DENIAL

It was storming outside. The thunder was deafening and the lightning was blinding. It went from pitch black to bight as day every time the lightning struck. My mom was driving, telling me that everything would be okay. Then we crashed, and everything went black.

I opened my eyes to see a man standing over my mother's body. He was dark as night, but had eyes as red as blood. He had dreadlocks. He looked up, and suddenly he transformed into a woman. A woman with fiery hair and dangerous eyes. She started climbing into the car and came closer. I struggled against the seat, trying to get away. Just as she reached me, she turned into a blonde man. It was James. He crouched down to my level and smiled his cheeky smile before he sank his teeth into my neck.

"No!" I screamed, waking up in bed. Suddenly, my whole family was in the room. Nobody expected the threat to be a nightmare.

"Baby, what happened?" Mom said worriedly, but calm now that it was clear there was no physical threat.

"It's just a nightmare, I'm fine," I told her, trying to catch my breath. "I'm fine," I repeated, more for myself. James was dead. Edward was hunting Victoria. Laurent, well, Laurent was trying to change, I guess.

I took a good look at my family's faces. Something was wrong. Everyone was stressed. Too stressed to be a result of my nightmare. Also, my mom was way too clingy.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I looked right at Alice, knowing that she'd tell me the truth.

"Alice saw something," Jasper answered for her. Dad glared at him and then looked back at me. My heart must have been racing. He came and sat down next to me.

"Oh God," I said, trembling now. "What's wrong? Who's hurt? What happened?" I started asking as many questions as I could, hoping at least some of them could be answered.

"I'm going to Forks," Alice said. "You were right about Bella," she added sadly. No.

I shook my head. If they had just listened from the start it wouldn't have been a problem.

"Can you get to her in time?" I asked Alice. She shook her head.

"But I can help Charlie," Alice replied. This was terrible.

"I want to go, too. I was close to Charlie too," I told her. Alice looked at Dad.

"She has a point," Alice said. "You know I would never let anything happen to her."

"It's up to you, love," Dad said. "If you think that's what will help you heal, then that's what you need. We're all here for you."

"We have to leave soon," Alice said. "We're flying out at 4:00. I'll book your seat when we get to the airport."

"Okay, I guess it's a good thing I woke up, then," I said, getting out of bed. Alice nodded and started packing a bag.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Jasper asked, coming up next to me.

"Bella was the closest I had to a real best friend. She knew every part of me. Parts that I could never tell Tyler, or Andrew, or Mariana. I could be human world Danielle and vampire world Danielle. I owe her everything for letting me have that. If there's anything I can do to help the people who loved her as much as I did, I want to be there for that."

"Alright then," Jasper nodded.

"Why aren't you going?" I asked him. It was rare that he and Alice weren't together.

"Edward explicitly said that none of us were to go to Forks, for one. Alice doesn't mind getting on his bad side but me, I have to get back on his good side still. Second, I'm not sure how much of a help I'd be. I'd be there for Alice, of course, but what could I do for Charlie? It's better I do damage control here. Edward will be destroyed when he finds out."

"I know," I said sadly. My poor brother.

"Dani, it's time to go," Alice said.

"Alright," I moved to the front of the house. My family was there waiting for me.

Leaving was hard. I knew my family was hurting. I was hurting. But I had to do this. I meant what I said about Bella. I couldn't help but hope that maybe we'd get there in time. Maybe something changed and Alice missed it. I guess the only reason I hadn't fallen apart again was my denial. Bella had to be alive. If Bella was gone forever, it would change everything, and I wasn't about to let that happen.