Genesis [Emmett Cullen] (2)

[14- The Beginning]

"We'll show you the way. Jasper, Eleanor, Esme?" he spoke, rounding up his troops. We stepped forward, blocking Bella, Alice, and Edward from view, while Emmett stepped back, keeping his eyes on James as he did so.

Edward turned around and practically carried Bella in the direction of the Jeep. Alice and Emmett kept close behind them.

Carlisle kept the conversation going until Bella was completely out of sight.

"James and I have to tend to some urgent matters in town," Victoria interjected.

"Please come to our home to freshen up first," Carlisle urged. At least if they were in our house we could keep an eye on them.

"No I'm afraid our business cannot wait." And before we could object they ran towards the town.

"Follow them," Jasper whispered, "But make sure they don't notice you." I nodded once and followed their scent through the trees. 

About five miles in, they split off; James heading towards Bella's house and Victoria to the center of town. After a moment of deliberation, I decided James was the bigger threat and followed him.

At first, his movement seemed haphazard and random but in less than fifteen minutes, he had found Bella's house. That told me two things; one, he was a highly skilful tracker, since her scent wasn't particularly strong because it had been raining. And two, he wasn't just going to let his encounter with our family go; he was determined to find and potentially kill her. The latter realisation was extremely worrying.

I could see Emmett's Jeep parked on the curb. Thankfully they got here before James did.

James scaled a pine tree that overlooked Bella's backyard, his body lurking on a branch close to the top. I stood far from the trunk of the tree, where he couldn't detect me, but close enough that I could get to him in a split second. I scanned the surrounding area and saw Emmett and Alice near the front of Bella's house. Emmett saw me and gave a reassuring nod.

I overheard Bella's heated argument with her dad, "It didn't work out, okay? I really, really hate Forks!"

The front door flew open. Bella raced for the truck, threw her bag in the back, scrambled behind the steering wheel, and started the engine. Edward was in the passenger seat beside her.

Alice followed Bella in the Jeep, and Emmett after her. James effortlessly leapt down from the tree once Bella's truck was out of view and chased after it.

I was confident that James won't attack right now. Why would he? It seemed like he had a preference for stealth and trickery rather than direct confrontation, otherwise he already would have tried to attack. It helped that we had him outnumbered.

As we approached the center of town, James abruptly stopped and headed East. That's where Victoria must be waiting.

Instead of following James, I caught up with Bella in a couple seconds and leapt into the truck bed with a thump.

Bella, terrified, shrieked. Crap, I should have warned her!

Edward covered her mouth. "It's Eleanor!" I heard her heart rate slow down.

"James isn't following us anymore. He's meeting up with the female in town. Do you want me to continue following them?" I spoke in a soft, fast voice so Bella couldn't understand me, but loud enough that even Emmett who was running behind us could.