Chapter 6 – Shocking News
I went to school, resuming my daily routine. I got there a little earlier than I usually did, but I had something to do to occupy my time. I took out my copy of Macbeth, sat in the cab of my truck with the window opened slightly and read. I had my legs extended on the seat and I leaned on the door. I always lost track of time as I read. She moved so quickly that I didn't see. My door flew open and I almost fell out of the cab. Alice had caught me before I fell completely out of the car. She giggled, "Sorry." I scowled, "No, you're not." She pushed me back into my seat and sat in the cab with me, "Of course, I am. What are you doing?" I looked at her, "Like you have to ask." I looked out the back window and I didn't see the Volvo, "You ran here?" She smiled, "Yes. Emmett and Esme are keeping Edward at home, so you and I can talk. I told him I wanted to see you without him for a while." I shook my head, "You shouldn't have done that. He has every right to be here." She made a face, "Well, considering yesterday, I thought you could have used a bit of a break, before the day got started. After all, he and I are in all your classes." I groaned, "Of course you are."
Alice smiled, "Don't be like that, Bella. I really missed you." I tried not to smile, but I failed, "I missed you too. It was really hard those first few months. I really had no one to talk to." She sighed, "I know what you mean. For the first few weeks, we lived in Denali. But soon, Edward left to be on his own, then Emmett and Rosalie left for Europe and Asia. Soon, we moved to Ithaca, where Carlisle started teaching at Cornell and working nights. Jasper started studying Philosophy and Esme was restoring a historical monument. As for me, I was doing research." "Research, on what?" She shrugged, "Me. I found out more information on myself." My eyes widened, "What did you find out?" She sighed, "First of all, my full name is Mary Alice Brandon and I had a younger sister. Her daughter still lives in Tennessee. I went to see her. I told her I was doing research on the asylum I was in and I was interested in the missing patients. Remember, I suddenly went missing when James was hunting me." Alice sighed, "I saw a picture of my sister and she looked like me, except she had red hair. Melanie, my niece said her mother often spoke about me. That she missed me when our parents sent me away."
My mouth fell open, "Your parents sent you to that asylum?" She nodded, "I was having visions when I was human, too. Melanie said she felt someone coming to ask about her family, so my visit wasn't that unexpected." I half-smiled, "She's…?" Alice beamed, "Yes, being psychic runs in my family. Melanie was not worried about answering my questions. She said she would have loved to have met me, but I was dead before she was born, or that was what she was told. When I went missing, my family presumed I was dead. But my parents had me announced dead, publicly when they sent me to the asylum." I shook my head, "That's awful. Why would your parents do that?" Alice sighed, "They were scared of their psychic daughter. Melanie told me that her great-grandmother was psychic as well and the family cast her out. Now, they're more accepting of it, but back then, if you were different, you couldn't exist." I shook my head and looked up; the parking lot was beginning to fill up. Alice told me more about what she had found out about herself, including her birthday. She practically bounced in her seat when I agreed we would do something together.
"Ok, Bella, it's your turn. What have you been up to?" I sighed, "Nothing much. Like I said the first few months were hard. Charlie was talking about sending me to Jacksonville to live with my mom, but I wouldn't go. Then I started hanging out with Jacob and….." I bit my lip and Alice prompted me, "And?" I sighed and looked up, "We better get going." I saw the parking lot was full and there weren't many people outside. I saw the Volvo outside and was surprised that Edward wasn't there, waiting for us. Alice and I walked to class. "Bella, come on. Tell me what happened." I bit my lip, "Now is really not the time." She sighed, "That bad?" My eyes widened and I nodded, "You have no idea." We walked into our first class and I saw Edward sitting in the back of the class, with two empty seats next to him. Alice and I walked to the back, "Edward, you're in my seat," Alice scolded him. He didn't move a muscle. I sat in my seat and Alice sat down between us. Mr. Berty started his lesson on Macbeth. Edward, Alice and I answered the majority of the questions. I fought with myself the either class to not look at Edward. I was being successful until Mr. Berty began assigning groups for the Shakespeare project. "I would be interested in seeing how the three best students do in this project. Edward, Alice and Isabella, you are going to work together."
