Wolves of the Pacific

by greenpeach20

In 1902, Renesmee Cullen grew tired of the tedious life of moving around with her family and decided to make the journey west as a mail order bride. Yet a chance encounter with a reddish brown wolf would change her life forever.

94. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

JJ told Natalie about his new job as soon as he got home and found her at last out of her room in the kitchen sipping coffee. JJ was relieved that Natalie was supportive of him taking Jae's job. Natalie hoped that the job would help JJ and that Hailey would be able to act as a father figure that JJ would need. As October started approaching, the weather started becoming bitter cold. Natalie made a habit of drinking coffee every morning while sitting on the porch. She would say goodbye to JJ every morning before he left for the shop.

"Did you have anything mom?" JJ would ask.

"I'm having coffee," Natalie would answer. "Did you get anything?"

"I'll eat at the shop," JJ would answer and walk away. Salem and Nesia would retreat for their daily schooling while Natalie was on the porch.

A few weeks of this routine passed and she'd stay outside no matter how cold it got. Salem would try to tell her to go inside, but she wouldn't and she'd tell them to get to their grandparents' house for their schooling for the day. It was a bitter cold day in November now. The newspapers were alight with news from Europe. The Allies had moved forward into Germany and the Germans had already relinquished their hold in Aachen, Germany. The Allies had also liberated Athens and it was written that Rommel, a prominent figure in the German military, had committed suicide. Ever since the taking of Normandy, the war had turned to a runaway train of disaster for the Germans. She barely touched her coffee and just stared out onto the ocean view from their home. She remembered how they used to all sit on the porch together on Sunday mornings while eating breakfast together. She remembered the children playing on the beach and Jae sitting beside her kissing her and telling her he loved her. The memory brought tears to her eyes and she put her cup of coffee down so she could just cry.

She cried for a few minutes and ignored the gentle sound of tiny steps on the railing of her porch. She continued to ignore it when she heard a bird's song and continued to cry. She kept her face in her hands crying, ignoring the tiny feet approaching her until she heard wings flap right beside her. It startled her and she looked to her left to see a bird perched on the iron of the swinging chair she sat on. It was a bird with a white belly and a dark blue/black beak. The feathers of the bird's wings were a vibrant blue and there was a checker pattern on the tips of its wings and tail feathers with black feathers outlining its face and separating the white and blue feathers of its face. When she finally looked at the bird, it made a little song, fluffed its feathers a bit before letting them rest again and jumped. Then the bird jumped down to the cushion of the swing beside her and seemed to sit. In the background, she thought she heard a raven's song and she looked in that direction, but it seemed to fly away before she could see it. The blue bird beside her sang again and flew back up to the iron railing of the chair and Natalie was shaking when she saw it.

"Natalie, are you alright?" Jacob asked and Natalie yelped and made the blue bird fly away. "Sorry," Jacob said and went right to her sitting on the swing next to her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," Natalie finally said. A moment passed and Jacob looked at her strangely. She'd thinned quite a bit since Jae's funeral. So had JJ for that matter.

"How are you feeling?" Jacob asked.

"I'm alright," Natalie mumbled.

"How about tonight you and the kids have dinner with your mother and I?" Jacob asked. "I'll tell your mother to make that mushroom lentil soup you love so much. I'll even ask her to make lots of bread for you to dip into it."

"That's alright, daddy," Natalie said. "I'm sure JJ, Salem and Nesia would like that though."

"Natalie," Jacob said a little more firmly but remained sympathetic. "We're worried about you. I know Jae's death has hit you all really hard, but I don't want you continuing this reclusiveness. Salem said you took all Jae's pictures from the living room."

"They're in my room with the flag," Natalie said. "I'd prefer they stay there."

"Alright," Jacob said rather than argue. "Just come have dinner at our house tonight, okay Natalie? If nothing else, come over because I'm asking you to." Natalie was quiet a moment but did eventually nod. "Thank you, Natalie," Jacob smiled and kissed her cheek. He reached down and grabbed her mug of coffee and noticed it was barely touched. He took a sip and was frustrated that it didn't even have sugar at least. "I'll tell you what: I'm hungry. How about we get inside and warm up and I'll make us something."

"It's alright, daddy, I'll make you something," Natalie said and stood from the chair. Jacob went ahead into the house and as Natalie was about to step inside, she heard a bird start singing again and she looked at the bird from before. It looked as though it was building a nest in one of the corners. She ignored it and stepped inside.

Back in Europe, shortly after writing his letter to Ada María and preparing to march toward Germany, Nathan finally realized he'd lost his dog tags. They'd searched the base high and low for them but ultimately couldn't find them and also couldn't find one of his guns. Something he got into a lot of trouble for once it was brought to a commanding officer's attention. Though since they knew he'd lost his dog tags, they were able to make a note that if dog tags with Nathan Black's name on it were found, they were to be ignored and he was given knew dog tags. Once again, he got into no small amount of trouble for the inconvenience.

After Evalina had returned to Volterra, she carefully made plans to leave for Germany. She knew she would have to leave bright and early just as the sun was rising so she could, at minimum, get a head start. Kevin had told Kyle in his letters that it was certain that Amber was no longer at Auschwitz, but that didn't mean she couldn't find out where she'd been taken. Her first course of action was to recreate the picture Kyle had, making a detailed sketch of Amber's face to show to any potential witnesses that might know her whereabouts. She collected a few spare pieces of clothing just in case and she started looking through atlases to figure out where Auschwitz was. But it wasn't on the map. She knew it was in Poland, but there was nowhere on the map in Poland labeled as 'Auschwitz'. The closest she could find was a town called Oswiecin, but that was nowhere near Germany. Rather, it was near the border of Czechoslovakia.

That seemed, to Evalina, a strange place for Germany to keep prisoners. But it was her best bet. If nothing else, she could attempt to find someone that spoke German or any language she spoke and ask them to help her locate Auschwitz. So she started mapping out how she would get to Oswiecin, Poland from Volterra and try to figure out how long it would take her to get there. At well over 1300 kilometers, she'd be looking at managing to get there within a few days if she was lucky. She wouldn't have much time to rest; that much was certain. She suspected once Dimitri realized she was not only outside the city but was heading North East further into Europe, he'd come after her. She'd not start the trip until she was certain she was ready because once she left, she'd have a lot of explaining to do.

Back in Germany, shortly after the surrender at Aachen, Kevin pulled Nathan aside, "You have a letter."

"Is it from Ada?" Nathan asked eagerly. He'd been looking forward to another letter from her. Granted her previous letter had been extremely brief, but it had been all he'd needed and he hoped they were moving towards truly reconciling.

"No," Kevin said and looked at the letter. "It's from a…..Eloise Beaumont?"

"Who?" Nathan asked.

"I hoped you knew," Kevin said and handed over the letter. Nathan accepted the letter hesitantly and took out the letter, then rolled his eyes. "What?"

"It's in French," Nathan said and handed it over to Kevin.

"Damn it," Kevin sighed and took the letter. He read through it and his mood soured. "God damn it, Nathan."

"What?" Instead of answering, Kevin turned over the page and translated the letter on the other side. Once done, he handed it back over to Nathan to read.

Corporal Black,

I don't know if you remember me, but we'd met briefly after you and your allies had liberated Paris. You had left your dog tags behind the morning after our, let's say incidental, encounter. As it turns out, it was a very good thing you did.

To get to the point, it has become undeniable to me that our encounter has led to an unexpected, and if I'm frank, unwanted, pregnancy. I'm not writing because I expect anything from you. I only advise you of this because, upon this child's birth, I intend to give the child over to a convent. I thought the honorable thing to do would be to notify you so that, once the war is over, you can take the child if you so wish. I will ensure the nuns are aware of who you are and that you are the child's father.

This way if, God forbid, you do not survive to see the end of this war, the child will be guaranteed to be safe and taken care of. I've spoken with a nun at Notre Dame and she has agreed they will take the child upon his or her birth. If you live through this war and wish to raise your child, return to Paris and go to Notre Dame. Let them know you are Corporal Nathan Black and they will release the child to you. They have assured this child will be baptized as Catholic as well.

Remain Safe,

Eloise Beaumont

"Son of a bitch," Nathan groaned.

"Even if there's a chance that child isn't yours, we can't risk that," Kevin said.

"I know," Nathan groaned again and rubbed his face. "Fuck," he muttered. "I get drunk to shit in Paris once and get some stranger pregnant."

"I'll cover for you," Kevin said in an irritable tone. "I'll change tonight for sure and let dad know you're sending this woman to America."

"Kevin, how do I even know she'd go?" Nathan said. "I don't even remember the woman."

"That's your problem, Nathan," Kevin nearly growled. "Look, Nathan, shit happens. I can't change that. But I need you to resolve this ASAP. I can't afford to lose you for too long."

"And what if she refuses to go?" Nathan asked.

"You don't have that option, Nathan," Kevin said. "Just get this taken care of and get back here before end of day tomorrow. Understood?" Nathan looked at Kevin equaling his angry glare.

"I'll leave now," Nathan said instead of arguing and put the letter in his back pocket and snuck away.

Once he was able, he changed to a vampire and ran back to Paris, making it back by the late afternoon. On his run back to Paris, he started thinking of the timing of this child. Nathan wasn't really one for signs but this seemed different. It started to become more obvious, at least in his mind, the longer he ran and the closer he got to Paris. He changed back and asked around the area they'd been for Eloise Beaumont and was inevitably guided to a housing complex in town that he vaguely remembered as the same neighborhood they'd stayed in when they'd all come to Paris together. He asked around again until he found the apartment he was told belonged to the woman he was looking for and knocked on the door of the apartment hoping desperately she'd answer. He waited a moment before a woman answered the door and when she did and looked at Nathan, she looked a little stunned.

"Are you Eloise Beaumont?" Nathan asked.

"Yes," she said, to his relief, in English. "I'm sorry, but what are you doing here? I'd thought all the American troops had moved on. Who are you?"

"I'm Corporal Nathan Black," he answered and she looked further stunned. "I'm relieved to see you speak English. I got your letter and I was worried there would be a language barrier with the French."

"If you do not speak French, how did you know what I wrote in my letter?"

