Chapter 24: What to do

~Carlisle~

It didn't take Claire long to be back on her feet, and that was the one thing about children that I was grateful for. Children for the most part were very resilient. Even in the worst cases with the proper treatment and care, they bounced back in very little time. The pack as a whole was on added guard and the younger children were now supervised by an adult if they ventured outside, or even in their own homes. As for my family, we were all headed for the Island, all needing to face what was next.

"Do you think we'll catch this young one?" Esme whispered, her right cheek pressed against my chest as we rested in first class on our way to Rio.

"I'm hoping so, though I don't look forward to what will come once we do." One way or the other she would have to be destroyed. It was clear that she wasn't as innocent as we had first thought. Something had provoked her to attack Claire, and I had a feeling it had to do with the little girl, or what ever it was, losing control.

We didn't say anymore for quite sometime, until Esme sighed against my chest. "Tell me," I whispered.

"I worry about Rosalie. Since Renesmee's birth her desire to have children seems to have built up again. I'm worried that she will try and make a stand for this being even if our laws forbid it."

I gathered my wife closer, "Emmett won't let it go that far," I said. Emmett was very laid back when compared to his brothers, but when it came time to take a stand he was usually the one ready for the fight, in an argument, or in battle.

"A part of me wishes that this one isn't an immortal child, are you sure?" Esme lifted her head from my chest, and even in the dim cabin light I could see the hope in her eyes.

I reached out tracing the back of my hand down her jawline. "I don't see what else this could be," I answered.

~*~

The sky was still dark by the time we reached the docks, and Edward was waiting. He was quiet as he took the one large suitcase we had brought for the both of us, and I knew he was reading my thoughts. Once we were underway, he answered the question that had been plaguing my mind, "No she hasn't brought her up, nor have we heard her talking to Lily."

That was a relief, and he nodded at my assessment.

For the rest of the trip we talked about what the wolves had observed, and what Esme and I had experienced a couple of times while staying at Charlie"s. "I'm not sure how, if this is an immortal child, how it was able to remain hidden for so long, and why it's slipping."

"Or how it's been getting blood without anyone noticing," Esme added.

"We've talked to Renesmee a couple of times, but she always changes the subject. There isn't any fear about discussing Lily, she's just too wrapped up in being here, which I'm glad for," Edward told us as he slowed the boat down. We were approaching the Island and to the east, the sky was beginning to light up just a little.

~*~

After breakfast, Renesmee was ready to go outside, sooner than the rest of our family. Wanting to avoid a tantrum, I put on the pair of swim trunks Esme had packed for me and went with her into the ocean, mindful of how quick she could get away. It was nice not to have to focus on all of the negative events of the past few days, though they were still in the back recesses of my mind.

"You are swimming so well," I said as I held out my hand letting my little granddaughter anchor there while she took a rest.

"Like swimming." When she was ready, Renesmee launched away from me and splashed under the water. Unsure if she meant to do that, I went under and brought her back to the surface. She was out of breath but unharmed.

"You have to be careful," I reminded.

"It fun to do Pop," she answered, though the next time she swam away from me, she was a little more cautious. When she tired of being in the water we went over to the blanket under the umbrella, and once Renesmee was wrapped in a towel she sat down on my lap. "Pop, why Momma, Daddy talk about Lily?"

They had been discussing her but stopped the moment Renesmee brought that up.

Taking part of Renesmee's towel, I wiped the last drops of ocean water from her face, "They want to know more about her," I answered, not wanting to give her anymore of an explanation than was necessary.

"Her not let me see. Her does like me," Renesmee said, and to prove her point she put her hand on my cheek. A moment later I saw moments of the past where my granddaughter was playing alone in her playroom. That image disappeared and there was another of dress up clothes, and Renesmee's tea set. Her small face was the next thing I saw.

"She show me what to play and we do that," Renesmee said. After that she got her shovel and bucket, ready to dig in the white sand.

Esme had arrived by then, and after giving her a gentle kiss, I went inside finding my son waiting. "Did you see?" I whispered even softer than normal.

"I recall the day she was playing up there. How did we miss this?"

