Chapter 2

By the look on their faces, I knew that this would be a tough one to explain. Edward 1, the one who had just arrived in the clearing, seemed especially stunned. I wouldn't blame him; this kind of thing would come as quite a surprise. Vampire Bella, Bella 1, was rigid and un-moving, transfixed on her human self. Her own human self mirrored her reaction, staring in awe at her vampire figure. Everyone else stared amazed at Bella. Not the regular, normal, human Bella (Bella 2), but the pale-skinned, golden-eyed Bella. Everyone stared, that is, except for me.

I had seen her once before, and for that matter, so had Edward (Edward 2, in my mind), when I had seen her not a year ago in my vision, Edward reading my mind and seeing it for himself. It was nice to see now that the future was absolute. So, instead of just standing and gawking like my family beside me and the pack of werewolves (which had gone completely unnoticed by the newly arrived Edward and Bella) I skipped up to them, clearing my throat.

Still, no one moved. I rolled my eyes.

"Hello!" I nearly shouted, "Earth to Edwards and Bellas!" Finally, the Edward beside human Bella slowly turned his head toward me. The other did the same, but still the Bellas stared at each other, still shocked.

"Look, I know you guys could just stare at each other for eternity, but as you well know, I am not so patient, kay?" That got her attention. Both Bellas finally snapped out of their dazed expressions.

"Alice, what is going on?" Both Edward and Bella one demanded. I smiled.

"That is what we are going to explain." I answered calmly.

"Explain? I am staring at myself from fifteen years ago! How in the world is this possible?!" I had expected this sort of reaction.

"I will. Just calm down, OK." And as if being called, Jasper was at my side, letting his power do its wonder. She relaxed a bit, but not enough.

"What does this have anything to do with Renesmee?!" She shouted out. Renesmee? Who was Renesmee? Then, my other self and her Jasper was beside me as well. Vampire Bella's eyes and the Edward's beside her eyes both popped just a bit more, but it was obviously not enough to top what she had just seen.

"Bella, it's alright. Just let us tell you what is happening, and then you'll understand." The other Jasper said. Apparently, the double calming Jaspers were enough, and Bella relaxed enough to hear the tale. Though we had told this story twice that night, I still felt the events unravel in my head, reliving what had happened the night before…

It was after Edward and I had come back from hunting. Edward was picking up Bella from La Push while I was home, searching my closet for a new set of clothes. That's when Edward called. Of course, with my future-seeing, I was the one to answer. He was hysterical. I figured Bella had probably tripped and bashed her head or something along those lines, but something in his voice told me that wasn't so.

"What is it Edward?" I had asked.

"She's gone." His voice was strained with agony.

"What??"

"She's gone." He repeated, nearly choking over his own words.

"Wait, Edward, what happened?"

"I-I'll tell you when I get there. Tell the family."

"But Edward, wait-" He hung up on me. I quickly did as he asked, gathering the family in the living room and telling them about the phone call.

"Gone? But what does that mean?" Esme asked, worried.

"I don't know." And it had been true, and I hated it.

Then we all heard a car door open and slam shut, and milliseconds later, Edward was inside the leaving room, having arrived. His expression was hard to read; Angry, worried, and agony, all morphed together? Carlisle stood up, walking up to his adopted son.

"Edward, explain." Edward nodded.

"Bella," his voice broke at her name, "was at the mongrel's house," rage now filled his voice, "and he left for just a moment. And then she…" He stopped. After a long moment, he said in a small whisper that no human would be able to hear, "He found an unrecognizable vampire scent and a note." He held out a small slip of paper, which Carlisle took.

"'The Clearing; six o'clock.'" He read. Carlisle looked up at Edward. He had a pained expression.

"Do you think this is just some ploy to get us to come to the clearing so whoever this is can tear us apart?" I asked.

"If it's the only way, the only chance that I can save her, that she is still alive, then I'll take that chance." Edward answered determined,

"Yes, but are you willing to let us all die?" Rosalie said. Right then I could've ripped her throat, and by the looks of it, so could Edward.

"Rosalie, come on, she's family." Emmett said before anyone could have reason to kill her more.

"Yes, but are we willing to just die for someone who might already be dead?"

"I didn't say that you guys had to come, Rosalie, I just know I am." Edward answered ruefully, and I could tell that he fully expected to die out there if Bella was dead. Esme could tell, too.

"Edward, no! You can't!" She exclaimed.

"I have to." He answered. There was silence.

"Well, I' not letting you go on your own, bro, count me in." Jasper finally said.

"Edward, it's not like we're going to leave you out there to die! And if you do, I'll go down with you." Emmett added.

