Ok everyone let me explain for my absence this time. Well I am being completely and utterly overwhelmed! Today I had a second practice gateway algebra test and then a practice ACT. I was losing my voice this morning and had to sing in front of class with one other person, our principle was lecturing us about the low practice gateway scores that I was ALREADY freaking out about. Plus I have an online course I have to start doing not to mention trying to get myself ready for the art school audition in February. Top it all off with frequently updating and I'm ready to explode! I woke up feeling creative and optimistic and ended my day with a depressing pessimism. So I hope this chapter will work out, if not I'll attempt to rewrite it…when I find time to.

Chapter Fourteen: Chasing Bella

E Pov

To say that I was stunned was an understatement. In all the years I'd known Alice, I'd never seen her get so angry. I gaped at her with stunned silence while she fumed in her own boiling anger- any moment now she'd be shaking with fury and screaming at me with all the volume she could muster.

"What's going on?" I heard Jasper say from the door. I didn't bother to look up at him and neither did Alice, who didn't seem the least bit calmed by Jasper's presence. And I knew for a fact that he was probably trying to send her calming "vibes".

"Edward won't give her a chance," she said through clenched teeth.

"There's no possible way to give her a chance, Alice! It would be complete and utter insanity to even consider such a thing!"

"Then I must be deranged because I know that you need her! I've seen what happens to you if you don't go after her…and what happens to her…"

The last bit was slightly muted, though she knew both of us could hear her clearly. Something seemed to snap into place and before I knew what was happening, I was standing up angrily- towering over my pixie of a sister.

"Alice, what happens to her?!" It took all my willpower not to grab her shoulders and shake her but she didn't seem at all fazed by my outburst.

"…it's best not to say…"

A thousand images and conclusions swam into my mind like a flood. I groaned at just some of the ideas that were already beginning to form in my mind.

"Just tell me," I sighed. I watched as she turned her head away, her expression pained beyond what I'd seen from her before. I knew at that moment that if vampires could cry, Alice would have been sobbing.

"She…" I listened closely, leaning toward her as she took a ragged breath and looked at Jasper for comfort. Even though I knew the wave of comfort was for Alice, some of it was sent my way as well. I smiled the best I could at Jasper but I'm sure it was closer to a grimace than an actual smile.

"She dies in a sense…"

"What do you mean?" I urged her. She shook her head quickly, not wanting to go on. But even the little she had said sent me crashing through the bedroom window and running at the fastest speed I'd ever gone.

Alice was predicting the end of Bella's life somehow. And even though it went against all logic and sanity, I knew that her end would bring mine…

Vivian Pov

Oh god, this wasn't happening! My best friend had fallen in love with a vampire! And now just any vampire, a vampire that had contributed to the rise of the Voultri years ago. There was nothing worse at the moment except for the life that was hanging in the balance in the seat beside mine. I pressed the gas further down, weaving through the traffic with perfect ease.

Morgan. I just didn't understand her. She was as complicated and shadowed as Bella herself sometimes and whatever she had planned for Bella was a secret even from her. The way she spoke to that leech, like she might actually consider him! Bella and the bloodsucker? Can anyone else see the irony here?! How could she just allow herself to be pulled in by all his hypnotic tricks? But I suppose it only proved the first law of the vampire hunters: Even the greatest fall but it takes the strongest to rise up again. I'd make sure she did just that. She'd be herself again soon; the healers at headquarters would give her the best care.

Still, I couldn't help but to feel the panic that I had so badly shut behind a floodgate. It was breaking and already I could feel myself near hysteria at the sound of her small moans every once in a while. She laid in the back seat awkwardly, her body rigid and her expression pained. Every once in a while, meaningless words would fill the air in her voice.

"I've ruined everything", "Isabella Swan". "'You won't be forgiven,'" she only quoted the hunter's assassin line once.

I was a bit to surprised to hear her say it though. Even in this state she managed to make that one simple sentence seem powerful and poised- like the practiced words of an actor in a drama. They rang with the authority of the bloodline that dated hundreds of years back.

