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CHAPTER NINE

.:Alice's POV:.

It was cold tonight. Almost nine o'clock, the moon acute in the sky, I had my forehead pressed against the glass frame of the living room window, watching for anything lurking in the trees. There was nobody out there. Whoever Maysun was, I figured they had not been coming for me, but for the girl who tried to warn me of the danger I had already been seeing for days.

Jasper tightened his hold on me, securing me tighter to him. I inhaled in his scent; a mix of desert sand, almond, and something else, something that I never could quite comprehend. He did not say anything, just being one with me through my emotions. He brushed his lips along my jawline. I turned and burrowed into his chest, wishing for just a moment I could get away from the world and be alone with the man I loved.

Behind us, Edward was pacing; Rosalie was tapping her foot impatiently; Emmett was roaming from window to window, eager to defend the family; Carlisle and Esme sat and watched us dutifully; and Bella stood quiet and still, not having practiced involuntary human reactions long enough to show any physical mannerism in reaction to her stress. They all waited for me to break the silence that draped the household after I had come home screaming and Jasper had pulled me protectively inside.

As Jasper's calming influence wore off, I knew he was allowing me to gradually get a hold of myself, to concentrate on the problem rather than the fear, to say what I needed to tell them.

And I knew I needed to tell them everything.

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling ready to get this over with. Edward's pacing stopped, and everyone else froze with him, hoping he had reacted to something in my thoughts. When I opened my eyes, I pushed gently away from Jasper so I could face him and the family together. As I suspected, they were all staring expectantly at me, with varying expressions of caution, worry, and curiosity.

"I wanted to apologize first," I started at last, "but I can foresee the impatience, so I'll save it for the end and go straight to the point. What you should know — what you should have known since I first saw it a few days ago — is that I had a vision of an unknown vampire tearing me apart." My eyes stayed locked on Jasper's as I spoke. I wanted him to feel like I was telling this to him more than to the others. "The vision was extraordinarily clear, the decision rooted deep in somebody's conscious, but when I looked for this vampire with my sight, he seemed to have no plans to come to America, let alone finding me.

"So I thought, maybe, the decision was made by me somehow. Maybe I would just happen to cross paths with this stranger and anger him. But I looked ahead so many times, and I saw nothing that led me to him. Actually, I could barely get any details at all. Throughout the week I've been busy trying to make sense of who this vampire was and why he wanted me dead. You see, I realized he knew who I was when he killed me. He was waiting for me."

Ignoring the deep rumble in Jasper's chest, I continued.

"But he doesn't seem to know me right now, which doesn't make sense because then I wouldn't be having a vision of him. That lead me to believe there was someone else helping him, and there are, it's just..." I sighed out my frustration. "For him, I experience sharp premonitions, but for those assisting him I see nothing. Nothing is static. Nothing is set. Time is moving only forward, and events are apparently influenced by nothing. I can think up a thousand ways to escape, and the vision never changes."

Where I once thought things progressed in orderly and predictable ways, I found only chaos and questions now. I was not used to being so unaware, and yet it was crucial that I get this right.

"I guess I have to admit that I was starting to panic. I shouldn't have kept this from you, but I was scared, and I didn't want any of you to be scared with me. You were all just so happy. I wanted things to stay normal."

'You've been avoiding everybody, missing things you usually wouldn't, not acting like yourself... How in the world did that make it into your plan for normalcy?' is what Jasper would have said out loud if I hadn't already seen him say it.

"Jazz." I only had to say his name — my tone and emotions, and just the simple fact he knew me so well, told him the rest.

His face instantly softened, though his eyes remained steel. His hand cupped my cheek and a warm forgiveness emanated from his palm. He wouldn't dwell on the past — he wanted to focus on the present and, more so, the future.

I met the eyes of my family, who I could guess felt very much like my husband did.

"I am sorry, everyone. I'm going to die soon. That's all I've known for days. I shouldn't have lied to all of you about it. You trusted me to inform you if anything or anyone ever threatened this family, and I let you down."

Esme was the first to speak, though the family as a whole was quite quick to forgive, as various visions of the near future ran threw my head with each of their choices to accept my apology and move on. Even Rosalie would forgive me for my spat with her, if only because she was worried about me; still, the sunlight ordeal was far from out of her mind — she was simply pushing it aside.

"Of course you're forgiven, dear," Esme said. I was moving before she patted the spot next to her on the couch, pulling Jasper by the hand, not that he needed any guidance from me to be glued to my side.

