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.:CHAPTER FOUR:.

~Rosalie's POV~

All of these ideas were getting us nowhere. That was what happened - you got into a problem, you saw that it was really complicated, and you came up with all these convoluted solutions. In reality, you needed a good dose of luck more than anything else.

Renesmee and Emmett were seated on the ends of the couch while I sat between them, crossing and uncrossing my legs. Alice stood just off to the side, tapping her chin. All our eyes were on Edward as he paced back and forth in front of us. I realized our human mannerisms were getting too good; they've become a part of us, instinctual. Like we were human. Carlisle probably loved that.

"Nothing is the same," Edward said suddenly. "Nothing. What are we supposed to be seeing?"

We had spent the past thirty minutes brainstorming. Again. It was pointless, and we all knew it. Bella's scene compared to Jasper's was too different. There was nothing there to compare.

"I hate to even say it," I said. "But if we had a third scenario it would probably help."

"That's the last thing we want," Edward grunted.

"I am only saying."

"How long are we going to go over the same stuff?" Emmett ran his hands down his face, cursing, frustrated. The stress was affecting him, though I could see how hard he was trying to stay optimistic and happy, for me, for Esme, for Ness, for everyone. I ran my hand down his bare arm, securing his hand to mine. He smiled at me, gorgeous dimples and all.

"Carlisle will be here soon," Alice assured us. "He just hung up with Esme... Or rather she hung up." She paused, looking at Edward, who in turn had halted his pacing.

Carlisle had called Esme not even a couple of minutes ago. Edward informed us that Carlisle had found what he was looking for quite easily, but he had also, apparently, warned Esme that the discovery was slightly disturbing. I didn't think I wanted to know what that meant. The quicker Carlisle got here, the better. We didn't need any more mysteries on our hands.

In the quiet of the room, I could hear that Esme was still in Carlisle's study, talking.

"Oh, no. Has anyone else...?"

"Who is she talking to?" Emmett asked Edward.

"Carmen Denali. She called while Esme was on the phone with Carlisle. It was why she had to hang up on him." Worry creased his forehead. "It's just like you said, Alice — we're not the only ones dealing with this."

My head snapped up. The Denalis? "Who's a victim?"

"Eleazar and Kate."

I took a moment to process that. "Do they know anything?"

"No. They're as clueless as we are."

"This could help," I said carefully, after a moment. "We needed one more blackout case in order to properly compare Jasper's and Bella's."

Emmett agreed with me, then asked, "What were Eleazar and Kate doing right before they were—"

"Affected? Good question." Edward started walking upstairs as he spoke. "Esme, can you ask Carmen..." His voice trailed off. His foot paused hovering over the next step. He leaned backward slightly, hand gliding off the railing, head rolling back.

Everything within me froze. I thought, in that quick second, that he was blacking out. Emmett jumped to his feet, probably thinking what I was, ready to catch our brother. But then, there was a sharp thud from above us, and Edward was suddenly moving again, sprinting to the second story faster than I had ever seen him. Confused, I listened as his footsteps sped through the house. They stopped once he reached where I estimated the study was.

"Esme... Can you hear me?" Then he whispered, "Please, Esme."

No.

It couldn't be.

I looked at Alice for answers. She was staring off into space, her eyes rounder than usual. She was murmuring to herself, over and over again. "This is not good. This is not good. This is not good."

Forget it.

I dashed up to the study. Edward was on the ground, on his knees. His attention was on Esme, lying motionless on her side, waves of soft brown hair hung over her face, covering her eyes. The only light coming into the room was through the window, shining against Esme's back just enough to cast shadows that crept along the carpet, reaching for me, and for Edward — shadows that had already claimed Esme. With her eyes covered in the way they were, her shadowed face left an ominous message.

Edward collected Esme's cell and the battery that had flown off after hitting the ground, while I carried Esme to her bed. The house was turning into a hospital. I flattened a strand of Esme's hair behind her ear and gazed, forlorn, at her restful features. I wasn't prepared to lose my mother. Aside from my beauty, she had been the only constant in this life for me, from the beginning. Always soft. Constantly kind. I had imagined it yesterday, of course; imagined every member of this family lost, and how I might feel about that. Yet, there was no imagination strong enough for how my heart ached now. Esme was more than a mother to me - she was a best friend, a confidante.

"Carmen blacked out."

I met Edward's gaze, surprised. "What?"

"Carmen. Alice is seeing it. Seeing Tanya and Garrett hovering over her. She blacked out."

Esme had just been talking to her.

"That can't be a coincidence," Edward continued, as if he thought I was missing the obvious point. I wanted to smack him.

"No," I agreed, throwing the same tone back in his face. "Obviously it can't."

