Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: Another not-so-long chapter, but I'm facing a deadline on a "real world" project, so I don't know how much time I'll have to devote to this story over the next week or two. Didn't want to leave you dangling too long! Thank you so much, everyone, for sticking with this one. Enjoy!

What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?

by Kristen Elizabeth

It felt as though he'd been running forever, yet Jasper could have run a million more miles without needing to stop. In his pocket, he'd stuffed at least twenty scraps of Alice's skirt that he and Carlisle had found along the way. Some had been carefully placed on branches and bushes, but more of the recent ones had been carelessly tossed on the snow...by a set of tire tracks.

They didn't speak as they raced through the woods. Even when one of them spotted a piece of lace, they only briefly paused to collect it before moving on. Jasper's thoughts were too scattered for conversation and he had a feeling Carlisle was too busy trying to figure everything out to talk, anyway. Personally, Jasper didn't so much care about the why's of the situation. Only the how's. How was he going to find Alice? How would she be when he found her? How was he going to convince her to forgive him for all of his shortcomings? How soon until he'd be allowed to hold her again?

He was concentrating so hard on his last memory of Alice's face that although he was several paces ahead of Carlisle, he didn't see the truck first. It was only when he heard the older man call out his name that Jasper slowed to a halt.

The beat-up truck had been abandoned with the passenger's side door still open. Carlisle walked to the car and gave it a quick examination, like it was a patient at the hospital. He put his foot on the back bumper and bounced it up and down. "There's still gas in tank," Carlisle said upon hearing a sloshing sound from inside. "That means..." He looked around. "This must have been their intended destination."

Jasper shook his head. "There's nothing here."

Carlisle ignored his comment and started walking past the car. Jasper followed him to the rocky edge of a cliff.

"Silas had a flair for the dramatic." Carlisle peered down at the winter waterfall. "This place would appeal to him."

A moment passed. "Why do you think he wants her?" Jasper finally asked. "You must have some idea."

"If he only wanted Alice, I'd say he simply wants to see the future. But don't forget, he's taken Edward as well. He's collecting gifts. Like someone else we both once knew." Carlisle paused. "But he didn't take you, Jasper."

Jasper frowned. "That's significant?"

"I think it is." The older man glanced at him. "It's a long way down. Shall we?"

A cold wind swept over them and in that moment, Jasper was certain of one thing. Alice was near. Very near.

With renewed energy, they began searching for the best path down the rocks.

"A war?" Silas's laughter filled the dark cavern, making the humans on the ground at his feet huddle together even closer. "Edward, my boy, it's so much simpler than that. Wars are...unpredictable. Messy. They can drag on for years with no end in sight." Smiling, he shook his head. "No. I have no intention of declaring war."

"Then you lied to these people?" Having regained control over his power, Edward gestured at the humans. "Because they all think they're going to become your army."

"Oh, they are," Silas agreed.

Edward glared at him. "I suppose I shouldn't expect a mad man to make any sense."

Silas shook his finger. "Ah, but madness is in the eye of the beholder."

Alice was so caught up listening to their exchange that she didn't even notice Marjorie come up beside her. "I need you to understand why I did what I did," Marjorie began, startling her enough so that Alice literally jumped. "But I don't know if you can."

She put a hand to against her unbeating heart. "Why's that?"

"Because you're never going to die. Are you?"

Turning her head slightly, Alice looked at the girl next to her. Only now did she recognize the limpness of the girl's hair, the yellow tinge to her skin, and the bags under her eyes as signs of illness, rather than unfortunate facial characteristics. "I have died," she told the girl. "I don't remember it, but I have." She turned the rest of the way, to face Marjorie. "What's wrong with you?"

"They told me it's cancer in my blood." Marjorie's eyes watered. "There's not a cure, but they were trying all kinds of stuff at the hospital. All of it hurt, Alice. Made me even sicker. I couldn't take it anymore. I just ran." She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Kind of stupid. I mean..." She glanced at Silas and then Lenora. "Look who found me."

Alice hesitated for a moment. "Have you always had your power?"

Marjorie shook her head. "I didn't know until I met them. Lenora...she went to bite me, but I guess...I guess I didn't smell right or something." She took a breath. "I was so scared, I couldn't even talk. She tried to...it's her power...she makes you say things. Things you don't want to say. Silas says she takes away your filter, whatever that means." Lifting her shoulder, she went on, "Anyway, when she tried to get me to say what was wrong with me...why I smelled different...I just...I don't know. I could feel her trying to get into my head. And I just...stopped her. She was so angry, but Silas...he told me that if I passed a test, he wouldn't kill me." She cleared her throat. "You were my test, Alice."

"That day in History class?" Alice closed her eyes against the memory of the pain and the missing time. She opened them again, remembering something else from that day. "But before that...on the road to school that morning?"

"That was Silas," Marjorie said. "He wanted to know if you could see him coming." She reached for Alice's hand. "I had to do what I did, Alice. And I had to keep going once I knew that I could. He wanted your visions blocked, so you couldn't tell what he was planning. Then he wanted to see if I could make someone's power stronger, too. So...I did. With Edward."

Alice stared at the girl's hand as it gripped hers. "You hurt him. He was in so much pain." She yanked her hand away. "There's no excuse for that."

"Please understand!" Marjorie begged. "I had to do it!"

