THE REST OF TOMORROW
Chapter 13: Found Edward's POV Finding the entrance to the Werewolves underground fortress had not been all that difficult, and it was the smell of humans and wolf alike that led us to this point. Jasper had been able to find a few extra maps when he and Alice went into a closed off area at Terezin, and verified for us that this was one of the secret entrances. Now he and Emmett were off trying to find the other one to watch over and wait as I was now with Jacob and my wife. The worst part to all of this was having to wait. Every fiber of my being was screaming for me to pry the huge stone slab away from the entrance and go in after my baby, but there was too much that could go wrong. My family and I were aware that human lives were at risk, and we were trying at all costs to avoid any bloodshed where they were concerned. The more immediate danger was to Renesmee. If one of us got caught and was out numbered, they could easily use us to get her to do the unthinkable, and from what Jacob had seen my daughter was at the end of her endurance. "How can you stand this?" Jacob whispered loudly as he got up and began to pace. "I'm standing it to keep Renesmee safe, now sit down before you give us away!" Jacob glared at me and it was Bella's hand on his shoulder that calmed him down. He was still ready to go running in there; ready to go against his beliefs to save my baby. His frustration was quickly wearing on me, but I bit back my feelings and shut my eyes, breathing in the air again. We had another two hours of waiting before going back to rendezvous with the rest of my family at Terezin. If Nicoli and the others left tonight without us knowing, there was always the chance that they had a tunnel going all the way back, though I didn't see how. Jasper was fairly certain that the Nazis had set off explosives to protect some of the weapons they were developing, and that those tunnels were inaccessible. "How are we going to do this?" Bella asked me, drawing my attention away from trying to figure out the other smells around this place. "Very carefully if we can at all help it," I answered "I'm going to phase and talk to Sam," Jacob informed us as he stood half way up walking into the cover of the trees. Once he was gone I sighed. "If he would have stayed one more moment, I think I would have blown our cover," I admitted as Bella looked at me quizzically. "He was cussing me out in his head," I informed and she shook her head. "He means well. I sort of envy him for being able to have such a strong connection with our baby," she responded with a sigh "I'm not sure you would agree if you could see what he does when Renesmee connects to him," I offered carefully. Bella shut her eyes and I reached out and gently pulled her against me. "We are getting her back tonight," I promised. That was when Jacob returned in his human form, wearing only his cut offs, looking dazed. Bella hurried to her feet and went to him and I was quick to follow. "What is it," Bella asked snapping him back into attention. "I was ready to phase when we connected. Nessie's not in the chamber, she's in a room with wooden floors and old rugs. There was a window and it looked like she was pretty high up, it looked out over a city with a river or lake near it." The only city close by that I could think of with a waterway was Dresden, and I grabbed the phone while Bella reminded Jacob that he needed to dress. "Jasper, listen, Jacob connected with her. Somewhere on our way here they moved her. I'm not sure if they are still tracking us somehow, or if she's too sick to stay in someplace like that. Dresden has a waterway right?" "A major one, the Elbe Waterway. Their main port connects them to pretty much all over Europe. Look, Emmett and I can go back and grab the others," Jasper began but I cut him off, "No, Jasper, I need you and Emmett to stay. One of you needs to come back here and wait. If no one shows in two hours then meet back in Terezin. Bella, Jacob and I are heading to Dresden, what is the tallest building, and would be a place they would keep her." My brother didn't hesitate, "Frauenkirche Dresden. It's a church that is open to the public but if Jacob says she's someplace high up, then that would most likely be the place. It also means Nicoli may have allies there so watch yourselves." "Thanks, Jasper, be safe." I hung up feeling a certain amount of dread. If they had her there, they might very well be ready to take a ship, or even a train out, heading for Italy. The one thing I was aware of was that Dresden had many forms of mass transportation, including an airport. "We need to go," I said walking over to my wife and Jacob. "What did Jasper say?" Jacob asked "He thinks they might be keeping her in a church there, one that is pretty famous." "How could he risk something like that?" Bella whispered. Before answering her I put my arm around her shoulder. "He's insane, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He's no more in control of his actions than a Werewolf forced into that sort of life." Jacob was pacing and when I suggested to him that he might want to phase he didn't hesitate. We had the cover of night and *109 kilometers* to run before reaching the city and Renesmee. With Jacob ahead of us, Bella and I ran together, silent for a while. "Do you think