Chapter 3

Monday

Panicked questions flooded Edward's mind and he winced at the sudden onslaught. Carlisle and Esme reached them before they hit the tree line. Esme's hands flitted over Alice from her head to her feet. She looked from Jasper's stricken face to Edward's and back to Alice.
"What happened, is she okay? Why is she unconscious, I didn't know we could be unconscious. Carlisle, do something! Alice sweetie, it's Esme, talk to me on open your eyes honey."
Rosalie slid to a stop when she caught sight of Alice, Emmet pulling up short along side her.
Carlisle put his arm around Esme.
"Let's get her back to the house."
Esme nodded, never taking her hands from Alice.

"I didn't see anything Carlisle, it was like one of the visions she has been having. Nothing but that feeling only this time I felt the fear she was experiencing. She definitely saw something."
Edward ran his hand through his hair and stared at Alice's tiny body laying on the couch. Jasper at one end and Esme at the other. Carlisle had no way of knowing if she would wake up. Without vital signs to check and without Edward seeing anything all they could do was wait. She had even stopped breathing.
They sat in silence with their thoughts. Memories of their combined lives and possibilities of a future without Alice danced quickly through each mind. Edward tried to block them out but failed. Only Jasper was quiet. He stared intently at his mate, trying to will her eyes open. Edward squeezed his shoulder in support but Jasper didn't acknowledge him at all. There were no emotions emanating from him. Carlisle must have seen the perplexed look on Edward's face.
He is in shock.
The words overpowered all others flooding his mind even though they sounded hollow. Edward glanced up to meet his father's eyes. What he saw made him freeze.
Carlisle looked hopeless.

With one more gentle squeeze to Jasper's shoulder and a nod to the others, Edward walked out the door. The rain, which had miraculously held off for two days started to fall as he jumped across the stream behind their house and trudged into the woods again. He rubbed his face in his hands and ran them through his hair trying to block out the worried thoughts of his family and focus on the quiet spot that was his sister and best friend. The stress made it almost impossible but he knew he had to be able to hear her so he kept putting distance between himself and the others.
As he walked, he went over everything from the past few days. What could have happened? He was right there, she had been terrified of something but what could possibly cause a vampire to pass out? If that's even what was wrong with her. Strange non-visions then this. Edward tried to find any reasoning to the situation and couldn't. Maybe she was right and something was wrong with her when this started . But then, he had experienced a couple out of the ordinary occurrences too. Surely there wasn't something wrong with both of them? And what about Esme? She had picked up on the "feeling" all on her own before she knew about the rest. No, there was definitely something going on. He had no inkling of what but some outside influence was at work here. If he was right then Alice should be fine, vampires weren't exactly fragile.
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. The voices of his family had faded but he could hear a buzzing in his mind. It didn't stop so he tried to ignore it and concentrate. After a few steps the buzzing got suddenly louder, he shook his head again and a bright white light flashed behind his closed lids. As the flash faded so did the buzzing. He refocused on Alice, wondering if this was coming from her, and started back towards the house. The rainfall had gotten very heavy. It battered the trees around him noisily as he walked. If it was any louder he could have missed what came with the next bright flash in his mind. He stopped and tilted his head, listening. For a moment he thought he heard people talking. A lot of people. He got the distinct impression of a busy sidewalk, he could almost feel the people moving around him. Before it had completely faded away he was moving again. Was Alice awake? Having visions? He picked up his pace as another flash hit him, this one much brighter than the last. The sounds of horses and trolleys filled his ears. A car horn blared from behind him just as it all faded away. Water pooled around his feet as he took the porch stairs two at a time and threw the door open. Everyone turned to stare at him and he clutched his head as the brightest flash yet blinded him then blossomed into a busy city sidewalk then vanished just as quickly.
When he opened his eyes Alice stared at him from where she sat crushed against Jasper's chest. Her brows pulled together with unspoken questions.
"Alice, thank goodness!" Esme clutched her chest in relief.
Carlisle, who had jumped to Edward's aid when the vision hit, stood with his hand firmly on Edward's arm and looked at both of them.
"Alice are you okay? Edward?"
Alice nodded, "I think so."
Edward nodded, still dazed from the bright flash.
"Can either of you tell us anything about what just happened?" He steered Edward toward a chair and sat him down.
Still clutched in Jasper's arms Alice looked worried.
"I have no idea. I was fine when we went into the woods then felt like I was going to have a vision. Instead I saw nothing but was so afraid I could barely move. Then nothing until now."
Carlisle turned to Edward.
"I went out to clear my head so I could concentrate on Alice but there was this buzzing in my head, like an electrical current. Then blinding flashes of light and when I came in the last light turned into an image. No, not an image, more than that. It was like I was there."
"Where?"
"Judging by the clothes, an early 1900s busy city street."
"Flashbacks Ed-O? I told you not to eat any hippies, dude acid will come back to haunt you."
Emmett had had his fill of drama for a while.
"Good to have you back little bit, don't scare us like that again." He took Rose's hand and they walked up the stairs.