It was Edward's way to blame himself and I put my hand on his shoulder as Bella arrived at his side. "We both missed it," she said

Bella's part in his life was an important one and I left the two of them, going over to the sofa to sit down. Somehow we needed to come up with a way to catch this young one, if indeed she was as I thought.

~Anna~

Having to be stuck in the house on a sunny day was not my idea of a good time. I wasn't in trouble, but it was the worry everyone in my village was going through that had my freedom sucked away. My mom only let me go outside with Jacob, or her. Sometimes she let me go sit out on the porch, but not a whole lot and it was frustrating. I understood why the little children couldn't play alone. Jake told me about Claire and about the doctor's thoughts that it was an immortal child. I remember asking Jake who would want to do that to some poor little one, and he hadn't an answer for such things.

I'd called over at his father's, but Billy said the pack was running on patrol which meant I was stuck.

"Anna, I have to go to work. Please wait for Jacob," my mom called out from the front room.

"I will, be careful."

The moment the door shut, I pulled out my swim suit determined to make the most out of a nice day. I wouldn't go all the way to first beach, very sure somehow mom would find out, but nothing would keep me from laying out in the back yard. After putting it on, and grabbing a soft blanket along with my favorite book, I walked out of the house. It was a little chilly for a bathing suit but I didn't care and after laying the blanket out I rested on my stomach feeling the freedom I really needed.

My book was a sad one about a girl who was killed and got to look back on her family from heaven. Jake didn't understand why I liked it, though he never said anything too bad. He knew the moment we met I was a book worm. I was really getting into the story when I thought I heard someone crying. When I looked away at the woods outlining the backyard there wasn't anyone there. In the back of my mind a voice was screaming for me to go in the house. My story was too good and it was too nice a day so I went back to reading.

"What are you called?"

My heart beat picked up and when I looked up there was a little girl standing in front of me, wearing a long sleeved dress. Her blond hair was braided neatly down the back of her head and she was holding a tattered looking doll. All of that was out of place but most especially her pale translucent skin. Remembering what Jacob said about a vampires eyes I looked into them finding they were dark blue.

"I'm Anna."

"Tell them to let them free." She sniffed looking down at her bare feet. When she looked at me again she laughed.

Everything in me was telling me to run, and I knew it wouldn't do me any good. If she wanted too she would do whatever she needed. "Your Lily, aren't you?"

"I wont tell you," she said laughing again.

I blinked and when I opened my eyes again she was gone. After that I was in the house dialing Emily Uley's number hoping against hope she would pick up the phone.

"Hello."

I wanted to tell Emily what I had seen, that Lily had come right up too me. The problem was I couldn't find my voice and I started to shake.

"Whose there," Emily said.

"I saw her," I finally got out.

"Anna?"

"I..." There was more I wanted to say, and that was when something was on my back pulling my hair until it felt like it was going to rip from my head.

My voice finally came back and I screamed as loud as I could. The right side of my neck stung and hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt and I tried shaking her off of me.

"You can't tell," Lily screamed, biting me again. Something warm was running down my shoulder, and when I managed to look all I saw was red. The room was starting to spin and my head was hurting from where she yanked on my hair. How could such a small little girl be so strong. My legs couldn't hold me up and I crashed to the floor wishing the pain would go away, terrified I would be like the child who laughed at me before I was alone again feeling like I was in a whole lot of water not able to catch my breath.

~Jacob~

Hospitals weren't my favorite places, and as I sat in the waiting area with most of my pack, I fought against the instinct to go hunt down the little spawn who had very nearly taken Anna away from me. The doctors were still trying to get her stabilized and I wished the Doc was here instead of on their Island. We had already called for him, and he was coming back with Bella and Edward.

We were all aware that someone was coming to talk to us, but we had to play it cool. Anna's mom was the first one to get up and go to the doctor, and the guy didn't look too much older than Sam.

"Your daughter is stable for now. We've had to give her two units of blood already, but I think that will be all she will need. For right now her visitors need to be limited."

Thalia turned to me nodding and we went together down the hall, following the doctor around a few corners before we came to Anna's room. I let Thalia go in first standing by the door while she kissed her daughter. Anna's breathing changed and I knew she was awake.

"Where's Jacob," she rasped.

After taking a breath I went to the other side of her bed. "Right here. Did you think I wasn't coming or something?" I tried, wanting to lighten the mood.

