Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

AN: Something always bothered me in New Moon. When Bella finds out that Victoria is after her and won't stop until she's dead, Bella just goes home and does nothing. The one character trait Bella has is that she's the girl that will irrationally put herself in harms way when others are in danger, right?

This story picks up at the meadow scene in New Moon after Laurent and Bella discuss Victoria.

Gone Girl

Laurent had fear in his eyes. Five seconds ago I should have been terrified, but the Edward in my head kept me from panicking. Instead of paying attention to the hungry vampire closing the distance between us, I focused on the way my Edward growled and spoke protectively in my head. This wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it wouldn't hurt. Maybe Laurent would be kind enough to snap my neck first. Then the pain would stop. All of the pain. Edward's fierce growling rose.

That's what took me so long to notice the creatures. I thought their growls were in my head. These weren't the bears Forks was worried about. These were wolves. Huge. Giant. Wolves.

I watched what unfolded like a dream. Nothing made sense. I knew I wasn't reacting properly. I never did react properly to these types of things. Laurent looked scared. He backed up. The vampire was afraid of these wolves. The wolves formed around me, pointing towards him with their teeth bared and snarling. They didn't seem to notice I was here, except for the rusty colored one. Huge brown eyes that looked oddly emotional scanned me up and down as if making sure I was okay. I wanted to laugh. What a silly thought.

I didn't expect Laurent to run. I didn't expect the wolves to chase him. I thought I was a much more appealing meal, but I didn't have time to question it.

The meadow was empty once more. I was alone in my thoughts again, no Edward to console me, to direct me. The panic started to set in.

Victoria was hunting me. All those people that had died in the woods in the last few months didn't die from bear attacks. I knew deep inside, they didn't die because of those wolves. They were killed by Laurent and Victoria. They died because of me.

My feet carried me out of the meadow. I lept over logs and rocks. Limbs and twigs scratched at me, but I couldn't feel anything.

All my fault. This was all my fault.

Laurent, whom may still be alive, may still want to kill me. He found me at the wrong time, wrong place. Maybe he would try to find me again, maybe not. But I wasn't worried about him.

Victoria wanted revenge. She didn't get the memo, I guess. She didn't understand that I was no longer Edward's and that my death wouldn't be the stab in the back she wanted.

I ran through the woods. I'm not sure how I had the endurance for it, perhaps it was adrenaline. I didn't slow down. The forest, once a place of refuge, now a dangerous maze.

I knew what I had to do. Victoria wanted to even the score. Mate for mate. She just wanted me. Edward killed James. Victoria kills me. Once she had me, she would leave. The town could be safe again. I couldn't stay here any longer.

I had stubbornly remained in Forks. I didn't realize how much danger I put my home in because I didn't want to forget the spaces Edward and I shared.

I fell down and the branch I caught myself on, cut into my skin. I stared at the blood pooling. An idea began to hatch. I touched everything I could with my blood.

It's time. I had to leave now, but I had to do it in a way that would keep Charlie safe. A way that would lead Victoria away. I resigned myself to my fate. I embraced the fact that not long from now, I would be dead.

I jumped into my red truck. After an hour of only listening to my heavy breathing, the loud engine startled me. The road zipped away, like the tires were pulling the world passed me. I couldn't drive fast enough. The truck groaned with the effort.

The sky was milky white in the late afternoon. I had a few hours before dark.

Charlie wasn't home when I pulled into the driveway. I depended on that. I thought about my dad. What was our last conversation? How long would it take him to notice? Who would he call first when he started to panic? When would they pronounce me dead? I shoved the thought away. I couldn't get distracted. I couldn't shake my resolve. Charlie was the most at risk. Even if I just simply left, Victoria could use him to make me come out, like James did in Arizona.

No. I had to do this right. What was it Edward said . . . a clean break? I grimaced at the irony of it all.

I flung my backpack on my bed and emptied its school work contents. I grabbed at some clothes, my wallet, my passport. I looked in the mirror and was shocked at the gaunt but determined face that stared back. For months, the edges of my face were lost, but this girl in the mirror had a strong resolve. Eyes hardened. Mouth set. Chin up.

I hesitated on the porch. This was it. I couldn't linger here. I had to go.

"Goodbye." I said to my home and closed the door. Bella, move! I forced the tears that started to well down. I couldn't cry. Not yet.

Now the tricky part. My relationship with the Blacks had been a game of "how long can we ignore you." I hoped they still played the game. I was so desperate yesterday to see Jake. He was my lifeline. The only thing I that kept me together was Jacob. Now?

Cut the lifeline. I had to sink in order to save the ship.

I drove to La Push, not stopping to talk Quil on the sidewalk. Not stopping to knock on Billy's door. He wouldn't answer even if I did. I backed my truck up to the garage and hopped out. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Jacob would be off with his new friends. The garage door slung open and I grinned at the empty space. Good.

It took me twenty minutes but I finally got my bike loaded onto the back of my truck. It was harder than I anticipated. I pocketed the key and closed the garage behind me.

I spied the curtains pull back as I got back in my car. Billy. I didn't stop to look. I didn't want him to see my wild new determination. It could ruin everything. I pulled my hood over my my head.

Clean break.

I drove back to the entrance of the trail. Funny how things change. Before when I drove up to this spot only a few hours ago, I was feeling down and lost and just needed to do something. Now as I parked my car, I felt like my life finally had meaning. I could still be useful.

They would find evidence of me in the wood. Perhaps tomorrow or two days from now, police would be trekking through, trying to find my body. After all the hikers deaths, the conclusion would be obvious. Perhaps they would say I got lost. It had happened before after all. When the Cullens left, Charlie had half the town and the boys from the reservation looking for me when I got lost in the forest.