"My brother translated it for me," Nathan said. Eloise appeared less than thrilled with that prospect, but sighed heavily.

"I see," she said. "Come inside. I don't want the neighbors hearing you." She stepped aside so Nathan could enter the home. It was modestly furnished to say the least as though she was barely ever there. "I'd thought I'd said in my letter I didn't expect anything and that I'd hand the child over to Notre Dame."

"Yes, but that doesn't work for me," Nathan said bluntly.

"Well, frankly Corporal, I'm not concerned with whether or not it works for you," she answered calmly. "I'm more concerned with ensuring this baby has a place to go regardless of the war's outcome and regardless of what happens to you. I'd actually assumed you would ignore the letter and be glad to not have to worry about the baby."

"Well, you assumed inaccurately," Nathan said. "First of all, are you sure I'm the father?"

"That's a rather offensive question," Eloise said.

"Please just answer me," Nathan said. "Are you sure I'm the father?"

"Positive," she said firmly.

"How do I know that?"

"Because you're the first man I've slept with in over 15 years," she said. "The only reason it happened at all is because we were both grotesquely drunk at the time. I would have preferred to put that little misstep behind me and not think of it again but, obviously, that's not an option at the moment."

"Fair enough," Nathan sighed, not asking for any further details. "Since this child is mine, that brings me to the reason I came here."

"And that is?" Eloise asked.

"I won't go into too many details," Nathan said. "All I need you to understand is, per the culture of my people, my child needs to be born in the family home. Which means I need to send you to America."

"I beg your pardon?" she said as she looked surprised.

"Look, Eloise, I realize this seems unreasonable, but I'd prefer you comply with my request," Nathan said. "Regardless of how this baby came to be, I'll take responsibility." Nathan was momentarily silent. "If I really am the father, that means this baby was conceived shortly after my best friend's death. I'm not usually one for signs, but that's a pretty big fucking coincidence."

"I suppose it is," she answered. She actually appeared to contemplate. "You say you'd send me to America?"

"Yes," Nathan said.

"Hmm," she said and thought about it more. "How about we make a deal?"

"And what is that?"

"Well, luckily for you, I've wanted to leave France for quite some time. I'd intended to go to Canada, but I suppose America will do for the time being. If I agree to go to America and have your child then you will agree to release me from any further obligations once the baby's born. I have the baby and hand it over to your guardian of choice in a pretty basket and I leave never to be heard from again. Are those terms acceptable?" Eloise reached out her hand to Nathan after she finished. He looked at it and then at her again. He was actually surprised this was going so smoothly, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and accepted her hand.

"That's fine by me," Nathan said. He looked down and saw the tiniest little bump. She was only a few months in, but she showed. She wasn't a very tall woman at all with pale skin, blue eyes and brown hair. "I don't suppose the baby's kicking by now?"

"Sometimes," she said. "It's usually in the morning right now."

"That's a shame," Nathan said. "I'd hoped maybe I could feel it." Nathan released her hand and stepped away. "I'll make the necessary arrangements for you to go back to Washington where my family is. They'll take good care of you, so you have nothing to worry about. And as we agreed, once the baby is born you can leave and we'll not contact you again."

"Sounds fine by me," she said.

"Good," Nathan said. "Wait for a letter from me and I'll let you know what to do and what to expect from there. And thank you again for telling me."

"You're welcome," she answered with a tiny hint of a smile.

"And one thing," Nathan said. "I'll send this in a letter to my relatives, but I wanted to tell you too. Boy or girl, this baby's name is Jaedynn. After my friend that had passed away."

"Jaedynn," she repeated. "That's awfully cute I admit."

"I thought so," Nathan agreed. "I guess that covers everything. You'll hear from me soon and I'll let you know where to meet my relatives."

With the terms agreed upon, Nathan left her home and made note of the address so he could send a letter directly to her once he needed to. Then he returned to the front back in Germany just after nightfall. As promised, Kevin covered for him and there was no issue upon his return save for explaining to the group that he had yet another child on the way with yet another woman. He also realized he would need to explain this to Ada María. She'd know soon enough with Kevin telling Jacob once he changed that evening, but he wanted to at least write to Ada María and explain what happened. As promised, Kevin changed that night but no one was there much to his shock. He double checked the time and determined that, yes, it was the wee hours of the morning back home and someone should be on patrol.

However, the previous morning, Jacob and the others had returned from patrol as usual. Jacob went to check on Natalie as he always did and found her on the porch drinking coffee as always. He got into the habit of bringing her an apple every morning while the fruit was on its last legs of lasting the remainder of the season. He'd come back to check on her and there would be one or two bites out of the apple before being put back on the rails of the porch to be ignored. JJ would throw it to the ocean every day when he returned from work. That morning, Jacob put an apple on the swinging chair beside Natalie that he'd brought from home. He glanced at the little blue bird that appeared to be fussing over a nest, adding things to warm it like swabs of cotton, fabric and other items it had procured.

"I see you have a little friend," Jacob said. Natalie glanced at the bird and then looked at her coffee again.

"He seems to like my porch enough to make a nest," Natalie said.

"Did you add any sugar to your coffee?" Jacob asked.

"I didn't really want to," Natalie said. "Thank you for the apple again daddy."

"You're welcome, Natalie," Jacob said and kissed her cheek. "I'm going back home, but how about a little later, I swing by and we can play cards or something?"

"Okay," Natalie said.

Jacob smiled and told her he'd come by after he was cleaned up and in fresh clothes before leaving his daughter's porch. The children had already retreated to his house waiting for their warmer means of transportation up to the Cullen house for their schooling. Plans were in motion to build a school for the kids that would be on tribal grounds so that, no matter the weather, getting to school would be no difficulty for the children. But as he approached the house, his ears caught something he wasn't sure he'd ever heard before a day in his life. Not believing what he heard, Jacob followed the sound to his parents' tent. It was William crying, the sound muffled behind something and when Jacob got closer, he realized what must have happened and ran faster until finally reaching the tent and patting its leather door.

"Father?" Jacob called for William gently while continuing to pat on the door. He heard the movement and finally the door opened to him with William's eyes puffy and red with tears streaking his fact. They didn't need to say anything. Jacob glanced inside and saw his mother, no heartbeat coming from her. She'd died in the night. She appeared peaceful and content having been in William's arms when her time had come. "I'll let Renesmee know," was all Jacob could manage before feeling tears burn in his own eyes.

Jacob returned home and let Renesmee know that Sara had died in her sleep the night before. She'd said nothing and, rather, took Jacob in her arms while they were alone in their kitchen and held him close while he finally started to cry. She cried with him and held on tight when Jacob stood up straight and walked with her to the living room so they could sit on the couch. Jacob eventually asked Renesmee to make the arrangements for the pyre and went to Embry asking him to go to his sisters and let them know their mother had passed away and to help them get to the tribe for the funeral. After all that, Jacob returned to his father and entered into the tent. She looked so peaceful as William held her close in his arms.

"I told Renesmee,"Jacob finally said. "She's getting to work on the pyre and Embry is off to the Hou tribe to let Rachael and Rebecca know. We'll wait to start until they get here."

"Tell Renesmee to cease progress on the pyre,"William ordered. "Your mother and I are to be buried together."

"Dad, only chiefs are buried,"Jacob answered gently. "Mom would-"

"I said your mother and I to be buried together and I'll hear no argument from you,"William ordered. "Go to the island and locate a spot. Dig up that spot and ensure it is wide enough and deep enough for your mother and I. Leave my portion of that grave uncovered until it's time for me to join her."

After a long silence with the gravity of William's words weighing on him, Jacob eventually nodded and left the tent to inform Renesmee. Embry returned that evening with Rachael, Rebecca, their husbands and all their children and grandchildren in tow to mourn the loss. Jacob and the rest of the pack remained with the family through the night. Two members of the pack were sent to the island to prepare a burial site for Sara and, subsequently, William. Whether anyone liked it or not, with Sara gone, William would soon follow. He'd already refused any food or drink and has refused to allow anyone but Jacob, Rachael and Rebecca into his tent. He never allowed them to stay for very long. He wanted to be alone with Sara.

It was not until the following day when William finally allowed Jacob to take Sara's body to a little kayak that was only used for funerals. It required polishing and to be cleaned It had been nearly fifty years since last that kayak was used. When Sara was in the kayak, Renesmee said a few prayers over Sara's body and placed rosemary on her body per William's insistence. After that was done, while all in attendance at the funeral remained seated on the beach, Renesmee got on the kayak with Sara and began the trip to the island alone. Jacob and William, again upon William's insistence, followed behind her in a separate kayak until they reached the island. They stayed silent the entirety of that time while Renesmee and Jacob got Sara in the grave. Renesmee said a few more prayers, both Quileute and even some Catholic prayers, and she and Jacob got out of the grave. They approached the kayaks ready to leave, but when Renesmee was in her Kayak and Jacob about to get in his, William stayed kneeling before the grave.

"Are you coming?" Jacob asked.

"Away with you, Renesmee,"William said. "I need to speak with Jacob alone." Renesmee looked at Jacob and waited for him to say something. After a moment, Jacob nodded and went back to the grave to kneel beside William. Renesmee pushed away from the shore of the island and returned back, leaving Jacob and William alone.

"What did you want to talk about?" Jacob finally asked.

"You will be chief soon,"William said. "Had I my way, I'd not leave your mother's side, but I'm aware I need to return."

"I'm not ready, dad,"Jacob mumbled.

"Of course you are,"William said firmly. "You've been preparing for this your whole life. You've proven yourself many times over, Jacob. You're everything I could ask for in an heir and a son."

"I know I'm prepared,"Jacob said. "I meant I'm not ready to lose you both."

"I know,"William said. "But sometimes, the hardest times come when you're not ready for them. The proof of a worthy and strong leader come forth by how you address those problems. You have handled far worse in my reign and acted as chief in my stead many times. I know you will be a great leader."

"I'll make you proud, dad,"Jacob finally said.

"I know you will,"William said. "Now leave me. I wish to stay with your mother. Come get me at nightfall."

