Alice worked tirelessly throughout the night. She hadn't been exactly lying when she'd told James that the process of ID issuing wasn't something she was too fluent in. That night, she spent the first few hours actually studying up on what he was expecting her to provide for him.
Of course, like she thought, it would be an impossible thing for her to quickly and undetectably get James a new identity of sorts. It was simply asking too much from her in such a small amount of time. Now, if she were actually trying to break the law on the man's behalf, she mused she might have been able to do so over the course of a few weeks perhaps. But that was only an idle thought.
Before James had even left the building yesterday, Alice knew that she was going to go back on her word for her own benefit.
She tried to justify her actions for a few hours. After all, concerning the usage of her ability, there was very little wrong she'd ever done in her lifetime. Alice didn't make it a habit of manipulating people on principal; it didn't feel right, for starters. And she hadn't exactly ever really needed to do it. It was only recently had she been placed in precarious situations like this.
Situations where she was being forced to placate people and situations where she had to work around people's very perception of her; all in order to ensure that events would transpire smoothly. Now that it was concerning both her private life and her professional one, Alice was being forced to do things she typically wouldn't.
Sure, she could've used her visions to help manipulate plenty of people beforehand, but again: it had never felt right.
Alice had never wanted anything as badly as she wanted Jasper to be safe and out of harm's way. And right now, the spotlight was on Jasper, and more than just harm was barreling toward him like a freight train.
It was to protect Jasper, she concluded with herself just before sunrise. And that was good enough.
Edward never replied to her text message, but Alice knew that he'd received it. A vision had come over her just before he'd opened and read the text, and Alice had watched, in her mind, as he'd excused himself and made a decision: he'd be in Winnipeg the following day. It was perfect. Especially since he'd be there in time to help her with the aftermath of what she was planning.
By the time sunrise rolled around, Alice had already started writing a firsthand account of her encounter with James. Of course, she left out the vision of him beheading Caylin, and all of her visions that explained the decisions she made. When people would read the report they'd be in awe of Alice's deescalation and investigative tactics, and that was fine with her.
It was better that people think she was some sort of clever, conniving genius rather than some future-telling lunatic.
Alice knew immediately that she wouldn't be able to see Victoria any more now. Even if Alice showered and changed clothes she was certain the woman would still be able to smell James' scent on her. And Alice couldn't reveal to Victoria that her mate was trying to spring her early. It would only get her to turn against Alice.
Skye, on the other hand, she would still see today. Sometime after her second visit with James, Alice would have to make sure to make time for her. Especially since she had been finally getting through to Skye. But even more than that, Alice found herself growing truly attached to her in a way that she hadn't anticipated.
Sure, Alice had wanted to help the wayward teen in the beginning. But now there was more to it than that. Ever since learning that Skye had also been in a mental health facility prior to being a vampire, Alice felt something that was a bit stronger than simple camaraderie or empathy. She cared about Skye. Alice wanted to see her through the end of this, and she wanted Skye to embrace her second lease on life.
Dropping out of Skye's life now would very likely only solidify her desire to end her existence all the more. Her family had abandoned her upon hearing about her fate, and Alice was the only person who had visited her in the time she'd been undergoing resetting and the beginning stages of self-control training.
With a sick feeling in the pit of her chest Alice realized she also knew what it felt like to be abandoned and rejected by her family. And she would be damned if she was about to abandon Skye now.
Alice worked nonstop with her time. After finalizing her report she saved it to multiple sources, even saving it as a draft in a couple of encrypted accounts that only she and her fellow Protectors could access. It was still hidden—Alice was positive that Esme or Rosalie wouldn't find it without being told where to look—but it was safe enough that Alice knew it could be uncovered swiftly in the event of an emergency.
She was initially going to let her Lieutenants in on her plan, but decided against it for now. Alice had to get more information out of James first, and if she didn't hear anything of substance today, then they still had tomorrow. Her visions of their encounter were fuzzy; it was hard to see what would happen. But if all went according to plan he'd be back tomorrow for her little sting operation.
As long as she could give off the impression today that she was willing to give him everything he asked for, things would go in her favor.
She was in the lobby seconds before he opened the door.
True to his word, he was wearing a pair of shoes this time. Alice didn't even think to ask him where he'd gotten them; she was sure she may not want to hear the answer he had.
"Afternoon," he greeted her with a smile, holding out a hand. Alice accepted the handshake with a blank expression, hating how his eyes raked over her entire body. Something about the way he looked at her made her feel fiercely uncomfortable.
"Follow me," she instructed as she turned on her heel, shooting the daytime receptionist, Trent, a polite smile and nod as they passed.
It only took a minute and a half to reach the same room they'd met in the day before. Alice had already set herself up in there before she'd gone to retrieve him. Her laptop was plugged into the wall and charging at the end of the long desk, and a nondescript envelope lay beside it.
Walking over to the desk Alice sat herself in the seat beside her computer and promptly opened it.
"What you're asking me to do isn't easy," she muttered quietly as James slowly crept toward her. "It's going to take me another full day to get a hold of an official card. This is just a mock-up."
Without looking at him, she handed him the envelope, waiting for him to open it before speaking again. Alice kept her eyes trained on her screen before her, letting her fingers fly across the keyboard.
"If you want this to work Victoria will have to keep her ID and you two are going to have to play a new angle for paperwork's sake. You can't say you stayed away due to 'disdain for the system' or whatever your reasoning was. Play dumb. Act like you didn't know where she was. And that you're so grateful you've finally found her. If you're truly as far-detached from the modern world as you've claimed people won't question it." She finally lifted her eyes where he was studying the photo-copied papers in his hands.
One sheet was a mock-ID, another pile stapled together was a fake file that Alice had typed up. They were technically copies of official documents, but Alice had taken matters into her own hands with the forgery and knew that unless James had worked in a Center in the past ten years, and if he really and truly was a nomad, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Alice was banking on the fact that he had no idea how any of these processes work. And when he smirked, nodding to himself as if impressed, Alice almost let out a sigh of relief.
"Very nice," he mumbled quietly, flipping through the pages.
"Again, if you craft your story better using this new ID, contact the center—even if only from a distance if you want—Victoria will be able to file an appeal and she can be out of here as soon as this weekend. Then, she's submitted to your care and supervision and required to attend day programs for a few more months." She paused then, "You'll have to either give me an address to use for this or I'll make one up. But whatever you give me you have to at least stay by the area; that way when you do start going into the Center for check-ins and such, the paperwork is already filed. That's the best way this is going to work."
