LIKE A PAVEMENT
Chapter One
And just like that, her entire world had come crashing down.
Everything she had known and loved for centuries, all she had truly cared about, all she had wanted to have with her during her forever, all of that – it came crashing down in piles around her, building up this wall, this invisible thing that didn't seem to be possible to break down again. All she had worked for, wished for, hoped for, it came crashing down, and she had no idea how to handle it.
Alice had always thought that she was pretty much in control of the things happening in her life. Being able to see the future really was a plus-side in that aspect of life, and yet she hadn't seen this coming – at least not until it was too late. Her visions had tricked her before (the suicide incident with Bella was still spoken of, even so many years later), but it hadn't been fatal like this one had been. She should have known, shouldn't she? It was her fault that this had happened, and she felt so guilty about it, even in the midst of her own pain, she felt guilty towards everyone else – especially Bella, Esme and Renesmee, but what could she do?
She'd ruined it, and it was really too late.
She should probably have known that their luck was running out. They'd dealt with truly dangerous situations so many times in their family, and they could only have so much luck. But she hadn't thought about it; things had been going great for so long, and when their friends needed help, they helped them, just like it would be (and had been) the other way around.
Maybe she should have kept her thoughts to herself? Edward always used to tell her so. He always asked her, either nicely or rather harshly, to keep quiet. Some things were just better left unsaid. But... there were certain visions she had always told Carlisle about. He'd always wanted to know when danger was coming, when something life-altering was about to happen, something that could change their life. And therefore she had told him about her vision, knowing that he'd agree with her. If the Denali Coven was in trouble, then they'd help them. They were their friends, and they had been there for them on several occasions. And the brilliant part of it was that Alice saw they were in trouble, before it even happened, so it had been so easy to send Edward and Jasper off to help them in the other end of the country...
Or so she and Carlisle had thought.
Alice stared out of the wide window in her and Jasper's huge bedroom, her eyes scanning the tree tops and the dark sky above them. Her legs were tugged up close to her chest, her arms were wrapped around them, and in the little nook she had created between her knees, she was resting her chin. She couldn't get herself to smile as she stared outside; everything seemed so wrong right now, and this was all she could get herself to do. This house held so many memories for all of them, and even if those memories were meant to bring her comfort, all they did was pain her even more.
The pixie knew that if she had been able to cry, she would have been dry on the inside now, because all she did was heave in and out, gasp after air and rub her stinging eyes. But not a tear came out, it was impossible, and for once she really wished that she was human, for once she wanted to be able to do one of those simple and ordinary human-things – she wanted to cry. She wanted to feel sleek tears run down her rosy cheeks, she wanted to be able to feel pain when she closed her hands into tight fists and her nails dug into her skin – but she couldn't. She couldn't feel anything. She hated being numb like that, when she needed to feel the pain.
She breathed in a shaky breath; she had been doing that a lot lately, just to feel a bit more human. She had even forced herself to eat something, to drink something, but it didn't make her feel any better, not in the slightest. She had hoped it would, and her hopes were crushed again and again, when all she tried to do turned into failure. That was how she had felt lately – so far from her usual self – she had felt like a failure. She had let her entire family down, ruined what Carlisle had spent so long trying to create. And she felt guilty, more guilty than she had ever felt about anything in her entire existence.
She couldn't look any of them in the eye. She couldn't lock her gaze with Emmett's usually playful eyes, she couldn't look into Esme's pained pools, or Rosalie's troubled gaze. She couldn't bare to even look once at Bella, and her head was always bent when Carlisle came to try and talk to her. She couldn't bare it, couldn't handle it. It was too hard for her, too much for her.
Alice lifted her head from the comfortable position she had been sitting in for just about ten hours. Her hands unlocked their tight grips on the side of her legs and slid down, onto the windowsill. She stretched her legs then, one foot falling to the floor, the other to the end of the beautifully carved wood, pressing against the pale wall there. She let her head fall backwards and rested it against the wall behind her. Closing her eyes tightly, she started to remember it again, remember that day that seemed so long ago, where everything had been truly good. It pained her, every time she thought back to those days, it pained her, yet she still couldn't help it.
-two months ago-
"Alice?"
