Well, I finally did it, I finally finished this bloody thing. I can only apologise for the lateness, my reasons are my own but thank you so much for sticking around and being so patient.

This is my longest chapter to date, at over 32,000 words, but it rounds up everything as we move on into the next arc, so I hope you're ready for a long read!

Thank you so much for all my lovely reviews, pms, and thank you for even clicking this in the first place! It's been one hell of a journey thus far and whilst I'm a little worried it's not good enough, I know I tried hard.

So thank you all and I hope you enjoy the long awaited ending to the first part of Cheap Thrills.

Disclaimer: Owning Twilight mean money, and I have currently saved up to spend £25 on my Chinese takeaway as a treat for finally finishing this. Suffice to say I don't own squat but my egg friend rice and crispy seaweed. The prawn crackers were free.

Chapter Fifteen

Rose's POV

When Jasper finally arrived, I got my first taste of relief for the day, he was solemn but seemed to be in a better frame of mind than before. As soon as he came inside, he headed straight for his study and returned with a few maps. Curious and a little unsure, everyone dutifully gathered in the living room, around the coffee table where he rolled them out.

"Son?" Carlisle tried first, his voice quiet and full of the soft kindness hardly associated with a vampire.

"I'm okay," Jasper said stiffly, though it was plain to see he was anything but. However, the air of determination around him let us know that regardless of what was going on he had made up his mind. "I've been out scouring the area, it was faint but I caught traces of the nomads here, and here," He marked two locations, around 10 or so miles apart in Olympic National Park.

"Could you not find their trail?" Emmett confirmed and Jasper nodded briefly.

"No. The nomads have been using the weather to their advantage, I've finally realised there's a pattern. They only approach when the rain will hinder us, or when we have split priorities." Jasper made a good point.

The night Laurent tried to take Kali and stole her hairbrush, it had rained and Kali had lost the trail she had been instinctually following. Had he succeeded then in taking her too, by the time Jasper got back(who would have been the first to arrive, had Emmett not forced me to return) he wouldn't have been able to find a trace of Laurent outdoors.

Jasper's face tightened and I could see there was something he was struggling with, though I assumed it was the obvious disappearance of Kali.

"You're not wrong, but what does that mean?" Carlisle prompted and Jasper hesitated before he answered.

"That this employer that we still know nothing about can either control or can tell when it's going to rain." His wording wasn't quite right, almost as if there was something he was purposely not saying, but I didn't comment on it. "If they were only keeping a close eye on the forecast, they couldn't be nearly as accurate, nor as prepared." There was truth to his words, in some cases it hadn't rained until they almost needed it to.

"I assumed that this Felipe was the employer?" Esme queried and shot me a hesitant look, like saying his name would remind me of my failures. Which it did.

"No, whoever is doing this has gone to great lengths to hide who they are, they've promised to give Forks to the nomads if they succeeded in capturing Kali. The Felipe I knew when I was with Maria was never a leader, always a pawn, he also has no real gift... although, maybe he did..." Jasper was lost in memories his hand coming up to rub his own chin as he thought.

"What are you thinking, bro?" Emmett asked and Jasper shot him a sidewards look before dropping his hand, though his brow was still furrowed.

"I'm thinking that maybe Felipe's gift was so mundane I never thought it was truly a power." I was getting a little fed up with all this thinking and no doing, so I prompted him to get on with it with a look. "Felipe was always fast, I remember once thinking he was the fastest vampire I'd seen, but it was always in short bursts. He could only head in one direction and sometimes he'd even hit things... it never really occurred to me that something so simple could be a special ability." He finished with another thoughtful look at his shoes.

When I thought back, I remembered that the second Felipe's phone vibrated in his pocket, he was suddenly lightning fast. My eyes could barely keep up with his speed, but all he did was rip off my arm, and run away. As soon as I added Jasper's new deduction into my knowledge of the earlier events, it fit perfectly.

"You're right," I said slowly as it all dawned on me. "He was only fast in short bursts, but not until he needed to be, it wasn't his natural speed, and it was fast," I explained and Jasper nodded, I finally caught his eyes and noticed just how dark they were, though I could smell fresh blood on him. Judging by the scent, I'd say he literally grabbed a deer as he was searching, probably whilst running into a heard through the Olympic National Park.

His eyes weren't dark because he was hungry, no, they were dark because he was enraged. He may seem like he had gotten himself together out there, but he really hadn't, for now he just reigned in his visible temper as best as he could.

"Back on topic, Felipe is not the employer, someone else is, someone only he's connected to. Sadly, outside of Maria's sister, I don't know anyone he associated with, and going by Kali's previous statements, he wasn't part of the nomads group." Jasper ended a little helplessly, but he couldn't be expected to keep track of vampires that deserted their army over a hundred years ago.

"So, wait, who is running the show then, if not Felipe?" Emmett asked, his brow furrowed in an adorable way that made me want to kiss him for thinking so hard. He was never great with solving mysteries, absolutely terrible at Cluedo, too.

"I'm not sure," He didn't look unsure. "but for now, I want to start a search of the area," Irina rolled her eyes a little as she groaned.

"But you already tried that, what good's it going to do us all running around like headless chickens in the dark, getting soaked to the bone?" I tried really hard not to hit her but it must have shown on my face, because Emmett latched onto my arm, stopping me from bitch-slapping the most irritating member of our extended family, through the damn wall.

"Irina, you go too far," Eleazar commanded sternly, he was recovering slowly, but I don't think he looked ready for another tussle quite yet, although the Black Bear, Emmett had found him, had worked wonders. Similarly my mountain goat perked me up, and my arm was feeling better in no time.

"I'm just saying what we're all thinking, look she's human, she's probably already de-" A icy fear, the likes of which I had never known, encompassed my whole body. It was so cold that it practically burned me. Before I could do much more than stand around like a lemming, Emmett managed to haul me across the room and stood in front of me protectively, though even he was trembling.

Carlisle had also pulled Esme away from Jasper and his frightening anger, though he looked like he was waiting for this to happen, and shot Irina a worried glance. Looking around my protective bear, I could see Jasper's expression had barely changed. Though his eyes had narrowed at Irina and I almost pitied her as she stood stock still in the similarly scared stiff pose as I had adopted.

"I-I-" I'd never heard a vampire stutter in fear, but it was easy to imagine why at the pants wetting stare that Jasper had pinned her with.

"Whether or not she's dead, I'm bringing her home." The final way he said that made my heart clench. Earlier I felt so certain she was gone, and maybe Jasper had felt the same way.

There was an audible breath from everyone in the room as the tension drained from the air, and Jasper turned away from the cowed Irina. As if the weight of his stare had been keeping her up, she sunk to her knees the moment his gaze averted and scrambled to get away, the sound of the back door let us know that she had fled. Guess the dark and the rain didn't bother her that much after all.

To try and get things back on track, Jasper gently slapped his hand back on the map and pointed to different areas.

"Rose, Emmett, I want you to start here. I'm sure this is Victoria's scent, so I want you to head there and fan out, they won't be hiding in any of the towns but there's a good chance they've found somewhere to hole up along the way and that's what I want you to look for. Any old cabins, farms, hunting lodges, stables, factories – check 'em. I want you to call or text the moment you find anything, preferably before you engage if possible." Jasper commanded, Emmett and I nodded solemnly.

"Sounds like a good plan, what would you like the rest of us to do son?" Carlisle asked gently and I could see him evaluating his remaining troops before he made his next command to the leader of our coven. I think Carlisle knew that Jasper wouldn't listen to anyone but himself or Kali, as the leader of our coven his word was law, but I was relived that they didn't fight on command of this operation. Carlisle was wise enough to humbly stand aside when others had more expertise.

"Esme should stay here," I was surprised at his forethought, already guessing why he'd ask that. "Eleazar isn't strong enough to fight yet, and if we leave him unprotected, we leave him exposed. Irina will also need to be kept safe upon her return, though I don't expect her to reconvene with us." Esme smiled gently, and though I could see she wanted to protest she nodded tightly.

"I'll start dinner for when you bring her home, I'll be sure to protect everyone here," Esme knew that home would be the safest place for herself, so her promise to protect Eleazar and Irina was moot. Carlisle's face tightened all the same and I could see him biting his tongue to stop himself from disagreeing with Jasper's plan.

"Thank you," I felt the small leak of emotion from Jasper when he spoke, just a touch of grief, but it was gone in an instant. "Carlisle, you're with me. We take the other trail, and split up from there and either try to find a scent or –" His phone vibrated in his pocket and he didn't miss a beat as he pulled it out to answer.

"Peter, what is it?" How he knew it was Peter, I had no idea, from my position nearby I saw a number I didn't know, but Peter was never the type to ring off the same phone. Even I knew he got a kick out of not having a number but dialling Jasper from wherever he was or with whatever phone he found.

"We've come across a small family; a mother, Myra, and her two daughters," I frowned at Jasper, and heard Peter hesitate before he continued. "They escaped the place that Kali's being held, they had a small crash but they're driving up to you now with Charl guarding them," My heart stuttered in my chest and I watched a little bit of life come back into Jasper's eyes that he quickly redirected into determination.

"Do you know where she is?" He lost the commanding tone his voice had taken up since he returned, and suddenly he looked like a guy just worried about his girl. We wouldn't stop until we found her and with God as my witness, I would do everything in my power to bring my insane little sister home.

"Not exactly, but I'm headed down the strait of Juan de Fuca highway, Myra said she came off a forest road and drove straight from there. I'll head on down and see if I can find her, I'll call or text if I do. How long will you be?" Peter asked, though it was getting hard to hear him, his voice was low and the signal was poor.

"Esme, stick to the plan, stay here and take care of this woman and her children," Jasper conferred quickly, Esme nodded resolutely, even Carlisle seemed to think it was the best idea if we were heading straight for enemy territory.

"In the hour, Esme's staying behind to take care of this woman, Rose, Emmett, Carlisle and I are leaving now." He informed Peter, his eyes took on a slightly desperate look and he added, "Don't let them- Don't start killing without me," I gave my brother a sad smile, we all knew what he was going to say, and we wouldn't let it happen.

Without a word to us, Jasper ran out the door. Carlisle and Esme embraced as she quietly told us to bring Kali home and we shot out into the rain after him, giving her and Eleazar a final smile over our shoulders.

Jasper wasn't far in front of us and had surprisingly stayed at a level enough pace for us to catch up, I saw him pocket his phone as we got to his side and he put on a burst of speed. Jasper was one of the faster members of our family, and right now I think he'd have given Edward a run for his money.

"Does everyone have their smoke bombs?" I asked as I tried to keep pace with my family. A chorus of confirmations was my reply. "Good, if I know Kali she'll have taken the first strong body she can get her hands on, and if I'm right then she'll have trapped herself there for her own safety."

Jasper gave me a look, I could see a hint of gratitude in his face.

"You're probably right. If this family got away but she didn't there is every chance my girl is trying to hold them off herself. We have to move fast." Oh crap, he was right, Kali wouldn't let a Mom and her two kids get killed if she had the power to save them.

We pushed ourselves to the limit and Emmett was the first to start falling behind.

"Emmy?" I called over my shoulder but he waved away my concerns. "Keep going, I'll catch up and guard our rear!" Emmett must have been taking this more seriously than I thought if he didn't throw in an ass joke after that statement.

"Understood, don't fall too far back," Jasper yelled back over the rush of wind and pushed himself harder, until Emmett started to get further and further behind. I resisted the urge to hang back with him, I knew he'd be fine, we'd still be able to hear it from here if he got into a fight and I needed to focus on what was more important right now.

Ignoring the pulls of my mate bond, I pushed ahead and did my utmost to keep pace with Jasper's ridiculous speed. Carlisle seemed to be having as much trouble as me and was falling just a touch behind, but he was determined to keep up.

We took the most direct route via the roads, we could have cut through the forest if we knew exactly where on the road we had to be, but to err on caution, we chose to travel the entire of the strait of Juan de Fuca highway. Well, Carlisle and I said nothing as we followed Jasper's lead, which was essentially the same thing.

After about half an hour of running at top speed, we heard a crash and a tree top started toppling in the distance.

"There," Carlisle added unnecessarily as Jasper swung to the left and darted through the thick trees. I was so focused on my surroundings I almost instinctually attacked a pair of deer that were fleeing from whatever we were running towards.

It really wasn't difficult to find the cause of the ruckus, Peter seemed to be throwing around an unfamiliar blonde that was scrambling to get away from him, whilst Felipe tried to intervene.

When he noticed us, Peter turned and gave a beaming grin.

"Welcome to the party. Major you wanna head west, I've got these two." Jasper assessed the situation and gave a single nod before running past him in the new direction.

The blonde looked at us in horror, and tried to get away again, until Peter snatched her up by her wrists and pressed a foot into her back, forcing her face first into the mushy earth. Felipe dived for him again and I couldn't help but intervene and leapt over to intercept him. He barely seemed to notice me, he was intently focused on Peter and Natalie scuffling behind me.

He skidded to a halt as I tackled his waist and threw him over my shoulder. The air seemed knocked from him for a millisecond and I used that opportunity to bring my knee down on his skull, but he rolled away at the last moment and threw himself towards Peter.

Peter responded by rolling his eyes and throwing Natalie straight into Felipe's path, they crashed in mid-air and were both knocked back. He grinned again, seeming to really relish in playing with them like this.

"Why haven't you finished them off?" I asked, wanting to be certain he wasn't trying to keep them alive for some important reason before I killed Felipe.

Peter's feral grin toned down some as his red eyes met mine.

"I think we need to keep this one alive," He pointed at the blonde that was trying to untangle her limbs and give quiet orders to Felipe. "for now at least, and that one's not my kill, but she's using some sort of mind control gift on him, so he's not himself," That explained Felipe's lack of reaction to our sudden arrival and his single-mindedness to protect the woman at all costs.

Carlisle appeared at my side and sent nervous looks towards the direction Jasper had run off in.

"I need to go after Jasper, will you be alright?" I nodded, keeping my eyes on Felipe and the unknown female.

"Go, find my sister," I told him resolutely. As much as I wanted to be the one to save Kali, I trusted Jasper to protect her with his life, and bring her home. Right now, I needed to focus on eliminating the threat to her altogether, starting with these two.

Carlisle hesitated but clapped a hand on my shoulder and shot off through the trees after my adopted twin.

Giving my complete attention to the duo on the ground, I watched Felipe's face for any sign of recognition, or just an expression, but he was a blank mask.

The girls gaze were darting madly from Peter to myself, she looked like a frightened rabbit with those wide red eyes, still she gathered herself up enough to stand with Felipe shielding her like his life depended on it.

"Stop them," She whispered to him and Felipe shot out towards Peter whilst she used him to push herself in the opposite direction, back towards the road.

Before I could do more than turn towards her she gave a strangled yelp and came flying back through the trees, sans an arm.

"Hey baby, I take it we're making a pit stop here?" Emmett asked as he raced over to my side, clutching the blonde girls arm.

I nodded and quickly caught him up on the situation.

"That's Felipe, the girl's controlling him using some kind of gift, but she's weak. Peter thinks we need to keep her alive-" I was cut of by a thunderous yell of rage.

"PEQUEÑA PERRA!" Languages were never my forte, or at least they weren't something I was as enamoured with as Esme, but I understood that easily. Felipe was finally snapping out of whatever spell the female had put him under and he looked pissed.

He narrowed his glare and made menacing moves towards the girl clutching at her weeping stump. "The girl was right, you've been tricking me all along, haven't you, Natalie?!"

Natalie swallowed and tried to stand but was hauled up by Felipe, who held her up in the air by her throat.

"She- She made me! I swe-" She? Could she be talking about Victoria maybe? We waited tensely to see how it all played out. Felipe had yet to react to us, but I was sure he had noticed the three vampires surrounding him.

"I don't care for your excuses! I did all this for you, and you were using me all along?!" He screamed at her, shaking her small body as he yelled.

Natalie struggled at first, tried to peel his fingers from her throat unsuccessfully before narrowing her eyes at Felipe. We all tensed straight away, there was something about the way her cherry red eyes shone in the dark that unnerved us all.

Felipe's grip loosened for just a moment, but with his free hand he back handed her with all his might. I heard the crack as her head snapped to the side and saw the stream of venom that poured out of the split in her cheek.

"Never again! You will never control another, I'll make sure of it!" I knew this would be the moment he would kill her if we didn't do anything.

Ignoring Emmett's hand as he reached out to stop me, I dashed forward, keeping low and as silent as I could. Felipe still heard me and turned in enough time to guard his face but I had other plans. I jumped up as I closed the distance between us, lifted my leg above my head and brought my heel smashing down on the top of his skull.

In his surprise he released Natalie, who tried to scramble back but was quickly grabbed by Peter. Felipe's chin bounced off his chest, as he lifted his head I gave him no time to retaliate as I landed and pivoted, smashing my boot into his jaw, sending him into a tree that fell on top of him before he had the chance to right himself.

Emmett appeared at my shoulder and waited with me for Felipe to make his next move.

"I've got this," I told him, not wanting him to intervene.

"Don't be reckless babe," He warned lightly after a pause and stepped back to help subdue Natalie. I heard a yell and a tear from behind me, but didn't turn around to look, instead I was watching Felipe try to pick himself up with rapt attention.

Multiple, heavy blows to the head was enough to disorientate the best vampires, and Felipe was clearly no exception to that rule. Once the tree was finally off of him, he stumbled as he tried to regain his footing, his hand gripping his jaw which I had kicked into a funny angle. His eyes were fixed on mine as he finally stood and I readied myself for the obvious attack.

If what Jasper had told me about Felipe's gift was correct, then Felipe would have trouble feinting and dodging if he used his speed. He would need to rely on surprise frontal attacks, but now I was expecting that and I had been mentally preparing myself to fight his speed again since he took my arm.

Felipe disappeared from my sight and I quickly moved to the right and barely dodged the strike aimed for my face, Felipe appeared back in my sight long enough for me to lash out and kick him backwards, his body folded around my knee and I caught him in the stomach. Breaking his speed and sending him crashing back into the tree he had previously knocked down.

This time I didn't wait for him to gather himself and leapt after him as he flew backwards, to his credit he recovered quickly and stood to meet my tackle head on, but years of training with Jasper had taught me you never go for the obvious kill.

