A/N – Well I hope that old adage better late than never holds true here. I hope there is still enough interest to encourage me through to the end. Never planned on such a long hiatus, & it's not easy to return when it's been so long. I had to reread the story myself – not an easy task to read one's own writing, there were a few moments of cringing mixed in with occasional laughter.

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Chapter Thirteen

Recovery and Peculiarities

Bella stood in her driveway gazing in the direction of Alice's departure, long after the sight of the sunny sports car had diminished from view. The lanky brunette felt a mixture of disappointment and confusion as she felt the distance between them grow. They finally had the opportunity to spend some time alone and continue their conversation from the car, so it didn't make sense to her why she had to leave so suddenly. Just another thing to add to the growing list of peculiarities about Alice… The bewildered teen-ager was now certain there were still things the odd girl was concealing from her. Whether it was the flickering memory of amber eyes clouded over by darkness or the increasing chill in the air which made her shiver, she couldn't tell. She turned and slowly made her way inside the house, more keenly aware how lonely it felt to be alone in it until Charlie came home from work. She decided to distract herself by coming up with something more elaborate than their usual dinner fare to help pass the time.

Alice never had as much of a lead foot as she did when she fought the urge to turn the car around and go back to Bella. She knew it hurt the girl to leave like that. While delicate human fingers softly stroked her face her heightened senses picked up the lingering traces of blood. After feeding earlier it shouldn't have been that much of a problem, but there was still something about the girl's scent that was more than alluring...it was enthralling. Even with the growing distance she was putting behind her it seemed to call out to her. The blood that surged within Bella's young and vibrant body wielded a power that was magnetic; it tugged and pulled at her as if a living entity were compelling her to fully give into her vampiric nature. It took all her strength of will not to hurt Bella to resist that monstrous craving for something it instinctively knew to be much more satisfying than the blood of any animal.

The mental image of the beautifully innocent brunette still standing where she left her kept nipping at her, images of soulful brown eyes urging her to turn the vehicle around. Only her desire to keep Bella safe propelled her in the direction of her own home as she increased her speed. She mentally shook off the voice of the beast within that chided her for leaving Bella, whenever it reminded her that she could finally spend some time alone with her, that the girl was hers for the taking. She drew strength from that part of her that still clung to whatever once was human and cared for Bella more than giving into her darkest desires.

Before she realized it she was slowing her car to a stop in front of the luxuriously large Cullen home, having driven without thinking about the actual trip. She sat motionless for a while, taking a moment to compose herself while shutting off the ignition and getting out of the car before entering the house. When she did eventually step inside she was greeted by a look of near relief showing on Emmett's face and a worried one showing on Rosalie's. To any outsider the blonde's expression would have appeared simply cool and impassive, but not to Alice. She could see more than the hint of distress in her eyes.

"So we overheard enough at school to know that something nearly catastrophic happened today", Rosalie spoke without preamble.

"Have you talked with Edward since coming home?" Alice responded calmly, maintaining her composure.

The blonde raised an eyebrow as if to say, do you even have to ask?

"No, he's been sulking in his room. He's been doing that a lot lately…well more so than usual", replied Emmett.

Alice sighed as she crossed the living room and sat next to them on the large sofa. She relayed the events that happened during biology class to them, up to the moment when she quickly left after Edward. Later that evening, Carlisle called for another family meeting upon hearing the news, mostly to discuss with Edward and Alice about whether time off from school would be necessary. Edward looked more morose than usual but quietly agreed to Carlisle's request to taking at least the next day off to recover from the ordeal. Alice reasoned that having them both stay at home was not only unnecessary, but would make everything appear even stranger to others. This quickly riled Edward out of his quiet demeanor.

"You just don't want to be away from Bella. Don't pretend it's about upholding appearances."

Alice made a concerted effort to keep hold of her own temper. She was going to be the mature one here, she decided. She even resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Edwards's predictable display of childish possessiveness.

"It's just as difficult for me to go back tomorrow and try to act as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened as it is for me to be stuck the whole day here with you. At least one of us has to go, and we both know how close you came to losing it Eddie."

"None of this would have even happened if you didn't interfere and scare Bella. You just couldn't stand the thought of me having to carry her out of that class room."

Alice sighed, "This wasn't about you Edward. I couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt. And before you say it, I know how close she got to it despite my attempts to prevent anything bad from happening to her."

Edward muttered, "as long as either of us is in her life, she'll never really be safe."

Alice glared at him with such intensity it looked to Edward like she wanted to slap him. The thought may have crossed her mind, but given what happened at school that day…and as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't help but see some truth behind his gloomy utterance. They were after all vampires. For all intents and purposes that made them the most dangerous predators living among humans. The Cullens may have been the exception, but for most of their kind - humans were nothing more than playthings or food. For some vampires they were used as both. Although this particular family of vampires had adopted a human-free diet giving them the ability to blend into society to a certain extent, it didn't change their dependency on blood to survive.

