Chapter 2: Predators

Ithaca, NY. Present Day.

Alice was standing beneath the weeping willow outside the Cullens' Ithaca residence for five minutes before Edward swung wildly into the drive, the silver Volvo heaving a shudder of protest as he cut the engine. Alice shook her head and made a note to check the engine before his next departure; he'd been running the car into the ground, apparently. As much as he loved cars, loved the speed with which the vehicles they indulged in could sail forth along freeways and back streets, he was no better than the average human male at understanding the intricacies that made the things run in the first place.

"I heard that," Edward muttered, stepping out onto the seamlessly interlocking bricks comprising the long driveway.
"I counted on it," Alice replied, bemused.

Edward's eyes were jet-black, the circles beneath them running deep. His thirst was great. It had been a wise choice to postpone her own hunt from the afternoon. It would give them a chance to catch up properly, time to be alone. They both needed it. His rumpled grey sweater and black slacks looked well-worn - as in, 'worn for days'. Alice spied an excuse for a shopping trip, which sadly only brought half the usual elation.

He stepped forward and embraced her tightly, his bronze locks tumbling forward slightly as he leaned the great distance down to kiss her head, "You look as well as I do, Alice. What's wrong?"
"Shh," she replied, "Esme will hear."

Edward nodded, then listened for the explanation he knew would spill forth momentarily in her obviously troubled mind.

I need to find the asylum, Edward. I need to know what he was speaking of, learn as much as I am able. Jasper's not happy about the prospect of me departing solo. Hunting trip later, to discuss it?

"I've missed you Alice, all of you. I'm rather thirsty... I think this is what humans call 'burning the candle at both ends', as best our kind can do so, anyway. Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat?"
Alice smiled gratefully, "I'm rather famished myself. But first, you'd best say hello to the parents. They're been fretting since you departed, you know."
"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Esme and Carlisle lingered in the large sitting room, just to the right of the opulent foyer of the home. Esme, as usual, had gone for a home with a slightly rustic feel, with high ceilings, exposed brick, and tasteful antique furniture arranged in open formations that invited one to relax. Were it feasible to keep to strange hours that avoided sunny days, Edward had little doubt that Esme would be an interior designer for the sheer joy of it. The living room was a blend of cast iron finishing touches and oak furniture, with a rocking chair in the west corner near the piano. Esme's smile gave way to a mothering frown at the sight of her son.

"Edward, I've been so concerned. You really need to keep in better touch, particularly now, what with the hunting and all..."
"Esme, he's been careful, I'm sure," Carlisle interjected, placing a restraining hand on her right shoulder, a gentle reminder that he was quite old enough, far older than his 17 year-old face revealed.
Edward smiled wanly, "No, she's right. I've been tracking alone and as such, it would be prudent to keep you more abreast of my whereabouts and success - or lack thereof," he sighed, the melancholy hanging thick in the air.

Esme embraced him warmly, her ice blue dress simple in cut, but stunning in contrast with her hair and golden eyes. Edward sighed, inhaling her scent. Esme always reminded him of home, had always been the one who conjured up what he believed to be his most human feelings. At least, before he met her...

Alice read his expression immediately, "I could check on her future, if you want. Just to be sure she's safe -"
"No!" Edward rebuked sharply, frowning immediately with regret and softening his gaze, "No, Alice. I intruded upon her life far too much. And I already know without your gifts that she is anything but safe, with Victoria still on the loose. But I suppose... Is she still, in the future...?"
Alice's eyes glazed over slightly, a brief moment of searching, "Hmm... Yes. She's still one of us. And she still comes to see me, as a newborn..."
"Most likely to damn us for her fate."
"Edward," Esme chastised, I'd wager it would be to be with you moreso than damnation. It's not as if she wasn't willing-"
"I will NOT take her life from her, nor will I allow anyone else to. Bella is human, and shall be human until she meets her end. How many times has Rosalie spent days in rages or sorrow, mourning the loss of her humanity?"
Carlisle's face clouded over, reminded of his persistent regrets regarding Rosalie, "But Edward, Rosalie did not ask me to save her. Bella asked to become one of us. There is a vast difference. You cannot deny that you wish to spend your life with her by your side -"
"She deserves better than a monster," Edward interjected, his brow furrowed in stubborn determination.
"- And you cannot tell me that the last two months, you have been living, truly living. You are worrying everyone, and shutting all of us out in your torment is the precise opposite of what you need right now, now that your soul mate is lost, be it of your own choice or not."
"All that matters is what is best for Bella and her safety. I do not matter. I have never once argued or complained as we have moved about, nor have I ever judged anyone else for their personal demons, if you pardon the term. I refuse to be judged now."

