Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight saga or Twilight characters, I own only my characters and my own ideas.

Stress Relief

To say that I was seething would be a mild understatement. I was fucking pissed! I clenched and unclenched my jaw a good hundred times as I struggled to keep my temper in check. I was barely clinging onto a thread of sanity to keep myself from tearing my room into pieces in my rage, which I knew would be a bad idea altogether.

I needed to get outside. Now.

I bolted out of my room and out of the house as fast as I could, whipping past and nearly running over Jane and Riley. I didn't stop and went as far into the woods as possible before I unleashed an enraged roar and began pummeling everything in sight; trees, rocks, the ground, the air, anything that I could to release the pent up rage inside of me. Sometime later I eventually came to a stop and just collapsed on the ground, staring up at the sky in silence.

I felt like a child throwing a temper tantrum. I had probably looked like one too. Considering how old I was, I probably should have been ashamed of myself, but the underlying fact that I had just had my chance to get the truth out of Alice taken away from me, I felt that it was a worthy enough cause for me to be upset. I mean shit; at least I didn't go on a killing spree.

With my rage subsiding—I'd learned that getting out my anger as fast as possible was a saving grace because it made me feel better afterwards—I just laid on the ground, blank-faced. I wondered what to do with my time now. I would be leaving tomorrow morning for Alaska once again to see Amara and Kate, so there was at least some good news in store for me.

I still had a good half of a day left, though. But what in the hell could I do? I was too frustrated to go back to the house yet. I didn't feel like talking to anyone about anything, all I wanted to do was stay put and let my mind wander. I guess…I would just lay here for a while.

I sighed. "I swear, I feel like fate loves to toy with me."

But then, maybe it was just my luck that I should blame. Or maybe I should just blame Alice's crappy mother for walking in at the wrong moment and ruining our conversation. Her parents were so damn strict; it wouldn't surprise me that they would yell at her for using her own cell phone when she clearly had free time.

Those damned Brandons. They were always causing problems.

I shook away the thoughts and rubbed my temples. Hunting would be a good idea. Having fresh blood pouring down my throat would satiate me for my trip to Denali and it would definitely help calm my nerves a bit. Deciding that was better than lying around and moping, I got to my feet and sniffed the air for a potential meal. It didn't take me long to find one.

It was a mountain lion, surprisingly enough. I hadn't had mountain lion in a few months. I licked my lips and lunged for the overgrown cat, startling it. It crouched down and growled, but I grinned and pounced on top of the beast before sinking my teeth into the back of it's neck, easily piercing through its flesh to get what I wanted from it.

Its delicious blood began guzzling down my throat seconds after and I let out a quiet moan of pleasure as I drank the sweet liquid, growling once the lion had run out. I hated how blood was so damn good yet it ran out too fast with animals. I tossed the carcass aside once I'd finished and wiped my mouth for any spare blood droplets, pleased that there were none. Sometimes it could get rather messy when hunting, though it had more to do with the hunter than anything.

"Damn. Now what?" I asked myself, scowling. I was hoping to at least spend most of the day talking with Alice on the phone, but that plan had been ruined. I needed something to do to keep my mind off of Alice and to pass the time without going home yet.

My nostrils flared as I picked up on several familiar scents. I smiled almost instinctively and turned to see both Victoria and Jasper moving speedily towards me before coming to a complete stop, their eyes shining with delight. That delight became shock and surprise when they looked around at the destruction around them, which I had practically forgotten about.

"What the hell happened here?" Victoria asked. "Did a tornado hit?"

"A tornado named Bella, apparently," Jasper mused, lifting an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I scowled.

"I can feel a bit of tension and anger leaking off of you," Jasper said, crossing his arms. "Did something happen while we were gone?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "That's a silly question to ask, of course something did."

I pursed my lips. There was no sense in hiding what had happened. I had promised Riley that I would be more open and keeping secrets didn't feel right to me anyways. I'd been a hypocrite about that long enough and now that I needed help, that wouldn't be accepted anymore. No, I would need to be a better person if I wanted this to work in the end.

