*
"This isn't my fight and I've grown tired of his games." Laurent stood in the Cullen family living room, surrounded by each member of the family. Carlisle stood with him arms crossed, listening intently to Laurent's words. "He has unparalleled senses, I've never seen anything like him in my 300 years. And the woman, Victoria, don't underestimate her."
Eleanor - who was sitting on the couch - had her face buried into her hands. She listened as Carlisle thanked Laurent out the door, lifting her head when he landed beside her on the couch. Carlisle pulled her into his side.
"We're going to do everything to keep you two safe." Carlisle muttered. "He's targeting Bella right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if he went after you as well."
"So what's the plan now?" El asked, keeping her eyes on the floor. "Do we just wait until he comes to us?"
Carlisle stood, pulling El with him. "We want you and Bella as far away as possible while some of us try and redirect James' trail long enough to take care of him."
"What?" Eleanor asked as the two headed towards the garage. "What do I need to tell my mom? She expects me home at night."
Her mate sighed. "I don't know, Eleanor. I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
"It's not your fault." She told him, turning her head to stare at him. "I put myself in this situation by trying to help Bella. And I don't regret it. I just don't want to worry my family."
He stopped just outside the garage door. "Tell her you're taking Bella to Phoenix. Tell her she had a fight with her dad and she's going to see her mom and that you didn't want her driving by herself."
Eleanor nodded. Bella had told her father and she had a fight with Edward and that she didn't want to be trapped in Forks. It was the best excuse Eleanor had now.
"Carlisle." Edward approached the two when they entered. "I'm going to run Bella south and lead the tracker away from here."
Carlisle shook his head. "No, James knows you won't leave Bella's side. He'll follow you."
Eleanor went to stand beside Bella and offered her a small smile. The brunette smiled back at her friend but Eleanor could see the look of confusion in her eyes.
"Jasper and I can drive them south." Alice stepped forward and looked at the worried vampires. "We'll keep them safe."
Carlisle nodded at Alice before turning to Rosalie and Esme. He held a few articles of clothing in his hands and stuck them out. "I have a few pieces of Bella's and Eleanor's clothes. Put them on, we can throw James off."
Rosalie hesitated for a moment, before reaching for a shirt and jacket of Eleanor's. She slowly put them on, before she walked over to the girl. Without saying a word, the blonde squeezed Eleanor's, a tight smile playing on her lips.
Eleanor smiled back at Rose before she walked over to Carlisle. "I don't want to leave you."
She was worried for him - if James was a deadly as Laurent had said, what was stopping him from hurting Carlisle or Rosalie in order to get to the humans? Eleanor felt slightly more confident in her abilities and she knew she could help.
"El." Carlisle breathed, pressing a hand on the side of her face. "This is the only way I know how to keep you stay safe. If anything happens to you..."
"You know I can protect myself." She whispered, not wanting Bella to overhear.
"I know you can. I can't take the risk of something happening. You are my life now, Eleanor." Eleanor caught Carlisle's eyes in her own. He looked so sincere that her knees suddenly went weak. She grabbed onto his arm for support.
"Then come with us." She tried. "He doesn't know that we're mates. It wouldn't matter to him if you were with me or not."
He looked conflicted now, amber eyes flickering between her and his family behind her. "Esme? What do you think?"
Esme only shrugged her shoulders. "We'd have Emmett, Edward, and Rosalie. If we're going to catch him, we may need more numbers."
El's shoulders slumped and, before she could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around Carlisle's torso tightly. Her eyes squeezed shut tightly as she laid her head on his chest. She wanted to go track James down and deal with him herself so that he wouldn't be a threat to her and Carlisle's future anymore.
But she couldn't.
Alice cleared her throat and Eleanor pulled away from her mate. "Be safe."
Carlisle sent her a final smile, watching as she climbed into the car beside Bella. Eleanor kept her eyes on him until Alice exited the garage. She could feel a weight settle on her shoulders and huffed, rubbing her fingers over her eyes. Eleanor typed out a quick message to her mother, telling her exactly what Carlisle had told her to before switching her phone off.
"El?" Eleanor turned her head to look at Bella. "How did you know?"
