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Koda stood in an empty hallway in Forks Hospital with Esme while they waited for any news on Harry. After Leah had killed Victoria, Koda had rushed Harry to the hospital in her arms, knowing the ambulance wouldn't have made it in time. Down the hall, Leah, Sue, Seth, and Sam sat waiting for news. Sam tries to comfort Leah, but she instinctively recoils from his touch. This confuses Sam, but he stays quiet. Sue had been watching the interaction and then looked down the hall, seeing Koda's attention was locked on her daughter. It immediately clicked in her mind what was going on. Unknown to anyone, Leah was fighting the gravitational pull toward Koda, which was only growing more unbearable over time. It felt like a war was raging inside of her over the youngest Swan. A part of her blamed Koda for her father's death and wanted to hate her with every ounce of her being, but the wolf in her craved to be in the girl's comforting embrace. A doctor turns the corner and walks towards the Clearwater family. The look on his face told Koda everything, "No matter what happens, please don't interfere," she whispered, glancing at Esme, who reluctantly nodded. Suddenly, Koda is grabbed by the front of her black long-sleeve cotton shirt and slammed against the wall. The impact echoed through the hall as a livid and broken Leah kept her pinned against the wall with shaky hands. Koda didn't put up a fight.
"I...hate you," Leah whispered with a quivering voice while tears poured down her cheeks. Koda didn't hesitate as she put her arms around Leah's body, as it shook uncontrollably. "I hate you," Leah cried as she hid her face in Koda's shoulder while their bodies sank to the floor. A tear runs down Koda's cheek as she cradles the she-wolf in her arms.
"So do I," she admitted in a sorrowful whisper.
In a hotel bedroom in Phoenix, Arizona, Bella lay atop a bed, fully clothed. Suddenly, her eyes pop open. She slowly rises, reorienting herself. Bella turns, sitting on the side of the bed and grabbing her cell phone. She sighs when she sees neither Koda nor Edith have called or texted her. Bella stands up and heads out of the bedroom. She steps into the living room, finding the blinds are pulled to keep the sun at bay. Alice and Jasper stare blankly at a T.V. set While several plates of food crowd a table. Alice looks up as she hears Bella's heartbeat. "You should eat," she said, but Bella could tell something was wrong.
"What happened? Is my dad and Koda okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Physically, yes, but...Victoria attacked some people on the reservation. Koda stopped her, but your father's friend Harry died," Alice explained.
"...Dad must be devastated.... So many people are getting hurt because of me. I'm not worth it," Bella whispered tearfully.
Her words seem to irk Jasper, "My sister is finally happy since her change, and that is because of you. And none of us want to look into her eyes for the next hundred years if she loses you.... you're worth it," he proclaimed in a thick southern accent taking Bella by surprise.
"I don't think Edith or Koda would survive if they lost you," Alice admitted. Out of nowhere, she gasped and reeled back.
Jasper's arms are instantly wrapped around his wife, "What do you see?" he asks. Alice's eyes move as if she's following someone's movements.
Worry washes over her face, "The tracker. He just changed course...," she replied. Jasper zips around the hotel room and then appears back at his wife's side with a pad of paper and pencil, which he sits in front of her. He places the pencil into her hand.
"Where will it take him, Alice?" Jasper asked.
"Mirrors. It's a room of mirrors," Alice said while drawing at an unbelievable speed. She closes her eyes, trying to see it clearly while still drawing. Bella's eyes couldn't even keep up with Alice's movements.
"Edith told me that Alice's visions aren't always certain," Bella said.
"She sees the path of the decisions people make. If they change their minds, the visions change," Jasper explained.
Bella looks at the drawing, "So, the course James is on now will lead him to... a ballet studio?" she asked, recognizing the mirrors.
Alice's head snaps towards her, no longer in the vision, "You've been here?" she asked.
"Yeah, I used to take ballet lessons there as a kid," Bella answered.
"Was your school here in Phoenix?" Jasper asked.
Bella nodded, "It's around the corner from my mom's house. But I haven't been there in years," she explained.
"Do you have any reason to go now?" Jasper asked.
"No, I absolutely hated that place as a kid. Ballet isn't for the uncoordinated," she admitted. Alice and Jasper share a look, trying to figure this out. Suddenly, Bella's cell phone rings, causing her to pull it out of her pocket. She sees the caller I.D. telling her that the caller is Edith. She exhales in relief and then steps away from the vampires to answer it. "Thank God you're alright," Bella said.
"I'm coming to get you.... We lost the tracker. Rosalie is protecting your father, and Esme is with Koda," Edith explained.
"When will you get here?" Bella asked, missing her girlfriend's cold embrace.
"In a couple of hours. Then you and I will go somewhere far away while the others keep hunting.... Bella, I swear to you, I'll do whatever it takes to make you safe again," Edith vowed with determination.
