Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of its characters.
(A/N: Thank you to everyone who has favourited or reviewed my first chapter. It's really lovely to get feedback on something you worked hard on so thank you so much. Hope you enjoy this one too :] Ellie x)
The Changing Constant
"Alice." Jasper called, but I didn't turn to face him, I just carried on running. "Alice! We're heading into wolf territory! We won't be able to pass through without being picked up by one of them!" I just carried on. If I let him know now then he'd turn us back. "Alice!" Just a little bit longer… "If we carry on this track we'll run right into a wolf!"
"That's exactly what I'm hoping for!" I finally bellowed. I held out the note again. "Do you really think I was going to run around with this in my pocket for the next month?"
A growl rumbled quietly in his chest. Despite our alliance this summer, Jasper still wasn't keen on our supernatural neighbours. It was probably something to do with the fact that I was blind when it came to them.
It hit me then! Like a fist plunging into my stomach at a hundred miles an hour. It nearly knocked me off my feet!
I was blind to them. Blind! Just as I was blind to Nessie. Just as I was blind to this anonymous factor hidden in the rainforest. I couldn't see it in these visions not because I had yet to know what I was looking for… it was because I was blind to it!
Why did I overlook this? Was it some kind of subliminal protection my mind had formed to keep me from understanding my vision in Edward's presence? It didn't matter anymore. Because I knew now!
My feet stopped before I told them to, bring the dirt from the ground up with them. "I know what we're going to look for!"
"What do you mean?" Jasper asked, worriedly. "You mean you didn't before?"
I shook my head. "I couldn't see it before… well I still can't, but now I know why!"
He stepped closer and held the tops of my arms gently. He ducked his head slightly to look into my confused and wondering eyes. "Why, Alice?" He whispered.
"Well…" I felt silly saying it. It felt so obvious now. "Either we're going to look for a werewolf, or Nessie's not as unique as we first thought…"
Jasper stepped back a bit and I could hear his slow intake of breath. "Alice… you understand what you're suggesting?"
I'm not quiet sure I did.
"We're going to spend an integral part of the next month looking for something that you can't see, that might not even exist, and that might not even help us?"
"But it does…and it will." I said so weakly that even I didn't believe it.
"I don't see how, Alice! Even if by some miracle there is another hybrid in the world, how will he or she or it be able to stop what you yourself have seen happen to our entire family? Just… how?"
"I don't know Jasper, I really don't. But won't you please just trust me. I can't help fight this feeling of hope that it gives me!"
I held out my hand towards him, mimicking the first time we had met.
He smiled a stunning smile as he reached out and took it instantly. It was so beautiful that for one half of a second, I forgot about everything apart from him.
I wished that it could have lasted forever – this wonderful sense of peace and love that was swimming through me now, that was so warm that it could have melted my ice cold body. I wished I could have taken Jasper in my arms and held him forever. I wished we never had to move. I wished I could freeze time so we never had to face what was coming…
… But I couldn't.
"We need to hurry." He said softly as if he was picking the thought from my head.
I nodded and inhaled deeply. I hadn't even turned back to face the way we were going when a cold shiver tickled its way down my back again. This time it was so strong that I quivered.
My sight was taken away from the forest in front of me and into the Volturi's grand hall. It focussed on Irina's twitching, golden eyes – seeing the regret in them, but also the determination.
"She's doing it now." I said to Jasper, hoping he would hear me. I had no idea if he was even there. The vision had wrapped itself around me so tight that I was now oblivious to the real world.
"An immortal child?" Caius screamed.
Aro's smirking face. "Perfect…" He breathed to himself.
The image changed, formed itself into a scene that would happen over the next hour.
"What if the accusation proves to be false?" Marcus's dead voice whispered.
"Aro has seen it for himself!" Caius roared. "There is no denying it! Besides… We will give them no chance to deny it!"
"Brothers… peace." Aro soothed. "We need not discuss it… especially now our decision has been made. Our words and actions are not safe…"
"Damn it!" I squealed, coming out of my vision. "Every time I think we're getting somewhere…"
"What is it Alice?" Jasper asked, he was now as close as was possible. His hands squeezed the top of my arms and his forehead was gently
"Nothing, really. It's just… Aro knows me too well now! He's not saying anything that I will be able to see. Nor is he making any more decisions. For all he knows I'm still at home feeding the information to everybody else."