Carlisle agreed with Esme, as Jasper and I sat down, Esme hugging me.

"We understand your reasons for keeping this a secret," he said, though he made it clear he also disapproved of my lies and believed I should have mentioned something earlier. After a moment of thought, he suddenly asked, "What frightened you?"

"Huh?"

"You were determined to keep this from us, correct?" Guilt pinched at me, but I nodded. "What happened today that changed that? You came home screaming, Alice. I wish to understand why."

My mind went back to the alarming encounter. Seeing that girl there — neither vampire, nor human — I had frozen. For a moment, I had feared the very worst. I thought, perhaps irrationally, that I had ran out of time. I thought it was the end, and I didn't even see it coming. Who she was, or why she came I had no idea, because my psychic abilities did not catch hybrids. And although she seemed weakly threatening, I knew even before she spoke that she must be connected to the man who would kill me. Somehow.

"Alice?" Carlisle urged.

"I thought my deadline...came early." Jasper's body tensed around mine. I dared a glance at him and wished I hadn't. Those mesmerizing eyes of his were pitch dark, threatening; he could kill, right now, no mercy.

I was afraid of that reaction, though not surprised by it.

"Er, when you say you're deadline..." Emmett prompted.

"I mean April 22. Eleven days from now."

My big brother narrowed his eyes with determination. "Exactly?"

"Usually. I suppose we can give or take a day, just in case. Whoever is making the decision is trying not to settle on a solid date." I patted Jasper's arm when I saw his face.

"Can you make out where you are in this vision?" he demanded, wanting details. Unlike me, he cared less for the 'why' and more for the 'how'.

"Yes! I figured that out. We're in a wood mill, as random as that may sound. I just don't know where the wood mill could possibly be located. That's what I was doing today; I visited the three closest to here, but only one seemed close to my vision... And then..."

I hesitated as I collected my memories, and then I told them what had happened after I left that inconvenience store. I grimaced as I realized my poor Porsche was still stuck out there in the rain, probably greatly conspicuous with the key in the ignition, the driver door open and the sides of the steering wheel crushed into pieces.

"It doesn't sound like she wanted to hurt you..." Jasper muttered, mostly to himself, taking all information I give him into account for whatever strategies he was contemplating.

There was silence as everyone focused on their own thoughts. Apparently they were attempting to figure out how to proceed now.

"We can leave," Carlisle finally said. "Relocate. They seem to know where you are."

I spoke up before Rosalie had the chance — we just managed to get situated into this new house, and nobody really wanted to up-and-leave so soon if it could be helped.

"I've already thought of that. We could change state or continent, but nothing in my vision changes. They have me tracked down seamlessly."

"Then we put up defenses." Jasper was standing again, his voice one of authority. Now that the information was out, the planning began. "Every precaution we can take, that's what we'll do. Alice will be guarded at all times, preferably by Edward, Emmett, or myself. We are not to leave her alone."

I didn't like this. Not a single bit. Yet what other choice was there? There wasn't anything I could do on my own, though I had tried, and Jasper wasn't leaving any room for debate on his rules. Granted, he was in a protective mindset. There would be no stopping him. I wondered what he'd feel if I told him that his planning was pointless. Would he stop?

No. He would never give up, especially when it came to me. It was a frightening truth.

Although it truly wasn't going to work. I still saw myself in that room with that man.

"Maybe we could ask the wolves for help," Edward suggested, reading my visions, fully aware of the situation. "It will strengthen our force by doubling our barrier."

"They'd be willing to help, I'm positive of it," Bella said.

"If only because Nessie is as involved in this as the rest of us," Emmett said.

Would that be what it'll come down to? Guard dogs?

I had nothing against the wolves; Jacob was cool, and Seth was adorable, though Leah was not very pleasant to be around, and I haven't socialized enough with the other wolves to judge. I wouldn't be opposed to them helping us, if only it wasn't just my protection we required. Being vulnerable was a terrible feeling. Also, it seemed bringing them into this was debatable on many accounts. If they agreed, they would probably only help because we were a part of Nessie...

Wait. Something was actually wrong, I thought to Edward, as I checked the future of this new decision, expecting it to be entirely blank — that would have been the price I had to pay for wolf reinforcements. But this vision I was having was the same one, and I shouldn't be having one at all. How could that be with the wolves involved? Unless they weren't going to be. Or...

