A/N: Huge thanks to Erikasbuddy and Masenjar. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 26

Alice POV

"I'm scared, Jasper." As I snuggled into my husband's side on our bed, listening to everyone say their goodbyes to Bella's mother downstairs, I couldn't help but vocalize my feelings out loud—even though I knew he could feel even the tiniest emotion.

He pulled me to his body more tightly, placing a kiss to the top of my head. "I know you are, darling. But what's got you more worked up, the visions or their endless demands to know the ever changing future?"

I remained silent as I seriously mulled over his question. I'd tried to keep from replaying the vision of Charlie's murdered body over and over again in my mind ever since I'd first had it earlier, but it flew uncontrollably before my eyes just like a movie. Nothing had changed from the original version—Charlie was still dead while Edward and Bella slept peacefully in the next room. Edward and Carlisle must have decided against having the family guard Bella's house at night after Jasper had taken me away from the library when I'd become too emotional to carry on. I was supremely grateful to my husband for pulling me out of there. Reliving that vision again punched a hole in my stomach, making me feel a searing pain that I never imagined feeling from the loss of a human life.

"Alice?"

I must have remained quiet too long, and I'm sure the emotional pain coming from me was confusing Jasper. "Sorry. The vision of Charlie dead is just…" I trailed off, unable to form the right words to express how I felt about the potential premature loss of Bella's father. I really don't think that it was his time to die. And I'd do everything in my power to prevent it.

My husband sat up on the bed, pulling me upright with him. "Listen to me. No matter what the others plan on doing, I'll make sure that nothing happens to Charlie."

"You'll stick to him like glue?" I asked, moving in close so I didn't miss his promise.

He smiled. "Yes, mam. Just like crazy glue. No one will be able to pull us apart. This isn't like before, Bella trusts me now."

I returned his smile just before capturing his lips with mine. Jasper was the only person who could lift me up when these dismal visions sank me so low. I would have never survived as a vampire in those first years if I didn't know that he was unknowingly waiting for me. This man, right here in front of me, looking at me with nothing but concern, love, and understanding, was my own personal savior. And he was all I'd ever need. Being a part of the Cullen family was nice, but it didn't make me complete like my mate did.

"You're feeling better now?" Jasper rubbed my cheek softly with his fingertips before I pulled away.

"You know it." I grabbed his hand with mine and patted it reassuringly before letting go. "And I think that I'd like to go with Bella and Esme to see Renee off at the airport."

He chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Sure. I make you feel all better and you just abandon me. I see how it is." After he scooted off of the bed and stood on the floor, he offered a hand to me. "Just be careful."

Placing my hand into his outstretched one, he pulled me into his arms. "Always." The echoes of footsteps on the tile floor by the front door warned me that my time was running out. We shared another kiss before I walked toward our bedroom door and yelled, "Hold on, I'm going with you guys!" The front door slammed before I made it to the stairs, but that just gave me ample opportunity to use my vampire speed with Jasper close behind me.

We walked out the front door at a normal pace just as Edward was loading Renee's luggage into the trunk of Carlisle's Mercedes while Bella, Renee, Carlisle, and Esme chatted quietly amongst themselves. Since everyone was distracted, I slipped into the driver's seat and waited patiently. A quick vision floated in front of my eyes, followed by the real thing a few seconds later. I didn't wait for Edward to say the words out loud when he appeared at the side of the car, his hands firmly on the open window ledge, before I gave my response in my thoughts. He didn't expect me to travel with Bella and Esme. Instead, he'd expected me to stay behind and be interrogated like a prisoner and perform like a circus money as they hounded me with scenario after scenario of what ifs. Certainly not my idea of a fun weekend.

Everyone else got into the car, Esme next to me in the passenger side with Bella and her mother sitting in the back seat. I simply smiled and pushed the power window button, rolling the tinted glass up in front of his scowling face after he was forced to quickly pull his hands back. I'm not a possible-future machine, Edward. You can't just stick a coin in the slot and have me spit out your fortune on a cute little strip of paper like we're on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.

