Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephanie Meyer

Chapter 7: Impending Doom

As I lay close to Jacob, watching over him as he slept, my mind began to wander. A few days ago everything was normal, or well normal for our family. What had happened to throw everything off the Rickert? What had changed? My thoughts took on a new direction...

I am un-leavable. Of this, I am certain. Maybe that is why I behave the way that I do. Maybe my constant storms come crashing down like hurricanes on those that I love becasue I know for a fact that they will never leave me, ever. I shuddered as this selfish realization crept through my mind. I gazed down at Jacob's face as he clung to me in his sleep. His expression twisted in angst and his body twitched slightly as his fingers bore into my arm, "Nessie" he whispered softly. How could I not love him? His jet black locks, long and sleek swept across the strong angle of his jaw, his sweet ruddy lips that have been the source of millions of kisses bestowed upon me, of coarse I love him. I love him with every ounce of monstrosity of which I am made. My Jacob, my beautiful and strong Jacob. I allowed my fingertips to trace the contours of his face pausing to feel his warm breath escape his flawless lips. He has been everything to me-- my protector, my big brother, my best friend, my companion, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, the brunt of my anger and soon, my lover. I gasped at this thought. It had come as a shock to me, though not to anyone else. They all knew the whole damn time.

My feelings for Jacob had changed, could that possibly be the cause of all of this mayhem? I shook my head, not wanting to believe that I could have possibly created this situation where my father and aunt lay upstairs suffering because my best friend was unnecessarily fighting for me. Before I could torture myself more throughly, Jacob's eyes slowly opened and he groaned as he became conscious of his wounds. "Nessie," he said with a yawn and a smile.

"How are you feeling Jake?" I couldn't bear seeing him suffering, especially knowing that it was all because of me. Arrgg... I sound just like her.

"Better, much better actually," he said stretching his arms to the side to test the healing. "Are you OK? How are the rest of the vamps?" I rolled my eyes at his slur, but smiled a little at the return of his endearing humor.

"I'm not really sure, I've been down here with you for the past couple of hours," I reached my mind out to my father, Daddy? I waited hopefully expecting him to appear in the room, but it was Mom that showed up in his place. She edged up closer to Jacob and I and let her fingers compassionately brush against his face.

"Jake, I'm so sorry, how are you feeling?" she cooed at him. There was a softness in her eyes that I rarely saw, the gold faded to a tawny amber. And there it was again, just for a heartbeat. My eyes closed, my mind consumed by the veridian flash. Jealousy. And quickly following, Guilt. I stole him from her.

"Ah, Bella, I've been through much worse," he answered with a wink. "How are Alice and Edward?" Now it was Jacob who was stinging with guilt.

"Edward is up and running. Jasper needed a break from Alice's pain so he took him hunting a couple of hours ago, they should be back soon," she nervously shifted her eyes to the front door.

"And Alice?" Jake asked hopefully. Her face dropped, she gently rested her hand on Jacob's arm and just shook her head.

"No change, she's still up there in some kind of... trance, she is perfectly still except for her lips which seem to be repeating something over and over, but none of us can understand her. Hopefully Edward will be able to figure out what's going on," her gazed trailed up the stairs towards Alice, "Nessie, I think that you better talk to your father before he gets to Jake. I'm not sure what is going through his head right now. He left this morning without a word." She looked hurt and worried. I only nodded. "I'll be with Alice if you need me," she tried to smile beneath her cloud of despair.

"Jacob, now that you are feeling better, I need to know what Alice said to you. What could she possibly say to provoke you to attack her?" I hadn't meant it to come out quite the way it did and I instantly regretted it seeing his teeth jut into his bottom lip, "Ah Jake, I'm sorry, I know you didn't mean it, please just tell me what she said."

He fought back his distress silently composing himself, "She told me that I couldn't be with you, she said that she had seen something horrible, or rather felt something horrible, she said that she couldn't see it, but it was there. And whatever it was, it happened because of us." My heart plummeted. Because of us. It sent a shiver down my spine. How could Jake and I loving each other be bad, especially after seeing her first vision? There must be some mistake. We were meant to be, imprinted even, how could that not be the way things were supposed to work out? I sat silently trying to untangle this mess. Jacob reached for my hand, "Nessie, I love you and I'm sorry but no vision of impending doom is going to change that, I won't loose you." I saw the determination, anger and fear swimming in the depths of his eyes, and another emotion, Regret?

