Kay, so, I have a note about this chapter. I can't remember if our dear Ms. Meyers went into detail about Alice and her visions. In other words, I have no idea what she does/what happens when Alice is envisioning things. I'm going to wing it, feel free to correct me.

Within an hour, Emmett, Alice, Edward and I stood at the door and stared outside. The weather had gone from a light drizzle to a downpour. Three minutes outsides and you might as well have gone swimming with your clothes on. Fortunately, this was perfect for the Cullens. In such horrible weather, their secret was safe. They could finally go out with me. Even still, they took every precaution necessary. They all had long sleeves and pants with hats and jackets packed in the car if it suddenly became sunny. Carlisle insisted that they each carry their cell phone and keep it on—he'd call if the weather turned. The entire idea seemed a little eccentric to me but Edward explained it all.

"Because it's rainy, everyone is going to be at the movie theatre," he had told me not long before. "There will be lots of crowds and lots of eyewitnesses if our secret is revealed. Plus, they're all tourists. They've got two cameras on them each and have this amazing ability to whip them out and take pictures before you realize you're posing." This made me giggled. Edward's impressions of stereotypical humans were always stand-up-comedy-worthy.

"Let's make a run for the car," Alice suggested. I groaned my reply. It was easy for them to say. The three of them could be out the door and in the car in a matter of seconds. Then they could all sit inside and laugh at me as I stumbled my way to the car. I wasn't up for that.

Without warning, Edward leaned closer and pulled me up in his arms, holding me like a groom does his bride. I yelped my surprise and clung to him out of impulse.

"Edward, I can walk," I half-heartedly protested. I didn't want him to go out of his way to carry me around, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be that close to him.

"But your ankle hurts, doesn't it?" he offered with a smile. I blushed and cowered a little bit. I hadn't told him about my injury. In fact, I'd been a little upset with him earlier for not noticing. Edward had always claimed that he couldn't read my mind, but sometimes I could have sworn he caught a thought or two.

"Alright, on the count of three," Alice grinned. "One…"

"No, wait, I can walk, really," I protested.

"Two." Alice's countdown had begun.

"Alice! Don't—"

"Three!" Four bodies burst out the door, one shouting her objection the entire second that it took them to reach the car.

"Edward…" I whined as he placed me into the front seat of the car. I always got a little motion sickness when he ran with me like that.

"You're okay, right Bella?" he asked, smiling at me.

"I'm fine, as always," I grumbled at him. He shut the door and made it to the driver's side in less than a second. The rain picked up a little once we got into the car and lightning struck off in the distance. Thunder roared a couple seconds later. I'd never been so happy for horrible weather in my life. I'm sure that every other tourist in the city was cursing at the weather for being so poor on their vacation. The entire situation felt a little ironic.

Despite the crowded streets, slippery roads and the unfamiliar town, Edward got us to the theatre at record-breaking time. No matter how many times I road in the car with Edward, I could never get used to the ridiculously fast speeds. On the other hand, I trusted Edward more than anyone else in the world so I always felt safe with him. The feelings tended to battle frequently. Fortunately, my trust for Edward was always victorious.

As was expected, the movie theatre was packed. The closest parking space we could get wasn't even in the parking lot—it was in the lot in front of the restraint next door. Edward was out of the car and opening at my door instantly, only this time he slowed himself to an almost-human speed. He popped open an umbrella and ushered me out. The umbrella was tiny and meant for one person and a small person at that. He wound his arm around my shoulders and held me up slightly so that I wouldn't have to put much weight on my injured foot. On top of that, he made sure to hold the umbrella over my head, letting his entire right side get soaked in the process. We moved at a snail's pace but Edward was patient with me. Alice and Emmett raced each other to the entrance. It was entertaining to watch; both wanted to win but maintain a human pace.

We finally made it in and got in a line so long that most people missed their show by the time they got to the ticket counter. Considering we had no idea what we were going to see and when we were going to see it, this gave us plenty of time to decide.

"That one," Alice begged as she pointed to the title of a movie I was unfamiliar with. "Definitely."

"I'm not sitting through a chick flick, Alice," Emmett added.

"Oh, come on. It's cute and funny, you'll like it," she persuaded. Emmett simply laughed and shook is head.

"No. How about something with action?" he offered. The two continued to argue over movies.

"What'll it be, Bella?" Edward asked, interrupting their childish banter. I gazed through the listed titles, looking for something to catch my eye.

