Alice and I watched through her visions as Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper debated what to do about the van. They soon came to the conclusion that it would have to be gotten rid of, since I had told them earlier that the policemen had gotten our license plate number. And even if the van hadn't been registered to Carlisle and Esme – which it was- there were only so many Volkswagen Type Two's in the area. In fact, I didn't recall having seen more than two other ones this whole summer. It wouldn't have taken them long to track down who had recently bought one. Carlisle was torn between simply abandoning it and crashing it at the bottom of a ravine.
"I vote crashing," Emmett said, finally letting go of Jasper.
"No, abandon it," Jasper argued. "This incident will have raised enough questions as it is. Adding an accident and an explosion will only attract more interest."
Carlisle nodded. "That's probably true. Edward, if you and Alice are watching, I want you to call the police and report the van as stolen. Say we all took a day trip after my shift last night, and that you just got home and discovered the theft."
"This family gets weirder all the time," Emmett grumbled. "Now we're talking to people who aren't even here."
"It's not the time for jokes, Emmett," Carlisle said quietly. "I want you and Jasper to go over every inch of the van while I'm driving. Collect all of our personal items and erase any sign of unusual… well, anything."
"Ha! Does an Alice-shaped dent in the door constitute… sorry, not time for jokes. Got it."
Jasper sighed, getting down on his hands and knees to start smoothing out some of the damage made by our struggle earlier. "I'm sorry about all this."
"Don't give it another thought, Jasper. Our family has dealt with all sorts of delicate situations in the past, and this is no different." Carlisle began repeating his instructions to me about calling the Police, in case Alice hadn't been watching the first time.
"No different," I snorted, walking into the house. "We only got chased by the police. Rosalie's going to be beside herself."
"It wasn't Jasper's fault."
"Of course it wasn't his fault!" I snapped, spinning to face her. "What did you think was going to happen when someone bled right in front of him?!"
Alice jerked back a step, hurt in her eyes. "You know I was watching as hard as I could."
"As well you should! It's your fault he's such a wreck!" Alice opened her mouth to protest but I shook my head fiercely, picking up the phone and calling the police station. After giving them my name and address, I told them Carlisle's story.
"A Volkswagen Type Two, you say?"
"Yes, light green. Why, has someone found it?"
A muffling sound came as the clerk put his hand over the phone, and I strained to overhear what he and his coworkers were saying. Of all the times not to be able to hear thoughts! I only caught a few words before the clerk moved his hand away to speak to me again.
"May I speak to the owners of the van, please?"
I clenched my teeth and looked at Alice, who shrugged helplessly. "They just left," I began, scrambling for an explanation. "They're out looking for it. A van that size is pretty hard to hide, after all."
A pause. "They went to go look for the van, and left their son to call the cops?"
I ran my hand back through my hair in exasperation. "Well, it was really my van. I mean, it's in their name because they pay the insurance, but it was a gift…" Stupid, I thought harshly. Why would anybody buy their son a van?
"I hope you can get it back," I added in a mournful, younger voice. "I was going to take a road trip with some friends later this week."
"We'll call if we hear anything. And when your parents get back, please tell them it's best to let the police handle this sort of thing. Going off alone to find a stolen vehicle might lead them into trouble." His voice was sharp with warning, but I decided it was best not to ask what he meant. No doubt they would double their efforts to find the van, now that they had to worry about a couple of innocent townspeople approaching a criminal. Not to mention the mystery girl who was now missing and at the mercy of a second criminal. Fantastic.
"I will."
"And please have them call if they have any more information."
"Of course, sir. Thank you."
I hung up, turning to Alice again. "You'll need to keep a sharp eye, in case they decide to come to the house."
She folded her arms across her chest, scowling up at me. "Oh, so now you trust me?"
"I didn't mean it that way, Alice," I sighed.
"Then what did you mean? How is this my fault?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose, silently cursing my adolescent mouth. "Look, I'm sorry, all right? It's just been a difficult evening. All I meant was that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to take him a thousand miles away from civilization in the first place. If he had stayed around humans while learning the new diet, maybe his control wouldn't have plummeted like it did."
