Chapter 2

Alice POV

It has been months since Bella has left our lives, and I cannot say that we have been any better off. I glanced around at my unproductive family, two members short of what it should be. I wondered how Bella was coping. Edward had told me that I was not allowed to look into her future. However, I had looked into his and I know that he is taking the absence of his love worse than any of us. I flinched mentally at the image of what I had seen: him in a ball on the floor of a dirty attic somewhere in South America, completely useless.

My thoughts drifted back to Bella. She was always a very private person. She never spoke of her feelings to anyone, but she always had an ear for anyone who needed to. She was also very independent for her age, something I had quickly understood as a lack of parental nurturing, guidance, and discipline. I smiled a little at the memory of one of our family meetings what felt like forever ago…

"I can't take this anymore!" Carlisle had said angrily as he sat at the head of the table. "Bella's recklessness and lack of discipline are becoming the most noticeable thing in her character!"

Edward growled. "She is sweet and kind—some might even say that her actions are that of a martyr! How can you say those things about her?"

"Because she doesn't have a father! Or a mother!" Edward opened his mouth as if to argue but Carlisle interrupted him. "She doesn't have any parental guidance, Edward. If only I could—"

"I feel the same way, my love," said Esme softly, placing her hand on his. "She is like a daughter to me. No—she is my daughter."

Carlisle smiled appreciatively at her and calmed slightly. "As she is mine. And this independence of hers is not becoming. She is a child. I just wish we could do something to help her.

I was filled with a sense of longing for my sister and then determination as I decided what I must do. Jasper looked at me curiously as he felt my mixture of emotions. I smiled at him before I spoke to my family.

"I am going to look into Bella's future!"

"Not again," Rosalie said, annoyed.

"Alice," Carlisle's face looked pained. "You know what Edward said."

"But, as the father and the leader of the coven, you could overrule that," I said hopefully. He looked torn and I nudged Jasper to give me a little help. Carlisle laughed. My attempts had not gone unnoticed.

"What do you think, Esme?" he asked his wife.

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose one checkup wouldn't hurt. It would give us all some peace of mind." I looked at her appreciatively.

Carlisle said, "Than it's settled. Alice, you may look into Bella's future, just this once." He smiled.

I hadn't expected a "yes". Well, naturally I had but I still became overly-excited anyway. Jasper put a hand on my shoulder and I felt a wave of calm. He smiled encouragingly, and I put a hand over his to hold it there, and by his look I knew that he understood what I meant. If what I saw was too much to bear, he would be there to help me.

Once I had gotten everyone's attention, I closed my eyes purposefully and searched for Bella's future. At first, what I saw confused me. The room was white, and there was no furniture. And then I saw Bella and I shuddered. Bella was sitting on the floor, eyes blank and unseeing. She was extremely malnourished and her hair was cut short. She was wearing a white smock and loose white pants. She didn't move at any time during my vision, and I could tell that there was no fight left in her. What could have happened for her to have landed in a place like this?

Jasper POV

Nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of emotions that Alice felt as she saw her vision. I held her tightly and moved her to my lap as shock, pain, and overwhelming sadness as I have only experienced on rare occasions flowed throughout her body. Carlisle looked at me nervously as we witnessed her body stiffen in stress. I immediately used the full force of my power on her and she relaxed only slightly. As her vision ended she turned and sobbed into my shirt.

Carlisle rushed over and knelt in front of us. "Alice. Alice, tell us what is wrong!"

She turned back to face the family but still clung to me for dear life. "It's B-Bella. Sh-sh-she is in… She is in…" She began to hyperventilate. I tried to relax her again and she looked at me gratefully. "She's in… an asylum," she whispered and gasps were heard throughout the room. "Her hair was cut short, the room is padded… She is really, really underweight and her eyes are so… Empty. She needs us, Carlisle." She looked at him pleadingly. "I don't know how she got there or why but… It's just like m-my past l-life." And she started to sob again.

Carlisle took Esme's hand and, without hesitation, said, "We're going to go and take her away. Everybody help to pack; we are going back to Forks."