Angling myself downwards, I grabbed a big handful of leaves and dirt, throwing them into his face whilst grabbed onto his shoulders and hopped over, locking my legs around his back. I held onto his head like Jasper had shown me so I didn't get bitten, elbow over the eyes, yanking the head back. With my nails I tore into his throat with all my strength, ripping out the front.

Felipe had been struggling, his arms trying to find my face, but I kept my head tucked in so he couldn't do more than grab aimlessly at my hair. As soon as the venom began oozing from his neck like a waterfall, his knees gave in and I released my crushing grip around his waist, and grabbed onto his hair. Standing on his back and keeping him pinned, I yanked with all my strength and tore off his head with a metallic rip and a throaty gurgle.

I waited for his body to stop twitching before I got off of him and turned back towards my husband with a grin.

"Y'know Kali's going to love hearing about this," He told me with a big smirk and I couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped my chest now that Felipe was taken care of.

Ignoring the hair fisted between my fingers, I walked back over to them and began looking around for the driest patch of earth to start a fire and get rid of him permanently.

Emmett was way ahead of me though and had already started putting together a little bonfire under the tree and had used Natalie's venom as fuel.

"Got a light dear?" Natalie's struggles intensified but she was pinned underneath Peter, missing both arms and looking all too helpless right now.

I didn't have a lighter but thankfully Peter did, indicating to his back pocket by wiggling his ass, his hands a little too preoccupied keeping down Natalie's renewed struggles.

I nodded towards Peter's raised behind with a grin and Emmett sighed darkly as he gingerly reached into the back pocket on his jeans and pulled out an old zippo.

"Easy on the goods, sugar," Peter said and turned his head enough to give Emmett a saucy wink.

There was no way I could have helped the snort of laughter as Emmett glared and quickly distanced himself from Peter's backside.

"Duuude, does fake flirting not gross out your mate bond as much as it does mine?" He whined, ignoring Peter's teasing "don't be shy!" in favour of getting the fire started.

As the smell of smoke thickened in the air Natalie began snarling and twisting viciously in Peter's grasp, trying to find an angle to bite him from, her jaws snapping near his hands until Peter had to literally force her face into the dirt.

My grip on Felipe's decapitated head tightened as I stared at the flames, it almost felt like I should say something, but the bastard didn't deserve a witty one-liner. Even if Kali would scold me later for not making one. I felt a small smile lift the corners of my mouth and I tossed in Felipe's head without a secondary thought.

"Nonononoo!" Natalie wailed as she writhed pathetically. I had no sympathy, she wasn't crying for a lover or a friend, she was afraid because I had killed her protector, and she was next.

"Now ma'am, this can go easy or hard, either you tell us everything, or we start burning you piece by piece," Peter offered her the ultimatum as simply as he would offer a beverage, her red eyes darted over us wildly before she closed them and grit her teeth.

"I'll tell you what you want," She mumbled into the dirt and Peter pulled her up by her one good arm whilst we surrounded her to let her know that running off was not an option.

Peter nodded to me and I took the reigns of the interrogation and pinned her with a hard look. We knew where Kali was, now I wanted to know why they wanted her so badly at all.

"You're going to tell us what you want with Kali, and exactly who is involved in this charade of yours," It wasn't a question, and Natalie nodded glumly, knowing she had little other choice.

"Well, there's me, Felipe, the those three nomads, Edward, and Alice," Emmett's mouth opened and he seemed about to yell at her, but I silenced him with a look. This was no time for me to get emotional about the people involved, I needed facts first.

"And what exactly do you want Kali for?" She winced at my cold tone but continued after shooting Emmett a hesitant look for his sharp movement in her peripheral vision.

"Edward wants to get his mate back, and Alice plans to hand her over to the Volturi," We were all at a loss.

Edward and Alice's involvement was one thing, but the Volturi too?

"Why does Alice want to give her to them?" I asked, though I dreaded the answer. Natalie looked worried about how everyone would react but carried on nonetheless.

"She-she wants to get rid of Kali, so she can fix her bond with Jasper. The Volturi promised to keep Kali locked up for the first hundred years so she can't intervene, and they have time to sway her to their side." I just blinked, I couldn't help it, I could only stare at the pretty vampire.

This was their plan all along? My brother and sister kidnap and sentence Kali to an eternity of miserable servitude, living with people that would only use her until she was useful no more?

I moved before I even realised, taking off Natalie's head in one swift strike and kicked it towards the slowly dying flames, bringing them roaring back to life as her venom fuelled them.

"Are you sure you wanted to do that, babe?" Emmett asked slowly as he watched her head burn to ash, her body fell limp at our feet.

"We've heard what we've needed to hear, now we know who we're fighting and why," I hauled her body up and tossed it into the fire too, before making my way over to Felipe's corpse.

"Yeah but, Alice and Edward...?" He trailed off uncertainly and looked at Peter who for the first time seemed to be without a witty anecdote to add. My grip around Felipe's ankles tightened as I parroted his words.

"Yeah, Alice and Edward," And burned the second of many vampires that deserved the flame that night.

Kali's POV

If I wasn't so close to the source, I would have assumed the sound of Alice and I crashing in mid-air was the sound of thunder.

We fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, tearing, clawing and snapping at each other until I forced her to disengage when I tore into her biceps.

She growled at me as her arm hung by her side twitching from the burn of James' venom. I spat out her shirt and growled right back, letting the venom drip from my teeth, promising more of the same if she dare get close.

In the corner of my eye I saw Edward's foot inch closer. Knowing better than to look away, I yelled at him,

"You stay by her fucking side!" He said nothing but I heard him take a shuffling step backwards.

Alice tried to take that opportunity to come in low for another attack. At the last second she dodged around my legs and ended up on my back. She clung to my waist with crushing strength in her slender legs as her mouth tried to viciously tear through the leather sleeve I had tied around my neck.

Thankfully the leather did its job and hindered the sharpness of her teeth, giving me the chance to reach over my head and grab a fistful of her hair. Curling, I used all my strength to tear the little bitch off my back, she twisted round in the air and landed in a crouch, eyes locked on me, her sparkling white teeth stained black from tearing into the leather.

For the first time I had no words, no witty or catty remarks, I just wanted to kill her, more so than for anyone before or since. I tried to keep my wits about me but I was slowly sinking into the red haze of anger, there was nothing I wouldn't give to hurt her as much as she had hurt everyone I'd come to care for. That part of me only fuelled the instinctual rage that I can't truly explain.

Taking over the body of a vampire was vastly different from taking over a regular human, and not just for the obvious reasons. No, inside of them, there was some sort of killer rage that just came with being a vampire. I had joked with Rose that vampires were too over-emotional, but there was more to it. It was feral and I was afraid that if I gave into those killer instincts, I'd lose myself.

Yet a little voice inside told me that that could be my edge in this fight, if there was nothing to hold me back mentally, if I had zero inhibitions, then maybe that was how I win.

So as I stared Alice down, waiting for her to make her next move, I chose to give into the hate fuelled fire just waiting to burn me.

And just like that she was all I could see. It was like the surroundings weren't even really there, only Alice. I caught every drop of venom that oozed out of the injuries I'd been peppering her with, and unlike before I could hold the image in my mind. I could finally see as a vampire.

There was the barest of tenses in her calf, but I was in her face before she could do more than flinch backwards. I grabbed her throat and lifted her off the ground, her legs tried to kick off my chest and her sole hand scrabbled at my tightening fingers. However James was stronger than Alice, and like this she could do little more than struggle.

In a clever move she lifted her legs and wrapped them around my arm, forcing her feet into my face, whilst attempting to weigh me down. I felt the bite in my neck begin to tear as she pushed with all her strength and roared, enraged. I lifted my arm higher and slammed her into the earth. Her head bounced off the stones and the breath left her lungs as my elbow drove into her gut, making her leg lock release.

She was winded for only a moment but that was more than long enough for me right now. I'd never felt so good, so powerful and so full of adrenaline, there was a lack of control, almost as if my actions weren't my own but I didn't care.

However, that changed as I dived on Alice and wrenched her head back by her short hair, tearing into her face with my teeth.

It was clumsy, she screamed and tried to break free, but I got managed to wedge my canine underneath her cheekbone, my other sunk into the unprotected flesh under her eyebrow. With enormous effort I closed my jaw, crunching through the side of her skull, into her temple and underneath her eyeball until I tore off a mouthful of her face.

I could see the grey flesh writhing underneath her eye socket, already trying to fix itself. Chewing fast, I crunched the eyeball and bone in my mouth into meaty chunks before I spat it out onto the floor.

"Oh, God," Edward's terrified whisper snapped me out of it. I scrambled to get away from her, as she rolled around on the ground, sending pebbles flying as she howled in agony.

"You bitch, you bitch! I'll kill you, you bitch!" She repeatedly threatened as she tossed and turned, clutching her face with her only hand.

I was so shocked I could only stare dumbly at her as I backed up. If I had torn out her throat or just straight up decapitated her, I could have understood that, that was how you killed a vampire.

But instead I had just full on maimed her the second she was at my mercy, chewing her eyeball in spite so she couldn't fix it. The taste of her flesh was already being washed away by the venom in James' mouth, but I could still feel her, I was glad vampires didn't throw up.

I couldn't help but turn back to Edward, but my eyes fell to Izzy. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she had found a boulder to cling to, choosing to shield herself behind that instead of Edward. The leather wrapped around her face gave me pause, and I realised exactly what I'd just done.

An eye for an eye.

Alice's pained, jerky movements stiffened, and so did Edward, leading me to believe she was having another vision. With great difficulty she stood, her hand covering her face that was absolutely drenched in venom and she steeled herself enough to glare at me with her remaining eye.

"Even if I can't get rid of you today," She seemed to be trying to catch breath that she didn't really need and struggled to continue her threat. "The Volturi will come for you when I don't deliver, I'm getting rid of you one way or another!" With that parting threat, she pushed herself away from us and ran. Quickly scaling the cliff nearby she disappeared from my sight faster than I would have thought possible.

"Wait!-" I finally yelled and made to go after her.

"Kali, please, don't," Edward begged, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder, making me jump a little. "Just let her go, you've done enough," I couldn't control my fist as it smashed into his cheek and sent him flying back, skidding past Izzy and scaring her.

"No! You don't get to tell me that! Not after everything you've done! You don't fucking look at me like that!" Edward's cautious stare as he picked himself up spoke far too much to me right now, it was too accusatory.

"Like what?" He tried to ask evenly, though I could see him tensing, getting ready for an attack. Somehow that just made me angrier.

"Like I'm a fucking monster! I'm not a monster! I'm not you, Edward!" I raked my hand through my hair and growled in anguish.

Today I had killed a vampire, been responsible for the death of a good man, and mutilated a beloved fictional character. Of course I was a monster, I just didn't want to admit it out loud. I couldn't even just blame it on being a vampire, it was my choice to do everything I had done. I had sunk my teeth into people repeatedly, torn off limbs and chewed up Alice's eye until it was useless slop. I wasn't just a monster, I was a full on demon.

In my self loathing, I didn't realise that Izzy was next to me until she put her hand cautiously on my side. Her first attempt missed and her hand slid past my jacket, but she tried again and somehow her small hands worked their way up to my shoulders and she delicately wrapped herself around me.

"Kali – are you okay?" Her soft question when I knew she must be in so much pain made a lump in my throat grow. I held her flush against my body as everything caught up with me and dry sobbed into the top of her head. I was so ashamed, and so exhausted and sad. It didn't matter how good I was at keeping a lid on my feelings, I was just so done, I just wanted to go home and cry and sleep and drink so much booze that I couldn't feel.

I wanted my Jasper to make it all go away.

"Kali, I-" Edward started, but the blinded ball of fury whipped around to glare at him, which was almost hilariously effective without eyes.

"Edward, shut your fucking mouth, you're going to sit down and keep quiet until we decide what to do next," She spat at him and a slightly hysterical bubble of laughter escaped my mouth. "Alright, hunny, let's get you home," I made a half laughing half sobbing noise, though this time I was swamped with relief and fell back down into her waiting arms. If she didn't have at least double regular human strength, I'd have probably squished her.

I know, utter mess, I blame the fallout from giving in to some terrible inner beast that I shouldn't have trusted.

Edward did as he was told and sat down in a pile of rocks, but I caught his expression as he perked up, it was a mixture of worry and guilt, most importantly, he wasn't looking at me, but over my shoulder. Izzy tensed in my sole arm as we both heard the pebbles skitter. I tried to steel myself as I whipped around and tried to muster the energy to protect Izzy once more.

The dead heart in my chest literally fluttered, my mouth fell open and my arm dropped uselessly to my side.

Jasper. Jasper was here, Jasper was looking at me, Jasper had come to get me.

Oh, and Carlisle was there too, wearing a similar expression to Jasper. Eyes darting between the three of us, mouth half open in surprise at the unusual scene. A one armed vicious vampire, hugging a blinded, re-brunetted Bella look-a-like, whilst Edward sat in the dirt like a scolded child.

For a long second no one moved, no one made a sound, until finally I managed to choke out a single word, and I watched that beautiful, scarred face light up.

"Cowboy..?"

He flew forward and I caught a word on his lips that made my chest swell impossibly large with joy.

"Darlin,"

A sob tore from my throat and I raced the rest of the short way to meet him and crashed into his chest.

"Cowboy!" I yelled and buried my face into his neck as he let me fall back to the ground with him.

"Don't, it's fine – Kali, sugar, are you okay?" I realised Carlisle's feet were very close, and that he had probably came over to intervene if this was a trick or something.

"Yes, no – I'm so happy to see you," I tried to articulate our time apart in little words, but finally seeing him after trying to just get through the hell of the day robbed me of all my strength.

"Okay Darlin', lets get you out of that body first, yeah?" I nodded glumly against his shoulder, but stopped myself.

"No, wait, my wrist is broken and I'm a little worse for wear, maybe I should stay like this until it's safe?" I suggested and used my waning strength to work my way out of his arms and make my way over to Izzy. She was diligently waiting for me to come back to her and smiled as she heard me get closer. "Besides, I need to be strong enough for Izzy,"

Jasper gave her a hard, scrutinizing look and I didn't blame him, this whole situation was completely crazy and I was not looking forward to explaining it all.

"Wanna introduce us, sugar?" I gave him a weak smile and put my arm around Izzy's shoulder, almost too aware I was effectively ignoring Edward though Carlisle and Jasper seemed all too aware of him but appeared to be waiting. Waiting for what, I couldn't say.

"This, tough little hot potato is my beautiful new sister, through blood and hair, her name's Izzy-Mae," Both Carlisle and Jasper could only blink in surprise as Izzy waved in their general direction.

"Hello," She tried cheerfully and twisted round to me, "I can't see, who am I waving to?" She reminded me and I resisted the urge to slap my head in my idiocy.

"Over there's Carlisle, you remember him right?" I could see Carlisle's eyebrows shoot up, he knew full well he'd never met Izzy, even if she looked the spitting image of Bella.

"Sort of," She said with an apologetic smile in Carlisle's general direction.

"And Jasper's here too," I said as my eyes met his and the smile on my face stretched impossibly wide.

I caught his distrusting look to Edward, who was just watching carefully, waiting for the right moment to say something, I imagined. Still, Jasper walked forward and held out a hand for Izzy,

"It's nice to meet you Izzy, I'm holding my hand out for you to shake, if you'd like to,"

Izzy smiled at the helpful description of what he was doing and she awkwardly reached out to shake his hand. Jasper helped by gently taking her hand out of the air.

"Nice to meet you, again, well sorta," She laughed nervously and her hands reached back for me, and I immediately slung my arm around her waist to let her know where I was.

"It's alright babydoll, we'll explain it all to them later," I gave Jasper a purposeful look and continued. "None of that matters right now, we need to get you back to Myra, alright?" It seemed Carlisle's Hippocratic Oath took over and he moved over to Izzy quickly, but stopped a short distance from her. His eyes falling to Edward and making him frown.

"Hello Izzy – It's Carlisle, I see something's happened to your eyes, would you like me to take a look?" They knew something was off about Izzy and her lack of sight was making her feel vulnerable, judging by the way she was clinging to my side.

"Hey Doc, uh... well-" She said, imitating my usual greeting to Carlisle. A note of exhaustion laced her voice and I chose to take over the explaining.

"There's nothing you can do I'm afraid, she needs to get to Myra, we'll explain everything when we get back," I tried to placate, feeling more than a little exhausted and just wanting to be done with the day.

Jasper studied me for a moment and I caught the ways his eyes skimmed Edward once more and he finally just broke.

"Kali, you gotta tell us what's going on before we take you home," I sighed hard. Where to fucking start.

"Consider this is the cliff notes summary, you've got to promise not to move an inch until I tell it, and keep in mind this is only my side of the story." I took a deep breath and momentarily lamented my very existence before I began. "So once I was kidnapped, I woke up in a cage with two kids. Felipe and the nomads were there too, and so was Edward," My voice caught in my throat, I felt like I was snitching on Edward and Alice. Dear sweet fuck I didn't want to carry on, it felt impossible to recount everything whilst everyone listened raptly.

"Okay, wait, come with me for a sec," Jasper said as he watched me stumble to a halt, and reached out for me, I hesitated cause of Izzy but being blinded hadn't made her any less intuitive.

"Go ahead, I need to sit down anyway," Izzy placated and pushed me gently towards Jasper's general direction.

"You call me if you need me, Iz?" She nodded and gave me a soft smile.

Jasper turned back to Carlisle as he slung an arm around my shoulders, I was so glad we were both studiously ignoring the fact that I was currently a man and an enemy at that.

"Can you speak with that? I have more important things to take care of," Edward's face tightened and he gave the barest of flinches as he read Jasper's mind, I can imagine he didn't see anything pleasant.

Good luck to the bastard. I wasn't planning on defending him verbally, and at least Carlisle wouldn't immediately rip out his throat like Jasper was likely to when he heard why Edward was here.

Jasper walked with me and tried to make a vague attempt at a joke, but neither of our hearts were in it.

"Y'know it's kinda difficult to make out with you like that, sure I can't talk you into changing back yet?"

I laughed lightly and came to a stop a short distance from the others, barely out of earshot but I wasn't going far from Izzy.

"Sorry Cowboy, I'm not changing back to normal until we get home, assuming you don't mind having a bonfire?" I tried to joke right back, but it was pitiful.

