The twilight universe belongs to the awesome Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 2 - Victoria

I got in the Volvo silently, Edward looked more cheerful than he had in days. I knew that it was all due to Bella no longer being grounded, and I couldn't blame him, I knew that Charlie's hostility had been hard on him. It seemed that when Charlie saw Edward, he immediately began to think about how Bella had been when we'd left. Although he had convinced himself that this was his penance, it was still uncomfortable for him. he needed some time away from it.

I smiled at him cheerfully. "Good news about Bella." I commented.

He grinned at me. "Of course you knew."

"I haven't lost my talent completely." I laughed.

With Edward's driving we arrived at Bella's house quickly. He pulled up into the empty driveway and waited.

"Have you seen anything regarding Seattle?" he asked quietly. He was just as upset about this as the rest of the family, if not more. i knew that his first concern was Bella, if the Volturi were to act upon this they would surely realize how close to us they were in Seattle. which would mean a visit from them. Something none of us wanted.

"No, not a thing," I sighed, "it's almost as if someone is deliberately avoiding me."

"You're sure it's not Victoria or the Volturi?" He asked. We'd been over this many times.

"Sure on both. Victoria seems to be flying under the radar, and the Volturi, well, they just sent someone fishing." I cringed, the memory of their last fishing expedition was something I would rather not remember. It had left a bad taste in my mouth, and it had scarred poor Bella to see that.

Edward nodded as Bella came out of the front door, I smiled at her and pushed the door open.

"Morning, Bella."

"Morning, Alice."

I climbed in the back and pulled my legs under me. Bella slid into the front and pulled the door closed. She leaned over and gave Edward a quick kiss.

"How's Jasper?" she asked turning in her seat slightly as Edward backed the car out of the drive. "It feels like such a long since I've seen him, since I've seen anyone."

"He's bored while I'm at school," I offered laughing, "but other than that he's doing well. He's still studying philosophy at Cornell."

Bella smiled and picked up Edward's hand. The rest of the ride to school was quiet but the atmosphere was relaxed, Bella obviously happy with her new freedom seemed more at ease. For a while she had taken Jacob's betrayal hard. Today, she seemed almost vivacious. It was a good change. It was also highly infectious, especially when we arrived at school.

The seniors were all buzzing around happily, we were closing in on graduation and it seemed like a majority of the students couldn't wait to get out of here. There chatter could be heard before we'd even gotten out of the car.

Most of it was about prom, that was coming up this weekend, I knew that we weren't going, Edward had strict instructions from Bella to not even try it. I'd tried everything I could to convince her otherwise, but she was steadfast on the subject. So I gave up.

As a typical school day in Forks, the morning passed without incident, classes were as they always seemed to be, the same curriculum over and over. I couldn't complain I had highly enjoyed it the first time around, but by the fourth and fifth, it had become a little tedious. I headed to lunch following the crowd as they moved like a herd. When I finally got to the table I dropped in my seat and looked at the unappetizing food in front of me. I had become quite talented at arranging my food so it looked as though I'd eaten a majority of it.

Angela looked distracted, but I smiled at her and she returned my smile happily. She really was a genuinely nice person. I asked Edward what she thought of us, after she began frequenting our side of the table with Ben, her boyfriend. His reply had not been what I had expected, which was something I liked about her. She had been thinking about her school work, and barely thought about us at all. In fact, it seemed the only time Edward had ever picked up our names in her head, was when she was wondering why she hadn't spoken to us sooner.

"Everything okay?" I asked as I began to move the food around in front of me.

"Yeah, thanks." She said, I noticed her hair was pulled up roughly and her eyes looked worried. I looked up to see Bella and Edward taking their seats. Angela sighed beside me, Something was bothering her.

"Have you sent your announcements yet?" Angela asked us collectively. i really didn't pay attention, I was too busy looking at Bella's clothes, I hadn't noticed this morning. She was wearing Jeans-and-a-t-shirt. I frowned at her. She never really wore the things I bought for her. Well, perhaps now she was free I could take her to the mall and she can pick out something a little more exciting. Maybe we could get her hair trimmed too, just an inch off the bottom, I know how Edward likes it long.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Bella's answer. 'No," she said over me. "There's no point, really. Renee knows when I'm graduating. Who else is there?"

"How about you, Alice?" Angela asked me.

I smiled in response, "All done."

"Lucky you." Angela sighed, and I realized this had been what was bothering her. "My mother has a thousand cousins and she expects me to hand-address one to everybody. I'm going to get carpal tunnel. I can't put it off any longer and I'm just dreading it."

"I'll help you," Bella said, "If you don't mind my awful handwriting."

I pushed my food around my plate some more and listened to the conversation around me.

