A/N: First of all, I have a picture of Bella's dress on my profile.

Second of all, thank you for the reviews. It still astounds me how many good ones there are compared to bad ones.

This is for Manda: Don't worry, the ring is important. And by the way, I didn't cast it aside; it is still very much in the story, as you will see by reading this and the next chapter. And, for your information, the next chapter is the one you've been looking for. I hope that I didn't fall under your expectations. Thank you for your back handed compliments.

Now, to everyone else, this chapter is a couple days after the last chapter ended.

Please read and review!

Enjoy!

Chapter 14-Sound Minds

I was sitting in a large golden cushy chair. I ran my hand over the material and marveled as I felt each furry strand brush against my outstretched fingers. I could see the shadow of each fiber being thrown by the early morning light pouring in through the clear glass window.

Nervously, I pulled on the dress that Alice had given me.

It was a simple cut dress with a little shaping around the waist. It was white with a pattern of black circles. There was a black suede ribbon that worked around the low, for my taste, cut top. The straps were thin and made of the same black ribbon. The bottom flowed down in simple curves and kissed my knees. It was loose and Alice had said that it fit me perfectly, but under these circumstances, it felt like a straight jacket.

I stretched my feet out and heard an unhealthy squeak. When I looked down, I saw that the half-inch heels on my shoes had left two long dents in the highly polished wood floor.

I glanced around quickly, the door was closed and no body was in the office. As quick as was inhumanly possible, I covered the spot with the small brown carpet just under my chair, and then pushed the chair up to cover the spot.

I fell back into my seat just as gracefully as a marinate with it's strings cut. The dress whooshed up around my legs and gently floated back to lie on my knees, quite the opposite of what I was feeling.

Quickly, I tuned into Edward's power, trying to hear if anyone knew what I'd just done.

Emmett and Rosalie were, well, being Emmett and Rosalie. I would be forever scared by what they were thinking, especially Emmett's creepily vivid mental pictures. Ew.

Esme was sitting in the living room, trying to decide if the new drapes looked better or worse than the last ones.

Carlisle was blocking his thoughts, either from Edward or me since he was talking to Edward at the moment.

I tried to listen in on their conversation through Edward's mind, but he was chanting a poem, never a good sign, especially since it was a poem that I'd written. The melancholy words echoed through my mind.

We have love,

We have hate,

These are feelings,

There are many.

We have heard of emotions,

Although we don't feel any.

We have lives,

We have homes,

We have enough that we cope,

But what we are missing,

In abundance,

Is hope.

I chanted the sad words again and again, remembering how ignorant I was when I'd written it.

I was startled out of my reverie when Alice started laughing at me. Her chime like laugh bounced around my head in an annoying fashion.

Bella, what happened to the floor? I could hear that squeak, I'm just below the study, you know.

I grimaced and stuck my tongue out, even though she couldn't see it. I hope she didn't tell an-

Bella, you have to stop being so nervous. Jasper's calm "voice" rang in my ears. You'll end up breaking something if you don't calm down.

Ok, that's it. I sent as much ecstasy at him and Alice. As soon as their thoughts started reflecting the forced emotion, I sent a tsunami of lust and happiness through the floorboards.

I removed my presence from the room as soon as they took it into their own hands.

A disgusted shiver worked through my spine. Ew, another scaring moment.

I tried to pull away from Edward's power, but Alice was screaming at me as loud as she could. I clutched the arms of the chairs, not realizing that I'd pulverized them until my fingers started digging into my palms.

"Oh crap." I whispered to myself.

Each arm had large tears through the fabric with stuffing come out of each one. The wood base on the inside had dents that were the exact size as the inside of my hand. I moved my fingers away from the arms and part of the wood base feel off the chair as a clump of wood chips, pulling out even more stuffing.

"ALICE!" I yelled, stomping my foot, probably creating yet another dent in the expensive flooring.

"Yes?" she said in a singsong voice. I turned to the doorway and saw her leaning against the frame, arms crossed and a huge smile plastered across her face.

"You…chair…stuffing…you…FAULT!" I spluttered, so angry that I couldn't even form a sentence. I gestured at the chair, and Alice turned towards it with a mock frown.

"Now Bella," she chastised me, "you have to be better with your temper. We wouldn't want anything else to be damaged, now would we?"

I glared at her, wanting to rip the smirk right off her contemptuous face. This was strange for me, I tended to be non violent, but Alice was just so aggravating right now. I needed to…

I formulated a plan, but quickly changed my mind when I saw Alice go into a vision. I changed my mind multiple times and smirked at Alice.

"Bella, whatever you're planning, it won't work. I'll be sure of that."

I plopped back into the broken chair and admired my ring in the lighting, trying to look indifferent. "Oh I'm sure you'll figure it out, Alice. You're just so good at that," I glanced up at her, giving a sincere smile. She watched me suspiciously, but walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Yes, I thought, this would work.

I looked down at my ring again, trying to remember how I'd existed without it. This ring was a part of me, I wasn't complete without it. I smiled, remembering when Alice and Jasper had given it back to me.

I had been sitting in my room, looking out the window watching the birds fly away.

"Bella?" Someone had called out to me. "Are you in there?" I knew it was Alice calling, so I sent her a rush of happiness and waited for her to enter.

Alice walked up to me with Jasper quietly in tow.

"What's up?" I'd asked. She just smiled at me and sat down on the couch. I turned towards her and watched as she pulled a small blue box from her pocket. She dropped it into my open palm and watched as I opened it.

Sitting on the folds of cloth was my ring, freshly polished and shining. I felt a pull as I stared at it.

Carefully, I picked it up and slipped it onto my finger. A feeling of unity filled me, alerting me to the hole that I'd had before.

I smiled up at Jasper and Alice thanking them profusely.

"Bella, do you know what amethyst and platinum symbolize?" Jasper asked. I shook my head no, so he explained.

"When amethyst and platinum are mixed, the two qualities of both come together and strengthen the other. A mixture of the two would create wisdom, protection, clarity of thought, power, calm emotions, and strength."

I smiled, this ring had helped me with all of those.

"But probably the most interesting would be it's strongest quality," Jasper continued, "Platinum helps people embrace their physical destiny, while amethyst helps people embrace their spiritual destiny. When combined, the mixture helps people end their past's and start their future's." Jasper smiled at me and left with Alice, leaving me alone with my exuberant thoughts.

Now, my ring sparkled merrily in the light. I heard foot steps in the hall and the door open behind me. Carlisle walked in and sat behind his desk, examining the chair that I was sitting in.

"Should I ask?" he said.

"Alice," I whispered. Understanding lightened his face and he nodded.

"So Bella, what can I do for you?"

I sat up straighter and rubbed my ring in a nervous gesture.

"Well, I want to know about this ring. It's done some pretty crazy stuff."

Carlisle smiled up at me and said, "I've been waiting for you to ask."