It sure is nice to be home! Sorry for the delay in this chapter...I forgot to warn you all that I was going out of town for a week. I had fun hanging out at the beach with my two best friends, but I'm really glad to be home! You guys have been great with reviews so far. Keep up the good work!

Enjoy!

Jasper POV

Alice wasn't acting like herself, the Volturi's letter on her mind. "I just don't know what they could have!" She growled, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

I looked at Edward for help. He had just told her that the wolves had tracked down her niece and the rest of her family, and they were all accounted for. Again, we were at a loss.

My mate was upset, nervous, and desperately wanted to just ignore the letter. She knew she couldn't though. They wouldn't let her, and we wouldn't either. "Who knows, but they must have something. The Volturi aren't known for making empty threats." I reminded her softly.

She glared at me, anger rolling off her in my direction. I helped her control it, calming her. She smiled at me with a sigh, "Thanks Jazz, sorry about that."

I just nodded, and Esme sighed nervously, "I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

"None of us do." Carlisle said.

"So, my family is safe." Alice said before screeching and destroying the coffee table. Esme sighed, but Alice cried, "I don't know anything! Why don't I remember?" It had always bugged her that she couldn't remember much of her human life, but she had never really dwelled on it, until now. I hugged my mate, trying to calm her down again. "Jazz, what am I missing?"

I kissed the top of her head, "I don't know."

She pulled away, pacing the room again, and exulting a dark laugh from Emmett when she nearly ran into him. "Move." She growled, and we were all taken aback by her un-Alice like actions. Abruptly, she stopped, with that clairvoyant cloud suddenly covering her eyes like a thick mist. "Makenna and Charles." She said, still in her trance, her voice soft as silk, "They're coming…I can't…" She jerked out of it suddenly, running to a window, "see them anymore, they're crossing Jacob's path…" she paused for a few seconds, "Now!"

We heard a pained wolf yelp, and Nessie jumped up and ran out the door, followed closely by the rest of the clan. "Jacob!" She cried, her father pulling her behind him. We all stopped when we reached the two nomads.

Makenna had Jacob in a death grip, struggling with the giant wolf. Charles just stood to the side with a panicked look on his face, "Makenna!" He said, his voice raised a bit, "Makenna, let it go!" He finally yelled, when his mate refused to let the wolf go or to divert her attentions.

The dark haired vampire looked surprised to see us all standing in front of her, instantly releasing the wolf and holding her hands up in surrender. Jacob shook himself, but appeared to be fine, if a little mad, returning to Nessie's side.

Charles held his mates hand protectively as Carlisle approached them, "Makenna, Charles, what an unexpected surprise. May I ask what brings you here?"

The nomads shared an anxious look. Makenna spoke, "We have something we think that we should let you know about." She was extremely stressed, and her mate seemed to sense it as much as I did, taking her hand and continuing their story.

"Nearly seventy years ago, we came across a young vampire. She had been feeding recklessly in our territory, and we had gone to stop the vampire causing the possible exposure." A smile twitched on Charles' face, and I could feel the warmth rush up into him. He had obviously cared for the vampire he was talking about.

I felt a sudden flair of panic from Edward, but I couldn't focus on him at the moment. I had to work to keep Makenna and Charles in control and the wolves at bay. The last thing we all needed was for another fight to break out between the two human drinking vampires and the wolves.

"She was young." Makenna said, after reining her emotions in. "Both as a human and as a vampire. When we approached her, she was like a wild animal. She was so afraid of us. It didn't take us long to figure out why. She was like an infant in a teenager's body. She couldn't speak, her clothes were in tatters, she couldn't walk right, she didn't know how to, and she had hair knotted all the way down her back. We took her back to the house we were staying in. It just seemed like the right thing." She looked up at Charles, and love swelled in her, "It took us weeks to get her to trust us. We brought food to her, I cut her hair. Once she started letting us near her, she slowly learned how to speak. It's so different than just learning a language, she didn't even know how to make sound. As soon as she caught onto the basics, the rest took her just a few days before she started to actually talk to us."

"I don't understand!" Alice shrieked, "Why do you want us to know about all of this?"

"Alice." I said, pulling her into my arms.

Makenna nodded, "It's okay, I understand why you're upset. I'll move on. Charles and I kept her with us for nearly thirty years. We called her Rissa." She said the name with a fond smile that died suddenly, "We loved her, like a daughter. She couldn't remember anything about being human. We kept silent about her. When we ran into others of our kind, we would hide her. Her gift kept us safe for thirty years." She looked at my mate with her blood red eyes, "Your gift." My coven took a cumulative intake of breath. Makenna swallowed tensely, "Well…mostly your gift, just weaker. You see farther than she did. She could see ten minutes into the future at most, but it always happened, just like she said, not subjective at all, decisive."

"We thought she was dead." Charles said, taking over again, "The Volturi found out about her, and were interested in her power. They were even more interested in her when they forced us to bring her to them. She's like a child, and they looked at her like she was prey. Demitri and Felix held Makenna and I. Alec used his gift on her as soon as she tried to run." Sadness and guilt permeated from him. "We heard her scream as they forced us out of Volterra. She was just a little girl. We assumed that they had killed her for rejecting their offer, but recently, we heard whispers about the Volturi having a tool to use against Alice, to assure her alliance forever."

"Seems like she would be more of a draw for you than for me. I don't even know her." Alice said, looking up at me with confusion on her face. I shrugged.

"She's a good bargaining chip because there's a good chance that she's…"

Duh duh duh dun! Cliff hanger! (But I think we all know where I'm going with this...I hope.) If you like it, please shoot me a quick review saying so. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

The next one should be in the works shortly, but I'm trying to finish up the first chapter of the last installment in my Lilly Davenport/Seth Clearwater story. Part One was Nightfall Is Bliss. Part Two: Taking Chances, and part three will be called: In Between. If you're interested in my Avalon mythology, go check it out.

Reviews are welcomed along with constructive criticisms.

-Jenn