[Content Warning: discussion of suicide]
"How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity."
(Augustine, Confessions)
14 September 2027
FORKS, WASHINGTON
16.00
Bella almost literally barreled through the door of her father's house, remembering at the last moment that it was certain to be unlocked. As it was, the top hinge lost two screws as she flung the door wide. She was met with the sight of Charlie, seated, frozen in shock, at the kitchen table. He looked thin, and pale, and very, very worried. He held a small handgun loosely, leaning forward on the table.
"Expecting a burglar?" Bella ran to him, but stopped short of a hug when she realized how frightened he really was.
"Bella — but — how? I only called you yesterday… I didn't want you to come down here… I didn't ask you to come down here, did I?"
Bella shook her head slowly, reminding herself to go through her human gestures. She brushed her hair back from her face, put her hands in the pockets of her jeans, and rocked back on her heels.
"Sunglasses? It's pretty dismal out." Charlie stood up, carefully setting the gun on the table.
"You know, my sensitive eyes…" That was a surprisingly effective excuse. That, or the ultraviolet-light-gets-through-clouds one, but Charlie wasn't a good candidate for that.
They hugged stiffly, Bella careful not to let him get too close to her skin.
"University of Toronto?" he asked, pointing to her navy blue hoodie.
"Yeah, um, I've applied to do a PhD there next fall. English with a focus on Religion in Literature."
"That's great, honey."
They stood in the kitchen in silence for a few minutes, and then, as if by mutual agreement, moved to the living room and sat down. Bella saw that Charlie took his gun with him, trying to hide it from her.
"Sorry I didn't get to speak to you on your birthday, sweetie." Bella grimaced a little. He knew she wasn't a big fan of her big day.
"Happy, um, fortieth." He shook his head. The look on his face said it all. Still my little girl. As beautiful as on her wedding day. He'd said that, or something like it, so many times everyone had lost count. But seeing that look still made Bella smile.
"You know, they say life begins at forty," Bella said. It was the same joke she'd made ten years ago, when Charlie had complimented how well she looked. He'd stopped trying to understand how she did it long ago, Bella believed, but it was still awkward.
"So," Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his recliner. He picked up the TV remote, and then put it down, thinking better of it. "Why'd you come all the way down here? Just 'cause you missed my call?"
"You sounded really upset on the phone. Alice said — "
"Alice? I didn't talk to Alice. Did I?"
"No, sorry. I meant, I was really worried when I called back and couldn't reach you. I called here a bunch of times, I called at the station, I even called your cell phone three times…"
"You know I never use that thing!"
"Yes, Dad." Bella looked, really looked, at Charlie. She realized he was sweating, though it was cool in the house. Something was seriously wrong, she knew. Her instincts — and Alice's — hadn't been off. She fake-fidgeted for a moment before continuing.
"Anyway, I was freaking out. Alice offered to fly my down in the Cullens' Cessna and — "
"The Cullens have a plane? Alice can fly a plane?"
Bella laughed, trying to keep it light. "Yes, believe it or not."
"Is she here?" Charlie looked around, as if Alice could have been hidden somewhere in the room.
"No, Dad, she's at the Forks house."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a long minute. "So…" Bella leaned forward.
"Bells, I…" Suddenly Charlie was crying; huge, fat tears were sliding down his face. To Bella it was a waterfall. She was pretty sure she had never seen her father cry. He'd gotten a little misty-eyed at her wedding, but nothing like this. Without thinking, she shot off the sofa and embraced him in his chair. He looked up in surprise, and she realized she had just moved too fast and was probably squeezing too tight.
"Bella, what…" She relaxed slightly, but didn't move from her position, holding him as he regained control of himself.
"I'm so sorry, Bells. I don't know what came over me." Bella released him and settled on the arm of the sofa, her hand resting on her father's forearm.
"Dad, something is obviously really wrong. Please tell me."
Charlie shook his head, over and over.
"I was going to tell you on the phone. It would be so much easier that way."
"Well, you're going to have to do it the hard way. I'm not going to leave until I know what's going on."
"I don't want you to leave, honey." Charlier cleared his throat and scooted forward in the recliner.
"Oh, God, I…" He took a deep breath. "Bella, honey, I've got cancer. A brain tumor."
