Captain Blues: Oh my god. I am back. Let's just get into it.

The Crimson-Eyed Drifter: Distance Between Hearts
Chapter Thirty-Five

Canada – Castle Frost
Edythe Cullen

"Tell me. How much more can you endure?"

My legs buckled as the onslaught from our prisoner continued to rain down on me.

I will endure as much as I can.

"Brave, Almost shockingly so…."

I fell to my knees as the venom within me boiled from the malice that pierced through my mind and body. This unending torture! I wanted to cry out from it. But I couldn't speak. But I will endure.

I've suffered through so much worse. I will not allow myself to fall into this pain!

I clawed my way to the tank where the God of War's body floated in and sneered at it. "I won't lose to you," I managed to get out through gritted teeth, my nails digging into the machinery beneath me.

"Tell me. Why am I here?"

I pushed myself to my feet and eyed my tormentor down. "You won't be finding out until Lord Frost tears you limb from limb!" I screamed.

His chuckle violates my very being as another burst of rage sends me to my knees.

"Very well. Let's continue….I have time."

Forks, Washington – Black Residence
Julie Black

"You know who I haven't seen in a while? Leah, Seth, and Embry."

I leaned my head from underneath the car I was working on and looked at my twin with a raised eyebrow. "Jay, did you forget they left to chase after the wayward Cullen?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Jacob realized with a boyish grin on his face, his long hair currently tied in a ponytail as we worked on fixing Dad's truck. "Truthfully, I've been enjoying the peace and quiet without her voice raging in my head all of the time."

"Her voice rages in my head too, Jay," I told him in Leah's defense. "And don't you think she has the right to be so pissed? I mean, her boyfriend imprinted on her best friend."

"Yeah, which sucks, I admit. But taking it out on all of us for weeks at a time up until recently? How is that fair?" Jacob retorted.

I sighed and rolled myself from beneath Dad's truck and got to my feet. "It's not. But would it kill you to have a little empathy for her?" I answered as I dusted my green jumpsuit off.

"I guess not," Jacob replied. "I think we were able to fix it. Mind starting it?"

I nodded and got into the driver's seat I switched on the key and like magic, the truck started. "Yes! Success!" I exclaimed.

"Whew," Jacob sighed in relief. "Now that the truck is fixed, we can—"

(Oh, Gloria
I feel so much better
I feel so much better today)

"That's me," I announced as I dug into my jumpsuit pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I immediately recognized the number as Embry's.

(And it's not the drugs
And it's not the weather
I just feel so much better today
I've been asleep in the driver's se—)

I answered the phone and greeted, "Welcome to Black's Garage, Jules here."

"Julie, Is Jacob with you?" Leah's voice asked.

I blinked.

"Leah? What are you doing with Em's phone?" I asked. I could see Jacob looking at me with a curious expression while I stared out of the windshield. "Is everything okay?"

"Um…Let's just things have gotten dire here," Leah replied. "Like "Fucking end of the world-type dire."

Oh no…

I immediately put the phone on speaker and said, "Leah, I'm on speaker. Speak on it."

"Okay. Jacob, Jules…You two mind coming to Canada like right away?" Leah asked. "When I say shit has gotten bad, it's gotten really fucking bad."

"What exactly is going on?" Jacob asked as he leaned on the truck's open door.

"I don't even know where to fucking start…." Leah sighed. "A really strong vampire kidnapped the Cullen, who if he gets his gift, could fuck everything up. Basically? Toronto is about to become a fucking bloodbath."

Jacob and I exchanged a look before he asked, "Why not talk to Sam about this? He's the Alpha, you know?"

"Fuck Sam," Leah immediately replied. "I'd rather not talk to that bastard unless my life depended on it."

I refrained from telling her that it sounded like her life was on the line.

"Besides, I don't need him getting pissed off that I'm working with the Vamps here," Leah revealed.

"You're what?!" Both Jacob and I exclaimed.

"I said it's a long story," Leah defended. "If I tell Sam, he'll come up here with his chest puffed out, trying to pick fights where they don't belong, and believe me, that's not what we need right now. Not when the whole country is at risk."

"Leah….Tell us the whole story first. No detail left out," I said before Jacob could speak. And so, Leah did. For the next twenty minutes, Leah detailed all she, Seth, and Embry have gone through, including having a whole house thrown at her by one of the bloodsuckers.

When she was done, Jacob looked downright excited but I was more…Fuck, I don't even know what to think. "So, that's it. That's everything that's going down. Can you both get down here, without snitching to Uley?"

"We'll have to tell Dad," I told Jacob.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Jacob replied. "But if there is going to be another vampire way, I gotta get in on that. Plus, Bells is there. That's our homegirl and we have to help her."