I navigated the car down our winding tree-lined driveway, finally making it out onto the empty mountain highway leading into Forks. The conversation was light between the four of us, and the pride was evident in the way that Renee talked about Bella and her future. Bella's future, or lack thereof, if my visions were any indicator. I hadn't seen her as a vampire lately. No point in bringing that up, even though it greatly worried me.

Somewhere on a desolate stretch of road between of Forks and Port Angeles, another vision bubbled up without warning. It flashed before my eyes as I tried to look past it while I drove down the curving slope of pavement. Victoria ran with purpose, and Laurent followed closely behind her, calling her name in vain. The terrain was sparse, barren. "They're still alive," I whispered, shock filling my voice to finally know for sure.

Esme turned to look at me, and I met her questioning eyes with a shake of my own head and a quiet muttering of, "Later." Suddenly, a large buck darted onto the roadway, and I was forced to jerk the steering wheel to the right to avoid a collision. The car spun around, gravel crunching under the tires as we careened across the shoulder of the road. The lucky animal cleared the fender and pranced across the road and into the forest on the other side.

Two frantic heartbeats, both pounding like bass drums in the human chests behind me, reminded me to at least outwardly react to this unusual occurrence, even for a vampire. "Well, I'm not driving anymore." I unbuckled the useless seatbelt that I'd worn just for Renee's sake, and climbed out of the driver's side door, leaving it wide open. Standing on the side of the road, I peered into the back seat to make sure that Bella and her mother were alright.

Renee was gripping the leather seat for dear life with one hand and crushing her daughter's hand with the other so tightly that the skin on her knuckles was white. "This right here is why I live in an urban area where it's warm. Only have to worry about scorpions or gators down where we've lived."

Bella, who'd been sitting quietly in shock until that moment—just like Esme appeared to be—burst out into a fit of nervous laughter. The rest of us joined in, giggling until we were doubled over cutting the seriousness out of the situation. I was going to catch hell from Edward for this if he plucked this from one of our minds. Bella was lucky that she was like a steel trap when it came to his mind reading.

"We have to get going or Renee will miss her flight," Esme said before scooting over into the driver's seat, wiping a pretend tear away from her eye.

I slipped back into the car, relieved that if a vision came it wouldn't distract me from the road this time. Knowing that Edward and Carlisle needed to be informed about the status of the nomads, I discreetly texted them both about what I saw, omitting the run in we had with one very lucky buck—any other time he'd have been dinner. Leaning back in the seat and closing my eyes as if I was going to take a nap, I let the visions wash over me, hoping to find an answer in the many strings of the future.

Bella POV

"I love you, Mom." We hugged each other tightly in front of the security gate at Sea-Tac Airport. The visits that we did have together always seemed so short, and always left me with a lump in my throat and a heaviness in my chest whenever we were parting ways.

"Oh, I love you too, honey." She pulled away and adjusted her carry-on bag across her shoulder. "You all should come and visit Phil and me in Jacksonville. Never in my life have I seen a group of people who could use more sun than Bella."

Esme and Alice just smiled politely while I blushed uncomfortably knowing that a Cullen family vacation in Florida would never happen. "That sounds nice, Renee," Esme replied sweetly.

"Bye, Mom," I said, waving my hand as she disappeared into the security line. She blew me a kiss just like she did when I was a little girl right before she handed her identification and boarding pass to a TSA agent.

Once we were well on our way back to Forks, I remembered to prod Alice about what happened during the ride to the airport. "Mind telling us why you were driving like a mere human earlier?"

She turned around in the passenger seat so she could look directly at me. "Another pesky vision got in the way, that's all. Nothing to worry about." Her voice was overly cheerful and slightly dismissive. I'd been around long enough to know that I was getting the brush off.

"So you're pulling an Edward on me, is that it?"

Alice narrowed her eyes, knowing that I was on to her. "No, I don't want to do that to you. One of him is plenty to go around." She climbed headfirst over the console and into the back seat, sliding to sit next to me. "I'll tell you what I saw. I'm just hesitant because I'm not sure of a time frame and I don't want to worry you."

