Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Stephanie Meyer

*In reading some of the other authors' work, I realize that this a little bit more detail oriented and can be tedious, sorry, I get caught up in the descriptions. I'm working on it. That and the run on sentences. I like comas :P It reads a little bit too novel-y not very short story-ish, or so I'm told.

Chapter 3: Lightning

Laughing at myself for being careless enough to sacrifice my clothes to the sea, I ran briskly through the forest as fast as I could. I amazed myself with my speed, which had nearly doubled over the last year and was definitely aided by a fresh kill. It took only minutes before I reached the house.

Alice snickered at me as I flew past her and up to my room to get dressed. I shut the door behind me, flipped on the light and collapsed on the bed. Just a quick rest, five minutes or so. I lay back against my mahogany headboard staring up at the lavender walls and white crown moldings that surrounded me. It had only been six months since I had claimed this room as my own. I had asked to move into the big house wanting to gain my independence and leave my parents with their privacy. It was liberating to help Alice decorate the room, which she fussed over endlessly until we found the perfect colors and the perfect furniture. Watching Emmett and Jasper toss my furniture up the stairs was almost as amusing as it was to watch Alice order them to rearrange it over and over, as if she couldn't do it herself. Playing damsel in distress is one of Alice's favorites, since she never gets to play that role in reality.

My eyes casually bounced around the room seeing all of the familiar things that had become mine when something caught my eye. A white shopping bag. Alice. I rolled my eyes. I climbed up out of my bed and emptied the contents of the bag. I pulled out an emerald green cashmere sweater dress with a daringly low scoop neck and a pair of chestnut brown suede knee high boots that arched to the perfect heel. I squealed in delight, unlike my mother, I adored Alice's shopping habits and loved presents. Then at the bottom of the bag was a box with a note taped on it. In spidery script it read:

Nessie- Sorry about my visions causing you such grief, I hope the outfit makes up for it. And sorry about this last present, from what I have heard, this is a real pain in the ass part of being human.

Love, Alice

P.S. I wont tell them about your little "fishing" trip today, you should be more careful, sharks are dangerous.

I groaned at her shark warning, they were always pestering me about my favorite food. I grumbled for a minute before returning my attention to Alice's previous comment, I pulled the box from the bag, it was plain white, unmarked. I lifted the lid to find rows of neatly organized and color coordinated tampons. A little confused, I read the next note inside the box.

You will be needing these by next week. I guess the human part of you is becoming a woman. I haven't told anyone else yet, but you may want to talk to your mother, she is really the only one that can help you in this department. Oh, or Carlisle, he is a doctor, but I bet your mom will be the better choice.

As if I haven't had enough shocking news for one day, a period? Why couldn't my half vampire genes spare me this misery? Its not fair. I felt a combination of angst and frustration that I couldn't explain, even to myself. I slipped into my stellar new outfit just before Alice knocked on the door. "Nessie, can I come in?" Her voice rang like a tiny church bell.

"Yeah, come on in Alice," I said with a notable sigh.

She gave me a quick hugging squeeze, "Do you like it? You look amazing!" She was practically jumping up and down. Her nose crinkled, "And can you believe you are going to start your period?" I had to forgive the angelic Alice for her unnecessary excitement over my human problem, she didn't get to experience being a human teenager. I hugged her back and thanked her for the gorgeous outfit that I truly did love.

I gazed at myself in the large oval mirror in the corner of my room. I thoughtfully pondered, maybe she was right, the human side of me was becoming a woman. The curve of my hips was readily apparent and my breasts had filled the cups of my new bras exquisitely. Even my face seemed foreign to me, my full lips and engaging melted chocolate eyes, I was stunning really. I could barely believe it was me in the mirror. Once the rapture had worn off of from my new outfit, Alice's face stiffened, gaining a marble-like quality as she leaned in close to me, "You really do need to be careful with the sharks, I know you are strong and fast, but it is too easy for us to loose your scent in the water, it makes you very difficult to locate if things go wrong." Her eyes darkened at the thought, losing their gilded shimmer. The guilt spilled over me and my stunning outfit. I did know better than to hunt alone in the open ocean. I didn't want any of my family members worrying about me, I did realize that I was more vulnerable in the ocean than the rest of my family. I did have to breath, not as much as human, but still enough to be able to drown. I hung my head in remorse and offered my apology.

"I know Alice, I'm very sorry, I promise to be more careful, I was just so out of whack with this imprinting business, its got me all stressed out." She rubbed my back sympathetically. Her ice cold hands were soothing and felt good against the heat of my skin.

"We all knew that this would be difficult for you to grasp and accept, I just wish that I would have had visions about it earlier so that you would be better prepared, but the black hole created by Jacob and the rest of the pack didn't allow me to see any possible outcomes of telling you." She hung her head, "I'm sorry that I couldn't help you with this Nessie, I really am." Her resolve and feelings of failure were more than apparent.

The wave of guilt crashed over me again, "Alice, this is not your fault, please don't take it upon yourself to know everything," I said with kind and knowing smile. Her statuesque features lifted slightly at my sympathetic grin.

