Chapter 25

"BELLA! Bellabellabellabella!" Hurricane Alice sang as she flew down the stairs, and pranced to a stop in front of me and Edward on the couch.

I buried my head in Edward's chest and groaned. These waves of excitement -I didn't need even Jasper to notice them- could only be the sign of utter chaos and possibly slight trauma in the near future.

"What?" I mumbled into his chest, he chuckled.

"How familiar are you with the art of ice skating?" I peeked out from my hiding place to see her face about rip off from a bright smile. She was practically vibrating.

"Why would you have to ask that? You of all people should know the answer to that question, Alice. I have completely avoided the sport in fear of slicing someone's head off. Plus, I grew up in Phoenix."

"Well, that's too bad. Because I have decided that we are going ice skating today." She clapped her little hands at a rapid pace, it sounded kind of funny. Like popcorn popping at an unnatural rate.

"Alice, I can't skate. I don't know how," I admitted, trying desperately to get out of this train wreck to be.

"Psh. No problem. What better people to teach than those who have been skating for decades? And, you won't have to worry about slicing anyone's head off."

I groaned again, out of defeat.

"Is there even a lake out here in this magical forest of yours?" I asked her as she bounced with joy a little more.

"A long ways away." Edward answered.

"But we have this wonderful, nice sized river right outside our back door." Alice said enthusiastically.

"Rivers don't freeze all that well, though. No body of water bigger than a puddle freezes in Forks."

"Au contraire, mon amie," Alice contradicted in a flawless French accent and a devious smile.

"Oh, I see where this is going," I said.

"Yup! They sure do when your best friend is a mermaid!"

I sighed and heaved myself off of Edward's lap. "Okay, let's go." Alice squealed a little more and flitted off to open the big glass door leading to the river. Edward followed behind us.

I grabbed my coat and slipped on some boots before I walked into the cold January air and looked at the icy river. "I don't know if I can freeze all that. The only thing I have ever froze are balls of water. Not a moving river that is at least 15 feet in width."

"It's not that big, maybe like 14 feet. Come on, you can do it!" Alice encouraged.

I huffed out a breath. "Fine."

Alice let out a squeal of glee and called everyone outside.

"Alright, here it goes."

I took a deep breath and concentrated on the rushing river. I raised both of my palms and flattened them, ready to freeze some river. Then I flexed my palms and saw a good chunk of the river freeze right before my eyes. It was weird. The ice started in the middle and quickly advanced out to the river banks. Soon enough, a thick glassy layer of ice covered the river by the house.

"Holy crow! I did it! Edward, did you see that!" I am freakishly excited if you can't process those hints. Applause from my family echoed throughout the forest.

"I did, you are incredible, Bella." He had a beaming grin plastered on his face as he kissed my cheeks, which were rosy with exhilaration.

"Holy crap! Ice skating! I hope my skates are still in tact from last time… Who's up for an enhanced game of hockey!" Emmett ran off with Jasper before anyone could answer.

"Oh Bella! This will be so much fun! The last time we went ice skating was in the '70's when we lived in Iceland. Let's go put on our skating outfits Rose!" Alice grabbed Rosalie's hand and darted off at hyper pixie speed.

Carlisle was looking back and forth, from the ice, then to me. "Hmm, it seems that your powers are much more advanced than we thought. We will have to play around with that later." A smile grew on his face. "Right now, this family deserves a little fun."

Edward and I laughed. "Come on, let's get you some skates." Edward said and scooped me up in his arms. He ran to the garage and set me on the counter. Emmett and Jasper were in here to, going through the cabinets.

Edward opened one to the left and pulled out a pair of shiny, white, and slightly used figure skates. "These are Esme's. They should fit you just fine."

"Esme isn't going to skate?" I asked a little disappointed.

"No, she will watch from the sidelines though." He loosened the ties on one skate. The blade was shiny, sharp, and just waiting to slice a finger off. I gulped loudly.

Edward looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think it's a very good idea to put these shiny blades of death on my feet. I can practically see the catastrophe lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump out at me and unleash all it's wrath on the unsuspecting victims."

He smirked. "The only thing that would get hurt are those murderous blades though."

I shook my head. "It's not you I'm worried about."

Edward cupped my face in his large hand and leaned in, his icy breath blowing in face. "I would never let that happen."

"I know." I think that's what I said… His lips met mine before I could figure it out. I melted into his arms as his mouth moved with mine. My hand went to his face, caressing his cheek. I felt his own hand cover mine, keeping it there.

