Chapter Twenty: In Another Life
"I hope you know we had everything, and you broke me and left these pieces.
I want you to hurt like you hurt me today and I want you to lose like I lose when I play...
What could have been."
- Mako & Sting (What Could Have Been)
Forks - March 15, 2004
Alice felt the comfort of rational thought without a century of grief for the briefest of moments, before the memories of a hundred years of heartache came screaming back. A vision, more powerful and detailed than any before it had just finished in utter and abject tragedy, all because of one painfully selfish decision that was about to be made.
"No." Alice said, the word echoing through time as she leveled a murderous stare towards Edward. His golden eyes danced across her face in horror at what he had seen.
"What the hell was that?" He whispered, unable to find his voice.
"A vision, detailing the depths of your petty and malicious nature, now leave and never come back!" Alice sneered toward the man who up until a few seconds ago had been a beloved brother. The rest of the family present were staring in shock and confusion.
"I will not, that monstrous vision was an absolute fabrication." Edward began to sputter, shaking his head a quarter turn again and again in rapid succession.
"So you want me to spell it out, you sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigot. You need me to detail to my family how manipulative, selfish, and outright evil you will become? How you will go after that girl over there, use her and drop her like trash. Then go through tremendous efforts to convince us that we had to abandon her too after we had taken her into our lives and hearts. Or should I tell them how you do this with the knowledge that she is my perfect mate. My future, my wife. The partner to our daughters. That she will bring about a vast change in the nature of our kind, sweeping and beautiful. One that will allow Rosalie the happiness she has always deserved? Or should I regale them with your numerous betrayals and acts of petty revenge? Tell me Edward, why should I hold back?" Alice spat out, the venom of her words silencing any of the family from interrupting.
"Carlisle will believe me." Edward said with a defiant pout, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You saw it, you both died because of your actions. Are you willing to sacrifice him too?" Alice said calmly, locking gazes with her former brother. He just shut his eyes in pain for a full minute contemplating his next move.
"I can't believe Esme fucking killed me. Shit, this is my one chance at redemption, isn't it?" Edward finally said with a guilty and broken voice.
"It is." Alice said simply. Edward hung his head in shame and stood, glancing at the rest of the family before standing and leaving without another word.
"Alice, what in the fuck? Esme killed Edward? What crazy ass life did we live where that happened?" Emmett asked, staring at the door where Edward had just left.
"If Esme was pushed to the point where she killed him, then maybe letting him go is a bad choice. I mean if you're right, I one-hundred percent agree with turning our backs on him. I'm just worried that this was a false vision somehow, especially now he's gone and unable to defend himself." Rosalie had been glaring at Edward, angry at the very idea of him acting out Alice's litany of his crimes. Then she turned towards Alice and her glare immediately softened.
"If you had your memories, you wouldn't have one iota of concern for his defense, because there is none." Alice was happy he was gone, but a part of her worried that he would come back to hurt them, especially now that Isabella was vulnerable.
"Alice, what do you mean she's your mate?" Jasper asked, his expression was beyond shock or anger, he was deeply upset and feeling understandably betrayed by someone he thought was the love of his life.
"I'm sorry Jasper, for saying it like that. I promise, we'll help you find Adara in about fifty years. She is your perfect mate, one who completes you in a way I never could." Alice said with a sad smile, then stood. "Now, I have someone to meet. If you will excuse me."
Alice turned towards Isabella and was stunned to find Angela standing in front of the table searching the room, then they met gazes and Alice realized that she was the Angela from her vision. Angela motioned with her eyes towards the main door and began to walk away. Alice turned and headed out the side door, looping around to the main entrance where Angela emerged a moment later and made a b-line for her little Toyota. Alice slipped in beside her, but had no idea what to say.
"What the fuck is this Alice, what did you do?" Angela growled, her nostrils flared.
"You remember?" Alice shook her head trying to absorb what was going on, because Angela's presence in this new timeline made no sense.
