The Inevitable

Chapter 2 Abduction

"Well?" Emmett asked impatiently.

"I don't know, I haven't found it yet, just hang on," Alice complained as she typed quickly on the keyboard. "Oh wait... I think this might be it."

"Edward," Rosalie said, surprised.

Alice spun around in the chair. When she saw Edward she felt a terrible pain in her chest. He looked awful. She had never seen so much pain held in one set of eyes. His whole body looked slumped. He looked beat; defeated.

"Edward, I…I was just…"

"It's ok," he said quietly, his voice thick. "I…need to know too."

Alice gave him a small, sad smile and turned back to the computer. Edward came to stand behind her.

"Ok, let's see. Yeah, this one is about her. It just says she went missing. This was right when it happened. Massive search, no leads. Father is police chief. Everyone looking…this doesn't say too much. She disappeared one day. Let me see if I can find anything else." She looked quickly over her shoulder. Edward's face was sad, but no more than it had been before.

She typed for a little while. "Here's another one. It's short. It says that everything was left behind. Her car, wallet, backpack…all of her possessions. Oh, this one has more information. She disappeared one day after school. They…oh," she breathed, stopping immediately. She heard a low growl behind her, and turned to see Edward's angry face. He walked away from the back of her chair and began pacing back and forth.

"What is it?" Emmett demanded.

"They…they found…blood. In her kitchen. And signs of a struggle. They didn't release it in the initial articles, but after finding nothing they thought it might help. They…think it was an abduction."

"Abduction?" Rosalie said incredulously. "In Forks?"

"That's what it says." She looked carefully at Edward, who was pacing quickly, looking at none of them. "Let me see if I can find anything else," she mumbled.

"There are a few things here that just say the search continued, no new leads," she said after a few minutes. "Oh…I'm pretty sure this is the last one," she said sadly.

"What does it say?" Jasper asked.

"They never found her…never found anything," Edward said quietly, his voice flat. "They closed the case and listed her as dead."

"Yes," Alice whispered.

"You think I don't know that Emmett!" Edward shouted angrily, glaring at him.

"Hey, I can't help what I think, so don't get all pissed at me!"

"How many times do you think I've beat myself over the head with that these last few days, huh? I thought I was doing the right thing! I wanted her to have a real life! A chance!"

"We know Edward, we know," Jasper said soothingly.

"It won't work Jasper! Nothing will make this easier, so don't even bother!"

"No one blames you Edward," Rosalie said quietly.

"I can hear you all, or have you forgotten that?"

"No one blames you," Alice said firmly. "But we can't help thinking…"

"Yeah, I've only thought it about a million times! I," his voice broke, his face changing from angry to tortured. "I thought I was doing the right thing," he choked out.

"We know. You…you couldn't have known what would happen." Alice stared at him intently.

Edward's head snapped back in Emmett's direction.

"I'm sorry, but it's true. She was."

"Was what?" Rosalie demanded.

"A magnet…for bad stuff," Emmett said quietly.

"But I was the worst of them. At least…I though I was."

"For something like that to happen in Forks," Emmett muttered.

"The articles all said nothing like that had ever happened here," Alice added.

Edward ran his hand through his hair. "It is my fault."

"Edward no…"

"Oh come on Alice!" he interrupted. "I left her! I made you promise not to look for her future! If I just hadn't…" he trailed off.

"You don't know that it would have made a difference," she whispered.

He eyed her carefully. "You know better than to say something different than what you're thinking."

"I'm sorry." She looked away to a spot on the wall.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. It was me. I did this. I did everything."

"No. You can't do this," Rosalie said angrily. "You've spent the last seventy five years depressed that you left her. You can't do that again!"

Edward glared at her.

"Rose!"

"No Emmett. Look, you left. Who knows if it was the best thing. Who knows what might have happened if we had stayed. You can never know. It's all over. It's done. You can't change it, and being depressed for eternity is not going to change that."

Edward turned away and went to sit down, putting his head in his hands.

"Stop it Rosalie," Alice hissed.

"You left knowing that she would go and have a human life and die. She did die…it was just sooner than you thought. But there's nothing to be done now. Please Edward…please. We don't want to watch you like this anymore. We don't want to see you do this to yourself."

"Would you just…"

"She's right," Edward said quietly.

Everyone turned to stare at him in shock.

"I can't do anything. I…I love her. So much. But…if I keep…I can't. My life is meaningless without her. But it's been that way for so long now." He looked around at all of them. "I don't want to cause you pain. I…"

"I really hope you're not going to start talking about leaving again, because if you are…" Alice interrupted.

Edward gave her a small smile. "I was so afraid to come back here. I was afraid of what it would do to me. I didn't think I could handle seeing everything that reminded me of her, that made me think of her. But now…that I know she's gone…" He sighed, running his hand through his hair again. "I'm not leaving," he said softly.

"Please don't," Alice said pleadingly, looking him directly in the eye. "We…we don't want to be without you."

"I know."