Everlasting Shadows
A Race Against Time
A/N: Well here I am more than six years later reflecting back on this story. This was my first fic on the website and looking back I was in 8th grade when I wrote this. I just finished my sophomore year of college. I hold this fic very close to my heart which is why I am coming back to it. I realize now that this piece was not written as well as it could have been and had some major plot holes. So here is to an even better version of Everlasting Shadows!
Huilen, Nahuel, Jasper, Kachiri and I are running as fast as we can to get there in time so nothing would happen to those that we love. The forest around me is only a blur of lush greens and browns. I only hope we get there in time. With so many different decisions to be made my gift is not giving me a clear answer to if we will get to the clearing on time. The only visions that are clear to me now are the ones that will happen if we do not get to the clearing soon.
"Stop." I whisper low enough so only my companions can hear me. "We are close enough."
Edward, we are here. I think knowing that we are close enough for his gift to work on me.
"Why don't you come join us, Alice?" Edward calls out loudly for effect.
"Alice." Esme whispers in shock.
"Alice!""Alice!" other voices in the clearing say in disbelief.
"Alice." Aro breathes in shock. Did everyone really believe I was going to leave my family defenseless?
I dance into the southwest part of the clearing with a big grin on my face. The future looks brighter now that we have a witness to bear our truth. I can see that as long as all goes to plan there will be no fight against the Volturri today. I cannot help but be confident that we will all be okay. The others follow me into the clearing. I make it a third of the way to my family before I am struck with pain. I knew it could only be Jane. She must have just made the decision as I had not seen that coming at all.
I fall to my knees while trying to hold back a scream. The pain coming from my body is like nothing I have ever felt. I feel as if every bone in my body is breaking. Jasper watches me fall to the ground and tries to attack Jane when Demetri pulls him in a headlock. As stubborn as Jasper is he tries to fight him. The others in the clearing are well aware of what was going on. But they all hesitate on whether or not to act. Visions of Emmett and Garrett running to attack dance before my eyes as I try to hold back from screaming.
"Bella, love, do not try, you might break the shield on us." Edward whispers.
Edward knows me too well. He knows I would rather suffer than see any of member of my family or friends suffer. If I was not in a lot of pain in the moment I would be rushing to help my poor Jasper who is struggling to break free from Demetri's grasp.
"But Alice." Bella adds.
"Alice is a strong girl. She will be fine. We need to focus on the bigger problem at hand." Edward replies.
Eventually, the pain becomes too much for me to bear. A scream escapes my lips which I regret instantly when I see Jasper struggling with teeth barred as now both Demetri and Felix hold him back. I wish it would just end not to end my misery but to save my poor Jasper from seeing me like this. At this point, I am curled into a ball on the ground grasping my head and breathing heavily. I do not know how much time has passed but I begin to twitch and writhe on the ground. I cannot help it though I am not use to being in this much pain. I though the headaches I got when Renesmee was born were bad but this is exponentially worse. I have not felt like this since I was turned. I did not know it was possible to feel this much pain. Jane's gift is horrid and I would not wish it upon anyone. I do not know how Edward endured this pain when we were in Volterra. I wish I was dead. Death is peaceful; this is hell on Earth. I do not know how much longer I can take this pain.
But Jasper, what will my death do to him? He is my existence as I am his. I only hope I am strong enough to pull through this for his sake. I wish I could block out the pain long enough to see what will happen next. I only wish that Jasper does not make any rash decisions. I know that he could not live without me but I definitely could not live without him. I only hope that Aro still sees me as a viable asset and that my life will be spared.
"Jasper" I manage to let out between screams. "Have Huilen and Nahuel talk before it's too late."
Jasper motions to Huilen as best as he can considering he is in a headlock.
"Speak, Huilen" Aro commands. "Give us the witness you were here brought to bear."
The slight woman looks to Jasper nervously. He nods in a pained encouragement and Kachiri places her long hand on the little vampire's shoulders. Jasper's eyes lock with mine for the first time since I fell to the ground. I can see that the pain clouding his eyes. I can tell he is trying to calm me but it seems that Jane's gift is more powerful than his.
"I am Huilen," the woman announces in a clear but strangely accented English. As she continues, it was apparent she prepared herself to tell this story that she practiced before stepping into the clearing. Her tale sounded like a well-know nursery rhyme."A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountain because of her fair skin. And she was beautiful- too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shakes her head mournfully."As if the bruises were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends but she would not listen. She was bewitched."
As if this was not already hard enough to watch; I knew the story and I knew how it ended. Huilen told Jasper and I the story when we found her. Seeing the pain in Jasper's eyes as he watches me twitch in discomfort from the pain is tearing me up inside. I am doing to this to him; my Jazz, I am causing him pain. I wish I could tell him I am sorry and I love him. But the pain is too much for me to try to speak.
Jasper knows he can't do anything to stop Jane and I watching as he struggled with that reality. I try not to interrupt Huilen, while telling her story but every once and a while I cannot control the screams that fall from my lips. I do not know how much more of this I can bear. I try my best to focus on Huilen's story.
