CHAPTER NINETEEN
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Alice gripped my arm dragging me forward toward the direction of wherever the jeep had been parked. Her face was solemn as she ran close at my side- all of their expressions were. Something had happened in the space of two seconds that I'd missed.

As we ran, everything felt different, as if even the winds had changed. It held the same hazy tint that clung to my eyes, obscuring my senses until we stopped at our destination. The sleek, black jeep was pulled up onto the side of the road. Edward and Alice climbed into the two front seats, leaving Emmett and I to squeeze in the back, Bella in between us.

"Strap her in," Edward said, sparing not even a moment to glance behind before he pulled out onto the narrow roads.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked, shrugging off Emmett's hands and putting her own belt on.

None of us answered. Alice glanced back, tight lipped. Edward's hands gripped tighter onto the wheel. I had no clue as to where we were going.

"Dammit Edward! Where are we going?" Bella barked, a hand moving to pull at her hair in frustration.

"We have to get you far away from here- far away- now," Edward said. His foot pressed down further, accelerating the jeep forward.

"Turn around! You have to take me home," Bella pleaded, leaning forward in her seat.

Edward glanced back, eyes flicking toward her distressed face. She'd paled, her inner flame trickling to little more than a whisp from a match. It so obviously ached to be near him, to join and fuse into a passionate fire. But Edward snapped forward again, blanking her. Bella's face fell.

"Emmett," Edward barked.

His brother's hands clasped to Bella's arms, keeping her still against the seat. Alice stared at Edward, eyes wide.

"No, Edward, you can't do this," Bella shouted, her eyes close to tears.

"I have to Bella, now please be quiet."

"I won't! You have to take me back. What about Charlie?" She screamed.

"Calm down Bella, we've been there before," he said.

"Not over me you don't!" Bella said, shaking her head harshly. Her selflessness pained me- especially when it was for Edward's sake.

"Edward pull over," Alice said, her voice deadly calm. "Edward, let's just talk this through."

"You don't understand. He's a tracker, Alice. Did you see that? He's a tracker!" He shouted, foot remaining on the pedal.

My eyes snapped shut. Tracker. Such a haunted name. The worst people were always tracker.

"Don't shout. This isn't Alice's fault," I growled, watching as her face dropped to a scowl.

He turned to me, the front lights flashing against the road in front. "No, It's not. But it could easily be yours."

I remained silent. I had no retort. Darkness was seeping into the car, not the comforting kind with a silvery moon, but the cold one, with things lurking around corners. Bella's eyes flickered to the roadside, flashing past in shadowy blurs, the odd tree looking like the mangled figure of the killer that hunted her. I heard the raise of her heart beat.

"Pull over, Edward. Do it," Alice hissed, clutching his arm.

"Listen to me Alice. I saw his mind. Tracking is his obsession. He wants her Alice," he said, eyes blazing. It was the first time I'd ever seen him so manic. His serene nature had disappeared the moment James had bared his teeth. "Her specifically. He begins the hunt tonight."

"He doesn't know where-"

Edward's hands came crashing down upon the steering wheel. "His plans were already set before the words were out of Laurent's mouth."

Bella's eyes widened. "Charlie! You can't leave him there! You can't leave him!"

"We won't, Bella," I soothed, watching as Alice's attention turned back to convincing Edward.

"She's right," Alice said. "Let's just look at our options for a minute."

"There are no options!"

"I'm not leaving Charlie!"

"We have to take her back," I said.

Edward shook his head yet again. "No."

Almost unnoticeably, the car began to slow. Then all at once, it stuttered to a stop. Bella went flying forward, the belt jamming her back against the seat.

"He's no match for us Edward. He won't be able to touch her."

"He'll wait."

Emmett smirked, finally speaking up again. "I can wait too."

"You didn't see- you don't understand. Once he commits to a hunt, he's unstoppable. We'd have to kill him," he said.

The car went still. The sound of Bella's breathing and her gradually steadying heartbeat filled the space. 

"That's an option."

"And the female. She's with him," Edward said.

I nodded, agreeing. "The minute she turns into a fight, the leader with go with them."

"There are enough of us."

"There's another option," Alice said quietly.

"There is no other option!"

There was another moment of silence before Bella spoke up. "Does anyone want to hear my plan?"

"No," Edward growled.

"Listen, you take me back."

"No." Bella sighed.

"You take me back. I tell my dad I want to go hike to Phoenix. I get my bags. We wait till this tracker is watching and we run," she explained.

"It's not a bad idea really," Emmett said, as if he hadn't been expecting it.

"It might work and we can't simply leave her father unprotected," Alice said.

But Edward was adamant. "It's too dangerous- I don't want him within a hundred miles of her."

Alice thought for a moment, her dark eyes staring forward from the car window. For once, everything was still again, and without the movement of the car, the chance of catching a glimpse of James seemed far more likely.

"I don't see him attacking. He'll try to wait for us to leave her alone," Alice said.

