My eyes narrowed and I grimaced. Alice looked back at me for half a second then looked away.
"Sorry," she murmured. Rosalie and Bella's lips had been pressed together since Alice had said Seth's name and now they howled in laughter. I saw Renesmee trying really hard not to laugh—I knew she didn't want to get on my bad side right not—but it honestly looked like it was painful for her to hold back her hysterics.
"Go ahead," I grumbled. As soon as the last syllable was out of my mouth, Nessie joined Bella and Rose in their laughter. Only Alice and I remained silent.
When their laughter finally died down, they were gasping for the breath they didn't need. Normal human reaction, I thought. They had to be pro at being human in order to blend in so it might've become a reflex to do so.
"Alice," I said when the car turned absolutely silent, "how many times must I tell you—"
"He doesn't like me," Alice mimicked. My eyes narrowed until I was sure they were but two slits on my face.
The car came to an abrupt halt in the middle of an empty seat. Alice had stomped on the brake just seconds before the future flashed before her eyes. When she snapped back, her face was whiter than usual.
"Alice!" Bella screamed. "Alice, Alice what is it!?"
"The Volturi," Alice said barely intelligible.
Bella's face went blank. Rosalie and Nessie stared at Alice with wide, confused eyes. I didn't know much about the Volturi, Alice had only explained them a bit after I recovered from being passed out, but I knew they were bad. I could just tell by the way Alice had said their name with such venom in her voice.
"The Volturi," Nessie whispered solemnly. "Why, Alice?! Why are they coming!?"
"Oh, they're not coming," Alice whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "We're going to Volterra."
Rosalie gasped. "Why? Why are we going there, Alice?"
"Aro knows how to abuse my gift," Alice answered. "He knew that as soon as their decision was set to ask us to go, I would see it."
"Why do they need to see us so badly? Can't they just leave us in peace?" Bella hollered.
Renesmee grabbed my arm. "They didn't find out about Jasmine…did they, Alice?"
Alice shook her head rapidly. There was some relief in the air but we all remained tense. If the Volturi didn't need to see the Cullens because of my knowledge, then why was it so important?
"They want to check on Renesmee," Alice said.
Bella froze at the name of her daughter. Rosalie's eyes became piercing daggers. Renesmee clutched my arm and I clutched her.
"Why?!" I screamed suddenly. "Why do they need to see Renesmee?! She's done nothing wrong!"
"No," Alice agreed, "she hasn't. They're afraid of what she might do, though. Their eyes never lay upon a half breed before Renesmee. Even with the reassurance I showed them, it wasn't enough. They still need to check."
My horror turned into anger. How could they distrust Renesmee? She was so sweet and innocent and loveable! I saw my disgust mirrored on Bella and Rosalie's faces. Renesmee and Alice's faces were still pure horror. I could tell that I was the only one breathing full time; Renesmee only took pinches of air every few minutes.
A horn honked behind us and the distracted silence ended. Alice took her foot off the brake pedal and speeded down the highway, going faster every moment. Alice picked up her phone and dialed a number. A millisecond later, someone seemed to answer.
"Carlisle," Alice seemed relived. She explained the situation at hand to her adoptive father and when she was done, I heard dead silence on the other end of the phone. He might've not been speaking…or it might've been too low for me to hear. I could never be sure.
Alice put down her phone and went faster and faster down the street. It was only a few minutes later that we were back at the Cullens' house. Edward was already outside waiting for us—the poor guy was shaking like a maniac. Before the car even came to a full stop, Bella and Renesmee were out and in Edward's arms. He tightened his hold on Bella and kissed the top of Renesmee's head. It was then that I noticed Nessie crying with fear. Edward wiped away each of her quickly coming tears, one after another. Bella was sobbing but no tears came out of her eyes. Alice and Rosalie ushered me inside.
Everyone was there. The Cullens and the werewolves were both equally nervous about the situation. Renesmee ran into Jacob's opened arms and cried into his shoulder. Seth was trying his best to calm Esme who looked so stricken with terror that it was amazing. Even Leah was chewing her nails off because of her nerves. And, as usual, the only person I noticed was Seth. Pathetic, I murmured to myself, how pathetic can you possible be?
"Alice," Esme sighed once she saw us. "Alice…when do we leave?"
Alice heaved a heavy, painful sigh. "Three nights from tonight," she said regretfully.