Bella was stunned. She should have known, from the way Alice had acted… but she'd been too focused on getting to Forks to really consider her words.
"You need to go see your father, Bella," she'd said. "He needs to see you, I think. It's really important. We'll fly out tonight." She'd not even tried to get Alice to give her more details. Somehow she'd known that Alice wouldn't tell her. Not for something like this.
"Oh my God, Dad. I'm so sorry…" is all she managed to say. He smiled weakly at her, and shook his head again.
"The thing is…" Charlie trailed off, looking at the floor. "The tumor, it's.. It's inoperable. If they try to take it out, it'll kill me."
Bella's eyes went wide. She was having trouble accepting what Charlie was saying. She kept running through different scenarios in her head, ways that this could be not happening…
"Have you gotten a second opinion? Maybe… you should call Carlisle, he knows lots of great doctors…"
"I actually talked to Carlisle already, sweetie. He agreed with the doctor here. There's nothing they can do." Charlie had talked to Carlisle? Carlisle had never said anything. And Edward would surely have said something to her if he'd overheard anything in Carlisle's thoughts. There was no way Carlisle would hide something like this from her! What was he trying to do? He wouldn't let something happen to Charlie, he wouldn't…
"You there, Bells?" She realized she'd zoned out for second there. But she couldn't let it go, the idea that Carlisle had tried to prevent her from knowing about Charlie's illness.
"Sorry, Dad. I'm just… struggling to absorb the news. And wondering why Carlisle didn't say anything to me."
"I asked him not to tell you." What?
"Why?"
"Well, um, there's still something else. The tumor, where it is. It's situated so that, when it grows, long before it'll kill me, it'll make me… not me. It'll make me forget everything, everyone. I'll have to be nursed, I'll be a vegetable."
Oh no. No, no, no. Bella wouldn't let this happen. There had to be something…
"What does Sue think?" she suddenly asked, only to realize that there was no evidence of her step-mother, or as good as, anywhere she could see.
"Sue's… she's gone, honey. She left when… when she found out what I was going to do."
"What you were going to do?" All at once Bella understood. The way Charlie had been holding the gun when she came in… it wasn't fear. It was resolution, anticipation, something like that.
"No! Dad, no. No, no, no! You can't do that, I won't… no. Tell me I'm wrong, what I'm thinking you're saying here." She stood up, too fast again, reaching over and grabbed her father by the shoulders. He winced, and she relaxed slightly, but didn't move from her position. Her sunglasses slid down her nose as she shook him gently.
"I'm sorry, Bells. I can't… you don't want that for me, do you? A damn vegetable! I know it's the easy way out, but... That's Charlie Swan in a nutshell, right?"
He looked up, into her eyes, and gasped in shock.
"Bella, what… your eyes! Your eyes are gold!"
Oh my god, not this, too, not now. Not now. Bella pushed her sunglasses up, but Charlie reached up, so humanly slow, and took them off. He touched her cheek then. Bella felt the impossible warmth of his fingertips and leaned into them, closing her eyes.
"This is the only thing I want now. Bella, please, tell me what this is. Why are you like this? I know you've told me I shouldn't ask, but it doesn't matter now, does it? Please, just tell me. Do this for me."
Bella exhaled unnecessarily and sat back down on the sofa. She seemed to find it difficult to look at Charlie all of a sudden. It wouldn't matter if she told him now… She gathered all the courage she could find and turned to him, taking his burning hand in her cold one. He gulped, and his heartbeat start to race.
"I'm a vampire."
Charlie stared at her golden eyes, squeezed her stone-hard, ice-cold hand, and said nothing.
"We're all vampires. The Cullens, I mean."
Still nothing. Then:
"No. Vampires aren't real, honey."
"Come on, Dad. Didn't you ever suspect? I mean, you know Jacob's a werewolf. How much of a stretch is it? And we're all cold. Our skin is hard. We don't go out in the sun. We never age, we never eat — "
"Do you drink — blood?" Charlie gasped, and Bella suddenly realized he did know, that he just hadn't known that he knew.
"Only animal blood."
"Is Nessie a vampire?"
"No." It was probably best not to go into too many details there. "But she is — special."
Charlie nodded, as if he accepted everything he'd just been told like it was the evening news bulletin. His eyes were glassy.
"And you're… immortal."
"Yes."