A couple of hours later, Bella gathers her things as Alice is downstairs in the lobby, settling the bill while Jasper loads up the car out front. Bella's phone rings again, causing her to halt and pick it up from the bed. She looks at the caller's I.D., which says 'home'. Bella answers, "Hey Mom, I'm kinda busy...," she says but is cut off by one voice she hoped she would never hear again.
"Nice house you have here. Not the best on the block, but comfortable," James said as if he was talking to an old friend.
"H..how...," Bella said, but he interrupted her once more.
"You humans are so easy to anticipate, but I had hoped your mate would be smarter than this. But to answer your question, Forks High School doesn't protect its students' privacy very well. It was just too easy for Victoria to find your previous address and your mother's number before that beast killed her," he spat. Bella could hear the rage and disgust in his voice.
"You're a lucky girl to have such a loving mother...she rushed home after receiving a distraught call from who she thought was your father...... It's quite boring how easily this has all worked out," James admitted. Bella's eyes fill with fear at that moment.
"Bella?! Bella!" Rene cried out.
"Leave my mother out of this!" Bella yelled.
"Aww, the bond between a mother and her child is so...easily manipulated. Don't worry, I'm a very generous man. Offer yourself at my feet, and I'll let her go unharmed, but you'll need to get away from your friends. Can you do that?" he asked.
"I...," Bella said but hesitated, trying to fight the terror filling her veins.
"Tsk tsk... your mother's life is in your hands. Do you really want them stained with her blood?" James asked.
Bella's hands shake as her heart races, "W...Where should I meet you?" She asked with a shaky voice.
"The old ballet studio around the corner. And I'll know if you bring anyone along. We wouldn't want poor mommy to pay the price for that mistake now, would we?" he asked. Bella hears him inhale and then lets out a deep growl. "Oh, and I would hurry if I were you. I haven't fed, and I'm becoming quite parched.... She smells like you.... Deliciously exquisite," James said the last part with a moan of want. Bella hung up, panicked at first, until a question entered her mind. 'What would Koda do?'. Bella wasn't supernatural like her sister, but she remembered Jasper's words when they had been in the Cullen garage. 'We'll tear him apart, then burn the pieces.' A look of determination washed away the fear in Bella's eyes. She grabs the purse Alice had packed for her and rushes out of the hotel room.
By nightfall, a taxi parks in front of a ballet school. The car's back door opens, revealing Bella, who looks up at the building. She takes a deep breath and then slowly exhales. Bella approaches the school and tries to peer into the windows, but the blinds are drawn. She goes to the front door and turns the nob, finding it unlocked. Bella opens the door and walks into the dark building. Seconds later, she cautiously enters this grand, empty room of mirrors with a ballet bar that wraps around the walls. Bella looked for any signs of her mother, but the room was entirely empty and eerily quiet. A blurry figure speeds past her from behind, causing her hair to sway from the gust of wind. Bella whirls around, trying to find its source. She reaches into her purse with one hand and her jeans pocket with the other. Laughter filled the air, causing Bella to spin around, trying to locate James in the mirrors surrounding the room. Suddenly, he's right behind Bella with black eyes filled with hunger. Bella's instincts scream, causing her to turn around, but James flings her across the floor like a bowling ball. She collides hard into a mirrored column. He advances toward her as blood drips from a gash on her head. "I've been wondering. What makes you special? Because frankly, other than your blood, I don't really see it. Too bad your mate didn't have the strength to turn you. Instead, she kept you this fragile little human.... It's cruel, really," James said with fake pity, then went to stomp on Bella's shin. She suddenly turns around and sets James on fire with a hairspray and a lighter. He screams out in pain and flails about violently, crashing into several mirrored columns catching the room on fire. The building is filled with smoke rather quickly, making it difficult for Bella to see or breathe. She crawls towards what she hopes is the front entrance. The fire around Bella grows and greedily consumes the air around it, denying her lungs what they desperately need. Bella's vision begins to falter as the fire licks at her flesh, but the image of Edith in the back of her mind gives her the strength to keep crawling.
".... Edith," Bella whispered desperately; then a loud crack was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.
Edith is the first of the Cullen's to make it to the ballet school. Her eyes widen in horror at the sight of it ablaze. Without thinking of her own safety, she dashes into the burning building. "Bella!" she called out desperately but got no response. The smell of smoke makes it impossible to sniff her mate out, and the smoke makes visual sight even more difficult for her. That left her with only her hearing. She listened carefully for a heartbeat, and for a split-second, dread filled her when she couldn't hear anything but the crackling of the raging fire. All of a sudden, her ears just barely pick up a faint heartbeat. Edith rushes towards the sound, finding her mate unconscious and trapped beneath a column covered in flames. The smell of burnt flesh hits her nose. Edith runs forward and rips the column off Bella, ignoring the pain in her hands from the fire. She picks her mate up and rushes out of the building just as the roof collapses.
