I looked at Bella and then looked at Alice, giving her a pleading look.

"Carlisle," Alice called over her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Dr. Jones." Carlisle said politely.

"Yes, of course. I'll check on Ms. Swan later," Dr. Jones responded.

Carlisle strode into the room. "Alice?"

"Carlisle, will you please stay with Bella while Edward and I watch this tape?"

He looked over her to see my face. I wasn't looking, my face was resolutely focused on Bella, my focal point, the one I cherished, loved and adored above all others. No, I wasn't leaving this room.

"You guys go ahead," I waved them away.

Alice huffed lightly. "I'll watch it outside the hospital." You can just watch it through my mind.

"Okay," I answered blandly.

They both left me, not another thought in their minds about my decision. Carlisle had already known that I wouldn't leave her side. Not now, not when she needed me more than ever. Fear fluttered in my chest at the thought of what she might think when she does wake. Would this be the thing that finally makes her snap? Another sharp stab of pain prickled my insides.

Bella continued to lay there, silent and still...unmoving except her tiny chest movements.

There was a light rapt on the door before the Doctor walked in with his clipboard in hand. I rose, hand out.

"I'm Edward Cullen. Thank you for taking care of her." I spoke reverently, more thankful than he will ever know or understand.

Love. "Yes, of course. You're welcome. Dr. Cullen wanted me to stop in and explain what will happen with her next."

"Yes..." I pressed.

Eager chap, isn't he? "She has many injuries. Her skull is fractured, she has several broken ribs and her leg was badly mangled, but we were able to fix that with surgery. A few pins will hold her bone in place until it heals," he answered while taking her vitals.

"Why isn't she waking up?" I coaxed, trying to get him to get to the coma part.

"Yes, well, because of the extensive damage I have purposefully had her placed in a comatose state to help her heal. I'm not sure how long she will need to be in a coma. It could be a day, it could be several. Don't worry, she'll be okay." Clumsy girl.

You ain't kidding, I thought. "Well, thank you, Dr. Jones."

He nodded once and exited the door. He had good timing, because as soon as he shut the door a thought burst through my mind.

Edward! Pay attention! I'm about to watch this video. Alice shouted from her head.

They found a cord to plug into one of their laptops and were sitting outside in our car that Jasper brought back for us to use.

This is going to be hard to watch, son. Please keep your cool. Carlisle warned.

Sitting, I pulled Bella's hand back into mine. To watch this video, I knew I would have to feel her warmth to remind me she was still alive, that she was still with me...even if she was unconscious.

Watching her actions like they were my own, Alice's finger slowly appeared in my vision as she pressed the play button. I felt a pang of unease. Accompanying my thoughts were Alice's and Carlisle's.

A face appeared on the screen. James.

I took in a heavy breath, preparing myself for the onslaught of pain...torture that watching this will cause me. Deep down, I probably deserve to watch this, to make me see what I did to her.

"Edward, I'm so sorry we couldn't meet today, but I have a prior appointment with your Bella." A sick laugh. "I hope you enjoy the show. Hope to...see you very soon."

I could hear the thoughts of revulsion radiating off of Carlisle.

The screen shook, as I could imagine James placing it upon the stereo. His face was now facing the camera again.

"I just got off the phone with Bella. Looks like she will be here shortly. You shouldn't have let her out of your sight. She's all mine now." He licked his lips.

My stomach jolted, I felt sickened at the thought. The screen no longer showed what he was doing, but I heard him fiddling with something.

My fault, Alice thought again.

Another minute had passed. I focused on Bella, reminding myself once more that she was here, safe.

I heard the door crack open slowly in the video as the air conditioner thrummed quietly in the background.

"Bella? Bella?" I heard a voice call out.

Suddenly Bella was running through the studio, looking around in alarm.

"Bella, you scared me! Don't you ever do that to me again! "

There was a trill of a laugh and Bella whirled around, looking for the noise. I watched as Bella slowly walked towards something out of the camera lens' vision. There was a sudden blue light and she backed away, the light reflecting off her perfect face and her white shirt.

She turned around slowly, anxiety obvious in her deep depths.

Oh no, Alice thought weakly.

My heart ached to watch her panic. She must have been terrified. My desire to throttle James had reached such a pitch, but there was no vampire left to kill, to rip apart and burn.

Bella's eyes focused on something past the camera.

"Sorry about that, Bella, but isn't it better that your mother didn't really have to be involved in all this?" His voice was mellow.

He really is a cruel creature, Carlisle added to my already angry thoughts.

Poison rippled through my veins. He had no right to even talk to her, to even look in her direction. I wanted to reach out and bring death to him. A sudden surge of jealousy hit me as I realized I didn't get this opportunity and never will.

"Yes," Bella answered as relief broke across her face.

She was...relieved? My teeth met with an audible snap as I realized she was being selfless, sacrificing herself for her mother. A trait I loved in Bella, yet hated all at the same time.

And she truly is a magnificent creature, Carlisle added to his previous thought.

"You don't sound angry that I tricked you." A light laugh.

"I'm not." She actually sounded brave.

Brave little Bella, Alice sniffled.

"How odd. You really mean it" James appeared in the picture now. He was slowly walking towards Bella. "I will give your strange coven this much, you humans can be quite interesting. I guess I can see the draw of observing you. It's amazing -- some of you seem to have no sense of your own self-interest at all."

