WRONG DECISIONS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

"Someone go and see about bringing him here. He's needed to help plan this since he is better able to see any flaws in our plans."

CHAPTER 15: FACTIONS

While everyone was rushing around to get ready for the trip to Seattle and Bella was being ignored for the moment by all of the Cullen's, she was surprised to feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. She looked to see who might be calling, thinking that it was Irina only to see that it was listed as a private number.

Although she hesitated to answer the call, she did anyway and was surprised to hear a voice of a man that was unknown to her. "Is this Isabella Cullen?" He asked and waited for an answer for a heartbeat or two before continuing. "If you are she then I need confirmation before I can continue with this conversation. And it is a conversation that must stay strictly between the two of us. So, I ask for the final time, is this Isabella Cullen to whom I'm speaking to?"

"Yes. Yes, it is. What is this call about?"

"Mrs. Cullen, I need your help to be able to safely recover your children and to try to keep everyone else that is being pulled into this situation as safe as we can.

"So, with that being said I need for you to do what I'm about to instruct you to do without question and without letting anyone else know what you are going to do. Can you do that?"

"Yes, if it means safely getting my babies back and keeping everyone alive without injury." Bella quickly answered while looking around to make sure no one else had come back into the room and might be listening on her conversation.

She discovered that she was still alone and listened very carefully to what the caller was telling her to do. After the call ended, Bella quietly picked up her purse and walked out the door as she was calling a cab to meet her at a certain location on her way back to her hotel.

Once she was back at the hotel, she quickly made sure her bag was packed, checked out of the hotel, and then headed to the airport. Arriving she checked in at the ticket counter and was presented with a ticket for a flight that was leaving immediately back to Seattle. She knew that a ticket would be waiting for her as she had received a text from the mysterious caller informing her of that fact.

So far everything was going along without anyone seeming to miss her, that is until she was aboard the plane and was about to turn her phone to airplane mode. Ignoring the person calling, Bella continued to turn off her phone and was on her way back to Seattle.

The flight back to Seattle was uneventful but Bella's nerves were strung up tight. She was praying that she was doing the right thing by following the instructions of a stranger. A stranger that was promising her miracles if she would do everything he said. A chance to get her children back without any loss of life, especially that of her children. Also, she was following this stranger's instructions because she had a feeling that he knew more of what he was talking about and possibly planning than anyone else that was becoming involved.

Once the plane landed at Sea-Tac and Bella collected her carry-on baggage and quickly disembarked the plane making her way to the nearest seat. That was when she turned her phone back on to see if she had any further instructions from her stranger. As soon as the phone booted up, she had many voicemails and text messages from all of the Cullen family, but she noticed one from her stranger and that was the one that she looked at.

She was directed to exit the airport and to locate the Uber driver that would have a sign with the name Natalie Angel. The message told her to enter the car and the Uber driver had directions for where to take her. Bella was informed that the driver had already been paid.

Having no problem finding her ride, Bella had been informed in the message to call a certain number once she was at her location. A location that was only a forty-five-minute drive from the airport.

During the drive she realized that she wasn't being returned to Seattle, but she wasn't far from the city. The area was wooded, and the housing was more like a log cabin, although it was neat and clean with all of the appropriate amenities. It had been well stocked and prepared, it seemed, for her arrival.

Bella got comfortable and placed the call to the number that she was starting to become familiar with and which was immediately answered by the person she recognized that had called her earlier when she was in Chicago.

The voice she was beginning to trust for some reason and always answered on the first ring. "Mrs. Cullen, are you settled in without any problems?" Was the first question he asked of her.

She answered with a bit of hesitation, "Yes, but I don't know why you had me come all the way out here to this place."

"Because where you are now is safe and unknown to anyone but the two of us. As recognizable as you are anyone keeping an eye out for you would have no trouble getting to you if you appeared in public or at any of the places that you normally would go.

"This way you are safe while I work to get a plan in place to try to keep more than one family safe." He answered as a way of explanation for her.

Then he continued speaking, "I know that all of the Cullen's are going to be trying to get in touch with you and are more than likely to be very upset with you. Don't let that get to you, however you can tell them that someone else is working with them that is trying to keep things in control so hopefully no one will get killed.

"If they don't believe you then you will just have to choose who you want to trust. Chances are that it will come down to that exact decision." He concluded and then hung up.