I took in an unneeded breath of air before I began explaining to them. "I gave Alice my cell number in class the other day and she gave me hers. We were going to call each other today and talk, which I planned on using as a chance to get to know more about her without putting her life in danger by being near me. It started off all well and good, but then…I asked her something that was really important to me and her mother ruined it."

Jasper and Victoria stared at me for a moment. They glanced at each other, then back at me, the startled expressions remaining on their faces.

"That's…that doesn't sound very pleasant," Jasper said at last, shaking his head. "I can understand why you would be upset seeing as how you were having a personal moment with your soon-to-be mate, Bella. I'm sorry it happened, for what it's worth."

I furrowed my brow. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" I inquired.

They shot each other a glance again and I was beginning to get a little annoyed.

"We're not used to you opening up that quickly," Victoria replied. "You're usually more to yourself when it comes to your personal business. I don't mean that as an insult, I'm actually rather happy that you told us. Pissed that your moment was ruined, though. But what do you expect from one of those damned Brandons?"

"I agree completely," I grumbled. "I'm still pissed."

An idea suddenly hit me, then.

"You've both hunted already, right?" I asked.

"We just got finished with it, yes," Jasper replied. "Is there something on your mind?"

I smiled. "I want to spar a little with you both, if you don't mind. I think that it could help get my mind off of my frustrations. Hell, it'd be a good training exercise for me, too. So what do you say, I don't mind either one of you to spar with, or both even."

"Ooh, a sparring match," Victoria crooned. "Count me in. I'm tired of fighting and beating up Jasper all the damn time, so someone new would be appreciated."

Jasper scoffed. "I beg your pardon, but we have an even score, darlin'."

"You and that southern drawl of yours," Victoria snickered, playfully elbowing him in the side as he scowled at her. "Oh relax, Jasper. You should be thankful you don't talk like that all the time or else Emmett, Rose and I would have a hoot teasing the crap out of you." She grinned. "It is a bit cute when it slips from time to time, but still."

"Don't sass me," Jasper sighed. "At any rate, I'll be more than happy to spar with you, Bella."

"Get in line, blondie," Victoria interjected. "I get her first, then you can have her."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Am I a sex object all of a sudden?"

Victoria grinned. "Only if you want to be, Bells."

I crouched down in a defensive position and held my hand out to beckon her to come at me.

"We'll see about that, fire-crotch," I chuckled. "How's about we wait to see just how good you are compared to me before we start getting into that, shall we?"

"This won't last long," she snorted.

"Bring it."

We lunged at each other and clashed, creating a powerful shockwave that rippled throughout the entire area that we were in, scaring away birds and small animals nearby. Our sparring match lasted for several hours with neither one of us bettering the other until the very end when Victoria managed to pin me to the ground with her teeth inches from my throat. She'd won.

I sparred with Jasper next and had to really work to keep up with him. Victoria had been going easy on me, I knew that much, mainly because it served as a warm up round. Jasper knew that too and wasted no time in kicking up our sparring to another level, moving faster, striking harder and not giving me a lot of room to maneuver. Luckily I was still the fastest member of the family and used my speed to my advantage in order to catch him by surprise a few times.

Even so, Jasper still ended up beating me, and in a shorter amount of time. I was a little discouraged that I'd lost twice in a row, but I pushed that aside because I knew that Jasper and Victoria were the best fighters in the family. Their experience was far better than mine was and sparring with them actually helped serve as a training method for me. So we went on.

The remainder of the day that had originally been meant for Alice and I to bond passed by as I fought against and subsequently lost to Victoria and Jasper in each round we had. Each new round they increased their output and I was forced to do the same. It pushed me to limits I didn't even know I had and I surprised myself at how well I managed to do.

We finished at the crack of dawn. I was on the ground, my body aching with several cracks on my chest, arms and face from all the damage I'd taken. I was breathing raggedly as I struggled to keep myself from falling unconscious, which was one of the weirdest feelings I've ever had. We vampires couldn't sleep, no, but we could fall unconscious if our bodies were overworked. It was usually a defense mechanism for our bodies to heal themselves. And right now, I needed it.

"Bella, we should stop," Victoria said. She was standing above me, her eyes jet black. She had stopped playing around and having fun with the sparring and gotten serious when my temper flared at my constant losing. Needless to say, if we did continue, we would likely be trying to kill each other instead of just trying to outmatch the other.

