Chapter 26 ~ Escaping Love

~Alice POV~

22nd April, 3.30PM

"Alice, please be reasonable!" Edward was saying as he followed me around my bedroom.

"I've made my decision Edward." I told him firmly

"You haven't had time to think!" Edward said. I laughed a humourless laugh.

"You of all people should know how much I've thought about this." I said

"Yeah, and thinking about it for a few hours when you're too upset to make rational decisions isn't enough!" Edward said

"Whatever." Was my reply. I grabbed another bag and started chucking clothes into it. Meanwhile, Edward took an already packed back and began taking clothes out of it. "Edward! Stop it!"

"No!" Edward said

"Yes!" I said as I began putting the clothes than he'd thrown on the floor back in the bag.

"No!" Edward said again, as he took them out again. We were face to face now, and I growled.

"Let. Me. Do. This." I said

"Alice?" A voice called from downstairs. It was unmistakably Esme. Her and Carlisle weren't supposed to be home for another few days.

"You called Esme?" I hissed

"No. I called Carlisle." Edward said, "I thought you might listen to him."

"This changes nothing." I said, "I'm still leaving."

"Alice, if I have to personally sit on you to make you stay, I'll do it." He said

"No you won't!" I said, my voice rising, "You can't control me Edward! If I want to leave, I'll leave!"

"Jesus, what did he do to you Alice?" Edward asked.

"What?" I asked, "Who?"

"Jasper. That's obviously the reason you're leaving." Edward said

"No it's not." I lied. I'd been careful to block my thoughts from Edward since he and Emmett came home, so how would he know the reason?

"Why else would you go?" Edward asked. I didn't say anything. "What did he do?"

"Nothing!" I said

"I'll kill him if he did anything to you Alice, you know I will!" Edward said

"I don't want you to kill him!" I cried

"What do you want?" Edward asked

"I want you to leave me alone!" I hissed

"Alice?" Esme's voice came again, this time standing in my doorway.

"You didn't need to come home Esme." I said, "I'm sorry I ruined your trip."

"Don't be ridiculous Alice!" Esme said, "Now, what's all this about you leaving?"

I glared at Edward, "I have to go. I'm sorry."

Carlisle appeared behind Esme, "Are you okay, Alice?"

"I'm...fine." I said, "I just have to leave."

"Finished." Emmett said, also appearing in the doorway, "Every exit is blocked. You're not leaving, Alice."

"You can't lock me up!" I cried, "You can't control me! I have to leave, and you can't stop me! I'll smash every window in the house if I have to!"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Carlisle said calmly, "Of course we're not going to lock you up here. Emmett, go and unblock the doors. You are free to leave whenever you want Alice, but I hope you will choose to stay."

And with that Carlisle left, leaving behind only a sense of disappointment and sadness. Emmett glared at me and then went to unblock the exits like Carlisle had asked.

"Alice, just because-" Edward began, but Esme shushed him.

"Edward, go downstairs please." She said, "I want to talk to Alice." Edward growled and stalked out of the room muttering something about women. "Alice, are you sure you're okay? Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"I'm fine, Esme." I said, "I'm sorry I'm causing such a scene, I just...I have to leave."

"Well, that's your decision." Esme said, "None of us have the right to stop you. But are you sure this is the right choice?"

"I...I don't know." I said, collapsing back onto my bed, "I don't see any other choices."

Esme said down beside me, "Whatever's happened Alice, you still have your family. We will always love you, no matter what."

"Well, that's your decision." Esme said, "None of us have the right to stop you. But are you sure this is the right choice?"

"I...I don't know." I said, collapsing back onto my bed, "I don't see any other choices."

Esme said down beside me, "Whatever's happened Alice, you still have your family. We will always love you, no matter what."

I groaned. I was leaving behind all the people I loved; all the people that loved me. I'd lived with the Cullens for almost a century, they were my family. Was I really leaving them? Did I really have a choice?

"I'm sorry Esme." I whispered, "I have to go."

"Okay." Esme said, "But know this, Alice, if you ever want to come back, we'll be here. We're just a phone call away."

"Thanks, Esme." I said, fighting back tears that would never fall anyway.

"Come and say goodbye before you go." Esme said, "I'll talk to the others for you."

"Thanks." I said again, and Esme nodded before getting up and leaving the room. It didn't take long to pack the rest of my stuff now that I didn't have Edward slowing me down, and soon everything was packed away in bags and suitcases.

"Alice?" My head shot up at the sound of Jasper's voice. "Alice, what's going on?"

"Nothing." I said

"Are you leaving?" Jasper asked, looking at the bags.

