Edward's POV:
It had been weeks since I had managed to gain any type of information on Isabella.
And I was not happy with what I found but not surprised since I knew what Jasper and Aro had found was true.
Jenkins was the one who found it, if I'm being honest. All I did was help by using my connections.
My mind was still marveling at what I had read.
Even though some of the things I had read were mind-blowing. Now, almost a week later, I was still in shock.
"Dude, you should really think about taking a shower, you're starting to smell rank." Jasper commented, from the other side of the room.
I ignored his quips and continued to scan through the files. As I continued to smoke my cigarette to calm my nerves.
Isabella Marie Swan, or better known as, Ariadne Greco, was born to Selene Greco and Matteo Mancini.
She is twenty- six years old, and raised here in the state of Washington by Charles Greco after her father was murdered. Her uncle from maternal side of the family.
All this time. All this fucking time! We had them under our nose.
I've never felt so hurt or stupid.
So many questions plagued my mind with each thing that I found. Was she using me this entire time? Or did she really care about me? Why did she leave? Did she want to or was she forced?
"What's wrong, Skip?" Demetri asked.
"I — just feel so confused. I have so many questions that I need answers to. I need to find her. She's the only one who can give them to me." I murmured, rubbing my face tiredly.
"We'll find them, man." He reassured me as the door burst open.
"Edward, we have a problem." Emmett said as he rushed into my home office.
I frowned at him, jutting my head once in acknowledgment while I found myself staring at the framed photo in front of me.
It was the last photo I had of us together.
We had attended a fundraiser for Leukemia, and they had a photo booth in one the hall.
We were staring at each other so much that night we hardly noticed when the man took the picture of us.
It was one of the last nights that she wore the opal ring I had personally designed and given to her. A bird, or as she told me a Sparrow, and a lion's head engraved on either side.
I remember the night I gave it to her. She had cried when I gave it to her, and wouldn't accept it. I practically had to beg her to wear it.
She loved it, a lot. Always wore it. But then she left.
"Are you listening to me, Mase?" Emmett asked.
I blinked in surprise, "I'm sorry. I have a lot of things in my head." I mumbled apologetically, rubbing my face tiredly again. "What happened again?" I asked.
"I was saying that Rose is on the phone. She wants to speak to you." He told me, offering me the phone.
I sighed before taking the phone from his hand and bringing it towards me. "Cullen speaking."
"Masen?" She asked.
No, Sant Clause. Who else was I supposed to be?
"Yes, Rosalie, it's me. Now what can I help you with?" I asked her, shortly.
"I need to speak with you." She said.
" Now, could you possibly want to speak to me about? And why do you need to speak to me?" I asked, swiveling so my back was to Emmett, as I leaned back lazily.
"It's about Bella." She replied, urgently.
I stiffened, shooting up into a sitting position. "Bella? What happened to Bella? Is she alright?" I asked.
A responding sniffle alerted me that something was wrong immediately.
"What is it? What happened?" I asked, trying not to panic.
When she didn't answer me, my anxiety automatically rose.
"Tell me what the fuck happened?" I demanded.
A sob echoed in my ears, "We— We were working — on a mission, and something went wrong. She got hurt. She won't wake up. I— We didn't know who else to call." She sobbed.
The air left my lungs in a sharp exhale.
"Where. Are. You?" I asked, calmly.
"It's not—" she began but I cut her off.
"Rose. Where?" I asked slowly. Enunciating each syllable as I did.
"We're in Minsk." She replied.
Wait, that— that was in Belarus?!
"What the fuck are you all doing in Belarus?" I asked, as my brow furrowed.
I felt the vein on my forehead begin to pulsate as the room around me grew more tense.
"We— we were here trying to complete a mission." She replied, immediately.
A mission?! What —?
"Missio— Alright, how long has she been unconscious?" I asked.
"A few hours…" she cried.
Fuck. No, il mio uccello. Fucking fuck!
"Rosalie, who is responsible for hurting her?" I asked, trying to keep from lashing out.
"Yiannis Othonos, and Royce King." She replied without hesitation.
Othonos… now, why did that name sound so familiar?
The realization of where I had seen the name made me grow colder than before, as I heard her.
That son of a bitch! I'll skin him alive. No, that would be too merciful. He needs to hurt more… No, details will be made later, focus on finding out where they were, Mase.
"Did they get away?" I asked, as Emmett mouthed something to me, causing me to hold up a finger.
