For 4 whole days and nights, Edward and Jasper worked alone on the trail, using one of her coats and a dress. The fewer there was of them, the less chance of the trail becoming suspicious.
Day 1 came and passed, no sign of Rowan, despite the trail crossing at least 5 miles through the forest between her house and theirs. Day 2, they strengthened the scent. But nothing happened.
By day 3, Jasper was anxious. Anxious about the possibilities of other options, and how they were running out. Day 4, he realised that the two remaining options were the ones he was trying to avoid.
Whether he was aware of the nature of the trail, or whether he just hadn't picked up on it yet, was questionable. His judgement was hindered by panic, and, for the first time in a life time, a feeling of over protection. It took all his will power to stop himself taking over Emmett's duties of guarding the house, just so he could see her. The best he could do was call her once a night, and avoid the subject in case someone was listening.
...
I hate this, she grumbled to herself stubbornly. Why did Emmett have to be the one outside? As much as she loved the huge baby of a bear below the window, it wasn't him she needed to see. She was only grateful it wasn't Edward. He'd have a great time deciphering the crazy going through her head right now, getting worse as each morning rose with another sleepless night.
With a huff, she threw her covers away and got dressed, barely looking in the mirror as she did it. When he was away, she barely cared. Maybe that was quite pathetic, but she didn't care much about that, either.
Downstairs, the kitchen table had two occupants. It was silent, save for an ignorant Carla chopping salad as though she were on a continuous loop. Her father sat at the end of the table, Scott as far away as possible without having to face him on the other end. Neither had said a word to each other since Sunday night, and Scott hadn't said anything to her besides for a few grunts in reply to her enquiries. But each time she resolved to confront him, Carla interrupted with her presence.
School flew by, as it did most days, and the routine was second nature to her now. She attended English, had lunch with the remaining Cullen's, went to biology, spent time in library, and went home. Emmett had his orders to give her a ride everyday, and he took them very, very seriously. That particular journey, she decided she was going to have it out with Scott, to tick another problem off her list, as it were. She would brave his room if she had to.
The house was apparently deserted, which was good. Carla would be at work, and Michael presumably job hunting.
"Scott?"
Her ears picked up a shuffling movement upstairs, and she pursued it. Hesitantly, she knocked on his door.
"Hmm."
Pushing the door open, she expected a smell of sweetness, popcorn, and dirty socks. Or onions, to support his love of onion sandwiches he had back home. But instead, she was stunned to silence. The room was emaculate, and bright, despite it greyish blue walls.
"Yes?"
Scott was stood with a cloth in his hand next to the windowcill. The image almost made her forget the purpose for the intrusion. "Since when are you the clean freak?"
He shrugged, and kept his face expressionless. "Since I became as neurotic as you."
She narrowed her eyes at him in an attempt to lighten the tone, but he turned back to the invisible mark on the paintwork. "What do you want?" he demanded as he worked away at it.
"To talk about this whole mess of a situation."
He stayed to his work, becoming more violent with that poor cloth. "What situation? So what if I feel like I'm in 'The Lost Boys'?"
"Scott, it's not that big a deal."
"Isn't it? He lied to us-"
"He evaded the truth, that's not lying."
The cloth was squeaking under the force, Scott's words came forced out in a grunt. "He never told us those kinds of things existed."
"Things...?"
"Don't...get...defensive," he grunted between squeaks. "Monsters," he mumbled under his breath. But she heard it, over the progressively loud sound of the cloth. But she held her ground, despite her anger.
"There are monsters among all species, Scott. Right now, those 'monsters', are out there keeping us safe-"
"Ha! Now they're from Krypton or something-"
A smash snapped away at his words, and both were frozen. Scott's eyes were fixated on his hand. And the large chunk of wood he'd broken out of the windowsill, replaced by the bloody appendage. Glass was sticking out of the back of his hand. He was stunned. She ran to him straight away, tugged at his hand and pulled him to the bathroom, hastily holding the cloth to his hand. "Idiot", she said, and started taking the glass and splinters out in the sink. He didn't even complain. Afterwards, after it had been cleaned and bandaged, she set him down back in his totally clean room, and sat with him on his sofa bed.
