Chapter 8, finally… :) I hope you enjoy it! Review! :) Love, B.

Chapter 8 – Visions –

„What do you mean by ‚you saw me'?", I asked slowly, turning towards the tiny, black-haired woman. "Did Carlisle tell you that I was able to see the future?", she asked, her golden eyes locked with mine. I found most people easy to read, but she wasn't. I tried to figure out, if I really wanted to hear what she had seen, when there were different footsteps approaching us.

Alex, Edward and Carlisle stopped a few feet away from us.

"What did you see?", I asked quietly and ran my hand through my long, dark blonde hair. But instead of answering, she grabbed my wrists and laid my hands against her temples. And there were pictures again…

It was not as overwhelming this time, as it had been before. I closed my eyes, concentrating to hold fast to reality and looked at the pictures as if they were shown on a TV screen.

There was a dark alley with high buildings on both sides; the light of the streetlamps didn't touch the darkness in the corners all around. It was raining heavily, when suddenly a person stepped out of an entrance. He was wrapped in a long, black cloak that nearly touched the ground, with a hood pulled over the head. The person hovered in the darkness, looking from side to side, and when he looked into the direction from which I was seeing the scene, the face shone pale white from underneath the black hood.

It was a woman. Pale like the moon in the sky, with blonde hair falling smoothly around her face. A most disturbing look in the black eyes made me shiver.

It was me underneath the black cloak. But then, the Lana in the vision turned away and silently disappeared down the alley.

The scene went black and I opened my eyes to the scene I had left only a few seconds ago. Alice was still standing in front of me, my hands pressed against her temples. "How did you know that I would be able to see this?", I asked confused and pulled my hands back, putting them into the pockets of my jeans. "That was something I saw as well.", she answered. I nodded slowly. "I see a lot since you have arrived.", she added, slightly observing me with quick eyes.

"Why do you think is that?", I asked. The decision I had made just about half an hour ago, was fought back by other decisions and questions I had, there were too many things I needed to know, too many places I needed to see. "Because you change your mind so much…", Alice answered and laughed – it was a high, bell-like tone. "I do?" I had to smile as well. The tiny woman's laughter was easily joined. "Yes. I think since you've arrived, you have like had 30 different views of your future going on. You're keeping me quite busy!"

I still smiled at her, when I remembered the scene she had shown me. I frowned. What was the sense behind it? "What do you think does it mean?", she asked silently, shooting a quick glance at the guys that hadn't moved a bit since their arrival. "I don't really know…", I muttered. And it was the truth. The scene had been far too short and far too imprecise. "We'll find out.", Alice said and her right hand was on my cheek. "I think, I have to like you.", she said and then – she was gone.

"Weird person…", I muttered to myself, flipping my hair over my right shoulder. "I think, we need to talk.", Alex' voice lowly announced next to me and I lifted my gaze to look at him. His hair was wet, covering his forehead. He was right. I didn't even know, where I had to go, if I really wanted to go… "Don't try to run away this time.", he threatened and grabbed my wrist. "I won't." Maybe Alice was right and I was changing my mind a lot… "I'll show you a silent place.", Edward said.

Moments later, we stood in a large room with a thick golden carpet and a glass wall at its end. With a quiet click, the door closed behind Edward and we were alone.

I sat down on the black leather sofa and stroke the wet hair out of my face.

"You didn't really want to leave without me, did you?" Alex was right beside me, reaching for my hand and then holding it against his cheek. His look was intense; I didn't know if it was pain or anger, he was trying to hold back. "I don't know.", I answered honestly, slowly brushing my thumb across his cheek, because of which he slowly closed his eyes.

"I was a little overstrained, I think. You know how much happened since we arrived…" My stream of thoughts trailed off, as he pressed his lips against the palm of my hand. "I'm sorry about that.", he repeated and opened his eyes to look at me again, without letting my hand fall from his face. "You don't have to be. It's not your fault." I forced my lips into a smile, trying to stay focused, when all I could feel was his skin against mine.

Was it like that when you fell in love with someone? Or had we fallen for each other long ago? I couldn't recall. It was complicated – well, no, in fact, it wasn't. All I had to do was reach for him; he wouldn't refuse, would he?

"I should have told you, that some of us do have certain powers. I should have told you that something might happen with you some day…" What did he mean by that? I snapped out of my negotiation whether to just draw him to me or not. "You knew about that?", I asked, frowning.

His hand was lying on my thigh now, weighing more than a thousand pounds. It was hard to concentrate.

"I assumed that there was something – special about you…" His voice was rough now, his hand tightened its grip on my thigh, softly massaging my skin. "You assumed that I was some kind of psycho freak?", I asked, trying hard to sound angry, but it wasn't too easy with the passion that was building up inside my stomach. Vampires were too easily distracted, that was so right. "You're no freak. Your mind has specialities nobody else's has. I saw something in your eyes, when you were still human that seemed to tell me exactly that." I gulped.

"Was that why you wanted to keep me?", it was the one question, I had played over and over in my head. "Keep you?", he asked, slipping a bit closer. "Yes, the reason why you wanted William to change me!", shaking my head, I was suddenly clear, focused – on getting answers I was desperately longing for. "I wanted him to change you, because I didn't want you to die…", he murmured, lifting his hand from my thigh.

"I know that. But why didn't you want me to die?"

It was a stupid and violate question to ask, I knew that. "I mean, you still were a vampire, how much did you care for some human's life?" Alex shook his head in disbelief. "You weren't only some human to me. The moment I saw you in that bar, heard your voice, smelled your skin, I was intrigued by you. Not because I wanted to drink your blood!"

The resignation was very present in his voice. "I thought you knew that…" He covered his face in his hands, sighing. "I didn't really see the sense in that.", was all I could say. "I didn't as well.", his voice was blank, he still didn't look at me. "All I knew was that I somehow had to get to know you, but – as you know – I wasn't able to control myself that well…"

I licked my lips, that were very dry. I didn't want those pictures to come back, not again. How do things like that happen? That the one, that treated you worse than anyone else in the whole world, that physically harmed you, was the one you couldn't live without now?

'Stockholm syndrome…', the tiny voice in my head whispered. But I knew, this was something else. "You know, how sorry I am for that, don't you? That I would give anything to make it undone?" The pleading tone in his voice made me look up again. "I know.", I said. And I really did.

It was by then, that he softly took my face in his hands and his lips – cold like marble, yet soft like velvet – touched mine.

It was the kiss, in which all the insecurities and the doubts were expressed – and brushed aside at once…