AN: why, hello there, world. how has your day been? mine's been perfectly lovely, thank you for asking. i got my first acceptance letter today and i'm super excited. so excited that i put off all my homework to write this! lol. so without farther ado, here you go:


Last time: Suddenly, Carlisle burst through the door, his eyes dark. "We have a problem."


Carlisle took two steps into the house, then stopped, swaying. Groaning, he put a hand to his forehead, and fell motionless to the floor. Instantly, Arabelle was at his side, glowing brightly. "Stay back!" she ordered, clearly lucid again. "Except for you, Alice. This will make your visions return instantly. It will feel a bit… different, though. I'd been hoping to do this gradually." Warily, Alice came to take her place beside Arabelle. Closing her eyes, Arabelle breathed deeply, her glow flaring as bright as the sun. The air around her shimmered and sparkled as she laid her hands on Carlisle's chest.

Arabelle sang a wordless melody as she worked, clear, high notes reverberating in the air. After nearly a minute, something black and shapeless emerged from Carlisle's chest. The room was instantaneously filled with dread and fear; Alice felt herself cringe and shy away from the amorphous evil. Arabelle's glow flared impossibly brighter, and her eyes were clear and angry. Distantly, Alice heard herself cry out, but she felt removed from everything, watching the scene play out from outside herself. From the end of a long tunnel, she watched Jasper lunge for her, only to be thrown back by an invisible force.

The darkness swirled and grew, but Arabelle stood firm. Eventually, it started to fizzle, and with a loud pop it disappeared. Alice gasped in shock as she was returned to her own body. She felt strangely weightless, and had a strange sense of everything around her. Without looking, she knew that Carlisle had just opened his eyes, and that he was feeling much better but oddly weak. She turned to Arabelle. "What did you do?" She gasped again at the sound of her own voice; it had a new ring to it, curiously enticing and almost compelling. Arabelle looked grim. "You'll see more than just me, now; your visions will be open to anyone and anything. You will have to work hard to control them." She sighed. "I didn't mean to change you quite so much. At least you still look mostly the same."

"Mostly?" Alice questioned. "Look at yourself." Alice obeyed, and was shocked to see a faint glimmer covering her skin. "Humans won't notice it. Carlisle has it, too. His almost-gift is stronger, now, just as your gift is. Carlisle, you will be able to resist much. You will need to feed much less than your family." Unable to hold in his questions, Edward burst in. "What happened to you, Carlisle?" Slowly, Carlisle sat up. "I'm not too sure. I was hoping Arabelle could shed some light on the situation. But I can tell you what happened, mostly. I was driving home, when the car stalled and came to a stop. I got out to see what was wrong, and when I stepped out of the car, I felt as sense of- wrongness. Evil. Suddenly, I heard a child's scream from the forest, and I ran towards the source.

"When I got there, there were at least twenty men surrounding the body of a young girl- four or five years old at the most. I took a step forward, but before I could do anything they were all over me. Every time one touched my skin, it screamed and I could hear its skin burning, but that didn't stop them from attacking. I threw them off easily, but injuries did little to stop them- they kept coming even without heads or with broken limbs. Eventually, most of them stopped moving, but I don't think they were dead. The child was beyond saving, so I left her there and ran back to the house. But when I got here, I felt a sudden… darkness. Pain. And the next thing I remember is opening my eyes."

Arabelle's expression darkened. "I know what's happened here. Rah'gied. They're coming for me. And for you, too, because you smell like me." She closed her eyes, bending over in pain. A slight whimper escaped her lips. "I don't have time to explain. They'll be here soon, following your trail. I'll take them out, but I can't last long. I won't be myself. So stay back, because you don't want to be hurt. Once they're dealt with, run. Alice, you or Carlisle take me. If I'm flaring, I'm less likely to change you than any of the others." She screwed her eyes shut, obviously fighting off pain. "I'm sorry for this, but this was where I was led. Don't ask me why I'm here because I don't know. And you can't let them get me, because I can't die until after my task is completed."

She cried out, and suddenly her eyes opened. A pleasant smile appeared on her face, her eyes blank. "Why, hello, little ones." She turned to Carlisle. "You look tired, dearest." Arabelle smiled vacantly and waved her arm. A warm breeze wrapped around Carlisle, and he felt his strength return as the wind moved to circle around the room. Music filled the room, coming from no discernable source. Arabelle started to dance, her movements fluid and graceful. She pirouetted and leaped, her own one-person ballet. But her recital was cut short by the door being blasted open, sending smoking pieces of wood into the room.

Arabelle whirled around, fire in her eyes. "You!" she accused, her voice smoldering with anger. "You killed Ihvon. Your kind!" The sky overhead churned and roiled, black clouds rushing in. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as Arabelle advanced towards the three men at the door. The men were dressed in all black, with a few bold strokes of red. Their hands were covered in ash, and the floorboards under their feet were literally warping and rotting fast enough to see. The one in front let out a gleeful cackle. "That honor is all Terrence's, I'm afraid. But I'm about to move a step up when I bring you back to Ter'sed. Men! I've found little Princess Arabelle, still crying and whining about her stupid Companion."

Arabelle growled and lunged for the doorway, throwing the men outside. The Cullens crowded around the window, entranced as she fought, moving through the Rah'gied like a hurricane through a city. "Shouldn't we help her?" Emmett asked, raring for a fight. Alice shook her head. "No. If we go out there, she'll attack us too. I've already seen it. She can't differentiate between friends and enemies right now."

