A/N: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Forks Academy for Special Gifted Students :D Today's episode will be called Back and forth, simply because I had to jump back and forth between the POVs. I hope you don't mind too much...
Soo, a few things I need to say, before I let you read: 1) Thank you dawn mae- I am more than happy that you reviewed so much ( it made the number go up)
2) Laratwilighter- I could have kissed you, hugged you and married you for your review. I'm glad that you like the two idiots I created :D
3) I'm sorry, if there is not enough ExB in the story :( There are a couple of reasons for that. First one: The story plotline doesn't resolve around love and those kind of thing. Also I have somethng big in stock for those two, so yeah and last but not least: I don't know why, but somehow I'm always getting stuck in this story when I have to write something about Edward-.- So bellacullen202 I'm sorry. Really and a lot...
4) Thank you xBookLover17x :D My beta and Iare very grateful for your review
5) Of course I love all my readers and I would list all of your names and say thank you, but I'm too lazy ( way to show my gratitude) so yeah...sorry -.-' I sometimes suck like that...
Hmm...anything else? No? Okay:)
Alice POV
"Great, because of you, we're lost," I snapped at Chris, looking around for something - anything - that looked familiar.
We'd somehow found ourselves at a paved walkway that went through the jungle. I really didn't why it was there, but the astral plane wasn't known for being a very straight-forward place.
"Me?" Chris asked. "I didn't get us lost. You decided to wander off, and now we don't know how to get back to where we were!"
"I'm not talking about that stupid meadow. Why would we even want to go back there anyway? I meant it's your fault that we are on the astral plane in the first place."
"First of all, it's kind of important where in the plane we actually are, because I could have made it to the right spot, just in the wrong dimension. And secondly, I think you should be more grateful for me since I saved our lives."
"Oh yes, I'm grateful. Now I'm gonna die a slow death because I'm going to starve in the middle of no where instead of being killed quick, and maybe even painlessly, by some psychopath."
I wasn't enjoying this trip at all. We'd been wandering around for hours before we made it to this pavement or road or whatever it was. It seemed to be endless, but I made up my mind to follow the trail anyway.
Chris muttered something I didn't catch, which was probably a good thing, because I couldn't imagine it was something nice. It probably also would have made me want to throttle her even more than I already did for getting us stuck in this mess.
"I'm hungry," I complained after a while of silence and Chris snorted at me. "And thirsty," I added. Again, I received no verbal reply. "And tired."
"Dammit Alice, what do you expect me to do? Shall I just make food and shelter magically appear?" Chris yelled.
I flinched. I didn't like it when people yelled at me. "You could try," I whimpered.
Chris only gave me a responding huff as we continued walking through the dense jungle, hearing nothing more than our own soft steps and heavy breathing.
Bella POV
It was already three o'clock and there was still no sign of Chris.
I was going crazy hoping that nothing had happened to her and not wanting to believe that it was a possibility. Of course I was also worried about Alice, but Chris was my twin sister.
The bond seemed to be numb because I currently felt nothing coming from Chris, and when I reached through it, there was nothing to be heard, which only proved to irk me more.
I remembered that day a few months ago when the bond had completely cut off, only to regenerate. This was not the same thing. It was still present, I could feel that much, but it was silent. Completely and utterly mute.
At least I knew that she and Alice were together where ever they were.
We'd moved from the dining room and into Laurent's living room. It was small, but comfortable and warm, and the couch was actually big enough to allow all of us to sit without being squished. But we didn't use that to our advantage. Instead, Rose and I sat huddled together in each others arms, trying to stay as calm as possible.
Edward was sitting at my feet, leaning against my legs and constantly running his hand through his hair. He was anxious. Jasper was pacing up and down, mumbling to himself. By the sounds of it, he was blaming himself for everything. Dylan and Emmett were somewhere upstairs. After Dylan disappeared there and we heard a crash, Emmett had raced up after him.
"Jasper, it wasn't your fault," Edward murmured quietly, interrupting Jasper's pacing.
"How can you say that?" Jasper retorted immediately. He was more than outraged. "It was my idea to go after them, and it was my idea to send Alice in there. It was my plan, and it's my fault." I could tell his anger wasn't directed at Edward, but at himself.
"Jasper, it is not your fault," Edward tried again, this time a bit more forcefully. "You didn't know they had a protection charm around the room; not even Alice saw that."
"You're right, I didn't, but I could have stopped this whole thing from happening if I had just pulled the plug on this operation the moment we realized you couldn't hear their thoughts and I couldn't feel their emotions."
Edward sighed, sensing it was pointless to try to get Jasper to see that it wasn't his fault.
When we'd regrouped at Laurent's place, the boys told us what had happened to them. When Dylan, Chris, and Alice took off, Edward noticed that he couldn't read the thoughts of anyone up there, and Jasper couldn't sense anything either. Apparently Alice had mentioned only moments before that she couldn't see anything. However, Edward was still able to get into my mind, so he just kept tabs on me while I was in Chris' mind.
Then when everything went south, and my group went to go get Mr. Decour, Edward and the others were suddenly surrounded by Victoria, Irina, and Demetri. Jasper had managed to confuse them long enough to enable them to quickly flee. They hid behind the school in case they were being followed, and then Dylan luckily appeared to rescue them.
I filled the guys in on what happened with Chris and Alice, and Dylan informed them of what Laurent had said to us.
Even in a stressed situation like this, Edward was paying close attention.
"What do you mean he just disappeared?" he asked in confusion.
"I think he beamed," Dylan answered with a shrug.
Edward just looked thoughtful after that.
And then somehow, we came to where we are now. After staring at me for an hour and still not hearing anything from Chris, everyone freaked out and dealt with it in their own way.
Dylan and Emmett reappeared then, both looking a little like they'd had a fight. I didn't bother asking them about that. All I wanted right now was my sister back. I'd never been so scared in my life, and the thought of something possibly happening to someone as cute, little, and innocent as Alice only made it worse.
Edward, having heard my thoughts, patted my leg softly, trying to calm me and not succeeding at all.
Another hour flew by without any news from our two missing friends.
Alice POV
We were wandering through the woods again, searching for a meadow or a place to rest. My feet were killing me, my throat was burning, and my clothes were uncomfortably clinging to my stick.
Even if Chris did her best to seem as unaffected by this as she could, I could still see that she was just as exhausted as I was. She had tried beaming us back out several times, but it never worked. We only landed somewhere else within this expanse of nothingness.
Suddenly there was a snake right in front of my feet. I squealed and jumped back, bumping into Chris. She looked down and saw the three-headed snake. Her body went rigid, but she made no sound. Instead, she threw a flame at the reptile in front of us, effectively burning it.
"Thanks," I mumbled to her with a sigh of relief.
"No problem," she replied, but I knew that wasn't true. This whole situation was taking a toll on her, just like it was on me. But instead of whining, complaining, crying, and shrieking like me, she was staying as calm as she could, only occasionally yelling at me for getting on her nerves, but still not reacting as much as she normally would.
The thought that she was trying to protect me and stay calm in order for me not to freak out crossed my mind. Her staying calm, unlike me, probably helped because I was sure I would have had much worse outbursts than the ones that already occurred had she not been placid.
After wandering around over endless rocks, roots, and dirt, a meadow finally came in our sight and I instantly recognized it. It was the same as the one we'd been at when we originally landed here.
Chris seemed to notice this too and let out a grunt of recognition.
I sank down on the dirty ground, already beyond caring if I got dirt or mud on me. I leaned against the giant tree behind me and enjoyed the only good thing about this. My feet could finally relax.
Chris sat down next to me, not uttering a single word. Our conversations hadn't exactly been the most productive since we got here.
"Chris, I'm sorry for yelling at you and blaming you for everything," I said softly to her and she turned to look at me in surprise. "I mean, I know you only wanted to save us, and it's not your fault that we landed here. Well, it kind of is, but you know, being a beginner at this whole teleportation thing—"
"Thanks, Alice," Chris interrupted my senseless rambling and actually smiled a little at me.
