A bit of a longer chapter this time around! Again, there will be plenty of angst in the following chapters. Also, sorry if there are any typos but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you guys!

Hope you enjoy this chapter x

Disclaimer: graphic violence

Bella, Jasper, and Alice decided to remain home while the others went off to hunt. Carlisle already decided that they wouldn't be gone long, but just enough to give Bella some space to feel comfortable to do her homework in the living room and have the dinner Esme prepared for her. Before he left he made sure to check on his youngest on how she was feeling, and when she reassured him that she was alright today, he gave her a hug before setting out.

Esme hadn't wanted to leave, but to maintain appearances she reluctantly took Carlisle's hand and disappeared into the forest. Her focus had to shift away from Bella long enough to act as if they weren't all on edge with Irina's arrival. Fighting the urge to ask her where her mate was and if he was joining them too...

Maybe she could ask Irina anyway, and see if Edward could pick up on anything. Esme didn't like being manipulative or deceitful, but she was a mother and her job was to protect Bella first and foremost. The fact that Eleazar and the others hadn't come told her that they were still supporting Peter in his plan to ambush James and Victoria. So why hadn't the sisters done the same?

As they all travelled through the forest, Esme looked towards Edward. He was keeping a close eye on all three of the sisters, carefully listening in to their every thoughts no doubt. If he'd picked up on something he would have found a way to communicate with Esme and Carlisle by now. His slight nod was confirmation enough of that.

Tanya and Kate started baiting each other to see who could out run the other, Emmett joining in a second later because he was just as competitive. Irina insisted she wanted to go further up north in hopes of finding a cougar to hunt, so Esme offered to go with her while the others scattered to hunt their own prey for the night.

"Don't wander too far, we're getting close to the treaty line." Carlisle said everyone when he realized how far north they'd gone. Far too close for any of their liking. The Cullens have managed to keep their peace for so long, and now wasn't the time to test the boundaries of the treaty. Especially with Bella being with them.

Esme and Irina finished hunting, burying the bodies of their kills when Esme decided now was her chance.

"How was Italy? I heard you were staying for some time there."

Irina smiled, "Yes, it was my way of convincing Laurent to come back here on our honeymoon when we finally get married later this year."

Esme tried to sound genuinely happy for the vampire, "That's wonderful. You two have been together for some time now, right?"

They walked back to join the others when they reached the cliffside that overlooked a river below.

Irina paused for a moment before saying, "Yes. When he finally left those nomads he was running around with...we found each other. Sometimes I can't believe after all this time, all these decades, my mate was so close all this time. Now I can't imagine a world without him."

Esme could hear the sound of the water below rushing downstream, the way the forest seemed a little too still around them.

"Where is he now? Did he decide to stay in Alaska with the others?" She worded her question carefully.

Irina stared out toward the river without saying anything. Long enough that Esme frowned, stepping up beside her to see what was wrong when she noticed the distant look in her amber gaze, "Irina?"

"He's not with them." She slowly said, almost as if talking to herself.

"Where is he then-" Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed past her and Esme was shoved over the cliffside.

She cried out in surprise, unable to stop herself from falling before she dropped into the river, briefly submerged beneath the frigid water before resurfacing. But she was already too close to crossing the treaty line that separated the Cullens from the reservation, closely monitored by the shifters. Esme's presence immediately summoned the wolves as they emerged from the tree line, snarling and barking at her as she barely made it to the other side of the river to avoid being slashed by a gray wolf.

The Cullens rushed to Esme's side, ready to defend their mother with protective fury while Carlisle reached for her, "Esme! Esme, are you alright?"

"Yes," Esme gasped as Emmett snarled viciously at one wolf that nearly attempted to cross the river towards them, and would have if not for the black wolf that appeared. Clearly the alpha of the pack. "I don't...I don't know what just happened."

She looked around, up towards the cliffside where the Denali sisters observed the chaos below with confusion about what had just gone wrong.

