Just Like Esme
Chapter Two - Aftermath

I knew by the look on Alice's face that she was far away, seeing something that had not yet come to pass. I was not prepared when I stole a look inside her mind for the image that would haunt me for the rest of my never-ending life,

"NO!" I heard myself roar, while Alice jumped up and screamed.

The family stared at Alice and I, usually used to the way we converse, with alarmed looks.

"Bella!" Alice screamed to the girl who could not hear her, the girl that Alice was watching plummet to her death.

Jasper was at her side in an instant, always protective of his Alice. "What is it?" he said in a worried voice, almost shuddering at the emotions thundering off of us. "Alice? What do you see?"

I was still inside Alice's vision, watching the monstrous waves toss my love, my reason for existence, like a toy, a plastic bathtub boat. It was a train wreak, my on personal carnage I could not control.

"Edward?" I was vaguely aware of Carlisle's voice, sounding like he was very far away. I couldn't respond, I was as still as death as I watched my Bella succumb to hers.

As soon as the vision was there, it was gone. Alice was shaking her head, as if to clear away the picture that we both knew was forever burned into our immortal memories. I saw her searching for another vision, the aftermath of Bella's fall. But I knew how Alice's visions worked, she was attuned to Bella, she loved her almost as much as I, but months of distance along with Bella's mortality made it harder for Alice to find Bella's future. I waited, watching, petrified like the stone I was.

"ALICE!" Jasper was panicking now, feeling the wreckage of our emotions roll off of us in waves. He shook her, trying to snap her out of it. "Alice!"

"Bella…" Alice whispered. Her soprano voice would have been silent to human ears. "She jumped."

Esme was at her other side, understanding immidiatly what Alice saw. I was somewhat aware of being shaken myself, by Carlisle.

"What do you mean?" Esme asked, sounding horrified, knowing her fears would be confirmed.

"She jumped," was all Alice could say. "Bella jumped. The La Push cliff."

"Why? Why would she do such a thing?" Esme's voice shook, her needless breath catching in her throat.

The room was silent. Everyone knew the answer. Alice's mind was a wrecking ball of guilt and accusation, all directed towards me. Jasper had his head hung low, his mind empty of all thought, only shame, blaming himself for our need to leave in the first place.

"Is it too late?" Rosalie surprised me by asking the question. Her shallow mind was nervous, wondering what was coming next, also worried, wondering if the fragile human threw away her precious life. I felt an unfamiliar surge of compassion to my sister.

Carlisle was already on his silver phone, booking an airline from Alaska to Seattle. We would be in Forks by nightfall.

I took it all in, unable to move, forgetting to breathe. The room was buzzing with so many rapid thoughts I could barely focus on my own. Jasper looked like he was in pain, and I realized the emotion of the room must be overpowering to him as he tried to do his best to keep his love from becoming hysterical. It wasn't working. Esme was holding Carlisle's hand while he spoke into his small phone, shaking with grief for her lost daughter. Alice's eyes were focusing in and out is rapid succession, searching desperately for the outcome we both needed to see. Rosalie and Emmett were in a deep discussion now, their minds a whirlwind of plans for when we suddenly returned to where we hastily left, all the while glancing nervously at me every few seconds.

They watched for any movement from me, any at all. I was still as a statue, realizing I was concentrating so hard on Alice's flickering visions I was making the others in my family very, very nervous.

Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder. "We know nothing yet, Edward. She may still be alive. Perhaps it was an accident."

Even as my father said it I knew he didn't truly believe it, but he hoped, his entire mind was filled with hope. Carlisle had that luxury, his ability to hold on to hope.

Esme's mind was something else entirely. Esme wasn't here with us in this room, she was deep in her mind, visiting a darker time of her existence. The last human memory she had was the wind rushing past her as she fell, she was visualizing the son she lost, the son I worked so hard to replace, knowing I never could. Her perspective could have come from the vision Alice was having, but from the wrong point of view. Wrong for both the women I loved unconditionally.

I closed my eyes and forced myself out of Esme's mind, partially out of respect for my adopted mother, and partially because I couldn't stand watching. The only thing that was keeping me glued to where I stood was the fact that Alice had not seen Bella's limp, lifeless body yet, the flickers where moving too quickly to focus on. There was a chance she got out, perhaps someone was nearby, perhaps she was with friends…

But, if there was nothing for me to come back to in Forks, I was going to Italy. Perhaps I would find her, after this world…I had not dared to believe it before, I was a soulless monster. Perhaps Bella's goodness would persevere, she could be saved.

Just as I was thinking it Alice snapped out of her focus and whipped her head around, a huge snarl coming from her tiny throat.

"Don't even think about it, Edward!" She said loudly. "I can't focus on Bella when my brother is thinking of following her!"

Five immortal faces turned to me in shock and horror. Carlisle, closest to me, gripped me in a hold that would have snapped human bones.

"No," he said in the closest voice to a growl I had ever heard my father utter. "No, Edward, you are coming with us. We will find Bella, and we will find her alive."

I couldn't read my father's mind, for once in my new existence. His mind was turmoil, as was nearly everyone in this room. It was a storm I had never reckoned with before, but it still sang with the hope he had gained from years in the hospital and hundreds of emergency rooms. His mind was full of miracles I couldn't help but believe. If anyone deserved a miracle, my Bella did.

Alice sighed from across the room. "That's better," she said.

She saw me on a plane, surrounded by my family, on my way to see my Bella.

A/N

Oh, this is really, really fun to write. I hope it's easy to bounce between different POV's. Like I said before, this is my first try at Twilight fiction, and I'm kind of in love. Please leave me comments/criticism, I'm finding it's A LOT harder to write this than it is Harry Potter. There's an entirely different tone, and I would love feedback, let me know that it's marginally believable!