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"Come on sleepyhead, we're here." The voice of Alice Cullen rang through Magnolia's ears like an unwelcome wake-up call. The sorceress groaned and opened her eyes reluctantly. She looked around, confused until she remembered the events that occurred a day prior. Bella was still in danger. She thought I was all a bad dream.

Bella and Jasper were out of the car, standing and waiting for Magnolia. She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out. She wobbled slightly as her feet hit the ground. Alice was there to steady her. She looked around at the hotel. It was large, extremely large, but she knew the Cullen's liked their luxury. Jasper walked next to her as they entered the lobby. "Not gonna fall asleep, huh?" He chuckled.

Magnolia rubbed her eyes and groaned. "Shut up."

Alice and Jasper checked in. Magnolia didn't even remember them getting to the room. "I'm gonna make some coffee." She said, not talking to anyone in particular. Dropping her bag, she made her way to the cheap hotel coffee pot. Bella came up beside her; the look of fear hadn't left her face since the baseball game.

"You want one, Bells?" Magnolia questioned, turning away from the coffee for a moment.

Bella shook her head. "Not really. I just wanna watch."

Magnolia didn't question it. Bella was most likely trying to distract herself. Nodding, she turned back to the pot, and for ten minutes she and Bella watched the coffee being made in silence. Once it was done, Magnolia grabbed the largest cup she could find in the cabinets and poured the hot dark liquid into it.

"No cream?" Bella turned up her nose in disgust as Magnolia took a long sip.

"No," Magnolia shook her head. "I need to wake up. The cream would only dilute the caffeine." She moved over to the couch as she talked, Bella trailing slowly behind her. She sat next to Alice, who smiled kindly.

Bella yawned loudly. "If you won't have coffee, at least sleep, Bells." Magnolia looked at her friend concernedly. Bella shook her head defiantly.

"No, I'm not tired." Another yawn.

Alice got up, shaking her head. "Come on sleeping beauty, let's get you to bed."
Bella groaned but allowed Alice to take her into the bedroom.

Magnolia sighed, and took another sip of her coffee, finally taking in what had happened. "Oh no," She realized; she forgot to tell her parents. "Mom's gonna kill me," She put the coffee down and turned to Jasper, who was watching her with a blank expression. "Do you know if Carlisle told my parents about...this?"

Jasper nodded. "He did. He said you should call your self, though," He tossed her a small silver flip-phone. "Here." His voice was stiff as he spoke, and as much as he tried to keep his face straight, giving nothing away, Magnolia could see a hint of a scowl fall through the cracks.

Magnolia stood up and made her way to the small kitchenette. She could feel Jasper's eyes on her as she dialled her mom's personal number. "Hello?" Magnolia's chest tightened at the sound of panic in her mother's voice.

"Hey, mom." She said softly. She could feel the disapproving scowl on her mom's face.

"Magnolia Siren. Do you have any idea how worried your father and I have been? How scared we were when Carlisle told us you went on the run to protect your friend from a tracker? I am this close to getting Jasper to take you back home immediately," She took a long pause, her breaths were shaky. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Magnolia felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't mean to cause this much pain to her parents, she was only thinking of keeping Bella safe. "I'm sorry mom. I was selfish. It didn't even occur to me what me going could've done. But I can't leave. I have to make sure Bella is safe, I won't let her die, mom. I can't." Her voice broke at the end as a few tears slipped.

Ariana sighed. "You are grounded for a month when you get home, alright?"

Magnolia nodded, sniffling. "That's fair. I deserve it...bye mom." She hung up before her mom could respond. Shaking, she placed the phone down on a counter, slowly slid to the floor, and curled up into a ball. She let her tears fully fall.

Jasper was at her side in an instant. He sat next to her and allowed her to rest her face on his shoulder, her tears wetting his shirt. "I'm a horrible daughter and mate. I'm sorry Jasper.
I know how you feel about me being here and I'm so sorry." She sniffled again.

Jasper kissed her head softly. "You're not horrible. You are the most wonderful person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in this long life. You have nothing to be sorry for, I should be sorry for not believing in your abilities."

