6. QUESTIONNAIRE
Alice whipped her head toward me as soon as we were out of Charlie's sight.
"Put your seatbelt on," she said, her lips moving so fast it was almost a blur.
I obediently followed that instruction, and she put hers on too, although she could probably drive us off the end of the earth and walk away smiling.
I turned toward the road. We were moving a little too fast for me to concentrate on conversation.
"Hey, Alice," I said, trying to sound as polite as I could be. "Would it be alright if we slowed down a bit? I wanna talk about J-... about... things."
She was already slowing down.
"Absolutely, Seth," she said, grinning at me empathetically, although I doubted she had ever been through something like I was enduring. "What do you want to talk about?"
As if she couldn't guess.
"Well..." I began, heaving a low sigh. I glanced towards the speedometer and then back to Alice. "It's about Jake. Edward can read his mind, and I've been trying so hard to keep him or anyone else from knowing... But I've screwed up a few times, and one of those times was really close. Has Edward found out any... I mean, is there any chance that... that any of them could know?"
Saying "any of them" made me feel very alienated, like I didn't belong anymore. But saying "that Jacob could know?" would only make me feel worse. Alice would probably not like it if I hurled in her nice car.
"The pack, I mean," I corrected, just to make myself feel better.
"Well," she began.
I winced, and bit my lip. What could Edward have heard? Had one of the pack guessed?
"It's kind of complicated." I winced again. "Seth, I know you've been busting your... your... well, you've been working really hard to keep anyone from knowing..."
I closed my eyes, bracing for impact. This could be bad.
"But Edward has been catching glimpses..." she sighed, and pursed her lips. She didn't like this any more than I did. "Sam has been thinking about the possibility that you've imprinted on Jacob, but he doesn't think it's possible. He hasn't gone to the tribe council yet, but he might. And if he does, it will be soon."
I sighed and opened my eyes. The last thing I needed was the tribe council finding out about this. Especially not if it meant Jacob finding out. But there was another way he could find out.
"There's something else too. I've been wondering how Jacob would react if I told him."
Alice's tiny brow furrowed and she glanced toward the road before looking back towards me.
"Edward and I spoke about this last night," she said as we rounded a corner. "He's been listening to Jacob very closely lately. Jacob thinks a lot about how he would react to things, but nothing this monumental. My guess is that he'll go into shock for a minute, maybe two."
I sighed. I knew this was coming. Might as well put a brave face on it.
"But," she continued unexpectedly. I hadn't seen a handle coming.
"But, he wouldn't be angry. He would be pretty confused for a few seconds, but he'd know that you had no choice in the matter, and that you would change it if you could."
"Yeah," I said automatically.
I felt a low ache in my stomach. This was good news, why was my stomach in knots?
"Seth?" Alice said, her voice slightly higher. "Seth, you're turning green."
"What?"
"You're-"
Her eyes widened, and she suddenly pulled over. She ignored the honks of the drivers behind us, and swerved from the outside lane to the edge of lane used by cyclists. She put the car in park and unlocked the doors.
"What're you doing?" I demanded, an unknown and unreasoned anger rising into my tone. My arms were wrapped around my stomach, and I felt nauseated.
"We're stopping so you don't get sick."
"I'm not sick," I said sharply.
"Seth, if you need to, um, puke, then get out and get it out of your system…"
"Alice, I'm fine, just keep driving!" I said the last half of the sentence through clenched teeth, my voice hinted with venom. Why was I being angry with Alice? I had absolutely no reason to be!
Alice flinched. Her lips squeezed into a tight line and she closed her eyes.
Oh. My face fell from anger into a guilty grimace.
"Alice, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
Alice shifted, and her lips turned up into a smile, but I could tell that my sharp words had hurt her.
"It's... fine," she stuttered. "It's not that. I saw something. And it wasn't good."
My eyes widened. Something not good.
"What was it?" I asked, my tone speckled with worry and fear.