"The more protection for Alice the better, I won't complain," Jasper answered Edward's suggestion without an ounce of hesitation. "Bella, contact Jacob—"

"Hold on," Edward interrupted. "Are you sure the wolves would risk their safety for Alice, Bella? Maybe they're not going to agree to this."

"Of course they will, Edward." Bella sounded personally offended.

"Maybe not," I spoke up. "I looked ahead, of course, and—"

"You wouldn't be able to tell, Alice. You can't see werewolves."

"Exactly. My future should have been blank if they had any affect on it, but the vision of me in that room remained the same. Crystal clear, without any disruption."

"That could just mean their help would do no good, not that they'd deny the favor," she murmured with a frown. She was depressed about my words either way.

"We still have to try," Jasper insisted. "Any person at any time can make a difference, and we don't have the luxury of time to just guess and hope. We have to be thorough." After a second of thought, he added, "We should move, too."

"Jazz, no." I shook my head at that, again. "I've already seen that it's not going to do any good."

"We'll keep moving. We won't settle in one place until this is over."

"You can't expect our entire family to—"

"That's exactly what I can expect from our family."

"I am not moving around, changing schools, forging new documents non-stop, Jasper," Rosalie protested aggressively. "Especially all in the confines of a couple weeks, or how ever long we manage to stretch this out."

Jasper turned to glare in her direction. "This isn't about what you want, Rosalie. Alice is in danger. You'd risk her life?"

"If Alice says it's not going to help, then it will only complicate things more."

"I must agree with Rosalie, Jasper," Carlisle said. "Knowing that Alice will be found no matter where we run is cause to not become distracted with constant evasion. We've learned that sometimes it is not the best strategy to take." His eyes flickered to Bella.

A couple years back, we faced a situation with Bella that was eerily similar to this one. James and Victoria did pose the same threat that I'm being faced with now, except that it was more sudden. We didn't have a week to prepare then, and everything still ended up all right. Eventually.

Another difference, however, was the fact that the future distinctly changed with every decision we made. The choices of every member of our family affected Bella's survival and the location of the ending battle; while my future was lead to the same place, always.

Either way, though, Carlisle was right.

Edward started nodding his head. "We need to face this head on and end it. No games."

Jasper reluctantly accepted this.

"Fine. I'll take that as a valid point. But if we're staying here, we need to be prepared for anything. What we need to find out now is who this nomad and his friends are."

"What are the options?" Emmett wondered.

"The Volturi," several people said simultaneously.

It was the obvious first choice, but I shook my head.

"I would have seen the Volturi if it was them."

"They're sending someone else then. Some stranger or a new guard member, someone we've never seen," Rosalie said.

"Don't you think Alice would have, you know, seen Aro send them?" Emmett countered. He was a bit hesitant, and I knew why — it felt like we've had this exact conversation before.

And we had, a year ago.

Bella was right: spring breaks were bad luck.

Bella answered Emmett's question firmly. "No. Just last year Alice didn't catch what they were up to regarding the newborn army. Aro trusted Jane to act alone, to keep us oblivious. They know how to keep Alice out, we know this. Even Victoria figured it out through Laurent."

There was a train of grimaces around the room.

"From now on," Jasper muttered, "we keep our talents to ourselves. I don't care how innocent a vampire's curiosity is — we shouldn't take the risk."

Nobody was in disagreement with him, and Carlisle nodded, finalizing it.

"Okay, the Volturi." Emmett held up a finger, counting out our suspect list. But when he held up a second finger, not one of them had a clue who could possibly be another suspect.

"Maybe Victoria made some friends with nomads while she was outrunning Edward, and they've just now learned of her death," Bella suggested.

"Nomads wouldn't care enough to avenge a friend's death..." Jasper said.

"She could have fooled them into believing she was their mate, like with Riley."

"Riley was a newborn and completely oblivious to the immortal ways. Besides, if it was anyone associated with Victoria, it would not be Alice with the deadline — it would either be you or Edward."

Bella sighed. "I guess so. I'm just trying to throw out ideas, even if they are ridiculous."

"And that was pretty ridiculous."

Bella scowled at Emmett, and I thought this entire conversation was ridiculous. I've been working at this problem all week and I still haven't figured it out.

"Condemnable suspects do seem impossible to find," Carlisle murmured. He grimaced with a new thought. "Perhaps one of our witnesses holds a vendetta against Alice?"

