Chapter 7: Acrylics

AN: Thanks everyone for all the reviews. I heart you guys!

ALICE

I sat down in my chair, relaxing. I was very happy—today, my nephew, Mark, was coming home after a stint in rehab. He had been there for drug abuse and I was happy to finally see him. According to the doctors, he was now officially clean. I hoped he would stay that way.

Mark was my sister's son who I was now taking care of since she and her husband had died in a car accident a few years ago. Mark was 18, but he wasn't in control of his life. Every time he swore he was clean, he relapsed. This was his fifth stint in rehab. If this didn't work, he was going to end up killing himself by OD'ing one day.

I checked my watch again. Jeff, Mark's friend, was driving him back to my place. He was going to stay here for a few weeks until I had to go away on business. Then, he was going to stay with Tanya in Seattle until I got back. It wasn't that he couldn't stay alone; it was that I didn't trust him to stay alone. Last time I had let him stay by himself, he OD'd on Vicadin. I had to take him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. I wasn't going to let that happen again.

The door opened, and in walked Mark, happy as a clam.

"Mark!" I said, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey, Uncle J. How are you?"

"I'm fine. The question of the year is how are you?"

"Clean and sober. I plan to stay that way."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's see how long you keep it up this time."

"He has a reason to," Jess said.

"Oh?"

"Little Markey's got himself a girlfriend!"

"Really?" I asked, turning to Mark. "Who is she?"

"Just some girl I met at the clinic," he mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"Not just any girl," Jeff teased. "An heiress.

"Shut up," Mark hissed at him.

"Mark? Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked, giving him a look.

"Okay, so I met this girl at rehab," he said quickly.

"Are you two together now?"

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. Look, I really don't want to talk to you about this," he said, looking uncomfortable.

"Jeff, why don't you go," I said to Mark's friend. "I want to talk to Mark alone."

"Okay, cool. I'll see you next week, man." Jeff left and I turned towards Mark.

"I thought we were clear on the whole dating thing," I said. "No girls you meet in rehab. It's not good for your recovery."

"But she's not an addict!" he protested. "She's suicidal—or she was."

"Yes," I said sarcastically. "That's so much better. Instead of OD'ing, I'd rather you kill yourself. Mark, you know the rule about girls."

"Well, I love her, and I'm not going to listen to you anymore."

"Mark, do you forget I am still your legal guardian? Until the judge says otherwise, you have to listen to me."

"Do you forget that I know everything that goes on in this house? I may seem doped out of my mind, but I know your plan. And if you don't want the cops finding out about your plot, you'll let me see Alice." Mark glared at me before heading upstairs to unpack his stuff.

Crap. I had to do something about him before he destroyed the plan I had been working on for the past 20 years.

********

APOV

"Alice, get up," Jasper yelled, covering his head from the stones that were being thrown at us. "We need to get out of here."

I nodded and tried to get up before a sharp pain hit my leg and I collapsed. "Jas, I can't. My leg," I whimpered. Jasper looked down at my leg and gasped. I looked too, and I couldn't believe what I saw.

My leg was covered in blood due to a large gash that ran from my knee to my ankle. It was still bleeding and showed no signs of stopping.

Jasper bent down, scooped me up in his arms, and sprinted towards the end of the path. When we reached the beach, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Eva were all crowded around Bella, who was unconscious.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

"She got hit by some kind of tranquilizer dart," Edward said, trying to wake up Bella. She didn't move.

"Alice, your leg!" Rosalie screeched.

"I know," I sighed. "Jas, you need to stop the bleeding." Jasper laid me on the ground and took off his shirt. He pressed it to my leg and held it there. After a few minutes, his shirt was bright red instead of white.

"Edward, we need to go back to the camp," Emmett said. "We can regroup there and then decide on a plan of action."

"Wait, where's Cynthia?" I asked, looking around the beach. Neither she nor Seth were here. "Actually, where are Mike and Leah, too?"

"They're not here?" Edward asked, looking around. They weren't here.

"Oh my god, they're still in there!" Rosalie cried. "We have to go back and get them!"

"Rosie, you aren't going anywhere," Emmett said, putting his hand on Rosalie's shoulder.

"Emmett, if this is some stupid gender thing again—"

"Rose, you're all scraped up. There's no way I'm letting you go back in there."

"I'll go," Eva said.

"What?" We all looked at her.

"I'll go and get them."

"Eva, no. You know how dangerous it is. If anyone goes, it should be me and Jasper," Emmett said.

"No, I'm going. You wait here." Without a look back, she sprinted into the trees. We heard some screaming, but a few minutes later, she emerged, pulling Seth, Cynthia, Mike, and Leah behind her.

"We need to get back to our camp," Edward said, picking Bella up into his arms. Jasper lifted me off the ground, and we all headed back to our camp. When we got there, Jasper put my down on a log and went over to Edward. I saw him saying something to him, and Edward walked over to me.

"Let me see your leg, Alice." I held out my leg, which was still wrapped in Jasper's shirt, and showed him the damage. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sewing kit. "I'm going to stitch up your wound."

