A/N: I'm sorry it took so friggin' long to get this new chapter out. I was just on a roll with my other story Numb But Moving and I was scared that if I broke off it to finish writing this I would lose my train of thought. But it's out now and yay! I hope you enjoy it, especially the small bit of forshadowing...as for the second part of the chapter, I'm sorry, it's a little violent, but I just felt I had to do it. Anyway...READ ON!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

Chapter Ten: Future

Alice Cullen sat in her room completely lost in her own thoughts.

She actually wasn't sure what to think.

It was Friday afternoon and she knew her brother would be home relatively soon. He had decided early that morning to come home, that she hadn't been surprised about when she saw it. What had surprised her was the vision that had followed.

Her husband Jasper had been constantly trying to know what was causing the vast amounts of worry, excitement, and nervousness that were coming off of her, but she didn't know exactly what to tell him. Her visions had never been one hundred percent spot on, but this vision, this one felt the most concrete of any she had seen. Like it was fated.

Alice sighed, knowing that obsessively thinking about that vision would do nothing to help her know how it would come about. And she also knew that she would have to void her mind of it completely before her brother came in 'hearing' distance of her. God knew that Edward was forever calling himself a monster and did not actually believe he was worthy of any true happiness. That had been exactly what her vision had shown: Edward completely and utterly blissful.

Smiling, once again Alice pictured the vision in her head.

Edward stood, absolutely beaming at a young woman. The woman was obviously a vampire, and appeared to follow their dietary habits – golden eyes. Both sets of eyes were filled with love and adoration for the other person – vampire – that was present.

The thing that slightly stumped Alice was the fact that the female vampire in her vision looked very familiar. In fact she looked exactly like what a certain Isabella Swan would look like if she were turned into a vampire, and soon.

At school Alice had not been able to help her eyes when they traveled to Bella whenever they were in the same room. It had not escaped her notice that the odd scent of a new vampire was coming from the girl, which was beyond strange, but the fact that his brother would fall hopelessly in love with said girl was quite stunning.

The apparent change in attitude of Bella from real life to what she was in her vision was also shocking. Bella Swan appeared to be a very kind and respectable girl. She was beautiful in her own way, a mature beauty that had a kind of elegance to it, not like the flashy gorgeousness of Rosalie. But it also seemed the she was missing something, that the smile she put on her face everyday was completely fake and was only put on to placate the onset of questions the rest of the Forks high population would surely force upon her.

Alice sighed once again wondering whether the Bella she had seen in her vision was what she normally had been, what she would have been if her mother had not died. It was sad to think that a person with such life and energy could be drained of it so fully.

Glancing at the clock, Alice was shocked to see so much time had passed during her musings. She immediately sat up straighter, and banished all thoughts regarding Bella Swan and any vision she might or might not have had about the girl from her mind. Thinking about more trivial things, Alice plastered a smile on her face and raced down the stairs to wait for her brother's arrival.

-x-

It didn't take Edward long to drive home once he had made his decision. He was anxious to see his family, and although he did not want to admit it, he was also a little nervous to see Bella Swan.

By not being able to hear her thoughts Edward was unable to know Bella's reactions to him or whether she was noticing more than she should. He had certainly acted oddly on her first day, but all he could do was hope that he would not be so tempted again. Edward convinced himself that he would hunt the evening before going back to classes in order to desensitize himself to her.

After the first day he would, hopefully, have a better gauge on his control level around her. It disturbed him greatly that one simple human could take up so many of his thoughts. He understood the fascination he held over not being able to read her mind, but he didn't think it should have that much hold over him.

Trying, and failing, to push Bella out of his thoughts, Edward pulled into his family's driveway. There would be many questions as to his disappearance and his return, but he thought he had his answers down okay. He was just ashamed to admit to his family that he was too weak to stay.

-x-

Bella left for school Monday morning cradling three broken fingers on her left hand: her pinky, ring and middle finger. Her boring week had led to a rather eventful weekend. Not because of any outing she went on. No. It was because her stalker decided to make a personal visit.

Saturday night Bella awoke to James sitting on her chest, grinning wildly at her. His eyes appeared crazed, and if she had had any fear of death, Bella would have been absolutely terrified. As it was, Bella looked at the madman levelly.

"What's up?" She spoke softly, making sure not to wake Charlie.