"Emmett is right, we are family. We will all go." Carlisle agreed, and Esme nodded to show that she too, would be going. Edward turned to me.

"Well, duh, I'm gonna come! Bella's a sister to me!" I was shocked he would even think I wouldn't come, especially if Jasper was. Everyone turned to Rosalie, who stood arms folded in the corner of the room.

"Come on, Baby." Emmett encouraged, as if she were a five-year-old unwilling to jump in the pool. She finally gave in.

"Oh, well, fine, I'll do it! But only for Edward." And so everything was set in motion. Edward informed us that the pack was helping them as well, not only because it was their duty, but for Jacob's sake, I imagined. For some odd reason, I was never really against. I could tell he was just a young boy with a crush he thought bigger than life. But I knew the truth. I knew that he just needed someone, like we all did a companion; someone he could talk to. But I knew it wasn't love, though I did know Edward was afraid that it was. Couldn't he see that what he had with Bella was a mutual everlasting love with each other, not some sill school girl crush like Jacob? But I knew somehow that things would work out, that one day everything would just fit together.

By six o'clock we were all gathered in the clearing. Unfortunately, with the werewolves standing beside us as we waited, I couldn't see what would happen. But what I diffidently did not expect was what would come next. The person who walked through the forest wall was a vampire, as expected, but he was alone.

That's right, alone, with no back up; no one else. Just himself. Then, I saw something I hadn't before. No, he was not alone, because following beside him was a girl; Bella. I could see clearly enough with my vampire vision that her eyes were fearful, and yet she just followed mechanically after the vampire with red eyes. Then I felt another shock of surprise. Why hadn't Edward sprung on the vampire holding his beloved? Even more shocking, why hadn't I? No one moved. I decided that someone would have to do something, and I realized that that someone would have to be me. But when I tried to move, it was as if something had stopped me, as if my feet would not continue with my orders.

Don't do that. Why would you want to move? A voice that startled me said inside my head without me thinking it. But my subconscious listened to it, and when I tried again, that same soothing voice seemed to stop my body from moving. It was as if someone was controlling me, and in all actuality, I believe that something was.

"Well, what do we have here?" The vampire holding Bella hostage said. "The whole pack and your family?" He continued, tsking. "Awe, Edward, didn't you realize that that note was meant just for you?" Edward didn't say anything, and I had a feeling something was restraining himself just as it was me.

The vampire sighed. "Well, this complicates things." But then he smiled. "Which makes it all the more fun!" He came forward slowly, so as to let Bella follow him, which she did.

"Oh where are my manners? My name is Mark" mark said. Oddly, as he said that, I felt as if I was a puppet, and the strings holding me up had been released just a tad bit.

"Why are you here?" I demanded. Mark chuckled.

"Good question," He said, and then continued on, "I am here so I may conduct an experiment." No one moved, but this time, as if someone had forced the words out, Edward asked, "What experiment?" Mark beamed.

"As you all know, us vampires have unique powers." He stopped, looking at me, Jasper beside me, and Edward. "And as you well know, some of them are very powerful." He added. "Me being one of them, of course." He chuckled.

"Why are you doing this!?" Edward burst out, then. "You coward! You control us all instead of fighting like a real man!" "A real man? Would you not do the same to protect yourself, and your human mate?" To this, Edward didn't say anything.

"But, of course, you have noticed that I do not control you, rather I manipulate you. If I could control you, then you would not have said what you just did. You see, I have flaws, but don't get your hopes up. I am powerful, as I have said." Manipulate? Of course! It was his power, his ability. Was this his experiment? To manipulate us all to do something drastic, to see if he had any large flaws that were unrecognizable. So when I said to Mark, "What do you want with us?" I really was curious.

Mark smiled, delighted, and then Edward gasped, having heard his plans with us.

"You see," He answered, "I have visited many vampires, all who have survived, mind you, so I mean no harm. I had an idea a few years back, you see, and with it I tested on a young vampire." He eyes us all, a smile on his face, "and what I discovered was amazing, magnificent. What I discovered was that not only could I manipulate people, but," he paused dramatically, "the earth." The earth? What did that mean? But Mark wasn't finished.

"I found that I could manipulate the earth just as I did vampires and humans, that I could make an earthquake, a volcano erupt! But all this did not satisfy me. I wanted something even more magnificent, and it was when I watched superman," his eyes held a glimmer of humor, "That I found that my dream was possible.

"In superman, you see, to save his girlfriend, he reversed the earth, going back into the past. I realized that I could perhaps do that exact same thing! So, I tried it on myself, and to my astonishment, I went back to the day I became a vampire, and then when I first had my discovery! I then tried it on other vampires, testing if I could perhaps change the future.