"Stitch?" My eyes widened.

"It won't hurt too badly."

"But it's going to hurt somewhat!"

"Alice, calm down. Do you think I'm going to let it be very painful?"

"I guess not."

"Great. What color would you like?" he joked, showing me the different threads in the kit.

"Just black," I said, looking away. I didn't want to see the needle pierce my skin. I couldn't stand any type of pain, which Jasper found weird.

'You used to slice open your arm with a razor and now you can't stand to be pricked by a needle?' he laughed once. He was right, though. I mean, back when I was a teenager, I was seriously messed up. I cut myself and even tried to commit suicide. After that little incident, my parents sent me to rehab, where I met Mark, the love of my life before Jasper. I thought we were going to end up together, but then he died of an accidental overdose. I guess his death really showed me how precious life really was. After that, I appreciated every day for what it was.

"All done," Edward said. I looked down at my leg and saw it was all stitched up. It was still red from the blood, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. Weird, I hadn't felt the needle prick my skin at all. I guess I was too engrossed in my thoughts.

Jasper came over and lifted me into his arms, then carried me over to where everyone else was sitting.

"So," Rose was saying, "That did not go according to plan."

"You can say that again," I grumbled. "What the hell happened back there?"

"I don't know, but it makes me want to check out the native's old camp even more," Cynthia said. "I mean, what if it was another group of natives who attacked us? I mean, that's the kind of thing Aro and the people from before would do. It's just weird that they knew exactly where we were going to be. I mean, they had to have known we were going to be coming down that path."

"Do you think Eva knows someone else on this island?" Jasper asked, glancing back at her. She was with Edward, watching over Bella.

"If we can't trust her, who can we trust?" Leah said. "She's been nothing but helpful to us, both times we've been here."

"But she's never been fully honest with us," Rosalie reminded her. "Remember last time? She told us she was here to rescue us when she really wanted to use us to help her complete her mission. I don't know if I buy her whole story of jumping off the boat and living her for 8 years."

"Then why is she here?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know, but I want to find out."

********

The next day, Mark came home from hanging out with Jeff. He hadn't called Alice yet, but I knew he was planning on doing it soon. If I wanted to nip this in the bud, I had to act now.

I set the table for both of us as Mark took a seat. I served him steak, potatoes, and some salad, then went into the kitchen to get him a drink. I poured him a glass of coke, then poured the remainder of the pills into the cup and mixed the drink.

Earlier, I had crushed the remainder of my Percocet prescription into a fine powder. I had added it into Mark's meal. That way, no one would be able to blame me for his death. They would see it as a drug overdose. After all, he had just gotten out of rehab. No one would be surprised if he relapsed.

"Here you go," I said, setting the glass on the table. "One coke."

"Thanks, Uncle J," Mark said, taking a sip of his soda. The two of us chatted during dinner. Mark told me how he and Jeff had gone shopping, looking for a gift for Alice. Mark had decided he was going to surprise her tomorrow by showing up at her house. He had bought her a necklace. It wasn't anything expensive, but it was meaningful. The necklace had a sun charm, since Alice was his personal sun. Too bad he would never get to give it to her.

After we finished eating, we sat down in the living room to watch some TV. Mark turned on Wheel of Fortune while I read the paper. Half way through, he started breathing heavy.

"Everything okay, Mark?" I asked.

"Fine," he huffed. "Just a little bit of chest pain."

Smiling to myself, I went back to reading.

A few minutes later, Mark stood up. He was swaying slightly, and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Mark, are you sure you're okay?"

"I dunno," he slurred. "I feel…woozy." I looked at him and saw his skin was starting to turn blue. "I think I should call an ambulance." He started walking to the kitchen before he fell onto the ground. He didn't move to get up.

"Mark?" I asked, looking at my nephew. He didn't answer. "Mark, are you okay?" Still, he didn't answer. I walked over to him and took his pulse. There wasn't one.

Quickly, I cleaned up the remainder of the food and washed out his cup, making sure there were no traces of the drug left. Putting on gloves, I walked into the kitchen and picked up the empty prescription bottle. I had been careful earlier to not touch it with my bare hands. I walked over to Mark's body and put the bottle in his hands, putting his prints on it. Then, I put the empty bottle next to him.

I went back into my room and grabbed my stuff, loading it into my car. I was leaving on business tonight, and it would be best if I was gone before his body was discovered. I got into my car and drove away.

********

"So we didn't find them?" Bella asked me.

"No," I said sadly. Bella and I were sitting at the edge of the beach with our feet in the water while everyone else was in the jungle, looking around. Bella and I stayed back since we were the two injured girls. Eva hung back with us. She was in the ocean, swimming.

"I just don't understand how this happened. What did we do to deserve this?"

"Nothing. Maybe it's someone who's obsessed with the crash," I suggested, though I seriously doubted it.

"I don't think so. It has to be someone who somehow knows all of us. Maybe we all somehow offended this guy, so he's getting revenge by kidnapping out children."

"That seems a little far-fetched."

