Chapter 13: Visitors

She slowly turned around. "Bella?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice. "Are you ... okay?"

I was numb. You're in shock, Bella, my mind chided, It's freaking Alice. Talk to her! I was afraid if I spoke again, though, she would fracture and disappear like a shattered dream. "Alice?" I inquired again, softer this time, "is that really you?"

As soon as I started talking, Alice hurriedly crossed the distance between us. I could see the agitation on her face as she approached. She looked around nervously, and grabbed my hand, pulling me back in the direction of the city gate. "I can see we have a lot to talk about," she said in low rapid tones.

My brain and body finally caught up with one another, and I turned towards her, "I know a quiet place that we can go."

We made our way outside the city walls, and ran the somewhat short distance to my favorite olive tree, that I had taken to sitting under most nights to watch the stars. When I stopped, she broke away and faced me. Her pixie face was still frozen in a mask of shock as she exclaimed, "Bella, holy shit!", right as I cried, "Alice, what are you doing here?" and she replied with, "What are YOU doing here? I thought you were really hurt, maybe dead!"

"What?" I replied, confused, "When?"

"I saw it!" she cried, "I've seen nothing of you for months and months, then all of a sudden, I had multiple visions of you in a nasty fight with a giant vampire with short black hair. I saw him slam you into the ground! I busted my ass to get here as fast as I could to save you, even though I knew I would most likely be too late."

"Oh," I said in a more subdued fashion, "that was Felix. He's teaching me to fight."

"It didn't look like a friendly fight to me, but then again, it all happened so fast - I, I couldn't even tell that you had been changed!" Alice exclaimed, visibly upset, her eyes darting over my face, my body, the changes that were now obviously apparent.

The reality of the situation caught up with me. "Alice, no offense, but why are you even here, anyway? You guys made it really clear that you wanted nothing to do with me ever again!" I couldn't disguise the pain in my voice as I spoke.

"That freaking idiot," Alice muttered, "Look, Bella, I never wanted to leave. None of us did, except for Edward." I felt a flash of pain across my chest at this statement, as she continued, "He was so convinced that you were going to get hurt because of him. He couldn't take it, and was making the rest of us so completely miserable, that we eventually let him have his way. It was stupid and wrong of us, and I'm so sorry. Even sorrier, now that I see what happened to you. Please, like I said, I haven't been able to see you in my visions for such a long time, and I've been looking! You have to tell me what happened! And why are you here with the Volturi, of all people? Don't you know how dangerous they are?"

So many feelings were coursing through me, having never really settled after my fight with Felix. Joy, rage, sadness, confusion - it was like a roulette wheel of emotion, and I wasn't sure where the ball was going to stop.

"Does Edward know you're here?" I asked.

"No. He's been ...off... places. I told Jasper where I was going, but not why. He's the only one who knows where I am."

"Well, when you guys left, I was broken. Charlie thought he was going to have to send me to a mental hospital for awhile, because I wouldn't do anything except sit in a chair and stare out the window. He was afraid I was catatonic." My voice trailed off as I stared off into space, shivering as I remembered the trauma of those days. "I feel bad about it now, because I know that scared him a lot. I finally began at least go through the motions of living like a normal person, but it wasn't long before Victoria started poking around again. She was super-pissed about Edward killing her mate James, so she thought she'd kill me in retaliation. Ironically, Edward would have never known."

Alice had the grace to look horrified, so I continued, "Anyway, I was under the protection of the Quileute pack, but she managed to weasel her way in during Harry Clearwater's funeral, while everyone else was occupied. She meant to kill me, but only succeeded in biting me before the wolves showed up and chased her off. Then, I had the fun experience of changing into a vampire." I paused for a moment, "I know you guys don't really get along with the wolves - Jacob Black told me about your history with them - but they saved me, in more ways than one. They basically adopted me, helped me hide what I was from Charlie, taught me how to hunt, kept me from hurting humans. They became my family - in the same way I had hoped you would be."

