Chapter Eighteen

Bella

I hadn't the faintest idea where I was going but as long as I didn't decide on a direction or destination then Alice couldn't see my future and tell Jasper, he would be free of me and any danger. I would go as far as I could, choosing direction only when I came to a road junction. The gas in the tank was good for a few hundred miles and when it ran out I would face whatever came. As I drove my head pounded, stress I thought and my chest started to ache, I was so wound up. All the mess was down to me and I had to end it all, Edward was crazy but Carlisle could sort him out, I didn't trust Alice, she was too close to him. Jasper would eventually understand and find his true mate and me? I hadn't the faintest idea but I was young, free, and single again in every way that mattered. I had no papers but then neither did a lot of illegal aliens and they always found somewhere to sleep, someone who would employ them, so I'd become one of the lost souls, it wasn't an exciting future but it was all I had. If I went back, turned up alive then all the bad things would start over, Edward would never agree to a divorce and I wanted nothing to do with the Cullens or the Quileutes or even the Swans any more and I classed Renee among those. Bella Swan, Bella Cullen was dead, let her rest in peace.

As darkness fell I came to a junction and tossing a coin headed west, where to I had no idea and I didn't care. I stopped briefly at a drive thru to get a burger and coffee, eating in the parking lot before heading off again. I wasn't used to driving in the dark so I kept my eyes and mind strictly on the road ahead, a road that emptied slowly as the night wore on. When I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer I stopped and pulling my coat around me slept uneasily, dreaming of the Volturi, Alice and Edward.

Jasper

I hunted as quickly as I could and found a van left parked up in a dark warehouse compound, it looked as if it hadn't been anywhere in a while so hopefully it wouldn't be missed for a while. Hot wiring I learned from Rosalie and I sent her a silent thanks as the engine rumbled into life. There wasn't much gas in the tank so I pulled in and filled it up when I was far enough away from the warehouse that it was unlikely to be noticed or recognised. I was missing Bella, the ache in my chest building so I headed back desperate to see her again, to feel her in my arms, my mate at last. When I got back to the motel the car was gone, excellent it had been stolen much quicker than I thought. I was expecting it to sit there at least till late night but some thieves had more courage than others. I knocked on the door of our room but I knew before the knocks subsided that Bella was gone, the room was empty, no heartbeat, and when I tried the door it wasn't locked so I went in unable to stop myself from calling her name. I thought she had been snatched until I realised there was only our scent in here and saw the note on the table. A folded napkin bearing my name. I picked it up scanning the words, cursing my own stupidity at leaving her knowing how she felt. I'd read her emotions wrongly, she wasn't worried about herself but me.

Dear Jasper,

I can't do this any longer, not be the one to hurt you and break your heart. You have a mate in your own world and I hope you find her soon, you deserve happiness but not with me, a stupid human with enemies too numerous to mention even in your world. The Volturi will find me eventually and when they do I will beg them to kill me so I can't hurt anyone else. Thank you for the wonderful week we spent together in Denver, it will keep me sane until it doesn't matter any longer. Please don't look for me, I don't want to be found by a friend. Think of me as dead, Bella Cullen died in the plane crash, it was only a shade you travelled with these past few days. I thank you for trying to keep me safe but the price for yourself was too high and I don't warrant it. Stay safe and be happy, you will always be in my dreams Bella. Xx

She didn't realize that I couldn't do as she asked, I wouldn't, Bella was mine and I would find her before the Volturi did because I knew that Aro wouldn't let her die, he wanted to see what would happen when she became a vampire and he would keep her in Volterra or hand her back to Edward if she had nothing he wanted. She was right that Bella Cullen had died in the plane crash but from her ashes sprang Bella Whitlock, mate to The Major and there was no way he would ever let her go, not as long as he existed. I rang Alice from a pay phone and this time she answered but she couldn't help.

"I know what you want Jazz but I can't help you. Bella isn't making decisions ahead so I can't anticipate her movements. I didn't realize how badly she felt about herself, Edward almost broke her spirit and she can't get past that."

"What about the Volturi? How did they find out Alice? Who else have you told about us?"

I think that's my fault but only indirectly and without imagining for one second they would find out from a friend of mine and they sent Demetri luckily, unwittingly the one person who could, but wouldn't, find you or her. You have friends you didn't know about. "

"Which friend Alice? Tell me, who did you tell? I need to know who I have to watch my back from."

She hesitated and I hissed in anger,

"Alice?"

"I asked Dinah for help. I couldn't do it all on my own, getting Bella's things on the plane and making sure the manifest showed her aboard, not to mention infiltrating the medical investigation to make sure Bella's DNA was found. I made her promise not to tell anyone else. She's always been reliable in the past and I checked and saw no clue that she would go to the Volturi."

"Alice, didn't it occur to you that telling anyone, especially Dinah might be dangerous for all of us. She's ex Volturi for Gods sake."

"Yes but not any more. She has nothing to do with them, she keeps her head down."

"Well quite clearly she does and now I have to keep Bella safe from not only Edward but the Volturi too. What possessed you to tell her everything?"

"I was upset, I was losing you and my friend Bella to each other and much as I like her it was still hard. Besides I didn't know how to make her safe, then I caught sight of the plane crash and I didn't have long to organise things so I was forced to tell her the whole story. She was the only one close enough to help me"

"Alice, when this is over and Bella is finally safe I'll be paying Dinah a visit."

"She's gone Jazz, I tried to contact her myself but she's vanished. I think she realized once she'd told the Volturi my secret she would be in danger herself."

"In danger? She's dead."

"Well maybe you should be focusing on Bella for now. She's the important one after all."

"Do you have any idea why Dinah told the Volturi? Can't you see anything?"

"I think perhaps she was a sleeper, watching the Cullen family for Aro through me. I swear I didn't know Jazz, she never did anything I could see."

"Well you obviously didn't look far enough ahead did you?"

"Do you want to spend precious minutes having a go at me when they could be better spent finding Bella? After all I went to an awful lot of time and trouble to save her for you."

"So do I find her before the Volturi?"

"I don't know, it depends who else Aro sends, he hasn't decided himself yet but you have to try because he'll change her as soon as he gets her to Volterra and if he does he will unleash her gift but ungoverned and we'll all be in danger then. She needs you Jazz to keep her sane so she can control it."

"So help me Alice."

"I wish I could Jazz, I really do but until she makes a conscious decision about her destination I won't know."

"Why were you with Edward?"

"Trying to keep him off-balance, and make sure he doesn't suspect anything. He trusts me at the moment and I need it to stay that way. You know I'm the only one who can keep him out indefinitely. He's thinking of finding a replacement for Bella. The attention he got as her bereaved husband kept him quiet for a while plus a little dalliance with Tanya but he's still trying to achieve his goal of having a baby with a human."

"What about his mate?"

She laughed which annoyed me for some reason.

"Why don't you let me in on your little joke Alice"

"Oh touchy! His mate can't help him with that."

"Who is his mate?"

"Sometimes the most obvious is really the one. You already know, anyway I have to go now but if I see anything I'll contact you. You need to get a cell phone though."

I cursed, forgetting I'd destroyed my old one.

"By the way Jazz if I were you I'd contact Darius, he might be able to help you, your car had GPS remember."

I cursed again, my thought processes were all over the place.

"Thanks Alice"

"Don't thank me, you don't have her back yet."

"But I will Alice, I will."