"Well we are at a stand still again it seems. I don't want you two going to school with all of this going on. We don't need attention drawn to the family. We will need to figure out an excuse to keep you home as long as needed."
"I'm staying too." Jasper was still shaken over what had happened.
"Of course." Carlisle would never tell him otherwise. "Maybe it should be all of them."
Esme nodded, "I'll call the school in the morning and make the arrangements."

Edward was eyeing Alice who had been exceptionally quiet through all this. She looked tired and more than a little scared. Jasper was trying to keep her calm but some of her panic and confusion was still echoing off of him. They silently got up and went to their room. Carlisle and Esme went to secure the reason for the extended absence. He was left alone as usual which made the living room feel anything but living so he made his way upstairs. He looked at his clock. 7:30. Three and a half hours since he came home feeling like everything was finally looking up and now this. The rain pelted the windows and he realized he was still soaked from getting caught in the downpour. He pulled sweatpants and a t-shirt out of his drawers and went to take a shower.
The hot water seemed to ease some of the tension and his mind started to churn. What the hell was going on? He couldn't make any connection between what was happening with Alice and himself but it had to be related. Alice having visions that aren't visions and feeling fear caused by what? If she had no idea what was causing it then how and why was it affecting her?
The buzzing in his head which he just realized had never really stopped started to get stronger again. He closed his eyes anticipating the painful flash but the light was almost nonexistent this time, the image floated into his mind as if it were his own thought and slowly came into focus.
Directly in front of him was an ornate garden fountain with a woman pouring water from a pitcher. Morning Glory vines wound their way up and around her, the flowers closed in the afternoon sun. He tried to look to the side but found he couldn't. The view turned toward women's voices as they walked through an arch into the garden. They were in full dress complete with the large fancy hats so popular in that day. He felt himself smile at them then reach for a teacup sitting on the table in front of him. As his hand came into view he saw the lace trim on the sleeve of a dress. Abruptly it all vanished. Quickly he dried off and dressed then grabbed an empty journal off his shelf. He wrote everything that had happened and all he had seen. It still all totaled to nothing. He laid the journal next to the pillows, walked down the hall to Alice and Jasper's room and gently knocked.
Jasper's voice didn't sound much better than earlier, his thoughts still worried about his wife who was laying on the bed with her head on Jasper's chest thinking of nothing.
"Are you okay?" He sat on the side of the bed.
"I don't know. I just don't understand any of this and I feel so strange. Whatever happened to me, the fear and panic, I have never felt anything like that. How could I feel something Ive never experienced while perfectly safe in my yard with you two? It feels like there's someone in my head."
"Well, I think that's exactly what it is. I wanted to tell you what Ive been seeing. I thought maybe I was somehow seeing visions through you but I can't see what you can't see. I think you are right. It's not coming from either of us. Someone, somehow is putting this all into our heads."
Jasper had been quiet but at the thought of an outsider getting to Alice his defenses went up.
"Someone like Jane?"
"That I don't know Jaz. It remains to be seen. So far none of this seems to be malicious. Or even intentional for that matter. There hasn't seemed to be any point behind any of it yet."
Alice looked at Edward. "Wait, what were you saying about you seeing visions?"
"Oh, yes, well the one when I came in the door earlier and I had another just a few minutes ago. This time I was having tea in an English garden. There were ladies walking around in dresses and those ridiculous hats they loved back then. Then I went to pick up my tea and saw that "I" was wearing a lace trimmed dress."
"Oh Eddie, Freud would have a field day with you." Emmett laughed.
"Em, do you ever give it a rest?"
"Nope."
Carlisle came in and leaned against the door frame. "I think you may have hit on something. There's a vampire I know, Zafrina, she can make you believe you are wherever she chooses by projecting the image and sensory perceptions into your mind. There is always the possibility of someone having similar talents. I don't see how we would have missed anyone else being in the area but we can look around the area see if we can pick up any scents. Even if they mean us no harm we can't have them hunting in our area."
Alice hid her face in her hands.
"I'm sorry Carlisle. I should have seen something but whatever is going on really must be blocking all my visions."
Jasper wrapped her in his arms. "It's not your fault darlin', no one blames you at all. Don't worry about any of this, we can take care of it. It's just a matter of figuring out what we need to do."
"No, Alice, I am sorry. I didn't mean to imply you should have known. It's just strange someone has come close enough to affect you two with their gift and yet left no trace of themselves."
Carlisle shook his head.
"No, you just need to rest and let us take care of you this time."
Edward started to get up when her eyes glazed over and her face went slack. They all waited in silence, Jasper tense and ready for anything his hands hovering inches from her body. Edward thought he saw a flash of something from her mind but knew it was just as likely coming from his. After only a few moments she refocused on Carlisle and a small smile lighted her face.
"I saw something!"
"What?" All three men asked at once.
"I have no clue but it was definitely something! It was too blurry to make out but I'll take that over nothing any day. I also heard that noise again. I'm positive it is metal hitting against metal, I could even hear the wind that time."
Edward ran his hand through his hair.
"I saw it too, but again I didn't hear any noise."
"If only something would give us a little more to go on. Right now it's just a waiting game."
"Well, tomorrow we will all go hunt together and look for signs of our visitor." Carlisle sighed.
"Other than that I too am at a loss."