Another night alone, a temporary dream

I came in through your window sleepwalking

Standing arm and arm, still so out of reach

Well, there's nowhere left to go

Stay with me, stay with me

Footsteps on the floor, your body's just a haze

In a rhythm of your own, that's out of phase

Feel my body swoon to hear you say my name

I've got nowhere left to dream

So I'll just stay awake, stay awake

Chapter 28: Spoken Fears

Bella POV:

My words took some time to sink into Alice. She still struggled against my firm grip on her hip, her instinct from any intruder telling her to do so for my sake.

"B-Benjamin?" She stuttered out, eyes unblinking and trying to comprehend.

"Yes. He means us no harm." I nodded my head at Benjamin for him to speak up and help the situation.

"Your wife is right. I do not wish to hurt anyone." He spoke slowly and raised his hands in a sign of good will. Alice blinked rapidly and swallowed her mouthful of venom.

"S-sorry. I'm so sorry. Instincts got the better of me there."

"I understand love." I kissed the top of her head to further help with calming.

I gestured for Benjamin to sit down on a nearby arm chair and then led Alice over to the couch with me.

"So you're back?" I asked while keeping my hand on Alice's thigh.

"Yes. I am truly sorry for fleeing in the first place."

"No worries. I would have done the same. Once you knew I wasn't coming, it wasn't safe for you anymore." Alice must have finally calmed down enough because I heard her exhale loudly and she placed her hand over mine.

"Sorry again for almost attacking you." She whispered embarrassed at her outburst.

"Well I probably shouldn't have waited here unannounced." Benjamin smiled at his carelessness, his voice was full of this childlike wonder all the time.

"How did you find us?" Alice asked, a sudden alarm overtook her. She was worried about who else may be able to find us if he could.

"He was the one that suggested this apartment." Benjamin nodded at my statement.

"Yes. I thought this would be the perfect distance from the Volturi. Not too close, but not too far. Plus there is abundant wildlife nearby for your particular diet." He eyed Alice curiously while he said this, obviously intrigued by the idea of feeding from animals rather than humans.

"Oh. Thank you." Alice squeaked. She was still uneasy for some reason and I couldn't figure out why.

"Amun rarely talks about your coven. Please pardon my interest, I just never get to meet people." His staring was starting to get the point where it was creepy, but at least I understood where it was coming from.

When Liam and I first escaped the Volturi, there was a time when we could only stare at our surroundings in wonder. Everything around us had suddenly become so fascinating, human and animal life alike. So I could imagine never being able to experience it until now.

I kept feeling Alice's muscles quiver next to mine, she was scared. It concerned the hell out of me, nothing really ever frightened her. I squeezed her hand and leaned down next to her ear.

"What's wrong Al?"

"My instincts are still on edge because of his power." I scrunched up my eyebrows in confusion, it's not like he was using it right now. "When a vampire is around someone with a much stronger gift, it sort of keeps us on edge." She explained to me.

"Oh." I kind of didn't really know what else to say. I was perfectly fine around him. Sure, I respected the hell out of his gift, it was as bad-ass as they come, well besides mine of course. But really the only people I was ever like that around were the Volturi, and I chalked that up on the fact that they had tortured me for so long that I was still deeply scarred by it.

Benjamin must have finally noticed Alice's discomfort and he was able to pry his boring eyes away from us. He unnecessarily cleared his throat before speaking.

"I believe we have much to discuss."

"Do you really believe he'll help us? He abandoned you once before." Our meeting with Benjamin was over and I took Alice for some fresh air after all her held in tension she'd endured.

"I was about to leave him alone to face the entire Volturi Alice, he'd be foolish not to run."

"Yeah well something tells me he could easily take care of them with his gift." She grumbled with distrust and annoyance clearly laced in her tone.

"Why does he bother you so much? I know you have those vampire instincts, but this sounds like something more."