Alice still looked incredibly upset, but didn't interrupt. "Miracle of miracles, I got into Dartmouth. By that time, I was functional enough to go back to school, at least. Then one day, I walk into the Art Museum, and BAM, I see a Solimena painting of Carlisle. I can't even tell you what that was like. After some digging, I found out the painting came from Aro's collection, and he had some sort of relationship with the school. I remembered what your family said about the Volturi, but they were the only other vampires that I knew of. Anyway, I ended up coming here on a study-abroad deal. Officially, I'm working with the curator of Aro's art collection."

"Oh, Bella - why didn't you look for us? We would have helped you! Edward would have been there in a second, if he had known!"

"I highly doubt that," I said, "You weren't there when he spoke to me that last time."

"I'm going to kill that boy," she furiously muttered under her breath.

"Plus, I had no idea where you went. I was trying to move on, and couldn't put myself through the emotionally masochistic task of trying to actually look you up! I could barely get through the day as it was!"

"Edward is going to be so upset he hasn't found Victoria yet. That's actually what he's been doing: trying to track her."

"Well, he's sure doing a bang-up job of it," I said bitterly, "Next time you talk to him, tell him not to worry about it anymore."

"True, she'd have a much harder time hurting you now."

I laughed, an ugly sound. "That's the understatement of the century. Victoria's dead."

"What?" Alice cried, "When? How?!" Her eyes wide, she grasped both of my upper arms and stared straight at me, shaking me slightly. "How did I not see this?!" she exclaimed.

"Don't ask me. It's just as well. I came home for Christmas break, and I killed her. The wolves helped. It was therapeutic."

Alice tilted her head and looked at me like she'd never truly seen me before. A minute passed, then another. Then she spoke softly, "Bella, I'm so sorry. Really, for more than I can say. Edward has so underestimated you, and the only reason I'm not tracking him down to kill him now is that I know that he will feel even worse when he finds this out."

"If he finds this out," I amended.

"WHEN he finds this out." Alice responded. "He was never 'over' you. In fact, he loved you so much that he was terrified of losing you. Which, ironically, lead him to the ridiculous conclusion that he should leave you in order to protect you. I don't know exactly what he said to you, but I can see it was suitably awful. Just know, if you ever find it in your heart to forgive him, he was doing in a most misguided fashion what he thought was best."

"Exactly - what HE thought was best. It would have helped if he had bothered to clue me in!" I exclaimed. "How about I get a say in my own life, huh?!"

"Look, you get no argument from me. He's an idiot of epic proportions. But an idiot who loves you. Just ... remember that, if you can." She continued, "But wait, then what exactly was it that I saw that brought me here?"

"Oh, that was Felix, one of the Volturi enforcers -"

Alice interrupted, "I love how you say that so nonchalantly."

"Well, they have actually been nothing but decent to me since I've been here," I said, instinctively jumping to Felix's defense. "Anyway, after the whole thing with killing Victoria, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing about fighting. So, Felix seemed like a good person to ask. I've learned a lot." I debated about telling Alice that Felix was the closest friend that I had there, but then decided against it. If it's important, she'll see it anyway, I thought.

"Bella, the Volturi are dangerous - you have no idea what they're capable of!"

"I know they are dangerous, I'm not that naive. Aro keeps hinting that he wants me to stay here instead of going back to school. He's getting more and more insistent, but luckily, I only have a few weeks left before I return."

"If he really wants you, he'll get you," Alice said, "You've met Jane, right?"

I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my face, "She was the first vampire I met here, actually. If you're worried about her 'talent', though, you shouldn't be. She tried to use it on me earlier tonight -" Alice gasped at this statement "-but, as we all quickly discovered, I'm immune."

"You're what?!" Alice exclaimed, then became pensive for a moment. "Wait a minute. Edward couldn't read your mind, Jane's mental powers don't work on you ... maybe you're immune to mental powers in general," she mused.

"Maybe that's part of the reason Aro wants me to stay," I said quietly, "but how would he know that?"

