A/N: Here's chapter 8, Alice's point of view. It starts all the way back to the day after the almost battle with the Volturi. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Twilight is owned by Stephenie Meyer. And sadly, I am not her. :(
Chp. 8
Missing in Action
APOV
I skipped happily out the back door and across the backyard. The Volturi were gone, Jasper and I were with our family again, and we could all live in peace for once.
When the small stone cottage finally came into view, I picked up my pace, excited to finally get to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece.
I barged into the house, not caring that I didn't knock first. I quietly made my way into Edward and Bella's room, knocking this time. I did not need to see them naked, as I assumed that's probably what they do at night like any normal couple.
It was still so….gross to think about though. I shuddered slightly. After shaking my head clear of these particularly unpleasant thoughts, I tapped my knuckles on the wood three times.
There was no answer.
I tried again, rapping slightly louder. "You better both be decent, because I'm coming in there anyways." I shouted through the door, smirking to myself.
No answer.
I reached for the door handle, and gently turned it, but found it was locked. "Better unlock the door or I will just have to break the knob." I teased.
There was still no answer. What the hell is going on here?
I listened closely, but heard no movement, no breathing, nothing. No sound was emitting from there room at all. I panicked, crushing the doorknob and pushing the door out of the way, pretty much flying into the room.
The bed was just a massive pile of sheets all tangled up. There was no Edward, and no Bella. I frantically checked the bathroom and closet, finding no sign of them in the house.
I darted into Renesmee's room, hearing her fluttering heartbeat on my way there. She was sound asleep in her little bed, snoring so softly, human ears wouldn't be able to pick up on it. I scrambled my way to her bed, shaking her awake.
She bounced up, looking cautiously around the room before settling her eyes on mine. "Do you know where your parents are?" I asked.
She yawned, shaking her head. "No." she mumbled sleepily. "Are they not here?"
I shook my head and her brow furrowed, all signs of tiredness seemingly gone. "Where did they go?" her eyes darted around the room frantically, widening slightly. "Are they in trouble?" she whispered.
My eyes glazed over slightly as I searched for a vision relating to their sudden disappearance, but I only drew a blank. An absolute blank. There was nothing for neither Bella, nor Edward's futures. Everything was pitch black. Their futures had disappeared.
I gasped, falling from my crouched position and onto my ass on the floor. "Alice?" Nessie's voice sounded worried and slightly panicked, but I could barely hear it.
I was losing myself in the blackness of their futures, trying desperately to see something. Anything. But it was hopeless.
I jolted off of the floor into a standing position when I felt a tiny hand shaking my shoulder painfully hard. I peered down to see my niece standing at my feet, looking up at me with wide eyes. "What happened?" she whispered.
"I-" I stuttered slightly. "I don't know."
Her eyes were filled with moisture that was threatening to spill over at any moment. No. I wouldn't let that happen. I had to reassure her that everything was okay. That her parents were safe, and that they probably only went out for a short while.
I bit the inside of my cheek, internally debating whether that was a good idea. She would be devastated if I told her that they just went for a walk, and then they never came home. I couldn't do that to her, she deserved honesty.
"What h-h-happened?" she squeaked, - sobbing - interrupting what I was thinking.
I bent down, lowering myself onto my knees so I was eye level with her. I sighed, filling my cheeks with air and blowing it out noisily, finally looking into her teary brown eyes. "You have to be calm, okay? I'm not going to lie to you, you deserve better than that." she nodded for me to go on.
"Your parent's futures…disappeared. I don't know what that means yet, but I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure they're alright." I brushed a few strands of hair away from her face and smiling sadly.
She sniffled. "You think they're okay?" she whispered.
I shook my head. "I don't know, but let's get back to the rest of the family quickly so we can figure something out, okay?" I took her tiny hand in mine and helped her get changed.
We ran hand in hand back to the main house, and flew through the backdoor. "Everybody?" I unnecessarily shouted.
All of them appeared only seconds later, and I led them to the living room. They all took seats, while I remained standing in the very center of the room.
