Airport Drive – Alice's pov
If it had been in her nature to do so, Alice would have been fidgeting. As it was, she found herself glancing to her left again and again as though to check Bella had not moved. There was no way she could have of course, they were on the freeway now, but the future was in such chaos Alice knew the slightest shift could send it careering down a new path. It was Bella who would cause that shift, Bella who had made the decision on which it would all rest, who waited with unnatural patience for something Alice simply could not foresee – an opportunity to break free.
"Jazz," Alice murmured in a tone too quiet for human ears, "keep to the speed limit. We do not need to be pulled over."
Jasper frowned slightly and took his foot off the gas. "Sorry," he replied in a similar tone.
"Are you alright?" Alice asked, concerned enough with his distraction to drag her mind away from the shifting patterns of probability.
"I'm in control," he answered irritably. "I just can't get through to her."
"Is she still afraid?"
He frowned again, "Yes, but there's something else…" he almost growled in frustration. "It's like a wall, I can't break through it. Did you see what she did in the hotel? She resisted me! She resisted me!"
Had the situation been different, Alice would have laughed at his indignation at a mere human resisting his empathic abilities. His face had been a picture of surprise. Apparently this had never happened before. Given the circumstances, all Alice could feel was disappointment that there was not some way to sooth the terror she knew must be just below the surface for Bella. She sighed, a human gesture of frustration she'd never quite lost.
"It's probably for the same reason that Edward cannot hear her," she soothed, although having her partner momentarily distracted by something other than Bella's blood was a good thing.
"I'm beginning to understand his frustration," Jasper grumbled.
"I am too," Alice muttered, glancing again at Bella, who seemed utterly lost in her own thoughts.
Alice studied the girl out of the corner of her eye. She seemed paler than usual, although that wasn't saying much. Bella's hands lay clasped together in her lap, the knuckles white with tension. A small frown that was beginning to become familiar to Alice sat between the girl's wide, dark eyes. Alice put some effort into deciphering her expression, although she was woefully out of practice. Being able to see the eventual outcome made concentrating on the present pretty dull at times, and Alice seldom needed to try and figure out what someone was likely to do. Unless, like now, there was no clear future for any of them.
Bella's face was composed, calm, only the dark shadows under her eyes and the way her teeth worried at her lower lip betraying the fear that lay beneath. Then she took a quick breath, and just for a moment Alice caught the pain as it flickered across her face. She wasn't hurt, Alice knew that – could smell it – the pain was emotional. An echo of it touched Alice as she realized who Bella must be thinking of. She would have felt the same way if she was separated from Jasper and did not know when she would next see him. No, that was wrong – Alice frowned to herself. Bella's face had settled into something sterner. She was determined to carry through her plan to escape. Bella was resigning herself to the possibility of never seeing Edward again.
Alice nearly hissed in frustration and bent her mind once more to sifting through the nightmarish scenes the future offered, at once maddened by their confusion and thankful that Edward was nowhere near enough yet to see the many potential outcomes that involved Bella's death. Alice knew Bella must realize how slim the chances were she would survive the coming meeting with the tracker. She of all people knew exactly what a vampire was capable of, exactly how little hope she had of escape, and yet her resolve never wavered. Alice reviewed one of the few pieces of the immediate future which held still; the image of Bella running down a sunlit, deserted street, alone, heading towards a bulky building Alice presumed was the chosen place for the meeting. She would leave her protectors and go to meet the creature that hunted her, alone, and then she would probably die.
What had Alice's emotions in turmoil was the knowledge that she would have to be complicit in Bella's escape. She couldn't not be. In doing so, Alice knew she was taking an enormous risk, but it was one she knew with cold certainty she had to take. The only way to resolve the many possible futures ahead of them all was to place Bella directly in harms way. If…when…Edward found out that Alice had allowed this to happen, and if Bella died….
