Chapter 2 - Confrontation

The clear anger that erupted from Edward cut the space's heavy tone of anguish. His sharpness startled Esme, who turned her pained eyes to a rare glare at her son. Her strawberry ringlets fell perfectly over her thin shoulder, breaking the ancient masterpiece her appearance suggested. I could feel surprise wafting from Emmett, his rashness insinuating its origin. The disdain on his mother's features was not often seen, let alone directed to her first-turned son. Edward didn't seem to register, or care; his eyes trained harshly on his sisters' face.

"No!" He growled at Rose, his clear cheekbones cutting out unnaturally in a frown; my adopted sister's back straightened, as I saw her eyes slide to look down on her brother.

Hate passed over her features once again, replacing the melancholic stare she had directed to the human.

"And who do you think is the cause of this suffering?" Her cruel voice slithered out quietly, barely a whisper. Heated by pity, the words stung harshly.

Emmett turned his immeasurable form towards his mate, ever so slightly, his head bowed over her crown of gold hair. In the corner of my vision, I watched as her smooth lashes slid closed, accepting his comfort. Her shoulders rose slightly, as his isolating hand rested on the small of her back.

Edwards' boyish face scowled, his wild eyes dropping their attention. I felt a note of self-disdain ruminate in his figure slightly, before disappearing in a mist of contentment and desperation.

"You cannot let this happen."

Edward's attention turned to the eldest coven member; in any other situation, this would look as a confrontation between two brothers. Carlisle's wisdom and figure of respect founded by the coven, and frankly the rest of Forks, was unassuming. Carlisle's sullen visage turned ugly, a shade not often carved into such marble. Distaste coloured his divine features as Edward, unfazed by this show of power, glared back in a challenge to his beloved father.

"I cannot let this happen?" Carlisles' pale eyebrows lowered, anger betraying the careful cadence of his voice."You forget yourself."

I couldn't fathom in any universe how Carlisle could've simultaneously been himself and "allowed" this to happen. I knew Alice would agree. I could feel the slightest betrayal hide under a guise of massive disappointment. The golden boy, in his desperation, turned against his first friend, his sire; his father. Carlisles' kind voice slipped past Edward's angry front, gracefully quitting his son. The younger man gasped needlessly, as his shoulders slumped forward.

"Her heart is stressing under the strength of the venom. The change is coming, yes, but there is time." Carlisle offered as his focus rested back onto the human's gradually draining face. Golden lashes spied sadly upon his patient. Bella's thrashing was slowing in desperation, increasing the worry from the gentle doctor's frame; her limbs began to return to the ground, silently allowing the venom to spread further.

This stillness was not welcome.

Alice looked down from beside me, her eyes lowered to the ground. She was ruminating in something as she stood conflicted, panic filling her small form below me. The tenseness and torment she produced caused my head to turn from the scene in front of me. This brave woman was suffering, and I wished I could quell it.

Sentimentality reflected back to me in her pained face, her sweet eyes searching mine. With this deliberate action, something deep inside of my chest struck hard. The vision she'd been contemplating was a difficult one. I scanned through her eyes, searching her face for more context. She simply smiled, looking on with love and resolution.

We stood in our little bubble; as we always did. Eyes sifting through our easy thoughts, no judgment: a perfect quiet. Nerves, frozen with venom, pricked phantom pain as confusion speckled the air around us. I knew I was projecting, but her face never slipped from her exact and curated visage. She just stared, long lashes still as a painting, as the subtle shine of diamond skin sparkled under the fire to our right. Her amber eyes blinked slowly, as her impossibly perfect arm came to rest on my shoulder. Her fingers grazed only slightly, a light speckle of touch taunting my marble fabric-clad skin. She was impossibly far away.

"Let it happen." Her voice whisked past my ears. Her words, whispered so sweetly, swirled and shifted into the grooves of my heart. They left a sour ache, stinging, in their wake.

And when her face turned I knew. Somehow, even though the woman I loved stood inches in front of me, she was gone. Even when her hand never left my shoulder, it was like an echo of the past: a ghost came back to haunt me. A ghost of the present.

She'd made up her mind.

"Edward," Her voice was hard as her eyes narrowed, evaluating the boy in front of us. "...Rosalie is right."