"And then you tricked us." Alice touched her suddenly aching head. "I thought I was saving your life. I turned my back on my family...the people I love. But it was all a lie. Your life was never in danger, was it?"

The girl's eyes overflowed again. "I'm so sorry, Alice. He told me that if I helped him take over..."

"Marjorie." Silas gestured to her with a look that left no room for protesting. "Come here."

Dutifully, the girl went to his side, leaving Alice alone with Edward.

"Without a doubt, that man is insane." Edward glanced at his sister. "What did you get from the girl?"

Alice wrapped her arms around her chest, literally holding herself together. "I think I know now why Jasper and I fought the other night and back in the woods." Despite the situation, a small smile turned up the corners of her lips. "We lost our filters."

Edward arched an eyebrow. "Okay."

She let out a small, breathless chuckle. "I sound insane, too?"

"Little bit," he admitted.

Alice leaned against him. "At least I'm in good company then." Staring at Silas with her cheek against Edward's upper arm, she went on in her mind. If he wants an army, but he claims he doesn't want to start a war, what do you think he...

All of a sudden, Johnny began calling for Silas. "Outside!" the boy announced when he had everyone's attention. "Two of them. They're almost at the pond." He squinted his red eyes. "One's very old. Three hundred. The other...almost a hundred."

Edward and Alice exchanged a look. Jasper! Alice thought, trying to keep her expression subdued. Carlisle! They're here! Edward blinked, all the confirmation she needed.

Silas, apparently, had the same thought. "It's sooner than I'd expected, but perhaps having a house full of eternal teenagers has kept my old friend Carlisle in good shape."

"Will you tell him why you've taken us and what you plan to do with them?" Edward asked, indicating the humans.

"Lenora," Silas said, ignoring Edward's question. "Greet our guests, would you?

She shot a lascivious look at Alice, practically licking her lips in anticipation. "With pleasure."

When she was gone, Silas laughed. "She has her uses, but she really is quite a whore. Vicious bitch," he added affectionately. "But what can you expect of someone who survived a Volturi death sentence?"

"How did she do that?" Edward asked.

"I don't actually know." Silas paused. "Yet." After a moment, his smile returned. "You are just full of questions, Edward."

Alice didn't have to look at Edward's face to know he was scowling. "Still waiting for some answers."

"In good time," Silas assured him. "All in good time."

They watched him go to Johnny and pat his head, like a pet who'd done something good. Alice shook her own head. We can't even run now, can we? She looked at the cold, frightened humans. We can't just leave them.

Edward's reply was so soft that she had to strain to hear it over the echo of the waterfall outside. "He's planning something big. I want to know what it is."

You can't read him?

Her brother shook his head. "He's hiding behind other thoughts." Before Alice could ask, he looked down at her. "He wants you. And not just for your gift."

For the first time in the life she could remember, Alice felt sick.

Impatient to reach the bottom of the cliff, Jasper let go of the rocky shelf he was perched upon, covering the last fifty feet to the ground with a single backwards leap. After landing on the snow in a low crouch, he straightened up, turned around and came face to face with the one person he didn't want to see.

Lenora smirked. "Still such a gentleman, Jasper. Charging to a lady's rescue even after she left you behind in the cold."

"Where is she?" Jasper demanded with a low growl in the back of his throat.

"She's close." The woman let out an exaggerated sigh of sorrow. "But don't be surprised if she's not as eager to reunite as you are. She's learned a great deal about you since you were parted." Lenora's lip curled up in disgust. "The real you, not this...pathetic, neutered animal-drinker she's turned you into."

Like a bolt of lightning that struck with no warning thunder, Jasper grabbed Lenora by the throat. Although she didn't need the air supply he cut off by squeezing his fingers around her neck, her eyes grew wide. She clawed at his hand wildly, but Jasper held on. "The only thing she's turned me into is someone I can stand to look at in the mirror." He yanked her closer to hiss in her ear. "And if you did anything...anything at all to hurt her in any way, I will destroy you."

"Jasper." He heard his name a moment before he felt Carlisle's hand on his shoulder. "Let her go, son."

"I'm not your son," Jasper snarled. "And we're not playing by your rules here!" Carlisle slowly removed his hand and stepped back. To Lenora, Jasper continued, "Now I'm going to ask one more time before I get angry. Where is she?"

In her mind, Alice saw Lenora's decision to run for her life. Having no idea what prompted the vision, Alice grabbed Edward's arm. Something's happening out there. The wind whipped through Lenora's hair as she ran, but she stopped abruptly, like she'd hit an invisible wall. Alice could see Lenora's defeated face so clearly. The vision ended there; she blinked and looked up at Edward. Although he was staring straight at Silas, she knew he was listening to her intently. She tried to run away. She didn't get far before...

A shadow suddenly blocked the light filtering into the cavern through the waterfall. All eyes swung back to the mouth of the cave to see Lenora standing at the entrance. A second later, she stumbled forward at the urging of a second figure who followed her inside.

"Jasper!" Alice let go of Edward and began to run, her steps steady and certain even on the moist rocks. She passed Lenora without a thought and threw herself into Jasper's arms.

To Be Continued

To see inside the cave, go to: http : / img . photobucket . com / albums / v510 / belismakr / cave2 . jpg