"Hello?"

"I'm coming for you."

For one brief moment, Bella was filled with far more panic than she should have been. So far she'd managed to escape Forks in one piece, and now she had powerful vampire allies that were on her side. Only there was one huge problem. While Godric and Eric were both other than even Carlisle and the Volturi, they were not stronger. At least not that she knew. The Cold Ones, from everything that she had discovered, were almost impossible to kill unless you were one of their own or the particular breed of shifters that those from La Push were.

Taking a steadying breath, holding the cell phone to her ear, Bella decided to play it cool. She didn't want to alert anyone to the problem. At least not yet. The old Bella might have very well gone ahead with any simple plans that the world had regardless of what someone thought. This new Bella was trying to be cautious.

She could hear nothing on the other side. No heavy breathing as if the caller were human. No verbal sign that they were still there. There was no dial tone as if he had hung up, so she had no idea at the moment what to think. The voice alone was enough to send her into a near panic, Bella wanting nothing to do with any of them ever again.

There was a part of her that knew that she should not have kept the phone. It had been for emergencies only. Turning it on when she would need it but mostly she kept it for sentimental reasons. A notion that she now regretted. Biting her lip, she debated on if she should trust the voice on the other end of the line. They had not yet broken their promises to her.

Bella would have been stupid to ignore the warning but what she didn't know was that it was more than that. Threats to herself were not something that she knew. Who did that? Before she had time to mull over the thoughts the sound of glass shattering froze her.

Turning her head, Bella stared at the now broken window on the second floor where her room was. What the hell! The glass no doubt was tempered and reinforced, but she hadn't expected that they could shatter it. As fear gripped her, she wondered where Jasper was not to have heard the sound. Vampires were supposed to have great hearing.

Almost as soon as the thought left her mind she was snatched up in quick fashion and half dragged out the window. The shattering of glass had not been clean, Large jagged pieces remained in the frame, and Bella's body caught on the remaining pieces as they tugged her free with a sharp pull. Blood oozed from wounds, permeating the air and filling her nostrils with the strong copper scent.

She tried to cry out but the hand gripped around her throat prevented that. Instead, she spent her time trying to gulp in the air between the squeezes. Not being able to get enough air was a bad thing and she could see the spots forming in her vision. Darkness approached rapidly, and she had no way of fighting it. She had struggled as much she physically could in the aftermath of events.

For a brief second, Bella wondered if this was how things ended. There was no way she could fight off a Cold One, or even a regular vampire. All were far too strong for her fragile human body to handle. Not that it would matter much in the end. Just before the darkness claimed her, Bella saw who had taken her. Edward. She was far from surprised.

The blood in the air was a signal to anyone smart enough to interpret that they were not trying to make a simple kidnap. If Edward or Alice had wanted things to be clean, they could have very easily taken her without leaving so much carnage behind. Instead, they allowed her blood and the broken glass to remain where it was. A threat, and a warning to the vampires that she was not safe.

It should not have been easy for them to get into the nest, and it had not been. Only with the help of a powerful witch had they been able too. Once they killed her, there would be no loose ends. Bella was theirs, and they would make her pay.

As their captive was human, both of the Cold One's had to wait for her to awaken before she learned of her fate. To see, the look in her eyes would be the sweetest thing. Almost as sweet as smelling her fear and her blood as they tortured her for betraying them. Alice knew that Bella had helped, someone had obscured her from her visions until the last minute. It was only through chance that they had been able to activate the cell phone with the same number and do a GPS trace.

Moaning in pain, Bella slowly allowed her eyes to open. She knew that she was no longer in the guest bedroom at Godric's nest. One eye was already starting to swell from the first round they put her through. Taking a look at her surroundings, Bella assumed that she was in a warehouse At least it looked like one. A city as large as Dallas had to have several.

Bella silently prayed a moment that they had been stupid enough to stay within the city limits of Dallas. It would make it easier to track them down. She had no idea how large Godric's current area was. Only that he was the sheriff of Area 9, Dallas. She didn't know that it spanned the entire metroplex area which included several cities and their suburbs.

Stretching, Bella tugged at her bonds trying to gauge their flexibleness. They were loose but not enough that she could wiggle out of it. She would not be going anywhere without help. Frowning, Bella saw exactly who else was in the area with her. She only knew of two of the Cold One's that were involved but did not know if the others were involved. So there was no surprise that Alice was standing there.

Watching the pixie with her arms crossed across her chest, Bella was scared. Why should she not be? They could hurt her with a flick of their wrists. She learned that the hard way with James. Even now she had nightmares of her ordeal with the tracker. Bella had no idea if their age made them weaker or stronger, there were still so many things about the Cold One's that were secret.

"Tsk, tsk little Bella. I thought you were different. You were supposed to be the one that would make us stronger, but you are weak. Did I expect more from you Scarletella? Do you go from one guy to the next? Shameful."

