I close my eyes and I see all of us, one by one. We live merrily, no fear or worry consuming us. We are all content and happy. We could easily live in this one spot for the rest of eternity. Never before have I seen the whole group at ease and comfortable. I'd cry if I were able.
I see Esme and Carlisle in their own happy bubble; Rosalie and Emmett are content in their world several miles from us. Jasper and I are living in bliss, perfection. Edward and…wait.
Her?
That can't be right. He should thirst for her blood. She is nothing to him, right?
But there she is, sitting and smiling in Edward's lap. She tells him a joke, whispering it in his ear. He laughs heartily and pulls her close.
The vision is suddenly cut short and I am back in the classroom and am to be in every weekday. The teacher goes on, unaware of my visions. Unaware that I am about to go into another. This one would terrify the hard, sturdy man that teaches these children. He would cry out in fear and cower in the corner. It is even enough to send a shudder through my skin. That would be the fifth time I'd had that vision. Now...
I see her walk in the room, Edward tensing in his seat. She isn't even near him and he wants to rip out her throat. When she sits in the only available seat, near him, unfortunately, Edward stops breathing all together. With each second, Edward plots ways to get her blood.
And I am witness to every single one of them because of my visions.
He decides not to do anything and calls out for me, telling me of his weak will. I tell him to not be foolish, but my words are ignored.
I sigh in relief, but the vision does not stop there.
Edward attempts to change his schedule in a vain attempt to avoid the girl at all costs. She walks in and Edward is unaware. Run, girl! I think to myself. I see Edward take notice of her and his will is smashed.
My heart breaks into tiny pieces as he kills the secretary then advances on the girl. He plays a game with her, entrancing her with his extrasensory vampiric skills.
For the love of God, no Edward! Please! I think. Next to me, Jasper feels my discontent and gives me a pointed look. I scribble the situation quickly on my discarded notes and tune back in to the vision. It is then I realize that this is not vision, but rather the present come to be.
Edward, you fool! I tell him as I watch him hold out his hand to the innocent girl. I look at the girl and take in her wide, doe-like eyes. Her paralysis is amusing, yet the situation is anything but. If she had any sense, or at least control, she would have ran long ago. I pity her.
If Edward ruins what we have here, what are we to do? I haven't really had a reason to run since joining with Carlisle and the others. I had always thought that Jasper would be the one to give in to temptation first, the one to fall off the proverbial wagon. I close my eyes, wishing that simple action could close off what I was seeing. Unfortunately, the images played on.
Stop while you can! Think of the repercussions! I shout at him mentally again, trying to call out one last time to the rational, human side of my brother before the true animal took over.
Let me be, you aren't my conscience! He answers back, shoving my mind away. I catch one last fleeting thought before the animal inside him took over.
I take in a shaky, uneven breath and the humans around me look at me curiously. The teacher asks me if I am okay. But I am not the one he should be looking in on. It's too late, though.
She slides her hand in his, her eyes full of fear, wonder at how she could have done that without really thinking about it. Edward smiles like a gentleman and pulls her close…
One last thought of Edward's filters across my mind, the last words his human side thinks before going to sleep and the beast feeds.
Ecstasy...
Oh, Edward. You'll be the end of us all. As he feeds, the future is played out for me.
He drinks the girl until he's had his fill, then the human side of Edward reemerges. Immediately, his face shows horror and he drops the girl. Her neck is a mangled mess, her head almost off her shoulders. Edwards looks around to what he has done, to the small spatters of blood that decorate the wall, the prone body of Mrs. Cope.
"Alice?" He calls for me in his mind and aloud, his voice barely a whisper. Fear laces his words. There's nothing I can do from my classroom, but I urge Edward to take action.
"Take the body away, Edward! Go now!"
Tenderly, he picks up Isabella Swan's body, careful to hold her head so it doesn't disassemble from her body. I am reminded slightly of how a father might hold a newborn, or a husband carrying his bride as Edward holds her corpse close. I can tell that, even in death, her blood is something magnetic, alluring for Edward—even if he has fed to contentment. He leans his head down, a perplexed look crossing his features.
