𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍:
The tape

"HELLO."

James says with a pleasant tone, "Welcome to the show. I hope you enjoy what I've prepared for you. I'm sorry that it's a little rushed, a little thrown together. Who would have guessed it would only take me a few days to win? Before the curtains go up, so to speak, I'd like to remind you that this is really your own fault. If you'd stay out of my way, it would have been quick. This is more fun, though, isn't it? Again, enjoy!"

The video cut to black as Alice and Thalia watched the tape together in an empty hospital room.

He settled the camera on somewhat a stand, then he stood by the emergency exit, then Bella came to view with stumbling feet, then they heard a woman's voice calling out for Bella's name. It must've been her mother.

It turns out that James set a trap for Bella, a video recording of her mother and a young Bella.

"Sorry about that, Bella, but isn't it better that your mother didn't really have to be involved in all this?" James asks, and Bella looks at him with a strange and relaxed expression. "Yes."

"You don't sound angry when I tricked you."

"I'm not."

"How odd. You really mean it," He says as he cocked his head to the side.

"I will give your strange coven this much. You, humans, can be quite interesting. I guess I can see the draw of observing you. It's amazing-some of you seem to have no sense of your own self-interest at all," James says as he leans towards her expecting an answer, yet she stayed silent.

"I suppose you're going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you."

"No, I don't think so," Bella replies quietly. "At least, I asked him not to."

"How romantic," James says, sarcasm laced in his voice. "A last letter. And do you think he will honor it?"

"I hope so."

"Hmm. Well, our hopes differ, then. You see, this was all just a little too easy, too quick. To be quite honest, I'm disappointed. I expected a much greater challenge. And, after all, I only needed a little luck."

The tracker's voice grew harder in response. "When Victoria couldn't get to your father, I had her find out more about you. There was no sense in running all over the planet chasing you down when I could comfortably wait for you in place of my choosing."

As the tracker rambled on, he stepped towards her and finally said, "Before we begin."

"I would just like to rub it in, just a little bit," James says as he looks at the camera. "The answer was there all along, and I was so afraid Edward would see that and ruin my fun. It happened once, oh, ages ago. The one and only time my prey escaped me."

"She didn't seem to notice the pain, poor little creature," James explains and continues, "She'd been stuck in that black hole of a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions. In the nineteen twenties, it was the asylum and the shock treatments. When she opened her eyes, strong with her fresh youth, it was like she'd never seen the sun before. The two old vampires made her a strong new vampire, and there was no reason for me to touch her then. I destroyed the old one in vengeance, and the other escaped. After this, I'll hunt her too."

"Alice," Bella breathed out, and Thalia looked at Alice worriedly, and the pixie didn't know what to do with the revelation that she heard, and Thalia just pulled her towards her and hugs her from the side.

"Yes, your little friend. I was surprised to see her in the clearing." He made eye contact with the camera again. "So I guess her coven ought to be able to derive some comfort from this experience. I get you, but they get her. The one victim who escaped me, quite an honor, actually."

"And she did smell so delicious. I still regret that I never got to taste it... She smelled even better than you do. Sorry-I don't mean to be offensive. You have a very nice smell. Floral, somehow...oh, oh! And the other, too, was it Thalia?" James says, and Alice looks at Thalia, and the woman is watching the recording curiously.

"I was friends with her boyfriend, Liam, a friend he is, and they killed him. Shame," James says, and Thalia's eyes widen, and now she remembered why James looks so familiar.

In the apartment that she and Liam stayed in, there was a frame beside the T.V. and it was a picture of James and Liam.

He walked closer and closer until he was looming over her, then reached out with one hand.

He didn't hurt her yet. He just played with a strand of her hair, drawing out her dread. Milking it.

Next, the tracker reaches out to softly stroke her cheek.

"No, I don't understand," the tracker concludes. "Well, I suppose we should get on with it." He looks at the camera again, the hint of a smile on his lips.

"And then I can call your friends and tell them where to find you and my little message."

Then James started to break Bella's bone, and the two decided to stop the recording.

Thalia looks at Alice. "Oh, Alice, I'm so sorry that happened to you."

Alice looks down at the floor with the camera at hand and whispers, "And I don't even remember anything."

Thalia places a hand on her shoulder and puts a hand on her chin, making her look up at her and says, "We'll find out. I'll help you find the other vampire that escaped James."

Alice just smiles at her softly with a thankful look on her face and says, "Thank you, Thalia, I'll give this to Edward," she says as she stands up from her seat and exited the empty room, as Thalia decided to look for Carlisle.

•| ⊱✿⊰ |•

"HOW IS SHE?" Thalia asks Carlisle as she approaches him. The blonde man is currently sitting on the bench of the hospital beside the room.

Carlisle looks at them, and immediately his face brightens as he stands up and walks towards her, and places a peck on her forehead. "She's alright, unconscious, but Alice says she'll wake up in two days."

"Poor girl, what's the cover-up?" Thalia asks, and Carlisle sighs. "Edward and I decided to follow Bella, and then we just saw her bleeding on the emergency exit on a flight of stairs."

Thalia says and asks, "Is it done?"

"Alice already arranged the scene, the ballet studio too, burned to the ground," Carlisle answers, and Thalia just wraps her arms around his neck and buries her head on the crook of his neck. "I'm glad this is over."

"Me too, my love," Carlisle says as he wraps both of his arms around Thalia's small waist, and Thalia asks, "Why don't we go home? I'll hunt with you."

Carlisle smiles and places a hand on the back of her neck, and pulls her towards him, capturing her lips, they move in sync as Thalia smiles blissfully in the kiss, and they pulled away.

"I'd like that."