The pixie turned her head to the side when Emmett's childish and giddy voice interrupted her marathon of old Project Runway episodes. She sometimes liked to watch it, even if the show ended what felt like a gazillion years ago, because she was reminded of what kind of clothes were in back then; one of the contestants always made something that reminded her of something she used to wear.
She paused the show and battered her eyelashes at him, "What is it Emmett?"
"Wanna play a game with me?" he questioned and fell from his toes to the balls of his feet like some innocent little kid. Alice knew he was nowhere near innocent though. The backwards cap and his grin would try to convince one otherwise, but she knew him better than that.
She arched an eyebrow at him, "I'm busy Emmett, why don't you go and annoy Bella instead?" she replied to him and turned back to her show. She un-paused it and immediately her attention was back on that. She rather enjoyed playing games with Emmett at times because it didn't take much to amuse him, but she was only watching this to pass time until Jasper got home. And it wasn't like Emmett desperately needed her to have fun. He had always loved to tease and make fun of Bella, and Alice loved to remind him of that, because he still hadn't gotten over the fact that Bella, once-upon-a-time, was stronger than him, when she was just a newborn.
"She's spending quality time with Edward." Emmett replied with a cheeky grin; his voice was strained as he held back a chuckle, undoubtedly quoting what Edward had said earlier before they had made their exit to 'spend some quality time' together. And Alice couldn't remember a time when Emmett hadn't teased Bella about her sex life – he'd done it since day one.
Alice bid back a chuckle; there was something about making fun of Edward that the two of them just loved to do together. She, because she knew she could, and he, because he simply loved making fun of everyone. "Why don't you do that with Rosalie then?" she suggested him, eyes still following everything on screen. She briefly wondered why she hadn't even heard Edward and Bella when they were together, because usually she would. It couldn't be missed. But she had probably been too absorbed in her show to notice anything, she could get like that at times, even if her senses were exceptional.
Emmett groaned, "She's being negative."
Alice scoffed. For some reason, that didn't surprise her. Rosalie did have a tendency of being negative at times, but she was wondering what it was now. She turned her eyes and gave Emmett a quick look, before Heidi Klum got her attention again, "What's it now?"
Emmett shrugged, "She said she doesn't wanna do it just because they are."
Alice was about to reply to that, to make a bit fun of her sister as well, because that was just a typical Rosalie thing to do, but she didn't get that far, because the beast had heard them.
"EMMETT!" she exclaimed from upstairs. Alice thought they had done their best at keeping their voices extremely low, but she must have heard them anyway.
Emmett made a shocked-face just for fun, "Oh, I've gotta jet, see ya' Allie-Callie."
And before she could manage to tell him not to call her that (which she often did – he never listened; for some reason he found it incredibly funny to get a rise out of her like that), he was out of there, rushing to stand by his wife's side. Alice was tempted to listen in for a second, but then decided not to while she chuckled to herself and turned the volume on the TV up slightly, still anticipating Jasper's return. He'd gone hunting a few days ago. He wanted to go somewhere away from their current house, and he usually preferred hunting alone. Alice didn't particularly like sending him off on his own, but she wasn't about to be overprotective (he always mocked her for being that way; just like she mocked him when he overprotected her) so she let him do whatever he pleased. She just missed him like crazy when he wasn't there.
He was like her other half or something stupidly corny like that. Ever since she met him, things had just been much better for her. She thought that maybe they were soul mates and meant to be together. It sounded cliché, but Jasper was everything that she needed. And that was why it was so hard when they were apart. They'd been apart before, and as soon as they saw each other again, she just felt this sort of relief everywhere in her body, and it wasn't because Jasper controlled her – it was all him, but it wasn't his gift. It was his presence.
She knew they weren't flaunting their relationship in everyone's face like Emmett and Rosalie always did. They weren't all over each other; their relationship was different in that aspect. Not that they didn't like doing the physical stuff, but they shared an understanding for each other that went even deeper than that. They had a certain connection and they needed each other in different ways than Rosalie needed Emmett and Bella needed Edward.
As the episode ended and the room got quiet, suddenly Alice could hear everything going on in the house around her. Bella and Edward weren't hard to miss in their bedroom, and she could hear the moving of papers, which would probably be Carlisle working in his office. Esme was very quiet, but if Alice listened really carefully, she was sure she could hear her body rubbing against the sheets of her bed and her fingers scraping against something hard; she was probably reading a book in the main bedroom. Emmett must have convinced Rosalie to spend some quality time together anyway, because they were even louder than Bella and Edward. And of course she couldn't hear Renesmee and Jacob anywhere – they'd been gone on their own for over a year now, seeing the world their way. They all missed them, but Alice understood why they wanted to spend some time together. And they'd be back eventually, there was no need to worry.
