Chapter 18: A Meeting of the Minds

"Ah yes," the silky voice echoed in both of our heads, "Alice, I see what you mean about this one, very interesting indeed." I stared, flabbergasted at Alice. How is this happening? I thought. The voice answered, "It seems that through your amazing friend, Alice, I have also been able to establish a connection with you," Marius's voice in my head.

Alice's eyes were wide and excited, "Oh, I"m so glad that I'm not the only one," she squealed, "this will make everything so much easier to explain to the others."

"If you say so," I said shaking my head. Laughter trickled from the golden voice in my mind.

"My ladies, time is wearing thin here. The one that you call Aro is growing vastly impatient with me. I have refused to feed due to the fact that he only offers me innocents. I have retained much of my strength, but I'm afraid I don't know how much longer that will last. I have not opened my mind to the others of my kind because I am scared of a retaliation upon my behalf. Maharet is fair and just, but can react quickly when those that she loves find themselves in peril." I was listening intently to the news brief we were receiving and continuing to stare open mouthed at Alice.

"Unlocking the secrets here has proved to be more difficult than I thought. Some of these creatures have the gift of blocking their thoughts already and those who do not, provide little information into the leadership. Aro has discovered my ability to read his thoughts and thereby has worked hard to learn the art of concealment. He occasionally slips, but so far, nothing too pertinent has escaped his mind. I will remain his captive, doing silly little tasks for his study of me for as long as I can, but I fear if I do not locate the primal fount, the situation will deteriorate quickly for all of us." His silvery voice became rough and jagged with this last remark. My fear began to stir.

"Primal fount?" I said to Alice and the voice in our minds.

Alice answered quickly, cutting Marius off, "Yes Nessie, Marius believes that like his species, we have a primal fount, a single being that carries the life force of the spirit that created the split between our two kinds. I had naturally assumed it to be Aro and encouraged Marius to investigate him closely, but I am beginning to think that I am wrong, perhaps the Volturi's secrets run deeper than we have imagined."

"But why do we need the primal fount, or whatever its called? Why can't Maharet just destroy the bad Vampires and leave us out of it?" I said, my voice shaking a bit.

Alice's eyes narrowed and her face darkened, "If Marius is correct, then like his species if the original vampire holding the spirit dies, then so shall all that have followed his or her creation."

"Oh," I whispered.

"Yes, I'm afraid that this is more than likely the truth of the situation. Although I am more than fascinated with your species, Reneseme, and wondering if the destruction of the fount would effect you since you are half human. It's truly amazing, you see, as some of your kind crave to return to their human forms, it is like that with nearly all of us these days. After a millennium of immortality, the human factor becomes very appealing indeed." Marius stated in our minds. "But I'm sure that you are no more willing than I, to live to find out that all of your family has been destroyed."

I nodded, a tear began to form in my eye, stinging and turning my vision blood red.

"Ah," he said, "Young Alice has not told me of your tears. This is something that we share with you my dear, we too shed tears of blood."

Alice seemed surprised, "We can't cry," she said bitterly, "Nessie is the only one."
"Well then, it seems some traits skip a generation," he said with a chuckle. "Don't cry lovely child. Alice is strong and so are you, I'm sure that we will all be able to work this out. Now, I have something of importance to tell you. I am going to be sending you a dear friend of mine, David Talbott. Now I have already shown him to you, Alice."

"How could I forget him," she said with a flirtatious smile.

"Yes, few can forget a face that stunningly beautiful," Marius replied, "Now, I am only going to open my mind to him for a mere fraction of a second to deliver the message, I do not wish to frighten my old friend or send him on the alarm. David is a very experienced individual and rarely jumps to conclusions, I just don't want any of the others to be alerted into taking action. David is an amazing resource and has much to offer. I think it best for him to be able to assess the situation first hand and aid in resolving this issue. I'm sure that you will find him more than helpful. I assume that he will travel as the mortals do, as David does not enjoy using the cloud gift. So he will most likely arrive within two or three days time. I am not sure of his current whereabouts."
"Cloud gift?" I pondered.

"Ah yes, I don't believe any of your kind that I have encountered share this gift with us. It is the ability levitate and 'fly,' if you will at great speeds. It is very useful and those who have mastered it may make extensive journeys. However, it is terrifying-- I never feel less human than I do when using this particular means of travel." he seemed to shudder. "So, anyway, I advise you that this is the time to alert the other members of your coven as to the situation. I'm sure that upon David's arrival you all will be able to reach some sort of conclusion. Day is approaching here, so I have to bid you goodnight," he said. "Oh and Nessie, congratulations, I am unbelievably impressed by the miracle of your birth, let alone, the thought of you being with child." And then he was gone and our minds were our own again.

