Alice looked anxious and stared into an empty space as if trying to see something that wasn't there. I guessed she was having one of her premonitions. She looked concerned and then agreed with her partner. "Yes, there is little time, they are coming." And then she looked at me and nodded. "Lovely to meet you but we have got to spilt."
"Wait!" I started, a little amazed at my sudden bravery and outspokenness, not quite sure where it came from.
Alice and Jasper had already disappeared into the forest in the direction we had come from.
"Yes?" the high soprano voice of Alice sang through the trees.
"Sorry," I stuttered. "I don't want to hold you up, but I have so many questions."
"Well, you are welcome to come with us, but try and keep up." Jasper had returned to the edge of the clearing and motioned for us to follow him. "Come, we can talk on the way."
Fred and I followed them swiftly as we dodged the trees and rocks which made up the vast majority of the forest floor. My mind had gone completely blank. I had so many questions and so little time it seemed, to ask them, that I didn't know where to start.
"Who is coming?" Fred asked, as if aware of the awkwardness of the silence and maybe hoping that his question might start an exchange.
Alice and Jasper shared a quick exchange and Jasper nodded at his partner.
"The Volturi."
This was not what I wanted to hear, I shuddered at the image I had of the evil cloaked clan. I gasped. Surely not again? How could I be so unlucky?
"Oh don't worry Bree, they are not after you, though they may be interested to learn of your existence, however I think you are mature enough now for them not to bother too much." Alice smiled in an effort to comfort me. "Besides, I cannot see them hurting you. They have other priorities."
"So, who are they after then? You?"
"No, not us, not this time." She rolled her eyes as she said this. "Although it is connected, sort of..."
"It's not to do with your child then?" Fred asked. I hadn't wanted to ask this question, a little unsure of how much we were supposed to know about this.
Jasper shot him a quizzical glance.
"We encountered a nomad called Samuel a while back, who told us your story," Fred explained.
This seemed to satisfy them. They looked at each other and nodded.
It still seemed odd to me that we could hold this meaningful conversation and exchange of knowledge whilst travelling at break-neck speed through trees and dense undergrowth. It was one of those things that vampires got used to after a while. We didn't really need to concentrate on obstacles, our instincts guided us.
"The Volturi are after a vampire called Joham, a nomad of sorts, but he stays around these parts mostly." Jasper informed us, as if anticipation our next question. "Have you come across him?" he asked.
"No," we replied almost together, and then I felt the need to add, "Sorry."
"No matter," Jasper said. "I wasn't really expecting you to. He is notoriously difficult to find. In any case it is not him we are looking for, it is his son, Nahuel."
We hadn't heard of him either. Our blank expressions needed no further confirmation that we hadn't a clue who Nahuel was, nor why Alice and jasper would be looking for him.
Alice continued where Jasper had left off. "We have come to warn him, that's all. The Volturi are likely to kill his father. I don't think Nahuel will mind too much about that but he will want to protect his sisters."
"What has his father done then?" Fred asked, "Joham, was it?"
"Yes, Joham." Jasper seemed to speak the name with more than a little contempt. "He is experimenting with our species, trying to create a new race of vampire human hybrids. The Volturi have recently learned about this and want to speak to him, however Alice has seen a vision of something a little more unpleasant that just speaking to him."
Alice made a gesture of a throat being cut and grimaced. "The details are sketchy," she explained. "My visions don't really work terribly well if I don't know the people involved. Of course, I know Aro, he's one of the Volturi elders," she explained, guessing that I wouldn't know who Aro was. "I know what his intentions are, however I don't see what happens to Nahuel's sisters. I cannot see them in my visions."
"Wow!" Fred exclaimed, "Must be really cool to see the future."
Alice seemed very pleased with herself ."It comes in handy," she admitted.
We were still following the trail left by Diego and the three other vampires. We had gone past the starting point of our trail now. "This trail we are following?" I asked, "Do you know who the three other vampires are, the ones that appear to be with my friend?"
"Sure," Alice replied with confidence, "It's the Amazonian coven. I would recognise it anywhere having spent some time in their company very recently. We also spent a good while trying to find them not so long ago, so it is easy for us to recognise their scent."
"Are they friendly?" I asked, hesitantly.
Alice smiled, "Why yes". She seemed to chuckle at my question, and then, by way of explanation she offered, "Most vampires are. However, as newbies you do need to be cautious. Not only are you relatively unknown, but you pose a little bit more of a threat. Most newborns are unpredictable and older vampires are naturally wary, that's all. It's defensive, you see."
