Enigmatical

By wired2damoon

Chapter 21: Psychic and Psychotic

A/N: Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed, you're all amazing. This chapter will be relatively short as the next one will be extremely large. Hope you like it!

This chapter is dedicated to maximumcullenxxx for all her amazing support! A little surprise in store now, finally, we see the rest of the Cullens! ~wired2damoon~ xx

- Alice's POV -

I beamed brightly as I flicked through the electronic pages, immensely enjoying my online shopping spree. As we were back in Forks, it was difficult for me to shop for real, considering that some people may recognise me (and the fact I haven't aged in the last fifteen years), so I found myself spending most of days stuck indoors.

But, I was making this sacrifice for a valuable reason - my niece's happiness. Because of her, our family ventured back to Forks once a year (always in hiding) and staying there for a number of weeks. During this time, said niece - Nessie, got to visit her grandfather - Charlie and her best (human) friend, Claire Young.

She was the only one, out of our entire family, that could roam about freely, coming and going as she pleases, due solely to the fact that hardly anyone ever recognised her. She never talked to anyone other than her family, friends and the two werewolf packs, so she hardly ever rose suspicion. It made me happy sometimes (when I'm not mourning my lost months in which I could spend in beautiful, furnished malls) to revisit Forks, our old house. It brought back many memories (not all good) but I loved holding onto the past, especially since I had no recollection of my human one.

I began typing frantically on Jasper's laptop, describing exactly the style of top in which I would like to purchase (satin, flowing sleeves, purple V-neck) when suddenly a familiar sensation came over me and my vision fogged…

- Jasper's POV -

"Alice…Alice…" I called softly through the house, wondering where on earth my wife was. I hadn't seen her for a number of hours now. Knowing she was probably doing some online shopping, I ventured down the stairs and into our living room, and sure enough, there she was.

"Al-" I stopped abruptly when I noticed the expression on her face. She was having a vision. I waited patiently for her, noticing that her hands were frantically typing on my laptop, presumably recording what she was seeing in her vision. It was then that I began feeling anxiety, shock and fear wafting from her.

Suddenly, she gasped loudly and leaned forward. This startled me a little, so I bounded over to her, enveloping her in my embrace and waited for her to say something.

"Oh Jazz…oh Jazz…" she murmured, obviously disturbed by what she just saw. I could feel her emotions getting stronger, so I sent her some calming waves, but unfortunately she was more worked up than I originally thought.

"I HAVE TO CALL QUIL!" she exclaimed loudly, jumping up from the love seat and whipping out her cell-phone.

- Quil's POV -

"Hello?"

"Quil! Oh my God, its Alice, I had a vision of Claire, she's been kidnapped! I'm so sorry I didn't see something sooner but she was too close to all the werewolves and I couldn't see anything until it was too late and-"

"-Alice I know, Kara told me, we'll be over to you in a few minutes," I interrupted the frantic Alice who was practically screaming down the phone. I quickly handed the phone to Nessie who was bouncing up and down beside me, eager to talk to her aunt.

"Alice? What did you see!?" I heard her ask franticly.

The party broke up pretty quickly and everyone immediately went into panic mode. Lana was clinging to Emily as if she were her life support while Suzie just looked on - astonished, Nessie was running her hands through her hair and pacing up and down as she talked to Alice, Jake and Sam were rounding all the guys up, looking extremely serious - giving orders, and various stragglers - including Billy and Charlie were busy interrogating a frazzled Kara who stood with a blanket around her, still in a state of shock.

I, on the other hand, hardly paid any attention to any of this. I merely stumbled over to the bonfire and sat down on the log, burying my head in my hands. I was aware that Jake hadn't called me over with the other guys and for that I was grateful, as I now felt tears sting my eyes.

Claire, my Claire. Gone…

I buried my head in my hands, my elbows on my knees, taking deep breaths. I was split in two - one part of me was dying to just phase now, run as fast my legs could carry me and follow Claire's scent until it disappeared, do something, anything to get her back NOW! But the other part, that was more, rational. That part of me was saying that I had to wait, make a plan to help me find Claire. After all, I didn't have the first clue where she went or who took her, I had to take precautions.

FUCK PRECAUTIONS! Your girl has been kidnapped for Christ's sake and all you can think about is precautions!?! What the hell is the matter with you Ateara?! Get the fuck up and go find her now! Anything could be happening to her! Quit bawling and GET HER BACK!!! My mind screamed at me, angry at my sudden weakness.

I couldn't help it though, I felt like I was drowning. Without Claire here, I felt, empty, incomplete. My heart was slowly tearing apart and I actually felt physical pain, an aching in my chest that would not go away until my eyes gazed upon her face again.

I let out a shallow breath as I clamped my eyes shut tightly. The beautiful, glistening face of Claire, in all its glory, her cheeks a fresh crimson, her blue eyes shinning bright. My heart lurched painfully as I pictured her, the last time I saw her, staring back at me, her hand raised in a half-wave as the car pulled out of the parking lot.