"You know, I think you actually did quite well tonight. I'm pretty sure it would have been worse if you hadn't managed to get us out of there, despite what I said earlier."
"You don't have to try to make me feel better, Alice," Chris told me with a grin. It wasn't like her usual smile, though.
"Yes, I do. We're in this mess together, and it'll be much more bearable if we comfort each other," I told her wisely.
She only shook her head and slung her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees and staring off into space.
"Maybe you should try beaming again," I suggested.
"I can't. We've already used all of the stone's energy for now," she mumbled.
"Well damn. Of course it would be harder for us to get away than it was for Dylan," I grumbled.
Chris' ears perked up at that. "How did he escape? He only told me how he got stuck here for three days."
"Oh, he told you that?"
She nodded.
"Well, I asked him once and he said that he couldn't beam back into the right dimension, but he could get to the spot he wanted to be. At one point, he just got so desperate to get back home to us that it just worked.
Chris looked thoughtful for a minute. "Desires are sometimes stronger than thoughts," I heard her mutter to herself.
"Huh?"
She shook her head slowly. "Nothing really. It's just...Dylan once said that desires are stronger than thoughts. You land somewhere you want to be instead of where you should."
"You should totally give me the stone then, because I really wanna get back to Jazz," I replied, making her chuckle.
"I think we should wait for it to reload it's energy."
I sighed. The stones sucked their energy from the person who wore it, so the reloading worked best when the person was sleeping.
Bella POV
It was almost six and the situation in the house hadn't changed much. We rarely spoke, and barely moved. Rose had fallen asleep beside me, but the rest of us were wide awake.
Jasper had long ago stopped his pacing, but was by no means relaxed. Edward dozed off every now and then, but always woke up with a start. Maybe he wasn't as awake as he wanted to be.
Dylan sat quietly in a corner with a sketchpad and pencils, furiously sketching on it, and seemingly focused entirely on the task.
Emmett decided to Rosalie upstairs to one of the bedrooms then.
"Maybe you should go too," Edward suggested softly and I looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "You should sleep," he elaborated.
I raised my eyebrows at him. "You're the one who keeps dozing off," I noted.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Go with Emmett and at least keep Rose company," he said.
I gave in with a sigh. I knew deep down in my mind that he was right and that I should sleep, but my mind wasn't willing to accept that.
I followed Emmett, who had Rose cuddled in his arms, as he carefully carried her up the stairs. He turned into the first room on the left. It was a beautiful and tidy bedroom, darkened by the curtains. Emmett gently placed Rose on the bed and kissed her cheek softly. Then he turned to me with a sad smile on us usually cheerful face.
"You should really try to sleep," he murmured to me before pulling me in for a gentle hug.
I hadn't even noticed that tears were streaming down my face until I saw them soaking through Emmett's shirt. I'd been working very hard to keep them at bay, but for some reason, Emmett's concerned behavior set me off. He pulled me down on the bed beside him and held me as I cried, not trying to tell me that everything was going to be fine or that I shouldn't be sad. Instead, he merely comfortingly rubbed my back and just allowed me to cry.
I sobbed and sniffled in an attempt to gain control over the tears. Hundreds of images flew through my head.
How, when we were five, Chris always insisted on wearing the same clothes as me. How Chris used to be afraid of going to the bathroom on her own. She would always tug me along when she had to use the bathroom while I always needed her in crowded places.
I hadn't been very comfortable around people, and Chris hadn't always been as independent as she was now. We had always been like one person until we turned fourteen and tried to do our own thing. It never really succeeded much, but it worked enough for others not to think of us as one person anymore.
I remember the time I had to stay at the hospital over night and I cried the whole time because Chris hadn't been there. Back then, I had felt empty when she was gone. Now it was so much worse. I didn't just feel empty. I felt as if someone had taken my arms and legs and told me to fend for myself without them.
I always thought of myself as more brilliant than Chris, but now that she was gone, I could feel that the workings of my brain slowed down in the same way I felt as if my heartbeats had lessened. It hadn't been this bad when I was downstairs with Edward close to me, knowing that there was someone who cared about me just as much as my sister did. But without Edward's soothing presence, there was nothing left.
I definitely wasn't a person when my sister wasn't around, and I wondered how long it would take before I shattered to pieces.
Sleep overcame me slowly and soon, the pain in my heart dulled, only for my mind to be plagued by nightmares.
Alice POV
Chris didn't sleep. I noticed that every time I woke for a brief moment. She would just be sitting there in the same position as she was before, looking blankly ahead. One time I asked her if she just didn't want to sleep.
"Someone has to stay awake and keep watch," she'd explained.
"I could do that much better than you," I'd told her with a roll of my eyes.
Chris had sighed. "I'm trying to connect with Bella, but it's not working," she then explained and went back to staring at nothing in particular.
I let the conversation drop then. I knew she was more than just a little worried about the fact that she couldn't reach Bella. It was right after she came to the conclusion that we were on the astral plane that she'd noticed that.
"The astral plane? Seriously? How the hell did you manage to get us here? Of all the places in the world, you justhadto beam us to the one place that is not in the world!" I screeched at Chris.
She looked up at me and quirked an eyebrow. "You know, you might wanna calm down a bit, otherwise I'll beam back without you," she said to me.
I narrowed my eyes at her but shut up anyway.
Chris smiled smugly and then slung her arms around me.
I really hated beaming. To me, it felt like being jammed into a pipe that didn't allow you to breathe. I was relieved that it didn't take too long to do, though. I opened my eyes and looked around. I couldn't really explain where we were. It was completely white. I couldn't even distinguish the difference between up and down.
I frowned. "I think you got it wrong," I then sneered at Chris.
Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes at me before she tried again.
We landed in that meadow once more. Chris looked like she'd had some kind of realization and squeezed her eyes shut. This time, she didn't even manage to move us an inch. How pathetic.
"Are you done now?" I asked her, feeling a little annoyed. To say I was pissed at having to be here was the understatement of the century. I knew that I shouldn't be taking it out on Chris, but I couldn't help it.
"I think so," she answered and I heard the blatant disappointment in her voice.
"So what do we do now?" I asked, trying my best not to sound as bitchy as I did before.
Chris shrugged, but then she looked like she had an idea. She closed her eyes.
"What are you doing? Meditating?"
"No, I'm trying to talk to Bella."
"Is it working?" This place was really messing with my patience.
Chris' brow furrowed, but she said nothing. After a few moments of silence, her shoulders slumped and she looked at me with watery eyes. "I can't talk to Bella," she muttered helplessly.
"What do you mean you can't talk to her? Don't you think this is a bad time to be lacking in skills? You should be concentrating a lot more, really. That way, we wouldn't even be here."
"Hey, I was in a panic and I was concentrating on the right place," Chris instantly defended herself.
"Then why are we here?"
She looked away, guilt etched onto her face. "I think I lapsed in control for just a tiny second," she mumbled.
"Well then concentrate and try to get to Bella now," I instructed.
"You don't understand—"
"Of course I don't. I don't think I'll ever understand that bond between the two of you. I really don't get how it's supposed to form on it's own. I mean, I get how it works when you forge one, yours—"
"That's not what I meant," Chris yelled. I looked at her. "I meant I can't connect to Bella because the bond isn't working the way it usually does. It's numb or something. I can't feel a thing!"
That was, of course, very bad news. I watched Chris as she paced up and down, muttering in a way that made her sound like one of those crazy people in the movies.
"Of course I had to get my wish at the wrong time," I heard her say once.
So here we were now, with no plan of escape, and Chris was still worrying about the fact that she couldn't communicate with her sister. I knew that she already had the worst scenarios running through her head.
"It's probably not working because we're in another dimension," I suggested once.
"But the bond alwaysworks," Chris replied.
"Yes, but right now, we're technically in the world of death, or at least as close as you can get to it without actually being dead. I can't see anything that's going on at home," I told her.
"Are you sure? Have you even tried?"
"Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure. I just tried to see something earlier and failed," I answered slowly.
"You lied to Jasper, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You told him that we were going to be alright and that you'd be lying in your bed two hours later. Now it's probably been way more than two hours and we're still here." She looked at her watched while she spoke, though there was no use.