"Just hold on Bella, I'm going to get help." I pressed the gas all the way to the floor and shot like a bullet. Just a little longer…

Morgan Pov

It wouldn't be much longer from what I'd heard from the others. The vampires were tracking her trail already and they'd soon catch up to her at this rate. But what they'd find was completely dependent on whether or not I got through to the others at headquarters and found out the necessary information. True, I knew the very basic outline of their plan but they had been careful to be vague when it came to details.

So I didn't know much about what was happening, mostly I had to trust that headquarters knew what they were doing. It would sound so ridiculous to some people that I'd place my daughter's life in the hands of people I knew only as colleagues that had more authority than I did. But I wasn't going to allow her to be left in the hands of that vampire, Edward, he said his name was. It doesn't matter, he's a part of a disgusting race of creature that we hunt and kill- we could number them all for what it's worth!

Suggesting that this vampire was like anyone else, had even an ounce of humanity left was boarder line insanity. Though it was absolute insanity that Bella would want to be with him and that she thought I would even allow for such a thing! Well, whatever he'd done to my daughter to rob her of her sanity, she'd get it back and see the real focus of her duty. Maybe I'd send her off to clan meetings and such, celebrations where she could meet people like her and find real love.

Because if Bella was desperate enough to love a vampire than it was obvious that there was something that needed to be fixed. Whether it was her or him.

A Pov

We couldn't possibly move fast enough. I didn't know how I'd ever be able to stop the possible future that remained unchanging. Not long, we're almost there, I chanted in my mind- the mantra that kept me running at my top speed.

If I had any say Bella and Edward wouldn't end up like what I was seeing.

B Pov

I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. The light that filled my eyes was blinding, unnaturally so. Like I'd somehow been raised up so that all I could see was the blinding sunlight. But eventually, it began to dim. In the dimness I began to see an outline that looked remotely human and then a figure that was growing more defined with each moment.

A girl in a dark robe smiled at me. She had violet colored eyes, like any other hunter with mahogany colored hair that was pulled into a smooth pony tail. I sat up slowly and was amazed to find that I could stand but that was about it. The world was still spinning dizzily, a strange thing as all that was around me was the whiteness from before.

"Am I dead?" To my surprise the girl laughed. She had to be about my age, I realized suddenly. As if sensing my thoughts, a smirk spread across her face.

"You're not dead, Bella," she said simply in a velvety tone that was almost like a seductive purr.

"Then where am I? And who are you, exactly?" I crossed my arms stubbornly and stared at her as she laughed again, almost as if there was nothing funnier. I was beginning to wonder if this was one of those near death experiences in which an angel comes to you looking as you and tells you to change your life or else. Please, she can spare me the details. I already knew I screwed up.

"We're in a middle ground between our two worlds. And me? Well I'm you I guess you could say. Well more specifically, I'm the hunter in you."

"And?"

"And? My, my aren't we anxious?"

"Yes very. I have a life to get back to and serious ass to kick."

"Well time is passing at snail pace. You could be here for days and only be gone for minuets in your world."

"Look can you just explain what the hell is going on?" I said in an impatient voice.

"I'm here to offer you a deal obviously."

"Is this one of those 'live like you want but your soul is mine when you die' kind of thing?"

She laughed again.

"Of course not. Helping you benefits me, so I'm here to make you an offer that I know you can't resist."

"And what kind of offer is that?"

"You already know you're the best of the hunters and the last surviving member of the Swan clan no less. But that won't mean anything; a new generation will be born in years to come. Don't you want to keep the title of the best there is?"

"I'm not the best there is. True, I'm fairly decent of a hunter but-

She snorted. "Decent! That's hilarious Bella!" I glared at her. "But the point is, if you're the best you'll be able to take control of the Council and make your own decisions and laws over hunters. Anything you want," she leaned forward with half glassy eyes, exaggerating the world Anything.

"Anything?"

"Anything," She repeated.

