The tension between us only seemed to multiply tenfold as he drove.
His jaw flexed and unflexed as he stared blankly out the windshield, moving in and out of traffic before he found the high way.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked.
"Far. We need to get out of the country. Possibly for an indefinite amount of time." He finally replied.
"So, what is that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"It means that we are going to fly somewhere remote…. And go on radio silence. Meaning no contact with anyone we know, or knew. From this moment on you are no longer Isabella Marie Swan, you are now Ariana Masen." He told me.
I frowned, unsure of how to wrap my head around everything he had just told me. " But… I-I have to call Mrs.Cope, I have to tell her that I'm okay." I told him, as panic began to swirl in my stomach.
"No, you don't. She knows you're with me… I spoke to Mr. Cope before we left. He said he'd tell Mrs. Cope that you're with me. That you're fine." He informed me.
I turned to stare at him in shocked disbelief, before reaching over to thwack his arm. "Since when is it okay to make decisions for me? What* thwack* gives* thwack* *you * thwack*thwack* the right * thwack* to decide *thwack* for me?!" I asked in between smacks.
He didn't flinch, or react otherwise. Even as I closed my hand and hit in multiple times on the arm.
I could feel my tears brim over and begin to fall as I turned to look away, angrily. "They're like family to me… and you had — no reason to speak to them. They must be worried sick out of their minds…" I murmured, tearfully.
He sighed, "Look, I know I might have overstepped by doing this... That wasn't my intention, I assure it wasn't. But Marcus… he's— he was from the Bureau. I met him when I first started working there…" He told me as he struggled to explain.
I sat there staring blankly out the window as my head began to spin. "You mean… oh my god. Stop the car. I think I'm going to be sick." I told him as I slapped a hand over my mouth.
He wordlessly pulled over on the side of the highway, and put the gearshift in park.
I wordlessly got out and rushed to empty the contents of my stomach. Throwing up so hard, as my mind continued to reel.
As I finished throwing up, I saw him extend his hand toward me, handing me an alcohol pad and waterbottle. I took them wordlessly, rinsing my mouth out twice before I took a sip, and ripped open the small white package to inhale the smell of alcohol.
The smell helped my nausea, and stomach stop swirling.
I waited a few seconds to make sure before I turned to go back to the car. Opening the car, and sliding in, and putting the seatbelt on, wordlessly.
"Look, I know you're mad, but I only did it to protect you." He informed me.
I sighed. "Let's not do this. Not right now. I don't have the energy to continue arguing with you." I mumbled with a sigh.
As we arrived at the airport, he immediately went to park in the long term parking before, he got out and pulled out a duffle bag.
He waited for me to exit the car before locking it and leading me into the airport.
We made our way to the gate. There were on a few people scattered around as we arrived. I made my way and sat down on one of the seats as he looked around, before pulling his a phone out.
"We have fifteen minutes. Stay here. I'll be right back." He told me before he turned and made his way to one of the cafes.
I sighed as I leaned back in the stiff seat. My back hurt and so did my head. I wanted this to be over so that I could go back home and see my friends, neighbors, and townfolk. I missed them so much.
I didn't know when my tears began to fall again, but when I blinked I noticed the lounge was now beginning to fill up.
I frowned and looked around realizing that Edward hadn't come back yet. Or even bothered to tell me where he was going. I thought about getting up and buying a flight somewhere else but I knew he'd find me regardlessly. So, I sighed and looked around again to check if he was coming back yet.
No dice.
I sighed, and looked down at my lap before reaching up to wipe the tears from my face. As I did this a movement in the corner of my eyes alerts me that someone has sat down near me. I immediately feel my body stiffen as I realize that I am alone in the section of the waiting lounge.
I push down the fear, anxiety, and hesitation I feel at being alone. After taking a few deep breaths in order to calm down, I feel someone's stare boring into the side of my face, so I finally decide to slowly look up.
An older-looking, salt and pepper hair, gentleman that was sitting two chairs away from me. He seems like any other older man, but the way he is staring at me, immediately makes the fear in my stomach flare up, and my skin crawl loke crazy.
"Are you alright, Miss?" He asked in a thick foreign accent.
I nodded, "Yes, I- Yes, I am alright." I replied, politely.
"You don't seem alright." He pointed out as he shifted in his seat.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I responded, debating whether or not to grab the bag Edward left with me, and leave, to go find him.
"I'm just concerned with the fact that you're crying… honest, you seem quite distressed. I was taught that a woman shouldn't cry. Especially such a beautiful woman like yourself." He replied, sweetly.
I stared at him with a frown, as I cleared my head and looked away, feeling uncomfortable now.
"What's your name?" He finally asked me.
I stared ahead debating whether or not to answer when I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder.
"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Edward suddenly asked me.
My head snapped in his direction, relief causing me to sag in my seat as I nodded immediately.
"I was just looking for a cup of coffee to keep us awake during the long flight." He explained as he sat down, pulling my hand into his and enterwining our fingers together,
"Wife seems anxious, is this the first time you two are flying?" The man asked as i squeezed his hand in warning.
"Yeah, we're going on our honeymoon." Edward said as he smiled lovingly at me, throwing his arm around my shoulder, and kissing my forehead.
"Ah, so you two are freshly married?" The older man asked.
Edward nodded, as tilted his head slightly, telling me to get up wordlessly, before he leaned down to quickly grab the bag sitting at my feet.