"I was searching for any hint of progress in the fight against Joham, when suddenly the mental wall went down when Isabella died. Then you did what you did, and I was pulled along. Except, I'm not alone. I can feel Eliza, Brianna, Leah, Michelle and Talia's consciousnesses and memories somewhere in my mind, buried deeply. This has to be undone or I will eventually go insane." Angela spoke with an angry whisper as she searched for reverse gear.
"God I hated this car." Angela grumbled.
"Shit, they're all going to think I meant you." Alice looked back towards the school and sighed heavily, aware that she felt cold and hard, like her old vampire self. Which meant the woman next to her was all too human.
Finally getting it into gear and then speeding out of the parking lot, Angela didn't look over at Alice as she made her way towards the highway.
"Where are we going?" Alice asked after a couple of minutes.
"Somewhere quiet and far enough away that they won't hear." Angela responded, again without looking at Alice.
"We can talk now if that's what you want, no one can hear us anymore." Alice looked back towards the school, after having dreamed of this moment for so long, she resented Angela for spoiling those dreams.
"Is Edward out of range?" Angela finally looked over at Alice, and suddenly her worries made sense.
"Probably, we've gone further than a mile at this point. It is unlikely he's close enough to catch our thoughts." Alice guessed, although she couldn't be sure.
Angela slammed on the brakes and quickly pulled off onto the rough shoulder. "I'm all for changing our fates, especially saving Isabella from that hell she endured. I just can't relive the last century, not without my daughter, and she isn't in here, and neither is Charlie." Angela tapped her head a couple of times.
"I'm sorry Angel, I wish I had some kind of control over whatever this is, but I'm still trying to figure it out." Alice looked over at her, with a touch of worry.
"I can't be sure, but I believe you sent your mind back to this time. Which means in theory our bodies are still in the future, blank and vulnerable." Angela postulated sounding confident in her theory, although it was nothing more than a wild guess.
"That's less than reassuring, at least the battle is over." Alice frowned, staring out the windshield and realizing that there was a very long road ahead of them. Struggle, strife, pain, loss… they would have to fight for every inch of happiness again. It felt incredibly daunting. But then she remembered that Isabella was still innocent, untouched by the horrors of Victoria or the years spent with the Volturi. She wouldn't be dark or angry, and it was strange to think of her like that. She had fallen in love with the new Isabella utterly and completely, was she even capable of loving the original version?
"I'm sorry about Isabella, she deserved to have some happiness." Angela was working through her own feelings about Isabella's death, which were complicated and difficult. She loved her as a friend, as a kindred soul and most importantly as a sister. Just imagining the impact of her death on the family was impossible, especially to Eliza, Brianna, Esme and Charlie… not to mention the woman sitting next to her. Perhaps it was better that they were thrown back in time, better to restart and prevent such a tragedy.
"I'm trying not to think about that right now." Alice shook her head, an image of Isabella's lifeless eyes lingering in her memory like a photo glued to the wall of her mind.
"What have you changed so far?" Angela had a distinct feeling they were already going to have to do some damage control, unless they were going to just give up on the idea of maintaining history.
"I told Edward off, told the family what he did to cause my anger. I was so in the moment I didn't think about the consequences. Plus he saw my vision, so he was already compromised." Alice frowned again, an expression she actively disliked, but couldn't force her mouth into a smile anymore.
Angela nodded slowly, her human mind was far too slow but she thought through the possibilities, "that means you have fundamentally altered our future, without Edward and his stupid choices several things will never happen. Alright, first off you should pursue Isabella, make her fall in love with you, which I can't imagine will be easy to balance given your own feelings. Then you need to plan your baseball game so that at least some of those events take place. Victoria needs to be in play to at least give the appearance of danger."
"I don't know if she even would accept me right now, god this is impossible. As for Victoria, if I set eyes on her I don't think I'll be able to hold back." Alice shook her head, just the idea of not acting, of letting the woman who had destroyed Isabella's life go free to do it all over again, was far too big an ask.
