Alice
I walked quickly to the door to say goodbye to Jasper. The others were already gone. I looked into his eyes knowing he would understand me as if he could read minds like Edward. Be Careful. He squeezed my hand and dashed out of the door to join Rosalie. I sighed a little but put a smile on my face. We should not worry the Wells any more than they were. Jacob had not helped with his accusations. They sat huddled together on the couch opposite my little niece. I went to sit next to Ness, maybe they would have questions.
"They will find your daughter, I promise." I was sure of it. Though I hadn't seen it happen, I had seen Lacey after this incident. Jacob will be the one to find her. I could see Jake if I really wanted too but it always gave me a headache so avoided it as much as possible. I tried to ignore the images flashing through my mind. They were so uncertain and changed constantly. The Wells nodded at my confidence and they seemed to gain some bravado. Well good for them. Anne, who seemed to be the braver of the two, sat forward and I saw her ask the question. I smiled to reassure her and she looked quickly away from me. Hmm, I was never good at giving humans the correct facial expression.
"We just, we don't know how this happened! How could we have a shape shifter daughter? Shouldn't she be like us?" I thought this was a silly question but Ness nodded gravely. She looked towards me to answer. How strange, wasn't it obvious? Anne looked back at me waiting for an answer to her question.
"Well, Carlisle did a study on all four of our types. Vampires have twenty six chromosomes, humans have twenty three. So when they have a child, naturally the child will have twenty four chromosomes and will be a hybrid. However you are not a vampire and a human. You are two hybrids." I stopped then and smiled hoping that was correct. They were all still looking at me. I looked at Esme who stood behind the couch the Wells were sitting on. She nodded slightly as if I should go on. Was she kidding? Did they still not get it? "So…a hybrid is made of a vampire and a human but you are both hybrids so that means Lacey isn't a true hybrid, she is mostly human. She inherited both of your human recessive genes but she also inherited your twenty four chromosomes. Shape shifters and hybrids are the only things we know of with twenty four chromosomes so that coupled with the human genes made Lacey a shape shifter."
"So is that why Jake's family can shape shift, because somewhere down the line two hybrids had a baby?" Renesmee asked eagerly.
"Probably," as in definitely but I didn't think Jake or his tribe would be happy about that and I quite like Jake. Ness nodded at my statement and mulled it over in her head. She was a smart girl. The Wells nodded. I wasn't sure if they were faking or not, I wish Edward was here or even Bella, sometimes she could read human faces, she was the most recent after all. Ness seemed please with their reactions though so I was content either way.
A image suddenly flashed into my head with alarming clarity. A cheetah and Jasper, cheetah jumping, attacking and then my head seemed like it would explode as a wolf collided into the offending animal. Edward got there in time to keep the cheetah from escaping. My head was throbbing from trying to see the wolf and the cheetah. It was easier to see shape shifters in their human forms. Edward was listening. I watched then like a passive viewer knowing that Jasper and Edward were safe. Where was Rosalie? Why wasn't she with Jasper? A warm hand touched my arm and another image flashed through my mind. I could see myself sitting on the couch completely motionless and tight lipped and the Wells shaking, brows furrowed and clenched fists. Ness was showing me that they were alarmed by my reaction. I snapped out of it quickly.
"I'm sorry. They found your daughter in the woods. Edward, Jasper and Jake were all there. Edward was listening to her. They have her calmed down now. Don't worry everything will be okay." The Wells relaxed slightly. At least she was okay. I could feel another, stronger, vision coming on and I excused myself. Esme followed me upstairs to the closest room, Carlisle's office. She knew what was happening. She gave me a pad and pen but I didn't take it.
A flash of white and Lacey was lying dead in her cheetah form, bleeding from a gash on her neck. Flash, Lacey was dead but this time had a crescent shaped bite on her hind leg. Flash, Lacey was alive but was limping from a wound on her leg. Flash, Lacey was in human form, she fainted but Edward caught her before her head compacted with a tree. Flash, Emmett was carrying Rosalie. This image was not blurry. They were coming to the house now. "Rosalie is hurt she will be here with Emmett in a few seconds, don't frighten the Wells." I told Esme though I wasn't listening to myself speak. I was vaguely aware of her leaving the room. Flash, Bella was with Lacey now and the cheetah was calm. Bella rubbed her tummy and she purred. This image was also concrete. Flash, Jasper was safe and on his way home. Carlisle was looking at the injury on the cheetah's leg but it was already healing just fine. Flash, Edward looked amused and Bella looked slightly annoyed as she continued petting the animal. Why were these shape shifters and half breeds so comforted by Bella?
Jasper was home and was next to me, holding my hand. I could see a little clearer with him here sending me reassurance. Another flash and Lacey turned back to her human form. My head eased a little as Jake changed back as well. Another vision of Edward catching Lacey as she fainted, this one was clear. Flash, Bella carried Lacey back through the woods. How strange that it was Bella carrying her. My whole body relaxed as the visions stopped. I sighed in relief.
