Bella's POV

Seth snarled and I growled as we both leapt from our positions and faced the threat in front of us.

Victoria looked much as she did in my hazy memory. Her clothes were dirty and torn, although at one point, they must have been high quality. She didn't bother with the human facade that the Cullens had always been so careful with—her entire being looked feral and pure evil, set off by the long red hair falling in tangled curls down her back.

She was joined by a young blond vampire, about my age, with bright red eyes that widened at the sight of Seth beside me.

"What do you want, Victoria?" I hissed, my anger nearly consuming me. This was the bitch who was responsible for Laurent coming after me. She was the reason I would never be a mother to my little girl.

"You and your furry little friend dead would be nice," she answered, leveling a malicious glare at me. "I've waited two years to get you back for James's death. Riley and I are here to make sure you pay."

"Your mate got himself killed when he took me," I told her. "I had nothing to do with it."

The four of us had begun circling around each other slowly, as if we were sizing up our respective competition. At my words, Victoria halted and stiffened in pure rage.

"You had everything to do it!" she screamed. "If you hadn't been there, he would still be alive!"

Before I could say another word, she flung herself at me with a screech. I was barely able to dive out of the way in time, and she only succeeded in grabbing my sleeve, tearing it from the rest of my shirt at the seam. I whipped around to face her again, crouched and ready to spring at any moment.

The other vampire—Riley—started to edge toward me, but Seth growled and lunged at him. He took off running down the mountain, in the direction of Forks and the reservation.

Seth looked around, first at Victoria and then at me, tilting his head as if in question.

"Go, Seth! Catch him before he reaches town," I ordered, my eyes never leaving the threat in front of me. "I've got this."

Seth launched himself six feet and hit the ground running. I could hear him crashing through the trees, following the vampire.

Victoria laughed. "You really think you stand a chance against me? You're what...less than a week into this life? I've got decades on you, princess. You won't last a minute against me."

Inside, I was terrified that she was right. And even though just a day ago, I'd been trying to think of a way to end my existence, I didn't want it to be at the hands of this psycho. Putting on a brave face, I sneered, "I'm faster and stronger than you are, bitch. Edward was faster and stronger than your mate, and look where that landed him. A big pile of smoking—"

She screamed and came at me with a terrifying cry, obviously not liking my reference to James's demise. Just before she crashed into me, I jumped, grabbing onto the branch above me, and swung over her. I let go and rolled to a clumsy stop, hopping up to see her turn, fire in her eyes.

I knew I had to keep her in front of me. If she got behind me, she could have my head before I could blink. Unfortunately, I wasn't completely sure of what I was doing, so she surprised me by suddenly lunging at me again. We grabbed on to one another as we flew backward through the air, landing on the ground with a loud, booming sound that seemed to echo all around us before finally crashing into a large boulder near the edge of the small area we were in.

I quickly jumped up, intending to move away, and screamed when she kicked my legs out from under me. I fell to my back, and she pounced, landing above me. Just as her hands went to my throat, I used my legs to throw her off me. She flew through the air, landing on the same branch I'd launched myself from only moments before. Scrambling to my feet, I panted heavily for unneeded air.

As we stared one another down, we heard a high-pitched scream in the distance, which cut off abruptly.

"Ohh, poor Victoria," I taunted. "Looks like another friend of yours is gone. Whatever will you do now?" It was stupid to mess with her, I knew, but it seemed like I couldn't help myself.

She jumped from the branch and landed a few feet in front of me. I leapt at her, grabbing her hair at the same time she grabbed mine. I was afraid she was going to rip my head right off my shoulders using my hair alone, so I began using my free hand to punch at her, even as I kicked as best I could. I got in a particularly good shot to her knee, and I heard a crack.

She let go of my hair and screamed. "When I get done with you, your precious Edward will be next," she hissed.

I froze. The thought of Edward being hunted down and killed by this woman—this vampire—scared me. I couldn't move. I wasn't breathing; I wasn't even blinking.

Taking advantage of my fear, she sprang and landed behind me before I could turn around.

With one hand on my chin and the other on my shoulder, she hissed in my ear, "Say hello to James when you—"

Whatever else she was going to say was interrupted when two large wolves shot out from the trees, snatching her away in their powerful jaws.

I whipped around in time to see Seth and Jake pulling her apart. Her legs and arms made horrible, screeching, metallic sounds as they were ripped from her body. Jake clamped his teeth down on her neck, and with one final nails-on-chalkboard sound, her head went flying. Her torso flopped to the ground as Seth and Jake darted into the trees.

I was still standing there in shock when they ran out moments later in their shorts.

Jake looked at Seth. "Take care of her," he said, tilting his chin at the pieces that used to be Victoria. "Bella?" he said cautiously, approaching me slowly. "Are you okay?"

Opening and closing my mouth a few times, I nodded. "I'm, uh, yeah. I'm okay, I think. Are you guys?"