That syllable hung in the air for a long time. Then Charlie got up, with effort, and came to sit next to Bella on the sofa. He wrapped her in a hug, the likes of which she had never received from him. He began to cry again, more gently this time, until the shoulder of her hoodie was soaked.
"It's okay, then. It's okay. You'll always be okay," he repeated into her shoulder, over and over again.
After a few minutes, Bella took her father's hands. "Daddy?"
He looked up, his face splotched with red, his mustache wet.
"Please talk to me."
"I'm just so happy you told me. I understand now. I'm just so glad." Bella was confused by this reaction.
"Why are you happy that I'm a vampire, Dad? I've got to say, you're taking this kinda better than I thought."
"Because… I can be happy knowing my beautiful little girl won't need me. You'll always be okay, always be so strong and beautiful, I don't have to worry that I'm leaving you without — "
Bella screamed then, an inhuman sound, and threw herself away from her father on the sofa.
"No! No, no, no no no no. Don't — "
Charlie was half-lying down where Bella had nearly thrown him. She ran to him them, but saw his face was calm.
"It doesn't matter, Bells. This is for the best, don't you see that? What do you need to worry about me for? What did I ever do for you? I didn't even notice you were marrying a vampire!"
They both laughed at that, but Bella was not deceived. He was trying to distract her. Well, two could play at that game. She lifted her father up, surprising him by taking him a foot off the floor in her hug. She saw he was smiling. Then she grabbed the gun from where he had tucked it in the back of his jeans.
She took the gun and held it in her left hand. With an almost invisible motion, she pulverized it, bullets and all. Charlie stood, dumbfounded.
"I'm not going to let you do this, Dad." He just continued to stare at the small pile of gun dust on the floor. And then he sighed.
"Just because you… destroyed my gun doesn't mean I can't do this, Bells. I'll find a way. I don't want to lose myself. I don't want to forget you, and Sue, and Billy, and fishing, and your mother at eighteen, and holding you in my arms for the first time, and so proud, seeing you graduate from high school, and college, and meeting my beautiful granddaughter, and her ridiculous wolf of a husband, and seeing how wonderful and happy your life is. I don't want to lose all that. I don't want to become a burden that you wish was gone. I'd rather be gone than any of that."
Bella was sure that was the longest speech her father had ever made. And everything was suddenly clear to her.
"But don't you see, Dad? You don't have to lose all that, you don't have to… go. The doctors might not be able to do anything, but I can!"
"What?" Charlie lifted his brown eyes to her gold ones, which were now wide with determination.
"I can fix this, Dad, I can make this go away. Right now."
"What?"
The phone started to ring in the kitchen. Bella ignored it. Charlie didn't seem to hear it. It kept ringing.
"I can fix this." Bella stepped over to her father. She took his left arm and pushed up his shirt cuff. Should she ask him if he wanted this? He would say no, she knew, regardless of what he wanted.
"No, you can't — it's not true!" He said. "That's impossible. This is all so impossible. There's no way. The doctors said there was no way. Carlisle said there was no way, and he — you said…"
"It's not impossible. Let me fix this." Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring. She knew she had limited time now. They would give up trying to reach her in a minute, two at most.
She stared at Charlie's thin, bare wrist beneath her fingers. His pulsed thrummed. She could visualize his blood moving sluggishly through the veins there.
"You don't want — "
"Stop, Dad. Let me fix this." She looked into his eyes. His heart pounded. He was scared.
He didn't say no.
She closed her eyes and bit.
Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring. Her cell phone started to ring now, a mechanical beeping tone.
At first, all she registered was the overwhelming flavor of it. It was nothing like anything she had ever tasted before. Bear, mountain lion, killer whale, all paled in comparison. She had never experienced anything like this…
Charlie moaned, a choking sound.
She pulled back. Immediately her throat burned, in a way it hadn't since she had first woken up. Don't stop, there's so much more left, take it…
Charlie collapsed to the floor. The last drops, that still lingered in her mouth, turned to ash. She realized what she needed to do now, the process that was beginning. Carefully, gently, she licked the wound, closing it. She picked up Charlie, moaning even louder now, his eyes wide, wildly swinging about the room, unseeing, uncomprehending. She placed him carefully on the sofa and covered him with a blanket. He screamed and his eyes slammed shut.
She wouldn't have to wait long now. The phones had stopped ringing.
