Blast from the Past
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thanks once again for all the lovely reviews. I really love reading them all. It really has kept me motivated. This is a shout out to: brankel1, scifiromance, chinadoll381282001, kerentrev, Delsan13, twifantasyfan, jeri252, Jeniesethebeast, cmwillis, bubbl3gum7, BabyGirl1910, madmamabear, JacobB'sImprintee, Pernfan, Zayide, rasheedah2907, foxylady1on1, Melody-Rose-20, afqtie324, Shalette, TommyH, alixandria, ae81, BeckieT108, Dottyanne and all the guest reviewers.
Part Thirty Five-Painful Revelations
Bella sat across from Alice in the kitchen. She cradled a mug of black coffee in her hands, not actually drinking it, just using the hot liquid for warmth. J and Jaymie were in the living room with Jacob, Leah, Sam and Embry. The little girl had finally calmed down; more due to exhaustion than anything else. She was now lying on the couch beside J, both trying to find sleep. Now the children were settled Bella had pulled Alice into the kitchen so that they could talk a bit more privately. Well as privately as it could get with shapes shifters in the next room with keen hearing.
"No more secrets Alice. I need you to tell me the truth about Edward and everything that has been happening." She said bluntly.
Alice gazed at her sadly, the usually perky persona she put on was absent. "You seem so different, Bella." She replied softly.
"Of course I am, Alice. I grew up, I had to," she snapped irritably.
Alice flinched at her harsh tone and Bella felt guilty. After what Jacob had told her about Jasper, it must have torn Alice's world apart. "I'm sorry to be so harsh," she apologised. "But I need some answers. So if you have any, tell me."
Alice hung her head and gave out a resigned sigh. "I need to tell you how sorry I am about what I did to your son and little Jaymie. I wasn't in my right mind Bella. If it wasn't for Amy I dread to think what would have happened."
Bella frowned. "Are you implying you knew Amy already?" She enquired.
"Yes, she was the first friend I ever had as a human. Well my only friend actually." She admitted.
"She knew you as a human? But that must have been decades ago?" Bella surmised in wonder. "Where on earth would you two have crossed paths?"
Alice blinked as if she was trying to hold back tears, but of course in reality she could not cry. Her voice however betrayed her grief. "It was in the mental asylum. We were both put in there for the same reason because we were deemed as suffering with delusions. Times were different back then, people were suspicious if you displayed any type of supernatural abilities. Amy befriended me, without her my time inside would have been intolerable."
Bella stared at her in shock. She reached across and took her cold hands in her own. "I am so sorry that you had to go through that Alice. But I thought you couldn't remember your time in the institution."
"I couldn't for which I was thankful. I woke up a vampire with no clear knowledge of my past. It was only Edward's insistence that I look into my past that unlocked the floodgates of my memories." Alice's voice choked up as she spoke.
"Why would Edward do that?" Bella demanded.
Alice finally looked her in the eyes. "He's changed since you left him, Bella. I assume Jacob told you about the deal Carlisle made with the Volturi?"
Bella shuddered at the mention of the vampire royalty as they liked to call themselves. Even all these years later the screams of the tourists who had been lured into the Volturi's lair still haunted her dreams. "Yes, he told me. I'm sorry that you all had to do that on my behalf." she said regretfully.
"No it is I who needs to apologise to you. All the family do because we all knew what Edward was capable of and we did nothing to stop him. He could do a lot more than read minds, he could manipulate them too." She admitted sadly.
"You mean he was..." Bella felt nausea rising in her throat. "He had been manipulating me?"
"Only up to a point," Alice confessed. "You seem to have the ability to resist him. He couldn't read your thoughts either and it would frustrate him terribly."
"Did he manipulate you, Alice?" Bella asked softly. "Is that why you say you can't remember what happened?"
"I think so," she placed her head in her hands again. "I think he has been using me for years for his own ends. My visions have been erratic for years. As soon as I experienced a vision, Edward would see it in my mind, giving him ample time to change what I thought I saw. I really thought I was going crazy."
Bella stood up and walked around the table so she could sit next to Alice and put her arms around her. Cold seeped through her skin but she ignored the chill. "Do you think it went as far back as the day you came to see me when I jumped off the cliff?"
Alice nodded, her face a picture of misery. "I came with the intention of just checking up on your welfare Bella, truly I did. But something happened, I don't recall why I dragged you to Italy. I felt too ashamed to tell you afterwards. Everyone was so happy that you and Edward had been reunited..."
"Everyone?" Bella questioned, arching her eyebrows.
"Well Carlisle and Esme were anyway. I was too. I had missed you Bella. Besides Amy you were the only genuine friend I ever had." She confessed.
The two girls were quiet for a moment as they took in the extent of how much they had been manipulated. A worrying thought suddenly occurred to Bella and she stared at Alice in horror. "Do you know why I jumped off that cliff Alice?"
"Not exactly," Alice appeared confused.
"When you all left I started hearing Edward's voice in my head," Bella felt like things were becoming clearer the more she compared stories with Alice. They had never spoken in depth about that time before; then again Edward had never been far from Bella's side after they were reunited.
"You heard Edward's voice?" Alice sounded appalled. "What was he saying? How is that even possible? He would have to have been close by to do that."
"Maybe he was," Bella surmised. "I mean he wasn't with your family when you all left was he? How did he manage to force you all to go anyway?"
Alice shrugged. "I don't really know. It just suddenly seemed like the right thing to do."