I wrote down something on the notepad and nodded, watching as he rushed south of the room.
"They did. But just barely. We've already taken away all of their assets, so they'll be running low soon. We need your help." She finally said.
I raised a brow as all my brothers rushed into the room. "Help? Why now? From what I know the Flock doesn't 'do' help." I sniped.
"Are you going to help or not? Because I can easily call Bratva, Camorra, or Czech Republic… I didn't need to call you so stop acting like an asshole." She snapped.
"Then why the fuck don't you?" I snapped heatedly at her.
"Because of Bella, you asshole! She needs you!" She cried out.
The hurt I felt earlier reared it ugly head, and I snapped something before I could stop myself. "Me? Now, why would she need anything from me? She left. You all did. Why do you need us now?" I asked.
"I called because I thought maybe you could bring her out of her state of unconsciousness. But I can see you're going to be the arrogant asshole you always are. So, if you won't help then I will call someone, but don't be angry at anyone but yourself." She snapped.
"Wait!"
I felt panic rise, as her words echoed in my head.
"What? I've got other calls to make." She bit out.
"I'll help you." I finally said.
"You will?" She asked, relieved.
"Yes, what do you need?" I asked.
"I need your ass to get over here as soon as possible. We got her to the hospital but from the looks of it. We're hoping the damage isn't too bad. But we won't be sure until the doctor is finished examining her. We won't know anything though. It has to be a direct family member." She explained.
"I see." I replied. "Call Charlie and tell him to get his ass over here. Immediately." I told Emmett.
"Was there any other injured?" I asked.
"Alice, and Tia have concussions, but they're doing okay. Esme got shot in the thigh, she's doing fine too. It's Bee we're worried about." She finally said.
I sighed, nodding, "I'm on my way out. We'll be there as soon as possible." I said as I stood up.
Aro, Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, along with our cousins stood in the room tensely. Peter, Benjamin, Garrett and Marcus.
"What happened?" Aro asked.
"We need to go. I'll explain everything on the way. Call Henry, tell him to fuel the jet. We need to head out as soon as possible. I'm going to shower, change, and pack." I said pushing past them to head towards my room.
"Do pack light or heavy?" Em asked.
"They're in Belarus. Use your better judgement." I called over my shoulders.
"Hot or cold?" He called back.
Oh for the love of fuck!
I turned sharply to look at him,
"Fucking hell, Emmett! It's going to be raining. It usually is. Now move your ass!" I snapped.
I hurried into my room and into the ensuite bathroom for a quick shower.
The anger I had been feel at the situation suddenly reared its ugly head as my eyes made contact with the mirror. I clenched my hands trying to keep the scream I felt building within, down. But my fist quickly found another outlet.
I barely registered the pain on my spilt skin of my knuckles as the sound of glass shattering echoed around the bathroom.
I felt a bit better.
Once I cleaned the glass, I got in the shower. Spending time in there to cool off further before heading out.
After I got out of the shower, I made my way to the closet, pulling on the first thing my hands touched, before I pulled out a luggage bag. I then began pulling the right clothes and throwing it carelessly into the bag. Slamming it closed once I filled up.
Proceeding to pull on a black trench coat before heading out.
By the time I made it outside, everyone was already waiting for me by the cars as I shoved the bag into the back and slammed the lid closed.
"Jasper, call Jenkins, have him find out where the fuck Royce King is, along with this Yiannis Othonos. Tell him we need that information yesterday. Aro, get Felix and Demitri on the phone. Have them take the black box to the jet. Carlisle, your medical bag. Do you have it? Es is hurt and so are Alice and Tia." I said as I climbed into the driver's seat only for Peter to stop me.
"What?" I asked.
"Let me drive, you're going to cause an accident if you drive." He said, smirking.
I nodded before moving to get in the back.
Carlisle, Marcus, Ben, and Garrett all got into the second car. While Peter, Emmett, Aro and Jasper followed me to my SUV.
I could care less who went where as long as we got to the airport.
As I got in, I felt my head begin to hurt from all the exhaustion, and little sleep.
"Ed, maybe you should get some rest while we head to the airport." Aro gently suggested.
"I'm fine,man." I groaned.
"Right, looking like your ass got dragged from hell and back is fine then sure." Peter commented dryly.
"Shut your mouth before I bust your lip." I growled.
"Touchy, touchy." He murmured.
"Keep it up, asshole." I warned him, clenching my hand into a fist.
