could think twice, Jasper slung me onto his back and raced off. I clutched at the back of his coat in terror. "What are you doing?" I yelled.

"The wind keeps your scent away from me," he said, his words stuck together. Of course, he was running on one breath of air. "If it stays that way, I think we'll be fine."

"If?"I nearly shrieked.

"Just keep your eyes closed, Bella." I squeezed them shut, praying for delieverance from the madness of vampires. "This is a most peculiar scenario," Jasper contemplated to himself, as we scorched through the cave. "I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, Bella."

"No, it's just--wow. I just didn't think--you--"

"Watch out, the roof gets lower soon," he said, crouching down.

I ducked my head, one arm over my skull. "Well," I said, taking a stab at bravado, " if this does end badly, it beats getting hit by a van in the middle of a school parking lot."

Jasper shook his head and chuckled. "Edward would choose a girl like you."