"Right, I don't think I could either. Honestly, your job is the one that would be hard for me, the emotionally difficult task of falling in love again." Angela furrowed her brow in thought, and Alice took a few deep breaths because she was still not used to her old body yet. It was a strange thing, her improved body had needed a tiny bit of air every so often, enough that she had started to breathe like a human just to facilitate the change.
"What about you? What do you picture needing to do?" Alice asked after taking a moment to think about somehow romancing Isabella.
Angela shook her head, "my job is logistically impossible, because I have to figure out how to navigate through this new version of history without our defining moments of trauma and pain. Now with limited resources because of my tiny human mind and no telepathy. We have to somehow force Isabella, who has never known violence, into the role of a warrior who would be willing to turn and bond with an innocent girl who she doesn't know. Then we need to coordinate history in such a way as to necessitate certain things to happen, such as letting Victoria stay alive long enough to be a threat so that we can stage Isabella's death just right so that Jacob has the same path."
"Why? What do the wolves have to do with anything?" Alice hadn't even considered the wolves, which was silly because Leah would absolutely end up in their lives.
"Michelle, I have her Katra knocking around my head. If she doesn't exist, I can't get rid of her." Angela tapped her head again, risking a glance over at Alice. She had started driving mid-conversation and had already accidentally drifted into the opposite lane twice and had to actively focus on driving instead of the conversation. What was more surprising is how much she hated being human again.
"Wait, was that a Star Trek reference?" Alice felt herself grinning at the thought of the entire extended family sitting down for… she stopped the fantasy before it even formed. That was no longer possible. Even if they managed to recreate their lives to a degree, it wouldn't be the same. Without those endless hours alone, Eliza would never have spent so much time watching classic television and movies. This new version of Eliza might be very different. Or would she?
"Yes, I'm a fan, and no you're not allowed to tell Eliza." Angela managed a small smile, but didn't take her eyes off the road.
"Will Eliza be, Eliza?" Alice asked, worried that that would mean either way. Would transplanting her mind onto that girl be erasing a new version of Eliza? "How do we navigate all of that?"
"Eliza will be the woman she was, which I know is ethically murky, but I don't really have a choice. If I don't get rid of these hitchhikers I might well lose my mind." Angela sighed softly, she knew exactly what she was doing. She was erasing the version of these people that would exist in this reality, much like her own mind overrode this version of Angela, and this version of Alice took over for the Alice that originally existed. Time travelers trying to save a tragic future, which would probably make Eliza giddy with the reference to so many wonderful science fiction stories.
"You said that already, what makes you think that will happen?" Alice was feeling guilty as she realized they had already done some major damage to time. What else would happen because of their interference?
"Well, I already feel Eliza pushing against the wall that was erected in my mind when we were pulled from our time, it was an instinct to protect myself. It's only a matter of time before they break through, and then my mental state will likely fracture. Anyway, there is one person presently who might be able to help." Angela knew her explanation went over Alice's head, since she only reacted with a concerned look.
"Who?" Alice couldn't think of anyone that could even understand, let alone help.
"Leah, I have her marbles rolling around too, which means when I have my gift back I can transfer those memories to her." Angela blew out some air, trying to settle her nerves and getting ready to ask for the thing that would make all of this possible.
"Three against the future." Alice chuckled sadly.
"For now. Eventually Eliza will join, followed by Talia who I can intercept before she even joins the Volturi." Angela couldn't help but pause for a moment thinking about the fact that Talia was only three years old in 2004, and she would have to wait another nineteen years before Talia went on that hiking trip or find her at College and turn her before that fateful trip. She cleared her throat to help get her mind back on topic, "I can also give the Cullens a movie version of our history, so that they could at least understand and help." Angela tried to subtly make a point that to do this she would need to be a vampire, but Alice didn't seem to catch on to the hint.
"Alright, then where do we start?" Alice looked over at Angela who turned slightly to glance at her, then nodded to let her know she was on board.