"It seems odd that you appeared just as I was drawing closer to Jake. It was at that point that I was thinking of moving forward with him." Bella clutched at her stomach, the sickness was building up in her throat.
"Are you okay, Bella?" Alice asked.
"Just morning sickness," Bella told her with a wan smile.
Alice's eyes opened wide. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, I thought you would have been able to see that."
Alice returned her smile. "Not while you were with Jake. I hear you got married too. Congratulations on both counts."
"Thank you," Bella murmured. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Alice?"
"Yes."
"There's one other thing I need to ask you," Bella admitted.
"You want me to help Jaymie now that Amy has gone," Alice said for her.
Bella opened one eye. "I thought you couldn't see anything when Jake was near?"
Alice laughed for the first time. "I may have limited people skills, Bella, but I can still read you when you want a favour." She teased gently.
Bella smiled tiredly. "Damn, there goes my poker face." She quipped.
XXXXXX
Bella and Jacob sat on the steps at the back of the house. He had heard most of the conversation between her and Alice. It had been hard for him not to interrupt after some of the revelations. He had his arms around her, one had placed protectively over her stomach.
"I can't believe that son of a bitch," he seethed. "I can't wait to tear him to shreds for what he has put us all through. He is seriously twisted."
"It sickens me to think of what he was doing? But I just don't understand why? What was the point of it all?" Bella cried out.
"Hush Bells, you need to stay calm. Think of the baby," Jacob cupped her face in his palm and kissed her gently. "We will track him down soon and then it will all be over."
"I'm worried, Jake," Bella confessed. "There's more going on here than we know. I can feel it. Edward has been with the Volturi for the last few years, you saw yourself how it had changed Jasper. There's no telling what his agenda really is."
"I know honey, but fretting about what we don't know will not do any of us any good. I will protect you and our family I promise." Jacob vowed.
"I know," Bella said softly. She leaned back into him and closed her eyes, letting his warm presence soothe her frazzled nerves.
XXXXXX
Leah glared at Alice suspiciously, she really didn't trust her at all. Sam kept a tight hold of her hand, he knew that his wife could kick off without warning when she was in this mood. The two children were still asleep on the couch in the living room. After Bella had finished talking to Alice she had told them to go and speak to her themselves about helping Jaymie.
"I understand that you don't trust me, Leah," Alice began the conversation. "But Jaymie does need guidance and now that Amy is no longer here to help, I would like to offer my services in her stead."
"You kidnapped my daughter," Leah snapped, assessing Alice's reaction carefully.
"I know and I regret my actions. I wasn't in my right mind," Alice replied calmly.
"And how do we know you are now?" Sam questioned.
"This is the first time I have been away from Edward for an extended period of time. I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. Suddenly having my past come back to haunt me sent me reeling and with the combination of his manipulations I admit I was pushed over the edge." Alice said candidly. "I have been through what Jaymie is dealing with and it is scary when you don't know how to control the visions that you see. I can help her with that."
"My daughter is strong." Leah said fiercely. "She has us to support her."
Alice nodded. "Yes and I am happy for her that she does. I never did nor did Amy. But you have no idea of the mental and physical toll it can take on a person dealing with the type of power that she has. Left unchecked it could consume her. I will be honest, Jaymie's powers are vastly superior to mine, she has untapped potential. If the Volturi were to ever find out about her, they would stop at nothing to get her. I never told Bella this because she is under enough strain but the real reason I think Edward is back here is for your daughter."
Leah let out a strangled cry. Sam hugged her tightly and glared across at Alice. "Why?" He demanded.
"Jaymie would make an excellent bargaining tool with the Volturi. They would sacrifice anything to have her under their command. Aro in particular would be interested in having her." She replied sympathetically. "Handing her over would ensure Edward's release and he would then be free to take Bella."
"No, not my little girl," Leah sagged in Sam's embrace and began to cry softly.
"Are you absolutely certain of this?" He demanded again.
Alice stared back at him. "As I said the more that I am away from him the clearer my visions become. I am beginning to regain control of them. But you have to remember, Edward is devious and knows me well. He can find ways around my attempts to find out what he is planning. I think he sent your friend to get me to make doubly sure that I didn't get in the way of his plans again."
"Fucking leech," Embry swore. He had been leaning against the kitchen cabinets, listening quietly to the conversation between Alice, Sam and Leah.
Sam shot him a dark look. "Not helping," he growled at Embry.
"I'm sorry, it just makes me so angry," Embry muttered.
"If you can't see what he is doing, how the hell are we supposed to know what he is planning?" Leah asked, wiping at her tears angrily.
"There is one person who can," Alice suggested cautiously. Her gaze flickered over to Embry who was studying her intently with his dark eyes.
"You mean Jaymie," Sam stated bluntly. "No I won't let you use my daughter."
"She will have the visions anyway," Alice told him. "She already has. She saw him with Quil, she knows about the bad man as she calls him. I can help her through it."
Leah felt like everything was spiralling out of control. She gazed at Sam helplessly; his face was filled with worry. "You're asking a lot for us to trust you." He finally said.
"I know that. I have been as honest as I can be. Maybe the person to make the decision should be Jaymie herself. She would know if I was lying. I would not be able to hide the truth from her."
Leah and Sam exchanged a worried look. "It seems we have no choice," Leah agreed eventually.
Alice sat back in her chair and gave them a sad smile. "I'm afraid not," was all she said in reply.
A/N-Thanks for reading!