April 23, 2009~

It is the day after Edward attacked us on the Chrysler Building. Max, Kerry, and I are lumbering back home to Randale, New Jersey. I know that I am about to be punished so bad, but I don't care anymore. My own father tried to kill me last night.

Reed is in the hospital, but it is unlikely he will survive. We do not know what happened to the rest of the militia, but I am guessing that the survivors are in prison. I wonder about Betsy and if she is alive. Jeremiah is dead. When he crawled to me and told me to go onto the roof and stop 'Dracula', he was dying. I feel awful; lives were given to try and help me and Kerry.

It is twilight in Randale; sometime in mid-October, referring to an actual date, though. The stars are coming out gradually amidst the blue and purple sky. We are trudging through Greenwood Park, and I solemnly look up at trees above us. Then, a bright ribbon of light sweeps smoothly through the atmosphere: a shooting star.

I hold my breath and make a wish: Please let Edward go back to normal. And let Bella be safe…as well as the rest of the family too. It doesn't sound good enough, so I add on with more detail: Edward was a good man before he became a true monster. He loves me and Bella, and I know the love is deep down there somewhere inside him. I'm sorry, God, for any sins I've ever committed because now I need your help. Help me to find the good in my father and help me to be brave in the future, because I know I'll need courage. I want my family to be together again. I need them to patch up the hole in my heart.

And then, I watch the comet fade into the distance.

We walk to my street in silence, our old sports pads still hanging loosely from our body. Max stares at the ground and Kerry walks like a mindless zombie.

"Thank you again, Max, for staying with us," I say. "Kerry and I would be dead without you."

"Yeah," Kerry adds. "You saved us from Edward. How did you break free from the purple ice?"

Max shrugs, and if he were human I know he would be blushing. "I busted out because I couldn't watch you two be finished off by your own family." He sighs. "I found the will to break free."

"Well thank you so much, Max," I reply. "You saved our lives."

"He could've probably killed me," he continues. "I was very weak, and you know about that whole concept with our powers…"

"Yes."

Just as we turn the corner onto my street, I freeze. Two familiar figures are standing there, waiting for someone: me.

Max and Kerry see them, too. They stop with me and just stare at the two who are standing by the Brenners' pine tree.

Alice and Emmett!

I race forward at an incredible speed with my allies at my heels.

"Alice! Emmett!" I shout.

"Dad!" Kerry screams. Emmett opens his arms and crushes us in a giant hug. I wrap my arms around my uncle and bury my face in his sweet-smelling shoulder. "You're alive," Kerry cries.

"Of course," he says beaming. His dimples melt my heart.

I turn to look at my aunt Alice, but I regret it. Her eyes have large dark circles under them and her spiky black hair is gnarled and knotted. Her lip is swollen and her smooth skin is ripped and scarred. A jagged white scar slices across her jawbone down to her chest. She looks so small and weathered compared to her usual self.

"A-Alice…what happened to you?" I stammer. I fall back into Max, who catches me a little unsteadily.

She opens her fragile lips to tell me but bursts into dry, hiccupping sobs. "They…they…they destroyed Edward, Rose, and…and…"

"Who?" Kerry shouts impatiently.

"JASPER!!" Alice breaks down, but Emmett catches her.

"Oh…no."

"Edward is the most powerful," Emmett says darkly. "He is practically unstoppable. The rest including us escaped, except for those three. They were turned into—"

"WEAPONS!!" Alice cries. "Filthy, no-good, violent, heartless weapons for the government! They're evil! PURE EVIL! And they took my husband away from me!" Then Alice does something I do not expect at all. She lets out a bloodcurdling scream and sinks to the pavement. Max, Kerry, Emmett, and I cover our ears at the deafening noise.

"Alice, calm down!" Emmett orders, kneeling to help her. Kerry, Max, and I kneel beside her as well.

"We're hopeless, hopeless," Alice whines. She runs her white marble fingers through her hair. "Nessie, they took your dad; and Violet, they took your mother!"

"I wish they hadn't," Kerry says quietly. "I need my mom." Emmett puts his arm around his daughter. It is the first time Kerry has any real affection towards Rosalie.

"I need my dad," I say sadly. "I really do. I mean, Piper and I saw him in the lab, and he scared the living daylights outta me! And just last night, we had an encounter with Edward on top of the Chrysler Building. Yeah, not so pleasant."

"Oh," Emmett breathes.

Max sighs. "I just hope this isn't going to be hard."

Kerry turns around to glare at him.

"What? My adoptive parents have been dead for eight years."

"Eight years?" Kerry says blankly. "I thought you were the newest member of the Underworld Coven?"

"I am. I was visiting my parents in the World Trade Center because it was my dad's birthday on September 11th. I brought him a piece of pumpkin pie from his favorite bakery in Manhattan, and then the planes hit. I was found dying among the rubble and steel, and Sonic and Harvey changed me. I don't know why they were there, but they were."

"Oooh," I say, suddenly feeling different about Max. I mean, when you realize for the first time that you're sitting with a teenager who basically died in the Twin Towers accident, you get different thoughts about him. Kerry moves a little further away from Max.

"Hey, I don't bite," Max replies.

"Uh, yeah ya do," Kerry corrects him.

"Oh…well I don't mean it like that."

"Of course not."

Max shoves her a little, but Emmett growls at him. Kerry smiles when her dad turns away.

"So, what do we do now?" I ask. "It looks like the Brenner residence is vacant once again."

"They went to Florida again," Emmett answers.

"They never used to go with me!" I scowl.

Emmett chuckles but immediately gets back to helping Alice. An ominous look is glazed over her honey-gold eyes, and she stares into the space as if in a daze.

"Wait, Emmett," I say. "She's having a vision. Leave her."

For about two more minutes, Alice remains still, and then she snaps out of it and sits up. "You must go to the deporting station," Alice says, a panicked tone taking over her bell-chime voice. "Edward, Rose, and Jasper are going to attack Randale because they know you're here. Edward wants to kill you personally."

I gulp and my hands get clammy. "Where's the deporting station?"

"It is hidden in the basement of a convenience store in downtown Eastwood. You must go now while Emmett and I warn the mayor. The station was used years ago for the Underground Railroad and now it must be used again. They have created an army of newborn vampires, as Victoria did years ago, in a siege against the city."

Kerry looks frightened, as does Max. "Deportation? Where will it take us?"

"Somewhere far away from here," Alice says. "But you must go—now!"

"But…what about you?" I stammer.

"We will fight," she replies. "We will try to hold them off for as long as we can."

I stare deep into her eyes and shake away my tears.

"Please," Alice begs. "I cannot see you and Violet getting hurt."

"Okay," I barely manage to whisper.

Alice hugs me and Emmett hugs Kerry.

"Be safe," Alice murmurs in my ear and she pecks me on the cheek one last time.

And as the three of us jog back up the street, I turn to look back. Alice is standing beside Emmett, her hands folded formally. She looks like a little girl compared to her brother.

Be safe, I repeat in my head.

I'll try, I answer to the soft imaginary voice.

Then, I woke up.