"He would have killed more people!"
"Maybe, maybe not. The point is that when you found him, he could at least be around people. Now it's going to be a miracle if we can ever get him to go to school, or let him hunt alone, or anything."
"I did the best I could! It's not like I could call up Carlisle and ask for his advice on the matter."
"Why not?"
"Why not what?"
"Why didn't you ever… you know, call us, let us know you were out there?"
She shook her head. "What would I have said? That you'd never met me, but that I was a part of your family through my magic visions? Believe me, I thought about doing it now and then. The results were pretty funny."
"Funny," I scoffed. "I can think of a few times where it would have been nice to have a little warning, even if it did come from a mysterious caller."
"I didn't even see most of Emmett's accidents happen! It's not like he decided to have them."
"I'm not talking about Emmett," I said darkly.
Alice slowly unfolded her arms, her defensive pout turning into real sadness. I thought about it, you know, back in '27. I thought about trying to stop you. I decided to.
My breathing stopped. "And?"
She locked her mind down, refusing to show me anything. She shook her head. It doesn't matter. And I always knew you would come back, anyway.
Some acidic part of my brain wanted to demand that she show me- to see what other ways I could have possibly bungled my existence. But the rest of me, the cowardly part, won out, relieved that we were too busy to dwell in the past just now. I brushed past her, going back outside to stand on the porch.
"Let's check in on the others."
But Alice's vision was a mush of colors. "I can't get them," she said, opening her eyes. "They must be deciding where to leave the van."
"What about the policemen, the ones who were chasing us? I want to see where they are."
"I don't have them."
"You saw them, didn't you? I thought you could access anyone's future after meeting them."
"It's not like I got to know them." She stared off into space again, finally getting a grab on Jasper a momental later. They were running now, Jasper practically wedged between Carlisle and Emmett. Alice nervously peeked further ahead, but their run hone was clear and without incident.
"Maybe I should go to the Police Station and spy a bit," I said absently. Alice snapped out of her visions, and I had to say it again. She shook her head.
"You should stay here, in case the police call back."
"Are they going to?"
"No, but one of them might decide to do it later…"
I laughed once, shaking my head bitterly as I stared out into the night. It was almost funny. Our family was a huge group of powerful immortals, we had no less than three supernatural talents at our disposal, and yet we had still managed to get ourselves into trouble. Alice was on her way to singlehandedly turning us into billionaires, and yet she had no idea if the phone would ring tonight or not.
"Can you at least see if we get run out of town tomorrow?" I had meant it to sound like a joke, but it came out more like a scathing taunt.
Alice stomped her foot. "I'm doing the best I can!" What's the matter with you tonight!? She jerked her vision forward, throwing the images at me. Just a few pictures of our family, with the familiar walls of our house behind us. Before I could say anything else, she went back into the house and slammed the door in my face.
I sighed, leaning back against the door and letting my head tip back against the wood, as well. "Alice…"
What?!
"I'm sorry."
The door jerked open so fast that I tumbled back a step, right into my sister. Her arms went around me in a flash, crushing the breath right out of my lungs. "Me too," she whispered into my shirt. I sighed again, awkwardly letting one arm go around her tiny shoulders.
She pulled away after a moment, searching my dark eyes. Seriously, what's wrong?
"Nothing. It's just been a difficult night."
"No, you've been cranky for weeks now. Is it Jasper? His thirst, I mean?"
I smiled tiredly. "Well, it hasn't exactly been a picnic."
"I didn't think of that," she said sadly. "When we came. I didn't realize that your gift would relay that. I mean, I figured there would be challenges, bringing him when his control was still so bad. But I didn't realize it would affect you like this. And I certainly didn't think there would be car chases involved!"
.
.
.
Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper got home twenty minutes later. They had left the van parked behind an abandoned warehouse down in Brattleboro: the opposite direction from our house. I quickly filled Carlisle in on my conversation with the police. After more apologies from Jasper and after being slapped on the back and congratulated by Emmett for my acting skills, I announced that I was going back into town to spend the rest of the night by the Police Station.
I wish I could come too, Jasper thought to me as I left. This is the kind of situation my gift could actually be useful in.