"That one." I pointed directly to the only horror film listed on the display. The only reason I recognized the title was because the bad guys in the movie were, believe it or not, vampires. Emmett, Edward and Alice erupted with laughter.

"You've got to be kidding," Emmett managed to get out between chuckles.

"Those movies are so horribly off," Edward explained between fits of laughs. "And they never seem to get it right. It's almost painful to sit through. Pick something else, Bella." I thought for a moment but didn't change my mind.

"I want to see that one. That's my choice," I grinned. I knew I was going to drive them all crazy. "Please?"

"Bellaaaa," Alice groaned, which only served to make my smile grow. We argued the point all the way to ticket booth.

Edward bought a bag of popcorn and pushed it into my arms, telling me that if I didn't eat it, I'd only be wasting food and money. I threw a kernel at him to let out some frustration but took the snack anyway. In the end, we all piled into the theatre and sat down for one of the corniest, unrealistic vampire movies I'd ever seen.

"I'm never letting you pick a movie again, Bella," Alice whined as we left once the movie was over.

"I kind of liked it, I admitted. All three of them looked at me as though I was insane. "Those vampires were actually somewhat scary." This resulted in six, staring and playfully angry eyes fixed on me. I yelped and ran for the exit. My run was more of a staggered limp and I'm sure it made me look one step shy of certifiably insane. Of course, all three of them caught me in less than a second. Edward picked me up and pinned me to the nearest wall. Every action was done with extreme care; I hardly felt a thing.

"All you've done is insult us, Bella," Alice glared, fighting back her smile. I was too caught up in the game to back down so soon.

"Insult you?" I asked with mock surprise. "I thought I was only telling the truth." Her draw dropped at my cockiness.

"Well maybe we'll just have to show you how scary we really are," she hissed with a voice that was far too deep and wicked to fit her face. I gulped.

"Edward will protect me," I offered, sticking out my tongue.

"Edward," Alice addressed him. "Leave and don't come back for an hour, 'kay?" The two boys laughed.

"Do your worst," I encouraged. I was acting like a child. It felt wonderful to be playful and silly and to goof around.

"Oh, I will," she assured me.

"I dare you," I challenged her. She raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.

"I don't think you can handle it, Bella."

"Try me."

For the next couple of minutes, we stared each other down. I have no idea how long it truly lasted, but it felt like an eternity. Alice's entire body didn't budge an inch and her eyes were so focused that I wanted to cower away on instinct. She was far too intimidating.

It was at that moment that the chime of a cell phone filled the hallway. Of course, they all knew who's phone it was and Emmett checked his pocket first. He clicked buttons on his phone, reading over a text message.

"It was Carlisle," he explained. "The rain's been slowing down. Bella, could you look outside for us and see if it's still raining?" I nodded a yes and made my way over to the doors. My foot wasn't near as bad as it was before and had dulled down to a subtle numbness. It was uncomfortable but manageable. I'd be walking and running again by tomorrow, no doubt.

The doors to the parking lot were rusted and squeaky. Horribly squeaky. I couldn't help but wonder if people who were watching other movies could hear me. Just in case, I only opened the door enough to squeeze my head through and look at the sky. The rain had stopped and the sky had begun to clear, leaving a partially cloudy sky.

"How's it look?' Alice asked as I walked back.

"Not so good," I said, ignoring the irony of my words. "The sun's out a little bit." I could hear her curse under her breath. It was understandable. We'd parked so far away, leaving a long gap of time for someone to catch a glance of them.

"I'll drive the car up," I offered. "And I'll park it just outside the door. Then you'll only have to walk ten feet. And at your speed, I don't think anyone would be able to even notice that someone left." The three of them considered it for a moment.

"It'll have to do," Emmett sighed. Edward reluctantly pulled the keys from his pocket and handed them over to me. I could see his expression through his eyes; he was worried.

"It's two blocks, Edward. I'll be fine, I promise," I smiled. "I'll be right back." With that, I hurried out the door and to the parking lot. Although I knew we parked far away, I couldn't quite remember how far away. I wandered around a bit, trying to recognize the Cullen's rented car. It had gotten much warmer and the hot, humid air reminded me of Phoenix. That's when I ran into him again.

"Bella," a voice called from behind me. I jumped and whipped around, startled by the suddenness.

"I can't ever start a conversation without startling you, can I?" Luke asked as he smiled at me from beside his car. He shut the door and walked up, seemingly unfazed by the brutal heat. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Well, I cam out here to get the Cullen's car…" I began, talking faster than normal.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Just the friends I'm staying with, that's all. I volunteered to get the car," I explained. The lie came out easier than I expected. But then again, it was hardly a lie at all. Just because I didn't mention the reason I came to get the car didn't mean I was lying.