Edward snapped his eyes to her form, an impossible shock striking through his lithe form; the room instantly quieted, the crackling of the fire and Bella's quiet whimpers left loud in the stillness. Golden eyes trained on my love's frame. I held my breath, needlessly. If I was human, I'd be dizzy at this point. The bronze-haired boy hung his sharp jaw unhinged, confusion shaking his anger. Alice was blocking him, and well.

Still training her eyes unflinchingly on her brother, a power sat harshly in her small shoulders. "You and I. We are going now." I'd rarely heard such a strong tone come from her usually singing cadence; it almost sounded wavering, unnatural. And yet, the strength could shatter anything it targeted.

"...Alice…" Carlisle gazed doubtfully at his daughter, his head turning slightly to the left. His broad shoulders shrunk around Isabella's silent form. I could feel his morality fight over his knowing respect for the seer; he was a doctor at heart, a man who could never harm another being.
Isabella had become so important to him: I could sense the familial love he shared toward all of us slowly hone to Isabella upon her mention or presence in the past few weeks. Even her smile seemed to make Carlisle and Esme gaze lovingly together at each other; expressing their awe of this lovely daughter they so recently found.

But he knew what would happen if they didn't follow Alice. My heart swelled at the power I knew she held: we relied on her so much, for our survival as individuals and a coven, but more importantly: a family. Alice cared for everyone so deeply, and Carlisle knew that. He could see her as the glue that held us together in every way that he himself, or Esme or Emmett drew everyone together. I knew he often worried about her; I could feel his wayward glances and long contemplations towards her when particularly stressful times came upon the house. She was the only one who could sway his opinion, in a way that not even Esme nor Edward could stir within him.

His eyes carefully evaluated her expression. Stealing a glance below him at Isabella and to his lovely wife at her side, he wordlessly stood.

With a tense set of his jaw, he muttered. "Edward. Go." He didn't look at his son, his eyes cast downward. His pale brows sat harshly against the smoothness of his forehead, drawn apart as they pulled his features taut.
I could feel Edwards' crumbling sanity thrashing; a growl slipping through his clamped jaw, his slim shoulders crouching down further towards Isabella. This defiant sound stirred a severe reaction from his father. Carlisle snarled towards his son and sire, grabbing his shoulder abruptly: I swore I could hear the distinct sound of rock cracking as an uncharacteristically young expression passed through Edwards' features.

Slightly acrid, Carlisle continued his rash indenture to such a brazen act, words slicing like a sword through the air. This show of power, so rare, left a slight hum of awe throughout the studio.

"You will go. You have brought this girl into this life, you will do what it takes to ensure that she survives it. This is not about you anymore." He ground his fingers further into Edwards' dress shirt, causing it to crease. "Alice is the only one who knows enough to make a decision. Don't deny Bella any further." His eyes softened, as his lips fell into a flat line. The aggressive tone of his voice dissolved into a mere whisper, gently egging his son toward agreement.

Edward, now slightly slack-jawed, displayed a look of numb horror across his sharp visage. Staring after his father for a few seconds, he then shifted back towards Isabella. His thin fingers returning to her milk skin, he barely grazed her shaking form. With a whisper of a touch, he traced her nose, her fluttering lashes, her sweat-slicked forehead. Then, with an expression of great pain, he leant down and lay his lips between her eyes, where her nose bridge began to slant.
And then he was gone.

In less than a moment, Alice stood by the wood plank of the studio door, left slightly ajar and swaying ever so slightly from what must have been Edward's banishment. Her back perfectly straight, she stood on her toes, lifted as if she weighed no more than a feather. Her eyes were directed to Carlisle, a reassuring if not slightly sullen cast weighing her gaze down.
"We will be back. Don't worry." Her slight smile dropped ever so minutely as her gaze shifted to meet mine.

Taking an unnecessary breath, her appearance of strength wavered lightly; a wave of despair pushed itself onto my senses as I stepped toward her figure. I could beg her to stay.
But she wouldn't.

"Everything will play out how it should now. Just…just let it happen." She whispered to the family surrounding me, her eyes returning to everyone. An odd sense of relief filled my throat at her lack of a goodbye. She would be back.

My foolish hope was dashed as quickly as it appeared: Her slight figure slipped into the darkness of the night, pulling something integral apart with her departure.

Goodbye, Alice.