EP Read Along Week 24 - Chapters 69-71

Chapter 69 – BPOV

Chapter 69 starts off with the shoot out in front of the Cullen house from Bella’s point of view.    Bella is horrified that Jacob has been shot and is shaking uncontrollably when Edward tells her to get into the car.  Before Edward and Bella drive away. Bella gets clipped in the arm with a bullet.  They take off with James and company hot on their tails.  Bella and Edward are slammed from behind and crash into some trees.    Edward is unconscious and James comes to take Bella.  She grabs Edward’s gun and accidentally shoots Laurent.  The people with James obviously know who Bella really is and don’t want her to know.  They plan to kill Edward, but Bella begs for his life and they leave him.  I honestly don’t know why James left Edward alive, to be honest.  It would have been simple to kill him and get him out of the way.  J/S  Don’t get me wrong.   I’m glad he didn’t but it would have made more sense giving the personality of James.   Anyway, once Bella is in their vehicle, she gets the first of many injections that renders her unconscious.

Bella wakes up having no idea how much time has passed or where she is at.    She spends much of her time unconscious.  The first time she wakes up, she is given water and crackers by Victoria.  The second time she wakes up and learns that her captor is Stephan Volkov, who is James’s father.  She finds out that Elizabeth was a slave and that Stephan was the one who had her killed.  She learns that Stephan is Emmett’s biological father and that she is currently in Chicago.  Finally, she learns that she is the long lost mafia princess, the principessa.  After her conversation with Stephan, Bella is left alone with James who again tries to assault her, and Bella knees him in the nuts! (GO BELLA!!!!)   This only pisses James off and makes him more determined.  As he is attacking Bella, she scratches the stitches on his face which enough get him off of her, but not before he dislocates her shoulder and duct tapes her mouth and her hands and ankles together.  Victoria returns with food, but is not very friendly towards Bella anymore.

Bella continues to spend her time in and out of consciousness.  She has nightmares and flashbacks with her mother, Edward’s mother and Edward.  She relived horrible things from her past.  Her periods of lucidity become fewer and farther between, and in one of the moments of consciousness, she is asked for the code to the Cullen house.  I have to admire Bella because she would not betray her new family.

As the chapter ends, Bella is trying to hold on, but she is reaching the end of her rope.  She will not give up on Edward saving her because he told her he would never give up on her.

Chapter 70 – EPOV

Yes, Edward fucked up and Carlisle is pissed.   Edward thought he knew what was best and she should have listened to his father.  Edward is finally realizing that he has been working against his father this whole time.  Now Edward is devastated that Bella is gone and the pain of losing her is more agonizing than his injuries from the car accident. 

Edward has a moment, in his distraught state, where he flips out on Alec.  Of course Alec being Alec, throws Edward against the wall and shoves a gun in his side.  When Carlisle defends Edward, Alec turns the gun on him.  Alec is hardcore…you don’t mess with him.  He would kill Edward or Carlisle in heartbeat to protect himself.

Edward is wandering around the house at loose ends while Carlisle and Alec run back and forth between the office and basement.  He finally settles in his room where he is reminded of Bella.  Edward finally does what he has needed to do.  He sits down and cries, sobbing loudly, not caring who hears him.  Your heart is just breaking with his. His heart is more exposed than ever before.  Carlisle interrupts him to tell him that they are leaving for Chicago.  Edward insists on going and Carlisle agrees, but warns Edward to keep his mouth shut and do what he is told.  He also tells Edward that they have Laurent in the basement, and they are trying to get information out of him.  Jacob didn’t make it.  He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and as much as Edward hated him, he feels really bad because he lost his life trying to help Bella.

Edward, Carlisle and Alec fly to Chicago and arrive and the Evanson’s to a frazzled looking Esme.  Emmett and Rosalie are waiting there for them.  Carlisle sat his laptop in front of Emmett and said he had until morning to have the chip returned to the way it was originally or he would regret it.  Esme is so sweet.  She really is a caretaker, trying to get Edward to take something for the pain or eat something and being there for him with the hugs.