"Next time," I promised him with a nod, and broke into a run. Carlisle didn't want me to take any of the cars; the last thing we needed was for another of our vehicles to turn up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I hid myself inside a clump of bushes lining the police station's tiny parking lot. Sure enough, our little incident was the talk of the night. Two more patrol cars had been brought in from Hanover, plus a detective. The priority was finding the girl who had been chased out of sight, but the police in all the surrounding counties were also out looking for the van. After about an hour, two familiar mental voices joined the others: the two policemen who had been pursuing Alice and me. I perked up and paid special attention after that.
My biggest worry was that I had been recognized, having lived in the area for a while. I hadn't gotten that impression from either of them at the time, but it was possible they would give an accurate enough description that my identity could be deduced. And I had been seen by them twice: once as I waved out the back of the van, and again as Alice and I gave our little performance.
But this time, their fallible human memories worked to our advantage. Neither man had caught my hair color in the evening dimness- they were guessing brown- and neither one had a particular memory of my face. And when they gave my description to the detective, they described me as being at least six foot six; compliments of the tiny girl I had been chasing. Then there was the fact that I had been the one to place the call to the police, too soon after the fact to have possibly been the man they had just been pursuing.
Carlisle's reputation was also helping. It didn't seem to be occurring to any of them that bright young Dr. Cullen could have had anything to do with all this, and that the van must really have been stolen by the criminals earlier in the day. The only real problem, it seemed, was that the case would have to remain open; this left the risk of the police coming to the house at any moment to ask more questions. There was really no way to assure them that the girl was actually quite safe. I just hoped that her description didn't lead anyone back the Cullen name. Most of her outings so far had been shopping with either Esme or Rosalie, and that was usually in Hanover.
The van was found at 2:30 am. Carlisle had left the key in the ignition, and so it was driven back up to be inspected. My brothers had done their best to smooth over the evidence of our struggle, but the police were baffled at how some of the interior could have "melted" like it did. And when they found the hole I had punched in my seat, they spent a good half hour ripping up the fabric of all the seats and rooting through the rest of the van, positive they would find some kind of weapons or drugs. They were further baffled by the two policemen's account of the van tipping over mysteriously, and by the fact that they couldn't find a single fingerprint anywhere. Just before four o'clock, a reporter came by sniffing for a statement.
By the time I left at sunrise, the consensus was that whoever had been driving the van had managed to collect both the girl and her attacker, and that they had ditched the van in Brattleboro in favor of another, less obvious vehicle. The detective and the extra patrol cars had already made their way down there to begin their fruitless search for more leads. There didn't seem to be any plan yet about questioning Carlisle any further, and they wouldn't be returning the van to us immediately. The detective wanted to take another look at it when he got a chance.
But on the run home, I was plagued by new worries. What with the girl still missing, the story was sure to be all over town by this afternoon. What if Alice's description stirred some memories from the times she had been out shopping, and that connected the incident back to the Cullen name? What if someone else besides the policemen had seen me waving out the back of the van, and came forward as a witness? What if the police or some reporter decided to drop in and ask some more questions, and neither Alice or I were around to get Jasper out in time?
When I got home, it looked like Esme and Rosalie had just beaten me there, because Carlisle and Emmett were explaining the whole thing over again. Rosalie and Jasper were looking very much like twins indeed, both standing stiffly with their arms folded across their chests. Neither one was breathing, and their faces were inscrutable. If only their minds could have been inscrutable. Jasper was wishing we had just let him kill the policemen, and Rosalie was fiercely telling herself that dismembering Jasper would not solve anything.
"We need to move," I announced as I walked in. The conversation died away and everyone turned to look at me.
"What did you hear?" Carlisle asked grimly.
I repeated everything I had overheard, and then listed all the worst-case scenarios I had come up with on the run home. When I had finished, everyone was silent for a moment, and then everyone started talking at once.
"Quiet," Carlisle said, raising his hands. "Alice, do you foresee any trouble with the police happening today?"
She shook her head. "I've been watching all night. Nothing, not even a glimmer. But that doesn't mean they won't change their minds later."