"I don't know." She ran her fingers over her temples in obvious frustration. "I just have this uneasy feeling about him. And of course with you around screwing with my visions I can't see why." I frowned at her, a little put out by the comment. We had been together for so long that I figured she had gotten used to me messing with her visions. I guess not. Alice must have caught sight of my hurt expression because she sighed and hugged me tightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's alright." I hugged her back and led us onward. "Talk to me. Tell me about this feeling you have about him." She sighed and leaned into me while we walked.

"I'm not sure. His gift is so strong, it makes me nervous. You saw how he is. He's never really had freedom like this before, so I can imagine what little he's tested his power. The few things he did for us seem like parlor tricks compared to what I believe he can do."

"So you're afraid he'll lose control?"

"Well, it's what newly freed vampires tend to do." I hung my head at her truthfulness. I was no exception to that rule. "Stop thinking about the past love."

"You're right." Some of her hair spikes had flown into my mouth as a spoke from the wind and I had to sputter them out. Alice giggled and pulled away during my awkward struggle.

"How did you ever get along in life without me?"

"I have no idea." I choked out once my idiotic moment of the day was over. "But if I cough up a black hairy fur-ball later, I'll know who to blame." She grinned widely before returning to her place on my shoulder in a somber mood again. "What do you want to do? Should we do it alone instead?"

"No. No, we do need him." She squeezed tighter into my chest. "I'll just be happy when all this is over and done with." I rested my chin on top of her head and pulled her close in return.

"You and me both."

The air around me was full of the smell of salt and seawater, I could feel the spray on my face. My eyes opened to find me on the edge of a cliff, one that felt familiar.

"La Push? What am I doing here?" I wondered out loud. I couldn't remember how I got here for the life of me.

"Bella. Bella don't." My head whipped around faster than it ever had before at the sound behind me. Alice stood trembling, eyes glazed over and staring blankly ahead.

"Alice? Why are we here? What's wrong?" I suddenly because very aware of her violent shaking, it was the kind of shivering humans did when they were freezing. "Alice look at me!" Her lack of any emotion other than fear had begun to frighten me.

"I can't live without you. Don't make me." Her eyes were now glassy from tears and an apparent vision. She edged closer to the side of the cliff while crying.

"Alice what are you doing? I'm right here! Just look at me!" I was trapped. The woman I loved now stood in front of me, worried to death about my well-being, and I couldn't do anything about it. I went for broke and tried to grab and turn her around, but she was made of stone and even colder than ice.

"I love you." She drew in one last ragged breath and gracefully stepped off the edge without warning. I screamed in absolute terror and dove head first after her with no second thoughts.

The water hit me like a brick wall, a brick wall made of shards of ice. Alice's small body was drifting just underneath me and I tugged her to the surface with all my might. My lungs stung at the strain they were under, and they cried in pain when I finally broke for air. But as soon as the breath was taken, a wave crashed over us and drowned me again.

Alice wasn't moving. She was dead weight and it added to my panic. Forget the fact that she was an immortal vampire, unperturbed by something as trivial as the raging ocean. She was my mate, and I knew she was in danger. A quite literal storm was heading our way, only making the violent waves worse.

I looked around desperately for the shore, but suddenly there was none in sight. Water was the only thing surrounding us. I was Alice's only hope, but I knew I couldn't hold us both up. My muscles felt numb and weak, I kept pushing them until they burned.

"Hold on Alice, just hold on. I'm not letting you go. Just stay with me." I was gasping at this point. Surely this couldn't be real. The water was dragging me down and I knew I couldn't keep her safe anymore. I couldn't save her.

"Let me go Bella. Let go."

I woke up screaming and drenched in my own sweat, thankfully not seawater. Alice was clutching onto my chest with fearful eyes, worried about what had gotten me so panicked. I could only gulp down the air I thought I had run out of mere moments before. Thankfully my wife let me catch my breath before prying for any answers.

"That was a bad one Bells." She rubbed my shoulders as I sat hunched over with my face in my hands. "Caius or Aro?"

"Neither." I panted out, still shaking hard from the ordeal. "It-it was a nightmare, not a memory." She frowned and moved even closer to my body at this new bit of information.

"Tell me about it."