She picked up her father's hand, which would now have a scar to match one of her own, and held it. Would he forgive her? Would they forgive her?
Five minutes later, Alice appeared. She walked straight into the living room and to Bella, who did not move to acknowledge her. Alice simply stood still by Bella's side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We've got to get going, Bella. Carlisle will be here tonight to take care of the details."
"What are we going to do?"
"I've got a jeep rented. We'll have to take him in the car back home. It'll be bumpy, but he won't feel that."
"I know." Charlie screamed again, his legs thrashing. Bella put her head in her hands, kneeling on the floor next to him.
"What have I done, Alice?"
Alice smiled a thin smile. "We always knew this might happen."
"What? I didn't! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought if I told you, it definitely would happen."
"I don't understand."
"You're the only vampire, well, the only one we know of, who successfully kept in touch with a family member after the change. When the time came, it was only natural that you wouldn't be able to let go."
"Let go! Alice, he was going to shoot himself! Because he didn't want to be a burden to me! If I let him do that, that wouldn't be letting go, that would be… no daughter would let that happen."
"I know, sweetie. Like I said, we have a plan in place," Alice was all calm and smiling now, and Bella couldn't help but wonder how much of this was a show for her benefit, and the reality that awaited her at home would be something different.
"We'll take him back to Alaska with us. I see him now as a vampire — he looks so much younger, so strong. He'll enjoy it."
Bella smiled at a thought of Charlie running through the woods at vampire speed.
"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"
"I don't lie to you, Bella, you know that."
"You said there's a plan. What is it?"
"Carlisle's finding a cadaver that can pass for Charlie. We're going to burn down the house. It's an old house. Lots of faulty wiring."
Bella was horrified, and showed it. But she could see it was the best plan. And no one would think that Charlie had killed himself, that way, either.
"Are you okay to drive back, Bella?"
"What? Of course. I'm not leaving Charlie."
"You're sure that the blood…"
"I didn't take too much! I know I didn't!" Alice nodded.
"But you might… have a taste, now."
"No!" Bella shook her head, furiously. "No way! I promise." Alice closed her eyes, as if consulting her vision.
"OK. I think we're good now. Let's get going."
They lifted Charlie, still under the blanket, into the back seat of the Jeep, and drove away. I'll miss this house, Bella thought.
I hope Edward forgives me. Now he's got a father-in-law forever… somehow, instead of making her worry, the thought of Edward's reaction, whatever it might be, filled her with happiness.
"I've got a good feeling about Charlie. Don't worry, you know Edward loves him!" Alice said, as if she was the mind reader.
~*~
15 September 2162
GRAND FORKS
Like every Sunday, Bella and Edward sat on their bed, stark naked, surrounded by board games. Today, it was chess, Monopoly (Old London edition), Go and 3-D Scrabble. Bella nibbled on a pen as she doodled on their case file.
"Check!" Edward called, a ray of sunlight catching his arm and making it shimmer delightfully. They always kept the slats on the windows just a little bit open. Sure, they might have agreed not to venture outside, but they could still enjoy some of the benefits of the Weather Agreement from indoors.
Bella rolled her eyes and moved her knight (Sir Lancelot in this chess set, a medieval English edition) to block Edward's advance.
"So, there's really no doubt that Blife is planning on breeding vamps, is that where we are with this? And Reuben is somehow involved… There's no way it's actually something else, something much less gross and deadly and requiring my father to go there undercover and gather evidence to get an IC warrant…" Bella rambled, reading over the file, as Edward placed a hotel on Mayfair and laid down the word BODACIOUS diagonally across two tiers. He rolled over so that he could see what she was looking at. He encircled her with his arms and legs, biting at her ear and nuzzling her hair as he attempted to focus on the facts they were reviewing.
"Yes. Vampire breeding. It's the only way to make sense of that whole mess. We'll have to take some time to deal with this. At least it doesn't seem like Dominic's the killer. Could be somebody else there. Still a lot of nothing in terms of proof… But I don't see how Dominic thinks they'll get away with this breeding business. No one here knows about — "
Bella pressed her lips to his then, breathing in his heavy scent, luxuriating in it. She would never tire of kissing him like this. If you didn't get bored after 154 years, you were probably good for time and eternity…
"They might have come up with the idea independently," she said against his mouth, "like some other people we know." He grabbed her then, leaping dexterously over the Go board and pulling her onto the floor. He started with tickling, which was always guaranteed to get a reaction, and then moved on to a more fervent exploration of her body. There was some growling. But their games, board and otherwise, were rudely interrupted by the sound of the phone, indicating an international call.
