Chapter Fifty Nine

Peter

I hated listening in like some kind of pervert but at first I thought maybe he was getting somewhere then I caught her tone of voice, it was too lifeless and I knew he was using his gift on her to calm her. It might make it easier in as much as she wasn't terrified of him but it was a sham, not the real Bella at all. I remembered the light and joy in her voice when I spoke to her on the phone but it wasn't there now, not any more. He was kidding himself if he thought that was the way to draw her out.

I held my peace as long as I could but patience was never my strong point and then I decided to act, fuck what was the worst he could do to me? Char and Rose could put me back together if it came to that. I approached the door silently peering through the hole he'd made with his fist when I first tried this. She was curled up on the floor as far from him as she could get while he knelt down facing her. Bracing myself I knocked once ready to make a hasty retreat as he stiffened but didn't react otherwise. He knew if he flew at the door, or me, he would only frighten her and he couldn't keep her calm if he was ready to rip heads off, in short he was stuffed.

"Major"

I spoke softly so Bella didn't hear, I'd knocked too softly for her to catch too.

"Major, you're playing with fire here and you're gonna get burned. You can't turn her into a zombie and expect her to remember anything."

Still he didn't answer me,

"Fuck Major, you listen up. Stop fucking with the girl's mind. She needs to work through what's happened or she'll never recover."

Fuck! I sounded like an agony aunt but I knew I was right, human minds needed to work through shocks and horrific things, they couldn't just pretend they didn't happen, or shut them away, because one day it would come back twice as bad and I didn't want that for the girl I'd spoken to that day, who sounded so happy, so excited. She was still there, a bit bent and bruised but in there and she could come to terms with everything if he just gave her the chance.

"You're gonna have to let someone in sooner or later, might as well be me."

I heard the soft rumble in his chest and backed off. Whatever I said there was just no way he was letting anyone in right now. His mate was hurting and all he could think right now was to stop that pain as quickly as possible. Someone had to get through to him but it wasn't going to be me and I had no idea who could without risking life and limb. I hated to do this but I went to speak to Rose who was watching the manager and the baby while Charlotte hunted.

"What's wrong Peter?"

I had stopped to watch her pace with the little thing asleep in her arms and it made me wonder for just a moment what Charlotte would look like with a baby. A crazy thought which I soon pushed firmly away, it made me too fucking uncomfortable.

"He's going about this all the wrong way and he won't listen to me."

"Who? Jazz? What's he doing?"

"I understand why, I'm not an idiot but its not going to work. It'll make matters worse."

"Peter, what are you talking about?"

I shook my head, I'd been babbling, not that it was the first time but even so...

"The Major. Bella, his mate, she's hurting and instinct has taken over, he's taking the pain away. Which I admit isn't necessarily a bad thing but …..."

"It won't help Bella in the long run, she needs to face up to what happened and work through it."

I looked at her in admiration, which was a first for me! Admiring a Cullen was the last thing I expected.

"Yeah, any suggestions?"

My phone rung at that point and I cursed snapping as I answered. This was sure to be bad news and didn't we have enough already?

"What?"

"And a good day to you too Whitlock, what's got your pecker in a twist?"

"Oh Darius, you got the fucker? Tell me you have and he's suffering right now. I need some good news."

"Why?"

I told him about The Major and he agreed, this was fucking weird! Too many people on my wave length.

"We've spoken to the others, the young girl is at least beginning to act out which is good. Charlie's conscious too and he's not happy at being kept away from his daughter."

"Well sometimes life sucks."

"Yes but he's a controlled newborn according to Alice."

"And what the fuck would Alice know? Just when did she become an expert on newborns?"

"Since she had Garrett with her. She thinks he has a gift that's helping him and Eleazar is on his way to find out. Just a heads up, if he does then he's going to be headed your way. Maybe he can help, he is Bella's father, maybe The Major will listen to him."

"Yeah and maybe The Major will rip him a new one but I'm desperate here."

"OK, hang tight and we'll relieve you. Maybe Emmett will make him see."

As I hung up I was almost ashamed to say I was relieved, I wasn't getting anywhere but maybe one of the others would. I went back to my station to listen in some more, whoever came they needed to know what had been said.

Darius

If Peter was worried then so was I, he knew The Major better than anyone so Emmett and I made our way to the motel as fast as we could. We'd stopped to hunt after securing Victor when perhaps we should have been thinking about Bella and the girl but at least we were fresh. We met up with Charlotte coming back from the hunt and she just reinforced what Peter had said.

"I know we needed to get the baby out and putting Bella to sleep was the only way but I agree, The Major isn't thinking, he's working purely on instinct, as a mate, and that's not going to do it. If Charlie is controlled which I'm frankly skeptical about then maybe he is the right person to approach The Major and talk to Bella but its going to be extremely dangerous. The Major is going to see anyone who approaches as a potential threat."

"Lets see what Eleazar has to say, maybe he'll have a gift that might help."

"Sure, so are Peter and I going to the house now? To be honest I think Peter could do with a little distance he's very tense, ready to explode himself."

"Yeah, no point in too many of us being here. I'm not sure whether to send Rose and the baby back too. Away from possible danger."

"Personally I think that would be a mistake. Bella has a bond with the baby and Rose is the best one to talk to Bella, after all she has some idea of what Bella and her mother went through, she's thoughtful too and Bella needs a woman around. Besides Emmett's here and they've been apart too long."

When we reached Peter I could see what Charlotte meant, he was tense, annoyed with himself for not being able to do more. When I suggested he and Charlotte go back to the house he baulked but she talked him round and eventually the two of them left, Emmett went to see Rose and I took up station by the motel room to see for myself what was actually going on. Peter was right, The Major was using his gift to take away Bella's pain but she needed to face it and he couldn't see that right now. Instead she sat passively as he spoke about their shared past but nothing broke through the visions of what she had gone through, here and now didn't feel like reality, only the time in that cellar mattered to her right now.