"But when I tested it on vampires, I found that because we live our lifestyles in almost pure repetition; hunt mate, and perhaps the mate dies, but you find another. And with humans, I was sure the Volturi would surely be on my tale, and letting them know of my power would be catastrophic, so I needed a vampire who could change! And that is when I heard of the famous Cullens.

"You may not know it now, but something in your future will change how you live for the rest of your life. It is something so big, so almost nearly impossible, that it could be written off as either good or bad, and that choice is placed on, " His eyes lay on Bella, and then shifted to Edward, "You two. That is why I came here, in the past, to meet you, and to bring you to where you meet your destiny." There was utter silence now, and I was sure that it wasn't just because Mark was manipulating us to not speak. What we had just heard was impossible, and yet I knew that Mark was telling the truth. Then, Mark closed his red, fierce eyes, and seemed to concentrate. Then he stopped.

"It is time…" he said and then the world around us seemed to go in complete chaos. A giant wind swooshed in, and the world span around us. I felt the world turn, time go forward. I saw my family, not the ones stuck in this warp with me, but another family of us, and another pack, all fighting against vampires. I saw our family again, the pack included, with the Volturi talking to us about things I couldn't understand. Then I saw a baseball game being played, and I knew it was us. I saw as it rained over the years, and then the sun shining, and I saw someone else. It was a girl a boy. She was giggling, and I saw she looked so familiar and I couldn't place it, though I saw that the buy was none other than Jacob.

Finally the world stopped spinning, and came to a halt on a cloudy, cold, night. And there, I saw someone very, very familiar. She stared at me with wide eyes, as I did to her. A boy followed up behind her.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Then he saw us.

Then Carlisle ended the tale, finishing with how we told my future self and Jasper and later on Rosalie and Emmett that same story. Future Edward and Bella looked stunned, but not unbelieving. After all, it was a pretty adequate explanation with the proper evidence. We all waited a moment, as to let Bella and Edward take it all in, until we went further.

"Renesmee." We all heard Future Edward whisper. Emmett obviously couldn't take it anymore, and asked the exact same question we were all thinking.

"Who is this person, this Renesmee? Is this what he meant by our destiny?" All the future Cullens shared a look, as if deciding whether to tell or not. Then, we all except for Human Bella heard someone stepping out from the trees. Another addition to the future Cullen family had arrived, and following beside him, Esme.

"I think it best we keep that secret for now." Future Carlisle said.

"Carlisle, how much do you know?" Vampire Bella asked.

"I heard enough when we were coming." Carlisle replied. Even then, Carlisle was calm and wise.

"How is Nessie? Is she alright?" A worried Edward asked.

Carlisle nodded, saying, "The head ache died down a couple of hours ago. I had Esme cook up her some food and told her to get some rest before we went." Curiosity seemed to be eating away from me. Who was Nessie? What was wrong with her? Why was she so important that they couldn't tell us who she was? Maybe Edward knew…

But when I looked over, my Edward shook his head subtly no.

"And," Carlisle continued, "By what I know here, I think I know what caused her to be sick." Edward's eyes lit up as he heard Carlisle's theory with in his mind. "Interesting…" he said, and his Bella looked at him curiously. "Later." He muttered under his breath. I realized now that it was morning, as the sun peaked up the mountains.

"Wait!" Someone shouted. Jacob made his way through the crowd of Vampires and Werewolves.

"I am sick of just sitting here and taking this crap! All these secrets we don't know and Bella-"he pointed at Future Bella, "is vampire for heaven's sakes! This is not how it is supposed to be!" I could feel and see the fire burning up with in him and his control slipping away. Both future Bella and Edward stared at him in shock, as if they hadn't expected it.

"Jacob…" Sam said, having phased too, and putting his hand on Jacob's shoulder. Jacob shook it off.

"No! No! No! I will not stand here! This isn't how it is supposed to be, and don't think I won't change it!" He shouted in fury. How could he contain himself? He looked ready to blow!

"But Jake, if you do that, you'll never imprint." Bella stated. Jacob looked temporarily stunned, but then recovered.

"No." He said, his jaw clenched. "But Jacob-""No!" He shouted now.

"No, because I'm unnatural too! Bella, we belong together! In the real world, we do! Not this-this fantasy!" He began to shake, the shiver running up and down his body until he phased, running into the forest. As I had expected, another wolf ran after him, still in its phased form. Then there was silence.

As if on cue then, I heard another set of legs running to the clearing, and I recognized the scent as Jacob's. But I also realized there was another set of legs running with him.

They both entered the clearing synchronically, Jacob and a girl.

We all gasped. She had bronze hair and pale skin. With brown eyes. I finally realized who this was.

Renesmee.