"Oh, so you've already seen a film then, eh?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yup. It was the vampire horror one," I explained. "Don't see it. It's not worth it." Luke laughed with an amazingly smooth voice that displayed his accent just as well as his speech.

"I'll keep that in mind. How's your ankle?"

"Oh, much better. Thank you so much."

"Glad to hear it," he grinned. "I should head inside; I'm meeting a couple people. Will you need any help finding your car?"

"No, actually, I'm alright." I held the keys in front of me and looked for the button labeled "panic." I pressed down on the little red spot and a second later, the car blasted with its alarm and flashing lights.

"Ah," I smiled. "There it is." This only served to make Luke laugh harder.

"Okay then, I'll be on my way," he managed to get out between chuckles. "Take care." I waved my goodbye and hurried over to the noisy vehicle before someone complained. I have to admit that it wasn't easy to maneuver my way through such a packed lot, but I managed to get to the doors I'd left. Leaving the keys in the ignition and the car running, I hurried back into the building. It took me a couple seconds to find them again; they'd moved to the corner, hiding in shadows. Alice had her back to the wall, she was staring ahead blankly and she was shaking. Emmett had both his hands on her shoulders, whispering at a level only they could hear.

"Edward?" I asked softly. He grabbed my hand and led me away from the two.

"Edward?" I asked again. "What's going on?" He opened his mouth to speak but had second thoughts and stopped. After a deep breath, he decided to say something again.

"Alice had a vision," he said solemnly. Although Alice had these all the time, I couldn't understand why this one was so serious.

"What did she see?" I dared to ask. Edward looked away and I instantly regretted asking. There was a long, awkward moment of silence. I was too afraid to ask and Edward was too afraid to tell me.

"We should leave. We're only attracting attention." With that, Edward hurried back to Emmett and spoke in that tone that I could never hear. Emmett gently pulled Alice back to her feet and walked her outside. Although the pace was slow for them, I still had a hard time keeping up. We rushed outside and piled into the car, taking the same seats as we had before. Alice was slowly pulling herself back into reality although she still looked scared.

"Edward," I asked yet again. "What did she see?"

"Now's not the time to be asking questions," he replied as he drove the car back to the road. He was traveling at horrifying speeds again.

"Emmett?" I turned around, determined for an answer. "Tell me what's going on."

"Well, it's," he hardly got two words out.

"Emmett!" the driver hissed. "Not now. Let's talk with Carlisle first."

"What difference will it make if I know now or later?" At the time, I had no idea how much irony that sentence held. The two boys looked at each other awkwardly as they struggled for an answer. "This is ridiculous. Why can't I know?" With his left hand on the wheel, Edward reached his spare hand over and laced my fingers with his. It was a dirty trick; he knew I'd melt after his touch and give in no matter what.

"Bella, there's no need to hurry this," he said gently. "We'll work it all out, don't worry." As much as I wanted to protest, I had to give the subject up. I was just being stubborn by begging for answers.

We pulled into the driveway of the beach house and Alice still hadn't said a word. Other than our conversation we had getting into the car at the theatre, the entire ride was silent. Edward and Emmett were bogged down with trying to come up with solutions to whatever this problem was. I was going insane trying to figure out what the problem really was. Even by the time we arrived, I had nothing.

"Oh, we were worried about you," Esme said as we walked inside. "The sun came out, I thought…" She trailed off when she saw the faces of the two boys.

"We need to speak with Carlisle," Edward said, making sure he was talking loud enough for me to hear. No more than five seconds passed before Carlisle appeared at the end of the foyer.

"What's the matter?" he asked. His expression sank from content to extremely serious in a split second. Edward spoke in the low tone again and I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. I hated being excluded from the conversation like that and I would have hated it even more once I found out what he had said.

"Come with me, my dear," Esme said as she very tenderly took my arm and led me up the second floor. It took a little bit, but I'd realized what was happening. The family needed to talk it over and Esme was the one to distract me long enough for them to finish their conversation. My blood was boiling but I wouldn't take it out on Mrs. Cullen.

"I found all sorts of things in the closet today," she said with a genuine smile. "I thought that you may want to see. Here, I'll show you." I obediently followed.