I wondered by they were all so afraid. Renesmee was doing fine. She hadn't hurt anyone. The Volturi wasn't going to burn them for no reason.
"Jasmine," Edward said. Of course I could count on him to answer any question. "It's not Renesmee or our…er…would you know what I meant if I said lives?" I nodded. "Good. That isn't what any of us are worried about. Even Nessie herself isn't crying of fear for her life."
I was dumbfounded. That left me baffled. What were they afraid of, then? I'd been confused before, but never like this.
"Jasmine," Seth said from across the room, "it's your life we're all worried about."
My mouth dropped. My life!? Why was my life in danger now!?
"There are rules for vampires, Jasmine," Seth explained. "They all fall under the same category, though. Protect the secret. The werewolves have the same thing, but no punishment. In the vampire world, you expose the secret, and the Volturi will take care of you."
"How does this apply to me, though? I've done nothing wrong!" I was crying now. I didn't notice until Seth came up, hugged me, and wiped away the single tear that was dangling on my cheek.
"You've done nothing wrong, Jazzy," Nessie said. "We have. We told you our secret. Now, vampire life and Volturi dinner are your only options!" Alice started dry sobbing into Jasper's chest at the reminder.
"I'm sorry, Jasmine!" she whimpered. "I'm so sorry!"
Everyone was staring at me with sympathy in their eyes. I tried to think of something to calm them. Suddenly, I felt like a light bulb should've flashed about my head.
"Bella," I said.
Bella's head snapped up. "What about me?"
"Bella," I said again. "Bella, when you were human, you knew!"
"And so did the Volturi," she confirmed.
"Exactly!" I screamed. "They did nothing to Bella! And becoming a vampire was her choice, right? The Volturi didn't force her to!"
"I still would've had to choose," Bella said, "between vampire life and death even if my decision hadn't been made yet. Once the Volturi knew, they were bound to kill me that moment but we convinced them of my destiny."
That made sense, I suppose. Mine and Bella's words seemed to make my family even more distressed. I searched for a way to patch it up.
"And if we were to convince them that I was to become a vampire—"
"Which you won't!" Alice interrupted. I rolled my eyes.
"If we could convince them then I'd be safe!" I finished.
"No, the Volturi can't be fooled," Alice disagreed. "It's impossible to convince them of falsehoods."
"How would they know, anyway?" I screamed. "They'll believe you! You came through with Bella, so why wouldn't you be able to come through with me?"
Carlisle sighed. "My dear, we already 'endangered' the secret once before. The Volturi may not sit around to chat this time. They could destroy us all the moment they find out."
"But how can they find out!?" I asked. My voice sounded so hysterical and incoherent, my eyes wet with tears. Seth's arms tightened around me. "If we lie, how will they know!?"
"Aro," Edward murmured. "Aro can read minds."
"Then you don't think about me…?" I suggested.
Edward shook his head. "Aro's power works differently than mine. He'll touch a being's hand and know every single thought they've ever had, ever single memory. As soon as they find out about you, the possibilities are limited and painful."
"I'm sorry!" Alice screamed again. Jasper whispered the same words at me and kissed Alice's head.
"I'm going," I said after a long silence.
My entire family's eyes—vampire and werewolf alike—flashed to my face.
"No," Alice and Jasper said.
"No," the rest of the Cullens agreed.
"No," Seth growled. Leah and Jacob just shook their heads.
"I have to go! I can't let you guys be punished for me!" I said to them.
"You're not going, Jazzy," Alice said.
"Why?" I asked her.
Alice stared into the future and Edward's face froze. Surely, he was seeing her vision in her head.
"You're not going," Alice repeated.
"Alice," Carlisle said, "what did you see?"
"Aro is going to see Jasmine in my thoughts," Alice said. "They'll take the plane back with us."
"All of them?" Esme gasped. "Again?"
Alice shook her head. "No, not all of them. Only eight of them will come."
"Which eight?" Emmett demanded. I hadn't noticed him standing next to the unusually quiet Rosalie.
"Jane, Alec, Caius, Aro, Demitri, Felix, Chelsea, and Renata are the only ones."
Emmett murmured something unintelligible. By the looks on the Cullens' faces, I didn't think this was a good thing.
"The more powerful ones always come," Edward murmured.
"Where will she stay while we're gone?" Esme asked.
"That's a great idea, Seth!" Alice said. "Of course! Jasmine can stay with you and Leah!"