"I agree," Jasper croaked. He was in the same boat, though he was a bit more composed. He'd been using his gift to keep our tempers from flaring upwards too much. He was at his limit right now and I could tell by the strain on his face.

I stood up slowly, trying to keep my body steady. "Okay," I breathed. "No more."

Victoria and I locked eyes. A bit of the vampiric tension remained still, but I pushed it away and bowed to her, conceding that she was my better. I did the same to Jasper before smiling and falling backwards onto the ground, my body having finally reached its limitations. My vision slowly grew hazy and in seconds everything became black as night.

It was weird, being unconscious. I could still sense what was going on around me. I could feel that there were other beings around me, knowing deep down that they were not enemies. My instincts told me that it was safe to remain like this and heal. Were they enemies, my instincts would alert me to this fact and I would awaken immediately.

I felt like I was floating in a void of nothingness, like I was drifting right in the middle of two different realms, both of which were almost within my grasp. Broken images floated in front of my eyes, images of a girl with long brown hair that looked almost like me, but with different colored eyes and different skin. I saw her smiling; that she was happy.

The images changed. I saw her alone, holding her face and crying. Pained tears and blood. That image shattered like glass before my eyes and was replaced by an image of myself. Red eyes full of anger, regret, bitterness and disgust, glaring right back at me. It was a reflection of what I used to be and what I still was deep inside, a reflection of my soul.

Tears of blood flowed down my eyes that soon enveloped my reflection's form, replacing it by a different visage of myself, with golden eyes, a gentle face and a smile. There was hope shining in those eyes and determination that I had never felt before. Not only that, but there was warmth and a look of completion in them as well. It was so surreal.

I watched as my reflection began to morph. The long brunette hair started to shorten and darken as the rest of the body morphed. It shrunk a few inches, the face became different looking, the clothes, the smile, everything. It no longer looked like me when it was done. The girl in front of me flashed a beautiful smile, one of love and adoration. I felt like I knew her….wait…

"Alice?"

Her amber colored eyes gleamed. "Soon, Bella. Soon."

Her skin cracked. The image faded. And I was abruptly pulled back into reality.

My eyes opened and I found myself staring up at the ceiling of the living room. I blinked several times and sat up, running a hand through my hair. There was no pain and I felt as if I'd just got done feeding when in fact I hadn't. I looked around and noticed that I wasn't alone. Esme was sitting next to me and immediately pulled me into her arms the second I'd sat up.

"Oh Bella!" she sang, relief etched into her voice. "I'm so glad you're alright. When your siblings brought you home, I thought that someone had attacked you!" Her warmth and love flowed into my body and I relaxed into her arms, hugging her back tenderly. We stayed that way for a few minutes before Esme pulled me back and kissed my cheeks.

"Sorry mama," I murmured apologetically. "It got a little carried away…"

"A little? Young lady, you were out cold for four and a half hours!" Esme exclaimed.

I gaped. "That long? Shit, my flight!"

"Relax, sweetheart," Esme cooed. "You have more than enough time."

She smiled and kissed my forehead before setting me back down on the couch and pointing. I turned to see my other siblings all standing around, looking at me. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on two of the easy chairs, Jane was perched on Riley's lap as the latter sat on a third chair and Victoria and Jasper were standing near the stairway, leaning against the wall.

"We're sorry about what happened last night," Jasper told me, rubbing the back of his neck.

Victoria nodded sheepishly. "It was mostly my fault. I'm so sorry, Bella. I hope you can forgive me, I never meant for it to become that serious."

I noticed that they both looked more ragged than when I'd last seen them. The cracks on their skin that I had caused were healed, yes, but I noticed new ones there as well. They both looked like they'd been roughed up a bit and I immediately zeroed in on my blonde sister who sat with her arms crossed and a very displeased look on her elegant face.

Rosalie turned a glare on the apologetic redhead. "You'd best be thankful her injuries weren't more severe or I would've kicked your ass harder. What the fuck where you two idiots trying to do anyways?" she demanded.