Bella just sat looking at her phone in amazement wondering why she felt that she could trust this stranger. It definitely wasn't in her nature to act impulsively like she has since his call. Was she doing the right thing or making the biggest mistake of her life and with the lives of her babies?

The phone ringing brought Bella out of her temporary trance and looking to see who was calling, she wasn't sure to answer right at that moment. It had been several hours since leaving the Cullen home and then returning to Seattle. She knows that once she does talk with them, they are going to be yelling at her, demanding answers and not understanding her actions. After all, how could she expect them to understand when she didn't?

The ringing stopped only to begin again but with a different number and as she checked the numbers, she knew who was calling each time. First Carlisle Cullen had tried, the second call was from Esme. Then the third one was from Irina. The phone continued with alternate numbers being from Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and then Jasper and then to only start all over again in a random order. Sometimes two calls trying to come in at the same time.

Bella hadn't taken the time to check her voicemails or her text messages other than what she had done at the airport. She knew that she was going to have to answer before too much longer but right now she just wasn't ready to listen to their complaints.

Choosing to send the same text to all of them at the same time, she typed, 'I'm fine and doing what needs to be done. Got tired of being treated like a pariah by all but one.' Once that message was sent she turned her phone off once more.

XXXXXX

Once the family had packed and reassembled at the private airstrip, it was realized that Bella wasn't there. When her absence was noticed at the mansion everyone thought that she had returned to her hotel to get her things and would meet them at the airfield.

"Edward, do you know why Bella isn't here? Where was she staying? Did she mention what hotel so I can send a car for her?"

"Dad, that isn't something that was mentioned. Her sudden appearance and then her announcement about the twins and what had happened to them both stunned me and put me in a state of shock.

"I became so angry that I dragged her to you, and you know what happened after that. So, at this point you know as much, if not a little more, as I do. It never crossed my mind to ask where she was staying, and truth be told, it wasn't something that I ever thought to ask with what she was telling me." Edward answered with angered frustration. He was really pissed about all of the events that had taken place so far that day and that included everyone's attitude, even Bella's.

"Well, we need to get a hold of her immediately, otherwise how will we know where we need to go. She will have some of the information that we need to be able to form a reasonable plan to retrieve the young ones. We need to see where the children were kept and to get a feel of how someone was able to get in and take them without anyone being the wiser of them being taken." Carlisle spoke with a control that left no doubt as to how he was feeling at the moment.

The whole family was dealing with the shock of Bella's sudden appearance and the news that she had shared with them. It was difficult to separate any of their anger about the whole situation and with how a beloved member of the family had withheld such important information from all of them.

After Edward had made several tries to get a hold of Bella, the rest of the family began calling Bella as well, but with the same results. Calls were made, text messages were sent and voicemails were left, with all getting the same thing: no response from Bella.

Carlisle instructed Edward to see if he could get any information from Irina about where Bella might be staying. So, Edward did call her, but the answer wasn't very encouraging; Irina had no idea where Bella was staying but knew that she would be heading back to Seattle since time was running short for the ransom to be paid.

Edward relayed this information to Carlisle, and it was decided to get on the private jet and for all of them to continue on to Seattle.

Little did they know that Bella was already settled in a secluded place and had started to send a broadcast message to all of the Cullen's while they were in flight to Seattle. That being the case means they hadn't seen the message as yet.

XXXXXX

"Did you locate Marcus?" Aro demanded.

"Yes, but he told me to tell you and anyone else that thought they were going to get him to get involved with your scheme where those children are concerned can go screw yourselves."

"Are you telling me that he refused to even to come talk with me?"

"He said that he was to be left out of anything you might be planning to do regarding the use of the Cullen twins. Then he told me to leave him the hell alone and that his position concerning this matter had already been stated before he left."

This angered Aro to the degree of being wordless as he turned and slammed the door as he left the room. Aro knew what his brother had told him but he didn't really think that Marcus meant it; that he was only being his stubborn self like normal until he was actually needed.

However, this time it seemed that Marcus had abandoned him.

AN: It seems that Bella has chosen to follow the advice of a stranger rather than working with the Cullen's. The Cullen's are angry with Bella and don't understand why she didn't show up at the airstrip. Marcus is formulating a plan to help his daughter. Then Aro is totally angered at Marcus because of Marcus's refusal to work with the plan to secure the twins. Who is going to make the next move once everyone is in Seattle?