"How are you?" Jasper asked. I looked at him, into his eyes and my worry leaked away. I didn't have to mention that I saw him almost hurt. It didn't matter. He was here now. I kissed him softly on the lips. Something occurred to me as I felt his loving waves.
"Do you know why Bella attracts people like she does? Can you feel any special force that she exudes?" Jasper frowned a little but his face was light. I waited as he found his words.
"Well darling, from what I can tell it goes back to when she was pregnant with Renesmee. Renesmee does give off certain vibes. It is concrete and I think it comes with her gift. She can get people to simply understand. Carlisle and Edward think that Renesmee can show Isabella things because she can get under Bella's shield but that's not quite right. I think Ness will always be connected to Bella because they shared gifts when Renesmee was in the womb and they both retained them. Ness can get under Bella's shield because in a way she can control Bella's shield. Bella attracts people because people understand Bella which leads to protectiveness, possessiveness or comfort depending on their personalities. It does seem stronger in hybrids and shape shifters probably because it wears off quickly with humans as danger vibes quickly override them." He shrugged nonchalantly, a very human gesture that suited Edward and Bella better. I stared at him in amazement, he was so smart and didn't even know it. His theory made perfect sense and he would naturally be able to sense it so I had no reason to doubt him.
"Does Edward know?" I asked.
"Probably not. I don't usually think of that often, only when it really surprises me and he's not usually around when Bella comes into contact with these people." I couldn't take my eyes off of him. We simply looked into each other's eyes and everything was said. After a few minutes I could hear Rosalie and Emmett talking very quietly in the next room and I came back to Earth. Jasper grimaced. He would blame himself for Rose's injury. We stood in perfect synchronization to see what the damage was.
We walked in to find Carlisle standing over Rosalie's leg. Emmett looked amused and worried at the same time. Rosalie was cursing. "Those stupid animals! God, what I would give to go back and bite that wretched cat!" Despite her words everyone knew she would never do that. Jasper was sending out calming waves and Rose's head snapped to him. "Stop that! Stop that right now! I don't need that!" I didn't like her tone, Jasper's lips were a tight line and I went to stand in between him and Rose protectively. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder but I didn't move. I heard the door open downstairs, Bella and Edward brought Lacey in from the outside. Flash, Lacey was hugging her parents and eating food, food that Edward would make as soon as I told him. Lacey would not shift again tonight. She would crash after she consumed two stacks of pancakes. I led Jasper quietly out of the room and went downstairs to tell Edward.
Edward
Alice was showing me her memory of her conversation with Jasper. Bella would not be happy when I told her this. She was really hoping to get her scary when it came to humans and hybrids. Emmett would get a kick out of it though. I was making pancakes as fast as the stove allowed. Alice was standing absently beside me. She was amused by how Bella would feel about her vibes as well. Her mind drifted to Rose and how Jasper felt guilty about it. That was silly. "Rose made a poor judgment call, tackled the cheetah from behind despite Jasper's warning. He couldn't have stopped her. Besides her leg reattached itself just fine." I couldn't suppress my laughter and Alice's tinkling laugh made me feel like I accomplished something. At least she wasn't as worried. I served Lacey three more pancakes and shut the stove off. She was getting full.
"Thank you Edward." She was a little scared but not as much as we thought she'd be when she discovered we were vampires. The worst was over. Just as I thought that, Alice had a vision. Nahuel and Zafrina were talking, they were in our house. Zafrina didn't like Lacey, didn't trust her. There was a shift in vision. Zafrina was stalking a cheetah through the dense forest. Alice's head began to hurt and the vision vanished. She looked at me with wide eyes. What the hell did that mean? Was Zafrina trying to kill Lacey? Why would she do that? Should we try to convince Zafrina not to come here? How would we contact her? What about Lacey, we can't leave her at her house she could shift unconsciously again. Lacey had to stay here. Bella came into the kitchen then and Lacey's thoughts shifted from her hunger. I sighed and turned my attention away from her slightly chaotic Bella thoughts. Jasper was right, Lacey thought she understood Bella. The problem was that she really didn't and listening to the assumptions was annoying.
Bella didn't even look at Lacey but walked straight over to me. "You scared me out there." She whispered into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, visions momentarily forgotten. She had no idea what scared was. Watching her tackle the cheetah when it was bent on killing me was pure torture. "I thought she was going to eat you. Why didn't you attack her?" She was whispering so softly Lacey didn't have a chance of hearing.
"I was listening. It was as if she had two personalities for a moment. It was mesmerizing." I told her honestly. She looked up and stared at me for a few seconds then she nodded and turned towards Lacey who had just fallen asleep in her food. I thought about telling Bella about Zafrina but decided tomorrow was a better day. She would be less annoyed with Lacey. "We should go talk to the Wells, convince them to sleep in their own house and not ours."
Bella laughed, a beautiful sound, "Yes because otherwise we'll need to find a different form of entertainment for tonight."