AN: This chapter is only half-betaed by my amazing beta Acemckean. After she did I added more and now I really want to get it out to you guys due to my terrible wedding let down. Please believe me when I say it was necessary. You will be happy to know that a lot of questions will be answered in this chapter.
AN 2: Thanks for all the well wishes in regards to my health. I am slowly healing again but it is a long road.
AN3: If you haven't already read my beta's stories The Cullen Brothers and Marital Bliss? as well as our combined story Interview With A Vampire
CHAPTER 45
GONE??
I knew this had all been too much. That's why she ran away. She didn't love me... She didn't need me the way I needed her. My family was all panicked and were discussing how to go after her, I didn't listen. If she wanted to go I would let her. It was the only thing I could give her. Her freedom, her happiness...
I needed to get out of here. I knew where I'd go, what I'd do. I had to be fast so they wouldn't follow. It was the only way.
"Edward Cullen!! Don't you dare!" Alice's shrill voice commanded. "Have you not heard a word that was just said?"
I looked at her stunned. I really hadn't heard a single thing.
"Edward, there's no way she left of her own free will. Something happened and we need to find her, find them," Alice said.
"How do you know Alice?" I begged softly.
"Edward, the only person who has been more gooey about this wedding than you is Bella," she said. "I know her. Something happened."
"So then what do we do?" I asked. I had never felt more helpless in my life. Someone had her, and my children. That someone was going to pay. I didn't even know who I had to fight to get her back. This was worse than the James situation
Carlisle took a deep breath and did what Carlisle does best. He took control.
"Jasper, Emmett and Rose get to the house and check for other scents," Carlisle commanded. "Alice and I will check for any scent trail outside. Edward, you and Esme wait here for word from any of us. Just in case she gets here. Everyone grab a cell phone and go."
"Wait," Emmett yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at him.
"Considering Bella's love for Canada, please tell me the cells work there now," he said.
"Taken care of," Carlisle said. "Now everyone GO!"
They dashed out leaving me and Esme at the church. Esme was heart broken.
"I'm sorry, Edward," she sobbed, tearlessly.
"I know you did what you could, Esme. I just don't understand what happened," I said.
"Me neither," she sobbed.
"Tell me everything, Esme, please," I begged.
"Okay," she said. "After Alice and Rose left, she went up to your room to nurse the babies. I asked her if I could accompany her and she agreed. We sat together on your bed, facing each other, as she fed them. It was so calming and beautiful. She was radiant. We discussed the wedding. She was so excited. She was even counting down the seconds."
"Me too," I whispered. Esme stood next to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
"After they finished eating we dressed them in their little outfits. They looked so sweet. We laid them down next to each other in the nursery and went down to get Bella into her dress. She looked stunning. Oh Edward!" she said and started sobbing.
"Shhh!" I said, rubbing her back.
"Oh! Well I told her how stunning she was and how much you would love her in her dress," she said.
"Oh, I see," I said, seeing my blushing, beautiful bride in Esme's mind. She was an absolute vision. Stunning. From the look on her face, I knew for certain that something had happened. She hadn't left on her own.
"She started to cry happy tears, so I dabbed her tears with a handkerchief and told her that I would put the twins' car seats in the Mercedes while she went to get them and bring them down. I got the seats in and waited at the car. She didn't come, so I called her name. Still nothing. Something seemed wrong, so I dashed up to the nursery calling her. The twins were gone as was she. I didn't know what to do. I tried..."
"Shhh. It's okay Esme. We will find them. We'll get them back. I will not rest for a second until we do," I promised my mother.
"I tried to call. Of course all the cell phones were off, so I jumped in the car and drove here. I'm so sorry Edward. I should have stayed with her. I could have protected them. I could have..." Esme wailed.
"Listen to me, Mom. We'll figure this out and we'll figure this out soon. I am going to marry her. We are going to get our happily ever after!" I said.
As soon as that promise was out of my mouth the cell phone in my pocket rang. I grabbed it and prayed it was Bella.
"Hello," I answered.
"Edward," Jasper yelled. "We know who has them."
"Who?" I yelled.
The name he said set my brain on fire.
"Victoria," he said.
The red head. James' mate. She found a way to take my Bella and my children. She was going to die!
I called Carlisle. They picked up a scent from the back of the house, through the forest to the road, then it went cold. They were all coming back to the church to make plans. I would not stay behind again.
I dropped to my knees and folded my hands. I prayed. I prayed to God that my Bella and my babies would be okay; that I would find them. I prayed for a sign. As soon as the thought left my brain my mind was filled with a vision. I closed my eyes to concentrate. Victoria standing in the nursery holding the twins with two other vampires. She was motioning for Bella to be quiet. The terror on Bella's face was evident. She whispered to Bella to follow them willingly, or the babies would pay the price. Bella followed as they jumped from the third story. She whispered my name into the wind as she leapt after Victoria with the two other vampires at her side. The vision fell away and I saw Charlie in the forest calling for Bella. He was searching for her. The vision went black again.
I looked up to see the rest of the family in front of me. What did this mean?
"That wasn't my vision Edward. I think... I think maybe Arriel can send her visions. Did everyone see it?" she asked.
The family all nodded and agreed.
"So what does it mean?" Rosalie growled.
"It means I need to get back to Forks. Wolves or no wolves," I said.
"I agree," Carlisle said. "Partly at least. Edward you are not going alone. We all go! But first, I think we need to contact the Denali clan."
"What? Carlisle!! I thought we decided that it was too dangerous!" I exclaimed, not wanting to risk anything else going wrong.
"Edward, it's Victoria! Laurent knows her, knows what she can and will do. He could be invaluable in this situation," Carlisle reasoned.
"You will need to explain about the babies on the phone. They will help us, if you do it right, but I can't see the outcome. The babies are too close to those making the decisions for Victoria," Alice said.
