"The clock ticks, the hours pass by. The past increases and the future recedes. Possibilities decrease and regrets mount."
- At the Cullen Household-
Alice gripped the coffee table tightly, the supple mahogany splintering underneath her forceful hands. Her ochre eyes was unfocused, far away as if she was daydreaming; but her family knew better. She was having a vision and by the looks of it, this particular outcome seemed disastrous. Jasper was beside her, his hands folding over hers and pulling them gently off the damaged table; shavings tumbled lightly to the carpeted ground and sat softly on the cream rug, but the Cullens were too concerned about Alice's vision to notice.
She shook slightly as the vision continued, her breaths catching in her throat. Jasper brushed his hand lightly over his wife's cheek trying to soothe her trembling form.
"Bella.." Alice breathed, her musical voice an octave higher than usual. The breaths of the family suddenly ceased to exist as soon as Alice had spoke the one name that they had been forbidden to even think about. Despite Edward's attempts to try and stop the family from acknowledging the fact that Bella was still around; they often found themselves wondering about the selfless human that had surprisingly found herself a place within the Cullen family. None of them wanted to leave her, none of them wanted her out of their lives- even Rosalie, although she would never admit it.
Bella had found her way into the hearts of all the Cullens; creating a permenant place within their lives and they'd accepted her graciously within it. Although the Cullens had expressed the fact that Bella was important, it ran a lot deeper than that. To them, she was more than a human, more than a person.
"Alice? What's wrong? What did you see?" Jasper asked, his topaz eyes betraying the concern he was feeling for her. Although, they were never the closest pair out of the family, he always considered Bella as a sister and was fiercely protective of her. Alice shook her head slowly as the vision ended, a sudden sob erupting from her petite body. Everybody blinked surprised; she wasn't usually like this. Since when did Alice ever cry?
"We've got to go back. Right now!.. Pack your bags! We need to go to Forks!" Alice cried, standing up suddenly, her eyes suddenly wild and stormy.
"We can't Alice.. We promised.." Esme explained quietly. Although her tone leaked sympathy, Jasper could feel the waves of panic rolling off her. Alice span quickly around to face Carlisle, desperate for him to understand- he was the one that would know what to do.
"Alice.. We promised Edward that we would stay away; you need to respect his decision. Even if we don't agree with it.." Carlisle scolded, his voice was compassionate and soft but even he knew how badly the family were dealing with Bella's absence. An atmosphere of guilt constantly hung around the Cullens, no matter how hard they tried to reason with the fact they wouldn't see Bella again.
"Carlisle.." Alice pleaded, her voice breaking slightly at the end, but he just shook his head, determined to keep Edward's promise. The silence that hung around the house was stifling, enveloping everyone in an awkward tension.
"What did you see, Alice?" Rosalie demanded, her golden eyes narrowed as she leant forward out of Emmett's arms and towards Alice. The tone was impatient but everyone picked up on the slight hint of concern that coloured her voice. Alice turned to face Rosalie, her topaz eyes glassy with tears.
"There's no time! We can stop it happening if we hurry up!"Alice said, sitting down angrily on the love seat as Jasper pulled her carefully into his lap.
"What's going to happen Alice?!" Rosalie growled, her fists clenched tightly in her sides as she waited impatiently for Alice to answer.
"Bella is going to visit Seattle; alone. It's going to rain, so she's going to take a shortcut down an alleyway but she's not going to notice them.." Alice explained quietly, her voice barely a breeze in the air. Jasper's arms automatically tightened around his wife; sensing her distress as well as his own.
"No.." Rosalie breathed, her golden eyes wide and unbelieving as she continued to look at Alice, trying to find any hint of a lie in on her face. Alice glanced to her side at Rosalie, shaking her head ever so slightly as if to answer her question. She was not lying nor was she joking. This was going to happen.
Rosalie lifted her hand up to her mouth in horror as she leaned back into Emmett's open arms but they were not comforting- they were too tense, too hard. A low growl escaped Jasper's chest as the rest of the family sat still, their minds processing the information slowly.
