Alice could see Bella as plainly as if they had been standing close together. She took that as a bad sign. Bella, what's happening?

The girl swayed in the wind, her fragile human form yielding to its inexorable force. She stared out over the cliffs at the approaching hurricane. She was already soaked.

Then she closed her eyes, as she edged closer to the precipice. Recognition shot through Alice as the events unfolded. Her friend was going to jump.

Somewhere, Jasper's soft breathing kept Alice from spinning into a panic. He could tell that something was wrong, and he would help her through it when she resurfaced. That was calming enough, even without his gift.

His presence found stronger opposition as Bella's toes found the edge. Don't do it, fool!

"Yes?" Bella asked.

Alice wanted to close her eyes again, but they were already screwed tight. She could not see who she was talking to, nor had she heard anyone prompt the word, but curiosity could not get the better of Alice's fear. What do you think you're doing?

"You wanted me to be human, remember? Well, watch me."

Alice's silent heart complained as an icy grip clinched down on it. This is still about Edward? I told him he was wrong. How stupid can he be? And Carlisle just went right along with it, of course.

Bella smiled, for some reason, before she continued speaking. Alice recognized the line from one of Shakespeare's sonnets. "Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove."

I don't think a soliloquy is very likely to bring him back, Bella.

The world fell out from under Alice as Bella jumped from her spot on the edge.

If she had eaten recently, Alice would have disgorged a pool of blood on the Denali coven's floor, but as it was her revolted body settled for screaming at the top of its dead lungs, matching the shriek Bella gave as she fell, punching through the stormy air toward the black water hundreds of feet below.

She could feel Jasper's alarm beside her, and hear him trying to tell her something.

Feeling the vision shift and sputter as it died, she clenched her fists and plunged forward into the chaotic storm which was the future. Are you going to come up again? She sifted through the eminent future, finding nothing. The ocean pounded on the shore for a few minutes, until even that disappeared into a black void. She had only seen that nothingness once before.

Frantically, Alice cast her inner eye to the home of the only other person whose future had ever disappeared before her eyes. The Clearwater estate would be empty for most of the day. The couch was in ruins. At last, Leah's mother would return, alone, and begin cleaning up the mess. She would have tears in her eyes.

Shit!

Jasper had wanted to go with her, but had at last yielded to superior reasoning. The last thing anyone needed was for him to be hungry near Charlie.

Alice clenched her fist again at the memory of what she had seen. "Bella, you idiot" she said.

The flight had been uneventful and gratingly slow, but for all that it was still faster than it would have been for her to run. She didn't think even Edward could outrun a jet.

The key was where it always had been, tucked under the eaves, and Alice had let herself in. She had no idea where Charlie would be; she had never seen the cliffs before her vision, and she wasn't sure he'd be at them anyway. Waiting in his house was the only way she knew to be sure of catching him, and he might not be back for hours.

Smelling humans on everything, Alice recalled how long it had been since she'd eaten anything. Looking into Charlie's future, she did not see herself biting him, but just to be sure she went to the refrigerator.

Hmm, no beef.

Next she tried the freezer. It was filled with fish. She pawed through it until she found a whole one, and stuck it into the microwave. She hated fish blood, but it would be better than nothing.

Sitting down with her snack, Alice gave herself more time to look through Charlie's future.

Oh, he's at the hospital. Maybe she's still alive. She was in the process of deciding to go out and find him when another image came to her of a car pulling into the drive. It was not Charlie's cruiser, but it would definitely be at the house shortly. She tried to look at the driver's face, but could see nothing.

Hastily she drained the fish, wrinkling her nose as she did so, and hid the carcass under a paper plate in the trash can. She washed her hands, but the smell would not come off.

It was not long before she heard the sound of an engine in the driveway. She braced herself. Most likely, Charlie had hitched a ride back home for some reason. It might be thieves. Part of Alice hoped it was, but she found that unlikely.

What am I going to say?

Suddenly the engine roared to life, and wheels spun.

Alice cocked an eyebrow.

The breaks squealed, and she could hear voices arguing. One was infuriatingly familiar, but she could not place it. The other didn't sound much like Charlie.

Alice groaned as she waited.

Someone got out of the car, and came toward the house, while someone else drove angrily away.

The key scraped on the eaves, and went into the lock. It came out again when its holder realized that the door was already unlocked.

Light flooded the room as the door opened, and Alice caught her breath. The smell was one she knew well. It belonged to Bella. But Bella had not come out of the sea. The girl had had no future for hours. Bella, how is it that you're alive?

The girl tiptoed in, making a great deal of noise, and peering ahead of herself. She smelled of fear, but it was faint under the thick mildewy smell of sea-water.

