I'm back again! Yay me! I like writing...Happy New Year everybody! Can't believe it's 2009 already...where in the world did 2008 go? Ah well, hope you all had fun celebrating it! Oh, if any of you are into Harry Potter, you should check out my GoT/HP crossovers for it (if you haven't done so already). There are three now, but the third one only has one chapter so far. I'll shut up and get on with the chapter now, shall I? Just to let you know, when I write the Twilight characters' POVs, they will be written in the GoT style (not that it's that far off from the Twilight style, but I just wanted to give you all a heads up so you don't flip). And one more thing before I really do get on with the chapter: in this, neither Lathenia nor Lorian are dead. Why? Because I say so.

Chapter 3

Alice

"What?" Rochelle exclaims. "What are you talking about?"

"What would the Order knowing they're here have to do with anything?" Ethan asks.

"Well, obviously they've decided that we're somewhat of a threat, and want to get rid of us any way they can," I say, shrugging.

Everybody stops and looks at me. "What?" I say.

"Alice..." Carlisle says slowly. "Can you see what they're trying to do?"

I sigh. "It's because I said the word 'decided', isn't it? Fine, I'll look." I think about what we've been told about the Order, and think of Arkarian's description of Lathenia. I concentrate on her, figuring she'll know what's going on. I gasp softly.

"Did you find something?" Jasper asks me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"They're trying to make it so Bella never comes to Forks in the first place," I say.

"Why would they do that?" Neriah asks. "It doesn't really sound like something they'd do."

"I only see the decisions, not the thoughts behind them," I reply. "But I'm sure we could figure out some ideas as to what they're thinking."

"If Bella never came to Forks, I would never have met her," Edward says.

"Yes, and you'd be pretty much the same as you were for the hundred or so years before her," Rosalie says. "But what good – or should I say, bad – would that do to the way things are right now?"

We all think, and the Named try throwing ideas out there based on what we've told them. None of them seem very likely.

"Wait," Bella says, "what if this isn't about what would happen to Edward or the rest of you? What if it's about something that would happen to me?"

"Well, if you stayed with your mom and Phil," Emmett says, "not only would you still be human, but you'd also be traveling around a lot."

"Mostly in very sunny places," I add, "so there would be no chance of you ever meeting any of us."

"And I'd most likely be miserable," she says, "Though the sun would cheer me up a little."

We all think again, throwing out ideas when we come up with them. Again, none of them seem very likely at all.

After a few minutes of pretty much nothing being accomplished, Isabel speaks. "Why don't we stop trying to figure out the Order's motives, and focus on stopping them before what we're talking about has a chance to happen?"

"I agree," Rochelle says. "Standing around and talking isn't going to get us anywhere."

"When are you guys going to go?" Rosalie asks.

"Tonight," I answer her. She glares at me.

"I was asking them," she says curtly.

"Well, she's right anyway," Matt says. "Which reminds me; do you guys have somewhere to stay?"

Carlisle shakes his head. "No. We were expecting to stay with our friends."

I look at Arkarian, seeing what he's decided. "Are you sure?" I ask. "You don't have to, you know."

He shrugs. "There's lots of room here," he says. "I don't even use most of the rooms. Besides, I'm assuming you guys will need sturdy furniture and soundproof walls."

I grin. "You're right about that. I suppose that a hotel would be sort of out of the question for us. Although, it's not completely necessary that we have somewhere to stay for the nights we're here. It's not like we need to sleep, and being outside at night doesn't bother us the way it bothers humans."

This thought reminds me of the fact that all of the Named are completely human. I glance quickly at Jasper. Thankfully, we all hunted just before getting on the plane to come here.

"No, you can stay here," Arkarian says. "Really. If it bothered me at all, I wouldn't have suggested it."

"You technically didn't suggest it," Edward says. "You never actually said anything."

I grin. "The joys of having me around," I say. "Nobody really has to say their decisions out loud, as long as their mind is made up."

"So does that mean we're staying here?" Jasper asks me, tightening his hold around my waist.

I look around at the others. "Sure," I say. "Why not? I mean, if everyone here is okay with it. And I mean everyone," I add, looking to the Named.