Damn! I should of known something was wrong! I should of known that there was someone in the back seat, I should of caught their scent, heard them shuffling around, something, ANYTHING! But no…I was too busy deep in my own thoughts and freaking out about Claire's and my kiss, I was too damn distracted by my own subconscious and stupid musing that I didn't! And now, the result is my girl getting kidnapped by some psycho! If something happens to her, it'll be all my fault…

I began to shake violently as that thought occurred to me. How would I ever forgive myself? Actually, no, that would be simple, I'd just cease to exist. There is no way that I would ever stay on this world for one second when Claire is not here with me…

"Quil, c'mon man, we're going to the Cullens," Embry murmured softly, coming up to stand behind me. My head jerked to the side a little as I sniffed and quickly rubbed my eyes with my hands. There is no way I'd let anyone see me cry…

"Alright, okay," I replied quietly, standing up and shoving my hands into my pockets. I felt so useless as I walked over to the rest of the guys and half-listened to Jake. My mind was too boggled to think properly, I felt numb, hollow…

"It'll be alright, Quil," I heard Seth mumble lowly, only for my ears to hear.

I sighed deeply, Claire's face flashing across my eyelids once more.

God I hope he's right.

- Nessie's POV -

I flung the front door open, and if Jasper hadn't of caught it before it slammed, it would have broken off its hinges. I didn't even acknowledge my uncle as I was already storming towards the living room (practically dragging a frazzled Erin with me), having caught Alice's scent. I could hear Jasper greet the many werewolves that were also accompanying me, Jake, Quil, Embry, Seth, Sam, Jared and Paul.

"Alice!" I exclaimed loudly as I caught sight of my aunt, seating on the love-seat, opposite my parents, grandparents, Rose and Emmett. My entire family were present, each with the same expression etched onto their pale faces. Worry.

Claire, not unlike my mother, had been another human that wormed her way into my family's heart. They really loved her, enjoyed having her around, and appreciated how well she treated me as a friend. They always liked her, invited her over whenever they were in town, sometimes they even invited her to wherever we were staying outside of Forks, she had accompanied us on vacations and even helped us move too.

So I could understand why they felt the way they did, and incidentally, why Jasper was keeping his distance, the worry, anxiety, fear and god knows what else coming off all of us, must be killing him.

"Please, everyone, come in," Carlisle called politely, addressing the group behind me, who merely stood in the doorway. Once everyone was in the same room, I rushed over to Alice and sat down beside her (gently pulling Erin with me), eager to hear more in detail what she had seen in her vision.

Once everyone was settled (well, maybe that's not the right word, everyone was terribly on edge) we all looked to Alice expectedly, (all except for Quil, I noticed, he had his gaze lowered to the floor) and looked around for a moment at all of us, before her eyes settled on Quil.

"Quil, are you sure you want to hear this?" she asked quietly, sensitive to the lack of privacy and the intimacy of his situation. Without lifting his gaze from the floor, he nodded minutely, for her to continue. On his permission, my aunt opened her mouth to begin to re-tell what she'd seen.

"She's okay as far as physicality goes, she's lying on the floor of a black jeep, her legs and hands are bound and she has a blindfold on. They will be driving for over two hours before they reach their destination. Because it's her future I'm seeing and not the attacker's, everything is black, and certainly undecided. When I shift to see the attacker's fate, their thoughts are too indecisive, they keep changing their mind so I can't tell for sure what they're going to do to Claire. But, what I can tell for sure, is that they have no intention of physically harming her, themselves anyway."

As she finished, I could practically feel the frustration coming off of everyone. The vision obviously, isn't as informative as we would have liked. I frowned deeply as I glanced over at Quil. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, and now his eyes were clamped tightly shut. Pain was etched on his face and I could see him shake a little. Jake and Embry reached forward and patted him on the back, both looking solemn. If I were to guess, they were mentally putting themselves into his shoes, imagining what it would be like if they were to find out their imprints were kidnapped.

"Can you see the attacker Alice?" I asked quietly, gripping Erin's hand and throwing her a reassuring, soft smile, as I saw her bite her lip. I was a bit worried about bringing her here, we had a talk about my family - she knows what we are, I've told her our story, but I knew she was still nervous and didn't quite know what to expect. I made a mental note to introduce her properly to my family when a suitable time arose.

"When I saw Claire getting kidnapped, she was already lying down in the back of the car with a blind-fold on, so, no, I've had no sighting of them yet," Alice regretfully informed us.

"I wouldn't advise that Quil," my dad said suddenly, looking over at Quil, who was now glaring at the floor.

"I have to do SOMETHING Edward! I can't just stand here and…wait for something to happen…it's…it's killing me…" he gritted his teeth at the end of the sentence, looking physically in pain.