"Victoria?" she called.

Victoria? Alice grimaced. Edward was supposed to find her and get rid of her. It made sense for Bella to be so apprehensive if she thought there might be a killer in her house.

She put her hand to the wall and fumbled for the switch. She was several inches off.

Alice put out a hand and flipped the switch for her.

Bella blinked and cringed away from the shock as the light hit her, but then she opened her eyes wide as she caught sight of her friend.

"Alice, oh Alice!" She jumped into an embrace, clutching tighter than Alice had thought her capable of.

"Bella?" she asked. She had forgotten how good her friend smelled, and the affect was intensified by hunger. The fish had been a pitiful snack, and to her dismay had served only to whet her appetite.

Bella, likewise, could not seem to resist Alice's aroma. She drew in great long breaths through her nose. She was crying.

"I'm sorry..." she blubbered, "I'm just so happy to see you."

"It's ok Bella, everything's ok."

"Yes" she bawled, relaxing.

"I'd forgotten how exuberant you are" Alice sighed. She strained away from Bella, being careful not to breath. You really do smell delicious, Bella.

Bella looked up at her, and realization struck her expressive face. "Oh" she said, releasing her. "Sorry."

"It's my own fault. It's been too long since I hunted. I shouldn't let myself get so thirsty, but I was in sort of a hurry today." He eyes narrowed. "Speaking of which, would you care to explain how you come to be alive?"

Bella's breath steadied, and realization flashed again across her face. She swallowed. "You saw me fall, didn't you?"

Repressed anger flooded Alice's eyes, and she could not keep it out of her voice. "Fall?" she asked. "I saw you jump. You quoted Shakespeare and shit. What were you thinking?"

Bella didn't answer. Alice could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to find the right words to tell her that she had made a failed attempt to kill herself.

She shook her head in disbelief. "I told him this would happen, but he didn't believe me." She gave her best Edward impression. "'Bella promised. She's not going to do anything stupid. And don't be looking for her future either. We've done enough damage.'"

She sighed, putting two fingers to her temple. "But even if I'm not looking, sometimes I see things." She glared at Bella. "And I saw you deliberately attempting to bereave me of one of my few friends."

Bella's expression looked fit to cave in again, so Alice switched tactics. "Bella, I wasn't keeping tabs on you, I swear, but I'm already so attuned to you that...you're one of the people my gift automatically updates me on." She looked away and gulped in a breath of air before continuing. "When I saw you jump, I didn't think about it, I just got to the airport as fast as I could. I knew I would be too late, but I couldn't do nothing. And then I got here, thinking maybe I could help Charlie somehow, and you drive up." She shook her head, this time in confusion. She felt the strain on her voice as she spoke. "I saw you go into the water, and I waited for you to come up, but everything just went blank. What happened? And how could you do that to Charlie? Did you stop to think what this would do to him? And my brother? Do you have any idea what Edward—"

"Alice, I wasn't committing suicide."

Alice eyed her dubiously. "You mean you didn't jump off a cliff?"

"Oh, I did, but..." Bella grimaced, "It was for recreational purposes only."

Alice's jaw clenched. "Recreation?" she asked.

"I'd seen some of Jacob's friends cliff diving, and it looked like fun. And...I was bored."

Alice waited, pointedly.

"I wasn't expecting the currents to be so rough though. Actually, I didn't really think about the water at all.

Whatever girl, you're a very poor liar.

"So if you saw me go in, why didn't you see Jacob?"

Momentarily distracted, Alice cocked her head to the side.

Bella took the hint and kept talking. "It's true, I probably would have drowned, but Jacob jumped in after me. Actually, I think we can leave 'probably' alone; I would have. But he towed me back to shore and pulled me out.

Alice's frown deepened. "Someone pulled you out?"

"Yes, Jacob saved me."

Why didn't I see him then?

Maybe he came after the blackness.

Maybe he was the blackness.

Does that mean he's dangerous?

But she's still alive. He saved her.

I really hate fish.

He lives on the reservation, just like Leah.

I couldn't see her either.

Maybe I just can't see Quileutes?

But I saw her that one day, when she helped me.

Bella is staring at me.

What's that smell?

Alice leaned forward and intentionally brought in a whiff of the girl's odor. There was still the salty smell of the ocean, and the seductive smell of the girl's blood, but she had noticed something more; an intrusive and rotting scent like that of a wet dog.

The scents mixed suddenly with fear as Bella's human senses caught up with Alice's movements. Her heartbeat increased, having a vampire so close to her neck.

"Don't be absurd" Alice reassured her, sniffing again.

"What are you doing?"

"Who was with you out there just now? It sounded like you were arguing."