"I know," she said, sounding pleasant and relieved that I wasn't mad at her. "I just can't figure out what caused my sudden revelation into Jacobs future." Her eyebrows knotted neatly together as she fought to reach an epiphany.

This was something that I hadn't put much thought into during my little ocean excursion, "Alice, can you tell me in detail what you saw?" She smiled slyly, if vampires could blush... I smiled back at her feeling the blood rush to my cheeks. I looked down avoiding her golden stare. "I know that your vision really upset Daddy and I know that you didn't show him all of the details..." I trailed off waiting for her as she obviously replayed mine and Jacob's tryst in her mind. A devilish smile etched its way into her lips.

"I don't know Nessie, it's pretty, um... graphic," she whispered still smirking.

"I think I can handle it, please, pretty please, come on Auntie Alice," I knew she couldn't resist when I pulled out the Auntie Alice. She flashed her pearl white teeth at me for using her weak spot against her. I just giggled. She playfully slapped my arm.

"Oh all right, but don't tell your dad that I told you, OK?"

"Deal," We confirmed the promise with a pinkie swear, a cute little antic that Alice and I had started doing when I was just a toddler. She thought it was just the sweetest little thing. As we joined our pinkies, I sent a picture of us doing this for the first time. Alice smiled and her eyes sparkled in delight at the memory.

"Oh that reminds me, I want you to try something OK?" She seemed excited, "You know how mom can lift her shield and that allows your dad to read her thoughts?" I nodded. "Well I was thinking that you could reverse your power to be able to see my visions. I'm not sure how or if it will work, but I figure if you can send, then you should be able to receive, at least from me." I hadn't really thought of receiving pictures, the whole thing originally started as a means of communication, but since I could already understand everyone around me, I had no need for things to work the other way around. "Lets start with something simple," she said, "I'm going to try to show you one of my visions, you tell me what you see." I nodded in approval.

"Give me a second to prepare," She was absolutely still as I channeled all of my telepathic thoughts so that my mind was blank. I tried to focus my mind to receive and to be open. I thought of the swirling black water. I concentrated. Receive. We joined hands and I closed my eyes.

A violent shock of electricity ran through my body causing me to jolt. Alice immediately pulled her hands away, "Oh my god, Nessie, are you OK?"

I opened my eyes but I wasn't in my room I was out in front of our house jumping up and down as Jasper pulled up in the drive way with a shiny new bright yellow Lotus Evora. I screamed, "Its not supposed to come out till next year!" Its sleek design was heavenly and I was obsessed with how hot Jasper looked driving it, his blond hair flowing back from the speed and that sweet little upturn of his lips, my smile. Oh I could just jump on him right here and now! "Happy Birthday Baby," he said as he jumped from the car tossing me into the driver seat and springing in next to me, "Are you surprised?" I gave him a knowing smile, he just laughed. The sound of his voice sparkled in my mind, a huge smile beamed from my face as I threw the car in reverse and raced like a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky toward the highway.

As quick as it began it was over. I was in my room again, lavender walls and Alice, a very scared looking Alice. She was shaking me, "Nessie, Nessie! What happened to you" I looked at her in amazement and told her what I had seen, what I had felt. Her eyes had taken on a copper tone as she absorbed and assessed the situation. "You saw my vision from my point of view. You were not merely a watcher as I am in my visions, you are a participant, amazing." I was exhausted from our little endeavor. I was astonished at this revelation and a little overwhelmed by the possibilities. "I even knew things that you know, about the car, about Jasper, about being a full Vampire! I literally was you!" I laid back trying to remember every detail of what it felt like, how the subtle differences in how Alice saw every detail and how gorgeous and appealing Jasper was to her.

"Alice, why do you think I felt your feelings and not Jaspers? And how long was I out?" My head was spinning and I felt a little dazzled to be honest, the love that Alice felt for Jasper was so intense and complicated and I only had a glimpse of it. The intimacy of the situation almost felt stolen. I felt a tinge of sinfulness, similar I'm sure, to how my father feels when hears other's thoughts.

"You were only out for maybe five seconds, but it felt like forever, I was so worried. And I don't know, we will have to try a vision that doesn't involve me so that we can figure out the answer to your other question." I felt the heat radiating from my cheeks imagining which vision we could use to test the theory. Alice obviously caught wind of my thoughts. Her laugh shimmered and broke into a million pieces, so magically evil.

"Are you sure you are ready for that?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrow. "One more test before that. I want to know if you saw things from my point of view because I am the one transferring the image or if I can control your point of view. We will just do another easy one."

Eager to test her theory she held her hands out again. I closed my eyes, Receive. As we touched the same electrifying shock coursed through my body.

I opened my eyes to a scene of breathtaking serenity. The sun glistened like a million tiny jewels reflecting every color of the imaginary palate. I gasped breathing in the sharp morning air. A memory surfaced in the pool of my mind from a time when I could see my breath on the air on mornings such as this. A gust of jasmine and honeysuckle buried me like an avalanche followed by the sweet scent that lingers in the air at the bottom of a waterfall. It was so fresh, so alluring and impossible to resist. I found myself staring off the edge of a cliff searching for the source.