"Al…" I tried to break free of her grasp on me. I wasn't sure if it was something I could bring myself to tell her. It felt so real, the fact that she was safe in my arms meant a great deal to me right now. I didn't want to frighten her with the image of my nightmare.

"Bella." She kept her iron grip on me like a monkey clinging to its mother. There was a look in her eye that told me she wouldn't let up until I spilled, so I sighed and put my head back in my hands.

"I was on the edge of this cliff in La Push, and-and you were there." Another round of tremors hit and we had to wait until I was in control again. "God Alice everything felt so real. The details around me, Jesus even the smells were exact."

"What happened?" She spoke softly, knowing that I was stalling the bad part.

"Y-you were acting so strangely. You kept mumbling on about me and something you didn't want me to do. I kept trying to get your attention, but, but it was like I wasn't even there. Your eyes were all glassed over and you were crying. And then-and then…"

"And then what?" Alice traced my jawline gently with her fingers, trying to make it easier to speak.

"You said you loved me and you jumped." I was finally able to choke out.

"Bella, you know a thing like that wouldn't hurt me."

"I know. I know that, but it was different there. You were so small, and I couldn't not go after you." A small whine escaped from her lips when I said this. "You kept sinking and you weren't moving. When I was finally able to grab you, you were just there. I tried to get us to shore but all of them had vanished. So it was just you and me, and all this water." My breathing troubles returned once again at the thought and my throat felt scratchy. Almost like I had swallowed all that seawater.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't know what to do." I practically cried out. The pain was still very much there about my almost losing her. "I just kept trying to keep us afloat and I knew I couldn't." I ended quietly and looked down into my lap ashamed. It felt as though I had failed her, even in my sleep.

"Oh Bella. Please stop looking down like that." Alice cupped my chin in her hand and pulled me up to look at her. Her eyes very much mirrored mine, glistening with tears. Unfortunately mine fell. I went to wipe them away hastily, but Alice did so softly before I got the chance.

"I couldn't save you. That's my worst nightmare."

"But it wasn't real Bella. And it never could be."

"That's not the point." I sighed and tried to get away from her again, but she wasn't having it. "The nightmare. It fed on all my deepest fears, the ones I think about every day when you're here with me. In danger."

"Stop that." Her kind tone faltered when she spoke to me. She traded it for a sterner one as she lectured. "Stop doing that Bella. This was my choice to come here and it was mine to stay."

"Yes, but I let you."

"Do you really think so little of me? You know I wouldn't have left no matter how hard you tried. You are very much stuck with me."

"And that's exactly what I'm worried about!" Did she not just hear what she said? "If I drown, so do you."

"I think in the case of your dream, I was the one doing the dragging."

"This isn't the time for jokes Alice!" I was finally able to free myself from her and jump out of the bed away. Angry snarls came from my chest without my knowledge and Alice held her hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Please come back to bed?" I grumbled for a moment or two longer, but it was hard to stay mad when she was being so nice. "Thank you." She kissed my temple when I tentatively crawled back into bed with her. "Now, please don't overthink and agonize over your fears. That's exactly how nightmares become reality." She pushed me down onto my back and laid on my chest so I would go to sleep. "Besides, you need to listen to yourself some more. It's like you said, no one's going to hurt us. Not this time."

A/N: I'm going to go on a little sidetrack for a bit because I've had quite an annoying week on FanFiction.

Look, I think I've made it clear that I am not a professional writer and I don't pretend to be one. I know I'm not the best with words, I work with numbers all day. And yes, I know not everyone is going to like every story on this site. But please, if you don't like a story, please don't berate the writer all day long in the reviews.

Now I'm not going to delete any reviews because I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But come on now. I've been very honest about my writing skills here, and if you're not a fan, please just don't read on.

Also I'm perfectly fine with constructive criticism, I actually do take it into account. That's how I finally figured out a good chapter length further into Four Walls. But please don't criticize just to criticize.

Alright, rant over. I've just been very frustrated this week. But it makes me appreciate you wonderful readers even more so. So thank you.