Chapter Five

Bella

As the hours passed without any call I started to feel uneasy. I put the TV on in the room and switched channels stopping at the news programme. My jaw dropped when I heard the headlines, a passenger aircraft headed to Seattle had crashed on take off, killing everyone on board. There was no explanation as to why the crash happened so far but the public were given a number to ring to inquire after relatives that should have been on the flight. Was that what Alice had seen? Had she saved my life? If so, why hadn't she told me? I guess because she knew I would have tried to warn the other passengers which would draw attention to me and what could I say? How could I explain? I wondered if Edward had seen the news yet, would he know it was my flight? I'd rung Esme before leaving for the airport but I had no idea if Edward had been in touch to find out the details. Should I ring Esme? Alice had told me not to ring anyone but I was scared and confused. I decided to give it another hour and if I had no message from Alice I would ring Forks. The room phone buzzed at the same time I picked up my cell to ring the Cullen house and when I answered I was relieved to hear Alice's voice,

"Bella please do as you are told. You were going to ring Esme and I told you not to."

"Why Alice? She's going to think I was on that plane."

"That's the general idea Bella. Everyone will think you are dead."

"Why would you want people, the family especially, to think I was dead? Alice give me some answers or I'm ringing Edward."

"Do that and it's all over Bella."

"What is Alice? Give me something please. Why am I in this hotel under your name? Why do you want Edward to think I'm dead?"

"I don't have time for explanations yet Bella, you'll have to be patient a little longer. I saw what they planned and this was the only way to save you."

"Save me? They had planned? Who?"

"I promise I'll explain when I ring back but I have a few ends to tie up first, this is really complicated and I've not done anything like it before"

"When Alice?"

"Give me till tomorrow lunchtime but Bella please stay in your room"

"You mean your room"

"Whatever."

"OK, but I don't like it Alice."

"I know Bella but please trust me just for a few more hours."

Alice

I had checked and as far as I could see Bella would do as I asked her. In the meantime I combed the near future to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Bella had to appear to have been on that plane when it crashed or her future was bleak. The bodies were so badly burned and some even vaporised so DNA would be a nightmare if they could get any at all but I'd ensured some of her hair was on a brush inside a case in the hold, one that survived, if badly burned. Esme knew the flight number so as soon as she saw the news she would pass the news on to Edward who would turn up in Denver to find out what happened. I had to stay well away from him but Jasper could help him, he didn't know anything anyway, not yet. I couldn't risk him letting a stray thought point Edward in my direction. I knew Jasper would have enough torment of his own but at least it wouldn't be for long. If things went the way I had seen then I would explain to both Bella and him why I'd done what I had. It had taken a long time to find out what was going on, I'd been uneasy for sometime, soon after the wedding in fact. How I had missed it earlier I had no idea, either they hadn't thought they would be affected so badly by her presence or they hadn't decided to act until afterwards. I felt responsible, I'd done all in my power to keep Bella safe for Edward never imagining that her greatest danger came from him all the time! I couldn't tell anyone else in the family because they wouldn't have believed me.

Bella

I didn't sleep, I sat in the chair with the news channel on feeling sick, not a single person survived the crash and I should have been one of them. The newsreader said the plane had been full, was it a reporting error or had somehow Alice made it appear I was in fact on board? My fingers itched to ring someone, Esme, Charlie, Jasper. Jasper! He knew which flight I was on and he would think I was dead. I picked up my phone but the room phone rang again and I heard Alice,

"Please Bella don't. I need time and you are distracting me."

I put the phone back down and sat watching as the crash was dissected by former crash investigators, a broken fuel line, a suspect bag, pilot error, a suicide bomber, the theories went from the obvious to the ridiculous but I couldn't turn the TV off. When I closed my eyes I could see some of the other passengers I'd gazed at while waiting for the boarding call, a little girl with plaits, a young couple obviously very much in love, an elderly lady on her own looking nervous and now they were all dead, just snuffed out in an instant.

Esme

I drove to Sea Tac early, not that I expected the flight to be early but I felt better knowing I would be here when it landed. Edward had been very keen that Bella not be left on her own although I had no idea why. I sat in the terminal working on my I-pad when I heard a groan from others waiting. Looking up I saw that Bella's flight was now showing as delayed but there were no more details, then a man in a suit came out and asked all people waiting for passengers on Bella's flight to follow him. There were quite a few of us and everyone was looking very nervous as he escorted us into a smaller room and closed the door,

"I'm very sorry to have to break this to you but the plane crashed on take off and at the moment we don't know anything about survivors but if you would wait here staff will be along with coffee and then my colleagues will come round and ask for details on the passenger you are waiting for and your relationship. As soon as we have any new information I promise we will pas it on. As he left and the coffee arrived I heard an exchange in the corridor,

"It's not looking good. No survivors as far as we know but the authorities aren't giving any more details to the relatives yet."

I knew no one else in the room had heard what I did but I had to ring Edward and Carlisle. Bella dead? I couldn't believe it but unless she missed the flight there was very little hope for her. I excused myself to use the rest room, leaving my details with the staff in the room and rang Jasper first.

"Esme"

"Have you heard the news?"

"No, I just got in, why?"

"Did Bella catch her flight?"

"Yes, I dropped her off and waited until they were called through to the departure lounge why?"

"I just heard that the plane crashed on take off and there aren't any survivors Jasper"

I heard the phone slip from his hand to hit the floor, he would blame himself for taking her for the flight, so I waited until I heard the phone turned off and then rang Carlisle. His phone was switched off so I left a message asking him to ring me as soon as he got it then turned and left the airport, too shocked to sit with the other relatives, especially with what I knew that they didn't. It was just too awful.