He had no idea how selfless she actually was. He also had no idea how she was absolutely unique, different, not like any human he would have encountered before.

He was standing a few feet away from her now, arms folded, looking at her curiously.

"I suppose you're going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you?" James asked.

Avenge? If only I were so lucky! The thought of bringing my teeth to his neck to rip him to pieces, slowly... the satisfaction was almost overwhelming in my sick fantasy. My wish was for him to suffer my retribution and it pained me more to not be able to rip him to shreds with my bare hands.

"No, I don't think so. At least, I asked him not to." Bella's voice trembled.

My heart plummeted while a sick feeling swept over me.

"And what was his reply to that?" James looked hopeful at the prospect.

"I don't know. I left him a letter."

I could feel it slowly burning in my pocket, I placed my free hand over the letter. It would be a keepsake, a reminder of how close this angel got to death.

I should have known...Alice tormented.

"How romantic, a last letter. And do you think he will honor it?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm marring his polite tone.

"I hope so."

Bell was a fool to think I would honor that letter. Of course I would kill him. I would probably play golf with his appendages just for fun. The surge of savage pleasure rippled through me.

Sometimes she is so blind, Alice stifled a small laugh, understanding exactly what I was thinking without reading my mind.

"Hmmm. Well, our hopes differ then. You see, this was all just a little too easy, too quick. To be quite honest, I'm disappointed. I expected a much greater challenge. And, after all, I only needed a little luck."

Silence.

"When Victoria couldn't get to your father, I had her find out more about you. There was no sense in running all over the planet chasing you down when I could comfortably wait for you in a place of my choosing. So, after I talked to Victoria, I decided to come to Phoenix to pay your mother a visit. I'd heard you say you were going home. At first, I never dreamed you meant it. But then I wondered. Humans can be very predictable; they like to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. And wouldn't it be the perfect ploy, to go to the last place you should be when you're hiding -- the place that you said you'd be.

"But of course I wasn't sure, it was just a hunch. I usually get a feeling about the prey that I'm hunting, a sixth sense, if you will. I listened to your message when I got to your mother's house, but of course I couldn't be sure where you'd called from. It was very useful to have your number, but you could have been in Antarctica for all I knew, and the game wouldn't work unless you were close by."

Oh course, Carlisle practically shouted in his head. Realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"Then your boyfriend got on a plane to Phoenix."

I wanted to hit myself for my stupidity!

"Victoria was monitoring them for me, naturally; in a game with this many players, I couldn't be working alone. And so they told me what I'd hoped, that you were here after all. I was prepared; I'd already been through your charming home movies. And then it was simply a matter of the bluff.

"Very easy, you know, not really up to my standards. So, you see, I'm hoping you're wrong about your boyfriend. Edward, isn't it?"

Memories flooded me as I remembered our pointless and rambling journey to Canada, Victoria's odd behavior. Each second she was searching...looking. I became instantly angry at myself. Why didn't I see this? I should have known. I read his mind. He never failed...his special gift was tracking.

Bella stayed silent. Secretly I wished she would have taunted him, called him names...at least argued with him. Put up a fight, even if it were a feeble attempt.

"Would you mind, very much, if I left a little letter of my own for your Edward?"

Sick, Alice thought angrily.

His hand reached out to grab the camera. He was going to gloat...to show her that he was doing this to get to me. I didn't want to murder him anymore, I wanted to slice him into pieces and cook them one at a time. Feed it to the furry creatures of the forest.

He readjusted the camera a few times.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't think he'll be able to resist hunting me after he watches this. And I wouldn't want him to miss anything. It was all for him, of course. You're simply a human, who unfortunately was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and indisputably running with the wrong crowd, I might add."

The camera moved closer to Bella...he moved closer to Bella.

"Before we begin...I would just like to rub it in, just a little bit. The answer was there all along, and I was so afraid Edward would see that and ruin my fun. It happened once, oh, ages ago. The one and only time my prey escaped me.

"You see, the vampire who was so stupidly fond of this little victim made the choice that your Edward was too weak to make. When the old one knew I was after his little friend, he stole her from the asylum where he worked -- I never will understand the obsession some vampires seem to form with you humans -- and as soon as he freed her he made her safe. She didn't even seem to notice the pain, poor little creature."

There was an audible gasp from Alice, as she realized he was talking about her.

"She'd been stuck in that black hole of a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions. In the nineteen-twenties it was the asylum and the shock treatments. When she opened her eyes, strong with her fresh youth, it was like she'd never seen the sun before. The old vampire made her a strong new vampire, and there was no reason for me to touch her then." He sighed. "I destroyed the old one in vengeance."

Alice's thoughts were running wild. Her mind trying to reach back into her old memories to try to find her human times. There was nothing but velvety blackness.

It all makes sense now, why she was left alone. Her creator was killed before she awoke! Carlisle was fitting the puzzle pieces together in his mind.

"Alice," Bella gasped, sadness in her tone.

A rush of affection came flooding out of Alice as she realized how much Bella loved her, too.

"Yes, your little friend. I was surprised to see her in the clearing. So I guess her coven ought to be able to derive some comfort from this experience. I get you, but they get her. The one victim who escaped me, quite an honor, actually."

A growl ripped up Alice's throat at his comment. Mine wasn't far behind.