Ben

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you to everyone for the kind reviews on this story and for being so patient with me because of the lack of updates while I battle my muse.

Chapter Thirty-Five-Running Away

Dread crept over Bella like an icy chill, numbing her brain. In this frozen state she wasn't able to think straight. She heard Edward whisper her name over and over again, his honey-eyed words dripping poison in her ear. She knew she was going to have to answer him, but she couldn't get her vocal cords to work.

"Bells." Charlie could see the distress on her face. His brows drew down into a deep frown. "Who is it?"

All Bella could hear was the loud ticking of the wall clock in the kitchen like the timer on a bomb. She wished she could slow time down, stop it or reverse it completely. The continued dread was like an invisible demon sitting heavy on her shoulder. She watched as Charlie approached her, his eyes showing increasing impatience.

"Who's calling, Bella?" He paused, his eyes narrowing almost to slits. "Its him, isn't it?" He reached for her cell phone, intending to snatch it from her, but Bella backed away from him, holding it close to her chest. "Give me the phone, Bella." He demanded again.

"No." She rasped, finally finding her voice. "You need to calm down, Dad. You are not helping."

Charlie scowled as he remained in a standoff against his daughter. His anger was showing no signs of abating. Bella kept him at bay with her free hand, begging him with her eyes to let her handle Edward.

"What do you want?" She finally asked Edward as she pressed the phone back to her ear.

"Is that Charlie I can hear in the background?" Edward asked warily. "Are you okay, my love?"

Bella wanted to scream bloody murder down the phone at him. The arrogant asshole had no idea of the trouble he had set in motion because of his meddling. A lick of anger overrode her dread and she launched into an angry tirade at him, letting loose a string of expletives that would have made even a sailor blush.

Edward was palpably shocked by her angry outburst. He took a minute to recover his wits before he dared speak again. "Bella, please, darling. You need to calm yourself. Every little thing I have ever done was with your safety in mind. You know how much I love you. How much I want to protect you. Your wellbeing is my top priority."

"You don't know the meaning of love!" Bella fired back at him. "You have no conscience. All you want to do is control me, like Carlisle does with all of you. I can't believe you and he had me fooled for so long. Well my eyes are well and truly open now, Edward Mason Cullen. You can't control me anymore."

"I see." Edward's tone was calm, too controlled. "That dog has really poisoned your mind against me."

Bella nearly bit off her tongue in frustration as she answered him. "This has nothing to do with Jake and everything to do with you. Stop twisting things to try and suit yourself."

"I think its you who are twisting things, my love." Edward continued in the same neutral tone. "I had a particular reason for calling you today. I had a hard decision to make. But your reaction has made that decision a whole lot easier."

"Give me that phone." Charlie snapped impatiently as he swiped it out of Bella's hand, but he was already too late, Edward had hung up.

Bella's face was red with suppressed rage, and when Charlie tried to put his hand on her shoulder, she swung around and unleashed the rest of her pent-up fury on him. "You had no right to snatch my phone away from me. You are as bad as Edward trying to control me."

"How dare you compare me to him!" Charlie rounded on her. "I am trying to protect you."

"NO!" Bella's knuckles were white from clenching her fists too hard. "You are trying to emotionally blackmail me by threatening to take Ben and Luka away if I don't agree to come with you. You know how much I love them."

The tips of Charlie's ears turned red as he stared at her. "That's not what I was doing."

"Yes, it is." Bella cried. "I'm sick of being manipulated. Don't you do it, too."

"Bells, I'm trying to keep you and the boys safe. Why can't you see that?" Charlie tried again.

"For once shut up and listen, Dad. Really listen." Bella cut in desperately. "We can't run away. There's no place on this earth where we can hide that they wouldn't eventually manage to track us down. You don't have the full story. Esme only told you part of it."

"What do you mean?" Charlie's face had paled as he picked up on the urgency in her tone.

"I wasn't marrying Edward because I loved him." Bella admitted flatly, all her anger dissipating like a puff of smoke.

"Then why?"

"I was marrying Edward because I had a price on my head." Bella revealed in the same flat tone as she finally told Charlie about her promise to the Volturi.

"Where we going, Luka?" Ben asked tremulously as he clung tightly to his big brother. The boys were like ghosts in the darkness as they fled the Black's little redwood house. They had climbed out of the bedroom window after Luka had overhead Bella's fraught conversation with her father about the Volturi. It had spurred Luka on to make the heart-breaking decision to leave.