Alice thought that maybe she should go upstairs and wait in the bedroom she shared with Jasper; she had a feeling that he'd come home today, she had seen it this morning in a vision, so unless something had happened, he'd be there soon.
Speaking of visions... Just then another kicked in;
"What are you doing here, Aro?" Carmen asked, her voice particularly edgy and harsh, even if she was standing in front of one of the most powerful vampires in the world. Aro had Renata close to him, as usual, and it seemed like they were almost as one, because her fingers seemed to be constantly glued to Aro's cloak, even if everybody knew she wasn't actually touching him.
Aro didn't speak, it was Marcus who replied, as he glanced at the two vampires in front of him; Carmen and Eleazar did not look that frightening, though he knew to be aware – he had known Eleazar for a long time, they'd worked together, and he shouldn't underestimate him. His special ability might not be very useful for him right now, but he was also smarter than most people. "News got all the way to Volterra about the newest member of your coven." he informed them both with a cocky smile.
Eleazar stared at the six vampires in front of him – Aro and Renata, Marcus and Caius, and of course the faithful guards Jane and Alec – and tried not to let his fear show. He did not want to get into a fight with the Volturi, it wasn't his intention at all, but he was not going to let them get their way. They were going to try to pursue Maya (the newest addition to their vegetarian family) to join them in Volterra. News had gotten all the way to Italy about her outstanding special abilities. And she was still so young, she wouldn't know better than to join them. He couldn't let that happen, because they'd searched for years, trying to find themselves another member, and now they finally had one – they couldn't let Aro take her away from them.
Caius spoke then, "We want to talk to her, Eleazar."
He could feel his jaw tighten. It wouldn't just be talking, he could feel that; if they spoke to her, learned more about her – then they'd do anything to get her. It would come to a fight. "That's not possible at the moment." he replied to them then, trying to hold his voice steady, even if he was very nervous about the outcome of this conversation.
Aro took a step closer, Renata right behind him. Jane and Alec were ready to bounce if they were needed, Eleazar could see that. He glanced briefly at Carmen next to him, but she wasn't backing down either. "It wasn't an option." he replied to them in a throaty voice, glancing from Eleazar to Carmen and back to Eleazar again.
It was wrong what everybody always claimed, Eleazar knew that. The Volturi was supposedly only out to keep vampires a secret, all they did was for the good of their kind, that was what they claimed – but Eleazar didn't believe that. They wanted to be the most powerful ones. And the Denali Coven along with Carlisle's family, they'd soon be stronger than them, if they didn't do anything about it. And after they had found Maya, it was an ever bigger possibility, and maybe they were actually scared of what would happen if they didn't stop it in time.
"We're going to... need to see her." Marcus finished.
"Alice?"
Alice snapped right out of it then. She could feel her eyes going wide as she tried to digest everything she had just seen. The Volturi were going to Alaska, they were going to visit the Denali Coven, and it did not look like it was a pleasant visit. They were in trouble – their friends were in trouble.
"What did you see, Alice?"
There was that voice again. She turned her head to the side and was immediately calmed as her eyes locked with Jasper's golden brown ones. She could feel his hand on her back, reassuringly placed there; he'd found her in the middle of her vision and done what he usually does – tried to be there for her.
Alice swallowed loudly, as her vision kept repeating itself inside her head, over and over again. She didn't even have time to be happy to see Jasper again, to greet him after so many days apart. She didn't know when the Volturi were going to leave for Alaska, but for all she knew they could have started their journey already. Or they might not even have heard about this new vampire yet, but was that really a risk she was willing to take? She had better get this cleared with Carlisle as quick as possible, she needed to hear what he thought about it.
They should help their fellow vegetarians, shouldn't they?
Jasper broke the eerie silence, "...Alice? Are you okay?"
She blinked at him quickly, before she shot out of her seat, her lithe legs carrying her across the marvel floors of their living room, "CARLISLE!" she hollered at him, just to let him know that she was coming and he better be ready to talk to her. She took the stair two steps at a time and turned down the long hallway; Carlisle's office was the last door, and she went right in without even knocking, she knew he was ready for her, there was no doubt about it.