Time simply didn't exist in this place.
Bella POV
I woke up when I felt the bed shift beside me. I slowly opened my eyes to see Rose's are coming toward me, and before I could react, it had already slung itself around me. When I tried to free myself from her grip, she just pulled me close and threw a leg over me to top it off. She was practically lying on top me of when the door opened. I couldn't look up, but the chuckle I heard definitely came from Emmett.
"Don't laugh, help me!" I whisper-screamed breathlessly, still trying to free myself from her iron grasp.
Emmett's arms wrapped around Rose and pried her gently off of me. "She tends to do that often. You're lucky, she can get a lot worse. I can't remember how many times she's thrown me out of the bed," he told me.
I smiled weakly at him and got up.
Emmett's expression quickly switched back to one of concern. "Hey, if you're hungry, Edward made some breakfast."
I nodded and went downstairs, smelling pancakes the moment I stepped out of the bedroom.
Emmett didn't come down with me.
I followed the scent of pancakes and landed in the kitchen where Edward stood at the stove, and Dylan was sat at the table.
"Morning," I mumbled when I entered. The two boys turned their attention to me and I couldn't help but to smile back when both of them showed similar smiles at the same time.
"Good morning, Bella. How was your sleep?" Dylan asked a little too cheerfully.
"It was okay until Rose tried to suffocate me."
Edward chuckled at that. "She really is horrible to sleep next to," he said. Dylan and I looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I can read minds, remember?" Edward said, erasing any kind of suspicion.
We both just nodded.
"Speaking of sleep," I started. "Did either of you get any sleep?"
"Not a wink," Dylan answered for the both of them.
I frowned at that. "What about Jasper?"
"He fell asleep on the couch. I think he's still sleeping."
Edward came up behind me and pushed me gently into one of the kitchen chairs, then placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. I didn't bother telling him that I wasn't hungry because I knew he would probably make me eat anyway.
Silence followed as I dug into my pancakes. Edward was watching me and Dylan was staring out the window.
I sighed and tried to break this misery. I really didn't need it after last night. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" I asked lightly.
"We're going to the fair opening this afternoon," Edward told me.
"Oh God, the fair starts today. I forgot about that."
"Bella, chill," Dylan said calmly.
"What time is it?" I demanded.
"Ten."
"I have to be at the Hydro meeting at eleven. We have final rehearsals," I said and instantly jumped up.
"Sit down, Bella," Edward calmed me, but it didn't really help.
My mind was already racing.
"I have to go through the whole planning and I said that I'd help check on the perfumery and I promised Japree that I would go to his tasting and I have to try on—"
"Bella, calm yourself," Edward said a little more urgently than before.
"Do you guys have to go to your groups too or no? Oh God, we're probably messing up the whole fair for everyone—" I was already halfway out the door.
"Bella, you're not going anywhere," Edward told me, making me pause in my motions.
I looked at him. "Of course I am. I can't just leave them all hanging like that. They expect me to help them. Do you know how much work we've put into this?" I argued and kept moving. "I refuse to let them down too."
"Bella, sit!" Dylan suddenly shouted.
I wavered for a moment, but then stepped through the kitchen door anyway.
"Now!" he insisted in a dark voice.
And then something strange happened. I lost control of my senses. I felt how my legs started to turn around and walk back toward the boys, but I wasn't making them do it. I couldn't even fight against it. I felt something different roaming around my mind, but I didn't have the energy to fight it either. I was standing next to the table again.
"Sit," Dylan commanded and my body immediately obliged. When I sat down, I returned to normal and it felt like I was waking up or something.
"That wasn't necessary, Dylan," Edward hissed at his brother.
"Of course it was. She wasn't listening, now was she?"
"You're not supposed to use it."
I looked back and forth between the boys, who were glaring at each other.
"I don't think I'll get in trouble for that," Dylan spat.
"How can you be sure? They're keeping tabs on you."
Dylan sighed. "Just thank me for saving your girlfriend from running off on her own."
Then it clicked in my head. I had just experienced Dylan's mind control. I never really thought much about it, but I was a bit surprised to realize how much control he could actually have over someone. But then I thought about something else and frowned in confusion.
"Your shield's not in place," Edward said quietly, answering my thought.
I nodded slowly.
"Listen Bella, I'm sorry. I'm not actually supposed to use my gift, but you kind of didn't give me much of a choice here," Dylan murmured apologetically.
When I gave no reply, Edward sighed. "Bella, none of us will be leaving this house until the opening of the fair," he told me gently as he took both of my hands in his.
"Why not? If I went to the rehearsals, I wouldn't be alone, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Mr. Decour called us this morning and told us not to leave the house before the fair opening. As a matter of fact, he wants us to stay here until he gets back."
"But I can't let the Hydros down too," I said and tears started to fill my eyes.
"Bella, you didn't tell anyone down and you never will. We can call Japree or Bryce for you and tell them you're not feeling well. I'm sure they can arrange to go through your routines tomorrow morning," Dylan said.
"You'd do that for me?" I asked him with a shaky voice.
Dylan smiled gently and nodded before he got up to leave the kitchen. He brushed his hand over my head softly as he passed me, and then he was gone.
"Bella, love, there's no need for you to blame yourself. It's not your fault, it's not Jasper's fault. It's nobody's fault really. We all could have done something differently, and we all feel guilty, but there was no way that we could have known how this would end," Edward quickly started soothing me. He walked around the table and sat in the seat next to me, then pulled me gently onto his lap.
"But maybe I could have—"
"What exactly could you have done that would've prevented any of this? There's nothing that you could have done then, and there's nothing you can do now except follow Mr. Decour's advice."
"But what if something happened to Chris and Alice? They could be dead for all we know!" I cried.
Sadness flickered across Edward's face. "Do you honestly believe they're dead?" he asked in a low, quiet voice.
I thought about it. I'm sure that if Chris had died, I would have felt it and known immediately.
I slowly shook my head.
"See. And as long as you believe that, the rest of us will too. Chris and Alice are going to be back with us soon," he tried to reassure me, but it sounded more as if he was trying to convince himself more than me.
Alice POV
"There's no way we're going to be back with the others soon," I whined after Chris' fourth attempt at beaming us out of this place. So far, we'd only managed to land in various places around the astral plane, and by the end of her tries, we were standing in that damned meadow again.
"Gee, thanks for the support," Chris mumbled sarcastically.
"I'm just telling the truth," I said to her. "Why is it that we land in this meadow so much?"
"I don't know. Every time I try to get us to the elementary school, we land here," Chris answered.
"You don't really think that they're still waiting at the school for us?" I asked her in disbelief.
"No, I don't, but no other place works either. I've tried your parents' house, my room, Bella's room, hell, I even tried Jasper's room," she finished exasperatedly.
"We are so going to miss the opening of the fair," I mumbled sadly.
"The fair? We're trapped in some freaky parallel dimension and you're worried about missing some little kids jump around on a stage?"
"They don't just jump around - they sing too. And I've been excited for this ever since I came to this school, and now I'm not even going to be there," I sniffled.
That softened Chris up a bit and she came over to give me a gentle hug. "Don't worry. The first day is only the play, right?" she asked and I nodded. "Well, then we need to make sure that we're back in time for the second day so you won't miss your debut as part of the fair," she said with so much confidence that I had to smile.
"And how do you plan to do that?" I asked her.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll think of something." She started pacing around thoughtfully. That reminded me of Jasper. He was always pacing all over the place when he was thinking really hard about something or worrying. He always worried so much about me that I was pretty sure he'd be close to a heart attack by now.
I sighed. "Too bad we can't just call them."
"Do you even have your phone with you?" Chris asked.
I pulled it out of my pocket. "Always."
Chris glared at me and opened her mouth, probably to yell at me.
"Before you say anything, I already tried, okay?" I continued. "It's not working. But you didn't really think it would, did you?"
Chris' shoulders slumped back down. "I was still hoping."