"Where's Irina?" Esme asked, making them all freeze when they realized the third sister was nowhere to be found. And the faint scent of another vampire lingered in the air amidst the stench of wolves. The same one Esme barely had time to note before she was shoved, moving too quickly to see coming, to be stopped.

Creating the perfect distraction.

Peter chased Victoria further into the forest.

The nomad was fast as she evaded Charlotte, but Peter's determination was stronger than her will to escape. They ventured so far from the Cullen's property that eventually the droplets of rain felt like shards of glass pricking skin with how quickly the storm swept over the forest.

Peter ran past Charlotte and finally caught up to Victoria just enough to grab her by her shoulder and yank her. Now that he had her, he had no intention of letting her get away again.

Victoria growled as she rolled and quickly got back to her feet, moving as light as a feather. She tried to run again but Charlotte was behind her, reaching for her neck. Victoria avoided her attack only to slam straight into Peter. Clearly she hadn't expected him to move so fast when she startled. Peter and her were a blur of fangs and colors as they fought.

Peter expected her to be a good fighter given how quick and ruthless she was. But he wasn't taught how to fight by the Major to lose to a nomad like her. She had the survival instinct of a natural born predator, but Peter had the rage of a soldier who had his life stolen from him to be used in a war he wanted no part in. He wouldn't allow Bella to get dragged into whatever twisted game Victoria and her mate were playing with her and the Cullens.

When Peter finally pinned her to the ground, she got her legs under him with a snarl and kicked him so hard he was airborne before she got her hands on his neck and slammed him into the ground. The earth shook with the impact as he felt a crack on the back of his skull. If he'd been a human, he would have been dead in that very moment.

Charlotte lunged for her as he laid there, momentarily stunned until he felt the cracks along his head gradually heal. He blinked and then he was on his feet again, rushing her as she managed to kick Charlotte's feet from under her. She got her hands around Charlotte's neck, moving them in a twisting motion that set Peter off like a wild animal.

Charlotte cried out in pain right as Peter tackled Victoria. This time it was his turn to wrap his hands around the back of her neck. Her skin felt like glass as it slowly shattered where he gripped the side of her face before he hauled her over his shoulder. Her body crashed against the thick trunk of a tree, instantly making it crack under the pressure and sway as she landed on the ground.

Peter made to reach for her but stopped when the sound of the tree trunk groaned before falling towards them.

He and Charlotte got out of the way right as it collided with the ground where they were standing. Crushing Victoria beneath it. He expected to hear angry snarls as she tried to shove the trunk off of her. What he didn't expect was to hear her laughter drowned out by the rain. It was a sweet yet manic sound that grated on his ears.

They walked around the tree until he saw her, simply laying there without attempting to escape.

When her red eyes met his her laughter only amplified.

Peter glared down at her as he approached, "You seem to be enjoying yourself for someone who is about to turn into ash."

Victoria's laughter slowly died away into a soft chuckle, flashing her white teeth as she smiled at him, "You're all really...so stupid, aren't you? I expected you to be good, but I didn't think they'd be right about that little flaw."

Charlotte asked with clear disdain for the vampire, "Who is they?"

Victoria ignored Charlotte, her blood red eyes sinking viciously onto Peter's as she asked, "After all this time, he wanted her but I think we're missing out on some real fun with you, Peter." Victoria shook her head, her long red hair three shades darker as it laid in a puddle that gathered from the storm raging around them. "Oh, yes. I know about you. I've heard stories about you over the years and the Southern Wars."

His entire being tensed at the mention of his past. Three simple words that caused him nothing but self-loathing to this day. Peter only survived being executed by Maria and Jasper at the time because the latter had seen promise in his fighting skills. Despite loathing it with every fiber of his being. That wasn't the only reason of course. Jasper hadn't been a monster like Maria wanted him to be, and he'd proven that time and time again.

But there was no erasing the sinful horrors they committed in the past.

"Where is James." He demanded, not wanting to indulge her any further.