"Same as you, I figured it out." She shrugged before turning back to the window.
"Are you and Carlisle...?"
"Mates? Yes." She said, her mouth in a tight line. It was cruel that she had found Carlisle and now there was a chance that she would be taken from him.
Bella nodded and the car grew silent.
---
After a few hours in the car, the four stopped at a hotel near Phoenix. Eleanor was cursing herself for not asking one of the vampires for a change of clothes. She was uncomfortable in her muddy jeans and wanted to change into something warmer.
Eleanor stood near the window in their hotel room, watching people socialize with their families below. She sighed and reached for her phone. As she moved to turn it on, Alice gasped, leaving Jasper to rush by her side and the two humans to standby nervously.
"What is it?" Bella asked, chewing on her thumbnail. "What do you see?"
"The hunter." Alice stared at nothing in front of her, her brows furrowed in concentration. Jasper reached forward and grabbed a napkin and pen before placing them in Alice's hands. "He's changed course."
"Where will it take him, Alice?" Jasper asked, staring intently at the woman.
Eleanor moved to stand next to Bella, who was standing in front of Alice. She frowned when she saw Alice's hands move over the paper, drawing where she saw the hunter headed. "Mirrors. A room full of mirrors."
"Edward said the visions weren't always certain." Bella said, eyes following the changing drawing.
"She sees the course people are on while they're on it." Jasper explained just as Alice snapped out of her vision. "If they change their minds, the vision changes."
"So, the course that the tracker's on is now gonna lead to him a ballet studio?" All heads snapped to Bella who stared right back at them.
"You've been there?" Eleanor asked with a raised brow, gesturing to the napkin.
"Yeah, I use to take lessons as a kid." Eleanor snorted at this. It was hard to believe a person as clumsy as Bella had ever taken ballet lessons.
The sound of a phone ringing cut through the tense room and Alice fumbled to answer it. "Edward. Is everything okay?"
"We've lost James." Eleanor heard him say through the speaker. She heard another phone ring and turned to Bella as she answered her own. Her face paled, leaving Eleanor to watch her as she left the room. Eleanor turned back to Alice, ready to tell her.
"Carlisle and I are on our way. Rosalie and Esme are staying here to protect Charlie and Eleanor's family. Can you put Eleanor on the phone?" Edward spoke loudly.
Alice held the phone out to Eleanor, who took it and pressed it against her ear. "Carlisle?"
"I'm coming to Phoenix." He spoke, his tone urgent. "Me and you are going somewhere alone while the rest of them keep hunting. I need to get you somewhere safe."
Carlisle sighed and El could imagine him running a hand down his face. "I should've never let them tell you what we were. You would've been so much safer."
Eleanor laughed, ironically. "No I wouldn't be, Carlisle. In case you've forgotten, I was a danger to everyone around me because I didn't know how to properly control my abilities. You helped me with that."
"And who gives a shit if there's a little bit of danger from being involved with you or your family? You make me happy, Carlisle. And that's worth it for all I care."
Carlisle fell silent for a moment. Before he could say another word, an eruption of shouting was heard from the other side of the phone. Carlisle spoke. "Is Bella there?"
"No." El answered, suddenly remembering Bella's phone call. "She left the room on a phone call. I assumed she was talking to Charlie or her mom."
Eleanor frowned, suddenly wondering why Bella was taking so long on the phone. Her eyes landed on Alice's drawing on the table and she gasped. "Oh, my God. I think I know where she went."
She hung up the phone hurriedly and snatched the paper off the table. "Alice, Jasper! I think Bella went to the studio."
The two vampires shared a look before rushing into action. Jasper grabbed whatever they had brought into the hotel room with them while Alice grabbed Eleanor's hand. The three of them rushed to the car and Alice punched in the address to the studio.
Eleanor gripped onto the back of Jasper's seat as Alice took a sharp turn and she closed her eyes. She mumbled a silent prayer, hoping that they got there before Bella really got hurt.
Alice's car slid to a stop outside the ballet studio before Eleanor knew it. The car hadn't even fully stopped by the time Eleanor threw her door open and ran inside, leaving Jasper and Alice shouting after her.
