Girl In Red (R.HALE)

22

Rosalie wasn't picking up her phone. Neither was Bella. 

After two days, Leigh got impatient. 

She drove over to the Cullen house, only to find nobody there. It was Emmett that she finally got an answer out of, after calling him four times. 

"Hey, new kid." 

"Where the fuck are you all?" she demanded, holding the phone to her ear with unnecessary pressure. 

"Whoa, calm down-

"No, answer my question." 

"We're driving to Arizona." 

"Arizona?" she repeated, confusion breaking through her fury momentarily. "Why?" 

"We're going to meet up with Bella, Jasper and Alice," he said, the sound of an engine revving rising up through the crackling static of the phone line. 

"What?" Leigh snapped. "Why are they in Arizona?" 

"We ran into some trouble at the baseball game," Emmett said. "A couple of nomads heard us playing, one of them - a tracker - latched on to Bella. He's making a game out of killing her." 

Leigh's stomach jolted. "What?" 

"Don't make me repeat it, Leigh, I'm lazy." 

"There was a woman," she blurted. "In my hospital room, pretending to be a nurse. She was asking about Bella." 

There was a brief, tense pause. 

"What did she look like?" 

"Young, petite, red hair-

"Shit," Emmett hissed. 

"What?" Leigh said again. 

"She was one of the nomads," he said. "Victoria, I think. The tracker's mate." 

Leigh bit down on her tongue, hard. "What does this mean? Is Bella alright?" 

"She's fine," Emmett replied. "Alice and Jasper took her to Arizona because she told her dad she wants to move back in with her mum. It's the only way he'd let her leave. We're taking Edward up to meet her, and we'll regroup." 

"Where's Rosalie? She hasn't been answering my calls." 

"We left her and Esme in Forks to protect Bella's dad." 

Leigh ground her teeth. "Fuck." 

"Leigh? Can you hear me?" 

That was Carlisle. 

"Yeah, I can hear you." 

"How did it end? Your run-in with Victoria?" 

"Well, I'm alive, so better than expected," she grumbled. "My mum came in, so she disappeared." 

"Okay," he said, sounding determined. "Emmett will come back and make sure she doesn't try to make contact with you again. Until he gets there, we'll try and get in contact with Rose." 

"Okay," she said. "What can I do?" 

"Nothing," Carlisle said. "Your job is to sit tight and wait for Emmett. Protect your family." 

She pressed a hand to her forehead, nodding despite their not being able to see her. 

"We'll be back soon," he said. 

"Okay," she whispered. 

"I'm on my way, new kid," Emmett said, a car door slamming shut. "Try Bella's house for Rose. She's looking out for Charlie."