"Oh, you know. Here, there. Everywhere. You'll never find him though. I'm good at running, but James," she spoke of him with such blind devotion that it sent a chill down his spine, "when he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. You'll spend the rest of your existence searching for him until he wants to be found."

"We managed to catch you, didn't we?"

Victoria sighed as if bored, "I'll admit this has been fun. But maybe it's time we get the show on the road, don't you think?"

"I couldn't agree more." Peter said coldly as he reached for her to end her once and for all. Knock down the queen off the chessboard and be done with it.

Before his hand could close around her neck however, Victoria asked, "Have you talked to her lately? Isabella? I wonder where she is right now."

When she released another low, delighted chuckle Peter felt the ground shift beneath him. Fear pricking at the back of his neck. He was already stepping away and yanking his cellphone out of his pocket, thankful it hadn't been smashed to bits during the fight. He could hear Charlotte questioning the nomad but he was already calling Jasper. When he didn't answer, he called Alice, then Carlisle...

Nothing.

Charlotte looked at him with worry as she heard the way the phone kept ringing and ringing as he called each and every one of the Cullens.

Nothing.

His growl was purely animalistic as he got in Victoria's face, seething at the sick grin she leveled him with, "What did you do?"

"I told you, you'll never find him."

Peter surged for her.

Not even the storm overhead could hide Victoria's screams this time.

"You're okay, Bella. We're here." Alice whispered softly as her sister stirred awake after a particularly horrible seizure.

It was so sudden neither Jasper or her felt it until Alice walked into her room to find Bella on her bed. She cursed herself for not noticing sooner. Bella had been alright all day, and for it to hit her like this...

Bella's hazy eyes found hers before slipping closed again.

"We got too careless." Jasper said as he sat on Bella's bed side them. "She had one good day. Just one."

"It's hard to predict with this condition she has. It's unlike any Carlisle has seen. How are we supposed to constantly catch when she's going to have one?" Alice asked, sounding as desperate as she felt inside. She reached over and carefully brushed a strand away from Bella's cheek, "Maybe we should change her."

"No." Jasper's answer left no room for argument.

Still, Alice said, "I've seen it happen, Jazz. It's going to happen."

Jasper looked at his little sister with pain laced in his amber eyes, "She's too young."

"I didn't say it would be now. But...it could be, if only to save her from all this pain. You know how much it costs her to live with this, don't you?"

He inhaled and looked at her then, saying his next words low enough that Bella wouldn't overhear them even as she slept, "I will not make that decision for her until she's ready for it. Nor will I allow anyone else other to make the decision either. You know as well as I do what that could do to her. To have her choices ripped away from her very hands. Rosalie is proof of that."

Alice meant well. Really, she did. She loved the human girl sleeping restlessly beside her more than anything. There wasn't a world where Alice lived that Bella wasn't in it. They were always meant to be sisters, no matter the circumstances. Everyone showed their concern about Bella's humanity in different ways, and while Alice's was more controlled because of all that she's seen in Bella's future, she couldn't deny that she was scared of things changing.

Losing her because they were too scared to change her now.

Rather than on her eighteenth birthday like she'd seen so long ago.

Alice looked down at her hands that held Bella's warm one between them, "I'm sorry."

Jasper was silent for a moment before he released a breath before he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I am too. It'll all be okay."

Alice granted him a small smile, "I know."

"Of course you do."

They shared a quiet chuckle before Alice headed downstairs to get Bella a glass of water so that she could take her medication. Silently hoping it would help her and keep the next seizure away. She'd been keeping a close watch on Peter and Charlotte all day today, knowing they'd be encountering the nomads any minute. Alice hadn't told Jasper yet, wanting to wait until everyone was back to tell them that it was done.

Peter managed to kill James and Victoria, and Bella would be safe now.

Only...that wasn't what happened.