Edward finally gets some well-needed shut-eye and sleeps for 12 hours.  He wakes to find Emmett making some progress on the chip but just can’t get a lock on Isabella’s location.  Just as Emmett yells “Got it!” the FBI shows up with a search warrant and they all find themselves on the ground.  They arrest Carlisle and Alec and confiscate many things from Alec’s house, including the computer with Isabella’s tracking program.  Edward gets mouthy with the FBI agents, tries to get the laptop while they are taking it away and lands himself in jail for having a fake ID.

The next day in jail, Edward is visited by an attorney sent by Esme.  It turns out that Edward is probably going to be there for a couple of days.  This is torture for Edward knowing that he can’t be out there looking for Bella.  After another day or two in jail, Edward is visited by Agent DiFronzo.  Edward refuses to speak but then Agent DiFronzo brings up Isabella and he has dug up a lot of information about Bella while in Forks and tries to get Edward to talk, but he gets nothing.  Poor Edward is trying to hold back the tears when he shows Edward the pictures of him and Bella that was obviously taken from Bella’s scrapbook.

The next day, Esme bails Edward out and she informs him that Carlisle and Alec are being held in the same jail.  It is likely that the charges against Alec will be dropped, but Carlisle – not so much.  While driving home with Esme, Edward comes to the realization that he is going to have to risk everything to save Bella.  He goes to see Aro…..

Edward plays right into Aro’s hands.  He asks for help and of course Aro doesn’t want to help him.  Edward almost blows it by shouting at Aro that Isabella is family.  He covers quickly by telling Aro that  he loves her and is going to marry her, so she has to be something to him.  And this is where Aro has him.  He tells Edward that he chose not be a part of Aro’s family.  “We all have choices to make, and you made yours”.  Edward just wants Bella back so bad, he just does it.  He’s says, “You got it” and tears are in his eyes.  Is this killing you while you are reading this???  Oh, our poor Edward.  He is sacrificing everything to get his girl back.  So Aro makes a few calls,  the Mafioso arrive, and Edward takes the oath.

And that’s that…..(I was thinking of the line in Goodfella’s after they off Tommy)

Chapter 71 – CPOV

Carlisle is reflecting on how he first came into contact with Jacob Black when Edward was ten  years old.  He is remembering Jacob as a cheerful boy, telling jokes.  Just like the older Jacob.  Edward introduced Jacob to his father as his best friend, which was a relief to Carlisle that Edward had a friend to confide in.  Then everything blew up with Jacob, and Edward was an angry young man….until Isabella came along.  She pulled Edward back from the darkness, but Jacob did not have anyone.  I think Carlisle felt really bad and regretted what happened to Jacob.  He blamed himself for being part of this life.  He pushed Jacob’s body over the cliff in LaPush, which made him feel guilty but he had no other choice.

Carlisle returns to the house and goes into the secret room to get information out of Laurent who is wounded from Bella shooting him.  Carlisle refuses to help him until he gives up some information.  After bantering back and forth, and Laurent calling Bella a bitch for shooting him (which pisses Carlisle off) Carlisle leaves him begging in the corner of the room and head back upstairs.  He sees that Edward is a complete emotional wreck, not to mention a physical one as well.  He is thinking about how Edward is so much like himself, taking matters into his own hands, and screwing things up.

Carlisle tries periodically through the night to try to get information from Laurent, but to no avail.  Alec has enough and goes in to torture him a bit and then kill him.  Carlisle has to walk away.  I love when Carlisle says “and his last moments would be pure torture at the hands of one of the scariest motherfuckers that I knew.”  Alec did get it out of the Laurent that it was the Russians that they were dealing with.  They are thinking that the Russians know that she is a principessa della mafia.  Alec takes care of Laurent and they head to Chicago.

