Visions

Edward and I were the last ones home. I pulled myself together as much as possible and walked into the main house for the first time. It was gorgeous. It had the same rich color scheme of mine and Edward's little house. It was warm and inviting and open to the woods outside. There was an island and small kitchen to the right of the room. Two large couches surrounded a fireplace in the center of the room and another grand piano sat on the left near a large staircase. Esme had truly outdone herself.

"Wow the house is amazing Esme." I said staring around me.

"Do you like it? I thought I should keep to the theme of the woods. It really is beautiful around here. Just wait for the snow." She said this cheerfully but I sighed loudly and she laughed. I still hated the snow. My marble skin did not cure me of that innate hatred of all things wet and cold. I checked my cell phone as I settled on the couch, no missed calls.

"She'll call Bella." Edward assured me. I nodded and he got up quickly to sit at the piano. He began to play my lullaby and a feeling of well being washed over me. Jasper and Alice came down from upstairs.

"Bella! Did you tell Esme about your new boyfriend?" Alice laughed and Edward growled playfully. They all thought this was so amusing. Esme took one look at my mortified expression and decided to ignore Alice. I shot her a grateful look. Alice trilled again and I shot her my scary look, this time it was actually scary though and another wave of calmness surrounded me. I looked at Edward who stopped playing. He was listening. It was then I noticed Alice's death grip on the couch and Jasper's protective hovering around her.

"What is it?"I whispered to Edward who now hovered over me. He shrugged in response.

"Aro is debating a visit. It's not certain, vey fuzzy actually, probably just a fleeting thought of his." He stroked his hand down my tense face and I closed my eyes. We did nothing wrong. "Seriously love, it won't happen for a few more years anyway. Zafrina and the Amazons will visit first, that is certain. They'll be here after winter break though." I looked at Alice who was nodding and watched the tense figures of Esme and Jasper relax. I could hear Rosalie breathe a sigh of relief upstairs. "Oh, and Renesmee will call tomorrow." He smiled then. "Let's go hunt, I think there are bears around here." Emmett was down the stairs in an instant.

The next day of school was worse than the first. More people began approaching me, guys mostly. It was starting to annoy Edward and made Rosalie even more unhappy. Alice seemed stressed during French but I didn't push her. We were told to translate a page of French. The three of us were done in less than two minutes. I even had Edward check mine to be sure it was right. Rob had turned around to ask for help but the teacher walked back to see why we weren't working, sparing me from talking to him.

"I know you guys are new, " Madame Latoune began, "if you need extra help I'm sure one of the other students could help."

Edward gave her one of those dazzling smiles that made her mouth drop open. "That won't be necessary, we're already done." He showed her his paper and she frowned when she couldn't find any mistakes.

"Have you taken French before?" She asked suspiciously, looking at mine and Alice's flawless work as well. Edward shook his head though I was sure he must have over the century and a half of high school and college.

"We lived in France for a few years," Alice admitted. I was surprised. I thought we didn't reveal the truth. I realized that Alice was giving us a story. I nodded at the teacher who took our papers and walked back to the front of the class. Rob turned around again.

"Hey Bella, France huh? Do you think you could help me out with my French? I think I'm failing." Edward reached out and took my hand throwing Rob a death stare. He turned quickly around and I could see his ears turn red. Alice rolled her eyes. Edward was in my next class as well. It was English and we were reading Pride and Prejudice, perfect.

I recognized the girl next to me from my calculus class. She was quiet but smiled at me hesitantly. Edward surprised me by speaking to her first. "Hi, I'm Edward Cullen." He smiled and she had the same reaction as the French teacher. She looked at me guiltily afterward. Yeah right, as if it was possible for her not to be dazzled and infatuated by Edward, especially when he was in nice mode.

"I'm Lacey Wells," she said. Her voice shook only slightly. She had wild red hair, green eyes and a splattering of freckles across her nose. She was small like Alice and dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt. I smiled at her, "I'm Bella Swan. It's nice to meet you." The teacher started class and I stared off into space wondering at Edward's kindness to the girl.

"What was with your friendliness in English?" I asked when I saw Edward at lunch. We were standing in line for food but we talked too fast for humans to hear. Edward smiled quickly, "Are you jealous?" He laughed at my expression, I was not pleased. "I'm kidding love. Her mind is so innocent. She reminds me a lot of Angela Weber actually. She was curious about us but realized it wasn't her business." He shrugged, "She's a good person." I nodded at his response. He had always liked Angela as did I. It was hard to separate myself from her and her now husband Ben almost forty five years ago.

We sat down with the others at our table. I noticed Lacey a few tables away sitting with three other girls. She looked over and I smiled and waved at her. She waved back and I was unusually pleased. Edward smiled at my expression like he knew something I didn't. Alice's laugh cut off and we all looked at her again. Edwards face was serious and he nodded once. I didn't miss how he looked over at Lacey as he nodded. I would find out what happened. I wouldn't let him keep this from me. Alice didn't have visions of humans often unless they were tied with our world.

"Ok you two, spill." We were driving back to the woods, home, in the Volvo. I looked at Alice and Edward. Alice was staring out the window and Edward was staring at Jasper. I waited. They would tell me. Edward sighed and I felt Jasper spreading calm again. I looked expectantly at Edward but it was Alice who answered.

"Nahuel and Huilen are coming with Zafrina after winter break, sometime in January. My visions aren't too clear but for some reason that girl is in them too. I don't know if it's because you two become friends or what but she's in them with Nahuel mostly. It's very confusing and frustrating." Frustrating, she didn't even know frustrating. I nodded anyway.

"So what? Should I try to be friends with her or something?" I looked at Alice. I didn't want to bring a human into our world. It wasn't safe for any of us. I had a fleeting vision of Nahuel standing over the Irish girl's limp body and shivered. Edward always told me that I shouldn't plan my life around Alice's visions; it should be the other way. I wanted to protect this girl who was suddenly thrown into our lives. I wondered fleetingly if this was how they felt when I came parading into their lives. Alice shrugged.

"I don't know. I think we should talk to Carlisle." Everyone seemed to find this solution reasonable and the atmosphere was genuinely more relaxed. Why would Nahuel be in contact with Lacey? Was he going to attack her? I didn't even know this girl but there was something about her that I liked. Edward liked her too. We decided not to tell Rose or Emmett anything until Carlisle was approached. Rose would be pissed. When we got home Edward and I went to our house and Jasper and Alice floated to the main house.

Edward went straight to the piano and I sat down with Pride and Prejudice. The fate of Lacey Wells was in some way tied to Carlisle's decision I was sure of that. We sat there, not really focusing on what we were doing, until we heard Carlisle's car start down the dirt road.