Chapter Seven: Vision

"So the wolves are retaliating." Rosalie stated.

"That's not possible," I breathed. "They wouldn't hurt a human whether they think Jasper had killed those others or not."

"Maybe you're right Bella," Carlisle agreed, "But maybe there is someone within their ranks that is not as innocent as that."

"There have been a lot of new additions to their pack in the recent past," Jasper added, "Maybe someone is having trouble with the lifestyle."

I shook my head no. "But they still wouldn't hurt…"

"Remember what happened to Emily, Bella," Esme reminded me quietly. Emily had been left with a ghastly scar on her face by someone who cared about her: Sam.

"Sometimes things get out of hand," Jasper said, as if answering my train of thought.

I couldn't possibly believe that any of the wolves would do something intentionally; but an accident? Something that didn't just result in a painful scar, but death?

"Did any of you actually go to the other crime scenes?" Alice asked everyone, though she looked directly at me.

"No," I answered.

"So," Alice continued, "you only have Jacob's word that it was Jasper's scent on the bodies?" I didn't answer; I couldn't.

"You should try calling Jacob," Carlisle said to me. "I tried to call him, Sam, and even Billy before I came home, but no one answered my calls."

I went up to Carlisle's office so that I could use my cell phone in a quiet room. I dialed Jacob's home number. It continued to ring, with no answer, for what seemed like forever. Finally I hung up. There was only one thing left to do that I could think of.

I slipped out of the house and into the garage without the others noticing. I got into Edward's Volvo and drove down the driveway. The sun was setting in the sky. When I reached the end of the driveway, I pulled out and turned, on my way to La Push.

I made it to the treaty line quickly. I pushed on the accelerator even harder; I didn't know how long I would have before the wolves found out that I, a vampire, had crossed into wolf territory, and I needed the chance to talk to Jacob.

The trees flew by on either side as I sped down the road towards Jacob's house. Suddenly, there was something else beside me, keeping pace with the car. I realized it was a wolf, though I couldn't see who it was. He or she didn't make a move to intercept me, so I continued on until I pulled up in front of Jacob's house.

I got out of the car and was surprised to meet Seth in his human form—clothing haphazardly thrown on. "You're lucky it was me watching the borderline," he said as he came to stand in front of me. "Anyone else would have chased you out… or worse." Seth's tone was serious, but I didn't miss the small smile on his face that I took to mean he was happy to see me.

"I'm sorry Seth," I said. "I had to take the chance to come see Jacob. He hasn't been answering his phone."

"Of course he hasn't," Seth said, his eyes turning pained and tired-looking. "Jacob's been getting questioned, along with Sam, by that FBI agent almost all day. Billy's with them."

"I don't see why Agent Ramsey is still stuck on the Pack," I said angrily. "He has to know you guys don't have anything to do with it; there's no evidence."

"There's plenty of evidence," Seth told me, his expression now somber and devoid of its previous smile. "Ramsey was trying to get confessions from us earlier, but now I guess he's got enough evidence to bring charges without them."

"I don't understand how," I said, unbelieving.

"I don't know either," Seth continued, "but that's what we're up against." He looked at me for a minute, as if debating, then said, "So you came to see Jacob then?"

"Yes," I replied. I had come to see Jacob; to try and dispel the suspicions the others had brought up about the wolves. But Jacob wasn't here. Instead he was being interrogated by some FBI Agent intent on chasing after ghosts and false leads. I thought about what Carlisle had said—about what he had told us of the young woman that had died in the hospital after he tried to save her. Was Ramsey aware of something that I wasn't? Was he more on track than I had thought? It didn't make logical sense that an experienced FBI agent on a gang task force would pursue the wrong suspect. The pieces started to fit together in my mind, but I couldn't think that way. If the pieces did fit together, I couldn't accept what that would mean.

"I need to talk to Jacob as soon as possible," I finally said to Seth. "Will you have him call me as soon as he's done?"

"Sure," Seth agreed.

"Thanks," I said. "We'll figure this out… I promise."

"I'm sure you will," he said.

I drove back home without incident. The sun had dipped below the trees and the horizon. I pulled the car into the garage and went inside. I found the rest of the Cullens huddled around the coffee table in the living room. I walked closer and fit my head in between Edward's and Carlisle's shoulders.

Alice was kneeling behind the coffee table, sketching something on a piece of paper. I moved within the circle of Cullens to get a better look. Alice had drawn a road, as if we were standing on it, and there were trees off of either side. Her eyes were open and staring into nothing; she was having a vision. While we watched, she drew a longish object at the base of the trees; soon the hands and feet became apparent, as well as the long hair pooled at the ground. The object she had drawn was a woman, lying as if she were dead. Alice stopped drawing and finally looked down at what she had sketched. With all that was happening, I doubted this vision could mean anything else except another murder.

"Maybe we could get there before it happens," Edward said as he looked over me at Carlisle.

