It was decided that we would visit the Denali's till it could be decided where the family wanted to start again. Edward stayed for a day before starting his quest to track down Victoria. Jasper and I both had our doubts about his ability but knew Edward was beyond convincing. The entire family was morose about this move, the general atmosphere was hard to be around. The Denali's were as hospitable as always but they quickly pulled back, finding it hard to be around the depressive attitudes.
Even with Edward gone, Jasper was struggling with the family's emotional state. Esme was devastated to leave behind the girl she had started to see as a daughter and Alice was sullen about having to leave behind the girl she had declared her best friend. Alice was also particularly bitter about Edward's adamant request that Alice not search out Bella's future. Emmett was downtrodden about leaving Bella behind, but hadn't been around her as much as Alice but he had enjoyed her presence. Rose wasn't so upset about Bella as she was about having to start over again and the effect the move had left on the rest of the family.
A little less than a week after leaving Forks Jasper and I decided it was best to leave the Cullens for the time being. Despite Esme and Carlisle's outright declarations that Jasper was not at fault for what happened and assurances that he was not the only one that was overcome by a lust for Bella's blood, he still felt that the others blamed him for his lapse in control and ultimately being the reason for the relocation. I wanted to remove Jasper from the toxic environment and hopefully help him overcome the guilt that he was feeling. He knew logically that he was not at fault for anything but emotions don't conform to logic.
Leaving the Cullens wasn't like our usual adventures or vacations. There wasn't excitement for the destination and the goal wasn't relaxation and peace. Our usual habit of finding a peaceful forest to hide out in wasn't going to suit our needs this time and as much as Peter and Charlotte were great distractions, they enjoyed their time to themselves and with constant interaction we began to devolve into the same sibling irritation we had grown accustom to before Jasper and I had found Alice.
Visits were great, but traveling together long term wasn't the answer either. This break from the Cullens was going to be a true adventure for Jasper and I. With the help of the Denali's Jasper and I had compiled a list of places and things to see around the world and set off to travel by ourselves as nomads for the first time in half a century.
We traveled to Russia and visited many sights that Tanya and her sisters had personally vouched for before heading west into Europe and touring the ancient empires that had once controlled the globe. We met a couple vampires along the way, but interactions were left at introductions and short conversations before going our separate ways. We then trekked down to Africa, sampling some of the exotic creatures that Emmett had suggested from his and Rosalie's recent travels before crossing the Atlantic and meeting up with Peter and Charlotte briefly in Argentina. South America was a fun experience with its rain forests and long forgotten cities and temples that had yet to be rediscovered and explored.
Jasper and I had been preparing to head north into Southern Mexico, the farthest north we had planned to travel on foot, when we got the call from Emmett. He informed us of Alice's vision of Bella jumping off a cliff and asked us to hurry back to Alaska. Alice was already traveling to Forks, hoping the vision hadn't already happened but Emmett confided that Alice hadn't been able to see anything since and it didn't bode well.
Jasper and I changed our flights out of Panama to the following morning. It was the soonest flight that wouldn't have a lay over in the southern United States in the middle of the day. The flight landed in Vancouver mid-afternoon and we ran the rest of the way back to Denali to meet up with the family minus Edward and Alice. When Jasper had asked Emmett on the phone if Edward was going to meet Alice in Forks, we were both surprised when Emmett informed us that Edward had been out of contact with the family for months now. Rosalie was trying to get in contact with him but hadn't had any luck so far. Edward knew nothing about Alice's vision and they were going to try to convince him to come back to Alaska before delivering the news.
When Jasper and I made it to the Denali's we were startled to hear Emmett yelling. The man was rather easy going and it was rare that he got worked up enough to be considered angry, let alone to yell. We were even more startled when we made it into the house and found that it was Rose he was yelling at. Rose looked as if she would cry if only she was able. I'd never seen her shrink away from Emmett, but then again, I'd never seen him mad enough to yell at her.
"What's going on?" Jasper yelled to get Emmett's attention. Rose looked relieved as Emmett spun to face us. Emmett's face was set in a deep scowl and his eyes were black, I took an involuntary step back at the imposing image he made. I had never been afraid of Emmett before, I had been cautious given his size and obvious strength when Jasper, Alice and I had first joined the family, but Emmett had always seemed too happy and docile to be scared of. Yet, the look on his face as he turned toward Jasper and I was enough to send a chill down my spine and I immediately feared the worst.
"Rose finally got a hold of Edward." Emmett informed gruffly.