Magnolia sobbed louder. "Thank you," She managed to choke out, and for five minutes, she and Jasper sat on the floor, him allowing her to let all her emotions out. "Jazz?" She looked up at him, her eyes looked like crystals from the tears surrounding them.

"Mmm-hmm?"

She took a deep breath. "Can you..." She didn't know how to phrase it, but he knew what she meant.

Jasper nodded. "Of course." He couldn't stand her being this sad, this regretful. He pushed a large and soothing wave of calm towards her, and her hard and staggered breathing evened, and soon the tears in her eyes dried. She nuzzled her head deeper into his shoulder.

"Thank you, again." She mumbled. I love you, she thought. She was sure he could feel her saying that even if he didn't directly hear it.

He did. He smiled to himself, as he continued to hold the girl in his arms for another five minutes.

"Jasper!" Bella's voice rang out through the room. Jasper shot up, feeling Alice's change in emotions as she had a vision. He rushed into the bedroom.

Magnolia knew from his reaction what was happening. She got up shakily and followed. Bella stood nervously while Alice sat on the bed, her face blank, her eyes looking ahead into a possible future. "That tracker, he just changed course."

Jasper was sitting next to her. "Where will it take him, Alice?" He quickly grabbed a paper pad and a pen, placing them in Alice's hands.

"Mirrors," She spoke ominously. Magnolia stood next to Bella, watching intensely. "A room full of mirrors." She started sketching on the paper.

"Edward said the visions weren't always certain." Bella nervously watched Alice draw.

"She sees the course people are on while they're on it," Jasper told her, not taking his eyes off of Alice's quick-moving hands. "If they changed their minds, the vision changes."

"Okay," Bella nodded. "So the course the trackers on now is gonna lead him to a...ballet studio?" She questioned, pointing to Alice's rough drawing.

Alice stopped, looking up at Bella, shocked. Jasper did the same. "You've been here?" Alice asked.

Bella nodded again. "I took lessons as a kid," Magnolia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Why would James go to a ballet studio? "The school that I went to had an arch just like that."

"Was your school here in Phoenix?" Jasper questioned hastily.

"Yeah," Bella's phone then rang. "Edward, you okay?" She was relieved to hear his voice, Magnolia could tell. "Okay...be safe." She hung up after Edward finished.

Magnolia came up behind Bella. "What did he say?" She was the only one listening in without superhuman hearing.

"He's coming to get me," Bella answered plainly, and she left the room.

Magnolia became nervous. "Is that safe for her?" She asked Jasper. He got up and took her arm.

"Yes. It will be much safer for her with Edward."

Magnolia didn't believe that, but she smiled despite her worry. She wanted to go with Bella badly, to be with her at all times and keep her safe. "She'll be fine, darlin'. No need to worry. Edward will protect her with his life." Jasper kissed her cheek softly.

"That's what I'm worried about."

Jasper and Alice had left Bella and Magnolia in the room while they checked out. They all were to meet Edward at the airport, and he would take Bella.

Magnolia absentmindedly flicked through the few channels on the television, never staying on one for long. Bella sat next to her, flipping through a fashion magazine. "There's nothing good on," Magnolia complained. "You would think a hotel this expensive would at least invest in better cable t.v."

Bella nodded. "Mmm-hmm." Bella's phone went off again. "It's Renée, give me a minute." She got up and went to another room.

"Hey, mom. I'm glad you got my message." She started talking just before she entered the bedroom and shut the door. That was all Magnolia heard.

When Bella finally came out, her face was a sickly green. Magnolia jumped from her seat and rushed over to her. "Bells, you look like you're about to vomit. Are you okay? What did your mom say?"

Bella nodded slowly. "I'm...okay. Let's just meet Alice and Jasper. I'm sure they're wondering what's taking us so long." She grabbed her bags.

Magnolia did the same. "If anything is actually wrong, Bells, you can tell me." And the two left the room.

Magnolia knew something had happened on the phone. Bella was off. She usually wasn't like this after a call with Renée, and Magnolia was determined to figure out what it was.

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I'll be using the plot from the book on how Bella actually got away from Alice and Jasper, so I hope you enjoy that in the next chapter ❤️