Alice beamed, Edward smirked and I sighed. "Alice, you knew this was going to happen." Class was over and we were getting our books together. Edward was still silent, but Alice chattered on, "I did, a few minutes before he assigned it." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the class, "This is going to be so much fun. You can come over after school and we can get started. Esme will be so happy to see you and Emmett, he will be so happy and Jasper and Carlisle." I tried to stop her, but she was too strong. I wasn't ready to see the rest of the family. Edward walked silently behind us, watching Alice tow me to our next class. In science, Alice interrogated me again; we had a substitute teacher. "Bella, now tell me." I sighed, "Well, Jacob had to stop being around me for a while. When we went to the movies with Mike, Jacob had a sudden fever. His dad told me and Charlie it was mono, but he was going through his transition. When I finally got fed up, I went to see him. He had cut off all his hair and was standing in nothing but a pair of shorts and it was raining. He said Sam said we couldn't be friends anymore and I was alone again. Then Jake came over one night, through my window and he tried to tell me. He said he was bound and that he couldn't tell me. That I already knew what was going on with him, I just had to remember." Alice leaned closer, "He wanted you to remember the legends you told him?"
"Exactly. When I did, that made everything better. Then Jake told me why he changed in the first place." Alice blinked, "How?" "Jake told me that when they're vampires close by, they set everything in motion. Those in the tribe with the gene begin to change. First the fever sets in, their moods change and then they just explode into wolves." Alice blinked, "What do you mean 'when they're vampires close by?' We left." I sighed, "Just because you moved, doesn't mean all the vampires left." Alice blinked and I saw Edward turn to face us. "Umm, well…., Victoria was here." Alice's eyes widened and so did Edward's. Alice held my wrist, "What?!" Edward came to sit on my other side, "What happened?" I looked at him, "She was hunting me." Edward looked past me to look at Alice, "Why?" "She was hunting me for revenge…. against you." He gasped, "How did you know?" "Laurent told me." Alice tugged on my other shoulder, "Laurent!" Her eyes flew from my face to Edward's and back to mine, "What the hell happened?!" I sighed, "Ok, when Jake and I weren't talking, I decided to go hiking." I left out the part that I was searching for the meadow. "That's when Laurent found me and…." I closed my eyes, "When he found me, he was in the middle of hunting." Alice's eyes widened and Edward's fingers tensed on the desk. "Hunting?" he asked through his teeth. "Yes. I tried to distract him and that's when I found out about Victoria. He came here as a favor to her. To see if I was still being protected by your family. He said he went by your house and saw that it was empty. He was curious too why I was left behind. He said he was doing me a favor by killing me himself, because she was planning a much more painful death for me. Laurent said she wanted me dead; a mate for a mate." Edward's fingers were beginning to leave divots in the desk. "Edward, calm down." I put my hand on his. He closed his eyes, "How did you get away?" I looked back at Alice and her face was serious, waiting for me to continue. "Right as he was about to kill me, that's when the wolves showed up. When Laurent saw them, he ran away. That gave me enough time to get home."
Alice exhaled, "How many wolves did you see?" "Five." Her eyes widened. "Alice? Alice, what's wrong?" The bell rang and she grabbed my arm, "We're going to talk to Carlisle." Edward stood, "Let's go." I stopped them, "No, not now. Besides, Victoria is dead." Edward looked down at me, "How?" I looked up, "The pack. They killed her a few weeks ago." Edward and Alice shared a glance, "Are you sure?" I nodded, "Yes. I saw her the day she died. She attacked me and was about to break my neck, but wolves got there in time." Alice closed her eyes and sighed, "Well, at least those dogs were good for something." I shook my head, "If you say so. Let's go." Edward and Alice walked on both of my sides, as if they were shielding me from something. When we entered our next class, the both of them sat silently, looking straight ahead. I closed my eyes and sighed. I shouldn't have told them any of that information.