"It won't take him long to realise that won't happen."

"Take me home," Bella said, her voice lacking the desperation she'd had moments ago. "Please."

"You're leaving tonight, whether the tracker sees or not. Tell Charlie whatever story works. Pack your things and then get in the truck. You have fifteen minutes. You hear?"

He was driving again seconds later, the wheels of his car screeching as he swerved onto the road. Emmett removed his hands from Bella's wrists after her reminder.

"This is how it's going to happen. When we get to the house, if the tracker isn't there, I will walk her to the door. Emmett you take the outside of the house. I'll be inside as long as she is. Alice, you get the truck. When she's out, take the heel and tell Carlisle," Edward said. He was glaring through the rear view mirror.

"No way. I'm with you," Emmett exclaimed, pulling himself through to the space between the front seats.

"Think it through, Emmett. I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Until we know how far this is going to go, I'm with you."

"If the tracker is there, we keep driving," Edward sighed.

"He won't be there," Alice said, and Edward finally took her word for fact.

"What about the jeep?"

"You're driving it home."

"No im not," Alice said pointedly.

"We can't all fit in the truck," Bella said, pausing for a minute but speaking before anyone could interject. "I think you should let me go alone."

"No, Edward is right with one thing. You can't be alone," I said.

"Bella, please just do this my way. This once."

She was getting agitated now. "Charlie's not an imbecile. If you're not in town tomorrow, he'll know somethings up."

Edward gritted his teeth. "It won't matter."

"And the tracker? He'll know you're with me."

"Edward listen to her, she's right," Alice said.

"I can't do that."

"Emmett should stay too. He definitely got an eyeful of Emmett," Bella added.

"What?"

Alice agreed. "You'll get a better crack at him if you stay."

"You think I should let her go alone?"

"Elide will come. She's the least like anyone of you," Bella said, glancing my way.

Alice nodded. "Jasper and I will go too."

"I can't do that."

"Hang out here for a week, a few days. Let Charlie see you haven't kidnapped me. Meet me somewhere so Alice and Jasper and Elide can go home."

"Where?" He asked.

"Phoenix."

"No. He'll hear that's where you're going," he said impatiently.

"And you'll make it look like that's a ruse."

Emmett cracked out a laugh. "She's diabolical."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"There are several million people in Phoenix."

"It's not hard to find a phone book."

"I won't go home," Bella said.

"Oh?"

"I'm quite old enough to get my own place."

"Edward, we'll be with her," Alice reminded him.

"Look, if we try to take him down with her around, there's more chance someone will get hurt. But if we get him alone..." Emmett trailed off, smiling cheekily.

Edward finally groaned out, hitting his head against the wheel in frustration. "Bella. If you let anything happen to yourself, anything at all, I'm holding you personally responsible. You understand?"

"Yes."

The car slowed smoothly to a stop outside Bella's house. The front light was on, the telly flickering through the lower window. Edward turned to Alice.

"Can Jasper handle this?"

"Give him some credit, Edward."

"Can you handle this?" he asked.

Bella drew me in by the hands, forcing my eyes to look at her. "I know I mentioned you, but you don't have to be here. Now that he's made his mind up..."

I shook my head, cutting her off and gripping her hands tightly. "I'm here. I want to help."

I pulled myself out of the car after Bella had left with Edward on her heels. My eyes trailed around the outskirts of the woods, flickering through the shadows and piercing through their tails. Even in the dark, the rusty colour of Bella's truck stood out.

"I'll get the key. You follow Emmett around until I'm out."

The shouting had already begun from inside the house, a door slammed shut somewhere. I sprinted toward the front door, slipping through and swiping Bella's keys from the pocket of her coat that hung on the stair railing. Alice was still circling when I got back out. She was by the car in seconds after seeing me, and I threw the keys her way.

"Got it!"

Together, we circled the house one last time as Bella rushed to her truck, turning the keys that waited for her in the ignition and pulled out swiftly. I met Alice in the jeep, her on the drivers side and I in the passenger seat. But she paused for a moment before pulling away.

"You're sure?" She asked, gazing up at me.

Even still it seemed like she questioned my loyalty. But then I noticed the look in her eyes: conflicted, as if she was holding something back and biting her tongue. I waited for her to say something- expected her to. But Alice remained silent, the worry in her gaze never moving.

I nodded strongly. "Yes."

"Then let's get this show on the road," Alice said, grinning, suddenly blinking out of her mood.

In Bella's old truck, Alice had been fast when driving. But in the jeep, she was like lightening, the wheels gliding smoothly across the roads as she swung round corners.

"Where do we go now?" I asked.

"To the house. Carlisle will need to know- he might be able to sort everything out, sort Edward out," she said.

"Have you seen anything?"

Alice shook her head. "Nothing that will change anything."