But was it wasn't enough to merely survive. Though their human lives perished many years ago, they were not really dead either. Alice had continued to survive for many years after her human life ended, but she felt the spark of life that she had been missing all those years when Bella came into her life. And she wasn't about to run away from that, not if she could help it.

Her expression eased from anger into a more solemn one as she felt her resolve strengthen within. "I don't think I can stay away from her completely, even if I wanted to."

Edward's expression was as stony as ever and he spoke in a monotonous tone when he replied, "That makes the two of us."

Although she didn't feel hungry, Bella made herself eat with Charlie as they sat in the kitchen during dinner. She had made tortellini soup and mushroom risotto while waiting for Charlie to return from work. A few words were spoken in between mouthfuls of food consisting of small talk but he was enjoying the dinner so much it escaped his notice that Bella was more quiet than usual. However, he did appreciate her cooking efforts and was full of compliments for the food. When he finished eating he finally took notice that Bella hadn't eaten or said much during the meal.

"What's on your mind Bella?"

"Hm? Oh…nothing", she answered distractedly.

"You're not still feeling sick are you? I mean you hardly touched your dinner, and it's the best thing you've made so far kiddo."

"No, I'm fine really. Guess I'm just not that hungry."

"Well that's never a good sign for a Swan. We're notorious for our healthy appetite", he smiled kindly at her.

Bella smiled softly back, feeling a little better for his concern at his small attempt at humor.

"So everything okay at school today…and with Alice?" Charlie asked while attempting to keep his tone casual. He didn't forget the incident this morning between his daughter and the pretty Cullen girl. It wasn't a subject he planned on broaching so soon, he had hoped for more time to prepare himself for that talk should it ever come up...but he could tell something seemed to be bothering her. When he had left them she seemed unusually happy and now she seemed uncertain about something.

Bella now got the feeling that Charlie was aware of something more than a platonic friendship between her and Alice. She must have been too obvious with how enamored she was with her. She wasn't ready to have this talk with him though, even if his reference to Alice was about that. But she felt a sense of relief that he if he did suspect anything, at least he didn't seem hostile about it.

Her smile grew more genuine when she answered, "Everything is okay. I'm sure I'll have my usual appetite back by tomorrow."

After they finished clearing the table and dishes Bella retreated into her bedroom telling Charlie she had homework to finish as he sat in his usual spot in front of the television. Even if they didn't have the talk yet it felt reassuring when he told her that he was always there to listen if there was anything she ever wanted to talk about. She sat at her desk attempting to do homework, but had a hard time focusing on it. On several occasions she stared at the text of words and symbols until she didn't see them anymore as her mind kept wandering back to certain moments of the day. She had to stop herself from repeatedly checking her phone hoping to see a message from Alice, as it lay there silent. When she finally pushed herself to get through the minimum required for school the next day she got herself ready for sleep and laid herself back on her bed.

She glanced again at her phone that lay on her bed stand, as if willing it to chirp to life. She resisted the temptation to send a message to Alice all night, but still wished for some sign from her. She had subconsciously set aside some of the more disturbing memories of the day to the back of her mind since Alice left. Now that she was in a more relaxed state and was beginning to feel tired, the part of her that had filed the more troublesome thoughts to the back of her mind had relinquished some of its hold.

Her thoughts kept wandering back to the strange events of the day, mostly those that centered on Alice. She couldn't shake the feeling that Alice was still keeping something important from her. Despite the surprising revelation about her psychic ability, there was definitely something else very unusual about the elfin beauty, something she kept hidden behind large mysterious eyes that for unknown reasons seemed to shift from a bright golden hue to something strangely dark and chilling. She was fairly certain that the changes she saw take place during class was no mere illusion caused by fluorescent light, or purely imagination. Whatever it was, Alice obviously didn't trust her enough yet to tell her and this thought filled her with a sadness she hadn't felt since she became involved with the unusually attractive girl. She wished it didn't bother her as much as it did, especially considering that they've only recently started spending time together. But in that short period of time there have been so many small peculiar incidents that all seemed to revolve around both Alice and Edward. Now that she thought about it, it occurs to her that she's been feeling out of sorts since she's been living in Forks. There's always been that feeling of something out of place, without the means to actually put a name on it. Whenever she sensed it before, she attributed it to the recent move and all that came with the new circumstances of her life. But there's always been that niggling sensation, a subliminal itch lying somewhere deep in her consciousness plying for attention. Or was it more of an effort to direct her attention to something specific? For some reason that she couldn't quite put a finger on, she sensed that whatever that something was could be the key to clearing up certain mysteries. It just might explain a few things about why Alice and her brother seemed more than a little eccentric.

