Chapter Eight
The Last Remains
Footprints... Bloody paw prints... A burnt circle in the ground where purple flames had died down. Beside the ashes was a gold watch that Alice had given Edward for Christmas. Next to the watch was the engagement ring that he kept on him at all times, ready to slip it onto Bella's finger when she weakened her resolve to be married. Alice placed them in her pocket as she crumbled there, her knees in the snow. Jacob, caressed her back.
"Edward," she rasped, a tone she was unable to recall making in her long history.
She didn't recall being human; all she had was her vampire existence, so for the first time in all of that existence, she hated how she couldn't cry, couldn't properly grieve. She never had to grieve in such a way before, and she lost her brother and all she could do was stand up and go on.
"Where's Bella?"
Jacob trudged through the snow, it melting in his fervent path. She followed.
"She wouldn't go far without Edward," Jacob muttered.
"Unless someone made her..." She didn't like that thought, but she knew it before they found her, she knew that if Edward was dead (or whatever he was) so was Bella. It was a fact. Even if by some chance she did survive, she wouldn't for much longer. When Edward had left her for her safety she had jumped off a cliff. She didn't buy that it was for recreational purposes, as she had been told.
Past a boulder off of the mountain laid Bella. She was sprawled out, teeth marks in her neck, her skin gray, not a drop of blood left inside of her. A dry cut was marked down her arm, a jagged rock clutched in her hand.
Beyond her was a small and scrawny wolf. Seth... He was weaker and tinier in death. More like a giant toy animal than a real wolf. A real boy. He was only a boy.
Jacob shook in anger, and punched the boulder, chunks of it crumbling around his fist. He shook in sadness, and fell to his knees alongside Bella. He leaned over her, and wept into her stomach.
Bella's trademark deep brown eyes were vacant, unknowing to her best friend's torment, and Alice moved her hand over them, closing them. It almost looked like she was sleeping then, but the truth was, that Bella was never that still or quiet. She couldn't escape the hard truth in her mind that her brother and sister were dead... They were gone.
Alice stood stunned for long minutes. Darkness had descended over them, shrouding them in truth, urging them to leave.
She took Jacob's hand, kissed his neck. "I'm sorry, Jacob."
"Me too."
"We have to go to the others. We'll come back for her. We'll deliver her to Charlie in the morning."
Poor Charlie... Alice would have to do something for him. He couldn't be left alone, for Bella was nearly all he had left. Her and Jake would stay with him, would help him with the arrangements of his funeral.
She would make funeral arrangements for her own family, send them to Italy. Rosalie would be happy, to finally have a "resting" place. Her own dream of her own death.
She wouldn't send Edward, she decided then. He would want to be with Bella. She would gather the ashes. She would make up an excuse of a camping fire gone wrong. She would burn Bella as well. Maybe that would be easier for Charlie, not to see the bloodless face of his daughter. It would eliminate questions. The other details she would determine later.
"Lets go, Jake." She stepped back, allowing him sufficient room to shift. When he did, she got on his back, and they raced through the woods again, to find the rest of their family.
They slowed as they smelled smoke.
"No..."
They came to the edge of the clearing and saw purple fires and bodies turning to ash. The Volturi glided between them, happy of the outcome. Happy for all the deaths that had taken place. The losses they didn't know how to count. Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Bree. Jasper liked Bree, it was no doubt that he protected her and all of them. The Volturi were ruthless, though. Certainly Carlisle and Jasper tried to reason with them.
The air stunk with wolf fur and blood. It ranked the air and it sent a horrible jolt through her. The werewolves were dead, too. All of them. Jacob's pack was gone.
Alice ran her hand through Jacob's fur, silently urging him to be quiet. If they saw Jacob... He would be dead, too. There was nothing Alice could do to stop it, for they would kill her as well. She whispered in his ear, "the reservation. Please, Jake, move. We can't be seen here."
He turned slowly, and back into the woods they ran. She whispered to him all the way, calming him. "I'll help Charlie and you help your tribe. We'll leave in a few months. We can go to Alaska. You can start a car shop, and I can start my business. Without vampires in Forks, the tribe won't be producing anymore werewolves. We'll both be safe. You'll like the Denali Clan there. We can visit here often. It'll be okay, Jacob. I promise."
His chest rumbled in agreement, but a large tennis ball sized tears were absorbed in his fur.
Alice laid her head between his shoulder blades. As clear as watching television she remembered the first time she met Jasper. She remembered coming to the Cullen's. She remembered holidays and moves, and chess games with Edward, and watching the fights between her brothers. She remembered chatting with Bella and dressing her. The music Edward played that drifted through whatever house they were living in... Esme's designs... Rosalie's room, covered in mirrors...
Nothing would ever be the same again. She lost her whole family in a matter of hours, and the majority of them being vampires, she didn't know where they were. Did such a heaven exist for them? She didn't want to think of an alternative. Bella believed that they had a soul. So did Jacob. That was good enough for her. It was the best she could cling to.
They would comfort each other. They would do good in the world, like their families.
A/N: This is my last Twilight story. It's been a good run that I've greatly enjoyed. Thank you all! Much love.