"That's so nice of you. I'll come over any time you want." Angela's voice was full of appreciation.

"Actually, I'd rather go to your house if that's okay—I'm sick of mine. Charlie un-grounded me last night." Bella grinned. I smiled back.

"Really?" Angela asked. "I thought you said you were in for life."

"I'm more surprised than you are. I was sure I would at least have finished high school before he set me free."

"Well, this is great, Bella! We'll have to go out and celebrate."

"You have no idea how good that sounds."

"What should we do?" I asked considering the possibilities. I could think of a few. Shopping in Paris, I said I would take her shopping.

"Whatever you're thinking, Alice, I doubt I'm that free." Bella grinned at me.

"Free is free, right?" I insisted, I knew it wouldn't be a problem getting Charlie to agree.

"I'm sure I still have boundaries—like the continental U.S., for example."

I could hear Ben and Angela laughing. I knew I must look disappointed because she gave me a small smile.

"So what are we doing tonight?" I asked, it was her first night of freedom. We had to celebrate.

"Nothing. Look, let's give it a couple of days to make sure he wasn't joking. It's a school night anyway."

"We'll celebrate this weekend, then." I said, once again thinking of the possibilities.

"Sure," she said, I knew she was just appeasing me, but I would take it. I could always hold it against her later.

"Hmm, so where could we go?" Angela asked me, and that was it. Our conversation was planning the weekend, seeing as Bella was still a little dubious we didn't set anything in stone. I knew better than that, but it was fun to consider our options. No matter how limited we were in Forks. We always had options in Port Angeles and Hoquiam. Nothing compared to the larger cities, but i was sure it could be entertaining nonetheless.

We were talking about going bowling when the vision hit me like a ton of bricks. It was stronger than most, and it was Victoria. This was the first I'd seen of Victoria since Edward had asked me what direction she was headed before tracking her. She seemed to be quite elusive, but this was quite strong and took over my conscious mind. She was heading towards Forks, she was going to try and get to Bella. That's all she was thinking about so I wasn't sure exactly where she would go, or what she would do. But I knew where she would come in. I knew exactly where to intercept her.

Edward's laugh pulled my conscience back to the now, I felt the kick under the table from Edward and I jumped back into reality. All remnants of the vision were gone.

"Is it naptime already, Alice?"Edward laughed, but his eyes told me to pull it together. I shot a look at Bella who was watching me intently.

"Sorry, I was daydreaming, I guess." I said with a sigh, trying to emphasize my fabrication.

"Daydreaming's better than facing two more hours of school," Ben said. I knew then that it was an acceptable excuse, I was more worried about Bella. I would have to avoid her until questions until Edward had decided whether or not to tell her.

I jumped back into the conversation about Saturday's activities with more exuberance, I didn't want Bella to be suspicious but I could tell by the look on her face that she was concerned. I stole a glance at Edward.

'Did you see it?' I asked in my head. Edward looked up and then down. 'Good, Bella looks concerned, I don't know what you want to tell her. But I can see her trying to ask you'

I looked back at Angela who was suggesting that we should go and see a movie. I nodded happily.

The rest of the school day skated past like any other, it seemed graduation would be here sooner than any of us had anticipated. I would miss my human friends but I was looking forward to spending more time with Jasper. I stopped briefly to say goodbye to Angela as I headed to the car. Bella and Edward weren't there yet so I climbed into the back.

I saw Edward and Bella coming towards me holding hands, I smiled, but I realized that Edward was talking to Mike Newton. This was new, Bella looked just as confused.

"I know a few things — I could take a look, if you like." Edward offered helpfully, I could hear him clearly. "Just let me drop Alice and Bella at home."

Both Bella and Mike looked astonished at the comment and I giggled to myself quietly, of course Edward needed more time than most to fabricate something, he had trouble lying to Bella. If he was trying to be inconspicuous, he was failing miserably. I could tell by just looking at Bella that she wasn't buying it.

"Er . . . thanks," Mike mumbled, "But I have to get to work. Maybe some other time."

"Absolutely."

"See ya." Mike said breaking away from them and them climbing into his car, he still looked as though he had imagined the whole scene.

"What was that about?" Bella asked as Edward held the door open for her.

"Just being helpful." Edward said slipping in the other side and pulling out of the parking spot.

"You're really not that good of a mechanic, Edward. Maybe you should have Rosalie take a look at it tonight, just so you look good if Mike decides to let you help, you know. Not that it wouldn't be fun to watch his face if Rosalie showed up to help. But since Rosalie is supposed to be across the country attending college, I guess that's not the best idea. Too bad. Though I suppose, for Mike's car, you'll do."