Begrudgingly, Bella got up and hit the answer button on the phone. The line crackled and buzzed until a voice, soft and melodious, came through.
"Mom? Dad?"
Both Bella and Edward were attentive now. Quickly, they shrugged into robes. Even though their daughter couldn't see them, it felt inappropriate to talk to her, for the first time in several years, while naked.
"Ren! Honey! How are you?" Bella called, a little over-loud. But it was best to err on the side of loud with these international lines.
"Hey Mom. I'm OK. Good to hear you, I guess you're finally back home now! Is Dad there?"
"Hi Nessie!" Edward called as he walked back into the living room. Bella shot him a look. An under-appreciated aspect of eternal life was that petty arguments could go on for centuries.
They heard a laugh over the crackling line. "I swear I can hear Mom's glare over this terrible line," said Ren.
"Where are you, Ren?" Bella asked, "It's been a long time since we've heard from you by phone. Have they got the lines up in Bahia finally?"
"Um, no, actually. Still being delayed for unspecific reasons. I'm in Laredo right now."
"Mexico?" Bella and Edward looked at each other in genuine surprise. Why would Ren be in Mexico? Her job, teaching reading and math to human children in Brazil, didn't normally entail a lot of travel. And that was how everyone liked it. It was safe and low-profile.
"I'm just passing through. I'm on my way to GF to visit you guys!"
Bella and Edward burst into identical smiles, before several identical concerns clouded their faces.
"That's really great, honey," Bella said, "but you know Jacob's here, right? He said — "
"Yes, that's another reason I'm coming. He and I have a lot to talk about. And I don't think it should be done over a crappy phone line." As if in answer, there was static for thirty or so seconds before they could hear Ren again.
"Ugh, sorry about that. Someone was using the next phone over. Why can't the governments fix this?"
"Good question, Nessie," Edward said. He was angry about how much of his daughter's life he had missed because of the seemingly endless delays in telecommunications improvements, but using said devices to complain was not likely to help. "Have you talked to Jacob about coming up here?"
"No, I don't want him to know right away. I'm going to need some time before I see him. Do you guys mind me crashing with you? I'm sure Charlie would let me stay if — "
"Of course you can stay with us! What kind of parents do you take us for?" Bella asked.
"Horny teenage ones!" Ren said, with a knowing laugh. Bella looked somewhat stricken. It had been difficult to handle disciplining Ren at the best of times, but the fact that her parents looked to be the same age as her only added to the trouble.
"We'll behave!" Edward said sternly. "But you should know something else."
"What's up? I know you've got some new case, Charlie told me."
"You talked to him already?"
"Oh no, just an email." Why didn't Charlie say anything? Bella asked Edward in her mind. Edward shrugged. When it came to his granddaughter, Charlie could be a bit possessive. He'd been a better parent to her, Edward thought sometimes, than they had. Both before and after his change. Bella was pouting a bit now, though, and Edward went to soothe her, gently rubbing her shoulders. He continued talking to Ren, the phone now emitting some sort of guttural hissing noise.
"It's not about the case. Well, it might be, but not directly. Probably." Edward shook his head. Even when he wasn't there, Reuben managed to make him sound foolish.
"Well that clears that up. Thanks Dad!"
"Er, sorry. It's just — we ran into Reuben yesterday."
There was a long silence. "Ren? You there?" Bella called.
"Yes, I'm here. I'm just a bit shocked. I thought he was in Europe."
"So did we. But he's here, and he's definitely up to something."
"Well, that's good to know, I guess." They could feel the shudder across the continent.
"Do you have transport?" Bella asked. It was still very dangerous for anyone with a heartbeat between the US-Mexico border and GF, unless you could afford to fly.
"Mom! Of course. I've hired a Reloc van with guards and everything. I'm not stupid."
Bella couldn't help herself. Just hearing Ren's voice was so wonderful, after over three years. She felt the urge to cry, though of course no tears fell.
"I know, Ren. When do you think you'll be here? We can pick you up at the limits if you want."