The entire time, I listened in to hear the conversation of the rest of the family downstairs. Of course, I didn't hear a thing. Esme was trying so hard to distract me that I felt guilty for insisting to do otherwise. In the end, we'd dug up and a brand new and untouched kite, an ancient box of the game Scrabble and at least four decks of playing cards.

"And there I was thinking this house would be boring," she said with a motherly chuckle. "We'll have plenty to do." I faked a laugh and returned the smile but I'm sure that she saw through my act. I felt horrible for being so rude, but I was going crazy. I died to know what Alice's vision was.

At that very moment, Edward appeared behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I haven't played Scrabble in ages," he grinned. "Let's keep it out and play a game tonight?" I ignored his question.

"What was all that about?" I asked, borderline demanded.

"It's okay, Bella, don't worry about it," he assured me. This only served to fuel the fire and make me even angrier. I wanted to know what was going on. I deserved to know. I was living in the same house, I didn't deserve to have so much information kept from me. I was offended that they even thought they could keep the secret and I'd forget all about it.

"Well I am worrying about it," I countered. "Why can't you just tell me, Edward?"

"It's…." he struggled for the right word. "Complicated."

"What, you don't think I'd understand?" I asked with a dash of sarcasm.

"No, it's just that, well, it's nothing you really need to know."

"Well I want to." I was far too determined to give up.

"Can't you just let it drop, Bella?" Edward frowned. "It's nothing you need to be concerned about, alright? You trust me, don't you? Well take my word for it." We were all silent for a long time. Esme took this as her cue to leave and she hurried back downstairs, eager to get out of the way of the arguing teenagers.

"You just don't want to tell me because Alice envisioned something you didn't like," I accused. For a moment, I paused and hammered out all the kinks in my theory. "She saw what was going to happen to me, didn't she? She saw that I was going to be turned—"

"Enough," Edward raised his voice. "That's enough. This conversation is over, Bella."

"You can't say that, it's not fair," I protested.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." His voice was so serious that it had become monotonic.

"If you know what's going to happen to me, why do we have to drag it out?" I questioned, touching the untouchable topic.

"Don't start this again. You know how I feel about it."

"And you know how I feel about it. So why won't you just—"

"Bella, please! There's no more to talk about." I could hear the frustration in his voice.

"Well it's not fair, Edward, you can't—"

"Damn it, Bella!" Edward growled so fiercely that I nearly screamed. "Just drop it already!" With one swift motion, he turned and pushed me to the wall, pinning my shoulders in his iron grip. I let out a startled whimper and winced from the impact, but that was it. I didn't dare to speak. I couldn't move. I couldn't even breathe. I was scared.

His eyes turned black and his face held an expression I'd never seen before. He was angry, but not at me. He was scared of something I couldn't understand. Fear, anger, confusion and lust were all present. Neither of us moved. The entire word was still for an impossibly long moment. Then I mustered up enough courage to speak.

"I—"

"Don't!" he hissed at me. Edward's expressions were no longer distinguishable. His brow furrowed into an animal-like snarl and he showed his teeth. I don't know whether it was my fearful state that made everything seem worse than it was, but his teeth looked like weapons worse than I'd ever seen. "Don't…move." He inched his mouth closer to mine but kept moving. At a crawling pace, he moved towards my neck, letting his breath graze my skin. My heart stopped beating. His hands pressed against my shoulders, bruising me. His mouth hovered over my neck. I was scared. I wanted this. I wanted to be changed, but not like this. This wasn't the Edward I knew. This wasn't the one I fell in love with.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to push him away but I couldn't. I was trapped. I squinted my eyes shut and turned away. Everything was silent again.

"Bella?" came the soft and gentle voice of Edward's that I knew and loved. I dared to open my eyes. His eyes softened and his teeth were hidden behind a closed mouth. In the blink of an eye he'd let go and was as far away from me as he could be.

"Bella, I…" he stuttered, looking more shocked than I had been before. His eyes were wide and his chest moved quickly with rapid breaths. "I didn't…I mean…I…" I opened my mouth to speak but the words caught in my throat. I was at a loss. There was nothing I could say to make things right, or feel right, even.

"Edward, I'm sorry, I sh—" I began.

"No, Bella," Edward hissed at me. "Don't move. Stay exactly where you are." Despite the harsh words, his tone didn't carry the anger it had before. He was being careful; one slight movement and my scent would be all over the place. Edward closed his eyes, composed himself and stood still for another long moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I could barely see his lips move as he talked, he was so still. "I'm so sorry."

Then he left, leaving me alone once more.