"Or that some other witness might decide to come forward and change their minds for them," I reminded them caustically.
"Did you hear anyone thinking your name at all during the incident?" Carlisle asked. "Or see anyone picturing Alice with Rosalie or Esme?"
"Well, no, but I could have missed it. And even if they didn't at the time, it doesn't mean they won't put two and two together later- especially once they read about it in the newspaper today."
"I don't think anyone would have recognized either of us," Alice said thoughtfully. "It was pretty dark when we finally got out of the van. And I didn't see or smell any humans nearby when we were running. Did you hear anyone besides the policemen react to our little drama?"
I angrily ran my hand back through my hair and began pacing. "No, but you're missing the point. We should leave, regardless. There are too many loose ends here, and they already know the van was ours. And the last thing we need is a human coming to the house, even if they're just coming to ask a few questions."
Rosalie shook her head. "I think we should stay."
I barked out a mirthless laugh. "Of course you do."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"You always want to stay! You always want to pretend that we're a normal human family, when we're not, Rosalie. Sometimes you have to actually set aside your precious plans for the good of everyone else!"
"Edward," Alice hissed in a warning tone. Stop!
Rosalie's teeth bared slightly. Just because you ruined your college career at this location doesn't mean I shouldn't get a chance! And Emmett-
"Are you even listening to yourself?" I snarled, taking a step closer to her. "I seem to remember having my education interrupted because someone decided to go on a murder spree!"
"We were going to move anyway!" she hissed, moving forward as well.
I was about to respond with a fierce "because of you", but Carlisle gripped my shoulder at the same moment that Emmett grabbed Rosalie's. I snapped my teeth together to stop the words and allowed myself to be pulled back.
"Enough, both of you!" Esme said sharply, stepping between us. "Let's just get this figured out, without fighting, please."
Jasper gripped his sides more tightly, struggling against the tension in the room. We wouldn't have half of these problems if they had just let me feed. They want to bend over backwards for a bunch of humans, when they're half-dead anyway. Why not just kill those who might implicate us, and be done with it?
"I can't believe you just thought that," I snapped, turning in Carlisle's grip to face him.
"I'm just being practical," he shot back. If I thought I could control myself, I could still take care of it. A few well-placed deaths down in Brattleboro would go a long way toward helping this thing blow over, at least in terms of our involvement. The rest of you could make sure to be out in public while I-
"Are you completely missing the point of this whole thing?!"
I didn't say I was going to DO it. We both know it would end in a massacre.
"What, like last night almost did?"
Carlisle's grip on my shoulder tightened into a vice. Edward, enough! What's gotten into you?!
I drew a deep, shuddering breath, releasing the claws that my hands had twisted into. "Sorry," I ground out through my teeth. When his grip didn't change, I stood up straighter and drew a deeper breath; when had I sunk down into an attack posture? I breathed again, forcing all my muscles to relax. "I'm sorry," I said again in a normal voice. He finally released me, turning to the others.
"I don't think we necessarily need to leave. Alice will have warning both in the case of someone coming to the house, or in the case of something bigger. And I think the police will be focusing more on Brattleboro now, since that's where the criminals supposedly changed cars."
"But wouldn't it be better to be safe than sorry?" Esme wondered.
Carlisle shook his head. "Staying might actually be safer, in this case. Right now it looks like we're not being suspected of anything. A sudden departure on our part would only serve to draw their attention back to us."
"Why would it matter what they thought after that?" Jasper asked. "We'd be gone."
"It matters because we're using the Cullen name at this location," Carlisle explained. "If we give them any real fodder for suspicion, there's no telling how long our name would be circulated in association with what, by all appearances, is a kidnapping case or worse. And even without the name, it would make it difficult for us to live anywhere in the country for a while. As of right now, the police aren't associating us with the crime. But if we give them reason to begin suspecting us, our physical descriptions, possibly even pictures, would be circulated along with our name."
"I'm sorry about the kidnapping thing," Alice sighed. "It was the only option that seemed like it had a chance of success. I didn't think about what other consequences might come of it."