Holy shit!

~*~FC~*~

The next day, I sat in the cave, clenching a lock of red curls tight in my fists. I'd pulled it from Victoria's head before we'd burned her so I'd always remember that I'd conquered the one person that had scared me the most since I'd learned about vampires. I planned to keep this lock of hair with me for the rest of my existence as a reminder also of what I didn't want to become.

I was stronger than she had been, but as I sat there waiting for Jake, my arms wrapped around my knees, I'd never felt more weak. He and Seth had been down at the rez and were bringing me back some things to take with me when I left the area.

That thought made my stomach churn. Jake was going to run with me to Canada, and then I was going to continue up to Alaska. I remembered Edward telling me about another family like his—ones who fed off animals—so I knew I could find someplace remote to live until I was able to tolerate being around humans. But the thought of leaving Forks...of leaving my baby...was killing me.

Growing up, I'd never given any thought to being a mother, but now, I couldn't imagine my life without her. Lizzie was the most important part of my life now, and being away from her was killing me. I wanted Charlie to remember me as a good mother. I wanted people to be able to tell Lizzie that I'd been a good mother and I'd loved her. I needed Charlie to know I hadn't forgotten my daughter.

The day before my fight with Victoria, Seth had told Charlie I'd called the house looking for him while Sue was watching Lizzie and Charlie was at work, using the station's resources to track me down. The story was I'd told Seth when he'd answered to please ask Sue to help look after Lizzie until I came back home, that I needed a few extra days away. Seth had told Charlie I hadn't called him directly because I knew he would be able to convince me to come home, and I needed a few more days to be alone before returning. Of course, I hadn't made such a phone call, but I knew the continued communication would help Charlie realize I hadn't just run away for good.

I was still thinking of my daughter and Charlie when Jake and Seth returned.

"Hey, Bells," Jake said as they walked into the cave. He handed me a backpack. "There's some changes of clothes, a couple of maps, some books, and uh, I stopped by Charlie's." Kicking a clod of dirt, he said softly, "I grabbed a few pictures, of you, Charlie, and Lizzie. I thought you might want them."

I dug through the bag as quickly and as carefully as I could, desperate to find the pictures of my daughter. When I reached the books, I felt the edges of a photo sticking out, so I grabbed it and thumbed through the pages until I saw a small stack of pictures.

Charlie and Sue dressed up in their Sunday finest, with Seth behind them and Leah beside Sue—and me with one hand on the slight bump from my pregnancy and the other holding the small bouquet I'd carried for their wedding

Lizzie shortly after she was born, the picture so vivid, I could practically smell her sweet newborn scent

Me holding Lizzie a few days after we got home from the hospital—she'd seemed so delicate and fragile, I'd been afraid of hurting her with my clumsiness.

Lizzie drinking from a bottle only a few days before the meadow

Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie

I broke down in sobs, laying the photos down on the book so I didn't rip them. I felt Jake move the stuff from my lap, and then he sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms.

"Thank you," I said with a shaky breath.

"Sure, sure," he murmured, squeezing me tighter. "Take your time. We'll leave when you're ready."

As I sat there in Jake's arms, I realized there was no way I could leave Forks without seeing my baby girl one last time. I knew I wouldn't be able to physically hold her, but even seeing her through the window would be better than leaving her without seeing her at all.

"Jake?" I started quietly. "Can you take me to see Lizzie?"

~*~*~FC~*~*~

Alice's POV

Jasper and I had talked it through on the way to the airport. I'd called Esme and told her Jazz and I would be gone for a few weeks and we'd call them later, claiming we were being spontaneous. She'd been suspicious when I'd said we were going to Forks to check on the house there before making our way along the coast and up into Canada. She hadn't pressed, though; she'd just asked us to be careful.

Since that first vision, I'd been scanning for Bella in my head continuously, so it was not a huge shock when, in the car on the way to the airport, I'd been hit with another vision. Bella had been holding a clump of Victoria's distinctive red hair, so it was obvious she'd lived through the fight. That also meant Bella was already a vampire and the fight had already happened.

Sitting in the airplane on the way to Forks, another vision of Bella hit me. She was wearing different clothes, but her eyes were almost the exact same shade of red. There was one major difference, though.

"A baby," I gasped.

"What was that, darlin'?" Jasper asked, looking up from his book.

"Bella has a baby!" Then I frowned. "At least, I'm assuming it's hers. I saw her holding a baby in her room at Charlie's. The décor is the same, except for the crib, and the name Lizzie is spelled out in wooden letters on the wall."

"What about Bella?" Jasper asked quietly. "She, uh..." He motioned from his eyes to mine.

"Still the same red," I murmured, "so it has to be soon."

"Do you think we'll get there before that?"

I shook my head, not sure at all. "I hope so," I told him before closing my eyes and scanning through the future.