"Okay, that's a good thing." Jasper stated, confusion still apparent in his voice.
"Yeah, well, when Edward was being difficult about coming back to Alaska, Rose decided to tell him exactly what was going on. To make matters worse, Alice called, she had good and bad news. Good news, Bella's alive, bad news, Edward's headed to Italy and crushed our only way of getting in touch with him. Alice is racing Bella to Italy in hopes that she can stop him." Jasper and I stood frozen in the doorway as we tried to take in what Emmett had said while staring at the still fuming Emmett and the huddled Rosalie.
"So, what are we going to do?" Jasper asked after a long moment.
"That's it, there's nothing we can do. We just have to hope that the brothers deny Edward's request and that Alice and Bella make it to him before he can do anything stupid to force the Volturi's hand." Emmett explained in frustration as he ran his hand through his hair. It looked like he had been doing it a lot, his hair was mostly sticking up with the occasional errant hair sticking out to make Emmett looked dishelved.
The sense of helplessness was crushing and left an ache in my chest. I felt like I wanted to cry, to scream, to plead even though I knew it was pointless. I bit my lip, a weak attempt at preventing my emotional spiral. Jasper's arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his side and I clung to him. My eyes caught on Rose and anger rose in my mind. I wanted to cling to it, anger was an emotion I was good at, that I knew how to handle. I could scream, I could hit, I could control and take out my anger physically while I couldn't with the others. I wanted to yell at Rose, demand to know why she'd done it, I wanted to hit her for being so stupid, but I couldn't. I couldn't because I knew why she had done it, I couldn't because I understood what she must have felt when she had been talking to Edward and he'd likely been self-loathing and self-righteous about whatever reason he'd given her initially for not wanting to come back.
I could imagine myself in Rose's place. I could imagine myself anxiously trying to get a hold of Edward and being so worried because he had been nearly impossible to get in contact with and then being so angry once he was on the phone, knowing you were feeling like this because he was being selfish, that it was his fault that any of this was happening to begin with. I could imagine swallowing my tongue and trying to be nice, gently asking him to come home only to be spoken to like I wasn't being understanding of his situation, hearing that pretentious and self-righteous tone that he loved to use when he felt that he was right about something. I could imagine the anger and the hatred I would feel and the desire to lash out, a desire that was easy to cave to when you had something you knew was going to bring him up short, that would throw his poor choices right back in his face. I could understand why Rosalie had done it and I knew that if it had been me, I probably would have done the same thing.
I gently pulled myself from Jasper's side, ignoring as he looked at me curiously. I stepped around Jasper and walked around a pacing Emmett to Rosalie who was sitting huddled against the wall, watching us hopelessly from the floor. I sank to my knees as Rosalie looked to me wearily and opened my arms. Rose sobbed before diving into my arms. She clutched me tightly as I wrapped my arms around her.
She sobbed for a long time before managing to pull herself together a little. Even with her cries calmed to small tremors she still clung tight with an iron grip, her face buried in my neck while mine rested against the side of her head. It wasn't till she had completely calmed that Rose's grasp eased and she slowly pulled back, kissing my cheek before straightening.
"Thank you." Rose whispered brokenly with a small sniff as she pushed her hair back away from her face. I nodded as I leaned forward, giving Rose a tight hug and placing a kiss to her cheek before standing and helping her to her feet. Jasper and Emmett had moved to the other side of the room and were quietly discussing. Listening to the rest of the house I could hear the shuffling of paper from the other end of the house as someone was flipping the page of a book and the soft whispers of Tanya and Irina. I didn't know where the rest were but I wasn't really concerned about it at the moment.
"Does anyone else know?" I asked Rose and she nodded.
"Carlisle and Esme were coming back from a hunt, they were here when Alice called. Carmen and Eleazar where upstairs when it happened and hadn't left before Alice called. I'm sure the sisters know by now." Rose answered and I sighed.
"Is there a plan?" Rose shrugged.
"Carlisle's left to arrange some time off with the hospital. Esme's a mess, Carmen took her outside, I don't know where they are. Carlisle mentioned heading to Forks but no real plan has been set. I think Carlisle wanted to wait till you and Jasper got here and we heard more from Alice before making any decisions." I nodded, it sounded like Carlisle. The man was a born pacifist and was always slow to react to any situation that held the potential to cause more harm then good.
"When did Alice leave for Italy?"
"Last night. There was a plane leaving Seattle for New York and then they were going to catch a flight to Italy from there. They should be landing within the next hour or so."
"So, all that's left to do is wait."
