18.
The plan was formed quickly. Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice were coming because of their gifts, which would all come in handy, according to Alice, and of course Carlisle and Esme would be there, along with Emmett, though Rosalie decided to stay back with Renesme. Rose had shown very clearly that she disapproved of everything we had done for John; to say she didn't like him much would be an understatement. "Why should I go," I heard her whisper to Esme, "the man means nothing to me. Maybe we'd all be better off if he was dead!" Esme had scolded her, but Rose hadn't backed down or apologized. I didn't really care, and Edward told me not to worry about it, that Rose was very picky about who she liked and that there were a lot of people who didn't necessarily strike her fancy.
Upon my great insistence, I was coming with them, though they worried that I might become too emotionally compromised and have a breakdown. I casually told them I'd already had my breakdown a few minutes ago, and told them not to worry, that I could control myself. Emmett was the one who pulled through for me, convincing them all by saying that, if something went wrong, he'd hold on to me and not let me go. I appreciated his standing up for me, though I wasn't sure how I felt about his promise to restrain me. But I went along with it, because it got them to let me tag along.
Alice had finally told me about the vision she had had in the hotel room that night, plus one she had just now seen.
"I saw the Volturi coming here to look for your husband. They spared his life because he didn't know anything, but insisted you change him as soon as possible anyways. But that was before John figured it out and decided to leave us."
"What will happen now? Are the Volturi still coming?" I was incredibly worried, though I knew that something like this would happen. If it were possible, I would probably be covered in sweat from all the tension and stress floating around the house.
"Yes, they're going to go after John…" she trailed off, watching my face to see if I understood her.
"And kill him because he knows too much," I finished, understanding perfectly.
A shiver ran down my spine as I saw the details of what she had seen when I touched her arm.
"We need to hurry so we can get to him before they do," she said loudly to everyone.
"How long, Alice?" Bella asked.
"A few hours, though I'm not entirely sure on when exactly. It's so hard to tell because John keeps changing his mind about where he's going to go."
"And the Volturi have their trackers with them?" I had heard stories about these men who could track down anyone, anywhere, with just a whiff of their scent. I shuddered and Esme squeezed my hand encouragingly.
Alice nodded. "Right now, he's still heading west, and I'll know once he changes his direction."
"Where is he headed to?" I managed to ask in a small voice.
Alice turned towards me. "Like, I said, he keeps changing his mind, so I cannot be entirely sure."
I nodded. "Will we make it in time?"
Alice glanced towards Carlisle and then back at me. "I'm not sure, Lisa." I sensed that she was holding back on me, but I decided not to push it.
Carlisle pulled a backpack unto his shoulders, which contained all his medical supplies, and he gave Emmett a bag containing bags of blood from the hospital, which Carlisle had grabbed from work. We wouldn't have time to stop and hunt, and we needed to be as strong as possible if there was a battle coming up.
Everyone but Bella and I had our shoes on, and I quickly pulled on my favorite pair of sneakers, Bella choosing a pair of old canvas shoes.
And then we were off, Alice leading us west, Jasper at her side. We ran in pairs, which always happened naturally, Emmett and I running together because we were the odd ones out. The trees whizzed past us and I listened to everyone's smooth breathing, which kept my mind off of whatever lay ahead of us. At some point, I lost track of where we were. We had passed through the area I knew very well and entered into one I'd never been in before. But everyone else seemed familiar with the ground, while I had to watch to make sure I didn't trip over anything. The trees became closer together, and we moved without a word into a single file line without slowing. I felt the leaves brushing against my skin softly. We slowed only slightly once, as Emmett went around, passing out the bags of blood to everyone. We were getting close; I could feel it in my bones. A strange fear began to eat at me as I realized what was ahead of us. Was this going to be my first battle? I didn't even know what to do. Edward glanced at Jasper and nodded his head towards me. Jasper joined me just as I was draining the last of the blood. I handed both of my pouches back to Emmett, who put them in the backpack with all the other empty ones.
"Are you nervous about the battle, Lisa," he asked me in a soft voice, though I knew the question was rhetorical.
"Will there be one?"
Jasper shrugged. "Alice is not sure. The Volturi don't know how much John knows and John is so unpredictable in his thought patterns that whatever she sees could change entirely the next second."
I nod.
"But it's very possible that there will be a fight." He glanced down at me. "I want to assure you that everything will come naturally to you once you start. Has Alice told you about what some of them do?"
I nodded, but asked him to refresh my memory.
"Jane and Alec are the most dangerous. Jane can inflict any emotion upon you, like excruciating pain or terrible sadness, while Alec numbs our senses so we are unable to fight back. But with Bella's ability, she will be able to form a bubble over us and John, protecting us from both their abilities. Demetri is the tracker, the best there is, that was mentioned before. Aro can read your every though with one touch, which is probably what will happen first once they find John, to determine what he knows."
"Is that everyone?"
He shook his head and continued. "Marcus sees the strength of the bond in a relationship, and may single you out because of the break there is between you and John, and also because you haven't been with us as long, so your bond with us is not as strong." He sensed my fear. "Don't worry, we will all protect you from what is coming, and it may just come down to a battle of wits and the ability to think fast, which Carlisle is very skilled in."
His reassurement lessened my fear slightly, but it kept building slowly as we got closer. I touched his arm lightly, and felt his calm run through me.
"If Marcus is there, Chelsea will be there. They are partners in what they do. While Marcus senses the bond between people, she is able to break that bond. But again, that is nothing to worry about because we have Bella. Cauis and Felix are the only other ones with them, as far as Alice can see."
He paused for a minute, looking ahead as we ran through the thick trees. "The hardest part may come after the Volturi leaves." He glanced at me, reading my emotions. "We'll have to decide what to do with him, whether to leave him or take him with us. Hopefully he will see the danger there is out there and come with us." But Jasper seemed doubtful of that, and I did too. I knew how stubborn my husband could be.
We had run for about two or three hours now, when there was a change in our speed as Alice sped up and we followed. A few seconds later, a piercing scream broke the silence. I heard everyone gasp simultaneously. "Jane," Jasper whispered to me. I could hear the pain and agony in the drawn out cry, breaking my heart more with each second that passed. My ears still rang with it when the silence came back suddenly after a few minutes. I didn't know how far away it was. Finally Alice slowed. I had lost track of time somewhere along the line. My head snapped to the left and I felt my mouth begin to water and my throat began to burn. I could smell the blood and immediately I began panicking. Edward and Jasper both glanced at me with worried looks in their eyes, but I quickly got a hold of myself, pushing the panic down. But the smell of John's blood sent me into a frenzy, which was harder to control. Emmett clasped his huge hand around my arm and Jasper put his hand on my shoulder, calming me as much as he could. I could hear them now, the many voices that sounded like bells, ringing through the forest with a lovely echo. But looks could be deceiving, and so could sounds. Though they sounded like angels, they were, at least for now, the true demons of our kind.