The studio was massive and looked just like the picture that Alice had drawn. Mirrors covered nearly every inch of the room and she had to do a double take when she saw her friend lying against one in the center of the room. James was crouched in front of her, holding a video camera.
Eleanor glared and pushed her hands in front of her body, letting a scarlet wave shoot towards James push him away from Bella. The brunette girl snapped her head over to where Eleanor was standing, her jaw dropping when she saw the other human.
Eleanor paid no attention to her friend, instead keeping her eyes on James. He laughed as he stood, pointing at Eleanor with a crooked finger. "I was wondering when you would show up. I'm guessing your friends aren't far behind you then."
He stalked towards her and Eleanor raised her hands again in warning. The mist surrounding her fingers looked threatening in the dark building. "Come any closer and I won't hesitate to use them."
"Well, we wouldn't want you to do that." In a blink of an eye, James had his arms wrapped around her neck from behind and El sputtered, trying her best to get out of his grasp. "Go ahead. Save yourself now."
After another moment of panic, a clear thought pushed through her mind. She hurried to push her hands into her stomach and, as her magic went through her own body, it hit James and he stumbled back. She turned quickly, shooting another blast of energy at him.
When the man fell far enough away from her, she took a second to cough, rubbing at her sore neck. She hoped it wouldn't bruise - there was no way to explain that to her mother.
"Eleanor!" Her whole body relaxed at the sound of Carlisle's voice and she spun to see him approaching her. She took another glance at James, who was still sitting on the floor, dazed, before she took off to her mate.
Carlisle rushed over to her and took her face in his hands. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay." She placed her hands over his own. "Don't worry."
Eleanor flinched back when a high-pitched scream echoed through the room. Her blood chilled, knowing there was only one reason for someone to scream so loudly.
She turned from Carlisle, blue eyes landing on her friend, who was writhing around on the floor. Edward had thrown James' off of Bella, leaving Eleanor rushing over to her friend. Carlisle followed behind her, crouching on the other side of Bella and gripping her leg.
The girl was pale and convulsing as the venom from the bite on her wrist coursed through her body. Her leg was cut open, allowing a small pool of blood to gather under her. Eleanor gripped her hand, trying hard not to cry.
"Alice!" Carlisle shouted. "Come tie your belt above my hand and then go help your brothers. Edward, get over here!"
"You're going to be okay, Bells." Eleanor whispered, using her free hand to smooth back Bella's hair.
"What do I do?" Edward asked, his voice thick with worry. His face was twisted in pain as he stared down at Bella.
"You have two options. Either let the change happen or you can suck the venom out." Carlisle explained as he looked up at his son. "You better make your choice fast. She doesn't have a lot of time left."
"I won't be able to stop, Carlisle." Edward groaned, shaking his head now. His eyes never left Bella's face.
"Find the will to stop, son." Carlisle advised.
Edward reached for Bella's injured wrist, raising it close to his mouth. "It'll be okay, Bella. I'm gonna make it go away."
Eleanor's eyes widened as she watched the vampire lean down and attach his mouth to Bella's wrist. Bella cried out, twisting her body as Edward's teeth sunk into her arm.
El bit on her lip, trying to keep her face clear as Bella screamed. She felt sick, her attention going back and forth between Bella and the burning body not far from her.
Bella's screams began to quiet and El watched in horror as her eyes began to cloud over. She looked up, locking eyes with Carlisle. Her gut twisted when she saw how nervous he looked.
"Edward stop." Carlisle told him. "The blood is clean you're killing her."
A tear escaped Eleanor's eye when she watched Bella close hers. Edward's mouth was still attached to her friend's wrist. "Edward, Carlisle said to stop!"
When he didn't let go after another minute, Eleanor untangled her hand from Bella's hair and pushed it to Edward, letting him fall further away from her friend.
She didn't breathe properly until she felt the pulse in her friend's neck and, though it was faint, it was there.
And Eleanor burst into tears.
***
This scene was really hard for me to write for some reason but I hope you all enjoy it anyway. Let me know how I'm doing!
pleuvoirx
edited 4.8.2021