"I don't understand?" His eye brows furrowed deep into his forehead. "Why would Aro even care what you saw now? In his eyes we're all just sitting bate. They've dealt with situations like this so many times. It's easy for them! Just another day…"
I swallowed my breath. "Not punishment, but acquisition…" I quoted Eleazar's words.
"What did you say?" Jasper gasped. Not because he hadn't heard me… it was almost as if he had heard the words before.
I sighed, because I knew that as I would speak these words, the vision that I did not want to see would accompany them.
I looked forward, back to the battle. The vision that I tried so hard to block out, to ignore, to escape from, was now present in my mind. I was back there. But this time I was floating above it. I was no longer part of the group of vampires gathered to defend my family. It had adjusted in accordance with my decision to leave.
My sight hovered above both groups and then swooped down so it was now level with Edward, who was whispering to Carlisle.
"They're not sure how to proceed… They've never been outnumbered before… That's what stopped them…" The words were slurred, patchy and echoed strongly. But they were certain.
I tried to turn the vision around so I could see what Edward could see. It did so slowly, as though it was feeding from the tension within it. It was the first time I had clearly seen the Volturi troops. They were all positioned artistically, not like ink anymore – not one block of colour, but an array of different shades of black and grey. It was finally clear because the image wasn't blurred with motion anymore. They were still. Undoubtedly still.
"They will stop, Jasper..." I murmured.
The vision then fast-forwarded, following Edward as he walked slowly towards the Guard.
"I will have every facet of the truth… And the best way to get that is to have the evidence directly from your talented son." Aro swooned. I had already seen what proceeded, Edward holding Aro's hand… the reason why I was here.
"…They will hear our case…" I continued.
"Half mortal, half immortal, conceived so and carried by this newborn while she was still human…" The words were not Edwards defending himself… they were Aro's as he announced it to his army. But his eyes were not facing them; they were looking towards my family… though the focus in them was all wrong. He was looking at something directly in front of him, but I couldn't see what exactly. Was it Nessie? I shook at the thought of Aro being that close to her.
"…They will even accept that Renesmee is not an immortal child…"
"No broken law, however does it follow that there is no danger? No... Danger that cannot simply be ignored…" Aro's dark words sprang.
He then returned to his clan and while the decision was being made, Jane and Alec would get to work, making it impossible for anyone to escape.
Siobhan and Liam then ran, as did the majority of the nomads. My mind then replayed the vision that I had first seen in the house. Bella, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, Edward and Emmett… gone.
"… but they will still attack Jasper! Why do you think that is?" I asked him sincerely.
There were a couple of seconds of silence while he processed my words, but I also wondered if he was trying to put off saying his conclusion.
"Because it's not just about Ness, it's about you as well?" He admitted. "And the others… Benjamin, Zafrina…"
"There's so many more layers to this than any of us could have expected." I continued over his fading voice. "This isn't just another day for them! This is devious and radical and …worrying."
There were many worried faces on the clearing, but rather interestingly the majority of them came from immortals I had never seen - the Volturi witnesses. Their expressions were confused and almost insulted… as if they had seen something that shouldn't have happened.
The vision zoomed out quickly and sharply and focussed on Aro's face… Aro's embarrassed face. If it was human it would be blushing! Was he embarrassed by words? Or actions? Or was he just regretting his very own witnesses observing something fraudulent? Seeing the Volturi in their true light?
"It's like they're not sticking to their own rules anymore…" I finally finished, it took some effort to tear my self away from Aro's eyes… It felt like there were so many answers there.
"That's because nobody has ever refused them before, Alice." Jasper's eyes looked down and to the right. "'Acquisition' you said… it's not the first time. I've heard of it before - Aro saving the gifted ones and offering them a place within his guard. It's not something you turn down… But Edward did, Bella did and so have you. Because you were all tied so closely to us, your family. But if your family are out of the picture… well then, there's nothing there to help you resist Chelsea's pull…" His mouth turned down at the sides.
I placed my tiny hand on his right cheek, I had feared the same. "I will never choose them!" I promised.