Desperately, Alice dragged her mind away from that line of thought. She focused instead on the images that had led to her conclusion, analyzing the tracker's expression again and again in each possible future, and each time she saw the same thing. The tracker's face as he watched Bella scream, as he did the things to cause it, was impassive, almost bored. He showed no real animation until he heard the savage snarl Alice recognized as Edward's. Then, suddenly, an equally savage, joyous expression lit up the monster's face.
It wasn't Bella the tracker was after. Bella was just bait.
The tracker wanted Edward.
He wanted Edward to try and save Bella. The girl's life meant nothing to him. Oh she would provide a pleasant diversion, but she was far more important as a means to an end. The tracker would use Bella to get to Edward, and he would never stop. Not until he'd killed both Bella and Edward or been killed himself.
But Bella could also prove to be bait for the tracker.
There was the slimmest of hopes. If Bella went alone, as she had no doubt been instructed to do, then there was a chance – just a chance – that the tracker would not be expecting Edward and the others to find him immediately. The tracker knew nothing of Alice's abilities, or Edward's. He wouldn't know that they would be only moments behind Bella. With a monster such as he, so carefully orchestrating this hunt to bring his prey to him as and when he wanted, the element of surprise could prove to be their deadliest weapon. The tracker, if what Alice believed of him was true, would not kill Bella immediately. The girl would be poor sport by herself, but she could prove invaluable in tormenting Edward. If she were wounded…if Edward were made to watch her die…now that would make things interesting.
There was the very real possibility, though, that the tracker would miscalculate. Humans were such fragile creatures, but Alice could see no other course that gave even a possibility of survival for Bella. This was it, their one chance, and even then the outcome was far from certain. Alice wished she could cry. It hurt to think of the pain this would put those she loved through. The only thing worse was knowing how much more it would hurt if they prolonged the chase. She could not allow that.
It suddenly occurred to Alice that Jasper was looking at her very oddly. He would be feeling exactly what she did, she knew, and she shook her head when he raised a questioning brow. He didn't push thank God, just reached over and took her hand. She allowed the familiar soothing touch of his skin and his empathic sense to wash over her. She had to remain in control. Well, as much as any of them could remain in control of the rapidly shifting future. If she could keep herself calm and keep her mind focused on what they needed to do and where they needed to go rather than on Bella, perhaps Edward wouldn't tear his way out of the plane before the damned thing touched down.
They were at the airport now. All of them moved in silence, Jasper and Alice flanking Bella, the crowds mysteriously parting in front of the two vampires in unconscious recognition. To Alice, Bella appeared lost in thought. She made no move to escape because there was no opportunity for her to do so yet, but it would come. They found somewhere to sit close to the Arrivals board. Bella's eyes were fixed to it, and now she did fidget. Time was running out. She had to make her break before Edward's plane touched down or there would be no way she could keep him from stopping her.
Alice found herself staring wonderingly at the girl, this frail human who was the focus of so much vampire attention. Knowing what they were and what weapons they had in their arsenal, how could Bella even begin to believe she would succeed? Why wasn't she hysterical, terrified, desperate to keep their protection rather than escape it? But the vision of her running down the street remained solid. It was only what followed that blurred into chaos.
Alice already knew she would love Bella as a friend and a sister. Even in the short time she had spent with the girl, she could understand why Edward had fallen for her. There was not an ounce of selfishness or deceit in Bella. She loved wholeheartedly, passionately, without expecting anything in return. Alice had also known what Edward had not allowed himself to acknowledge – that Bella possessed true courage, not the foolish assumption of risk but the acceptance of it as a fact of life. Bella had seen past the myth of the monster and straight into Edward's heart, much as Carlisle had for each of them in turn. Alice knew it was as much Bella's faith as Edward's own strength that kept him from giving in to his instincts. It was that faith, that courage that enabled Bella to do what she did now, despite her fear.
So fragile, Alice thought. Skin like paper, bones of glass, and yet beneath these a will of steel and the soul of an angel. Edward, only you would find such a rare creature. If we lose her…if we lose her, we are all lost.