"Jacob Black. He's...sort of my best friend, I guess. At least, he was..."

Alice nodded. That smell might be connected to why I can't see them.

"What?" asked Bella.

"I don't know. I'm not sure what it means."

"Well...at any rate, I'm not dead."

Alice rolled her eyes. "He was a fool to think you could survive alone. I've never seen anyone so prone to life-threatening idiocy. And if Victoria is on the loose—"

Bella's face drained. "You know about her?" she asked.

"You called her name when you came in."

"Oh right."

"So if the currents were too strong for you, how did Jacob manage?"

"Jacob is...strong." Bella tried to avoid the question, but failed.

Alice waited with eyebrows raised as Bella thought something through.

"See, well, he's...sort of a werewolf" she admitted in a rush. "The Quileutes turn into wolves when there are vampires around. They know Carlisle from a long time ago. Were you with Carlisle back then?"

Alice gawked. If her heart had been beating, it probably would have skipped one.

"Well that explains the smell" she muttered as she got a hold on herself. "But does it explain what I didn't see?"

"The smell?" Bella sounded offended.

"You smell awful" Alice said, staring into the distance. She had never met a child of the moon before, but one of Carlisle's books pertained to them in brief. "A werewolf? Are you sure about that?"

"Very sure" Bella said. Then she winced. "I guess you hadn't joined the family yet the last time there were werewolves in Forks."

"No, I hadn't found them yet." Alice was still lost in thought. Then her eyes widened as a thought came to her. In a panic she rounded on Bella, letting the shock show on her face. "This werewolf is your best friend?" she asked.

Bella nodded, sheepishly.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Well, he's only been a werewolf for a few weeks."

Alice groaned. "A young werewolf then. Even worse. You certainly are a magnet for trouble."

"There's nothing wrong with werewolves."

"Until they get mad. You were supposed to be safe when the vampires left town."

"Tell that to Victoria. Jacob and his friends are what's been keeping me safe from her."

Alice stared at her.

Bella pointed at herself to clarify as she said "Danger magnet, remember?"

Alice groaned again. "Of course" she said. "Ok, how about if you start from the beginning and tell me everything."

Alice listened to Bella's even breathing. She was obviously asleep.

Cautiously and gracefully, she left the sofa and exited the house. Holding her phone carefully between her fingers, she punched in Charlisle's number. The phone rang several times before going to voice mail.

Alice sighed as she tried Jasper's phone. It had no reception.

Let's see if Tanya has hers turned on. She didn't.

Alice decided not to try Edward. He would be more likely to pick up, but still didn't know about the vision. Calling him out of the blue to say "Bella's fine" would surely read as "Bella accidentally got herself eaten by a pack of werewolves and then Victoria cleaned up what they missed."

Putting the phone back in her purse, Alice walked dejectedly back into the house. She settled herself back onto the couch, and watched Bella sleep.

Eventually she turned her head away, feeling like an intruder. And Edward used to do it for fun. What a dumb-ass.

Alice picked up the remote control and switched on the flat-screen. Predictably, the volume had been left up, but she lowered it quickly, hitting the button as soon as the touch would count again.

She didn't actually care much about the news, and she found concentration difficult. She could predict what most of it would say before it showed.

She busied herself instead with attempting to predict the futures of various people on the Quileute reservation. She did not know many by name, but that did not keep her from seeking them out.

Some of them, she found, presented clear futures, but the farther forward she looked the more of them were eaten up by the unyielding blankness which appeared to be caused by the werewolves.

At long last, she heard Charlie getting out of bed. She switched the television off and settled into a more comfortable pose so that she could pretend to be asleep.

She held her pose as his clumsy human feet creaked down the stairs. Admittedly, he was much quieter than his daughter.

He paused for a moment, looking at them, before continuing into the kitchen. Alice noted a look in his eye which she rarely saw in anyone. He looked as though he might cry, but not out of sadness. Not out of happiness either though. Relief was more the word that came to mind.

Alice waited until she smelled the coffee before she allowed herself to wake up. Leaving the couch again, carefully so as to give off a human appearance, she tiptoed into the kitchen. In reality, she intentionally made more noise than she would have if she had been sneaking in earnest.

Charlie looked up as she entered. "Hey," he said, "are you a coffee drinker?"

Alice grinned, despite herself. No, I'm a blood drinker. "I find coffee to be excessively bitter, but today I think I'll make an exception" she said.

Charlie nodded. "Cream?"

"Yes please."

Charlie pulled a box of serial out of the cupboard. "Help yourself to anything in the refrigerator. In the kitchen for that matter."

"I think I'll stick to coffee. Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me...tell me about Bella."