"When I first brought you here, I thought it was going to be safe, Ben. But it's not." Luka apologised thickly. Streaming tears cleansed his red cheeks. Few droplets remained, forgetting their way as the path was swept from beneath them, consequently blurring his vision with waves of sadness only the broken encounter. The salty release calmly flowed into his mouth so that all he could taste was his own sorrow.

"I scared, Luka." Ben sobbed. He was so frightened. He didn't understand what was happening. He couldn't breathe, it felt as if someone was choking him. His little heart was racing and all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide. They needed help. But no one would, no one was there. Only Luka. "I forgot Wilbur." He cried.

Luka sighed as he did his best to comfort the distressed boy. "I'm sorry, Ben. But you've got me. Haven't I always looked after you?"

Ben gulped in the frigid air as he nodded. Luka cradled the back of his head, wrapping Ben tighter in his jacket to shield him from the cold. "We're going to get back to the house and get the rest of your things, then get out of here. It's the only way to keep you safe, Ben."

Ben buried his tearstained face in his big brother's shoulder and clung to him for dear life. There was no one he trusted more than Luka.

Paul's shoulders were slumped and his eyes cast down in a mournful gaze as he handed the keys to the yellow Porsche to Alice. "I'm sorry, Pixie." He said dejectedly. "But you and Esme can't stay on the res. Jake's right." He kicked a small stone out of his way in frustration. "I wish things could be different."

"I understand, Paul." Alice said with a sad smile. "Esme and I were prepared for that outcome anyway. Please, don't feel guilty."

"But where will you go?" Paul asked, his dark eyes alight with concern. "You need protecting."

"Esme and I can protect ourselves. Don't worry. We'll find someplace to hide out for a while. We won't go too far." Alice sucked on her lower lip as she glanced anxiously at Esme, who was sitting curled up in the passenger seat of the Porsche staring sightlessly into space. "I'm more worried about her." She confided to Paul. "She's frantic with worry about the boys."

"They'll be safe here." Paul promised her. "You have my word."

"Thank you." Alice gave him a grateful smile as she slid gracefully into the driver's seat and started the engine. "I'll call you."

Paul nodded as he reluctantly shut the driver's door and took a step back as Alice took off at high speed. He waited until the taillights of the Porsche were swallowed up by the night, before leaving to join his brothers on patrol.

"You were right to send them away." Billy said gruffly to Jacob as his son pushed his wheelchair over the uneven ground toward the house. "You shouldn't feel guilty about it."

"That's not what I'm feeling guilty about." Jacob's tone was troubled.

Billy twisted his head around in order to get a closer look at his son's handsome face. Jacob looked uneasy. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"It's something that Paul said." Jacob admitted with difficulty.

"Since when do you take any notice of what that hothead says?" Billy frowned.

"Paul's not so much of a hothead lately." Jacob didn't dwell on the fact that the little psychic's influence might have something to do with that. "He said that if Bella had been changed into a vampire, and she came seeking asylum on the res like Esme and Alice, that despite any opposition, I would have fought tooth and nail to make that happen." Jacob explained. He failed to meet his father's scrutinising gaze and sighed heavily. "Lahote's right. I would have done exactly that."

"And you don't think I wouldn't do the same if it was Sarah, or you, or your sisters. Love can make us selfish, Jake. Its human nature." Billy was forced to turn his head back around when he started to get a crick in his neck. He rubbed his aching forehead. "I need to make things right with Charlie." He muttered.

"How are you going to do that?" Jacob questioned wearily. He could only imagine what Bella was going through right now. The police chief had been pretty furious. He just hoped that Charlie would give Bella a chance to explain her side of things.

"I'll tie him down to a chair and gag him if that's what it takes to get the old fool to listen to me." A ghost of a smile spread across his face as he glanced behind at Jacob, indicating he was only half joking.

"I'd love to see that." Jacob chuckled quietly.

Their amusement was cut short by the sound of frantic yelling coming from the house. "That's Bells." Jacob told his father anxiously. They were still quite a way from the house.

"Go." Billy ordered him. "I can make my own way."

Jacob was already gone. It took him seconds to reach the house. He collided with Bella, reaching out to steady her as she stared up at him shock. "What is it?" He asked abruptly. "What's wrong?"

Bella's hands trembled and her eyes watered as she reached out and clutched Jacob's hands in hers. "They're gone."

"Who?"

"Luka and Ben!" Bella's nails dug into his skin in her desperation. "I went to check on them again and found the beds empty and the window wide open. They must have heard me and Dad arguing…"

In the distance Jacob could hear Charlie desperately calling out for Ben and Luka as he stumbled around in the dark searching for them. "I'll find them, Bells." Jacob promised as he dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head, before disappearing into the night to rally the pack.

A/N-thanks for reading!