When she smiled at me I felt my heart lighten a little."It was horrible. She doesn't have red eyes. What does that mean?"

When we found Anna laying in a pool of blood in the front room, she was still conscious enough to keep repeating that. "You said that a lot while we were getting you here."

Anna reached out and I took her hand, barely noticing as her mom left us alone.

"She was crying. I went outside and she just was there. She had on a long sleeved dress and she didn't look like she belonged in this time period." Anna told me everything until she got to the part where she had called Emily. "After that I don't remember," she said shutting her eyes again. Her heart monitor had a steady beep, and slowed just a little, meaning she was asleep.

"Jake?" Sam walked into the room then, and I shook my head.

"Who would do that to a kid?" I asked angry enough to rip the vampire or Werewolf apart who had created such a monster.

"We need to find out, and figure out what she wants."

"I'm not leaving her," I said a little louder than I'd meant. Anna opened her eyes, smiling at me before she closed them again.

"We don't expect you too, but eventually we need you to help," Sam answered, and then he was gone.

~Bella~

Charlie was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived, and hugged me without hesitation when I was close enough. "I'm sorry you had to leave the kids behind," he said.

"They're safe with Rose and Emmett there to watch them. How is Anna?" I asked, concerned for her and Jacob.

"Still in the hospital. Jacob won't leave her side, and the pack hasn't been able to track her." By then Carlisle Esme and Edward had arrived and we followed Charlie through the airport. Carlisle and Esme had their own cars to get and Edward and I road with Charlie.

"Have you been able to come up with any ideas on how to find her?" Dad asked.

I glanced back at my husband, remembering Emmett's idea of using Claire as bait. Rosalie had punched him in the arm feeling as strongly against that as the rest of us. "Nothing that is reasonable," I said.

"If's she's immortal like you all believe, how can she function on her own?"

It was Edward's turn to answer that question and he explained to Charlie that we no longer believed that this being was immortal. "She may be more than just an immortal child, a hybrid of sorts. We think a man named Joham created her, or the Werewolves that caused us to lose our first home," Edward said. He sounded as uncomfortable as I felt talking about that time.

When we got to Charlie's my dad headed up to his room while Edward and I went out into the forest to hunt and to see if we could pick up on anything out of the ordinary. We ran far past the city into the deep forest and I did my best to focus on everything, not just the deer I'd smelled when the wind shifted. Edward was running somewhere behind me and veered off to the left. I kept on the deer, gaining on him. When I was close enough I leaped into the air and came down in front of it. Before it had a chance to turn I had it pinned down and the struggle was over rather quickly.

As I drank I listened to the forest around me hearing the slight movement of the trees in the wind far above me. The smell of pine, dirt and oncoming rain were the most prominent scents aside from the tangy odor of the blood I was drinking. Somewhere in the distance I heard my husband dragging the carcass of what ever he had managed to catch, wondering how he always managed to get done before me. By the time I finished, Edward had a fire going. I easily lifted the body of the deer and threw it in.

"Did you pick up anything?" I asked as we stood by the dancing orange flames.

"Nothing that we don't ordinarily pick up," Edward answered.

"You're still thinking about Emmett's bait idea?" I asked as he looked away from the flames, turning his head toward me.

"I'm not sure how else we can draw her out."

The whole idea of putting one of the kids out there to attract this thing, was absurd. "Would you allow our daughter or our son to do that?"

"Of coarse not," he snapped before looking away. That night we had argued and Edward left to take a walk to the other side of the Island. We still needed to work through this and it was frustrating. A moment later Edward faced me and when he reached out for me I let my husband hold me, needing his arms around me, his steady strength.

"It's not going to help us to keep lashing out at each other," he pointed out.

"I agree, wished we could find someone older to use as bait. "Do you think Jasper was right about Joham creating children like her to spy?"

"That might be a very good possibility," Edward agreed.

By that time we were heading back to Charlie's. My husband held my hand as lost in this as I was.

When we got to the house Charlie's steady breathing coming from upstairs was reassurance enough that he was safe. Edward and I were staying there to make sure my dad remained that way though without our children, at least for me, I felt a loss that I didn't like.