A loud clang echoed through out the garage as the ice skates fell from his grasp. A cat call followed it. "You guys gonna come skate? Or are you just going to make out here the garage all day long? It's a great place and all, though. Whoo hoo, let me tell you, Rosie and I once-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Edward demanded, suddenly breaking away.

Emmett backed up with his hands raised, a smug smirk planted on his face. Edward gave him a look.

Emmett laughed and picked up a large bag. "Let's go interrupt Alice's fancy ice pirouettes with a couple of flying pucks, Jazzy boy!"

Jasper smiled and shook his head as he followed him out. "Just remember, Em, we have a limited supply of pucks."

I turned my head back to Edward and raised a brow. "Do I want to know what just happened?"

"Oh God, no." We both laughed. He rested his forehead against mine, a crooked grin on his face. "I love you."

I kissed his nose in response and smiled gently. "I love you, too."

He pulled back and held up the pair of demon skates. "Why don't we put these on now." He kneeled to the floor to put a skate on.

"Because it could be fatal to the condition of my body." I said jokingly… sort of.

He looked up at me and laughed. "You know, that wasn't really a question but more of an expression."

"Oh I know. But the opportunity was right there to get across my point that there may be blood shed."

Edward just chuckled and continued on with my skates.

"Come on, Bella! The ice won't bite you!" Alice yelled as she twirled and jumped in her sparkly little dress.

I stood at the very edge of the glassy ice, the blades of my skates firmly planted in the inch of wet snow on the ground.

I looked out on the frozen river. Alice and Rosalie were spinning with Olympic gold medal and beyond skill. Emmet, Jasper, and Carlisle were hitting a vampire ready puck around.

"Whoo! I feel so Canadian!" Emmet yelled as the puck flew into the net. Jasper and Carlisle laughed.

Edward was in front of me on the frozen river. He looked at me with an encouraging smile, his arms out stretched, beckoning me to come forward. It was a very tempting offer, indeed. But then I remembered the ice and had the visions of myself gracefully landing on butt and splitting my skull in two. I eyed those magical little cloth blade protectors.

"I won't let you fall, Bella. I will keep my arms around you the entire time." There he goes again, making me all weak kneed and succumb to his every attempt to dazzle me into doing something.

"Hey, not fair with the cheating!" I said sorta teasing, but mostly serious.

He laughed and that smile of his appeared on his face, and his butterscotch eyes were smoldering. My mind went blank and I forgot how to breath. Darn you gorgeous, cheating boyfriend of mine!

"Yo, Bella!" Emmet bellowed from the other side of the river, snapping me out of my momentary comatose state. "You going to stay in lala land over there, while you and Edward make goo-goo eyes at each other, or get your butt on the ice and have some fun?" He teased. I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed.

"Come on, Bella! Bella, Bella, Bella!" Now they were all chanting my name, cheering for me to step onto cold glass of my impending doom. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks.

I looked back at Edward, still in front of me. His arms inviting me to come curl up in them. "You can do it, love. I won't ever let you fall."

His previous promise of never letting me go popped into my mind. I bit my lip as I prepared to put out foot out. It must have taken to long though. Because Edward's form retreated one step. I looked confused.

"Are you coming or not?" He said in a teasing tone. I nodded quick and took a step on the ice before he could get to far away.

I heard the cheers in the background as I latched onto Edward's waiting hands. His smile was triumphant for getting me on the ice. He pulled me into him, startling me. I grasped at his shirt and he chuckled. "There, that wasn't so hard was it?" His lips pressed to my forehead.

"You little cheater." I mumbled. Everyone laughed.

He kissed my nose quick, then pushed me back a little and held my hands at arms length, an enthusiastic grin planted on his face. "Welcome to Edward's School of Skating, where shall we begin?"

I giggled at this, with my own happy smile. My worries lessened, knowing that Edward would be teaching me. He would never let me hurt myself.

"Definitely the moving part." I said. Edward chuckled and nodded.

"Alright, I'll hold your hands and skate backwards, slowly, and pull you along with me. How does that sound?" He suggested.

"O-okay?" I stuttered out, sounding a little unsure. Well, 'a little' is an understatement. But this is Edward holding me, I can do it.

"I won't let go, promise." He reassured me firmly. I took a breath in and nodded, letting him know I was ready.

"Prepare your selves for blood spill, everyone," I announced. I was answered with boisterous laughs, mostly from Emmett.

He smiled, then gently moved backward on the ice. My feet however, didn't really respond correctly and decided not to move. Instead, my heels just lifted and the toe pick caught the ice. I gasped as I lurched forward into Edward. My arms flung around his neck.