"If all I need is an ID number, why do I have to wait for the official copy? I can just call this place tonight. That way, I don't even need to come back."
Alice tried not to look panicked as he placed the papers back in the folder and stuck them under his arm. "That's not an actual photo-copy; it's just a mock-up of what the original will look like." There was a beat of silence. "That's not the new ID number. Our mock-ups always generate randomly; we don't assign numbers until we actually print and issue them." She lied smoothly.
"So you had the time to print me a fake thing, but not the real thing?"
Alice rolled her eyes and forced her gaze back to her laptop screen. "My apologies," her tone was sarcastic. "It's not easy printing a real ID card when the Center is at max capacity. I have to wait until their offices close tonight and then use the printer when the staff is gone." She glanced up at him quickly enough to shoot him an unamused glare. "I told you. This isn't easy." Or legal. But she didn't have to say that out loud, as it was something they both were aware of. "I also need to submit your new paperwork into the system in a way that it doesn't look like it was just done. Even if that was your new ID number," she gestured toward the envelope, "if you called and submitted that they wouldn't find anything. Again, this isn't easy."
"I didn't think you'd be able to do even half of this stuff."
Alice scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've barely been a Protector for a year," he shrugged alongside his explanation. "I'm just surprised."
"I'm a fast learner." That much was true.
"You're a bit of an enigma aren't you?"
Alice glanced back up at him then, only to find him standing even closer than he had been before. Although it was an impossibility, Alice swore she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
"How so?" Even as she spoke, forcing herself to seem uncaring about his opinion, she could hardly focus on the words on the computer screen. He was too close…
"You come from small town nowhere, with a backstory so peculiar people haven't stopped talking about it, even still. You joined the Protectors just as the knowledge of Maria's reappearance had gone public and then months later not only are you mated to her ex-partner but you nearly single-handedly end the war. It's impressive." Alice saw a vision of him closing her laptop in order to force her to look up at him. Deciding to beat him to the punch—and that she did not want him touching her computer—she slowly moved the device further down the table before turning and looking back at him. "And it makes no sense."
Alice stared blankly as he spoke, not about to showcase any reaction. "I'm used to being underestimated."
"I bet." He nodded, and Alice felt uneasy as he towered over her. "Unless you were hiding a thing or three, one little interview with those human news folk would probably clear your name."
"Forgive me for wanting some semblance of privacy in my life." She sniffed, folding her arms over her chest as she glared up at him. She didn't like the way he was encroaching on her personal space, but she couldn't showcase her discomfort. Alice had to play it cool; even if she did wish he would take a large step back.
He laughed then. "You gave up your right to privacy the second you accepted that job."
Alice didn't want to agree with him (even though she did) so she instead turned her nose up at the idea. "We can't all be wandering nomads."
"Of course not. You've always had a home, haven't you?" His eyes wandered again and Alice felt herself close to snapping. "People fighting for you. Protecting you. I can't see how you could relate to us."
"Are you forgetting we have a deal here?" Alice huffed, pushing her chair away from the desk finally. She wasn't about to sit there while he hovered over her and made vague remarks. "I'm helping you so you help me, right?"
James took a step back as Alice straightened up to her full height. He was suppressing a smile, as it entertained by her attempt at being intimidating. "Of course. What do you want to know? I've told you most of the important things."
"If Maria knew about your's and Victoria's abilities, how did she track you two down? After all, Victoria is nearly impossible to track. With your combined abilities why didn't you stay away?"
"Curiosity," he supplied with half of a shrug. "Sure, it's easy to know when you're being tailed, but when they're after you for a few months it makes you wonder why."
"And when you found out it was her?" Alice grimaced, knowing that whatever had happened next couldn't have been good.
"There was nothing we could do once she caught up," his expression was like steel as he spoke. "When you're faced with a group of red-eyed newborns who will tear you to shreds on command you're forced to negotiate."
"You offered your services to save your lives," Alice nodded, knowing that it was a despicable thing, what Maria had done to these people. "When was this?"
"Twenty-eleven I think," he shrugged. "Again, we don't keep track of dates too thoroughly. We were with her for five years, that was the deal. Then when we tried to leave, Maria went back on the deal. Victoria was too useful to her."
"But you weren't?"
James snorted. "I'd done the dirty work for her. Helped her track down some people. She didn't need a tracker any more." He crossed his own arms over his chest, still holding tightly to the manilla envelope. "Told me if she knew I was following or if I did anything to try and get Victoria back she'd kill her."
"I'm sure you followed anyways."
James shot her a sideways grin. "I'm quite good at what I do."
"You were with them when Skye was taken?"
"Not with them, no. I never got my hands actually dirty. Maria didn't trust me enough for that. I lead the way and they would send groups of her people to do actual reconnaissance. I only saw the kids once they were turned."
"Kids?" Alice's mouth felt impossibly dry.
"Not actual kids. Maria wasn't an idiot. But the younger the vampire the easier they are to work with." He met her eyes again. "No offense, but you teenagers are ruled by your emotions more than you think. That was beneficial for her."
Alice's mind went to Alden and she was forced to push down the sudden guilt she felt.
"How many?" Alice eventually asked after a moment of silence seized the room. "How many that you know of?"
"During the few years I was there? A few dozen. Less than a hundred but," he made a gesture with his hand, indicating that he didn't quite know, "she changed more before I joined and she did more after."
"Do you have names? Locations? Anything at all that you can write down and give me would be great." There were still so many people unaccounted for. So many missing humans who they suspected had become victims to Maria and her radicals, but they lacked the evidence.
"I'll make a list for you later," he waved a hand, as if put-off by her request. "Not that I ever cared to ask or pay attention too often. But I know a handful."
"You can come back tomorrow right?" Alice asked, trying not to sound too pushy. Tomorrow Edward would be there, and tomorrow Alice would have enough evidence that when they took James into custody they'd have grounds to detain him.
She was already mentally writing the press release that she would draft and send to Rosalie tomorrow night.
James' sighed deeply. "I'm not a fan of these games," he spoke as he exhaled, and Alice found herself trying not to cower beneath the crazed look in his eye. "If you can't have what I need tomorrow, then the deal is off. No names. No more information. Nothing."