God, I was so tired. Another good reason not to change back was because I was likely to pass out the second I was mortal.

Jasper was silent for a moment and studied my face, with the faint trace of a smile.

"Just you and me now, Princess, please tell me what's happened... if you're this reluctant, I'm assuming it's not good," His hand reached up to stroke my cheek and I leant into his cool palm.

"I - it wasn't-" I stammered until Jasper pulled me closer and hugged me.

"It's okay, it's over now, I'm here," He soothed and I knew he was so very wrong.

Alice had escaped, Victoria was still out there along with Felipe and Natalie. Not forgetting Alice's ominous warning of an imminent visit from the Volturi.

And of course thinking of Alice made the very fresh memory of tearing out her eye and chewing it up into useless mush, hit the forefront of my mind, making me recoil. I buried my head into Jasper's shoulder in shame.

"I... Alice was here too, wasn't she?" My entire body practically flinched, my head snapped up guiltily and I looked at him with wide eyes, waiting for his reaction. "I figured it out earlier... it made sense when I realised how 'lucky' the nomads had been, but I didn't want to say it aloud... not to mention, you're soaked in her venom." I watched him for a long moment. His voice was calm, his face was a mixture of emotions and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the right thing to say to him was.

"This was her plan," I began, knowing the truth was the best option right now, who knows maybe I'd feel better, and once Jasper knew the facts, I wouldn't have to be drilled by everyone else about what happened. "Alice, wanted to capture me, there's some conflicting reasons between her and Edward on why, but in the end she planned on handing me over to the Volturi,"

Jasper's face tightened, and I felt the flash of anger as his control over his emotions leaked, but he reigned it in quickly enough and gave my good shoulder a squeeze.

"Alice and Edward...they conspired together?" He confirmed quietly, and I could only nod glumly.

His eyes seemed far away for a moment, and it took me peeling his hand off my shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze, to bring him back.

"I don't know all the details, but yeah," I mumbled as I fought off another wave of exhaustion. "I'm so sorry," I finally said and dropped my head in shame.

His hand squeezed mine this time and drew my attention back to his face,

"Don't apologise, this was her choice, not yours,"

I felt the venom well up in my eyes.

"You're taking this surprisingly well?" I asked slowly, I was expecting an outburst at the very least.

"Seeing you... well, being here with you and knowing you're not dead is helping me a lot, and right now I just want to make sure you're safe. Please, try to tell me what happened. I know it's gotta be hard for you, but I've gotta know, Darlin'," There was a swelling in my chest and I nodded around the lump in my throat.

"Okay, I'll try," I took a deep breath and dove into the events of the evening. "After Edward showed up, he brought in Charlie and blamed me for his condition. He was unconscious at the time." I felt that gaping pit in my stomach widen as the memories overcame me.

"When everyone left I talked the kids into untying me and went to check on Charlie, I bundled him up and tried to keep him warm. I planned on using Takeover on the first one that come back and then I'd go from there. That didn't really go to plan," Jasper squeezed my hand again encouragingly and I continued. "Laurent came back first... I wasn't close enough to him when my necklace finally heated up enough, and I accidentally took over Charlie's body instead." The venom welling up in my eyes was making it difficult to see but I finished off the worst part as quickly as I could.

"Laurent killed Charlie whilst I was trapped in his body." Jasper studied my face hard and his mouth fell open just an inch.

"What happened to you?" He asked cautiously and I smiled sadly as I remembered saying goodbye to Charlie.

"Something...strange, it's a little hazy now, a bit like a dream." I smiled tightly at him, I really didn't want to get into that weirdo abyss place right now. "But I got to say goodbye to him... I'm sorry, I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet," Jasper nodded gently and tugged me closer to him.

"It's okay Kali... I'm so sorry for what happened to Charlie, I promise, Laurent will pay for what he's done," He vowed ominously and my heart lifted just a little at the kind gesture of bloody vengeance.

"Thanks sweetie, but your girl cleans up her own messes," His eyebrows raised a little but I caught the pride in his smile.

"You killed him?" I nodded, still regretting that Prisha and Anaya were in the room, but still proud of what I had done to him.

"The body needs burning, but I don't think there's any chance his heads recovering... that's wasn't until later though. After I 'died', eventually I sorta came to as myself again... and Edward carried me downstairs to the basement where Myra and Izzy were being kept. Myra has a very unique ability, she can make clay people,"

His eyes darted to Izzy and he couldn't help the look of surprise.

"So she's a-"

"Yep, a clay clone of Bella, except it went wrong. Myra used hair from the brush Laurent stole from me to give her Bella's mind, but mine got jumbled in there too. She was a complete split of personalities between Bella and I, but as the nights gone on she's started to become more like me. She doesn't have full memories from either of us, more impressions from what I can gather." I gave a him a stern look, taking him back. "But she's coming with us, and I'm going to keep her alive, you got that?"

Jasper quickly raised his hands to placate me and nodded.

"No one is gonna stop you bringing her home, you don't think Carlisle would even let me leave a recently blinded stranger here on the beach, let alone a girl that's the spitting image of Bella, do you?" I snorted softly and shook my head.

"You make a fair point, but she's protected me all night, and she's absolutely adorable-"

"Are you saying that just because she's like 70% you?" Jasper interrupted with a dry smile.

"No hunny, I'm kickass, she's a precious sweet thang, totally different" Jasper laughed lightly and poked me in the centre of James' rock hard chest.

"C'mon, tell me what happened next, you're stalling," He accused.

I totally was.

"Ugh, fine," I grumbled and took a moment to rub my temple, apparently vampires got headaches outside of me taking over their bodies. "So whilst I was with Izzy and Myra, Edward and Alice showed up. I think she told him that they were planning on forcing me out of Bella or something, you'll have to get all the details from him-"

"Oh, I plan to, don't you worry," He threatened and I frowned, poking his chest right back.

"Edward tried to stop all this in the end, I'm not defending him but I think something psycho-magical happened to him and Alice, so hear him out first and let Carlisle make the choice on what to do with him." He gave me a hard stare and folded his arms.

"I'm not promising I won't break off his arms and beat him with them," He finally said,

"I never asked that, he deserves a good kicking, and I am positively relishing in the amount of injuries I've inflicted on him tonight. Anyway we're getting off topic."

I cleared my throat, noticing there was a strong burn, likely from the sheer amount of venom James had lost. My bad. Though, not really.

"So after Alice made her threats, she left Natalie, this little blonde Rosie-wannabe behind. Natalie's got a gift of fucking with bonds, but I think there was some requirements that had to be met, cause she couldn't use it on me, but they were using it on Felipe. Turns out he was Myra's keeper and Natalie's how they were keeping him involved." Jasper nodded along and helpfully added,

"I ran into Felipe and Natalie on the way here, Rose stayed behind with Peter to take care of them," I grinned, pleased that they weren't getting away to take their revenge another day, like Alice had.

"And how is my Rosie-girl?" I asked with a light smile, wanting to make sure she was alright after her previous run in with Felipe when I'd been taken.

"She's alright, been more than a little sad without you though," I gave him a sad smile and felt guilt gnaw at me for making her worry. "Keep going," He prompted gently and I nodded.

"Alright, well after Natalie left I got to know my cell mates a little better and we devised a plan. Basically it was the default I take over the enemy, but it still worked, though James is certainly looking a little worse for wear... Anyway, after I stole this body I found Laurent and Victoria upstairs, Laurent pushed some buttons and I smashed his skull until he didn't really have a head anymore, and more or less scared Victoria away," Jasper blinked at me slowly. "Sorry, I know it's not good but I'd do it again in a heartbeat," I tried to placate.

"No, it's not that, it's just... you're dealing with your first kill pretty well," He frowned at me and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I expected more freaking out," I chuckled humourlessly.

"I can see why, and I'm definitely due a freak-out, but I didn't have the luxury to panic. Once Laurent was dead and Victoria was gone, I had to get us out. So I freed the children and called for Myra and Izzy, but Alice and Edward got back from their hunt. I tried to send everyone on ahead of me but Izzy stayed behind... so did the clay doll of Charlie, the one that Felipe brought with him in lieu of the real Charlie. Izzy and I managed to rip off Alice's leg and keep them on the ropes but it didn't last long Felipe showed up with Natalie and took my arm off. After that I did the best I could to stall them but I made a break for it with Izzy when I got the chance, Edward caught up to us first, dragged us out the damn ocean," I grumbled.

"Yeah, Edward got heavy into swimming at one point, said it helped quiet all the voices in his head if there's no one around," I didn't miss the snide way he described Edward's gift as hearing voices rather than reading minds.

"It served him well, he caught up with us in no time and that's around when he finally started to seem more normal," Jasper's eyebrow quirked up and I tried to explain myself. "Don't get me wrong, he's done terrible things and I don't trust him as far as I can throw him in Bella's body, there was something different about him though. All night he and Alice accused me of breaking their bonds and they seemed almost insane, like the 'eyes bulging, popping a lot of pills' kind. He said when he accepted that there was no chance for himself and Bella, it sorta clicked or something," Jasper's glare hardened.

"That's not an excuse-" He started and I quickly cut him off.

"No! I don't think it excuses a single fucking thing! But maybe it explains how it got this far?" I asked rheotorically. "It seems like this was some supernatural backlash from becoming single like he did, not just Edward losing his shit. Alice reacted the same way, worse even," I almost winced as I finished. It really felt like I was telling on her.

"Well, we can look into that later, did anything else happen?" Almost immediately I bit my lip, my heart felt like it was in my throat as I recalled the feeling of crushing Alice's eyeball in my mouth, I was grateful that the taste couldn't linger because of the way venom burned up any flavours on my tongue.

My hesitation was abundantly clear, Jasper took my hand again and gave me an encouraging smile that I didn't deserve.

"It's okay, I doubt there's anything more you could say that'd surprise me, today has been pretty hectic," My mouth opened and closed few times as I tried to find the words, and he continued. "Did you kill Alice?" The way he asked the question was unusual, and even though I hadn't finished her off, my breath caught in my throat.

"No... she- she ran away, Edward stopped me from going after her but that's not what- I mean I- ugh," I finally made a noise of frustration and gave up trying to find the right words, dropped my head, clenched my fist tightly and kept it candid. "I tore out her eye with my teeth, then I chewed it up so she couldn't put it back,"

My statement was met with a long silence, and I didn't dare look up at his face.

"What," The way he said that one word, made it sound like it wasn't a question, more of a cold statement of disbelief.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried out and resisted the urge to grab his hand, he was reeking of a 'do not touch' aura. "James' body is so heavily injured, I'm exhausted, and I was scared I couldn't protect Izzy- so I gave in to the feral instincts inside James, it's not like anything I've felt in any of you. It was like I was acting without having to think, and without Alice's gift, she didn't see it coming," I confessed, ignoring the accidental pun, and waited impatiently for some kind of reaction.

"I don't know what to say to you," He finally said, his voice was more clipped and without emotion than it would have usually been if he were reprimanding me. "On one hand I understand that you were fighting for your life, but on the other, what you did was unnecessarily cruel, you maimed her for eternity," I knew he was right but still, his words sent a little thrill of rage right up my spine and I stood tall.

"Cruel?! You want fucking cruel!? What about every heinous fucking thing Alice has put me through? She twisted my fucking wrist until it broke! What about Charlie!? What about Izzy's eyes, that she fucking destroyed first!" I knew the last part of my argument lacked as much bite just because Myra could likely fix her, but it was something that had enraged me because of the lack of its need. She should have gone for me, not her.

Jasper stared me down, but like hell was I retreating.

"I've been through fucking hell tonight, I'm not excusing my actions to you and I don't fucking have to, you didn't want your wife to lose her eye? Then reign in your little bitch!" I roared at him, getting closer to his face.

"What, you gonna fight me too, Kali? Am I just one more vampire trying to destroy your life?" He asked bitingly, there was a quiet rage to him that was only fanning the flames of my anger. How dare he be angry at me after the shit-show I'd been through! Though at the same time I understood that I had mutilated his ex-wife, someone who was very dear to him regardless of their current relationship status.

"You know I've not thought of you like that since I got to know you! How fucking dare you-! You know what? I'll get Izzy and myself home, didn't need you to fucking rescue me anyway," I tried to storm off from him but he grabbed me and held me tightly against his chest.

I probably couldn't have broken free with the little strength I had left anyway, so I just sunk to the ground like the mess I was. Jasper crumpled with me and held me more snugly against him, his chin rested on my shoulder as he spoke.

"Please, don't... I understand why, it's just hard to hear- I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, and I think we're both strung a little high right now, I've been so worried about you. My heads a mess and every fibre of my being wants you to turn back to your old self so I can check you over with my own eyes. I wish you hadn't done that to her, but I wish she hadn't taken you to that place even more," I felt my tear ducts prickle but I was so low on venom my eyes didn't even water.

"I'm so sorry," I managed to croak out, I was so done with today. I was so tense, and so was Jasper, we were likely to bite each others head off over minor misunderstandings or overreactions.

"I'm sorry too, Darlin', I ain't got no right to get mad at ya, not for trying to survive and protect someone you care about. You don't have a clue of the atrocities I'd commit to protect you," I felt the watery smile pull at my face and released a breath I'd been holding.

"Shall we go see how the good Doctor's scolding Edward this time?" I tried to go for teasing but the exhaustion in my voice was prevalent.

"Hmm," Was all Jasper said, I tilted my head up to look at him.

"Unless you don't think you'd be able to handle being near him?" Jasper's face was a little tight as he quickly glanced at Edward where Carlisle was talking to him very quickly in hushed tones. I could see by the look on his face that was seething with disappointment as he scolded his son.

"Carlisle's almost done by the looks of it, how about we tend to your friend instead?" I elbowed him lightly and gave him a weak glare.

"Sister, she's my sister, thank you very much," Jasper snorted lightly but helped me stand.

"This little family of yours is getting bigger by the second," I shrugged and uselessly brushed the dirt off my tatty, wet pants.

"I'm a foster kid, I learned to make my own family outside my real mother and brother, and she is more or less related to me. Besides, I'm pretty positive you are related to zero members of your 'family', right?" Jasper gave me a gentler smile and put an arm around my shoulders, steering me back to Izzy.

"Well I can't fault that logic," He said with a tired smile.

Izzy's head perked up as she heard our footsteps, I was making sure to be extra loud just so she knew where I was and didn't think someone was sneaking up on her. She looked in my general direction from the rock she had perched herself on, and smiled. Seeing her smile at me like that, really lifted my heart and I beamed right back, though she couldn't see me.

"You hanging in there, babydoll?" I asked as I crouched down in front of her, I started to feel an ominous ache in all my joints, something vampires didn't really get, not to mention the burn in my throat was strong. I really hoped we weren't gonna linger for much longer, James' body was failing from the amount of damage I'd taken.

"I'm okay, doesn't really hurt anymore... when are we going? I'm not too keen on sticking around here," She said and rubbed her arms.

"Soon, don't worry," I picked her hand up and gave it a light squeeze. "Jasper, stay here and keep Izzy company, I'm going to see what's going on with those two," I nodded towards Edward and Carlisle, who were keeping their voice very quiet, that I could only catch the odd whisper from my current distance.

"Alright," Jasper said reluctantly, after giving Edward another long, cold stare. "I'll keep your new sister company," Izzy beamed at that and gave my hand a last squeeze as she let it go.

"Let him know I'll rip his fucking arms off and beat him with them, if he tries worming his way out of this," She told me jovially. Jasper snorted and I laughed lightly.

"I can see the resemblance," He told me with a smirk, making Izzy preen in happiness.

I lightly elbowed him as I stood and grinned.

"I'll be sure to tell him," I told her and patted her shoulder as stepped around her and walked toward Carlisle's quiet tirade.

The Cullen Patriarch noticed me and turned, he stopped his rage and his arms fell down by his side.

"Hey Doc, what's cracking?" Carlisle's expression was very tight and I could see the way his eyes darted over my numerous injuries.

"Kali... you should be resting that body if you aren't leaving it yet, it's extremely damaged," I chuckled lightly at his clinical manner, when Carlisle was angry, he become more like one of those disassociated medical professionals, instead of a ball of rage like his kids.

"It'll hold for now, how's everything going over here? You being truthful, Edward?" I threw the question at him and he nodded, his face a picture of despair.

"I wish to keep no secrets about what I've done, you all deserve the truth," He said solemnly, and for now that was good enough for me.

"Are you guys done talking, because we need to get Izzy back, I don't want her to keep suffering," Edward flinched minutely, but I caught it in the corner of my eye and paid it no mind.

Carlisle's eyes wondered between Edward and I before he spoke.

"I'm up to date on what he's been doing, but I haven't decided what to do with him yet," I hummed thoughtfully and shrugged.

"You're opposed to killing him, I take it?" Carlisle's face only twitched minutely at my question, though Edward's mouth popped open and he finally looked up properly at Carlisle with open fear. His face lowered again and his shoulders slumped further as he spoke.

"I'd deserve no less," My eyes rolled, hurting my brain somewhat and I cut off any drawn out speeches about how he was a monster, before they started.

"Can it Fuckward, you've said your piece, let Carlisle come to his own decision,"

Edward somehow slumped further into the rocky beach but did as he was told.

"No something like that isn't up to me, it's up to all of us." Carlisle's wise words were right. "He'll have to come back home," He said slowly, and I saw Edward perk up just a touch, and my blood boiled a little.

How dare the little fuck get optimistic!

"He's not coming back like that," I muttered through gritted teeth as I was assaulted by the memory of him dragging Charlie's comatose body in front of me and claiming that it was my fault.

Before anyone could stop me, I darted forward and knocked him on his back, pressing my knees into his stomach. Pinning his wrist to the ground, I dragged my sharp teeth through his elbow and I tore off his arm. Edward tried to defend himself without attacking, and he automatically pushed my head away to try and stop me biting him.

However the force of my bite pulling one way and Edward pushing my head the other, had an adverse effect on my very, very damaged neck. My ears filled with a screeching noise as my vision tilted until the top of my skull bounced off the middle of my back. My head hanging on by only a flap of undamaged skin.

I heard a cacophony of shouts but everything sort of went dark and silent, it felt like I was asleep, yet aware I was sleeping. It was unusual, and it lasted a long time. I was moved and carried, whilst there was a disgusting out of body sensation plaguing my senses.