"Is the outcome fatal, Alice?" Carlisle asked, clasping his hands together in an attempt to calm himself down. Rosalie snarled quietly, answering his question.
"Severe blood loss, broken ribs, heavy hemorrhage of the brain, cracked skull.." Alice listed, ticking the things off of her fingers; her voice suddenly dwindling into hisses and growls.
"Beaten and raped." Rosalie spat, venom dripping off every word; the anger pulsing through her; but her mind couldn't help but wander to the panic and concern she was feeling for Bella. No matter how much they didn't get on; she never wished this upon anyone. Esme gasped softly as she shifted herself closer to Carlisle, trying to seek comfort off her husband.
The entire family looked at Carlisle, their leader as he rested his chin on his clasped hands. The room was still for a minute as he contemplated something. Rosalie stood up defiantly, her arms crossed.
"I'm going back to Forks to protect Bella and you can't stop me. I don't care that we've never seen eye to eye; she doesn't deserve this. No one does. Is anyone else coming or are you just going to sit here and respect Edward's pathetic wish?" Rosalie demanded, her angry gaze glancing over all her family members. Emmett pushed himself up off the love seat as he wrapped a protective arm around his mate's waist. Jasper and Alice shared a look, took each other's hands and stood up; their protectiveness over shadowing their promise to Edward.
Esme looked desperately at Carlisle, her eyes begging him to decide, to agree to come with the rest of family. He glanced up, took one long sweeping gaze at his standing family and slowly rose to his feet, his worry for Bella growing.
"Edward needs to know what's going on." Carlisle sighed quietly, knowing how badly his son was going to react. Although Carlisle agreed to respect Edward's decision, he never thought it was a wise idea. Edward without Bella was like someone without half of their body. It wasn't natural.
Carlisle walked over to the phone, picking it up off the holder as everyone watched him anxiously. He took a deep breath and dialled Edward's mobile phone; waiting for him to answer. It was very rare that he'd ever pick up the on the first call; he preferred to be cut off from the rest of the world. The phone rings continued for a few minutes as the family waited nervously for him to answer the call.
The sudden steady breaths of Edward echoed down the phone and the family exhaled in relief.
"Edward." Carlisle greeted, his voice light and warming, despite the severity of the conversation that had just happened moments ago.
"Carlisle." Edward addressed stiffly, his voice was a void of emotion, empty and unwelcoming. His absence from Bella had hit him a lot harder than anyone had expected; no one had realised that he'd turn out this way. Alone and empty.
"Whereabouts are you now, son? Any luck tracking her?" Carlisle asked gently, understanding that it might be a touchy area in terms of conversation. Edward sighed loudly, his annoyance clearly expressed in his gesture.
"I'm somewhere in Brazil, Victoria's scent led to here but the trail ended at the edge of ocean. I think I might be able to pick it up again if I swim; but there is no gurantee." Edward spoke quickly, the unnmistakable sound of his teeth grounding together in frustration. Carlisle's lips twitched slightly into a small smile, knowing how adamant his son would be to find Victoria.
"How's everything in Alaska? Are the family alright?" Edward questioned, his voice turning very soft and quiet. Leaving them to be alone had been hard for him; but they had been understanding and wished him to visit and be safe. Carlisle paused for a moment; was Bella classed into the topic of family?
"Carlisle?" Edward called down the phone anxiously, when Carlisle didn't answer straight away. Was the family hurt? Had something happened?
"You need to come to Alaska, Edward. As soon as you can. A vision Alice got.. Well.. I'll explain it as soon as you get here." Carlisle explained, as Edward's breath catched in his throat slightly.
"What's happened, Carlisle? Is Esme hurt? Alice?" Edward's voice became tense and anxious; as worst case possibilities ran through his head. Carlisle took a deep breath, preparing to tell him.
"No, everyone here is fine.. It's just.." He couldn't finish his sentence. How could he possibly break the news to his son? Although it hadn't happened yet, an air of grief was hanging in the air, saturating everyone around. Rosalie took a step forward, snatched the phone out of Carlisle's hand and pressed the phone up to ear.