Edward stormed out of the room, fists clenched, jaw set, his impossibly quick stride carrying him out the back door into the several acres of land the Cullens had secured that bordered on a forested area filled with deer. Esme's face tightened, her hands reaching for Carlisle, and he embraced her tightly.

"Too much, I wager."
"Perhaps," Esme replied quietly, "Alice? Would you?"
"Of course," Alice replied, her tiny feet treading lightly as she pursued Edward through the ornate back entryway into the dusk-covered fields.

Edward, please wait. You're thirsty and irritable. They mean well.

A mile ahead, her sharpened sense of hearing detected his stride slowing to a halt. Thank you. I need you, Edward. Please don't abandon me right now.

He was shaking slightly when she came up behind him, her tiny body towered over by his sturdy, tall form. With a slight bounce she tousled his hair gently, a teasing gesture he only permitted from her without complaint. He sighed, gazing out into the woods.

"I disappoint them. Just as I have disappointed her."
Alice shook her head, taking his hand, "No. They just want your happiness Edward. We all do. Just as I am certain that the pain you suffer now would suffocate you if you were still alive and dependent upon the air, the change in you since leaving Forks has been excruciating for us to witness. Rosalie aside, and honestly, I don't ever fully understand her, we were all in your corner, willing your happiness to be eternal. Seeing you this way is devastating."

They walked, silently, near-gliding from the speed and grace of their kind. The forest welcomed them, leaves rustling as if to beckon them forth into its maze of wildlife and greenery. Alice guided Edward towards the stream, where she knew of a family of deer that would be lapping at the rippling waters at this time of night.

"I don't mean to cause them grief, Alice. I never wanted to cause her any, either. I am apparently incapable of decency and kindness to those I love."
"Shh. Don't be absurd. It's too human a quality for you at this age," Alice mumbled wryly.
"If I could find Victoria..."
"You would still be miserable about losing Bella. I've told you this before, Edward: she is yours, and you are his. This distance, this... exile, it won't do a lick of good. You're fooling yourself."
"Do you see that in your visions?" Edward muttered.
"I see her as a happy vampire, at roughly the age she is now -"
"Victoria."
"As if she'd exact revenge by turning Bella. Edward, please be serious. It is still in the realm of possibility."
"I will not end her life, Alice."
"Maybe I will, then."
"Alice..."

His tone was a firm warning, and she let the subject drop. Her mind returned to the video, playing it back, frame by frame. There had to be something she could utilize to determine the truth of her origins. She refused to believe that fate had not deposited the video into her lap without cause, just as she had been meant to find Jasper and the Cullen family. Her first few days of being a vampire were a whirlwind of confusion and desperate survival. The clearest memory she could grasp onto was hiding out in a secluded area outside Columbus, Ohio. She'd possessed no identification, no clothes save the dress on her back, no items of possible significance. She'd simply known herself to be 'Alice'. Half of her wished James had not perished so quickly, without a chance to demand answers of him. But then, her pleading face flickered through her mind again, and that small, porcelain girl, bleeding and in agony, called her name, and she remembered how satisfying it was to know of how many pieces Jasper and Emmett had torn him into.

Edward suddenly sat down upon a log, clutching his head in his hands, and Alice berated herself inwardly. He'd read her thoughts, seen what she'd seen over a dozen times today. Foolish of you, Alice!

"Oh Edward, I'm so sorry. I went silent and of course you grew curious..."
"That's exactly why I cannot let myself be with her, no matter how much it devastates me, no matter how every fiber of my being aches without her at my side."
"That was hardly your fault, Edward. But it does bring me to what I mentioned earlier..."
Edward nodded, "James. He seemed genuine about his story."
Alice settled onto the log beside him, "Indeed. I've watched that recording a hundred times now and the veracity of his speech leads me to believe I'm right in pursuing the link. The trouble is, I'm not entirely certain where to start. The first few days were a mess of confusion. I'd followed the water, stuck close to it as long as possible, trying to understand what I was. I know where I ended up: Columbus, Ohio. I diverted there after abandoning the water near Cincinnati. It was there I had my first vision of Jasper, which was the first time as a vampire that I felt like things would turn out well eventually. It was one hope that I could cling to. Over time, the lack of memory didn't matter to me much; I decided that maybe there was good reason for me not to recall my life, and even if I'd wanted to, there was very little I could do about the situation. But now..."
"Now you have a starting point. Now, there is something to do."
Alice plucked a blade of grass from the earth and ran it along her left palm absently, "Maybe. But Jasper would rather I forget it, let it go. The romantic fool is just distressed that I'm not bubbling over with joy."
"Or maybe he knows from experience that forgetting one's past isn't necessarily a bad thing." Edward offered.