His eyes winded, but they looked amused. I felt his arms weave around my waist. "You have to work with me here, love." That crooked grin appeared on his mouth again.

"You can do it, Bella!" I heard Esme shout.

"Yeah, bring up that gracefulness hidden deep within!" Alice called with a laugh.

I looked over to glare at the Alice. She just gave me an encouraging face and a thumbs-up.

"Alright, let's try again," I said, determined to get this skating thing down.

Edward chuckled and moved backwards again. I let my feet glide across the smooth ice, not looking at them in fear of scaring myself. My eyes stayed locked on Edward's instead. He held my gaze. We got to the middle and I let out an animated laugh, amazed that I had made it this far in one piece. Edward laughed as well, I could tell he was proud of me by that look on his face, his eyes glowing.

I took a daring move and looked down at my feet. They were effortlessly moving across the frozen water. My smile widened.

"Let's try moving our feet now." I looked up Edward and bit my bottom lip. Nervous but ready to move on.

"Just move your feet like you would walk, but keep them on the ice." Oh, now we are getting tricky, I see.

I did what he said, I stumbled a bit at first, but never fell or sliced a limb off. And I actually got it. I was moving along the ice without the help of Edward. Of course his arms stayed around me the entire time. I was having a wonderful time.

Edward was extremely proud of me. He reminded me every two minutes, and placed loving kisses on my face often. Not that I was complaining, though.

Eventually, the idea of a hockey game came up. Edward brought me over to a bench they had brought out where Esme had been sitting, enjoying watching her family have a ball.

"You'll be okay here?" He asked.

"Of course, you go have fun killing each other." I replied with a smile. He smiled back and kissed my lips. Then sped off to help put the nets up. I bent down to take my 'not so much of death traps anymore' off.

Esme came out of the back door with a steaming mug and sat down next to me.

"Hot chocolate, dear?" She held out the cup for me.

I gladly took it, "Thank you, Esme." I looked at the whipped cream on top of the swirling chocolate liquid. It looked exactly like the flawless hot chocolate that you see on commercials or in the movies, absolutely perfect and mouthwatering. I took a sip, scrumptious.

"Absolutely delicious, best I have ever had." She gave me a warm smile and wrapped her arm around my shoulder, giving me a hug.

"Your welcome, Bella honey. I'm glad you like it. Have you been enjoying yourself?" She asked me.

I nodded enthusiastically. "I have, Edward is a wonderful teacher."

"He looked so proud of you, so happy."

"He did." I sighed as I watched him set up for the game, a content smile on my face.

They all finished setting up and met in the middle. Emmett of course, took charge.

"Same teams as baseball! Me, lovesick, and hyperactive. Dr. dad, emo, and sweet thing on the other team."

"Hey, you gave us new names. How are we supposed to know who we are?" Jasper said crossing his arms in a teasing manner.

"Oh I think you know perfectly well. Now let's roll!"

I'm not very familiar with the art of hockey, just the basics. You hit the puck with the sticks -or in this case, a flat rod of steel bent at the end- and try to get it past the goalie and into the net. That is where the knowledge ends though.

So I just watched and cheered for Edward's team whenever they did, or Esme did, or when Rosalie cursed. Then I 'awed' when Emmett cursed rather loudly.

They were tied right now at three to three in a heated game. The puck was being thrown around in every direction, I couldn't keep up with it with my human eyes. Although, I was able to catch Edward sending it over to Alice in a direct path. This could be the winning point!

I waited for Alice to hurl the puck past Carlisle and into the goal… but it never happened. It sailed right past her, hitting the edge of the thin snow. All eyes were on her, shocked. I noticed her eyes then, they were glassy and staring at nothing.

My stomach flipped. To make matters worse, Edward suddenly appeared at my side, gathering me in his arms.

I put my hands on his cheeks, franticly searching his face for a clue to what was happening. His eyes were swimming with hate and fear and worry.

"Edward, tell me what is wrong," I demanded. He said nothing. Only continued to stare at my face.

Alice finally snapped out of her vision. "Alice, what did you see?" Carlisle said gently.

"An island, they are on an island. An island between here and Canada."

"Who, Alice?" Jasper prodded.

"They are planning an attack." She said in that same detached voice. Not answering his question.

"Who?" Emmett demanded.

"It will be fairly soon." She still didn't answer the question. Edward buried his face into the crook of my neck. I rubbed his arms.

"Alice, who?" I cried out.

She looked at me. A painful look on her face.

"Victoria… and her newborn vampire army."