The comatose sensation lasted for a while until I felt something hard next to my nose and I felt the tug from my incense in my soul, like I always did when I used Takeover.

A harsh gasp escaped my throat as I turned back to normal and I nearly howled in pain as I was assaulted by how much my body hurt, as I was quickly moved away from the smoke bomb. I couldn't see who was holding me, everything was so dim after borrowing the body of someone with night vision.

"Shi-shit, I told you guys not to- to change me bah..." I mumbled as the exhaustion left my body and thankfully so did the pain as I finally lost consciousness after one hell of a shitty day.

Jasper's POV

Even though she was battered, filthy and her clothes were torn, I was so happy to see her. Seeing her as James had sort of a huge dampening effect to the usual pull I felt towards her and it did very little the quell the rage that had been building all day.

Maybe that was why I snapped at her like I did. I knew the breaking point she'd spoke of when she fought Alice, it was something I was intimately familiar with from my early years. A mindset where what only mattered was destruction, and the amount that could be inflicted. My heart ached that she'd had to go through that, scared and fighting to protect her new sister and herself.

Talking to Izzy was strange, whilst she had a part of Kali, and I could see it clear as day, there was no pull. It felt odd to be around someone who was so alike to the woman I love, yet not at the same time.

After making sure she was alright, we were both mostly quiet, listening intently to the conversation that Kali and Carlisle were having over Edward's cowering form. I could barely tear my eyes away from him, I was waiting for him to get brave, to stand, to make any sort of move towards her- aaaaand she tore off his arm.

From the angle I was sitting at it only looked like he'd pushed her far back, but when I stood to intervene I realised her head was hanging on by a thread.

"What's-" I could have guessed what Izzy was asking but I didn't have time to answer.

Dashing forward at top speed, I caught her before she even hit the ground, my boot finding its way to Edward skull in the process. Whilst his body skipped across the ebbing waves like he was a pebble, I was cradling Kali as carefully as I could, the leather sleeve wrapped around her neck had come loose, and I finally saw just how bad the damage to James' throat was.

Her eyes had closed and she was completely unresponsive. Something that was to be expected really, it was rare a vampire was tough enough to stay conscious when their head was detached. Though I don't know if that's better considering where most vampire heads ended up after they were removed.

"I'm so sorry, I never intended to-!" Edward started protesting his innocence as soon as he was out of the sea, but I cut him off before he enraged me further.

"Shut it up before I do," I said coldly, not really caring who took the command, Carlisle or Edward himself.

I gently moved Kali's host body away from Edward and back over to where Izzy was impatiently standing.

"What's happened?" She asked as soon as she heard my footsteps crunch through the rocks. "Did Edward hurt her? Cause I swear to fuck I'll murder the little shit," Her tone was worried but her body language was nothing but angry.

"Not quite, I think he exacerbated an injury, what happened to her throat?" Izzy's mouth snapped closed and she looked a little sheepish as she replied.

"It happened just before she got my eyes, Alice tried to behead her... Edward stopped her, but she did a lot of damage to Kali's neck," She seemed almost reluctant to tell me that Edward had actually helped in some way, and I didn't blame her, I didn't want to hear his praises either.

The more horrible things I realised Alice had done, the bigger the lump in my chest grew. I was beyond angry with her choices, still my mind assaulted me of every good time we shared, as if to rub salt into the wound. I was confused about how to react to her being the mastermind behind all of this, but right now there were far more important things.

Alice's retribution would come later.

I looked down at the body in my arms, carefully cradling her head, I tried to help fuse the two parts of James' open throat together, but his body was so damaged he was barely leaking any venom.

"We need to get her out of that body before it fails," Carlisle's voice appeared next to my shoulder as he leaned down to inspect James' neck.

"You're right, will she be able to change back if she can't breathe though?" I asked, worried.

Carlisle's brow furrowed and he pulled his keys out of his pockets, the golden ball that Rose had given him to look like a key chain was still there.

"Izzy, please hold your breath," He asked the injured girl who nodded, and tore off the bomb from the trigger. There was a light fizzing noise for a few seconds before a thick cloud of pinkish smoke was everywhere. Carefully, Carlisle placed the bomb under James' nose so the smoke forced it's way into her.

I sat there holding James' dying body, praying that there would be no complications. There was a long pause and finally Kali's body formed, She was almost lying on top of James, and I borderline booted his body away as I gathered her up to get away from her smoke.

She gasped noisily and looked up at me with glazed over eyes, though I don't think she really saw me.

"Shi-shit, I told you guys not to- to change me bah..." She stuttered before she fell limp in my arms and I cradled her closely to my chest.

The relief I felt just looking at her was staggering, she was covered in muck, and bruises, her arm was in a make-shift sling, secured by two wooden boards. There was probably a slew of injuries I couldn't see too, she looked a complete mess but she was my complete mess, and safe in my arms again.

"How's her condition?" Carlisle asked as he stepped closer and I couldn't contain the growl as my body hunched over her. I quickly stopped myself and sent him a little guilt so he knew I didn't mean it, but I really didn't want him to get too close, she was too fragile.

I tried to tap into her feelings but they were faint, what with her being unconscious. Still, I fed her my love and as many different feelings of safety and protection as I could, even if she wasn't awake, I wanted her to know she was safe. There was an undercurrent of fear that was still running through her. I doubt she even admitted to herself how scared she must have been, and it made me feel terrible.

Of course my day had been awful too, but I was just left simmering in a pot of rage and worry. I hadn't been injured, and even if I was I was damaged, it was until I next fed at the worst. Nothing like the battered woman I was cradling close to my chest. James' body was bad, but even Bella's body was beaten and broken.

Whilst I was trying to quell my rage, I heard a cacophony of steps behind me and had to reign in my protective growl when Rose shot through the trees first, followed by Peter and then Emmett. Her eyes swept wildly over our group, her gaze snagging on Izzy, Carlisle stood by her side, helpfully informing the blind girl of the goings-on around her.

There were questions that she need answered but right now she knew where she needed to be and headed closer to Kali and I. A large part of me didn't want anyone near her whilst she was so fragile, but Rose's glare when I tightened my hold around Kali's body let me know she wasn't giving me a choice. Sighing deeply I released her enough for Rose to get a good look at her.

Her eyes glossed over with venom as she took stock of Kali's battered body, a small gasp leaving her pouty lips.

"She's- she's okay," I managed to speak, though Rose seemed to only barely hear me as her eyes fell onto Edward, who was clutching his badly damaged arm as he tried to staunch the flow of venom.

"YOU!" Rose's voice was all kinds of terrifying as she stormed over to Edward, who had looked to Carlisle for help as he scrambled to right himself.

To my disappointment, Carlisle did in fact intervene.

"Enough Rose!" Rose stopped stalking towards him, her fists clenched dangerously tightly.

With seemingly great effort, she tore her glare away from him and made her way to Carlisle, and by association, Izzy, who was using him as her seeing-eye vampire for the time being.

"You better give me a reason not to rip his head off right now," I'd never heard her talk like that to Carlisle before, like she was the alpha, not him.

He seemed somewhat cowed, possibly because he was struggling to give her the reason she needed to hear.

"For now we need to take him with us," Rose seemed to fizz with anger as her glare narrowed on him. "We need to decide what to do with him as a family," The savage beast in Rose seemed to be slightly placated for now, but she left him with a warning.

"He leaves before Kali wakes up, he comes nowhere near her and if he so much as looks at her wrong, I kill him," She left no room for argument and Carlisle could only give her a depressed nod.

"I understand," He agreed, easier than I had expected him to.

It wasn't exactly a secret that Edward was Carlisle's favourite, he had turned him himself, and he was the "golden boy" until Kali had come along and turned our worlds upside down. I didn't understand how Bella's disappearance could cause such a change in him, and right then, I certainly didn't care. I wasn't going to rationalise his actions anytime soon.

"Who's this?" Rose finally asked after a long pause, nodding to Izzy.

"Me? I'm basically a clay clone of Bella and Kali, my name's Izzy," Izzy guessed that she was being addressed rather well, all things considered. Rose narrowed her eyes at her, there were clearly a million questions running through her mind but Izzy smirked mischievously and continued, "I recognise your voice though, Barbie," Rose blinked in surprise, before sighing heavily.

"Cause one Kali wasn't bad enough," She grumbled much to Izzy's amusement.

Emmett came over and (re-?)introduced himself to Izzy, whilst Peter cautiously made his way over to where I was cradling Kali like she was made of glass.

"This your girl, Major?" He asked teasingly, but his voice was soft, I could tell he was trying to diffuse the last of my battle-readiness, which was a little difficult seeing as how I hadn't gotten to maim anyone.

"Yeah, this is Kali," Peter smiled and squatted down, but didn't get close.

"I'm looking forward to properly meeting her," He said with another gentle smile, so unlike him, but he knew he was treading on eggshells with my protectiveness in full throttle. "We should get her home, I bet she's cold," He suggested as he straightened and took a step back.

I stiffened at his casual remark, she was very cold, it was so difficult to tell with my internal temperature and her serious injuries at the forefront of my mind. Her clothes were somewhat damp and stained with mud, the rain and chill night air was only making her worse.

Having no way to warm her properly, the best I could do was rest her as carefully as I could on my knees as I shrugged off my jacket and slowly wrapped it around her, carefully watching her face for any signs of pain. She made a small noise of discomfort when my hand brushed across her ribs and I resisted the urge to peel up her wet shirt and check for damage. She wasn't bleeding, so whatever was wrong would have to wait until I got her home.

Gathering her gently, I stood and turned towards Carlisle.

"I need to get Kali home now," Carlisle saw the urgency in my face and noticed the coat I'd wrapped around her in a vain attempt to keep out the worst of the chill.

"Of course, please, go on ahead, I'll call Esme to let her know and make sure that everyone else gets back safely," He placated, though Edward could come back in a body bag for all I cared.

"Peter, you're with me," My usually jovial brother nodded seriously and took the lead to hamper any remaining threats before they got to Kali and I.

I followed after him, without sparing another word to the others, getting her home was more important than any pleasantries or waiting around for everyone to get up to speed.

I lowered my speed greatly, so I would jostle Kali as little as possible, Peter kept pace with me and stayed alert as he scanned the wet woods for any possible threats. The entire journey home we were silent so we didn't draw any attention to ourselves but also because I was focused solely on getting her home. Esme was never as good a Doctor as Carlisle, but she knew what to do for small injuries and was far more in tune with caring for humans than I was. I was glad she would be waiting for us.

Getting back home was a little faster then our journey to Kali, because now we could cut through forests, and I didn't have to follow a road so we wouldn't miss Peter.

Esme was standing on the porch as she heard us run up the drive, her hands were clasped together with worry but she quickly untangled her fingers to hold open the door for us as we ran indoors.

There was a trio of human females I didn't recognise, who I assumed was Myra and her two children. Their faces were dark with worry as they saw Kali's state and they hesitantly stood, Charlotte came out of the Kitchen, Eleazar slowly following her.

"Carlisle called and told me a little of what's happened, we need to get her warmed up," I nodded dumbly and let her lead me upstairs to a spare bedroom. "I need to get her out of those clothes," She said as she quickly studied Kali, her eyes shining with worry but she knew that now wasn't the time to mollycoddle her.

Esme was careful as she got close to me, probably having been warned by Carlisle about my over-protectiveness right now, but I needed her help and she was the least threatening vampire I knew.

Carefully, slowly, I placed Kali on the bed and Esme began stripping her via carefully slicing through her clothes. She expected me to leave for modesties sake, but I wasn't leaving her. Though I did turn around and grab a towel from the en suite when she started to cut through her top. Esme seemed somewhat mollified by this, but I wasn't exactly interested in seeing Bella naked in the first place.

Once Esme had manage to pat her dry and wrap her in blankets she coughed lightly to get my attention, and I realised I had been staring off into space.

"Her ribs feel fractured, along with the break to her wrist, other than that most of the rest of her injuries seem superficial, she'll be fine as she is for the moment, and I don't want to disturb her. The most important thing right now is keeping her warm," She gently lifted Kali's head and lightly wrapped the towel around her wet hair, to stop the pillow becoming damp. "I'm going to make her a hot water bottle, it's a good thing I bought one in case Bella got cold, are you staying here?"

I nodded again and managed to find my voice long enough to express my gratitude.

"Thank you," I said stiffly.

Esme's smile was sunny though, as if I had professed my gratefulness in a hundred words instead of two.

"It's nothing dear... I'm so happy she's home," I felt the pressure in my chest ease slightly. She was right, Kali was home, and she was out of danger. I may not have gallantly rescued her as I would have preferred, and she was definitely a little worse for wear, but she was safe.

I took a seat next to the bed, wanting to be close to her but wanting to keep my naturally cold body far away from her. Esme returned quickly and gave me a sad smile when she realised my dilemma at not being able to hold the woman I cared for.

She only fussed around her for a moment, made sure she was warm before giving me a small smile.

"I'll be downstairs, call me if she needs anything," I nodded and shared my feelings of gratitude with her, making her smile widen as she left the room and quietly closed the door.

I sighed heavily and reached out to stroke her knee over the thick quilt as I studied her face. Esme had wiped away what dirt she could, but there was still light streaks of mud on her face and in her hair. I hurried to the bathroom and dampened a flannel with warm water and spent a while slowly removing the dirt from her face.

I'm not sure how long I stayed with her, but I heard everyone return, their questions on Kali's condition and Esme's light warning for me and her not to be disturbed right now, that I appreciated immensely. I tuned their voices out as much as I could, but a growing argument was starting to fan my slowly waning defensiveness and I ended up shoving myself out of my seat and storming to the top of the stairs.

"Not a chance! Kali's been through enough, I don't give a crap what you say she wants!" Rose seemed to be arguing with Myra, Carlisle was standing in front of the poor woman.

"I'm just telling you what Izzy needs, I didn't choose for it to be this way," Myra tried to reason, but there was an edge of fear to her voice.

"Really, I'm fine staying like this until Kali's better," Izzy tried to interject, but Carlisle gave her a stern look that she couldn't see and had to verbalise his disapproval.

"That's hardly fair, Myra said it herself that she's unsure how much damage it will cause you if your eyes stay like this," They argued back and forth for a little longer, until I heard heavy, shuffling footsteps behind me.

I whipped my head around and saw a very wobbly and fragile Kali making her way to my side, the quilt wrapped around her to preserve her modesty. Before I had a chance to speak she leaned over the bannister and glared at everyone.

"Well, I was sleeping but I can see we're having an issue, so who wants to tell me why the fuck you're making so much racket?" The household seemed stunned by Kali's appearance and they were shocked into silence for a moment before Carlisle took the opportunity to explain.

"Myra tells us that Izzy needs some of your blood to heal her eyes-" Kali sighed noisily and cut him off.

"Got it, someone go fetch some leeches, but make it fast, cause I'm pretty sure I earned my sleep," It was probably wrong that her cranky, commanding tone was a little alluring, but I managed to snap myself out of my adoration for her long enough to protest.

"Hold up, leeches?" She turned to me and her eyes unfocused for a moment as she tried to keep herself steady, and her tired eyes open.

"It's what Myra uses to fix the breaks on her clay cadavers, she needs my blood, and none of you can say a damn fucking thing to change my mind," I bit back my immediate refusal at her hard glare. How she managed to look threatening when she was dead on her feet, was beyond me.

Rose sighed and gave her a frosty look.

"And there's no asking you to wait until later?" For the first time Kali looked truly angry at Rose, surprise showed on her face as Kali berated her.

"If you were the only one that could fix my eyes, I know you'd do it in a heartbeat, I risked my life to get us out of there and there's no way in hell I'm letting Izzy suffer any longer!" She finished her tirade and turned to Izzy. "Izzy, take off the blindfold," She said angrily, Izzy made a protesting noise, but Kali said her name again in a warning tone and Izzy could only sigh as she did as she was told.

I had assumed her eyes had been damaged, but I wasn't prepared for just how badly. I could see right into her hollow skull, her eyes were completely gone, shattered, spidery cracks spread around her temple and down a little of her nose.

"Now you fucking tell me that can wait," Kali spat angrily and Rose's mouth snapped shut as she studied Izzy's horrifying injury, watching a small shard of her skin fall off.

Izzy hastily put the makeshift blindfold back over her eyes as she felt the piece of her face crumble.

"I really don't want to be a bother-" Izzy mumbled but Kali still managed to hear her and I saw her fist clench around the quilt she was holding around herself with her one good arm.

"After everything you've done for me, you're hardly a bother, I'm just sorry, I can't do more," Her voice finally started to lose her anger as she slumped slightly. "Wake me when you get the leeches, I don't really want to be surprised by them," She said as she shuffled back to bed.

I followed after her, ignoring the hushed whispers at the bottom of the stairs.

"Kali-" I started as she practically threw herself into bed and grunted angrily in pain.

"I'm fine Cowboy, just let me sleep more... I'm not ready to be awake yet," Her voice held an edge of sadness that I'd never heard in her before. The events of the day were clearly catching up to her, and I could smell her eyes watering as she started to fall asleep.

"Alright Darlin', you want me to help you sleep?" She had turned away from me, probably so I couldn't watch her grieve, but still nodded weakly. I rubbed my hand against my jeans so my fingers were a little warmer as I placed one on her shoulder.

Her emotions were a swirling mess of grief, mental exhaustion and self-loathing. A combination of the hardest emotions for me to combat in someone, but I tried nonetheless. I tried to ease away her wrongfully guilty conscious and smother the feelings of loss with all the comforting and gentle emotions that I could, whilst feeding her more lethargy to help her drift off quickly.

Healing her body would take some time, but it wasn't difficult, healing her heart was far more complicated, but there wasn't anyone better equipped than I, and no one who would rather do it more.

Kali's POV

I only vaguely remember waking up to get feasted upon by leeches, Carlisle and Myra were the ones who woke me to take my blood. Carlisle reassured me that everyone that felt they weren't able to control themselves was out of the house for the time being, not that I cared. I had faith that Jasper would have ripped apart anyone that got thirsty around me, judging by the thunderous look on his face as I offered them my collarbone for the two leeches that Izzy needed.

Carlisle quickly staunched the fast flow of blood that the leeches caused as they were removed, and put plasters securely over the new holes before sending me back to sleep.