"I don't know why you think I'd go through all this trouble just to drop my biggest lead once I finally have one," Alice growled, trying to force irritation to carry through her tone overtop of the very real fear she was battling. Visions morphed and changed and flickered through her mind, and there was a chance that things could go badly very quickly. "Tomorrow I'll have your new ID, and all the information will be in the system. You can call and Victoria can submit for an appeal all before noon."
"Then the corruption can continue and you all can play your games without us," James spoke, stepping even closer now. Alice couldn't help it when she stepped back automatically, not wanting him to be in her space any further than he already was. She could feel his breath against her forehead and she hated it. Of course, her display of unease only served to encourage him as he took another step toward her.
"We're not corrupt," she defended adamantly.
"Of course not. The Protectors of the Americas love their people. Or," his smirk morphed into a wide, wicked smile, "what's left of them." Another step closer, and Alice stepped back again. "You ever stop to think how so many died? After all, Maria only had a couple thousand under her thumb. And now hundreds of thousands are dead. Strange, isn't it?"
Alice swallowed the lump in her throat as she took another step back. When her heel struck the wall, she bit back a swear. "What do you know?"
James finally stopped moving, still grinning down at her. Then, he stepped back, shrugging as he turned and started walking away. "Enough to cause an international conflict."
Alice was baffled by that statement, but as relief overtook her as he stepped away from her, she struggled to focus on the weight of his words. "What do you mean?"
James turned back toward the table and tossed the envelope onto it. Alice watched as it slid across the surface, stopping just beside her laptop. "You're not the first person to grill me for information on Maria. The only difference is, they can buy my silence," he eyed the closed folder and then his eyes flickered over to her, "you, not so much apparently."
"I'm giving you a new lease on life," she insisted with a glare. "I don't need to buy you out." It was a ludicrous idea, that he would want monetary payment for information. "This isn't a bribe."
"Isn't it though?" He began to walk backwards toward the door as he spoke, a too-innocent expression on his face suddenly. "Money doesn't need to exchange hands for it to be a bribe." Then he smiled again. "It's the essence of our kind; the way we've gotten away with existing in the shadows, even still, after all of these years."
Before Alice could ask what he meant he had stopped at the door. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply. By the time he was exhaling, his eyes were open again, and Alice swore in those seconds they'd darkened from a deep golden to an almost-black color.
Something in his expression was dangerously close to initiating Alice's fight or flight response…
"Even Dr. Baylor didn't hire vampires often," he spoke slowly, watching her face carefully, "but… if you can buy your way in, you better hope you can buy your way out."
James turned toward the door then, his expression self-satisfied as he opened the door. "I'll be back at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."
Alice stood there, staring blankly at the space where James let himself out, for what felt like an eternity. The name 'Dr. Baylor' echoed through her mind. The only Dr. Baylor she knew was the one who had founded the hospital that she'd been committed to as a human.
The instant her mind made the connection, Alice felt her body turn to ice.
"We were with her for five years, that was the deal."
"During the few years I was there?"
James was lying.
About how much, Alice was horrified that she had no idea.
Yanking her phone from her pocket she dialed Edward's number with shaking fingers. "Pick up pick up pick up," but even as she repeated the words she knew that he wouldn't. When his voicemail message greeted her she bit her tongue so hard she yelped, her mouth pooling with venom to heal the self-inflicted wound. "Edward," she spoke loudly into the receiver before quieting her voice. Even though the room was sound-proof, her terror was vibrant; she didn't want a soul to hear her.
Striding up to the table she smacked her laptop screen shut. "You need to get here quicker. Something is wrong. Things are…" but her visions weren't showing her anything concrete yet. All she had was instinct to go on, "not good. This guy can't be trusted. I need your help; please, please get here as soon as you can."
After she hung up, she contemplated calling Jasper, even if only to tell him that she loved him, but he would be able to coax the truth out of her in no time. Besides, she hated lying to him. Alice knew she wouldn't be able to keep this to herself if he started interrogating her about her tone of voice.
Instead she tried to control her anxieties as she typed a quick, sweet message to him. It was simple and unassuming, full of emojis and exclamation marks.
There was a chance that nothing would happen over the course of the next day, but now that Alice didn't know it left her feeling lost and frightened. It was a useless feeling she hadn't quite experienced in a while. The past several months had served to solidify her own confidence in herself and her abilities, both supernatural and otherwise.
But Alice had a sinking feeling James was ten steps ahead of her, and she was the one being played.
She would have to talk to her Lieutenants as soon as possible, and even Corey, to fill them in on what was happening. They needed to be prepared for anything when Alice tried taking James into custody tomorrow. Idly, she realized she needed to drink soon. She hadn't gone to the caf once since her arrival. She would need to be at her full strength tomorrow, just in case.
After several minutes of panic, Alice pulled herself together and went out looking for Corey. She found him casually chatting with a few other Captains in one of the break rooms on the fourth floor.
If he was concerned by her frenzied state, he didn't comment on it. Alice requested an audience with Skye and asked him to go set her up in a room for her. It was a few hours earlier than Alice had been planning on seeing the girl, but she needed to get their visit out of the way early so she could focus on their new potential problem they would be facing. Before he left to do as requested, Alice also asked him to gather together their leadership; she would want to hold a meeting with them all once she was done speaking with Skye.
"You're a busy bee today, huh?" He mused with a raised eyebrow before turning and leaving the room.
That was one way of putting it, she supposed.
She flickered around the building for several minutes after that, returning her laptop and James' fake documents to her office, typing up another transcript of their encounter, and before she could leave to meet Skye in the newborn center, she was taken off guard by her phone ringing.
"I must be distracted," Alice spoke the instant she answered the phone, feeling relief in how good it felt to see an incoming call from Esme light up her screen. "Because I didn't see you calling."
"Is everything alright?" Esme asked in lieu of a proper greeting, her tone filled with urgency and concern.
Alice froze. "Did you… are you asking me because you know something?"
"Edward just dropped everything and left for the airport. I knew he was leaving in the early morning, but he wouldn't explain himself. I know he's heading for Winnipeg. You two have me worried."
Alice sighed audibly, hating how Esme was so intuitive. "Things are a little crazy, but that's why I called Edward. I'm hoping he can help."
"Nothing you can talk about now, I suppose," Esme already understood Alice's vague answer, and Alice felt a twinge of guilt in her chest. "What about later?"