"We have a thing for smashed windows," he suddenly observed and a ghost like voice. He was still pale, but the sweats had stopped. Alenia almost laughed, it made her jump so much, but she resisted. She quickly realised he hadn't known what had happened to hers until a few nights ago, and she hadn't yet thought of an explanation.
"That was to do with them, wasn't it?"
She nodded. "Jas saved me. From the...vampire...they're trying to catch."
He huffed in weak amusement beside her, and relief washed over her when she found a content smile on his chalky face. "That was kind of cool, though. I broke a solid object by cleaning."
"And very nearly your hand."
He checked it, and shrugged. "Doesn't even hurt," he remarked flippantly. Suddenly he began unwrapping the bloodied bandages.
"Damn," he whispered, staring down at the hand, the only evidence of the accident being perfect white scars.
...
"Come on."
"Where are we going?"
Edward motioned for her to at least reach the door, and she hesitantly obeyed.
The whole Cullen family, save for Jasper, was waiting upstairs, some in total disagreement with the decision Edward had made almost singlehandedly. But instead of taking her directly to them, he agreed to Alice's request to clean herself up first. Since she hadn't seen herself in a mirror for pretty much 2 years, she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone for the results. But she braved it, and hid behind her fingers before the mirror, taking the tiniest peak, each time a little more. Eventually, she realised how much of a nomad she looked. It didn't bother her too much. She grabbed the cloth and almost began, when she caught a nearby scent. Alice glanced in the mirror, to find Bella waiting in the door way.
"Remember when I was the pretty one?"
Bella smiled, but Alice was terrified of putting a foot wrong. Out of everyone, it was her she most dreaded seeing. Her disappointment in her would be too much for her, and pity was something she did too often. Now it was likely that everyone knew, pity from all corners was inevitable.
"Hurry, Ness is barely able to contain herself." With that she was gone. Alice began scrubbing away with a shaky hand. Clean and changed, she made the journey to the upstairs living area.
They were all there, except for one face. That was for the best, it made this a little easier, in some way. Because of his absence, however, she couldn't ignore how everyone had seemingly changed. Only the tiniest and most subtle, of course, perhaps a result of the absence. Ed, Bella and their now fully grown daughter were a solid family unit to one side, Renesme's face brimming with innocent delight, as though she were ignorant of the last couple of years. Emmett and Rose were on a sofa, looking weary. There was a new age, insight, in Emmett's eyes that wasn't there before. Rose appeared to be less bitter, her face free of it's presumed permanent scowl. Carlisle and Esme were at the front. Carlisle was...unreadable.
"We can't wait, Alice," Edward announced, emerging from the group and checking her over. That was when she realised her place in this family; she had none. She was an outsider, now, simply helping out.
"No you're not," he said as they made their way out, just out of earshot. Alice knew what he meant. He was her only brother, her only family, now. Once they were out in the drive way, he handed her a dark green coat. "Put this on, you still remember the plan?"
She gave him a look. "I came up with it, imbecile."
She threw on the coat, shielding her thoughts the best she could. After all, she knew how this ended.
...
The sky was in twilight, all pink and purple hues becoming progressively distinct, sharpening the silhouettes of the trees framing the arena of flowers and grass of impossible colour, now blending into one. But, just as before, her mind was distracted by the man beneath her head, still as stone, as he fiddled with the ends of her fingers. They hadn't said a word for around 15 minutes, but they didn't need to. All was understood, all was known between them. Soon, the situation looming over them would soon be over, and they could have more days like this.
If only she could push away the sense of impending doom. She suddenly realised she didn't want to take the forever they had together for granted.
...
Alice waited...and waited. She waited in the very space she'd first met the boy, Rowan. She knew it wouldn't take long. As she waited, she raked over the details of her plan, now miles away from Edward. She watched behind her eyes how it would pan out, each vision being almost identical, save for a change in dialogue.
But each ended the same way.
One of them wasn't going to make it.
"Alice," a deep voice greeted close behind her ear, but she'd already sensed him. She turned, and gave him the smile she knew he loved.