Chapter 22: Game, Set, and Match

Alice ran to Bella's house with a huge smile plastered on her face. When she reached the door, she thought it more polite to knock now that Bella had known what she was. The pixie heard a heartbeat inside and straightened her clothes when she heard footsteps coming closer. The person who opened the door was not who she expected. "Angela? What are you doing here? Where's Bella?" Angela was just as shocked as the pixie in front of her and said, "Oh hey Alice. I just needed to come over and talk with Bella a little bit. She went upstairs a little while ago. I heard a noise coming from her room and she went to go see what it was." The small hairs on Alice's neck stood up straight and her everything around her stopped for a split second before she rushed into the house and up to Bella's room. "Bella?!" Alice yelled as she ascended the stairs. She took in the scent around her emanating from her girlfriends room and roared when she recognized the disgusting scent of the nomad and his mate. The pixie blurred into Bella's room and fell to her knees when she realized that her love was nowhere to be found. She slumped down and her hands touched the floor as she whispered. "No. Please god, not her. NO!" Alice slammed her fists on the floor so hard that it cracked the floor boards.

Angela who was behind her, touched Alice's shoulder and got down on the floor next to her. She rubbed the girls back as she cried out for her love. When Alice's sobs died down, Angela asked. "Do you know if she's still alive?" Alice nodded her head. "He wouldn't kill her yet. He wants me to watch her suffer." She got up off of the floor and searched the room for any clues as to where James might have taken Bella. Her sights turned to Bella's pillow and she saw a tattered piece of paper on the surface. 'Come find me little Mary Alice, or your mate is mine.' After she read the note, her vision started to blur and another scene invaded her mind. Alice saw James and his mate Victoria pacing in a large mirrored room in the cover of darkness, however when they looked around, small bits of sun filtered through the boarded windows. "When will they be here James? I want to see this girl suffer. Those stupid Cullen's need to get here." The blonde nomad went to his mate and grabbed her behind the neck. "They'll be here baby. You must be patient. This state is covered in that infernal sun after all; I mean we're in Arizona my love. Alice wouldn't dare show herself in the sun." The man chuckled and kiss his mate savagely while Bella was still unconscious and thrown in the corner of the room against a pillar.

Alice growled when the vision had ended. She grabbed Angela's arm as softly as possible and swung the girl onto her back. "Whoa! Um, Alice, what are you doing?" Angela asked with a bit of fear lacing her voice. The pixie chuckled and didn't say anything before she took off out of the window and toward her home, Angela screaming the whole way. As the two blurred through the forest, Alice started thinking about the first time she ran with Bella over her shoulder. She thought of her love with her eyes closed resting her head on the spot between her shoulder blades. Now that she was taken it felt like Alice herself was dead in more ways than one. The pixie reached out with her mind to try and communicate with her mind reading brother. 'Edward, bring the family out now. We have a problem.'

At the Cullen household, Edward heard his sisters call and gathered everyone outside on the back lawn. As Jasper made his way outside, he dropped to his knees in pain. An intense amount of conflicting emotions hit him as hard as a speeding train. Rosalie looked to where her brother was and went to his side. "What's wrong Jasper? Are you alright?" The empath screamed in pain as he felt emotions such as sorrow, fear, confusion all hitting him at once and from two different sources. He looked up and saw Alice carrying a surprising person on her back. When he saw his sister drop his girlfriend onto the ground she swayed and looked dizzy. He chuckled and groaned when he felt Alice's sadness. "Jasper? Are you okay?" Alice asked as she ran to her brother. Angela looked to where her boyfriend was on the ground and ran to his side. "Jasper? What's wrong? You don't look so good." The empath looked up into her eyes and wrapped his arms around the girl. He fought the pain the best he could and it seemed to be enough because he got to his feet slowly but surely. "Do you have something to tell us Ali?" The pixie stayed silent and ducked her head down and unshed tears filled her eyes. She looked to Edward because saying the words would be too much to bear.