So I slept, and when I woke I slept more. Every time someone tried to visit me, I had Jasper tell them I was still sleepy and wanted to rest. This carried on for a few days before Jasper couldn't take it anymore.

"Darlin..." I almost flinched at the sudden noise, I had been practically hiding under the sheets, alternating between anger, tears and just plain old grief. I had asked Jasper not to tap into my emotions, yet he had still dutifully sat by my side in silence and helped me sleep when I asked.

"I said I'm not hungry," Esme had dropped off more food that I barely touched, and Jasper had given me a very pointed look when I put the tray down again.

"So you say," He muttered dryly. The first bit of emotion he showed outside of quiet concern, garnered my attention and I turned on my side just enough to look at him. "I think it's time you get up, don't you?" My good hand fisted the sheet under my chin and I chose to say nothing.

The long pause made Jasper sigh heavily, but he didn't give up like I wanted him to.

"I know there's a lot on your mind right now, a lot that's weighing on your heart... Sugar I'm here for you, but you've gotta stop punishing yourself. Not eating and locking yourself away isn't going to help you," He said gently, and I felt my eyes prickle with tears as the compassion in his words reached me.

"I'm not punishing myself, I just don't want to get up," I reasoned feebly, but we both knew I was harming myself by not eating or moving.

"You're making me watch this though, I don't want to see you starve yourself Darlin'," His voice was so sad that I couldn't help but look at him. I knew I must have red, puffy eyes and that I smelled like ass, but at the same time I knew he wouldn't care.

"You don't have to stay," I weakly started, but was cut off by his glare.

"I'm not going anywhere until you do," My frown tightened and I sighed heavily through my nose.

"So we're both starving ourselves then?" He shrugged and decided to slide next to me into the bed.

"I guess so, good thing your blood doesn't hold any sway over me, huh?" I snorted feebly.

"I dunno, I wouldn't mind being drained dry right about now," I said humourlessly.

"Yeah but I'd change you straight away if that ever happened, then spend the next three days burning whoever drained you piece by piece until you woke up," He said easily and I couldn't help the genuine smile.

"You're so violent," His smile etched into all his features as he watched mine grow.

"Yet you love it," The note of teasing in his voice made something twist pleasantly inside me, but I still primarily felt like crap. "So, what will you do? Gonna stay in here another day and ferment further?" He asked lazily, though I could detect the note of hope in his voice.

I snorted and sat up

"Do I smell that bad?" I asked and got a non-committal shrug in response.

"It's not like I needed to breathe anyway," I laughed, the sudden noise surprising me and immediately I felt bad, I shouldn't be laughing right now.

The death of Charlie and the subsequent actions that followed had been haunting me for the past few days, and I felt like I didn't deserve the company of such good and kind people after what I'd done.

I'd killed violently, and I'd maimed the people that the Cullens cared for. I didn't deserve anything but solitude and misery. Sadly, Jasper just wouldn't leave well enough alone and I knew that if I kept this up then I'd just make him sadder.

It took every ounce of my resolve, and I wanted to give up almost straight away but I slowly stood, taking care not to jostle any of the injuries that were still healing. My wrist was the worst but my ribs were a close second, two of them were cracked from Laurent booting me across the room whilst I was trying to protect Charlie.

The sharp pain that laced across my side made me automatically clutch at my ribs as I stood, but I ignored it and Jasper's worried look as I made my way to the bathroom.

"Pick me out some clothes would you?" I asked over my shoulder and caught his tentatively pleased smile.

I wanted to wallow for longer but there was a plethora of things hanging over my head that I needed to worry about. Staying in bed longer would only bring more people to my door, and they'd get pushier and pushier until I let them back in, or Jasper did, he was the one that was telling everyone "not now".

Something had to be done about Charlie and what happened to him, I wasn't sure what the official story was or if one had even been thought of yet. According to everyone outside of the house, Charlie was still kidnapped and the Police had no clues on where to go next.

Jasper had told me that the Police had been by but Carlisle had firmly informed them that I had relapsed after hearing the news about Charlie's disappearance, and was on strict bed rest. He had told them that under no circumstances could they talk to me, as any extra stress could cause me to have another heart attack. Seeing as how Carlisle was a very respected member of the community, my Doctor, and current career, they had little choice but to leave me alone until I was ready to talk to them.

And finally, the last and most prevalent concern weighing heavily upon me was Alice's last words, or rather her last threat. The Volturi were expecting me by now, and if I didn't show they'd come looking for me themselves. I had faith that the Cullens wouldn't let them take me without a fight, but that was just it. More fighting, more people that might get hurt or die, the very thought of it made my heart drop to my stomach and my worry increase so much that Jasper had felt it over the past few days without even having to touch me.

I stripped out of the gross smelling PJ's Esme had given me, and undid the knot around my neck that kept my new sling in place. I carefully dropped my arm, untied the thick bandage so I wouldn't get it wet, and stepped under the hot spray. I stood under the water for a long time, thinking, my mind jumping from one sad memory to another. It wasn't until there was a light knock at the door, that I finally moved.

"Kali?" Rose's cautious voice reached me through the door and I perked up a little, the sad thoughts drifting back to the corner of my mind for just a moment.

"Yeah?" I hesitantly replied.

"Can I come in?" Rose had seen Bella's nude body before and I had no qualms about her seeing it now, but I didn't really want her to see just how bad I looked underneath clothes.

There were bruises everywhere, and some of them were horrifyingly dark still, others were finally beginning to turn a mottled green-yellow, but it wasn't something I particularly wanted her to see, lest she worry.

Still, I couldn't think of a good reason outside of being naked, so after a long pause I gave her an affirmative answer and she opened the door. Her eyes only strayed to my body for a moment, but with vampire vision that was more than enough time to take stock of all my suddenly visible injuries, and I felt myself shy away from her.

"What can I do for you, dollface?" I asked, moving my head so I could speak without water getting in my mouth. She tried for a smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes and stepped closer.

"I bumped into Jasper, he said you were having a shower and I thought that maybe you might want some help?" It didn't really occur to me that not only could I not use my left hand to wash anything, but I also couldn't stretch and twist my body to reach my back or my hair because of my ribs.

I was hesitant, but nodded and she gave me another smile, though this one was more cheerful, and placed the clothes she had brought me on the side. She stripped quickly and I averted my eyes, as she walked into the shower with me and slid the glass door shut. Her hair started to cling to her skin as it became wet and I tried very hard not to stare but her grin let me know that she had caught me looking.

Can you blame me? She's fucking perfect, and naked, and next to me!

"Alright then horn dog, let's do your hair first, yeah?" A snort forced its was out of my nose and I turned around so she had better access to my hair.

"You only came to help me so you could play with my hair, didn't you?" I joked half-heartedly as she began lathering my hair with a sweet citrus smelling shampoo.

"Damn, you caught me," I heard the sarcasm and it made me smile, just a little.

As she piled my hair on top of my head, I felt myself almost melt with the nice sensations. Her cool fingers gently caressing my scalp was better than I expected, and my knees twitched a little as if they wanted to buckle from the sudden pleasure. Thinking back, my reaction was probably so extreme because I'd barely let Jasper comfort me over the past few of days, feeling like I didn't deserve it.

Rose didn't speak, she was quiet for a little while, but then she began to hum softly and I was enraptured. Her singing voice would have been siren-esque levels of perfect just from the change, but there was a feeling, some kind of unidentifiable emotion that I couldn't decipher. I didn't know the song, didn't know if it was just made up or a maybe lullaby from her time, but I loved it.

Closing my eyes, I felt the tears leak out of the corners for the millionth time since I'd woken up. There was a slight hitch in Rose's voice, which I imagined was because she realised I was crying, but she said nothing and continued working her nimble fingers through my tangled mass of hair.

She gently pulled my hair back as she rinsed out the soapy suds and I tried not to sniffle, so I didn't inhale water but also because I didn't want her to feel like she had to do something to comfort me. This was enough.

Rose started working conditioner through my hair, her fingers gently de-tangling the knots that had formed from 3 days worth of ignoring my hairbrush. It was slow work, but she was careful not to pull my hair out, and it felt so soothing. Still she hummed, repeating the same song over and over, and I loved it.

It was a long time before I spoke, by then she had piled my hair on top of my head to let the conditioner soak in and had begun gently scrubbing my back with a sponge coated in a vanilla smelling shower gel.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, the tears mingling with the water on my face.

"Whatever for?" She asked gently as she moved onto my arms.

"I-" I wasn't quite sure where to start, so I tried to round it up as much as I could. "For being a burden, for ruining everything..." I felt a cold puff of air on the nape of my neck as Rose sighed heavily, and I couldn't resist the urge to turn and see her face.

Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, and she pressed her body against my back as her head came to rest atop mine. My current depression made it relatively easy to ignore her wet breasts pressing into my back.

"Oh sweetie, you've got nothing to apologise for, what happened – none of it was your fault. You were the victim in this, and yes you turned the tables around and people got hurt, but you were just trying to protect everyone. I would have done the same in your shoes," I sniffed loudly as the tears worsened, I reached up with my good hand and held onto hers, leaning back into her cool embrace.

"But... Charlie... and Alice," I added hesitantly. Whilst I was torn up about what I had done to her, a big chunk of my heart knew she deserved it, I just wished I hadn't done that, and that I'd been in more control. I wished I'd never felt so out of my depths as to let James' horrifically violent tendencies take hold.

"You did everything you could to save him, Myra and her kids told us everything, they saw it all and even though they're just kids they knew you'd tried your best until you just vanished," I still felt awful that Prisha and Anaya had seen something so horrific, even my killing of Laurent, I'd told them to look away, but they were still there.

"I should have done more, I should have just clung to Laurent so there was no chance of me taking over anyone else, I'm so stupid," I mumbled and Rose squeezed me a little tighter, being ever so careful of my multiple bumps and bruises.

"If you did that he likely would have killed you, I know they were keeping you alive, but if you had pissed him off enough he wouldn't have cared, or worse, he'd have injured you permanently. Charlie wasn't your fault," I disagreed but kept it to myself. "Alice on the other hand, deserved everything she got and then some. She was going to leave you with The Volturi, and Eleazar knows all about what they do to those that aren't compliant. It was one of the reasons why he left them to find a better life, and she was going to take you straight to them. What you did was pretty gross," I couldn't help the snort of dark laughter that bubbled up my chest. "But she deserved it,"

Her resolute tone made me feel a little better, but I still felt squeamish everytime I remembered the feel of Alice's soft eyeball and the chunks of skull rolling around my mouth as I crunched them into a paste.

I felt the rising bile and managed to throw myself out of the shower and get my head to the toilet as I threw up the meagre contents of my stomach. The sudden movement made me distinctly aware of every little bruise and break that peppered me but I pushed the pain to the side for the moment as I heaved.

Rose was by my side in an instant, holding my hair on top of my head and soothingly rubbing my back. Her cold hands felt so good, even though I was drenched and quickly getting colder. My head burned as I retched again, but nothing came out. I flopped down next to the toilet and messily wiped at my wet face.

Rose disappeared for a second before she came back with a towel and the glass of water that was by my bed. I wiped at my face, getting rid of the sudden sweat and looked up at her glumly as I took the cup from her hand.

"Thanks, sorry about this... sometimes when I remember it, it makes me feel sick," Her pretty face was a picture of guilt as the water dripping off us drenched the tiled floor.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," She said as she helpfully rested the back of her hand against my burning cheek. I gratefully leaned into her frozen touch and sighed.

"No, it's fine, my own stupid fault, I usually have a pretty strong stomach," I took a sip of the water and swilled it around my mouth until it became warm and gross. I spat it out in the toilet and reached up to flush now that my stomach was settling.

For a long moment Rose just studied me, and judging by the furrowed brow, I'd have guessed she was worried, not surprising really, I'd have been just as bad if the roles were reversed.

"Think you can manage rinsing?" She asked and I nodded and let her help me up. My limbs ached in protest and I nearly stumbled, but she carefully led me back to the shower and helped finish washing me and my hair. I was so out of it I didn't even flinch when she got to the more intimate areas.

As soon as I was soap-less, Rose carefully guided me back out and I held onto a towel bannister for support as she dried me off and helped me into my clean clothes. When I got back into the room I was staying in, I noticed the sheets had been stripped bare and the quilt was neatly folded up at the end of the bed.

Guess that meant I wasn't getting back in that right now.

"Come on, Jasper's waiting for you in his study," I had been in there a handful of times, but I think Jasper preferred to keep the place to himself, having cited it as the one room where Alice couldn't touch anything.

I looked over the bannister as we left the bedroom and saw the living room was empty, Rose smiled down at me and chose to fill me in.

"Eleazar and Irina have gone hunting with Emmett. Peter and Charlotte are out of town so they can grab a criminal... Carlisle's at work and I think Izzy and Esme are in the kitchen," I frowned and asked about the missing people.

"What about Myra and her kids? And Edward?" Rose's face scrunched up a little as I mentioned his name but she answered anyway.

"Myra is staying at a hotel, we're keeping an eye on her and Esme drops in on her and the kids every day. I think they wanted to spend time away from vampires, not that I blame them. Carlisle's offered to pay for her to stay there until she's decided on what she wants to do next," Her eyes tightened slightly as she continued. "As for Edward, he's gone to stay with some of Carlisle's friends in Ireland. They have a member of their coven that can sense lies, another that Carlisle believes can manipulate the outcome a situation, and her mate. They're the most civilised human-drinkers we know, and they'll be able to keep Edward in line." Rose didn't seem too happy and I stopped her before we reached Jasper's study.

"Not what you wanted?" I asked as I leaned back to rest on the bannister. Rose crossed her arms over her chest and glared at nothing in particular.

"The bastard is getting off way too easily, Carlisle says it's only temporary until we can find a better solution, but I'm worried he's just going to welcome him back after a few years or something," I sighed and gave her a weak smile.

"At least it's for a few years, right?" Rose snorted and shook her head.

"A few years is barely anything for us, and I want that asshole to pay for what he's done," I reached out and held onto her elbow as I spoke.

"For now, he's gone and that all I really want, I don't think I'm ready to stomach another death anyway, no matter how much you want it," Rose's expression fell as guilt flashed across her face.

"I'm sorry," She started but I cut her off with a smile.

"Don't be, I don't blame you for feeling like that one bit, but for now lets leave it at that," She nodded briskly and straightened.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... Call me if you need anything, okay?" I smiled brighter and gave her a one armed hug.

"Will do, kitty-cat," She placed a light kiss atop my head as she passed me, I forced out another smile for her and knocked on Jasper's door.

I only waited a moment before he told me to come inside, a small thump following his words.

"Hey Darlin', how are you feeling?" He asked as he crossed the room in quick strides and pushed back my damp fringe to the side to rest a hand on my head. I still felt a little flushed from throwing up and leaned into the touch. "You're hot," He stated simply and I chuckled lightly.

"You're not so bad yourself, Cowboy, but I'm alright, really," He snorted in amusement and let his hand drop as he guided me to a brown leather sofa.

Jasper's study was more or less what anyone could have guessed it would be. There was a large window that looked perfect for jumping out of, nestled between two large bookshelves, filled with musty old tomes. The floor was covered in a lush red wood, a dark brown rug covered the centre of the room. He had a large desk with papers, some nicknack's dotted around and a pair of sofa's tucked away in the corner of the room near an ancient rocking chair that I wouldn't dare touch lest it crumble.

As I took a seat, I noticed the box on the floor, next to his desk chair. There was a postage stamp on it, and a paper was leaking out of the hastily closed lid. Jasper caught my stare and hoisted the box up, bringing it with him as he sat next to me on the sofa.

"Technically, this is yours," I blinked in confusion and pulled off the lid and he slid he box between us.

Inside were a plethora of official looking documents, birth certificates, bank statements, passports... It took a long moment for me to remember, but I did.

"Is this the stuff you got in case I agreed to leave Forks?" He nodded as I pulled out a thick envelope that had been filled with money. I knew the Cullens were loaded, but seeing such a large amount in my hand still made my eyes go wide.

"Yeah, it was delivered a few days back," He pointed at the money in my hands. "That was just in case it wasn't safe for you to use your card," He dug inside the box and handed me another envelope. Years of loosing my bank card and receiving club cards in the mail let me guess at what it was fairly quickly.

"Is this... a bank card?" Again he nodded. I hesitantly slit open the letter and unfolded it. A card was glued to the paper, it almost had my name. "Kali-Mae Whitlock, huh?" I asked with a teasing lilt in my voice, and was amused at the sudden embarrassment on Jasper's face.

"Well, you kind of refused to tell us your real last name, and Swan or Cullen would lead people back here..." I tried not to laugh but I couldn't help myself as I dropped the letter back into the box and rested a hand on my side in a vain attempt to stop the pain in my ribs that laughter brought on.

"I didn't tell you for a few reasons," I finally managed to say between giggles. Jasper moved the box back onto the floor and shuffled closer. "I was worried about my safety when I met you, and I didn't want you to try and find a ten year younger me in this world. If I wanted to find myself, I would have done it myself, and as much as I love you all, you are all very nosey folk," Jasper gave me a crooked grin and slung an arm around my shoulders.

"You're not wrong, Carlisle would have tried to look you up through the hospital system, at the very least," I leaned against him and felt his thumb stroking my shoulder idly. "But I would really like to know your real name, promise I won't go looking anywhere you don't want me to," He hinted obviously and I felt my lips lift a little.

"I'll give you a clue, I share a last name with one of the most bad-ass female characters in the video game world," His brow furrowed and I chuckled as he thought hard.

"Yeah, you're probably better posing that kinda riddle to Emmett, I don't play nearly as many games as him, I always had trouble with the little buttons," He finished airily and placed an idle kiss on my cheek.

Snuggling into his side more and ignoring all the little twinges of pain as I did, I gave a half shrug and smiled up at him.

"Then I guess you're gonna have to figure it out, aren't you?" He huffed against my hair in irritation, and I felt a little bubble of laughter grow in my chest at his frustration.

"Quit trying to be a damn enigma," He grumbled but hugged me a little tighter, careful to only touch the places he knew I was mostly injury free.

Jasper's comfort was good for me and it was starting to help it feel easier, the guilt that is. It didn't gnaw so heavily on my heart but every fibre of my being was dreading telling Bella what had happened to her dad. For now though, my heart felt just a little lighter by being around him.