This was where I seemingly paused for breath, but I took the opportunity to help Edward, 'Tell Bella, I had a strange vision about Jasper. She'll understand.'

"It's only within the finer tunings of a good Italian sport car that you're out of your depth. And speaking of Italy and sports cars I stole there, you still owe me a yellow Porsche. I don't know that I want to wait for Christmas . . ." I had decided it would be a good time to remind him seeing that I had successfully bailed him out, once again. His eyes flickered into the rearview and I could see the appreciation for my lie.

"Well, you know the finer points of the car Edward, you saw the interior in my head. I want to make sure that you are completely aware. I'm double checking in case you feel . . . generous.' I laughed.

I finally came to the conclusion of my speech as we pulled up to the mouth of the drive, Edward had been driving considerably slower than usual.

I hopped out of the car quietly but turned quickly, I had just seen when Victoria would be here. I had to let Edward know. 'Victoria will be here on Saturday, are you going to try and get Bella out of here?'

Edward was smiling serenely and nodded quickly, and just once.

'I'll go tell everyone.'

"See you later." he said and nodded again, I took off running. I heard the Volvo pull away.

As I approached the house I saw Jasper waiting on the porch for me, he did this everyday, he told me it was because he was bored, but I knew it was because he missed me. I stopped in front of him and then jumped into his arms.

"Miss me?" I asked planted a kiss on his neck.

He rolled his eyes and kissed my lips gently, "Always."

I smiled at him and hopped down. I took his hand and led him inside. He seemed a little shocked when I turned towards the living room rather than heading straight upstairs, but he followed regardless.

"Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Rosalie." I called quietly and fell into the couch, pulling Jasper with me.

Esme was the first to show up, she came into the room soundlessly and smiling. "Carlisle's at work, Alice, do you want me to call him?"

I nodded and Esme pulled out her cell phone, Emmett and Rosalie came into the room, hand in hand. I smiled at the both.

"Okay, ready." Esme smiled as she held out the phone.

"Hey, Carlsile." I called out.

"What's going on, Alice?" Carlisle's concerned voice came from the speaker phone. It sounded like he was in a quiet space.

"Well, I had a vision today. Victoria will be making an appearance on Saturday. I think Edward's planning on taking Bella away but I have no idea how, I'm sure he'll let us know later."

"Do we know where?" Emmett asked, a grin planted on his face.

"She'll come in from the East, she's following the coast around. Of that much I'm certain."

"I'll be there!" Rosalie almost hissed. She blamed Victoria for all of the happenings whilst we'd been away. It had been her only outlet, she didn't want to place blame on us or herself, Victoria was the closest and most appropriate target.

"Count me in." grinned Emmett.

Carlisle sighed on the other end of the phone. "I hate to waste a life, but she's become such a nuisance. Hopefully there will be no problem in tracking her down."

Esme nodded. "We have to plan this right, we can't risk her getting away and coming back again."

"I'll take care of that." Jasper said quietly. Ever the soldier.

"Okay," I said, now that we had made a decision. "We'll take care of things and we go through it when you and Edward get home."

"Edward's coming home?" Esme asked happily, Edward's presence had been scarce, but he was happy.

"um," I thought about it, I had made an assumption, but something told me I had been right.

I decided to look into it, I knew better than to assume. Edward was stood behind Bella holding the tickets that Esme and Carlisle had bought for her birthday, she wants to say yes, but she says no. Edward, against her wishes will speak to Charlie anyway, Charlie, I will have to wait for his decision. But Edward had already decided to bring Bella over. He was also planning to come home whilst she was asleep so we could talk.

"Yes, Edward is bringing Bella over for a while, and then he'll come back to talk about Victoria when she's asleep. He's already decided."

"Okay, my shift ends at two. Let Edward know so we can be there at the same time."

"Will do." I answered.

Esme disappeared into the kitchen with the phone at her ear. She had bought some human snacks for when Bella was able to visit again and I had no doubt that she was in the kitchen putting something together for her.

I looked at Jasper, his back was rigid and he was lost in thought. He was in military mode. I smiled at Rosalie and got up to get a map, we needed to figure out the strategic places to surround her without her knowing.

Jasper suggested herding her as best we could. If someone could stay out of her line of scent for long enough to come in behind her, we could tighten the circle and trap her. It was a wide area, with a lot of tree cover, I wasn't so sure it would work, but I let my husband draw out the area, and the possible points of entry. We had to look at every option.

A/N: Thank you so much for the warm words and the alerts, you guys are so awesome.

YOU GUYS ROCK, really you do. Still ironing out some kinks and getting used to the change in story lol.

I will try to get another chapter up for you by tonight. Big hugs guys, thanks for everything. ;0)