I took my best friend's hand in mine, urging her to go on.

"It was a simple vision really—just Victoria and Laurent running in no man's land. They are obviously not dead."

I took a deep breath and held it while I connected the obvious dots. "Mike has to be the worst vampire. No one's told him the basics, have they?"

Esme spoke up from the front seat while she drove. "We think it's best that we don't give Mike any opportunity to properly defend himself while we're unsure of his motives."

Alice gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "We can't be too cautious where he's concerned."

"And that's certainly a good strategy. But I don't get why he's at your house in the first place. Does it make sense to have him around and treat him like he's family when you've already said that you don't trust him?" I know that I still harbored feelings of distrust and ill will toward Mike. It didn't have to be spelled out in some big list. How to not be on Bella's good side: 1. Kidnap her and leave her in a freezing disgustingly dirty cabin high up in the woods. I didn't even need to add a number two to that list where Michael Newton was concerned.

"It's what Carlisle has decided, dear," Esme said from the front seat, effectively ending the conversation when I didn't bother to press further. I recognized that Carlisle's decision was the final word in this case.

Alice's gaze became unfocused, just like it did every time she had one of her visions. She stared at the back of the seat for the rest of the ride to Forks while I sat by her side, arms folded across my chest in defiance of their seemingly risky decisions and lack of explanations to justify them. Luckily, they let me have my break from being a mature adult and I was able to sulk like a child all the way back to their house.

I headed straight for Edward's bedroom as soon as the car pulled into the garage, barely waiting for a complete stop before manually unlocking the door and jumping out. Needing the comfort that only his touch could bring, I sought him out soon as I opened the door and paused in the threshold. But no one was inside, the bed was still made precisely, not one thing was out of place. The room was cold from the window left cracked open slightly to let fresh air inside, so I didn't linger and looked elsewhere in the house.

The library was the first place I thought to check, and it turned out to be the correct room. When I cracked the door open and looked inside, Carlisle was sitting behind his desk with a phone pressed to his ear. Edward had assumed the position as before we'd left for the airport—same chair, same tense expression. This time, I didn't wait for an invitation before quietly entering the room and sliding into the seat next to him.

"Thank you for calling, Tanya. Please let me know immediately if anything changes." Carlisle ended the phone call and gently placed it on the desk before turning his gaze on me. "Bella, did you have a nice trip to the airport?"

"It was fine," I replied tersely. There was no use expanding on anything that happened on our trip to deliver my mother to the airport. "I'm a bit tired, Edward. Can we go home?"

He looked to Carlisle, who nodded his head in agreement. Once in Edward's car and on the road, I noticed that his mood hadn't improved much. "Hey," I said, reaching out with my left hand to rub his leg. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Edward relaxed slightly at my touch, and a slight smile played at his lips. "You know that Victoria and Laurent aren't dead."

"You told me. And Alice had a vision of them running while we were on the way to the airport." I squeezed his leg slightly, urging him to continue.

He quickly glanced at me, quirking an eyebrow as if he wondered what else we were keeping secret from him. Or maybe he was gauging what else Alice was telling me that he didn't want her to share. "Well, after we killed James, Victoria and Laurent separated. Laurent went to Alaska and spent time with the Denali coven. And that's where they are now…in Alaska. They called Carlisle to tell him that Laurent and Victoria showed up with signs of extensive injuries."

"But why would they call Carlisle?" What would really link Laurent or Victoria to the Cullens unless something was mentioned? An uneasy feeling started to build in my stomach.

"Victoria is claiming that we ripped them apart so we could kidnap Mike and make him one of us."

A laugh of disbelief erupted from my throat so fast that I snorted and started to choke. While Edward rubbed my back and drove at the same time, I tried to not think of the level of disillusionment that must be in Victoria's mind. "And why would we want him for ourselves? Does anyone actually believe that you wouldn't kill them the right way, not just shred them and leave them to reassemble themselves?" If the Cullens wanted more vampires to hang out with, I'm sure that they would pick higher quality human beings to change.