I freed my senses allowing instinct to embrace my thoughts and entrance my body. I cascaded down the mountainside, nearly tumbling as my body easily propelled itself from rock to rock. Suddenly my whole body stiffened. The scent was so excessive that I became dizzy. Barely maintaining my footing, my kinesthetics fought to maintain themselves. With my final leap to valley floor I saw her. The smell of her blood was earth shattering. Regain control, strength old man, strength. Eyes fluttering and chest heaving, I held my breath. Too fast, take it slow. Fighting my instincts, I knelt at her crumbled body. Even in death, this creature was stunning. Blood stained her satin hair, I resisted the urge to run my fingertips over her milky skin. The mortal death is a terrible and beautiful thing. I let myself revel in the moment, just for a second. Devastatingly beautiful. Sadness for her, for myself, for the loss of life, for the inability to die a mortal death swept over me. And then I heard it, the most angelic sound in the world-- her heart beat.

Before thought even entered my mind I had crushed her to my chest, this magnificent creature clinging to her last moments. The speed at which I moved was indescribable, nearly tele-transportation. I willed myself to be back to my hospital camp and there I was, there we were; her and I. I lay her down so swiftly and so gently. I pulled her blood stained hair from the sublimely grotesque fracture of her neck and for one single second the whole world was still, absolute tranquility.

And then the sound, the last time I would hear it, she beat for me one last time as I sank my teeth into the abyss of her throat and possibly the last artery still able to pump the blood to her nearly silent heart. And I felt love-- only love.

My eyes blinked twice and I was back to Alice, I could feel my face twisted and my teeth sinking into my bottom lip, "Carlisle finding Esme. I thought you said it would be an easy one," I shuddered. "But I thought you said it would be from one of your visions? You didn't join with the Cullens until after they were together right?"

Alice smiled at this, an elegant smile, "This was the vision I had that made me decide to seek out Carlisle and Esme. Of coarse it took a very long time for me to find them and for things to work out how they did, but I have saved a special spot in my memory for this vision. I hold it very dear. I had never witnessed such compassion from one of our kind." She paused savoring the memory like it was the last drop of blood that would ever touch her lips. "So... what did you see?"

"It was beautiful, the scenery I mean, and Carlisle does have an immense amount of self control and," but she stopped me right there.

"Perfect!" She bounced up and down in the chair, "So you were him, then?"

"Yes." It seemed strange and again I had the feeling that I was intruding. I crossed my arms hugging my chest. Alice surrounded me, holding me tight.

"Nessie, are you OK baby?" Alice's compassionate touch eased my tensions.

"The amount of emotion is overwhelming and kind of hard to absorb. I feel how I think Daddy feels when he hears thoughts that he knows he isn't supposed to. It feels stolen, like the emotions aren't mine to feel." I let my head fall back on her squeezed me tight.

"I don't really see our gifts the way that Edward does," she seemed careful not to offend, "I think that we were given these qualities to use them to help others and ourselves at times. I see them as a method of preservation for ourselves and those that we love. Learning to master my gift is part of my purpose for existing. If I'm not using my abilities to my full potential, then I'm not doing everything I can to protect my family. I don't judge Edward for having a sense for the need of privacy, but I do think that he sells himself short in his abilities because of his good intentions."

I sat listening to the chime of her voice. I hadn't thought of my gift as a means of preservation for anyone but myself. She seemed to understand my silent line of thinking, "Nessie, you are still so young there will be lots of time for you to develop your gifts and discover their various uses and expand your capabilities. Don't be hard on yourself. It is a learning process after all." She turned me around in her arms like a small child, hugging me close and stroking my hair, "Now, how about that other vision," she said sitting me back up on the bed and making sure that I saw her less the subtle winks. I rolled my eyes at her bravado. "Oh come on, I know you are dying to know." The smile beamed from her face and I couldn't help but mirroring her expression. I did really want to know.

"Alright, I think I can manipulate the point of view that you will receive, so who do you want to be?" her palms were already outstretched waiting for mine. I just assumed that I would be myself, but the devious nature of knowing Jake's thoughts was too tempting, way too tempting. Alice's smile twisted in evil delight, "Ohhh!!! I knew it, you are a bad girl." She laughed and I blushed.

"Jake it is then, Oh Nessie, I think you are in for it, but I'll have you know that I expect to know every last detail," she said in her strictly business face.

"Don't worry, I'll send it all back to you when we're done," I snickered catching her off guard.

"Mmmm... I forgot about that, this is going to be interesting," her expression changed suddenly, "Oh god, don't show your Dad!" We both laughed like teenage girls dishing about the new cute guy in class.

Ohhh, You are going to have to wait till the next chapter for this, but you already knew that, didn't you? I hope to hear some reviews... I will probably have chapter four up and running by tomorrow :)