Jasper added, "If you stick with us for the moment, until we find the Amazons, you will be fine."
"You are looking for the Amazons?" I asked. I had assumed they were just following the trail with us until they found Nahuel's, expecting them to flit off in another direction any moment.
"Yes, hopefully they will know where Nahuel is," Alice replied.
I had put off asking any more meaningful questions, Alice and Jasper had volunteered so much information already so surely they wouldn't mind answering one of my more burning questions. "This child that Samuel told us about?" I hadn't really asked a question, it was more of a statement really but Alice seemed to pick up the need for more information.
"Renesmee?" She offered.
"I don't know. Samuel didn't tell us. All he said was that he thought you were in trouble for creating a child. He said..."
"What did he say?" Jasper snapped, a little annoyed that someone was obviously spreading stories
"He said he had a theory, only a theory," I didn't want to land Samuel right in it, so I made sure Jasper knew it was only a theory, "Um, that you had created an immortal child."
"Is that what he is telling everyone? Thought as much." Jasper hissed. "It would have better if he had come to witness himself rather than making assumptions."
Fred and I were silent for a while, afraid of angering Jasper, suddenly more aware than ever of the scars that criss-crossed his arms, his neck, his face even.
We came to an abrupt halt. Jasper glanced at Alice, who appeared to be having another one of her premonitions. They seemed to have a brief exchange of unspoken knowledge, Alice shook her head and said "No problem, false alarm. They haven't arrived yet. They have just changed their minds about who to send. It appears Aro isn't coming himself."
"Come on," Jasper encouraged. "I think we are nearly there, the scent is getting stronger."
We set off again in silence. The trail left by the four vampires was indeed getting stronger. I wondered if Diego looked the same. Of course he would. Vampires didn't change their appearance, and although it had been more than six months since I had seen him, it would be as if it was yesterday. I wondered what the Amazonians would be like. How would they receive us? They had presumably accepted Diego. Alice had seen a vision of a reunion with him so I knew he must still be alive.
I still hadn't received a proper answer to my question and I was a little annoyed. Did I dare risk asking again? Would they think I was incredibly nosey? Jasper had inferred that the child was not an immortal; that Samuel had been making assumptions, but they hadn't given us any other explanation either. So what was she then? I presumed it was a she. It was a strange name, one I hadn't heard of before and one which I was now finding it impossible to recall, but it was definitely female. I decided to try a different approach. "So, the Volturi excused you then?" I ventured.
"Yes, eventually," Alice confirmed, "Although it was extremely close. If it hadn't been for Nahuel arriving when he did I think it may have gone horribly wrong." She shuddered and looked anxious. "That's why we feel we owe it to him to warn him now. I saw a vision of the Volturi coming here and I just wanted to make sure he had the opportunity to try and warn his sisters."
I wasn't really getting anywhere with this. Was Alice being deliberately evasive, or was she so preoccupied with her visions that it didn't occur to her that I didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about.
However, I wasn't about to give up. "I'm sorry Alice, I don't mean to seem nosey, but I don't understand. What has Nahuel got to do with your situation, I mean, how did his arrival cause the Volturi to change their minds?"
"I'll explain it all later," she promised, smiling, "All will be revealed. But now, we have arrived!" Her smile broadened and she gestured with her right arm almost fully extended. "Voila!"
Sure enough, just to the left of a small clearing, stood four vampires. Three tall, athletic dark skinned females and Diego. His skin, which I had thought was quite dark, looking pale against the Amazons.
"Bree!" He exclaimed "No, it can't be," and he was suddenly right in front of me, his eyes completely brimmed over with excitement.
We held each other's gaze like that for ages and then he reached forward and pulled me closer to him. The warmth that flowed through my body as he hugged me and caressed my back was almost human, it seemed.
I suddenly realised all eyes were on us. The Amazonians were looking on fondly, clearly Diego had told them about me as one of them spoke. "You must be Bree?"
I nodded. "Hi," I mumbled, struggling to get the word out with the unbelievably strong grasp that Diego held me in.
"I am Zafrina," the same one spoke again, "and this is Senna and Kachiri." She motioned towards the other two who each nodded in turn, smiling. What were their names again? I had forgotten already, but I smiled and nodded at them anyway, hoping I wouldn't be asked to recall their names.
One of the others spoke now. "Alice, Jasper. How lovely to see you again. What brings you here?"
Fred moved forward now and it occurred to me that he may have been excluding himself up until now in his very own special way, but I hadn't noticed. It seemed odd that the Amazonians hadn't asked for an introduction. Diego and Fred now shook hands. "Nice to see you again," Fred said. Diego smiled and nodded.