We paced the floor as Carlisle called Tanya Denali.
"Hello?" I heard Tanya answer.
"Hi Tanya! Thanks for your earlier help with Edward and his mate," Carlisle started.
"I was so happy to hear it all worked out," she said. "I bet Edward was happy to get her back."
"Yes, very," he said. "Look Tanya, I am calling in desperation right now. We need your help. We were hoping to be able to explain this in person, but due to extreme circumstances we need to explain now.... and ask for your assistance once more."
"What can we do Carlisle? You know we see you as family," she said.
"This is hard to explain Tanya. A situation I have never come across until now," Carlisle explained.
"You have me intrigued, Brother," she said.
"Edward and Bella consummated their relationship while she was still human," Carlisle started.
"Oh, Edward was a naughty boy!" she said, giggling slightly. I growled softly at her innuendo.
"Tanya! There's more," Carlisle said. "She conceived due to that encounter."
"That's impossible," she said, obviously stunned.
"I thought so too Tanya, until I met my grandchildren," I told her.
"Children?" she asked.
"Yes. Twins, a boy and a girl." he explained, smiling at the thought of my little angels. God, how I missed my babies and my Bella. I wanted to run now, I wanted to go get them, not wait for this conversation. Alice's glare told me that was not going to happen.
"Are they vampires? Immortal children?" she asked, panic evident in her voice.
"No. Not fully anyway. They are half human. Blood flows through their veins and their hearts beat. They grow and are very controlled. In fact they do not drink blood, yet anyways. I have a feeling they will eventually," he explained. I had never really thought about it, I guess it made sense.
"And their mother. She survived the pregnancy as a human?" she asked.
"She did but, the boy, her son, is venomous and changed her minutes after their birth," he explained.
"So, she is a newborn, and you need help to control her?" Tanya asked. I growled silently again. Stupid Tanya and her stupid suppositions.
"No, actually her change was very different than ours. Twelve hours only and she retained a lot of human abilities. Not only that but she is as controlled as any of us, maybe more so," he explained.
"Incredible! Eleazar will be thrilled to learn about this. But this does not explain why you need help," she said.
"Bella and the girl, Arriel, have gifts," Carlisle explained, although I am not sure of the complete extent of their gifts.
Bella is gifted? Why had I not seen it? Was it her control? How had I not realized this?
"So you want Eleazar to tell you?" she guessed again.
"Eventually that would be great. The man we really need is Laurent," he said.
"Why Laurent?" she asked, obviously puzzled that we were interested in the non-gifted, newest member of their family.
"Bella and Edward were to be married today but Bella and the babies were taken, by someone that Laurent knew well," Carlisle explained.
"Who?" she asked.
"Victoria. She was the mate of James, the tracker we killed last year," he explained.
"That red head? She came to Denali a few weeks ago. Laurent was not happy to see her come, and very happy to see her leave. She had two others with her, both gifted young vampires, newborns really," Tanya explained.
"How Tanya? Please that would help us immensely," Carlisle said.
"Well Victoria herself has the gift of evasion. Just an automatic thing. Riley, one of the young ones could nullify other vampires strength completely, giving you no more strength or speed than an average human. Bobby, the other one, has a gift much like Jane's. Not quite as powerful and only good for short bursts. I hope this helps Carlisle" she said.
"Immensely. That tells us what we need. Can Riley affect everyone or only a single vampire," he asked.
"Single only, and he does not affect the gifts that vampire has," Tanya replied. This made me feel better.
"That's a relief," he said.
"Carlisle. Can you give me a minute. The family is here. We just need a moment to discuss how else we may help," she said.
"Of course Tanya," he said, turning from the phone to look at Jasper. "Jasper, start thinking tactics. You know their gifts now. Plan son. Use your tactical skills."
I could see Alice trying to look into the near future. We were going to fight. Probably in Forks. Would the wolves fight against us? Would we need to protect ourselves from them as well?
"Carlisle we are two hours away from Forks? Shall we meet you at your house? We are all willing to help, to fight with you for your loved ones. We are strong, eight of us in all," Tanya said.
"Tanya, we are not in Forks, although that is our destination. The wolves have decided to nullify our treaty and the home has been destroyed. We do not know if, by going back to Forks, to rescue our loved ones, we risk war with them. I cannot ask you to take that risk with us," he said.
"The family agrees Carlisle. We will be there to help you. Where shall we meet?" she asked.
"Port Angeles, in just under two hours," Alice told him.
"Alice says Port Angeles. Did you say eight?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes and I believe you know Kate's mate," she said.
"Who is it," he asked.
"The nomad Garrett. He visited us with a friend named Connor. Connor and I are more than friends as well. They have decided to give our lifestyle a try. We were hunting around Mt. Baker when you called. We are on our way now," she said.
"I am so happy for you and Kate. And thankful that you are all willing to help us," Carlisle said. "We will see you soon, Sister."
"So we head to Port Angeles," I said, happy to have something to do, finally.
"Let's hit the cars!" Emmett called. I know he wanted to get moving, to do something. Everyone agreed quickly and dashed to the cars, leaving the church deserted.
Pulling the little car seats out of the back of the Mercedes was hard. These seats that my children should be in.
"Edward, we'll just put them in the trunk. They'll be siting in them soon. I can't see it, I just know though. We'll get them back," Alice said.
"Thank you," I said to her. "I need them, Al. If anything happens to them. If something goes wrong, I can't go on."
"I know Big Brother, I know," she said hugging me, before pulling me into the back of the Mercedes.
Carlisle and Esme were in the front, ready to go and the tires spun as we headed out. Jasper, Emmett and Rose followed in the Jeep. We were going to get my Bella. I was going to bring them home!
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