[Elizabeth]

When I woke up, my heart was racing and I felt scared. But I didn't dream of Gabriel… I dreamt something else. I was in a forest, and I was running. I didn't know from what or who I was escaping, but it didn't have to catch me. But when it did…

I shivered, chasing away the horrible image of me dropping dead in the grass, and got up. I knew I should've stayed in bed, but after that weird nightmare I didn't want to fall asleep again. Maybe I could watch some TV or read something. Anything but sleep.

I was slowly walking in the corridor towards the stairs when I heard Bella sobbing, or at least trying to. She always told me the thing she missed most was the ability to cry and express her feelings… I would be happy to stop crying at all though, but I wasn't Bella.

Edward saw me at the top of the stairs, and I was certain he already knew what I was going to ask.

"Bella's father… he disappeared in the woods. Like the other men."

I slowly walked down the stair, and wrapped my arms around Bella's back.

"I'm so sorry…"

I could see the back of Bella's head nodding slightly, and after hugging her some more I let her go. I looked at Edward, and before I could form the thought he filled me in about what had really happened at the reservation. Enough to make my skin crawl.

"I shouldn't even feel like this!" exclaimed Bella, almost screaming in rage. "He made my life hell! I hate him!"

"He's still your father, Bella. A part of you will always feel connected to him."

"We need to find him. There is not much time left before…"

Edward and I nodded, then Edward gave me a strange look. I frowned, and asked him what was wrong.

"Elizabeth… what happened earlier… do you think you can make it happen again?"

Bella gave us a curious look, but we both ignored her. The vision thing… I had no idea if it could work. But if he worked…

"I need my tarots," I said to Edward, and in a second he was back in front of me with my cards in his hands.

"The cards? What do you need them for?" asked Bella.

"In a second, ok? Edward, help me to get to the couch."

Edward helped me walk to the couch and helped me sit. He then sat next to me and gave me the tarots.

"When you were at the reservation I… read the tarots. And it happened something… visions, I think. Edward saw them too, in his head."

Bella was smart, and it didn't take long for her to do the math.

"So you think that if you try to find my father with your tarots, you can see where he is?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know…"

Bella sat in front of me.

"Try. Please."

I nodded, and after a deep breath I started mixing the cards. I concentrate on Jacob Black, on the few things I knew of him, and asked my tarots to tell me what happened to him. Exactly like the other time, I started seeing different flashes with every card I put on the table. Jacob was in the woods, and looked… sad? Then he morphed into a wolf and ran away. Another vision showed me Jacob once again in his human form, looking at something with a confused, scared look. What the hell was he looking at? I concentrated harder, trying to force the vision to show me something more, but all I got was a searing pain that made me scream and clutch the head.

"Elizabeth!" screamed Bella, and in a second I found both Bella and Edward at my sides, looking at me with worried eyes. I wanted to tell them I was fine, but it would be a lie. What the hell was that? And then I heard it, a voice so cold and menacing it gave me shivers.

Stop looking, or next time I won't be so nice.

I instinctively looked at Edward – funny how it was so normal for me now, after months spent hating him – and the look he gave me back was better than words. He saw everything, and most important thing of all… he heard that female voice too. Bella kept looking at us, trying to understand what was going on… and I decided to tell her. Minus the menace thing, and Edward gave me a barely noticeable nod in agreement.

"I don't know what happened exactly, Bella… it was like I wasn't supposed to look there."

"Ghosts cannot interfere with clairvoyance… or whatever this thing is. I don't think I ever saw it before."

"That makes two of us, then. What do you think, Bella?"

"That if there is really someone holding all the ghosts together, then it's in his or her best interests that you don't see much of what happened."

"Well, that someone doesn't know me at all," I said, jumping on my feet. "Let's go where I saw your father disappear, and then I'll try and read my tarots again. Maybe I will see things more clearly there."

"It's possible," said Bella, getting up as well. "Listen, I'm going to phone Dave and hear if they got news on my father. We leave in ten minutes, ok?"

I nodded, and once alone Edward moved in front of me.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, half angry, half scared. "Did you hear that voice or not?"

"I survived Gabriel, Edward. Do you think there is much more left in this world that can scare me?"

"You heard Bella? We're dealing with magic… and powerful dark magic, according to my sister. And you want to go there and act like it was nothing to worry about?"