"Well, we can't call them, that's for sure. Ugh, it won't even let me send a text message," I groaned and threw myself down on the ground. It was scary how comfortable I'd gotten with laying in the dirt. My stomach started to grumble. I groaned again and tried to think of anything other than the dull ache that started forming in my stomach. It wasn't working.
After a while, Chris fell down beside me. "Hungry?" My stomach answered her question causing her to chuckle quietly. "Me too. Never thought the day would come that I'd be willing to eat anything."
"Even human flesh?" I asked with a giggle.
She grimaced. "Okay, well maybe not everything," she murmured. "But if I had to choose between licking peanut butter off the street and kissing Justin Timberlake, I would be licking that street so hard my tongue would bleed."
"That's gross," I told her and then thought about it. "But right now, I'd probably do that too."
She laughed quietly at that. "And if you had to choose between eating a doughnut that fell in the toilet, and taking a hot bubble bath?"
"I would so go for that doughnut," I sighed dreamily as I thought about chocolate-filled doughnuts. I was so entranced by the thought that I completely forgot about the whole toilet thing.
"Now that is gross, Alice," Chris laughed.
"Well I'm sure if you had to choose between eating cheese that Emmett rubbed all over his body after playing sports, and making out with Dylan for an hour, you would so eat the cheese," I said to her in a teasing tone.
Chris didn't answer right away. "Yeah, maybe," she then murmured half-heartedly.
I sat up instantly. "You totally just hesitated," I accused.
"No, I did not," she shot back, looking at me as if I didn't know what I was talking about. What she didn't know was that I had a sixth sense for these sort of things, even without my psychic abilities.
"So you'd rather eat a sweaty Emmett-cheese?" I asked and she flinched. "Ah ha!" I shouted, pointing my finger at her.
"What's that supposed to tell me?" she asked me with an annoyed expression.
"You didn't just choose Dylan over food, you chose him over food in a starvation situation."
"No, I didn't. You're just assuming things so you have something to smile smugly about."
"I'm not smiling smugly."
"Then what's that smile on your face right now?"
"This, my dear," I said, pointing to my own face, "is a knowing smile. Why, might you ask, am I wearing a knowing smile? Simple. This is because I know you lo—"
"Finish that sentence and I'll make sure you never debut at any fair in your entire life," she hissed dangerously. Chris had shot up abruptly and covered my mouth with her hand.
I narrowed my eyes at her and then slipped my tongue out.
"Ew," Alice. That was totally unnecessary," Chris complained and pulled her hand away to wipe it off on her pants.
"Chris and Dylan sitting in a tree," I started singing.
"Seriously, Alice? How childish can you get?" Chris complained.
"Says the one who wouldn't let me say that you lo—"
"That is completely different." Chris had gotten up and actually stomped her foot on the ground.
I fell back, laughing at her.
"I don't see why this is so funny to you."
"I don't think I've ever met anyone who was so against the L word," I giggled.
"I'm not against any L words," Chris objected. "Lamp, light, liar, lift, like, luluhalabulu..."
"Luluhalabulu?" I asked, tears already streaming down my face from all this laughter.
Chris just rolled her eyes.
Slowly I regained my composure and calm down, only letting out the occasional chuckle. "You know what I meant. You can't admit that you love Dylan," I told her then, in a more serious manner.
"That's because I don't," Chris retorted.
"Oh really? And the fact that you've been getting along so well with him ever since you guys started spending quality time together isn't some kind of evidence?"
"No, it's not. First of all, we didn't spend any 'quality time' together, he was teaching me. And secondly, we only got to know each other better, so naturally, we get along."
"Um, yeah, and what about the fact that the reason you even had to take lessons in the first place is always hanging around your neck?"
"It's a nice necklace and I tend to lose necklaces very easily if I don't wear them."
"Then why do you hate his girlfriend so much?"
"She's not his girlfriend," Chris said, a little too harshly, then immediately clapped her hands over her mouth.
I rose my eyebrows at her. "And you know this because...?"
Chris shook her head.
"Oh, come on. You can tell me. Who am I gonna tell? There's a possibility that we'll die here, so we might as well share all of our secrets."
Chris tried to stare me down, but I wouldn't let her. I may be tiny, but that's never stopped me from getting what I want.
After several moments, Chris sighed in surrender and I mentally patted my back for a job well done. "He told me," she said simply, trying to make it sound casual.
"Why'd he tell you, but no one else?"
"He only told me last night and that's only because I—"
"Yes?"
"Nothing," Chris mumbled and looked at the ground.
"Don't you want to tell me?"
"No, I don't."
"Well, you should."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Ugh, fine. He told me because I offered to share my bed with him, even if Heidi would be upset about tha—"
"You what?" I shrieked, a little later than I would have had I not been so shocked.
Chris flinched back.
"You slept in the same bed as him? Details, now, please," I demanded in excitement.
"There's nothing to tell," Chris said with a blush.
"You're blushing and you don't blush unless things are really embarrassing, so you better spill.
Chris shook her head fiercely.
I looked at her in thought and then gasped in shock. "You guys did it, didn't you? Oh my God, you are worse than Rose and Emmett. Not even Jasper and I—"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris screeched.
"I was just saying that not even Jasper and I have had sex, and yet you and Dylan just—"
"I didn't sleep with him," Chris yelled quickly. "I mean, I slept with him, but we didn't have sex. Seriously, Alice, what kind of girl do you think I am? And how come people always ask me if I did it with Dylan?"
"So you and Dylan didn't do it?" I asked, wanting to be sure.
"No, we didn't. God, I do have some common sense," she replied, still blushing hard.
I just nodded.
Bella POV
I was sitting in the living room, watching Jasper's sleeping form, when Dylan entered.
"I called Japree. He said that you'll just open up a little later tomorrow so you can go through your routine first," he told me.
I smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem." He patted my head softly.
At that exact moment, I felt a jolt of embarrassment, excitement, and longing go through me as images flashed through my mind. I grabbed Dylan's hand and pulled him close without really wanting to. I just had this incredible need to be close to him, to touch him, to kiss him. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong.
"Bella, what are you doing?" Dylan asked when I slowly moved my face to be in front of his.
"I don't know," I whispered. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper sitting up. His eyes went to us instantly and widened.
"Hey guys, is Jasper up yet?" I heard Edward's voice.
My face had been inching closer to Dylan's, who seemed to be trying to get out of my range.
"What's going on here?" I heard Edward ask, his voice much closer this time. That was all I needed.
In an instant, I'd let go of Dylan and rushed to Edward's side. The moment I stopped touching Dylan, that desire I felt died down a bit.
Edward looked back and forth between me and Dylan. "Would someone mind explaining?" he asked, glaring at Dylan now.
"I think Bella has just developed some really strong feelings for Dylan," Jasper threw in as he looked at all of us.
I looked at Edward and saw his beautiful emerald eyes on me, not looking very happy. And that's when I returned fully to my emotional world.
"Chris," I whispered in understanding and then a bit louder, I said, "Chris. That was Chris!" I started jumping up and down excitedly.
"Chris?" the boys asked at once, but then understanding dawned on Dylan's face, though he still looked a little confused.
"You mean Chris just pulled Bella into her mind?" Edward asked Dylan in reply to his thoughts.
"Seems like it," he replied with a light shrug. "Although Chris was a lot more out of it when it happened to her."
"That's because I wasn't really in her mind, I was just...possessed by her emotions," I explained, my heart pumping furiously in my chest. I tried to reach back through the bond, but it was just as numb as before.
"Why in the world would Chris be thinking of Dylan right now, let alone lusting after him and feeling embarrassed at the same time?" Jasper asked, sounding highly confused.
"She's with Alice," Edward and Dylan answered together, their voices making it sound like the explanation for everything.
Jasper accepted that answer with a nod.
"Well did you see where they are?" Edward asked me.
I shook my head.
"It must be pretty far if the bond stopped working properly," mumbled Jasper.
"But it seems like, if the emotions are strong enough, they can make it through," Dylan added, a thoughtful and slightly joyful expression on his face. "You and Edward!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"What about us?" I asked.
Dylan rolled his eyes as if I was missing something obvious. "She gets pulled into your mind every time you guys make out, so maybe you should just—"
"What for? So Chris can watch?" Edward asked.
