30.
John's perspective –
The TV was playing silently in the background, flashing images of a movie I didn't recognize. "There has to be something we're missing," Edward said in frustration as he pulled at his hair. He was sitting on the couch where I had been sitting, having moved there after pacing the floor when I first came in.
The tension in the room was incredible as everyone brainstormed.
"You're sure there was no one there who had any idea as to where Aro is?" I asked again.
Edward shook his head.
"There's got to be something else," said Alice soothingly, glancing at Jasper. Try as he might, Jasper could not get Edward to calm down.
"This is all my fault," muttered Edward under his breath.
"Stop saying that, Edward," demanded Bella.
Edward growled in frustration but complied.
"Well, what about people who know of places he might go?" suggested Esme suddenly. She had been quiet ever since I emerged back into room.
Alice glanced at her mother in a sort of surprise, probably wondering if Esme was on to something. "Like who?"
"His wife, perhaps. Caius and Marcus might know something."
Bella glanced at her husband with a hopeful look. "Edward?"
In response, he closed his eyes. Everyone was quiet as Edward did his magic. When he opened his mouth, a look of confusion had crossed over his face. "Jane is gone."
Emmett uttered a curse.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Alice was standing now. "This can't be good."
"No one knows where she went either, I'm assuming," Rosalie said.
"Someone had got to know something!" Emmett replied heatedly.
Esme threw him a look that told him to calm down, which he tried to ignore, though he did move from pacing the floor to sitting on the edge of one of the chairs.
"What about the wife," asked Bella.
Edward shook his head slowly. "She doesn't seem to know much either."
"But does she have any clue where he might have taken her?"
"She keeps thinking about a secret house she and Aro sometimes vacation at, but she isn't giving me any clues as to where it is. I don't even know if it's in Italy."
"It could be a start, though," muttered Carlisle.
"Do you remember something about that?" asked Esme, turning to face her husband. Everyone's eyes shifted to him hopefully, but he shook his head.
"Aro never mentioned anything, and if they want it to be a secret, it will stay a secret."
"Until we find it," added Emmett.
"Of course."
There was silence for a while, until something that had been bothering me for a while resurfaced. I turned to Edward. "Why is it that you can't just read Lisa's mind and find out if she knows anything?"
Edward glanced at me. There was no shock on his face so he must have been thinking about that too. "I cannot read her mind at all. It's like there is some kind of shield…"
"Aro's girl, Reneta, could be doing that. If she can protect Aro, she can protect Lisa as well."
"I thought you said that's not what she could do, that her shield was against physical attacks."
Edward glanced around the room before replying. "It is."
"So she shouldn't be able to do that," I said, stating the obvious.
"No," replied Alice darkly.
There was a pause.
"Someone else is preventing you and Alice from seeing anything," Jasper said, speaking quietly, peacefully.
Edward nodded. "There's something about this whole situation that does not sit right with me."
"You're not the only one who think so." Alice was scratching her head, a look of frustration crossing her face. "Whatever Aro is doing cannot be good. If he didn't tell anyone where he was going or what he was doing…"
Edward picked up where she left off. "He's got something that he's working on alone, something he doesn't want the others to know about because…"
"Because it's against the law," finished Alice.
There was silence again as we let this sink in. The movie on TV had ended, and the news was beginning. Headlines in Italian spoke of disasters all around the world, but none could be as terrible as the one we were in right now.
I had to look twice to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Edward had frozen on the couch, all sorts of emotions flying across his features. At the same moment, Alice stopped her pacing, her hand coming down hard on the back of the chair Emmett was occupying. Everything in the room came to a standstill as all eyes focused on either Edward or Alice, waiting. My eyes flew from one statue to the other, unable to stand the wait of knowing what was happening. Time seemed to move into slow motion.
Alice was the first one to move. She barely glanced at anyone as she bolted for the door. A second later, Edward was right behind her, screaming over his shoulder, "Everybody move!"