Frowning, Alice stopped after filling the glass of water. She took two steps before pausing, checking in on Peter. Her vision flared and blurred like looking through a kaleidoscope while running blinding through the whole world. Voices and faces circled Alice's mind like a tornado as she searched, listened. When her vision cleared, she saw Peter standing over a body. It dark where he was, the light barely outlining his stoic face covered in soot and...blood.

But whose blood?

Did it belong to an animal?

Or a human's?

Her eyes refocused once more, seeing something else entirely. Peter and Charlotte standing near a blazing fire along a lake, crystal shards sparking amidst the flames. That could only mean one thing.

Alice was yanked into another vision so hard it made her lose her grip on the glass in her hand, causing it to shatter at her feet.

Jasper was at her side, "What is it, Alice?"

Her lips trembled, "I don't...I don't know. It's all dark. Like something is keeping me from seeing them."

"Who?"

"I think it's Peter? Or maybe...Esme. I can't see them! I don't know-"

Sensing her panic, Jasper wrapped her up in calm until she was able to collect herself.

Still, she couldn't bring herself to calm down. There was this awful, dark feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Something's wrong, we need to-"

Bella's scream sliced through the house.

Jasper and Alice spun around at the same time, heading for Bella's room when movement by the stairs that led towards the front door caught their attention. Jasper's rage was instant the moment he saw them.

Irina, keeping a firm grip on Bella's hand while the other was wrapped around her throat. And Bella who looked barely able to stand, had tears in her eyes, staring straight at him.

"What are you doing?" Jasper's words were cold and full of rage. Enough that Bella flinched when they were accompanied by a wave of anger so potent it was dizzying.

Irina's eyes shifted nervously between Alice and Jasper's, "I'm sorry. But this was the only way."

When she pulled Bella back a step, the girl's socked feet slid on the hardwood floor.

Alice said through gritted teeth, "I'd think very carefully about what you're about to do, Irina. It just might be the last decision you get to make."

Irina shook her head, her mouth a little too close to Bella's throat of either of their comfort. Alice and Jasper tracked the vampire's every move. The way Bella's heart hammered in her chest as she watched her siblings.

Suddenly Irina's grip on Bella's neck tightened, making her whimper in pain.

"Hurt her again and your next move will be your head rolling across this floor." Jasper snarled.

"You don't understand." Irina implored. "This is for the best. You'll see in a few years time, her absence will be a gift. She's a human. She doesn't belong in our world."

"Who are you to decide that?" Alice said, taking a step towards them.

Irina took another step back, pulling Bella with her. "Someone who's been affected by her mere existence. If it wasn't for her, our lives would be so much simpler. Like it used to be."

Jasper didn't care to listen to Irina's nonsense anymore.

"Come another step closer and I'll snap her neck here. It'll be easy." He made to lunge for her when Irina called out, almost as if she were in pain. As if she didn't want to do any of this.

Jasper and Alice went deathly still.

Bella shut her eyes when she felt Irina's fingers pressed into her neck, slowly cutting off her airway. She looked pale, her complexion clammy. Clearly, whatever happened this time during Bella's seizure affected not only her mind but her body. She needed Carlisle.

"Irina, whatever is going on...you can tell us and we'll help you. Just let Bella go. Please, you don't have to do this. Think about what this type of betrayal will do to our families." Alice tried to reason as Irina shuffled closer to the glass door.

"It's exactly because of our families that I'm doing this! I'm protecting all of us, Alice."

"Jasper..." Bella whimpered, every inch of her trembling from anxiety and fear.

"It's going to be okay, darlin'. Just stay calm." He said despite feeling anything but calm at the moment. The last thing Bella needed to see was his lack of control over his own emotions.

Irina seemed to waver when she heard the siblings exchange words, but that all changed when something suddenly crashed through the glass floor-to-ceiling windows beside the front door. A body crashed in Jasper, gripping him by the front of his shirt and sending them both through the wall behind him. Straight into the garage. Bella screamed his name just as he and his assailant crashed on top of Carlisle's Mercedes, setting the alarm off in loud rhythmic blares.

