.:Carlisle's POV:.
"Aro, what a pleasant surprise it is to hear from you," I greeted politely. Although we've kept in contact through letters, I hadn't heard his voice since I lived in Volterra myself.
Esme and Emmett looked at each other when they heard who had called, both carrying the same questions on their faces as Rosalie and Jasper. Alice was the only one who knew what was going on...and it did not appear to be anything of good nature. She was staring intently at the television screen, as if waiting for it to turn on and show her something terrible. It made me uneasy.
"I am happy you feel that way, my good friend," Aro responded carefully. "My call is not for a recreational purpose, however. I have called for information regarding the whereabouts of you and your family." His tone had me believing he was accusing us of something. We had done nothing wrong that I knew of. I scanned my anxiously waiting family, knowing there was one missing. Did Edward do something?
"Did my family do something wrong?" Please tell me Edward was keeping out of trouble.
"I sure hope not, my old friend, but there has been a serious violation of our laws, and you are, I'm afraid, being suspected as the cause," he answered. The sorrow in his voice, I regretted, was questionable. But it was something I had to brush off for now.
My eyes narrowed automatically as I concentrated on what could have possibly happened for them to suspect us, of all people.
"I assure you, Aro, my family has done nothing against the laws of our kind. There must be some sort of mistake."
Jasper touched Alice's cheek. "What's going on?" he whispered. "How bad is it?" He must be overly anxious with all the tension in the air. I attempted to calm myself, for his sake, if not my own.
When Aro spoke, he almost sounded suspicious. "Perhaps you are our greatest witnesses then? You must have known what was going on, that our exposure was at risk."
"I am not sure I understand what you mean."
There was a short pause on the other line before he replied, "Have you watched the news lately?"
I thought it an odd question, but I supposed if the Volturi were getting involved it must have been something worthy of being discussed by the humans in the world.
"Not recently, I admit," I answered honestly. My hand automatically went for the remote, but Alice beat me to it. She slowly raised it and pressed the power button, flipping through the channels until she found CNN.
"Perhaps that will enlighten you of our problem," Aro suggested gently, clearly implying that he would be patient enough to wait.
Alice gazed in sad expectance at the screen, and I followed her gaze. Catching my attention immediately, was a single title, and it was enough for me to understand Alice's stress. There at the bottom, in bold white letter was Strange Massacre in Forks. I stared, stunned, as I listened to the anchor men discussing the situation.
"Clearly the largest and most extreme case of mass murder this country has ever experienced. And for it to be done in so little time, leaving not a single witness, is frightful!" the man on the left part of the screen was saying.
"I absolutely agree with you," the man on the right responded. "There is no explanation as to how there were no finger prints, no witnesses, no evidence at all on how this happened or who was responsible. It can be quite accurately assumed that whoever did this was not working alone. The entire town's population has been wiped clean!"
A soft gasp escaped Esme's lips. She came over to me and rested her hands on my arm, deep concern creasing her normally smooth forehead. "Forks?" She whispered the name as if praying for it not to be true.
The truth of the matter was, however, that this...nightmare was completely real. There was no question as to if Esme's thoughts were mutual with my own. Bella was definitely our greatest concern at the moment.
As the two men continued to debate over possible causes, as well as updating the viewers on new found information, realization dawned on me as to why the Volturi would be worried about this. "A newborn army...," I said. Jasper nodded his agreement, his eyes wide, but deep in thought.
"Precisely, Carlisle." Aro was back in my ear. "You sound as shocked as I was when I first heard. It surprises me, considering it is your town." His words unclouded my confusion more thoroughly.
"No, no. We moved on from Forks many months ago," I explained, covering the anguish I felt. "We reside in New York now."
"Is that so? Well, I do apologize for pointing our fingers at you. We simply had no other lead," Aro assured, sounding slightly embarrassed. "But do not fret, we have gone to investigate and exterminate this pest in our world. I am much pleased to hear you and your lovely family are not involved with such a crime, as well as safe from their destruction."
"Thank you, Aro. I understand you have duties to fulfill. No harm, no foul."
"Ah, thank you, Carlisle. Always so forgiving," he chuckled. "I must be off now. I wish you and your family well. Goodbye, dear friend. Until next time."
The phone went dead, and I flipped it shut, my eyes glued to the TV screen in front of me.
.:Alice's POV:.
I refused to watch this anymore. I turned to look at Jasper, who was concentrating on the news, wearing a disturbed expression. Feeling my gaze on him, he turned to me. "Your vision," he said. "It was Forks."
"I can't see her," I whispered, saddened, frightened, my eyes staring pleadingly into his, as if he was responsible for my blindness and would set my sight back on its track. Nobody needed any explanation as to who I was referring to; their thoughts were similar to my own. They had to be.