"I'm the only other person it would really affect," Isabel says, "seeing as I come over here every once in a while. I don't have a problem with it, as long as you make sure you're all in soundproof rooms. I don't want to have to hear what you do at night if you don't sleep." She shudders, though I don't know if it's jokingly because of imagining us at night, or if it's just her not being one hundred percent comfortable with us being vampires.

Edward raises an eyebrow. "We're not going to sneak into any of your rooms at night and bite you, Isabel," he says. I snort with laughter.

"As if!" I exclaim. "We all managed to deal with Bella when she was human, and no offense, but none of you smell nearly as good as she did." Nevertheless, I glance at Jasper again. He smiles, and my unease is swept away. I sigh. I know I'll never get used to his power, even though I've been with him for centuries.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later, while most of the Named are sleeping and those who decided to go on this mission (Isabel, Ethan, and Matt) have left, Jasper and I are in the room we've been given.

"What's the point of soundproof walls if we can still hear through them?" he asks me at some point.

I shrug, a difficult thing to do considering our positions. "Well, none of the Named can hear any of us," I say, "and it's really only for them that the walls are like this. The rest of us are all preoccupied, so it won't matter if we can hear each other."

He smiles, but then I stop him. "Wait a minute," I say. We stop for a bit. "Bella's coming."

"What? I would have thought she'd be too caught up in Edward..."

"Well, obviously there's something she needs, because she's coming to our room soon."

Jasper sighs. "Suppose that means we have to get dressed, doesn't it?"

"Well, we could just put on pajamas," I suggest. "After all, I don't think she'll be staying long. And I'm not going to make you put on a shirt if you don't want to."

He grins, and we put on some pajamas we brought with us. We sit on the bed, just enjoying being close, when I hear Bella's footsteps outside the door.

"It's open," I call softly, and she walks in.

"Alice?" she asks, closing the door behind her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," I say, and Jasper leaves. I pat the bed beside me so Bella can sit, even though it's not necessary. "What's up?"

"Can you see them?" she asks, and I know without asking who she's talking about. "Can you see if they're alright?"

I sigh. "Bella, they've been doing this long before we knew them. I'm sure they're fine. But, if you really want me to, I'll check if I can see them," I add, seeing her face. I close my eyes, but see nothing. "Huh," I say, "That's odd."

"You can't see them, can you?" Bella asks, as if she already knows the answer.

I shake my head. "I wonder why that is."

"Edward says he can't hear them, either," Bella continues. "And I'll bet that Jasper wouldn't be able to feel their emotions."

"Well, they told us what happens when they go on missions," I say. "Maybe the reason I can't see them is because it's just their soul or spirit or whatever that's gone, but their bodies are still here. I have no experience just looking for that; it's usually tied to the body. And they're technically all the way in Phoenix right now, in the past even, so I'd say they're just too far away for Edward to hear them. But I'm sure they're fine," I repeat. "Like I said, they've done stuff like this before."

Bella nods and sighs. "Yeah, Edward said the same thing, practically. I just wasn't sure if he was only saying it to make me feel better...can you try to see Nessie? I need to know if she's alright."

I roll my eyes. "Bella, you know how hard it is for me to see Nessie, especially if Jacob's there, which he should be."

"I know...it's just hard for me to be so far away from her."

"Relax. Everything will be fine." A smile plays at my lips. "Now, I'm sure Edward's awaiting your return. It's really not fair to deny him much longer."

She laughs. "Is it really that, or are you just eager to get back to Jasper?"

My smile grows wider. "Okay, so maybe it's that, too. Just go, alright? Everything will be fine." As I say this, there's a shriek, and the sound of people rushing. Curious, I open the door, and instantly smell blood. I blink, then look at Bella. Her eyes are wide and shocked.

"What's going on?" she wonders out loud. All down the hall, doors open. Emmett and Rosalie come out of one, dressed in pajamas, and a little further down the hall, Edward comes out, followed by Jasper. Bella and I immediately run to them as Carlisle and Esme come out of their own room, right beside where the majority of us now are.

Emmett and Rosalie catch up to us, and the eight of us race to a small little room where the smells and sounds are strongest. I feel Jasper stiffen slightly as we draw nearer to the blood, but he doesn't go to leave.