"I'm not sure. The driver said three to five days was standard. But I'd say closer to five days is more likely. If we have to fight — "
"What?" Edward leaned over so that he was almost shouting on top of the phone.
"I've had a few encounters with vamps on my way here. Don't worry, Dad! I handled it. But I think there is a chance I'm being followed."
Edward scowled and began to pace the room, running his hands through his hair. Bella was a bit more pragmatic. But she needed to make sure of something.
"Ren, honey. Listen to me. Don't let the Relocs take you through Louisiana, okay? I mean, I doubt they will. The roads aren't good. But even if they insist, don't let them. It's really important, okay?"
Ren said something unintelligible and then there was crackling. Finally, she came back on.
"Got it, Mom. No Louisiana. Listen — I think I should go. There's a line forming for the phones here. I'll see you soon. I'll try to call once I'm closer."
"OK, Ren. Be safe, honey."
"Bye, Mom. Can't wait to see you. We have so much to catch up on!"
"See you soon, Nessie!" Edward called, still pacing.
"Bye, Dad. Try not to pull your hair out worrying about me!" Click. And she was gone.
Neither Bella nor Edward could think of what to say for a while. Their excitement at the prospect of seeing their daughter was palpable. It had been so long since they'd been in the same country, much less in the same house. But they couldn't help but worry — not just for her safety, either. On some level, they knew that Ren could handle almost any difficult situation. And though she may not have been as invulnerable as they were, her fighting skills were extremely good. But vampires, as a rule, couldn't help but assume that any non-vampire was constantly in danger of death. When it was their own daughter, this feeling was hard to control. Add to that their familial concerns, and the uncertainty they both felt over the status of the relationship between Nessie and Jacob, and they just didn't know what to think.
Regardless, they didn't have much time to settle on any opinion. Not five minutes after Nessie had hung up, the international tone rang out again. Two international calls in one day? That was unprecedented. It could be Ren calling again, but from they way she had sounded, that was unlikely. In any case, with minor trepidation, Bella hit the answer button once more.
If possible, this connection was even worse than the one from Laredo. There was buzzing and clicking, and several snippets of conversation in different languages, before familiar high-pitched tones broke through.
"Hello? Edward? Bella?"
"Alice!" Bella stood up in surprise.
"Are you there?"
"We're here!" Edward called. Why was Alice calling now? It could either be very good, or very bad.
"Big brother, sis, I'm so glad I finally found a working phone. It's been ridiculous!"
"Where are you, Alice?" Click click buzzzz.
"I'm not sure what country this is right now. I think Senegal?" A deep bass voice in the background muttered something that sounded like agreement.
"Jasp says it's definitely Senegal now. But anyways, how are my personal favorite red-eyes?"
Bella and Edward both winced. As always, Alice found a way to make uncomfortable things simultaneously more uncomfortable, but also normal. She had never been one for moral debates and had mostly stayed out of the family dramas of the past few decades, but she had nevertheless made her choices, which took her far away from Edward and Bella. Sometimes, Bella had wondered if she would ever speak to, much less see Alice again. But, of course, here she was, calling them up at home like that was her completely typical Sunday routine.
"We're good, Alice. Pretty busy right now. We've been working on a case — "
"I know all about that, sillies!"
They waited. "Anything to share with us, Alice?" Edward sounded testy. He'd struggled to understand Alice's actions more than Bella, who had realized long ago that trying to find rational explanations for her was pointless.
"Nothing about the case! I can't see much of anything in GF. I assume your son-in-law might have something to do with that. That's usually the reason…" That was a bit of a surprise. How far away could the werewolf be and still interfere?
"I saw Nessie for the first time ever, so I assume that she and Jacob aren't together — physically at least — right now?"
"That's right…" Bella was thoroughly confused now.
"Nessie's coming to see you, yes?"
They related, as quickly as possible, what Ren had told them.
"How funny! Well, Jasp and I are also on our way to see you."
"What? Why?"
Click click BONK buzzzz.
"Sorry. It's a long story, I'll save most of it until after we've found ourselves a cargo ship and can actually get to you. But let's just say the big cat farm wasn't working out anymore, with Carlisle gone, and so we started on our own way — "
"Carlisle's not with you?" Edward was back to pacing again.
