Huntress (Carlisle Cullen)

Chapter Ten

A man who desires revenge should dig two graves.

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The sun begins to rise on the empty road, with Jasper driving, Alice in the passenger seat. Bella and I are sat in the back, her eyes red from crying. She talks on her cell phone –

"Mom, it's me again. You must have let your phone die. Anyway, I'm not in Forks anymore but I'm okay. I'll explain when you call." Bebe said as she hangs up, then faces back out the window, watching the green, misty Olympic Peninsula speed past. I watch as the nature around us changed from dark green forests to stretches of grassy hillsides, to drier, browner surroundings, until night falls and headlights lights flash by us.

We arrived thankfully at a hotel, Jasper and Alice booking a room as I carried Bebe inside, odd looks thrown my way as I carried the girl, I remained blank faced. "We got a room Kara," Alice whispered as she approached me, I smiled and followed both her and Jasper towards our room.

Slowly the day breaks through the blinds are pulled. Alice and Jasper stare blankly at a T.V. set. Several plates of food crowd a table. Alice and I look up as Bebe enters, looking at her cell phone. I walk over to the table filled with food and take a bite of the chips that sit there.

"I wish he'd call." Bebe whispered.

"You should eat." I say, with Alice nodding in agreement but Bebe ignores the food. She sits heavily.

"They could get hurt. It's not worth it." She mutters.

"Yes. It is." Jasper says not looking to Bebe. I watch as she's taken aback. It's the first time he's engaged with her. "Edward's changed since he found you. And none of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you." He says as he watches her and then looks forward again. "It's worth it." He states until, Alice reels. Jasper and I go over to her, Bella follows.

"What do you see?" I ask her.

"The tracker. He just changed course..." Alice whispers with worry. Jasper quickly sets a pad of paper and pencil in front of her.

"Where will it take him, Alice?" Jasper asks.

"Mirrors. It's a room of mirrors." She mutters as she begins to draw at a faster speed, closing her eyes, trying to see it clearly.

"How do the visions work? Edward said they weren't always certain." Bebe said as she watches with worry.

"She sees the course people are on, while they're on it. If they change their minds, the visions change." Jasper states as we look over Alice's shoulder to see the drawing.

"So the course James is on now will lead him to... a ballet studio?" Bebe asked.

"You've been here?" Alice asks.

"No. I don't know. I used to take ballet lessons as a kid. The school had an arch like that." Bebe states.

"Was your school here in Phoenix?" Jasper asked her.

"Yeah, around the corner from her house. But she hasn't been there in ten years. I remember going their with you when we were little." I stated.

"Do you have any reason to go now?" Jasper asked.

"No. Hell, no. I hated the place." She states bluntly. Alice, myself and Jasper share a look, trying to figure this out. Suddenly, Bella jumps as her cell phone rings. She picks it up. Sees the caller I.D. and exhales relief. She answers...

"Edward. Are you alright?" I hear her ask, and I smile softly before walking away and over to the window watching the scenery.

"Hey, Jasper and I are gonna book us out now, start gathering everything," Alice whispers and I nod doing what she said. I help Bebe gather her things but stop when her phone rings again. We look at it seeing it was home. Renee

"Mom, I'm so glad you got my..." Bebe starts before stopping as we hear a panicked Renee on the phone.

"Bella? Bella? Where are you?"

"Calm down, Mom. Everything is fine, okay? I'll explain every..." Bebe starts but frowns as she hears something else. "Mom? Are you there?" Bebe asks again trying to hear what was going on until she freezes.

"Nice house you have here. Not the best on the block, but comfortable." I hear James say. "I was prepared to wait for you. But then Mom came home after she received a very worried call from your Dad. It all worked out quite well."

I see Bebe's eyes are wild with fear.

"I must say, Forks High School doesn't protect its students' privacy very well. It was just too easy for Victoria to find your previous address." James said.

"Leave my mother out of this."

"You're protective of her. That's nice. You can still save her. But you'll need to get away from your friends. Can you do that?" James asks.

"I... don't think so." Bebe states looking at me.

"If your mother's life depends on it?" He asks and Bebe is terrified, but there's no choice here.

"Where should I meet you?" Bebe asks him.

"The old ballet studio around the corner. Make sure to bring that delicious friend of yours with you. If you don't poor mommy would pay the price for that mistake." James states as we both listen in. "She smells like you. Delicious."

I watch Bebe hang up, panicked. She starts flinging open drawers, searching for a weapon - a pen, a sewing kit. Useless. Then she remembers... Her purse. She dumps out the contents and finds the pepper spray Charlie gave her. She clings to it, her only protection now.

"What's that going to do Bella?" I ask her as she stands there scared.

"I don't know," she whispers. "But I'm not leaving my mom with him," she states.

"No we aren't," I grunted as I grabbed my crossbow and carry it out of the room.

Bebe and I walk through the lobby, scanning for Jasper and Alice. She spots them outside under the porte cacher, loading the Mercedes, deep in a heated discussion. She looks to me and I nod as we slip thought the opposite door, we rush toward a Taxi and jump in, closing the door. The driver is an elderly woman with a hacking cough.

"8th and Palo Verde, please." I said as I set the crossbow on my lap and Bebe looks to me scared.

"Kara I've never given much thought to how I would die..." She whispered to me as she looks to me tears in her eyes. Once again, we see the polished malls, the manicured cactus gardens. All empty for the night. "But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go... and if he gets me promise you won't save me," she whispered.

"We'll die together, we're sisters we stick together." I whispered. She sobbed a little and I hugged her tightly. 'I love you Carlisle, Nik.'