"Yes." I said

"But...why?" Jasper asked

"I...I...I have to go." I said. How could I tell him the reason? How could I possibly tell him what I had seen? Of course, he would say it wasn't true. But my visions didn't lie. Sure, they could change, but that wasn't the point. My vision meant that the way things were going at the moment...Jasper was going to kill me. Jasper was the one changing all the humans to vampires. Jasper was more than capable of killing me too.

"Alice-" Jasper began

"Don't try and stop me!" I snapped

"Can I come with you?" Jasper asked.

"No." I said. Wouldn't that defeat the point of going?

"Alice, I don't think I can live without you." He told me. "I love you, you know that."

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I picked up as many of the bags as I could carry and went out of the window to put them into Edward's silver Mercedes convertible. He'd caused me so much hassle with my decision of leaving, I thought it was only fair that I stole his car...

Jasper was still in my room when I came back. "Alice...why?"

"I can't tell you!" I said, gathering the rest of the bags. It was a good thing I was trained with carrying hundreds of shopping bags at one time, or it would have taken a lot more than two trips to get all my stuff down to the car. Vampire super strength helped as well. After everything was stashed in the car, I met Jasper again in my bedroom.

"Did I do something wrong?" Jasper asked.

"No." I lied. Only changing god knows how many innocent humans into monsters. Oh, and possibly killing me in the future.

"Then why-" Jasper began

"Please just go away Jasper!" I said

"Alice-" Jasper tried again

"Go!" I cried. Jasper looked incredibly hurt, but he did as I asked. I took a deep breath and counted to twenty. I didn't think counting to ten would calm me down enough.

Silently, I jumped out of my window and slid into Edward's car. Esme had told me to come and say goodbye, but I didn't think I could face my family. Not only was I leaving the man I loved, but I was leaving my family that I loved too. I was sure that if I had to go and say goodbye to them, I wouldn't have the strength to leave. But I had to leave. I had to escape. Even if that meant leaving behind everything I loved.

I started the engine and sped away from the house.

~Emmett POV~

At the sound of a car leaving the house, we all rushed outside. Alice was gone. I swore under my breath, and Edward muttered something about it being his car she had taken.

"We should go after her." I said

"No." Carlisle said, putting a hand on my shoulder to stop me, "Let her go."

"But-" I began

"Emmett." Esme said soothingly, "She'll be okay."

I stalked back into the house. How could she just leave like that? Without any reason? And Carlisle and Esme just let her. Edward had followed me into the house.

"Why did she go?" I asked, "You must have read her thoughts, right? What happened?"

"I don't know." Edward said, "She was blocking her thoughts from me. She's getting pretty good at that."

"But you must know something!" I said, annoyed. Edward always knew what was going on with Alice. It was one of the things that kept me sane whilst worrying about her; Edward always knew if she was really upset, or angry, or in danger. He always knew her every thought, and it was killing me that he didn't now. From the look on his face, it was killing him too.

"I don't." Edward said, "But I guess we just have to trust her."

"How can we trust her when she hasn't told us anything?" I asked

"Because we don't have another choice." Edward said, "We have to trust that she's done the right thing."

"But what if it's not the right thing?" I asked, and Edward didn't have a reply.

~Alice POV~

22nd April, 10.00PM

I had driven and driven until I was far enough away that there was no trace of my old life. I ended up in Tennessee. I checked into the first hotel I found and dragged my bags up to the hotel room. When I turned my phone on, I found that I had a missed call from Emmett, and about twenty from Jasper. I didn't call either of them back. I needed to be away from them. I needed to start my new life here, and forget about Jasper and my family. It was better for everyone.

I led down on the bed and willed myself to go to sleep, but I couldn't, so I lay staring at the ceiling. What was I supposed to do now? Everything I had ever known, I had left back in Forks. I had no memories from my human life, and I'd spent nearly my entire vampire life being a Cullen. What was I now? What did I do now?

A groan escaped my lips. What had I done?


Heyy,

Sorry this chapter was short, but it's leading on to important things :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed and did the quiz! Can't believe this story has over 125 reviews! Thank you soooooooo much :D :D

So, I'm ill and off school which is bad for me, but good for you because it means I have nothing to do except write fanfiction...so, the next chapter should be up soon!

Thanks again to Jalice2254 because this was her idea too! Can't thank her enough for getting me over my writers block!

See you soon

Please Review! - Any reviews/comments on whether you liked it or not, and anything you would like to happen in future chapters, much appreciated :) ( I accept Anon. reviews, too! So you don't need an account to review.)


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