Jasper snarled as he stared up into Laurent's blood red eyes, "You."

"I'm sorry, my friend. But this is for the best." Laurent said, his emotions genuine.

The sound of another fight in the house breaking out barely registered in Jasper's mind as he shoved Laurent off him. The large dent they made atop Carlisle's car made a sudden flame spark through the crack of the hood. Laurent and Jasper faced each other, snarling as they tracked each other's every move.

"Get out of my way." Jasper barely recognized the sound this own ruthless voice.

"I can't do that. You see, me obeying your command will result in the demise of my entire coven if I disobey his."

His.

"James. He's here, isn't he? Where?"

"He's not here. But trust me, you do not want him here with what he has planned in order to get the girl. This is me being the peacekeeper and preventing more blood from being spilled than necessary."

Jasper laughed without an ounce of humor, "Is that what you call this?"

"A necessary sacrifice that you'll be grateful for-"

Jasper lunged for Laurent. The two were a flash of fists and teeth as they clashed. Flames burst to life from the car, filling the air with fumes and stifling heat.

Jasper didn't have time for this. There was too much noise, too much anger and despair filling every inch of him. He didn't know who it was coming from anymore or if it was all his. He could feel Alice in the house, locked in a fight of her own.

But he couldn't hear Bella's heartbeat.

That alone was enough for him to grab Laurent and throw him towards the garage door. The impact of his body colliding with the door instantly ripped through the steel and wood. Laurent tumbled and rolled across the gravel driveway with a grunt. Jasper's head whipped to the Mercedes as more flames licked up towards the ceiling. He barely had enough time to rush out of the garage to avoid the explosion as Carlisle's car burst into wild flames.

After dealing with Sam and explaining the urgency that they needed to get back to their home, they wasted no time in disappearing further into their territory. Leaving with a warning to not break treaty laws again. That was the last thing on his mind now as they all hurried to get back to the house. He cursed himself for going so far from the house as anxiety filled his head with all sorts of thoughts.

Irina's disappearance and the stunt she pulled on Esme was not something he was willing to overlook.

Carlisle heard the explosion from miles away, making the birds perched over the canopies of the sequoia trees around them to take flight. Esme and the other's halted at the same time he did, registering the blast and the direction it came from before they all rushed faster to get to the Cullen residence. Losing sight of Edward as he ran faster than both him and Emmett combined.

What they saw when they reached the tree line was utter chaos as flames engulfed the Cullen's garage. Jasper was on top of a vampire Carlisle didn't recognize, snarling and cursing him viciously. Alice was nowhere to be found but her voice was as sharp as a knife in the house, clearly distressed. Edward and Rosalie rushed inside when they detected another vampire was inside.

Emmett and Esme hurried towards Jasper right as he ripped the vampire's arm off, making his scream in pain.

Carlisle looked around the chaos that was once his home before he ran into the house, no longer caring about the scene before him when dread took over every inch of his sense.

The flames were already consuming the front of the house and he could see Alice and the others were locked in a fight with a nomad, the scent of human blood was all over him. But he didn't stop as he ran up the stairs, calling out Bella's name as he searched frantically for his daughter. Fear was a potent creature inside him as he ripped Bella's door off its hinges and looked around her bedroom. For any trace of her.

Her voice.

Her scent.

Her heartbeat.

But there was nothing. Nothing at all.

Bella was gone.

Smoke filled the air long after they managed to put the flames out. Containing it within the front of the house before it grew any further and started a forest fire that could catch every human's attention from town.

Edward wondered if anyone could hear Laurent's screams though.

Jasper hadn't let up on him ever since they found him an hour ago. The other's had scattered throughout the forest in search of Bella, following after Carlisle when he bolted into the forest like a mad man. Like a man who'd just lost his daughter.

They followed her faint scent in the direction where Irina had taken her, and haven't been back since.