"She told me when she was sure the dark angel's child was growing in her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away- I knew even our father and mother would agree the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more conformation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster.
"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones- and loved him still. I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for Nahuel. Her dying wish and I agreed.
"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far – the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the under bush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping. I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted in villages around our forest, staying to our selves. We've never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."
Huilen bows her head when she finishes her story and moves back until she is partially hidden behind Kachiri. I do not blame her. I would not want to be front and center with Aro's blood red eyes staring at me. He is very intimidating especially when he is one of the first vampires other than Jasper, Kachiri and I, Huilen and Nahuel have encountered in years.
Aro's lips purse as he stares at the dark-skinned youth, intently. This pain is causing my visions to fade in and out as I try to scan the future. I am not able to see anything that is going to happen here. That scares me. I do not know what Aro will do next or if my family, Jasper or I will ever leave this clearing.
"Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" he questions.
"Give or take a decade" he answers in a clear, beautifully warm voice. His accent was barely noticeable. "We don't keep track."
"And you reached maturity at what age?" Aro inquires.
"About sevens years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown." Nahuel responds.
"You have not changed since then?" Aro asks.
Nahuel shrugged. "Not that I've noticed."
It is hard to pay attention to the conversation before me. I know that this is not the full extent of Jane's gift, but she is holding back to strike so she can get back at my family by using me. But I see they have more to their plan than just torturing me. The visions dance bfore my eyes between the pains. I see glimpses of what Aro and the Volturi are planning for me. I see that Aro believes this is the perfect moment to get me. He plans take me away when the moment is just right. I try to open my mouth to warn my family but the pain increases and I snap my mouth shut. Jane must have noticed this. I only hope Edward was able to see the visions as I saw them.
"And your diet?" Aro presses seeming interested in spite of himself.
"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."
"You were able to create an immortal?" as Aro gestures to Huilen. His voice becomes more intense asking this question.
"Yes, but none of the rest can." Nahuel replies.
A shocked murmur runs through all three groups. They are all in shock that more hybrids exist outside the two in the clearing before them.
Aro's eyebrows shoots up. "The rest?" He asks Nahuel.
"My sisters." Nahuel shrugs again as he responds.
Aro stares widely at the hybrid for a moment before composing his face.
"Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more." Aro instructs.
Nahuel frowns." My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death. "His handsome face distorts slightly at the mention of his father. "He was pleased to find me." Nahuel's tone suggests the feeling was not mutual."He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him as my sisters had. He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance… who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested"- he twisted the word-"in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back. "
"Your father's name?" Caius asks through gritted teeth not pleased at the new information Nahuel divulged.
"Joham," Nahuel answers." He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super race." He makes no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone.
Caius looks at Bella. "Your daughter, is she venomous?"He demands harshly.
"No" Bella responds.
Jane knows they have no hope at convincing the "witnesses" the Volturi brought with the truth Nahuel just revealed. So she increases the pain she is sending me through her gift. Now I can no longer hold back my screams as I wiggle and writhe in pain on the snow covered ground. I don't know how but Jasper breaks free from Demetri's and Felix's grasp. But Felix reacts quickly and places him back in a headlock. Emmett cannot resist a good fight and runs towards the Volturi. But Alec puts him in a headlock, I only hope that Alec does not use his gift on Emmett. Both Jasper and Emmett are struggling to get free. Emmett having more success than Jasper at the moment.
Kate, being the amazing family friend and almost sister to me, runs to Jane getting through the Volturi guards, I do not know the names, of with the help of Garret. Kate begins to use her gift on Jane trying to shock her so Jane stops using her gift on me. I do not know how Jane does it but, Jane amplifies the power to me. I scream the most blood-curling scream and beg Jane to stop. I knew Jasper cannot take seeing the pain in my eyes and feeling it too, it is too much for him. What about Carlisle and Esme? What did their faces look like? Edward, the only one remembering what's at stake and the cause we are fighting for, says "Everyone stay where you are. Remember why we are here. We will figure out how to save Alice." "I hope" he adds under his breath.
I do not know how long the pain lasts before I eventually lose consciousness. Seconds or minutes but it feels like years. One of the last things, I see is a vison of Felix, Alec and Demetri running in the forest with my limp body in Alec's hands. Felix grabbing the emergency suitcases out of the closet and a plane ticket for Milan, the closest airport to Volterra. I was right. Their plan was to kidnap me and getting rid of the "threat" of Renesmee was just an excuse to come to Forks. I knew Edward had seen the vision because his face becomes blank as I turn my head towards him.
"Edward, what is it?" Bella asks Edward when the realization spreads across his face.
Then, I turn my head towards Jasper. I watch as he feels the grief coming from Edward and he knows it is over. I scream and try my best to tell Jasper that I love him.
"Jasper, I, I, I, I, love…"
Then the world became black around me.
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoy the new version of this story!