"Alice! Isabella...Her heart...!" Edward immediately takes off, leaving the school in less than a breath. Confusion infiltrates my mind, then I am reminded of my prior vision.
My mind goes blurry, the rush of color blinding and startling me.
"Alice? Let's go..." Jasper. I turn to look at him and see his face, serious and tense. He can smell her blood, just as I can, I know it. I nod and we leave with the humans quickly, each heading to our family, who wait for us, Rosalie and Emmett can smell her, too.
We all start leaving the building as quickly as possible without alerting the humans, Rosalie and I discretely looking through the small window in the office door and seeing the aftermath. Just horrid...
But really, the girl's blood smells divine...No! I tell myself and move away quickly.
We gather at Edward's car, which he left behind, and are out of the parking lot before many of the students have time to start their cars. In minutes, we are home, but it is obviously no longer home. Everything in the house is gone, save Esme and Carlisle. Edward and the girl's corpse is nowhere to be found.
"We leave now," stated Carlisle.
Everyone nodded, but Emmett asked the question the rest of us wondered. "Where's Edward?" Esme and Carlisle looked to me, as everyone else did. I nodded slightly and closed my eyes.
Edward drove the black Mercedes down a narrow stretch of road, no light for miles, save the digital clock on the dashboard. It read 9:38. His face was a mask of sorrow and pain, his hands tight upon the wheel. Behind him, there was a screech of pain, a voice calling out for salvation from the torture.
"It's alright, Isabella. We're almost there..." A low moan came out as a response. "I'm so sorry..."
"Edward...Cul-len?" Isabella took in a deep breath, then hissed in pain. She gasped as she felt her bones break, then slowly mend.
"So, so sorry...Unforgivable. I'm right here, Isabella."
In the rear view mirror, he saw her hand reach up, grasping air. She sobbed tearlessly. "Why?" The hand went to her throat, the vicious wound was totally healed. She grasped at it, searching for the wound, but found nothing. Another moan. And another.
The clock read 10:04.
Isabella screeched, her body jerking violently. Edward's face contorted into pure pain, resembling the girl's. He pulled the car over and turned the ignition off. He climbed into the back seat and situation himself so that she was cradled in his lap. He held onto one of her hands, hoping his presence would calm her enough so they could keep going.
"Isabella, I am so, so sorry about this. But, we're almost there. We're going to a place that can help you. I don't know how much longer you'll be in pain, but I promise it isn't forever. Just hold on okay? Isabella?"
For a moment, Edward thought she had died, the pain too much. She had stopped moving, her breath seemingly gone. But she moaned once more, and managed to say, "Bella...Bella." She hissed and closed her eyes,her lungs cried for oxygen, yet at the same time rejecting it. Her hand suddenly gripped Edwards with strength he immediately knew wasn't human. His frown deepened.
He sat there, holding the girl he thought to be an innocent bystander, conflicted. He wished for her to finish the transformation, for her to live and be vivacious. Yet, he wished her to die in his arms tonight. He wanted her to be dead rather than live the kind of half-life he had to endure for eternity. She was worthy of God, of angels, while he was damned, scorned and tainted by evil. A being with no soul.
What kind of monster was he to wish the life of a monster on her?
"Bella? Just a bit longer, okay? We're almost to Denali."
"They're going to Denali?" I asked.
"'They'?" chorused Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie. At the same time, Esme said,
"When do they arrive?"
I bit my lower lip, a human trait I picked up. "Edward and Isabella should be there before eleven."
"So we have until tomorrow morning to—" I cut Carlilse off and corrected him.
"Eleven tonight."
Everyone looked dumbfounded. "Go," were the last words spoken, Rosalie leading us.
"I'm staying behind for a bit," Esme told us, following. "Tie up loose ends and all. I'll join you before the afternoon tomorrow."
As we leave, ready to join our brother and this girl, Isabella Swan, I am wracked with the mixed emotions anyone would feel. After all, I saw the girl lovingly whispering in Edward's ear. How else would she be able to be around us? No human would be able to be among us, surely.
Was I wrong, or is my conscience getting the better of me?