"Maybe it'll help create a connection."
I rose my eyebrows at that. It was Jasper who came up with a genius idea.
"You can just use those emotions, pull her into your mind, and then ask her where she is. Maybe she'll be able to answer."
I thought about that.
"It's worth a try," Edward said with a shrug and looked at me.
I turned to see Dylan and Jasper looking expectantly at me as well. "You don't honestly think we'll do it here?" I asked them.
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Then get upstairs and start already."
"I can't just feel all..." I dug through my mind for the right word.
"Excited? Turned on?" Dylan offered.
"Not really what I was going to say."
"Look Bella, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. We could probably find some oth—" Edward started, but Jasper interrupted him.
"And what other way is there? Let Bella kiss Dylan? That might have worked before the connection was lost."
Oh God, I couldn't even imagine what it must feel like to kiss Dylan. Sure, I'd just seen a few of Chris' memories, but that wasn't like actually doing it.
"Seriously Edward, just go upstairs and make sure you excite the girl," Dylan uttered bluntly.
Well, that was nicely said.
"Do you hear yourself talk? I swear someti—"
"Let's just go," I sighed, cutting Edward off and dragging him along with me.
I think that may have been the weirdest conversation of my life.
Chris POV
That had been the weirdest conversation of my life.
Alice had kept on demanding details of everything I've ever done with Dylan, which actually wasn't much, but she wanted to know anyway.
Finally, the little evil pixie had fallen asleep again, allowing me to lean back and relax myself.
As I was staring off into space, I started to feel a tingle on my left earlobe that slowly began to creep down my neck.
My breathing picked up when his hands travelled down my body. He was very gentle, and I enjoyed the feeling, but something was nagging at the back of my mind.
Chris, can you hear me?
The mention of my name yanked me back into my own mind. I blinked and was back with my thoughts. I wasn't sure if I should be disturbed or honoured that Bella was thinking of me while making out with Edward.
Then I remembered her exact thought.
Did they do that on purpose? But how would she know that I'd be able to hear? Well, I guess she didn't know, but she assumed it anyway. And of course, the most important question of all: why was it working now and not when I wanted it to?
I sighed and tried to concentrate on the bond again. If this was all I got, I might as well get used to it. I closed my eyes and Edward's lips were immediately on mine.
"I don't think it's working," I whispered breathlessly when we broke the kiss.
"Are you telling me that Chris' feelings for my brothers are stronger than yours for me? And here I thought you loved me," he pouted teasingly.
"What? No...I mean, I do, honestly," I sighed. "But I can't hear anything from her."
Edward sat up thoughtfully. "Maybe it's just working one way. You didn't get to see where she was, right? So maybe she's able to hear, see, or whatever it is, but can't answer," he said after a few minutes of thinking.
And before anything else could happen, I was back in my mind.
I frowned. That hadn't been very helpful. Or was it?
I went through their conversation again and didn't notice that Alice had woken up until she stood right in front of me.
She was waving her little hand in my face. "Hey, what's got you thinking so hard?" she asked me.
I stared at her for a while, still deep in thought.
"Hello?" Alice called, dragging out the word.
"What?" I sighed in response.
"You were just staring into space and I wondered why."
"Oh."
"That is not the answer I was looking for. Were you daydreaming about Dylan?"
"No, I wasn't," I told her in a surprisingly calm voice. "I was just thinking about what Edward said."
"Huh?" Alice looked at me in confusion. I quickly filled her in on what had happened and she started vibrating in excitement. "We're going to be saved soon," she sang.
"Um...no. If you would have listened more carefully, then you would have noticed that the others don't have a clue where we are. Which isn't really much of a surprise."
"Yes, but you can tell Bella."
"No, I can't. I can't use the bond, it's just as numb as before. It was only working when the two lovebirds were smooching, and that wasn't exactly helpful because I can't put any thoughts in Bella's mind when I'm surrounded by her thoughts."
"But I thought they said you made some kind of connection earlier," Alice stated, pouting.
"Yeah, but I don't know when that should have been."
"Great, so we're not really a step closer to freedom," Alice stopped smiling and vibrating like a wild cellphone.
"Not exactly. I can't think of a way to let them know where we are. There should really be something like magic text messaging."
"Oh there is. Edward and Dylan can do that, I think Emmett too. You just write a message—"
"Alice," I cut her off. "I don't want to know the workings of it. Obviously neither of us can do it, so that's not even an option."
"Well, the only thing I can do is instant mail, but that is hardly involved with any skill. And we don't have a mailbox for that, so it's also not an option. I can't think of any other way to leave a message, though."
I started chewing on the inside of my cheeks, once again deep in thought. There really should be a way to get a message to them. Something, no matter how little.
And then I smacked myself in the forehead so hard that I got a headache. How could I have forgotten?
"Jesus, I am such an idiot," I mumbled harshly to myself.
"I agree with you on that, but why now?" Alice asked me.
I glared at her for a second before answering. "Dylan said the astral plane and the normal world are connected and that if you leave a message in a particular place here, it would be seen in the normal world in the exact same spot."
"Ah, ghost writing," Alice said and nodded her head knowingly.
"You knew about that and didn't say anything?"
"Well it's not like I think about it everyday, and it's not as easy as Dylan made it sound for you. You can't just take a pen and scribble onto a surface."
"Yeah, I know, it has to be at the exact same spot as you want it to be in the no—"
"No, I heard Daddy talking about it once. It's a little more complex than that. First of all, it's wand writing that you need to use as a living person. And secondly, you don't actually write it here, you have to make it appear where you want it to, and the message won't last for hours, so the timing has to be pretty much perfect."
"Would you mind explaining what exactly it is you're talking about?"
"Wand writing is what Edward did the day he couldn't speak. You know, writing in the air with the wand. And the whole appearing part would be kind of similar to beaming. You have to concentrate on the place you want the message to appear, and not just write it in thin air in front of you."
"Okay, I guess we could try it. We can do that, right?"
"Um, well, if you would have let me finish earlier, you would know by now that the principle is exactly the same," Alice shouted at me.
I flinched slightly. "So?"
"So as I just pointed out earlier, only the older boys are capable of using it, simply because they've already learned it, but we're not even quite done adjusting to our wands. The whole first year is about getting used to the wand. We'll learn the whole cool stuff next year."
"Oh come on, Alice. The thing can't be that hard," I said.
"No, according to the boys, it's not hard at all, but we still don't know how to do it."
"But we can try," I said to her with hopeful eyes.
Alice sighed before pulling her wand out of her sleeve.
"How in the world do you all do that? There's no way you can tell me you also know how the spell that Edward uses to take his wand out of his sleeve works."
"I don't. I have a strap for it on my arm. You should get one too — putting it in your pocket isn't the safest thing to do. It might break and I'm sure you're the last person who should break a wand."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Okay, so what do we do?"
"Do you know where they are?"
"No, it didn't look familiar to me."
"Oh great, how are we supposed to get a message to them then? Wait, do you know what time it is?"
"No, just that it's light outside."
"Helpful, Chris, very helpful," Alice gave me a sarcastic look before she sighed.
I shrugged. I didn't know what she expected from me. Did I look like someone that sits behind an information desk all day?
Bella POV
I seriously didn't know what they expected from me. Did I honestly look like someone at an information desk? I sighed while Dylan, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose looked at me in disappointment. I nearly rolled my eyes but somehow refrained.
"So we'll just have to wait until Chris starts missing Dylan again?" Rose asked.
"Apparently," sighed Jasper.
The way Rosalie just phrased it made me feel a little sad. Why did Chris miss Dylan and not me?
"Why does she miss Dylan and not Bella? I thought the twins were like 'forever together', and Chris and Dylan more like 'silence, I'll kill you'," Emmett said, voicing my thoughts. Or at least close enough to them.
"She wasn't missing Dylan. Not exactly," Jasper replied. "I only felt attraction, longing...that type of thing."
"Maybe it didn't even have anything to do with Dylan," Rose suggested.
"She was remembering him, that's why the emotions," I explained with a sigh.
