Post-Epilogue Vignette - Chapter 3: Night

The front porch light turned on.

"I wonder how he's going to take the news," Alice said as the front door opened.

I could see Jacob's silhouette framed against the light. I shrugged as I slipped out of the car and walked up the path towards the house. Alice followed closely behind me.

"Guess who I ran into in Port Angeles?" I greeted Jake with a half-hearted attempt at a joke.

His lips quirked in appreciation as he leaned down to kiss me briefly, before turning to greet Alice. "Long time no see! Please tell me you're here for the wedding and not for some other reason," Jake teased with a steady smile but watchful eyes.

Alice softened visibly at his warm greeting. "I wish more than anything that were the case."

Jacob closed his eyes for a moment. I could see the veins throbbing in his temples and his cheeks begin to flush. But then the moment passed and he opened his eyes again with a sigh. Then he gestured for us to come inside.

A late night talk show was playing on the TV. Jake flicked it off and cleared room on the couch – which had been covered with boxes of wedding favors – for us to sit. But he remained standing himself as he nodded to Alice, indicating that he was ready to hear her story.

Alice quickly related what she had told me on the drive home. My eyes never left Jake's face as I watched him absorb the news. His expression was blank for most of the time. Deliberately so. I could see the effort that it was taking for him to look so calm and controlled. The only time I detected any emotion was when Alice mentioned that Edward likely wasn't going to make it in time. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a hint of relief in his eyes. Most of the time, I could read Jake like a book. But when he morphed into pack mode, it was like he was a different person.

"Are you sure of Aro's intentions?" Jacob asked when Alice finished her brief explanation.

"Carlisle believes him, but I don't trust him," admitted Alice. "I've never trusted him. I feel like he must have some ulterior motive for coming. But I don't know what it is."

Jake frowned. "You said that this Aro is coming with his guards? What does that mean?"

"Aro was traveling with his brother Caius when they ran into Carlisle and Esme. So Caius is coming too. I'm afraid that's probably not a good thing. Caius is pretty hot-tempered and he really doesn't like werewolves," Alice replied looking embarrassed.

Jake shrugged. "Just as long as he doesn't have any fancy powers like the rest of you guys …"

"No, not Caius. But the other guards do. Aro never travels without his personal guard Renata. She's a shield. Her power is hard to explain, but basically, she can deflect any attack by manipulating the mind of the attacker. It makes it hard to for anyone to get to Aro."

"Okay, but that's a pretty defensive power." Jacob replied as he processed the information. "Anyone with an offensive skill?"

"Yes, there's Jane and Alec," Alice said. Her beautiful face winced even as she said their names. "They're all the offensive power the Volturi need. Jane can create tremendous pain just by looking at a person. I've heard that she can completely incapacitate her victim with the pain she inflicts."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever experienced it?"

"Not first hand," Alice admitted. "But Carlisle has. He was curious and asked her to try her power on him once. He said it was the most excruciating pain he had ever experienced in his life. Even worse than the pain of being turned."

Jake glanced quickly at me and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing.

"That's pretty bad," I admitted. "But it sounds like she can only hurt one person at a time. She can't hurt an entire group of people, can she?"

"No, her power is individual. But that's where her twin, Alec, comes in," Alice explained. "In some ways, he's worse, because he has the ability to cut off your senses and emotions. And he can incapacitate entire groups of people by numbing their ability to feel and react."

Jake whistled. "No offense, but these people sound like real works of art."

Alice chuckled. "Yeah, the Volturi have never been my favorite people either."

"Well, there's 6 of them coming – granted, two of them are superfreaks – but at least we'll outnumber them two-to-one between the pack and you guys," Jake said with a shrug. I couldn't tell if he actually felt as confident as he sounded, or if this was part of the pack mode Jacob that I couldn't read.

"Carlisle wants me to stress that the pack is only there to serve as a witness. He doesn't believe Aro will do anything … stupid," Alice reiterated again, but I could see from her eyes that she doubted what she was saying herself.

"Well, if Carlisle is concerned enough to want us there for back-up then I'm considering the Volturi a threat. Plus there's no way we won't be there. Not when it's Bella at stake. What's your plan?"

"The rest of them should be at the house by now. Carlisle told us to expect them by noon tomorrow. If the pack wants to be involved, we should meet to discuss strategy," Alice said as she stood up from the couch. She looked so tiny standing next to Jake who towered over her by at least a foot and a half.

Jacob nodded. "I'll call Sam now. My guess is the pack knows that your family has returned. Sam called just before you guys arrived but I didn't pick up. Let's meet first thing in the morning. Out by the old stone quarry. The place where-"

"-Yes, I remember. We'll be there." Alice interrupted him with a sad smile. "I'll go and let you two get some rest." She walked towards the door, but paused before opening it. Without turning around to look at us, she spoke again. "We didn't want this. We had every intention of staying away so that you could live the rest of your lives in peace. You know that, right?"