I cleared my throat. "Edward and Bella are missing." I didn't hold back in telling them, I wanted it all out in the open. No secrecy. "Their futures have disappeared and they weren't at the cottage when I got there." I stated.
"What happened?" Esme jumped up from her place on the loveseat and stood within inches of me.
"I don't know, I had no visions about what happened, and now their futures are completely gone. It's just a black nothing every time I try to look." I told her.
Carlisle stood then. "Maybe they left to go talk to the wolves. That makes their futures disappear, right?" he reasoned, but I was shaking my head already. "That's different. Everything used to just disappear when wolves were involved, but after spending more time with them, I get blurry flashes. I can never tell what exactly is happening, but there is always something there. This time, there's nothing. It's just blank." My voice wavered slightly.
Jacob chose that moment to stroll into the room. "Hey guys." He immediately spotted Renesmee on the couch, head down, tears streaming freely down her slightly flushed cheeks. "What happened?" he rushed over to her, scooping her into his arms.
I informed him of the situation, and double checked to make sure Bella and Edward didn't just go visit the wolves. His answer didn't faze me, I was already completely sure that something else had happened to them.
Everybody spent the entire day searching, save for me who stayed home with Renesmee. I sat, massaging my temples, trying to find a flicker of anything involving my brother or sister in any one of my visions. But nothing ever came to me. Renesmee was curled up to my side on the couch for most of the day, doing nothing but staring blankly out the window across from us.
Our family returned, unsuccessful in finding anything. There wasn't even a single trail to follow.
Days turned into weeks, and Edward and Bella had still yet to come home. And we still hadn't found anything. None of us gave up hope or mentioned the thought of them being gone forever.
As I stood in my bedroom, peering out my window one morning, I felt my vision cloud over, and I was consumed by a vision. I saw a female vampire, standing in the center of a meadow. I knew this meadow. It was Edward and Bella's. The vision was fading in and out and I couldn't get a very clear picture, so therefore I couldn't see who this mystery woman was.
She had just appeared in the center for only moments before disappearing. Just as she was out of sight, I snapped out of my vision. I blinked rapidly, shaking my head.
What did this mean? Why was I getting a vision of a random vampire in the center of Edward and Bella's meadow? Edward and Bella's meadow. It all clicked. This woman must have something to do with their disappearance. That would make sense as to why I'm seeing this.
I practically flung myself through my bedroom door and down the stairs. As I reached the door, I felt a protective hand enclose around my wrist. I looked up into the eyes of my husband. "Where are you going?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I'll be back later, okay?" I tried to free my wrist in vain.
He only tightened his hold, but not nearly enough to hurt me. "Where are you going?" he repeated.
I yanked my wrist free, bounced on my toes to kiss his cheek, and turned on my heel. "Can't talk, gotta go!" I exclaimed, before turning around with a serious expression. "Don't follow me." My voice was low, threatening.
His eyes widened slightly, and I smiled, running out the door. I sped towards the meadow, and was there within minutes.
I strolled to the very center, planting my feet firmly on the ground and waited. It only took a couple minutes for me to feel a presence from somewhere around me. Suddenly, someone tapped on my shoulder and I spun around to see two crimson eyes peering into mine.
"Who are you?" I asked, backing away slightly.
She sighed dramatically, her expression appearing rather bored. "Does it matter?" she drawled.
"What do you want?"
"There's something I need you to do for me. A mission, you could call it. It will help your beloved brother and sister-in-law. You do want to help them, right?" she questioned, and I nodded. "That's what I thought."
"Now," she began, "what I want you to do is to go find Edward. We can't have the poor boy killing himself over what I've done. That would just ruin all of my fun. But," she cleared her throat. "I need you to go to him, promise him that Bella's alright, that she'll come back to him. That is, if she can hold up her end of the deal. Make sure he knows that it will be her fault if he's stuck there forever."
"Stuck where? Where is he? Where's Bella?" the questions poured from my mouth without my permission.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just go back to your house when I tell you to. Ask for Edward, and wait for him to get there, because at the moment he is not home. As for Bella, she is already gone. But she will come back when she does as I ask."
"What?" I asked, confused as hell.