There's a table in the room, and Ethan, Rochelle, Matt, Neriah, and Arkarian are crowded around it. "What's going on?" Bella repeats her earlier words, a little louder now. Those of the Named who are standing here look up at us, with the exception of Arkarian. His gaze never strays from the table.

"We were attacked," Ethan says. "Not that we weren't expecting it, but...it still caught us a little off guard."

"Who's hurt?" I ask, though I can easily tell the answer, and I already know the scent of the blood.

"Isabel," Matt replies. "One of the people snuck up behind her when she was already busy with two of them."

"Is she going to be okay?" Esme asks, concerned.

"I don't-" Matt starts to say, but Arkarian interrupts him.

"She's healing herself right now, but judging by how badly she was hurt, I think it will take a while before she's back to normal."

"Let me see," Bella says, and Edward looks at her.

"Are you sure?"

She rolls her eyes. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be in the room right now, would I?" Before any of us can answer that, she walks forward, towards the table. I follow her, anxious to make sure nothing happens as well as to see just how bad Isabel's injuries are.

I gasp when the table comes into view. "How was she attacked?" I ask. "This doesn't look like just a knife or anything remotely similar. It almost looks..."

"Animalistic," Bella finishes. I nod.

Ethan and Matt both shrug. "We were both busy fighting our own fights, but then we heard her scream, so I grabbed her while Matt called for Arkarian to bring us back," Ethan says, looking down at Isabel.

I look back at her, too. There are long scratches on each of her arms that were probably a lot worse when they happened, although they still look horrible now, her legs are covered all over in several deep cuts that are bleeding freely, and her stomach is pretty much ripped open. I close my eyes for a minute or so, and then look at Arkarian, who hasn't said a word since saying that Isabel's healing herself.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, noticing the pained expression on his face.

He sighs. "I'll be a lot better once she's healed," he replies. "But she's my soul mate, and I can't stand seeing her hurt."

I nod, understanding completely. "Well, I'm sure she'll be fine, as long as nothing more happens." As I say this, I glance back to where the rest of my family is – or was. Now, it's only Carlisle, Edward, and Jasper still in the room aside from Bella and myself. I focus my gaze on Jasper, carefully watching his eyes as well as his future. Unfortunately, he knows as well as everyone else that I can't see a split second decision until it's formed, and this has me almost panicking.

It's a mark of how hard Jasper's concentrating on staying on the other side of the room that he doesn't notice my mood and try to change it. I catch Edward's eye, and he nods. I sigh, not understanding why Jasper doesn't just leave the room.

I turn back to Isabel, seeing that the scratches on her arms are almost completely gone. "It shouldn't be long now," I say, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, the future changes slightly. My eyes widen and I rush to Jasper, helping Edward hold him back. A low growl escapes him.

"Come on," I say as soothingly as I can, "Let's go."

Edward calls to Bella, and she helps us practically drag Jasper out of the room and outside for fresh air. I sigh.

"I don't like that they're getting hurt for me," Bella says after a minute.

"Yes, well, you never have been one to let people protect you," Edward says with a smile. Bella looks at me, and I sigh again. I don't need to be able to see into her thoughts to know what she's wanting.

"Isabel will be fine," I say after a minute of searching. Bella breathes a sigh of relief.

"Good. She's nice, and I like her."

"She seems to have the same view on fighting as Emmett," I note.

Jasper takes in a deep breath, and I look at him. "Think you're okay to go back inside yet?" I ask, simultaneously asking Edward the exact same question in my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Edward give a quick shake of his head. No, Jasper's not ready yet.

"I don't think so," Jasper admits. "Not until the blood gets cleaned up."

"Would it help if we went on a quick hunting trip? Just something small to take more of the temptation away."

He smiles at me. "Let's go." He takes my hand, and we go in search of something in the forest nearby.

Now here, dear readers, is where you have a choice. The next chapter can be one of two things: either continuing on from this point, or I can tell you what happened on the mission. Whichever option gets more votes will be the winner. The deadline to vote will be January 16th, because I'm going to write chapter four at that point. If no votes are given, then I'll take matters into my own hands and just write whatever the hell I want. But I figure I'll be nice(ish) and give you guys a choice. Plus, it gets reviews. Review.......................................................now!