Alice frowned, rising to her feet, silently cursing Edward's insight. At the same time, how much worse could the truth possibly be at this point? She was locked away in an asylum - likely deemed 'crazy' for her visions, cared for by a vampire who attempted to protect her from James' murderous intent, only to be killed himself, leaving her alone and unable to understand what she had become, or why. And the odds that she would find the right asylum, let alone determine her identity as a human... What could it hurt to try?

"Not succeeding may hurt more than any answer you'd find, Alice," Edward answered aloud.

Don't project your failure at locating Victoria - which isn't even the true source of your complete misery - onto me. Alice headed swiftly towards the riverside, her thirst stinging the back of her throat. She'd let this go far too long, now; even a human sounded delicious at the moment, and that sort of craving very seldom bothered her now. Edward swiftly caught up, silent, understanding that the hunt would come before any further discussion.

After sating themselves with a pair of bucks and an aging doe, the pair sat alongside the water, skipping stones in friendly competition, speaking of nothing at first. Twilight had descended upon them, an animal stalking weary prey, and triggering a disturbing state of melancholy in Edward. Alice was at a loss as to how to either convince him that leaving Forks was a terrible idea that would accomplish nothing save heartache for both he and Bella, or to ease his emotional torment and help him move forward as he desired. She knew from her bond with Jasper that such connections simply were, and there was no fighting against their intensity. If she'd believed for one minute that she were capable of turning Bella without inadvertently killing the poor girl, she would be on the road to Forks the next day.

And what to do about Jasper? How could she explain that in spite of the deep love she felt for him, how much she trusted him with her entire being, that she wanted to pursue this alone? She felt incredibly guilty for the confusion she was causing him, especially now, given his lingering sense of guilt over Bella and, in turn, possibly driving Edward to a decision that had created a domino effect of unhappiness for the entire Cullen family. He'd actually dared to imagine leaving them all - Alice included - the night of the party; Alice had seen him wandering into Mexico alone, his face twisted in a silent scream of self-loathing. The thought of a life without Jasper had terrified her like nothing else. It was the same terror she'd seen in Edward's eyes as he'd cradled Bella in the dance studio, willing her to be alive. It was how she knew that they were simply meant to be as one, for eternity.

"The nights feel exponentially longer," Edward whispered.
"I know," Alice murmured.
"If you were to try and learn... If you were to choose a place to begin..."
Alice's eye widened, "You're considering helping me?"
"Helping us both," he corrected.

Alice looked at him askance as he rose and began meandering through the forest towards the family house. She followed close behind, her body twitching with nervous hope.

"I need distraction. You need closure. I need help with Victoria. If Bella taught me anything about myself, it is that without my ability to read minds, I am not precisely the most intuitive one in the room. Perhaps, if you were with me to catch her scent, you could catch a glimpse of her plans, or spot a possibility I have overlooked. That will be the story we tell as we depart. However, along the way, if you have a suggestion as to where to start..."
Alice nodded furiously, "My only notion is to return to Cincinnati and work my way south along the water, attempt to determine what may or may not be familiar, dig into the asylums along the way. Maybe something will jump out at me."
"My last concrete lead on Victoria was near Chicago. From there, it seemed to split into two, one heading east and the other headed south. I came home this way, hoping that east would work out. It didn't. Perhaps she doubled back; I suppose she picked up survival skills from her time with James."
Alice mulled this over, "We could start in Chicago. Cincy isn't fair away from there..."
Edward stopped abruptly, taking hold of Alice's shoulders and staring into her deep eyes, studying her face, "Are you certain you should do this alone?"

Alice nodded, her answer silently affirmed in her thoughts: It's something I must do.

"Very well, then. You're on your own with Jasper, though."
Alice threw her arms around Edward, child-like in her enthusiasm, "I'll find a way to convince him, somehow."
Edward chuckled, "I think if he were around right now, I'd have to make a wager with Emmett on this one..."
Alice laughed, heading swiftly towards the house, "Edward, haven't you learned by now? You never bet against Alice."
Edward smiled, "Who said I would?"