"I know," she sighed, lying back on the sand. "It's just so frustrating, not knowing where they are. I swear, I'm going to break down soon if I don't hear their voices. I've never been away from them for this long."

"Me neither. The longest I managed to be away from David was for 5 hours. I hate not being able to protect him now. What if he's hurt? What if he's dead? I'll never forgive myself if I let something happen to him," I said, putting my head in my hands.

"Alice, you can't blame yourself. You didn't put David on this island—someone else brought him here against his will. When we find this person, I promise you he will be wishing he was dead by the time I get through with him."

"What are you girls talking about?" Eva said, walking out of the water and sitting next to me.

"Our kids. I miss them so much," Bella sighed.

"I can imagine. How many do you have?"

"Two. They're twin girls. Olivia and Emily, two years old."

"Aww. Do they take after you or Edward?"

"Edward," she answered automatically. "They have his hair and his stellar looks."

"Bella, please," I sighed. "Olivia is basically your clone."

"She's what Edward would look like if he was a girl." Eva laughed when she said that.

"She may look like Edward, but she's like you in every other way. I haven't seen a person as clumsy as her, with the exception of you," I teased.

Bella sighed. "My poor daughter. She's in for a life of emergency room visits and being picked last for teams in gym."

I laughed. "And Emily is just like her dad, musical and arrogant." Bella just shook her head.

"What about you, Alice?" Eva asked.

"Jasper and I have one son, David. He's only a year."

"Well, if I ever get off this god forsaken spit of land, I hope my kids are as sweet as yours." She patted my leg before getting up and walking over to her hut. When she put her hand on me, I noticed something.

"Bella!" I hissed once Eva was out of earshot.

"What?" she said, looking at me, still lying in the sand.

"Eva's lying."

"About what?"

"She hasn't been on this island for eight years. She's probably been here only as long as us."

"What?" she whispered, sitting up. "How do you know that?"

"She has acrylic nails."

"Huh?" Oh god. I forgot Bella was clueless about anything that had to do with fashion. If I told Rose or Cynthia, they would know exactly what I was talking about.

"Have you ever gotten your nails done?"

"Sure. I had them done for prom and for my wedding."

"Did you have fake nails put on?"

"Yeah. They look nicer that way. I got a pink and white when I got married."

"Okay. How long did the fake nails last when you got them done?"

"Uh, a few weeks."

"They wouldn't last eight years, right?"

"Uh, I don't think so," she said, still looking confused.

"When you get fake nails put on at a salon, they use acrylic. It makes the nails look shiny and it makes them harder so they stay on for a while. Eva has those on her nails. It's just an American manicure, so it's not super noticeable, but I felt them when she put her hand on me. There's no way she could have been on this island for eight years with those nails."

"Then what the hell is she doing here?" Bella hissed.

"I have no idea."

Just then, Jasper, Edward, and everyone else returned from their little trip.

"Hey, baby," Jasper greeted me, kissing me on the cheek.

"We have a problem," I told him.

"What?"

"Eva's lying," Bella said quietly.

"Huh?" Rosalie asked.

"She has acrylic nails."

"That's impossible!" Cynthia said quietly. "She can't have them if she's been here for eight years."

"Exactly."

"So, what is she doing here?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it doesn't bode well for us or our children."

********

"Evan, are you okay," Charlotte asked in a small voice. She was staring at the little boy, lying on the ground of the cage they shared.

"Ow," Evan moaned, rolling over onto his back.

"Evan!" Charlotte cried, pulling him into her arms. She cradled Evan, smoothing his hair out of his eyes. "What hurts?"

"Everything," he groaned.

"You're so brave! You didn't even cry when he shocked you." Evan was shaking in her arms. She bent forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for defending me," she added in a small voice.

"I won't let him hurt you. Your daddy isn't here to protect you, so I will."

"Really?" Charlotte asked, her blue eyes filling with tears. No one had ever been so nice to her. She didn't have many friends at school—the curse of inheriting her mother's abrasive personality. Most o the girls in her class avoided her while the boys teased her. Evan was the only one who was ever nice to her.

"Of course," he said, propping himself up. "We have to protect each other if we want to survive this. Since we're the oldest, we also have to make sure everyone else is okay." They looked into the other cages, where Bryant, Ryan, Olivia, Emily, and Gisele were all eating. Maribel and David were in another room. They had no idea if those two were still alive.

"You're right," Charlotte said quietly. She knew it was her job to look after her sister now that her mommy and daddy were gone. She also had to look after her cousins since Aunt Bella and Uncle Edward weren't here either.

"We just can't let him get to us. We have to stay strong and stay positive. I bet our parents are looking for us right now."

"You think?" Charlotte asked.

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Backs against the bars!" a voice shouted. Charlotte and Evan looked up and saw the man who had kidnapped them walking into the room. They both stood up and stood at the back of their cage. The man walked over to their cage, opened the door, and grabbed Charlotte. She screamed as he pulled her out and locked the door, leaving Evan alone.

"Evan! Help me!" she screamed as the man carried her out of the room.

Evan could still hear her screaming, even after she had disappeared from sight.

Please review!!