Carlisle's had his hands folded as his elbows rested on the table and he gave her a curious smile, "Did you have a vision, Alice?"
The younger vampire closed the door safely behind her and crossed the floor, not embarrassed at all by the way she had hollered at him. She took a seat on the chair in front of him, and gave him a stiff nod, "I think that Eleazar and Carmen might be in trouble."
This seemed to catch Carlisle's attention – he had always wanted to take care of everyone that mattered to him, of everyone he considered family, and the Denali Coven was definitely like family to him. "What happened?" he questioned her in a calm voice.
Alice brushed a piece of her deep black hair away from her face and looked at him through her extremely long lashes, "Do you know if Eleazar is planning on adding any new members to their coven for some reason?" she asked him, her high pitched voice playing with the silence in the office, that always seemed to represent the calmness of Carlisle himself.
Carlisle gave her a sideways smile, not commenting on the fact that she asked a new question, in stead of answering him. He had always been patient, and Alice had always admired him for that. It was a personality trait she had never managed to master. "As a matter of fact, yes." Carlisle informed her, letting his hands gently fall to the table, as he leaned back in his office chair, "They've recently added a young vampire named Maya. Eleazar changed her himself."
Alice raised an eyebrow and felt her body stiffen just a bit. Of course it wasn't even sure that all of this would happen, but it was hard to be optimistic with the vision she had just had. But there was a possibility that maybe the Volturi were just going to Alaska to make sure that there weren't any newborns going crazy or something.
"You seem tense." Carlisle observed.
Alice offered Carlisle the greatest smile she could muster at the moment, "The Volturi are interested in her." she told him in a quick voice, as the need to share her vision with him became tougher to fight, "I think it might end in a fight."
Carlisle seemed more than surprised to hear this. The little one could watch as his face changed from interest to surprise to confusion and into concern. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her then, not that he would ever need to. She had told him what she saw, and of course it wasn't completely sure that this was going to happen, but it almost always did.
She didn't answer him, and Carlisle didn't seem to mind.
"Some of us have to go to Alaska and warn them." Carlisle told her while he duck into one of his drawers, searching for something Alice didn't know what was, "If we're dealing with a newborn, I think we should send Jasper." he stopped and looked up at her, their eyes locking in a firm glare.
Alice didn't particularly like the sound of sending Jasper off to Alaska on his own. She had just gotten him back today (they hadn't even really spent time together yet), and he was going to have to leave as soon as possible. But she knew not to argue against what Carlisle thought was best, and besides – the Denali Coven needed them, and they were family. The Cullens helped family. "I don't think he should go alone. I could go with him."
Carlisle paused and looked at her again, his golden eyes full of affection for her – and recognition for what she wanted to do. He sat up straight and closed the drawer he had been dealing with and placed a folded map on his desk. "I know you want to go with him, but I think either Emmett or Edward should join him." he replied to her, and again, Alice didn't object.
"Edward should go. Aro has always had this thing for him." Alice said then, knowing it would be hard to see Bella sulk around for days in worry of what would happen, but that was just the way it had to be. Plus, if they sent Emmett, they'd have to deal with Rosalie, and that would be even worse.
Carlisle gave her a short nod, and Alice knew that she was supposed to leave now. Carlisle had some things he needed to sort out before their family meeting later. Alice knew they were going to have one, because all of this would be needed to be explained so they could figure out what to do exactly. And Carlisle would need to plan a bit more with Jasper and Edward.
The pixie closed the door behind her as a great sense of relief filled her body. She felt much better now when she had told Carlisle about her vision. He always knew what to do, so it was the smartest thing to do, to let him know. She felt a new smile overtake her face as she skipped down the hallway with a grace that anyone would envy her.
If Jasper was going to leave soon, she was going to have to savour every moment with him until then. It was going to be hard to be without him for a while, but at least she could look forward to when he'd arrive back home again.
-now-
Alice felt the familiar pressure in her chest as the need to cry overtook her small and fragile frame. She felt weaker than she wanted to, than she had ever experienced before in her entire existence, and she didn't like it. The need to cry was horrible for anyone, crying made even humans feel weak, but this was even worse – having the need to cry and then not being able to made her feel weaker than she'd ever experienced before. Plus, the lack of hunting trips were taking its toll on her body as well – she couldn't even remember when was the last time she'd left her room.