My hand gripped the box that lay in between the two seats. This whole situation was strange. I felt fingers brush over my skin, and glanced up, seeing Alice already gazing at me, no attention on the road ahead. Her hand slipped further into mine. I looked away but kept my hand holding back tightly. The feeling of the excitement that rushed through me felt wrong.

Alice drove right up to the house behind Bella's truck, leaving the keys in the ignition as she jumped out, pushing the door closed behind her. I followed through, allowing my eyes to momentarily skim over the clean contents of the entrance and the sitting room. They were already in the dining room, sitting ominously at the bare table.

"He's tracking us," Edward said.

Laurent frowned, his jaw fixed. "I was afraid of that."

"What will he do?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm sorry. I was afraid, when your boy there defended her, that it would set him off."

"Can you stop him?" Edward demanded.

"Nothing stops James when he gets started."

"Well stop him," Emmett said, grinning inappropriately.

But still, Laurent shook his head slowly. "You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven."

"Are you sure it's worth it?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice," Carlisle said.

"I'm intrigued by the life you've created here. But I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I will head north- to that clan in Denali," he said, pausing to gaze around at our group. I couldn't miss the slight fright in Alice's look as he did so. "Don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head on... I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry."

His eyes stopped one last time on Bella.

"Go in peace," Carlisle said, in the same precise tone that he used as a doctor.

Laurent nodded, and then seconds later he was hurrying toward the door slipping through it and into the woods. The room let out a heavy sigh.

"How close?" Carlisle asked, pushing from his chair.

"About three miles out past the river; he's circling around to meet up with the female," Edward said.

Esme was already moving toward the wall, slim fingers flipping the lid to a keypad and typing in a few numbers. A sharp metallic clang bristled through the room, and then grey shutters began to slide down the windows, blocking the outside. It startled me how prepared the Cullens were for this. Had it happened before?

"What's the plan?"

"We'll lead him off. Jasper, Alice and... Elide will run her south," Edward said.

"And then?"

His eyes darkened, suddenly hungry for the kill. "As soon as Bella is clear, we hunt him."

"I guess there's no other choice."

Edward turned on his heels, eyes zoning in on Rosalie. "Get her upstairs and trade clothes."

Rose looked like she would bark out a laugh, but instead, she bared her teeth, eyes flashing as she glanced to Bella behind his back. Her arms folded and she shook her head.

"Why should I?" She snapped. "What is she to me? Except a menace- a danger to inflict on all of us."

Emmett looked disappointed. "Rose..."

But Edward just stared at her, eyes roaming her unflinching face. He was probably reading her thoughts. He shook his head

"Esme?"

The woman smiled, taking Bella gently by the arm. "Of course."

I let myself glance to Alice. It was only after a minute of observing her that I realised she was purposefully avoiding me and my look. I frowned, feeling a presence moving to stand by my side. My shoulders relaxed, the pressure in my head fizzling out. It had to be Jasper, I knew. She'd told me all about his ability to manipulate feelings, and now, despite Alice's determination to avert my look and of course Bella's undesirable position, I wanted to smile.

"You're feelings are very complex," he said, his voice as soothing as his powers.

"These are very worrying times."

Jasper's eyebrows raised, and he said nothing else as Esme returned at the bottom of the stairs, letting Bella slide from her arms. She was now wearing a dark T-shirt and a zip up, with different shoes too. Carlisle wasted no time.

"Alice, take the Mercedes. You'll need the dark tint," he said. "We're taking the jeep."

He glanced to Alice again. "Will they take the bait?"

We watched as she closed her eyes, the down turned from still on her soft face. She nodded.

"Hell track you," she said, pausing. "The woman will follow the truck. We should be able to leave after that."

Carlisle nodded firmly toward the door. "Let's go."

Only a few minutes of silence later, Alice's phone was at her ear, muffled voices reaching from out of it.

"Edward says the woman is on Esme's trail. I'll get the car," she said, half way through already hurrying toward the garage.

"I'll come with you."

"You're not here to guard me," she said, attempting to breathe some light into the conversation as we stepped into the garage and slipped toward the last car that hid under the hood.

"I'd guard you both, with everything I have," I said, eyebrows furrowing as she bit her lip.

Her hand stopped at the edge of the covering of the car, fingers still. "Don't," she said.

"Don't what?"

She finally looked at me, her bright eyes glossed over. "I know what you'd do. And I love Bella and Edward. But don't contemplate it."

"You told me you hadn't seen anything," I said.

"I was thinking about you again," she said, finally pulling over the cover and opening the car to jam in the keys. "That's when I saw it."

I watched as she disappeared from in front of me, and waited by the Mercedes for her to return with Bella in her arms. She'd seen something of me- something that I'd perhaps thought of without even acknowledging it. But I knew I would do anything for them, even if I'd had a rocky journey up to that point. Bella was my friend, and Alice...

I was expendable. And I would use that to my best advantage.

☾

Quality isn't as good in this one, but I'm in the middle of lots of exams so forgive me. x