Charlie's expression fell into the sink as he leaned over it. "She's been better lately" he said. He launched into a mortifying tale of his daughter's despondency, and Alice listened with rapt attention. Edward is such a dumb-ass, she thought. Charlie's sorrow tugged at her heart, making it want to beat again.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?" she realized that she had spaced out.

"I asked you...oh never mind."

"No, ask me. If it's important, I want to answer you."

Charlie stared at the floor. "Why hasn't Edward even tried to contact her? Not a phone-call, not an email, nor a letter in the mail. Why did he pull up the roots like that?" The pain in the police chief's eyes was deeper than that in his voice.

Alice breathed a long, sorrowful sigh. She couldn't tell him the truth. But I can at least tell him something.

She looked up and knew that she had to.

"Charlie," she said, allowing her voice to warble, "I can't let you stay ignorant. But please understand that what I am about to tell you...divulging it could be considered treason."

Charlie blinked. "Divulge?" he asked, "Treason? Suddenly we're all legal and stuff."

Alice held his gaze without blinking.

"Alright," he said, "say I am curious enough to disregard that warning. Is it going to cause problems with the government?"

"Only if you breathe a word of it to anyone." A plan was coming to Alice. She knew which direction she would take it in.

"Ok, shoot."

She sighed and stared out the window. "Even now I'm only breaking protocol because the situation has turned out to be more dire than I was afraid. We had hoped that leaving Forks would keep Bella safe, but apparently we were wrong."

Charlie's eyebrows were high, and his eyes were wide. The fib was working.

"Charlisle, as you know, is not really our father. The fact is that we are all survivors of...well an experiment. It started as a cure for cancer, but then the scientists realized that it had other possibilities. Carlisle was the head scientist involved. Unwilling to try it on another human, he performed the...transformation, on himself."

"Transformation?"

"We've all been altered genetically to resist disease. He chose test subjects near the brink of death. He pulled each of us away from death's door. In some ways it's great, but then...there are side affects."

"Namely?"

"Unimportant to the conversation. The point is that it's a work in progress. It is not necessary that you know more than that. Anyway, the government keeps Charlisle moving around from secret base to secret base throughout the country. Forks was one of those. Small places with few prying eyes. He keeps at his research, and gets paid a lot for it. But there have been...information leaks. Other countries know we've got something going on here, and they want to know what." She looked at the floor. "Last spring, when Edward brought Bella to play baseball with us, we encountered...an agent. Suddenly our position was compromised. We had to get her out of here as fast as we could. That's why she couldn't let you drive her. She was really beaten up about what she had to say to you."

Charlie nodded, familiarity coming to his eyes. "That makes sense" he said.

"Yeah. The worst part was not being able to tell you. Anyway, Carlisle called in the cavalry, there was a skirmish, and things got nasty. The agent was killed and we thought our cover was restored, but as you know Bella was hurt. It was so bad that they had to make up a really outlandish cover story. You remember."

"I do."

"Anyhow, things were fine for a while, or so we thought, but then our supervisor discovered another threat. The higher-ups decided that it was time for us to move to the next facility, but since Bella's disappearance would cause a stir and she wasn't in danger this time it was decided that she would be left behind." Alice shook her head. "Edward broke so many rules by getting close to her. If she weren't so good at keeping secrets, it would have meant trouble long ago." She sighed. "I think that they really over-did it this time though. Coping with the pain of losing Edward must have been impossible for her. She couldn't confide in anyone without making them a party to any trouble in the future."

Charlie put his head in his hands. "I understand" he said. "It makes so much more sense now."

Alice saw that the coffee pot was full and poured a cup for each of them.

"I just have one more question" Charlie said, retrieving the creamer from the fridge.

"I might be able to answer it."

"Why did you come back now?"

Alice bit her lip. "One of the agents associated with our project...saw something that worried him" she said, haltingly.

"What was that?"

"He mistakenly believed that Bella had tried to kill herself. Mercifully, it turns out that he was wrong, but I didn't wait for confirmation; I just hopped on the first plane."

Charlie frowned. "What did she do?" he asked.

"She...she was engaging in dangerous recreational sports, let's put it that way and leave it there."

Charlie frowned. "How dangerous?"

"She won't do it again. I made her promise." Not that it stopped her the first time.

Charlie sipped his coffee. He liked his black. "So...are we in any danger here?" he asked.

"No, not at the moment. Bella has kept our secret, and the one spy who knew got shot. And then he got ripped to shreds. And then the shreds got burned. Needless to say, all evidence that he, or we, ever existed has been wiped from this part of the earth."

He grimaced. "Oh" he said.

Alice looked up. "I think Bella is awake" she said.