Jacob hesitated briefly but eventually got to the kayak and returned to the mainland, leaving William on the island to grieve. As promised, he returned at nightfall and found William asleep in the grave beside Sara's already mostly buried body. The site hurt to look at and it hurt more to force William to wake, but he did and brought William back at which point he retreated to his tent and demanded to not be disturbed. He finally returned home where Renesmee was. She was already in their bed appearing to be asleep. Her eyes were still a little puffy from earlier. Jacob sighed a little and changed for bed.

"You're not going on patrol?" Renesmee asked when Jacob got into bed.

"Not tonight," Jacob mumbled and held Renesmee close. "I need you right now." Renesmee nodded and brushed her hand gently back and forth over Jacob's forearm around her waist. "Dad will be next," Jacob mumbled. "It won't be long."

"We'll give him a Chief's funeral," Renesmee promised. "He'll be buried beside your mother as he requested and they'll be together."

"Renesmee?"

"Yes Jacob?" Renesmee asked, turning her head to try and face Jacob, but his head was buried in her shoulder as though he were a scared boy. "What's the matter?" she asked gently.

"If anything ever happens to you," Jacob started but he trailed off and his voice shook.

"Yes, Jacob?" Renesmee encouraged, placing her hand on his head in his hair in an attempt to comfort him. He tightened his hold on her to a point where she nearly couldn't breathe.

"I want the same," Jacob finally said. "If anything ever happens to you, I want us to be buried together." Renesmee felt herself get teary eyed again and turned in Jacob's arms so she could hold his head to her chest.

"I promise, Jacob," Renesmee said and kissed his head.

His hold tightened yet again as she felt tears seeping through the fabric of her nightgown. She'd kiss his head and rocked him back and forth until he finally went to sleep. She joined him not long afterwards and stayed in his arms the rest of the night. Natalie and the children returned home after the funeral and stayed downstairs together. Nesia, having taken a liking to the little tenant they'd gained recently, went outside with tiny specks of bread and seeds and put them on the railing for the blue bird to eat. When the blue bird pecked at the seeds and bread she'd offered, Nesia held out her hand hoping the bird would accept it. The bird made its little sounds and eventually hopped into her hand. Nesia giggled and began petting the bird's belly. JJ eventually told Nesia to come inside out of the cold and she did as she was told.

"Have you seen the bird outside?" Nesia asked JJ.

"What about it?" JJ asked.

"Isn't he cute?!" Nesia smiled. "I fed him some seeds and bread and he hopped into my hand! I even got to pet his belly."

"Good of you to be neighborly," JJ said and sat on the couch beside Natalie. She stared at the fire going in their fireplace. She'd not moved since they got home. Salem sat at her feet and Nesia returned her attention to her toys. The toys her daddy had made her and gotten her in England. Natalie glanced at the bracelet on her wrist and began to cry.

"Are you alright, mom?" Salem asked.

"She just misses dad," JJ said. Salem looked at Natalie again and became sad himself. She rubbed a tear away from his eyes.

"Mommy, what's for dinner?" Nesia asked. "I'm hungry."

"I'll see what we've got," Natalie said after rubbing tears from her eyes and was about to get up, but JJ stopped her.

"You relax, mom," JJ said. "I'll take care of it. What do you want, Nesia?"

"Umm," she said and started thinking. When she'd taken too long, JJ picked her up and started carrying her to the kitchen.

"Let's see what we've got and we'll go from there," JJ said. Salem stayed with Natalie and took JJ's spot next to her on the couch.

"I miss dad too," Salem mumbled after a brief silence. "But we've still got you, mom. And you've got us."

"I know," Natalie barely managed and rubbed her eyes, starting to cry again. Salem patted Natalie's back and then hugged her. She hugged him back and kept crying.

JJ made them all rice and veggies with beans and had dinner on the table within thirty minutes. Salem and Nesia gulped down their portions while JJ and Natalie merely picked at their food, barely touching it. Salem and Nesia left the table after they were done and, per JJ's orders, started cleaning up the dishes for him and Natalie. JJ looked at his mother's plate and saw most of the food still there.

"Are you not hungry?" JJ asked her. Her only answer was to shake her head. "I'll leave it on the counter, then. You can eat it when you want to." Her only answer was a nod and JJ left the table with his plate that he'd also barely touched. He'd found his appetite was gone since Jae's funeral.

Nesia played before the fire with her toys for another few hours with Salem playing her games and JJ sitting next to Natalie reading the paper for any update. Natalie was the first to retreat to bed and asked JJ to get Nesia into bed for the night. JJ did as Natalie asked and got Nesia to bed for the night. He and Salem stayed up a little longer.

"I'm worried about mom," Salem said when JJ returned downstairs. "She hasn't gotten better since dad was brought home. She keeps getting worse. She still has all dad's pictures and she won't let us near them."

"Who said you couldn't be near them?" JJ asked.

"I went into mom's room the other day to look at dad's pictures and his flag and when mom caught me, she told me to leave and closed the door. This isn't healthy, JJ."

"The love of her life and father to her children was sent home in ashes," JJ said bitterly. "How would you feel?"

"I just don't want her miserable anymore," Salem protested. "Dad wouldn't have wanted that. What can we do to make her feel better?"

"Right now, Salem, mom needs time to mourn," JJ said. "She'll start feeling better when she's damn good and ready." A moment of silence passed between them as Salem looked at JJ.

"I'm worried about you too," Salem finally said. "You're putting on a brave face, but I know it's just a front."

"Don't worry about me, Salem," JJ said. "My job now is looking after all of you." Another silence passed as Salem got on the couch and sat beside JJ.

"I loved him too," Salem said. "I'll always miss him, but we have to move on. We can't spend the rest of our lives being miserable."

"I said don't worry about me, Salem," JJ said more firmly and harshening his eyes. "We've had a hard day today," JJ finally continued. "You get to bed."

"What about you?" Salem asked.

"I'll stay down here a while," JJ mumbled. "I just want to be left alone."

Though he was remiss to, Salem eventually stood from the couch, said good night to JJ and went upstairs to go to bed. JJ stayed downstairs and stared into the fire. Now that he was alone, he finally allowed himself to cry a little. He felt so overwhelmed. First his father, now his great grandmother. He needed to get everything out now before he returned to work the following day. He'd not go into Uncle Hailey's shop with any less than a bright smile, just as dad would have done. He'd gotten rather good at the job. He'd smile at customers just as Jae would have done and was knowledgeable and helpful just as Jae used to be. A customer one day had praised him and told JJ she could swear she was speaking to Jae again. He'd smiled and thanked her, but those words hit him like a stab to the heart. Keeping his composure the remainder of that day had been a chore to say the least but when he'd finally left and made the walk home, he'd let himself cry.

When Natalie reached her room, she went to the little memorial she had set up for Jae, sitting on his side of the bed. She stared at all his pictures and took a hold of the one that was her favorite. It was the picture of them together after JJ was born. He'd been the happiest man alive when JJ was born and it showed in his smile. That was one of the things she missed most: Jae's smile. JJ had the same smile. She'd seen it hundreds of times. But now, it was gone. JJ hadn't smiled since Jae was brought home. At least not when he was at home. At home, he was all business and took care of everything. She'd barely had to lift a finger and she was grateful for it. He'd taken his new role very seriously.

"You would have been so proud of him, Jae," Natalie mumbled to herself while she looked at his pictures and started to cry. She clutched it to her chest and got onto the bed, resting her head on Jae's pillow. His scent had long since faded, but she rested her head there all the same, still holding the picture of Jae.

Outside, on the window sill, the little blue bird flew over and perched in front of the glass and sang a little song. Natalie ignored it and cried herself to sleep. As she fell asleep, she felt something strange. She was no longer in her bed. Rather, she was on a deerskin mat. Her eyes flew open and she sat up to see she was in a traditional tent. She looked down and saw she was in a deerskin dress. Then she heard movement and looked forward to see a figure step out of the tent also wearing traditional deerskin. Natalie went to her feet and hurried after the figure. She stepped out and looked around to see a very familiar clearing, but it was so different. There were no modern homes like what she knew. Only tents with people arranged in all manner of chores. She was so confused until she saw the figure that she'd followed, a man with short hair and, when he turned his head, it was Jae.

"Jae?" Natalie uttered and he smiled at her. Her heart fluttered when she saw that smile and she started running to him. He didn't say a word as he turned to face her and took her in his arms. She could even smell him and she cried. "Jae," she repeated his name. She could swear he was really there. Jae didn't answer. Instead, he held her and rocked her back at forth. "I've been so lost without you." Natalie looked up at Jae who'd still said nothing. He was still smiling at her, but now that smile appeared sad. When she was about to ask why he wasn't speaking, she heard a raven's call in the woods.

She'd looked towards the sound and saw a raven in the trees that appeared rather strange. It looked bigger than most ravens she'd seen. She looked at Jae again and he retained that previous sad smile. Then he leaned his head down and gave Natalie a kiss that she happily returned and held onto Jae tighter. As they kissed, she felt Jae lift her onto his feet and started to dance with her. A gentle dance in which he went from one foot to the other. She heard the raven's call again but ignored it this time and kept her lips against Jae. But Jae pulled his lips away and rested his head against hers.

"I love you,"Jae finally whispered in Quileute of all things.

"I love you too," Natalie whimpered and kissed him again. "I miss you so much."

"I want you happy," Jae said.

"I'm happy now," Natalie managed and smile and rested her head on his shoulder. "If I'm with you, I'm happy." She felt Jae gently shake his head.

"I can't make you happy anymore,"Jae said and kissed her cheek.

"You're making me happy being with me now," Natalie insisted. Then she felt Jae's hand gently rest on her cheek as if asking her to look up at him. She finally did and Jae was no longer smiling.

"I want you happy. I can't make you happy anymore."

"Jae, stop it," Natalie said and pressed her face into his shoulder again. "Just stay with me, Jae."

"I can't,"Jae answered. Suddenly, Natalie felt nothing under her and her eyes shot open and saw that Jae was gone. She looked around desperately trying to find him, but all she saw was a bird flying to her right. The bird seemed to put an abundance of attention on one person in particular, but she didn't care about him. She looked around trying to find Jae and when she couldn't find him, she started to cry called his name. Suddenly, she felt hands on her shoulders gently shaking her.

