Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its lovely characters. I am just playing in SM's universe.
Esme shook her head "No, Tanya would never do this. She simply can't…Kate is her own sister!"
Chapter 12: Problems
Suddenly Edward whipped his head and looked over my shoulder, a blank expression on his face. I frowned and turned around and saw that Alice was just standing there, doing nothing, with a blank expression on her face. I looked back at Edward. He had frozen completely and his expression told me that whatever Alice was seeing wasn't good. My voice trembled a little as I spoke.
"Wha..what Edward..what is Alice seeing?"
Alice answered me instead as she snapped out of her vision "The Denalis…something is wrong with them."
I just stared.
Esme and Carlisle flitted to Alice's side as she said that. Alice was staring at Edward with a fearful expression on her face. They were communicating silently. Carlisle placed a hand on Alice's shoulder
"Alice, what did you see?" His face was calm however his eyes were full of worry and unspoken fears. The Denalis were like a second family to us.
Alice turned to face Carlisle. By now everyone was here and Jasper came to stand beside Alice and took her hand in his own.
"I saw a vision just now, Kate, Garrett, Carmen and Eleazer are coming this way, but Tanya is not with them. Kate and Carmen were very distressed …they will be here in one hour."
Esme frowned "What do you mean Tanya was not with them?" She turned to Carlisle with fearful eyes "Do you think something happened to…" she trailed off.
Carlisle looked equally concerned "Let's hope that it's just a minor problem."
Alice looked doubtful "I think something is seriously wrong, Carlisle. They looked very unhappy and distressed…" she looked at Edward for confirmation and he nodded.
The Denalis were coming here; probably they were in some danger…but from what? Involuntarily the thought of Volturi came into my mind. I had always associated the Volturi with danger.
Esme spoke up "We should probably just go inside and wait for them to come."
Alice's eyes glazed over for a moment and she nodded "Yes, they will come from the northwest direction and will catch our trail…..no they have already caught it. They will be here soon."
Everyone rushed inside and I saw that Renesmee was sketching over a piece of paper. She looked up at me and smiled when she saw me looking at her sketch. I turned it around and gasped. Renesmee had sketched me, Edward and Jacob and with startling clarity and precision. It looked like some grown up artist had drawn it. She had sketched our faces only and over them she had written the words "FOREVER, FOREVER, FOREVER a family."
My eyes started to prickle and I picked up Renesmee and hugged her tightly.
"Your drawing is beautiful, Renesmee. You are going to be an artist one day. You are a perfectionist, just like you dad."
Edward came up beside me and smiled at the drawing with an amazed look in his eyes. He still looked a little worried about Alice's vision, but he hid it well. He took us both into his arms and whispered in my ear, "Forever, indeed."
Everyone sat in the living room, waiting for the Denalis to show up. Esme and Carlisle looked very worried and even Alice looked restless. After about fifty minutes, Alice looked up with wide eyes and cocked his head towards his right. Alice got up suddenly,
"They are here." she said and ran outside. We all went after her. I took Edward's hand in my own and handed Renesmee to Rosalie who was behind us. If some danger was coming, we were here to protect her. I mentally prepared myself to put up my shield at the slightest sign. Alice came to a stop near the woods that started behind our house. After a few seconds I was able to hear soft footsteps that were running towards us with full speed. I knew they were the Denalis but my vampire instincts kicked in and I slid into a slight crouch.
After a few seconds more Kate burst in through the canopy of trees closely followed by Garrett, Carmen and Eleazer. As she saw us she gave a cry of relief and flung herself at Carlisle and Esme and started sobbing tearlessly. Everyone looked bewildered except Alice who was staring at nothing with a blank face, trying to see our immediate future and Edward who was looking at Kate with a concerned and focused expression.
Esme was wide eyed as she smoothed out Kate's hair and put a hand on her shoulder "Kate, what's wrong? Where is Tanya?" she asked her in a concerned voice.
Rosalie started backing off with Renesmee in her arms and went to stand beside Emmett who stepped in front of her with a protective stance, glancing here and there for any signs of danger. Garrett was standing beside Kate with a hardened face. His eyes were golden this time and it was a pleasant change but now was not the time to appreciate it.
Kate somehow managed to control herself and finally spoke "Ta-Tanya went away, Esme! She left us!"