He sighed, pulling into the empty driveway in front of my house. "Irina is the only one who seems to believe whatever story Laurent is spewing up there right now, but luckily for us, the others are smart enough to be cautious."

We got out of the car, and Edward used his keys to unlock the front door for the first time. He smiled as he pushed the door open and let me enter first. Once I was safely inside and he'd locked the door behind us, I glanced around the too quiet and obviously empty house. "I wonder where Charlie went?"

Edward found a note on the kitchen counter next to the toaster, scribbled haphazardly on the back of a receipt for groceries. "Your father went on an overnight hunting and fishing trip with Harry. He'll be back tomorrow night." He set the note down on the counter before turning to me. "Kind of dangerous knowing what can lurk in the forests now, don't you think?"

The worry on my face must have been excruciating for Edward to witness, or at the very least he must have realized that he shouldn't have joked about that out loud. Suddenly, I was wrapped in his protective embrace while he called someone on his cell phone.

"Jasper, how's it going so far?" Edward listened for an answer before replying. "Good. Keep me posted."

"What's going on?" I asked, my words muffled by his shirt.

"Alice made Jasper promise to shadow Charlie earlier today. He's been following your father since you left for the airport."

I gasped. "But why would…" I pulled away from Edward as it dawned on me how they knew to keep an eye on Charlie. "Alice." I broke away from him and sat down on a kitchen chair. "Tell me, Edward. What exactly did she see?"

He wouldn't make eye contact, and my stomach started to churn. How bad could it be if he was reluctant to reveal the vision that Alice had involving my father? Would he lie just to protect me like he'd done in the past or were we finally past that point in our relationship like I thought we were?

"Edward," I prodded. "Just tell me. I have a right to know—to be prepared."

He closed the distance between us and knelt down on the balls of his feet. Only after gently taking my hands in his did he tell me of a vision where Charlie was murdered in his bedroom while Edward and I slept in the next room.

"And it seemed…it looked like a vampire did this to my dad?" I asked, a trembling to my voice as I struggled to understand why this would happen to my father and we would be unharmed.

"Yes." Edward stood up and started to walk back and forth nervously. "And that's why it's important that I don't sleep anymore, so I can protect both of you. Carlisle thinks that he's found a way to make that happen."

I stifled a yawn as my stomach growled, the unavoidable necessities of being human taking over. "I'll help you in any way that I can, but I have to take care of a few things first." I started to stand up when he finally stopped pacing and gently pushed me back down into the chair.

"Please relax, Bella. I'll make you a sandwich and explain Carlisle's plan while you eat. We'll follow it up with a nap. Sound good?" His tense expression had melted away and was replaced with one of hopefulness. Edward's tawny eyes were bright with expectation.

I reached forward and grabbed his hand. "That sounds perfect."

As he quickly prepared a simple sandwich, I thought aloud about the main problem with Alice's visions. "We never know when one of her visions is going to happen, do we?"

"Sometimes there are clues in the background, like a newspaper or clock. But it's harder now that everything is digital. It's not like everyone stands in front of a bank sign until it rolls around to the date and time before they go on their merry way." Humor permeated his voice as he chopped an apple for me. After adding it to the plate, he carried everything to the table and sat it in front of me.

"This is exactly what I needed. Thanks."

He leaned in for a kiss, lingering on my lips before smiling. "See, I can take care of you like this too."

Quirking an eyebrow, I challenged his observation. "As long as you don't actually have to really cook anything." I laughed lightly when his grin fell. "Anyway, I have an idea to help Alice with her vision of Charlie. I'll make a large calendar with my printer, hang it by my bed, and I can cross the days off. At least then she'll know what the date is whenever she gets a vision involving my bedroom."

Edward opened his mouth to say something when the ringing of his phone cut him off. "Yes, Alice," he answered. "I'll put you on speaker."

"Alice?" I said, wondering why she was calling so soon. I figured it would take a while before she would see the change in my room. I didn't even get around to hanging those sheets of paper on my wall yet.

