Breakthrough

I tried manically to conceal Alice inside of my shield again but, each time I tried, something else seemed to be encasing her instead. I could feel the outside source wrapping around Alice like a giant hand; it curled its invisible fingers around her tiny frame and enclosed her in an impenetrable seal. All of this happened within a matter of seconds, everyone was still gathered around me as I knelt on the moist ground. Jasper had moved slightly closer to Alice when I had spoken her name and he looked even more worried than I felt.

I swiftly moved back onto my feet and stepped towards Alice, "Alice? Are you okay?"

She looked totally confused and glanced once at Jasper before answering in her chime-like voice, "Bella, I'm fine. Are you oka-", she stopped mid sentence and her eyes glazed over as though she was watching something miles away.

"Alice?" Jasper held her shoulders gently as Alice began to regain her focus, "What did you see?"

Alice's tiny black eyebrows pinched together slightly, forming a small crease on her otherwise porcelain face, "I saw-", her eyes seemed to zone out again and a fraction of a second later they refocused back onto Jasper's face. She whispered, "The werewolves, they're attacking"

Edward and Emmett immediately tensed and glanced around the surrounding woodland as Jasper asked Alice, "How soon?"

Alice pursed her lips, "I don't know", once again her eyes lost focus and she began to see the images of our future. Her voice came out weak, almost choked, "Now".

Alice's golden eyes went blank again, like the eyes of the dead I thought, and she lost her balance and flopped forward like a ragdoll. Jasper caught her with the arm Claire had bitten and, although it was almost back to its usual marble state, he winced slightly as her tiny, limp body slumped over and he shook her slightly as he spoke, "Alice?! What is it?" He looked to Edward with faded crimson eyes and hissed through gritted teeth, "What's happening?!"

Edward leant forward to touch his fragile-looking sister and, as he did so, Alice's eyes opened wide and her lips moved in one brisk motion, "Its Elliot", she gasped, "he knows my desire". She scrunched her eyes shut and grasped her spiky hair with both hands, "It's too much!" Alice started to scream, obviously in pain, "I don't want to see anymore!"

Alice whimpered as she huddled in Jasper's arms; now and then she would scream and Jasper would hold her closer, hugging her to his chest. The rest of us stood around them, feeling totally useless. I started to think that we'd never be able to save Nessie; the werewolves would murder her, perhaps tear her to pieces, and I would have to stand and watch, that's if I lived that long.

I suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere, something was moving through the dense forest towards us, it smelt like wet dog and death all mixed into one. That's when I saw him. Elliot. His long blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight and he stood with his arms folded across his slim yet muscular chest, which was bare and which seemed to glisten slightly in the moon's rays. He glanced towards Alice and smirked, the grin spread across his face like a drop of ink moving in water: smooth and slimy. Alice curled tighter into a ball, gripping her knees with her fragile hands and she started to rock slightly; she looked exactly how I'd imagined she would look when she was forced into the asylum when she was human: weak and pitiful. Jasper growled deeply and shouted from his place on the ground, "What have you done to her you dog?!"

Elliot looked shocked for a moment, as though he hadn't done anything wrong and then he spoke in a polite tone, looking down at Jasper as though he were a child that didn't understand something trivial, "I granted her her deepest desire, just like I did for you. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy the taste of the young girl you drank"

Jasper growled and hissed through his bared teeth, "She was innocent!"

"Yes, well, sacrifices must be made in order to succeed", Elliot flicked a lose strand of hair behind his shoulder.

Edward moved towards Elliot and poked him hard in the chest, causing the wolf to stumble backwards slightly. Edward spoke in a controlled voice, "What was Alice's desire?"

Elliot brushed himself down as though Edward had crumpled his non-existent shirt, "She wanted to be able to see us, the Children of the Moon, more clearly"

Edward frowned, "And that's it?"

Elliot looked at Edward through large, pale eyes, "Well, not exactly. She also felt guilty for not seeing the blonde's-", he gestured towards Jasper, "-mistake, shall we say. And so I granted her the ability to see all of your futures at once. Perhaps it was a little too much"

Jasper started to get up but Alice screamed louder than ever and he was forced to sit back down and comfort her.

Elliot looked around the circle that made up most of my family and started to speak as though he hadn't said anything yet, "Good evenin'", his Texan drawl skimmed across my flesh like a snake. He looked into each face and eventually rested his sinister eyes on Emmett, "You, the big one, you look like fun"

Emmett flexed his biceps and grinned, showing all of his teeth, "You have no idea"

"Yes", Elliot closed his eyes as he spoke, "A desire to fight and more importantly, to win", he opened his eyes, "Well, why should I do all of the work when a big, lumbering idiot like you could do it for me?" Elliot grinned, showing his sparkling teeth. I suddenly felt weak, as though someone had reached inside of me and started to squeeze my heart, knocking the breath out of me. I felt that familiar hand seeping through my shield and start to wrap its strong, invisible claws around Emmett. I tried to push it back with my shield but it was even stronger than it had been when it had attacked Alice. It completely closed around Emmett, figuratively suffocating him. Elliot got Emmett's attention and then gestured towards Edward. The wolf spoke in a powerful voice that seemed to ring in my ears long after he'd spoken, "Start with the mind reader"

A short chapter I know, but it needed to end there, on that cliff hanger

Please respond to my question at the end of chapter 10

And… more action to come: see if they manage to rescue Renesmee, and more importantly to most of you, see what happens to Edward!!

:) xx