Edward stood very still with a blank expression on his face. I squeezed his hand but he hardly acknowledged it. Carlisle spoke up this time in a tense voice "What do you mean she left you?" He looked over at Eleazer and Carmen for an explanation as Kate was not in a state to speak. She slumped over to the ground and Garrett sat beside her and put a hand around her shoulders as she sobbed tearlessly.
Eleazer and Carmen came forward. Eleazer had a grim expression on his face while Carmen looked distressed. Eleazer spoke in a composed voice "Well Carlisle, Tanya went hunting saying that she would stay nearby and would be back in an hour or two. When she didn't show up even after 10 hours, we all went to look for her and we followed her trail…" Here he hesitated a little and looked at Kate and then at Carmen who continued after this.
"Well when we followed her trail, it lead us over to the mountains on the eastern side which is quiet far away from our home. There was a note which was pinned to the tree…..it said…well here it is."
She handed a note to Carlisle who took it with a bewildered look on his face. He read it aloud for all of us.
"Dear Kate, Carmen, Eleazer and Garrett, I am very sorry that I have to do this but I cannot stay with you anymore. I was thinking the other day about the dangers that I would have to face if I stay with you. I don't want to be the next Irina. Kate, I am so sorry to abandon you, my own sister like that but it's a necessary step. I am going to create my own universe, stay happy in yours. I am sorry everyone, goodbye."
There was a stunned silence as Carlisle finished reading the note. Esme shook her head "No, Tanya would never do this. She simply can't…Kate is her own sister!" She took the note from Carlisle's hand and re-read it with a disbelieving expression. Rosalie inched forward and read the note over Esme's shoulder.
"Esme, this is Tanya's writing. I could recognize it anywhere." Rosalie said in a tense voice.
Garrett stood up in one fluid motion and glared at the ground. "She betrayed us. She ran off!"
Kate just whimpered from her place on the ground. Carlisle then took charge of the situation and he helped Kate stand up.
"Come on everyone, let's get inside, there you tell us everything in detail."
I looked at Alice. She sported a pinched face look like she was in pain. Every now and then she rubbed her temples and muttered under her breath. I went over to her.
"What is it Alice?" I asked her in a concerned voice. Jasper looked over at us but didn't move from his place near Carlisle. He was helping Kate to calm down. She looked up at me with a frown.
"I can't see. Whenever I try to focus on Tanya, the future just blurs and blinks out. It's like watching a TV channel with a very bad reception." She said in a tired voice. I frowned. Usually that happened with Alice when she had to see around Renesmee or the wolves. This wasn't normal for sure.
I walked back to Edward and linked my hand through his and we all headed inside. Jasper had managed to calm Kate down and she walked back with us quietly with Garrett who had an arm around her waist. We all went to the living room and sat down. Carlisle spoke up.
"I am sure you must have followed Tanya's trail as far as it went. Where did it lead you?"
"It lead us to the tree where the note was pinned. After that it became very difficult to follow her trail, we ended up roaming around in circles and came back to where we started from." Eleazer said with a slight frown on his face.
"Alistair" Edward said suddenly in a flat voice.
"Pardon?" Carlisle said. Edward looked at him and said
"Carlisle, it was Alistair. I got a good look at how his gift works. He can make himself and his trail undetectable and whoever is in any physical contact with him too becomes invisible and impossible to track."
Kate, who was under Jasper's influence, spoke in an unusually calm voice "Alistair? What does Alistair …..? I mean why does he need Tanya?"
Edward gave her a cold smile "Didn't you hear? He has joined the Volturi."
There was a stunned silence as the Denalis digested this piece of information. Finally Kate spoke in a slightly trembling voice "It's all my fault…if I had gone with her…..oh Tanya…I am so sorry..."
Garrett pulled her closer and said "But why does the Volturi need Tanya? What do they want?"
Carlisle frowned and shook his head "We don't know why they are doing this….." He glanced over at Alice who was still rubbing her temples and trying to concentrate. I went towards Rosalie and extended my arms for Renesmee. She carefully handed her to me and I hugged her closer. I went back to stand beside Edward who was looking down at me with a pained face. I looked back at him as he hugged me closer. I knew this would happen…..that this would start again….but this soon? Just one year after I finally found peace in my perfect universe? But I was ready….ready to fight till death to save my family, my love and my daughter.
Hey guys sorry I took so much time in posting the next chapter…..and that too a short one I am sorry I will try to post more soon next time and longer chapters. I was experiencing a writer's block :/
Reviews are greatly appreciated and I would be more than glad to hear from you guys on what you think could happen next thanks. :D