The grin on her stalker's face faltered slightly, obviously not expecting her reaction. She raised her eyebrows, awaiting an answer. Rather than speaking, he bent forward so his face was only inches from hers. Bella blinked furiously as her eyebrows shot up as far as they could. It appeared almost as though he would kiss her, but he couldn't possibly be thinking anything about that, right?

Bella's hopes were met when James growled deeply at her. He seemed to be trying to frighten her, but Bella had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from going into a round of hysterical laughter. The relief of knowing his intentions were not sexual and the oddity of the situation caught up with her.

Blinking rapidly to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks, Bella continued to look at her would-be attacker. A look of satisfaction spread across his face, obviously taking the moisture in her eyes as being caused by fear.

A sound resembling more of a purr than a growl sounded as he bent himself farther down. James skimmed his nose against Bella's throat, smelling her blood and wondering why it did not seem any more potent than usual.

She couldn't hold back any longer when her stalker sounded like a demented cat. Bella broke into a burst of quiet, yet manic laughter. She didn't want to wake Charlie, and was, therefore, hushed, but even biting the inside of her cheeks didn't help anymore.

As she began laughing James pulled away, looking at her in confusion. At first he thought it might be possible she was so terrified she had gone hysterical which led her to laughter, but by the fact that her laughter increased at the look on his face and that her blood smelled the exact same as normal, he knew it was amusement.

He tried to frighten the girl and instead amused her.

Another growl erupted from his chest as he pulled himself off of Bella and onto the floor, which caused an even louder outburst of laughter. Bella seemed to be hyperventilating slightly as she curled into a ball, muffling her laughter against her knees.

James paced her floor, trying to decide what to do. The girl never reacted in the way he expected, something that was unheard of since he had become a vampire. He had that as a gift, or talent, to know, or at least have an idea of what people would do, how they would react, but she seemed to be immune to it – a first.

Looking back at her shaking form, James' frustration peaked. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted her to feel physical pain, to cry out, beg for him to stop, terrified. Then he would make it stop, by sinking his teeth into her neck and tasting the most delicious blood he ever had.

He strode over to her and ripped her legs out of her arms. She looked at him, her laughter finally dissipating. Raising her eyebrows once again, Bella questioned him.

"So, you finally figure out what you want to do then?" Her voice held a mocking tone of indifference. It was as if she was asking a friend what flavor soda they wanted. She didn't really care.

I'll make her care. James thought as he reached for her hand, lightening fast, with a cruel smile on his face. He grabbed her wrist softly, not wanting to hurt that but snapped her pinky almost instantly. Bella's eyebrows rose further as her eyes dilated in pain. Though she showed no voluntary sign, her eyes told him that she felt it. James' smile grew when he came to that realization.

His smile twitched, threatening to disappear, when she still made no sign of pain after the second finger. He wondered if the speed with which he was breaking her fingers was part of the problem. James was snapping them swiftly, enjoying the sudden dilation of her pupils, but what if he did it slowly, would it hurt her more?

Testing his theory, James took hold of Bella's middle finger lightly, not wanting to hurt it – at least not at first. Slowly adding more pressure, he watched as Bella's eyes widened slightly. When it finally snapped he still got no more result than the others. Actually, no, he did. After breaking her third finger, Bella smiled at him.

Dropping her hand in disgust and slight confusion, James ran his hands into his hair. He glared at the stupid human, annoyed and frustrated with how little she seemed to be affected. Her smile stayed in place but became more inquisitive.

"Are you done? Or were you planning on something else?" Although Bella's tone was light, the question mocked him.

This human held no fear for him within her heart even after torturing her in more than one way and killing her mother. James yanked on his hair again before letting his hands drop back to his sides. Looking down at her hand, he could see the fingers already swelling.

James was suddenly disgusted with himself and the whole situation. It didn't make sense that he couldn't figure out this simple human, the way to break her. That sort of thing had never occurred before and he couldn't imagine having to admit defeat. Even now he didn't want to back down, but he wasn't sure how to proceed. With one last lingering look at the human sitting before him, James escaped out her window.

Bella waited a few minutes, to make sure her stalker friend hadn't changed his mind about having more to do, before heading downstairs to find a pack of ice. She knew if she didn't the swelling would make her hand become a ridiculous size, but she didn't want to go to the hospital just yet. A few more hours of sleep after taking three aspirin were what she wanted and got.

Snapping back to the present, Bella realized she had already reached the school parking lot. She carefully reached for the door with her right hand, very conscious of the three fingers that were standing straight out, as if at attention. Sighing, Bella wondered if they would be the only injuries or if they were just the beginning.