"Thanks for looking after her for me and bringing her to me safe," Diego said, warmly and then he glanced across at Alice and Jasper, who had now engaged the Amazons in eager conversation, obviously more interested in their mission rather than the jubilant reunion of three newborns.
It was so overwhelming to finally find Diego that I had temporarily forgotten my unanswered questions. All I wanted was to catch up on all that I had missed, all those months of anxiety, wondering if Diego would still feel the same, if he would still care for me. It was obvious he did.
"I thought you were dead," he whispered. "I came here to get away, to try and start a new life. I never stopped thinking about you though."
I couldn't speak. Relief swarmed through my entire body.
"I tried to come back for you..."
"I know," I managed to squeeze out. He looked at me questioningly so I simply replied, "Steve and Shelly told us."
And so we exchanged stories, about our travels, our acquaintances along the way. How Diego had encountered the Amazons a few weeks ago and they had invited him to stay with them for a while. He described the absolute horror of the wolves, the sheer size of them and how he had jumped off a cliff about two hundred feet high into the ocean to escape them. How he had tried four or five times to find his way back to the log cabin that housed the unruly mob, but each time he had been headed off by the wolves. How he had seen the purple smoke rising from the clearing, hanging there above the town of Forks and its surrounding woodland like a huge cloud of doom. How he had decided that it was all over, that it had ended badly, that he had to get away. He too was afraid that she may take revenge on him. He seemed to be aware that she had no intention of fighting herself.
"Victoria, you mean?" I asked, intentionally speaking the name because Diego obviously didn't know it.
Alice and Jasper both swung around now at the mention of her name. Clearly it had the same horrific effect on them too.
"Victoria?" They both echoed simultaneously.
I nodded, "Yeah, the one who created us." They were both staring at me now.
"What about her?" Jasper asked in his contemptuous tone that he seemed to adopt, more often than not, it seemed to me.
"Diego was just saying he fled south to get away from her," I almost stuttered. "Us too, I guess," I added, gesturing to Fred and myself.
"Ah, I see." Jasper looked less severe now, his features softening . "Well, you needn't have worried. Victoria is dead, and her accomplice."
"Riley? He is dead too?" I asked, yet more relief spreading around my body, until I remembered the Volturi. I still had enemies, but two of them were dead, at least. "How?" I asked.
"Edward killed them," Alice chirped in, with her dancing soprano voice, making it sound like it was of little consequence. "Well, with a little help from the... wolves," she added, but she seemed to struggle to get the last word of the sentence out of her mouth. She screwed her nose up distastefully as if she were remembering some foul smell.
"The wolves?" Diego asked, with a disbelieving tone in his voice.
"Er yes, they kind of helped us a lot," Jasper added. The look on his face was a picture of distaste even though he was obviously grateful for their help.
So I had been right, the wolves I had heard in the clearing that day had been helping the Cullens. That explained why all of Riley's army, except for me, of course, had been killed, whilst the Cullens survived. I remember the conversation with Steve and Shelly, how they had said that the werewolf was a natural enemy of the vampire. I was piecing things together slowly, but it still didn't make much sense.
"But werewolves and vampires are enemies?" I spluttered out, aware that I was probably beginning to irritate Alice with all my questions.
"Yes, they are, normally..." Alice replied "But these are not true werewolves, merely shape-shifters, and yes, whilst we still remain enemies, they are, how shall I put it...more amenable to a truce than the pure werewolf. Besides, we had a common friend to protect."
"The human girl," I stated. It was not a question, nor did I need an answer. I had finally put the last piece of the puzzle in place. It still made no sense, of course, but at least I was now in possession of all the facts.
"Yes," was all that Jasper offered.
A long silence ensued, broken by a question from one of the Amazons, whose name I couldn't recall "How is Bella? And Renesmee?"
Renesmee. That name I recognised. This was the child in question, the reason for all the fuss with the Volturi. I still hadn't gotten an answer to that particular line of questioning but maybe all would now be revealed. Bella was presumably the human.
"Oh they are fine, and send their regards. Renesmee never stops talking about you Zafrina," Alice chirped. "She wants you to visit again soon. She wants to see more of your pretty pictures."
Now I was completely lost. Pretty pictures? What was Alice talking about?
Alice suddenly tensed and stared into an empty space, her bright amber eyes darting from left to right , "Come on, we must go," she announced. "Will you lead us to them?" She looked at the Amazons.
"Sure," the one called Zafrina replied and suddenly they vanished.