It was quiet for a long while before Carlisle moved, picking up the remote and turning the TV off. He was watching his family, contemplating on what to do.
Esme's soft whimper broke the silence. "Oh... All those poor people." I knew it hurt her enough when major tragedies strike strangers, but this one... We had known all these families, all these children.
"How do we break this to Edward?" Rosalie asked carefully. "I mean, she... Bella..." Rose paused, taking in at all of our mixed expressions before continuing. "She could not have possibly surviv—"
"We cannot assume anything," Carlisle interrupted her. "Are you sure you can't see her, Alice?"
I hesitated, not wanting to answer truthfully, because I was terrified of losing Bella. Even though Edward had forbid me from ever seeing her again (whether in person or through visions), I knew she was still there, still living, and that was what mattered. But now I wasn't so sure of that.
"Please try again, Alice," Esme appealed. Emmett seemed to be asking as well, only silently.
So I gave it another shot.
At first, there was nothing, just the same dark emptiness as before. Then suddenly, miraculously, there was a flicker of images. They were blurry and difficult to make out, but I knew it was her. I knew it was Bella. She was alive! She had to be.
My lips pulled up in a tiny smile, relief flooding through me...only to be washed right out as one picture became clearer. She was bleeding, and screaming. I squeezed my eyes shut, clenching my fists, concentrating on her. Then the image was as clear as day, and I could not believe what I was seeing.
I inhaled sharply and my eyes shot open, focusing on Jasper who was now right in front of me, gripping my shoulders, our faces just inches apart.
"Bella. Changing. Us." I gasped, looking around frantically at the faces of my family. Every one of them appeared confused, and definitely not worried enough. They did not understand what I was saying.
"Breathe, Alice," Emmett said. "What are you trying to say?"
I took a deep, unnecessary breath, and told them what I had seen. "Bella is alive, but she is..."
Esme came forward, placed a hand on my shoulder. "But she is what?" She sounded relieved, as well as nervous.
"I have no idea how she survived," I said, breaking free from Esme's and Jasper's grasps to pace. "But she is turning into one of us. Into a vampire."
Gasps filled the room. Jasper grabbed my arm and forced me to face him and stop my pacing.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" he questioned. I could tell he was doubting my vision. I stared back at him incredulously. Slowly, his expression changed. He sighed. "Alright, of course you're sure."
I nodded confidently.
"There's no way," Emmett said. "One bite and they would have finished her." His eyes dropped to the floor, regretting his words, thinking that maybe they were a little too harsh. Esme brushed her hand against his back in reassurance that he had said nothing wrong. He had a point, after all.
"But they didn't," I stated, crossing my arms over my chest. "Somehow she escaped with only a bite wound."
"Just like somehow her luck has managed to bring a massive vampire attack on the town," Emmett mumbled seriously, shaking his head in confusion.
"And the Volturi?" Rosalie asked Carlisle, driving the conversation to the other problem. "They're worried of a newborn army?"
Carlisle and Jasper exchanged a look. "There is no doubt it is the work of uncontrolled newborns. The real question is who created them, and why they attacked Forks," said Carlisle. "The Volturi are sending a group to 'investigate and exterminate'."
"No!" I nearly shouted, not having seen that in my earlier visions. "What if they find Bella? She'll be a newborn..."
I didn't' have explain any further. The others' eyes grew wide.
"We need to find her," Esme said at once, turning to her husband. "If the Volturi find her and accuse her of being part of the massacre..." she trailed off, shaking her head in sadness at remembrance of what had happened to the people of Forks.
"She's right, but...what about Edward?" Emmett asked. Rosalie nodded, looking to Carlisle for an answer, too.
Carlisle's face appeared calm, but I could see the subtle lines that were contorting his face due to the amounts of stress that was piling in him.
The last time any of us had heard from Edward, he was in South America. Surely with this being all over the news, worldwide, Edward would hear about it. When he did, there was no telling what he would do with his tendency to overreact. I would predict — well, I could predict, but I was guessing that he probably would head straight to Forks to do his own investigating, in search of Bella.
"I will try to contact Edward, but we need to head to Forks," Carlisle concluded.
"The newborns, though," Jasper mused. "They seemed to just disappear. What happened to them?"
"There's only one way to find out," Emmett said, heading toward the car with Rosalie. Esme was right behind them, on the phone, getting us the first flight to Forks.
"Alice," Carlisle addressed me, but I already knew what he was going to say.
"Way ahead of you, Carlisle." I pulled Jasper toward the car, as pictures began flickering through my head. "Way, way ahead of you."