Wasteland

Disclaimer : I don't own Twilight. Stephenie Meyer does. I only borrowed her characters for a while. ...Maybe I'll steal, I mean, borrow Jasper for a while longer though. *Plots*

Summary : Contains SPOILERS for the third book, Eclipse. - During the battle with Victoria and the newborns, Alice disappears.

Warnings : Mentions of a battle. Angst. Possible character death. Some minor Bella bashing.

She was gone.

"Alice!"

My voice barely carried over the last moments of the battle, Esme and Rosalie already busying themselves building a fire to get rid of the body parts strewn around the field as Emmett and Carlisle finished off the remaining few newborns. I waited for a reply, any reply, panic slowly eating away at me, before I screamed her name again. This time, Emmett heard me and looked up from the torn body at his feet, his concern thick in the air.

"What's wrong, brother?" He asked as he moved closer, his booming voice carrying over the noise more easily than my own had done.

My gaze searched around us frantically, never fully meeting his eyes as he looked at me. "Alice! Have you seen Alice?" Some part of my mind registered that I was probably acting much the same way an addict did when realizing he didn't have any more drugs ; desperate, craving. I didn't wait for an answer from Emmett, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him closer, my words strained. "Have you! Yes or no!"

"No, not since the b--"

I didn't wait for him to finish, dashing away at inhuman speed. Edward. Maybe she was with Edward and Bella. I heard Esme calling out after me, and mostly I felt her panic, but my own was overwhelming everything else. The whole time of the battle, I had kept an eye on her. When exactly had she disappeared? I racked by brain for an answer, barely moving in time to avoid running straight into a tree as I ran up the mountain, to where they had set camp.

"Edward!" I shouted, coming to a sudden halt at the edge of the clearing. He looked up at me, stunned for a moment, before he heard my thoughts, confused as they were. "I haven't seen her. I thought she was with you." His concern drifted in waves towards me, and I grimaced, running a hand quickly through my hair as I thought.

Bella was looking back and forth between us from where she sat next to Seth, still in his wolf form. "Who, Alice?" She guessed out loud, not that it was hard to guess in the first place why I was suddenly such a mess. "I'm sure she's fine, Jasper. Really."

I snarled at her, wanting nothing more than to lash at her and whack some sense into her thick head. How foolish and hopeful that girl could be, it was infuriating! My sudden reaction caused Edward to move closer to his precious human, his posture defensive. I didn't give him time to respond, dashing away back to where Carlisle and the others waited.

I knew she wasn't fine. I didn't know how I knew, but it was clear in my head. Alice wouldn't leave my side without letting me know. She knew better than that. I paused frequently, looking for her smell. Apart from the wolves' repulsive smell, Victoria's and a few newborns, I didn't pick up anything.

I didn't have much more luck back at the battlefield, where all our scents tangled themselves together, making it near impossible for me to tell which was who's. I wanted to scream, to rip my own hair out. I jumped as a hand suddenly came down on my arm, causing me to whirl around into a defensive posture. I immediately relaxed when I recognized Carlisle.

Before I could ask my frantic questions again, he shook his head. "Esme, Rosalie, and some of the wolves are looking for her right now." He said, his hand resting once more on my arm. "I take it she wasn't with Edward?" I shook my head, at a loss for words. Edward emerged from the trees at that moment, carrying Bella on his back. He stopped a small distance from us, his gaze following my every movement intently. I couldn't blame him after the way I had reacted to a simple statement from his girlfriend.

"When was the last time you saw her?" I turned back to Carlisle as he spoke. I scowled, thinking for a moment. "I'm not sure. I was keeping an eye on her, but then three of the newborns surrounded me. The next thing I knew, it was over, and I realized she wasn't anywhere near me." I had become so used to the constant concern and love she felt for me, that I only realized now how the sudden loss of her presence near me was shocking. Blindingly so.

A few moments of silence passed, my mind barely registering Emmett joining us where we stood next to the trees, some broken and splintered from the violent fighting that had occurred earlier. It was Edward's hiss that snapped me out of my dark thoughts.

"Don't think that!" His words were venom as he shot a glare at Emmett who stood by my side with a horrified expression on his face. I blinked, and then frowned, confused by the silent thoughts that my brother had picked up. Don't think what?

As if on cue, Bella, clueless Bella, asked the same question aloud. Edward looked at her briefly, then back at me, but didn't answer. His emotions weren't helping any. A mix of concern, pain, and revulsion. I frowned again. "What! Answer the question!" I demanded, and I didn't even use my talent, the expression on my face was more than enough to convince anyone with a sane mind to speak.

It was Emmett who spoke instead. "I was... Wondering..." I heard Edward snarl a warning, but my attention was focused on my taller brother. He took a deep breath, seeming to search for the right words, and continued. "It's possible she was...Defeated." The guilt suddenly emanating from him at that moment was overwhelming as he shot a brief look at the fire in the center of the clearing, where the parts of those fallen in battle still burned.

I would've without doubt passed out at that moment, were I still human. Sheer willpower alone kept me on my two feet as I stared at Emmett, shock and horror, I was sure, showing plainly on my face. I wanted to argue with him, to tell him he would have recognized...parts, of Alice, of his own sister, when he had been throwing limbs in the fire earlier.

But I knew better. I knew he hadn't been paying attention ; scooping up everything he found and tossing them in the blazing inferno without a second look, too much in a hurry to finish his grisly task. I staggered a step back, shaking my head in disbelief, my gaze finally breaking away from Emmett. "No..." I heard myself laugh, the sound carrying an edge of insanity to it.

I met Carlisle's gaze for a moment, and I froze in place. He looked ready to accept that explanation. How could he? Much the same as Bella was Edward's whole life, Alice was more than that. She was my whole world, my sanity, my whole existence.

Esme appeared by my side, taking my arm gently in hers. I didn't look at her, simply stared blankly ahead of me without really seeing anything. If she had any good news for me, she would've said so already. Her voice broke as she spoke softly. "It's a possibility... We looked everywhere. There's no trace, no scent of Alice anywhere."

She paused. "She is gone."

Three simple words, and yet in an instant, they managed to cause my whole world to come crashing down. Hard.

I screamed.

So what do you think? One-shot? Or write more? Review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!