"And perhaps find out who's been doing this," Carlisle said as he looked back at Edward.

I turned my attention back to Alice's drawing. "There are a million places this could be," I said. Trees alongside roads was the dominant scene in this area.

"But we do know where this is," Edward replied.

"How?" I asked.

"Here; look," he told me, pointing to a small, rectangular shape jutting out of the road. "It's a mile marker."

I could see it now; Alice had drawn the sign marking the mile number on the road. It wasn't the first thing that would catch one's attention in the picture, but there it was—the thing that would lead us to the exact spot in Alice's vision.

"We should go," Edward told Carlisle.

"You're right," Carlisle said, stepping out of the half-circle surrounding Alice. "Edward, you'll come along, and Jasper…"

"Do you think that's wise?" Alice was alert and looking at Carlisle.

"Yes, I do," Carlisle answered. "We don't know… what we may find. Jasper would be good to have along if… if it came to a fight."

Part of me agreed with Alice; if the wolves were involved, seeing Jasper may not be the best thing, but I also agreed with Carlisle; Jasper was good to have around if the situation, whatever that would be, escalated. "I'm coming too," I said.

"Bella, I don't think…" Edward started, but Carlisle interrupted him.

"It would also be good to have Bella there," Carlisle said, and then he paused before continuing, "Bella may be able to calm our friends before it comes to a fight." Edward nodded once in reluctant agreement.

Carlisle had gotten the Mercedes fixed after the accident, and this was the car we climbed into. Carlisle proceeded to drive down the main road in the area, where we suspected the mile marker was. Edward sat up front with him, and Jasper sat beside me in the back seat.

We continued to speed down the road, the Mercedes' headlights briefly touching each mile marker as we passed, illuminating them. I was so concentrated on the little, green, reflective signs that it was only after we were a couple of miles in, did I realize that we had crossed the treaty line into wolf territory.

"Carlisle," I began, in a concerned tone.

"I know," Carlisle said before I could finish. I didn't think it wise to be crossing into the wolves' territory in the present situation, but we had to prevent whatever was going to happen, and Carlisle must have been thinking the same.

At last, I saw the mile marker we were looking for. Carlisle pulled the car off the road and into the dirt. We got out of the car. Before us stood the trees, as we faced the forest, as well as a bush right in front of us. I didn't remember a bush from Alice's drawing. As we walked closer, I could see that the bush's roots were exposed; it looked like it had been uprooted and just laid there.

"Over here!" Jasper called. He had walked around to the back of the bush, which was shielded from view from the road.

The rest of us circled around, and then we saw her. The young woman was lying on her back on the ground. Her eyes were open and unseeing. Her hair was pooled beside her face, just as Alice's picture had shown, along with blood—a lot of blood.

Carlisle knelt beside the woman and touched her skin. "This is recent," Carlisle said solemnly as he passed his hand over her eyes to close them. "Very recent."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Her temperature."

"How recent?" Edward asked.

"I'd say 15 minutes to a half of an hour," Carlisle answered. He seemed crestfallen—no, worse than that—he seemed devastated. I imagined that this was how he felt when he tried to save the other young woman in the hospital, but was too late.

"The bush…" Jasper began.

"Yes," Edward answered the thought in Jasper's mind. "The bush looks like it was put here… deliberately."

"But why would they do that?" I asked.

"It looks like they didn't want her to be seen from the road." Jasper answered.

"But they could have just dragged her further into the woods," I said. Though the woman's eyes were closed now, I could still see them open and hopeful, the scene burned into my memory. "It seems like it would take a lot less effort to drag her further in, and behind another tree, than to uproot a whole bush."

"And the bush wasn't in Alice's vision," Carlisle added. He was still kneeling beside the girl.

"But the mile marker was," Edward began, "and so was the body." I watched him as he concentrated for a moment before continuing. "It's almost as if…It's like someone wanted us to find her, and only us."

"Who?" I asked.

"Probably the same person who's been doing this all along," Jasper said. The look on his face seemed smug, satisfied. Jasper and Edward had a wordless exchange to which Edward nodded.

"What is it?" I asked, a little frustrated that I wasn't being included.

Edward looked at me, his face sad and pained. "What?" I asked again, dreading the answer, but he didn't reply.

"You don't smell that?" Jasper asked me, the smugness still apparent in his voice.

I concentrated on the scents around me, which I hadn't bothered to do before. It was… "Oh my gosh," I breathed as I identified one scent in particular—the same scent that I suspected the others had picked out before me. I couldn't say anything else.

"The wolves," Carlisle confirmed. I didn't want to agree with him, though I already knew it was true. How could it be possible? A woman was dead and a wolf had done it. I scrutinized her injuries; they weren't clean. Parts of her had been ripped, as if by claws.

Edward expression suddenly changed as he looked off into the woods. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Wolves are coming," he answered.