A PLAN

His hearing returned: birds chirping, animals scurrying, trees swooshing in the breeze. He opened his eyes slowly and saw Carlisle sitting in front of him.

“Edward, thank goodness! Are you okay, how do you feel my son?” Carlisle asked, not giving Edward a chance to answer.

Edward turned his head from left to right, testing it. He remembered Rosalie taking it off. That bitch will meet her end by his hands soon. He looked at Carlisle and realized that his father had saved him.

“I’m okay, a bit sore. Thank you.”

“Okay, you must hunt, son, to get your strength up. We have work to do.”

“What are you planning?”

“Our family betrayed us, Edward, and they need to learn their lesson.”

“What are you going to do? Go to the Volturi?”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s only five of them.”

“Even Esme?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you loved her.”

“She was supposed to agree with me no matter what. I’m her mate.”

“Not a true mate, though.”

“Yes, like Bella.”

“No, don’t bring Bella into this. I love her. She is mine, my mate!”

“Calm down, Edward. I’m not your enemy.”

Edward took a calming breath. “I’m planning to ask my friends for help.”

“And what if they don’t help?”

“Then we find other ways. One step at a time, son. Go and hunt while I make some calls.”

Edward flashed into the forest to hunt. His plan had gone to hell because of Rosalie. Thinking of drinking Bella’s blood sent delightful shivers down his spine.

He wasn’t going to give up on such a prize. Ditching Carlisle for a while would be challenging, but he’d find a way.

He saw a deer and began to hunt. The smell and taste of this deer would never come close to Bella’s blood.

Soon, he told himself, this would be his last animal blood for a while.

Carlisle took out his phone and made some calls.

“Siobhan, I need your help.”

“What kind of help?”

Carlisle cleared his throat and began to tell his tale of how his family betrayed him over a human girl.

Siobhan knew there was something more to it, and she was not going to throw away her life and her coven for Carlisle.

She didn’t like him anyway; there was always something about him she didn’t trust.

She always trusted her instincts, they had kept her and her coven alive so far.

“I’m sorry, Carlisle, but I have to decline.”

“What? Why?”

“For one, if Esme was your true mate, you wouldn’t want to kill her, which means you lied to that poor woman for all these years, and she somehow found out the truth.

And two, little Alice looks up to you.

She will do anything to please you.

You must have done something to turn her against you.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I can only give you one piece of advice, and that is to leave them alone.

You have your favorite son with you. Live your life.

Revenge always turns out bad.” Then she hung up. Siobhan said, her Irish accent grew stronger with each point.

Carlisle couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The Irish coven was always there for him.

He frowned while he called the Egyptian coven.

They too refused to help him.

The Amazon coven and two nomads he knew also refused their help.

Carlisle hung up in frustration. All this time, he thought he had allies, but it turned out they were just using him.

Carlisle shook his head and frowned, wondering what to do.

Edward walked in with confidence and arrogance in his steps.

“Are they coming to help you?” Edward asked.

Carlisle sighed. “No.”

“What?

“I said no.”

“But I thought they were your friends.”

“So did I.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well, I’m going to check up on my mate.” Edward said smirking.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Carlisle asked in disbelief.

“Yes.” Edward replied.

Carlisle sighed. “Why did you leave her in the first place?”

“To protect her. I already explained that to you.”

“Then why are you going back?”

“Hey, I just said to check up on her.”

Carlisle sighed again. He knew Edward was lying.

“You made us leave to drain her blood later on, didn’t you? You want us far away when you do it. Even if Alice saw you, she couldn’t stop you.”

Edward was stunned. He didn’t know what to say. Carlisle had figured it out.

“Edward, just leave the girl alone.”

“What! No.”

“She’s the police chief’s daughter. You’ll bring attention to us, not to mention the Volturi.”

“I can do this, no one will know.”

“Just be careful what you’re doing.”

“You’re not going to stop me?”

“No, I couldn’t even if I tried. I know you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Well, yes.” Edward brushed his shirt and sat beside Carlisle.

“Then next topic. Are you going to punish Esme and the rest?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We will create a newborn army.”

The Trip

Rosalie, Esme, Jasper, Alice, and Emmett ran to Forks.

They were all eager to find Bella and apologize for their betrayal. They could only hope that she would forgive them after they explained what happened.

They arrived at noon behind Bella’s house, but there were no occupants inside.

“Maybe Bella is at school.” Emmett said.

“Probably.” Rosalie answered.

Esme decided to go into the house. She tried the door; it was open. They all went in.

“Bella’s scent is weak.” Jasper said. “It’s like she hasn’t been here for a while. Charlie’s scent is stronger.”

Rosalie flashed into Bella’s room and came back down. “Her scent is weak in her room too.”

“Alice, can you see anything from Bella?” Esme asked.

Alice closed her eyes and opened them immediately. “No, nothing.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Rosalie wanted to know.

“I… I don’t know. Maybe Bella is dead. Alice answered.

Esme hissed at that thought.

“Or she’s with the wolves. I can’t see them.” Alice added.

“Shit! How are we going to contact them?” Emmett asked.

“Carlisle normally does that. Let’s just go to the border and hope that one of them is there.” Esme said.

They all flashed out of the house, locking the door behind them.

They went through the forest, and Rosalie stopped suddenly, making Emmett almost bump into her.

He had to sidestep quickly and ran into a tree, knocking it down, startling birds that flew away and small animals that ran away in fright.

“What the hell, Rose?” Emmett said angrily as he dusted himself off.

Rosalie gave him an ice-cold stare.

He held up his hand immediately. “Sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have run so close to you.”

Rosalie turned and scented the air.

“Rose, honey, what’s going on?” Esme asked.

“I smell Bella.”

“Where?” Alice asked excitedly.

“Over there.” Rosalie answered and ran, with the rest of her family following her.

She made a sudden stop, seeing an unrecognizable creature.

“What the hell is that thing?” Emmett asked as he walked towards the creature.

Its head was a few meters away from its body. He picked up a stick and poked it.

Alice went beside him, with Jasper staring at the creature as if it would give the answer to the universe.

Rosalie glanced at the creature and walked a few yards away near a tree. Even though it was faint, she could smell Bella.

She always could smell more than other vampires.

To her, it was a gift, even though the others didn’t think so.

She didn’t care what other people thought anyway.

“What is it?” Esme asked. She was staring at the creature’s head, wondering what it was.

“It looked like something from a movie.” Emmett answered.

“Bella was here, and she’s hurt.” Rosalie said.

“Oh god.” Esme covered her mouth in despair while she walked closer to Rosalie.

Rosalie knelt and wiped her hand on the bloody grass. She scrunched up her nose. “She’s hurt badly.”

Esme stopped breathing and asked in a trembling voice. “Do you think she’s still alive?”

“Yes. Judging by the scent of the Denali sisters, I’d say they saved her and took her with them.”

“The Denali? Why were they here?” Alice asked, moving her attention to Rosalie.

“I don’t know.” Rosalie stood up and wiped her hand on the tree. “But there’s only one way to find out. We’re going to Alaska.”