It's been an unbelievably, inexcusably long time since I've updated. I would totally understand if you guys were pissed and didn't want to read anymore, but I hope that you're interested enough to want to find out when the hell Edward is coming back. Because I promise I haven't been idling the entire time I've been sitting and doing nothing. I do have plans for this story now, as well as my others. But here is the next update.

Alice's Point of View

Bella stayed in her room, unmoving, on her bed for nine days. It took a long time to bath the limp, leaden form in order to try and wake her from her odd state of consciousness. Once Rosalie and I had done that and clothed her, Rosalie carried Bella to the bed, where we arranged her comfortably. Bella though, had other designs for herself. The dark-haired vampire promptly rolled herself into her side at an awkward angle that had to be extremely uncomfortable and stayed there; we could do nothing to persuade to her shift, much less move from the bed. Eventually, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and I had to return to school, but Emmett and I rarely left Bella's side. I think Jasper and Rosalie began to even feel a little jealous that Bella occupied so much of our time, but it wasn't exactly like either of them were in a coma-like state. Carlisle was worried as well; he'd never heard of a vampire sinking so low in consciousness, and Bella seemed to be almost in a dream, catatonic. Nothing we did even seemed to register in her eyes or movements. She merely stared at the wall as held her hands huddled against her neck and face, curled in a ball, occasionally murmuring, "He walked away," intermittently.

"Miss Cullen," my English teacher interrupted, and I cut my eyes toward her quickly in a flash before glancing down at my textbook, biting my tongue to correct her to Mrs.

"Yes?"

"Can you explain to me what I just said about what Rochester's wife symbolized in Jane Eyre?" Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I nodded and sat up slightly straighter.

"She embodies two ideas, based on opinion; the first is Jane's unconscious fear of what marriage to Rochester will do to her- being trapped in a marriage that might potentially destroy her independence and eventually sanity; the second being Victorian marriage in general. The housewife in a marriage has a certain standard set for her, and the role she plays is very limiting, something Charlotte Bronte likely perceived and integrated into her novel."

The class stared at me, and I merely watched the teacher with wide, innocent eyes, unblinking, until she looked away; even women could be dazzled by enough beauty.

My thoughts returned to Bella. I tried to gain a vision of my pseudo-sister, but all I could see indefinitely was her huddled form laying against the wall with no sign of life. Only vampires could stay so completely still that they appeared to be actual marble statues. Edward, on the other hand, was somehow beyond my ability to interpret. When I tried to see him, I received a blur of images that made no sense either alone or together. Occasionally I could decipher a cliff, a forest, deer, a mountain lion, and the old, dark, musty attic of some building where rats and insects crawled. Gross.

So absorbed was I in my thoughts that when my phone buzzed from in my pocket I nearly jumped, though I should have seen the call coming. Flipping open the phone under my desk and glancing at it, I saw the words Bella sat up. Hurry home. My hand shot into the air, almost too fast for a human, causing several of my classmates to jump in their seats.

"I don't feel well. May I be excused?" I asked in a rush, the words out of my mouth with practiced ease. My perfect face was the picture of ill-feeling, my hand not in the air held lightly over my lower stomach to create the illusion that I was sick to my stomach. The teacher nodded once, and I stood, gathering my bag and props before exiting the classroom at a break-neck pace. The nurse barley had time to glance up before I was signing a sign-out form in a whirlwind of writing and excusing myself as being sick. Emmett and Rosalie were walking in right behind me as I was leaving, excusing themselves with a forged note to leave for a dentist appointment No one who took one look at our perfect teeth would doubt that we took dental hygiene seriously. Jasper was waiting outside for me, leaning against my car. We'd taken to using two cars since He Who Shall Not Be Named had left us, none of use willing to use, or even look at, his Volvo. Emmett had actually taken off in it, reportedly pushing it to the fastest it would go, even with Rosalie's reworking, and crashing it off a cliff, dashing out of the window just as it went over the edge and exploded into a fiery rubble of car parts at the bottom. Even though I could see Edward's hesitancy to be around Bella after my vision I had developed a sense of anger toward him for abandoning Bella, who so clearly needed him. The rest of my family hadn't actually seen the vision and thereby hated him with a burning passion, according to Jasper. Our loyalty to Bella ran deep, while our devotion to Edward, which had been strong as a friend and as family, had been rooted in and begun with the fact that he made Bella happy and was with her. Jasper's loyalties were more complicated, seeing as his decision to use our lifestyle had been centered around mine, but he loved Bella as a friend and of course was on her side.

But back to the events Jasper got into my car with just as much urgency as I did, and we sped along the highway out to our house as fast as the newly adopted Black Honda Accord would go, Rosalie and Emmett's Red Altima riding my bumper close behind. Making a wild turn into our driveway, I careened around the parking circle and slammed on the brakes, throwing the car into park and yanking the keys out before dashing upstairs.