She could remember how happy she had been that day – she'd been positive that everything was going to work out wonderfully for them; after all, that was her usual view on things. She couldn't be bothered to be negative, she couldn't be bothered to sulk. It was far better to put a happy spin on things and make the best of it.
She heaved out again, and it pained her to remember the last time she had actually been optimistic. She'd always believed that that was a big part of her personality, but since that horrible afternoon when Tanya had showed up on their doorstep, Alice hadn't been herself. She knew it too. No matter what everyone did or said, how everyone tried to cheer her up the slightest, she just couldn't put a positive spin on things now. Everything was wrong, so why even bother to try?
Even Esme, while dealing with her own pain, had tried to comfort her, tried to help her and soothe her pain. But even with her mother's arms around her, Alice hadn't been able to put a smile back onto her face.
Somewhere in the middle of her misery, they'd packed all of their things together and went back to Forks, to a completely furnished house, exactly like they had left it the last time they had lived there. Bella hadn't wanted to go back, she'd tried to object, but Carlisle meant it was the best thing for them at the moment. He said that that house held more memories than any other place they'd lived, but Alice knew he was doing it for her. This was the place that held the best memories for her, though for Bella it was going to be tougher – this was the place she first lived with Edward, the place where she learned to love them all. It was going to be hard for her, but Alice appreciated going back here; this place reminded her so much of Jasper.
And even though Carlisle had meant it as comfort for her, all she could do was wallow even more, pain shooting through every bone of her body. But she still didn't want to move out of her spot, out of her bedroom – this was their place. Her and Jasper's, and she couldn't count the times they'd been seated together in this exact windowsill, arms wrapped around each other, staring at nothing throughout the night, watching from the sun set, to the moon appeared, and to it went down again and a new day ceased. It was the way things worked, and the two of them had watched the wonders countless of times.
There was a knock on her bedroom door; it was soft yet demanding and Alice opened up her eyes and turned her head to the side, her pixie eyes focused on the wooden door in the other side of the room. "Come in." she mumbled, and it wouldn't have been audible to human ears, but she knew that whoever was on the other side of the door, would hear her clearly.
The door creaked open and Alice was met by a mess of long blonde hair. It was Rosalie. She crept into the room in an elegant way, closing the door softly behind her. She quickly moved across the room, her feet barely touching the floor, and a second later she was sitting by Alice's foot, at the other end of the windowsill.
Alice didn't know what to say to her. She knew that Rosalie was pained very much by the fact that Jasper wasn't there with them now; they had always had a very special brother/sister bond, and though Edward had irritated her from the beginning with everything he did, she was missing him too – all of them were.
"Esme and I are going hunting." Rosalie informed her, as her beautifully featured face turned slightly to the side, her cheekbones held high, and her slightly fading golden eyes pierced Alice to the spot. The purple bruises beneath her eyes seemed to stand out more than usual, but Alice didn't say anything.
"I know." the pixie-like vampire replied, daring to let her eyes to the window instead of staying on her sister. Rosalie preferred to be looked at (especially when one spoke to her), but Alice simply didn't have what it took anymore. Everyone in her family reminded her of what she used to have, and it only pained her.
Rosalie breathed in deeply, "You know?" she questioned then, the words rolling off her tongue in a quick manner, but Alice caught every word.
She nodded, "Everything still works, Rosalie. I can still have visions." she replied to the beautiful vampire, her eyes still set on the trees in their backyard, "In fact -" she paused quickly, "-they seem to occur more often now as I can't seem to pinpoint my future – or Bella's. They keep changing."
Rosalie was quiet for a very long time, apparently not knowing what to say. She had never been good at these kind of situations, she often ended up saying the wrong things, Alice knew that, but she would have appreciated it if she'd given it a try. "Esme just wanted to know if you'd like to join us. Hunting." she said instead, because apparently it was easier to talk about this than any other things Alice might want to discuss.
Finally she turned to look at her, their eyes meeting in a locked gaze. Alice knew that she ought to join them, it'd do her good to get something down her throat. She'd never been thirstier in her life, yet she still didn't feel the urge to go out there with them. Not like this. "I think I'm just going to stay here." she told the other vampire, her soft bell-like voice fading into nothing as she turned her head again, indicating that the conversation was over.