"I don't know, there are certain things that must happen up front, but I can't go to that school. I can't interact with Ben and Lauren and not try and change their futures." Angela knew that emotionally she had moved on from Ben, but seeing him alive like that was far more difficult than she could have ever anticipated.
"But we will be changing their futures." Alice argued.
Angela shook her head with a touch of desperation in her expression, "yes, but… I just can't. The emotions are still too difficult and painful to process now that he is suddenly alive. Honestly, I think I have to disappear. I want you to turn me now and I'll go north for a few weeks. Away from people, until I get my mind right."
"Are you sure? You'll be putting your family through the same hell they went through when you disappeared the first time." Alice knew there was almost no point in arguing with her, but it was such a difficult thing to process so quickly. She would have considered not turning Angela if left to her own devices, but now it almost didn't matter. Whoever Angela might have been in this timeline was completely subsumed by the older version, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Not exactly, this time I'll be a runaway, not a suspected mass murderer." Angela sneered at the memory of reading about herself in an article about her killing spree.
"Minister's Daughter is Likely The Seattle Slayer!
Suspected mass murderer, Angela Webber, is being sought for questioning after a series of grisly murders across the docks in Seattle. The first victim was her own fiancé, Ben Chaney, who was found naked, brutally beaten and drained of blood in an abandoned warehouse. The last victim was Father Ezekiel, a catholic priest who presided over Grace Deliverance Church of Christ, who lived long enough to partially identify her as the perpetrator."
"Okay, so how do we do this?" Alice asked, not aware of Angela's inner turmoil and minor relief at the thought of sparing her family the hardship of believing she was capable of such atrocities. More to the point, she would never kill all those people in this timeline.
"Bite me, and I'll drive as long as I can before pulling into one of the out of season campsites. I know one that is patrolled weekly only a few miles up, and I should get there in time before I lose control of my body. It is four days until they usually run through it, which should be more than enough time." Alice reluctantly nodded to Angela's request, before she added, "oh, and make sure Isabella isn't crushed by Tyler's van."
"Crap, I forgot about that. Are you sure you'll be able to drive?" Alice asked, trying to put off the inevitable.
"Remember who I am, pain isn't something I care about anymore." Angela said confidently, although in fairness she hadn't experienced the pain of transformation in nearly a century.
"Right, see you in a few weeks." Alice leaned down and brought Angela's forearm to her mouth, hesitating for a moment, and then bit down enough to draw blood and inject her venom. Then she forced herself to release her mouth from the wound and ducked out of the moving car. She landed easily, and immediately took off back to the school. She had to make an appearance to throw off questions of her involvement in Angela's disappearance, which was over a year early and might cause ripple effects neither of them could begin to anticipate.
Heading into biology she found Isabella sitting alone as the teacher tried to figure out who to partner her with. "Alice, could you partner with the new student, your brother seems to have cut school… again. Also, do you know what happened to Angela Webber, she seems to have cut school and that is not like her."
"I haven't seen her, we aren't close. As for Edward, he is being withdrawn, he will no longer be living with us or going to this school." Alice sounded appropriately serious, but she was actually quite happy delivering the news.
"Oh, did something happen?" Mr. Molina asked with genuine concern on his face. While it gave Alice a sense of joy seeing that he cared so much, she couldn't drum up a single bit of grief for losing her brother again. When all she wanted to do was track him down and end his miserable life. And yet, that would be condemning him for actions that hadn't actually happened. He had this one chance to prove he wasn't a monster, if he turned out to be as horrible as before she would take pleasure in ending his life.
"Yes, but it is some very personal family business which I cannot share." Alice kept it vague, and the teacher furrowed his brow and nodded a couple of times in understanding.
"Alright, well go ahead and join class, her name is Bella, she's the only one sitting alone." He pointed towards Bella and Alice pretended to search for her, when she could tell by her scent and heartbeat exactly where she was. Two things that she never expected to feel again, the smell like a warm blanket that brought up those old sensations of unrequited longing, and the sound like a metronome that ticked off the seconds of her endless existence.
