DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Stephen decides to try to make his dreams into reality.

Deadly Dreams – Part 3 of 4

LAST TIME: I rested my head on hers, sobbing right along with the hurt angel in my arms. This was not what I had wanted for her. I'd promised to make everyday a happy one for her. She shouldn't have to be sad in this way.

"When are we leaving?" Emmett asked.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle questioned.

"When do we get into one of the vehicles and go handle this guy?" Emmett clarified.

"It's not that simple," Alice said. "Threats don't work and we haven't found a way to frame him that gets him permanently taken away."

"Then we get rid of him," Rosalie hissed.

"Can't we just let him kidnap me then call the cops and tell them where I am?" I asked. I'd finally stopped sobbing a few minutes before. I'd had to ask Jasper to calm me down.

"No!" tumbled out of the mouths of seven vampires.

I cringed against Edward and he started rubbing my arms.

"Bella, we can't take that chance. It's too risky," he said.

I could tell he was fighting to keep his voice soft. This must be tearing him apart. The idea that someone wanted to hurt me so badly…to take me away from him. But I couldn't let my family kill for me. There had to be another way.

"But, I'm a vampire, Edward. I can get away," I argued.

"You can't get away from him without him realizing you aren't human." He dropped his eyes and I knew he was editing.

I shuddered at the idea that I hadn't seen all of Alice's vision. What I had seen was horrific and ghastly. This human was seriously deranged.

"We need to end him," Emmett snarled.

"No!" I cried. "We can't just take someone's life like that!"

"Bella! He wants to kill you!" Rose yelled. "It's called justice."

"It's called murder!" I screamed.

Edward tightened his arms around me, trying to calm me.

"There has to be a way to do this without any of us touching him," I argued, shaking my head. "Just give me a minute. Let me think."

I couldn't let my family do something so wrong just to protect me. There had to be another way. No matter what this man wanted to do to me, we didn't have the right to end his life. We had so many advantages among the eight of us. There had to be something else we could do.

I was surprised at the quiet that descended upon the living room. I had truly expected Emmett and Edward to be foaming at the mouth with their anger. Jasper must be working extra hard right now. Emmett was holding onto Rosalie and whispering to her. Both of them looked angrier than I'd ever seen them before. I wondered if they were plotting to sneak off and handle the human themselves.

I turned the problem over in my mind. We could pack up and move away from the new home we had already come to love. Or we could deal with the human. This man wanted to kill me. My family couldn't threaten him enough to get him to leave me alone. They couldn't frame him with anything that stuck. I was probably not the first person he had targeted. He wanted my ring.

I looked down at my ring and ran my finger over it. Didn't Alice mention something about him wanting to keep it? Was he like the guy from the true-life crime show Emmett had made me watch last year?

I lifted my head and looked at my sister. "Alice, you said he wanted to keep my wedding ring."

"Yes. He sketched it and wrote 'prize' underneath it," she explained.

"What if he likes having trophies from the people he…You know what I mean. Anyway, if he does that…why don't we just find out where he hides them and give them to the police?" I asked.

"Jasper and I have searched his house a few times already and we've never come across anything like that," Alice replied.

"How long has this been going on?" I yelled. I hated being left in the dark.

"His daydreams were only slightly disturbing fantasies of hitting you before," Edward said, trying to calm me down by rubbing my back. "I never thought he would really act on them. He's never even spoken to you. But this morning, he decided to do more and he means it."

"This is why you stopped letting me block you in class," I whispered, looking at him. "You lied to me, Edward."

"Bella, I…"

I cut off his excuses by speaking again. "You told me you didn't need to be blocked. You told me no one was having any thoughts about me. You lied." The knowledge that Edward hadn't trusted me enough to tell me hurt worse than knowing this human wanted me dead. I hid my face in my hands and started sobbing again. Would he never trust me completely?

Edward pulled me against him. I tried to break free, but he held me tighter.

"Please, Bella!" His voice was thick with emotion. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I swear I only kept it from you in an effort to not be so overprotective. I was so sure I was overreacting. You can ask, Alice! I went to her to find out if I was being ridiculous."

"Bella," Alice said softly, patting my shoulder. "Edward's telling the truth. He really did think he was overreacting about it. He was worried you would be upset with him for being overprotective again."

"Bella, you seemed like you had an idea before you got upset," Carlisle said, trying to ease the tension and refocus the conversation.

"We should go to his house and find his other prizes." I held up a hand to quiet Alice. "I know you said that Jasper and you looked already. But I have the best sense of smell and I'm disgusted by blood. If there's the faintest trace of blood on any one of his prizes, I should be able to find them."

"It's not that easy to get in and out of his place. When he's not in class, he's always there," Jasper said.

"Besides, I really don't think he keeps them in his apartment. I've seen glimpses of a neglected house. I think he keeps them there," Alice told me.

"What if we ask him?" I asked.

"Bella, we can't just walk up to him and say 'Hey, killer guy. Give us your sick little prizes.'" Emmett said.

"We can't," I agreed. "But Jasper and a huge wave of honesty could."

The room was silent for an immeasurable amount of time. Alice was the one to break it.

"Why didn't I think of that?" she questioned, shaking her head.

"You were preoccupied with protecting our family at all costs," Edward told our sister. "Bella wants to protect our family as well, but there are some costs she feels are too high to pay."

I nodded my head, letting Edward know he once again understood me perfectly. "We are not monsters and I will not let any one of you become one just to handle a human. Alice, can you please see if this works?"

Alice closed her eyes.

I thought about the odds of something like this happening to a family of vampires. I started laughing as I realized they were pretty slim until you added me into the mix. It seemed that I was destined to be a danger magnet no matter what! But at least as an equal, I could help my family...or so I hoped.

Edward spun me around to face him. His topaz eyes were filled with fear and concern. "Bella, why are you laughing?"

"Because it's funny!" I managed between my laughter. I felt calm wash over me and I looked over to my brother. "Thanks, Jazz."

"Bella," Edward called, drawing my attention back to his worried face.

I put my hands against his cheeks. "I was thinking of the odds of something like this happening to any other vampire out there. I don't think they're very good. But put me in the mix and the numbers shoot through the roof."

"You are truly, amazingly absurd, Isabella Cullen," Edward sighed, resting his forehead against mine.

Alice's eyes shot open. My laughter ceased as I looked over at her. She sighed, her eyes downcast.

"The verdict?" Edward asked, impatient.

She looked into his eyes. They were void of all emotion.