"Do what I say or you will never see either of them again." She threatened, speaking too low and calm for my liking.
I nodded. "Okay."
Her lips turned up into a triumphant smile. "Excellent. Now, just stand there for a moment, don't move."
Suddenly, I felt a tingling in the pit of my stomach, and when I looked up at her, everything was blurring around me. Even though I was a vampire my head was spinning and I felt like I was going to throw up.
The spinning stopped abruptly, and everything came into focus. I gazed around me, slightly confused. I was still in the meadow. What the hell did this woman do to me?
She was standing on the other side of the meadow, staring at me through narrowed eyes. "What the hell was that?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Go to him. Go to your house, and ask for Edward." She instructed before disappearing again.
It was nighttime now, and before everything had blurred and I felt sick, the sun was just beginning to rise. Weird. Sighing, I took off towards home.
When I got to the door, I had the strangest urge to knock instead of just walking in. Shrugging, I tapped on the door.
The door opened seconds later to reveal Carlisle and Esme, standing side by side. "Can we help you?" Esme asked politely. Both of them stared at me as if they didn't know who I was.
I thought back to what the lady had said. She told me to go to my house, ask for Edward, and wait for him. I bit my bottom lip in a very Bella-like manner and decided to do as I was told. "Um…is Edward here?" I asked timidly.
Carlisle shook his head. "No, he's out right now, but you're welcome to wait." I nodded, "thank you." I said quietly.
Esme gestured for me to walk inside and I did. "What is your name, dear?" she questioned, her eyes welcoming. Hmm, they must not know who I am if they asked for my name. Where the hell am I?
"Alice…my name's Alice…Whitlock." I used Jasper's human last name as opposed to Cullen, just in case they still had that last name in wherever this place is.
"Alice." Esme repeated. "I love that name." her smile was wide and very welcoming. Well, I'm glad she likes me at least.
Carlisle hadn't taken his eyes off of me. His gaze was suspicious, a little intimidating. "So, are you a friend of Edward's?" he asked.
"You could….Yeah. You could say that, I guess." I lied. "How long have you known each other?" he asked directly after the words left my lips.
"Years." I scoffed mentally, if only they knew how many years to be exact.
"Oh, well he's never mentioned you before, I think." Esme trailed off. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she elaborated. "Well, the other day he said something about a sister named Alice. He was a little out of it that day." She sighed.
I was quick to try to explain. "Oh, um…we're close like brother and sister. That's probably why he said that." I lied. I truthfully had absolutely no idea why he said that. And I especially had no idea where the hell I was even at. I needed to speak to Edward. Immediately.
As if he knew I needed to talk to him, I heard his distinct footsteps just beyond the backyard in the forest. He seemed to have slowed his pace quite a bit, and I turned my thoughts directly towards him.
Edward, I know you're home. Get your ass in here, now!
I heard his steps quicken, and seconds later he flew through the back door, and I was enveloped in his familiar embrace. He lifted my off the floor, squeezing me tightly to his chest, nearly crushing my tiny body. But I didn't care one bit. I clung to him, nearly sobbing. I finally had my brother back, and he seemed to know who I was unlike my parents.
Maybe he was just as confused with this strange place as I was. He nodded in agreement to my thoughts. "So it's really you?" he whispered after a few minutes, still holding onto me like his life depended on it, but I was finally set back down on the floor. "You got sucked into this place too?"
"Yeah." I whispered, finally pulling away from him. I started shaking my head, remembering my confrontation with the vampire in his meadow. He shot a pointed glance at Carlisle, and nodded discretely.
"Esme, I need to talk to the two of them alone for a moment. Do you mind going to hunt for about an hour?" Carlisle asked politely, turning to face her.
She shook her head quickly. "Okay, no problem at all." She walked out the back door, and nobody moved until she was out of hearing range.
"Okay." Carlisle clapped his hands together once. "We need to talk."
Next chapter is Bella's POV. Hope I did good with this one. Sorry for making you all wait. I promise the next chapter will be out within a day or two. Reviews are better than hugs from Edward, just kidding, nothing can top that. ;)