"Pete, leave him alone." Jasper said, with an eye roll.
"I'm just messing with him." He replied.
Jasper shook his head in response, rolling his eyes at Peter before reaching over to smack him across the back of the head. "He's going to shoot you." Jasper murmured warningly before bringing his phone up to his ear.
The rest of the way blurred as we made our way towards the airport.
"Get some rest man, it'll be a while before we get to see those girls." Peter said.
I hummed in response, before leaning my head back, and closing my eyes.
When I woke up we were at the airport already. I noticed that my knuckles had begun to ache like I had submerged in a combination of alcohol and lime juice. Much to my annoyance.
It took a while to get everything set for the flight. Buying a fucking aircraft was the best investment I had ever made. It cuts the frustrating shit at the airport and allows things to proceed faster.
I grabbed my shit and hauled it into the jet, going to sit down before pulling out the laptop I usually carried around.
I waited for us to hit the air before sending an email to the high table.
Placing Yiannis Othonos, and Royce King II on the watch list.
Royce King I was an outstanding man. He upheld the covenant that was ingrained into the very soul of this organization.
Sadly, his was murdered in some sort of freak accident. No body was left only bits and pieces and the very watch his son wore.
He and his boy? Polar opposites.
While the father upheld the covenant, his son threw it out the window. Tainting the organization by bringing shut that wasn't allowed back.
By digging I found out that Alistair was a willing participant of this shit.
I had a list of names, and once I see that Isabella is alright, I'm cleaning house.
My inner circle had suddenly grown very small, leaving almost only family members within it.
Now it seemed the lower levels thought they were the top dogs, making unnecessary, risky calls. Well, that's about to change.
This shit had gone on long enough.
"What are you thinking?" Emmett asked.
"That this organization needs to clean out house… and we'll be starting the moment we get back home." I informed them.
"Why do you say that?" Aro asked, curiously.
I turned to look at him, "Because it's been tainted. If we want this organization to keep functioning smoothly, then we'll have to dispose of those rotting individuals, before they corrupt everyone else." I explained.
"Very well. I'll be helping with this task." He said.
I stared at him for a moment before sighing, "So be it." I told him.
"Do you know how they are?" Carlisle asked.
"They're all fine, except Bella. Alice and Tia have concussions but they all seems to be doing fine. Es—" I began but faltered when I caught the look on Carlisle's face.
"What happened to Esme?" He asked, panicked.
"She got shot in the thigh. I was told she is doing fine." I responded reassuringly.
We all tense as we waited for the longest flight of our lives to be over.
Eleven Hours Later:
I received a call just after we landed in a private airport just outside of Minsk.
"Who is it?" Emmett asked me as Peter began driving.
"Rose." I replied before I slid my finger across the screen, and pulled the phone up to my ear.
"How is she doing, Rose?" I asked, foregoing formalities.
I heard her sobbing as she tried to reply, only to be interrupted by a sharp, high pitched scream. The scream was so loud, it echoed, we all heard it in the car.
"Which hospital, Rose?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"M-Minsk Central Regional H-Hospital. Hurry." She sobbed.
I quickly told Jasper the name and Peter sped in the direction that Jasper told him.
"What is happening to her?" I asked as Aro looked wide eyed at me.
"What are they doing to her? Why is she screaming?"
I ignored him and stared ahead, she sobbed harder.
"Nothing. They were trying to take a blood sample and she began thrashing. I think she's trapped in a memory. You need to hurry. Please. Before she hurts herself." She begged before hanging up.
"Jasper…" I breathed.
"We're on it, Ed. Almost there." He replied as everything around us tensed.
We arrived at the location where the hospital was exactly twenty minutes later.
Aro quickly rushed towards the front desk, and asked for information, since he was the one who knew Belarusian semi fluently.
When he was done speaking to the woman at the desk, he nodded before gesturing for us to follow him.
As we neared the room, I heard the screams. I felt my legs begin to move faster down the wide hall.
It was the last door in the hallway, Rose was standing there along the rest of the girls. Not one face dry or pair of eyes clear of emotion.
I didn't think twice as I halted to a stop in front of Rose, "Is she alone?" I asked.
She sniffled, moving her brown hair out of her face as she did. "No. There are two doctors , and three nurses in there trying to calm her down, but she's not calming down. she's — she's screaming louder." She told me brokenly.
I nodded before moving towards the door.
Author's Note:
So, how are we feeling about this chapter?
What do you think Edward's walking into?