Alice frowned, thinking about how her co-Protectors would react when they eventually heard about James being taken into custody and the circus Alice had to participate in to get him in their hands. "You'll hear about it soon enough," she mumbled quietly.
"Don't do anything foolish," Esme admonished, and even though it was a phone call Aice could visualize the face the woman was certainly making. "Jasper's probation has only been over since yesterday." Alice blinked, stunned that she'd missed that bit of information. She'd been so caught up in dealing with James that she hadn't even spoken to Jasper the day prior. With a quick vision she saw him, Carlisle at his side, as the two men took turns typing on a keyboard. "Carlisle has been taking him through the reinstatement process all night long. If he's forced to put that on hold, he's going to be very upset."
He would also be upset if he was forced to pause that process early and fly to Winnipeg. Esme didn't need to say that; they both knew that it was the likely outcome if things went south.
"I know, I know," Alice shuffled from foot to foot uneasily. She had already been trying very, very hard not to think about what Jasper's reaction to all of this would be.
Of course, only Edward would know her true motives behind taking James into custody…
But still. Even the public story was going to reveal how much danger Alice had put herself in to accomplish this task. Taking an unknown at-large accomplice into custody was going to make front-page headlines.
"Can I call you back in like," Alice glanced forward into her future, "two or three hours? I have a couple of meetings, but I do want to catch up with you."
"Just call me when you can. I'll make time for you."
Alice held back a sigh. "Okay, yeah. That'll work."
"I'll talk to you later, sweetheart."
Alice bit her lip, trying to bite back the sob that was now threatening to erupt. She couldn't help but hate how caught off guard the sentiment left her. She missed Esme. She missed Josie. She missed Jasper. And she hated the impending disaster she now found herself a part of. "I love you, Esme."
The sound of Esme's delighted, soft laughter echoing over the line caused Alice to grip the phone tightly with two hands. "I love you, too. Be safe."
Alice didn't give herself any time to reign in her tumultuous emotion; she didn't have the time, she reminded herself as she left the room and headed for the newborn center. She had to get her and Skye's daily visit over with, hold a meeting with her leadership and somehow give them enough information that they wouldn't question her motives when she told them how they were to detain her visitor tomorrow, and then she needed to check in with Edward, and make sure he would arrive before James was in the vicinity.
Somehow Alice had a suspicion that James would know something was up the moment he sensed Edward's presence.
As she walked through the hallway toward Skye, she wondered if they'd be better off keeping Edward at a distance until after James was in custody…
Opening the door Alice entered swiftly. Trying to slow her motions was a difficult feat, but she didn't want the girl to also sense that something was up. When Skye lifted her head, smiling at Alice's appearance, Alice felt herself smile back. It was a genuine reaction to seeing her, and it felt nice to feel relief at the presence of someone else after the frightening morning she'd had.
Skye inhaled to speak, and before Alice could blink Skye had crushed her chair beneath her, scrambling away from Alice's approaching form, a hiss and a growl escaping her mouth swiftly as she backed herself up against the far wall.
Alice barely had time to react, lowering her stance and lifting a hand out toward the girl, before two containers were in the room behind her.
"No—NO!" Alice shouted as they moved to restrain Skye. "It's okay—stop. It's fine," then, as the two men paused, exchanging looks with each other before looking at Alice and backing up a few steps, Alice took one step forward. "Leave us," she commanded firmly. "I have this under control."
"Ma'am, I—"
"I have this under control," she repeated herself, shooting the two larger men a serious look. "Stand down."
They removed themselves from the room slowly, and Alice could sense that they were standing on the other side of the door, not quite eavesdropping, but waiting for any more abrupt, loud sounds.
Skye was gasping, her pupils blown wide as she stared at Alice, her teeth bared. "Where is he?" Skye demanded after the containers were gone. "Why is he here?"
James. Skye was reacting to James' scent.
"Do you know him?" Alice asked, "James?"
Skye hissed again as the name passed Alice's lips. "Why the fuck is he here?" She demanded, a hysterical edge to her tone. "You can't trust him," she was shaking her head fiercely. "You can't believe a word he says. Alice," the girl's voice cracked, "why is he here!?"
"Skye," Alice took a few careful steps forward, and when her visions showed her that Skye wasn't going to attack her, she fully approached her. Leaning forward Alice grasped Skye's hands and held them tightly in her own. "I don't trust him. But I don't know enough about what's going on right now. I need you to talk to me. Tell me."
The information fell out of Skye after that, as if a dam had crumbled in the girl's brain, and she simply couldn't keep her words to herself anymore.
"I need a promise," Skye spoke urgently, straightening up to her full height after she was able to get her breathing under control. "I need you to promise me that what I tell you doesn't leave this room. At least not until I'm out of here," her words came out quick but low, and Alice knew that if she didn't pay close attention, she might miss the words the girl was desperately uttering "I need you to promise me that for as long as I'm locked in here with her, you won't say anything. I need your word, Alice."
"You have it," Alice's hands tightened around Skye's even as the younger girl tried to pull her hands back. Alice's grip was firm. "You have my word."
"Victoria—James—I—neither of them are right. They aren't right—"
"Right?" Alice shook her head slightly. She was misunderstanding something.
"What I mean is, they aren't innocent. They're awful, Alice. They're fucking awful."
Alice stared back at the girl, letting the words sink into her psyche. She turned them over and over in her head. Her first instinct was to dismiss the claim; but that was a knee-jerk reaction. Relentless interviewing and interrogating had happened during the trials, doling out their punishments and deciding the proper sentencing for all the radicals involved. The process had been long and it had been thorough.
Victoria had been fiercely guarded and forbidden from leaving. Just about every single testimony had let that fact hold true. Even James had said so himself, backing up the fully-evident claim. Even Skye herself had given them a variation of that; Victoria was closely watched because she was vital to Maria's efforts. The woman's evasion skills made their groups difficult to track and helped them learn when to move and how quickly they needed to be able to drop everything and go.
It was Victoria's gift, they'd deduced (and James had validated) that had made tracking their small group throughout Mexico a nearly-impossible endeavor last year.
But instead of verbalizing her denial—denial that was so solidly stuck inside her mind—Alice stepped back. "How?" She asked simply, frowning when Skye pulled her hands out of Alice's grip finally. "Tell me."
