Chapter One

Rose

I was sick and tired of playing second fiddle to my husband and his new little sister. What the hell did he see in her anyway? She was plain, clumsy, and had no dress sense. She wasn't even fun to be with, always hanging on my brother's every word or flirting with my husband, it was driving me crazy and it had to stop. I was the only one who saw how dangerous she was to us. After Edward saved her from Tyler's truck I had flipped my lid. Our one and only law was to keep ourselves concealed from the humans and what did the idiot do? He only went ahead and stopped a frickin' truck with his bare hands right in front of the whole school. It was sheer luck he moved fast enough that no one could actually see what he did in detail.

I had a flaming row with Carlisle about it afterward when he didn't accept my suggestion that we leave Forks directly or alternatively kill Bella Swan. Even Jasper, Alice's lap dog, who hardly ever got involved in any family decisions agreed that killing her was the best thing to do, hell he even offered to do the job himself! Edward, of course, talked Carlisle and Esme around and it was decided to see what happened. It wasn't often that Carlisle laid down the law but on this occasion, he made it very clear that Bella was not to be harmed in any way.

She kept her mouth shut that I'll grant you but I knew it was only time before she let something slip or Edward lost control and killed her. After all, she was his singer and I knew all about singers from Emmett. My own mate had met a couple of humans whose blood sang to him and both were buried in secluded spots rotting away now. Edward insisted he was mentally stronger than Emmett, that he could control himself but I had my doubts and disposing of the dead body of a Police Chief's daughter would cause real problems for us. If he'd only been putting himself in danger I would have let him carry on without saying anything but this affected us all, not just him.

Like most weekends I sat watching as she and Emmett played computer games on Sunday afternoon. He was so infantile sometimes and his fondness for Bella was getting on my nerves. God, what had I ever seen in him? True he was cute and sexy but he wasn't overly intelligent and I was forced to admit to myself that I was beginning to tire of him. The sex was good but other than that I preferred Edward's company.

Bella was giggling at something Emmett said which he seemed to find amusing but then everything she did amused him, even falling flat on her face would make him laugh. She kept touching him as they played and that really pissed me off, after all, he was still mine, for now.

I saw Edward watching narrow-eyed from where he sat playing the piano softly. The fact she'd rather play stupid games with Emmett than sit mesmerized by his skill with the piano upset him too. Maybe I'd have an ally later along the road if she upset him enough, Edward was never one to play second fiddle for very long.

The door opened then and Alice bounced in with Jasper in tow, as usual, She never just walked anywhere and she was almost never alone. The first time she and I went hunting together without her appendage I was amazed. Jasper had been left behind to amuse himself which usually meant reading some dry history book unless Emmett could persuade him to play on the computer or wrestle. I knew Jasper let Emmett win these contests, although he was always careful not to let Emmett see it and I wondered why.

Jasper was a bit of an enigma, he rarely spoke about his former life and hid his terribly scarred body from all of us, I had only seen the scars because I'd caught him changing his shirt after a wrestling match with Emmett. It was a sheer accident but he acted weird for a while after that as if embarrassed and I guess if I were as badly disfigured as that I would be too. He was actually kinda creepy anyway, I couldn't connect with him although I had tried at first for Alice's sake and he made me feel uneasy if we were ever alone together which much to my relief we rarely were.

He wasn't the only one who acted creepy either, Edward spent every night in Bella's bedroom watching her sleep which wasn't normal behavior. He was totally besotted with her and I had a strong feeling that it wouldn't end happily. I had even caught Alice watching Jasper more carefully whenever Bella was at the house, she always had her eye on him but the way she acted then you'd think he was a keg of nitro just waiting to explode. I wondered if she felt the same way about Bella as I did but just hid it better.

I needed to talk to her, I wanted to find out what she saw in the human girl's future so I went over and asked her if she wanted to go hunting.

She looked warily at Jasper before agreeing and as it was she watched him climb the stairs before following me out the door.

"What's up Rose? I thought you were waiting for Emmett to go later."

I tossed my hair in disgust,

"As long as the wonderful Bella is here he won't move. I'm getting pretty sick of it actually."

Alice gave me an enigmatic smile,

"Oh, I don't think you need to worry about Bella for too much longer. I rather think there will be an accident soon."

Now that really surprised me.

"I thought she was your friend Alice?"