"Mom? Mom, wake up. It's just a nightmare," she heard Jae's voice. But then she opened her eyes again and saw she was in her room again. It hadn't been Jae's voice. It had been JJ's. "Mom, it's okay," JJ repeated.

"What happened?" Natalie asked and shot up, looking around in a state of disorientation.

"You were having a nightmare," JJ said. "I heard you crying and I heard you calling to dad. You looked so scared, so I woke you." When she realized it really had been a dream, she started crying more. "Mom, it's okay. It was just a nightmare."

Natalie kept crying and JJ held Natalie trying to comfort her. He took the picture off the bed and put it back where it had previously been placed on his father's little memorial. He glanced at the window and saw the little blue bird that had made residence on their porch and looked at it strangely. He was about to say something when the bird flew away. JJ sighed and returned his focus to Natalie trying to calm her down. JJ stayed with Natalie until she finally cried herself asleep and laid her back down in bed so she was comfortable. Afterwards, JJ left the room and went to his own getting ready to return to bed.

"Is mom alright?" Salem asked.

"She had a nightmare," JJ said. "I got her to calm down enough to go back to sleep."

"Maybe mom should go on patrol or something," Salem said. "She hasn't done that in a long time and I think it might do her some good."

"Suggest it in the morning if you think it'll help," JJ said. "Get back to sleep, Salem. We're all expected up bright and early."

Salem finally agreed and got back to sleep. JJ fell asleep shortly thereafter. It was another day or so before Jacob and the other pack members finally returned to business as usual and, per Salem's suggestion and upon Jacob's fervent encouragement, Natalie was among the wolves on patrol the night Kevin finally got a hold of the pack to tell them what happened with the woman in Paris. Jacob's response was much the same as Kevin's had been but ran to the Cullen house so Edward could read Jacob's mind to find out what happened.

"God damn it," Edward muttered after he stopped playing the piano. Bella put down her book to look at Edward.

"What's the matter?" Bella asked.

"Nathan got a French woman he had a one night stand with pregnant," Edward said. "He was depressed about Jae's death and started drinking heavily, one thing led to another and he slept with a young woman named Eloise Beaumont. Kevin's asking if there's a way for us to make arrangements to get her to Washington."

"Does Ada María know about this?" Esme asked.

"She will," Edward groaned. "Carlisle, what arrangements can we make? Gretchen's still in Asia is she not?"

"Last I heard," Carlisle nodded. "Let me see if I can reach out to another friend. We'll get her here as soon as possible. Will she return to France after the baby's born?"

"She and Nathan agreed once she's had the baby, she'll leave. She's not interested in having a child with Nathan and he's only interested in making sure his child is with his family. She'd planned to give the child to a convent and only wrote Nathan because he'd forgotten his dog tags with her and she felt notifying him was the honorable thing to do."

"That was very good of her," Bella said. "What if one of us went after her? The Nazis are out of Paris now, no?"

"As far as I know," Edward agreed and sighed. "I'll get her. I'll leave now." Edward left the piano and went to Jacob. "Kevin, tell Nathan I'm on my way."

Edward ran off and, still being there, Kevin got the message and confirmed he would notify Nathan so he could notify Eloise. When Kevin told Nathan the following day, Nathan made a point to write a letter to Eloise to notify her that a man by the name of Edward Cullen would come and pick her up to take her to America and he'd explain from there. Sadly, of course, Nathan's letter didn't get to Ada María before Jacob had notified everyone of their impending visitor.

"I can't even be mad," Renesmee sighed. "Perhaps this is a good thing."

"We'll see," Jacob said and looked at Ada María who wasn't reacting the way he'd thought she would be. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she answered. "Nathan already told me what happened. I'm not surprised that a woman got pregnant. I know why this happened and I understand."

"I'll look after the kid once it's born," Scarlet said but Ada María shook her head.

"I'll do it," Ada María said. "I don't mind your help, but I'll need to take care of the child. Hopefully Nathan and I will work things out and that will require we raise that child together."

"We'll all be here to help," Renesmee said.

"Also," Jacob said. "Nathan's said boy or girl, that baby's name is Jaedynn."

"I love it," Ada María smiled a little. "Are you excited, Ariel? You'll have a new little brother or sister soon."

"That'll be living with us?" Ariel asked innocently.

"Yes, Ariel, that will be living with us," Ada María smiled. "Their name is going to be Jaedynn."

"I'm not deaf, mom," Ariel said but he was smiling. Despite the situation, he was excited.

Edward ran across the country and even swam across the ocean to France avoiding any ships or submarines. Taking the woman back would not be anywhere near so simple, but he preferred to get the young woman back to America as soon as possible. He waited until night and ensured he was always in a coat and hat. He located the address that had been on the young woman's letters and knocked on the door. He heard the concern in her thoughts. He liked the young woman quite a bit already. If Nathan had to have an illegitimate child with a stranger, it was good that stranger was Eloise Beaumont. She'd been a writer for the newspaper before the war started and was strong willed. She helped the resistance in Paris and even acted as a spy. She was a remarkable woman to say the least. She opened the door to Edward.

"How may I help you?" Eloise asked.

"Good evening, Miss Beaumont. I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but my name is Edward Cullen."

"Oh, yes, you're the one Nathan spoke about," Eloise smiled politely. "Please, come inside. It's freezing."

"Thank you Miss Beaumont," Edward smiled and stepped inside. He was relieved to see she was already packed. She had two suitcases. "I'm happy to see you're already packed. I would prefer we leave right away. I'm afraid the trek back will be long, so we need to leave now if we're going to get you back to Washington before the baby is born."

"Now? It's too late for travel," Eloise said.

"Normally, yes, but under the circumstances, we need to leave right away. I am sorry for the inconvenience, Miss Beaumont."

"Just Eloise, please," she said and sighed. "I see pushiness runs in the family it would seem."

"In all fairness to myself, Nathan gets his stubborn streak from his father through and through," Edward smiled. "You'll like Jacob. That's Nathan's father. You'll love his mother Renesmee too."

"I'm sure they're lovely," Eloise said. "I don't know if Nathan made my intentions clear where this child is concerned."

"No worries, Eloise, he has," Edward said. "You have my word as soon as this child is born and you've had a chance to heal up a bit, we'll buy you a train ticket to wherever you wish to go."

She smiled, "Alright. I appreciate that, Mr. Cullen."

"Edward, please," he said. "We may as well both be on first name terms. I'll carry your luggage for you. You shouldn't do too much heavy lifting in your condition."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Edward," Eloise said and grabbed one of her suitcases. "I'm pregnant, not disabled."

"You're right, Eloise," Edward chuckled and took the other suitcase. "Well, if you would follow me and we'll get you to Washington." Edward held out his arm and she accepted it after a brief hesitation. Edward took Eloise to a train station that had been brought up to operational and Edward bought tickets for Le Havre.

As he feared would be the case, getting back to America was a nightmare. When they arrived in Le Havre, most ships were strictly for military use. The only one in use for civilians went across the channel to England. When they got to England, their travel options remained rather sparse. Eventually, Edward got them on a boat to Ireland, a neutral nation, and were finally able to get a boat to Canada. It was several days before they finally reached Canada and when they did, they were in the middle of nowhere, unashamedly. Knowing it was where she wanted to go, Edward got them on a train that would take them through Quebec so she could take in the sites.

"I should warn you," Edward said when they were going past Montreal. "They don't speak Parisian French here. Here, they speak Quebecois. It shouldn't take long to get used to, but here Parisian French is considered back water speak."

"So I've heard," Eloise giggled. "I can't say this is what I'd had in mind when I was planning to come here, but I admit I'm pleased all the same. All it cost me was delivering someone's baby."

"I realize you didn't get to know Nathan very well," Edward said. "He really is a good man. He appreciates that you told him."

"I know," Eloise said. "I barely spoke to him, but I can tell his parents did a good job with him. I'm still shocked he came all the way back to Paris just to tell me he was sending me to America."

"It's his child after all," Edward said, knowing the truth of the statement. When she'd said she hadn't had sex in 15 years, she had been dead serious. When Edward had first heard that portion of the tale, his assumption was she was of ulterior preferences. While it was true, it hadn't been what he'd thought. She just wasn't interested in anyone. He'd heard of people with no interest in sex but they were men and women of God. She was simply not interested. "We're told this baby's name is Jaedynn?"

"That's what Nathan said," Eloise smiled. "He certainly knows how to name a baby. He'd said this baby was to be named after a fallen comrade."

"Indeed," Edward said. "A childhood friend more appropriately. Jae Dauer. The two of them grew up together and Jae had even married Nathan's twin sister Natalie. It hit all of us hard when he died. To know Jae was to love him. I imagine, when Nathan found out you were pregnant, some part of him thought that maybe it was a sign."

"I didn't take him for the religious type," Eloise said.

"Not near so much as his older brothers, but then Kevin and Kyle are far more so what you might call stormy weather Catholics."

"Aren't we all in times like these?" Eloise said and Edward smiled at her.

It was well into December by the time they finally got to Washington. Christmas was just around the corner when Eloise entered the tribe in the passenger's side of the car Edward drove. She wasn't feeling well that morning. The baby was proving a rather active creature and the kicking coupled with the driving was making her nauseous. Edward gave her some peppermint to sniff to help alleviate the lightheadedness and that helped quite a bit. He drove slowly through the tribe going straight to Jacob's and Renesmee's house and when he reached the back porch, Eloise saw several beautiful women step outside. One of whom was pale with reddish brown hair and smiled when she saw Edward.

"We were starting to worry about you," the woman said.

"No need to worry, Renesmee. I'm home with your new grandchild," Edward answered and Eloise gawked. This was Renesmee? Nathan's mother? She couldn't possibly be past her thirties let alone old enough to have a son of age for the army. Let alone three sons of age! Edward opened the car door for her. "May I introduce Eloise Beaumont," he said to Renesmee. "She will be carrying Jaedynn for the duration of her stay."

"You make it sound so business like," Eloise managed as she stepped out of the car and looked at Renesmee. "You're his mother?"