Eventually her thoughts became fuzzy as sleep overcame her. As she fell deeper into sleep that sensation of being pulled into a higher ethereal state was returning. She found herself back in her dreamscape – having longed for it and consciously forgotten about it until she found it again. There was an easiness she felt here unlike anywhere else. A lightness of being that came whenever she shed the chains of waking consciousness and found herself back in her beautiful dream meadow. A certain transparency came with being in this incorporeal state. It felt just as real as anything she's known.

It was a place where her conscious mind had forgotten, whatever this place was it wasn't of the physical realm but a certain state of being. It was here where she experienced such heights of ecstasy never experienced in waking life. As wonderful as it was she knew there was someone else she wanted to share it with. After a time she realized she was still quite alone. When it began to look as if the woman of her dreams wasn't going to make her usual appearance she called out for her. Without really thinking how it came to her, she called her name out as if she's known it all along. She couldn't recall ever saying it before in this dreamscape, but for the first time in this place she found her voice and called out intuitively for her …

Alice lay on her bed as her thoughts drifted towards the one person she wished she could be with more than anyone. As much as she wanted to call her and talk with her, she also needed a night alone to recoup from the day's events. She also realized that things were moving fast between her and Bella. It just wouldn't do to overwhelm her with too much too soon. It was somewhat troubling to think that the speed with which things have progressed between them was largely brought on by a desperate sense of urgency to keep Edward away from her. In her attempt to put a stop to Edward's invasive behavior towards Bella she had to move much more quickly than she would have liked. Ideally she would have wanted to spend a lot more time to gradually develop a friendship with Bella before allowing anything remotely intimate to happen between them. Then after a time, only when they were both at a more comfortable level with each other would she have pursued something further and start with all the courting and wooing. She had no doubt that she wanted Bella, but she couldn't forget how young and inexperienced Bella was in matters of the heart. Plus there was that added complication of Alice being a vampire to contend with. She knew that eventually she would have to tell her, but it had to be done so carefully. With the way things were going between her and Edward - and mishaps like today, she was more than a little worried how this would all play out.

But there was only so much thinking and worrying she could do in before it all became counterproductive. She's learned over time that she needed to occasionally give herself time for non-thinking in order to be clearer in her thoughts. Also, her visions tended to be clearer and more insightful if they came. So she made a conscious effort to relax and fall into a meditative state. She freed her mind from thoughts and let all the tension drain from the muscles of her body. When she was no longer aware of how much time had passed, Alice felt something release inside of her, someplace deep within her innermost being…that part of herself being pulled to the place that was outside of ordinary space and time. She heard her name being called, the source was compelling…irresistible. The glowing warmth emanating from the powerful energy drew her in, blending the ethereal and sensual as she felt herself enveloped by it.

Edward was sitting in the silence of his own room when his stereo finished playing his favorite Mozart, taking in the peaceful quiet of the evening. His mind drifted into a more relaxed state induced by the soothing sounds the classical concerto, closing his eyes as he tried to ease his mind into a more restful state. He's spent most of the day recovering from the incident of the morning and concentrated effort to shake off the monstrous urges that overtook him when exposed to Bella's blood. He was finally able to take his mind off it when suddenly he heard a familiar voice. It wasn't his auditory hearing that picked up the sound. It was that internal kind of hearing, the one that came with his vampiric ability to hear thoughts from the minds of others. This unique ability that often felt more like a curse than a gift had unintentionally started picking up on fragments of thoughts and mental images belonging to another.

He wondered briefly if his mind was conjuring up the voice he heard. He couldn't imagine how he could be hearing what sounded like Bella's voice calling out for Alice. He's never once before heard any of her unspoken thoughts, and it was highly unlikely she was paying a visit to the Cullen house at this hour. If she were anywhere nearby he was sure he would have picked up her scent.

When he recognized the voice of Bella it wasn't as clear as the thoughts that he usually heard from people. It was more like the ricochet of a voice bouncing from the thoughts of someone else who was hearing the same voice. It was also like hearing sounds behind a barrier, as if one was submerged beneath a body of water but still able to pick up certain sounds coming from the other side if they yelled loudly enough.

Although he realized that he should have pulled back from actively listening, especially the moment he realized it was Alice's mind he had inadvertently become privy to, his curiosity overrode any sense of propriety with regards to her privacy. Knowing that Bella was somehow involved in this exchange made it impossible for him to tune out. His inability to hear Bella's thoughts had often plagued him, so he couldn't resist this opportunity. He tilted his head slightly like a satellite receiver tuning into a signal travelling through space, focusing his mind while he tried to boost the clarity of any thoughts or mental images that he could channel…