She walked towards the table feeling nervous, and couldn't help the smile as she met Isabella's eyes. "Hi, I'm Alice, nice to meet you." Alice couldn't hide her excitement which was nearly overwhelming.
"Bella." Isabella said with a small shy nod. It took Alice a bit aback, she had forgotten how introverted and closed off she had been.
"Can I call you Isabella?" Alice asked with a friendly open smile.
Isabella examined her for a few seconds, then began to nod. "That would be nice. From you I think I prefer it, have we met before?" Bella turned fully towards Alice as the teacher began his lecture, her eyes darting around Alice's face and trying to place where she had seen her before.
"In another life." Alice said almost at a whisper, a sharp jolt of emotional pain shooting up her spine.
"Alice, Alice. Last night I dreamt about you. We were together, in love, but I was so dark and broken because something horrible had happened to me in the past. But I was also strong, powerful and confident. Was that real? It couldn't have been real." Bella was stumbling over her words trying to get them all out, her face suddenly lined with tears.
"Isabella, my beloved, do you remember?" Alice leaned forward, her entire body shivering with emotion as she stared into Isabella's chocolate brown eyes, wishing they were red. They stared at each other for several seconds, as Isabella continued to search Alice's face until her breath caught in her throat and she shut her eyes tightly. A look of pain and grief crossed her face, and when she opened her eyes a different person was looking back. A woman who Alice knew better than anyone else in the world.
"Yes, I remember." Isabella began to look around the room, confusion turning into anger. "What did you do?"
"I don't know. I was holding you, wishing I could take back the day, and suddenly I was here. Angela's here, and she'll have her powers soon." Alice spoke quickly, far too quickly for Isabella to process right away. But after a couple of seconds she nodded.
"We leave now, I have no patience for school. Angela will fill in the details to my father. Wait, did you tell off Edward already?" Isabella asked as memories of the changes that had already occurred filtered through her mind.
"I did, I couldn't help myself. Somehow he had seen everything through my eyes, as if everything that happened to us was nothing more than a vision. I can't believe that's true, but I don't have any other theories right now." Alice managed to force herself to slow down, realizing that Isabella couldn't keep up with her mortal mind.
"Alright, let's go, you'll turn me after I speak with the coven… who have I never actually met. Fuck. Oh no, Eliza, Brianna… they don't exist yet." Isabella's face twisted, as she shut her eyes for a moment to suppress the pain of their absence.
"Angela apparently is carrying their minds in hers, because she had connected to us as you died and I drew us here. Lends credence to this not being some kind of wild hallucination." Alice explained as best as she understood. None of this really made sense to her.
"So the goal will be to change things, but we need to make sure Jacob and Tekali are together so that Michelle can be born. I will not leave my daughter without her beloved." Isabella sounded more worried than upset, because Brianna wouldn't even be born for so many years and neither would Michelle. So much could change to interfere with the circumstances of their lives, especially for Michelle since her father was so specifically tied to current events.
"Angela already mentioned that and is getting Leah to help." Alice replied, hoping that Leah's presence would help ease the separation anxiety until they could rescue Eliza from Joham.
"Leah?" Isabella asked curiously, the idea of having Leah back seemed impossible without Eliza, but filled in the hole that was forming in her heart somewhat.
"Yeah, Leah, Michelle and Talia were pulled along with Eliza and Brianna, but I have no idea how you are here." Alice was thrilled that she could skip over the awkward romance option on the table, but was still confused as to how Isabella was here.
"I think I do, but I have no idea how to even ask who I believe is responsible." Isabella frowned, the last time she had been through something metaphysical it involved the goddess, now she was somehow back in time and none of it made sense without divine interference.
"The goddess?" Alice guessed.
"Yes, but it isn't really important. Honestly our goal should be to change things, because if I truly am dead by Joham's hand, we should work to fix that. Plus, now I can outright kill Victoria before she is ever a problem. Same with Joham. Then I have to help Marcus get free from Caius and Aro." Isabella listed off her goals like a checklist, and Alice almost chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
"That's a hell of a list, god I love you." Alice said with a big smile, unable to hold back and leaning forward to kiss her lover. It was warm, sweet, and tender. Far more than Alice expected, but then she realized how soft and fragile her lover felt in her arms. It was strange and off putting, and knew Isabella's time as a human was limited.