"No, silly. He hasn't tried to get in touch?"
"Why would you think he would do that, dear sister?" Edward was as close to angry at Alice as Bella could remember in that moment.
"I'm sorry, Edward. I just assumed, since he was in the States, that he might…" Carlisle is in the country? That was unsettling. He had sworn, or so Bella had thought, not to return. At least, not to return unless or until the country had drastically reformed itself. And by reformed itself, it had always seemed to Bella, he had meant returned to his own personal vision of paradise: a land where his small band of righteous vampires could mix unseen with humans and face no consequences for their own "life choices", and where other vampires knew not to challenge him on his own turf. And a land where his wealth and property were useful, rather than dangerous. The US was certainly not that country now; if anything, it was less so than when he first left.
"Well, he has definitely not gotten in touch with us, Alice!" Edward groaned loudly.
"I'm not trying to get in a fight with you, Edward. I just wanted to let you know we were on our way to the States, and to see you guys."
"Just paying a social visit, are you?" Edward snarled, his venom spitting.
"No, I'm sorry. It's my visions. They're really confusing right now. I can't see you guys, like I said. I can see Ren right now, but not in the near future. And I'm seeing a lot of things I can't figure out. Lots of very disturbing and violent things. Secret meetings of people in masks. Humans bleeding — not like plaguey, more weaponsy. Buildings blowing up. I'm worried there might be a war. And for some reason, I think Carlisle is worried too. The few visions I've seen of him, he's been involved in — well, I can't be sure. It looks like he's talking to guys in suits, mostly. But I know that I need to put aside my issues with your choices — "
Bella, this time, was the one offended. Her harsh cackle rang out in the room, followed by silence.
"I don't want to get into a debate, ethical or ecological or otherwise, with you, either, Bella! Come on guys! Please be reasonable."
"I'm sorry, Alice. It's just hard to hear you talk so casually about all this stuff now…" Bella was genuinely sorry, but she was still angry. Edward stopped his pacing and went to her, offering her his hand. She took it gratefully, and squeezed.
"I'm not being casual! I'm really scared. I think it's time to put my pride aside for now and admit that I think we're going to need your help."
"Our help? Why?"
"Ever since we left the farm, we've been being attacked by groups of poorly trained newborns — Jasp of course can deal with those blindfolded, but it's an annoyance. Occasionally it's been a more controlled vamp instead, but that's not too bad."
"You're being attacked too? Repeatedly?"
"Yeah, it sounds similar to what Nessie was talking about, just more of them. I know that the vamp population is way high here — last I heard it was 6%, but it's just been crazy. I've wanted to turn back so many times. But I can't shake the feeling I'm going to be needed… and the thing is, the attacks have started involving humans."
Ah. That might explain it. "And you haven't been able to take care of them?"
"I know it would be legal, and I know Jasp probably wants to — " A grumpy noise in the background again confirmed it, "but I just can't do it. I thought you two could maybe give me some advice?"
"You want advice from us on how to kill humans?" Bella's dry laugh was threatening to bubble over into hysterical giggles now.
"Is there a way to fight them that won't kill them, just prevent them from following us? There's grown to be quite a crowd. They don't seem to give up. Even vamps would have, by now, I think. Someone must be giving them orders, and food, but…"
"Anything you do to damage a human might kill them if they are far from help, Alice." It had really come to this! Bella had to admit, it made her a little sad to hear Alice talking this way. Her usual cynicism was hard to summon in such extreme circumstances.
"At this point, I'm willing to take that chance."
Edward sighed and sat down, not sure how to respond. Bella decided she had to help Alice on her terms.
"Break an ankle. One is enough." Edward's eyes went wide, but then he grinned. A very good strategy. Born from experience? He wondered.
"Oh! That sounds like a good plan! Thanks Bella!"
"Any time, Al." How surreal is this? Bella projected.
"OK, I think we've got to go now. We hope to get on a ship at nightfall. We'll be in touch!" BONK click.
Carlisle was in the States somewhere. Alice and Jasper were trying to get there. Ren was at the border. Even Jacob, more problem than solution though he often was, was around. Bella had never allowed herself to imagine that it might be possible for the family to be together again, not after the way it had all ended. Now there was the slightest spark of possibility, and she had to remind herself not to hope. But it sure felt like the Cullens were coming home to roost.