I smirked.

I wonder if that's the only thing he wants to do when it comes to Bella.

"Alright. We're in," I answered for my twin. "We'll book the first flight out."

"Thanks, guys," Leah sighed. "Also, this kind of blows since I now owe Em and Seth twenty bucks each since I didn't think you two would listen to me while they thought otherwise. We'll see you soon. Stay safe, yeah?"

"We should be saying that to you," Jacob said, voicing my own thought.

I hung up the phone and said, "Looks like we get to have some fun."

Jacob smirked.

Toronto, Canada - Venturi Residence
Leah Clearwater

"You sure this is a good idea, Pete?" I asked Peter once I hung up my cell.

"I'm sure. We need the extra help and my know-shit-a-meter is going buck wild. The two of them will be a good help to us," Peter replied as he slipped his hands into his pockets and motioned for me to follow him outside.

I followed his lead and the two of us walked outside to the front of the Venturi house. "So, where are we going?" I inquired as he unlocked the doors of his rental cherry-red Bugatti Mistral.

"I'll tell you when we're driving," Peter replied as we got into the car. Once my seatbelt was secured, he drove off. He waited until we were a good distance away from the house and said, "Bella's going to do something stupid," Peter revealed.

"Oh lord, how stupid?" I asked, immediately feeling a headache coming on. I liked Bella. She was shy as fuck but she seemed like a decent girl. Much like Emily was before she betrayed me. But she seemed a little more reckless.

Just like that Casey girl.

"She's going to bargain herself to Victoria in order to help the Major," Peter casually revealed as he turned a corner. "In fact, I saw that twenty years ago. She's going to wait until the majority of the group go on a hunt in about ten minutes, steal George's car, and drive around until Victoria catches her scent."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can you act like a stripper on a payday and back that up for me?" I requested, which made Peter laugh.

"Man, I really like you, Leah," Peter grinned. "Sure. Let me get up on that thing for ya, baby. How much do you know about Victoria's beef with Hells Bells?"

"Not much, really," I admitted. "But I feel like she's bad news."

"She is. She's under the illusion that she's avenging her mate's death by trying to kill Bella and the Cullens," Peter explained. "But truthfully, if she could kill Bella, She considered it an "Eye for an Eye" and let it go."

"I see. So, Bella is going to offer herself up to Victoria to save Jasper. I gotta admit, I respect that kind of sacrifice," I told him as I put my feet up on the dashboard. "So, why tell me and not the rest of the Vamps back there?"

"Because I'm not going to stop it," Peter said. "As much as I hate putting her at risk like this, I know it all works out. I saw this shit happening fifty years ago."

"So, like, can you tell the future or some shit?" I asked.

"Nah, I just know shit," Peter insisted. "Leave the future-telling to Alice."

I blinked.

"Alice can tell the future?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it's her gift or some shit," Peter asked.

"Okay….So does that come with her being able to talk to me in my head?" I asked.

Peter stepped on the break as hard as he could. "Okay, can you be the stripper this time and back that thang up for me?" Peter asked, sincerely shocked.

Now, I was concerned.

"I heard her voice in my head," I slowly explained. "After that house was thrown at me. I heard her as clear as day. It wasn't like that Vamp's voice that sounded a bit like static, either. Alice's voice came as clear as us talking right now. I-Is that bad?"

Peter laughed.

He laughed harder than I've ever heard him laugh.

Like, his body started to tremble with how hard he was laughing.

"Oh, I'm never going let her live this shit down," Peter laughed as he continued to drive. "Fuck, And here I thought it would be my kid and Embry. Well, this outta be interesting."

"What's interesting about that?!" I exclaimed.

"I'll leave it for you two to discover," Peter grinned. "But, back to why we're out here. Victoria is going to be true to her word. She's going to help get Jasper out, but she and Bella are going to go underground. The reason I'm telling you is because you're going to be the one to save her."

"I am?" I asked.

Peter nodded. "My know-shit-a-meter tends to tick at random times and lets me see shit at random points. So I don't know how it will happen. What I do know is somehow, you're going to save her," Peter explained. "So, while we take care of Frost and Veiss, you get Bella."

"I can't just leave Seth, Emby, Jacob, and Julie to do this without me," I told him as he turned another corner, where we can see the Venturi residence.