"You might not have a choice my dear…" He said regrettably, and I knew he was right. The sickening vision of me standing on Aro's flanks still fluttered into my sight every now and again. "…Which is why we need this insane plan to work, isn't it?" He sighed, forcing smile on his face.
I nodded optimistically. For as long as I had hope, I would have a choice. "Right now, we need to find Sam…"
We only had to run for no more than a minute before the stench of dog hit me, telling me that we were close to the border. We both stopped, not wanting to step over the line.
It was completely silent, there were no wolves near by – there weren't even any small woodland critters in the forest around us… their natural instincts telling them to vacate the immediate area around us.
"How do we get their attention?" I whispered.
"I don't think they'll respond kindly to 'Here doggy, doggy!'" He said sarcastically.
I looked at him and rolled my eyes. "Sam!" I cringed as I called out into the forest.
And there it was. That black mist that was so familiar now dissolved my entire vision. Our future was temporarily lost.
"He's coming." I whispered to Jasper, hardly moving my lips.
We both moved our heads quickly to the right in complete synchronicity following the sound of bushes shaking.
I could hear twelve feet touching the ground, but only four sets of beating hearts. Two of them were obviously walking on four legs!
We could hear the gentle growls before we saw them. Two huge boys stood in front of us, but Sam Uley was not one of them. There were two wolves standing on the shoulders of their brothers with the fur on their backs starting to roll into gentle bristles.
"What are you doing here?" The one on the left said. "I thought you'd all be together right now. Jacob was speaking to Sam on the phone when we left. We know about… what you saw." He took a cautious step towards us, and Jasper angled his body slightly in response. Not in an aggressive way, he did it automatically – getting into the best position to protect me. "If you've come to ask for our help, then it's kind of a wasted journey… Of course we'll help out – as we did before."
"Although it's nothing like what we did before!" Jasper spoke strongly.
The wolf on the right growled loudly.
"Hey!" I raised my voice a bit too loud, making Jasper squirm a little as well as the five Quileutes. I didn't care - I needed their full attention. "I need to see Sam… Now! It's a matter of life and death."
He looked at me cautiously, raising one eyebrow slightly. He turned his head to the wolf beside him. "Has Sam phased yet?"
The large dog nodded obviously.
"Tell him to come here now."
We all stood in silence for the next two minutes and thirty eight seconds. It was infuriating – we needed to leave! We didn't have any time anymore.
Finally Sam appeared, still pulling up his tatted shorts… infuriating in every way.
"Alice, Jasper." He acknowledged us both, nodding his head as he said our names. "Now what is it you need that I can help you with?"
"When the sun rises this morning, my family will come looking for us. They'll follow our scent here – to you – and I need you to give them this."
He looked at the note in my hands. "Why can't you give it to them yourself?" He eyed me questioningly.
I bit down on my lip, an annoying habit that I apparently had picked up from Bella. "Because we won't be here."
His eyebrows creased. "How long will you be gone?"
I looked at Jasper, whose eyes immediately fell in awkwardness.
"Not long…" I lied. "We're just going to find a few friends that will help us… as you will."
Sam took the note carefully, probably making sure he didn't touch my skin. He put it in the left hand pocket of his skanky shorts.
I cringed immediately. I had seen so many items of clothing ripped to sheds when a wolf had phased, and I had the awful image of this essential note being pulverized along with it.
"Sam… we can't afford that note to be lost or destroyed…"
He held up his hands defensively. "Sorry Alice. I've got no where else to put it. But I will promise you now that it will remain safe until it's successfully delivered."
There was something so strange about his attitude… so care-free. I envied it. It was usually me who possessed such a relaxed and positive outlook in the face of adversity. But not now, there was nothing relaxing about this dire situation.
I could feel Jasper's tension emanating from him, and apparently so could Sam. His face suddenly turned awkward. "So… Is there anything else you need?"
"Yeah, you want us to call you a taxi or something?" One of the burly boys behind him mocked.
Jasper's tension quickly tuned to aggression. It would be a good idea to hasten proceedings.
"We need to leave via the ocean actually – so no one can track us. Would we be able to cut through here?" I said, hoping he wouldn't ask questions. I assumed that - thanks to Jasper's agitation – he probably wouldn't think twice about denying us.
Sam looked at both of us questioningly.
"Escorted, of course!" I added quickly. "We're just in a hurry and it would really help out."