"Who?" I demanded. "Who could it possibly be? There is nothing any of you can think of that I haven't already. Don't you understand?" I threw my head in my arms.

Nobody talked for a moment, then I felt Carlisle's hand on mine.

"Please do not become discouraged, Alice. We've overcome a lot of obstacles as a family, no matter the odds."

"Do you have any ideas?" Bella asked Edward, who, I realized, had grown awfully quiet for someone so opinionated.

Edward looked at her, then the rest of us.

"I do. There is no doubt in my mind who it is."

We stared curiously at him, questioning.

"The only people who want to hurt any of us are those associated with the Volturi. It's not hard to assume where this vampire came from."

"But, Edward—"

"Think about it, Alice. He looks familiar, correct? Yet we have never met him. At least, not personally..."

"What are you saying? We've seen him, but not met him? Any one of us would have remembered where we saw—"

"We don't know everyone in the Guard," Edward interrupted, persistent, persuasive. "There are some we've only barely taken a glance at, never truly noticing them. Their names, their faces, their talents... all unknown. Aro or Caius could easily use one of their Guard that we are unfamiliar with. Someone who was in the background of our confrontation, nothing but another cloaked shadow. Or even one from theirgroup of witnesses, as Carlisle was saying. None of us would have been paying much attention to them, and that's who the Volturi would send. Someone they know we would never be able to connect to them, and might not see coming at all. Luckily, Alice did see him. But that means little if her vision doesn't change soon."

"It seems rather far-fetched, Edward," Carlisle said. "But it would be unwise to rule it out, I suppose... I'm curious, though — did you notice anything change in your vision, Alice? At any point, did something..."

I cut him off.

"Something did change."

"What was it?"

"The second vision I had in which I didn't force had a distinct difference: there was another man in the room. I still can't bring it into clarity, his face. All I can get out of it is his skin is vampire pale, and his hair is dark, messy... Reddish, I think. Anyway, he's the one who kills me. I always suspected the first man was the killer, but that wasn't it. There was someone else. They are working together."

"Both male?" I nodded. "And you ran into a woman today, correct?"

"I said he had assistants."

"How many vampires can you possibly not be seeing?" Rosalie questioned warily, not believing it should be that easy to get past me.

"I'm not completely blind," I defended myself. "I see the vampires. At least, I see the one, the first man. The second, I only get flickers of him in that wood mill. But the girl I can't see for a reason. Which brings me to another problem. The girl I ran into today... She was only half vampire."

There was a beat of silence.

"You mean-"

"Yes. Like Renesmee."

"The only other half-vampires we know of are Nahuel and his sisters," Jasper said.

"I realize that," I responded, shaking my head. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Wait." Bella wasn't looking at any of us — her eyes were on the ceiling. "Nahuel... That's it, Alice! The man you drew on that paper was the one from your vision, right? And he looked familiar, but we couldn't figure out why."

I caught on immediately.

"He looks like Nahuel," I finished with a gasp. "So did the girl, now that I think about it. Only slightly, of course, but enough to hold a connection."

There was confusion throughout the room.

"What are you two talking about?" Rosalie asked, Jasper echoing her question.

"Are you saying Nahuel has something to do with this?"

"No. Maybe. All I know is the man has similar features as him. Like Edward and Bella compared to Renesmee."

My words triggered a sudden understanding.

"You mean Nahuel's father?" Esme wondered, incredulous.

"Joham," Carlisle clarified.

"It's not Joham," Edward insisted intently.

"What makes you so sure?" Rosalie shot at him, crossing her arms. "How are you such an expert all of a sudden? You know nothing more than we do."

Edward's eyes darkened, and for a second I was reminded of his expression when he had lashed out at me. But instead of saying anything to her, Edward turned to me. "You trust me?"

It seemed a weird question, the way he said it.

"I trust you believe strongly that the Volturi are behind this, but there's no evidence."

"You've never been in their thoughts, have you?" Edward countered sharply.

A smirk appeared on his face as he thought of something. The expression was off, for him, especially in this type of discussion. It was almost like he found something ironic about what he was going to say.

Strange. Edward's not usually this bizarre.

"Perhaps you are right about Joham. So, tell me, why would he want to kill you?" I didn't respond, knowing he was just planning to interrupt me. "The answer is: the Volturi. It goes right back to them. When they left us, they were determined to hunt Nahuel's father down. Apparently they managed to find him in record time, and they indulged him with an offer in which, should he choose to accept it, would pardon him of his unlawful experimenting."

