Chapter nine

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the couch in the living room of the main house. The pain came crushing down on me. I had felt the pain through the blackness, but I hadn't known why. Now, I remembered. Thanks to me, Jasper was dead. I wanted to die, too. I would persuade someone, anyone, to kill me. I didn't want this. I didn't want a life without him. As much as I loved my family, I wouldn't live without my soul, my life, my true other half. My decision had been made, and nothing would change it. I was up from the couch in a flash. In a moment, I was standing outside. I would have to escape from my family. They would try to hold me back. With a last glance at the house, I ran forward, as fast as I could.

I was depressed. Why did I have to interfere? I didn't listen to him, and now he was dead. I would never forgive myself. When I was dead, I would surely go to hell. A crime like this was too bad for any other punishment. It was what I deserved. I was yanked out of my thoughts by the sound of someone running behind me. I sped up. The footsteps came closer and closer. I realized it was Edward. I wouldn't stand a chance if I would try to outrun him. I would speak to him. He would understand me. He had almost himself killed because he thought Bella was dead. I dropped to my knees. He slowed down when he reached me.

"Alice! It's not what you think! Jasper isn't dead." He said. The words gave me hope. But it was gone as soon as it came. I had seen Demetri lunge for his throat with my own eyes. He was lying. I don't believe you! I thought towards him.

"Alice, believe me! He is hurt, but he survived. Come and see for yourself. If I'm lying, I won't stop you if you will still want to go away, I know how it feels. Believe me!" He urged. I gave in. It couldn't do any wrong to look, right? A minute later, we stopped in front of our house. Edward led me inside, to mine and Jasper's room. I peeked in. And sure, he was lying there. I was completely overwhelmed with such powerful joy. I was at his side in a flash.

He smiled at me, feeling my emotions. Suddenly, I realized what I hadn't noticed at first, so full of joy. He was lying down, and Edward had said he had been hurt.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" He said. And just the sound of his voice had me all happy again. I quickly controlled myself.

"What happened to you?" I asked him.

"Demetri bit me a few times, and he tore my arm and my leg off. Carlisle put them back on with a bit of venom, but he's had me lying down so everything can heal. But I think I'm allowed to hunt by now. I need some blood, I'm really thirsty." He said, and I noticed the blackness of his eyes. He had suffered so much it hurt to imagine, and was trying to be brave about it. That was really my Jasper.

"Well, come on, but be careful! If it hurts too much we'll go immediately back!" I told him. He took my hand, and we started running through the forest. I didn't allow him anything else than deer, and to be fair, I only drank deer myself, too. As always, I watched him hunt. When he was done, I pulled him with me into the deeper forest. A few hours later, we returned. Carlisle wanted to have a family meeting. As we all sat down around the kitchen table, he began to speak.

"Yesterday, we decimated what was left of the Volturi. This means there are no rulers in our world right now. That can't happen. We have to do something. Has anyone got any ideas?"

"Well, we can invite all your friends." Jin said. I was starting to like the girl. She was shy, but very smart.

"Yes, that might work." Edward said. I hated the fact he was one step ahead, and I wasn't. I hoped Nahuel and Selena would leave soon. "Jin thinks we could invite all our friends and together clean this mess up. We are really powerful, given the numbers and gifts. The South needs to be back under control. If we reorganize our world, we can look later what we can do for any longer amount of time, because I know none of you want to reign, and neither do I."

"I suppose that sounds reasonable." Carlisle said. "Jacob, I don't want the pack to be a part of this. It wouldn't be accepted in our world, and I'm afraid it would cause a lot of extra trouble. You understand?"

"Yes, I do." Jacob answered. "But if I'm not fighting, neither is Renesmee." We all quickly agreed. Renesmee muttered something unintelligible and nodded.

"Sweetie, you understand this is for your own safety, right?"

"Yes momma." I suppressed a giggle when she said momma. I suppose she really was just seven years old.

"Well, I think everybody can collect the same people as last time, you agree?" Carlisle said.

"Well, we don't want Renesmee here without us." Bella said with a glance at Edward, who nodded. "Can't Jin and Joachym's coven search for nomads?"

"Yes, of course we can. We don't want to separate you from Renesmee either." Joachym said.

"Well, let's go!" Emmett boomed. After saying goodbye to our family, we left. It was such a relief to see again! I saw we would succeed, the Irish completely agreed with us and had been thinking about interfering for a while now. I suddenly realized I had completely forgotten about Renata, caught up in today's events.

"Jazz, what happened to Renata?" I asked.

"Edward spoke to her. She promised she wouldn't do anything wrong, and so he let her go. I'm positive she won't do anything." He answered. I agreed with him. We continued to make small talk, until we reached the coast.

When we arrived at the place the Irish coven had been staying, they immediately came running towards us. After we explained everything, Siobhan spoke.

"Ahhh, yes. We've been thinking about that for a while, too. Of course we will come." I flashed a smile at her. They followed us into the water, and we swam towards the coast of Alaska.

When we arrived, most of the others were already there. Just Jin and Joachym's coven was missing. When they arrived, Carlisle spoke to everyone, and explained everything. Everyone agreed with us. The most experienced fighters explained different strategies to us, and Jasper taught the others how to defeat newborn armies. Everyone hunted before we started on our journey to the South.

I realized this would be a long and difficult journey, and the South was just the beginning of what would come. But we were strong, and gifted, and there were a lot of us. There wasn't anything that could stop us. Was there?