Jasper however, had something else in mind. Probably because he knew better than anyone that finding Bella now wouldn't be so easy.

His solution? Getting the information he needed from Irina's mate.

Edward stayed behind for that reason alone despite wanting to track down his sister himself.

Laurent's thoughts were full of pain and Irina, wondering if she made it or if they'd find her. If all of this was in vain and they'd end up losing their lives because of a human girl.

Edward was in front of Laurent before Jasper could rip off another finger from his hand. He gripped Laurent's face and snarled, low and deadly, "Where. Is. She."

Laurent shook his head, "It's better this way-"

Jasper ripped another finger off, tossing it aside to join the rest of the crystalized digits he planned on burning soon-along with the rest of the vampire's body. The empath sounded every bit a killer as he said, "A name. A place. Anything that will save your life because soon I will run out of limbs to discard and I'll move to slowly burning you to ash."

Edward could barely move without being overwhelmed by the utter fury radiating off his brother. The guilt. The sorrow. The sheer panic of not knowing where Bella was...it was enough to nearly bring him to his knees.

Laurent groaned in pain before he said, "You want to protect your family. So do I. It was the only way they could be spared when your friends decided to ambush James and his mate along with the Denali's. It was a fair exchange. A fleeting life for many that could never be replaced in Irina's heart."

"So he told you he'd spare your coven so long as you gave him Bella." Edward scoffed, "And you believed him like a fool."

"You'd do the same if you were in my position. My mate comes first, and as such so does her family. I did what I had to do. We both did." Laurent tried to struggle against Jasper but it was no use. With one arm missing and the other on the way there, he was practically useless. "Kate and Tanya didn't know about this nor did Eleazar and the others. They were mere pawns in James's game. Just as we all were."

"And yet you willingly became one." Jasper shoved Laurent onto the ground before stalking away, clearly battling between controlling his emotions and killing Laurent here and now. Edward almost encouraged him to do so. He would have if it wasn't for Alice returning alone, a blank look on her face as she searched for Bella. But there was nothing. Only darkness.

"They were in the forest," Alice's voice wavered as Jasper flashed to her side, a strained look on his face, "but then...she must have had a seizure because it all went dark. I don't...I don't see her anymore. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Edward glared down at Laurent as Jasper barely found it in himself to comfort his wife. Both distraught by the events of tonight. He was vaguely aware of his cellphone ringing in his jacket pocket for the fifth time in the last hour, but he ignored it. He murmured into Laurent's ear, "You're not getting out of this alive. I hope you know that."

Laurent groaned as he moved his arm, "I knew it the moment I agreed to do this. We both did. It's what makes us monsters after all. We're all monsters in the end."

Edward looked him in the eye as he opened his mind further to dissect every single thought swirling around Lauren's head. He'd already revealed his biggest weakness. Now it was time for the mind reader to exploit it. If Laurent wanted to see a monster, he should have looked directly into Edward's eyes. Because there was nothing he wasn't capable of doing to find his sister.

"I think I'll have Jasper and Emmett rip every single limb of yours first. And when we find Irina, we'll slowly do the same to her for what she did today." Laurent tensed at his words and Edward almost smiled as he listened to a muffled thought. Clearly the vampire was still trying to hide whatever he was thinking. Irina must have shown him how to hide his thoughts from Edward and block Alice out from seeing what they were planning to do tonight. "Everything you've just experienced in the last hour, I'll give to Irina tenfold." Edward released a dark, humorless chuckle, "you'll practically beg me to end it for her. And then when I start burning her..."

Laurent's thoughts screamed into Edward's mind so suddenly that it made him smile cruelly.

There it was.

The thought. The memory. The truth.

He rose to his full height as he turned to face Jasper and Alice, looking at him with grim looks on their faces.

"I know where she's taking her."

In this chapter I wanted to really dig into Alice and Edward's powers. What they are or aren't capable of and how others can try to combat their gifts.

Next update will be up soon.

Thanks for reading x