DISCLAIMER: I am not Stephenie Meyer, nor do I have any right to these characters and/or their canon characteristics.
The next morning, I woke in the same fashion I had the previous day. This time, though, instead of her cheery, sing-song voice, Alice sounded panicked as she called my name. I sat up too quickly, causing my head to spin slightly. Cool hands grasped my shoulders to steady me.
"Bella! I need you to focus! Listen," my eyes slowly opened to see Alice's face too close to mine, "Edward's gone. He left, Bella. And I can't see where he's going!"
"What do you mean he left?" The sleep I was struggling to brush off disappeared, "Alice, what the hell?"
"All I know is that he came home last night, went straight to his room without bothering to say hello to any of us, gathered some of his things and he left! Esme is a total wreck, Carlisle is pacing a hole in the floor, Rosalie is so angry. He keeps changing his mind. I have no idea where he's going or what he's doing!" She was rattling this off so fast I was having a hard time keeping up with everything.
"Okay. Did he leave a note?" I tried.
She looked at me like I'd grown another head, "A note?! Of course he didn't leave a note. He just left. Bella, what did you say to him?"
"Give me a few human moments and I'll explain. Don't give me that look!" I paused while she finished giving me her famous impatient look, "I just have to use the bathroom and I'll be right back."
Alice let me go, so I headed in to do my morning routine. I had to skip on a shower since I knew she'd break down the door and drag me out if I took longer than a couple of minutes. Teeth brushed and bladder freshly emptied, I rejoined her in my bedroom. I found Alice perched on the edge of my desk, eyes completely unfocused. Apparently she was trying to find her AWOL brother.
"Alice?" I hedged, "I'm ready to talk now."
Her eyes slowly came back into focus and she sighed. I could tell she still couldn't find anything solid. This conversation was going to be awful. I had a fitful nights rest reliving the things I had said. The way I spoke to Edward was cruel. I wondered how Alice hadn't seen my blow up at her brother, but realized it was probably because I hadn't planned on attacking him the way I did.
"He showed up late. Charlie and I were in the living room watching TV when I noticed he had fallen asleep. My pajamas were already in the bathroom, so I didn't stop in my room before heading in for a shower. When I was done, I came in here finally. Edward was standing on the other side of my bed. I tried to talk to him, to tell him what was going on, but he stopped me and asked me not to come near him. So I sat at my desk. He seemed to be deep in his own thoughts, so I watched him. Edward hadn't cleaned up after hunting. He was a complete mess. I don't think I've ever seen him so unkempt. He spoke first, saying that he'd gone home before coming here. Alice, he heard you and Esme talking to the Denalis about the wedding being cancelled. Before Jasper could find him, he came here. The way he was talking to me - I've never heard such hatred. Rather than reacting like I normally do to things like that, I was angry. Everything just came out. I attacked him. I told him that he was basically ungrateful and had no respect for me, that I was tired of being treated like a child rather than a partner. We stared at each other for a long time before I caved and sat on the bed," I paused, trying to calm my racing heart.
"What did he say?" Alice quietly asked. It was strange to see her so curious. She was always ahead of everyone else. I could still see the hurt in her eyes, but there was genuine wonder in her expression, so I told her what else happened. When I was done, she came over to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my waist, "Bella, I know you feel horrible. It's written all over your face. But the things you said?" She pulled back to look me in the eye, "Everything you said was true. You've always been shy and not one for confrontation, but you were independent. More so than I think I've ever seen in a human your age. And you're far from stupid. You were blinded by the love Edward offered and he took advantage of that by turning you into exactly what he hoped you could be. I don't blame you. I'm not mad at you either. I'm only sad my brother is missing."
I threw my arms around Alice's neck and clung to her, sobbing. I was so afraid I'd lose my remaining best friend because of this. Every time I'd fall back asleep, I was thrust into another nightmare about being left behind by my family again. Knowing that Alice was on my side made me feel so much better about the decision I had made. From here on out, pushover Bella was a thing of the past. It was time to be me again.
The next few nights, I slept much easier knowing that Alice understood why I had hurt her brother the way I did. We spent a long time talking after that and I again had to hide our true past from her. I couldn't overwhelm her with this when she was so worried about Edward. We would be in the middle of talking and her eyes would unfocus and refocus. Every vision brought on a sigh and a sad attempt at a smile. The visions she was getting of Edward were only small glimpses of the places he was running through. She could tell he wasn't hunting anything and he was continuously running, in different directions, with no known destination. It was as if Edward had suddenly become a nomadic vampire. I could hardly picture him living such a rough life after seeing his pristine clothing and perfect hair every day.