"James has Bella." The family gave a collective gasp as Edward said this. Emmett growled and made his hands into fists. "He...He must have been watching us when we were discussing how to deal with him." Alice spoke with a tiny voice that cracked with pain. Her bear of a brother walked over to her and gently wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. Alice broke down and sobbed loudly in her brothers arms. After a few moments of Alice crying, Emmett asked her quietly, "Do you know where she is, pixie?" The tip of her lips curled up to give some resemblance of a smile but it quickly went away when she replayed the vision in her head. "He went around us and took her to Arizona. She's in some dark room covered in mirrors and pillars." Edward searched his sister's mind as well as the minds of the nomads in the vision itself. "Bella took dance when she was a child. The studio was closed down when she was around twelve years old. That is where they took her." Alice, so clouded by her grief was about to charge off into the distance, but the soft voice of her mother held her back. "Alice dear, I want you to be careful." Esme walked over to her youngest and handed the girl a silver zippo lighter. "Bring Bella back to us safely ok? And you better come home in one piece also young lady." The pixie nodded and raced off into the distance without so much as a goodbye to the rest of her family.

A few minutes into the forest, Alice heard quick footsteps behind her. She looked over to her right and found Edward there at her side. She looked to her left and smiled when she saw Emmett and Jasper running with her also. A few moments of sustained silence passed and then she heard her father's voice. "We're coming with you Alice, just in case you run into trouble. The girls will watch over Angela and make sure she is safe." Alice looked to her bear of a brother and asked him genuinely. "Is that the only reason why Emmett?" The boy ducked his head and looked up smiling. "Hey I wanted a fight and I wanna bring my new little sister home. Is that so much to ask pixie?" Alice laughed whole heartily. "No brother, I suppose not." Alice then turned her head to watch what was in front of her and ran toward her captured love. 'Don't worry Bella. I'm coming for you.' Was on the forefront of her mind. "We're going to kill the son of a bitch that took her right Alice?" The demon asked her. Alice's smile in response then was one of malice and hatred. It was filled with the promise of death towards her enemies.

A few hours had passed and the Cullen's had reached their destination with the sun rising in the distance. Carlisle walked to his daughter's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful Alice, we don't want any humans seeing us." Alice nodded and kept to the shadows of the town she was in. Her family followed. It was a large town so it wasn't very hard to do. There were a lot of awnings and gazebos around so the vampires could take refuge in the shade. Once they arrived at the abandoned building Alice found a large tarp for her and her family to stand under. She nodded to Edward signaling him to go towards the door and see if James and Victoria were present inside. When he shook his head, she nodded again to Emmett and it was he who kicked the door open. Edward and Emmett rushed inside with Jasper, Alice and Carlisle not far behind. When the five got inside the building, Alice threw the tarp off of herself and looked everywhere searching for a heartbeat. In her haste, she never noticed the nomad behind her.

James smiled evilly as the group searched for the missing human. He dropped down from the beam that he was perched on and he placed himself behind the pixie. "Psst." He whispered in the girl's ear. When she turned around her golden eyes widened as James made a move to hit her. The nomad backhanded her and sent her flying across the room. Her back connected with one of the pillars and cracked the wood of it. The men looked to the girl and went to aid her. "No!" Alice screamed to her family. She slammed her fists on the floor much like she had in Bella's room. Only this time she had split the wood in two. "He's mine goddamn it!" Her eyes were completely black at this point. "Go find Bella, she's still here somewhere, I can hear her heartbeat." The others nodded and went off into different directions in the building. James laughed again as he heard such concern lacing the pixies voice. "My my little Mary Alice, you are getting feisty now aren't you? Such concern for the little human. How do you know that that heartbeat you hear isn't slowing to a halt? How do you know that I haven't already fed off of her precious blood? I told you she would be mine Alice." The pixie roared with all of her might and charged at the evil man. She tackled him and pinned him to the wall with her sharp fingers. James roared in pain as the tips of Alice's fingers pierced his tough skin. "The last couple of times we met, I was forced to back down. First by my sire and then by my family, but guess what, neither of them are here right now. I will kill you James. On the graves of my mother and sister, I will send you to the depths of hell where you belong."