"Nothing, it's nothing," she replied, her tone still shaky. Alice still hadn't opened her eyes. She was still searching the ever-shifting future.
But she had her eyes open and her hand on the steering wheel before I had time to fully analyze the things that she might have seen, or might be seeing right now.
Alice exhaled and smiled again. Of course, her future was happy. It was the future of others that she was concerned about. It wasn't me, because she couldn't see me. It couldn't be Jacob for the same reason it wasn't me. One of her family? Jasper? No, she would've turned the car around and headed home for Jasper. Maybe she wouldn't even take the car with her. Just run to save her love.
Then I realized what the pain in my gut had been. I wasn't sick, I had already put that on the table. The pain had been a similar feeling to that which my heart felt. The sudden ripple, the unquenchable fire, and the ripping apart. But it was not a reaction to the fact that I could never have Jacob, no matter how I tried, if I ever did. And I wouldn't.
The pain was set off because somewhere deep down, I knew what Alice said was all wrong. And she knew it. She knew me, because Edward had told her everything.
And now I knew myself better, but this new part I had learned of was bittersweet and strange. I didn't want to change it, didn't really want to change the fact that I was unrequited-ly and illogically in love with my best friend in the entire universe. I didn't want to change the fact that Jacob's voice was my panacea, my magic cure-all elixir, the only thing that could fix me, heal me entirely. I had no choice in the way I felt.
But if I did...
"So, Seth," said Alice, breaking my sad reverie. "What do you want to do today?
"I thought we were getting that book," I said, confused.
"Seth, that'll take a few minutes! We have the whole day!" she sang, happiness dancing on her tongue. "We could go to the mall, or eat at some kind of cool restaurant! Well, I mean, you would eat, duh, but I'd pretend to be your date! Maybe some of the Port Angeles girls will take a liking to you and maybe it'll take your mind off-"
Alice broke of abruptly, but it still stung a little, right before she restarted full throttle.
"Ooh! And we can go to the mall!"
"You already said that, Alice," I said, grinning at her and raising my eyebrows.
"I did?" she said innocently. She scoffed, snapped her fingers dramatically. "Shoot! I'm not being very imaginative, am I? How about music, then? I heard there was a concert in town tonight! I'm sure I could sweet talk our way in," she added thoughtfully.
A concert... screaming fans, blaring music... Not a good idea. My ears were abused enough from the mind-numbing the night before.
"Maybe not a concert," I said, feeling a little guilty when she started making the puppy dog face. Ugh. Those eyes. "At least not tonight."
"Okay!" Alice chimed, her voice back to its cheerful soprano. "CD's then? Edward thinks your inventory is too limited."
She was adamantly determined to make me at least a little bit happier.
"Sure," I gave in, grinning again. Anything to get my mind off of-
The old bookstore was there, the vivid purple sign with russet-colored letters standing out on the faded gray road.
Dryleaf and Hazel was a very nice little shop, filled with all sorts of old Quileute, Hoh, and Makah relics. All three tribes had their own section. The sections were well-lit, and many books resided in all three areas.
The old man at the counter was of Quileute lineage, and I could tell by the look on his face when we entered the shop that he had heard and believed the old stories. He eyed Alice with suspicion, but didn't seem to give it a second thought when he saw that I, a mere human by the looks of me, was with her. Maybe he thought I was for lunch.
"If I can help you with anything," he said, his voice saturated in kindness, "let me know."
Alice smiled brilliantly at him, and he nodded, smiling the tiniest bit. Then the pixie-like little vampire pulled me over to the Quileute section, skipping merrily as she went. She stood quite still for a few moments, except for her eyes, which scanned over the books on the shelves before she grabbed three books off the shelves.
All three were concerning the old Quileute werewolf legends, but these legends didn't seem familiar to me.
Quileute Legends of the Wolf-Man. A simple enough title. On the cover was the silhouette of a man, with legs spread and arms lifted high. In one hand, he held half of an arrow, and in the other, the skin of some kind of animal. Behind him, almost matching him, was the gray silhouette of a wolf.
