Chapter Twelve

Peter

Leaving the girls to get on with it I traveled to Forks, to the old Cullen house, where Bella started her hunt for them. The lingering scent of her permeated every room so she'd been thorough. The room Bella had described as Alice and Jasper's had been stripped. No pile of destroyed possessions on the floor, no smell of spicy aftershave, the floor was clean and newly varnished, I could smell it faintly in the air. The closet was empty, it too had been stripped and redecorated. Did that mean they were coming back? Or was it to stop her finding anything else? I went out back and I could smell a recent visitor but I couldn't say who it was, I hadn't met the Cullens except Alice and it wasn't her. At the bottom of the yard was an incinerator and I looked in. There were cold ashes and a few scraps of material, a half-burned book cover, they had been burned recently and I remembered Bella talking about the smashed photo frames and books in The Major's room. I hadn't seen anything like that, the photos and books had been burned since her visit, interesting!

What concerned me the most was if The Major had vanished after Bella's party then someone was already working on a plan and used the opportunity to get him, but how? Even Carlisle Cullen wouldn't find it easy to overpower The Major.

Bella

Peter rang with the news that the house had been cleaned up and someone had been sniffing around but he had no idea who, one of the family was all he could tell me. The scents in the rooms was too faint to pick out individuals after such a long time. He told me he'd been into town and heard that Chief Swan was worried about his daughter going off suddenly.

"Maybe you'd better ring him"

"What do I tell him?"

"I don't care, tell him you've been abducted by aliens if you like but you need to stop him launching an all out hunt for you."

I rang Charlie but he was out on a call so I left a message telling him not to worry. I needed to do something but I'd be in touch when I could and not to worry I was fine. He knew my cell number and I knew as soon as he got the message he'd be ringing it, furious with me, I wondered how long I could hold off answering it. I was forced to speak to Charlie later the same day after my cell just kept ringing and ringing for two hours. He had been furious with me when I wouldn't tell him where I was. When I refused to tell him why I'd gone either it just fanned the flames higher. He rang again urging me to go back home, then threatened me with Renee before telling me finally that he washed his hands of me. I knew he didn't mean it but when I finally saw him again I was going to be in mega trouble. The only bright spot was that I was an adult so he couldn't do much except shout and holler.

While we waited for information from Peter I got Charlotte to open up about her, Peter and Jasper and discovered both Charlotte and he were created by Jasper or The Major as she insisted on calling him. His history was Jasper's history more or less and the more I heard about his creator maria the less I liked her and the more I felt sorry for him. His rebirth had been as painful and bloody as his first but this time his mother was a monster and made sure he became one too.

Dr Cullen

I'd been forced to give up the search for my Lab Rat, I'd be missed if I wasn't back for work, so she'd evaded me for now. Her truck was stationary just off I-5 so whoever was helping her must had found the tracking device. Obviously they weren't amateurs so who? Then I heard from a friend that a man had been seen at the old house in Forks, sniffing around, so Bella's helper was looking, but for what? I asked for a photo and when it came through on my computer I realized someone in the family had called for help for Bella. She was being helped by the Whitlocks, I recognized Peter from the photographs Jasper had, it had to be Alice but how much did she know or suspect? I needed to speak to her without letting on I knew what she'd been up to. It startled me that she should care about Bella after what had happened between Jasper and herself as a result, but then her mind had always worked slightly differently. I would have to engineer a meeting, she'd gone off to Denali so it shouldn't be too difficult. In the meantime I had to be very careful.

Alice

When the call came I was ready for it, the family were coming to visit in a couple of weeks provided Carlisle could get time off. How much did they know? Bella was free for now but I had no idea where Jasper was. Peter hadn't located him or even any news only the rumor that he was dead which originated up North somewhere, was it true? I really hoped not, for his sake and for Bella and the baby. Tanya was excited at the idea of Edward visiting, she still had the hots for him although why was beyond me. As a brother he was OK but he was such an annoying and boring guy. I'd have to make sure I was never alone with anyone, there was safety in numbers. When my phone rang I wondered if it would be news of Jazz so I wandered outside and away from prying ears to answer,

"Alice, its Charlotte. Any news on Jasper?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Hows Bella?"

"She's fine so far. Have you heard from Carlisle?"

"Yes they're all visiting in a couple of weeks so I'm going to need my wits around me just in case I'm suspected"

"I was ringing to tell you that Peter is tracking Carlisle in Boston, he's watching the family now".

"Then he'd better pack his snowshoes for the visit here in Alaska. Let me know if you hear anything and send Bella my love."