"Do we even want to know what she remembered?" Emmett asked, looking at Dylan while speaking.
"No, you don't," he answered.
Emmett opened his big mouth once more, but Edward interrupted him.
"Maybe we should go to the fair opening play. I'm sure Mom will be worried and disappointed if we don't show up."
"Oh shit," Rose suddenly cursed.
"What?" I asked, immediately alert.
"I totally forgot that the Medeis mirror is still in my room and I couldn't check the mail," she murmured.
I didn't know what she was talking about, but Jasper seemed to have understood because he started immediately cursing under his breath too.
"Care to share?" I asked them.
"Our mom," they replied in unison.
"Good luck with that," Edward said with a small smirk on his face.
"Oh, you said she would be here for the fair, right?" I asked the two of them. They just nodded. "And what does that have to do with a mirror?"
"Not just any mirror. A Medeis mirror," Rose said as an explanation, though it didn't explain anything to me.
I turned to Edward for help and he said, "It's a communication mirror. Witches don't actually use cellphones."
"But you guys do," I pointed out.
"Alice," was the reply that rang throughout the room before we all fell silent.
"But Dylan, didn't you call Japree earlier?" I asked in an attempt to occupy my mind with something else.
"Not really. I just said calling because that's the regular term used. Our terms are highly influenced by human terms. But I didn't actually call him using a telephone him," Dylan said.
My brows furrowed in confusion. "What did you do then?"
Dylan pulled out his wand and walked out of the room.
I looked at Edward with raised eyebrows, but his expression didn't give anything away. Suddenly I felt a little tingle on my leg. I pulled out my wand and saw it glow for a brief second. "What is that supposed to tell me?" I asked.
Dylan appeared beside me then. "Tap it to your ear," he instructed. I quirked an eyebrow, but followed his instruction anyway. "And that is how Wand Calling works," I heard Dylan's voice in my ear.
"Wand Calling?"
"Yeah, it's a special spell. You'll learn it next year."
"What about people who can't use this spell? What do they do?"
"There are more than enough ways. Medeis mirrors is one way, but an expensive one."
I nodded slowly, unsure if I really understood what Dylan was telling me.
"Emmett, shouldn't your parents be here as well?" Edward asked.
Emmett shook his head. "No, they arrive in the middle of the night."
"Okay guys, I really think we should get moving. The play starts in 15 minutes," Dylan urged.
"Do I look like I'm dressed properly?" Rose screeched rhetorically. She was right. We were all still wearing the same black clothes we had on yesterday.
"I think we all need to change," I mumbled.
"Yes, we do," Jasper agreed.
Edward and Dylan sighed and drew their wands.
"What do you want to wear, Rose?" Edward asked her in a bored tone.
"Aside from fresh underwear?" she asked him with narrowed eyes.
Edward flinched. "Emmett, please tell me you know how to do a summoning charm," Edward pleaded.
"No, I don't," Emmett murmured apologetically.
"Dylan, don't you want to do it?" Edward asked hopefully.
"And deny you the chance to summon Rose's underwear? No Way! But I could help Bel—"
"Girls, follow me," Edward practically growled as he stalked out of the room. We quickly followed him to the bedroom that I'd woken up in. "Rose, what do you want to wear?" Edward sounded tired and I started to worry about that.
"I have this red dress that my mom always wants me to wear with matching undergarments," she mused.
"Do you know exactly where it is?"
"At the top of my closet in a purple box," she answered. "I've never worn it."
Edward nodded and mumbled something that sounded like "Exsto." A few seconds later, a dusty purple box landed on Rosalie's lap. She grimaced when she opened it, but thanked Edward anyway before she moved out to go change in the bathroom.
"What do you want to wear, Bella?" he asked me when we were alone.
"I don't know. Can't I just wear jeans and a sweater?"
"Yes, you can," Edward answered with a smile and flicked his wand, saying the same word as before.
A pair of dark jeans, a long blue sweater that could pass as a very short dress, along with underwear landed in my lap. I blushed when I saw the black lace bra and panties. Chris had gotten me this set for our last birthday, saying that, "Black is the color you wear when you want to have sex." Of course she had been kidding, but the thought still made my cheeks red. But right now, I blushed because Edward apparently knew what kind of underwear I owned.
"Before you even ask, I only summoned the things that were lying on top. I know where you put the things in your closet. The only thing I purposely chose was the sweater. You put it away when you got it, but never wore it."
I just nodded and Edward sent me a weak grin before he left me to get dressed.
It didn't take me long to get changed, and when I entered the living room downstairs, I saw that everybody aside from Jasper was already there.
"Where's Jasper?" I asked.
"Here," his voice answered from behind me as he strode into the room.
"Well, then I guess we're ready to go and only 10 minutes late," Emmett said.
"Better late than never," murmured Rose.
We all moved out of the house and into the deserted streets of campus.
"Should we really be going outside now?" I asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Everything was just so quiet and empty.
"No need to worry," Emmett reassured me. "Everyone is probably already in the auditorium of the elementary school."
In that moment, I heard the faint sound of music streaming from the direction of the school. It all reminded me too much of last night and I fought back tears when the thought that Chris and Alice never managed to appear at the school last night came to my mind. Or maybe they did, but they were just a little late and got caught. What if Irina and the others took them away and kept them in some secret place? We would never be able to find them.
A soothing hand touched my shoulder. "Calm down, Bella," Jasper whispered.
The others were already a couple of steps ahead, so Jasper was the only one who'd noticed my breathing spike up. That, and he probably felt the panic rising in me.
"Jasper, how can you be so calm right now?" I asked him. His behaviour today was a stark contrast to last night.
"I'm not," he replied simply. "I can feel everybody's pain, anger, and guilt. Emmett and Rose seem to be the most collected, but they aren't. Rose is close to breaking down any second, and I'm sure that the meeting with our mother will not be helpful whatsoever. Emmett is angry and feeling very aggressive, but he's trying to stay calm for Rose's sake. Dylan and Edward are feeling about the same amount of grief as you are, and to top it all off, I have to deal with my own emotions."
I inspected Jasper more closely. His usually clear bright blue eyes were now dull and seemed almost completely lifeless. He had light circles under his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were turned down into a slight frown. I wonder how I hadn't noticed this before.
"You miss her," I noted. It was obvious, of course, but now I could see just how much he truly missed Alice. How much she was really his life.
Jasper smiled weakly at me, but it looked more like a grimace. "I worry about Chris as well," he murmured quietly. "Wherever they are, I hope they somehow manage to fend for themselves."
"With Alice's determination and Chris'..." I trailed off, not having a word to accurately describe my twin.
"Boldness? Fight spirit? Abrasiveness?" Jasper suggested.
I giggled quietly. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I don't think there's even much of a possibility that anything could harm the pair of them," I said, trying to convince both Jasper and myself.
Alice POV
"This is so going to harm us!" I screeched as the giant wolf crept closer to us.
We'd been trying to write a message to the others for the last forty minutes. The big tree that we had been constantly leaning against was apparently the wall right beside the entrance of the school. At least according to Chris it was. Every time she tried to beam in front of the school, this is where she landed, so she had to be right. So far, we'd only managed to make the message appear on the tree in front of us. The thing was, if it worked, we wouldn't be able to see it. So while we were busily trying to contact our friends and family, this wolf had just appeared and started slowly approaching us.
"Why are there wolves on the damn astral plane?" Chris asked.
"We are on the astral plane — halfway in the world of the dead, and one of the most spiritual places," I answered.
"What does that even mean?"
We were carefully trying to back away without alarming the wolf.
"How the hell am I supposed to know? Do I look like a freaking expert to you?"
"Whatever! Just try to think of how we're going to get rid of this thing," she shrieked back at me.
"Is crying an option?" I inquired a moment before my back hit the tree.
"Sounds appealing," Chris agreed.
"What? You're supposed to shoot it with your fire thingy!" I yelled at her.
"The wolf startled me, okay? And it stares so intently, plus I don't like dogs—"
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't work with fear."
"Oh great. We're going to die without even saying goodbye to our loved ones."