"I want to do it, Edward, and I will. We don't have much time left."

We stopped talking when Bella came back. She looked a bit miffed because she didn't find Dave and Grace told her he was in the woods running patrol, or so she said. I think she just wanted to hear his voice and know he was safe, but I didn't say a word. If this Julie was out for revenge, sooner or later she would come for him. Saving Jacob for Bella equaled to save Dave … and I wanted to be a part of it. I couldn't save my best friend from Gabriel, but I'd be damned if I didn't do anything in my power to save him and Jacob.

[Edward]

Stubborn, pig-headed human girl… would she never think of her safety before acting? I wanted to remind her why we came to Forks in the first place, but since it wouldn't sort any effect I kept my mouth shut. Plus, I saw in her head her reasons why she was so dead set in helping Bella. She was feeling guilty about Mick's death… and she would be for a long time.

The place Elizabeth saw in her vision was near the treaty line, but when I described it to Bella she flinched and took a grim expression. A second later I saw in my head that it was the place where the werewolves almost killed her when she was still human, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Bella, you're not obliged to come with us."

"Thanks, big brother, but no. If a ghost shows up, I might learn something useful… you can't see them coming, I can."

I sighed. Bella could be as stubborn as Elizabeth when she wanted. She preceded us outside the house, and after deciding I would be the one to carry Elizabeth during the run in the woods, she disappeared in the trees. I was almost thankful of that… this way Bella wouldn't have to ask questions about the slight embarrassment on our faces. I couldn't wait for this day to be over…

"Ok," said Elizabeth, always the pragmatic one. "You can carry me on the back, I think I can resist until we reach that place."

"You sure?"

"Do I have another choice? Come on," she said, motioning me to come closer. I bent a little so she could wrap her arms around my neck, and I didn't miss her sharp intake of breath when she did the same with her legs.

"Make it quick," she whispered against my neck, and I slightly nodded.

"Keep your eyes closed, Elizabeth. It will be over in a second."

I ran through the trees as fast as I could to keep my promise to her. Elizabeth kept thinking of her last vision, trying to focus on the details she could remember, but her memories were very blurry; she couldn't find anything useful in there, and neither could I. The only way was to let her read the tarots again…

"It's going to work," she whispered again. "No need to be so tense."

I slowed down, now that I could recognize the area, and replied to Elizabeth that after hearing a scary female threatening me in my mind I felt every right in the world to be tense.

"She threatened me, not you. And I don't care. I'm not scared."

"You should be."

"I have broad shoulders. Are we there yet?"

"Almost," I said. I could see Bella from where I was, and she had that sad, unhappy expression I saw in her eyes when she came home earlier. She was remembering that night again, and I could see what happened like I had been there with her and my family. Poor Bella, she didn't deserve any of what they put her through… and yet there she was, trying to solve the reservation's problems. Maybe Rosalie was right, after all. Maybe she should've never come back here.

Elizabeth moved against my back, in a clear attempt to make me know she wanted to get down on her feet, and I bent a little to help her. She immediately walked to Bella, sensing her discomfort, but from where I was standing I could see Bella was once again playing the I'm-fine-don't-worry-for-me card. Elizabeth on any other day would've never let her go away with that, but she knew it wasn't the right moment nor the right place to have that conversation. She took out her tarots from a pocket of her jacket, and sat on the grass with a little help from Bella.

[Elizabeth]

I took a deep breath and held the cards tightly in my hands, trying to calm down. Before I had a chance to change my mind, I started mixing the tarots and displayed it in front of me on the grass. Bella and Edward kneeled at my side to look at the cards, Edward closer to me than Bella. Clearly he wanted to see inside of my head without interferences, or so I thought before feeling his hand on my back for a second. I met his eyes, and I quickly lowered mine on the cards I had to turn. I didn't want to see that worry in Edward's eyes.

Another deep breath, and I turned the first card. I didn't even saw which card was, the vision hit me with incredible force and all of sudden I wasn't there anymore. I was with Jacob and Bella, a silent witness to the conversation they had earlier that day. I knew she had a lot of issues with Jacob and the other werewolves, but hearing the pain in her voice made my heart ache for my friend. After Bella left, Jacob stayed in the forest for a while, looking at the void in front of him. Then he phased and ran away from there in wolf form until he arrived where we were. He didn't talk, but he kneeled in the place I thought Bella almost died. He touched a bunch of stones on the ground and looked almost on the verge of tears…

"Elizabeth, what's wrong? What have you seen?" asked Bella. I could feel her hand on my arm, but I couldn't bring myself to talk. What I was seeing… that I couldn't tell her, and I hoped Edward wouldn't either. Ever.