"Aro has a gift similar to Edward's," Alice replied, "Carlisle has talked about it in the past. Aro can see every thought you've ever had when he is in physical contact with you."

I remembered the look of consternation on Aro's face each time he had taken my hand, and then I had a brief moment of intense thankfulness that he couldn't read my thoughts. The idea of exposing the pack, Edwin, the Cullens, was horrific. "Well, that explains some things, at least."

"Be careful, Bella. Carlisle also has said that Aro "collects" vampires with rare gifts. If he knows what you are, he'll want you, too."

"I'm doing my best to put him off. I actually want to finish college. But doesn't that also mean that he'll want you, too? And Edward?"

"If he knew I was here and what I could do, then yes, he would definitely want me, too. But I made that decision when I came here to get you," she finished firmly.

"Well, he hasn't seen you yet," I replied slowly, slightly mollified by her intended sacrifice, "So, you can leave with no one the wiser." Except me. My heart hurt as I contemplated losing Alice almost immediately after she had reappeared in my life.

My thoughts must have been apparent on my face, because Alice reached over and hugged me. "Don't worry, Bella. I'm not going to disappear again. I don't care what those other idiots think about it either. You're my friend, and so I'm making the decisions from now on."

I was cheered slightly by her confident tone. "But Alice, you can't stay here. I'll worry about you if I know you're in danger from Aro and the rest of the Volturi. You have to go home - I'll be back in the States shortly. Where is home now, anyway?" I added.

Alice laughed, her musical tinkle a welcoming sound. "Oh, you'll love this. We're in Albany."

"Upstate New York!" I exclaimed, "But that's ... that's ..."

"... so close to where you are, I know!" Alice chirped happily, a broad smile on her face. "We were always meant to find each other again, I think. When you get back, we'll have to go shopping in the city. It's ah-mazing."

I laughed, "Oh my god, I can only imagine you in New York City. I'm sure you give the city a run for its money."

"When are you back? I'll set up a welcome-home party! Carlisle and Esme will be over the moon. So will Emmett, actually."

I paused. I was so happy to see Alice, so glad that we had cleared the air, but I wasn't sure that I was ready to see any of the rest of the Cullens.

Alice picked up on my hesitation, "Don't worry, I wouldn't spring Edward on you like that. I don't even know where he is - he only checks in from time to time. He asked me not to look for him, and I've been doing my best to oblige."

"I don't know, Alice. Maybe not when I first get back; I'll have too much prep to do for my spring classes." I said, "But maybe you could come and visit me for a couple of days?"

"I would love that," Alice squealed, hugging me tightly.

"You can tell Carlisle and Esme what I've been up to, though. And Jasper, Rose, and Emmett. That's fine with me. Just ... don't tell Edward, okay? If he wants to find me again, I want it to be because he wants to, not because he feels guilty about something that's happened to me."

"Now, I think you're underestimating him," she replied, "but I understand why you feel that way."

"I still can't believe you're actually here," I said suddenly.

"I'm really, really glad that I am, Bella." We looked at each other for a moment, smiling.

I turned and sat under the tree, and for a little while, Alice joined me in companionable silence. We spent the last few hours of the evening talking about any and everything. Alice made me laugh with stories about Emmett's and Jasper's latest antics, and I told her a little about my time at school so far, although I tried to keep it light-hearted. We traded email addresses, which more than anything assured me that this was not a one-time deal. When the first pink streaks of dawn began to lighten the eastern sky, she stood up and brushed the grass from her skirt.

"I guess you should go," I said reluctantly, pushing myself upright. "Thanks for coming all the way to Italy for a one-night sleepover."

"Anything for a friend, Bella." Alice hugged me tightly. "Next time, though, you can meet me in Milan, and we'll go shopping!"

"Sounds good. Tell everyone I said hello, and that I'm sure I will see them soon."

"I will. Good luck, Bella ... Be careful!" Alice yelled as she headed off, "Email me when you get home!"

"I will," I replied, truly happy for the first time in what seemed like forever as I turned back towards Volterra.