I could see from my father's face that what Quil had been thinking had been particularly rash, because he was frowning deeply. This, in turn, made me frown deeply. I hoped Quil didn't have any crazy ideas, I really didn't want him - or any of the guys - to get hurt.

"Quil, I know its hard, but we have to have some sort of plan. I've already sent some of the guys to track Claire's scent to get an idea of what direction they're heading in. Then, maybe if Alice has another vision we can figure out who we're dealing with-"

The words were no sooner out of Jake's mouth before I saw Alice's expression cloud over and I knew she was having another premonition. I felt Erin tense up a little, and I squeezed her hand, letting her know that it was okay.

Everyone's attention again, was drawn to my aunt, looking on in silence as she sat upright, staring into space, deep in concentration. After a few moments, she let out a deep sigh and hung her head.

"What is it Alice? Is Claire alright!?!" Quil asked frantically, racing towards her to sit on the adjacent armchair, leaning forward on the edge of the seat, looking utterly spooked.

Alice shook her head, "Claire's fine Quil. She'll be out of the car in exactly three minutes and thirty seconds. Then, she will be led into what looks like an abandoned house about sixty miles from here. But it won't be easy finding her, it would seem that the attacker is not our only problem…"

Quil gaped at her, "what do you mean? Can't you just find out exactly were she is and we can just go and get her?"

My aunt cut him off with another curt shake of her head. "No Quil, it will not be that easy. You see, the attacker is not alone. She has accomplices, or I should say…she is an accomplice."

Everyone was frowning now, but I caught something immediately.

"She?"

Alice nodded. "Yes, she. I believe you know her Nessie, the woman that kidnapped Claire is the same one you met at the fashion show in Berlin, the one that went on the date with Quil…Rachel ."

Many gasps erupted throughout the room as I heard my heart momentarily stop. Carlisle was the first to speak up. "So this, Rachel girl, is working with someone?"

Alice tilted her head, "more like working for someone…"

Silence met her response and she took the time of our momentary quietness to deliver the final blow from her shocking vision.

"She's working for vampires…"

My jaw dropped. This could not possibly be happening…

- Claire's POV -

The car stopped abruptly and I heard Courtney get out swiftly. Before I could even prepare myself, my door was wrenched open, and she grabbed a tuft of my hair and started dragging me out of the car not before the rope binding my legs was cut free. I yelped loudly as I stumbled backwards, out the door and crashed into what must have been the back of her legs, landing sorely on my ass.

"Get up," she snarled, jerking her fist that still clutched my hair, roughly. With another yelp, I shakingly got to my feet and staggered forwards, still blindfolded. She kept pushing my head forwards so I took that to mean to walk forwards. After a few moments I felt my feet collide with a step so I began to climb, blindly up them.

If I were to guess, I'd say now that I was standing on the porch of a house. I heard a door creak open from in front of me and a soft, feminine voice speak softly. "Oh good, you're here…come in…"

I don't know what it was about that voice but I felt involuntary shivers flow up and down my spine at the sheer sound of it. I heard the door creak open further as Courtney's hand rested on my back and shoved me through.

Once I was inside, the door snapped shut. It was deathly silent as I was led down a hallway, pushed through a door to my left, shoved forward and pushed down onto a chair.

"Very good, Rachel, she'll please Lukas," the creepy, feminine voice praised.

I frowned, who the hell is Rachel?

"Thank you Cassandra," Courtney replied, triumph evident in her irritable tone.

Before I could further dwell in my impending confusion however, I felt Courtney drawing nearer to me. "Now Claire, I'm going to remove your blindfold, but I don't want to hear one word from you. Do you understand?"

Slowly, I nodded.

Instantly a rough blow came to the side of my cheek, jerking my head to the left, a painful stinging beginning. That psychotic bitch just slapped me!

"Answer me when I'm talking to you!" she growled, before wrenching off the blindfold. I kept my eyes firmly shut as I felt the other woman draw her face close to mine.

"Oh now Rachel, don't be too rough with her…that's Lukas' job…" she replied, and I could hear the smugness in her delicate tone.

"Now…Claire…be a good girl and open your eyes," the woman named Cassandra ordered sweetly, her breath bouncing off my skin lightly. As I was over-whelmed with her sweet scent, suddenly my mind began to swirl and I felt extremely light-headed.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly began to open my eyes. I blinked and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. When they did, I was met by the most terrifying sight I've ever witnessed in my entire life.

There, staring straight back at me, were the deep, dark, blood-red eyes, of a blood-thirsty vampire.

Oh, no…

A/N: Mawhaha! (*Evil Laugh*) THE PLOT THICKENS!! Again, sorry its so short! It's just that the next instalment will be particularly long so… anyways hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know if you did!!

Happy New Year!!

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~wired2damoon~ xx