"I love you too." Isabella said as they pulled away from each other reluctantly, neither caring about the whistles and catcalls from the rest of the students in the room, or the startled stammering of the teacher as he sent them to the principal's office.
Cullen Residence, March 14, 2004
"This has to be very strange for all of you, and I understand that my presence here comes at a time where you are all reeling from the fact that Edward just left without explanation."
"You show up today as a new student, and suddenly you are a part of Alice's life. I don't understand."
"I should by all rights kill you." Jasper threatened, causing Alice to step in front of Isabella protectively.
"You have no rights, I have already severed our connection as mates." Alice said, leveling him a dangerous glare.
"Fine, but how do you have such intense feelings for one another, and why is she so cold? Just this afternoon she was tentative and unsure of her situation."
"Just yesterday you and your wife fought side by side with me, defending our family and proving once and for all how capable you are as a fighter, and how loyal you are as a brother. Jasper, I have no wish to cause you pain, but I will not give up my mate when yours will be around soon enough."
"Alice, Isabella please tell us what is going on in more detail, because you are catching us all by complete surprise."
"Today was the day Isabella came into our lives. In the original timeline Edward saw the vision of my future with Isabella as my wife and mate, mother to our daughter Brianna in the far future. He decided it was perverse, and intervened, staging an elaborate game where he pursued her romantically but had no intention of ever allowing her to join our family. When two nomadic vampires crossed our path, while Isabella was still human, they decided it was the best hunt possible. Edward managed to kill the male, James, but his mate Victoria got away." Alice started and looked to Isabella to continue.
Isabella nodded and took a deep breath before starting, "Victoria swore revenge, but didn't want to hurt Edward who had killed James. She wanted to hurt his mate, so she went after me. She kidnapped me, took me to an abandoned cabin up in Canada, tortured me for weeks and then turned me, throwing me in a hole. I was buried alive in the dark for a decade, before I managed to escape and join the Volturi. I was an enforcer for them, when unexpectedly on a mission in Brazil I encountered a girl who had been experimented on by Joham. After a brief fight with him, he escaped and I was injured and needed to heal, so I fed on her, much to my everlasting shame. However, something happened, somehow we bonded and transformed into something new. She became my daughter, and together we continued to serve the Volturi, until Marcus adopted us into the coven as full members. Then around seventy-five years later we came to Forks to track down a series of brutal murders that signified vampires, possibly even a reckless newborn coven. From there things spiraled until we eventually fought Joham again, and his army of abominations."
"Jesus, that's insane." Emmett exclaimed excitedly, his eyes wide with curiosity.
"Yes, and you don't have to take our word for it, Angela should be back in a couple of weeks, and she can give you everything you need." Alice frowned, she still wasn't happy with the fact that Angela was already a part of this reality. It fundamentally altered what could have been.
"Angela Webber?" Esme asked, her head cocked in mild confusion.
"She is a very powerful telepath and was reading my mind as my vision collapsed or I journeyed back in time, I'm really not sure about that. Anyway, she has full memories of our timeline, and has touched each of your minds so she can give you at least some of your own history as well." Alice explained, while trying to evade the most basic question about Angela's situation.
"How, she's human." Carlisle's expression darkened because he could almost feel what Alice was about to admit, and it was almost an unforgivable act in his eyes.
"She convinced me to turn her, almost forced it to happen, but I did relent because I couldn't see a reason to reject her. The same goes for Isabella here, I plan on turning her as soon as we're done here." Alice was staring at Carlisle, waiting for him to object, and while he did give her a disappointed look he shook his head and broke eye contact without saying anything.
"What do you mean new, does this have something to do with what you said before? About giving me what I deserve?" Rosalie asked, bringing the conversation back to what Isabella had said about the future.