"Wow," Alice stated. "Pretty crazy, huh?" Her excitement was palpable, like she had sprouted little fairy wings and was fluttering in the air. "I can't believe that he is sending David here! This is amazing, I can't wait to tell the others."

I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow, "Now Auntie, I'm not so sure that they will be nearly as excited as we are..." but I stopped myself because her expression had gone blank and her eyes hollow.

It lasted only a couple of seconds, I took the time to let everything sink in while Alice got through her vision. When it was over, she let out a little squeal and a smile broke across her face like a glass being hit with a rock. "Come on Nessie, Carlisle will have much to tell us about this," she skipped ahead of me.

"What about..." I tried to get out.

"Oh don't worry about it Ness, your dad is always like this," she said rolling her eyes. "He'll get over it, come on!" With that, she bounded into the forest like a doe frolicking in a meadow. I sighed "Well, here goes nothing," and leaped into the trees after her.

My mind twisted as we ran. Alice was having a hard time in her excitement and was leaving me in the dust. My thoughts returned to Jake and what he and the pack would think of all this. Surely the presence of another species of vampire was going to ruffle some feathers. I shuddered at the thought of Jake trying to fight a being that had the cloud gift. And as if that wasn't enough to worry about, I still needed to deal with my parents. They were less than excited about the idea of Jake and I in general, but now, things were going to really hit the fan. If my dad were mortal, he would surely drop dead if I told him I was pregnant. I didn't want to think of the look on his face when I delivered the blow. I shuddered again when I combined the fears, Jake and my dad and me pregnant. Alice was wrong, he will never get over this one. I groaned and picked up the pace, racing to my doom.

The back door was still open ahead of me. The warmth and light hit me like a cannon ball. My family had already been gathered in the great room. Alice shot a look at me, "Go get Jake, Nessie. He's upstairs, still asleep." I nodded, grateful for the opportunity to have just a second alone with Jake to prepare. I ignored my mother's attempt to catch my eye and bolted past them. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I darted up the stairs.

"Jake," I opened the door slowly finding him past out and snoring on the bed. I laughed and shook my head. "Jake!" I said, shaking him roughly. He stirred, his eyes opening for a second. I smiled down at him, "Come on Jakey, time to wakey," I taunted. A smile curled from his lips, his eyes held closed.

"Ah, do I have to?" he jokingly whined. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on! Get up already," I pleaded.

"Alright, alright, I'm up," he sat up on the bed climbing to his feet. He captured me in a giant bear hug. His arms felt so good wrapped around me, for a second I forgot everything and was just lost in him-- my personal giant teddy bear.

"Are you feeling better?" I said guiltily. Sensing my disdain, he brought me up, eye level with him. He was still able to lift me like I was a tiny child.

"Hey, if anyone's gunna bite me, it better be you," he laughed and growled at the same time producing a very funny noise. I shattered into laughter.

"Oh Jake, I'm so glad that you're okay, I thought for a minute I'd killed you," I whimpered

"Oh, now that is funny," he said putting me down. "So what's up, whats with the rise and shine routine?"

"They are all waiting downstairs for us. Alice and I have some news to tell everyone and I think that you and I do too," I said, laying a hand over my belly. His huge paw like hand immediately covered mine warming my stomach. His head tilted gently to the side and his cheeks flamed with blood. I had to push the thirst down at the sight of it.

"Yeah, I don't know how this is gunna go... Your parents are not going to be thrilled," he said gravely.

"Yeah, my dad," I started.

"Oh no, Edward I can take, its your mom that I'm worried about," he said laughing and throwing a soft punch into my shoulder. "That girl has a wrath like no other, you should have seen her when I told her for the first time that I had imprinted on you," he laughed, "she went strait for my throat!" I frowned, not thinking it nearly as humorous as he did.

"Alice said that its going to be okay, she had a vision just before we came back," I said, brushing off the image of my mother ripping Jake's throat out.

"Yeah well the fortune cookie isn't always right, is she?" he said convincingly. I shrugged.

"Just don't let them tear me up too bad, okay?" he said pleadingly with a smile. "I want our baby to have a daddy."

I beamed at the thought of this and a tiny flutter flicked inside me, "Ooh," I jumped, "Feel this!" I reached for his hand and lay it over my belly. The being inside kicked and rolled in excitement as if showing off for Jake's attention. Shock cascaded over his face.

"Already?" he said quizzically. I thought we might have some more time.

"I don't think so, I'm not big yet, but the fact that I can feel it says a lot," I replied. "It's for the best," I said turning away from him sadly as the Alice's vision fought its way in.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake shot at me.

I shook my head, regretting that I had said it, "You'll see. Come on, everyone is waiting."