"I'm going to die anyways," Skye spoke again, her face contorted into a miserable expression. "Either I'm going to get my way and you people will finally let me go, or she'll kill me herself if she finds out I'm telling you this. I wasn't allowed to say shit about it, and they didn't think I remembered. They thought I'd forgotten. But I do remember and it's her and her mate's fault and I—I hate them. I hate them because if you people take away my right to remove myself from this existence then I won't have one outside of this place because they'll fucking kill me and—"
"No one is going to hurt you," Alice reached out, but Skye kept her hands firmly at her sides, clenched into fists. "Skye, I promise you, you're safe here." I'll protect you, she wanted to say, before stopping herself. She knew she couldn't make promises now.
"I learned the full story from Sarah," Skye spoke, her voice still quick, but quieter now. "She was one of Maria's long-time followers. One of your retired guys from Seattle who had lost an eye back in '64." Suddenly, an image of the woman came to mind. Alice had seen her in a handful of visions while Jasper had been in Maria's clutches.
The short-haired woman had met her end at Jasper's hands during Maria's display of power over him, via Skye's ability.
"She told me a lot. I think she wanted me to see their side of things so I'd be more willing to work with them. But I was willing from the start! They'd freed me from that hell-hole hospital. I was grateful to them all. To Maria, too, in a sick fucking way. They fed me and kept me safe and kept me hidden away and I didn't even remember him at first, but Sarah filled me in on things one day when I asked how they found me.
"James is the one who found me and changed me."
Alice stared at the poor girl, and then thought again about her reaction to James' scent on her person, and her guilt compounded. But beyond the guilt, shock reigned supreme.
"There was another patient." James had told her only the day before. "A kid a little younger than her that they snagged first. A few months before. He didn't survive the change process though. One of her partners couldn't quite… control himself."
Of course James hadn't been a captive. He'd been an active participant.
"Maria knew them before the war. The first one, I mean, in '64. Sarah told me all about the black market that operated under your guys' noses," she gestured to Alice, "and well, I mean, I guess it still operates today. Or at least it used to, before the second war. But she talked about how easy it was to get blood, or find someone to do your bidding, or to make connections or whatever. Really. General illegal stuff. Sarah also told me that Maria was very loosely acquainted with them: James and Victoria.
"When the first war happened, Maria had to go into hiding but plenty of criminals and fugitives make a living and keep connections in the black market. So I mean, she wasn't parading herself around I guess, like, she probably had to keep things quiet since everyone thought she was dead. But I guess connections are hard to sever? She couldn't manipulate them, but blackmail apparently worked just fine for her.
"So she cornered James one day and demanded he help her. He didn't put up a fight. He wanted a part of it. For the fucking… thrill or whatever. That's the story everyone knew."
Everyone that was already dead and gone. Everyone except for Skye.
"And James is Victoria's mate?" Even though Skye was confirming a lot of things Alice already knew, it was so important at this point that the girl continued talking. Alice was going to need all the proof she could get.
Especially now, considering the crimes being described.
"Yeah and he's a tracker. Maria wanted his help to track down humans with the potential to have… more, I guess you could say. I don't know. Extra things. Abilities and such. Like mine. I don't know why she thought he'd be able to find gifted humans with just a tracking sense but," she half-shrugged, "I don't know, maybe he could? There's a lot I'm never going to know. But I do know that after a little while—or a couple of decades or something. I don't know how long it was since it was apparently so long before me—he got bored with things and then when he tried to refuse Maria threatened to kill Victoria and so for years and years before I was turned they made their way all throughout the south, changing humans in hopes they'd have something to offer Maria.
"Apparently the deal was that if he helped find them someone 'adequate'," the girl used air-quotes, despite her hysteria, "Maria would let Victoria go and they'd be free to leave. Because I guess he hadn't found anyone that was up to her standards in those years? I don't know. But by the time they found me—someone adequate enough, I guess—Maria changed things up and went back on her word. But by that point she knew all about Victoria's ability, and it was more useful to her to keep her nearby.
"So one day, not long after they'd discovered my ability and decided to let me live, Maria threatened to expose the both of them—their crimes and their involvement in the black market—if they refused to cooperate any further. I mean, they were criminals. They are criminals. They worked in the black market for hire, killing and tracking people and just—" Skye swallowed thickly and shook her head. "Maria had a really, really solid case against them, and she was ready to leak it to some sources and… and I guess it would've been a death sentence for them to say no.
"James was supposed to leave us alone and Victoria was supposed to keep helping. We're pretty sure the only reason either of them played along was because they didn't want Maria to kill the other one. And Maria had connections and resources everywhere at that point. So yeah, sure, Victoria was threatened into staying, but she was only a part of things because she was doing all sorts of illegal shit prior to all this helping-Maria business." Skye was quiet for a moment, giving Alice an opportunity to attempt to pull her thoughts together. "She fucking enjoyed it. Forced to stay or not. She fucking liked being there. Being important and useful." Skye's chest was heaving as she forced her breathing to slow down. "As far as I care to understand, Victoria is as guilty as Maria."
There was a beat of silence as the declaration fell over them both.
"Does Victoria know that you know all of this?"
Skye hesitated and then shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not sure. I know that she knows that I know more than she'd like me to. I think that's why she tries keeping me close to her. I can't say shit about her if she's within earshot. That's why she's been so pissy this week. She doesn't like that you're here, and she especially doesn't like that you're spending all of this time talking to me."
Suddenly Victoria's frustration with Alice during her second visit made so much more sense.
And James' subsequent, random appearance days later.
"You think they're going to hurt you if you talk?"
"I know it," Skye insisted. "I can sense people's fears. I know that's Victoria's biggest one. That I'll talk and she'll end up locked away without James. Or that James will end up locked up. And I'm the one thing standing in between her and a clean slate."
A clean slate. It was the one thing James was trying to gain from his involvement with Alice.
Dread crept up on her swiftly as Skye spoke. "Why tell me this? If not for your own protection." For days now, Skye had been insistent that she wanted to die. That she wanted out of this second life and that she didn't want any further interference with her decision. But even if Skye's fear at James' presence forced her to react defensively, that could be chocked up to survival instincts forcing her to move.
Alice was so confused. Because Skye could have very well taken all this information to the grave with her.
But for some reason she was telling Alice. And that was more than she'd anticipated when she'd arrived a week ago.
