"How close are they?" Carlisle demanded, slamming his foot on the gas peddle.

The tremendous surge of the car brought bitter bile to my already pulsating throat. I checked Jasper, making sure that we wasn't getting any stupid ideas about going back there because it was his fault and as if he read my mind, he squeezed my hand firmly, the right side of his mouth twitching slightly. I think it may have been his attempt at a smile.

I looked across Jasper to Alice whose eyes were closed again, her brow creased in concentration. Her nimble fingers were griped onto the door handle, her knuckles completely white; she was slowly turning it to a pulp.

"Alice."

Jasper had spoken for the first time since the incident.

The sound of his voice brought her out of her reverie and the anxiety in her eyes was apparent as she looked intently at Jasper. I felt like crying as her eyes danced over his face, memorising the way he looked, the way his face curved in all the right places, the curls of his hair, the intensity of his face when he looked at her. As if she was never going to see him again.

But then her expression changed to one of shrewd determination.

"We have to get out of the car."

"What?!" shouted Edward.

"You have got to be kidding me," Carlisle sighed.

"No!" I screamed along with them.

I cringed back as Alice's face morphed into a representation of unreserved fury. As her fist collided with the car door and demolished what she hadn't crushed earlier, I jumped three feet into the air. Every face in the car was pointed in disbelief toward the smallest member of the Cullen family.

"Excuse me! I'm the one who can see the future and I say if we don't change our decision and get out of the car right now, someone is not going to make it!!"

She reaffirmed her statement with another deafening blow to the side of the car and I felt the car slowing once again. I sat wide eyed as Jasper attempted to calm his soul mate and it occurred to me that Esme, Emmett and Rosalie were not with us. As the car pulled to the side of the road, I tumbled out of the car to find that they had been trailing behind us the whole time. My body relaxed hugely emphasising my relief. The idea of us splitting up was not something I thought I could cope with.

Once we were all out of the car, Edward wasted no time and flung me onto his back. We were going to run.

"I've never run this fast with you before, so just be as prepared as you possibly can be, okay? It's quite a shock at first, but you'll get used to it."

I don't think Edward realised that I desperately needed something to take my mind off what was happening, so I kept my mouth shut and welcomed the adrenaline. The speed at which I was travelling felt so odd; I felt like I was separate from my body, that I was some kind of spirit fleeting over the ground, not having to worry about slamming into things or falling over. Edward had been right, as usual, but it was a good kind of shock, like when you rode on a rollercoaster. Although, I would pick riding on Edward's back over a theme-park ride any day; the two just couldn't compare

The rest of the family were slightly behind, but then we all knew Edward was the faster one. It was an amazing sight. The world seemed to be rushing past them, not the other way around. Each was in their own couples, protecting their dearest and then within their pairs they were one, defending their precious family.

I could see Esme and Carlisle. Esme running scared me beyond anything, I'd never seen her look so ferocious. For the first time, Carlisle appeared to be nervous and this worried me to no end. He was constantly scanning our surroundings for any sign of movement, his eyes flicking back to us every few seconds to check we were all still here.

To avoid slipping into another panic I focused on Rosalie and Emmett who were more than beautiful. Because of his broadness I almost expected Emmett to run less gracefully than the others, but he was just as steady and just as agile as his perfectly formed partner. I had learned not to expect the ordinary when around the Cullen's. Rosalie looked as though she should belong in a feature film along with slow motion. It was just ridiculous how flawless she was.

And then I saw Alice and Jasper and it was a sight to behold. Alice, like me, was riding on Jasper's back, her face buried in his head of hair and pressing to the side of his neck. It was as if she was savouring every last thing about him, like she was saying goodbye. Jasper seemed to know this, his face knotted tight in his sorrow. I couldn't look any longer. The thought of loosing one of them was just too much.

Turning back to Edward, I pressed my face to his porcelain neck, the way Alice had done to Jasper and pressed my lips to his icy skin. At the sudden contact, Edward jerked his head and I just kissed him again, this time on the cheek.

"You'd better not be saying goodbye."

His words floated through my mind, taunting me with their velvet tone. I smiled in spite of our situation; taking in his unique sent and thinking of the time we had spent together. I hoped I wasn't saying goodbye, but who knows what Alice had seen and what could have changed. Maybe I was the one who was to die.

"Nothing will happen to you. I won't let it."

"You don't control the future."

Edward waved his hand as if to dismiss the subject.

"I'm not going to let such an inferior entity stop me from protecting the one I love."

I could not help but laugh hysterically at his declaration.

"I cannot believe you just referred to the future as 'inferior'."

"Believe it."

Time didn't matter to me anymore. All I cared about were these last few minutes of serenity with Edward. At least we had been allowed these precious moments before all of hell had broken loose. This thought calmed me somewhat.

Edward. My Edward. Beautiful, indescribable Edward. Yes. He was all that mattered.

When the man of my thoughts slammed on the breaks, I was almost thrown straight over the top of him. Thoroughly embedded in my musings I hadn't been concentrating on holding onto him, but luckily he had noticed and fixed a tight grip onto my calves. What would I do without him?

Instantly I felt several figures fly by us, who came to a speedy stop as they noticed that Edward was no longer running. And nor was Jasper. Expressions of anxiety and confusion flashed through the group when Alice remained on his back, looking petrified.

"We need to make a new decision," Alice stated firmly.

She glanced around, almost tearing Jasper's shirt through grasping hold of it so tightly.

"Quickly!"

"This way," said Carlisle, leading us in a new direction.

The static tension had returned and my heart was again thundering against my ribcage and not because of Edward's velocity. Everybody was sprinting with a new urgency. How close were they? What if we didn't get away in time? Every time Alice closed her eyes, she must have seen someone die. Maybe we all of our efforts would be in vain. I would be forced to watch my loved ones wage war and possibly loose them.

My heart clenched.

A resounding clap of what sounded like thunder echoed through the forest and I clicked my neck in attempt to catch a glimpse at what was happening behind us.

Oh god, was it them?

I felt myself being thrown from Edward's back and onto the hard ground and, being totally unprepared, my wrist took the brunt of the fall. The resounding snap made me sick to my stomach. The fresh pain pulsated from my wrist all the way through my body and I cradled it to my chest, only to find that it throbbed twice as badly.

A tremendous roar erupted from where Edward had disappeared off to and I snapped my head up, anxious over what I would find, but I couldn't see anything. Only blurs of figures moving at such a speed that the human brain simply could not process it.

This was it. We hadn't made it. Now I could only sit and wait, contemplating the outcome of my worst nightmare. Why did I have to be human? I was so useless and I would probably make things worse if threw myself in the middle of it. But I couldn't just stay here and do nothing!

Recklessly, I stumbled to my feet, still clutching my arm and tried to concentrate on the swirling masses. It was impossible. I couldn't pinpoint them, no matter how hard I tried. Occasionally I would catch glints of copper hair or a pair of eyes but never more than that. Enormous crashes resonated relentlessly through the clearing, rebounding back again, torturing me even more.

Everything stopped.

The werewolves were circled around the Cullen's, who were all facing outward. All except Jasper, who was enclosed in the centre, protected. I couldn't quite comprehend what I was seeing. Teeth snapped and growls sounded menacingly as I staggered forward. What I would do when I got there I wasn't sure of, but all I knew was that I just had to get there. Lives depended on it.