Rosalie usually didn't obey to what other people thought, but lately she hadn't known how to act around her, Alice knew that. Though they hadn't always gotten along, they were like real sisters, and Alice knew that it was worrying Rosalie to see her like this. Because – to Rosalie – family mattered as well.
"Well, the offer was there." she softly said, before she left the room again, quicker than she entered it, probably just wanting to get out of there. Alice heard her door close and tuned out of the real world again. She couldn't bare to listen in, to hear Rosalie tell Esme that she wasn't joining them. She couldn't bare to hear Esme's worried tone and the sadness that was hidden with each word she spoke. She was hurting so much, too. Edward had been her first, and he'd always be more special than the rest of them.
Alice thought back to that day again – the last day she had been happy. The last day that all of them had been truly happy. Before Carlisle's family had been torn apart, before Esme had lost two of her children. It was that day, so long ago, where Tanya had showed up on their doorstep, and ruined everything.
-five weeks ago-
Alice was tripping her foot, following the nice beat of the swing music bursting through the room in their huge dance-like ball room. Emmett and Rosalie were flowing through the room, moving to the beat in the fastest manner possible, Rosalie's skirt bouncing around her knees as they extended their legs in every possible direction, following the music with smiles of joy across their faces.
Watching them do this together, Alice really couldn't wait until Jasper and Edward came back again. She and Jasper used to dance like this too, they'd blend in with Rosalie and Emmett on the floor like it was meant to be and perfectly planned out, and everything else would fade away. They'd always loved their swing music the best, and the song that Emmett and Rosalie were currently swinging to was the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' Zoot Suit Riot – one of their absolute favourites.
She let her eyes follow her two siblings as they moved faster and faster, becoming one with each other and one with the music. Even her trained eyes had troubles following their every move, as they blended together, a mess of colours, Rosalie's hair blowing around them like a very big and very outstanding halo.
Alice turned her head to the side when she saw Bella enter the room with a curious smile. She and Edward had never really joined the others as they danced like this. Edward sometimes took Esme for a swing, but Bella was just not a dancer. She said she'd never danced before, and she wasn't about to do so. Even if Alice had done everything to try and convince her otherwise.
The beautiful brunette crossed the floor quickly, as if not to crash with the dancers, and sat down next to Alice by the side, still that sideways smile across her face. "You miss dancing, huh."
Alice knew that her eyes were shiny with joy and that the smile on her face was huger than normal, but she couldn't help herself – what she wouldn't do to be on the floor right now with Jasper. "It's the best." she replied and started humming along to the music in her bell-like voice.
Bella chuckled next to her, "I love it when you do that – it's always two or three octaves higher than the actual music."
Alice blinked at her, but didn't stop. She was just happy that it amused her best friend. She knew that Bella was missing Edward terribly like she was missing Jasper. They deserved all the amusement they could get.
"I still remember the school dance." Bella reminisced and Alice stopped humming then, listening closely to her as she spoke, "You four were tearing the dance floor apart. It was so spectacular."
Alice bit her lip as a devious idea entered her mind, "You can dance like that."
Bella shook her head, immediately hostile. "I could never dance like that, I'm too clumsy."
Alice grinned at her, "Not so much anymore. You'd do great, Bella." she reassured her – after all, it wasn't hard for her to know.
Bella shook her head to herself as the music came to a halt and Emmett and Rosalie stopped in front of them, the joy written across their faces. No one could tell that they'd just danced for two hours straight. It was incredible what being a vampire did to one's personal abilities like that.
Alice stood up from her seat then and pulled Bella with her, the other vampire yelping in surprise. "Rosalie will play the piano for us." Alice told her then, and letting go of Bella's hand, she moved over and placed an arm around Emmett's body. She looked upwards then; their height difference always kicked in whenever they were standing next to each other, "And you'll let us females have some fun, won't you, Emmett?"
Emmett could be pretty clueless at times, but he knew when to make his exit. Alice's request along with Rosalie's firm glare was enough to tell him that he shouldn't object. He fled the room within a second and Alice reached for Bella's hands again and pulled her close, while Rosalie took a seat by the piano and started running her sleek fingers across the keys.
"We're not doing this, Alice." Bella told her, but didn't resist as Alice pulled her into the middle of the dance floor.
