NOTE: I don't own most of the Twilight characters. There are a few characters that I have made up, but most of them belong to Stephenie Meyer.
"Bella, you..."
I didn't hear much of what Alice was saying to me. It sounded like a beautiful hum in my ear.
How could I concentrate? In exactly one hour, I was getting married. I didn't cringe at the word as I had a few months ago, when I had first accepted Edward's proposal, but I still wasn't completely okay with the idea. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him, so what was wrong with marriage?
Renee.
That was the very simple answer. Charlie had stared, purple faced, at me when I first told him. Yes, he had been extremely mad. But at least he accepted it... after a while.
Renee was a different story. I still didn't think I had her blessing. She wanted me to be happy, but her first marriage had been a horrible mistake. I knew that this was no mistake, but I couldn't explain it to her, even if I had been allowed to tell her the complete truth about everything. I just didn't know how to put my love for Edward into words.
Sighing, I tried to concentrate on the mirror in front of me. Alice was still talking while she smoothed my dress and made last-minute fixes. It was beautiful, but that didn't help clear the large lump that had formed in my throat.
"Bella!!"
It seemed Alice had finally figured out that I wasn't really listening.
"Yah?" I asked in a small voice, the words cracking through the lump.
Alice glared at me.
"Humph." She grumbled before continuing. "You look stunning! And that necklace matches your skin tone perfectly!! For a boy, Edward has amazing taste in jewelry..."
And she was off again, long past her grumpiness at my lack of excitement.
This time I tried to listen. I really, really tried, forcing my mind not to wander. Even then I only caught little snippets of what Alice was rambling on about. Something more about the beautiful sapphire necklace Edward had bought me, and then something about how happy her brother was and how happy she was sure we would be together...
Nothing really made sense as it passed through my stressed brain, but- as I was trying my best to listen - I snapped out of it when Alice was suddenly silent.
I felt the automatic fear creep up my spine at her blank look. My reaction was unwarranted, as it may well have been something good, but I couldn't help it. I could remember too many times when I had seen that smooth face, with her seeing something dreadful.
"Alice?" I squeaked. I could barely make the words come out, and they were even softer than before.
She opened her eyes and her lips curled into a grimace. Her golden eyes were wide as they stared at me, and were mixed with both confusion and concern.
"Change, now. I have to talk to Edward." The sharp edge to her melodious voice surprised me, as did her command. But I didn't ask.
I wanted to ask too many different thing. What did she see? Why was I changing twenty minutes before my wedding? Why were we going to talk to Edward? What was going on? Shouldn't we talk to Carlisle too? Was my family in danger? But the lump in my throat was suffocating me and I couldn't speak.
I changed quickly, and was even more surprised when Alice said nothing about the way I threw my dress on the floor. She simply grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room as soon as I had my jeans on and my shirt over my head.
Edward was in his room getting ready, just as I had been a few minutes ago. He and Emmett were laughing about something when Alice knocked on the door.
"Alice, wh-" The amusement in his voice vanished as he listened to her thoughts.
Alice opened the door and Emmett looked between his brother and sister, completely confused.
"Emmett, go tell everyone the wedding is being postponed until further notice." Alice ordered and Emmett left the room looking agitated. No doubt extremely annoyed that he didn't know what was going on.
"What...?" I finally found my voice, but I couldn't complete the sentence.
It didn't look like Edward would be able to tell me. His topaz eyes were hard and angry; his mouth was set in a hard line and his fists her clenched. If Alice's past actions had not been enough to confirm my suspicions, the way he stood definitely did. Something was wrong.
Victoria. No, Victoria was dead. I had watched Edward kill her in that clearing.
The Volturi. Had they decided it was time to check up on me?
The lump in my throat grew again. And now I was really choking. Air couldn't pass through my throat, and even if it could, I couldn't locate my lungs. I started hyperventilating, my hand on my throat as I tried to breath.
"Bella!" Edward caught me before I could hit the floor. It felt safer in his arms, and my throat began to open up again, but it was still difficult. No matter how absolutely wonderful it felt to have his arms around me, it didn't change the situation. "Bella?"
I looked into his topaz eyes. All anger had left them and I saw only fear.
"I'm fine." I choked out, trying unsuccessfully to smile.
"Oh, Bella. Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry."
Alice cleared her throat from behind us. "Back to the problem at hand?"
I took a deep breath, inhaling Edward's scent to steady myself. "What... what did you see?"
Edward tensed. My fear swelled once more, but I continued to breath deeply.
"Um... Edward?" Alice looked at him.
It didn't look as if he could speak. So Alice sighed and spoke.
"Bella, well, see... I really saw two things. First I saw some vampires deciding to come to your wedding-"
"Right, you said Tanya's family was coming." Alice shook her head at me.
"No, some other vampires. Some vampires from Edward's past... I never actually met them, but... it's definitely them. And they didn't come to wish you two the best. They, well Dannyelli really, wanted to talk to Edward. They've probably arrived by now."
That made no sense. Who was Dannyelli, and why in the world did she want to speak to Edward.
It was Edward's turn to speak.
"See, when I left Carlisle during the first few years, I cam across a few vampires. Dannyelli and her brother were among those I met. She tended to... get into a lot of trouble, and often asked for my help. At one point she sort of went crazy... she went into a killing frenzy. Lots of innocent mortals died, but she only ever stayed in one place for no more than two nights. She didn't want to attract the attention of the Volturi. That's what made me return to Carlisle, to his 'vegetarian' lifestyle. She wasn't happy when I left, and you don't want to upset her. It's not like the Volturi... they have more numbers, and more power. But she is still extremely dangerous. I came across her one other time, about ten years later. But we worked it out, and she said she would leave me be..." He trailed off, looking worriedly don at me.
"And... the... other...?" I couldn't complete the sentence. It was hard enough to get even those three words out. A dangerous vampire so close to Charlie? To Renee?
It was all too much. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what else Alice had seen. A small choking escaped my mouth, but I could still breath. Barely.
"Well, it was more of what I didn't see."
I froze in Edward's arms.
Alice didn't seem to notice my reaction. But Edward tensed up again. His face was carefully smooth, but I could see something behind his eyes. Something I couldn't quite place.
"I saw Liam and Dannyelli walk in, then make their way toward the alter, but that's when everything sort of disappeared. Bella, I swear I didn't invite any of the wolves..."
"It wasn't a Quilete." Edward hissed suddenly before looking down at me. "Breathe." He ordered.
"Not a Quilete? Then who?" Alice asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I know that much."
Emmett came through the door looking very irritated
"Now tell me, what the hell is going on?"
"Maybe we should speak to the entire family." Alice suggested gravely.
I hope you liked the first chapter. Please review. I don't mind people telling me something is wrong, constructive criticism is great, but please don't flame. I would really like to know if I should keep gong before I waste my time and effort on the next chapter. Thanks!