"Alice wouldn't have caught that?" Emmett tried to argue, but, at this point, we all knew what I 'saw' these days was very little in quantity.

That upset me more than anything, though I knew it wasn't reasonable; I slumped my head down slightly, wearily, feeling the need to escape this house once again. I needed air. I had already spent hours upon hours relentlessly mulling over this problem, and I've grown exhausted from all the lack of possibilities. They could continue; it was still fresh in their minds, and Nahuel's connection was new information for them to consider. Maybe if I handed the torch over to them for a while and let my mind refresh, so I could think clearly too, then I wouldn't feel this growing irritation.

Without a word or glance, I booked it into the forest, staying close but eager to get away from my family — from their stares and the way they made me feel, like a victim waiting to happen.

Which I was.

.:Jasper's POV:.

The move was so quick, I hadn't had time to react.

Alice dashed, top speed, out of the house, out of my arms, out of my protection. The atmosphere my mind was in, I almost hissed as she escaped. Her emotions were clear enough for me as to why she left, but I highly disagreed with her action. Why would she run out of the safety of the house? She was smarter than that.

I moved to go after her. Someone grabbed my arm, stopping me. It was Edward.

"Let her go," he said.

By the look on his face, by his seriousness, I could tell he clearly wasn't making some twisted joke. How insane did he think I was?

You know what's happening. I'm not allowing her to wander outside alone.

"She needs time with her thoughts right now."

"I can't allow that. I'm going after her."

"She doesn't want to see you."

His words angered me. I shoved him away with more force than I intended; Edward had to take several steps back. I hardly cared that Bella — still a newborn — growled at the action, or that Esme admonished me with both motherly scorn and sympathy. I ran off after Alice.

When I caught up with her, we weren't even a mile away from the house; I realized we were just far enough for the house to be silent. I was glad she stayed a lot closer to home than her eager retreat led me to believe.

Alice was nestled in some high branches, staring up toward the sky, letting the rain wash over her face, as if purifying her. Seeing her there, laying lightly up in the trees, the wind caressing her face, reminded me — though I needed no reminder — of how gorgeous she was.

If only there wasn't this ugliness that plagued her beautiful life.

"You should have listened to Edward," she said without looking at me. I ignored that.

"It's not safe out here."

"My deadline is over a week away," she argued, as if that revelation was supposed to be good.

Taking in every contour and curve of her face, I couldn't help trying to imagine such beauty no longer existing in this world, and I failed to. There was no imagination strong enough, because it was too impossible a thing. If Alice's life was to end, it would not be in such a violent way. Whatever a natural death was for a vampire, I couldn't say, but somehow it wasn't this. Not for my Alice.

Climbing the length of the tree until I reached my mate's location, I crouched beside her, shielding her from the rest of the woods. As I studied her — body laid out along a weave of branches, wet clothes clinging so precisely to her curves she might as well not have been wearing anything; raindrops glistening down her midnight hair; her head bent slightly back, exposing her porcelain neck — the urge to be with her surfaced. I wanted to gather her close. I wanted to weave my fingers through hers. I wanted to run my lips over that neck.

I never wanted to lose the privilege to be with her, to love her.

Sensing my thoughts better than if she was Edward, Alice's eyes glided open, capturing my gaze, sweet honey against cool topaz. There was understanding in her stare, but she remained quiet.

"You are not going to die," I told her. "I won't allow anything to happen to you."

"That's not what my visions say." I flinched, and she pulled my face down to her level. She hadn't meant to upset me. "I'm sorry, Jazz. Maybe things will be different now that you know - that everyone knows. I shouldn't be so negative. It's very pessimistic of me."

"What you see is never set in stone," I agreed, my voice revealing my desperate determination.

She didn't move, and neither did I. After a second, she wrapped her arms around my torso, a bitter smile playing around her lips. She didn't have to explain it — I understood after a second.

I slid underneath her and she collapsed against me, fitting her head under my chin. This time I didn't say anything. I didn't tell her that it would all be okay. And I didn't try to force her into a plan or compare past experiences to figure out how an attack on her could be orchestrated. I just fastened my arms around her, pulled her close, and silently acknowledged the obvious — that, regardless of the stakes, she didn't want to be comforted, she wanted to find the answer.