"Of course, Alice," I said surprised at her response. I got up from the couch and walked towards her. "I know you guys have never meant for any of this to happen."

She nodded silently, without turning to look at me, and then she slipped out the front door. Through the window, we saw her head towards the woods as she disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Jake locked the front door. Then he came over and pulled me into a hug. We stood there for a long time in the hallway without moving. My eyes were closed and I felt myself melting into him, seeking comfort and reassurance in the one place that had never failed me.

I don't know how long we stayed that way before Jake finally let go and stepped back. He reached over to grab his cellphone from the table. I nodded as I turned to head upstairs to get ready for bed. I didn't need to hear the details again and I left Jake to relay the news to Sam.

I took a quick shower, at first in ice-cold water, wishing desperately that it would shock me out of this horrible nightmare. But it didn't work. And so then I turned on the hot water, desperately seeking comfort and reassurance. As a result, I looked a bit like a boiled lobster by the time I stepped out. I pulled on the first old t-shirt and pajama pants I could find. It wasn't until I got into the bedroom and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror that I realized that they were actually Jacob's clothes.

"I like the look," Jacob's voice came from behind me. I turned and he was leaning against the doorway with his arms folded over his chest. His smile was amused, but tired.

"You know me," I smiled half-heartedly. "Always like to keep things interesting."

"Ha! That's for sure," he chuckled as he walked over and flopped onto the bed. I moved to lie down next to him and immediately, as I knew he would, he pulled me into his arms.

"And here I was thinking that we were about to enter boring old middle age." Jacob teased. His breath was warm against my forehead.

I didn't say anything. I didn't have it in me to laugh anymore about this.

"Are you scared?" Jake asked suddenly, his voice now serious.

"Are you?"

Jacob was silent for a moment. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. This guy … Aro … who is he? What does he want with you? It seems a long way for him to come to just meet you. Not that you're not worth of it, of course," he said as he gave me an affectionate squeeze.

"I know. It's the uncertainty that scares me. Last time …" my voice choked, but I forced myself to continue. "At least, last time we knew what she was after and so we could plan for it. This time? Is this a friendly visit? Will you need to fight? Who knows?"

"Well, Sam and I agreed that we won't take any chances," Jake replied. "The pack meets first thing in the morning and prepares for battle. Better safe than sorry."

I felt my eyes starting to well up. It seemed so unfair that all of this was happening again. That I was putting the pack and the Cullens in danger yet again. When would this ever end?

Jacob let a long sigh as he tightened his arms. "I just wish … sometimes I just wish things could be normal."

"Things have been pretty normal for years," I said softly. I knew he wasn't blaming me, but I couldn't help but blame myself.

"I know, but weren't you always worried that something like this might happen? That it might not ever be … over?" he asked.

I nodded. Because it was true. There was always this fear in the back of my mind, wondering if anything like Victoria would ever happen again. I knew Jake felt it too, which was why he insisted on the pack continuing to meet every few months to practice, even though many of the others thought it was a waste of time. It looked like all of Jake's precautions over the last decade had been right.

"Alright, there's no point in keeping ourselves up for nothing. We'll need our sleep for tomorrow," Jacob replied as reached over to turn off the light. "We're meeting at dawn and that's only a few hours away."

I nodded as I snuggled in closer. He was right. And yet, sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. We lay there in silence for a few moments. I could tell Jake wasn't asleep either by how rigid his body was next to mine.

"Are you asleep?" Jake asked finally, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"No, I can't sleep," I replied equally softly.

"Neither can I," he admitted. "I can't seem to stop thinking about 'what ifs' for tomorrow."

"Me too," I said with a sigh.

His arm pulled me closer into his chest. I raised my head and propped myself on my elbow so I could look down at him. His features were so familiar to me and yet, I could never get my fill of looking at him. In the moonlight, the sharp planes of his face seemed even more defined. I reached out my hand to stroke his cheek and to smooth the wrinkle in his brow.

Jake grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. I watched as he softly kissed the palm of my hand, then slowly moved it so he could caress every little nook. His breath was burning hot against my skin and I could feel my entire body warming up in response.

"I'm not thinking about 'what ifs' for tomorrow anymore…" I said softly. My hand was trembling now, every nerve ending on fire as I watched him slowly move to kiss each fingertip, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Neither am I," Jake whispered as he finally pulled me towards him. And just like that, all of our worries faded away into the night.

Hi guys! Hope you liked this next chapter - let me know - I'm definitely struggling a little to find a rhythm with this post-epilogue story. It definitely doesn't feel as smooth as the original and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I should have left the story as it was! Anyways, I won't be able to post next week - I'm in the middle of midterms - but I'll be back in two weeks!