Bella's eyes flutter for a few seconds, then open, finding herself in a hospital bed. Her entire right arm was covered in gauze from her fingertips to the side of her neck. Her left leg was also wrapped up in gauze. Bella looks to the right of the room, finding her sister and Edith asleep in some chairs while leaning against each other. Koda had a few bandages on her arms and head. Bella was about to call out to Edith when her mother's voice entered her ears. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake. You've had us worried sick, sweetie. You've been unconscious for two days," Renée explained with tears in her eyes. Bella and her mother look alike in their features. Renée has medium-length brown hair, innocent, childish blue eyes, and a round face full of laugh lines.
"What... happened?" Bella asked in a rough voice. Renée grabs a small cup of ice water with a straw and helps her daughter take a few sips.
"Honey, you don't remember?" she asked. Bella thinks for a moment, trying to remember, but her thoughts are jumbled and fuzzy. She shook her head, and Renée sighed. "From what your father told me. You and Edith had a small fight. Charlie said you seemed very overwhelmed and distraught. Koda talked you into going to Phoenix for the weekend to clear your mind, but on the way, you both ended up in a car accident. The truck had caught on fire while you both were still inside, but Koda was able to pull you from the wreckage," she explained. Suddenly, an image of a flailing body on fire entered Bella's mind, causing her to recoil. Renée takes her daughter's hand, trying to comfort her. "You know neither of them have left your side for a single moment. Your dad went down to the cafeteria to get some food for them," she said, causing Bella to look over at Edith and Koda.
"I don't think the hospital has enough food for Ko's monstrous appetite," Bella joked a little. Renée smiles, remembering how a young Koda would ravage her fridge. Unknown to her, that was nothing compared to the amount Koda eats now. Renée's cell phone dings, causing her to open it, read a text, and then start typing a reply.
"It's Phil. He's worried about you," she explained.
Bella looked at her mom in surprise, "Mom, you're... texting," she said in disbelief.
Renée smiles, "I told him to stay in Florida. The Suns signed him!" she said excitedly.
Bella smiles, "That's great mom," she said.
"You're going to love Jacksonville. It's always sunny, and you'll have your own bathroom...," Renée began to say, but her daughter interrupted her.
"Mom, I still want to live in Forks. I have Dad, Koda...and friends," she explained. Surprise filled Renée's eyes, along with a bit of hurt that her daughter didn't want to move back with her, but she pushed those emotions away.
"She's there," Renée pointed out as she nods towards Edith. Bella looks down, a little embarrassed to talk to her mother about her love life.
"I get it. I was young and in love like you once, and it's easy to see that she's in love with you," Renée said. Bella smiles as her mother grins.
Bella glances at Edith, "Um, Mom, would you mind getting Dad?" she asked.
"Sure Baby. I'll go get him," Renée said, then kissed her daughter's forehead. Renée stands up from the seat by her daughter's bed and then heads out of the room. The moment the door shuts behind her, Bella turns back to find Edith standing next to her with deep concern. Tears that would never fall filled her eyes as she leaned down, brushing her ice-cold lips against Bella's forehead.
"I...I thought I was too late," Edith whispered, her voice filled with pain.
"You weren't... I'm here alive because of you," Bella whispered, then went to brush her lips against Edith's, but the vampire pulled away.
"You're in here because of me!" Edith gritted out as she looked at her mate's wounds. Bella could see the pain and self-hate in her lover's eyes.
"...Bella, you should go to Jacksonville. Where I can no longer put you in danger.....," Edith said, even though every word was shattering her heart piece by piece.
Dread-filled Bella, "What? No! I want to be with you! Just because we are apart doesn't mean I'll stop being a danger magnet!" she pointed out in a panicked tone.
Edith instantly sits at her mate's side, "Sssh. It's alright. I'm not going anywhere...I promise," she said while wrapping her arm around Bella, who curls up against her chest.
A couple of weeks later, in the misty, damp beauty of the Pacific Northwest... Koda stood hidden in the tree line of the Quileute Reservation's lush green forests. She watched as her father attended Harry's funeral. Koda and Bella had wanted to attend, but Billy had hinted that their presence wasn't exactly welcomed at the moment. Koda's eyes easily picked Leah out of the crowd of people. Even with a tear-stained face, Koda thought she was the most beautiful creature on the planet. Every fiber of her being wanted to be by Leah's side to comfort her, and the longer she refused that urge, the more pain she felt. It was overwhelming like she was drowning, but it also caused her real physical pain. Koda knew what she needed to do, but it would be the hardest thing she ever did in her life. She takes one more look towards Leah, finding gorgeous chocolate sorrow-filled eyes looking back into hers. Koda turns away from the eyes she loves and walks further into the woods. Leah's wolf cried out within her, begging her to tell their imprint to stay, but she couldn't. Not when their imprint's hands were stained with her father's blood. A raindrop hits Leah's cheek, causing her to look up at the sky as more falls. It was like the very sky was morning, her choice.
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