And true to his word, George's car was pulling out of the driveway. "I know that in some sense, we're enemies. Wolves and Bats never got along. But I like you, and I like your group," Peter softly admitted. "Hell, I feel like you and me, we're kindred spirits in a way. So I'm begging you, Please do this for me. And in turn, I swear on my undead soul, I will make sure they walk out of this alive and intact, Leah. You have my word,"

I…

I wouldn't admit this to them or anyone, but It was easy to like Peter and Charlotte. Sure, they were bloodsuckers, and like Peter said, we were enemies, but I liked them.

And something in Peter's eyes told me that he was being legit with me.

"Alright," I agreed. "When shit breaks down, I'll break away and save her."

A sincere smile filled his face as he held up his right fist. I snorted and banged my fist against his.

"I owe you one, Lee," Peter said.

"I know you do, dollface," I replied, returning his smile with a grin before we both glanced at George's car going into the distance. "I gotta say, though. She's got balls."

"She does," Peter confirmed. "That's what makes her a future Whitlock, you know?"

Canada – Streets of Toronto
Bella Swan

This has got to be the stupidest idea I have ever done in my entire life.

Like, I've had some dumb ideas before, but this takes the absolute cake. Driving around unfamiliar streets, hoping that my would-be murderer would be willing to talk to me was levels of stupid I never thought I could reach.

But I had to do this.

I can't let anyone else suffer for me and I had to save Jasper. If Casey could sacrifice her life to be with the person she loved, I could sacrifice mine to keep mine safe from death.

Even if he would never know it.

As I turned a corner, I saw something on the rooftop of a high school. It was brief, but I caught just a hint of red hair. She found me.

Good….

At least this wouldn't take long…

I rolled down the window and shouted, "Victoria! I want to talk!" I rolled the windows up and continued to drive for ten minutes, now very aware of someone hopping from roof to roof of the various stores I passed.

I turned another corner and saw a restaurant, Smelly Nelly's. Who the hell would name their restaurant that? I pulled into the parking lot, unlocked the door to the car, and just waited. If I don't approach this with absolute confidence, I am going to be eaten alive.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Victoria got into the passenger seat. "I didn't take you for suicidal type, pet."

I bowed my head and said, "I've been known to do things like this. James knew that too."

"Mention him again, and I will rip your voicebox out with my teeth," Victoria hissed. "I'm going to do that anyway, mind you. But. I want to heat whatever shit that's about to come out of it."

"That's fair," I softly, but calmly, replied. "You hate me. I know that. And you want to kill me, right?"

"More than anything," Victoria growled.

I could hear my phone ringing off the hook in my pocket, as it had been for the past thirty minutes, but I didn't answer it. Sorry, Alice, but I need to do this. "Then I'm yours," I told her. "I will let you do anything you want to me. I offer myself to you, Victoria."

Victoria looked at me with a mixture of amazement and disbelief. She then let out a sharp laugh and said, "I would think this is a trap, but I don't smell any Cullens or those mangy mutts nearby. You're really ending my chase? This early? You are a very suicidal meat bag, Isabella Swan."

"There is just one thing I ask of you before you slaughter me and bring my remains to Edward or whatever sick thing you're planning in that head of yours," I continued, ignoring her comment. "Jasper Cullen…I want you to help my family save him."

"And why, in the hell, should I do that, for you of all people?" Victoria asked. She didn't ask this in a cruel way or anything. She was sincerely curious. I already stuck her as insane, so I guess she needs to hear my thought process.

"What is the best way to hurt them, Victoria? The Cullens, I mean?" I asked her. "I've given myself to you, to do whatever you please. The Cullens are powerful and if you were to kill me now, they would never stop coming for you. You know that…"

Victoria growled but remained silent.

"If you give them a bargaining chip, Jasper for me and your freedom to live after you've killed me, they'll have no choice but to accept. Carlisle and Esme…As well as everyone else, they love me but when it comes down to it, they will do anything for the family they have and at the end of the day…."

I paused and bowed my head.

"I can always be replaced with a new human…." I softly finished.

It hurt to say something like that…

The car was quiet for a moment, filled with only my breathing. Finally, Victoria snorted and said, "Damn. If I didn't hate your fucking guts, I'd say that you impress me…." She licked the tips of her fangs in satisfaction and added, "Alright. I'll do it. Frost is going to be pissed, but who gives a shit. He's been pissing me off for days."

Relief filled my veins.

"But, I want to have some insurance. Lift up your palm…" Victoria commanded.

My shoulders slumped but I did as she said. A piercing pain filled my hand as Victoria's fangs sunk into the middle of my palm as the sounds of her mewling filled my ears. She tore herself away from my palm and breathed, "Fuck, that's so fucking satisfying. It's going to feel so good draining you, Isabella…"

I shivered from the predatory tone in her voice.

But, it was done.

Now, to make sure it all goes according to plan.