"Rose…?" I furrowed my brow and looked between them. "What did I miss?"

"Rosalie smacked them around a bit," Emmett crooned, trying his hardest to hold in his laughter and appearing to be on the brink of losing it. "Funniest thing I've seen all week, I gotta say."

Jasper and Victoria both growled at him and Rosalie smacked him on the back of the head. He pouted at her and rubbed the back of his head, but chose to remain silent. I sighed. I knew Rosalie was protective of me, but she didn't have to go and beat on the two of them. If anything, I brought it on myself for wanting to spar in the first place.

"Rosalie, you should apologize to them," I said, standing up.

Rosalie frowned. "I'll do no such thing—"

"You will do such a thing," I interjected, putting my hands on my hips. "Because you love me and you love them both. And despite the fact that I appreciate how protective of me you are, it wasn't their fault for what happened. Not entirely, at least." They both shot me a look and I couldn't help grinning. "I wanted to spar with them to pass the time, so we sparred."

"That doesn't give them the right to pummel you until you can't move," she huffed.

I shrugged innocently. "Things got out of hand. We're vampires, Rose. It happens."

"Fine!" she huffed again. She turned her head toward Victoria and Jasper. "I'm sorry for losing my cool and beating you two up. I realize that I overreacted. I also realize that you both accepted my punishment for hurting Bella, so I know that you both felt guilty for what happened. And I know that if it had been a real fight, my ass would've been demolished. So thanks and sorry."

"You stink at apologizing," Victoria commented. "But we accept it regardless."

Jasper gave a wry smile. "This time at least, we do. Who's to say about the next time?"

"Oh spare me," Rosalie rolled her eyes. She turned her head back to face me, her silky blonde hair whipping in the air and nearly into Emmett's face. "You had best not do something stupid like that again or it'll be your ass that I kick, understand?" She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at me to emphasize her point, but I knew her far too well.

"Rosalie, the day you ever hurt me is the day that Hell freezes over," I pointed out. "You are as whipped to me in a non-romantic way as Emmett is whipped to you in a romantic way, and don't either of you try to deny the fact because we all know otherwise."

Rosalie glared at me and Emmett hung his head, knowing that I spoke the truth. Everyone else in the house including Esme burst into a fit of laughter. Rosalie crossed her arms petulantly, not willing to admit to the fact, but I could see the small smile cracking on her face.

I stopped when I realized that I had a flight to catch. "I should get going."

"We should get going," Jane piped. "You forget that Riley and I are going with you?"

"Oh. Right, I forgot that you were going with me, sorry." I shrugged. "So are you two ready to get going to the airport?" I blinked and realized that I wasn't ready. "Crap, I should go and get ready myself. Damn it, I haven't even packed yet…"

Rosalie stood up and smirked as she pecked my cheek. "That, my dear Bella, is where you are wrong, because I took the liberty of packing a few things for you; a spare change of clothes, your precious music, your cell phone and a few other essentials just in case."

"What would I do without you Rose?" I asked, shaking my head in relief. "Wait, don't answer."

She snorted. "I think we both know that you'd go crazy without me around to help. But enough about why I'm amazing, go on and get going to the airport." She pressed her lips to mine for a brief second, then hugged me. "Give Tanya and the others my regards, will you? We really will have to plan an occasion where we can all get together. It's always fun."

I rolled my eyes when she pulled away. "Rose, you do realize that going away with Emmett to have sex for twelve hours isn't really a good excuse for not going, right? I wouldn't be surprised if Kate zapped you for your crappy excuses."

"I think it's a good excuse," Emmett chuckled. "You guys could all learn from our example. We have this awesome list of different positions to try out and it's totally awesome. Man, the stories I could tell from our experiences…"

"We don't need to hear that!" Victoria hissed.

"Why not? It's better than your boring sex life!" Emmett guffawed.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked, quietly growling.

Emmett shrugged innocently. "It's the truth and you know it. C'mon Jazz, how many houses have you and Vicky destroyed when you were getting it on? Rose and I are on the top at seven houses total, not to mention all the craters we've created. I bet you anything we could've done a much better job at making the Grand Canyon."