"Yes, I'm his mother," Renesmee smiled kindly and held out her hand. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by this turn of events, but all the same it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Eloise answered while still alarmed. "Forgive me, but you look too young to have three sons of fighting age."

"Well, thank you," Renesmee smiled. "A lady always loves being told she looks younger than her years."

"Indeed," a woman with a thick accent said and Eloise looked at her. She was quite a lovely woman. Hispanic clearly from what Eloise could tell.

"Who might you be, miss?" Eloise asked.

"Ada María," she answered. "I'm Nathan's lover." She had been tempted to say fiancé, but stopped herself.

"Oh," Eloise said. "I suppose finding out about this was quite the surprise."

"Not really," Ada María said. "Nathan wrote and told me what happened, so when I found out he got you pregnant, it wasn't all too surprising."

"Well….that's a relief I suppose," Eloise said. "Edward had mentioned you so I was worried about meeting you."

"Don't be worried," Ada María said.

Eloise was introduced to the family from there and got to meet plenty of people she was left gawking at when told their relation to Nathan. Eventually his age came up and the fact that he was apparently just turned 36 was almost impossible for her to accept given that would imply Renesmee couldn't possibly be younger than 60. She inevitably decided it was best not to ask questions and drop it. She wouldn't be there very long anyway. Regardless of the family's oddities, she found they were abundantly pleasant and overlooking their strangeness because easier as time passed.

Back in Italy, after Christmas had passed and January 1945 arrived, Evalina decided she didn't have any more time to waste. She'd been preparing for months and now it was time. She waited until it was dawn morning of January 2nd and walked out of the castle as though nothing was amiss. She had her back of spare clothes, but the bag itself was small and appeared inconsequential. Although it was a Tuesday, it was still too early for businesses to be open but she merely claimed she was going to church when asked by her Grandpa Afton. He seemed satisfied with her answer and didn't put up a fuss about her leaving the castle. She started off walking. If she moved too quickly now, it would raise an alarm with Dimitri and he might come after her. She needed to wait until it was bright outside with no shadows before she could reach the city walls and leave. As she walked, she whistled for Karenin who swooped down and perched in her open hands.

"I need you to stay out of site, but stay near me, okay Karenin? I'm going to look for Amber and the moment I find her, I'm sending you off to Kyle." The bird hopped twice as a yes and Evalina smiled. "Good," she said before giving the bird a kiss on the head and sending him off into flight.

By the time she reached the outskirts of the city near the wall, the dawn was replaced with a full morning. Now was her chance. She walked out passed the walls of the city and started walking down the dirt road and when she was completely in the open, that's when she started running. She needed to find a happy medium between continuing to run as fast as she could while staying in the open so she wouldn't be intercepted once Dimitri noticed she was gone and came after her. As she left the city and began to run, Dimitri stopped playing chess with Heidi and looked in the direction he heard Evalina's tenor.

"Dimitri?" Heidi asked.

"Whatever's the matter, Dimitri?" Aro's voice came from his throne. "Is someone approaching?"

"No," Dimitri said and stood. Then he looked at Afton. "I thought you said she was going to the church."

"Evalina?" Afton said and stood, suddenly having everyone's attention. "Where is she?"

"She's just left the city and she's going north," Dimitri answered.

"North?!" Afton yelled. "What the hell is she doing going north?"

"I'll go after her," Dimitri said to Afton. "I'll have her back in no time, so let's-"

"Dimitri," Caius interrupted, "surely you've noticed it's broad daylight outside. Worst case scenario, she's just going to another town for something. Surely you're overreacting."

"Perhaps Caius is right," Aro agreed. "If her course continues down a path that is unacceptable, then you can go after her come nightfall but I'm sure it's innocent enough. You can all scold her when she returns."

Having been shot down, Dimitri eventually acquiesced to Aro's suggestion although he still went to Dante and Amadora to warn them that Evalina had left the walls of the city. If Aro was correct and whatever she was up to truly was innocent enough, she would still have plenty to answer to when she returned.

"Do you want me to go after her?" Alphonse asked Dimitri after stepping out of his room having overheard the conversation.

"She's too far now," Dimitri said. "It probably is nothing, so no need to worry."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"She'd told your Grandpa Afton she was going to church," Dimitri said. "That's not where I hear her tenor."

"So she lied? Why?"

"I don't know," Dimitri said. "I'll go after her if she's not back by nightfall. Aro's probably right and she's off doing something innocent enough but that doesn't mean she won't get a firm talking to when she returns."

Evalina knew ran as fast as her feet could carry out of Italy and didn't pull out the map she'd reached Austria. It took some time to orient herself and find out where she was, but once she knew, she determined the correct direction to go in order to get the her destination in Poland. The hills and small mountains of Austria proved to be a challenge to get passed and put her behind her desired timeline. She'd hoped to reached Czechoslovakia by nightfall she'd only managed to reach a little village two hours southwest of Vienna. Of course, now that it was nightfall, she couldn't stop. She needed to keep her head start and pushed through to Vienna. Once there, her German was enough to get her loads of coffee to keep her awake so she could push through to the Czech border. She allowed herself a 1 hour nap in the morning when she reached an inn but asked the shop keep, who to her great relief spoke German, to wake her. The keep ended up leaving her for 3 hours with good intentions but it cost her quite a bit of time and she knew if she didn't leave right away, Dimitri would catch up to her. She thanked the shop keep and left for the remainder of her trip. If she ran as fast as she possibly could manage, she could make it to Oswiecim, Poland in three or so hours. But she was so tired.

By the time she reached the Polish border, it was midday and it was another few minutes before she reached the outskirts of the town she was looking for. At least she hoped she was. Her Polish was comically abysmal if even that and she couldn't reach Polish to save her life. Though she was able to read the sign of the village limits once she'd reached it. As she traveled intending to get further into town, she saw a long road and train tracks that seemed to lead to a large facility. It was in German! She found a local woman and tried asking in German if she knew anything about the place, but the woman didn't speak any German and Evalina had to leave her be. She circled the facility as best she could without being seen, but the more she saw, the more horrified she was. Save for the guards there who were clearly German soldiers, the people inside were so thin. Frighteningly thin. Thinner than she thought the human body could possibly be. It was as though she saw skeletons walking. She finally found a sign that confirmed the location: Auschwitz-Birkenau.

From what she could tell, the inmates were separated by gender. The man were largely in one section of the camp, the women in another. Her first thought was to look for Amber in the crowd of people. There were sections of the camp that appeared as though they were damaged and there was a large group of prisoners that were dismantling a few large buildings under close watch of the guards. But she never found Amber. But then, the soldier Kevin had spoken to, according to the letter Kyle had received, had confirmed she was no longer in Auschwitz. Her next course of action was to find out where she was. She didn't have time to waste. She had no choice: she had to sneak around in daylight and question the guards without raising alarm. A task that would prove frightening to achieve. There were watchtowers everywhere seeming to cover every possible section of the camp, but a few were unguarded. A number of the guards had appeared to be focused on the people tasked with dismantling the buildings. Her best bet was to reprimand and question one of the guards that appeared to be in charge. As she was looking, she saw a face she swore she'd seen before, but the face was so hollowed in the cheeks and the woman's eyes appeared so forlorn. Evalina stared at the woman until she finally remembered where she'd seen her: the picture Kyle had shown her with Amber. Evalina realized it must be Amber's mother, though she didn't know the woman's name.

The woman was towards the back of the camp and appeared to be sorting through piles and piles of clothes. She seemed to focus on men's coats and was organizing them. Other inmates were focusing on jewelry or shoes or other manner of trinkets. Evalina needed to think of a way to get the woman's attention and find out if, perhaps, she was who Evalina thought she was and find out if she knew where Amber was. Then get her out of this place. But then there was the issue of bringing the woman with her. She'd slow Evalina down and she didn't have the time to spare. If Kyle's accounts of Kevin's nightmares were correct, she needed to find her immediately and she couldn't afford being held back. Evalina finally found a place to sneak in and kept herself hidden. She got herself into the warehouse that the woman had been working in and waited for the woman to approach. When she did, Evalina whispered.

"Madam," Evalina whispered in German, hoping she could understand her. The woman looked at her and was surprised, but she didn't scream. "I think I've seen you before in a picture my fiancé showed me," she said. Then she took out the picture she'd drawn of Amber and showed it to the woman.

"Amber?" the woman uttered and tears filled her eyes as she tried to take the picture but Evalina pulled it away.

"Do you know her?"

"She's my daughter," the woman answered. "Oh, dear God, please tell me you know where she is. They took my baby away from me," the woman whimpered and Evalina breathed out realizing the woman would not be able to help her.

"I'm looking for her," Evalina said. "My fiancé's brother Kevin is-"

"Kevin?" the woman interrupted. "Kevin's looking for her? Oh, thank God," she continued to whimper. Evalina looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Thankfully, the other inmates were engrossed with their tasks and the guard was well out of view.

"Please, madam," Evalina said, "Do you know who here would know where Amber is?"

"Commander Schneider," the woman answered confidently. "That man….my poor Amber," she began to sob and Evalina took a hold of her heavy coat and pulled the woman closer.

"Please madam, I want to help your daughter," Evalina said. "Where might I find Commander Schneider?"

"He's…I think he's near the gas chambers. They're being taken down," the woman said.

"And what does he look like?" Evalina asked.

"He has dark brown hair and thick brows. He's very tall and he always wears gloves no matter what season it is."

"Does he have any distinguishing features?" Evalina pressed.

"He has a small scar on his lip and where that scar is he has two gold teeth," she answered.

"Scar on his lip with two gold teeth. Got it," Evalina said. "Thank you for your help. I'll see what I can find out from him."

"Will you be able to find Amber?" the woman asked.

"We'll find her, madam, I swear it," Evalina smiled. "I'll send word to my fiancé where you are and help you too."

"Don't worry about me," the woman insisted. "Just save my Amber."

Evalina eventually agreed and snuck away from the warehouse. She laid flat on the roof of the warehouse she'd excited and took out some pencil and paper to write a very quick message to Kyle: I found Amber's mother. She's in Auschwitz in Poland. The town is called Oswiecim on a map. Send someone to rescue her.