"Because she knows things. She bragged about it one day while we were waiting for Maria to give orders. It was right before you called one of Maria's lines and dared her to come after you. Victoria wanted to taunt Jasper with the information but he was so far gone into the world I'd thrown him in that he didn't even hear her. But I did. She knows things about you, Alice."
"I don't understand," Alice shook her head slightly, unable to tear her eyes away from Skye. James' words from earlier reverberating through her skull painfully. "Knows things? What kind of things?" She wracked her brain but found herself coming up empty. Alice had been introduced to Victoria through her visions last fall, and had only met her for the first time during the trials months ago. Alice didn't know Victoria outside of what she'd learned only recently.
But the truth was right in front of her. Skye had given her every single piece to the long-lost puzzle that was her origin, and for some baffling reason Alice was turning her nose up at the idea of piecing them all together and taking a long, hard look at the truth.
It was too terrifying to think about.
"I thought she was full of shit. I thought she was just trying to get a rise out of Jasper. But I think she was being serious."
Alice felt cold. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. "Skye, what do you mean?"
But Skye continued talking as if Alice's questions meant nothing. The worlds continued to fall out of the girl. "The day Maria tried to have me killed is the day we discovered my gift. She thought I didn't have one, and I was nearing the fifteen-month mark; that's when a lot of us were killed. Some people were killed sooner, if they were irritating enough. But she told me that I'd disappointed her and then instructed Sarah and another guy to 'take care of me'. And I knew what that meant. So I just… I reacted. I reached for her with my mind and before I knew what was happening Maria was screaming, and then the man turned toward me and I turned toward him and he was screaming. And I was so scared and angry that I dug through his mind until he was left foaming at the mouth and twitching on the ground. I ripped his consciousness apart with everything that I had. Even as I rendered myself immobile on the floor, all I could focus on was tearing his mind to goddamn shreds.
"I didn't release my hold on him until I felt like I'd proven my point. They had to kill him after that. He wasn't of any use to Maria all comatose and such." Skye paused. "She was content to let me live after that."
Alice was struggling to follow Skye's new train of thought. She wanted to go back and ask her previous question again, but Alice had a feeling that if she kept Skye talking, she would get the answers she was looking for. "And I take it Victoria wasn't?"
"Once people saw what I could do, no one wanted me alive. And once I realized that I couldn't rip these people's nightmares from my own mind, I didn't want to live either. There's this," Skye lifted her hands, gesturing in a circle, "feedback loop almost, when I'm in someone's mind. It's not just a projection, I'm really, really in there. It's why I can't control my body when I'm actively… torturing someone," she frowned, lack of a more appropriate word apparent. "My attention and subconscious is solely focused on theirs. And since my mind is an intruder in their mind it has detrimental side effects. Sure, I'm the one digging up and amplifying their fears and paranoia, but my mind is there, too. I experience it, too. So they're experiencing this… this nightmare all while I can't escape it either and they can sense my fear and dread, too. And a lot of the time some of my thoughts are surrendered to them.
"I saw Jasper's fears so vividly. They all were concerning you. Every single one of them. Maria raged at this, of course, but it gave them something to work towards; which was you of course. But I saw this one particular fear about not being able to protect you and I thought back to Victoria taunting Jasper about how you wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them—"
"Skye Skye Skye," Alice interrupted, suddenly confused by the girl's ramblings. "You're starting to not make sense."
"James had something to do with your creation. That's all I know. Victoria used to make a habit of bragging about it, right after you were brought into the spotlight, I guess. And I think that's the only reason Maria was so willing to keep hold of Victoria in the end, even though they didn't really need her once we'd struck and come out of hiding. I think that's the reason she didn't have James killed. Maria knew he was still following us from a distance for those years but she just ignored him. I think she counted on having him around in case you made your appearance. I don't know why he didn't made an appearance the day she died."
Skye paused, breathing heavily as she studied Alice's face. "Do you believe me? It's the truth, Alice. I swear it is."
Alice didn't reply. She couldn't.
"Why now?" Alice whispered, but in seconds her brain put the rest of the pieces together. "Why come out of hiding now?"
"You're not the first person to grill me for information on Maria. The only difference is, they can buy my silence," he eyed the closed folder and then his eyes flickered over to her, "you, not so much apparently."
Someone else was out there, Alice realized, and they were a bigger threat to James and Victoria's futures than any punishment their system could deal out.
The phrase 'an enemy of my enemy is a friend' flickered through her mind but she knew that wasn't the case here. She knew that her presence at this center hadn't gone unnoticed by whoever James was afraid of. Because now, Alice was learning about things she hadn't expected to discover, and now, James was desperate to get Victoria out and run, and now Alice knew she had another enemy, one perhaps entirely separate from the radical movement still bubbling beneath the surface.
One that operated from the shadows, if James' cryptic words held any true meaning.
"I… I think someones after them." Skye spoke plainly, confirming Alice's dreadful train of thought. "I don't know who—I would have to properly dig to find out, and I can't do that without the recipient knowing. But I can see the surface-level stuff. I know someone else is out there. Someone who scares Victoria in a way that Maria never did."
"Skye," Alice spoke, attempting to swallow the lump in her throat.
"You have to promise me," Skye backed away swiftly, the desperation seeping back into her tone. "Promise me that for as long as I'm locked in here with that fucking bitch you won't say anything. Alice, you can't."
"I'm not sending you back in there," Alice shook her head, already mentally preparing what she was going to say to Corey. There was no way in hell she was sending Skye back to her wing, knowing that Victoria would be ready and waiting to further taunt and provoke her. Alice didn't care what rules she had to bend or break. (She'd done plenty of that the past few days, and was already preparing to have to do more of it.) "I'm going to figure something out."
"Promise me," Skye demanded, her voice cracking with emotion.
Alice chewed the inside of her cheek, and then spoke against her better judgement. "I promise."
It wasn't a lie. But Alice knew that she couldn't guarantee a damn thing anymore. She'd so swiftly lost control of this week that Alice knew what happened next was likely not even up to her, even if she could see it coming.
Pulling her phone out Alice opened her text messages, preparing to send a few quick ones to Edward in order to ensure he'd catch the first flight out, but then a vision seized her.
He moved quickly, through hallways and around corners. By the time she could figure out what she was seeing he'd passed a pair of vampires. Their heads rolled to the ground before either could react in time to scream or gasp or even defend themselves.