Bursting into Bella's room, Bella looked up at me from where she was sitting on her bed, eyes wild and black with thirst. The rest of us piled in behind me and watched carefully as Bella stood, clearly weakened by her lack of hunting for the past two weeks now. "Oh, Bella," I said, slowly stepping forward and taking her hand as she stared at me without recognition. "It's me, Alice. Let's go hunting." Rosalie and Jasper disappeared with a wave of my hand, but Emmett was loathe to leave Bella, who looked so forlorn and confused. We silently agreed that he could come, and Esme watched with overprotective eyes while we walked Bella out at an agonizingly slow pace, even for humans, and toward the forward. Animals grew silent and disappeared as they sensed our arrival, but even the scent of their blood didn't stir Bella. I knew she didn't feel the burn for blood, but even her immunity to it's attraction didn't abate the need of it to survive, and she felt the effect of a lack of blood on her system.

"Hunt, Bella," Emmett coaxed, taking her arm and pointing at a deer that hovered on the edge of a clearing, eyes wide and head up, aware of danger and deciding what it should do. Bella looked at me, who nodded, and she returned her gaze to the deer. After a half instant, she took off at a reckless speed, throwing herself at the deer and quickly devouring the blood before turning to another deer that had begun to run and dashing after it too, draining it as well. She appeared sated and calmly walked over to us again, eyes back to her golden topaz and nearly devoid of emotion. Her dark jeans and black shirt were unstained, no trace of blood on her face or body.

"Ready to go back?"Bella nodded in response to Emmett's question, and we each took her hand and ran back to the house at a lope. I noticed that she'd stopped muttering the monotonous phrase she'd been repeating for what seemed like an eternity, her voice growing softer and coarse from overuse.

Our first problem with Bella came when we reached the stairs; she balked at the sight of them, hesitating to ascend the soft, carpeted staircase. With some persuasion, we were able to convince her to accompany us, however. It was in the hallway that we reached our real obstacle. The sight of hers and Edward's door to their room sent her into an insane frenzy. She began to struggle in our arms, kicking and flailing and leaving us grasping at her to hold on. Tangled hair fell into her face, limp from a lack of attention, and her eyes sparked with fear and horror. Bella's mouth opened in a silent scream and she shook her head violently while she tried to back up.

It was only after a minute that we were able to successfully put her in Rosalie's and Emmett's room, which was the closest, and force her onto the bed while her chest heaved with unneeded breath. "Dear Jesus," Emmett, said, his own breath ever so slightly uneven. "That was one fight." Indeed, Bella put up a huge fight when she was riled up, and I was surprised that Emmett hadn't been able to merely throw her over his shoulder and carry her out of there.

"We're going to need a plan B."

Bella ended up staying in the guest room, in which she remained for two days. One day, when we arrived home from school, Bella was downstairs in the kitchen, sitting up rigidly in a barstool while Esme fooled around with a recipe. Bella appeared to be responding to conversation with limited responses, but when I said hello tentatively to her, she smiled back at me weakly.

"What are you doing, Esme?" I asked, trying to appear casual about the fact that Bella was acting alive.

"I thought I'd try out some baked things for you to give to your teachers for fall break.

"Umm," I said, licking my lips from habit, "Esme, who do intend on testing your creations on?" It wasn't like we could test them ourselves and see if they were edible.

"I'll find someone."

"I can taste them," Bella interjected. We all stared at her for an instant before hurrying to speak, as though rushing through our words would make up for the time elapsed and make it seem like no one had noticed or been surprised by her words.

"You can't taste food," I reminded her, to which Bella shook her head.

"Actually, I can. I just can't eat it, like every other vampire. My taste pallet isn't normal, remember?" As if anything about us could be considered "normal".

"You never said anything."

"I didn't always know." I left it at that, not wanting to upset Bella, who was carefully looking over the room, face unreadable, unusually so. Moving and sitting on the stool next to Bella, I smiled at her before we started a small conversation, mostly me talking, but my heart rose to see Bella responding to my prompts.

Bella went to school the next day.

I was surprised to see Bella come down the stairs calmly, dressed in a stunning outfit. I'd run to the mall during the afternoon to buy clothes for Bella after her fit, putting then neatly in the guest room for her use. She obviously wouldn't be able to go into her room to retrieve her own, and the blue-walled chamber had become sort of forbidden for the rest of us in silent consensus. I'd never imagined that she would pick the outfit she was now clad in. Bella's black jean skirt was short, barely dress code, and her pale, perfect legs were exposed for the rest of the world to see. She still remained in flats, but they were strappy and navy blue. Her top was a scooping necklined and form fitting also navy blue and had a dark green design on it that was difficult for human eyes to see of chain links in a random array across her chest and stomach, wrapping around to her back It was rather revealing. Her hair was up done, actually parted neatly and several strands hanging to frame her flawless face. A black fleece jacket hung from her left hand as she used her right to steady herself on the stair railing.

"Hi, Bella," Rosalie said, eyes communicating what her words would not as she raked her gaze over the vampire's attire- that Bella would not wear this kinda of clothing. A pre-Edward trauma Bella, at least.

Bella's face flinched so quickly it was almost unnoticeable, but then it hardened and she cut her eyes at Rosalie before smoothing her features. "I'm ready to go," she said before exiting the house, leaving the rest of us standing in the foyer, staring after Bella before stumbling after in a moment of shock-induced difficulty in remembering how to walk.

Hope this satisfied you for now, while I update the rest of my stories. It was longer than my average, over 2000 words, which is a minimum from now on, I hope. I also hope you weren't too disappointed, if at all...?

Review please? It would be ever so helpful and much appreciated.

Love you all!