Imprint of the Werewolves looked almost useful, but maybe not the right kind. The cover displayed a man kissing a woman, with a wolf-ish creature behind him.
I didn't even get to see the title of the third book before Alice was flipping through the pages, reading at vampire speed.
She got to the second book, and then squealed quietly in delight.
"We've got it!" she whispered, exuberance filling her butterscotch eyes.
She put the other books back, and then pulled me to the counter. The man behind it smiled in a friendly way. I wondered if he was the tiniest bit afraid of Alice.
The old Quileute scanned the book and Alice handed him a twenty. He gave the book to me, and I slipped it into Alice's little blue purse. Before we walked out the door, the old man looked me in the eyes.
"Take care of yourselves," he said. His voice was similar to Billy's. I wondered if they were related.
"We will," I replied, smiling warmly.
He reached out his hand to shake mine. I took it. His eyes widened the littlest bit before he let go.
"Have a good day," he said, before smiling again.
Alice and I walked out the door. I half-smiled to myself and laughed a little. The man must have heard that the werewolves have unnaturally high temperatures.
"So where to next?" Alice asked as we pulled away.
"You guess, you're the psychic," I said jokingly, grinning once again. I didn't care where we went, I was just eager to find out what was wrong with my brain!
"Yeah, well, I guess I don't know then since I involved you in the planning!" she retorted, sarcasm and melodrama practically dripping off her blood-red lips.
Laughter flitted through my lips. It sounded strange coming from my lips. I hadn't really laughed in a while. I had laughed when I needed to make sure Jake didn't think I was nuts, but I hadn't really laughed in so long. I felt bad about that too. We were still laughing as we pulled away and drove off.
The laughing didn't last much longer.
Alice turned stony again, more statuesque than I had seen her in months, maybe even since she found out about the Volturi coming for Nessie. My heart suddenly thumped faster. Whatever she was seeing, my subconscious was screaming at me that this wasn't good. Alice's eyes glazed over with sudden fear and a hint of loathing.
She suddenly whipped her head around, and spun the car around. I was thrown against the door.
"Alice!" I yelled, fear pouring into my mind. "What is going on?!"
She growled violently, shaking her head like a wild animal. She really looked like a vampire.
"No!" she yelled, slamming on the gas harder. Our trip was obviously over. "Why would Erica do that?!"
Erica? Who was Erica?
The phone was at her ear before I could blink.
"Bella!" she said, her lips in a tight line again. "What happened?!"
Alice's eyes were darker, and her expression was enraged.
"No!" she half-whispered, her voice horrified. "Caius?"
Caius. The name made the hair on my arms and neck stand on end. My eyes widened, and my lips pursed. I clenched my hands into fists. The Volturi was the very essence of evil among the vampires, and one of the worst things to deal with now. The white-haired Caius had been entirely bent on killing Nessie and all who protected her last winter. Could this be something like that?
"Seth?" she said, turning to me with a confused look. She wasn't speaking to me, but about me. "Oh! Alright, here he is."
Alice held out the phone, and I took it hesitantly, my hair still standing on end.
"Hello?" I asked, my tone not cautious, but edgy and prepared.
"Seth!" Bella's voice rang through the receiver. "Something terrible has happened! We will need the pack's help on this again! We still don't know what is going to happen yet, but it won't be good at all! Will they help?"
"Yes," I answered. Of course we would.
"Thank you, Seth! Alice will tell you everything, then you will have to tell the pack," she said, her voice as frightened as I felt. Then the receiver went blank. I closed the tiny silver cell phone and put it in one of the cupholders.
Alice had not calmed, and she was staring forward. Her eyes were scared and uneasy. Something bad was happening, but now that the pack was involved, she couldn't see anything at all.
"Seth," she began, her lips still pursed together.
I twisted in my seat and turned towards her.
Alice's eyes glinted as she began the story that would change all our lives forever.