Though that was soon to change.

Jasper tensed, his hug suddenly becoming more protective,there was a deep rumble in his chest where a growl was building, threatening to tear out of throat. I looked up to his face but he wasn't paying any attention, his gaze was far off as he listened to something that I couldn't.

I was carefully, but quickly moved from his embrace as he stood.

"Jasper?" Esme hesitantly called from downstairs and I realised something must be really wrong.

Jasper had been obviously overprotective since he'd brought me home, and I think cooping myself up had helped ease, probably why he didn't push me to get out of bed until now. So at first I assumed he was just overreacting, but Esme wouldn't be calling up with a worrying tone in her voice if someone had just said something wrong (my first guess for why he was upset).

"What's happening?" I asked as my heart began thumping loudly in my chest, I wasn't ready for another fight, it was too soon and I couldn't help the sense of dread that was creeping up my spine.

"Wolves," Jasper spat out and it took me a long second to realise he wasn't talking about the regular kind.

Nope, the supernatural kind had come to visit, like 3 books early.

I knew this would be about Charlie, and whilst I wasn't ready to talk about it or confront the situation, I refused to let them get the blame because I was depressed. With an excess of effort, I pushed myself off the sofa and made my way towards the door, Jasper appeared in front of me, his face like thunder.

"You're not going anywhere near them, we'll take care of this," He shot out the room and slammed the door in my face.

Annoyed, and exhausted, I opened the door and caught a blur race to the front door. It was at a slow pace, but I followed after him, and was granted quite the sight from the living room window.

Standing imposingly in the garden, at over 3 meters tall, were three very angry wolves, accompanied by a tanned old man in a wheelchair. The eyes of the wolves honed in on me and it took courage to walk outside and stand with the Cullens.

It was only Esme, Rose, and Jasper, but if a fight broke out at least we had equal numbers. I assumed that because of the added complications, Esme had told Izzy to stay hidden until this was resolved, I really hoped she listened.

"Do you know why we are here?" The sole male humans identity finally clicked for me as Jake's dad, Billy Black. His face reminded me of weathered leather, tough and full of hard lines from years of displaying strong emotions, his black eyes were like cold pits as he glared at us. The entourage of wolves could barely hold back their growls as he addressed their mortal enemies.

"I believe so, before we talk, would you consider waiting for my husband to come home? He was the one who made the treaty, and as the leader of our coven it would be wrong of us to have a diplomatic discussion without him present," Esme asked kindly.

I wasn't sure if she was stalling for time, or if she meant just what she said, but considering my self imposed bed rest, I wasn't sure if we even had an official story to tell them.

One of the wolves snarled and took a step forward, and everyone's reactions were intimidate. Rose and Jasper moved to my side and kept me behind them, Esme took a hesitant step back, with her palms up to show she meant no harm and the wolves barked and growled at each other.

Billy stayed still, his weathered glare never leaving his face as he raised his hand to still the trio of wolves behind him.

"We will make decisions on what to do upon your husbands return, but we will hear what has transpired now," Esme opened her mouth and Billy interrupted her before she had the chance to speak. "Not from you, Bella will tell us,"

I almost didn't respond at first, it having been so long since someone called me Bella, but I stepped around my blonde guards, patting Jasper's arm as I did and walked forwards, stopping next to Esme.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, my voice was harder than I meant it to be but the seriousness of the situation was slowly dawning on me. One wrong word and I could break the treaty between enemies and start an all out war.

Billy was contemplative for a moment, but his eyes never left mine.

"It has come to our attention that not only are you aware of their world, but there was an incident recently involving foreign vampires, so please tell me Bella. Where is your father?" My eyes slid shut as I sighed, this wasn't something I waned to discuss but a quick glance to Esme and her encouraging look got me started.

"Charlie is dead," There was a beat of silence and I saw Billy's eyes widen only a fraction. The wolves seemed momentarily shocked into silence, the background rumble of their barely contained growls, disappearing. "He was killed by nomad vampires, which have been dealt with,"

Billy studied my face for a long moment before he spoke again.

"Explain," Was all he said, there was a slight tremor to his voice that made me want to hang my head in shame. I desperately wished he had asked anyone but me, but he knew Bella wouldn't lie about Charlie, and it was smart of him to ask me.

"Charlie was kidnapped because of me, the nomad vampires wanted to give me to The Volturi in exchange for turning Forks into a buffet, the Cullens did everything they could to get to us in time, but regretfully, it was too late for him," I could see Billy's adams apple bob inside his throat as he fought back his grief, his black eyes shone with tears he was holding onto dearly.

"Why would these Volturi want you, Bella? Is it because you're aware of their world?" He managed to ask around his misery and I shook my head.

"No. it's because I have one of those latent vampire gifts. The running theme is a human with some special traits turned into a vampire, is likely to develop supernatural powers that The Volturi covet," I didn't want to answer too many questions about it, just because I didn't want them to know about the real reason why, and just who was really involved all along. They would not accept Edward and Alice being even slightly responsible for Charlie's death, and I didn't blame them.

Billy studied me again, gathering his thoughts, the way he watched me, so carefully it made my palms sweat and I awkwardly wiped them against my black PJ pants.

"Where is Charlie now?" That I didn't know. I knew that they wouldn't have just left him, but I had no clue where he was now.

I looked up to Esme for help and she intervened on my behalf.

"We have his... body, but due to the ramifications on our kind, we've yet to come up with a completely solid plan. We were hoping to talk to you before we made any official decisions," She tried to mollify in her kindliest voice.

Billy wasn't buying it.

"Then you should have come to us a lot sooner," His tone was snappy, and I could see where he was starting to place the blame. The wolves by his side begun their growling as they sensed Billy's rage. "We will need to hear all the facts before we let you make any choices on my friends behalf," His voice was low and commanding, like he was trying to forcefully dominate us by tone alone.

Jasper chose to step up then, standing just a little in front of me.

"Then you can hear it from us, Bella is still recovering from multiple injuries, as I'm sure you can see," There was a tone of condescension to his voice and I placed my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

The wolves snarled at him, but I took no notice and stepped closer to Billy.

"Billy – my dad died because I couldn't protect him, so please don't blame them, I couldn't get to him in time and he was killed because I was defiant, selfish and so, so reckless," The tears began again, the wolves stopped snarling and Billy watched me quietly. "I'm so sorry, I tried, I really did-" I choked out between sobs and jumped when Billy rolled himself closer and took hold of my good hand.

"You entered a world – a battlefield, you should never have known about, let alone joined, it's a miracle you're alive at all. Charlie... I know he would have given his life for you, his passing is a terrible tragedy, but I know if the roles were reversed he would have tried just as hard to save you," He said quietly, his hands shaking as he held mine.

Maybe his words were supposed to comfort me but all they did was rip open the stitches on the barely healed wounds in my heart. My sobs became louder and I fell to my knees as my grief peaked.

Rose was by my side in an instant, and had gathered me up in her arms and was carefully cradling me against her, trying to soothe me with shushing sounds. I buried my face in my neck, part in shame and part to muffle the sounds of my uncontrollable crying.

Another hand touched my shoulder and I didn't even need to look up to see who it was as I felt the grief weighing on my chest, lift just a little. It was enough to help me quiet my sobs at least, and I managed to pull myself out of Rose's arms, a little embarrassed that I'd ended up there in the first place.

Billy was watching me with an air of sadness, I gave him an apologetic grimace.

"Sorry about that," I apologised quietly.

Before either of us could continue the conversation, Carlisle came to a skidding halt in front of me, but not too close to the wolves, probably to show he meant no threat.

"I apologise for my absence, I just received a text from Rose that you had come to discuss the recent on goings. Might we invite you inside?" He offered cordially, Billy paused for a long moment before nodding slowly.

There was no appropriate wheelchair access for him to enter the Cullens house, and I had a feeling he would have rather crawled than let any of the Cullens carry his chair indoors. Thankfully the issue didn't last long as the biggest, black wolf turned purposefully to the other members of his pack, before walking off into the forest, I caught the wad of fabric tied around his hind leg and was glad I wouldn't have to deal with naked werewolves.

Dressing quickly in jeans, Sam walked back out and seemed to take stock of everyone's position before he walked over to Billy and lifted him and his chair like it was nothing. Esme led the way, kindly ushering them inside and offering drinks like the hostess she was. Rose and Jasper gave the snarling wolves a last purposeful look before guiding me back inside too.

The wolves watched me closely and I tried to give them a little wave but they didn't seem to change their expressions (though it was very hard to tell) and I turned away from them with a sigh, bracing myself for another conversation I didn't want to have.

Sam had placed Billy's chair down beside an arm chair and had reluctantly taken a seat, opposite Esme and Carlisle, who of course sat together keeping the glass coffee table between them. I chose to bridge the gap and sat on the sofa between them both, sitting at the end closer to Billy so Jasper or Rose didn't have to be closer than Sam would have liked.

"Start from the beginning," Billy demanded and Carlisle did.

A lot was omitted, it was an unspoken thing that no one bring up Edward, Alice or the fact that I wasn't Bella. Otherwise Carlisle kept to the facts, at least until it came to why this had all transpired in the first place.

"And how would these Volturi know of Bella's mental shield, exactly?" Billy drilled and Carlisle seemed at a loss for a reason before finally conceding.

"We don't know," He ran a hand through his hair and tried to elaborate, "We have theories, but nothing solid and nothing that we're confident about, for now, how she was discovered remains somewhat of a mystery to us," It was a clever lie really, Billy couldn't disprove us not knowing how someone discovered Bella's powers.

Billy's frown deepened as he studied the room and I saw Sam tense briefly, before he angrily barked at everyone,

"You should leave Forks, you monsters bring nothing but death with you," The venom in his words was palpable and made the snarl on my face grow. He seemed surprised when he finally caught sight of my expression.

"Monsters? What makes you so much better? From what I can gather you only transform into wolves to kill them! You know damn well that the Cullens don't drink from humans, and I've seen how much it kills them to deal with the thirst! So where the fuck do you get the stones to call them monsters?" I found myself standing after my mini tirade, daring this pup to challenge me.

Billy seemed more surprised than Sam was, though he quickly gathered himself together and stood, towering over me by a ridiculous amount.

"Vampires are monsters! How can you defend them after everything they've done?!" I growled and got in his face as I continued berating his prejudice ass.

"Oh so you're, what? 'Speciest'? I've met people like you before that believe there are 'dangerous dog breeds'. Just cause a Pitbull bit someone doesn't mean the species should be condemned, if the world ran on your fucked up logic than there'd be anarchy," I growled in his snarling face, catching Billy's surprise from the corner of my eyes, I continued. "But I'm sure we could euthanise you, wonder how many fucking lives I'd save, how many people wouldn't end up mauled," Sam's pupils shrunk but his teeth began to show in his rage.

Okay, so that was a low blow, though I imagine they had no idea if I even knew what had happened to Emily and that I wasn't just making a wild guess at what could happen. This idiot was name-calling the people I'd come to adore, and my angry ass wasn't going to take that lying down, just a shame for him I knew what insults would sting the most.

I could see Sam shaking with barely contained anger and knew this was my warning to move or get killed, but I wasn't done. "Go ahead, transform and hurt me, prove to me that you're really the monster here, little mongrel," I spat and could practically feel the boiling heat rolling off of him before I felt a woosh of air as I was pulled backwards.

Jasper's grip on my good arm was tight and we both knew he had hurt me unintentionally, and I'd have fingerprint bruises around my forearm, but neither of us cared at the moment. I was wrapped up in one big ball of rage and grief and positively dying to take it out on someone, this idiot just happened to make himself undesirable number 1.

"Kali," Jasper warned as he stared down Sam, just as Billy sharply called Sam's name.

All eyes turned to Jasper who tried to hide his mistake but Billy wasn't letting him bury it so easily.

"What did you call her?" He asked somewhat suspiciously, but not so much that he had guessed I wasn't Bella.

Thinking fast, I chose to answer,

"Jasper calls me Kali, and I call him Cowboy, they're just dumb nicknames," I tried to swing the subject off of Jasper's slip up and continue my argument. "Just more proof that some vampires make perfectly good friends, they protect you, give you fond nicknames, and they don't eat you," Sam still looked pissed, but he seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

He stiffly sat back down and Jasper loosened his grip on my arm and gently guided me into the seat next to him, this time keeping himself between Sam and I.

"More importantly what are we going to do now?" I posed the question to Billy, but I hadn't a clue what conversations had transpired in my self-imposed bed rest and had hoped that the Cullens had come up with something.

Billy looked thoughtful but Carlisle offered up his thoughts first.

"We have discussed some possible options, if you'd like to hear them?"

Whereas I would have just barrelled on, Carlisle waited for permission in the form of a single nod from Billy, before he continued.

"The police have been working under the assumption that Charlie was taken by the same person involved in what they originally thought was some kind of animal attack in Seattle. Whilst this is somewhat true, as I told you the nomads were the ones responsible for those killings, I believe we should use this to our advantage," Billy looked a little angry, and I could guess that it was down to the almost clinical manner that Carlisle used to explain his ideas.

Still, he prompted him to continue, even though his face looked like thunder.

"We are open to suggestions, but nothing barbaric," He said stiffly, I could see Carlisle was a little offended by the implication but continued.

"The hunting cabin where we found Bella and Charlie has yet to be discovered and there are at least a dozen bodies still there, we've taken steps to block off road access for now, but they can't be left for long. Our idea involved making an anonymous call to the police, however we have a slight problem when it comes to hiding the evidence of vampire attacks.

"Most of the victims had external injuries but the cause of death will be clear in a morgue, we do have an idea for that, but I would like your approval before we go through with it," Carlisle's body was tense, though not in an aggressive manner, more like he was waiting to be scolded.

Billy took in his tenseness and the way Esme's hand rested on his arm to provide comfort.

"You're talking about fire aren't you?" Sam's head whipped around to gape at Billy, who sounded almost resigned to the idea. "Exposure for them, especially in this town, could spell future problems for us later. Whilst I do not approve of any of these somewhat underhanded methods, the safety of the living should always come before the comfort of the dead," He explained to Sam sagely.

Sam turned back to Carlisle with a glare.

"And what about the families and friends of all those people? Think they're gonna be happy about this? And what about Charlie, he was drained too, wasn't he?" Carlisle had skirted around explaining the exact cause of Charlie's death, after my brief explanation that he died for me.

"No, Charlie died from injuries, not vampire bites, he was drained afterwards," I explained coldly, and Sam almost winced at my words, though maybe it was because Bella's daughter was correcting him on the way her dad died.

Billy's eyes looked glassy, and he took a long moment to steady himself before he continued.

"I do not want Charlie's body to be a part of this,"

Carlisle sighed and hung his head in shame.

"Neither do I, but it will raise even more questions if he's not there, with the rest,"

A long silence dragged out whilst everyone thought of an alternative. Though I knew they had been inside the cabin, they weren't trapped there like me, and I knew more about the place. So with my mind trying to detachedly fly through ideas of what to do with Charlie's body, I almost smiled when I finally thought of something.

"The basement!" I exclaimed and all head turned to me with curious faces. "The basement is stone, so it'll be very difficult to set fire to, there's no carpets and the only wood in there are the tables and the- crates," I caught myself on the final word. Explaining that there were coffins down there would lead to questions about Myra, someone no one was talking about.

Billy's brow furrowed and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Are you sure it was all stone?" He confirmed cautiously.

I nodded easily and tried to explain it better.

"The walls, the foundation of the house itself, and the floor were all stone. We could put Charlie in one of the crates, along with some other bodies in the others, then more than his body will be protected from the fire, and it won't look so suspicious," It was hard to talk about him this way, I felt the tears gathering in my eyes and ignored Billy's sympathetic look.

Carlisle gave me a grimaced smile, the subject was horrible but he was still pleased that I'd come up with something they hadn't.

"That could work, the room was designed to be somewhat fireproof by the looks of it," He was referring to Myra's work with the Clay Cadavers but the less said about that the better. "I assume it was for smoking meats, possibly," He added hesitantly, and I tried not to smile at how much of a clever quack he was.

I turned back to Billy and gave him a resolute look.

"This is what has to be done, I don't want his body desecrated anymore, and if this will help and all we'll be doing is moving him, then I think it's for the best. However, if you have any other ideas or thoughts, I'm all ears," Billy looked down for a moment, I could see his eyes moving as he thought rapidly, but finally closed them with a heavy sigh.

"I can think of no better plans. As much as I would prefer to have Charlie go into the ground, I know this will be for the best." Billy continued, his eyes shone as he looked up, abandoning all pretence and pride he quietly asked Carlisle, "I would ask to see him before you take him back there," The lump in my throat grew and I couldn't bare to look at Charlie's corpse again.

Esme nodded and stood.

"Of course, we've been taking good care of him, if you would follow me out back I'll take you myself," She offered kindly, her voice was soft and I couldn't see a glimmer of distrust in Billy's face as he nodded.

Sam was more hesitant, but wise enough not to voice his concerns right now, instead he helped Billy back out of the front door. Though she was taking him around the back, I had a feeling that Izzy was hiding somewhere in the kitchen or the garden.

As soon as Billy left I felt my bones turn to mush and I collapsed against Jasper's shoulder and quietly cried.

"That was horrible," I mumbled against his stone flesh.

Jasper turned and carefully gathered me up, holding me against his chest as I silently sobbed.

"I know, you did so well to make it through this. They would have most likely demanded to see you even if you didn't come outside – which I'm still mad at you for, by the way," I gave a weak snort of laughter against his chest at the idle threat before he continued. "We'll take care of everything else, you don't have to worry about it anymore. The only thing I can think of left for you, is listening to the police offer their condolences and attending the funeral," I fisted his shirt and he mumbled an apology as he shut up and petted my damp hair.

"It's fine... I just don't like thinking about it... Bella should go to the funeral, not me," Another hand touched my back, the fingers were smaller and I could easily have guessed it was Rose before she spoke.

"But she's not here, you are,"

There was more unspoken words that I knew she was trying to convey but didn't want to voice aloud. She meant that I had to go, it'd look wrong if I didn't, and I agreed.

However there was one last thing I had to do, something I'd been putting off this entire time.