"Jake," I tried to prepare him for the blow, but to no avail, it had to be said, "I'm not my mother, I will never leave you." He was stunned by my response, speechless even. He stared at me all of his emotions swirling like black water.

Before he could respond, I heard Jasper and Daddy approaching the house and remembered my mother's warning. I kissed Jake quickly on the cheek and lept through the front door to meet them outside. "Daddy!" I ran into his waiting arms, he held me tenderly, carefully, always afraid of inflicting pain. "Daddy, I was so worried, are you OK?"

He chuckled and ran his fingers through my hair, "Nessie, I'm fine, don't worry angel," I looked up, searching his eyes for something else, I didn't need to ask. He knew what I was worrying about and I was glad for Jasper's presence.

But it proved unwarranted, "Oh honey, I would never do that to you, I only sought to protect Alice, I didn't want to hurt Jacob. Well, that's not entirely true," he laughed, "but for all of the practical purposes, I saw what he was thinking, I knew that he was fighting for you. I accepted this situation with Jacob a long time ago. We have our issues, but all in all, he is family. And you know that I couldn't allow him to hurt Alice. I could see his conflicted mind and I needed to protect her first." I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled him in close.

"I love you Daddy," I winced as he hugged me feeling all of my bruises from my tantrum, "Thank you for understanding. Can we go see Alice now? Carlisle needs your help." He nodded seriously and the three of us headed inside.

Even in her coma-like state, Alice looked like a goddess. I reached for Jasper's hand as we walked in the door sharing my thought with him, he smiled sadly, nodding his head in agreement. Carlisle was sitting in the chair next to her reading one of his many medical books. He looked up with a faint-hearted smile as we entered the room.

"Edward, my son, can you hear her?" Carlisle looked hopeful. My father seemed deep in thought. His eyes narrowed as if he were straining. We all sat silent and still watching him, hoping. Alice's lips continued to move reverently, her angelic face twisted in concern.

"She is saying 'There is wisdom in the flesh' over and over again, but it seems more like a mantra, or maybe diversion, a means of blocking her visions than the actually vision," my father seemed confused by this, shaking his head, "What does that mean?" he said turning to Carlisle.

"I do not know Edward, I guess we will just have to be patient, Alice always does things for a reason, we owe it to her to trust her judgment," Carlisle's eyes scanned the room and he returned to his reading, he was clearly hoping for more.

I looked up at Jasper, "What is she feeling?" He concentrated for a minute. The rush of love that I had felt for him through Alice's visions flashed in my mind, if any one knew what she was feeling it would be Jasper, powers or not, their love was so strong.

He lay his hand softly on her cheek, "She feels fear, impending doom, defensiveness, love," he paused trying to pull the emotions apart and sort them into categories, "and... something like learning, acknowledgement maybe?" His grief was thick, his eyes somber as he gazed down at Alice, his Alice. It was difficult to watch knowing first hand how they felt about each other.

I needed a break from all of this, it was truly exhausting. I felt my mother's arms wrap around me from behind, "Nessie, you look faint, would you like to hunt with me?" The thought of blood sent my throat afire, I hadn't realized I was so thirsty. Memories of the shark filled my mind, so powerful, so satisfying. I quickly changed my thoughts realizing my company. I kissed Daddy on the cheek and headed outside with my mother. She didn't share my need for dangerous prey and would be quite content with a small herd of elk or deer, which was fine by me, I had had quite enough danger for the moment. She was so graceful as she lept across the river, beckoning me to follow, "Come on Nessie," she flashed a radiant smile. Her long, sleek hair whipped across her face in the wind as the rest of her stood unaffected by the movement. It was no wonder he fell in love with her, I thought sadly. She is ravishing. I knew better than to torture myself. I sighed and sprang myself across the rippling water landing softly next to her. She tilted her head to one side noticing my sorrowful expression. She didn't say anything, she just held my gaze for a second before we headed off into the forest arm in arm.