Emmett and Renesmee appeared in the room. I distinguished Alice's footsteps behind them, quick and lithe. Emmett opened his mouth and then closed it, only to open it again.

"Esme's out?" was all he finally managed to say.

"What do you think?" My response came out sharper than I intended it to, but I didn't worry about it. Emmett knew me. Knew not to take anything personally when I was upset. And I was upset. Far more upset than I had been about Jasper or Bella. Not that I did not care for my siblings; merely, they had been first to fall victim, and so they had been less of a loss simply because there were still plenty of us to protect them, to help them, and to support each other. After Bella, panic had escalated... And with Esme, I felt its consequences.

A mutter of apprehension came from Renesmee's lips. Her brow puckered on its own, in the same way Bella's always had. I moved away from Esme to let my niece through to her grandmother. None of us reassured her it would be alright this time. I wanted to, but what was there to say that we hadn't already? Still, someone should say something, right? Why couldn't I find the words? Instead of forcing myself to think about it, I decided to blame Edward - the father - for not saying anything to his daughter.

Edward was busy rolling Esme's cell in his hands, though, inspecting it like it held answers.

Perhaps it did.

Suddenly, Edward's entire body went rigid.

"Phone!" Alice shrieked. "I need a phone!"

I watched, perplexed, as she scrambled, almost maniacally, for the one in Edward's hand. Emmett was shoved out of the way; a flower vase toppled, clinking against its corner table but not breaking; a large floral tapestry ruffled in the breeze of Alice's speed. By the time she got to Edward, she froze mid-reach for the phone and bowed her head on his arm.

"Oh, it's too late, it's too late." Her whine trailed off, defeated.

We were all frozen, trying to comprehend it all.

What just happened?

Edward finally moved. Blinked.

"No, Alice... No." He was shaking his head, as if trying to dispel the visions in her head through his own. But Alice was nodding hers. She looked up slowly, at Edward. She said nothing, and her eyes did not widen again; instead, they saddened. Like this was it. Like it was already over.

"It's too late. It's already happened."

"What—"

Emmett cut himself off when a low growl started to rumble in Edward's chest. It stopped as immediately as it had started. He tossed the cell phone onto the bed with too much force. It bounced off and found itself, once again, in two pieces on the floor. Edward didn't care. He marched out the door, with one final word.

"Shit."

Did my brother just cuss in front of his daughter? That never, and I mean never happened. Renesmee's shocked expression was proof of that. I might not be Alice, but my intuition was saying Esme and Carmen were part of the prelude.

I debated whether to go after Edward or not, before he got too far ahead. As much as I didn't want to, I managed to get more answers out of him than Alice. Usually.

"Help him, Rose," Alice said, deciding it for me.

What was with everybody telling me what to do all of a sudden? Regarding Edward, no less. Call Edward. Go after Edward. Help Edward. Oh, sure, just what I wanted. Just what Edward wanted; though he had no one but himself to blame sometimes for the way I treated him. By the sound of Alice's voice, however, I could tell her worry was out in full force, so I didn't argue as I ran off after our dear brother. Of course, nobody better get used to us cooperating so much.

Through the forest, I followed him. I caught up easily enough, and I could tell he was anxious by his silence. We wove effortlessly through the stretch of trees with great haste. Edward turned north, heading for the fork in the road that nobody but my family ever turned left at because it was a long, isolated path that led only to the Cullen home.

However, human civilization never came, for we didn't make it that far.

Just as I was wondering what we were after, the answer came, shocking me still for a brief moment.

Only a few yards from the busy intersection — busy for this town, anyway — Carlisle's black Mercedes was lodged between two trees, the front end of the car jammed into a third. The radio hummed, low and gurgled; whatever song was playing was muffled with static. In the driver's seat, Carlisle was slumped against the inflated airbag. He wasn't moving, wasn't breathing, and his eyes were closed. To anyone outside of the family, it would look like he was dead. It clearly wasn't the case, but...then again, it was obvious what had happened, and maybe it was just as bad.

Edward had to tear off the driver's side door in order to get it open. He ripped off Carlisle's seat belt and slammed it into the ground, revealing the frustration that was mutual in me.

We weren't supposed to lose Carlisle. Especially not after the loss of Esme. How did we manage to lose two of us in one day? These two, consecutively?

Edward grimaced, eyes sparking. He didn't comment on my thoughts, though I knew he was listening. I guessed he was as furious as I was.

After peering around for a moment, inspecting the scene as we had all the others, and getting a grip on himself, Edward slid Carlisle out of the seat and into his arms.

"We'll discuss it with the others when we get back." He then, with his head, gestured to the smashed vehicle. "Take the car. We're safe from human eyes on this road."