"I have to call Renée," There was a collective wince around the group. "I've been putting it off for far too long, does she even know anything that's happened?" I asked, knowing full well she probably didn't.

If I remembered correctly Bella had kept in touch through email, but I had no clue what her password was, let alone her email address and I didn't even know what to say, so I'd done nothing. Although in my defence, I've been pretty preoccupied, what with the heart attack, kidnappings, fights and barely adhered to recovery times.

"We didn't call her, and we're not sure if Charlie managed to," Rose started slowly as she thought back. "He mentioned he was having trouble getting through to her because of her and Phil travelling for his job. Bella was emailing her right?" I grimaced and shrugged.

"I think so? I never really used Bella's laptop, yours was always way better, and it kinda felt like snooping... not to mention the little pain tidies up so much that I couldn't find the damn thing for forever..." I grumbled, making Rose roll her eyes in amusement.

I de-tangled myself from the comforting embrace of my vampires and sat forward, turning towards Carlisle.

"Kali, are you sure you should call her? She knows Bella best, and she'll know that something's wrong, everyone in Forks barely knew you and thanks to your memory loss you were able to fool Charlie," There was a tightening in my chest when I thought about the last time I had spoken with him.

Edward had ranted at his barely conscious body about who I was and what I had done, Charlie knew my name was Kali and that I was never his daughter when we said farewell in that abyss.

I clicked my tongue, trying to snap myself out of those hazy memories and focus on the matter at hand.

"Renée will need to hear it from me, but maybe it'd be a good idea if you spoke first as my Doctor and explained about my amnesia and that no one could reach her? It'll sound more believable coming from you," I explained my vague plan.

Carlisle nodded along with my words thoughtfully.

"That seems like an idea with a lot of merit, plus it'll cover you as for why you haven't been in contact with her," I flashed him a quick smile and stood.

"Great, someone get her number and let's get this over with," I started to walk towards the kitchen and found Jasper had fallen instep with me.

"Where are you off?" He asked curiously and offered me his arm so I could walk with ease.

"Food, apparently I'm done punishing myself," I said and couldn't help but smile at the joyful way Jasper's eyes lit up and I felt a jolt of happiness slip out of his control through our shared contact.

I squashed down the pang of guilt that was trickling down my spine, knowing that Jasper had noticed it, but hopefully he put it down to either the constant culpability running through me that stemmed from my ongoing grief. Or at least my shame from barely touching my food over the last couple of days.

I could only hope he didn't figure out the true reason for my guilt before I gathered the courage to go through with my next move.

Sam and Billy came back to wish me farewell and when I went outside to see them off, I found that there was only one wolf left, and a familiar guy was standing around in jeans.

I recognised Jared from my brief stint at La Push beach, and flashed him a half smile, he gave me a weak smile back but slowly walked over, making Jasper tense at my side.

"Jakey's dream girl really got herself in some crap, huh?" He said jokingly, but there was a tenseness about him. I could only snort and shrug my shoulder, the sling making it awkward to move both.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I eyed the wolf next to him, who seemed to be glaring at me somewhat, for reasons I couldn't discern.

Jared caught my curious stare and turned around and told off his pack mate.

"Would you chill out, Paul," He grumbled and the wolf snorted but turned away to keep an eye on where Billy, Carlisle and Esme were talking quietly.

The name Paul was somewhat familiar but I couldn't place him right this moment.

"Are my buddies making him pissy?" I asked with a note of teasing in my voice. Jared seemed to just completely ignore my vampire entourage whilst we spoke, which whilst rude, was probably for the best.

"That's not quite what's got him worked up, he said he met you once and you asked him for directions-" I tried not to visibly gulp as my memory caught up with me. "He said he spoke to you and suddenly woke up elsewhere, missing a lighter. I told him now isn't the time but he wants to know what happened and I'd rather it be me asking than him," Jared explained reasonably, Paul had turned his full attention back to us and was waiting for my answer.

Paul Lahote, the gangly youth I'd met on my drive back from La Push, and whose body I had borrowed to get by Jasper who was waiting for me at the treaty border. Ah, good times.

I couldn't really think up a decent answer that wouldn't dobb me in it, so I shrugged and tried to look bemused.

"Sorry, I ain't got a clue. I don't remember meeting him, I suffered some short term memory loss from a B12 deficiency that caused my heart attack," When in doubt, play the amnesia card. "But y'know, I hope he finds his lighter," Rose tried not to snort and I tried to brush off the look of mild irritation that Jared shot her.

Jared shrugged helplessly as he turned back to Paul.

"Well I guess that's that, you heard the lady," Paul narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me and snuffled once, before stepping around us to go stand closer to Billy. "Sorry about him, he's a little highly strung," Jared apologised, and gave me a cheeky smile.

I saw Jasper twitch in the corner of my eyes and fought off a grin. Such a jealous man.

"No worries, I understand this must be hard for you guys to be here, I appreciate the civility," I said sincerely, trying to get the vampires and shape shifters started on a road to real peace.

Jared briefly opened and closed his mouth for a second and I raised an eyebrow, cautiously curious.

"Something on your mind, puppy-child?" He looked faintly amused at the nickname but shook it off and continued with an easy smile.

"Kinda, I know you've got yourself in one hell of a mess, but I wanted to give you the option to talk to someone that's not a blood drinker and understands a little about the world you've found yourself in," He offered, eyes only on me, like he would snap at any vampire that he looked at.

I tried not to grin, his casual insult to the two intimidating blondes by my side was fun to watch, I could feel the air shift next to me from the power building inside Jasper and nudged his hand with the back of mine in warning.

"So you offering to be an ear for me or something?" I asked with a light grin, he gave me a shrug/nod combo and flashed me a set of dazzling white teeth.

"More or less, let me give you my number and if you need me or the pack for anything, call anytime," I could detect the barest hint of flirting in him and Jasper was most certainly simmering beside me but I accepted his number. I just told him to tell me and someone will repeat it back for me when I got a hold of my phone.

He shrugged again, and did as I asked, repeating the digits twice.

"Got it memorised?" He directed to Rose, who was at least easy on the eyes when it came to supernatural mortal enemies.

She looked coolly down her nose at him and rolled her eyes.

"Of course, who could forget seeing a dog perform such an impressive trick," I snorted noisily into my hand, watching Jared's face darken dangerously.

I bumped her side with my hip and shot her a grin.

"Now, now, play nice Rosie-girl," Rose just shrugged smugly and stalked away. Jasper wasn't budging though and was quite happily glaring at Jared from my other side, ready to intervene at a moments notice should he feel the need. Though I'd kick his ass if he did cause this shit was going smoothly and I didn't want anything to wreck it.

Not counting my grief stricken temper that I took out on the leader of the pack of visiting wolves, of course.

"Just be sure to give me a call if you need anything," There was a slightly pained look on his face as he continued. "I gotta go, the stench around here is terrible," I shook my head fondly and said my farewells as he strode back to the forest to shift back into a wolf.

"We should get a dog," I mused to Jasper as I watched Jared leave.

"Don't even joke," He responded in a grumble and turned away from the wolves to walk beside me.

I tried not to giggle as we made our way back over to the "adults". Billy gave me a grim smile and closed the distance between us.

"Do you plan to stay here?" He asked, in a slightly disappointed tone.

Nodding, I stood a little closer to Jasper, a small part of me was worried he'd try and take me away but he had no legal guardianship over me.

"Yes, this is the best place for me right now, I'm safe and I'll stay that way here," The words tasted like dirt in my mouth, but I couldn't let my feelings show on my face.

Billy's frown deepened, the lines crinkling his face so much they started to resemble crumpled paper. After giving me a long, silent look, he finally sighed.

"If that's what you think is best, I'll be in touch, please don't hesitate to get a hold of me anytime should you need me," He was offering me the same as Jared, but I knew I wouldn't be calling anytime soon.

As odd as it felt to familiarly hug someone I'd just met, I still leaned down and awkwardly wrapped my good arm around him and squeezed him tightly.

"Thank you," I mumbled against his shoulder sincerely, the ebbing guilt beginning to creep up and gnaw on me once more.

Billy stroked my back and held me for a moment before we de-tangled but held onto my hand.

"I'll see you soon, Bella," He said and Sam gave me a curt nod before they started making their way down the long road.

As soon as they disappeared from my view, a chestnut blur raced over to me and I jumped in surprise.

"You're awake!" Izzy sounded positively thrilled and I smiled as I pulled her into a loose one armed hug her head rested comfortably on my shoulder as she snuggled into me. "I've been so worried about you, but Jasper wouldn't let anyone see you, and Esme said you weren't touching your food, and then Emmett suggested I bash down the door myself, and I was gonna but then Rose told me off, and Esme kept making me garden to stop me from bothering you, and I don't like plants," I was struggling to keep from bursting into laughter, it was amazing how much she could say without needing air.

Although its not like she does need air in the first place.

"I think I got most of that," I said in amusement and she pulled back to study my face and grinned. "I'm sorry for worrying you, I just needed some me time, and it would take a crane or some kind of missile to remove Jasper from my side,"

Jasper folded his arms and gave half a shrug.

"You're not wrong, you're never getting rid of me," Instead of the usual flip-flopping of my stomach his romantic words would cause, all I could feel was the gross, sticky grasp of guilt.

I gave him a smile, but I wasn't sure if it reached my eyes.

"C'mon cuteness, let's have a catch up, we have a lot to do." Izzy groaned but needlessly helped me back inside. "I can walk y'know,"

"Well I don't know that do I? I haven't seen you for days, for all I know you could be hobbling by, barely clinging to life," She gave me a familiar cheeky grin.

"It's like looking in a sexy mirror, like I'm scared, but I'm a little turned on," Izzy snorted and opened the door for me.

The rest of the family followed us indoors, possibly after lamenting the fact that there was essentially two of me, and we sat down to discuss what we had to do next.

I'll spare you the grimy details, but the plan was to put back Charlie's body as soon as possible, set the hunting lodge on fire, and someone would call the fire brigade from a burner phone next to the road. Emmett had volunteered to play the decoy perp and make an appearance in Port Angeles, in disguise.

After that we had to deal with Renée, the police when they came to break the news, Charlie's funeral and his affairs and what would happen next.

Everyone skirted around the subject of what would happen to me, because they had no say, and it was likely I'd end up going home with Renée.

Though not if I could help it.

The call to Renée was painful.

Rose had managed to get a hold of her email and had sent her a message on my behalf, saying that she's sorry for not getting in touch but a lot had happened and could she call as soon as possible.

She also added my new number at the bottom and after that it was just a tense waiting game.

As a group we had gone through what I would say to her, but our makeshift scripts barely kept up with Renée's jumble of hysterical questions and crying.

Of course she had asked why Charlie hadn't told her about my memory loss, why hadn't she been contacted sooner by the Doctor she just spoke to, and why hadn't I called her.

We lied through our teeth, claiming Charlie had decided to keep it quiet after I had asked him to, so she wouldn't worry and rush over to Washington (something we agreed Bella would have likely done). We told her that the Doctor hadn't called because Charlie was my current primary guardian, which she really wasn't pleased about but was too distraught at his sudden disappearance to speak ill of him.

I apologised over and over, until I ended up breaking down into tears, Jasper started trying to calm me with his gift and Izzy crouched in front of me, her hands resting on my knees as she looked on in worry.

Jasper couldn't help in the end and Izzy bravely took the phone off of me and continued the conversation. She made a far more convincing Bella than I, so Jasper took the opportunity to carry me into the kitchen to make me a sweet tea to calm me down.

Ugh. Grief sucks so hard.

I'm sure hearing about me sobbing like a child is getting monotonous so the short and small of it is that Renée was going to be travelling to Forks as soon as possible and stay with me until I was fit enough to travel.

My excessive injuries, and my recovering heart made flying something that wasn't possible, not to mention the Police wouldn't want me to leave during an ongoing investigation and suspicion would likely fall on the Cullens or myself.

Something I already knew plenty about from my old life. Trouble was my middle, first and last name growing up, after all.

With all that out of the way the Cullens split their priorities between making sure I was never alone and returning Charlie's body to the place he died. Whilst they set the fires and made the call to the fire station, Eleazar, Irina, Izzy, Peter and Charlotte kept Jasper and I company.

"Would you mind terribly if I were to check what gift you have?" Eleazar blurted out the moment I was comfortable and Peter snorted in laughter.

"You've been dying to get a read on her, haven't you?" He asked teasingly, making Eleazar looking away, abashed.

"My apologies, I'm just very curious, I haven't come across an ability like yours or Myra's before, something that requires herbs as a catalyst, and such strange abilities at that," He professed honestly and I gave him an amused smile and reached out my hand to him.

"By all means, I'm curious to what you'll find out, how does your power work anyway?" I asked, not really remembering much about Eleazar using his gift before.

Gently, he took hold of my hand and laid his other on top of it, his eyes unfocused slightly like he was looking for something I couldn't see, and he quickly explained his gift whilst he examined mine.

" Without touching someone, I can sense a nearby gifted human, though vampires are easier as they tend to have active gifts. When I'm in contact with someone, I know what they can do, it's like the information was there all along and it's unlocked when I touch someone with a gift,"

I blinked and turned to Jasper who looked a little tense at someone touching my hand, which was pretty much how he'd been since I'd left the bedroom.

"Well what information is popping up then?" I asked and Eleazar's eyes finally found their way back to mine.

"What an unusual ability... You're a body thief, but the power was never yours precisely... there's also a shield of some sort that belongs to the body, a mental shield, and growing in power. It's almost as if it rapidly evolved to keep up with the new problems your body stealing brought..." He muttered a little to himself.

Well, not exactly what I was expecting to hear but this explained why it had steadily gotten harder for Jasper to get a read on my feelings without touching me. His confirmation that my Takeover ability wasn't mine piqued my curiosity further. Just how had I gotten this power in the first place, if I wasn't born with it like Bella was her gift?

I had only the vaguest of ideas on how to find the answer. I needed to find a witch, my witch, in a place of old magic, a place humans called death. That was what the disembodied voices in the abyss had told me, but where to start?

Dragging myself back to reality, I took my hand back and gave Eleazar a lost shrug and a smile.

"Interesting but it doesn't mean much to me, sorry," Eleazar looked a little disappointed but placed his hands back in his lap and gave me a gentle smile.

"Thank you for letting me check regardless," I smiled and told him it was fine.

In the corner of my eye I saw Peter perk up and his grin grew, giving us all an ominous feeling. Charlotte elbowed him in the side and brought his crashing back down to earth.

"Ow, what's that for?" He whined and rubbed his side as if it had really hurt him.

"For looking like you're about to throw a pie at someone's head, you've got your prank face on, care to share before I make you?" She threatened casually and I chuckled, I was becoming quite fond of Charlotte quite quickly.

I felt bad for essentially ignoring her and Peter for 3 days whilst I copped myself up, but better they meet me later with a good head on my shoulders than sooner when I'm still neck deep in mourning. Peter was funny, and in some ways a lot like Emmett, always wanting to play, yet he was more cunning and just a dash more mischievous, with a severe lack of Cullen morals.

On the other hand Charlotte was a sexy combination of Esme's caring and Carlisle's stern face. She could make Peter heel faster than any dog whisperer with just the barest of looks, and boy did she look good doing it! She was around Bella's height, which made a nice change cause it was nice not to be the shortest in the house, something I never had to really deal with in my old life.

However she did seem a little cautious at the idea of me and Jasper, whilst we still weren't technically dating, I could understand her trepidation at his sudden infatuation with a human. Peter seemed to approve though if his constant ribbing and hints were anything to go by.

"Gyahh! Elbows, woman!" He complained as Charlotte elbowed him again for not being forthcoming about whatever he was up to now.

"Spill," She demanded harshly and he rubbed his head sheepishly as he oh so casually looked at me whilst he spoke.

"I just thought it funny that werewolves are literally armed to the teeth," He grinned boyishly and Charlotte could only roll her eyes at his awful puns.

I, on the other hand, had just had an epiphany, it was a dumb idea, and there was a very good chance that the guy I had in mind wouldn't say yes but...

"What are you thinking?" Jasper interrupted as he watched my face scrunch up with scrutiny.

I grinned and leaned against his side.

"Nothing Cowboy, you worry too much," I caught Peter's grin out of the corner of my eye as Jasper gave me a stern look.

The sly bastard knew exactly what thought he had planted in my head, and if he was suggesting it in the first place, than maybe it worked? An excited tremor ran up my spine, due to our proximity, Jasper felt it immediately with his gift and narrowed his eyes at me.

"No funny business," He warned and I reached up to kiss the tip of his nose.

"No promises, hot stuff," I said casually, but I don't think he bought it like he normally would have.

Whatever did I do to deserve an overprotective vampire scrutinising my every thought?

The week afterwards was a blur of comings and goings and my anxiety grew by each day that passed.

Eleazar and Irina left, mostly at her prompting, she more or less refused to talk with me, but I had a feeling that maybe she was told she wasn't allowed. I was sad to see Eleazar go, but, to his surprise, I had asked for his number so I could keep in touch with him. He kindly agreed and asked in turn that should I discover anything about the origin of my unique ability, to let him know.

Next came the Police. They informed us of the fire and finding Charlie's body, I acted appropriately distraught and asked about him. They were reluctant to reveal the details of his death to me but promised that he would be seen to first so we could hold a funeral for him.

They were also very curious about how I obtained my new injuries, the bruises were fading and we hid how badly damaged I was with big clothes, but we couldn't do much about my arm. Rose apparently had thought about this and chose to interject, telling them that I'd had a mild heart attack whilst I was walking down the stairs and tripped, landing on my wrist and bumping my face. Thankfully they bought it with no issues when I nodded and told them I was notoriously clumsy.

Carlisle took it upon himself to inform them that Renée was due to arrive in the next day or so (weather problems had forced a lot of flights to become grounded as the snow started), whilst I wept, something I was getting entirely too sick of doing.

The Police said they were still tracking a suspect that was cited to have headed towards Port Angeles but the only description they had was a tall white male in a green hat. Emmett had played the part of said fleeing suspect and had briefly let himself be seen in his disguise around Port Angeles before disappearing using his speed.

More importantly, the Cullens weren't even remotely suspect which would calm down the angry stirrings among the elders of the Quileute pack. A small worry off my mind.