they have tunnels that extend further out than what Jasper suspects?" my wife asked "It is possible. They had to have been present during World War II, and I'm not aware of any records of the Nazis coming upon them. Nicoli has managed to elude Caius for this long because he's been careful, but I'm not sure why that has suddenly changed." As we talked it began to snow again, and I thought of my daughter and how much she loved the snow. Renesmee had never been content with building snow men, instead she sculpted, creating snow bears, and once even attempted a snow unicorn. She gave up on that when she couldn't get the neck the way she wanted. "What are you thinking about?" Bella asked squeezing my hand to remind me of her presence. "Just how much Renesmee loves snow," I answered feeling the sadness welling up again. It was funny how when life was going well for me that I never thought about the fact that I still took breaths of air when I really didn't need to. In times of great sadness, I found myself gasping for air almost, even though my body didn't require it. It had happened before when I thought Bella had gone on without me, and I would not allow it to happen again. *Thirty kilometers* from the city in the cover of some trees, Jacob phased back to his human form and hurriedly dressed in his winter wear. We still had four hours of darkness, which left us little time to try and find Renesmee. My gut instinct told me that they would likely leave for Italy when the sun began to rise As we were about to resume the run, my phone vibrated and I picked up. "What is it?" "Nicoli just left carrying a bag over his shoulder. I think he's trying to trick us into thinking its Nessie," Jasper informed. "Follow him, if he tries to get into a car or head toward the train station in Prague, don't let him." "Emmett is already eager to get his hands on him." "Don't let him get carried away. Have you heard from the others?" As Jasper began to talk, Jacob stood up straight and I focused on his thoughts. I heard my daughter crying weakly and a woman speaking in German, telling her not to be afraid. The woman was older, and her scent smelled strongly of wolf. One of her eyes was clouded over and I knew my baby was afraid. In her own tongue, the woman told Renesmee to be good and take the medicine she offered. Renesmee shook her head, but the woman grabbed her by her chin and forced a spoon of something down her throat. My phone snapped and I was only vaguely aware of that fact. Renesmee was able to spit the medicine back out getting it all over the woman. As the old woman's hand flew I saw Jacob's head snap back, and growled. "Edward, what is he seeing," Bella pleaded as I focused on her. What I wanted to do was protect my wife, just as much as I wanted to with my baby, but the thoughts Jacob had back in London applied now. We didn't have the luxury of hiding truths. "There was an elderly woman with her, another werewolf. She was trying to get Renesmee to take medicine. When our baby spit it out, the woman smacked her." Instead of waiting my wife began to run, and I heard Jacob struggling to keep up with us as I reached her side. "Bella…" "No, we've waited too much already. I'm not stopping. We have to get her." It was a struggle but I grabbed her and made her stop. "Are you going to go in and take out all the humans who are there?" For a moment I thought Bella might actually fight me, but she didn't and rested her head against my chest. "How are we going to help her?" "Create a distraction," Emmett said as he and the rest of my family arrived. I had been so focused on Bella that I hadn't heard their approach. "You were supposed to stay behind," I grumbled "He had too many humans with him," Carlisle said, breaking my angry gaze away from my brother. I quickly told Carlisle what Jacob and I saw when Renesmee connected and he agreed that we needed to move now and get to her before Nicoli and his pack arrived in the city. ~*~*~*~ As we entered the Dresden, the smell of Werewolf seemed to permeate the air. Nicoli hadn't left my daughter unguarded as I had hoped, and even at this time of night any sort of confrontation would draw too much attention. I turned to talk to Carlisle and my mind focused on Jacob as Renesmee connected to him. She was freezing cold and her teeth were chattering, but that wasn't what sent me over the edge. What she was focused on was a young vampire, one almost too young, taunting her about how we were able to find her with such ease. "If you tell me, I promise to keep it a secret," the little girl vampire whispered. Renesmee moved her head side to side shaking it and the vampire girl got right in her face. "You will tell me or I will have Natalie for a snack when the Master gets here with her." "Nooo, please don't," Renesmee sobbed. "Tell me what I want to know, or maybe I'll just have to look into your mind. I can you know, and if I find out it is you, I will scratch open your throat and let you bleed a little." "Anna, move away from her," The old woman shrieked. The young vampire laughed as she ran out, and it all clicked into place. "They have someone like you Alice," Jacob and I said at the same time. My sister and the rest of the family looked at us both. "Someone who can see the future. A very young vampire who was likely just nine or ten when