Chapter 1 – Reunion

EPOV

"How long has it been, Edward?"Alice's foot tapped impatiently against the cold linoleum floors of my apartment.

"Since?" I asked quietly, though I knew full well what she was asking. It was hard to miss. The deep, dark circles of mahogany and purple that lined the contours of my face were in sharp contrast to my coal black eyes – and both were indicators of starvation in vampires. We couldn't die of starvation, of course, but we were considerably weakened by it. It dulled our most important senses until they were just whispers of what they used to be. But I didn't have the energy for this exchange, and so I avoided the question.

"I saw that things were bad when I looked for your future, but somehow I missed how bad things really were…" Alice remarked sadly as she walked around my apartment, surveying its contents. I had nothing to my name these days, save for this apartment and the clothes I was wearing. I preferred it this way. I knew most material possessions weren't necessities for our kind, anyway. In Forks we'd had a rich and lavish lifestyle, mostly because we could and because it served as a distraction for humans and allowed us to keep up our charade.

There was no charade for me to upkeep now.

"If you don't feed, Edward, you know what happens," Alice urged and I could sense the resolve in her words. I should have fought harder to make him stay… she mentally chided herself, figuring that somehow, all of this was her fault.

"You're not supposed to see everything all the time Alice. And even if you do see everything, it doesn't mean you can fix it all." My words were dark and harsh, exactly as I'd intended them to be. I wanted her to leave. Her presence was a painful reminder of what had been lost – of everything that was broken beyond repair.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easily, brother. Have you forgotten that we've been together for decades? I know how your mind works, probably as well as you know my own." She spoke quickly as she bounded across the room toward the wide open window. Her fingers moved to the photograph that had been affixed to the wall. The edges were worn and the colour had begun to fade, but it was still as striking as ever.

Alice's fingers ghosted over the face in the picture "…Bella" she whispered breathlessly, her voice filled with pain and longing.

"I miss her too you know, Edward." She pulled her hand away from the photograph quickly, as though it burned her fingers and she turned her body to face me. I nodded in recognition. I knew my family felt Bella's absence. I knew they longed for her and mourned the loss of her in our lives. Which is why I had to leave. The day we left Forks we began our journey toward Alaska, where we stayed with the Denali coven for three weeks. Those three weeks had been torturous. My family thought constantly of Bella, and of me. They grieved the loss of her more intensely than I'd anticipated and Alice was constantly pushing for me to reconsider my position. I refused to allow my family to interfere with Bella's life at all, which included Alice and her gift. I had forbade her from searching for Bella's future. It proved to be a challenging task for Alice, especially with me around as a constant reminder of what we were all avoiding. And so I left.

It was better this way.

"I'm here for a reason, Edward." Alice's words were sharp and intense, but the urgency in her voice didn't change that I didn't care what the reason for her visit was. I angled my body away from her and leaned against the windowsill allowing the warm air from the open window to wash over me. Alice stepped towards me and firmly wrapped her tiny hand around my wrist, tugging me to face her.

"Has the starvation affected your ability to read thoughts?" she questioned, gripping my wrist even tighter. I pulled my body away from hers and faced toward the window once more.

"Yes."

"But you can still read them, if you focus enough." It wasn't a question "You've been doing it since I walked through the door." Her words were desperate. I nodded my acknowledgement.

"Then read my thoughts, Edward," she urged, her voice straining against the desperation. My body stiffened in response to her pleas.

"No. It's better this way. I've chosen the haze over clarity. It's easier." I felt like a coward explaining my reasoning for starving myself for 6 months. But it didn't matter. She needed to know that I had chosen this, that she didn't need to save me from myself. This was what I had resigned myself too. The unending burn in my throat was a most welcome form of pain if it distracted me from the pain of living without Bella. I could handle the physical anguish.

"You abandoned your family, moved 6,000 miles away, holed yourself up in this dump," Alice spat, her eyes narrowing as she pushed her body in front of mine so our eyes were inches apart "and it's all for nothing." She had my attention now. What did she mean, all for nothing? I tried searching her thoughts but they were too frantic and I was too weak to decipher them.

"So I have your interest now?" she asked, her eyes dark and full of disdain. She twirled away from me and perched her body against the wall opposite me.

"Focus Edward. Read. My. Thoughts." She roared the words angrily, and her emotional intensity plucked at my curiosity once more. I tried to focus in on her thoughts, but my sudden need coupled with her anger was making it difficult to clearly read what she was thinking.

"I can't see, Alice" I snarled, turning my body fully now so as to face her completely. I searched her face for any hint of what she might be trying to tell me.

"You left – you moved 6,000 miles away to Rio, of all places, thinking that you'd save Bella if you did." Every muscle in my body coiled at her words. I stopped breathing, and focused my thoughts trying to read what Alice was withholding from me.

"Say it," I thundered. "Tell me why you're here!" My voice was violent and animalistic. Something was wrong with Bella and it was resurrecting the monster within me like nothing else could. Alice tensed her body and stared into my eyes.

"I can't explain it properly. It's disjointed and it comes in bits and pieces. It's all so hazy. I can't tell you exactly what I'm seeing, it won't be a complete picture and it won't make any sense."

"Try," I growled through clenched teeth. She stiffened at my response.

"I don't know much," she sighed, holding her index fingers to both temples and rubbing them in slow, purposeful circles, her brow furrowed and her eyes filled with a painfully deep sadness "but I know that Bella is going to die."

A/N: Hiya folks! For some of you this is probably not the first time you've read this chapter – I'm reposting the original version of this story as it's changed, morphed, evolved, whatever you want to call it!

This story is centered around Edward and Bella, and I've tried to keep it as true to their canon characters as possible, but please note that the storyline will break away from Twilight canon (very slightly, nothing terribly noticeable) from time to time. Trying to stay entirely true to this story was one of the reasons I was stuck in serious writer's block the last time I worked on this story. I was too heavily focused on making sure the storyline and plotlines were canon that it led me astray and I lost inspiration.

But it's back! Most of this story is complete, and I will post chapters 1-6 fairly quickly (probably 2-3 chapters a day) and after chapter 6 I'll post one to two chapters a week until it's finished.

Thanks for those of you that are returning to this for sticking it out with me. For those that are new to the story, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts – so please leave a review!

-Missmarlee