"Shut up. I'm trying, okay?" Chris snapped, squeezing her eyes shut. In that exact moment, the wolf disappeared.
"Wow. Whatever you did, it was amazing," I complimented her and took a deep breath as I relaxed my stiff posture, sagging a little against the tree.
"What? I didn't want to make it disappear, I was just thinking about pizza."
"Why in the world were you thinking about pizza?" I asked her with disbelief coloring my voice.
"We were about to die and I'm hungry," she tried to defend herself.
I only shook my head at her. "Well then I guess it went back to where it came from."
"Hopefully."
"Let's continue trying to contact the world of the living," I suggested and raised my wand.
Chris sighed.
"What kind of attitude is that?"
"My kind."
"Well it's not helping us any, so you better start being more optimistic and enthusiastic."
"Yay," she mumbled with false enthusiasm. "God, if Bella hadn't opened that letter, we wouldn't be in this situation right now," she complained before getting back to work.
Bella POV
"If I hadn't opened that letter, we wouldn't be in this situation right now," I sighed while walking with Jasper, trailing a little behind the others. I'd hooked my arm through his, feeling completely calm.
"Yes, but then we wouldn't have met you," Jasper said with the first real smile on his face since yesterday.
"That's not really a bad thing considering you wouldn't even know we existed then."
"True, but still, if Alice hadn't had that vision about all of us being friends, then we wouldn't even be the same group we are now."
"What does that mean?"
"Before you and your sister came around, we weren't as tightly knit as we are now. I mean, we were a clique to an extent, but we never spent much time with each other. Especially Edward and Dylan. At first they only stuck around because they wanted to see the regular borns, and then you guys got interesting and that was the moment we all were sort of united together."
"I'm glad we did that, I think," I replied slowly, though I was pretty sure Chris and I hadn't influenced the group that much.
When all of us stood in front of the school building, we came to a stop and looked around a little. It was obvious that we all hoped to find some sort of sign of Alice and Chris' presence.
"Maybe we should just get inside," Rose murmured and gestured toward the entrance. The music had died down and was now replaced by loud conversation.
"Since when is there graffiti on the wall?" Jasper asked suddenly. We all followed his line of sight and saw that someone had scribbled something onto the wall there.
"It's a school. I'm surprised that I didn't find gums under our desks yet."
"That's because we can't stick any gum under there. We also can't draw on the walls, unless we use our wands, but those things vani—" Jasper replied, but stopped when the words actually did disappear.
"And there you have it," Emmett said.
Edward sighed. "Let's just go inside." We all agreed and moved to enter the building.
"Is it normal if the writing just reappears?" Rose asked. She'd been staring at the wall the whole time.
"Not really," Edward answered slowly. We shuffled back toward the wall, this time to get a closer look and inspect the words written there.
This sucks! No one is going to read this anyway...if it even appears.
The words vanished and were soon replaced by new ones. The writing this time was a little different than the one before.
What we mean is: help!
Those words disappeared quickly as well.
It was dark in a dark dark night, everything was dark...
Stop that!
You do realize you didn't have to write that, right?
Help! I'm stuck in a parallel universe with an idiot!
What she means is: please help the poor girl here next to me because I'm an annoying little...
The words stopped only to be replaced by scribbles.
"Why does this sound an awful lot like two people we know?" Emmett asked slowly.
"Since when are they able to send messages?" Rose asked.
"And why there?" Edward added. "They could have sent them anywhere."
Dylan let out a sound of realization. "No, they couldn't have. It's not messaging, it's Ghost Writing!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"What does that mean?" I asked in confusion.
"Messaging is kind of similar to Wand Calling. I can send it precisely to the person I want to. Ghost Writing kind of works the same way, but it's writing a message from the astral plane to the living world. The connection between the two worlds is too weak to allow actual messaging, therefore you have to use t—"
"Enough with the science," Emmett barged in.
"So this means Alice and Chris are on the astral plane?" Jasper asked.
Guys, hurry up! The astral plane sucks ass and we're hungry!
"I guess that answers the question," Edward mumbled.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jasper barked. "Dylan, get them out of there!"
Dylan looked at him with a frown. "I can't just beam there."
"Concentrate."
He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.
Just then, the door to the building opened and Esme stepped out. "Oh, there you are. I was so worried about you. Come on in, you've already missed too much of the play," she gushed as soon as she spotted our group.
"Um, Mom...we're kind of busy right now," Dylan said.
"No, you are not. The only thing you have to do is get inside and watch. Don't you want to see what I did with the little ones?"
"Of course we do, but—"
"No buts. Now get in," Esme instructed strictly and ushered all of us inside the school. She led us upstairs to the auditorium. On our way, we looked expectantly at Dylan.
"I need a place to concentrate," Dylan whispered.
"Go to the bathroom," suggested Rose.
Esme was already by the door to the auditorium, giving us a look. "Come on now, we don't have all day," she urged.
We each cast another urging look at Dylan.
"Hey Mom, is it okay if I go to the bathroom real quick?" Dylan asked.
I smacked myself on the forehead. Why did he have to ask?
"I think you can wait a little longer. The break will be coming up soon," she said and started pushing us inside.
Aside from the people on stage, the packed room was quiet. Esme tapped her wand on the wall next to the door and a moment later, a balcony came down slowly like a lift. Carlisle was already seated there and smiled at his wife as she gestured for us to take our seats.
"I'll be back soon," Dylan said and turned for the door.
"Dylan Cullen, I know you and I know you don't have to go to the bathroom, so whatever it is you want to do, it's going to have to wait," Esme scolded and steered him back. She pushed Dylan into the seat behind me and then took her own seat next to Carlisle. She mumbled something and the balcony drove back up to where it was before, enabling us to see the stage.
I didn't pay any attention to the kids jumping around in their cute little costumes. Instead, I turned around to glare at Dylan. In fact, I wasn't the only one. We all turned to look at him with unhappy expressions.
"What?"
"You could have done a better job than that," Edward hissed quietly.
Dylan grimaced.
"Beam out now," I told him urgently.
"I can't," he replied.
"Just concentrate, dammit," Rose snapped.
"I can't," Dylan repeated. "Mom cut me off."
Groaning, we all hung our heads in defeat.
It was going to take forever for us to save our friends.
Alice POV
"It's going to take forever for them to come and save us," Chris complained and sunk down to the ground.
"Again with the negative attitude," I sighed and sat down next to her.
"Oh, well I'm sorry for being realistic."
"You should be."
We sat in silence, staring blankly ahead. After a while, I heard Chris' breathing deepen. I looked at her and saw that she had fallen asleep. I smiled fondly. It was about time that she slept.
Bella POV
It was about time that he slept. We were watching the second half of the play and Edward had just fallen asleep by my side. His head was leaning against my shoulder and he was snoring quietly. I looked at him with a small smile on my face, then turned my attention back to the kids on stage.
The story was something about a leo-bear that was being bullied by the other animals in the jungle because he was half-bear and half-leopard. And even though the other animals weren't nice to him, he was trying to save them from the evil witch. I wasn't exactly sure if I should be watching this, because it seemed like even a leo-bear could save someone from an evil witch.
At the end of the play, Edward was awoken by the resounding applause.
"Is it over?" he slurred, looking up at me through sleepy eyes.
"Yes."
He sat up and joined in on the applause.
Esme had disappeared from where we sat, only to make her way onto the stage to bow and accept a pretty bouquet of assorted flowers. "I thank all of you for coming here tonight and I wish you all a wonderful time at this year's fair. I'm sure the following week will be entertaining for all of us," she spoke with a beautiful smile on her face and received even more applause.
When we were all standing outside with hundreds of people walking passed us, Esme asked, "So how did you like the play?"
"It was wonderful, darling," Carlisle complimented, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You know, I thought I was mistaken earlier, but where are Alice and Chris?" Esme asked.
"Oh they just went to the bathroom before you came out here," Rose answered immediately.
"But I don't remember seeing them with you before," Esme said with a confused expression.
"Mom, should we be worried about you?" Edward asked in a serious tone. "I think you're growing old. Maybe you need glasses."