"So what if you destroyed more stuff during sex?" Victoria asked. "You don't have the ability to channel your emotions when you're in the act, unless my Jasper. That makes the pleasure one hundred times better than anything you could do, you overgrown ape."

"Oh yeah, well—"

"Children, please!" Esme interjected. "I don't really wish to know about your sex lives and I'm certain that your siblings don't want to hear about them either. If you're going to argue, do so outside where I don't have to listen to it, okay? Either way, Victoria is right, Emmett, causing unneeded destruction of my homes does not equal better sex."

He pouted and Rosalie patted him on the head. "Our sex is awesome, Em. Remember—"

"Agh! Enough sex talk! Jane, Riley, let's get the hell out of here!" I shouted.

Jane nodded curtly. "Fine by me. I'll go grab our stuff."

She hopped off of Riley's lap and blurred up the stairs, reappearing a few seconds later with two decent sized suitcases, one in each hand. She handed me the one in her left and I took it, smiling politely at her for getting it for me. The three of us quickly said our goodbyes to our family members before their "sex talk" got any worse, then bolted out the house.

Riley went to grab his car, a rather nice, older car that Rosalie enjoyed working on in her spare time, and drove it out. Jane and I each got in after throwing our luggage in the trunk and then Riley drove off to the airport. I wasn't worried anymore since with the way my family and I drove we'd be there in minutes. I just hoped that this whole trip would help me out.

"It's good we got out of there when we did," Riley chuckled. "I don't think I want to know what sorts of things that Rosalie and Emmett do during their private moments."

"Me neither," I groaned, rubbing my temples. "How can they be so casual about it? Sex is supposed to be a beautiful, wonderful thing in which two lovers become one being, not some competition to see how good it can be."

Jane and Riley looked at each other, then at me, then returned to facing forward.

"Bella, you sound like someone born in the 19th century," Jane commented.

I frowned. "That's because I was, Jane. So were the two of you. What's your point?"

"Old fashioned thinking isn't really around much nowadays," Riley informed me. "Most humans don't think like that and the ones that do are usually older or raised in strict households. In today's world, love making can be done at random and isn't always between lovers. In fact, there are cases where it's performed simply for pleasure or because it can be."

"Haven't you and Rose done it before?" Jane inquired. "You're not lovers."

"That's…different," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "That wasn't sex as much as it was us…helping each other out to get rid of unneeded needs." Jane turned around and arched an eyebrow as an amused smirk formed on her face. Riley was smirking too, though he was trying to hold his smirk in. I bit my lip. "What? Give me a break, that was a long time ago. We haven't had any sexual stuff happen between us since then, sheesh."

"I bet you can't wait to get in bed with Alice," Jane snorted. "Of course, from what Rose told me you've got zero knowledge on sex." She paused and sneered. "I think it'd be fucking hilarious to see you struggle with knowing what to do with her, actually."

I glared at her. "Shut up, Jane. I know more than you think."

"Oh? Then what spots—"

Riley coughed. "Jane, leave our sister alone. She's going through a hard time right now and I don't think your jesting is doing her much good. Besides, for all we know, she could be more knowledgeable than the rest of us give her credit for. We'll never know."

I crossed my arms and huffed silently while Jane giggled. I thought about making some jab at their private life, but I decided to hold my tongue. There was no sense in being immature about it…right now, anyways. Maybe once we were in Denali I'd get her back. I sat in silence with my eyes closed, thinking about Alice. She consumed my thoughts as of late, but I was glad for it.

Thinking about Alice gave me something to strive towards. To be a better person, to become a stronger vampire and to make sure that when we got together, I would be able to be by her side without being tempted by her blood and protect her from harm. There was also the fact that she would need to be turned at some point. I couldn't very well be her mate if she aged and died from old age or something of that nature. I'd be heartbroken.

The image that I saw of Alice when I had been unconscious had been her as a vampire, or at the very least what my mind believed would be her. It made sense. She was even more beautiful than she already was, with golden amber eyes and a warm smile. Her hair had been shorter, funnily enough, so I wondered if that was my conscience's way of telling me something. Oh well.