"Thank you for being so smart, Bella. The events of the vision haven't changed, but we have two weeks before it occurs. Oh, and be prepared for Charlie, he'll be bringing home a ton of fish tomorrow. The house is going to smell really bad. Enjoy your night alone."

She ended the call abruptly, and I raised my eyebrows as I sighed at Edward. "That was fast. I don't think she can get away from her gift, and it's starting to worry me. She wasn't her usual happy self today."

"Alice is how she's always been, Bella. It's who she is." He waited for me to return to my food before he would continue. "Carlisle believes that Mike didn't have any problems with sleeping because his diet consists of humans."

"So does yours," I said as I took another bite.

"Yeah, but you're more like dessert." Edward smiled shyly and looked down at the table. "Most of my diet is really animals. Carlisle thinks that's the problem."

"Okay, so how are we going to do this? Charlie will freak out if he sees you with red eyes again." I finished my food and shoved the plate away from me on the table top.

"We'll have to play it by ear, but we'll just do what we normally do. And the next time I'm lucky enough to taste you, I have to report back to Carlisle how much and how long it stays in my system."

"It all sounds so clinical, but yet so Carlisle." Rising from the chair, I put my plate in the sink and turned back to Edward. "It's a plan."

He stood up and reached out his hand to me. "Now how about that nap?"

Edward POV

Lying next to Bella, relishing in her scent, her warmth, and listening to her slow, even breathing and the steady rhythm of her heartbeat for a few hours was my idea of heaven. Although I could sleep, it was only at night and I wasn't able to nap, so this was a taste of what life would be like again if drinking only her blood was successful. I had to believe that this would work because I needed to protect her, and by extension, I had to keep Charlie safe too. With only a few weeks to become a regular vampire again before the events of Alice's vision could play out, I couldn't afford for Carlisle's theory to be wrong. Why someone would want to harm Bella's father, I couldn't guess, but surely it was to inflict pain upon her.

She began to stir, pressing her backside into me as she stretched her limbs. Running my hand lightly up her thigh until I reached her hip, I pulled her closer into the growing hardness. "Bella," I whispered as I moved her hair away from her neck so I could place lingering kisses along the smooth, sensitive skin there.

"Hmm," she replied and turned around in my arms to face me. "You want to try it now?" Her hand blazed a trail of fire agonizingly slowly down my chest until she grazed my groin. "I'd say you're ready for something."

Clothes were quickly shed, and heated kisses were shared. Once there was nothing left between us, my gaze travelled across her body for just the perfect, unmarked spot. Virgin territory for a new beginning. Then I asked the most important question to see if she had the same idea. "Where?"

Her hand tentatively travelled to her neck and paused there, but she quickly thought better of it and pulled her fingers down along her body to the creamy skin of her thigh. I was glad she had picked the leg that hadn't been bitten recently. Something just didn't feel right about reopening old wounds.

Our lips met hungrily before I broke away, kissing a path down her body and breathing in the delicious scent of her blood and arousal as I got closer to the life force that could potentially break me free of the bonds of sleep. Bella leaned back, and she shivered lightly as I ran my hand along the spot I would strike. Placing a gentle kiss in forewarning on the skin puckered from my cool hands, my teeth sliced through the layers of tissue as if they were warm butter.

Immediately pulling my teeth back, Bella's hot blood sluggishly started to flow into my mouth. I fought with myself to let the venom spread as she writhed in pleasure while everything within me screamed to pull the sweet nectar into my body. After several moments I wasn't able to abstain any longer and I sealed my lips tightly around her leg, beginning to pull forcefully as her blood flooded my mouth. I swallowed one mouthful greedily and started on another. Her small gasps started to fade away as I took another pull. Strength that I only had when her essence was invading my body started to seep into every muscle. The next thing I knew, I'd had six full slugs of her deliciousness, conscious that I had to keep track for Carlisle's sake. But I didn't stop there because I had no idea how much I usually imbibed from Bella. At eight mouthfuls, she was finally grabbing at my head, trying to push me away from her leg.

"Edward, enough," she breathed as she tugged at my hair.