Esme narrowed her eyes at him and smacked him lightly. "I am not old – I'm in my best years, thank you very much," she huffed and then hugged Carlisle tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. It was a very Alice-like thing to do.
Thinking of Alice brought my attention back to Dylan, who was just standing there, looking at his mother.
"Mom, how long until I can use my power again?" he asked.
She looked up. "About two more hours," she answered lightly.
Rose opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by a female voice I'd never heard before.
"Rosalie! Jasper! Where have you been all this time? I've been trying to get in touch with you for hours!" the voice belonged to a beautiful blond woman who looked like an older replica of Rose. She was wearing some expensive-looking designer clothes and was strutting toward us.
Neither Jasper nor Rosalie looked too impressed to see their mother.
"Well guys, looks like we're off," Rose said to us and then dragged Jasper off to meet their mother, who immediately started gushing on and on about the dress Rose was wearing.
All I could do was quirk an eyebrow at that.
"Their mother isn't the most pleasant person to be around," Edward murmured quietly to me.
"Why not?"
"Well for one, look at her. She's stunningly beautiful and she knows it. She's very vain and that makes her difficult enough," he explained. "But to make it even worse, she sees other people's insecurities and fears and that, combined with her own arrogance, is definitely not a good thing."
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Emmett asked.
"Um...shouldn't we be one group? I mean, Rose and Jazz can't just walk back to the house on their own, right?" I asked the three remaining boys.
"Mr. Decour only said that we shouldn't be walking around alone," Dylan said slowly.
I just looked at him.
"Bella, seriously. Nobody wants to spend the day with Ms. Hale," said Emmett.
"Ms. Hale?"
"Jasper and Rosalie's parents never got married," Edward explained.
I nodded in understanding. "Well, since I've never had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Hale. I think I should get to know her. Don't you agree?" I asked the boys.
They all looked at me as if I'd gone completely insane.
"Rose, wait for us!" I called to the Hale family as they started walking the other way. They turn when I called, though, and I quickly ran up to join them. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting you, Ms. Hale," I said politely and held my hand out to her.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Isabella Swan. I'm ne–"
"You are one of the regular borns?" she asked in disbelief, looking me up and down.
"Yes."
Ms. Hale kept staring at me while Rose and Jasper looked nervously between me and her. "Well, you're not as bad as I imagined you to be. But with that low self-esteem, you are not going to go very far, child."
"Mo–" Rose started, but Ms. Hale made a simple move with her hand to shut her up.
"I suppose you'll be joining us," Ms. Hale said, not sounding entirely happy about that. She wasn't looking at me, though, but at the boys who were suddenly standing behind me.
"We haven't had the chance to do so in a long time," Edward answered.
Ms. Hale sent him a slight smile and then motioned for all of us to follow her.
I don't even know why I was so surprised to see that there was a hotel on campus. As a matter of fact, there was a whole street filled with hotels. The one she led us to was at the end of the street. It was a little smaller than the others, but looked so much more expensive.
And so we ended up spending the evening with the Hales and I discovered that Ms. Hale wasn't exactly a mean person to be around, just unpleasant. It was as if she were judging everything we did, and inspecting our behaviours closely.
"I presume Isabella is your girlfriend," she said to Edward at some point in the middle of a conversation.
"Um...yes," Edward replied, sounding a little confused because we hadn't said anything along those lines.
Ms. Hale only nodded then proceeded to tell us something about her last job.
I really wasn't sure how to classify her. She seemed to be listening intently to everything that Jasper and Rosalie told her, like a mother should, but afterwards, she would tell them what they could have done better, though she didn't sound displeased, per se.
She was also telling us a lot about her job and what she'd done over the last few months. When she started describing things she particularly liked, she became a little more animated, but still, she maintained this classy aura that she had around her. She also seemed to be a little harsh at times. It was clear that she wasn't one to beat around the bush – she was a straight-forward person. That was one of the things she had in common with Rose, although Rose wasn't quite as bad.
Ms. Hale didn't seem to be a very considerate person either, and I noticed soon that she liked to surround herself with things and people that she considered to be beautiful. I understood why the boys found her so unpleasant, but I thought it could be a lot worse. So Ms. Hale was more than just a little superficial. Not exactly the best, but better than her being a complete bitch. I also noticed that, even though Rose and Jasper didn't seem to be too fond of spending much time with her, they were still rather content with her presence. I guess the only thing that bothered them about their mother was that she was a little strenuous.
After exactly two hours, Ms. Hale dismissed us.
"Dylan," she called before we left.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Please do your best to find the two girls. I don't want my little boy to turn into a puddle of misery," she said softly.
Dylan frowned for a brief second but then nodded.
"How did she know about that?" I asked on our way back to Mr. Decour's house.
"Bella, I told you her ability," said Edward.
"Oh yeah, I forgot."
Chris POV
The rumbling of my stomach woke me up.
"Hungry," I whined as if my stomach hadn't gotten the point across.
"Do you think hunger can make us hallucinate?" Alice asked me.
"We'll see soon enough."
"Who do you think will go crazy first?"
"Aren't you already crazy by nature?" I asked weakly.
Alice glared at me.
"What? I thought it was funny." I sighed when she said nothing in return. "Whoever goes crazy first will tell the other one, just for safety precautions, okay? I think it'd be fair for you to know that I'm planning on eating you before I actually do it."
"Would you seriously eat me?" Alice asked with wide eyes.
"You're already starting to look mighty tasty to me," I told her with a grin.
Alice flinched back from me, causing me to laugh loudly. "Chris, this is not funny. Instead of trying to be a comedian, you should try getting us out of here again," she complained.
I sighed and got to my feet. I didn't tell her that I was starting to feel really weak. I'd never used to the stone this much, so I never noticed that it sucked energy from me when it reloaded. Also, the whole messaging thing had been tiring and all that combined with my hunger wasn't motivating at all. "Let's go," I mumbled and slung my arms around Alice.
The outcome of this beaming session wasn't much different than the others. I beamed us into the white emptiness once again, made us appear on this endless road, and even managed to get us in the middle of a ghost meeting. They didn't seem to notice us, but the coldness around them was enough to get us out of there fast.
The only problem was that I'd managed to drain the stone once again.
"Chris, let's get out of here," Alice whispered.
"Can't," I whispered back.
"What do you mean you can't?" This time, she screeched loudly which was enough to draw the attention of the ghosts to us.
"Humans," one of them breathed.
I shuddered. I'd never heard a ghost speak before. They all looked like normal people, only transparent.
"What are two humans doing here?" another of them asked as they all began to circle us.
"We could take their bodies," another whispered.
"And rejoin the living," added a different one.
I narrowed my eyes at them, trying better to see. Only now I realized that they didn't look like regular people. They were all damaged in some way. A knife in the back, an axe in the head...things like that. It was creepy.
Next to me, Alice whimpered as a young woman reached for her. Judging by the rope around her neck, I would say that she'd been hanged.
"You are a pretty one," she murmured to Alice, looking at her with something like fascination in her lifeless eyes. "Don't be scared, I only want your body." She moved even closer to Alice.
I concentrated the best I could and fired at her.
When all the fireball did was go straight through her, she laughed bitterly. "Trying to kill a dead person, are we?" she sneered at me. "Good luck with that." Now she was no longer approaching Alice.
I slowly started to back away, and then saw how Alice had disappeared. I thought I saw a shadow next to her, but I couldn't be sure. The ghost woman in front of me reached her hand out toward my chest as if she were aiming for my heart. I held my breath.
Suddenly a set of strong arms wrapped around me and I was pulled away by a familiar force.
A/N: Yay! Next chapter will be the one I have been waiting for the whole time :D:D
So, I really don't have much to say right now, except REVIEW PEOPLE! We're almost there! 100 reviews :D I could be mean and say, I will not update until I got 110 reviews and I might actually do that, but maybe just maybe ( most likely) I will update sooner, simply because I can't help myself.
Okay, so here is something to think about:
The statement below is true
The statement above is false
I managed to think about 90 minutes about this and I explained my thoughts to a friend. I love these kind fo things :D