A/N: Sorry so short, it leads into a chapter or two that were originally going to be a story by itself, but would be kind of short. The next one should be up soon.

Musical Inspiration: None

Chapter 12 – Flight

BPOV

We had gone no farther than a few miles when Edward lightly touched the driver on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, my good man, I'm afraid we must turn back; my date is not feeling well." He said graciously.

I looked at him questioningly. I felt just fine. He frowned slightly and shook his head as if to say, 'Don't ask right now.' I sat back and obliged him; after all, he didn't have to take me out. Perhaps it was he that wasn't feeling well… though Jasper and Alice explained that vampires didn't react to things as humans did, they could still not feel quite right at times…

We reached the house once again and Edward paid the driver, explaining in low whispers that his services would not be needed tonight.

We walked back into the house and Edward looked at me as he spoke; his voice calm but firm.

"Go upstairs and change Bella. My brother and I have some business to discuss… after you are finished, come back and we will set things up from there." He said.

I nodded and did as I was told. I dressed quickly and hurried downstairs to the parlor where Jasper, Alice and Edward sat talking in low tones.

They looked at me in sync as I approached, and for a moment, my heart skipped a beat. Edward was the first to speak.

"Bella, you need to go with Alice, Jasper and I have some business to take care of here in town. Alice has a bag packed for you already… it should last you about three days, she will take care of the situation should you need anything."

"Edward,' I said… 'What about my father? I doubt he'd let me just go off for three days without prior notice."

Alice spoke for him. "Taken care of, sweetie; I called your dad and told him I was one of your best friends from school, and that my family was going on vacation for a week or two. I asked if I could come and collect some of your things, because I wanted to surprise you. I told him you really wanted to go, but that you didn't think he'd let you. He said for you to 'have fun'."

I was speechless. That was so unlike Charlie… and it scared me a bit that Alice was such a proficient liar.

"Now, come on; you'll love traveling in the Porsche!" Alice said excitedly.

"Wait! Edward, what's going on?" I asked frantically.

"Probably nothing. We heard rumor that some of the thugs that broke in the other night might be part of a gang that is headed by a vampire. We thought it might be a good idea to check it out, but for safety think it best that you're not around, just in case." He replied.

I nodded and followed Alice out the door, my eyes lingering on Edward until he was out of view.

I slid into the passenger side of the yellow Porsche. It was nice…very nice.

After we were out of the city limits, Alice gunned the accelerator. My breath caught in my throat.

"Alice, do you think Edward and Jasper are in any danger?" I asked.

"Well, we really can't be sure. You see, vampires are essentially loners for the most part. It's odd to see them tied in any way to humans except for a meal. There are only two other clans like ours that only feed off of animals. We generally do no harm to our own kind if it can be at all helped… it's like an unspoken law. Of course, if one or two are killed for a good reason or just in a skirmish or something, it's generally not a big deal. But otherwise, most respect the law of our kind." She said, less answering my question and only confusing me further.

We drove until we reached the United States/Canada border. Alice booked us a room in a nice hotel and we settled in.

"Any reason we are so close to Canada, Alice?" I asked as we sat staring at the television screen.

She smiled. "Well, not really…except if we get word from the boys, we can quickly be in Denali if need be. That's where some vegetarian friends are of ours."

"Oh." I said and sat thinking about it for a while.

"So, Alice, how long have you been a vampire?" I asked.

"It's a long story, Bella, and not a very happy one. I doubt you'd be interested." She said sweetly.

"Edward's story is sad too. Are all vampire changing's sad?" I asked.

Alice thought for a moment. "Most of the ones I have heard, yes. Most of us were saved from death's door by a benevolent vampire who thought me might be of better use alive than dead. Come to think of it, I've never heard of a vampire who voluntarily changed."

"Oh." I said, speechless.

Alice smiled at me again. "Though, I am one of the few who weren't dying when I was changed. But I did wish I were dead."

I kept my eyes trained on her, hoping she would see the spark of interest and keep going.

"I was as good as dead, Bella, and death was coming for me. A vampire named James wanted to kill me, I was his singer, but where I was he couldn't immediately get to me. A good vampire changed me so that I would not suffer such a painful death… little did they know…"

"Know what?" I asked, enraptured with her story already.

Alice giggled a little tinkling giggle. "If you really want to know, let me start at the beginning… I was born in Biloxi, Mississippi…"

A/N: Okay, the next few chapters will be Alice's story. They really won't affect the whole 112 Masen Lane story at all, but I #1) Needed some filler chapters and #2) Really wanted to write out Alice's story (in my story she remembers everything) and #3) Need something for Alice and Bella to talk about while in exile. ... I might even have photo links, who knows... but if you choose to skip them it really won't hurt your understanding of the original fic already in progress.

Let me know if this is a bad idea.