She swept a piece of her black hair behind her ear and giggled like only Alice could, "You can dance Bella, you've got no idea what you're capable of." she told her, and with a firm grip on her, she led the way through the first few steps to an ordinary slow dance. It was always good to start out easy.
Bella was stiff in front of her, and Alice could tell that she felt awkward and stupid, but she was not backing out of this one. Like she'd made it her task all those years ago to get Bella to dress better, this was now her new task – to get Bella to dance.
As Rosalie's fingers went into overdrive and the supposedly slow music turned faster, she and Bella moved with it, Bella quite clumsily as she tried to follow Alice's every step along the way. They moved, turned, stepped and swung around, but suddenly Bella's foot got in the way, and they both fell to the floor with an enormous clonk.
Rosalie seemed quite amused as the music stopped and she chuckled to herself, and Alice bid back her giggle as she rolled off of Bella, to lie next to her on the floor. Bella hid her face with both hands a let out a loud groan.
"See!" she whined while she turned her head and dropped her hands to look Alice in the eye, "I can't dance."
Alice smiled warmly at her, "You were doing great Bella – a couple more of these lessons, and you and Edward can dance with us."
Bella shook her head in disbelief and the sudden silence in the room startled the three sisters when they could suddenly hear everything in their huge house. And something was happening downstairs.
All three of them rushed to get downstairs; Rosalie was quickest, after all, she hadn't been lying on the floor, but Bella and Alice were right behind her. They descented the staircase and turned to the living room where Esme was curled into Carlisle's arms, her chest heaving up and down as if she should be crying.
Alice could immediately tell that something was very wrong, because Emmett was sitting in one of the chairs, a truly shocked expression on his face, and across from Carlisle – there was Tanya. She was from the Denali Coven, she was there. And yet... yet Jasper and Edward weren't anywhere in sight.
Rosalie rushed to Emmett's side and as Alice took a step forward, her eyes met Carlisle's. "Tanya's here with some bad news, Alice." he told her, his voice choking over, as he did his best to console Esme, who wasn't saying anything. "Bella," he continued with a voice that wasn't as calm as they were all used to, his golden eyes moving to Bella, who was at Alice's side, "you both might want to sit down."
Alice couldn't move out of the spot, she couldn't move to sit down. All she could do, as every possible scenario went through her head, as all the visions she'd had in the past month skipped through her brain, she tried to analyse them, see if there was something she'd missed, something she had misread, but she got nothing.
She could feel Bella's hand slip into hers while both of them turned to face Tanya, who sat there, a truly crushed expression across her beautiful face. "It's... It's Edward and Jasper," she whispered, her voice low and pained, "they're... they're gone."
-now-
Alice closed her eyes again and clonked her forehead to the window with as much force as she knew it could take without breaking. She couldn't believe that she was remembering this day over and over. She couldn't believe that she kept thinking about that day, that day where she had been so happy, fooling around with Bella while tragedy had already hit the both of them.
She couldn't believe that that day – that that day that had seemed so bright and wonderful there on the dance floor – that that day had ruined the rest of her existence.
Edward and Jasper were no more. They were just a huge pile of ashes.
I cannot believe that I decided to 'kill' off Jasper and Edward. I love Jasper, he's so perfect with Alice, and I hate that I had to do this. But you know – if I want Alice and Bella, it's going to be done the hard way ;) No romance without a few bumps in the road. The rest of the Cullens will be in here quite frequently, and it's almost certain that Renesmee and Jacob will make an appearance (or two or three) as well.
After posting my first Twilight fiction, my oneshot 'One, Two, Three', I decided to go with this idea I've had for a while too, because everyone seemed to be really positive about the oneshot; the feedback was amazing. I hope that this is going to be as wonderful to write as that one, and it's already better, because it has multiple chapters and a lot more to work on.
I tried to get everyone as much in character as possible, but as I've said before, it's hard to write Alice in an angst fic like this. Especially when she's all depressed. I hope I did okay though.
Please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of this. If you'd like to read more and all that :b I won't update for a while, because I'm leaving for Paris on Tuesday, and when I get back, school will soon start and it'll be harder to get some writing done. So a few weeks might pass before the next chapter is posted. I hope that's okay.
Disclaimer; I do not own Twilight, and I don't own Cherry Poppin' Daddies' 'Zoot Suit Riot' either.