Alice Cullen sat in her room with a photo album in her lap. The pictures that were pasted in it, looked old and yellow. She sighed and turned over the page she had been staring at for the pas ten minutes, when Jasper walked in.
"Alice, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Alice answered but not looking up.
"Then why does it look like you have been crying?" Jasper took place next to his missis and looked at the photo album she was holding: "You have been looking at this thing a lot the last couple of days."
Alice wiped her finger under her right eye to catch a tear before it fell.
"Hey. You know you can talk to me" Jasper said softly.
"I dreamed about her, again."
"Who? …The girl?"
"Yeah."
Alice looked down at the picture on the saved page. It showed a family photo with a man and woman in the back and two girls in the front. The oldest girl looked exactly like Alice and the other girl was a couple years younger but had the same eyes as her.
"How is it possible that I don't remember anything of them. They are my family. My mom, my dad, my little sister. I don't even know their names" Alice said sad.
After Alice got turned into a vampire she lost all her memories from her human existence. After a long search she discovered her birthplace. There she found the photo album stocked away in an old archive. But she didn't find the names of her family members or any other information about them. She did find her dossier from the institute she got put into. The reports mentioned she hallucinated about having visions and that this was the reason why her parents had put her in that place. It didn't take long for them to figure out a vampire in the institute had turned Alice.
Jasper hit his arm around Alice and pulled her closer to him. She knew Jasper wasn't really great with words but nonverbal he always knew what to do. So Alice crawled a little closer to Jasper and laid down her head on his shoulder and Jasper pulled her even closer by putting his other arm around her too.
"Let's go!" Emmett spoke loudly to gather his family members: "I'm thirsty." Soon everyone congregated in front of the Cullen house. Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esmé, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward and Bella.
"Where is Renesmee?" Rosalie asked Bella.
"She's with Jacob" Bella answered.
"Wait, she's not coming on our family hunt?" Alice asked disappointed.
"No, they're going on a date."
"What? Already? She isn't even 7 years old." Alice said indignant.
"I know. That's what I said" Edward defended himself but got a poke in his thigh from Bella.
"Maybe in human years. But she did reach adulthood already" Carlisle agreed with Bella.
"Oh come on. Are you all done pouting about Renesmee not coming. I'm thirsty" Emmett said impatient.
"Okay, okay" Esmé tried to calm her son: "Emmett, you and Rosalie come hunt with us on the east side of the forest and the rest, you can hunt the west side."
"Sounds good" Jasper agreed and turned to Alice to give her a sweet smile. His smile got rewarded by a soft kiss.
"See you all in an hour or so" Carlisle greeted everyone: "And remember, don't cross over to the reserve."
And off they went. Alice took one last look behind her to see four family members run into the forest and then she put her game face on, or actually her hunting face. It didn't take long for them to get a prey in side. But instead of rushing into the kill they decided to go with a strategic approach. Bella and Edward hid behind a couple bushes on one side and Alice and Jasper hid behind a couple rocks on the other side. All four of them had a perfect view on the deer that soon would be their meal.
"Ready?" Jasper asked Alice. Alice nodded and just when she and Jasper wanted to come out of their hiding place, Alice got a visions. It wasn't very clear but she saw it was about all four of them.
Alice, Jasper, Bella and Edward all jump out of their hiding place and run to the deer. Right before they can put their teeth in the deer a black matter comes out of nowhere and with a smooth movement grabs the deer from between them. Bella receives a strong hit from the black thing and gets thrown against a tree.
"Wait!" Alice shouted but Jasper already ran to deer. Edward, who had read Alice's thoughts tried to hold back Bella but failed.
"Bella stop!" Edward yelled. Too late. Jasper and Bella got a hold on the deer. But then the black thing from Alice's vision grabbed the deer out of their hands. Bella got thrown backwards by the strong force but Edward catch her just in time before she hit the tree like in Alice's vision.
"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm good"
"Jasper, Alice? Are you guys alright?" Edward now yelled to the other side but he couldn't see them because he and Bella got thrown backwards fifty yards.
"We're fine" Alice assured her brother. In no time they stood back together at the place where, a couple seconds ago, the deer had stood.
"What the hell was that?" Bella asked, a little panicked.
"I have no idea but it definitively felt hard" Jasper said, rubbing his jaw: "Alice?"
"I don't know, I didn't get a good look. But it was black and really fast."
"What is the plan? Going after it or going to Carlisle?" Bella asked.
"I say we go after it" Jasper said. He was ready for some revenge for that stroke against his jaw.
"I don't know" Edward said unsure: "I think it's better we go tell Carlisle first."
"At least let us go see where that thing went to. Maybe we can find some more information before we inform the rest" Jasper suggested. Edward nodded and off they went. They ran, close together, in the direction where the black creature fled to. After running just for a couple hundred yards they stumbled on the deer that they were hunting. It was lying wounded in a small vale. All four vampires looks surprised.
"What the…" Bella started: "I don't get it. Why would that creature first steal our prey and then just leave it here?"
"I don't know but it doesn't feel right" Alice answered.
"I think we have enough information for now. Let's go find Carlisle" Edward said and everyone agreed, so they started running their way back home. They were lucky, because when they arrived at the house the other half of the family was already there. Carlisle, Esmé, Emmett and Rosalie quickly got filled in, so did Renesmee and Jacob.
"And you're sure you didn't see anything else than that it's black?" Carlisle asked to be sure.
"No nothing" Alice assured him.
"So, what are we going to do? What's the plan?" Emmett asked Carlisle.
"So far the creature hasn't really done something wrong. It was probably just hunting like us. I think we better wait and see. Maybe it's just passing through the area."
"I don't think it was hunting. Why would it leave the deer in that vale like that" Edward reacted.
"I agree. If it was hunting, it wouldn't just have left its prey" Jacob said.
"Maybe, but we can't do anything now. We don't even know where it is" Esmé said.
"Then just let us wait and see. We're just gonna keep our eyes open" Carlisle decided.
"I'll inform the tribe" Jacob said: "They can keep an eye on the reserve."
Everybody agreed. They went back inside, accept Jacob. He went straight to the reserve to inform the other wolves right away, but not before he gave a sweet kiss on Renesmee's cheeck and saying goodbye to the rest of the Cullen family.
Three weeks went by and nobody had seen the strange black creature, not the Cullens nor the tribe. But not everybody felt as comfortable about it. Carlisle tried to reassure his family by telling them the creature probably moved on from the forest and that it would be unlikely they would come across it again.
The Cullens were sitting in the living room when a panicked wolf came running out of the woods. It didn't take Edward too long to figure out why. The black creature had been spotted by a couple of the tribe members but they were unable to keep track of it. The Cullens quickly came in action and followed the wolf to were the rest of the pack had lost the creature's scent. Maybe the vampires would be able to find a new track. The closer they came to place where the wolves were waiting, the more nervous and anxious Alice got. She didn't know why but her gut said that the black creature wasn't here to hunt. It was here for another reason, a reason Alice could only guess at.
