Chapter Thirty One

Jasper

"Why the fuck didn't you just kill them all and be done with it? You know they don't care about the kids or Charlie. Instead we're stinking up the place with a load of dog breath."

"Maybe hearing Bella's torment will shake up their memories Peter. I don't know what else to do. They could be anywhere and Alice can't see them because Caden is there and she doesn't see him for some reason. So tell me, where do we start?"

I ran upstairs as soon as we got back to help my wife. I hated to hear her distress and took all the pain I could just to stop the screaming. My brain wasn't working, every time I tried to think all I could see and hear was Bella's torment. As she quietened in my arms Esme went back downstairs to hear the latest and console Rosalie who was fluctuating between a deadly rage and despair. I remembered all that had happened when I first saw Bella, from her torment then to the smiles on our wedding day and all the miracles we had performed that Christmas, of course without Darius it wouldn't have been possible to...Darius! Of course!

I phoned him hoping he would be in a mood to answer, he could go months without speaking to anyone when depression hit and he started thinking of Sara. It was therefore with great relief that I heard his voice.

"So Major, you OK? How are the little ones? You ringing with good news? Another ankle biter on the way maybe?"

"No, bad news Darius, and I really need your help, we all do."

His tone became serious,

"What do you need?"

I explained what had happened and asked if he could help locate the pack, Charlie, and the children.

"I'll do all I can Major but there is one huge problem. The guardians tend to communicate using telepathy and I haven't yet found a way to listen in to that. If it were the Volturi that would be much easier. You say the pack Alpha's mate is missing too. You suspect her of having something to do with Charlie's disappearance? Well, she would have to use the phone unless she is with Sam Uley and the pack. I can try tracing her phone and listen out for any mention of the kids names on the airwaves. I wish I could do more."

"Anything at all Darius because Bella is going to wake up real soon and she is gonna be royally pissed when she does."

"Yeah, a newborn with that kind of news could cause a bloodbath, you'll have to watch her carefully. If I get anything at all I'll let you know. Do you think they'd go to Denali?"

"To Johnny H? I doubt it, I can't see him wanting a race war."

"Yeah that's what I was thinking. Well there are plenty of other guardian tribes, I'll start with the Quileutes closest first. Hiding the children won't be difficult on a reservation."

Bella

I was on fire and my flesh melting as my blood boiled, this must be hell but I had no idea how I got here. I couldn't think for the pain which seemed never ending and then it began to recede and my mind, now not fully consumed, managed to put bits of memory together. I saw Jasper and then my baby son Caden, Uncle Charlie, and Charity in Emmett's big arms. Another more recent memory nudged them aside, I was in the forest, running, though whether towards or from something I couldn't tell. I saw a man up ahead, he was smiling but it left me feeling cold and then I recognized him. It was the vampire who had murdered my parents and now he had come for me. Was he looking for my baby boy too? I screamed as he lunged, white teeth flashing and then I smelled wet dog and felt a terrible pain. I was on the floor and saw huge paws streak past, chasing the vampire. There were red leaves scattered around me but I felt nothing, I was numb and my eyes dimmed. So I was dead and this really was hell!

I screamed again as the pain peaked then vanished completely and I sat up my eyes opening wide, looking around and expecting flames and demons, red and black. However, as they focused I saw Jasper's face close to mine and felt his hand on my cheek. Everything flashed before my eyes and I screamed,

"CADEN, CHARITY!"

I looked around for them even as I knew they were gone, it was too silent in this place for two children to be here. I gazed into Jasper's eyes,

"Where's my baby?"

He explained and I listened as quietly as I could but a pressure was rising up in my body, the hot rage knowing my child had been stolen from us and not only that but Charity and Charlie too.

"Why haven't you found them Jasper? It was the Quileutes doing, Charlie knew that, he knew Billy had doped him. Why didn't you tear Billy limb from limb to find out where he took them?"

Again he explained in a quiet soothing voice but it was hard telling me that Billy was dead and the other elders prisoners without stoking the flames of revenge and hatred. I could feel it burning brightly in my throat.

"Bella, you need to keep calm, it's going to be hard enough as a newborn without this extra rage."

A newborn? Of course, Jasper had changed me to save my life, I was a vampire now and the hell fires I had felt were in fact the burn of the transformation.

"We should hunt. Once the thirst is quenched you'll feel calmer and we can discuss what to do next. Darius is sure to find something, he always does."

Yes, I remembered all the miracles he had made possible before Caden's birth but this was different, this was war as far as I was concerned but I allowed Jasper to lead me out of the house and towards the forest before an alluring smell stopped me.

"What's that?"

He took my arm and tried to drag me further from the house but I dug my heels in and my newborn strength allowed me to win the struggle.

"You can smell the blood of the Quileute elders."

"Then I don't need to go into the forest to hunt."

He turned me to look deep into my eyes,

"Bella, you aren't a killer, you don't want to become one, trust me on that. We'll find you some blood and once your thirst is quenched we'll come back. Then you can talk to the elders."

Conflict raged inside me, I wanted to kill the elders for taking my baby but Jasper was right, I was still me and Bella Whitlock was not a murderer.

Begrudgingly I allowed him to pull me into the forest and once there we started to run.

Jasper

I was relieved that Bella was still listening to me, many newborns were ungovernable for months or even years but she seemed to focus her rage into hunting down her first meal and when she saw a herd of deer she was gone, straight into the heart of the herd and took down three in a second, draining the first two without a pause. The third took slightly longer and I could see and feel that she was calmer and her thirst dulled to a slight discomfort but I insisted we find more before going back. I didn't want a massacre of the elders in the house. This time she was lucky, we went up the mountain part way and she found the tracks of a mountain lion. Again all her energy went into the hunt and by the time she had drained the big cat she was satisfied. Carnivore blood was much closer to human and quenched the thirst far better. There was something odd about my wife though, she was much too calm for a newborn but there was an edge to her, she was mulling something over and then she was gone taking off so fast I had a job following her although the run should help to keep her calm, if that were necessary. It wasn't long before I understood where she was headed, the Quileute village and despite the cabins being no more than burned out shells she set to with a vengeance pulverizing what was left until it was charred matchsticks, nothing left standing more than an inch high. When she finished she turned to me with a grim smile,

"Now I'm ready to speak to the elders. Shall we?"

She bounded over, took my hand and we ran back towards the house.