Alice spent as much time as she could with me, preferring the simple nature to any visions she'd gotten of my future. Things like what I would eat the next day or what time Charlie would get home from work. It left her with more room to search for her brother. So, while Alice sat in almost complete silence, searching the future, I would clean or cook or read a book. Charlie would invite her to stay for dinner, but she'd come up with an excuse to go home. Three days after I had ended things with Edward, Alice showed up as I was eating breakfast in a panic again. In the middle of the night, Esme had decided to go in search of Edward. She packed a few belongings, took a credit card and left. I spent the rest of the day trying my best to keep Alice occupied so she wasn't so strung out and focusing on the futures of Edward and Esme. I let her play with my hair, try different makeup on my face and dress me in anything she wanted. She stayed for dinner, moving her food around her plate with curious looks from Charlie, and left just as I was about to go to bed.
I was standing in the meadow again. Rosalie was on the opposite end of where I stood, her gorgeous blonde hair flowing in the breeze. She wore a look of absolute repulsion on her flawless face. Emmett was standing a few feet in front of her, staring at me with a pleading expression. Alice clung to her father figure's side as Carlisle regarded me with a pained expression.
"Bella," Carlisle spoke, "We're leaving again. I simply cannot stay in Forks any longer. My son is dead and my wife will never be the same without him. My family is broken. I'm sorry, I know you care for us, but we have to move on. It's time."
"No! Carlisle you can't!" I screamed, running towards what was left of my family. The closer I thought I was getting, the further away they were. They had vanished when I made it half way across the meadow. I froze and fell to the ground, sobbing and screaming at the grass and flowers. Once I'd gotten that out of my system, I stood to leave, hugging my arms around my torso to keep the reopened hole from swallowing me. When I went to walk in the direction of home, I was met with a terrifying sight.
Before me stood Victoria, James and Laurent. I turned to run, but before I could even manage a full step, Victoria's smiling face was right in front of my own.
"Hello, Isabella," she purred. "Lovely seeing you again, dear. It's a shame your family is no more. Oh, my heart is breaking for you. Why don't you let me help you with your pain?"
As she finished speaking, both of my arms were restrained by the other two vampires. I struggled against them, watching Victoria's open mouth creep ever closer to the fragile skin of my throat.
"BELLS!" Charlie's voice broke through the scream that had transferred from my dream-self to my conscious-self. My sheets had become tangled all around my legs and a layer of sweat and tears coated the skin on my face. I reached out, hugging my dad to me.
"Bella, I thought these nightmares were gone for good. Are you okay?" Charlie asked, rubbing my back.
I pulled back and wiped my nose with the sleeve of my shirt, "I'm okay. I haven't had a dream like that in a long time. It's shocking."
"Wanna talk about it?"
I smiled up at my dad's attempt at being there for me, but shook my head in denial. He patted my head and went back to his own room.
I noticed it was early, but too late in the morning for me to try to get anymore sleep. I gathered my toiletries back and some clean clothes before padding off to do my morning routine. The heat of the shower helped to wash away the nasty feelings left over from my nightmare. Victoria's coven was gone, I knew that. I had watched her body turn to ash myself, as well as that of James, and Jake and the guys took care of Laurent. There was nothing for me to worry about. By the time I had sorted out my fears, the water was running cold.
Breakfast would give me a reason not to think too much. I prepared french toast, covered in butter and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I made a fresh pot of coffee, knowing that Charlie would want a cup as soon as he came down. While I waited for him, I cleaned up what little there was to do around the house, straightening the pictures on the mantle in the living room and wiping the counters clean in the kitchen. I had nothing else to do, so I settled into my spot at the kitchen table and ate my food. Charlie came down just a moment later, filling his cup and enjoying his portion of the food.
When Alice didn't show up after breakfast, I figured she wasn't coming by today. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I decided to go visit her. My clothes were my usual jeans and t-shirt, but I wanted to make my best friend smile. Reaching to the back of my closet, the section dedicated to Alice clothes, I pulled out a comfortable knee-length cotton dress. It was emerald-green, with cap sleeves and a neckline just below my collar bones. It flowed gently away from my waist, flaring slightly. Once I had it on, I had to admit it wasn't that bad. I paired it with some black ankle boots I found in the bottom of my closet. I was clueless when it came to makeup and hair, so I just threw my hair up into a simple pony tail. Satisfied with my efforts, I walked out the door and headed to the Cullen house.
The drive didn't take long at all and the driveway was easy to find, having been there plenty of times. I parked my truck outside of the garage and headed into the house. I wasn't expecting much to be different when I arrived and was clutching the purse containing the Brandon-Swan family tree. But when I reached the top of the stairs and glanced into the window, what I saw was definitely shocking and a bit terrifying. Their belongings were sitting in boxes just inside the front door.