After writing her message, Evalina gently whistled so only her bird would hear her and Karenin swooped down, took her note and she told him to come back to her immediately after Kyle received her note. Once Karenin flew away, Evalina snuck around the camp – a difficult task to say the least with all the guards – until she finally found the portion of the camp where she'd seen the inmates dismantling some buildings from before. She looked around until she found the man that Amber's mother had described. He certainly was a tall, intimidating looking man. Evalina thought the man could easily be as tall as Kyle and he walked around screaming at the inmates to work faster. AS she raked her brain for a way to get the man alone, she heard footsteps behind her. She heard the voice about to yell, so Evalina turned immediately and grabbed a young man placing her hand over his mouth.

"Do not scream or it will be the last thing you do," Evalina said. She grabbed the man's pistol from his belt and brought it to his chin while she pressed him against the building behind which they hid and kept her hand on his mouth. She wondered, perhaps, if this man might know where Amber is. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. I expect you to answer. If you scream, I will shoot you. Nod if you understand." The man nodded past her hand on his mouth. "Good. Now," Evalina kept her eyes locked on him while she took her hand from his mouth so she could reach for the sketch she'd made of Amber and showed it to the man. "Do you remember this woman?"

"No," the man said.

"She was an inmate here about three years ago so I'm told," Evalina said.

"I've only been stationed here a year and a half," the man answered

"And what of her parents? Their last name is Dymek. I found her mother sorting through the clothes in one of the other parts of the camp. What about her father?"

"There is one Dymek I'm aware of," the man answered. "He's a Jew that was an accountant before he came here. Commander Schneider and some of the others get him to help us with taxes and saving money. There's another Jew that was a Jeweler in Paris and they'll appraise things to be sold."

"So he is alive?"

"Yes," the man said. "Schneider needs that man. He's made Commander Schneider rich."

"So he's made Mr. Dymek help him embezzle money?"

The man nodded, "A guard had tried reporting him for it, but he was made an inmate here. Died in the gas chambers not a month later."

"I see," Evalina said. "But you don't know where this woman is?"

"No," he answered.

"Okay then," Evalina said. "In that case, I require your assistance. I'm told Commander Schneider was fond of Amber before she was transferred from here. I need him to tell me where she went. Obviously, I can't just walk up to him and ask him, now can I? So I need you to get him somewhere private for me."

"How do you know I won't raise the alarm?" the man asked.

"Because I'm a good shot," Evalina warned. "You see, I was raised in a little village called Volterra and, sadly, my life was a rather boring one so myself and those like me had to fill our days with something. My daddy, brother and I used to enjoy hunting before the war. And I'll tell you something. Not a critter in the field was safe with me around. A headshot. Not a single survivor." She was lying, but he didn't know that. He didn't need to know she was lying. She was, however, confident she could shoot the man if it was needed. He just needed to be intimidated. "Now you be a good boy and go get Commander Schneider for me."

"Where do I take him?" the man asked.

"What is this building we're against now?"

"It's one of the Barracks," he answered. "I can bring him here if you need."

"Fine," Evalina said. "But you would do well to keep in mind: this gun will remain aimed at your head until you bring me Commander Schneider. You so much as make a peep out of line, I shoot. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," the man answered.

"Good," she said and finally released him, keeping her gun on him. "Go on. Bring him over. You have 10 minutes or I shoot."

"Yes, ma'am," the man answered a little flippantly and walked towards the buildings being dismantled.

Evalina stared down the guard as he went across the open area to Commander Schneider, never lowering the gun. He kept looking over his shoulder to check if she'd let her guard down, but she never did. She even pulled back the clip to make a point. She wasn't sure if he saw or heard her do it, but he seemed to get the point and continued to Commander Schneider. When she saw the guard begin to talk with the Commander, there was a brief exchange before the Commander followed the guard in her direction. She slipped into the barracks through a tiny window and went to the entrance waiting. There were so many tiny bunks all over the room and it smelled violently of human waste and refuse. It nearly made her vomit from that alone. The smell of death filled the air too. She regretted picking this building and yet she had a feeling that none of the other buildings would be any different. Either that or it was nausea she was feeling. She waited another moment before the door opened and Evalina remained out of site.

"Alright, Braun, this had better be fucking important," she heard the man say. Unable to resist dramatic effect, Evalina closed the door so that Commander Schneider and the guard were alone in the room with her.

"I assure you, Commander Schneider, it's of the utmost importance," Evalina said and made both men look at her, Commander Schneider appearing surprised.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked.

"That's not important right now," Evalina said. "What is important is that you answer the questions I'm about to ask."

"How did you get in here?" Commander Schneider insisted. "Braun, who the hell is this broad?"

"Now, Commander, I'm the one asking the questions," Evalina said. "I'd appreciate it if you would keep your language to a minimum. You're in the presence of a lady after all."

"Raise the alarm!" Commander Schneider ordered Braun and the guard tried to run, but Evalina hit him over the back of the head with the butt of the gun and made him fall to the floor and then held the gun out so it was aimed at the Commander.

"Keep your voice down, Commander," Evalina warned. "I'd prefer not to raise a fuss. Once you answer my questions, I'll get out of your hair. Simple as that. Though please be quick about it. I've not the time to waste on your tomfoolery." Commander Schneider seemed to reach for his gun and, dropping any pretense, Evalina ran to and jumped the man slamming him into the floor. His gun flew across the floor under one of the bunks. Once he was down, Evalina pressed the barrel of the gun against the man's temple. "There'll be none of that Commander."

"What do you want?" he finally asked.

Evalina pulled out the sketch of Amber and showed it to him. "Do you remember this woman?"

"I can't see the picture in this light," Commander Schneider said. "Perhaps we could take this to my office."

"Now, Commander, you should know better than to assume I'm stupid," Evalina said. Then she adjusted the angle of the picture so the light from a window was hitting it and he could see. "Can you see her now?"

"What about her?" Commander Schneider said. "She hasn't been at this camp in over three years."

"So I've been informed," Evalina said. "What I need from you is to tell me where you sent her."

"She'd be long dead by now, so what does it matter?"

"See, that's where you're wrong," Evalina said. "I have reason to believe she's still alive and I've taken it upon myself to locate her. Obviously, I can't do that unless you tell me where you sent her." Commander Schneider stayed eerily silent and Evalina sighed. "Please, Commander, I don't have the patience for this. Just tell me where you sent her and I'll leave you be."

"Even if I tell you, the moment you're off me, I'll see to it you suffer the same fate as her," Commander Schneider said, then smiled a little. "You're just like her aren't you? Some strange thing that just refuses to die. You're warm like she was. That was my favorite thing about her. I shot her five times and she kept getting up. We'd sent word to headquarters of the incident and our doctors here had a field day with her."

"And then you sent her away," Evalina said. "That's what I need you to tell me about."

"I sent her where I was told to send her by headquarters," Commander Schneider said. "Ol' Dr. Mengele had a bit of a crush on the girl, but you see, his field of expertise is with our fertility experiments. Sterilizing Jews and what not. That wasn't quite what headquarters had in mind. When they heard of how I'd shot her five times and it didn't kill her and that was after she'd broken down the door of one of the gas chambers, they wanted to see what made her able to do that."

"You're testing my patience, Commander," Evalina said. "Where did you send her?"

"Where I was told to," he said.

"And that is?" Evalina said.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "You're not getting out of here. I'll make sure of it."

"No, Commander," Evalina said, "you will answer me. Surely, if you've figured out Amber and I are one in the same so to speak, then you know what I can do to you. What I will do to you. I've drained humans of their blood many times. It's not a quick death. It's quite slow and painful in fact. You'll get nauseated and lightheaded. You'll kick to fight me off, but you'd only make things worse for yourself. Your head will throb and your body will hurt the more you fight."

"So you are just like her," Commander Schneider grinned cruelly. "She might not have served our usual experiments but perhaps you could. I've no doubt the guards would love a whack at a pretty thing like you. Dr. Mengele can do whatever it is he does and we'll all take turns testing to see if it worked."

"I threatened to drain you of blood and you have the nerve to imply you'd rape me? Truly you are a brazen and cocky man. But as I said, I don't have time for your games. Tell me where you sent her, Commander."

"She was sent back to Germany," Commander Schneider said.

"Germany's a big country Commander. You'll need to be a little more specific," she said.

"Then you'd better start looking," the Commander chuckled. "I can't say I know exactly what the doctors have been doing with her, but if she means we can turn things around and win the war, I'll be damned if I tell you a fucking thing."

"The way I see it, the Soviet army is closing in on you," Evalina threatened. "Unless your doctors manage to pull a miracle out of thin air, I'd say the chances of Amber helping you win this war are slim to none. So what do you say you just tell me where she is and accept your fate?"

"What fate might that be?" Commander Schneider taunted.

"That depends," Evalina said. "Tell me where she is and I'll leave you to the Soviets where you may have a chance to live or keep up this evasiveness and I'll kill you now."

"Die now or die later?" Commander Schneider said. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Last I checked, Commander, I was the one holding a gun to your head."

"And last I checked, I was the one that had the information you wanted," Commander Schneider said. "The way I see it, I'm the one that actually holds the cards. Wouldn't you agree? Though perhaps I could be convinced to tell you want you want to know."

"No," Evalina said firmly. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll resist the urge to make a eunuch out of you. I hear most men consider that a fate far worse than death." Though begrudgingly, that seemed to get Commander Schneider's attention.

"She was sent to Dachau," he finally answered. "A Doctor Henrik Keller was assigned to her. He came here to Auschwitz to examine her. A slimy man if ever I saw one and, oh, did he love her. I dare say when the good doctor was examining her she started wishing she only had to amuse me."

"You seem rather proud of yourself for what you did to poor Amber," Evalina said. "You had best hope the Soviets get to you first lest Amber's fiancé finally gets a hold of you."

"I hope he enjoys my leftovers," Commander Schneider taunted. Evalina stared at him a moment at a loss for what to say. "Of course, if she is still alive like you claim, she'll have been passed around by now like the whore of Babylon. I'm sure they've broken her by now. Terrible shame. That fighting spirit was one of the things I loved about her. Of course, you beat any dog enough, eventually they'll lose the will to fight back."