The hallways were recognizable, having been the ones Alice had just traversed on the way to the Newborn Center, and despite the realization hitting her before her vision showed her the proof, she was stuck inside of it, unable to shake it from her mind as she watched James breach the Newborn Center.
She didn't feel herself move as much as she watched herself appear in the hallway separating the interview rooms and the residential wings, the only thing standing between James and the latter. But instead of heading toward where Victoria was, he turned and bolted for the interview rooms. Toward where Alice had instructed Skye to remain.
By the time Alice reached the room, Skye's screams had already been silenced, the heat from the lighter already licking up her dismembered body.
With a scream, Alice lunged toward James.
Gasping, Alice fell back into reality. It wasn't until she attempted straightening up—she'd slouched down against the table as the vision played out—that she realized Skye had moved to her side and grabbed her hands, her eyes wide and panicked.
"Alice—oh, thank god! What—are you alright?!"
As Skye spoke the sound of the door opening behind her ripped her from her thoughts. She turned on her feet to face the intruder instantly, a growl bubbling up in her own chest.
Corey looked shocked, and concerned. "Whoa, it's just me—Alice," then, he looked toward Skye with concern. "What just happened? Skye waved us in—"
"Yeah cause she wasn't responding!"
"What's going—"
"We need to lock the center down, now." Alice could hardly catch her breath, nor could she gather her thoughts. But thankfully, adrenaline made her brain work faster even if the full comprehension of what was happening wasn't entirely there yet.
The sound of Skye's screams were too vivid in her mind for her to focus.
"I—I mean, okay but why? Alice, what is going on?"
"There's no time to explain. Do it. That's an order," her voice took on an authoritative tone that forced Corey to nod stiffly, backing away from the tiny woman as he pulled his phone out and quickly dialed a number. "You two," Alice pointed to the two containers who were nervously standing outside of the door, looking unsure about the entire situation, "Take Skye back to her wing, I need extra containers working security immediately and until I give the command."
"Alice, what the fuck is going on?" Underneath the fear, Alice could hear the very real anger that was building up in Skye. A defensive mechanism, if anything. "You said you—you fucking promised me! What's happening?!"
"Nothing if I have anything to say about it," she turned and shot Skye a serious look. I'm going to protect you, Alice thought pointedly, reminding herself that this wasn't Edward, this was Skye.
But realization struck her the moment she watched Skye's face morph before her very eyes. While Skye couldn't read thoughts, she could sense fears without much trying. And right now, Alice's biggest fear was that James would breach their security, and take the poor girl out of the picture once and for all.
Alice realized that Skye could sense this the moment that her face crumbled. When Skye spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "He's coming for me?"
Alarms were blaring before Alice could respond.
And when screaming started echoing toward them, the sound coming from not far down the hallway, Alice felt the venom in her veins freeze.
It was too late. He was already inside the building.
He probably never left campus, Alice realized with horror as she watched the pair of containers turn and rush down the hallways toward the ruckus, when he left the meeting earlier he probably just hid low and you didn't see it. This is your oversight. Your fault.
Cursing her own foolishness, Alice turned and grabbed Skye's hand. "Whatever you do, stay close to me. Corey," she shouted, "leave us in here. When they initiate the lock down I need to be with her."
Corey blanched at that, pausing in whatever he was saying over the phone to gape at her in disbelief, "And leave you in here, unprotected, for the next twelve hours?" It was the minimum amount of time their systems could be activated for, as a safeguard.
He looked at her as if she had two heads when she nodded ardently. "Trust me, Cor. My phone is nice and charged; you can call me when this is over."
"When what is over—?" But when the shouting intensified the trio froze at the sound of limbs being torn. Corey's head snapped back down the hall as he shouted commands into the phone, and then pocketed it. "You better know what you're doing, little girl," Corey growled toward Alice as he exited the room, slamming and locking the door shut behind him.
Thankfully, she did. The doors were designed to be nearly impenetrable to vampires when all proper systems were activated and lock-down mode was initiated. Alice knew that in seconds, more alarms would blare, the system would be activated, and she and Skye would be stuck in there for the foreseeable future.
It was the only path Alice could see in which Skye would make it out alive.
Barely ten seconds after the alarms changed their key and the system activated, Alice stood in shock as she watched another vision play out.
As quickly as he'd begun to fight his way toward them, James stopped, backtracking swiftly as he turned and made his way straight toward the residential wings on the other side of the building. It was as he was nearly to the doors that they were flung open, Victoria standing on the other side, looking feral as she fled from the wing.
On the floor, just passed the open door, Alice could see bodies lying in pieces.
There was anger, but still acute relief as Alice realized there was nowhere for them to go. With the lockdown activated no one would be coming in or out of the center from any of the buildings. Not without a complete override of their system; something that couldn't be accomplished easily. (But, as Alice had learned last fall, it wasn't impossible.)
But when the vision continued on, Alice could feel her dread enveloping her when she realized that James did have a way out. In his hand were Alice's keys. Alice had only recently added her swipe card to the keychain—against Rosalie's stern advice—but it seemed it was a mistake she would be paying for dearly.
There was a quick argument then. Victoria wanted to flee but James wanted to stay close, and 'finish the job' before they lost their chance. Their fight lasted all of four seconds before their time ran out and they exited near the back of the building, Alice's keycard giving them passage even with the alarms and sirens blaring throughout the campus.
The doors shut and relocked behind them, leaving a handful of small fires, and a group of dead containers in their wake.
It was a diversion.
"No," Alice whispered, her awareness hurtling back toward her. "No."
"What?" And Alice nearly jumped when she realized Skye was standing so close to her. Turning toward the girl she looked up at her, unable to shield her expression from the girl. "Alice, what's happening?"
"They…"
Instead, she shook her head and dialed a number on her phone. But after the first ring she hung up, swearing loudly. There was still barely a minute before James and Victoria were out of the building, and if she distracted Corey for even a second, it could cost him his life.
Alice didn't realize she was shaking until Skye reached out and grabbed her hand, gripping it almost too tightly.
"Is he going to get us?" Skye whispered, and when Alice turned toward her she noted how her golden eyes didn't leave the door. "Are we going to die?"
