21.12.12 - Alice

"Alice? Alice? What did you see?" Edward's voice is panicked, shaking my shoulder. I want to tell him but I can't look him in the eye- my mind still seeing the future, the horror.

"Alice?" Carlisle enters the room and puts his hand on my shoulder. His warm skin- to me, anyway- brings me back to the present and I take my head out of my hands.

My mouth drops open as I try to speak, and I feel my red lipstick catch on my teeth. "The end of the world." I whisper. My eyes are still empty, the echoes of the destruction rife in my brain. "Riots, war, bombs, fire. The lot." Carlisle looks at Edward- the whole family (apart from Bella) are still finding it difficult to trust me after I ran off and left them to their own devices for a while. What they don't understand is that I did it to help them, to protect them.

"She's telling the truth." Edward murmurs, his eyes reflecting what mine must show. Emmet looks at us both incredulously but then the same look enters his eyes, and one by one around the room the same thing happens, until all of us are sitting here with that same horrified look in our eyes. Edward puts his head in his hands and runs his fingers through his bronze hair. A line of sunlight peeks through the curtains on the far side of the room and hits Bella's skin, diamonds glitter around her.

"What can we do?" She murmurs, tears pricking her eyes. She looks over at Renesmee, who's sitting on her own in the corner; on her laptop, listening to music at full blast and unaware of what's going on in the room. Being a typical teenager, then.

"Nothing." I croak. "Just wait it out. I can't see what happens here- the werewolves must be involved. We should prepare to…. Escape somewhere for a while, to hide out. Somewhere calm that won't fall, that won't succumb to the pressure." I look at Carlisle and he shakes his head. "Somewhere calm… it's not going to happen. I've lived long enough to learn that humans are much like sheep- they follow what the rest of them do. Very few humans will resist the temptation and those that can will be, hopefully, the ones in charge. It would be impossible to…"

A loud 'crash' sounds from outside and everyone looks towards me again.

"Werewolves."

"We can't hide amongst humans, we need to find a place in the middle of nowhere, with nobody around, where we can hide until all this blows over. I have no doubt that, as we would be the only 'humans' in the area not participating, we would be a…. target." As he finished speaking, Jacob burst through the door. "Nice of you to wait until I'd finished." Carlisle steps forward and grabs Jacob's hand, shaking it warmly with a false smile on his lips. Renesmee removes her headphones from her ears and looks up. Bugger.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" He looks at Bella with a pained look on his face, still panting and sweating from his run.

"Do you mind? You're sweating all over our carpet." Rosalie sneers, but a sympathetic look enters her eyes and a sad smile emerges on her lips.

"Yes, we're leaving." Esme walks over to Carlisle and wraps her arm around his waist. Jasper grabs my hand and takes control of the emotions running high in the room. It's important we get away from everyone for his sake, really. Happy or indifferent emotions, they're easy for him to ignore… but anger and rage. It'll send him nuts. "It's dangerous for us to stay here much longer." She looks at me, then at Jasper. She's obviously thinking the same thing that I am. "You will be welcome to visit once we are settled- so long as you don't decide to partake in….."

"In what?" Jacob roars. I feel Jasper tense beside me as the emotions in the room rise and he struggles to control them. I can't take it anymore.

"The end is nigh, to quote whoever it was. What everyone was saying about the Mayan calendar? Well it wasn't going to happen, it hasn't happened and it isn't going to happen. So… everyone has decided to take matters into their own hands, so to speak." I grab the remote from the coffee table and point it at the TV. The news report I saw flickers onto the screen and Jacob sits down beside me. Normally it would make me uncomfortable; being this close to a werewolf, but Jasper is still in control.

"Shi… Crap." Jacob says, biting his lip. Renesmee gets to her feet and runs to his side, looking over his broad shoulder at the TV. He reaches up and grabs her hand and I see Bella shudder, but she smiles at the sight regardless- then sets her eyes on the TV and her expression to one of worry. Jasper watches too, and I feel his hold on our emotions loosen as his own rage out of control.

"London is burning. Unfortunately, so are many other major cities across the world." I close my eyes. I've already seen this once; I don't want to watch it again. "New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Istanbul, Beijing, Tokyo and Moscow are all in uproar, while the White House remains powerless. The President is reported to be panicking inside a cupboard while riots start outside his home, and other main buildings of power across the world." Pictures of burning cities and fire flash on the screen, explosions and death and fighting everywhere. Police throw aside their riot shields and join in the fight against power, and nobody can understand why all this is happening.

"We have to get out of here." Carlisle is standing by the door leading to the steps to the garage, with a collection of bags and suitcases. Everyone nods and rushes off to pack their own bags, and we return in seconds. Jacob just stands there, watching and defenceless. Renesmee takes hold of his hand and I know she's saying goodbye. She leans forward and kisses him, still holding his hand, then breaks away and goes to join her parents. All at once we turn, run down the steps to the garage and leap into our cars. And like a supernatural convoy- we flee.

(This section is from an overall view, rather than that of a single character)

The four cars speed across the plains, past empty houses and sending dust flying into the air. Edward's face is set, his eyes staring out over the desolate landscape, driving while Bella stares absently out of the window and Renesmee twirls her hair, biting her lip. Rosalie drives as Emmet talks to Esme on the phone, Esme talks to Emmet as Carlisle drives. Alice tries to see what is happening and where while Jasper drives, and listens to Esme and Emmet, ready to interject when Alice sees. Finally they come to a small house, hidden in some trees at the edge of the Rocky Mountains, away from civilisation. Everyone clambers out of the cars and looks at their new home- nobody is impressed. The cottage has a few small rooms, but barely enough room to house all of the vampires. "It was mine, when I was alone." Carlisle says, answering the unspoken questions. "I took it to be away from humans while I studied, to hunt animals without being seen, to learn control. It'll do for a hideout. There's a plentiful supply of animals to hunt, and no humans. We have forever to live, so we can lie low for as long as it takes." He walks forwards, kicks open the door and steps into the dark house.