"Oh, I like Bella but she's wrong for Edward, it would never work out."

"So what's going to happen? Does she get killed?"

I was sick of Bella and the thought of her meeting with a fatal accident was rather appealing so I was a little deflated when Alice shook her head wide-eyed.

"No Rose. I wouldn't let her get hurt."

Now I was confused,

"You just said there will be an accident. Explain."

She smiled and I saw the cunning in her eyes,

"Yes I did didn't I. You'll just have to wait and see dear sister".

I tried every way I could to make her expand on her statement but with no luck.

Jasper

Sitting in my study I tried to concentrate on the book in my hands but something was stopping me. I could hear Edward playing Bach softly and the quiet murmur of Emmett and Bella conversing interspersed with the sounds of the computer game they were playing. In the kitchen Esme was preparing supper for our guest and Carlisle was talking to her as she did so. All perfectly normal sounds but I was uneasy, there was something going on in Alice's head and I was more or less sure it concerned Bella but I'd been unable to get anything out of her thus far.

I'd also been watching Rosalie and didn't like what I saw there either. My 'sister' didn't like the human girl at all and she was jealous of the attention Emmett showed Bella. I knew all about relationships and how to interpret them helped by my gift, I'd had to or I wouldn't have survived my decades with Maria. I sensed something bad was coming but until I knew more, there was nothing I could do about it.

I had loved Alice or thought I had, but I didn't like the way she had started behaving and I thought Rose was a bad influence on her. The Alice I had met all those years ago was sweet and fun loving during our wanderings before we met up with the Cullens, in fact, those had been the best days of my life but since we had settled down here things had begun to change, very gradually.

I had always been the outsider despite Carlisle and Esme doing their best to make me feel welcome. There was always that small doubt in their minds, in all their minds and recently I had even felt it creeping into Alice's. It was as if they were just waiting for me to screw up all except Emmett of course, he was different and I felt comfortable with him. I knew a part of the problem was my readiness to solve the problem of Bella. I had seen it as a straightforward danger and reacted accordingly although I had no strong feelings for the girl either way. If I gave it any thought at all I guess I liked her well enough for a human.

I sighed thinking about my increasing struggle to control my thirst which had become more of a problem recently, a problem Alice put down to Bella's presence in our lives.

"Of course it's going to be more difficult for you with a human in our faces all the time, there's nowhere for you to escape to, she's here most of the time and when she isn't her scent is all over Edward. You'd think the others would have more thought for your feelings."

I guess she was right but did it mean leaving? And would Alice accompany me if I did? Somehow I had my doubts. I could drop in on Peter and Charlotte for a while if I left Forks, I hadn't seen them in years because Alice didn't like them and made no secret of the fact. Actually, I was beginning to think she didn't even like me much any longer.

Alice

I knew Jasper wouldn't stay much longer, having ensured he had become disillusioned by the Cullens, I had always made sure that they understood how dangerous he could be and although Carlisle accepted him, ever the charitable type the others had been warier. It suited me that they saw me as the main thing standing between them and his fearsome reputation. Of course, his offer to kill Bella when Rosalie first voiced her concerns about the dangers of letting a human in had only made matters worse and that had been none of my doing, it had just seemed to him the sensible option once he thought we were threatened. He was now constantly under their scrutiny and I knew this because I'd encouraged it, especially over the last few months.

I'd been the one to talk him into the Cullen lifestyle but it had always been difficult for him and he leaned on me which made me feel good and recently I'd made sure to put a little extra doubt in his mind, I made sure he got tempted now and again by delaying our hunt or stealing a little blood when I visited Carlisle at the hospital and seeding his clothes with it. As he became more frustrated at his cravings I knew the next part of my plan would be relatively simple.

Putting it into operation was easy, I just waited until she went home that night then dropped the idea casually,

"After all Bella's been through I thought it might be nice to throw her a birthday party. Just for the family of course".

Rose was horrified and threw me a bitter glance but I knew I could get her back on side later, not that I needed her for much longer. Esme thought it was a lovely idea as did Emmett which was even better, as I noticed Rose shoot him a dirty look. As we chatted about my idea plans were made, I offered to organize the presents, Esme volunteered to bake a cake and Emmett was only too eager to organize the decorations while Carlisle, refusing to become actively involved, never the less gave it his blessing. Perfect!