"But just think of the consequences if you hadn't done it," Carlisle said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You saved at least two lives last night, Alice, and I'm so relieved that you found any solution. Dealing with the aftermath is a small price to pay."
Jasper ground his teeth together, thinking again of the meal he had almost had, and of the trouble that could have been avoided. Maybe I could convince Rosalie, if the others aren't willing to do what needs to be done. I'll bet those two policemen from last night are down there too, and-
"Drop it," I muttered under my breath.
"What was that, Edward?" Carlisle asked, turning back to me. I shook my head, my eyes still locked with Jasper's. He finally looked away in irritation, giving up on his plan. If he hadn't been the cause of our troubles, I doubted that he would have given up so easily.
"So we watch and wait," Carlisle continued on, looking around at the others again. "Alice and Edward, you'll both need to stay close to home these next couple of days- both to avoid being seen, and to give us warning if anyone decides to approach the house."
"I still think we should cut our losses and move," I said tightly.
"Only if it becomes necessary," Carlisle said. "We'll soon know which way the wind is blowing. I think if Alice still doesn't see anything happening by the end of the week, we'll be in the clear."
"I don't see us leaving," Alice said, her eyes far away.
"Good," Rosalie said loudly, sending me a threatening glare before storming out of the room. If there had been a human in her path, he would have fainted dead away just from the look on her face.
"It's settled for now, then," Esme announced. "And I think we should all just take it easy the rest of the day, and give each other some space." Her eyes flickered over to mine worriedly, but her face was quickly replaced by Emmett as he stepped between us, glaring down at me.
The next time you want to pick on her like that, let me know ahead of time so I can rip your tongue out and burn it. Got me?
I nodded curtly. He moved on, letting his shoulder slam into mine on the way out.
"Know which way the wind is blowing", Jasper was thinking. Unbelievable. And so much for the democratic process.
I snorted a laugh. "Did you just invoke murder and democracy in the same conversation?" He responded by stalking out of the room, again looking very much like Rosalie's twin. Alice scampered after him, worried that he was feeling guilty. I was left standing alone with Carlisle and Esme.
Carlisle waited until Jasper was outside. "Anything we need to know about?"
"I don't think so."
"And you?"
"What?"
Carlisle shared a look with Esme, and the same thought: It's been a stressful evening for him. He shouldn't have gone alone to the Police Station.
"I'm fine," I said lightly. "And yes, it's been a stressful evening, for all of us."
"Why don't you go out for a quick hunt?" Carlisle suggested, noting my eye color. I could come with you. We haven't gone together in a while...
"You just said you wanted me to stay home today."
"Just for an hour or so. I'll have Alice keep a sharp eye while we're gone." I really think you should hunt, son. You're not quite yourself. None of us are, I suppose. But I imagine Jasper's thirst was especially difficult for you last night.
I stared back at him, forcing myself to breath evenly. "All right," I said finally. "But you should stay here, in case the police call about the van." Before he could answer I spun on my heel and headed out, pretending I couldn't hear the hurt in his mind.
Well, as you've probably guessed, we're about to hit the emotional climax of the story- of the Series, actually, in terms of Edward's identity, his guilt, and his relationship with Carlisle. The next couple chapters are going to be very difficult for Edward, but after this last angst mountain I promise the rest of the story will be relatively angst-free. Unfortunately since we're dealing with pre-canon character development, I can't bring him to quite as healthy a place as I would like to. Some of that will have to wait until the Epilogue, and many of his flaws and quirks are there to stay. But I think you'll like where this story ends up, nonetheless.
Also a note about Jasper here: he doesn't dislike Carlisle. He respects him, in many ways, and is glad to be where he is. He's just still trying to sort out how he feels about Carlisle's leadership, especially in terms of gentleness vs. strength. (plus he's just in a bad mood because of the police thing) At this point he views Carlisle as something like a human superior officer (a very positive relationship, per his cloudy memory) as well as a friend to whom he owes a great deal. I'm honestly not sure if he ever quite comes to see Carlisle as his father... probably more of a father-in-law, in the end. I do hope to have a sweet moment between those two before this story is done, and show Jasper having a bit more faith in his leadership.