Bella looked confused for a moment as she tried to figure out the nickname. Maybe it was the confused expression but it only made Alice sigh as if she was dealing with someone stupid.

"Really. You were supposed to be the smart one. Scarlet woman + Bella. Apparently you do not read."

Bella wanted to rage against the words but angering them would only make the situation less tolerable. It would be suicidal. Tempting them with more anger would not do her any good. They were going to hurt her whether or not she made them angry.

"Now, that's the best you can come up with Alice?"

Turning her head to the left side of the room Bella's eyes snapped to Edward. There was a cocky grin on his face and his bronze hair looked as if he had run his hands through it several times. Just the same. It had been her one desire never to see him again.

"I thought she did pretty well. Better than you would have Edward."

Honestly, she could not help it. Staying quiet and allowing them to have the last laugh. She was not the same Bella. She was someone else. Someone stronger and they would learn.

It was dawn, Godric, and Eric would not be able to come for her and Jasper would find the blood. What would happen? How long would it take? She could only hope that she would hold out no matter what they were planning for her. Bella had to be strong, to show them that she was not some submissive woman. She was a fiercely independent woman who knew what she wanted.

Dark eyes watched the two Cold One's as they just stood there. Alice and Edward. Both watching her but neither making a move, yet. She knew that the seer would know what was going to happen, it was her gift and for once, she was grateful that Edward could not hear her thoughts. Bella was calling out for help through her mind. Not that she expected anyone to hear her.

The smell of her blood still lingered in the air, and she watched the ruby eyes of the two vampires zero in on it. Bella was not stupid. She knew that her blood called to them. Even Emmett had commented that her blood smelled sweeter than most humans. Edward claimed she was his singer, and that was the sad part.

With the revelations that Jasper, Victoria, Eric, and Godric had told her, she understood just how dangerous this was. James had been dead set on getting her blood and had bitten her, and then Edward too, claiming he was trying to suck out the venom. Mostly, he had succeeded. There was still venom in her; she knew this. So what was their goal?

If they turned her, she would be like them, yes, but she would never follow them. They answered to the Volturi and a part of her wondered if they even knew where she was. Being away from Forks meant that the treaty did not bind the Cullen's. Not that she expected that Jacob would have honored it either.

Before her brain was able to process anything new, she saw the two vampires move. Both were going to enact their vengeance. Alice was the one that moved first, reminding Edward that they could not turn her yet. That would be if she survived. Her reward for telling them what they wanted.

Bella could do nothing as she was bound and chained but watch Alice and Edward. The woman she had thought of as a sister and best friend seemed to be taking pride in hurting her. She could feel it as if Alice was forcing her emotions into the air.

The first strike of the knife against her skin made her cry out. As a human, Bella did not have the training to prevent herself from reacting to this. No one had taught her how to take the torture. Why would they?

"Such soft skin. Barely any pressure and the knife slides through like butter. Silly humans, always forgetting just how weak they are."

Bella closed her eyes to avoid having to watch them. There was a point when she could not keep her eyes closed. Risking a glance she saw that Alice had carved into her body. Words, symbols, whatever she had felt like with knife. Blood was oozing from the wounds, pouring out in some locations decorating the floor beneath her.

As she tried to talk, Edward prevented her from doing so. His grip was just enough that he cracked several of her ribs and made her pain intensify. They did not want to crush her throat; they liked hearing her mewl and yelp and cry out in pain. It was music to his ears. Or it should have been until they both heard the sounds of someone breaking into the warehouse.

Neither Alice nor Edward got a chance to do much more in the torture department before the sound of breaking glass registered. Several distinct smells filtered into the area, and they took off running. They were Cold Ones, but they were not ready to face the two ancient vampires until they could find their weakness.

Bella was barely awake, barely conscious as she sensed someone near her. The sounds of fighting and scuffles littered the air, and she smiled. They had come for her. She had not been forced to endure hours of pain. She knew it was daylight; her vampires should not have been able to come to her and yet they were here.

Cracking open one eye, Bella was able to see Godric holding one of the guards by the throat off the ground. The guard was a Cold One, and yet Godric tossed him around like a rag doll. Eric, it seemed was having no trouble besting his own vampire. Where her new vampires stronger than the Cold Ones?

Soon enough the fighting was over, and Bella could feel a hand on her. Looking up she tried to smile at Jasper and hide the pain but he would sense it regardless. He seemed haunted, pained. It was not his fault.

"Stop it, Jasper. It's not your fault. I told you to get rest. They had a witch that let them into the nest."

Jasper quietly leaned forward and kissed her forehead as he released her from her shackles. They would need to heal her but doing so now was dangerous. Scooping up his weak sister, he darted out of the warehouse with Godric, Eric, Peter and Charlotte following him.

They would meet at the nest, and they would discuss the next move. Bella would not be taken from them again. Ever.