It took me the longest time during all this to find a moment to get away, but I managed to cite needing to just go for a drive and somehow that worked. It was then that I made a call and asked for one hell of a favour.

I returned back about an hour or so later with a large package that I hid in the garage, I knew the smell would draw in curious vampires so I had taken a lot of precautions via sealing it in a plastic bag, then putting that bag in dirt laced with all of the herbs left over from Rose's experiments with my incense. It was convoluted, but it worked.

Locking the bag away as an extra precaution, I rigged up a spare smoke bomb to trigger if the lock was forced open. Something I used to do with my diary when I was a kid, though I didn't use smoke bombs, I used something that covered the unsuspecting fool in my home-brew that I affectionately reoffered to as Stinky Ink. Pretty self-explanatory, I imagine.

Once all that was done, I was thoroughly questioned and I threw a strop in order to get everyone to leave me alone. It more or less worked, and no one set off the smoke bomb trap, so I assumed I was in the clear for now.

It wasn't long after that that Renée showed up. The Cullens graciously offered their home, but she insisted on staying at a motel. She was a little upset that I couldn't stay with her but understood that my health needs came first.

Izzy offered to take my place as Bella, but everyone knew my hair colour was different so that wasn't an option. I more or less passed the Bella test for Renée, she seemed to be too lost in her own emotions to notice anything too different about me, which was in my favour for now.

She made plans for us though, she said as soon as Dr. Cullen told me that I was fit enough to travel, I'd be going back with her. Everyone tensed up at that and Carlisle had interjected on everyone's behalf and told her that I was in a very fragile state so it could be a while yet before it was safe for me. Renée listened and promised that I wouldn't be going anywhere until I was better.

Almost nervously, she offered the Cullens money for my care and asked if I would be able to stay here a little longer seeing as I had a Doctor at my beck and call at all hours. Esme refused her money but was more than happy to agree to continue looking after me.

"Oh sweetie, I really hate leaving you like this," Renée bemoaned as she hugged me, I could feel her tears making the top of my head damp.

"It's okay, I'm better off here, and I don't think it's good for my health to be involved in the... arrangements," I mumbled into her chest.

She pulled me back and held me at arms length, I felt my heart almost hurt with heaviness as I stared into her red rimmed, wet eyes.

"Yeah, I've got a lot to do... I'll be back as soon as I can, and hopefully we can spend some time together," She said with a watery smile.

After much hugging and thanking the Cullen family, she finally left, and I sagged into Jasper's arms and cried again. I was so bad that he had to take me back to my room to calm down.

I was close to my breaking point, but all I could tell myself over and over was to just hold on a little longer.

The big day I was dreading came far too soon for my liking. I dressed in black and finished making my final plans, putting everything in the back of Emmett's car, that he thankfully never cleaned.

Charlie's funeral was a quiet affair, his friends from the reservation came but Renée said that Charlie's will asked for something small, followed by a much more inclusive reception. He was buried beside his parents in a plot he'd picked out after their death I was told.

I felt like an intruder, Renée holding me tightly, people I didn't know giving me their condolences... it was wrong, so fundamentally wrong, that it made me want to scream the truth at them all.

Somehow I managed to hold in my turmoil, no one questioning my miserable expression probably helped.

I struggled on through the reception, the Cullens were invited to that and paid their respects to Renée, whilst Jasper and Rose took me away to a corner and tried to comfort me as best as they could. I didn't let Jasper meddle with my feelings because today was a day that I had to endure them, no matter how much it hurt. It was the only small way I could honour Charlie in that moment.

The reception ended by early afternoon and Renée dropped me off at the Cullens after I fobbed her off, claiming I really needed some rest and my meds.

"You were so brave today, baby," She mumbled into my hair as she held me close in front of the rental car she'd decided to get to make her short stay in Forks easier.

"Thanks, mom," I mumbled and managed to untangle myself from her tanned arms. I wanted to say more but I had trouble conveying my words to a woman that was like a stranger to me. "I'll see you soon," Renée nodded glumly and let go of my hands.

I slowly padded up the stairs, not even having the heart to wave to her over my shoulder.

The Cullens had driven back with us in their cars, but had respectfully gone on inside to give me a moment alone with Renée. They were standing around, looking more pale than usual in their funeral blacks, looking every bit the vampires they were.

"Are you alright, Darlin'?" Jasper asked me gently as he crossed the room in a few strides to stand in front of me.

I took his hands and gave him a weak smile.

"Not really, but I guess that's normal," He nodded glumly and pulled me into a cold hug.

"I know it must have been difficult for you, but you did so well today, do you want some lunch, or perhaps a rest?" Esme asked kindly as she stood pre-emptively to begin her bustling.

I gave her a grim smile and shook my head. It was now or never.

"No, but maybe... Jasper, could you take me on a drive?" He blinked at me but nodded all the same.

Rose stood and came over to my other side.

"You sure you're up to going outside again? You've lost an awful lot of fluids today," She said with a half-hearted teasing tone in her voice.

I chuckled lightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'd like some quiet time, and I know you guys don't want me all alone for too long, sounds like a fair compromise right?" They nodded and Esme made her way to the kitchen.

"Then at least let me make you a hot drink before you go, it'll be a worry off my mind," I shrugged and gave Jasper and Rose a small smile as I followed after her into the kitchen. A few more minutes wouldn't make any difference.

"Where's Izzy?" I asked as I slid into a bar stool.

"Myra's been testing out the hollow point for us, but she should be back soon, did you want to wait for her?" Esme told me.

"I'll hang about for a little bit," I told her non-committally and rested against Jasper's stomach as he came to stand behind me.

Izzy had been spending the last few days on and off with Myra at her hotel, mostly to keep her out of Renée's sight, but also to test something out for my new sister. We were concerned that once Myra left we'd have no way to give Izzy the leeches she needed as Myra was the only one with the ability to turn a small patch of skin back to clay again.

Thankfully, Carlisle had suggested Myra place a small hole on Izzy that she didn't heal back up so she could add the leeches herself. She'd spent the past few days testing it to see if it was safe and if the leeches could be added by herself so she'd become more independent.

We'd been slowly stock piling blood-filled leeches, after doing some research we discovered that surprisingly the blood inside of leeches stays fresh for about a year and a half and they only need to feed every two years. Making preserving the leeches for long periods relatively easy, and giving Izzy a chance to live without hanging on to my side every waking moment.

A steaming mug of sweet tea was placed in front of me and I automatically reached out for it and took a long swig. I ignored how it burned my tongue and the resulting sting, though I could sense Jasper's disapproval through our connection with his gift.

He said nothing and let me finish my drink in silence. Almost the exact moment I placed my mug down the back door opened and Izzy stepped inside, her eyes were sad, but she perked up when she saw me.

"Hey, how'd it go?" She asked me, almost nervously. Her brow was creased but there was a sad smile to her.

"It was a nice service, Billy and Renée said some words and they had his favourite pizza at the reception," It already felt like a bittersweet memory even though it was less than a few hours ago.

Izzy came and stood by my side, she bumped Jasper's hip until he finally rolled his eyes and stepped away from me, letting Izzy snuggle up to my back and wrap her arms around my neck.

"Thanks for going, I know Charlie would have been grateful for the lengths you've gone to to give him a decent burial," She said kindly.

I snorted softly and shook my head a little.

"The Cullens did everything, I just cried about it all," I grumbled and Izzy sighed, but said nothing as she cuddled me for a long minute.

Eventually she let me go and leaned on the marble counter top next to me.

"You can't beat yourself up about this forever, it'll eat you alive," She warned me quietly, a look of concern etched across her cute face.

"Not forever, but today, today I'll beat myself up about it all I want," My solemn statement was met with a cold silence. "I'm going to go for that drive," I pushed myself away from the counter and stood.

My heart was in my throat and it was with a heavy swallow that I stood and hugged everyone goodbye. I only hoped they didn't notice the slight tremble running through me as I hugged Esme and Izzy, walking back into the living room where Rose, Emmett and Carlisle were talking, I told them I was off and offered them all a hug.

They seemed a little surprised at my sudden desire for goodbye hugs, but said nothing about it and told me not to stay out too long.

I headed to the door to change my shoes into something more comfortable than black heels, and took out my necklace from my pocket to discreetly tuck it into my bad hand. I could move my thumb barely enough to trigger it, but it wouldn't be noticeable in my damaged hand which was the most important thing.

"I'll be back," I promised and headed to the Garage with Jasper on my heels.

"What car would you like to take?" Jasper was leaving the choice up to me, which worked in my favour.

"Emmett's Rubicon? It's a nice car," I said simply and made a beeline towards it, praying he didn't notice anything amiss. He didn't seem to and followed me to the car, taking the drivers seat.

"Where to, Princess?" I smiled at the fond nickname and shrugged.

"I don't know, just out of Forks... Can we go towards Port Angeles?" He raised his eyebrow but smiled all the same and nodded.

"Sure thing, buckle up Darlin'," I did as he asked and off we went. I think he sensed my desire for silence and let me stare out of the window without a word for the longest time.

I'm sure you've guessed it by now, I was running away, and this might be the last time I got to spend with Jasper.

Leaning a little awkwardly, I laid my head on his shoulder, and he easily drove one-handed in favour of hugging me. There was a chance he'd notice my feelings and stop the car, but I took that risk because I wanted to hold onto him just a little while longer.

I don't know if he sensed the rapid swirl of emotions inside me, but he said nothing as he quietly drove down the cold November roads.

As we came towards a sign indicating our distance to Port Angeles, Jasper pulled into the side of the road and stopped the car. I pulled away from him and blinked owlishly at him.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked cautiously, a tremor of fear running through me.

"Cause I think you want to tell me something, and I'd like to give you my full attention," My heart skipped a beat, Jasper heard and raised an eyebrow calmly at me.

"I don't know what to tell you," I practically mumbled, and struggled to look him in the eye.

He reached out and captured my chin, tilting my face so he could get a better look at me, I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

"Tell me what you're thinking?" He asked gently, his cold thumb caressing my jawline.

I felt a sniffle coming on and ignored it.

"I- I'm sorry," Jasper looked a little perplexed but tugged me closer to him, all the same.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Darlin', we all know how much you've been through, and you did the best you could," I shook my head glumly against his chest.

Looking up at him, I drank in his face one last time. His entrancing golden eyes, the way his lips pulled to one side whilst he studied me, like he couldn't figure me out, and his smooth alabaster skin, peppered with crescent shaped scars from years of fighting.

"Jasper, I love you," I told him reverently and leaned up to capture his lips in one last kiss. He jumped, ever so slightly when I confessed my love for him, and took a long moment to respond but soon he was kissing me back. His lips were cold, but soft against mine, and he was gentle with me, like I was a china doll.

I grabbed a tight hold of his shirt and pulled him harder against my mouth, I didn't want our last kiss to be something we weren't. Jasper wasn't careful with me like that, he was full of passion and that what I wanted.

He quickly followed suit and kissed me with more fervour, and I felt that spark in my chest fan into a flame.

During my passion filled haze, I was so lost in him, the smell, the taste of him, that I nearly forgot to carry out my plan. Moaning slightly in his mouth as I did, I pulled the ring pull on my necklace still hidden in my hand, and counted down the seconds with tears gathering in my eyes.

Jasper hadn't noticed and was cupping my face and my shoulder as he expressed his feelings in one of my favourite ways.

I could feel the necklace getting hotter and hotter against my palm, but I ignored the light burn I was getting in favour of kissing Jasper, but as the first tendrils of smoke started to fill the car, he pulled away from me with a look of dread on his face.

"Kali, don't-" My vision dimmed as I breathed in quickly before I had time to change my mind or let him get away.

"I'm s-orry," I started my apology as Bella, but finished it as Jasper.

Sighing heavily, I rested my arms against the steering wheel and let my head thump into them gently, just so I didn't break it with my new super strength.

After a long moment of silence and self loathing, I finally got out the car and headed towards the boot. I switched around some stuff, throwing away the duffel bag full of dirt and herbs, moving my trophy into my bags.

I had managed to pack quite a bit without anyone noticing, Rose loved shopping with me, even if we'd only been able to do it online, and I had a lot of unnecessary items of clothing as a result.

Getting the bags into Emmett's car had been fairly easy, everyone was so busy lately, that all I had to do was wait for Jasper to go hunt and I packed quickly, stealing one of Alice's travel bags, and managed to sneak into the garage to hide it.

Though my numerous bruises hadn't thanked me, that's for sure.

It felt good to be in a strong, healthy body, even if it didn't have a beating heart.

Just as I tucked away the letter I'd left for jasper into his back pocket, I heard an engine coming up behind me fast, I turned and saw a familiar flame painted Harley zooming towards me. I nearly made a break for it, but I didn't have the time or the helpful vision to lose my pursuer in the trees lining the road.

A familiar form skidded to a stop and wrenched the helmet off their shoulders to glare at me with her big brown eyes.

"And just where the fuck do you think you're going, Kali?" Izzy asked as she kicked the stand and hooked the helmet onto the handle in a practised motion.

"How the hell did you find me?" I managed to ask through my surprise.

Izzy jammed her hands on her hips and narrowed her glare.

"Whilst I've been at Myra's we discovered I can sense you in a way, what you're thinking, and sort of where you are," I blinked at her owlishly as my mouth fell open. "And once I realised that you were doing a runner, I stole Jasper's bike to come stop you from doing something you're going to regret," She finished scolding me and I sighed and slumped against the car.

"I can't stay here Iz, if I do, more people will get hurt... There's something I need to do, and the Cullens wouldn't dream of letting me go on my own, not to mention you heard what Alice said. The Volturi are coming for me, I don't want to go with them and none of the Cullens would let them take me, so what do you think would happen?!" My voice had been slowly raising in volume until I was almost yelling in my anguish.

"I don't-" She started but I cut her off.

"Yes you do! There'd be more fighting, more people would get hurt! So I have to go, I have to get away from Forks before they come for me themselves, you know as well as I do that it's the right thing!"

Izzy was silent as she came closer to me and looked me dead in the eyes.

"And what about me?" I flinched a little, this was something that had worried me profusely.

If I left, taking my blood with me, then Izzy would eventually run out of leeches. Carlisle had only let me do two a day for her, saying I was in no condition to be messing with my blood, let alone in a house full of vampires.

That would only last her a few months at best, we weren't even sure if there were any effects from using a leech that had taken my blood a while ago.

Gnawing my lip I folded my arms as I thought.

"I'll try to send you leeches?" I offered though neither of us thought that would work.

"Not good enough, I'm coming with you," She stated simply and stared me down, challenging me to disagree.

"What?" I exclaimed as I stood straighter.

"You're still recovering, you've had heart attacks in the past because of power overuse, you manage to get into no end of scrapes and whatever it is your planning on doing out there, we both know you'll be safer with me," She finished her rant and I grumbled.

"It was only the one heart attack," She coolly raised her eyebrows at me and I snorted in laughter. "Fuck it, you promise not to rat me out and take me back home the first chance you get?" I conceded and she raised three fingers.

"Girl guides honour," I rolled my eyes at her and shut the boot, glad that was sorted.

"I was a shitty girl guide, I broke some kind of billboard with a basketball and got the group kicked out of the school," Izzy laughed.

"Bella was a little better, she didn't like it though," Izzy said with an almost secret smile to her.

"You're getting more of her memories?" I confirmed.

She nodded and walked back over to the bike.

"Yep, and more of your attitude apparently, though the bike/car knowledge does come in handy," She straddled the bike, picked the helmet back up and looked at me expectantly. "So, you gonna start driving before we get caught? I'll follow on Jasper's bike, maybe we can leave it somewhere for him to find?" She asked and I nodded.

"That was my plan with Emmett's car," I got in and rolled the window down. "C'mon, we're heading to Port Angeles, though I'll have to buy an extra ferry ticket," She pulled up next to the window as I started the car, the helmet tucked underneath her arm for the moment.

"Where are we headed?" She asked curiously, and I could only grin at her as I turned the key and the engine came to life again.

"The open road, baby,"

"I thought we were travelling by boat?"

"The high seas, matey,"

Izzy snorted and jammed the helmet back on her head as we both took off down the road.

My stay in Forks had been peppered with love, pain, and excitement, but it was time for me to go my own way for now. Maybe I'd be back someday (providing they didn't catch me first), but I had a promise to Charlie to keep, and a witch to find.

Thankfully, I had a plan and a strong desire to see my Jasper again.

So while it was goodbye for now, it was not goodbye forever.

Aaaaaaaand we are done, folks! Gosh, wasn't that one hell of a ride. No? Well, it was for me, cause I have been working tirelessly on this for well over a year, every free thought and minute I've had, I've poured into this and I am so very proud of myself.

But now, for the somewhat sad news.

I will be taking a break from this (something I've totally earned) and taking as much time as I need to put together exactly what's going to happen in the next part and really knuckle down on the side story for Bella.

I won't make a single promise when anything new will be posted on here, I'll try to update semi-regularly on my writing Tumblr [MozzarellaMermaid] as to where I am with things, so head over to there if you're interested in seeing where I'm at. I hope you guys understand and still continue to stick with me for when I finally return!

Now, let's go over a few things in the chapter.

First off, I hope you enjoyed the Alice and Kali fight scene, sorry that there was no REAL conclusion, but I have more to come for Alice, and her losing her eye will play a part in that too.

I wanted Kali to more or less rescue herself in the end, I always wrote her as independent and she was never going to wait around to be rescued, no matter how much she threatened her captors with the Cullens retribution.

Everything towards the end felt a little rushed, and I sort of wanted that, I kind of wanted to show how it was all a bit of a grief filled blur afterwards for Kali. Not to mention covering Renée, the funeral and every other scene in between would have dragged this out a needless amount. Still, I hope it didn't just feel like I was being lazy.

Alright let's cover Kali's decision to leave. I hope I made it clear that it was mostly because of the looming threat of the Volturi, but also because Kali is afraid of doing more damage to those around her. Izzy is the exception because she needs Kali to survive. However, she's mostly leaving (at least in her eyes) to find this witch and discover a way to bring Bella back home.

But gosh, I felt like such a dick for making Kali's first confession of love for Jasper, the last thing she says to him, and how she tricks him to stealing his body one more time.

Right, I think that covers most everything I wanted to talk about! Thank you all again so much for sticking with me through this mad, mad journey and I can't wait to get started on part two, Runaway.