They have a sit down with Aro when they arrive in Chicago and basically Aro tells Alec that he is responsible if Bella spills any secrets.  Carlisle doesn’t feel like she knows enough for it to be a concern.  They return to the Evanson’s and shortly thereafter are raided by the FBI.  Carlisle’s time spent in jail was excruciatingly slow.  While he is there, he is visited by Special Agent DiFronzo.  Shockingly,  DiFronzo presents him with Isabella’s journal which portrays Carlisle in a bad light.  He also knows about the GPS program and begins to question what Carlisle is tracking with it.  Carlisle gives up nothing and after Esme gathers up bail money for him and Alec, he is released.  Esme tells Carlisle that Edward took the oath while he was in jail.  Carlisle can’t accept it and is reminded by Alec that he once did the same thing because he believed it was the only way to save the woman that he loved.

Aro calls and wants to see Carlisle and Alec.  Meahwhile, Edward hasn’t been seen in three days so nobody knows exactly what he is up to.  Carlisle has 48 hours before he has to surrender himself to get fitted with an ankle monitor.  So they need to move fast before Carlisle moves are being watched.

They meet with Aro who shares the “good news” about Edward.  Carlisle is hoping for loophole that will get Edward out, but the oath is complete and the only way out is death.  Aro shares that he still refuses to get involved with Isabella’s kidnapping, even after Edward took the oath.  Carlisle is ready to fly off the handle, but luckily Alec is there to temper him and get him out of there before he does something stupid.  “You must truly have a death wish” Alec mutters.  (foreshadowing anyone?)

Carlisle and Alec head over to Royce’s house to try to figure out where they might be.  They find Clara (the slave from Phoenix) there and she expresses her concern about Isabella.  They assure her that the reason they are there is to find Bella.  After going through Royce’s office and speaking with Emmett on the phone, they determine that they are in Highland Park.  Those of us that live here in Chicago can tell you that it is pretty far north of the city.  So Carlisle and Alec head for an industrial area of Highland Park, and try Royce and Edward’s phones a few times, but they are not answering.  They arrive at the location and spot James’s car.  They spot Catalano, a kid from the organization who fell in with James and they threaten him to find out what they want to know.  Isabella is in that building – or least she was.  As they are interrogating Catalano, another car pulls up with it’s lights off and it’s Edward and Royce.  Edward is about to walk right in there to get Isabella but Carlisle stops him before he does.  After Edward beats the crap out of Catalano because of Bella, they send him in to tell James he go jumped by thugs.  Meanwhile, Carlisle and Edward cover the back door and Royce and Alec get the front.  As Edward and Carlisle are heading to the back door, Edward asked his father if he is pissed at him Carlisle is – of course.  Edward starts going into his explanation of why he had to do it but his father tells him that now is not the time.  The back door flies open and a gunfight ensues.  Carlisle and Edward are both hit but not fatally.  Carlisle takes out James (YAY Carlisle!!!)  Alec is hit too and it is serious.  Carlisle tells him he needs to get to a hospital. 

Edward finds Bella, who now looks more like the slave girl he had brought from Phoenix a year ago, than the healthy girl from a few weeks ago.  Bella is in bad shape, dehydrated and bruised.  Her pulse is weak and she is not waking up.  Edward is pleading with the unconscious  Isabella to stay with him because he can’t survive without her.  Carlisle’s heart goes out to his son and he promises to do what he can for her.  Alec says he will get himself to a hospital, even though he is clearly too weak to do so.  He is all business despite his injury, urging Carlisle to call Aro to get the mess cleaned up.   Bella’s finally opens her eyes, but as Carlisle is calling Aro,  he sees Alec slumped over in the doorway, and Isabella’s starts seizing. .  Aro is on the line and asks Carlisle if everything is okay, and the chapter ends when Carlisle responds with “No.  It’s not okay.”

We are almost there tesoros!!!! 

Just a few more chapters to go. 

 Aren’t you glad you are hanging in there with us? 

This story is an amazing roller coaster ride.  

 Here is the breakdown of the rest of the read along…..

August 26- Chapters 72-75 

September 2- Chapters 76-78 

September 9- Chapters 79-Epi(which is 81)

September 16- Outtakes 

September 23- The Alec Novella

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