A loud noise made Esme jump, and she peered out the window to see scorched ground and few of the Rah'gied left. "Don't do well with lightning, do you?" Arabelle taunted, glowing so brightly it hurt Esme's eyes. She laughed as she rammed through the four remaining men, throwing them right and left. Abruptly, her laughter cut off. "I hate you!" she screamed, shaking. "I hate you!" The light shined out of her, burning the men until they disappeared, evaporating into clouds of darkness.

Spent, Arabelle fell unconscious to the ground. Immediately, the Cullen family ran outside to her, except for Alice. Consumed by a vision, Alice stood frozen until Jasper came back for her. Snapping out of it, she ran outside. "Carlisle! We have to leave, now. Everyone, get anything you absolutely cannot live without. Edward, you can't take the piano. They'll ignore the house if we're gone, so it should be fine. Everyone needs to take their own individual vehicles, because we might have to split up. Hurry!"

She paused, her eyes glazing over. "And we need Carlisle's entire library. Something in it is going to help us. Quickly, we don't have much time!" Everyone ran into the house, grabbing treasured possessions and then scrambling to collect all of Carlisle's books and manuscripts. Alice stayed behind with Arabelle, who was lying motionless on the ground, her golden hair spread messily around her.

Sighing, Alice picked Arabelle up, carrying her to the car. Jasper would get the things she needed; they would be coming back, she saw, so she wasn't too worried about it. Letting out a low moan, Arabelle shifted slightly in Alice's arms. "No…" she murmured, shaking her head ever so slightly. "Ihvon…" She whimpered, her brows creasing. "Ihvon?" Gently, Alice set her in the car, and she began to toss and turn. "I can't, don't you understand?" Thrashing violently, she shook her head back and forth, screaming. "I can't and I won't! Not ever! No!"

The symbol on her wrist pulsed wildly as she twisted and shook, burning an intense gold before Arabelle sat up, gasping loudly. "I can't," she panted, her eyes wide. "I won't."

"Won't what?" questioned Alice, curious. Arabelle shook her head slowly, her eyes lifeless. "I can't. I was right, see? I can't live without him. I just can't." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I was right. He shouldn't have died for me. He shouldn't have. He didn't have to. And now we're both dead, because how can I live without my soul?" Arabelle cradled her head in her hands. "What was he thinking?" she moaned. "How could he?"

She turned to Alice. "Don't let him," she pleaded. "Please, don't let him." Alice paused, unsure what to say; Arabelle had apparently slipped back into her confused, mostly-mad state. She was spared from answering by Jasper opening the door and sliding into the driver's seat, dropping a large pile of books in the passenger seat. Alice reached for him, and was rewarded by his hand slipping into hers as he stared deeply into her eyes. She smiled, and he kissed her hand, then turned to face forward, backing the car out of the garage.


Edward laid a hand on Bella's arm. "No way are we splitting up. You're taking the Vanquish with me. Can you go start the car? I need to talk to Carlisle about something." She nodded and instantly headed for the car, easily catching the keys that Edward tossed at her. He turned to Carlisle, who was waiting for Edward's input. "There's a lot you've missed. Today… Today was strange, to say the least. Arabelle is absolutely crazy, for one thing. Not that you haven't figured that out. But she also has this… strange control over the weather. Alice seemed to think it went along with her moods. And she really does drink sunshine and eat flowers, which is odd all in itself.

"And Alice and Jasper learned a little more about her past today from her ramblings. I'll fill you in when we get to wherever we're headed- Alice is leading the way with her visions. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Glancing around, Edward saw Alice's Porsche idling in the driveway, and lowered his voice so that Carlisle could barely hear it. "There's something… off about Arabelle. I mean, why did we just take her in without even thinking about it? We all wonder about her past, but no one even considers that she could be something bad. I find myself completely incapable of regarding her with even the slightest suspicion.

"I mean, I'm telling you this, but I don't believe it. I can't even consider the possibility. Even Rosalie is in love with her, and we both know she shouldn't be. I just… I think it's strange that we've accepted her so unconditionally. I can't really create a compelling argument for my point, though. I'm…" He trailed off. "I'm not too sure what I'm trying to say here."

Carlisle nodded, understanding. "I was away from her all day, and it seems to me that I think more clearly when I'm not in her presence. I actually had the same thoughts you're trying to have, but I've been thinking about a legend I heard about third or fourth hand when I was staying with the Volturi. I'm not personally familiar with it, but I know it's about a strange race of people who don't actually belong in this world. It's rumored that they are the foundation for human stereotypes of angels. And it makes sense- all white, shimmering skin. All she needs is wings, and I suspect that if she wanted she could have those as well. But if she is, then her intentions are far from evil. She is literally incapable of doing wrong. I believe that what Alice sees helping us is that legend, actually. I've never managed to find any writing on the subject, though, so we'll have to see."

Edward nodded, reassured, then headed for the Vanquish. From Alice's thoughts, they had a long drive ahead of them.


AN: thank you oh so much to those of you who reviewed, and thank you everyone for reading. please review and let me know what you think: comments, concerns, suggestions, whatever! next update= as soon as i decide where they're going! lol. never more than a week, no worries.

:]