Prologue – Alice
I began my wind up knowing that as soon as I released the ball it would go to the lower right hand corner of the plate just above knee level and that Edward would hit for a long high line drive towards left of center. If I added just enough spin, it would fly more towards center and have just enough arc to …
Ah!
Images flickered across my field of vision. Images that were all disjointed like badly restored Picasso paintings and interspersed with blinding white flashes. As fleeting as they were, they made their presence known to my psyche like railroad spikes being driven into my temple.
Darkness. Pain. A girl screaming, her face contorted in agony.
Flash.
Blood pooling on a concrete floor, splashed across a lone office chair, dripping from chains that hung from the ceiling.
Flash.
Hands that looked like ground hamburger meat. Flash.
The images came faster.
A snake flying through the air, sinking its fangs into already battered flesh.
Flash. Darkness, pain, screaming.
Flash. Eyes dark with despair and tears that trailed down a cheek, intermingling with the blood already pouring from a deep cut.
Flash.
Blood. Raw, torn flesh. Bones. And more blood.
Flash.
Darkness. Agony. Hopelessness.
Flash.
Pale Death.
By the time that this episode, had ceased, I was on my knees, holding my center, rocking back and forth, and panting to catch my breath. If I could cry, I would have. I would have cried from the pain of the flashes, the pain of trying to focus on the highly chaotic graphic images, the pain of trying to keep a hold on reality, the pain of the anguish that I somehow knew my family and I would feel if this premonition came true. But most importantly, I would have cried for the girl.
Jasper's soothing presence began to permeate my consciousness. I welcomed it, leaning into him and relaxing once he knelt next to me. After a few more moments of deep breathing exercises, I was able to clear my mind of the horror that I had just witnessed and focus on the present.
"Are you alright, Alice?" Esme asked concernedly for the second time.
I nodded my head – slowly – and replied softly, "My head hurts, but I'm okay. Just give me a moment."
That was enough for everyone to back off and give me some space, except for Jasper and Edward, who was looking at me curiously. Before he could ask if we needed to be worried about what I saw, as I knew he would if I didn't say anything, I shook my head.
In that little gesture, I did convey the truth. The vision was fading into oblivion and had lost its sense of urgency. Moreover, as disturbing as it was, it didn't seem that there could be anything that I could do about it…at least not yet. I hadn't met or ever seen the girl before, which didn't mean I wouldn't in the future. Until then, I would not, nor should my family, worry about it.
That decided, I stood up, gave Jasper a light peck on the cheek, and called out, "Play ball!" just as a loud rumble of thunder crashed overhead.
The air crackled with energy, and this time, Edward was not going to make it beyond second base. Carlisle and my curve ball would see to that.