It wouldn't be so hard to believe that it would happen again. Maybe Charlie would blame Jake. Maybe he would blame Jake for leaving me, like the Cullens had, and running off was a repeating behavior.

After several days of searching, they would assume that my body was dragged off. I wonder how long they would look before they would host my funeral. How long would they look for my body before they declared me dead?

For everyone's sake I hoped it was soon. The sooner I was pronounced dead, the sooner the town could be safe again. They could forget me. I would fade away in their memories. A blip on their small lives.

I turned the engine off, but I still heard a roar. Was it coming from the woods? I shook off the paranoia. Laurent was still at large. No longer afraid of the clutch, I started my bike from the bed of my truck and launched down. I braced for the impact of hitting pavement, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The shock absorber carried most of the blow. I wheeled around and steadied my breath.

"Goodbye." I whispered to my truck. It had gotten me through the best and worst of my life. It looked like a relic parked on the curb. A relic of my time in Forks. My red tank had to be left behind. The truck's connection to me would lead the police, would lead my dad, to believe what I needed them to.

I had never ridden my bike this long. I had never ridden the bike alone. I made my way out of town. My hoodie was pulled over my face, in case I passed anyone on the road. They couldn't be allowed to recognize me. I died in the forest. If someone saw me riding a motorcycle out of town, that would destroy the scene I needed everyone to believe.

I wasn't scared. I wasn't even sad. My emotions were muted under the severity of the situation. I gasped, however, when I found myself stopped on the middle of the road outside city limits. It had been awhile since I traveled this road. I knew the right hand turn up ahead. I could find the entrance to that gravel road in my sleep.

I breathed heavily. I had one more goodbye to say.

The house in the woods. The Cullen's house.

I stood on the porch for two minutes. Why was I here? I needed to leave. But my legs felt like heavy weights when I tried to move.

I tried to rationalize why I needed to go in. The way they always treated money, they probably left large amounts of cash around. That could come in handy. That's what I told myself at least.

I tried to kick down the door, which was a foolish plan. I ended up just cramping my foot. I sighed and remembered the key they kept under the windowsill. Perhaps. . .

Still here. I shook my head in disbelief. What else was still here?

Nearly everything. It was empty though. There was no life in this house anymore. I squashed down a wave of pain. Not now. Cry later. Run now. Cry later.

I ran up the stairs. I couldn't bring myself to walk into Edward's room. Instead I ducked into Alice's. I narrowed my focus, blocking out everything except what I was looking for.

Like I expected, but still couldn't believe, a roll of 100's were kept in a drawer. I pocketed the cash and ran back downstairs. On my way, I saw the phone line in the kitchen. Hesitantly, I walked over. There were a list of names and numbers they frequently called.

My eyes were transfixed on one of the names. I felt my breath escape like I had been punched in the gut. I couldn't breath.

Denali.

Alaska.

Denali, Alaska. The other clan. Tanya and her sisters. They lived in Alaska.

I started shaking. I didn't know if they were there. I didn't know if anyone was there.

I just planned on riding far away from Forks and leading Victoria to me so she could do what she pleases far away from everyone I loved.

I felt hope creep in and it hurt to open up like that, like a wound. Hope. Plan B began to form.

I grabbed my map and marked what roads I needed to take. I would ride through Canada. I wouldn't stop. I just hoped my bike was up for it. If it broke down, then that was fine too. Plan A didn't change.

Plan A was run and wait for Victoria to find me.

I leaped off the porch and headed back to my motorcycle. An idea occurred to me, and I pulled out my pocket knife. Without looking, or breathing, I sliced my palm open and my hand quickly filled with blood. I pressed my palms onto a white column. When I picked my hand back up, I stared at my bloody hand print.

"Come find me." I whispered.

I was turning back to my motorcycle when I saw the garage. I licked my lips, wondering exactly how haphazardly the Cullens had left their home.

Curiosity overtook me. I stumbled over to the garage, pressing my bleeding palm into my shirt. I didn't exactly think that one through. Still, it didn't hurt.

I still knew the code to get in. The buttons beeped as I punched in the four numbers on the outside attachment. The white door raised smoothly up into the ceiling.

"Holy crow." I gasped. I wasn't sure what I expected. I knew the car I didn't want to see. It might destroy me completely if the Volvo was left behind. His volvo. The car that saved me in the alley, the car we bared our souls in. Not now. I suppressed the deluge of memories.

The car I stared at wasn't the Volvo. I knew the vampire family didn't see possessions like others did and they did leave in a hurry, but I didn't expect them to leave behind an Aston Martin. I didn't know what model it was, but it was sleek, and curvy, and shiny and holy cow.

I walked in slowly. What are the chances that the keys would be . . .

You've got to be kidding me. A pair of heavy expensive keys hung off the wall.

"Holy crow." I whispered. I felt myself get excited. I was never a car person, especially fast cars, but this would make a much better vehicle to make a getaway in. Like in the movies.

The leather felt good as I sat down in the driver's seat. I turned the key and the car began purring. So different from my truck. Everything was different now.

While it was still on, I moved my bike into the garage. It felt weird to just leave it in the open. Not that anyone would look for me here. Maybe they would. Maybe they would think I went crazy and locked myself up in the Cullens old house.

I didn't really care what they thought anymore. I was dead. I was a dead man walking. Whether it was now or in a few days when inevitably Victoria would catch up to me.

I grabbed my knife again and slashed into my other palm. The pain only barely registered. I spelled out with my own blood, "Victoria" on the side of the garage. I wanted her to see it. I wanted her to know that I knew she was looking for me. I wanted her to know where she could find me.

AN: Should I continue?

Thanks for reading!

- Rosalie