James chuckled. "What makes you think I haven't been there already?" He tossed Alice off of him and she flipped and landed hard on the wooden floor. With the impact, she had the wind knocked out of her and in a blur James raced over to her and held her by her neck. The pixie used the leverage of her lower body and swung herself upwards to kick the man in the chin. The force of the blow sent her flying all the way to the other side of the room. James laughed, took his broken jaw and set it back into place. He used his speed for only a moment to retrieve something in another room. Alice gasped when she saw Bella in his grasp. "LET HER GO! This fight is between you and me James. She has no part in this!" The man moved in closer to Bella's neck and took in her scent. "Oh but she is a part of this fight my sweet. Everyone you love is a part of this fight." James took the humans arm and held it parallel to the ground. He looked to Alice and then to the skin beneath his lips. "James no!" Alice reached out to Bella but she could not reach her. James shot down and bit into the girls arm and moaned as the blood seeped through his lips. "BELLA!"

Bella screamed as she felt the vampire's teeth in her forearm. She began to get weak as the blood was pulled from her limbs. She looked to her love with tears in her eyes. Her vision began to grow blurry as she watched Alice reach and screamed to her. Bella screamed again as James pulled his teeth out of her arm. She felt a strange burning sensation in her body as she fell to the ground. Bella watched as James and Alice sped towards one another and came together in a clash.

Alice punched and kicked at the vampire in front of her. They both traded blows, the same blows that normally knock out teeth, swell eyes, and blacken the muscles. Bella watch to the best she could as a blur here and there stopped to show the damage being done. James beaten and sweaty seemed to getting an advantage on Alice. Alice had never been in a fight with another vampire but Alice got lucky and landed a blow in between his legs and sent him to his knees. The pixie had a murderous look in her eyes as she walked over to the monster that had caused her so much pain. "Tell me James. Do you value your life?" This was the one and only time that James had ever been afraid in his entire immortal life. He yelped as Alice took him by the throat and held him suspended in the air. He clawed at the girls hand but the grip did not loosen. "Are you scared?" The man whimpered and nodded his head. Tears filled his vision as he was ashamed to admit his fear and defeat. "Good." Alice's grip got tighter and James's head fell to the ground. When she let the body go, it fell to the ground and she could smell the dead flesh. She just about gagged when the scent hit her hard. "AAHH!" She heard Bella scream with all of her might. 'Edward, get down here and help me dispose of this body. Bella's in trouble.' The bronze haired boy did as he was told and gathered the rest of the men to light James's body on fire.

Alice saw Edward and tossed her lighter to him and blurred over to her girlfriend and saw that the blood seeping from her arm was becoming a problem. "Argh!" The human screamed. From that noise alone, Alice knew that the venom from James's bite was already coursing through her body. With a shaking hand, she touched the girls forearm and brought it to her nose. "CARLISLE!" Alice screamed for her father. Carlisle came running in a flash. "James bit her." Alice tried to hold Bella down as she thrashed around. He turned his head to look behind him and saw that his boys were already burning the body with Alice's zippo lighter. "You have to save her Alice. She only has minutes left." Alice turned and looked at her father with wide eyes. "Me? B-but I don't know if I'll be able to control myself Carlisle. Her blood is so sweet to me." Carlisle stood and put a hand on Alice's shoulder. "If you truly love her Alice, then both you and your demon will save her." He went over to his sons and patted them all on the back.

