Chapter One
Alice ran into Carlisle's office, looking as if she could break down into tears then and there if she was human. Her face was filled with terror and pain. Carlisle went to her side, holding her close. "What did you see, Alice? Is there something wrong with Edward or Bella?" They were on their honeymoon in New York.
"No. Worse. Something's coming, Carlisle. A sickness, it makes vampires sick! It kills them, slowly!" Alice said, gasping for air that she didn't need. "I saw you!"
"What do you mean, Alice?" Carlisle was trying to figure out what exactly she was saying. Vampires didn't get sick.
"It's a sickness. It is going to start out in the south, and move north, east, and west. Its going to get into Forks, and your going to get sick, Carlisle! It's going to infect you, but not the rest of us. Its going to hit the Volturi first once the sickness gets into Europe."
"Are you sure, Alice?"
"Yes. I've seen it! You laying there dying and we can't do anything! Esme just sitting there next to you, trying to ease your pain!" Alice screamed, looking up at the man she considered a father. "Your going to die, Carlisle!"
"Everything is going to be fine, Alice. Go find Jasper okay. He went out hunting, a few miles outside of Forks. Go find him, and you should hunt as well. Your eyes are very dark." Carlisle said, trying to hide the fear building up in his chest.
Alice nodded, dancing out of the room.
He went back to his desk, sitting down. Alice had just told him that he was going to die. That a sickness was killing vampires. That the Volturi was going to die as well. She hadn't said if it had started yet. He had to contact someone from the south.
He pulled his computer close, accessing his e-mail account. He typed a letter to a friend down in Arizona. If something strange was going on down there Stephenie would know, she was a big coven leader down there. Stephenie kept a close eye on the goings that went down in the south. It was her job. She would tell him if there was something strange going on.
He pushed the computer away, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't keep still. His leg bounced under the desk, the vibration moving through his body. Twitching fingers pulled at his hair. For the first time in a very long time Carlisle felt like he was losing it that he had no control.
The room darkened as night fell, and he just kept sitting there in the darkness, thinking. What was he going to do? How was he going to protect his family from the sickness that could be coming to kill him? What if it came and killed his family, killed Esme? Could something like that happen?
Esme came in late in the night, putting one arm around his shoulders. "Please come out of the office, Carlisle. Go to our room." She pleaded, pulling him up from his chair.
He followed her as she almost dragged him into their room, pushing him down on the couch there. He stared at the family pictures sitting on the bookcase across the room. Esme sat beside him, running her thumb across the top of his hand.
"What are we going to do, Esme?"
"I don't know. We'll think about it when the time comes. We can't fight something we know nothing about. We'll get through this as a family. We can always get through it." She kissed his cheek, running her hand through his hair. "Everything will turn out fine, Carlisle. I won't let anything happen to you."
"What would I do without you?" Carlisle murmured, kissing her head. "My loving wife."
"You'd be a very depressed vampire." She laughed, crawling into his lap, putting her head on his shoulder. "What would this family do if they had to deal with you and Edward? I shudder at the thought."
He laughed, tilting her face up to him. "Edward's got someone now. Our son has finally got someone to make him feel special, make him feel what I feel for you. Just when everything looks like it might go right, everything changes."
"That's life, darling. You just have to swing with the changes. I think we can deal with it. We made it through the eighties." She laughed, looking into his eyes.
"We did didn't we."
"We did."