Yes, sir, I wanted to say, dripping every ounce of sarcasm into it as I could. But the thought stayed a thought, whether he heard it or not, and I freed the once beautiful Mercedes S55 AMG — I had a lot of damage to repair when this was all over — and lifted it above my head. In a matter of seconds, we were back at the house, in Carlisle and Esme's room, Edward placing Carlisle next to his wife. It could be thought of as fortunate, I supposed, that neither had to deal with the unconsciousness of their mate. Lucky them.

As for us, the blackouts had happened so fast, leaving us no room to breathe, no time to think. One minute we were getting our hopes up and, in the next, those same hopes were being crushed into oblivion. Mocking us. Taunting us. Reminding us that we were not gaining any advantage any time soon.

Trying not to show the uncertainty I felt, I folded my arms across my chest and leaned on one foot. "I don't suppose either of you knew what Carlisle was going to tell us? Edward? Alice?"

Not one response. Just facial reactions that made my stomach drop.

"This sucks," Renesmee whispered, still standing at Esme's bedside. "What are we supposed to do now? Grandpa Carlisle had the answers, didn't he? You said he did. He was supposed to explain what he found. Now we have nothing again."

"Not necessarily," I said, eyeing Esme's cell phone still broken on the floor. "I don't know about Carlisle, but Esme and Carmen blacked out at the same time. On the phone together. There is a connection there."

"Are you saying being on the phone is now dangerous?" Emmett inquired. It was a curious thought, and not very reassuring. If we had to stay away from making any calls — limiting in itself — what else did we have to avoid?

Nobody answered Emmett's question. He didn't seem to care. His eyes were on Alice. She was somewhere else again; physically present, but her mind was in a time yet to happen. When she came back to reality, she turned, stated we needed to search Carlisle's car, and left the room, walking with purpose. Edward was right on her heels, and Emmett on his. Renesmee gave me a look, glanced back at Carlisle and Esme, then took my hand and lead me outside with the others.

It was odd, but the first thing I noticed stepping out of the house was the strange absence of wind. It was breezy just moments before. Now, the sky had darkened and the air was still. As if things were not unsettling enough, it felt too calm for our turbulent circumstances.

Edward and Alice were already rummaging through Carlisle's crumpled car. Emmett too kin the damage of the Mercedes with a shake of his head.

"What are you looking for?" Renesmee questioned, opening one of the back doors and squeezing inside.

"The book Carlisle checked out from the library," Edward answered.

"What book was it?" All I remembered was that Carlisle thought it most likely restricted. It had to be interesting - whatever it was - if that had been the case. And if it had given him an answer to what was going on, it was doubly important we find it.

Alice kicked the beaten up dashboard until the glove compartment popped open. "I'm not sure. Something about...articles. More essay-based. About supernatural test subjects. That was all I could make out."

Supernatural...test subjects?

Emmett raised an eyebrow at me, just as equally perplexed as we were intrigued.

"Anyway," Alice continued, "I do see that it will be helpful."

"Carlisle was sure it would, so it must," Edward murmured. He had found Carlisle's black bag and was sifting through it.

It hardly sounded like my siblings had their minds open to the possibility that Carlisle could be wrong. Honestly, it had been a hunch on his part. I didn't truly believe he was wrong, but I was beginning to feel a minor twinge of paranoia. Another blackout could happen at any minute, and now it was proven that it could affect multiple people at once. We could all go. Just like that.

"Hey, I found something!" Renesmee shouted, voice muffled as one of her arms reached under the passenger side seat in front of her. When she sat up, there was a thin, white book in her hand, with gold lettering on the front that I couldn't make out from this angle.

"Records of Supernatural Science," she read, tucking a loose curl behind her ear.

"Let me see." Edward took the book and opened it to the first page. As he read, skimming through the pages he deemed insignificant, I thought about what the title of the book could mean. It seemed straightforward - the book was about records, and the records were on the subject of supernatural science. Was science involving the supernatural a legitimate study?

"Daddy, there's something else under here."

Renesmee pulled out a piece of torn notebook paper. A yellow Post-it note was stuck to the top. Alice peered over Renesmee's shoulder, brow scrunching. "The name of the book is written here in Carlisle's handwriting. Along with the number fifty-two."

"It could be a page number," I suggested.

Edward was instantly flipping to somewhere near the middle of the book. A few seconds of reading time was all he needed before his eyes widened. "I figured out what Carlisle was going to tell us," he all but whispered.

All eyes on him now, we waited. When he didn't continue, Emmett and I spoke simultaneously.

"And?"

Edward met our gazes with narrowed lids, the gold behind them hardening to nearly black.

"This isn't a natural caused phenomenon. Our species is under attack."