she was changed." "Someone who would be an asset to Nicoli and would have seen the confrontation and Renesmee's birth," Bella breathed. There wasn't any time left. We had to get to that church before that vampire child saw us coming. "Emmett, it's time to get them on the move," Jasper said grabbing Emmett by the shoulder. Before I could blink they were gone. "Jacob you need to come with me she's freezing and you're the only one I know who can keep her warm," I said before I faced my wife. Bella wasn't going to like me but I didn't care at this point. "Help Carlisle and Esme, when we have Renesmee we need to get her into a safe place." For one moment Bella stood watching me. "You're going to wait for him." "I have too. He won't ever stop hunting her down, and one of us needs to be there for her." "Wait what's going on?" asked Jacob. "He wants you to bring Renesmee so he can stay and wait for Nicoli," Bella said as her voice shook with the pain of what she had realized. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. "Please do this." Before she could say another word Jake and I were heading toward the river to the church to save Renesmee. ~*~*~*~ By the time we arrived at the church, the smell of wolf was distant, but the smell of another vampire was close by. I'll wait for this one, Jacob thought. I nodded once before taking off into an alley, going around the church until I found what I was looking for. There was a basement entrance and still no smell of wolf or vampire near by. As I moved down the stone steps I heard someone on the other side of the door and suddenly the smell of werewolf was strong. Stepping back from the steps, I crouched down near some stone statues waiting, glad that the wind wasn't blowing on this night. The door creaked open and two smells hit me at once. The first was the woman, smelling as dead as her master. The second was my baby. Renesmee's teeth were still clattering and the woman was muttering something as she slowly ascended the stairs. "Much good they did us, my son never could control his eagerness to have what he wanted." The revelation that the woman was Nicoli's own mother was a real surprise and possibly an advantage if I could keep from killing her. "Co… old," Renesmee chattered. My baby's heart beat was what drew me into action. It was beating too slow and at times skipping a beat or two. How she had hung on in the condition she was in was a testament to her determination. When the woman was a few steps in front of me I stepped out and quickly wrapped my arms around her and my daughter, to hold both of them. "You may not have the chance to tell him what you think." She laughed and coughed a little as Renesmee struggled to see. My daughter's heart began to beat faster and there were more skips. "Jacob, get her and take her to my father." Jacob had just appeared from the alley I had come out of, and ran to us. I pulled the woman's arms as his moved in taking my baby away from her. "Hey, cutie," Jake whispered seeming to realize just how sick my daughter was. I held the woman tighter against me wanting to snap her neck off. "I took care of the vampire." Jacob whispered his gaze focused on Renesmee. "Daddy?" Knocking the old woman out wasn't killing her, and when I threw her against one of the statues she was out. We were walking on borrowed time and I was struggling with the decision to stay and wait. "I'm here baby." "Her heart," Jacob said as his voice broke. With a trembling hand, Renesmee reached out and placed it on my cheek, "I knew you would come." That was when her heart thudded three times fast, and stopped. ~*~*~*~*~ The most difficult part about sitting in the sterile waiting room was knowing that my brothers, sisters and mother were all putting their lives on the line. When Renesmee's heart stopped, I pulled her from Jacobs's arms, at the same time tossing him my phone yelling at him to phone Carlisle and get him to meet me at the largest hospital. On the way I massaged my daughter's chest and got her heart beating again. She drifted in and out of consciousness and her heart beat was way too slow and erratic "I want to know what they are doing to her." Bella hissed as she stood up from the sofa we had both been sitting on. I knew my wife could hear just as well as I could. Carlisle had called in a lot of favors and only had a few people helping him. Words like infection, hypothermia, and frostbite drifted our way every now and again and I knew how my wife felt. Jacob was standing, looking out a window. He hadn't spoken since he got here with Bella. Just when I felt I would be the one to have to hold my wife back, Carlisle walked into the waiting room. All three of us got up to face him. "The infection is under control and she's warming up now. Two of her toes were badly frost bitten, but I think she will recover with proper care," Carlisle said before shutting his eyes. "What made her heart stop beating?" Jacob blurted out. Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose, opening his eyes, "A combination of the hypothermia and the infections in her back and from the frostbite in her toes. Remarkably her ulcer wasn't the cause of anything." "I want to see her." Bella demanded I did too but Jasper's thoughts invaded my mind. They had Nicoli and most of his clan had been destroyed, burning in a fire on the outskirts of town. My brother had his own ideas of how to deal with is captive, and I had only one. "Give her a kiss for me," I said as Bella turned to me. "Edward, she needs you." "Jasper has Nicoli." She grabbed my hand and I had no choice but to follow. When we were alone in an empty hall Bella spun around. "Revenge won't fix what he's done to our baby." I reached out and cupped her face with my hands. "I'm not going to seek revenge. Alice made a call and Caius is very interested in Nicoli and his mother." Her eyes grew wide, but she wasn't smiling. "Bella, I can't be all Renesmee needs me to be until I know he's going to be taken care of, properly. Alice assures me Caius and his brothers are interested in what happened with him. Aro knows but is staying in Italy awaiting their return." She sighed coming into my arms. "Go be with her." My wife nodded and after we kissed, I headed out to face the one who had caused us all this pain. The scent of burning Werewolf is what I followed to lead me to my brothers and to the one who had caused all of this trouble. Even before I arrived I could hear Nicoli's sadistic laugh and focused on what Alice had told my brothers. I was surprised Caius would want Nicoli and his mother so close to them, but then again Volterra was a safer place, and Caius wasn't alone there as he had been when he had been attacked by a Werewolf. When I stepped out of the brush, Nicoli faced me without any sort of expressed emotion. "Sending us to our enemies won't stop what has been started. There are others who know of us and of the half breed. They will find her again." "Who is coming for them?" I asked not willing to give Nicoli the satisfaction of seeing my true rage. "I'm not sure if they will send Felix and Demetri, or if Caius will come as well," Alice said watching me, seeming to know the turmoil I was going through. My sister motioned for me to follow and as I did Nicoli laughed again as did the woman. "Go back to the hospital. We can wait for them here." I wanted to do that but I also wanted to be sure nothing happened and was about to say that when the scent of many humans wafted in on a small breeze. Alice being blinded by the Werewolf couldn't have seen this and in one short moment our group was surrounded by Nicoli's followers. "You see?" Nicoli gloated. Among the adults were also young girls and boys, and I wasn't certain if one of the girls wasn't the one who had tried to help Renesmee. "You will let us go now," Nicoli said trying to stand up while Emmett pushed him back down. "That's where you're wrong," my brother growled. Emmett, I knew was having a difficult time holding back his anger and need to destroy the sadistic man before us and it looked like it may very well come to that. Another voice broke through the commotion and suddenly everything was blurry. Gray and black cloaks descended upon us and the humans who had come to defend their master lost their lives. My brothers and sisters as well as myself gathered beside Nicoli and his mother. Soon the smell of human flesh burning joined that of the wolves. Caius along with several of the guard, Demetri, Felix and Jane stood before us. Caius glanced at all of us before focusing his eyes on Nicoli. "You thought you could hide forever?" "I had a plan, and still do. The child is in a hospital here." "The child is not who I'm interested in. Felix, Demetri take them back around the edge of town to where our plane awaits." The two men grabbed Nicoli, causing the older man and his mother to growl before they were pulled away. Once they were gone Caius looked at me. "My brother sends his apologies, and we are most grateful for you service. Do not worry about his followers they are being dealt with at this very moment." He turned facing Jane and his other guards motioning them to follow. For one moment Jane stood looking at me, then turned and left. Not needing a prompt, I took off for the hospital ready to see my daughter and have this all put behind us. ~*~*~*~* AN: *109km = about 67 miles according to Google's charts *30km =18.6m Okay here we are. I really hope you guys forgive me for not showing a true drawn out battle. My focus in this story has been and still is Renesmee and her family, and I see Edward as a changed man. He has a wife and a child, and yes Nicoli did some really bad things to his daughter, but you have to wiegh in on the fact that Renesmee is hurt and for Edward it is more important to maintain control even with their enemies and go back and be with his baby. I tried to keep the landmarks as true as I could trying to find stuff on Google. Dresden is a true city of Germany as is that church, not sure about the lay out but hopefully you guys are willing to give me slight creative liberties. The same holds true for Terezin. I don't know how accurate I was with that, I did see something about it on History channel once, and again hope you won't mind some creative liberties for the sake of the story. So Renesmee will get a POV in the story but given what she's been through that might take time. I truly hope you all enjoyed what has happened so far, and there will be more to come on my next day off which should be Wednesday, I think. Thanks to all who have read and reviewed thus far. ~Ella~
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