I wondered what my Alaskan cousins had in store for me when I got there. I knew Amara and Kate decently well enough to know that they were both full of surprises and that they were both far from being shy when it came to their love life. They were both flirty by nature, since Kate had openly flirted with me before Amara came along.

I didn't know the tall redhead as well as I knew Kate. And even then, I didn't know Kate all that well aside from the fact that Carlisle and Esme had been friends of her sister's. I wouldn't mind getting to know more about them. It would be nice to have some more vampire friends. That would be a secondary goal of mine on this trip, the primary being getting advice.

"We're here," Riley announced, bringing me out of my thinking process.

"C'mon, we still got a good while before our flight leaves," Jane stated.

I nodded and got out, grabbing onto my suitcase as Riley grabbed onto his and Jane's. I could tell that Jane was mildly displeased by this, not because Riley was being a gentleman but because it would look bad if she carried the suitcase while Riley didn't. She hated that stereotype, but because we wanted to appear as normal as possible, she dealt with it.

We made our way into the airport, blowing past the check in and security with ease. Being able to charm the pants—not literally, thank God—off of just about every human proved to be an asset for our family and I'll admit, I'd gotten pretty darn good at it. Several male employers and even a few non-employers offered to help me with my "heavy" suitcase, but I brushed them off as politely as I could muster. It did get annoying after a while, but I kept myself in check.

Of course Jane teased me about it while we walked to find our boarding zone.

"See any cute guys, Bella? I'm sure they'd come running if you pretended to fall," she giggled, clearly enjoying herself. I rolled my eyes and thought about smacking her in the back of the head Rosalie style to shut her up.

"Jane…" Riley sighed. He shook his head. "Here I used to think that the women were always the mature ones in a relationship. Yet surprisingly enough, that is far from being true."

I snickered. "You and Jasper have that in common as well."

"Don't remind me," he grumbled.

Jane huffed. "I am not that immature, thank you. Victoria, yes, me, no. Don't you dare say otherwise mister, or else!"

"Or else what?" Riley asked, cocking his head to the side. "You wouldn't be threatening the man that you love with your whole heart, now would you? That's not very nice at all, Jane. I am no Emmett and you are no Rosalie, so there's no reason for that."

"Guys, cut it out," I laughed. People started standing and shuffling onto the plane. It was time.

"Whatever," Jane grumbled. Riley patted her shoulder as the three of us walked onto the plane and situated ourselves in first class seats.

I pulled out my cell phone from my pocket and was surprised to see that I had a text message that I had not seen before. Curiously, I opened the text and saw that it was from Alice. She'd sent it last night at some point in time, likely when I was unconscious. It was only three words long, but it brought an endearing smile to my face and warmed my dead heart.

Be safe Bella.

A/N: D'aw, how sweet of her. Don't you agree?

Some of you may be confused by what you read earlier when Bella was unconscious. So I shall explain that.

What you saw above was the equivalent of a vampire dreaming. Because they cannot sleep in full, they don't have full dreams, but instead they see images. Sometimes the images that they see move, like a moving picture book, if you will. Not all vampires experience it the same way, though. Sometimes they see more vibrant images, other times they see only one image and that's it. It all depends on the vampire and the life they've lived. I'd always intended for my vampires to recover health through entering their trance like state, an idea that I got when I read The Inheritance Series (for those that know it). I plan on using it from here on out.

Another thing, the tears of blood is supposed to be a metaphorical thing. One of those "the author has to explain it or else you'd never know" type stuff. It is essentially the blood from all the humans that Bella killed over the years. She cries the tears out and that gives way to the newer Bella with golden eyes. I thought it was cool. I may go in depth with that in the future, but for now I decided to let ya'll know. And yes, that means my vampires do cry. Just blood instead of actual tears.

That ends yet another installment of Broken Aurora. The next chapter will be a bit humorous because it involves Amara and Kate. You never know what to expect when Amara's involved other than her usual potty mouth. :P This version of Amara is slightly different than the one that was seen in Blood Solstice. It's nothing major, mind you, just a few minor changes in her history and personality. She's not with Jasper, after all. ;)

Random note, the dreaming/trance healing aspects are things that I want to put in my original novel (if I ever get around to writing it). This was a test to see how it came out.

Until next time.