"I would say 'for your sake', Commander," Evalina said. "Although, that threat doesn't seem sufficient. You're lucky I'm in a hurry Commander, otherwise this would be drawn out far more."

Without another word, Evalina covered his mouth and brought her head down to his neck and bit down to drink his blood. As they always did, he fought back trying to get her off him, but it was no use as it always is. She didn't stop until he finally stopped fighting and squirming. Just in case, she kept the gun putting it in one of her dress pockets. Dachau. That's where he said he'd sent her. On top of that, Amber's parents were still alive. From what Evalina had seen of the camp, that was nothing short of a miracle. She only hoped Kyle would be able to do something about it once he received her message. With the information she needed, she pulled out her map and looked for Dachau. She finally found it: a village in Southern Germany. Bavarian country. She'd have to cut through Czechoslovakia again and there was a chance her grandpa would be able to catch up with her, but it was a risk she needed to take. If she left and kept running without stopping, she might be able to make it there by the wee hours of the morning.

In the meantime, Karenin flew back to Italy and managed to Locate Kyle. He was no longer in Rome, the army moving again with plans towards Venice. Eventually, Karenin caught Kyle's scent from high in the air and swooped down to the camps where he was located. Karenin flew to where Kyle's bed in the doctor's quarters had been built up and waited anxiously. Impatient, the bird flew around until he located Kyle and practically attacked him to get his attention. It took some time, but Kyle managed to make an excuse to leave what he was doing and went straight to the doctor's quarters where he was, thankfully, blissfully alone.

"What's the matter?" Kyle asked. "Is something wrong with Evalina?" Karenin tossed the note onto the bed and, without waiting for Kyle as he usually did, flew away to return to Evalina as he'd been ordered. Kyle called to the bird but he was already gone. Instead, he picked up the note and when he read it, his eyes shot open. What the hell was Evalina doing in the mouth of the beast?! Kyle wanted to scream, but the news she'd found was undeniably useful. Doing the time math in his head, he was certain his father would be on patrol. He got out of his clothes and changed to a wolf. Evalina found Amber's parents at Auschwitz!

Kyle? The whole group said.

Where is Auschwitz? Jacob asked, realizing they didn't have time for other questions.

Poland! It's in Poland near the southern border of Poland and Czechoslovakia. Just like Kevin had said!

I'll tell your grandparents, Jacob said and started running for the Cullen house while Kyle changed back and returned into his clothes.

Now that he'd told the pack, his thoughts returned to Evalina. What was she doing? Why wasn't she in Volterra where she was safe? Why hadn't that fucking bird stayed so he could write her back? Unable to do anything but wait for Karenin to come back, Kyle returned to his previous work, but it was not without being sick with worry. Shaking with it even. Jacob ran to the Cullen house and barked, but it wasn't needed. Edward already knew what was going on and stood from the piano.

"Carlisle!" Edward yelled and Carlisle came downstairs from his office.

"What is it? What did Jacob say?"

"Kyle got word about Amber's parents. They're in Auschwitz!" Suddenly, as they spoke, Alice went desperately still as a vision passed through her head. It was a march of emaciated humans in a long, large line with Nazi soldiers guiding them. They were being taken away.

"Carlisle," Alice started, but Edward interrupted.

"We don't have time to send one of us, we need to send a friend," Edward said. "Who can we contact? Anyone at all! The Germans know the Soviets are closing in on them. According to Alice's vision, they're going to liquidate the camp and send the prisoners to march to their deaths!"

"Benjamin!" Esme said. "We can ask him! He's still in Jerusalem isn't he? He said he'd stay until he found her and her parents."

"Alice, do you know where he is?" Carlisle asked. "Is he somewhere that has a phone?"

"No, but," suddenly, Alice became aware. "Siobhan! We can contact Siobhan! They have a phone now!"

"What's the number?" Carlisle asked and Alice wrote it down. Carlisle went to their phone and dialed the number. It took forever to get through, but eventually he did and it was Siobhan's voice that answered.

"Hello?" Siobhan's thick Irish accent asked, wondering who would be calling from so far away.

"Siobhan, it's me. Carlisle."

"Carlisle? How on earth-"

"Siobhan, please, we don't have time to waste. To keep the story short, we're in need of your help. A woman named Anna Dymek is located in Auschwitz. It's a camp in Poland."

"You mean Oswiecim?" she asked.

"Yes, that's the name of the town in which the camp is located."

"Carlisle, Levi's alive too," Alice said. "I saw him marching within that group! If we don't get to him, he'll be one of the fallen!"

"Carlisle, I wish I could help, but I can't," Siobhan said. "I've no idea what these people look like."

"If you have a pencil and paper, I will describe them to you," Carlisle insisted. "Please Siobhan, I wouldn't ask you to do this if we could ourselves, but we don't have time to waste. Please," Carlisle said.

"Alright," Siobhan finally said and called to her mate to give her a pencil and paper.

For the next half hour, Carlisle described Levi and Anna Dymek in excruciating detail, down to the last freckle on Anna's face and the tiny bump Levi had in his nose and so on. When Siobhan finished the sketch and essentially decided she and her mate would go, Alice had another vision, seeing the sketches in it and confirmed they looked exactly right.

"Thank you, Siobhan," Carlisle said. "I will repay you for this."

"No need, Carlisle," Siobhan said. "Do I bring them to you? Where are you located now?"

"We're ten miles south of the Quileute tribe in Washington state. The tribe is just outside a town called Forks. Please bring them here and we'll take care of the rest."

"We will," Siobhan confirmed and disconnected the call.

"Alice, will she…" Esme started but couldn't finish.

"Levi's future is already changing," Alice reassured. "Those pictures she made are perfect. If she can get to the camp before the Germans start the march, then we'll be able to save them both."

"What about Amber?" Jacob asked, having changed to his normal self and stepped inside for an update should it be needed.

"Unless we hear something different, that'll be up to Kevin," Edward said.

Having snuck out of the camp, Evalina oriented herself to make a beeline for Dachau. Unless she'd been transferred, Amber would finally be safe. If she had been transferred, Evalina would tear the camp apart until she found someone that knew where she was. An hour after she left the camp, she heard the flapping of wings and was able to see Karenin had made it back and she sighed a breath of relief. She kept running well into the night, finally making it to the German border. She checked her map again and continued on until she finally reached the village of Dachau. It was so much smaller than Auschwitz had been yet it still held the same air of terror and intimidation. There were still train tracks that led into the camp, there were still large ditches filled to the brim with dead bodies and there was still an overwhelming smell of death in the air. The only ones that appeared to be out where guards and they seemed to be on high alert. She didn't have the luxury of the guards being distracted this time. Getting in would be a lot harder. But at least this time she had the cover of night.

She looked around the camp for an opening, but nothing struck her and the barbed wire surrounding the facility was yet another obstacle. She could still feel the sting of it on her hands from when she'd infiltrated Auschwitz. There weren't nearly so many guard towers as at Auschwitz but they were all manned with guards that were noticeably armed. Finding a place to sneak proved nearly impossible, but she eventually found a single spot in which one of the guards had fallen asleep. Taking advantage of the distraction, she got herself into the camp, stomaching the pain of the barbed wire on her hands as she quietly got herself in and immediately under some cover. Now that she was in, she had to locate and capture a guard so she could question him. Hoping to subtly draw the attention of one, she took a rock and dropped it on the ground, making a light thud.

"What was that?" she heard.

"It was between there," the other man answered. "Go make sure what it was." There was silence again as Evalina waited in the shadows for whoever to come within her line of attack. Finally, a young man, mid-twenties at best, poked his head in and Evalina took that opportunity to grab him, cover his mouth so he couldn't scream and pushed him against the wall.

"Shh," Evalina said, trying to sooth. "Not too loud. I'm in need of your help." The man tried resisting, but she pushed him harder against the wall. "Please don't fight me. I don't have the time." Then Evalina pulled out her gun which immediately caught the man's horrified attention and she put the gun against his temple. "Now, I'm going to remove my hand and I'm going to ask you a few questions. When I remove my hand, if you scream I will shoot you. Nod if you understand." The man nodded frantically. "Will you cooperate?" When the man nodded, Evalina pulled her hand away. Then she pulled out the sketch of Amber and showed it to him. "Do you recognize this woman?"

"Yes," the man answered. "She's Dr. Keller's test subject."

"So she is alive?"

"Yes," the man answered. "She's a monster."

"A monster?"

"None of us can go near her without her trying to bite," the man said. "Sometimes, Dr. Keller will throw a Jew at her and she'll drink their blood. Always makes that bastard laugh."

"She's feral," Evalina said more so to herself. "She's dangerous."

"No shit," the man said and Evalina returned her full attention to him.

"It's imperative that I get her out of here," Evalina said. "Do you know where she is?"

"She's in the experimental ward. It's the fifth building from the entrance of the camp and it's on your right when entering the camp. She'd been in the last room at the end of the block. She'll be changed up. It's the only safe way to restrain her."

"Alright," Evalina said. "Thank you for your help. Now, if I let you go, will be not raise the alarm?"

"I'm obligated to," the man said.

"That's a shame," Evalina said. "You were far more helpful than any other Nazi I've spoken to."

"Please," the man said. "I have a wife and newborn son at home. I'd never thought…."

"Shh," Evalina whispered. "I won't kill you. But I will have to put you to sleep."

"No," the man said. "If you do that, it'll cause alarm. I've already been gone too long. I'll keep quiet, just please let me go." Evalina stared at the man momentarily trying to weigh her options and whether or not she could let him go. Truth was if she killed him, it would absolutely raise the alarm. So she finally released him and took the gun away from his head.

"Brunswick!" a voice came and the man looked in to direction it came.

"Go before he sees you," the man said and started leaving to return to his post. "Here sir! It must have been a rabbit or something. I looked up and down the line and didn't see anything."

"Back to your post then," the other man answered and Evalina sighed a breath of relief and started sneaking around until she found the building the guard had directed her to.