Alice shook her head, forcing her mouth closed as she swallowed. "No, no way. I'm not letting him get to you." And as she spoke, the words brought a confidence into her chest that she hadn't possessed just a few minutes before. It was a confidence that she didn't truly feel. Just something that she knew was there.
Because Alice knew she was going to do everything in her power to stop this man, no matter the threat he posed toward them.
"He's a hunter, Alice," Skye spoke, eyes unfocused as she stared toward the door, "A tracker. A hunter. A fucking monster. He's never going to stop until he gets what he wants. What does he want? Me dead? You?"
Finally, Skye's gaze met Alice's. There was a pause as the two girls stared back at each other, their clasped hands tightening. Vision after vision flickered through her head as she struggled to stand grounded and in the present. She couldn't reply. Because the future was a great, jumbled, dangerous mess right now, and she didn't know what to say.
Alice stood there, unable to speak as her visions showed her glimpses of the true danger both she and Skye were now in, and when she felt a buzzing behind her eyes, she knew Skye wasn't accepting her silence as an adequate answer. "Skye—"
"I'm right," Skye muttered, her lower lip trembling as she plucked the fears out of Alice's head. "He does want us dead." Skye finally dropped Alice's hands then, taking a shaky step backward. "More you than me."
Despite the flickers of the future that fluttered across Alice's mind, her first instinct was to deny it. If James had wanted Alice dead so badly, he could have done it hours ago.
If he wanted her dead, Alice reminded herself as Skye's words rolled around fresh in her head, he apparently could have done it decades ago.
But Alice hadn't been 'somebody' back then. Just a confused newborn, waking up with nothing but questions and visions and a raggedy gown and a damaged bracelet. A blank slate. Hardly a threat to someone like James.
Now, she was a Protector. A public figure and a war hero. She was the only one of her comrades who had direct contact with him. The only one of them who he'd spoken with, and given information to, and attempted to cut a deal with.
And she was the one person with the ability to track him and take him down.
Skye was right. Because while James wanted to shut Skye up, he knew that the seed of dread had already been planted in her head thanks to Victoria. (Even though it was beginning to waver, Skye's desire to end her life was still a fairly solid and set decision in Alice's head). But Alice was a different case entirely.
Alice possessed the power to ruin him, and James knew it. And in that moment Alice knew he wasn't going to stop until she was dead.
It wasn't until her phone rang for the third time when she realized that she was simply staring at the wall.
"Alice," Skye had been beckoning her attention for seconds now, but only when the girl reached for Alice's opposite hand, extracting the phone from her fingers, did Alice blink herself back into the present. By that time, Skye had already answered the phone. "Hello?"
But Alice couldn't focus on any words. She couldn't focus on anything except for James' future. But even as she flickered through vision after vision, she found each subsequent vision much harder to decipher than the last. Whether it was a testament to James' or Victoria's ability, Alice didn't know. But it was far more difficult to see their course as the seconds passed, and Alice's anxieties began to rise at that.
"I don't know, she's not saying anything and we're locked in here and she—she's so fucking scared. I can feel it."
And Alice was, to put it simply. Not just scared. She was terrified. Because before, when Alice had been afraid for her life, it had just been her and Josie to worry about. Now, her worries were piled infinitely higher.
There was so much more at stake this time.
Instead of one singular vision, showcasing her likely demise, Alice was witnessing dozens and dozens of possibilities now. So many different ways in which this would end so, so terribly for her. Some visions resulting in her death, others resulting in a loved one's death. Most of them, showcasing nothing but a future filled with pain and misery.
Alice felt like she barely even had her visions to help her anymore, as she watched Victoria and James get farther and farther away, her visions of them coming less and less and with decreased clarity with each subsequent flicker.
They were getting away, and there was going to be a massive outcry when the public heard about what happened.
"Alice!" Finally, she blinked herself back toward Skye, who was no longer watching from a hesitant distance. Instead, she was standing directly in front of her face, phone still pressed against her ear. "Alice! It's okay. It's okay, look, here," and then Skye placed the phone against her face. "It's Jasper. Talk to Jasper."
"Alice, Alice! It's me!" And the sound of his voice shattered whatever hold her panic had on her. "Come on Alice, say something."
"Jasper," his name was both a breath of relief and a sigh, and with shaking hands she lifted them to take the phone from Skye.
He sounded beside himself, "Oh, thank god…" he muttered to himself, "Alice, are you alright? What's happening? Carlisle just got a notification from the Center. Skye said there's a lockdown and mentioned something about a man after you two. What is going on?"
"Jasper, I—" But the guilt was next to wash over her, rendering her mute for a few long moments, "I'm sorry," she settled on an apology, because she knew what was happening was all her fault. If only she hadn't started digging. If only she'd been more careful. If only she hadn't attempted to set James and Victoria up in order to turn the media spotlight onto them. If only she hadn't been so selfish.
If only she hadn't done exactly what Jasper had asked her not to do.
"I messed up," was all the explanation she could give.
A/N: An 11 thousand word chapter? In one of MY fics? It's More Likely Than You Think!
Happy Cancer season! Get ready to bask in the glory of your own emotions, whether you're ready to or not!
Look forward to two chapters next month. One during the first week, and another at the start of Leo season. (The best and most chaotic season of the year!)
REVIEW REPLIES:
LadyRhoswen: OMG thanks for coming and joining us on the sequel's adventure, too! I'm so happy you liked Call of the Night! And it makes me happy that you're enjoying the world I've constructed here. Thankfully since I'm almost done writing the story, I'll be switching to a biweekly update schedule, so you'll get two chapters a month from here on out! That's anywhere between 16 and 22 thousand words a month from me! So get ready for some drama!
Koharuboshi: James IS quite the unsettling character... and VERY fun to write for. And Skye's backstory being strange will make more sense as time (and this series of stories) progresses. Trust me, I like to leave little hints in one story that will be relevant later on, so you're at least paying attention in all the right spots.
And don't worry! I always make my pairings work for their happy ending. And boy oh boy are Jasper and Alice going to EARN that shit.
ZileRacer: I fully agree! While it takes me a while to build up in a lengthy story like this, I always hope that the payoff ends up being worth it (just like how I spent so many chapters in CotN with so many boring scenes; just setting up for the true action), so hang in there! I hope this was an exciting enough chapters, and not too confusing. (Yet.) Either way, I'm glad you're liking the conspiracy drama! There is pleeeenty of that to be had in this fic...