He waited for a long moment before he made a decision.
"Just let me phase back – Then I can escort you myself."
I nodded and waited patiently as he jogged off behind a bush somewhere. The others followed him – though not all of them were going in the same direction.
"Why do we have to cut through here?" Jasper asked when we were by ourselves.
"So nobody wastes their time trying to find us. They'll come here in a few hours, speak to Sam, he'll tell we left, they'll know that they wont be able to track us, and then they'll go back home." I replied hastily.
I closed my eyes, trying to look into our future – it was a bit difficult being in such close proximity to the wolves. We would have to find Charlotte and Peter on our way to the jungle… where will they be? I knew Jasper's friends stationed themselves around Idaho, but – as most nomads – they travelled around a lot, not staying in the same place for long. I searched for their future carefully. They were hunting tonight – so I tried to skip that bit. They would find an empty house to stay in for a few days while the weather was sunny. This meant that our journey would not be easy, but we would find them in west Utah – I recognised the beautiful scenery of the Fishlake National Forest where we had hunted whilst visiting them once.
"We'll swim right through to Santa Rosa and then we'll run to Utah. Peter and Charlotte will be there."
His head turned to me sharply. "They haven't got anything to do with this Alice. Why do we have to involve them? They do not need to die." He said sadly.
"Emmett meant it when he said that we'll give them the option. We'll let them decide what's right. All we'll ask of them is to stand by our side, Jazz. I promise."
"But it won't be our sides that they'll be standing by…" He said under his breath.
I didn't reply to his words. He didn't mean them in a hurtful way. He was just beating himself up about leaving. This was going to be an awful month… for us all.
Jasper held on to my hand and squeezed it gently, just as Sam came out from between the trees.
He barked quietly once, signalling us to follow him.
We all started to run. Jasper initially stayed back, about a second behind Sam, but I pushed forward so I was beside the jet black wolf.
"Sam, I need you to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. This situation that you are aware of is more complicated and I need you to follow these instructions as though all our lives depend on it." I said honestly before beginning. "You cannot speak to Jacob until the morning. It is of vital importance that my family doesn't know we've left just yet. I can't tell you why exactly, just please understand that it's the truth. When we have left I need you to return to exactly the same spot where you met us and wait for my family to come looking for us." I paused for a second. "Will you help me help my family, Sam?"
His large head turned to me and nodded once. I smiled in return and then fell back so I was once again running with Jasper.
A few seconds later we passed by the Quilute's tiny village. Though we were just on the outskirts I could see one of the houses well. Inside, there was a small family. A mother and father, a teenage girl and a young boy. A family. All happily eating their food and talking. The image was so unfamiliar to me, but I couldn't help but picture my family's faces instead of theirs.
"I'll miss them too Alice, but we're doing this for them… yes?" Jasper whispered in my ear.
I nodded in reply, but said nothing. I didn't want him to hear my shaking voice.
It wasn't long before we emerged from the forest. Sam had led us to a cliff face, nodding his head towards the sea.
I had seen this place before – even though I had never been here. This was the exact same cliff-top that Bella jumped off all those months ago. In some kind of sick way I was about to re-enact her moves.
"We'll have to stay underwater until we get to California; otherwise we'll be ducking and diving all the time." I whispered into Jasper's ear, hoping Sam wouldn't be able to hear my plan. "It'll be sunny when we get there so don't go up until I say."
He nodded and ran towards the edge and dove straight in, looking a million times more streamline than professional divers.
I followed his footsteps, but paused as I got there. I rotated on the balls of my feet so I was now facing the gigantic black wolf.
I caught his wonderfully large eyes and caught my reflection for the first time since I left the house. I almost didn't recognise my self. Alice the nomad. No – that would never be the case! I would always have my family… even if they didn't have me.
Sam's eyes were looking into my eyes just as intensely as I was looking at him. I could have sworn that I saw an expression of pity and confusion on the animals face.
How I wanted to tell him everything so he wouldn't judge us. How I wished I could give him any words of comfort to pass on to my family. How I wanted to thank him for staying with my family while I couldn't…
"Alice!" Jasper called from below. He was starting to get worried.
"Good luck, Sam." I whispered genuinely before leaping into the water. And in a funny kind of way, I truly hoped I would see him again.