"Yes, when we left you were pregnant." Isabella answered before Alice, and it drew gasps from everyone.
"Pregnant?" Rosalie almost whispered, her eyes growing distant before she shut them and a look of pure joy crossed her face.
Emmett put a comforting hand on her shoulder and took over for his wife's most obvious question. "How is that possible?"
"Oddly enough Angela could explain it better than me, but essentially whatever I become is capable of change, which allows for the possibility of procreation again."
"How long would we have to wait?" Rosalie asked as she looked at Isabella with longing and joy in her eyes.
"I found her on June 2, 2017. I would love to get to her earlier, but I don't know what Joham did to her and unfortunately without those experiments she will never be who we need her to be." Isabella's expression was hard and difficult to read, although Alice knew exactly what was on her mind. The idea of letting her daughter suffer was weighing on her despite how easily she apparently brushed off the truth of the situation.
"It doesn't matter anyway, Angela has her consciousness rolling around in her head so whoever is there now will be supplanted." Alice added, and it made Isabella almost smile for a brief second.
"That sounds immoral at best." Esme said, shaking her head at the idea which made her mind spin with the possibilities. She was still reeling over the idea she had killed Edward, but given the list of his supposed crimes it made a strange sense to her. She had always noticed small things he did and said that were off putting, and taken on whole could mean he was as twisted as Alice claimed.
"Perhaps, but there is nothing we can do about it now." Alice argued, not quite willing to point out that she had technically killed an earlier version of herself, which was something she could barely wrap her head around.
"Give them a choice maybe?" Rose offered, not really all that concerned about the morality of what was being suggested. If this was all true she would want those memories, she would want to know how she felt about his version of Alice and Isabella.
"How could anyone make an informed decision with those kinds of stakes?" Jasper asked, he had been quiet for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fact he was furious about the fact that his wife was no longer his wife. Their relationship ended in an instant, and there was nothing he could do to change her mind.
"You are suggesting that we should willingly commit murder, by overriding the person who would exist in this timeline, altering them to suit your interests. That is reprehensible." Carlisle's point sat like a lump in Alice's throat, but Isabella stepped forward with a soft growl
"I am their mother, it is my choice. If you need a reason we are talking about two girls who were abused for years, and will die without our intervention." Isabella's hostility was terrifying, despite the fact she was human, and Alice noticed the room felt a touch darker as though Isabella's gift had already manifested as a mortal.
"Three, I cannot imagine Angela will give up Zoey." Alice interjected, and Isabella deflated slightly, turning to nod at Alice.
"Right, but you said she doesn't have her daughter's mind with her." Isabella questioned, and Alice shrugged.
"Maybe we can spare Zoey the pain of losing her birth parents?" Alice suggested, and this made Isabella's eyes brighten for a second, but she almost immediately shook her head.
"I'm not sure Angela will go for that, but it's worth discussing." Isabella frowned, she knew Angela was a lot like her and the idea of willingly giving up her children felt impossible.
"Will you two stop it?!" Carlisle yelled, the anger and frustration in his voice was very unusual. "Who are you? Alice, I've grown used to your advice, even used it for financial gain, but this is completely different. You are meddling in the course of your own history, altering events to suit your desires without knowing what will happen. How can you possibly know this will give you a better future?"
"I don't, but I have to do something. I can't lose her." Alice couldn't meet Carlisle's eyes, but she did look up towards Isabella.
"So I did die." Isabella broke eye contact and let out a heavy breath before turning her neck up to expose it for Alice. "Now."
"Alice! NO!" Carlisle reached out and started to move to intervene, but it was too late as Alice crossed the five feet to her beloved and bit down once, releasing her venom into Isabella's neck.
Author's Notes:
I imagine this seems like a very strange tangent, but trust there is a very specific reason why we are going down this path. Chapter 21 is already in progress and could be up by the week of Oct. 2-6.
Next Up: Ripple Effects
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Thank you for reading!