Bella PoV

I sat on my bed. I was already wearing my pyjamas. The light was turned off, only the moon illuminated my room. Charlie was asleep, his light snoring audible through the walls.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to clear my mind of everything. I pushed all troubles away, pushed Jacob away, my mum, my dad and every emotion I had.

I tried to think only of me. I imagined sitting in my room the next day after school and writing on a piece of paper. But instead of doing an assignment I wrote a letter.

Alice,

We need you. It's very, very urgent. Please come. But you cannot tell anyone that you are coming here, it's too dangerous. Jacob will be at the northern end of Forks the next four nights. He will help you enter the town and come to me unseen. Please Alice, we really need you. Bella

For a whole ten minutes I focused only on the letter I was going to write tomorrow. I knew that Alice had told me she would stop checking on me, but I had also seen her visions come without her concentrating. If I just focused hard enough, it might be enough for her to see without actually checking on me. I knew I was grasping for straws here but the was the only way. It had to work. I needed this to work. It was the only way of keeping the werewolves alive. Keeping Jacob alive. The man I loved with all my heart. Before I went to sleep this night, I thought of only one thing: Please Alice. Come

I repeated the ritual over the next three days. At night I thought of the letter I was going to write and the next day I was writing it. The days went by agonizingly slow. Each night when she didn't show up, I grew more and more desperate. Had my plan failed? Had she shut me out completely, blocking every vision she had of me? Or had she seen me and simply decided not to come? Or had I been wrong and the werewolves were not the reason she couldn't see me?

The fourth night came. My last chance. Tomorrow Jake would check on me and know that my one chance of helping the pack had failed.

One last time I focused on the letter I was going to write then I went to bed, desperately hoping for something to happen. I even let my window stay open so she could have easier access to my room.

When I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep, I hoped I wouldn't wake up the next morning because that would mean my plan hadn't succeeded...

"Bella?" Something cool touched my sleep-warm cheek and I jolted up, immediately awake.

My eyes searched the room, looking for the owner of the voice that had woken me up. My eyes had troubles adjusting to the darkness of the night but after a few seconds I had become used to it.

A small figure stood near my bed. She had reddish-brown hair and golden eyes that glowed in the dark. She wore dark clothes, only her white hands and face were visible.

"Alice..." I breathed. Instantly I jumped out and threw my arms around the thin woman who stayed as still as a rock. "You came." Relief washed over me. My plan had succeeded. My one chance of helping the pack was still there.

"You asked me to come, didn't you?" Alice said, sitting down on my bed beside me. "By the way, very clever of you to call on my visions. I tried to come sooner but it was difficult getting away without raising suspicion."

"Doesn't matter. You are here now." My voice was hoarse from unshed tears of relief and I had to clear my throat twice before I could go on.

"You said it was urgent. What's going on?" Alice asked, concerned.

So I filled her in as fast as I could. I told her about Victoria and how, after months of trying to get through, she had suddenly vanished into thin air. I also told her of the werewolves and how concerned they were that Victoria was planning something big and how they had no way of finding out what her plan was.

"So, you want me to look for her and find out what she is up to." It wasn't a question.

I nodded. "We need to know. Please."

"No Bella, don't say this. It's the least I can do after everything he have put you through. Of course, I'll help you. I'll try and locate her but there is a high chance I won't succeed. You know the future is never set in stone and everything might change," the small vampire woman warned me. But I didn't care. "Everything you find out could be helpful. We only need some information about what she's up to so we can prepare for it." I frowned when I saw her smiling gently at me. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Alice chuckled. "It's only the way how you always say we instead of them. Like you are already a member of their clan."

"It's called pack and yes, in some way I am a member," I answered, crossing my arms in front. "How soon can you start?"

"Give me till morning. I should have something for you then."

I nodded. "If you need pens and paper, everything is on my desk over there."

She stood up elegantly and went over. Alice smiled again when she saw my letters to her. "Really a clever girl. It's the first time anyone ever did that and I have to say I am impressed. You must care for them very much."

"They are my family," I answered simply. The other woman nodded slowly, a fleeting look of sadness sweeping across her face. "Like we never were." Afterwards she sat down, closing her eyes. "You should go back to sleep Bella. There is nothing you can do here, and I'll wake you when I've got something."

"Alright." I yawned. I was really tired, the last few days had been very stressful. I gave Alice one last look who sat as still as a stone, shook my head and went back to sleep.

Outside the rain was pouring down in big, heavy drops when Alice woke me up once more. As before, I was awake immediately, my brain functioning at full speed like it had awaited this moment the whole night.

My eyes widened in fear when I looked her in the face. Never had I seen her so shaken up. She even seemed paler than usual, and she was really, really pale already. "Get the wolves," she whispered.

And I did.

Never had I dressed up so quickly as I did this morning. I didn't care brushing my teeth or brushing my hair. A simple ponytail had to do. I put on my sneakers, a rain jacket and an old, dirty pair of jeans because they were the first trousers I could find. I practically ran outside, not bothering if I woke Charlie. I ran in the directions of the wood, calling out their names. I didn't know who, but someone had to be there. There was always someone near my house. I stopped at the edge of the forest. Rain was pouring down my jacket and soaked my sneakers, but I didn't notice. I called their names again and again, cursing the fact that the one time I really needed them, no one was there. My luck entirely

Finally, after a whole eternity of shouting, a slim figure emerged from the woods. The wolf was slightly smaller than the rest and had bright silver fur. This must be Leah

I had never seen Leah in wolf form before but now that I saw her, I could see how utterly beautiful she was. Her eyes were a caramel brown, and her pose was graceful and proud at the same time. She looked down at me, rain dribbling through her fur.

"I know what Victoria is up to. Please, you have to tell Sam and the other wolves to come here as quickly as they can. I fear it's bad."

The wolf did nothing other than to keep looking at me and I thought for a moment that she hadn't understood what I was saying. But all of a sudden, she turned and vanished back in the woods. I tried to keep an eye on her, but she was already out of sight.

I could do nothing more than go back inside and wait.