But the usual calm and lethargy that I felt after taking enough from Bella to soothe the burning in my throat had been met and then breeched, replaced with feelings of strength and a need to dominate. Still I reluctantly pulled away, my senses barely about me and I knew that I'd had enough. I quickly bandaged her leg as usual, hiding the temptation underneath layers of disgusting smelling antiseptic and sterile gauze. And I could still smell the sweet liquid permeating through those barriers, calling to me through the haze.

Moving up her body much more quickly than I normally would, Bella gasped when I was poised at her entrance and pressing into her mere moments later. She gripped my arms, hanging on tightly as I continued to thrust into her wet heat at a faster pace than normal.

"Oh, God," she moaned. "Don't stop."

That was all the encouragement I needed. I pulled her legs up higher onto my hips, angling deeper as I kept up the fast pace. No way was this going to last much longer. A light sheen of perspiration had broken out over Bella's beautiful, flawless skin. Flawless except where you've mutilated her body. And when I felt her begin to tense around me, I lost it too with a loud growl rumbling deep within my chest.

Collapsing next to her on the bed, everything slowly came back into focus, my senses no longer dulled. Her labored, hurried breathing started to calm as I fought to remain stationary, everything inside of me screaming to escape the confines of this house and feed again. The neighbors' thoughts started to fill my head, nothing but boring prattling since everyone was gathering for dinner.

Bella reached up and caressed my cheek with her overheated hand. "Edward, open your eyes," she demanded quietly.

I didn't realize that I was holding them firmly shut. I forced my lids to lift and stared straight into my true love's dark orbs, strangely fearing judgment for some reason, as if she could read my secret thoughts.

As she silently regarded my face and lightly moved her thumb back and forth across my cheek, I didn't miss the way she held her breath and set her mouth into a thin line.

"What?" I whispered, growing concerned by the sudden shift in her demeanor.

She shifted her fingertips up my face, tracing a trail up to the corner of my eyebrow. "It's starting. They're already turning black."

I knew that she wouldn't joke about something so serious, but I never thought that it would happen so fast. I jumped off the bed and crossed the room to look in the mirror hanging over her dresser. "You've got to be kidding me," I growled.

In the meantime, Bella had moved to the edge of the bed and sat up, pausing there with her feet planted on the floor and her hands digging into the bedding on either side of her legs. "Edward, let's just wait and see how long it takes for…" I could see her in the reflection of the mirror as she grabbed the side of her head and blinked her eyes rapidly. "…your eyes to go back to normal."

She stood up and listed to the right slightly. "I'm sure it will be fine," Bella said before she dropped to the floor, leaving me a split second to react and cradle her head before it struck the nightstand.

A/N: Here's part of what's been keeping me busy over the last few months, thought I'd share them with you.

Intervention by Vixenonfire: /s/7456739/1/Intervention – This oneshot one the Darkella contest from Twimuses/Jasper's Naughty Girls, and it's a great Canon AU. Check out everything that she's posted because everything is great. I also beta'd her first place winning contest entry Elevation and another contest that I can't talk about yet.

Beneath Her Gaze by Masenjar: /s/7431696/1/Beneath_Her_Gaze – This is a multichapter WIP Canon AU that I beta with a badass vamp Bella who has much more than a shield for her power. My prereader also has a complete AH story The Eagle and the Sparrow on her profile as well.

Goodbye by Cullenlvr83: /s/7267942/1/Goodbye – This is a high school AH Bella and Edward, then Bella and Emmett story that I beta. Definitely a story of complicated life-long involvement and love, and the poor decisions teenagers can make to deal with such confusion things.

Open Up Next To You by LJ Summers: /s/7424463/1/Open_Up_Next_to_You – I don't beta or preread for this, but this story is complete now and just slays me. I can't describe this one to do it justice, so here's the copy and pasted one from the fic's profile: Ten years after the events of Eclipse, Edward meets his true vampire mate; Bella is left desolate. Alice and Jasper take her in with them to help her through her heartbreak.

It's heartbreaking at first, but then it is so uplifting to see Bella grow into her own. Definitely check it out if you can live through the heart fail.

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