She ended up having to hide for several minutes waiting for an open space to run across to the correct building and finally sneak in. She hid in the shadows hoping there weren't any guards inside the barrack but there didn't appear to be. Once she was confident she could move freely, she started walking down the hall of the barrack going to the end like she'd been told. The smell was overwhelming and she wouldn't let herself look inside the medical rooms for fear of what she would see. She heard mumbles of sufferers in pain. That alone was hard to hear without having to see it. She continued walking down the hall until she finally reached the door at the end. It was unlabeled but there was the tiniest little window for her to look through. She could barely see her, but she saw a figure with blonde hair just barely grown out ever so slightly after having received a buzz cut, caked with dirt and blood. Pulling a pin from her hair, Evalina unlocked the door as quietly as she could manage got through, gently closing the door behind her but ensuring it was ajar and they could get out quickly. When she stepped in, the figure lifted her head to stare up and her and the sight made Evalina shiver in terror.

It was Amber. That much she could tell. But it wasn't the vibrant young woman she saw in Kyle's picture. Her cheeks had thinned considerably and she was skin and bones just as all the other inmates that she remembered seeing at Auschwitz. She wore hardly anything, only in a very loose fitting shirt that appeared grey with a dirty star on it. It was all she wore while the rest of her body remained uncovered. Her skin was pasty white, her lips nearly grey and her eyes were a gruesome, hollow black. The stare that came from those eyes were what frightened Evalina to look at. She'd only heard of the feral condition. She knew if a vampire went far too long without blood, there was no reasoning with them and they reduced to no more than a beast of instinct. Such a thing was possible for half-breeds clearly, yet she'd never actually seen it for herself.

"Amber?" Evalina whispered. Amber didn't answer, but she tilted her head slightly. Rather suddenly and it took Evalina by surprise. The jerky movement left her unsettled and she realized getting Amber out of here would not be so easy as she'd hoped. On top of that, she'd have to contend with the bitter fact that Amber might attack her. "It's okay," she finally continued. "I'm here to help you. You don't need to be scared of me."

Amber still didn't answer as she approached Amber slowly and cautiously. Those piercing, frightening black eyes stayed on her like a hawk stalking a mouse. That was certainly how Evalina felt. A prey creature under watch of its hunter. She began to tremble as she reached for the chain around Amber's neck. Chained as though she were an animal. In her condition, perhaps it was a fair assertion. Amber didn't attack her much to Evalina's relief, so she was able to undo the shackle around her neck. Then she turned her attention to the shackle securing Amber's right wrist and undid that with her hairpin. She took the shackle of her left wrist but wound up dropping her hairpin. She went to grab it from the ground but moved too quickly and accidently pricked her hand, drawing blood.

When that smell of fresh blood wafted into Amber's nose, suddenly instinct took over and, with a blood curdling screech ringing in Evalina's ear, Amber attempted to bite her but Evalina managed to avoid the bite. That didn't stop Amber however and even with Evalina's minor wound already healed, the frenzy had begun and she couldn't be contained. When Evalina had evaded her, it just seemed to spur Amber on and she lunged for her with a scream emitted as a roar. But she was stopped in her tracks when she was held back by the shackle still secured to her left wrist. Evalina was frozen in terror and by the time she realized she needed to abort the mission so to speak and escape, Amber and already torn the chain from the wall and lunged for Evalina again. With nothing else she could do, Evalina screamed in panic as Amber crawled at blinding speeds over her and tried to bite. Evalina grabbed a hold of Amber by the throat and pushed upward to keep Amber away from her. She kept fighting until the door slammed open with several guards coming to the room. The guard in front took the butt of his gun and swung it clear across Amber's face, causing her to fly sideways and hit her head against the wall. That seemed to calm her a moment, but she still fought to get up.

"Get her in her chains!" the man that hit her yelled and several guards, one of whom being the man Evalina spoke to before, came and grabbed her while another held his gun on her prepared to shoot at a moment's notice.

They got her chained back up though her left arm remained unsecured for the time being. Something Amber clearly noticed. When the guards took their vision off her only a moment, she grabbed one of the guards by his leg and pulled him right off his feet and attempted to climb on top of him, but her shackles prevented it. That guards screamed and kicked Amber in the jaw trying to get her away from him and the man in charge aimed his gun and shot Amber right in the chest. He didn't kill her, but he seemed to make Amber finally stop as she laid against the wall in a strange daze of confusion. Then another man's yelling filled the air as an older man that appeared to have barely managed to get into his uniform before arriving.

"Don't hurt her you idiots!" the man screamed and went to Amber. He seemed to inspect her and when she attempted to bite him, he pulled away and then slapped her. "No! Bad girl!" he said firmly as though he spoke to a dog and continued to examine her. "She's alright," he finally said as a smile came on his face. "She's still got that fighting spirit, my little monster," he continued with a chuckle. He lost his smile, though, as he stood and looked at the guards. "What the hell happened?!"

"We heard that thing screaming and came to investigate," the guard in charge said. "Your little 'pet' damn near woke all of Europe."

"And what, pray tell, caused her to start screaming?" the man asked. Then, finally, they all looked right at Evalina seeming to only just then realize she was there. "Who is this?"

"Good question," the guard said and aimed his gun right at Evalina between the eyes. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" Evalina didn't answer and the guard quickly grew impatient. "I asked you a question and I expect a fucking answer."

She remained silent again to which the guard was unsatisfied. He pulled back the clip of his gun and, with that sound, Evalina swatted the gun away from her and, with the new opening, got to her feet and started running. She was out of the barracks before they could even aim at her and she made a mad dash for the fences. She'd brave that barbed wire happily. Then, to her shock but simultaneously her relief, she saw her Grandpa Dimitri coming towards the camp. She'd never been so relieved to see him. She ran faster until she reached the fence. She avoided the wires since they were electrified and used the post instead. It was a hard climb that slowed her.

"Evalina!" Dimitri yelled and approached the fence.

She continued trying to climb until a gunshot rang and hit her right in the back. All Evalina could do was scream in pain as that pain radiated through her back. She'd been hit on her left side near her hipbone and fell to the ground. Dimitri, just as she was falling, jumped over the fence, lifted Evalina into his arms, and then jumped the fence again while orders and alarms rang to stop them. Dimitri didn't stop to attend to the gunshot until they were a few miles from the camp and under the cover of the trees. She'd already begun to heal. The bullet had gone straight through her, only hitting soft tissue, but she was in agonizing pain. Dimitri helped her to stay calm while the wound healed and didn't finally speak until it had become a superficial wound, quickly gone.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Dimitri said in a harsh tone. "What reason could you possibly have to leave Italy, let alone Volterra?! Whoever shot you could have fucking killed you! Do you understand that?!" Evalina was trembling as she cried.

"I was looking for someone," Evalina said.

"Who?!" She was about to answer but then looked up at him.

"Grandpa! We have to go back! You can get in there and save-"

"We're not going anywhere but home!" Dimitri said and stood, taking Evalina into his arms. "We're going home and you will explain what in the fuck is wrong with you!"

"Grandpa, please, we have to-"

"Home, Evalina," Dimitri ordered and started running. She complied, but only until they were passing the village and she saw a post office. When she did, she forced her way, somehow, out of Dimitri's arms and ran for the post office, breaking in through the window to grab a pencil and paper. She didn't know where her back had gone. She very well may have lost it in the barracks but she didn't care. "What the hell are you doing?" Dimitri asked quieter this time but with no less fury in his voicing.

"Telling Kyle where Amber is," she answered and frantically wrote her message. Ignoring Dimitri as she wrote, she whistled and Karenin swooped down. "Take this to Kyle. When you get to him, wait for him to tell you where to go." Karenin hopped twice to say yes and flew away.

"Who the fuck is Kyle?" Dimitri asked impatiently but Evalina didn't answer. "Evalina," he repeated firmly.

"Please, Grandpa," she said at last, "I just want to go home."

Although he was far from satisfied with that answer, Dimitri complied and carried her back home. They'd have a serious talk when they returned. That morning, Kyle was awoken by a sharp pain in his back that felt suspiciously like a bullet wound and he felt himself in a cold sweat. He didn't know what had caused it, though. He'd heard a scream, the sharp pain and then woke suddenly. He couldn't go back to sleep after that and, just an hour after his abrupt waking, he heard bird's wings and he looked up from his bed to see Karenin. Without a word, he took the note the bird offered and ready it.

I found Amber. She's at Dachau. Tell your brother. Hurry!

The message made his blood go cold. The message contained a crude map of the facility and put an arrow next to a square labeled with a 'here'. He looked up at the bird as he waited patiently. Then he reached for a family picture he had and, without waking the others, showed it to Karenin, pointing out Kevin.

"Karenin, this is my brother Kevin. He's in Germany in the lines of battle. You need to take this note to him immediately. Once you have brought him that message, return to Evalina. Do you understand?" The bird hopped two times, took the note back from Kyle in his beak and flew away. Now Kyle felt his own sense of panic wondering if Evalina was okay. He wanted to write her, but he'd already sent Karenin away and he shook.

Another several hours later, Karenin reached Germany once again and located the Allied forces and flew around until his eyes picked up the face from the picture that Kyle had showed. Karenin swooped down avoiding bullets as Allied troops were moving ever further east while the Soviets to the east were pushing further west, putting Germany in an inescapable and hopeless cage. Karenin landed at Kevin's feet, but Kevin ignored the bird focusing on staying under cover until Karenin dropped the note and pecked at Kevin's shoe. He swore and looked at the bird then finally noticed the note.

"What the hell is this bird doing here?" Embry asked. The bird pecked at Kevin's shoe again and then poked the note forward. Finally, Kevin took it.

"What is that?" Peta asked. Kevin didn't answer and instead opened it. Then the words on the paper filled him with a simultaneous sense of relief and dread.

"Kevin?" Travis said.

"Dachau," Kevin said.

"What?" Embry asked.

"Amber's at Dachau! We need to get to Dachau!"

"Where is that?" Oscar asked.

"It's closer to Munich in southern Germany," Kevin said. As he spoke, Karenin flew away to return home, leaving Kevin with the note. "How long before we can get to Dachau?"

"That sounds like a question for our superiors," Embry said. "As far as I know, we're pushing for Berlin."

"Shit," Kevin said.

"We're almost there, Kevin," Embry reassured. "We'll find her. Now we know where to look."