Third Person

Bella was being carried by a male hunter into headquarters as Vivian followed behind.

"I'll be right back!" She called to the healer as she dashed behind a door. As soon as the others were out of ear shot, she sank to the cold tile floor, hugging her knees to chest and sobbing into her jeans.

You'd most likely expect sheer chaos at a disaster like this, a complication of a wound from on the job work but the healers and assistants moved with calm certainty, speaking calmly as if it were nothing more than a bloody nose.

But neither the healer or any of the assistants seemed to notice the single drop of blood on Bella's pointer finger- the long since healed finger that had been pricked by the rose that very morning. It was only a small bead of scarlet blood, laughably insignificant to anyone else in the room but it was of much more importance because Bella's decision would snap the future into place.

The whole world held their breath in these few moments.

Alice, already aware of the outcome of Bella's decision, prayed with all her might that Bella wasn't about to do what she already knew she would.

Edward was fighting with everything he had to get to Bella in time, he was already nearing the headquarters- too worried to take in the fortress like exterior or the guards posted at the roof.

Jasper could feel the worry emanating from Edward and Alice and even his own worry added to the strange concoction of raw emotion. Fear, anger, those two were the strongest. Though from Edward he felt a desperate determination and a burning love for the girl they'd all come to think of as their adopted sister. He wasn't worried about Bella being a hunter anymore- not when everyone around him gave him reasons only to love her like a sister and fought to get back to her. He'd never felt anything but sincerity toward them from Bella and a strange want to be better.

Morgan paced anxiously with the phone at her ear and every swear word she could think of pouring out of her mouth in a matter of seconds when she heard the busy signal. Her daughter's life was on the line, it was changing in ways she couldn't fathom and here she was, making calls and excuses about Bella loving a vampire. Well one way to break his spell would to end the spell caster himself, she thought to herself. And with startling anger toward herself for not realizing it sooner, she flipped her cell phone shut, shoved it in her pocket and raced toward her car. He'd follow her to headquarters, and there she'd find him…

Vivian didn't understand what was going on but she could feel the tension in the air. It made her want to weep bitterly for hours in sheer frustration and terror for her best friend. And those healers are just walking around as if there's no rush, she thought angrily. There was a secret, something was going on and she knew it- she just didn't know what exactly and how it related to Bella. But she was getting the sneaking suspicion that Morgan knew about it too. One thing was for sure, she had to get back to Bella before something happened!

And the Cullens, as well as all of Forks, were on edge as well. They all felt the sudden tension rise in the air, like an invisible cloud of doom that hung over one particular house but that everyone else could see and feel. The Cullens worried about Edward and the others, they didn't know exactly what'd happened in the time since Alice left when she saw the vision. They didn't even know what she saw, and that made them uneasy.

"Well do you accept or not?" The girl asked Bella in an impatient tone, tapping her foot and crossing her arms in the same fashion Bella was usually seen doing.

Bella thought for a moment but the answer was quite obvious. For everything she wanted to change, there was no other option.

"I accept…" The girl smiled then, the widest smile Bella had seen yet. It was completely victorious. The girl walked toward her, her palm outstretched toward Bella. She didn't know what to expect but she didn't expect for the girl to take a small blade from her pocket and slide it across her palm.

Bella gaped at her in horror, wondering how she had entered a world with a vampire. The girl smiled again.

"I'm not a vampire, " she said simply before she pressed her rapidly growing red palm against Bella's forehead.

The once small bead of blood from Bella's finger became slightly more, still undangerous but completely wrong. The once scarlet black was a dark violet color- almost a dead color. And the healers gaped in slight awe of the small red moon that had formed on her pale forehead- a stark contrast for the crimson moon.

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There we have it folks! I found out, just so you know, that I could have just skipped the student tutorial thing and gone straight to the lesson. I'm a week behind roughly translated to a unit. And if that isn't bad enough I had two more lectures and my past bad grades shoved down my throat again. +Sigh+ It's a big of a depressing day…BUT! I did get this finally finished!

-V