"Enjoy your honeymoon." The man told us in a weird tone as Edward turned towards me, he nodded politely towards the elder man, before leading me away.
He silently lead me away to a different gate before looking back. "Keep walking I'll explain everything when we get the the gate of our flight." He mumbled, keeping his arm around my shoulders.
As soon as we were far enough, he pulled me to a secluded corner, before pulling out a pair of caps, and placing one on my head immediately. "Do not take it off." He mumbled as he stared at something behind my back.
"What's going on?" I asked, concerned.
"The mole tracked us down. I called for back up… But they may stil be ways away... Stay close, listen to everything to that I am telling you, and everything will be alright." He told me.
I nodded, as he helped me arrange it on top of my head, all the while staring at something behind us.
"Remember what I told you. Follow my lead and everything is going to be fine." He repeatedly, as he pulled off the hoodie I hadn't noticed he had pulled on earlier, and offered it to me.
I frowned as he waited for me to respond. I sighed and nodded before he mumbled something.
"Do you remember the other night, when I asked you what you saw yourself doing in the future?" He asked me.
I nodded, "Yeah I said that I wanted nothing more than to head back to Montana." I replied with a frown, trying to remember everything that he had said and everything I had told him in return.
"Do you remember what I said?" He asked me, sounding more agitated.
I felt as the frown on my brow deepened as I tried to remember. But as I opened my mouth to answer him, I heard the distinct sound of a gun clicking.
"Well, well, well… look what we have here." A deep, raspy voice suddenly speak.
We both turned to see the older man and a younger version of him slowly making their way towards us. Edward stiffened as we turned to look at who spoke.
"Anderson." Edward said, slight disbelief in his tone.
"Masen." The younger man said, as he eyed me with interest, as he pointed his gun at us.
"Why would you do this? Aro, and the Bureau has given you everything. why would you betray him, the Bureau, and this country?" Edward asked, angrily.
"Money. Isn't it obvious? You'd be surprised the amount of money that other countries are willing to offer to pay you when they want for the right type of information and documents. It was easy money too." The man told us.
"You betrayed the country, for money. You must be an extremely greedy bastard to do something like that." I mumbled in disbelief.
"Shh." Edward quietly hushed as he turned back to look at the two men. His shoulders and back stiff as he did.
"It wasn't very difficult to do, see… when you're struggling to make a choice between the life of your sick wife, a car payment, or a mortgage payment… it become rather easy to make the decision. It practically made itself. After Greta died, I no longer cared where my loyalties lied, everything died when she did." Anderson told him, pain flashing in his eyes as he did.
Edward sighed, before his fingers touched the inside of my wrist, I kept my eyes on the man as the other man looked at us with boredom.
"Whatever you're thinking of doing… Don't. They already know what you've done. The Squad is already searching for you as we speak. Don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger, Neil. You don't have to do this." Edward said, calmly.
"Oh, but I do… See, as soon as they get their hands on me, I'll be as good as dead… Or worse, I'll be sent to Federal prison… So, either way I am screwed. Why should I care if someone else dies if I'm as good as dead too. Too many people have died already. Nothing matters to me anymore. I lost everything when Greta died." Neil replied to him.
"You could have tried to run. I mean, it wouldn't give you much time but it could be worse." Edward told him.
"That's where you're wrong, young man. See, if we take both of you with us. The odds change in our favor. We don't have to worry about having a tail, because we know they'll back off if we have hostages." The older gentleman replied, as he smiled coldly at me.
I frowned as my eyes flew to his. Those eyes. The cold brown eyes that seemed to turn black. The horrible familair smile and scar atop his right temple.
The sight before suddenly shook the long forgotten memory into my mind, causing me to gasp in shock and move back.
"I see you remember me now. Took you long enough." The old man said as he chuckled darkly.
Edward frowned as he eyed me with concern, "Bella…" He whispered reaching for me as I felt my legs grow unstead. I shook my head at him, as he wrapped a protective arm around me.
"You were… You were there. The night… The night my parents were murdered." I began, as felt my blood turn cold.
"That's right. I'm the one who pulled the trigger." He finished, reaching the his belt to pull out the gun.
Edward tensed more as he maneuvered us so that he was now standing an inch further in front of me. "Leave her out of this. She is an innocent victim." He growled.
"Oh, but she isn't. You see, it's thanks to her parents that my smuggling operation in Brazil fell through. If her bitch of a mother hadn't been so nosy, and her father hadn't tried to play the hero. They might have been alive today." The man sneered, clicking the safety off his gun.
"I don't see how she is at fault for something her parents did. She was just a child then." Edward said as Neil slowly began to advance on us.
"Oh, but she is. See, she is the only one that can now identify me, putting me at the scene of the crime. Surely, you can see that she is a liability." The older man said as Neil walked over to me, wrapping a restraining hand around my upper before he dragged me towards the other man.
"Leave her alone." Edward spoke, fiercely, as he got Neil's grip off of me.
My skin stung from Neil's grip, and burned from his hand being torn away so abruptly, but I held in a whimper as I watched the conversation grown more and more heated.
I didn't expect the older man to aim his gun iny direction or the struggle that began between Neil and Edward.
Before any of us could react, we heard the sound of a gun go off. The bullet piercing the air as a scream ripped from my throat.