Bella, Edward's Bella – she looked too much like 'my' Bella, I couldn't be mistaken – was there with Jacob, I could see shadows around her – more ghosts, probably – but she was the only one you could recognize. Bella was angry at Jacob, her cheating spouse… and looking closely at Jacob, he didn't seem in his right mind anymore. His eyes were void, like he was under some kind of influence, and when the ghosts disappeared in the woods, he followed the direction Bella's ghost vanished.

Edward found my hand, and held it tightly. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and when I opened them I was once again with Bella and Edward. I glanced at Edward, who shook his head in an imperceptible way. I didn't like lying to my friends… but how could I tell that to Bella?

"Jacob saw the ghosts. And… he followed them in the woods."

"But why? He knew he shouldn't have done that!"

"He was under some kind of influence… he didn't look like himself. I really don't know what happened."

"The someone keeping the ghosts together must really be a powerful witch, to cast a spell without even being in close proximity of her victim… Nice. Like we needed more problems. Can you tell me something more on the ghosts?"

"No, I'm sorry," I said, and I silently cursed. I hoped this situation could be solved without telling Bella the truth, but I knew that sooner or later I would have to tell her.

"We'll cross that bridge when the moment comes," whispered Edward to my ear, so low I barely heard his words. I slightly nodded, but I still felt guilty.

Bella was still waiting to receive the intel Eamonn had promised to send her, but she told us she wanted to go back to the reservation to check on Dave and Grace first. Edward took me back to Bella's house, running even faster than earlier, and I had to hold on for dear life even if my sore body would've appreciated not to be stretched that way. But I thought Edward just wanted to put as much distance as he could between me and that place. He took that menace more seriously than me, that was clear as the sun. I didn't know why I wasn't scared. Mom and Granma always believed magic existed in one form or another, but they also believed that sometimes there were things you just have to do, no matter the consequences. It was a gamble, what I was doing, but I was also sure I could win this one.

And there was also the problem represented by older, dead Bella…

"I can't believe that Bella really did this. She doesn't have it in her," said Edward, once we were back inside the house.

"And you know this, because…?"

"Because when Bella found me in Volterra – it's a long story, and maybe I'll tell you one day – her mother was already there. Bella told me her mother asked Alice, my late sister and Jasper's first wife, to look after her so she could stay with me, even if I couldn't see her. And I… I made her suffer so much, when I abandoned her, she could've exacted her vengeance on me and I wouldn't raise a finger to defend myself. Does it seem likely to you that this woman could be the same one you saw in your vision?"

"You saw the same thing, Edward," I replied, sitting on the couch. "And you and Jacob had different experiences with Bella. He betrayed her and conceived a child with another woman, for God's sake. I would be pissed too."

"So much you would come back from death to kill him?"

I sighed. "Probably not."

"Bella told you everything, I see," commented Edward, sitting next to me.

"I told her some stories, too. Bella knows how to listen to people."

"Her gift and her curse."

"Ok. But if she's not your Bella who the hell is she? Can ghosts change their semblances?"

"Not the resident expert on supernatural creatures, I'm afraid."

"Right. Well… I'm going upstairs. Too much emotion for one day and I'm supposed to be recovering, right?" I said, getting up from the couch and slowly walking to the stairs. I refused Edward's help, and I slowly began to climb the stairs, when suddenly breathing became incredibly difficult. And my heart was racing like when I discovered Granma was dead and I had that heart attack. I almost fell down the stairs, but I managed to clutch the banister.

I screamed Edward's name, but I lost the little balance I had and I fell backward.

I hit my head on the steps… and then nothing.

Just that voice in my head again, and five words that made me shiver before I lost consciousness.

You brought this on you.

[Edward]

I jumped on my feet as soon as I felt Elizabeth screaming my name, and I caught her before the fall could do more damage.

"Elizabeth, what happened? What's wrong? Talk to me!"

Then, I heard that voice in my head. I looked at Elizabeth, but I could do nothing to help her.

Nothing, except listen to her heart stop a second later, and watch Elizabeth die in my arms.