Alice looked down at Bella with tears shining in her eyes. Her love was thrashing around and screaming from the burn of the venom in her bloodstream. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and have the tears disappear from her eyes, but there was no success. "What do I do Bella? How do I save you without giving in to your sweet blood?" The pixie felt a light touch on her arm and looked down at Bella. The human smiled and said with her voice cracking. "I-it's ok Alice...I t-trust you." Bella gritted her teeth and turned her head away trying not to let Alice see how much pain she was in. There was no peace for her body however as it started to twitch and burn uncontrollably. Alice looked behind her to see her family staring at the fire. She knew they were trying not to dwell on the girl's pain. She knew she needed to end this quickly. She rubbed Bella's face and smoothed the sweaty hair. "I'm so sorry Bella." She whispered before taking the girls arm and biting down hard to get the venom out.

As Alice was pulling the contaminated blood from Bella's body, she had to make sure she was careful as to not replace James's venom with her own. She had to be careful also not to pull too much blood from the body beneath her. 'Oh my god Alice. It's so good.' The demon wept within her. 'Just a little more, please?!' It begged. 'No! We cannot take too much from her and you know that. We need to save her.' The demon screamed. 'But Alice, I need this. I need her blood.' Alice growled, not at the pleasure of drinking the blood but in discipline of the little voice inside of her head. It was a difficult fight to win for both Alice and the demon inside. The only thing that made Alice pull away from Bella in time so that the venom was gone but Bella's life was still intact, were the screams of her mother and father. When she released the girl, she curled up into a ball and started to scream and sob. The human had passed out from the amount of blood that was taken and that was understandable. Carlisle came to the weeping Alice and she turned to her father and buried her face in his chest. The boys looked to their sister and tears welled up in their eyes as they heard her cries. Emmett who was the strongest of the group went to Bella's unconscious body and picked her up. "Be careful with her Emmett." Carlisle spoke while comforting his daughter. While he rubbed her back, Carlisle whispered, "Don't worry Alice. She'll be alright. We'll take good care of her." Alice continued to cry in her father's arms. She knew that she would give anything to be near her love during this hard time, but for the sake of her sanity, she knew that she couldn't go to her until the wound was closed and the blood had been taken from her sight.

"I'm so proud of you Alice." Jasper said while going to his sister's side. Alice turned her head to look at her brother in disbelief. "For what?" She sobbed. "For almost killing my mate?! I almost drained her dry brother. Just like I did with my own mother and father. I felt like I had no control. I felt like the demon would win." Jasper hugged her around the shoulders. "The difference between you and her is that you are stronger. You defeated her once, and now you've done it again. You are in control here Alice. Not your demon. You need to understand that." The pixie nodded and worked her way out of her father's grip. She went and followed her big brother who held the most precious cargo. The Cullen family ran to the hospital and when they got there, Emmett carried his sister's mate into the emergency wing and yelled. "WE NEED HELP HERE!" A nurse ran to the boy and asked, "What happened sir?" Emmett had tears in his eyes as he explained that she was attacked by an animal. When the nurse asked which one, he stated he wasn't sure. "Did you find her?" The nurse had asked. Then Alice's wind chime voice spoke up. "We all did." The other woman looked at the pixie in shock, for Alice had the most blood on her. "You tried to stop the bleeding." It wasn't a question but a statement. Alice nodded silently.

"A-Alice." A weak whisper made its way through the crowd of people and busy atmosphere of the hospital. "A-Alice!" Bella screamed and flailed her arms about reaching for her love. Alice reached for the girl and gripped her hand for dear life. "Who are you to this girl?" If she could blush Alice would be doing that from her head to her toes. "I'm her girlfriend and this is my family." The nurse looked to the men behind her and smiled. "Well thank god for supportive families. I'll get a gurney for her." The woman came back a second later with a few men in lab coats and scrubs. "We'll take her from here ok?" Emmett was a little apprehensive about letting his new baby sister go but he knew that these people would help her the best they could. He laid her down on the bed and Alice went to her side. The pixie smoothed the girl's sweaty hair and whispered. "I'll be with you soon my love." She kissed the girls cheek and let the professionals take her behind the double doors. The nurse was about to walk away when Alice grabbed her arm lightly. "Please help her." The nurse nodded and followed her colleagues behind the double doors.