"Edward." Rosalie addressed bluntly, her patience with the situation wearing extremely thin. It was bad enough that they had to wait here until he arrived. That would take at least a week and they didn't have that much time.
"Put Carlisle back on, Rose. I don't have time for this." Edward growled, irriated with the sudden interruption of his conversation. Rosalie rolled her eyes, hissing slightly as he complained.
"Listen here, Edward. We're going back to Forks today and we need you there with us as soon as possible." Rosalie demanded, putting her hand on hip and waiting for what he had to say.
"I'm not going back and neither are you. End of." Edward snarled, the tone he used verging to acid. The family could picture him now, pinching the bridge of his nose with coal, black eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Alice had a vision about.." Rosalie paused, even her beautiful face twisting slightly in pain.
"About what, Rose? Do tell, because it seems I'm the only one who doesn't know!" Edward snapped, his voice raising to a yell. Rosalie's topaz eyes turned into slits and her fists clenched tightly.
"It's about Bella. She's in danger. Convinced to come back to Forks yet?" Rose asked bitterly, as the other side of the line went quiet.
"Danger?" He whispered, so quietly that everyone had to strain to hear him. Edward's voice sounded so broken, so lonely that even Rosalie's features softened.
"Come home Edward. We can all stop it happening.." Rose pleaded gently as she glanced anxiously at the clock. 28 hours left.
"Put Alice on." Edward spoke faintly, his voice barely audible. Rosalie held the phone out towards Alice. She took it carefully from her sisters hand and placed it gently to her ear.
"Edward?" Alice called gently into the phone, understanding how fragile Edward would be feeling right now. Bella was his world, his entire existence and the thought of her in danger made him sick to the core.
"What did you see, Alice? She doesn't.. Does she?.." Edward struggled with his words, the one word that could send his life in complete darkness was on the tip of tongue but he didn't dare say it, afraid if he did then it would be true.
"No Edward. She doesn't.. die. But it's going to be close unless we save her." Alice tried to calm her brother down but she knew it was futile when Bella's life was in danger.
"What did you see?" He asked bleakly, his voice even more weak than usual. Alice paused; should she tell him?
"Alice." Edward growled, when she didn't reply straight away.
"Just like in Port Angeles, expect this time you won't be there to save her.." She didn't have to finish, she knew he'd already guessed what would happen next. Rosalie's head snapped towards Alice, unable to believe that it had almost happened before.
"N0!" Edward snarled as a loud crashing sound echoed through the phone. Alice cringed slightly, hating to think how angry he was and what he was breaking. Undoubtedly, the place he was in would be trashed.
"When?" Edward growled, demandingly trying to keep his voice tight and restrained but everyone could hear the fury behind his words.
Alice closed her eyes tightly, seeking the future quickly but the vision was still exactly the same.
"Less than 2 days. PleaseAlice begged, her worry for best friend growing even more. The phone went silent as Edward contemplated.
"Alice.. I don't think I can see her. She's going to take one look at me and hate me for what I said. She'll never forgive me.. And what if she's moved on? I promised it would be as if I never existed.. What if coming back ruins her chance at happiness?.. I don't want to do that to her.." Edward's voice sounded muffled as if his head was in his hands. His voice broke slightly at the end, even now he couldn't say Bella's name without the possibility of pain. The family wallowed in pity for him.
"We will figure something out, Edward. Don't worry. We'll all meet up in Forks. Rosalie and Emmett will take the Jeep, Carlisle and Esme will take the Mercedes, Jasper and me will take Rosalie's BMW. Get a plane ticket to Forks as soon as possible." Alice explained, quickly checking into the future to see whether her plan would run smooth.
"I'll be there as soon as I can. If I'm not, protect her. You have to promise me you'll do that." Edward begged, his voice rough with anxiety.
"We all will. We all promise. Hurry Edward." Alice said with conviction in her tone as she pressed the end button the call and placed it back into the holder. The whole family looked at her, waiting to see what he had said, their eyes wide and anxious.
"Pack up everything. We're moving back to Forks and Edward is coming with us."