EDWARD
It's been 18,278 days of agony. I can't live without Bella. I can't leave this world without knowing what happened to her. I'm still empty inside, how can I not be? But I am more active. I just can't rest until I have answers. I can't believe that not one of us can find anything. I mean, it's been 50 years! Charlie doesn't know he has a daughter, let alone that she ever lived in Forks. Renée not only claims that she has never given birth to a child, but she is also more flighty. There are no records of Bella anywhere, not even online. No one at any of the schools Bella has attended has any memory of her. How can someone just drop off the face of the planet?
CARLISLE
My son has been running himself ragged for the past 50 years. Okay, we all have been running ourselves ragged for the past 50 years. There should be some sort of paper trail, but there isn't. People should remember Bella, but they don't. Not even her own family knew her. No one wants to stop searching. But a break is in order, even if the break only serves to provide us with a fresh perspective when we get back to the search. Tanya and her sisters have been asking us to go on a camping trip with them. That is probably a good idea. I think we will go.
EDWARD
Carlisle is making us go camping…with Tanya. Fantastic. I agree about the whole new perspective thing helping us look for Bella, but this trip is going to be painful. Tanya's sisters always behave themselves. In fact, it will be nice to see them again. Tanya, on the other hand, is still trying to convince me that she should be my mate. She just doesn't understand why I chose a human. She is also very vocal about how it's been so long that I should just move on. The way that she talks about my Bella is rude, and it annoys more than just me. My siblings are going to be on edge too. Tanya is too smart to say anything around Carlisle and Esme though.
ALICE
I can see us in the forest. We will run into Demetri training replacements for the Elite Guard. I tell Carlisle and we change locations in the forest. We will now be much farther North and will be very careful to avoid the area in my vision. The Volturi have been summoning gifted vampires to 'request' that they join the Elite Guard. Edward, Jasper, and I have not been called upon yet. What's odd is that members of the Guard have been vanishing without a trace. If the Volturi know what is happening, they aren't telling anyone. I think they are just getting paranoid though because I have had visions of us running into those members of the Guard. Okay, I had the visions before they vanished, but I still had them. I hope that Tanya relaxes during this trip. Edward can't take much more of her 'helpful' attitude. The rest of us can't take any more of her 'helpful' comments about Bella.
EDWARD
Call me dramatic, but I officially hate camping. Tanya makes every camping term sound vulgar. Worse, she makes everything I say into a double entendre. At least she hasn't said anything about my Bella yet. However, she has called me Eddie a few times. The irritation she is creating is drowning out some of the pain, but the emptiness is still inside me. It's only been four days. Carlisle insists that we stay another six. I have to make it. I need to know what happened to Bella.
A shout comes from the South. It kind of sounds like Demetri's voice and of course we head towards it. He might be an ass, but if he needs help we will provide it. We all run towards where the shout came from. I am in the lead both because I am the fastest and because I don't want Tanya running next to me. I have to stop short when I come upon something unexpected. Before me is a ring of blue flames that seem to go all the way around the edge of a clearing. My family catches up to me here. I can hear the confusion in all of their thoughts mirrors my own. Tanya stands next to me.
Suddenly the girl vampire with Demetri vocalizes what we are all wondering about the blue flames. Demetri once more proves that his intelligence was in no way a factor in his invitation to join the Guard. Demetri and his two companions, trainees if his thoughts are truthful, are contained within the blue flames. Tanya shifts to where she is brushing up against my side.
"Let me assure you that those flames will consume you if you try to cross them," comes an unfamiliar voice.
We all watch as two women land lightly in the clearing with the three trapped vampires. Tanya grabs my hand and I am too shocked to shake her off. One of the women, the one that hadn't spoken, turns to where I can see her profile. I stop breathing as I realize that not only do I see her face, but I recognize it like I would recognize my own face. After all these years, my Bella is standing before me. Even though my haze I hear that my family's thought echo my own. There is an exchange between Bella and Demetri, but I can't focus enough to hear the words that are being said. The woman she is with says something that makes Tanya cling to my whole arm. The flames grow and crackle too loudly for us to hear anything else that is going on inside the clearing.
Wait, it's been 50 years, yet Bella looks the exact same. She has not aged at all. How can that be? And why can't I hear either of their thoughts? More questions get added to my already lengthy list for her to answer. The flames vanish and Demetri and company scurry away. I just can't stop looking at her.
"How many vampires does it take to deliver a message?" comes a hesitant voice from a tree on the other side of the clearing. There is a third member of Bella's group that I had not noticed before she spoke. Weird, I can't hear her thoughts either.
"One," Bella and the other woman on the ground answer together. That other woman seems to be the leader of the group. They do something and then suddenly they each launch a flaming arrow. Bella's is blue, the other one is purple. The end result is Demetri, minus an arm, runs alone while his two trainees are reduced to piles of ashes. Tanya throws her arms around my neck and I wrap my arms around her waist. I know that I shouldn't do this, but my actions are more a reflex than a controlled movement so I can't stop myself.
The girl from the trees joins Bella and the leader on the ground with a shaky landing. They turn to glance in our direction. Bella's eyes narrow as she sees Tanya in my arms. Shit. This looks very different than how things actually are between Tanya and me. Before anyone can say anything, the three of them just vanish. I throw Tanya off and run into the clearing with my family close behind me. The only scents in the clearing are from vampires. I can't smell Bella anywhere. My frustration grows and when Tanya tries to grab for my hand again I lash out.
"I will never be your mate! And now you have ruined what should have been a happy reunion with my only love! Just stop trying to get what you can't have! All I am to you is a challenge!" I can't stop the words from pouring out, and I don't want to stop them. Tanya deserves this and worse.